Bulldog Hockey
>
> Nicklin stars, but Swedes prevail
> UMD goalie keeps Bulldogs close
>
> By Chris Miller
> News-Tribune sports editor
>
> Brant Nicklin won the most valuable player award at the
> Syracuse Invitational last weekend for heroics 1,000 miles
> from Duluth.
>
> On Friday night, he gave the home folks a good idea why.
>
> Nicklin flopped, dropped, whopped and stopped 52 shots
> for Minnesota-Duluth as it put a scare into a clearly superior
> HV-71, a team from the Swedish Elite League, before falling
> 4-2.
>
> The exhibition game drew 4,463 to the DECC and the
> crowd, buoyed by a children-admitted-free-with-adult
> promotion, injected a tad more enthusiasm than usual to the
> game.
>
> The star was Nicklin, who kept the Bulldogs in the game
> until Stefan Falk snapped a 2-2 tie on a re-direction with
> two minutes left. Peter Ekelund hit the empty net in the final
> minute.
>
> Kari Takko, who played six seasons in the National Hockey
> League, had 22 saves for HV-71.
>
> ``We are more of a free-flowing team. We are more skillful,
> and they were more of a physical team,'' said Takko, who
> will likely play for Finland in the coming Winter Olympics in
> Nagano, Japan. ``It was a difference in styles. But their
> goaltender was very good and he made it a very exciting
> game.''
>
> The Bulldogs have won six of their past seven
> regular-season games, and Nicklin has three shutouts in that
> span.
>
> `If my teammates let me see the puck, hopefully I'll save it,''
> Nicklin said. ``Our team has really been playing well of late,
> and that makes it easier on the goalie.
>
> ``The way (HV-71) moved the puck, the speed was quite a
> bit better than we are used to seeing. They were pretty
> impressive, and I just tried to do my job.''
>
> UMD coach Mike Sertich wanted to use the game to keep
> his team sharp, and was happy with the Bulldogs'
> performance.
>
> ``For the most part, we did a good job,'' said Sertich.
> ``They had a ton of shots in the second period, but only four
> of them were from the quality area. In the third period, well,
> Brant just made some spectacular saves.''
>
> The best came during a series that ended when Nicklin
> robbed Stefan Ornskog at the right edge.
>
> ``Brant was unbelievable,'' said UMD winger Ryan
> Homstol. ``We knew we had a chance to win this game, and
> he was the big reason why.''
>
> The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead seven minutes into the third
> period on Mike Peluso's power-play goal. Curtis Doell
> picked off a high clear 20 feet from Takko and had a whack
> at the puck before Peluso whirled and scored on the
> rebound.
>
> But Patrik Englund got the tying goal at 10:35, intercepting a
> cross-rink clear and beating Nicklin on a breakaway. Falk's
> go-ahead goal came after Daniel Johansson passed from the
> right side and Falk punched it in from the bottom of the left
> circle.
>
> ``The game was close and that was better for both teams,''
> said Takko.
>
> HV-71 beat Minnesota 10-2 and Wisconsin 8-1 earlier this
> week.
>
> Ornskog gave HV-71 a 1-0 lead at 6:41 of the first period,
> beating Nicklin from the left circle off a Falk feed.
>
> The Bulldogs tied it with a power-play goal with a minute left
> in the period. Shawn Pogreba carried up ice and fed Jeff
> Scissons on the left wing. Scissons' pass to the slot found
> Colin Anderson wide open, and Anderson beat Takko with
> a 15-footer.
>
> HV-71 had 20 shots on Nicklin in the second period, but
> couldn't score despite dominating. UMD actually had a
> couple of good chances, though. Homstol was stopped by
> Takko's leg pad on a rebound after Anderson was denied
> breaking in by Takko, and Ken Dzikowski had a late-period
> attempt blocked.
>
> The Bulldogs also had their first fight of the season. Two
> minutes into the period, UMD winger Curtis Bois tried to
> catch up to a long pass and Takko came out and got to the
> puck first. Bois collided with the goalie, technically not a
> penalty, but was jumped by HV-71's Patrick Lundback, as
> hockey protocol insists. Lundback was corralled by another
> Bulldog, but Oleg Belov stepped in and dropped the gloves
> with Bois.
>
> Both players were willing, but the fight's escalation was
> stopped when referee Buzz Christensen sacrificed his body
> by trying to wrap up Belov. The HV-71 center pushed
> Christensen around a little -- what did he have to lose? --
> but the referee eventually got things stopped. Both players
> were ejected. Bois will have to sit out UMD's next game,
> which is Friday night at Wisconsin.
>
> HV-71 winger Ulf Dahlen, a former Minnesota North Stars
> standout, denied a published report that he had agreed to
> rejoin the Chicago Blackhawks, for whom he played last
> season. The signing was reported by a Twin Cities columnist
> Friday morning, but Dahlen said he has a two-year contract
> with HV-71.
>
>
>
> HV-71                      1-0-3--4
> Minnesota-Duluth           1-0-1--2
>
>
> First period -- 1. HV-71, Stefan Ornskog (Stefan Falk,
> David Petrasek), 6:41; 2. UMD, Colin Anderson (Jeff
> Scissons, Shawn Pogreba), 19:00 (pp). Penalties --
> Curtis Bois, UMD, double minor (roughing), 5:48;
> Oleg Belov, HV-71, double minor (roughing), 5:48;
> Curtis Doell, UMD (interference), 7:42; Daniele
> Walin, HV-71 (cross checking), 13:06; Belov, HV-71
> (holding), 18:41.
> Second period -- no scoring. Penalties -- Petrasek,
> HV-71 (elbowing), :56; Joe Rybar, UMD (cross
> checking), :56; Curtis Bois, UMD, major-game
> disqualification (fighting), 2:23; Belov, HV-71,
> major-game disqualification (fighting), 2:23; Ryan
> Coole, UMD, double minor (roughing), 2:23; Patrick
> Lundback, HV-71, double minor (roughing), 2:23;
> Laird Lidster, UMD, double minor (roughing), 2:23;
> Daniel Johansson, HV-71, double minor (roughing),
> 2:23; Jason Haakstad, UMD, double minor (roughing),
> 2:23; Peter Ekelund, HV-71, double minor (roughing),
> 2:23; Craig Pierce, UMD (high sticking), 8:15; Ulf
> Dahlen, HV-71 (slashing), 10:11; Doell, UMD
> (slashing), 10;11; Lundback, HV-71 (slashing), 13:19;
> Niklas Rahm, HV-71 (elbowing), 16:51.
> Third period -- 3. UMD, Mike Peluso (Doell, Rybar),
> 6:52 (pp); 4. HV-71, Patrik Englund, 10:35; 5. HV-71,
> Falk (Johansson, Lundback), 17:56; 6. HV-71,
> Ekelund, 19:37 (en). Penalties -- Petrasek, HV-71
> (slashing), 5:46.
> Shots on goal -- HV-71 16-20-20--56, UMD 10-5-9--24.
> Goalies -- HV-71, Kari Takko (24 shots-22 saves);
> UMD, Brant Nicklin (55-52). Power play -- HV-71 0 of
> 2, UMD 2 of 5. Referee -- Buzz Christensen. Assistant
> referees -- Brett Klosowski, Steve Beckman. A --
> 4,463.
 
--
            \\\/////
            / ^   _ \
           ( (o) (o) )
 *====oOOO=====(_)=====OOOo====*
 |        Kevin L. Ames        |
 *=============================*
 |     [log in to unmask]     |
 |      [log in to unmask]      |
 *================Oooo.========*
           .oooO  (   |
           (   )   ) /
            \ (   (_/
             \_)
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.