Don't Hit the Panic Button Yet

The Huskies were swept this weekend by the Northern Michigan Wildcats. On Saturday night the Huskies lost the the nonconference contest 3-2.  The Wildcats came out strong and took a 2-0 lead over the Huskies in the first. The Huskies two goals came from freshman Joey Holka and senior forward Jared Festler with assists coming from sophomore Cory Thorson with freshman Jarrod Rabey and junior David Eddy with senior Drew LeBlanc respectively.  Some bright spots in this slow start include:

• Freshmen Jarrod Rabey now has 1g/2a in 2011-12 and owns a two-game scoring streak.
• Senior forward Jared Festler has already posted his third goal of the season.
• Senior Drew LeBlanc has 1g/4a for five points already.
• Freshman Ryan Faragher had 23 saves in his first college hockey game.

Links:

• Huskies swept by Wildcats
• Festler Continues Point Streak as Huskies Fall 3-2
• Northern Michigan sweeps St. Cloud State with group offensive effort

Coach Bob Motzko has pointed out a couple of negative and positive sides of the Huskies play thus far this season:

"This is our fourth game now and there’s a common pattern there. We’re letting guys get in behind us. We’re not being responsible right now when we don’t have the puck."

"Our freshmen made some strides here the last two weeks. I’ve been throwing them in there and they’ve been fine. They’re chipping away getting some goals for us."

In this week's Bob Motzko's Radio Show, Coach Motzko was quick to point out that Husky fans should not be hitting the "panic button" yet. While I totally agree with this assessment of the season so far, I am also a little nervous. Motzko had this same attitude last season...all the way up until Christmas break. To his credit, he was absolutely correct that the Huskies were a better team than their record and were able to bounce back (second best team only to UND in the second half). Unfortunately, the wins came too late in the season for the Huskies. I trust Coach Motzko will be doing more this season to make sure the guys get more wins earlier in the season this year.

Center Ice Club:

• The CIC Players of the Week are Senior forward Jared Festler and first-year defenseman Jarrod Rabey.
• You can hear the Bob Motzko Radio Show at the CIC Homepage.

Bonus Stuff:

• Kingsford’s Gravel making impact as sophomore with St. Cloud State hockey team