Friday, October 08, 2010

Friday Morning Pontifications....



The UAA Seawolves will have a new goaltender(s) to start the 2010-2011 season, the previous goaltenders/sieves Jon Olthuis (Senior) and Bryce Christian (signed professional contract) have left the team making way for three inexperienced goalies to battle for the starting position.
The Seawolves don't have a projected No. 1 goalie, or even a proven college backstop, among the three men who play the position.

Gunderson is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound freshman from the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Chris Kamal is a 5-9, 186-pound freshman from the North American Hockey League. And the college game resume of returning junior Dusan Sidor, a 6-foot, 170-pounder, consists of a two-period relief stint last season.
The UAF Nanooks made their first trip to the NCAA tourney last season and are now poised to make another run to the NCAA tourney. Sounds like the Nanooks spent the off season preparing for the up coming season.
FAIRBANKS — “All summer, we had that taste in our mouths,” junior right wing Ron Meyers said after the recent Blue-Gold Game at the Patty Center. “We worked our butts off so we can get back there and get that taste ... and get more of a taste, staying there for more rounds and seeing how far we get there.”

More rounds in the NCAA Tournament starts with the regional final. If a team is fortunate there, it means a trip to the Frozen Four, where it will play in a national semifinal and if its fortune continues, it will play for the national championship.

The 22 veterans have stressed to the five newcomers — freshmen Colton Beck (left wing), Cody Kunyk (center), Erik Slemp (right wing) and Michael Quinn (defenseman) and sophomore center Adam Henderson, a transfer from Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Michigan State — that they want that taste to stay throughout the regular season and remain with the Nanooks for, hopefully, another trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Nanooks hockey seeks repeat postseason trip
The Alaska Nanooks Hockey Blog has an interesting blog post on the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team. It's always interesting to see how others scout the Sioux. Britton is a more user friendly than Delusions of Grandeur. [Click to read]

Dominating is the goal for SCSU [SCSU Times]
Lee, a third-round draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes, went into his freshman season with a lot of accolades and awards. He was the United States Hockey League Goalie of the Year and USA Hockey Junior Hockey Goalie of the Year in 2009. In preseasons polls of the media and the coaches, he also was the WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year.

Last winter, he won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships and started the last six postseason for the Huskies. He also had a 6-7-2 record and a 3.04 goals-against average in WCHA games.

"It was about as good a learning year as anybody could ask for with all of the ups and downs," said Lee, a sophomore who led Roseau to the 2007 Class 2A state high school title. "I went through about everything that somebody could go through in a season. It was good to get that experience under my belt for my freshman year.

"We're looking to build off that year," said Lee, who started in the WCHA championship game and won an NCAA first-round playoff game. "The more times you play for championships, the better your odds are. That's our goal, to keep putting ourselves in those situations."
Dominating? Yeah! Uh, oh, OK! I have been on record as saying that I think that Mike Lee is over rated and that Dan Dunn is the better of the two goalies for the SCSU Huskies. Last season Mike Lee folded in the big games in college and on the World stage. Lee was pulled in the WJC against Canada in the championship game, pulled in the Final Five against UND and was 0-3 UND last season (4-0 L, 8-1 L, 5-3 L), in fact Mike Lee only finished one game against the Sioux last season a 4-0 loss in November. On the flip side of that goalie combo Dunn was 2-0 against UND.