After finishing the Mid-State Electric Showcase tournament@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/@@ hosted by San Jose State with a 2-1 record to improve to 6-3 on the year, Oregon’s club hockey team will host Pac-8 rival Washington in the first two games of this year’s I-5 Cup this Friday and Saturday at Lane County Ice Center.@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/@@ @@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?page_id=6@@
The Ducks opened the tournament with a 10-1 win over Loyola Marymount. It was the first-ever meeting between the programs, and the Lions had a short roster at their disposal because of midterms. As a result, Oregon skated to an easy win.
“We worked on systems and worked on passing. It was basically like a good practice for us,” head coach Rich Salahor said.
The practice paid off for the Ducks in their second game of the tournament against Santa Rosa Junior College@@ce@@ in a 4-2 win.
“It was a great night for us,” Salahor said. “We played the best we’ve played all year, possibly even last year as well. Knowing that we can step up and play like that is looking good for the future.”
He said the Ducks did a good job of playing solid defense, playing their own brand of hockey and controlling the puck at all times.
“Basically, we had control of the game from start to finish,” Salahor said.
The Ducks dropped their third game of the tournament 5-1 to host San Jose State. On the whole, Salahor felt that while he would have liked to have beaten the Spartans, he was happy with how the Ducks played on the weekend.
“We played our systems that we’re all being taught to play, and everybody bought into it,” Salahor said.
Although the Ducks played one of their better games in recent memory against Santa Rosa, they were still plagued by penalty troubles late in the game, something that has been a common theme for them this year.
“It’s been getting better,” Salahor said, “but there is still a long way to go. We’re taking less penalties. But we are still taking bad penalties at bad times.”
When they can play at even strength, the Ducks think they’re among the best in the Pac-8. With the Washington Huskies coming to town this weekend, Oregon will need to stay out of the penalty box as much as possible.
Washington will come into the game this weekend undefeated in Pac-8 play, with two wins each over Washington State, Utah and USC.
Both teams have had periods of success in the rivalry, yet the I-5 cup the last two years has seen Husky paws. If the teams split the four games they have in the regular season, the cup is decided in a shootout like it was in 2010.
For Oregon assistant coach Kevin Trihey, the series with Washington is the first time he will face them as a coach — Trihey was a skater on the team last year — but it’s not changing how he feels about the Huskies.@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?page_id=15@@
“It doesn’t change it at all,” Trihey said. “Oregon and Washington, they hate each other, and nothing’s going to change that.”
Trihey recalls his first game playing Washington when a Husky player landed a cheap-shot elbow to Derek Wolfson’s face. He said from that point forward, he knew everything he needed to know about the I-5 Cup.@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?page_id=11@@
“You can’t respect that. We can’t let them do that to our guys,” Trihey said.
Washington is led offensively by Corey James, who had eight goals through Washington’s first five games. Salahor said the Huskies have two other main threats and then drop off after the top three players. He said the Ducks have a more balanced roster that could pose problems for Washington.@@http://www.huskyicehockey.com/stats.html@@
“I think they need to worry about our game more than we worry about theirs,” Salahor said.
Oregon faces off with Washington on Friday at 9:15 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?page_id=6@@
Oregon club hockey set for latest chapter of Washington rivalry
Daily Emerald
November 8, 2011
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