Patrick Johnson owns (insert name) vs UAA

One last series before Christmas and coming to town are the Seawolves of Alaska Anchorage. Last week, we learned the CCHA is lame (well we didn’t learn that so much as reminded ourselves of the truth). That played out well over the weekend, as Lower Michigan came to town and was promptly swept back across Lake Michigan. While Patrick didn’t have anyone in particular to own (based on the weekly poll), he definitely found a few wolverines. #8 Aaron Palushaj and #2 Greg Pateryn found themselves flat on their backs Saturday night w/ a #10 3rd jersey looming over them.

That’s old news though. The Badgers are likely considered the underdog this weekend since UAA is ranked #15 in the USCHO poll. Their fans have been talking an awful lot of smack so far, which is fine since I’ve seen them be able to take it while giving it back out (minnesota and Michigan fans should make some notes). I’m not sure what is up w/ Alaska in general, combined their two schools are 15-9-4. Perhaps it’s the glacial ice melting, improving the overall water quality in the Anchorage/Fairbanks areas. Or perhaps the players are improving their endurance by cornering grizzly bears and then having them chase them around the backcountry.

UAA doesn’t have the big names like North Dakota or minnesota, but we have four solid choices this week.

Options #1 – Paul Crowder, he leads the Seawolves in scoring w/ 8-10-18. Did anyone on their roster have 18 pts last season? While in the BCHL he was teammates w/ Kyle Turris for a season w/ Burnaby. If KT was still around he could hand out his first WCHA body check, but instead Patrick will have to fill in for his former linemate.

Option #2 – Tommy Grant, he leads the Seawolves in goals w/ 10 and is second in points w/ 17. He had a whole 7 points all of last season, so quite the improvement for the young forward. W/ that kind of improvement a player can get a big head, maybe Patrick should bring him back to reality.

Option #3 – Jeremy Smith, I don’t know a damn thing about this kid, but some UAA fan warned us last week that Smith likes to kick ass and take names. I’m not sure if this fan has a copy of the WCHA media guide, but kicking ass and taking names is Patrick Johnson’s middle name. You’ve been warned.

Option #4 – Sean Wiles, continuing the on going trend, Sean is a Beloit, WI native who played his high school hockey at Beloit Memorial before heading to the USHL. The sophomore deserves the proper homecoming in his first game at the Kohl Center, and who better to welcome him back to Wisconsin than Patrick Johnson.