Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

Nebraska-Omaha…………2-0-0…………..6
St. Cloud St……………….2-0-0…………...6
Western Michigan………..2-0-0…………...6 
Colorado College………...1-3-0…….….….3
Miami……………………….1-1-0……….….3
Minnesota-Duluth…………1-1-0……….….3
North Dakota………………1-3-0……….….3
Denver…………………..…0-2-0…………..0

NCHC Games

Denver vs Colorado College

Last weekend the Pioneers were swept by the UNO Mavericks by identical 3-2ot scores in Denver.  The Tigers were swept by the Broncos, 3-2ot and 5-1 in Kalamazoo.

Neither team can really afford to get swept again this weekend, especially in league play.  I’m guessing these longtime rivals will have no problem getting jacked-up for this home and home series.  Now it just comes down to which team wants that Gold Pan more. I’m going with a split, with each team winning at home.  SPLIT

#7 Miami @ #3 St. Could St.

Last weekend the RedHawks swept the Golden Griffins of Canisius, 3-0 and 5-2, in Oxford.  The Huskies swept NoDak last weekend, 3-2, 3-1, in Grand Forks.

Back on March 31^st the Huskies ended the RedHawks season in the NCAA Midwest Regional and advanced to the Frozen Four.  I’m sure the RedHawks remember that and will use that as motivation this weekend.  The Huskies didn’t look like world beaters last weekend, but they did the job done.  This will be “upset” special, MIAMI 3-pts.

#11 North Dakota @ Nebraska-Omaha (Sat/Sun)

Last weekend NoDak was swept by the Huskies, 3-2 and 3-1, in Grand Forks.  The Mavericks swept the Pioneers in Denver with a pair of 3-2ot wins.

NoDak looked fairly average last weekend, solid defensive play, put not much offensive pressure.  The scoring needs to pick up for NoDak if they want some points, one or two goals a night won’t get you much.  The Mavericks with the scoring three goals in each of their games last weekend, gave them the wins, that and Josh Archibald scoring both overtime winners.  But UNO scored half of their goals on the power play, and NoDak is stingy on the penalty kill, only giving up 1 on 29 opportunities this season. SPLIT

Non-Conference Games

Northern Michigan @ Western Michigan (Sat/Sun)

Last weekend the Wildcats split with Nanooks 5-4L and 2-1W, in Fairbanks, Alaska.  The Broncos swept the Tigers, 3-2ot and 5-1, in Kalamazoo.

The Wildcats are 1-4-0 away from Marquette this young season and the Broncos are 2-1-0 at home.  No reason not to pick the home team in both games.  BRONCOS SWEEP

BYE WEEK

#20 Minnesota-Duluth

Inside the NCHC - Episode 1 (11/6/13)

I have to say that I am impressed with the NCHC, so far to date. Their social media department is really impressive. I also heard the like-minded institution again, from Miami head coach Enrico Blasi. Thinking of which, historically, SCSU has been owned by Miami, so that should be a good series this coming weekend.

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Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

Here we are the Halloween weekend, and we almost have a full NCHC schedule, three out of four isn’t bad.  Next thing you know Thanksgiving will be upon us.

NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

Colorado College………...1-1-0…….….….3
Miami……………………….1-1-0……….….3
Minnesota-Duluth…………1-1-0……….….3
North Dakota………………1-1-0……….….3
Denver…………………..…0-0-0…………..0
Nebraska-Omaha…………0-0-0…………..0
St. Could St……………….0-0-0…………...0
Western Michigan………..0-0-0…………...0 

NCHC Games

Nebraska-Omaha @ Denver

Last weekend the Mavericks were swept by Cornell (5-3, 4-3) in Omaha.  The Pioneers beat Niagara 5-1 and lost to Canisius 4-1 last weekend in Denver.

Last season in the WCHA the Pioneers took three points from the Mavericks in there only series in Denver.  I know past performance does predicted future performance, but I like Denver at home.  PIONEERS 3-PTS

#9 St. Could St. @ #5 North Dakota

Last weekend the Huskies swept Colgate (4-2, 4-3) in St. Cloud.  NoDak “unofficially” beat the US U-18 team (4-1) in Grand Forks.

Last season these teams split a series in St. Cloud and SCSU took three points in the series in Grand Forks.  NoDak has typically had “average” first halves of the season and then done much better after Christmas.  With that and the fact that we have a series between top 10 teams, I’m going the easy way.  SPLIT

Colorado College @ Western Michigan 

Last weekend the Tigers were swept by Clarkson (1-2L, 0-1) in Potsdam, NY.  The Broncos were not playing last weekend.

The Tigers head east this weekend to Kalamazoo (it’s fun to say Kalamazoo, isn’t it!) and hit the ice at Lawson Arena, which NHL sized.  Being early in the season, it makes it difficult to make an educated prediction.  But hey, let’s make a prediction anyway.  I’m picking the Tigers to win on Friday and the Broncos to win on Saturday.  SPLIT

Non-Conference Games

Canisius @ #6 Miami

Last weekend Canisius lost to Air Force 3-2 and beat Denver 4-1 in Colorado.  The RedHawks lost and tied the Providence Friars (2-3ot, 4-4ot) in Rhode Island.

The Golden Griffins surprised us last weekend, I would have picked them to beat AFA and lose to DU, not the other way around.  But Canisius has a much stiffer test this weekend when they travel to Oxford, Ohio.  It’s hard to pick against Miami in this series.  RedHawks SWEEP.

#20 Minnesota-Duluth @ Ohio State

Last weekend the Bulldogs split with Notre Dame (3-2L, 4-1W) in Duluth.  The Buckeyes swept Robert Morris (5-3, 4-3) in a home-home series last weekend and beat Bowling Green (5-3) on Tuesday night in Columbus.

This isn’t hockey related, but the OSU marching band did an amazing performance the other weekend at the football stadium.  Now on to hockey, the Buckeyes hockey program is not the football program, but they are both now in the big ten conference.  OSU and there new conference will need to pick up wins against quality teams, if they want the big ten to succeed.  I don’t think that will happen this weekend.  BULLDOGS SWEEP.

Hump Day Links: UND versus SCSU

Good Morning UND Nation... The first NCHC home series is almost here. Yay! Here are some the things that are taking place in the college hockey world.

Utah (ECHL) has received G Aaron Dell (@UNDMHockey) from Norfolk (AHL).
— Let's Play Hockey (@LetsPlay_Hockey) October 30, 2013

Nick Bjugstad #FLAPanthers #NHL article RT @MLewsy11: new article http://t.co/tRUyPWUJ8L…
— Ben Hankinson (@benhankinson) October 30, 2013

#WMUHockey team excited to host Colorado College in Broncos' first #NCHC series | http://t.co/HDDTsFPpCe
— David Drew (@Drew_on_WMU) October 30, 2013

With the #RedSox in the World Series people forget about the #Bruins #THW #hockey http://t.co/KOihShhEh8 via @thehockeywriter
— Mark Graham (@MarkWGraham) October 30, 2013

@CDHendricks22 Yeah, no TV in this area for the series. You can get it on PPV on the web. More on UND's TV situation http://t.co/bXjmsjRRUn
— Mick Hatten (@MickHatten) October 30, 2013

SCSU men's hockey practice Tuesday as the #huskies prepare for UND series #scsuhockey @ Herb Brooks… http://t.co/uyGgNI1fb0
— Mick Hatten (@MickHatten) October 29, 2013

Rocco Grimaldi's North Dakota Strong jersey goes for $1,710 in the auction to raise money for breast cancer research.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) October 29, 2013

You can almost buy packages to both the B1G and NCHC tourneys (9 games) in MSP for the same price as the West Regional a week later.
— Nate Wells (@gopherstate) October 29, 2013

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Name the NCHC tourney.

Actually, I don't like any of these names. The Final Face off is the WCHA's women's tourney. I have to say no to that one. Of all of these the NCHC Fabulous Four is the best to me. 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After receiving more than 50 suggestions from fans over the past month for names for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s (NCHC) Championship Weekend, the league has announced the four finalists from which fans will ultimately decide the name for conference tournament’s final weekend. The NCHC Championship Weekend will be held March 21-22 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

The four final names than fans can select from, as narrowed down by the NCHC staff, are :The NCHC Frozen Faceoff, The NCHC Final Faceoff, - the National Collegiate Hockey Championship, and The NCHC Fabulous Four. Fans can vote for their favorite name by taking the poll here. Fans will be asked for their name and email and can pick which name they like best. Fans then hit the “review” button, which confirms the information they have filled out. To complete the vote, fans then must hit “complete registration” for their vote to be recorded. Please note, fans are limited to one vote per valid email address.

Fan voting will remain open beginning today (Oct. 25) until Sunday, Nov. 10. The winning name will then be revealed the following week.

The “March to Minneapolis” is already underway as four teams opened up league play with a historic weekend Oct. 18-19. North Dakota traveled to Miami and the two sides split while Minnesota Duluth played at Colorado College and the teams split. The regular season concludes March 7-8 while the NCHC Tournament begins with the four quarterfinal series on campus sites (top four seeds) March 14-16. The four winners from the best-of-three series then advance to the Target Center in Minneapolis, where teams will compete for the inaugural NCHC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

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Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

When looking at the match-ups this weekend, it almost is the NCHC versus the state of New York!  There are four series against teams from New York.

NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

Colorado College……….1-1-0…….….…3
Miami……………………..1-1-0……….....3
Minnesota-Duluth……….1-1-0……….…..3
North Dakota…………….1-1-0……….….3
Denver……………………0-0-0…………..0
Nebraska-Omaha……….0-0-0…………..0
St. Could St………………0-0-0…………..0
Western Michigan………0-0-0…………..0 

Non-Conference Games

Colorado College @ Clarkson

Last weekend the Tigers split their first ever NCHC home series with the Bulldogs, winning the opener 3-1 and dropping the next game 5-1.

The Tigers travel this weekend to Potsdam, NY to visit the 4-1-1 Golden Knights of the ECAConference.  Since it is early in the season, I will have to give the nod to the new NCHC in this series.  TIGERS 3-pts

#10 St. Could St. @ Colgate

The Huskies also travel to NY this weekend; they are going to Hamilton, NY to play the Raiders of Colgate, who happened to be 2-2-1 on the season.

Last season the Huskies made the Frozen Four and the Raiders lost in the first round of the ECAC tourney.  This one is an easy pick for me, SCSU SWEEP.

Niagara @ #17 Denver

Last weekend the Pioneers lost to Alaska in OT, 3-2 and to Alaska-Anchorage the next night 3-2 in OT, at the Alaska Gold Rush Tournament.

The 1-2-1 Purple Eagles from Niagara NY and members of the Atlantic Hockey Conference will be landing in Denver this weekend to play a pair of games.

With the Pioneers dropping a pair of games last weekend up in Alaska, I wonder about them…but let’s face it, AH isn’t the best league out there.  PIONEERS 3-pts

#2 Notre Dame @ Minnesota-Duluth

Last weekend the Bulldogs split their first ever NCHC home series with the Tigers, they dropped the first game 3-1 and winning the second 5-1.

The number two team in the nation takes their way 4-0-0 record to the DECC this weekend for another weekend series on Lake Superior (they were at MTU last weekend).  These teams already have a common opponent already, MTU, UMD won and tied them, ND swept them.  I’ll take Notre Dame for 3-pts this weekend.

#19 Cornell @ Nebraska-Omaha

Last weekend the Mavericks split their first series with the Wildcats from NMU, winning the opener 2-1 and dropping the next game 6-3.

The Big Red from Ithaca, NY and of the ECAC, take the ice for their first official games of the season this weekend.  The Mavericks have eight of their next ten games at home. After this series, their home games get much harder #6 NoDak, #4 Michigan,  and #3 Miami, ouch (and away at Denver).  I know it is early in the season, but these are some must win games already.  SPLIT.

Exhibition Games

US U-18 TEAM @ #6 North Dakota

Last weekend UND split their first ever NCHC road series with the Redhawks, winning the opener 4-2 and dropping the next game 6-2.

Being an “un-official” game, I’m officially picking UND to win, you know, to keep balance in the universe.

BYE WEEK

#3 Miami

Western Michigan 

NCHC Kicks off the league play

This weekend, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference finally kicks off play.

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My Ballot for the 1st Annual NCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll

Here is the ballot that I submitted for the 1st Annual NCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll. Feel free to tell me what you think.

Predicted Order of Finish:

Miami University - 1

University of North Dakota - 2

Denver University - 3

St Cloud State - 4

Minnesota-Duluth - 5

Nebraska-Omaha   - 6

Western Michigan - 7

Colorado College - 8

All-Conference Team

F- Jonny Brodzinski – SCSU

F- Mark MacMillan – UND

F- Alexander Krushelnysky – C.C.

D- Dillon Simpson – UND

D- Joey LaLeggia – DU

G- Frank Slubowski – Western Michigan

Player of the Year   - Ryan Walters UNO

Rookie of the Year    - Adam Tambellini – UND

Defenseman of the Year - Joey LaLeggia – DU

Breakout Player of the Year - Zane Gothberg – UND 

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Comparing the Trophies (NCHC vs. B1G)

Jackie was too chicken to put this picture up herself, even though she has full blogger rights on this blog. :) So, I will take the heat for her. Comparing the two trophies which one do you like better? Obviously, I like the Julie and Spencer Penrose Memorial Cup better.

NCHC Hockey: Total of the Early Departures

With the hockey season approaching, I would think that the NCHC is done with its early departures.

Colorado College (0)

None

Denver (3)

Scott Mayfield So. D NY Islanders (NHL), April 5
Juho Olkinoura So. G Winnipeg (NHL), April 7 (FA)
Nick Shore Jr. F Los Angeles (NHL), April 12

Miami (0)

None

Minnesota Duluth (1)

Chris Casto So. D Boston (NHL), March 26 (FA)

Nebraska-Omaha (2)

Andrej Sustr Jr. D Tampa Bay (NHL), March 21 (FA)
Tony Turgeon Jr. D San Antonio (AHL), July 18 (FA)

North Dakota (1)

Derek Forbort Jr. D Los Angeles (NHL), April 5

St. Cloud State (1)

Nick Jensen Jr. D Detroit (NHL), May 2

Western Michigan (1)

Danny DeKeyser Jr. D Detroit (NHL), March 29 (FA)

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NCHC Launches it's New Webpage

Well, the NCHC launched it's new webpage today. Yay! Good times have come our way...  Actually, the new webpage looks pretty good. I don't know, comparing it to the B1G Hockey webpage, I like this one better.

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NCHC CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS ON SALE NOW TO GENERAL PUBLIC

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Ticket packages for the inaugural National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Championship are now on sale.  Fans are being encouraged to purchase tickets early to reserve their spot for this historic event. The four-game packages can be obtained for as low as $15/game. Packages start at $60 for an upper level ticket while fans can enjoy the action up-close in the lower bowl for $130. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here or visiting the newly released conference website, NCHCHockey.com.

In addition to the great game action, fans will have the opportunity to experience the NCHC Fan Fest, featuring interactive games, food and beverage specials, music, and pep rallies throughout the weekend. More details about the Fan Fest will be released at a later date. 

"The NCHC is committed to providing a championship experience for our student-athletes, coaches and passionate fans,” said NCHC Commissioner, Josh Fenton. “Fans investing in the championship weekend will be provided an unrivaled and unique experience while watching the best college hockey has to offer."

The puck will drop on the NCHC’s inaugural championship weekend on Friday, March 21, 2014 with two semifinals. The third-place and championship games will take place on Saturday, March 22, 2014. Game times are still being determined and will be released at a later date. All games will be held at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.  As previously announced, the Target Center will be the home to the NCHC Championship for the next five years.  

“Target Center is thrilled to be hosting such an exciting and prestigious event,” said Target Center Vice President/General Manager, Steve Mattson.  “When event ticket packages go on sale to the general public, those inaugural ticket purchasers will become a part of hockey history.” 

Through its partnership with Meet Minneapolis, the NCHC has secured fan hotel blocks at several Minneapolis hotels within walking distance to Target Center. To secure your hotel for the championship click here or visit NCHCHockey.com. 

“Our new conference website can be used as a portal for fans to find anything they need to know about the Championship weekend,” stated Fenton. “The entire Minneapolis area, including Meet Minneapolis and Target Center, has shown great enthusiasm for our championship weekend.”

To learn more about the NCHC Championship Tournament, purchasing tickets and reserving a hotel room, please visit the NCHC website at NCHCHockey.com.

For information on group tickets please contact the Target Center directly at 612-673-1311 or nchchockey@targetcenter.com.

The NCHC, which includes member institutions Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan, begins its inaugural season on October 18, 2013, with a double-header featuring North Dakota at Miami and Colorado College hosting Minnesota Duluth. Games times are to be announced.

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Hitting the links on Thursday NCHC Television focused

CBS Sports Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The newly released television schedule from the NCHC has gotten people talking.  

Here's the Western College Hockey Blog post and they broke down the number games each team has on the schedule. UND 6, Miami 5, Western Michigan, Colorado College and St. Cloud State all have 4 games on the TV schedule. Denver and Duluth have two games. 

Here’s something to chew on; the Mavericks will appear on CBS Sports Network just once when they host Michigan on Friday, Nov. 15. [OmahaMavericks]

The Hockey Writers, NCAA Hockey: Current NCHC Television Deal is Unacceptable

David Drew, MLive.com WMU hockey will have four NCHC games televised on CBSSports Network

Joe Paisley from the Gazette; CC picks up most-ever four national TV regular season games

CC mourns death of Scott Winkler

CC mourns death of Scott Winkler: Colorado College and Tiger Hockey are mourning the loss of Scott Winkler, wh... http://t.co/hEZFU990Us
— CC Tiger Athletics (@CCTigers) June 13, 2013

As Redwing77 mentioned, Former Colorado College Tigers forward, Scott Winker died unexpectedly at home on Wednesday, in Asker, Norway. Scott Winkler was 23 years old.

C.C. Tigers -- Colorado College and Tiger Hockey are mourning the loss of Scott Winkler, who died unexpectedly on Wednesday at his parents' home in Norway after recently completing his senior season with the Tigers.

No other details of his passing are available at this time.

Winkler graduated from CC on May 20 with a bachelor's degree in economics. A third-round selection of the Dallas Stars in the 2008 NHL draft, he had recorded career highs of 13 goals and 28 points for the Tigers in 2012-13.

"It is an unfathomable tragedy to see a talented young man pass at such an early age," said Ken Ralph, director of athletics at CC. "This spring we have seen Scott put in a great deal of work to prepare himself for his professional career and the rest of his life. He had such a bright future ahead of him. I'd like to ask all Colorado College fans and supporters of college hockey everywhere to keep the Winkler family in your thoughts and prayers."

Born and raised in Asker, Norway, Winkler came to the United States in 2007 to play for the Russell Stover midget major AAA team in Overland Park, Kan. He played a year of juniors for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the United States Hockey League in 2008-09 before enrolling at Colorado College as a freshman. He compiled 63 points (24g,39a) in 120 career games with the Tigers.

NCAA Hockey: The more things change, the more they won't be the same

Photo from Brian Sullivan, USCHO

This morning, I was reading the Grand Forks Herald, when I came across another great article; Change may-or may not-be coming for college hockey, written by Hall of Fame sports writer Virg Foss. Check it out.

Virg Foss, Grand Forks Herald — Of course more change is already upon us as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as we’ve known it all our lives breaks apart.

As Minnesota and Wisconsin head to the Big Ten and North Dakota, Duluth, St. Cloud State, Colorado College and Denver land in the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, more change is coming, like it or not.

We’re already seen that college hockey’s most intense rivalry, that of North Dakota and Minnesota, won’t continue on a yearly basis, at least as long as Don Lucia is coaching the Gophers.

It’s Lucia’s decision to limit that rivalry, against the expressed wishes of past and current UND and Gopher players and fans of all ages. It’s a decision I do not understand and for reasons given by Lucia that are questionable at best.

I am with Virg, I’ve never really understood, why one team would kill a very popular and lucrative college hockey rivalry, but maybe college hockey will go on without it. I am sure that Ohio State and Penn State will fill the void though. Yeah right!  This past spring, when it seemed like there might be a chance to have a mulligan on this historic series, the hockey God’s didn’t allow the rivalry to happen, so maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

Maybe it’s time that we embrace change?

I am almost certain, that Miami and Western Michigan fans will soon hate the team from the University of North Dakota with no-name. Probably, after the second time, the two teams play on the ice.

Moving forward.

After watching 2012-13 college hockey season, nothing really made sense this season. The traditional “sexy” teams (Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Dakota, Boston College, Boston University) weren’t in the Frozen Four.  ECAC teams Yale and Quinnipiac proved that you don’t have to have a roster full of NHL first round draft choices to win the NCAA title either.

That doesn’t mean that these teams didn’t have talent, because they had some great talent. Yale had talented guys that bought into a system and played a great team game. Yale was a miserable team to play against, defensively. Yale also got hot at the right time and was the best team for the last four games of the season, when it mattered the most.

The list of teams the Yale Bulldogs beat was impressive, because they beat some of the best teams in the country, to win the NCAA title, erasing any doubts who the best team in the country was.

During that time frame, the Yale Bulldogs took down Minnesota no. 1 seed, North Dakota no. 2 seed, UMass-Lowell no. 1 seed and Quinnipiac no. 1 overall seed. That’s a pretty good hockey resume, it also proved that their season wasn’t a fluke.  If you’re still not a believer, Yale also went 4-0 against the WCHA, a league that sent six teams to the NCAA tourney.

What has happened is the college hockey world has changed, the other schools have found a way to persevere and they overcome some of the self-perceived advantages that the bigger schools thought they had. Apparently  big television contracts and cathedrals  posing as hockey arena’s doesn’t always equate to wins and NCAA titles.

Maybe these teams flew under the radar a bit, while other teams were patting themselves on the back. That being said, the rest of the college hockey world was put back on notice last weekend. There are no gimmes in college hockey, not any more.

Finally, I think what also caught people’s eye, was Yale head coach Keith Allain celebrating a win with his team and enjoying the moment.

CC's Joe Marciano hits Minnesota's Tom Serratore from behind

Colorado College Tiger defenseman Joe Marciano received a five minute major for this cross-check on Minnesota Gopher forward Tom Serratore. I think Marciano was lucky to remain in the game and I am not sure what he was upset with. These are the kind of hits that I would like to see gone from "all" levels of hockey.

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Wisconsin sophomore goalie Joel Rumpel throws his stick makes save

Wisconsin sophomore goalie Joel Rumpel made this miraculous save on the Huskies forward Jimmy Murray at the 02:05 mark of the first period that prevented the Huskies from taking an early 2-1 lead. From there the Huskies never did get the lead and the Badgers would win the game 4-1.

Some thought that Rumpel should have actually gotten a penalty for throwing his goalie stick.

After the game the sophomore goalie was asked if he has thrown his stick at the puck. “It was a weird play,” Rumpel said. “I made the first save and then went to come across the crease and the stick got knocked out of my hands and it squirted wide,” Rumpel said. Yeah, okay.

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Badgers defenseman John Ramage destroys Mavericks forward Teddy Blueger

“That’s contact to the head, that’s a no brainer,” FSN television analyst Kevin Gorg said on viewing the hit by  Wisconsin defenseman John Ramage on Minnesota State Maverick Teddy Blueger. The funny thing with Gorg, he’s supposed to know hockey, but every time he opens his mouth he removes all doubt. I haven’t seen many guys that get hit in the head grab their shoulder.

Look at the video, Teddy Blueger is holding his shoulder.

In the press box, we had the luxury of getting a few good looks at this hit, to me this appears to be another legal shoulder-to-shoulder hit that was called a major penalty. For those people that want to call penalties for hard hits, they're going to call foul, but hockey is a physical game. I don't think John Ramage who plays the game straight up should be penalized for being a physical player.

[Click to watch video]

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

C.C. vs. UW: winner to the NCAA tourney

The University of Wisconsin Badgers (21-12-7) and Colorado College (18-18-5) faceoff tonight in the championship game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five at 7:00 pm. Central.

You can watch that game on DirecTV channel 668 FSN, if you don’t have cable.

This is an important game for both teams.

The winner goes the NCAA playoffs. The Tigers if they lose, they’re season is over. The same may happen for the Wisconsin Badgers if they don’t win tonight as well, it’s up to the Pairwise math.

Wisconsin is currently sitting at 17^th in the Pairwise so they’re definitely a bubble team.

After the win last night, Colorado College Tiger goalie Joe Howe summed it up with the quote of the weekend, “Rylan [Schwartz] put a quote on the board from Mike Babcock [Redwings head coach] you don’t have to win three games, you have to win one game three times.”

I have told people that the Tigers have one of the best lines in college hockey and the opposition has had a tuff time stopping Rylan Schwartz, Alexander Krushelnyski and the local boy Charlie Taft (Edina, Minnesota). Regardless of the record, the Tigers are a good hockey teams and are peaking at the right time. The Tigers have also won five of their last six games.

Last night, the Tigers looked as if they had watched some game film from the BSU and Minnesota series. At times, it looked like C.C. used some of the same offensive strategies. On one play, the Tigers chipped the puck up the glass and the forward from C.C. skated into the puck and got a quick shot on net that Adam Wilcox made a big save on. If Wilcox doesn’t make that save, it’s a 3-0 game.

You have to give credit, where credit is due. The Tigers beat DU (20-13-5) in games, they beat UND (21-12-7) and Minnesota (26-8-5).

Colorado College Tigers: Rylan Schwartz (19g-32a—51pts), Alexander Krushelnyski (15g-27a—42pts), William Rupuzzi (15g-20a—35pts), Scott Winkler (13g-15a—28pts), Archie Skalbeck (12g-11a—23pts)Defense: Mike Boivin (14g-14a—28pts) Eamonn McDermott (3g-20a—23pts), Peter Stoykewych (2g-9a—11pts). Goalies: Joe Howe 14-11-4, 2.97 GAA, .915 save percentage, Josh Thorimbert 4-7-1, 3.73 GAA, .873 save percentage.

Wisconsin Badgers: Forwards: Michael Mersch (23g-13a—36pts), Mark Zengerle (9g-21a—31pts), Nic Kerdiles (9g-21a—30pts), Joseph Labate (9g-13a—22pts),  Tyler Barnes (14g-15a—21pts), Defense:  Jake McCabe (3g-17a—20pts) John Ramage (8g-10a—18pts). Goalies: Landon Peterson 6-4-3, 2.01 GAA, .926 save percentage, Joel Rumpel 15-8-4, 2.21 GAA, .921 save percentage.

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writes Combine

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Tiger's Taft scores the game winning goal against DU, with help from DU goalie

This is the goal in question, I was finally able to get my hand on it. Colorado College forward Charlie Taft will probably never score a more fluky goal than this one. This was also the goal, that everyone was talking about on Monday morning that vaulted the Tigers to the Final Five and left the Denver Pioneers scratching their heads. I am sure there are some that aren't feeling sorry for the Pioneers, it's just one of those things.

The goal in question is at the 2:18 mark. s/t to Joe Paisley sending me the video. DU's Juho Olkinuora is a great goalie, but stuff happens in games that has no explanation sometimes.