Saturday Night Fun : Des Moines Buccaneers
Nov. 4th, 2017 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23The Iowa Wild aren't the only professional hockey team in Des Moines. The Buccaneers are a long standing USHL team that provides the opportunity for 17 and 18 year olds to play pro hockey.
The Bucs filled the stands when I moved to Des Moines in the early Oughts. It probably does not help them when the area got a second hockey team. Also, the team has not been competitive in the last decade, only starting to turn it around in the last couple of years.
This game corresponded with the announcement that a local group has bought the team and one of the partners is Scott Clemensen. Without a doubt, Clemmensen is a perfect face for the Bucs. Not only is he from the area (also the first Iowan to play in the NHL(, but he is the most successful Buc alumni. He was goalie during the Bucs best years and then went on to play14 years in the NHL, spending most of those years as Martin Brodeur's back up in New Jersey.
It's exciting for the team, and Clemmensen was on hand to celebrate. Obviously, the USHL is still a long way from the NHL. There's not a lot of Clemmensen's necessarily. That said, there are currently 10 Buc alumni in some form of the NHL or its minor leagues (Nick Seeler, I watched the week prior for the Iowa Wild).
The Bucs played the highly regarded fargo Force, and just couldn't quite compete, though they battled back every time they could.
I sat behind the 3rd Best Karaoke singer in the country Blake Clyde and in front of a guy who looked like a Pro Scout from Central Casting (but could have been a Fargo journalist or just a fan who took notes for all I know).
The Hockey News picks the Bucs to finish 12th out of 16 and notes goalie Jake Kucharski and wing Braden Costello (committed to North Dakota U) as the stars. Costello indeed scored 1 of Des Moines 5 goals.
Kucharski sat in place of another goalie Ryan Snowden, as the Bucs split time between three talented goalies. Snowden lost a couple of easy goals which put the Force over 6-5. Griffin loughran had the hat trick for the Force on his way to be naming USHL player of the week.
Other Bucs of note include defensemen Will MacKinnon and returning forward Julian Napravnik leading to a team that hopes to make it to the playoffs- something they did last year for the first time in a decade.
The Bucs filled the stands when I moved to Des Moines in the early Oughts. It probably does not help them when the area got a second hockey team. Also, the team has not been competitive in the last decade, only starting to turn it around in the last couple of years.
This game corresponded with the announcement that a local group has bought the team and one of the partners is Scott Clemensen. Without a doubt, Clemmensen is a perfect face for the Bucs. Not only is he from the area (also the first Iowan to play in the NHL(, but he is the most successful Buc alumni. He was goalie during the Bucs best years and then went on to play14 years in the NHL, spending most of those years as Martin Brodeur's back up in New Jersey.
It's exciting for the team, and Clemmensen was on hand to celebrate. Obviously, the USHL is still a long way from the NHL. There's not a lot of Clemmensen's necessarily. That said, there are currently 10 Buc alumni in some form of the NHL or its minor leagues (Nick Seeler, I watched the week prior for the Iowa Wild).
The Bucs played the highly regarded fargo Force, and just couldn't quite compete, though they battled back every time they could.
I sat behind the 3rd Best Karaoke singer in the country Blake Clyde and in front of a guy who looked like a Pro Scout from Central Casting (but could have been a Fargo journalist or just a fan who took notes for all I know).
The Hockey News picks the Bucs to finish 12th out of 16 and notes goalie Jake Kucharski and wing Braden Costello (committed to North Dakota U) as the stars. Costello indeed scored 1 of Des Moines 5 goals.
Kucharski sat in place of another goalie Ryan Snowden, as the Bucs split time between three talented goalies. Snowden lost a couple of easy goals which put the Force over 6-5. Griffin loughran had the hat trick for the Force on his way to be naming USHL player of the week.
Other Bucs of note include defensemen Will MacKinnon and returning forward Julian Napravnik leading to a team that hopes to make it to the playoffs- something they did last year for the first time in a decade.
