I wonder what would have happened if UND had got their feet moving earlier in that game? We might not be having the discussions we are having today. I was reading USCHO WCHA blog this morning and there was something that caught my eye in Tyler Buckentine’s post. I am going to preface this by saying I don’t know Tyler from Adam or what team he cheers for and I don’t have anything against him at all, I am not trying to attack him, also notice, that I am not making him the buffoon of the week. I save those blog posts for people that do moronic things. None the less, Tyler was reviewing the WCHA and the first half of the season and how the league play has evolved.
USCHO.COM --- College hockey is at the midpoint of its season and the WCHA has four teams in the nation’s top eight teams and two in the top four.Here is what I take issue with, “Who would’ve thought Matt Frattin, the nation’s leading goal scorer.” You’re kidding right? You can’t be series? Cliché alert: It would be an understatement to say that Matt Frattin has looked like a man among boys and has played this season Frattin like a man possessed. The Toronto Maple Leafs who are starved for offense must be drooling at the prospects of having Matt Frattin wearing a Maple Leaf on the front of his jersey.
The consensus WCHA favorite, UND, (13–5–2) is the top WCHA team in the USCHO.com D-I Poll and sits in first place in the league standings with 22 points after a pair of sweeps against SCSU and Minnesota State.
Who would’ve thought Matt Frattin, the nation’s leading goal scorer, would have 17 goals at the break when the Sioux’s goals leader when the 2009-10 season ended was Jason Gregoire with 20.
Frattin, who scored 11 goals a year ago, has 25 points, which matches his personal best for points in a season he set as a sophomore.
Frattin has the ability to create his own chances to make quality shots. He beat MSU goaltender Phil Cook glove side far post on Friday and danced his way around two Mavericks defenders on his way to a goal Sunday.
Frattin is on a five-game goal-scoring streak.
Aaron Dell has been a surprise in the crease after UND’s original No. 1 goalie, Brad Eidsness, was benched after just five games because of his nightmare of a start to the season (4.12 GAA, .805 SV%).
The sophomore Dell is 12–4–1 with a 2.22 goals against average and .904 save percentage.
The scary thing is UND’s record now and the schedule that lies ahead for the Sioux. UND faces only two teams in the current top 10-ranked teams on the schedule until the Final Five rolls around.
If you are covering the WCHA and you have had a chance to watch Matt Frattin play at all last season you would have noticed a player that was on the verge of breaking out and would have thought a torrid season might be in the cards. Rewinding back to last season when Matt Frattin returned from his suspension; Fratting took fire during the second half of the season and caught fire during the second game of the SCSU series has been hot as a pistol since and scored a bundle of goals.
So how hot has Frattin been, Matt has scored 11 goals in 13 games last season from Feburary 12th to March 27. Fast forward to this season Frattin has continued that torrid pace scoring 17 goals in 20 games, so if my math is right (I am a sociology major), that is roughly 28 goals in 33 games.
