Wisconsin Badger Kyle Turris on Sportcenter

Badger super frosh Kyle Turris scores a nice goal with a Gopher player drapped all over him like a prom date. The league office oblivious to the current state of the officiating in this once great league can't figure out why scoring is down this season, if there was a little less obstruction you would see more great plays like this. Lucky for the Turris he is a million dollar talent and could stick handle in a phone booth.

Come on Peltier show us your "halo"...

Here is a perfect example of Classic Gopher Homerism

On Monday, coach Don Lucia talked to his players about Saturday’s penalty- and fight-filled game. He called the time he spent on the subject “good learning and teaching moments.”

At the end of overtime, Darcy Zajac of the Fighting Sioux cross-checked R.J. Anderson in the back. That prompted Tony Lucia, the coach’s son, to go after Zajac and he eventually wrestled him to the ice. As expected, the crowd cheered.

Both Tony Lucia and Zajac were given game disqualifications, meaning they will miss their team’s next game. For Tony Lucia, that means Friday’s game at Denver.

“I don’t condone fighting,” Don Lucia said when asked about the incident. “But at the same time sometimes you have to come to your teammates’ defense. I don’t ever want to be part of a a program or team that starts anything but sometimes you have to stand up for your teammates on the rink.”

Is that what your son did? “Yes, I think so,” dad replied.

“There was a situation earlier in the game where Derek [Peltier] was involved that we had a bunch of teammates standing and watching two, three guys on [Peltier]. You just can’t — you have to come to a teammate’s aid.”

Peltier said he and his teammates did not start Saturday’s trouble. “We were not really trying to get involved,” he said. “We got dragged into the situation a little bit. But you’ve got to stick up for your players. You don’t want to get pushed around, especialy in your own barn. So I think we were just sticking up for ourselves and sticking up for our teammates.”

Peltier said he would like to see North Dakota again in the playoffs. “That would be awesome,” he said. “We owe them a little bit.”

First off this is the biggest piece of bravo sierra I have read in a long time. Talk about wearing maroon and gold goggles. Let’s break it down again; Peltier hits Trupp with what I would call a questionable hit, then the little halo falls on top of Trupp and starts cross checking him/punching him, of course Trupp is going to defend himself. Notice that the Sioux players come to the aid of the own while the Gophers stand around. That says a lot about the character of their team.
As far as the Sioux meeting the Goofs again, bring it on. I am sure most of us would love to see a Bickel vs. Finley dance at center ice.

Finley's Hockey's Future player profile

Big Joe's Hockey's Future
Joe Finley
Prospect Grade: 6.0 D (About Prospect Grades)
Profile Contributed By: DJ Powers

History

The Edina, MN native wrapped up the 2004-05 season with 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) in 55 appearances. Two of his three goals came on the power play. Finley also led the Stampede in penalty minutes with 181. He was a member of Team World in the 2005 USHL Prospects/All-Star game back in February.

2005-06: As a freshman with the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux he quickly established himself as one of the team’s most reliable defenders. Finley appeared in 43 games for UND, but registered just three assists. He did, however, finish the season at +18 defensively and racked up 96 penalty minutes along the way. In the month of December, Finley fractured his arm during a game and even played a few more shifts before finally coming out of the contest. He then went on to miss only two games after the injury.

2006-07: Finley is not going to be a defenseman who puts up points. With one goal and six assists in 38 games, his job is to control the game defensively. His incredible size and aggressiveness have given him the ability to take control of a game from a defensive standpoint.

Talent Analysis

In addition to his enormous frame, Finley has tremendous focus and work ethic. He has steadily improved his overall game (in particular his puck handling and skating) leading into college. Finley is a surprisingly good skater for a 6’7 player. He is very agile, and has a heavy shot, although he rarely gets to use it.

Future

Right now in his development, Finley is still pretty raw and the Caps are likely to allow him to play out his collegiate eligibility before bringing him into the system. He could eventually become one of the most fearsome defenders in the league one day. But for now, Finley is still several years from being an NHL player, and will likely develop in Hershey for a season or two once he does turn pro.

Goon's World Perspective

I can only hope that the "Future" comes true. I would love to see big Joe Finley in a Fighting Sioux jersey for one more year. For the Finley haters it would have another year of listening to them complain about how big a goon Finley is. I only wish he was a Bruin or a Wild Player. League mascot's beware. He, he, he...

Trotter update

Mike Chambers The Denver Post blogger updates the Trotter situation. This thing is really getting weird. One can only wonder what is going on, I just hope it works out for this kid.

Following up on a rumor, I spoke with USHL president Gino Gasparini tonight, and he denied recently seeing DU sophomore Brock Trotter in Lincoln, Neb. Trotter played junior-A for the Lincoln Stars, and the rumor is he’s returning to the Stars and steering his career from there.

Gasparini, however, did say he “heard” Trotter was in Lincoln from “a third or fourth party.”

Going back to junior-A has some merit, but only if the Stars or another team has room to handle one of four “over-age” players, which Trotter is. He turned 21 on Jan. 16. I learned that the Stars have four over-age guys, and the team is doing well and not likely to cut a kid to make room for Trotter.

However, DU’s delay in announcing what is going on with Trotter might have something to do with negociating his release. Gasparini and I aren’t sure about this, but releasing him from his scholarship might allow him to transfer to a Division I school and become eligible one year (next January) from his scholarship “termination.” Trotter last played for DU on Jan. 19 against Bemidji State, then the Pioneers had a week off. I didn’t attend practices during their off week, so maybe Trotter actually left the team as early as Jan. 21 or so.

But what if DU doesn’t grant Trotter his release? Then … a) the kid might be coming back to DU; b) he transfers but sits out next season, burning his junior year (he took a redshirt/hardship in 2005-06 because of injury five games into the season, but depending on how the NCAA views his hardship year, he might get another year); c) He moves on to a professional career.

Anyway, much of the above is speculation by Gasparini and me, so be kind with your comments if we’re off the mark on some things.

What's going on in Denver?

According to Denver Post blogger Mike Chambers Brock Trotter is still part of the DU Pioneers. So it would appear at least for the moment that the reports of Trotter being gone were premature.

DU’s leading scorer Brock Trotter is not at practice today and coach George Gwozdecky still has no announcement on his status.

“He won’t be at practice today, hasn’t been at practice all week,” Gwozdecky said Wednesday. “I really thought we would have something by Tuesday, but I’m more positive that we’ll have something by tomorrow or Friday.”

Trotter, who has 13 goals and 31 points, missed last weekend’s series at Minnesota State for undisclosed reasons. He also led the Pios in scoring last season as a redshirt freshman.

Asked if Trotter is still on the team, Gwozdecky said: “He’s still listed on our roster, so yeah, he’s still part of the team.”

He added: “I can’t give you any more than that. It’s confidential. It’s very . . . that’s all I got.”

Asked if there is a scenerio that he could play this weekend, Gwozdecky said: “Can’t tell you that. I don’t know.”

DU captain Andrew Thomas is (or was) living with Trotter. Asked if Trotter still lives at the place in Denver, Thomas deferred me to speak to the SID. In other words, he couldn’t answer the question.

Gwozdecky said DU fans should just be “patient, because we all have to be patient. It’s a day-to-day situation . . . One of the things I told you back (sic) last Friday was there’s privacy issues involved, and to respect that privacy. And that’s the best way that I can state it right now.”

--------------UPDATE--------------
Per the UND coaches show tonight the Voice of the Sioux Tim Hennessy says that Trotter is in Lincoln trying to get on with the Stars. Tim said on the Broadcast that USHL commissioner Gino Gasparini is his source.

WCHA official Randy Schmidt done for the Year.

INCH is reporting that Randy Schmidt has been suspended for the rest of the season. This is really good news for the league, now I wonder if we can get the league to suspend Adam as well?

WCHA Suspends Referee Indefinitely
WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod confirmed to INCH that referee Randy Schmidt has been suspended by the league. McLeod said no formal announcement would be made and the terms of the suspension were indefinite, but Schmidt is not expected to work any more games during the 2007-08 season.

McLeod added that whether or not Schmidt will work as a WCHA referee next season or ever again has not been decided. The decision was made by McLeod in consult with WCHA supervisor of officials Greg Shepherd after the league twice issued apologies for errors made by Schmidt this season.

Most recently, the WCHA issued a statement saying an apparent goal by Wisconsin in the final second of the Badgers’ game at Denver Jan. 11 should have counted. The play, which would have tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime, was initially ruled a goal by Schmidt, then after a review he incorrectly ruled that time had expired before the puck crossed the goal line, giving Denver a 3-2 win.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that Schmidt met privately with Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves to apologize for the error the next day. Schmidt, who works as a police officer in North Dakota full-time, has been a WCHA official for 14 years.

Coach Hakstol suspended for two games.

First none of us should be surprised, not a big shock here. Second the Unversity of North Dakota had to take the high road in this case, they had no choice. All of us knew the punishment was coming. Now I think we can all move on Hakstol admitted me made a mistake, Dave wrote a letter addressing this, the coach regrets his mistake, human beings make mistakes.

UND hockey coach Hakstol suspended for two games
Herald Staff Report
Published Monday, February 04, 2008
UND co-acting athletic directors Betty Ralston and Steve Brekke announced today that UND head men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol has been suspended for its next two games for his actions during a men’s hockey game Saturday at the University of Minnesota.


Ralston said the disciplinary action was determined by the University of North Dakota and was made independent of any decision or action by the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

“We hold all University of North Dakota coaches and student-athletes to the highest standards of sportsmanship, conduct and ethical behavior,” Ralston said. “We expect our coaches to keep themselves and their teams in control at all times. Profane language and poor behavior on the part of our coaches and student-athletes is unacceptable.”

UND is 5th on the INCH power rankings.

Sioux fans hold onto your hats the boys at INCH had ranked the Sioux 5th in this weeks INCH power rankings. If you look at the rankings and compare them to the PWR rankings you will see that the INCH Boys true to form are a little off. In my opinion Princeton and Union have no business being in the top 20. Also, if the playoffs started today the UMD Bull Dogs would be a 2 seed.


1.) Miami (1)
2.) Colorado College (3)
3.) Michigan State (7)
4.) Michigan (2)
5.) North Dakota (5)
6.) New Hampshire (3)
7.) Denver (6)
8.) Notre Dame (14)
9.) Providence (10)
10.) Clarkson (10)
11.) Boston College (9)
12.) Quinnipiac (17)
13.) Wisconsin (15)
14.) Princeton (23)
15.) Minnesota (19)
16.) UMass Lowell (16)
17.) Union (24)
18.) Minnesota Duluth (8)
19.) Minnesota State (10)
20.) Northeastern (10)

UND Coach apologizes for Giving Don Adam the Bird

This story was just released by the Grand Forks Herald. I think it is a good move on Hakstol's part. He admits he made a mistake and I am cool with that. Let the Gophers fans whine about this all week. It was a heated game and Sioux fans know that Don Adam has a long and storied history with UND. The fact that the Sioux played with an edge Saturday night give me hope that the Sioux still have the fire to go out and compete. ----Photo shop picture included---

I think USCHO Area Reporter PCM sums it up the best: I think it's very disrespectful to UND and Robbie Bina that Adam is still reffing in the WCHA. I think it was a slap in Hak's face that the WCHA assigned this series to Adam. I think the fact that Hakstol showed more emotion on the bench than any time I've seen during his coaching career at UND is an indicator as to how he felt about it.

Hakstol apologizes for actions
Grand Forks Herald
February 03, 2008

UND men’s hockey head coach Dave Hakstol said today he is apologizing for his actions in a discussion with referee Don Adam during Saturday’s game at the University of Minnesota.

A Fox Sports North camera caught Hakstol flipping off Adam during the second period of the game.

“I would like to sincerely apologize to our fans, players and entire program, as well as all college hockey fans, the WCHA and Don Adam, for my actions during the second period of last night’s game versus the University of Minnesota,” Hakstol said. “I’m disappointed in myself for allowing my emotions and frustrations to get the better of me. I pride myself in not allowing this type of thing to occur.

“Most importantly, I am a parent before I am a coach, and I understand the responsibility that we carry as coaches within the WCHA to young hockey fans and families everywhere.

“I have evaluated and feel terrible about my actions and can assure everyone that such a thing will never happen again.”

The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Power outage in the WCHA

WCHA Scores for 2-2-2008
Minnesota-Duluth 2 at Wisconsin 1 ot
Michigan Tech 2 at Alaska-Anchorage 2 ot
North Dakota 1 at Minnesota 1 ot
Denver 2 at Minnesota State 3

Check out last night scores the most goals scored tonight were 3 by the Mavericks.
The mean number of goals scored tonight is 1.4

Sioux 2 Gophers 1

The Sioux won a game that wasn't as fun to watch as some Sioux vs Gophers game in the past. One could make the argument that this game was boring or uneventful to watch. However, after reviewing the goal this morning all I can say is wow; what a goal... Also, I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth as a win is a win and that was win number 8 in a row.

The thing that really bugged me was halfway through the game, the feed from FSN flickered and went to another program. Then FSN flickered again and went to the Badger vs UMD game before finally returning back to the Sioux and Gophers. With the win, the Sioux now sit 5th in the PWR ranking at 17-8-1 and with the DU loss UND is looking like it could end up in second place.

In other games the ever-dominant Michigan tied CCHA cupcake Northern Michigan University 3-3 and MSU lost to an average UNO team 5-4.

Scoring Summary

First Period

Minnesota-1 Evan Kaufmann (Tony Lucia, David Fischer) SHG 3:16
North Dakota-1 Joe Finley (Chay Genoway) 4x4 7:49

Overtime

North Dakota-2 Evan Trupp (Ryan Martens) GWG 2:23
Goaltender Saves
North Dakota-1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (62:23 W) 7 6 8 0 21 (1 GA)
Minnesota-1 Alex Kangas (62:19 L) 1 11 17 3 32 (2 GA

NCAA to get rid of ties?

NHL.COM weighed in on college hockey and how the NCAA is looking to get rid of ties. Three of the six NCAA league commissioners weighed in with their personal opinions as they await the NCAA rules committee meeting in June. Notice that the WCHA commissioner Bruce McCloud is no where to be found. Bruce McCloud probably still thinks the status quo in college hockey is fine and the fans don't want the NHL rules in any shape or form, but I digress.

It is time for college hockey to change; the status quo is no longer good enough. Good enough is not good enough; NCAA hockey should constantly be seeking excellence. I also don't by the flawed argument that college hockey is fine the way it is and there is nothing wrong with a tie. I am calling shenanigans. In my opinion, ties are like kissing your sister, yuck.

I would like to see college hockey adopt the new NHL rules in some shape or form. I would like to see the NCAA (WCHA included) call the games the same way the NHL does, if your hand comes off the stick to grab another players a penalty is called, if a players stick obstructs another player any where on the ice a penalty is called. If you cross check another player right in front of the ref a penalty is called. Enough is enough, fans are paying too much money to watch a second rate brand of hockey. I would also like to see the NCAA (WCHA included) adopt the NHL's overtime rules in some form, preferably consisting of a 4 on 4 for 5-10 minutes followed by a 3 round shootout and after the shootout the winner is given 2 points and the loser is given one point. Ties in the NCAA playoffs and conference championships would still be solved by over time until someone wins.

Former Sioux Mike Commodore weighed in on the issue: "Problem with the shootout," said Commodore, "is that it's a great way to win, but a bad way to lose."

HeidiSioux62 responds to the INCH podcast.

Here is an email that I got from HeidiSioux62 this morning. HeidiSioux said I could post it. I think she brings up good points/stats. I also listened to the INCH podcast in question; lets just say that they do make for some interesting points that will spark some interesting conversations, I also think they are highly biased towards the CCHA; go figure. I think that what they intended to do, spark conversation.

One of the guys (I didn't catch his name) goes so far to suggest that Miami will be the next National Champion. Why wouldn't they? Miami is destroying some really lousy teams that they were supposed to beat and have been doing it in semi impressive fashion. The coolest part of the show was the fan emails most of which were upset readers. I also think I heard MeaneGirl's email to the INCH guys taking them to task for not including the MTU Huskies in the INCH poll. Thanks to Heidi Sioux for submitting this post.
---------------------------------------------
Hey Goon,
I originally put this together because I was irritated with the INCH podcast and after reading your blog this morning I got irritated with the CCHA, so I added Miami, Michigan and Michigan State. According to these stats, the only teams that look even halfway credible vs the WCHA are New Hampshire (they've pretty much owned us) and [i]MAYBE[/i] Michigan (however I sure don't get the feeling that they are any better than the WCHA)
I am way too lazy to try to make this info coherent, but if you would like to use it in your blog or to leave comments on the CCHA bloggers' sites - GO FOR IT.
I hope you find this interesting.
HeidiSioux

Overall
WCHA vs outside conferences
23 wins - 17 losses (3 were OT losses) – 8 ties
WCHA vs Inch ranked teams 8-7-3
WCHA vs Miami – 0-1
St. Coud State looses in OT
WCHA vs Michigan State 2-0-2
Wisconsin 4-4 tied
Minnesota 3-3 tied
North Dakota wins 6-0
Michigan Tech wins 4-1

WCHA vs Michigan 1-2
Minnesota wins 4-3
Minnesota looses 5-1
Michigan Tech looses in OT

WCHA vs New Hampshire 1-3
CC looses 5-3
CC looses 4-2
North Dakota Wins 3-1
North Dakota looses 7-3

WCHA vs Notre Dame 1-1
Wisconsin Wins 4-1
Denver looses 4-3

WCHA vs Clarkson 1-1
S. Cloud State Wins 4-1
St. Cloud State looses 3-2

WCHA vs Boston College 0-0-1
North Dakota ties in fog out

WCHA vs Providence – did not play

WCHA vs Quinnipiac – did not play

UMass Lowell 2-0
Duluth Wins 1-0
Duluth Wins 4-1

WCHA vs Union – did not play

WCHA vs Niagara – did not play

WCHA vs Northeastern 1-0
North Dakota wins 3-0

WCHA individual team out of conference records
CC – 18-7-1 (15-4-1) 6 out of conference games played. 3 out of conference losses (one loss OT)
UND - 16-8-1 (13-7-0) 5 out of conference games played. 1 out of conference loss, 1 out of conference tie (fogout) (only 1 loss to unranked team on inch – Michigan Tech)
Denver - 18-6-0 (12-4-0) 8 out of conference games played. 2 out of conference losses
Minnesota Duluth - 10-8-6 (6-7-5) 6 out of conference games played. 1 out of conference loss, 1 out of conference tie
Wisconsin - 11-10-5 (7-8-3) 8 out of conference games played. 1 out of conference loss, 1 out of conference tie
Minnesota - 12-11-5 (6-9-3) 10 out of conference games played. 2 out of conference losses and 2 ties
Michigan Tech - 10-11-3 (6-8-2) 8 out of conference games played. 2 out of conference losses
Minnesota State Mankato - 11-10-4 (5-9-4) 7 out of conference games played. 2 out of conference losses (one OT loss)
St. Cloud - 11-12-3 (6-10-2) 8 out of conference games played. 2 out of conference losses, 1 out of conference tie (one OT loss)
Alaska Anchorage - 6-12-6 (2-12-4) 6 out of conference games played. 0 out of conference losses, 2 out of conference tie
Miami, Michigan, Michigan State out of conference records
(ranked teams according to USCHO)
Miami out of conference - 8- 0- 0
Miami vs ranked teams 1-0 (1 overtime win)

Vermont – not ranked
CANISIUS – not ranked
Rensselaer – not ranked
St. Cloud State (20) – Miami won in overtime

Michigan out of conference - 7- 1- 0
Michigan vs ranked teams 4-1 (one of the wins was an overtime)
Boston College (9)– Michigan won in overtime
Minnesota – (18) – Michigan lost
BOSTON UNIVERSITY – Not ranked
WISCONSIN (11) Michigan won
Minnesota (18) Michigan won
Providence (14) Michigan won
Michigan Tech Not ranked Michigan won in 2 OT

Michigan State out of conference - 4- 3- 2
Michigan State vs ranked teams 0-2-2
North Dakota (3) Michigan State lost 6-0
COLGATE – not ranked
MERCYHURST – not ranked
MINNESOTA (18) Tied
WISCONSIN (11) Tied
Michigan Tech – not ranked Michigan State lost
Providence (14) Michigan state lost

It gets a little old.

Did anyone notice that the CCHA apologists are getting a little defensive about people questioning the strength of their league? While no one is questioning the fact that there are three to four decent teams in the CCHA, the jury is still out on Notre Dame. It has become very apparent that the media pundants can't seem to see past the eastern time zone.

Paula Weston has this rant last week during her weekly picks. Classic.

How to Announce Your Presence with Authority in One Easy Step So, you’re playing in a league that some people call fluffy because the conference name doesn’t begin with a “W” and you rarely play regular-season games in New England.

Even though your fourth-place team from a year ago took the national championship. Even though your two first-place teams are Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation. Even though four of your top teams grace the top 10 nationally.

What’s a top team in such a conference to do?

Beat who you’re supposed to beat. Crush ‘em if you can.

The CCHA’s top three teams swept their competition last week in most convincing ways. Collectively, Michigan, Miami and Michigan State outscored Notre Dame, Lake Superior State and Ohio State 27-5.

Except for Michigan beating Notre Dame (8th RPI), I can admit that was remotely impressive, I am not impressed with them beating the likes of LSSU (45) and OSU (46). Infact the bottom feeders of the CCHA are sitting just below the likes of hockey powerhouses, RIT, RMU and Air Force. If you break this down even further the 10th place team in the WCHA is still ranked ahead of the 5th place team in the CCHA. How can that be if the CCHA is such a powerful league. Talk about stuffing your scheudle with a bunch of cup cakes. One could actually make the argument for the EZAC being more balanced than the CCHA.

Elliot Olshansky goes off on the WCHA fans for even thinking about questioning the strenght of the paper tiger the CCHA.

A few thoughts before I start with the Rankings for this week: I'm getting sick and tired of certain people - and by "certain people" I mean fans of certain WCHA teams - using strength of schedule as a reason why a CCHA team shouldn't be No. 1 in the country. They say it as if poll voters merely look at results, records, and statistics when filling out their ballots, so that the argument for Miami or Michigan is easier to assault. "Well, sure Miami has the top offense in the country. Look whom they've been scoring on!" "Of course Michigan has only lost three times this season. They haven't played anyone!" I'll you this, folks: I drove past a lot of farms during my travels in Ohio earlier this month, and those farms would have a fine use for thinking like that: fertilizer.

It's not just whether a team wins or loses, but how and why they win or lose. Records are nice, but it's the talents, abilities, and discipline that produced those records that determine what kind of a team it is and just how good it is. That's what I look at when I watch teams to determine the Rink Rat Rankings, and I'd imagine it's what a number of the poll voters look at, too. And based on my evaluations of the teams - NOT THEIR RECORDS - this is how I see the Rink Rat Rankings.

I could fertilized most of the farm land in North Dakota and half of South Dakota with some of the stuff I have read from self appointed hockey experts. It is a two way street.

Jim Dahl from Siouxsports points out an interesting fact about Miami's strenght of schedule and how it affects their RPI.

Combined with the extension of the negative win exemption to the regular season, the easiest path to the top of the RPI seems to be schedule creampuffs and beat them. Miami currently has a comical 8 games thrown out of their RPI calculation for being negative wins, and 6 of the remaining 8 would currently be thrown out if won.

Nate Hagemo update...

This was on today's Star Trib web site. I would also caution people that everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty.

By PAUL WALSH and DAVID CHANEN---Star Tribune A once rising young hockey star who had his career derailed by injury during his freshman season with the University of Minnesota sat in the Hennepin County jail for three days suspected of felony drug possession.

Nate Hagemo, 21, was jailed without bail from midday Saturday until early this afternoon on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance while in a south Minneapolis neighborhood.

Police have yet to forward the case to prosecutors for charges.

Former Gophers Nate Hagemo arrested in MPLS.

WCCO Picture
I found this story on line this past weekend, this folks is a sad story. Goon's World hopes Nate Can get his act together.

Fmr. Gopher Hockey Player Arrested In Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
A former Gopher hockey player was arrested in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon when neighbors called to report a car parked in an area known for vehicle to vehicle drug transactions.

Officers went to the scene and identified Nathan Hagemo, 21, along with one other person in the car, and received consent to search the vehicle.

Inside the vehicle, officers found paraphernalia of a drug user.

Hagemo is a former University of Minnesota Gopher hockey player and was later drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005 but had to retire before playing due to a shoulder injury.

Goon's What if?

I played around with the numbers and this is what I came up with.
I now owe Sioux7 a beer after totally picking the C.C. and MTU series wrong.
MTU basically bitch slapped the Tigers this weekend.

1 CC 28 42
2 UND 28 38
2 Denver 28 38
4 MTech 28 30
5 UW 28 27
6 UMN 28 26
7 UMD 28 23
8 Mankato 28 23
9 SCSU 28 22
10 AA 28 11

Taylor Chorney on this Tuesday's @ the Rink” chats on CSTV.com

This week Fighting Sioux Junior defenseman Taylor Chorney will appearing on “Tuesday's @ the Rink” chats on CSTV.com. Sioux fans are encouraged to log on at 1pm central standard time to ask Taylor a question http://www.cstv.com/chat/012608aaa.html actually if your impatient you can submit questions in advance because the chat rooms that are open right now.

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