(part 1 of 2; Fri. night, 12/29/17)
temperature at puck drop: 18 degrees; "feels like": 15 without wind; about 5 with wind (about 5 MPH); cloud cover: 26%; relative humidity: 45%
(part 2 of 2; Sat. night, 12/30/17)
temperature at puck drop: 21 degrees; "feels like": 16 without wind; about 5 with wind (about 7 MPH); cloud cover: 65%; relative humidity: 67%
temperature at puck drop: 18 degrees; "feels like": 15 without wind; about 5 with wind (about 5 MPH); cloud cover: 26%; relative humidity: 45%
after the game: 15 degrees; "feels like": same; light wind breezes (still only about 5 MPH); cloud cover: still 26%; relative humidity: 56%
attendance: listed as 2,048; most likely less than that, however...
"...what was I wearing?", you might be asking right now: Smith's WorkWear either flannel or fleece-lined denim; U.S.P.S. turtleneck, if you'll allow me to get "specific" there; U.S.A. 1980 Olympics white with blue/red trim replica sweater (incidentally, the "junior" team defeated its Canadian counterpart, 4-3, coming back from 3-1 to do so, in a shootout, outdoors, in front of 44,000+ incredibly brave human beings, in Orchard Park, N.Y., while also wearing Buffalo Bills (NFL)-styled sweaters); Old Navy flannel "trench coat"
In all seriousness, though, despite the ridiculous cold outside (probably the one time a hockey rink would actually be warmer than the "great outdoors"), the first game between St. Cloud State (MN) and Princeton was quite the fast-paced contest - Princeton, surprisingly, started out with more offensive zone pressure than the (current) #1 team in college hockey, although St. Cloud State withstood it long enough to convert the first goal of the opening frame, taking a 1-1 tie into the intermission after it only took Princeton about another three minutes to answer!
Princeton only turned the possession and shooting up a notch in the second period, however, scoring not just once, but twice, during that frame, including converting on a pair of St. Cloud State penalties, to turn the 1-1 tie into a 2-1 lead after two, and ended up taking a 3-1 lead, and certainly setting off many "upset alert" alarm bells, through most of the third period!
Once Princeton took said 3-1 lead, though, St. Cloud State just absolutely took over the offense for the rest of the game, scoring twice itself to wipe out the lead that Princeton had just a few minutes earlier on in the final frame, getting a pair of "man advantage" goals of its own (although not on the penalty that came right after the 2-1 goal), along with practically all of the shots in those few minutes, to send the game to overtime...
In that overtime, instead of only partially dominating, St. Cloud State literally completely dominated those last five (extra) minutes, notching all 14 shots in the extra session, although, almost amazingly, Princeton's defense just "collapsed" in on the crease, and, what did get through, the Princeton goaltender just absolutely robbed, in order to allow Princeton to survive and take a 3-3 tied final score through the following 18 hours or so!
In other college hockey news right now, as you very well might have heard/seen by now, Erie, PA, just got slammed by feet of snow a few days ago, so the doubleheader between Mercyhurst, based in Erie, and RIT (the Rochester Institute of Technology), this weekend's visitors there, has been postponed "until further notice", according to both schools - there's just one problem, though; neither has any open weekends throughout the entire spring semester half (or so) of the schedule, leading into the conference playoffs!
St. Cloud State recap
(part 2 of 2; Sat. night, 12/30/17)
temperature at puck drop: 21 degrees; "feels like": 16 without wind; about 5 with wind (about 7 MPH); cloud cover: 65%; relative humidity: 67%
after the game: 21 degrees; "feels like": 12 degrees; light wind breezes (still only about 8 MPH); cloud cover: 2%; relative humidity: 59%
(all weather figures, both Fri. and Sat., courtesy of AccuWeather)
attendance: listed as 1,897; more truthful than calling the previous game a "sellout", when none existed, but still most likely less than that, however...
snowfall measurement(s) that night: about two inches
"...what was I wearing?", you might be asking right now: Smith's WorkWear either flannel or fleece-lined denim; Old Navy thermal undershirt; Eddie Bauer yellow cotton sweatshirt; U.S.A. 1980 Olympics white with blue/red trim replica sweater; grey/red North Face fleece jacket (I actually found a grey/white one of those a few weeks ago); Old Navy flannel "trench coat"
This time around, however, St. Cloud State sure showed itself more as playing like the #1 team in the entire college hockey nation, taking the majority of the shots during the first period, although with nothing to show for it, as Princeton made sure to mostly immediately clear its zone the entire time, through a parade of penalties both ways at various points during the frame, leading to a scoreless opening 20 minutes of action...
St. Cloud State opened the scoring just a short while into the second period, though, but Princeton suddenly decided that late in that period would be the perfect time to close the gap in the shot totals, and that sudden "offense-first" mentality gave way to the tying goal for Princeton, as an extended bit of offensive zone pressure led to a backhanded rebound that got put home, and then, suddenly, a late St. Cloud State penalty set up an interesting start to the final (regulation) period of hockey this (calendar) year!
Indeed, Princeton would convert that late second period penalty into the go-ahead goal for the second time in as many nights, just a half-minute into the final period, although St. Cloud State would once again answer after a brutal penalty call to tie the game once again, with numerous chances on both ends not getting turned into game winners, meaning that there would be a second consecutive overtime session played between the teams!
Unlike the previous night's game, though, when St. Cloud State just put out an absolute blitz against the Princeton "D", only to not get a game-winning goal to show for it, this five-minute overtime period was much more even, with Princeton edging St. Cloud State, shots-wise, yet, again, despite some very close calls on both nets then, the teams skated to another tie!
St. Cloud State recap
The following weekend, I'll be at the "new" Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, out on Long Island, for Army vs. Sacred Heart, specifically in sec. 119/row 5/seat 10, since, in checking out a few images online from people attending games for the Long Island Nets there (the minor league affiliate of the formerly-Meadowlands-based basketball team), the 200-level seats there seem to have some obstructed views, particularly up top, in the rafters, so, in order to avoid such a situation for myself, I decided to "spring" for something in the 100-level seats!
(also, Bentley University will be opening a new 2,000-seat arena on its campus in Waltham, Mass., this upcoming February, with the last games at its old rink to take place against Air Force Fri. 9 and Sat. 10, and the first games at its new rink the following weekend against Army...)
Also, not sports-related, but Peru went from having the national soccer team's qualification for next summer's FIFA (soccer) World Cup over in Russia, to having its government pull a stunt that might very well have happened quite often over in the old Soviet Union/current Russia, as the current President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who defeated the by then-twice defeated Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the disgraced/jailed former Peruvian President, the half-Japanese/half-Peruvian, Alberto Fujimori, himself already standing trial for bribery charges related to the infamous Odebrecht construction firm over in Brazil - basically, the Latin American equivalent of the massive Enron collapse up here back in the early 2000s - since he inexplicably pardoned Alber
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