Election law may bar Sioux gear at Cass polls

You may not be able to wear your Fighting Sioux jersey to the polls in Cass county which includes polls within the city of Fargo, North Dakota.

FARGO — Cass County’s chief election official said Friday that people showing up to vote on June 12 wearing Fighting Sioux-related apparel could be asked to take it off or cover it up before being allowed to cast their vote.

Mike Montplaisir, Cass County’s auditor, said because UND’s nickname issue is on the ballot, he and some other county auditors throughout the state are advising people not to show up at the polls wearing any clothing bearing the Sioux nickname or logo.

“It’s just a fairness issue,” he said. “You can’t be campaigning at the polls.”

Sioux rope Mavericks 4-2 end first half with a sweep.

The UND Fighting Sioux are famous for their second half surges under head coach Dave Hakstol and finally end the first half of the season alone in first place in the WCHA. It will be interesting to see if they can put the rest of the league in the rear view mirror during the second half of the season. I think there is a lot of potential to even get better because I don’t think UND has played it’s best hockey so far to date, they are still making crucial mistakes that elite teams shouldn’t make.

The Sioux also need to get more of their players scoring and can't just rely on the Pony Express to get the job done. Hopefully the Fighting Sioux can get Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall back for the second half run and get them clicking on the power play again, both players have missed the last four games.

If UND can solidify their goaltending and cut down on the turnovers in the neutral and defensive zones I think they could make a run to the Frozen Four and finally get that elusive 8th national title. This team has played the best during the first half of the season during Dave Hakstol's reign.

Got away with two this weekend

I think UND played well in stretches but it wasn’t their best hockey of the season this weekend. Sweep at home and split on the road, frankly they got the sweep and that’s good, doesn’t hurt to get the breaks going your way. Personally, I don’t think MSU-M is an elite team and the Mavericks will finish somewhere in the middle to lower rung of the WCHA standings. Currently the Mavericks are tied for eighth place with 10 points. The Mavericks are a tough team that has decent speed and above average defensive corps. Kurt Davis is one of the better defenseman in the WCHA and is always a threat to score; fortunately, the Sioux were able to hold him to one point on the weekend.

Goon's three stars of the game
1.) Matt Frattin (1g-0a-1pts)
2.) Evan Trupp (1g-0a-1pts)
3.) Brad Malone (1g-0-1pts)

[Box Score for the game]

Here are some stats for the first half of the season

The Sioux are 13-5-2 to start the season, that is the best start in seven seasons under Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol. The Sioux are in first place in the WCHA with 22 points.

The Sioux have record of 7-1-0 for conference games on the road. The Sioux have a record of 8-3-1 on the road to start the season. The Sioux have a record of 5-2-1 at home. The Sioux have a non-conference record of 2-2-2 and have three more nonconference games this season.

UND Fighting Sioux have a record of 6-0-1 against unranked teams and a record of 7-5-1 against ranked teams and a record of 6-3-1 against ranked teams in the WCHA.

The Sioux have a 5-0-1 record on Olympic ice, 7-5-2 on NHL ice.

10-0-1 when scoring 4+ goals this season and the Sioux have scored 5 or more goals six times.

Sioux have a killed 87.3 % of the penalties that they have taken; tops in the WCHA.
Four of the top five scorers for the Sioux are seniors.

Aaron Dell is still leading the WCHA in GAA with a 1.94 average.

Matt Frattin is first in the Nation with 17 goals and second in the WCHA with 12 goals. Jason Zucker from DU is leading the WCHA with 13 goals.

Chay Genoway is first in the WCHA for scoring by defenseman 3g-11a-14pts

The Fighting Sioux offense is second in the WCHA scoring 3.43 goals per game.

Sioux Defense is top in the WCHA giving up 2.21 goals per game. [Click for stats]

UNO 1 Sioux 0

This is the goal in question from tonight's game, if you look at the puck carrier bringing the puck across the line his feet are over the blue line before the puck. The correct call in my opinion should be offsides. MattC over on Sioux sports has a still shot of the play. [Click to view the picture]

I am no sure I can be upset with this game, just the way the puck bounces sometimes. What can you do? The Fighting Sioux were all over UNO for 59 minutes and let their guard down for one minute, and they lost the game. Hockey is a team game, you can win a hockey game if the forwards don't put the puck in the net, the Fighting Sioux had many grade "A" chances in the slot and didn't seal the deal, that's not acceptable either.

The goalie gave the Sioux a chance to win the game, forwards have to put the pucks in the net and defensemen have to pick up the forwards with the puck slot. Other than that I think UND has played well during the first half of the season and they have played the toughest schedule to date in college hockey. The Fighting Sioux has a very favorable schedule down the stretch.