| Express get ready for first of four games in five days |
By: IAN STAUFFER
istauffer@owatonna.com
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Posted: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 11:09 pm
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Express coach Pat Cullen
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OWATONNA — With a big win under their belts, the Owatonna Express will hit the road for the second straight game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the North Iowa Outlaws in Mason City.
The Express (11-7-1, 23 points) beat Central Division-leading Alexandria (13-6-2, 28) 6-3 on Saturday and have now won five straight games and seven of eight overall. While most of those wins came against last-place Albert Lea, Saturday’s win proved the Express are a team to be dealt with.
“We played well and that was a nice win to get,” Express coach Pat Cullen said. “Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that Saturday is gone and nobody cares what we did. If we don’t play well (tonight), we can drop a couple points in a hurry.”
Owatonna is three points ahead of North Iowa (9-9-2, 20) in the standings. The Outlaws have dropped their last four games, but a win Wednesday would get them back within one point of the Express.
Wednesday’s game is the first of four in five days for Owatonna. The Express have Thursday off before hosting former division rival Springfield on Friday and Saturday. Owatonna will finish the weekend with another road game at Albert Lea on Sunday.
“It should be an interesting weekend,” Cullen said. “It’s a busy time of the year, but that’s what we’re here to do is play hockey.”
Owatonna and North Iowa have split four games so far this season. The Express won the last meeting 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 8. Cory Thorson netted the game winner 1 minute, 31 seconds into the extra period. Owatonna’s other victory over the Outlaws came 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 10.
One of the biggest factors in Owatonna’s recent winning streak has been penalties — or more to the point, a lack of penalties. Owatonna is the least-penalized team in the league with only 13.89 penalty minutes per game. On top of that, the Express are fourth in the league in penalty-kill percentage at 90 percent.
“That’s a real testament to the discipline of our kids,” Cullen said. “We want our kids to go out there and be aggressive, but we want them to be under conrol.”
In Express-related news, former Express coach Matt Romaniski resigned as head coach and general manager of the Motor City Machine on Tuesday. Romaniski coached the Southern Minnesota Express to a second-place finish last season, but moved to Michigan with the team during the offseason. The Machine have been awful this year with a 4-17-0 record, second-worst in the league. Machine assistant coach Sean Clark was named interim head coach.
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