(Video) BSU's Billett knees SCSU's Robby Jackson Share

Bemidji State University defenseman Dan Billett was assessed a five-minute major for this knee-on-knee hit on St. Cloud State forward Robby Jackson. It will be interesting to see if the WCHA suspends Billett for a game or two. Remember, it's the WCHA and they're not known for a lot of suspensions.

WCHA Introduces WCHA.TV

Today, the WCHA announced its video streaming package. What caught my eye was the price. It’s extremely expensive. Check out these prices below. Recently, the NCHC releases it's prices and the cost is about 90.00 for the season. Obviously, the NCHC has less games. The NCHC also has a decent national television package.

Season Pass ($160) – For less than $1 per game, fans receive live access to a minimum of 181 and a maximum of 185 WCHA games, including: Every WCHA league game, along with each team's non-conference home contests, the league's postseason tournament and the 2015 WCHA Final Five.

Monthly Pass ($50) – Fans can watch every available game live for 30 days from the date of purchase, up until the cutoff date of February 15, 2015.

Day Pass ($12 regular season / $15 playoffs) – Can't make it to the rink that night? Fans can watch the league's entire slate of games for any given day, with streaming beginning 10 minutes prior to face-off. Tournament Pass ($60) – Fans will be able to watch the best of the WCHA battle for the Broadmoor Trophy and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. - See more at:

Just like the NCHC hockey fans, WCHA fans will be able to watch the games where ever they are.

With WCHA.tv, fans can follow their team wherever they are. Each game will be available on multiple platforms, including traditional web browsers on PCs, tablets and mobile phones using the iOS and Android platforms. WCHA.tv includes responsive web technology, delivering an optimal viewing experience on any device.

WCHA, Must-See Non-Conference Series

Part four of a six part series that were originally posted at the Hockey Writers.

Series one: North Dakota vs. Bemidji State University Date: October 10-11, 2014.
 Game one location: Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Game two location: Sanford Center, Bemidji, Minnesota.

The Highway Two series, both teams are a short 2-hour bus trip away. Former WCHA foes BSU and UND will square off in a two-game home-and-home non-conference series. Last season, BSU lost and tied to UND (2-4 L, 1-1 T). One should expect a lot of UND fans to make the trip to the Sanford Center on Saturday night, due to the proximity of the schools.

All-time, Bemidji State is (2-26-2 .116) against North Dakota.

You can see all of the three by clicking on the links.

Big Ten Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series.

ECAC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series.

NCHC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series.

UND Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference.

2013-14 WCHA Pre-Season Media Poll

Results

Team (First-Place votes) Total Points

1. Minnesota State (22) 244

2. Ferris State (2) 218

3. Alaska 168

4. Bowling Green 149

5. Michigan Tech 144

6. Northern Michigan 137

7. Lake Superior State 117

8. Bemidji State (1) 108

9. Alaska Anchorage 54

10. Alabama Huntsville 36

Is this the list of NCHC refs?

Jupiter of GPL fame, has posted over on USCHO.COM the list of possible, future NCHC refs.

Last week, Brad Elliot Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald posted on Twitter that Brad and Derek Shepherd wouldn't be officiating games under the father's tutelage in the WCHA this season. Kind of makes sense. It’s also, kind of what many of us feared as well. I think many fans of the new NCHC wanted to see a new league free, of certain hold over officials from the old WCHA.

Originally Posted by Jupiter

Here is a more complete list of NCHC Refs.

Brian Aaron: CCHA
Todd Anderson: WCHA
CJ Beaurline: WCHA
Scott Bokal: WCHA
Dan Dreger: WCHA
Nick Krebsbach: USHL
Steve Patafie: Atlantic Hockey
Brad Shepherd: WCHA
Derek Shepherd: WCHA
Tom Sterns: WCHA
Joe Sullivan: USHL
Andy Theissen: WHL
Brian Thul: WCHA
Tim Walsh: WCHA

College hockey officials still sorting out future destinations. It is unlikely DShep and BShep work for GShep in WCHA next year.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) June 11, 2013

NCHC Forges New Standards for Officiating

One of the hot-button issues that fans of the newly formed NCHC are very concerned about, is how the games are going to be officiated.

The next question is; who’s going to be the officials for the NCHC next season? One of the things I heard next is, please tell me that ref so-and-so isn’t going to be calling games next season in the NCHC?

As the conversation progresses, the next question usually is how are the games going to be called? Are the “big hits” going to be penalized?

Let me tell you, there’s a lot of cynicism surrounding the NCHC as they announce their new officiating standards.

Personally, I know that I have my list of officials that I don’t want to see officiating any of the games in the NCHC next season. I have not heard who the league has selected, and if they have selected anyone as of yet. I know they solicited applications and that May 15, 2013, was the last day that they were taking applications for the officiating positions.

Last season, there was no consistency from game-to-game on how the games are officiated, and this was a problem college hockey wide, and it’s very frustrating for college hockey fans. This is unacceptable in my opinion. Instead of having the players adjusting to the officials, why not have officials that are good enough to make the proper calls.

In my opinion, college hockey officiating during the past few years has been questionable at best; there have been a lot of blown calls with little explanation of why the calls were made. Legal checks have been called five minute majors. Obstruction and stick fouls in the offensive zone have gone uncalled. Line calls have been bad as well. I don’t know how many times I saw a goal scored off a blown off-sides call.

On May 23, 2013, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference released its “official” plan on how the league is going to supervise, train and manage their on-ice officials. On paper, it would appear that the new league is concerned about optics and doesn’t want to have a repeat of how the current WCHA manages its on-ice officials.

You can read the NCHC Press Release here. Here are some of the interesting things that came out of the press release.

“One of the key goals for our conference is to develop one of the best officiating programs in the country,” Director of Hockey Operations Joe Novak said.

That’s not all that going to happen, there’s going to be pre-season camp to educate the new NCHC officials.

“We will extend our expectations to the officials before they come to camp and then provide them with very detailed and focused sessions once they do arrive,” Head of officials Don Adam said. “We want to educate our officials in every way possible which includes, but is not limited to: skating, positioning, rules and interpretations, and the mental aspect of officiating. We will be utilizing video as a teaching tool throughout the season, while communicating with our officials on a regular basis. Our training program is a culmination of our collective officiating experience, which includes the collegiate, professional and international hockey levels. We will always strive to develop one of the best staffs in the country.”

One of the major keys of this announcement is that the NCHC will be utilizing a relationship with USA Hockey and this should be useful for developing and identifying future on-ice officials.

“Our league has already established a formidable relationship with Scott Brand and USA Hockey’sJunior Officiating Development Program” Adam said. “This relationship will assist us in identifying future collegiate officials.”

USHL Officials for instance, have to be certified by the USA Hockey and I believe that they are some of best on-ice officials in amateur hockey. I also believe that college hockey should use high standards when selecting officials to be utilized to officiate college hockey games. You should not be selected based on who you’re related to or who you’re friends with. You should be selected based on skill and knowledge, not on family lineage.

Now, this plan looks good when you read it on paper. Going forward, it will be interesting to see how this “actually” plays out, once it’s “actually” executed and comes to fruition. If the NCHC decides to employ the same usual suspects from the WCHA, then this is nothing more than just fancy lip service. In the end talk is cheap, we need to see action, or this will end up being nothing more than a fancy plan that isn’t worth lining a bird cage with.

If the NCHC employs the same brutal officials that have been officiating games for the WCHA, then the NCHC is going to have the same shoddy on ice product that the WCHA has had the last 4-5 seasons. We soon will find out. Developing…

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

NCAA FROZEN FOUR: Championship game (Saturday 4/13)

Yale 21-12-3 ECAC vs. Quinnipiac 30-7-5 ECAC Final 6:00 p.m. (CT) ESPN (206 DirecTV / Dish 140)
Yale’s offense is ranked #26 nationally and #26 defense.
Quinnipiac’s offense ranked #15 nationally and #1 defense

For the first time in 24 years, the NCAA Champion will hail from the ECAC of Division I hockey.

The last team from the ECAC to win the NCAA title was Harvard in 1989, when they beat the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-3 in overtime.

Yeah, that’s not a misprint; the NCAA Champion for the 2012-13 season will hail from the ECAC.

Bobcats snarl

All season long, the Quinnipiac Bulldogs have had to listen to naysayers talk about their number one rankings and their strength of schedule. Last night, the Bobcats did their talking on the ice.

All of those doubts were removed, as the Bobcats enjoyed a three-goal first period against the high flying Saint Cloud State Huskies and skated to a 4-1 win against the Saint Cloud State Huskies.

Saint Cloud State got behind the eight ball quickly, when the Bobcats scored three-goals in less than 15 minutes. Scoring for the Bobcats; were forwards, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Ben Arnt and Jeremy Langlois. Incidentally, that was all of the offense the Bobcats would need.  

Saint Cloud would finally get on the board, at the 06:25 mark of the second period; with a nifty goal from freshman forward Joey Benik. Unfortunately, that was all the closer that the Huskies would get, as Kellen Jones would score the Bobcats fourth-goal at the 14:31 mark of the second period.

The Huskies would make a surge in every period, but the Bobcats got strong goaltending from their Hobey Baker Finalist goaltender Eric Hartzell who stopped 33 of 34 shots to preserve the win.  When the Huskies were able to get through the Bobcats stifling defense, Hartzell was there to take away the Huskies grade “A” scoring chances.

While the Huskies outshot the Bobcats 34-28, the only statistic that mattered was the final score 4-1, in favor of the Bobcats.

With the win, the Bobcats advance to the title game of the NCAA Frozen Four Championship game on Saturday April 13, 2012, at 6:00pm (CT) on ESPN.

Bulldog bite

Dominating, physical and relentless, is how I would describe the Yale Bulldogs. Also, did I mention that the Bulldogs are a miserable team to play against?

Last night, the Bulldogs frustrated the UMass Lowell River Hawks, getting in the shooting lanes and taking away the River Hawks little time and space.  

During the first period, the Bulldogs’ pressure kept the River Hawks hemmed up in their own end, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Every time the River Hawks tried the move the puck, there was a Bulldog forward on them.

Yale took a two-goal lead with goals from Mitch Witek and Antoine Laganiere. Yale definitely had the momentum in the first period and would outshoot UMass Lowell 11-5.

UMass Lowell would tie the game in the second period, scoring two-goals, 14 seconds apart, from Riley Wetmore and Joseph Pendenza, but that was all the closer the River Hawks would get. Yale would regain the momentum in the third period, outshooting the River Hawks 16-3.  

Yale once again, needed an extra frame to beat the UMass Lowell River Hawks 3-2. Senior forward Andrew Miller scored at the 06:59 mark of the first overtime to send the

With the win, the Bulldogs advance to the title game of the NCAA Frozen Four Championship game on Saturday April 13, 2012, at 6:00pm (CT) on ESPN.

How they got here

Yale beat Minnesota (3-2, O.T.), North Dakota (4-1) and UMass Lowell (3-2, O.T.), to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four Championship game.

Quinnipiac beat Canisius (4-3), Union (5-1) and Saint Cloud State (4-1), to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four Championship game.

Players to watch

Quinnipiac Bobcats forwards:  Jeremy Langlois (13g-18a—31pts), Mathew Peca (15g-15a—30), , Jordan Samuels-Thomas (17g-12a—29pts), Kellen Jones (13g-14a—27pts), Connor Jones (12g-14a—26pts). Defense: Mike Dalhuisen (8g-8a—16pts), Loren Barron (3g-13a—16pts), Zach Davies (2g-15a—17pts). Goaltender: Eric Hartzell 30-6-5, 1.53 GAA, .934 save percentage.

Bulldogs Forwards: Kenny Agostino (17g-23a—40pts), Andrew Miller (17g-22a—39pts), Antoine Laganiere (15g-13a—28pts). Defense: Tommy Fallen (7g-16a—23pts), Ryan Obuchowski (3g-9a-12pts), Gus Young (2g-6a—8pts). Goalies Jeff Malcolm 19-6-2, 2.33 GAA, .915 save percentage.

Yale Bulldogs Official Athletics page

Quinnipiac Official Athletics page

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.

My NCAA Bracket

Mine looks the same every year so, go ahead and post your picks as well.

Related articles

• The Brackets are set, UND going to Grand Rapids (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Lots of fire power in the WCHA Final Five

Point Scoring:                                                    GP     PPG    G- A- P 1   Danny Kristo              North Dakota         SR F     154    1.03   66-93-159* 2   Rylan Schwartz          Colorado College   SR F     153    1.01   56-98-154* 3   Drew LeBlanc            St. Cloud State       SR F     167    0.88   42-105-147* 4   Corban Knight            North Dakota         SR F     158    0.92   51-94-145* 5   Erik Haula                  Minnesota              JR F      112    1.09   42-80-122* 6   Jordan George            Bemidji State         SR F     148    0.81   58-62-120 7   Mark Zengerle            Wisconsin             JR F      110    1.05   27-89-116* 8   Ben Hanowski             St. Cloud State     SR F      152    0.72   60-50-110* 9   Ryan Walters             Nebraska Omaha   JR F      115    0.87   43-57-100 10   Matt White               Nebraska Omaha   JR F      114    0.87   47-52-99 11   Nick Bjugstad            Minnesota            JR F      107    0.92   54-44-98* 12   Eriah Hayes              Minnesota State    SR F      151    0.63   51-44-95* 13   Zach Budish              Minnesota            JR F       127    0.73   34-59-93* 14   Nick Shore               Denver                  JR F       114    0.81   34-58-92 15   Mike Seidel              Minnesota Duluth SR W    151    0.58   47-41-88 16   William Rapuzzi      Colorado College  SR F      148    0.58   39-47-86* 17   Nick Jensen              St. Cloud State      JR D      115    0.73   15-69-84*       Michael Mersch         Wisconsin            JR F       116     0.72   45-39-84* 19   Kyle Rau                    Minnesota           SO F       78    1.05   33-49-82* 20   Nic Dowd                 St. Cloud State     JR F       113    0.71   30-50-80* 21   Nate Condon             Minnesota            JR F      116    0.67   31-47-78* 22   Ben Kinne                Bemidji State        SR F      146    0.52   32-44-76 23   Steven Seigo             Michigan Tech     SR D      150    0.50   19-56-75 24   Matt Leitner             Minnesota State     SO F      77    0.96   28-46-74* Alexander Krushelnyski   Colorado College JR F      119   0.62   30-44-74*

There's a lot of fire power in this week’s Red Baron WCHA Final Five. The asterisk annotates an active player in this week’s tourney. As you can see from the list, Danny Kristo and Rylan Schwartz are the active career point’s leaders in the WCHA.  
  
Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

UND: Quarter Final game Ahead 3/21

WCHA Final FiveThis weekend, the University of North Dakota travels to the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota to play in theWCHA Final Five Red Baron WCHA Final Five, March 21-23, 2013.
Historically, this is also the last Red Baron WCHA Final Five before UND moves to the NCHC next season.

Matchup: #Unranked Colorado College (16-18-5, No. 6 seed) versus North Dakota #6 (21-11-7, No. 3 Seed)

Dates: March 21, 2013

Times: March 21: 7:07 p.m. (CT).

Radio: UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox, wcha.com

Webcast: none

TV: Midco/FCS/DirecTV (668)/Dish Network (436)

Live Stats: wcha.com

Series History: All-Time: All-Time: UND leads the all-time series 139-78-10 (.634). UND leads the series against the Tigers in Grand Forks, ND 83-20-6 (.789). UND trails the series against the Tigers in Colorado Springs, CO 48-57-4 (.459). At Neutral sites; UND leads the series against the Tigers 8-1-0 (.889). WCHA Playoff’s, UND leads 7-2-0 (.778). Against the Tigers in the WCHA Final Five, UND leads 4-0-0 (1.000). The last 10 games, UND leads 7-3-0. UND went 2-2 against the Tigers this season.

Players to Watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Corbin Knight (15g-33a—48pts), Danny Kristo (24g-26a—50pts), Rocco Grimaldi (13g-21a—34pts), Mark MacMillan (13g-12a—25pts), Carter Rowney (10g-16a—26pts). Defense: Dillon Simpson (3g-18a—21pts), Joe Gleason (5g-11a—16pts), Joe Gleason (5g-11a—16pts), Nick Mattson (3g-12a—15pts), Derek Forbort (4g-9a—13pts), Jordan Schmaltz (3g-9a—12pts) Andrew MacWilliam (1g-9a—10pts). Goaltenders: Clarke Saunders 12-6-4, 2.30 GAA, .915 save percentage, Zane Gothberg 7-4-3, 2.52 GAA, .918 save percentage.

Colorado College Tigers: Rylan Schwartz (17g-31a—48pts), Alexander Krushelnyski (14g-26a—40pts), William Rupuzzi (15g-19a—34pts), Scott Winkler (13g-14a—27pts), Archie Skalbeck (12g-11a—23pts) Defense: Mike Boivin (14g-14a—28pts) Eamonn McDermott (3g-19a—22pts), Peter Stoykewych (1g-8a—9pts). Goalies: Joe Howe 12-11-4, 3.09 GAA, .912 save percentage, Josh Thorimbert 4-7-1, 3.73 GAA, .873 save percentage.

UND Officials Web Page

Colorado College Tigers Web Page

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine.

LONGEST WINNING AND UNBEATEN STREAKS OF 2012-13 BY WCHA TEAM • ALL GAMES

This season, no team in the WCHA has an unbeaten streak over 11 games, and the longest winning streak was 7 games. Stats are from the WCHA Final Five Press Release.

Alaska Anchorage: Longest Winning Streak (1 game – 1-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (3 games – 1-0-2).

Bemidji State: Longest Winning Streak (1 game – 1-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (3 games – 2-0-1; 2-0-1).

Colorado College: Longest Winning Streak (4 games – 4-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (5 games – 2-0-3).

Denver: Longest Winning Streak (5 games – 5-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (5 games – 5-0-0; 4-0-1).

Michigan Tech: Longest Winning Streak (2 games – 2-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (2 games – 2-0-0; 0-0-2; 2-0-0; 1-0-1).

Minnesota: Longest Winning Streak (6 games – 6-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (10 games – 8-0-2).

Minnesota Duluth: Longest Winning Streak (4 games – 4-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (5 games – 4-0-1).

Minnesota State: Longest Winning Streak (7 games – 7-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (7 games – 7-0-0).

Nebraska Omaha: Longest Winning Streak (7 games – 7-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (7 games – 7-0-0).

North Dakota: Longest Winning Streak (5 games – 5-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (7 games – 6-0-1).

St. Cloud State: Longest Winning Streak (5 games –5-0-0). Longest Unbeaten Streak (6 games – 5-0-1).

Wisconsin: Longest Winning Streak (7 games – 7-0-0). Longest Un­beaten Streak (11 games – 8-0-3).

 

UND drops to 6th in this week’s USCHO Poll

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

March 18, 2013

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Minnesota	(22)	26- 7-5	967	2
2	Quinnipiac	(27)	26- 6-5	958	1
3	Miami		24-10-5	893	3
4	Boston College		22-10-4	820	5
5	Massachusetts-Lowell	( 1)	24-10-2	785	6
6	North Dakota		21-11-7	751	4
7	St. Cloud State		23-14-1	670	8
8	Minnesota State		24-12-3	626	10
9	Notre Dame		23-12-3	578	12
10	New Hampshire		19-11-7	519	7
11	Yale		18-10-3	515	13
12	Western Michigan		19-11-8	408	9
13	Denver		20-13-5	382	11
14	Wisconsin		19-12-7	375	14
15	Niagara		23- 8-5	339	15
16	Providence		17-13-7	269	17
17	Boston University		20-15-2	212	18
18	Union		19-12-5	192	19
19	Rensselaer		18-14-5	91	16
20	Michigan		17-18-3	52	NR
Others receiving votes: Nebraska-Omaha 37, Colorado College 18, Brown 11, Merrimack 10, Alaska 9, Ohio State 9, Robert Morris 2, Connecticut 1, St. Lawrence 1.