Musketeers lose third straight in Fall Classic
By Steven Allspach, Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sioux City's Mike Keennan battles Omaha's Matt White for the puck during Musketeers preseason hockey action at the Tyson Events Center Saturday night during the USHL Fall Classic. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
Count on the Carrie Underwood concert tonight to be a bit more entertaining than the ice show put on by the Sioux City Musketeers the past three nights at the Tyson Events Center.
"This team has a lot of growing up to do, but the talent is there and the question now is if these guys buy in,'' said new Sioux City Coach Todd Knott after his Musketeers lost 4-1 to Omaha Saturday night in the final game of the 2008 United States Hockey League Fall Classic.
The exhibition loss was the third in three weekend outings in the premier USHL event that drew almost 250 college coaches and pro scouts.
"The thing about this loss is that we got outworked for 60 minutes and that's not acceptable,'' said Knott. "At this point of the season there's a tendency to get a little overconcerned about things.
"We'll be addressing the issues, you can be sure of that.''
Sioux City's only goal came from touted rookie Drew Daniels.
Omaha got two goals from Tom Craig and Danny Kisto and Louis Leblanc also lit the lamp. The last three Lancer goals came on the power play.
Earlier in the evening, Jim Kronschnabel, the Sioux City franchise president, announced that Sioux City will host the United States Hockey League's Fall Classic for the third time next September.
In the aftermath of the Saturday loss, the news should give the Musketeers incentive to win for the home fans since they've only accomplished the feat just once now in six Fall Classic outings.
Omaha's reigning Clark Cup playoff champs salvaged some dignity with the Saturday win. The Lancers had dropped their first two games.
The contest took on the bitterness of one of the league's foremost rivalries. There were penalties galore in a rough-and-tumble contest. There were 26 penalties totaling 80 minutes.
Losing goaltender Adam Janecyk, a Musketeer rookie, faced 16 shots and gave up three goals in 29:31. Another rookie, Nick Graves, made 26 saves in just over 30 minutes.
Omaha, too, is under the direction of a new coach, former Tri-City skipper Bliss Littler.
Littler has replaced Mike Hastings, the winningest coach in USHL history, while Knott is taking over for Dave Siciliano, the second winningest coach in league history.
In Sioux City's three losses, Knott's skaters were outscored 14-5 with Waterloo prevailing 5-3 and Des Moines 5-1.
The Musketeers did launch 44 shots shots to 36 for the Lancers, but went 0-for-6 on the power play.
Sioux City opens regular season play Saturday at Chicago.
OTHER SATURDAY GAMES
Chicago 4, Indiana 1
Chicago took charge early, scoring the only three goals of the first period and the first red-lighter of the second. John Moore, Dominic Morrone and Max Nicastro twice, lit the lamp. Brandon Richardson got the Ice goal. Winning goalie Matthew Delaney stopped 22 shots.
Green Bay 5, Fargo 1
The winning Gamblers dealt Fargo, the league's newest franchise, its third straight loss, forging a 40-25 shot advantage in the process. Chris Saracino, Jefferson Dahl, William Rappuzzi abd Max Cook scored for the winners. Oleg Lee got the Fargo goal. Winning goaltender Reid Ellingson played just 26:53 and stopped just six shots. The contest had 23 penalties totaling a whopping 81 minutes.
Lincoln 4, Waterloo 0
Lincoln's Garrett Vermeersch and Mike Dalhuisen scored in the third period to lift the Stars. Waterloo's Lee Moffie and Scott Pavelski had red-lighters and David Gerths and Kory Kaunisto also tallied as winning goalie Alan Armour stopped 28 shots.
Cedar Rapids 5, Tri-City 3
Brett Gensler late in the second period and Jared Rickord added a goal at 2:57 of the third period to snap a 3-3 tie and spark the RoughRiders to the victory. Dean Chelios, Cody Murphy and Matt Donovan contributed C.R. goals and Joe Zarbo had two of the Tri-City red-lighters.
Des Moines 4, Sioux Falls 2
Alex Chiasson poked in two goals for the winning Bucs and Matt White also scored twice for the Bucs, who got 13 saves from winning goaltender Aaron Crandell, who relieved starter Fredrik Bergman. The rough contest had 26 penalties totaling 64 minutes.
"This team has a lot of growing up to do, but the talent is there and the question now is if these guys buy in,'' said new Sioux City Coach Todd Knott after his Musketeers lost 4-1 to Omaha Saturday night in the final game of the 2008 United States Hockey League Fall Classic.
The exhibition loss was the third in three weekend outings in the premier USHL event that drew almost 250 college coaches and pro scouts.
"The thing about this loss is that we got outworked for 60 minutes and that's not acceptable,'' said Knott. "At this point of the season there's a tendency to get a little overconcerned about things.
"We'll be addressing the issues, you can be sure of that.''
Sioux City's only goal came from touted rookie Drew Daniels.
Omaha got two goals from Tom Craig and Danny Kisto and Louis Leblanc also lit the lamp. The last three Lancer goals came on the power play.
Earlier in the evening, Jim Kronschnabel, the Sioux City franchise president, announced that Sioux City will host the United States Hockey League's Fall Classic for the third time next September.
In the aftermath of the Saturday loss, the news should give the Musketeers incentive to win for the home fans since they've only accomplished the feat just once now in six Fall Classic outings.
Omaha's reigning Clark Cup playoff champs salvaged some dignity with the Saturday win. The Lancers had dropped their first two games.
The contest took on the bitterness of one of the league's foremost rivalries. There were penalties galore in a rough-and-tumble contest. There were 26 penalties totaling 80 minutes.
Losing goaltender Adam Janecyk, a Musketeer rookie, faced 16 shots and gave up three goals in 29:31. Another rookie, Nick Graves, made 26 saves in just over 30 minutes.
Omaha, too, is under the direction of a new coach, former Tri-City skipper Bliss Littler.
Littler has replaced Mike Hastings, the winningest coach in USHL history, while Knott is taking over for Dave Siciliano, the second winningest coach in league history.
In Sioux City's three losses, Knott's skaters were outscored 14-5 with Waterloo prevailing 5-3 and Des Moines 5-1.
The Musketeers did launch 44 shots shots to 36 for the Lancers, but went 0-for-6 on the power play.
Sioux City opens regular season play Saturday at Chicago.
OTHER SATURDAY GAMES
Chicago 4, Indiana 1
Chicago took charge early, scoring the only three goals of the first period and the first red-lighter of the second. John Moore, Dominic Morrone and Max Nicastro twice, lit the lamp. Brandon Richardson got the Ice goal. Winning goalie Matthew Delaney stopped 22 shots.
Green Bay 5, Fargo 1
The winning Gamblers dealt Fargo, the league's newest franchise, its third straight loss, forging a 40-25 shot advantage in the process. Chris Saracino, Jefferson Dahl, William Rappuzzi abd Max Cook scored for the winners. Oleg Lee got the Fargo goal. Winning goaltender Reid Ellingson played just 26:53 and stopped just six shots. The contest had 23 penalties totaling a whopping 81 minutes.
Lincoln 4, Waterloo 0
Lincoln's Garrett Vermeersch and Mike Dalhuisen scored in the third period to lift the Stars. Waterloo's Lee Moffie and Scott Pavelski had red-lighters and David Gerths and Kory Kaunisto also tallied as winning goalie Alan Armour stopped 28 shots.
Cedar Rapids 5, Tri-City 3
Brett Gensler late in the second period and Jared Rickord added a goal at 2:57 of the third period to snap a 3-3 tie and spark the RoughRiders to the victory. Dean Chelios, Cody Murphy and Matt Donovan contributed C.R. goals and Joe Zarbo had two of the Tri-City red-lighters.
Des Moines 4, Sioux Falls 2
Alex Chiasson poked in two goals for the winning Bucs and Matt White also scored twice for the Bucs, who got 13 saves from winning goaltender Aaron Crandell, who relieved starter Fredrik Bergman. The rough contest had 26 penalties totaling 64 minutes.
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Tee Jay wrote on Sep 28, 2008 10:22 PM:
This team needs something that Siciliano failed at the last two or three seasons...DISCIPLINE & DRIVE!
They play just well enough to win until the holiday break. Then when college scholarships are awarded the
losing starts. It seems some of the players don't think they have to play as hard and cruise through the rest of the season. Plus their off ice behaviour didn't help the team either. "
hockey fan wrote on Sep 28, 2008 7:52 PM: