Bucs fall in overtime 6 to 5
Summary: Des Moines, IA (10/31/98): The Bucs found themselves down 5 to 2 midway through the second period, then battled back scoring a goal with 36 seconds left in the second period to make it 5 to 3. Just 44 seconds into the third Peter Sejna made it 5 to 4, and 6 minutes later he scored again to tie it at 5 each. The Bucs, despite dominating the play, including the overtime, lost when Omaha scored on a 2 on 1 break.
Landon Luther came in for a temporarily injured Frank Berenguer in the second period with 23 saves between them. The Bucs had 33 shots on goal. Chin (PP) (unassisted), Chin (Jackson), Donnette (unassisted), Sejna (Reinholz, Donnette) and Sejna (Larranaga) scored for the Bucs.
Rantings
I wish I had more info to give everybody here, but this past week has been slightly busy for me. Which is why I didn’t do Friday night’s rant. I took the time to study instead. (Yes I did actually study) We hadn’t faced Omaha since pre-season and we beat them even then, tonight though, would give the Lancer fans everything they had long been hoping for. Oh, and there was a whole contingent of Omaha fans that showed up for the game. The Bucs had been barely holding on to the last few games they’d played, Lincoln, Green Bay, and this one would be no different. You know, I really don’t hate Omaha, but I’ll admit there’s a little bad connotation along with that name. I couldn’t help but think that we would beat Omaha once again like we always do. At least it’s in the beginning of the season and not in the Clark Cup finals. I just hope my dear uncle, aunt, and cousins won’t rub this in too much. Last Christmas season they wouldn’t let us in their house because we were Buc fans.
I forgot to mention that Josh Flynn is no longer on the team, though it’s probably a tad too late too mention that, because I’m sure a ton of people have beaten me to that one. Oh well, I want say anymore on that subject. Just wanted to mention though, that Maksimenko did make the team. That’s all I’ll say there too.
Berrenguer would again start in this game, but he wouldn’t finish it. In fact he wasn’t really on his game to begin with. Landon Luther was our backup goalie, whom hadn’t been in goal much this season so far.
First Period
Omaha started with a penalty early to Jason Platt for holding. Though the Bucs didn’t score they had did manage to keep most of the action confined to the attack zone. Omaha didn’t really set foot in Berenguer’s area until the 3:30 mark, and when they did they scored. #12 got the unassisted goal at 3:39. That’s when our team started looking a little under the weather. Omaha was in the penalty box again, this time it was the dreaded Jed Ortmeyer for tripping, who’s the captain of the team. We finally got our first goal at 6:16, this was from Chin who would prove to be one of the few players who seemed to be really with it. When we had eight minutes left in the period, Nick Field standing not too far in front of Berrenguer, had somehow managed to get his stick in the Tuuk of #19’s skate. Field didn’t seem to realize this, or realize the fact that this #19 was struggling to get the blade out and almost landed on his face in the process. Kelly Miller got a little feisty near the end with #14, the two got put away for roughing minors. #27 from the point let a slap shot go, which slipped right past Berrenguer’s pads and hit the back of the net. However the Bucs responded before long, again from Michael Chin (assist to Jimmy Jackson) at 10:15. Then with just five minutes left Omaha got their third goal when they easily dumped it over Berrenguer. At the end of the period with Ortmeyer already in the box Omaha got called for yet another penalty. Which that for 39 seconds we would have a two man advantage. The Bucs didn’t do a whole lot about this and we left the period with Omaha still having 40 or so seconds left on their penalty. Saves: Des Moines 10 – Omaha 9.
Second Period
I had hoped this period would get better, but it didn’t it only got worse. Even though Omaha started it out with another penalty. Here’s when we ended up losing Berrenguer. After a flury around the net, Frank went down. When he finally got back up it was to hold his head the whole way off the ice. Luther was now in goal and warming up. The fans were giving a half hearted effort, but they did cheer the new goalie on. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for Omaha to establish where they were in the game and score on the Landon, it would end up being a power play goal (Krueger was in the box). The Lancers were now leading 4-2. But before long, at 6:08 on the clock, the Lancer scored again. They were now leading 5-2. A few things happened with about five minutes left. One, a puck got shot out of the air, bounced off of somewhere in the stand and proceeded to fly back towards the glass. Unfortunately there was a little girl in the way and the puck hit her in the head. I hope it didn’t ruin her day and that she’s doing fine. Then at 4:30 there was a huge ruckus around the Omaha goalie. It looked like it was mainly all black and orange jerseys, but in the midst was one Buc. That Buc was Caudill and he and #27 got put away. With only 36 seconds left in the period we had finally scored our third goal. Dan Donnette got the goal, also unassisted. Saves: Des Moines 6 – Omaha 10.
Third
The Bucs came out stronger in the third period then they had looked all night long. They also got a goal within the first minute. Peter Sejna got the goal (assist to Reinholz and Donnette). Suddenly the crowd seemed to really fire up and there was plenty of noise now. At 12:05 Sejna got his second goal of the game and the period (assist to Larranaga). We were now tied up at 5. The Bucs had made a miraculous recover and it looked like the game would go into OT. The crowd was completely wild in the last five minutes or so. It didn’t take much to get them on their feet (just the way I like it). We shut the Omaha fans down for awhile, but we couldn’t shut down the Lancer team. Saves: Des Moines 7 – Omaha 7.
Overtime
I was really hoping we would end up going into a shoot out, those are always fun to watch, plus I had a feeling we could win that with the talent we have on our team. Unfortunately with a minute left when two Lancers got a break Luther couldn’t keep them away. Omaha had scored their sixth and last goal to win the game. They were an awfully happy team, so were their fans, hey I would be too! Total Saves: Omaha 26 – Des Moines 23.
Written by Sarah Bendy
First period goals enough for victory
Summary: Des Moines, IA (10/30/98): The Bucs scored three unanswered goals in the first period and then hung on to beat Green Bay, 3 to 2. Peter Fregoe and Noah Clarke teamed up to score two picture perfect goals, as Noah fed Pete who then buried the biscuit. Michael Chin scored one goal despite the fact that he was not feeling well. Frank Berenguer made 28 saves to get the win, marking the first time the Bucs have been out-shot this season. Fregoe (Clarke), Chin (Birrenkott), Fregoe (PP) (Clarke, Stafford) scored for the Bucs.
Pre-game
On Friday, the Metro Ice Sports Arena was once again the focus of scouts from various colleges and other junior teams. One of the reasons was the Friday night matchup between the top two teams in the USHL that do not have "USA" or "Under 18" as part of their name. The other reason is the Midget Buc Bowl, which runs from Friday through Sunday at the Metro Ice Sports Arena and the Metro Ice Sports Facility. Earlier in the day, the Soo Hawks, one of Des Moines' "protected teams", took on Shattuck St. Mary's. Current Des Moines forward Noah Clarke played for Shattuck before joining the Bucs last year. The Hawks featured several names familiar to Bucs fans - names such as Parillo, Nightingale, and Sawruk. In this case, it was Luke Parillo, Jared Nightingale, and Andrei Sawruk taking to the ice in jerseys that are virtually identical to the style and lettering of the 96-97 Bucs jerseys. After the Bucs game, the Anoka All-Stars faced the Detroit Trackers. Several current Bucs, including Billy Birrenkott,, Dan Donnette, Jerrid Reinholz, and Josh Flynn have come through the Anoka minor hockey system, as the Anoka Tornadoes high school squad is another Bucs "protected team".
The current Bucs were facing a tough test on Friday as well. The Green Bay Gamblers brought their 9-1 record to town to face the 7-1 Buccaneers. Green Bay's Rob Anderson entered the game with a 1.99 goals against average, and was named the USHL's Goalie of the Month for October earlier in the week. The Gamblers are usually a large, physical, hard-working team, and this year's squad appears to be no different.
First period
The Bucs got the scoring started at the 5:07 mark when Pete Fregoe took a pass from Noah Clarke on a 2-on-1, beating a sprawling Anderson to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, the tone was set for a physical game when Fregoe was hauled down by Jeff Finger. Finger went to the sin bin with a hooking minor, but not before Finger and Fregoe bumped while Finger was making his way to the penalty box. The first minute of the power play was relatively uneventful, but that changed when Green Bay's Jason Noterman stole the puck at the blueline as the Bucs were trying to advance the puck up the ice. Felipe Larranaga took what can only be described as a "good penalty", hauling Noterman down as Noterman broke in on goal following the steal. Larranaga went off for tripping, negating the man advantage. Fifteen seconds after the Larranaga penalty, Joe Mastronardi stole the puck and had another scoring chance, but Bucs goaltender Frank Berenguer made the save and covered the puck for a whistle. The Bucs added to their lead at the 12:55 mark when Michael Chin's shot from the right wing eluded Anderson. The assist went to Bill Birrenkott.
With about 4:00 left in the opening period, tempers started to flare again when Green Bay's Rickard Wern checked Nick Stodgell while Stodgell was attempting to pick up his helmet. Garrett Stafford, who has been very feisty the last couple of games, stepped in, but nothing else came of it. With 1:31 to go in the period, Wern broke his stick with a hard slash on Donnette, earning Wern two minutes for slashing. The Bucs converted 43 seconds into the powerplay on a pretty goal by Pete Fregoe. Fregoe, standing at the right side of the net, tapped in a perfect pass from Noah Clarke, putting the Bucs up 3-0 with less than a minute to go in the opening period. The period ended 3-0, and the Bucs looked to be in control. Saves: Green Bay 8, Des Moines 5.
Second period
It's not often that a forward and a goaltender collide and the goaltender is called for interference, but that's what happened 2:35 into the second period. The call was the right one too, as Anderson checked Bucs' forward Kelly Miller. The Bucs didn't convert on this power play, however. At the 7:03 mark of the second period, the Gamblers got on the scoreboard when Scott Zwiers picked up a loose puck in front of the net and lifted it over Berenguer to make the score 3-1. The goal seemed to swing the momentum in Green Bay's favor, as the Gamblers had the better chances through the rest of the period. The Bucs had a scoring chance with 6:38 to go when Anderson made a nice glove save on Eric Maksimenko, who has been on fire since returning from the Monroe Moccasins. After the whistle, things got interesting. Jake Plummer skated in front of the Bucs' bench, challenging the bench to fight. Plummer seemed to be especially focusing on Stafford, who responded with a grin. The angrier Plummer became, the more Stafford smiled. And it was for good reason - Plummer's antics earned him an unsportsmanlike minor and a ten-minute misconduct. Plummer heard his name yelled several times in an unpleasant manner by fans in sections 5 and 7 during his extended stay in the penalty box.
Peter Sejna had a good chance on the ensuing power play, but his shot went just wide of the net. With about 3:35 to go in the period, Maksimenko was able to settle down a bouncing puck and had a breakaway. Anderson was able to deflect the puck with his glove, and the score remained 3-1. Saves: Green Bay 9, Des Moines 10.
Third Period
The third period saw more of what we saw in the second period. The Gamblers, who once again feature one of the league's biggest teams, were using their size to their advantage by tying up the quick Bucs. Des Moines had a chance with 14:00 to go when Maksimenko's shot from just inside the blueline was stopped by Anderson. With 12:33 to go, Stafford was whistled for a holding minor, giving the Gamblers a chance to draw within one goal. Green Bay looked strong on the first part of the power play, as they were able to set up well and position a man in front of the net. Zwiers nearly cut the lead when his shot went just wide on a 2-on-1 midway through the power play. The Bucs did a good job of penalty killing the last minute of the penalty, keeping the Gamblers from getting any strong chances.
Tyler Sawchyn was finally able to cut the lead to 3-2 with 8:32 to go, when his shot from the point found its way through traffic in front of Berenguer and past the goaltender. The assists went to Luke Stauffacher and Zwiers. About thirty seconds after the goal, Peter Smrek made a nice open ice hit on Mastronardi as the Gambler forward was crossing the blueline. Unfortunately for Smrek and the Bucs, a later hit by Smrek on Mastronardi drew the Slovak defenseman a checking from behind minor and the associated ten-minute misconduct. As a result, Green Bay went on the power play with 5:38 to go in the third period. The Gamblers once again had some pressure on the power play, but were unable to convert. Midway through the man advantage, Maris Ziedens tipped the puck just wide of the net, causing a few hearts in the arena to momentarily stop beating. With 3:30 to go, Mastronardi found himself alone in front of the net, but his attempt to put the puck over Berenguer ended up with the puck as a souvenir for a fan in section 1.
With 2:57 to go in regulation, Reinholz had a good chance to add to the lead with a wrap-around attempt, but Anderson came up with the save. A scrum behind the net ensued after the whistle. Sejna and Wern were sent off with coincidental roughing minors. Green Bay called a time out before play resumed, and the crowd responded to the previous few moments' events with a chorus of "Green Bay Sucks."
The Gamblers didn't get any real strong chances through the last three minutes. Anderson had a hard time getting out of the net in the final minute, as the Bucs were able to keep the play in the Green Bay zone. Anderson finally left the net with 25 seconds to go, but the best shot the Gamblers could get in the closing seconds was a shot from the point by Dan Calzada that drifted wide of the net. The final ten seconds saw the puck tied up along the boards by several players in a vicious scrum. With three seconds left, the Bucs were finally able to clear the puck out of the zone, and Des Moines had held on to improve their home record to 6-0. Third period saves: Green Bay 7, Des Moines 13. Total saves: Green Bay 24, Des Moines 28.
Player of the game: Frank Berenguer. The 18-year-old from Northridge, Calif. came up big on several occasions and showed the mental toughness of a veteran in the game's closing minutes.
Written by Trevor Grimm
Bucs blow 2 goal lead in first period, win in overtime
Summary: Lincoln, NE (10/28/98): The Bucs started out with a 2 goal lead in the first period, but found themselves in a 3 - 3 tie at the end of the third period, despite controlling most of the game, getting 48 shots on net compared to 24 for the Stars. Frank Berenguer had long stretches between shots, but came up big when needed. The Bucs didn't waste any time in overtime, scoring in just 2 minutes, Maksimenko getting the game winner and hat-trick. Mark Krueger continued his hot streak adding 3 points on the night.
Maksimenko (Krueger, Jackson), Chin (Clarke, Jackson), Maksimenko (Krueger) and Maksimenko (Caudill, Krueger) scored for the Bucs.
Rantings
A trip to Lincoln is always fun; the fans are so into the experience. You notice I say "experience" and not game - not that this is bad; it is just not the same as attending a game in hockey savvy town like Omaha. Still, we have a lot to learn from their approach. One thing I have to rant on to any Lincoln Star fan that is reading this... Stop the disrespectful practice of yelling "Stars" during the national anthem. Tom Osborne would not approve. Enough said, let's talk hockey.
First Period
As soon as the puck was dropped you could tell that the Stars were a much improved team. The Bucs still had more jump and controlled the puck better, but Lincoln was in the game. Garrett Stafford was playing well as usual and was playing a very aggressive defensive game - he skates fast enough that he is able to pinch up to get scoring opportunities and not get caught on the transition. The first 8 minutes seemed to be played very conservatively by the Bucs, waiting for Lincoln to make a mistake. The Bucs were to score first at 14:34 on a great pass from Mark Krueger to Eric Maksimenko. Maksimenko let go with a quick wrist shot that beat Wayne Russell up high (additional assist to Jim Jackson). With less than 1 minute in the period, Michael Chin got his ninth goal of the season on a great personal effort as he split the defense and lit the lamp. Noah Clarke and Jim Jackson assisted. It's good to see Jackson and Miller back on the ice. Of course, we will all get a treat in January when Erik Jensen is able to play. Saves for Russell of Lincoln, 10; Berenguer of Des Moines 4.
Second Period
The period started with a stupid penalty by a Stars player. Chin had just crashed the net and way after the play had ended and right in front of the officials he dumped him, drawing the penalty. It was the first penalty of the game and the Bucs were on the powerplay. The Bucs set it up and got several good shots off but were unable to score. The Bucs continued to apply pressure with many players putting on pressure: Krueger, Sejna, Maksimenko, Field and Stafford. The pressure drew another penalty from Lincoln 4 minutes into the period. During this powerplay Sejna, Smrek, Fregoe and Chin were really putting on the pressure, but Russell was coming up big and the Stars killed the penalty. Six minutes into the period, the Stars had not even got a shot on net; but that was to change as the Stars put a shot on net which Berenguer robbed the shooter of a goal. The Stars began to pick things up and began to put the pressure on. At 9:28, the pressure paid off as Lincoln scored in a scramble in front of the net to make it 2 to 1.
Peter Fregoe and Michael Chin came right back with pressure and Lincoln took 2 penalties while Chin went in for the Bucs, giving us our third powerplay. Larranaga almost scored on a screen but Russell happened to be at the right place at the right time. The penalty was killed off and Lincoln came back with pressure. The momentum had changed in favor of the Stars. The fans also began to get into the game.
KC Caudill broke down the center of the ice, but Mark Krueger on a heads-up play passed instead to Eric Maksimenko, fooling everyone. Maksi wasted no time putting the puck in the net to make it 3 to 1. Mark Krueger has really been playing well. The crowd became very, very quiet. The Bucs took control again. Jerrid Reinholz and Noah Clarke were really working well, as was Peter Smrek. Kyle Nosan got a break on a harmless looking shot that went in with just 2 minutes left in the period to make it 3 to 2.
With 25 seconds left in the period, four or five skirmishes broke out on a late hit on a Buc. The only ones not fighting on the ice was Pete Fregoe and the goalies. Garrett Stafford was a little too aggressive with an official and was awarded a 10 minute misconduct. The Bucs got a man advantage out of the mess. Saves for Russell of Lincoln, 16; Berenguer of Des Moines 11.
Third Period
The Bucs would start the period with a man advantage for a minute and a half, their fourth powerplay of the night. The Bucs worked it around but never put any real pressure on the net. As soon as the penalty was killed off, the Stars got their first powerplay when Peter Smrek went off for cross-checking. Frank Berenguer had to come up with two quick saves, and the Bucs were able to kill the penalty. The Stars came right back on a break and Chris Wyzgowski scored to tie the game with 4 minutes gone in the period.
Peter Fregoe, Michael Chin, Nick Stodgell and Peter Smrek came right back with lots of pressure. Peter Fregoe was all over the ice, but the crowd was really into the game making lots of noise. Russell robbed Jerrid Reinholz and Bill Birrenkott, keeping the Stars in the game. At the midway point, the Bucs were really taking control of the game. Nick Field put a great shot on net that should have gone in, the game was really heating up. Stafford joined the battle as his penalty time expired.
The clock ticked down to the last two minutes and although the Bucs were putting on pressure, Wayne Russell was taking care of business. Frank Berenguer came up with a big save after a face-off, his first real test in several minutes. The period wound down and we were going into overtime. Saves for Russell of Lincoln, 19; Berenguer of Des Moines 9. Total regulation saves for Lincon, 48; 24 for Des Moines.
Overtime
Five minutes or until someone scores, who would it be? The Bucs were playing well, but Jim Jackson went off early, obviously hurt. The Bucs rushed right back and ended it with a quick goal by Eric Maksimenko after Russell left a Mark Krueger rebound (additional assist to KC Caudill). It was a hat-trick for Eric and three points on the night for Des Moines native Mark Krueger.
Written by Steve Bendy
Balanced effort nets win number six
Summary: Des Moines, IA (10/24/98): Coach Owens was pleased with the 7 to 2 win over Fargo, crediting a balanced Buc effort in which all players seemed to be playing well. The Bucs put 47 shots on net, while Frank Berenguer in his first regular season start, faced 29 shots. Des Moines native Mark Krueger scored his first two goals of the season and Michael Chin also scored 2 goals. The Bucs scored 4 unanswered goals, two just 41 seconds apart, in the first period.
Chin (PP) (Sejna, Fregoe), Reinholz (Stafford), Chin (Clarke, Fregoe), Krueger (Maksimenko), Fregoe (Unassisted), Krueger (Fregoe, Birrenkott) and Maksimenko (Larranaga, Stafford) scored for the Bucs.
Rantings: Since I know a lot of fans have been awaiting this I want to mention that radio broadcasts over the internet will start October 30th, which is next weekend. The USHL website has all the info on this and will keep us posted as to directions and contact numbers. I guess there will be a free preview from the 30th to November 12. This has been so long awaited and something we've tried to push for awhile. It's finally here! There will also be a King of the Hill Tourney in November, but you can find more details on that on the USHL website.
We have an outstanding record so far, tying with North Iowa, USA, and even Green Bay for the best teams in the USHL. USA of course has played more games then anyone so far and thus have more points. Last weekend when we played them we split the weekend with them. Fargo had a good weekend last week, giving their goalie Stansberry a save percentage of .926. He had both the wins on their two game weekend, coming away with 51 saves in a 4-3 win over Sioux City on Saturday. I really expected them to put Stansberry in, but instead they put big Jeffrey Dotson. Perhaps they would have been better off had they put in Mike.
Frank Berrenguer would get his first start of the season on Saturday, Matt Carney being out with a broken finger from last week. Berrenguer did really well during the preseason and there didn't seem to be any reason for him not to do well during the regular season. As for Maksi he is finally back playing with us, though that doesn't mean he won't be playing for a pro team any time soon. He was not in Mississippi as I had mentioned last week but was in Louisiana. I was corrected of that one by a very valid source. He could play up to four games with the team without affecting his amatuer status. As you know if he had played more he wouldn't be able to play for us. A decision was going to have been made on his return, but I haven't heard anymore then that so far.
First Period
Michael Chin scored on a one timer (assist to Peter Sejna and Peter Fregoe) at 2:59 on a powerplay. This was after Fargo's Ryan Kalbrener (I think it was Kalbrener) got a penalty for hooking. It didn't take long after this for Jerrid Reinholz to get the second goal (assist to Garrett Stafford). Chin scored his second goal at 10:05; it was his eighth of the season (assist to Noah Clarke and Pete Fregoe). This goal was largely due to the effort of Clarke who brought the puck all the way down in the first place. We got the fourth goal (the last one of the period) when Mark Krueger scored his first goal of the season at 10:46 (assist to Maksi). With about five minutes left Berrenguer really got peppered, but he came up big every time. When the play was finally whistled dead, Alex Sawruk got a cross-checking penalty. A quite angry Sawruk jumped over the boards and entered the penalty box, slamming his stick in the process in his anger. Though Berrenguer was really doing an excellent job it didn't take long for Fargo to finally score. Josh Olson got the goal (assist to Matt Thomas and Steve Slaton). About the last minute of play or so, Smrek and Bryce Methven bumped into each other. Methven (what kind of name is that?!) in retaliation got a little rough with his stick and slammed harder into Smrek. As the two were facing one another I swear you could tell European thoughts were flying through Smrek's head; even his expression looked foreign. Saves: Fargo 12 - Des Moines 9.
Second Period
The period was getting a little boring and seemed somewhat slow. For lack of anything better to do I began to notice that Dan Starkey on the Fargo team resembled Wayne Gretzky. The more I looked the more he reminded me of him. He wore a black turtleneck that screeched "The Great One" and he had this sharp little nose. Not only that the guy was very lanky looking and had hair of that undeterminable straw color sticking out of his helmet in an unkempt manner. However that's where the resemblences ended. He wasn't quite Gretzky caliber. Which I guess was good for us as well as him, because what would he be doing in a league like this if he was that great? Through the first ten minutes of the second period not much happened. It was basically non-existent. Though Fargo seemed to have been holding there own fairly well, you could tell that the Bucs also had let down some. It wasn't until the 2:10 mark that something finally started to come alive. Fargo thought they had scored, though the fans screamed that it had been kicked in. No matter how loud our fans got it was ruled that Fargo had gotten their second goal. I was hoping that it would serve as something of a wake up call for our team, and hoping against the possibility of it waking up the sleeping, awkward, Sharks. Speaking of awkward #18 for Fargo looked like he hadn't even grown into his body yet. It was amazing how tall he was. Saves: Fargo 15 - Des Moines 9.
Third Period
The Bucs were in control again in the third period as Fargo began to take a few penalties, though none of them really hurt them (we couldn't seem to get on top of the pp). At 1:16 Pete Fregoe got our fifth goal. Then again with 8:23 left in the third we got our sixth goal from Krueger (Fregoe and Birrenkott). There was about 5:42 left in the period when a scuffle broke out in front of the scorers bench. Sejna had gotten a double minor for checking from behind, as well as a game ejection. Maksi served the penalty for him. Because of the double minor Fargo now had four minutes to score at will with one-man advantage. The Bucs, however, did a wonderful job of killing the penalty and when Maksimenko came out of the box he scored his first goal since he's been back with 1:02 left (assist to Larranaga and Stafford). A lot of this goal was due to the help of the agile defenseman who tripped over the blueline and let Maksi waltz right by him and skate in all alone on the goalie. Saves: Fargo 13 - Des Moines 9. Total Saves: Fargo 40 - Des Moines 27.
Stafford leads come-back, but Bucs fall in overtime
Summary: Ann Arbor, MI (10/17/98): Early in the second period the Bucs found themselves down 3 to zip, and were being dominated in every aspect of the game. Garrett Stafford led a come-back, scoring the first of 4 unanswered goals as the Bucs dominated the rest of the game. The Bucs had several shots go off the pipes, and were unable to add an insurance goal.
Despite being outplayed, Team USA got a goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Bucs started the overtime down a man and with less than one minute gone Team USA put a rebound past Luther to win the game and hand the Bucs their first loss of the regular season.
Stafford (unassisted), Chin (PP) (Stafford, Smrek), Reinholz (Donnette, Senja) and Smrek (Field, Sawruk) scored for the Bucs.
Ravings: The bucs have now won 5 in a row, and I am beginning to wonder how the team would respond after knocking off the USA team last night. Road games are always tough, and the fact that the Bucs have several injured players does not make it any easier. A few tidbits: there was to be a female official on the ice, Ed Basile (Jason's dad) was here to encourage the Bucs. Carney's broken finger is healing but is still hurting!
First Period
Pete Fregoe controlled the opening face-off and within the first minute Michael Chin got two quick, high quality shots on net. Unfortunately, Rick DiPietro, the USHL's leading goaltender was right on top of things. Three minutes into the period Chin was whistled for slashing and the Bucs would be down a man for 2 minutes. Luther faced his first shot as a Buc from the USHL scoring leader, Connor Dunlop. The Bucs were able to kill the penalty off due to excellent defensive play. Jeremy Jackson scored at 10:25 for team USA on a partial screen that beat Luther high to the stick side. Team USA continued to put the pressure on and a couple of minutes later scored again when Fred Meyer put it in the five-hole. The Bucs were now down by two. The Bucs killed off another penalty and with 2 1/2 minutes in the period, the USA team took their first penalty.
Pete Fregoe, Peter Smrek, Peter Sejna, Garrett Stafford and Michael Chin went to work on the man advantage, working the puck around and getting some good shots, but were not able to score. The period ended with the Bucs being outplayed and outscored. Shots for Des Moines 5, Team USA 6.
Second Period
Just 23 seconds into the period Pete Fregoe was called for elbowing, not a good way to start the period. The Bucs were able to keep them from scoring until Brickley tipped in a shot as the penalty expired. The Bucs were now down by three. After the goal, Team USA continued to put on pressure forcing Luther to make some tough saves.
The Bucs finally showed some life when Peter Sejna, Garrett Stafford and Dan Donnette teamed up to put some pressure on - and it payed off at 5:31 when Garrett Stafford blasted a shot that went in to make it 1 to 3. Less than a minute later Kelly Miller's goal was waved off which just fired up the Bucs even more. Team USA was forced to take a penalty at 7:20. Stafford blasted one, Peter Smrek one-timed one, then Felipe Larranaga, then Nick Stodgell tested DiPietro. Less than a minute after the penalty expired Team USA took another penalty. Ding! Stafford's slap shot hit the cross-bar and deflected behind the net. Ding! Smrek's blast hit the post! Swoosh as the puck hit the back of the net and the red light went on! Michael Chin got the goal on a great feed from Garrett Stafford and Peter Smrek to make it 2 to 3. The Bucs did not let up as Alex Sawruk and Jerrid Reinholz continued the pressure.
Team USA caught a break when Stafford was called for holding - or was it good for us? Clarke and Fregoe got a 2 on 1 break but were unable to convert, Michael Chin was able to get several shots too. The momentum was still with the Bucs, despite being short-handed. You know things are going well when Bill Birrenkott takes shots (which he should do more of). At 17:40, Jerrid Reinholz took a great pass from Dan Donnette and Peter Senja and tied the game! The goalie did not have chance. With 2 minutes left in the period, the Bucs were back on the powerplay, in fact, with just 28 seconds USA took another penalty to give the Bucs a 5 on 3. The Bucs got great shots from Chin and Stafford (whose shot hit the pipes) to end the period. Shots for Des Moines 15, Team USA 6.
Third Period
The Bucs started out with a short 5 on 3 advantage, and began putting on pressure right away. Kelly Miller almost scored on a feed from Smrek, but the puck deflected wide. USA killed off the powerplay, but Nick Field and Alex Sawruk put tremendous pressure on the net, passing it back to Peter Smrek who was all alone and buried the puck to make it 4 to 3 at 1:54. The Bucs had the lead for the first time tonight, scoring four unanswered goals.
KC Caudill, Mark Krueger and Garrett Stafford were working hard, and four minutes later Peter Sejna almost scored as the goalie got a piece of his back-hand shot. Midway through the period Team USA finally began to put pressure on the Buc net. An unexpected shot from the point by Hansey tied the game at 4 each. Connor Dunlop came back and was robbed by Luther.
The Bucs were back on their heels for a minute, but came back strong. However, the play was not as one sided as it had been with both teams skating well up and down the ice. Alex Sawruk and Rob Novak teamed up for what I thought was a certain goal, but it was not to be. With 3 minutes left a Team USA player broke his stick slashing Dan Donnette drawing a penalty. The Bucs did a great job moving the puck in the resulting man advantage, but were not able to get a good shot off.
With 15 seconds left in the game, KC Kaudill missed scoring the game-winner by inches and in the resulting scramble in front of the net, Kelly Miller got a 5 minute major and a game ejection for slashing. The game ended in a tie.
Overtime
The entire overtime will be played short-handed by the Bucs - not good. Team USA wasted no time and within 1 minute Winchester scored on a rebound to win, 5 -4. The Bucs lost the first game of the regular season, but played a very impressive game.
Written by Steve Bendy
Pete Fregoe scores with 1:17 left to win game
Summary: Ann Arbor, MI (10/16/98): The Buccaneers handed the USA Under 18 team their first defeat in 10 games, winning 3-2 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Pete Fregoe opened the scoring in the first period with s short-handed goal, and got the game winner with 1:17 left in the game. Garrett Stafford who has decided to play offense and defense, continued his scoring frenzy with a goal and an assist. Matt Carney had 16 saves for the Bucs.
Fregoe (SH) (unassisted), Stafford (Donnette) and Fregoe (Clarke, Stafford) scored for the Bucs.
Ravings: Since I don't have a Team USA roster and only heard the names announced, you will need to fogive me if I happen to get the names all spelled wrong. Maksi, for all those fans who are dying to know, is still not with us. He was going to be playing for the home opener down in Monroe, Mississippi for the Moccasins. Coach Owens said it's still questionable if he'll come back up to play with us or not. Anyhow that's the news so far on that situation. Carney would play tonight, but with a broken finger. This finger was broken in three places during practice. They splinted it up and since it wasn't his glove hand put him on the ice. We had several other injuries, Josh Flynn is still out, and Jackson has a deep thigh bruise. So considering the amount of games we've played so far this season we have way too many injuries. Team USA had been unbeaten in their "Cube" and so we had quite a night ahead of us. As Trevor predicted though, he thought we'd win one and lose one.
First Period
In the first period we were lucky to score first. Birrenkott had been in the penalty box for tripping when Pete Fregoe got an unassisted short-handed goal for us at 7:06. It would be our third short-handed goal on the season so far. Team USA scored next at 8:17, so we did not enjoy the lead for long. The period went by quickly and we were just barely outshooting USA. Saves: USA 9 - Bucs 7.
Second Period
We started strong again and got the first goal again. This time it was only 37 seconds into the second period and Garrett Stafford got it (assist to Dan Donnette). Garrett has really looked good this year, doing his job on defense and among the leaders in scoring! Dan Donnette was also having a good game, and was working very hard. It took Team USA 2 and half minutes later to tie it up. This came from Jackson (no, not Jimmy, and I don't know this guy's first name!). Saves: USA 11 - Bucs 4.
Third Period
The action picked up in the third, but nothing really happened until 1:17 left in the period. That's when Pete Fregoe got his second goal (assist to Noah Clarke and Garrett Stafford). Pete came down the ice and it looked as if he was going to pass it to Chin, but shot it instead. It fooled everyone and lit the red light. USA didn't take a time out here, though it was expected. Not until 7.9 seconds left with their goalie pulled did they take a time-out. However they couldn't do anything with it with just 8 seconds left and they soon had lost their first game of the season.
Written by Sarah
Bucs make it 4 in a row
Summary: Des Moines, IA (10/10/98): The Buccaneers extended their win streak to four in a 6-3 win, despite excellent goaltending by Rochester's Marc Ranfranz. Marc faced 39 shots, while Matt Carney faced only 14. The Buc offense continued to roll, scoring 30 goals in just 4 games. Peter Senja, a native of Slovakia, picked up two goals - one on a breakaway and the other on a powerplay, as well as an assist.
Senja (unassisted), Chin (PP) (Senja, Carney), Clarke (Chin, Smrek), Miller (Stodgell), Reinholz (Stafford) and Senja (PP) (Chin, Stafford) scored for the Bucs.
Trevor Grimm's Ravings (filling in for Sarah): Heading into Saturday night's game against Rochester, there was no denying that the Bucs were on a roll. Since losing their only game of the pre-season, the Buc Bowl championship against the same Mustangs that were in town tonight, Des Moines had rattled off three consecutive wins against quality clubs. In the process, they had outscored their opponents 24-4. The night before, the Bucs controlled every aspect of play in defeating Waterloo 10-0. Still, there were a few questions heading into Saturday night's game. First of all, Rochester had matched up very well so far this season against finesse teams. They entered the game with a 3-2 record, including wins against Fargo-Moorhead, Omaha, and Dubuque. The two losses came at the hands of Sioux City (a 4-3 Musketeers win in Rochester) and Lincoln (a 4-1 Stars win Friday night in Lincoln). The next question on everyone's mind was whether this game would see a replay of the fight-filled contest last January. Although the two teams have played several times since then, including three matchups in the preseason, the talk surrounding any Rochester game seems to involve the possibility of fisticuffs. Adding to the suspense surrounding tonight's game was the Saturday afternoon Nebraska football loss to Texas A&M.... okay, maybe that didn't really add any suspense, but it certainly showed that any team is vulnerable on any given night.
First period: The best way to silence a home crowd is to score early, and Rochester followed the script perfectly. Just 47 seconds into the game, Tim Turner put the Mustangs up 1-0 when he found himself all alone in front of Bucs' goaltender Matt Carney after taking a perfect feed from behind the net courtesy of Steve Jones. Rheese Carlson looked like he had a chance to put Rochester up by two with 16:57 to go in the first, but Carney came up with a solid save. At 15:40, Dan Donnette appeared to have a partial breakaway, but Rochester's Jeff Taffe did a good job of tying up Donnette. Rochester repeatedly iced the puck in the game's opening minutes, leaving plenty of time for one's mind to wander. After noticing that Felipe Larranaga's jersey didn't make it through October without a couple of tears, the debate started in our section as to whether Larranaga has the USHL's best name. After a short discussion, the consensus was that the contest was between Felipe Larranaga and Waterloo's Ian Sgambelluri. If anyone has any other suggestions, send me an e-mail... after all, with all the heated discussion on the guest book, we need to give fans something else to debate!
Back to the action....the Bucs had their best chance of the opening minutes at the midway point of the first period, when Michael Chin and Pete Fregoe had a two-on-one. Chin brought the puck up the ice, passed it over to Fregoe, who passed it back to Chin, but the puck bounced over Chin's stick as the forward from Urbana, IL headed toward the net. Through the next few minutes, the Bucs had several scoring chances, but Rochester goaltender Marc Ranfranz came up big time after time. However, the Bucs finally got on the board with 1:59 left in the period on a goal that Dominik Hasek would not have been able to stop. Slovakian sensation Peter Sejna stole the puck near center ice, then raced in alone on Ranfranz. Sejna deked Ranfranz and made the goaltender look like a human pretzel before calmly putting the puck in the back of the net. With the crowd's jaws on the ground, the Bucs had tied the game at 1-1 on Sejna's unassisted breakaway goal. The first period ended 1-1, but Des Moines controlled the game territorially, outshooting Rochester 13-4.
Second Period: The first few minutes of the second period lacked the intensity of the latter part of the first, which once again brought philosophical hockey questions to mind, such as "what do the backup goaltenders talk about when they are sitting on the bench?" Has anyone else noticed that backup goalies tend to sit at the end of the bench closest to center ice and talk to each other during the game? Speaking of goalies, Ranfranz was looking behind him on a shot by Noah Clarke about five minutes into the second period, but the puck once again stayed out of the net.
Prior to Friday's game, I made a comment about the fiesty play of Kelly Miller, and I thought it would be interesting to see Miller drop the gloves. I didn't realize that we would see that this weekend. The fight started to develop with 11:35 to go in the period, when Jones lined up for a big hit on Peter Smrek in front of the Mustang bench, but Smrek was able to elude the hit. A few seconds later, Alex Sawruk had a Rochester player lined up behind the Mustang net, but the Rochester player moved in the nick of time. The rest of the shift saw lots of hitting from both sides, and Miller, who seemed more than ready to fight last night on a few occasions, ended up dropping the gloves with Jones. Although Miller had his jersey over his head for much of the first part of the fight, he more than held his own against Jones, and the two finally fell to the ice after sparring for about a minute. All in all, a pretty entertaining bout from the old school of fighting, where both players take their helmets off before the fight. When the smoke cleared, Des Moines was on a powerplay, as Tim Branham was whistled for a tripping minor before the fight.
Des Moines took advantage of the powerplay with 9:44 to go in the period, when Michael Chin scored after racing down the left wing. The referee Beaurline actually had his arm up for a delayed penalty when the puck entered the net, yet both the delayed penalty and the previous penalty were wiped out. There was some confusion after the goal, but Rochester ended up with five skaters back on the ice - it did not appear to be the correct call. It would end up being significant, however. With 8:57 to go, Clarke was sent to the sin bin on a high sticking minor. Just 15 seconds into the powerplay, Taffe scored on a nice shot from the slot to even the game at 2.
The Bucs had a few more chances in the second, but Ranfranz came up big each time. One of the best saves of the night came with 8:06 left in the period when Ranfranz robbed Sejna from point blank range. With a little over a minute remaining in the period, Garrett Stafford, who has been very solid through the first four games of the season, caught Jeremiah Johnson with his head down in open ice, knocking Johnson flying and bringing the crowd to life. The second period ended 2-2, and Des Moines outshot the Mustangs 8-4 in the period.
Third period: The Bucs have made a habit of starting periods strong so far this season, and tonight's third period was no different. Just 1:15 into the period, Clarke shoveled the puck past Ranfranz, putting Des Moines up 3-2. The assists went to Chin and Smrek. The lead didn't last long, however. With 17:01 to go in the period, Rheese Carlson grabbed a loose puck during a scramble in front of the net, and with Carney sprawled on the ice, he lifted the puck over Carney to tie the game at 3. The Bucs had several chances in the next few minutes, and got the eventual game winner with 12:19 to go when Miller faked a shot at the blueline, skated in on the left wing, and beat Ranfranz from close range. The lone assist went to Nick Stodgell.
With 8:20 to go in the period, Dan Donnette used a great move to get past Jeremy Downs, but Ranfranz again came up with the save. The Bucs did get some insurance 15 seconds later on a nice goal by Jerrid Reinholz. Stafford passed the puck from behind the net to Reinholz, who was knocked down on the play but still managed to get the goal. With Des Moines looking to be in control, the physical play stepped up a bit with a couple of scrums, but it doesn't make sense to drop the gloves after the midway point of the third period. For those who don't know, fighting carries a 5-minute major through the first 50 minutes of the game, but carries a game misconduct, which includes a two-game suspension, after the 10 minute mark of the third period. With 5:05 to go in the third, Nate Markus went to the penalty box, giving the Bucs, who were already on the powerplay, a 5-on-3 situation. They took advantage a few second later when Sejna grabbed a loose puck in front of the net and buried it with just four seconds remaining on the first Mustang penalty. With the score 6-3, there was little question about the outcome, and Des Moines went on to win by that score. Des Moines outshot Rochester 17-6 in the third period and 39-14 in the game. Not only did the Bucs hold the Mustangs to just 14 shots, but they did it with just five defensemen in the lineup.
Player of the game: Peter Sejna. The native of Liptovsky Mikulas scored two goals and added one assist, giving another solid all-around effort. The first goal was a picture perfect goal and one of the nicest goals the Metro Ice Sports Arena has seen in a long time.
Written by Trevor Grimm. E-mail Trevor at ushlfan@aol.com
Carney gets shut-out, Chin gets hat-trick
Summary: Des Moines, IA (10/9/98): Matt Carney got his first shut-out of the year and Michael Chin picked up a hat trick and an assist in a 10 to zip win over Waterloo. The Bucs opened the second period by scoring 2 goals within 30 seconds, then scored 3 more to make it 7 - 0 at the end of the second period. The Buc defense killed all 5 Waterloo powerplays and converted on two of their own to lead the USHL in powerplay goals and penalty kills.
Stafford (Field), Chin (PP) (Fregoe, Clarke), Chin (Clarke), Carke (Birrenkott), Chin (Fregoe, Smrek), Donnette (Sejna), Sejna (Birrenkott), Stafford (PP) (Smrek, Miller), Novak (Clarke, Chin) and Sejna (Fregoe, Donnette) scored for the Bucs.
Ravings: It's WWW III in the city of Des Moines. One little comment and, boom, the bombs explode. Of course this was my main goal. I have to thank the fans that have stuck up for me; they remember what my "Rant" is, first and foremost. The Rant began insulting and will probably go out the same way. Please keep it in that context and remember what it is and is not; I never pretended it was a newspaper article. Steve does a great job with that - when the Register gives him space. At least I'm not afraid to make comments and let you know exactly who I am without hiding myself behind a pseudonym. Remember these are only my own little opinions that really mean nothing in the long run, unless you want them to. If you don't want to read something opinionated, you really don't have to read this. The organization has never and will never be responsible for it. That has been stressed over and over again. To the former Buc, if you really are who you claim to be, you of all people should know I am not psychotic and have never been (and will never be) a "buc bunny." If you want to complain about insulting people and calling names, why don't you start with the term "Buc Bunny". I'm sure a lot of girls have been called bunnies that never were to begin with. Perhaps "Hockey Mom" put it best when she said all this bickering was in good fun. Everyone loves a good controversy. Isn't that so "Not Neil Breen?"
I want everyone to know that Trevor will do Saturday's Rant. I won't be around so I've asked him to do it. He should do a good job, so treat him well, please. Let's see here, where is the hockey in all of this? It's gotten lost somewhere along the line. Well, Maksi's still gone, following his dream to go pro. I wish him the best and certainly hope he can make it with the Fergy's team in Florida. Our new goalie Landon Luther is from White Bear Lake and played in Danville. I guess we needed more depth in that area. Garrett has verbally committed to New Hampshire. Flynn is still hurting and... oh... Berrenguer was supposed to start... but... being careful with what I say here, that didn't happen. He didn't even dress, for what reason, I don't know. Instead Carney was in goal with Luther as the backup. Oh, and now is a good time to mention to the Carney's that we're sorry we never noticed that your son was listed on our website as being from Minnesota!! We honestly knew where he was from!
First Period
The beginning of the game didn't really look like it would go one way or the other. We scored first at 5:50 from a Garrett Stafford slap shot (assist to Nick Field). Stafford has improved so much this year, maybe that last game up in Billings had something to do with it. But in any case he's a really strong presence out on the ice and isn't afraid to muck things up (as you'll see later). With 7:25 left in the period a delayed penalty was called on Ian Sgambelluri, the Italian Catholic from Thunder Bay, for high sticking. At the same time Jackson was helped off the ice with what looked like a sore knee. Michael Chin got the first of what would be a four point night at 10:13 when he got a power play goal (assist to Pete Fregoe and Noah Clarke). Clarke too would end up with many points, because of his numerous assists. With six minutes left big BJ Stephens and Ryan Hale both teamed up on Smrek who was behind the net by the boards. The only reason I mention this is because I can't stand to see two guys pick on one of our guys. Before the 2:39 mark Stafford and Ogee had some sort of a ruckus on the ice away from the play. In any case Ogee had Stafford's stick and glove under him and Stafford kept pushing him down and finally got his stick back. Both finally got up without ever getting caught by the ref. However they ended up slamming into each other just seconds later and began to wrestle at the visitor's penalty box. They did all but fall into it and both went to the ice and were separated. Garrett got two penalties on that one and we already had another guy in the box (Sawruk I believe). Well in any case we were on the short end with Waterloo having a 5 on 3 power play opportunity for about 20 seconds. I don't know whether to praise our Bucs effort in keeping the puck out of the net our give the credit to Waterloo for not being able to get it in. I will say Carney did a good job and so did our line that was out there. As the period ended we were leading 2-0 and seemed to be dominating, though Waterloo still looked like they had plenty of chances Saves: Waterloo 33 - Des Moines 30.
Second Period
Well, Chin started out the second period with 18:45 left by scoring his second goal (Noah Clarke). Chin lifted the puck up and over the sprawled goalie. Chin has a great combination of size and a soft touch. Just thirty seconds later Noah Clarke finally got the goal he deserved (assist to Billy Birrenkott). Needless to say he got pretty excited. That was a pretty goal too. The game was beginning to get boring, it was only scoring on our side. But I was happy for Michael Chin, he got his hat trick with about 11 minutes left (assist to Fregoe and Smrek). Dan Donnette scored at 9:22 on a semi-break (assist to Peter Sejna), We were now ahead 6-0. Peter Sejna was the next player to get a goal with 2:36 left on a beautiful tip-in (assist to Bill Birrenkott). Saves: Waterloo 12 - Des Moines 8.
Third Period
Pionk changed goalies in the third period, in favor of Exter. Poor Walsh couldn't seem to stop the Buccaneers. Garrett Stafford got his second goal at 2:08 on a power play (assist to Peter Smrek and Kelly Miller). His one-timer from Miller was a rocket that reminded me of Joe Blake. At 3:37, after mouthing off to one of the Blackhawks Krueger was put in the box for tripping. Unfortunately, this power play for Waterloo really didn't help them all that much. With 3:39 left in the period one of the Waterloo players ran right into Carney knocking the net off, Carney ended up doing a belly flop on top of the guy. Obviously the Blackhawks thought that if they couldn't get pucks past Matt they'd try actual bodies. Rob Novak got his first goal of the season (assist to Noah Clarke and Michael Chin) at 18:01. Then with only 35 seconds left in the game Sejna got his second goal (assist to Pete Fregoe and Dan Donnette). We were ahead 10-0 and Carney was getting a shut out. What a shut out to get too with a score of 10. The scoring was pretty even and came from several players. I have to say this team is looking very good! Saves: 9 even for both teams. Total Saves: Waterloo 28 - Des Moines 20.
Written by Sarah
100 wins for coach Scott Owens
Summary: Des Moines, IA (10/3/98): Coach Owens picked up his 100th win as the Bucs dominated the Lincoln Stars in an 8 - 2 victory in Des Moines Saturday night. Coach Owens, in his fourth year with the Bucs, was thrown a surprise party to celebrate the achievement. The Bucs special teams contibuted two powerplay goals and two short-handed goals in the convincing victory. Buc goalie Matt Carney did not even see a shot for the first 8 minutes of play. The Bucs exploded in the second period scoring within the first minute and again just 17 seconds later.
Stafford (Reinholz, Fregoe), Stafford (pp) (Clarke), Fregoe (Chin, Clarke), Sejna (Donnette, Reinholz), Field (Sejna, Jackson), Smrek (pp) (Stafford) Fregoe (sh) (unassisted) and Donnette (sh) (Smrek) scored for the Bucs.October 3, 1998
Sarah's Rant: What can I rant about today? First of all I'm really disappointed that nobody is e-mailing me. What is wrong with all you people out there? Lazy? C'mon, give me some feedback. Anyway, I don't have enough scoops here, anybody know some juicy tidbits? Maksimenko was down in Florida trying out for the East Coast hockey league. Nick Krueger got married over the weekend, so neither Krueger's were there. Coach Owens would have his 100th win if he won the game. His family was in the crowd - unbeknown to him.
I think it's pathetic that the USA under 18 team is in the league this year. What kind of a team name is that?! Besides what's the use of it being the USA select team if it's in a league? What happened to playing other teams? Think of the drive that they have to go through just to go to weekend games. Ohh... I found a good reason... Chicago is en route to Ann Arbor. What a shame I'd have to make a stop at Chicago if I went to watch the Bucs play there!!
The weekend has been dreary, I've been sick, which means boredom. I am now rambling (I'm thankful for the revision stage of writing). The guestbook is in full force again and the Laden Fan Club is as well... they need to get a life. Has anyone sat in the new luxury boxes, are they nice?
First Period
Thought I'd never stop talking huh? Garrett Stafford scored the first goal in the first period at 8:05 (assist to Jerrid Reinholz and Pete Fregoe). I had meanwhile been staring into space watching the crowd. Watching them in slow motion as they jumped up because we'd scored. Like I said, I've been sick, and so I'm still on the slow side. Thirty seconds later the Stars retaliated with a goal from Grant Poltulny (assist to Chris Wyzgowski and Chris Hontvet). It would prove to be one of their last strong points of the game. It didn't take long for the Stars to start showing their faces in the penalty box. There were plenty of power play opportunities all night long for the Buccaneers. At 12:35 we took advantage of a 5 on 3 and scored our second goal. Again it was Stafford's, with an assist to Noah Clark. Noah has committed to Colorado College. Saves: Lincoln 12 - Des Moines 3.
Second Period
The Bucs started the second period out right with a beautiful goal from Pete Fregoe (assist to Michael Chin and Noah Clarke). I have to add that Chin and Clarke did an excellent job on that play. Just as the time of the goal was announced we got another goal, this time from Peter Sejna (assist to Dan Donnette and Jerrid Reinholz). The first goal was 45 seconds into the second and the second was at 1:06. At 4:42 Jimmy Jackson got a penalty for holding. This was not a good move, he tripped the Star behind the play. Which makes me wonder if the Lincoln guy said anything to him in the first place. I am a little confused about the "holding" part of the penalty though. Nick Field got a goal at 8:17 when he shot at the goalie and the puck trickled over his shoulder and across the line (assist to Peter Sejna and Jimmy Jackson). Nick had skated into the zone and shot from a seemingly impossible angle. After this Lincoln switched goalies in an effort to change the momentum. Besides, Gastrock just wasn't doing the job for Lincoln, so Wayne Russell was put in. We would get one more goal in the period, this one would go to Peter Smrek who blasted the puck from the point (assist to Garrett Stafford). This too was a beautiful goal and Stafford was racking up the points. We were ahead 6-1 and the crowd was calling for another goal, as if we needed one, just getting greedy I guess. Saves: Lincoln 10 - Des Moines 9.
Third Period
Pete Fregoe got us our seventh goal with 15:46 left to go and it was short handed as well (unassisted). Pete grabbed the puck and put on the after-burners, out-skating the Lincoln defender. Not long after this the Stars made one last attempt; they were gasping for air. They scored from Chad Hontvet (assist to Todd Knott and Mike Funk). Jimmy Jackson did a little extra roughing halfway through the period and got put away for it, but a good thing came of it. As a result Donnette scored (assist to Smrek). The game ended with a presentation to Coach Owens for his 100th victory and it was good to hear the crowd support him like they did. Since he's been here it hasn't seemed like he's been very welcome, but perhaps he's finally proved himself to us. Did he really have to to begin with? Saves: Lincoln 8 - Des Moines 9. Total Saves: Lincoln 21 - Des Moines 30.
Written by Sarah
Bucs win home opener 6 - 2
Summary: Des Moines, IA (9/26/98): Sioux City came out strong and the Bucs found themselves trailing 1 - 2 midway in the second period. Had it not been for the excellent net-minding of Matt Carney, the score would have been much worse. Matt ended with 27 saves on the night. The Bucs caught fire and scored 5 unanswered goals; two in the second and three in the third.
Nick Field scored two goals and an assist, Eric Maksimenko scored 2 powerplay goals, and Kelly Miller picked up three assists to lead the Buc scoring. Maksimenko (pp) (Field, Miller), Maksimenko (pp) (Miller), Chin (Clarke, Fregoe), Field (Stafford, Miller), Caudill (Reinholz), Field (Sawruk, Smrek) scored for the Bucs.
Sarah's Rant: I knew that Saturday was going to be a good day, at least after the way the earlier part had gone. I mean how often can you get a pair of jeans for under $10 that actually fit you (ok, so maybe not everybody has the problem of being as short as I). In any case I was thrilled when I went to Express and upon giving them a gift certificate found the jeans to be only $9.45. So I knew it was going to be a good day.
Unfortunately I was only half correct. Once at the game, due to the heat and humidity level outside, the inside of the rink began to fog up something terrible (much like the night we played Omaha last week). It was a danger zone at times out on the ice with nobody seeing much in front of them. I mean the players could say differently and tell me they saw just fine, but when Sejna (who's normally quick with the puck) skated right over the puck without realizing it was there, well...c'mon...doesn't that give you a clue? To clear up the persistent white smog the players would take "fog breaks" and skate circles on their own end to clear it. So why don't we just put fans up to keep circulation on the ice?
Last weekend Reggie Berg, Andy Birrenkott, and Brad Timmons were in town for the game. It had been three years since Reggie had been back (remember that last training camp?). He commented that a lot had changed since he'd been here, restaurants and stuff. Speaking of Reggie, Brad Timmons transferred down to the U and is now playing along side of Reggie. Of course Andy has been down more recently then three years, considering his brother plays on the team now.
Erik Strand was also in town this weekend to watch the home opener. His season starts within the next week or so. He'll play the likes of Dave Boehm and Mikhail Saliyenko. It was good to see him back and apparently everybody else thought so too!
After all the pregame lights and loud noise the Bucs were finally ready to play. Oh - and the captains (I'm assuming that's who they were, Garrett Stafford, Jimmy Jackson, and Noah Clarke) also hoisted the Clark Cup for the fans. They also unveiled the new Anderson and National Championship banners, but the cover did not come completely off.
First Period
On to the game... the first period fog wasn't unbearable yet. When the Bucs came skating on to the ice for the first time in front of the packed arena, you could tell they were skating as hard as they could. And why not, with the fans making all that noise why wouldn't they be psyched. However, some of that might have turned to jitters, for when the game actually started they didn't look too sure on their skates. They just didn't seem to play well. Carney, who was in goal, also seemed unsure.
The Muskies ended up getting the first goal about four minutes into the period, from Luke Pavlas (assist to Lee Arnold and Morgan Roach). I know that if I get any of these names wrong the dear Sioux City fans will correct me on them. With 12:30 left in the period, only by sheer luck did Carney not get scored on again. He saved the first shot, the second went off the post, and the third bounced across the front of the net without going over the line. With 4:17 left AJ Kratofil was called for interference when he took one of our guys down. It was a good power play and Eric Maskimenko scored on it at 16:39 (assist to Nick Field and Kelly Miller). So we ended that period with a 1-1 tie and Sioux City outshooting us 11-8.
Second Period
Just five minutes into the period Nathan Kotewa tried to pick a fight with Kelly Miller, and surprisingly Miller did not fight back! We've seen such fiestiness from the guy that now it was hard to believe he wouldn't fight. That shows good discipline though, you can't fight all the time. Besides, Billy would fill the role of fighter Saturday night! After this a scuffle erupted down around the Sioux City goalie. Chin's helmet went flying, Billy and Chad Nordhagen went at it, and David Hale was in their as well. As a result Nordhagen and Hale were put away as well as Billy. So we came away with a power play in the end!
Just 45 seconds into the power play the fog was escalating and the Bucs scored their second goal. It was again from Maksimenko (assist to Kelly Miller). I couldn't see a thing of that goal - the fog was that thick. After this, scores from around the league were announced and Omaha was being beaten by Rochester! A loud cheer erupted from the Buc fans. Chin got the third goal for the Bucs with and assist to Noah Clarke and Pete Fregoe with 11:24 left in the period.
There was only about five minutes left in the period, but it might as well have been ten. The fog was so bad that we had to continue to take breaks, the players circling the ice to clear it up. It made for a long game. We were ahead 3-2 going into the third period, with 6 saves and Sioux City having 11 saves. We certainly had turned the heat up in this period.
Third Period
Bill Birrenkott did end up fighting about two minutes into the third period. And guess what folks, the fighting rule is now in effect! Though Billy did go off the ice (he was bleeding) both players only got five minute fighting penalties. And I might add that when Birrenkott was done serving his penalty he did not fight again. With 16:15 left in the third the Bucs scored again, this time Nick Field got the goal (assist to Stafford and Kelly Miller). Credit Garrett Stafford with one nifty drop pass that allowed Field to beat the goalie. The fog just got worse in the third period and we had to continually stop the game to clear the ice of fog.
We scored our fifth goal from KC Caudill (assist to Jerrid Reinholz) at 9:36. KC was left alone in front of the net and Jerrid did a great job geting him the puck. It was hard to believe that the fog could just continue to be such a headache, but it was. The ice was really wet as well. Warm weather is just not for hockey. With just 2 and a half minutes left Nick Field got his second goal (assist to Sawruk and Smrek). The Bucs ended up winning the game 6-2 with a total of 27 saves and Sioux City having a total of 28. They had really improved in the two last periods, when you could see them!
Written by Sarah
