UND forward Corban Knight said after last night's game that he thought he was fine after crashing into the net in a hat trick attempt.Here is the official tweet from the UND SID.
Turns out, he was not.
UND says that Knight will miss the next four to six weeks with an apparent lower-body injury. [UND Hockey]
Regular readers of this site know that we’re not the greatest fans of post-game shootouts. Unfortunately, at many holiday tournaments across the country, the shootout is used to determine which teams advance and in some cases which teams win the tournament (Wisconsin). Our personal opinions aside, the holiday tournament season is probably the best time to use this format. With teams playing back-to-back nights and more than one game at each venue, there are time concerns and burdens on the players. Still, we applaud the Great Lakes Invitational and Beanpot for putting 20 minutes on the overtime clock.Personally I do find the shoot out to be exciting, however, to suggest that WMU won the 0-0 nonconference game against the Beavers last weekend after winning a shoot out is asinine. I don’t see the point of having a shoot out in that game. When it is all said and done WMU was shut out twice and the game in question will go down in Pairwise rankings as a tie.
We can accept that the CCHA uses the format for its league games, but why was there a shootout after Saturday’s 0-0 tie between Bemidji State and Western Michigan? When the host Broncos prevailed, fans left the rink with the perception that the Broncos won the game. Not bad for a team that failed to score an actual goal all weekend.
[INCH]
Athletic director Joel Maturi has heard the rumblings of discontent. Even diehard fans of the Gophers men's hockey program are disappointed with its struggles.
"Gophers hockey is expected to compete at the highest level each and every year," Maturi said, "and the belief is that's not where we are at."
Coach Don Lucia, who led the Gophers to back-to-back national titles earlier this decade, is having another trying season. The Gophers are seventh in the WCHA, and barring a strong second half, headed for their third consecutive middle-of-the-pack finish.
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Last season, the Gophers started 7-0-4 before a second-half tumble. They were fifth in the conference, lost in the Final Five play-in game to Minnesota Duluth 2-1 and did not get a spot in the NCAA field. Exacerbating the sting was that the West Regional was at Mariucci Arena.
"Growing up watching Gophers hockey, we saw them win national titles a couple years in a row and, year in and year out, be in the NCAAs," Carman said. "A lot of us thought it was a given."
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Recruiting roulette
"Minnesota has missed on players like [Zach] Parise, [T.J.] Oshie, [David] Backes and [Ryan] McDonagh; we've missed some the last five, six years," said Reed Larson, a former Gophers defenseman who played in the NHL for 14 seasons. "There are some pretty good state players at North Dakota and Wisconsin. I am concerned with the school and the team; something's wrong."
Lucia said the Gophers will always primarily recruit Minnesotans, but he has to make offers earlier and earlier -- to compete with other colleges -- and it's harder to predict how good a 16- or 17-year-old player will be. Many WCHA teams stock their teams with Canadian talent. Lucia has brought in only a couple of Canadians; none have been impact players.
McDonagh committed to Wisconsin out of Cretin-Derham Hall as a junior days before Minnesota planned to make him an offer, Lucia said. McDonagh is a Badgers co-captain as a junior defenseman.
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If Minnesota keeps floundering, though, the criticism of Lucia will undoubtedly increase. He has two more years left on his contract, which will pay him a base salary of $250,751 for the 2011-12 season.
"Most Gophers fans already got a guy picked out to replace him," Sonmor said.
That would be Dean Blais, who won two NCAA titles in his 10 years as head coach at North Dakota. Blais, 58, played for the Gophers in the early 1970s and was known for his no-nonsense style and tireless recruiting before he left the Sioux to become an NHL assistant. He is in his first season at Nebraska-Omaha, which joins the WCHA next season.
A couple of years ago, replacing Lucia would have been unthinkable. But with the storied history of the Gophers program, it only takes a couple of mediocre seasons for discontent to boil to the surface.
And it has.
[Star Tribune]
After further study . . .
Bruins coach Claude Julien, who turns 50 in April, as a player took the Canadian junior route in hopes of making it to the big time, putting in tours with both the Oshawa Generals and Windsor Spitfires over four seasons. During Boston’s rookie camp, held at the start of September in Kitchener, Ontario, he confided that his choice today, some 30 years later, likely would be to play for a top US college program - no doubt music to the ears of the newly formed College Hockey, Inc., based in Newton. Prior to Boston’s game last Saturday on Long Island, Julien said he felt today’s college players typically enter the NHL with better conditioning levels than most of the top junior players, simply because the college players have fewer games and more time for off-ice training. As a trade-off, he noted candidates from the junior leagues arrive with more game experience and are perhaps better prepared for the day-to-day grind of professional hockey.
BEST NEW FACEOn the latest INCH chat I hope Glady didn't jinx the Fighting Sioux with this prediction. It’s no mystery that the Fighting Sioux are different team when they don’t have Chay Genoway in the lineup. We will have to see what happens to the Fighting Sioux during the second half of the season. It's kinda like ground hog day and we have seen this all before. I like many Sioux fans are hoping Genoway comes back soon. No offense to Corey Finehage but Genoway is a potential All-American and Hobey Baker candidate.
Notching 16 points in his first 18 collegiate games really shouldn’t be that surprising of a feat for North Dakota rookie forward Danny Kristo. The USA Hockey NTDP product has had a habit of creating offense for years both in Ann Arbor and with Omaha of the USHL (57 points in 50 games last season), which is likely why the Canadiens used a second-round pick on him in 2008. Over the holidays he’s likely to be in a different version of bleu, blanc et rouge, playing for Team USA at the World Juniors in Saskatchewan.
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TOUGHEST ROAD IN
Known recently for brutal first halves and all-but-unbeatable second halves, there may be a flip-flop of fortune in the works for North Dakota this season. The Fighting Sioux are a respectable 9-6-3 at the break but a daunting second half looms. After a January weekend in suburban Chicago for the Shillelagh Tournament, NoDak has second-half trips to Minnesota, Cornell, St. Cloud State and Colorado College, along with home dates with league-leading Denver (there’s no truth to the rumor that the Pioneers’ coach will be tethered to the bench this time) and high-scoring Minnesota Duluth. That’s not a great road map for keeping the MacNaughton Cup in Grand Forks, with the Sioux currently sitting in sixth place.
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MUST-SEE SERIES
Denver coach George Gwozdecky inflamed the passions between DU and North Dakota last January, taking a stroll across the Ralph’s ice sheet en route to an ejection. The Sioux scored 10 goals that weekend, got three points and eventually got the league title. So when the 2009-10 WCHA schedule was released showing a Grand Forks visit by the Pioneers on January 29-30, don’t think those dates weren’t circled in red on the calendars of many, many NoDak fans.
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INCH’Ss FIRST HALF ALL-WCHA TEAM
G-Marc Cheverie, Denver: By averaging a shutout roughly every third game he starts, Chevy has Denver fans thinking about another Hobey coming to town.
D-Brendan Smith, Wisconsin: Even on a team with two Smiths and two Johnsons, it’s hard for this Badger’s league-leading 18 assists to remain anonymous.
D-Chay Genoway, North Dakota: The Fighting Sioux were 7-1-1 when Genoway got hurt, on Friday the 13th (of November). They’re 2-5-2 since then. Get well soon Chay.
F-Bill Sweatt, Colorado College: Blackhawk fans must drool when they dream of what this speedy kid from the last stop on Metra’s UP West Line may do in black and red.
F-Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth: Perhaps inspired by his brother’s NCAA title at BU last season, the townie Duluthians call “J-Con” has put up a dozen Bulldog goals so far.
F-Rhett Rakhshani, Denver: With 11 goals in a hot first half, Rakhshani is on pace for a career best year and has keyed the Pioneers’ run to the top of the WCHA heap.
[Click to read the whole article]
Dustin (Grand Forks)
As a Sioux fan, what concerns me most is their lack of ability to put teams away on Saturday night. They've coughed up 2 goal leads 3 times, and lost other leads, too. Is this their youthfulness showing through? The emotional effect of Genoway out of the lineup? Their goaltending seems weak at times, too. Thoughts?
Joe Gladziszewski (2:41 PM)
Missing Genoway has been a definite issue for the Sioux. I think Eidsness has been a little shaky for the last few weeks as well. In the past few years, they've played better in the second half. With Genoway coming back from his injury they might have the best depth in their lineup in the country. I expect to see them in the Frozen Four. Whenever I watch them I see a very good team.
[INCH Chat]
CHICAGO – The Big Ten Network will televise nine men's ice hockey games this winter, featuring Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin, and all will be broadcast in high definition.
"There is a growing passion and enthusiasm for college hockey and we're looking forward to bringing that excitement to a national and international audience," Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said.
The network, available to 73 million homes in the United States and Canada, will televise a regular-season contest every Friday or Saturday, beginning with the North Dakota-Minnesota matchup on Friday, January 15. The second semifinal of the CCHA Tournament will air live at 8 PM ET on Friday, March 19. The network makes its selections in conjunction with the regional sports networks which have existing rights arrangements with both the CCHA and the WCHA.
Additional games throughout the season will be available live anywhere in the world at www.BigTenNetwork.com. The network has made a significant financial investment to provide fans with a high-quality streaming experience that is comparable to watching a game in high definition. The network's full streaming schedule for men's ice hockey will be available at www.BigTenNetwork.com prior to the start the season.
Although the conference does not sponsor ice hockey, Big Ten member schools have combined to win four of the last eight NCAA Championships and 22 titles throughout history. Three different Big Ten schools have won national championships in the last 10 years, including Michigan State's 2007 title.
2009-2010 BIG TEN NETWORK MEN'S ICE HOCKEY SCHEDULE
Friday, January 15 North Dakota at Minnesota 8 PM ET LIVE
Saturday, January 23 Ohio State at Michigan State 5 PM ET LIVE
Friday, January 29 Michigan at Michigan State 7 PM ET LIVE
Saturday, February 6 Michigan at Wisconsin 6 PM ET LIVE
Friday, February 12 Alaska at Ohio State 7 PM ET LIVE
Friday, February 19 Colorado College at Minnesota 8 PM ET LIVE
Saturday, February 27 Michigan at Notre Dame 7 PM ET LIVE
Friday, March 5 Wisconsin at Minnesota 8 PM ET Delay at 11 PM ET
Friday, March 19 CCHA Tournament Semifinal #2 8 PM ET LIVE
This time around, we’re the subject of outrage.
Can you explain to the logic of how a team that splits with the No. 2 team in the country, and then splits with the No. 1 team in the country can fall three spots in your rankings?—Glen, St. Paul, Minn.
Glen refers to Minnesota Duluth dropping a few notches despite respectable splits against North Dakota and Denver. Our first impulse was to thank him for insinuating that logic plays a role in anything we do. He should listen to a podcast.
As we’ve often said regarding our Power Rankings, hockey is not played in a vacuum. And UMD’s slide isn’t really a result of anything they’ve done. As a staff, we felt the need to reward Ferris State (owners of a 10-game unbeaten streak) and Wisconsin (10-3-1 after a 1-2-1 start), so both crept ahead of UMD in recent weeks. Simple as that.
Welcome, one and all, to USCHO.com’s newest blog. I hope to use this resource to address noteworthy material that falls outside the scope of my weekly ECAC Hockey column (though many of my readers would argue that over the years, precious little has qualified as falling out of range of a carefully crafted tangent).
Turnstiles do the Talking
Thanks to USCHO reader Vic Berardelli for noting this little nugget of college hockey information: the games are popular.
No, really. Three WCHA teams (Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota) have out-drawn the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes in per-game attendance, and the Badgers are edging the New York Islanders as well. Wisconsin leads the nation in attendance with 12,638 per game, while UND (11,605) and the U (9,889) also draw quite well. (Michigan and New Hampshire rank fourth and fifth, but fall more than 3,000 short of Minnesota.)
The Coyotes, on the other hand, pull up dead last in the National Hockey League at 9,825 … which is to be expected from a team with high lame-duck potential. The Islanders – despite top pick John Tavares – only pull 12,429 through the gates at Nassau County Coliseum, and rumors are flying that they, too, could soon be on the move.
But it’s not just the pitiful that the WCHA troika is trouncing: they each topped the American Hockey League’s best draw, the Hershey Bears (8,906). Berardelli’s perspicacity also led him to note that in Lowell, Mass., the local UMass-Lowell River Hawks have walloped the AHL’s Lowell Devils by better than a two-to-one margin … while playing in the same building. Up in Rochester, RIT drew more than 7,400 against Colgate at the Blue Cross Arena, home of the AHL’s Rochester Americans. It took the “Amerks” three home games combined to equal that total. (Thanks to editor Ed Trefzger for that note.) The UNH Wildcats sit over 1,500 more per game than the Manchester Monarchs down the road.
Expanding the scope, 22 of the NCAA’s 58 Division I programs are beating the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s 3,202 per-game average. Wisconsin and UND are ahead of the Quebec Remparts’ 11,175, a figure that is more than doubling all other QMJHL teams. [USCHO.COM]
After a few dormant years, the Western College Hockey Association appears to be back on track as a dominant force in college hockey. The conference entered this past weekend’s action with six of the top 17 teams in the national polls, led by the mainstays Denver, North Dakota and Colorado College all hovering around the top five in the polls.
Add another team to the mix, as 11th-ranked Wisconsin went on the road for a pair of games in Grand Forks, N.D., and came away with an impressive 3-point weekend and a revelation in net. Backed by the junior goalie Scott Gudmandson, making back-to-back starts for the first time in his career, the Badgers made a statement in a tough road environment at Engelstad Arena: the W.C.H.A. isn’t as top-heavy as it might appear.
Wisconsin’s big weekend is a testament to the depth of the W.C.H.A., and an indication that the Badgers are ready to compete with the heavyweights in the conference and around college hockey. Earlier this season the Badgers picked up a pair of blowout victories against Hockey East-leading New Hampshire, but earning a tie Friday and a win Saturday against the Fighting Sioux was a new high.
Gudmandson stopped 27 shots in a 3-3 draw Friday, a game in which the Badgers twice gave up two-goal leads to a resilient Sioux club that pulled even on a late power-play goal from Danny Kristo. The first night’s effort from Gudmandson was strong and his play the next night earned him more rave reviews. The goalie turned away 31 shots to help his team come away with a 4-3 win and take three huge points from North Dakota.
The senior center Ben Street appreciated his goalie’s performance, telling The Capital Times: “He’s not going to crack under pressure, that’s for sure. These last two nights have been some pretty high-pressure games and he’s come up big and that’s huge to show your teammates that.”
Gudmandson typically splits time in net with Brett Bennett, who is nursing a dislocated left shoulder. The junior took advantage of the situation, propelling his team toward victory with a great showing Saturday, including seven saves on an extended first-period 5-on-3 for the Sioux.
[Read the rest of the article]
“If I coached college hockey,” he said, “I’d take my worst player and send him out to fight the best player on the other team, getting him out of the game,” he said. “I’d take that trade-off any day.”
He ignited a topic that has been boiling inside me for some time now, the relatively free pass given to players in college hockey who inflict grave harm upon an opponent.
It was that same anger that prompted this mild-mannered basketball coach to flip over the edge with his suggestion.
n A few years ago, Denver’s Geoff Paukovich delivered a pulverizing, illegal check from behind into the boards to UND’s Robbie Bina. The hit broke Bina’s neck, took him out of hockey for a year, and who knows what limitations he’ll face later in life.
Paukovich, not even penalized on the play, was later given a game suspension by his school, one more by the league. Big hairy deal, I say.
n Last year, Minnesota State’s Trevor Breuss slew-footed UND’s Derrick LaPoint into the end boards, snapping the leg of LaPoint and ending his season. Breuss received a slap on the wrist from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, much like Paukovich.
n This season, St. Cloud State’s Aaron Marvin tracked UND’s Chay Genoway the length of the ice, delivering an illegal high hit, smashing Genoway’s head into the glass and leaving him knocked senseless on the ice with a concussion.
Marvin got an additional game suspension from the WCHA. Genoway, one of the league’s most dynamic players, hasn’t played since the Nov. 13 hit. Coaches are not sure when — or if — his reported concussion will clear this season.
It bugs me to no end that players such as Bina, LaPoint and Genoway can be knocked out of action for a spell, a season, or maybe forever and the players who inflict the injuries skate away relatively unscathed.
Something’s wrong with the rules of college hockey, folks. That players can be seriously injured with little consequence to the violators alters not only their careers, but the fortunes of their teams.
A league championship, perhaps a national title, can be taken away in a blink by a reckless hit, whether intent to harm was there or not.
[Grand Forks Herald]
