It is hard to get a read on the team.  Everyone is well aware we need a win badly.  Middlebury is still a national powerhouse and a win today would be some what of redemption for the Blue Devils.  Tom Lescovich is starting in net again today.  Lescovich said he was ready to go as we arrived at the arena today.

Coach Watkins did shuffle some lines and wanted to get some more experience in the line-up.  We need to move our feet and keep up or again we will not have a chance like last night.

Defensive pairings have been shuffled and that is a huge area we need to clean-up today.  Our d-zone play has been less than stellar this year and has been a thorn in our side since opening weekend.  Obviously Bobby Kuehl blowing out his knee is a huge dent to the blue line.  He was our #1 defenseman and has been the last couple years.  I would describe him as solid and dependable.  Not flashy but rarely gives up the big play.

Don’t forget we’re still missing Nick Hopper (#1 guy at start of season), Jared Britton, Joe Knopeke who are all key players in the line-up.  Don’t misread my intention in that sentence, it’s not an excuse.

Puck drops in 48 minutes from Vermont, watch at http://www.primelinkshootout.com

UW-Stout did not capitalize on its power play opportunities and still could not find an answer to the cadets speed. Not much else to say with the current score.  I have not missed many games in my 3-odd years covering Stout hockey.  I have never, ever seen Stout get dominated like this.  It’s now time to get positive things going in the 3rd as we look ahead to Middlebury tomorrow.

8-0 after the 2nd period, shots 32-8 in favor of Norwich.

Norwich is leading your Blue Devils by a score of 3-0 after 1 period of play.  Shots are 19-3 in favor of Norwich.

UW-Stout appears to be having trouble keeping up with the speed of the Cadets.   They are struggling making break-out passes in their d-zone and finding passing lanes in both the d-zone and neutral ice area. UW-Stout needs to slow down this fast Norwich squad and play better in their d-zone, an area of struggle thus far in the season for the Devils.   Winning the little battles like stick lifts and battles for the puck need to be won more often.  Decision making needs to be quickened up, especially in the d-zone. Goaltender Tom Lescovich has played rather solid, but Nick Hopper is dressed for tonight’s game and could come in depending what happens in the 2nd.  He is about back to 100% healthy.

Should be interesting to see what adjustment Coach Watkins makes during intermission.

Watch live tonight, go to http://www.primelinkshootout.com

Eric Scovill Day 1 Blog…

Eric Scovill

Our Wednesday started out before the sun woke up.  We met at the rink at 6 to get packed and on the road.  After 15 minutes of chaos, our bus soon turned into a mangled heap of bodies and sleeping bags.  Throughout the next 12 hours, guys rotated sleeping in their seats, under their seats, and sprawled across the aisle.  Some of the new guys were lucky enough to get a spot on the air mattresses in front.  We stopped once on our 12 hour trek.  The only things that helped split the trip up were the movies we watched and all of the food provided by Mrs. Kuehl and the other parents.

Guys were excited to finally get off the bus and back on the ice.  We were able to have a normal Wednesday night practice, and get back to the hotel at a decent time.  We’ll hopefully get a decent sleep and then get back on the road early Thanksgiving Day.

Mike Morgan Day 1 Blog…

Mike Morgan (G)

The team met up at the rink dark and early at 5:30. We piled our bags on to the bus and started to pile into the bus. It was pretty hectic at first with everyone trying to figure out the seating and air mattress situation. Once the bus got moving, everyone was settled in for the most part. Burger King breakfast sandwiches were handed out and we chowed down. The seating situation on a bus is always uncomfortable, but Kaskavitch and I made the row of seats we shared work out for the best. I managed to wiggle my way between the seats and stretched out on the bus floor while he stretched out on the seats. Once I found a comfortable position, I dozed off as the movie Tears of Sun was just beginning.

About 3 hours later, I woke up and struggled to get out from beneath the seats. Most of the guys were still asleep. Nothing really worth noting happened in the next hour.

After we stopped to go to the bathroom and stretch the legs a bit, I busted out the laptop and did some web surfing since there wasn’t a whole lot to do. The coaches also started distributing sub sandwiches and finger foods. At this time, guys were started to come out of their zombie-like states and we popped American History X into the DVD player.

Once the movie was over, the chirp show started between many guys, although I will say Gayzer was chirping basically the whole bus ride. Passing through South Bend, IN was a pretty cool experience since you could see the Notre Dame Cathedral. Other than that there was not much to see in northern Indiana.

We finally reached our destination for the day, Mentor, OH, about 12 hours later. We got to a local rink and skated off the bus legs. Practice was a bit rough, but as stated, the bus ride probably had something to do with it. We were on the ice for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Then, we piled back into the bus and made our way to the hotel to close out the day.

Photos…

Jesse Johnston

Brandon Larson

Tom Lescovich

We left Menomonie at 6:30 a.m. this morning. I should be providing updates through out the trip easily, our bus has cellular wifi Internet. Things are a bit tight on the bus, Some guys are sleeping on the floors etc. Very cramped.

We’ll survive as we make our way to Mentor, Ohio tonight for practice and an overnight stay. Most everyone is sleeping around me right now.

Most updates will be done at our Twitter site w/ photos.  Be sure to check that often!

Time: 7:20 a.m.