Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

We’re on the back end of our two week road trip this week and face Bemidji in a Thursday/Friday series.
We split with them in Fairbanks in November, so hopefully we can return the favor. We took a 4-3 OT win in Nov, along with a 2-3 loss. The games were fast and close. Of the six goals BSU scored that weekend, 4 were on PP. All of ours were 5x5. I believe we were 0-7 on the PP. Hopefully our special teams play and goaltending is a bit better than it was back then and gives us a chance to win a game or two.

Go Nooks!

[Bar Down]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Re:BSU. I don’t normally complain about the refs, but that was one of the worst officiated games I’ve seen in a long long time. If those were legit 5 minute majors, then I guess I don’t know what one is.

[GoNanooks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

We scored with our goalie pulled? Unbelievable!! It is too bad we could not get the win tonight, but hard work and determination to get the game tied and at least get a point out of it. Will Jandric be able to play tomorrow with a game misconduct in overtime?

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Re:BSU. I don’t normally complain about the refs, but that was one of the worst officiated games I’ve seen in a long long time. If those were legit 5 minute majors, then I guess I don’t know what one is.

I didn't see the checks, but even BSU's radio guys, especially the color guy, were perplexed.

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

I didn't see the checks, but even BSU's radio guys, especially the color guy, were perplexed.

Not meaning to troll here. Serious question - WCHA teams currently rank 1,4,5,6,12,16,17,19, and 22nd in penalty minutes (Bemidji is the only one not in the top half of NCAA rankings.). Are we that dirty/excessively physical/etc., or are we being over-reffed? Combination of all of the above?
It's not like the penalty minutes were racked up in non-con games. Most of the teams average more penalty minutes in WCHA games than non-con games, so it's not like we picked up a lot of penalty minutes because we couldn't skate with the NoDaks, Michigans, etc. And I hate to tell the refs to back off, and leave us with some of the clutch and grab hockey that made the last couple years so unappealing to watch, and I don't want them ignoring head hits and player safety. But it seems to me like there have been a lot of ticky-tack calls this year across the conference.

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Not meaning to troll here. Serious question - WCHA teams currently rank 1,4,5,6,12,16,17,19, and 22nd in penalty minutes (Bemidji is the only one not in the top half of NCAA rankings.). Are we that dirty/excessively physical/etc., or are we being over-reffed? Combination of all of the above?
It's not like the penalty minutes were racked up in non-con games. Most of the teams average more penalty minutes in WCHA games than non-con games, so it's not like we picked up a lot of penalty minutes because we couldn't skate with the NoDaks, Michigans, etc. And I hate to tell the refs to back off, and leave us with some of the clutch and grab hockey that made the last couple years so unappealing to watch, and I don't want them ignoring head hits and player safety. But it seems to me like there have been a lot of ticky-tack calls this year across the conference.

Yeah, I don't have a good answer for this. I am not one to rip on refs because I understand how hard it is to officiate the game of hockey. But, in the games I have watched this year, I can say I have not sat there and gone "what the heck are they calling". The calls I have seen made seem to be legit calls and a penalty is a penalty. But, like I said about last night, I didn't have the WCHA.tv feed going, I was just listening to the Beaver Radio Network. The two five minute "Contact to the Head" calls last night on Alaska were in response to hits on one of the Fitzgeralds, I believe it was Myles and not Leo (Gerry is out of the lineup). Myles runs 5'6" according to the roster. Cline runs 5'7" and Jandric runs 6'0", so only Jandric had a significant height difference.

With Contact to the Head and concussions being such a hot button issue, I am not sure what the answer is. There have been incidents of tempers getting the better of players, just look at Saulnier for UAH or the Bowling Green/Michigan Tech series a couple of weeks ago.

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Like many I was a little confused about last night’s calls. They weren’t overzealous checks out of frustration. Pretty routine. Not sure if the BSU player intended such, but it seemed like he somewhat crouched as he took the checks. The BSU announcers said it was the third checking to the head penalty he has drawn in the last three games. But I thought the high sticking call which lead to a BSU goal was really weak, so maybe I’m just biased. Get'm tonight boys.

Go Nooks!

[PerkyforPrez]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

First I want to clarify that reffing is not an easy job at all. It is clear that the wcha has the bottom tier when it comes to talent of the on ice officials. I think the worst part is that the zebras are so inconsistent and that confuses player's as far as knowing or thinking what is being or not being called literally from shift to shift.I don't believe any of the team's in our league are dirty or even have thugs at all. I remember a couple years ago the league mandated to call the obstruction very strictly. The first game that season had so many penalties called that both benches were irate and the fans we're completely disgusted. If a player clearly put a clean check on an opponent for either side they called it a penalty. I don't think that everyone of the refs are horrible but I also think that even the better ones have their issues with consistency from time to time.

Since the realignment I honestly can count on only one hand how many games that I didn't notice the refs good or bad for the home team. The old saying goes if you didn't notice the refs then they did their job. Some games our home crowd fans would actually boo the refs for calling tiky tak penalties on the road team over and over because they were killing any chance of the game getting into a flow.

I agree that players should be protected from hits to the head 100%. The difference in height indeed makes it tougher on the taller players but they still have the responsibility to keep from making contact up high. A few seasons ago one of our best players was 6'6" and played physically, he couldn't wait to leave after his junior season. I hope the league has a suitable protocol for head contact because I can remember a few occasions that a player had gotten rocked up high and surprising came out for his next shift.

[PerkyforPrez]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Saulnier did have a temper problem how could I forget.

[Suze]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

First I want to clarify that reffing is not an easy job at all. It is clear that the wcha has the bottom tier when it comes to talent of the on ice officials.

You are correct! A few weeks ago UAA got a 5 minute CFB penalty, but then they gave the opponent a 2 minute embellishment penalty. WTH?

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

When you have fans of the opposing team agreeing that calls on your team were egregious, you know it’s bad.

On the bright side, I love the lack of quit this team has developed recently.

[stuckinwi]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

You are correct! A few weeks ago UAA got a 5 minute CFB penalty, but then they gave the opponent a 2 minute embellishment penalty. WTH?

I'll never understand why this is an issue, every time embellishment is called with an offending penalty, people complain like they are exclusive. They're not. The rule book even calls this out. You can be fouled and exaggerate the foul.

Rule 68 - Diving/Embellishment
68.1 Diving/Embellishment - A player shall not attempt to draw a penalty
through any exaggerated or deceitful action. A diving penalty is a standalone
penalty.
PENALTY—Minor for diving.
A player who has been fouled shall not exaggerate the impact of the foul. An
embellishment penalty is called in conjunction with an opponent’s penalty.
58 SECTION 9 / Other Fouls
PENALTY—Minor for embellishment.

[Suze]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

I'll never understand why this is an issue, every time embellishment is called with an offending penalty, people complain like they are exclusive. They're not. The rule book even calls this out. You can be fouled and exaggerate the foul.

Rule 68 - Diving/Embellishment
68.1 Diving/Embellishment - A player shall not attempt to draw a penalty
through any exaggerated or deceitful action. A diving penalty is a standalone
penalty.
PENALTY—Minor for diving.
A player who has been fouled shall not exaggerate the impact of the foul. An
embellishment penalty is called in conjunction with an opponent’s penalty.
58 SECTION 9 / Other Fouls
PENALTY—Minor for embellishment.

And I agree with that, but in my mind (and the play by play guys agreed with this), if the penalty was embellished, it's probably NOT as severe as a 5 minute major usually is. The penalty was questionable in the first place, even without the diving call.

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

BSU 1-0 after two Friday night.
The Nooks don't look sharp at all. Sloppy passes and lack-luster play.
Ya think they would play with a little more intensity and desperation.

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

We’re not exactly heading into the playoffs on a high note, but our last series with UAA is pretty critical. We will most likely be in the playoffs, but we could face MSU, NMU, or BGSU depending on our finish. Assuming NMU finishes in second, I would rather we finish sixth in the conference and face BGSU in the first round. MSU is locked and loaded and NMU is a dark hole for us.

But we may need to sweep UAA to make that happen, and we can’t take them lightly. It’s hard to beat a team six times in one season, and beating us one or two games would be the highlight of their year, regardless what they say. Plus, it’s the Seawolves…they suck and we need to beat them badly…again. The Cup is already where it belongs, but we need to support our Seniors in their final games at the Carlson.

Go Nooks!