NCHC Opponent Records

School record opp rec North Dakota (6-0-2) 5-26-6 (.216) Western Michigan (4-2-1) 17-8-3 (.660) Saint Cloud (6-2-0) 20-12-2 (.600) Minnesota-Duluth (3-2-2) 9-9-6 (.500) Denver (3-3-0) 11-11-2 (.500) Nebraska-Omaha (6-2-0) 11-14-3 (.446) Miami (3-4-1) 18-11-2 (.612) Colorado College (0-8-0) 19-3-5 (.796)

Over the past two seasons, a lot has been made about the NCHC’s non-conference record. There’s also been a fair amount of discussion about the fast starts of certain teams in the NCHC.

So, I decided to take a deeper look into the opponent records of each NCHC team. To date, C.C. has played the toughest schedule and has paid dearly for it. On the flip side, UND has played the weakest schedule to date and is unbeaten in eight games. UNO has played the second weakest schedule and has had decent results.

Tigers Struggling

It’s well documented, in present times; the Colorado College Tigers have struggled mightily. The Tigers record under head coach Mike Haviland is (6-32-3, .241). That being said, I don’t think that Haviland should be the fall guy for the Tigers struggles. The last two seasons under Scott Owens, the Tigers went 25-43-11 (.380). So, the current slide was already in motion long before Haviland took the reins.

Let’s break this down further. Since the 2013-14 season, the Tigers have a 13-56-9 (.224) record. Under anyone’s definition, that’s not very good hockey. The Tigers haven’t made the conference tournament championship game since the 2012-13 season, where the Tigers would lose in the championship game to the Wisconsin Badgers. The Tigers haven’t made the NCAA tourney since the 2010-11 season, where they lost 2-1 to the Michigan Wolverines in the championship game of the West Regional.

Improvements to the Target Center Delayed

Last winter I asked someone from the Target Center when they were going to complete the improvements to the seasoned arena. I got a snicker and a laugh from that person. I guess this is the reason that they were laughing. The reason this story is relevant is that the NCHC has their conference tourney in the Target Center.

Per the Star Tribune:

A $129 million renovation of downtown Minneapolis' Target Center is slated to begin later than previously expected, spanning from summer 2016 through summer 2017.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the city-owned arena on Tuesday morning, Timberwolves officials said the project will require the Minnesota Lynx to relocate to another facility in summer 2017.

As late as March, Timberwolves officials still hoped to begin the project in 2015 and complete it by fall 2016. Tuesday's announcement was intended to represent the first concrete timeline of construction, however.

They also announced that a longstanding naming rights agreement with Target -- one of the first for a professional sports arena -- will be extended. Target and Timberwolves officials declined to release the terms or length of the agreement at a press conference Tuesday.

The renovation project will begin with a new scoreboard and acoustic improvements next summer. In late 2016, work will begin transforming the building's concrete exterior into a more glassy, inviting façade. Other changes include larger loading docks, improved public spaces and restrooms, and more club suites.

While they're working on the Target Center, they might want to improve the ice conditions and the class and boards surrounding the ice.

UND vs. DU, Third Place Game

For UND, Johnny Simonson is out, Wade Murphy is in. Refs: Joe Sullivan and Tom Sterns. Linesmen: Sterling Egan, Justin Hills.

A Look at the Pairwise with One Game Left

According to Brad Schlossman, he seems to think that with the win, UMN will be heading to Fargo, ND. With the win, SCSU is in the tourney. UND is now the number two team in the Pairwise.

UND Press Conference. Hakstol and Pattyn

Well, another conference tourney is upon us. I really like the extra things the NCHC does during a season and during the conference tourneys. You get all of the video at this link.

UND Hockey: Tradtional Circle of Sticks with the Penrose

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Mar 14, 2015 at 7:46pm PDT

UND seniors with the cup.

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Mar 14, 2015 at 7:51pm PDT

NCHC Regular Season Champions and Frozen Faceoff bound! Congrats, @UNDmhockey! pic.twitter.com/fgu2wDTdAt
— Stay A Sioux (@StayaSioux) March 15, 2015

Pride. Honor. Courage. #UNDProud

A video posted by Erik Martinson (@erikmartinson1) on Mar 15, 2015 at 12:12am PDT

NCHC Suspends Minnesota Duluth’s Krause (With Vine)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has issued a one-game suspension to Minnesota Duluth senior forward Adam Krause, in accordance with the conference’s supplemental discipline policy, the NCHC announced Tuesday, March 10. The suspension stems from an illegal hit during the Bulldogs game at Western Michigan on Saturday, March 7.

Krause was suspended after a review of a play in which illegal knee-on-knee contact was made with a Western Michigan player at 8:51 of the third period of Saturday’s game at Lawson Ice Arena. Krause was assessed a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and given a game misconduct on the play.

Krause will be required to serve the suspension during the Bulldogs’ next game on Friday, March 13 at Denver in the opening game of their best-of-three quarterfinal series. Krause is eligible to return for game two of the quarterfinal series with the Pioneers on Saturday, March 14.

NCHC Playoff First Round Preview and Predictions

The regular season is now over, and the playoff brackets are now set. Most of the seeding wasn't final until the last day of the regular season, however seeds 1 (North Dakota), 7 (Western Michigan), and 8 (Colorado College) were set last Friday when North Dakota took the Penrose Cup outright. The top four seeds in the NCHC have their quarterfinal best of three series at home against the bottom four seeds. This year the match-ups are 1 North Dakota vs. 8 Colorado College, 2 Miami vs. 7 Western Michigan, 3 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 6 St. Cloud State and 4 Denver vs. 5 Minnesota-Duluth. 

1 North Dakota vs. 8 Colorado College

These two teams met four times this season with North Dakota winning all four contests, one of which while in Colorado Springs by a 7-2 score and a Mark MacMillan hat trick. When CC came to Grand Forks for a second half series, the story was much different. In two very tightly contested battles, CC would be the thorn in UND's side, making it seem like it was a battle of top five teams in the country. UND would prevail on the weekend with a sweep, but maybe the most well earned sweep of the season. 

Who to Watch:

UND: With MacMillan out, probably for the rest of the season, Focus for the offense will go to Senior Michael Parks, who likes to spend most of his time behind the goal line, Junior highlight reel Drake Caggiula, and master playmaker Freshman Nick Schmaltz. However this is a roster that seems to have someone different step up each night and in the second half their top producer has been Senior defender Nick Mattson. Finally, you look to Hobey Baker finalist Zane McIntryre. Zane leads the country in wins with 25, tied with Michigan Tech goalie Jamie Phillips, is 8th in save percentage at .931 and 14th in goals against average at 1.99. 

CC: Junior center Cody Bradley is the only Tiger with 10 goals this season, and is also the only Tiger with over 20 points as well. The junior center has been the sole hope for offensive production for the season, but Senior forward Scott Wamsganz is on the 20 point threshold sitting at 19 points for the season. Never count out Sophomore defender Jacob Slavin for making some plays from the point either. Slavin is probably their best defenseman.

Who Wins?

UND should win the best of three series in two games Friday and Saturday, but I think one of these games will be within a goal or two and a very tight defensive battle. UND wins Friday 3-1 and Saturday 5-2, however if UND sits back any, which I don't think will happen, but if they do, look for CC to take advantage and try to force a third game this weekend. 

2 Miami vs. 7 Western Michigan

Miami took 11 out of a possible 12 points against the Broncos this season with one overtime tie and shootout victory when they went to Kalamazoo for a series during the second half. The series that took place in Oxford was not as tightly contested, especially during the Saturday night contest with Miami winning by a score of 5-2. 

Who to Watch:

Miami: Senior assist machine Austin Czarnik has 31 assists on the season for the RedHawks and a team leading 36 points.Junior Riley Barber shares the team lead in goals with Junior Sean Kuraly who both are at 17 goals for the season. With Seniors Cody Murphy and Blake Coleman both over the 10 goal mark for the season as well, you can't count those two out when it comes to scoring either. 

WMU: Although the season ended somewhere they didn't want it to, Sophomore Sheldon Dries and Junior Colton Hargrove both are tied for the team lead in points with 25. Senior Justin Kovacs is not far behind with 24 points this season with 18 of those being helpers. 

Who Wins?

I can't see this series ending any other way then a Miami sweep, but if you remember last year, the only home ice team to advance to the Frozen Faceoff last year was North Dakota. For that reason, I think this series goes the distance and WMU wins Friday 2-1 with Miami coming back with a Saturday win of 4-2 and Sunday 3-1.

3 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 6 St. Cloud State

This is the series that I am most looking forward to. With Omaha falling off late in the season to lose the number one spot to North Dakota, and St. Cloud being a thorn in everybodys side this season despite being below the 500 mark, this series has classic written all over it. With both teams getting sweeps this season on their home ice, and the late season sweep of Omaha in St. Cloud a couple weeks ago being the catalyst in Omaha falling in the standings, look for the Mavericks to come out guns a blazing and look to gain some revenge. 

Who to Watch:

UNO: Sophomore Austin Ortega set the NCAA record for game winning goals in a season last weekend when he netted his 11th game winner. He is the leader with 18 goals on the season and tied with fellow Sophomore Jake Guentzel with points at 33, the youth movement in Omaha is on. Three of the top five in points for the Mavericks are freshman, Jake Randolph, Tyler Vesel, and Avery Peterson. Also look for Sophomore Justin Parizek to be a threat to score some goals as well. 

SCSU: Junior Johnny Brodzinski and Junior Joey Benik lead this team who's power play is top 5 in the NCAA. The top power play unit has combined for over 70 points this season with the extra man, so look for the Huskies to take advantage of every man advantage they are able to get this weekend. 

Who Wins?

No question in my mind this one goes the distance. I am taking St. Cloud to take the series and get the "upset" over Omaha as they have been struggling as of late, who is 3-5-2 in their last 10 games. St. Cloud wins Friday 3-2, Omaha Wins Saturday 4-3, St. Cloud wins 2-0.

4 Denver vs. 5 Minnesota-Duluth

With the season series seeing two splits, this series should also be very tightly contested, possibly the tightest of the four series. Duluth does hold the biggest victory this season with a 6-1 victory, but that came in Duluth. Every other game had a two goal or less margin, which is how I expect this to turn out. 

Who to Watch:

Denver: Freshman Danton Heinen leads the team with an amazing 42 points this season and Sophomore Trevor Moore is close behind at 39 points. Moore is the team leader in goals this year at 19 goals on the season. However, you can't talk about Denver without talking about Senior defenseman Joey LaLeggia. His puck moving ability and willingness to take it up on the rush has him tagged as one of the top offensive-defensemen in the NCAA. 

UMD: The usual suspects Tony Cameranesi, Alex Iafallo and Austin Farley are at it again this season and are leading this team on the helper side of things. the three are all at just 8 goals on the season and look to Dominic Toninato who leads the Bulldogs at 16 goals followed by Justin Crandall who has 12. 

Who Wins?

This should be a very close series, but Denver comes out on top. Their firepower will be too much for this UMD team. Denver wins Friday 3-1 and Saturday 4-3.

NCHC Final Standings

The second season in the NCHC is over, the final standings are now set. The second season now begins.

The NCHC playoff matchups are all set. I included a screen shot of last season's final standings so you can compare them. The stat that sticks out the most for me is that UND is only 10 goals short of last season's total.

UND Clinches at Least a Share of the Penrose Cup! (Circle of Sticks)

How sweep it is. Traditional circle of sticks.

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Feb 28, 2015 at 7:33pm PST

UND is the 2015 Penrose Champs. They have clinched at least a tie for the title. With one point next weekend, UND will win it outright.

Warriors for life. #UNDPROUD

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Feb 28, 2015 at 7:44pm PST

Tonight's win, along with Miami's loss at DU, means UND has clinched at least a share of the Penrose Cup! #UNDproud pic.twitter.com/RggJL0EoOq
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 1, 2015

UND vs. WMU game one Lines

WMU Injuries Nolan LaPorte (9g-11a—20pts) lower-body injury. Checking the Broncos lines he's in tonight. Must have made a speedy recovery. We'll have to watch that. Same lineup for UND as last week.

Officiating and what to do: A response to recent criticism and foul officiating

by Redwing77

Let me be clear on a few things:  First, I did not get to watch last weekend's series between UND and DU so I will not be specifically commenting on any plays or acts NOT embedded on this site.  Second, I know I'm a frequent commentor about the poor quality of officiating but hear me out.

Recently, Goon48 posted a story stating that NCHC Officiating has to be better.  He makes a few points, but he also states a few unrealistic solutions.  In a perfect world, is solutions would be right on and we'd not read my post, but here goes.

Clear the Bridge, DIVE DIVE DIVE!!!!

Diving has been a problem in hockey for quite some time.  It's also a problem in basketball (though in my opinion, that's because toughness is hard to come by in the NBA).  But the same issues in basketball officiating falls on hockey officials as well.  If the ref isn't going to call it, why not do it?

Your job is to provide your team with a competitive edge.  Diving becomes more enticing if you are the "little guy" as well.  If your team isn't playing so hot, or if your team, in this matchup is the "butter" and the opponent is the "hot knife," then you have to even the field somehow.  In the WCHA, Greg Shepherd quietly pushed for situational officiating to help even the field (The WCHA called it "parity").  If you flop a bit and the ref responds in your favor, then it's going to happen again until it is called or the game ends.  Whichever comes first.

And even then, it isn't black and white.  It's hard to determine the difference between being crushed in an illegal hit, or pulling an act similar to a Looney Tune character undergoing a cartoony death scene.  Some officials buffer this insecurity in the call by calling offsetting penalties.

So Goon sponsors post game punitive measures including suspensions and perhaps fines of coaches.  I'm not so sure fining coaches would be effective.  I remember how Mike Eaves (UW) had everyone convinced that Robbie Earl fell easier than most because he skates on his toes.  How would the NCHC (or B1G in the case of UW) prove that Eaves' assertion was incorrect?

Also, 1 game suspensions for something that normally would be a 2 minute minor is a bit over the top.  There are complicated solutions like banning the player for a period.  There isn't a good solution to this issue.

The best I could see would be an officiating directive issued after the game towards the following week's officials stating that X Player dove in the last contest and, should question arise as to whether diving is occurring, err on the side that diving did occur.  So, if the ref feels that it could have been diving, then it was and the penalty is called and the infraction that caused the dive is erased.  Like I said:  too complicated.

Video Review of Major Penalties

I like this, but I'd use the same rule as they do in targetting penalties in college football.  If a major penalty is called that could warrant ejection, then the replay is made and a decision is made via review.

What cannot happen is a missed call occurring and the ref going back "in time" to review the hit and making a call that way.  It makes things too messy.  Also, if that were the case, why have officials anyways.  Just have ARs to drop the puck and call icing or offsides and that's it.  Do the rest via video review.  Too much.

On-Ice Officials quality

I think that here's where I deviate the most.  I love the NHL situation room format with reviews, but the NCHC doesn't have that kind of money.  If they did, they'd have one.

I also believe that the league should be SEMI transparent.  I do not believe the league owes the fans anything in terms of explanations, but they DO owe the member institutions involved.  For the waved off goal, for example, I do not think we as fans or Goon or whomever is owed anything.  However, Hakstol does deserve an explanation.  The same goes with disciplinary action.  Hakstol could choose to divulge the results if he wants to (and so could the league) but there should not be an expectation to beyond that of "the league has taken discilinary action against those involved."

The truth is, though, on ice officials DO need to be better and with that comes paperwork.  I think evals should be filled out by coaching staffs after every weekend's matches evaluating the officials.  If complaints arise, then this is the time for them to be aired.  They can submit questionable calls (every game is recorded so they could state the circumstances and the approximate game time that the situation occurred for further review).  They can also request that the official officiate their games more often or less often.

Biddco and RWD Your NCHC Fans of the Week

Congrats to our co-@SportNgin #NCHCFan of the Week, @Biddco & @runwiththedogs, who saw the #FFTrophyTour @UMDHockey pic.twitter.com/U6f4lvg4Gq
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) February 17, 2015

I couldn't resist this one.

NCHC Hockey: A look at the Standings

The standing will probably change a few times before the season is over, you can bet on it. But UND takes the lead for now. Stay tuned, developing.

NCHC Hockey: A look at the Pairwise Rankings (Updated)

The NCHC isn't going anywhere but up.

I know I am getting ahead of myself and there's a lot of time left before the NCAA tourney. The Pairwise Ranking are very fluid and they will change some before selection Sunday, but the NCHC is looking real good with about five weeks remaining in the season.

There's a very good chance that one or two of the NCHC teams at the top of the Pairwise Rankings won't make the Frozen Faceoff  but will make the NCAA tourney. That happened to SCSU last season.

NCHC Suspends Omaha’s O’Rourke and UMD’s Toninato (Video)

The NCHC took action against two of it's players today following incidents from Friday night's games. If I come across video, I will post it.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has issued suspensions to both Omaha senior defenseman Brian O’Rourke and Minnesota Duluth sophomore forward Dominic Toninato, in accordance with the conference’s supplemental discipline policy, the NCHC announced Saturday, Jan. 17. The suspensions stem from illegal hits during their respective games on Friday, Jan. 16.

O’Rourke was suspended two games after a review of the play in which direct contact to the head was made with a Colorado College player at 5:32 of the first period of UNO’s game against CC Friday. O’Rourke was assessed a five-minute major penalty for interference on the play. O’Rourke will miss Saturday’s series finale with the Tigers, as well as Omaha’s next game on Friday, Jan. 30 against North Dakota. He is eligible to return on Saturday, Jan. 31 in the series finale with UND.

Toninato was suspended one game following a review of the play in which knee-on-knee contact was made with a Western Michigan player at 13:31 of the first period of Friday’s game with the Broncos. Toninato was issued a five-minute major for kneeing on the play. He will be required to serve the suspension during Saturday’s series finale with WMU and is eligible to return next weekend, Jan. 23 against Bemqidji State in the North Star College Cup.

UND vs. UMD - Lines game two

You can see there's some changes in the UND lineup tonight. Tucker Poolman is back on the wing. Senior defenseman Andrew Panzarella is back in the lineup and paired with junior Keaton Thompson. This is a big game for UND, one might say that it's gut check time. I also think this is a must win game as well.

NCHC Hockey: Taking a look at the KRACH and Pairwise Rankikngs

By Eric Burton

3	Minnesota-Duluth	562.6	.8067	16	12-6-0	0.6667	2.000	1	281.3
5	Miami	443.8	.7722	9t	14-6-0	0.7000	2.333	6	190.2
6	North Dakota	438.8	.7705	6	13-4-2	0.7368	2.800	9	156.7
7	Nebraska-Omaha	435.4	.7693	13t	12-5-3	0.6750	2.077	3	209.6
13	Denver	287.3	.7010	12	11-5-1	0.6765	2.091	20	137.4
21	St. Cloud State	164.5	.5980	37t	7-10-1	0.4167	0.714	2	230.4
29	Western Michigan	107.2	.5137	36	7-9-2	0.4444	0.800	21	133.93
48	Colorado College	28.76	.2687	56	3-13-1	0.2059	0.259	30	110.9

Here’s the NCHC teams from the KRACH rankings. You can see that Minnesota-Duluth has the hardest strength of schedule to date. St Cloud State University has the second toughest SOS. Nebraska-Omaha comes in with the third toughest.  

You can also see from the Pairwise Rankings that the NCHC is doing pretty well right now and that the top-10 is full of NCHC teams. This weekend's match-up between UMD and UND is going to be important for the Pairwise Rankings. While a weekend doesn't make a season, a sweep for either team would be huge. 

3	Minnesota-Duluth	56	12-6-0	.6667	16	.5983*	3
4	Miami	55	14-6-0	.7000	9t	.5899*	4
6	Nebraska-Omaha	53	12-5-3	.6750	13t	.5861*	6
8	North Dakota	51	13-4-2	.7368	6	.5805	8
15	Denver	44	11-5-1	.6765	12	.5587	15
26	St. Cloud State	33	7-10-1	.4167	37t	.5180	26
36	Western Michigan	24	7-9-2	.4444	36	.4919	36
46	Colorado College	13	3-13-1	.2059	56	.4445	46