The Teams
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4-1)
vs.
UW-Eau Claire Blugolds (7-6-0)
The Vitals
Friday, Jan. 5 • SMU Ice Arena • 7:05 p.m.
Last Action
The Cardinals have not played since Dec. 9, when they dropped a 4-1 decision at home to Lake Forest. … UW-Eau Claire, meanwhile, is coming off a 3-2 win over UW-River Falls on Dec. 15.
Last Meeting
The Cardinals hammered the Blugolds in their first-ever meeting a year ago, scoring three goals in the first period, four in the second and five in the third en route to a 12-1 victory.
Conference Standings
Through Thursday, Jan. 4, 2001
This and That
Ryan Stinson (Winona, Minn.) leads SMU in scoring with 13 points, while Todd Hangge (Rochester, Minn.) and Lenny Hofmann (Sartell, Minn.) are tied at 12. … Ian Sgambelluri is Eau Claire’s goal-scoring leader with 20 points. … The Cardinals have lost their last two games, scoring just two goals in that span. … The win over River Falls snapped UW-Eau Claire's two-game losing streak.
 SMU |
 Eau Claire |
|
|
|
| Team Roster | Team Roster |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CARDINAL PROFILEPeter Benecke
|
 |
ideal belated Christmas present
WINONA, Minn. — As if Don Olson doesn’t have enough to worry about.
Not only does the Saint Mary’s University men’s hockey coach have to wonder if his Cardinals will be able to shake off the rust of a two-week layoff — and bury the memory of a two-game losing streak that has seen SMU get outscored 9-2 — but now he has to ponder just which UW-Eau Claire team will show up for tonight’s nonconference game.
Will it be the Blugold squad that beat UW-River Falls 3-2, split with NCHA power UW-Stevens Point and hammered defending MIAC playoff champion Concordia 9-3 and dropped St. John’s 4-2?
Or will it be the Eau Claire squad that lost to Bethel 6-4, then walked off the ice in protest with nine minutes remaining of an 11-1 drubbing by Augsburg the following night in a game that went down in the books as a 1-0 forfeit win for the Auggies?
It’s like getting a double dose of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“We didn’t end the first half of the season quite the way we had hoped, but there certainly were plenty of positives,” said Olson, whose team entered the Christmas break with a 6-4-1 overall mark, including a four-game winning streak that that saw SMU outscore its opponents 28-12. “Everyone came back (from the holiday break) healthy and eager to get back to work.
“We’ve had a great week of practice, and hopefully, that will carry over to this weekend’s games.”
What Olson would really like is a repeat of the Cardinals’ performance against UW-Eau Claire a year ago, when SMU came back from its Christmas break with a 12-goal output in a 12-1 rout of the Blugolds.
Unfortunately, as much as Olson would love that kind of belated Christmas present, he knows this year’s Blugold team probably won’t be that generous.
“(Eau Claire) is much improved over last year, no question about that,” admitted Olson. “Last year we were in pretty much the same situation as we are now, coming back from break, trying to get back into game shape, and it seemed like every shot we put on net went in.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen again this time around.”
But then again, with the balanced offensive attack the Cardinals possess, another 12-goal outburst isn’t out of the question, either.
“We need to continue to work hard to create good scoring opportunities,” said Olson. “We have a number of offensive weapons, it’s just a matter of creating opportunities.”
Olson would love nothing better than a pair of victories this weekend — tonight against the Blugolds and Saturday at UW-Stevens Point — but more importantly, he is hoping his squad can work out any lingering kinks before the Cardinals hit the conference trail.
“This is a big weekend for us,” Olson said. “We need to get that competitive atmosphere back — in the locker room, on the bench and on the ice.
“After this weekend, it’s six straight weeks of conference play, and if we are going to make a run, we’ve got to make sure we are prepared — mentally and physically.”