Congrats to UND forward Rocco Grimaldi, he scored the top goal of the week in the NCHC again this week One thing about Rocco, he has the propensity to score highlight reel goals.
Showing posts with label National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
(Video) NCHC Top 5 Goals of the Week; Rocco Grimaldi number one
Congrats to UND forward Rocco Grimaldi, he scored the top goal of the week in the NCHC again this week One thing about Rocco, he has the propensity to score highlight reel goals.
Monday, December 09, 2013
Sophomore Bryn Chyzyk suspended from team indefinitely
GRAND
FORKS, N.D. –
University of North Dakota head men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol announced today
that he has suspended sophomore forward Bryn Chyzyk indefinitely due to a
violation of team and athletics department policy.
Hakstol
also indicated that any potential reinstatement will not be revisited prior to
January 2014 and that no further comment will be provided.
Chyzyk
had appeared in 13 of UND’s 16 games this season, registering two goals and two
assists.
Bryn Chyzyk, facing a charge of theft of less than $250, has been suspended indefinitely from the team.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) December 9, 2013
Herald's Steve Lee reporting that Chyzyk ran out on a taxi bill estimated at "about $4" by the cab company owner.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) December 9, 2013
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Saturday's game between UND vs. WMU on UND Insider
Good new for UND hockey fans. This weekends games will between UND and Western Michigan University will be on CBS Sports Network on Friday night and on the webcast on Saturday night. You can watch the game by going to this link on Saturday night.
UND Hockey: Freshman Defenseman Paul LaDue cited for noisy party
According to Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, UND freshman defenseman Paul LaDue will sit out Friday's game against the Western Michigan Bronoco's after recieving a citation for a noisy party.
LaDue out Friday
UND freshman defenseman Paul LaDue will be benched for Friday’s game against the Broncos after receiving a citation for a noisy party this week.
LaDue, 21, has one goal and four assists in 14 games for UND. He has not missed a game this season.
In his absence, freshman Keaton Thompson is expected to stay in the lineup. Thompson, of Devils Lake, was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference rookie of the week for his two-point weekend against St. Lawrence.
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Refreshing our memories: Hakstol the second half coach
The question UND fans want to know, will there be a second half run?
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Saturday Links: Game Day
Here's a few links for you to look at before you head to the game.
St. Lawrence Pastes North Dakota: Grand Forks, ND – The mood was very somber after last night’s non-conference... http://t.co/UNhtbvnnDt
— Inside Hockey (@insidehockey) November 30, 2013
NCHC Hockey: Breaking Down the Numbers - http://t.co/DJWfrpEkwk #RileyBarber #SamBrittain pic.twitter.com/50WrkJZGYj
— THW Hockey (@HockeyLinks) November 30, 2013
#hockey NCAA Hockey: Is it Time for Neutral Officials for Non-conference Match-ups? http://t.co/lkdHNZR0sW
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) November 27, 2013
NCHC weekend update with updated stats, standings, recaps/box scores from last night's games & more http://t.co/awmS3zGYo8 #NCHCHockey
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) November 30, 2013
Friday night rewind by @SchlossmanGF: http://t.co/KW9go1JrmM
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) November 30, 2013
Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche: Game Preview http://t.co/xMvskhoy3n
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) November 30, 2013
Douglas Cutler Wrote: - http://t.co/EhXuKTF2cB #MichiganWolverines #MinnesotaGoldenGophers #OhioStateBuckeyes ... pic.twitter.com/NP0tTo6qQz
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) November 29, 2013
"The negativity in this town ----- " "@waynenelsongf: Not a good night for UND athletics pic.twitter.com/YDLwN5Jz75”
— Tom Miller (@tommillergf) November 30, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
UND Injury Update
This weekend, when the University of North Dakota (4-6-2,
3-5-0 NCHC) plays St. Lawrence University
(7-5-2, 2-2-2 ECAC), in a two-game non-conference match-up, they will be
without the services of some key forwards, and could be playing defensemen in their place again this weekend. The move actually seemed to work last weekend against the BU Terriers.
First, there is some good
news. “(Brendan) O’Donnell should be available, he’s practiced all week,” Hakstol said.
Dave Hakstol says injured forwards Mark MacMillan, Colten St. Clair and Derek Rodwell remain unavailable this weekend.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) November 27, 2013
Andrew Panzarella will play forward again this weekend. Gage Ausmus could play either forward or D. Coaches have a decision to make there.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) November 27, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
UND ties Boston University 3-3
 |
| Seal of the University of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Last night, the University of North Dakota put a season
high 58 shots on the Boston University net, but still had to settle for a 3-3
tie. Standing in the way of a UND victory, was Terrier goalie Matt O’Connor. The sophomore goalie was nothing short of
amazing, as he stopped a career-high 55 shots. Many of his saves were of the
spectacular variety. Yes, I am cuing the hot goalie storyline.
I didn't know that was a crime?
I didn't know that was a crime?
If it wasn’t for O’Connor, the game “probably” would’ve been
very one sided, as UND attacked the BU net in waves. It was one of UND’s best
efforts of the season, as they held a 58-31 shot advantage over the Terriers.
“He’s a good goalie,” UND junior forward Stephane Pattyn said.
According to the UND SID Jayson Hadju, that’s the most
shots that UND has put on net in a game since December 30, 2000, when UND put
65 shots on the goal, to beat Princeton 4-1.
Did I mention the play of the BU goalie? So did UND’s
head coach Dave Hakstol.
“That’s the game of hockey,” Hakstol said. “Their guy (Matt
O’Connor) played well in net.”
“We played a better game tonight than we did last night,”
Hakstol said. “As usual when you come out on an eastern swing you usually run
into different challenges. Obviously, we ran into some challenges this weekend,
but we probably got better as a hockey team.”
While some will look at this weekend as a lost weekend, I
think you can look this weekend as a building block, moving forward. UND came
out last night and was on their toes for most of the game. Rocco Grimaldi was
the best player on the ice for UND. Second best player for UND was junior
forward Brendan O’Donnell, who looked really good in his return to the lineup,
after missing five games due to injury.
I think he was the difference in the game for UND. I
would imagine that UND should get Mark MacMillan back soon. Moving forward, I
wonder, if we will see the all junior line of Mark MacMillan, Michael Parks
and O’D? That line seemed to have some chemistry together before the run of bad luck and injuries took hold for UND.
Stats, stats, stats
On Saturday night, UND was
one-for-seven on the power-play, and had 19 of its 31 shots on the power-play. UND
was one-for-nine (.10%) on the power-play for the weekend.
After writing an article about UND forward Rocco Grimaldi and Drake Caggiula, Grimaldi had a six game point streak snapped
last night and Caggiula was kept off of the score sheet all weekend long.
After last night’s game,
Zane Gothberg’s season numbers 2-5-2, 2.84 GAA, .906 save percentage.
After this Friday’s game,
Clarke Saunder’s season numbers 2-1-0, 3.50 GAA, save percentage .910.
This season, UND is 1-1-2 against Hockey
East this season.
Looking ahead to next weekend
With the tie the University of North Dakota is (4-6-2,
3-5-0 NCHC) and entertains ECAC opponent St Lawrence (7-5-2, 2-2-2 ECAC) at the
Ralph Engelstad Arena, in an important two game nonconference series.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
A couple of coaches have a chat
Legendary @TerrierHockey coach Jack Parker stops by to say hello to Coach Hakstol. Class act. pic.twitter.com/pwVAjmE1bh
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) November 24, 2013
A New Drinking Game for UND Hockey
New Sioux hockey drinking game... Shots for penalties instead of goals #gosioux #penaltyshots pic.twitter.com/qvUKpTzv7C
— Jodi Buchner Telken (@siouxhockeyfan) November 24, 2013
This one is actually funny. I still like the one where you take a drink in the post game press conference when head coach Dave Hakstol says, "You know."
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Ref Humor
The refs tonight.. pic.twitter.com/fgxnI65XLv
— The Hockey Gods (@HockeyGods) November 14, 2013
Funny story, last Saturday Night, @StatsOnCrack told me to meet him down by the referee's dressing room after the warm up between UND and the UMD Bulldogs. I was introduced to on-ice official Derek Shepherd. That was kind of awkward and I said, "I hope I haven't been too hard on you." Shepherd said, "Don't worry, I talk behind your back as well." He told me to keep up the good work. Apparently, the refs like the videos I post.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
UND's injury situation
With Colten St. Clair also injured, Hakstol said defenseman Gage Ausmus and Andrew Panzarella have skated on the wing at practice this week.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) November 20, 2013
Last
Saturday night, after the game against the UMD Bulldogs, UND head coach Dave
Hakstol said that he would get Mark MacMillan some time off to heal what ails
him. It was obvious to all of us that MacMillan was hurt. Hakstol said he's
suffering from an undisclosed injury and that he had no choice to play him
because of numbers. Mark will make the trip to Boston, but not play against the
BU Terriers.
Dave Hakstol says Mark MacMillan, Brendan O'Donnell will travel to BU but not play. Added that Derek Rodwell is questionable to travel.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) November 20, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
UMD Slaps UND 6-3
The University of North Dakota’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
season continues. Coming into tonight’s game the University of North Dakota had
a respectable record of 3-1-0 on Friday nights. On the flip side, the UND
hockey team has yet to win a hockey game on Saturday nights, 0-3-1 and 1-0-0 on Sunday.
Tonight, with the 6-3 loss to the University of Minnesota
Duluth Bulldogs, UND now has a 0-4-1 record on Saturday nights. Through 10
games (4-5-1 – 3-5-0 NCHC), the Green and White has yet to win a hockey game on
Saturday night. Tonight’s loss didn’t appear to sit well with UND head coach
Dave Hakstol.
“We didn’t play a complete game as we needed to,” Hakstol
said. “I thought we had to play really intelligent complete game. Little bit
low on energy. I thought…we didn’t manage obviously the last two minutes of the
first period very well after playing an excellent first period. After digging
ourselves out of that we didn’t manage the last minute of the second period
very well. That’s the difference in the game, those three, three and a half
minutes. The end of the day it’s the result that counts.”
The UND hockey team faced some adversity this week. Key
players are dealing injuries. Quite a
few players missed practice because of the flu. You also have to give credit
where credit is due, UMD played a better hockey game than UND did tonight.
“It’s been a bit of a long week,” Hakstol said. “We
didn’t cut ourselves any slack. We needed to play very intelligent and full
60-minutes tonight to give us a chance to win this game. That’s the way that I
feel. I give Duluth all of the credit in the world, they’re a good hockey team.
They made a lot of plays. I don’t think we did everything that we need to do
tonight... to give ourselves the best chance to win
this game. “
“Obviously there’s some stuff we need to work on as a
team,” North Dakota freshman defenseman Paul LaDue said. “We had a few
breakdowns and they (UMD) capitalized on them.”
In a night where some might want to look at the
negatives, there were a few positive points to build on going forward. Ladue also
scored the first goal of his UND career.
“It felt pretty good, but it would feel a lot better with
a win right now”, LaDue said. “It’s good to get it off my back and hopefully
they will keep coming.”
But another positive to take away from tonight’s game, UND
sophomore forward Bryn Chyzyk scored his first goal of the season.
“Just kind of got a loose puck off of the wall,” Chyzyk
said. “Just tried to feed it to the net – it must have hit a few sticks or
something. I don’t know, but it went in. Obviously it wasn’t enough.”
Next weekend, UND travels to Boston, Massachusetts to
play a two game nonconference series against the Boston University Terriers at Agganis
Arena.
College Hockey top 20 Strength of Schedule
Today, I took the top 20
teams for strength of schedule in NCAA for Division I college hockey. If you
look at the numbers you can see that Miami, UND, SCSU and Minnesota have played
some of the toughest schedules to date. I got these numbers from the KRACH. You
can draw your own conclusions from the numbers if you want.
UND takes bite out of Bulldogs 4-2
 |
| English: Ralph Engelstadt Arena at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. *Personally photographed by the undersigned May 8, 2007. Elcajonfarms 03:46, 3 July 2007 (UTC) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Grand Forks, ND – Coming into tonight’s game against the University of Minnesota Duluth, the University of North Dakota had lost two home games in a row and was looking to right the ship and get their first conference win at home. In the last three games at home, UND was winless and held a 0-2-1 record.
With tonight’s 4-2 win, make that 1-2-1.
So far this season, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference games have been a war. Six teams are currently separated by three points. With each game, the league standings shift and teams move up and down depending whether they win or lose.
Tonight’s game between UND and UMD is probably what the founding members’ envisioned when they first decided to embark on the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Let’s just say, the game was an exciting 60-minute dog fight. No pun intended.
“Pretty exciting hockey game I would imagine for the fans,” head coach Dave Hakstol said.
UND would jump to a 2-0 lead with goals by Rocco Grimaldi and Michael Parks. Then the momentum swing in the Bulldogs favor.
UMD would come racing back to tie the game on a couple of UND miscues in a 20-second stretch during the third period. UMD would score its first goal of the game at the 06:37 mark of the third period on a goal by forward Alex Iafallo. It appeared that UND goalie Clarke Saunders thought the ref was going to blow the whistle on the delayed penalty, but the ref didn't, and the puck ended up in back of the UND net. UMD would score again 20-seconds later on the power play with a goal by Adam Krause. Tie game 2-2.
“Everyone is human and I went oh crap for about 10 seconds,” UND goalie Clarke Saunders. “Delayed penalty, I don’t know if that’s defined as possession or not. I thought so. The puck was there and I went for it.”
On the second UND goal, initially, the goal had been waved off after referees Derek Shepherd and CJ Beaurline had reviewed the goal. Upon talking to the UND bench, the officials returned to the penalty box area and reviewed the play again and then awarded UND the goal. The replay in the press box was obvious, it was a good goal. For some reason, the second review of the goal by the officials took a long time. When head coach Dave Hakstol was asked if he had asked the refs to take another look at the goal.
“Yeah, I did,” Hakstol said. “They don’t come and ask coaches what they should do. They go and make calls on their own. I thought they did a real good job.”
UND goalie Clarke Saunders was under attack all night long and he stopped 34 of 36 shots. After the game coach Hakstol was very complimentary of his starting goaltender.
“Clarke did a real good job tonight,” Hakstol said. “I think that Clarke has been excellent his last two outings.”
Sophomore defenseman Jordan Schmaltz would get the game winner on the power play at the 10:05 mark of the third period and junior forward Stephane Pattyn would ice the game with an empty net goal at the 19:04 mark to round out the scoring for UND.
UND will go for its first conference home sweep tomorrow night 07:07 p.m. when they play the Bulldogs in game two at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. With the win UND improves to (4-4-1, 3-4-0 NCHC) on the season. UND is now tied for the lead in the NCHC, but has played three more games than Nebraska-Omaha and Saint Cloud State.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
UND Hockey: Sunday's Second Period Goals Against Nebraska-Omaha
s/t to Cory Morlock... Here's the second period goals for UND from Sunday's game against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Notice the webcast quality is pretty good.
UND Hockey a bunch of heathens because they bus to and from away games.
"Men's hockey had an exceptional year with $3,318,211.00 in ticket sales for FY12." US Dept of Ed website on North Dakota. Overnight buses?
— BurntBoats (@BurntBoats) November 12, 2013
Apparently, UND hockey is above riding a bus to and from away hockey games if you were to believe in the mindset of one Boston University Blogger. In my two plus season of covering the team, I have never heard anyone complain about riding the bus. Yeah, you can't make this up. This is coming from eastern teams that rarely travel very far for league games. The bus rides are actually faster in a lot of instances, they would have had to wait till the next morning to fly home. The bus they rode on, had beds, so they could sleep if they wanted.
The UND Athletic Budget breaks even when you look at revenues and expenses.
As you can see by the screen shots, UND athletics breaks even with their athletic department. The fact that the UND hockey program made 3,318,211.00 in ticket sales for FY12, is just part of the of the whole big picture.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Live thoughts from Omaha (RW77)
Hello everyone from the land of Corn.
Goon asked me to give my thoughts on the weekend since I went to both games and live in the great city of Omaha, NE. What I saw was a mixed bag, but I assure you (since the haters are out in force) that what I'm about to relate is PURELY my opinion and my opinion alone.
The Venue and Atmosphere
If you live in Omaha, you get to see two venues for hockey: CenturyLink for Mavs hockey and the Ralston Arena for Lancers (USHL) hockey. CenturyLink is older than Ralston Arena. CenturyLink is a better environment to watch hockey. Sure, Ralston is newer and gets you closer to the ice. One can argue that there really is no bad seat in the Ralston Arena. But go to a Lancers game and you have an arena full of cow bells and vuvuzelas and NO ONE who has them knows when to silence them! Not so at the CenturyLink. I enjoy my time at the CenturyLink Center. Great atmosphere and fun to watch hockey when you don't have endless noise flowing into your ear.
It seemed more crowded Saturday than Sunday. Unfortunately, those who didn't come on Sunday missed a far better game (even if I say that knowing UND won).
The Goaltending
I have honestly NO IDEA what got into Gothberg Saturday. No idea at all. He was BRUTAL. He reminded me of his first game as a freshman. BIG rebound cost him the first goal and the other two was so fundamentally poor hockey play that I was honestly stunned Hakstol didn't pull him. The second goal itself was one that I think even I could have stopped (and let me tell you, if I can make even ONE save facing DI players, that'd be a miracle!)! The second one was simply a loss of focus.
Saunders tonight was far better and he had to be. Why? Because, in my opinion, UND played far more careless hockey Sunday than they did Saturday. In the end, Saunders played VERY well and will certainly garner more playing time going forward. I just wish I knew what the Sam Houston State was going on with Gothberg (and I know what the haters will say. Too bad I don't care).
Massa for UNO was VERY solid and I'm surprised he didn't play on Sunday. It turns out it was bad karma because UNO's starter, Thompson, caught the Gothberg bug and gave up two horrific goals (though to be fair the second goal he gave up was simply his defense abandoning him).
Game Play
On Saturday, we looked flat, imo. We looked especially bad in the first period. I thought we looked slow, behind the play. Goon disagrees with me when I say that UNO was clearly the better team and was very solid at even strength. I truly don't believe Massa was challenged that much. To my recollection, Massa had to make two great saves and the rest of the night was largely unchallenged.
Let's face it: I noticed a LOT more defensemen leading the rush on Saturday than on Sunday and ANY time you have a Dman leading the rush into the offensive zone that, to me, speaks VOLUMES about where we are at with our attack.
As for our power play, it still sucks. IIRC, we only scored 1 goal on the powerplay all weekend.
Our Penalty Kill? Both of UNO's goals on Sunday came on the Power Play. Neither goals were weak as far as Saunders is concerned. The first was where we gave them the center of the ice below the faceoff circles and the second was where we forgot about a man (Archibald) and gave him the center ice below the faceoff circles. Imagine that. They scored on both times.
Sunday was a FAR more entertaining game. UND had to kill off 1:45 of a 5 on 3 PowerPlay after Grimaldi took a stupid penalty... I'd argue that Panzarella's penalty was also stupid. It also had what had to be the most tense final 2 minutes of the game I've witnessed in quite some time.
The Officiating
I always get a different opinion of the officiating when I view it live at the arena rather than on TV or webcast. I didn't think the officials were that bad. I'm a bit baffled as to why UNO came away with a powerplay with 1:10 left in Sunday's game. Pattyn and UNO #13 clearly deserved penalties. So did UND's second of the altercation. But I thought the other UNO participant should've gone as well.
Players that stood out or I thought would stand out:
Archibald (UNO): I think he was one of the best players for UNO on Sunday. I'm still a bit confused as to why he wasn't ejected on Saturday though. He had a ton of energy and he reminded me at times of Mike Prpich.
Grimaldi (UND): Boy, UNO fans don't like him. UNO was trying to run him all game long on Sunday and Brady (UNO) nearly took himself off the ice with an injury because of it. In the end, Grimaldi ended up being a sort of agitator... a role I didn't know Grimaldi was supposed to serve with UND.
Walters (UNO): Ok, he factored in on one of the goals on Sunday but I didn't notice him much at all this weekend.
The MacMillans (UND): Neither stood out to me.... at all.
Caggiula (UND): I liked the way he played. Drake and Rodwell impressed me with their aptness to crash the net.
Ladue (UND): I'll always be a fan of Dmen that aren't afraid to shoot the puck, especially on the PowerPlay. It started with Nick Fuher and it continues with Paul LaDue. I LOVE IT when he shoots the puck.
Overall impressions of the Sioux:
We have a ways to go. With the NCHC being like it is, though, I'm not sure how it is going to work out. I'm not sure what to expect going forward. I always hope for the best. The tools are there. How fast they mature and get into their stride is unknown. It's going to be one helluva ride. The fun times and the haters will make the season an interesting one for sure.
My player of the weekend is Drake Caggiula. He was noticeable on both games.
Goon asked me to give my thoughts on the weekend since I went to both games and live in the great city of Omaha, NE. What I saw was a mixed bag, but I assure you (since the haters are out in force) that what I'm about to relate is PURELY my opinion and my opinion alone.
The Venue and Atmosphere
If you live in Omaha, you get to see two venues for hockey: CenturyLink for Mavs hockey and the Ralston Arena for Lancers (USHL) hockey. CenturyLink is older than Ralston Arena. CenturyLink is a better environment to watch hockey. Sure, Ralston is newer and gets you closer to the ice. One can argue that there really is no bad seat in the Ralston Arena. But go to a Lancers game and you have an arena full of cow bells and vuvuzelas and NO ONE who has them knows when to silence them! Not so at the CenturyLink. I enjoy my time at the CenturyLink Center. Great atmosphere and fun to watch hockey when you don't have endless noise flowing into your ear.
It seemed more crowded Saturday than Sunday. Unfortunately, those who didn't come on Sunday missed a far better game (even if I say that knowing UND won).
The Goaltending
I have honestly NO IDEA what got into Gothberg Saturday. No idea at all. He was BRUTAL. He reminded me of his first game as a freshman. BIG rebound cost him the first goal and the other two was so fundamentally poor hockey play that I was honestly stunned Hakstol didn't pull him. The second goal itself was one that I think even I could have stopped (and let me tell you, if I can make even ONE save facing DI players, that'd be a miracle!)! The second one was simply a loss of focus.
Saunders tonight was far better and he had to be. Why? Because, in my opinion, UND played far more careless hockey Sunday than they did Saturday. In the end, Saunders played VERY well and will certainly garner more playing time going forward. I just wish I knew what the Sam Houston State was going on with Gothberg (and I know what the haters will say. Too bad I don't care).
Massa for UNO was VERY solid and I'm surprised he didn't play on Sunday. It turns out it was bad karma because UNO's starter, Thompson, caught the Gothberg bug and gave up two horrific goals (though to be fair the second goal he gave up was simply his defense abandoning him).
Game Play
On Saturday, we looked flat, imo. We looked especially bad in the first period. I thought we looked slow, behind the play. Goon disagrees with me when I say that UNO was clearly the better team and was very solid at even strength. I truly don't believe Massa was challenged that much. To my recollection, Massa had to make two great saves and the rest of the night was largely unchallenged.
Let's face it: I noticed a LOT more defensemen leading the rush on Saturday than on Sunday and ANY time you have a Dman leading the rush into the offensive zone that, to me, speaks VOLUMES about where we are at with our attack.
As for our power play, it still sucks. IIRC, we only scored 1 goal on the powerplay all weekend.
Our Penalty Kill? Both of UNO's goals on Sunday came on the Power Play. Neither goals were weak as far as Saunders is concerned. The first was where we gave them the center of the ice below the faceoff circles and the second was where we forgot about a man (Archibald) and gave him the center ice below the faceoff circles. Imagine that. They scored on both times.
Sunday was a FAR more entertaining game. UND had to kill off 1:45 of a 5 on 3 PowerPlay after Grimaldi took a stupid penalty... I'd argue that Panzarella's penalty was also stupid. It also had what had to be the most tense final 2 minutes of the game I've witnessed in quite some time.
The Officiating
I always get a different opinion of the officiating when I view it live at the arena rather than on TV or webcast. I didn't think the officials were that bad. I'm a bit baffled as to why UNO came away with a powerplay with 1:10 left in Sunday's game. Pattyn and UNO #13 clearly deserved penalties. So did UND's second of the altercation. But I thought the other UNO participant should've gone as well.
Players that stood out or I thought would stand out:
Archibald (UNO): I think he was one of the best players for UNO on Sunday. I'm still a bit confused as to why he wasn't ejected on Saturday though. He had a ton of energy and he reminded me at times of Mike Prpich.
Grimaldi (UND): Boy, UNO fans don't like him. UNO was trying to run him all game long on Sunday and Brady (UNO) nearly took himself off the ice with an injury because of it. In the end, Grimaldi ended up being a sort of agitator... a role I didn't know Grimaldi was supposed to serve with UND.
Walters (UNO): Ok, he factored in on one of the goals on Sunday but I didn't notice him much at all this weekend.
The MacMillans (UND): Neither stood out to me.... at all.
Caggiula (UND): I liked the way he played. Drake and Rodwell impressed me with their aptness to crash the net.
Ladue (UND): I'll always be a fan of Dmen that aren't afraid to shoot the puck, especially on the PowerPlay. It started with Nick Fuher and it continues with Paul LaDue. I LOVE IT when he shoots the puck.
Overall impressions of the Sioux:
We have a ways to go. With the NCHC being like it is, though, I'm not sure how it is going to work out. I'm not sure what to expect going forward. I always hope for the best. The tools are there. How fast they mature and get into their stride is unknown. It's going to be one helluva ride. The fun times and the haters will make the season an interesting one for sure.
My player of the weekend is Drake Caggiula. He was noticeable on both games.
NCHC Age factor
I thought that I
would explore this age factor further. Here’s the average age of each team of
the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and the current standings.
|
NCHC Current
Standings
|
|
1 University of Nebraska-Omaha, average
age 21.9
|
|
1 Saint Cloud State
University, average age 21.9
|
|
3 Western Michigan University,
average age 21.6
|
|
Miami University, average age
21.1
|
|
5 University of Denver, average age
21.1
|
|
6 Colorado College,
average age 21.1
|
|
7 University of North Dakota,
average age, 21.2
|
|
Minnesota Duluth, average age
21.3
|
|
|
The average age of a
hockey player in the NCHC is 21.4 years old. Looking at the numbers, UND is
right there, age wise, with the rest of the teams in the NCHC. Just for comparison sake, UMN average age is 20.9.
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