Saturday, March 8, 2014

Martinson Post Game Comments, Zion Injured, Allen vs St. Charles, Women In Pro Hockey

The Missouri Mavericks are 22-6-2 this season when scoring the first goal of the game so when Sebastien Thinel scored the first goal of the game last night at 14:28 of the first period the odds were already stacked against an injury riddled Allen Americans team that gave the Mavericks all they could handle. When Missouri also got the only goal of the second period to take a 2-0 lead after two periods, you could here Dandy Don Meredith singing, "Turn Out The Lights, The Party Is Over, as the Mavericks record when leading after two periods now stands at 27-1-1. Greger Hanson got the lone goal for Allen in the third period and Missouri got an empty net goal with two seconds left in the game to seal a 3-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 5800 at the Independence Event Center. With no rest for the injured and weary the team got on the bus immediately after the game to make the short drive (220 miles) to St. Charles where they will take on the Chill tonight (Saturday) at 7:05 pm.

STEVE MARTINSON POST GAME COMMENTS:

- The power play was a let down tonight as we did not score on four power opportunities. They block more shots than we do but some of our decisions makes it easy for them to block our shots.

- We did not do good job of controlling the puck in our offensive zone as we need to be stronger on the forecheck.

- I thought the real difference in the game is they got one more shot through to the net than we did.

- We have four forwards who will be much stronger in another week. Maiani and Graham are still playing themselves into game shape and there are a couple of forwards playing with injuries. When we get Bootland and Kerbashian healthy we will have a strong group of forwards heading into the playoffs.

- The injury that Jon Zion sustained is a concern as we are very thin right now on defense. He has a lower body injury and is doubtful for tomorrow (Saturday).

- Jamie Schaafsma did a great job filling on defense. He will be playing defense again in St. Charles.

- I haven't decided for sure but Bryan Pitton will probably start in goal on Saturday with Eric Levine starting on Sunday.


OTHER COMMENTS:

- The Americans held the number one power play unit in the CHL scoreless in five power play opportunities last night.

- With the victory last night Missouri finishes the season with a 5-2 record against Allen and now has ten more points (76) in the standings than the Americans (66 points).

- With the loss Allen (66 points) slips to fourth place in the standings behind Missouri (76 points), Rapid City (69 points), and Denver (68) points who all won their games last night.

- Allen is 4-0 against St. Charles this season and it is really important to get four points against the team with the worst record in the CHL. However, it won't be easy as St. Charles did not play last night and Allen is dealing with numerous injuries. The Chill may still be recovering from the norovirus that struck the team earlier in the week. The Chill have lost seventeen of their last eighteen games and have not won since the end of January.

-  Here is the team comparison with St. Charles:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  St. Charles Chill           Allen Americans   
RESULT OF LAST GAME               LOSS  1-7 vs ARZ            LOSS  1-3 vs MIZ  
GAMES PLAYED                      55                          54                
RECORD                            10-39-6                     31-19-4           
POINTS                            26                          66                
HOME RECORD                       6-19-4                      16-8-3            
AWAY RECORD                       4-20-2                      15-11-1           
SHO RECORD                        3-5                         4-3               
LAST 10 GAMES                     0-9-1                       5-5-0             
LAST 5 GAMES                      0-4-1                       4-1-0             
OCTOBER                           1-3-1                       5-0-1             
NOVEMBER                          2-7-3                       7-6-0             
DECEMBER                          4-10-0                      5-4-1             
JANUARY                           3-8-1                       8-1-2             
FEBRUARY                          0-9-1                       5-7-0             
MARCH                             0-2-0                       1-1-0                          
SCORING FIRST                     4-9-1                       18-6-3            
LEADING AFTER 1ST                 1-5-1                       13-6-0            
LEADING AFTER 2ND                 4-5-3                       19-2-3            
TIED AFTER 1ST                    6-11-3                      10-4-3            
TIED AFTER 2ND                    4-6-0                       10-4-1            
TRAILING AFTER 1ST                3-23-2                      8-9-1             
TRAILING AFTER 2ND                2-28-3                      2-13-0            
WHEN OUTSHOOTING OPPONENT         2-12-3                      14-10-1           
1 - GOAL GAMES                    6-11-6                      13-3-4            
GOALS FOR PER GAME                2.40                        3.61              
GOALS AGAINST PER GAME            4.04                        3.24              
SHOTS FOR PER GAME                29.02                       33.13             
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME            33.67                       32.70             
POWER PLAY RECORD                 41 - 267   15.4%            50 - 271   18.5%  
PENALTY KILLING RECORD            53 - 273   80.6%            50 - 288   82.6%  
SH GOALS FOR                      7                           9                 
SH GOALS AGAINST                  6                           8                 
PIM AVERAGE                       18.25                       23.46             


SCORING BY PERIODS    1ST  2ND  3RD  OT  TOTAL  
St. Charles           34   52   42   4   132    
Opponents             62   67   87   6   222    
                      
Allen                 56   73   61   5   195    
Opponents             54   52   65   4   175    


- Referee Jake Brenk had another tough outing last night culminating with a call on Jonathan Lessard for an "obscene language" penalty the with two seconds remaining in the game. Brenk has gotten a reputation for calling obscene language penalties. Brenk then called a bench minor on Richard Matvichuk for disputing the call and he also gave Mativichuk a game misconduct penalty. Guess who is assigned as the referee in St. Charles tonight. You got it, Jake Brenk. Brenk won't have any encounters with Matvichuk tonight as he will not be at the game. Richard will be in Dallas to participate in the Mike Modano jersey retirement ceremony.

- Rapid City cooled off the hottest team in the CHL as the handily beat the Tulsa Oilers last night in Tulsa by a score of 5-2. They play again tonight.

- Denver score two shorthanded goals twelve seconds apart on the way to a 3-1 lead after the first period in Brampton last night but the Beast game back to tie the score and send it into overtime. The game went to a shoot out which lasted nine frames before Denver won.

- Today is the final day of the Minnesota boys high school hockey tournament. Brian McMillin's Roseau Rams play in the consolation championship game at noon against Duluth East. These are two northern Minnesota teams with Duluth having a student enrollment four times as large as Roseau. Go Rams!

- The finals will be played tonight (7:00 pm) at the Xcel Energy Center (home of the NHL Minnesota Wild) before a standing room only crowd that should exceed 18,000. The championship game is between two Minneapolis suburban schools. The #1 seed Edina Hornets are eleven time state champions and they take on the #2 seed Lakeville North Panthers who will be in their first championship final. It will be quite the spectacle including a huge statewide TV audience with Gary Thorne and Lou Nanne on the call.

- The Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) announced the signing of goaltender Shannon Szabados, a two-time gold medalist with the Canadian National Hockey Team.
Szabados joins the Cottonmouths after a successful defense of Team Canada's gold medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where they defeated the United States in a dramatic come from behind victory.
The Edmonton, AB, Canada native is a former teammate of current Columbus players Jordan Draper, Andy Willigar and Captain Kyle Johnson at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
Szabados' signing will make her the first female to play hockey in the Southern Professional Hockey League since its inception ten years ago.
"I am very excited to get a world class athlete that has competed and has faced, high pressured situations. Shannon has won at every level she has played, in women's hockey or men's hockey," head coach Jerome Bechard said. "She won a championship with NATI  last year alongside Andy Willigar and Jordan Draper so I know she can compete at this level.



DID YOU KNOW: With Edmonton’s Shannon Szabados slated to suit up in net for the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Columbus Cottonmouths, here is a look at five women who have played pro hockey against men.
Manon Rheaume
The expansion Tampa Bay Lightning invited the Quebec-born goaltender to training camp in 1992 and became the first — and to this day, only — woman to play in an NHL exhibition game, when she faced the Boston Bruins in one period of action in 1993. Rheaume, now 42, played for seven minor-league teams between 1992 and 1997. She backstopped Canada’s women’s national team to gold medals at world championships in 1992 and 1994 and captured silver at the Nagano Olympics in 1998.
Erin Whitten
The native of Glens Falls, N.Y., was the first female goalie to win a game in a men’s professional hockey when she suited up for the East Coast Hockey League’s Toledo Storm in 1993. Three years later, she took off her pads and skated around the ice for 18 seconds to become the first non-goaltender to play in the pros. The 42-year-old played with four other minor-pro teams and now coaches women’s U.S. college hockey.
Hayley Wickenheiser
Wickenheiser, 35, is considered the greatest women’s hockey player, and has won four gold medals and one silver at the Winter Olympic Games. The Shaunavon, Sask., native was invited to the Philadelphia Flyers’ rookie camps in 1998 and 1999 and became the first woman to register a point in a pro men’s hockey league. In two seasons with Finnish team Salamat in 2003 and 2004, she scored two goals and 11 points. She also attended a Swedish men’s team’s training camp in 2007.
Angela Ruggiero
In what was essentially a publicity stunt, the four-time U.S. Olympian signed a one-game contract with the Tulsa Oilers in 2005 and became the first female skater to play in the Central Hockey League. Playing on the same team as her goaltender brother, Bill, the defenceman assisted on a goal in a 7-2 win. The 34-year-old Harvard graduate quit the U.S. national team in 2011.
Danielle Dube
The one-time Canadian national team goaltender made West Coast Hockey League history in 1995 when she signed a contract with the Bakersfield Condors. But it took seven years before the 37-year-old Vancouver native actually made a regular season appearance with the Long Beach Ice Dogs.

No comments:

Post a Comment