Another person that thinks DU got screwed.

Its your Monday after selection Sunday and the whining is starting already. Jim Connelly feels as if DU got screwed as well. I would say how about Colorado College. The Tigers have this season region on death. Look Jim every team has to beat good teams to win a national title, DU was a second ranked seed their match up in the NCAA tourney is about right. DU is the only team that gets to play a first round match up against a team with a losing record.

With the six teams from the WCHA in the field, and most of them seeded either second or third, avoiding a first-round match up became impossible. It was fortunate that this occurred only once (Denver vs. Wisconsin).

As for the locations of where each team ended up, I liked the committee’s rationale. With two host schools in the tournament, the committees hands were locked with Colorado College and Wisconsin. Thus, it seems the committee chose to take the top two seeds - Michigan and Miami - and send both teams east to avoid ever having to play a team on home ice. I don’t think that this necessarily gives Michigan and Miami an advantage (though Michigan may possibly have the easiest path to the Frozen Four) but at least they’re not “rewarded” with having to play a “road” game as the top seed in the regional final.

This year’s region of death appears to the Colorado Springs. Defending national champion Michigan State will have a tough time repeating having to face host Colorado College in the opening round. And New Hampshire doesn’t have a cake walk in its first game against Notre Dame. Whichever team can survive this region, though, may just win the national title.

I thought if any one team kind of got screwed it was Denver. The Pioneers won their conference tournament on Saturday but now must beat Wisconsin at Bucky’s home. If they do survive this game, I like their chances of playing for the national title in their own backyards. What an atmosphere that would make.

All in all, I like the job the committee did in placing these teams. Now the question lies which teams will survive to make it to Denver. I’ll be back with those thoughts later this week.

OUCH Region of Death

Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State

NCAA tourney thoughts.

Here is are couple of things that I thought were important and need to be analyzed. The playoff bracket have been announced and the Sioux are not going to Colorado Springs to play the Tigers. I think most Sioux fans are cool with that.

Joel Maturi, the chair of the men's ice hockey committee and the athletic director at Minnesota, confirmed that the thought process behind Michigan's move to Albany was to "protect" the top seeds.

Could someone please tell me what the Red Hawks have done to secure a 2nd over all bid? The RedHawks have played a very weak schedule (the 24th ranked schedule over all). I mean seriously folks, and the committee is going to protect a team that has shamelessly feasted on cup cakes all season long raking up wins against a less than impressive list of teams. In fact if you look at the RedHawks schedule you will see they have beat very few teams that are considered good. Let’s break this down; the RedHawks have beaten SCSU (once in a holiday tourney), Notre Dame two times (they played three games and are 2-1 once in the CCHA tourney minus their top forward) and MSU twice. Against the top team in the CCHA the Michigan Wolverines the RedHawks are an impressive 0-2-1. Lets break this down further; Miami is 9-3-1 against teams under consideration for the NCAA tourney. That means they have played just 12 teams that are a team under consideration for being in the NCAA tourney. If you want to take this further; in comparison UND is 21-10-4 against teams that are a TUC, that means out of their 40 games UND has played 35 games against teams that were a TUC. I have no problem with awarding Michigan with the opportunity to beat up on a cup cake in its first game, they have earned that right...

The other joke is the Wisconsin Badgers making the tourney with a losing record and failing to make the conference tourney but still was able to leap frog Minnesota State University Mankato who had a winning record. I can see how Maverick fans might be a little ticked at this decision. Want to bet this rule is changed in the near future?

Let the complaining begin

Here is the Fighting Sioux's Bracket is in Madison, Wisconsin; it looks pretty fair enough to me. You either win or you go home. According to the Lets Go DU hockey blog some seem to think that DU was screwed by the NCAA committee. I am not sure how they are the 2 seed. Did they want to play in Colorado Springs? Also it appears that College Hockey News thinks DU got the short end of the stick as well. Personally I think it is poetic justice; DU got a win they may not deserved as the result of a bad call by an on ice official. Mike Eaves could use this as a way to fire up his troops in the game against the Pioneers. Personally I think DU gets a nice draw in playing the Wisconsin Badgers and they should have no trouble dispatching of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin

Kyle Okposo's first NHL goal

I was wondering how long it would take? It also couldn't have happen against a better team than to have Kyle Okposo score his first goal against Sioux7's favorite team.

Olshansky on T.J. Oshie being a Hobey Baker Candidate

Seems as if our friend Elliot Olshansky is a little shocked about Oshie being selected for the Hobey Baker. While I do think Oshie is a good candidates I think the Hobey Baker committee has no intentions of giving the award to a North Dakota player this season. It wouldn't matter if Oshie had 50 goals or Jean-Philippe Lamoureux had 10 shut outs the award is going to go to a player from the CCHA or Hockey East.

T.J. Oshie, North Dakota: Is anyone else amused that after all the hand-wringing over whether Nathan Gerbe should be considered for the award after his one-game suspension in the fall for an on-ice incident, he’s joined among the finalists by a player who was arrested this season? There’s no denying that Oshie is a great player, but if I’m a Michigan fan, I am livid right now, because this looks - shall we say, “interesting?” - in the wake of last season’s T.J. Hensick saga, not to mention the fact that Oshie beat out a very worthy Chad Kolarik, among others, for this spot. Is anyone else amused that after all the hand-wringing over whether Nathan Gerbe should be considered for the award after his one-game suspension in the fall for an on-ice incident, he’s joined among the finalists by a player who was arrested this season? There’s no denying that Oshie is a great player, but if I’m a Michigan fan, I am livid right now, because this looks - shall we say, “interesting?” - in the wake of last season’s T.J. Hensick saga, not to mention the fact that Oshie beat out a very worthy Chad Kolarik, among others, for this spot.

OK, enough of the controversy, although I maintain that I’m very surprised by the pick. Oshie is a great player at both ends of the ice, a player whose worth isn’t truly captured by his healthy numbers, and one of the biggest reasons that the Fighting Sioux are where they are right now. Not only that, he was part of the celebrated pact in the offseason that brought Oshie, 2007 Hobey winner Ryan Duncan, Joe Finley and Taylor Chorney back to Grand Forks. In this era of widespread early NHL signings, the sort of commitment that those players showed and the follow-through that Oshie and his mates have delivered deserve to be rewarded.

UND 4 C.C. 2

The UND Fighting Sioux regained some momentum it lost yesterday by resoundingly beating the C.C. Tigers 4-2 in the third place game for the Final Five. In the past we have heard how the third place game is a meaningless game and there is no reason to play it. This afternoon that couldn't be further from the truth as the Sioux locked up a number one seed with the win against WCHA regular season champion C.C. today, now the Sioux have to wait to see where they go next. Seems as if the Lets Go DU hockey blogger has taken great pleasure in the Tigers losing both its game in the WCHA Final Five this weekend.



Box Score

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1st Period (20:00)
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NDK-1 Taylor Chorney (2-Boarding) CC 0x1 2:40
CC 1 - 0 6x6 Chad Rau (28) (Mike Testwuide) 7:56
CC (+): 14,25,7,4,21,G30 NDK (-): 4,28,16,14,7,G1
CC-1 Jack Hillen (2-Holding) NDK 0x1 8:13
NDK-2 T.J. Oshie (2-Slashing) CC 0x2 9:24
CC-2 Ryan Lowery (2-Tripping) NDK 1x2 17:27
NDK 1 - 1 6x5 PP T.J. Oshie (18) (Taylor Chorney, Chris VandeVelde) 19:20
NDK: 7,4,29,28,16,G1 CC: 21,4,7,14,G30

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2nd Period (20:00)
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CC-3 Kris Fredheim (2-DELAY OF GAME) NDK 2x3 3:48
NDK 2 - 1 6x5 PP LL Chris VandeVelde (15) (Taylor Chorney, T.J. Oshie) 5:01
NDK: 29,4,7,28,16,G1 CC: 14,8,26,11,G30
NDK-3 Brad Malone (2-Kneeing) CC 0x3 8:10
CC-4 Jack Hillen (2-Interference) NDK 3x4 10:09
NDK 3 - 1 6x5 PP GW Chay Genoway (7) (Jake Marto, Brad Malone) 10:27
NDK: 5,25,8,10,14,G1 CC: 9,10,11,7,G30
CC-5 Nate Prosser (2-Slashing) NDK 3x5 12:28
NDK-4 Kyle Radke (2-Hooking) CC 1x4 15:06
CC 2 - 3 6x5 PP Jimmy Kilpatrick (15) (Brian Connelly, Ryan Lowery) 16:36
CC: 11,23,14,24,26,G30 NDK: 2,5,7,16,G1

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3rd Period (20:00)
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CC-6 Nate Prosser (2-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) NDK 3x6 2:45
NDK-5 Brad Miller (2-Roughing) 4:21
CC-7 Scott Thauwald (2-Roughing) 4:21
NDK 4 - 2 6x6 Darcy Zajac (3) (Kyle Radke, Jake Marto) 10:02
NDK (+): 11,26,25,6,21,G1 CC (-): 23,24,19,16,11,G30
CC-8 Nate Prosser (2-DELAY OF GAME) NDK 3x7 10:44
Timeout - Colorado College 18:35

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End of Game

Roseville = Safe-ville (Sioux 7)

Friday morning, the snow is falling the Goon and Sioux 7 are having a drink for breakfast. You know, Captian Morgan is the new Breakfast of Champions, sorry wheaties ;) We get up and get showered, so we don't stink, too bad we couldn't say the same for our team yesterday. So anyway, I go out to my SUV and start dusting off the snow. The Goon and the rest of the gang come out, we load up and head to downtown St. Paul. We are there all day, meanwhile back at the hotel, the Goon left our hotel room door OPEN. To our suprise when we get back, the room has not be touched by anyone, include the maids. So we have decided to rate Roseville the safest suburb in the USA. Just think yesterday I was wondering why everything shut down at 10pm, oops. Everything in Roseville is just rosie today, but today, we will shut our door before we go to St. Paul, and not temp fate a second time.

Friday's pictures from the Final Five.

Here are some pictures from day two of the final five. I must admit that my pictures are not as good as the pictures from the stalkerazzi camera and I have seen the camera it is an impressive digital camera. When I was in school I also didn't do very well in my visual arts classes. :)

So if there is a hockey Jesus, I guess that makes Parise the hockey God?

Some one has to tell Pat M to smile. Craig Dahl got a pretty good reception when he showed up at the Great Waters Brewery. I recommend their steak sand which and their beer is absolutely amazing especially the dark ones.

12.7 second left.

Here is the goal that put the Gophers in the semis.

The Anthony Maiani goal that buried the Sioux

I have to give credit where credit is due, that was a hell of a goal that buried my favorite team. That was a hell of goal.

DU 3 and UND 1

Tomorrow C.C. Tigers and the Fighting Sioux play in the third place game of the WCHA Final Five, this is because both the top seed were bounced by their opponents in the semi final games. The Gophers defying the odds beat the C.C. Tigers in a single over time and the Fighting Sioux looked listless in early game losing to the Denver Pioneers. It would be an understatment to say that the early game was a boring game that lacked little if any excitement as the Denver Pioneers had all the answers for the the Fighting Sioux. I do know if the Sioux play like this next weekend their season will be over before it starts.


Scoring/Penalties

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1st Period (20:00)
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DEN-1 Matt Glasser (2-Boarding) NDK 0x1 1:57
DEN-2 Chris Butler (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 2:32
NDK-1 Derrick LaPoint (2-Holding) DEN 0x1 9:30
DEN-3 Tyler Bozak (2-Hooking) NDK 0x3 18:39
DEN-4 Andrew Thomas (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
DEN-5 Chris Butler (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
DEN-6 Peter Mannino (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) (Served by Brandon Vossberg) 19:01
DEN-7 Peter Mannino (2-Slashing) (Served by Matt Glasser) NDK 0x4 19:01
NDK-2 Chay Genoway (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
NDK-3 T.J. Oshie (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
NDK-4 Chris VandeVelde (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01

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2nd Period (20:00)
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NDK-5 Joe Finley (2-Slashing) DEN 1x2 4:50
DEN 1 - 0 6x5 PP Rhett Rakhshani (14) (Patrick Mullen, Tyler Bozak) 5:58
DEN: 9,7,21,19,4,G29 NDK: 4,5,17,20,G1
NDK-6 Taylor Chorney (2-Slashing) DEN 1x3 15:42
NDK-7 Joe Finley (2-Slashing) DEN 1x4 18:45

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3rd Period (20:00)
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NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Taylor Chorney (3) (Darcy Zajac, Jake Marto) 6:16
NDK (+): 4,11,25,28,22,G1 DEN (-): 12,25,14,4,16,G29
DEN 2 - 1 6x6 GW LL Anthony Maiani (7) (unassisted) 18:40
DEN (+): 16,14,5,7,21,G29 NDK (-): 2,5,11,10,8,G1
Timeout - North Dakota 18:40
DEN 3 - 1 6x6 EN Matt Glasser (6) (Tyler Ruegsegger) 19:54
DEN (+): 17,15,9,4,8,G29 NDK (-): 5,28,29,7,17,16

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End of Game
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Jeff Dubay of FSN/KFAN 1130 wearing a Fighting Sioux hat!

This is one of these pictures that you just have to share. That's right folks Gopher rube and KFAN personality Jeff Dubay wearing a Sioux hat. I guess we always thought he was a closet Sioux fan. A couple of weeks ago he was wearing a SCSU Huskie tie during a hockey broadcast. What next Joe Finley jersey? That is probably not going to happen.

Play-in Game Recap (Sioux 7)

Maybe it was having seats too close to the ice or maybe the refs finally read the rules book. The SCSU and UM game last night actually was reffed exceptionally well, in my opinion. It could also be that I don't have my green Sioux glass on, or the fact that I wasn't drinking (I had to drive us home after the game). I just hope that the reffing is like that the rest of the play-offs, they got most of the calls right. What suprised my was that both teams had 5x3 power plays, I can hardly recall more than once that happened for UND in a game.

I wonder if SCSU was laying off, only wanting to play one game this weekend and rest up for the NCAA tourney... I was also suprised at the lack of physical play, for a while I thought I was watching the womens game, no checking. I think I could count the number of hits on one hand. The only good hit was when Bickel got taken hard into the end boards in the 3rd period. I didn't notice any fatigue factor on the side of the Gophers, we will see if they show any signs of fatigue on Friday night versus the Tigers.

On a side note, after leaving the X and going back to the hotel, it is hard to understand a city of more than a couple million people that so many restuarants close at 10pm, and so do the liquor stores, whats up with that!

Conspiracy theorists in the CCHA.

I saw this article on the blog that Yost built first and I think the black Helicopter is circling at the Joe in Detroit. You have to check this article from the NMU out. I think Michigan is going to beat NMU because they are a better team, I don't think the refs are going to have much of an impact on the game.

On offense, no one can claim that they are as good as Michigan. Senior Kevin Porter should be easily the Hobey Baker winner. If not, then the NCAA is a bunch of crooked goons. He sports fantastic numbers (28 goals, 28 assists, 56 points) which lead the nation. You’ll see him in the NHL for Phoenix next season. Chad Kolarik is not far behind with 46 points. On defense, Mark Mitera, Carl Hagelin and Chad Langlais are also pretty damn good. The only true weakness really comes down to grit and toughness. All hockey players are tough. But with all this talent and speed, the brain becomes conditioned to playing pretty. So if a team can rough these boys up, then the Wolverines can be pushed around and challenged.

HOWEVER, the key is the refs. We’re not going to mention the Ref by name at the Berry Events Center last fall when NMU and Michigan played. I know this site complains about the refs, but after you read this story, you will know why. Last October, two eye-witnesses saw the Ref in the locker room prior to the NMU-Michigan game on Friday night wearing Michigan Wolverine suspenders. That ref then proceeded to call 10 penalties on NMU, giving Michigan 9 powerplays to NMU’s 5. This was at home mind you. Fans were irate and sick with what was being called. Fortunately, Yoopers are kind souls and easy-going otherwise this Ref would have had the snot kicked out of him in Motown or New York City. SO, next time you don’t believe in CCHA Ref conspiracy, think of this story. This is not a CCHA Democracy, it is a dictatorship of Michigan and Michigan State.

End of the season awards

Top 10 Hobey Baker Finalists

The 10 finalists are:

Nathan Gerbe, Jr, F, Boston College
Ryan Jones, Sr, F, Miami
Kevin Porter, Sr, F, Michigan
Jeff Lerg, Jr, G, Michigan State
Lee Jubinville, Jr, F, Princeton
Simon Lambert, Sr, F, RIT
Ryan Lasch, So, F, St. Cloud State
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Sr, G, North Dakota
T.J. Oshie, Jr, F, North Dakota
Kevin Regan, Sr, G, New Hampshire

Congratulations to Oshie and Lamoureux. My prediction for the Hobey Hat Trick will be Lamoureux, Jones and Porter.

Fighting Sioux players on All-WCHA Team(s)

First Team

F T.J. Oshie, Jr., North Dakota (27 gp, 12-17—29)
D Taylor Chorney, Jr., North Dakota (28 gp, 2-14—16)

All-WCHA Second Team

F Ryan Duncan, Jr., North Dakota (28 gp, 9-19—28)
D Chay Genoway, So., North Dakota (23 gp, 5-13—18)
G Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Sr., North Dakota (18-7-3, 1.74 gaa, .929 sv%)

All-WCHA Third Team

D Robbie Bina, Sr., North Dakota (28 gp, 1-16—17)

There was much discussion over how many Sioux players would be selected to be on the All WCHA team(s). When your team gets second or first in the conference your team is going to get a fair number of players on the first three teams. From looking at the various teams the Fighting Sioux did put a fair number of players on the first three teams. I am surprised that Mannino getting third team over Zacharias?

4 Mike Zacharias Minnesota State 2.08 .924
7 Peter Mannino Denver 80 2.26 .916

Gophers 3 Huskies 2

Tonight's game between the SCSU Huskies and the Minnesota Gophers was for the most part an pretty exciting hockey game that featured a lot of up and down the ice offensive action, almost the race horse hockey that many in the WCHA have come to love. To say the least it was nice to see the return of of hockey with a focuse on offensive and less on the defensive side. I was affraid going into the game that it was going to be a bit of a yawner.

Surprisingly; during tonight's game referee Derrick Shepherd unexpectedly found his whistle again as he called an amazing 17 penalties during hockey game. There were 9 penalties whistled against the Gophers and 8 whistled against the Huskies. I am not sure there were 17 penalties called all of last weekend between the Mavericks and the Gophers.

I was surprised at the score of this game as I thought the Huskies would have run the Gophers out of the building. Seriously, common sense would have told me that the Gophers would have been tired after playing almost 5 games last weekend. The Gopher found their legs, won the game and will get the 7:00 pm game tomorrow night. I guess we won't get to see if there is actually still the Gophers rule this season.


Box Score

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1st Period (20:00)
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MIN 1 - 0 6x6 Tony Lucia (7) (Evan Kaufmann, Derek Peltier) 0:25
MIN (+): 12,5,20,22,19,G33 STC (-): 26,9,12,21,24,G33
MIN-1 Mike Howe (2-Tripping) STC 0x1 6:05
STC-1 Andreas Nodl (2-CHARGING THE GOALIE) 6:27
MIN-2 Ben Gordon (2-Hooking) STC 1x2 7:00
STC 1 - 1 5x4 PP Garrett Raboin (2) (Ryan Lasch, Aaron Brocklehurst) 7:33
STC: 7,19,21,9,G33 MIN: 5,20,16,G33
MIN-3 Stu Bickel (2-Hooking) STC 1x3 7:49
STC-2 Chris Anderson (2-Slashing) MIN 0x1 12:02
MIN-4 Jay Barriball (2-Hooking) STC 1x4 16:30

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2nd Period (20:00)
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STC-3 Michael Olson (2-Tripping) MIN 1x2 3:12
STC-4 Brent Borgen (2-Elbowing) MIN 1x3 3:12
MIN 2 - 1 6x4 PP Evan Kaufmann (9) (Blake Wheeler, Cade Fairchild) 4:35
MIN: 19,17,28,26,13,G33 STC: 13,24,7,G33
MIN-5 Patrick White (2-Cross-Checking) 8:10
STC-5 Aaron Brocklehurst (2-Interference) 8:10
STC-6 Ryan Lasch (2-Diving) MIN 1x4 8:10
MIN-6 Ryan Flynn (2-Slashing) STC 1x5 12:40
MIN-7 Tony Lucia (2-Hooking) STC 1x6 13:06
MIN-8 Cade Fairchild (2-Roughing) 15:36
STC-7 John Swanson (2-Roughing) 15:36
MIN-9 Mike Carman (2-Tripping) STC 1x7 18:34

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3rd Period (20:00)
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STC 2 - 2 6x6 Tony Mosey (5) (Ryan Lasch, Garrett Raboin) 15:34
STC (+): 27,19,24,12,28,G33 MIN (-): 7,17,13,6,2,G33
STC-8 Nick Oslund (2-Goaltender Interference) MIN 1x5 15:50
MIN 3 - 2 6x6 GW LL Mike Howe (6) (Derek Peltier, David Fischer) 19:47
MIN (+): 24,20,5,16,11,G33 STC (-): 10,21,13,24,12,G33
Timeout - St. Cloud State 19:47

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End of Game

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Pictures from tonight's game.

The SCSU Huskies mascot

Starting them out early in life.

Someone asked me tonight how the Goon's daughter is doing? Well we are already working on her hockey allegiances, she hates the goofs and loves the Sioux. Abby is also growing up as a NHL hockey fan

Here is a stat that I am sure makes DG happy.

WCHA Final Five Preview**No. 1 Colorado College (28-9-1)
Last Broadmoor: Never

You would think with C.C. storied history that the Tigers would have won a Broadmoor Throphy at least once. Even SCSU has a Broadmoor.

Gophers and Huskies (game preview)

First off Goon's world wishes Gophers senior forward Tom Pohl a speedy recovery; also I would ask that we keep both Pohl and Mavericks forward Jason Wiley in our thoughts and prayers. Both players need our moral support at this tough time. First off Hockey is a game and we never want to see opposition players hurt and or injured. We are human beings and not combatants.


Since October 2005 the SCSU Huskies have a impressive record of 5-1-3 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. That stat probably means nothing tomorrow night other the Gophers haven't beat the Huskies in 2 1/5 years. This should be a competative game from the drop of the first puck to the last wistle. Both teams have good goaltenders that have put up some pretty impressive numbers as of late. Jase Weloski shut out the Wisconsin Badgers 3-0 on 3-14-2008 and Alex Kangas was the difference in the Gophers series against Minnesota State Mankato.

Offensively the Huskies are lead by

R. Lasch 25-26-51
G. Roe 18-26-44
A. Nodl 18-26-44
J. Swanson 8-14-22
N. Dey 10-11-21

In goal the Huskies are lead by

Jase Weslosky 16-11-2 2.09




If you look at the stats offensively for both teams it would appear that the Huskies are going to run the Golden Gophers out of the Xcel Energy Center. The offensive minded SCSU Huskies are lead by a powerful trio of players; Nodl, Lasch, Roe. On the other side of the ice the offensively challenged Gophers have Wheeler and Ben Gordon.

So how big a difference is there in the offensive numbers? Minnesota is scoring an anemic 2.46 goals a game; however, SCSU isn't doing all that much better averaging 3.03 goals a game.

Offensively the Gophers are lead by

B. Wheeler 15-18-33
B. Gordon 14-14-28
J. Barriball 6-14-20
M. Howe 5-13-18
D. Peltier 4-14-18

In Net the Gophers are led by

Alex Kangas 10-8-9 1.95
Jeff "Long Island" Frazee 6-7-0 2.93

Prediction SCSU wins the game 3-1. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the Gophers lose the rest of their hockey games this season.

Get Well Tom Pohl (HeidiSioux62)

Get Well Tom
On Sunday night a horrible accident occurred in the Minnesota/Mankato playoff game. An accident that brought back horrific memories to Sioux fans of Robbie Bina crumpling to the ice after breaking his neck during a game.
Tom Pohl of Minnesota was checked into the boards, his helmet came off and he hit his unprotected head on the boards and ice and suffered a very severe skull fracture. This was an incident that terrifies all hockey parents, family, friends, coaches and fans. Hockey is a very rough sport and all of us who have someone we care about playing the game has the fear tucked into the back of our minds that something like this may happen. Fortunately, these accidents are rare, but when they do happen, it causes us to pause and say “but for the Grace of God …”.

Tom,

I just wanted to let you know that I, along with many, many others are praying for you and wishing you a speedy recovery. This Sioux fan has been thinking of you often and I was very encouraged to read this morning that your condition has been upgraded and you have been moved out of ICU. It doesn’t matter that you may play for an arch rival’s team because if you play hockey, you are “one of the family.” Get well soon.
HeidiSioux

While most of the attention has rightfully been directed towards Tom, his family and his injury, someone that may be overlooked in this incident is Jason Wiley. Jason is the player who checked Tom. From what I could see watching the play, the hit was not malicious or done with the intent to injure (unlike the hit that occurred previously in a similar instance). From all accounts, Jason appears to be sincerely remorseful and extremely shaken up by the hit (again, unlike the player involved in the previous incident). This shows great compassion and heart, and I would like to encourage Jason to seek out all the help and support he can find from his family, friends, coaches and teammates to assist him in dealing with this situation. I would also like Jason to know that this Sioux fan is not only thinking of and praying for Tom Pohl, but also for him.

From the Final Five Media Guide.

This is from the Media guide for this weekend's tourney.
Fighting Sioux
University of North Dakota

North Dakota (25-9-4 overall) is headed to the 2008 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., to take on Denver (24-13-1 overall) at 2:07 p.m. Friday in the tournament semifinals … UND is the No. 2 seed,
while Denver is the No. 3 seed …

~UND advanced by beating Michigan Tech 2-1 on Sunday in the third game of the teams’ WCHA first round playoff series… the Sioux won the first game of the series 4-0 on Friday, and Michigan Tech won the second game 3-2 in overtime on Saturday …

~this weekend’s Final Five appearance will be the sixth in a row for the Fighting Sioux … it will be UND’s 11th appearance in the past 12 years and 12th appearance in the 16-year history of the Final Five in its current format … the No. 2 seed is UND’s highest since the Sioux were seeded No. 1 in 2004 … this will be the second time the Sioux have been seeded No. 2 in the last 16 years … the Sioux have been the top seed five times, the No. 3 seed twice, the No. 4 seed once and the No. 5 seed twice …

~North Dakota has won the Final Five tournament three times – in 1997 as a No. 1 seed, in 2000 as the No. 2 seed and in 2006 as the No. 3 seed … UND is 13-8 in its previous 11 appearances at the Final Five … last year UND defeated St. Cloud State 6-2 in the semifinals and then lost to Minnesota 3-2 in overtime in the championship game …

~UND’s all-time overall WCHA playoff record is 77-57-7 in 141 games for a winning percentage of .571 … the Sioux have won eight WCHA playoff titles in their history (1967, 1968, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1997, 2000 and 2006) … UND has now won 11 consecutive home first round playoff series …

~the Sioux and Denver have met just twice previously at the Final Five, with the Pioneers winning both of those games…

~Denver beat the Sioux 4-3 in the 1999 Final Five championship game and 2-1 in overtime in the 2005 Final Five semifinals …

~the Sioux were 3-1 against Denver this season … the teams split a Nov. 30-Dec. 1 series in Denver (1-0 Denver win, 3-1 UND win) and UND swept a Feb. 15-16 series in Grand Forks (5-4 and 4-1 UND wins) … UND has won four of their past five games against Denver …

~the Sioux are 1-6 all-time against the Pioneers on neutral ice … last weekend UND extended its unbeaten streak to a school-record 18 games (15-0-3) and home unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2) with a 4-0 Friday win over Michigan Tech … goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Sr., Grand Forks, N.D.) posted his sixth shutout of the season and the 10th of his career in the game by stopping all 14 Tech shots …

~four different players scored for the Sioux, including forwards Ryan Duncan (Jr., Calgary, AB), T.J. Oshie (Jr., Warroad, Minn.), Darcy Zajac (So., Winnipeg, MB) and Andrew Kozek (Jr., Sicamous, BC) … Oshie and Duncan each added an assist on Friday, while defenseman Chay Genoway (So., Morden, MB) had two assists … UND’s overall and home unbeaten streaks came to an end last Saturday when the Huskies tied the game 2-2 on a Tyler Shelast goal with :05.5 seconds left and then won on a Shelast goal 1:59 into overtime …

~each of UND’s last three losses (Dec. 29 to New Hampshire, Jan. 4 to St. Cloud State and Friday against Michigan Tech) had similarities in that the Sioux had two-goal leads in all three contests and also had second period leads in all three games before eventually losing … last Saturday marked the first time since Nov. 24, 1979, that an opponent tied a game against UND in the final minute and then won in overtime … Michigan State did it in the 1979 game, tying it 4-4 with :12 seconds left and then winning 5-4 in overtime …

~scoring for the Sioux in their 3-2 loss to Michigan Tech were forwards Brad Miller (Jr., Alpharetta, GA) and Matt Frattin (Fr., Edmonton, AB), who each also assisted on the other’s goal … on Sunday, Shelast gave Michigan Tech a 1-0 lead, but Oshie scored his second and third goals of the series to lift the Sioux to the win … Oshie now has a team-best 17 goals on the season, one more than Kozek …

~Oshie’s game-winner was the 16th of his career, moving him all alone into second place on the all-time school list, two behind school record holder Mark Taylor (1976-80).

Silly season continues: Michael-Lee Teslak gone at MTU

MeanEgirl wasn't lying when she said that Teslak was as good as gone at MTU over on Siouxsports.com. Today we find out that Michael-Lee Teslak will forgo his senior season with Michigan Tech to sign a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyer's.

This is bad for the MTU Huskies and in a way it is bad for the WCHA because they will lose another top player. Not bad for the Sioux because they won't have to face him anymore. Goon's world wishes Michael-Lee Teslak the very best at the next level. It is not unfathomable to think that Teslak should get a chance to play in Philly because they have gotten some really poor goaltending as of late. I should know because I had Biron as my goaltender in fantasy hockey.

It also appears that the story on College Hockey News about Teslak's facebook entry had some truth to it as well...

While we are talking about early departures

Here is an interesting story that I found on line. I think the NCAA has to be careful because if they push this too far with the NHL they risk pushing away some of the top recruits that would have gone the college route.

NCAA to look at Hockey Departures

In today’s Portland Press Herald, Jenn Menendez writes about the recent departures in college hockey. It begin with the uproar over Kyle Okposo leaving the University of Minnesota for the New York Islanders in December. I find it ironic that this was released on Ojposo’s debut. The NCAA wants to build a partnership with the NHL so departures like this don’t happen again. The NCAA is going after the wrong organization. Excluding underclassman that leave after their NCAA season is over, Okposo is the only player in recent memory to leave for the NHL mid season. The up roar of the signing went through the roof in Minnesota. The signing had one sports talk host in Minneapolis (Puffy)to call in sick and in tears. I found this so funny. First I had no sympathy for the Golden Gophers for losing Okposo. This loss won’t affect Minnesota in the long run. I don’t agree with Okposo’s decision but Minnesota has other talent. They are a five star program and hasn’t lost there recruits. Sure there season was a middle of the road but are still in the playoffs.

Who should the NCAA make a partnership with? The Canadian Hockey League. There are more mid season departures to the CHL then the NHL/AHL. The CHL lures college talent to cross the border for more playing time. Like I said above I don’t have sympathy for the five star programs because they are all set for the next three years with top notch recruits. I do have sympathy for the mid major teams. Bowling Green had a five star goalie recruit in Josh Unice. In August before school starts he signs with the Memorial Cup hosts, the Kitchener Rangers. Where’ was the uproar there? The Rangers new all the long they wanted Steve Mason who was with the London Knights at the beginning of the year. They finally got him in a trade in January. Unice is now the back up. They stole Unice from Bowling Green. The only only player that I know of that departed for major juniors this season was Ryan Hayes who signed with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. He started the year with Boston College. Last season there were a few more.
-------snip-------
If the NCAA wants to have an agreement with the NHL to have kids stay longer, you can kiss all the top players good bye. The agreement wouldn’t work because current players will jump to the CHL. Some NHL teams will tell their draft picks to go that route to. It will hurt development of the US development system. The National Team Development Program could suffer where players would jump to the CHL at 16 instead of waiting a year or two if they haven’t decided if they would play college hockey or junior hockey. The United States Hockey League would lose their top players and maybe join the Canadian Hockey League to retain their top players. If that happens the North American Hockey League would be stronger though because the players who haven’t gotten drafted in the NHL would play there until they head to college. The NCAA and the NHL shouldn’t have an NBA rule and force kids to stay in college against their will. Because it will destroy hockey development in the United States.

The NHL latest thugs of the week.

Here are the latest acts of thuggery in the NHL. Repeat offender Chris Pronger will miss 8 games (the rest of the Ducks regular season games) for his skate stomp on Ryan Kesler's leg. Seems this act earned another repeat offender 30 games, I wonder why the disparity?

Pens tough guy Georges Laraque earns three days on the beach for his vicious elbow on Buffalo Sabres player Nathan Paetsch.

FINAL 5 - This Week in the WCHA (Sioux 7)

The first round of the WCHA playoffs have come and gone, WOW, where some of those games fun to watch or what! CC, DU, and SCSU swept their series, while UND and UM played 3-games before prevailing in those series. The Final 5 starts this Thursday at 7pm in St. Paul, with the "play-in" game.

The Thursday night tilt will feature the SCSU Huskies versus the UM Gophers (SCSU will be the home teams, since they are the 4th seed, UM is the 5th seed). SCSU has had an extra day of rest compared to the Gophers, not counting all the overtime minutes the UM had to play at MSUM last weekend. I'm thinking this game will be SCSU's top line players (Roe, Lasch, Nodl) versus the UM defense, mainly Kangas. Whoever wins that battle will most likely win the game. If SCSU gets an early lead I think they will win the game, since it will force the UM to play an up-tempo game and the fatigue factor will come into play.
F5 PLAY-IN GAME WINNER - SCSU.

On a side note, everyone here at Goon's World are sending our prayers and well wishes to Mr. Pohl, and his family. We all hope that he will make a full and complete recovery from his tragecic head injuries, suffered on Sunday nights game, and be back to full strength in the near future.

Friday afternoons game, 2pm, will feature the the number 2 and 3 seeds, UND and DU. The question is this, "has DU gotten back to first half form?" The Pioneers have got some wins lately, but they have been against the bottom teams in the league. On the other hand UND is still on a hot streak, granted MTU ended their 18 game unbeaten streak, but 19-1-3 is not bad... Both goalies have been playing great as of late, so this could be a low scoring affair, on the other hand both teams have plenty of offense as well, so something has to give.
F5 SEMI-FINAL GAME #1 WINNER - UND

Friday nights game, 7pm, will have the UM/SCSU winner playing CC, the number 1 seed. The Tigers have been a steady eddie team all year. How will CC's freshman goalie Bachman hold up under the BIG TOP? I'm thinking that SCSU will put the pressure on CC's defense and try to outscore the Tigers, in what will be a bit of a shot-out. IF the UM wins and plays the Tigers, I think it will be more of a defensive struggle, with UM suffering from 5+ games in 7 days.
F5 SEMI-FINAL GAME #2 WINNER(S) - CC over UM, SCSU over CC

I'm not going to put up predictions on the Title and 3rd place games until late Friday, or early Saturday. We'll see how good (or bad) these three predictions turn out to be :)

The Goon, Sioux 7, and friends, will be invading the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area around noon on Thursday. We will try and give everyone game recaps and predicts everyday of the Final 5. The Goon has a laptop, I don't :( but I'm sure he will share with me :)

Kyle Okposo reporting for duty on the Long Island

New York Islanders photo
The much anticipated NHL debut of Kyle Okposo is upon us. Kyle's debut is going to take place tomorrow night when the Islanders and the Leafs play on long island. I wonder if there will be a lot of Gopher fans tuning in to see him play? I am going to try and tune in because it will be interesting to see how he will do. Since leaving the Minnesota Gophers in mid-Season Kyle has been developing his game in Bridge Port of the AHL.

Okposo scored eight goals and added 16 assists in 29 games in the AHL. After earning an assist in Bridgeport's victory on Saturday night, Sound Tigers coach Jack Capuano gave him the news that he was headed to the NHL.

KYLE'S FIRST SKATE--read the whole story here

Islanders 2006 first-round draft pick Kyle Okposo practices on a line with Park and Comeau at Islanders Iceworks. Donning jersey No. 21, Kyle Okposo took to the ice at Islanders Iceworks in Syosset, Monday afternoon, signifying his first step onto the NHL scene.

Today, Okposo joined his fourth team of the season after playing for the University of Minnesota to begin the 2007-08 campaign and representing the United States at the World Junior Championship. While in the Czech Republic, Okposo signed with the Islanders, and next suited up for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he recorded 24 points in 29 games. His final destination…Long Island.

"It feels pretty good being out there in my first NHL practice," said Okposo, following today's practice. "Knowing a few guys (from Bridgeport) I felt a little more comfortable today. The guys have been awesome and have taken me under their wing. The guys have been great."

Wearing an orange jersey, Okposo skated on a line with Richard Park and Blake Comeau, fitting in seamlessly with his older counterparts. Comeau, at 22, is the closest in age to 19-year old Okposo. But the age discrepancy was hardly noticeable as the talented Okposo impressed the coaching staff with his skill and maturity.

"He's an exceptional player that we're looking forward to see play at the NHL level," said head coach Ted Nolan. "There are certain players who have that instinct. He doesn't just skate and shoot the puck well, he also has that great hockey sense. Kyle has all of the ingredients good players have. We wanted to start him on a line with one of our most reliable guys in Richard Park. And considering Blake Comeau has good hockey sense, the three of them should form a pretty good line out there."

Another links to this story

Not all is well between Snow and Islander coach Ted Nolan. I am personally not surprised after watching how Snow acted during the whole Okposo mess. I have never been a fan of Garth Snow always thought the "Snowman" was a cry baby and a loose canon when he played in the NHL.

The coming of Kyle Okposo was the worst kept secret on the Isles in the last week or so. We all knew it was going to happen. Back when I, with my fellow blog boxers, questioned Garth Snow, who kindly allowed us a special session after we had already been in on the press questions, the question was broached. "Will be see Okposo before the season was out?"

Very possible, was the answer, and it showed Garth's general interest and excitement with a youth movement.

And in lieu of the Isles tailspin into the NHL season ether, with more rumors of a fracture within the team between Nolan and Snow. Albeit these are just rumors, but they seem to be coming at a steady stream now. Was Nolan's touch so golden? Did Garth Snow make more decisions, if not all, back over the summer? Are sides suddenly being taken?

Of course, the fact that they are wrought with injuries and a shell of themselves these days, does not help. The freefall in the standings now has many fans now more excited about what draft pick we'll get this offseason. So, is pressure is mounting within the Isles? There have been no clear words otherwise to stem a rumormill tide that is turning towards some sort of action. Whether to staunchly discount those rumors, or to make definitive changes.

So, while all this is happening, perhaps, is it any wonder why OkposoMania is running wild? I half expect Kyle to come out, rip off his t-shirt and then cup his ears to each side of the rink for cheers from eager OkposoManiacs.

A few things.

Wow, what an ending to the Fighting Sioux and Michigan Tech WCHA playoff series, here is some footage of the end of game three. It really was that close right down to the end.

Game ending goal

Here is the game ending goal between the Minnesota State University Mavericks and the Gophers. From what I can see on the (poor) video it almost appears that the Mankato player kicked the puck into his own net. I do feel bad for the Mavericks I think they are tough, well rounded hockey team that deserves to be in the NCAA tourney based on who they beat and their strength of schedule. There is a good chance the Mavericks will be in the NCAA tourney Cheer against Northern Michigan, Harvard and Notre Dame. If some of the other bubble teams don't win this weekend there is a good chance they are in.

The Blog that Yost built breaks it down:

-Looking very strong for Mankato to get in barring an upset in one of the title games. Making the title game isn't good enough for BU. They're going to need the autobid if they want to get in.

That being said, the 2nd overtime period last night was nothing short of unbelievable, I was sitting on the edge of my Ottoman during the whole overtime. Mankato had its own chances to end the game minutes before the game ending bubble bursting goal. In my opinion Mankato is a sniper away from being one of the top teams in the WCHA.

They said what? According to the FSN Arizona boys; Michigan super star senior forward Kevin Porter a Hobey candidate/finalist played on the defending national champions team last season. Really, I thought Michigan State won the NCAA tourney. Michigan was eliminated in the region of death last season by by North Dakota.

The Pollsters think UND is worthy of dropping in the polls. UND is 4th in the USCHO/CSTV, 5th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll. The only poll that really matters is the PWR.

Here is an interesting perspective/comment that I found over on Brad's blog. I have to say I agree with what is said here.

I agree with you on Thul. In fact, a number of us were saying that about Thul when he reffed the Sioux games in Duluth. He is the only referee I can recall in the WCHA, in recent history, that seemed to have an understanding of what one team was trying to inflict upon the other with hooking and holding and calling the game that way. He did a good job of penalizing both Duluth and Tech for trying to slow us down with obstruction, without attempting to even the penalties up with isolated minor retaliations by the Sioux. To some degree he took bending the rules away from both teams. Russell definitely made the right move requesting the change. It is about time that we have a referee with the instincts and brains to ref the game that way. Especially, when it is clear well in advance of gameday that one team is going to try to use obstruction to slow the other team.

Calling games like this is the way that the WCHA is going to finally protect its star players. Anderson is a ref that will call penalties with no conscience, but he has a tendency to call a lot of legal body checks as penalties, yet let plenty of obstruction go. I do give him credit for cutting Duncan a break on his slash prior to Kerr's misconduct, knowing the beating that Tech was trying to give Duncan.

The rest of them are masters of the obvious and real susceptible to theatrics and at the end of the day go out of their way to make it even. Don Adam is one of the few refs I have seen that can take a good game and turn it into a brawl. How many times have we seen him get in the face of players and coaches? He regularly puts one guy out of a skirmish(and the wrong one)in the box or gives them the extra penalty and then frustrates the players to the point of taking it out on each other because the ref is not doing justice.

I think very few people want a game that is loaded with penalties and few want what Shepherd allowed in Mankato. I believe the true fan really wants a ref that calls infractions that stop scoring opportunities or create scoring opportunities and to penalize team's attempts to control the game through systematic infractions.

Posted by: GDeeton on Monday, March 17 9:43 PM

Check out this sweet versus Comercial; Toews leads it off.

This is a sweet commercial. I think Versus has some really good promos, while it is not ESPN I think the NHL on Versus has come a long way. I am sure most Sioux fans would agree that it is a pretty nice honor to see Jonathon Toews in this commercial with the likes of Lidstrom, Turco and Chara. Man how would he look in a Sioux jersey this season?

Last night the Rookie Jonathan Toews got his 20th goal of the season last night.

Hey Ya; March Madness...

I found this song/video over on YouTube a few days a go and have been whistling this song all day every since. I can’t get this song out of my head. I am not much of a hip-hop/rap kind of guy, I am more of a country and rock and roll fan, never the less, this is an awesome song. Goon and Hip-Hop I know; maybe I am just punch drunk from working 6 overnight shifts in a row with one more overnight shift to go. We started this new schedule at work and this was the first time through it for me. To say the least it has been a death march, but it is almost over, and the fun is about to begin.

Why am I so up beat? This is the best time of the year, its almost spring and nothing beats this time of year it except maybe the opener of Duck hunting season (Ducktober) and the beginning of golf season in the spring.

The NCAA hockey tourney is Hockey's version of March madness. March Bring the NCAA hockey tourney and then the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Every night there is another big game with huge implications. I would liken going to the final five as a religious experience, hockey and beer.

Goon's prediction of who in or not.

It is that time of year again. You are the committee

1 [AQ] Michigan
2 [AQ] New Hampshire
3 Miami (Mm)
4 [AQ] North Dakota (ND)
5 Colorado College
6 Denver (DU)
7t Boston College (BC)
7t St. Cloud State (SC)
9t Michigan State (MS)
9t Clarkson (Ck)
11 Minnesota (Mn)
12t Minnesota State (Mk)
12t Wisconsin (Wi)
14 Notre Dame (Nt)
15 [AQ] Princeton (Pn)
16[AQ] Niagara (Ni)

I still think that 7 teams might be too many for the WCHA; but that is based on my picks from you are the committee. Personally, I don't believe that Wisconsin deserves to be in the tourney by missing the conference tourney and being below .500. Just my opinion. I don't mind the Sioux going to Madison either even if the BADgers are in the tourney.

Whew.... UND punches ticket to St. Paul Sioux 2 MTU 1

When I was looking at the match ups for this weekends WCHA playoff series I thought great we get the Huskies again. As most Sioux fans will tell you the Huskies are never a give me or an easy win and have beaten the 4 Sioux times in the last two seasons. True to form this weekends game were not easy. This weekend's series was way too close for my comfort, and I would have rather the Sioux closed out the Huskies last night. Tonight after the Huskies scored I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack and the feeling continued until the end of the game. I think I am going to start calling the Fighting Sioux the cardiac kids. Tonight the Sioux and Tech played another close tight checking game and got (2) two huge goals from my pick for P.O.Y. in the WCHA T.J. Oshie. How huge was T.J. Oshie this weekend? T.J. Oshie although slowed by injury had another strong weekend chipping in 4 points in the weekend series (3g-1a), Oshie was held scoreless on Saturday night and that may have led to the Sioux failing seal the deal. Not to be over looked also; Ryan Duncan (1g-2a) and Chay Genoway (0g-3a) were solid and had strong weekends as well on the stats sheet.

It would not be an understatement to say that the win(s) against the ever tough Michigan Tech Huskies did not come easy. I have to take my hat off to the Huskies because this series was the stereotypical, hard nosed hockey series as the Sioux were in a dog fight all weekend long. I guess you have to love parity in this league and this is a perfect example of how close our league is any team can win on any day. Every game the players have to strap it on and buckle down to get the wins.

Scoring/Penalties

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MTU-1 Peter Rouleau (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x1 5:01
NDK-1 Ryan Duncan (2-Hooking) MTU 0x1 5:33
MTU 1 - 0 6x6 Tyler Shelast (16) (Alex Gagne) 11:27
MTU (+): 23,18,5,12,14,G29 NDK (-): 2,5,7,14,16,G1
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 T.J. Oshie (16) (Ryan Duncan, Chay Genoway) 14:09
NDK (+): 7,16,14,2,5,G1 MTU (-): 14,12,8,19,16,G29
MTU-2 John Schwarz (2-Roughing) 19:45
NDK-2 Chris VandeVelde (2-Roughing) 19:45

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

NDK 2 - 1 5x5 GW LL T.J. Oshie (17) (Robbie Bina, Taylor Chorney) 0:19
NDK (+): 7,28,4,16,G1 MTU (-): 14,18,12,5,G29
MTU-3 Jimmy Kerr (2-Slashing) NDK 0x2 1:56
MTU-4 Drew Dobson (2-Holding the Stick) 11:41
NDK-3 Ryan Duncan (2-Hooking) 11:41
NDK-4 Joe Finley (2-Interference) MTU 0x2 17:59

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

MTU-5 Jimmy Kerr (10-Misconduct) 10:35
NDK-5 Chay Genoway (2-Holding) MTU 0x3 13:41
Timeout - Michigan Tech 19:33

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


Scores of note

AHA: Air Force 5, Mercyhurst 4 (F in OT)
CHA: Niagara 3, Bemidji State 2 (F)
CCHA: Northern Michigan 3, Michigan State 2 - OT
EZAC: Colgate 3, Clarkson 2 - 2OT Clarkson = Over-rated
WCHA: Gophers 3 - Mavericks 2 (F in 2xOT)

I suppose the league office is excited that their meal ticket made the final five this weekend in St. Paul.

Why is this obstruction holding?

Herald photo by John Stennes Can someone please tell me why this isn't a penalty? Checking the box score from last night's game I do not see John Schwarz's name for holding. This picture is a perfect example of what we have to witness every night in the WCHA. Now I can see why Duncan was getting upset with the officiating. In the NHL if you hand comes off of your stick you are whistled for a penatly.

An interesting stat.

While trying to look for the silver lining in last night loss to the Michigan Tech Huskies, I found this ineresting stat reading Todd Milewski's Ice House blog.

The home team has won Game 1 70 times in 95 chances since the WCHA started playing best-of-three series in 1988. The road team has forced Game 3 only 10times, and won it only once.

All the home teams won the first game of WCHA series last night, with the road teams combining for a grand total four goals (three of them by Minnesota-Duluth, one by Alaska Anchorage).

Turn your back on a rabid dog it will bite you. MTU 3 ND 2 O.T..

Here is what we do know. If you turn your back on a rabid dog or if you push him into a corner he will bite you. While it is pretty much a given that if the playoffs started today (they don't) the Sioux would be in the NCAA tourney. Honestly, I don't think UND wants to sit out it's conference tourney watching the other teams in the league play for the Broadmoor Trophy. Make no mistake about it, there is something to play for. Tonight's loss should refocused the Sioux that slept walked through the third period playing uninspired hockey. Play to the final horn is tonight's lesson; a standard regulation game is 60 minutes long not 59:55. Make no mistake about this MTU is the best 9th place team in college hockey I would take them against; Alaska, Holy Cross, St. Lawrence, Maine any day. Time to show some respect to the Huskies and knock them on their ass.

I looked back and the Sioux went to a third game twice in the past 6 years (Denver University 2003 and Minnesota State 2006) and they were able to prevail. We have seen this before. We have all felt like this before, losing sucks. While I am not happy, the law of averages was going to catch up with the Fighting Sioux, this is th first loss UND has had in 18 games. Now, is a great time for the team to refocus grab some perspective and put the Huskies away. The Fighting Sioux are not unbeatable but they are also not a bad team.


Scoring/Penalties

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK 1 - 0 6x6 Brad Miller (5) (Matt Frattin, Ryan Martens) 4:19
NDK (+): 14,21,6,8,3,G1 MTU (-): 15,9,8,14,25,G29
NDK-1 Chay Genoway (2-Tripping) MTU 0x1 5:25
MTU-1 John Schwarz (2-BROKEN STICK) NDK 0x1 9:15
MTU-2 Jordan Baker (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 11:32
MTU-3 Alex Lord (2-Kneeing) NDK 0x3 14:13
NDK-2 Ryan Duncan (2-Slashing) MTU 0x2 18:56

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

MTU-4 Drew Dobson (2-Holding) NDK 0x4 4:47
MTU-5 John Schwarz (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 6:35
NDK-3 Chris VandeVelde (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 6:35
NDK-4 Robbie Bina (2-Hooking) MTU 0x3 13:32
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 Matt Frattin (4) (Brad Miller) 16:58
NDK (+): 21,14,8,6,3,G1 MTU (-): 7,8,15,10,19,G29

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

NDK-5 Ryan Duncan (2-Holding) MTU 1x4 0:36
MTU 1 - 2 6x5 PP Jimmy Kerr (9) (Geoff Kinrade, Eric Kattelus) 1:19
MTU: 19,12,23,15,14,G29 NDK: 2,5,17,20,G1
MTU-6 Eric Kattelus (2-Hooking) NDK 0x5 10:41
Timeout - Michigan Tech 17:43
MTU-7 Ryan Angelow (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x6 18:04
MTU 2 - 2 5x6 SH EA Tyler Shelast (14) (Jimmy Kerr, Jordan Baker) 19:54
MTU (+): 19,22,5,10,23 NDK (-): 2,4,20,14,17,G1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overtime (10:41)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-6 Chris VandeVelde (2-Hooking) MTU 1x5 1:27
MTU 3 - 2 6x6 GW LL Tyler Shelast (15) (Geoff Kinrade, Peter Rouleau) 10:41
MTU (+): 15,14,19,12,23,G29

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

This makes me smile.

Nothing cheers me up more than watching the Gophers lose a game. This is a better/clearer updated version of the video of last nights goal that vaulted the Mavericks to the drivers seat of the series between the Gophers and the Mavericks. Wow, what a goal. You have to love the Mavericks celebration at the end of that goal.

~Classic Wooger all that 22-2-5 means that is 22-3-5.

Memo to the WCHA refs; you suck.

Returning to a comment that Jess Meyers made this week on ESPN/INCH hockey chat:

Jess Myers: Those topics will certainly be discussed in late April when the coaches and league officials meet in Florida for their annual postseason gathering. A month ago, WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod told me there's growing concern about the officials in terms of the way they're being treated by fans, players, and coaches in the league. Now, yelling at the refs and bad calls have been a part of the game for as long as it has been played on ice, so apparently league officials see something new and disturbing that's worth looking into. As for the way the game is being called, they're still searching for that happy medium between letting everything go and having someone in the penalty box at all times. Still, compare the college game to the ugliness on ice that the NHL (especially in the Western Conference) is so often and I like what I'm seeing in the WCHA.

This video is a perfect example of why the WCHA officials no longer have any credibility or respect from fans, players and coaches. Instead of complaining about the fans being tough on the officials earn that respect and trust back start doing a better job.

Kyle Okposo to make NHL Debute? We will soon find out.

(AP Photo)
It appears that the Kyle Okposo era might begin as soon as next Tuesday night when the islanders play the Toronto Maple Leafs. I might have to tune to see how his NHL debute goes.

BY GREG LOGAN
(read the rest of the story here)
Eight players who have dressed for a game in Bridgeport this season are on the Islanders' current roster. But not the one on whom Islanders fans are pinning their hopes for the future.

That's about to change. No official announcement has been made, but all indications suggest Kyle Okposo, the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft, likely will make his Islanders debut against Toronto Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum.

Okposo left the University of Minnesota in January to sign a three-year entry level deal with the Isles. If he plays 10 NHL games, that deal begins this season. If he plays nine or less, next season is considered the first year of his contract. After the Isles' game Saturday night in Montreal, they will have only nine games left on the schedule, and since they are 13th in the Eastern Conference playoff race, it makes sense to evaluate Okposo against NHL competition to aid planning for next season.

Coach Ted Nolan said it's up to general manager Garth Snow to make the decision, but his smile said it all when asked if he would like to see Okposo come up. "Definitely," Nolan said. "Why not? But he's playing pretty well down there, and maybe a good finish down there [would be best]. He could just ride it out and try to get that team in the playoffs and give him a little taste. But here, it would also be good."

Golden Gophers coach Don Lucia claimed the Islanders pressured Okposo to go pro at the time of his signing. Snow fired back angrily, saying the 6-foot-1, 203-pound right wing could get better coaching and speed his development in the Isles' organization.

It was well-known in Minneapolis that Okposo was unhappy playing for Lucia and was languishing. But in 27 games with Bridgeport, Okposo is off to a solid start with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points. He might not be the finisher the Islanders need at this point, but his playmaking abilities have been impressive and he requires a lot of defensive attention.

Here is some perspective.

It was no doubt the hit on Leo was questionable and a dirty hit. There isn't room in any league for bush league hits to the head like that. The thing that puzzles me the most is that this thug is a going to lose 12,824.21 for missing 3 games. For most of us that is two and a half to three months salary. It is hard to phantom making that kind of money to beat people up in a hockey game.

Stars' Ott Suspended Three Games
TORONTO - Dallas Stars' forward Steve Ott has been suspended for three games, without pay, as a result of delivering a hit to the head of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jordan Leopold during NHL game #1043 on March 9, the National Hockey League announced today.

The incident occurred at 12:31 of the first period. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Ott will forfeit $12,834.21. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Ott will miss Thursday’s game at Detroit, March 15 against Vancouver and March 19 against Anaheim. He will be eligible to return March 22 against Los Angeles

Sioux 4 Huskies 0

Tonight it looked as if the Fighting Sioux found another gear that seemed to be missing from last weekend's series. The Sioux put on a stingy defensive effort to shut out the always though and defensive minded Michigan Tech Huskies. It was half way through the game before the Huskies recorded a single shot on the Fighting Sioux goal.

Tonight also saw the return of two key player that had been injured in previous series. Returning players Chay Genoway and T.J. Oshie were instrumental in leading the Fighting Sioux to a key victory in the first round of the WCHA playoffs against the Michigan Tech Huskies. It was apparent by his body language that Oshie played the entire game in a great deal of pain but his his goal and assist probably did ease some of his pain or at least make it more bearable. In case anyone is counting make that 14 goals for Oshie on the season, who in my opinion is the Player of the Year in the WCHA in my opinion. Call me a homer, or clouded by my kelly green goggles but his worth to this team is priceless...

Zach Jones is a goon?
After going 23 games with out a taking a single penalty, Zach Jones made up for it by taking 3 minor penalties on the evening. Ironically Zach had played penalty free hockey since November 11th; the second game of the November series against the Wisconsin Badgers where he had picked up 14 minutes in penalties. That in it self is an impressive feat due to the fact that Jones is know for being a very physical player.

Read the whole article by Virg FossGRAND FORKS, N.D. — Michigan Tech hockey coach looked up at the scoreboard over Ralph Engelstad Arena after one period tonight and didn't like what he saw, for several reasons.

Not only did his Huskies trail 1-0 in the opening game of the Best-of-3 WCHA playoffs, but the scoreboard showed his Huskies being outshot 14-0.

"To be honest with you, I thought the person doing the shot chart was on crack tonight," Russell said. "It was definitely out to lunch. You can print that, too."

It really didn't matter much as a strong performance by the Sioux led to a 4-0 victory and stretched their school-record and nation-best unbeaten streak to 18 games (15-0-3).

A power-play goal by last year's Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan at 5:25 of the first period was all the offense the Sioux would need. Senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux posted a 14-save shutout for his sixth blanking of the season

Box Score

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1st Period (20:00)
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MTU-1 Tyler Shelast (2-Slashing) NDK 1x1 3:26
NDK 1 - 0 6x5 PP GW LL Ryan Duncan (14) (T.J. Oshie, Chay Genoway) 5:25
NDK: 16,7,5,29,4,G1 MTU: 13,28,8,5,G29
NDK-1 Zach Jones (2-Tripping) MTU 0x1 6:05
MTU-2 Malcolm Gwilliam (2-Hooking) NDK 1x2 9:04
MTU-3 John Schwarz (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 1x3 11:33

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2nd Period (20:00)
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MTU-4 Drew Dobson (2-Hooking) NDK 1x4 0:36
NDK-2 Zach Jones (2-Interference) MTU 0x2 3:17
MTU-5 Jordan Foote (2-Holding) NDK 1x5 6:01
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 T.J. Oshie (15) (Ryan Duncan, Chris VandeVelde) 8:21
NDK (+): 7,16,29,4,6,G1 MTU (-): 11,22,16,12,10,G29
NDK 3 - 0 6x6 Darcy Zajac (2) (Jake Marto, Chay Genoway) 9:10
NDK (+): 11,25,2,5,22,G1 MTU (-): 28,13,25,21,5,G29
NDK-3 Matt Watkins (2-Interference) MTU 0x3 9:58
NDK-4 Rylan Kaip (2-Interference) MTU 0x4 19:21

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3rd Period (20:00)
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NDK-5 Zach Jones (2-Tripping) MTU 0x5 2:00
MTU-6 John Schwarz (2-Holding) NDK 2x6 5:18
NDK 4 - 0 6x5 PP Andrew Kozek (16) (Brad Miller, Ryan Martens) 6:58
NDK: 10,14,8,2,5,G1 MTU: 11,4,8,14,G29
NDK-6 Rylan Kaip (2-Roughing) MTU 0x6 14:59
NDK-7 Joe Finley (2-Roughing) 20:00

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End of Game
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