Highlights goals from the UND vs UAA series

Here are three of the goals from last weekend's series that I thought were the best goals. Two of the goals are ones that UND freshman Rocco Grimaldi had his hand in directly. Even to the untrained eye, you can see that Grimaldi is an exciting player and I think that we will see him weekly topping the last weeks goals.

UND during presidential elections years

I like most am tired of election commercials on my TV... I am also ready for this election to be over... I am also sure that there are many of you that are also tired of of the commercials and the elections mailings that you have to throw away every day as well. So since it’s an election year, I thought that I would see what UND has done in hockey during the presidential election years. 

UND won NCAA titles during the 1980 and 2000 Presidential election years, both years there was a Republican president elected to the presidency, both times UND won the title in Providence, Rhode Island. 

NCAA Tournament Championships

1980       North Dakota     31-8-1   5–2   Northern Michigan     Providence, RI   Providence Civic Center

2000       North Dakota     31-8-5   4–2     Boston College  Providence, RI   Providence Civic Center

UND also won two Broadmoor Trophies during presidential election years as well. 

WCHA Tournament Championships/Broadmoor Trophy

Year       Record  Coach

2000       31-8-5   Dean Blais

2012       25-12-3  Dave Hakstol

UND has also won two MacNaughton Cups during presidential election years where a Republican president was elected to office. 

Regular Season Championships/MacNaughton Cup

1980       31-8-1   John "Gino" Gasparini

2004       30-8-3   Dean Blais

UND women finish sweep of SCSU

Grand Forks, ND – The University of North Dakota women finished off their first sweep of the weekend as they beat Saint Cloud State University 1-0.

Senior goalie Jorid Dagfinrud (Sarpsborg, Norway) was solid in net for UND as she stopped all 19 shots she faced to record the shutout. Dagfinrud was solid all weekend as she stopped 34 of 35 shots on weekend.

After the game Dagfinrud that this to say about the getting UND first sweep of the season.

"It means a lot, Dagfinrud said. “I mean we can do it, it’s good preparation for next weekend when we play the Gophers. So…We are just going to enjoy tonight, flush it, and then we are back on the ice on Monday, preparing for the Gophers.”

UND head coach Brian Idalski had to say this about his goaltender Jorid Dagfinrud.

“She [Dagfinrud] played well," Idalski said. “She really did – she made a couple of really great saves on the back door and obviously she is very athletic – she was solid for us getting the shutout and I am happy for her.”

In my opinion, this was "one" of UND’s most complete games of the season, as they controlled the play in all three zones of the ice and cycled the puck well and got the puck down low and generated some high quality shots.

Freshman goalie Katie Fitzgerald (Des Plaines, Ill), was equal to the task as she kept the Huskies in the game and stopped 35/36 shots many of the saves that she made were of the difficult variety.

With the win tonight, UND grabbed a share of first place in the WCHA standings, Minnesota is tied with UND – but also has two games in hand on UND.

Senior Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, ND), continued her torrid pace as she scored her third goal on the weekend to give UND a 1-0 lead 09:12 mark of the second period, assisting on Jocelyne’s goal was Becca Kohler (St Thomas, Ontario), picked up two points on the weekend. That was the second point on the weekend for the freshman Kohler who added her first career goal in last night’s game.

With her eighth goal of the season, Jocelyne Lamoureux has scored eight of UND’s 15 goals this season.

UND stays at home next weekend and will play a two game series against the defending NCAA champions on Saturday and Sunday at 2:07 pm.

Related articles

• UND women out last SCSU (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Minnesota State Slips Past North Dakota (insidehockey.com)
• UND Women's Hockey the day after (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Minnesota State slips past North Dakota 3-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND women's hockey; ready to make an impact nationally (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Women second in the WCHA Coaches' poll (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA 2012-13 Season Preview (insidehockey.com)

UND women outlast SCSU

Grand Forks, ND – UND Women’s head coach Brian Idalski was asked about how he thought his team played so far this season.

“A work in progress,” Idalski said. “We still delegate to a few kids and expect them to bail us out a lot and that shouldn’t happen. I think our focus for us is getting scoring and help from all three lines and that isn’t happening."

If there has been a knock on this year’s University of North Dakota’s Woman’s team it’s been their inability to play a full 60 minutes of hockey and to stay out of the penalty box.

Coming into the game UND was leading the WCHA in penalty minutes with an average of 15.2 per game killing 20 of 23 penalty kills which is good enough for third place in the WCHA.

Tonight, the march to the penalty box continued for UND but they were able to kill five of six SCSU power plays.

The head coach was asked about the penalty kill after the game

“Coach [Eric] Fabian has done a great job,” Idalski said. “Really, it’s [penalty kill] has done well.”
Idalski went on to explain that his team is making strides and his team is almost there.

“Quite honestly in all the games we seem to be winning the attempted shots we’re winning all of the statistical battles… we don’t seem to have that comfort level as far as finishing off plays, it’s going to come, it’s a couple kids out of the line up, it’s some people still learning their way and you kind of hope the monkey you just feel they need a good confident game and some kids are going to explode out.”

Out of the gate, UND out-shot the SCSU Huskies by a lopsided total of 13-7, but Huskies sophomore goalie Julie Friend proved to be no friend to UND as she made many difficult and timely saves that came down low, from the slot.

UND was able to break through at the 08:26 mark of the first period with a goal by senior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux, assisting on the goal was Jordan Slavin and Monique Lamoureux.

SCSU would answer the UND goal with a goal from Molly Mott at the 02:27 mark of the second period, assisting on the goal was Alex Nelson and Haylea Schmid.

Through two periods of hockey, UND did everything but out score SCSU as the UND women out-shot the Huskies 19-13 but the score would remain tied 1-1.

UND would go ahead for good, breaking the tie at the 0:46 mark of the third period with Jocelyne Lamoureux’s second goal of the game on power play, assisting on the goal was Sam LaShomb and Monique Lamoureux.

UND would add to that lead with a beautiful by freshman Becca Kohler down low as she scored her first goal of her career with a goal at 15:44 mark of the third period. Assisting on the goal was Layla Marvin Ashley Furia.

After the game an excited Becca Kohler seemed relieved to get her first career goal.

“It was like a monkey off the back,” Kohler said. “Those expressions come to mind, like you practice all week for it in the morning and you get up early for that, to get the reward for the first goal is a good feeling, it feels good.

SCSU would pull their goalie in the later with about a minute to go but the Huskies were unable to get any more goals past senior goalie Jorid Dagfinrud who was solid in goal on the nigh stopping 12 of 13 shots.

After the name Coach Idalski was asked about the status of his injured forward Michelle Karvinen.
“Like I eluded to in the press conference this past week, Michelle is probably going to be re-evaluated next week and we would like to get her back for Minnesota obviously.

UND squeaks by USNDT U-18 team 6-4

Grand Forks, ND – After suffering through an injury riddled season a year ago UND was looking forward to having a full roster to work with.

After one week and an exhibition game under their belt – UND already is two players down with injuries – out this week is sophomore forward Michael Parks’s lower body injury – the severity of his injury is unknown at this time. Also, senior forward Carter Rowney undisclosed injury and is listed as being day-to-day.

After the game UND head coach Dave Hakstol was asked if there was an update on the injured forward Michael Parks.

“You know what… I know I told you that I thought I would have something but I think he’s [Parks] being evaluated right now so I don’t, Hakstol said. I think it will be probably Monday before I have any more information.”

Injuries or not – the game must go on.

UND didn’t seem to miss a beat at all tonight – especially with the newly constructed first line of Rocco Grimaldi, Corbin Knight and Danny Kristo – that line was brilliant as they accounted for eight points on the night and Under 18 team really had no answer for their speed – that line did taper off a bit during the latter part of the game but they were impressive in their first time out together in game action.

UND head coach Dave Hakstol was asked about his impression of the top line.

“I don’t know that I am ready to really evaluate it today,” Hakstol said.  “Obviously there were some good things offensively. I want to take a closer look at it and evaluate it over a couple of days and take a look at some of the game tape, you know there was a lot of good there. I want to take a look I guess in a sense of what small areas we can be improved; you know to improve the overall chemistry of the unit in all three zones. It’s not just one zone of play, that’s what I would like to take a close look at – I thought there was a lot of good there.

Corbin Knight was asked about his impressions of his team’s play in the second exhibition game to start the season.

“I think it worked pretty good, obviously we were able to make some offensive plays I think over all we need to tighten up our offensive game a little bit I think,” Knight said. A couple times we let up a little… too many chances in the defensive zones there so it’s probably something we need to work on this week to get ready for next weekend.

The game was a tale of two goalies, Junior goalie Clarke Saunders started the game and stopped 24 of 25 shots and looked solid. Freshman goalie Zane Gothberg enter the game at the half way point and appeared to fight the puck. Gothberg stopped eight of 11 shots.

For the most part UND out played the USNDT team – but gave up a few untimely goals when they got into penalty trouble during the latter half of the game. Team USNDT U-18 was able to put three power play goals past freshman goalie Zane Gothberg to make the game close.

UND begins their nonconference regular season play as they travel to the Brice Alaska Goal Rush tourney in Fairbanks, Alaska.

UND will face some adversity during their first weekend of the season.

UND will be without senior forward Danny Kristo who is suspended for the first two games of the season and will not be back until the first home series the following weekend against the University of Alaska Anchorage on October 26 and 27.

UND will also miss sophomore forward Brendan O'Donnell, senior defenseman Andrew MacWilliam, senior forward Carter Rowney and senior forward Corbin Knight who will all serve a one game suspension during first game against the University of Alaska Anchorage at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush tourney for a violation of team rules.

On the following night of the Brice Alaska Goal Rush tourney, sophomore forwards Connor Gaarder, Stephane Pattyn and sophomore defenseman Andrew Panzarella will all sit out for a violation of team rules.

Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine

Related articles

• North Dakota shakes off early rust to beat the University of Manitoba Bison 5-3 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Wednesday press update for UND Men's hockey (thehockeywriters.com)
• North Dakota Shakes Off Rust to Beat Manitoba Bison (thehockeywriters.com)
• ND Shakes Off Rust to Beat Manitoba Bison (insidehockey.com)
• Wednesday press update for UND Men's hockey (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

EDIT: Four UND Hockey Players charged with Possession of Alcohol

According to the Grand Forks Herald article dated September 21, 2012 four UND Hockey players were going to be charged with Misdemeanor Possession/Consumption Of Alcohol By Person Under 21. In looking at the Grand Forks County Court website this morning I can only find three players that fit that description.

Jordan Patrick Schmaltz, Grand Forks, ND 58202 Misdemeanor Possession/Consumption Of Alcohol By Person Under 21 5-01-08 Misdemeanor B 09/15/2012

Drake A. Caggiula, Grand Forks, ND 58202 Misdemeanor Possession/Consumption Of Alcohol By Person Under 21 5-01-08 Misdemeanor B09/15/2012

Zane Alvin Gothberg, Grand Forks, ND 58202 ND 58202 Misdemeanor Possession/Consumption Of Alcohol By Person Under 21 5-01-08 Misdemeanor B 09/15/2012

According to the Grand Forks Herald, Bryn Chyzyk is the fourth player in question, but a search of the court records doesn't show that Chyzyk has yet to have been charged as of this time.

Tweets of the day - UND suspends four captains

Can someone at @undsports let AD Brian Faison know that he is the Athletic Director not a Head Coach at the University of North Dakota.
— Mike Commodore (@commie22) September 18, 2012

@bruceciskie @chrisdilks The relatively swift punishment and the wording throughout release certainly leaves a lot open to interpretation.
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) September 18, 2012

If you weren't on the internet or a had smart phone today - then you probably haven't noticed the UND Hockey team was making news off of the ice this morning and this is a collection of some of the tweets that I found worthy of being posted for all to see.

I don't know or care what happened at that team party. Hats off to UND for sending a strong message. Don't see enough of that these days.
— Bruce Ciskie (@BruceCiskie) September 18, 2012

@Bruce Ciskie the voice the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs was the voice of reason this morning as this incident broke and of course Drunk Hockey Guy wasn't buying any of it this morning.

@umdpenaltybox My point is that neither UMD nor UMN fans are in any position to throw stones, esp given the way UND handled this one.
— Bruce Ciskie (@BruceCiskie) September 18, 2012

@mikemcfeelykfgo that was not last season it was during the 2010-11 season.
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) September 18, 2012

Three of 4 U of North Dakota captains suspended by team are NHL draftees. Andrew MacWilliam (TOR), Danny Kristo (MTL), Corban Knight (FLA)
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) September 18, 2012

Via KFGO News: Grand Forks city police say they did not respond to any calls regarding UND hockey party. Checking on campus police calls.
— Mike McFeely (@MikeMcFeelyKFGO) September 18, 2012

According to online court records, no citations were handed out to any players.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) September 18, 2012

Men's hockey captains suspended for season opener bit.ly/UjDRK5
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) September 18, 2012

UND suspended team captains MacWilliam, Knight, Kristo and Rowney for season opener due to a team party Saturday night.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) September 18, 2012

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• "O Captain! My Captain!" - UND picks Mac to be captain (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND's Andrew MacWilliam and Nate Ewell on the Pipeline show (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Tuesday Links - Discipline and TV Schedule addition (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey incoming freshman - the vitals (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Tuesday at the Links... The No Hockey League and "Sloppy Seconds" (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• McFeely on the Travis Beck incident. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
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ND SBoHE directs UND to retire Fighting Sioux nickname

So it begins again, the retirement of the Fighting Sioux nickname is back on after the Measure four vote revealed that a majority of voters in North Dakota voted 1113,684 (Yes) to 55,114 (No) to allow UND to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname again.

Associated Press, FARGO — The state Board of Higher Education has directed the University of North Dakota to retire its Fighting Sioux nickname.

State residents voted overwhelmingly earlier this week to uphold the Legislature's repeal of a state law requiring the school to use the nickname. The moniker that the NCAA finds offensive had been brought out of retirement for a second time while the measure was decided.

Board President Grant Shaft, of Grand Forks, says there's not much more that can be said about the issue that hasn't been said already.

UND will be asked to report its progress at a later date.

As we found out before, when the Fighting Sioux nickname was first retired from January 1st until about February 7th 2012 – when 17,000 petitions were handed in at the State Capital in Bismarck, ND forcing UND to become the Fighting Sioux again – that’s it’s going to take some time getting used to not being the Fighting Sioux anymore. After Tuesday's vote, UND once again becomes the school formally known as the Fighting Sioux. Don’t expect fans to just change overnight, UND has been the Fighting Sioux for 80+ years.

That being said, you’re also going to hear and the home of the Sioux at the end of the national anthem, and you’re going to see Fighting Sioux jersey’s and gear for a very long time. The reality is that UND isn’t going to have a new nickname until 2015.

Fighting Sioux Hockey Seniors Tribute 2012

This is a great video. While this season’s Fighting Sioux senior class might only have three members, the trio of Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta), Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minnesota) and Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks, North Dakota) have been part of some amazing teams that have won two MacNaughton Cup championships (2010-11, 2008-09) and two Broadmoor Trophies (2010-11, 2009-10).

Related articles

• Lucky Bounces Save Sioux in Tie (insidehockey.com)
• Tech and Sioux skate to a 1-1 Tie. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (insidehockey.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• MacNaughton Cup History (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Kizla's perspective on the UND and DU game

Where is Mike Chambers when you need him? God I love this newspaper, they sure have an interesting way of drawing up their perspective when it come to hockey games between UND and DU.

I guess Mark Kizla missed the Nick Shore spear on Carter Rowney at the end of the game and the fact that the refs lost control of this game early and were consistently poor all weekend long so I don't really think either team was worse than the other. I do hold the ref (Todd Anderson and Brad Shepherd) culpable in this situation.

Who knew Denver was a suburb of Fargo? Although the North Dakota campus in Grand Forks sits nearly 1,000 miles from center ice in Magness Arena, the Sioux Nation showed up in force, then ignored both political correctness and the polite rules of being a house guest, by chanting "Let's go Sioux!" Losing control of the game, North Dakota than lost its composure. In the third period, freshman Michael Parks went caveman, taking a swing of the forearm at DU defenseman John Ryder. Way to stay classy, North Dakota. [Denver Post]

If anything I hope the NCHC commissioner Jim Scherr was able to catch either one of both of these games and has made a mental note to not employer either referee from this series. There were four game misconduct penalties and one, the Michael Parks hit on John Ryder that was actually worthy of a five minute major and a game misconduct.

Related articles

• Kiszla: DU Pioneers get even with old rival North Dakota (denverpost.com)
• Kiszla: Pioneers get even with old rival (denverpost.com)
• Chambers; Stakes are high in University of Denver-North Dakota hockey series (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Focused Sioux knocks off UMD (insidehockey.com)
• Putting on the Foil - Friday Links (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Two UND Defenseman make HF top 10 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

UND Sweeps BSU 3-1

Grand Forks, ND – Coming into tonight’s game the University of North Dakota’s Woman’s Hockey team had given up a goal on the first shot of the game six times since Thanksgiving.  

Tonight was a different story, as Bemidji State would not score the first goal of the game; on the first shot of the game, this time around.  

Tonight for a change, UND would score the first goal of the game, and at the 01:20 mark of the first period Josefine  Jakobsen  would score a gritty, hardworking goal.  

It didn’t take long for Bemidji state to answer the UND goal. While it wasn’t the first shot of the game, Bemidj State Beavers would get the equalizer on their fifth attempted shot of the game two minutes and 26 seconds later; with a goal from freshman forward Nathasha Kostenko.  

The rest of the first period would be all UND, as the quartet of Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux-Kolls, Michelle Karvinen, and Josefine Jakobsen put on an offensive display. Each of those players would record two points during the opening period. 

Unfortunately, that is all of the scoring we would see for the rest of the game.  The game would become more of a grind it out game that had little flow, due to the amount of penalties that were called. 

Special teams play would take over in the second period and UND and BSU would begin a parade to the penalty box. 

UND came into the game as the most-penalized team in Division I Women’s hockey.  That stat wouldn’t change after tonight game either.  

On the evening, UND’s Penalty kill was air tight and successfully killed all nine Beaver power plays.  That was the story for the weekend. UND did not give up a single power play goal to the BSU Beavers all weekend long. When it was all said and done, UND had successfully killed 18 Beaver power plays. 

UND wasn’t much more successful than BSU on the power play as they went 2/12 on the weekend.

UND defenseman Monique Lamoureux-Kolls talked about their successful penalty kill and how they killed all 18 Beaver power plays. 

“The one thing is we wanted to do was get pucks deep. I think a little bit yesterday we struggled, but today when we had chances to get it out, there was maybe one time that we might not have gotten it out, but the second time we got it deep,” Lamoureux-Kolls said.  That’s the key, once you don’t get it out once, twice and three times, that’s when they score on you.” 

Brian Idahlski was also impressed with his penalty kill’s play on the weekend. 

“It was excellent!  Obviously, holding them without a power play goal in 18 chances is pretty good stuff,” Idahlski said.  “It starts in net; Steph [Ney] was very good for us. It just thought that unit did a good job.“

Tonight was also the last regular season game of the year and was also senior night. All six seniors that started their career with UND were all in the starting lineup for UND and took the opening faceoff.  

Idahlski reflected on his senior class after the game. 

“I took a little time afterward and spoke to them as a group, and just reiterated; that’s a special group. When I came here with the program, it was where it was.  That was the first class full class that bought into what we were doing, when a lot of other people didn’t,” Idahlski said. 

“ …The coaches at the time, they did a great job of recruiting. I know how many calls we had to make, just to get a couple of people that were even interested in coming here during that time frame.”

“They bought in, laid the foundation, they told them it wasn’t easy and we told them as a group we had our ups and downs.”

“Through it all they worked hard and stayed the course. Hopefully we send them out with some special memories down the stretch and being a part of a lot of firsts in this program.”

With the win against the Beavers tonight UND improves to 18-9-2 overall, 14-8-2-1 in the WCHA. With the win UND is now sitting in sixth place in the PairWise Rankings, UND needs to finish in 8^th place or better to make the NCAA tourney. Next weekend UND travels to Mankato to play the Mavericks.

With the loss Bemidji State drops to 14-13-3, 8-13-2-0 in the WCHA. 

Box Score

Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY....

Related articles

• Karvinen leads UND past BSU (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Karvinen leads UND past BSU 5-2 (insidehockey.com)

Coach Hakstol takes issue with Wally Shaver's comments...

Tonight during the UND Coaches Show, UND head coach Dave Hakstol took issue with what UMN radio personality had to say about the Ben Blood incident. If you need to have your memory refreshed, here is what Wally Shaver had to say about the incident. [Click to listen]

Here is what UND head coach Dave Hakstol had to say about matter. At the 11:20 mark of the audio, you can hear what Dave Hakstol has to say about his team being called a bunch of cheap hose heads by Wally Shaver. [Click to listen]  I would be willing to bet that the voice of the Minnesota Gopher's will be getting a call from Coach Hakstol. 

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The Gloves are off - UND and UMN

I thought I would get this open thread started. UND Fighting Sioux Hockey vs. the Minnesota Gophers is one of the premiere match-ups in college hockey. I am not sure how many more of these series we have?

One of the bad things about the formation of the NCHC and the B1G Mistake is that there might not be a yearly dismantling of the Gophers by the team from University of North Dakota formally known as the Fighting Sioux... I guess this will make this weekend's series historic.

Minnesota's Pansies on ice are coming to Grand Forks, ND to play the UND Fighting Sioux Hockey Team in a two game series. Some of the hockey pundits are already penciling Minnesota in for a two game sweep.

Of course we are going to hear how UND is a bunch of knuckle dragging  Neanderthal Goons, even though UND is ranked 11th in the WCHA for Penalty Minutes.

We will also hear how Grand Forks, ND is a back water sewer from Gopher fans but you will see many Gopher fans enjoying the game in the picturesque Ralph Englestad Arena. 

Like I said over on Sioux Sports... There really isn't much difference between teams one through six in the WCHA. UND non-conference record is better than UMN. If you take away Minnesota's three wins against AHA cupcakes teams Minnesota is 12-7-1. UND is 11-8-2 not much of a difference in records.

If the Gophers lose this weekend's series to the UND Fighting Sioux Hockey team there will be two prevalent excuses. Refs were unfair and penalized Minnesota too much, see game against Northeastern last weekend. They were tired, referring to the two players that traveled all the way to Alberta to play in the WJC tourney in Calgary Alberta.

NOTE: This is a fun series and this post is meant to be humorous, if you cant see the hilarity or humor in this post you might need to check yourself into an anger management clinic.

 Related articles

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College Hockey fan behavior.

Image via WikipediaThis is an article that I wrote for the Illegal Curve back in October 21, 2009.


My dad sent me an account of a Gopher fan’s experience at Ralph Engelstad Arena this past weekend. Was I sitting in a different arena this past weekend?

Sioux Gophers and idiots on both sides.

I was at the Sioux/Gopher hockey games this weekend. The games were in Grand Forks and I was wearing Gopher gear on Friday night. Our tickets were also in the student section. We sat on the very far side of the student section. There were some Gopher fans in front of us who were clearly from the U. They were receiving a bit of heckling, and for the most part it was all in good fun, but there were a few weekend warriors” that went over the line from the UND side of things. They were invading some personal space and getting face to face with the kids from the U. Lots of you are a bitch. and you suck balls. Luckily for everybody involved where I was at, the Gopher kids stayed very chill about the

The UND kids clearly had had way too much to drink. The problem was they kept coming back trying to instigate more and more each time. It could have turned bad pretty easy. Check out the story below. On Saturday night we also had student section tickets. I was not looking forward to the abuse again.

 The night before there was a very drunk kid behind us who fell into our seats a few times. We were standing each time, but my wife got kicked once. He’s lucky he did not catch the 4 year old girl with a foot. So we got lucky Saturday nights, while we were waiting in line to get into the game some kids from the U said they had normal tickets but wanted to sit in student section. I overheard this and we traded our 4 student tickets for their 4 normal tickets. It was a much better game Saturday and we did not have to get kicked by drunk 19 year olds. All around a better experience.

While this weekend I didn’t see a lot of this stuff going on, I have witnessed this type of behavior first hand in the past at venues like the Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center. Who uses this type of language when talking to another fan from a different team in front of young children? These people should have their mouths washed out with soap. That does cross the line of what is considered acceptable behavior at a sporting event. If I brought my two year old daughter to the game I don’t want her to have to listen to this kind of vile stuff. Just because you’re a college student doesn’t give you the right to act like an ass. There is no birthright to sit in that seat at the arena; if you can’t behave, I am sure the REA management can sell that prime seat to someone will be able to conduct themselves in an acceptable manner.

Not to pick on the college students there are many examples of adult fans, both Sioux and Gopher fans, getting out of hand and acting like imbeciles as well. I heard from a friend that a female Gopher fan who happened to be pregnant was heckled and jostled at the arena this past weekend. Who the heck does that kind of a thing? Imagine your girlfriend, wife or mother having this happen to them.

In yesterday’s Grand Forks Herald there was a letter to the editor in which a person described an experience where someone dumped a beer on a Gopher fan’s head from the upper deck. That kind of behavior is unacceptable and only a moron would defend behavior like this. People like this are going to ruin it for the rest of us that like to enjoy a beer without having the game ruined by drunk, belligerent idiots. I can foresee a time where the REA might ban beer sales to college students and or everyone.

These types of incidents do not paint a positive picture of Grand Forks, ND, the University of North Dakota, the University of Minnesota or the WCHA. As fans collectively we must behave better, we don’t want to look like a bunch of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals.

I know, call me old-fashioned, but some of the stuff that happened this past weekend seems to be borderline criminal or at least anti-social behavior and should be deemed as inappropriate and unacceptable. None of us should have to be a witness to this type of crap. To top off the weekend, we had an incident between two fans that could be classified as felonious with one person ending up in the ICU wing of Altru Hospital. There is nothing about this series that should lead any of us to start throwing punches at each other.

I am as pro-Fighting Sioux hockey as they come: I am all for a loud arena and an intimidating atmosphere, but some of this stuff is atrocious behavior and unfit for television. My boss who is new to the area went to a Sioux hockey game for the first time and I am sure she was impressed with the F’ the Gophers cheer, way to go UND. Remember there is friendly acceptable back and forth banter and then there is crossing the line. I also have friends that are Gopher fans, and some of them won’t even come up to Grand Forks anymore based on the type of treatment they have received from our fans.

I have to wonder if it is time for college hockey to institute a fan code of conduct for its fans like some NFL teams have. Eventually the University of North Dakota is going to have to address the behaviors of its fans at the REA.

Fan code of conduct
“The National Football League and its teams are committed to creating a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable experience for all fans, both in the stadium and in the parking lot. We want all fans attending our games to enjoy the experience in a responsible fashion. When attending a game, you are required to refrain from the following behaviors:
» Behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or illegal in nature.
» Intoxication or other signs of alcohol impairment that results in irresponsible behavior.
» Foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.
» Interference with the progress of the game (including throwing objects onto the field).
» Failing to follow instructions of stadium personnel.
» Verbal or physical harassment of opposing team fans.
“Event patrons are responsible for their conduct as well as the conduct of their guests and/or persons occupying their seats. Stadium staff will promptly intervene to support an environment where event patrons, their guests, and other fans can enjoy the event free from the above behavior. Event patrons and guests who violate these provisions will be subject to ejection without refund and loss of ticket privileges for future games.”

Like another hockey fan suggested from DU, I like the NFL fan code of conduct policy and I am all for this if being enacted at REA. If you’re an unruly fan and you can’t act in an acceptable manner, your ticket should be taken from you and you will no longer be allowed to be able to attend events in the arena. Attending college hockey is a privilege, not a right. If you can’t act like a member of the human race, do not bother coming to the arena. Someone else will gladly pay a handsome fee for that ticket and act in a respectful manner in your place.

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Sioux slip past Mavericks 1-0

Grand Forks, ND –The Fighting Sioux and the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks have played a total of six games in their school’s history, and every game except one has been very close and highly competitive. This game was no different, as both teams got after each other from the drop of the first puck to the last whistle. There have been six games and each time the two game series has ended in a split.

After the game, Danny Kristo was asked about the new rivalry with the UNO Mavericks. He said, "it’s already a good rivalry, they are a good team over there and one of the most frustrating teams that I play. They do a good job clogging the neutral zone, they finish every check. They have a really good head coach over there,  it’s good competitive series every time. For all three series with them have been splits and all three have been great series, it’s a great new rivalry.”

It would not be an understatement to say that the Fighting Sioux have suffered their fair share of injuries this season, and earlier in the day they learned that they would be even more shorthanded as their first line center Corbin Knight had suffered a lower body injury and would be unavailable for game two of the series.

The majority of play during the first two periods of the game was spent in the neutral zone. Frankly, the game wasn’t exciting at all. I am sure that many of the fans that attended tonight’s game would say the same thing. After two periods of hockey, the game was tied 0-0 with both teams having put 21 shots on net. The game would pick up a little bit during the third period.

If I had to pick out one player that was solid all weekend for either team, it would be Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell. Dell was impressive on the weekend 59 out of 61 shots for a .967 save percentage.

After the game, Aaron Dell was asked how it felt to win a game like this for a goalie, to which he said, “It's huge. We had guys battling hard, we did everything right tonight, made my life easier no breakaways tonight.”

After watching two periods of grind it out boring hockey, the game finally got a little more interesting, and at the 0:44 mark of the third period Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo beat a UNO defenseman Jacob Megna into the corner. Kristo picked up the puck skated out front and scored a great wrap around goal, shooting the puck past UNO Maverick Goalie Ryan Massa to give the Sioux a 1-0 lead. That was all the offense the Fighting Sioux would need as the Sioux were able to hold off a late surge by the Mavericks to earn the split in the series against the Mavericks.

After the game Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say about his team’s play, it was a real gutsy performance by our team, in a real hard fought game, in a real hard fought series, I thought it was a gutsy performance by our team.”

The Fighting Sioux are 7-7-0 half way through their league schedule and Coach Hakstol was asked how he likes his team half way through the league schedule. Coach Hakstol said, "we are growing up, I like the team we are becoming. We are starting to define what we are...we are starting to figure ourselves out a little bit. Quite honestly, I have not seen our entire team together yet. That’s something hopefully we will be able to do during the second half. Hopefully we will be able to get healthy and be able to have everybody available and try to put that together to see how good we can become. I know this, we dug ourselves out of a pretty deep hole, I think we have put ourselves back into a position where we have the opportunity to control our own fate in the second half by our performance.” 

The Fighting Sioux have an exhibition game next weekend against the Russian Red Stars on December 17^th. The Fighting Sioux will return to action against the Harvard Crimson on the 30^th and 31^st of December.

 Box Score 
Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY...

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