FBS Football Playoffs Proves NCAA Playoffs at the Higher Seed's Stadium Can work -- Looking at You NCAA Hockey

If you watched the first round of the FBS playoffs this afternoon, you noticed that the teams were playing at the home stadium of the higher seed. While perusing X.com this afternoon, hockey journalist Ryan Stieg retweeted Mike Eidelbes's excellent tweet. Grand Forks Herald hockey scribe Brad E. Schlossman followed suit. Sounds like a great idea. Let's get this done soon. 

Went to IU-ND football yesterday. Probably the best sporting event I’ve attended in terms of atmosphere and electricity.

Having it on campus made it a billion times greater. Hint hint hockey …

— Mike Eidelbes (@INCH) December 21, 2024

Home hockey regionals would be electric. https://t.co/iVNbUKeZjp

— Brad Elliott Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) December 21, 2024

Yes, it's well past time to revisit this subject again. We've beaten it to death, but we're not going away. Of course, you'll get some pushback from the same old soles, media members, coaches, and schools that want to play in quiet, empty, listless mausoleums masquerading as neutral-site hockey arenas. SMH! These arenas will be in exciting locations like Allen Town, Pennsylvania, or some arena that doesn't usually host hockey games. What could go wrong, right? You have to ask yourself what these people are afraid of? To be the best, you have to beat the best. It shouldn't matter if you have to play in an energy-filled arena. The Frozen Four isn't played in listless arenas. 

Last February, DU head hockey coach David Carle appeared on a podcast from Inside Hockey with Editor Adam Wodon and shared his perspective on the matter. Coach Carle was receptive to the idea. 

For the record, Adam Wodon of College Hockey News favors maintaining the status quo and does not support home-site regionals. 

Here are some points from that podcast. I included Carle's comments because he sees the whole picture and has a realistic opinion. 

"We are in a small minority of sports that do it this way, Carle said. College football is also neutral, but even the behemoth that it is, next year, expanding to 12. They are going to campus sites."

"We are vastly in the minority of not using home site top seeds hosting in any capacity," Carle said. "For the record, I'm against North Dakota being a one-seed this year and having three teams enter their building. That's worse than what we currently do—the top four seats hosting, you know, all the teams to four sites. It's worse when you talk about atmosphere, excitement, and the fan experience. I would get we all host games all the time, right? The top eight would host the bottom eight."

Let's get it done. It's well past time. Last season, I asked UND head coach Brad Berry if he favored playing regional games at home sites. 

Would Coach Berry’s team rather play in Minnesota or Duluth than in an empty arena in Bridgeport? Of course, he would.

“A hundred percent, Berry said. “That goes into the part of earning it. If we’re a lower seed and we have to go into a building. We already do that. We go into environments like that during the regular season; it shouldn’t be different in the playoffs. You have to win a game on the road. It’s going to provide a better atmosphere and a better experience for the college student-athletes.”

Goon's Takeaways: UND Races Past DU, 5-2

Walking into Ralph Engelstad Arena Friday night, you could feel the energy; there was a buzz. During the warmups, it got louder. The DU vs. UND series is one of the matchups the fans and players circle on their calendars. When the final horn sounded, UND fans would leave Ralph happy. Here are my takeaways from Friday's convincing 5-2 win. 

On Friday night, it was about the details. UND played a solid defensive game and held the Pioneers to two shots on goal during the first period. In the second period, UND was outshot 10-9 but outscored the Pioneers 3-1. 

After dominating Denver in the first period, halfway through the second, Dylan James and the little-used Griffin Ness gave UND a 2-0 lead. A minute and 37 seconds later, Pioneers Defenseman Zeev Buium got the Pioneers on the board. At the 17:10 mark of the second period, the Hawks got their first and only power play goal with a snipe from Jackson Blake. 

At the 14:42 mark of the third period, the Pioneers would cut UND's lead to one with a goal from junior forward Aidan Thompson. That was all the closer the Pioneers would get; UND would score two empty net goals (Cameron Berg and Ben Strinden) to give UND a 5-2 win. 

Details: How good was UND's defense? Denver is the top offensive team in the country, and they're averaging 5.1 goals per game. For comparison sake, UND is the fifth ranked team in goals scored. Entering Friday's game, the Pioneers had scored at least three goals per game. UND's defense held the Pioneer's high-flying offense to two goals and Massimo Rizzo and Jack Devine without a point. 

"We know they're a good rush team," head coach Brad Berry said. "They jump four or five guys at that time. Puck management is one thing, and making sure that you close on guys quicker. When we give that team a little room, they can make plays, and our guys did a good job from start to finish, taking time and space away." 

Friday, against the Pioneers, UND played its best defensive game of the year. 

"I thought it was a really good 60 minutes, probably one of our better ones of the year," UND graduate defenseman Keaton Pehrson said.

   

With the 5-2 win, UND sits alone in first place in the NCHC standings with 29 points. With their 7-6 loss to the Omaha Mavericks, St. Cloud State is in second place, 2 points behind. Denver is third with 23 points. If UND could win the series finale, they would be nine points ahead of the Pioneers.

What else can we say about sophomore forward Jackson Blake? This week, UND announced he was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award candidate. He's the team's leading scorer (16g-16a-32pts) and a plus-three. Last night, he added a goal and an assist for his eighth multi-point game of the season, which leads UND. Blake extended his point streak to seven games and has scored in three straight. Finally, Blake has been very successful against the Pioneers. He has scored 11 points (3g-8a-11pts) in seven career games.

Junior forward Cameron Berg has been on a roll. He's scored (13g-12a-25pts) and is tied for second in points with Owen McLaughlin. With his two points (1g-1a-2pts), he now has seven multi-point games. Like his teammate Blake, Berg has had some success against the Pioneers; after last night's two-point game, he now has 10 points (5g-5a-10pts) in nine career games. Finally, West Fargo Native Berg has six goals and two assists in his last seven games. 

With the 5-2 win, UND improves to 158-135-16 (.547) all-time against Denver. UND holds a 93-46-10 advantage on home ice. In recent years, this series has been pretty even; UND is 8-7 in the last 15 games against the Pioneers. After losing four straight games last season, UND has won two of the previous three meetings between the two foes.

The UND hockey team has gone 18 straight games without losing in regulation. Their last regulation loss was on Nov 3, 2023, when UND lost to BU 3-2. 

Goon's Takeaways: DU Beats UND 3-2 in OT to Get the Series Split

When the weekend started, many in NoDak would have agreed that a series split with Denver (7-5 W, 3-2 OT L) would've been an acceptable result. The Hawks hadn't swept in Denver for 20 years, and taking 4-of-6 points would be a great result, considering that point. 

Not so fast. The loss ended an eight-game winning streak by UND. In the post-game press conference, the UND players weren't satisfied with taking 4-of-6 points. 

 "They weren't too happy about last night, so we knew they were going to bring it and there were going to be some emotions out there tonight," UND defenseman Keaton Pehrson told the media following Saturday's game. "We expected that."

If you didn't see Saturday's game, no problem; the highlights are embedded in the YouTube video below.

 

Here are some of the things that stuck out for me this weekend. After watching both games,  I think it was a good hockey weekend for UND. Obviously, a much better for UND would have been a sweep, but that is a very tall task. You could see the guys were a little tired at the end of the second and third periods. 

The players UND acquired through the NCAA Transfer Portal have paid big dividends through the first half of the season. It's not an understatement to say that junior forward Cameron Berg had a big weekend for UND against the Pioneers. Berg scored three goals on the weekend and five goals in his last four games. That translates to seven points during those four games (4g-3a--7pts). He also has five multi-point games. In 16 games, Berg has scored (7g-9a--16-pts), he's also a plus-seven. Four of Berg's 7 goals have come on the power play. Berg is second in the NCHC in faceoff wins 169-101 (.626). 

Another NCAA Transfer Portal acquisition, Hunter Johannes, has scored (7g-5a--12pts) in 16 games. He is a plus-10. Until Saturday night, he hadn't scored a goal on the road. He finally broke through at the 3:08 mark of the third period.  

Sophomore forward Jackson Blake is on fire. He is on a seven-game scoring streak (5g-7a--12pts). In 16 games, Blake has scored (11g-11a--22pts), which leads UND. He is a plus-six. Blake is tied for fourth in the NCHC in points with 22.  

UND closes out the 2023 part of the schedule this weekend against Colorado College. They play the next six games at home (seven if you count the exhibition game against the U18 team). UND has 20 regular season games, 12 at home and eight on the road. UND is 8-1-1 at home and 4-2 on the road. 

They Said what?

With Nick back at the helm at Let's Go DU. Much better. 

The Grand Forks Herald: UND Drops Series Finale in Overtime

NCHC Suspends Denver’s Larraza One Game

Another week, another Denver Pioneer that has been suspended.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has issued a one-game suspension to Denver senior forward Zac Larraza, in accordance with the conference’s supplemental discipline policy, the NCHC announced Tuesday, Feb. 24. The suspension stems from an illegal hit during the Pioneers game against Colorado College on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Larraza was suspended after a review of a play in which a hit was delivered to the head of a Colorado College player, who was not in possession of the puck, at 15:53 of the first period Saturday at Magness Arena.

Larraza will be required to serve the suspension during Denver’s next game on Friday, Feb. 27 against Miami. Larraza is eligible to return for the series finale against the RedHawks on Saturday, Feb. 28.

CC fans don’t’ have to purchase three game packages

English: Denver Pioneers logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was reading Joe Paisley’s blog yesterday and I got to thinking. I am also wondering if anyone else is thinking the same thing as well. I would imagine that you can probably expect other schools to do the same thing to the UND fans as well. So, do other NCHC schools expect UND to carry their water for them? Is DU taking advantage of a fan base, knowing that they will buy tickets and fill their arena? One must ask the question, is DU having trouble filling their arena? Maybe REA and UND should do the same thing to school that do these kinds of questionable things UND’s fans. Turnabout is fair play. Right?

Joe Paisley, Colorado Springs Gazette -- Denver single-game tickets go on sale at 9 am. Friday and the Pioneers are now requiring only North Dakota fans to purchase three games. CC fans are not required to do so, according to the ticket office.

North Dakota fans, who already pay $10 more for the premium game (CC is $8 more), will be required to buy two tickets to one of the following seven games: the Merrimack series, Nebraska-Omaha series, Western Michigan series and the single game against Brown.

Do you think that UND should make Denver fans that want to buy tickets to UND's games pay extra or buy tickets to other games? I mean seriously, this seems like a petty policy. I guess Denver also sees UND as a bigger rival than Colorado College as well.

Know your enemy DU Hockey Roster up

Let’s Go DU has the DU Hockey Roster Up for your perusing.

DU Pioneers mascot "Denver Boone" at center of controversy: Let's Go DU shuts down

This week, Damien Goddard of Let's Go DU announced that, “After eight years, 1.5 million visits, 5755 posts, 32,596 reader comments and countless laughs; LetsGoDU is ceasing operations today. LetsGoDU averaged 30 visits a day in 2005 to almost a thousand visits per day in recent years and its been a wonderful journey. We launched a mascot, built school spirit to unprecedented heights, covered many epic victories and more than a few heartbreaking DU losses. To those who supported DU through this Blog [du78 & many others] and helped PioNation fight the good fight, we say thank you.” At first, I thought that was kind of odd, then I took a deeper look…. Yep, the DU nickname issue has gotten really silly.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post – Boone, created in 1968 from a Walt Disney character named "Pioneer," was DU's official mascot until 1998, and its unofficial mascot after alumni took it upon themselves to fill the void in 2009. Chancellor Robert Coombe in March announced that Boone will not be considered by a steering committee that has identified an elk, a jackalope and a mountaineer as finalists for a new mascot.

DU has not had a mascot since the red-tailed hawk and Ruckus were phased out to begin the 2007-08 season.

"There's no point in having the blog if we don't have Boone," said Damien Goddard, the LetsGoDU founder and DU graduate, class of 1989, who spearheaded the "Bring Back Boone" campaign in 2008. "Boone and the blog have become intertwined, and you can't have one without the other. And it's silly to have two mascots. If the school is going to march down this path of political correctness, we decided to let them go down that path alone."

This ought to be fun, tonight’s NCHC match-up between the UND no-names and the UND Jackalopes will go a long ways in determining this season’s NCHC champion. Yeah! Yay!

So, we are to believe that the Denver Boone mascot is racist character? Seriously? How? What world do these pointed headed people live in? Take a look at this mascot, this little smiling cartoon character is a racist.

DU suspends two players

Low and behold this morning we find out that a little karma has finally swung the other direction. I was under the impression that only certain teams and programs have issues and players that get suspended – it appears that another WCHA program has suspended two players for a total of eight games. Funny, in checking my favorite DU fan blog there is nary a word of these suspensions. I am sure we’re going to see a bad boyz post on this matter soon though?

Michael Chambers; Denver Post --- University of Denver hockey players Larkin Jacobson and Juho Olkinuora have been suspended for four games for violating team rules, Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. The suspensions stem from separate incidents and will include Saturday's exhibition game against the University of British Columbia at the Pepsi Center.

Jacobson played in 22 of 43 games last season as a fourth-line forward. He did not produce a point. Olkinuora was outstanding in goal, leading the team in starts (19), minutes played (1,236), goals-against average (.924) and shutouts (two).

oth players will continue to practice with the team. Both are sophomores.

Depth is not a concern at goalie, with senior Adam Murray and junior Sam Brittain.

I am wondering if we will see some fan retract their statements or finally grab some perspective that from time-to-time college athletes get into trouble and pay for their transgressions via suspension. No one college sports program is immune from this.

Quote of the week...

This is my nominee for quote of the week. I can only hope that the Fighting Sioux hockey team can keep George Gwozdecky disappointed.

“It’s hard to say anything good about that game. You can say yeah, we scored (three goals), but you have to give full credit to North Dakota. They were better than us in every department,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “This is probably one of the most difficult interviews I’ve had to do in a long time because I’m extremely disappointed.”

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