UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

That was a hell of a fun game to watch. I thought UNO played really well after the 1st. Considering theyhad a guy run in the first 5 minutes of the game, they really overcame and somewhat dominated the next 40 minutes.

I was curious if anyone got a closer look at the trip at the SCSU blue line about :30 before the Husky's 3rd goal. It looked like a trip to me, but I was curious how others saw it. I also wonder if the no-call wasn't a make up for not calling Lane on the embellishment on the Brodzinski penalty that led to UNO's lead.

Regardless of all that, what an exciting start to the series. Hopefully Saturday's game will be as exciting, but with a different outcome.

[Biddco]

Currently sitting at the bar at the "Home of the Hairy Buffalo" in the Granite City w/Mrs. Red Cows.

One of my favorite bars and drinks. Hope you enjoyed

[SCSU Euro]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

Exactly what I was hoping for... we get outplayed and take 3 points. Turnabout's fair play.

[HumRsky]

As shocking and disappointing a UNO loss as I have ever seen. Championship teams don't lose games in regulation that you are winning with 3:04 left in the game where you have all the momentum (hah!). 2 even strength goals 16 seconds apart? I've said several times, previously, that all these freshmen would bite us in the butt at some point and tonight was another one of those games where that happened, methinks. There have been at least three others this season.

The game tying goal should have never gone in and I bet Massa would say so, himself.

Even more tragic was that Austin Ortega scored UNO's 3rd goal. Had the 3-2 lead held up that he gave UNO with that goal, he'd have broken the all time NCAA record for game winners in a single season that he is now tied with several other players, still, at 10.

My first ever trip to the NHC. Always nice to see cheerleaders that skate. Somebody want to explain to me why SCSU still has WCHA logos on the interior walls of the arena? Or why they have logos of teams on the interior arena wall that aren't even in their conference (some of the current WCHA teams) and, some that never have been (like of old CCHA teams like Ohio State)?

Pretty fair number of UNO fans in evidence. I would guess there were upwards of 100 or so. I bet there are more tomorrow night. The building was maybe 2/3rds full, which surprised me since SCSU certainly still is playing for something and, even though it was supposed to be a "Redout" night at the arena, there was not very many people wearing it. Black was by far the most preponderant color in the building.

Just like in every Minnesota arena I have seen UNO play in, the kids at the game actually are watching and paying attention to the game. In fact, in a lot of cases, even more so than the adults that are with them. The kid in front of me who looked 7 or 8 was just screaming at the refs for calls against UNO. Not so, kids at UNO games. They aren't watching and in a lot of cases are even disruptive. Always been that way, too.

I don't want to dig on the arena itself too much, but, the place doesn't really have a lot of atmosphere. I don't think the low hanging ceiling helps that, either. The corridors at each end of the rink that allow access to the other side of the arena are very odd. Very narrow and unlit, besides? Cheapest concession prices I have ever seen, anywhere. But, a very small selection. For UNO fans that have not been here, the concourses (and restrooms) are somewhat similar to that of the soon-to-be-torn-down Omaha Civic Auditorium. The pressbox is an open air affair at the top of the upper level on one side of the arena. They have cheap fluorescent light fixtures that hang down from the ceiling over the pressbox area for lighting. The pressbox set-up is, I dunno, the best way I can put it is, amusing. Another real problem with the building is the P.A. system is horrendous and nearly everything said by the P.A. announcer is completely unintelligible. No band at SCSU games, either, just like UNO. My wife didn't care for the building at all, but, I thought it had a certain charm. Somebody know what year it was built?

Need the game tomorrow night in a bad way. We'll see if the boys can get off the deck, dust themselves off, and go get them tomorrow night.

My thoughts about attendance from earlier in the thread:

The late '90s/early 2000s will probably never come back. 5100 for a Gopher game is disappointing when we used to get 7051 for every Gopher and Sioux game. However, it does appear to me that they are more accurately counting attendance, so that while the official average is way down, the actual attendance isn't down as much. Also, back in the '90s when I was frequently attending games in high school, student tickets were $10 and I think adult tickets were $15. I attended my first game in St. Cloud in 4 or 5 years this past Nov. vs. UMD and tickets were either $30 or $40, depending on location. I realize there has been some inflation, but that's still a big jump. I wouldn't be surprised if ticket revenue is higher these days, even with lower attendance and adjusted for inflation, due to the significantly higher ticket prices.

The original capacity was 6000. When they added the first section of black seats, it dropped to about 5700, and added the second batch of black seats dropped it further to about 5300. The addition of the suites may have brought it back to 5700. There was supposed to be a phase 2 of the renovation, but it looks like much of it won't happen, so while the renovation is great, the place does feel very half-renovated and is likely to stay that way. I think there is an NCHC team display on the Southeast wall of the seating area.

The crowds over 6000 were pretty close to accurate in the Cullen/Parrish/Leitza/Dicasmirro/Pudlick/Arnason/Hartigan eras. Afterwards it was inflated, sometimes highly.

[gomavs#1]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

Exactly what I was hoping for... we get outplayed and take 3 points. Turnabout's fair play.

I thought Lindgren played pretty well for the most part. Unfortunately, that loss is on Massa - those last two goals are on him for sure. The last one he gave up was indefensible. You can't give up a rebound like that, you have to sit on the puck on such an open shot. Disappointing.

[hockeykrazy]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

I thought Lindgren played pretty well for the most part. Unfortunately, that loss is on Massa - those last two goals are on him for sure. The last one he gave up was indefensible. You can't give up a rebound like that, you have to sit on the puck on such an open shot. Disappointing.

I don't get a lot of the comments on here. What do you mean by sit on the puck? The only other thing he could have done is deflect it to some other angle. Benik shot 5 hole on the ice so he did all he could to place the stick to protect 5 hole- the puck unfortunately for him came straight out. Benik was smart he shot low for a rebound shot with 2 men crashing the net. The d man Messa flipped it straight out and off Morleys leg. He should have flipped it off to the side-not straight out front. Cooper clearly interfered with Russell on the backdoor.

I don't know how he could have stopped the 3rd goal by Winieki. Like Lindgren on the faceoff it was perfectly placed (just inside the post and crossbar) and screened so he didn't even see it ( I think both Rehkamp jumping and O'Rourke skated by just as he shot). Both didn't even react until it was by them. NHL goalies wouldn't have saved any of those. It was over his left shoulder about the only way he could have saved it is if he could use his mask and move his head a foot to the left. Not gonna happen in milliseconds.

How does everyone say we got outplayed when shots were 39-26 and faceoffs were astronomical in our favor? I can see the second period and the first half of the third but not 45 minutes. We came out at the beginning of the 3rd blazing but didn't get a result. They may have had more quality chances but they didn't outplay us 45 minutes. Russell was a beast all night.
Yeah the atmosphere was blah. Half the students were gone for some reason. Maybe all the high school and youth hockey playoffs have something to do with that. Usually Saturdays are better- we normally draw 2-700 more on Sat. based on attendance figures this year.

Yes, Murray's stick clipped his skate and he fell. Looked more like he toe picked from the refs angle. And you're right is was probably from the call earlier and he crushed Brodzy in the corner just before he embellished on the retaliation at mid ice.

Who the f cares if we have NCHC logos or not? They didn't want us at first anyway. J/K BTW Plus I think the money grab has a lot to do with the atmosphere lately. Plus you can just stay home and watch it in HD and get replays. I have season tickets but have stayed home 3 times and watched it because of other conflicts-miss a period or 2.

[hockeykrazy]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

I'm sure Widman is going to have nightmares about not tying up Ortega on that faceoff.
Betcha he doesn't let that happen again.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

I'm sure Widman is going to have nightmares about not tying up Ortega on that faceoff.
Betcha he doesn't let that happen again.

I haven't researched this as yet. But I'd be willing to bet some money that this was the fastest goal power play goal (2 seconds into it) in UNO program history. If you blinked at the faceoff, you didn't see it. It was a stunner in its own right until we got to the 3:04 left in the third mark and the 16 seconds thereafter.

Lindgren had absolutely no chance on Ortega's goal. He didn't even have time to react.

[SCSU Euro]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

Funny little anecdote that seems appropriate now:

Last season after the split in Omaha I met a couple UNO parents after the Saturday game, including a gentleman I started talking to and didn't realize until we'd spoken for a while that it was Ryan Walters' dad. He later introduced myself and the two SCSU fans I was with to Ryan Walters and both of them were insanely friendly and outgoing, offering to have Ryan take pictures with (and then I told his dad to jump in one too) and helping us select a good bar to go to next.

Well we took Ryan's suggestion and to our surprise we saw him and a number of UNO players out celebrating at the next bar. Said congrats to a few guys and then one came up to me and asked what I thought of the 5-minute major that was handed out in the game. Not expecting to suddenly start talking hockey with a D-1 hockey player, I went "Well the 3 of us were yelling 'Five and the Gate!' but I wouldn't have been ****ed if they'd called it 2. It was obvious it wasn't malicious or intentional, but I feel the ref's gotta make that call." The rather short young man chuckled and went, "Hehe, yeah... that was me."

And who was that young man? You guessed it! Frank Stallone... er, I mean Jono Davis.

For the record, I made the comment about us getting outplayed having not seen the game at all, just hearing from people on here that we got outplayed (and bc, like I said, I was really hoping it happened that way). And I agree, none of the goals Massa gave up appeared to be soft. On the other hand, maybe UNO fans now having a competent goalie are expecting too much. Massa is a good goalie. I'd say that it should be argued he's 3rd in the conference, behind McIntyre and Williams. And while I'm sure UNO fans would rather have him this year than Lindgren, I'm personally glad Lindgren's hue is Cardinal and Massa's is Crimson. I have a feelling I'll do way more discussing of this later on today in St. Cloud, but Massa is a very good goalie, maybe a team MVP. Massa has ZERO chance of being a Hobey Hat Trick finalist. You know what you need to do to win the Hobey as a goalie? You have to be a hands-down unquestioned better than everyone else in your conference goalie (the fact there's a debate between McIntyre, Massa and Williams throws all 3 out). You probably have to be from a conference that isn't as tough as the NCHC or the WCHA was before the split. You have to be Ryan ****ing Miller.

[hockeykrazy]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

Funny little anecdote that seems appropriate now:

Last season after the split in Omaha I met a couple UNO parents after the Saturday game, including a gentleman I started talking to and didn't realize until we'd spoken for a while that it was Ryan Walters' dad. He later introduced myself and the two SCSU fans I was with to Ryan Walters and both of them were insanely friendly and outgoing, offering to have Ryan take pictures with (and then I told his dad to jump in one too) and helping us select a good bar to go to next.

Well we took Ryan's suggestion and to our surprise we saw him and a number of UNO players out celebrating at the next bar. Said congrats to a few guys and then one came up to me and asked what I thought of the 5-minute major that was handed out in the game. Not expecting to suddenly start talking hockey with a D-1 hockey player, I went "Well the 3 of us were yelling 'Five and the Gate!' but I wouldn't have been ****ed if they'd called it 2. It was obvious it wasn't malicious or intentional, but I feel the ref's gotta make that call." The rather short young man chuckled and went, "Hehe, yeah... that was me."

And who was that young man? You guessed it! Frank Stallone... er, I mean Jono Davis.

For the record, I made the comment about us getting outplayed having not seen the game at all, just hearing from people on here that we got outplayed (and bc, like I said, I was really hoping it happened that way). And I agree, none of the goals Massa gave up appeared to be soft. On the other hand, maybe UNO fans now having a competent goalie are expecting too much. Massa is a good goalie. I'd say that it should be argued he's 3rd in the conference, behind McIntyre and Williams. And while I'm sure UNO fans would rather have him this year than Lindgren, I'm personally glad Lindgren's hue is Cardinal and Massa's is Crimson. I have a feelling I'll do way more discussing of this later on today in St. Cloud, but Massa is a very good goalie, maybe a team MVP. Massa has ZERO chance of being a Hobey Hat Trick finalist. You know what you need to do to win the Hobey as a goalie? You have to be a hands-down unquestioned better than everyone else in your conference goalie (the fact there's a debate between McIntyre, Massa and Williams throws all 3 out). You probably have to be from a conference that isn't as tough as the NCHC or the WCHA was before the split. You have to be Ryan ****ing Miller.

Good story, thanks for sharing. I sat with Seeler's dad last year. Shared a lot about the Eden Prairie/UNO connection.

I forgot to mention that Russell set up Morley with a grade A all alone out front with about a minute to go. Massa made a nice stick poke check otherwise that was forehand/backhand up high all the way. I was impressed with UNO's tight gaps all night, I thought we backed off a little too much at times especially in the second. Nice to see Rehkamp and Benik use their speed. Wasn't impressed with some of Murray's play at times. Especially some of the blind clears in our own zone.

[Tipsy McStagger]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

How does everyone say we got outplayed when shots were 39-26 and faceoffs were astronomical in our favor? I can see the second period and the first half of the third but not 45 minutes. We came out at the beginning of the 3rd blazing but didn't get a result. They may have had more quality chances but they didn't outplay us 45 minutes. Russell was a beast all night.

How many of those shots were on the power play? Probably 10. The first period we were on the PP for 7 minutes. Both goals came on the PP. Other than that I would give the last 10 minutes of the 1st period to UNO. The second period was almost all UNO. The first 12 minutes or so of the 3rd UNO controlled. Aside from when UNO was playing a man down and the the last 6 minutes of the game I would say UNO outplayed us.

You say you are a hockey coach, and I am sure you know more about the game than me, but I saw what I saw.

[hockeykrazy]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

How many of those shots were on the power play? Probably 10. The first period we were on the PP for 7 minutes. Both goals came on the PP. Other than that I would give the last 10 minutes of the 1st period to UNO. The second period was almost all UNO. The first 12 minutes or so of the 3rd UNO controlled. Aside from when UNO was playing a man down and the the last 6 minutes of the game I would say UNO outplayed us.

You say you are a hockey coach, and I am sure you know more about the game than me, but I saw what I saw.

I don't think you saw what you think you saw. We dominated the first 15 minutes of that game. Shots were 13-3 at the 15 minute mark. We carried the play the first 5 then we got the 5 min maj, then we carried the play again and got another 2 min. penalty. They didn't get their first grade A chance till 6:39 left in the first period. Shots ended up 15-9 at the end of the first.

So the rest of the way shots were SCSU 24 to UNO 17 and you are saying they carried the play the rest of the game? Sorry I didn't see it that way. Maybe it was my kneejerk reaction to your 45 min call but I know we dominated shifts at the beginning of the third and other stretches of the game- 8 min at the end you mentioned. The frustration was we kept them in it and didn't put them away. A lot of the game was even back and forth-no one really carrying the play. Both teams had chances.

I really only saw UNO carrying the play on their PP, 5 on 5 was a lot of back and forth. We dominated faceoffs 41-26 so that alone tells a lot about who controlled possession.

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO @ SCSU Feb 20 and 21: Will the real St. Cloud PLEASE stand up?

Red Cows, What section are you sitting in tonight? My dad was wandering around looking for you last night, to no avail

[scsutommyboy]

The late '90s/early 2000s will probably never come back. 5100 for a Gopher game is disappointing when we used to get 7051 for every Gopher and Sioux game. However, it does appear to me that they are more accurately counting attendance, so that while the official average is way down, the actual attendance isn't down as much. Also, back in the '90s when I was frequently attending games in high school, student tickets were $10 and I think adult tickets were $15. I attended my first game in St. Cloud in 4 or 5 years this past Nov. vs. UMD and tickets were either $30 or $40, depending on location. I realize there has been some inflation, but that's still a big jump. I wouldn't be surprised if ticket revenue is higher these days, even with lower attendance and adjusted for inflation, due to the significantly higher ticket prices.

Students tickets were $50- $75 for the whole season when I started at SCSU. It was called a sports pass and got into any husky event. Then they started letting all students in for free in the late 90's. When the economy went south people stopped going to the games and have never come back.

[scsutommyboy]

Doh!

Forgot that SCSU has a women's team. That said, I didn't see any NCHC logo in the building. Did I miss it? I didn't see a UNO logo in there, either. We sat in the upper level right in front of the pressbox and the ceiling is so low that you can't see the other side of the arena, really. Not straight across, anyway, at all.

I gotta say, the arena has more of a '60's or '70's feel to it, to me. Not 1989. I notice that the listed capacity is 5,763, it sure doesn't seem/feel that big. My guess would have like a 1000 or so less than that number.

All the NCHC teams are listed on the wall on one end of he ice with the NCHC logo.