Author Archives: Geof F. Morris

Michigan Tech 4, UAH 2

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UAH (3-10-2, 2-7-0 WCHA) was perfect on special teams on tonight, killing all seven Michigan Tech (11-2-0, 9-2-0 WCHA) penalties, scoring on their own power play, and potting a short-handed goal just 1:08 into the game.  But sharp-angle shots and relentless forechecking by the #6/5 team in Division I saw the Huskies come away with a narrow 4-2 win (on an empty netter) in front of 1,880 fans — many of whom were clad in Black and Gold — at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.

Senior forward Craig Pierce (Roswell, Ga.) got the crowd fired up just a minute into the game, breaking out of the Chargers’ end with the puck and slashing through the slot.  He whiffed on his first shot, but the puck stayed with him and he slipped one past Husky junior goaltender Jamie Phillips (Caledonia, Ont.) for a 1-0 lead.  The goal was Pierce’s third of the season and the Chargers’ third SHG of the 2014-15 campaign.  Assists were credited to sophomore forward Brent Fletcher (4th of season, New Westminster, B.C.) and sophomore forward Cody Marooney (3rd, Eden Prairie, Minn.).

Tech freshman forward Dylan Steman (Hanover, Minn.) would knot the game at one with his second collegiate goal, scoring when a delayed penalty call 0n freshman defenseman Cody Champagne (Brookfield, Conn.) let the Huskies use their speed advantage to slice along the boards in front of the Chargers’ bench and let Steman find a pass from junior forward C.J. Eick (Appleton, Wisc.).  The assist was Eick’s first of the year.

The Chargers would then kill Champagne’s penalty — we’re told that goals on delayed penalties do not vacate the penalty as they do in most leagues — and one by sophomore defenseman Brandon Carlson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) just 2:35 later.  In all, the Chargers killed four penalties in the first period, and it felt like the Chargers were doing well to stay with the pack.  Optimism reigned that the penalties would slow.

Indeed, that optimism was met, with the Chargers committing just three penalties for the rest of the game, one coming in the late minute when Fletcher was whistled for charging.  Unfortunately for UAH, time at even strength did not lead to many shots on goal, as Tech showed their bona fides as a top-flight team.  The Huskies took a 2-1 lead 2:21 into the second period when freshman forward Alex Gillies (Vernon, B.C.) scored on a low-angle shot from the left circle that beat Charger sophomore goaltender Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Que.) high over the right shoulder.

The Chargers registered just four shots on goal in the second frame against 12 for the Huskies.  Lest you be worried that the overall shot differential of 34-14 was influenced by killing seven penalties, the Huskies landed just seven shots on goal in those opportunities.

One Charger shot did find twine, as senior forward Jeff Vanderlugt (Richmond Hill, Ont.) pounded a puck home off of a feed from junior forward Jack Prince (Leicester, England).  The goal was Vanderlugt’s team-leading fourth of the season, with Prince recording his fifth assist (and team-lead-tying seventh point).  Freshman defenseman Brandon Parker (Fairbault, Minn.) notched his team-leading seventh assist of the year.

The Chargers didn’t keep the game level for long, as sophomore defenseman Shane Hanna (Salmon Arm, B.C.) winged a puck at the net from an even steeper angle than Gillies, beating Guerriero (3-6-1, 30 sv) to put the Huskies up again.  The Chargers would kill two more penalties in the remaining minutes of the second, but the visitors carried a one-goal lead into the locker room for the second intermission.

UAH came out stronger in the third, bringing more pressure and getting deeper into the Husky defense.  But Phillips (11-2-0, 12 sv) stopped all six Charger shots on goal, keeping his teammates clean on the defensive end.  Assistant captain and sophomore defenseman Cliff Watson (Appleton, Wisc.) ended the Chargers’ attempts at a comeback, lofting a puck that rolled past a Charger lunging to swipe it into the corner.  Fletcher’s final penalty with :37.5 left ended any chance that the Chargers had in coming back.

Mike Corbett tells me all the time that there are no moral victories, and he’s right.  But I heard a number of people — my old broadcast partner Mike Anderson being one of them — tell me that they were proud to see the strides that this team had made.  This wasn’t last year’s blowout against top team St. Cloud State.  This was a solid effort from a team in the bottom half of the WCHA against a team at the top of the league.  You’re not going to win a lot of those games, but it’s not unreasonable to think that the Chargers couldn’t come out and win this one tomorrow night.  We’ll see if that happens, even though there will be few paying attention given that we’re up against the Iron Bowl.  Oh well.

Special teams notes

UAH is now 7th in the nation in PIM/G at 17.1, less than a minor a game out of 2nd and just a major behind Cornell in 1st (22.4), who have played just eight contests.  The Chargers’ combined special teams are still #2 in the country, with a 64.0% rate that comes in just 1.0% behind #1 Harvard.

Ferris State 5, UAH 2

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While UAH had a fine first two periods, the wheels came off in the third period, as the homestanding Ferris State University Bulldogs (7-6-0 overall, 4-4-0 WCHA) pulled away to win 5-2 and secure a conference split at the Robert L. Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.  The loss dropped UAH to 3-9-2 on the season and 2-6-0 in WCHA play.  No worries, though: Bemidji lost, too, so we’re still tied with the rodents in the league standings.

The Chargers scored early again in this one, as freshman defenseman Richard Buri (Nitra, Slovakia) ripped a shot from the point off of a draw by freshman forward Max McHugh (Seattle, Wash.) to junior forward Chad Brears (Cold Lake, Alta.) just 2:29 into the contest.  The visitors then held serve for the next ten minutes or so, going on the power play at 12:10 when Ferris freshman forward Mitch Maloney (Macomb, Mich.) kicked freshman defenseman Brandon Parker (Fairbault, Minn.) behind the Chargers’ net and received a major penalty and match disqualification.

The hopes for an early 2-0 lead were quickly dashed when Ferris junior forward Matt Robertson (Rohnert Park, Calif.) picked up a puck along the wall in the Bulldogs’ defensive zone and saw sophomore teammate Chad McDonald (Battle Creek, Mich.) with time and space.  The pass was good for the first of Robertson’s four assists on the night, and McDonald went forehand-backhand before roofing the puck past the outstretched blocker of UAH sophomore netminder Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Que.) for the first of his two goals just :16 into the major.  The SHG was the fourth that the Chargers have allowed this year.

Robertson made his presence known halfway through the second, stick-handling through the defense between the circles before finding Islanders draftee and sophomore forward Kyle Schempp (Saginaw, Mich.) for the go-ahead goal at 10:05.  The Chargers struck back a couple of minutes later when freshman forward Brennan Saulnier (Halifax, Nova Scotia) fed junior defenseman Frank Misuraca (Clinton Township, Mich.) the puck at the point.  Misuraca’s strong shot bounced right to senior forward Jeff Vanderlugt (Richmond Hills, Ont.), who pounded the puck past Ferris senior netminder C.J. Motte (St. Clair, Mich.) to tie the game at two with 4:22 left in the second period.

And at that point, it was pretty okay for the Chargers.  They out-shot the Bulldogs 11-9 in the first and 12-9 in the second — more SOG in 40:00 tonight than they had in a full game last night.  But a facemasking penalty on Brears at 19:35 of the 2nd, combined with a cross-checking penalty to Ferris junior defenseman Brandon Anselmini (Guelph, Ont.) sent the teams to the locker room at 4-on-4, an option that isn’t to the Chargers’ strength.

McDonald struck :26 into the period off of a feed from Robertson, and it was on.  Ferris State outshot UAH 17-7 in the final frame, including a goal from sophomore forward Jared VanWormer (Traverse City, Mich.) at the tail end of Brears’s major.  At that point, it got rough.  Saulnier had already taken two cross-checking minors, and then he picked up a major high-sticking penalty.  Ferris killed the advantage :48 later, but then McHugh ran into Motte 1:56 into the major and 1:02 into the 4-on-4.

UAH was back to killing the 5-on-4 major penalty when Guerriero interfered with a Bulldog, sending Misuraca to the box, a place Frank has only been to twice this season.  1:01 later, Guerriero committed another infraction, this time sending senior defenseman Graeme Strukoff (Chilliwack, B.C.) to the box to serve his roughing penalty.  McDonald also went off for a misconduct penalty at the same time.  Mind you, there are still four seconds remaining on Saulnier’s major at this point.

Sophomore forward Matt Salhany (Warwick, R.I.) went off at 17:35 for roughing, and Schempp followed :11 for hooking.  In all, eight penalties were called in the third, three involving goalies, two by a goalie, and an extended 4-on-3.  The Chargers were at full strength just 10:25 of the second period, and that just won’t cut it.

Saulnier was really in trouble again tonight, and that just can’t keep happening.  Brears’s facemasking penalty was pretty borderline to my eye, as both players were making the same motions and it just seems that Chad’s fingertip got caught in a hole in the grid as he pushed the player’s head back in a scrum.

The Chargers came into the game averaging 15.8 PIM/G, but they racked up twice that tonight.  In fact, that average has been steadily climbing, with PIM totals of 16, 16, 16, 22, 18, and 36 tonight.  This has to be a worrying trend.  Yes, the PK was 8-for-9 tonight and has killed 29 of their last 32 penalties, but you just can’t keep doing that and expect positive results all of the time.

Special teams are indeed a strength for the Chargers, who have had positive events in 79 of 128 situations, a 61.7% rate that is second in the nation behind Harvard, but those 128 opportunities are tied for the third-most in the country with Colgate behind Minnesota-Duluth (138) and Miami (131).  But until guys like Salhany and fellow sophomore forward Cody Marooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) have turned themselves into Steve Charlebois (1999-2003, Carbon, Alta.) or Jason Hawes (1999-2003, Perth, Ont.), the Chargers are playing with fire.

Ferris junior forward Kenny Babinski (Midland, Mich.) concluded the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:01.  Guerriero ended up with 30 saves and drops to 3-5-1 on the season.  Motte pushes to 7-6-0 on the strength of a 28-save effort.

The Chargers face Michigan Tech at the VBC next weekend.  The Huskies came into the weekend as the #1 team in the country, but Minnesota State swept them in two one-goal games in Houghton.  Look for the dogs to come a-barking.

UAH 3, Ferris State 2

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The boys are back.  I repeat, the boys are back.

The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (3-8-2 overall, 2-5-0 WCHA) never trailed in this hockey game, scoring in the first two minutes and holding the lead for the next 31:08.  The homestanding Ferris State Bulldogs (6-6-0 overall, 3-4-0 WCHA) pulled even midway through the second, but two third-period goals pushed the home fans to the brink, and the Chargers held on for a 3-2 win at the Robert L. Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

The Chargers are now 3-1-1 in their last five games.  Their last two-game win streak against Division I opponents came when that Cam Talbot guy was in net, backstopping the Herd to the 2010 CHA Championship.  The last stretch of at least 3-1-1 was also in 2010, when UAH won the replacement game from the Amy Bishop shooting at Niagara, lost by one goal and tied Bemidji at the VBC next weekend, and then beat Robert Morris and the Purple Eagles for that NCAA berth.

If you want to look at the last three-game winning streak, it also comes that season: two wins at home against Niagara, a road win there before being called home, then a home win against the Colonials.  Oh, and last night, Talbot shut out the Flyers and Bemidji alumnus Matt Read.  #CHAForever

There are three major stories to the evening’s proceedings.  They are: junior forward Chad Brears (Cold Lake, Alta.), an overtaxed but strong penalty kill, and sophomore netminder Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Que.), who made his fourth start in five games.

Brears

Brears hadn’t lit the lamp all season, but he did it twice tonight on five shots-on-goal.  His first goal came at 1:48 of the first, when a splendid feed across the goal mouth from freshman forward Max McHugh (Seattle, Wash.) and an entry pass from senior defenseman Graeme Strukoff (Chilliwack, B.C.) gave him the time, space, and angle that he needed to rip the puck hard past Ferris senior goaltender CJ Motte (St. Claire, Mich., 6-6-0, 15 sv).  The primary assist put McHugh temporarily atop the team’s scoring chart.

Brears would score the game-winning goal on the power play in the third, when a point shot rattled from freshman defenseman Brandon Parker (Faribault, Minn.) around and found his stick after touching that of junior forward Jack Prince (Leicester, England).  The assists for Parker and Prince pushed them to six points, alongside McHugh.  It was a fine night for Chad.  Cheers, buddy.

Penalty Kill

After giving up three, third-period power play goals against Air Force, the Chargers limited Lake Superior to one on Friday and none in ten on Saturday.  Tonight, the Chargers again had problems staying out of the box, committing nine minor penalties resulting in eight power play chances for the homesteading Bulldogs.  The Chargers nearly killed them all, but the Bulldogs struck gold on their seventh when sophomore forward and New York Islanders draftee Kyle Schempp (Saginaw, Mich.) scored to make it a 3-2 game.

A late-period interference penalty by Strukoff led to the Bulldogs pulling Motte for an extra attacker with around :50 left.  While you hate to see them get all the opportunities, the fact is that the Chargers have killed 21 of their last 23 penalties, a 91.3% clip that’s well above their season rate of 84%.

One concern that I (and I’m sure that many of you as well) have with all the penalties is that you take Prince off of the ice.  Anyone who’s watched UAH play even-strength hockey for any length of time has come away with good impressions of Prince and his freshman linemates Brennan Saulnier (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and Josh Kestner (Rocket City, U.S.A.).  Prince leads the team in shots on goal (30) despite losing ice time every time that his team is down by a man or more.  Saluter is second with 24 and Kestner fifth with 19.  With UAH mired at 1.92 goals per game, you want your volume shooters out there as often as you can.

Guerriero

What is there to say about Guerriero?  Last year’s squad struggled with puck possession, and when they did finally get it across the center line, they were often there just to dump, change, and chase.  What we’re seeing right now is a lot better than that, but it still starts between the pipes for the Chargers.  CG35 made 36 saves as the Bulldogs outshot UAH 38-18.  If he wasn’t the best player in blue out on the ice tonight — you could argue that Brears was — he was in the top two or three.

The confidence that exudes from Guerriero radiates out through his teammates, and it’s really clear to me that Parker and fellow freshman defensemen Cody Champagne (Brookfield, Conn.) and Richard Buri (Nitra, Slovakia) know what to do with the puck when they get just a little room to move it out of the zone.  Combine their work with that of Strukoff, senior Ben Reinhardt (Arnprior, Ont.),  junior Frank Misuraca (Clinton Township, Mich.) ,and sophomore Brandon Carlson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and the Chargers have a solid D core that feels like it improves every weekend.

But it’s always going to stop and start with the fantastic Québécois, who pushed his GAA down to 2.23 and his SV% up to .939.  The WCHA is clearly a goalies’ league, what with Motte (8th), Northern Michigan’s Mathias Dahlström (Smedjebacken, Sweden, 1st), and Michigan Tech’s Jamie Phillips (Caledonia, Ont., 2nd) all in the top ten of Division I net minders in terms of goals-allowed average.  Guerriero currently stands at 31st, but more outstanding efforts from him that are coincident with his teammates limiting shot opportunities and strongly possessing the puck could see him pick up his first collegiate shutout.  (I’m sure that folks in Bemidji might start in here by saying something about small sample sizes, but the only people that take that course at Bemidji are math majors, and …)

Random thoughts

  • The go-ahead goal from junior forward Alex Carpenter (Portage, Mich.) was a fantastic workmanlike goal.  He and Saulnier worked to corral a bouncing puck low.  Carpenter hasn’t gotten to play competitive hockey since 2010-11, his final year in the USHL.  After not getting ice at Western Michigan, he came to Huntsville and seems to have found a place to play after sitting out a transfer year.  Alex, we’re excited for you.
  • Sophomore forward Cody Marooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) just kept popping off of my TV screen tonight.  He had two shots on goal, stick-checked a number of pucks, and was really active on the PK.  The Shattuck St. Mary’s product should be joined next season by his brother Joey.
  • Carlson (3), Brears, and Marooney were the only Chargers with more than one SOG.  I’d do something with ±, but they don’t have that for our players.

So the hopes for tomorrow:

  1. Six or fewer minor penalties, no majors.
  2. Fewer than 30 SOG.
  3. At least 28 SOG.
  4. A road sweep.

Keep up with the game tomorrow night, and we’ll be back then.

Oh, one last thing: while the Chargers are 3-1-1 in their last five matches, the hated Bemidji State Beavers are 0-5-0.  The teams are tied for sixth in the WCHA standings with four points apiece.

UAH 5, LSSU 2: It’s Been a Long Time

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Hey, UAH won at home tonight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzG64syKHA

The last Division I home win was back in January 2011 over our least favorite rodents, Bemidji State, a game where Matt Baxter (Toronto, Ont.) scored two of UAH’s three power-play goals and an unassisted, shorthanded goal by (That Damn) Matt Read wasn’t enough to bring the Beavers level.  It may seem a little painful to think about all what I’ll write next, but I think that it’s important.  Why?  This is another turning point.  This is the way up.  This is our road back to .500.

So the last time UAH won a D-I home game:

So let’s talk about why they won.

“Our PK was 10 for 10, and our power play was 3-for-3,” junior forward Jack Prince (Leicester, England) said.  It’s not often that you can say that your special teams are 100%, and tonight it was for us.  When your special teams are 100%, that’s usually going to be a good result, and for us, tonight, it was.”

Prince’s power-play goal put the nail in the coffin in a 5-2 defeat of WCHA foe Lake Superior State University.  The Lakers fall to 2-10-0 (2-6-0 WCHA) on the season, while the Chargers improve to 2-8-2 (1-5-0).

There were significant changes to the lineup.  Senior defenseman Graeme Strukoff (Chiliwack, B.C.) was in and senior defenseman Ben Reinhardt (Arnprior, Ont.) was out.  Junior defenseman Anderson White (Caledon, Ont.) was in so that sophomore defenseman Brandon Carlson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) could play forward.  Sophomore forward Regan Soquila (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and junior forward Alex Carpenter (Portage, Mich.) left the forward rotation for Carlson and senior forward Jeff Vanderlugt (Richmond Hill, Ont.) respectively.

But the most important lineup move was one that didn’t make a change, as sophomore goaltender Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Que.) again started in net for the Chargers.  His 23-save effort was enough to move him to 2-4-1 on the season.

For UAH coach Mike Corbett, playing Guerriero both nights was an instinct.  “He was the best player on the ice.  Matt Larose didn’t lose his spot.  [Guerriero]’s playing so well that we just had to give him the extra game.”  Throughout their tenure as a tandem, neither Guerriero nor Larose had started both nights of a weekend, though each had come to relieve the other for the bulk of a start before playing their full game.  The change surprised many, including both Michael and me.

When I spoke with Guerriero late last season, I asked him what he’d be working on over the summer.  I hadn’t even finished the question when he responded with one word: “Conditioning.”  It always felt to me that Corbett felt uneasy about playing either goaltender both nights regardless of the success from the Friday game.  Witness the Air Force weekend: after a solid night on Friday, Carmine gave way to Matt on Saturday, who stopped 36-of-39.  Even after stopping 61 shots in a game last season, Guerriero knew that he’d have to come back stronger for his sophomore campaign.

“I worked hard this summer with my goalie coach, and I think that it paid off, honestly,” Guerriero said.  He was effusive in his praise for his teammates — despite enduring 10 power plays, UAH allowed just 25 shots on goal.  “I was just there in case they needed me.”  When asked if he missed the extra work, he said, “That’s okay.  I like it.  It’s what I’m there for.”

Senior captain Doug Reid (Innisfil, Ont.) was elated after the win.  “It feels great, and it’s been a long time coming,” he said of his first Division I home win.  “We knew that we had to come in and compete.  We really out-worked them, and we got the result that we wanted.”

Reid praised his teammates’ work on the PK.  “We play a very disciplined game when killing penalties.  We know that we’re a defensive team, so our focus is to just get to the puck and get it out.”

The Chargers got goals from five different skaters.  Sophomore forward Cody Marooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) got the first goal of the night with a shorthanded marker that came most of the way through a bench minor served by Prince for too many men on the ice.  Marooney forced a turnover with pressure and sliced right through the Laker defense and past freshman netminder Gordon Defiel (Stillwater, Minn.), who had just 25 saves on the night.

Freshman defenseman Richard Buri (Nitra, Slovakia) scored fifteen seconds after serving a minor tripping penalty to push the Chargers to 2-0 5:22 into the second period.  Laker goals off of the sticks of senior forward and assistant captain Chris Ciotti (Oxford, Mich.) and sophomore forward Garret Clemment (Wausau, Wisc.) knotted the game up at two apiece with just 3:23 left in the second.

But a tripping penalty by sophomore forward Gus Correale (Prince George, B.C.) set up the Chargers’ power play with their first opportunity of the night after killing seven Laker power plays.  Freshman forward Max McHugh (Seattle, Wash.) made the Lakers pay for their sin a minute into the advantage, and the Chargers would retain a one-goal lead into the third.

The UAH offense would turn into overdrive in the final frame, peppering Defiel with ten shots, including a power-play marker by Vanderlugt in his first action in two weeks.  Prince would roof the puck to finish the Lakers off, laughing off an early miscue.  “I had a wide open net early and hit the post, and I knew then that it would be a long night.”

The Chargers travel to Ferris State next weekend for a tilt against the tough Bulldogs, who nearly doubled their season scoring output with fourteen goals this weekend against Alaska-Anchorage.  “I’m super excited,” Guerriero said.  “It’s a nice rink and very rowdy.  We just want to keep up this momentum that the boys have and pick up two W’s on the road.”

And then there’s Michigan Tech in two weeks, who are the likely #1 when the next round of polls come out, as they defeated Bemidji State tonight to move to 10-0-0 (thanks, boys) while the other unbeaten all lost this weekend.  “I’m excited for that as well,” Guerriero said.  “It’s a challenge, and we want the opportunity to show everyone what we’re capable of.”  The Huskies go to Mankato next weekend to face the Mavericks, and the Verizon Wireless Center is a tough place to play.  That said, the Huskies are rolling right now, and we could have the #1 team in town the day after Thanksgiving.

Lake State 1, UAH 0

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See, I’ve been sitting on this idea that I’d start any tweet of a Brennan Saulnier goal with “BETTER CALL SAUL!”  Unfortunately for the Chargers, the freshman forward from Halifax, Nova Scotia took two major penalties, and the best efforts of the Charger penalty killers, led by Carmine Guerriero (33sv, Montréal, Que.), could not keep all Laker shots out of the net.  Lake Superior State University junior forward Bryce Schmitt (Minot, N.D.) bested Guerriero (1-4-1) on Saulnier’s second major, and that’s all she wrote.

The Chargers’ penalty problems worked against them in this contest.  The home squad spent seven of the last eight minutes of the first period with a man in the penalty box.  Even so, the Chargers led the shots on goal race 11-9 after the first 20 minutes.

The second period was not as kind, as the Lakers outshot UAH 16-6 after a minor interference penalty to Richard Buri (Nitra, Slovakia) followed by a major one to Saulnier gave the Lakers plenty of opportunity to turn the west end of the Propst Arena into a shooting gallery.  A late-period power play for UAH didn’t prove fruitful, as freshman goaltender Gordon Defiel (Stillwater, Minn.) stopped all of those shots on his way to a 26-save shutout performance and the win (2-7-0).

The third period was largely uneventful, with no penalties called and the teams each putting nine shots on net.

This was a frustrating game for everyone, to be sure.  After a win and a tie last weekend at Air Force, everyone was feeling it — and we all had high hopes for Saulnier, who was the WCHA Rookie of the Week for his efforts in Colorado Springs.  Lake Superior isn’t setting the world on fire, either, and we all know that there are playoff implications for this series.

Should Saulnier sit out on Saturday night?  I certainly argued for it in the moment earlier tonight.  I think that he might do so if the Chargers had depth, but they don’t, as senior forward Jeff Vanderlugt (Richmond Hill, Ont.) has been absent from the lineup after his auspicious start, which likely means that he is injured.  (I have not discussed his status with any of the coaches.)  Vandy is a key cog in the Chargers system, a big body with good skills who led the team in goals and points his sophomore year and was tied for third in goals last year.  Corbett doesn’t have any depth: UAH has started just 13 forwards all season.  Corbett would have to dig into the guys he brought in to fill out the roster, and I’m fairly sure that he doesn’t want to do that in a league matchup.

I’m focused on the penalty situation so much because it obscured the rest of the game.  Killing 16 minutes of penalties wears a team down, and a team with UAH’s scoring woes — seven goals last weekend notwithstanding — will find it hard to net many goals when they have the luxury of three forwards on the ice.  After those first twelve minutes, UAH had difficulty establishing a lot of flow in the way that we saw last weekend.

It will come.  Let’s hope that it comes tomorrow night and we can get our first league win out of the way in November.

UAH 3, Air Force 3

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It was the best of seconds, it was the worst of thirds.  It was the age of the Bulldog Line, it was the age of bad penalties and worse kills.  It was the epoch of belief that maybe we had turned the corner, it was the epoch of incredulity that we blew a three-goal lead.  It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.  We had a road sweep before us, we had a blown three-goal lead before us.  We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the sin bin.  In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

It was a tie, but man, I never expected to be disappointed in a three-goal weekend against a non-conference opponent.  (Okay, WCHA brethren, we did our job for PWR help.)

UAH scored three goals in 5:08 in the second half of the second period, two off of the stick of senior forward Craig Pierce (Roswell, Ga.) to take their first three-goal lead against a Division I foe since a road game against Maine in February 2012.  In fact, that game also saw a hot line, with forwards Kyle Lysaght (Marietta, Ga.), Justin Cseter (Menomomie, Wisc.), and Mac Roy (Chiliwack, B.C.) each netting a goal and two assists.

Pierce’s goals came as the Bulldog Line brought the pressure to Falcon sophomore goaltender Chris Truehl (Stoughton, Wisc.), with Pierce streaking through the slot to pick up rebounds from sophomore forward Brent Fletcher (New Westminster, B.C.) and then senior forward and captain Doug Reid (Innisfail, Ont.) to finish a flurry of UAH scoring attempts.

Unfortunately for UAH, the Falcons must have read the script from that Maine game during the second intermission, as the Falcons equaled the Black Bears’ three-goal output in the final regulation frame.  After killing the first nine penalties of the weekend, UAH conceded three power play goals in four opportunities, the last two coming just 1:31 apart, to bring the game to level 5:48 in regulation.

Unlike last night, there were no late-game heroics.  But unlike that Maine result, the Chargers kept the puck out of their net in the overtime, and the boys in blue hop a plane ride home with three more points in the CHA standings (hey wait) but sadly without their first road sweep in five years (also against Air Force).

Mike Corbett is now 2-3-1 all-time against the Serratores.

There was a lot to like in this game.  Chief among them is sophomore goaltender Matt Larose (0-4-1, Nanaimo, B.C.), who was solid in net (36 sv).  Next comes the pressure from the aforementioned Bulldog Line, who played good transition hockey and really brought the pressure from the tops of the circles on in.  Third was the forechecking game, which wavered in the first part of the second period but was always at least passable the rest of the game — and often better than that.

In the end, what we’ll all remember from this one is that the boys had a three-goal lead and gacked it with four third-period penalties and a fifth from the second that carried 1:48 into the third.  Setting yourself up to kill nearly half the period in penalties is asking for disaster, and that’s exactly what the Chargers got in this one.  Simply put, the Chargers have to learn how to win games like that, and staying out of the box is high on the list of things that influence that, even if the refs are making bad calls.

We’ll see you next week at the VBC for games against Lake Superior State University.  Puck drop is 7:07 Central both nights.

UAH 4, Air Force 2

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It had been a year since the Chargers had taken a lead into an intermission and won the game — last year’s win over Bemidji.  And yet the Chargers went into the second intermission having taken a strong hold on their game against the United States Air Force Academy at the Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo, on Friday night.

After the Falcons opened scoring with a fluky goal where sophomore netminder Carmine Guerriero‘s (Montréal, Que.) clearing attempt bounced off a Charger defenseman and onto the stick of junior forward Max Hartner (Greenwood Village, Colo.), UAH knotted the game five minutes later when freshman defenseman Cody Champagne (Brookfield, Conn.) picked up a puck on the left point and fired it past Falcon sophomore netminder Chris Truehl (Stoughton, Wisc.).

The Chargers were strong with puck possession in the second frame, edging the Falcons 10-9 in shots on goal while giving up three power play opportunities to the home squad.  Junior defenseman Frank Misuraca (Clinton Township, Mich.) received an outlet pass from freshman forward Brennan Saulnier (Halifax, Nova Scotia), charging down the right side and ripping a shot from just inside the top of the right circle to push UAH ahead 2-1 with a little over half of the game gone.

The Falcons zoomed out to begin the third, forechecking hard and pressuring the puck deep into the Chargers’ end.  The Chargers met that intensity, but Air Force knotted the game at two when senior forward Cole Gunner (Richfield, Minn.) took a fine feed from senior forward Chad Demers (Grafton, N.D.) along the blue line to the top of the right circle.  Gunner skated into the slot and ripped a puck just under the crossbar and past Guerriero (24 sv, 1-3-1) with 9:51 remaining in regulation.

There was no apparent nervousness on Mike Corbett’s bench, and UAH played with purpose and pressure.  And then …

Freshman forward Josh Kestner‘s (Huntsville) second goal of the season came at just the right time, spurring the Chargers to push even harder while grounding the Falcons and Truehl (2-6-0, 20 sv).  Frank Serratore called his timeout and no doubt looked at his protégé a couple dozen feet to his left.  “Is he really going to beat me the first time he faces me?”

Corbett is now 2-3-0 against Serratores.

Junior forward Jack Prince (London) scored the empty-net goal on what was perhaps an ill-advised clearing of the puck 190 feet down the ice.  But they don’t ask how — they ask how many, and it’s Prince’s first goal of the year.

So let’s look at this.  There are positives here, and not just the first win of the year (although Lord knows that’s awesome).  But here’s what happened:

  • Puck pressure was really strong all game, and even if the Herd didn’t keep possession of the puck at all times and spent most of its time with the puck around the boards, the fact is that UAH was in the offensive ice for far more time than we’ve seen all season.
  • Guerriero and his teammates shrugged off a gaffe that led to a fluke goal.  Let’s be honest: last year’s team might have crumpled under that weight.  Instead, they tightened things back up, played with purpose and confidence, and took the game back to the Falcons.
  • The movement of the puck on the power play was really good, especially at the points.  Champagne’s shot was just the kind of thing that we’ve been seeing from UAH defensemen all year.  In fact, six of UAH’s fourteen goals come from blueliners: Misuraca with three, Brandon Carlson (Huntingon Beach, Calif.) with two, and Champagne’s goal tonight.  With the forwards struggling to score — only Kestner has multiple goals — the goalies need support from somewhere, and they’re getting it from the guys closest to them.
  • Misuraca’s goal came on a nice breakout.  Rather than forcing the rush up ice the way some of his compatriots do, he saw that he had space and took a feed from Saulnier.  Misuraca was looking to pass to the center of the ice after crossing into the offensive zone, but when there weren’t any good lanes available, he took the shot.  That’s the kind of play that we haven’t seen much of from the Chargers for the last two years.  Last year, we would’ve been indecisive and lost our speed advantage while either taking a poor shot or making an ill-advised pass into someone’s feet.
  • Kestner notching his second goal is big.  Two goals in nine games puts him close to double-digit pace; no Charger has potted 10+ goals since Matt Sweazey (Toronto, Ont., 12 goals) in 2008-09.  Kestner scored goals in bunches last year, but the question was there: would statistics in the GOJHL transfer well to NCAA Division I?  It may not be a jump, but his performance so far is a step up.  No pressure, Kesty. (Get a goal at home next weekend, okay?)
  • Guerriero was sharp despite not seeing 40+ shots.  26 shots on goal was the second-fewest that he’s faced in his career, bested only by his first home start in a 1-0 loss to Bemidji State.  The coaching staff really likes to argue that they have two equal goalies, but it’s starting to look like the little guy may be pulling ahead.  His .934 SV% is well ahead of sophomore goaltender Matt Larose (Nanaimo, B.C., .909), and his GAA of 2.57 is a good bit better than his counterpart’s 4.00.  I certainly expect that the rotation will stay in place, and there’s no doubt that Larose is one heck of a goalie.  (In fact, my bet in the long run is that he’ll be the better college goaltender.)
  • Not only did the team get to carry a lead into intermission, but they held it for half a period — and then didn’t back down after going back level.  I can tell you nothing else about the game than that, and you’d be happy.

But I’ll only really be happy with a sweep, and I’m betting that’s true for everyone inside that locker room.

Thoughts As We Gear Up for the BG Series

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[Hi, remember me?  I still write for this site.]

Today was the first of the season’s coaches’ luncheons.  Not only did we get a chance to hear from BG’s Chris Bergeron — always a pleasure — but we heard from new WCHA Commissioner Bill Robertson, who is visiting the Rocket City for the first time.  After we heard from both men about the weather — de rigueur — it was time to get down to business.  Among the commissioner’s comments were these nuggets:

  • “I’m having a lot of fun in my first year as Commissioner.  … I want to be a very good listener.”  Funny, sir, the Internet has a lot to say about WCHA.tv…
  • “The league has a great plan, a great name, and a great history. … We’re looking to build new traditions, and one of those is here tonight with Bowling Green and UAH, both new entrants into the league.”
  • Since we’ve heard his clarion call for two or more teams in the NCAAs, I’ll finish with this one about the league post season.  “Who knows?  [The WCHA Final Five] could be down here someday.”  It sounds to me that the league is thinking about downsizing the tournament after the 2017 visit to the X.

Next up was BG boss Chris Bergeron, who noted that “this is the first team of guys who wait to me and my staff, ‘I want to be a Falcon, Coach.’ ”  This is what every coach wants, to be sure.  Make no mistake: this is Bergeron’s program, and after an 18-win season last year, they look to be on the way up.

In talking about recruiting, Bergeron says that they often have to answer the question, “What does 1984 (the year BG won their national title) have to do with 2014?”  This is a common refrain from all coaches whose programs’ past success is in their rear view mirror.  We know about that ourselves: the D-II days are long set in stone, and Jared Ross, Scott Munroe, and Cam Talbot are not walking through that door.  Lastly, in discussing the scuffle for recruits, Bergeron said, “Well, I wouldn’t want to get into a (physical) fight with Gavin Morgan, that’s for sure.”

 

Lastly, we heard from Coach Corbett, the man who is inspiring confidence all through the Tennessee Valley. The team lost a couple of close games last weekend at CC, 3-2 and 4-3, and of the weekend, Corbs said, “Last weekend was a culmination of everything that we started last spring.”  He mentioned the turnover in the locker room between graduation and the release of a handful of players.  Returning players were pushed through a grinding physical regimen combined with team-building exercises.  When the players returned, “everybody passed the eye test, and we picked up where we left off.  They held each other accountable, and we threw eight freshmen right there with them.”

It isn’t just that new blood that is sparking the team.  “There’s a little swagger and a glint in some guys’ eyes,” Corbett said, “especially with Vandy (Jeff Vanderlugt) and Doug Reid.”  Of the big man, Corbett said, “Jeff Vanderlugt had the best weekend that he’s had since I’ve been here,” a sentiment echoed to me later in the hallway by UAH assistant Matt Thomas.

But that new blood is important.  “The five freshmen saw the ice, and they just need more experience.”  Cody Champagne, Max McHugh, Brandon Parker, Brennan Saulnier, and Josh Kestner generally stayed out of the box (a slashing minor to McHugh on Friday followed by hooking minors to Saulnier and Kestner on Saturday), took some shots (six on Friday, five on Saturday), and were a combined -2 on Friday and -5 on Saturday.

When it comes to goaltending, Corbett is still really thrilled with what he has in Matt Larose and Carmine Guerriero.  “They’re both going to play this weekend because they’re both pretty damn good.”  Corbett mentioned that Rick Ice has been coming in as a volunteer goaltending assistant coach, which has made an impact on their development, “especially because Gavin doesn’t have to speak to Carmine in half-French, half-English on the side.”  Corbett also praised Jordan Uhelski as “more than just a third goalie”, saying that “he’ll make it very hard for us to recruit another goalie for next season, because he’s that good.”

 

Some thoughts:

  • BG is a solid program on the rise.  They lost a lot this offseason, but they will be looking to prove themselves early in the season.  They have to view coming into Huntsville as a chance for a road sweep, since two close games against a team that won just seven games last year doesn’t mean instant respect (unless you’re a USCHO poll voter).  Also, BG is one of the two teams that the Chargers defeated last season, and you know that losing in OT on home ice still smarts for those guys.  Corbett likened this game to “two freight trains heading down the same track,” and I think that’s what you’ll see.
  • Graeme Strukoff is apparently out with a lower body injury.  Get well, Struky.  His injury opens the ice for appearances by Anderson White and Richard Buri.  I would expect Ben Reinhardt to get top-four minutes alongside one of the freshmen, and my guess would be Champagne.  I’m probably wrong.  I wouldn’t be surprised for White to see the ice one night while Buri gets it on the other one.  Hopefully they’re both willing to make their physical presence felt on the ice, as that’s definitely how they’ll continue to get ice.
  • Corbett noted that the team has increases in both speed and puck possession, to which I can only say, “Hallelujah.”  I’m really excited to see McHugh, Saulnier, and Kestner in the flesh.
  • The native-son cheers won’t be for Kestner only, as Bryan Siersma is on the roster to provide needed depth after a couple of committed players were unable to be on this year’s squad.  Welcome home, Bryan.  Hopefully you’ll get some ice time at home soon.
  • Seriously, we need a home win, and it would be amazing if that came off of a Josh Kestner goal.  No pressure, Kesty.  None at all.  (Top shelf, stick side, please.)
  • Lastly, I can’t confirm this, but I have heard that one of Michael’s colorful suggestions for this season has come true.

See everyone at the rink!  I’m not broadcasting this year, so you can find me in my game-worn Cam Talbot black third jersey upstairs by the pep band.  Michael and I will figure out tweeting as the games go by.

CHARGER PRIDE!

Four Crazy Years

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Cole Leaves Program for US National Team Development Program

Cole’s replacement should be announced later this week.

That’s right: today is four years from the day that Coach Cole moved to Ann Arbor to work with the USNTDP, and who could blame him?  UAH Hockey was headed into uncharted waters with life as an independent coming up quickly on the horizon.  None of us knew then how that would go, and goodness knows that it went some very crazy places.  We can look on these last four years as a cycle borne of the complete instability of that uncertainty.  But we know that these things are true:

  1. We’re in a league.
  2. We have a great head coach that’s taking this program forward.
  3. We have a solid recruiting class coming in that is poised to take on large roles from the outset.

Danton’s departure is one of the very first things that I covered here on UAHHockey.com.  He and I stay in touch, and I assure you that he wishes the program well.  I hope that we will soon be a program that can snag one of his kids’ attention for a commitment to play for the Chargers for four years.  That may be more than four years down the line, but hopefully sooner than later.

2014-15 UAH Hockey Schedule Released!

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We’re excited to let you know that the University has released the 2014-15 UAH hockey schedule!  Before we give you the whole thing, I want to pass along some highlights:

  1. All of our non-conference games are on the road, which isn’t what we want, but this won’t be the case going forward.  We’ve heard the names — and maybe you have, too — and there’s some good games coming down the pike.  We play at Colorado College in the first series for their new head coach.  We play WCHA foe Northern Michigan in a non-conference series driven by a previously-contracted matchup.  We go back to Colorado Springs the next weekend to play Mike Corbett’s old Air Force squad.  Our NC slate finishes just before Christmas at Nebraska-Omaha.  Mavericks fans, Clarke Saunders has no eligibility left.
  2. The schedule is winter-heavy when it comes to home dates, with five home weekends split between January and February. This will help with attendance, as UAH has historically done better when we’re not up against football games.  (Who would have thought that?!)
  3. We get the USNTDP Under-18 squad this season.  U-18 won the IIHF World Championship gold under the hand of Danton Cole, so we won’t see our old coach then.
  4. The WCHA schedule rotation has you playing four games against five teams and two games against four.  Each team has a designated rival, and ours is Bowling Green: we will see them every season.  If you played a team two games in the previous season — which would be Ferris State and Lake Superior at home and Alaska and Michigan Tech on the Road — you play them four times the next season.  The four non-BG teams that we played twice last year — Bemidji, Northern Michigan, Alaska-Anchorage, and Minnesota State — will be split between home games (NMU, Anchorage) and road games (Bemidji, Mankato).  Yes, we only play the Beavers in Minnesota.  Fret not, fans: we’ll see the Green in Huntsville in each of the following three seasons.

Without any further ado, your 2014-15 UAH hockey schedule!

  • Oct. 10-11 at Colorado College
  • Oct. 17-18 vs Bowling Green*
  • Oct. 24-25 at Minnesota State*
  • Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Northern Michigan
  • Nov. 7-8 at Air Force
  • Nov. 14-15 vs Lake Superior State*
  • Nov. 21-22 at Ferris State*
  • Nov. 28-29 vs Michigan Tech*
  • Dec. 5-6 OFF
  • Dec. 12-13 at Alaska*
  • Dec. 20-21 at Nebraska Omaha
  • Dec. 26-27 OFF
  • Jan. 2-3 vs Alaska Anchorage*
  • Jan. 9-10 at Bemidji State*
  • Jan. 16-17 vs Northern Michigan*
  • Jan. 23-24 vs USA Under-18^
  • Jan. 30-31 at Michigan Tech*
  • Feb. 6-7 OFF
  • Feb. 13-14 at Lake Superior State*
  • Feb. 20-21 vs Ferris State*
  • Feb. 27-28 vs Alaska*
  • Mar. 6-7 at Bowling Green*

* WCHA series. ^ Exhibition.

We’ll see you at the VBC!  When we know more about promotional details and the PPV offering, we’ll update you.