A Picture is Worth A 1,000 Words

@aoldenbu @SchlossmanGF pic.twitter.com/tyXe0WADU5
— Bri Harmeson (@BriHarmeson) March 15, 2015

This kind of sums it all up. Guy can barely walk after his surgery and he's out on the ice lifting the Penrose Cup above his head. Mark MacMillan is a character guy, a glue guy on this UND hockey team.

Connor Gaarder's game-winning goal vs. Colorado College (Video)

Coming into Saturday night’s game, Connor Gaarder had scored four game-winning goals. With his eighth goal of the season, Gaarder would add another game-winning goal to his total. Gaarder has scored five goals in the last six games, four of which have been game-winning goals. Gaarder’s five game-winning goals also leads UND.

Big Game Gaarder. UND goes up 3-2 with 1:22 to go.

Mark it down. RT @_m1key: gaarder goal upcoming
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) March 15, 2015

gaarder goal upcoming
— _m1key (@_m1key) March 15, 2015

— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) March 15, 2015

UND Hockey: Tradtional Circle of Sticks with the Penrose

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Mar 14, 2015 at 7:46pm PDT

UND seniors with the cup.

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Mar 14, 2015 at 7:51pm PDT

NCHC Regular Season Champions and Frozen Faceoff bound! Congrats, @UNDmhockey! pic.twitter.com/fgu2wDTdAt
— Stay A Sioux (@StayaSioux) March 15, 2015

Pride. Honor. Courage. #UNDProud

A video posted by Erik Martinson (@erikmartinson1) on Mar 15, 2015 at 12:12am PDT

Malkin Hurt in Bruins Game

Pittsburgh Penguins All-World forward Evgeni Malkin was hurt on this check by Chris Kelly.

HCMJ on Malkin: "With Geno, I saw the hit in the game. Then he tried to come back after that. Just couldn’t come back."
— Jason Mackey (@Mackey_Trib) March 14, 2015

C.C. vs. UND, game 2 Lines

C.C. vs. UND game 1; Links

Game one, Tigers vs. UND. A few changes on the lines for UND.

FRIDAY vs COLORADO COLLEGE TV: @MidcoSN Web: http://t.co/GFCx4X8ugT Radio: 96.1 FM (flagship), UND Sports Radio Network
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 13, 2015

North Dakota Looks to End Tigers Season - http://t.co/IKE2mEcH4K #NHL pic.twitter.com/3eQt7HQqep
— THW Hockey (@HockeyLinks) March 12, 2015

All QF games this weekend are on NCHCtv. 1st 2 games: @WMUHockey at @MiamiOH_Hockey, 7:35pm ET @SCSUHUSKIES_MH at @UNO_Hockey, 7:37pm CT
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) March 13, 2015

Watch today's episode of "NCHC: Between the Boards" by @MidcoSN to get ready for #NCHCHockey Tournament action: http://t.co/P26dKpSKtE
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) March 13, 2015

As was feared, UND's leading goal scorer and NCHC defensive fwd of year finalist Mark MacMillan out for the season http://t.co/Us8zI91dti
— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) March 13, 2015

Friday Morning Links

Good Morning, the NCHC playoffs are finally here. The second season is upon us. Let’s take a look at what’s happening today.  It's really hard to believe that the season is winding down already. Next weekend Frozen Faceoff.  

Predictions Stoney Sioux says sweep...It's Hard to End Somebody's Season

Schloss is going with a sweep as well.

The University of Hockey Sweep it is.

UND looks to End Tigers Season

USCHO has UND sweeping this weekend as well: NCHC picks: March 13

CC Tigers hope to surprise everyone but themselves in NCHC playoffS

BU phenom Jack Eichel learning lessons on, off the ice

NCHC Final Award Nominees and Redwing77's Predictions

By Redwing77

I haven't posted in a while and I thought I'd do this.  The NCHC announced its award finalists today.  I'm going to go through and give my opinion on as many of the nominees as I feel comfortable opining upon and finish each section up with my predicted winner.

Herb Brooks Coach of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Dean Blais (UNO).  You can't really argue with his body of work over most of the regular season.  UNO was pretty dominant despite not having a real star studded lineup.  Ryan Massa returned from personal problems to be every other teams' personnel problem.  He was very hard to beat for most of the year.  Freshmen Tyler Vesel, Jake Randolph, and defenseman Luke Snuggerud were very nice surprises coming directly from the USHL (coincidentally all from the Omaha Lancers) and Austin Ortega was everything advertised.  Blais is no stranger to these types of awards.  Most UND fans who were around during Blais' tenure will attest to how good of a coach he is.  Oh yeah, going 12-8-4-3 with one of the youngest teams in the nation tends to garner attention too.

Finalist #2:  Dave Hakstol (UND).  Not bad for all the "he should be fired" crowd, eh?  He led UND to the Penrose Cup and won it by 6 points.  His team is among the NCAA leaders in a variety of statistical categories.  That being said, most coaches who win the conference regular season title will be on this list.

Finalist #3:  Scott Sandelin (UMD).  Despite finishing 5th in the NCHC, UMD is top 6 in the nation in ranking.  His team plays well and is a very solid opponent.

My Prediction:  I'd LOVE for it to be Dave Hakstol, but my feeling is that it will be Dean Blais.  For most of the season, it was neck and neck with UND and Miami for the Penrose and he did it with a younger team that was picked to finish 6th in preseason NCHC polls.

NCHC Rookie of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Louie Belpedio (D - Miami):  I do not know much about this player.  However, according to his stats, he's done quite well.  10 points, +7, 21 blocked shots.  Not at all bad.

Finalist #2:  Patrick Russell (F - SCSU):  10g-10a-20pts.  He won 3 Rookie of the Week honors.  He was very noticable on the ice.

Finalist #3:  Danton Heinen (F- DU):  Heinen was the only of the three players listed I looked up as to where he came from (Surrey of the BCHL).  What a diamond find for the Pios.  Rookie of the Month and 4x Rookie of the Week winner, he led all rookie skaters in points.  His 26 points not only led all rookies but was good for 3rd overall in the conference.

My Prediction:  Hard for it NOT to be Heinen, so I will play it safe and say Danton Heinen.

NCHC Goaltender of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Ryan Massa (UNO):  2nd team All Conference, great stats, miserable to play against.  League-best .933 Save% and 2nd best 2.12 GAA.  Nominee for the Mike Richter Award.  He is the only senior up for this award.

Finalist #2:  Zane McIntyre (UND):  Junior goaltender led the NCHC in win percentage (.708), wins (16), and saves (704).  First Team All Conference.  Mike Richter nominee.  2nd only to Massa in Save Percentage (.931).

Finalist #3:  Kasimir Kaskisuo (UMD):  A freshman.  How about out of the gate good?  24 starts (only other to do that is McIntyre), .918 Save%, and 2.27 GAA.  Again, as a freshman.  (As an aside:  How can he be a finalist for this award and NOT be a finalist for the NCHC Rookie of the Year award?)

My Prediction:  Zane McIntyre (UND).  Best goaltender in the NCHC and a big reason (perhaps THE reason) why UND is where it is.

NCHC Forward of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Jonny Brodzinski (SCSU):  Rocket shot, 13 goals (tied for first), 2 game winners, NCHC leading Power Play scorer.  Patrick Russell may be "tomorrow" but Brodzinski is definitely TODAY. 13g-10a for just under 1 point per game in 24 games.  First Team All Conference

Finalist #2:  Austin Czarnik (Miami):  A measely 4 goals on the year (3 in one game ... 2 short handed..  against UND ARGH!!!!) but is among the NCAA leaders in assists (he led the NCHC in assists with 22). Second Team All Conference.  46 points in 24 games means over 1 PPG.

Finalist #3:  Trevor Moore (DU):  Sophomore.  First Team All Conference.  13g-17a-30pts.  Tied for league lead in goals but won the scoring title outright.  NCHC best +15 as well.

My Prediction: This one is hard.  I want to say Trevor Moore and it wouldn't be far fetched, but I'm going to go with Brodzinski.

NCHC Defenseman of the Year Award and Offensive Defensemen Awards

Look at the stats folks.  It's going to be Laleggia and it's not even close (13 point difference to be exact).

Defensive Forward of the Year

Czarnik reappears to join DU's Doremus and UND's Mark MacMillan.  Defensive statistics for Czarnik and MacMillan are virtually identical (2 shorties, 17 blocked shots with +/- being a bit different).

My Prediction:  Ok, I'm going full homer on this one because I honestly don't know who will win this one so I'll go with Mark MacMillan (UND).  All 3 are deserving in my opinion.

NCHC Player of the Year

Jonny Brodzinski (SCSU), Joey LaLeggia (DU), and Zane McIntyre (UND) are the finalists.  I'm going to go right to my prediction on this one and say it is Joey LaLeggia (DU).  YES, I know that McIntyre has been THE man all year but how often does a player who DOESN'T SCORE win the big award?  LaLeggia has the vote.  Look:  Best offensive defenseman by a LONG SHOT, great on defense.  He's the total package this year.  An opportunity to give the big award to a defensive player who can score.  Zane gets snubbed.

DU could be the biggest winner in the amount of awards won this year.

Just my two cents.

UND Women's Hockey Season Review

In a season of struggles during the first half of the season (9-9-2), the North Dakota Women's Hockey team managed to earn yet another 20 victory season, but once again are on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA tournament due to the automatic bid by CHA champion RIT.

Looking at the PairWise rankings, it made me think. Is it time to expand the NCAA tournament to 10 teams with two play in games between seeds 7-10? There are certainly questions that could be raised about this. Mercyhurst and Minnesota-Duluth were the two other 20 win teams that were on the outside looking in on selection Sunday and with the auto bid by RIT being a factor, let those four teams battle it out for seeds 7 and 8 and keep the rest of the tournament with the same structure it has now. Just a thought.

The story of the second half for UND had to be the play of Junior Goalie Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who set countless records for UND this season. She set the career victory record, eclipsing the 50 win mark with the two victories against Ohio State two weeks ago. She also holds the career shutout record at 14, single season shutout record at 9, but came just shy of the single season wins record, which she holds, with 18 victories on the season. Amsley-Benzie also would set the school shutout streak record at 297 minutes and 13 seconds.

This was also a season where the ladies in kelly green and white would play with heavy hearts. Early in the season, Sophomore Forward Lisa Marvin was struck by a wreckless driver while filling up her truck with gas on the side of the road after she had ran out. The injuries she would sustain forced her to have a few surgeries to help repair the damage, and would end her season, if not her hockey career. Since that moment, the team would pull the laces tighter and play for Lisa, which was a big motivating factor for their amazing second half run, that included 8 shutouts, one of which was against the Gophers.

Although the season didn't end the way they wanted to, there is still many positives to take from what looked like was going to be a very long season for UND.

TEAM AWARDS:

Most Valuable Player: Shelby Amsley-Benzie
Amsley-Benzie set numerous team records this season, and her 8 shutouts since the turn of the calendar to 2015 are nothing to laugh at. She ended the season with a 1.21 goals against average and a .952 save percentage. She was also a top 10 finalist for the Patty Kaz Memorial Award, women's hockey's version of the Hobey Baker, and the only goalie to make the list this season. She would also record an assist during a game this year too making just Goalie Lexie Shaw the only player who dressed and played to not record a point.

Rookie of the Year:
No freshman would dress in the line-up this season so this award will not be given.

Offensive Player of the Year: Josefine Jakobsen

Jakobsen led the team in goals this season at 16, one more then Sophomore Amy Menke, and was the driving force down the stretch for this team's offense. Some may ask why team point leader Meghan Dufault, Becca Kohler, or game winning goals leader Amy Menke isn't the winner of this award, but Jakobsen's niche to find the net helped UND finish off many games this season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Shelby Amsley-Benzie
Keeping pucks out of the net is a big part of team defense and although the defensive core for this UND squad is one of the most talented in the country, it is hard to not give this to Amsley-Benzie, especially with her just under 300 minute shutout streak to end the season and her 9 shutouts this season.
\
Most Improved: Amy Menke
The sophomore forward had a year she will probably remember for a very long time. She was third in team scoring with 28 points, and would lead the team with 5 game winning goals. She would set career highs in goals (15), assists (13) and points (28). With her willingness to go to the net, I can only see these numbers going up in the future.

NCHC Suspends Minnesota Duluth’s Krause (With Vine)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has issued a one-game suspension to Minnesota Duluth senior forward Adam Krause, in accordance with the conference’s supplemental discipline policy, the NCHC announced Tuesday, March 10. The suspension stems from an illegal hit during the Bulldogs game at Western Michigan on Saturday, March 7.

Krause was suspended after a review of a play in which illegal knee-on-knee contact was made with a Western Michigan player at 8:51 of the third period of Saturday’s game at Lawson Ice Arena. Krause was assessed a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and given a game misconduct on the play.

Krause will be required to serve the suspension during the Bulldogs’ next game on Friday, March 13 at Denver in the opening game of their best-of-three quarterfinal series. Krause is eligible to return for game two of the quarterfinal series with the Pioneers on Saturday, March 14.

NCHC Playoff First Round Preview and Predictions

The regular season is now over, and the playoff brackets are now set. Most of the seeding wasn't final until the last day of the regular season, however seeds 1 (North Dakota), 7 (Western Michigan), and 8 (Colorado College) were set last Friday when North Dakota took the Penrose Cup outright. The top four seeds in the NCHC have their quarterfinal best of three series at home against the bottom four seeds. This year the match-ups are 1 North Dakota vs. 8 Colorado College, 2 Miami vs. 7 Western Michigan, 3 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 6 St. Cloud State and 4 Denver vs. 5 Minnesota-Duluth. 

1 North Dakota vs. 8 Colorado College

These two teams met four times this season with North Dakota winning all four contests, one of which while in Colorado Springs by a 7-2 score and a Mark MacMillan hat trick. When CC came to Grand Forks for a second half series, the story was much different. In two very tightly contested battles, CC would be the thorn in UND's side, making it seem like it was a battle of top five teams in the country. UND would prevail on the weekend with a sweep, but maybe the most well earned sweep of the season. 

Who to Watch:

UND: With MacMillan out, probably for the rest of the season, Focus for the offense will go to Senior Michael Parks, who likes to spend most of his time behind the goal line, Junior highlight reel Drake Caggiula, and master playmaker Freshman Nick Schmaltz. However this is a roster that seems to have someone different step up each night and in the second half their top producer has been Senior defender Nick Mattson. Finally, you look to Hobey Baker finalist Zane McIntryre. Zane leads the country in wins with 25, tied with Michigan Tech goalie Jamie Phillips, is 8th in save percentage at .931 and 14th in goals against average at 1.99. 

CC: Junior center Cody Bradley is the only Tiger with 10 goals this season, and is also the only Tiger with over 20 points as well. The junior center has been the sole hope for offensive production for the season, but Senior forward Scott Wamsganz is on the 20 point threshold sitting at 19 points for the season. Never count out Sophomore defender Jacob Slavin for making some plays from the point either. Slavin is probably their best defenseman.

Who Wins?

UND should win the best of three series in two games Friday and Saturday, but I think one of these games will be within a goal or two and a very tight defensive battle. UND wins Friday 3-1 and Saturday 5-2, however if UND sits back any, which I don't think will happen, but if they do, look for CC to take advantage and try to force a third game this weekend. 

2 Miami vs. 7 Western Michigan

Miami took 11 out of a possible 12 points against the Broncos this season with one overtime tie and shootout victory when they went to Kalamazoo for a series during the second half. The series that took place in Oxford was not as tightly contested, especially during the Saturday night contest with Miami winning by a score of 5-2. 

Who to Watch:

Miami: Senior assist machine Austin Czarnik has 31 assists on the season for the RedHawks and a team leading 36 points.Junior Riley Barber shares the team lead in goals with Junior Sean Kuraly who both are at 17 goals for the season. With Seniors Cody Murphy and Blake Coleman both over the 10 goal mark for the season as well, you can't count those two out when it comes to scoring either. 

WMU: Although the season ended somewhere they didn't want it to, Sophomore Sheldon Dries and Junior Colton Hargrove both are tied for the team lead in points with 25. Senior Justin Kovacs is not far behind with 24 points this season with 18 of those being helpers. 

Who Wins?

I can't see this series ending any other way then a Miami sweep, but if you remember last year, the only home ice team to advance to the Frozen Faceoff last year was North Dakota. For that reason, I think this series goes the distance and WMU wins Friday 2-1 with Miami coming back with a Saturday win of 4-2 and Sunday 3-1.

3 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 6 St. Cloud State

This is the series that I am most looking forward to. With Omaha falling off late in the season to lose the number one spot to North Dakota, and St. Cloud being a thorn in everybodys side this season despite being below the 500 mark, this series has classic written all over it. With both teams getting sweeps this season on their home ice, and the late season sweep of Omaha in St. Cloud a couple weeks ago being the catalyst in Omaha falling in the standings, look for the Mavericks to come out guns a blazing and look to gain some revenge. 

Who to Watch:

UNO: Sophomore Austin Ortega set the NCAA record for game winning goals in a season last weekend when he netted his 11th game winner. He is the leader with 18 goals on the season and tied with fellow Sophomore Jake Guentzel with points at 33, the youth movement in Omaha is on. Three of the top five in points for the Mavericks are freshman, Jake Randolph, Tyler Vesel, and Avery Peterson. Also look for Sophomore Justin Parizek to be a threat to score some goals as well. 

SCSU: Junior Johnny Brodzinski and Junior Joey Benik lead this team who's power play is top 5 in the NCAA. The top power play unit has combined for over 70 points this season with the extra man, so look for the Huskies to take advantage of every man advantage they are able to get this weekend. 

Who Wins?

No question in my mind this one goes the distance. I am taking St. Cloud to take the series and get the "upset" over Omaha as they have been struggling as of late, who is 3-5-2 in their last 10 games. St. Cloud wins Friday 3-2, Omaha Wins Saturday 4-3, St. Cloud wins 2-0.

4 Denver vs. 5 Minnesota-Duluth

With the season series seeing two splits, this series should also be very tightly contested, possibly the tightest of the four series. Duluth does hold the biggest victory this season with a 6-1 victory, but that came in Duluth. Every other game had a two goal or less margin, which is how I expect this to turn out. 

Who to Watch:

Denver: Freshman Danton Heinen leads the team with an amazing 42 points this season and Sophomore Trevor Moore is close behind at 39 points. Moore is the team leader in goals this year at 19 goals on the season. However, you can't talk about Denver without talking about Senior defenseman Joey LaLeggia. His puck moving ability and willingness to take it up on the rush has him tagged as one of the top offensive-defensemen in the NCAA. 

UMD: The usual suspects Tony Cameranesi, Alex Iafallo and Austin Farley are at it again this season and are leading this team on the helper side of things. the three are all at just 8 goals on the season and look to Dominic Toninato who leads the Bulldogs at 16 goals followed by Justin Crandall who has 12. 

Who Wins?

This should be a very close series, but Denver comes out on top. Their firepower will be too much for this UMD team. Denver wins Friday 3-1 and Saturday 4-3.

WHKY: A letter to WCHA women's hockey

Dear WCHA Women’s Hockey,

We’ve been friends for several years now and it’s been wonderful watching some of the best and most dominant women’s hockey teams in the country under the umbrella of the WCHA. But this weekend’s Final Face-Off left me a little blue.

I spent my Saturday at the Ralph Engelstad Arena watching a two quality women’s hockey games, but I was still left wanting something a little more.  During intermission I wondered why there weren’t any intermission games. No videos before or after honoring previous winners or highlighting the successes or WCHA alumni, coaching staff or programs. How about highlighting the WCHA nominees for the Patty Kaz award? WCHA women’s hockey has so much to be proud of. Why not showcase it?

If you walked around the arena, it didn’t make you feel as if you were in a tournament atmosphere. I know these are little things that might cost a little money and time, but I think it’s worth creating a fan atmosphere.

Maybe the lack of fan engagement is a dollar and cents situation. And I get it, the Final Face-Off can’t be compared to the money or atmosphere of the WCHA Final Five, but the WCHA can do better for women’s hockey. It has to do better. You should strive to be like the Final Five of yester-year even if it seems like an impossible goal. In the same way you ask student-athletes to elevate their game on ice and in the classroom, I’m asking you to do the same for the fan experience.

I applaud the effort to offer the free youth clinic on Saturday morning. I can appreciate the fact that this was an excellent opportunity to advance girls’ hockey. I hope the attendees had an unforgettable experience.

An event such as the Final Face-Off has two opportunities: help grow girls’ hockey and increase and sustain the fan base. You have an exceptional product on the ice. Make the event unforgettable for fans, not just the players.

Sincerely,

Jackie – a WCHA women’s hockey fan

Grand Forks Herald: UND nickname committee faces time crunch

Here's the latest from the nickname issue. Not really anything new, we probably going to end up with some nickname recommendations by May. One of the options is going to be no nickname. I included the part of the article that jumped out the most to me. Obviously, we know that Fighting Sioux isn't an option.

Grand Forks Herald -- But by December, Kelley was more clear and said going back to playing under the Fighting Sioux flag wasn't a possibility because of NCAA rules. He told the Herald he had been looking at how to address the issue as far back as the end of the special legislative session in November 2011 that repealed a law requiring the use of the Fighting Sioux name.

"We were put in a holding pattern, and as time moved along we got to a point where we could move out of that holding pattern, and that's where we are now," Kelley said in a December interview.

After gathering input from more than 7,600 people through a survey and town hall meetings, the task force ultimately recommended a plan with the caveat of keeping "UND/North Dakota" as an option for a permanent name, which the school has been playing as anyway since the Fighting Sioux's retirement.

The new committee, which will meet for the first time Tuesday, is the result of that plan.

But the task force did have to extend its original December 2014 deadline by a month, and university officials Susan Walton and Peter Johnson said the details of how this new committee will operate, gather information and ultimately narrow down possible nicknames will be decided once the group meets.

"We know it will be a public process and we will announce more details about that soon ... but it will be important for the committee to meet first and see how they'd like that process to work," Walton, the university's vice president for university and public affairs, said.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

March 09, 2015

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	North Dakota	(43)	25- 7-3	988	1
2	Minnesota State	( 2)	25- 7-3	928	2
3	Boston University	( 4)	21- 7-5	870	3
4	Michigan Tech	( 1)	26- 8-2	848	4
5	Miami		21-12-1	809	5
6	Minnesota-Duluth		20-13-3	739	6
7	Denver		20-12-2	683	7
8	Nebraska-Omaha		18-10-6	661	8
9	Boston College		20-11-3	583	9
10	Providence		21-11-2	552	10
11	Quinnipiac		21- 9-4	525	11
12	Yale		17- 7-5	447	12
13	Bowling Green		21-10-5	412	13
14	Massachusetts-Lowell		18-10-6	344	14
15	Minnesota		19-12-3	273	15
16	Colgate		19-11-4	182	18
17	Vermont		20-13-4	177	17
18	Harvard		17-11-3	127	19
19	Michigan		19-13-0	113	16
20	Robert Morris		22- 7-5	73	20
Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State 65, St. Lawrence 39, Bemidji State 26, Dartmouth 22, Penn State 5, Rochester Institute of Technology 3, Alaska 2, Canisius 2, Michigan State 2.

 

UND remains number one in the Pairwise and the USCHO poll.