Re: Uaf 7, Uaa 4
Re: Uaf 7, Uaa 4
Thoughts on UAF after being able to watch them in person for the first time in years (the last games I saw of theirs were the two in Minnesota when Mac was head coach and Dallas assistant).
Dallas is a very good coach. The players certainly buy into his system and they seemed very aware of what they were doing on the ice in most situations - they had a few breakdowns - but in the offensive zone they almost always were trying to create plays and seemed smart on the puck. It took UAF a while to find Dallas, but he seems like the kind of coach who might stick with the program for many years and continously have them in the CCHA hunt. What a great find.
The Nanooks top line is better than any other UAF line I've seen. I knew senior Dion Knelsen was young and Taranto was an old freshman, but I didn't actually realize Taranto was older than Knelsen. Taranto is fantastic, UAF will be lucky to have him for one more year if he stays.
Greenham made a few good saves, he looked like he was seeing the puck well early and I thought was in line for a good night, then quickly gave up the two power plays goals. He definitely should not have given up four goals tonight and I expect will be tougher tomorrow.
UAA's Christiansen didn't make any of the difficult saves that you need a netminder to, but still most of the goals were not really bad goals. UAF didn't have a ton of shots, but most of the ones they did were quality shots as the forwards simply walked around the UAA defenders. I was suprised Bryce wasn't pulled after the penalty shot, he looked bad on that, making a move to defend to his left (shooters right) when Brandon K didn't even fake that way before going high on the other side.
Clark was wheeling and making plays for UAA, he could've fit on the Nanooks top line.
From what I saw of UAF tonight I'm surprised they are not a higher scoring team, they certainly have some offensive talent.
On Dallas: Obviously anything can happen, but he definitely doesn't strike me as the type of guy that would build the program up and then bolt as soon as a big program calls (see Guy Gadowsky). The ace on our sleeve, I think, is that Dallas graduated from UAF. He's stated many times before that he wants to stay in Alaska and raise his family here, and from my limited interaction with the man I believe him.
On Taranto: If he does move on to the next level after this year then I wish him all the best, but man losing him and Dion at the same time would hurt. But there is little doubt in my mind that the kid is an NHL-caliber talent, and I'd be surprised if he stays all four years. I do think he could use at least one more year of seasoning at the NCAA level, but we'll see.
On Greenham: I think Scott was rattled by those two quick PP goals in the 1st period. It looked like the wheels were about to come off the bus in a hurry, and then we got that first goal and the whole team settled down, Scott included. I won't lie, when UAA scored those first two in rapid succession I was having visions of the Miami and Michigan debacles.
On Christianson: I posted this on the series thread but I'd be really surprised if Olthius isn't in net for UAA tonight. I don't think Shyiak can justify putting Bryce back out there again after 7 goals. I too was a little bit surprised he wasn't pulled after either the penalty shot or the 5th goal.
On Clark: A heck of a player, and one of those guys that you can't stand if he's not on your side, but love him if he is.
On UAF's Offense: I think the issue is that Dallas is a defensive-minded coach, and preaches defense first. But there's no doubt that we have some great offensive talent on this team. In particular I'm glad that our offense has improved over last year; call me crazy but last season I think we could have been a top-10 team with a decent offense and Chad Johnson in net, but we could just never score goals.
Though it does figure that I pick THIS year to not make the trip. But I'll take it anyway 
LOL! Good luck to everyone tonight......should be a good one!
