Sunday 23 August 2015

No Sweatt At All

Bill Sweatt, wearing #42 in the image to the left, was a member of the Manitoba Moose for a single season before he was on the move to the Chicago Wolves and Vancouver Canucks. In the 80 games he spent with Manitoba in the 2010-11 season, he put up a respectable 19 goals and 27 assists for second in team scoring in helping the Moose to third-place in the North Division, just four points behind first-place Hamilton. The Moose were ousted in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs that season by those Hamilton Bulldogs, and Bill Sweatt found himself as one of the fan favorites that season. The winger was a solid two-way player with a nose for the net and great hands, and the puck always seemed to find his stick. In other words, he was a great player in his one season with the Moose!

So why would I be talking about a former Moose player? Well, Bill Sweatt has gone on to play in a couple of leagues since his time in the AHL, and he's currently skating for Lulea HF in Sweden! They were playing in the Champions League today against Lukko Rauma of Finland, and Sweatt made his impact felt with this smooth shootout beauty!
The 26 year-old nearly deked me out of my seat with that goal! Sweatt had a pair of assists in helping Lulea to the 3-3 stalemate, and then had a pair of goals - including the shootout winner above - in the skills competition as Lulea downed Lukko Rauma 4-3 in the shootout.

What did he think of the highlight-reel goal? "The first time I came in fast, so I figured I should change it up a little bit the second time," Sweatt explained to Swedish freelance reporter Robert Söderlind. "I came in slow and the goalie didn't move at all. I realized I had to force him to make the first move, I faked the shot and and he dropped down a bit. After that I just had to make a small move to the side and I had an empty net."

Remember how I said he had great hands? I'd like to submit this video as evidence of that claim!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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