PUCKER UP, SIS

Game 6: UMD 1, Alaska-Anchorage 1

UMD goal
Justin Fontaine 5 (Drew Akins, Jack Connolly) 10:29 1st period (5X3 power play). Remember the third goal from Friday? Yeah, very similar play. Nice setup by Akins across the goalmouth to a wide-open Fontaine.

Thoughts
Sorry this took so long.

Blah. Not a ton happening here. UMD hit a few pipes late in the game, and was probably left lamenting some back luck for the weekend. I mean, it's not often that a team has a tying goal (probably incorrectly) disallowed in one game, then clangs two goals off the pipe in the next game.

Oh, well. These are points UMD is going to have a hard time "recouping". After all, the expectation was for more than one out of the weekend, and this very tough ten-game stretch coming up is going to make point accumulation tough enough.

Saturday should be quite interesting at the XCel Energy Center. The Bulldogs need points, and St. Cloud State is 0-2 in the WCHA, so they obviously need them, too. With how both teams' penalty kills have struggled, and how good their power plays are, it's not tough to figure out what the keys to the game will be.

UMD TRIES TO SALVAGE ALASKA TRIP

UMD fields the following lineup as they attempt to get their first WCHA win of the season at Alaska-Anchorage:

Carroll - Akins - Greer
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Fulton - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Danberg - Bordson - Gergen

Oberg - Meyers
Kishel - Palm
Cascalenda - Montgomery

Stalock - Hjelle

For UAA:
Lunden - Bales - Clark
Grant - Crowder - Moir
Haddad - Parkinson - Wiles
Carlson - Tuton - Smith

Lafranchise - Robinson
Lovdahl - Vidmar
Hunt - Backstrom

Olthuis - Christianson

GARRISON CALLED UP

Former UMD defenseman Jason Garrison, who left school after last season to turn pro, has been called up by the Florida Panthers.

He was playing for the Panthers' AHL affiliate in Rochester (NY).

Garrison is in the lineup for the Panthers tonight in St. Louis.

More on that, plus lines and chatter from Anchorage, later. Assuming this wireless holds up. Grrr...

LOSING SUCKS

(Ignore the soccer ball. I think this is kind of funny.)

Game 5: Alaska-Anchorage 4, UMD 4*

UMD goals
MacGregor Sharp 5 (Mike Connolly 5, Nick Kemp 2), 2:00 2nd period. Kemp dropped a great feed to Sharp in the left circle, and he blasted a one-time past Jon Olthuis to get UMD on the board.

Justin Fontaine 3 (Evan Oberg 5, Josh Meyers 2), 17:23 2nd period (PP). Oberg and Meyers held the puck along the blue line, and Meyer's one-time pass was tipped in by Fontaine at the left post.

Justin Fontaine 4 (Drew Akins 1, Evan Oberg 6), 3:09 3rd period (PP). Oberg threaded a pass down low to Akins, who back-handed a wonderful feed across the goalmouth to Fontaine, who was open at the left post for a picturesque backdoor goal.

Trent Palm 1 (MacGregor Sharp 4, Michael Gergen 3), 9:55 3rd period (PP). Sharp had the puck on the right wing, and he got it to the top of the umbrella to Palm, who one-timed a great shot inside the left post. It was disallowed because the officials made a poor call.

Thoughts
Yes, I'm bitter about the disallowed goal.

Replay shows Connolly (Mike) at the left post, but not in the crease. Even if he did make contact with Olthuis, he has every right to be near the net as long as he stays out of the crease.

And I hate that coaches can sometimes get their way on these reviews by whining enough. Don Adam and Timm Walsh had no inclination to review the play until right before they dropped the puck to resume action after the goal. Only then did they decide to review the previous play.

I'd love to know more about this mysterious crease violation. I mean, "man in the crease" is a worthwhile, well-intentioned rule. But how do you call it when there weren't any offensive players actually in the crease?

It stinks. But UMD will deal with it. After all, they made this a difficult night by allowing four goals on UAA's first seven shots.

(This isn't to blame Alex Stalock for it. He had virtually no shot on most of the four.)

They still have to clean up the penalty kill, and they have to show up with a more consistent 60-minute effort Saturday. I'm confident this will happen.

I'm also confident that they will respond well to having a bad break go against them. History indicates they will. This is a resilient group.

UMD-UAA GAME ONE

UMD
Mike Connolly-MacGregor Sharp-Nick Kemp
Andrew Carroll-Drew Akins-Matt Greer
Michael Gergen-Jack Connolly-Justin Fontaine
Kyle Schmidt-Rob Bordson-Jordan Fulton

Evan Oberg-Josh Meyers
Trent Palm-Mike Montgomery
Jay Cascalenda-Brady Lamb

Alex Stalock - Brady Hjelle

Cody Danberg and Scott Kishel are the extras for UMD. Danberg is dinged up, while Kishel is a healthy scratch.

UAA goes with the following:

Lunden - Bales - Clark
Grant - Crowder - Moir
Haddad - Parkinson - Wiles
Selby - Tuton - Smith

Lafranchise - Robinson
Lovdahl - Vidmar
Hunt - Backstrom

Olthuis - Christianson

I have Jeremy Smith listed as a defenseman, but he's playing up front tonight because of a couple departures and some injury issues UAA is dealing with.

BULLDOGS AND MYTHICAL CREATURES

So, you know that there's no such thing as a Seawolf, right?

Because there isn't.

I'm not making fun of them. You can call your team whatever you want.

Actually, I give them credit for not using something lame that starts with the letter "A", like Aeros or Avalanche or whatever.

So UMD plays the Seawolves. I have a few thoughts.

First off, UMD needs to use their speed on the big sheet. Sullivan Arena is Olympic-size, and instead of skating circles around teams, UAA has bigger players who - while they can move - aren't as fast as the Bulldogs. I expect UMD to have an advantage in team speed, much like they did in Marquette on the big sheet. In that game, they scored an early goal and were dominant on the penalty kill, playing a great 60-minute game.

The Bulldogs have a dynamic top line, led by the play of sophomore Justin Fontaine. He's already got seven points, more than half his total as a freshman. The ice time he got last year is really paying off right now, as is his increased confidence. You put skill like senior Michael Gergen and freshman Jack Connolly, and you have a dangerous combination.

When they're not on the ice, look out for the line of freshman Mike Connolly and seniors MacGregor Sharp and Nick Kemp. The three combined for the game-winner against Western Michigan Saturday, and both Connolly (Mike) and Sharp are off to great starts. Kemp is playing better, but the results aren't showing up on the scoresheet yet. Sharp and Connolly (Mike) are playing great together, and Sharp is finding the net much more effectively than last year. Talking to him Wednesday, he mentions how he's "getting bounces" this year, but you know what they say about good players making their own bounces. Sharpie's worked too hard for me to just pass off his improved play on some dumb luck.

The Bulldogs need to tighten up the penalty kill. UAA's power play comes in hot, and UMD can't just rely on Alex Stalock to shut it down. Stalock is coming off a poor game, which usually means good things, and this time he's coming off a poor game that UMD actually won. That's been a rarity in his time here.

I don't do predictions, but a good weekend is important for the Bulldogs. They have St. Cloud State at the XCel Energy Center next Saturday, followed by series against Denver (road), Wisconsin and North Dakota (home), a home game against St. Cloud State (Thanksgiving weekend), and a trip to Colorado College. Even a top-five team is going to struggle to get more than 12 points out of that 10-game stretch.

Finally, let me take a crack at projecting lines. I hate doing this, but I'm in Anchorage, cold, bored, and tired. Cut me some slack.

Gergen - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Carroll - Akins - Fulton
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Danberg - Bordson - Schmidt

Meyers - Montgomery
Oberg - Palm
Cascalenda - Lamb

Stalock - Hjelle

This is just a guess, based on what we've seen and what has worked for UMD. I'm not sure if Matt Greer will be able to play Friday, and I'm guessing that the Lamb/Kishel rotation will be back in effect as long as everyone stays healthy.

UPDATE: FORMER BULLDOGS IN PROS

I should have done this two weeks ago.

Please save this link if you're looking to keep up with former UMD players currently in pro hockey.

I will do my best to update this every other week or so. Please understand this may be an ambitious goal.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA ... HELLO!

It snowed this morning.

Not much, just enough to annoy.

It's actually one of the trips I enjoy most, but there are caveats.

1. It's a really, really, really long flight (just under six hours takeoff to touchdown).
2. I have more downtime on this trip than any other, because we leave Wednesday from Duluth and it gives me all day Thursday to adjust to the time change and putz around.
3. It's the farthest away from the family, and it's the longest time away. We don't return to Duluth until Sunday night.

Luckily, my niece lives up here, and she'll take me to lunch later today. Will probably go to some messing around shops and such here.

As for the hockey, I'll get you a preview later, unless I really haven't done well adjusting to the time change and I fall asleep. I think this is going to be a huge barometer for this UMD team, and it's an extremely important weekend from a "get some points" standpoint because of what is to come.

MY BEST TO PUFFY

If you haven't heard, KFAN radio personality and unabashed Gopher fan Jeff Dubay is in a bit of hot water.

"Puffy", as he's known to legions of loyal listeners to the "PA and Dubay Show" on a statewide network, was arrested last Wednesday. He is expected to face a felony drug possession charge.

Dubay was arrested on suspicion of a fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. Dubay could end up in a pretrial diversion program, meaning the matter would stand to be dismissed after 12 months without any criminal conviction on his record provided he complies with the conditions the court imposes.

Obviously, this is more of a personal note, but one I feel is necessary.

While I've never been a big fan of the show, I do listen to PA and Dubay when I can (which admittedly isn't often). It's not so much for any reason other than the fact that Dubay is so obviously in love with Gopher hockey. Yes, it's Gopher hockey, but it's also hockey.

I'm a big believer in the sport of college hockey, and so is Dubay. While his analysis isn't always spot-on because of his biases, the same could be said for so many of us involved in the game. And with such a shortage of people willing to talk about college hockey on the radio, we'll miss Dubay as long as he's gone. In this case, I'll take the "sometimes-misdirected passion" over the total apathy that serves as my alternative.

Furthermore, if this is a sign of a more serious problem for Jeff Dubay the man, I can do nothing but wish him well. No matter the circumstances, I do look forward to Jeff Dubay showing up in Duluth the next time the Gophers are in town to lose games to UMD (how about a playoff series in March?!!?).

Plus he still owes me a tour of the KFAN facility in the Cities (though I doubt he remembers this debt).

THE ODYSSEY BEGINS

When you next hear from me, I'll be a bit further north and west than usual.

Anchorage, to be exact.

I mean, it just seems like we got back from a road trip, and we're going on another one.

Weee.

Should be arriving in Anchorage around 11pm Central time, which would equate to 8pm Alaska time. Can't wait to see how angry my body gets at me for this one.