He’s The Wanderer — Yeah, the Wanderer
Winter may be setting in around the WCHA, but Minnesota-Duluth rookie goaltender Alex Stalock is heating things up with his best impression of the Beach Boys’ Wanderer.
If you had penciled in your team’s series with the Bulldogs as one that you could miss if you have to, you may want to re-evaluate your plans for that weekend. Not only is UMD a team that could surprise this year, but its netminder is sure to throw fans for a loop the first few times they see him.
Stalock led the USHL last year with 28 wins and a save percentage of .931 and brought the league’s Goaltender of the Year award with him to Duluth. He also brought with him a much different style than the league is used to seeing.
It is something that you have to see for yourself, but let’s just say he’s not afraid to venture out of the crease to play the puck.
And while he has shown he is comfortable with how he plays, it will take his coaches and teammates some time to get used to.
Asked if Stalock was going to give him some gray hairs, Bulldog head coach Scott Sandelin responded: “It’s still a work in progress.”
“We knew that. He’s a freshman, he’s just starting in this league. We know what he can do, it’s just a matter of everyone getting on the same page when he’s in there.”
It’s a page that opposing players need to be aware of as well. They will need to be careful when changing lines, as Stalock is capable of getting the puck up the ice.
“I’d say (he’s) just different. You definitely don’t see it every day in our league, especially on Olympic ice,” UW senior captain Andrew Joudrey said. “For us, it was just try to get the puck at his feet. He plays the puck pretty well.”
And while that ability to play the puck up can be used as a weapon, there were a few times against the Badgers last weekend when he put his team in danger — though Wisconsin never took advantage of it.
“I remember watching him in high school, too. He used to sauce passes for breakaways,” UW’s Tom Gorowsky said. “I think sometimes he gets caught out of position … so, it helps him, but at the same time it hurts him too.”
But Sandelin and the Bulldog coaching staff have no plans to change Stalock’s style. After all, he has proven he can win with it.
“There’s not any reins; they just want me to make smart plays,” Stalock said. “The first night I wandered a little bit and the second night I calmed down a bit and played the puck well.
“It will definitely improve down the stretch.”
Who Let The Dogs Out?
The Michigan Tech Huskies did not get their third win last season until December 9, and had just one sweep all year. Just two weeks into the season, thanks to a series sweep at then-No. 10 Vermont last weekend, they have already matched those marks.
Even though MTU is off to its hottest start in 10 years, head coach Jamie Russell is refusing to let his team get ahead of itself.
“It’s a fantastic start, but that’s all it is, a start,” Russell said this week. “I told the team Monday, ‘That’s a great weekend, I’m glad you enjoyed it, but it’s over.'”
Undoubtedly there was nobody who enjoyed the weekend more than Michigan Tech goalie Rob Nolan. The sophomore played better than his numbers (.888 save percentage, 4.06 goals against) showed, yet he was still searching for his first victory in a Huskies’ sweater.
Finally, in his 15th career start last Saturday, he stopped 28 pucks to lead the Huskies to a 2-1 win, garnering the game’s first star along the way.
“It was monumental,” Russell said. “He played some great games for us last year where, as a team, I don’t think we played very well in front of him at times. It was very rewarding for me to see him, because he’s worked really hard, to get his first win in a big game on the road. He was tremendous on Saturday and I was ecstatic to see him get that.”
Back On Top
Taking a look at the five players tied at the top of the league’s overall statistics through the first couple weeks, it isn’t surprising that there are some new names.
St. Cloud State rookie Andreas Nodl and Minnesota freshman Jay Barriball are among the five players who already have eight points.
It isn’t surprising that there are rookies at the top. In fact, probably more surprising is which of Barriball’s teammates has joined him among the league’s elite early on. Senior Tyler Hirsch has returned to the team, and it hasn’t taken him long to return to his old form.
Hirsch took a year off last year, using a medical hardship waiver to get some things cleared up. Some will most remember him for an outburst at the 2005 WCHA Final Five where, after the game had ended, he skated down the ice and shot a puck into the net before crashing into the goal, carrying it into the end boards.
But it should also be remembered that he was Minnesota’s leading scorer that season, and has already proven to be a big re-addition to the Gopher team.
“Obviously he didn’t lose anything when the puck is on his stick and that’s always been his strength,” Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said. “Getting him back, with how young we are, was really important because he can quarterback a power play, he can settle things down, he’s got a low panic point with the puck.
“And I don’t know if there is a better passer in college hockey than Tyler.”
While Lucia said he expected Hirsch to get back to the level of play he was at when he led the team two seasons ago, his early production has been a bit of a surprise.
“I expected him to be an important part of our team this year, but I’m a little bit surprised at how well he’s done,” Lucia said. “I thought it might take him a month to get back into things, but that hasn’t been the case at all.”
Quick Rematch
There is no doubt that Boston College has had this weekend circled on its schedule ever since BC lost in the national title game to Wisconsin.
The No. 5 Eagles will be Madison this weekend, looking to avenge that loss against the No. 2 Badgers.
The matchup also pits UW head coach Mike Eaves against BC’s Jerry York, who coached his sons Ben and Patrick for a total of six years.
“It goes beyond just the hockey game itself,” Eaves said. “They were an important part of our kids’ lives for, you know, six years, and so we have a friendship that we will nurture here this week. We have an opportunity to spend time with each other.
“We’ve already made contact, and we have plans to get together after the game on Saturday.”
One has to wonder if they will be partaking in UW’s Halloween festivities, and if so, what they’re costumes will be. My guess is that they’ll try to stay away from the riot police.
It will also be interesting to see if the celebration will have any effect on celebrations this weekend.
Old Rivals
Those were the two words written on the cover sheet of a fax that Russell received Monday. Attached was a cartoon from a student newspaper, poking fun at Russell and Dave Shyiak, the second-year head coach at Alaska-Anchorage.
The Huskies and Seawolves square off this weekend in a battle between two of the season’s early surprises. But the cartoon depicted a different battle, one between Russell and Shyiak about 20 years ago.
It turns out the two were involved in a bit of an altercation during a rivalry weekend, with Shyiak suiting up for Northern Michigan and Russell for Michigan Tech.
“When those two teams play, they’re usually pretty heated games,” Russell said. “Dave Shyiak and I had a pretty good fight back in the day. I talked to him on Monday and he faxed me a copy of (the cartoon).”
While they were bitter rivals 20 years ago and are again competing, now as WCHA coaches, there is clearly a great respect between the two men trying to take their programs to new heights.
“There’s a lot of similarities in that we both want to move up the ladder in the WCHA, and that’s a tough thing to do,” Russell said.
Anchorage and Tech are off to great starts, going 5-1-2 in non-league action. Let’s see who can keep that momentum as they begin WCHA action.
A Look at the Pros
Peaking in at some of the players that left the WCHA with eligibility left after last season, Wisconsin’s Joe Pavelski is fourth in the AHL and leads all league rookies with 11 points through eight games.
Former Minnesota State Maverick Ryan Carter is tied for 11th with six points. Drew Stafford and Kris Chucko are both in the top 20 with five points.
In the NHL, with two goals and three assists in three games since last week’s column, former Denver Pioneer Paul Stastny now has nine points in 10 games. Ironically, former teammate Matthew Carle has the exact same stat-line.
In Other Words
• WCHA Players of the Week were Alaska-Anchorage’s Jay Beagle on offense, Michigan Tech senior Lars Helminen on defense and St. Cloud netminder Jase Weslosky for the rookies.
• How about a weekend for Beagle against Anchorage’s archrival? The sophomore — who at five points is already halfway to his point total from his rookie year — scored three goals last weekend. He scored two in Friday’s overtime win, including one with 15 seconds left which allowed for the victory, and the team’s lone goal in a 1-1 tie Saturday.
• Colorado College was swept at the World Arena by a non-league opponent for the first time ever last weekend, when New Hampshire skated away with 4-3, 7-2 victories. It was the first time the Tigers had been swept at home by a non-WCHA team since Yale in the 1981-82 season.
• When Wisconsin senior Jake Dowell scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season last Saturday night, he had more than one reason to be happy. Not only had he already matched his goal total from a year ago, but he did so with his father John, who is battling Huntington’s disease, in the stands.
• Denver forward Tyler Ruegsegger was celebrating for different reasons. The rookie continued his hot start — he now has seven points in six games — by scoring a critical goal early in the third period to salvage a split with Rensselaer on homecoming weekend. Not bad for the Littleton, Colo., native.
• Things are going pretty well for John Pohl. The former Gopher wrapped up his career in 2002 with 71 goals and 129 assists for an even 200 points. It’s been a bit of a rocky ride since then, but all seems well now. He has finally earned a rookie season in the NHL, playing as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ third-line center. Oh, and if he doesn’t have a good day on the job, he can always go home, where he is met by longtime girlfriend Krissy Wendell, captain of the U.S. women’s hockey team.
• Alaska-Anchorage came home last weekend from Fairbanks unbeaten for the first time since 1993, giving the Seawolves their first four-game unbeaten streak in five years. Let’s see if they can get just their second win in a WCHA-opener since they joined the league when they take on Michigan Tech this weekend.
