CC's Joe Marciano hits Minnesota's Tom Serratore from behind

Colorado College Tiger defenseman Joe Marciano received a five minute major for this cross-check on Minnesota Gopher forward Tom Serratore. I think Marciano was lucky to remain in the game and I am not sure what he was upset with. These are the kind of hits that I would like to see gone from "all" levels of hockey.

Related articles

• Tom Serratore the heart and sole of the Beavers (thehockeywriters.com)
• Gophers ruin Beavers senior night (thehockeywriters.com)

Gophers get past Beavers

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bemidji, Minnesota – This weekend, is the last time the Gophers will ever play the Bemidji State Beavers as members of the WCHA, ever.

Two summers ago, the college hockey landscape changed forever. That discussion, however, is for another day.

Next season, the Gophers will come back to play the Beavers at the Sanford Center as members of Big Ten Hockey Conference. The Beavers will remain in the new version of the WCHA.

Last weekend, the Beavers defensive style of play kept UND bottled up and gave them fits.

Fast forward to this weekend, the Beavers again were giving another team fits, this time that same tenacious fore-check was on display at the Sanford Center in Bemidji and the Beavers were getting in the Gophers shooting lanes and taking away their time and space. It was a beaut to watch as the Beavers were giving the highly touted Gophers forwards little room to roam.

Through one period of hockey, the Gophers and Beavers exchanged goals and played an evenly matched game of hockey. The Beavers outshot the Gophers 13-10 in the first period

The second period would prove to be rough sledding in the early going for the Beavers, as they had to a kill a five-on-three power play. Unfortunately, the Beavers luck would run out at the 02:21 mark of the second period as Nick Bjudstad would score his first of two goals on the power play.

The Beavers would continue to work hard and beat the Gophers to the puck and that hard work would finally pay off as the Beavers would eventually tie the score at the 18:17 mark of the second period with a goal from Beaver freshman Cory Ward. Ward’s goal was an example of what happens when you go hard to the net.

The Gophers would out shoot the Beavers in the second period 9-8.

The opportunistic Cory Ward, would score his second of the game at the 2:30 mark of the second period, to give the Beavers a momentary 3-2 lead.

Freshman Cory Ward (Las Vegas, Nevada) has been hot as of late and has points in four of his last five games (3g-3a—6pts).

“The last couple of weeks we’ve played like that, we’ve played really well,” Ward said.  “I feel like everything is coming together. Playing against teams like that we’ve stepped our game up and that’s really important going into the playoffs in our position.”

The Beavers would miss a golden opportunity go up 4-2, on a breakaway by senior forward Jordan George.  That was a key play that would come back to haunt the Beavers.

The Gophers would tie the game four minutes later with a goal by Justin Holl.

The game wouldn’t stay tied for long as the Golden Gophers would go on the power play at the 14:54 mark of the third period with untimely and bad penalty from sophomore defenseman Sam Rendle.

The Gophers would make the Beavers pay 0:31 seconds later when Nick Bjudstad would get his second power play goal of the night.

The Gophers (23-7-4, 15-7-5 WCHA) would score two third-period goals in about seven minutes and 27 seconds to lead the Gophers to a heart breaking 4-3 loss.

The Beavers (6-19-8, 5-15-7 WCHA) gave the Gophers everything they could handle and at times they were the better of the two teams, but untimely penalties by the Beavers did them in. You cannot give the Beavers power play too many chances.

Bemidji State Beavers head coach Tom Serratore on his team’s play.

“I thought we played a pretty good 60 minute game,” Serratore said. “I thought we had good possession time. I thought we went to the net well. I thought we had good scoring chances. Guys made plays. Obviously, again the thing that tough to swallow is that third period lead and you give it up.  We’ve done that too much this year.”

[Box Score]

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine... 

WCHA Power Rankings: 11/18/2012

Here’s this week’s WCHA Power Rankings. This season, I will be doing the WCHA Power Rankings with Taylor Seibel who is a contributor of College Hockey Weekly.

I think that the WCHA is very balanced this season and there is a “little” distinction between teams 6-12.

After watching the UMD Bulldogs this past weekend. I am not sold that the Bulldogs are a last place team or even an 11^th place team, in the WCHA. I am not sure anyone would be thrilled about the prospects of their favorite team having to play the Bulldogs in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs. Nothing good can come from that matchup.

I am also not ready to bury the Wisconsin Badgers in the Bottom of the WCHA standings either, let’s see how they respond once they get Nic Kerdiles (NCAA suspension) and Mark Zangerle (injury) back in the lineup.

I also think that you could swap any of the top four teams in the league as well. The Power Rankings are a snap shot of the WCHA teams on this date in the season. I think that the Denver Pioneers are “currently” the best team in the WCHA.

1. Denver University – (9-1-0, WCHA 7-1-0) – This weekend, the Denver Pioneers swept (6-5 W – 6-2 W) their cross-state rival the Colorado College Tigers. This weekend, the Pioneers entertain Yale and New Hampshire at the Magness Arena.

2. Saint Cloud State – (6-4-0, WCHA 4-2-0) – This past weekend, the Huskies are idle. This weekend, the Huskies travel to Duluth to play the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena.

3. University of North Dakota – (5-3-2, WCHA 3-1-2) – This past weekend, UND took three points (4-4 T – 4-3 O.T. W) in their series with University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Ralph Englestad Arena. This weekend, the Green and White travel to South Bend, Indiana to play the Fighting Irish in a nonconference series at Compton Family Arena.

4. Minnesota Gophers – (7-2-2, WCHA 4-2-2) – This past weekend, the Minnesota Gophers took three points (2-2 T – 3-1 W) from the Wisconsin Badgers at Marriucci Arena. This weekend, the Gophers go on “rare” nonconference road trip to play the Vermont Catamounts.

5. Nebraska Omaha – (6-3-1, WCHA 4-1-1) – This past weekend, Mavericks were off. This weekend, the Mavericks entertain the Alabama Huntsville Chargers in a nonconference series at Century Link Center.

6. Colorado College – (7-5-0, WCHA 4-2-0) – This past weekend, the Colorado College Tigers swept (5-6 L – 2-6 L) by their cross-state rivals the Denver Pioneers. This weekend, the Tigers entertain New Hampshire and Yale at the World Arena.

7. Michigan Tech – (4-6-0, WCHA 3-5-0) – This past weekend, the Huskies swept the Bemidji State Beavers at the Sandford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. This weekend, the Huskies are off.

8. Bemidji State – (2-5-1, WCHA 1-4-1) – This past weekend, the Bemidji State Beavers were swept (4-5 O.T. L – 1-2 O.T. L) by the Michigan Tech Huskies at the Sanford Center. This weekend, the Beavers entertain the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

9.  Alaska Anchorage – (2-3-3, WCHA 0-2-2) – This past weekend, the Seawolves were off. This weekend, the Seawolves travel to Bemidji to take on the Beavers at the Sanford Center.

10. Wisconsin – (1-5-2, WCHA 1-3-2) – This past weekend, the Badgers took one point (2-2 T – 1-3 L) against their arch rivals the Minnesota Gophers at Marriucci Arena. This weekend, the Badgers return home to entertain the Minnesota State Mavericks at the Kohl Center.

11. Minnesota Duluth – (2-6-1, WCHA 0-4-2) – This past weekend, the UMD Bulldogs took a single point (4-4 T – 3-4 O.T. L) against the University of North Dakota at Ralph Englestad Arena. This weekend, the Bulldogs entertain the Saint Cloud State Huskies at Amsoil Arena in the battle of the dogs.

12.   Minnesota State Mankato – (3-5-2, WCHA 1-5-0) – This past weekend, the Purple Mavericks were off. This weekend, the Mavericks travel to Madison, Wisconsin to play the Wisconsin Badgers.

Taylor Seibel’s WCHA Power Rankings

 

1. Denver – (9-1-0, 7-1-0 WCHA) – The Pioneers once again used a blistering offense to gain a WCHA sweep, beating arch-rival Colorado College 6-5 and 6-2 this weekend.  Denver leads the country in goals/game at 4.50.  If they keep that up, they’ll likely walk away with the MacNaughton this season.  DU hosts Yale and New Hampshire in non-conference play next weekend.

2. North Dakota – (5-3-2, 3-1-2 WCHA) – UND struggled against Minnesota Duluth this weekend, but managed to walk away with 3 points.  North Dakota has shown flashes of brilliance, but they have also struggled mightily at times.  UND will have to become a more consistent team if they have ideas of winning the WCHA this season.  North Dakota travels to Notre Dame in non-conference play next weekend.

3. St. Cloud State – (6-4-0, 4-2-0 WCHA) – The Huskies were off this past weekend, and maintain the #3 spot in my WCHA rankings.  SCSU is battling some injuries right now, but they have all the pieces of a championship caliber team.  The Huskies square off against Minnesota Duluth in Duluth next weekend in WCHA action.

4. Minnesota – (7-2-2, 4-2-2 WCHA) – Minnesota fans can thank Adam Wilcox for a tremendous performance this past weekend, as the Gophers took 3 points from their arch-rival Wisconsin.  Minnesota struggled on the powerplay this weekend, but looked better on 5x5 against the Badgers.  The Gophers make the trip to Hockey East foe Vermont in non-conference play next weekend.

5. Nebraska Omaha – (6-3-1, 4-1-1 WCHA) – The Mavericks had this past weekend off.  Under Coach Blais, UNO is capable of beating any team in the league.  However, they are prone to inconsistency.  How consistent they are will likely determine how high they go in the rankings.  The Mavericks take on Alabama Huntsville in Omaha next weekend in non-conference action.

6. Colorado College – (7-5-0, 4-2-0 WCHA) – The Tigers took their lumps this weekend, allowing 12 goals to Denver in getting swept this weekend, CC’s first losses in WCHA action this season.  Denver might be just that good, but CC will need to play better if they want to contend for any hardware this season.  CC takes on New Hampshire and Yale in non-conference action down in the Springs next weekend.

7. Michigan Tech – (4-6-0, 3-5-0 WCHA) – Michigan Tech used two overtime victories to get their first ever wins in Bemidji this weekend, winning 5-4 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.  The Huskies are capable of being a top-half team, but have only shown that in flashes early in the season.  Perhaps this sweep will be what this team needs to get back on track.  Tech is off next weekend.

8. Alaska Anchorage – (2-3-3, 0-2-2 WCHA) – The Seawolves jump up a spot in my rankings, thanks in large part to the bottom-half teams not performing well this weekend.  Anchorage has surprised me this season, but will need to continue their strong play if they want to contend for home ice this season.  UAA travels to Bemidji State next weekend in WCHA play.

9. Bemidji State – (2-5-1, 1-4-1 WCHA) – The Beavers were in excellent position on Friday to notch their 2^nd WCHA win and move to .500 on the season and in conference play.  Then Michigan Tech stormed back and won in overtime.  Another similar defeat on Saturday, and Bemidji finds themselves falling in the WCHA standings.  BSU hosts Anchorage next weekend in WCHA action.

10. Wisconsin – (1-5-2, 1-3-2 WCHA) – Wisconsin was able to stifle the Minnesota offensive attack this past weekend, but the Badgers still walked away from Mariucci with only 1 point.  Wisconsin was without star forward Mark Zengerle, and top recruit Nic Kerdiles.  Given that, there is still some reason for optimism in Wisconsin circles.  The Badgers host Mankato next weekend in WCHA play.

11. Minnesota Duluth – (2-6-2, 0-4-2 WCHA) – The Bulldogs played well enough against North Dakota to win both games, but were unable to convert either opportunity into wins, managing only a draw on Friday.  Duluth has a potent offense, but take way too many penalties to be a top-half squad.  Minnesota Duluth hosts in-state rival St. Cloud State in WCHA play next weekend.

12. Minnesota State – (3-5-2, 1-5-0 WCHA) – The Mavericks had last weekend off, and fall to the cellar as a result of Duluth’s performance this weekend.  Mankato is capable of contending for a top-half spot, but have struggled to play a full 60 minutes.  The Mavericks take on Wisconsin in WCHA play next weekend in Madison.

The 1st Annual Northland Hockey Academy 4-Day Skills & Drills FULL DAY CAMP

The Northland Hockey Group presents…

The 1^st Annual Northland Hockey Academy 4-Day Skills & Drills FULL DAY CAMP

June 25-28, 2012 at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota.

For boys and girls born from 1995-2005

MAIN INSTRUCTOR: Jeff Carlson and his staff

Director of Storm Hockey School (formerly Top Gun Hockey Camp since 2003, as well as other professional positions as a hockey instructor for summer camps, day camps, skills clinics and training schools since 1990.

Regional Coordinator/Instructor for Northern Edge Elite Hockey Schools since 2005.

President of Stonebriar Ice Hockey Association from 2003-2010, coaching several team from Mites thru Bantams, AA to house league levels. From 1995-2003, Head Coach/Asst Coach of several teams from Midget AA to Mite house league in New York City and Los Angeles metro areas.

GOALIE INSTRUCTOR: Scotty Buchholz

Former North Dakota All State Goalie!!!

The Academy will have a low instructor/player ratio!!!

LOCATION: SANFORD CENTER in BEMIDJI, MN (Home of the D1 Hockey Bemidji State Beavers)

Sanford Center - Bemidji

1111 Event Center Drive

Bemidji, MN 56601

INCLUDES: Many reasons to attend in 2012

12 hours of detailed on ice and 10+ hours of detailed Off-Ice instruction.

Four days of skating in the state of the art Sanford Center in Bemidji

Northland Hockey Academy Jersey

Lunch

Fun Galore

More

FEE: Low Price

Only $295 per player, Goalies are only $195 (Mail your check before June 15^th)

LIMITED: Be sure to register before June 18^th!!!

Each Camp Group is limited to 30 skaters and 4 goalies. We will have many instructors, plus goalie instructor for all On-Ice sessions.

FULL DAY CAMP: (Example only - Group 1)

8:00AM - Drop off

9:00-10:30AM – On-Ice

10:45-11:30PM – Plyometrics & Off-Ice Skills (stick handling, quick fee etc.)

11:30-12:00PM – Lunch (Provided by local vender - INCLUDED)

12:00-12:30PM – Instructional Video & Classroom Hockey Education

1:00- 2:30PM – On-Ice (Individual Skills: Stick Handling, Shooting, Passing, Checking)

2:45- 4:00PM – Plyometrics & Off-Ice Skills (stick handling, quick feet etc.)

4:00PM – Pick up

DORM STAY AVAILABLE: Need to travel we can help you out!!!

Available for only $22 per night or a tad more if you want breakfast and supper included. Lunch is provided by the Northland Hockey Academy.

HOW TO REGISTER: Register at www.northlandhockeygroup.com

HOW TO PAY: Mail a check by June 15^th so we receive it by June 18^th.

Mail to…

Northland Hockey Group

P.O. Box 490324

Blaine, Mn 55449

QUESTIONS?: Let us know.

We are confident that your child will love this camp!!!

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

What a difference a week makes. The standing show that only 4 points separate 3rd through 8th places. That is a lot of teams in the fight for home ice in the first round, which is just a month away now.


WCHA STANDINGS

Team………………………W-L-T………Points
1. Minnesota………………15-5-0…..……30
2. Minnesota-Duluth……..12-5-3….…….27
3. Colorado College ……..12-7-3………..25
4. Denver…………..………10-6-4………..23
5. North Dakota……….…...11-9-0….…….22
5. Michigan Tech………….10-8-2………..22
5. Nebraska-Omaha…….…9-7-4………..22
8. St. Cloud St……………. 9-10-3……….21
9. Bemidji State….…………7-10-3…….…17
10. Wisconsin……………..7-13-2…..…….16
11. Minnesota State………6-15-1…………13
12. Alaska-Anchorage…...4-17-1…………9


WCHA Games

#10 Colorado College @ Bemidji State
Last weekend Tigers took 3-points from the Pioneers in a home-and-home series and the Beavers took 3-points from the UNO Mavericks in Omaha.

The Tigers vaulted over their rivals from Denver in the standings. CC might be riding high after taking care of business last weekend, but they better not be looking past the Beavers. BSU have been good at home in the Sanford Center, boasting a 9-4-1 record in Bemidji. SPLIT


Nebraska-Omaha @ Michigan Tech
Last weekend the Mavericks got a point at home against the Beavers and the Huskies split with the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato.

These games will be like a playoff series, since they are in a three way tie for the last home ice spots. A pair of losses now for either one can now mean the difference in playing in front of their fans in March or going on the road. The Mavericks are 5-6-2 away from Omaha and the Huskies are 8-4-1 in Houghton this season. The Huskies have been scoring at a 4.7gpg pace since January 1st. But when you get to this time of the season and teams are desperate for points, things happen. I’m going with the home team. HUSKIES SWEEP


Minnesota State @ Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the MTU Huskies in Mankato and the Seawolves split with the Bulldogs in Anchorage.

If the Mavericks sweep this series they pretty much lock the Seawolves into last place. The flip side is if the Seawolves sweep they would be tied with MSUM for 11th place. The Seawolves should have the advantage, being at home last weekend, and MSUM having to travel, way up north. SEAWOLVES SWEEP


#2 Minnesota @ #14 Denver
Last weekend the Gophers were on a bye weekend and the Pioneers salvaged a point against their arch-rivals, the CC Tigers, in the home/away series.
Before last weekend the Pioneers still had sight of first place, now they need to fight to keep in the top half of the league, my how things can change in one weekend. The Pioneers can reel in the Gophers with a pair of wins this weekend. The Pioneers had been on a five game winning streak until last weekend. The Gophers come in winning their last 3 games and 4 out of their last 5. The Gophers offensive has not been putting up many goals as of late, so if the Pioneers can get some good goaltending and a few breaks they can get some points this weekend. SPLIT


#16 North Dakota @ #2 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend Bulldogs split with the Seawolves in Anchorage and North Dakota had bye weekend to rest.

The Bulldogs have struggle their last four games, and have slide out of first place in the WCHA. North Dakota has yet to go on their second half run that has been the norm for them the past seven years under Hakstol. UND needs points this weekend if they want to keep hold of the top half and try and secure home ice. The Bulldogs are pretty much assured of home ice at this point (barring a complete meltdown), but I’m sure they want the McNaughton Cup. SPLIT


BYE WEEK
St. Cloud State
Wisconsin

Related articles

• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - Super Bowl Sunday (insidehockey.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings (2/2/12) (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/5/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)