DU fires George Gwozdecky

Grade-A source says George Gwozdecky did not resign. Forced out, terminated, for lack of NCAA success and failure to come to terms 4 ext
— Mike Chambers (@MChambersDP) April 1, 2013

I have to say that I am in an utter state of shock. I can't imagine not seeing Gwoz behind the DU bench next season or standing on the dasher. People that watch college hockey, know that George Gwozdecky is the face of the Pioneer program.

Gwozdecky vs. DU. He told me 2 weeks ago an extension was coming. Blow-up 2day at school in mtg. Only coach to win 20 games last 12 years
— Mike Chambers (@MChambersDP) April 1, 2013

WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 16

Each week, I participate in a WCHA Web Media Poll that is put on by the Tech Hockey Guide with 11 other people that represent both the print media as well as the hockey blogosphere.

The Minnesota Gophers are still the #1 team. The Gophers received 9 first place votes this week’s poll after splitting with the Mavericks of Minnesota State.  The Saint Cloud State Huskies are this week’s number two team; the Huskies also received 3 first place votes. North Dakota, remains at number three. Denver and Omaha traded places and well as Wisconsin and Minnesota State. Places eight through 12 remained unchanged.

Here’s a look at the results the Tech Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll for Week 16:

Place	Team	Pts	Prev	Record	High
1)	Minnesota (9)	141	1	17-3-4	1	2
2)	St. Cloud State (3)	135	2	15-10-1	1	2
3)	North Dakota	117	3	13-8-5	3	4
4)	Nebraska-Omaha	106	5	15-9-2	3	7
5)	Denver	91	4	13-8-4	3	7
6)	Wisconsin	84	7	11-8-5	4	7
7)	Minnesota State	81	6	16-9-3	7	9
8)	Minnesota Duluth	60	8	10-11-3	7	9
9)	Colorado College	47	9	10-14-2	8	10
10)	Michigan Tech	37	10	7-12-4	9	11
11)	Bemidji State	25	11	5-12-5	10	11
12)	Alaska Anchorage	13	12	3-13-4	12	12

Representing  Name Publication Twitter

Alaska-Anchorage, Taylor Hall College Hockey News @thall907
Bemidji State, Troy Mills The Beaver Pond
Colorado College, Joe Paisley, Paisley Hockey @Paisleyhockey
Denver, Mike Chambers, Denver Post @MChambersDP
Michigan Tech, Tim Braun, Tech Hockey Guide @TBraunTHG
Minnesota, Dan Myers, Minnesota Hockey Magazine @1DanMyers
Minnesota Duluth, Bruce Ciskie, The Ciskie Blog @BruceCiskie
Minnesota State, Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey @ChrisDilks
Nebraska-Omaha, Matt Semisch, Radio Free Omaha @matthewsemisch
North Dakota, Eric Burton The Hockey Writers Combine and Goon’s World @goon48
St. Cloud State, Jeremy Larson, Husky Hockey Time @jclarson02
Wisconsin, Andy Johnson, Bucky’s 5th Quarter @andyjohnsonB5Q

Cross Posted the Hockey Writers - Combine

DU vs. UND WCHA's Version of the Hatfield's versus McCoy's

@goon48 U will be dissapointed. I don't have space to write about the fondness between @du_hockey and #UND. And I'm not traveling. Not happy
— Mike Chambers (@MChambersDP) December 5, 2012

I am disappointed to see that Mike Chambers from the Denver Post isn't going to be here for this weekend's series between DU and UND. Over the years, Chambers has written some great article on the historic rivalry.

So what is your favorite memory from this series?



Lately, one my favorite memories in this series is the goal by UND power forward Matt Frattin at the 05:11 mark of the second overtime in the 2011 Red Baron WCHA Final Five. UND would meet Denver again in the 2011 Midwest Regional Final in Green Bay, Wisconsin and beat Denver again 6-1, to advance to the Frozen Four.

Last season, UND would again go on to beat DU 4-0 in the 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five.

I think over the last 10 years this is the most heated of UND's rivals, I would say that UMN is number two and Wisconsin number three. What do you think?

I am looking forward to seeing the games this weekend and wondering who will be the on ice officials for this game and if we will see a dance on the dasher or not?

Related articles

• DU and UND set to take center stage (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND: The Weekend Ahead (12/7-12/8) (thehockeywriters.com)

Don Adam balances careers as hockey referee, police officer

I found this little news nugget on line today that college hockey  fans might find interesting. When he is not on the ice 'making up stuff as he goes,' Don Adam is a City of Louisville,Colorado police officer.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post --- On the streets or inside an ice arena, excitement and drama seem to follow Don Adam, a genuine Front Range-raised cop. The hockey referee and Louisville police officer is one of the state's most versatile law-enforcement officers, often conducting his business in a heated college game between rivals or a civil dispute in the small city east of Boulder.

The one-time NHL referee has been a police officer for nine years and is approaching his 24th year with the Denver-based Western Collegiate Hockey Association. He is no stranger to the intense University of Denver-Colorado College rivalry, and he wore the orange referee stripes during the 1992 and 1998 Winter Olympics, five world championships and the 1993 NHL preseason.

He was the first NHL video replay official at Avalanche games, which he did from 1995 until the league began to rule on all its replays from its home office in Toronto at the start of the 2003-04 season.

"In hockey, we work from the rule book, and as a cop we work from the Colorado Revised Statutes, but to interpret those things in the two respective jobs, there's a lot of similarities," Adam said from his patrol car. "Both professions require a lot of quick decisions in pressure-filled situations. Experience, judgment and common sense are a huge part in how you apply it all."

It will be interesting to see who the officials in the NCHC are going to be when the conference starts play during the 2013-14 season. One of the questions on fan’s mind is are the WCHA officials going to officiate games in the NCHC.

I also know that a lot of fans would rather not have the conga line of questionable officials that are currently officiating in the WCHA. Most fans that I have talked to on line or in person would rather be done with them and start fresh with the new league with a different set of officials and linesmen.

When the NCHC commissioner Jim Scherr was interviewed this past winter at the REA, Scherr was asked about who was going to be officiating hockey games in the NCHC and he said that there is going to be a competition for officials because there are now three leagues instead of two. Scherr also had said that a lot of officials had reached out to the commissioner to inquire about officiating for the new league.

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)

Chambers; Stakes are high in University of Denver-North Dakota hockey series

From the opposition media guy; Mike Chambers who covers the Denver Pioneers and writes for the Denver Post and usually has some red meat articles to stir up the masses and enflame the UND hockey fan base. This article is almost too tame.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post --- Each team has four regular-season games remaining. DU needs one victory and a Michigan Tech loss to clinch home-ice advantage for the first-round, best-of-three WCHA playoffs March 9-11. The Sioux could finish anywhere from first to ninth.

The league's top six teams host the bottom six, with the winners advancing to the WCHA Final Five on March 15-17 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The top four seeds in St. Paul will get a quarterfinal bye in the second year of the six-team format. (The name remained the same because there are five games.)

A year ago, North Dakota beat DU 3-2 in double overtime in the Final Five championship game. The following week, the Sioux eliminated the Pioneers 6-1 in an NCAA Tournament regional title game in Green Bay, Wis.

Friday's game at DU is the first this season between the storied programs and bitter rivals.

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings - February 21 (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/19/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - February 13 (insidehockey.com)
• Chambers; Stakes are high in University of Denver-North Dakota hockey series (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

DU get some some good news... Brittain & Ryder back

Image via WikipediaIt appears that the Denver Pioneers have gotten some good news as two of their key players have returned from injury. It will be interesting to see how well Sam Brittain plays.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post --- Two of the University of Denver's most important defenders are close to returning to a depleted lineup. Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said sophomore goalie Sam Brittain and senior defenseman John Ryder were cleared to practice Monday and are probable for this weekend's two-game series at Alaska-Anchorage.

Brittain, who took over as the program's No. 1 goalie as a freshman last season, has missed the entire season after undergoing major knee surgery June 17. Ryder, DU's fiercest hitter, suffered a fractured knee cap in November and has missed the past 13 games.

Related articles

• DU's Brittain, Ryder cleared to practice (denverpost.com)
• DU hockey without injured Adam Murray and John Ryder until January (denverpost.com)

Av's Hack McLeod will not be suspended

This tweet is from Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. Let me be clear, my beef is not with the Denver Post but with the NHL. NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety is a fraud and is no better than his much maligned predecessor Colin Campbell. BReynolds from the Hockey Wilderness has done a great job of laying out the argument where the NHL has gone wrong. This latest ruling by the Lack of Player Safety is a joke. Am I upset with the ruling, you bet I am.

Next time out the Minnesota Wild should go out and run the top player of their opponents through the end boards because the NHL is not serious about eliminating these types of hits from the game of hockey, and why not, everyone else is doing it to the Wild and getting away with it.

He just can't help himself.

Oh the Irony!!! Bangs head against table! Just when I am about to give the Denver Post beat writer Mike Chambers, who covers the Denver Pioneers and the Colorado Avalanche, "a little" credit, Chambers goes out and blows it again. Say it isn't so Mike? Why all of the hate?

The irony.

Malone was making his NHL debut in the hometown of former University of Denver center Jesse Martin, a 2006 draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers​ (now Winnipeg Jets).

Martin's competitive hockey career ended early last season, when he sustained three fractures to his C2 vertebra from a penalized check by Malone, then a North Dakota senior.

Martin is recovering in Edmonton, surrounded by family in friends, working at a bank and skating in a local men's league. He continues to suffer from numbness in his arms, and he has limited range of motion in his neck. But according to his father, Terry Martin, Jesse is doing well. [Denver Post Blog]

So what is this writer going to write when Bard Malone score his first goal? Is his blog post going to contain something that looks like this? Former UND Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone, who broke Jesse Martins neck with an illegal check in Grand Forks, ND during the 2010-11 season, scored his first NHL goal. So is the Denver post on-line newspaper hurting that bad for hits that Mike Chambers has to insult a whole fan base to get hits from Sioux fans.

Related articles

• Another Mike Chambers drive by shooting on former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone... (mvn.com)
• Former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone interviewed by Mike Chambers (mvn.com)
• Another Mike Chambers drive by shooting on former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone... (realclearsports.com)

Sand bagging at it's best.

Image via WikipediaIf this isn't sand bagging I don't know what is? Denver University Pioneers even with their questionable goaltending will still be a top team. Nice try Mike.

Mike Chambers; The Field House --- Thus, I’m willing to bet many of the 25 voters who participated in a Duluth, Minn.-based media poll has no idea that DU sophomore goalie Sam Brittain will most of the season, if not all of it, after undergoing major knee surgery June 17 in Denver. After all, how can you pick the Pioneers to win the toughest league in the country without their best goalie? It wouldn’t be shocking to suggest DU will make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year, or even advance to the Frozen Four. Because by then they MIGHT have Brittain back.

But how do you pick the Pios to win a marathon conference season with it’s No. 2 and No. 3 goalies for at least half of the marathon?

Related articles

• Former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone interviewed by Mike Chambers (mvn.com)
• Another Mike Chambers drive by shooting on former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone... (mvn.com)

Former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone interviewed by Mike Chambers

Wow!!! Here is one for the record books, self professed Fighting Sioux hockey hater and beat writer for the Denver Post; Mike Chambers, has come a long way, Mike Chambers was able to interview former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone without insulting the Fighting Sioux hockey team and or mentioning the Brad Malone's check on Jesse Martin. Goon's World must give Mike Chambers credit where credit is due, now the question is; will Mike Chambers be able to write to columns/blog posts in a row without doing either.

Mike Chambers All things AV's --- (Brad)Malone, listed at 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, was a first-line center as a senior at UND, but he is pegged as a third- or fourth-line grinder as a pro. He has embraced that model and would love to be the next Cody McLeod for the Avs.

“Keeping it simple. I don’t think there anything real mysterious about my game,” Malone said. “Just shooting pucks out (of the defensive zone), shooting pucks in, being physical, limiting mistakes. I don’t think I’ll have a scoring role, but . . . I try and resemble myself after a guy like (McLeod).”

That would include fighting, an art that would require Malone to shake off some rust. (Of course, the NCAA hands out ejections and suspensions for fighting, so it doesn’t happen much.)

“I haven’t played junior hockey or anything in four years, but you know what, it’s part of the game,” he said of fighting. “I’m not going to go out and look for it, but with the physical play and the way that I play, I’m sure things are going to come around. You can’t really shy away from it. We’ll see what happens.”

Related articles

• Another Mike Chambers drive by shooting on former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone... (mvn.com)
• Fighting Sioux men's hockey tickets on sale tomorrow! (mvn.com)

Another Mike Chambers drive by shooting on former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone...

As a Sioux fan I have to ask is there is something wrong with Mike Chambers? Is he going to always refer to Brad Malone as the guy that broke Jesse Martin's neck every time he does a story or blog post on former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone? Seriously? What relevance does it have in regards to this discussion? In my humble opinion nothing. This is the same beat writer that asked George Gwozdecky about RIT after the Pioneers won their first game at the Final Five...

Mike Chambers; Denver Post ---- The Avs selected Malone in the fourth round (105th overall) of the 2007 draft. Malone played four years at North Dakota and served as the first-line center last season, when the Sioux were ranked No. 1 nationally most of the year and advanced to the Frozen Four. He (Malone) had 16 goals and 40 points in 43 games last season, a campaign marred by his controversial hit that nearly killed DU senior Jesse Martin on Oct. 30 in Grand Forks.

Malone is perceived as a third- or fourth-line grinder in the NHL, a gritty guy with good hands (fighting?) and decent wheels. Nicknamed “Pony,” he was one of the most popular players at UND.

What's the point, is Chambers trying to incite the Sioux faithful because of a sagging readership? What does he want to have happen to Brad Malone, does he wish him ill well? I had the pleasure of meeting Brad Malone at a golf tourney two season ago and I have to say that he was a very nice person and don't get the vilification of Brad Malone. Can we move on?

Did I just read that? Again?

Image via WikipediaI like most of you have been reading lots of articles, blogs and message boards and at times it all seems like a blur… While perusing the Lets Go DU Hockey Sports blog I came across a link to an article that I had read earlier in the day written by Matt Wellens of the Daily News. I had totally read over this paragraph and didn't see it originally.

Notre Dame remains uncommitted to any conference at this time and is pressing for a smaller league that features a larger non-conference slate, according to multiple Mining Journal sources. The Irish are looking for a seven-team league with a 24-game conference schedule in order to fill the rest of their dates with meetings against fellow Bowl Championship Subdivision member Boston College and the Big Ten schools.

So after reading that paragraph again I had to ask myself; is there is another “Super League” out there ready to form or is Notre Dame talking about joining the College Hockey Super League… I was wondering if anyone else gleaned that from the paragraph… We will soon find out where Notre Dame is going.

Also developing today -> NMU wants to come back to the WCHA. Now what does the CCHA do? One does have to ask if the CCHA is falling apart or reforming into something else?

College Hockey News --- Not waiting to see how things will play out any further, Northern Michigan is closing in on an agreement with the WCHA to move back to its former home, sources confirm. The move of Alaska to the WCHA may be imminent as well. It was reported earlier today by the Duluth News-Tribune that NMU's move was a done deal, but CHN has not been able to confirm that yet.

Disregarding cries for patience going forward, in the aftermath of the exodus of 11 major programs leaving the WCHA and CCHA, Northern Michigan and the WCHA are each moving quickly to ensure their survival.

Northern Michigan has a regularly-scheduled board meeting set for Thursday, where this topic expects to be on the agenda.

With all of the pending moves, the WCHA would be left with five teams in 2013-14, not enough for an NCAA Tournament automatic bid. Bringing in two more teams ensures the WCHA will go on, and also renews the intra-conference rivalry between NMU and fellow Upper Peninsula school Michigan Tech.

Mike Chambers from the Denver Post has another interesting article today and I think Chambers is right; the Super League teams are going to need to schedule the WCHA and CCHA teams left out of the mix or some other team from around college hockey to fill out their schedules. I have been told by an unnamed great hockey mind that I don’t have to worry about teams scheduling the Super League teams… Also, does this mean that we could see a lot of cup cakes at the top of the PWR rankings if they don't make adjustments formula for selecting the NCAA hockey tourney... That probably won't happen.

Mike Chambers; Denver Post --- If the super league does indeed primarily create a nonconference schedule against Big Ten teams, any of those 12 or 13 combined teams will have to be awful good to approach the NCAA Tournament with 20-25 wins in a 36-game regular season. DU has produced a school-record 10 consecutive 20-win seasons, a current streak only matched by Michigan (24 straight). But for the Pios, qualifying for the national tournament after playing four combined regular-season league games against UND, CC, UMD, MU, UNO and hopefully ND (24 total), plus eight to 12 nonconference games against Big Ten foes, would be extraordinarily difficult.

Going 20-10-6 in the regular season would be considered outstanding, but it probably wouldn’t put you in position for a No. 1 or No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed (eight total). Instead, 25-win teams from the ECAC, Hockey East or even the AHA would dominate the first eight seeds. You see, while the Big Ten and super leaguers are beating up on each other, the best in Hockey East, ECAC and AHA are reeling off 15 wins apiece by January.

It worked for Yale last season. The Bulldogs played one regular-season game against proposed Big Ten or super-league teams — beating CC 5-1 in November — and were 26-7-1 entering the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 1 overall seed.

If the formula doesn’t change, many of the super-leaguers and Big Ten boys will go from perennial NCAA Tournament participants to spectators, having exchanged easier schedules and Frozen Four memorabilia for league television revenue and ticket sales in the regular season. To combat that (if the formula doesn’t change), these very teams must schedule six to eight nonconference games against the non-Big Ten teams and those that didn’t make the super-league cut. In the end, DU’s schedule last season might not look that much different beyond 2014.

Related articles

• College Hockey's New 'Super Conferences': Are They Good Or Bad For The Game? (sbnation.com)
• New league for DU, Colorado College hockey (denverpost.com)
• NCAA hockey going with new "super conferences" a dangerous route to take (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• University of Denver, Colorado College joining new hockey league in 2013 (denverpost.com)
• Julie Robenhymer: Changes Underfoot (hockeybuzz.com)