The Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and St. Cloud State Huskies locked up over
the weekend in the WCHA opener for both teams.  The Bulldogs were hoping
to break their six-game losing streak at St. Cloud, while the Huskies
were anxious to see how their young team would perform in a big
conference series.
UMD came out flat in the first game and the Huskies jumped all over
them.  Jason Stewart and Matt Cullen scored first period goals to give
SCSU a 2-0 lead after one.  Dave Paradise, Stewart, and Taj Melson scored
for the Huskies in the second to increase the lead to 5-0.  Sasha Molin
added an early third period goal to increase the margin to 6-0 before the
Bulldogs showed any signs of life.  Jason Haakstad scored once and Jeff
Romfo twice within 59 seconds to pull UMD within three, but the rally
fell well short, and the Huskies easily closed out the game.  The St.
Cloud jinx continued once again for the 'Dogs.........
Saturday's game saw the Bulldogs come out flying, but again St. Cloud
jumped out in front.  Kelly Reider and Molin netted early goals to give
the Huskies an early 2-0 advantage.  Brian Leitza played excellent in net
to thwart many of UMD's good scoring chances.   UMD rallied with two
goals by Mike Peluso to tie the game, but St. Cloud stuck again with
Paradise and Molin giving the Huskies another two goal advantage, 4-2
entering the third.  Joe Ciccarello scored at 1:35 of the third to pull
the 'Dogs within one, and then Ken Dzikowski at 5:11 tie the game.  The
remaining 15 minutes of the game was classic WCHA hockey -  high intensity,
excellent scoring chances, big hits, and a wild raucous crowd with two
in-state rivals slugging it out.  Finally with 3:15 left in the game, two
UMD freshman hooked up on a brilliant play to give the Bulldogs the
eventual game-winner.  Max Wickman hit Jason Haakstad just outside the
blue line, and Haakstad split two Husky defenseman to break in alone on
Leitza and snap a shot into the upper corner.  It was the fourth goal in
three games for Haakstad, a speedy freshman winger.  The game was far
from over with 3:15 left though.  The Huskies, despite being short-handed
for two minutes, dominated the rest of the game.  UMD goaltender Taras
Lendzyk made six saves in the final 30 seconds in numerous wild flurries
in front of the net to preserve the victory for the Bulldogs.  The victory
broke UMD's 7-game losing streak at the National Hockey Center.
Being a UMD fan and having attended 4 of those losses, the win was
especially enjoyable.
Overall though, I was impressed with St. Cloud.  Leitza was very sharp
for most of the series and the Husky freshman such as Cullen, Parrish,
and Molin were much more dominating than I had anticipated.  Dave
Paradise is certainly becoming one of the better forwards in the WCHA as
well.
UMD showed great determination rallying for the second game win and
overcoming their history of poor performances at St. Cloud.  This should
give them a big lift for next weekend's home series against Tech.
The UMD freshman also are proving to have much more of an impact than
expected.  Along with Haakstad and Wikman,  Matt Taus and Bert Gilling
have been solid on defense, and Curtis Bois solid up front.
UMD must hope to improve defensively and get more scoring punch out of
their upperclassman.  Both were lacking over the weekend.  Lendzyk must
also become more consistent and avoid his hot-cold streaks of years past.
The opening weekend was definitely a great one - should be an exciting
season!
 
Paul Thalacker
Go Bulldogs!!!!
 
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