WCHA Week Volume 2

[brookyone]

WCHA POTW from this past weekends competition:

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...102809aab.html

Congrats again to Noora!

[leafsfan]

Originally Posted by pgb-ohio

How was the quality on that? I've tended to shy away from the online broadcasts. A couple of seasons ago I got excited for this, only to find that the majority of the games were spent "buffering." In other words, the transmission was virtually unwatchable. Have things gotten better? Is the BTN version better than some of the earlier efforts?

Everyone can chime in on this issue. No reason to limit it to last night's Buckeye/Badger game.

Very cool. Did any individuals stand out on the PK, or was it more of an overall team effort? (Naturally "both" would be a good answer. )

No doubt. Keep supporting the Buckeyes!

Rumor has it (through my Buckeye connection) that Theut broke her arm last weekend in Wisconsin. Can you verify?

[pgb-ohio]

Originally Posted by leafsfan

Rumor has it (through my Buckeye connection) that Theut broke her arm last weekend in Wisconsin. Can you verify?

I can verify that Kim was not in the line-up tonight. No inside info on the reason.

[pgb-ohio]

Quite a display of offensive fireworks last night at the OSU Ice Rink!

Final Score:
Ohio State 7
Minnesota State 6

My Highly Informal, Totally Unofficial Three Stars of the Game:

#3 Star: Ashley Young, Minnesota State
On a night like this, you've got to recognize the offensive prowess on both sides. Young was constantly creating chances, and ended up with a four point night -- 1 goal and 3 assists.

#2 Star: Hokey Langan, Ohio State
Langan matched Young's 4 point output, and did her one better -- 2 goals and 2 assists. Hokey cleanly won the key face-off on the GWG, drawing the puck to Rachel Davis. Davis then fed...

#1 Star: Natalie Spooner, Ohio State
OK, Spooner "only" had two goals, but what a huge pair of tallies! First, Natalie tied the game with just over two minutes remaining. It began as a routine transition play while the teams were 4x4. Powering her way through a defender at the red line, she was suddenly in the clear. Making a beeline for the net, she buried a top shelf shot. The GWG came less than a minute later. The 4x3 PP Goal began with a draw, as indicated above. Davis' perfect pass to the slot gave Spooner plenty of time to set up and fire. She did.

The extra ice created by the penalties was clearly a factor on both goals. Give Natalie a little room to manuver, and she's seriously dangerous.


Definitely looking forward to tonight's rematch. I suppose Friday's fireworks gave the coaches a gray hair or two. But the entertainment factor was off the charts.

[taz91]

pgb, I highly doubt last night's game gave Means too many gray hairs. He may have lost more of what was left but that's about it. This seems typical of this series lately. One high scoring game and one goalie dual.

[The Boomer]

Originally Posted by dhmn

North Dakota seems to be letting whatever it is that happened to them on January 10th of last season linger....they finished 1-12-2 from after beating St. Cloud January 9th and were 12-7-2 before that point.. and this year, other than physical play they seem inept and just as unable to score as they were the 2nd half of last year. So much for any shot at moving up the ladder.. I think Bemidji will finish ahead of them (not that picking who gets last and 2nd to last is *THAT* difficult given the WCHA history, I just never expected the Sioux to suck as bad as what I saw tonight.)

Evidently the SCSU Huskies can--at any time--revive the life in UND. They beat the Huskies 5-4 last night at the Concrete Center. I told ARM last week that I've thought UND is vastly improved, but the record following last year's January series with SCSU seems to say different.

So, last night the game is tight throughout. UND finds snipers all over the place--don't think a single goal of the five scored was "soft." UND skated well with the Huskies, and even though badly outshot, it seemed to be more of an even game to me.

Or, maybe it is just a more realistic view of this year's edition of the Huskies. They remain winless in league play--the year "parity" has hit women's hockey. Well, maybe not so much. . .

[pgb-ohio]

Originally Posted by taz91

pgb, I highly doubt last night's game gave Means too many gray hairs. He may have lost more of what was left but that's about it. This seems typical of this series lately. One high scoring game and one goalie dual.

Well, would you settle for a couple of additional points on the blood pressure reading? When a game features that many goals, most coaches are going to feel like things got a little out of control -- win or lose.

[pgb-ohio]

Final Score From Columbus:
Ohio State 4
Minnesota State 1

I'm going to be a bit of a homer tonight and give all three stars to the Buckeyes.

My Highly Informal, Totally Unofficial Three Stars of the Game

#3 Star: Natalie Spooner, Ohio State
Even without more, three assists would be enough to earn a mention. But on this Halloween night, Spooner was scary good on face-offs. The official tally had Natalie winning 16 draws in 19 chances. That level of production gives your club a major edge.

#2 Star: Chelsea Knapp, Ohio State
Knapp's stellar goaltending gave the Buckeyes some much appreciated breathing room in the rematch. At one crucial point, the always dangerous Lauren Smith had an uncontested shot from point blank range, but Chelsea was equal to the task. Without this and a couple more dazzling saves, we would have had another cliffhanger on our hands.

#1 Star: Laura McIntosh, Ohio State
With a nice mix of patience and creativity, we see McIntosh taking her game to the next level. Laura set up Jenna Kilpatrick's goal with a perfectly timed, right-on-the-tape, centering pass. Then, when the Mavericks appeared to be gaining momentum early in the third, a McIntosh goal stemmed the tide. Receiving the puck off a Spooner draw, then dangling long enough to create a high quality chance, she buried shot and restored the Buckeyes' 3 goal lead. Statistically, neither of these tallies is recorded as the GWG. But they really sealed the deal on a highly successful weekend sweep.

[brookyone]

Some WCHA stuff:

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110309aaa.html

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110109aaa.html

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...103109aaa.html

Conference action this weekend:

Bemidji State @ Minnesota State

Ohio State @ North Dakota

Minnesota-Duluth @ St. Cloud State

[dhmn]

Originally Posted by The Boomer

Or, maybe it is just a more realistic view of this year's edition of the Huskies. They remain winless in league play--the year "parity" has hit women's hockey. Well, maybe not so much. . .

We'll see what the (even more) short handed Bulldogs can do this weekend to keep them out of the parity picture.

[brookyone]

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110409aab.html

[D2D]

Originally Posted by brookyone

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110409aab.html

Never a good sign when the opposing goaltender gets Defensive Player of the Week.

[brookyone]

http://www.uscho.com/schedules/team..../gender,w.html

[dhmn]

I didn't look in the SCORES thread.. but this is a really strange box score entered by someone in Mankato

http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbmjmns1.n06

It obviously wasn't a two overtime game, and most likely ended with Erika Wheelhouse scoring a shootout goal? But then you look at the shots per period and it makes it look like there were shots in two overtimes as well.

EDIT: Someone must have gotten a phone call or something since the above boxscore has been fixed

[The Boomer]

dhmn told me before the game last night that the Bulldogs were short players, had to alter lines, etc. Well, my much-aligned Huskies took advantage of the "short bench" of UMD and beat them 5-1. Very good effort from all the Huskies, but the #1 line of Hogan, Roberts and F. Nelson was outstanding! They forced the play, scored goals, and all were a plus 3 on the night.

Always fun talking hockey with dhmn (does he pronounce that "demon?") and the bell ringer fans from UMD.

Hope this win will keep the Huskies ignited for the rest of their games. They need some wins and some confidence. Last night was a good start.

[CrazyDave]

After Saturday's action...

                         Conference Only                    Overall
                    Pts  GP  W  L  T SW  Win%  GF- GA   GP  Record  Win%  GF- GA
 1 Minnesota         12   8  6- 2- 0  0  .750  33- 16   10  8- 2- 0 .800  41- 20
 2 Ohio State        11  10  5- 4- 1  0  .550  38- 37   12  5- 4- 3 .542  43- 42
 3 Minnesota Duluth  10   8  5- 3- 0  0  .625  21- 16   12  7- 5- 0 .583  33- 30
   Wisconsin         10   8  5- 3- 0  0  .625  23- 15   10  6- 4- 0 .600  27- 20
 5 Bemidji State      8   6  2- 2- 2  2  .500  11- 13   12  3- 7- 2 .333  20- 35
 6 North Dakota       7  10  3- 6- 1  0  .350  20- 29   10  3- 6- 1 .350  20- 29
 7 Minnesota State    5   6  1- 3- 2  1  .333  15- 19    8  3- 3- 2 .500  22- 22
 8 St. Cloud State    4   8  2- 6- 0  0  .250  15- 31   10  3- 7- 0 .300  20- 37

Can anyone believe that Bemidji is only 4 points behind Minnesota with 2 games in hand? Who woulda thunk that one?

(Then again, the Beavers are 1-5 in non-conference play...)

[brookyone]

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110509aaa.html

They "decided" to lose one more vs. RMU for effect...I guess.

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110709aaa.html

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110809aaa.html

[D2D]

Liked the article by John Gilbert - he's a good writer who knows the game very well. Oldtimers might remember him at the StarTribune where he covered Gopher mens hockey and the North Stars.

[SCSU2039]

Originally Posted by brookyone

http://www.wcha.com/sports/w-hockey/...110709aaa.html

They still can't get the players right? Who is this Holly Synder they speak of(If I recall the game correctly it was Holly Roberts)?

At least the first name was right...

Sorry to be nitpicky, but the least they could do is have the right names.

[brookyone]

Originally Posted by D2D

Oldtimers might remember him at the StarTribune where he covered Gopher mens hockey and the North Stars.

Ah...well, I do.

The guy I miss among the more knowledgeable sportswriters when it came to hockey is Charley Hallman who was at the PP back in the day. I think he moved to the Strib at one point.