Can We?

-- After receiving negative press for failed attempts at dressing like sitcom characters

and questionable recruiting practices by the female population of Colorado College,
the ever-creative CC hockey team will now try donning flaming striped outfits for home
games and hope to avoid being mauled by members of opposing teams... --

I just checked my sitemeter thinger, and it looks like people are actually checking this site as if there were something worth reading here. Amazing what a well-thought out post can do for you, eh? Anyway, this will probably be the most important weekend for the Huskies for a while here. And, lucky for us, the team is starting off the year with a rash of more than interesting injuries. Word on the street is John Schwarz injured himself pretty good during practice and might not be skating this weekend, and Michael Licktieg may also be taking an extended leave of absence due to injury. I haven't dug enough to confirm any of these rumors, but it also sounds like Kitti and Angelow are possible returners after sitting out the first three games of the year.

I don't know a whole lot about this year's CC team, except that last year Richard Bachmann was one of the best goaltenders in the nation, and in his freshman year. Unless he sufferes direly from the sophomore slump, he should be quite the challenge while he is in net. Future Toronto Maple Leaf (or, more appropriately, lifetime Toronto Marlie) Chad Rau is the other player to watch out for, his line will likely be producing points unless what's left of the Huskies defense can eliminate their skill advantage. Beyond those two, I don't pay a whole lot of attention out west, so I guess I fail at that.

On the Husky side of the ice, everything seems to be sitting on the shoulders of one Rob Nolan. For some reason, everyone seems to be predicting certain doom come Friday, solely for the fact that Robby will be in net. I'm a bit more hopeful, since he got peppered in the early stages of the NMU game by huge defensive gafes, and I have a feeling he (like the majority of our fanbase) blamed himself and wasn't mentally in the game. I still know he has what it takes to win, and you can all call me fools after this weekend if he blows it, but I seriously doubt he will. This team would be foolish to not realize what is on the line, and they usually step up in the face of adversity at the level we're at this weekend, so if we can go a few more than 30 seconds before letting in a goal, I think we can grind out two respectable games.

I haven't talked much about offense yet, and I don't really know what all I can talk about. I hate it when the Huskies play their shutdown, pure defense game, because I think they'd be much better served by making the opposition run in circles than forcing themselves to chase after the puck in their own zone. I'm going to go super-general here and just say that Michigan Tech needs to settle down and play smart hockey without trying super-fancy baloney, and without turning the puck over every five seconds.

I think its safe to say that I would very much enjoy seeing these two games. There are still a crapload of question marks around this team, but for some reason I've cautiously optimistic about this weekend. We've had years with explosive starts that turn out to be shameful, and this year we're starting out a little shakier, but with some visible potential, so hopefully I'm just not reading things completely wrong. I'll see what I can do about updating things after Friday, but Edmonton and Calgary are going at it for the first time this season, and if I can get a TV feed, I might be a bit distracted. I'll leave you with a little wisdom from my childhood though...