Welcome to the sixth entry to the Johnnie Hockey Blog. We had quite the weekend series against the University of St. Thomas. This year we have played rival UST three times and in all three games we have ended regulation play in ties (see the games and scores below). Both games this past weekend were very entertaining as both games ended in 2-2 ties leading into the OT and ultimately the deciding shootouts.
Saturday, October 31st
(Schwan’s Super Rink)
4-4 SJU wins shootout 2-1
Friday, January 29th
(Home Game)
2-2 UST wins shootout 0-1
Saturday, January 30th
(At UST)
2-2 SJU wins shootout 4-3
The game on Friday took place at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The pace of the game was back and forth with both teams taking turns controlling the play. In my opinion, SJU was the better team that night. SJU outshot UST 37-34 and in watching video, I felt we had the better scoring chances. SJU took the lead with yet another goal by #17 Mitch Fritz from #28 Sam Valerius. UST then scored the next two goals to take a 2-1 lead after two periods. We entered the third period with confidence seeing as we were able to score seven third period goals the previous week against Bethel. With that confidence we were able to come back and tie the game 2-2 on a goal from #18 Neal Smith. The game stayed tied through overtime sending the game into a shootout. The shootout went seven rounds and 14 shooters before UST got the shootout win and the extra point in the MIAC standings.
The game on Saturday took place at the St. Thomas Academy hockey rink in Mendota Heights. This game was very similar to the night before, but in a lot of ways the opposite. In this game I felt that UST was the better team for a most of the game. Fortunately, we had a hot goalie with #29 Saxton Soley in net. SJU scored first with #7 Andrew Commers picking up a great short-handed goal. UST once again scored the next two goals to take the lead late into the third before #11 Kevin Becker scored the tying goal with just over three minutes left in the game. The game ended in a 2-2 tie and went into another shootout. This time it was a shooters night as several of the shooters made adjustments and were able to break past the goalies to score some goals. SJU flipped the page on the night before and were able to win the shootout 4-3 through six rounds. Andrew Commers had a big night in his old high school rink (played at St. Thomas Academy from 2008-2012). Commers scored the first goal and the game winning shootout goal to get SJU the extra point in the MIAC standings.
To recap the points, both teams came out of the weekend with 3 points in the standings and two ties. The shootouts don’t count towards any national stats, and the games are seen as ties for national rankings and seeding. The shootouts are only used for the MIAC standings. Both teams got 2 points for each tie and both teams got an extra point for a shootout win.
I ask you, are you a fan of shootouts? Should the MIAC continue to use shootouts to determine a winner and a loser? I will tell you that I am not a fan of shootouts. Yes, I like watching them in the NHL from a fan’s perspective, but we are not the NHL and we do not play an 82 game regular season. As a coach I don’t feel that that shootouts should determine things like making playoffs, or having home ice in the playoffs. The MIAC went to this three-point format a couple years ago to try and spread out the teams in the standings. Unfortunately, we only play 16 regular season games and the teams continue to stay bunched up in the standings. With the parity in the MIAC getting better and better, this will not change. I’m sure this will be a discussion once again at our MIAC meetings, but I have a hard time supporting the shootout in a 16 game regular season.
Thank you for your support of Johnnie Hockey. We have this weekend off, then head to Winona to take on St. Mary’s on February 12th and 13th before finishing up regular season play against Augsburg on February 19th and 20th. This will be an exciting ending to the MIAC schedule so keep your eyes on the standings.
