Saturday’s game it was full of many things!  First of all, the use of 2 linesmen and 2 refs made it a bogged up rink.  I do know this process of the 4 refs will only be used in the exhibition season, thank God for that!!  There just was too many calls and the first period dragged on and on.  However with all the penalties in the first period, it did give NMU the chance to use their penalty kill group often. They did well and fought off each penalty kill. 

Offensively the Cats played well.  Some crisp passing and great shots were abound. Though it is early on in the season, I was pleased with the play of the team on the O end.  Olver, Santorelli both played great. Also it was nice to see the big guy Sarauer scoring a nice goal and getting his game up to par. On the D end, along with the penalty kill, there was great playing by Selden and freshman TJ Miller. Miller is a player and he will certainly be on the all freshmen team in the CCHA. He can shoot, pass, defend and really skates very well. Goaltending was fine by Zaniboni. The now senior played strong and made good saves when called upon. What was important is that he didn’t let in any easy ones and make silly mistakes.  The quesion we will find out here is why was he a sophomore last year and now a senior this year.  We will check on that for sure.

Toronto is a great group of guys. They vary in ages between 22 and 32.  I had the chance sit with one of Toronto’s inured players for 2 periods– Mike Auksi.  He explained how their league worked and how many good players are in it.  Toronto even has NHL star Danny Heatly’s younger brother on it and you could see that he is a star.  I wish Mike and his team well for their long season in the Canadien league.