alexandriacardinals

Nothing against Ms. Klimek (37) here, but it may seem an odd photo with which to start a game report.  But then again, my middle name is “Odd.”  I actually started the game with a video, but after 2 1/2 minutes we weren’t able to get the puck out of our own end so I killed it.  (That’s three “buts” in the first three sentences – not a good sign.)  It’s then I realized we were probably in trouble.  So here’s where I begin my ramble.  Please take this in the spirit in which it is given, from someone who never played the game and sees, maybe, the 10 home games a year.

We were playing the St. Cloud Icebreakers.  Not St. Cloud Tech, not St. Cloud Apollo, not St. Cloud Cathedral, but (again?) all of St. Cloud.  This is an all-star team from a city of 65,000, exactly five times larger than Alexandria.  They were in in first place in the conference, with only one loss, that to the other one loss team, Sartell-St. Stephen-Sauk Rapids-Rice (twice as big as Alex).  They had so many suited players on their bench, there wasn’t enough room for them all to sit down.  And I thought, and St. Cloud can only field one team?  Now I know it’s a matter of economics – hockey is an expensive sport – but (again!) how do single schools compete?  [Mikko is today’s guest columnist photo.  Arrgghhhhh!]

Until this year, the Cardinals had always held their own against the bigger schools and the combined schools.  However, it has got to be really hard to fight that numbers game every year.  This is the first year we’ve really noticed that when we play these class AA schools, we haven’t been competitive.  We lost all 6 games (home & home) against the three biggest conference “schools,” including River Lakes, this year, only scoring a total of 5 goals in those 6 games.  And this game really defined the difference.  The Icebreakers were like watching a college team (at least on this night).  And they displayed the talents that really good hockey teams have:  1) they can pass, and 2) they can forecheck.  As a result of both, they outshot the Cards by two-to-one.  Sometimes that stat isn’t reflective of anything, but in this case it was.  Forechecking is like the full court press in basketball – it will wear you down and causes turnovers.  The Cards had trouble getting out of our end all night. The Icebreakers just did a great job of always having somebody in the passing lanes.  To maintain puck control, we often had to circle back behind our own goal to try to start over.  And the Icebreakers absolutely dominated the face-off circle – the Cards finally had to move Taylor back up from defense in the 3rd period to see if we could win a draw.  She held her own.

[Sam receives a two Icebreaker escort.]

[Two Icebreakers on Karina.   ]

[Bailey started in goal and played the first period and a half.  Amy played the rest of the game.  This was just to keep them both sharp for the upcoming sections.  This was the last regular season game, and likely had no impact on the conference standings or the section seedings.]

[Both goalies played fine.  Little Rev was also held out again, making sure she’s totally healthy for the tournament.]

[Mel chases down the puck behind the St. Cloud goal.]

[And tries to make a play out front.]

[While Mel battles to hold position, the puck exits stage left.]

[Mari not only sang the National Anthem again, she played a little hockey too!  🙂  ]

[Mari in full stride.]

[Micaela tries to hold goal position.]

[Looks like a Lauren and Kaila skate-away after a goal?  We wished!]

[Lauren looks like . . . oh, darn! ]

[Rachel gets a shot off.]

[Her defender rides her off as the puck  is deflected wide.]

[On those occasions when we did penetrate the Icebreaker zone we did have some nice flurries.  However, their goalie was the biggest player on the ice and sometimes seemed to have the entire net blocked just be standing there.]

[Keep it in!]

THE CUB REPORTER’S BEST PHOTO SEQUENCE EVER?:

[I believe it began here with a face-off in our own end.  Kaila is taking the draw, Mel is on her left.]

[I don’t recall how it happened, but with the Icebreakers’ constant forechecking we would occasionally have a break out.  Here Mel and Kaila are in all alone in the St. Cloud zone.  We could see this happening from the beginning so I put the ole Canon on rapid fire . . .]

[Who better than Mel to have swoop in on the goalie?  And with Kaila there for a rebound!]

[Now to get the goalie out of position! . . .]

[It looks like she’s going wide to her forehand . . .]

[There’s the shot!  The goalie is beaten upper right . . .]

[But then we heard the “clang!”  She gotta a pipe . . .]

[Still, we thought Mel had scored and we were all cheering.  But then . . . what’s that disc looking thing in the left crease?]

[Yup, that bad boy is escaping out front and everyone’s looking behind the net!  Arrghhh!]

[The Card battle to get it out of their own zone.  Their best options may have been to try to skate it out – or go for the breakaway pass.  Both are risky.  We did have a few breakouts – we hit two pipes on the game.]

[We’re in their zone – but the puck has other ideas . . .]

[We’re in position if someone can get the puck to the front of the net.]

[Save!]

[Good try!]

[Micaela’s still battling.]

[As Taylor comes in, once again the puck just misses to the right.]

[Mari comes in on her backhand while Hanah tries to screen the goalie.]

[Mari]

[ Ohhhhhh!  Mari’s so close!]

[Drat!!]

[Taylor comes in on her backhand . . .]

[Then circles wide.]

[We’ve got someone in front.]

[It’s a rugby scrum.]

[There was a Cardinal in there somewhere?]

[We’re covering the perimeter.]

[McKenna’s in on goal!  You’d think once in a while all this activity would create a goal?]

[Arrrgghhhhh!]

[And the puck gets away again.]

[Now where’d it go? ]

[Mel and Nicole kinda wrap up the game coverage.]

[Oh, except for the guys in the booth.]

[Goodness, Bob, aren’t you glad you’re not running for office this year so you can continue to cover the Cards?]

Curmudgeon quote of the post:  Husbands never become good; they merely become proficient.  ~ H. L. Mencken

[We awoke New Year’s Day to the black swans swimming by on Lake San Marcos.]

[And white swans were noshing at our dock . . .]

[And they were joined by their coot and mallard friends.]

[And hummingbirds were breakfasting as well . . .]

[On the street where we lived.  Everyday it was a challenge to find it again through the windy, multiple turns neighborhood we were in.]

[But at least our yard didn’t require mowing.]

[By now you know it’s the supervisor’s birthday!  So, what to do?  Well, since The Biddies are avid gardeners, the San Diego Botanic Garden sounded like the place to go.  With a few stops along the way.  Like here in downtown Encinitas.  And though we were at the E Street Café, we found no sign of the E Street Band . . .]

[Or of Bruce Springsteen, for that matter.]

[Downtown Encinitas (about 30 miles north of San Diego) – I know this because that’s what the sign says.]

[And here we are at the San Diego Botanic Garden . . . in Encinitas.]

[It’s located on a hilly 37 acres with 4 miles of trails.  And we did them all.]

[A lot of the photos will be presented sans commentary.  Mostly because this happened so long ago now, I’ve forgotten any information I may have learned at the time.  But photos are generally self-descriptive (or worth a thousand words, or something to that effect).]

[And we’re off, and trying to avoid the attack of the giant ladybugs.]

[We brought lunch and were looking for a place to picnic.]

[So why not dine with Santa?]

[Somewhere on the road to getting here, Tom Tom led us astray – but at least we found a Subway.]

[With their “we hear everything” ears of women, The Biddies were able to discover the waterfall.]

[In our traveling vernacular, these we some big-ass leaves!]

[A really tall tree.]

[The Biddies are trying to decide if these will work in Zone 5.]

[Let’s go to the lookout tower and . . .  look out!]

[Torrey pines . . . ]

[See, I told ya.]

[The Biddies . . . looking out.]

[Torrey pines . . . the world famous Torrey Pines golf course would be to the left (south) of here about 30 miles in La Jolla (we’ll get to it later).]

[Leaving lookout tower . . . ]

[Capturing the supervisor in action!  😉   ]

[Finally – a mariachi band!]

[This is artificial turf.  They can’t grow real grass here.  They get no rain.]

[The Biddies take a load off.]

[Many sculptures to peruse as well . . . ]

[The lookout tower is now well above us we trek through the children’s garden – also highly recommended.]

[The Biddies are thinking it’s about time to wrap this up.]

[Is it time for a nap?]

[A switchback to gaze upon the children’s garden from above.]

[Showing extreme derring-do, the supervisor traverses a cargo net bridge.]

[You’re not getting me out there!  You can say ‘hi’ to the condor sculpture all by yourself!]

[Hanky-panky in the Garden?]

[We leave them to their wooing.]

[The Biddies bid adios from the Garden!  A wonderful place to spend several hours if you’re in the San Diego area.   🙂  ]

Editor’s note to the snowbirds:  We had another wind chill warning from last night until noon today.  Most days our high temperatures are still below zero.  And there is no end in sight.  But at least we have water.  Rita is still in California where they’re facing all manner of drought related crises.  She did report that San Marcos did get a half inch of rain recently, but they have a long way to go.

Curmudgeon quote of the post:  The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness and kindness, can be trained to do most things.  ~  Jilly Cooper  [Editor’s reponse:  I am very good with garbage.]

And here’s the scoreboard to prove it!

[Whazzup?]

[When you guys came into town, did you notice the flavor-of-the-day at Culver’s? ]

[We’ve heard the supervisor really likes cashew-caramel or raspberry swirl!  🙂  ]

[Macy . . . and “Weakie,” among others, should recognize the “Big Norwegian,” an old mall walking acquaintance, in the background of this and other photos.]

[Kendall shoots a 3-pointer . . . right into the “Big Norwegian’s” ear.]

[Looks good?]

[Let’s try another one!]

[Here it goes!]

[Nothing but net!]

[Oh yeah.]

[Brooke discusses her future with her agent.]

[Amanda G begins a shooting sequence . . . ]

[A one . . .]

[And a two.  Thank you, boys, turn off the bubble machine. . . ]

[And a free throw, to complete a 3-point play?]

[Ooops, not unless she’s jump-shooting them?]

[And sometimes it’s just fun to see what’s going on in the background – see anyone you know?  Hmmm, Mark Ripley, school photographer . . .]

[“Baby Bruiser” to the fore . . .]

[Now a good shot of Ralph (actually German) in the background.  Is that Chris Lorsung with him?]    ]

[Meanwhile Sarah, and Kendall, keep shooting.]

[Macy and Cheyenne]

[Macy and Cheyenne, II]

[Now that Darice is a full-time retiree . . .]

[She’s polishing her PA skills for . . . ESPNU?]

[It was honor your mentors night . . .   ]

[While Darice read the names of the honorees, the team fanned out around the gymnasium delivering their “honors” . . . ]

[Acckkkk, they’re heading in our direction.]

[I think Jaylen recognized her “golf caddy”?]

[And now, the National Anthem.]

[Students with instruments appear again.]

[The opening tip . . .]

[The Cardinals start a center . . . and 4 guards.  That’s because the City of Alexandria has always had a height restriction on its citizens.  Amanda Christianson is one of the 4 guards.  OK, she’s 5’10”, tall for a high school guard . . .   ]

[The SRR center was listed as 6’1″.  But when she stood next to our  6’2″ Brooke, she appeared to be at least an inch taller.]

[Amanda has jumped center for us the last two years.  Like the Sam Trumm (6′) era before her, she is always the shorter “center”.  I only recall Sam losing one tip . . . and Amanda doesn’t lose many.  They both played volleyball which undoubtedly improves your hops.]

[Amanda got it.]

[The “Karly D.”]

[This is the one I e-mailed to Kohler right after the game . . . ‘cuz that’s just the kinda guy I am!  😉  ]

[SRR tries to bring it up court against Karly and Sarah – not an easy task.]

[Macy tracks her “man.”]

[Sarah channels her all-state soccer goalie defensive skills.]

[Karly demonstrates the formal dictionary meaning of: concentration.]

[No.12, you are under my control from a Vulcan mind meld.]

[Here, why don’t you just hand me the ball.]

[Oh, don’t make it any harder than it has to be!]

[Karly goes into stealth mode.]

[I’ll sneak up from behind.]

[Kendall “Bombs Away” Kohler]

[Where’s the ball?]

[Amanda C – I think she missed!]

[But still looks good . . .]

[Yup]

[Nothing but net.]

[As the 2nd tickles the twine.]

[Karly and Sarah in fullcourt press.]

[Sarah takes over the point . . . ]

[It’s a constant run and jump job . . .]

[Now back the other way . . .]

[Here I come again . . .]

[Emily 1]

[Emily 2]

[Emily 3 – a good mid-range shooter.]

[At the half, it was clear everybody was going to get a chance to play in this game.]

[Karly shoots . . . and the ball disappears?]

[Oh, there it is.]

[Karly:  Are you taking my picture?]

[Cub Reporter:  You betcha!  🙂  ]

[Karly in the middle of something.]

[Young Kohler demonstrates proper block-out pre-positioning . . . either that or the control tower has just cleared her for take-off.]

[Emily chases a loose ball.  Who loosed it, I have no idea.]

[Emily’s impersonation of a “pumpkin head,” or she recently entered the witness protection program?]

[Kendall on the line . . .]

[And then hustling back on defense . . .]

[Because you are a Kohler.]

[Macy gets a free one . . .]

[As a driving point guard, surprised she doesn’t get here more often . . . ]

[She will, in time.]

[Call it!]

[A defense series at the point by Jaylen . . .]

[Just a little thanks to her . . .]

[For helping us monitor Kohler’s golf course class last fall.]

[Jaylen and Amanda G contest the inbounds pass.]

[Block out, rebounders!]

[Sarah . .  (My goodness, that looks like our sister-in-law Janet between Sarah and the Sauk Rapids player??)]

[and again.]

[Ooops! ]

[Ooops (continued)!]

[As the games dwindles down (now on running time), it is basically free throw shooting time.  A chance to feature some of the players who scrimmage the starters all week.  Here’s Emily again . . .    ]

[ Amanda G . . . ]

[Karsen Granning (51), I believe, sophomore guard . . . ]

[and Samantha Frederick, senior center.]

[Grandson Tom doing actual schoolwork at Purdue!  🙂  ]

Curmudgeon quote:  A woman who strives to be like a man lacks ambition.  ~  Anonymous

Last Thursday we arrived, as we usually do, in time to catch the last period of the JV game, against the always mighty Spuds of Moorhead.  Discussions along the way in the arena centered around the excitement and possibility of getting a third sheet of ice.  I know from our skating days, way back when we felt comfortable skating before we entered our 60’s, that Vinnie (the rink manager) has always favored that 3rd sheet – both because of the demand for ice time we have now for the two, but three sheets makes it easier to host tournaments.  Anyway, back to the hockey . . . we were amazed and delighted to see Onna O’Connor (32) was back playing, for our last mention her we thought she may have had an ACL.  Onna is the one player on the team we have “known” since she was a wee one because of her folks connection with the golf club.

[Foremost, of course, we’re all glad she’s healthy . . .]

[And then suddenly it seemed like our bench numbers doubled.  The JV has been playing with 9 players total.  If nothing else, they’re going to be in shape!]

[Talia Olson (27), 8th-grade defenseman.  I discovered when I got home I had the camera on the wrong setting – I’ve messed up before and I’ll mess up again.  So, I lost about of half the photos because I was on the wrong ISO number (is that cheering I hear in the background?).  Even some of the ones I’ll use here may be a tad fuzzy.  Apologies.]

[Kenzie Abrahamson (17), sophomore center, and Jade Bollman (22) freshman forward]

[McKenna Schroeder (28), sophomore forward who also plays on the varsity.]

[A shot?]

[But no goal.]

[The Spuds called a timeout with about a minute and a half left in the game, no doubt instructing the goalie when to come off for that extra skater.]

[The Cards never let them out of their zone for that last minute and a half – they never got a chance to pull the goalie.]

[A good showing by the JV with Taylor Coker (30) in goal.]

[Lauren begins warm-ups for the varsity.]

[More good news!  Little Rev received medical clearance to play.  But although she participated in warm-ups, she was held out again.  A good idea.  At this stage of the season, I think our seed is already established, so no need to push her.]

[But I’m sure she’s chomping at the bit to get back out there.  And she may have been able to make a difference in the games she missed.]

[The other defense pair of Karine and Nicole warmed-up to their right.]

[Nicole likely will move back to forward when Little Rev plays again.]

[Carly and Micaela may be seasoned juniors but they still gotta pick up the pucks.]

[Mari did a terrific job on the Anthem again.]

[The first Card assault and Mel is right there.]

[Micaela splits the Spuds.]

[Rachel has a breakaway!]

[A Spud tries to catch her.]

[A backhander . . .]

[Oooooohhhh, almost!]

[Hanah’s on the doorstep!]

[Ooooohhhh!]

[You’re getting the idea – we said “Ooooohhhhh!” a lot!  😉 ]

[And the puck again dribbles away to the left.]

[Finally, we score.  It was Mel, shortly after the Spuds scored first.  The Cards seemed to be the better team through this point, so we weren’t overly concerned when they scored first.]

You’ll note from the direction we’re going, this is in the 2nd period.  Late in the 1st period, we noticed Rachel was rubbing her face under her mask – she obviously had been hit and was unhappy that no penalty was called.  We didn’t see anything happen, but she must have retaliated and got a 5-minute major penalty.  The Cards produced a great penalty kill – the Spuds only got one shot on goal in those five minutes.

We pause here to recognize a couple of noted quotes that have pertinence here.  John Stewart recently interviewed Malala, the Afghan girl who survived being shot for defending women’s rights to be educated.  She was so impressive, Stewart told her that he knew her parents were backstage but would they mind if he adopted her?  Second, when Lou Grant first interviewed Mary Tyler Moore for a job at the TV station (on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” of course), he told her she had spunk.  Mary beamed.  Lou grumbled, “I hate spunk!”  But she was hired!  Somehow that applies here.  I recently commented on basketball coach Wendy Kohler’s FB page that I hope Karly Betterman’s parents wouldn’t mind, but I wanted to adopt her.  And from the hockey team, that similarly would be Rachel.  She stuck around until her senior year to get regular shifts and does some exciting things.

[Back to the game, we all know the drill that when Mel scores . . . she always scores again!]

[So, she did – not long after her first goal!  🙂  ]

[The supervisor’s hand signals GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!]

[The calmness of a scorer?]

When pause again for . . .

A SCORER:  Hockey, like all team sports, requires a team effort to be successful.  But teams are made up of individuals, and the team has to rely on certain individuals to do certain individual things.  A hockey team needs scorers.  I knew going into the season Melissa would be our leading scorer.  I knew this merely by going to the 10 home games or so that the Super Fans attend.  There’s nothing in particular that jumps out about her.  She has good speed.  But when you watch the team in warm-ups, there’s . . . in the now 11 years we’ve been following the sport, the skill level has improved exponentially.  The state championship team of merely 6 years ago had only one player with a slapshot – now assistant coach Ashley Holmes.  On this year’s team, everybody can blister the puck – and “spunky” Rachel has a backswing on her slapshot that rivals Phil Mickelson’s.  And as the team goes through drills, they can all hit the corners, high and low, with both slapshots and wristshots.  Mel would not be distinguishable from anybody else during these drills.  But somehow, in the course of game action, it all must “slow down” for her.  I wonder if she (or other scorers) can explain it?  You see it in all games, players from both sides, when there’s an open net and in the rush (and nervousness) to get a goal, the shot is fanned, mishit, or shot wide.  That’s why it has to be a gift.  Scorers do not miss that opportunity.  You can teach players how and where to shoot the puck, but in game action, it must be instinctive?  When Mel goes in alone on goal, you expect a goal.  It’s not a given for most players – the goalie is there to stop you.

[After two periods, we have a lead and the Super Fans were feeling comfortable.]

[Early in the 3rd we got a penalty.  We thought it was ticky-tacky, and I think generally we’ll acknowledge when we deserve a penalty.  The supervisor thought it changed the whole flow of the game.  The Spuds scored on a power play, and we never seemed to get our mojo back.  That’s Rachel above – but this wasn’t the penalty.]

[We’re sprinting back on defense.  Happened too much in the final period.]

[Hanah tries to get us the lead, despite being in a head lock!]

[Now she’s in a half-nelson!]

[It was a good game, Mel got 2 goals, but with 5 – FIVE – seconds left, Moorhead shot from the point – a shot that was way off line – but a Spud close to the goal get a stick on the puck in mid-flight and deflected it past Amy and into the goal.  Had to be totally accidental.  Oy!  What a way to lose!]

To the Cards credit, they went up to Fargo South the next night and came away with a 6 – 0 victory (Bailey in goal).  I think they said we had three short-handed goals, two by Melissa.