Overall a great weekend of hockey down at Yost this weekend. The Wolverines got the sweep that they had to have against a Ferris State team that, frankly, blows.
Friday night was a really interesting game. Michigan jumped on the Bulldogs early and often, taking a 4-0 lead in the first, and a 7-1 lead late in the second, but the Bulldogs put up an incredible 24 shots on goal in the second period. Michigan pulled the old "We're up by 5 or 6 goals so we're going to stop skating" routine and almost let FSU back into the game. I can't have been the only person in the arena who was looking at the scoreboard wondering if there was still a way for us to blow that game after it became 7-3.
After it was 7-4, FSU was buzzing until Johnson put it away with another great shot...this time on a 2 on 0 with Ciraulo.
I can't believe that FSU left MacIntyre in there for the entire game. I'm not sure if they were trying to not kill O'Keefe's confidence for the next night or what, but you can't let that kid get 9 hung on him.
It's hard to play a better game than Johnson played Friday. 3 goals, 4 points, +4 on the night, 3 blocked shots...And what a move on his second goal! That deke was just not nice at all.
Despite allowing 4, Sauer was solid in net. A couple of the goals were on the questionable side, but he stopped 9 out of every 10 shots and that is perfectly fine with me. For the month of January, I think his save % topped .930. We played a bunch of bad teams this month, and as I've said before, hopefully this month raises his confidence for the stretch run.
Andrew Cogliano had the jets going the entire weekend, as he continued to play just excellent hockey. Over the last 18 he has only been held off the scoresheet one time. This is a lot more what we were all expecting when he got here.
TJ Hensick should get the Hobey. He's tops in the country in points now, he leads the nation in assists by 6 (and yikes, Kevin Porter is only 2 helpers out of 2nd place in assists and points), and now the puck is starting to go in for him. Add to it his leadership and pretty darn respectable play in his own end, and this is a guy that deserves some recognition come the end of the season.
The Saturday night game was easier to like, mainly because we didn't stop playing and give me a heart attack halfway through the third period. We also gave up 24 shots for the game. Not in a period. It was a much better defensive effort as a whole. Again, Johnson was excellent. Both his goals were just absolute rockets. The first one was especially great, mainly because I had about the best angle in the house for it. You could see the shooting angle open and if you give Jack that much room with that much to shoot at, he's not going to miss.
To put Jack's weekend into perspective: If you used his stats just from this weekend, he would be the 6th leading goal scorer and 11th leading point man on Ferris State's team.
You also have to give Mark Mitera a call. He was +11 in the month of January, and incredibly was not on the ice for a single even-strength goal against.
DC Nole pointed this out in his always-good game wrapups...Danny Fardig was a man possessed this weekend. Friday night I commented that it looked like he was trying to get ejected. The kid was just going after everything in sight.
3 great moments in the crowd for the weekend:
1) Jack Sr.'s dance shows. I don't always get to see them, because it's kind of a tradition to walk 2 laps around the rink in between periods, but he's pretty much made everyone forget that the band director is a bitch. Jake Long and Adam Kraus joined in the fun on Friday night. These dances are more fun anyway...I do miss seeing the old band director bust out the broom in the back-end of a sweep though.
2) The "Jack Bauer Wears Jack Johnson" Pajamas sign. Just brilliant.
3) The "If you get get into college go to State" song last night, which included: State, Western, Central, Eastern, Northern, Tech, Hope, Albion, Alma, Oakland, Washtenaw, Kalamazoo, Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley, Wayne State, Detroit Mercy, one school I've never heard of that drew a reaction from a girl in front of me, Ohio State, and Pioneer High School before finally getting to Ferris. I was disappointed that Spring Arbor didn't get any love.
One last moment of joy for the weekend courtesy of MSUStudent. As much as I hate Chris Osgood, at least he's never given up a goal this bad.
And he's never lost to Holy Cross.
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8 comments:
The one you didn't hear was "Schoolcraft," the only one I did hear. That cheer was pretty tremendous though.
Did you catch what Mr. Johnson told the student after he came back from dancing next to the band? I couldn't hear but everyone was laughy and what not.
Oh damnit, that was me. I think must have been fiddling with my account after a few beers or something. Why does it say that?
Kalamazoo College is not appropriate for that song.
Two more things:
1. Greatest headline ever -- http://tinyurl.com/23s87w
2. Anyone going to this Friday's game at Lawson? I'm trying to meet up with the Michigan crowd.
Schoolcraft! That's right! I got a good laugh out of that one. I knew I had to be missing at least one in the list that I remembered.
Didn't hear what Mr. Johnson said...
Jeremy, you're right...K College definitely should've been higher up the list if it was included in the song.
Personally, I wish MSU would be moved further down. The start of the song would be a little awkward, but we're giving them too much credit by putting all those schools after them ;-)
I don't think I'm going to make it out to Lawson unfortunately. I had fun out there last year. They've got really good food in that arena. They've got a Damon's concession stand. I'm not sure I'd ever be inclined to get a full slab of ribs at a hockey game, but it's nice to know I COULD.
I dn, I might think about it, but I think dead-tiredness is going to intervene. The paper about Hegel and the Sorrows of Young Werther isn't going to write itself.
I love when you mention Holy Cross. Because it just reaffirms how much Minnesota owns Michigan in hockey. :-D
Actually I think it just reaffirms that Holy Cross owned Minnesota. And it was great. :-)
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