NCHC Three Things

With six teams in conference play this weekend, Duluth in non conference play, and NCHC leader,

Omaha, off, this is a big weekend for the six teams in NCHC play to gain some ground in the conference standings. So here are three things I believe will come out of this weekend.

1. North Dakota Puts Offense on Display
The final series of an entire month at home, UND looks to close out this homestand just one point behind Omaha, who sits at 29 points on the season. Last time North Dakota met Colorado College this season, Colorado Springs got a good taste of what the UND offense has with UND outscoring CC 10-3 on the weekend, including a 7-2 victory in the Saturday night game. With scoring coming equally on all four lines for UND, I'd expect them to score plenty of goals once again this weekend and take a sweep of CC into their battle in Omaha next weekend.

2. Miami Returns to Winning Ways
Miami had a rough weekend in St. Cloud in their last week of play and were swept by the Huskies. Their off week last weekend couldn't have come at a better time to regroup and refocus to finish out the stretch run strong and healthy, and with their series against Denver at home this weekend, I expect a successful weekend for the Red Hawks. One game will be close and possibly take overtime because Denver is always a tough opponent and very good this season, but Miami comes out hard Friday night and will win by more than one goal.

3. Western Michigan Continues to Roll
Since late November, the Western Michigan Broncos have been on a roll. at 7-1-2 since November 28, they have been one of the top teams in the conference and are finding success as they look to make another return trip to Minneapolis this March. With now only seven points back of third place North Dakota, this is a team who could possibly keep rolling into home ice once the NCHC playoffs start this March. There recent success will continue into St. Cloud this weekend as they take battle with the toughest sub 500 team in the country. This will be the series to watch in the NCHC this weekend.

SCSU's Jonny Brodzinski Tossed from the Game for a Legal Check (VIDEO)

This is why the St. Cloud State fans are unhappy today. Actually, they have good reason to be mad, too. SCSU power forward Jonny Brodzinski was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for Contact to the Head. No where in the video do you see the actual Contact to the Head.

Here another angle no one is talking about. Whether it's a blown call or not, Brodzinski now has a game misconduct on his record. If Brodzinski receives two game misconducts, he will be suspended for one game. With the way the refs are calling the game, you've got to be careful. I think the case of a blown call, if the refs blow the call, the game misconduct should be rescinded.

22.2 Suspensions - A player who receives three (3) game misconduct penalties in the same season (including exhibition games) shall not be permitted to play in the team’s next regular-season or tournament game against an NCAA member institution. For each additional game misconduct penalty (e.g. four, five, etc.) assessed to the same player in the same season, the

UND Splits with SCSU

The University of North Dakota hasn't had a series sweep against St. Cloud State Huskies at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center since the 1998-99 season. With Friday's 3-1 loss, UND will leave St. Cloud with that streak still intact.

On Friday night, junior forward Jonny Brodzinski was nothing short of amazing. UND had no answer for the Huskies power forward who scored (2g-1a—3pts).  With the game tied at 1-1 after two periods, Brodzinski’s scored two goals in the third period to ice the game for the Huskies. Brodzinski also broke a three-game goalless streak. For his career, Brodzinski has scored 50 goals in 92 games.

UND junior forward Drake Caggiula scored the lone goal for UND. Caggiula came into Friday's game as the NCAA point's leader, but fell to second place after RIT Tigers forward Matt Garbowsky scored (2g-2a—4pts) against the Sacred Heart Pioneers.

Over the last four seasons, UND hasn't had a lot of success against the Huskies, but they did manage to earn a series split with a 3-2 win on Saturday night.  Freshman forward Trevor Olson scored a pair of goals to pace UND.

With the win, UND improves to (9-3-1 and 4-2-0 NCHC). UND is 5-8-1 in their last 14 games against the Huskies. Next weekend, UND entertains the Nebrasak-Omaha Mavericks in an important two-game conference series.

With the loss, the Huskies drop to (5-6-1 and 2-3-1 NCHC). Next weekend, the Huskies travel to Bemidji to play the Beavers in a two-game non-conference series at the Sanford Center.

Related articles

• The Student Section: Regular Season Episode #6(hockeywilderness.com)

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• North Dakota vs. St. Cloud State, Series Preview(thehockeywriters.com)

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• North Dakota Trio Turns Heads(thehockeywriters.com)

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NCHC Awards.

Tonight, the NCHC handed out their individual awards for the leagues most outstanding players and a coach of the year. There were a couple of surprising choices and I would have chosen some others different, but hey they can't make everyone happy.

First lets start with the NCHC Player of the Year, Josh Archibald. Archibald would lead the NCHC in goals with 23 and win the league scoring title with 32 points in 24 league games. The Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick also would record two hat tricks this season, one coming against North Dakota at the Ralph in UNO's 6-3 Saturday night victory over North Dakota. Along with Player of the Year, Archibald would also be named Forward of the Year for these same reasons. It's a shame UNO will not make the NCAA tournament because Archibald would be a lot of fun to watch leading his team towards the Frozen Four in Philly come April.

Also taking home two individual awards in this inaugural NCHC season would be Nic Dowd of St. Cloud State. The senior, and LA Kings prospect, would land him the Scholar Athlete of the Year and the league's top defensive forward honors. Dowd would finish sixth in league scoring with 25 points in 24 league games played. The SCSU forward would also finish at a +12 this season and block 19 shots during conference play.

Another player with double the fun for awards this year would be Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia. He would earn himself Offensive Defenseman of the year and Defenseman of the year. He finished tied for the conference lead in goals scored by a defenseman with six and started off his season with a three game goal scoring streak. LaLeggia would finish the season with 13 points in conference play and would block 23 shots in 19 league games played out of 24 possible.

The Goalie of the Year honors went to Denver's Sam Brittain. He would lead the NCHC with an outstanding .931 save percentage and would claim two of his four shutouts in NCHC play, which would also lead all league goalies. Brittain was named goalie of the week a record six times this season and his 686 saves in league play would be an amazing 81 more saves then any other NCHC goalie would make.

This year's Rookie of the Year, and much deserving Rookie of the Year, was awarded to Colorado College defenseman Jacob Slavin. The Freshman would tie the league best in defenseman scoring with 19 points, and would rank third in all freshman scoring. He would also lead all defenseman with 14 assists, and that would also be good for second among all league freshman. A 2014 World Junior representative, Slavin would show that he is going to be a top blue liner in this conference in his next few years at CC.

Finally, the last major award was the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year. SCSU's Bob Motzko would win the award, leading St. Cloud to the very first Penrose Cup this year. The Huskies would earn 15 conference wins,six non conference wins, and were scoring just under four goals a game this season. Although the Huskies would have a slumpish run towards the end of the regular season, and get swept by Miami in the first round of playoffs, this SCSU team could very well see play in the Frozen Four once again this season, especially with the week off to rest, get healthy, and have some good practice time before the NCAA tournament begins next weekend.

Now for who missed out. The only big one in my mind that missed out is North Dakota defenseman Dillon Simpson. Simpson was a lot of peoples choice for defenseman of the year, especially since he rarely made a defensive error that would cost North Dakota. In last weekend's series, Simpson and his d partner Jordan Schmaltz would combine for 21 blocked shots in the three games. If there was anyone left out it is for sure the North Dakota senior captain.

UND vs. SCSU game notes

Image via Wikipedia

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux travel to St. Paul, Minnesota to play the St. Cloud State Huskies, in the quarterfinals of the WCHA Final Five, at the Xcel Energy Center, March 15th, 2012.

Game Time: 7:07 pm Thursday.

Television: The Red Baron WCHA Final Five games will be shown live on Fox Sports North DirecTV 668.

Radio: The games can be heard at 96.1 the Fox and or on KNSI FM 103.3/AM 1450 

AUDIO: FightingSioux.com,  WCHA.com


Records and Rankings: The University of North Dakota (22-12-3); the Fighting Sioux are ranked 12th in both National polls. The Fighting Sioux swept the Bemidji State Beavers in the first round of the WCHA playoffs (4-2 W, 4-3 W).  Official Release

Saint Cloud State University (17-16-5); the Huskies are unranked in both National polls. The Huskies  swept the Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (4-0 W, 3-1 W). Official Release

Series History:  The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux are 58-31-11 (.635) against the Saint Cloud State Huskies in the all-time series. The Fighting Sioux are also 9-2 against the Huskies in the playoffs.  The Fighting Sioux are 7-2-1 in the last 10 games against the Huskies. Huskies Goalie Mike Lee is 0-5-1 against the Fighting Sioux during his career.

Players to Watch: 

For UND: Forwards: Danny Kristo (17-23a—40pts), Corbin Knight (13g-22a—35pts) and Brock Nelson (23g-17a—40pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (6g-12a—18pts), Dillon Simpson, (2g-15a—17pts), Ben Blood (3g-15a—18pts), Joe Gleason (0g-14a—14pts), Andrew MacWilliam (2g-4a—6pts).  Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .896 save percentage and a 2.79 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .920 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against average.

UND Injuries: Taylor Dickin is out (lower body injury), Forward Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell is out (season ending surgery), Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery).

For the Huskies: Forwards: Ben Hanowski (22g-20—42pts), Jared Festler (15g-19a—34pts), Travis Novak (12g-13a—25pts). Defense: Nick Jensen (6g-26a—32pts), Andrew Prochno (5g-23a—pts), Jared Rabey (6g-8a—14pts). Goalies: Mike Lee .930 save percentage and a 2.24 goals against average. Ryan Faragher .915 save percentage and a 2.77 goals against average.

Related articles

• The Final Five is set (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Fighting Sioux Finish off the Bemidji State Beavers 4-3 (insidehockey.com)
• Sioux slip past Beavers 4-1 (insidehockey.com)
• UND vs. BSU: Series Notes (insidehockey.com)