Blast from the Past: Mike Zoller (Miami) Ice hockey on brink of dynasty

Since this is Miami versus UND week, I thought I would dust this little nugget off. I think we need to light things up a bit here. This was written by Mike Zoller back in October of 2007.

At the same time, however, the term dynasty is thrown around too loosely and even pre-maturely. While some called the University of Southern California’s football team a dynasty, I say they were overrated. The University of Florida Gators, much to the delight of the Ohio State University fans, are not anywhere close to becoming a dynasty as their run of NCAA titles ended last season.

But now there is a new team that I believe is fighting for dynasty status. And while this team has a little work to do before they can be considered a dynasty, the Miami University RedHawk’s ice hockey team is well on their way.

But why should a hockey team from the small town of Oxford, Ohio even be considered a dynasty?

First you have to look at what makes a dynasty. To me there are four main criteria that decide if a team truly is a dynasty.

First off, a team needs to have a head coach committed to the team for a long time. Right now Enrico Blasi isn’t going anywhere until at least the 2016-17 season. This long-term contract solidifies his place in Miami hockey, he knows that this is his team; his team to mold and shape into a championship team.

The second thing a team needs to become a dynasty is a home arena they are truly proud of. While the Cowboys had Dallas Stadium, the ‘Hawks have the new Goggin Ice Center. In just its second year, Goggin is the home for the future of Miami hockey. Making Goggin a feared place to play for visitors will be critical for the opponents of the Red and White. (Read the whole article here)

Michigan Daily writer Matt Slovin wrote this article: Miami hockey not a dynasty, but still a force to be reckoned with

Third round stats: former NCAA college players (06/05/2013)

Here is the list of NHL hockey players that are currently playing in the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs that have played Division I college hockey.

The players are listed by their NHL team. These are players that have played in at least “one” Stanley Cup Playoff game during in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I have also listed their point totals as well.

This list doesn’t include players from teams that have been eliminated. The list doesn’t include players that are currently injured, or on their teams roster, but haven’t played in the Stanley Cup Playoff games yet.  I will update the list as much as I can.

Points lead third round

The third round is officially under way. Former Vermont Catamount Patrick Sharp (8g-6a—14pts) is the leader in the club house.  Former Wisconsin Badgers and current San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski (4g-8a—12pts) hangs on to second place, but his team was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the defending Stanley Cup Champions

Here’s how the rest of the top five places for former college hockey players; currently playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs shakes out.

There is a two way tie for third place, former Michigan State Spartan and current Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith (1g-9a—10pts is tied with former Golden Gopher and current Penguins Defenseman Paul Martin (2g-8a—10pts).

Currently, there is a two way tie for fifth place, former Ferris State Bulldog forward Chris Kunitz (4g-5a—9pts) is tied with former Wisconsin Badgers Ottawa Senators forward Kyle Turris (6g-3a—9pts).  Turris’ spot in the top four is temporary, because his Stanley Cup Playoffs are over; the Senators were eliminated by the top seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in round two, four games to one.  

Leader Board (National Hockey League rank in parentheses)

1. (6) Patrick Sharp, F, Vermont, 15GP, (8g-6a—14pts)

2. (8) Joe Pavelski, F, Wisconsin, 11GP, (4g-8a—12pts)

3. (18) Duncan Keith, D, Michigan State, 15GP, (1g-9a—10pts)

3. (18) Paul Martin, D, Minnesota, 13GP, (2g-8a—10pts)

5.  (27) Chris Kunitz, F, Ferris State, 12GP, (4g-5a—9pts)

5.  (27) Kyle Turris, F, Wisconsin, 10GP, (6g-3a—9pts)

 If I have forgotten a player on this list, feel free to drop me a line at thegoon48@gra.midco.net

Boston Bruins (3)

Torey Krug, D, Michigan State, 7GP, (4g-2a—6pts)

Matt Bartkowski, D, Ohio State, 7GP, (1g-1a—2pts)

Richard Peverley, F, St. Lawrence University, 13GP, (1g-0a—1pts)

Chicago Blackhawks (6)

Patrick Sharp, F, Vermont, 14GP, (8g-6a—14pts)

Duncan Keith, D, Michigan State, 15GP, (1g-9a—10pts)

Jonathon Toews, F, North Dakota, 15GP, (1g-6a—7pts)

Nick Leddy, D, Minnesota, 15GP, (0g-2a—2pts)

Victor Stalberg, F, Vermont, 13GP, (0g-3a—3pts)

Brandon Bollig, F, St. Lawrence, 3GP, (0g-0a—0pts)

 LA Kings (5)

Dustin Penner, F, Maine, 16GP, (2g-2a—4pts)

Alec Martinez, D, Miami, 7Gp, (0g-2a—2pts)

Rob Scuderi, D, Boston College, 16GP, (0g-3a—3pts)

Matt Greene, D, North Dakota, 7GP, (0g-1a—1pts)

Jonathan Quick, UMass, 15GP, 9-7, .941 SV% 1.71 GAA

Pittsburgh Penguins (9)

Paul Martin, D, Minnesota, 13GP, (2g-8a—10pts)

Chris Kunitz, F, Ferris State, 13GP, (4g-5a—9pts)

Douglas Murray, D, Cornell, 13GP, (2g-1a—3pts)

Mark Eaton, D, Notre Dame, 8GP, (0g-3a—3pts)

Matt Niskanen, D, Duluth, 13GP, (0g-2a—2pts)

Brooks Orpik, D, Boston College, 10GP, (1g-1a—2pts)

Craig Adams, F, Harvard, 13GP, (0g-1a—1pts)

Tanner Glass, F, Dartmouth, 5GP, (1g-0a—1pts)

Beau Bennett, F, Denver, 4GP, (1g-0a—1pts)

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine.

An early look at the PWR.

For a good laugh on this Monday afternoon, the Michigan Tech University Huskies are leading the Pair Wise Rankings after four games. You might want to take a picture because I am sure you will see this change as the season continues and the games play out. 

New rule on head shots getting results?

Here is an article by C.C. Tigers beat writer Joe Pasley of the Colorado Spring Gazette that was in yeterday's Gatette; the newspaper article has some interesting tidbits that you might want to take a look at. Personally, I found some of the comments by Greg Shepherd and Bruce McLeod to be interesting as well. While there were only 27 five-minute majors for contact to the head were recorded, how many of them were missed?

Gazette.com --- Only 27 five-minute majors for contact to the head were recorded this past season, though it seemed like far more were called.

“The perception is there were a lot more,” said Greg Shepherd, the league’s head of officials. “We did a good job making sure the coaches and players were aware, especially during the first month.”

Tigers coach Scott Owens knew the problem had to be addressed and was happy with the new rule and how it was handled.

“It’s had a positive impact,” he said. “The officials spent time explaining it to (the coaches) and we passed it on to the players. They made a lot of calls early. It’s definitely a problem. When you look at the (NHL Channel news) ticker, at least a third of it deals with concussions.”

Here something else from the article that I found interesting.

The severity of the five-minute major, which included either a game misconduct or game suspension, proved an effective, immediate deterrent that also made things easier for the league office. Whether a player missed the rest of the game or the rest of that game and the next was up to the on-ice official, which is how the league wanted it.

Former Herald beat writer sums it up well.

I always loved Virg Foss’ work while he was a beat writer for the Fighting Sioux Hockey team and this article sums it up well. I think most of us are still in a state of shock.

Grand Forks Herald --- And so it stings and it will for a long while. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.

But remember this. The pain we feel as fans is nothing compared to what is felt by the players, coaches and staff. They formed a championship-caliber team, but couldn’t win the big one on the biggest of stages.

No matter how flowery the words of praise we heap on this team for remarkable and memorable achievements, the players, more than the fans, will never forget how this season ended.

It ended in shock, disbelief, great sadness and extreme hurt. And there re no words any of us can write or say to make that go away soon, if ever.

Links to the Frozen Four...

There are a lot of news stories out there on tomorrow’s Frozen Four. In reading some of the Michigan based new articles on the Sioux versus the Wolverines I do think that there is a lot of “sandbagging” coming out of Michigan as well. The Fighting Sioux and Michigan Wolverines are both good hockey teams and either team is capable of winning.

Contrary to public belief the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team is not looking past the Michigan Wolverines as some fans from other college hockey programs have suggested. While some UND Fighting Sioux fans might be talking about potential match-ups; because we can, we don’t play the games, this shouldn’t be equated to the Fighting Sioux hockey team looking past anyone. Having watched the Fighting Sioux hockey team for a very long time, this team is as focused as any Fighting Sioux hockey team that I have seen in some time; I would probably say since the 2000 team that won it all.

UMD looks for home-state advantage... [ESPN.COM]

U-M hoping to end tourney run with title... [ESPN.COM]

Here is this week's INCH Podcast [click to listen]

UND aims to take its best shot Morden's Chay Genoway gets his final chance at NCAA title... [Winnipeg Free Press]

INCH has the Frozen Four coaches take [INCH.COM]

Hockey key part of Minnesota culture [ESPN.COM]

Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald; has a story about the Fighting Sioux being comfortable playing at Xcel Energy Center... [Grand Forks Herald]

Dave Campbell, WDAZ ;Frattin Carries UND to Frozen Four... [WDAZ.COM]

Notre Dame hockey: NCAA tourney points piling up for center Riley Sheahan... [South Bend Tribune]

Notre Dame hockey: Senior trio 'Frozen' again... [South Bend Tribune]

Notre Dame hockey: Three Irish icers returning home... [South Bend Tribune]

Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald; Duluth’s Forbort helping North Dakota’s quest for title... [Duluth News Tribune]

Notre Dame hockey audio: Jackson looks ahead to Frozen Four... [Click to listen]

Tale of the Tape and match up courtesy of College Hockey News… [Click to view] The Sioux are 3-0 against Michigan in their last three games.

Tuesday morning links - two days till the Frozen Four...

Tuesday and two more days till the Frozen Four Kicks off and there is a lot of college hockey news to review. The suspense is killing me and working this week hasn’t been easy. The good news is we will have an NCAA champion by Saturday evening. The Sioux have a one in four chance of being that team.

Sean Leahy from Puck Daddy chats with North Dakota’s Matt Frattin about NCAA Frozen Four, Hobey Baker and pranking his coach [click to view]

USCHO breaks down the UMD and ND game: Coaches analyze Minnesota-Duluth, Notre Dame semifinal matchup...[Click to view]

Matt Frattin and Aaron Dell have made the first team of the INCH All-American team for the 2010-2011 season. Fighting Sioux senior defenseman Chay Genoway made the second team as well... [click to view].

USCHO breaks down the UND and Michigan game: Watch for net-front play in Michigan, North Dakota semifinal... [click to view]

Elliot Olshansky of the USCHO'S Hobey Watch' Looks at the Competition Issue...[Click to view]

Follow the UND Sid on his UND Fighting Sioux hockey travel blog [Click to view] The Sioux are hopping the bus to St. Paul today.

Brett Hull blames T.J. Oshies teammates.

Sports Illustrated

I was reading this article in the stltoday.com tonight and I have to admit that I kind of agree with Brett Hull. You've thought that one of his teammates would've given him a call on his cell or stopped by the house to see if he is ok.

This afternoon, Hull said that he didn't want to speculate on why Blues forward T.J. Oshie missed Monday's practice, but the Hall of Famer does know where he would point the finger.

"I don't know what the reason is, why he missed," Hull said. "But to me, I put less blame on him and blame his teammates. When we played together ... (Kelly Chase), (Adam Oates) and (Brendan Shanahan) ... we took care of each other. That never would have happened. Someone would have been at his house getting him up and getting him to practice.

"So to me, I would blame more the teammates than I would him. You've got to take care of each other, especially that team. They're so young. They've got such an opportunity to bond together and be a great team. There's so much talent there. They've got to take care of each other in those situations off the ice."

EDIT: Todd Bertuzzi elbows Ryan Johnson

The right call was made in this situation (5 minute major and game misconduct) as the Redwing's Todd Bertuzzi elbows former Fighting Sioux forward and current Chicago Blackhawk Ryan Johnson. I don't think that a suspension is coming from the NHL, but who knows with the NHL. Bertuzzi is a repeat offender so the league might take that into consideration.

Bertuzzi will not be suspended for his hit on Ryan Johnson. [detroitnews.com]

Something to ponder on Sunday morning; ECAC Hockey...

So after Union, Yale and RPI went an impressive 1-3 in the NCAA tourney this past weekend, can we now again call the ECAC the EZAC again? All season long we heard how tough the ECAC was top to bottom. The ECAC fans were upset with the rest of the college hockey world for rolling our eyes at this suggestion. We had seen this drill before. After watching Yale rack up wins against a list of unimpressive teams, we were lectured by the “Eastern college hockey pundits” that Yale was one of the best college teams in the country and they’re going to be punching their ticket to the Frozen Four in March. #epicfail #notwinning

I ask you, has anything actually changed? But I digress. After watching Yale play two games, I don’t think that Yale was even the best team in their conference. I had the opportunity to watch Union play three or four times this season, I believe that Union was best team in the ECAC. The Dutchmen gave UMD more of a fight that Yale did. Before someone jumps down my throat I saw the O’Neill hit on Jake Hendrickson that was a penalty and worthy of a major penalty and the refs made the right call in that situation.

Let’s think about this, Duluth (the fourth place team in the WCHA) rolled through Yale like a hot knife through butter. Almost true to form; and right on script, the ECAC teams were all gone by the end of the NCAA regionals. That right, the ECAC went 1-3 in their four NCAA games played. So I ask you college hockey fans, has anything really changed? NCAA titles are won and lost in March and April, there is no trophy for being number one in the pairwise during regular season nor is a there a trophy for having the most wins in January and February.

I had a debate recently with a person that had said top to bottom that the ECAC was most balanced league in all of college hockey. I immediately took issue with what this man had said; I told his argument was highly flawed and flat out wrong. Of course the man was perplexed that I would even question his logic.

Going forward I think my argument has been proven to be right with the results of this post season. All you have to do is look at what the WCHA has done this post season and what has transpired, the 10th place team in the WCHA took out the third place team and the fourth place team in the WCHA playoffs.

I honestly think after watching the tourney to this point that the WCHA has proved to be the toughest league top to bottom; think about this, how often does the 6th place team in any league take out the defending NCAA champion in the NCAA tourney? That doesn’t happen very often. Think about this, when the regular season ended the C.C. Tigers finished in 6th place in the WCHA standings and had to go to a third game against the Wisconsin Badgers to make the WCHA Final Five. The Tigers were also a bubble team and were one of the last teams in.

The Eagles were no cupcake and the Tiger took them down and hung an 8 spot on their team. Their goaltender had gone an impressive 8-0-0 in the NCAA tourney. That’s no small accomplishment in my opinion; the Eagles were the team that had won NCAA titles in two out the last three NCAA’s. The next night the Tigers played tough against Michigan. UMD took two of the anointed best teams that the ECAC had to offer and chewed them up and spit them out.

Sioux 6 RPI 0

Today was the first game of the Midwest Regional and the Fighting Sioux came out and put the woods to the RPI Engineers, the game was tight checking and close for the first period and the Sioux only led the game by one after one period, the Sioux eventually wore down the Engineers with their dept and broke open the game with four goals in the third period. The Sioux got one more goal in the third period to ice the game away. It was apparent as the game wore on that UND and RPI are no t on the same page are there is a huge difference between the two teams talent wise.

Nelson Knocked out of the game

There was one area of concern as RPI Josh Rabbani knocked Brock Nelson out literally and then Nelson was helped off of the ice by the trainer. In reviewing the video of the hit I would say that it could have been called a charge or interference. There was no penalty on the call and the Sioux went down the ice and scored. I do think that Brock Nelson has to keep his head up in that situation especially with a big physical team like RPI that tried to play physical against UND but to no avail.

Scoring for the Fighting Sioux were Brad Malone (2X), Danny Kristo, Jason Gregoire, Matt Frattin. Since coming back from frostbite, Danny Kristo has been on fire scoring (3g-2a-5tps) in his last three games. Kristo started out the season snake bitten and could hit water if he was standing in a boat in the middle of a lake. During the second half of the season, his fortunes have changed, Kristo has been on a scoring tear, if my math is right, Kristo had 1 goal, 4 assists and 5 points on November 26, since that date, Kristo has been red hot scoring (7g-15a-22pts).

Since coming back from his frostbite episode, It's almost like his frostbite incident has caused Kristo to refocus his efforts and play like a man that is possessed, his goal today was an awesome and the toe drag move was one for the highlight reels.

[Box Score]

Goon's three stars of the game
1.) Brad Malone (2g-0a-2pts)
2.) Danny Kristo (1g-1a-2pts)
3.) Aaron Dell shutout

Bracket Busting is legal

I think it would be an understatement if I said, “that my brackets are busted.” Actually, my brackets are now a piece of smoking rubble, I got one pick right the last two days. I am not doing very well I have only gotten on pick right and that was UND beating smoking RPI like a cheap cigar. I virtually have no chance of winning my pick-em contest that my buddy entered me into. #epicfail...

Controversy in St Louis

Last night there was a lot of controversy about the Michigan game winner against UNO, of course the ugly helmet fans are happy about this decision, why wouldn’t they be? Seriously, their team lives to fight reviewing everything that I have seen on the goal, I still think the refs made the wrong call on that goal review... That’s my opinion and I am not changing it. It should not take almost 10 minutes to review a goal, I am sorry if you can’t figure it out in 2-5 minutes it’s time to wave the goal off and get back to playing the game.

Ref that made call fired by the NHL

The ref that was part of controversial call is a disgraced and fired NHL/AHL referee. Harry Dumas who was fired by the NHL/AHL during the summer of 2006, I am not making that point up. So let me get this straight; in the biggest games of the year, the NCAA is using an on ice official that was fired by the NHL, that is not something to be proud of, that means this guy wasn’t very good, yet he is good enough to ref and NCAA Division 1 hockey game? How?!? I don’t like this precedent at all, you can’t tell me we don’t have other competent officials that haven’t been fired from the NHL or AHL that could call these regional games. [The Hockey Blog], [Hockey Refs] ... As a college hockey fan I find this to be unacceptable. But of course, Secretary Rules Editor Steve Piotrowski released this statement after the game.

"The officials' initial on-ice call was no goal. There was reasonable evidence to believe the puck had completely crossed the goal line. The play was stopped at the next non-advantage situation to allow an opportunity for the on-ice referees to review the video. Following video review, the on-ice referees determined through conclusive video evidence that the puck had completely crossed the goal line and exited the net by way of the goalie's leg pad."

What I find eve more puzzling is that Steve Piotrowski is from the CCHA so of course he is going to stick up for one of his member schools that benefited from the controversial ruling. The thing that really sticks in my craw is that it took the on ice officials almost 10 minutes to make the call, in my opinion that's unacceptable, if you don't see conclusive evidence that it's a goal in 2-5 minutes it's not there, no review should take that long, either there is visual evidence or there is not.

INCH Power Rankings

gAs always I include the INCH Power Rankings, for a fifth week in a row the Fighting Sioux are on top of the rankings.

INCH Power Rankings
[March 23, 2011]
1. North Dakota — The Fighting Sioux have played 60 NCAA Tournament games in their program’s history. They’ve won 40 of them for a .667 winning percentage, tops among all schools, and only Minnesota (50), Michigan (47), and Boston College (41) have more total tournament victories. 30-8-3 LAST WEEK: W vs. Colorado College, 4-3; W vs. Denver, 3-2 2ot (WCHA Final Five). THIS WEEK: vs. Rensselaer (NCAA Midwest Regional)
2. Boston College
3. Miami
4. Yale
5. Michigan
6. Merrimack
7. Union
8. Denver
9. New Hampshire
10. Western Michigan
11. Colorado College
12. Minnesota Duluth
13. Notre Dame
14. Dartmouth
15. Nebraska-Omaha
16. Boston University
17. Air Force
18. RIT
19. Rensselaer
20. Wisconsin
Dropped out: None
Bubble-licious: None

Putting a wrap on the Final Five...

This past weekend I took in all five games of the Final Five and realized what an awesome format the new Final Five is. It’s a shame that the new format will only last two more seasons before the almighty Big Ten Hockey Conference will ride off into the sunset with Wisconsin and Minnesota. I hope we can keep a semblance of the current format.

There were a “few things” that I really liked about the new tournament format. First, in the new format your team is only guaranteed to play in one game, that’s it, if your team loses it’s done and that team goes home for the weekend, under the old format if your team managed to win on Thursday night, that team would be guaranteed to play in two more games. Since there was no third place game this year, fans did not have to buy a ticket to a meaningless third place game that could have ended up being a clunker if one team was already out of the NCAA playoff picture.

Again, In my opinion I must emphasis that this year every game mattered, while both teams were in the NCAA tourney already, when both teams were asked at the post game press conference if this was a meaningless game, the media was corrected by both teams players and the head coaches that this was not a meaningless game. If you need to ask why it wasn’t a meaningless game, it was because a conference title and a tourney trophy and pride was on the line. Not many teams get to claim back to back Broadmoor Trophies and the Denver Pioneers had an opportunity to prevent that from happening, in the end they did not but the Fighting Sioux had to work for it as well.

In retrospect this was one of my favorite WCHA Final Fives not just because my favorite team won but because there were a lot of great story lines and great hockey, I also got to see the game from a different angle this time around. I applied for a received a press pass from the WCHA and I was able to see the back stage of the college hockey world, this was a valuable experience that I will never forget. I met some really cool people as well and hung out with some old friends as well. It was a great learning experience all the way around.

Beavers and Bulldogs

In the First game of the WCHA Final Five the BSU Beavers beat the UMD 3-2 in overtime to advance to the Semifinals of the WCHA Final Five. The UMD and BSU game wasn’t without controversy as the Bulldogs defenseman Brady Lamb was called for high sticking at 5:53 mark of OT period and the Beavers forward Matt Walters scored 19 seconds later on the only shot of the period for the BSU Beavers. The win for the Beavers game the life to fight another day, the loss for the Bulldogs sent them home to lick their wounds and get ready for the next round. At the post game press conference you could tell by UMD head Scott Sandelin’s body language has not very happy at all and almost in disbelief at what had just happened, I kind-of likened it to another giant that fell victim for the BSU Beavers, just ask the Cornell Big Red and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The "victors" on the other hand gave us a look backward into the past; the upstart Beavers that made the Frozen Four two short years ago, the wide eyed kids from Bemidji that refused to go away, they knocked off the third and fourth teams in the WCHA and they were now setting their sights on the second place Pioneers.

Seawolves and Tigers

In the second game of the quarterfinals the Seawolves gave the C.C. Tigers everything they could handle as they out-shot the Tigers 23-16 and dominated the play for most of the game but the Seawolves suffered some of the worst puck luck I have ever watched in a hockey game. The UAA head coach summed it up well with this statement, "It doesn't feel right," said Shyiak. "I thought we earned the right to win by the way we played. I thought we played well, and we had some quality scoring chances early, but we didn't get any of them to go in. And all four of their goals went in off skates."

UAA Seawolves forward Tommy Grant proved once again that he was one of the most under rated forwards in the WCHA as he ended his WCHA career just as he started going 100 hundred miles an hour playing each shift if it was his last. I can see this kid getting a contract sometime in the near future because of the way he plays the game, I will miss watching Tommy Grant play in the WCHA.

DU and BSU

The second game the upstart BSU Beavers didn’t really go as well as they had wanted , the Beavers need to win two more games to return to the NCAA tourney for a third year in a row. That run ended at the hands of the DU Pioneers as the Pioneers who thrashed the Beavers 6-2. The game was close through two periods as the Beavers had out worked the Pioneers and were still tied going into the third period. In the third period, the Beavers failed to convert on a 5-3 power play the Pioneers scored four unanswered goals.

At the press conference, the wide-eyed Beaver players from a day before looked dejected, the reality that their season was finally over, and a fantastic run had come- to- an end, the giants from DU had ended the BSU Beavers first season in the WCHA.

While all season long I have e read comments about the BSU Beavers being a poor hockey team or not being very good, the Beavers in fact proved to be a team that was dangerous and not to be over looked. I told my buddy Scott that the BSU Beavers resembled their coach, intense, small in stature, hard working and they never stopped moving their feet. They are on top of you and they will never give up. I think by making the Final Five and winning a game, the BSU Beavers were successful in their first season and there will be better days ahead. I think the Beavers proved to the naysayers and fan bloggers that the Beavers did in fact belong in the WCHA.

With the loss the magical career of Matt Read came to an end, I only wish I could see him play more, Matt Read finished his college career with (65g-78a-143pts). Word has it that Read is close to signing a professional contract.

UND and C.C.

The Tigers and the Sioux were locked into a what I would call a pretty good defensive battle, Sophomore forward Danny Kristo scored a goal on his first shift in his first game back from the frostbite incident, I don’t know if you couldn’t write a better story line any, I mean does it get any better than that? Also, sophomore defenseman Andrew MacWilliam returned to the lineup from an undisclosed injury that had kept MacWilliam out of action for three games. MacWilliam looked fresh returning from the layoff and played like a man possessed. I would say that Andrew MacWilliam looked as good as I had seen him play all season long, MacWilliam known for being more of a physical bruising stay at home defenseman actually led a couple of nice rushes up ice. The Sioux won the game 4-3 on a goal from Hobey Baker finalist Matt Frattin.

DU and UND

The Sioux and the DU Pioneers took center stage to renew college hockey’s version of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s feud. The game was testy and feisty from the start as both teams got after each other. The Sioux came out and looked like they were a little tight and the DU Pioneers got on the board first with a goal from Denver forward Dustin Jackson assisted by Kyle Ostrow and Anthony Maiani.

In the second period, the Fighting Sioux got their legs going and answered the Pioneer tally with a goal from Danny Kristo assisted by Taylor Dickin and Derrick LaPoint. Both teams exchanged good offensive scoring chances and sophomore goalie Aaron Dell kept the Sioux in the game with stellar goaltending. The Sioux finally took the lead on a weird goal by senior forward Brent Davidson as he scored from behind the red line, assisting on the Davidson goal were Kristo and LaPoint. Going into the third period the Sioux had something like a 20-0-2 record when leading after two periods so you had to think that Sioux had a good chance to win the game.

History in the making

In the third period with 2:13 remaining in the game the DU Pioneers scored to tie the game with a nice goal from Anthony Maiani assisting were Beau Bennett, Matt Donovan. The game was very entertaining through the first overtime and the game would remain tied until the 5:11 mark of the second overtime when Hobey Baker Finalist Matt Frattin scored the game winner assisting on the game winning goal were Chay Genoway and Evan Trupp. It was the first time the championship game of the Final Five had gone to overtime since the fluky Blake Wheeler goal in the 2007 Final Five. This was also the longest overtime game for a Final Five since 1993 when the WCHA went to the Final Five

Nanne wants Gophers to add Minnesota hockey tournament

This was in Shooter's column today, former University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and Minnesota North Stars player Lou Nanne comes up with a pretty decent idea for the Gophers to continue scheduling the Minnesota WCHA schools and still keeping the main rivalry games against DU, UMD and UND. Perusing the proposal from my seat, it looks like a pretty good idea, however, how often are the Big Ten Schools going to want to come to the REA, Amsoil or Magness Arena and get beat.

Charley Walters, pioneerpress.com ----- Lou Nanne, the former University of Minnesota All-American, said he likes that the Gophers will become part of an upstart Big Ten hockey conference in 2013-14 because of Big Ten Network exposure.

But, Nanne said this morning, he has an idea "that no one is talking about and that they should do. I would have a Minnesota tournament every year instead of that Christmas tournament they've got now with schools you've never heard of."

Such a holiday tournament would include St. Cloud State, Minnesota State Mankato and Bemidji State.

"That would give visibility and credibility to the Minnesota schools and build rivalries," he said. "Don't have Duluth in it, because Duluth would be on the non-conference schedule. I would maintain Duluth and North Dakota for two non-conference games a year. The (holiday tournament) would mean two more games for Minnesota.

"That would give you six (Gophers) games that should be a must. And they would, by far, draw better at the Christmas tournament. No one has thought about it, and they better start thinking about it."

Nanne, who owns four Gophers season tickets, intends to suggest the holiday tournament to Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi.

"I don't want to go watch the weaker schools from the East; I don't care about them," Nanne said. "I care about the Minnesota schools.

"That's what this is all about, maintaining Minnesota rivalries somehow. But I really hope that they work in traditional rivalries with North

Dakota and Duluth and Denver and Colorado. North Dakota and Duluth are the biggest rivalries we've had."

Color me less than impressed

One scenario that I can see is in the future, I think the Big Ten Schools are going to fill their schedules with teams that aren’t as hard to beat, shall we call them cupcakes because face it, their conference schedule is going to be tough in the Strength of Schedule department and they are going to need rack up some wins after beating the hell out of each other to possibly to make the NCAA tourney and might have to line their non conference schedule with less challenging opponents cupcakes that are looking to travel to the Big Ten teams arena's for a pay day.

One thing I would've liked to have seen when then Big Ten Schools made their big annoucement would've been for the WCHA and CCHA athletic directors to tell the Big Ten Schools to tell them, "don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." I would have liked to seen the Bruce McLeod tell the Big Ten Schools Minnesota and Wisconsin whatever and or nice knowing you and good luck. I would rather not have the commissioner falling all over himself. In the next breath as soon as possible I would have called for a meeting with the head of the CCHA Tom Anastos to set up discussion about forming a new super conference between the WCHA and the CCHA.

I mean seriously, what we are really doing here; the way I see it, college hockey is adding one college hockey team in PSU, this is a team who has never played a single friggen division one hockey game ever and we are now going to possibly sacrifice up to five CCHA teams, FSU, LSSU, WMU, BGSU and or NMU so the BTHC can have 40+ hockey games on their beloved BTN. I am not anti Big Ten but why not put a little more thought into it.

UND and C.C. post game press conference...

This from last night's press conference. Here is the link to the DU post game press conference as well. [Click to view]

Denver ends BSU’s season 6-2; Pioneers advances.

Photo by Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer

The Bemidji State University Beavers came into this afternoon’s game against the DU Pioneers having to win two games to advance to the NCAA tourney. Their season ended at the hands of the Denver Pioneers 6-2.

During the first period there was hope for the BSU Beavers. The Beaver came out and they were taking the game to the DU Pioneers, the Beavers had a strong forecheck and they were racing through the neutral zone with speed and they were getting pucks deep past the Denver Pioneers defenders. The Beavers were also generating chances down low and ended the first period with a 2-1 lead. Going into the second period it still looked like the Beavers were in the game and had a chance.

The Beavers had a great opportunity going into the third period as the Pioneers had two players whistled for minor penalties ( Nutini 18:31 and Maiani 19:57) in the closing minutes of the second period, the Beavers had a five-on-three power play for 29 seconds to open play in the third period. The Beavers couldn’t cash in on the five on three power play and it seemed to change the game around for the Pioneers. The Pioneers put the Beavers into hibernation as they scored four goals in third period to (Nick Shore, Jarroad Mermis, Luke Salazar and Kyle Ostrow) cruse to a 6-2 score and end the Beavers magical run in the WCHA playoffs.

[Box Score]

Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer

Post game quotes...
George Gwozdecky Head Coach, DU...
"First I want to compliment our opponent today. They had a tremendous postseason run. Sam Brittain made some tremendous saves in the first couple of periods to keep the game close for us and killing off the five-on-three to start the third period was an emotional boost for us and we fed off of that. [Bemidji State] was a challenging opponent for us."

On tomorrow's championship game and the importance of playing well heading into the NCAA Tourney...
"Both teams, CC and North Dakota, like to get up and down the ice. They like to attack from end to end. They're going to force you. They're going to forcheck you hard. Both have very good penalty units and both have very good power plays. They're very similar in a lot of ways. Whoever we face, we know it's going to be a major challenge for us.

Over the corse of the past 10-12 games, we've been counting this down as a team and trying to get all of us to realize how important [it is] to be ready to play, emotionally and physically, to the best of our ability at this time of year. The one thing that really helps is to be healthy."

Just for the record Gwozdecky said that 9 of the Pioneers has surgery after their season was over last year.

Bruins' Marchand suspended for two games

The Wheels of justice have spun and Brad Marchand received a two game suspension from the NHL and will miss the next two games against the Predators and the Leafs.

TORONTO – Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for two games and will forfeit $6,330.64 in salary for delivering an elbow to the head area of Columbus Blue Jackets player R.J. Umberger in NHL game #1044 Tuesday night, the National Hockey League announced today.

Marchand's fine is based on his average annual salary and is calculated under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 11:40 of the second period when Marchand approached Umberger from behind and struck him in the neck and side of the head with his elbow. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Marchand will miss the Bruins' next two games -- tonight at Nashville and March 19 at Toronto. He will be eligible to return March 22 against New Jersey.

Final Five Play-in Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, come one come all to the greatest hockey tournament of them all, the WCHA Final 5.

This is year it is a different format, since we have 6 teams, instead of 5. Now we have two play-in games on Thursday, and eliminated the third place game (which normal took place on Saturday afternoon).

Every team in St. Paul has a chance at the Broadmoor Championship and the NCAA auto-bid to the tournament. Three teams, UND, DU, and UMD are all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament, so the remaining three teams have more to lose this weekend.

Note - There will be a total of three Broadmoor Trophies. The largest will be on permanent display at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul in conjunction with the WCHA Final Five, one will be a traveling trophy, and one will be given to the winning team each year as a permanent addition to their display case.

WCHA 2010-11 FINAL standings
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts1. North Dakota…...…….21-6-1…43
2. Denver……..……...……17-8-3…37
3. Nebraska-Omaha.…..17-9-2…36
4. Minnesota-Duluth......15-8-5…35
5. Minnesota…….....…...13-10-5…31
6. Colorado College…....13-13-2…28
7. Wisconsin……….....….12-13-3…27
8. Alaska-Anchorage…12-14-2…26
8. St. Cloud State….......11-13-4…26
10. Bemidji State…….….8-15-5…21
10. Minnesota State…...8-16-4…20
12. Michigan Tech………2-24-2…6

(Numbers are current PairWise Rank)

Bemidji St. vs #6 Minnesota-Duluth(season series UMD wins 1-0-1)
Last weekend the Beavers swept the UNO Mavericks in Omaha and the Bulldogs swept the SCSU Huskies in Duluth.

These teams played a pair of games in Bemidji back at the end of October, with the Bulldogs winning a 3-2 in OT and the rematch ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Beavers will be the underdog in this series, something they are use to this year. Other than beating up on UNO this season, the Beavers have had a hard time against the other top teams in the WCHA. Perhaps BSU needs to pretend they are playing UNO again this weekend? The Bulldogs dispatched a hot SCSU Husky team last weekend, granted it was a sweep, but going into a 3rd overtime on Saturday night is almost like playing 3 games. That coupled with a short off week, could be a factor in Thursday afternoons game. The Beavers need to continue to ride the stellar goaltending they got last weekend into St. Paul, if they want to advance. Giving up that many shots game in and game out will eventually catch up with a team, BSU hopes that isn’t this weekend. UMD appears to have righted their ship after it was listing a little toward the end of the regular season. If BSU can keep UMD’s top line off the score sheet they should be able to win. If UMD can get some goals into the net and get a lead they can open up the offense and try to bury the Beavers. BULLDOGS WIN

#20 Alaska-Anchorage vs #13 Colorado College(season series UAA wins 3-2-0)
Last weekend the Seawolves swept the UM Gophers in Minneapolis and the Tigers won their series with the Badgers in Colorado Springs.

These teams played have played 5 times this season. First time these teams met this season was in October in Fairbanks Alaska with the Tigers winning that game. In mid-November they met in Colorado Springs with the teams splitting, a 4-3 OT win for UAA and a 2-0 CC win. Then they met in Anchorage in mid-January with the Seawolves sweeping the Tigers, by 4-1 and 2-1 scores.

The Seawolves are riding a season best 5-game winning streak at the moment. The Tigers were the only team to play a 3-game series last weekend. This marks the 2nd time UAA has made the Final 5. The last time was March of 2004 and then like now, they play the CC Tigers. Back in 2004 the Seawolves beat the CC Tigers in the play-in game and then fell to UND and UMD. The Tigers had to come from behind twice to advance to this point, some might call it luck, some might say they rose to the occasion. Whichever way you put, I think they are living dangerously and don’t want to do it a third time. It is also hard to believe that UAA is heating up at the right time of year, they are getting goals and limiting their opponents scoring opportunities. The Tigers need to win to secure up their place in the pairwise and the NCAA picture. The Seawolves need to win this game and one or two more to get into the tournament; obviously if they win the Broadmoor they get the auto-bid. SEAWOLVES WIN

#2 North DakotaLast weekend the Sioux swept the MTU Huskies in Grand Forks.

The Fighting Sioux will play the winner of the UAA-CC game on Friday night.
On the season, UND is 2-0-1 versus UAA, and is 1-1-0 versus CC.

#6 DenverLast weekend the Pioneers swept the MSUM Mavericks in Denver.

The Pioneers will play the winner of the BSU-UMD game on Friday afternoon.
On the season, DU is 1-1-0 versus UMD, and is 2-0-0 versus BSU.

Also to note, UNO is currently tied with CC for 13th in the Pairwise rankings. So barring some major upsets getting auto-bids, the Mavericks have a good shot at getting into the NCAA tournament.

Cox: Will Chara hit still outrage hockey fans in a month?

If you haven't seen this article it's worth a look.

By Damien Cox Sports Columnist --- If you’re the NHL, why change when you know that all it takes to turn today’s outraged consumer into tomorrow’s satisfied fan is seeing his team’s enforcer win a fight?

That said, there is a sense that even hardcore hockey fans have had enough of the head shots and don’t like that Sidney Crosby is sitting out with a concussion so serious that his career may be threatened.

The GMs felt they made a significant move last year, enacting Rule 48 to try and take blindside headshots out of the game. It may have done specifically what it intended (no more Matt Cooke hits on Marc Savard to go unpunished) but hasn’t quieted the overall drumbeat, that hockey has become too dangerous and too destructive, even to its elite players.

So the challenge facing the GMs and the league is to be seen as responding to the problem without doing so in a knee-jerk manner. The GMs are paid not to be fans; they’re there to think carefully and dispassionately about change, looking beyond the needs of just their team and just their players.

Of course, it’s that latter point that always trips up the hockey executives. They always want the other guy suspended, while claiming their players would never intentionally hurt a fly.

So don’t look for big news out of Boca Raton this week. What you can hope for is a few good ideas, and possibly the emergence of a new philosophy, one that puts more emphasis on protecting the rights of victims of hockey violence, as opposed to keeping brutes and cheap-shot artists in the league.

It’s time that the perpetrators of on-ice crimes — not just the victims — are the ones who see their careers come to an end.

But even that may not happen. And then, inevitably, people will forget

College Hockey Scores from Saturday; March 12, 2011

AHA
Mercyhurst 3 at Connecticut 4 OT
Canisius 3 at Holy Cross 2 OT
Sacred Heart 0 at Air Force 4
American Int'l 1 at RIT 5

CCHA
Bowling Green 1 at Michigan 4
Ferris State 1 at Western Michigan 3
Alaska 1 at Miami 4
Lake Superior 4 at Notre Dame 3

ECAC
Quinnipiac 1 at Cornell 0
Harvard 1 at Dartmouth 2 OT
St. Lawrence 2 at Yale 5
Colgate 4 at Union 2

Hockey East
Vermont 3 at New Hampshire 4
Massachusetts 2 at Boston College 4
Maine 2 at Merrimack 6

WCHA
St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 3 3OT [Box Scores]
Bemidji State 3 at Nebraska-Omaha 2 [Box Scores]
Minnesota State 2 at Denver 3 OT [Box Scores]
Michigan Tech 1 at North Dakota 3 [Box Scores]
Wisconsin 3 at Colorado College 4 OT [Box Scores]
Alaska Anchorage 2 at Minnesota 0 [Box Scores]

Analysis - There were some amazing story lines emerging from last night’s college hockey games. Three games went to overtime... The Minnesota Golden Gophers, MTU Huskies, SCSU Huskies, MSUM Mavericks all had their season ended and will not play in the Final Five or the NCAA tourney. UNO after losing to the "pesky Beavers" is on the “bubble” of making the NCAA tourney, however, I think the UNO Mavericks will make the NCAA tourney baring some unforeseen wild finishes in the other leagues, like a 11 or 12 seed winning a conference tourney.

St. Cloud State 2 vs. Minnesota Duluth 3 3OT – I really expected this series to go another way, The Huskies owned an impressive 4-0-2 the last six games against UMD and after the SCSU Huskies had beaten the UMD Bulldogs 8-2 I really though that the SCSU Huskies would push the Bulldogs to the "brink" in this series. Nope! That result didn't happen. The win didn't come easy as the UMD Bulldogs needed three overtimes to beat the SCSU Huskies as Mike Connolly scored at the 1:13 mark of the third overtime to send the UMD Bulldogs to the Final Five. [Rink and Run], [SCSU Times]

Bemidji State 3 vs. Nebraska-Omaha 2 – The UNO Mavericks out shot the BSU Beavers 91-37 on the weekend but still ended up losing the series in two games. In talking to someone that watched the game in Omaha, BSU goalie Dan Bakala was nothing short of amazing this weekend and the difference in both games. Maverick fans will be watching the score board and the PWR/RPI this next week after the series loss to the BSU Beavers. The Mavericks are currently sitting in 12th of the PWR and should make the NCAA playoffs baring an unforeseen meltdown.

To quote a sports cliché this is why we play the games folks, there are no sure things in life and there are no give me’s in college hockey. Also, the games aren’t played on paper, the higher seed doesn’t always win the series. That’s life! That's WCHA hockey. I know there are some people in Omaha that are upset by the Beavers winning the series against the Mavericks but if you know anything about the BSU Beavers (I have followed them for years), they are team known for beating teams with better records, just ask Notre Dame and Cornell, shall we call the BSU Beavers giant killers?

The Beavers have been known to build their team from the goaltender out and add skilled smallish forwards with speed that play a high energy game and as the fans in Omaha found out Beaver goalie Dan Bakala is an awesome goaltender add the Beavers forward line of Matt Read, Ian Lowe and Jordan George and the BSU Beavers are a pretty good hockey team.

Seriously!!! I watched the Miami RedHawks outshoot the Beavers last season at the Ralph only to watch the Beavers win the game, the Beavers are intimidated by no one and the RedHawks were highly favored in this game. You have to play 60 minutes of hockey. I also believe that you have to give credit where credit is due; Beavers head coach Tom Serratore is a good hockey coach and gets the most out of his players. The Beavers resemble their coach they are small, they are intense and they're a hard working team. UNO went 0-5-1 against the Beavers and they were the only team that the Mavericks didn’t beat this season. [Up North Sports], [Omaha.com]

Minnesota State 2 vs. Denver 3 OT – The MSUM Mavericks blew another lead and lost another game in the third period after leading to the DU Pioneers. Actually, the MSU-M Mavericks have led the DU Pioneers in the last four games they played against the Pioneers, only to watch the Pioneers beat the Mavericks, talk about "ground hog day." I am sure the coaching staff has to be scratching their heads after watching their team go 0-3-1 in aforementioned games. Jason Zucker scored at the 1:29 mark of the first overtime to send the DU Pioneers to the Final Five in St. Paul, Minnesota. [Puckato], [Denver Post]

Michigan Tech 1 vs. North Dakota 3 – The Fighting Sioux won the game 3-1 in an uneventful, listless and relatively boring (insert your adjective) hockey game, that lacked any emotion. Hobey Baker hopeful Matt Frattin scored his 33 goal of the year on an empty net at the 19:54 mark of the third period to seal the game for the Fighting Sioux. Last night’s game was the first time that MTU had led in a game against the Fighting Sioux this season as MTU forward Ryan Furne scored at the 6:15 mark of the first period. UND Fighting Sioux junior forward Brett Hextall scored the equalizer at the 3:33 mark of the second period, new comer Fighting Sioux freshman forward Tyler Dicken scored his first career goal 2:01 minutes later and the Fighting Sioux never looked back.

The goal in the waning moments of the third period by Frattin brought everyone that wasn’t standing to their feet. After the game the Fighting Sioux were presented the MacNaughton Cup at center ice for winning the regular season championship, the celebration was very subdued as the team didn’t even want to touch the MacNaughton Cup. The guys didn't actually touch the cup from what I can see and they looked like they didn’t even want to be around the historic MacNaughton cup. Incidentally, the last three teams to win the cup have lost their first round game in the NCAA tourney. [Fighting Sioux], [USCHO], [UND Hockey Blog], [Grand Forks Herald]

Wisconsin 3 vs. Colorado College 4 OT – The C.C. Tigers need a goal from Scott Winkler at the 16:31 mark of the third period to force overtime and then got a goal from super freshman Jaden Schwartz at the 5:48 mark of the third period to extend the Tigers season. Game three is this evening at 8:07 pm central. [Madison.com], [Eye of the Tigers]

Alaska Anchorage 2 vs. Minnesota 0 – Gopher Fans are already marching on the campus of the University of Minnesota with rakes and pitchforks after their team failed to make the Final Five for a second consecutive season in a row, I don’t think even Doug Woog managed to miss the WCHA Final Five two season in a row.

This will be the third consecutive season in a row that the Gophers have missed the NCAA tourney as well… Gopher fans known for their sense of entitlement are fed up with head coach Don Lucia, a man that Gopher fans once praised not so long ago as being the second coming of Jesus Christ after Lucia’s team had won back to back NCAA titles in 2001-2002 and 2002 –2003.

My how the mighty have fallen, the Gophers have gone from the penthouse to the outhouse in eight short years, Gopher Nation has officially turned on their head hockey coach and they are jumping off Lucia’s bandwagon. Grab a bag of popcorn and a soda and watch Gopher fans are now in full meltdown mode on Gopher Puck Live, Star Tribune and USCHO, it’s almost comedic. Gopher fans are angry and they want blood and they want it now!!! Minneapolis and Saint Paul Police are patrolling the bridges in the Metro area and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has signed an executive order making it a criminal offense to be caught walking on a bridges this week because of fears that distraught Gopher fans will jump off.

Now it’s not tough to put this into perspective, I come from a fan base that wants to fire the head coach of a team that has never had a losing season in his seven years as coach. Mind you, this is the same head coach that has led his teams to the Frozen Four, albeit and they lost in all four (finshing second in one and third three times) and after an 8-4 loss to the UNO Mavericks which are led by former Fighting Sioux head coach Dean Blais; some Sioux fans wanted Dave Hakstol fired. But I digress…

I get it and I can see why the Gopher fans are upset with the way things are, the Minnesota Gophers hockey program has had a relatively successful division one college hockey program that was looked at in the 1980-1990’s and early 2000’s as being the bench mark of college hockey in the WCHA and the college hockey world. None-the-less, I also don’t think it’s an understatement to say that the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey team has all the advantages that the other four division one teams in the state of Minnesota don’t have (BSU, UMD, MSU-M, SCSU), they have an awesome television package with FSN, the Gophers for the most part have a fawning/adoring metro media and the Golden Gophers have all of the advantages afforded to them because they're Big Ten school to boot, these advantages include the Minnesota Rule at the Final Five. That "Minnesota Rule" means jack today. The Gophers also get the first pick of the best blue chip Minnesota hockey players that play on the USDT team in Ann Arbor, Michigan before any other team in Minnesota gets a look.

Here's the problem, the Gopher hockey program never had any respect for their opponent this past weekend, and the Gophers showed it when their players make clueless comments like this, "We knew we had to get in the dirty areas. We knew that we are a better team than they are and we didn't take advantage of it [Friday]." Really! The Gophers are the better team? I wonder how Jake Hansen surmised that. It doesn’t appear to be a true statement. I doubt that the UAA Seawolves were impressed with the Gophers 19 NHL draft choices or the fact that half of their team was made up of blue chip athletes the Gopher coach staff got the first pick of. Who's smiling now?

It’s also comments like this from the beat writers that breath contempt from the opposing fan bases, check it out, “Mickey Spencer, a fourth-line winger for Alaska Anchorage, broke a scoreless tie with a breakaway goal early in the third period. And that's all the Seawolves and Chris Kamal, their freshman goalie, really needed.” Who cares what line Spencer plays on?

The fact remains that the Gophers got beat by a hungrier team that wanted it more. Its teams that play strong fundamental hockey that win college hockey games. The Seawolves got good goaltending from a Chris Camel and blocked 24 shots and the Gophers didn’t score. Season over. [Star Tribune], [Kare 11], [Delusions of Grandeur]