Jean-Philippe Lamoureux steals the show

Whew, one could imagine that the Fighting Sioux should be well rested going into next weekend's series with the Minnesota Gophers. Maybe they were already thinking about next weekend's series as they look uninterested in playing hockey.

The Sioux scored two quick goals chased the UAA starter Bryce Christianson from the net and then basically took the rest of the game off and barely escaped with a 3-1 win. The Sioux were out shot 36-12 by the Seawolves. Tonight win was all UND's goal tender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux as he made numerous saves stole a game that the Sioux had no business winning. The Sioux also benefited from a goal that was waved off after a lengthy review. I am actually surprised that it was waved off. I wonder if we will be seeing another apology letter from the WCHA home office. UND has now won 7 WCHA games in a row.

It would be an understatement to say that they were they were out worked for 2/3 of the game by the pesky UAA Seawolves.

Scoring Summary

First Period

North Dakota-1 T.J. Oshie (Ryan Duncan, Robbie Bina) 3:45
North Dakota-2 Matt Watkins (Chris VandeVelde) GWG 8:23

Second Period

Alaska-Anchorage-1 Merit Waldrop (unassisted) 4x4 12:41

Third Period

North Dakota-3 Chris VandeVelde (T.J. Oshie, Ryan Duncan)

Goaltender(s)
Alaska-Anchorage-1 Jon Olthuis (50:51 N) 2 3 4 9 (1 GA)
Alaska-Anchorage-2 Bryce Christianson (08:23 L) 1 1 (2 GA)
North Dakota-1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (60:00 W) 9 15 11 35 (1 GA)

A look at the numbers: Why the doom and gloom?

I was looking at the National stats for the Fighting Sioux hockey team and UND is really doing pretty well. I hear a lot of people saying UND isn't very good this season or they haven't played that well. I have hear some say that the goaltending has not been as good or that the fighting Sioux haven't been very consistent. What kind of measuring stick are we measuring the Sioux by? What are we using for a gauge. I think UND is getting better at the right time and has played the toughest schedule per the strength of schedule. Remember the Sioux are not playing a bunch of cup cakes they are playing a first rate schedule week in and week out. As a team you will see that UND is pretty balanced.


Points Per Game:
37.) T.J. Oshie (STL) North Dakota JR F 23 11-13-24 1.04
45.) Ryan Duncan North Dakota JR F 24 10-14-24 1.00

Assists Per Game:
16.)Robbie Bina North Dakota SR D 24 18 0.75

Power Play Goals:
14.)T.J. Oshie (STL) North Dakota JR F 23 0.26 6

Short-Handed Goals:
9.) Ryan Duncan North Dakota JR F 24 0.08 2

Points Per Game (Defensemen):
5 Robbie Bina North Dakota SR D 24 2-18-20 0.83
7 Taylor Chorney (EDM) North Dakota JR D 24 2-17-19 0.79
10 Chay Genoway North Dakota SO D 21 5-11-16 0.76

Goals Against Average:
1.) Jeff Zatkoff (LAK) Miami JR 1298:20 32 1.48
2.) Richard Bachman (DAL) Colorado College FR 1204:39 32 1.59
3.) Billy Sauer (COA) Michigan JR 1401:56 39 1.67
4.) Michael-Lee Teslak Michigan Tech JR 693:44 20 1.73
5.) Matt Climie Bemidji State SR 972:39 29 1.79
6 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux North Dakota SR 1407:30 43 1.83

Save Percentage:
1.) Richard Bachman (DAL) Colorado College FR 507 32 .941
2.) Jeff Zatkoff (LAK) Miami JR 482 32 .938
3.) Billy Sauer (COA) Michigan JR 576 39 .937
4.) Michael-Lee Teslak Michigan Tech JR 282 20 .934
5.) Carter Hutton UMass Lowell SO 230 17 .931
6.) Ben Scrivens Cornell SO 419 31 .931
7.) Billy Blase Yale SO 387 29 .930
8.) Jean-Philippe Lamoureux North Dakota SR 567 43 .930

Scoring Offense: Games Goals G/GM
1.) Miami 27 116 4.30
2.) Michigan 25 99 3.96
3.) Boston College 23 85 3.70
4.) Robert Morris 21 75 3.57
5.) New Hampshire 22 76 3.45
6.) Boston University 23 78 3.39
7.) Michigan State 26 88 3.38
8.) Colorado College 25 83 3.32
9.) North Dakota 24 79 3.29

Scoring Defense: Games Goals G/GM
1.) Miami 27 41 1.52
2.) Michigan 25 43 1.72
3.) Notre Dame 29 59 2.03
4.) North Dakota 24 49 2.04

Scoring Margin: Games GF GF/G GA GA/G Margin
1.) Miami 27 116 4.30 41 1.52 2.78
2.) Michigan 25 99 3.96 43 1.72 2.24
3.) Boston College 23 85 3.70 53 2.30 1.39
4.) North Dakota 24 79 3.29 49 2.04 1.25

Sioux beat UAA 3-1

Tonight UND won a game in which the opposition scored first. UND spotted the Seawolves a 1-0 lead then scored the next 3 goals and cruised to a 3-1 win. Jean-Philippe Lamoureux was steady in another win and has now only given up 12 goals in 7 games. Actually in the last 4 out of 5 games has only given up 1 goal.
Box Score
First Period

Alaska-Anchorage-1 Shane Lovdahl (Jared Tuton, Tommy Grant) 14:17
North Dakota-1 T.J. Oshie (Andrew Kozek, Ryan Duncan) 18:27

Second Period

North Dakota-2 Evan Trupp (Chay Genoway, Joe Finley) GWG PPG 16:22

Third Period

North Dakota-3 Andrew Kozek (T.J. Oshie, Taylor Chorney) 7:21

All Star Weekend.

Hockey fans don't forget to watch the NHL's All-Star Game on Sunday, January 27th at 5pm CT on Versus. Watch the following former NCAA College hockey players take on the world's best.

Eastern Conference
Timothy Jr. Thomas Vermont
Martin St. Louis Vermont
Rick DiPietro BU

Western Conference
Shawn Horcoff Michigan State

Random thoughts.

UND recruit David Toews is ranked 27th in the latest ISS Top 30 2008 prospects for January. I know I am very excited to see another Toews playing for the Sioux.

Top WCHA freshman Scorers

Garrett Roe Freshman 15 games 8g-11a-19 pts
Tyler Bozak Freshman 16 games 8g-8a-16 pts
Kyle Turis Freshman 14 games 4g-8a-12 pts
Matt Frattin Freshman 18 games 2g-7a-9 pts

Schmidt suspended.

Adam Wodon The college hockey news is reporting that Randy Schmidt has been Suspened for at least a week This is a good start folks, unfortunately Schmidt still has a job he should be fired.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod has acknowledged that league referee Randy Schmidt has been removed from his assignment for this weekend's game, and is currently on official suspension.

Speculation began because Schmidt did not officiate any games last weekend, following a pair of incidents for which the WCHA sent out letters of apology for mistakes made by the officials during games Schmidt was involved in.

"He wasn't scheduled to work last week, but he was scheduled to work this week," McLeod said. "He's under a suspension right now, and now we deal with it and make a final decision on the long term. ... He was taken off this weekend's series."

Also WCHA Todd Anderson Also got himself in trouble this past weekend.

McLeod had another officiating incident this past weekend, when referee Todd Anderson grabbed Minnesota-Duluth forward Michael Gergen by the jersey in order to discuss something with him. According to the Duluth News-Tribune, McLeod was at the game and told Anderson that it was unacceptable for him to have grabbed a player. But Anderson was not further reprimanded.

The Vegas Lines are up.

Here are the latest odds on College Hockey, as of 12/26/07. The order is
Team Name, @ = 12/26 odds, was = opening odds (10/13)
Boston College @ 15/1 was 3/1
North Dakota @ 5/1 was 7/2
Michigan State @ 6/1 was 4/1
Miami, Ohio @ 5/2 was 5/1
Clarkson @ 9/1 was 7/1
New Hampshire @ 10/1 was 8/1
Minnesota @ 12/1 was 10/1
Notre Dame @ 18/1 was 12/1
Michigan @ 7/2 was 15/1
Boston University @ 25/1 was 18/1
Maine @ 25/1 was 25/1
Quinnipiac @ 30/1 was 25/1
Colorado College @ 6/1 was 30/1
Wisconsin @ 18/1 was 30/1
Denver @ 5/1 was 30/1
Michigan Tech @ 25/1 was 40/1
St. Cloud State @ 40/1 was 40/1
Massachusetts @ 25.1 was 40/1
St. Lawrence @ 50/1 was 40/1
Dartmouth @ 60/1 was 50/1
Cornell @ 80/1 was 60/1
Ohio State @ 100/1 was 60/1
Vermont @ 100/1 was 75/1
Northeastern @ 40/1 was 75/1
Air Force @ 80/1 was 75/1
Lake Superior State @ 75/1 was 75/1
Harvard @ 100/1 was 85/1
Providence @ 75/1 was 100/1
R.P.I. @ 125/1 was 100/1
Mass-Lowell @ 125/1 was 100/1
Connecticut @ 125/1 was 100/1
Mankato State @ 125/1 was 100/1
FIELD (all others) @ 50/1 was 75/1

Miami 5/2 right as if they actually played anyone.
Michigan is a good bet as well as UND and BC.

Interesting Perspective: Canada and the NCAA

Here is an interesting perspective on the CIS schools joining the NCAA. Sounds like not all involved think it will be a great idea nor will their schools see or make a lot of the big dollars that some of the big schools in the major college sports are enjoying. DUH! I also don't think it is going to be all doom and gloom like some are suggesting. Sure there will be more competition for the top Canadian athletes but I also think top hockey schools like Michigan, Minnesota, UND, Wisconsin, Michigan State are still going to get the pick of the top recruits. So what if they have to work a little harder. Somethings in life are worth the extra effort.

Newbould said a school such as the University of British Columbia, which has spearheaded the push to join the NCAA, would dwarf every Division II college in terms of enrolment, but that wouldn't necessarily guarantee success. “The competition is really good,” he said. “Any Canadian school coming to the States is going to have to work hard.”

The biggest difference, he said, would come in how scholarships are awarded. While NCAA scholarships allow for compensation for room and board in addition to tuition and fees, they are limited in number by sport-specific caps. And aside from marquee Division I sports such as football and basketball, teams are under tight financial constraints.

In Division II, for instance, scholarships are limited to the equivalent of 36 a team in football and 13.5 in men's ice hockey. In some sports, such as men's volleyball, where only 4.5 scholarships are available for each team, many CIS programs would have more athletes receiving scholarships than Division I NCAA programs.

UBC athletic director Bob Philip has said a big motivation for joining the NCAA would be to keep more athletes in Canada. An estimated 1,500 Canadians are competing at U.S. colleges.
But competing in Division II would not necessarily help ease that drain, Newbould said.

“The kids are not getting a free ride coming down from Canada in Division II, and very few in Division I do,” he said. “It sounds more glorious than it is in that sense.

“A baseball player's only going to get one-third of a scholarship. Basketball and football in Division I, sure, that's the big time. TV, full rides, everything – but even the other Division I sports, it's not that way. A lot of students that are going to school on an athletic scholarship, they're still paying a portion of their education.”

Even if UBC opts to join Division I after a few years, as the pilot program would allow, Newbould said there's no guarantee a Canadian school could woo a top athlete away from the U.S. juggernauts. UBC's current athletic budget is small, even by the standards of top-spending Canadian universities, and would be minuscule compared with the big machines fielding top Division I teams.

My Question on CSTV: The Writers' Round Table

Here is a question I posed for the CSTV round table. The writers didn't go where I was hoping they would go, they kind of danced around the issue and didn't answer my question like I had hoped. No one is denying the fact; Miami and Michigan are good to decent teams, however, how battle tested are they? The strength of schedule of the CCHA isn't very impressive.

Miami will have played basically three teams in the top ten Michigan State University and Michigan (02-08-2008) and Notre Dame by the second week of February. The rest of their schedule is very week and almost laughable. Michigan has beaten Minnesota, Wisconsin and B.C. but Minnesota and Wisconsin are down this year so Michigan has to date played one team in the top ten. So I say again; what is so impressive about racking up a majority of your 21 wins against the likes of these teams. I will break it down for you using the KRACH Rankings, that's 4 wins against UNO #30, 2 wins against Canisus the #54, 3 wins against OSU #44, 2 wins against NMU #36, 1 win against Alaska #40, 2 wins against 32 Vermont, 1 win against BGSU #26 and 2 wins against Rensselaer #43. Include loses against #40 Alaska and #26 BGSU. Again; why are those 16 wins impressive?

Eric Grand Forks, ND: Are the Pundents giving the CCHA getting way too much credit? If you look at the Srenght of Schedule for two of the top teams in the CCHA; Michigan has played the 31st toughest schedule, while Miami has played the 28th toughest schedule. Why are these teams still impressive?
Paula Weston: The "pundents" giving the CCHA too much credit? Because the two best teams in the country are Miami and Michigan, and three of the four top 10 teams are CCHA teams?
Elliot Olshansky: I say it all the time...hockey games are played on sheets of ice, not sheets of paper, and having seen Michigan and Miami, these teams look like the No. 1 and No. 2 teams.
Paula Weston: It's not just the press that votes in the polls. I'd be willing to wager that many, many coaches around the country would say that Miami and Michigan are the top two teams in the nation right now.
Paula Weston: And while hockey games are played on sheets of ice and not paper, RinkRat, you would be out of work if people didn't want to see the endless banter about our sport.
Elliot Olshansky: Of course, I tend to like Miami a bit more than most, because I do still wonder about some of those Michigan freshmen hitting the wall.
Paula Weston: It's always foolish to underestimate Michigan. I think that may be the one true thing I've learned covering hockey these last dozen years.

Say it isn't so: the WCHA has a credibility problem

WCHA Ref Todd Anderson
No, stop, it can't be true. I think this is a serious issue that is finally coming to a head, however, it took one of the Big Ten Schools getting screwed over before anyone finally decided to take a stand. Maybe now we can get something to finally stick the league office. Like Kevin Allenspach
said no one cared when it happened to SCSU. Let me tell you Kevin we got your back, there are many of us that are steaming mad about it and we want some heads to roll, we will not go away and we will keep bringing the issue up.

Tom Oates: WCHA wants to be big-time, but still acts small
It has won five of the last six NCAA titles, nine of its 10 teams were ranked in the top 20 poll just last week and its programs are regularly raided for talent by the NHL.

But if the Western Collegiate Hockey Association is, as it often proclaims, the premier men's college hockey league in the nation, why does it routinely act like it is a municipal softball league in McFarland?

Why do its bylaws fail to cover crisis situations? Why can't its referees get calls right even with television replays? Why do its leaders vanish when people need answers the most?

A better question is this: How can anyone take college hockey seriously when its premier league is run like a mom-and-pop store in a Wal-Mart world?

The latest blow to the WCHA's image came Friday night when referee Randy Schmidt disallowed a last-second, game-tying goal by the University of Wisconsin in a 3-2 loss at Denver. By now you know the gory details, so I'll spare you the explanation. Let's just say that Schmidt had college hockey's most advanced TV replay capability at his disposal and failed to use it properly.

Schmidt apparently was the only person in the arena who couldn't figure out that UW had scored, a notion that was confirmed the next day when the WCHA admitted he had made a mistake, saying, "The league regrets the error, and acknowledges that the goal should have counted."

WCHA officials thought that would end the issue, which shows how out of touch they really are. Sorry, but it's not that easy to dismiss such an egregious error, in part because the same referee had been involved in a similar incident earlier this season and in part because the loss of even one point could damage UW's NCAA tournament chances in a year when it hosts an NCAA regional.

"It would appear from what people ... on the street are saying, the league's image right now is a little tainted," UW coach Mike Eaves said Monday.

Eaves was choosing his words carefully, but the league's soiled image and lack of leadership and vision was on display again Saturday night when, incredibly, Schmidt was allowed to referee the second game of the series. League officials made that decision even though they had another crew doing a series in nearby Colorado Springs and could easily have switched the two.

But that's not the only bush-league action by the WCHA recently. Two weeks ago, UW had to play a key series against Colorado College without three of its best players, who, like others in the league, were participating in the World Junior Championships. Predictably, UW couldn't buy a goal in the series, losing twice by a combined score of 5-1.

Can you imagine any other college sport scheduling league games when it knew its teams would be losing their best players to another competition?

Meanwhile, UW has appealed to the WCHA to declare Friday's game a tie, which, at this late date, is a reasonable solution. A better solution would have been to play an overtime period the next day.

Unfortunately, league officials couldn't or wouldn't make that decision. No surprise there, which is why the WCHA needs this word of advice: If you want to be big league, start acting like it.

The first step in the right direction

This have become a hot topic on the various hockey fan message boards. I have heard a lot of fans saying that BSU wouldn't add anything to the WCHA. First off that is silly in my opinion, first off they become a natural rival with UND, UMD, MSU-M and SCSU right away. All four team have played or play BSU on regular basis already. Lets not forget the fact the teams are a very short 2-3 hour drive away, well, Mankato is a little further away from Bemidji.

In this instance I applaud the WCHA for stepping up and helping a fellow hockey team out. I think it is the right thing to do. It also give BSU some time to get its arena all sowed up and ready to go.

WCHA to help Beavers

Bruce McLeod, Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner, told me Sunday night that the league and Bemidji State have an agreement in place that will help the Beavers with their future men's hockey scheduling.

Bemidji State's request to the league at the NCAA Convention in Nashville on Sunday is because College Hockey America is shrinking. If nothing changes, it will have only four teams next season -- Bemidij State, Alabama-Huntsville, Niagara and Robert Morris.

The WCHA was reportedly considering a four-year unbalanced schedule that would ensure Bemidji State had 12 games vs. WCHA teams each season, six home, six away. But a particular number of games might not be in the agreement. A source also said BSU was told it needs to get a new arena built if the alliance is going to work.

"We do have an agreement, but we're just kind of working out the final details," McLeod said in a telephone interview Sunday night.

The 10-team WCHA has had a moratorium on expansion since Minnesota State Mankato was admitted in 1996-97.

Jon Quistgaard, BSU president, said a statement will be released Monday.

"I think it was a positive meeting," Quistgaard said in a telephone interview. "We really appreciated the opportunity to be able to talk about our situation and what our goals are and our vision. ... I think we all came away from the meting better informed."

How Sweep it is... Sioux take game two 4-1...

Finally; the Fighting Sioux seal the deal and finally get a sweep for the weekend. It only took the Fighting Sioux 21 games into the season before they finally got a two game sweep and they did it in impressive style holding MTU to 2 goals on the weekend and under 20 shots both nights.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the first period and a half because I was at Altru health in urgent care with my daughter who is suffering from the croop. Sioux7 was nice enough to give me an update while I was sitting in the hospital.

I got home from the hospital just in time to turn on the television and see Chris VandeVelde score a pretty goal. Wow; did that kid have a good series or what? There were a few players that really stepped up this weekend: Chris VandeVelde had 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points. Also, Taylor Chorney chipped in 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points, Freshman Evan Trupp who is starting to emerge as an impact player we read about had two points on the weekend as well.

MTU is a good team that will be heard from before the season is over, I would not want to have to play them in the WCHA playoffs.

Box Score
First Period

North Dakota-1 Kyle Radke (Taylor Chorney, Robbie Bina) 7:21
North Dakota-2 Chay Genoway (Jean-Philippe Lamoureux) GWG PPG 14:11

Second Period

North Dakota-3 Chris VandeVelde (Evan Trupp) 15:04

Third Period

Michigan Tech-1 Drew Dobson (John Schwarz, Jordan Baker) 2:49
North Dakota-4 Taylor Chorney (T.J. Oshie, Ryan Duncan) PPG 9:28
Goaltender Saves
Michigan Tech-1 Rob Nolan (59:56 L) 5 8 4 17 (4 GA)
North Dakota-1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (60:00 W) 6 5 6 17 (1 GA)

Referee(s): Jon Campion
Asst. Referee(s): Nathan Freeman, Kile Bergren

~UND is 2nd in Goals for in the WCHA, C.C. has more and they have played two more games.

~UND is 3rd in the WCHA in goals against.

~UND is 6th in the Pairwise.

WCHA ADMITS ERROR IN WISCONSIN GOAL DISPUTE

This seems to be a reoccuring theme in the WCHA this season and it seems to be involving the same on ice officials.

by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor

The WCHA has officially admitted error by its officiating crew in disallowing a Wisconsin goal that would have tied Friday's game against Denver as time expired.

It marks the second time this year that the WCHA has apologized for an error by its officials — and both times the referee was Randy Schmidt.

The next statement the WCHA should issue is Randy Schmidt has been relieved from his reffing duties in the WCHA and will no longer be allowed to ref games in the WCHA ever again. The WCHA should not and can no longer tolerate this kind of incompetence by its on the ice officials.

The league could have made this right, the proper response should have been to have a 5 minute period of overtime before this evenings game. I think short of firing Schmidt that is the only way they could saved face in this incident. While I don't blame DU, hey they got the win they do have two tainted wins.

Hey Schmidt get off your knees your blowing the game

I want to hear why this is not a goal, I want to hear something other than an apology. If I was the Badgers coach Mike Eaves I would be calling the league office and demanding that the WCHA league office review this goal and then give the Badgers coach a reason why it wasn't called a goal. There should have been an overtime in this game. Then the Greg Sheppard and Bruce McCloud should fire Randy Schmidt because he has no business reffing games in the WCHA or pee wees.

MTU and UND

I found this video on youtube, reminded me of old time hockey and Eddie Shore. This weekend UND plays MTU in an important WCHA match up, there are no weekends off in this league, and this isn't the CCHA. It's time for the Sioux to show some heart and sweep this series. One could say that this is a make or break weekend. While I don't like cliché’s it is time to find out if my team is a contender or a pretender. If the Sioux are going to win this series they are going to have to play with an edge and be ready to do the things that MTU does. The Sioux must play like they did when they played the Badgers in Madison in November. Hit the skilled forwards and counter attack. The Sioux need to be miserable to play against. We used to say when I was in football that it's beter to be the hammer than it is to be the nail.

MTU is not afraid to do the things that they need to do to win the games. MTU has one of the best goalie tandems in the WCHA, one could call it a two headed monster and it doesn't matter which one is in the net as Rob Nolan is 5-5-0 with a 2.50 gaa and a .903 save % and Michael-Lee Teslak is 4-4-2 with a 1.71 GAA and a .934 save %.
UND will have to move their feet against MTU or run the risk of getting run out of the building. I am hoping the Fighting Sioux remember the bitter pill they had to swallow after being swept by MTU in our building last season.

Haven't we seen this prediction before?

Bethlyn: UND 9-0, UND 7-0. The Sioux will walk all over the WCHA “perennial doormats.” Print this out and hang it in the locker room, Coach Russell.

Hum, I don't think this is going to work this season.

Sioux get another Split

There is two ways you can look at this past weekend's series. One can look at this weekends results with negativity or one can look at this weekend's series and see the silver lining. SCSU while 7th in the standing of the WCHA has a lot of talent and can beat any team on any given day. UND after the split this weekend is sitting third in the league with the third most wins.

~UND has not swept an opponent this season.

~UND has not been swept by an opponent this season. By this time last season UND has been swept by three opponents.

~UND is still 9th in the Power Rankings after the weekend split.

Wild Cats snarl and fight their way to victory

Saturday night the Sioux had another chance to sweep a series. True to form the Sioux found another way to lose again. This time the Fighting Sioux had the lead and that they took the lead deep into the third period before finding another yet another way to lose in impressive form. The third period meltdown was another classic comedy of errors as Fighting Sioux as they handed the veteran Wild Cats a 7-4victory.

Take nothing away from the Wild Cats they were a good team that played a disciplined defensive minded style of hockey. This weekend the UNH Wild Cats played a tight checking and a collapsing defensive game making it hard for the Sioux forwards to get to their net. UNH also did a good job of clogging up the shooting lanes makeing it almost impossible to get the puck to the Sioux forward in front of the net. UNH also pounced on the when the Fighting Sioux when ever they made a mistake. On Saturday night there were a lot of defensive lapses and a few of our defensemen looked like pylons. If one was only allowed to use one word to describe the Fighting Sioux’s defensive effort on Saturday night it would be unacceptable.

UNH’s goaltender Senior Kevin Regan was solid all weekend as he turned aside 40 shots and set a new UNH career record for saves with 2,608 as the Wildcats scored five goals in the third period to earn a 7-4 win over North Dakota last night.

In addition to making a lot of untimely defensive mistakes, our diving champion took another selfish untimely penalty after he leapt to the ice after being tapped by UNH forward Greg Collins. WCHA ref Don Adam not buying the dive gave Phil and Collins each a penalty killing what momentum the Fighting Sioux had left. Someone on this coaching staff needs to have a heart to heart discussion with Phil, and discuss the antics we have witnessed in the Fighting Sioux net this season. This heart to heart talk needs to be the one that results in a conversation that is very one sided; a conversation where the Coach does all of the talking and player listens while he nods his head. I mean seriously; Phil has to know that Adam is going to make that call after the display the night before.

Make no mistake about it, there is no doubt that Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux has played good this season, the numbers speak for themselves 1.88 GAA and a .932 save % but I am getting tired of watching these embellishments with each minor bump he receives from the opposition. Frankly, the jig is up the refs are watching you, and you were called on it this weekend.

Players that dive to draw penalties are a disgrace to hockey and I would hate to see our goalie become another fraud like former NHL player Claude Lemieux. This untimely penalty in my opinion was the beginning of another a classic implosion and then the Fighting Sioux folded like a retreating French Army division. This loss hurts because the Sioux were wining the game before blowing a 3-1 lead. The loss was a result of the Sioux not moving their feet, their defenseman became pylons and made some bad decisions in the defensive zone. The with cat like reflexes the disciplined veteran laden UNH Wild Cats blew the disjointed Sioux out of the building. Hence, yet another series split during the 2007-2008 campaign.

Report Cards (Sioux 7)

Univeristy students are at the end of the fall semester, and they all know what that means...Report cards. This is also a good time to grade the hockey teams in the WCHA, since the season is roughly half over. So lets start from with the top and work our way down.

CC - WOW, they have proven my wrong to this point (I picked them to finish 8th in the league). Their freshman goalie, Bachman, has really done well, a saving .939%, and a GAA of 1.77. With those numbers and Chad Rau and Bill Sweatt leading them in scoring they have excelled to this point in the season. We will have to wait and see if the freshman goalie can carry them the whole season, or if the pressure will wear on him. They have earned an A, this first semester.

DU - They are about where I picked them to finish, 3rd. Senior netminder Mannino has returned to his sophomore form with 1.80 GAA and a .932% very similair to CC. No wonder they are tied for the top spot in the top conference. Their top 3 point getters are 2-sophs and a frosh, Trotter, Ruegsegger, and Bozak repsectively. The G-man always seems to get a good group of players that work well together. They too have earned high marks, A.

UMD - Sits alone in the 3rd spot with a 5-6-3 record. Not to often does a team sit at this spot with this record at this time of year in this league. They had been a good team early this season and now have fallen, winless in the last four league games. Goalie Alex Stalock has good numbers .910% and a GAA of 2.42 but they need some more goal scoring to stay in the top 5. They slid the last 10 games (2-5-3) so does their grade, C-.

UND - Has got a pattern developing, W-W-L-L-W-W-L-L-W-W-L...and that leads to their 6-6 record. Not what us Sioux faithful where hoping for, but then again. They have started off slow the last couple of seasons and rebounded in the second half. With the returning talent, their record should be better than this. Goalie JP Lameraoux started the season with 4 shout-outs in 5-games, and has had one since, but the numbers are still good, GAA 1.72 and a .936%. Most of the scoring comes from the top line, they need the other lines to pick it up if they want to go up in the standings. So they earn a grade of C this semester.

MTU - They round out the top 5 with a 5-6-1 record. They are right where I thought they would be, in the middle of pack looking to move up in the rankings. They are like UMD, they started great and then started to back slide, they have only won 2 games since the start of November, ouch! The good news is goalie ML Teslak has had the numbers we all expected, GAA 1.72 and .934%. These Huskies need a some more scoring punch if they want to bite on to a home play-off spot. Their mid-year grade is a C.

UM - The gophers are down this year and they just took another blow, Okposo leaves for the NHL. They need some help in their own end Kangas (GAA 2.63 and .907%) and Frazee (GAA 2.83 and .893%) have not had great success this season. The offensive has been down too, not a good combination. I, like I think many, thought they would be okay/fine offensively and suffer some on defense, but it has been bad. So for this point in the season their troubles have been exposed. Their semester grade C-/D+

UW - They are in the 7-spot with a 4-5-1 record, with a few games in hand on the rest of the league. They are in the middle of the pack with hopes of picking up the offensive scoring and trying to land home ice for the play-offs. (Notice that UMD 3-spot has a 5-6-3 record) The Badgers are about what we all expected some more offense then years past, and the goaltending taking a big hit. Don't get me wrong, Shane Connelly has decent numbers, GAA 2.70 and .906%, but not as high as Elliott's. They need offense, period. They are what we expected, average C.

SCSU - These Huskies ended a 6-game losing streak by beating CC going into Holiday time. And before that were on a 7-game unbeaten streak. ust call them butter, since they are hoping to get onto another roll (I know bad humor). With them skidding just before break it is hard to say what they are going to do. But with an over-all record of 8-8-2 they too are a middle of the pack team, grade C.

MSU-M - I see another trend 7-7-3 overall record, 3-6-3 in WCHA. The Mavericks have been on some streaks to win 3, lose 4, tie, 5-game unbeaten... The upside is they have a lot of home games the second half, so they have to capitilize on home ice advantage. Especially if they want home ice advantage come March. Goalie Zacharias had put up some good numbers this first half, GAA 1.94 and a .929%. He just needs to get more goals from his teammates to help them get over that hump. The way the league is they could suprise some people the second half, but as for the first half, they get a C.

UAA - The seawolves are in their usual position, 10th. They own a 2-7-3 WCHA record, the wins are over UMD and UM... So they did beat some teams above them (okay technically everyone is above them, but you know what I mean). They have been putting some pucks in the net, so scoring is doing so-so, but the goalie numbers are down, GAA 3.10 and .875%, they need to get better if they want to move out of the basement. At the break they get a D.

We will all just have to wait and see how things shake out in the months ahead...

Happy Holidays to everyone who visits GOON'S WORLD.

WCHA send letter of apology to SCSU

This has to be a first: Finally the WCHA has admitted that one of its ref's were in the wrong. Ok; but not so fast, I want the league to take it one further. I want to announce what type of punishment Randy Schmidt's will recieve. IMHO, this is the only way the league can keep any shred of credibility that it has left.

The text of the apology reads as follows:

"The Western Collegiate Hockey Association , after a further review of the situation, has acknowledged to St. Cloud State University that an error was made on interpretation of a goal that occurred in a game against the University of Denver on Dec. 7 at the National Hockey Center. "According to NCAA rules, a goal was improperly allowed after a video replay review and should not have counted.

"In acknowledging the error, however, rules do not permit any change in the outcome of a game."

The Stats for Lucia.

Someone sent me this in a email today and brought this to my attention. Wow, at first I must admit that I didn't really pay attention to those graphs (I am qualitative guy), but after analyzing the numbers it would appear that the mighty have fallen substantially. Talk about a power outage; Goals per game around the 2005-2006 time frame was 4.12. Now fast forward to present day 2007 and that number has dropped to 2.5. Wow; that stat is eye popping, when your team known for offensive prowess is only scoring 2.5 goals per game there isn't much room for error. Then you look down in the Gopher net and see Frazee standing there, I can see how people would be concerned. Yikes!

Power play

Another bread and butter of the Gophers was their vaunted power play in 2006-2007 the Gophers were scoring at a 22.4% clip. In other words you wanted to stay out of the penalty box when your team was playing the Gophers. Fast forward to present day 2007 the Gophers are scoring at 11.6% clip on the power play. I guess that the refs are going to have to double the penalties against the Sioux this weekend.