Wait, what? Do you really want to go there?

I am not sure why the guy that has the TYT blog wants to start a fight with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux fan base? I am sure that most of you have probably never seen it because no one reads his blog any ways.

Then again, I suppose if you want to generate interest and hits and lot of traffic to your blog – infuriating one of the more passionate fan bases in all of college hockey probably doesn’t hurt – it will bring more traffic to your blog.

ND vote lets school scrap Fighting Sioux nickname (Yahoo!)

I'm. So. Pumped. And no, it has nothing to do with my opinion of Native American mascots, the NCAA's rule on them or the larger social and political issues involved. I just hate North Dakota, so things that make them sad make me happy, simple as that. All of that said, this is The Story That Will Never Die (TM), so I'm not throwing the party until what's apparently a minority of the state's residents are unsuccessful in their next avenue of appeal, an attempt at a constitutional amendment.

Apparently Dean Blais' comments about the selection of the Target Center has also gotten ire of the TYT blog as well.

Two can play at that game, Deano. If North Dakota's out of the NCHC tournament, you're left with a choice of: a) two branch campuses, b) two MAC schools (and I love the MAC as a current student at a member school), c) two schools 900+ miles away and d) St. Cloud State in e) a facility that's almost universally seen as second-rate for hockey compared to the Big Ten's Xcel Energy Center. So good luck with that. The Big Ten, without Minnesota, still offers three all-time top ten men's hockey programs and five schools with universal brand recognition. And (including Minnesota again) the main campuses of two NCHC schools, although Nebraska doesn't sponsor hockey yet.

Actually, it is worth pointing out that the Big Ten's entire tournament will be played in St. Paul (or Detroit, in alternating years). In other words, Minnesota will have at least one game at the Xcel Energy Center every single year. North Dakota, on the other hand, will have to get through a best-of-three campus site first round to make it to Minny. They probably will most of the time, but hey, no guarantees when you've recruited the eight best hockey programs in the country into one conference.

Quick break while I finish laughing from typing that last sentence...

While the TYT is half right – the games that UMN plays in are going to be the highest attended games of the B1G tourney – that’s a no brainer – the problem is that other games will not be as highly attended as the days of the old WCHA tourney. That’s reality! No longer will you have SCSU, UND, UMD fans coming to the games at the Xcel energy center.

The aforementioned teams will be replaced by PSU, OSU, MSU and Michigan. OSU hockey fans don’t attend games in their own building what makes you think that they are going to attend games in Minnesota or Detroit for that matter?

Thge lingering question is – are Michigan and Michigan State fans going to attend the B1G tourney in St. Paul every other season? Here is the attendance numbers of the last two games that Michigan was involved in during last season’s CCHA tourney 10,421 (Michigan vs. WMU) and 7823 (BGSU vs. Michigan). If Michigan isn’t going to stuff the Joe Louis arena full of their fans when they are playing what makes people think that Michigan and Michgan State are going to travel to St. Paul when they are only guaranteed only one game?

Going forward It will be interesting to see how many people actually attend the B1G, NCHC and WCHA conference tourneys.

To the person that suggested that OSU and Michigan State being a big draw I wouldn't count on it - here are the OSU numbers for the last two season.

2011-12 14th Ohio State 16 Attendance 82,854 Average 5,178 17,500 29.6%
2010-11 18th Ohio State 17 Attendance 65,093 Average 3,829 17,500 21.9%

NCHC - "very specific discussions" on ice quality

One of the “major” concerns for NCHC fans about the conference signing a five year deal with the Target Center in Minneapolis for the NCHC tourney has been ice conditions  – historically the Target Center has had the propensity to have very bad ice – which is a buzz kill in hockey.  You can't skate on slush very well.

More specifically the WCHA held the Final Five at the Target Center during the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons and the ice condition was really poor, also there are some bad sight lines as well for hockey because the Target Center is a basketball only arena for the most part – hockey is not played on a regular basis at the Target Center.

Eric Stromgren/CHN Writer --- The Target Center has been criticized as a hockey venue from ice quality to fan sight lines, something officials addressed in the press conference and with the media afterword.

Scherr said there have been "very specific discussions" on ice quality.

Mattson has worked at the Target Center since the building opened and said past problems could be attributed to quick turnaround times required from the staff. Ice before the state high school tournaments in 1999 and 2000 were put in a few days before the tournament, Mattson recalled.

"We know we've got to get it made earlier, give it a proper amount of time to get it ready, get it skated on and get it roughed up — that's a challenge we're up for," Mattson said.

Mattson said ice will likely be made in mid-February to avoid potential problems and the Timberwolves would play above the ice with the court placed on a "deck."

I have seen it mentioned in a couple of newspapers that the NCHC has a opt out clause with the Target Center if the conference is not happy with the Target Center but I have yet to see it mentioned in the latest press releases that I have received from the NCHC.

NCHC to the Target Center

I had been rumored that the NCHC conference tourney was going to be be held at the Target Center, the official announcement is coming soon - as early as Monday. I know there are a lot of fans that aren't excited about this move nor is the Target Center a very attractive choice for a "college hockey" conference tourney.

There are some positives to look at - while the Target Center is a building built for basketball and hockey is kind of an after thought for the Target Center - there will be 100-150 million dollar  renovations to the facility very soon. The positive aspect about the Target Center is that UND, SCSU, UMD and UNO are all within close driving distances and will be the four schools that the majority of the attendance will come from, so it makes sense as a centralized location.

Related articles

• Is the NCHC close to picking the Target Center for their Conference tourney?

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• NCHC conference tourney in the Target Center

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• B1G Hockey announces conference tourney schedule

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B1G Hockey announces conference tourney schedule

The only question is where will the NCHC have their conference tourney now that the schedule has been released by the B1G? Personally, I am hoping that it’s not going to be the Target Center.

Release courtesy of Big Ten Conference
With men's ice hockey set to become an official Big Ten sport with the 2013-14 academic year, the conference office announced today that the Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments will be held at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., in 2014 and 2016, and at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich., in 2015 and 2017.

The inaugural Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament will be held March 20-22, 2014, at Xcel Energy Center. The tournament moves to Joe Louis Arena the following year and will be held March 19-21, 2015, and March 16-18, 2017, in Detroit. The 2016 event will return to Saint Paul and be held March 17-19. Tickets for the 2014 Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in Saint Paul are expected to go on sale in the summer of 2013.

The tournament will feature all six teams - Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin - in a single-elimination format. Thursday's quarterfinals will feature the No. 3 seed facing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed battling the No. 5 seed. The top two seeds will open tournament play in the Friday semifinals, with the No. 1 seed against either the No. 4 or 5 seed and the No. 2 seed facing the No. 3 or 6 seed. The championship game will be held on Saturday.

NCHC conference tourney in the Target Center

Jess Myers of 1500 ESPN and of Inside College Hockey has this little nugget in his post on Thursday and my first reaction is no thank you.

The Target Center is less than attractive option for hockey and the ice was horrible last time a hockey game was played in there. 

Jess Myers 1500 ESPN --- And what about those armies of North Dakota fans, with their team heading to the new NCHC (with Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State) at the end of next season? For now, it looks as though they could be heading to Minneapolis, as NCHC officials have reportedly been offered a sweetheart deal to hold their post-season tournament at Target Center.

Of course, that idea raises several questions about the future. The initial good news that there would be one or two college post-season tournaments in the Twin Cities every March is tempered just a bit by several "yes, but..." factors to consider.

For example, while a Minnesota-Michigan tournament final in St. Paul in St. Paul would surely be a sought-after ticket, the notion of filling Xcel Energy Center for a match-up between "new" WCHA teams like Michigan Tech and Bowling Green has no basis in reality. A title game featuring Bemidji State or Minnesota State, Mankato might draw a respectable crowd, but in most years where the Gophers are at Joe Louis, there will be oceans of good seats available.

And the inadequacy of Target Center as a hockey building is one of the reasons the North Stars headed to Dallas rather than moving from the antiquated Met Center to downtown Minneapolis in 1993. A 2010 game between the Gophers and the Badgers is the only hockey game the building has hosted in more than a decade.

Personally, I like the option of rotating the tourney between Denver, Colorado Saint Paul, Minnesota and or Omaha, Nebraska.  Seriously, unless the Target Center is going to upgrade it's hockey capabilities,  more specifically, the ice making capabilities would have to improve quite a bit. That being said, there are better restaurants and bar options in the Target Center area, than around the Xcel Energy Center.

Related articles

• WCHA Final Five Capsules (insidehockey.com)
• NCHC Commissioner Jim Scheer press-conference (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Sioux rally to stomp Gophers (insidehockey.com)
• Thursday at the Final Five (insidehockey.com)
• Dell Backstops Sioux to 4-0 Win Over Denver (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's predictions for the Final Five (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

NCHC Commissioner Jim Scherr press-conference

The newly appointed commissioner of the NCHA Jim Scherr (Nebraska 1984) was available for questions before the game between the University of North Dakota and Minnesota State and here are some of the subjects that Mr. Scherr touched on.

There is a good chance that there could be a rotation for the conference tourney between Denver, St. Paul and or Omaha.

The Director of Hockey Operations will be hired soon, maybe by the Frozen Four. There are 120 candidates for the Hockey Operations director.

The Director of Hockey Operations will be stationed in Colorado Springs as well.

The NCHC Commissioner is not concerned about the Fighting Sioux nickname, he is monitoring the situation and the nickname is not an issue for the schools in the conference. Commissioner Scherr expects the issue to be settled one way or another by the time the NCHC starts.

I apologize because the audio for this video is not that good, if you want a audio file emailed to you let me know. thegoon48@gra.midco.net

Related articles

• North Dakota vs. Minnesota State: Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Sioux vs. Mavericks series notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• NCHC Names Jim Scherr as First Commissioner (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• It's officials Scherr to lead NCHC. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• The WCHA playoffs are set (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

The Sioux and a Comment on Officiating (RW77)

First the good news:

Despite the ugliest series of the entire year for UND discipline wise (probably the same goes for DU as well), the Sioux leave Denver with 2 points. I think Eidsness played very well on Friday and, unless the score doesn't tell the story, ok but not great on Saturday. I now firmly believe that Dell will take at least one of the games next weekend. In any case, despite this there is good news:

Home ice is ours for the WCHA playoffs. Brad Schlossman and I think Jason Hejdu calculated that it is impossible for CC and MTU to move past us so as to have us drop out of the top 6. That's great news.

However, there is a very good possibility that we will be down to 17 skaters for the rest of the year. Sure, Dickin's not the most prolific scorer and he may not normally be missed if everyone else was healthy but... they're not. And going into the playoffs, consistent and timely play as well as depth (which means fresher legs late in the game) are key. The Sioux do not have depth at all... but our IR list would be a great line or two on most teams in the nation. So we go short bench from here on out.

Good thing Gleason is playing great right now. He looks more and more like Genoway every single game.

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A note on Officiating:

Yeah, yeah, UND fan talking about officiating again, but I'm not going to rag on Todd Anderson, Brad Shepherd or Don Adam. I'm simply going to state my conspiracy theory and watch closely as I expect it will become more and more true as we get closer to the BTHC and NCHC becoming a reality.

I believe that the officials, led by Greg Shepherd, will follow the rule book as required but will not do their professional best nor be held accountable for mistakes when it comes to any game involving NCHC or BTHC teams. They will care less if it is NCHC vs. NCHC, NCHC vs. BTHC, or BTHC vs. BTHC and care more as the permutations get closer to WCHA vs WCHA.

The reason is simple: They only are biding time with the NCHC and BTHC teams but are still trying to pander support among the WCHA teams (and future WCHA teams). So there is more incentive and intention to perform better administratively (which includes officiating) towards WCHA teams than there is to be towards future NCHC and/or BTHC teams.

So, in other words, expect really poor officiating if your NCHC or BTHC team is involved. If you are a WCHA team, there will still be brutal games but that will be because the WCHA officials are idiots and know very little about consistency.

It's like my tinfoil hat saying: Every weekend we have to beat our opponents and the officials.

Ten thoughts on the weekend

Image via Wikipedia1.) I predict that UND is going to be in the mix when it’s all said and done. The hockey experts and hockey pundits that think UND mediocre and not very good are off base; this team is buying into the coaching staff’s systems and are getting better which each game. I don’t think anyone wants to have UND has their draw during the WCHA playoffs.

I think this weekend the Fighting Sioux proved that they can skate with the “elite teams” like Duluth. The Bulldogs has no answer for UND tenacity in Friday’s game. The Fighting Sioux shut the Bulldogs down.

2.) Some undisciplined play by some key upper classmen in the first period of last nigh't game derailed the Fighting Sioux’s chances of getting a sweep. The Blood major penalty proved to be very costly for UND. I did not see the hit, and I have not seen the video of the hit either, so I will not give my thoughts on the hit. My seat on Saturday night was in the second row next to the UMD player’s bench and It was hard to see that end of the ice without the aid of the scoreboard video.

3.) Coach Hakstol said at the beginning of the year that other players besides the line of Kristo, Knight and Nelson would have to step up and contribute offensively.

Another line has started to show up on the score sheet and was smoking hot this weekend. The Rowney line has emerged as a pretty good threat, on the weekend Mark MacMillan 0-2-2, Carter Rowney 4-1-5 and Michael Parks 1-1-2. That’s (5g-4a—9pts) for that line on the weekend.

I would give that line all three stars for the weekend.

4.) Goaltending, this season Aaron Dell (2.80 GAA, .890 Save Percentage) has been very good when he is on and when he isn’t he has been lit up.

Last night, Dell wasn’t very good at all and I know it’s easy to second guess the coaching staff from the stands but I think that after the fourth goal, the coaching staff should have pulled Dell to breath some life into the Fighting Sioux.

I mentioned this to my friend today, that I think Brad Eidsnes (2.08 GAA, .924 Save Percentage) has been very good as of late and he was on last night. Eids made some big saves and positioning was very good. It also appears that Eidsness has fixed some parts of his game and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him more down the stretch.

Over his four seasons with UND Eidsness has had a tendency to be streaky and when he is on his game he is a very hard goaltender to beat and I wonder if that goalie has emerged again? Personally, I hope the coaching staff rides him until he proves them wrong.

5.) Don Adam! What can I say about him? I thought the officiating combo of Don Adam and Tim Walsh was absolutely brutal this weekend for both teams. How these two guys continue to be employed by the WCHA is a mystery to many of us. You know it's bad when you hear a fan say, "hey it's Don Adam, what do you expect?"

I think the fans ask for some consistency from the on ice officials and I guess being consistently poor is consistency. Right? I think with Adam the amount of dangerous hits that he lets go is a concern for me and for other fans as well. The fact that these two on ice officials took such a long time to discuss the Joe Basaraba hit on Nick Mattson is a joke. That is a hit that we do not need in hockey.

I hope that when the NCHC begins play that they think long and hard before they get the idea that they need to employ the on ice officials from the WCHA.

I don’t buy the argument that the NCHC needs to use officials from the WCHA because there aren’t enough qualified officials out there. I think that argument is balderdash. The NCHC could recruit/pluck officials form the USHL to officiate the NCHC’s games.

I am tired of watching Don Adam skate around the ice with a scowl on his face blowing games with his horrible officiating. Let the WCHA or B1G have him as one of their officials.

6.) One guy that impresses me is junior utility player Joe Gleason. This season Gleason has played wing, center and defense. I think I would describe Gleason as player that will do what-ever-it-takes to win and help the team out.

I sometimes think that Gleason’s efforts go unnoticed and if you don’t look for him regularly you won’t notice all of the little things that he does in all three zones of the ice. Gleason is a role player that’s value is measured more in the things that don’t show up on score sheets.

This is what head coach Dave Hakstol had to say when he was asked about Joe Gleason after the Wisconsin series.

“Joe Gleason the epitome of a great teammate.”

“Joe is a proud guy and he obviously wants to play, he was recruited here as a defenseman, and both nights this weekend he played defense, he played center and he played right wing. I guess I would describe it as invaluable in a team setting. He is doing whatever the team’s needs, he not just going out and doing it, but going out and doing it well.”

7.) My thoughts on Amsoil Arena. I thought it was a nice venue and I like the layout of the arena. It’s a very comfortable building and I like the way it’s set up. The only thing that I don't like is the width of the halls around the buildings. They could be bigger and they get real crowded during the intermission.

Amsoil arena is very accessible from the highway and I like the way they do their parking. Unlike Ralph Englestad Arena, Amsoil Arena has a parking garage right next to the arena anyone can pay five dollars and park in it. You don’t have make a huge donation to the athletic department to park close to the arena. Another positive is that you walk straight into the arena from the parking garage.

Would I trade Ralph Englestad Arena for Amsoil Arena, not in your life but it’s a pretty nice place to attend a hockey game.

8.) Is UMD a rival game? Last week a fan from UMD post a comment on Sioux Sports about UMD not considering UND a rival. I think that comment is so far off of the mark, it’s silly.

This weekend’s series was very entertaining, and both games were very fun to watch. I think that this weekend’s series was some of the best hockey that I have watched all season.

There was also a lot of extra stuff going on during the games, there was a lot of the chirping and shenanigans on the ice. I would have to say that this was a nasty series where players from both teams needed to keep their head on a swivel. That's the kind of hockey that I like to watch.

I don’t think it would be an understatement to say that these two teams hate each other and the games were highly contested.

9.) I like the player that Dillon Simpson is becoming. I think he has grown up a lot as a player this season. If you think about it, Simpson is a 19 year old sophomore and he is younger than most of the players that came in as freshman this season.

What I have noticed about Simpson; he has been very smart with the puck and has done a good job getting puck out of the defensive zone and on to the sticks of the forwards. Dillon is a plus nine on the season, meaning he’s not a defensive liability.

I hope with his age that UND can keep him for two more seasons.

10.) As we all know, UND fans travel well and true to form there were a lot of green and white jerseys in the stands at Amsoil Arena this weekend.

The Let’s Go Sioux cheer was pretty loud as well. It was a fun trip and worth the time to go to Duluth to watch the series between UND and UMD this weekend. I am glad that both teams are going to be in the NCHC.

Related articles

• UND stops UMD 3-1 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Focused Sioux knocks off UMD (insidehockey.com)
• UND vs. UMD Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/12/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

A Miami Redhawks goal or not?

I just finished watching the Miami and Michigan game on my DVR and wow what a game. Also, if you think WCHA officials are bad, you should go back and watch game if you have it at your disposal, the officials Keith Sergott and Brian Hill were brutal in this game, but they did appear to get this call right. Check out the video at the 02:00 minute mark. That was close.

Redskin Warriors --- There are two things you’ll notice after the 2:00 minute mark of the highlight video posted above. First of all, take a look at the goal/no-goal that Rico was rather furious about. From just about every vantage point I’ve seen – on the replays in the arena (I’m amazed the arena staff kept replaying it on the video boards) and afterwards on the DVR – the puck doesn’t appear to cross the line.

That being said, when the NCHC starts it's league play they have to decide if they want to use WCHA and CCHA officials. There are so many poor officials in both of those leagues that I would caution the NCHC leadership to think long and hard before they decide to use these officials. There needs to be some transparency, the refs need to ref the game the way its meant to be officiated.

More on the NCHC TV package

Image via WikipediaAs we know from yesterday's press release, CBS College Sports announced that the NCHC will have a new TV package. That's definitely a  positive. However, that also means that UND will no longer have their games on FCS after next season. So people with DirecTV "might not" be able to see UND hockey games after 2012-13.

Official Press Release

CBS Sports Network has agreed to a multi-year agreement with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, beginning in the 2013-2014 season. CBS Sports Network will be the exclusive national television partner for the conference, which will feature eight of the nation’s top college hockey programs. The announcement was made today by Dan Weinberg, Senior Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports Network, and Jim Scherr, Commissioner of the National.

The agreement calls for a minimum of 18 conference games, including the National’s semifinal and championship contests. Currently six teams that will be in the new conference are ranked in the USCHO.com Top 20 poll.

Personally, I am not going to worry about it right now, because a lot can happen between now the the start of the 2013-14 season. I also believe that the University of North Dakota will come up with some kind of a solution before the start of NCHC play. Also, all home games are available on  UNDSPORTS.COM  

Related articles

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The gloves are off part II - UND and UW week

I have to admit that this is one of my favorite match ups, if not my favorite rivalry games and according to Andy Baggot of Madison.com it looks like there will be a continuance of the Sioux vs. Badgers rivalry after next season when both teams join their new leagues.

UW coach Mike Eaves said non-conference scheduling parameters are still being drawn up for the new Big Ten, so any non-conference discussions are on hold.

But there have already been discussions between the schools about committing to a series every year when the new leagues debut. That's how much the rivalry means to those involved. [Madison.com]

I know the Fighting Sioux nickname is gone, but for now, at least for this weekend, I will call it the Sioux Badgers on this blog. I mean what the heck.  I think we could get away with it, because the Fighting Sioux name is still on the front of the jerseys, for at least a little bit longer. I am already compliant the articles have submitted for Inside Hockey. 

I am excited that UND and UW are looking into continue this historic rivalry after the B1G and NCHC come to fruition. There have been some great battles over the years between the two teams. Also, Wisconsin fans are some of the greatest college hockey fans and they get it, they're awesome. When both teams go their separate ways, I am definitely going to miss seeing the Badgers at the Final Five and discussing hockey with the fans from Wisconsin.



Of course the hockey on the ice hasn't been like the UND vs. UW match ups of the 1980's for obvious reasons, the progressive DQ rule for fighting has probably played a role in that.

None the less,  there have been some heated and highly contested battles over the years between the two teams. Who can forget the Steve Reinprecht, David Hukalo and Dany Heatly line, that was "one of" the most prolific lines that I had ever witnessed in college hockey.

Of course there was the Jeff Panzer, Bryon Lundbohm  and Ryan Bayda line which was also pretty darn good themselves. You can check out the Wisconsin Badger's side of the discussion with Chuck Schwartz at Bucky' Fifth Quarter.

TV Contract coming for the NCHC?

Brian Gomez of the Colorado Springs Gazette has this little news nugget in his media blog today, sounds like a TV deal is coming soon for the NCHC.

Also, it looks more and more like the NCHC is going to have it’s conference tourney in the Excel Energy Center. This is not the first time that I have heard this and former Colorado Gazette Colorado College beat writer Joe Paisley had posted this as well in one of his weekly Gazette chats.

Brian Gomez, Gazette.com --- A TV contract for Colorado College’s new conference will be announced within the next three weeks, and the NBC Sports Network, formerly called Versus, as well as Fox Sports regional affiliates have emerged as legitimate competition for CBS Sports Network.

National Collegiate Hockey Conference commissioner Jim Scherr (above) told CC play-by-play man Ken Landau of the timetable for the eight-team league that will begin in the 2013-14 season during Tigers coach Scott Owens’ radio show Tuesday on 103.9 FM RXP. A total of 75 games are being broadcast this season on Fox College Sports, Fox Sports North and Fox Sports stations in Colorado, Michigan and Wisconsin; NBC Sports Network has 16 games, including the Hockey East Tournament; and CBS Sports Network has 23 games.

Before Scherr was appointed last week as the NCHC’s first commissioner, an agreement with CBS Sports Network for 16 games was thought of as imminent. Earlier Tuesday, on a USCHO.com radio show, Scherr said the TV deal will offer “uniform exposure across the conference,” adding the NCHC will “have a strong package

Here is the bit on the NCHC tourney. I think the NCHC getting the Xcel Energy Center makes perfect sense because there is no way that the new revamped WCHA is going to be able to fill the arena without UND, UMD and SCSU.

The inaugural NCHC Tournament – rumored to be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the site of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five in March – no doubt will be carried by the conference’s TV partner. Scherr didn’t confirm St. Paul as the 2014 site with USCHO.com, saying only that the event will be held at a “geographic location that makes sense for the fan bases to get there and support their teams.”

Related articles

• NCHC Names Jim Scherr as First Commissioner (mvn.com)
• Video; NCHC Introduces Commissioner (mvn.com)
• RW77′s Take on Conference Realignment Part 2 (mvn.com)
• Waiting to Exhale, the WCHA is Back (mvn.com)

Does this concern anyone? Scheer lacks hockey knowledge

USA Today

In reading this newspaper article from the Saint Cloud Times, I found this to be interesting. Newly hired Jim Scheer has little if any hockey knowledge and is now going to be in charge of one of the premiere division I hockey conferences in the country.

Nick Hatten, Saint Cloud Times --- While Scherr has plenty of sports administration and marketing on his resume, his work and knowledge of hockey is limited.

“I’ll be working with the athletic directors on getting up to speed,” he said. “I played one year of organized hockey in South Dakota and I played pond hockey. I dealt with the NHL at the USOC.

“I have a long ways to go in building my knowledge of the game.”
Gasparini won three national titles as coach at North Dakota and spent 13 years as commissioner of the United States Hockey League in junior hockey. He admitted to having some “personal feelings” of apprehension about Scherr’s lack of work in hockey.

“Everybody thought it was more important to have a strong leader and administrator than a hockey person,” Gasparini said. “But Jim’s been around sports all his life. I don’t think the grass will grow under his feet with regards to learning about the game.”

I am interested in what others think about the newly hired commissioner of the NCHC? I do think that the NCHC is going to have to hire a good number two person that knows a lot about hockey. Cough, cough, cough… Gino Gasparini... I think that former Fighting Sioux head coach and athletic director and current St. Cloud State’s special adviser to the president for athletics Gino Gasparini would be a good choice for someone to fill the number two spot. Gino was a successful hockey coach and would know the in and outs of college hockey.

Video; NCHC Introduces Commissioner

Here is the video for the press conference that was held to announce the first commissioner of the NCHC Jim Scherr, the press conference was held Wednesday at the Penrose House in Colorado Springs, CO. According to Brian Gomez of the Colorado Springs Gazette, the NCHC is going to have an 24games schedule which will mean that the schedule will be an un-blananced schedule. Also on the plate will be 10 non-conference games.

Former U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive officer Jim Scherr was named the first commissioner of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference on Wednesday, and he likes the proposal of a 24-game league schedule and 10 non-conference dates for the Colorado Springs-based league that starts in 2013-14 with eight teams, including Colorado College. [Gazette.com]

Related articles

• NCHC Names Jim Scherr as First Commissioner (mvn.com)
• NCHC to hire Jim Scherr (mvn.com)
• RW77′s Take on Conference Realignment Part 2 (mvn.com)
• NCHC set to name commissioner (denverpost.com)
• Waiting to Exhale, the WCHA is Back (mvn.com)

NCHC Names Jim Scherr as First Commissioner

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The National Collegiate Hockey Conference, the new eight-school, Division I men's hockey conference that will start play in the 2013-14 season, today announced highly respected, veteran sports executive Jim Scherr as its first Commissioner.

Scherr, who has over 20 years in sports management leadership, including as the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Olympic Committee and executive director of USA Wrestling, was introduced by Brian Faison, University of North Dakota Athletic Director, at a news conference at Penrose House in Colorado Springs, the headquarters city of the Conference. 

"The selection of Jim Scherr as our first Commissioner is the culmination of a thorough, national search to identify an exceptional sports business executive who will provide the leadership, vision and credibility to make our new Conference the benchmark for excellence in collegiate hockey," Faison said. "While the position attracted dozens of very impressive candidates, Jim distinguished himself as someone who exceeded the leadership criteria established by our athletic directors. Jim's depth of experience will serve the Conference well and we are delighted he has agreed to accept this important position."

"I am honored to have been selected by the National Collegiate Hockey Conference to become its first Commissioner," Scherr said. "I am grateful to the athletic directors and coaches of our Conference's member institutions for their support, confidence and trust. We have just 21 months before we drop the puck to launch our first season and there's a lot to accomplish. This is a once-in-a-career opportunity and I look forward to leading a Conference, including the eight outstanding hockey programs with their coaches, staffs, student-athletes and fans, that has the potential to become the premier single-sport conference in intercollegiate athletics."

The eight member institutions of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference are: Colorado College, University of Denver, Miami University, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University. The Conference was assisted in the search for the Commissioner by its consulting team of The Goldwater Group and Stafford Sports.

Scherr will immediately begin building a Conference staff and working on several key organizational functions and projects, including hockey operations and competition, business development and marketing initiatives.

Scherr served as CEO of the USOC from 2005 to 2009, overseeing 45 Olympic sports and directing the day-to-day operations of an organization dedicated to providing unparalleled service and support to America's Olympic and Paralympic athletes. During that time, the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team collected 110 medals, the most ever for an American Olympic team in a non-boycotted Games, to lead the overall medal count at the Beijing Summer Games. At the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Team USA finished an impressive second with 25 Olympic medals, the highest total for an American team in a Winter Games held outside of the United States.

Scherr was the Interim CEO of the USOC from 2003 to 2005 and led the organization through a critical period that resulted in the most comprehensive reorganization of its governance and management structures in history, culminating with sweeping changes to the USOC constitution and bylaws and the appointment of a new, 11-person Board of Directors in May 2004.

He was Chief of Sport Performance for the USOC from 2000-2003, directing the programs and services offered by the UYSOC in support of America's athletes and National Governing Bodies.

A former Olympian and World silver and bronze medalist in men's freestyle wrestling, Scherr served as Executive Director of USA Wrestling from 1990 to 2000. He successfully reorganized and restructured the national office, resulting in record levels of athlete and coach memberships, initiated a financial turnaround and spurred an upsurge in wrestling participation and medals.

Most recently, Scherr was founder and CEO of 776 Original Marketing in Colorado Springs, a company he started in 2009 to provide marketing and public relations services. Clients have included national governing bodies, international federations and other sports organizations.

Scherr has been inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame, National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Nebraska Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was NCAA Division I wrestling champion for the University of Nebraska (1984), USA Wrestling Man of the Year (1994) and a member of the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in 1986, 1988 and 1989.

Scherr graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BS degree in Business Administration in 1985 and earned an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1989.

UND Men's Hockey, DU Men's Hockey

It's official Jim Scherr to lead NCHC.

Here is the press release that was released on the NCHC's first commissioner. 

Former U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive officer Jim Scherr has been selected as the first commissioner of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which will house Colorado College starting in the 2013-14 season and will be based in Colorado Springs.

North Dakota athletic director Brian Faison will introduce Scherr during a Wednesday morning news conference at the Penrose House, a person with knowledge of the hire told The Gazette. The person requested anonymity because an official announcement has not yet been made by the NCHC. Scherr did not return phone and email messages. [Gazette.com]

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NCHC to hire Jim Scherr

Kevin Pates posted this in his twitter feed today. Kevin Pates and Brad Schlossman have been on the fore front of getting us the information on the formation of the NCHC.

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NCHC is down to Two Finalists for Commissioner (RW77)

Kevin Pates of the Duluth News Tribune wrote a story stating that Former USA Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr is one of two finalists for the position of Commissioner of the NCHC and is considered the frontrunner.

Here is the article.

Scherr is currently a Marketing Firm founder and CEO after being CEO (interim and otherwise) of the US Olympic Committee from 2003-2009 (He was on the staff since 2000). He was a former Olympic caliber wrestler and former NCAA collegiate wrestler at University of Nebraska.

This article doesn't really go into a lot of depth regarding how Scherr's experience lines up with hockey (other than one of his partners in his marketing firm once held a similar position with USA Hockey but what does that matter?). However, taking the article at what it is worth... factoring in a little Wikipedia and Google I found a few interesting tidbits:

1. In 2009, Scherr abruptly called an Emergency Meeting and resigned. No real straightforward answer was given as to why. Hmmmmmmmm.

2. The departure was stated to be mutually decided upon but came in the wake of a power shift away from Scherr, or at least weakening his control of the USOC. Why would he depart after everyone said, including the USOC spokespeople, that Scherr was a great leader that put the USOC in a position of excellence not seen before? No one has ever gotten fired for being successful right? Something's not right here.

3. In Scherr's defense, the excuse given USA Today was that the power shift came after Scherr dared to announce a 17% downsizing of the USOC committee to meet budgetary needs.

Well, I found no correlation between Scherr and hockey and hockey administration. It seems as though he is being brought in solely because of his marketing and financial expertise. Not altogether bad... for a Chief Operating Officer or Chief Financial Officer position. But wouldn't you want someone with hockey background (at least in some capacity) to be the Commissioner? Sure, he led the USOC through 2 Winter Olympics that featured hockey, but that was a small part of a big organization not solely focused on hockey.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a commissioner's role really entails in a hockey conference. Maybe this is truly what is needed? But it seems like they're going to hire someone who has no idea on how to run a hockey conference to run a hockey conference.

Baffling.

NCHC sending out press releases.

According to Roman Augustoviz and Shane Frederick the NCHC is already sending out  press releases two season before their first games are to begin.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Nov. 16, 2011

Two members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference will square off head-to-head this week when No. 11 Denver hosts No. 19 Nebraska Omaha in a two-game set at Magness Arena. Five other members of The National will face off in conference action as fifth-ranked Colorado College hosts Wisconsin, Miami welcomes Bowling Green, eighth-ranked Minnesota Duluth takes on Minnesota State, North Dakota travels to Bemidji State and St. Cloud State plays a home-and-home series with top-ranked Minnesota. Only Western Michigan, which played a rare Tuesday game at Notre Dame, is off. The Broncos return to action next Tuesday by hosting the Irish.

LAST WEEK’S ACTION

Seven of the eight members of The National were in action last week with only North Dakota idle. Those teams posted a record of 6-4-2 which includes one game head-to-head between Colorado College and Denver. In that game, the Pioneers built a 5-1 lead only to see the Tigers claw back to make it a 5-4 final.
In other action, Minnesota Duluth continued its surge and is now unbeaten in its last eight (6-0-2) with 5-0 and 3-1 wins over visiting Alaska Anchorage. Miami earned three of four points against Michigan with a 2-1 win and a 3-3 tie at Cady Arena. Nebraska Omaha did the same on the road, tying Bemidji State, 3-3, before closing the weekend with a 5-1 win at the Sanford Center.

St. Cloud State worked out a road split at Minnesota State. After dropping the first game, 4-2, the Huskies rebounded for a 3-2 win.

The National release then has notes on all eight teams.

The NCHC is trying to build its brand early, I guess. Still seems a little strange to me.

* Jim Scherr, CEO of a marketing firm and former CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is one of two finalists for the job as commissioner of the National, according to several sources. He lives in Colorado Springs where the NCHC will have its offices.

Roll-er-COAST-GRRRRRRRRR!!! (Redwing77)

I originally wrote this during and right after the Friday night game vs. Minnesota. I had to walk away from it these days because I thought my emotion got carried away. I did not remove too much of my passion but I did edit this and move some information around. Enjoy:

What an exciting game.

The first period featured UND coming out guns blazing... shooting blanks but guns blazing anyways. it was up and down. It was exciting. My heart was racing the entire time!

The second period was another story. We started peppering again but then Lamoreaux got rocked and off Ambroz went for contact to the head roughing. And what happened?

The worst major power play I've ever seen that DID NOT involve a short handed goal. It was AWFUL. How often do you see a major power play that has more short handed shots on goal than powerplay shots on goal? Well, this one should be video recorded and everyone should watch it to see how NOT to play on the powerplay. Dell came up big but he was the only Sioux player on the ice for those five minutes.

Powerplay suckitude

This brings me to my major gripe with UND. Their powerplay is just sad. Who is shooting the puck? No one down low. No one center ice. ONLY the point makes the shot. And you can point at Kristo all you want but when he's not on the ice, the shot STILL comes from the point. Perimeter shooting is ok when you try to mix it up and try to get down low. They didn't attempt really the entire major penalty but they did try a few times on a few minor penalties.

I love the fact that they shoot the puck, but they got to get the puck coming towards the net from all angles to enable the possibility of the goaltender getting caught guessing or leaning the wrong way. Right now, if I'm killing penalties, you can almost predict where the shot will come from and crowd the point. I believe this hurt the Sioux a number of times tonight (EDIT: And Saturday night as well).

Officiating Rears its ugly head

Can Marco Hunt be worse than Don Adam? Two phantom penalty calls in the 3rd period alone is enough to bring up this as a viable question. I wish I was at Mariucci and could speak to Lucia. If I could, I'd tell him to tell his players just to fall down when in heavy traffic while carrying the puck. That way they can spend ALL GAME on the powerplay. Hunt lets the game get out of hand and fails to see both sides of the ice... wait a minute, that's part of the Standard Operating procedure for WCHA officials. But hey. As long as each side has equal power play opportunities, no one cares right? It's interesting that, during the game on Brad's live chat (which I cannot do anymore thanks to all the lousy ads and negativity), fans were saying Shepherd was in UND's pocket. You'd think that one ref in each sides' pockets, though unethical, would have evened things out?

Sure, UND has had a few beneficial calls in this game. But I wonder how many of those Minnesota penalties were REALLY penalties? Good LORD I'm anxious for the NCHC so we can get rid of these morons. Then again, will the NCHC refs be any better?

Lackadasical Play

Has the Sioux D found Serratore yet? Have we found a goaltender to play against that isn't going to step up and play the best game of his career yet? How many excuses are we going to have before we start doing the little things well? This team is BETTER than it is playing. Sure, you have your young shooters but no one is shooting but Kristo and Knight. Nelson gets a few shots here and there but heck, I just called out the first line. Time to start really pressing.

Silver Lining? It's early in the season.

Black Lining? We're putting an awful lot of pressure on the boys the second half of the season.

By the way: GOOD GOD our powerplay is awful. Just awful. Just Just awful. You can't feel bad if you do make a mistake against the Sioux and go down a man. They'll probably just bomb it from the point or turn it over and allow your boys to get a good go at Dell.

Minnesota's Improved

I hate to say "I told you so!" but... The recruits were essentially the same during Hill's final year and the team this year is essentially the same save those recruits. What I'm trying to say is this: The only change is Guentzel. And already they're starting to look a lot like... well, the last time Minnesota looked like they did vs. us? Well, they won something in April that we haven't won since 2000. Championships aren't won in October or November so Minnesota has a long ways to go, but they've DEFINITELY improved. So much so that it would be VERY hard NOT to consider Minnesota the most drastically improved team in the WCHA... that's saying something with MTU looking like...well looking like they're actually a hockey team.

In this case, I hate being right, but really... the ONLY real difference is Guentzel and it shows just how sucktastic a coach John Hill was. This brings my new musing: If Guentzel had been hired at UAA instead of Hill when Hill was hired... would UAA still have been a joke cellar dweller that MSUM seems to have become nowadays? Something tells me that UAA might have been better than they were during the Hill years just Hill drove the talent down.

In any case, I'm still not convinced that Patterson is the best goaltender in the WCHA (as a radio commentator or reporter put it), but he did play an amazing game tonight. Also, the Gophers did something that I'm not used to seeing: backchecking. Sure, that has always been their preferred defense of choice over the physical gameplay but this time they were really effective.

The Gophers tried to raise their physicality as well but the officials made it hard for them to do so without paying the price as well as some of their younger players showed their inexperience (see Ambroz).

All in all, this wasn't a game of domination by either team. In the end, it was a game where Minnesota just played better than we did when it mattered the most.

The Sioux need to stay out of the box and, until we figure out how to play a man up, so does our opponent so we can start generating some better scoring chances. Right now, it's not working. Right now, we can't hit the net where the goaltender isn't and when we have the opportunity, we can't corral the puck long enough to shoot it in.

A very aggravating loss and perhaps the harshness of this post is fueled by it.