Ok, so after our steady improvement the last few games, things got a little out of hand with the Blizzard. We lost 10-3 and saw our worst period this season with 5 goals against us in the second.  Jeren "Jergn" Anderson, Brett "Peaches" Libby, and captain Larry "Crusher" Curtis all managed to help keep some fight in us during the game by getting goals in each period, but overall...we got shelled.  The Blizzard's shot count was 47 against us, but those were only the ones to make it to Trey.  I think each defender blocked about 6 shots a piece and we have the bruises to prove it.  The real knife twist was when their center shot the puck out of the air off a faceoff in our zone for a goal.  To steal a quote from the Etrade baby the odds of that happening at our level of hockey are like getting mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day.  I think I even saw Trey make the shocked face. 

It's ok though.  This game was just the fuel we needed to light a fire under us.  We have a new three pronged strategy that cannot be defended against.  Just scroll down...

That's right! We were able to commission Grammy-award winner, Joe Esposito, to write us our own training montage anthem!  (We're using "You're the Best" until he finishes it) The second part of our plan is our new training regimen.  I'm not going to give the whole thing away, but here's a link to some clips from our workout videos. The final part of our plan is to get Elizabeth Shue to dump that loser, Davis Guggenheim, and marry me so she'll be in the stands to support me for my...ahh...I mean our triumphant comeback.   That's right Blizzard!  How are you gonna defend against the ultimate 80's comeback strategy??  We've got a whole summer to train and we're comin' for you next season! 

Oh crap.  I forgot about summer softball and soccer and the injuries that go with them.  Larry, you better make sure Coach Wally knows how to do that hand-clap, leg-rub thing.

Bear #26

more [+]

Grant "Fabio" Olson was on IR during our playoff run in 2008 and filmed some of our game.  Man do we look slow. Grant did manage to catch a nice goal by former/founding Ak Bar Dave Bannister.

Bear #26

more [+]

I'm not sure if everyone was all feisty after watching the US men beat Canada in hockey, but that was probably the roughest game of the season.  Some real old-time hockey.  Or at least the closest to old-time hockey a slightly above beginner level team in a no-check league can get.  Except for a couple of incidents it was some good, physical hockey.  We're still kicking around the bottom of the division and with only 5 games left the playoffs are out of the question, but we're hanging in there and making the other teams earn their playoff spots.  Apparantly I've been slacking in my update duties (huh huh...I said duties) so here's a quick recap. Two weeks ago we made the 4th place Royals nervous with a fight to the finish, ending in a 2-1 loss for the Ak bars.  Last week we made a come from behind run at the Raiders, who still have a shot at the playoffs, with a 5-4 loss.  This week we went into the 3rd period with the 5th place Nemesis with only a 2-1 deficit.  Unfortunately someone must have slipped N. Radford a horse steroid or something, because he came out gunning to safeguard their lead and scored goals at the 15:00 and 9:00 marks, completing a hat-trick.  The nail was in the coffin when the Nemesis scored their 5th goal with 6 minutes left to play, but the game wasn't over.  There was some rare last minute drama that occurred that I won't go into too much detail about, but it began with me on the wrong side of our net with my face on the ice and ended with a game ejection for each team.  Nothing too major really.  Sometimes things brew in a rough game and someone loses their head for a moment, but no one was hurt.  Good game Nemesis and good luck with the rest of the season.

Bear #26

I just had to sneak this picture in too. 

more [+]

Ok the Beavers actually beat us like 7-0. I just like saying, "Pound the Beavers." It was actually a closer game than the score implies, but the Beaver goailie played out of his mind.  It was still a great time to play on the same ice and sit on the same benches as the Wild.  If you ever wondered how big many of the NHLers are, I'm 6'2" and my feet were dangling on the bench.  Thanks to the Beavers for a great night and all our friends and family members that came out and watched us during one of the worst snowstorms of the year.  Special thanks to Wally for reffing and Natedog for scorekeeping.  Word.

Bear #26

more [+]

AK-BARS

AT THE X

MONDAY FEBRUARY 8^TH

7:30PM

AK-BARS vs. BEAVERS

@

THE XCEL ENERGY CENTER

ST. PAUL MN

ADMISSION IS FREE

more [+]

Sorry I haven't updated the board in awhile.  I suck.  Wah. 

Well the first round of games of done.  We lost some games, we won...a game...  I think we'll just call that the fall season.  Oh well.  Fun was had as always.  Join us at New Hope this Sunday at 9:45pm to see the Ak Bars kick off the 2009-2010 Winter season!

Bear #26

more [+]

Congratulations to longtime Ak Bar Chad "Fireman" Johnson on the birth of his daughter.  She was born on 11/15/2009 and was 7 lbs 14 oz.  I played hockey with a guy who just turned 70 last night, so I figure little Addison will be able to play with the Ak Bars for at least 20 years before I retire.

Bear #26

more [+]

With about a third of the Ak Bars still shaking off the after effects of Andrew "Big Swede" Jahr's wedding, this first game was a little rough.  We actually held our own pretty well despite the fact that I could barely get my gear on without working my way toward metabolic alkalosis... The Nemesis jumped to an early lead due to a relatively flukey goal off a faceoff in our end during the first period.  After a scoreless 2nd period the Nemesis scored another goal early in the third period off a breakaway.  To add injury to insult, Captain Larry "Crusher" Curtis was hammered so hard he had to miss a few shifts to make sure all his bits and pieces were still in place and working.  Just when things were looking bleak Garret "G-man" Miedema saved the day by getting himself thrown in the penalty box, forcing Larry to go back out on the ice.  With a bum knee and all, Larry scored a blue line goal that snuck through the goalie's five-hole, putting some fire back into the Ak Bars game.  Unfortunately we weren't able to pull it out and finished the game 2-1.  We play the Nemesis two more times this season so as close as this game was I wouldn't be surprised to see a rubber match by the third game.  The next game is our traditional day-after-halloween game so I'm sure we'll all be in game form...

Bear #26 

more [+]