I have the onerous task of reporting an MTU loss. No one likes
losses but I am particularly disdainful of losses. Thus this
is a most difficult job. However, one must report the losses
if one is also to report wins; otherwise the wins do not mean
much more than "weaufing" the attributes of a local team over
what are grossly inferior opponents.
Denver kicked our proverbial tail last night. They dominated
play in every conceivable manner. We were lucky to have
yet another talented rookie goalie last night, Pete Hamilton,
saving the score for us. A 5-2 loss was not as drastic as
this runaway game might have been. I don't know how the
Denver crew awards saves. From the radio broadcast, it sure
sounded like Hamilton was getting more saves than scored
and Walinheimo getting far fewer. The reporters also
commented on this after the game as they saw it differently
than scored.
Denver came out strong in the first, repeating their 3rd
period performance of the previous night. Denver's tactics
were relatively simple: dump the puck into the MTU zone and
keep it there. They vigourously fore checked and defended the
MTU blueline like demons. MTU could not penetrate the
three and four man defense of the blueline. There had to be
holes on the other side of the blueline but for some unknown
reason, MTU could not get a man into the holes nor could they
pass through the blueline wall. MTU's passing game has been
suspect all season: last night Denver picked up on this and
closed MTU down. As MTU tried to move up the walls, Denver
pinched down and closed these off. MTU gain a little success
in moving through the center but just could not make passing
work for them.
The first period started off as a typical Yackel game. MTU
took two back to back early penalties and then Yackel gave
Denver a basic "Revlon/Maxfactor makeover" call. A proposed
change to one referee and two linesman approach to
improving referee quality in the WCHA is looking better all
the time. I wonder if they are considering this? Denver
did need the ref's help although the ref's really did not help
Denver either. The 1st period only had three penalties but the
stoppages for icing and off-sides were inconsistent
and tended to stop any game flow. Pete Hamilton did a
masterful job at closing down Denver's offense. The first
period was played in the MTU zone but Denver was denied
scoring until the closing minute when Kennedy scored
off a Warren Smith draw on an faceoff to Hamilton's left
at 19:34.
The second was more of the first. Kennedy got a short
handed goal when Denver mounted a 3 on 1 attack on
Hamilton. Hamilton blocked the first shot but had to go
to the ice to do so. Kennedy lifted the rebound high under
the cross bar. MTU's Jimmie Roy finally penetrated the
Denver defense and passed to a trailing Jeff Mikesch in the
slot who 5 holed the stalwart Walinheimo. MTU was given
an excellent opportunity to get into the game when a 5 minute
major was awarded to McLean for hitting Liam Garvey in the
back at 18:34. MTU has been unable to capitalize on 5 minute
majors this season and last night was consistent with the
record to date. While MTU came on stronger in the 2nd, Denver
was still well in control.
The third started with 3 and a half minutes of the 5 minute
major to McLean in progress. Denver consistently denied
MTU the ability to play the game. Then MTU's Perrett took
a 5 minute major checking from behind at 6:40. It looked
like that it would be Denver's turn to be denied. However,
Yackel gave Denver a shot that ricocheted off the cross bar.
Yackel claimed that the shot came of the padding. Strange
how padding causes that goalie's favorite noise, "clunk",
and how the films showed the shot never getting into the
net. (Someone earlier asked the question, "why should goalies
stop shots they know will hit the post?" If Chick Yackel is
on the ice, this is a good reason.) This occurred at 11:02.
Then 27 second later, Elder, on a 2 on 1, drilled Hamilton
for another score. Denver turned the 5 minute major for
2 scores. At 13:48, Coach Mancini pulled Hamilton from the
net to give MTU a man up on a 4 on 4 situation. Brent Peterson
tipped in a Wright shot at 14:48 to make this strategy pay
off. Hamilton was then put back in. MTU went into foul
troubles for the last part of the game until Denver even
things up at 18:29. MTU pulled its goalie again. MTU's
offense broke down and Denver's Ritchie got an open netter
at 19:02.
Machnik will probably drill me for being down on the ref's
this weekend; but to call this "reffing" is a travesty of
justice. The WCHA has a muzzle in place on the coaches
commenting on the ref's. Thus we won't hear much more
about this. This crew is positively one of the worst in
hockey today. I said said so yesterday when we won and
I am saying so again when we lost. It is hard to say what
the outcomes would have been if the ref's did not stop the
game so often and were not so inconsistent in their calls.
Denver is a fine team and clearly beat us in this game. The
ref's were a factor since they controlled the character of
the game. Most of this season, I have not commented on the
quality of reffing (it is still poor although several crews
have improved) mainly because people were interpreting
this as finding reasons for a losing MTU team. In this
series, the game was about referees since they refused
to keep their whistles out of their mouths and refused to
establish what would be icing and off sides and what was
not. Forget the rulebook definitions: they do not apply when
this crew is on the ice. Infrequently, they admit to mistakes
as Thomas did during this game. That is at least a step in
the right direction. But the level of competition and the
skill of the players and coaching in the WCHA calls for a
much higher level of refereeing.
Statistics (of course, unofficial):
MTU 0 1 1 - 2
DEN 1 1 3 - 5
Goalie Saves
MTU Hamilton 10 9 6 - 25
DEN Walinheimo 5 8 7 - 20
Powerplay efficiency:
MTU 0 of 5
DEN 2 of 8
1st period
Scores:
DEN Kennedy (W. Smith) 19:34
Penalties:
MTU B. Peterson tripping 00:24
MTU Mahacek high stick 3:30
DEN Bjork tripping 9:08
2nd Period:
Scores:
DEN Kennedy (W. Smith) 13:24 shg
MTU J. Mikesch ( Roy) 15:16
Penalties:
DEN Gunther holding 1:39
MTU Sutton elbowing 5:23
MTU Perrett elbowing 10:28
DEN McMillan holding 10:28
DEN T. Smith elbowing 11:47
DEN T. Smith roughing 15:59
MTU Kryser elbowing 15:59
MTU Kryser roughing 15:59
DEN McLean hitting form behind 5 min major 18:34
3rd Period:
Scores:
DEN Gunther (C. Yackel) 11:02 (officially unassisted) ppg
DEN Elder (Ritchie) 11:29 ppg
MTU B. Peterson (Wright) 14:48
DEN Ritchie (Kennedy) 19:02
Penalties:
MTU J. Mikesch roughing 5:03
DEN McLean roughing 5:03
MTU Perrett check from behind 5 min major 6:40
DEN McLean roughing 13:48
MTU Perrett cross check 13:48
MTU Savage holding 17:48
MTU Savage roughing 17:48
DEN Laaksonen holding 18:29
Games Stars:
3rd DEN Ritchie
2nd MTU Hamilton
1st DEN Kennedy
Walt Olson
MTU
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