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September - October Game Commentaries
Bucs at Twin Cities Vulcans Have you ever tried to watch a game and listen to a different one on a radio at the same time? Well, I did it for the first time tonight. So if anything is lacking in the narrative of the Des Moines game than you'll understand why. We listened to coach on the way to the arena, the first Scott Owens pre game show of the season. He talked about the skill Twin Cities has. Also that the team should be a fairly good one, with a lot of big forwards. Yep, it's the first game of the broadcast, because the billboards weren't working at first (can anyone tell me what that is?!). We learned early that four players already have college scholarships, among those are Matt Libby who will be joining Jason Ialongo up at Providence, and Erik Cole who is going to Clarkson. Fure has been "looked at." The first period started with the Vulcans having very few shots on net. Bill Trainor was the first to score 9:06 into the game (assist to Mikhail Saliyenko). Three minutes later Eric Lind got the puck at the point and skated down on the left side to beat the goalie real nicely (assist to Mikhail Saliyenko and Adrian Fure). 15 shots on goal for the Bucs. 14 shots for Twin Cities. Interruption: A fight has broken out on the ice between Kansas City Blades player #5 and Indianapolis player #16. I didn't catch either of their names since I was too busy with the game on the radio. A thought from Adrian Fure during the first intermission: "I don't yell much, I try to lead by example." One minute (and eleven seconds) into the second period Dave Boehm scored. The goalie went down to freeze the puck after he stopped a shot from Derek Robertson, only he took to long to put his glove down over it, Boehm popped it right in. The Bucs were ahead 3-0. Ryan Zoller got Twin Cities their first goal 6:01 into the second. No need to fear, Jason Furness made the score 4-1 seven minutes after this (assist to Chris Antzoulatos). Clemmensen saved a solid ten shots in the second period. Kelzenberg of Twin Cities saved four. In the third period Chris Paradise of the Vulcans beat Clemmensen while the Bucs were on a line change. Midway in the period the Vulcans took a major penalty, a five minute spearing. Twenty eight seconds into this penalty Alex Kim scored (assist to Erik Cole and Sean Austin). Jacob Searles got a goal with 4:06 to go to score against his former team (assist to Mikhail Saliyenko and Derek Robertson). The Bucs were ahead 6-2. Jason Furness got his second goal late in the period (assist to Chris Antzoulatos and Alex Kim). Clemmensen was doing a good job tonight and coming up with some big saves. The Vulcans scored their final goal with about a minute left, Stevens (and I don't know his first name) got the goal. The Bucs went on to win the game 7-3, having taken advantage of the five minute major. Didn't Twin Cities hear about the ugly loss Waterloo suffered when Andrew Tortorella got thrown into the box for five minutes? Poor Tortorella, what he must have suffered for his team as he sat in that box! Clemmensen had a total of 31 saves for the game. Todd Kelzenberg had 33 saves. Tomorrow night the Bucs continue their road trip at Rochester, to play a quick fast team. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 7 - Twin Cities 3
Bucs at Rochester Mustangs Last season the Bucs were 0-4 in the Rochester Recreation Center, with two shutouts against them, one in the regular season, one during the play-offs. Friday night Rochester beat Waterloo, 8-4. Rochester had no veteran goalie to help them out, so tonight John Chain (currently a senior at a Rochester high school) from Canterbury Prep was doing the honor. Jayme Platt would be in goal tonight, Willie Raderschadt was back-up. Willie, a senior from Elk River, is needed should we make it to the National Championship. Three goalies is evidently mandatory. Rochester has eight returning veterans. Jeff Turner, a returning player, had five points against Waterloo last night. With 16:12 to go, the Bucs put Adrian Fure into the penalty box for roughing. We were down a man and the Mustangs were putting a lot of pressure on the Bucs. But the Bucs killed off the penalty. Mikhail Saliyenko came close to the first goal of the game. Saliyenko's shot had Chain beat, but it deflected off the crossbar. Fure took the puck and shot, Jason Furness took the rebound. Chain reached out and gloved it. Des Moines took another penalty when Furness got called for hooking. To kill the penalty Erik Lind, Adrian Fure, Alex Kim, and of course Bill Trainor were out, Trainor being a regular penalty killer. Rochester is a good passing team, moving the puck well. With five minutes left in the first period Jayme Platt made a great save as a Rochester player one-timed it into Jayme. 17:20 into the first Mikhail Saliyenko got a goal off a centering feed from Mike Hanson (assist to Mike Hanson). Hanson did some great fore-checking to keep a hold of the puck and pass it on to Saliyenko. It was Saliyenko's fourth point in two nights. Rochester is a disciplined team, not taking any penalties. The Bucs had already taken two. Jayme Platt made ten saves in that period. John Chain recorded eleven saves. The Bucs finally got their first power play in the second period. Derek Robertson had a good chance to get a goal. He kept attacking and attacking. Chain just covered the puck. Chain stopped the puck again on a one-timer from Alex Kim. Robertson got another chance, Chain stoned 'em all. Who needs a veteran goalie with John Chain in the net. Pete Fregoe had a good chance on the doorstep, but the play was whistled. Bill Trainor was down behind the net. He was fine. Ryan Wetterberg and Matt Libby tied up a little bit with around five minutes left in the second period. Wetterberg picked up Libby's stick so Matt couldn't do anything. After Jayme froze the puck Wetterberg threw the stick across the ice. Of course Libby wasn't happy about that. With 2:44 to go Alex Kim got a penalty for holding, it would be the Mustangs fourth power play opportunity of the night. Ryan Wetterberg tied the game 12:57 into the period (assist to Theuer and Turner). Chain certainly proved himself last night. The puck rolled onto the goal line, but was kicked away. Pete Fregoe almost got a goal, Chain gloved that one too. Four and a half minutes into the third period though Bill Trainor scored the Bucs second goal (assist to Saliyenko). Mikhail never stopped before he passed it onto Bill, Bill never stopped once he got it, and it ended up in the net. The Bucs certainly could have had more goals, but for John Chain! He stopped another one-timer, this one from Bobby Haglund. Robertson had been working hard all night, his hard work finally paid off when he scored late in the third period. He intercepted a pass from the Mustangs and put it in the net 16:21 into the period (unassisted). Rochester out shot Des Moines in that last period by one point, Des Moines having seven shots. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 3 - Rochester 1
Bucs vs North Iowa Huskies The Bucs were 2-0 in the regular season, tonight was their first home game. For several of the players it would be the first time they had experienced a crowd of this proportion. The fans were ready, they filled the seats with anticipation. Cowbells were rung in short bursts and air horns bleated nervously. The crowd was mumbling in short sporadic bursts. When the lights went out the crowd cheered, the sold out crowd was more than ready. Smoke hung suspended over the ice, glowing with a red effervescence. The crowd went crazy. Spotlights were aimed at the doorway. There where white lights shaped like Buc logos and a rainbow of colors made up the rest of the spots. The players were announced, one by one. Separately they skated out of that glowing center. Smoke trailed behind them curling and snaking off each player as the sprayed ice when they reached the red line. I wonder how it would feel if I was out there, and the crowd was cheering me? Erik Cole took the goalie down sixty seconds into the first period and was put away for roughing. The fans loved it, personally I didn't think the goalie should have been out that far. It was sure good to see Doty back on the ice as a linesmen. Pete Fregoe got the first goal seven minutes later on a tough angled back hander (assist to Erik Strand and Sean Austin). Three minutes later Sean Austin scored (assist to Derek Robertson and Erik Cole). Not a minute later and Dave Boehm scored Des Moines' third goal (assist to Bobby Haglund and Pete Fregoe). After commenting on how good these guys have done and the goals they've recorded, it's only fair to say at this point that Scott Clemmensen had a great save at 6:45. North Iowa finally scored with 2:46 left in the first from Shaun Winkler (unassisted). Forty seconds after the Huskies goal Jacob Searles gave the Bucs a fourth goal (assist to Erik Cole). The Bucs out shot North Iowa 13 to 9. The Des Moines crowd is always happy to hear that Omaha is losing. Tonight was, of course, no different. When scores were announced the crowd cheered when they heard Omaha had yet to get a goal. With thirteen minutes left Clemmensen was very busy in his net. Not that North Iowa was looking that good, but they were getting plenty of shots on goal in that point. Another point was added to Des Moines' record when Matt Libby scored 7:04 into the second period (assist to Derek Robertson). During the second period the announcers talked about the new Jeep they would be driving out onto the ice. Shoot for the jeep, not a car this time, but a jeep. New meant the new model, the "T.J!" 10:58 North Iowa's Jay Kopischke got their second goal (assist to Dave Almquist and Paul Murphy). Crazy Larry was back too! Finally the crowd responded to his cheers, and actually kept them going. It seems that only Crazy Larry can really get the fans going. 7:32 Jason Furness decided he needed to protect Erik Strand after he got hit hard. Furness and Pat Gundersen both went for minor roughing calls. The second period was over and the intermission had started. I was beginning to wonder as I watched the green jeep wheel out onto that white ice, if mine was the only heart that yearned for it. And yes, it had those perfect round headlights. I'm so glad their back! Bobby Haglund got his first goal halfway into the third period (assist to Alex Kim and Dave Boehm). Bill Trainor, 12:12 into the period, back handed his own rebound into the net putting the Bucs up to seven points (assist to Mikhail Saliyenko and Adrian Fure). Five minutes left and Bobby Haglund was to score his second goal (assist to Mikhail Saliyenko). It would earn him the offensive player of the game title. Haglund was so excited he knocked Fure to the ice in a bear hug. Eric Lind must have been pretty mad at Nat DiCasmirro, he wrenched the guy's face mask backwards pulling the helmet back. DiCasmirro complained and pleaded for mercy. Lind and DiCasmirro were both sent to the box in what was to start a big penalty rush. We put two more men in the box and North Iowa had a 5 on 3 power play. Now, tell me, if that isn't scary? The Bucs had 1:23 to kill off this penalty. It was done, I won't say effortlessly, but it was done. Adrian Fure got defense player of the game and Clemmensen had a total of 21 saves for the game. North Iowa had 32 saves for the game. Written by Sarah Bendy. Note: The season opener against North Iowa was the 101st consecutive sell-out home game at the Metro Ice Sports Arena. Des Moines 8 - North Iowa 2
Bucs vs Waterloo Black Hawks The Waterloo Blackhawks were our adversary tonight. You wondered if they would be a little more disciplined than the last time they were in Des Moines. I think that perhaps the crowd forgot to show up tonight. It was not a packed arena. The cheers weren't even as numerous. Jayme Platt was still the USHL's top goaltender, he would be starting in goal tonight with a .971 save percentage. About four minutes into the first period Waterloo's Jason Kroffat scored (assist to Joe Heinbecker and Jayme Adduono). The little number nineteen streaked down all alone and across the blue line to pick up the puck on a breakaway. He popped it neatly over Platt's right shoulder. Andrew Tortorella always makes his presence known on the ice. Adrian Fure sent Tort to the ice, who then lost his helmet, and of course his head started going. He gets this thing where he starts yelling (at the ref, at the other players, at his own player, at life, etc....) and his head just naturally takes off on its own. Not long after this Ryan Hale got a goal on the Power Play (assist to Doug Schmidt), Jayme just missed it. Nightmares of Jayme being yanked for Clemmensen started setting in. The Bucs were just playing sloppy. "Let's go Bucs!" started somewhere in the crowd vaguely until it grew, but it didn't last long. Jayme adjusted his pads for a breather. With around four minutes left in the period Alex Kim faked the goalie out of his pads with a forehand and backhanded it in (assist to Matt Libby). The Bucs were gathering wood for a fire. 3:07 left and the ref whistled the play dead, however the puck was still in play and had not been stopped by the Waterloo goalie. Fans stood yelling obscenities at the abused, battered officials. The crowd stomped on their hats (no... not literally!) and maybe if they complained loud and long enough? Just maybe. The Bucs had that fire going when Eric Lind scored a power play goal with 19:02 left in the period (assist to Pete Fregoe and Sean Austin). At the end of the period Doug Schmidt took another penalty, last time he played for us the box was a dear friend of his. With Tortorella having been in the box when Lind scored this game was beginning to look a lot like the last time the Blackhawks were in town. The Bucs established themselves early in the second period. 58 seconds into it and Derek Robertson scored (assist to Alex Kim and Dave Boehm). All those guys had been working hard for that opportunity and deserved every ounce of it. Two minutes later and the Bucs were a flurry around the net. Pete Fregoe got the Bucs their fourth goal of the game (unassisted). However the announcers said the goal was credited to Jake Searles. I clearly saw Fregoe get that goal, a sweet goal it was too, and though it was corrected later with no assists added I would say that Searles got an assist in that one. However, I am not always correct! With somewhere around fourteen minutes left in the period Mike Hanson got a breakaway and scored with a clean shot into the net, nothing but net (unassisted). A beautiful goal! This goal was credited to Mikhail Saliyenko, it also was later corrected to Hanson. Meanwhile Jayme was down on the other end making saves every once in awhile, there wasn't always much action down there. He came up with some huge saves of which he was applauded eagerly to the doting fans. Waterloo wasn't dead yet, at 12:56 Chris Cerella scored the Hawks' third goal (assist to Andrew Tortorella and Jason Harris). Tortorella was happy, balancing on one leg as if this was a circus performance. Waterloo scored yet another goal in the second period, but it was to be their last. With 2:19 left Chris Cerella got his second goal (assist to Andrew Tortorella). Why is it always Tortorella celebrating? Why does he always get so many assists? Why does he win so many face-offs? Why am I always talking about him? I guess he's just one of those people that demands your full attention on the ice, tricks and antics, shaking head and all. The third period started out rocky, the Bucs were not looking good and only one point was needed to tie the game. They were still better looking than in the beginning of the first period though. Seven minutes into the period Mike Hanson scored his second goal and gave his former Sioux City host parents one more reason to print off this rant for him (assist to Bill Trainor). Halfway through the period and Derek Robertson also got his second goal of the night (assist to Dave Boehm and Alex Kim). The poor linesman tonight were getting beat up, tripped, hit in the head by pucks, and checked indirectly by a certain player I won't name. Near the end of the period the Bucs had two men in the box and would have to kill the penalty off. Fure and Kim sat in the box watching as the first penalty killing unit took their shift on the ice. No worries mate! Proudly announced were the players of the game, both with two goals each, Mike Hanson and Derek Robertson. Jayme had a total of 42 saves for the night and Waterloo had 33. The Bucs were 3 of 4 on the power play, Waterloo was 2 of 5. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 7 - Waterloo 4
Bucs vs Dubuque Fighting Saints Josh Blackburn was in goal tonight for Dubuque, the thought of it was enough to send tremors down my spine. I'd watched him play before, he could be a terrifying road block. Speaking of blocks, I am now having a writers block and can't think straight. It was a tiring game, not that it was boring, but from a fans perspective it was exhausting. The tenseness, the cheering, and the adrenaline. The sound system wasn't working well tonight, from above us and around us was an incessant buzzing. It stopped, there it goes again, the fans seemed not to notice. Dubuque got the first goal at 14:23, #18 (I think his name was Pete, I didn't hear his last name) stuffed it under Clemmensen (assist to Kyle O'Keefe and Tom Rouleau). Scott slowly got up off the ice shaking his head while the other players tapped him brotherly. The Dubuque players were seemingly out to get Alex Kim. At one point Chris Thompson tried to take care of Kim, he ended up taking a 2 minute unsportsmanlike penalty. In all this ruckus Kim stayed cool, he ultimately retaliated swiping backwards at a guy as he skated away, to the applause of the crowd. Of course he was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty as well, to the dismay of the crowd. If only he had stayed cool! The Bucs had a chance at 3:37 to get a goal, it was a goal. However due to a Dubuque injury it was waived off. Eric Lind, Pete Fregoe, Mike Hanson, and Jason Furness quietly skated back to the bench. Our fans were getting nasty! They weren't cheering the player when he got up, they booed loudly at him jeering him all the way to the locker room. Chris Thompson limped into the locker room with a towel on his face. A few daring fans stood up against the odds and cheered the player. We're no better than Waterloo fans! Mike Hanson had been playing extremely hard tonight. Every shift he was out there working hard. The Bucs weren't looking that bad, they were down by one point. Dubuque put another cannon ball through our ship with 33 seconds left in the first period. Josh Kern got the short handed goal (assist to Ken Marsch). With one second left in the period the face off was at the Saints end. We put an extra attacker on and pulled Scott for that last second. A Flurried frenzy and the buzzer sounded. Our coaches walked off the ice behind the players, grim and determined. The second period was a chance to make a change and vanquish ourselves. At 18:11 Kyle O'Keefe scored Dubuque's third goal. Clemmensen was pulled. It wasn't his fault! All I'll say is, defense. Coach had a private chat with Scott behind the bench and Clemmensen walked to the end of the bench and leaned against the glass as he watched Jayme Platt preparing for the game on the ice. Behind that faceless mask what was going on? We needed a change coach later said, a spark. It must have worked, 2:59 into the period Bobby Haglund scored off a great pass from Alex Kim (assist to Alex Kim). It wasn't going to be easy to get other goals, Josh Blackburn was having a good night. At 5:30 Jayme made an unbelievable save and a brawl started on top of him. Christian Laden was protecting Jayme and got a roughing call. Ken Marsch and Denny O'Conner went for roughing as well. Blackburn was stoning our players. Mike Hanson a goal? No, it didn't go in!? Alex Kim goal? No... again!? With three minutes left we were definitely looking better, now if we could only score. Maybe if we got Blackburn out of position? Just kind of pushed him around? Eighteen seconds left and Eric Lind was making an end to end rush down to the Saints Blackburn, he never made it all the way, he was taken down! During the third period a score from the Rochester game was announced. Rochester was beating Omaha 4-2. What we needed now was a power play and a distraction for the goalie. At the beginning of the period we got our power play when Ken Marsch got a holding penalty. It didn't do us any good. At 8:42 the penalties were starting to add up for both teams, could we do it with Blackburn in the net? Dubuque was up 3-1, we had to get two more goals to even tie the game to force an overtime. At 7:18 our prayers were answered by a goal from Bill Trainor, suddenly our team had fire (assist to Mikhail Saliyenko and Mike Hanson). Just a few minutes later Mikhail Saliyenko tied the game (assist to Mike Hanson). All of Hanson's hard work was for a good cause. This Saliyenko, Trainor, and Hanson line is amazing! At 3:17 with energy in our veins we cheered on Jayme as he made a great save. Suddenly the crowd woke up and started rallying on their team for the first real time. The last seconds ticked away on the scoreboard. Electronically the numbers turned 3...2...1...0. We were going into overtime. As ruled by the league we would have a five minute overtime, if the game was still tied after that we would have a shoot out. Platt was coming up with some good saves in the OT and there was three minutes left. The action was going both ways. At 2:46 Bobby Haglund scored the winning goal (unassisted). Players in white jerseys poured out and made a pile at the blue line. Platt rushed out of his net, stick in the air and jumped into it. Haglund disappeared in the bottom of the pile. Red jerseys bunched together near the other group. They patted each other and centered around their goalie. The Fighting Saints skated off the ice and the Bucs gathered in the circle and saluted the crowd (which for most of the night hadn't been responsive!). Bobby Haglund and Jayme Platt were players of the game. Platt with a 100% save percentage for the game, having let in not a single goal. "The Bucs passing was about as crisp as the lettuce on the bottom of a Big-Mac." A quote from a fan (NOTE: this is not my quote!). Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 4 - Dubuque 3 (overtime)
Bucs at Waterloo Black Hawks "Those balloon mascots? They're like hot air balloons with legs." We decided to brave Waterloo. We went to our first away game of the season tonight, I can guarantee it won't be the last either. Waterloo has it good! They have a beautiful arena, the anthem was sung by a sophomore at some high school, it was gorgeous and they have a great mascot! Speaking of the mascot, T.J. Hawk, he was a crowd pleaser. He danced to Staying Alive and was very cool. Would you believe when they announced Jason Furness as a change in the Des Moines line, the Waterloo fans booed him! In the first period Jake Searles received a pass from Derek Robertson and with a sweet swipe put into the net (assist to Derek Robertson and Erik Cole). This goal was gotten 6:56 into the first period. Mike Hanson was having a good game, again. He had a shot that was right on net, the goalie clutched it to his stomach and fell to the ice. At 10:36 our dear friend Sean Austin got a two minute interference. Of course Tortorella did dive... just a little. The Bucs got their second goal 9:36 into the period from Bobby Haglund (assist to Dave Boehm and Erik Cole). I didn't see that goal very well, due to the appearance of four boys behind us. When I say boys, I mean four ten year olds! They were screaming at Jayme and the Bucs. Screaming "Go Hawks!" At the end of the period, 2:19 to be exact, Chad Poliquin got the Hawks first goal (assist to Jason Harris). Eleven seconds after this Tortorella passed ahead to the on rushing Chris Cerella to score and tie the game (assist to Andrew Tortorella). With eleven seconds left in the period Willie Zago took down Jayme Platt who was out of his net. Arms and legs went flying as Jayme cascaded to the ice. The hawk mascot during the first intermission was having fun. He dressed up like a ref and put on dark sunglasses, his stick in his hands he went skating stooped around the ice, taping with his stick. He ended that masquerade by falling blindly into the boards. Maybe Jayme shouldn't wander out of his net so much, he gets taken down every time he tried to go out. Jayme was taken down a second time in the second period. The Bucs got a bench minor at 13:05 for too many men on the ice. I didn't see that! At 12:03 Tortorella received a nice pass to make a great play, however he received the pass from Fregoe. 5:35 Adrian Fure slapped one on goal, the goalie stopped it, but it trickled in under him (assist to Matt Libby). On a pass from Pete, Erik Strand got a nice fast shot off. It clinked as it hit the post ricocheting and went wide. 17:46 into the second period Mike Hanson scored (assist to Bill Trainor). The goal was a great one, but our concentration was on Mikhail who had given his body to make that play. He went down to stop the shot from a Hawk player and got a puck in the knee. He was helped off the ice by other players, he couldn't walk off at all. Pain was on his face. Eric Lind also hit the post with 1:27 left. It was Bobby Haglund's turn to get hurt in the third period. He went feet first into the boards and was thrashing on the ice. He was really hurt and also had to be helped off the ice. It was his ankle. At this time the four boys that had shown up earlier decided they had found an interest in us (Lynne Morgan and I). They tried to get us to stand up when the Blackhawks came out onto the ice. We told them we couldn't, they tried again. Calmly from our seats we said "We just can't, you see, we're Buc fans." The shock was unimaginable. It didn't stop them for long though. Lucas, Sean, Ben, and Pete decided if they cheered for our team we'd like them much better. Derek Robertson scored four minutes into the third period (assist to Eric Lind) to put the Bucs up to five. There was still fifteen minutes left in the period, and Lynne and I had to endure these little boys for the rest of that time. Pete decided to score at this time, so of course we had a hard time seeing it, the little monkeys behind us were quiet wild. He scored at 15:27 (assist to Christian Laden). There were also a lot of Buc fans there. A group behind us cheered "Your goalie sucks, our goalies great!" It was a wonderful Buc chant. It's funny how being at an away game can really bring Buc fans together. Soon the four boys were asking us if we were married, if we would go out with them, if they could kiss us. They didn't stop there, they decided they liked our hair too. Let me ask you, do you like your hair played with by strange people? I guess Jayme was tired of Tortorella's complaining, he stuck his stick out and tripped him as Tort skated by the goalie crease. Austin took down Tort again, I wonder, did Andrew fake that one too? The Waterloo fans got a chance to cheer for one more time when Chad Poliquin scored at 17:53 (assist to Cory Eilek). It was a good game, but not for the Blackhawks, who really deserve a win. They still haven't won yet and they played so hard. Waterloo had a total of 37 shots on goal, the Bucs had 48. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 6 - Waterloo 3
Bucs vs Lincoln Stars Coming off their win the night before and having eaten pancakes that morning the Bucs would be playing Lincoln for the first time in the regular season. I don't know about some of the other fans, but I can say the fans I knew were excited to see Bencurik again. I guess when a player once played for your team and helped that team win the triple crown you can't exactly boo him huh? 15:21 into the first period Erik Cole got his first of many penalties, only half of them were deserved. We got our first taste of what the zebra would be like for the rest of the night. Benny was not doing well (Ryan Bencurik of the Lincoln Stars, former Buccaneer), missing passes and losing the puck. His long curls are back...oops, forgot I wasn't going to talk about hair anymore! It's gotten me into too much trouble. Benny got better real fast, because at 4:03 he shot the puck into the net from the blue line (assist to Nick Fohr). At 5:33 Louis Mass got a charging penalty, which was a good thing, 'cause Erik Cole was down on the ice from the full force body drive. During the power play, in culmination of a barrage of shots on net, Chad Mazurak had Pete Fregoe down on the ice. Pete floundered on ice as if caught in a spider web. Lincoln was just playing well. In the power play the puck got littered beyond our defense out to the red line. It was picked up by a Star who skated down on a breakaway and shot it. The shot went wide and rode the boards around to the next Star who was just sitting there waiting, all alone. He shot it wide too. There was one minute left, but no goal from the Bucs. There was a full house, but no noise for a packed crowd. There were a few brilliant moments in the beginning of the second period. Erik Cole wasn't doing to bad. Dave Boehm came rushing in and played it to another Buc (I think it was Erik Strand) who banged it wide. As Clemmensen started making some good saves the crowd started cheering more for him. Could you see confidence building? Was he standing a little straighter? Though the ref was calling a lot on our guys that didn't actually happen, he didn't call the things that did happen. Jake Searles, to keep a Star from getting the puck, grabbed his jersey and yanked back pulling him away with an obvious flourish. How could the ref have missed that one? Last time Scott Clemmensen played in front of the home crowd he got pulled, tonight he was doing an outstanding job. We were on the power play, from a penalty to Chad Mazurak, and the clock was ticking down with around nine minutes to go. Adrian Fure, Matt Libby, Mike Hanson, Bill Trainor, and Pete Fregoe were on the power play. They played with it for a long time in the attack zone, passing it back and forth, but nothing was open. The crowd started getting frustrated and was yelling "Shoot it!" The hard work paid off however, because when the goalie was screened Adrian Fure got a slap shot in (assist to Pete Fregoe and Mike Hanson). The crowd was suddenly alive and the game was tied. At 8:21 Rich Anderson got the Stars a goal to put them ahead by one (assist to Trent Clark and Ryan James). It was a very exciting period, tension was mounting and we were only down by one. But then everything started falling apart. Lincoln got a goal at 13:51, all I could see were the sticks in the air and the red light flashing behind the black figures. Jay Shaw got the goal (assist to Chad Kline). Lincoln was just plain outplaying us. With 2:23 left Lincoln got their fourth goal from Bryan Lundbohm (assist to Jay Shaw and Chad Kline). The puck just wasn't bouncing the right way for the Bucs and the Stars were always there to catch the puck. Lincoln was always at just the right place. Erik Cole got a two minute holding at the end of the second period. One of the many unwarranted penalties of the game. The fans banded together, for probably the only time in the game, chanting the ref with "Referees suck!" Erik Cole got a good goal at 17:54 of the third period (assist to Bill Trainor). The crowd was loud and my hand was falling off from too much writing. Four minutes into this period Jay Shaw got another goal (Bryan Lundbohm) for Lincoln. About two minutes later Rob Kellogg got the Stars sixth goal on a one-timer (assist to Ted Suihkonen). At 12:59 a fight broke out, Eric Lind tried to skate away from it, but he went back to the guy. Alex Kim had his own little tizzy with a Star. Dave Boehm was just holding himself, and a Star, back. Out of this Kim and Lind both were put away. Justin Shaw was given a ten minute misconduct on top of a four minute double minor. Jay Shaw also went for roughing. Oh, those Shaw's! The game was started again, but it didn't take long for Mike Hanson and Derek Reynolds to go for unsportsman like conducts each. It was beginning to get frustrating. On a breakaway Nick Fohr was being chased down by Mikhail Saliyenko and Adrian Fure. Fohr came down and the puck bounced weirdly over Clemmensen's shoulder and into the net. This goal was gotten at 11:45 and unassisted. The speakers sounded like an old record player running on and on at the end of a record, with a soothing sleepy effect. With a sickening feeling in our stomachs we watched as Lincoln got their eight goal at 6:55 from Austin Messer (assist to Shane Spears). Half the arena was already empty and it was the Bucs first taste of real defeat. Considering it would be the Bucs first loss it wasn't that bad, was it? They had to lose eventually and maybe they needed this. The game ended and the crowd half cheered, but not really. They wanted to, but not really. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 2 - Lincoln 8
Bucs vs Waterloo Black Hawks I realized Detroit was playing tonight and I had not recorded it. Oh well, can't watch every hockey game! It would be interesting to see how well the Bucs would do tonight; Considering what the last game was like. Tonight was a night to remember, why? I don't know, I was told by a friend that I'm having a problem right now with short term memory loss. My mother told me that not enough blood is getting to my head. I've been light headed and dizzy for the last day and a half and why? I don't remember that anymore either. Enough about me! You're reading this to find out what happened in the game! Why was tonight a night to remember? Because for the first time it was a low scoring game, for this team anyway. You had to give the Waterloo goalie a lot of credit though, if it hadn't been for Melnechuk the Bucs would have had a lot more goals. Here's an instance. Pete Fregoe knocked the puck away from the Hawks defense at 8:05 and took off on a breakaway. It was all wonderful and we were ready to jump up screaming, wonderful, wonderful... it didn't happen. Again at 6:04 Melnechuk made an amazing save. He reached out with his stick to cover the open space and then grabbed and covered the puck. He was on the ice and sprawling and still managed to reach out and cover that open space! At the end of the period there was some mad play. The Bucs had been playing nicely up until this point, but then for a few minutes they fell apart. Literally falling apart, falling into one another, falling around one another, sticks were falling. Jayme Platt made a save and managed to get himself way out of the net and lose his stick. In desperation he returned to his net empty handed. Sean Austin stood in front of him and was suddenly stickless as Jayme grabbed Sean's stick out of his hands. The period ended without a goal for either team. The Bucs out shot Waterloo by 19 to 9. The second period was just like the first, scoreless. The Bucs were putting on all kinds of pressure, Melnechuk was a stone wall. Several times we came so close to jumping up for a goal. At the end of one rowdy play that really should have gone in (and been credited to Derek Robertson) Cory Eilek was put in the box for holding. He was jeered all the way to the box by the fans as if it was all his fault that we didn't get that goal. Though Melnechuk was making great saves we can't leave out Jayme, he was doing an excellent job also. We would cheer for Jayme, we would cheer for those unfortunate Blackhawks to find themselves in the penalty box, but the need to jump up and cheer for a goal was getting pressing. The Bucs needed to score, the agony was unbearable! Jason Harris (a Blackhawk in case you didn't know) was beginning to catch on to our "See ya!" chant for penalty-goers. When he was called at 3:54 for high sticking he casually skated all the way to the penalty box, slowly I might add. The crowd yelled "see ya" as he stepped one foot in, Jason turned around and left the box skating in a tight circle giving the crowd real cause to complain. He'd tricked them! Oh yes, he was booed, I can tell you he probably had a smile on his face. The third period started out much the same as all the rest. The players looked zapped, nonetheless Melnechuk was still doing a great job. The Bucs needed some pepper. 5:09 into the period Bucs got their pepper and some salt too. Erik Cole had a breakaway and started the whole play, the goal was first credited to Derek Robertson and to my knowledge that's who I saw put it in. However it was changed later in the game and given to Erik Cole (assist to Derek Robertson and Eric Lind). It didn't really matter who got that goal, because all three of those guys had worked hard that shift. Thirteen minutes left in the period and the Bucs hit the post! There was a lot of salt and pepper now. 6:54 in the period and Pete Fregoe was fighting with Waterloo's Cory Eilek. If you want to call it fighting, it was more like the kind of thing you do with your brother when you're younger. You know when your brother's on top of you and is punching you he's so mad? Hmm... maybe that doesn't work, well let's put it this way, it wasn't a full blow, all out, fist and knuckles fight. Anyway both the guys went for double minor roughings, except that Pete got a ten minute misconduct on top of that. Tsk, tsk, tsk, whatever he said wasn't worth it sit in the box for ten minutes! Waterloo called a time out with 1:45 left and the Bucs called a time out with 24.9 seconds left. The net was empty and the crowd was going wild. Jayme Platt and Erik Cole were players of the game. The Bucs out shot Waterloo in every period, with a total of 51 shots to Waterloo's 26. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 1 - Waterloo 0
Bucs at North Iowa Huskies The benefit of having something taped is that you can go back and listen to something over again, in case you didn't believe it the first time. I had Saturday night's game taped for me and though you might already know what happened (because you peaked at the paper) it's as informative. North Iowa got the first goal of another low scoring game. Kevin Mackey profited 3:26 into the game after both Buc defenseman chased after the puck (assist to Nate DiCasmirro). Clemmensen made some beautiful saves after this while the Huskies were crashing the net. The Bucs soon got their first power play and at 7:05 Jake Searles passed the puck to Mike Hanson who put it into the right corner of the net on the power play (assist to Jake Searles and Pete Fregoe). Clemmensen was doing a great job, he made a glove save by a shot from Shane Fukushima late in the period and snatched it safely. North Iowa in the beginning of the second period came close to getting a goal. Actually they did get a goal, but it wasn't counted due to an interference penalty at the same time against Stafford. The Huskies Kevin Mackey was called for interference and the whole North Iowa bench was not happy. Pete Fregoe and Kevin Mackey both went for roughing at 14:43. Erik Cole was having some great shifts in the second period. I was waiting for Erik to get his ten minute misconduct. It would be happening in the third period and I wondered what it was for. That's another beauty of cheating by reading the paper, you know what's going to happen, but you don't know why. Near the middle of the third period I found out why Cole went for that misconduct. 8:22 into the period Erik Cole got taken down and was so furious that it wasn't called that he complained a bit. Complaining enough to get sent to the penalty box. Erik had gotten hauled down and thrown into the offensive zone. Now I was waiting for 15:28. With five minutes left here we go. I wondered how it would happen. They scored, the announcers said it was Hanson, but I know it was Trainor who got the goal. They soon gave it to Billy at 15:28 (assist to Dave Boehm and Mike Hanson). The Huskies now need to tie it. With a minute and 46 seconds left in the period the Huskies got a power play from Libby's tripping penalty. Coach Owens was upset about this call, it didn't look like the tripping was meant. The Bucs took a time out for a little rest and conference. A conference on how they would take care of the six North Iowa players with only four of their players. Rookie goalie Darren Henry was pulled and the sixth attacker for the Huskies was put on the ice. Almost at the same time Clemmensen covered the puck up and the play was whistled dead. North Iowa took a time out next to discuss the face off. The face off was to the side of Clemmensen and they had a play to set up if they wanted a tie. The Huskies won the face off, but Eric Lind threw the puck out of the zone. The play was whistled as being frozen which forced another face off. All this was to no avail, the Bucs won the game with Bill Trainor getting the game winner. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 2 - North Iowa 1
Bucs at Dubuque Fighting Saints I had been out of town for Saturday night and just came back late Sunday afternoon. I expected the game to be at 7:05, of course it wasn't, 5:35 was the game time. So I missed the first period and a half. I was on the road at that time. So oops, I missed it. This is what I've got though. Bill Trainor started the scoring 1:58 into the first period (assist to Sean Austin and Mikhail Saliyenko). About six minutes after this Derek Robertson got a power play goal (assist to Eric Lind and Dave Boehm). Dubuque took control after this and twenty seconds after Robertson got his goal they scored with Kenny Marsch (assist to Kyle O'Keefe and Pete Pierman). Right before the end of the period Denny O'Connor got a goal at 18:41 (assist to Phil Lewandowski and Dave Mugavero). The momentum was going Dubuque's way. Alex Kim got the third goal as the Bucs took control in the second period. This goal came 4:39 into the period (assist to Dave Boehm and Pete Fregoe). Three minutes later Dave Boehm got his third goal of the season (assist to Pete Fregoe). Pete Fregoe made the game 5-2, nine minutes and 36 seconds into the period on a power play (assist to Bill Trainor and Mike Hanson). Pete was having a good game with his third point of the night. Derek Robertson sixteen minutes into the second period got his second goal of the night (assist to Sean Austin and Yvon Hopps). After that goal Josh Blackburn got pulled in favor of Aaron Stodgell. Dave Mugavero thought he could start a fight with Matt Libby near the end of the second period. He threw his gloves off, but Libby just looked at him. He didn't want to fight. They both went two minutes for roughing, however Mugavero got an extra 2 minutes for misconduct. So far the Bucs had been 2 for 3 on the power play, it was an improvement from their 17% power play effectiveness. In the third period Dave Boehm scored with a wrap around in between Stodgell's legs. He got the goal one minute and sixteen seconds into the period (assist to Alex Kim and Pete Fregoe). Boehm, Kim, and Fregoe were all hot tonight. Kim took a roughing penalty giving Dubuque their second power play of the night. With too many men in front of the net Phil Lewandowski scored on the power play (assist to Ken Marsch). Matt Libby got called for an elbowing penalty and gave Dubuque yet another power play. The Saints were 1 for 2 on the power play so far. The Fighting Saints had only been able to use their home ice for practice twice this last week, the rest of the days they had to commute down to the Quad Cities for practice time. Derek Robertson was also having a good night, he got his hat trick with 5:50 to in the period (assist to Jake Searles and Erik Cole). It was the first hat trick for the Bucs of the season. The Bucs were working on their sixth power play of the night and eight seconds into it Alex Kim got the Bucs ninth and final goal of the game (assist to Adrian Fure and Matt Libby). The Bucs won 9-3, with their ninth victory. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 9 - Dubuque 3
Bucs vs German Jr. National Team The excitement of seeing a German Junior team was a given. What would they be like? Would they beat us into a pulp? Would the three draft picks, Marco Sturm, Jochen Hecht, and Kai Fischer make fools of us? Were they really that good? The arena was only 1/8 full, that was depressing, we wanted to wow these guys. There wasn't much to write about, not much to talk about. Boris Lingemann lost his helmet and couldn't understand why he'd have to sit in the penalty box for playing without his helmet. I was just sure they called the guy Horse Ligament, not Boris Lingemann. Jochen Hecht took off on a breakaway and it stifled through Clemmensen's pads at 8:17 getting Germany's first goal. There wasn't much more to say about this period, but that Germany took a lot of stupid penalties, but we took a few too. Alex Kim and a German-guy got locked away for roughing, but otherwise it was a boring period. The second period didn't get much better and my fingers were freezing. Mike Hanson fell to the ice and skated back to the bench with his hand to his face. Kai Fischer patted him with his stick as he went by. Hmm... I like that. But it didn't stop Kai from slashing at Hanson a few minutes earlier. Of course Hanson did kind of get in his way. Mike fell behind him and Kai tripped over him as he tried to get back to his crease. Dave Boehm scored with 18:37 left to go in the period and off the record Alex Kim assisted. The score was tied, but with 34 seconds left in the period Germany scored a short handed goal from Sven Gerike (assist to Andreas Renz). As the players skated off the ice there was no applause. About five minutes into the third period Germany scored their third goal from Andreas Morczinietz (assist to Florian Zeller and Boris Lingemann). Jason Furness got pretty mad during a ruckus on the ice. Of course Daniel Kreutzer didn't know anything about Furness, but I wouldn't think you'd be stupid enough to mess with a face that looked as mad as Furny's did! The fans where not happy, a general murmur of disapproval was wafting around the rafters. With six minutes left to go in the period we should have had our second goal, but the net came ajar just as the goal went in. Now wasn't that upsetting? Pete Fregoe finally got our second goal with 2:16 left to go in the third (assist to Mike Hanson and Alex Kim). Suddenly their was excitement I didn't know we could have. This fire in the team was helped when Eric Lind laid one on a German player. The clock was frozen at 1:15 and Owens pulled Clemmensen to get another attacker on. Germany called a time out. It seemed like we could tie it up, but with ten seconds left Daniel Kreutzer took off and scored an empty-netter. Written by Sarah Bendy. Des Moines 2 - Germany 4
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