I will say, a much cleaner game tonight... There were a few shenanigans out there, like a lot of laces coming untied, coincidentally all on icing calls. Notre Dame kind of started the routine, but the Nanooks continued it. More funny than anything. Gives me something else to blame the equipment manager for... ;)
The 1st period got off to a good start. Both teams came ready to play, but ND got on the board first at 4:43 on the power play. A bit of broken D as the Nanooks couldn't contain the rebound. Eventually, the 4th chance got through as Nick Larson would get credit for the goal.
The 'Nooks did take a while to get their first shot on net, they used their opportunity wisely and Granberg banged it home on a 2 on 1 break set up beautifully by Carlo Finucci. Their 2nd shot broke through as well as Cody Kunyk stayed up on the play and used his wizardry to pick off the pass and made about 60 moves on Johnson and tucked it around Johnson's left pad.
The first 20 minutes was a sentiment for how the 'Nooks played yesterday. They kept driving and challenging the puck carrier at the point of attack, and remained persistent. Not a lot of shots, but a lot of quality scoring chances.
The second period sentiments didn't go the Nanooks' way, although they did control possession for the majority of the period. But two quick goals put Notre Dame in the lead 3-2, which stayed throughout the rest of the game until a costly turnover with Greenham on the bench sealed the Nanooks fate 4-2.
Long week ahead as the Nanooks head to Kalamazoo Tuesday night. Western Michigan is a tough team to play against, and Lawson is a tough place to play in. But if the Nanooks can keep the same tempo and drive, points should be coming in waves. Until then, Go Nooks!!!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Game Day Saturday - Nanooks Look to Sweep
Game Day Paradise
Live Video: AmericaOne
Live Audio: KCBF 820
Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com
Twitter: @NanookHockey
I think I'm not alone in saying that last night was one of the better games our team has played. They need to respond and come with the same energy and keep driving hard. Notre Dame is going to come out firing, and I can tell the guys are ready to take it to them.
Other than that, the line charts are all identical. Should be a very tight game tonight! Go Nooks!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Nanooks Stay Classy in 6-3 Slaughter of Notre Dame
Wow. Just wow. If I was in any way affiliated with Notre Dame, I would be outright embarrassed to have student athletes represent my school in the manner that this hockey team showed on the ice tonight. After every whistle, they're pushing, shoving, and running their mouths about how much of a badass their team is, and that Alaska is a waste of their time. Notre Dame's players showed absolutely no respect for anyone on the ice tonight in a horrid display of sportsmanship.
I hope one of the guys sends TJ Tynan a message tomorrow. While that guy scores a lot of points, he runs his mouth writing checks that his body can't cash. I'm sorry, but your 5' 8" 165 lb frame would get torn to shreds if you really wanted to pick a fight with Andy Taranto. I get it, you're aggressive dude. Just shut your trap and show some respect to the team that paid the way for your spoiled ass to get up here, because they just showed you and your team full of draft picks how to play hockey. It wasn't just Tynan running his mouth either, I could start going through their entire roster and start listing crap, but I won't. I'm just calling Tynan out because he was the most pathetic of the group tonight.
I would like to quote out what Odegard said during the post-game press conference in response to my question about keeping guys like Tynan irrelevant: "It's pretty simple for our defensive corps. We try to worry about what our jobs are, and not necessarily about who we're playing, or what their skill level is at. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of big schools that come up here because they don't give us very much respect, and that's evident by the way that they play." I can't put it any better words than that.
That being said, I will say that I'm pretty proud of our guys staying classy and not letting emotions pull them into doing something stupid to give ND the satisfaction. The guys stood their ground, and didn't let themselves get pushed around. They didn't let Notre Dame have a single inch of the 200 feet of ice all night, and drove it down their throats, as Coach Meisner said during the post-game conference, really took the game to them. They could have just as easily scored 8 or 9 goals with some of the opportunities that they had tonight. When you see that the 'Nooks only put up 22 shots on net, that says something about scoring chances.
I think the Nanooks have found their stride as they rack up the goals on a good team and pick up a solid 3 points thus far. The guys put forth a great effort all around and played the most completed game I've seen all year. Including the power play, which went for 50% tonight scoring 2 goals on 4 chances. Kunyk and Taranto really clicked tonight offensively, with 6 points between the two.
Alaska played their brand of hockey, and forced Notre Dame to submit to their will. Looking to tomorrow, I'm expecting to see the same kind of hard fought hockey game. The Nanooks will need to come out with all cylinders firing if they want to send Notre Dame home with tears, no points, and a sore ass.
Listen to tonight's post-game press conference
I hope one of the guys sends TJ Tynan a message tomorrow. While that guy scores a lot of points, he runs his mouth writing checks that his body can't cash. I'm sorry, but your 5' 8" 165 lb frame would get torn to shreds if you really wanted to pick a fight with Andy Taranto. I get it, you're aggressive dude. Just shut your trap and show some respect to the team that paid the way for your spoiled ass to get up here, because they just showed you and your team full of draft picks how to play hockey. It wasn't just Tynan running his mouth either, I could start going through their entire roster and start listing crap, but I won't. I'm just calling Tynan out because he was the most pathetic of the group tonight.
I would like to quote out what Odegard said during the post-game press conference in response to my question about keeping guys like Tynan irrelevant: "It's pretty simple for our defensive corps. We try to worry about what our jobs are, and not necessarily about who we're playing, or what their skill level is at. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of big schools that come up here because they don't give us very much respect, and that's evident by the way that they play." I can't put it any better words than that.
That being said, I will say that I'm pretty proud of our guys staying classy and not letting emotions pull them into doing something stupid to give ND the satisfaction. The guys stood their ground, and didn't let themselves get pushed around. They didn't let Notre Dame have a single inch of the 200 feet of ice all night, and drove it down their throats, as Coach Meisner said during the post-game conference, really took the game to them. They could have just as easily scored 8 or 9 goals with some of the opportunities that they had tonight. When you see that the 'Nooks only put up 22 shots on net, that says something about scoring chances.
I think the Nanooks have found their stride as they rack up the goals on a good team and pick up a solid 3 points thus far. The guys put forth a great effort all around and played the most completed game I've seen all year. Including the power play, which went for 50% tonight scoring 2 goals on 4 chances. Kunyk and Taranto really clicked tonight offensively, with 6 points between the two.
Alaska played their brand of hockey, and forced Notre Dame to submit to their will. Looking to tomorrow, I'm expecting to see the same kind of hard fought hockey game. The Nanooks will need to come out with all cylinders firing if they want to send Notre Dame home with tears, no points, and a sore ass.
Listen to tonight's post-game press conference
Game Day - And We Are Back
Game Day Paradise
Live Video: AmericaOne
Live Audio: KCBF 820
Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com
Twitter: @NanookHockey
I could really get used to having a home series every weekend. It's made the week at work go by legitimately faster, it's been nice. Especially since its been frustrating, to put it mildly. Anyway, with all of that behind us, let's focus on the Nanooks upcoming
The guys know what they have to do; dig deep and play 60 minutes of hockey. It's all there, the talent, the defense, the offense (as of late). While the power play hasn't been as powerful, the potential is there for some goals to break through.
From a lines perspective, coach Ferguson has paired Beck with Finucci, and Granberg at center. And he moved Taranto back up to the first line with Yaremchuk flanking to the right of Kunyk. The Gehon-Henderson-Meyers line has been restored to its former glory. And Flizen centers the fourth line with Youngmun and Perry on the wings.
Defensive pairings are
Quinn-Gens
Tateson-Enders
Odegard-Butcher
Greenham in goal with Cahill backing him up. Summerhays will start in net as Jeff Jackson tries to spite me due to the Katdashian joke in my preview. I doubt that's actually why, but I'm going to say it is.
Anyway. Go Nooks!
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