UW vs. UND Game 2

Game two tonight, UND will look to get the split tonight against the Badgers. Last night's game didn't sit well with the team's leaders.

“They outworked us, it comes down to that,” Troy Stecher said. “We talk about it every day – playing with pride – playing with heart. In the first two periods, I don’t think we had that. It was really disappointing. Obviously, coming home after being on the road for so many games and letting our fans down like that. And having a poor performance.”

“We didn’t get the start that we wanted,” junior defenseman Paul LaDue said. “The first two periods I thought we were sluggish out there. We didn’t make plays when we should have and there’s no excuse for that. We underestimated them, and they came out flying and deserved to win that game.”

UND will need a better effort tonight night if they want to avoid being swept.

UW vs. UND lines

Here's the lines for tonight's game. As you can see, freshman goalie Matej Tomek will dress for the first time.

UND vs. UW - Game two (Television Info)

UND Forward Lines

28 Stephane Pattyn (C)–27 Luke Johnson–7 Wade Murphy
9 Drake Caggiula–8 Nick Schmaltz–15 Michael Parks (A)
21 Brendan O’Donnell–13 Connor Gaarder (A)–14 Austin Poganski
29 Bryn Chyzyk–10 Johnny Simonson–17 Colten St. Clair

UND Defense Pairings

22 Andrew Panzarella–24 Jordan Schmaltz
20 Gage Ausmus–2 Troy Stecher
4 Keaton Thompson–3 Tucker Poolman

UND Goaltenders

31 Zane McIntyre
33 Cam Johnson

*According to Brad Schlossman, Paul LaDue is out with an undisclosed injury. 

Wisconsin Badgers Forward lines

16 Joseph LaBate–11 Adam Rockwood–24 Jedd Soleway
9 Morgan Zulinick–19 Cameron Hughes–12 Grant Besse
27 Matt Ustaski–13 Ryan Wagner–26 Brad Navin
23 Aidan Cavallini–8 Matt Pappe–3 Corbin McGuire

Wisconsin Badgers Defense Pairings

28 Kevin Schulze–4 Jack Dougherty
5 Chase Drake–10 Jake Linhart
25 Cullen Hurley–7 Keegan Ford

Wisconsin Badgers Goaltenders

33 Joel Rumpel

30 Landon Peterson

Television: Tonight's game is being picked up by Midconet.
Webcast: (Here's a free link to the game). 

North Dakota linechart: pic.twitter.com/vWdnkkAKU7
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) November 9, 2014

UND Hockey: Bryn Chyzyk's WWF Move?

This play got little air time on Twitter last night. I had someone ask me what I thought of the play. If you lay on the puck, before the whistle has blown, there's a good chance this is going to happen to you. In my opinion, Bryn Chyzyk is trying to dislodge the puck. The old go hard to the whistle play. Some have made the argument that the Badger player could have been given a delay of game penalty. Also, I wouldn't call this a WWF move, but I don't watch that sport either.

AndyJohnson, B5Q -- With Wisconsin center Cameron Hughes sprawled out on the ice in the corner, UND winger Bryn Chyzyk dropped two WWF style elbows to Hughes' back. After Chyzyk dropped the first one, he got back up and dropped another for good measure. Somehow the official standing four feet away didn't see anything wrong with that.

I want to be clear. The officiating this season has been absolutely brutal at times. If you don't believe me, read this blog post from another writer. The men in stripes have had some rough games. That being said, I am somewhat surprised penalty wasn't assessed on the play.

Trip Down Memory Lane: UND vs. Wisconsin

It's rivalry week. North Dakota and Wisconsin. Last time the two teams played, UND beat Wisconsin 5-2 in the semi-finals of the Midwest Regional. The Badgers won't really resemble the team UND beat last season. Wisconsin lost nine seniors and two other players who signed early.

Related articles

• A Trip Down Memory Lane: UND vs. Providence(ndgoon.blogspot.com)

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• North Dakota Beats Providence in Grand Forks(insidehockey.com)

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Midco Picks up Saturday's Game Between UND and UW

If you get Midcontinent there's some good news for you. Saturday's game between the University of North Dakota and the University of Wisconsin will be on Midco Channels 622 and 26. For those wondering, the game will not be Fox College Sports.

UND Hockey: A few Things on game day

Series history: There’s definitely a history between the two teams. Coming into this weekend, the University of North Dakota has never lost to Wisconsin during the NCAA playoffs. Historically, UND is 2-0 against the Badgers in the NCAA tournament.

First meeting: UND beat Wisconsin 5-2 during the 1982 NCAA Championship game. Second meeting: UND beat Wisconsin 3-2 in overtime in the 2008 Midwest Regional Championship game.  Andrew Kozek scored the game winning goal at the 1:47 mark of the first overtime to give UND the regional Championship.

All-time: The Badgers have an 86-65-12 record against UND. UND is 5-3-2 in the last 10 games against the Badgers. 

Here’s the video clip of the last time UND played against Wisconsin in the NCAA playoffs.

Breaking down the numbers

As most of you know, numbers mean nothing this time of year. You can throw records out the window. All of the teams that are in the NCAA tournament have a chance of winning. We found that out last season when Yale made their run through the NCAA playoffs. Yale was the last at-large bid to make the NCAA tournament. We also saw that when fourth seeded RIT knocked off number one seeded Denver 2-1 in the 2010 East regional. 

North Dakota (23-13-3) vs. Wisconsin (24-10-2)

UND didn’t play against Wisconsin this season. The two teams will resume the rivalry next season in Madison.

Common opponents (3)

Wisconsin split with the Miami RedHawks (0-2 L, 3-2W)

UND was 3-2 against the Miami RedHawks (4-2 W, 2-6 L, 3-2 W, 9-2 W, and 0-3 L)

Wisconsin swept the Colorado College Tigers (4-1 W, 4-3 W O.T.)

UND was 4-1-0 against the Colorado College Tigers (5-3 W, 3-2 W, 4-2 W, 2-3 L O.T. and 4-3 W)

Wisconsin was 2-0 against Northern Michigan (5-2 W, 2-1 W)

UND was 2-0 against Northern Michigan (3-2 W, 3-1 W)

Breaking down the Records

Wisconsin was 17-2-1 at home and 5-8-1 on the road. Neutral site 2-0. 

North Dakota was 14-7-1 at home and 8-5-2 on the road. Neutral site 1-1.

Badgers record when…

14-1-1 when they lead after one period

2-6-1 when they trail after one period

8-3-1 when tied after one period

18-0-1 when leading after two periods

2-8-1 when trailing after two periods

North Dakota’s record when…

13-1-1 when they lead after one period

5-9-0 when they trail after one period

5-3-2 when tied after one period

19-1-0 when leading after two periods

1-10-1 when trailing after two periods

 

A couple of UND hockey players garner WCHA Honors

UND Woman’s Forward JOSEFINE JAKOBSEN; WCHA CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MADISON, WI. – A pair of high-scoring forwards, Josefine Jakobsen of the University of North Dakota and Amanda Kessel of the University of Minnesota, have been named WCHA Women’s co-Offensive Players of the Week for February 6.

Jakobsen, a sophomore from Aalborg, Denmark, put together a nine-point weekend with two three-goal hat tricks to power visiting North Dakota to a two-game conference road sweep at Minnesota State. In a 4-2 victory last Friday (Feb. 1), Jakobsen scored three goals, including a shorthanded game-winner, and was the No. 1 Star of the Game. Then last Saturday (Feb. 2), she came back with six more points, including another hat trick and an assist on the game-winner, to again earn No. 1 Star of the Game honors as UND prevailed by an 8-2 count. In addition to her nine points, she had 13 shots on goal and earned a +6 plus/minus rating. In 28 games this season, Jakobsen has 36 points (14g, 22a).

Freshman netminder Gothberg garners weekly WCHA honors

Stopped 50 of 52 shots in UND’s 3-point weekend

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota freshman goaltender Zane Gothberg has been named Red Baron Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Week for his performance in last weekend’s series against Wisconsin, the league announced today.

Starting both games of a weekend series for the first time in his collegiate career, Gothberg stopped 50 of 52 shots as North Dakota claimed three of four WCHA points from the Badgers. On Friday, the Thief River Falls, Minn., native stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 1-1 overtime tie. He was perfect in the third period and overtime, when UND was outshot 10-4 and 4-0, respectively. On Saturday, Gothberg came within 6 minutes, 30 seconds, of his first career shutout and helped UND end a 5-game winless skid that was the program’s longest in a decade. He finished the night with 21 saves in a 4-1 victory.

For the weekend, Gothberg posted a miniscule 0.96 goals against average with a .962 save percentage and was named the game’s second star both nights.

In nine starts this season, Gothberg is 4-3-2 with a 2.62 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

St. Cloud State senior forward Drew LeBlanc was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, while Denver sophomore goalie Juho Olkinuora was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week.

UND (14-8-6, 9-5-6 WCHA) visits No. 14 Nebraska Omaha on Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s game will be played outdoors at TD Ameritrade Park, the home of the College World Series, in an outdoor doubleheader billed as the “Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice.”

UND’s WCHA Players of the Week

Nov. 20: Danny Kristo (Offensive)

Dec. 11:   Carter Rowney (Offensive)

Dec. 11:   Rocco Grimaldi (co-Rookie)

Dec. 18:   Corban Knight (Offensive)

Jan. 8:     Corban Knight (co-Offensive)

Feb. 5:     Zane Gothberg (Rookie)

UND vs. UW lines game one

North Dakota Forward Lines

7 Danny Kristo (A) –10 Corban Knight (A) –19 Rocco Grimaldi

16 Mark MacMillan–27 Carter Rowney (A)–15 Michael Parks
8 Dan Senkbeil–28 Stephane Pattyn– Derek Rodwell

9 Drake Caggiula –13 Connor Gaarder– 17 Colten St. Clair

North Dakota Defense Pairings

2 Andrew MacWilliam (C) – 18 Dillon Simpson

4 Derek Forbort – 24 Jordan Schmaltz

Nick Mattson – 20 Joe Gleason

North Dakota Goalies

31 Zane Gothberg

33 Clarke Saunders

35 Tate Maris

Not in the lineup: 29 Bryn Chyzyk, 22 Andrew Panzarella, 25 Mitch MacMillan, 26 Coltyn Sanderson, 21 Brendan O’Donnell

WCHA Officials: Referees: Tom Sterns (8), Matt Ulwelling (23), Linesman: Andy Carton (92), Nathan Freeman (78).

Wisconsin Badgers Forward Lines

16 Joseph LaBate–9 Mark Zengerle–25 Michael Mersch
17 Nic Kerdiles–14 Jefferson Dahl–7 Tyler Barnes
20 Ryan Little (A)–21 Brendan Woods–18 Sean Little
26 Brad Navin–12 Keegan Meuer–8 Matt Pappe

Wisconsin Badgers Defense Parings

28 Kevin Schulze–55 John Ramage

19 Jake McCabe–27 Frankie Simonelli
5 Chase Drake–24 Joe Faust

Wisconsin Badgers Goalies

30 Landon Peterson

33 Joel Rumpel

Related articles

• UND: The Weekend Ahead (2/1-2/2) (thehockeywriters.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: Week 16 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 16 (thehockeywriters.com)

UND: The Weekend Ahead (2/1-2/2)

This weekend, the University of North Dakota entertains the University of Wisconsin Badgers in a crucial two game WCHA series at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Matchup: North Dakota (13-8-5, 8-5-5 WCHA) #7 versus #19 Wisconsin (11-8-5, 8-5-5 WCHA).

Dates: February 1-2, 2013

Times: February 1: 7:37p.m. (CT); February 2: 7:07 p.m. (CT)

Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

TV: Midco Sports Network, FOX College Sports Central, DirecTV

Webcast: UNDSports.com

SERIES HISTORY: All-Time: UND trails the Wisconsin Badgers 64-86-11 (.432)
In Grand Forks, UND trails the Badgers 32-36-8 (.474), In Madison, UND trails 27-46-3 (.375), At Neutral sites, UND leads the series 5-4-0 (.556). UND holds a 4-5-1 (.450) in the last 10 games and a 4-2 record the last six games (.666) against the Wisconsin Badgers.
UND is 7-3-4 in the last 15 games it’s played at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Players to Watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Danny Kristo (15g-18a—33pts), Rocco Grimaldi (9g-11a—20pts), Mark MacMillan (8g-9a—17pts), Corbin Knight (12g-23a—35pts), Carter Rowney (6g-8a—14pts), Drake Caggiula (6g-6a—12pts). Defense:  Dillon Simpson (2g-12a—14pts), Derek Forbort (4g-8a—12pts), Joe Gleason (3g-8a—11pts) Jordan Schmaltz (1g-6a—7pts) Andrew MacWilliam (1g-5a—6pts). Goaltenders: Clarke Saunders 10-5-4, 2.34 GAA, .914 save percentage, Zane Gothberg 3-3-1, 3.11 GAA, .897 save percentage.

Wisconsin Badgers: Forwards: Michael Mersch (15g-6a—21pts), Derek Lee (3g-16a—19pts), Tyler Barnes (6g-7a—21pts), Joseph Labate (4g-6a—10pts), Nic Kerdiles (3g-7a—10pts), Defense:  Jake McCabe (2g-8a—10pts) John Ramage (4g-3a—7pts). Goalies: Landon Peterson 5—2-2, 1.83 GAA, .934 save percentage, Joel Rumpel 6-6-3, 1.85 GAA, .930 save percentage.

UND Official Web Page

Wisconsin Official Web Page

Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine...

Shot Charts for UND vs. UW 1/28/2012

s/t to @StatsOnCrack

Coach Dave Hakstol was impressed with his team’s effort after the game. What was even more impressive was that his team shut down the Badgers’ Mark Zengerle and Justin Schultz all weekend.

“They had some opportunities — they’re great players — but overall, we worked hard to try to minimize those. I thought we did a good job at that,” Hakstol said. “I thought we did a better job of that tonight than we did last night, especially with Schultz. The way he jumps up, and jumps into the play.”

Hakstol was also pleased with the series sweep of the Badgers.

“A needed result,” Hakstol said. “We knew coming in that we got to sit with this result for two weeks. We got a bye week next week, so we wanted to make sure that we put our best effort on the ice tonight, and I thought we did that top to bottom.”

“We had to grind out the first two periods again, and we came out of that with a one goal lead. I thought we played an outstanding third period, we kept our foot on the gas, we pushed pucks, we took away time and space and I don’t think we gave up a grade ‘A’ chance.”

This is what head coach Dave Hakstol had to say when he was asked about Joe Gleason.

“Joe Gleason the epitome of a great teammate.”

“Joe is a proud guy and he obviously wants to play, he was recruited here as a defenseman, and both night this weekend he played defense, he played center and he played right wing. I guess I would describe it as invaluable in a team setting. He is doing whatever the teams needs, he not just going out and doing it, but going out and doing it well.”

UND vs. UW shot charts

Looking at the shot charts from last night’s games, you can see that UND’s defense limited Wisconsin to 17 shots on net. That’s no small feat based on some of the players that they have in their lineup.

The most impressive fact of the night was that UND kept All World/WCHA defenseman Justin Schultz off of the score sheet. Schultz got "zero" points last night and that's no small feat. Schultz has been held pointless only six times in 25 games this season.

In the third period Wisconsin only had three shots on net. That's pretty good play by UND’s defense.

I think that people forget how big of a hole UND has dug it’s self out. UND started out the season going an unimpressive 3-7-1. Since the lack luster loss on November 20th, 2011 in Bemidji, Minnesota UND has gone an impressive 10-3-1.

Putting on the Foil – Friday Links

It’s Friday, so that means there is a lot of college hockey news to be read and sift through. It’s also the All Star break so there won’t be a lot of NHL news this weekend, except for the All Star game. Frankly, I find the All Star Game to be boring.

Bruce Ciskie has a nice article; Jack Connolly Marches Toward History.

Here is this weeks Through These Doors episode 12. If you watch the video you will see UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam wearing the yellow jersey, that is the jersey that they give the players that are injured.

Tyler Buckentine and Brian Halverson of USCHO have their weekly WCHA picks. And you can see from their analysis neither the Badgers nor UND are setting the world on fire.

Wisconsin (12-10-2, 7-9-2 WCHA) at No. 18 North Dakota (13-10-2, 9-9-0 WCHA)

Tyler: The Badgers have won five of six but not against any strong teams and their first road win of the year came Jan. 13 at Minnesota State. The Mavericks blanked UW the next night. Also, the Badgers’ power play is failing the past five games (2-for-14). UW’s 1-6-1 road record doesn’t look good going into Grand Forks this weekend. UND sweep

Brian: The Badgers, who swept UND in Madison in Oct. (5-3, 5-4) have won six of the last 10 meetings overall (6-3-1) and are 6-1-1 in Grand Forks since the 2005-06 season. But Wisconsin is just 1-6-1 on the road in 2011-12 with its only win coming at Minnesota State two weeks ago. Penalty killing has been a staple of success in recent weeks for both UW (82.5 percent in last 13 games) and UND (90 percent in last nine and 83.7 percent overall) but UND’S power play inefficiency lately (5.2 percent in its last five games) is alarming. I think Wisconsin finds a way to pick up a road split.

Roman Augustoviz invited Brian Halverson to be his guest prognosticator, so here are their picks for this weekend’s series between UW vs. UND at the Roman Empire.

Wisconsin (12-10-2, 7-9-2 WCHA) at No. 18 North Dakota (13-10-2, 9-9-0 WCHA)

Brian: The Badgers, who swept UND in Madison in Oct. (5-3, 5-4) have won six of the last 10 meetings overall (6-3-1) and are 6-1-1 in Grand Forks since the 2005-06 season. But Wisconsin is just 1-6-1 on the road in 2011-12 with its only win coming at Minnesota State two weeks ago. Penalty killing has been a staple of success in recent weeks for both UW (82.5 percent in last 13 games) and UND (90 percent in last nine and 83.7 percent overall) but UND'S power play inefficiency lately (5.2 percent in its last five games) is alarming. Wisconsin finds a way to pick up a road win. … SPLIT

Roman: Huge series for home ice in first round of WCHA playoffs down the road. UND is in sixth place, last spot for home ice, the Badgers are ninth, but just two points behind the team without a nickname. Badgers freshman goalie Joel Rumpel is 4-1 with a 1.01 GAA and two shutouts in his last five games. Justin Schultz has a team-leading 12 goals and could become first D-man to lead Badgers in goals for a season. … UND SWEEP

At Tradition of Excellence has his Fighting Sioux vs. Wisconsin: Notes and Links

Brad Elliott Schlossman has his Friday morning reading links up...Brad also has a nice articlea about the Knight Line. Today we also find out that the, Water bottle game turns 30 this weekend.

Inside Hockey has it’s UW and UND series notes.

Andy Baggot the beat writer for the Wisconsin Badgers has his series preview up. UW men's hockey preview: Badgers vs. No. 18 North Dakota

Bucky's 5th Quarter: Take Five With UND Beat Writer Brad Elliott Schlossman.

Mike Chambers of the Denver Post says that Ryder, Brittain have joined trip to Alaska...

UW vs. UND series notes

The University of North Dakota entertains the Wisconsin Badgers at Ralph Englestad Arena January 27-28, 2012.

Game Time: 7:37 pm Friday, 7:07 pm Saturday.

Television: UND Sports Network, MidcoSN3, FCS Central (Fri.), FCS Pacific (Sat.), DirecTV 617 (Fri.), DirecTV 623 (Sat.), FSN+, theScore (Fri. game tape delayed on Sat.).

Radio: The games can be heard at 96.1 the Fox and for Wisconsin Badger fans on 1310 WIBA AM locally in Madison or for free online at BadgerSportsNetwork.com.

Internet:  Both games at UNDSports.com.

Records and Rankings: University of North Dakota (13-10-2 overall, 9-9-0 WCHA); UND is ranked 18^th in the USCHO poll. North Dakota split with the Saint Cloud State Huskies last weekend (3-1 L, 3-2 W).  Official Release

The Wisconsin Badgers (12-10-2, 7-9-2 WCHA) posted a (4-0 W, 3-2 W) sweep over Alaska Anchorage last weekend. The Badgers are unranked in the USCHO and USA Today Polls. Official Release

Series History:  The Wisconsin Badgers lead the all-time series against UND 86-62-11 (.575). The University of North Dakota has only won three times in the last 10 games against the Wisconsin Badgers going 3-6-1. UND was swept by the Badgers (5-3 and 5-4) in Madison, Wisconsin earlier this season.

Players to Watch: 

For UND: Forwards: Danny Kristo (12g-15a—27pts), Corbin Knight (8g-16a—24pts) and Brock Nelson (17g-10a—27pts), Carter Rowney (8g-7a—15pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (5g-8a—13pts), Dillion Simpson, (0g-12a—11pts), Ben Blood (2g-9a—11pts).  Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .895 save percentage and a 2.80 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .919 save percentage and a 2.38 goals against average.

UND Injuries: Forward Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell out, defenseman Derek Forbort questionable; Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery)

For UW: Forwards: Mark Zengerle (10g-28a—38pst), Tyler Barnes (8g-12a—20pts),  Michael Mersch (8g-12—20tps). Defense: Justin Schultz (12g-25a—37pts). Goaltender: Joel Rumpel .920 save percentage and a 2.44 goals against average.

Other games in the WCHA: Saint Cloud at Minnesota (Friday), Minnesota at Saint Cloud (Saturday), Denver at Alaska Anchorage, Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State at Bemidji State. Idle Colorado College, Nebraska Omaha 

Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY.

Related articles

• The gloves are off part II - UND and UW week (mvn.com)
• UND vs. UMN series notes (mvn.com)
• The Gloves are off - UND and UMN (mvn.com)
• North Dakota vs. Minnesota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Saturday Morning Links - UND in Canada (mvn.com)
• Shot charts from UMN vs. UND game one (mvn.com)

A few things...

In case you haven't seen this video, it's the Justin Schultz Highlight video that someone posted on Youtube. Schultz is one of the best defensemen in the country and would be my pick for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award if I had a vote. Schultz would probably be playing in the NHL right now if he had decided to for-go his junior year of eligibility.

You can bet that UND will be aware of Schultz whenever he's on the ice and will probably have someone checking him at all times. Obviously, it will be hard to shut down Schultz's offensive production, but you can bet that UND will put their best players on Schultz to slow him down. 

Speaking of Justin Schultz – the Junior Defenseman from the Wisconsin Badgers was named the Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week this past week. Schultz scored (1g-4a—5pts) in helping his team beat the UAA Seawolves (4-0 W, 3-2 W) in Madison Wisconsin. Schultz is second on the Badgers in scoring with (12g-25a—37pts).

Coming into this weekend’s series the Wisconsin Badgers lead the all-time series against UND 86-62-11 (.575). UND has had some tough sledding as of late against the Badgers as they have only won three times in the last 10 games going an unimpressive 3-6-1.

It looks like this will probably be the top two forward lines for the Wisconsin Badgers and they have been together for four games; LW 16 Joseph LaBate (5g-13a—18pts)- C 9 Mark Zengerle (10g-28a—38pst) RW 7 Tyler Barnes (8g-12a—20pts) and from looking at the line sheets this appears to be the second line for the Badgers - LW 8 Matt Paape (4g-4a—8pts) - C 23 Derek Lee (4g-6a—10pts) - RW 25 Michael Mersch (8g-12—20tps)

Compare and contrast this was what the top line for UND has been most of the season; LW 29 Brock Nelson (17g-10a—27pts) - C 10 Corban Knight (8g-16a—24pts)- RW 7 Danny Kristo (12g-15a—27pts) and this was the second line last weekend LW 16 Mark MacMillan (4g-6a—10pts) - C 27 Carter Rowney (8g-7a—15pts) - RW 15 Michael Parks (4g-3a—7pts).

Who is hot for UND; freshman forward Michael Parks has points in four out of his last six games. Corbin Knight broke a five game scoreless streak by recording a (2g-1a—3 pts) in Saturday's game against Saint Cloud.

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings: 1/22/12 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - January 8 (insidehockey.com)

UND 4, UW 2 SIOOOOOUXWEEEP!!!!!

I've said before that a good team can overcome bad officiating. Today, UND proved me right. They absolutely dominated UW almost all game long.

Before I break things down, I'm going to give you my Weekend Three Stars:

Third Star: Chay Genoway (0g 3a) - Points aren't the only reason why he gets the 2nd Star. He was the icing on the cake of absolutely dominant defensive and offensive performance.

Second Star: Scott Gudbrandson - Looking back at where Gudbrandson came from (at one point he was in danger of losing his schollie at UW in a similar situation that former UW/current tUMD goaltender Aaron Crandall went through) and having watched him play last year.... Gudbrandson never has shown the capability of playing like he has this weekend. He was simply the ONLY UW player that came to play.

First Star: Aaron Dell - Almost 150 minutes of shutout time vs. UW. Can't argue with this.

Honorable Mentions: Jake Gardiner (seriously 40 minutes a game? Nuts), Derrick LaPoint (suck it haters), Corbin Knight, Jason Gregoire, Matt Frattin, and Danny Kristo

Next, to get it off my chest: UW got to see tonight just what we're complaining about when it comes to officiating... sorta.

Tonight, DShep and Hunt were consistent.... AWFUL. They managed to find every penalty UW committed all night and called most of them...some of them... it was hard to figure out their formula on which overt penalties they were going to call and which they'd let slide. At one point, Eaves whined and DShep found a way to put UND in the box. It mattered little because Craig Smith had a blackout when his brain shut down and he went berserk. Unfortunately for him (and lucky for Blood) the pesky net got in the way. Blood apparently laughed it off. UND was only really screwed over once when a sympathetic officiating crew decided to use the old version of the NHL rule about skaters in the crease to overturn Kristo's goal.

UPDATE: Ok, I watched some of the game on the Wisconsin Public Television reweb broadcast... I think that's what they called it. Anyways, I'm going to rescind what I said about Eaves convincing DShep to put UND in the box. Hennessey was wrong when he said that they invented a reason to put Trupp in the box. Trupp went to the box for Charging. It probably wasn't Charging, I'll grant TH that. However, Trupp left his skates to make the hit... to Craig Smith's head/shoulders area. This should have been a 2 minute minor for Contact to the Head- Roughing. It was definitely a penalty though. And about Craig Smith.... Seriously, I'm flabbergasted at his run of the UND net. He didn't try to check Dell. No one seems to have any clue on why in the world he did what he did. The net goes flying and ends up against the end boards upside down! What was he trying to accomplish? Dell didn't even move. He just flew by Dell and wham. Wow.

Also, saw the Kristo goal. And I'm now further enraged. That was a goal. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. Rodwell's skate was CLEARLY in the crease, but it was nowhere near Gudmandson. Gudmandson would have had to skate up and to his left to run into Rodwell's skate... Kristo's shot came from Up and Right. So yeah, in order for it to be goaltender interference, Gudbrandson would have had to skate AWAY from the incoming shot. IF that's his idea of good goaltending, then I'll take away his second star status.

The WCHA is a lot like an NHRA Top Fuel Drag Race Team (Great schools, great coaches and players, great (for the most part) fans, great facilities) whose pit crewmembers in charge of the tires cannot seem to get to the track on time and when they do, always seem a bit lazy or uninspired. So, the league's race team could beat ANYONE in the amateur ranks but they keep on having blowouts off the starting line because there's no one to ensure tire quality. How's that analogy?

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Anyways, it is strange sitting here post game, post sweep. I thought that UW series now would be a split and the series vs UMD would be the sweep. Strike that, reverse it.

UND played like the hype surrounding this team expected them to play. UW looked slow, tired, uninspired.

Frattin scored first on a shot from the point.

Kristo scored seco... no, he didn't. Rodwell stepped in the crease and Sheptard overturned it.

UW scored next on the powerplay. John Ramage scored from the point. UW would end the game with the best PP percentage: 1 for 2.

UND would then score 3 unanswered goals, two in a row by Corbin Knight and the final one by Frattin.

Schultz would pot the final goal of the game when UND actually showed laziness.

I'll post the video if there is one that shows up.