Riddle (Reinholz), Kim (Sejna), Novak PP (Riddle, Webber), Kim PP (Sejna, Miller), Sejna, (Kim, Webber) and Mantua scored for the Bucs. Mantua was in goal.

Pre Game

Well it doesn't seem much use to talk about what I had intended to talk about for this rant. Considering it was well over a week ago (the game) and things have and certain things, though not necessarily forgotten, sure don't matter as much as they had. One important thing I don't think I've really covered in the past and that is that I want to encourage all parents of the players to e-mail me and give me feedback. You are the major reason I do this and if you would like more coverage on your son (i.e. how he played on the ice) I will be more then happy to do that. Unless I get some sort of feedback I won't always know what you'd most like or what interests you most. Anybody else may as well, doesn't mean I'll always agree with your opinion's (that's what's so great about free speech), but I'm always here to talk to anyone who would just like to chat!

First Period

Everybody seemed to be talking about this game, on the radio, TV, etc. Mostly on the radio. One station I was listening too even said that all the fans would be cheering Let's go Bucs... and since it's Sioux City, you know the rest of the cheer... Sioux City mmm... Yep, you know it!; We did start scoring early, Troy Riddle getting the goal at 1:06 (assist to Jerrid Reinholz). It was a good period, sometimes a little slow, but overall a good one. Mantua seemed to once again be stellar between the pipes.

Second Period

After a few penalties in the first half of the second period Alex Kim (assist to Sejna) soundly beat Betz (who was in goal) to give them a 2-0 lead at 10:30. When Hale decked Kim he got called for five minute cross checking penalty. He had just cleanly took Kim down in middle ice in front of everyone. Was Hale disgruntled for having been beaten on the last goal? In any case it was a very stupid penalty and the whole Sioux City team would pay for his mistake. Our first power play goal was absolutely beautiful. Robby Novak, who had been parked to the side of the net, scored this goal (assist to Riddle and Weber). The second power play goal (courtesy of Hale) was Kim's second goal of the game (assist to Sejna and Miller). Sioux City would tally to get one goal with only 2 and half minutes left in the period, Matt Scherer getting this goal.

Third Period

Again at 17:29 Sioux City would strike again in hopes of recovering what had been lost, it was a valiant effort. Mantua was enraged though after this and you could just see the energy surging through him, it seemed doubtful he was ready to let another goal in. He was also getting noticeably aggressive towards any player who even looked like he thought about touching his crease. He literally looked like he was pacing, like a lion, in front of his cage. Though the officials attempted to keep a tight reign on the game, but with ten minutes left in the game there was practically a whole line brawl. Basically it was just a big pile of fighting bodies. Another goal was let in though with 8:56 left, on a rebound they scored their third goal. This was beginning to turn a little ugly and the Bucs didn't look they were playing so well now. It didn't seem like it would take much to tie it up. Sejna, tired of just assisting got his own goal at 14:59 (assist to Kim and Weber). This would prove to be a big goal, for after this the game was all ours. The final thing to top off the game was that Mantua got himself the final goal of the game with only thirty seconds left in the game. It was an empty net goal and you could tell he couldn't resist. Plus his stick handling seems good enough. I've never seen a goalie get that excited in my life (at least on the ice). This guy was just jumping up and down with his teammates gathered around him. Unfortunately there was one last thing of note to make and that was when Weber was down on the ice after getting slashed. The Sioux City player ended up getting a five minute major out of that, not that it really did us any good. Just the same that was two five minute penalties for the Sioux City squad, not good at all! Written by Sarah Bendy.

Kirchhoff, Kim (Sejna, Baumgartner), Kim (PP) (Larranaga) scored for the Bucs. Mantua replaced Berenguer in goal.

Pre Game

Hello Buc fans, this is Steve Bendy standing in for Sarah who is under the weather today. This will be my first regular season home game of the year - having been out of town at a web design conference. Wow! I heard I missed some great games. Trevor Grimm has once again written informative and insightful predictions for the coming year. Be sure and read them! Let's get right to the game.

First Period

During pre season it seemed that the Bucs started out slowly. Tonight was no different. Cedar Rapids, who won the Buc Bowl, were playing very well and it took the Bucs over 2 minutes to get the puck into the RoughRider zone. Frank Berenguer was really hot and kept the Bucs in the game, making save after save. The Bucs finally broke the puck out and Justin Schabes crashed the net and almost scored. Silvia, the Cedar Rapids goalie stopped the shot but Ryan Kirchhoff stuck the rebound in. With only 2:40 gone in the game the Bucs had a 1-0 lead. The goal inspired the Bucs and they continued to put pressure on the net. CR took a penalty for checking from behind but the Bucs were unable to convert.

Cedar Rapids came back as Josh Schlipp came in on Berenguer all alone. Berenguer said no way as he stopped the shot. Frank again had to come up big as Derrick Johnson took a perfect centering pass and tried his luck. Again, no way as Berenguer slid across the goal mouth and stopped the puck. The replay on the newly installed big screen let us see the move from above. Finally, with 7 and a half minutes to play in the first, CR scored when Justin Micek tipped in a perfect pass from David Carpentier. Berenguer did not have a chance on this one.

On the next play, Troy Riddle blew by a confused defender and almost scored - but it was CR that put sustained pressure on the net for the next couple of minutes. The Bucs nearly scored on a powerplay near the end of the period, but time expired and the game was tied at 1 goal apiece. Saves: CR 9, Des Moines 10.

Second Period

The period began with both teams getting good shots on goal. Nathan Berry almost scored on a blast from the blue line. The goalie never saw the shot and he was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Despite some good plays, the Bucs were just flat - and so was the crowd. Maxwell tried several times to get the crowd into it, but it never lasted.

With 7:51 on the clock, disaster struck. Justin Micek skated in on a break pursued by a Buccaneer. Micek crashed into Berenguer, laying him flat on the ice - he did not get up. The replay on the screen told the story - Micek had put an elbow to Frank's head. The crowd reacted accordingly. However, it was the Bucs that were penalized, drawing even more protests. The ref said that Micek had been hooked which caused him to crash into Berenguer. Whatever. As the minutes ticked by it was clear something was wrong. The paramedics brought out the equipment and 20 minutes later Frank was taken off on a stretcher with his body fully braced. The Cedar Rapids and Buc players tapped their sticks on the ice in salute to Frank as he was taken off the ice. Mike Mantua took the ice to replace Frank.

As the puck was dropped, I wondered how the Bucs would react. I wondered if Micek would dare to set foot on the ice - and if he did, how long it would be before the Bucs let him have it. I knew Micek would have to skate and that there would have to be a fight - honor demanded it. It did not take long to find out what would happen - but it was not what I thought. When Micek got on the ice, the crowd let their feelings be known but the Bucs left him alone as they were totally focused on scoring. Kim almost scored on the next face off. Two minutes later, Paul Baumgartner brought the puck across the blue line with Peter Sejna racing down the middle towards the net. Everyone knew Paul was going to pass, but he kept skating in on goal and finally passed to Sejna. Instead of shooting, he fooled everyone by passing to Alex Kim who had slipped to the side of the open net. Smack! red light! Alex had made it 2 to 1.

The Bucs continued to put the pressure on and had it not been for the excellent play of their goalie, we would have scored. Everyone had forgotten about good old number 9. Everyone except Paul Baumgartner. It was Micek's second shift and after the puck was dropped both players dropped their gloves and went at it. Justin is 6'1" and 185 lbs and Paul is 6'2" and 215, but Paul was fighting to prove something - and he did. When the refs peeled him off the top of Micek, he raised his hands to the crowd and the place went crazy. Both got 5 minute penalties. The last minute ticked off the clock and the period was over. Saves: CR - 11, Bucs - 9.

Third Period

The period began with Kelly Miller taking a high stick without a call, and Matt Weber almost scoring. Instead, Troy Riddle was called for a penalty. The Cedar Rapids faithful that made the trip to Des Moines were not very happy when a powerplay goal was waved off by the officials. The video replay on the big screen told the story - there was a CR player in the crease that prevented Mantua from stopping the puck. Mantua came up big again when he gloved a hard shot that everyone thought was going in. The Bucs killed off the penalty.

As soon as the penalty was killed off Jerrid Reinholz got a breakaway but was mugged for his effort - no call. Halfway through the period the Bucsbegan to put pressure on the net again. Cedar Rapids responded by taking a penalty. The Bucs wasted no time in scoring as Felipe Larranaga let one fly from the blue line. The goalie stopped the shot but left a juicy rebound that Alex Kim pounced on. It had only taken the Bucs 6 seconds to score the powerplay.

I don't know what happended, but in the next series of plays Jerrid Reinholz and Josh Schlipp got into a fight. I was shocked because Jerrid doesn't usually fight. He did just fine as he had schlipp's sweater over his head in no time. Both players got 5 minutes and Jerrid got an extra 2 minutes. Cedar Rapids had done well on previous power plays, but had trouble on this one. Alex Kim, Peter Sejna and Troy Riddle all flirted with short-handed goals.

With 55 seconds left Cedar Rapids pulled their goalie. The Bucs were already down a man so Cedar Rapids had a 2 man advantage. They put pressure on Mantua, but you could tell Mantua wanted to score on that empty net. He gave it a good try twice but the CR D would not let it happen. Time expired and the Bucs had won another game. Coach Carroll had gotten his fourth straight victory. Written by Steve Bendy.

Stars win their home opener 8 - 2

Lincoln, NE (10/8/99): The Lincoln Stars won their home opener at the expense of the Buccaneers, going 4 for 4 on the powerplay. Lincoln opened up the lead late in the third period to put the game out of reach.

The win was Lincoln's first of the year and the first loss for the Bucs, who are now 4 and 1 on the year. On a positive note, Frank Berenguer is fully recovered from his injury last Saturday night.

Weber (Durak, Sejna) and Sejna (Kim) scored for the Bucs

Pre-Game

Been a very hectic week, which is half the reason that my rant for Friday night (last week) still hasn't gotten done. With luck though, by the time this one is up that one will be done and up as well. It's slightly hard when you have deadlines that need to be met the entire week and when you work all weekend to get that taken care of. Can't believe I managed to work long days and actually pull off a good test score in the process! I've just been dragging since, and nothing was sweeter then the thought of freedom I'd have this weekend!

First Period

Let me see here, what does one say about a very lackluster period? The fact that Mantua came up big, very big after being peppered with 16 shots. Perhaps that there was only one penalty in the period. And that it was a power play in our favor, but we couldn't do anything in that time. I really have nothing more to say, and maybe that will speak for itself.

Second Period

This period at least had something happen in it, however the problem here is that the something that happened was not in our favor. So perhaps the Bucs seemed to play better, but when the Stars ended up scoring two goals in the last half of the period it just wasn't good. The first goal was a power play goal and came at 13:35. The second goal was gotten on a rebound. So they went out of the period down 2-0. Not bad for Lincoln considering they have so far failed to do well in the season...also not bad for a home opener.

Third Period

The third period got worse. Though the Bucs got their first goal in this period from Weber (assist to Durak and Sejna) in less than 1 minute. Durak took a shot from the Blue line and Weber put the rebound in. Lincoln also managed to widen the gap a little bit. Not long after this goal at all the Stars scored their third goal when they shot it right over Mantua. Though Sejna argued that one of our players had gotten dropped, nothing came of it and the goal was given to them. With twelve minutes in the period left to go Keith Door scored a power play goal and they were ahead 4-1. At 8:09 Sejna took matters into his own hands and waltzed around Lincoln to put the puck in the net (assist to Alex Kim). Unfortunately that would be the last thing that went well for the Bucs. After that Lincoln would go on to get a score of 8-2. They got a couple of late power play goals at the end of the period that gave them their lead. Very disappointing for a team that has some obvious talent, on the other hand good for Lincoln and their fans who hadn't won a game. A few loses I feel is definitely healthy. Written by Sarah Bendy.

Bucs escape with 4-3 overtime win

Des Moines, IA (10/9/99): The Bucs responded to last nights loss by taking a 2 goal lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Fighting Saints did not panic and fought back to tie the game midway through the second period at 3 goals each. The teams battled throughout the third period but were unable to score.

Dubuque seemed to have the momentum for the first 2 minutes of the overtime when Troy Riddle stole the puck and raced towards the Dubuque net. His first shot was stopped but he got the rebound and passed to Rob Novak who put it in the wide-open net for the win.

Kim (Unassisted), Larranaga (PP) (Kim, Sejna), Sejna (Unassisted) and Novak (Riddle) scored for the Bucs.

Outshot by 21, Bucs lose 1 - 2

Des Moines, IA (10/16/99): The Bucs played Team USA to a 1-1 standoff in the first period, but were outshot by 21 in the next two periods. Mike Mantua started in goal, but was ejected from the game with 5 minutes left in the first period after crossing the red line to fight the opposing goalie. Newly acquired Paul Morrisey finished the game making 30 saves and kept the score respectable with his excellent play. The Bucs will regroup for a 6:05 home game Sunday with Twin Cities, then leave for a 4 game road trip.

Miller (Schabes, Dolder) scored for the Bucs.

Pre Game

I was going to go out Saturday night, but had a guilty conscience and ended up at the game just a few minutes into the first period. Though I know I would have had a blast going out, I am glad I didn't miss this game. This was one of those games that goes down in history and is talked about for weeks, possibly months later! It was also going to be one of the longest games I've been to in quite awhile. I just want to say to all those people who missed the game...I pity you poor losers! However for those who really are desperate to see some of the action... Mark caught some good footage of one of the rare occurrences tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if the thing catches like wildfire, just the like the famous Phillpott fight!

First

Though we would get the first goal, it did not mean we were on top of things. Kelly Miller would get this goal at 6:48 (assist to Justin Schabes and Kyle Dolder). The next goal would come at 13:34, but it would be from Team USA this time. Jon Waibel did these honors (assist to Keith Ballard). With five minutes left in the period, my thoughts were that we looked awful. Shots for us were sad and Team USA seemed to beat us to every puck. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I was totally surprised at what would happen next! What started it all was Mantua getting slashed while he was out of the net. Unfortunately Mike couldn't be happy with just a little shove to the guy, he had to plaster him to the ice and attack him. When Mantua left the back of the net to set up domain up front again, it was to attack the next USA player that skated over his crease. After this he skated out, as though to get some fresh air and get away from the play, instead he ended up skating all the way to the other side to fight with the opposing goalie. I think Mantua may have won that one. There was plenty of confusion after this, and you can imagine how loud the crowd was. Anyway Mantua ended up getting tossed from the game, because he had crossed the red-line, the other goalie doing plenty of enticing, but not much movement towards Mantua. Of course the fans all booed this, they probably thought Pannoni should be tossed too. However with the way Mike had handled the whole affair, I really think it was right that he be tossed! I may be the only one that thinks this way, but in all fairness, the kid lost his temper and made the rest of the team handle his mistake. A whole lot of team comradarie there. Of course you can imagine that some of the other Bucs had to get into the fray and it was just an all out mess. Most likely with so much going on in so many directions the officials were a little worried. Anyway what ended up happening was that the new goalie Morrisey was put in, basically he was baptized, unexpectedly that night.

Second

I wish there was more action in the second period. But there were only two things of interest that I noted. One was how the USA goalie, Pannoni, really got into his music. Bouncing to it, hitting the net, basically preparing himself to the beat. The other bit of interest that happened was that the glass ended up shattering as two guys ran into it. This happened with 11:08 left in the period and down on the south side. I think most of the glass shattered towards the ice, but everything just kind of froze and all the players backed away real quickly. The officials were none to happy. Because this would practically be another intermission for us. It was amazing how quickly the maintenance crew got out there and started scooping up the glass in big shovels and into buckets. Luckily there was nobody really sitting right behind the glass. The glass was replaced and the game went on. With about four minutes left in the period USA scored again. They were up 2-1 and unfortunately we would never gain any of the momentum we may have once had.

Third

The third period really went down the drains. Not just on the ice, most everyone I saw milling around in the second intermission looked tired. After all the game was late by practically a full forty minutes. It got so bad that even when "Let's go Bucs" was being flashed on the TV above the scoreboard, not a single fan seemed willing to rise to the occasion. I have nothing much to say about this period. We took a timeout with about 2 minutes left in the game, but it did us very little good. I'll say one last thing before I sign off for the night...the total shots were 48 for USA and 26 for us. Need I say more? Written by Sarah Bendy.

Vulcans Bury Bucs

Des Moines, IA (10/17/99): The Bucs lost their second home game in a row in a big way: 10 to 1. The Vulcans jumped out to a 3 goal lead in the first period and added 2 more quick goals early in the second to put the game away. The Bucs lone goal came with just 4 minutres left in the game when Matt Weber put in a rebound of Peter Sejna shot. Mantua and Morrisey shared duties in goal. Weber (Sejna) scored for the Bucs.

Pre Game

What a game this was to be, and really I was so disgusted I didn't even want to think about it. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to get all depressed because we lose a few. We've had a great couple of seasons, but I know that it's entirely possible to have a bad season. I'm not going to cry, because I have other things that I could concentrate on. Like what I could be watching on TV instead of the game.

First

Though it was a new night and there was hope that we could recover the small ground we lost Saturday night, we were going to taste the sharp taste of frustration again. It seemed an even game in the beginning, but it turned quickly, not in our favor. 8:34 was the first goal of the game, but it would be for Vulcans. It only took four more minutes before the score changed, on a power play at 12:43 Jackman got the second goal (assist to Peterson and Birch). The Vulcans ended up with one more goal at 14:59 from Koalska (Maruk). The period was looking worse and worse. Twin Cities completely domineering the period, if not the game. The Vulcans also had three power play opportunities, to our one. Take a look at the shots and then you can tell me how bad it looked. Shots on Goal: Twin Cities 14 - Buccaneers 3.

Second

The second became as disappointing as the first. There were four more goals scored in it, and none of them were for us. All that cheering was the entire Twin Cities bench, probably happy to be beating (and beating to a pulp) the great Des Moines team. Well, the first goal was a power play goal from Peterson. After that came Maruk, and Peterson again, and finally Thompson. All that just in the second period, there would be more in the next chapter. I almost forgot to mention that Mantua was changed for Morrisey in the second.

Third

The final period, thank goodness, and much the same thoughts of most of the people at the arena. Maruk got another goal and this was just at the beginning of the period. So much for us hopefully coming out strong and just trying to have one good period. Some very bad penalties were taken in this period by the Bucs, a result of frustration I suppose. Finally after 2 and a half minutes of a power play in favor of Twin Cities they came up with their ninth goal, from Birch. The Vulcans would make it ten before we would even get our first goal, and this was at 12:26. Finally Weber (assist to Sejna) got us our only goal with a little under four minutes left in the period. Let's just hope that we can do better in our two away games next weekend! I'll be away in Michigan that weekend, but will be cheering from afar! Written by Sarah Bendy.

Bucs lose heartbreaker in OT

Green Bay, WI (10/22/99): It only took 40 seconds for Jerrid Reinholz to score the first of his two goals and things were looking good. Midway through the second period the Bucs enjoyed a 4 - 1 lead and it appeared the Bucs would end their losing streak.

However, the Gamblers fought back sending the game into overtime. The Bucs came out on fire and Sejna and Riddle nearly ended the game early. With 34 seconds remaining in OT Green Bay scored to win the game.

Reinholz (Sejna, Riddle), Reinholz (PP) (Riddle, Sejna), Riddle (PP) (Reinholz, Sejna) and Sejna (Unassisted) scored for the Bucs.

Pre Game

The buzz in the Guest Book and in Buc land is the recent 2 game losing streak. It is only two games but it is news because it is so rare. When was the last time you can remember that we lost two games in a row? Last season we did drop two in a row (Rochester and Sioux City) in March. To put this in perspective, we had won 10 in a row before those losses and we did win the rest of the regular season games. In 1994-95, which was the first year for Scott Owens, we dropped 4 in a row. So how will the Bucs respond to these losses in the face of 4 straight tough road games? We shall see very soon.

First Period

I have gotten used to this team starting slow so I was very surprised when we lit the lamp in just 40 seconds. Troy Riddle surprised the defense with his speed and got a quick shot off that the goalie stopped. Unfortunately he left a rebound that Jerrid Reinholz put in the net. The assist went to Peter Sejna. What a start! Unfortunately, Green Bay scored less than 2 minutes later on a powerplay - a powerplay that is one of the best in the USHL.

The Bucs actually scored a powerplay goal with 11:28 left in the period. No, that is not a mis-print, the Bucs actually scored a powerplay goal! Jerrid Reinholz got the honors with assists to Troy Riddle and Peter Sejna. The Bucs were back on top 2 to 1. Green Bay came right back with several quality shots on Mike Mantua, who came up big to keep them off the board. The Bucs regained control and the period ended with the Bucs dominating play. Although the shots on goal were about the same, the Bucs were in control. Saves for Green Bay - 10, Des Moines 11.

Second Period

The Bucs came out strong again and soon found themselves on a powerplay. Coach Carroll had jokingly remarked that he wished he could refuse the man advantage, but tonight the Bucs were much better. With just 6 seconds left on the powerplay Peter Sejna and Jerrid Reinholz set up Troy Riddle who beat Scott cleanly to make it 3 to 1. The Bucs were on the roll. A minute later Mark Mullen hit Ryan Kirchhoff with a perfect pass and Ryan skated in all alone on Scott. He shot and was robbed!

With 7:05 left in the period Peter Sejna skated in and scored with a quick wrist-shot. With that, Green Bay changed goalies. The Bucs were up 4 to 1, but would not score again.

Two minutes later Mantua was caught off-guard and let in what appeared to be an easy shot. Mantua made up for it when he poked the puck away from Stauffacher before he could shoot on a break away. Green Bay scored on another powerplay with three minutes left in the period as a shot from the blue-line was re-directed into the net. The Bucs fought back and almost scored in the last minute of play.

Third Period

Both teams were skating and shooting well. With 6 minutes gone in the period Green Bay's Swanson scored and the game was tied. Both teams knew it was a new game and they played like it. Kirchhoff, who had been playing well all night was robbed again at the mid-point and it was a dog-fight the rest of the period. In the last 5 minutes both teams had a chance to win it but both goaltenders were on their game. Rob Novak was robbed with just 4 minutes left. Time expired and we were going into overtime.

Overtime

When the puck was dropped, the Bucs were skating like they wanted to end the game - now! Troy Riddle and Peter Sejna both got shots off in the first 18 seconds. I thought for sure a blast from Dominic Toretti was in the net, but it was stopped. In the last 2 minutes of overtime both teams opened it up. Mantua had two back-to-back tough saves and then the Bucs came back with shots from Peter Sejna and Miroslav Durak. It was Green Bay's Eichelberger that ended the game with just 34 seconds left.

We may have lost this game and it is now a three game losing streak, but I am not worried. If the Bucs continue to play like they did tonight we will do well. Written by Steve Bendy.

Durak (unassisted) and Riddle (Sejna) scored for the Bucs.

Pre Game

The Bucs are set to play their second of four straight road games, and it has not gone well for the Bucs so far. The Bucs have played well but they have not played well consistently. As a result, the Bucs are looking at matching a 4 game losing streak set by the talented but ill-fated 1995-96 team. Their is a lot of speculation about this team and why they are performing the way they are, but from the stands it looks like they are not performing as a team. Sometimes it looks like they are not having any fun out there. In any case, there are a lot of games left and I am not going to get on their case just because they are not winning as much as I would like. I know their are a lot of frustrated fans out there, but I also talk to a lot of fans that are not so caught up in the pain of losing.

First Period

The Bucs are at the bottom of the league in special teams statistics and you could see why as Sioux City scored a powerplay goal with 7:57 gone in the first period. The Bucs were not playing badly at this point but they still were not putting sustained pressure on the Sioux City net. Miroslav Durak scored his first goal of the regular season with a wicked slap shot that looked as if it would rip the back of the net off. It might have if the puck would not have hit the back of the post with a loud clang that could be heard clearly in the stands. Miroslav got the goal as Sioux City was trying to clear the puck from their zone. The period ended in a 1-1 tie and both goalies had 9 saves each.

Second Period

Sioux City wasted no time in getting their second goal as Lukas Fiala beat Morrisey with just 18 seconds gone in the period. Lukas is from the Czech Republic. Five minutes into the period the Bucs were working on their fifth powerplay the result of a boarding call. The powerplay was killed off as so many have been this season and the Bucs slipped further in their powerplay standings.

With 6:18 gone in the period Chris Olsgard scored a short-handed goal, the result of sloppy passing by our defensive core. The Musketeers were now winning by 3 to 1. The goal seemed to wake up the Bucs and less than two minutes later Troy Riddle crashed the net, got a rebound and brought the Bucs within one goal. The rough play continued by Sioux City and finally Paul Baumgartner had enough and squared off with Chad Nordhagen. Chad is 6' 3" and 205 pounds, while Paul is 6' 2" and 215. When they squared off, the officials just let them go at it. Blow after blow was exchanged as they stood up and wailed on each other. Finally, they tired and the officials broke the fight up. The period ended with Sioux City outshooting the Bucs by 5 shots.

Third Period

Tyler Palmiscno scored with 2:35 gone in the period and after that it was all Musketeers. The Bucs had two more powerplays but only got one shot off. The period wound down and it was obvious that the Bucs were going to lose their fourth in a row. They did. The Bucs ended up being outshot 32 to 25. It is on to Fargo, for two road games. We will see you there. Written by Steve Bendy.

Bucs win thriller in Fargo

Fargo, ND: (10/29/99): The Bucs ended their 4 game losing streak with a 3 - 1 victory over Fargo Friday night. Both goaltenders (Mantua and Ferguson) were hot and turned away shot after shot as both teams played a wide-open game that would normally have generated lots of goals. The Bucs finally pulled ahead with 1:37 left in the game and scored an empty-netter with 42 seconds left.

Riddle (Sejna, Kim), Reinholz (Riddle, Baumgartner) and Sejna (EN) (Unassisted) scored for the Bucs.

Pre Game

I realized this morning, that lately, my creativity has been completely stunted. I had to ask myself why I still write these game Rants, when it seems that there is no more thrill in it for me. I haven't even tried to do something that pushes the limits of what I thought I could do. Writing was something I believed in wholeheartedly for so long, but it has slowly died within me. My own fault I know. I've been told I couldn't go anywhere with it, haven't had support, and life has been eaten up by other worries, problems, and heartaches. So if it kills me, I'm going to try to make it magic again. If I still find it has nothing left in it, maybe I'll quit completely. Perhaps I'm just in one of those moods where I have to seriously take into account where I'm going in life and what I really think I'm doing. Nothing is ever as it seems.

Well after a four game losing streak, we were once again on the road. This time in Fargo. Though we've dominated in the past, that by no means meant we would tonight. All we could hope for was a strong appearance by the Bucs, whether we won or lost. Because at least strength would be something, and where there is a spark there could be a fire. A weekend in Fargo could most likely give us an unspeakable amount of confidence, or it could drive us into the depths of morbidity.

First

In the small town of Fargo, where you can "watch your dog run away for two days*", we were going to spend a weekend. A long, possibly sleepless weekend. And the Bucs did come out strong, for the first period. Though by the end of the period the score was still the same, 0-0. Perhaps the complete evenness throughout the game speaks of what type of game it was. A hard-fought, goalies game. Mantua and Ferguson, facing off the entire game. There were several penalties throughout the period, a few stupid ones, but nothing that would ultimately hurt us (or Fargo). One thing of interest was the lack of icing calls in this period. The period ended with Des Moines being outshot by Fargo.

Second

You poor Buccaneer fans have nothing more to talk about then grammar and taxes and meanwhile I have bitter fans writing me and telling me I suck, it'll be good to have the Bucs back home on the ice next week. The second period picked up quite a bit, though by the end of it the score was still as even as before. Only this time we each had one more point. Sejna was outstanding during this period and really made things happen. Though Troy Riddle came out of the penalty box strong and got us our first goal at 16:28 (assists to Sejna and Kim). With a little over a minute left in the game the Sharks scored a goal to tie it up. It was a power play goal (their sixth power play) that came from Anderson.

Third

Though the game picked up to a better level of hockey in the third period, my own body was so worn and weary that I was ready to drop. The only thing I could think about was that at the end of the period I was going to bed. Nothing sounded sweeter then to escape everything into hopeful peacefulness. Through my dazed weariness I was impressed by the performance of the goalies though. It was becoming steadily clearer that neither of them wanted to make a mistake. It was also becoming steadily clearer that they were both hot. I had to wonder though if they could keep the level up for Saturday night. They're going to have to be tired for that one. With three minutes left I was beginning to think we were going to hit an overtime period and be playing for a good long while before somebody would let something in. But with 97 seconds left in the third period Reinholz scored (assist to Riddle and Baumgartner). Though Christian did not call a time out, he did pull Ferguson after this. Sejna would get the empty-net goal at 19:18. We would go on to win the game 3-1, with Mantua stopping 36 of 37 shots and Ferguson 35 of 37. Des Moines 3 - Fargo 1. Written by Sarah Bendy.

Two in a row for Bucs

Fargo, ND (10/30/99): Fargo gave the Bucs a wake-up call by scoring in the first 55 seconds; the Bucs responded by scoring four unanswered goals to win 4 - 2. The Bucs converted on 2 of 7 powerplays while turning away 8 of 10 Fargo attempts. Mike Mantua faced 32 Fargo shots for the Bucs.

Sejna (PP) (Larranaga, Kim), Riddle (Mullen, Kirchhoff), Kirchhoff (Torretti, Weber) and Riddle (PP) (Mullen, Baumgartner) scored for the Bucs.

Pre Game

My oh my, now you know why your mother told you never to date an artist. I am of course speaking of Sarah's last rant where she had more than a dose of the blues. As an aside, did you know that the French use the expression "I have the cockroach in my mouth" instead of "I have the blues"? I guess it makes sense - it is a romantic language.

Speaking of romance, it seems that some of the Buc faithful have been having a hard time with the recent losses. The Guest Book is full of comments from Buc fans and foes. All I can say is enough of this, let's talk hockey.

First Period

Freinds and foes may think many things of Mike Mantua, but they would all have to agree that he is passionate about what he does. With less than a minute gone in the game Mike cleared the puck over the glass picking up a penalty for his effort. Lundbohm wasted no time in scoring a powerplay goal for the Ice Sharks. The Bucs left no doubt that they were not happy with this turn of events as Ryan Kirchhoff and Matt Weber were playing like madmen. Both were crashing the net and putting pressure on Ferguson. Unfortunately, Ferguson was having another good night and the light would not go on. Meanwhile, Mantua was also on his game keeping the Ice Sharks off the board.

The Bucs evened the score at 10:51 when Alex Kim and Felipe Larranaga teamed up with Peter Sejna to score a powerplay goal. Sejna lifted it over Ferguson's shoulder with a quick wrist shot.

Second Period

The second period was barely underway when the officials got out the rule book to determine if their should be a penalty on an Ice Shark for playing without a helmet. They decided not to call him for it - why I don't know. Does anyone remember a couple of years ago when ChristianVon Trzcinski was called for playing without a helmet? I don't what caused Paul Baumgartner to get so riled up, but he dropped his gloves and got a couple of punches in on Nelson before the officials broke it up. They both got the box for high sticking. High sticking? Speaking of penalties, Mantua was called for shooting the puck over the glass. Stupid.

At 9:24 Ryan Kirchhoff was again working very hard, got a shot off that almost went in. Mark Mullen got the rebound and fed Troy Riddle for the score. The Bucs were now in the lead, 2-1. The Bucs scored 15 seconds later as Ryan Kirchhoff was finally rewarded for his hard work the last couple of games. Assists went to Dominic Torretti and Matt Weber. The Bucs got a powerplay 20 seconds later but were unable to score.

With 7 minutes left in the period the Bucs killed off an Ice Shark two-man advantage. The Bucs scored the next goal on a powerplay to make it 4 - 1. Troy Riddle got the goal assisted by Mark Mullen and Paul Baumgartner.

Third Period

The Bucs started the period with a penalty and both teams were playing as if they were tired. The only goal came midway through the period on an Ice Shark powerplay. As the clock ticked down it was obvious that Fargo was not going to be able to pull off a comeback. They pulled their goalie with 2 minutes left when the Bucs were called for apenalty. Mantua tried to bag another empty-netter, but his shot went wide.

The period ended and the Bucs had earned two road victories and look to be back on track, playing as a team. By the way, Sarah's joke about watching your dog run away for two days (in Fargo) came from Coach Owens. Just thought you would want to know. Written by Steve Bendy.