Alan Bass on defining the true fan.

Here is an interesting article that I found over on the Bleacher Report. For the most part I really like what Mr. Bass has to say, except, "cheering at a beautiful goal scored, even if it is scored against his home team". Personally, I will hold off cheering for an opposition team when they score a goal against the Sioux.

Only A True Hockey Fan...

If there is one thing that I hate, it is when someone claims that they are a true hockey fan, but really aren’t.

A person who cheers only when their team scores is not a true hockey fan. A Penguins fan who only respects a goal that Crosby scores is not a hockey fan—he’s a Penguins fan.

A Capitals fan who says that any hit against Ovechkin is a dirty hit is not a hockey fan—he’s a Capitals fan.

And so, in spite of all this, I decided to make a list of how you know whether or not you are a true hockey fan, or just a bandwagon fan who wants a championship in his city.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see the Flyers win the Stanley Cup. But I also respect any team that does, and will cheer them on during that victory lap with the Holy Grail.

Only a true hockey fan will pay ridiculous amounts of money, equal to a week’s pay, simply to take his son or daughter to their first game.

Only a true hockey fan will cheer at a beautiful goal scored, even if it is scored against his home team.

Only a true hockey fan will accept the fact that his team lost to a better team.

Only a true hockey fan will look at the replay of his own team, and say, “Oh yeah, he did deserve that penalty.”

Only a true hockey fan will accept the fact that Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby can tear the crap out of their team regularly.

Only a true hockey fan will sit down after a loss, and not make excuses, such as “the refs threw that game,” or “Crosby was diving.”

Only a true hockey fan realizes that no matter how many regular-season points you have, if you are beaten in a seven-game playoff series, you are not the best team in the league.

Only a true hockey fan will give props to a team that beat them in the playoffs, because only the best team wins the Stanley Cup. I’m looking at you, Pittsburgh fans.

***Only a true hockey fan realizes that any hockey game is worth watching—whether NHL, International, Junior, Minor league, or bantam.***

Only a true hockey fan will have memorabilia of any good hockey player, and not just that of his home team.

Only a true hockey fan will continue to support the league in a bad time, such as a lockout.

Only a true hockey fan will continue to support his team, even in a losing season.

Only a true hockey fan will be a hockey fan forever. If you one day decide hockey isn’t so great, you never were, are, or will be a true hockey fan.

Only a true hockey fan will laugh at a player tripping over himself, no matter what play it breaks up.

Only a true hockey fan will love the Stanley Cup, no matter how often it has eluded his team.

Only a true hockey fan will show and feel respect for the Stanley Cup-winning team.

Only a true hockey fan realizes that the Stanley Cup winner is truly the best team. The Super Bowl champion can get lucky for three games. The Stanley Cup champion can not get lucky for 16 games. To win four playoff series, you have to be good.

Only a true hockey fan will accept the opinion of every other hockey fan, as long as that opinion is intelligent and realistic.

Only a true hockey fan wakes up every morning thinking about hockey, and goes to sleep every night dreaming about it.

Only a true hockey fan sees hockey as a religion, not just a sport.

Only a true hockey fan will look at someone who says “it’s just a game”, turn around, and walk away smiling and thinking, “If only they knew…”

Sean Avery to work at Vogue.

It appears that Rangers tuff guy Sean Avery is going to work at Vogue this summer. I wonder if this will come up on the ice in the next series. If I was Pens tough guy Georges Laraque I might mention it.

Avery’s more conventional provocation techniques, such as trash-talking, wife-slagging, face-rubbing, slew-footing, slashing, diving, and flopping, may irritate his adversaries even more on account of his unconventional off-ice persona. Not for Avery the typical prairie-boy self-effacement of the hockey man. He has said that he finds sports, and athletes, boring, and that he’d like to be an editor of a fashion magazine. (He’s planning to do a summer internship at Vogue.) Unlike most hockey players, he sees nothing wrong with the fact that he likes to “smell nice occasionally.”

He has said that he prizes his black patent-leather Yves Saint Laurent high-tops, “a lovely cashmere throw from a friend who works at Calvin Klein,” and his Philippe Starck machine-gun-shaped lamp (“It lets you know there’s a man living in the house”). For a while, he wore black nail polish on one hand—“my fighting hand.” He told one magazine, “Sometimes I’ll wear a scarf to the game and my teammates have no idea what to do.” He is a conspicuous dater of starlets, such as Elisha Cuthbert, and was recently linked, by rumor, to Mary-Kate Olsen, and, in error, to the alleged Manhattan madam Kristin Davis. He’s sort of a puckhead’s Dennis Rodman, except that there’s more fox in his crazy. He does research on his opponents and tailors his intra-whistle banter accordingly. Avery is a skilled player, agitations aside, but not so skilled that it would explain how much better the Rangers do with him than without him. The discrepancy testifies to the genius of the idiot.

Rioting in the streets in Montreal

This is what happened after the Montreal Canadians beat the Bruins in game seven, they had a riot in the streets of Montreal. It almost reminds me of when the Minnesota Golden Gophers won the NCAA title in 2003. I never understood the logic after your team wins a series or a championship you rush out into the street and burn and break things. Talk about selfish.

More Denver Post stuff...

Minnesota's Stephane Veilleux, shown fighting Colorado's gentlemanly forward Ian Laperriere during Tuesday night's 5-1 Avalanche victory, is another example of goons gone Wild. (John Leyba, The Denver Post )

Whats going on at the Denver Post?

In retrospect; I think the Denver Post must just be a in your face newspaper, that likes getting under the skin of opposing fans. Maybe it is something we just are not used to here in the upper midwest. I suppose it probably sells newspapers and get people talking about their paper. Personally, I have never seen anything like it. First we had the "Dasher Troll" George Gwozdecky whining about the Fighting Sioux. Then we get Denver Post Skippy Mark Kiszla posting objectionable stuff about the Minnesota Wild. Check out his latest, it is an interesting read it's the email he probably got as a result of his ugly Betty article, some of them are pretty funny. Just for the record hockey is a physical game and fights do happen sometimes. All teams in the NHL do goon it up from time to time, it is just part of the game. Really; college is no different.

Parting shot
And today's parting shot does not have to be stronger than a breeze to knock down Avalanche star Peter Forsberg, if you believe this whining from a Wild and crazy fan.

"Do the Avs have their own version of the Oscars? They must . . . and the top award goes to the best dive. It must be why Forsberg came back: to win one of those awards. But he should be careful, though. Ryan Smyth is trying hard to get some votes."

Mike, St. Paul, Minn.

A DieHard offer.

"Being a Minnesota native, someone who grew up playing hockey and a fan of the Wild, I am writing to personally apologize for my team beating up your Avs. Like so many soccer moms, I really wish both teams could win. That way, everyone would be happy. I woke up this morning to sunny blue skies, with temps in the 50s. And, by the way, my car started up just fine, so I'm not sure what your 'Land of 10,000 dead batteries' slam was referring to. Toughen up, dude."

Ugly Betty, Minnetonka, Minn.

College Hockey Notebook

I would have expected better from Adam Wodon. First off let correct the names; come on now it's Joe, Finley, Taylor Chorney and Andrew Kozek. Spelling errors aside it looks pretty good, I will take 7th in the pre-season poll.

7. North Dakota -- The Sioux stand to lose a lot. T.J. Oshie hasn't signed yet, but the St. Louis Blues first-rounder is poised to leave after his junior year. The same can be said for Joe Finely and Taylor Chorine, juniors who will likely turn pro. There are other potential risks to leave, such as former Hobey winner Ryan Duncan (a free agent) and junior Andrew Kopek. The Sioux will also lose goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who was phenomenal all year until allowing six goals in the NCAA semis. Assuming enough players come back and with another good recruiting class, the Sioux will be right there. They will likely be playing with a freshman goalie, but two of the last four NCAA champs have been freshmen.

Western College Hockey: It's Not Easy Being Anchorage

A post by Chris about an article part time Grand Forks Hearald sports writer Virg Foss wrote back in March has stirred up at hornets net over on Western College hockey. In a March 15 issue of the Grand Forks Herald Virg Foss said this:

Living in that kind of perpetual darkness must be like playing on the cellar dwelling Alaska Anchorage hockey team. ...wishes there was a way to kick Alaska Anchorage out of the WCHA and replace the Seawolves with Bemidji State

The article is interesting in itself but the comments are the most entertaining part the blog post. If you haven't seen the aritcle it suggest you stroll on over and take a look, this is a going to be a train wreck.

Dan Meyer from This is the WCHA had an interesting take on this issue. Dan is suggesting that the WCHA cut itself into two divisions and east and a west.

I have seen this suggested a few times before and there are many problems with the concept. First; the strength of schedule in the two divisions would have some serious disparity; the west division would have a significantly easier schedule than the east. Second; Air Force is not going to be in the WCHA, they could not compete on a regular basis in the WCHA (my humble opinion). Also; I was told by someone in the CHA know that Air Force left the CHA to be in AHA so they could compete in the same league as Army. Also, the natural rivals of the present WCHA would not be preserved. The travel cost of the Western Division would also outweigh the costs of the Eastern Division travel. Lastly, you would also have to increase the WCHA schedule from 28 to 32 games to accommodate the extra two teams.

East Division
Michigan Tech
Minnesota
Minnesota-Duluth
Minnesota State
St. Cloud State
Wisconsin

West Division
Air Force
Alaska-Anchorage
Bemidji State
Colorado College
Denver
North Dakota

Eagles 6 Sioux 1

Grand Forks Herald Picture

For the third year in a row the Fighting Sioux lost to the Boston College Eagles in the semi finals of the NCAA Frozen Four. For the third year in a row the Fighting Sioux goaltending and defense failed the Fighting Sioux. While I don't like to point fingers the Sioux defense looked like a bunch of pylons as the Speedy Eagles put on offensive exhibition. I must give credit where credit is due; hats off to the B.C. Eagles for beating the Sioux like a rented mule. It happens sometimes, that is life, your not going to win them all. In a one and done tourney anything can happen, ask Jeff Jackson and the Fighting Irish. The Fighting Irish were the last team in the NCAA tourney and they are going to beat the Eagles tomorrow night and win their first NCAA title. Just a hunch.

They say bad things come in threes; 1.) Last night the Minnesota Wild lost in over time. 2.) The Bruins got owned by the Habs. 3.) Finally the Sioux stunk up the Pepsi Center and looked like a western North Dakota high school team. Well something good has to happen, it is the law of averages (as I write this blog post the Fighting Irish win the game in overtime). This makes this loss a lot less painful.

Players last games

Tonight was the last game for seniors Rylan Kaip, Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Kyle Radke and Robbie Bina Goon's World would like to thank these seniors for the their dedication to the Fighting Sioux program, I have enjoyed watching you guys play for the Sioux. Also you can probably expect T.J. Oshie, Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley to sign professional contract very soon. I would also like to thank these players for taking one more kick at the can, I will never forget T.J. Oshie drive and determination, your truly a warrior. If you three guys want to come back for one more kick at the can because of unfinished business I am sure most of us will take you back with open arms.


I think the Green Team from Sioux Sports sums it up best.

I think

If you had asked my fellow Sioux fans who I wanted to see the Sioux play in the semis, I said Boston College, because of their track record, their excellence, I wanted the opportunity to beat them. I was surprised that was not the case where I watched the game 2 weeks ago. Most wanted Miami of Ohio to be the possible opponent. Despite the result, I'm still glad it was Boston College. One it shows us we need to improve, I honestly think that had we even played better we still would have been beaten by this squad...unfortunately they are better...this year. This Boston College team reminds me a lot of the teams in 97 and 2000 that we had, by quickly turning turnovers into instant scoring chances, they have a great transition game- they are tenacious bunch and it reminds me of those 97 and 2000 teams. We need to get quicker...

I've believed all year that the "Speed Kills" slogan may not apply to this team and to the last few. Boston College to their credit has found a chink in our armour over these last few years and that is to use their speed to get on our defenseman in a hurry, and you know what we haven't responded. A coaching change is not necessary but I will say that our staff has recruited to fit the style of play that continues to be allowed to be called in the WCHA-it's effective against the clutch and grab style of the bottom teams of our league. The players that we recruit to play in the WCHA, and have success here, may not match up well the style of play, skills and abilities that the players from BC have.

Goon sees a silver lining

First off life is full of disappointments, you're are not always going to come out ahead. There are always going to be losses and disappointments, its how you deal with these life lessions that truely makes you a man. There are going to be people that get great pleasure out of the Sioux losing against the Eagles tonight. So what! The UND Fighting Sioux finished ahead of 54 other teams in division 1 hockey again for a fourth year in a row. So when that relative or buddy that is a Gophers fan gets in your face and tells you your team choked again, tell them yep you're right but our team finished ahead of your team for a fourth year in a row.

Box Score

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BC 1 - 0 6x6 LL Andrew Orpik (7) (Kyle Kucharski) 7:08
BC (+): 27,18,5,4,2,G1 NDK (-): 11,22,5,26,2,G1
NDK-1 Darcy Zajac (2-Slashing) BC 0x1 7:08
BC-1 Kyle Kucharski (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 8:45
BC-2 Pat Gannon (2-Tripping) NDK 0x2 12:00
BC 2 - 0 5x6 SH GW Nathan Gerbe (31) (unassisted) 13:14
BC (+): 9,5,17,7,G1 NDK (-): 10,5,14,2,17,G1
BC-3 Dan Bertram (2-Roughing) 14:23
BC-4 Matt Price (2-Roughing) 14:23
NDK-2 Matt Watkins (2-Roughing) 14:23
NDK-3 Joe Finley (2-Roughing) 14:23
BC-5 Mike Brennan (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 14:59
NDK-4 Rylan Kaip (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 14:59
BC 3 - 0 5x5 Nathan Gerbe (32) (Brian Gibbons, Carl Sneep) 15:13
BC (+): 9,7,5,12,G1 NDK (-): 7,4,10,16,G1
BC 4 - 0 6x6 Dan Bertram (10) (Pat Gannon) 19:45.2
BC (+): 22,13,25,7,26,G1 NDK (-): 10,5,2,7,16,G1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BC-6 Nick Petrecki (2-Interference) NDK 0x3 0:24
NDK-5 Robbie Bina (2-Obstruction Hooking) BC 1x2 5:49
BC 5 - 0 6x5 PP HT Nathan Gerbe (33) (Ben Smith, Dan Bertram) 6:37
BC: 9,12,22,15,21,G1 NDK: 7,20,5,6,G1
NDK-6 T.J. Oshie (2-Charging) BC 1x3 7:11
BC-7 Matt Price (2-Roughing) NDK 0x4 9:38
BC 6 - 0 6x6 Ben Smith (24) (Nathan Gerbe, Brian Gibbons) 11:58
BC (+): 12,9,17,5,7,G1 NDK (-): 20,7,5,29,28,G1
BC-8 Andrew Orpik (2-Roughing) 12:26
BC-9 Anthony Aiello (2-Roughing) NDK 0x5 12:26
NDK-7 Kyle Radke (2-Roughing) 12:26
NDK-8 Rylan Kaip (2-Obstruction Holding) BC 1x4 17:55

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-9 Kyle Radke (2-Hooking) BC 1x5 2:25
BC-10 Carl Sneep (2-High-Sticking) NDK 0x6 5:43
BC-11 Nick Petrecki (2-CTH HIGH STICKING) NDK 0x7 13:28
BC-12 Nick Petrecki (2-Boarding) NDK 0x8 13:28
NDK 1 - 6 6x6 Jake Marto (2) (Matt Watkins) 18:44
NDK (+): 25,20,17,28,29,G1 BC (-): 27,6,18,24,7,G1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

Frozen Four/NCAA hockey Linkorama.

The The Dasher Troll gives UND some unexpected love. Actually I was shocked when I read this since I thought Gwoz thought UND was a bunch of thugs/goons; especially after the series they had in Grand Forks.

* On North Dakota: "North Dakota is well balanced. They've had a terrific second half of the season and have great offensive capabilities with Ryan Duncan and T.J. Oshie. They complement each other and make others around them better. They have great experience in the Frozen Four. This is the fourth year in a row they have been there, and I think everybody expected them to advance no matter what regional they were in because of that experience and how well they played in the second half."

A MSU writer not a fan of the NCAA tourney selection process.

I am not a fan of the job the selection committee did for this year’s NCAA hockey tournament.

My lone complaint with the field is that Wisconsin made the postseason with a sub-.500 record. That shouldn’t be allowed, especially with other programs barely behind them with better records.

But that doesn’t really upset me as much as how the 16 teams were paired.

Essentially, I’m upset that MSU got shipped out to Colorado Springs, Colo., when it should be playing St. Cloud State in Albany, N.Y.

As it stands now, MSU, the best No. 3 seed, is playing Colorado College, the best No. 2 seed. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

It should’ve been Clarkson that got shipped out to Colorado. Instead, Michigan is given an absolute cakewalk to the Frozen Four. It’ll destroy Niagara and whoever wins the game between St. Cloud State and Clarkson.

If MSU gets past Colorado College, it’ll have the tough task of facing either No. 1 seed New Hampshire or No. 4 seed Notre Dame. I’d guess New Hampshire. That is no small task, either, even though MSU has had New Hampshire’s number in recent years.

But the truth is, it’s sad when your first-round game looks to be the toughest of the four it would take to win a national title.

First off; I want to know where they get some of these skippy's? Does this kid not realize that MSU has benefited many times from playing in front of regionals that are very much in favor of MSU Spartans and or in their home state of Michigan. The team that advanced from the Colorado Springs regional was the last team to make the regional and they managed to prevail.

A interesting Perspective.

Here is an interesting perspective from the From the MGOBLOG

Hypothetical second-round opponents. Those unfamiliar with college hockey might look at the second-round matchup, which features conference champ and 21-12-4 Clarkson as the lower seed against fifth-place and 19-15-5 St. Cloud State, and go "huh"?

Well, unlike college football, college hockey has a clear conference pecking order with the WCHA on top, HE and the CCHA fighting it out for second -- this year it's advantage CCHA -- and the ECAC existing as a clear fourth, halfway between the power conferences and Atlantic Hockey. The last ECAC national champion was RPI in 1985. The last time an ECAC team reached the final was Colgate in 1990. Since 2000 only two ECAC teams have reached the Frozen Four. And so on. With all due respect to the league, the vagaries of the PWR are such that drawing an ECAC team is almost always the best possible scenario given your seeding.

While I agree with what he says I am going to take this a bit further. First off the fact that Clarkson is as high as a three seed puzzles me, espeically after they lost to a weak team like Colgate, I think their ranking is a joke actually. All most as silly as them being a one seed last season.

If Clarkson had actually held on to win their conference tourney there would have only been one EZAC team in the NCAA tourney this year. Second records are missleading as SCSU is in the WCHA which top to bottom is the toughest league in college hockey, they are not the AHA but their conference isn't the WCHA or the CCHA. Clarkson is in the EZAC considered the weakest of the Big Four college hockey conferences. They are closer to the AHA then they are the CCHA or the WCHA most of the time their teams get killed in head to head match ups with the CCHA or WCHA.

Clarkson also plays against a schedule that is what I would consider weak by many. Clarkson has lost to some really bad teams one of them was LSSU. Look at the numbers Clarkson's strenght of schedule is very Miami like at 31st over-all and has lost to some really bad teams. Lets look at the Huskies; SCSU strenght of schedule is ranked 9th sure they are like the 5th place team in the WCHA but, has beaten some really good teams. Just for some perspective, C.C. clobbered Clarkson 5-2 and 6-2 when the Knights played the Tigers. SCSU a fifth team split with C.C. the top team in the WCHA during the regular season.