Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Hockey Night in St. Paul

6:00 pm - Pregame at the X.
10:05 pm - Puck Drop at Aldrich.


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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Gaborik vs. DiPietro

Hey Rick, whadya do to your hip?


UPDATE (1/28)
Hey Rick, how's the hip. Oh - Sorry, Rick.


(I like how Doc Emrick announces to DiPietro: "Here's Nash" - in case he wasn't paying attention. Which he wasn't)

Friday, January 25, 2008

Hockey Falls II and Mikko's Monday

Guys, whose turn is it to get the beer?



*I'm fully aware that after I put the last Hockey Falls video it took us a month and a half to score a goal, but I figure that by stating this up front, the hex brought upon the Diablos will be negated, or at least minimized.



I've been trying to get highlights from NHL.com embedded into the blog, but for some reason their code is goofy. I may have figured it out. I thought the Mikko Koivu goal at Vancouver on Monday and the following call out to the Vancouver bench was sweet as hell.

*There may be an advertisement at the beginning of the video - sorry, blame the NHL.




Thursday, January 24, 2008

New Toronto GM

Toronto extended their GM drama Wednesday when they hired Cliff Fletcher (and apparently it worked - they beat Washington last night 3-2). However, they could have hired Captain Crunch, Wendell Clark, who was one of the toughest SOB's ever to wear a C on his jersey. Clark put up 564 points and 1690 penalty minutes in 793 games over 14 seasons. Plus he was a badass.



Here's his dream rink - pretty cool.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Big Win vs. the Ak Bars

Another Metaphorical Highlight Video

Diablos 4 - Ak Bars 2

Diablos Melt the Snow Leopards

Sunday, January, 20, 2008.

Maplewood, MN. The stars were aligned for an upset with the second regular season meeting of the AHA D1 Diablos and the Ak Bars at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood Sunday night. The Ak Bars, Russian for Snow Leopards, had hit a skid after a strong start with two ties in their last four games and only just squeaked out a win over the Muskies D1 in their last game. The Diablos were rolling on a five game winning streak and had finally solved their nemesis the Nemesis two weeks ago. The Ak Bars had owned the Diablos with wins in the preseason and regular season and had outscored the team from hell 6-1 in the two games. The Diablos brought their A team and played a strong game to beat the Ak Bars 4-2 and earn a share of first place with the Ak Bars and Nemesis in a tightly contested D1 Western Division.

The Diablos opened the scoring in the middle of the first period when the line of C Ted Reiff, RW Ryan Carroll and LW John Blasingame broke the puck out of their zone and started an odd man rush into Ak Bar territory. Reiff took a pass from Carroll and buried it at 8:33 for the Diablos' first regular season goal against the Ak Bars behemoth goalie Trey Cain. The Ak Bars returned the favor at 3:21 of the period on the power play when winger Drew Jahr shot one past Diablos goalie Justin Alderink for his first goal of the season. Ak Bar standout J. Anderson and captain Larry Curtis picked up assists on the play. The Diablos took three minor penalties in the period but held the Ak Bars to just one power play goal.

The second period belonged to the Diablos despite having to kill off two more minor penalties. At 6:18 of the period LW Jarick Losey proved "that you should always put the puck on the net because good things can happen" when he flipped a shot from the corner toward the front of the net. The puck ricocheted off an Ak Bars defender and beat the Ak Bars' goalie for the Diablos' second goal of the game and a lead they would not give up again. No assists were awarded on the play, but C Dave Christenson and RW Monique Lindquist were instrumental in keeping the puck in the zone for Losey's shot. The eventual game winner came at 3:34 of the period when C Steve
Nelson broke out of his scoring funk and tipped in a D Andy Claypool shot from the blue line. Nelson's line of wingers Dean Groth and John Driscoll was the energy line all night and it was nice to see them rewarded.

The third period dissolved into a parade to the box for both teams with the Diablos taking five minor penalties and the Ak Bars three. The Diablos opened the scoring at 14:53 of the period when D Pieter VanZyl wristed a shot on goal from the left point that hit Blasingame in the seat of the pants as he screened the Ak Bars' goalie. Blasingame recovered his senses quickly and passed the puck across the crease to a waiting Reiff who buried it for Diablos fourth and final goal. The Ak Bars had a prime chance to get themselves back into the game at 14:09 when they went on a five on three power play and then a five on four, but they failed to convert.

Things were chippy at the end after the Ak Bars scored again to claw within two. At 5:59 of the third the Ak Bars' Anderson snuck another one past Alderink with assists from Curtis and Jahr. At 3:37 the Ak Bars' Trevor Tjelmelund, the team's second leading scorer behind Anderson, tried to pick a fight with Diablos' D "Big" Andy Suerth. Tjelmelund was frustrated because Suerth had shut him and the Ak Bars out all night with strong play and great positioning. As Tjelmelund's teammates and the referees rescued Tjelmelund, the Ak Bars' Pavel Zakharov tried to start something with Alderink.

Apparently the Ak Bars were not comfortable with being on the losing end of a game. Offsetting penalties were handed out and no damage was done. The Ak Bars had a last chance when they went back on the power play at 00:27 of the period. They pulled the goalie, but even at 6 on 4 couldn't beat Alderink. The best chance of the final flurry came when Reiff sent a shot on goal from his own end toward the empty net. An Ak Bar defender hustled back and just made the save to keep Reiff from his hat trick.

The Diablos got contributions from all four lines and offensive help from the defense to win an all round solid game. One goal came on a rush, one from hard work in the corner and two from shots from the blue line and hard work out front. Defensemen Suerth, Claypool, VanZyl, Captain Todd Ewing, and Mike Monroe played very well all game and phenomenally on the PK. C Peter
Sinesio's line with wingers Mat Lindquist and Rocco Bonello, while they didn't score this game, was solid and took the game to the Ak Bars all night. The only blemish on the night was the ten penalties assessed the Diablos, but penalty killers Reiff, Driscoll, Sinesio, Groth and Nelson, along with the defense, were up to the task. Shots on goal: Ak Bars 7-1-11 for 20, Diablos 8-6-6 for 20.

Both teams no doubt look forward to their final meeting on 03-08-08 in a game that could decide the season.

Up next:

The Ice Gators back at Aldrich Arena on Wednesday 01-30-08 at 10:05pm. Official AHA Scoresheet. - JB

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Diablos vs. Ak Bars

The D1 West gets the shocker here Sunday.


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Friday, January 18, 2008

Un - frigging - believable Goal.

Oh. My. God.

A better look from NHL.com

Thursday, January 17, 2008

MTV Cribs: Kickin' it NHL Style

If you haven't seen this yet, it's pretty cool.

Tour the Wild Locker Room


Of course, those Diablos that have season tickets have already made this visit. If you look closely, you'll see Suerth's name written in Sharpie in the steam room.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Only One Packers Video This Week.

However, when they win on Sunday...

Monday, January 14, 2008

Diablo 3 - Buccaneers 2

Hockeytown, USA. The Diablos Hockey Club kept their win streak alive and are still within a sniff of the top spot of the AHA D1 West Standings with a win against the AHA Buccaneers last Sunday night. The Diablos were able to hang on against a strong skating and determined Bucs squad although they missed many scoring opportunities, had a few too many meltdowns in their defensive zone, and racked up ten minutes in penalties.

All of the Diablo tallies occurred in the second period. John Driscoll continued his scoring tear with a pair of ringers. The first one came during the first shift of the second period with a breakaway wrister. The second came at 2:09 with another wrister to the short side of the keeper. Ted Reiff and Andy Suerth earned assists by handing it off to Driscoll from their own zone. At 1:05, Ryan Carroll was able to put in the game winner from a Peter Vanzyl assist.

Unfortunately, the Buccaneers answered :11 seconds later with a goal and after pulling their goalie in the third, finished another one with 13 ticks left on the clock. The Diablos escaped with no further damage done.

The Diablos were outshot 33 to 32 with Diablo goaltender Justin Alderink stopping all but two. The Diablos have an opportunity to muck up the D1 West standings for the second time in three games with a matchup against the league leading Ak Bars. The game is on Sunday @ 10:10 at the historic Aldrich Arena. - TR Official AHA Scoresheet

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Diablos vs. Buc's

Sunday @ West Side / Ken Yackel Arena 5:30 pm.


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Pirates Rrrrrrrr definitely not scary.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Need More Slayer

Haven't had any Slayer in a while...

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

The Official Diablo Position on the Writer's Strike

The Diablos are officially against the writer's strike. We want to watch CSI - Whatever and The Office and are officially sick of watching crap like this.

Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

Apparently we have some Hillary Clinton supporters on the Diablos. Here is the Official Diablo Position on Hillary Clinton.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Diablos 3 - Nemesis 1

Golden Valley, MN - The D1 West Diablos were able win their biggest hockey game of the season on Saturday with a 3 - 1 win over the second place Nemesis. The Diablos were able take advantage of a Peter Sinesio putaway and two Dean Groth goals while keeping the Nemesis from getting too cozy in front of goaltender Justin Alderink. The win gives the Diablos two crucial points in the tightening D1 West standings.

The Diablo game plan was to keep the high flying Nemesis from getting too many skaters moving the puck in the neutral zone, while getting some quality shots off on their own. The Diablos started off with a first period goal from Sinesio after Larry Eckman was able to free the puck up and throw it toward the goal. A few shifts later, Sinesio was in the vicinity of a falling Nemesis player and was sent off with a trip. The ensuing penalty kill was full of opportunities... for the Diablos. John Driscoll threw a puck toward the net and Groth was there for the finisher.

Although the Nemesis out-shot the Diablos 40 - 28, the Nemesis was mostly stymied by Diablo's netminder, Justin Alderink. The second period brought the Nemesis their best opportunity when Stanger, the D1 West leading goal scorer, converted on a breakaway. After that, Alderink was golden, keeping all shots out of the back of the Diablo net.

The Nemesis had a generous stretch during the third period and the Diablos found themselves on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Groth potted his second goal of the night after he was able to pick up a rebound off of an Andy Suerth slapper. At that point, the Diablo plumbers kept the Nemesis from organizing any substantial comeback.

With the two points, the Diablos are now tied for second with the Nemesis with 14 apiece. The Ak Bars are first with 16 and will be the Diablo opponent in two weeks, however, the red hot Buccaneers are next on the schedule. That match up will take place at West Side / Yackel Arena next Sunday at 5:30 pm.

Official AHA Scoresheet. - TR

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Winter Classic Overtime

In case you missed it, here is the overtime from the winter classic. Great game if you could withstand all of the breaks to fix the soft ice.




And here is the shootout.