Stalock lifts Bulldogs to pivotal victory over Sioux

Alex Stalock was so busy facing 38 shots it seemed unlikely he could let his focus wander anywhere from the Minnesota-Duluth goal. But the junior goaltender said there were times during his team’s 3-1 victory over North Dakota where he enjoyed being a hockey fan.

“The pace was so great, there were a couple times when I thought, ‘Boy, this is fun to watch!’ ” Stalock said.

He insisted that it didn’t matter he lost his bid for a shutout in the third period, and you had to believe him. “I’ve been with some of these guys two or three years,’ Stalock said, “and winning is what we all want, every night. Any time you win, it’s a great feeling.”

But those teammates know better than anyone what Stalock has meant to their chances to win, whether successful or not. And when a game ends up being as huge as the second North Dakota contest, Stalock’s play became Exhibit A in what could be a pivotal turnaround for the Bulldogs.

In baseball, a “stopper” is a pitcher whose talent and consistency can be counted on to stop a slump and turn his team’s momentum upward. In hockey, the term “stopper” is much simpler – it refers to the goaltender, who stops opposing shots, or else.

Alex Stalock, however, proves that a goaltender can meet both definitions.

Against North Dakota, Stalock was very good in Friday’s 2-2 tie with 31 saves against speedy Fighting Sioux. Considering that UMD entered the series with only two victories in 20 games against North Dakota (2-16-2), they had to be impressive to gain the tie. However, the tie also extended the Bulldogs winless streak to an 0-3-2 slide, dropping them to 1-4-3 in the WCHA.

If ever there was need for a stopper of the baseball kind, Stalock responded, seizing the opportunity to kick out 37 Fighting Sioux shots and secure the 3-1 victory for UMD. The Bulldogs had tied Wisconsin the previous week, but, frustrated by Wisconsin’s ability to slow the pace, they fell back and lost the rematch. This time, the series required a much quicker and more forceful performance from the Bulldogs, and Stalock rose to the occasion, losing his shutout only after UMD had built a 3-0 lead.

“Last week (against Wisconsin), we got pinned back in our zone, and we only got three goals for the weekend,” Stalock said. “You’re not going to win many games with only three goals for the weekend.

“Every team in our league is going to come at you, but the pace was much quicker against North Dakota. The difference was we were able to match their pace, and we played so much better along the boards, making passes, and getting the puck out of the zone.”

In the process, by allowing only three goals in 71 shots for the weekend against North Dakota, Stalock snatched the WCHA’s defensive player-of-the-week award again, for the second time this season. The first time was for a 5-1 victory over St. Cloud State at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center on Nov. 1, which was UMD’s last previous victory. If those two victories are bookends of a 2-3-2 month, there was no similarity between the two victories.

At the time UMD beat St. Cloud State, the Huskies were bottoming out of an early-season slump, while North Dakota, despite a shaky start, was flying. Since their first meeting, incidentally, St. Cloud State has apparently coordinated its previously scattered parts onto the same page and, after victories over Denver and Wisconsin the last two weekends, the Huskies head for Duluth to play a Saturday night rematch to complete their set that began at Xcel Center.

For consistency, Stalock was 4-4-4 with a 2.70 goals-against and a .901 save percentage going into Saturday’s game, when he improved on all three statistics, while making his most saves of the season, and expanding his personal streak to 49 consecutive starts – longest streak among all active NCAA Division 1 goaltenders.

Coming into the Sioux series, the Bulldogs played an impressive 3-3 tie against Wisconsin, but lost 4-1 to the Badgers the next night. The lingering after-effect was that the Bulldogs started the first game against the Sioux at the same pace the Badgers had induced, meaning a major adjustment in pace was required to catch North Dakota, which might be the quickest team in the league. For the first 10 minutes, the Bulldogs had to face the choice of quickening their pace, or being content to hook the speedy Sioux and spend the night in the penalty box.

To the Bulldogs credit, they not only tried to jack up their tempo, they were capable of doing it. Not that either team could avoid penalties, as all four goals in the 2-2 game came on power plays. Matt Frattin’s bullet gave UND a 1-0 lead, but MacGregor Sharp tied it for UMD. In the third period, Jason Gregoire put the Sioux up 2-1, but Josh Meyers tied it with 1:30 remaining when his shot hit a defender’s stick and popped up in the air before settling behind Brad Eidsness for the deadlock. The Sioux protested it had been last touched by a high stick, but the officials ruled the high stick belonged to a Sioux defenseman.

In the rematch, the pace started out at the same racehorse tempo, but with a difference. Michael Gergen tipped Trent Palm’s point shot for a power-play goal in the first period, which was the first time UMD had scored the first goal in six games. The most entertaining thing, for the season’s biggest crowd of 5,037 in the DECC, was that the pace of the game was amazingly swift, interrupted only by the near-constant stream of penalties.

“They might have outplayed us in the second period,” Stalock said. “But we wanted a break, and we got it.”

Late in the second period, the Bulldogs made a quick-counter rush as Jack Connolly sent Justin Fontaine flying up the right side, and Fontaine’s 2-on-1 feed put Jordan Fulton in the clear for a pretty goal. That also was the only goal of the weekend that came with both teams at full strength. With Stalock kicking out everything the Sioux threw at him, the Bulldogs had an improbable 2-0 lead at the second intermission.

When the third period opened, MacGregor Sharp scored on the power play at 0:52, and it went to 3-0. The Sioux charged and charged again, but Stalock repelled everything until 12:32, when defenseman Chay Genoway – who seemingly was making great plays all over the ice all weekend – generated the play resulting in Brad Miller’s power-play goal to break the shutout.

“I thought we played well in the first game, but we knew we had to play even better in the second,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “And we did that. We knew the team that pushes the pace of the game would win, and when we needed a big save, Al was there.

“The first period was fun to watch, and in the second, that guy kept us in the lead. Then we got a big goal to start the third period, and Al had to make some big saves to end it.”
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Sandelin downplayed the satisfaction he must have been feeling for beating the North Dakota team where he was assistant coach until getting the UMD job. “It’s always fun to beat good teams,” he smiled.
The victory could be a springboard to better things for a UMD team, which, by every measurement, looks improved over last season. A few goals for, and the same tight goals-against, thanks to Stalock, is the perfect recipe.

A year ago, the Bulldogs were 9-14-5 for eighth place in the WCHA and 13-17-6 overall. For the entire season, they scored only 74 goals – barely over 2 goals per game, the fewest total goals by any UMD team since 1967-68, when the ‘Dawgs scored only 71 goals. But they played eight fewer games back then, so last year’s tally was worse, by more than half-a-goal per game.

But even during the 2007-08 doldrums, the Bulldogs gave up only 91 goals in all games (2.53 goals per game) – UMD’s all-time low in 47 years of Division 1 hockey. The reason, of course, was attributable to a solid defensive corps, but mainly to No. 32, goaltender Alex Stalock.

Stalock started every game last season and his 2.35 goals-against average was equally as impressive as his .914 save percentage, both of which are the second best in UMD single-season history to Josh Johnson, who mostly split the job in 2006-07 with Stalock. Because of UMD’s lack of success, Stalock mostly suffered in oblivion last season, even though he was named the league’s defensive player of the week three times. As he has matured, Stalock also has tempered the wandering puck-handler reputation he developed at South St. Paul hockey and in the USHL. He backed off of it after an…uh…exciting start to his UMD career two years ago, and now he stickhandles to clear more judiciously.

“When I get the chance to play the puck, I do it,” Stalock said. “I’ve always used it to our advantage.”

As this season of compressed competitiveness continues, every WCHA team needs two things: to score more goals, and to cut down goals-against. But as UMD seeks to move up in the standings, the Bulldogs needs are more simplified. They only need to score more goals, because Alex Stalock has a handle on the goals-against, mostly with saves, but occasionally with zone-clearing passes.

Bulldogs shine while Huskies sputter in 5-1 Xcel romp

It was called the Minnesota College Hockey Showcase, so both the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and St. Cloud State Huskies put evidence of how they started the season on display when their half of the doubleheader went to the Dawgs, so to speak. UMD kept up its dramatically improved scoring, while St. Cloud State seemed to find the Yo-yo technique known as the “Sleeper,” as the Bulldogs claimed a 5-1 victory.

It seems like only a year ago when the Bulldogs couldn’t score goals. In fact, it WAS only a year ago. Only once, last season, did UMD score as many as five goals in a game, and after that 5-3 nonconference victory over Bemidji State, the Dawgs scored only 29 goals in their remaining 19 games – an average of 1.05 goals per game, during which time they were shut out five times, and scored only one goal on six other occasions.

For the whole 13-17-6 season, UMD was blanked six times and scored one goal on 10 other occasions. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they won one game 1-0, and tied two others 1-1.

UMD had another one of those 1-1 ties at Alaska-Anchorage in the second game of their weekend series before to the Showcase, but in the four games prior to the Anchorage tie, the Bulldogs had scored five goals twice and six once — 19 goals in four games. After losing 4-3 and tying 1-1 at Anchorage, they regained their scoring touch with their five-spot against St. Cloud State., meaning they have scored five or more on four occasions in their first seven games this season.

“It was frustrating last year,” acknowledged Nick Kemp, who scored the second UMD goal against St. Cloud. “But we decided we weren’t going to worry about what happened last year. It’s always fun to play at home, but it was great playing here. We wanted to outscore themn on the power play.”

UMD has been getting goals from an assortment of players, as well. Matt Greer got his first of the season by rapping in a rebound for a 1-0 first-period lead against the Huskies. “The first goal was very important,” said Greer. “We’ve been working on our power play and penalty kill, and it was good to see us come through on both.”

Kemp got his second with a one-timer off MacGregor Sharp’s pass from deep on the right side to open the second, then Josh Meyers moved in from the point to score a power play goal, and freshman Mike Connolly got his third goal on another power play for a 4-0 lead through two periods.

UMD outshot St. Cloud State 45-31, but the Huskies, who normally have one of the WCHA’s top power plays, were clearly out of sorts, and it wasn’t until 7:11 of the third period before Nick Oslund scored the Huskies goal. At that, UMDF countered almost immediately, when Drew Akins put in his second try with a power-play rebound.

UMD was 3-7 on the power play, while blanking the Huskies 0-6.
“Obviously, with three power-play goals tonight, we capitalized,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “With the rules changes, and the way they’re calling penalties, special teams are huge. Their power play is always one of the top in the league, and with Garrett Roe and Ryan Lasch always making plays, our penalty kill had to come through.”

As for the tournament, Sandelin said, “I think this Showcase is a great event, from a pure college hockey standpoint. It’s a great experience to play one game here. It’s unique, and our players were all excited to get down here and play. As for incentive to get back here to the Final Five? It was brought up.”
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If the Bulldogs have found goal-scoring with their teams maturing process, St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko was frustrated by his Huskies.
“It’s not a happy coaches camp right now,” said Motzko. “We’re like a Yo-Yo the way we’ve been up and down, and we were at the bottom today. We started the game extremely well, but we let frustration get to us. We have some individuals making some bad decisions, and we’re not a coherent group right now. We’re having big peaks and valleys.”

The power play’s lack of production is part of the battle. Motzko wasn’t going to name names, naturally, when he talked about sub-par performances, but he praised his young players for their effort, and said the team is getting outstanding leadership from Garrett Raboin and David Carlisle.

“It’s on the ice,” said Motzko. “Our power play is part of it, but we have enough talent that we shouldn’t be letting our frustration get the best of us. We’ve been so emotional every shift that we turn the puck over and take dumb penalties. If we’re going to get beat 5-1, I wish we’d get our tails kicked, but we didn’t. We’ve got to solve that Yo-Yo.”

Nick Oslund, who got the Huskies goal, corroborated his coach’s views. “We came out and played fine at first,” he said. “But in the second period, the game kind of went away.”

Oslund summed up his teammates’ view of the Showcase format as a highlight for the weekend. The Huskies will play the second game of the series at UMD on Nov. 29. But the idea of bringing the four Minnesota-based WCHA teams together for league-counting games at Xcel Center could grow into a prominent highlight, the players said.

“It’s definitely a good idea,”Oslund said. “There’s a lot of pride in Minnesota hockey, and the Showcase is definitely a good thing.”

• About the Author

  John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.