Ag hockey team to drop puck against IceCats
The Utah State hockey club will play the Provo IceCats for the fourth and fifth time of the season this weekend with games in Logan and Provo.
The rivals will play in Logan Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Eccles Ice Center in North Logan and will then play again Saturday at the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo.
The two teams brawled in the two previous meetings in Cache Valley this season.
“[BYU] is probably going to take this game a lot more seriously because they’re kind of down and out right now,” goalie Chris Webber said. “In the heat of battle, there’s always some sort of pushing and shoving. Hopefully, we won’t get too out of control.”
At the last game between the teams on Nov. 5, USU fans were handed signs of the BYU goalie’s bloody face following the brawl that took place in the first game between the teams on Sept. 16. BYU fans sent two letters to USU president Kermit Hall, a letter to the commissioner of the American Collegiate Hockey Association and a letter to the Logan Herald Journal – all saying how disgusted they were at the USU fans.
“There’s been so much controversy and stuff stirred up over that I can’t help but think that the fans at both ends are probably wound a little too tight,” head coach Jerry Crossley said. “Hopefully nothing bad happens [this weekend].”
USU is preparing for some kind of counter-attack from the BYU fans.
“I know they’ll probably have something like that just to get back at us because they’re BYU,” Webber said.
Regardless, the Aggies are expecting lively crowds at both venues this weekend.
“I still expect a crazy atmosphere both here and there,” Aggie Chad Johnson said. “We’ve always played well with rowdy fans. I think that’s why we always pull out on top in Provo.”
The games this weekend were not on the schedule at the beginning of the season. New Mexico was scheduled to play USU on Thursday and Friday and then at BYU on Saturday, but the Lobos cancelled their road trip.
The Aggies are pleased with the switch-up.
“It’s just another chance to go out and beat those punks,” Johnson said. “They sit there and they talk crap to us all year about how they’re going to beat us but we proved them wrong, 12-4 and we’re going to do it again. But we won’t be overconfident.”
“It’s probably a better game,” Crossley said. “We’d like to stick with the regular schedule, but I guess it’s a good tradeoff. It should be a good game. The last half-dozen games we’ve had one blowout and the rest have been close. I don’t think they’ll look past it.”
The second rankings of the season were released last week with USU holding its spot at No. 3 in the region. BYU also stayed the same at the No. 5 spot. The top four teams in each reagion advance to the national tournament.
The Aggies have said that two wins over BYU this weekend would help build their profile for the rankings.
“It would solidfy our position,” Crossley said. “And just the opposite, if you happen to get a couple losses against them, it turns things upside down.”
The Aggies’ lineup will once again be at full strength this weekend as Roberto Leo and Nick Haase will both be back after missing time before Thanksgiving break.
“I think we were a little nervous without them, but they’re back now,” Webber said. “I think we’ll be ready.”
Johnson saw a lot more ice time with the two forwards out, but he said he is ready to back them up again.
“I hope I [get more playing time], but we got our regular lineup back,” he said. “I’ll be ready to go and whenever I need to be plugged in somewhere then I’ll be ready to play some hockey.”
While USU has made no official announcement, Webber said Adam Lain is expected to start in net on Friday.
“All I know is that Adam played great the last couple games,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that the coaches are going to go with him the first game because he’s playing solid right now.”
There have been rumors that Webber has been angry over Lain getting more time in net than him, but he inists that there is no tension between the goalies.
“I love playing with him,” he said. “In fact, I wanted him to come here. That’s one of the reasons I came here because I thought he was here. I love playing with that kid. He’s awesome.”
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu