Mad Dogs vs. Falcons Preview

Pete Lobe has provided us with this weeks scouting report. Here's what we know.

• Stats indicate that we're stronger in the beginning of the game and the Falcons get stronger as the game progresses.

• #8 W. Nelson leads the team and the entire league with 11 goals. #7 TJ Haffner has 14 points on the year. The rest of the team seems average.

• Jay O'neill, former Mad Dogs, plays for the Falcons now. He may give them insider info on our team.

• The Falcons are a heavily penalized team, so don't let them take us off our game like the Venom did. They have two Haffners' and a W. Felber on their team and the three of them combine for 66 minutes in penalties in 5 games. Keep your heads up and no retaliation. We can win this game on power plays. 

• They beat the Mudflaps 6-3 in their last game, so they can be dangerous.

• We play our game and skate hard for 3 periods, we can win this game.

Larry Shuts out the Hawks!

Posting his first shut out in four years Mad Dogs goaltender Larry Amundson put on a remarkable performance against the first place hawks to help the Dogs regain the first place ranking. It was an exciting game with lots of action. The Dogs were moving quickly, passing the puck well, scoring and it was probably their most impressive game on defense this season. 

Larry took on 23 shots in his shut out putting him at the number 2 spot of goaltenders in the AHA B2 division with a .873 save percentage. In 5 games he has taken on 142 shots and allowed only 18 goals and has a win loss record of 4-1. Another milestone for Larry lies in the PIM column. Living up to his promise he has been punished with only 2 penalty minutes so far this season. This is the kind of goaltending that gets teams to nationals.

Offensively the Mad Dogs were equally impressive. The Mad Dogs outshot the Hawks 32-23 and still have not lost a game when they have outshot or outscored their opponent. Veteran star Pete Lobe continues his streak with a 3 point game scoring his sixth goal of the season and getting 2 assists for a total of 6 this season. He now leads the team and is second in the B2 division with 12 points. 

Also joining in on the scoring was Nick Mastro scoring his 4th of the season, Nielson also scored his 4th of the season and got one assist. Rookie Tim Moeller scored his 3rd of the season and got 3 assists and captain Brian Loehr buried a late 3rd period goal for his second of the season. Rousey Johnson, Jeff Warren and Matt Sundeen also had one assist each. 3 of the 5 goals for the Mad Dogs came in the 3rd period. The team skated hard all game and never let up. It was fun to watch.

Another turn-a-round from the previous game was in the lack of penalties. Captain Brian Loehr received the only 2 minute penalty after he hugged superstar #10 from the Hawks and dragged him into a 4 man collision with defenseman Jeff Snyder and goaltender Larry Amundson and the goal post. Everyone involved was slow to get up and it was frightening moment when Scary Larry was flat on his back and Snyder went knee first into the boards and was also down for a while. No serious injuries though. What a great game.

The next game is against the Falcons. They are a scrappy team that takes a lot of penalties. One of the last games the Mad Dogs had against them we blew a 3 goal lead by skating the last 5 minutes of the game shot handed 5 on 3. We had more guys in the penalty box then we did on the bench and former Dog and leading scorer Tschida received a suspension for punching one of there goons square in the face. 

Pete Lobe pulled together a comprehensive scouting and stat report for the next game. We are sorting through the info now and will publish the findings within the next 24 hours. 

10-5 and Tempers Flared on Both Benches

The Mad Dogs winning streak came to an end this evening after a fierce battle with the Venom. There's nothing more to say other then it just wasn't their night. Pucks were bouncing around, legs weren't moving and tempers were flaring.

The Venom are known for their fancy stick work which landed them a total of 13 2-minute minor penalties. The Mad Dogs managed to stick to their game and ignore the Venom's dirty play... until the second period when they fell victim to the Venom scheme. The Mad Dogs tallied up a total of 9 2-minute minors with rookie Dave "The Hooker" Schmidt leading the way with 3 penalties, 2 of which were for hooking, thus the new nickname.

Joining the party in the box for the Mad Dogs were, Nick Mastro, Jeff Warren, Dirk Hanson, Matt Sundeen, Jeff Snyder, and finally celebrating his first unsportsmanlike of the season, Goaltender Larry Amundson. If I remember right his penalty came after he politely pointed out to the ref's that Pete Lobe was on his knees after being drilled in front of the Mad Dogs goal. I think Pete would agree that it needed to be brought to the ref's attention. Thank you Larry ; )

The Mad Dogs did manage to put up 5 goals in the game with only 27 shots. Paul Swenson got the scoring started after a nice shot from the point. Good, Mastro, Gervais, and Moeller also contributed. The Venom had a total of 34 shots. This was the first game of the season that the Dogs didn't out shoot their opponent and it happened to be their first loss. They have to keep shooting if they want to win in this league. In the previous games this season the rookies managed to snap off a lot of shots. The team will be looking for them to do more of the same in the big game next week.

Next up for the Mad Dogs is the Hawks. The Hawks suffered their first loss in overtime on Saturday night against the Mudflaps. Since it was an OTL they did receive 1 point for the game which puts them in first by one point. The Mad Dogs are currently in a 4 way tie for second.

Obviously frustrated with the outcome of the game and seeing his scoring streak come to an end, assistant captain Pete Lobe stated during the post-game press conference, "I feel sorry for the Hawks and what they will experience next week. Were going to kick their A$$!" If he would have said that at any point in the game tonight I am all but certain he would have received a 2 minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

A scouting report is expected in the coming days on the Hawks. Seeing as their last game went into overtime there is a tremendous amount of game film to study before the report can be fully completed. However Matt "The Tripper" Sundeen volunteered to submit the scouting report after receiving his first penalty of the season. Sundeen said he wants to review the tape so he can decide which sorry Hawk he can trip up next for his second penalty of the year.

Venom Scouting Report

Mad Dogs will take on the Venom this Saturday at New Hope Arena N. at 9:15 pm. For rink information please click here. It will be a tough game. The Dogs will have to skate their ass off, shoot a lot, score, not take chances, play position and play some smart hockey.

Below are the notes that came in from the scouting report. Thanks Pete.

• They have 119 shots on goal through three games (we have 102)
• Owen (#17) and Anhorn (#24) are leading the team in points (4-4 – 8)
• Cherne (#77) has 8 penalty minutes, so we have to watch him and not get sucked into anything. In the past he have had a lot of penalties against them. It we try and play them short handed we will lose.
• Their only loss was to the Mudflaps 4-3, and I’d guess they overlooked them. They just beat a team a week prior to that 9-4.
• I think they’re one of the best teams in B2
• They won the pre-season tournament (beat Jesters in Championship)

Mad Dogs win a close one.

Going into this weeks game there was a three way tie for first place between the Mad Dogs, Mudflaps the Hawks. Mad dogs were down two defenseman and rookie forward Rousey Johnson who is out with a double fracture injury on his thumb. In a tough game the Mad Dogs managed to hand the Mudflaps their first loss of the season and bump them out of the first place position.

With another impressive crowd attendance the Mad Dogs came out shooting to outscore the Mudflaps 2-0 during the first period. Shortly in the second the Pete Lobe scored the third goal of the game to continue his streak. Mudflaps realized they needed to step it up and started taking control of the game. They scored two quick goals midway through the second turning it into a tight game. Mad Dogs seemed a bit flustered and surprised by the quick goals and the pressure that the Mudflaps were applying.

Late in the second the Dogs found themselves in penalty trouble after defenseman Snyder was called for a holding penalty and managed to pick up a 10 minute misconduct on his way to the box. The Mad Dogs were able to kill of the penalty. The second period ended with a score of 4-2. It was an exciting period with 30 total shots, 15 per team. Larry Amundson had his glove working for him and had some impressive saves.

The third period was back and forth with out a lot of shots or to much action until a couple minutes left in the game when the Mudflaps called a time out to put together an empty net strategy. They put pressure on and a Mudflap forward snook past all the Mad Dogs for a breakaway. Jeff Warren managed to catch up to him and take a smart baseball swing tripping penalty to prevent a late scoring opportunity. With 1:53 left in the game and a face off in the Mad Dogs end the Mudflaps pulled their goalie for a 6 on 4 advantage. Their efforts paid off a little to late and they scored to make it 4-3 with .7 seconds left on the clock.

Final score 4-3. Mad Dogs out shot the Mudflaps 32-28. Mad Dogs managed to pick up a season record of 5 penalties but the penalty kill looked strong giving up only one short handed goal late in the game.

Next weeks game is against the Venom. They are a very strong team sitting at 2-1 right now and are not going to want to drop to 500. In the past the Mad Dogs have pretty much split gamed with them. A scouting report is expected soon so keep your eye out for a post on the blog.

Mad Dogs vs. Mudflaps

Big Game this Saturday for the Mad Dogs. They will be taking on the Mudflaps. Currently we are in a tie for first place with them. They have beaten the Bulldogs 6-1 in their first game and the Venom, a very strong team, 4-3. It looks like they get a lot of shots so it will be a big game for Larry. It also looks like their goalie is solid only letting in 4 goals in 64 shots this season for a .938 save percentage. Lets keep the Mad Dog scoring machine going and light this sucker up so we can put Larry ahead of the number 1 spot for the B2 goalies where he deserves to be.

Game is Saturday, November 8th at Breck School Anderson Arena. Game time is 7:45 and the Mad Dogs are the home team and will be wearing their white jerseys. Everyone try and remember to bring all their equipment this game. For arena info click here.

He scores!

Mad Dogs leading scorer Pete Lobe and his lovely wife Ivy had a their first child Mason. Congrats Pete and Ivy. Were all happy to have Mason in the Mad Dogs family. We can't wait to see him at the game in his Baby Mad Dog attire.

Nice work goalie.

Congrats to Mad Dogs goalie Larry Amundson and his wife on the birth of their baby girl Brooklyn last Tuesday October 28th. We hope to see the family making noise in the stands soon.

Mad Dogs Win Best of Show

There was a B2 dog fight tonight at St. Louis Park Arena between the Mad Dogs and the Bulldogs. However, there was little bite from the Bulldogs. In an impressive display of force the Mad Dogs came out shooting. Pre-game, captain Brian Loehr stressed to the team that the scouting reports came back saying shoot often on the Bulldogs goalie.

As a result the scoring started early. During the second shift of the game the Mad Dogs line came out for two quick goals. First one coming from rookie David Schmidt. After a feed from the corner he buried his first shot the season. Not a bad start for the rookie, one shot, one goal. 33 seconds later line mate Brian Loehr scored for an early 2 goal lead. The first period onslaught continued and the Mad Dogs scored a total of six goals from six different players. One of most exciting goals came at 5:05 from rookie Rousey Johnson during a penalty kill. In the HNA last season he scored a majority of his goals during short handed situations so expect him to continue that in the AHA this season.

Things slowed down a bit after the first period as Bulldog goalie J. Suppes started making saves. First period he let in 6 goals on 17 shots. The second and third period he only let 2 goals in on 27 shots. The Mad Dogs kept the pressure on throughout the game and the Bulldogs never generated any offense.

Here is a scoring summary for the rest of the game. As in the first game the rookie Steve Riley scored at 6:57. He now with 2 goals in his first 2 games as a Dog. Veteran star Pete Lobe is on fire. He now has 4 goals in his first two games. Jeff Warren blasted a shot from the blue line for his first goal of the season and rookie Tim Moeller scored his first official goal of the season and the final goal of the game late in the third period.

Mad Dogs goalie Larry Amundson had another solid game. After an equipment malfunction at the drop of the puck he didn't see a lot of action. Bulldogs only had 8 first period shots on him but #13 Murray managed to squeak 2 goals past Amundson. He was solid the rest of the game and managed to stop the combined 20 shots against him in the second and third peroid. Bulldogs had a shot total of 28 vs. the Mad Dogs total of 44 shots. In the first two games he has seen a total of 66 shots and given up only 5 goals. That's some solid goaltending by the veteran and proud new father of a baby girl, Brooklyn.

The offense for the Mad Dogs help explain the real story unfolding this year. In two games they have tallied up a total of 81 shots for 18 goals. The team management is confident if the Dogs continue this shock and awe offensive it will be an electrifying season. The Mad Dogs PR firm has hinted that the team is in negotiations with local charities and may be setting up a donation program to a local charity. An example would be that a $1 per goal will be donated to an inner city youth hockey program. Discussions are ongoing and if anything comes of it an announcement will be made in the coming weeks.