The Express train is rolling. Our favorite junior hockey team took the Thunder out back of the woodshed Saturday night, and delivered a 10-2 beatdown. Everything was working right for the Express Saturday night, and they extended their win streak to 4 games, and have now picked up at least one point in the standings in 7 straight games. The Express leap-frogged the North Iowa Outlaws in the standings, and now sit in 3rd place, 2 points behind Bismarck, and 5 points behind division leading Alexandria.
Saturday night's boxscore: http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid=763959
Game story from the Owatonna People's Press: http://owatonna.com/news.php?viewStory=31040
Next up for the Express is a single game this coming weekend, Friday night versus the Alexandria Blizzard in Alexandria. This game will be the second meeting of the year between the teams, with the Blizzard beating the Express 4-2 on October 3rd in Owatonna. This should be a whale of a game, and check back in later in the week for a more thorough preview.
Statistics, Statistics, and More Statistics:
- Only 6 teams in the NAHL have more standings points than the Express
- The Express are 4th in the NAHL in goals scored. Not bad for a team that struggled to score early in the year.
- The Express are the least penalized team in the NAHL with 252 total minutes and an average of 14 minutes per game.
- The Express are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
- Defenseman Tim Smith is tied for 6th in the league for points scored by a defenseman with 11 points. Troy Puente is tied for 15th with 9 points
- Forward Stephen Carew (Captain Kanga-Carew) is tied for 4th in the league in goals scored with 11. He leads the entire league in shooting percentage at .367% (11 goals on 30 shots).
- The Express are 9-2-1 when they score the first goal of the game.
- The Express are 9-4-1 in Central Division games. 6-0 against the Thunder, 1-1-1 against the Bobcats, 2-2 against the Outlaws, and 0-1 versus the Blizzard.
- The Express penalty kill unit is #1 in the league at home, killing off 93.3%, and 3rd overall at 90.5%.
- The Express are 9-0 when leading after the first period, 8-0 when leading after the second period, 7-1 when they outshoot their opponent, and 5-1-1 in 1 goal games.
Looking way ahead to the playoffs, I did a little bit of math. Both the Express and the Thunder have 40 games left in the regular season. If the Express only go 20-20 in those games, Albert Lea would have to go 29-11 to pass the Express in the standings. I don't see any of those scenarios happening. The Express are playing well, and should only get better, so a .500 record the rest of the way would be a disappointment. The chances that the Thunder go 29-11 is about the same as me winning a Pulitzer Prize for blog-writing . At their current pace, the Thunder will win their 29th game late in the 2013-2014 season. Anyways, since most of us already realized the Express will make the playoffs, this paragraph was just a way for me to take a few more cheapshots at the Thunder.
See you at the rink.
--BK
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5 comments:
BK-
Paul from the Phantoms here again. I'm curious to get your thoughts on the discussion on North vs. South here after this weekend. Phantoms sweep St. Louis and Marquette sweeps Traverse City.
It's still early, but the Marquette games tell me that the bottom of the North may not be as bad as some people may think. Like I said before, coaches like Kenny Miller and Jack Fritsche won't have struggling teams for very long.
As for our games, I have a hard time drawing conclusions from a November series. However, I think our team, at least, drew some valuable lessons from it; particularly what they can accomplish when they put together a full 60 minutes of hockey, as they did on Saturday.
I think one of the most telling weekends in the North vs. South discussion will be over Thanksgiving when St. Louis is back here in Youngstown for the North Division Showcase, where they'll play first place Traverse City on the 30th.
We brag but we play the weakest team over and over.
I would love to see a game vs the north or even the south.
In response to Paul -
First, congratulations on an impressive weekend sweep by your Phantoms.
I know one thing for sure after this weekend's games: It is darn near impossible to predict what will happen on a nightly basis in the NAHL. The "good" teams probably aren't as good as they seem, and the "bad" teams probably aren't are as bad as they look.
I would still give a slight edge to the South Division, but it's a closer race than it was a couple of weeks ago. I think your Phantoms are the team to beat in the north, as Traverse City doesn't have the horses to stay with them for 40+ more games. Marquette is trending upwards. They made a couple of smart moves in picking up a couple of quality defensemen. Alpena seems to live or die on the performance of goalie Nick Graves.
Regarding the Bandits, is their 3 game losing streak a trend or a mirage?? This coming weekend's pair of games with Topeka should help us decide.
As the saying goes: That's why they play the games.
--BK
"I would love to see a game vs the north or even the south."
- Your wish is granted. Get your checkbook out and head to the Express office Monday morning to buy your tickets. The South Division's Springfield Jr Blues are in town for a pair of games with the Express in 12 days, and the St Louis Bandits visit Owatonna before Christmas. I expect to see you in attendance.
--BK
I will be there. Finally a game that warrants attendance.
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