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Buc Rally Falls Short
Council Bluffs, IA (3.1.03): Period 1: The Lancers come out and get on the board first at 5:47 from Nick Schaus with assist to T.J. Jindra to give the Lancers the early 1-0 lead. About five minutes later the Bucs answer on a face-off to the left of Chad Beiswenger, Jamie Hoffman wins the face-off back to Travis Anderson at the right point, who skates to his left, and fires a shot that trickles through Beiswenger to tie the score 1-1 at 10:16. The Lancers' Corey Carlson comes down the right wing and fires a shot that goes five-hole on Brian Papcun, to make it 2-1 Lancers at the 10:58 point. Lancers get their first power play opportunity and make the Bucs pay, as Phil Todd puts in a rebound at 13:06 to make it 3-1 Lancers. 40 seconds later, Kyle Bushee squeezes a shot through from the right wing, below the the face-off dot along the boards to make it 3-2 Lancers. The Lancers score two more goals before the period ends, one from Mike Howe at 17:41 and one from Drew Miller, both on the power play at 18:07 to make it 5-2 Lancers after one period of play. Both teams changed goalies in the first period. The Lancers changed after Bushee's goal at the 13:46 mark, (at the time, Bucs scored on 2 of their 5 shots) replaced Beiswenger with Dominic Vicari and the Bucs replaced Papcun with A.J. Bucchino after the Lancer's Fifth goal.
Period 2: Bucs' come out and score early in the 2nd period with the "Lancer line", Bryce Anderson scored with assists to Mike Neilon and Marty Guerin at 1:11 mark to make it 5-3 Lancers. At 4:48 point, Lancers come down 2-on-1 with Matt Carle leading the charge down the left wing and Charlie Kronschnabel cutting to the middle, the Buc defender slid to cut off the passing lane, but Carle was able to flip the pass over to Kronschnabel who gets the shot off, that Bucchino stops. The rebound is laying out front with no Buccaneer able to clear away the rebound and Carle skates in and put the biscuit in the basket to give the Lancers the 6-3 lead. Both teams have chances in the rest of the period, but both Bucchino and Vicari answer the calls. The period ends 6-3 in favor of the Lancers.
Period 3: Bucs cut the lead to 6-4, once again from the "Lancer line", as Bryce Anderson wins the face-off back to Neilon fires the shot over Vicari's left shoulder to find the back of the net at 10:54 mark. The Bucs keep applying the pressure, but Vicari is not the #1 goalie in the league for nothing. At the 18:25 mark, the Buccaneers get a late power play opportunity. The Bucs are able to cash it in, as Hoffmann is able to put in Joe Campbell's rebound shot to cut it to 6-5 Lancers at the 18:40 mark. The Lancers controlled the puck the majority of the final 1:20 and kept play in the Bucs' end to come away with the 6-5 win.
Side Note: I got my first game puck since I have been going to Buc games in November 1994. Nothing like getting "booed" by 5000+ Lancer fans. According to the Lancer fan I was sitting with, that is probably one of the few times the fans did something together. Another note, for the first time this weekend, I noticed the team handled adversity a lot better then they have in the past. Both this game and Friday's game versus the Roughriders. Both games the Bucs had to come back, and both times they made a tremendous team-effort trying to get back into the game, but were unable to get that tying goal either night. It seemed earlier in the season, if they fell behind, it was hard for them to mount any kind of attack to get themselves back into the game. Let hope down the final stretch they don't need to come-from-behind. Written by Kevin Kasel.
Bucs Win in Shoot-out, 3-2
Urbandale, IA (3.6.03): The Buccaneers came out of the locker room ready to play, and win the final red light was turned on, had a 3-2 shoot-out victory. Jon Rudnick opened scoring for the Bucs at 10:08 of the first period on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Rudnick had parked himself right in front of tipped a shot by Marty Mjelleli. Jon was right in front of Topeka goaltender Michael Zacharias, and was in perfect position to screen the shot and/or tip it if it came within reach. The Bucs struck again 1:35 later while on a 5 on 4 powerplay. Mike Erickson passed the puck across ice to Tomas Jasko who had a full head of steam. Instead of coming in close for a shot, Tomas surprised the goaltender with a quick shot that lit the lamp and gave the Bucs a 2-0 lead. The crowd was into the game, and "Crazy Larry" was in the building whipping the crowd to a frenzy. Topeka scored at 13:37 on a powerplay when Erik Fabian scored on a powerplay. The period ended with the Bucs outshooting Topeka 11-7.
Although Topeka outshot the Bucs 16 - 10 in the second period, it was the Bucs who had the quality scoring chances. Marty Guerin was robbed when the puck bounced off the post after he had beat the netminder. Jamie Hoffman was also robbed when the puck went over the crossbar by several inches. The puck just would not go in, but the Bucs kept the pressure up anyway.
Topeka scored the only goal in the third period with just 7 minutes remaining in the game. The score was now tied 2-2, but you knew the way the Bucs were playing that they were not going to be denied. Both goalies were playing tough, and whoever won tonight would earn it.
The game went into overtime, then into a shoot-out. Coach Ferguson has not been shy about his dislike for shoot-outs, but even he liked the result of this shoot-out. Shooter after shooter skated in, shot, and was denied. Mike Erickson did manage the only goal in the first 5 rounds as he went top shelf, sending the water bottle into the air. The shoot-out went 5 more rounds until Canadian Joel Kitchen ripped the puck past Zacharias. Joel's shot completely fooled the netminder as the shot went high and to the right - the goalie was looking down and to the left when the red light went on. The crowd went crazy as the bench emptied to mob Kitchen. The Bucs had played a play-off style game in a must-win situation to make the play-offs. The Bucs are now in seventh place, but Chicago and Tr-City are right on our heels. It will be an exciting finish! Written by Steve Bendy.
Movie Links: Mike Erickson scores a shoot-out goal, Joel Kitchen scores a shoot-out goal.
Bucs Win in Shoot-out, Again!
Waterloo, IA (3.8.03): Side note: I am having Internet difficulties tonight. So I don't know for sure who was credited with what points tonight.
Period 1: The period starts off with back and forth action. Both teams getting shots off, Waterloo having the majority throughout the period. Both Waterloo's Jeff Jakaitis and Des Moines' A.J. Bucchino are making the stops. The Bucs are able to get on the board with a breakaway by Tomas Jasko and an assist to Mike Erickson, (there was a delayed penalty to be called on Waterloo on the play) to give the Bucs the 1-0 lead going into the locker room.
Period 2: The Bucs get the first power play opportunity of the game. They didn't waste too much time, As Jamie Hoffmann feeds a pass to Jasko to make it 2-0 Bucs. The Black Hawks's Joe Pavelski is able to cash in on one of the Black Hawks two power play opportunities in the period to make it 2-1 Bucs. The Bucs are being out-shot nearly 2-to-1 ratio, about 30-15 at this point, but they lead where it counts, 2-1.
Period 3: The Black Hawks change net-minders and bring in Jordan Parise to finish the game. Early in the period, Jasko feeds Jamie Hoffmann who comes in all alone and buries the puck to make it 3-1 Bucs. Waterloo doesn't waste too much time to make it a 1-goal game again. Then at the 8:08 mark, Marty Guerin on a great individual effort makes it a 4-2 game with assist to Bryce Anderson. Waterloo gets another power play opportunity and Matt Maunu cuts it to 4-3 Bucs. Then with under 2 minutes to go, Jon Rudnick receives a 2+10 for cross-checking (or checking from behind) penalty which puts Waterloo on their fourth power play opportunity of the night. At the 18:46 mark Matt Fornataro is able to tie the game, 4-4 and force OT.
Overtime: The Bucs started off early and tried to end it at the 13 second mark of the OT, but Parise was able to get the whistle. The play goes back and forth with each goal-tender being tested. The period ends with the same score as it started with 4-4. So for the second game in a row for the Bucs, they head to a shoot-out.
Shoot-Out: The Bucs start out with Thursday night's hero, Joel Kitchen, but Parise stops him. Bucchino is able to stop Waterloo's first two shooters, Mike Radja and Pavelski. The Bucs' second shooter, Jasko, scores to give the Bucs the lead after two rounds, 1-0. Guerin is stopped, but Fornataro is able to get one in the net to tie it up 1-1 after three rounds. Erickson scores and Andy Nelson fails, 2-1 Bucs after 4 rounds. Matt Burto seals the win with his goal and the Bucs win 5-4 in a shoot-out. This snaps Waterloo's 8 game-winning streak and extents the Bucs' winning streak to 2 games. The Bucs are once again back to .500, with a 23-23-2-3 record for 51 points. Written by Kevin Kasel.
| Round |
Des Moines |
Goal |
Opponent |
Goal |
| 1 |
Kitchen, Joel |
No |
Radja, Mike |
No |
| 2 |
Jasko, Tomas |
Yes |
Pavelski, Joe |
No |
| 3 |
Guerin, Marty |
No |
Fornataro, Matt |
Yes |
| 4 |
Erickson, Mike |
Yes |
Nelson, Andy |
No |
| 5 |
Burto, Matt |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
Bucs Steal Point From Tri-City
Urbandale, IA (3.14.03): The Buccaneers ran into a team motivated to make the playoffs and found themselves outplayed in every aspect except the score at the final buzzer. With less than 2 minutes to play and the Bucs down 4-3, Coach Ferguson pulled goalie A.J. Bucchino for an extra attacker. The Bucs went to work taking shots and crashing the net. Tri-City goalie Eric Aarnio stopped the shots and smothered the rebound in the glove several times to keep the Bucs from scoring. With less than 1 second left, Marty Guerin and Mike Neilon somehow got the puck to Jon Rudnick in the mass of players in front of the net. The red light went on and the team and arena began to celebrate. They had tied the game with less than 1 second lefdt in regulation time.
In the overtime, it was the Bucs who played inspired, but neither team was able to score - the game was going into a shoot-out. In the shoot-out, Tri-City scored more times than the Bucs, giving them the 5-4 win. The Bucs picked up a point for their effort, but as coach Ferguson said in a post-game interview, "we stole a point - the best team on the ice was Tri-City". Written by Steve Bendy.
Bucs Dominate Waterloo
Urbandale, IA (3.15.03): The Buccaneers were fighting for a playoff spot; Waterloo didn't have much to gain or lose. How much this figured into the play is anyone's guess. Whatever the case, the Bucs came out on fire, dominating play from start to finish. In the end the Bucs came away with a 6-3 win.
The Bucs first goal came when Casey Russell dug the puck out and passed to Tomas Jasko. Jasko fed it to Mike Erickson who was skating flat-out with the D all over him. Mike used his strength to get past the defender just long enough to get the shot off and make the score 1-0. Waterloo was playing tough, using their speed to get qulaity shots on Brian Papcun. Brian came up with some unbelievable saves to keep Waterloo off the board.
The second period both teams opened things up, trading goals, but the Bucs never trailed. Pat Borgestad scored on a quick shot when the D that was covering him fell, giving Pat a chance to come in all alone. Marty Guerin, Pat Borgestad, and Evan Stoflet also scored giving the Bucs a 5-2 lead at the end of the second period. We all know that fans don't come to hockey game for the fights - but if one does break out, well, they do tend to enjoy it. Jon Rudnick and Jon Saunders dropped the gloves after a face-off, and at first Saunders seemed to be getting the better of Rudnick. Rudnick exploded and began pummeling Saunders so bad that he finally slumped to the ice and the officials pulled them apart. I don't like fighting that much but I did like the expressions of the loud Waterloo fans that made the trip as the trainer came to the ice to help the Waterloo player. They didn't have much to cheer about the rest of the night.
The Bucs scored an additional goal at the end of the game when Mike Erickson put the puck in the empty net and the rest was history. The only thing I missed was Torterella - now, he was fun to watch! Written by Steve Bendy.
River City Falls to Bucs, 3-1
Council Bluffs, IA (3.18.03): Period 1: The Bucs get on the board first with a goal by Marty Mjelleli and assists to Joel Kitchen and Joe Campbell at the 5:55 mark of the period. Less then five minutes later, the Lancers tie it up with a goal by Yale Lewis with a helper to Nate Raduns at 11:35. The period ends 1-1.
Period 3: The period almost ends how it started but Pat Borgestad follows his own shot to give the Bucs the 2-1 lead at the 18:19 lead with assists to Bryce Anderson and Kyle Bushee. The Tri-City connection has been working tonight as two of three former Storm players have registered goals and/or tonight in Borgestad and Mjelleli.
Period 4: The Lancers turn up the heat during the period, but the Lancers are hindered near the end of the period as Nathan Gerbe goes off for roughing at 15:42 mark. Prior to that point, Lancers had several scoring opportunities, but A.J. Bucchino was up to the task. The Lancers kill off their penalty, and had a few scoring opportunities themselves. With about 1:30 left, the Lancers call their time-out and pull Dominic Vicari for the extra attacker. Then with time winding down, Tomas Jasko seals the win with the empty-netter to make it 3-1. This extends his scoring streak to nine games. In his last nine games, Jasko has 8 goals and 9 assists, and leads the team in goals, assists and points, 27-35-62. Written by Kevin Kasel.
Bucs Fall to Sioux City
Urbandale, IA (3.21.03): The Buccaneers got on the board first with a beautiful first period powerplay goal by Tomas Jasko (assisted by Jamie Hoffman and Mike Erickson), but it was all Sioux City the rest to of the game as the Bucs lost by a final score of 5-3.
Sioux City came out on fire at the start of the second period and came away with a 2-1 lead at the end of the period. The Bucs scored two goals in the second period from Jamie Hoffman and Mike Neilon, but it was too little, too late for the Buccaneers.
On a positive note, another Jeep was given away to a fan when he shot the puck in that tiny little hole! This was the third Jeep won in the last 5 years. Written by Steve Bendy.
Bucs Lose Final Home Game
Urbandale, IA (3.22.03): The Bucs dropped the final home game of the season to a hard-working Lincoln Stars team, managing only one goal to Lincoln's six. Two of Lincoln's goals were short-handed. The Bucs lone goal came late in the third period off the stick of Pat Borgestad. The assist went to Marty Guerin. The two losses at home coupled with Tri-City's winning streak means that the Bucs are in a fight just to make the playoffs. Sunday's game at Chicago is crucial for the Bucs if they hope to make post-season play. Written by Steve Bendy.
Ex-Bucs Contribute in Chicago Win
Chicago, IL (3.23.03): Period 1: If the Bucs win tonight and they are in the play-offs. The Bucs start off early to claim a spot in the Clark Cup play-offs, Mike Neilon gives the Bucs the early 1-0 lead with helpers to Pat Borgestad and Marty Guerin at 3:03 point. Over 8 minutes later Marty Mjelleli gives the Bucs a 2-0 lead and Jon Rudnick gets an assist on the play at the 11:37 mark. Chicago's Mike Grenzy cuts the lead in half at 18:33 with assists to Danny Charleston and Billy Bagron.
Period 2: The Steel get the only tally of the period at the 17:39 point, Travis Morin from Charleston and Grenzy to tie the game 2-2 after two periods.
Period 3: The Steel score three goals to blow open the game: Eric Helstedt (Lewandowski) at 1:24, Jordan Black (Rene Gauthier, Morin) at 4:44 and Gauthier (power play) (Grenzy and Morin) at 8:04. The night wouldn't be complete without all three former Buccaneers scoring (Helstedt, Gauthier and Geelan), as Ben Geelan makes it 6-2 with an assist to David Marshall at 13:38. Tomas Jasko adds a late tally with assists to Joe Piskula and Mike Erickson, but too little too late. Written by Kevin Kasel.
Stars Fall; Bucs One Win Closer to Playoffs
Lincoln, NE (3.28.03): Period 1: A little over a minute into the period, Joe Campbell and Keith Rodger decided they need to mix things up things. Both net-minders, Nate Ziegelmann and A.J. Bucchino, brought their "A" game tonight. The period ended, how it started, 0-0.
Period 2: The Bucs break the game open in the second period. At 4:33 mark Mike Erickson starts the scoring with assists to Tomas Jasko. 10:22 point, Mike Neilon comes in on a breakaway and buries the puck, an assist to Marty Guerin to make it 2-0. Less then a minute later, Jon Rudnick hits the pipe, but the puck comes back to him and puts the biscuit in the basket, Bryce Anderson gets the only assist on the play. Period ends 3-0 good guys.
Period 3: Bucs go off with an early penalty and the Stars' league leading power play unit wastes no time to cash in, just nine seconds into the power play, Ryan Potulny with assist to David "Side Show Bob" Backes at the 1:52 mark. But at the 4:13 point, Rudnick gets his second on the night and makes it a 3-goal lead with assists to Bryce Anderson and Marty Mjelleli to make it 4-1, Bucs. Bucchino keeps the Stars off the board the rest of the night and the Bucs win 4-1 and are 1 point away from securing a play-off spot.
Play-off rambling: With the win tonight, Sioux Falls is eliminated from the play-offs. Even though Sioux Falls defeated Topeka tonight, the most points Sioux Falls can achieve is 56 points, Lincoln, Waterloo, River City, Sioux City, Topeka, Cedar Rapids, Tri-City and Des Moines all have 57 points or more already. Sioux City, River City and Topeka all lost tonight. Currently River City and Topeka have 77 points and Sioux City has 76 points. Topeka and River City play tomorrow in Council Bluffs to determine 3 rd place. Sioux City will finish either 4 th or 5 th place. No new team clinched a play-of spot tonight. Bucs still have a shot at the 6 th seed with the outcomes of all tonight's USHL action. Bucs need a Chicago (vs. Tri-City) and Lincoln (at Cedar Rapids) regulation wins and a Bucs victory in Sioux Falls on Saturday and on Sunday a Tri-City regulation win off the Cedar Rapids Roughriders to claim the 6 th spot. That is the only way the Bucs will finish in 6 th. Written by Kevin Kasel.
Bucs Lose in Topeka
Topeka, KS (3.25.03): Period 1: Bucs fall behind early in the period with goals by Luke Erickson at 6:21 and J.P. Platisha at 7:42. The period ends 2-0 in favor of the Scarecrows.
Period 2: Erickson extents the lead to 3, with a power play goal at 9:03 mark. Marty Guerin is able to cash in on the power play with assists to Joe Campbell and Kyle Bushee at 12:49. Period ends 3-1 in favor of the Scarecrows.
Period 3: Topeka scores three more times, and fail to stop the Scarecrows at least one time on the power play tonight and even allowed a league leading 14th short-handed goal against! Bucs lose 6-1. Written by Kevin Kasel.
Buc Win Secures Playoff Spot
Sioux Falls, SD (3.29.03): Period 1: Tonight, University of New Hampshire recruit, A.J. Bucchino faces University of Minnesota recruit, Kellen Briggs. Majority of the action in the first period was power play, as six penalties were called in the period, four on the Stampede (Stampede's first three were on Chris Wey) and two on the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers were able to cash in on Wey's last penalty with a goal at the 18:21 point by Matt Burto with helpers to Marty Guerin and Mike Neilon. The period ends with the Buccaneers leading 1-0.
Period 2: The Stampede kill off the penalty that carried over from the first period and the Bucs have to kill off an early penalty as well. At the 10:26 mark Tomas Jasko makes it 2-0. A little over a minute later Anthony Cosmano scores with a helper to Anthony Canzoneri to make it 2-1 Bucs have to kill off another penalty at the 12:19 mark. At 13:25 point Guerin is able to feed the puck ahead to Mike Erickson is able to work his way through a defender to score a short-handed goal to make it 3-1, Buccaneers. A little over 30 seconds later, the Stampede are able to cash in on the power play, Jim McKenzie from Derek Patrosso and Scott Thauwald, to make it 3-2 Buccaneers. That is how the period ends with the Buccaneers leading.
Period 3: As Brad Oistad would say, "good things happen when you throw the puck at the net" ... at 3:29 Bryce Anderson gets a goal to make it 4-2 Buccaneers. Neilon added to the lead with a goal at the 7:34 mark with assist to Guerin to make it 5-2 Buccaneers. At the 9:08 mark, the Buccaneers go on a 5-on-3 power play and the Buccaneers cash in at 9:55, Jamie Hoffmann and the play-maker to Guerin to make it 6-2. The game finishes 6-2 good guys and we draw Waterloo for our play-off match-up with the out-come of the other games around the USHL tonight.
Play-off Notes: Des Moines has secured the 7th seed and will face the Waterloo Black Hawks in the first round of play. Eighth is still undecided has Tri-City has 57 points and Chicago has 56 points. Waterloo is in Chicago on Sunday and Tri-City is in Cedar Rapids. If Tri-City loses in regulation and Chicago wins, Chicago is in and Tri-City is out. If Tri-City gets one point tomorrow they are in the play-offs. Other notes, with Topeka's regulation win they are the #3 seed, Sioux City's win over Green Bay, the Muskies are the #4 seed and River City Lancers move to #5. Below is first round match-ups:
#1 Lincoln Stars (83) vs. #8 Chicago Steel (56-58) / Tri-City Storm(57-59)
#2 Waterloo Black Hawks (80-82) vs. #7 Des Moines Buccaneers (60)
#3 Topeka Scarecrows (79) vs. #6 Cedar Rapids Roughriders (61-63)
#4 Sioux City Musketeers (78) vs. #5 River City Lancers (77)
() - Points
Written by Kevin Kasel.
Disclaimer
This is a game summary and commentary from a Buccaneer fan's point of view, and the viewpoints expressed in this column DO NOT necessarily reflect those of the Des Moines Buccaneer's organization.
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