WCHA Tourney Time

Herald photo by John Stennes
The match-ups have been finalized and all we have left to do is play the games. I am also happy that we won't have to listen to the other leagues fans complaining about how many WCHA teams are in the mix for a NCAA tourney bid. The Fratricide begins this weekend. I predict when it is all said and done there will be 5 WCHA teams in the NCAA tourney.

#1 CC sweeps #10 UAA

This series will be over on Saturday night.
Tigers roll winning two games 6-0 and 5-2.

#2 UND vs #9 MTU

It will be interesting to see which Huskies come to Grand Forks to play the Sioux this weekend. At the beginning of the season the Huskies were picked by some to finish third in the league, so I would have to say that the Huskies play this season has been a disappointment. Prediction: Sioux in two games.

#3 DU vs #8 DU and

UMD and DU have a history, UMD ended DU's season in the 2006 WCHA playoffs. I could see the Bull Dogs ending the Pioneers WCHA playoffs once again this year. Prediction: Dog in three.

#4 MSUM vs #7 UM

The Gopher fans are already licking their lips about the prospects of playing the Mavericks; but they shouldn't be. This is not the same Mavericks team that the Golden Goofs beat earlier in the season. Prediction: Mavericks win series in three games. Gophers coach Don Lucia appeals to the league office to get the Friday night game at the WCHA Final Five anyways, saying it isn't fair that they can't play in the Final Five. Lets Go Mavs blogger faints in the arena in Makato and has to be rushed to the hospital.

#5 SCSU vs #6 UW

SCSU will end the BADgers season in three games. SCSU is playing pretty good right now and the BADgers don't have an answer for the Huskies offense. Prediction: Garrett Roe has a conniption but the Huskies still win the series in three games.

You heard it here first folks the final five is held this season without the BADgers or the Gophers; and they will still hold the game(s) regardless of whether the two big ten teams are there or not.

Monday morning Ramblings

Sioux_7 can thank Marty for emailing me this very funny picture. So what the hell, I thought I would post it on the blog. For those of us that live in Fargo and Grand Forks, area have seen the goofy commercial on local television; chips are free dinner is extra. You also gotta love Paradiso because you get your meal free on your birthday, and they let you wear that silly hat as well.

Friday

St. Cloud State @ Michigan Tech - SCSU
Minnesota @ Minnesota State-Mankato - MSU-M
Minnesota-Duluth @ Colorado College - Tigers
North Dakota @ Wisconsin - Sioux

Saturday

St. Cloud State @ Michigan Tech - Tie
Minnesota State-Mankato @ Minnesota - Gophers
Minnesota-Duluth @ Colorado College - tie
North Dakota @ Wisconsin - Badgers

Last week in my Picks I went 8-2
25-9 for the year.

What did he say?

In watching the end of the Gophers and Pioneers hockey game when Doug Woog started pontificating about how Tyler Bozak was the difference in the game with this hat trick, the score was 3-1 at the time. I thought, well yeah duh. I mean really you can't make this stuff up, it's classic Wooger... I suppose when your team is 0-4 in the WCHA and your favorite team is not playing well it probably can be a little painful to announce a game. Your right Doug Tyler Bozak had a great game, but how abou the Goaltending, Mannino was awesome or mention the lack of a game plan by the Gophers.

Over on Win Twins the SCSU and Twins Blogger gave her angle on the Gophers misfortunes.

HAH! Tweedle Dee (Frank Mazzocco) had the gall to say "Looking at the standings from the WCHA this morning, most people are probably wondering if they were printed upside down!" Umm, no, the rest of us in the WCHA are well aware that Minnesota is at the bottom with the big old goose egg, and frankly, we're laughing our ASSES off about it! :)

I have to admit that I enjoy a Gophers loss like the rest of us, in fact I think its funny to listen Frank and Doug spin each miserable painful loss. While it's fun watching the Gophers take it on the chin, I do have a hard time believing that the Gophers are as bad as their record. That being said, I do also see the Gophers losing a game to the Mavericks this weekend. Look for the refs to get the Gophers the split on Saturday night.

Anonymous

You have to love these anonymous trolls that go around on the Internet posting meaningless, hateful and spiteful drivel on other people's blogs. Of course these anonymous cowards never will put a name or a face to the bravo sierra that they post. In essence they are posting graffiti and vandalizing people's blog, simple mind give people simple thrills. Thanks to this kind of mindless juvenile behavior is the reason media blogger(s) like Mike McFeely have decided to shut the comments section of their blogs down instead of wading through meaningless moron-athons. Maybe this is the reason Gopher Blogger Hammy has never actually allowed comments on his blog.

Jean-Philippe Lamoureux wins Player of the week.

What does a guy have to do to get the player of the week award? I while I doubt that Phil Lamoureux is worried about silly things like awards, he can leave that to the fans like me, let’s take a look at the 2007-2008 addition of the goalie named Phil Lamoureux; Phil starts the season 2-0-1 stops 78/78 shots and gets snubbed for player of the week by the WCHA. How? I don’t have a clue. Maybe it’s a vast conspiracy against the Fighting Sioux?

In case anyone is keeping score, that’s the Fighting Sioux playing two top tens teams and not giving up a goal in 5 periods of hockey. Phil can’t help it that B.C.’s arena sucks and they had to cancel the game after two periods of hockey. Phil stopped many quality chances and it appeared that he couldn’t see the puck very well in holding B.C. off the board in two periods of hockey.

Let’s break this down further against B.C. and Northeastern Phil stopped may top quality chances brings home three points for the Sioux and doesn't get even a sniff.

This weeks Goon's World player of the Week: Is Jean Philippe Lamoureux from the University of North Dakota.

Goon’s Worlds picks:
UMD and DU Split
MSUM – UAA Split
UND and MTU UND 3 points
BSU and SCSU SCSU Sweep
OSU and Minnesota Minnesota Sweep.

Last week I went 9-5 in my picks.

UND plays MTU next

This week the UND Fighting Sioux play the upstart Michigan Tech Huskies and I think that anything less than 2 points for this weekend’s series is unacceptable. I would hope The Fighting Sioux goes into Houghton Michigan and plays hard, it’s time to lay down some smack on the MTU Huskies, especially after they embarrassed the Sioux last season in the REA. There is no excuse for the Sioux not coming out on fire and hitting and hustling and out working the Huskies. I am one of those people that realize that MTU is improved but I also don't believe all the hype. To take a phrase from the Fighting Sioux coach it is what it is. Sure the Huskies are a 4-7 place team in the WCHA, but UND should win against the Huskies, there is no excuse for losing. Getting swept by this team last season was unacceptable and the Sioux should have a bad taste in their mouth and should play with an edge this weekend.

PCM from Sioux sports on the Matchup this weekend.

I know MTU is better than they've been in recent years, but what have they done this season? They lost to Northern Michigan, a CCHA team picked to finish near the bottom of its conference, and had difficulty beating Lake Superior State, another CCHA team expected to finish near the bottom of the league. They swept MS-Mankato at home, a team the WCHA coaches picked to finish 9th in the league. So while I don't think the Sioux should take the Huskies for granted, I don't think we should be in great fear of them, either.

I would have to say that I agree with PCM on this one. Sure no one doubts that MTU isn't a good team, but they aren't world beaters either and they did lose to a NMU, team that is not very good this season.

Goon's Prediction Ducks in 6

Wrong Again:
First off I believe that this years Stanley Cup Playoffs have been kind of uneventfull, they are no where near as exciting as the last two Stanley Cup Finals. I also didn't do very well picking the games up to this point. First I jinxed the Buffalo Sabres by predicting they would win the Cup, as we all know that prediction came crashing down last week as the Sabres were closed out by the Senators. I also thought that the Devils were going to beat the Senators. In fact none of the teams that I wanted to win in this seasons Stanley Cup playoffs have made it as far as I thought. If I picked a team to win they lost. I picked Dallas over Vancover, the Wild over the Ducks and I predicted Buffalo over the Senators. I also predicted that there would be another UND fighting Sioux hockey player to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, wrong gong.

Ducks in 6 games

I believe the Ducks are going to win the series in 6 games. The Ducks have better goaltending Giguere is a much better goalie than Ray Emery. and I don't believe the Sens defensive pairs are as dynamic duo of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. Also look for game one to be a slug feast as I expect Chris Neil and George Paros to face off at center ice.

College Flavor to this Series

As Sioux 7 had mentioned in another post, this series will feature many players that played in the WCHA and or college hockey. This really does prove how the NCAA has come a long way in producing top players in the NHL.

Danny Heatley (Ott)- Wisconsin
Ryan Getzlaf (Ana)- St. Cloud St.
Mark Hartigan (Ana)- St. Cloud St.
Tom Preissing (Ott)-Colorado Coll.
Ryan Carter (Ana)- Mankato State
Ben Eaves (Ott) - Dirty B.C. Eagles
Mike Comrie (Ott) - Michigan
Dustin Penner (Ana)- Maine and also played hockey at Bottineau, ND.

Chelios a Classless hack?

Apparently Chris Chelios failed to shake the ducks players hands after his team lost the game and the series to the Ducks.

Doug Stolhand Weighs in on the issueChris Chelios. He plays the game rough and is a warrior on the ice, no doubt about it. I've never liked him but then again he's never played for the Ducks so why would I? He's one of those guys that you love if he's on your team but can't stand if he's not.

In 2003 the Ducks swept the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs and much was made around Orange County about Chris Chelios not going through the handshake line after the series was over. Well, I kept an eye on the man that has been playing in the NHL for longer than Corey Perry or Ryan Getzlaf have been alive and sure enough he did not go through the handshake line this year, either. I am not sure if this is something he always does regardless of opponent but it shows a lack of class. I asked some fellow media members if Chelios shakes hands after the Red Wings win a series and they said yes. That being the case I can officially say that Chris Chelios is like school in the summertime - no class.

Here is what Teemu Selanne had to say about it:

"It shows what kind of guy he is. When you have success it's easy to be the good guy but when (bad) things happen and you do that kind of stuff, like the Minnesota guys, that's...you can make your own opinion. I don't really care but I would like to say 'Have a good summer.'"

Looks like the Ducks players are still playing their first round match up against the Wild. Hey Teemu shut the hell up about the Wild Series.

LORD STANLEY'S CUP (Sioux 7)

There are only two teams remaining out of 16 that entered the playoffs, and only one can skate the cup home. Anaheim and Ottawa, are the last teams standing, and neither has ever won the stanley cup. Anaheim made it to the Finals in 2003, only to be defeated by the Devils in game 7.







The Ducks have looked great at times this playoff season, but they have also shown a few weaknesses. The goalie, Giguere will have to be play much better, if they are to claim the cup. There defense is excellent, with the speedy offensive minded Niedermeyer and the stay at home, "crush 'em if they cross the blue-line" man Pronger. Also O'Donnell and Beauchemin have also been playing solid defense. Anaheims offensive will have to put up more goals in this series if they want to win. Selanne will need to step up his game, as well have solid contributions from McDonald, Getzlaf, and Penner just to name a few.

The Ducks can ill afford to get into a slug fest with Ottawa, it would be fun to watch, but could be disasterous for the Ducks. Anaheim needs to play there game, solid defense and take there chances on offense and the power play.



They suprised me with how the disposed of Buffalo in 5-games. The Senators have to be the hottest team in playoffs and they keep getting hotter, just like the weather. Ottawa seems to be scoring almost at will, which isn't good for anybody but Ottawa. They have fire power upfront, but what has been more impressive is the play of the defense and netminder. The question is can they keep up the good work in there own end? If they can they have a good shot at the cup.

The speedy forwards of Ottawa, will have to try and avoid being crushed by Chris Pronger. If Pronger can slow down, or intimidate, the Senators forwards, it could be a long battle for time and space on the ice.

THE PREDICTION

Both teams have a number of young players on there rooster, so nerves and inexperience could become a factor in the first couple of games. However, Anaheim does have an edge with a few of there veterans, like Scott Neidermeyer, who has a few cups under his breezers with the NJ Devils.

With the way hockey ratings are going, this could be a spectacular 7 game series that only a few fans watch. (I can't believe ESPN covers poker over hockey, considering you never see them scroll poker scores across the bottom, like MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, hmmm, makes me wonder.)

NBC will be covering the Stanley Cup Finals, the only bright spot I can see from this is they are going to have Don Cherry as a guest on the show. I hope they have some of his intermission show on TV and not just a snip-it of him occassionally.

This series is going to be interesting, and should go 7 games with Lord Stanley's Cup going to Ottawa. The Senators will take the Cup back to Canada, for the first time since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens defeated the LA Kings. Call it karma, deja vu, but it gives me a feeling, Canadian team versus a team from California, different year, different teams, but same result.

ROUND 2 (Ring the Bell) - by SIOUX 7

Well the first round came to an end with Vancouver ending Dallas season with a 2-1 win last night.

Now a look at the 2nd round match-ups.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Buffalo Sabres(1) vs New York Rangers(6)
- This should be another quick series for the Sabres, they easily dispatched the Islanders in 5 games and I think they will do the same to the other New York team. Buffalo has too much depth for the Rangers to handle. Buffalo now has all their players back from various injuries through out the regular season. The only way the Ranger can hope to get past the Sabres is for Henrik Lundqvist to pitch a couple of shut-outs. In the end, the Sabres will slash-up the Rangers in 6.

New Jersey(2) vs Ottawa Senators(4)
- This should be a good tough series, they have met many times in the playoffs, so there is a bit of a rivalry here. This series will go to the goalies, if Brodeur can return to his usually stellar playoff form, i.e. the last two games against Tampa Bay, the Devils will advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series. If, Brodeur plays like he did in the first games against Tampa, the Devils will find themselves in a big hole, that they will not be able to climb back out of. Ottawa has more offensive power than the Devils and probably a little better set of defense men too. But, we all know that a goalie that can get hot in the playoffs can steal games and then steal the series. This will be another 6-game series, with the Devils vetoing the Senators bid for a Stanley Cup.


WESTERN CONFERENCE

Detroit Red Wings (1) vs San Jose Sharks(5)
- Well Detroit fans finally have some good news, they made it out of the first round for a change. This will be a much harder series for Detroit to win. San Jose has much more offense than Calgary, which will be too much for the Wings to handle over a 7 game series. Hasek is good goalie, he was a great goalie, he has just lost a move or two and the age is showing. That is why I will predict the Sharks to take a big bite out of the Wings in game 6, chomp chomp chomp, mmm tasty.

Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks(2) vs Vancouver Canucks(3)
- Vancouver ended the first round, ending Dallas' bid to try and shake that playoff gorilla off there backs, maybe next year. This too should be a good series, if the Canucks Roberto Loungo is in his world (.950 save percentage) he will be tough to beat. You could steal the old saying, "Only God saves more than Luongo." But if the Ducks find a spicket and Luongo starts to leak, the Canucks hopes could disappear faster than Goon's beer on a Saturday night. The Ducks have a well balanced team from top to bottom. They have arguably the 2 best defense men in the league with Niedemeyer and Pronger, one offensively minded the other a menace to forwards society. With all that balance, I have to go with Anaheim flying over Vancouver in 6-games.