Colton Beck's back-to-back game winning goals and a 4-point weekend (3-1-4) helped the team roll the Wildcats and pick up the sweep. In the luncheon Friday, coach Ferguson explained his desire for the top line to bump up the production, and this weekend they produced points like crazy in this series.
The first period looked a lot like a continuation of the first game. Northern did a good job controlling play for the better part of the 1st period. As a result, Stephan Vigier was right on queue behind the net, disrupted a pass behind the net, and got a shot on Keeney that Daugherty was able to collect and bury.
Late in the first, the Nanooks repeated the same play as Taranto sniffed out the play and intercepted a pass near the half walls and put a shot on net as Beck collected the rebound and buried to even the game up through the first stanza.
Into the 2nd, much more intense checking. Hits and pleasantries were exchanged early and often. Mitch Jones took a tripping penalty just 32 seconds into the period to even the advantage 4 on 4 as about 1:35 was left on Perry's penalty for holding at 19:26 of the 1st.
But just about 5 minutes into the period, Yaremchuk made a great feed through traffic to find a breaking Tyler Morley, who with a few quick strides made a clean breakaway and with a few dekes had Jared Coreau out on Cushman Street. If ESPN wasn't already on cruise control with replays, that could have made the top 10 plays of the night. I'm really looking forward to that video highlight online and seeing where the CCHA guys put it this week in their top 10 plays.
Colton Beck buried the eventual game winner with his second of the game on a nice feed from Colton Parayko which clearly pissed off the NMU players. They started checking like mad men from that point forward. Eventually it got a little bit out of hand as Erik Higby was tossed for a vicious hit on Nolan Huysmans right in front of the Nanooks bench. Higby got the arm up and collided elbow first with the neck of Huysmans who wasn't ready for the hit. Just about a minute into the major, NMU defensemen Wade Epp takes a bad high sticking penalty down low out of clear frustration. Which puts the 'Nooks on a 5 on 3 advantage for a full two minutes.
Of which they only needed 14 seconds after a faceoff win, a quick shot down low that was blocked. Nanooks players all over chasing the puck trying to get there. Coreau was down and was having trouble covering ground, but eventually Parayko found his stick on the puck and buried it for his 4th goal of his already impressive freshman season. But the Wildcats still had some fight and a fighting chance, as the captain injected a little bit of life back into their lineup with a shorthanded tally from Thurber to round out the scoring for the evening.
A great home sweep for the Nanooks as these two wins come against a great Northern Michigan team help catapult the Nanooks up to 12th place in the pairwise standings, and a tie for 4th place in the CCHA with Ferris State in the very tight conference race. The 'Nooks fly south to take on Miami in Oxford in a pivotal match that will be a great challenge and a measuring stick going forward after the results of the home series against the RedHawks during the slump in December. 10 games remain, with 8 left in the conference, 5 at home, 5 on the road. Let's do it! Go 'Nooks!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Nanooks Continue to Roll, Tame Wildcats 2-1
Wow it feels good to get the monkey off the back. The way that the 'Nooks held on and kept the pressure off of John Keeney, who was very sharp tonight at controlling himself and staying square to the puck. The Nanooks' defense totally locked out the Wildcats tonight, with the only goal being allowed was a 5 on 3 power play chance after Kaare Odegard was wrongly accused of charging. If college hockey had an appeals process, that would have been a great candidate. It was a great check, and clean but they deemed it a charge.
But what a way to get the game started. Cody Kunyk ripping a shot past Jared Coreau's glove up high in the corner, it was a thing of beauty. Earlier today at the Face Off club luncheon, coach Ferguson said that he wanted to see Kunyk shoot more. And his first shot of the game is just a sweet laser. Simply put. The video highlights will be great.
Into the second, Kunyk did it again as he forced a turnover at the blue line with Northern on the power play. Beck hustled in and made it a 2 on 1, and just a beauty of a saucer pass from Kunyk put it right on the tape of Beck's stick on the back door to take a two goal lead.
A few minutes later, Northern gets their lone goal of the game in the aforementioned 5 on 3 power play chance as the Nanooks clamp down defensively. I think where the Nanooks benefitted the most tonight was in their neutral zone play. They did a phenomenal job disrupting the Wildcats transition game and forced them off of the puck on the entry time after time. And say what you want about the 3 stars of the game, one of the best players out there tonight and had a terrific performance tonight was Trevor Campbell. He is very quietly making waves and earning the accolades of an elite defenseman in the conference. Tonight, he played with a confidence that seemed to radiate to his teammates and collectively they all rallied together and won this as a team.
I know I've said this about Trevor before, and he's had great games. But this kid is only a sophomore. He's playing at a very high level right now, and it excites me to watch him play and continue to get better. Exciting for the future.
Just a few quick housekeeping items before I turn in for the night. Firstly, a huge congratulations is due to the hockey team for posting up a 3.51 GPA average among the team for the fall semester of 2012. A tremendous achievement with the travel schedule, and just the rigors of being a student athlete. These guys didn't choose slack majors either. A lot of them are either business administration majors, but a few have even chosen the engineering route, which is one of the most time consuming majors I've had the pleasure to take part in. It was just as much of a pleasure for me to switch out of it. I couldn't handle it when I was a bit younger, but great for these guys.
Also on another note, Mike Smith was injured for the Phoenix Coyotes early this week which has left a hole in the goaltenders position. Jason LaBarbera played in net and allowed 3 goals in the final 7 minutes of the game as a 2 goal lead vanished. But with Smith sidelined, the Coyotes recalled former Nanook Chad Johnson from their AHL affiliate in Portland and was on the bench Thursday against the Sharks. Given the situation with LaBarbera yesterday, Chad Johnson does have a pretty decent shot to see his first action of the season between the pipes. Their game starts at 4:00PM AKST. I'll have to check that one out before I head over tomorrow.
Come out to the Carlson Center tomorrow and get the barn packed! The 'Nooks look to complete their sweep and move up the chain. Of note, with the win tonight, the 'Nooks are now 11th in the pairwise rankings... And no, its not too early to look at that yet.
But what a way to get the game started. Cody Kunyk ripping a shot past Jared Coreau's glove up high in the corner, it was a thing of beauty. Earlier today at the Face Off club luncheon, coach Ferguson said that he wanted to see Kunyk shoot more. And his first shot of the game is just a sweet laser. Simply put. The video highlights will be great.
Into the second, Kunyk did it again as he forced a turnover at the blue line with Northern on the power play. Beck hustled in and made it a 2 on 1, and just a beauty of a saucer pass from Kunyk put it right on the tape of Beck's stick on the back door to take a two goal lead.
A few minutes later, Northern gets their lone goal of the game in the aforementioned 5 on 3 power play chance as the Nanooks clamp down defensively. I think where the Nanooks benefitted the most tonight was in their neutral zone play. They did a phenomenal job disrupting the Wildcats transition game and forced them off of the puck on the entry time after time. And say what you want about the 3 stars of the game, one of the best players out there tonight and had a terrific performance tonight was Trevor Campbell. He is very quietly making waves and earning the accolades of an elite defenseman in the conference. Tonight, he played with a confidence that seemed to radiate to his teammates and collectively they all rallied together and won this as a team.
I know I've said this about Trevor before, and he's had great games. But this kid is only a sophomore. He's playing at a very high level right now, and it excites me to watch him play and continue to get better. Exciting for the future.
Just a few quick housekeeping items before I turn in for the night. Firstly, a huge congratulations is due to the hockey team for posting up a 3.51 GPA average among the team for the fall semester of 2012. A tremendous achievement with the travel schedule, and just the rigors of being a student athlete. These guys didn't choose slack majors either. A lot of them are either business administration majors, but a few have even chosen the engineering route, which is one of the most time consuming majors I've had the pleasure to take part in. It was just as much of a pleasure for me to switch out of it. I couldn't handle it when I was a bit younger, but great for these guys.
Also on another note, Mike Smith was injured for the Phoenix Coyotes early this week which has left a hole in the goaltenders position. Jason LaBarbera played in net and allowed 3 goals in the final 7 minutes of the game as a 2 goal lead vanished. But with Smith sidelined, the Coyotes recalled former Nanook Chad Johnson from their AHL affiliate in Portland and was on the bench Thursday against the Sharks. Given the situation with LaBarbera yesterday, Chad Johnson does have a pretty decent shot to see his first action of the season between the pipes. Their game starts at 4:00PM AKST. I'll have to check that one out before I head over tomorrow.
Come out to the Carlson Center tomorrow and get the barn packed! The 'Nooks look to complete their sweep and move up the chain. Of note, with the win tonight, the 'Nooks are now 11th in the pairwise rankings... And no, its not too early to look at that yet.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
One More Time - Another Shot at the Kitty Cats
A sweep of Michigan at Yost, and a sweep of Notre Dame in South Bend, the Nanooks have started one hell of a run. But then the schedule throws you a curve ball and puts Northern Michigan right back in the path. A team that, again, has seemed to know the Nanooks' hole cards before the bets are placed. After the split with Western Michigan at home, the excursion to Marquette started the winless streak into the Christmas break.
The funny part of it is, after that series NMU went 1-4 themselves, getting swept at Western and LSSU. Now after New Year's, Northern is on an unbeaten streak of their own, including a sweep of St. Cloud and Ohio State as well as a win, tie, and shootout loss to Miami.
For both teams, its going to be about continuing their success this weekend. For the Nanooks, its their first game at home in seven weeks. And nobody is more excited for it than I am. That said, the 'Nooks home record has left something to be desired currently at 4-5-1 (2-5-1 in CCHA play). The 'Cats are 3-8-1 on the road this season, which was just improved over their sweep at St. Cloud just after their holiday layoff.
Aside from an empty-netter against Ohio State, each of the 'Cats recent wins has been by one goal. NMU has also come from behind to win in a lot of those games as well, often surrendering the first goal. NMU is a determined team and they don't give up. The Nanooks held leads in both games against Northern up in Marquette before watching them vanish into the Black Hole.
If you recall my previous post on this subject, Coach Ferguson has yet to defeat Northern Michigan outright since he took over. Honestly though, I think this is the best chance for that win to come this weekend. With the offense picking up like it has, averaging 4 goals per game since the new year started and getting a huge confidence boost from those road sweeps, I can't envision the Nanooks letting this home series slip away. The pollsters can say what they want to, but the Nanooks are a better team right now than NMU. And this weekend will be their chance to prove it and help get this monkey off of Ferguson's back.
In other news, Chad Johnson was recalled to Phoenix in the NHL tonight after starter Mike Smith was hurt in their win against Columbus. LaBarbera got the start tonight as the Coyotes watched a 3-1 lead over the Sharks with 7:40 left in the game evaporate as they eventually lost 5-3 in San Jose. Chad Johnson has not played an NHL game since the lone loss in the the 2010-2011 season for the Rangers. At the end of last season, he was traded to the Phoenix organization after a pretty good run in the AHL with the Connecticut Whale for the past 2 seasons. I'm hoping the result of tonight's loss for Phoenix may give Johnson another chance at the show when they take on the LA Kings at home on Saturday. I'll definitely be tuned in for that.
As for the Nanooks game, I know the guys are pumped to get this one going. I haven't seen them play in person in seven weeks. And I'm excited to get this party started...
The funny part of it is, after that series NMU went 1-4 themselves, getting swept at Western and LSSU. Now after New Year's, Northern is on an unbeaten streak of their own, including a sweep of St. Cloud and Ohio State as well as a win, tie, and shootout loss to Miami.
For both teams, its going to be about continuing their success this weekend. For the Nanooks, its their first game at home in seven weeks. And nobody is more excited for it than I am. That said, the 'Nooks home record has left something to be desired currently at 4-5-1 (2-5-1 in CCHA play). The 'Cats are 3-8-1 on the road this season, which was just improved over their sweep at St. Cloud just after their holiday layoff.
Aside from an empty-netter against Ohio State, each of the 'Cats recent wins has been by one goal. NMU has also come from behind to win in a lot of those games as well, often surrendering the first goal. NMU is a determined team and they don't give up. The Nanooks held leads in both games against Northern up in Marquette before watching them vanish into the Black Hole.
If you recall my previous post on this subject, Coach Ferguson has yet to defeat Northern Michigan outright since he took over. Honestly though, I think this is the best chance for that win to come this weekend. With the offense picking up like it has, averaging 4 goals per game since the new year started and getting a huge confidence boost from those road sweeps, I can't envision the Nanooks letting this home series slip away. The pollsters can say what they want to, but the Nanooks are a better team right now than NMU. And this weekend will be their chance to prove it and help get this monkey off of Ferguson's back.
In other news, Chad Johnson was recalled to Phoenix in the NHL tonight after starter Mike Smith was hurt in their win against Columbus. LaBarbera got the start tonight as the Coyotes watched a 3-1 lead over the Sharks with 7:40 left in the game evaporate as they eventually lost 5-3 in San Jose. Chad Johnson has not played an NHL game since the lone loss in the the 2010-2011 season for the Rangers. At the end of last season, he was traded to the Phoenix organization after a pretty good run in the AHL with the Connecticut Whale for the past 2 seasons. I'm hoping the result of tonight's loss for Phoenix may give Johnson another chance at the show when they take on the LA Kings at home on Saturday. I'll definitely be tuned in for that.
As for the Nanooks game, I know the guys are pumped to get this one going. I haven't seen them play in person in seven weeks. And I'm excited to get this party started...
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Nanooks Roll, Sweep #4/5 Notre Dame in South Bend
WOW!!! What a road trip. I'm still wired and on cloud nine after that sweep. With four back to back wins on this two week roadie, I think the Nanooks are finding their identity. This series was a lot more physical than I was expecting, but that's the game that Notre Dame plays but the Nanooks didn't wait at all for Notre Dame to establish the checking. I really liked that the 'Nooks didn't back down from them. Its no mystery when I say that Notre Dame likes to throw their weight around (Summerhays mugging Morley after Johns checked Morley into him). And if you want to know how good they think they are, just wait around and listen, because they'll tell you.
Anyway like I was saying, the Nanooks really seem to be finding themselves at this point in the season. The chemistry is there, and the Granberg-Morley-Yaremchuk line is just going crazy right now. They're scoring on par with any of the top lines in the country. Both power play goals tonight were from that line, and they're picking it up when the top line hasn't had as much puck luck as of late.
And how good has Trevor Campbell been lately? He hasn't cracked the scoresheet as much as he has in recent history, but very solid positionally and made a lot of smart decisions this weekend. Everytime I heard Tynan or Lee's name come up (which wasn't often tonight), Campbell was right there keeping them in check and keeping them irrelevant. And, oh yeah, he has a real girlfriend.
And how good has Trevor Campbell been lately? He hasn't cracked the scoresheet as much as he has in recent history, but very solid positionally and made a lot of smart decisions this weekend. Everytime I heard Tynan or Lee's name come up (which wasn't often tonight), Campbell was right there keeping them in check and keeping them irrelevant. And, oh yeah, he has a real girlfriend.
Alaska vs. Notre Dame #hockeysign twitter.com/greeno1/status…
— Olivia Green (@greeno1) January 20, 2013
The 'Nooks return home next weekend to take on the Northern Michigan Wildcats who have put together a 6-game unbeaten streak of their own, including a sweep of St. Cloud and Ohio State. As well as a win and a tie against Miami at home. I hope they're prepared for some payback!
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