Was Bill Howard forced out in Madison?

I saw this over on Brad Elliott Schlossman's blog this morning and according to Andy Baggot of The Wisconsin State Journal coach Howard's departure might not be 100% amicable.

I would imagine that there are probably a few teams (high school, college, junior and possibly professional) that would love to have a guy like Howard mentoring their young goalies. In my opinion the guy is a genius.

Scott Gordon to coach "overspeed"

Here is an interesting article that I found today. It is a type of style of play that is refreshing to watch. In today NHL it seems that coaches are more interested in playing defense than attacking and scoring.

Gordon's Islanders will be about speed...
Kate Strang|Newsday.com
Scott Gordon was forced to watch his Providence Bruins from the press box after a miscommunication with the AHL two years ago in which he thought he was suspended from a game instead of a player. It was the Bruins' third game in three nights, and Gordon said he was "disgusted" watching his team on the ice.

His players were sitting back, calculating where the puck would be, instead of forcing an opportunity. Gordon decided he wanted a team that used speed to its advantage and attacked instead of waiting for time and space to create plays.

The next day, he pushed his players and unveiled a new, faster way of completing drills, implementing the concept of "overspeed" in practice to improve his team's ability to put pressure on other teams. Ever since, he could tell a marked difference in performance.

Because of the success the change created, Gordon will utilize the same philosophy with the Islanders. "The key for me is that you play as a unit of five and you incorporate that speed into your game," Gordon said. "A lot of it stems from just moving your feet. You're going to put the opposition on their heels."

Introducing the element of speed won't necessarily translate into grueling workouts, Gordon said, but rather different ways of performing drills and approaching practices. "Every player has a comfort level of skating where they know they're not going to fall down," Gordon said. "We try to push players beyond that comfort level, so that when they get in the game, there may be a little bit of a drop-off, but it's better than the level they were playing at."

The goal is to not only improve the team's overall speed, but also adjust its mentality in terms of game plan. "The style of play that we want to instill in our players is, we want to play to win the game, not play to not lose the game," Gordon said. "It's very easy to play and be afraid to make mistakes. Instead of forcing the play, it can be tempting to back off and see what they bring. When you do that, you're on your heels and you're in chase mode toward your own net, instead of chase mode toward the opposition's."

Do the Islanders want John Tortorella as there next coach?

It would appear that this might be the case and Elliot The Rat Lives is also stronly predicting that John Tortorella is going to be the next coach of the New York Islanders. I think Elliot might be right as the Tampa Bay Lighting have also given the Islanders permission to talk to Tortorella about the coaching vacancy in New York.

Tortorella was successful in Tampa Bay as the Lighting won the Stanley Cup in 2003-2004 but they also missed the playoffs twice in his seven season as coach of the the Tampa Bay Lighting.

Links to the story

Fan Nation: Who's next Islanders coach?

Who Will Take the Islander Helm?

Ted Nolan Out As Islanders Coach

New York Islanders announce Ted Nolan out as their head coach

Canes give Hagemo second chance (Finally good news)

I saw this posted over on Sioux Sports. This could turn out to be a happy ending for a kid that has had a tough time as of late. Now it is time for Hagemo to make something out of it.

Canes give Hagemo second chance
Luke DeCock, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - Nate Hagemo didn't know how badly he needed the game of hockey until he tried to go without it.
This week, hockey is trying to give something back to Hagemo.

The one-time Carolina Hurricanes prospect has had a long string of run-ins with the law since a shoulder injury derailed his hockey career almost three years ago, including an arrest less than two weeks ago while on probation.

This week, he's participating in the Hurricanes' prospect conditioning camp, his first taste of competitive hockey since October 2005 and the first scene in what he hopes will be the second act of his life.

"I got off track when I got hurt," Hagemo said Thursday after an on-ice session at the RecZone. "It was a big shock to me. For a while there, it was looking like I wasn't going to be able to play again. What happened with the shoulder, it wasn't so much what was physically wrong.

"There were a bunch of things I had to change in my life even to have the chance the Hurricanes are giving me now. For them to be giving me this opportunity, I couldn't be more grateful. It's really generous of them. It's great that people would give me a second chance."

Hagemo, 21, once ranked among the Hurricanes' most promising defensive prospects, a second-round draft pick after his freshman year at Minnesota, before a shoulder injury derailed his career and his life.

His shoulder is better. His life still needs some healing. The Hurricanes, who retain his NHL rights until June 2009, agreed at the request of Hagemo's agent, Neil Sheehy, to invite Hagemo to this four-day camp in an attempt to help.

"We got a call from the agent just recently," Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said. "He's had some issues to deal with. ... We just felt we'd give him an opportunity if we can, help him out -- even just going forward with his life in the right direction, that would be good. Give him that last opportunity that he's missed over the last two years."

McCloud and Shepherd should take note.

Here is an interesting revelation from former Sioux Jonathan Toews on the difference between college and playing in the NHL. Seems that college is harder to score when you're being hooked and held up and down the ice. It is easier to make plays when you don't have people draped all over you.

Plenty of hype follows Oshie to St. Louis
Oshie admits he's nervous about coming to camp. It has nothing to do with his talent and everything to do with him not being familiar with the NHL game.

"I feel good, but I haven't skated with the big guns yet," Oshie said. "They told me to expect a faster game. The game is a lot different than it is in college. Once I adapt I should be OK. I think I'm just wondering if I will be able to keep up and be able to contribute."

It's not as if Oshie isn't clued in to the NHL game. One of his good friends is Chicago's Jonathan Toews, a former UND teammate. Oshie stayed in touch with Toews, the second runner-up for the Calder Trophy this past season, by picking his brain about the pro game.


"He's been one of the best college hockey players in the country. He has taken his team to the Frozen Four twice in a row as one of the best players on that team. Those are the things that build the expectation and I think he has those expectations for himself. We definitely have them, but it does come down to how he does in September."

Toews told Oshie that he found it to be easier for faster, skilled forwards to make plays in the NHL because of the restrictions on clutching and grabbing, which don't exist in the college game.

"At the college level, clutching and grabbing is a good play for a defenseman," Oshie said. "Johnny Toews was talking to me about how much easier it is to make plays (in the NHL) because you don't have guys all over you. In college, guys were all over him and that's why he didn't put up the big numbers."

Did Snow push Ted Nolan out in New York.

I have been following the antics of Garth Snow since he took over the reigns of the New York Islanders and it would appear that maybe Garth Snow is just a moron and intent on running the Islanders into the ground. Ted Nolan is a good coach and I have to agree with him that the Islanders didn't have the tools to be successful that falls on the shoulders of the GM. Maybe Don Lucia is a good gauge of character?

New York Islanders announce Ted Nolan out as their head coach
UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The New York Islanders fired head coach Ted Nolan on Monday, citing "philosophical differences."

Nolan, who led the Islanders to a 75-68-21 record in his two years behind the bench, had another year remaining on his contract.

"Ted has helped us achieve some success over the last two seasons, however it has become clear that we have philosophical differences and have decided together to part ways,"

general manager Garth Snow said in a release. "Since last season and continuing into the summer, I have realized we do not share the same philosophies."

There had been a growing rift between Nolan and Snow throughout last season when the Islanders failed to make the playoffs. Snow said he felt the team was underachieving while Nolan countered that he lacked adequate personnel.

More on the NCAA rule changes.

Recently the NCAA released a statement from the Ice Hockey committee; in this press release there was a few of the proposed changes to the NCAA tourney selection criteria. This is to be voted on in the fall by the cabinet. As of right now nothing is set in stone or has become "the rules" as of yet? However, I can't remember the last time proposed changes like this were dismissed en mass? So I would suppose there is a good chance of these proposed changes will become part of the 2008-2009 rule book. Here is one of the proposed changes that has prompted a little discussion in the past weeks.

The committee also recommended to the cabinet that all six hockey conferences – College Hockey America, Atlantic Hockey, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East Association, Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association – receive automatic bids to the championship. College Hockey America does not meet standards for an automatic bid, since it falls below minimum sports-sponsorship requirements with four teams, but the committee decided that for the good of the sport and the championship, it would continue to provide automatic qualification to the winner of College Hockey America’s postseason tournament. The decision will be reviewed by the cabinet in the fall.

I think that is a good idea to let the CHA keep it's auto bid because until one of the established division one hockey conferences steps up and proposes a positive solution to this problem, at the current time no one has a clue what to do with the CHA teams. No one has come up with a viable idea as of yet. I think the NCAA should and will allow the CHA to continue to operate as a division one hockey conference until a solution is reached on what to do with the four teams left in this division. Millsy hits the main points of this topic in his post on USCHO.COM

But, without the auto bid, what other carrots do these teams have to dangle in front of a recruit? Recruiting in the CHA is already a challenge, and without the auto bid to dangle out there, it will get that much harder. Without the higher level recruits, it will be next to impossible to knock off teams in the "Big Four".

What is frustrating is that everyone knows what the problem is, but no one outside of the CHA wants to help with a solution. They all just bury their heads in the sand hoping someone else will take care of the problem. Eventually, this problem will go away, but it won't be a positive for college hockey.
Millsy

There are a few solutions to this problem, not all of them are positive. First off; the NCAA could come out and say hey if you don't help these teams out and find a home for them in existing conferences the NCAA could start pulling at large bids to the NCAA tourney, watch people move then. (not really positive)

The NCAA could also just out right deny the CHA from being allowed to keep its auto bid and the league would die a quick painful death. (not positive)

A league could stand up and find a way to accommodate these four teams or come up with a scheduling alliance, or just allow them to join their league. (best option)

I hope in the future we won't still be talking about this issue. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Anyone want to start the Bemidji to the WCHA argument again?

T.J. Oshie named to the All-American Team.

Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie was named to the West First Team All-American team. It is a nice honor for gutty Sioux forward. There was one freshman and one Sophomore on the West All-American teams the rest were juniors and seniors.

WEST FIRST TEAM
G — Richard Bachman, Fr., Colorado College
D — Tyler Eckford, Jr., Alaska
D — Jack Hillen, Sr., Colroado College
F — Ryan Jones, Sr., Miami
F — T.J. Oshie, Jr., North Dakota
F — Kevin Porter, Sr., Michigan

WEST SECOND TEAM
G — Jeff Lerg, Jr., Michigan State
D — Chris Butler, Jr., Denver
D — Alec Martinez, Jr., Miami
F — Chad Kolarik, Sr., Michigan
F — Ryan Lasch, So., St. Cloud
F — Chad Rau, Jr., Colorado College

Big shock Kevin Porter from Michigan won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Duh, we all knew Kevin Porter would win it back in January. Porter was the best player on one of the best lines in college hockey.

March 6th 2008 Andy Strickland interview with T.J. Oshie.

I have not seen this posted anywhere. Fighting Sioux forward, T.J. Oshie was on with Andy Strickland of AM 1380 From St Louis, March 6th 2008. Keep in mind that Strickland has always been in the camp of get T.J. to St Louis right away. After the Sioux get number 8 then the Blue can have him.

Recap from T.J. Oshie:

-Difference in UND from the beginning of season when they were struggling to now, "We had a couple of injuries and the bounces weren’t going our way. Now we are getting the bounces and getting the puck in the net and things are going well."

-Is this year's team as good as last season's, "I’m not sure, we are a different team and it is hard to say. We have other guys stepping up this year and we are on the better run this season than we were last season."

-Do you have any regret on going back to college this season to play for UND, "No regret at all. I am having the time of my life here and I am enjoying every minute of it. It is a blast and I have not once second guess my decision."

-On his health, "I am 100 percent. I had a hip injury but that is fully healed now and I am playing fully healthy right now."

-On if he catches himself watching more NHL hockey and the Blues, "Actually, I don't watch much hockey on television. I am coming around now though because it is fun watching the Blues and watching other guys in the league that I have played with. I don't like watching hockey on TV because it gets me going too much and it makes me just want to go out and play."

-On if he thinks he can make an immediate impact in the NHL whenever he decides to go pro, "I think I can. I will have to improve my strength, as well as my puck control and my vision on the ice. A couple of things that I have really been focusing on this season is becoming a better player on faceoffs and concentrating on my defensive play in our own zone."

-On leaving UND and playing for the Blues next season, "I have not made a decision yet. I am just focusing on the present and taking everything day by day. I haven't really thought about it too much and I am just blocking it out of my mind and focusing on what I am doing here with UND. When it is time to make the that decision I will, but the time to make that decision is not now. It would be unfair to my team if I did not focus 100 percent of my attention on my play here at North Dakota." (I love that answer all class right now I am playing for UND and concentrating on playing for the Sioux.)

-On UND's chances of winning the Frozen Four and being national champions, "I like our chances and it is the goal we have been striving for since the first day of practice. We just have to keep improving as a team and play up to our team's potential."

-On the rivalry with the University of Minnesota, "I am friends with most of the guys on Minnesota's team. But when we get on the ice, it is a big rivalry and with the emotions, it can get pretty heated out there."

Day one NCAA hockey...

Here is the league break down for day one of the NCAA hockey tourney. Not a good day for the WCHA, hey you can't win them all...

WCHA 0-2
HE 0-1
EZAC 1-0
CCHA 3-0
CHA 0-1

Scores:

Michigan 5 Niagara 1 (no shocker here)
Clarkson 3 SCSU 1 (still oh for the NCAA tourney)
ND 7 UNH 3 (semi-big shocker)
MSU 3 C.C. 1 (I am not shocked by it)

To win games in the NCAA tourney your team has to have gritty players doing gritty things between the faceoff dots. In the three games that UNH, SCSU and C.C. lost you had three teams that were beaten physically in my opinion. If these teams had got down low in the dirty areas they could have won these games. MSU plays a good defensive game and Comley had the Spartans playing the systems perfectly today, God is that boring hockey to watch, but effective.

The MSU game was a perfect example of keeping the shots to the outside. All star/conference goalies like Jeff Lerg will stop 99% if the shots taken from the perimeter all day long. To score on a goalie like Lerg you have to crash the net and get screens. Lerg is also a short goalie and you have to catch him moving from side to side, then he is toast. Make no mistake about it; C.C. much like SCSU are nice offensive teams but until they get some gritty players like a Hextal or Kaip they will never advance past the 1st or second round.

I predict the Sun will come up tomorrow and It will be a better day for the WCHA, the most dominating conference in college hockey the last 10 seasons. Take care and enjoy NCAA hockey...

Is Air Force the next Holy Cross?

Here is an interesting pick in tomorrow's Miami and Air Force game. The Blog that Yost Built is picking Air Force to beat the RedHawks. I think it would be a fitting end to the RedHawks season. It won't happen though and I would be willing to bet Packerbacker a case of beer on that one.

Northeast Regional: 4. Air Force over 1. Miami:
I'm going to take crap for this--since I've argued all year with the WCHA fans that Miami actually is a very good team--but I'm taking Air Force. The Falcons are a good hockey team, and I'm surprised they've been as good as they have been without the services of Eric Ehn. Indications are that Ehn could be back for this game, and his return would help, even if he's not close to 100%. History says that the games between Miami/Air Force and Michigan/Niagara will be very close, and Miami has puckered in the big games this season. Air Force is battle-tested.

They've played Boston College, Colorado College, Minnesota, and Denver this season, so a highly-skilled opponent will be nothing new to them. They took Minnesota to the brink last season in the tournament. And they've got a goalie that I've heard of, which is always a plus for a team that isn't from one of the major conferences. They also come in riding the longest unbeaten streak in the country (9 games).

Miami is a good team. Would it shock me if they won this game--or even the Regional? Absolutely not. They're a skilled bunch. Davis, Jones, Miele, Camper, Cannone, Mercier, Martinez...they've got some guns, and they've got a really good goalie. For all I know, this could be 7-0 in Miami's favor. History suggests otherwise, and I'm taking the upset in this one.

The experts don't give UND much a chance.

I was checking out ESPNU/INCH's seems as if the Fighting Sioux aren't being given much of a chance of getting out of their Midwest regional this weekend only Jess Myers (INCH)and David Duffey (ESPN.com) are the only ones giving the Fighting Sioux a chance.

Apparently the Sioux's loss against DU in the semis of the WCHA Final Five has basically given people the impression that UND has NO CHANCE of winning the regional. I just hope the Fighting Sioux hockey team is looking at this and will use this as an extra motivational piece. Lets not forget that UND beat DU 3 out of 4 games sweeping them in Grand Forks during the regular season. I guess that means nothing now. Actually UND owes Denver University for stealing a couple of rings off their fingers.

NCAA tourney thoughts.

Here is are couple of things that I thought were important and need to be analyzed. The playoff bracket have been announced and the Sioux are not going to Colorado Springs to play the Tigers. I think most Sioux fans are cool with that.

Joel Maturi, the chair of the men's ice hockey committee and the athletic director at Minnesota, confirmed that the thought process behind Michigan's move to Albany was to "protect" the top seeds.

Could someone please tell me what the Red Hawks have done to secure a 2nd over all bid? The RedHawks have played a very weak schedule (the 24th ranked schedule over all). I mean seriously folks, and the committee is going to protect a team that has shamelessly feasted on cup cakes all season long raking up wins against a less than impressive list of teams. In fact if you look at the RedHawks schedule you will see they have beat very few teams that are considered good. Let’s break this down; the RedHawks have beaten SCSU (once in a holiday tourney), Notre Dame two times (they played three games and are 2-1 once in the CCHA tourney minus their top forward) and MSU twice. Against the top team in the CCHA the Michigan Wolverines the RedHawks are an impressive 0-2-1. Lets break this down further; Miami is 9-3-1 against teams under consideration for the NCAA tourney. That means they have played just 12 teams that are a team under consideration for being in the NCAA tourney. If you want to take this further; in comparison UND is 21-10-4 against teams that are a TUC, that means out of their 40 games UND has played 35 games against teams that were a TUC. I have no problem with awarding Michigan with the opportunity to beat up on a cup cake in its first game, they have earned that right...

The other joke is the Wisconsin Badgers making the tourney with a losing record and failing to make the conference tourney but still was able to leap frog Minnesota State University Mankato who had a winning record. I can see how Maverick fans might be a little ticked at this decision. Want to bet this rule is changed in the near future?

Let the complaining begin

Here is the Fighting Sioux's Bracket is in Madison, Wisconsin; it looks pretty fair enough to me. You either win or you go home. According to the Lets Go DU hockey blog some seem to think that DU was screwed by the NCAA committee. I am not sure how they are the 2 seed. Did they want to play in Colorado Springs? Also it appears that College Hockey News thinks DU got the short end of the stick as well. Personally I think it is poetic justice; DU got a win they may not deserved as the result of a bad call by an on ice official. Mike Eaves could use this as a way to fire up his troops in the game against the Pioneers. Personally I think DU gets a nice draw in playing the Wisconsin Badgers and they should have no trouble dispatching of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin

Play-in Game Recap (Sioux 7)

Maybe it was having seats too close to the ice or maybe the refs finally read the rules book. The SCSU and UM game last night actually was reffed exceptionally well, in my opinion. It could also be that I don't have my green Sioux glass on, or the fact that I wasn't drinking (I had to drive us home after the game). I just hope that the reffing is like that the rest of the play-offs, they got most of the calls right. What suprised my was that both teams had 5x3 power plays, I can hardly recall more than once that happened for UND in a game.

I wonder if SCSU was laying off, only wanting to play one game this weekend and rest up for the NCAA tourney... I was also suprised at the lack of physical play, for a while I thought I was watching the womens game, no checking. I think I could count the number of hits on one hand. The only good hit was when Bickel got taken hard into the end boards in the 3rd period. I didn't notice any fatigue factor on the side of the Gophers, we will see if they show any signs of fatigue on Friday night versus the Tigers.

On a side note, after leaving the X and going back to the hotel, it is hard to understand a city of more than a couple million people that so many restuarants close at 10pm, and so do the liquor stores, whats up with that!

A few things.

Wow, what an ending to the Fighting Sioux and Michigan Tech WCHA playoff series, here is some footage of the end of game three. It really was that close right down to the end.

Game ending goal

Here is the game ending goal between the Minnesota State University Mavericks and the Gophers. From what I can see on the (poor) video it almost appears that the Mankato player kicked the puck into his own net. I do feel bad for the Mavericks I think they are tough, well rounded hockey team that deserves to be in the NCAA tourney based on who they beat and their strength of schedule. There is a good chance the Mavericks will be in the NCAA tourney Cheer against Northern Michigan, Harvard and Notre Dame. If some of the other bubble teams don't win this weekend there is a good chance they are in.

The Blog that Yost built breaks it down:

-Looking very strong for Mankato to get in barring an upset in one of the title games. Making the title game isn't good enough for BU. They're going to need the autobid if they want to get in.

That being said, the 2nd overtime period last night was nothing short of unbelievable, I was sitting on the edge of my Ottoman during the whole overtime. Mankato had its own chances to end the game minutes before the game ending bubble bursting goal. In my opinion Mankato is a sniper away from being one of the top teams in the WCHA.

They said what? According to the FSN Arizona boys; Michigan super star senior forward Kevin Porter a Hobey candidate/finalist played on the defending national champions team last season. Really, I thought Michigan State won the NCAA tourney. Michigan was eliminated in the region of death last season by by North Dakota.

The Pollsters think UND is worthy of dropping in the polls. UND is 4th in the USCHO/CSTV, 5th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll. The only poll that really matters is the PWR.

Here is an interesting perspective/comment that I found over on Brad's blog. I have to say I agree with what is said here.

I agree with you on Thul. In fact, a number of us were saying that about Thul when he reffed the Sioux games in Duluth. He is the only referee I can recall in the WCHA, in recent history, that seemed to have an understanding of what one team was trying to inflict upon the other with hooking and holding and calling the game that way. He did a good job of penalizing both Duluth and Tech for trying to slow us down with obstruction, without attempting to even the penalties up with isolated minor retaliations by the Sioux. To some degree he took bending the rules away from both teams. Russell definitely made the right move requesting the change. It is about time that we have a referee with the instincts and brains to ref the game that way. Especially, when it is clear well in advance of gameday that one team is going to try to use obstruction to slow the other team.

Calling games like this is the way that the WCHA is going to finally protect its star players. Anderson is a ref that will call penalties with no conscience, but he has a tendency to call a lot of legal body checks as penalties, yet let plenty of obstruction go. I do give him credit for cutting Duncan a break on his slash prior to Kerr's misconduct, knowing the beating that Tech was trying to give Duncan.

The rest of them are masters of the obvious and real susceptible to theatrics and at the end of the day go out of their way to make it even. Don Adam is one of the few refs I have seen that can take a good game and turn it into a brawl. How many times have we seen him get in the face of players and coaches? He regularly puts one guy out of a skirmish(and the wrong one)in the box or gives them the extra penalty and then frustrates the players to the point of taking it out on each other because the ref is not doing justice.

I think very few people want a game that is loaded with penalties and few want what Shepherd allowed in Mankato. I believe the true fan really wants a ref that calls infractions that stop scoring opportunities or create scoring opportunities and to penalize team's attempts to control the game through systematic infractions.

Posted by: GDeeton on Monday, March 17 9:43 PM

Goon's prediction of who in or not.

It is that time of year again. You are the committee

1 [AQ] Michigan
2 [AQ] New Hampshire
3 Miami (Mm)
4 [AQ] North Dakota (ND)
5 Colorado College
6 Denver (DU)
7t Boston College (BC)
7t St. Cloud State (SC)
9t Michigan State (MS)
9t Clarkson (Ck)
11 Minnesota (Mn)
12t Minnesota State (Mk)
12t Wisconsin (Wi)
14 Notre Dame (Nt)
15 [AQ] Princeton (Pn)
16[AQ] Niagara (Ni)

I still think that 7 teams might be too many for the WCHA; but that is based on my picks from you are the committee. Personally, I don't believe that Wisconsin deserves to be in the tourney by missing the conference tourney and being below .500. Just my opinion. I don't mind the Sioux going to Madison either even if the BADgers are in the tourney.

Sioux 4 Huskies 0

Tonight it looked as if the Fighting Sioux found another gear that seemed to be missing from last weekend's series. The Sioux put on a stingy defensive effort to shut out the always though and defensive minded Michigan Tech Huskies. It was half way through the game before the Huskies recorded a single shot on the Fighting Sioux goal.

Tonight also saw the return of two key player that had been injured in previous series. Returning players Chay Genoway and T.J. Oshie were instrumental in leading the Fighting Sioux to a key victory in the first round of the WCHA playoffs against the Michigan Tech Huskies. It was apparent by his body language that Oshie played the entire game in a great deal of pain but his his goal and assist probably did ease some of his pain or at least make it more bearable. In case anyone is counting make that 14 goals for Oshie on the season, who in my opinion is the Player of the Year in the WCHA in my opinion. Call me a homer, or clouded by my kelly green goggles but his worth to this team is priceless...

Zach Jones is a goon?
After going 23 games with out a taking a single penalty, Zach Jones made up for it by taking 3 minor penalties on the evening. Ironically Zach had played penalty free hockey since November 11th; the second game of the November series against the Wisconsin Badgers where he had picked up 14 minutes in penalties. That in it self is an impressive feat due to the fact that Jones is know for being a very physical player.

Read the whole article by Virg FossGRAND FORKS, N.D. — Michigan Tech hockey coach looked up at the scoreboard over Ralph Engelstad Arena after one period tonight and didn't like what he saw, for several reasons.

Not only did his Huskies trail 1-0 in the opening game of the Best-of-3 WCHA playoffs, but the scoreboard showed his Huskies being outshot 14-0.

"To be honest with you, I thought the person doing the shot chart was on crack tonight," Russell said. "It was definitely out to lunch. You can print that, too."

It really didn't matter much as a strong performance by the Sioux led to a 4-0 victory and stretched their school-record and nation-best unbeaten streak to 18 games (15-0-3).

A power-play goal by last year's Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan at 5:25 of the first period was all the offense the Sioux would need. Senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux posted a 14-save shutout for his sixth blanking of the season

Box Score

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

MTU-1 Tyler Shelast (2-Slashing) NDK 1x1 3:26
NDK 1 - 0 6x5 PP GW LL Ryan Duncan (14) (T.J. Oshie, Chay Genoway) 5:25
NDK: 16,7,5,29,4,G1 MTU: 13,28,8,5,G29
NDK-1 Zach Jones (2-Tripping) MTU 0x1 6:05
MTU-2 Malcolm Gwilliam (2-Hooking) NDK 1x2 9:04
MTU-3 John Schwarz (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 1x3 11:33

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

MTU-4 Drew Dobson (2-Hooking) NDK 1x4 0:36
NDK-2 Zach Jones (2-Interference) MTU 0x2 3:17
MTU-5 Jordan Foote (2-Holding) NDK 1x5 6:01
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 T.J. Oshie (15) (Ryan Duncan, Chris VandeVelde) 8:21
NDK (+): 7,16,29,4,6,G1 MTU (-): 11,22,16,12,10,G29
NDK 3 - 0 6x6 Darcy Zajac (2) (Jake Marto, Chay Genoway) 9:10
NDK (+): 11,25,2,5,22,G1 MTU (-): 28,13,25,21,5,G29
NDK-3 Matt Watkins (2-Interference) MTU 0x3 9:58
NDK-4 Rylan Kaip (2-Interference) MTU 0x4 19:21

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3rd Period (20:00)
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NDK-5 Zach Jones (2-Tripping) MTU 0x5 2:00
MTU-6 John Schwarz (2-Holding) NDK 2x6 5:18
NDK 4 - 0 6x5 PP Andrew Kozek (16) (Brad Miller, Ryan Martens) 6:58
NDK: 10,14,8,2,5,G1 MTU: 11,4,8,14,G29
NDK-6 Rylan Kaip (2-Roughing) MTU 0x6 14:59
NDK-7 Joe Finley (2-Roughing) 20:00

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End of Game
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Comments on the INCH/ESPN chat

Back for a second week, this weeks installment of the what silly things did the boys from INCH say.

Donovan (Fargo): Jess, Could you talk a bit about the state of officiating in the WCHA. When will the coaches and the league discuss calling the interference, hooking, and holding similar to the NHL? It is happening so much now it blatantly looks like the league wants this to continue in order to create a parity solely to improve everyone's SOS and national standing. Thoughts?

Jess Myers: Those topics will certainly be discussed in late April when the coaches and league officials meet in Florida for their annual postseason gathering. A month ago, WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod told me there's growing concern about the officials in terms of the way they're being treated by fans, players, and coaches in the league. Now, yelling at the refs and bad calls have been a part of the game for as long as it has been played on ice, so apparently league officials see something new and disturbing that's worth looking into. As for the way the game is being called, they're still searching for that happy medium between letting everything go and having someone in the penalty box at all times. Still, compare the college game to the ugliness on ice that the NHL (especially in the Western Conference) is so often and I like what I'm seeing in the WCHA.

Sorry if the league officials and the commish aren't feeling the love, they shouldnt because they flat out suck, frankly the refs brought this firestorm on yourselves. Incompetence in the name of the status quo is no longer acceptable and shouldn't have to tolerated by the fans. Think about this; we are paying way too much money for hockey tickets to put up with this crap on a week to week basis. Seems as if the other leagues aren't having these many problems. Look at it from Mike Eaves' point of view; shoddy officating in two game probably cost the Badgers home ice and an NCAA tourney bid.

If the WCHA officials called the game the way it is supposed to be called there wouldn't be this be this much disdain for the officials in this league. I do not feel sorry for them or do I feel any empathy for them. The WCHA needs to drain the swamp and start over, the league office needs an over hall. The criticism directed towards the officials is warranted and should be expected.

More whining about the PairWise:

Chris (Detroit, MI): The pairwise system confuses many of us. Dumb down the scenarios for us a bit...what are a couple of teams that must have excellent conference tournaments to sneak into the tournament?

Mike Eidelbes: The system is confusing to many of us. I think it's the whole strength-of-schedule thing, because it seems odd that a 22-win Notre Dame team is below a 13-win UMD club. The Irish, obviously, needs to play well and get some help -- and even getting to the CCHA championship game, plus flameouts by Wisconsin and Boston University, still might not be enough. I think Harvard is a team to keep an eye on, too, if they can sweep Quinnipiac this weekend and end up playing (and beating) Princeton in the ECAC Hockey semis.

If Notre Dame doesn't win this weekend they don't deserve to be in the NCAA playoffs and their is a good chance they lose to Ferris State. Frankly; based on who Notre Dame has lost to in the second half of the season (Massachusetts Northern Michigan, Ohio State, Ferris State) the Irish are going to be hard pressed to make the tourney.

Finally Jess Meyers will get a little love from Goon's World after this comment. I suppose now he just gave us the kiss of death. Sioux hockey players take note we do not want you to have to play on Sunday night so lets get the job done on Saturday night. So we can be kicking back on Sunday watching the Mavericks putting the finishing touches on the Gophers.

Ryan (Minneapolis): Who makes it to St. Paul next weekend and who comes out of St. Paul with the WCHA tourney title?

Jess Myers: Ah, the annual "make the so-called experts look like fools" exercise. OK, here goes: I'll pick four of the five home teams to win this weekend -- CC, NoDak, Minnesota State, and SCSU. I see the NoDak and Minnesota State series wins taking three games. I'll pick a UMD upset of Denver in three games for the reasons I detailed earlier -- namely the Bulldogs' solid defense and goaltending versus the Pioneers undermanned offense. Don't forget UMD taking SCSU to three games (and multiple overtimes in game three) last year. The Bulldogs are a tough out come playoff time, but with two great goalies facing each other (Stalock versus Mannino) don't expect to see many goals. As for the Final Five, if North Dakota is healthy I see the Fighting Sioux erasing the demons of last season, and beating CC for the playoff title. And to secure a NCAA tourney invite, SCSU will beat Minnesota State in the third place game, before an audience of hundreds.

Would BSU be a bottom feeder?

This past weekend I had an opportunity to hang out with some old friend from Bemidji and the usual conversation came up about BSU's possible admittance to the WCHA. This issue seems to be almost as explosive as the gun control and the abortion debates.


As many of you know; I have been on record of saying that I am ALL for the Beavers being part of the WCHA. As the Bottom-Feeder brought up I attended BSU back in the early 1990’s. I am also not for kicking out UAA as some have suggested (Sioux7). That response seems kind of callous and crass.

I think the BSU Beavers are a great fit for the WCHA because they are in close proximity of SCSU, UMN, UMD, MSU-M and UND. By adding BSU you can also cut down on travel costs. By adding the Beavers to the WCHA the league all of a sudden would have an unbalanced and odd number of teams. Personally I wouldn't want to have an 11 team league because it doesn't work for the WCHA playoffs.

There are a couple of options to consider. You could give the league winner a bye. That option is not likely to happen since that team that won the league title would want the revenue of hosting a playoff series. Do the math that is a nice profit for you program.

So then you have the next option, leave the 11th place team home, finish 11th in the league and your done. I am not sure I like that option because someone is going to be home and left out of the playoffs. It would eliminate the possibility of giving the 11th place team a shot at making the NCAA tourney for winning the league tourney. While it has never happened to date it does give a team something to play for. So to elevate this problem I would recommend the WCHA adding the UNO Mavericks.

Here is a silly post that I found on USCHO.COM

SCSU Beat Anyone The only thing is will Bemidji beat Souix, Gophers, Badgers? The only team they could beat would be UAA.

Mixed results

That post is so far from the truth it's silly. BSU has had moderate success playing the WCHA. Mind you; this is with CHA recruits. Tom Serratore did a great job of recruiting he was an assistant at SCSU. Since 2005 BSU's record against UMD is 5-2. This season the BSU Beavers split with the Bull Dogs in a home and home series. The BSU Beavers are also 4-2 against my 2nd favorite WCHA the MSU-M Mavericks (I switched my allegiance again), this season the Mavericks swept the season series against the BSU Beavers. On the other hand since 2005; BSU has had little success against MTU 0-2 since 0-7-1 against UND. Given the chance BSU would be able to compete at high level just as the other teams in the WCHA.