The Sioux City Musketeers have had some uptempo practices this week at Tyson Events Center, carrying over the momentum from last week’s impressive showing where the team took four of a possible six points against Fargo and Sioux Falls.
The Musketeers will continue their six game homstand this weekend against Tri-City and Omaha. They currently occupy fifth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Des Moines Buccaneers though the Bucs have three games in hand.
Sioux City plays three games this month against Des Moines, whose Head Coach and GM Regg Simon has made some bold moves before the USHL trading deadline by acquiring NTDP U-17 defect Luke Voltin and 2011 NHL Draft Pick Nick Seeler from the Muskegon Lumberjacks in a trade this afternoon.
The USHL trading deadline is February 6th.
As the playoff race starts to take shape, the Buccaneers will be a team for Musketeer fans to watch as just like last year, the old rivals will be jockeying for playoff positioning in the bottom half of the West. Sioux City won’t see another team more often than the Buccaneers down the stretch as they tangle with Des Moines five times in the final 23 games.
In the meantime, the Musketeers will look to win their fourth game in five outings Friday against a Tri-City team that has killed the Musketeers in the season series.
The 7th place Storm is 5-1-0 against Sioux City this season after the Musketeers went 7-1-0 against Tri-City last year.
The Storm has scored the first goal in all five of their wins and the Musketeers would be advised to score first as Tri-City can be a difficult team to score on with their collapsing defense and goaltender Adam Wilcox on a nice run.
“Something about those guys makes them hard to play against,” said Musketeers defenseman Cliff Watson. “They definitely have a good team-wide work ethic and that’s something we have to match. Hopefully we can put things together on Friday night.”
Tri-City will enter the game winners of three straight.
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Patterson Recovers From Concussion
Musketeer forward Brett Patterson is expected to miss his 10th and 11th straight games this weekend but there is positive news on his recovery from a head injury he sustained on December 31st against Lincoln.
His symptoms have subsided enough for him to begin skating and doing light exercises as he works his way back from the first concussion of his career.
He skated with the team on Tuesday and Wednesday in a red, no-contact jersey, and participated in drills. He hasn’t been medically cleared for contact but is hopeful that he will be soon.
The Eden Prairie, MN native has had to be patient and not force anything in an injury that knows no timetable.
“It’s just a waiting game,” said Patterson, the only Musketeer playing at a point-per-game pace. “You just kind of wait until your symptom free. You can’t really do much and can’t let you heart rate get above a certain points. It’s mostly sleeping and staying away from the rink. I’ve been symptom free for a few days now and just getting back into working out and things like that. I haven’t been cleared for contact yet but I am back to skating and working out hard so it’s definitely progress.”
He first skated on Monday briefly and then donned the ice with teammates for the first time since the Calender turned to 2012.
“I felt really good today after yesterday’s skate,” said Patterson. “I got a lot of sleep last night so that was key.”
With as frustrating as a head injury can be, the coaching staff has done well to stay patient while one of their top offensive contributors remains sidelined. It’s the third significant concussion the Musketeers have dealt with in the last two year as Patterson joins current teammate Sam Piazza and last year’s teammate Greg Johnson.
“There’s been no pressure to come back early because it’s never a good deal if this happens again and it’s easy to have a setback,” said Patterson, who led the USHL in assists at the time of his injury. “I definitely feel like I’ve had good support from everyone through the whole ordeal.”
Things can change, but he’s progressing well enough to feel he could be medically cleared to return within a week and a half.
“Hopefully I’m back by parents weekend on the 10th. That be a great time to come back as we get ready for the stretch run here. I just can’t stand sitting around and watching anymore.”
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Musketeers Defense Goes On The Offense
A lot has been made of the Musketeers new aggressive forecheck that sees two forwards go in hard to force turnovers while a third forward stays high to either support the play if the Musketeers gain possession or get back on defense in case the opposition puck retrieves effectively.
Another byproduct of a more attacking system is from the defensive side where the Musketeer blueliners are being asked to use their instincts while having the green light to pinch off their point positions in the offensive zone to keep plays alive.
This is the style Coach Larson wanted to adopt since he came to Sioux City but as he alluded to on Tuesday’s Coach’s Show, he needed to take some time to both assess and gain the proper personnel to play this type of system.
Larson, a former defenseman, has overhauled a blueline that currently has one defenseman in its regular six man rotation that played on opening night.
Through savvy trading, he’s acquired a slew of experienced USHL defenseman including Andy Ryan, Michael Holland and Alexander Kuqali who the coaching staff knows has the hockey IQ to make smart, yet aggressive plays when necessary.
It’s also a system that seems to play to the strengths of more offensively gifted blueliners like Cliff Watson and Dan Molenaar.
Watson in particular has looked like a different player as of late and is showing why he was an early commit to Ohio State, a potential NHL Draft Pick and a highly touted prospect entering his first season in the USHL.
“Ever since the Top Prospects Game I do feel like my confidence has really gone up,” said Watson, who has three assists and is a +2 in his last four games.” I feel like I’m playing better and the defensive core has a whole is playing really well lately so that’s a good thing. I think everyone’s confidence has shot up during the last little while.”
Watson, who was ranked 153rd in Central Scoutings mid-term rankings, analyzes how the Musketeers aggressive defense is giving other teams fits.
“A lot of teams can’t seem to be able to handle our defense when we’re so active. Their wingers go to the wall with the puck and we pinch down and it’s been really effective. It’s nice to be aggressive and with the forward held a little higher it makes us feel safe and give us confidence that we’re covered when we do pinch down. Everyone has been communicating lately which is something the coaching staff preaches and it’s been a big help.”
Watson also credits the aforementioned veteran defenseman who can be a big benefit to a first year blueliner.
“Those veteran guys are fun to watch. They give you tips on the bench so it’s nice playing with guys who have as much experience as they do.”
The defense, along with Matt Skoff, gave up just six goals during the three games last week.
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NOTES:
-With Dane Cooper back practicing after missing two games last weekend, the Musketeers have 7 healthy defenseman for the first time in a long time
-Assistant Coach Mark Abalan is on a scouting trip that is taking to him Shattuck as he visits with prized affiliate prospects Teddy Blueger and Jake Montgomery
-Spoke with Robin Hoglund today about his status for the rest of the year…he’s not eligible to play any games for the rest of the year due to an odd Import Rule but has a very positive attitude. He plans on being back next year. Will have more on him later.
-In an effort to eliminate massive amounts of player movement from teams like Chicago last year, the USHL instituted a cap on the amount of player transactions a team came make. This season, USHL teams are limited to 8 “non-affiliate” adds throughout the year. The Musketeers have used 7 so the staff can still make a move before Tuesday’s deadline if they are so inclined.