Husky Ice Hockey Blog

Season Recap, What Did We Learn?

2010-02-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

The 2009-2010 season was a roller coaster for the Washington Huskies. Ultimately, the team finished 2nd in the regular season and 2nd in the PAC-8 tournament. The Huskies also won the I-5 cup for the first time in 6 years. You'd have to consider the season a great success overall. While the disappointment of the tournament finals defeat still lingers, this group of Huskies should be proud of itself. A young team (only 3 seniors), there were a lot of questions headed into the season. At the end of the season, the questions were answered.

WHERE WOULD THE SCORING COME FROM (HOW DO YOU REPLACE STEFAN SOBIEK)?
The Huskies scoring this year would come from a surprising source, a balanced group of freshmen - Corey James, Phil Harezlak and Dan Herda. Senior Arne Krogh and Daniel Carson contributed nicely to the offense as well.

HOW STRONG WOULD THE DEFENSE BE?
With returning senior Arne Krogh, juniors Tyler MacMillan and David Schulman and sophomores Bryce Johnson and Daniel Carson, the blue line looked like a solid core going into the season. I think at the end of the season we can say that the defense was indeed tough. Krogh, Carson and Johnson can fly on the ice and deliver huge hits when needed. Schulman and MacMillan added toughness and grit in front of the Husky net. If there was a weakness on the blueline it would be depth after these five.

WHAT KIND OF GOALTENDING DO THE HUSKIES HAVE?
The Huskies rotated Danny Dougan and Shane Kanady in net all season with Dougan playing the most games. This area is hard to measure because defense is truly a team responsibility and is usually unfairly portrayed in goaltender stats. You'd like to see a goaltender have a goals against average (goals scored per game) under 3.00 and a save percentage above 90%. Both UW goaltenders were outside of these numbers. Again, you cannot blame this squarely on the goaltenders alone. For comparison's sake, Oregon's #1 goaltender Arbuthnot had better numbers and was generally considered the top goaltender in the conference. Dougan had better numbers than USC's goaltenders and the rest of the conference. So we'll put the goaltending #2 in the conference (season total) for argument's sake. Not bad at all.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR NEXT YEAR
The Huskies will have to replace a talented defenseman in Arne Krogh first off. His absence will require that someone step up and replace a bruising, puck moving defenseman.

The Huskies will also need to work on scoring depth. The freshman line dominated, but after this line, scoring was inconsistent. The Huskies will need to add a potent second scoring line to compete for the title again.

Penalties, penalties, penalties. I doubt the Huskies took more penalties than other teams in the PAC-8 this season. It seemed to be the timing of them. (For example, giving USC a 5-3 advantage at the end of a championship game.) This team needs to keep the elbows down on hits. There were many calls this season on what would be clean hits, but the elbows were up high (I know, I have lots of pictures of them). I believe as the team matures, you will see better discretion in this area. That being said, the Huskies were absolutely lethal on the powerplay this season, therefore offsetting some of the penalties taken.

CONCLUSION
Great season this year. An entertaining team to watch. Ups and downs as to be expected. The sky is the limit for this team next year. The entire team gained invaluable experience this year. Almost the entire roster should be back next year. If the players buy into the team concept and skate like they can, we could see the PAC-8 trophy in Seattle next year for the first time ever. Seriously.

Two Months Later...

2010-02-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of December I spoke about the Washington Huskies via this blog as an underachieving team. That post stirred a lot of debate, hurt some feelings and received some nasty feedback. At that point the Huskies were 5-9 and had fed off of the now winless Cougars for 4 of the 5 wins.

Since that point, the Huskies have gone 7-5 with one of the losses coming in a shootout and 4 of the 5 losses coming against tough non-conference opponents. When it mattered, the Huskies showed up in the conference games catapulting to second place in the PAC-8 by the end of the season. What has been the difference? Everyone will have opinions but I argue that three key things have happened: 1) the Huskies found a legitimate scoring line, 2) improved team defense and toughness and 3) better effort.

Going into the season, I would think most Husky fans would guess that the likes of Jordan Chernesky, Tristan Wickliff, Byron Ma, and Arne Krogh would lead the team in scoring. Now at the end of the season, the dominating scorers have been the freshman line comprised of Corey James (18G, 20A), Phil Harezlak (15G, 17A) and Dan Herda (9G, 8A). Corey James is just a beast on the puck, often taking on 2-3 defenders. Harezlak is a smooth skater that seems to pick up rebounds wherever he is on the ice. Herda is a sniper that can pick a corner out when the team needs a big goal. The veterans have contributed, but the one I want to mention is Wickliff, who is 6th on the team in scoring. This guy has been snake bitten lately, let's be honest. He's had his chances over the last month and is just not getting the bounces. When he finally gets that bounce, he is going to explode, mark my words because his work ethic on the ice is there. Hopefully it happens during the PAC-8 tournament.

The Huskies team defense has improved. Sure it helps having Arne Krogh, Bryce Johnson and Daniel Carson (3rd leading scorer) on your blue line. The guys can just flat out skate. Krogh missed most of the first half of the season. However, I think Tyler MacMillan has had a great second half, which was exemplified in the series against USC. I also think the forwards have worked harder on both the backcheck (coming back to support the defense) and on their forecheck pressure, causing more turnovers. Chernesky is a relentless hitter and Eric Pearson has found a role as a great penalty killer and defensive forward. I mentioned team toughness earlier. The first half of the season the Huskies were content taking shots from the outside or from the top of circles. I think midway through the season the Huskies decided to go to the net, and go there hard to pick up the ugly goals.

Finally, the effort has been there. I'm not sure this was a team before the Christmas break. There were a lot of individual talents on the team, but I don't know if you could say they were playing for each other. The weekend versus the Ducks in Eugene began to change that I think. That weekend united the roster. You see a better effort pressuring the puck, a better effort protecting the goaltenders, and the willingness to take a price to score big goals. There are less lazy penalties (hooking, holding, etc) though the penalties still need to be reduced.

Next up is the PAC-8 tournament. This team will go as far as it believes it can. The majority of this team went to the finals last year, so the experience is there. Though the Ducks believe the Huskies were lucky against them this season (see the Daily Emerald articles), the Huskies have a legitimate shot to win the tourney. I will post a separate PAC-8 tournament analysis soon.

So this season was a tale of two halves? You bet.

Co-Photo of the Game - January 29th

2010-01-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

Co-Photo of the Game - January 29th

2010-01-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

Photo of the Game - January 23rd

2010-01-27T20:31:00.001-08:00

Photo of the Game - January 22nd

2010-01-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Photo of the Game - January 9th

2010-01-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

Photo of the Game - January 8th

2010-01-27T20:28:00.001-08:00

Home Games Against Idaho Canceled

2009-12-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

The two home games against Idaho this coming weekend (December 11th and 12th) have been canceled. Come join the Huskies in 2010 when they host Long Beach State on January 8th and 9th!

Where is UW Hockey Headed?

2009-12-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

The problem with a club sport is just that – it’s a club sport. Not quite big enough to be funded by the university, but larger than intramural sports. Ice hockey is also an expensive sport. Players often must pay upwards of $2500 just to play one season. On top of that, ice hockey is also a highly competitive sport. UW plays in the PAC-8 which includes all of the PAC-10 schools minus Oregon State (no program) and Arizona (a D1, funded team). Each year teams come close to pulling out of the league due to a shortage of players or money, or both.

While the players are often footing the bill, they also sign up, commit, to a team and an organization that has been around for a number of years. In Washington’s case, 90 years to be exact. The players and coaches that have worn the Washington sweater in the past have always tried to compete, grow and improve the program. Can the same be said about the ’09-10 version of Washington hockey?

Thus far, this squad has asked for an easier ’09-10 schedule, which was granted. It has voted against new jerseys even though they were badly needed. Jerseys were given to the players anyway thanks to VERY generous sponsor donations. In addition, four games have been canceled after the players voted to skip road trips due to the financial burden. There have been players missing practices or games, and poor effort on the ice. The locker room appears to be divided between the players that want to compete and the players that only want to claim that they play UW ice hockey to family and friends. Worse yet, a very talented freshman class is learning these ways.

In the Northwest we can agree that Eastern Washington is the program that should be emulated. The Eastern program is a club sport that grew from a fledgling hockey team to a team that the university built a hockey rink on campus for. Eastern’s players pay the same dues, have the same travel demands, the same vigorous practice schedule and full class loads. Yet the Eagles' program has exploded over the last decade.

UW hockey is a delicate balance of commitment, funding, competitiveness and overall program goals. The coaches have a responsibility to the entire program. The players have a responsibility to each other. Alumni members have a responsibility to give back to the program. Is the entire UW hockey organization (present and past players/coaches/volunteers/sponsors) satisfied with fielding a team that just shows up year after year in the PAC-8 or a team that continues to grow, fulfill its commitment, and increase sponsorship opportunities?

Should the coaches dictate where the program goes? The players? Both? Where do you think the UW program is headed? What do you want to do about it?

Photo of the Game - November 14th

2009-11-15T13:38:00.001-08:00

Photo of the Game - October 17th

2009-10-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Photo of the Game - October 16th

2009-10-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Photo of the Game - October 3rd

2009-10-04T16:41:00.001-07:00

2009-2010 Season Preview

2009-10-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

The Huskies will start the 2009-2010 season with quite a few roster changes. Gone from last year's team are the likes of Stefan Sobiek, Captain Tyler Durrell, Cory Jewett, Jeremy Gelms and Joey Forgette. I will attempt to run down some of the key questions the Huskies have to figure out for this coming year.

Offense
Where will the scoring come from? Last year's team was heavily dependant on scoring from Stefan Sobiek. If opposing teams shut him down, the Huskies had troubles scoring goals. Tristan Wickliff and Jordan Chernesky seem like the obvious choices to fill in the gap left by Sobiek. Both have a year of experience under their belts now and should begin to show their talent. If the Huskies want to challenge for the Pac-8 crown however, they will need to find a legitimate second scoring line. Nick Taylor, Eric Pearson, Byron Ma and Matt Bessee seem like the obvious answers for additional scoring. Which one of these players will step up this season? Look for the blue line to pitch in on offense as well. Both Bryce Johnson and Daniel Carson are smooth skaters with great shots from the point.

Another question for this group will be grit. Joey Forgette, Cory Jewett and Tyler Durrell provided much needed grit up front to mix it up with opposing defenses last year. Who will step up and provide the grit for this year's squad?

Defense
This area should be a strong point for the '09-10 Husky team as many blue liners gained a valuable year of experience in the Pac-8. Tyler MacMillan and Arne Krogh will provide needed experience on the blue line. Daniel Carson, Bryce Johnson and Sean Hale will return as smarter, more experienced players. The key for this group of course will be that they remain healthy for the year. This group suffered a lot of injuries last year which shuffled the lineup quite a bit at times.

Goaltending
Last year the Huskies tried to juggle a three man goaltender rotation which must have been difficult for both the goalies and coaches. This year, Shane Kanady and Danny Dougan will return and will be in a more familiar two-man rotation. Both of these goaltenders showed flashes of brilliance last year and will be better off with the year of experience. A key for this group will be how they support each other and how hard they work to improve their craft.

Coaching
Coach David Kell returns as the Huskies head coach but will no longer have his assistant coach Derek Johnson beside him. As of now it appears that Coach Kell will try to juggle the entire team schedule and game management. The question here will be Coach Kell's energy and will he be able to maintain the crazy schedule. He will rely on the team captains more heavily you would think.

Husky Hockey Web Site Has Moved

2009-05-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to announce that the official web site of the University of Washington hockey team has moved to the following address: http://www.huskyicehockey.com

The move was done for several reasons, most of them behind the scenes. Moving a web site is never easy, especially one that has had the same address for so long. Enjoy the site at its new home, with updated content. As always, thank you for supporting Husky hockey.

Web Site Down

2009-04-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

The Husky Hockey Web Site is down - Day 4. There is a problem with the server right now.

The site will have content updated throughout the summer, so keep checking in.

New Look Husky Hockey Website!

2008-12-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

- http://www.huskyhockey.net/ -

UW Hockey is announcing its new web site which has been posted today. The site may be slow today because many people are hitting it at once.

Links and photo galleries have been updated, with more content coming soon. Look for new items like video clips, fan polls, player bios, desktop wallpapers - also coming very soon. Make sure you have the most current internet browser installed on your computer. Also, the site features Adobe Flash content, but just about everyone should have this installed by now. Hopefully you will agree that there is renewed focus on the team and players with the new site.

Items that you are used to such as the archive pages and the team store are being reworked and will be incorporated into the new web site in the near future. We certainly don't want to cut off our past.

What does this mean for the blog? In the short term, the answer is I am not sure. The game summaries, etc. will now be posted on the "news" page on the web site. I envision the blog being more of a behind the scenes look at the team, a more informal site - which is why it was originally started. Just not sure how much time I will have to update both. The priority will be the upkeep of the team's web site.

I'd like to thank Vu Ha for all of his behind the scenes magic with the servers and moving of the site (the address is the same, but the site moved servers - and cities for that matter!). I'd like to thank Terrance Creighton for not laughing at my original site design, making good suggestions and setting up the code behind the site.

I'd love to hear feedback on the new site which can be either comments posted on this blog or by shooting me an email at mastimages@gmail.com I am interested in the speed, what you like, don't like, and things you'd like to see added.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Husky Fans! Enjoy the time off and time spent with family and friends. The Huskies resume practice on Monday and have games the first weekend in December against Idaho at home.

UW Lights the Lamp, Sweeps Cougs

2008-11-23T09:31:00.000-08:00

The Huskies goal scoring continued on Saturday night in Cheney. They may want to play over there all the time now. Returning to the scene of the drubbings from Eastern Washington early in the season, you'd think the Huskies wouldn't like the rec building over there. But after putting up 17 goals in two nights, things may be a little different! The Huskies beat the Cougars 10-2, completing a weekend sweep and jumping the Cougs in the Pac 8 standings.

Freshman Danny Dougan got his second start in a row in the crease and played a solid game. A GAA of 2 will win a lot of games over the course of the season. The hat trick show continued as well with senior Joey Forgette scoring 4 goals leading the way for the Huskies. Arne Krogh scored 2 goals and Tristan Wickliff, Tyler Durrell, Matt Bessee, and Stefan Sobiek all scoring a goal each. Congratulations Huskies!

The Huskies do not play any games this week as there is a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. They return to play the first weekend in December hosting the Idaho Vandals in what will surely be a pair of physical contests.

7's Are Wild

2008-11-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

The Huskies beat the Cougs tonight in Cheney by a final of 7-1, picking up an important Pac 8 win. Danny Dougan picked up the win in goal for the Dawgs. Captain Tyler Durrell and Stefan Sobiek were the goal scoring specialists in this one, both getting hat tricks. Bryce Johnson continued to show his two-way skills by also adding a goal.

The Huskies scored first in the game and took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. After two periods the score was 3-1. Then the Dawgs exploded for four more goals in the final frame to put the game away.

Both teams square off on Saturday night again in Cheney. Game time is 7:30 pm.

Heartbreaking Loss in a Shootout

2008-11-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

The Huskies lost a heartbreaker tonight to the UCLA Bruins in a shootout 5-4. The effort was there tonight - the team skated after loose pucks and battled harder. The strange thing about this game is that the Huskies would control play minutes at a time and keep the Bruins pinned in their own end. UCLA would only be able to clear their zone when #51, Daniel Vaynter would carry the puck out. So what happened? It was just a good, close game that the Huskies came up a little short in.

Senior Jeremy Gelms got the start in net tonight. UW took the first penalty and UCLA promptly scored on the powerplay. But the Huskies would answer on their own powerplay a couple of minutes later by guess who, yup, Stefan Sobiek, assisted by Joey Forgette and Tristan Wickliff. The Huskies would take the lead about a minute later on a goal from Tyler Durrell. But the Huskies made a bad change on defense that allowed a breakaway on Gelms, which the Bruins capitalized on. The first period would end with the game tied at two.

The second period was the period that the Huskies would control the puck for large amounts of time, but the score wouldn't reflect this. UCLA got on the board six minutes in and held the lead for most of the period despite numerous chance for UW to score. The Huskies did tie the score with 25 seconds left in the period when Tristan Wickliff banged home a rebound off of Joey Forgette's original shot.

UW took the lead back again with just under five minutes gone in the third period on a powerplay goal from the point from Daniel Carson. And again, the Dawgs controlled play for a large part of the period and looked to be in good shape to pick up the 'W'. However, at the end of the period UCLA got a shot on Gelms and there was a scramble in the crease. Sean Hale came in to clear out traffic and was called for a roughing penalty. UCLA would tie the game on the ensuing powerplay with just 23 seconds left in the game.

Both sides played defensively in the OT, even trading penalties, but the game needed to go to a shootout to be settled. The Bruins scored twice in the shootout and the Huskies were blanked. The shooters for each side: UCLA #5 - Alex Horowitz (stopped), #10 - Jay Boffa (score), #51 - Daniel Vaytner (stopped), and #7 - David Carlton (score). The UW shooters were #12 - Tristan Wickliff, #77 - Stefan Sobiek, #16 - Joey Forgette and #11 Arne Krogh.

Huskies Fall to Bruins

2008-11-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

In a surprising game, the Huskies fell to UCLA last night at home by a final score of 3-2. By surprising I mean that the Bruins were 2-9 in Pac 8 play thus far. The Huskies played flat and had some unlucky bounces on point blank scoring chances. Shane Kanady played in goal for the Huskies.

UCLA got on the board first in the game, scoring three and a half minutes in, on a shot from the face-off circle that snuck by the near post. The Huskies tied the score with just under ten minutes left in the period when Matt Bessee, playing defense for the first time, skating the puck into the zone, made a move on the defender and ripped a shot past UCLA's goaltender. UCLA then got a double minor at the end of the period giving the Huskies an extended powerplay.

UW opened the second period with a powerplay for three minutes and couldn't capitalize. The Huskies got a couple of good chances, but were sloppy and UCLA was able to clear the zone easily a few times. With half the period over and the score still tied 1-1, Ian Shook took a boarding double minor but the Huskies were able to kill the penalties off easily. UW also took the next penalty, but killed this off as well. And then UCLA took the lead for good with 1:40 left in the period. With under a minute left in the period Tristan Wickliff (wearing #12 at home - had been #20 at home and #12 on the road) got a breakaway and was a couple of steps in front of a defender. The Bruin player's stick was hooking up around Tristan's waist, but Wickliff was called for holding the stick. The period would end with a score of 2-1 Bruins.

You knew the Huskies would come out hard in the third as had been the pattern, but instead came out completely flat. UCLA scored its third goal with 14 minutes left in the game. UW committed another penalty late, but Wickliff scored a shorthanded goal in the crease with just over six minutes left giving the Dawgs life. After exchanging penalties, UW pulled Kanady but couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone and the game ended there, 3-2.

This loss was disappointing as it is clear the Huskies are a deeper, more talented team. I do want to compliment Tyler Durrell in the loss. This guy skates every shift as hard as you possibly can, whether he is on the penalty kill, with the puck or backchecking. The next game you attend, watch #15 skate. I don't have very many photos of him where he isn't tied up with the opponent. Durrell tried hard with his play to get his team going. If only they had watched and followed.

Huskies Back Home Tonight

2008-11-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Huskies have a pair of important Pac 8 games this weekend vs UCLA at home. Come out to Olympicview Arena in Mountlake Terrace to support the Dawgs. Puck drop tonight is at 10 pm. Puck drop on Saturday night is @ 8:05 pm. The Huskies are rolling, get out to the games and help keep it that way! Go Dawgs!

Statistics

2008-11-11T10:25:00.001-08:00

The ACHA website keeps stats on the team as scores must be reported to the ACHA by each Tuesday. However, they are obviously behind in getting information up. It appears the stats for some players are updated through the WSU weekend and others have stats up through the LBSU game. The team record page goes through the WSU weekend. The link below goes directly to the player stats page. Enjoy.

http://www.achahockey.org/player_roster.php?team_id=13155&league_id=1061

UW Sweeps the Vikes

2008-11-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

The Huskies finished off a weekend sweep of the Portland State Vikings last night in Beaverton by a final score of 9-5. Senior Jeremy Gelms played in net for the Huskies to pick up his third win on the season. Congratulations Huskies!

The Huskies return home this coming weekend, November 14th and 15th, to battle the UCLA Bruins in two Pac 8 contests. Game time on Friday night is 10 pm and 8:05 pm on Saturday night. Come out and support the Dawgs, be loud and help the team keep rolling!

Team Mast Fans and a Thanks

2008-11-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

Fans of the hockey team (and the blog) - Casey and Stephanie - went to the trouble of making these t-shirts with my name on them. I think this is a first, but I can't verify that. It cracked me up though. These two have helped me out with stats and other player info this year, so I wanted to say thanks....even if I am a couple of weeks late on the post.

I also want to say thanks for everyone that has posted comments on the blog. CM

UW-WSU Photos

2008-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Shootout in the Old West?

2008-11-07T18:46:00.001-08:00

The Huskies won a wild game tonight in Portland (Beaverton technically) against the Portland State University Vikings 7-6 in overtime! Sophomore Shane Kanady had the goaltending duties for this one and picks up the win, improving his record to 2-2 this season. Stefan Sobiek continues to make a statement as a top Pac-8 player scoring an astounding 5 (yes, F-I-V-E) goals and 1 assist. Any chance that he's the first star of the game tonight???

The Huskies have won 5 of their last 6 games. The Huskies and Vikings will square off again tomorrow night in Beaverton at 10 pm. Go Huskies!

Around the Pac-8: November 3rd

2008-11-03T19:55:00.001-08:00

A quick look around this past weekend's Pac-8 games (updated Pac-8 records in parentheses): Of course USC (3-3) and UW (3-3) split, Oregon (6-0) beat UCLA (2-9) both games, and ASU (4-1) won both vs. Cal (1-4) by forfeit. Both Stanford and WSU played out of conference games. Of note, Oregon lost to SDSU this past weekend by a score of 6-4. UW lost to SDSU by a final of 7-6 a few weekends ago.

If I understand the rocket science behind the rankings correctly, I believe the top 4 in the conference this week are: 1) Oregon 2) USC 3) Washington and 4) Arizona State. The big movers would be UW and ASU (moving up) and Stanford and UCLA (moving down). That's information before its posted on the Pac 8 site! But I did poorly in calc at UW, so we'll wait to see what the Pac 8 posts! Too early to look at standings really, but its fun anyway.

Huskies Defense

2008-11-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

This post will talk a bit about the Huskies defense through 12 games, a little more than 1/3 of the season finished. This may sound like I am being harsh, but numbers are numbers and if the Huskies want to be considered an elite Pac 8 team, then some defensive work needs to be done.

Here are some stats thus far: the Huskies have been outscored by a margin of 75-44, with their opponents averaging a staggering 6.25 goals per game, while the Huskies are managing 3.67 per game. Now for the goals against averages (GAA): All three of the Husky goaltenders have GAA's over 5. This means they are allowing more than five goals per game (as shown in the stat above). Senior Jeremy Gelms has the best GAA of 5.6, followed by Freshman Danny Dougan at 6.02 and Shane Kannady at 8.33.

It would be inaccurate to jump on the goaltenders for the high number of goals allowed. These stats are reflective of the total team defense. Sure, there have been some bad goals allowed by the goaltenders, but the Huskies have given up a significant number of goals while being shorthanded. I see the early defensive woes as being three-pronged - 1) team youth, 2) amount of penalties taken and 3) depth on the blue line.

1) The Huskies top two forward lines have been productive scoring-wise obviously. Where youth affects the forwards is in their defensive responsibilities. A forward at any year can score goals (as confidence comes along), but where young forwards get lost is backchecking, covering their point responsibilities and being open as an outlet for breakout passes (puck control). You've seen some examples of these issues in the games thus far. You will see a forward lose defensive integrity and instead of skating to get back into a play, will reach out and hook/hold their opponent.

2) Plain and simple - the Huskies have taken far too many penalties this season. Fact of the matter, the Huskies are scoring enough goals per game to be more successful. But it is hard to get into a game rhythm when you are killing penalties. Killing penalties wears out a team and reduces time on attack. You take away the effectiveness of players like Forgette, Sobiek, Ma, Wickliff and Jewett when they are killing penalties (though penalties are coming from this group). For whatever reason, the Huskies have been very slow starters this year. They have been outscored 30-7 in the first period (does not include the LBSU game) and that is a tough way to play hockey. The Huskies have to come out faster in each game. If you watch both teams warm up before the game, the Huskies skate drills slower than the opponents and sometimes don't look focused and ready to play.

3) The Huskies depth on the blue line is an issue. They have a young blue line and have also been hampered by injuries. The starting six defensemen are composed of three freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. (I need to verify this though, so don't take my word for this yet.) The top Husky defensive pairing is Daniel Carson and Bryce Johnson. Make no mistake - both of these defensemen are really, really good. They can move the puck, are physical, and are also scoring threats. In addition both are extremely calm with the puck. But they are both freshman I believe and I think it takes longer for defensemen to get adjusted to the new pace of play than forwards. Arne Krogh has been out most of the season thus far and Tyler MacMillan has been struggling with an ankle sprain. The other defensemen are young. As the season progresses, they should get healthier and will definitely gain experience. There's not a better way to learn than actual games played.

With all of this being said, the Huskies are 3-3 in the Pac 8 (the only stat that really matters) and have played the two traditional Pac 8 powers in Oregon and USC already (finished 1st and 2nd respectively last year). They have also won 4 of their last 5 games. This Husky team is loaded with talent and just needs to play more games. I would guess that when the Huskies travel to Eugene in late January, the games will be different. But the team needs to decide now to come out faster in the first period and play solid team defense.

Turnovers, Breakaways and Penalties Oh My!

2008-11-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

The early season bad habits found the Huskies in SoCal last night. Turnovers, penalties and spotty defense ruled the night for the Huskies as they dropped their final game to USC 8-4. And as expected, the Trojans defense put the clamps on Stefan Sobiek, though he still managed two assists.

The goaltender matchup was the same as the night before with Danny Dougan starting for the Huskies. And just like last night, the Huskies started off the game with a bad turnover allowing a clean USC breakaway on Dougan less than a minute in. And again USC took advantage of the mistake. USC quickly got on the board again with a goal by their captain, Joyce with less than four minutes gone in the game. UW then tried to seize momentum back when Tristan Wickliff scored a powerplay goal on a great backhand shot, cutting the lead in half. BUT the Husky penalty parade began, which really took them out of the game. First Tyler MacMillan took a holding penalty and then Daniel Carson followed this up with a hooking call of his own. Then, just out of the box MacMillan took another penalty giving USC a 5 on 3 advantage. Apparently the Huskies felt they needed more of a challenge, and Sean Hale took a penalty, extending USC's 5 on 3 advantage time. And the Trojan captain delivered again with his second goal of the evening making the score 3-1. And before the end of the period USC got its fourth goal on a shot from the top of the crease that Dougan didn't see.

Down 4-1 in the second, Sobiek got a breakaway, but the USC goalie came up with a pad save to keep the score the same. Matt Bessee, took a cross-checking penalty at 15:45 left in the period and Tyler MacMillan took his third penalty of the night giving USC another 5 on 3 advantage with 15:18 left in the 2nd. Through all of this though, USC was disorganized and only managed 1 shot on the powerplay. USC was to get the next goal however, making the score a 5-1 blowout. But as you know, the Huskies seem to get going finally when they get down and Tristan scored his second goal of the night with just over 4 minutes left in the period. Byron Ma followed up with a goal about a minute later closing the gap to 5-3. USC had to be thinking that the Huskies were going to pull off the comeback again. To close the period, Danny Dougan, yes the goaltender, took an interference penalty putting the Huskies behind the eight ball again.

The Huskies killed off the rest of Dougan's penalty time to open the third and Tristan Wickliff scored his hat trick goal with 15:22 left in the game, making the score 5-4. I think he had the hat trick (congrats Tristan) despite the announcers saying it was only his second for the rest of the broadcast. The Huskies had almost completed their comeback, but unfortunately, this was as close as they would get. Sean Hale took a boarding penalty and USC scored on the ensuing powerplay chance. With about 11 minutes left, USC added another goal from Mach (his first of the season). Bryce Johnson was called for a hooking (and probably unsportsmanlike conduct) double minor and USC scored its 8th goal of the evening. After giving up so many powerplay goals you'd hope that UW would stop taking penalties, but it continued with penalties from Dougan (served by Shook) and Ma (giving USC another 5 on 3 advantage) but UW was able to kill them off. It is hard to make a comeback when you are shorthanded so much. And a dubious stat - Dougan has to lead the Pac 8 in penalties taken by a goaltender, this is unverified, but he has 3 or 4 penalties already this season. He is a solid and fiery goalie, but needs to avoid the penalties. I will talk about my thoughts on the defense in another post.

That is the way things went last night in L.A. The Huskies did earn a split against USC, which is a positive and went 2-1 on the road trip. They continue traveling next weekend going to play two games against Portland State.

L.A.'s New Star - Stefan Sobiek

2008-10-31T22:48:00.000-07:00

The most important stat - UW knocked off USC tonight in L.A. by the final score of 7-5. This was a big win for the Huskies, letting the Pac 8 know that they are serious in their quest for the conference title. And L.A. found a new star - how about 4 goals and an assist from Stefan Sobiek! I think the Trojans are still wondering what hit them. Hopefully you got to hear the game on the internet, it was a pretty impressive broadcast.

Danny Dougan got the start in net for the Huskies and things certainly didn't start out like the final score would indicate. USC scored the first goal of the game 7 minutes in on a clean 2 on 0 breakaway. There wasn't much Danny could do stop this goal. Three minutes later, USC took a 2-0 lead on a backhand goal by the Trojans. Things would get worse as the Huskies allowed another clean breakaway and USC capitalized taking a quick 3-0 lead. But then the Stefan Sobiek show began. UW failed to take advantage of a late powerplay, but Stefan put the puck in the net just after the powerplay opportunity ended, with 1:10 left in the period.

The Huskies came out in the 2nd period riding the momentum that Sobiek had created at the end of the first. Stefan scored his second goal 39 seconds into the period closing the gap to 3-2. Momentum had clearly switched sides. Cory Jewett scored less than a minute later to tie the game and USC was now on its heels. Momentum kept rolling towards purple when Eric Pearson scored a goal giving the Huskies control of the game, or so it seemed. The Huskies took two penalties giving USC a 5 on 3 advantage and the Trojans only needed 10 seconds to score the tying goal. Daniel Carson then took another penalty giving the Trojans a short 5 on 3 advantage again, but the Huskies killed this one off. Stefan scored his third goal of the game (please tell me someone threw a hat on the ice!) giving UW a 5-4 lead with just over 9 minutes left in the period. All the Huskies had to do was get to intermission with the lead and end this wild period. That was not to be however as UW gave up a late goal and went into the break tied 5-5.

After the barn burner second, the third period was a much more cautious period for both teams. Sobiek scored his fourth goal on the powerplay giving UW the lead for good. This goal ended up being the game winner as well. Both teams then traded penalties with just over 9 minutes left in the period creating a 4 on 4 skating situation. With extra room on the ice UW scored again, this time from the stick of Tristan Wickliff, assisted by Sobiek, capping a 5-point night for #77. Both Sobiek and Ma took late penalties making for some unnecessary drama. With their goaltender pulled, USC had a 6 on 3 advantage, but UW killed it off with some timely saves by Dougan ending a wild one in L.A.

UW will play USC again on Saturday night at 10 pm. I wish I had photos from this weekend but I didn't travel to L.A. But tonight you can just picture purple everywhere, usually with #77 on the back. You can be sure the Trojans will try to keep Sobiek in check tomorrow night. The Huskies are riding a 4-game win streak and improved their Pac 8 record to 3-2. This was USC's third straight loss (they lost both games in Oregon last weekend).

Road Trip Starts Out Right

2008-10-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Huskies took to the road yesterday traveling to L.A. and picked up a win last night vs the Long Beach 49ers. The final score was 5-2 and it sounds like the Huskies controlled the game. Jeremy Gelms was in net for the Huskies. This raises the Huskies overall record to 3-7 and 2-2 in the Pac 8. The Huskies have now won 3 in a row.

Two weeks ago, the Huskies got to play in the San Jose Sharks practice facility and this weekend they will be at the Anaheim Ducks facility. Follow the action tonight on the web as the Huskies take on USC. Look for the listen live button on this page: http://www.uscicehockey.com/

Good Luck in SoCal

2008-10-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

Wish the Huskies luck as they head to Southern California today (should be better weather than here eh?) to take on Long Beach State tonight and the Trojans tomorrow and Saturday. And I'm happy to report that they aren't 42-point underdogs to the Trojans! You may be able to listen to the Huskies-Trojan games online, but I haven't tested their site, so I don't know that for sure. Tune in at 7:30 tomorrow night and at 10 on Saturday night.

Here's the websites for both teams:

Long Beach
http://www.csulb.edu/org/sports/icehockey/

USC
http://www.uscicehockey.com/

Happy Halloween and Go Dawgs!

Huskies Sweep Cougars

2008-10-26T20:38:00.001-07:00

The Huskies completed a two-game sweep of the Washington State Cougars on Saturday night by the final score of 4-3 at Olympicview Arena. Shane Kanady picked up his first win of the season in net for the Dawgs. I know that Stefan Sobiek and Eric Pearson had two of the four goals, but I am unsure about the others. The score by period was 2-0 Cougars after one and 2-2 after the 2nd. The Huskies jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the third and the Cougars got a late goal later in the period.

The team heads down to Los Angeles this upcoming weekend to battle Long Beach State on Thursday night and USC on Friday and Saturday nights. These games will be a tough challenge for the Dawgs as USC is typically a Pac-8 frontrunner each year. If the Dawgs want to establish themselves as serious contenders for the Pac-8 title, they will need to play well in L.A.

Good luck to you in L.A. Dawgs...

Dawgs Win!

2008-10-25T09:23:00.001-07:00

Last night at Olympicview, the Huskies were not nice hosts. They welcomed Washington State to Seattle by defeating them by a final score of 6-2. The Cougs came out sporting new jerseys (the new Reebok Edge jerseys for the Phoenix Coyotes) with the Coug logo on them. There was a pretty good crowd on hand for this one. Senior Jeremy Gelms got the start in net. Jeremy had allowed 8 goals in each of his previous eight starts and the Dawgs needed him to perform better - and he delivered.

The first period started out relatively quiet with both sides getting good scoring chances but nobody converting. There were a few powerplays, but both sides were allowed to play. UW was the first to get on the board with 9 minutes left in the first period on a powerplay goal by Tristan Wickliff. Then the Huskies appeared to be getting in their normal pattern - picking up three penalties in a row giving the Cougs life. But with 4:26 left in the period Byron Ma squashed any unruly Coug ideas by scoring a beautiful shorthanded goal assisted by Stefan Sobiek. Things were looking up. The Cougs then scored a goal with 25 seconds left in the period to make the score 2-1 after one.

The two sides traded some nice hits in the second but couldn't manage to get on the scoreboard. The second period ended with the same score, 2-1. The Huskies had played well in their first tight game, with the lead. But the fireworks were yet to come.

The third period opened with a goal by the Cougs 40 seconds in tying the score. Stefan Sobiek scored a powerplay goal with 3 1/2 minutes gone in the third to give UW the lead for good. That goal seemed to deflate the Cougars and the home crowd was loud at this point. The next goal proved critical - a tap in goal from the side of the net from senior Joey Forgette halfway through the period making the score 4-2. Jeremy Gelms made a beautiful save in the third when the Cougs got a clean shorthanded breakaway, but Gelms stuffed the attempt. It was clear this was UW's night. With 8:23 left in the third period, captain Tyler Durrell got on the scoreboard with an assist from freshman Sean Hale. Monica Jones had a great chance to score and got off a good shot from the slot, but the Coug's goalie made an even better save. And finally to make the evening perfect, #3, freshman Nelson Beazley added his first goal of the season which ignited a spirited Husky celebration.

The Huskies played with much more composure and calmness in this game and were patient with the puck. They did take a few penalties, but none of the senseless kind that had happened in some of the earlier games. The Huskies will face the Cougars again tonight at Olympicview Arena in Mountlake Terrace with the puck drop at 9:30 pm. Come out and support the Dawgs!

Random Blog Things

2008-10-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

A couple of random blog items:

1) I changed the settings for comments, you no longer need a Google account to leave comments.

2) I have been working on some stats - goals scored by period for/against and also the goalies goals against averages thus far this season, but I'll post them after I add the WSU stats this weekend since that will be about 1/4 way through the season already. Now you may ask, why not other stats? Well, because these are easy to calculate and I'd love to do more stats, but I just don't have time.

3) I will be at Friday's UW-WSU game (10 pm start), but will most likely miss Saturday's game (9:30 pm start) as I will be watching an certain 0-6 football team. Why do I bring this up? So you know there may not be a game report for Saturday's game.

4) Here's a photo I've been working on this week. It's a look that's been around for about 3-4 years now (so its probably run its course), so I'm no pioneer here, but nonetheless I like the look and think it works well on this photo of senior Cory Jewett. What do you think? (click for larger image)

Husky Hockey in Print

2008-10-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to pass on the link to an article in UW's Daily newspaper about the Husky Ice Hockey program in case you haven't read it. There are a couple of corrections though - Joey Forgette is a senior and not a junior and the bottom photo is of Cory Jewett - also a senior - not Conor Foley as listed in the article.
http://dailyuw.com/2008/10/9/huskies-ice/

Spotlight was on the Wrong People! (Oregon Sweeps UW)

2008-10-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Oregon, in their first weekend of Pac-8 play, came up to Seattle and swept the Huskies. On Friday night, the Ducks won 4-3 in OT. Danny Dougan got the start in net and allowed some early goals, but held the Huskies in the game. If I am not mistaken, that was the lowest goal total allowed by the Huskies so far this season.

Now I am going to digress a little. I REALLY, REALLY hate to get on the referees, but this one was pretty much unanimous on both benches and in the stands. The issue this week was not that the referees favored one side over another. That is usually the home crowd complaint. Nope, the issue here was the amazing amount of penalties. I have watched and played a TON of hockey in my life and except for the brawlfests in the NHL (Ottawa vs. Philly, Avs vs Red Wings come to mind), I have never seen a game called so tightly. And word on the streets was it was the same on Friday night. Let me give you the numbers. On Friday night I believe there were 40+ penalties called, with the split between the teams pretty even. On Saturday night, a total of 45 - let me spell that out - forty five - penalties were called, including numerous game misconducts. The calls were even - 26 on the Huskies, 19 on the Ducks. Now, I can maybe understand the number of calls if the game is out of hand, but these games were far from that. Sure it was a bit chippy at times, but it is a rivalry weekend! There were countless CLEAN hits on both sides that were called as roughing, charging, and intereference calls.

I am disappointed that we didn't really get to see UW and Oregon play this weekend. It was really a battle of special teams all weekend. When the game is supposed to be focused on the players, clearly the referees took the spotlight which isn't their job. Am I whining because the Huskies lost both games - not at all. I talked to several fans and coaches on both sides of the puck after the game and all agreed that the teams were just not allowed to play. Unfortunate.

Back to the game - Jeremy Gelms started in goal tonight. UW came out and scored the first goal quickly on a nice pass through the crease from Matt Bessee to captain Tyler Durrell, who promptly buried the puck in the back of the net. Oregon took a 3-1 lead in the first period mostly due to its strength on special teams. The game was physical as I mentioned, and I thought clean, but it wasn't called this way.

In the second the Huskies closed the gap to 3-2 on Byron Ma's powerplay goal. UW tied the game when a 5 minute major was called on Oregon (didn't agree with this call) on a Joey Forgette goal. But this would be as close as UW would get in the game, as they kept getting more and more frustrated with the calls. All the same, the Huskies do need to keep their composure - Oregon was dealing with the same cirmcumstances. Oregon took the lead for good on a shorthanded goal on which it looked like the defense took its time getting back to help their goaltender.

With 1:37 left in the second, Tristan Wickliff had a beautiful hit along the boards that ignited the crowd, but this was taken away as it was called a charge. (I really didn't agree with this one - but I got a nice photo of it!)

The third period, UW just plain lost its composure with two players getting tossed from the game. I am not sure I can really blame them, but again, Oregon dealt much better with the situation, even being on the road. The final score was 8-3 Oregon. There was a pretty good crowd at the game tonight. I was hoping the UW band would also be at the game (they typically are for this game), but I am guessing because of their late work at the UW football game (they should get paid for sitting through that), they didn't make it over. The Huskies are now 0-7 on the season and host WSU this coming weekend.

Around the Pac-8: October 14th

2008-10-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

An update of this week's Pac-8 hockey action -

Many teams are still playing out of conference games, but there were some Pac-8 contests this weekend. Oregon played an exhibition game against a collection of adult hockey players on Friday night. Their website reports that the team won 11-1 which would be expected. UCLA and Cal split over the weekend with Cal winning Friday night 6-4 and UCLA returning the favor on Saturday night 7-6. USC beat Arizona State on Friday night 3-1. And I believe they tied on Saturday night, but that is unconfirmed. Stanford beat Santa Clara University 2-1 on Friday night. Finally, WSU took a pair from Gonzaga over the weekend in Spokane with the scores of 8-2 and 1-0.

A Developing Trend

2008-10-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday night the Huskies took on the hosts of Best of the West hockey weekend - the San Jose State Spartans (who have cool jerseys by the way and no I didn't buy one). The Huskies were looking to rebound this game as they seemed well matched against the Spartans. I apologize in advance because I didn't have my stats tracker at this game and didn't have access to the scoresheet. But I will tell you the home crowd was smaller on this night as the Spartans had a home football game that overlapped the 7 pm hockey game start. The ones that were there were loud and someone kept banging on a cowbell the whole night. I digress - back to the game. The final score ended up being 8-2 Spartans.

Things started out great and bad for the Dawgs all at the same time! Stefan Sobiek scored a goal for the Dawgs within the first 10 seconds in the game. However, because of a lineup problem the Huskies were assessed a penalty and the Spartans scored a powerplay goal right after that. Jeremy Gelms started in goal for this game. By the end of the first period the score was 3-1. The Spartans third goal of the period I know Jeremy would like to have back, a shot from the top of the right circle that beat him. But, 3-1 was a manageable deficit and you felt the Huskies could get back in this one.

BUT, there is a trend developing for the team that hopefully they correct soon. They almost come out flat in the first period, not sure if its nerves, not being ready, youth, whatever. In the first five games, they've taken bad penalties in the first period, get behind and have to try to catch up. The second period of all the games you see them gain confidence and start skating and by the third they are flying, but have been in pretty big holes. The Huskies have to knock off the reaching and grabbing for the opponent/puck in the first and get the feet moving. They do start working hard, it has just taken a period to get going thus far.

Needless to say, the second and third periods of this game were more of the same, UW penalties and turnovers that led to Spartans goals. I do venture a guess that the coaches will be working on breakouts this week since UW had a number of turnovers on the breakout in their own zone. I'm not trying to rip the team - they are going to be good this year. They have too much talent and team speed for it not to happen. Injuries and a tough early schedule have been a stiff early test. The hope is that they will come out flying for the Pac-8 season which begins this weekend at home against Oregon. It would be nice to have the place full - after traveling around and seeing how much the fans help the home team, everyone needs to come out and support the Dawgs this weekend vs. Oregon. All for now.

Pioneers Roll

2008-10-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, UW played the Denver Pioneers in San Jose. Game time was 11 pm (again) and Shane Kanady started in goal for the Huskies. But this game started to get out of control early. UW took a couple of bad penalties to give the Pioneers a 5-3 advantage less than two minutes into the game. And of course Denver capitalized. #44 for Denver scored with 17:39 left in the first. Two minutes later, Denver scored its second goal and that was the sign of things to come for the night. UW penalties and Pioneer goals. By the end of the first period the score was 5-0 Denver.

In the second period the Huskies began getting their feet under them and skated a better period. Denver did score a goal 7 minutes into the period. Midway through the period Joey Forgette put the Dawgs on the board with a powerplay goal. Before the close of the period however, Denver had another tally making the score at the end of the 2nd - 7-1 Pioneers.

Denver came out for the third period asking if UW wanted to play a runtime clock in the third, a considerate, but insulting question. The Dawgs declined of course and you hoped would be fired up, but that was extinguished quickly as Denver scored 30 seconds into the period. UW got its second tally of the night from Byron Ma's stick a minute and a half into the period. However, the Pioneers scored a couple of more and made the score 10-2. Joey Forgette had his second goal of the game with 7 minutes left in the game. Byron also scored a shorthanded goal with about two minutes left in the period. Things got chippy in the end between the teams (UW was clearly frustrated) and even while shaking hands (not necessary to go into details here). Final score - Pioneers 13, Huskies 4.

Huskies Just Short

2008-10-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Last night, in San Jose, California, the Huskies finally scored some goals (and a lot of them) but came up a little short with the final score of 7-6. The Huskies played San Diego State (game started at 11:15 pm) at the Sharks Ice at San Jose. The Huskies trailed early but couldn't seem to break the Aztecs two-goal stranglehold most of the evening. Any time the Huskies cut the lead to one goal, the Aztecs would score quickly after to build a two goal lead again. The Huskies had a great shot to tie the game at the end, but took an interference penalty that negated a 6-5 advantage (goalie pulled).

Danny Dougan (#1) played the entire game in goal on this night and battled Aztecs in his crease all game, but made many great saves. One of the Aztecs goals came when he was knocked completely out of the crease but the goal was allowed to stand. Danny even picked up a penalty (that's correct, the Huskies have had penalties on goalies in 2 of 3 games I think), but got his money's worth. I wish I could track shots, but that is just too much to keep track of.

The Aztecs scored early - two minutes into the game - when the Husky defenseman tripped. Five minutes later the Aztecs scored again making the score 2-0 with 12:31 left in the first period. Then the Huskies got on the board for the first time this season on a complete fluke goal! Daniel Carson (#13), a defenseman, carried the puck up the ice and just before the blue line fired a puck on net and it bounced over the goalies pads and went in! But less than a minute later the Aztecs regained their two goal lead. The first period ended with the score 4-1 SDSU. The Huskies came out sluggish but changed the play in the second period.

Less than a minute into the 2nd, Stefan Sobiek (#77) scored a great goal to close the Aztec lead to 4-2. After exchanging chances and with greater energy the Huskies scored again with the 13:22 left in the period on a goal from Joey Forgette (#16) - his first of the season as well. But again, the Aztecs scored a couple of goals to get the lead back to 6-3. It looked like a big gap to climb but while shorthanded, Tristan Wickliff (#20) stole the puck and hauled down the ice to score a beautiful shorthanded goal.

The Huskies built on their momentum mid-way in the third period on a goal by Byron Ma (#9) and the Aztec lead was down to one. The Aztec fans were getting nervous. The Huskies had seized the momentum. As I said though, the theme of the night, the Huskies could never tie the game. The Atzecs scored their 7th goal with three minutes to go in the game. But the Huskies didn't quit scoring once again with 1:18 left in the game. I think this was Byron's goal (his second of the game) but it was hard to tell. UW had another player near the crease as well. UW pulled Danny from the net to create a 6-5 skater advantage but then took an interference call to negate the advantage. With only seconds left Stefan got tied up with a SDSU player and took a nasty crosscheck to the lower back which was seen and called. The game ended with the Aztecs winning 7-6.

UW has to have some confidence now knowing that they can put up big numbers against this level of competition and will hopefully come out tonight skating with a lot of passion. Tonight's game is scheduled to start at 10:45 pm vs Denver University. I'll post the results tomorrow.

First Peek Around the Pac-8

2008-10-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to fill you in on what's happening around the Pac-8. What I can gather from the websites anyway. Oregon plays its first exhibition game on Friday. UCLA and WSU split their Pac-8 openers, both games had a final score of 5-4. UCLA travels to Cal this weekend. The games vs. UCLA will be Cal's first home games. The Cougs will be hosting Gonzaga (or vice versa) in Spokane. USC lost both of its games against San Diego State the last weekend in September and didn't play last weekend. They do play Arizona State at home this weekend. Stanford split a pair of games with Sacramento State and played Santa Clara once last weekend (score not posted) and have them again once this weekend.

And of course, the Huskies are traveling to the Bay Area this weekend to take on San Diego State (Thurs.), Denver (Fri) and San Jose State (Sat).

Eastern Washington's New Rec Center

2008-10-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

The building is crazy! It is located on campus and is where Eastern's hockey team plays. Eastern hockey used to play in Spokane and would have terrible (ie normal for hockey) ice times. The University pays for the building in its annual budget but the students are charged a $65/per quarter activity fee to help pay for the construction bonds.

The building includes an ice rink (where the Huskies spent all of their time), a climbing wall, gym, fitness/workout rooms, a restaurant area that overlooks the rink and an indoor track. Now, many campuses have IMA buildings, including the nice one at UW, but THIS ONE HAS A HOCKEY RINK IN IT AS THE FOCAL POINT! How cool would that be over here in Seattle! I was told by various Eastern officials that their rink seats 800 but they have plenty of room for standing room only - as witnessed at the first UW game. The building opened in the spring/summer, but when UW came to town last week it was the first hockey game held there and thus considered the official open. There was even a ceremonial puck drop by the University President.

Anyway, I just wanted to show you a couple of photos of the building and dream of where UW hockey could one day go....These are not the best photos but they show the exterior, the seating area with the workout room behind it, the Roost (dining area) which overlooks the rink, and the rink looking towards the Roost.

Eagles Sweep

2008-10-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, October 4th, the Eastern Eagles completed a weekend sweep of the Huskies with a final score of 7-0. In its first four ACHA games, the Eagles have allowed only two goals. Despite the final score, the Huskies played better this night (as they had more even strength and powerplay time than the night before). The Huskies played without two key leaders - Stefan Sobiek and Arne Krogh. The crowd again was in full voice and let the Huskies have it whenever they could.

In net Jeremy got the night off, with Shane Kanady getting the start. The Huskies were more disciplined in this game, however when Eastern had a powerplay, they made the Huskies pay. On Friday night the Eastern powerplay attacked from the blue line, but they seemed to attack more from the half boards on Saturday - the result was the same - they scored often. Danny Dougan saw his first ACHA action coming in and playing the second and third periods.

On the other side, the Huskies had more powerplay opportunities than the night before, but still couldn't capitalize. They did have several good chances, but Eastern's goalie kept the puck out of the net. I will work on getting shot totals as the season goes on. I check the scoresheet during the game to get info when I can. After the first period the score was 3-0 and after 2 the score was 6-0. The Huskies held a slight penalty advantage having seven penalties to Eastern's eight.

There were a ton of hits again in this game for both sides. This is definitely a more physical Husky team early on than last year's squad (no disrespect meant here to last year's team). Sean Hale and Bryce Johnson (despite stitches in the forehead) were very physical delivering several big hits and agitating Eastern's forwards. After two games this season, I'm telling you, Bryce is one tough hockey player.

Game time again was 7:30 and the crowd was announced at 846 - standing room only again.

Huskies Crushed

2008-10-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Huskies ran into the steamroller known as Eastern Washington in Cheney last night. You knew the Eagles were going to come out hard as they were opening their new building in front of a standing room only crowd of 900 people. The Eagles used numerous powerplays and the home crowd advantage to skate to an 8-0 victory over the Dawgs.

The Dawgs went to the penalty box early and often in this game. Eastern used its size advantage to pound the Huskies into making mistakes and taking bad penalties. The Huskies had to kill off an early 5 minute major boarding call that helped Eastern gain momentum. Arne Krogh also rolled his ankle and was unable to return after the first period. Despite facing these challenges, the Dawgs managed to escape the first period being down by only one goal. The Huskies had a couple of nice scoring chances, but were unable to convert. But, they had weathered the storm.

More of the same was to follow in the second period though. More penalties, more Eastern goals was the story of this frame. By the end of the second the Eagles had built a 4-0 lead and it looked like the Huskies had gotten really tired and really frustrated with the game. The Eagles had built a sizable powerplay advantage at this point and the coaches had enough. A bench minor was assessed to the Huskies and Coach Johnson was kicked out of the game, as was the Husky captain, Tyler Durrell.

Penalty calls began going the Huskies way at the very end of the second, but the damage had already been done at this point. The Huskies couldn't take advantage of their chances, including a lengthy 5-3 powerplay. The penalty total at the end of the second favored the Eagles 9-7, but the Huskies had a hefty disadvantage in total penalty minutes. The hometown crowd was buzzing loudly as the Huskies left the ice.

The third period opened with an exchange of furious hits for both teams. The energy in the building ramped up. But this didn't last long - things settled down a bit as the period progressed. The Huskies held the score to 4-0 for the first half of the period, but things got away at this point with the Eagles scoring 4 goals in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Stefan Sobiek took a late retaliation penalty and may not be available for tonight's game - don't quote me on that one though. This was definitely a tough way for the Huskies to open the season. It is my guess however that you will see a MUCH different Husky squad tonight. They've experienced the Eagle's new arena now and know the speed at which they must play. Hopefully tomorrow's post will be much more positive!

I will blog about tonight's game (Saturday) as soon as I can afterwards. Another 7:30 start in Cheney. I also hope to blog about the arena this week as well. I took several photos of the building and would like to share my impressions with you. It is a very nice facility.

Dawgs Win Final Exhibition

2008-09-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

The Huskies skated to a 3-2 shootout victory over Trinity Western last night. The game featured a lot of hits, fast play, disallowed goals, and ultimately the shootout. Once again the Huskies went with the three man rotation in the net, each goalie getting a period of work, led by senior Jeremy Gelms in the first period.

The first period began with a furious pace from Trinity Western. Several times the Huskies would get pinned in their end for a while and the Huskies would either ice the puck or just dump it out to the neutral zone to relieve the pressure. Gelms kept the team in the game early with several saves. Ultimately he surrendered one goal, but given the pressure that Trinity Western was applying, this was a good performance. About midway through the period the Huskies got their legs under them and began their counterattack. The Huskies tied the game before the end of the first.

The second period was unusual as the Huskies seemed to control play quite well, but had two goals disallowed by the referees. After Trinity Western took the lead 2-1, the Huskies appeared to tie the game with the puck crossing the goal line (the frame after the one posted here has the puck clearly in the net), but the referees immediately waived off the goal without a real explanation. My guess is that they lost sight of the puck (at least it would provide a small explanation).

The Huskies rebounded nicely with more pressure and again appeared to score again, this time from Byron Ma. He basically charged the net and the puck bounced in off of him into the net and was originally called a goal. The Trinity Western goaltender went berserk however, skated out to almost the blue line and had to be restrained by a linesman. Ultimately the goal was also disallowed. Despite the two disallowed goals, the Huskies were able to tie the score later in the game.

Since this was an exhibition the teams did not play the normal five minute overtime period before the shootout. The teams went straight to the shootout, sending out five skaters each. The Dawgs ended up scoring on two shootout attempts, while Trinity converted one of five chances.

Another close game, another good game and now the coaches might have the toughest part - deciding who makes the final roster at this point. The team will practice this week in preparation for the regular season opener in Cheney against Eastern Washington.

Come Watch the Dawgs

2008-09-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

The Huskies play Trinity Western from Canada tonight at Olympicview Arena in Mountlake Terrace. Game time is 8:15 pm. This is the last chance for the coaches to evaluate players and make a decision on who will play for the Dawgs this year. There is a lot of talent on the roster, but limited spots. Come out and support the Dawgs tonight as they battle the Titans. I'll post game photos soon.

More From Training Camp

2008-09-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Huskies returned home Sunday from their exhibition victory against Trinity Western in Langley, B.C. The coaches were pleased with the results and also saw plenty of areas for growth. On Sunday night the players endured another tough skate at OVA. All the skating on olympic sized ice (about 15 feet wider than NHL sized ice) is bound to help with conditioning!

The team conducted several skating drills to open the evening, it was clear that conditioning was top priority on this night. The goalies got quite a workout too as there were several rapid fire and slot shooting drills. While the players did sprints, the goalies were working on up/downs. Coach Kell worked with the goalies on their lateral movement as well, having them push off the far post and get to the near post to cover a shot.

The team also worked on an interesting close quarter puckhandling drill. Players lined the outside of the faceoff circles and the puck carrier (in the center of the circle) had to escape with control of the puck despite being harassed by several players at a time.

The nets were then moved up to the blue lines and the skaters attacked the goalies one-on-one. They had to score, and if they didn't, keep trying until they did. Let's put it this way - the goalies did a lot of scrambling!

In the final activity of the evening the players had to shoot at the goal pegs lined up on the goal line inside the net. Anyone that hit the pegs got their group of out sprints - you missed the net - everyone had to sprint to the end boards and back. The black jerseys one this competition after a few sprints, followed by the goaltenders.

The team's next practice is on Tuesday night. They will practice again on Wednesday. More later.

Training Camp Begins!

2008-09-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

The Dawgs kicked off training camp on Wednesday night with a team meeting followed by a tiring skate. The meeting covered introductions, practices, travel, team expectations and other topics.

On the ice, the coaching staff ran the team through skating drills, then a running clock scrimmage, and finished the night with puck drills. The scrimmage was fast paced, but lacking chemistry (to be expected the first night of practice). The shot totals were low after the first period, at which point Coach Kell reminded the team to take their shots if they have them. The message was received as the scoring chances increased over the next two periods - especially from Stefan Sobiek who is quickly becoming a breakaway threat.

This year's team looks to be a young team, but will have experience with the return of key seniors including Jeremy Gelms, Tyler Durrell (team Captain), Cory Jewett, Joey Forgette (the hockey team's version of Juan Garcia!), and Kevin Safstrom. The talented freshman showed during the scrimmage that they have the wheels to compete in the Pac 8, they just need game experience. This Husky roster is now littered with players from Anchorage - its beginning to look like Alaska south down here!

Captain Tyler Durrell told the team he might be one of the quieter captains the players have ever had, but he will lead on the ice - as proven by several hits delivered during the scrimmage. He told the team that he'd never been to the Pac 8 finals and that is a goal of his for the team this year. He not only expects the Dawgs to compete for the title, but to win it as well.

In order to reach this goal however, the Dawgs will have to navigate through a tough early season schedule featuring many difficult teams. The Huskies will begin with stiff tests at Eastern Washington (in their brand new arena) and then in San Jose where they will face San Diego State, Denver University and San Jose State. If that doesn't get the players' attention, then opening at home against Oregon should. Coach Kell has put together the best schedule in his five years here, but admittedly his toughest schedule.

The Huskies will have another practice tonight and then will head north of the border for a stiff pre-season test against Trinity Western in Langley, BC on Saturday night.

2008-2009 Season is Almost Here!

2008-08-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Training camp for the 2008-2009 season is about 6 1/2 weeks away from today! The players will be reporting to camp on September 17th. This year's schedule features the Huskies opening up the Eastern Eagle's new arena in Cheney, two trips to California to take on the likes of Denver University, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, USC and others. The Huskies will also travel to Utah to battle three teams. This year's home schedule includes rivals Oregon and WSU early in the season. Cal, Montana, Gonzaga, Stanford, Idaho, and UCLA also visit the Huskies this year. What a season this will be!