
Las Vegas Wrangler Mick Lawrence and Utah Grizzly Jake Gannon collide during the first period of action at the Orleans Arena on Oct. 29.

Las Vegas Wrangler Mick Lawrence and Utah Grizzly Jake Gannon collide during the first period of action at the Orleans Arena on Oct. 29.
Not surprisingly, goaltender Richard Bachman gets noticed as a leader in Dallas.I’ve seen Jake Gannon’s physical play mentioned on a few Capitals message boards.
Wednesday update:
After 14 scoreless minutes, Bill Sweatt put the Red team ahead for good in a 5-0 win over the White team.
The Montreal Gazette points out that Mike Testwuide (and brother J.P.) and Canadiens owner George Gillett share the same hometown.
Andrew’s Dallas Stars blog talked to Scott Winkler, a recruit pegged for 2009 who is at Dallas Stars development camp. Now we know that Winkler’s dad, a Canadian, played pro hockey in Norway and Winkler’s family still lives here. Good stuff.
Thursday update:
Scott Winkler gets another positive review at Dallas Stars development camp, this time referred to as a “gem.”
Mucking In The Corner has a new home on The Gazette’s website. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
I was out of the country for the bulk of the NHL playoffs, so I missed that CC alum Toby Petersen was the talk of the Dallas Stars-Detroit Red Wings series.
Here are some links that capture the buzz in Dallas:
And this is also old news, but important nonetheless: Defenseman Gabe Guentzel, a Woodbury, Minn., native and son of recently departed Minnesota assistant coach Mike Guentzel, committed to CC for the upcoming season, the Sioux Falls Stampede announced May 14. Guentzel, who had six goals and 22 assists in 60 games for the Stampede, joins Arthur Bidwill and Joe Marciano as new additions to the defensive corps this fall. Captain Jake Gannon will be the lone senior defenseman and leader of a group that returns six of seven players, losing Jack Hillen to graduation. Nine defensemen will be the most the Tigers have had since the 2004-05 season, when they also had nine defensemen.
The Tigers have an uphill battle on their hands after giving up a goal with 3:23 left in the period.
Defensemen Jake Gannon and Kris Fredheim and the top line of Chad Rau, Mike Testwuide and Bill Sweatt all froze in their tracks as Anchorage left wing Josh Lunden walked into the slot from the right half-wall and slung a wrist shot on net, which beat goaltender Richard Bachman gloveside. It was the type of goal that leaves one wondering if the CC players thought they heard a whistle.
No. 9-seed Michigan Tech forced overtime with No. 2-seed North Dakota in Grand Forks, so it could be an interesting Sunday in the WCHA.
If you ask me, CC could use a good jolt. The Tigers’ transition isn’t there right now because Anchorage is doing a nice job of executing its game plan to frustrate CC to no end. That means being pesky and finishing checks all over the ice. The Tigers need to develop their playoff mentality. Defenseman Jake Gannon’s hit may have helped. He just rocked an Anchorage player against the glass.
For CC:
–Right wing Addison DeBoer returned to practice for the first time since he was injured Feb. 22 at Minnesota-Duluth. DeBoer had separated his left shoulder, but looked strong during a 45-minute skate involving a lot of shooting drills. DeBoer was wearing a noncontact jersey.
–Defenseman Kris Fredheim, who missed six games with a shoulder injury earlier this season, was back at practice Tuesday after missing the second half of Saturday’s game against Minnesota State-Mankato with what he termed an “upper-body injury.” Fredheim was also in a noncontact jersey.
–Goaltender Richard Bachman, defensemen Jack Hillen and Jake Gannon, and right wing Eric Walsky took Tuesday’s practice off. As the season winds down, coach Scott Owens will often designate off days for certain players to keep them healthy and fresh down the stretch.
I’m at Denver today working on material for this weekend’s series and I also attended the 2008 Frozen Four press conference (separate posting above), where I spoke to Denver coach George Gwozdecky.
Gwozdecky had this to say about sophomore Tyler Ruegsegger, who has been out for a month with a groin injury but returned to practice this week:
“He did not have a lot of negative effects from practice. Obviously, his conditioning and his timing are not there because he’s been off for a month. But the biggest issue with his injury was not as big of a problem as he thought it was going to be. So, he’s made some great progress. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to our medical staff and Tyler because they’ve worked tirelessly on his rehab. There is a good chance that he will be in the lineup Friday and, if not Friday, Saturday.”
Ruegsegger had 10 goals and 10 assists in 24 games before his injury, including a goal and an assist in Denver’s 3-2 win over CC at Magness Arena in November.
Whoever uses the “Richard Bachman is a freshman” argument to deny him of post-season accolades would be a fool. Among his many accomplishments this season, Bachman became the first CC goaltender to shutout a series on the road Saturday, when he saved 29 shots in the Tigers’ 4-0 win over Duluth. Bachman ranks first in the nation in both goals against average (1.71) and save percentage (.935).
But as Bachman himself pointed out after the game, he had some help.
“I thought tonight the team played very well,” Bachman said. “I didn’t think they had too many grade-A shots. Even compared to last night, I thought our ‘d’ stepped up bigger, so that really helped a lot. …They did their job, which enabled me to do mine.”
Several of Tigers’ defensemen also played their best series of the season.
–Senior Jack Hillen, who had three assists Saturday, was mentioned several times among press-box members as the following: “best player on the ice,” “first-team All-America” and “best defenseman in the league.”
Duluth coach Scott Sandelin agreed after the game. “I like the way Jack Hillen plays,” Sandelin said. “He’s arguably one of the top defensemen in the league. Some people might not like the way he plays, but I do. He’s involved a lot in the play. I like his skating ability and he sees the ice.” Hillen, who leads WCHA defensemen in scoring and is tied for second nationally in that category, now has 28 points (3 goals, 25 assists), making him one of the top-scoring defensemen in recent CC history. (He needs 12 points to draw even with Brian Salcido, who had 40 points in the 2005-06 season.)
–Coach Scott Owens mentioned the series as Kris Fredheim’s best in 2008.
–I can’t begin to list the number of key blocked shots by the defensemen or the odd-man rushes they thwarted, but Nate Prosser, Brian Connelly, Ryan Lowery and Jake Gannon all did an excellent job of keeping the play to the perimeter and chipping the puck up, off the glass, and out of the zone.
–Team defense was also at a premium. The ability of the Tigers’ forwards to keep the puck in the offensive zone could only be topped by that of the Clarkson series, but CC had more depth to work with that weekend.
**I didn’t get a chance to speak with him in the hustle and bustle that occurs after a game, but I spotted left wing Addison DeBoer (shoulder) with his left arm in a sling. I’ll catch up with him this week.
Michigan Tech cranked it up in the second period, peppering goaltender Richard Bachman with 16 shots. Bachman made 16 saves, his best on a sequence starting with a shot from the top of the left circle by Malcolm Gwilliam. Bachman saved the left wing’s shot with his blocker and then made an eyebrow-raising glove save on the rebound attempt from center Peter Rouleau.
CC had 12 shots in the second, its best opportunity at 8:13 of the period when defenseman Jake Gannon ripped a shot from the point. Left wing Scott Thauwald got a second chance on the rebound and center Chad Rau tried to go up and over goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak, but went into his chest instead.
Some other thoughts:
–The Huskies were better able to sustain pressure in CC’s zone over the second half of the period. –The penalties piled up in the final two minutes while CC was on its second power play. Center Eric Walsky exchanged some blows with Michigan Tech left wing Jordan Baker.
–It’s definitely a face-off between two of the nation’s best goalies. Michigan Tech junior goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak ranks fourth in the country in GAA (1.72) and fourth in save percentage (.934). CC freshman goaltender Richard Bachman ranks second in GAA (1.58) and first in save percentage (.941).
1. Limit North Dakota to two goals or less. PASS.
Quick quips:
I’d say there was a little bit. Just going on a three-game skid there and you want to stop that. Then, you’re away at a full-house in a big place. It’s a little bit of pressure, but I just tried to tune it all out again. It was definitely on the back of my mind a little bit.
They pass a lot and they’re more patient when they have a shot. They also have that guy driving backdoor every time. Those little things and the things we covered on video helped me prepare, watching two games on video and stuff. That definitely helped….I wouldn’t be quite as aggressive, knowing there could be a guy backdoor. I tried to watch out for that, I knew they had some quick guys going right to that far post.
Most of the time I could see it, I was just trying to look around him and stuff. A couple of them, I was just like, ‘Hit me, please.’ I just tried to stay big out there.
38-21–The Fighting Sioux’s faceoff advantage.
3-3–CC’s record after facing then-No. 3 Minnesota, then-No. 6 New Hampshire and No. 3 North Dakota.
37–Percent of shots that came from the Scott McCulloch–Tyler Johnson–Eric Walsky line.
1-3–Record against Minnesota and North Dakota the last time CC played only one regular-series against each team and faced the Gophers at home and the Fighting Sioux on the road (2003-04).
0–The amount of power-play goals North Dakota scored. The Fighting Sioux have been held scoreless on the power play in each of their losses and in the tie to Boston College.
Looking back at the Three Keys:
1. Limit neutral-zone turnovers: The Tigers spent all week in practice preparing for the odd-man rushes that Minnesota generates out of the neutral zone. Even though the Gophers had more odd-man rushes than assistant coach Joe Bonnett would have liked, and scored on one, the Tigers’ defensemen and backchecking forwards did a good job of funneling the puck to one side so that goaltender Richard Bachman could have a clear shot.
2. Defensive effort/physical play: See above. Also, as he did often last year, right wing Cody Lampl made several back-cracking checks to set the tone for the Tigers. Left wing Billy Sweatt, defenseman Jake Gannon and defenseman Nate Prosser also showed some tenacity.
3. Limit excessive penalties: CC took one fewer penalty than the Gophers (six total, including two roughing penalties). Bachman and the penalty killers were exemplary, holding Minnesota to just five shots on four power plays. Scott McCulloch’s near-shorthanded goal in the second period, which hit the left post, was a pure hustle play.
Goals:
First Period
Colorado College 1, Minnesota 0: Bill Sweatt (Andreas Vlassopoulos, Jack Hillen), 12:28, pp. Vlassopoulos collected the puck off the back wall and sent a pass to Sweatt, who one-timed it past Frazee and inside the right post for the Tigers’ first goal of the year.
“For me, it was an amazing feeling, especially coming in a big game like this and against a team like the Gophers,” Sweatt said.
Colorado College 1, Minnesota 1: Cade Fairchild (Blake Wheeler, Ben Gordon), 13:07. Just 39 seconds after CC scored, Minnesota’s classic odd-man rush came out of the neutral zone and did a nice tic (Gordon) -tac (Wheeler) -toe (Fairchild) around defenseman Jake Gannon and inside the right post.
Second Period
Colorado College 2, Minnesota 1: Eric Walsky (Scott Thauwald), 0:25. Defenseman Nate Prosser created a turnover in the Tigers’ defensive corner. Thauwald scooped up the loose puck and fed Walsky who sliced through the Minnesota defense and beat Frazee.
Here’s how he described it: “I was really looking for the pass the whole time and then I saw that the goalie was cheating. I kind of shot mid-stride and wasn’t planning on it, so…I got a lot of crap from the guys.”
Third Period
Colorado College 3, Minnesota 1: Derek Patrosso (Vlassopoulos, Sweatt), 11:04. Sweatt sent a pass along the back wall to Vlassopoulos, who fed Patrosso on the right side of the crease. Frazee covered low so Patrosso went high.
“When you’re young, you’re taught that when you’re in close like that to try to go upstairs,” Patrosso said. “It was a natural instinct to wait it out and wait for him to go down and then go upstairs.”
Extra Stats:
–CC’s penalty kill: 4 for 4
–CC’s power play: 1 for 5
–Faceoffs: Minnesota 27, CC 25
CC’s top faceoff man: Chad Rau 13/25
Minnesota’s top faceoff man: Blake Wheeler 10/15