{"id":28849,"date":"2007-01-18T09:28:35","date_gmt":"2007-01-18T15:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2007\/01\/18\/this-week-in-the-cha-jan-18-2007\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:56:44","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:56:44","slug":"this-week-in-the-cha-jan-18-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2007\/01\/18\/this-week-in-the-cha-jan-18-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in the CHA: Jan. 18, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"
Orlando Alamano didn’t think he’d see much more than practice ice between the pipes during his time at Bemidji State.<\/p>\n
That all changed this year.<\/p>\n
When senior Layne Sedevie went down with a neck injury, junior Matt Climie assumed the bulk of the workload, but Alamano, who had bided his time the past two years, was ready when needed.<\/p>\n
He got the call on Nov. 4 at Minnesota State and turned in a 25-save outing in beating the Mavericks, 3-2, for his first collegiate win in his first-ever non-exhibition start. Alamano had seen just 14 minutes total and that came in relief in 2004-05 against Bentley for his only other playing time.<\/p>\n
“I was psyched up for that game, but at the same time I think I was very nerve-prone,” said Alamano, a 23-year-old native of Fresno, Calif. “You look at the scouting report and to see NHL draft picks might be intimidating, but when the third period ended, I could finally breathe. That game was what I had prepared for the past two years and when I started the game, everything from the past all came back. I felt so comfortable, so at ease.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ALAMANO<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“We’ve said all along that we have three great goalies,” Beavers’ head coach Tom Serratore said. “Orlando shut out (Canadian school) Regina (in the aforementioned exhibition start) two weeks earlier, and Regina’s a good team, but when he beat Minnesota State, he validated himself. Then, in relief against Minnesota-Duluth (a 6-5 overtime win), he validated himself again.”<\/p>\n
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Alamano was recruited by Bemidji State in the late spring of 2004 and Serratore told him straight-up that his role would be as the No. 3 goalie behind Climie and Sedevie.<\/p>\n
“Orlando was fine with that,” said Serratore. “If he wasn’t such a world class person, I’m not sure he would have stuck around.”<\/p>\n
Army was also recruiting Alamano, but he decided military life wasn’t his future. He came to Minnesota after his sophomore year of high school and played two years at Eastview High School for BSU alum Mike Gibbons. It was there that he rotated in net with two other players, thereby making his situation at Bemidji State easier to handle.<\/p>\n
“The Tarkir brothers and I came to Minnesota on spring break and I fell in love with the state,” said Alamano. Zach Tarkir, now with Northern Michigan, and Chris Tarkir of Alaska-Anchorage are Fresno natives like Alamano.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been here so long that I tell people I should have been born here. People in Minnesota are more my type of people. Don’t get me wrong, I love California, but Minnesota is just a better all-around situation.”<\/p>\n
After high school, Alamano tried out for the Chicago Steel and Danville Wings of the United States Hockey League and the Wichita Falls Rustlers of the now-defunct America West Hockey League. <\/p>\n
He was cut from all three and decided to head back home to California.<\/p>\n
“I was driving home and I got a call from a pro shop manager back in Fresno,” Alamano remembered. “He knew the GM up in Swan Valley (of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League) and said they needed a goalie. So I went up there and gave it a shot.”<\/p>\n
In two years in Swan Valley, roughly five hours north of Winnipeg, Alamano became the Stampeders’ career goals-against average leader (3.11), finished second all-time in victories (38) and third all-time in games played for a goaltender (75).<\/p>\n
After aging out of juniors, the Bemidji situation came about after Alamano turned down a guaranteed scholarship from West Point.<\/p>\n
“During my freshman year, I actually looked into transferring to a Division III school,” recalled Alamano. “I told the coaches and they said they’d support me, but they said they’d prefer I stay. I didn’t send out any applications or anything, but I did look into it. <\/p>\n
“Then Dave Deterding’s dad bought him a house in town here and Dave asked me to live with him and a few other players. That made me stay because I realized if I left, I’d be turning my back on a lot of people that I’d become good friends with.”<\/p>\n
Last season, Alamano never saw the ice, but didn’t complain once.<\/p>\n
This season, that trend looked to continue until Sedevie’s neck injury suffered in juniors flared up on him.<\/p>\n
“You never want to wish injury or anything bad on anyone, but when Sedevie got hurt, I knew I had an opportunity and I knew I had to take advantage of it,” Alamano said. “I don’t know what the prognosis is for Sedevie, but Tom has told me I’m No. 2 behind Climie.”<\/p>\n
“He’s worked so hard and battled and battled,” added Serratore. “From his freshman year to now, it’s really a great story. But he’s a very humble kid and in the classroom, he’s almost a 4.0 student. He’s just a great individual.”<\/p>\n
Winning his first two starts this year gave Alamano confidence he didn’t think he’d ever have at the NCAA level. Even losing his first game helped in that regard. When the Beavers lost to Colorado College on Dec. 30 with Alamano in net, it brought Alamano back out of the clouds.<\/p>\n
“Winning is great, but I wondered what it would feel like to lose,” said Alamano. “Not that I wanted to lose, but when I did, it brought me back to Earth. It was a humbling experience for sure.”<\/p>\n
Alamano beat Wayne State on Jan. 6, but then lost last Saturday at Michigan Tech. He said he knows Climie is the starter for the Beavers, but hopes he’s proven himself to this point.<\/p>\n
“I’d like to maybe get a game in this weekend against UND,” Alamano said. “Climie’s been playing great, but as his backup, I know I need to be ready to go in case he falters. I just need to be behind him and take it day by day.”<\/p>\n
“I have no problem playing Orlando against any team in the country,” Serratore boasted. “That’s how much he’s improved since day one here.”<\/p>\n
RMU and UAH Duke It Out In Huntsville<\/h4>\n
Elton John was right on when he penned his tune “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting.”<\/p>\n
Just a night after Michigan State and Alaska shed the mitts in East Lansing, Robert Morris and Alabama-Huntsville engaged in some fisticuffs of their own down in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
At the tail end of the Chargers’ 3-1 win, after David Nimmo’s empty-net goal had sealed the game, UAH defenseman Troy Maney and RMU defender Dave Cowan tied up, dropped the gloves and starting throwing haymakers.<\/p>\n