Willie Corrin will be blogging everything Bulldog hockey throughout the second half of the 2015-16 season -- and beyond. You can follow him on Twitter at
Let me start up this blog by telling you a little about myself. I'm a 24-year-old senior defenseman who wears No. 5 for the Bulldogs and am majoring in communication with a coaching minor. International Falls, Minn., is where I call home and it's located right on the Canadian border. It's so close, in fact, that I can literally throw a rock into Canada from my backyard. I am a small town northern boy whose life revolves around hockey, but I make time for other hobbies such as fishing, hunting, golfing, and just taking in the all-around lake life. I live on “Lac a’ La Pluie”, which is the real name of Rainy Lake. My hometown means so much to me that I have even “Lac a’ La Pluie” tattooed on my bicep!
I'm the youngest member of my family, which includes brother Ladd (26), who is married and lives in the Twin Cities with his wife Lucy; an a older sister Brittany (30), who lives in Thompson Minn., with her husband Joe, and their two boys -- and my biggest fans -- Charlie (2) and Jonny (8 months). The two boys actually compete for that distinction with my grandparents, Bill and Marvel Blais, who don’t ever miss watching a UMD game, even though they aren't able to make it to many in person anymore. My grandpa has been a hockey fan all his life and splits his loyalties between the Bulldogs and Nebraska-Omaha. That's certainly understandable since their son, Dean Blais, is the Maverick head coach. My parents, William and Jeanne Corrin, still live in the Falls and are the owners of a plumbing and heating business which has been in our family for over 100 years(since 1909). We also have two black labs (Tikka and Gypse), who are absolutely nuts.
This July 1 our family -- specifically MY family -- is going to grow as I will be getting married to my beautiful fiancé, Emily Raboin, Emily, unfortunately, attends St. Cloud State University, which puts a little stress on our relationship when we play the Huskies. My roommates (Austin Farley, Tony Cameranesi, and AustynYoung) and I don’t allow her to bring anything SCSU in the apartment -- not that she would because she is a Bulldog at heart -- but we have a very stiff rule that no other school apparel is allowed through the door. It also adds a bit of pressure that her older brother (Garrett Raboin) is the assistant coach for the Huskies. As I mentioned before, I have another tie to another NCHC, with my uncle Dean being the bench boss at Omaha. With that being said, it makes things interesting when these two teams come up on our tough schedule.
Jan. 17, 2016. #2 St. Cloud State vs. #17 UMD: “Dog Fight”
This was arguably one of the biggest weekends for our hockey club so far this season. The energy in practice was high and you could feel the excitement in the team leading up to the home series with the Huskies. This was chance for us to make a statement that we are as good as, or better than, any team in the country. The coaches told me before the series that they needed more out of me, but due to a lower body injury, I sat out Friday night’s game and watched my team outshoot the Huskies badly. However, we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities like the Huskies did and ended up losing 3-1.
Friday night's message from the coaching staff was simple: “Let it hurt, and prepare for tomorrow.” The boys did just that! We came out flying Saturday, playing the game we knew we could play. Knowing just how skilled the Huskies are, we battled for a full 65 minutes and skated to a 1-1 tie with the No. 2 team in the country. This obviously isn’t the goal of our team because we are winners and nothing is accepted but winning in our organization. But this showed our team how good we really can be, and how we have to play every night to have success in the NCHC.
Jan. 24, 2016. #17 UMD at #13 Denver: “Last Regular Season Flight Ever?”
Our trip to Denver started with an early flight out of the Twin Cities on Thursday morning. It hit me several times on the way out west that this could be the team’s last flight of the regular season and possibly the last for the seven other UMD seniors and myself. On the flight to Denver, we rubbed elbows with some Bronco fans who were there to watch Peyton Manning beat up on Tom Brady and company. Once we arrived, the focus in our lockerroom was clear: This was a pivotal series as the Pioneers were ahead of us in the standings and we needed to start building some momentum after what happened last weekend . The puck dropped Friday night at 5,280 feet above sea level and the game was on! We jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on the first three shots of the game, forcing DU to switch goalies and bring in Evan Cowley. That change seemed to spark the Pioneers as they scored a pair of goals before the first period ended. They added one more in the third to make it a 3-2 final.
Frustration was clearly setting in for us with the lack of recent goal scoring. Saturday’s rematch with Denver was filled with more shots on target (35 for the night and 74 for the weekend) and scoring opportunities, but we were able to get just one puck past Cowley and the end result was a 2-1 defeat. Like as been the case so many times this season, we outplayed our opponent, but couldn't outscore them. During the early flight home Sunday, not many words said as the loss from last night was still stinging. Team meetings and some soul searching followed in the next few days of practice along with getting back to what we are good at: working hard.
Jan. 31, 2016. #19 UMD at Northern Michigan: “A New Start”
The boys were excited to get back on the ice and turn the page on the previous weekend. Since this is our last non-conference series of the year, everyone goes on the trip, which makes for a fun bus ride through the U.P. These trips are great for our team -- it just gives us another reason to watch funny movies. "McGruber" is the first movie up, and Carson Soucy lets us all know he has seen it before as he recites every line from the movie. Next up is "Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley" and it's a race on the bus to find the best lines from the movie and get a laugh before anyone else beats you to it. After a quick stop at the hotel to change attire, we head out to a team dinner before returning to the hotel for a hot tub and some more rest.
Friday night’s game with Northern Michigan starts with a lot of energy and excitement from our club. We put a lot of shots on net during the first period, yet we have no goals to show for. The second and third period are more productive as we take a 3-2 lead early in the third on Andy Welinski's goal, but the Wildcats score twice late to snatch a win from us. It was a quiet locker room, to say, the least, afterwards.
The rematch in Marquette, Mich., starts with a boom! We opened the game the way we needed to -- with three goals and wound up winning 3-1. Spirits were obviously higher than the previous night and that win also made for a fun bus ride home with lots of laughs, jokes and funny movies once again.
Feb. 6, 2016. Colorado College vs. UMD: “Must Win”
This was a key weekend for us as we were in a three-way tie for the last NCHC home playoff spot and the suddenly surging Tigers (they were 6-6-1 since opening the year with 13 straight losses) were just six points behind us in the standings. This CC team was a very different than the one saw earlier in the year when we blanked them twice (6-0 and 5-0) out in Colorado Springs.
On Friday night, we came out flying once again, outshooting the Tigers 13-3 at one point, yet CC took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The Tigers struck just 48 seconds into the second period on a power play goal to go up 2-0, but we got one back quickly then scored three straight goals en route to a 5-3 victory. That was one of our better 60-minute performances in a while.
That momentum carried over into the next night and we jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on Dan Molenaar's goal 16 seconds in, but then for whatever reason, we eased up and let the hungry Tigers back into the game. We knew they would come out harder because no team -- especially a NCHC team -- accepts losing two games in a row. CC scored two unanswered goals and were ahead 2-1 for most of the night -- that is until late in the third when we scored two goals of our own in the final 3:35 of play and skated off with another come-from-behind win. Two big blocks by Neal Pionk -- the kind of stuff you don't always see in the final statistics -- in the waning minutes of regulation helped us nail down our third straight victory and take over sole possession of fourth place. After the game, the entire team signed autographs and met young fans for nearly an hour as part of Mentor Duluth Appreciation Night. Although this is something we truly enjoy doing, it is that much better of an experience for all involved when it follows a win!
Feb. 10, 2016. BSU vs. UMD: “Battle for Babe the Blue Ox”
We had little time to savor last weekend's sweep as three days later Bemidi State would be in town for the final non-conference game ever for the seven other UMD seniors and myself. It was a weird deal playing on a Tuesday, taht's for sure. The game was originally supposed to be our 2015-16 season opener until a power chord got cut on Oct. 9 leaving AMSOIL Arena without enough energy to keep the ice from slowly melting. The Beavers got on the board early, but we answered back midway throughtthe first period and then it was your typical UMD-BSU stalemate for the next 40 minutes. With 10 minutes to go in the third, BSU got what proved to be the game-winner and held on to beat us 2-1, securing the Babe the Blue Ox Trophy. It was a tough, tough loss and certainly wasn't the way he had hoped to go in to our bye weekend.
The Bye Week. - Going into the off weekend after a disappointing loss to Bemidji State makes for a rough week mentally and physically. The boys once again are searching for answers -- answers on what they each can do to help this team reach its goals that were laid out at the beginning of the year. League-leading North Dakota was next up fo for us now it was all about preparing for that road series. The week also gives the guys a chance to catch up on school work, and perhaps get ahead of the workload that lies ahead of us. The way we look at it, this is the last off week we will have until the week before the Frozen Four in Tampa
Feb. 19, 2016. UMD vs. #2 North Dakota “Fighting Hawks?”
The whole week of practice leading up to the series is high intensity and filled with constant reminders that we need to play with reckless abandonment. There is a sense of us hitting “rock bottom” after last week’s loss to BSU and that we can only go up from here. The mindset is to get better every day and play with confidence.
We felta bit cheated, if you will, from the last time we played the Hawks, getting swept at home and not scoring a goal on the weekend but still outshooting and outplaying them for most of the series.
Ralph Engelstad Arena is one of the most beautiful college hockey facilities in the country with a crowd to matfh. This is one of the trips that most families make, so it will be nice to have some Bulldog fans in attendance.
In the opener, the energy in the lockerroom is high once again. The really is no pressure on us -- since no one is giving us a chance to win -- making it us against the world! There is no doubt from the team, mind you, only doubt from outsiders and we don’t bother to acknowledge that. We weather an early storm put on by the Hawks, as we get the rust off from not playing in a little over a week. Late in the period, we take a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Dominic Toninato, taking the life right out of the crowd. The team runs with it and starts to control the game much like the first two meetings of the year. A mistake by us late in the second period allows the Hawks to tie the score at 1-1. The game continues as a defensive battle; no one is breaking with both teams making maximum efforts to take the lead. The third period ends still deadocked at 1-1 and we head into overtime with a two-minute power play opportunity. Unfortunately, we are unable to capitalize and with just over a minute to go in OT, North Dakota is awarded a penalty shot. It's a questionable call (and that's all I will say about this topic), but they convert and another game is stolen from us from a team we once again out played.
Simmering from the loss the night before, we regroup on Saturday and focus on the positive that we once again outplayed a top-ranked school in the nation. As the bus pulls up to the entrance to Ralph Engelstad Arena, we see hundreds of students are alread outside waiting to enter the facility at 5 o'clock for a 7:07 p.m. puck drop. Our start to this game is much better than the one we had Friday. In the second period, we once again strike first when Cal Decowski knocks in a rebound, but the lead wouldn’t last long as the Hawks score four minutes later on a 4 on 4. We would go on to outshoot the Hawks 16-8 in the third period, yet have nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. With five minutes and change to go in the third, North Dakota takes its first lead of the night and holds on to win another 2-1 game for the series sweep. It's another weekend of frustration for us being that we put in two pretty good efforts, but came away with no points.
Feb. 19, 2016. UMD at # 3 St. Cloud State: “Family Feud”
The series in St. Cloud is the last regular season road trip for myself and rest of the UMD seniors. It’s a hard to digest just how fast the time has flown by. Unfortunately, one of our fourth-year guys, winger Austyn Young, could make the trip due to an upper body injury. The rest of us ready ourselves for a weekend of hockey against another team that seems to be eluding losses as well as any club the country. St. Cloud State, by the way, hasn't been swept at home since last season since we beat them twice in their own barn.
Both teams shoot out of the gates on Friday night, but just 39 seconds in Adam Johnson scores off a rebound and gives us a 1-0 lead against the high-octane Huskies. Late in the first period on a delayed penalty, my defensive partner, Brenden Kotyk takes a nifty pass from Tony Cameranesi and puts in a shot from the high slot to put us up 2-0. We then immediatley go on the power play and Karson Kuhlman makes the Huskies pay, splitting the defense and pushing the puck past their goaltender. It's jsut the way we drew that play up! The two teams combined for 33 shots on goal during a wild first period, but we are the ones that head into intermission up 3-0. St. Cloud State cranks up the volume in the second period and cuts the lead to 3-1, but Kuhlman's empty netter in the waning seconds of regulation caps off a 4-1 victory. This is probably the only time all year that we didn’t outplay a team badly and still walked away with a win. Out spirits and confidence are high after the game, but Coach Sandlin quickly reminds us that we can play better and if we expect to win again Saturday we can’t rely on Kasimir Kaskisu0 to stop 49-50 shots like he did tonight.
Friday's win pushed us to up to No. 19 in the PairWise Rankings, which is the only poll that matters. The last thing any team wants to do is get swept -- especially in their own building -- and we knew St. Cloud State was going to jacked up for the rematch. We played much better; controlling the play like we know we can and playing shut down defense by keeping the Huskies on the perimeter. That led to easier shot for Kasimir to handle. Dominic Toninato got things going for us with a 4-on-4 goal eighh minutes into the second period and Kuhlman extended our lead to 2-0 with his third goal of the weekend later in that period. St. Cloud State cut the deficit in half with 2 minutes to go before the second intermission, with a power play goal, but that would be if for any more scoring by either club. The sweep was complete and we did it by hold the Huskies, who had come into the weekend averaging something like 4.4 goals per night, to just two goals all weekend.
Needless to say, I got a little flak from my future niece and nephew afterward as tears were shed for their Huskies (see third paragraph of at top of page).
A Minnesota Tradition. Coming from International Falls, Minn., I am a huge fan of the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament. I was never able to play in thie event, but I still watched it every year. Back in the day, my parents told me that every participating school use to produce a promotional video for the State Tournament. Here is the video that International Falls H.S. created in 1989 after defeating Grand Rapids in Section 7 championship. Click
here.
The Willie and Willie Show. During the week leading up to the Miami series, I was a guest host for umdbulldog.com's "Bark and the Bite" segment and interviewed fellow "Willie", Willie Raskob.
March 4, 2016. UMD vs. Miami: “Hello Rico”
Miami is a fast, physical and talented team which, like us, was playing some really good hockey heading into this series. Their goalie, Jay Williams, was coming off back-to-back shutout wins defensively they were a confident bunch.
We controlled play early and got on the board first (when we do that, we can be a tough team to beat) thanks to Dominic Toninato's goal five minutes after the opening faceoff. We never looked back after that and Kasimir went on to post a 5-0 shutout. That clinched a home NCHC playoff spot for us, which was one of the goals we set at the start of the year.
Saturday was our regular season finale and "Senior Night" at AMSOIL Arena. Prior to the game, there was a nice ceremony for the eight UMD seniors and wouldn't you know it but the first goal that night came from one of those eight? That's right, yours truly popped one in early in the first period and then in the third another senior, Charlie Sampair, got the go-ahead goal and the first game-winner of his career. A empty net goal from Alex Iafallo and another great defensive effort from the team and Kasimir resulted in a 3-1 win. We would not only be home next weekend for the NCHC playoffs (and hosting Miami again), but would be doing so riding a four-game winning streak.
