The Frozen Four April 6th and 8th.

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux:
Overall Record: 29-15-1
Home: 15-9-0 — Away: 11-5-1 — Neutral: 3-1-0
B.C. Eagles: (AKA the Dirty Eagles)
Overall Record: 25-12-3
Home: 13-3-1 — Away: 7-7-1 — Neutral: 5-2-1
This should be a epic battle between two teams That really like to get up and go, race horse hockey, there won't be any neutral zone trap or any of the god awful hooking and holding I say last Sunday during the Midwest Regional in Green Bay between Cornell and Wisconsin game. Talk about a boring game to watch, If last Sunday’s game was the first hockey game that I ever watched I would not have become a hockey fan. It was God awful hockey, boring, horrible, no fun to watch, no entertainment values what so ever. The funny thing is that both schools teach this type of hockey.
Jordan Parise Versus Corey Schnider
I think Jordan Parise holds the edge in this one. I have seen Corey Schnider play on the national scene as well as the international scene and I am just not sold on this kid. I thought he was an average goalie during the World Juniors tourney in Vancouver and in Grand Forks. Last year during the Bean Pot II in Worchester Mass (2005 NCAA East Regional) the Fighting Sioux lit him up for 6 goals. I have a hard time believing that he is the best the USA has to offer.
I predict the Fighting Sioux will win this game based on their bruising defense and superior goaltending.



Wisconsin BADgers
Overall Record: 28-10-3
Home: 13-6-1 — Away: 11-3-2 — Neutral: 4-1-0
Maine Black Bears
Overall Record: 28-11-2
Home: 16-4-1 — Away: 8-5-1 — Neutral: 4-2-0
I have seen the BADgers more than I have seen the Black Bears this year, both have solid goalies that are well, pretty good. However, Maine has a goalie that has to be the tallest every to put on a pair of skates in the Frozen Four. The Maine goalie is Ben Bishop that is listed on the Maine roster as being 6’5”. I have heard that he is taller than that more like 6’7”. So basically he is the same height as Super Frosh Joe Finely with all of the goalie pads. I can’t imagine that here is much net to shot at. That means the opposition is going to have to get Bishop’s feet moving with quick passes and a of one timers.

Being as tall as he is Bishop is going to be slower on his side to side motion. As my buddy would say, “that is a tall drink of water”. So if you are still confused on how big Ben Bishop Is, he is also the same size as Senators defenseman Zdeno Chara. On CSTV this year they said Ben was having trouble finding a bed that was long enough in the Maine residence halls apparently his feet stick out the end of the bed.

As for the BADgers to beat them you have to get a lead on them and you have to play tough defense. They aren’t very exciting to watch because they play a systems game. The Wisconsin program goes from the goaltender out. Everyone plays defense first. The biggest threats from Wisconsin is Joe Pavelski 23goals-30 assists for 53 points and Robbie the diving queen Earl 21 goals-25 assists for 46 points.

You have to stop these two guys because if you don’t they will bury your team. Be prepared to see Robbie Earl flopping all over the ice like a fish out of water. Don’t get me wrong Robbie Earl is a nice player with a lot of talent but is famous for diving and it wears on the fans. I am tired of watching him take a dive then watch a player skate to the penalty bench after being assessed a bush league penalty. I predict the BADgers win this game but it will be a struggle and a tough game to watch. Maine plays a deliberate game and that style of play will play into the BADgers hands. Sioux and the BADgers for the NCAA title. Yikes sounds like a historic collision course.

The Fighting Sioux off to the Frozen Four, win their own regional.

This past weekend the Fighting Sioux played two dominating games that put them into the Frozen Four in Milwaukee Wisconsin where the Fighting Sioux will play the B.C. Eagles in the first game of the semifinals. The Fighting Sioux and the Eagles have met a lot lately in the NCAA playoffs this will be the 5th time the two teams have met in about 8 years of NCAA hockey (1998, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006). Friday night the Sioux steamrolled/dismantled a very good young Michigan Wolverines team. Michigan going to be a team to be reckoned with in the future as the Wolverines are talented team that are very good skaters. Goaltending was definitely the difference in this tilt.

Jordan Paris is the Man again:
Jordan Parise was huge as Michigan put 36 shots on goal but could only dent Parise once. Incidentally Parise is establishing himself as a money goalie as his record is 6-2 in the NCAA tourney. The Fighting Sioux are getting hot at the right time as they have won 6 straight and are 12-3 in their last 15 games since being swept by the SCSU Huskies.

From the boards:
There was never any doubt. Buoyed by a boisterous Ralph Engelstad Arena crowd and Minnesota’s stunning loss to Holy Cross, the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota stormed onto the ice for Friday’s NCAA West Regional showdown with Michigan and marched off with a succinct, convincing and workmanlike 5-1 victory, knowing full well the opportunity that lay ahead of them.

There were some excellent homemade signs on display at the Ralph but few were better than the two-piece poster in the top row of Section 303. On one portion there was a fish with the word “Crappie” written below. On the other portion was the Golden Gophers’ logo with the word “Crappy” written below. The only sign that might have been better was a very simple, “Fighting Sioux: Milwaukee’s Best."

Upset of the Century or McNaughton Curse. Crusaders beat Minnesota.

Last night was a historical moment in college hockey not since the NCAA tourney expanded to sixteen teams has a fifteen or sixteen seed beat a number one or two seed. This was a historical first, for most of us Sioux fan’s it was a sweet moment, one to savor, the game of the century. Realistically if the Fighting Sioux go far in the Tourney, Sioux fans have a year to rub it in, especially if we make it to the frozen four again. This was almost as cool as the Fighting Sioux beating the Gophers on the ice, well almost.

As a hockey fan you almost wonder how something like this can happen. Its like you went out to the bar got drunk and passed out only to wake up and see the result had changed. It was only a dream. But this is not the case. I mean really: this should not happen at all ever. Your talking about a team as loaded, the Minnesota Gophers are stacked line to line with awesome offensive talent. This offensive powerhouse is playing a team from insert your cliché, their a horrible team, from an overrated dvision, almost like a Super Division Three League, sub-par, weak sister of the poor, welfare bid. This isn’t to take anything away from the Crusaders because they did win their league champion (ok, stop snickering, no really) I am not saying I didn’t enjoy the game because I did, and I have a picture of the scoreboard on my wife’s digital camera to keep the historic moment and I promise that some day soon this historic picture will be posted here.

But maybe I am no different that the Gophers fans that had the Gophers playing in the championship game against the Sioux. I kept telling my buddy it is just a matter of time before the Gophers come back and win it. Remember we talking about Holy Cross. Maybe that is what the Gophers players did too. Hey guys its only Holy Cross, they are an easy opponent, we will win without even trying.

While we enjoy the moment as Sioux fans it’s really not very funny if you’re a WCHA fan. Our regular season champs just went down to a 15 seed without a whimper. Proving once again very few teams win the McNaughton Cup and then go on and do well in the playoffs. They should call it the McNaughton Anchor or McNaughton Curse. Maybe teams will start declining the trophy.


The message boards read:
The Gophers were shocked tonight losing 4-3 in overtime to Holy Cross. The biggest upset in NCAA hockey history the media is saying. The media is right.... Is it October yet?

The Gophers took their season, crumpled it up, and threw it in the garbage tonight. Yes, the McNaughton Cup is a great accomplishment…but nobody expected this, even after a poor showing at the Final Five. If they would have lost to North Dakota or even Michigan tomorrow night, it would have at least been respectable. This is by far the worst loss in the history of the program as Holy Cross comes up with a colossal upset, beating Minnesota 4 – 3 in overtime.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of the Gophers, they managed to lose to Holy Cross tonight 4-3 in overtime. The Gophers never really looked into it. Maybe they were still emotionally drained from their 8-7 overtime loss to St. Cloud. Or maybe Lucia just doesn't put much emphasis on NCAA games. After all, who cares about the NCAAs, you're guaranteed to play next year anyway.

Game Time.

Game Time 530pm.
As I write this BU is pasting UNO 3-1. Thanks for playing Mavericks.

The first games kicks off at 530 pm the Holy Cross Crusaders and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Holy Cross has a decent goaltender but its going to take more than Tony Quesada to beat the Golden Gophers. I guarantee Holy Cross has never played a team with the fire power of the Gophers, the East Coast teams aren’t as talented as the western teams and they will figure out fast they are going to be in a miss match. They will be down 5-0 after two periods and will be looking forward to getting out of Grand Forks. I say Minnesota buries Holy Cross 7-2, I say they get two goals because Brigg's is in net.


Sioux and Wolverines.830pm

UND Fans will not boo Jack Johnson but the Fighting Sioux will be there to greet him. I am looking forward to seeing this kid in person as he will probably be in the NHL next season. UND has the edge but Michigan like UND has a deep and storied history.

Should be a good game because both teams like to play an up tempo game.
The difference in this game will be Jordan Parise. Sioux win 5-3 in a hard fought game.

Michigan and the Sioux

This Friday its the Fighting Sioux and the Michigan Wolverines in the Regional Semi's at the Ralph, this should be a fun game to attend and be a part of. There should be fans from Minnesota, Mass (Holy Cross), North Dakota and Michigan in the arena. I am excited for the chance to see Michigan and the Fighting Sioux in our building; for Michigan its not going to be the friendly confines of the Yost Ice Arena this time so I expect a different result. In addition this maybe the only time Sioux fans get to see this happen because Michigan doesn't have much of a chance to play out of conference due to there being 12 teams in the CCHA. So savor the moment.


Earlier this year I made a post that consisted of this. I believe at the time like many other Sioux fans I thought the UND Fighting Sioux had little chance of making the NCAA tourney, of course we were wrong. I was afraid that we would have to watch a tourney in our building minus the Fighting Sioux that was full of belligerent Golden Gopher fans telling us how the Ralph was Marriucci West and like a home game to them. Sure, I was down on the boys and lacking some compassion for their age and experience. But my how the times have changed. Go Fighting Sioux lets beat Michigan and send the Dirty Gophers home with their tails between their legs. Because if UND gets to the title game its 50/50 they win.

Last weekend UND laid an egg, again. The UND fighting Sioux have laid many eggs this winter. Here is a break down of the eggs laid this season: (1) Losing 1-0 to a week Harvard team. This was the Fighting Sioux first lost to a EZAC team in 20+ years-unacceptable. (2) Losing against a weak and crappy UAA team that happens to be a last place team in the WCHA-unacceptable. (3) Getting Swept by a second rate team SCSU-unacceptable. This past weekend the Fighting Sioux hockey sucked, period end of excuses, there are none for poor play. This past weekend the Fighting Sioux hockey team showed little heart and no grit. They played like a woman’s hockey team. For this bad effort they are now probably going to suffer for it in the post season by sitting home while other teams are playing in the regional in their building. I beg the leadership on this hockey team to stand up and make a stand, hold your fellow team mates accountable. Please take some ownership for the way this team has played. We can’t blame the coaches on this one.

Goalie: Its Jordan/NCAA Time.

Goalie

This weekend the Fighting Sioux will play in the West Regional against the CCHA’s Michigan Wolverines. This time the game will be in the Fighting Sioux house the Ralph Englestad Arena. This will be the first time that Michigan plays in the new Ralph. One of the major cogs in the Fighting Sioux’s Success this season is the Goaltender Jordan Parise. The numbers are staggering.

The Stats

Parise's impressive save percentage is a whopping.932 that is third in the country, one point off the leader Wisconsin’s Brian Elliot. Jordan is also tied for the national lead in shutouts (six), and he's also ranked in the top six nationally in goals-against average (2.12) and winning percentage (22-8-1, .726) (statistics from the Grand Forks Herald).

Jordan Parise is a big time goalie and a huge asset for his hockey team but it goes a little further than that. The Fighting Sioux have won 9 out of 11 games with Jordan Parise in net for all of them. Last year Jordan won 11 straight games before losing in the title game of the NCAA championship game. Jordan also out dueled Gopher starting goalie Kellen Briggs in two games during the 2005 playoffs winning both games 4-2.


What makes this special is that when Jordan first came to the Fighting Sioux there was a lot of scuttlebutt basically saying that Jordan was only here because of his brother Zach Parise. Many also pontificated that Jordan would be disposed of in the Red River as soon as his brother Zach was gone. Well the Nay Sayers have been proven wrong. Jordan has the numbers to be one of the best goalies of all time at UND. I am just hoping that he will stay for next season.

Ahhhh, Sieve, Sieve, Sieve.

Sieve


Well its just about time for another addition of the Sioux versus the (dirty) Golden Gophers again (Barring any major upsets of either team) along with this upcoming game (hopefully) the University of Minnesota again brings back their stellar goaltender Kellin Briggs who had just been lit up like a Christmas Tree during the WCHA Final Five. I know the past weekend means nothing to Gopher fans but face it Briggs is a great big Sieve (to take a phrase from the Gophers pep band) that isn't worthy of sniffing Hauser's dirty jock.

Sioux win the Final Five now skate off to the Regionals at the Ralph.

The Fighting Sioux earned an auto bid for the NCAA tourney with a convincing 5-3 win against the pesky SCSU Huskies in the championship game of the Red Baron Final Five in St. Paul. The Huskies Cinderella season came to an end as their lady luck finally ran out. SCSU needed a win to get into the NCAA tourney and the Fighting Sioux were already in but cemented their playoff position by gaining a number 2 seed. This scenario seemed almost doomed a month ago after the Huskies had swept the Sioux in a two game series at the Ralph.

The Sioux will face off against the Michigan Wolverines of the CCHA at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night, on our terms. The Sioux will finally get to play the Wolverines in our barn and not have to play in the unfriendly confines of Yost Ice arena in Ann Arbor. This will be the first time Michigan has come to the REA since it opened. The Fighting Sioux will get a chance to avenge a 1998 NCAA playoff loss to the Wolverines. Look for the Sioux to come out and get in Michigan’s face from the drop of the opening face off.



The Fighting Sioux freshman were the story again as Jonathon Toews had a goal and two assists and Ryan Duncan had an amazing goal as he made SCSU goalie Bobby Goepfert look silly. Duncan waited for the star SCSU goalie to make his move then put the puck behind the SCSU goalie into an empty net.

SCSU had played 6 games in 9 days and didn’t show any rust as they came out of the gate on fire, but the Sioux prevailed in the end by answering the Husky goal by scoring two goals in about 15 seconds. It was the second game in a row where UND went down early only to answer with two quick goals.

Season of Highs for SCSU.
SCSU proved to be a tough opponent as they beat many of the tough teams ahead of them in the WCHA standings. SCSU beat Minnesota twice, UND three times, Colorado College three times, and Denver University once. That is pretty impressive for a team that finished in 6th place during the regular season. It also speaks volumes for the strength of the WCHA. It’s a shame our league only got 4 teams in the NCAA playoffs.

SCSU has nothing to be ashamed of as they beat a good Minnesota Gopher team to get to the championship game. Their coach is a class act and has their program going in the right direction. While watching the Huskies and the Golden Rodents a Gopher fan came up to me and asked me why I was cheering for the Huskies. This rube had told me that he cheered for Sioux against the Badgers earlier today and he couldn’t understand how I could take such comfort in the Huskies dismantling their storied team/program. That comment speaks volumes because I can’t cheer for a team that oozes such arrogance. I took great comfort in watching the Gophers lose two games to peak at the right time for the playoffs. Of course the tDon will tell us that the games meant nothing and they were already in the playoffs. I guess team pride means nothing.

The NCAA pairings
Midwest Regional (Green Bay)
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Bemidji State
No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 3 Colorado College

West Regional (Grand Forks)
No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Holy Cross
No. 2 North Dakota vs. No. 3 Michigan

East Regional (Albany)
No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 New Hampshire
No. 2 Harvard vs. No. 3 Maine

Northeast Regional (Worcester)
No. 1 Boston U. vs. No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha
No. 2 Miami vs. No. 3 Boston College

What a disgrace. North Dakota State goes to the Final Five.

They were handing posters out yesterday at the Final Five in St. Paul. All the fans that entered the game got the free poster. Only problem was that they didn't proof read the teams name. UND was the North Dakota State Univeristy.

Come on really how disrespectful can you get. If this had happened to the Gophers or the Badgers they would have thrown all of the pictures away.

The WCHA Apology Letter

MADISON, Wisc. - The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is aware of the mistake made on the free poster that was given out to the first 5,000 fans who attended last Saturday afternoon's game at the Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five in Saint Paul and is taking steps to remedy the situation as best it can under the circumstances. This includes reprinting a corrected version of the free poster and redistributing them at the regional NCAA hockey tournament in Grand Forks this weekend.

We sincerely apologize for the error and appreciate your understanding.

The WCHA also wants our fans to know that our Final Five title sponsor - Red Baron® - was not responsible for the printing or distribution of the poster.

The 2006 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five drew a tournament record 87,579 fans, eclipsing the previous mark of 82,564 set in 2004, established a new average per game attendance record of 17,516, and also had sellout crowds of a Final Five record 19,353 on Friday night and 19,282 for the championship game.

Sioux and Huskies for the title. Gophers play meaningless third place game.

Nobody gave the Sioux or the Huskies much of a chance of being in the championship game tonight WCHA Final Five Championship game. In fact, everyone had the Gophers and Badgers penciled in for tonights championship game. The Sioux and the Huskies changed the Gophers and Badgers plans by playing good defense and getting a little luck.

Well the Badgers are still playing the Gophers but it just happens to be a a different time. The border battle between the rodents is set for 235 pm today instead of the prime time 735 pm slot, actually I am surprised that FSN formerly Minnesota Sports Network didn't change the game times and put the third place game at 735 pm to accomdate all of the beligerant Gophers and Badger fans.

During this game Rylan Kaip was amazing as he scored his first two goals of his career it may have took him 60 games to get the first on, but not as long for the second one as he doubled his career total about a period later. Can you say coming out party for Kaip.



The Gophers have their excuses all ready if they lose today:

I found this on Sioux Sports that sums it up pretty well. would now like to perform my best Gopher fan impression.

This game against Wisconsin really doesn't mean anything. We're really looking towards the NCAA tournament and if we win today it would be nice, but if we lose it doesn't matter. We're the number one team in the country and we lost to the 18th ranked team in our backyard, but it doesn't matter. It's just a hockey game and there are more important things.

Final Five Play in game SCSU and UMD the Battle of the Dogs.

UMD and SCSU kick off the first game of the Red Barron Final Five. UMD got there by shocking denver University in three games. SCSU got there by beating a depleted C.C. Tiger team in three.



UMD has to win to keep playing in the playoffs, SCSU is probably done as well if they lose tonight. Neither team will win the WCHA final five. History is against them no team has ever won it all from the play in game on thursday. My prediction is that UMD goalie Nate Ziggleman will out duel the Huskies top goalie Bobby Goephert UMD has more offensive punch and played well against DU scoring four goals in one period to put away DU in the last game of the series.

The Luck of Dakota and the Fighting Sioux hockey record.

People talk about the luck of the Irish, how about the luck of the Yellow Labrador Retriever. My Dog has an amazing gift; he is the luckiest dog in the world, he is also an amazing hunter. (Pheasants, Duck and Geese beware) Whenever I watch a Fighting Sioux hockey game on television with my Dog he has a 75 - 85 winning percent. In other words, more times than not the Sioux win the game. Maybe Fighting Sioux Basketball coach Rich Glas would like to borrow some of his luck. Rich might want to consider buying one from Windsor Kennels in Crookston, Minnesota.

Here are the results the proof is in the pudding:

Home series against the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks:
After watching the game at the REA without Dakota last weekend UND loses a heart breaker in O.T. obviously Derrick Sheppard had a lot to do with that, based on his non-call at center ice at the end of the game. So being bummed and in a state of deep depression from the lost the previous night I decide (having to get up early the next day to go to work a oh my god its early time of 250 am) to sell my Fighting Sioux hockey tickets to one of my buddies and watch the game from home (a cardinal to some rabid hockey fans).

So my wife and I commit the cardinal sin (the wife doesn’t complain at all) and watch the game at my house, the Fighting Sioux win the game 4-1. So I decide the next night being highly superstitious to keep the line up the same from the previous night and I stay home. The Fighting Sioux win the game 3-0 Jordy with a shutout win, the good news is I didn’t suffer an aneurisms; The Fighting Sioux won the series and I get to see my team play 2 games at the Final Five.

More Proof:

UMD Series in Duluth:
The Fighting Sioux destroy the Bull Dogs from Duluth, I watch the games Dakota at my side.

Game Two Minnesota and UND at the Mary
After watching The Fighting Sioux get dismantled by the Gophers 6-2 at Buffalo Wild Wings in Grand Forks a very painful memory (add in the fact that I had to listen to a Goofer fan mercilessly brag the results of the game the whole friggen night) I stay home and watch the game in the comfort of mine own living room dog at my side. Sioux win 3-2 Travis Zajac with a huge goal to ice it.

UND moves on to St. Paul for the Final Five after Beating Backes and the Mavericks.

Good news for Sioux fans we won't have to see David Backes again or his antics. Backes Signed a pro contrat with the Blues. The Fighitng Sioux closed out the Pesky Mavericks of Minnesota State with a shut out from Jordan Parise who now has 20 wins on the season and a 20-8-1 record. The Sioux also played most of the weekend with out leading scorer Drew Stafford who suffered a lower leg injury in first period of Friday's game 3-2 overtime loss. TJ Oshie and Travis Zajac picked up the slack and UND cruised to victory in the last two games.

By Shane Frederick
The Free Press
MANKATO —
David Backes spent the final two minutes of Sunday’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff game in the penalty box.

As the clock was ticking down on Minnesota State’s season, it was also counting off Backes’ final seconds as a Maverick.

“I’d rather been on the ice for those few moments,” he said. “But the penalty came from just trying to get something done in that game. ... I was just trying to make things happen.”

Today, Backes, one of the top players in Minnesota State’s Division I era, will turn professional, forgoing his senior year.

The Mavericks’ captain and co-leading scorer this season confirmed Tuesday that he is set to sign a two-year contract with the St. Louis Blues, the team that drafted him in the 2003 National Hockey League draft.

“(St. Louis) made an offer that was pretty hard to refuse,” Backes said. “And, hockey-wise, I am probably ready to make a step to the next level now.”

Got Banners. 

The Fighting Sioux Hockey Team is a top hockey program in the NCAA. Losing is not an option. 7 > 5 , 13 > 11

UND comes up short against Mavericks

The UND Fighting Sioux came out flat and played uninspired hockey and let Minnesota State take game one in the best of three playoff series in the Fighting Sioux’s building. Minnesota State (17-16-4) has been hot as of late and has now won five games in a row, all against ranked teams (SCSU, UW, UND), however, that is no excuse for the Fighting Sioux not putting up a better effort and making an attempt at winning the hockey game. By losing the first game of the series last night it puts the Sioux behind the eight ball with little room for error, they must win if they want to play in the final five or force a game five. Not to blame the goaltending but Jordan Parise played ok last night, letting in a couple of goals that I would classify as weak.

UND dropped to 23-15-1 overall while Minnesota State improved to 17-16-1 overall. In looking a the PWR numbers (UND is sitting at 14 with the bonus is 6th) It would appear that the Fighting Sioux are still in the NCAA’s, however, there is little room for error, a few upsets and UND could end up being spectators in their own regional. If they don’t get their collective act together and play some hockey. For the Fighting Sioux its time for them to stop talking about what they have and play hockey. Losing to Minnesota State is embarrassing.




Denver Shocked in Overtime by the Bull Dogs
Former Fighting Sioux goalie Nate Ziggleman led UMD to a 3-2 overtime win over the Denver Pioneers. I thought that was a miss print when I first read it, however, MacGregor Sharp scored a goal 1:25 into overtime Friday to lift Minnesota-Duluth to a 3-2 victory over Denver in the opening round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs at Magness Arena.

NHL Trading Deadline; who are the morons that make these deals.

The trading dead line in the NHL came and went with a lot of players moving around to different teams.

Tyler Arneson and Brandon Bochenski traded places on Thursday as Bochenski goes to the Blackhawks and Arnason goes to the Senators. I think the Blackhawks got the best of this deal. I have always considered Tyler Arnason was a soft player that doesn't like to go into the corners and do the dirty work that is necessary to be successful in the NHL. Former Fighting Sioux player Brandon Bochenski is a forward with a big upside that has the ability to score at any time from any place and will only get better as he gets more confortable with the NHL game, I am not sure that Arnason will make much of an impact with the high flying Senators.

The knuckle headed move of the day was Av's trading David Aebischer to the Habs for Jose Theodore, I can't believe that the Av's would have made this deal. Theodore this year has had trouble stopping the puck and this trade makes no sense to me at all. The Av's got worse with this trade.

A sad day for all Twins Fans. Kirby Pucket 1960-2006.

The Goon's Tribute to the Puck
I learned early this week the one of my favorite ball players off all time passed away after a short illness. For most middle age guys like me this hits home because Kirby was only 46 years old. Kirby gave Twins fans a lot of to cheer in his 12 short years he was with the twins. I remember when he and Hrbek broke into the league in the early 1980's back in the days when the Twins were a disgrace to the Twin Cities and MLB. The Twins started winning back the hearts and minds of Minnesota Twins Fans. Winning the 1987 world series didn't hurt but the win 1991 was even sweeter.

I remember during the spring of 1996 discussing the retirement of Kirby Pucket with my good friend Scott and I can remember him telling me Goon, "you just can't replace a Kirby Pucket, their a type of player that only comes around once in a life time.” Scott was right and since he left the twins in 1996 they twins have failed to have a player that even comes close to controlling a game like Kirby could. To take a word from my sports days, know one on the current Twins is worthy of holding Kirby’s jock.

Kirby Pucket took the team on his back and carried the twins to game seven:

Before the game he said, `Get on board, I'm going to carry the load,' " Twins manager Tom Kelly said after Puckett recorded his name boldly in World Series history. "My gosh, that's carrying the load and pulling the truck and everything."

Kirby was clutch at the right moment:

Kirby Puckett's home run in the 11th inning gave the Twins a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in Game 6, setting off a raucous 10-minute ovation that didn't quiet until a post game interview was shown on the Metrodome scoreboard.

In my humble opinion: one of the most significant moments of Twins Baseball was when Kirby hit his most famous Dinger and the TV announcer said “We will see you tomorrow night:”

But that wasn't all. He tripled in the first inning, knocking in the first Twins run and scoring the second. He made the catch of the game in the top of the third. He drove in the Twins third - and, at that point, go ahead - run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. He singled in the eighth, stole a base, and was in position to score the winning run then.

But, he saved the historical histrionics for that extra inning dinger, a 2-1 Liebrandt high changeup that Puckett rocketed over the left centerfield fence, almost at the same spot where eight innings earlier he robbed Ron Gant of a similar homer with a patented leaping, stretching, home run-nabbing catch.
Reliever Carl Willis was also heroic with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless work. Starter Scott Erickson, who entered the game as a major question mark, survived six innings of adequate pitching.

The final career numbers
Career totals (1984-1995)
G AB H HR RBI SB AVG
1783 7244 2304 207 1085 134 .318

In Closing
Some will bring up the fact that Kirby did some questionable thing at the end of his life after his playing days were over. I heard a co-worker at work the other day talk about what a punk he was. This man even suggested we take his hall of fame award away. I think a wise man once said he who lives with out sin cast the first stone. I think the saying he who lives in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
I don’t agree about taking his hall of fame award away nor in my opinion do I care. Kirby Pucket was acquitted of the charges filed against him and found to be not guilty/innocent. Also, Kirby’s accomplishments speak volumes and I will not let his after baseball life of taint my fond memory of him. May God grant him peace and take care of Kirby Pucket RIP. Below a former team mate reflect on the passing of Kirby.

UND sweeps MTU easily. Time for WCHA playoffs as the Dirty Mavericks come to town.

Last Weekend the Sioux swept the MTU Huskies with relative ease winning 6-0 and 4-0 vaulting into fourth place of the WCHA standings where they finished fourth in the final standing ahead of C.C. Tigers and SCSU Huskies. The Fighting Sioux seem to be peaking at the right time again as they ready for another late season playoff surge. Jordan Parise is 3-1 in his last four games and with two shut outs. Jordan is 18-7-1 on the season. Obviously people are going to say big deal Jordan Parise got two shutouts against a crappy opponent like MTU; but as of late MTU had proved to be no pushover and has played all opponents tough. So, its irrelevant if the shutout wins were against Tech. In looking further into the numbers Tech had not been swept in the second half of the season. In fact not counting the great lakes tourney during Christmas break (Tec played Michigan State University and University of Michigan) the Lowly Tech Huskies haven’t been swept bay any opponents counting even the mighty golden rodents during the new year/second half of the season. Oh by the way the Sioux defense held MTU senior Chris Conner pointless the whole series. In fact Conner was relatively invisible. Also, did I mention that Jordan Parise is ranked 10th over all in the NCAA.



Bring on the Dirty Minnesota State Mavericks

The Fighting Sioux’s reward for winning both games and finishing fourth last weekend is a date with the MSU-M Mavericks. Last time the two teams played in Grand Forks, the Fighting Sioux and the Mavericks racked up an obscene amount of penalty minutes. Both teams at that time were 1st and 2nd in the WCHA in penalty minutes. I am not so sure it’s going to be any different this weekend. Mankato is a hardnosed team that plays with an edge. Also, Mankato has proven to be a dirty team in the past. It’s not secret these two team don’t like each other. I also expect to see Mike Prpich right in the middle of it string things up and making the opposing players mad. Last weekend Mike Prpich was thrown to the ice via his facemask by MTU’s resident thug John Scott. Mike Prpich came up smiling.

Back to the penalties North Dakota is averaging a whopping 24.7 penalty minutes a game, while Minnesota State is averaging a ballooning 23.8 minutes a game. However, North Dakota could take advantage of Mankato States untimely penalties by scoring on the Power Play. The Fighting Sioux are ranked 12th nationally on the power play.

This weekends games
Personally I hate watching MSU-M play hockey, its gross and hard to watch. I would rather watch paint dry or watch much better match up between say a UND and the Goofers or a UND and C.C. Tigers than this cheap team. Every year it is the same thing, MSU usually come in and runs a goon show taking liberities up and down the ice on UND’s more skilled players. I also don't want to see UND skilled players get knocked out of the game or hurt for the rest of the year due to a busch league hit. Yearly MSU-M sits near or at the bottom of the league, that is not forgetting the fact that the Mavericks play hard and talk a lot of smack. Their coach the king of smug oozes and condones cheapness and cockiness. I guess I hate them almost as much as dirty Denver Pioneers.

UND gets ready for MTU. A must win series.

This weekend the UND Fighting Sioux face the hapless MTU Huskies for a playoff positioning. There is no sugar coating this at all the Fighting Sioux must sweep the MTU Huskies no other result is acceptable.

While I think the Fighting Sioux can’t take the MTU Huskies m lightly they are definitely the better team, MTU has one line with some really good players, they drop off drastically after that top line.

Also, the Fighting Sioux need to win and get help from the Dirty BADgers as they face a one-dimensional SCSU Huskies lead by only Bobby Goepfert. I have always said that if you rely almost solely on goaltending to win your going to lose eventually.

The Fighting Sue Redux.

I have to make a correction: This was sent to me by a Sioux fan and not a Gopher Fan. the web address is http://www.fortcollinscolorado.us/fightingsue/index.htm
I guess it is funny.