Scores from Saturday night.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Atlantic Hockey
Mercyhurst 3 at RIT 5

Analysis
Yawn! Boring, I would rather watch paint dry.

CCHA
Bowling Green 3 at Notre Dame 4
Nebraska-Omaha 2 at Lake Superior 1

Analysis
Since going 9-2-1 the UNO Mavericks are 2-2-2. Back to reality folks, UNO is a middle of the road team. Notre Dame has not lost a game in two months and is unbeaten in 14 straight games. That is 12 wins and two shootout wins. 14-0-2

CHA
Robert Morris 0 at Niagara 3

WCHA
St. Cloud State 4 at North Dakota 7
Colorado College 1 at Minnesota 4
Michigan Tech 1 at Minnesota-Duluth 1 ot
Denver 5 at Minnesota State 2

Analysis
MTU with a tie the Huskies are 2-14-2. With the tie against the Huskies, Minnesota Duluth now has 5 ties this season in league play and 6 overall. Can we say time for a shootout in Division one hockey. Minnesota also has 5 ties over-all as well. Denver University is 9-4-1 and sitting in first place in the WCHA and has an over-all record of 13-5-1.

Non-Conference
Alabama-Huntsville 2 at Ferris State 5
Vermont 3 at St. Lawrence 4
Union 1 at Maine 5
Rensselaer 1 at Miami 3
Bentley 2 at Ohio State 3 ot

Exhibition
US Under-18 Team 2 at Northern Michigan 6

Fighting Sioux chew up Big Red 7-3.

The Fighting Sioux got a much needed win against a quality opponent. Coming into this weekend the Sioux starving for offense. Tonight the Fighting Sioux feasted on the defensive minded Cornell Big Red and won going way 7-3.

All week long Sioux fans have had to hear about how bad UND's scoring prowess was, tonight the Sioux broke out of their scoring doldrums by hanging 7 goals on the top defensive team in the nation.

The Positives from tonights game

~ Four point games for Matt Frattin (3-1-4) and Evan Trupp (1-3-4)

~Brad Eidsness gets the win and makes some big saves to keep UND in the game.

~This is the most goals UND has scored since UND scored 8 against the UMD Bulldogs on 11/23/2007.

~UND was 3-7 on the power play.

~Chay Genoway with a four point game as well (1-3-4) (Brad has him listed with a 5 point game)


Goals Scoring/Penalties Time

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1st Period (20:00)
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COR 1 - 0 6x6 Locke Jillson (1) (Michael Kennedy, Jared Seminoff) 2:43
COR (+): 8,18,3,10,16,G30 NDK (-): 10,22,6,14,20,G31
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Matt Frattin (3) (Chay Genoway, Evan Trupp) 3:55
NDK (+): 21,5,19,3,17,G31 COR (-): 22,27,12,7,2,G30
COR 2 - 1 6x6 Colin Greening (3) (Evan Barlow, Riley Nash) 6:28
COR (+): 15,20,14,24,3,G30 NDK (-): 16,29,3,26,5,G31
NDK-1 Ryan Duncan (2-Interference) COR 0x1 10:03
COR-1 Jared Seminoff (2-O-HOOKING) NDK 1x1 16:33
NDK 2 - 2 6x5 PP Ryan Martens (3) (Matt Frattin, Evan Trupp) 17:08
NDK: 8,21,19,5,17,G31 COR: 18,5,10,7,G30
NDK-2 Brad Miller (2-Interference) COR 0x2 17:26

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2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COR-2 Tyler Roeszler (2-Hooking) NDK 1x2 3:21
COR-3 Taylor Davenport (2-Boarding) NDK 2x3 5:15
COR-4 Brendon Nash (2-Holding) NDK 2x4 5:42
NDK 3 - 2 6x4 PP LL Ryan Duncan (5) (Brad Miller, Chay Genoway) 6:07
NDK: 5,14,16,8,29,G31 COR: 3,5,28,G30
NDK-3 Corey Fienhage (2-High-Sticking) COR 0x3 10:44
COR-5 Riley Nash (2-Tripping) NDK 2x5 12:03
NDK-4 Brett Hextall (2-Cross-Checking) COR 0x4 17:00

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3rd Period (20:00)
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NDK 4 - 2 6x6 GW Chay Genoway (1) (Chris VandeVelde) 0:51
NDK (+): 5,29,10,14,20,G31 COR (-): 8,10,24,18,3,G30
COR-6 Taylor Davenport (2-Hooking) NDK 2x6 2:09
COR 3 - 4 6x6 Riley Nash (3) (Brendon Nash, Justin Krueger) 4:47
COR (+): 14,24,5,15,22,G30 NDK (-): 10,20,22,3,5,G31
NDK 5 - 3 6x6 Matt Frattin (4) (Jason Gregoire) 7:17
NDK (+): 21,17,19,3,5,G31 COR (-): 27,15,5,22,2,G30
NDK 6 - 3 6x6 Evan Trupp (1) (Jason Gregoire) 15:01
NDK (+): 17,19,14,21,6,G31 COR (-): 27,12,7,22,5,G35
COR-7 Evan Barlow (2-Roughing) NDK 3x7 18:08
NDK 7 - 3 6x5 PP HT Matt Frattin (5) (Chay Genoway, Evan Trupp) 18:56
NDK: 21,5,19,25,17,G31 COR: 28,18,2,5,G35

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End of Game
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Scores from 11-15-2008 and 11-16-2008

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Atlantic Hockey
Army 3 at RIT 6
Bentley 1 at Mercyhurst 1 ot
Connecticut 0 at Canisius 6
American Int'l 0 at Sacred Heart 4
Air Force 5 at Holy Cross 1

Analysis
Air Force rolls along knocking off another cup cake. It will be interesting to see where Air Force ends up in the polls this week. Their schedule is not impressive.

CCHA
Lake Superior 2 at Notre Dame 5
Michigan 5 at Western Michigan 0
Ferris State 2 at Nebraska-Omaha 4
Miami 3 at Michigan State 1
Northern Michigan 1 at Bowling Green 2

Analysis
Miami is leading the CCHA. Michigan state has lost 4 games in a row. Notre Dame is unbeaten in 5 games. UNO off to a good start 7-2-1.

ECAC
Colgate 2 at Cornell 2 ot
Clarkson 1 at Dartmouth 5
Quinnipiac 5 at Rensselaer 1
Brown 0 at Yale 3
St. Lawrence 0 at Harvard 1
Princeton 4 at Union 1

Analysis
another night and not many goals scored. Cornell is coming to Grand Forks, ND in two weeks. Get ready for some low scoring boring hockey.

Hockey East
Maine 3 at Providence 0
New Hampshire 6 at Boston College 8
Mass.-Lowell 2 at Massachusetts 0

Analysis
Boston College goalie John Muse has been unimpressive in net for the Eagles so far this season; his stats 6-3-1 3.27 gaa and save percentage of .882.

WCHA
Michigan Tech 2 at Minnesota 2 ot
Colorado College 4 at Minnesota State 3
Wisconsin 4 at Minnesota-Duluth 1
Denver 1 at St. Cloud State 2
Alaska-Anchorage 1 at North Dakota 3

Sunday 11-16-2008

Atlantic Hockey
Connecticut 2 at Canisius 3 ot

Hockey East
Merrimack 1 at Vermont 2

Northeastern 0 at Boston University 3

WCHA
Michigan Tech 0 at Minnesota 3

Analysis

Michigan Tech University played the Gophers tough on Sunday but were shut out by Alex Kangas 3-0. Seems that Kangas has a lucky rabits foot in his breezers because Michigan Tech out shot Minnesota 38-27. Giving up high shot totals will eventually come back to haunt the Gophers.

Bostoin University comes back and wins the battle of Boston after losing on Friday night. Hello Minnesota, you're the new number one team in the meaningless polls.

Sioux 3 Seawolves 1

I would have wrote something sooner but I was in pursuit of Bambi's brother. I was not successful but I did witness a young kid shooting his first deer. Hopefully some day my Abby will want to go hunting with her daddy. The other positive was I found my digital camera again, it has been missing for most of November. Unfortunately I didn't get any picture of said deer or youth.

Keeping with a positive theme, (I can't stand a lot of negativity and people that complain excessively, constructive criticism is ok); the Sioux beat the Seawolves to gain the split for the series. Negative, Friday's loss was only the third all time to the Seawolves in Grand Forks, ND. I like most Sioux fans hate watching the Sioux losing, especially to a team like the UAA Seawolves, so a win on Saturday was positive. The Sioux have played .500 hockey so far in conference play keeping up with the pack and home ice in site. Eerily similar to last season's first half of the season, split all the way till the new year. The Sioux are tied for 5th place with UAA and MSU-M.

Positives for the weekend.

1.) The play of Brad Eidsness, one goal in 29 shots on net. I don't care what the Eidsness haters say that is nothing to sneeze at. Although Hakstol has not said it yet, I believe the starting job belongs to Brad Eidsness. If I was the coach I would ride him the rest of the way. Just for comparison sake, Brad Eidsness has better statistics than goalie John Muse of the defending national champs Boston College Eagles.
2.) Brett Hextall I just love his style of play, the guys is a agitator and a hard nosed player that gets under the opponents skin. Every Sioux team has had a player that plays this role. Sioux7 and I decided that he is Prpich light. (That is a compliment in our opinion).
3.) Sioux defense only gives up 4 goals on the weekend. (see 5)
4.) Sioux remain in 5th place even with giving up the second highest number of goals against.
5.) The Sioux are very close to getting it going.

Goals Scoring/Penalties Time

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1st Period (20:00)
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NDK-1 Brad Malone (2-Slashing) AKA 0x1 1:51
AKA-1 Tommy Grant (2-Holding the Stick) 2:35
AKA-2 Josh Lunden (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) NDK 0x1 2:35
NDK-2 Matt Watkins (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 2:35
AKA-3 Nick Haddad (2-Roughing) 5:43
AKA-4 Luka Vidmar (2-Roughing) 5:43
AKA-5 Shane Lovdahl (2-Roughing) 5:43
AKA-6 Kevin Clark (2-High-Sticking) NDK 0x2 5:43
NDK-3 Brad Miller (2-Roughing) 5:43
NDK-4 Brad Malone (2-Roughing) 5:43
NDK-5 Matt Frattin (2-Roughing) 5:43
AKA-7 Brian Bales (2-Tripping) NDK 0x3 8:12
NDK-6 Brett Hextall (2-Roughing) AKA 0x2 9:29
AKA-8 Tommy Grant (2-Holding) NDK 1x4 12:38
NDK 1 - 0 6x5 PP Matt Frattin (1) (Jason Gregoire, David Toews) 12:47
NDK: 21,17,18,25,8,G31 AKA: 22,40,23,10,G49
NDK-7 Matt Frattin (2-Tripping) AKA 0x3 14:28
NDK-8 Chris VandeVelde (2-High-Sticking) AKA 0x4 19:01

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AKA-9 Nils Backstrom (2-Holding) NDK 1x5 4:00
AKA-10 Tommy Grant (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 1x6 6:33
NDK-9 David Toews (2-Tripping) AKA 0x5 9:02
AKA 1 - 1 6x6 Kane Lafranchise (1) (Kevin Clark, Luka Vidmar) 11:06
AKA (+): 4,9,23,36,20,G49 NDK (-): 18,11,3,5,17,G31
AKA-11 Sean Wiles (2-Slashing) NDK 1x7 12:53

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AKA-12 Josh Lunden (2-Roughing) 3:59
NDK-10 Jake Marto (2-Roughing) 3:59
AKA-13 Kevin Clark (2-Tripping) NDK 2x8 10:11
NDK 2 - 1 6x5 PP GW LL Brett Hextall (4) (Brad Miller, Ryan Duncan) 10:29
NDK: 26,14,16,29,25,G31 AKA: 12,13,14,24,G49
NDK-11 Derrick LaPoint (2-Tripping) AKA 0x6 10:49
NDK 3 - 1 5x6 SH Brad Malone (1) (unassisted) 12:31
NDK (+): 22,16,6,25,G31 AKA (-): 18,20,23,9,4,G49
NDK-12 Mario Lamoureux (2-Hooking) AKA 0x7 14:45
AKA-14 Craig Parkinson (2-Diving) 19:26
NDK-13 Chay Genoway (2-Cross-Checking) 19:26
AKA-15 Tommy Grant (2-Hooking) NDK 2x9 19:49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

UAA 3 Sioux 2.

First off I am sick and tired of this Walksi experiment. Coach Hakstol can tell us all he wants that Walski is a potential starter, but I am not buying it, the results don't lie, Walksi is a mediocre goalie at BEST. We can keep coming back with him but Walski is not going to be the man in the Fighting Sioux goal. The Sioux have the best chance of winning when Brad Eidsness. If the coaching staff is compelled to start someone other than Brad Eidsness in net, why not give Grahme Harrington a chance? This kid can't be any worse than Walksi, if he is why is he here? Lets see what he can do. Walski has had 3 1/2 years to prove himself. It's time for a new generation.

Let's be frank, Aaron Walski is a nice story, The kid is from Fargo, ND playing for the home town Fighting Sioux, but he isn't half the goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux was/is. Right now I am checking to see if we can have a mulligan on this game. This is disgustiong. Walski is a third string practice goalie and there is a reason he is a walk on.

Lacking in effort.

The Sioux put up a sub par effort for 58 minutes then decided to put up a fight and make it interesting in the final two minutes of the game, that is unacceptable. Losing to the UAA Seawolves is troublesome and UACCEPTABLE. The leadership on this team can not allow the Sioux to lose games like this.

I am sure I am not the only fan that is sick and tired of watching the Fighting Sioux stumble through the first half of the last 4 seasons, only to kick it in and drive towards the playoffs. True to form the Sioux are sucking air again early.

It is pretty obvious that UND has a lot of talent and is quick talented team up front. Talent can't win you games if they aren't giving 100 percent. Can someone please step up and play 60 minutes of hockey?

In conclusion: I know my analysis of the game might seem harsh to some but I hate it when people don't give 100%, losing sucks ass. Playing hockey for the Fighting Sioux is a privilege not a birth right, wearing the Fighting Sioux uniform is honor. Personaly, I hate losing a pick up game of goal, let alone watching my favorite team game like this. This is UNACCEPTABLE.

Cheap shots on top players should be responded to, Hunts charge on Gregoire at the end of the game was cheap and a bush league move. I would like to see one of our guys collect on that bush league hit tomorrow. Make it know if you hit one our skilled players you're going to pay for it.

Goals Scoring/Penalties Time

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1st Period (20:00)
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AKA 1 - 0 6x6 LL Nils Backstrom (1) (Trevor Hunt, Nick Haddad) 1:07
AKA (+): 13,24,18,9,40,G30 NDK (-): 16,25,26,3,29,G30
AKA-1 Nils Backstrom (2-Tripping) NDK 0x1 7:35
AKA-2 Nils Backstrom (2-Slashing) NDK 0x2 13:56

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2nd Period (20:00)
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NDK-1 Ryan Martens (2-Tripping) AKA 0x1 3:09
AKA 2 - 0 6x6 Curtis Leinweber (1) (Luka Vidmar, Jared Tuton) 6:58
AKA (+): 11,23,9,20,16,G30 NDK (-): 21,6,17,19,25,G30
NDK-2 Brad Miller (2-Hooking) AKA 0x2 8:23
AKA 3 - 0 6x6 GW Sean Wiles (1) (Paul Crowder, Tommy Grant) 13:01
AKA (+): 27,20,23,11,16,G30 NDK (-): 17,3,21,5,19,G30
AKA-3 Kane Lafranchise (2-Checking from Behind) NDK 0x3 14:33
AKA-4 Kevin Clark (2-Slashing) NDK 0x4 17:01
AKA-5 Craig Parkinson (2-DELAY OF GAME) NDK 0x5 18:30

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3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AKA-6 Jade Portwood (10-Game Misconduct) 3:17
AKA-7 Jade Portwood (5-Checking from Behind) (Served by Tyler Moir) NDK 0x6 3:17
NDK-3 Brad Malone (2-Holding) AKA 0x3 8:49
NDK-4 Ben Blood (2-Boarding) AKA 0x4 15:17
AKA-8 Trevor Hunt (2-Charging) NDK 1x7 17:48
NDK 1 - 3 6x5 PP Ryan Duncan (4) (Chay Genoway, Chris VandeVelde) 17:56
NDK: 16,5,29,26,14,G31 AKA: 20,27,10,13,G30
NDK 2 - 3 6x6 EA Brett Hextall (3) (Chay Genoway, Brad Miller) 19:17
NDK (+): 26,5,14,16,29,17 AKA (-): 14,33,27,4,21,G30

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End of Game

Genoway and Finley doubtfull...

To quote Jim Carey, "so you say there is a chance." It also doesn't look good.
The Sioux desparately need big Joe back in the line up soon.

Per Brad Elliott Schlossman: As posted on the Herald site, coach Dave Hakstol said today that Joe Finley and Chay Genoway are doubtful this weekend.

Brad Miller will play on defense again.

Messier wants face masks to be manditory.

Former NHL great Mark Messier is making the case for the NHL players to wear the full cage. First off, I don' think the players union is going to go for this idea. I also think it is a matter of personal rights, if a player chooses to not wear the face shield and or face mask it is their decision and theirs only, do they really need the league telling them what they have to wear. So you’re getting into a personal rights issue. Also, some have made the case that the face masks causes concussions as well... Here is one the helmet that article was talking about.

Messier builds case for mandatory face masks
Veteran's message is 'it's cool to be protected'
Garth Woolsey --- Nov 10, 2008 04:30 AM

Mark Messier broke into the National Hockey League in 1979-80, the same season that the league finally made the wearing of helmets mandatory. Now 47, Messier says it is only a matter of time – finally – until the NHL takes the next logical step and makes facial protection compulsory, too.

"I see the exact same thing happening with face masks," he said yesterday before stepping on to the ice at the Air Canada Centre for the Hall of Fame Legends game wearing a new, possibly safer, line of helmets that he is endorsing. "I would recommend any player that grows up playing with a face mask not to take it off when he turns pro."

Never mind leaving the decision to individuals, he adds. Make facial protection, whether full cages or visors, mandatory.

When Messier speaks on such matters, hockey people tend to listen. He played 25 hard-knock years in the NHL, one of the toughest ever, taking part in more games than anyone but Gordie Howe, plenty long enough to bear witness to everything the sport has to offer, good and bad, the latter including countless head injuries.

Gary Bettman on head shots.

I saw this story over on Puck Daddy this morning and I was wondering if anyone else thought Bettman sounded like politician? That being said, I do kind of agree with Bettman that this would be a very slippery slope if the NHL goes down this road. If you eliminate legal hits that may or may not lead to a head shot might make the game less physical.

You can watch the interviews in question right here and here. I have never been a fan of Gary Bettman I think he is the wrong guy to lead the NHL an if you watch the video you will see that Bettman really is an abrasive pompous guy. You could put me in the Fire Bettman now camp.

When asked about trying to eliminate head shots from the game, Bettman again urged caution.

"You know, it's interesting to me that when we came back from the work stoppage a lot of our fans complained that we had taken the physicality out of the game by opening up the speed and skill," Bettman noted. "We didn't do that - hitting is actually up. There are more body checks in the game than we had before the work stoppage. But if you say you can't have contact with the head, you are going to reduce the amount of checking in the game and you are going to change the way the game is played."

"We don't like any concussions," Bettman said. "We don't like any hits to the head, but before we run down this road, think about what the consequences to the game are going to be."

Scores from 11-08-2008.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Atlantic Hockey
American Int'l 1 at Army 3
Mercyhurst 3 at Holy Cross 4 ot

Analysis
Yawn!

CCHA
Ferris State 2 at Miami 1
Michigan 3 at Alaska 2
Michigan State 1 at Ohio State 3
Nebraska-Omaha 5 at Western Michigan 2
Bowling Green 4 at Lake Superior 4 ot: Lake Superior wins

Analysis
Michigan splits with Alaska. Miami splits with Ferris State. This is not your normal Ferris State, they are a much better hockey team this season. Michigan State gets swept by tOhio State University. That is not a miss print folks. UNO takes 4 points from the WMU Broncos this weekend. WMU gets one point for a shootout. Check out the standings at the CCHA home page.

CHA
Bemidji State 2 at Alabama-Huntsville 1 ot

Analysis
Who hates Huntsville, we do. Beavers get their second win of the season against CHA rival Huntsville. Beavers get the split on the weekend.

ECAC
Colgate 1 at Princeton 2 ot
Brown 2 at St. Lawrence 2 ot
Harvard 1 at Union 3
Cornell 0 at Quinnipiac 0 ot
Yale 3 at Clarkson 2
Dartmouth 5 at Rensselaer 2

Analysis
Does anyone in the EZAC score more than three goals? Cornell back to back shut out this weekend. Cornell makes the trip to Grand Forks, ND on November 28-29.

Hockey East
Vermont 3 at Mass.-Lowell 1
Massachusetts 1 at Merrimack 3

WCHA
Michigan Tech 0 at Wisconsin 6
North Dakota 4 at Colorado College 7
Minnesota-Duluth 1 at Denver 2
Minnesota State 2 at Alaska-Anchorage 2 ot

Analysis
Wisconsin sweeps the MTU Huskies, "ouch". UND splits with C.C. mission accomplished. UMD loses two to Denver University in the Mile High City. Mankato takes 3 points from UAA.

Non-Conference
Notre Dame 4 at Providence 1
Bentley 1 at Northeastern 4
New Hampshire 2 at Minnesota 6
Robert Morris 1 at St. Cloud State 7

Notre Dame wins two non conference games on the weekend. Minnesota stops the Hockey East Tidal Wave. SCSU pound Robert Morris in two games this weekend. Robert Morris scores one goal on the weekend.

Tigers 7 Sioux 4

I have seen the naysayers pontificating about UND being a below average team that will be lucky to above .500 at the end of the season. Apparently these people forget that UND hasn't played well the last 4 seasons before December, but the Fighting Sioux have kicked it in during the second half of each of the last four hockey seasons and went to the Frozen Four. I am not saying this is going to happen this season, but it could. Championships are won in March in April and your team doesn’t get an award for finishing above .500 before January.

In the next week or two I expect to see yet another ridiculous "Fire Hakstol" or "UND is going down the tubes" thread to reemerge over on Sioux Sports or UCSHO. I will not participate in this silliness.

Positives from this weekend.

1.) UND is the first team to beat the C.C. Tigers. Take that INCH.
2.) UND score more goals and gained more points from the Tigers this weekend than
3.) the DU Pioneers did last weekend.
4.) Brad Eidsness is getting better with each game.
5.) Jason Gregoire scored his third goal of the season.
6.) David Toews got his first point as a Fighting Sioux player (assist)
7.) Brett Hextall had two goals and an assist on the weekend.


Goals Scoring/Penalties Time

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1st Period (20:00)
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CC-1 Andreas Vlassopoulos (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 4:41
NDK-1 Chris VandeVelde (2-Hooking) CC 1x1 8:03
CC 1 - 0 6x5 PP Nate Prosser (2) (Bill Sweatt, Brian Connelly) 9:34
CC: 15,21,22,19,11,G30 NDK: 19,6,3,17,G31
CC-2 Nate Prosser (2-Holding the Stick) NDK 1x2 11:00
NDK-2 Jason Gregoire (2-Roughing) 12:14
CC-3 Brian Connelly (2-Roughing) 12:14
NDK 1 - 1 6x5 PP Brett Hextall (2) (Brad Miller) 12:36
NDK: 26,14,16,25,29,G31 CC: 26,4,14,10,G30
CC-4 Nick Dineen (2-Checking from Behind) NDK 1x3 14:27
NDK 2 - 1 6x6 Ryan Duncan (3) (Chris VandeVelde, Brett Hextall) 17:49
NDK (+): 16,29,26,3,6,G31 CC (-): 11,25,5,26,15,G30
NDK-3 Brett Hextall (5-Checking from Behind) (Served by Brent Davidson) CC 3x4 17:49
NDK-4 Brett Hextall (10-Game Misconduct) 17:49
CC 2 - 2 6x5 PP Eric Walsky (4) (Bill Sweatt, Chad Rau) 19:00
CC: 22,14,21,10,24,G30 NDK: 29,6,25,16,G31

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CC 3 - 2 6x5 PP Scott McCulloch (3) (Brian Connelly, Andreas Vlassopoulos) 1:36
CC: 11,28,26,15,19,G30 NDK: 19,17,6,3,G31
NDK 3 - 3 6x6 Chris VandeVelde (3) (Ryan Duncan, Matt Frattin) 3:23
NDK (+): 29,16,21,14,24,G31 CC (-): 4,10,21,14,22,G30
CC-5 Bill Sweatt (2-Holding) NDK 1x4 6:54
CC-6 Andreas Vlassopoulos (2-Hooking) NDK 1x5 7:22
CC-7 BENCH (2-Too Many Players) (Served by Ryan Lowery) NDK 2x6 9:20
CC-8 Bill Sweatt (2-Tripping) NDK 2x7 9:20
NDK 4 - 3 6x4 PP Jason Gregoire (3) (David Toews, Brad Miller) 10:46
NDK: 17,18,14,3,16,G31 CC: 14,11,4,G30
CC 4 - 4 6x6 Eric Walsky (5) (Scott McCulloch, Nick Dineen) 13:36
CC (+): 26,22,20,15,11,G30 NDK (-): 29,6,16,21,25,G31
CC 5 - 4 6x6 HT GW LL Eric Walsky (6) (unassisted) 14:04
CC (+): 22,21,4,14,10,G30 NDK (-): 16,4,3,29,21,G31
CC-9 Arthur Bidwill (2-High-Sticking) NDK 2x8 16:33
NDK-5 Chris VandeVelde (2-Hooking) CC 3x5 18:13

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3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CC-10 Brian Connelly (2-Hooking) NDK 2x9 0:32
NDK-6 Matt Frattin (2-Holding) CC 3x6 3:25
CC 6 - 4 6x6 Eric Walsky (7) (Chad Rau) 8:51
CC (+): 22,14,21,4,10,G30 NDK (-): 10,8,4,15,3,G31
CC 7 - 4 6x6 Stephen Schultz (3) (unassisted) 14:57
CC (+): 10,15,28,23,19,G30 NDK (-): 11,29,16,25,18,G31
CC-11 Gabe Guentzel (2-Tripping) NDK 2x10 14:57
NDK-7 David Toews (2-Tripping) CC 3x7 19:18

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End of Game

League realignment?

It looks like realignment is coming to Division one hockey according to DU hockey blogger Mike Chambers. I don't doubt Mike Chambers because of his reputation and Mike has been pretty accurate in the past. Seriously, you have to be accurate if you are going to be employed very long as a journalist. It doesn’t do Chambers any good to release information that is inaccurate and false. Think about it, Chambers is from Denver, Colorado, the league office at Denver University.

In the past I have said that realignment will come to the WCHA, there is a lot of people that said it wouldn’t’ happen. I have also said that the NCAA could come down at any time and tell the established leagues (CCHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC AHA) that if they don't absorb these CHA teams that the NCAA could start pulling at large bids.

Personally if this realignment does happen it’s good for me because that means I can spend two more weekends a winter drinking beer with my buddies from Bemidji. Also, now we can go from a final five to final six. It works in the CCHA so it can work in the WCHA as well.

College hockey conference realignment
by Mike Chambers on November 8, 2008

Conference expansion is on its way, folks. Because of the looming demise of College Hockey America, don’t be surprised if the WCHA and the AHA go from 10 to 12 teams, with Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha joining the WCHA and Robert Morris and Niagara going to the AHA.

This isn’t just opinon. I can’t divulge my sources, but this is what is being discussed by conference commissioners. And it makes sense.

The CHA currently has Robert Morris, Alabama-Huntsville, Niagara and Bemidji State. It’s a joke, because the four-team conference gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. That’s going to change. Robert Morris and Niagara have applied for entrance to the AHA. If they are accepted, the AHA will go from 10 to 12 teams.

What we need next is for Nebraska-Omaha to apply to the WCHA, and get accepted along with Bemidji State, which previously has applied. UNO, which currently plays in the CCHA, will be replaced by Alabama-Huntsville.

UNO is a natural fit for the WCHA, with strong state rivalries with Colorado and Minnesota. Alabama-Huntsville isn’t a fit for anyone, but … if UAH goes to the CCHA, we would have five conferences with a near equal amount of teams.

The WCHA, CCHA, AHA and ECAC would have 12 teams, and Hockey East 10. Under this plan, there would be five automatic bids to the 16-team national tournament for winning conference titles.

Bemidji Election Update:

You will be happy to know that Richard Lehmann defeated challenger Nancy Erickson, the current Ward 5 representative, by roughly 900 votes as he gathered 3,512 votes to her 2,625 (57 percent to 43 percent). So now we know the Bemidji events center will go a head as planned. Now lets get the damn thing built, enough with the stalling and grand standing by politicians with personal agendas. Thank God the pro-event center people won.

Scores from 11-07-2008.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Atlantic Hockey
Army 3 at American Int'l 4
Mercyhurst 4 at Holy Cross 3 ot
Connecticut 0 at Bentley 1

Analysis
Yawn... Holy Cross has fallen since their win against Minnesota.

CCHA
Nebraska-Omaha 2 at Western Michigan 2 ot: UNO wins shootout
Bowling Green 0 at Lake Superior 2
Ferris State 2 at Miami 2 ot: Miami wins shootout
Michigan 1 at Alaska 4
Michigan State 0 at Ohio State 3

Analysis
Last night I watched the Ferris State and Miami game and I happened to notice that the fans were really into the shootout. Or should we say, I didn't see a ground swell of fans leaving their seat. Ohio State another big win over a ranked team. That is not a misprint, Michigan lost to the Alaska 4-1. Ouch!

CHA
Bemidji State 2 at Alabama-Huntsville 4

Analysis
Ouch, the Beavers have one win on the season against SCSU.

ECAC
Yale 2 at St. Lawrence 3 ot
Dartmouth 5 at Union 2
Cornell 1 at Princeton 0
Brown 1 at Clarkson 3
Harvard 2 at Rensselaer 3
Colgate 1 at Quinnipiac 0

Analysis
Media darling Princeton loses to Cornell in a 1-0 game. Sioux fans will get to see Cornell on November 28th and 29. Clarkson remains hot.

Hockey East
Vermont 2 at Providence 2 ot
Boston University 6 at Mass.-Lowell 4

Analysis
Boston University remains on a roll and will be the number one team in the country on Monday.

WCHA
North Dakota 3 at Colorado College 1
Minnesota-Duluth 1 at Denver 5
Minnesota State 5 at Alaska-Anchorage 3
Michigan Tech 2 at Wisconsin 3

Analysis
Sioux7 really blew his MTU and Wisconsin pick. I do wonder if he bought a lottery ticket or not? Denver brings the Bull Dogs back to earth beating them 5-1. Yikes! This score does shock me a bit. What heck happened to all WCHA goalie Alex Stalock? According to the box score Stalock was pulled after giving up 5 goals on 29 shots. Sounds like the UMD back up Hjelle (what nationality is that name?) did a pretty good job. Minnesota State beats UAA, I am sure LGM's will give us her analysis of the game soon, if she was able to stay up that late.

Non-Conference
RIT 2 at Niagara 6
Robert Morris 0 at St. Cloud State 4
Notre Dame 4 at Boston College 1
New Hampshire 2 at Minnesota 2 ot

Analysis
I watched some of the Notre Dame and B.C. game, the third period of the Minnesota and UNH game and I was surprised by Notre Dame and impressed with UNH.

USA WJC games to be on NHL Network.

Sean Leahy from Going Five Hole has confirmed that all USA WJC team games will be on the NHL Network. This is really good news for WJC fans, usually we don't get to see very many of the WJC games. In the past there has been a void of television coverage in the USA of the WJC. Canada unlike the USA usually gets all of their games on TSN. The 2006 WJC games from Vancouver were on FSN here in North Dakota and Minnesota.

I (Sean Leahy) confirmed with with Dave Fischel, Director of Media and Public Relations with USA Hockey that this December, NHL Network will broadcast every Team USA game from the World Junior Championships in Ottawa.

Devils Goalie out for 3-4 months.

I just saw this over on the illegal curve. Yikes, this is bad news for the New Jersey Devils. It is no mystery that Martin Brodeur is the face and bedrock of the New Jersey Devil's franchise. It will be interesting to see how Steven Weeks does over the next 3-4 months.

TSN-- Martin Brodeur's assault on the record book will be put on hold as the Devils' goalkeeper will undergo surgery to repair torn bicep tendons and will be out of the lineup for up to four months.

''This Thursday morning, Martin Brodeur will undergo surgery to repair the distal bicep in the left elbow," Devils president, CEO and general manager Lou Lamriello said in a statement.

''We will not have any further comment or update until after the surgery is complete.''

A couple of things from last night's game.

According to BADgers beat writer Todd D. Milewski Joe Finley is out again for tonight's game. That is going to be bad news for the Corey Fienhage haters. I heard a lot of fans complaining in the stands about Corey Fienhage last night. I think people need to get some perspective; lets not forget that the kid is straight out of high school. Honesty, we should be happy to have him here, he could have been a dirty Gopher or Badger. Cory will get it right, give him a break.

North Dakota defenseman Joe Finley, who missed last weekend's series with an injury, is out of the lineup again tonight

Seems that the Badger coaches are doing a lot of complaining about the officiating so far this season. Come on Mike we all know the officials in this league suck and all WCHA teams have to deal with the same officials. Hum, I thought the Sioux fans, players and coaches were a bunch of halos. (from the same article)

DID YOU NOTICE?
The Badgers complained to the officials after the game that North Dakota had six skaters and a goalie on the ice for about 15 seconds of the final minute.

According to Brad this is the BADgers worst start since 1975-1976, damn that breaks my heart.

In looking at the stats there was only 13 penalties called during last nights game. That seems to be an improvement after one non conference game with WCHA officals had 22 penalties called.

Penalties-minutes — UND 5-10, UW 8-16

Power plays — UND 1-7, UW 1-4

Better dead than red: UND 3 BADgers 2

Sioux kept the Wisconsin BADgers winless and they improved to 2-3-0 and 2-1-0 in the WCHA standing for the season. First off; I will be the first to admit that this has been a rough start to begin the season; 1-3 is not an impressive record by any shape of the imagination. That being said, “I think there are a lot of things to smile about after watching this game”.

While the Sioux are not very big up front the Fighting Sioux are quick, skilled, and a very fast team that was all over the Wisconsin BADgers tonight. The Badger players should hug their goalie Shane Connelly because he saved their ass tonight, this game could have been 6-2. I thought it was appropriate for Shane Connelly to be named the number one star of the game by the Fighting Sioux radio broadcast team.

Too early to jump ship just yet…

I have got to say this: for the Sioux fans that were ready to jump off the bandwagon after two weeks or commit hairy-kairy with a very sharp object, please step back from the ledge and put down the sharp object, the Fighting Sioux are going to be fine. I don’t’ care what Jess Meyers has to say I do not see this team finishing in 7th place in the WCHA.

On the Goal tending front, Brad Eidsness played very well and earned himself another start for tomorrow’s game, if I hear Aaron Walski name announced as the starting goaltender tomorrow night I am booing. Brad Eidness improved to 2-1 with a 3.33 goals against average and a .880 save percentage and is getting better with every game.

One question I do have is why is David Toews not playing tonight? I have a tough time believing he isn't one of the top 12 forwards on the Fighting Sioux.

Goals Scoring/Penalties Time
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1st Period (20:00)
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NDK-1 Corey Fienhage (2-Roughing) WIS 0x1 6:39
WIS-1 Eric Springer (2-Interference) NDK 0x1 10:47
WIS-2 Sean Dolan (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 13:42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
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WIS 1 - 0 6x6 Derek Stepan (1) (Patrick Johnson) 1:54
WIS (+): 21,10,12,4,19,G35 NDK (-): 21,20,4,22,3,G31
WIS-3 Brendan Smith (2-Holding) NDK 0x3 3:12
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Brad Miller (2) (Chay Genoway) 6:53
NDK (+): 14,5,17,24,8,G31 WIS (-): 7,8,15,2,24,G35
WIS-4 Podge Turnbull (2-Roughing) NDK 0x4 13:47
NDK-2 Ben Blood (2-Holding) WIS 0x2 16:41
WIS-5 Blake Geoffrion (2-Roughing) 20:00
NDK-3 Darcy Zajac (2-Roughing) 20:00

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3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-4 Derrick LaPoint (2-High-Sticking) WIS 1x3 1:05
WIS 2 - 1 6x5 PP Brendan Smith (3) (Michael Davies, Jamie McBain) 2:00
NDK 2 - 2 6x6 Andrew Kozek (2) (Darcy Zajac) 3:54 NDK (+): 10,11,6,25,20,G31 WIS (-): 5,17,21,15,11,G35
WIS-6 Brendan Smith (2-Interference) NDK 0x5 8:03
NDK-5 Ryan Martens (2-Hooking) WIS 1x4 10:59
WIS-7 Patrick Johnson (2-Tripping) NDK 1x6 13:49
NDK 3 - 2 6x5 PP GW LL Jason Gregoire (1) (Evan Trupp) 14:45 NDK: 17,19,26,14,25,G31 WIS: 17,16,27,12,G35
WIS-8 Blake Geoffrion (2-Slashing) NDK 1x7 16:16

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End of Game
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Wisconsin Goaltending 1st 2nd 3rd Total Minutes GA
Shane Connelly 17 11 8 36 50:57 2
EMPTY NET 0 0:02 0
Shane Connelly (L, 0-4-1) 0 0 6 6 8:45 1
EMPTY NET 0 0:16 0

North Dakota Goaltending 1st 2nd 3rd Total Minutes GA
Brad Eidsness (W, 2-1-0) 11 4 5 20 60:00 2

Bulletin board Material...

Hey Fighting Sioux defensemen Michael Davis thinks you guys are a bunch of softies. Please someone hit this guy in the mouth this weekend...

From the Badger Beat: We've got to keep it simple," Davies said. "Get (the puck) in. Throw pucks at the net. Get pucks behind their (defensemen), especially North Dakota. Their (defensemen) don't like to be hit. Their (defensemen) don't like to turn."

A few things.

USCHO writer Theresa Spisak/WCHA Correspondent predicts a split in this weekends series between the Sioux and the BADgers.

Wisconsin @ No. 18 North Dakota
The hat says: UW sweep.
I say: This series is tricky. The Badgers have won four straight at the Engelstad, but they're also missing a few players due to injury including Ben Street. The Sioux may have finally figured out how to win (something UW hasn't done yet). Gotta say split. UW Friday and UND Saturday.

From the same article: After playing one game last year and sitting out because of a knee injury Ryan Stoa is turning some heads. I am sure it won't be long before Sioux fans will see Ryan Stoa standing in front of the Sioux goal.

You had to be impressed by the way Ryan Stoa made his presence felt in last weekend’s series at Wisconsin. The junior captain started the Gophers’ rally from a 2-0 deficit on Friday with a second-period goal, then made a critical defensive play to keep the deficit at one in the third, setting up the late tying goal by freshman defenseman Sam Lofquist.

On Saturday, he scored twice, the first just six seconds after the opening face off.

Sioux caption Ryan Duncan says that there is nothing wrong with putting the puck on net. I guess I have to agree with that philosophy because you are going to miss 100% of the shots you never take.

Ryan Duncan apparently subscribes to the theory that a shot on goal is never a bad play. In North Dakota’s split at Minnesota State earlier this month, Duncan fired 10 shots on goal on Friday and didn’t score in the 5-1 Fighting Sioux loss. One night later he sent 15 shots at Mavericks goaltender Mike Zacharias and got one of them to go in (his first of the season) in North Dakota’s 4-3 come-from-behind win. In their 1-3-0 start, the Sioux have played 240 minutes of hockey and have held the lead for 2:25.

Bruins new third jersey.

This was over on HubHockey.com I might have to get one of the new jerseys because they are sweet.

A few things...

This week I have been on my annual October vacation and haven't been on the Internet all that much, however, there were a couple of developments in the hockey world. This past week there was a death of a hockey player in Russia. One of the Rangers prospects Alexei Cherepanov died while playing in a game for the Omsk Avangard of the KHL. Apparently Cherepanov had a heart condition:

According to Yulia Zhukova, Cherepanov had chronic ischemia -- a medical condition that occurs when the heart or other organs do not get enough blood.

I had wondered why this talented kid had never made it to the NHL. According to an article written by Gare Joyce, some had speculated that Cherepanov never made it to the NHL because he was scared at the prospects of playing in the more physical NHL.

the Canadians knocked out him out of the Summit Series in the summer of ’07. Cherepanov had a concussion. Sutter had his own diagnosis: "He’s a pretty soft player and when you hit him, he doesn’t like it."

They said that he stayed in Russia instead of coming over to the NHL because the Summit Series put a scare into him. One account: "The alleged Russian star maybe never want to go anywhere near the New York Rangers, where [sic] he’ll have to face those big hitters in the NHL."

Are you kidding me?

Who would have thought after a week and a half of the 2008-2009 NHL season that former Wild player and University of Alaska Fairbanks star Aaron Voros3-4-7 would tied with fellow Ranger teammate Brandon Dubinsky ironically is also from Anchorage Alaska so both players have an Alaska connection as well.

Wild Line scoring without Gabby.

Last night I had the opportunity to watch the Wild for the first time this season. I am really excited about the Wild's new addition to the line up Antti Miettinen. It would be an understatement to say that Miettinen has made a huge impact on the Minnesota Wild so far. Last night Antti Miettinen had a great offensive night scoring 2 goals and 1 assist. Miettinen this season has scored 3 goals and one assist in two games for the Wild. I am not ready to say Marian who but it could lessen the blow of losing the Wild crybaby star, if Miettinen keeps scoring at this pace.

During last night's Wild game I also noticed the line combination of Andrew Brunette, Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen, this line had seven points for the game that is an impressive feat. If this line can keep up the offensive numbers; Gaborik might be able to get some room to move and score some points.

Meanwhile Wild star Marian Gaborik has had one point in first two games of the season.

A great game no one watched in Atlanta

Could someone please remind me why we have no NHL hockey in Winnepeg Manitoba but hockey in Atlanta Georgia? Last night during the game I made the comment to my wife that there is no one in the arena and it looks like I was pretty accurate.

The Thrasher lost 4-2 to the Minnesota Wild before a crowd announced at 11,843 but probably was closer to half that size when you account for the no-shows. It was the first time since March 2004 the Thrashers announced a home crowd smaller than 12,000.