The Fine Line Between a Split and a Sweep

Weekend Recap

Friday

*3-1 Tech

*Teslak was brilliant, even when the Sioux finally started pouring it on in the third period.

*The defense kicked ass, keeping the puck out of the crease, and making passes to jumpstart the offense.

*Dobson had a very smart game-winning goal that Lammy never saw coming

*North Dakota took too many penalties

*Tech clearly wanted this win, played to win it, and did. That's really all there is to it. As they say, talent may win games, but heart and hustle win games when talent isn't playing sharp.

Saturday

*6-0 Sioux (yuck)

*Tech really needs to work on winning faceoffs. The Sioux dominated that statistic on Saturday, and we paid for it.

*The Huskies looked too flat on both offense (no goals) and defense (for example - the Sioux were 3 for 8 on the power play). They could not generate enough offensive chances, and often had difficulty clearing the puck.

*Nolan was borderline bad for his two periods in the net. Too many sloppy rebounds, and caught out of position too many times. After Teslak didn't allow a goal in the third (he relieved Nolan at the start of the period), I think it's clear that he is now the starter for the next few series - Robbie is simply too inconsistent to consider maintaining the split for the time being.

*Chippy play - fights, words exchanged, a completely uncalled for post-whistle cheap shot by Lamoureux (after he made a perfect glove save and had nothing to bitch about). Just look at the stats - a combined 60 minutes worth of penalties for both sides.

*I'll give North Dakota their due - they proved that they have more offensive talent, and they win when said talent plays well. They were obviously embarrassed about the previous night, they wanted the split, and they got it in a big fashion.

*Horrible officiating. I hate complaining about refs, because it's usually a lame excuse, but in this case I have to speak up - there were some bad calls (or lack thereof) against both teams. Marco Hunt is hereby crowned my Least Favorite WCHA Official, by a long shot. I can't count the number of times the arena was in an uproar after yet another terrible call.


So, thanks Huskies for a good win on Friday and 2 big WCHA points. Let's work on those mistakes and really take it to the Badgers next weekend, eh?

Other than that, I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who showed up at the arena and created an amazing atmosphere. I seriously think the Friday game might've been the loudest I've ever heard the Mac, and it was rocking.

We'll see the Sioux again in January, and you can bet that this weekend has setup what will no doubt be a great series at the REA. Until then, tell Lamoureux I said "Hostile and Abu-Sieve!" ;)