Worth a Weekend's Fun?

Yes, the ugly, red-faced mug on the right is me. :D

So the question remains - after spending $40 on tickets to the game, $95 on two nights in a motel, about $125 on gas, and approximately $60 on food and drinks, was my first WCHA road trip worth it?

To examine this scenario, we'll take the categorical approach...

The Games - Royally sucked, from a results standpoint, but in no way can I say that I didn't see it coming - we have failed to extract a victory from the confines of the National Concrete Center since 1998. The no hardware Huskies converted on their chances and in spite of generating opportunities of our own, Tech did not. Weslosky was good all weekend, making some Hasek-like saves and he had a wicked-fast glove on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, even when Tech had a clear shot at an open net, somehow they would find a way to miss it. I knew the sweep was imminent on Saturday when my Huskies dominated the majority of the 1st period, failed to score even once, then watched Nolan give up a soft goal with less than a minute left. Gwilliam's CFB major in the 2nd, followed by another Nolan softy was just the nail in the coffin.

The Arena - The National Hockey Center is actually a decent place to see a game, in spite of the derogatory "Concrete Center" moniker. The small Tech contingent was placed in one of the upper corners, but the sight lines are good in virtually every section, sans maybe the very highest parts of the corners. The atmosphere could be pretty good, considering that the majority of the crowd (young and old) gets into the "Sieve! You Suck!" cheer after SCSU scores and it's loud. Otherwise it's mostly SCSU's student section (The Dog Pound) trying to fill a building which is just a bit too large to hear any sort of cheer or chant they were attempting all the way in the opposite corner of the arena. All the concrete turned out to be good in the end though - it made the perfect surface for tapping out the PK Ditty. :P

Post-Game Entertainment - The Red Carpet and various local watering holes are basically the extent of nightlife in St. Cloud. Friday was spent partially at MC's Dugout and partially at the Martini Lounge inside The Red Carpet. Saturday evening was spent at McRudy's, where the above photo was taken. Of the three, McRudy's was probably my favorite - it's hard for me not to like a place that has big glasses of Newcastle on tap, knows how to make a good whiskey sour, and has $2 Captain & Cokes on special. Of course, there's also nothing quite like MEg pestering you on multiple occasions (this was after 3+ drinks) about writing for THB, watching your entire table drunkenly attempting to sing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", bigblue_dl's random black jokes, the humor in seeing CSPAN on TV in a bar, etc.

Other Notes - Val's is a must - it looks like an ordinary greasy spoon, but they have great, made-to-order burgers, fries, and shakes in this dumpy little shack on the east side of the river (take-out only), and it's reasonably priced to boot.

So yes, St. Cloud is indeed worth a weekend's fun for the average college hockey fan. Additionally, all the SCSU fans we met over the weekend were pretty cool.

***************

And so now, with basically any discussion of home ice all but over, Tech looks to position themselves as high as possible to try and earn a trip to a weaker team's barn for the WCHA playoffs.

It's Denver weekend, with the Pioneers hitting Ho-town for two games on senior weekend. I anticipate that Gwoz will probably have his boys on a tight leash after last year's incidents, which they certainly will not be permitted to forget thanks to the Misfits and tSBFitW. With Mannino in the nets, look for a revival of all the "Ice Cream Headache" jokes, don't be surprised to see a few sections of "wall" with holes punched through them, and definitely be on the lookout for some new things too. Perhaps something that might help give Tech a mental boost - we'll see.

***Takes a big gulp of tTech Kool-Aid™, specially prepared by Twitch Boy***

Friday: Motivated by senior weekend and my top-secret "mental booster", the Huskies deliver 50 hits in the first period. Mannino cries for his mommy by the middle of the 2nd after he gives up his 3rd goal and the "Ugly Goalie!" chant is busted out. He is pulled for Chevy who is so shell-shocked by the antics of the Tech fanbase that he fails to notice the play in front of him. Tech wins 5-1.

Saturday: Marc "Like A Rock" Chevy gets the starting nod, and backstops Denver to a 2-0 lead at the end of the second. Twitch Boy, in a fit of rage, grabs a contingent of Pep Band members and invades the Tech locker room, where he delivers a rousing motivational speech which is followed, on cue, by a flawless performance of the fight song. Meanwhile, the bad beef that mysteriously found its way into Chevy's pre-game meal suddenly takes effect at the start of the 3rd, and the distracting symptoms of food poisoning cause him to give up three goals. In a twist of cruel irony, Randy Schmidt has returned to the reffing ranks, and disallows the tying DU goal with 0:00.4 seconds remaining on the clock after deciding he'd rather hit the bar and get wasted with Tech fans than play an overtime period. The Huskies win 3-2.

It's Nothing New

I don't really have a lot to say here...

*The Huskies still don't know how to sweep a series and build momentum - nothing new there.

*Todd Andersen blows - he's a WCHA official, so nothing new there either.

*Tech can't finish/score (insert overused jokes about "The Ratio" and husky women here) with any modicum of regularity - wow, nothing new there either!

I mean c'mon - the Huskies played very well this weekend overall. Saturday's game certainly should have been a W or at least a T in the column, but when you whiff on the majority of your best chances to put up points, you can't expect either.

I've said it before; 3+ goals, consistently - that's what it will take to win games in this league night in, night out. Until the Huskies figure out how to take care of that, they won't finish in the top half of the conference.

Overall bright spot this weekend? I'll hand it to the PP units - the puck movement is getting better and better, and they're even starting to take their chances with passes across the slot; the problem is the speed. Every now and then, you'll see one of our guys take a pass and immediately tap it over to someone else, which is good. That's the kind of movement we need to see more of - it keeps opposing penalty killers on their toes and gets them to make mistakes that take them out of position. Unfortunately, you can't score unless you shoot, and Tech can't make that decision fast enough. We may not have many "sniper" type players with good hands and high accuracy, but if you make faster decisions when you have a clear shot, eventually someone will get it right and the puck will go in.

As for individual bright spots, obviously Rouleau (3-2-5) and Gagne (2-1-3) had big weekends, as did Shelast (1-2-3). Kattelus chipped in two principle assists. Eli also played solid hockey and picked up his first point of the season with an assist on Saturday.

Anyway, we now turn towards next weekend and a series at St. Cloud State. I will be in attendance, and for the money I will spend to be there, I expect that my Michigan Tech Huskies will play two good games, regardless of the outcome. I'd better not be paying to watch two more unforeseen drubbings at the hands of the league's other Huskies, regardless of their sickening record against us in our last twenty meetings (16-2-2).

Other than that, I'm looking forward to spending a brief weekend in the fine state of Minnesota, in spite of the fact that I've never been there. I'm reasonably well-traveled in some parts of the U.S. (The Great Lakes, Dixie, the Mountain West), but nevertheless, there are some regions I just haven't gotten around to visiting (The Plains, New England, coastal California, Desert Southwest).

It's Still An Upside-down M

I don't really even want to discuss this weekend. It's ridiculous that it wasn't at least a split for the Huskies, and it's Winter Carnival - it should've been a friggin' sweep.

What can I say - hardly any of our numerous scoring chances (especially Friday) were finished. Until Tech figures out how to score at least 3 goals a game, consistently (nearly every night), they will not rise out of the bottom half of the WCHA.

Highlights

*Royer - Certainly deserved more than the one goal he got on Friday. Tried hard to get things going and was rewarded for it.

*Kattelus - Worked to setup plays all weekend, too bad no one could finish them. I look forward to watching him in the seasons ahead.

*Kitti - Continues to bring his energy and physical game to the lineup every night, even if he doesn't have a lot of points. Wonder if he might be wearing a C or an A next year.

*Teslak - While Saturday's result was certainly not Nolan's fault, the team has almost always seemed more confident and focused in front of Teslak. I hope that doesn't bite us in the ass next season after he leaves.

On Notice

*Nolan - He'll need to be more consistent if he plans to start the majority of our games next season. Again, tonight was not his fault, and he did make several timely saves, but I felt he was caught out of position a little too much for comfort.

*Kerr - I know he wants to go out there and be the enforcer and all, but the silly little penalties need to stop. He needs to lead by example - making big, clean hits and keeping his head on straight.

*Foote - I've watched him make some very untimely turnovers all season - where was that 20+ pt. breakout season he promised us?

*The Entire Defense - Gave up too many opportunities on Saturday, including two virtually point-blank shots that resulted in BADger goals.

Bench Minors

*The atmosphere in the 3rd period - I know it sucks being down 4-1, and I'm just as guilty of failing to keep things going, but I thought afterwards that we could certainly have done much better than that.

*The Minor Key Fight Song - NO!!! If the band plays this again after ANY loss, I will punch whomever is directing in the face. I don't care if we just lost, you don't fucking trash the fight song by turning it into a funeral march. Ugh.

That's all I got - looks like 7th or 8th place for us this year, at best.