Bucs beat Fargo 4 - 0, set USHL record
Summary: Fargo, ND (2/27/99): The Bucs picked up their 10th win in a row, just 3 wins away from the Anderson Cup. The Bucs now have 42 wins on the year, more wins than any other USHL team. The previous high was held by the Green Bay Gamblers in the 1996-97 season.
Matt Carney got his fourth shut out of the season, matching the Buccaneer record set by Bob Revermann last year. Matt Carney stopped all 32 shots fired at him - not bad for being knocked out by the puck last night. The line of Pete Fregoe, Noah Clarke and Erik Jensen were on fire as they accounted for all four goals.
Jensen (Fregoe, Smrek), Clarke (Fregoe, Jensen), Fregoe (Clarke, Shasby) and Clarke (PP) (Fregoe, Jackson) scored for the Bucs.
Pre Game
Both Omaha and Green Bay won last night, so we still need to win 4 games to win the Anderson Cup. Coach Owens was not pleased with the Bucs performance last night, saying they were too sloppy - especially on defense. Both teams will be going with different goaltenders; Holland for Fargo and Carney for the Bucs. Holland has not won a game yet and has a goals against average of 7. Matt seems to have recovered well from being knocked out from the blast to his chin. Michael Chin's knee injury is mending well after the surgery, but he will be out for 1 to 2 weeks. We also have a new player, Wade Chiodo from Thief River Falls, MN. Evidently, each team is allowed to add one player late in the season as a high school tender. He was in the "unadvertised" Buc mini-camp this year. Coach Owens said he will probably play about 5 games for us. The national anthem was sung "live" again - Fargo, Waterloo and Thunder Bay do a great job in this area. Again, there were many Buc fans in attendance - Andrea's family alone gave us a huge cheering section. I like the Fargo barn, it is a great place to watch hockey. Before I forget, Mark Fallis wanted me to pass along that the Bucs along with the Booster Club and Letter Carriers Union #352 raised $8,400 for Muscular Dystrophy. Great job! We don't talk enough about all the great stuff the Booster Club does for the Bucs and the community. One more thing, next Friday Maria & Steve will be on the ice with their brand new Jeep they won last week in the Jeep shoot/
First Period
The Bucs seemed to come out with more jump than last night. Dan Donnette and Peter Sejna were really hustling and seemed destined to have a good night. The Ice Sharks were not letting up either. The Ice Sharks gave us a power play early, but we were unable to convert despite some good puck movement. As the play progressed, the Bucs seemed unable to make the pass to the open man. Jerrid Reinholz could have scored a hat trick for all the times he was open in front of the net. When the Bucs quit trying to be so fancy with their passes and just shot it, Holland was barely able to stop it - only luck kept the Bucs off the board. The period went by very fast, and ended without a goal being scored. On a positive note, Wade Chiodo, the new guy seemed to fit in well. The Bucs had 10 shots on goal while Fargo had 11.
Second Period
Fargo got a shot on goal early, but the Bucs came back with lots of pressure, however the Bucs were along way from controlling this game or having the momentum. Three minutes into the period, Matt Carney had to come up with several saves on point blank shots, and then when the Bucs broke out of the zone, Fargo took a penalty. Early in the power play, Fargo got a break away, but Stafford was able to hustle down the ice and tie the shooter up. Several seconds later Fargo had another break away, but Carney was able to handle the threat. Fargo was able to kill off the penalty, and it was obvious that Fargo's strategy of shortening the lines was working. The Bucs were having trouble getting shots on net.
Finally, halfway through the period the Bucs were able to score when Erik Jensen put in a rebound (assists to Pete Fregoe and Peter Smrek). Erik Jensen has scored in the last three games. The Ice Sharks came right back and Matt Carney came up with two amazing glove saves. Noah Clarke scored three minutes later, with assists to Pete Fregoe and Erik Jensen. Fargo AGAIN came right back, and if it were not for the excellent goaltending of Matt Carney, the Ice Sharks would have scored. Dan Donnette scored a minute later but the goal was waved off - why I don't know.
With 1 minute remaining in the period, Pete Fregoe ended up with the puck right in front of the goal. Pete waited for the goalie to make his move, then puckered the twine to make the score 3 to 0. Assists went to Noah Clarke and Matt Shasby. The period ended and for a minute I thought Kelly Miller was going to get in a fight, but it was not to be. The Bucs had 16 shots on goal while Fargo had 14.
Third Period
The Bucs got a couple of shots on goal early, and the Buc offense seemed to be keeping things under control with Erik Jensen just missing another goal. Novak, Krueger and Shino put some tremendous pressure on several minutes later and the Bucs nearly had another goal. The Bucs went on the power play with 8 minutes left in the period as a fargo player was called for a high stick and then was given an extra 10 minutes for something said in anger to the referee. Noah Clarke continued his hot streak by scoring on the man advantage. Noah was set up perfectly by Pete Fregoe and Jimmy Jackson.
After the play, Erik was called for a penalty and the Bucs were down a man. Matt Carney came up big to save the shut out, and the Bucs were able to kill the rest of the penalty off easily.
Their were some anxious moments in the last minute as the Bucs worked to give Matt Carney his fourth shut out. As the buzzer sounded, Matt Carney was mobbed as he had picked up his fourth shut out of the year, matching the previous Buccaneer best held by Bob Revermann last year. Both teams ended up with 7 shots on goal.
Written by Steve Bendy
Feeding frenzy in Fargo - Bucs win 9 to 4
Summary: Fargo, ND (2/26/99): The Bucs offense exploded for the second game in a row with a 9 to 4 win over the Ice Sharks. It was the Bucs 41st win - their ninth in a row, moving them ever closer to clinching the Anderson Cup. The Bucs need to win only 4 more games to claim the title.
Three Buccaneers scored two goals tonight. Peter Sejna scored two goals for the third game in a row, despite having a cold. Josh Roach also scored two goals, this after scoring his first of the year in the last game. Noah Clarke also struck twice.
Sejna (Reinholz, Donnette), Roach (Novak), Roach (Novak), Clarke (Jensen), Sejna (PP) (unassisted), Jensen (Fregoe, Jackson), Miller (Shasby, Fregoe), Clarke (unassisted) and Fregoe (Jensen) scored for the Bucs.
Pre Game
Michael Chin went home early on Friday morning to take care of the tear in his meniscus that happened on Tuesday night. He’ll get the tear taken care of and then will probably be out for awhile until he heals up. For loss of anything else to talk about I’m gonna liven it up and talk a little bit about dancing. Which, though, I’ve always been a dancer just recently I’ve actually started getting into swinging and various other dances. Now it’s all I can think about, eat, sleep, and drink. I’m always looking for a new trick, jump, or dramatic lift to try.
First Period
Matt Carney started the game, but it didn’t take him long before he was back off the ice. With his helmet on the ice, Marty helped Carney and they left the ice. So Berrenguer was put in for Carney and would end up playing for the rest of the game even though Carney seemed to be ok as he went and sat on the bench later. Considering Fargo is the leader in penalty minutes I fully expected them to get the first penalty. However they weren’t the first to be in the box, Stodgell was. Unfortunately the Sharks scored on this penalty and it looked bad, but we had nothing to worry about. Stensrud got this goal. We answered with a goal from Peter Sejna a minute later (assist to Jerrid Reinholz and Dan Donnette). It didn’t take us long to get another goal at 13:11 and this would be Josh Roach’s second goal of the season, he would make it three by the end of the night and that would be next. 16:05 was when Roach scored his second goal of the night (assist to Rob Novak and Noah Clarke). Then at 1815 Noah Clarke scored (assist to Erik Jensen).
Second Period
In the second period after a few whacks at the puck and only 58 seconds into play Peter Sejna scored again (unassisted). But the Ice Sharks retaliated with a goal of their own at 2:59 after a slew of passing in front of Berrenguer. This was to be a quite a night and Erik Jensen kept things going in the second period when he scored their sixth goal (assist to Pete Fregoe and Jimmy Jackson). This goal came at 7:21 and was the result of Fregoe kicking the puck towards him and Jensen back-handing it in. Jensen then began something of a fight, if that’s what you could call it. The other guy never got a punch in before they were down on the ground. Then Kelly Miller scored on a wrap-around goal at 10:46 (assist to Matt Shasby and Pete Fregoe).
Third Period
22 seconds into the period Methven scored for the Ice Sharks. At 4:21 Noah Clarke scored yet again scoring through the five hole (unassisted). At 7:31 of the third Pete Fregoe scored (assist to Erik Jensen). We ended up winning the game and getting our 41st win. Total Shots: Des Moines 43 – Fargo 44.
Written by Sarah Bendy
Maria Belluchi wins Jeep! Bucs win 11 - 2.
Summary: Des Moines, IA (2/23/99): For the first time in over 10 years, a new vehicle was won as Maria Belluchi put the puck in that tiny hole to win a new Bud Mulcahy Jeep. Congratulations Maria - what a shot!
As for the hockey game... the North Iowa Huskies came out strong and scored just one minute into the game, but the Bucs came back to score eight unanswered goals, four in the second period. Almost every Buccaneer on the team scored a point, with Peter Sejna, Nick Field and Kelly Miller all had two goals each. Josh Roach got his first goal of the season with just 17 seconds remaining in the game. Landon Luther was sharp in net stopping 25 shots.
Miller (unassisted), Clarke (Fregoe), Miller (unassisted), Jensen (Smrek), Sejna (Jackson) Sejna (PP) (Stafford, Jackson), Field (PP) (Larranaga, Reinholz), Novak (unassisted), Fregoe (Clarke), Field (Krueger, Jackson) and Roach (Novak, Shasby) scored for the Bucs.
Pre Game
The crowd was a little late arriving to the game, but by the time the light show began the place looked full. We would be going for our 40th win, which would tie the record for wins set by last year's team. Going back through the records since 1990, Green Bay holds the record for most wins at 41. It looks as if a new record will be set by the Bucs. The 1994-95 Triple Crown Buc squad held a record of 35-5-5, so they may still hold the record for fewest loses in a season. As they introduced the starting lineup, Peter Sejna skated out and stopped on the blue line in a way that I swear was taunting the Huskies. Way to go Peter!
First Period
North Iowa came out strong and with only two minutes gone scored. Landon had made the first save, but the D was unable to clear the puck and the Huskies were able to put it past him. The crowd was quiet. The Huskies came right back with more pressure and I thought we were in for a long night. However, the Bucs showed how quickly they can turn things around as Kelly Miller streaked towards the goal and beat Gregore to tie the game three minutes after the Huskies scored. The Huskies were playing well, but they were missing a lot of their passes and were unable to score. The Bucs scored again halfway through the period when Pete Fregoe passed to Noah Clarke who scored his 24th goal. Kelly Miller struck again with just three minutes left in the period. It was another great individual effort by Kelly and judging by his reaction, the Huskie goaltender was not happy. The period ended with the Huskies outshooting the Bucs 11 to 9.
Second Period
The Bucs must have had a little talk during the intermission, because they came out on fire. Within 12 seconds Erik Jensen had scored on an assist from Peter Smrek. Just three minutes later, Jimmy Jackson took a shot from the blue line and Peter Sejna stuffed the rebound into the net to make the score 5 to 1. Less than three minutes later the Bucs found themselves on a powerplay and Peter Sejna got his second goal of the night with assists going to Garrett Stafford and Jimmy Jackson. Don't you love the way Sejna celebrates when he scores a goal? He just holds his hands up in the air and skates toward the bench - subdued but fun. Of course, the best is when Jimmy Jackson scores and does his little "twist" dance. But you know, who can top Andrew Tortarella's antics after a goal? I am still waiting to see somebody ride their stick down the ice again. The Bucs were to score one more powerplay goal when Felipe Larranaga and Jerrid Reinholz assisted a goal by Nick Field. The Bucs had outshot the Huskies 8 to 3.
Third Period
I always watch the "shoot to win the new Jeep" event. I suspect that like others in the crowd I want to see somebody win that cool new Jeep. In all the years I have watched hockey, I have never seen it happen. The shooter hit the puck and the crowd roared as Maxwell said "she won the Jeep!" The horns went off and the music started playing. The crowd was going crazy. Nick Field and Garrett Stafford told me later that the Bucs in the locker room heard the noise and wondered what had happened. Somebody came into the locker room and told them she won the Jeep and the team all cheered their approval. I rushed over to find out who won the Jeep and it was Maria Belluchi. Steve, her husband said it was the first time she had ever hit a puck. Both Steve and Maria are long time Buc supporters. Is hockey great or what?
After the Jeep win, the rest of the game was almost a let-down. The Bucs wasted no time in scoring as Rob Novak scored two minutes into the period. The Bucs had scored eight unanswered goals. The Huskies scored next, but the Bucs were not done scoring. Pete Fregoe scored on a great breakaway made possible by Noah Clarke. Mark Krueger was playing like a madman and fed Nick Field who scored his second goal of the night (additional assist to Jimmy Jackson). The score was now 10 to 2 and some of the fans began to leave early - what a mistake! With just 17 seconds left in the game, Matt Shasby cleared the puck to Rob Novak who passed to Josh Roach. The Bucs had a 2 on 1 break. The lone defender decided to cover Novak and Josh scored his first goal of the season! The Bucs went crazy and so did the crowd! The period ended with the Bucs outshooting the Huskies 16 to 10. What a night! Where else can you have this much fun for 8 dollars a ticket?
Written by Steve Bendy
Bucs shut-out Dubuque to make it seven in a row!
Summary: Davenport, IA (2/20/99): The Bucs won their seventh game in a row, their 39th win of the season in a 6 to 0 win over the Dubuque Fighting Saints. The Buc offense and defense were on top of their game, allowing Matt Carney to get the shut-out. Matt stopped all 23 shots, while the Buc offense put 44 shots on goal.
Peter Sejna was hot again tonight as he picked up two goals, both on the power play. Nick Field, Garrett Stafford and Pete Fregoe all picked up two assists in a balanced offensive show.
Krueger (Field), Clarke (Reinholz, Donnette), Sejna (PP) (Stafford, Fregoe), Jackson (Field), Sejna (PP) (Chin, Stafford) and Jensen (Fregoe, Shasby) scored for the Bucs.
Pre Game
This is the fourth meeting between the two of us. The game tonight was in the Quad Cities and the ceiling is a little low. This year the Christmas break was a little longer then it normally is so the play off series will only be best of five. With the admission of Sioux Falls we’ll have 14 teams playing in the league and the talk is that the league will be split into two divisions, East and West. We would be in the West playing with Omaha and Lincoln for instance. So we would play an extra home game with those teams and an even two game series with the East league.
First Period
Struggling a bit in the first period Carney was saved when a goal was waived off. The possibility of it being a long night was very evident in the fact that the Saints goaltender was very strong. However we finally got our first goal at 18:39 from Mark Krueger when he fired a slap shot after he intercepted it (assist to Nick Field). Saves: Des Moines 4 – Dubuque 18.
Second Period
Noah Clarke scored the second goal on a wide-open net at 10:04 (assist to Jerrid Reinholz and Dan Donnette). Peter Sejna scored about 16:29 into the second on the power play (assist to Pete Fregoe and Garrett Stafford). Wiitanen didn’t stand a chance on that goal, perhaps that’s why he was hanging his head. At times it seemed like a home game because we had such a good crowd their cheering for us. Saves: Des Moines 9 – Dubuque 10.
Third Period
We scored three times in the third period. The first goal came fairly early in the period. Jimmy Jackson got that goal high to the stick side at 1:44 (assist to Nick Field). With Dubuque getting another penalty Peter Sejna also got us another power play goal. He executed this feat at 6:21. The last goal of the game was for us and this would be Erik Jensen’s first goal of the season. Pete Fregoe helped with this goal, giving it up so Jensen would score at 12:09 (assist to Pete Fregoe and Matt Shasby). Dubuque took a time out near the end and then changed goalies in favor of Brad Hull. However the score would remain the same and we would improve our record to 39-5-1. Total Saves: Des Moines 23 – Dubuque 39
Written by Sarah Bendy
Bucs make it 6 in a row with 10 to 5 win
Summary: Des Moines, IA (2/19/99): The Bucs won their sixth game in a row, their 38th of the season in a wild, 10 to 5 win over the Twin Cities Vulcans. The win means the Bucs need only win 7 of their next 12 games to clinch the Anderson Cup - even if Green Bay AND Omaha win all of their remaining games.
Peter Sejna had an outstanding game with two goals, as did Nick Field and Pete Fregoe. Jim Jackson played a solid game on defense, after being out for several games with a concussion. Iron-man Garrett Stafford played despite having a bout of bronchitis. Frank Berenguer had 25 saves on the night as the Bucs outshot the Vulcans 35 to 30.
Clarke (PP) (Unassisted), Fregoe (Chin, Jackson), Sejna (unassisted), Fregoe (unassisted), Stodgell (Fregoe, Chin), Sejna (Jackson), Reinholz (Caudill, Field), Stafford (Clarke), Field (PP) (Shasby) and Field (Krueger) scored for the Bucs.
Pre Game Rantings
Can you believe there are only 12 regular season games left? They say time flies when you are having fun, and make no mistake about it, Buccaneer fans are having fun. The Bucs have only lost one game on home ice and are target to set new records for overall wins and wins at home. Yes, it appears that this team is destined for the record books. Still, at any given night any team could knock us off. I am sure the Bucs are well aware of this and will stay focused.
First Period
As the team warmed up, they looked to be in good spirits and ready to play. Frank Berenguer got the start in goal. Indeed, as the puck was dropped Dan Donnette, Peter Sejna and Jerrid Reinholz put pressure on immediately. The Bucs kept the pressure up for a couple of minutes and it was over 3 minutes before the Vulcans got a shot on net. Unfortunately, the Vulcans capitalized when they did get the puck when on a 2 on 1 break they were able to score with 3 1/2 minutes gone in the period. It was only there second shot on goal.
The Bucs had a powerplay and KC Caudill nearly scored, but it wasn't until midway through the period that Noah Clarke scored on a power play to even the score. There was a delay in putting the goal up on the score board as the Vulcan coach complained to the ref, which got the crowd wound up. When they finally put the score up, the crowd roared its approval.
With 5 minutes left in the period, USHL scoring leader Pete Fregoe added to his total by scoring a goal just as a Buc power play expired. Assists went to Michael Chin and Jimmy Jackson. It is good to see Michael getting some points for all his hard work in the trenches. Also, its good to have Jimmy back especially with Garrett being under the weather and Bill Birrenkott being injured. The Vulcans responded by stepping things up physically, but were unable to score. Just before the period ended Jerrid Reinholz nearly scored but was denied - he and Dan Donnette and Peter Sejna were playing extremely well. The period ended with 5 saves for Berenguer and 10 for the Vulcans.
Second Period
The Vulcans came out hard and put pressure on the Bucs early. The Bucs were able to break it out, but were not able to keep sustained pressure on the net. Despite the Vulcan pressure, the Bucs were able to score on a goalt by Peter Sejna six minutes into the period. The goalie was skating around yelling at the ref and banging his stick on the ice. After a delay, the goal was finally put up on the board. The Bucs led 3 to 1. Moments later Dan Donnette stole the puck and nearly scored. With ten minutes gone in the period, Pete Fregoe scored again to make it 4 to 1. The Vulcans were able to score on a power play five minutes later to make it 4 to 2.
As the period wound down, the Bucs began to put pressure on and Peter Sejna grabbed the puck behind the net. There was a big crowd in front of the net, so he passed all the way back to the blue line where Nick Stodgell was all alone. Nick let it go and it puckered the twine! It was Nick's third goal of the season - Nick has now scored in the last three games. Assists went to Pete Fregoe and Michael Chin. The period ended and the Vulcans had out shot the Bucs 15 to 8.
Third Period
The Bucs made it 6 to 2 five minutes into the period. Peter Sejna took a pass from Jimmy Jackson and raced by a defender and beat the goalie on one of the prettiest plays of the year. The Vulcans are a good team and skate well, but you can just see the raw talent of the Bucs in plays like this. Less than 2 minutes later Jerrid Reinholz was rewarded for all of his hard work as KC Caudill put the puck on his stick with a wide open net to shoot at. An additonal assist went to Nick Field who had been skating hard all night. At this point Twin Cities made a goalie change.
The Vulcans came right back and scored just 28 seconds later. They never once gave up all night.
Halfway through the period, Garrett Stafford stole the puck at his own blue line and shoved it ahead to Noah Clarke who had a full head of steam. The goalie was concentrating on Noah on the 2 on 1 break. At the last second Noah passed to Stafford who pushed the puck into the wide open net. The Bucs now lead 8 to 3. The Vulcans were not about to give up and scored less than a minute later.
With six minutes left in the game, the Bucs found themselves on a power play. Matt Shasby got the puck in front of the net and back-handed it to Nick Field who was on the other side of the net and scored. You would think that the teams were done scoring. They were not. The Vucans scored with a minute left and Nick Field finished things off on a great pass and effort by Mark Krueger with just 28 seconds left.
Written by Steve Bendy
Bucs defeat Dubuque 6 to 3
Summary: Des Moines, IA (2/13/99): The Bucs beat the Dubuque Fighting Saints 6 to 3, increasing their winning streak to 5 in a row. The win brought their record to 37 - 5 - 1, the best in the USHL, 5 points ahead of Team USA and Omaha. The Buc offense worked hard against the tough defense and outshot Dubuque 46 to 20.
Rob Novak and Nick Stodgell both scored goals again tonight, and Peter Smrek continued to play solid, physical defense. [Game Rant]
Shasby (Krueger, Field), Novak (Larranaga, Miller), Stodgell (Reinholz), Smrek (PP) (Fregoe), Field (unassisted) and Fregoe (Chin) scored for the Bucs.
Rantings
Sarah let the cat out of the bag in her last rant, although the presence of several "Uncle Fester" signs pasted to the glass around the rink made it obvious we were not the only ones that knew about the new nickname. The origin of the nickname will be revealed in a coming interview with Erik Jensen where he tells all.
There were quite a few parents and relatives of the players in the crowd tonight. Nick Field, Erik Jensen and Jerrid Reinholz were all represented. Maxwell announced that the Reinholz family was having a family reunion, so I had to go find them. There were 22 of them! I passed the tape recorder to try to get all of their names. Unfortunately, the crowd noise made it impossible to hear the names. In any case, rest assured that they were enjoying the game, food and drink. Well, enough of this, let's talk hockey.
The Bucs are on a roll, heading right for the Anderson Cup championship. The current race is tight, but the Bucs control their own destiny. If Omaha wins all of its remaining games, they will have 92 points; Team USA and Green Bay will have 90; Sioux City - 76 and Lincoln - 71. So, as you can see we have only to win 10 of the 14 remaining games to win the Anderson Cup regardless of what the other teams do. Every game that Omaha, Green Bay and Team USA loses means one less game we need to win. Tonight we need to take care of Dubuque, which is tough and has knocked off some top teams.
First Period
When the play started it was obvious that Dubuque came to play, and they were intent on playing a very defensive-minded game. We had trouble keeping the puck in the Fighting Saints zone because as soon as they got the puck they chipped it out of the zone to mid-ice. We were able to get on the board at 2:49 when a hard working Mark Krueger tied the puck along the boards. Nick Field grabbed the puck as it squirted out and passed it across ice to Matt Shasby who was all alone. He skated a few feet towards the goal and shot the puck past Wiitanen.
The Bucs continued to work hard and got 14 shots on goal compared to only 2 for the Fighting Saints. The two shots the Saints got were quality shots, and Matt Carney had to come up big to keep them from scoring.
Second Period
The Fighting Saints picked up their play quite a bit in the second period, but it was the Bucs who were to score next. Kelly Miller got the puck to Felipe Larranaga who was along the boards at the top of the circle. It looked as though Felipe was going to let loose a blast, but instead put a perfect pass on the stick of Rob Novak who had crashed the net. The puck slid into the wide-open net to make the score 2 to 0 at 6:08.
The Bucs scored again 6 minutes later when Jerrid Reinholz passedd the puck back to Nick Stodgell who was parked at the blue line. Nick wound up and let it fly, scoring his second goal in as many nights. The Bucs were up 3 to 0. The goal must have made the Saints mad because less than a minute later they had scored a goal. In a scramble in front of the net, Marty Richley put the puck in the net past a screened Matt Carney.
With 5 minutes left in the period, the Bucs found themselves on a powerplay for a full two minutes. It only took 30 seconds to cash in. Pete Fregoe skated the puck into the zone which attracted a lot of attention. Pete passed the puck back to Peter Smrek who was at the blue line, all alone. Smrek, who has the hardest shot in the USHL, let it fly and puckered the twine to score a power play goal and make it 4 to 1. The period ended and both goalies had made 10 saves apiece.
Third Period
The Bucs scored first when Nick Field got the puck and skated in on the goalie, across the front of the net, and scored to make it 5 to 1 with 5 minutes gone in the period. The Fighting Saints struck back quickly to make it 5 to 2. The play went back and forth, with Dubuque concentrating on defense.
With 7:12 left in the period, Michael Chin grabbed the puck and hustled down the ice. Pete Fregoe put on the after-burners and took the pass from Chin. He skated along the boards, fought off a defender, and broke towards the net. The red light went on and the Bucs were up 6 to 2. The Saints were to score one more goal, but the Bucs were in control and you never had a feeling that it could get away from them like the other night at Waterloo. The Bucs skated to the middle of the ice and raised their sticks to salute the packed Metro Sports Ice Arena, and we roared our approval.
Written by Steve Bendy
Carney hot in 5 - 1 win over Green Bay
Summary: Des Moines, IA (2/12/99): Matt Carney came up big time after time to lead the Bucs to a 5 to 1 win over Green Bay Friday night at the Metro Ice Sports Arena. Matt faced 32 shots, many being the "How did he stop that?" type. With the win, the Bucs swept the 4 game series against the Gamblers. With the win, the Bucs move ever closer to the Anderson Cup, needing to win only 10 more games to clinch the cup - regardless of what the other teams do.
Nick Stodgell got his first goal of the season and opened the scoring in the first period. The Bucs added one in the second and two more in the third period to put the game away. Rob Novak got another short-handed goal with just a minute left in the game. It was the second game in a row that he has scored a short-handed goal.
Stodgell (Unassisted), Smrek (Donnette, Shasby), Reinholz (Sejna, Donnette), Fregoe (Clarke) and Novak (SH) (Clarke) scored for the Bucs.
Pre-Game
Hmm… what should I talk about? Jensen was interviewed on Thursday and he had a few things to say about Smrek. I doubt highly that the battle between the two is over yet. Steve couldn’t fail to publicly announce the new nickname by plastering it on the glass at the game, much to the chagrin of Smrek. Just for the record I had nothing to do with it, not that I didn’t think it was hilariously funny! What, I ask, will happen next? The Guest Book, though not quite as flaming as it has been in the past, still has it’s quirks right now. Please, people, can’t you say nice things about our own players? Do we really need to trash them. I’m speaking of Kelly Miller, obviously coach signed him for a good reason, you don’t have to bash him to fans of the kid! Audre, by all means make it over to a game, you won’t regret it.
First Period
At 5:42 of the first period Stephen Baby went for holding and put us on the power play. Now the Bucs had been working on their power play the past week, but this power play wouldn’t really show that. Stodg got his first goal of the season at 12:08 (unassisted). We were up 1-0, but it would only take about forty seconds for the Gamblers to tie the game. Gambler #17 got the goal after Carney was effectively screened (assist 26 and 21). With over five minutes left in the period Uncle Fester got our second goal (assist to Donnette and Shasby). Saves: Des Moines 6 – Green Bay 9.
Second Period
During this period I was fairly bored…I didn’t have a whole lot to talk about and started rambling into my recorder. The only goal of the second period was scored with a little over 8 minutes left and Jerrid Reinholz got that goal (assist to Sejna and Donnette). Reinholz brought the puck in and after Rob saved it the puck ended up trickling in. After that the goalie gave us a little show and whined about it all the way until the play resumed. Saves: Des Moines 15 – Green Bay 12.
Third Period
Our team was fashionably late coming out for the third period. This period, too, was boring. A group of young boys behind us were chanting for a fight, they obviously wanted some action. We would score two more goals in this period and these would be late in the period. The fourth goal came at 16:14 and Pete Fregoe scored that one by a great feed by Noah (assist to Clarke). Rob Novak, with a 1:14 left in the period, got a goal after buzzing around the goalie (assist to Clarke). He had initially shot on the goalie and never giving up got us the fifth goal. Saves: Des Moines 11 – Green Bay 2. Total Saves: Des Moines 32 – Green Bay 23.
Bucs win shoot-out thriller in Waterloo, 6 to 5
Summary: Waterloo, IA (2/6/99): You would think that a 5 to 1 Buccaneer lead at the start of the third period would be an insurmountable lead. Everyone thought so but Ryan Hale and the Waterloo Black Hawk team as they scored four un-answered third period goals to send the game into overtime.
The Bucs pulled out all the stops in the 5 minute overtime and put tremendous pressure on the Black Hawks, but were unable to score, sending the game into a shoot-out. In the shoot-out, Felipe Larranaga and Michael Chin scored to win the game for the Bucs.
Novak (SH) (Unassisted), Fregoe (Chin), Sejna (Donnette, Novak), Chin (Fregoe, Shasby), Donnette (Sejna) scored for the Bucs in regulation time. Larranaga and Chin scored in the shoot-out.
Pre Game
Some random notes... The Waterloo Blackhawks are struggling in goaltending, but they are always tough on their home ice. this is only our second game with the Blackhawks and the first time was almost four months ago. If we win twelve of our next 16 games, no matter what anyone else does, we will win the Anderson Cup. Since we haven’t played Waterloo in so long it’s hard to say what it will happen.
First Period
Though the Bucs dominated from the very beginning, Waterloo would end up with the first goal. BJ Stephens scored this goal came at 4:04 (Ryan Hale). At 9:07 of the first we got our first power play. I went out for my birthday Friday night and am now really tired, but it was a very exciting game. The fans were really into the game - you should have heard the fans scream when Smrek got a tripping penalty. Waterloo has a good fan base and they get quite…rowdy. Rob Novak got a short handed goal at 17:19 when he took the opportunity from a falling defenseman (unassisted). I have the feeling Rob will put up some big numbers for us next year. With a minute left in the game we were tied at 1. Saves: Des Moines 8 – Waterloo 9.
Second Period
We got our first lead of the game at 6:31, Pete Fregoe got the goal (assist to Michael Chin). This was going to be quite a period for goal scoring… at least on our side. Peter Sejna got the second goal of the period with assists going to Dan Donnette and Rob Novak). Michael Chin would be the next to get a goal and this came at 13:03 after Noland had originally saved the shot (assist to Pete Fregoe and Matt Shasby). Though Noland stopped the initial shot the puck trickled into the net and gave us our fourth goal. The next goal was Dan Donnette’s and it didn’t come long after the fourth one, it came on a breakaway at 13:44 (assist to Peter Sejna). The period ended and it looked like we could just coast the rest of the game. Saves: Des Moines 4 – Waterloo 13.
Third Period
At 1:22 of the first period Chris Welch scored for the Blackhawks (assist to Mike Selmua). It was a good start for the Blackhawks and the crowd had really gotten into the game. Unfortunately we had allowed it to happen and we didn’t allow it to stop either. At 9:40 Ryan Hale got the Hawks their third goal (assist to Stephens and Murphy). It started to get worse when BJ Stephens cut our lead by one (assist to Murphy and Hale). With 4:41 left in the period Hale got his second goal and tied the game at 5 (assist to Stephens and Galvin). The fans were going crazy, and many of the Buc fans who made the trip looked shell-shocked. We were going into overtime.
Overtime And Shoot-out
The crowd was wild, we shouldn’t have let this happen, so now we just had to make sure and win the game. Though we had many great opportunities in the overtime period nothing major happened. We went on into a shoot out and won that with Stafford, Larranaga, Chin, Sejna, and Fregoe all shot for us with only Larranaga and Chin scoring. So we won the shoot out and in turn won the game. Des Moines 6 – Waterloo 5. Total Saves: Des Moines 23 – Waterloo 30.
Written by Sarah Bendy
Bucs win shoot-out in Green Bay
Summary: Green Bay, WI (2/5/99): The Bucs won a shoot-out on goals from Felipe Larranaga, Michael Chin and Noah Clarke, winning the game 3 to 2. The Bucs played a great game, outshooting the Gamblers 50 to 18. Even though the shots appear to be lop-sided, the Bucs found themselves trailing by a goal late in the third period.
With five minutes left in the third period, Pete Fregoe scored to tie the game and we went into overtime. Both teams skated conservatively, getting only one shot on goal apiece. In the resulting shoot-out, the Bucs outscored the Gamblers 3 to 2 to win the game.
Krueger (Shasby), Fregoe (Clarke) scored in regulation time. Felipe Larranaga, Michael Chin and Noah Clarke scored in the shoot-out.
Pre Game
We have played the Gamblers twice this year and won both times, including a win in their barn. Last year, we split with them in regular season and then won 4 straight in the playoffs. The Gamblers have been struggling in their last 10 games, with a record of 5-4-1. The Bucs are not doing much better, having a 6-4 record in the last 10 games. Well, since I still am suffering from the flu, I will be doing the rant from the radio broadcast. I am kind of excited because I love to hear Brad Oistad do his thing. Unfortunately, Rob Lettington could not make the trip, so it will be Brad by himself.
First Period
The Bucs seemed to do a good job at first, but just two minutes into the game the Gamblers surprised everyone when Olson scored on a rebound. It looked like Carney was going to be able to cover it, but the puck squirted out and the red light went on. The goal inspired the Gamblers as they came right back and put more pressure on Carney.
Dan Donnette, Peter Sejna and Michael Chin responded getting some pressure on for the Bucs. The Bucs continued to put on the pressure and it paid off as Mark Krueger took a beautiful pass from Matt Shasby to tie the score at 6:43. The goal inspired the Bucs as Pete Fregoe and Kelly Miller got off several great shots. Have you ever wondered why there is so much action after a goal is scored? It must just get everybody pumped up. The play continued fast and clean, no goals were scored and no penalties were called. Saves for the Matt Carney, 6 - Green Bay, 18.
Second Period
The Gamblers were called for a trip two minutes into the period. The Bucs set up with Larranaga, Shasby, Reinholz , Field and Caudill. They were unable to get a shot off so the Chin, Fregoe, Smrek, Stafford and Sejna line. They couldn't get a shot off either and the penalty expired.
Brad said that it seemed to be a boring period. The teams were playing, but there just didn't seem to be much action. Both goalies had to make several quality saves, but neither won got much of a workout. With just one minute to go, the Bucs got another power play. This time, Stafford got a shot off right away, then got another shot on goal just before time expired.
Third Period
The Bucs started the period with a man advantage. The Bucs were able to set it up right away and Peter Smrek got a shot off. Hey, did everyone hear that Smrek got the award for the hardest shot in the USHL at the All-Star game? They were unable to convert and both teams were at even strength.
Disaster struck the Bucs a minute and 48 seconds into the period. Priessing took a shot from the top of the circle and Notermann tipped it in to beat Carney. The Gamblers had a 2 to 1 lead. The Gamblers began to pick up the pace a bit physically, dishing out some big hits. The fans began to make more noise as they sensed a victory was more than possible.
As the time wound down to just 5 minutes in the period, the Bucs began to pinch up a bit to get something going. The danger of course is that odd-man rushes would be easier for the Gamblers. There was a tense moment when the Gamblers had a three on one, but Matt Carney was able to come up with a big save to keep the score 2 to 1.
Michael Chin and Pete Fregoe got their chance as they broke down the ice. How would you like to be the Gambler goalie facing these two guys - the top two scorers in the USHL? Pete Fregoe wasted no time in putting the puck in the net to tie it at 2. The assist went to Noah Clarke, but credit Michael Chin for being in perfect position to take the pass and getting the goalie to react to soon. Boy did that make the Gamblers mad! They came back with tremendous pressure and Carney came up big time. Finally the Bucs fought back as Jerrid Reinholz got two point blank shots on Anderson. How he stopped the puck I will never know! The Gamblers took a penalty as a result of the tremendous pressure. The Bucs worked it around, and Larranaga got a nice shot off but the Gamblers killed off the penalty. There was less than a minute left in the period. The Bucs controlled it to the very end but were not able to score and the game ended in an overtime. The Bucs had 11 shots and the Gamblers had 5 for the period.
Overtime
The Bucs have not been good in overtime play, only winning one in three tries. The five minute sudden death OT period began and the Gamblers put pressure on right away. The Bucs responded and began to repay the kindness. The OT expired and we were going to a shoot-out! Each goalie made one save.
Shoot-Out
So each team gets 5 shots. Whoever has more goals at the end of 5 wins. Let's get to it.
Felipe Larranaga went first, deked and scored! The Gambler shooter missed.
Mark Krueger missed. The Gambler shooter missed.
Michael Chin went top shelf and scored! Unfortunately, so did the Gambler.
Peter Sejna missed, and the Gambler scored. Rats! It was tied!
Noah Clarke was next and scored! If the next Gambler missed, it was all over. He missed and the Bucs won. I love shoot-outs, don't you?
Written by Steve Bendy
Bucs beat Lincoln 4 to 2 and sweep series
Summary: Lincoln, NE (2/3/99): The Buccaneers played a solid 60 minutes of hockey to beat the Stars 4 to 2, and win all four regular season games to sweep the series. Matt Carney had a great night between the pipes stopping 33 shots, while the Buccaneers put 50 shots on net.
The Bucs had a 4 to 1 lead until midway through the third period until former Buccaneer Eric Maksimenko scored to bring the Stars within 2 goals. With the crowd behind them, the Stars picked up the play, but the Buc Defense led by Matt Carney stood firm. The win raised the Buc record to 33 - 5 - 1, good for 67 points and first place in the Anderson Cup race.
Field (unassisted), Larranaga (Reinholz, Caudill), Caudill (Reinholz) and Sejna (Chin, Donnette) scored for the Bucs.
Rant?
Fellow Buc fans I am sorry to say that we will not have a rant for this game. There has only been one other time since 1996 that this has happened: January 25, 1997. That was the day my mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and we were out of town. Tonight, the situation is not as serious - I had the flu and Sarah had some personal business to attend to.
Calling all ranters
In the past, Trevor Grimm has done a wonderful job of doing guest rants for us. Is there someone out there that would like to give it a try? If so, please e-mail. I would have you do a "sample" rant for a game and then evaluate it. If it seems like a good fit, we could have you do some games. You would need to send us the rant via e-mail as an attachment (you can use any word processor you desire).
