November
15, 2007
Goalies
Have Been Great in the WCHA
By
Jess Myers
Remember roughly one month ago, when folks
were fretting about how the WCHA would survive without top-notch
netminders like Matt Zaba, Brian Elliott and Bobby Goepfert?
That was a long time ago.
WCHA
Notebook
Shane Connolly's acrobatic save last weekend was just
one sign of the spectacular goaltending in the WCHA.
Remember a few years ago, when Adam Hauser
backstopped his team to the NCAA title and the general thinking
was that great goaltending didn’t matter as much as
it once did? That was a long, long time ago.
It’s definitely still early in the college
hockey season and yet everywhere you turn in the WCHA, it
seems like a different goaltender is making a case for why
his game — and in turn, his team — is the real
thing.
“We’re seeing another group of
good young goalies, and hearing from guys who have either
been in the shadows of are just getting their first taste
of college hockey,” said Colorado College coach Scott
Owens.
It’s not limited to one area or one
or two teams. It’s a trend that encompasses the big
schools (Wisconsin) the small schools (Colorado College),
the NHL factories (North Dakota), the up-and-comers (Michigan
Tech) and those trying to re-gain past glories (Denver and
Minnesota Duluth).
And people are paying attention. In Colorado
Springs, where the Tigers are the big hockey show in this
growing community of a half-million, the media have discovered
rookie goalie Richard Bachman (he of the 5-1-0 start and
the .950 save percentage). Owens went as far as to limit
media access to his top goalie this week, giving the youngster
a break from the relentless interview requests so he could
concentrate on school and the hockey tasks ahead.
Ironically, it’s the fact that Bachman
plays nothing like a rookie that has made him so successful
thus far.
“Richard is an older freshman, but he’s
still getting exposed to the league for the first time,”
said Owens. “You watch him play and he looks like
a veteran goalie. He’s very composed and he gives
confidence to everyone else with the way he slows things
down.”
In sharp contract to Bachman’s slowdown
game is the aggressive goaltending practiced by Minnesota
Duluth sophomore Alex Stalock, who seems to be finding his
place this season after a rookie campaign in which he was
thrown into the WCHA fire and struggled to meet the lofty
expectations placed on his shoulders. Stalock is above .500
and anchoring a nationally ranked team so far this season.
Most significantly, even he admits his aggressive “handle
the puck like a third defenseman” game is evolving.
“I still play the puck quite a bit,
but my coach and I have talked, and have agreed that nights
when I play a more calm game, I play better,” said
Stalock, who has turned in a 43-save shutout of Denver this
season. “For me it helps to be in control, which means
not always going for the home run pass, but going for little
chip-outs that can start the play.”
Last weekend’s series in Madison was
perhaps the premiere goalie matchup of the season thus far,
with Wisconsin’s Shane Connelly staring down North
Dakota’s Jean-Philippe Lamoureux. Connelly got the
shutout on Friday (his first of the season), holding off
the Fighting Sioux and their 25 third period shots. Lamoureux,
he of the four shutouts in nine starts, was one save away
from his fifth whitewash on Saturday, but had to settle
for a 3-1 win when the Badgers’ Matt Ford scored with
less than three minutes to play.
“It was kind of nice that we ruined
it for him there,” said Connelly of his opponent’s
near-shutout. Despite the loss, Connelly had the
video highlight of the week, reaching back with his
stick into the gaping goalmouth and swatting a sure Brad
Miller goal out of mid-air, then tumbling out of the way.
It was a strikingly similar save to one he
made two years ago, reaching back with his stick to
swat the puck away after a Paul Stastny shot deflected off
two Badgers and seemed bound for the back of the net.
“Flying through the air makes it look
a little more acrobatic,” Connelly said. “Actually,
that’s just me trying to get out of the way of the
puck. I don’t want to make the big save, then knock
in the rebound myself.”
For goalies like Connelly the hard-fought
weekend was just the latest salvo in a tight league with
lots of talent between the pipes.
“There are a ton of great goalies in
our league right now,” he said. “With the offenses
so even, I definitely think goaltending is going to be the
biggest factor in the league race.”
“Of course, I may be a little biased,”
Connelly added, with a chuckle.
SEEN
AND HEARD IN THE WCHA
Wistful Huskies: It’s
not known what was playing on Michigan Tech coach Jamie
Russell’s iPod as the Huskies bussed to Duluth on
Thursday, but a country tune by Little Texas called “What
Might Have Been” would be an appropriate soundtrack.
Russell and the Huskies found out earlier
in the week that sought-after recruit Casey Pierro-Zabotel,
who had spent the fall trying to gain academic eligibility,
had been denied NCAA clearance to play. Rather than stick
it out in the academic world, Pierro-Zabotel signed a contract
with Vancouver in the Western Hockey League, thereby negating
his college eligibility. It was a real blow to the Huskies
and their fans, who had hoped to add the budding offensive
start to their roster in December, prior
to the Great Lakes Invitational.
“It was going to be a very different
situation for us, adding a player to our roster going into
the GLI,” Russell said. “We had gone over some
of our offensive systems with Casey and weren’t really
set on whether we’d use him at center or wing, but
it’s all a moot point now.”
Pierro-Zabotel had scored 27 points in 17
games for the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia
Hockey League. He was picked in the third round of the NHL
draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer.
Russell said the team has no plans to bring
in a replacement this season, but said that Pierro-Zabotel’s
departure may mean he’ll recruit one more forward
for the class that will come to Houghton in the fall of
2008.
Great Weekend Getaway
Alaska
Anchorage at Minnesota (Fri.-Sat.)
Alaska Anchorage re-wrote history last March, when
Luke Beaverson’s overtime goal made the Seawolves
the first visiting team to win a WCHA playoff game
at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota eventually won the series,
but one thinks there will be a better feeling among
the Alaskans when they return to Minneapolis this
weekend for a two-game set. As for the Gophers, there’s
a need to prove that the 0-4 league start was a fluke,
and last weekend’s nine-goal outburst versus
Minnesota State is more of what’s to be expected.
While You're There: If you miss
the days when players like Mark Parrish (St. Cloud
State), Wyatt Smith (Minnesota), Paul Stastny (Denver)
and Jeff Finger (St. Cloud State) were toiling in
the college ranks, and want to check out your seats
for the WCHA Final Five, catch the Avalanche visiting
the Wild on Sunday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center
in St. Paul. There’s talk that ex-Badger Sean
Hill will make his Wild debut, having served a 20-game
NHL suspension, but don’t expect to see injured
former Gopher Jordan Leopold back in an Avs sweater
just yet.
Stick
Salute
There’s
no snow on the ground in St. Cloud yet, and there’s
no sign of the sophomore jinx in the Huskies locker
room, as forward Ryan Lasch’s offensive
tear continues. Lasch, an all-rookie selection in
the WCHA last year, was named the WCHA offensive player
of the week for the second consecutive week, after
his three goals were key in the Huskies’ sweep
at Michigan Tech last weekend.
Bench
Minor
While we
appreciate the passion and emotion of college hockey,
when a game ends with coaches yelling profanities
at one another on the ice, we’ve crossed
a line. Without naming names, here’s urging
the men who wear ties and stand behind the benches
to leave the chirping to the guys with sticks and
helmets.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• How good has Denver’s defense
and goaltending been thus far? The Pioneers have allowed
one or fewer goals in all six of their wins, and have not
allowed a power-play goal in their last five games, going
a perfect 24-for-24 with a man in the box.
• After sitting out both of last weekend’s
games with St. Cloud State with back pain, Michigan Tech
goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak made the trip to this weekend’s
series at Minnesota Duluth and is questionable to play,
according to his coach. The pair of losses to St. Cloud
State marked the first time Rob Nolan has started back-to-back
games for Tech.
• The Minnesota State hockey road crew
is packing bags and getting hotel keys again this weekend,
as the Mavericks visit Denver. The two-game road set concludes
a hellish schedule stretch which has had the Mavs wearing
the dark sweaters for nine of their first 10 games this
season. Although thus far the road has been kinder than
home for Minnesota State, which is 3-3-1 overall as the
visitor, but 0-1-0 in the only home game – last Friday’s
4-3 loss to Minnesota in Mankato.
• It’s not surprising to see North
Dakota’s T.J. Oshie atop the team’s goal-scoring
list with six so far, and three of those have been game-winners.
Oshie got the game-winner on Saturday in Madison when the
Sioux bested Wisconsin 3-1 and now has 14 career game-winners,
which places him third in the school record books. He needs
one more to tie Brandon Bochenski for second place and is
shooting for the school record of 18, set by Mark Taylor
between 1976 and 1980.
• While the news about Pierro-Zabotel
has been a downer for Michigan Tech fans, there’s
encouraging news to pass along about Huskies coach Jamie
Russell’s oldest son. After spending nearly two weeks
in a Milwaukee hospital with a serious bacterial infection,
Ben Russell, 9, returned home last week in time for the
Huskies’ series with St. Cloud State. Ben attended
the team’s practice last Thursday and was a special
guest at the team’s pre-game meal on Friday. According
to his father, Ben is getting stronger by the day and has
been buoyed by the support the family has gotten from so
many friends and fans throughout the college hockey world.
“Please pass on our thanks to everyone who has cared
so deeply,” said the elder Russell in an email to
INCH this week.
A variety
of sources were utilized in the compilation of this report.
Jess Myers can be reached at jess@insidecollegehockey.com.
