Sunday, October 31, 2010

Martin in stable condition...

This is a press release from Denver University, it would appear to be good news. Martin is in good hands at HCMC, as it is one of the best level one trauma center in the upper Midwest. I know I can speak for all of us at Goon's World that we hope that he makes a speedy return.
DENVER - University of Denver senior center Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta) is in stable condition at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn., tonight after suffering a season-ending injury in last night's 3-0 win over the University of North Dakota.

Martin suffered the injury at the 11:06 mark of the second period after an on-ice collision with North Dakota's Brad Malone, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty for charging and 10-minute game misconduct on the play.

Martin was taken off the ice on a stretcher and was immediately taken to nearby Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, N.D., for observation. After tests were conducted at the hospital, it was determined that Martin needed to be air-lifted to Hennepin County Medical Center for further testing and possible surgery.

According to University of Denver Associate Director of Sports Medicine Aaron Leu, Martin suffered three fractures to his C-2 vertebrae in his neck and is in stable condition. Martin has feeling in his all of his extremities and will undergo further testing during the next 24 hours to determine if surgery is required.

How good is Tim Thomas? How do you like him now?

According to ESPN Tim Thomas' numbers are very impressive and hard to top. Consider last season Bruins fans were ready to throw him under the bus and anoint Tuukka Rask the starter and run Thomas out of Boston on a rail.
ESPN --- With his third shutout of the season Saturday night, Tim Thomas becomes only the second goalie in the expansion era (since 1967-68) with at least 3 shutouts in his first 6 games of a season was Pascal Leclaire in 2007-08 who had 4.

Thomas is now 6-0-0 with a 0.50 goals-against average in his first 6 games of the season. That's also the lowest goals-against average for a goalie who won his first 6 games of a season in the expansion era.

Cooke vs Richards


I don't get to watch a lot of NHL hockey on the weekend when UND is playing and I wanted to post this so you could take a look. I have to say that Mike Richards from the Flyers just went up in my estimation and I hold Matt Cooke in the same regard as I do Ulfie Samuelson lower than pond scum.

Zenon Konopka vs. Daniel Carcillo


Everyone's favorite Punk Daniel Carcillo. I am actually surprised he fought someone that was considered a heavy weight. Konopka got some nice shots in the Flyer's hack.

The Zucker Spear on Genoway - Update on Martin


Here is another illustration of why I think the officiating in the WCHA is so poor; this was at the end of the first period as Denver Pioneer and Wild draftee forward Jason Zucker blatantly spears Chay Genoway in the midsection. I mean seriously, I don’t have a problem with the refs calling major penalties that’s fine but then when the other team commits an obvious major penalty in front of the referees the same standard needs to apply to the other teams as well.

Also, according to a Denver Post article Denver Pioneers forward Jesse Martin, is going to Minneapolis to have surgery on his fractured neck. Remember to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Grand Forks, N.D. — Most members of the DU hockey team flew to Denver out of Fargo this morning, but a handful of them went to Minneapolis with senior center Jesse Martin.

Martin sustained three neck fractures in Saturday night’s hockey game at North Dakota and was scheduled to have emergency surgery today in Minneapolis to relieve swelling of the spinal cord. He was taken off the ice Saturday in a stretcher midway through the second period after being checked by Fighting Sioux senior forward Brad Malone.

Malone, an Avalanche draft pick, crushed Martin parallel to the boards, as Martin was trying to skate the puck up ice, out of the defensive zone. He had his head down.

No penalty was immediately called, but while medical crews prepped Martin for the stretcher, officials gave Malone a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.

A few ponderings thus far and the DU series (RW77)

Whew...

Life's not been as good to me as of late in terms of being able to catch UND games live. However, I have watched a few games over the webcast and NHL Network re-airings and I have a few comments and wish to bring to the blog the argument Goon and I have over what wins more games: Shut down goaltending and an at least responsible team defense or Shut down Team D and a goaltender that makes all the saves he should.

First off, though, the hit. Brad Malone's hit on Jesse Martin is subject to debate. Yes, I see both sides of the argument. However, if they were going to make a call, Charging was the correct one to make. Unlike other buffoons wearing the stripes, this call actually is somewhat close to what actually occurred. I've seen major penalties called for elbowing or contact to the head-roughing when they weren't even remotely true, but in this case, I can see the case for the call. This hit reminded me a LOT of the hit last year on Toews by Vancouver's Willie Mitchell. However, after watching the replay, Malone only makes a passing attempt to play the puck. I think that is what got him the call. When the hit is made, it is basically Malone hitting Martin half-way between his belly button and his side (sorry my descriptions aren't so good). Malone was in the process of changing directions due to an anticipated change in the direction of the puck or a reaction to it having already occurred. If it is the latter, then it was absolutely a penalty because Martin no longer had the puck.

The biggest problem is that this hit took place so fast. It is a problem being faced in pretty much every popular sport at every level. I'm not sure this hit would be this severe 10-15 years ago. I just don't think the players back then were as fast, big, and hard hitting back then. Usually, players back then were one of those three, or even two of the three. But you rarely, in my opinion, saw a fast, big winger. Nowadays, they're all over the place (so yeah, put Brad Malone at this age in the early 90s and I think he would have been a higher draft pick).

I expect that Malone will get a 1 game suspension because of this hit. Then again, he is a feisty winger that has a history with getting under the officials' skins. Unlike professional officials, they do hold grudges from year to year (see Greene, Matt and Commodore, Mike) so it would not surprise me if Head Idiot Greg Shepherd gives Malone a weekend off.

------------

Anyways, to the debate. Eidsness has had a rather rough start. I'm not going to make excuses for his poor play. However, I'm not going to throw him under the bus just yet either.

Goon (who can correct this if I misunderstood him) feels that, in order for the Sioux to win #8, we need a shut down goaltender. He maintains that he Sioux doesn't have one of those. Just a sloppy, but drafted goaltender and a backup who turned down fierce and feisty competition from Quinnipiac to join UND (Dell). If I understand him correctly, the debacles vs. Maine and vs. UAA were mostly on Eidsness.

I disagreed with him. I believe that the game is won or lost by the play of the entire team. This means, a good and consistent offense mixed in with a great team defense can cover up and fully compensate for the fact that the goaltender isn't the second coming of Eddie Belfour. Here's my reasoning: Assuming we bury the chances we get most of the time, a solid Team Defense will eliminate most of the high-success-rate scoring chances the opposition gets and eliminate a lot of shots being sent towards the net through back checking, puck possession, and shot blocking. Therefore, the goaltender need only make saves on whatever manages to get through. This would explain why so many goaltenders have won it all or have gotten close. For example, Gudbranson of UW isn't that great of a goaltender yet UW went all the way to the NC game. Fleury was very inconsistent as a goaltender yet Pittsburgh won the Cup a few years back. Osgood isn't that great of a goaltender (I don't give a damn what the stats say) yet he has 3 Stanley Cup rings. What won it all was a consistent offense and a dominating team defense.

Unashamedly, I do like Eidsness, but I'm a solid believer that it is the team that wins or loses games, not an individual player, even if that player contributes to what would undoubtedly be the game winning event for the opposition.

What do you all think?

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In any case, a Split with DU was where I thought we'd be after this weekend was over. Brittain will grow into a thorn in UND (and the rest of the WCHA) hide.

And I do sincerely hope that Jesse Martin is ok.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pioneers 3 - Sioux 0 - No Dasher Dancing tonight.

I re-watched the game from the Malone hit on and UND out played DU all weekend long and the Pioneers freshman goaltender stole the show for the Pioneers tonight. While UND played good this weekend the Fighting Sioux have a lot of hard work to do to get better and make a run towards the title this season. Say what you want about George Gwozdeky while he might come across to Sioux fans as an arrogant and pompous prick that has the WCHA officials in his back pocket, George is a hell of a coach and he has out coach UND Fighting Sioux head hockey coach Dave Hakstol once again. While the Goaltending was OK tonight, the defense made mistakes a key times that cost the Fighting Sioux.

Good hockey teams and coaches make adjustments and move on and in this case the Sioux made adjustments, however, so did the opposition. Denver reminds me of Cornell University and when they get the lead they clamp it down and play the trap. Denver did the same thing tonight, they lined up on the blue line and made it difficult to get across into the offensive zone.

Buffoon’s in stripes

Edit: Thanks to Whistler for correcting me on the officials for last night's game. None the less, I really had it with the refs in this league, they really are the worst of the worst, a perpetual gong show or a buffoonery in action. Last night Brian Thul, Tom Sterns had a bad night and should sit for their effort this weekend. This crew is almost as bad as the clown Zelkin that was on the ice for the screw job in the mile high city last November. Here is your text book definition of a buffoon.
A clown; a jester: a court buffoon.
2. A person given to clowning and joking.
3. A ludicrous or bumbling person; a fool.
The refs in this league have to be more accountable and do a better job, the fans and the member schools must demand better before the refs will get better. At the tail end of the game there were many obvious infractions that should have been called penalties that would have given the Sioux the power play. The blatant missed penalty/call on Zucker at the end of the first period was a blatant spear on the Fighting Sioux defenseman Chay Genoway and should have given the Fighting Sioux a 5 minute major power play. Obviously the first two minutes would have been negated by Hextall’s moment of stupidity where he took an ill advised roughing penalty on Pioneer defenseman/hack John Lee.

More on the hit

Here is what resident Sioux hater Denver Post beat writer Mike Chambers had to say about the Malone hit, notice that there is no indication from Chambers that he thought the hit was malicious or dirty, trust me he would have said so if thought the hit was dirty. [click to watch the video]
Denver Post --- DU senior center Jesse Martin has just been wheeled off the ice in a stretcher after being hit by North Dakota senior Brad Malone, an Avalanche draft pick.

Malone crushed Martin parallel to the boards, as Martin was trying to skate the puck up ice, out of the defensive zone. He had his head down. No penalty was immediately called, but while emergency crews prepped Martin for the stretcher, officials gave Malone a 5-major for charging and game misconduct.

UPDATE: Martin was unconscious and did not have use of his extremities while on the ice, but regained feeling in his arms and legs while on the stretcher and en route to Altru Heath Systems in Grand Forks and was admitted for precautionary reasons.
Just for the record I am glad that Martin will be OK and that his is not seriously hurt, no one wants to see the opposition get hurt in a hockey game. The fact remains that just because someone gets hurt on a legal check doesn't mean that officials have to call a penalty. The refs in my opinion made the wrong call.

Brad Malone checks Jesse Martin


After looking at the hit numerous times I don’t know? I still think it looks like a shoulder to shoulder check, but the video isn’t that good to tell definitely and FSSN isn’t in HD either. There is no question that it was a violent check, but hockey is a contact sport, and there are legal and illegal violent checks in the game of hockey and in football. I am sure the league will review this hit and determine if further punishment in the way of game(s) are warranted. I also want to stress that the injury put a negative spin on the game; nobody wants to see anyone get hurt. I hope that Jesse Martin makes a full recovery and can resume playing hockey again.

Lines for tonight's game - links to stats as well.

Lines for tonight's game - I will post updates on Twitter, that's if Sioux7 doesn't take my Black Berry away from me, he has threatened to in the past. Well; At least I am not having conversations with people on facebook.com during the game like the guy that sat next to me at the game last night. HA! :)

You can read them here [twiter.com/goon48]. You can click here for scores around the country [click for scores]


UND's lines

17 Jason Gregoire–10 Corban Knight–26 Brett Hextall
19 Evan Trupp–22 Brad Malone–21 Matt Frattin
7 Danny Kristo–29 Brock Nelson–27 Carter Rowney
8 Mike Cichy–9 Mario Lamoureux–11 Derek Rodwell

2 Andrew MacWilliam–5 Chay Genoway
3 Derrick LaPoint–25 Jake Marto
18 Dillon Simpson–24 Ben Blood

31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell
35 Tate Maris

[click for UND stats here]

Denver's lines

19 Kyle Ostrow–14 Jesse Martin–18 Luke Salazar
11 Chris Knowlton–16 Anthony Maiani–9 Beau Bennett
17 Jason Zucker–15 Drew Shore–26 Shawn Ostrow
37 Nate Dewhurst–27 Dan Olszewski–3 Jon Cook

4 Matt Dononvan–6 Chris Nutini
5 John Lee–21 William Wrenn
24 John Ryder–10 David Makowski

Denver Sieves

1 Sam Brittain
28 Josh Rosenholtz

[Click for DU stat here]

Fallout of 'dirty' hit against Miettinen is concussion exam


This kind of stuff concerns me, the league wants to protect the players and then doesn't suspend them for dirty hits. Now another player is out with a possible concussion.
Star Tribune --- Wild right winger Antti Miettinen has been sidelined with what the team now believes may be a concussion stemming from a high hit he took Monday from Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown.

Miettinen, who has been complaining of headaches and vision problems, was to be examined by a neurologist Friday after coach Todd Richards said Wild doctors ruled out an inner-ear infection.

Brown was assessed a 5-minute major and game misconduct for an "illegal check to the head," although he avoided further discipline from the NHL.

That surprised Richards, who called Brown's hit "dirty."

"You've got to protect the players," Richards said. "To me, it's a blindside hit."

College Hockey Scores from 10-29-2010



Friday, October 29

Dartmouth 2 vs Princeton 1
Brown 4 at Yale 7
Boston University 5 at UMass Lowell 1
Merrimack 2 at Boston College 3
Providence 3 at Massachusetts 3 OT
New Hampshire 7 at Cornell 4
Alab-Huntsville 4 at Michigan State 4 OT
Army 0 at Canisius 4
Bowling Green 1 at Alaska 4
Michigan 2 at Ferris State 2 OT
Mercyhurst 3 at Niagara 5
Robert Morris 2 at RIT 3 OT
Minnesota State 3 at Alaska Anchorage 2
Michigan Tech 2 at Wisconsin 5
Quinnipiac 4 at St. Cloud State 2
Milwaukee S. E. 7 at Concordia (WI) 2
Lake Superior 2 at Miami 6
Ohio State 1 at Northern Michigan 2
Western Michigan 2 at Notre Dame 3
Denver 3 at North Dakota 4
Minnesota 4 at Colorado College 1
Minnesota Duluth 3 at Bemidji State 2
Holy Cross 4 at Northeastern 3 OT

Analysis: - The SCSU Huskies have struggled so far this season and are an unimpressive 2-4-1; also their heir apparent over rated goalie Mike Lee has been lit up again in the nets and the Huskies lose another game in non-conference play. [Beat writer story]

Mike Chamber the unapologetic beat writer and self professed Fighting Sioux hater from the Denver Pioneers seems to have focused on this statistical fact a lot this past week; “UND is going with sophomore Aaron Dell in net. He is 2-2 with a 2.88 GAA and .883 save percentage. He gets the nod over struggling junior Brad Eidsness (1-0-1, 4.46, .762).” Yep! Hey I will be the first one to admit it, it's a true fact that UND's goaltending has been brutal and unimpressive and not up to the standards of other teams around college hockey; the Fighting Sioux did manage to beat the mighty Denver Pioneers last night even with mediocre goaltending, and yes Aaron Dell did let in fewer goals than the goaltender from Chamber’s favorite team. – Comment is dripping with sarcasm. [Pioneers beat writer story] and [Brad's blog post]

The Bemidji State University Beavers had what appeared to be their first WCHA point sowed up when they lost to the Bulldogs with 7 seconds to go in overtime. [Bemidji Beat writer blog post] and [UMD Beat Writer blog post]

The Golden Gophers beat the C.C. Tigers in Collorado Springs last night 4-1. I was able to watch the last two periods of the game because it was on a delayed telecast on Fox Sports Net. In my opinion neither team was very impressive but I am sure the Gopher faithful will spin it other wise. Patter is good, Kangas sucks and it's time for a change. It was nice not having to listen to the Rug cheer lead from the broadcast booth. Actually I thought Anthony Lapanta and Kevin Gorg did a great job calling the game. [C.C. Beat writer blog post]

The Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks defeated the big, slow, lumbering team from the University of Alaska-Anchorage in front of a empty Sullivan Arena 3-2 on Friday night Alaska time or in the middle of the night central standard time for the rest of us. [Delusions of Grandeur] and [Mankato Beat Writer blog]

Friday, October 29, 2010

Sioux 4 Pioneers 3 - No Dasher Dancing tonight



Ho Hum, that is how I would describe this evening game between two teams that are supposed to be bitter rivals that hate each other. This is one of those series that traditionally is supposed to look like the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. Unfortunately; this game was really clean, almost boring and there were only four penalties in the entire game.

The part that is even more unbelievable was that the UND Fighting Sioux ended up getting three power play and Denver only got one power play through sixty minutes of hockey. I suppose the Denver head coach George Gwozdecky will call his coffee drinking buddy WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod and lobby for a few more power plays tomorrow night; of course I am kidding but it does seem odd that this game wasn't a parade to the penalty box with at least three scrums. There wasn't any international choking signs, dances on the dasher or walks across the ice. In fact the DU coach never left the bench to enter the playing surface. There wasn't even a conference between the Refs and the DU coach at the DU bench.

I actually expect tomorrows game to be more spirited, more contested. Just not your typical grudge match between the two teams that are supposed to hate each other. What next a hug at center ice after the game showing solidarity? God I hope not.

Defensive Juggernaut?

While the Sioux won the game I am still concerned with the goaltending and the team defense, tonight I saw a few things that concerned me. I know it’s early but the goaltending numbers so far this season are brutal and what I would consider unacceptable and subpar, None the less, seven games into the hockey season and the Fighting Sioux don’t have a goalie with a save percentages over 90 percent. You’re not going to win a lot of hard fought close hockey games with that poor of defensive numbers like that, things have to tighten up if the Fighting Sioux are going to win some hockey games.

Now I know that Matt Donovan is an elite player but on his goal in the second period, he skated around the entire Sioux hockey team before slipping the puck through the goaltenders pads, I mean seriously! That was embarrassing that no one challenged him. That can’t happen. I just hope the Sioux are better tomorrow night.

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[Box Score]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DEN 1 - 0 6x6 Jason Zucker (3) (Shawn Ostrow, John Ryder)6:19
DEN (+): 17,26,24,10,15,G1 NDK (-): 7,5,29,2,27,G32
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Dillon Simpson (1) (Jason Gregoire, Corban Knight)11:51
NDK (+): 18,7,17,26,24,G32 DEN (-): 17,18,24,14,21,G1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DEN 2 - 1 6x6 Matt Donovan (3) (unassisted) 1:53
DEN (+): 4,11,10,26,16,G1 NDK (-): 7,27,29,18,24,G32
DEN-1 Drew Shore (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 3:32
DEN-2 Matt Donovan (2-Holding) NDK 0x2 6:00
NDK 2 - 2 6x6 Michael Cichy (1) (Mario Lamoureux, Derrick LaPoint)9:04
NDK (+): 8,9,3,11,25,G32 DEN (-): 24,14,19,6,18,G1
NDK 3 - 2 6x6 LL Corban Knight (3) (Brett Hextall, Jason Gregoire)16:43
NDK (+): 10,26,17,2,5,G32 DEN (-): 16,18,4,14,21,G1
DEN-3 Beau Bennett (2-Elbowing) NDK 1x3 19:57
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3rd Period (20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
NDK 4 - 2 6x5 PP GW Corban Knight (4) (Danny Kristo, Brock Nelson)1:13
NDK: 17,10,7,5,29,G32 DEN: 17,6,15,24,G1
NDK-1 Danny Kristo (2-Hooking) DEN 0x1 5:05
DEN 3 - 4 6x6 Jason Zucker (4) (Beau Bennett, Drew Shore)10:37
DEN (+): 17,9,15,24,10,G1 NDK (-): 10,11,24,18,8,G32
-------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game
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Goon's Three Stars of the game

1. Corbin Knight (2g-1a-3pts)
2. Jason Gregoire (0g-2-a-2pts)
3. Brett Hextall (0g-1a-1pts)

Links to the game

DU loses at North Dakota 4-3 [Denver Post]

Sioux erase bad memories with win over Denver [Grand Forks Herald]

Lines for the Sioux tonight

Someone commented that it was my fault that the Sioux lost because I didn't post the Sioux lines so here they are. I will post updates on Twitter for the those that like to text me during the games. You can read them here [twiter.com/goon48]

UND lines - Forward(s)

Jason Gregoire - Corbin Knight - Brett Hextall
Evan Trupp - Brad Malone - Matt Frattin;
Danny Kristo - Brock Nelson- Carter Rowney
Mike Cichy - Mario Lamoureux - Derek Rodwell

Defense

Andrew MacWilliam - Chay Genoway
Derrick LaPoint - Jake Marto
Dillon Simpson - Ben Blood

Goalie
Aaron Dell
Backup Brad Eidsness

Derek Forbort, Brett Bruneteau, Joe Gleason.

DU Lines - Forwards


19 Kyle Ostrow–14 Jesse Martin–18 Luke Salazar
11 Chris Knowlton–16 Anthony Maiani–9 Beau Bennett
17 Jason Zucker–15 Drew Shore–26 Shawn Ostrow
22 Jarrod Mermis–27 Dan Olszewski–37 Nate Dewhurst

Defense

4 Matt Donovan–6 Chris Nutini
5 John Lee–21 William Wrenn
24 John Ryder–10 David Makowski

Goalies

1 Sam Brittain
28 Josh Rosenholtz

Denver athletic department is losing 7 million a year.

Wow! I found this article in the Denver Post this morning when I was conducting a visual recon of the opposition’s newspaper and I must say; that is a lot of money.
The Denver Post --- Despite having one of the country's premier hockey programs, the University of Denver athletic department is operating on an annual budget deficit of more than $7 million. The massive shortfall is the result of the school's pledge to remain in NCAA Division I in all sports, as well as its effort to upgrade its struggling men's basketball program.

Athletic director Peg Bradley-Doppes said there has been no discussion about Denver returning to Division II in its core sports.

"I believe the chancellor and the board feel very, very, very good about the direction of our program, and confident in the direction of the program," she said in a recent interview. "This university takes pride in that we educate student-athletes. . . . There is no quick fix here."

According to documents obtained by The Denver Post, the DU athletic program lost more than $22 million during a three-year period ending June 30, 2007, the deficits growing from $7.1 million to $7.8 million in the third year. DU is a private school and would not make its recent budgets available.

Brett Hextall on the Pipeline Show...

I was going to put this up the other day but got side tracked. In case you have heard it yet, Brett Hextall was on the Pipeline Show, and you can read their hockey blog Coming Down the Pipe blog here. It's an interesting interview and Dean Millard and Guy Flaming do an awesome job talking to various players from Juniors and NCAA hockey. [Click to listen to the interview]

DU’s Brittain is better than 1-1-2 record

The Media and fan bloggers from Denver have been pretty tame this week and haven’t been their usual belligerent selves. Actually, I am a little disappointed so far. I also believe there has been a lot of sand bagging going on as well.
Denver Post --- DU and true freshman goalie Sam Brittain departed for North Dakota this morning and will begin a two-game WCHA series against the Fighting Sioux Friday night in Grand Forks.

Please look for our series advance in Friday’s paper and catch our blogs and game stories throughout the weekend (I’m traveling Friday). Here are some leftover Brittain items and quotes.

In four games against three quality teams — Vermont, Boston College and Wisconsin (two) –Brittain has allowed just seven combined goals. His 1.70 goals-against average and .940 save percentage ranks sixth and seventh nationally among 62 eligible goalies. (By the way, UND’s Brad Eidsness is 62nd in save percentage, at .762.)
Brittain is 1-1-2, and DU has scored just seven goals in those four games.

“Still looking for those wins,” he said. “The ties are alright but the individual numbers don’t really matter. The only numbers that matter are the W’s for the team.”

Two years ago, Brittain says he remembers thinking about the DU-North Dakota rivalry while playing midget triple-A hockey in Calgary.
In looking at the numbers the better goalie for Denver is going to be playing for the Pioneers this weekend, sophomore goalie Adam Murray who is hurt this weekend has also struggled since he got to Denver, and his numbers aren’t all that impressive 1-1-0. 4.50 GAA and Save Percentage of .859, which is still better than Brad Eidsness’ numbers as noted above. If the Fighting Sioux are going to be successful this weekend they have to get back to basics this weekend, the Fighting Sioux need to concentrate on playing solid defense, moving the puck out of the defensive zone and cutting down on turn over’s down low in the defensive zone but also in teh neutral zone as well.

The Sioux also need to get a good cycle going and set up in the offensive zone and put some heavy sustained pressure on the young Denver Pioneer goalie(s). Lastly, the Fighting Sioux that is usually know for its stellar defense needs to limit shots on their goaltending that has been unimpressive and at times shoddy this season.

EDIT: I misspoke seems as if the smack talk has started and you can go here to get into the act.

Weekly press conference

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Now we are officially going, every team has now played at least two league games, and some have played four (MSUM and UM). This week we almost have a full slate of league games, we have 5 conference match-ups.

WCHA standings

TEAM……………...W-L-T...Pts
Minnesota-Duluth....2-0-0…4
Nebraska-Omaha…2-0-0…4
North Dakota………2-0-0…4
Denver……………...1-0-1…3
Michigan Tech……..1-0-1…3
Minnesota State…...1-2-1…3
Colorado College…..1-1-0…2
St. Cloud State….....1-1-0…2
Wisconsin…………..1-1-0…2
Minnesota…………..1-3-0…2
Alaska-Anchorage...0-2-0…0
Bemidji State……….0-2-0…0

WCHA

#3 Minnesota-Duluth @ Bemidji State
Last weekend the Bulldogs swept the Seawolves in Duluth, and the Beavers enjoyed a weekend off.

The Bulldogs had to come from behind on Friday and then win in overtime and on Saturday they scored less than a minute into the game, and cruised to a 6-0 win. The Beavers will be at home for their second series in the new BREC (soon to be Sanford Health) arena, and will be itching to win a game or two for the home town crowd. SPLIT.

#20 Minnesota @ #19 Colorado College
Last weekend the Gophers split a series with the SCSU Huskies in Minneapolis, and the Tigers split with the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato.

The Gophers got in the win column on Sunday with an efficient win over SCSU. I watched that game it wasn’t flashy, but effective. It would appear that up to this point both teams have had some problems scoring goals. The team which can finally put the puck in the net will get some wins. SPLIT.

Minnesota State @ Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the Tigers in Mankato, and the Seawolves were swept by the Bulldogs in Duluth.

The Mavericks have to make the long trip up to Anchorage this weekend. In the past few years UAA has done pretty well at home, and have gotten some wins against upper level WCHA teams. Both teams were picked in the preseason to finish in the bottom of the league this year. If one of these teams can get more than a split, it will help them to stay in the middle of the pack in this fledgling season. SPLIT.

#12 Denver @ #8 North Dakota
Last weekend the Pioneers took three points from the Badgers in Denver, and the Fighting Sioux were swept by the Black Bears in Maine.

The Sioux managed to rack up penalties to the tune of 14-for-39 minutes on Friday and 12-for-24 minutes on Saturday. They also managed to get a short-handed goal in each game too, Rodwell and Frattin got them. The Sioux need to stay out of the box if they want to win games this season. The upside is UND will be back home for their first “official game” of the season (they played an exhibition game versus U-Manitoba). The Pioneers on the other hand will take to the road for the first time this season. DU has a tough schedule to start the year, they already played Boston College, Wisconsin, and now North Dakota, and next week in-state rival Colorado College. The series between these two old programs has really heated up of the past decade. I hope we have another couple of barn burner games this weekend. Sioux 3-pts.

Michigan Tech @ #18 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Huskies enjoyed a free weekend, and the Badgers got a point from the Pioneers while in Denver.

MTU is off to one of their best starts in a long time, and Wisconsin is in somewhat of a rebuilding year. The Badgers lost a lot of good players to graduation and the pros after last season’s run in the NCAA tournament. This series couldIt is always hard to predict game early in the season, okay, its hard predict them all the time. SPLIT.

NON-CONFERENCE

Quinnipiac @ #17 St. Cloud State
Last weekend the Bobcats beat Holy Cross once, and the Huskies split a series with the Gophers in Minneapolis.

SCSU looked good on Friday against the Gophers, but then again, most teams have looked good against the Gophers this season (I couldn’t resist a little Gopher bashing). Sunday the Huskies looked a little flat, like they were happy knowing they had already gotten a split on the road, and the Gophers played better too, which also factored into the game. I have to go with our beloved WCHA conference in this series. Huskies Sweep.

BYE week
#9 University of Nebraska Omaha – Mavericks

DU Pioneers bit by the injury bug

While the Denver Pioneers have suffered some injuries problems and appear to have broken a mirror in the team locker room, hence the bad luck, the Fighting Sioux hockey team can’t overlook the Denver Pioneers. Let's give credit where credit is due; any team that is lead by Denver head coach George Gwozdecky is a good hockey team, there also appears to be some sandbagging going on in Denver as well. One thing we learned from last season first series with DU is that while the media reports someone as being out and or questionable they seem to show up dressed and ready to play on game day as well, that same scenario happened last season with Chevy their goaltender.
Denver Pioneer --- DU’s maximum 22-player traveling party will feature the 22 players capable of playing at North Dakota this weekend. Weird injuries and illness continue to plague the Pios, who depart for Grand Forks on Thursday and face the Fighting Sioux on Friday and Saturday at Engelstad Arena.

I was at practice today and learned that sophomore goalie Adam Murray and classmate Paul Phillips, a defenseman, will remain in Denver over the weekend. Murray, who missed last weekend’s series against Wisconsin with a groin injury, skated with his gear before practice but then sought treatment during it.

“It’s just slow,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said of Murray’s recovery. “It’s the groin area; that major muscle goaltenders need. It’s improving but very, very slow in improving. He’s going to stay home and continue to rehab and hopefully start skating and practicing next week.”

Phillips, who has played in all six games this season, is out after suffering complications from a dry, bloody nose. True story. He required nasal surgery.

“He had sinus congestion that turned into an infection, and as a result, his nose was running and he was blowing it,” Gwozdecky said of Phillips. “The combination of the infection, blowing the nose, the high altitude and dry air, he developed a pretty severe nose bleed on Monday.

“It would start, and stop, and start again (over and over). We thought it had it stopped, but Tuesday morning about 3 a.m. he couldn’t get it to stop and he was admitted to the hospital. They did some exploratory surgery (Tuesday) night . . . and found he had blown out a blood vessel. They cauterized it and he is about to be released. He’s probably 10 days to two weeks away (from returning).”

Meanwhile, junior forward Dustin Jackson (mononucleosis) and freshman center Nick Shore (broken wrist) will remain out. Jackson has yet to play this season and Shore hasn’t played since the season opener at Vermont. Freshman forward Justin Jones still has not been academically cleared by the NCAA, thus he cannot practice with the team. Senior defensemen Jon Cook and Joey Brehm are DU’s only extra players, so both will travel to North Dakota.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

WTF - UND in 18th

Check out this buffoon's top twenty; I mean seriously is John Stewart or Bill Mayer writing about college hockey?

My Top 20

I noticed this week that, with a few exceptions, each team has about a four-spot “zone” in which they could reasonably fit. In other words — and this is a news flash, I know — the polls aren’t incredibly scientific.

1. Miami
2. Boston University
3. Boston College
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. New Hampshire
6. Michigan State
7. Michigan
8. Yale
9. Minnesota-Duluth
10. Notre Dame
11. Maine
12. Michigan Tech
13. Colorado College
14. Union
15. Denver
16. Cornell
17. Wisconsin
18. North Dakota
19. Western Michigan
20. Alaska

NHL Network = UND Network?

This is good news for people that can't watch Fighting Sioux Sports Network. Also, for those that want to watch the Sioux on the NHL network, its on Midco channel 307 in Grand Forks. You have to have the extened sports package to get it.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota has reached an agreement with the NHL Network to re-broadcast eight Fighting Sioux men's home hockey telecasts beginning with Friday night's home opener against the University of Denver.

The NHL Network is seen on numerous cable systems in the United States and is available on channel 403 on Dish Network and channel 215 on DirecTV.

This Friday's broadcast will be seen on the NHL Network Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Central.

UND Hockey On NHL Network
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010 (Denver at North Dakota)
Friday, Nov. 5, 2010 (Minnesota Duluth at North Dakota)
Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 (Notre Dame at North Dakota)
Friday, Dec. 3, 2010 (St. Cloud at North Dakota)
Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 (Robert Morris at North Dakota)
Friday, Jan. 14, 2011 (Minnesota at North Dakota)
Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 (Nebraska Omaha at North Dakota)
Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 (Alaska Anchorage at North Dakota)

Six games into the season the Gophers haven't traveled anywhere.

Six games into the 2010-2011 season and the Gophers haven't left the friendly confines of the Mariucci Arena. It will be interesting to see how they respond against the C.C. Tigers this weekend.
Roman Augustoviz --- The Gophers will practice Thursday morning at Mariucci Arena before flying to Denver, then they will bus to Colorado Springs. "Our guys like if we can practice at home before we head on the road," Lucia said. "Usually it is a much more productive practice. Flying, you are sluggish, and coaches get upset because you don't have a good practice. It's just the way it works."

Flying into and out of Denver, Lucia said, also means the Gophers can avoid an early morning flight back on Sunday from Colorado Springs.

Up to eight freshmen will be on the Gophers' trip to Colorado College this weekend, Lucia said. Doing the math, that means only one healthy freshman may stay home. There are 10 freshmen on the roster and center Nick Bjugstad is out for a month with mono.

The faces of George Gwozdecky

I couldn't resist, I had to share this picture with those that haven't seen it yet, this is definitely a keeper and a great illustration of the animated character that is George Gwozdecky. This picture is from Fargo Sioux's signature over on Sioux Sports. All we need now is one of him standing on the dasher and walking across the ice.

DU’s John Lee and Sam Brittain honored by WCHA

The Fighting Sioux hockey team’s favorite punching bag the Denver Pioneers, have a couple of players that won weekly awards from the WCHA this past week. One of the least popular Denver Pioneers amongst Sioux fans is University of Denver junior defenseman John Lee.
The Denver Post ---- The WCHA on Tuesday tabbed University of Denver junior John Lee and freshman goaltender Sam Brittain with weekly awards, after the Pioneers got through the weekend with a victory and a tie against Wisconsin.

Lee was named defensive player of the week after posting a plus-2 rating over the two games. He also had four blocked shots and an assist on the game-winning goal Friday.

Brittain was named rookied of the week after stopping 51 of 55 shots over the two games. His compiled a .927 saves percentage over the weekend in relief of starter Adam Murray.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Leafs Orr takes out goalie - goal counts


I was watching this game tonight and I can't believe this goal counted. It's definitely goalie interference in my opinion. What do you think? Should the goal have counted?

Wheeler and Ryder on the trading block?


Marco Sturm has a no trade contract so you can bet that the German is going anywhere and the Bruins are going to have to make room for their two returning players, that leaves Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder as possible trade bait. The Bruins are going to have to make room and apparently Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli hasn't ruled out sending Tyler Seguin back to Plymouth Whalers of OHL before 10-game mark.
CSNNE.com--- The B's GM is burning up the phone lines with other general managers around the league while setting the framework in place for potential deals when salary-cap issues come to a head with the Bruins.

It's getting to be about the time for the B's to kick up trade talks, and Chiarelli is doing just that for a Bruins team that's already shown plenty of promise in a handful of games this year.

Several hockey sources indicated to CSNNE.com that the Bruins are in the beginning stages of discussing deals involving several players, including Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder. The urgency for Chiarelli and the Bruins is a need to make room for at least two forwards when Marco Sturm (knee) and Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome symptoms) are ready to come off long-term injured reserve.

Matt Hunwick could also be in the trade mix for the Bruins if they can find a willing partner, but thus far the market hasn't quite developed for the aspiring puck-moving defenseman. Hunwick has been inconsistent over the last year-plus since a promising rookie season two years ago, but his skating ability remains unquestioned.

Mark Stuart has drawn interest around the league at points over the last two seasons, but he's an integral part of the B's leadership inside the dressing room.

Dustin Brown levels Antti Miettinen


Here is the controversial hit from last night's Wild and LA Kings game. So did this warrant a 5 minute major and a game misconduct? From the video it does appear that Brown hit Miettinen high, however, it's kind of inconclusive if Brown was hit in the head.

Bruins get good news; Savard, Sturm hit the ice


The return of these two players would help the Boston Bruins in the line up offensively. Sturm was hurt last spring during in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last; Sturm was hurt attempting to check former Denver Pioneer Matt Carle.
WILMINGTON -- Good morning from Ristuccia Arena, where Marc Savard and Marco Sturm are skating prior to their teammates taking the ice for practice.

Both Savard and Sturm are currently on long-term injured reserve as they work their way back from their respective ailments. Savard and Sturm are dressed in the black jerseys usually worn by the defensemen. Savard is wearing a shield, which he has not done throughout his career.

Sturm confirmed that today was his first day on the ice. Sturm said he's feeling no pain in the knee, but said it's not as strong as the other one.

The left wing had originally planned to start skating upon the team's return from Prague. But Sturm said the travel and some fluid in the knee pushed his plans back. He will skate on his own for the next several weeks as he continues to strengthen the knee.

"It's going to be tough," Sturm said of returning by mid- or late-November. "I don't know. I really don't know. We just have to see how the next 2-3 weeks go. I want to make sure I'm going to be full strength. Before that, I'm not going to play."

UND and DU week – A trip down memory lane.

Since it’s UND and DU hockey week I thought I would post a few reminders about the DU and UND rivalry to get your juices flowing. One could make the argument that the Pioneers have replaced the Gophers as our top rival. Both teams hate each other and there is no love lost between the fan bases as well. I also think most of us enjoy the games between the two programs.

I think that this is going to be a hard fought series this weekend and I think the DU fans and their media is kind of sand bagging and down playing how good their team is. While DU has a few good players nicked up I do think they are better than they are leading on.

The Fighting Sioux can not over look this DU team and they need to play smart and take some of their pride back after last weekends spanking at the hands of the Maine Black Bears. The Sioux will also have to play smartly because DU is the darling of the WCHA and will get all of the breaks from the WCHA officials this weekend. You have to wonder if another WCHA will get suspended or if UND will get 6 straight penalties in a row.

I am sure Sioux fans are wondering what the over and under of the chances of there being a dancer dance or not. I am also wondering if Todd Anderson is going to be one of the officials for this weekend’s series.

Here are some of the videos from previous games. Fighting Sioux and the Denver Pioneers from February 2008. [click to view video]

Last season was no different as the game got heated between the Pioneers and Sioux. [Click to view video]

Denver University Pioneers coach Gwozdecky takes a stroll across the ice. [Click to watch the video]

Here is the infamous cup check on one of the most hated Pioneer’s player of all time. Mike Prpich of the Fighting Sioux "Pops" Geoff Paukovitch with his stick. George goes nuts and dances on the dasher [Click to view viedo]

Lastly, how can we forget that Alanna Rizzo doesn't like the Fighting Sioux fans.
Denver Post - FSN Rocky Mountain reporter Alanna Rizzo covered last weekend’s DU series at North Dakota, returning to Denver on Sunday with mostly bad memories from her first trip to Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks.

“Honestly, if I’m not covering Denver the next time they go there, I would never have any reason in the world to ever go to a North Dakota hockey game,” she told me Tuesday. “(Sioux fans) need to realize they leave a bad taste in an opponent’s mouth, or anyone that’s going to see the arena for the first time.”

Rizzo’s angst stems from obnoxious and seemingly uncontrollable Fighting Sioux fans — particularly adults.

“It was a little too much for too long,” Rizzo said. “It wasn’t the student section as much as the older crowd, right on top of the DU bench, and I stood in the hallway going into their locker room.

“There were a lot of derogatory comments . . . from men and women, young and old, asking me about Coach Gwozdecky’s behavior, calling him a ‘Little Man,’ asking me ‘Why are you really here?’ and ‘I vote for last night’s outfit.’ It’s one thing to cheer for your own team, I’m all for that, but to constantly berate college athletes that are not being paid to play a sport for the constant length of the game was a little much.”

Rizzo, who also covers the Colorado Rockies, is in her second season working DU hockey for FSN. Previously, she covered the University of Wisconsin’s men and women’s hockey teams in Madison for WISC, a CBS affiliate. She worked Badgers games in 2006, the year both UW teams won NCAA championships.

Canucks' Goon Rick Rypien apologizes for grabbing fan during NHL game

Yawn! Rypien is probably only sorry because the NHL told him he has to be, I do believe his sentence from the NHL was a slap on the wrist and should have been in the 10-20 games area.
VANCOUVER - British Columbia - Canucks forward Rick Rypien has apologized for grabbing a fan during a game last week.

Rypien is serving a six-game suspension for making contact with James Engquist during a game against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul on Oct. 19.

"I know what I did was wrong," Rypien said.

Rypien was headed to the locker room Tuesday night after being assessed a double minor for roughing and 10-minute misconduct when he reached up and grabbed Engquist, a fan applauding at the railing. Rypien was pulled away by teammate Manny Malhotra and coach Alain Vigneault. Engquist and his brother, Peter, were removed from the area.

The Canucks also were fined $25,000, as required by NHL policy.

Lamoureux, Falcons respond to coach's scolding

Here is an interesting story that is worth a look from Sioux_Yeah_Yeah's favorite college hockey beat writer Mike Chambers.
The Denver Post - Last Saturday, the morning after Air Force fell to 0-4 with a shocking home-opening loss to downtrodden American International, Falcons coach Frank Serratore took the Herb Brooks approach of teaching.

"I lit into these guys like you couldn't believe," the emotional coach said Monday, two days after the Falcons crushed American International 12-0 in the finale of the two-game series. "I had had it with these guys. We needed to become a team."

Serratore was furious at his seven seniors for failing to lead and earn respect from seven freshmen.

"There was a generation gap, and I blame the older guys for not closing it," he said.

He was particularly critical of senior center and co-captain Jacques Lamoureux and senior linemate and assistant captain Derrick Burnett. Lamoureux was an All-American and Hobey Baker Award finalist as a sophomore but went into Saturday without a goal.

"I told them we had too many coaches and not enough players. We need one coach and one villain, and that's me. That's my job," Serratore said. "I want guys that love each other and want to go to war together. There's nothing worse than having an 'ununified' room. That was torturing me. I want a team that faces the Denver Pioneers and fights their tails off for each other. We're Air Force, and that's why I love this place. We have to have the chemistry-brotherhood thing on our side, because without that we don't have a chance."

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sioux fall to 8th in both polls

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[October 25, 2010]
1 Miami (28) 4-1-1 975 3
2 Boston College (19) 3-1-0 952 1
3 Minnesota-Duluth ( 1) 5-0-1 854 6
4 Michigan 3-1-2 769 4
5 Yale 0-0-0 733 5
6 Boston University ( 2) 4-0-1 726 8
7 Maine 3-1-2 710 12
8 North Dakota 3-2-1 679 2
9 Nebraska-Omaha 5-1-0 572 10
10 New Hampshire 1-1-2 513 7
11 Michigan State 2-0-2 427 16
12 Denver 2-2-2 400 11
13 Notre Dame 4-1-0 391 17
14 Cornell 0-0-0 366 13
15 Alaska 3-2-1 340 9
16 Union 5-1-0 339 18
17 St. Cloud State 2-3-1 224 14
18 Wisconsin 3-2-1 166 15
19 Colorado College 3-2-1 69 19
20 Minnesota 3-3-0 57 20
20 Rensselaer 3-1-2 57 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Robert Morris 51, Michigan Tech 47, Western Michigan 26, Ferris State 19, Bemidji State 10, Quinnipiac 10, Merrimack 6, Vermont 5, Canisius 3, Northeastern 3, Massachusetts-Lowell 1


USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[October 25, 2010]
1 Miami University 493 (18) 4 4-1-1
2 Boston College 481 (14) 1 3-1-0
3 University of Minnesota Duluth 415 (1) 5 5-0-1
4 University of Michigan 365 3 3-1-2
5 Boston University 349 (1) 8 4-0-1
6 University of Maine 324 11 3-1-2
7 Yale University 319 6 0-0-0
8 University of North Dakota 278 2 3-2-1
9 University of Nebraska Omaha 219 10 5-1-0
10 University of New Hampshire 171 7 1-1-2
11 University of Notre Dame 143 NR 4-1-0
12 University of Denver 126 13 2-2-2
13 Union College 105 NR 5-1-0
14 Michigan State University 104 NR 2-0-2
15 Cornell University 77 12 0-0-0
Others receiving votes: University of Alaska 47, St. Cloud State University 29, University of Wisconsin 13, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 6, Robert Morris University 6, University of Minnesota 5, Michigan Tech University 4, Ferris State University 1.


Read more: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/national-polls/#ixzz13QThp3xo

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Sioux drop to 7th in the INCH Power Rankings

INCH Power Rankings
[October 24, 2010]
1. Boston College
2. Miami
3. Minnesota Duluth
4. Michigan
5. Boston University
6. Maine
7. North Dakota - The last time the Fighting Sioux got swept by a non-conference opponent? Why, that was Oct. 20-21, 2006, when Maine won two games at Engelstad Arena.3-2-1 (2-0-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Maine, 7-3; L at Maine, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. Denver
8. Yale
9. Union
10. Michigan State
11. New Hampshire
12. Denver
13. Notre Dame
14. Nebraska-Omaha
15. Alaska
16. Rensselaer
17. Wisconsin
18. Cornell
19. Robert Morris
20. Western Michigan
Dropped out: St. Cloud State

Bubble-licious: Colorado College, Michigan Tech, Quinnpiac, St. Cloud State

A Look at the numbers.

Here are the Fighting Sioux goalie stats after six games, one could make the argument that the Fighting Sioux record is a mediocre 3-2-1 for team that is this talented. On the flip side of that argument, UND has gone 3-2-1 on the road and has yet to play any home games. The defensive and goaltending numbers are frightening so far and the Fighting Sioux have to get better if they are going to do anything in the up coming season and post season. The poor goaltending numbers are also a direct reflection of the team defense in front of them. UND which traditionally has been know for its strong defense in the past, has been giving up turnovers at crucial times in the games.

Aaron Dell, G, So, 2-2-0, 2.88 GAA, .883 Save Percentage
Brad Eidsness, G, Jr, 1-0-1, GAA 4.46., Save Percentage .762

The UND Fighting Sioux power play and penalty kill has been ok so far this season. [Click for national stats]

(Combined special teams)14 North Dakota 37/ 68 54.4
(Penalty Kill) 34 North Dakota 29/ 37 2 78.4
(Power Play) 10 North Dakota 8/ 31 1 25.8
(Penalty Minutes) 7 North Dakota 6 120 20.0
(Scoring Defense)33 North Dakota 6 21 3.50 (not good)
(Scoring Offense) 12 North Dakota 6 23 3.83
20 - Matt Frattin (TOR)North Dakota, SR F 6 7-2-9 1.50
2 - Goals per game - Matt Frattin(TOR)North Dakota 7 1.17
48 - Assists per game - Corban Knight and Derek Forbort 5 0.83
Power Play goals 1 Matt Frattin 6 0.67

Scores from October 23rd

Saturday, October 23

Holy Cross 1 at Quinnipiac 3
Morrisville 1 at Princeton 7
Alaska 1 at Michigan State 4
Colgate 4 at Lake Superior 5
North Dakota 2 at Maine 4
Niagara 3 at Rensselaer 4 OT
Northeastern 3 at UMass Lowell 1
Providence 1 at Boston University 2
RIT 2 at Union 7
USA Under-18 Team 0 at Cornell 6
Western Michigan 3 at St. Lawrence 3 OT
American Int'l 0 at Air Force 12
Alab-Huntsville 2 at Bowling Green 4
Boston College 1 at Notre Dame 2
Canisius 3 at Sacred Heart 3 OT
Connecticut 3 at Army 2
Merrimack 2 at Vermont 2 OT
Ohio State 5 at Ferris State 3
Alaska Anchorage 0 at Minnesota Duluth 6
Colorado College 1 at Minnesota State 0
Wisconsin 2 at Denver 2 OT
Bentley 3 at Clarkson 3 OT
Northern Michigan 1 at Miami 9
Nebraska-Omaha 1 at Michigan 6

Analysis – The University of Omaha Nebraska lost it’s first game of the season against the Wolverines. Dean Blais’ team got the split, they had won only once in Ann Arbor before this weekend.

The UND Fighting Sioux swept in Maine by the Black Bears. To quote College Hockey news; the Sioux go back to Grand Forks humbled. Humbled yes, but there is a lot of season left. No mention of the disparity in the number of penalties called against the Sioux on the weekend, Maine Black Bears 19 Power Plays and UND Fighting Sioux 10, officials have been fired and or suspended in the WCHA for bravo sierra like this. Letter sent to Hockey East Commissioner, I doubt that I will get a response from him. Told him it was one of the most one sided officiating jobs I have ever seen in my years of watching college hockey, this one even topped the debacle in Denver last November. I am serious when I say that I think head hockey coach Dave Hakstol and the UND administration should think twice about going east again until the officiating is discussed with the Hockey East commissioner. Imagine if Maine had come to UND and gone through the same thing, seriously, it would be considered an incident.

The UMD Bulldogs swept the big slow lumbering team from Alaska Anchorage with a 6-0 shutout win on Saturday night. A nondescript no name goaltender (Aaron Crandall 2-0-0, .50 GAA and .977 SV%) gets the win and the shutout for the Bulldogs. Seems like some coaches can recruit legit goaltenders.

Colorado College and Minnesota State University Mankato (MSU-M sporting some ugly uniforms I might add) lost a tight checking game to the C.C., the game got ugly at the end as Rylan Schwartz was given a five minute major and a game disqualification for a dirty leg check on Chase Grant. Before someone jumps down my throat, yes I did watch the end of the game it was on channel 27 Midco Sports in Grand Forks, ND. Schwatz will sit out the next game the Tigers play for his efforts.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish show that that Boston College Eagles are human as the Fighting Irish win 2-1 in South Bend on a goal from Calle Ridderwall.

Picture was taken by the Bangor Daily News.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Black Bears 4 Sioux 2 - Shooting yourself in the foot with style

I going to preface this blog post with the comment that the officials probably didn’t cost the Fighting Sioux the game(s) this weekend, however, the officiating in this series was brutal and very one sided almost to the point of being a joke. In fact Hockey East should be ashamed of themselves. Fighting Sioux hockey coach Dave Hakstol might want to think twice about traveling out east again if this is what the Sioux are going to face on the road, that being said, the Sioux looked at times this past weekend to be have been out coached and out played. This is not a team full of 9 – 10 freshman this is a veteran team that had it’s ass handed to them by a decent hockey team.

It's early in the season no need to panic 

I know it’s early and I would never abandon this Fighting Sioux team but what happened this weekend was unacceptable this should not be happening to the Fighting Sioux especially with the personnel that they have on this team. Also, there is no need to start the yearly campaign to fire Dave Hakstol. None the less, there were too many turnover and mental lapses at key times in the game. So with the sweep this weekend he Maine Black Bears have beaten the Fighting Sioux 4 games in a row that is unacceptable as well.

Some need to step it up

Again there is no reason to panic; however, certain players need to play with more disciplined and with a little more heart.  I came away this weekend as being unimpressed with the effort of the Fighting Sioux hockey team. Too many players took the weekend off and or failed to show up to play. It was apparent that Chay Genoway and Matt Frattin played their heart out but a few others were caught standing around watching the Maine Black Bears make plays. I do believe that the Sioux will come back next weekend and put out a good effort.

Check out the box scores and look at the links to the stats, it wasn't pretty tonight as well. The UND Fighting Sioux took five straight penalties and  a few of them were of the weak variety. The Maine Black Bears were tapping Aaron Dell's glove on every save but the Sioux players couldn't respond for fear of being put in the penalty box. Maine comes back to the Ralph for a series I believe next season or the season after and it will be interesting to see if the shoe was on the other foot how would Maine respond.

Frattin continues hot streak

Matt Frattin continues his torrid pace as he has scored 17 goals in 19 games, that is an impressive streak in my opinion, Frattin just seems so focused and driven and it appears that he is trying to lead by example and take the team on his back. Frattin was one of the few players that played hard all weekend and moved his feet.

[Box Score] and or [Live Stats]
Period 1 - No Scoring
Period 2
NDKM 1 - 0 Ben Blood Matt Frattin / Evan Trupp 13:25 EV
MAINE 1 - 1 Nyquist, Gustav Dee, Robby / Abbott, Spencer 16:04 PP
MAINE 1 - 2 Diamond, Joey Dee, Robby / Van Dyk, Josh 18:17 EV
Period 3
MAINE 1 - 3 Flynn, Brian Dimmen, Jeff 00:54 EV
MAINE 1 - 4 Abbott, Spencer O'Neill, Will / Nyquist, Gustav 06:39 PP
NDKM 2 - 4 Matt Frattin Evan Trupp 08:11 SH

PENALTIES

Period 1
NDKM Brock Nelson 2 DIVING 02:11
MAINE Leidermmark, Klas 2 O-INTERFERENCE 02:11
MAINE Beattie, Kyle 2 BOARDING 07:10
NDKM Brad Malone 2 HITTING FROM BEHIND 15:30
MAINE O'Neill, Will 2 ELBOWING 19:00
NDKM Matt Frattin 2 HOLDING 19:48
Period 2
NDKM Team 2 TOO MANY PLAYERS ON ICE 01:56
NDKM Dillon Simpson 2 INTERFERENCE 08:00
NDKM Brad Malone 2 HOOKING 15:58
NDKM Chay Genoway 2 HITTING AFTER WHISTLE 18:17
MAINE Nemec, Mark 2 HITTING AFTER WHISTLE 18:17
NDKM Andrew MacWilliam 2 HITTING AFTER WHISTLE 18:17
MAINE Diamond, Joey 2 HITTING AFTER WHISTLE 18:17
Period 3
MAINE Abbott, Spencer 2 HOOKING 03:21
NDKM Jason Gregoire 2 HOOKING 04:14
NDKM Ben Blood 2 SLASHING 04:51
NDKM Brad Malone 2 TRIPPING 06:20
NDKM Ben Blood 2 O-INTERFERENCE 11:23
MAINE Dimmen, Jeff 2 O-INTERFERENCE 13:15

Canucks' Goon Rypien suspended six games


I think that Canucks Hack/Goon Rick Rypien is getting off lightly for his classless act that took place this past week. There is no reason to try to attack a fan that is sitting in the stands. If I had been the NHL commissioner I would have thrown the book at this moron. I think anything less than 10 games is a travesty. Apparently, James Engquist the victim of the assault isn't all that please with the ruling.
NEW YORK -- Vancouver forward Rick Rypien was suspended for six games by the NHL on Friday, punishment for his altercation with a fan during Tuesday's game in Minnesota.

Including the game already served while Friday's hearing was pending, Rypien will be eligible to return to play Nov. 6 against Detroit. The Canucks also were fined $25,000, as required by League policy.

"Prior to each season, all clubs and players are advised that under no circumstances are club personnel permitted to have physical contact with fans, or enter, or attempt to enter the stands," Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We hold NHL players to a high standard, and there simply is no excuse for conduct of this nature. Fortunately, this incident is not typical of the way NHL players conduct themselves and is not typical of the way Mr. Rypien had conducted himself during his career."

Rypien made contact with the fan as he was heading down the tunnel to the dressing room at the Xcel Energy Center after drawing a double-minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct for an altercation with Minnesota's Brad Staubitz at the 13:38 mark of the second period of an eventual 6-2 loss. As he left the playing bench, Rypien reached up and pushed a spectator who was applauding at the railing separating the stands from the tunnel.

The suspension was announced Friday afternoon after Rypien attended an in-person hearing at the League offices in New York City; a meeting attended by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.

View from the other side - UMaine and UND

Interesting perspective about UND's style of play from a eastern hockey fan. I am not so sure that I would call UND style of play, “a bullying style,” but ok... I did see both teams taking liberties last night and a one sided officiating job by the Hockey East officials. Like I said earlier I don't blame the officials for the loss but they didn't have a very good effort either.

Something's Bruin --- The crowd was not held in suspense long as the Black Bears struck early and never looked back. Joey Diamond executed a perfect behind the net pass to set up Robbie Dee for the first goal. This was followed up when a Black Bear power play was about to expire but not before Adam Shemansky fed Brian Flynn to make it 2-0. When asked about the importance of getting on the board first, Dee shared, “It definitely got the crowd into it. It was a great atmosphere. [North Dakota] has never been here before so it's probably a little intimidating.”

The Fighting Sioux appeared aptly named tonight as their style was extremely chippy with lots of activity after the whistle and trailing the play. North Dakota starting defenseman Andrew MacWilliam was given a game misconduct after head hunting Flynn who was down on the ice for an extended period. After the game when asked what he thought of the hit Brian said “ I don't remember what happened. I'm not sure if it was dirty.” Undeterred the Fighting Sioux kept up a bullying style but it was no match for Maine's superior skating, passing, forechecking, and netminding.

While Shawn Sirman's performance likely cemented him as the top goalie for Umaine, North Dakota was forced to pull their starter in goal Brad Eidness in favor of Aaron Dell. Unfortunately for the Sioux, Dell fared no better. There was a brief period of suspense as a sloppy Maine turnover on the power play led to a break away, short handed goal by North Dakota Freshman Derek Rodwell but it didn't last long.

On an ensuing Black Bear power play Will O'Neill took a pass at the point, faked a slap shot and then snapped a wrister into the back of the net to make it 4-1 Black Bears. Next, Gustav Nyquist potted his first goal of the year on a hustle play losing a race to a loose puck in the ND defensive zone. Nyquist stuck with it, forced a turnover and easily beat Sioux Goalie Aaron Dell who had come out of net just short of the blue line moments before. Asked to reflect on his first goal of the year Nyquist commented “ It felt great, the team played great. We really wanted to make a statement.”
On MacWilliam's penalty I don't know if it warranted a five minute major and a game misconduct, I would thought a 2 minute penalty would have been enough, but who knows, from the perspective of someone wearing Columbia Blue they are going to say it’s a penalty and from a fan wearing green we are going to see it a little differently. The Flynn was falling down and I suppose Mac could have pulled back. Hey Hockey East has played well against the WCHA as of late so they can beat their chest if they want but I predict that the worm is going to turn pretty soon.

Looking for the silver lining

I did focus on the negative points in the previous blog post and now it’s time to focus on the good things that happened as well. I am not by nature a negative person and it’s easy to pile on when the going gets tough, I can say that the Sioux will come out tonight and compete and put up a good effort.

Last night during the Fighting Sioux hockey chat there were a few people that posted some interesting things. Seriously folks, like Jayson from the UND SID office said, 'there are no championship banners hung in October', and let's get real the Fighting Sioux aren't going to win every game they play this season and Maine is a "quality opponent." Lets give the University of Maine hockey team some respect, they are a good veteran team as well that’s lead by a very good head hockey coach. One could say that they are a program that mirrors ours.

I tend to try to find the silver lining in every game and there were a few last night. Last night Fighting Sioux freshman forward Derek Rodwell’s goal was awesome, it was a bright spot in an other wise bad night. Derek has scored two goals in the last two games. I really like this kids game, he is strong on his skates and plays a strong game.

Matt Frattin's second-period power-play goal was also a thing of beauty, Matt now has 16 goals in his last 18 games. That is an impressive streak. I am sure that Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke had to be impressed with that.

While I don’t think officiating was the deciding factor in the game, I do think the officiating was poor and I might have to rethink my criticism of the WCHA buffoons officials. Brad Schlossman sums this up really well. There were a lot of hits that were called a penatly that shouldn't have been.
The reffing didn’t determine the outcome in this one, but it is apparent that they don’t allow much contact out East. Legit body checks — on both sides — were being called. Some very ticky-tack calls. I wonder if that’s the norm for Hockey East or if Friday night was just one of those games. We’ll find out tonight. If it’s called extra tight again, I think it plays into Maine’s advantage. Midway through the third period Friday, the Black Bears had a 10-2 advantage on power plays.
Tonight game will not be on television and you will have to purchase the University of Maine Broadcast for $7.95 here is the link to the broadcast. According to the UND SID office, the University of North Dakota tried to get the broadcast put on MidcoNet but they couldn't come to an agreement.

As I tweeted on Twitter yesterday, former All State Grand Forks Central goalie Seth Lang has reported to the Bismarck Bobcats of the NAHL. Seth dressed for his first game last night and was the back up goalie to Ryan Faragher.

Dell gets "Housed" - Black Bears 7 Sioux 3

The title of this blog post is a play with words, It came to mind after I witnessed the goal by Tanner House against the Sioux in the second period of last night's game. But I digress, I think the College hockey news sums up last night’s game on their front page quite accurately; “Maine pummeled visiting North Dakota in the night's biggest non-league match up, 7-3.” Last night’s game was embarrassing to say the least, the UND Fighting Sioux were on the big stage playing a big time opponent on CBS College Sports and they failed to show up prepared to play hockey.

I would describe last night’s game as an old fashion ass whopping, the Fighting Sioux were beat in every aspect of the game, in the defensive zone they were turning the puck over and losing the races to loose pucks in both ends of the ice, the Fighting Sioux goaltending was brutal as neither goaltender looked like they had their head in the game, and the Sioux forwards play in the neutral zone was God awful.

Defense a strong point?

While defense is supposed to be a strong point of the 2010-2011 version of the UND Fighting Sioux the team looked like a big, slow, lumbering team. The experienced UND Fighting Sioux Defense were beat to the puck all night long and the Fighting Sioux defense looked like a bunch of road cones, the game film will not lie. I never thought I would see Chay Genoway (0-0-0 4/-3) get beat down the ice to the puck like he did against Maine Sophomore Forward Matt Mangene. That play kind of illustrated how the game went for the Sioux last night.

To be a fly on the wall next week

I would love to be able to watch practice this next week as the Sioux prepare for the Denver Pioneers, it should be all business after being blitzed by a hungrier Maine team. I would also have loved to be a fly on the wall after the first period of last night’s game and after the game. It sounds like UND Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol was not impressed with last night's effort.
“We stood around and watched a good team play well,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “Our feet weren’t moving. We weren’t sharp in any one part of our game. That’s it.”
The Maine Black Bears that stood out for me last night were Junior Forward Brian Flynn (2g-0a-2pts), Junior Forward Gustav Nyquist (1g-1-2pts), Senior Forward Tanner House (1g-1a-2pts), Senior Forward Robby Dee (1g-1a-2pts), Sophomore Forward Joey Diamond (0g-2a-2pts), Junior Defenseman Will O’Neil (0g-1a-1pts) and Junior Forward Spencer Abbott (0g-2a-2pts), these guys skated around, through and over the Sioux defenders all night.

Would someone make a save please!

While I can’t tag all of the Maine goals on the Fighting Sioux goaltenders because the defense was brutal last night and looked like a bunch of pylons the Sioux goaltenders have to start making saves and playing better, because they were God awful last night, and they have less than impressive this season so far to date. That’s not saying that they haven’t played well in stretches they have to start making more saves at key times in the game. I have said this before and had my head taken off by Brad Eidsness admirers’/apologists'
 (I want to preface this by saying have nothing against the kid) that goaltending is the weak link on this hockey team, Eidsness and Dell have to be better and they haven’t been very good at all this season and their numbers speak for themselves. Also, Chay Genoway is an awesome defensive defenseman and is great at getting the puck up ice but his blunders were obvious last night.

Here is a look at the goaltending numbers
Aaron Dell,(2-1-0) GAA 2.46 Save Percentage .881
Brad Eidsness, (1-0-1), GAA 4.46 Save Percentage .762


[Official Box Score]
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1st Period (20:00)
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MNE 1 - 0 6x6 LL Robby Dee (4) (Joey Diamond) 0:43
MNE (+): 7,39,10,5,3,G33 NDK (-): 3,10,25,17,26,G31
NDK-1 Jason Gregoire (2-Hitting from Behind) MNE 1x1 1:13
NDK-2 Chay Genoway (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) 2:35
MNE-1 Kyle Beattie (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) 2:35
MNE 2 - 0 6x5 PP Brian Flynn (2) (Adam Shemansky, Joey Diamond) 3:00
NDK: 3,19,22,25,G31
NDK-3 Andrew MacWilliam (5-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) (Served by Derek Rodwell) MNE 2x3 5:39
NDK-4 Andrew MacWilliam (10-Game Misconduct) 5:39 MNE 3 - 0 6x5 PP Brian Flynn (3) (Spencer Abbott, Gustav Nyquist) 9:37
MNE: 10,13,89,29,5,G33 NDK: 3,19,22,25,G31
NDK-5 Brad Malone (2-Holding) MNE 2x4 9:37
NDK 1 - 3 5x6 SH Derek Rodwell (2) (Danny Kristo) 10:50
NDK (+): 11,3,7,25,G32 MNE (-): 13,27,89,29,10,G33
NDK-6 Derek Rodwell (2-Elbowing) MNE 3x5 12:10
MNE 4 - 1 6x5 PP GW Will O'Neill (1) (Tanner House, Robby Dee) 12:16
MNE: 27,29,89,13,7,G33 NDK: 3,9,22,25,G32
MNE-2 Mark Nemec (2-O-INTERFERENCE) NDK 0x1 12:47
MNE 5 - 1 6x6 Gustav Nyquist (1) (unassisted) 16:38
MNE (+): 89,29,13,3,5,G33 NDK (-): 5,24,9,11,22,G32
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2nd Period (20:00)
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MNE 6 - 1 6x6 Kyle Beattie (2) (Matt Mangene, Mark Anthoine) 2:58
MNE (+): 21,57,24,6,27,G33 NDK (-): 4,5,9,11,27,G32
NDK-7 Derrick LaPoint (2-Elbowing) 4:32
NDK-8 Corban Knight (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) MNE 3x6 4:32
MNE-3 Joey Diamond (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 4:32
MNE 7 - 1 6x6 Tanner House (4) (Spencer Abbott) 8:03
MNE (+): 29,13,4,44,89,G33 NDK (-): 3,5,19,21,22,G32
MNE-4 Tanner House (2-Tripping) NDK 1x2 14:51
NDK 2 - 7 6x5 PP Matt Frattin (6) (Brad Malone) 15:26
NDK: 21,22,4,19,26,G32 MNE: 57,24,3,5,G33
NDK-9 Derek Forbort (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) MNE 3x7 18:24

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3rd Period (20:00)
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NDK-10 Brad Malone (2-Roughing) MNE 3x8 3:46
NDK 3 - 7 6x6 Brad Malone (2) (Corban Knight) 6:08
NDK (+): 22,8,10,24,25,G32 MNE (-): 24,57,44,4,26,G33
NDK-11 Michael Cichy (2-Boarding) MNE 3x9 6:29
NDK-12 Ben Blood (2-Cross-Checking) MNE 3x10 6:39
NDK-13 Danny Kristo (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) 8:17
MNE-5 Tanner House (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) 8:17
MNE-6 Robby Dee (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) NDK 1x3 8:27
MNE-7 Matt Mangene (2-Hooking) NDK 1x4 10:38
MNE-8 Kyle Beattie (2-Tripping) NDK 1x5 13:23
NDK-14 Ben Blood (2-Roughing) 18:03
MNE-9 Mike Banwell (2-Roughing) 18:03
MNE-10 Mike Banwell (2-Elbowing) NDK 1x6 18:03
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End of Game

College Hockey scores from 10/22/2010

Friday, October 22

Bentley 1 at Clarkson 5
Boston University 4 at Massachusetts 3
Niagara 1 at Union 6
Providence 4 at UMass Lowell 5 OT
RIT 1 at Rensselaer 4
Western Michigan 3 at St. Lawrence 1
American Int'l 5 at Air Force 3
Alaska 1 at Michigan State 1 OT
Alab-Huntsville 4 at Bowling Green 5
Colgate 1 at Lake Superior 2
Canisius 4 at Sacred Heart 1
Ohio State 1 at Ferris State 2
Alaska Anchorage 2 at Minnesota Duluth 3 OT
St. Cloud State 5 at Minnesota 2
North Dakota 3 at Maine 7
New Hampshire 2 at Northeastern 2 OT
Northern Michigan 0 at Miami 4
Nebraska-Omaha 4 at Michigan 2
Colorado College 4 at Minnesota State 5
Wisconsin 2 at Denver 4

Analysis - Pontifications

I Blame Roman!
UND at Maine: Split ... NoDak sweeps in Bangor, Orono or wherever Maine is. Sioux's Matt Frattin is hotter than hot.

How about them UNO Maviericks? The Mavericks roll into Ann Arbor, Michigan and beat the Wolverines 4-2. I don’t think anyone is going to be over looking the Mavericks now.

The big, slow, lumbering team from UAA losses in Overtime to the Speedy Bulldogs. I expect the UAA Seawolves to bounce back tonight as they always play the Dogs tough in Duluth.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Buffoon of the week.


You really can't make this stuff up, check out what Canucks player Manny Malhotra had to say on Rypien attacking a Minnesota Wild fan in the stands at the Xcel Energy Center. For this ridiculous statement, you’re the Goon’s World Buffoon of the week. There is no reason a professional hockey player should go into the stands and assault a fan, especially for saying, 'Way to be professional.' That's unacceptable.
Fan House ---"There's boundaries that should never be crossed. We're in our area of work. We're all for the hooting and hollering and supporting your team and saying whatever is tasteful. But as soon as you cross that line and want to become physical with a player then we have to make sure we take care of ourselves. ... We have no idea of what their intentions are."

The only problem, of course, is there's no evidence that the fan became physical, or did anything to provoke Rypien's actions.