Image via WikipediaThe Grand Forks Police department rushed to shut down the bridges that connect East Grand Forks and Grand Forks shortly after the Sioux were swept by the Badgers in Madison, Wisconsin. There were fears that Fighting Sioux hockey fans en mass would jump off of the bridges after watching their team get swept at the hand of the Wisconsin Badgers. I couldn’t resist that one it's probably more funny on twitter and of course I am kidding… For a second time this season, the Fighting Sioux chat also blew up as a result of the Sioux being on the losing end of a game. It's a long season and there will be more loses. My offer to be a ticket broker for the Sioux fans that want to sell their season tickets is still on the table.
While I am not happy with the Fighting Sioux being swept this past weekend, let’s not forget that the Sioux did lose a “very big chunk” of their scoring prowess from last season's squad. Jason Gregoire 25g-18a—43 pts, Matt Frattin 36g-24a—60 pts, Chay Genoway 6g-31a—37 pts, Brad Malone 16g-24a—40 pts, Evan Trupp 17g-24a—41 pst, Brett Hextall 13g-16a—29pts. If my math is correct that is 270 points from last year’s squad that went 30-7-2.
Rant of the night – Why is it that the bigger schools like the Wisconsin Badgers; that are going to be going to the almighty Big Ten; so they can maximize their schools exposure and bank all kinds of money from their share of the BTN revenue, can’t have "all" of their home games on television so fans of other programs can watch their games when our team plays theirs? Seriously, I think it's a legitimate question. Also, this helps make the case for college hockey having a hockey television package like the NHL’s Center Ice.
On the flip side of that argument, why is it that a relatively small school like UND has all of its home games and a few of their away games on Fox College Sports, so anyone that has the sports packages on Direct TV can watch their games.
While I realized that college hockey is a niche sport, I am sure that there are many fans like me that would spend an extra $10.00-20.00 dollars a month to watch their favorite teams when they're away from home. After watching Friday's game on FSN Wisconsin, I had to spend $9.95 to purchase Saturday’s game from the University of Wisconsin so I could watch the Badgers and Sioux debacle part II. Let me say that I would rather watch a hockey game on my Toshiba flat screen, as opposed to watching it on my lap top that's four and a half to five years old.
Rare Sweep?
The Fighting Sioux do not get swept very often had not been swept to start a WCHA season opener since the 1994-95 season, when the Fighting Sioux went 18-18-3, incidentally that was also the first year under head coach Dean Blais.
The Good
The Fighting Sioux outshot the Badgers 42-15…
Aaron Dell stopped the Badgers forward Joseph LaBate on a penalty shot to keep the game at 5-3. Dell then stopped the Badgers forward Jefferson Dahl on a break away a short time later during the waning moments of the third period to keep the Sioux in the game.
It would be an understatement to say that junior forward Danny Kristo is on fire, this past weekend Kristo had a 4-point weekend (2-2-4). According to Jayson Hajdu of the UND Sports Information Department, Kristo has scored 20 points in his last 23 games. That’s an impressive clip for the junior forward; I would imagine the Montreal Canadians are also impressed with Kristo’s play so far
Freshman Defenseman Nick Mattson had a two point game and a three point weekend for the Fighting Sioux. After starting off the season without any points, Mattson has 5 points in three games (2-3-5).
Sophomore defenseman Derek Forbort had a better night defensively for the Fighting Sioux on Saturday night as he was only on the ice for one of the five goals that the Badgers scored on the Fighting Sioux.
The Bad
Despite outshooting the Badgers the Fighting Sioux were swept and out scored by the Badgers 10-7.
The Fighting Sioux lost for the first time 2007 when they donned the black jerseys against the Boston College Eagles during the Frozen Four.
Aaron Dell last year All-WCHA and All American goalie ahs a save percentage of .813 and a goals against average of 4.05.
This was probably the last time the Fighting Sioux will play a WCHA conference game in
Sophomore Defenseman Derek Forbort had another rough night on Friday as he was on the ice for three of the five goals the Badgers scored.
