NCHC Playoffs: Friday Morning Links

Good morning… The NCHC Playoffs Started last night between Omaha and Denver. The Mavericks went 3-for-4 on the power-play and beat the University of Denver 4-3. The Mavericks wore down Denver with their speed. I am not much of a prediction person, never have been, but I predict that this series will be over tonight. Denver found out that it was costly to take penalties against Omaha.

I did watch the NCHC's free video from the game last night's game between Nebraska-Omaha and Denver and the quality was excellent. You can click on this link to view the game you want to see.

Tonight, UND begins their playoff series against the Colorado College Tigers. Last season, the Tigers ended UND’s string of Final Five championships at three by winning in overtime of the quarterfinals.

You can vote for Drake Caggiula’s goals on the NCHC web page. Click on this link to vote.

Apparently, there was some travel issues for the NCHC to deal with after the match-ups were set last Saturday.  

Tonight’s game between Miami and Saint Cloud State is on FSN+ (652-1 DirecTV). It doesn’t violate the NCHC's exclusivity agreement  with CBSSN because the game is on a regional network. Fox College Sports was on a national network.

As of last night, there were a good number of tickets left for this weekend's series.

Links

UND Hockey: Grand Forks Cousins make an Impact in First Season with UND

 NCAA Women’s Hockey: Is It Time to Tweak the Pairwise Rankings?

Nebraska-Omaha Takes Game One Over Denver

Hobey Watch, USCHO: The locks, the near-locks and those playing for spots among the Hobey finalists

 

UND Hockey: Zane Gothberg NCHC Goaltender of the Week

UND goalie Zane Gothberg was again the NCHC's awarded the goaltender of the week, for a second time in a three-week period.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Zane Gothberg, North Dakota
Sophomore Goaltender
Thief River Falls, Minn.

Gothberg was strong in net all weekend against Western Michigan, allowing just two goals in a split with the Broncos. He posted a 1.01 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage in the series, while making 40 saves on 42 shots. On Friday, Gothberg pitched his second career shutout, both coming in his last six games, as he stopped all 18 shots in a 2-0 win, while helping kill all four WMU power plays. He was named the game’s third star for his efforts. On Saturday, the Boston Bruins prospect totaled 22 saves in a 2-1 loss while not allowing an even strength goal.  Gothberg helped UND end the weekend 7-for-8 on the penalty kill and also finished the NCHC regular season with a 2.26 GAA in conference play, which led all goaltenders. He has now claimed NCHC Goaltender of the Week three times this season.

 

UND Hockey: Finding the silver lining in a Penrose-less day

Obviously, the UND hockey team is known for its second half surges. This season’s second half surge was the fifth best of Dave Hakstol’s coaching tenure at UND. Looking at the schedule and the results, I think it’s safe to say that on November 30, 2013, this season’s second half surge commenced.

While many of us are disappointed that UND didn’t win last night. There are many things to be excited about as well. This loss didn’t sit well with the players either.

I don’t know if anyone thought this team would own an  20-11-3 record after starting the season 4-7-2. I think this team might have actually exceeded expectations.

Since November 30, 2013, UND is averaging 3.25 goals per game and giving up 2.06 goals against per game.

After the rough start, I didn’t think that they would end up in second place of the NCHC standings. Nonetheless, the loss last night is kind of disappointing. The focus of the team now turns to getting a green banner.  

I think it’s safe to say that this team transformed from a hockey team finding its way, to a team that’s a threat to win a league playoff title and an NCAA title. What happens to them, will determined in the next few weeks.  

During that time, sophomore goalie Zane Gothberg is 13-2-1 with a .935 save percentage and a 1.63 goals against average. It’s hard to believe that Gothberg started the season off with a 2-5-2 record.

Speaking of Gotberg, he won the NCHC GAA title (2.26).  He beat out he beat out Ryan Massa (2.27). He was also tied for second with Lukas Hafner from Western Michigan in save percentage (.924).

Breaking down the numbers: After Saturday night’s game, UND is now 1-9-2 (.167) in games when they score two or fewer goals.

UND is 11-0-0 when they score four or more goals.

UND is 8-10-3 when they scored three or more goals.

UND is 6-7-1 when the opponent scores first.

When UND leads after the first period, they have a 11-1-1 record.

When UND leads after the second period, they have a 15-1-0 record.

When UND is behind after two periods, they have 1-8-0 record

When the opposition leads after the first period, UND has a 6-7-1 record.

UND is 6-6-0 against Nationally Ranked Opponents.

I don’t know what to make of this stat… UND is 6-0-0 on CBSSN.

Playoff Hockey is here

NCHC first round

No. 8 Miami (12-19-3) – PWR 40 at No. 1 St. Cloud State (21-8-5) – PWR 5

No. 7 Colorado College (6-22-6) – PWR 51 at No. 2 North Dakota (20-11-3) – PWR 10

No. 6 Denver (16-14-6) – PWR 26 at No. 3 Nebraska Omaha (16-16-2) – PWR 34

No. 5 Western Michigan (17-14-5) – PWR 21 at No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth (16-14-4) – PWR  19

The NCHC Playoff bracket is set. predictions and thoughts.

Saturday Morning Pontifications: Is there a Penrose Trophy in the Future?

Since November 30, 2013, UND goalie Zane Gothberg is 13-1-1 with a .936 save percentage and 1.59 goals against average. During that same time, UND is 16-3-2. Also, senior goalie time Clarke Saunders has a 3-2-0 record during the same time. UND started the season 4-7-2, they were going nowhere fast and they were sitting in the bottom of the NCHC Standings. In looking at the turnaround,  we might be able to credit the player's only meeting in late November. When asked about the turnaround, Gothberg was quick to give credit to the coaches.

“Obviously it starts with our coaching staff,” Gothberg said. “They’ve been through the ropes. They’ve been through everything, throughout the years. And I think it just kind of came down from them.”

Gothberg continued, “Once we figured out how to play our game, each guy bought in. It was a simple mentality change. Just a little bit before Christmas break. It was kind of cool to see what happened. You know what, we’re going out and proving ourselves every night, still. Proving to ourselves, and to our team that we can be even better.”

With the win last night, UND is either going to be playing Colorado College or Miami University. It’s just a matter of with team finishes number one, and which team finishes number two. UND is 2-0-0 against C.C. and 3-1-0 against Miami. Neither team is an easy out. So, we now have the four home teams for the NCHC playoffs, UND, SCSU, UMD and UNO. We'll know exact seeding at about 10:30 p.m.

It’s hard to believe that WMU is the sixth place team in the NCHC. Based on what I have seen, they’re a pretty good hockey team. It was fun to listen to former NHL coach Andy Murray after the game.

Here’s a few statistics to chew on. After finding it hard to score goals earlier in the season, UND is the third in the NCHC for goals for with 75. First is SCSU with 83 and second is Nebraska-Omaha with 78. Defensively, UND is second with 61 goals against, Denver is first with 56.

As I mentioned earlier in the season, I thought UND was a good hockey team that was trying to find their way. Some wanted to abandon the team. Early in the season, I went to a few practices and saw some of the goings on when the team was down. It was not all fun and games around the UND locker room, I can tell you that. You could feel the tension around the UND hockey team. I asked someone if it was stretch run was on already… Their response was, oh yeah. It's on.

That being said, there’s a lot of skill on this team. There’s also a lot of team speed. This is one of the fastest UND hockey teams that I have seen in a very long time. The play starts with the “D” and they lead the breakout, out of the defensive zone, in a lot of cases. If you can, focus on players like Jordan Schmaltz, Dillon Simpson or Paul LaDue, they’re very good with the puck. I think this team gets out of the defensive zone better than last year’s team, and that team had a lot of high-end offensive talent.

The UND hockey team is transforming from being a bruising team that checks you out of the building and takes a lot of penalties, to a team that can skate with the Boston Colleges. This is no accident. UND is changing like the NHL game has.

Tonight, UND will honor four very classy seniors, defenseman Dillon Simpson, forward Mitch MacMillan, forward Derek Rodwell and goaltender Clarke Saunders. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch this week’s “Through These Doors”. There’s some very good stuff.

On my way to work this morning, Simpson was on “Hockey on Campus” and I just can’t get over the fact that Simpson isn’t even 21 years old yet. The senior defenseman came to UND as a young age of 17. There’s freshmen on this team that are older than him. Age is just a number.

Surprising result of the night: After being named NCHC Goalie of the week, Ryan Massa gave up four goals on 27 shots to the UMD Bulldogs. UMD would win the game 8-2. Tony Cameranesi and Justin Crandall paced UMD with two goals each.

UND 9th in Latest USCHO Poll

NCAA Hockey: Where's everyone going?

Worcester

1. Boston College vs. 4. Cornell
2. Quinnipiac vs. 3. Michigan

Bridgeport

1. Union vs. 4. Vermont
2. Ferris State vs. 3. Providence

Minneapolis

1. Minnesota vs. 4. Mercyhurst
2. UMass Lowell vs. 3. North Dakota

Cincinnati

1. St. Cloud State vs. 4. Northeastern
2. Wisconsin vs. 3. Notre Dame

Mike McMahon of the Mack Report had these brackets up on his blog. They're are worth taking a looking at. There seems to be a common theme emerging. Taking a look at the Worchester regional, that would be a region of death, too. All of the recent projections that I have seen have UND playing in Minnesota’s regional. This would be a region of death as well. Last week, Jayson Moy of USCHO fame had these brackets.

This week’s brackets

West Regional (St. Paul):
13 Colgate vs. 2 Minnesota
10 North Dakota vs. 6 Wisconsin

Midwest Regional (Cincinnati):
14 Michigan vs. 4 Ferris State
12 Vermont vs. 5 St. Cloud State

Northeast Regional (Worcester):
16 Mercyhurst vs. 1 Boston College
11 Cornell vs. 8 Massachusetts-Lowell

East Regional (Bridgeport):
15 Notre Dame vs. 3 Union
9 Northeastern vs. 7 Quinnipiac

Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

The race for the Penrose Cup is on.  We are down to the last two weekends of NCHC regular season play.  We know for sure Miami, CC, UMD, and DU are out of contention for the title.  The title could be decided this weekend in St. Cloud when the top two teams square off.
 

NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T-SW………Points

North Dakota……………..13-7-0-0…..…….….39
St. Cloud St……………….12-5-3-0…………...39
Nebraska-Omaha………..10-8-2-1…..………..33
Western Michigan………...9-9-2-1…….………31
Denver………………………8-9-3-2………….…29
Minnesota-Duluth………….8-10-2-2….….……28
Colorado College……….. ..6-9-5-1…….….…..24
Miami………………………..5-14-1-1….…….….17
 

NCHC Games

#20 Minnesota-Duluth @ Miami

Last weekend the Bulldogs were swept by NoDak (3-0, 6-2) in Duluth and the RedHawks split with the Huskies (4-3W, 3-0L) in Oxford.

The Bulldogs have taken some lumps the last two weekends, but they have come at the hands of the top two teams in the conference.  Miami showed a sign of life on Friday with a win, but they are still not the team everyone predicted at the beginning of this year.  The Bulldogs still have a good chance to get home ice the first round of the playoffs, so hope is not lost in Duluth.  In Oxford, hope was lost a few months ago, now they can only hope to drag down others with them.  SPLIT

 

#10 North Dakota @ #5 SCSU

Last weekend NoDak swept the Bulldogs (3-0, 6-2) in Duluth and the Huskies split with the RedHawks (4-3L, 3-0W) in Oxford.

If this was a boxing match, it would be the main event, a battle of the heavy-weights.  This series could determine the first ever NCHC regular season title.  If one team gets a sweep they will have clinched at least a share of the Penrose Cup.  A split and it comes down to the last weekend of the regular season.  Way back, the first and second of November these teams played a series in Grand Forks with SCSU sweeping 3-2 and 3-1.  The Huskies are 6-3-5 at home and NoDak is 7-4-2 on the road this season.  I see the title being up for grabs next weekend, with nothing decided in the National Hockey Center this weekend.  SPLIT

 

Colorado College @ Nebraska-Omaha

Last weekend the Tigers swept the Pioneers (3-2, 3-1) in a home and home series and the Mavericks split with the Broncos (5-1W, 5-3L) in Kalamazoo.

The Tigers are seven points behind the Mavericks in the standings and UNO is sitting in a home spot.  The Mavericks are 7-9-0 at home and the Tigers are 1-11-2 on the road this season.  This weekend is the chance the Mavericks need to lock up a home ice spot.  The Tigers are not very good on the road, and their record reflects it, and I don’t see them getting a win in Omaha.  MAVERICKS SWEEP

 

Denver @ Western Michigan

Last weekend the Pioneers were swept by the Tigers (3-2, 3-1) in a home and home series and the Broncos split with the Mavericks (5-1L, 5-3W) in Kalamazoo.

The Pioneers have had a snag, dropping four of their last five games.  The Broncos too have been skidding, having only one regulation win in their last four games.  Back in mid-November these teams played a series in Denver with the Pioneers sweeping 5-3 and 1-0.  The teams are only two points apart in the standings and the Broncos are sitting in the last home ice spot.  This could be a playoff rematch in a couple of weeks… With that last home spot on the line, this should be a good series to watch, I think each team will get a win, in the “Omelet Series”.  SPLIT

UND Hockey: Where are they now? Aaron Dell

Former UND goalie Aaron Dell was signed by the Abbotsford Heat played two games this past weekend and then was released by the Heat. You would think that Dell is going to get a shot and stick with an AHL team, eventually.

ABBOTSFORD, BC -- The Abbotsford Heat announced today that they have released goaltender Aaron Dell.

Dell, a native of Airdrie, Alberta appeared in two games over the weekend with the Heat registering a 0-1-0 record along with a 1.39 GAA and a .929 save percentage.

UND 10th in the USCHO Poll

After sweeping the UMD Bulldogs, UND moved up to 10th place in this week's USCHO Pol. I am surprised that DU, who was swept by C.C. stayed in the top 20 this week.

UND Hockey: Another Circle of Sticks and More Inner Geek

With the sweep against Minnesota Duluth, UND now has five series sweeps for the 2013-14 season. Last year, UND had three series sweeps (Holy Cross, Michigan Tech and Nebraska-Omaha).

That’s definitely an improvement. UND (18-9-3, 13-7-0 NCHC) is tied for first place in the NCHC with Saint Cloud State University. Breaking down UND’s record, they’re 11-5-1 at home and 7-4-2 on the road. With the win last night, UND clinches home ice for the NCHC playoffs. That’s the 12th season in a row that UND has qualified for home ice for the playoffs.

UND is smoking hot right now, they’re currently on a 14-2-1 (.853) run. It all started on November 29, 2013. UND had just lost 5-2 to St. Lawrence University, and owned a subpar 4-7-2 record. It was gloom and doom in the UND Nation.  After a closed door players meeting, UND would win 3-2 on Saturday night and start the current hot streak. After the Saturday night's 3-2 win against SLU, alternate captain Stephane Pattyn explained.

“Yesterday was kind of just an open floor,” Pattyn said. “Everyone talked, and gave their thoughts about what we needed to do. We had some great conversations. We definitely grew up as a team last night, and I think today’s (win) helped, too.”

Since November 30, 2013, UND has been a very good hockey team. Pattyn was right; they’ve grown up as a hockey team. During the current run, UND has scored 61 goals (3.67 GPG), and only given up 35 goals against (2.07 GA). UND has a goal differential of +26 during the hot streak. UND’s last four games have been better. The past two weekends UND has scored an eye popping 21 goals (5.25 GPG) and given up a stingy 6 goals against (1.50 GA). That’s a goal differential of +15. Talk about playing your best hockey at the end of the season.

Who’s Hot for UND

Sophomore forward Rocco Grimaldi has scored (2g-5a—7pts) his last three games.

Junior forward Michael Parks is smoking hot, and has scored (7g-10a—17pts) in the last 14 games.

Since his return from injury, junior forward Mark MacMillan has scored (5g-8a—13pts).

Senior defenseman Dillon Simpson (7g-13a—20pts) has scored 14 of his 20 points since November 30, 2013.

Sophomore defenseman Jordan Schmaltz has scored at least a point in seven of the last nine games (2g-6a—8pts).

Sophomore goalie Zane Gothberg is having a great second half. How hot is Gothberg? He’s unbeaten (10-0-1) in his last 11 games. He also owns a 1.66 GAA and a .934 save percentage. Yeah, that’s pretty good.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Another Circle of Sticks and More Inner Geek (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey: Discovering your "Inner Geek" (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Pounds Miami (insidehockey.com)
• UND vs UND: Series preview (hockeywilderness.com)
• UND Takes Bite OUt of Bulldogs (insidehockey.com)
• North Dakota Slips Past St. Lawrence (insidehockey.com)
• UND Hockey: Dynamic Duo Bright Spot for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: The Weekend in Review (thehockeywriters.com)

UND Hockey: Discovering your “Inner Geek”

Since starting the season 4-7-2, the UND hockey has been on a roll going 13-2-1 (.843%). During the streak, UND has scored 55 goals (3.44) and given up 33 goals against (2.06), that’s a goal differential of +22.

Last night Brad Schlossman tweeted: Best Records since November 30, 2014, B.C. (17-0-1), UND (13-2-1), Union (15-3-2), Minnesota (11-2-4), Wisconsin (13-5-1).

Who’s hot for UND: Rocco Grimaldi (2g-4a—6pts) last two games. In the last 11 games Mike Parks has scored (6g-8a—14pts). During the same time, Mark MacMillan has scored (5g-8a—13pts). Junior defenseman Nick Mattson (2g-3a—5pts) last four games. Freshman defenseman Keaton Thompson (3g-3a—6pts) and is leading UND in (+/-) department with 11+ in 14 games this season. Parks, Paul LaDue and Troy Stecher are second with +10.

UND balance: UND has 11 players with 10 or more points. With their next point, Stephane Pattyn (3g-6a—pts) and Stecher (1g-8a—9pts) will join the 10+ club.

Per @UNDSID: UND goalie Zane Gothberg is (10-0-1), 1.62 GAA and 933 save percentage in his last 11 starts.

UND 11th in both National Polls

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

Rk. School (1st place) Record Pts. PR
1. Boston College (49) 24-4-3 999 1
2. Minnesota (1) 21-4-5 948 2
3. Union 20-6-4 884 3
4. St. Cloud State 17-6-5 832 6
5. Quinnipiac 21-6-5 778 4
6. Ferris State 21-7-3 755 4
7. Massachusetts-Lowell 20-7-3 740 7
8. Wisconsin 17-9-2 655 8
9. Northeastern 17-10-3 563 12
10. Michigan 14-9-3 487 10
11. North Dakota 16-9-3 435 17
12. Providence 15-9-6 428 9
13. Cornell 12-7-5 411 11
14. Yale 13-8-4 336 13
15. Notre Dame 17-12-2 255 20
16. Vermont 15-11-3 205 15
17. Maine 15-10-3 175 NR
18. Denver 14-10-6 157 18
19. Colgate 14-11-5 138 19
20. Minnesota Duluth 13-11-4 112 16
Others receiving votes: Clarkson 95, Minnesota State 65, Ohio State 29, New Hampshire 6, Air Force 5, Western Michigan 4, Nebraska Omaha 2, Mercyhurst 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll    

1. Boston College (33) 24-4-3 509 1
2. Minnesota (1) 21-4-5 477 2
3. Union 20-6-4 411 3
4. St. Cloud State 17-6-5 398 6
5. Ferris State 21-7-3 360 4
6. Quinnipiac 21-6-5 356 5
7. Massachusetts-Lowell 20-7-3 309 7
8. Wisconsin 17-9-2 281 8
9. Northeastern 17-10-3 217 12
10. Michigan 14-9-3 168 11
11. North Dakota 16-9-3 144 NR
12. Providence 15-9-6 129 9
13. Cornell 12-7-5 110 10
14. Yale 13-8-4 82 13
15. Maine 15-10-3 43 NR

UND vs. UMD TV programming note

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – With the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) race going down to the wire, fans can see both games of North Dakota’s critical Feb. 21-22 series at Minnesota Duluth on live television.

Friday’s game will be broadcast live nationally on FOX Sports North Plus, which is also available on DirecTV channels 652-1 (HD) and 652 (SD) and DISH Network channels 9515 (HD) and 445 (SD).

Saturday’s game can be seen live regionally on Midco Sports Network channel 622 (HD) and 26 (SD).

Coverage from UMD’s AMSOIL Arena begins both nights at 7 p.m. Central. Tom Hansen will handle the play-by-play duties alongside former Minnesota Duluth player Judd Medak.

North Dakota will enter the series tied for second place, three points ahead of third place  Nebraska-Omaha, just three points behind league-leading St. Cloud State and five points ahead of Minnesota Duluth, which is tied for fifth place.

Note: It was originally announced earlier this month that Midco Sports Network would televise both games of the series. With FOX Sports North Plus now carrying Friday’s game, Midco Sports Network will pick up Saturday’s game only.

UND Hockey: Discovering Your Inner Geek

UND is 15-2-1 when they score three or more goals and is 0-7-2 when score two or less.

Junior forward Mark MacMillan is red hot right now, scoring (5g-6a—11pts) in his last nine games.

Mike Parks has (2g-4a—6pts) in the last three game. During the last 11 games he has scored 14 points (6g-8a—14pts).

With a (1g-1a—2pts) Last night, Mike Parks is now ranked second in “league points” in the NCHC. Parks has (8g-10a—18pts).

Since being put together three games ago, Mark MacMillan (4g-3a—7pts) – Michael Park (2g-4a—6pts) – Drake Caggiula (1g-2a—3pts)have combined for (6g-9a—15pts).

“Real American Hero’s are wearing camo, that’s not me,” Former UND forward T.J. Oshie

UND Holds on to Beat Miami 3-2

Grand Forks, ND – The University of North Dakota hockey team has been on a tear during the second half of the season. With the 3-2 win on Friday night against the Miami RedHawks, they improve their record to 11-2-1 in the last 14 games and (15-9-3, 10-7 NCHC) overall. UND is now tied with Nebraska-Omaha for second place in the NCHC with 30 points.

Junior forward Mark MacMillan has been on a hot streak for UND, the junior forward from Penticton, British Columbia, chipped in two goals and an assist to lead UND. During the last nine games, MacMillan has scored (5g-6a—11pts). When asked about his junior forward, head coach Dave Hakstol has this to say.

“He played a good hockey game,” Hakstol said. “He was moving his feet. He used his linemates well. I thought he played a good hockey game. I don’t think there was anything spectacular, but he played a real good hockey.”

Coming into the game, the UND power-play has been ice cold, and hadn’t scored a power-play goal since January, 24, 2014.  On Friday night, UND finally broke through on the power-play going 1-for-6.  After the game, coach Hakstol had this to say about UND’s struggling power-play.

“You guys are making a big deal about it, not me,’ Hakstol said. “We had a bad weekend last weekend, that’s all. You can put that behind you. We did a good job tonight. Tonight’s a new night.”

This past week, UND made some adjustments on their power-play. The coaching staff moved junior forward Stephane Pattyn to the power-play and it seemed to work.

“One of the areas where I thought we were better tonight was gaining possession in the offensive zone,” Hakstol said. “That’s one of the things that Steph Pattyn is pretty good at.  He’s a big body and a strong guy that can go to the front of the net. Maybe that’s something he can bring as well. Probably first thing is getting in and getting that initial possession.

UND’s lone power-play goal wasn’t a thing of beauty, but that didn’t seem to matter to the burly assistant captain.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it counts,” Pattyn said. “We have put a lot of work on power-play and made a couple of changes, so we’ll take it.”

Coming into the game, Clarke Saunders had been lights out on Friday nights and not so good on Saturday nights. Last night, Saunders stopped 31-of-33 shots (.939%). Even with the bad game last Saturday, Saunder’s teammates never lost confidence in their starting goalie.

“He had a good game night tonight, Hakstol said. “Especially when the game was 3-1, I thought he made two or three key saves to keep the game at 3-1. I thought he did a good job tonight.”

“Not at all, He was great all week in practice,” Pattyn said. “We have faith in him. We knew he was going come back and have a great game and if he’s in tomorrow he will do the same thing.”

With the win, the UND head coach surpassed the 250 win mark. After the game, coach Hakstol was asked about his thoughts on getting his 250th win tonight.

“I didn’t know that,” Hakstol said. “No comment. It was a good team win for us. I thought we had some good play out of all of our lines. We’ve got to get ready for a battle tomorrow.”

UND will try to push his win total to 251 when they play the second game of the two-game serious tonight at 7:00 P.M. Central at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

(Official Box Score)

Through These Doors 310 Educated Guess

Another great job by the Through These Doors crew.

Poll Monday, UND 17th

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

February 10, 2014

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Boston College	(47)	21- 4-3	997	2
2	Minnesota	( 3)	19- 4-5	917	1
3	Union		19- 6-3	889	4
4	Ferris State		20- 6-3	817	5
4	Quinnipiac		20- 5-5	817	3
6	St. Cloud State		15- 6-5	746	6
7	Massachusetts-Lowell		19- 7-3	715	7
8	Wisconsin		16- 8-2	646	12
9	Providence		15- 7-5	618	8
10	Michigan		14- 7-3	509	10
11	Cornell		12- 5-5	493	9
12	Northeastern		16- 9-3	474	11
13	Yale		12- 7-4	344	13
14	Clarkson		17-11-2	267	14
15	Vermont		15- 9-3	262	19
16	Minnesota-Duluth		13- 9-4	254	17
17	North Dakota		14- 9-3	209	16
18	Denver		13- 9-6	201	15
19	Colgate		14-11-3	105	NR
20	Notre Dame		16-12-1	92	18
Others receiving votes: Maine 64, Western Michigan 25, Minnesota State 15, Ohio State 14, Air Force 8, Nebraska-Omaha 1, New Hampshire 1.

Sunday afternoon randomness

Just for comparison sake, I thought I would take a look at a few of the top players in our league as well as a few nationally… I think sometimes we don’t give our opponents enough credit, but there’s some good players in division I college hockey.

In the NCHC, the forwards for SCSU, Miami and UNO are very good. Also, I included SLU because UND played them and split with them. That series actually started UND’s good run. I also put the players national rank next to their name.

While there’s a lot of gloom and doom today, Since UND started the season 4-7-1, UND has 10-2-1 record over the last 13 games. That’s not too bad in my opinion.

Boston College – just because

1 Johnny Gaudreau, B.C. (24g-32a—56pts)
2 Kevin Hayes, B.C. (20g-27a—47pts)
4 Bill Arnold, B.C. (11g-30a—41pts)

SLU, because UND played them

3 Greg Carey, SLU (14g-32a—46pts)
28 Matt Carey, SLU (16g-16a—32pts)
40 Jeremy Wick, (13g-15a—28pts)
51 Justin Baker, SLU (8g-19a—27pts)
51 Gavin Bayreuther, SLU (7g-20a—27pts)

Former league opponent

18 Jean-Paul Lafontaine, MSU-M (18g-18a—36pts)
20 Matt Leitner, MSU-M (9g-24a—33pts)

Next Week’s opponent

6 Riley Barber, MU (17g-19a---36pts)
7 Austin Czarnik, MU (10g-24a—34pts)
- Sean Kuraly, MU (6g-12a—18pts)

SCSU league member

37 Nic Dowd, SCSU (15g-12a—27pts)
37 Jonny Brodzinski SCSU (14g-13a—27pts)
40 David Morley, SCSU (8g-18a—26pts)
60 Kalle Kossila, SCSU (12g-13a—25pts)

UNO Mavericks
16 Josh Archibald, UNO, (21g-11a—32pts)
71 Ryan Walters, UNO (6g-18a—24pts)
71 Dominic Zombo, UNO, (13g-11a—24pts)
98 Brock Montpetit, UNO, (10g-12a—22pts)
98 Jake Guentzel, UNO, (3g-19a—22pts)

One of ours

98 Rocco Grimaldi, UND (10g-12a—22pts)

I am sure all of us are frustrated with the results this past weekend... Saturday night was an utter disappointment to the fans, the coaching staff and the players... I don't think one person in the UND locker room was satisfied with the results of that game... Hate to break it to the Hakstol haters, but Hakstol isn’t going anywhere... I would bet even money on it. Even if the UND doesn't make the playoffs, he's going back behind the bench next season.

First, Hakstol is a proven coach that has one of the best coaching records in the NCAA over the last 10-years. Also, he's got a big contract and it would take a lot of money to buy him out.

Second, UND isn't going to fire him, it’s not going to happen, unless he did something criminal. Do any of us think that's going to happen? I don’t. I think Hak is a good coach and will continue to get the job done.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota set to Battle (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCHC Hockey: Breaking Down the Numbers Half Way Point (thehockeywriters.com)

Tale of two Clarke Saunders

Coming to Saturday’s game, Clarke Saunders has been rock solid in net, posting a 2-1-0 record, with a 2.03 goals against average and a 933 save percentage. In Friday night’s game against Nebraska-Omaha, Saunders was very good, stopping 31-of-33 shots in route to a 4-2 victory.

What a difference a night makes.

In Saturday’s game against the Mavericks, Saunders gave up six goals on 35 shots (.829). On Saturday nights, Saunders is 0-2-0 with a 4.81 goals against average and a .849 save percentage. That being said, you can’t fault the goalie alone. Defensemen were flat footed and caught out of position all night long.  The power-play was a major factor in Saturday’s poor play.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Clarke Saunders Holds Off Mavericks (thehockeywriters.com)
• North Dakota Coughs up Two-Goal Lead against UNO (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: Clarkes Saunders Fills in for the Injured Zane Gothberg (thehockeywriters.com)