2nd Annual Robbie Earl Memorial Diver of the Year Award - Frozen Water Division (Redwing77)

A Year in Review

This year is a relatively "down" year in terms of the field. The committee didn't really have any solid choices to fill a top 10. In fact, when considering writing the final run down to the winner of this prestigious award, we couldn't even put up a field of 3. So, what the heck, we're just going to go with the two contestants we have: Jacob Cepis (Sr. Forward - U Minnesota) and Defending 2010 winner Garrett Roe (Sr. Forward - SCSU).

The Challenger

Jacob Cepis, a native of Parma, Ohio came to the Twin Cities from 1.5 impressive years with Bowling Green State University of the CCHA. Well, maybe impressive is relative in this case because BGSU had only one decent player: Cepis. After 18 games and an "impressive" 5 points and 14 PIM, he decided to take his talents to the Twin Cities. Some say his talents were as a sniping, scoring forward citing his stellar rookie year with BGSU on a less than stellar team. Some say it is his showmanship. Well, he certainly opened eyes with the University of Minnesota. He was almost scoring at will, thanks to his ability to score when there wasn't enough players on the opposition to rub him out of the play. It is wondered whether or not he learned at BGSU or at Minnesota when you feel the need to score, wait for a opposing player to skate by you and then fall like you've been shot. In his first half season with Minnesota, he really burst onto this scene flopping all over the place. He nearly overtook Garrett Roe for the inaugural award. Some say it was because it was only because he played 21 of Minnesota's 39 games that season.

Some say his antics mimic the namesake of this award and therefore makes him most deserving. He brings more than merely diving and feigning injury. He has a feisty side to him as well, such as slashing opposing players when they are otherwise caught up and unable to defend themselves. He's always willing to jump into the fray provided that there is minimal chance of retaliation.

Many, including Goon consider Cepis to unseat Garrett Roe for this year's award.

The Defending Champion

Garrett Roe has had an impressive resume of being able to fool WCHA refs, sometimes at will, by flopping to the ice and feigning illegal contact having been received. He tenacity in this regard, opening up his teammate Ryan Lasch for his career season in St. Cloud made him the lock in 2010 for the inaugural award. He even had the reputation to feign serious injury and then be right back out on the ice during the powerplay.

This season, however, Lasch had graduated and Roe found himself in a different role. He was no longer the Robin to Lasch's Batman. His number of dives went down and some even argue that his ability to fool the refs diminished as well. When asked, sources cite the playoffs even last season, where Roe got called for Diving, something WCHA refs are among the most reluctant officials to call (probably because they don't know the difference between diving and a legit call). Such a setback probably left him a bit down in the race to start off his senior season.

Still, you don't win the award and then change completely overnight. He has certainly earned his place on this list once again.

The Winner is....

After much debate and asking around, we have to give the nod to...

Jacob Cepis, Senior Forward from the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota.

It was hard to give the award to someone other than Garrett Roe. He did such a great job and Cepis seems to be playing the role of "Johnny Come Lately," but you can't argue that Cepis just had more to prove in this category than Roe. Roe used to be the fall guy to Lasch. Cepis came in with the name on the back being just as important as the name on the front of his jersey. Roe's ability comes from the confidence that, by acting in this unethical fashion, you can get the advantage for your teammates. It was a flaw that Cepis doesn't have.

Congrats to Jacob Cepis. You'll be missed by Gopher fans everywhere but will inevitably fade into obscurity just like everyone else who wins this award.

Ex-Gopher Cepis signs with Lake Erie Monsters

According to Roman Augustoviz of Goal Gophers, former Minnesota Golden Gophers punk Jacob Cepis will start his professional career with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League this weekend, it will be interesting to see if he continues his antics from college or if he will now just play hockey instead of diving and flailing all over the ice. Goon’s World would like to wish him well in the next level of his hockey career and good riddance we won’t have to watch his antics anymore.

Goal Gophers --- Jacob Cepis, who finished as the Gophers' leading scorer, has signed with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League.

"They called me right away," said Cepis, who practiced with the Monsters on Tuesday. "They are 10 minutes away from my home. I am super excited to play some games this weekend."

Cepis is from Parma, Ohio. The Monsters' arena is in Cleveland.

Lake Erie has three games this weekend and 13 left total in the regular season.

"Their head coach [Dave Quinn] recruited me when I went to Minnesota," Cepis said. "He was an assistant at BU."

That's Boston University. This is Quinn's second season at Lake Erie coach.

Cepis finished with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points for the Gophers. He wore No. 17 as a Gophers, but that number was taken on the Monsters so he is No. 38.

He said what?

First off, I enjoy Roman’s articles and his blog posts… As a regular reader I find his blog post to be amusing and I like his style. Roman writes in a style that I find easy to read and enjoy and he doesn’t talk down or use a bunch of fancy words no one can understand… I admit that I usually read Goal Gopher a few times each day because there are usually lots of juicy nuggets that make good conversation pieces and blog posts. This post caught my eye and I couldn’t resist.

Goal Gophers --- Senior Jacob Cepis said the Gophers have beaten most of the best teams in the WCHA -- North Dakota, Denver and UMD -- and the top teams from other leagues, too.

The U beat Michigan 3-1 in the final College Hockey Showcase and took Union to overtime before losing 3-2 in its holiday tournament.

Michigan won the CCHA title this past weekend while Union won the Cleary Cup, symbolic of its first ECAC title.

The Gophers, of course, had a good weekend, too, sweeping Michgian Tech 5-2 both games. It got chippy Saturday as the U built a lead

That being said, I think this Star and Tribune blog post is an illustration of how far the mighty have fallen from grace; the Minneapolis Star Tribune is taking quotes from Jacob Cepis, just a few short years ago you would’ve seen more polished all American like players, you can picture the Gopher players names in your head. More prolific names like Jordan Leopold, Johnny Pohl, Thomas Vanek, Paul Martin, Alex Goligoski, Danny Irmen, Matt Koalska, Grant Polulny and Ryan Potulny. These all American like players would would be feeding the local media printable quotes and the media and their fans from the Metro area would be eating it up.

There would have been interviews in which the home town players would be talking about how the Minnesota Gophers had just wrapped up another league title or secured a high seed in the WCHA tourney and were looking forward to their upcoming trip to the Final Five and the NCAA tourney... Now the Gophers and the local media and their fans are talking about how their team can hopefully finish in fifth or sixth place in the WCHA standings so they can secure home ice. Gone are the annual trips to the NCAA tourney and as the Gophers are sitting on the bubble of making the NCAA tourney… They more than likely are going to be sitting on the outside looking in again, or playing golf when April comes around. Most of us would be grumbling about how Minnesota is going to get the evening game again on Friday, they will be lucky to play on Thursday.

Now the local Minneapolis/Saint Paul media talk about moral victories and how they took Union to overtime before they lost in overtime, in years past the former Gopher team would have taken the Dutchmen to the wood shed and hung a five or six spot on them. Now Minnesota is hard pressed to score five goals on anyione. Ironically the same Union team then lost the next night to the BSU Beavers... The Bemidji Beavers also are the same team that has gone further than the Gophers in the NCAA tourney the last two seasons.

So fast forward to present time, am I the only one that finds it funny that senior Jacob Cepis has become the face of the Minnesota Gophers hockey team? With nineteen NHL draft choices on the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ hockey team roster, some of which were taken in the first round; instead the have an undrafted player from Parma, Ohio that seems to have become the preferred spokes man for the Gophers hockey team. Wow! How times have changed.

Slashing is now sticking up for a teammate...

I have been reading this article a few times and I find it more amusing each time I read it. First off what is the Stib’s definition of a brawl? Does anyone see a problem with this paragraph? Usually if you going to take exception with something that an opposition player has done on the ice, in my opinion slashing would be an inappropriate and gutless response. It's not sticking up for a teammate, and it might get you fined, suspended and or probably beat up in other leagues.

* On whether brawl the Gophers' 3-2 win at North Dakota on Jan. 14 was a bonding experience: "We've got a lot of bonding experiences this year. We see each other too much. Every second of the day. We've got some young guys who are not afraid to mix it up. Enough of that stuff where people are criticizing us for not being tough. We showed we can be tough. Same with North Dakota. You want to try to bully us, it's not going to work. We are going to back ourselves up."

After a big hit on Gophers defensemen Kevin Wehrs, the 5-8, 170-pound Cepis actually took exception and started the donnybrook at the end of the second period. He got called for slashing.

* On the roughing calls and fighting on Saturday: "If somebody is going to take a shot at you, we are going to take a shot back."

Slashing someone with your stick is considered sticking up for them… Right!

You can't make this stuff up. It’s too bad that Jacob aka C-Piss Cepis isn’t good enough to play in the Swedish Elite league because his bush league tactics would probably be a hit over there, they may swing stick in the Euro Leagues but its frowned upon over here in North America. North American settle their differences on the ice like men. Check out Roman's latest blog post about Jacob Cepis...

ELECTRIC PLACE

"You like playing the best teams and North Dakota is probably the best team we've played all year," Cepis said. "No. 2 in the country [at the time]. Don [coach Don Lucia] gave us some pretty interesting stats. Their record at home on Fridays was just ridiculous. How can you not like playing games like that? It is going to be crazy like it was.

"I enjoyed it. It is the best atmosphere to get it going."

Cepis did his part to stir things up, too, at the end of the second period in the first game. After Sioux center Brad Malone checked Gophers defenseman Kevin Wehrs hard into the endboards, Cepis came to his teammate's aid and got a slashing penalty during a big scrum involving almost every player from both teams..

"I just wanted to back up Kevin to prove a point," said Cepis, the smallest Gopher at 5-8, 170. "If a guy gets hits like that whether it is clean or not clean, there has to be some room to say something to somebody and let them know that is not going to happen. I just thought it was the time to get in there and help a guy out."

Cepis liked the way his teammates responded to his lead.

I like I said last Monday on R.J. Richards radio show on KNOX 1310; C-Piss is lucky he doesn’t have to answer for his antics on the ice by having to fight when he does something questionable or bush league. There is also no way C-Piss would fool around with Ben Blood or Andrew MacWilliam if he had to fight, both players would wipe the ice with C-Piss. This is why I refer to the Gopher as “Minnesota’s Pansies on Ice.” They are a bunch of pansies that run their mouth and then hide behind the on ice officials and beg that one of the refs save them.

The other bush league tactics of cross checking a player when he already had two guys laying on him is looked at as standing up for your teammate; I look at it as being gutless chicken. If you want to stand up for a teammate you do what Mario Lamoureux did when he challenged Tony Turgeon to a fight. You don’t pick out the smallest guy you can find and challenge him you take on the guy that did the hit or act that you took issue with. This is one Gopher hockey player that I wont miss when his eligibility is done.

NoDak vs. Minny pontifications (Redwing77)

Since my posts are so often misconstrued as being those of Goon's, I'll come right out and say that Goon didn't write this. He probably will wish he did though. I spell better than him. (:D)

Just the Facts Jack

The University of North Dakota enters this series on fire. They've had a great first half with only a few hiccups along the way. They're very highly ranked and busy living up to the preseason hype. Sophomore goaltender Aaron Dell has been a surprise and Matt Frattin has been on fire. Corbin Knight has emerged as the scorer that many had thought him capable of when UND got his committment out of the AJHL.

It has been discussed here, I believe, that cohesion is a big factor in UND's success. This team does play like a team. Everyone seems to know his place and his role and, though perfection isn't there (nor do I expect it will be), they work hard and try to get as close to it as possible.

The University of Minnesota enters this series after whalloping the U-18 team. They're operating barely above water as they are just one game over .500 overall. They're better on the road (they're sub-.500 at home). Coach Lucia has come out with having some emotional issues apparently, but whatever it takes to take the heat off of the most incompetent coach in DI hockey (John Hill), I guess tDon will do whatever it takes. Baffles me as to why though.

The Gophers play a finesse style of hockey that can be dangerous if they are able to execute their game plan without too much disruptions or mistakes on their part. Though it is true that they've had a lot more down seasons than most of us (even those of us who dislike the Gophers with a passion) can believe. Looking at their talent, one would wonder what in the world is going on in the Twin Cities that could make all that talent underperform. Again, I look to Hill.

My take Jake

You can argue that special teams and goaltending have been questionable for the Gophers as of late, but I don't think so. I still maintain that Kangas is a good goaltender who has been hung out to dry more often than would be acceptable to maintain sanity. There is no doubt as to why his numbers have declined or his performance deteriorated as of late. It sometimes seems as though Kangas has to steal the game in order for the Gophers to win. The result of this complex that Kangas has been put through, Kent Patterson, who has been abysmal vs. the Sioux, has wrested the starting role away from Kangas.

My take is thus: The Gophers will go nowhere without Team Defense. Their Team D the past few years has been nothing short of a punchline. You get physical on them and they fall apart and eventually fold in on themselves much like a flimsy Wal-Mart folding chair at fat camp.

Look, they're a lot more talented than they've shown on the ice. Only a moron would disagree with that. They just can't put it together. This is a function of leadership and personnel. And again, I return to Hill. I'm going to do a bit of assuming when I say that Hill has a large hand in recruiting (much like Hakstol did when Blais was coaching at UND). They seem to have the opinion that the best on the table is better than the best for the team. For example, UND jumped at Robbie Bina because of the way he played the game and what he brought in leadership. I don't see Minnesota recruiting this type of player because he's nowhere on the radar of any NHL teams nor does he have the hype etc. that players like Leddy, Ness, Fairchild, etc. had/have. Personnel wise, they just don't seem to hold much faith in role players and lunch pail type players.

I really feel that the Gophers don't have any Lamoreauxs, Martos, Davidsons, Genoways, Hextalls, Malones, Rowneys, or Rodwells. They only seek out players like Knight, Gregoire, Frattin, and Kristo. Sure, I love players like Kristo, Knight, Gregoire, and all. I loved having Parise, Panzer, Toews, Oshie, Bochenski, Stafford, and so on but they don't work if you don't have a full team behind you and a team concept.

What to expect

I expect a tightly checked game. I expect a lot of hits and a lot of penalties. I think the officials will switch off. Friday night, UND gets the benefit of the doubt. Saturday, the officiating is much more swung to the other side. I think that hits that were legal on Friday won't be legal on Saturday. I also feel like diving could make its appearance in the game.

Leading 2011 Robbie Earl Memorial Frozen Water Freestyle Diving Candidate Jacob Cepis is swiftly running away with the award after defending champion Garrett Roe seemingly hitting a regression in his diving abilities. Look for Cepis to firm up at least a berth as a finalist this weekend as he heads to Grand Forks.

Expect big hits, crying Gopher fans, complaining Sioux fans (regarding what is sure to be a plethora of missed calls and buffoonery by the officials). The river will the thawed out in a good stretch in case a Sioux or Gopher player is to be sent down the river after making a bad play or not being as much of a fan favorite as he should be compared to fans preconceptions and draft position.

UND wins on Friday
UMN wins on Saturday

Fire Hakstol threads appear 12:01am Sunday.

This post will update as the week goes on so stay tuned!

UPSET ALERT!!!!! (Redwing77) UPDATED!!!!!!!

Ok, not really but....

2010 Robbie Earl Memorial Freestyle Frozen Water Diving Champion Garrett Roe is losing his edge. Roe, famous for the Fish Flop and the Triple Roll Belly Flop with a Cage Gainor failed to dupe any of the officials into awarding SCSU with a single powerplay last night. He didn't garner a choking performance... he didn't even attempt to dive. When is the last time Greg Louganis stepped up to the edge of the diving board and just turned around and walked down the ladder?

Is Roe losing his touch? Does this mean WCHA newcomer Jacob Cepis (Minnesota) will usurp Roe's crown? Can outside candidate Jason Zucker (DU) take the crown? Or will it be a yet unnamed player from else-WCHA?

I know what you may be thinking: "Aww, Roe's too good to let this get him down, he'll dive tonight. After UND only got called for 1 penalty last night, WCHA officiating will come through." Or perhaps you are thinking "Roe doesn't have Lasch and Nodl and other guys like that to use his diving talent for to make his loss of dignity and ethical existence worthwhile." Perhaps. Or perhaps you live in a Husky red dream world and claim that Roe has never dove or embellished in his collegiate career. Well, we'll leave the consumption of paint thinner to residents of the fine state of Wisconsin.

Diving is illegal in most forms of hockey but I still doubt the officials in the WCHA could recognize a dive or an embellishment if it happened to smack them in the junk. Yes, I know Zucker got called for diving early this season but I think it is a fluke.

I can understand why Roe or any WCHA player would wish to embellish. It's a player's way of helping the officials understand what an illegal play looks like. It's not the players' fault that embellishment is a problem in the WCHA. It's the officiating. If you don't call it, then it must be legal. Trust me. If a team goes out there and starts cross checking everyone in sight, they'll get called for a penalty and they'll either adapt and stop doing it or they'll spend the rest of the game in the box. If they don't get called, then the refs must allow it and they'll do it the whole game long.

The issue isn't a vendetta or a conspiracy. The issue is the WCHA administration and their hiring practices. The game has gotten too fast for the officials. They are consistently 1-2 steps behind the play. They simply aren't as fast as they need to be. We can go back and forth about what we could do but it is a waste of time under the current regime.

So... this award will continue to be given by this blog for however long as the officials can't understand how to call the whole rulebook.

UPDATE!

Much like the BCS Standings, beat writers have written in their early season vote on the Robbie Earl Memorial Trophy and, though the full standings aren't available yet, we broke the news here first folks:

If the award were to be handed out on Monday by the WCHA, Minnesota's Jacob Cepis would usurp Garrett Roe!

Neither Cepis nor Roe were available for comment. Stay tuned!