Dylan Gambrell has been enjoying his time while he’s been with the San Jose Barracuda. He was responsible for all the offense, including the game-winning goal in the shootout, in a 3-2 shootout win over the Iowa Wild on Friday evening at Wells Fargo Center. The Cuda split the two-game series with the Minnesota Wild’s AHL affiliate.
It was a mini-miracle the game reached the shootout as San Jose was short-handed for the majority of overtime. Alex True was called for a double-minor for high-sticking with 14 seconds left in the third period. Then at the 1:21 mark of the extra period, the Cuda were called for too many men, which gave Iowa two minutes of five-on-three play, but the penalty kill led by Cuda goalie Josef Korenar hindered Iowa’s attack.
San Jose (29-13-2-4) drew first blood in the first 29 seconds to start the game. Dylan Gambrell scored in his second straight game. beat Wild goalie Kaapo Khakonen (16-9-7) for his 13th goal of the season. Kyle Wood and Jeffery Viel were credited with assists.
Iowa (28-16-6-5) evened up the game on the power play. Kyle Rau scored his 16th goal of the season (and team-leading 11th power play goal) at the 13:44 mark just 12 seconds after Cavan Fitzgerald went to the sin-bin for interference. Gerald Mayhew and Cal O’Reilly received assists.
The Wild outshot the Cuda 10-6 in the opening frame.
Iowa didn’t waste time to take a 2-1 lead to start the second period. Brennan Menell set up Matt Read and his shot beat Korenar (18-5-1) for his 15th goal of the season at the :55 mark. Read has scored in back to back games.
The Cuda didn’t get their first shot on goal in the middle frame until almost five minutes in. TJ Hensick had the puck roll of his stick on a breakway. His centering pass to Francis Perron for a point-blank chance was stopped by Khakonen.
Gambrell scored the equalizer for San Jose with his second goal of the night. Gambrell was able to whack a loose puck in mid-air, as he turned his body in one motion, over the left pad of Khakoen for his 14th goal of the season at the 14:04 mark. Captain John McCarthy and Jacob Middleton were credited with assists.
Read had a chance to give the Wild the lead early in the third period when he went in on a short-handed breakaway–only to have Korenar kick swat his shot.
Rourke Chartier had a chance to give the Cuda a lead with over four minutes left in the third period as he rifled a shot off of the post.
Korenar, who stopped all three attempts in the shootout (Sam Anas, Read and O’Reilly), made 24 saves on 26 shots to earn his 17th victory. Khakonen stopped 22 of the 24 saves he faced in suffering the defeat.
GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Iowa was 1/4.
It was the third multi-goal game for Gambrell this season. The rookie forward has nine points in his last five games (5G, 4A).
Jayden Halbgewachs returned to the lineup for San Jose.
Before the game, San Jose traded forward Vincent Praplan to the Florida Panthers for future considerations. Praplan is expected to report to Florida’s AHL affiliate the Springfield Thunderbirds.
San Jose is now 2-4 in shootouts this season.
The announced attendance was 12,936.
UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their three-game road trip as they take on their NorCal rival Stockton Heat on Sunday at 5:00 pm at Stockton Arena.
It’s obvious that not all of you are going to recall the late Rick Rasnick (1959-2019), but he was more than just a former San Jose State Spartan football starter, team captain and assistant coach. Unlike most other newcomers, Rasnick spent two years at El Camino College as the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Lineman and then weighed offers from San Jose State and Fresno State to continue his college football career. He chose SJSU because he wanted to be on the biggest possible college football stage.
Rasnick placed his stamps of focus, determination, skill, athleticism and knowledge of the game on a stage that resulted in 12 football seasons, most of which were successful, at SJSU, followed by four seasons at the University of Utah (1991-94) and five seasons as the Eastern Michigan University football head coach (1995-99).
Rasnick used all of those traits along with a trove of sports-related experiences in a five-plus year battle against Alzheimer’s disease. The tough battle ended on February 13, 2019 when Rasnick succumbed peacefully at age 59 surrounded by loved ones. It happened a little over a week ago, but it’s still hard to believe that he’s already gone.
Rasnick was born in Las Vegas and raised in Southern California. Rasnick ran the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, which was a very fast time for an offensive lineman in his era. There was some question about his size, especially his listed playing weight, and whether he could deal with the constant contact of defensive players 20-50 pounds heavier than him, but that eventually subsided.
“‘Ras’ was one-of-a-kind, 215-pounds soaking wet,” recalled offensive tackle Max Hooper, Mr. Rasnick’s Spartan teammate in 1979 and 1980 and a team captain in 1981.
Rasnick was listed at 225 pounds on the Spartans roster for his two seasons. Hooper also recounted one story involving weigh-ins when he tried to help Rasnick weigh more than he actually did. The scheme didn’t quite work, but a lot of things did as a starting center in the offensive line, team captain in 1980, undergraduate assistant, graduate assistant, offensive line coach, offensive coordinator and interim head coach during the 1990 spring prior to the appointment of Terry Shea as a head coach.
Rasnick played for San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame coach Jack Elway and coached with SJSU Sports Hall of Famer Claude Gilbert and Shea. His first game as a SJSU player was a 48-48 tie with Utah State in Spartan Stadium, then the highest scoring tie in NCAA Division I-A history. The Spartans had winning seasons in 1979 and 1980 and knocked off No. 10 Baylor, 30-22, in Waco, Texas on November 1, 1980, after trailing 15-0 in the second quarter.
“He told me Mike Singletary (Baylor’s middle linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Fame member) was the best player he’s ever seen on a football field and about the joy they going to Baylor (as a 28-point underdog) and beating them… I think he was joking around, ‘He was so good, I never really touched him during the game because he was so fast and so good.’ He would look up and see Mike Singletary six feet in front of him — the best player he’s ever faced and trying to chase him down the whole game was kind of comical. That was one of his biggest thrills — beating Baylor,” said younger brother Ryan Rasnick, a starting free safety for the Spartans from 1986-89.
Rasnick defeated both Cal and Stanford in the same season twice in 1981 and 1987. The “mythical Bay Area championship” eluded the Spartans until then.
During his SJSU days, Rasnick experienced beating Stanford 6-of-12 times; Cal on four occasions; going 2-2 with Oregon and 2-0 at Washington State. The Spartans lost a pair of seven-point games at Arizona State and lost two nail-biters at Washington by three (20-17 in 1990) and four (35-31) in 1988.
Rasnick won four conference championships and playing in four bowl games between 1981 and 1990.
Rasnick got promoted to the offensive coordinator position in 1987. At age 27, he was the youngest offensive coordinator in NCAA Division I-A football. In four seasons, the Spartans averaged 31 points a game, were never shutout, led the nation in passing offense in 1987, was in the top-15 in passing offense each year and averaged at least 400 yards of total offense a game each season.
“Coach Rasnick always made sure that we were 100% prepared to be successful. He made sure we knew what was likely coming at us, and what to do about it. As a player, that builds great confidence and that’s the only thing you can ask from your coach, really,” said 1987 First-Team All-Conference offensive guard Jim Carter, who originally came to the SJSU football program as a tight end prospect.
“Putting your players in the best position to be successful, and then let them play. That’s what he did. He was the best tactical coach I ever had.”
“He enjoyed the game, enjoyed watching game film, enjoyed being prepared and preparing his players. …Our guards were 235 (pounds). You play Stanford. Those guys were 275, 280, 290 years ago. Back in the day, he would take middle linebackers and if you weren’t starting, ‘You want to come over and play guard for me.’ We had pulling guards at 235 pounds that could run. That was an advantage we did have,” said the younger Rasnick about his older brother’s approach to coaching.
Rasnick was appointed SJSU’s interim head football coach in the spring of 1990 during a time of considerable consternation surrounding the program. His steadying hand was instrumental in laying the groundwork for a 9-2-1 record, conference championship, California Raisin Bowl victory and a final national ranking of 20th in the United Press International coaches poll. The Sporting News, the nationally-known weekly publication based out of St. Louis, named him the Big West Conference’s top offensive assistant coach for the 1990 season.
Rasnick shifted his priorities to the University of Utah in 1991 as the Utes assistant head coach for offense, working alongside Spartan alum Ron McBride.
“Rick’s talent as a coach extends far beyond his years. I’ve watched him coach and recruit. He is an excellent teacher of the game of football. He understands our offense, inside and out,” said McBride at the time he hired Mr. Rasnick.
The Utes would go on to play in three bowl games in his four seasons and be voted eighth in the final 1994 USA Today/CNN coaches poll and 10th the final Associated Press writers poll.
Rasnick’s coaching success led to his appointment as the head coach at Eastern Michigan University in 1995, just months before his 35th birthday. In his first season, EMU posted a 6-5 win-loss record, the school’s only winning season between 1989 and 2016. Though his head coaching record at the Mid-American Conference school was 20-34 over five seasons, he remained as EMU’s sixth winningest head football coach among the 41 to serve the school in that position.
Rasnick’s final years were spent often at the Beach Cities Health District Center for Health & Fitness in Redondo Beach, Calif., following the unfortunate diagnosis. In 2018, Rasnick was honored with the organization’s “Spirit of Wellness” Award” for the year.
Mr. Rasnick is survived by his parents, Jim and Donna Rasnick; brother, Ryan Rasnick; sister, Kendahl Rasnick; sons, Blair and Pierce Rasnick; and companion, Annette Adams.
A celebration of life has been set for Saturday, March 16, 2019 from 2-5 p.m., at the Rice Mortuary, 5310 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif., 90503.
San Jose State men’s basketball has nothing to play for except for pride, but it’d be great if they picked up their first conference win of the season against the Air Force Falcons Saturday afternoon at the Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. Tipoff has been scheduled for 1:00 pm PT and Justin Allegri has the Spartans play-by-play call on the TuneIn app.
Like SJSU (3-22, 0-13 MW), AF (11-15, 6-8 MW) plays in the same conference so this likely will be a tough test for both teams. SJSU lost 16 in a row with its last loss occurring at home versus the Colorado State Rams on February 20th. AF, on the other hand, edged the Fresno State Bulldogs 64-61 on the road on February 20th. So there you have it folks, these two teams will likely battle it out on the hardwood.
In case you missed the SJSU vs. CSU matchup, I just have to emphasize that the Spartans fell to the hot-shooting Rams, who shot the ball with authority as six players finished in double figure scoring led by Kris Martin’s 19 points. The Rams shot 59.3% for the game and were 48.5% from the 3-point range. Moreover, the Rams’ 16 made 3s were the most the Spartans have surrendered this season.
The Spartans struggled from the floor, shooting 42% for the game and finished 5-of-21 from the 3-point range. SJSU was limited to just 39.3% in the first half. That was an embarrassment to put it lightly.
Still, the Spartans were delighted by a silver lining, despite what appeared to be a lot of negatives. SJSU committed just three second-half turnovers and wrapped up the game with only 11 total turnovers.
I’d also like to add that the Spartans out-performed the Rams in both points off turnovers (20-6) and points in the paint (42-34). SJSU improved from its 8-21 performance from the free throw line against UNLV (9-14). CSU struggled, finishing just 5-of-11.
On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman:
#1 The Stanford Cardinal (14-12) absolutely got demolished on Wednesday at ASU (18-8). What were some of the fundamental issues on defense to contain the Sun Devils?
#2 The Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurely after the game was wearing a gangster shirt while addressing reporters and said that it was his gangster shirt and his players played like gangsters and delivered.
#3 On defense, the Cardinal tried everything and KZ Okpala said that he was overwhelmed by the turnovers and shooting that ASU capitalized on.
#4 Head coach of the Cardinal Jerod Haase said considering how hard the defense played it was disappointing with all that passion that Stanford had to take loss like this.
#5 It’s onto Tucson on Sunday and the Wildcats. Can the Cardinal contain the Arizona defense in that game?
#1 How serious is this Calgary Flames team (37-16-7) ever since that loss to the San Jose Sharks back on Feb. 7th as they’ve been a team on fire?
#2 The Flames first in the Pacific got goal help on Wednesday night when Austin Czarnik and Johnny Gaudreau scored 29 seconds apart talk about team work.
#3 The Flames won their third straight game in that 4-2 win over the New York Islanders (35-18-6). The Isles are no slouches either.
#4 The Islanders on Wednesday got goal help from Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee. These two have been key for New York this season.
#5 The Flames won’t face the Sharks for the rest of the regular season, but most likely will meet them in the playoffs. The last time the two teams met the Flames’ Sam Bennett rocked the Sharks’ Radim Simek. Would that translate that these two teams will rival each other right down to the postseason if and when they meet?
#1 Talking about the Golden State Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins, what is it like each time he goes out and plays the Sacramento Kings, a team he was with for very long?
#2 What kind of player is Cousins today as opposed to the player he was with Sacramento?
#3 There was so much pressure on Cousins when he was a Sacramento King to do it all. Did that pressure fuel some of his anger at the media at times?
#4 One things fans in Sacramento reminisce about on Cousins is how community-oriented he was.
#5 Getting Jerry’s impressions on the Kings and Warriors meetings and how he sums up those matches when the two teams get together.
The Iowa Wild scored a power play goal late in the third period and were able to hold on at the end to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 on Thursday evening at Wells Fargo Arena.
Matt Read received a pass from Dmitry Sokolov and fired a shot pass Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (11-8-5) for his 14th goal of the season with 4:53 left in the game. Michael Kapa received the secondary assist on the power play goal.
Iowa (28-16-6-4) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Mitch McClain took a pass from Kyle Rau and skated in all alone up the center of the ice and beat Bibeau with a wrist shot for his seventh goal of the season at the 11:12 mark. It was McClain’s first goal in his last 20 games. Sokolov received the secondary assist.
San Jose (28-13-2-4) then scored the equalizer just 16 seconds later. TJ Hensick scored his first goal as a member of the Barracuda in his third game, bouncing the puck past Wild goalie Kaapo Khakonen (16-9-6) at the 11:28 mark.
Evan Weinger had a short-handed opportunity early on in the second period when he skated in alone on a breakaway. His shot was stoned by Khakonen.
The Wild regained the lead at the half way mark of the contest in what was a wild second period. Jared Mayhew sent a pass over to Michael Kapla and he fired one in from the left point past Bibeau for his second goal of the season at the 9:42 mark. It was his first goal as a member of the Wild since being acquired in a trade from New Jersey for Ryan Murphy on January 30th.
Once again, it would take less than a minute for the Cuda to tie it back up. Hensick back-handed a shot on net saved by Khakonen but Dylan Gambrell was able to get a hold of the rebound and buried it into the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season at the 10:30 mark.
Iowa went up 3-2 on with a short-handed tally, while San Jose was on the power play. Rau led a two-on-one odd man rush and threaded a pass over to Cal O’Reilly, who beat Bibeau inside the left post for his ninth goal of the season at the 11:33 mark.
San Jose atoned for their mishap with a power play goal 61 seconds later. Nick DeSimone wired a shot from the point and Cuda captain John McCarthy redirected the puck with his stick to beat Khakonen for his eighth goal of the season at the 12:34 mark. It was the first goal for McCarthy since Decemeber 30th, a period that lasted 18 games.
The Cuda outshot the Wild 12-7 in the second period as both teams entered the second intermission deadlocked at 3-3.
Khakonen made 31 shots on 34 saves to earn his 16th win of the season. Bibeau made 27 saves, including three short-handed, odd man rushes in the first period, on 31 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.
GAME NOTES: Both teams went 1/3 on the power play.
Colby McAuley was back in the lineup for San Jose after missing the last game as a healthy scratch. It was only his second game of the season since being called back up from the Orlando of the ECHL.
The announced attendance was 3,906.
UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Wild on Friday 2/22 to conclude their two game series with Iowa at 5:00 pm at Wells Fargo Arena.
Ah, the Stanford Cardinal didn’t get the final result that they likely hoped for in Wednesday evening’s conference game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz. But have no fear as the Cardinal prepare for another duel in the desert against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center in Tuscon, Ariz. Sunday at 5:00 pm PT on ESPN2. Be there or be square.
Sad news was that the Cardinal (14-12, 7-7 Pac-12) also came off a two-game sweep at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. against the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins on February 13th and 16th, respectively. So it was likely difficult for them to fathom a large loss 80-62 to the Sun Devils (18-8, 9-5 Pac-12), who currently hold onto a two-game win streak. Anyways, a Cardinal win over Arizona (14-12, 5-8 Pac-12) is completely feasible as the latter is three steps below them in the conference standings as well as the fact that they’re currently on a four-game losing skid. The Wildcats’ last win came on January 31st in a rivalry (and road) game against ASU.
Sure, Stanford recently suffered a loss at the hands of ASU, but there were a couple of silver linings about that miserable game. Senior center Josh Sharma and sophomore forward Oscar da Silva combined for 32 points in a losing effort for the Cardinal. It was just that ASU looked good and Stanford was unable to go on a shooting streak. Well, at least in my humble opinion. By the way, I was covering San Jose State vs. Colorado State that night. But I did check out parts of the game on my laptop. That’s better than nothing, right?
When we played the Sun Devils at Maples, Oscar da Silva balled out. 😤
But you have to keep in mind that the Cardinal’s still without the services of their leading scorer and sophomore forward KZ Okpala, who remains day-to-day with an injury. Moreover, the Cardinal just put on a 2-of-21 shooting performance against ASU, which was downright terrible to say the least. ASU’s win evened the season series between the two schools. Stanford defeated ASU, 85-71, in the first meeting on January 19th at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal men’s basketball Twitter tweeted out “Right back to work tomorrow. Another opportunity awaits on Sunday.” There’s a chance that they’ll rebound and pick up a win at Arizona, but until then, we’ll see how things go.
Prediction: Stanford picks up a 95-70 win over Arizona.
sfchronicle.com photo: The Boston Bruins Charlie McAvoy (73) is jubilant after scoring go ahead goal against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night at SAP Center
On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:
#1 The Sharks Joe Thornton scored a hat trick against his old team the Boston Bruins on Monday night at SAP Center the Bruins no easy customer
#2 The Bruins despite Thornton’s hat trick got a game winning goal from extra skater Charlie McAvoy with 1:01 left for the 6-5 win
#3 The Bruins swept all three California teams on this last road trip Kings, Ducks and Sharks
#4 Joe Pavelski had three points and Logan Couture picked up two in the loss. Neither San Jose’s Martin Jones (14 saves)
#5 The Sharks have lost two out of their last three games and open a four game road trip tonight in Pittsburgh Mary talks about how she sees this game
