Redwing77's First Impressions vs. UAA

A Bit of a Sidebar

First off, I want to say hello again to Goon's World and thank Goon for his patience with my idleness with posting.  Life's been busy in Omaha including my admission to the online graduate school for educational technology through... Michigan State (MSU's Educational Technology program is tops in the nation among the schools that don't require the GDP of 90% of the world's small countries to attend).  So my posting has been a bit few and far between.  I'll try to do more as time permits.

Webcast

Tuning into the Webcast today got me a stunning visage of the entryway our color guard used for the National Anthem... with no color guard present.... during the introduction of players.  It's almost as if the production crew didn't realize they were live?  And after that no sound from the booth until just prior to the commercial break before faceoff.  I've read some complaints about picture quality, but I guess my expectations for that aren't that high.  In any case, on with my rambling...

UAA?  What the heck...

I really feel bad for Skyiak and the UAA faithful (even the twink-ish trolls that have plagued us in the past) because I'm just not sure how competitive they can be in Anchorage...or why couldn't they.  Fairbanks have seen their fair share of at least decent players come through their arena and Fairbanks can't be THAT much better than Anchorage can it?  I loved Anchorage when I was there.  Small, but nice.

I'm wondering about the recruiting practices at UAA.  They've always seemed to be "We'll take the best we can get" type mentality but I also think they are very much a risk taking school taking high risk/high reward type players like Dallas Steward, Nathan Lawson, Kevin Clark, and so on.  So what happens if Shyiak recruits one of these players that don't work out?  Well, I think we're seeing it this weekend.  The UAA defense is just dreadful.  Their offense isn't much better.  Some of it is scheme but they just aren't as talented as they need to be to even be surprisingly competitive.  In other words, if they do beat a team like UND, UMN, UMD, DU, CC, or UW it will truly be surprising.  Heck, our second tier might be a surprising win (UNO, SCSU, BSU).

UAA Goaltending

What happens when you recruit a high risk player that does pan out?  Well, I believe Chris Kamal fits that category.  Yeah, we're dominant.  We dropped 4 goals on him in the second period alone.  However, how many of those goals were his fault and not set up by the poor play.  He isn't dynamic in net, so he'll rarely steal a game but that's what it seems it's going to take for Kamal to have success in Anchorage.

I texted Goon this and he seemed skeptical but I'll stand by it:  If Kamal were to play for a team like WMU or SCSU or even BSU or UNO I think Kamal would be getting far more praise as he'd be winning games.  He's truly a good player on a not very good team.

On to UND

We came out guns blazing... and nothing to show for it until early in the second period.  We outshot UAA 14 to 2 in the first period alone and looked like it was only a matter of time.  Again, 14 shots and 14 saves.  If we were THAT dominant, then Kamal looked downright phenominal.  Nevertheless, we took over once the first goal was scored.

The best goal has to be Caggiula's goal only because of the feed by Grimaldi.  WOW.  I haven't seen that kind of ability to feed the puck since Oshie and Toews.  Yeah, I'm going there.

UND Goaltending

Inevitably there's going to be the outcry for Saunders.  Gothberg has looked shaky at times thus far even in tonight's game and Saunders really has not.  Hmmmmm  probably because Saunders is a veteran.  There are all sorts of analogies I could use, but they'd spark arguments that would be beside the point.  Saunders is older, more experienced in the college game.  I expected him to be the steadier and more solid of the two out of the gates.  Saunders hasn't changed.  Just his jersey and the players in front of him.  That's not the same from Gothberg.

So, why get all uppity on Gothberg?  Because many in UND's fanbase, in my observations, seem to rush to judge and pine for the guy who makes the best first impression and rarely are dissuaded to think otherwise.  To me, it makes sense to play both Gothberg and Saunders and see big picture.

I feel that right away, Saunders is the guy that's going to take the reins.  I expect to see Saunders on Saturday night.  I'd be stunned if Gothberg plays tomorrow (even if Gothberg pitched a shutout tonight, which he did not but still...).  However, in the long run, I feel that Gothberg will be the better of the two goaltenders.  Why?  I think Saunders is about as good as he's going to get.  He's darn good, don't get me wrong, but the peak is either right upon us or well within sight.  Gothberg is just past the base starting the initial ascent.

Expect Gothberg to play rocky at times during the game but if you watched the same game I did vs. Manitoba, you would have seen some serious flashes of brilliance.  I can't wait for Goehring to bring it out of Gothberg as he grows.  Gothberg could be someone special.

My three stars for tonights game:

3.  Chris Kamal (UAA) - He doesn't play the way he did, we drop double digits on UAA easy.
2.  Derek Forbort (UND) -  He played solid all over the place
1.  Danny Kristo (UND)  - No goals, but he had 3 assists and he was ALL over the ice doing his best TJ Oshie impersonation.

There were a ton of honorable mentions like Drake Caggiula, Rocco Grimaldi, Carter Rowney, Zane Gothberg...

But anyways, I'm sure my 3rd star will arouse enough controversy for the evening.

Good work UND!