Putting a spin on things... handing out lumps of coal...

This past week, the University of North Dakota Hockey team received some very good news as they got commitments from two highly touted and much desired big time recruits (Shane Gersich and Austin Poganski) from the Minnesota Golden Gophers back yard.

Some Minnesota fans seem to think that this is a serious coup d’état and very unacceptable and very even hard for them to stomach.

Yep! Being a UND fan, I must admit that I was impressed by these pickups and want to see more of them in the futre.

I also predict, that this won’t be the last time this happens either.  

 I mean seriously, why would a blue chip Minnesota hockey player want to play for the hated villains from the west in North Dakota?

That seems preposterous.

It’s not like UND has a great storied hockey history or anything like that.

I can’t figure it out… It’s not like Hakstol can coach or has ever developed any of numerous players from the University of North Dakota that made it to the next level in professional hockey.

If you’re paying attention for half a minute – I would appear that history had repeated it’s self once again and I believe that it will continue to happen.

Like my father once told me, “you can’t win them all.”

Contrary to the outhouse lawyers – UMN can’t get all of the best recruits from Minnesota – there are only so many roster spots to be given out – other schools are going to get a few of these players as well. Notre Dame’s Roster is beginning to look like who’s who from the Twin Cities Metro area.

Gasp! Some great Minnesota hockey players go to other schools. If you look at Minnesota Duluth, Saint Cloud State, Minnesota State, Wisconsin and North Dakota there are some great players on those teams from Minnesota. A fair number of these players probably played their high school hockey in the shadows of Mariucci Arena as well.

Let’s face facts, not everyone wants to play for the hometown Gophers. On the flip side of that equation; not every potential college hockey player wants to call the palace that is known as Ralph Engelstad Arena home. In coming hockey players need to find their niche where they fit in.

One might also suggest that a highly regarded high school hockey player from North Dakota could very well end up playing for the Golden Rodents as well.

 Again, I know it’s very hard to believe that anyone from the Minneapolis Metro would want to play in such a beautiful hockey rink with 12,000 screaming hockey fans. It’s almost blasphemous to suggest something like this.

When you talk to UND hockey players and ask them what it’s like to play in the Ralph, words like incredible and amazing come out of their mouths.  Add to the fact that hockey players are treated well in Grand Forks, ND doesn’t help either.

I have been reading some of the comments of the Gopher hockey fans and the Hockey pundits as they have tried to put their own spin on the recent turn of events.

“We didn’t want him.”

“His health is an issue”

“He’s too short.”

“He scored the majority of his goals against A competition and not AA.”

“I wasn't sold he was a must get at this point.”

Things just don’t play out according to script sometimes. I also don’t think that we should be all that shocked by the recent turn of events. The fact that the University of North Dakota will soon be leaving the WCHA to play in the NCHC isn’t going to have that much of an affect on recruiting.

In the end, UND is still going to be UND and that still means something.

Jack Edwards hates diving in hockey...

This one is for my buddy Redwing77, as we both hate diving and embellishment in any form of ice hockey... I agree I can't stand watching some bozo/buffoon embellish a hit or penalty and flail around on the ice and act like they have been shot to draw a penalty only to have them to return to the ice for the ensuing power play.

Let's grab some reality...

Press Enterprise

In case you have seen it, check out this post on Sioux Sports.

You must also be a Minnesota Twins fan. Consistently able to get to the playoffs, but just as consistent losing when they get there.

Another thing people should look at is Hakstol has made all these Frozen Fours, but he has only made the title game once. That shows a consistent pattern of (cough cough) not being able to win the big one.

Hakstol = Doug Woog with hair

Here is my response to a poster over on Sioux Sports, I refer to these people as the Debbie Downers or Negative Nellie’s of the World...I have no idea who this person is or do I have any thing against said person. Could be my next door neighbor for all that I know.

So you would rather have Scott Sandelin coach the Sioux than Dave Hakstol? First off Sandy isn’t ever coming back, the word on the street is that his wife hated it here in Grand Forks, ND, I have heard this numerous times so I tend to believe this.

We could start comparing numbers of the two coaches and if Sandy's team doesn't win the NCAA championship I would say that Coach Hakstol is still quite a bit better coach than Scott Sandelin, one could probably still make the argument even if his team wins it all tonight. Let’s not forget that disgruntled UMD fans were calling for this same coach’s head on a silver platter just a short time ago. There were people that wanted to run him out of town on a rail

It amazes me that the Dave Hakstol haters come on here and the minute his team loses a big game and demand that coach Hakstol fired...What is the University go to fire him for? The Fighting Sioux almost won the Triple Crown of College Hockey; they basically were on game short. There is no just cause to fire Coach Hakstol what-so-ever. The haters got all of the answers. Ok hey Hakstol haters, I have a suggestion for you; if you want Hakstol to be fired, I suggest you step up to the plate and open your wallet and buy out Hakstol’s contract, do you have 500,000.00 to a couple of million sitting around in your check book to buy him out? Unless the Fighting Sioux have a string of losing seasons and or a major ethical or criminal scandal with the program the head coach isn’t going anywhere unless; the professional ranks come calling, which is possible.

My next question is; who the hell do you want to coach this team? I would be willing to wager that no matter who was coaching this team Thursday night would have had the same result in the end. Do you think that Blais would have an answer for the way the Wolverines played? Coaches don’t put on skates and score goals and or make body checks. The Wolverines are coached by a 71 year old future college hockey hall of fame coach and his team beat the Sioux at their own game. We really need to give credit where credit is due; that was a hell of a good job exploiting all of the Fighting Sioux tendencies. If any thing we might need to applaud Red who has been coaching probably longer than many in the business have been alive.

Hey let the debate begin...

Volatility on the edge of TUC

This article was silly and probably not worth a mention but I couldn’t resist. Yep, the Pairwise Rankings are volatile and unpredictable, I think that is why the Pairwise Rankings were made to look at after all of the games have been played, to include the conference playoffs. It doesn't hurt to take a look, but they will change.

USCHO.COM --- Robert Morris’ loss Thursday night to Canisius had a big effect on North Dakota’s PairWise ranking. The Colonials dropped as a Team Under Consideration (TUC) when their RPI fell below .500 in the 5–4 defeat. That cost the Fighting Sioux two wins against TUC (causing them to lose that comparison against Denver) and a few decimal points in RPI (causing them to lose the RPI comparison vs. Boston College), moving North Dakota to fifth in the PairWise and out of an NCAA regional No. 1 seed.

Why does this matter now? Because it has implications for the final few games of the season. Robert Morris is likely to stay right around .500 in the RPI as it battles for its first AHA title. The Colonials could return as a TUC with a decent regular-season finish and a successful Atlantic Hockey playoff run.

North Dakota fans may find themselves keeping tabs on Atlantic Hockey playoff results to see whether those two wins against RoMo at the Ralph in January will help the Sioux or not.

I think that I can predict that Sioux fans probably won’t be watching Robert Morris University or the AHA playoffs. It would probably be like watching paint dry. Yeah the Fighting Sioux are on a bye week and with the loss of Robert Morris on Thursday night The Sioux did drop to 5th in the Pairwise Rankings but the next night they moved back up to second in the pairwise rankings. If you want good analysis on the Pairwise Ranking check out Jim Dahl of Sioux Sports, Jim is the PWR master.

What does it take to be a ref? (by Sioux 7)

I think I'm going to write the wcha and/or und tomorrow and ask how I become a ref, since the ncaa is NOT in charge of reffing.

This is from the ncaa.com website:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/sports+and+championship/ice+hockey/womens/playing+rules/officiating

Officials are selected, trained and assigned by conferences, institutions or local assigning authorities. The NCAA selects officials for championships only and does not certify officials. For more information, contact a conference office or institution in your area for the name of a local assigner.

I bet if I red more of the rule book tomorrow, I would be better educated than all the refs in the WCHA.

I'm not a lawyer but I have dealt with laws and legislation before. There is the "what the law reads" and how the "law is interpreted" and what the "spirit of the law" is. So, depending on how you decipher that quote from the ncaa, it can be red a couple of different ways.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining, and I am. But why did the league take the names off the refs and linesmens jersey's? Did they all enlist in the witness protection program. I know, what your thinking how can they be in that program, since it seems that they haven't witnessed anything :)

If the ncaa only selects officials for championships, why not get some pro's? You know like NHL refs or AHL refs or ECHL or why not USHL or even NAHL refs?

Also if the NCAA doesn't certify refs, shouldn't the institutions in a league have the right to assign/request officials for their games?

So who pays the refs? The ncaa, the league, the institutions, rich alumni, coaches, who?

If, I write an actual letter and not a email to UND about applying to be a ref, I wonder what would happen? (I have to send it certified mail, so they have to sign for it and can't deny that they didn't receive it.) Would they forward that to the WCHA office in Denver? Will they send me a job application. I think I will. I really want to see a wcha ref application.

Here is another angle, why doesn't each school have/select a ref and linesman? Then you can hold them responsible for their actions/calls. Think about it? For example say a UND ref is totally biased, in favor of the Sioux. After he screws a couple of teams all the other schools in the league can get together and get him thrown out. I don't think that is such a bad option. It can't be any worse than the what we have now.

Okay, I've said enough, time to get off my soap box.

Friday night going forward; strap on your helmet...

Going forward today I believe UND hiccupped a bit last night but it’s nothing to get upset or excited about, the better team is the UND Fighting Sioux and the Minnesota Golden Gophers are going to have to kill themselves to make the NCAA tourney they will also be hard pressed to make the final Five in March. There is no need for Sioux fans to get down or over excited, it is what it is. Cue the catchy sports clichés. The sky is also not falling. Let me be clear, I do not blame the officials for last night debacle and it’s not a reason the Sioux lost the game because the officials were equally horrible for both teams.

Let’s play disciplined hockey please

Last night I felt the Fighting Sioux out played the Gophers for forty minutes and unfortunately hockey games are sixty minutes long. To be successful you have to play from the drop of the opening faceoff till to the final horn. You have to play disciplined hockey, the Sioux also took some untimely, knucklehead and undisciplined, stupid penalties at inopportune times. These penalties are momentum killers, the Rodwell Penalty was weak call by the officials and killed the Sioux’s momentum when they were starting to take the game over at that point.

While I like the game Brett Hextall plays, he has a lot of offensive creativity, Hextall has to play more disciplined hockey and stop taking knuckleheaded and selfish penalties, one of his penalties in the first period lead to a power play goal.

If the Sioux want to go far in the NCAA tourney they can’t take penalties like they did last night, good teams like B.C. will bury them on the power play, the Sioux have to play under control to be sucessful. Also, the eastern refs aren’t going to call the game like the WCHA refs. The eastern refs are competent and call the game per the rule box and make no bones about calling penalties against a team all night long, they have no sense of humor for WCHA hockey. They aren't concerned about number of penalties per side. You will not see the penalties even out at six to six by the end of the game.

Buffoon's in stripes

Now on to the refs, the WCHA continues to be a gong show of stupidity, nepotism and Buffoonery every single week. They have no credibility anymore and it’s amazing that the NCAA even invites our officials to the NCAA tourney. The on ice officials were brutal in all three zones of the ice missing calls both ways and they are culpable for the mess that happened at the end of the second period.

Lines man not good either

The lines men were also brutal last night and missed four instances where the Gophers had seven players on the ice for big stretches, this is unacceptable. The linesmen in last night game also missed many offsides and that can’t happen. Being that Derek Shepherd is the son of the head of official’s Greg Shepherd nothing will ever happen to this officiating crew. They were probably told that they did a great job last night by Greg Shepherd. Lol! The WCHA got the result they wanted the Gophers stay in the hunt for home ice.

Donny Brook in Grand Forks

It also amazes me how the refs can allow a team to just start piling on to the ice while there is a scrum/altercation at the end of a period. Straight out of the movie Slap Shot. That was a serious blunder by the officials. Seriously folks; the Gophers players that came off the bench first should be suspended for tonight’s game, these players caused the event at the end of the second period to further escalate... That’s on the officials.

There has been a lot of discussion about the hit by Malone. In my opinion the hit by Brad Malone on Kevin Wehrs was a legal check it was correctly not called a penalty on the ice. We can debate that if you want. Also, if the Gopher hockey player wants to challenge the person that hit him, challenge him to a fight, or check him later take a number. I know fighting in college hockey is frowned upon but I am sure Malone or one of the other Sioux players would oblige. Nope! The Gophers like to jump a smaller players that wasn’t in on the act itself or wait till they have an odd man situation like two on one situation, which if the refs actually used the rule book to officiate, is considered a third man in and an automatic ejection from the game, another blunder by the ref, but who's counting. Looks like the Gopher players took lesion from former Gopher hack Brian Schack on how to jump the opposition and act like an utter thug. What they should call the Gophers is Minnesota Pansies on ice.

If the refs had done their job they would have told the players from both benches come off the bench and you’re going to sit tomorrow night. Ask former SCSU Husky Chris Hepp what happens when you leave the player’s bench. They didn’t and the scrum became an instant classic on Youtube.

Play by the "Code"

The fact that the Gophers weren’t penalized for leaving the players bench is unacceptable and needs to be reviewed by the ref. Also, Jake Hanson should have received a game disqualification for throwing punches at a guy that was lying on the ice. Seth Helgeson is really a tough guy as well, if you want to fight someone Seth, challenge them to a fight. Don’t stand there with your stick in your hand cross checking a guy that is already on the ice with a guy lying on top of him. Should be a great game tonight.

Buffoon of the week.

You really can't make this stuff up, check out what Canucks player Manny Malhotra had to say on Rypien attacking a Minnesota Wild fan in the stands at the Xcel Energy Center. For this ridiculous statement, you’re the Goon’s World Buffoon of the week. There is no reason a professional hockey player should go into the stands and assault a fan, especially for saying, 'Way to be professional.' That's unacceptable.

Fan House ---"There's boundaries that should never be crossed. We're in our area of work. We're all for the hooting and hollering and supporting your team and saying whatever is tasteful. But as soon as you cross that line and want to become physical with a player then we have to make sure we take care of ourselves. ... We have no idea of what their intentions are."

The only problem, of course, is there's no evidence that the fan became physical, or did anything to provoke Rypien's actions.