Roll-er-COAST-GRRRRRRRRR!!! (Redwing77)

I originally wrote this during and right after the Friday night game vs. Minnesota. I had to walk away from it these days because I thought my emotion got carried away. I did not remove too much of my passion but I did edit this and move some information around. Enjoy:

What an exciting game.

The first period featured UND coming out guns blazing... shooting blanks but guns blazing anyways. it was up and down. It was exciting. My heart was racing the entire time!

The second period was another story. We started peppering again but then Lamoreaux got rocked and off Ambroz went for contact to the head roughing. And what happened?

The worst major power play I've ever seen that DID NOT involve a short handed goal. It was AWFUL. How often do you see a major power play that has more short handed shots on goal than powerplay shots on goal? Well, this one should be video recorded and everyone should watch it to see how NOT to play on the powerplay. Dell came up big but he was the only Sioux player on the ice for those five minutes.

Powerplay suckitude

This brings me to my major gripe with UND. Their powerplay is just sad. Who is shooting the puck? No one down low. No one center ice. ONLY the point makes the shot. And you can point at Kristo all you want but when he's not on the ice, the shot STILL comes from the point. Perimeter shooting is ok when you try to mix it up and try to get down low. They didn't attempt really the entire major penalty but they did try a few times on a few minor penalties.

I love the fact that they shoot the puck, but they got to get the puck coming towards the net from all angles to enable the possibility of the goaltender getting caught guessing or leaning the wrong way. Right now, if I'm killing penalties, you can almost predict where the shot will come from and crowd the point. I believe this hurt the Sioux a number of times tonight (EDIT: And Saturday night as well).

Officiating Rears its ugly head

Can Marco Hunt be worse than Don Adam? Two phantom penalty calls in the 3rd period alone is enough to bring up this as a viable question. I wish I was at Mariucci and could speak to Lucia. If I could, I'd tell him to tell his players just to fall down when in heavy traffic while carrying the puck. That way they can spend ALL GAME on the powerplay. Hunt lets the game get out of hand and fails to see both sides of the ice... wait a minute, that's part of the Standard Operating procedure for WCHA officials. But hey. As long as each side has equal power play opportunities, no one cares right? It's interesting that, during the game on Brad's live chat (which I cannot do anymore thanks to all the lousy ads and negativity), fans were saying Shepherd was in UND's pocket. You'd think that one ref in each sides' pockets, though unethical, would have evened things out?

Sure, UND has had a few beneficial calls in this game. But I wonder how many of those Minnesota penalties were REALLY penalties? Good LORD I'm anxious for the NCHC so we can get rid of these morons. Then again, will the NCHC refs be any better?

Lackadasical Play

Has the Sioux D found Serratore yet? Have we found a goaltender to play against that isn't going to step up and play the best game of his career yet? How many excuses are we going to have before we start doing the little things well? This team is BETTER than it is playing. Sure, you have your young shooters but no one is shooting but Kristo and Knight. Nelson gets a few shots here and there but heck, I just called out the first line. Time to start really pressing.

Silver Lining? It's early in the season.

Black Lining? We're putting an awful lot of pressure on the boys the second half of the season.

By the way: GOOD GOD our powerplay is awful. Just awful. Just Just awful. You can't feel bad if you do make a mistake against the Sioux and go down a man. They'll probably just bomb it from the point or turn it over and allow your boys to get a good go at Dell.

Minnesota's Improved

I hate to say "I told you so!" but... The recruits were essentially the same during Hill's final year and the team this year is essentially the same save those recruits. What I'm trying to say is this: The only change is Guentzel. And already they're starting to look a lot like... well, the last time Minnesota looked like they did vs. us? Well, they won something in April that we haven't won since 2000. Championships aren't won in October or November so Minnesota has a long ways to go, but they've DEFINITELY improved. So much so that it would be VERY hard NOT to consider Minnesota the most drastically improved team in the WCHA... that's saying something with MTU looking like...well looking like they're actually a hockey team.

In this case, I hate being right, but really... the ONLY real difference is Guentzel and it shows just how sucktastic a coach John Hill was. This brings my new musing: If Guentzel had been hired at UAA instead of Hill when Hill was hired... would UAA still have been a joke cellar dweller that MSUM seems to have become nowadays? Something tells me that UAA might have been better than they were during the Hill years just Hill drove the talent down.

In any case, I'm still not convinced that Patterson is the best goaltender in the WCHA (as a radio commentator or reporter put it), but he did play an amazing game tonight. Also, the Gophers did something that I'm not used to seeing: backchecking. Sure, that has always been their preferred defense of choice over the physical gameplay but this time they were really effective.

The Gophers tried to raise their physicality as well but the officials made it hard for them to do so without paying the price as well as some of their younger players showed their inexperience (see Ambroz).

All in all, this wasn't a game of domination by either team. In the end, it was a game where Minnesota just played better than we did when it mattered the most.

The Sioux need to stay out of the box and, until we figure out how to play a man up, so does our opponent so we can start generating some better scoring chances. Right now, it's not working. Right now, we can't hit the net where the goaltender isn't and when we have the opportunity, we can't corral the puck long enough to shoot it in.

A very aggravating loss and perhaps the harshness of this post is fueled by it.

The Frattin goal that wasn't

In my opinion that was a good legit goal and should have counted on the score board, again a WCHA official makes another bad call. Even if the puck had hit Frattin’s foot like they claimed it should have counted because there was not a distinct kicking motion. If you watch the video you will see that puck went off of the Notre Dame Player’s skate.

UND 4, UW 2 SIOOOOOUXWEEEP!!!!!

I've said before that a good team can overcome bad officiating. Today, UND proved me right. They absolutely dominated UW almost all game long.

Before I break things down, I'm going to give you my Weekend Three Stars:

Third Star: Chay Genoway (0g 3a) - Points aren't the only reason why he gets the 2nd Star. He was the icing on the cake of absolutely dominant defensive and offensive performance.

Second Star: Scott Gudbrandson - Looking back at where Gudbrandson came from (at one point he was in danger of losing his schollie at UW in a similar situation that former UW/current tUMD goaltender Aaron Crandall went through) and having watched him play last year.... Gudbrandson never has shown the capability of playing like he has this weekend. He was simply the ONLY UW player that came to play.

First Star: Aaron Dell - Almost 150 minutes of shutout time vs. UW. Can't argue with this.

Honorable Mentions: Jake Gardiner (seriously 40 minutes a game? Nuts), Derrick LaPoint (suck it haters), Corbin Knight, Jason Gregoire, Matt Frattin, and Danny Kristo

Next, to get it off my chest: UW got to see tonight just what we're complaining about when it comes to officiating... sorta.

Tonight, DShep and Hunt were consistent.... AWFUL. They managed to find every penalty UW committed all night and called most of them...some of them... it was hard to figure out their formula on which overt penalties they were going to call and which they'd let slide. At one point, Eaves whined and DShep found a way to put UND in the box. It mattered little because Craig Smith had a blackout when his brain shut down and he went berserk. Unfortunately for him (and lucky for Blood) the pesky net got in the way. Blood apparently laughed it off. UND was only really screwed over once when a sympathetic officiating crew decided to use the old version of the NHL rule about skaters in the crease to overturn Kristo's goal.

UPDATE: Ok, I watched some of the game on the Wisconsin Public Television reweb broadcast... I think that's what they called it. Anyways, I'm going to rescind what I said about Eaves convincing DShep to put UND in the box. Hennessey was wrong when he said that they invented a reason to put Trupp in the box. Trupp went to the box for Charging. It probably wasn't Charging, I'll grant TH that. However, Trupp left his skates to make the hit... to Craig Smith's head/shoulders area. This should have been a 2 minute minor for Contact to the Head- Roughing. It was definitely a penalty though. And about Craig Smith.... Seriously, I'm flabbergasted at his run of the UND net. He didn't try to check Dell. No one seems to have any clue on why in the world he did what he did. The net goes flying and ends up against the end boards upside down! What was he trying to accomplish? Dell didn't even move. He just flew by Dell and wham. Wow.

Also, saw the Kristo goal. And I'm now further enraged. That was a goal. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. Rodwell's skate was CLEARLY in the crease, but it was nowhere near Gudmandson. Gudmandson would have had to skate up and to his left to run into Rodwell's skate... Kristo's shot came from Up and Right. So yeah, in order for it to be goaltender interference, Gudbrandson would have had to skate AWAY from the incoming shot. IF that's his idea of good goaltending, then I'll take away his second star status.

The WCHA is a lot like an NHRA Top Fuel Drag Race Team (Great schools, great coaches and players, great (for the most part) fans, great facilities) whose pit crewmembers in charge of the tires cannot seem to get to the track on time and when they do, always seem a bit lazy or uninspired. So, the league's race team could beat ANYONE in the amateur ranks but they keep on having blowouts off the starting line because there's no one to ensure tire quality. How's that analogy?

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Anyways, it is strange sitting here post game, post sweep. I thought that UW series now would be a split and the series vs UMD would be the sweep. Strike that, reverse it.

UND played like the hype surrounding this team expected them to play. UW looked slow, tired, uninspired.

Frattin scored first on a shot from the point.

Kristo scored seco... no, he didn't. Rodwell stepped in the crease and Sheptard overturned it.

UW scored next on the powerplay. John Ramage scored from the point. UW would end the game with the best PP percentage: 1 for 2.

UND would then score 3 unanswered goals, two in a row by Corbin Knight and the final one by Frattin.

Schultz would pot the final goal of the game when UND actually showed laziness.

I'll post the video if there is one that shows up.

WCHA wheels of justice squeak to a halt

In reading this article; do you see a potential problem? It’s almost a week later and the league still hasn’t made a decision on Aaron Marvin’s status for next weekend. If this was the NHL the NLPA would be all over this. This is a joke, either suspend the player in question or not. This hit in question is either worthy of additional supplemental punishment or it’s not. What is taking so long? This is why the WCHA league administrators are looked at with contempt. It’s incidents like this that make the WCHA leadership look like a Kangaroo Court but also makes them look like a bunch of bumbling buffoons.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said Friday that there is a potential violation stemming from last Saturday's St. Cloud State game at Wisconsin and the Huskies are in the process of an appeal.

The "potential violation" in question is Huskies forward Aaron Marvin's center-ice shoulder-to-head hit on Badgers captain Blake Geoffrion. No penalty was called but Geoffrion was knocked out of the game and is missing this weekend's series at Michigan Tech because of a concussion.

"We're into the process and St. Cloud was notified Sunday of the potential violation in our view," McLeod said. "It's been a little slower than normal coming to a resolution in part because we have the luxury, I guess, of St. Cloud not playing this weekend. We want to get through this as quickly as possible. I don't think anything would happen before (early next week). But we know (SCSU coach Bob Motzko) and his team needs to prepare for the series ahead so we want to do something as early as we can."

McLeod said he could not discuss the specifics of the violation or the hit on Geoffrion until after the process is completed.

Reading between the lines here, it seems all but certain Marvin will face some penalty next week and could miss one or both games of the regular-season finale against Minnesota State-Mankato. If senior defenseman Garrett Raboin (who suffered an ankle injury on a questionable hit by Badgers forward Aaron Bendickson) also can't play, the Huskies would be without both of their captains. [Pucks and Bats]

More on the SCSU non-goal.

Personally I think it’s funny that this argument has comes full circle. UND during their second game against SCSU earlier in the season had a legit and legal goal waved off by the officials, this non goal probably cost UND at least a tie in the game and possible points that may in the end cost them dearly. UND also had a blown call in Duluth where the puck actually hit the net above the glass and then came back on to the playing surface and was shot into the UND net. That blown call cost UND a series sweep and points that would be very valuable to the Fighting Sioux that are now fighting for home ice in the WCHA playoffs.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, SCSU had another goal waved off and it cost them a game, it could cost them a place in the standings. I guess I am not feeling a lot of empathy for them. Two seasons ago there was a scandalous goal that should have counted but was waved off for SCSU. The Wisconsin Badgers also suffered the same fate again against DU. Through some coincidence those two blown calls ended up benefiting DU.

What can we do? We know Bob the refs in the WCHA suck and it’s isn’t going to change until member school grow some balls and convince their athletic directors, coaches and faculty reps to make some noise at the WCHA meetings. Until then the status quo will not change. I don’t feel any empathy for the SCSU Huskies, because my team has been on the short end of every call this season. Like Gandalf says every teams suffers from the refs except maybe DU.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said Wednesday that SCSU coach Bob Motzko's public reprimand for actions after Saturday's 6-4 loss at Colorado College will not include a fine. The league announced the public reprimand in a short news release late Tuesday afternoon. The reprimand stemmed from Motzko's heated confrontation with referee Brett Klozowski regarding a disputed non-goal call late in the game.

"I don't have anything to add," Motzko said after practice Wednesday. "I've already said everything I wanted to say."

That perhaps was a reference to a telephone conversation with WCHA Supervisor of Officials Greg Shepherd. Motzko also made the following comment to reporters Saturday: "We scored a goal. Everybody in the rink knows we scored a goal. There's nothing else to say."

McLeod said the league's code of conduct required a reprimand for such an incident.

"The reprimand is just that: A reprimand," McLeod said. "There's no further action. There is language in the code of conduct where there can be additional steps taken if there's a repeat offense. Then we could get into other things."

WCHA coaches are subject to a fine of $1,000 for making comments in the media critical of officiating. And, in some cases, schools have taken action against their own coaches for their actions at games. The most recent example came a year ago when Denver University suspended George Gwozdecky for his infamous walk across the ice to protest a call in a game at North Dakota.

First we have to correct this inaccuracy. Gwozdecky was suspended by the WCHA after he was kicked out of the game and got caught cheating, after leaving the bench area Gwozdecky went to the press box and was communicating with the DU bench. The league did not suspend him for showing up and berating the officials.

This didn't rise to that level. After Aaron Marvin appeared to tie Saturday's game at 5-5 with about 1:30 remaining, Klozowski waved off the goal. The Tigers added an empty-netter, and the two points at stake meant the difference between being tied for first and in third place in the WCHA entering this weekend's home series with Alaska Anchorage. Even had they finished in a tie, the one-point boost would've put the Huskies in a tie for second, one point back of first-place Denver.

Huskies athletic director Morris Kurtz said Wednesday the matter is resolved and there will be no internal discipline of Motzko by SCSU.

McLeod said Shepherd has spoken with Klozowski about the incident, but there will be no discipline for the referee. Klozowski is in his second year working WCHA games. He did not referee any postseason games last spring. Previously, he worked several seasons in the CCHA.

"You can argue whether the call should be made or not made," McLeod said. "If you look at the replay, (Klozowski) is as close to the play as can be. He lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle. That's it. the play is dead. There's even latitude in the rule book where as soon as a referee intends to blow the whistle, the play is over. Let's say, for instance, he's prevented from raising his hand with the whistle. Once he determines to blow it, it's all over."

Shepherd said he had not previously had any complaints about Klozowski, and that his positioning and action during the play was correct.

This statement is funny in so many ways; I am not sure how the head of the WCHA’s officials Greg Shepherd can make that comment with a straight face? Come one Greg well all know your officials aren’t up to par. This is where the member schools have got to step forward and demand change, because Shepherd doesn’t see a problem and their oblivious to the situation. From what I have gleamed this season is that a good part of the WCHA fan base is unhappy with the state of officiating in the WCHA. Nothing has changed; the same buffoons are still out screwing up calls in key parts of games, costing their favorite teams points. The only way the WCHA is going to discipline their officials is when they become to toxic to defend and or when they screw up so bad like Randy Schmidt did that they have to discipline/fire their on ice officials.

"He was where he was supposed to be," Shepherd said. "He loses sight of the puck, so he blew the whistle. What he did wrong was he should never have went to replay. You can never overturn a call once you blow the whistle. What he should've done was gone to the (SCSU) bench and told Bob he lost sight of it and gone back out and dropped the puck. His job is to explain the situation and go from there. If he'd done that, we might've avoided what happened after the game."

Shepherd confirmed what McLeod said in that the NCAA adopted an NHL rule two years ago that allows officials to call a play dead even based on the intent of blowing the whistle.

"If you look at the replay, (Klozowski) has brought his whistle to his mouth and the puck isn't in the net yet," Shepherd said. "A CC guy pushed a St. Cloud guy into the net. When that happens and you can't see the puck, we tell our guys 'Bang!' They should hit the whistle right now. You don't want someone crashing into the goalie." [Saint Cloud Times]