Thursday, February 19, 2009

Mi Scusi

Ahh mi scusi, mi scusi!

Our move got pushed up a week, so with packing and whatnot, I've had no time to think about hockey, let alone recap the wins from the past weekend.

I did manage to take in Friday night's game at Yost, and it was so good to be back in that old barn. There was a chant in the third period that a group of students were doing that kept ending in "You just suck", but it wasn't the goalie-->sieve-->funnel-->vacuum chant. Someone out there has to know. I was amused, even if I couldn't hear what was being said. I was a big fan of the "Bork, Bork, Bork" sign to go with the Swedish flags.

I'm not going to have a chance to watch Saturday night's game. Our TV is getting moved tomorrow and we're swapping out our Dish Network receivers on Saturday, so my copy of it will be going bye bye. I've heard the officiating was horrendous (shocking). And I heard it from someone who is normally really level-headed about that type of thing. I guess Omaha fans have a beef about our GWG, and Michigan fans have a beef about the constant 5 on 3s against them. I didn't see either for myself.

Really nice to see everyone chipping in offensively. Rust's line was just fantastic Friday night, Glendening has been lighting the lamp like crazy, Lebler, Czarnik...even Burlon from back on the blueline. It's a very good sign heading into the postseason. Now we just gotta get Louie putting the puck in the net again.

I was happy to find out that Hogan had the flu Friday night because that was as bad as he's ever looked between the pipes. He was dropping rebounds that he usually smothers, he gave up a goal after turning the puck over, another goal was terrible though I can't recall what happened. But it sounds like he's got a legit excuse. It was great to see Billy Sauer get another shot in net at Yost, and it was nice to hear the fans give him a well-deserved ovation. He may end up with one of the strangest legacies of any player to come through our program, but I have to respect anyone who has fought through as much adversity as Sauer has fought through in his career. I've criticized him more than my fair share, but I'll wish that kid nothing but the best going forward. He's been really mature about this season, and it can't be easy for him.

Mitera more than likely won't play this weekend but it sounds as if he could potentially go next weekend against FSU. Talk about a boost, getting your best player back for the stretch run.

That's all I've got. No 10 Things this week, due to a lack of time. We're 5 points ahead of OSU with 4 games to play. So a split means they can't catch us. We've locked up a bye in the first round of the CCHA Playoffs. OSU is in a fierce battle with Alaska for the final bye. Alaska is one point ahead, but they've got just two games remaining. OSU has four, but they're against Michigan and Miami. They badly need points if they want to avoid playing in the first round. They're 11-9-4-3 in CCHA play and have 72 goals for and 70 against.

After winning 11 games in a row, they've gone 2-4-3 (not counting shootouts) over their past nine.

Sophomore Dustin Carlson has gone most of the way in net, with a 16-7-3 record, a 2.26 goals against and a .924 save percentage. Joe Palmer has fallen off the face of the Earth, and I officially apologize to Ken Holland for ripping him for drafting Daniel Larsson instead. If I haven't already. Zac Dalpe leads in goals with 13 and John Albert leads in points with 33.

Tomorrow's game is on the Big Ten Network and Saturday's will air on CBS College Sports. I'm not sure what I'll be doing in terms of coverage. I may be able to Slingbox tomorrow's game if I'm not too busy moving stuff. Saturday's game will depend on if my satellite dish gets installed without a hitch. I love Dish Network, but they're majorly on my poop-list right now, so I'm not counting on it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We'll cover for ya, Tim. Get back online for the playoffs, though with that sharp analysis.

What can one say about CCHA officiating? Red was very careful during his show Tuesday. He said Pi is doing a great job, and it is hard getting ex-linesmen up to speed as referees. That puts an extreme burden on the crew.

Six straight penalties last friday was excessive, and Red mentioned that they seem focused on calling ticky tac stuff, then they have to call legit stuff, and then a team ends up in the box for half the period and it disturbs the flow. Doesn't make for good hockey, and it leaves half the bench without ice time for extended stretches, and that isn't good for the fans or the game.

Now saturday, Michigan deserved some of the calls, but a five minute major for kneeing? Two 5x3's? Come on. It took all game to recover from that piece of officiating.

UNO may have had a beef on that last goal, though. It appeared that Glendening got puck and skate at the same time, Del Grosso goes down, and U-M pops the winner.

I don't want to see UNO in the playoffs, it seems that they can bite us if they get a bounce or two.

On to the Bucks, who will come out physically and try to jump on the Wolves. Let's hope the defense and the goaltending stands tall in a hostile place. Take points and hold on to the hope of catching Miami.

Jason Greig said...

The cant in the third that ends "You Suck" is not as much a chant but rather a bunch of statements like when we played Miami of Ohio, a well informed guy in the student section says thinks in succession like, "[insert goalies name]University of Miami Ohio Alumi Bo Schembelcer called from the grave and said... [crowd] You Suck" Or Saturday night he used the statement "Hey Uno, Tom Cruise, The Real Maverick called and said... Yous Suck, Mel Gibson, star of the movie 'Maverick' called and said...You suck"

He usually has 5 or six, and are pretty damn creative. They always put a smile on my face.

Anonymous said...

jason-

we need to get him a megaphone or something. I sit 2 sections over from him and can't understand anything he says. But good to know they're creative and funny.

Anonymous said...

the call/response thing usually starts with a run through of the goaltender's family, by name of course, followed by famous and/or obscure alumni, throw in a fictional character or inanimate object once in a while and you're set. I agree esipp; maybe the Superfan can lend him his megaphone.

Anonymous said...

Hey (UNO goalie) Kaufmann, an ear of corn called... he said, YOU SUCK

Anonymous said...

As far as the officiating goes, I thought that the first 5 on 3 was legit. The knee happened right in front of where I sit, and it was a pretty egregious play. I think it was a borderline major to call, but given how dangerous knee to knee contact is (look at Mitera, for instance), I think the refs were justified. Bolstering that is the fact that Fardig's "Boarding" call was a hit from behind, and he should have gotten 5 and a game. The refs called it boarding because they didn't want to give UNO a 3:09 5-3 where UM wouldn't get out of the box for any goals after the marginal kneeing call. Frustrating, but, IMO, the refs calls made sense through the first period. (The refs also started looking closely at stuff UNO was doing, finally getting them for a, I think, tripping call early in the second. Of course, Llewellyn quickly neutralized that by getting a dumb as sh*t penalty after the whistle, but hey, that's what he does)

Packer487 said...

Thanks for filling me in about the chant. I love stuff like that. Yet another fun character at Yost!

I was also amused that we finally started doing the WCHA-style "Gimmee an O!" "O!"......chant. I'm surprised it took that long, since it's easy to learn and usually pretty disgusting ("Shoot, shoot, shoot"??!!) If you can come up with a clever, original one, all the better! But that chant will never fail to make me laugh. I don't claim to speak for anyone else!