UND Hockey: Slugs out win against Tech

Grand Forks, ND –What a difference a year makes, a year ago it was near 65 degrees sunny and devoid of snow.

Fast forward to March 15, 2013, 10,571 fans braved  near white out conditions to attend  tonight’s game and outside it looked more like a January 15 game; than a game being played in the middle of March.

UND is 14-1-2 when scoring four or more goals this season. Make that 15-1-2 with the 5-3 win tonight.  What is even more impressive, UND has also won 14 straight WCHA playoff game with the win tonight.

That being said, it wasn’t UND best effort tonight.  The win didn’t come easy.

“It was a tough hockey game to find any flow,” UND head coach Dave Hakstol said. “We need to play better and return our focus to doing that tomorrow night.”

UND was outshot 43-24 by the upstart Huskies and they gave the UND forwards fits by getting in the shooting lanes and taking away UND’s time and space.

At the 12:30 mark of the first period UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for contact to the head of Michigan Tech forward David Johnstone.  After further review of the play, it was apparent that the on ice official Marco Hunt had made the wrong call.  Johnston suffered a broken collar bone on the hit.

The five minute major to MacWilliam threw UND off of their rhythm and it took a while for the Green and White to regain the upper hand. UND coach Dave Hakstol expounded on it a little more after the game.

Michael Parks
Eric Classen, UND Sports

“The five minute major knocked us back,” Hakstol said. “We survived it and recovered. I guess it was the story of the night. We hit a few bumps in the road, but we found a way to win.”

The Tech Huskies took the game to UND until the 15:45 mark of the middle frame when fourth line forward junior forward Derek Rodwell scored his second goal of the year unassisted.

“The Rodwell goal was a big one for us,” Hakstol said.  When the head coach was asked where that goal came from? Hakstol continued, “Derek does that really well. He took the puck wide, drove wide little bit. Pulled it to the middle and snapped it hard at the net. It was well out from, 40-feet out – he put it bar down – it was good timing to get his second (goal) of the year.

Junior forward Derek Rodwell had this to say about his goal. “It was a just kind of a broke play down the center-ice,” Rodwell said. “I saw a little bit room and tried to shoot through the screen, just happened to get a good bounce that happened to go in.”

Senior forward Danny Kristo had a monstrous night on the ice for UND tonight recording (2g-1a—3pts) pushing his season point total to (23g-25a—48pts) three points off of the national leaders Ryan Walters and Greg Carey.

Dillon Simpson
Eric Classen, UND Sports

Danny Kristo was there to answer bell every time the Tech Huskies would score to tighten the game up.  The Senior forward didn’t seemed all that pleased with his team’s effort tonight.

“Friday night is the biggest game of the series,” Kristo said. “I think that we played very average tonight, we didn’t do the things we need to do to keep playing this time of year, but we’re going to move on, and forget this one. We’ll take the win and get ready for tomorrow, it’s going to be tough to end a team’s season, because Tech is playing good hockey – proud of the win – but we got to be better tomorrow.”

Kristo is right, UND is going to have to be better if UND wants to end Tech’s season tomorrow night. Game 2 is set for tomorrow night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena at 7:07 p.m. central.

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

(Video) Andrew MacWilliam hit on David Johnstone

s/t to @cjzero UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam was incorrectly given a five minute major and a game misconduct for this hit on MTU forward David Johnstone. Hopefully the MTU forward Johnstone makes a quick recovery, but word is that he has a separated shoulder.

Ducks' Perry suspended four games for interference

Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks during a pre-game warm-up. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I applaud the NHL for making this ruling, this was unnecessary, unneeded and I don't care if Corey Perry said he was sorry after the game. Don't want to get suspended, don't make the hit. I think this suspension should be five games.

I keep hearing the argument, but it's not a dirty hit. What do you mean, it's not a dirty hit, the puck is gone for more than two,  if not three seconds, in this situation, Perry is trying to blow up Jason Zucker.

Think about it this way, Perry took out a good player on a team that is in competition with them for a playoff spot in their division.

Objectionable hits should have consequences and in this case it does. Corey Perry will sit for four games.

NEW YORK -- Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry has been suspended for four games, without pay, for a late, illegal check to Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker during NHL Game No. 384 in Minnesota on Tuesday, March 12, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Perry will forfeit $115,135.12. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 4:21 of the second period. Perry was assessed a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

Again there is no defending this hit. Although, I have seen a few try today.

Patrick Kaleta gets five games for this cheap shot on Brad Richards

I could have predicted that Brendan Shanahan and the Department of Player Safety was going to throw the book at Patrick Kaleta for this dirty hit on the Rangers forward Brad Richards. If I am not mistaken, this is the longest suspension in the NHL so far this year. Kaleta has now been suspended three times for a total of 11 games by the NHL, he's starting to develop quite a name for himself. Personally, I think he's a puke, a Matt Cooke or Raffi Torres type player.

NEW YORK -- Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta has been suspended for five games, without pay, for boarding New York Rangers forward Brad Richards during NHL Game No. 317 in New York on Sunday, March 3, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

Kaleta is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Based on his average annual salary, he will forfeit $76,219.25. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 3:28 of the third period. Kaleta was assessed a major penalty for checking from behind and game misconduct.

DU game 1: Time for RW77 to Ruffle Some Feathers

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's time for me to ruffle some more feathers.  So, here's MY take on the game last night:

The Game Itself

I hate to say it, but the game was entertaining.  I hate to say it because my team lost.  Dave Hakstol said that the team's effort wasn't good and that it was sloppy.  I agree...for the most part.  For the first part of the first period, the first part of the second period, and the last part of the third period, however, I thought they played very very well.

The trouble with hockey games is that momentum RARELY stays pegged to one side for the entire game.  When the momentum shifted to DU's side, UND got really sloppy and some downright baffling things started to occur.

For example, Larazza's goal.  It deflected SOMEWHERE right?  It had to!  It changed direction.  Did it go off of a UND player?  Off of Ostrow's stick?  Who knows, but that hurt.

Zane Gothberg.... Oy.  I think I may have cursed him back after the UNO series.  He starts the game giving up 2 goals that weren't his fault and then suddenly he quits playing hockey.  It was seriously a Jekyl/Hyde moment.  How can someone who had been so solid positionally the last 4 games and so many minutes suddenly forget how to play the game?  I STILL believe Gothberg is a stellar talent, but his mindset still may not be there yet.

Another Jekyl/Hyde example?  Our Defense.  In the offensive zone, they were STELLAR last night.  In the defensive zone?  At times so unbelievably sloppy it's not funny.  DU's Powerplay looked like it should have been hitting at closer to 60% thanks to our inability to close off the center of the ice sheet.  They were cross ice passing at will.  They did a much better job for much of the game to force us to the outside.  We struggled at it at times.  On the 5th goal, Corbin Knight seemed to lose track of Nick Shore for a split second which allowed Shore to get a step on Knight so as to beat Knight to the rebound.  Costly.

O'Donnell's waved off goal:  McMillan was off sides by a good foot.  There is even question as to whether or not O'Donnell himself may have put himself off sides as well.  Imagine what would have happened though had O'Donnell had taken one more stride before winding up and shooting....

In the end, though, any team that gives up more than 3 goals in a victory can hardly be called dominant.  I would not put Okinuora as a player of the game.  

The officiating and stupid penalties

Yeah, I had to put this in here because it is expected.  However, in all things considered, I don't think the officiating was that bad.  It certainly didn't bring question to results of the game like some of our previous games.  And the officials kept control of the game, which is VITAL in a heated rivalry series such as this.

Goon didn't like my text about this last night but I have to say it:  Parks' penalty was one of the stupidest penalties in hockey.  The other would be too many men on the ice.  Why?  Because it's downright avoidable.  Sure, the goalie stick posed a tripping hazard and could clog up a small portion of the passing lane but that's how it is.  Okinuora would have been stickless on the penalty kill.  How advantageous for UND, right?  It ends up being turned into DU's fourth goal. That's frustrating to the Nth degree.  DU's powerplay is FAR FAR too good to say "No worries, our PK will take care of it."  They are the highest penalized team in the WCHA.  We should have allowed them to continue the
trend on their own.

The Media Coverage

I've already covered this but... could the NBC Sports commentators have been less prepared?  So many of our names were wrong, but that's besides the point.  It was 1 to 1 and they said there were 3 goals scored.  WHAT?  UND went up 2 to 1 and finally they were correct, but it didn't stop them in the first period.  UND was out penalized at one point 4 to 3 but it was evened up according to the NBC Sports casters.

Look, we get it.  UND and even DU is small fish compared to the horrible news coming out of the NHL:  Evgeni Malkin left with an injury!  To hell with college hockey!  We got to set up our cameras outside the Penguin's training room!

Tonight, the local network (Root?) has the game and so at least they'll care about the game even if it is biased to DU.


Doom and Gloom?

This marked the fourth loss in the last 18 games for UND.  There is now only 4 points separating first place and seventh place in the WCHA.  UND remains at #6 in the Pairwise.  So is it doom and gloom?

Losing to a rival is always doom-bringing, but it isn't as bad as it looks.  Tonight's important for only, really, two reasons:  1.  Home ice.  We could drop as low as 6th place if we get swept.  2.  Head to Head comparisons.  DU would win the head to head comparison with a victory tonight.  As it stands right now it is tied 1-1-1. 

If we get swept tonight we'll still be in line for the NCAAs.  We are STILL a dangerous team to play against.  And the last time we snuck into the NCAAs we did quite well. 

I hope we do get the Split tonight.  I think we are capable of doing it.

Related articles

• The Outdoor Games (RW77) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND vs. Denver; College Hockey's Hatfield-McCoy feud (thehockeywriters.com)

Oilers' Hall suspended two games for kneeing

Personally, I would have like to have seen Hall suspended for three or four games. Oh well. Justice has been served. I also don't believe the logic that you can't hit someone in the open ice, going forward. Just don't lead with your knee. In my opinion, this was a deliberate attempt by Hall to hurt Cal Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck didn't even touch the puck, go back and watch the video, he was in a vulnerable position.

#Oilers GM Steve Tambellini: "We respect their decision and will make the appropriate lineup changes for tomorrow's game against Phoenix."
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 23, 2013

Brad May was awesome on the Hall hit last night and playing against Clutterbuck. "I hated Cal Clutterbuck's guts..." 630ched.com/insidesports/e…
— Dan Tencer (@dantencer) February 23, 2013

Related articles

• (VIDEO) Taylor Hal cheap shot on Cal Clutterbuck (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

(Video) Marvelous North Dakota Hockey

This is a nice video that was taken by Marv Leier, during last weekend's game between Wisconsin and North Dakota. Leier films the game footage for Midco from his perch between the players benches. I bet he could tell us a story or two about some of the things that he has seen and heard.

Video of Cagguila hit on Navin

At the 13:30 mark of the third period, freshman forward Drake Caggiula was assessed a five minute major and given a game misconduct for checking from behind. At the time, I didn't think that was the proper call, it looked like a shoulder to shoulder check. I don't think this call is worthy of a five minute major. (s/t to Tim Brubakken for the picture.)

Thanks to @cjzero for addin the video. He's a must follow on twitter. 

David Backes hit on Kent Huskins [match penalty]

This was the hit that St. Louis Blues forward David Backes put on Detroit Redwings defenseman Kent Huskins. Backes was given a five minute major and match penalty. In looking at the video it doesn't look like Backes even hit Huskins in the head. What do you think?

USA's Shayne Gostisbehere cup checks Matus Matis of Team Slovakia

I think this is one of the weakest calls that I have ever seen, notice Matis didn't even go down till he realized I better drop to the ice and flail around so I can draw a major penalty.

This is the typical example of European hockey. I have to be honest, I have begun to tire of some of the on ice antics of the European players, during the 2013 WJC. That's not to say that Shayne Gostisbehere doesn't deserve a penalty for checking to see if Matus Matis is wearing a cup, but In my opinion this isn't worthy of an extra game. What do you think?

Examples of WCHA Officiating; inconsistency.

You make the call... Here is what I saw. First, you have a shoulder to shoulder hit that's called a elbow, that would lead to a power play goal by the Pioneers. Then, you get a legit call on the Scott Mayfield, that's a five minute major in my book. In my opinion, WCHA ref Don Adam made the right call on that play. Adam's side kick, Tim Walsh probably blew it as well as he could have given the BU players a five minute major and a game misconduct as well. That was dangerous hit and I would rather see the ref call a major on that play. What do you think?

Raubenheimer Hit From Behind On Bjugstad

UNO forward Zahn Raubenheimer was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for this hit on Minnesota junior forward Nick Bjugstad. I don't have a problem with the penalty being a major penalty and it's a call that the refs should be making. You can't hit a player into the board is you can see his numbers and his name tag.

Jordan Schmaltz hit on Drew Leblanc

I have had a few requests from readers to put video on-line so why not... I personally can see how the call on UND freshman defenseman Jordan Schmaltz was given a five minute major and a game missconduct. That being said, the refs aren't calling this equally. I don't know how many times this season already a UND player was crunched into boards from behind and the hit was worse than the one on the video and the offending player only got a two minute penalty.

Some fans are wondering why wasn't the Huskies forward Joey Holka given a major penalty for checking Dillon Simpson from behind at the 16:56 mark of the second period? I think both hits are very similar... That's what I have a problem with, there is no consistency in the referee's calls.  I think that is all the fans ask.

Related articles

• UND vs. SCSU Series Notes (11/9-11/10) (thehockeywriters.com)

11/10 Post Game Wrapup: SCSU 5, UND 2 (RW77)

This was night and day from yesterday.  The Huskies looked pretty good but fairly flat on Friday.  Tonight, they came out roaring in the first period and UND, honestly, was lucky to escape the first period knotted at one.

The big calls in the first period were the no-goal on Stephane Pattyn and the Checking from Behind on Schmaltz.  First, the no-goal.  I actually got the webcast tonight and I saw it.  What I saw was one of the most incredible saves I've ever seen.  No one could believe that Pattyn's open net shot didn't go in except Farragher and the goal judge.  They did a lengthy review and judged it no goal.  I saw the replays and the call was 100% correct.

13 seconds from the end of the period, UND Freshman Jordan Schmaltz checked Drew Leblanc from behind into the sideboards.  The hit was not very violent and Leblanc's head did not hit the boards very hard (it appeared to hit forearm first).  Nevertheless, the refs HAD to call it as checking from behind.  The ironic part is that Don Adam called the penalty that he played a key role in creating.

Second Period and Third Period

The second period saw one of the worst periods of UND hockey this season.  It started out well, with UND killing off the five minute major.  However, after that, Drew Leblanc scored two straight goals and UND started a parade to the box culminating with Coach Hakstol getting a 2 minute minor for misconduct for trying to talk to Don Adam after the period had ended.  This probably resulted from a rather dubious embellishment call on Danny Kristo after being tripped.

The Third period only differed from the second period by the fact that the scoreboard said the number "3" where the number "2" was in the second period.  SCSU was all over the ice with crisp passing and just unlucky bounces and some timely saves by Saunders preventing it becoming a laugher.  It was even close until 6 minutes into the third when Garrett Milan (SCSU) got a rather weak goal on Saunders.  We did try a little bit but no good came of it. With 2:30 left in the game, Saunders let a point shot get past him and that's all she wrote.

The Goaltending

Again, Roller Coaster... sortof.  If you are Ryan Farragher, then it was a roller coaster that never seemed to go down the slope.  It just climbed the hill and stayed at the top.  Saunders really had a bad night for the most part..  The first goal SCSU scored he didn't see.  The third goal was a tic tac toe Power Play goal.  The final goal was a point shot.  Can't blame him much for those.  However, the second and the fourth goals were WEAK.  On the second goal, the puck came right to him after making two great saves and he paddled the puck right to Leblanc's stick blade.  Goal.  The fourth went five hole and just seemed to slowly inch past the red line.

 I'm also not sure if Gothberg would have done any better.  I don't blame Hakstol for going with the hot hand, but just like Saturday vs. BU, UND lost this game because they didn't play solid fundamental hockey for 60 minutes.  The thing that made it worse than the BU loss is that UND never even had one solid period of good hockey tonight.  They played ok in the first and got worse and worse as the game progressed.

So I guess Saunders played pretty well, and even Saunders at his best wouldn't have prevented UND from losing, but a game going into the end of the 3rd period down 3-2 looks much differently than entering the final minute down 5-2. 

The officiating

Roller coaster city.  They actually were doing a pretty decent job until the second period when they started missing calls and making bad calls.  The first call I recall was when they missed a pretty overt slashing call that Corbin Knight committed on Ethan Prow.  They made up for it by calling a weak version of it on Mark MacMillan.  He stick checked an SCSU player and the player waited a full second before dropping the stick.  No matter.  The next thing you know, Danny Kristo gets tripped and gets called for embellishment when he did not act like he was shot.  He slid along the ice before getting up and finding out he's sitting two.  The third period starts and UND actually does legitimately slash an SCSU stick and no call.  What awful calling.

Why UND lost

Top 3 reasons:
1.  Sloppy passing.  UND cannot pass even to open guys.  SCSU can.  It was AMAZING to watch.  It got to the point where SCSU didn't even have to clog the lanes, UND did it for them!  I cannot remember worse passing.  They couldn't set anything up because UND kept missing the puck. 
2.  Races to the puck.  UND was out skated all night long.
3.  Corners.  SCSU won almost ALL the battles along the boards.

This was one of the worst played games UND has played this season.  I'm glad this seems anomalous because if it wasn't, UND is going to lose... A LOT.

The America One Webcast

This is the Webcast company SCSU went through for the game.  I'm not sure if it is NESN camera work or what but this webcast's quality was FAR FAR superior to that of the UND Webcast.  The oddity?  SCSU's commentators weren't as big of a homer than I thought they would.  The only negative is that they didn't do their legwork.  They never figured out how to pronounce our players' names (like Rowney's for example). 

My 3 stars:

Third Star:  Joe Rehkamp (SCSU) - He wasn't talked about much during the game on the SCSU broadcast but he is credited with 3 assists on the night.  Not too shabby.

Second Star:  Ryan Farragher (SCSU) - Hard not to give him the first star.  He probably is 1a in this list.  He made some great saves including the best save of the season off of Pattyn's shot in the first period, but despite it looking otherwise, he wasn't really overtaxed in net tonight.

First Star:  Drew Leblanc (SCSU) - 2 goals 1 assist.  He was all over the place tonight.

Honorable Mentions:  Derek Forbort and Drake Caggiula (both acquitted themselves pretty well tonight), Nick Oliver (SCSU), Cory Thorson (SCSU)

EDIT:  I should add:  I am not saying the world is coming to an end.  Nor am I saying Fire Hakstol or that this team isn't special.  I'm saying this was one of the hardest games to watch because of how poorly we played and how much better I know we are capable of playing.

Jacob Trouba destroys NMU's Reed Secke

[click to view video] Ouch!!! Check out this hit by Michigan Defenseman Jacob Trouba as he absolutely destroyed Northern Michigan’s sophomore Reed Secke with a monster hit. Trouba was given a five minute major and a game misconduct and the CCHA gave Trouba an extra game suspension. Secke was cleared by the NMU medical staff but you can tell by the picture that Secke was absolutely lit up.
Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.

Former Bruin Ken Belanger doesn’t like the OHL new fight rule

Boston Bruins and Ottawa 657's tough guy Ken Belanger is also not a fan of the OHL’s knew fighting rule. I also think that it's just a matter of time before more current and former players come out against this ridiculous rule.

Belanger thinks that the new rule might actually increase acts of violence. I agree with his assessment. You're going to have players that aren't going to be afraid to commit questionable acts on the ice because they will have no fear of retribution.

Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star --- “(Hockey’s) a game of emotion, it’s a game of teamwork, it’s a game of guys protecting guys, watching each other’s backs, guys stepping up to each other if someone does a dirty hit ... It’s a game of accountability,” he said, adding NHL instigator rules have only seen concussions increase, “respect rates” diminish and “head shots” hike.

In 1992, the league ushered in the controversial “instigator” rule, which adds an additional two-minute minor penalty to the player who starts a fight.

“But I really think there will be an issue when a guy can’t stand up for a teammate,” Belanger said.

“If someone hammers a goalie, that’s OK now because, guess what, my excuse is I can’t do anything to the guy because I don’t want to get suspended.

“So now, is there accountability for anybody?”

In other words, what you might see now are some players thinking they can, perhaps, high-stick or do other dirty deeds with impunity — violations that would have earlier landed them a crack in the jaw.

“(The new rules are) not going to eliminate head shots and guys getting into fights, because, guess what, if your top-line players aren’t going to be getting into fights, they’re going to be running around, and now you’ve got your small guys who don’t have to worry about fighting,” he added.

I don't like this new rules one bit, because I am afraid that some genius in the NHL is going to come up with the idea that this 10 fight rule -- or a rule similar to this one needs to be enacted in the NHL as well. I think it's a slipper slope that we don't want to go down - if the NHL went to a rule like this the "rats" would flourish in the NHL.

If you don't know what I mean by "Rats" -- think of the players that you despise the most -- these are the players like Matt Cooke, Raffi Torres or other players like them that skate around and head hunt the opposition. NHL tough guys are the ones that keep these players in check.

Western Hockey League addresses player safety

Three North American junior hockey leagues have taken major steps to tighten rules to the game of hockey and improve player safety.  From my vantage point, it would appear that all three leagues are also trying to limit the players that play a reckless brand of hockey or at least change the way they play the game of hockey.

This season, the USHL instituted a new rule which has specified a number of penalties that the league has termed as “dangerous play” to include minor penalties (ie: elbowing, head contact, kneeing). Also, the USHL will monitor and review the above penalties as well as all major penalties throughout the season.
When players start accumulating multiple penalties they will be notified and addressed by the USHL Commissioner’s office. This action is being presented as a way to educate the league’s players.  If league office deems it necessary they will punish players via supplementary discipline.

Translation, the league is sending a message to their players – if the players rack up penalties that the league has deemed as dangerous play the players are going to pay the consequences for their actions.
The Ontario Hockey League has put a limit on the number of fights that a player can participate in during the course of a hockey season after a player reaches 10 fights the offending player will begin serving a two game suspension for each fight over 10.

The OHL and the USHL are not alone the Western Hockey League is also enacting some stiffer rules of their own to address on ice play.

During the summer the WHL has adopted this as a rule:

Adoption of a staged fighting rule. Should a fight occur following a face-off during a game, it will be considered a staged fight. Should a stage fight occur during a pre-season, regular season or playoff game, the players involved shall each receive an automatic game misconduct in addition to the major penalty. Should one player clearly initiate or instigate the fight, only that player will receive the game misconduct in addition to a minor penalty for instigating the fight. Should the linesmen intervene and prevent the fight from starting, the players involved will each receive misconduct penalties. [WHL.CA]

The WHL is also going to address player’s safety and deal with the repeat offenders and issue supplemental discipline where it’s necessary.

 The WHL also announced it remains fully committed to the Seven Point Plan introduced this past season to address player safety concerns in the area of head blows and concussions.  The Seven Point Plan includes continued emphasis on discipline as it applies to repeat offenders; production of an education video on player safety; seminar for all General Managers and Head Coaches on September 11, 2012; continuing to provide players with best available protective equipment; working with the WHL Arena Advisory Committee to adopt acrylic glass as a standard for all WHL arenas; continuing to collect and study research data on concussion injuries and their causes.

That makes at least three Junior Leagues in North America are looking to stop a certain type of player in their ranks and have taken steps to address those issues. In reading and interpreting these new rule changes, it would appear that the various leagues are going after the predator/agitators that skate up and down the ice taking liberties with the opposition players – truth be told, these players have been put on notice and their days could be numbered in junior hockey if they don’t change their behavior.

Also, the message should be – if you don’t change your on ice behavior – we will compel you to change your on ice behavior. The Western Hockey League has a page that lists the players that have been given supplemental discipline. To date, 10 players have been suspended a total of 21 games.

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine

Mat Dumba Hit

Mat Dumba Hit from Calvin Bellows on Vimeo.
It's better to be the hammer than it is the nail. Red Deer Rebel's defenseman Mat Dumba absolutely hammered Hitmen forward Joey Kornelsen. Dumba received a five minute major and a game misconduct and the hit is under review by the Western Hockey League.

Dumba was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild.

USHL to concentrate on player safety

It appears, that United State Hockey League which is USA Hockey’s elite Tier I junior hockey, is going to take a proactive approach to address player safety starting this season.

Earlier this week, we learned that the OHL was going to limit the number of fights a player is involved in.
USHL Press Release

The League has specified a number of what it terms “dangerous play” minor penalties (ie: elbowing, head contact, kneeing), which it will monitor and review together with all major penalties – both fighting and non-fighting – throughout the course of the season.  Players accumulating multiple penalties will be notified and addressed by the Commissioner’s office with an eye toward early intervention and education, and multiple penalties in any category will be subject to supplementary discipline.

“We take our position as USA Hockey’s Tier I League very seriously,” said USHL President and Commissioner Skip Prince.  “We’ve been concerned by the increase in injuries and lost games by our players over the past several seasons, and this is a comprehensive effort to see what we can do to address the problem.  We recognize our responsibility to deliver the world’s best young players to the next level – the NCAA and the NHL – faster, stronger, smarter, and more skilled than ever before.  But we also need to make sure they’re in top health and physical condition, and fully aware that as the next generation’s guardians of the game, they have a responsibility to hockey and to each other.   Our mission is to keep every ounce of the aggressive, all-out style of play for which the USHL is so well-known, while tuning down some of the ‘dumb and dangerous’ play that neither benefits the game nor the elite athletes who are playing it

In reading the USHL’s press release it appears to me that the USHL is going to make a serious step in addressing on ice play of its players and is also going to address their player’s on-ice play by assigning supplementary discipline in the cases where it’s warranted.

From the outside looking in – it would appear to me that the USHL is also trying to address the play of certain types of players – in this case – it appears to me that the USHL is trying to do away with the players skate all over the ice trying to line people up for the big hit.

Don’t get me wrong, I like physical hockey and hitting, but the USHL appears to be trying to address a certain type of play and to make corrections to change on ice behavior.
More specifically, it appears to me that the USHL is attempting to do away with the players that I would classify as head hunters – these are the players that will skate across the ice to make a knock out hit and if they make contact usually results in the player on the receiving ending up with a catastrophic injury.  This would probably include the players that will target the head of an opposition player in a vulnerable position.

If your confused why type of player I am talking about, think of NHL players like Raffie Torres or a Matt Cooke.  These two are the poster boys of the type of player that I am thinking of.

I believe that this is going to be a good start to improving player safety – I think this also a good indication that hockey is beginning to move away from the one dimensional players that skate up and down the ice taking liberties with the opposition. Also, it appears that USHL is going to go even further than the OHL, because it appears that the USHL is going to try and educate the players as well as discipline the offenders.

Lastly, I also think that the hockey in most leagues is trying to do away with the one dimensional players that play two-four minutes a game and get into a fight or two. I do believe the player of the future is a player is going to be one that can score 20-30 goals and get in 10-15 fights a year – NHL players like Milan Lucic or Scott Hartnell come to mind.

Originally posted at The Hockey Writers - Combine

OHL to limit fighting

Ontario Hockey League (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Ontario Hockey League of the Canadian Hockey League has announced that starting this season the League is going to try and limit fighting in their league. The OHL is also trying to remove the one dimensional goon’s from it league and has enacted the following new rules this season. While the Anti-pugilist are already cheering this new rule change I think that it’s a bad idea - the NHL will be  monitoring the OHL's new rule change.

OHL rule:

1. If a player is assessed a fighting major for the 11th to 15th time during the regular season, such player is assessed an automatic two-game suspension for each additional fighting major in addition to any other penalties assessed.

2. If a player is assessed a fighting major for the 16th time or more during the regular season, such player is assessed an automatic two-game suspension and the hockey club is fined $1,000 for each additional fighting major in addition to any other penalties assessed.

3. If a player is deemed to be the instigator in any of the fights above the 10-game threshold, such player would be assessed an automatic four-game suspension in addition to any other penalties assessed.

Note: If a player is instigated upon, the fighting major is not included in the player's total number of fights

The reason that I think that limiting the amount of fighting in the OHL or even the NHL is a bad rule - fighting in hockey keeps the players on the ice honest and allows the players to police the game themselves in stead of counting on the refs.  Hockey is a very fast paced game and you cant always count on the refs to make the right call either. In many cases they won't.

Limiting fighting in one league is the first step to an all out ban in all other levels of hockey both professionally and in the junior ranks and I don't think that this is a road I would like to see the NHL go down.

Could you imagine if hockey players of the Matt Cooke variety played the game of hockey without the fear of having to fight? Players of Cooke's ilk would have the ability to skate all over the ice taking liberties with other teams top players without the fear of retribution, that would set a very bad precedence and you would probably see an increase in head injures as well as random acts of gratuitous violence.

If the two aforementioned leagues decided to limit and or enact an all out ban on fighting you actually be putting the players in worse danger than if you left the leagues the way it is.
Another reason I think that this rule is bad is - players and coaching staffs utilize the mediums available to them and they're familiar with stats - it's available to them on the internet at the click of a mouse  - also the teams media people have the stats readily available to players and coaches at a moments notice and they can research their opponents before the game/series.

I also have a question, how did the OHL come to the number of 10 in the first place?

Let's take this a little further; if you're a player from another team and you know that a certain's team's tough guy or tough guys have already have crossed the 10 or 11 fights threshold - the opposition better have their head on a swivel - because those players are not going to want to just drop the gloves and fight because they have reached that magic numeric threshold of 10 fights.  I don't know too many players that are going to want to serve a two game suspension for each fight past their 10th fight.

I can see where this is going already, this has to potential to put that teams star players safety in jeopardy later in the season, because the opposition knows that there is probably less chance of facing "any" retribution if they commit a questionable or dirty hit against the other team's players. I could also see how this new rule will probably lead to an increase in stick work as well.

I know that the NHL would like to get rid of the staged fight, but what actually constitutes a staged fight - the lines are blurred a bit and how do we know that the staged fights don't serve a purpose also? I just think in this situation that the status quo is fine the way it is.

Here is a tweet by Nashville Predators tough guy Brian McGrattan that caught my eye this even. I think that there are going to be more NHL players that probably hold this view than not.

feel sorry for those kids that cant fight in junior and are gonna have to learn the hard way in pro gettin their head punched in
— brian mcgrattan (@bigern10) September 20, 2012

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine

Related articles

• OHL to limit fighting? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Does the OHL commissioner lack transparency? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• OHL throws book at the Windsor Spitfires (ndgoon.blogspot.com)