Bruins make the playoffs on Phil Kessel's goal.

Former Gophers star Phil Kessel scored a big goal that helped the Boston Bruins clinch their first Stanley Cup playoff berth since 2004. The Boston Bruins were predicted by many of the so called hockey experts to finish as low as 15th in the eastern conference.

OTTAWA (AP) — The Boston Bruins took the front door into the Stanley Cup playoffs while the Ottawa Senators backed their way in as both teams clinched postseason berths, with a little outside help and plenty of scoreboard watching.

Tim Thomas came within 8:14 of recording his third straight shutout against Ottawa and Zdeno Chara scored against his former team, leading Boston to a 2-1 win over the Senators on Friday night.

Phil Kessel also scored for the Bruins, who also drew even with Ottawa for sixth overall in the Eastern Conference with 94 points.


"We knew what was at stake and we approached it that way," Chara said. "We just played every shift very, very hard and it was a great team effort."

The Senators completed their regular-season schedule, clinching a playoff spot midway through the third period — despite trailing 2-0 against the Bruins — when Florida beat Carolina 4-3.

"There was just kind of chatter on the bench and we could hear a few guys talking about it," Ottawa center Jason Spezza said.

The result out of Raleigh was also good news on the Bruins bench.

"Halfway through the third we found out that we were in if we won the game or at least got a point," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "It was good to know and obviously gave us a bit of breathing room and helped us finish the game on a strong note."

The sold-out Scotiabank Place crowd was advised that the Senators had clinched their playoff spot during a stoppage in play with 1:35 remaining, drawing a huge cheer.

"We didn't want to be sitting in front of the T.V. (Saturday) and Sunday," Spezza said. (read the rest of the story)

The Miami Student's take on their regional.

I saw this story reading the B.C. sports blog; B.C. Interruption. From the student newspaper that brought you Ice hockey on brink of dynasty now we have they bring us this article. My only question is where do they find these guys?

Dan Kukla
NCAA needs to change rules of tournament
Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Sports
Win or lose, there was always one question Miami University hockey fans were bound to be asking after this weekend: "Why did we have to play Boston College 40 miles away from BC's campus?"

The No. 1 seeded RedHawks were 32-7-1 coming into the tournament and had recently come within one goal of Michigan, the top overall team in the entire tournament, in the CCHA Championship game. Boston College was 21-11-6, seeded behind the Red and White.

So why, when Miami had earned a higher ranking, were the Eagles rewarded with the distinct advantage of playing in their backyard?

The official NCAA rule says that host teams, if they make the tournament, must play at their host site.

This means that 15-16-7 University of Wisconsin, the host of the Midwest region, got to play on their home ice despite the fact that a week ago no one was even sure that they would be in the tournament at all. In other words: Hooray mediocrity!

But that's not even the most absurd part of all this. If the NCAA wants to screw over the tournament's top seeded teams by making a rule that guarantees home games to any school that generates them money by providing a host site, I guess they're entitled to do that. Read the whole article here.

Reality check

First off the NCAA isn't going to change the rules because a number one seed can't make the Frozen Four. On paper I don't know if Miami's regional draw could have gotten any easier. Seriously, that regional definitely wasn't a region of death like the Denver regional of last season or the Colorado Springs regional of this season. How many years have WCHA or other top seeded teams had to travel to Yost only to play the Michigan Wolverines in their barn, sometimes these teams lost sometimes they won. That is the way the old cookie crumbles in the NCAA hockey tourney. In a one and done tourney the best teams have beat the best to make the Frozen Four, every game is a war. Your team came within a goal of Michigan, give me a break. My team the UND Fighting Sioux has had to go through the Bean Pot Regional Boston University and Boston College's back yard in Worcester, Michigan in Grand Forks and Denver regional and this as the third seed over all Madison, Wisconsin.

To be a top team that you claim your Miami RedHawks were (32-7-1 against a very easy schedule) you have to face adversity and prevail or your team is nothing more than a pretender. I said before that Miami was a paper tiger and I guess I was proven right.

My first thoughts were you have got to be kidding me but Cornell coach Shaffer was whining about this after they had to play the Gophers in Minneapolis. Give me a break you're either good enough to advance or you're not good enough to advance. Where your team plays is irrelevant.

Nodl Gone... The Raid continues.

Heather from Win-Twins isn't going to be happy with this news, I predicted that this was going to happen and now it is official; the Broad Street Bullies of the NHL have signed Andreas Nodl to a contract.

Silly Season

This is the worst time of year, I call it the silly season when college hockey fans hold their collective breath and hope that their favorite player don't take the lure of the big money from the NHL that may hold their draft rights.

Nodl Signs with Flyers
CHN Staff Report

The Philadelphia Flyers' raid on college hockey continued today with the signing of St. Cloud State sophomore Andreas Nodl.

Nodl, the College Hockey News Rookie of the Year in 2006-07, was a second-round pick of the Flyers in the 2006 draft.

Nodl, a native of Vienna, Austria, is the fourth college player with eligibility remaining to sign with the Flyers organization since that player's season ended — joining Matt Clackson (Western Michigan), Michael-Lee Teslak (Michigan Tech) and Jon Kalinski (Minnesota State).

Nodl broke out with 46 points his freshman season and was a plus-16. He finished third in scoring in the WCHA this season, though his production actually dropped, going to 44 points and a minus-6.

Early departures in the WCHA

Wisconsin (1)
Kyle Turris, freshman

Mankato (1)
Jon Kalinski, junior

Michigan Tech (1)
Michael-Lee Teslak, junior

Saint Cloud (1)
Andreas Nodl, sophomore

University of Minnesota Duluth (1)
Jason Garrison, junior

Kane and Toews

Here is an interesting interview done with Chicago radio station B96. The future of the Chicago Black Hawks looks pretty promsing and both are very good inteviews.

Some more INCH stuff.

Jess Meyers who covers the WCHA for INCH has a really nice article with Jean-Philippe Lamoureux:

During last year's NCAA West Regional in Denver, an Inside College Hockey staffer in attendance at North Dakota's wins against Michigan and Minnesota noted that Fighting Sioux goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux was a battler. Listed as 5-foot-8, the Grand Forks native never cedes control of the blue paint and never, ever gives up on a puck.

Sure, he's a scrapper, but Lamoureux is also one of the nation's elite goaltenders. He leads Division I backstops in goals against average (1.64), save percentage (.936), is tied for first in the country with six shutouts, and ranks tied for second in the land in wins (27).

The guy who puts the fight in the Fighting Sioux and one of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award is a major reason North Dakota is making its fourth consecutive Frozen Four appearance. In order to win the school's first national title since 2000, Lamoureux and Co. will have to conquer Boston College, the team that has knocked the Sioux in the semifinal round in both 2006 and 2007. (Read the whole interview) here.

Here are a couple of pointed questions that I like from the ESPN/INCH Chat

Good to see that INCH is still in Miami's court after they were bounced from the NCAA torney, Miami is now 2-5 in the NCAA tourney.

Ben (Grand Forks, ND): What was your favorite Regional moments?

Jeff Howe INCH: Watching the battle between Ryan Jones and Nathan Gerbe. While they weren't necessarily going one on one with each other, it was a real treat to watch them each create countless scoring chances for their teams.

Ryan (Grand Forks, ND): Did J.P.L. get snubbed by not being included in the Hobey Hat Trick? I thought last weekend locked up a solid second place behind Porter.

Joe Gladziszewski INCH/Hockey East/EZAC/CCHA appologist: I don't think it was a snub, more just a reflection on how strong the other three candidates were. The question that I had all along about Lamoureux's worthiness was that he wasn't even the First Team goalie in the WCHA. He became much more popular, it seems, when Bachman wasn't among the Hobey finalists.

stjerno (GF): Ryan Jones. Why? JPL 1.64 GAA .936 SP 6 SO SOS=first Ryan Jones plays on yet another overrated team in an overrated league.

Joe Gladziszewski INCH/Hockey East/EZAC/CCHA apologist: Ryan Jones was one of the best players on the best teams in the nation. That "overrated" league won six games last weekend in the NCAA Regional, including two head-to-head match ups against WCHA schools. Jones is the nation's leading goal scorer, a fantastic leader, and was consistent all year long.

Goon's perspective

Just for the record; C.C. hasn't won an NCAA title since 1957 and like SCSU is known for the NCAA tourney chokes. Since winning the the WCHA regular season championship and their first round WCHA series against the 10th place WCHA team the Tigers were 0-3 the rest of the way in the playoffs (Mcnaughton Curse). SCSU has never won an NCAA playoff games and throughly disappointed me by losing to the EZAC champs the Clarkson Knights. In defense of the WCHA 3 of the 6 WCHA teams from the WCHA were stuck in the same regional, hum, while the CCHA teams were spread out in the field.

HeidiSioux on the Hobey Hat Trick.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING
I have been harping all year that Nathan Gerbe didn’t deserve to be a Hobey finalist because of his on ice dirty play and was all ready to blast the world if he was included. I swallowed my tongue when the committee included TJ and figured if the committee could include TJ despite his off ice incident, then I would overlook Gerbe’s suspension from his league. After Gerbe was included in the Hobey Hat Trick yesterday and JPL was excluded I threw up my tongue.

On the banner of the (Hobey Baker website) it says “Character Builds Excellence” and the (criteria) for the award is as follows:

Hobey Baker Memorial Award Criteria
1. Candidates must exhibit strength of character both on and off the ice.
2. Candidates must contribute to the integrity of the team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game.
3. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
4. Candidates must comply with all NCAA rules: be full time students in an accredited NCAA college or university; and complete 50% or more of the season.

Gerbe was suspended by the commissioner of his league, Joe Bertagna, for an on ice incident during a game with Merrimack. Commissioner Bertagna is quoted as saying:

“"While a suspension might not have been forthcoming on last night's actions alone, this is not the first time this season that I have been made aware of inappropriate behavior from Nathan," said Bertagna.”Given the fact that he had already been put on notice, I felt that supplemental discipline was in order in this instance."

After reading this statement by Gerbe’s league commissioner I truly have to wonder if Gerbe meets the criteria of “Integrity”, “Strength of Character ON the ice” and “Sportsmanship” spelled out on the website. This was not a one time deal – the suspension came because of a pattern of behavior, not a single lapse in judgment.

Gerbe is a good player, probably one of the best in the country and has good numbers (I would still take TJ over him though). However, to include him and to exclude Lammy in the hat trick is outrageous. While I didn’t expect TJ to be in the hat trick, I certainly thought that JPL would. Lammy is every bit the player that Gerbe is. Not only did he lead the country in goals against (1.6424), save percentage (.936) and shutouts (6), he played the toughest schedule in the country and allowed 2 or fewer goals in 30 of the 41 games he played this year. To cap off his spectacular season numbers he had an outstanding regional tournament holding the two opponents to 3 goals total and a save percentage of .963 on 82 shots. He also single handedly kept the Sioux in the game vs. Wisconsin until they could find their scoring touch. Oh yeah, he doesn’t have any off OR on ice incidents to knock him out.

I am also not real high on Ryan Jones. He has good numbers, but I have never gotten the feeling that he can completely take over and control a game’s outcome like Porter and Lammy can (and maybe Gerbe – that hurts to say) and like Duncan could last year. But Jones being included does not turn my stomach the way Gerbe does.

For the life of me I can’t find any logical reasoning for leaving JPL out of the hat trick. As I don’t think this was an anti-UND or anti-WCHA choice the only thing I can come up with is it was just stupidity.

Hobey Baker finalist Jones signs with the Wild.

Star and Tribune Photo
It will be interesting to see if Ryan Jones can find a place in the Wild line up, they could use some scoring touch. There are not a lot of former college hockey players playing for the Minnesota Wild. It would seem that Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire traditionally seems to favor Canadian major junior players over the college hockey players, this year there have been more ex-college hockey players than I can ever remember playing with the Minnesota Wild. Right now Carney, Hill, Parish Voros and Rolston are ex-college hockey currently playing with the Wild line up. As a Wild fan I hope he Jones finds a home in St. Paul.

Senior left wing Ryan Jones took his team's 4-3 overtime loss to Boston College on Sunday night in the title game of Northeast Regional hockey pretty hard.

Jones came to the postgame press conference in Worcester, Mass., red-eyed, still wearing his Miami (Ohio) jersey and breezers. Even his skates were still on. The two-year RedHawks captain said he was unsure if he could put on another uniform this season.

But Wednesday, the Wild announced they had signed Jones to a one-year contract that included a $293,000 signing bonus. His salary will be $625,000 if he plays a full season in the NHL, or $70,000 if he plays in the minors.

Minnesota selected him in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL draft. He was the 111th pick overall.

Panzer was... I mean JP Lamoureux was robbed...

Michelle Stocker Captial Times
The candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Throphy were announced today and it seems that they missed a candidate. Apparently Nathan Gerbe's on the ice incidents and his suspension by Hockey East had no impact on Gerbe getting into the Hobey Hat Trick. I wonder if T.J. Hensick feels slighted after seeing the names today?

The Candidates are for the Hobey Hat Trick are:

Kevin Porter Michigan SR F 33-29-62
Nathan Gerbe Boston College JR F 30-30-60
Ryan Jones Miami SR F 31-18-49

I said before; 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. Gee, I guess I wasn't that far off eh? This just proves that the college hockey media loves Hockey East and the CCHA. They should be happy with the results now, you got your candidates.

I think Kevin Porter from Michigan is a legitimate candidate for the Hobey Baker and I don't have a problem with Ryan Jones from Miami either but it would be interesting to see if Porter and Jones could put up the same numbers with they WCHA defenders drapped all over them. I believe that Jones and Porter would have simular numbers to T.J. Oshie.

The Lammy Leap... Discussion on all star teams.

This is one of the funniest pictures I have seen in a long time. It was on INCH and the question is: Caption This: What Is J-P Doing? I think we could call it the Lammy Leap.

Also check out this silly discussion on the CHN all star selection. The Discussion is turning into on of your classic USCHO.COM flame feasts.

Julie Robenhymer on the NCAA Hockey Tourney.

Check out what Julie Robenhymer had to say on the NCAA hockey tourney. In case you are wondering who Julie Robenhymer is? Jules was named Miss New Jersey 2005, but she also does a pretty good job covering hockey...

The Midwest – Madison, WI
First Round
Princeton 1 North Dakota 5
TJ Oshie, 2007 Hobey Baker Winner Ryan Duncan, Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley - otherwise known as the team leaders of the Fighting Sioux - decided not to follow former teammate Jonathan Towes to the NHL figuring if enough of them decided to stay, this year could be special. ECAC Champions, the Princeton Tigers sounded like Academy Award nominees – we’re just happy to be here, blah, blah, blah. North Dakota in a roll right? Well yes, but not really…They might have won by four goals, but don’t let that lopsided score fool you – two of them were empty netters and the other three were on the man advantage. Princeton took it to the Fighting Sioux going step for step, playing physical and getting offensive opportunities the entire game, they just couldn’t solve NoDak’s goalie Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux.

Sidenote – Duncan , who scored his first career hat trick during this game, is an undrafted free-agent, but did participate in the Blues Prospect camp this past summer…will he jump to the NHL after this season?
Sidenote #2 – Ivy League athletes literally blow my mind…Princeton’s captain, Landis Stankievech, studies mechanical and areospace engineering and was named ECAC Student Athlete of the Year. I dated an engineer once and he practically lived at the lab…this guy’s ability to play D-I hockey and study what he does – at Princeton, no less – and be good at both, shows his commitment to success. He’s a rockstar in my book!

Make that 2-24-0 after this game.

Second Round
Wisconsin 2 North Dakota 3 OT
This was the last game of the weekend and what a game it was! The Badgers fed of their home crowd and absolutely dominated the first period peppering Lamoureux with 17 shots after one and 30 after two. It was fast paced and physical and the larger ice surface allowed the guys to use the open spaces and get the transition game going creating end to end rushes. Wisconsin led after two with North Dakota holding a 1-24-0 record in such situations, but North Dakota’s leaders stepped up as Kaip, their captain scores from the slot on a hard fought goal and Duncan ties it up from a ridiculous drop pass from Oshie a minute later. The highlight reel move completely sucked the energy out of the building and silenced the sea of red 18,000 strong who stood for most of the game in anxious anticipation. The Badgers nearly pulled off the upset, but Andrew Kozek scored as he was knocked off his skates less than two minutes into the extra session to send the Fighting Sioux to the Frozen Four for the fourth straight year.

Fighting Sioux video montage...

Since the NC$$ has determined that the Frozen Four has to take a back seat to the pumpkin pushers and has a week off I was bored and checking out a few video from the season past on YouTube and this one from andreasue09 is pretty good and should be added to the video collection of any Sioux fan.

Not to be outdone the RedFrogND.

Post game interview on ESPNU.

Jean-Philippe Lamoureux was nothing short of amazing and should get a SERIOUS look for the Hobey Baker.

Is the NHL coming back to ESPN?

Andy Strickland is reporting that ESPN is close to having a deal with the NHL again. This couldn't come soon enough.

Rink rats!
Sources tell me talks between ESPN and the NHL are progressing. The head executives at ESPN have a strong desire to bring the NHL back to Bristol, Connecticut. The NHLPA is also showing strong support.

The NHL has already extended their current deal with the VS network. Word is ESPN could potentially replace NBC as early as next season. This would allow ESPN to carry the playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals. A Friday night package is also being discussed.

The two sides will continue to negotiate with a possible announcement coming sometime during the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.

Check out this blog post and some April Fools Humor.

Adam W apparently has people all excited about this post he made on his blog today. Come on folks this is funny. It's called being humorous you know satire. I woke today and there must have been 15 posts on the almost defunct Hockey_L with people all excited about this post. Personally I see the genius in it.

After Shea Guthrie’s spectacular goal against St. Cloud State to give the Clarkson Golden Knights their first NCAA win in 12 years, New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow decided to sign Guthrie in the middle of the NCAA tournament. Guthrie was a third-round pick of the Islanders in 2005. Snow decided to leave Clarkson defenseman Tyrell Mason in school, pending his team’s performance in Saturday’s regional final. “If we want to bring him out today, we’ll bring him out today. If we don’t, we won’t,” Snow said. “George Roll will live with it. He’s no Shawn Walsh anyway.”

Here is a good one that someone sent me in email as well... Thanks Matt

UND's "Pact Brothers" Pack it in for the NHL

Grand Forks, ND
Fighting Sioux Juniors TJ Oshie, Ryan Duncan, Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley made a pact to come back to UND to tend to some unfinished business. Things were all going according to plan after a 18 game unbeaten streak vaulted them to a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Last weekend the Sioux rode goalie JP Lamerioux and reigning Hobey Baker award winner Ryan Duncan to the Midwest Regional Championship in Madison, WI. On Monday afternoon rumors began swirling on the internet site Siouxsports.com that the dynamic quartet of future NHL stars had said "screw you to the NCAA" and hello big money to the NHL.

At an impromptu news conference held at the Red Pepper all four Juniors were available for questions. First, on why only 10 days before the Frozen Four are the four breaking their so called pact. This year's Hobey Baker Finalist was the first to answer. "It's a "expletive deleted" 10 day break, who is going to be able to carry their momentum into the Frozen Four with a 10 day break. "I mean if the NCAA gave a "expletive deleted" about men's hockey they'd schedule us for prime time this Friday and the Finals on Sunday. "Plus everyone one know that our team plays best in front of an energized full house and you know damn well that the NCAA was banking on Denver or CC making the Frozen Four. Without them your looking a 12,000 people max. "Look at this past weekend, the Kohl Center was only 2/3 full and we got out played by Princeton and the Badgers. "Come on seriously, Princeton out shot us like 75 to 6 and we still won 5-1. Just think if we would have had the energy of a sold out house we would have won by like 20-1."

When asked if this was meant to make a statement to the NCAA the always mercurial 2nd round pick and 2007 All American defenseman Taylor Chorney, grabbed the mic and passionately explained what transpired last night. "We got back to Grand Forks and needed to blow off a little steam, so we headed over to TJ's house and had a little 'gathering'. "Nothing special, just 200 or so of our hottest, I mean, best friends. "Right in the middle of Big Joe's keg stand, my dad comes in and he is pissed. "As I'm sure most of you know my dad was really supportive of our decision to stay at UND this year. "Well I asked him what the problem was and he says that all the die-hard hockey fans are stuck in the 300 sections this year. "Way to go NCAA, put the people who care in the nosebleeds, while all the corpies get the sweet seats. "So we kind of decided to make a statement to the NCAA and basically show up with our JV squad. "We've actually been texting some of the guys from Michigan and BC and it looks like most of their NHL prospects are with us. "If the NCAA is not going to give college hockey and it's fans the respect it deserves than good luck with their tournament."

When asked if they had a chance to speak with any players from Notre Dame, Chorney chuckled and said, "uh, we're really looking for high profile guys to make the statement, and, no disrespect to Notre Dame and their program, but they really don't have any high end guys like us."

Brad Schlossman from the GF Herald had a question for the Washington Capitals prospect Joe Finley. "Joe being 6'7" and 250 pounds, how were you able to pull off that keg stand?" Joe answered candidly "Well Washington is really impressed with my flexibility and strength, but to be honest TJ had a hidden door installed into the ceiling after his little incident in January. "It's not only a great place to hide from the cops, but it's also great for my 12 foot keg stands."

As the press conference was winding down one reports asked where forward Ryan Duncan was. Immediately at hand sprang up from behind the podium. "Sorry the Grand Forks phone book wasn't really big enough for me," Duncan answered. When asked him being involved in this "statement" was a good representation of the Hobey Baker Award? Duncan smirked and said, "what are they going to do, take it away from me? The NCAA may be able to take away our nickname, but they sure as hell aren't going to get the Hobey from me. "Plus, its locked away with the Nickel trophy and nobody getting that anytime soon."

Two press conferences have been scheduled at Michigan and Boston College on Tuesday April 1st.

Adam Burish vs David Backes...

Apparently the David Backes and Adam Burrish fight is a result of this fight that happened on 3/23/2008. You have got love the Mavericks and the Badgers getting it on.

Kyle "we hardly knew you" Turris signs with Phoenix

The silly season continues, hardly before the sweat had dried from his breezers, Turris inked a entry level deal with the Desert Dogs.

We are very excited to sign Kyle and have him join the Coyotes organization," said Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney in a statement. "He is a very talented player and is a big part of our future. By adding him to the roster, we hope to give him valuable experience that will help him heading into next season and beyond."

Alexandre Burrows is a hack.

After watching the Wild and the Canucks play the past 7-8 games I must say that Alexandre Burrows has to be one of the biggest hacks in the NHL, right next to Steve Downie and should have been suspended for his latest act of thuggery. Seriously folk, the spear is one of the most gutless/cheap acts in all of hockey and there is no room in hockey for this type of crap or these type of players that run around delivering cheap shots at people and hiding behind a face shield, all under the guise of being "an agitator."

I predict that one day Alexandre Burrows is going to get what is coming to him. This is the same guy that Brian Rolston got into a fight with only the second of his NHL career.

Kozy's goal send UND to Denver.

I could watch this video all day and it wouldn't get old. At the beginning of the season I thought Andrew Kozek had the potential score 20 goals, I guess I wasn't too far off on his goal total. I suppose Andrew Kozek is going to have to score a couple more of those highlite reel goals during the Frozen Four because he is currently sitting at 18 goals on the season and surpassed his career total of 12 goals his first two seasons. The kid has a quick release and has been working on getting his shots off faster all season long.

Sioux fans are spoiled?

I think as Sioux fans sometimes we take for granted that our team is going to be there in the playoffs year after year. Four Frozen Fours in four years, that is unprecidented. Michigan hasn't been to the Frozen Four since 2003. Maybe we don't realize how good we have it as Sioux hockey fans. I think it makes living up here in the frozen tundra more tolerable.

Maybe she is a Sioux fan.

Jake sent me this in my email. I like here fighting attiude; maybe she is a Sioux fan? I have seen this one before it is funny.



Here is also a funny hockey picture making fun of Blake Wheeler that another person from the Mpls area sent me.

Sioux 3 Badgers 2 OT

Tim Brule Jean-Philippe Lamoureux made his case for the Hobey Baker Memorial award as he stopped 79 of 83 shots he faced this weekend and gave his team a chance to win both games. To start the game the Badgers had the Sioux on their heels and looked as if they were going to take control of this game but Lamoureux stood tall and made some big saves like the one where he stopped Michael Davies on a clean break away.

ESPNU Sucks

As most of you know tonight's game was not on cable in Grand Forks, damn ESPNU, so a couple of friends and I decided to watch the game at Sugar's bar at the Holiday INN in Grand Forks. Every bar in town tonight that had ESPNU was packed from what I heard. I guess there is one way to pump up the local economy on a Sunday night, just don't carry the channel ESPNU on the local cable package. Sugars bar was packed to the gills, especially for a Sunday night; shall we say it was standing room only. As the Sioux got going the place got louder and louder, and when the Sioux scored the place erupted. Midco it is time for you and your over priced cable package to carry ESPNU. I pay $155.00 for Digital III, Phone and Internet, I will pay few extra dollars to get ESPNU without even blinking an eye.

Lamoureux tops in the nation?

There have been a few naysayers in media that said Jean-Philippe Lamoureux is not as good as his numbers. So as fans are we to believe Lamoureux the number one ranked goalie in division hockey one with a .936 save percentage and a 1.64 goals against average isn't very good or is over-rated? In fact this same radio host went as far as to say that Lamoureux is the third best goalie in the WCHA. I suppose if you weare maroon and gold goggles. Well of all the WCHA goalies there is only one still standing; Jean-Philippe Lamoureux. How do you like him now?

Michelle Stocker/The Capital Times

Four for Four

Dave Hakstol has been the coach for the Fighting Sioux for four season and has made the Frozen Four an impressive 4 years in a row. Almost as impressive the Boston College Eagles have made the Frozen Four 4 out of the last 5 years. The Sioux play the Boston College Eagles again.

The Badgers played tough

Kudos for Badgers Coach Mike Eaves for getting his team ready to play this weekend after being bounced out of the first round of the WCHA playoffs by the SCSU Huskies. It had to be tough sitting around for a week wondering if you're going to be in the NCAA tournament or not. Once the Wisconsin Badgers found out they were in the NCAA tourney they were able to come back get back into game shape and knock off Denver University in impressive fashion.

The next night the Badgers come back and take UND Fighting Sioux to the wire, that is an impressive feat to; especially after not playing very many games in the month of March. Even though they are the Fighting Sioux's bitter rivals you have to respect what the Badgers did. While some felt that Badgers didn't belong in the tourney with there losing record, me included, I felt the Badgers played like champions this past weekend, you have to tip your hat to them. This just shows how balanced the WCHA really is. The Badger's top line of Turris, Davies and Blake Geoffrion was nothing short of amazing this weekend.

Scoring

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

WIS-1 Kyle Turris (2-O-HOLDING) NDK 0x1 5:41
NDK-1 Matt Watkins (2-O-HOLDING) WIS 0x1 9:28
WIS-2 Ben Grotting (2-HIGH-STICKING) 18:23
NDK-2 Joe Finley (2-HIGH-STICKING) 18:23

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

NDK-3 Kyle Radke (2-Charging) WIS 0x2 3:36
WIS 1 - 0 6x6 Jamie McBain (5) (Kyle Turris, Davis Drewiske) 5:38
WIS (+): 2,19,4,5,9,G35 NDK (-): 26,17,20,4,28,G1
NDK-4 Kyle Radke (2-CTH ROUGHING) WIS 0x3 12:54
NDK-5 Brad Miller (2-Tripping) WIS 1x4 17:25
WIS 2 - 0 6x5 PP Cody Goloubef (4) (Patrick Johnson, Kyle Klubertanz) 19:21
WIS: 22,27,10,20,18,G35 NDK: 17,21,4,28,G1
WIS-3 Kyle Klubertanz (2-Holding the Stick) NDK 0x2 19:50

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

NDK 1 - 2 6x6 Rylan Kaip (8) (Matt Frattin, Matt Watkins) 3:33
NDK (+): 17,21,20,4,28,G1 WIS (-): 17,2,10,22,18,G35
NDK 2 - 2 6x6 Ryan Duncan (18) (T.J. Oshie) 4:20
NDK (+): 16,7,28,10,5,G1 WIS (-): 7,4,11,27,16,G35
WIS-4 Ryan McDonagh (2-CTH ROUGHING) NDK 0x3 8:24
Timeout - Wisconsin 19:26.4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overtime (1:47)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK 3 - 2 6x6 GW LL Andrew Kozek (18) (Robbie Bina, T.J. Oshie) 1:47
NDK (+): 10,28,7,4,16,G1 WIS (-): 9,20,5,19,4,G35

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

WCHA refs at it again.

Now the rest of college hockey gets to see how bad the officials in the WCHA are. I hope that finally someone in the NCAA office the WCHA commissioner to task for the quality of it's on ice officials. Yesterday Derek Shepherd had another rough game in the third period and in the over-time of the Miami and Air Force game. Shepherd misses a blatant interference call by Miami but calls Air Force for a on a ticky tacky minor call. There is no reason Shepherd deserves to be calling games on the national stage. If any one should be calling games in the national tourney it should be WCHA offical Brian Thul.

-INCH’s criticism of referee Derek Shepherd during the NCAA tournament is turning into an annual affair, as you can see in last year’s Northeast Regional Final notebook. Shepherd made the right call on the too-many-men penalty, but he should have swallowed the whistle instead of sending Falcon Derrick Burnett into the box for a really ticky-tack slashing penalty 1:49 into overtime. Later in the extra session, there were two infractions far worse on Miami’s end that Shepherd chose to ignore.

Badgers and Sioux for the Midwest Region title.

Wisconsin Badgers
Record: 16-16-7 (back door Badgers)
Head-to-Head 1-1-0
Avg. Height / Weight 6'0.46" / 189.96 lbs.
Latest Results
3/29 vs. Denver ... 6-2 W
3/15 vs. St. Cloud State ... 3-4 L
3/14 vs. St. Cloud State ...0-3 L

Team Scoring Leaders
K. Turris 11-23-34
B. Geoffrion 10-20-30
B. Street 13-17-30
M. Davies 13-11-24
J. McBain 4-19-23

Team Goaltenders
S. Connelly 15-15-5 2.43
S. Gudmandson 1-1-2 2.63

Injuries
Brendan Smith (back)















UND Fighting Sioux
Record: 27-10-4
Head-to-Head 1-1-0
Avg. Height / Weight 5'11.68" / 186.32 lbs.

Latest Results
3/29 vs. Princeton ... 5-1 W
3/22 vs. Colorado College ... 4-2 W
3/21 vs. Denver ... 1-3 L
3/16 vs. Michigan Tech ... 2-1 W

Injuries
Evan Trupp (leg (fracture))

Team Scoring Leaders
T. Oshie 18-25-43
R. Duncan 17-22-39
C. VandeVelde 15-17-32
C. Genoway 8-21-29
R. Bina 2-22-24

Team Goaltenders
A. Walski 1-0-0 0.00
J. Lamoureux 26-10-4 1.63

This is the match up that will determine who goes to the Denver from the Midwest region. The last time these two teams met there was a lot of stuff going especially after the wistle stuff. Heck even the coaches got into it at the end of the game.

BADgers 6 Pioneers 2

I said this earlier today: (I hope you know it was tongue in cheek?)

Not many have made the NCAA tourney with a losing record. Personally; I don't have anything against the BADgers other than they are our heated rival in fact I hate Denver more, but there is no way I see them beating the Pioneers today. I think they are in over their head. I also believe that Wisconsin has no chance of winning this game. Hey! Prove me wrong.

While I am happy the Pioneers were beat tonight, I still have night mares of them winning the national title against the Sioux in the 2005 title game, however, I am also not that crazy about the prospects of the Fighting Sioux having to play the red menace along with 15,000 BADgers fans cheering their team on. I think it would be nice to have the Fighting Sioux play the BADgers in a nice quite regional with no one cheering; say like the one in Colorado Springs or Albany, NY.

This sounds like a bad dream to me. Alright, lets Go Fighting Sioux beat the dirty BADgers. Lets send Kyle Turris to the NHL where the Great one has a contract waiting for him.

The BADgers proved me wrong as they beat the DU Pioneers 6-2. Color me surprised because I thought after losing to SCSU the BADgers were done, boy was I wrong.

Fighting Sioux 5, Princeton 1

Photo by Tim Brule
The Fighting Sioux may not played their "A" game today but it was good enough to beat the scrappy upstart Princeton Tigers 5-1. The Fighting Sioux received a strong effort in goal from Hobey Baker candidate Jean-Philippe Lamoureux as he stop 38 of 39shots; many of theses shots were grade "A" scoring opportunities. For the game Princeton (21-14) outshot No. 1 seed North Dakota 39-18. The Sioux can not let that happen tomorrow if UND is to win the regional championship.

Last years Hobey Baker winner comes through

Ryan Duncan the Hobey Baker winner from last season picked the national stage to have one of his best games of the season as he scored a big hat trick. Also, Sophomore Defenseman Chay Genoway also had a pretty big game as he chipped in a goal and an assist and T.J. Oshie UND’s other Hobey Baker candidate chipped in two assists as the Sioux scrapped and clawed their way to hard fought 5-1 victory...


The latest remark from Bob Norton

I wonder if there comes a time when maybe ESPN/ESPNU college hockey analyist Bob Norton should hang up the skates and find something else to do. Norton's hockey east/east coast bias was showing it's true colors today when he said; that the Fighting Sioux got all of the breaks from officials and scored big goals on the power play. Come on Bob! You can not say the officials had a hand in Princeton's loss today.

Box Score

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

PRN-1 Mark Magnowski (2-Tripping) NDK 1x1 12:11
NDK 1 - 0 6x5 PP LL Andrew Kozek (17) (Chay Genoway, Jake Marto) 13:39
NDK: 10,5,25,14,8,G1 PRN: 10,25,2,15,G32
PRN-2 Taylor Fedun (2-Hooking) NDK 1x2 14:37

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

PRN-3 Mike Moore (2-Holding) NDK 1x3 14:15
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 GW Ryan Duncan (15) (T.J. Oshie, Matt Watkins) 16:18
NDK (+): 16,7,20,25,28,G1 PRN (-): 25,15,12,2,21,G32
NDK-1 Taylor Chorney (2-Checking from Behind) PRN 0x1 19:25

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

PRN-4 Brett Wilson (2-Interference) NDK 2x4 6:23
NDK 3 - 0 6x5 PP Ryan Duncan (16) (Ryan Martens, Chay Genoway) 8:13
NDK: 16,8,5,20,25,G1 PRN: 17,19,4,21,G32
PRN-5 Kevin Kaiser (2-Slashing) 13:54
NDK-2 Chay Genoway (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) 13:54
NDK 4 - 0 5x5 EN HT Ryan Duncan (17) (T.J. Oshie) 14:48
NDK (+): 16,7,2,4,G1 PRN (-): 16,21,27,6,4
NDK-3 Matt Frattin (2-CTH ROUGHING) PRN 0x2 16:19
NDK 5 - 0 5x6 SH EN Chay Genoway (8) (unassisted) 16:28
NDK (+): 5,16,2,7,G1 PRN (-): 4,21,22,6,16,27
PRN 1 - 5 6x6 Cam MacIntyre (13) (Lee Jubinville) 19:27
PRN (+): 27,6,2,15,16,G32 NDK (-): 4,28,10,8,21,G1

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

Its official Jon Kalinski gone at MSU-M

I heard about this last night from Amy of LGMs Blog. This is a big loss for the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks. This clip is the last thing that I will remember about Jon Kalinski while wearing a Maverick's jersey. Wouldn't you know it Kalinski is assisting on a big goal short handed in over-time to beat the dirty Gophers in Mankato. This kid was always dangerous especially on the penalty kill... Good luck in Philly Jon...

CHN Staff Report

Minnesota State junior forward Jon Kalinski will forgo his remaining eligibility and has signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, the Mankato Free Press is reporting.

Kalinski was sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 2007.

Kalinski had eight goals and 18 points in 39 games this season. That was a dropoff from his 17-goal season in 2006-07. He had no goals and six assists in the Mavericks' last eight games.

For his college career, Kalinski finishes with 29 goals and 56 points in 106 games.

Some think the BADgers don't belong.

Here is an interesting article by Andy Baggot on the BADgers backing into the NCAA tourney.

It probably qualifies as an exaggeration, but not by much.

In the process of outlining why the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team is worthy of its NCAA tournament berth, junior goaltender Shane Connelly acknowledged that the line of detractors is a long one. (yep I would say it is)

"Everyone in the country basically doesn't think we belong here," he said. (your probably right)

Not everyone believes third-seeded UW will be in over its head when it takes on second-seeded Denver in the Midwest Regional semifinals Saturday at the Kohl Center, but based on Internet rhetoric, e-mail volume and casual conversations with those in the college hockey world, the consensus seems very one-sided.

Not many have made the NCAA tourney with a losing record. Personally; I don't have anything against the BADgers other than they are our heated rival in fact I hate Denver more, but there is no way I see them beating the Pioneers today. I think they are in over their head. I also believe that Wisconsin has no chance of winning this game. Hey! Prove me wrong.

The BADgers (15-16-7) are the first losing team to get an at-large berth for the NCAA tournament since the field was expanded from 12 to 16 teams in 2003. You can count on one hand the number of schools to previously qualify with a record under .500 since the tournament began in 1948: Alabama-Huntsville (13-19-3) in 2007; Colorado College (18-21-1) in 1978; Minnesota (13-16-2) in 1971.

Phil Kessel goes down town to help Bruins win.

Check out this really sweet goal by current Bruins and former Gophers player Phil Kessel, upon further review; it appears that the young Kessel was a tad bit off sides. As long as it is not against my team right? Regardless, it was still a nice goal and with the win Bruins knocked the Make Me Laughs out of the playoffs.

Day one NCAA hockey...

Here is the league break down for day one of the NCAA hockey tourney. Not a good day for the WCHA, hey you can't win them all...

WCHA 0-2
HE 0-1
EZAC 1-0
CCHA 3-0
CHA 0-1

Scores:

Michigan 5 Niagara 1 (no shocker here)
Clarkson 3 SCSU 1 (still oh for the NCAA tourney)
ND 7 UNH 3 (semi-big shocker)
MSU 3 C.C. 1 (I am not shocked by it)

To win games in the NCAA tourney your team has to have gritty players doing gritty things between the faceoff dots. In the three games that UNH, SCSU and C.C. lost you had three teams that were beaten physically in my opinion. If these teams had got down low in the dirty areas they could have won these games. MSU plays a good defensive game and Comley had the Spartans playing the systems perfectly today, God is that boring hockey to watch, but effective.

The MSU game was a perfect example of keeping the shots to the outside. All star/conference goalies like Jeff Lerg will stop 99% if the shots taken from the perimeter all day long. To score on a goalie like Lerg you have to crash the net and get screens. Lerg is also a short goalie and you have to catch him moving from side to side, then he is toast. Make no mistake about it; C.C. much like SCSU are nice offensive teams but until they get some gritty players like a Hextal or Kaip they will never advance past the 1st or second round.

I predict the Sun will come up tomorrow and It will be a better day for the WCHA, the most dominating conference in college hockey the last 10 seasons. Take care and enjoy NCAA hockey...

Is Air Force the next Holy Cross?

Here is an interesting pick in tomorrow's Miami and Air Force game. The Blog that Yost Built is picking Air Force to beat the RedHawks. I think it would be a fitting end to the RedHawks season. It won't happen though and I would be willing to bet Packerbacker a case of beer on that one.

Northeast Regional: 4. Air Force over 1. Miami:
I'm going to take crap for this--since I've argued all year with the WCHA fans that Miami actually is a very good team--but I'm taking Air Force. The Falcons are a good hockey team, and I'm surprised they've been as good as they have been without the services of Eric Ehn. Indications are that Ehn could be back for this game, and his return would help, even if he's not close to 100%. History says that the games between Miami/Air Force and Michigan/Niagara will be very close, and Miami has puckered in the big games this season. Air Force is battle-tested.

They've played Boston College, Colorado College, Minnesota, and Denver this season, so a highly-skilled opponent will be nothing new to them. They took Minnesota to the brink last season in the tournament. And they've got a goalie that I've heard of, which is always a plus for a team that isn't from one of the major conferences. They also come in riding the longest unbeaten streak in the country (9 games).

Miami is a good team. Would it shock me if they won this game--or even the Regional? Absolutely not. They're a skilled bunch. Davis, Jones, Miele, Camper, Cannone, Mercier, Martinez...they've got some guns, and they've got a really good goalie. For all I know, this could be 7-0 in Miami's favor. History suggests otherwise, and I'm taking the upset in this one.

ESPN on UND's two Hobey Baker candidates

Here is a nice read on the The UND Fighting Sioux's Hobey Baker Candidates. First off; Phil Lamoureux and T.J. Oshie are legitimate Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominees and no matter how the votes turn out these players are deserving of this award.

Senior goalie Lamoureux has lost only one game in the past 20, while allowing opponents one goal or less in 15 of those outings. He sports the nation's best goals-against average at 1.63, along with the second- best save percentage at .934.

There is no doubt that if Oshie had decided to sign with St. Louis the Fighting Sioux would have been a little thin on offense and probably would have been displaying the trap every night. I am just glad as a Sioux fan we have a few more games before Oshie is off to the NHL.

North Dakota's Oshie boasts five game winners this season and a career total of 16 clinchers, placing him second all-time in Fighting Sioux history. Named to the WCHA First Team, Oshie finished fifth in WCHA scoring, producing a team-high 39 points in 37 games. Michigan senior forward Porter is the nation's leading scorer, producing points in all but six of the 38 games he's played. Porter helped guide his team to the CCHA regular season title and is a finalist for the league's player of the year award and best defensive forward award.

More Linkorama.

Here is an interesting article on the NCAA hockey tourney from ESPN. I think the EZAC has a lot to prove this weekend.

2. Which conference has the most to prove?
Let's see … the WCHA has won five of the past six national championships. Hockey East has had at least one team in the title game in 10 of the past 11 years. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association has the No. 1 overall seed, Michigan, and the defending champion, Michigan State. For the purposes of this argument, we'll exclude Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America and leave them at the kids' table.

That leaves the ECAC. The league hasn't won a title since Harvard in 1989. And if you remove Cornell from the discussion, the last team to win a game, any game, in the NCAA tournament was St. Lawrence back in 2000. It took the Saints four overtimes to send Boston University home in the longest game in NCAA tourney history. To be fair, Cornell advanced to the Frozen Four in 2003 and has won five NCAA games in this decade. But where's the rest of the conference?

Clarkson was a No. 1 seed last year and lost to UMass in the first round. This year, the Golden Knights are a No. 3 seed and will face St. Cloud State in Albany. That seems eminently more winnable than Princeton's 4-versus-1 matchup against the Fighting Sioux on Saturday in Madison. Either way, the conference needs to find a way to advance a team or two if it wants to shed its second-tier status behind the three big leagues.

Michigan happy to not have to play UND again...

JERRY S. MENDOZA/Associated Press

It sounds like the Michigan Wolverines are relieved they do not have to play UND Fighting Sioux in the first round for a third year in a row. I guess the Wolverines are tired of getting beat by the Fighting Sioux. Honesly; I could have seen Red snapping if the Sioux or the Gophers ended up in the same regional bracket as the Wolverines for third year in a row. It is not impossible for the Wolverines and Sioux to meet, the Sioux could meet the Wolverines if both teams win their next three playoff games.

The Wolverines gathered at Yost Arena on Sunday morning and let out a roar when the East Regional was announced. They were glad to be facing any team other than the North Dakota Fighting Sioux to start the tournament.

"To play Niagara in our first game is great," said senior forward Kevin Porter, "especially having to play North Dakota the past two years. They're going to be a good team, but it's nice not having to play North Dakota the first game." The Wolverines were also happy to avoid playing Wisconsin or Colorado College, lower-seeded teams that are hosting regionals this season.

"You don't want to play a team on their home ice first game, second game, whatever," Porter said. "It's nice we didn't end up in one of those brackets."

Michigan was proclaimed the favorite to win the tournament by analysts Bob Norton and Sean Ritchlin during the NCAA tournament selection show.

The kiss of death from Bob Norton, I wonder if there is any way we can get him to predict that DU is going to win the Midwest regional.

Linkorama...

Here is a new blog that I found while checking out the stats for this blog. Check it out, it has a nice story on the NCAA playoffs. Welcome back Ryan?

Dave Hakstol on the officials this weekend.

On the officials for games this weekend:
We won’t have any officials from either the WCHA or ECAC. We’ll probably have Hockey East or CCHA officials. There’s a pre-game meeting between the referee and the captains from each team. You need to pay attention and listen to the referee’s expectations and the things he’s going to key on. Hopefully, we’ll discover the level that the game’s going to be called in the first 10 minutes. He’ll say what his points of emphasis are. He’ll give the guys an idea of what to expect.

This might be a case of be careful what you ask for. I just hope that UND isn't going to be in trouble after playing in the WCHA all season long where the refs won't call the obstruction and then having play a game where there are officials from other leagues. Last weekend during the Final Five the refs were calling the games more tightly and I didn't hear or have a lot of complaints for the way the games were called.

The Blog that Yost Built had a really good link to clip from the 2002 Michigan and SCSU game. You know the game with the Molly incident. There is also a really good clip to a hit Jed Ortmeyer leveling St. Cloud State’s Matt Hendricks during the 2002 NCAA Midwest Regional. Ouch! If you listen closely you will here FSN's Doug Woog doing color for the broadcast. Nice!

C.C. coach Scott Owens on Richard Bachman: "At the rate he's playing, I don't know how long we're going to have him at Colorado College," Owens said.

Hum, didn't I say some close to this not too long ago: Oh, the heck with it: Kevin Porter won the award months ago, and everyone else is playing for second…and third. Honestly, I agree with what Elliot has said, this award is Porters unless he really screws up. The award is not going to a player from the WCHA and it is definitely not going to a player from UND.

DU is happy to be in Madison

This should answer Kevin Gorg's question on wether DU is unhappy or happy to be playing in Madison. The DU Pioneers have owned the Badgers as of late in Madison and I think that DU is going to make short work of the Badgers this weekend.

It's not likely you'll hear Denver coach George Gwozdecky offering much in the way of complaints this weekend. He said he had no issue whatsoever with being sent to play Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in the first round.

"You like to play in venues that you know and that you're comfortable with," Gwozdecky said.

The best evidence of the Pioneers' comfort in playing at the Kohl Center: They're (DU) 11-1-2 here since the building opened for hockey in 1998, including five straight victories.

Wisconsin hopes it has a bigger advantage on Saturday. It doesn't have to travel. It has a familiar locker room. It has a familiar ice surface.

"To me, it's more exciting to be here playing in the NCAA tournament," Badgers senior defenseman Josh Engel said. "Obviously, everyone's excited to be in the tournament. But there's something about being at home when you're in the tournament that's special."

Gorg is whining now...

When your team gets to the NCAA tourney you get who the NCAA hockey tourney committee picks for you, UND has made it through two regions of death with Michigan and Minnesota two years in a row. Not everone is going to be happy with their draws, it is just a fact of life.

I have heard/read no less than about 10 people complain about DU winning the WCHA Final Five and then having to go to Wisconsin to play the BADgers on their home ice. While most of us agree Wisconsin getting in the tourney probably isn't right, it is a travesty actually, that being said the BADgers are not world beaters and couldn't even win a single playoff game and they are 15-16-7, however, listening to the pundants you would have thought that DU just suffered a huge socia injustice and was playing Michigan.

You have to hear Gorg's rant about Denver University having to play in Wisconsin after winning the WCHA playoff title. It is the 3/25 Kevin Gorg podcast.

It is a travesty is that Minnesota State Mankato is not in this tourney and Wisconsin is. The one thing that opened up the committee for some criticism by putting Wisconsin in is a three seed and hosting a regional. The team that really got the shaft other than Minnesota State is Denver; you are going to tell me that Denver wins the WCHA playoffs and they have to play a road game against Wisconsin and if they are fortunate to win they have to play a North Dakota team who is probably the best team in college hokey the last five weeks of the season. This is the same team that they eked out a win against in the conference tournament who is looking for payback the following week, the DU coach can’t be happy right now.

If there is a travesty at all its the fact that the NCAA stuck three WCHA teams in the same regional, that is kind of a thumb in the eye to our league. The bigger travesty is the fact that two of these teams have to play a conference opponent in their first round match up and if you win you more than likely get to play a conference opponent in the second round for the right to go to the frozen four. You know the NCAA doesn't want anymore all WCHA frozen fours.

The experts don't give UND much a chance.

I was checking out ESPNU/INCH's seems as if the Fighting Sioux aren't being given much of a chance of getting out of their Midwest regional this weekend only Jess Myers (INCH)and David Duffey (ESPN.com) are the only ones giving the Fighting Sioux a chance.

Apparently the Sioux's loss against DU in the semis of the WCHA Final Five has basically given people the impression that UND has NO CHANCE of winning the regional. I just hope the Fighting Sioux hockey team is looking at this and will use this as an extra motivational piece. Lets not forget that UND beat DU 3 out of 4 games sweeping them in Grand Forks during the regular season. I guess that means nothing now. Actually UND owes Denver University for stealing a couple of rings off their fingers.

Sweet 16 (Sioux 7)

The first round of NCAA playoffs get underway this weekend with the four regionals.
I'm not going to go into who got into the tourney and who did not, I'm going to give you my "predictions" as to each brackets outcome.


WEST

1. New Hampshire v 4. Notre Dame

I've seen the Wildcats play at Grand Forks this year, so I got that little bit of insight. UNH has played well against the top teams in the country this year, and the Fighting Irish have not faired so well against the top teams in the CCHA. I thing the Irish should stick to something they do better, like drinking. And after this game they might feel punch drunk. Wildcats 4-1

2. Colorado College v 3. Michigan St.

MSU plays a defensive style hockey game and tries to capitalize off of other teams mistakes. BUT, they are now going to have to play on the BIG sheet of ice (200x100) compared to the standard NHL size (200x85). MSU has a 2-2-0 record on the big sheets, with wins at Alaska and loses at Northern Michigan U. Both teams have good goalies, but I think CC has too much speed on the big sheet for Sparty to handle. The Tigers maul Sparty, mmm, Sparty the other white meat, 3-1 Tigers.

West Championship Game -
UNH v CC - I think the bigger felines will win this battle Tigers 3, Wildcats 2.


MIDWEST

1. North Dakota v 4. Princeton

I don't think people are giving the Tigers much of chance in this game... It's Princeton's second appearance in the tourney and UND's 23rd appearance (Engelstad's old number). The Ivy Leaguers will play to their best abilities, but unfortunately that won't cut the cheese in Wisconsin-land. Sioux 3-0.

2. Denver v 3. Wisconsin

I bet UW is loving this, a shot at DU again, after that goal incident earlier this year. DU has been playing well the past month or so, but haven't had any down time. UW had a week of rest, could be good, could be bad, but they are rested. Since the Badgers have home ice and DU has owned the Kohl Center (11-1-2 v UW) I have consulted the magic snowman. He said global warming has forced him to lose weight and that the Pioneers are going to Denver, THIS Sunday. UW 3-1.

Midwest Championship Game
UND v UW - The Sioux head to Denver, too try for NCAA title No. 8 in '08.


EAST

1. Michigan v 4. Niagara

Honestly, do I have to say anything on this match-up... Okay, the Purple Eagles should be placed on the endangered species list, 'cause the Wolverines are going to make them extinct from this tourney. UM 6-1 winners.

2. St. Cloud State v 3. Clarkson

The Huskies suffered a minor set back by losing in the play-in game to Minnesota. But, that also allowed them rest and time to re-focus their efforts. Clarkson needs to stay out of the sin-bin if they want to win the game. This will be SCSU 7th appearence in the tourney, with no wins to show for it. All that changes this year as the Huskies bite turns out to be worse than their bark. SCSU 4-2

East Championship Game
UM v SCSU - The Huskies got one win, but as Porky Pig says, "That's All Folks", UM moves on 3-2.


NORTHEAST

1. Miami v 4. Air Force
People say UM is a team that eats up cupcakes, but they are playing a non-cupcake team this week. AFA has given some top teams runs for their money and taken some cash from a few of them, can lighting strike twice... YES The Falcons will take out the RedHawks, in a battle of birds, in my upset special. AFA 3-2

2. Boston College v 3. Minnesota
(Ah, both teams a Sioux fan loves to hate, UM our WCHA arch-rival, and BC our out of conference arch-rival.) Both teams have been playing better hockey as of late, but I have a favorite in this game. UM has still struggled to score goals, and BC has some scoring prowess. I say this is like nature, Eagles kill gophers, hey, that's just the way it is. BC wins 3-2

Northeast Championship Game
BC v AFA - The second battle of the birds, the Eagles fly off to Colorado


THE FROZEN FINAL FOUR
MICHIGAN, NORTH DAKOTA, BOSTON COLLEGE, COLORADO COLLEGE

Here is something we will probably see a lot of...

(Clif Reeder/Michigan Daily
Here is something we could see a lot of come this weekend Jeff Frazee's 2007 WJC back up Jeff Zatkoff getting scored on.

Talk about Sand Bagging: I can't believe some moron picked these guys to finish 4th? WTF?

Andy Reid, Daily Sports Writer on 3/26/08

At CCHA Media Day in September, the Michigan hockey team was picked to finish fourth in the conference.

A lot has changed in 183 days.

The Wolverines, winners of both the regular-season and conference tournament championships, have been one of the biggest surprises in college hockey. And the national pundits aren't the only ones scratching their heads at Michigan's run to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

A interesting Perspective.

Here is an interesting perspective from the From the MGOBLOG

Hypothetical second-round opponents. Those unfamiliar with college hockey might look at the second-round matchup, which features conference champ and 21-12-4 Clarkson as the lower seed against fifth-place and 19-15-5 St. Cloud State, and go "huh"?

Well, unlike college football, college hockey has a clear conference pecking order with the WCHA on top, HE and the CCHA fighting it out for second -- this year it's advantage CCHA -- and the ECAC existing as a clear fourth, halfway between the power conferences and Atlantic Hockey. The last ECAC national champion was RPI in 1985. The last time an ECAC team reached the final was Colgate in 1990. Since 2000 only two ECAC teams have reached the Frozen Four. And so on. With all due respect to the league, the vagaries of the PWR are such that drawing an ECAC team is almost always the best possible scenario given your seeding.

While I agree with what he says I am going to take this a bit further. First off the fact that Clarkson is as high as a three seed puzzles me, espeically after they lost to a weak team like Colgate, I think their ranking is a joke actually. All most as silly as them being a one seed last season.

If Clarkson had actually held on to win their conference tourney there would have only been one EZAC team in the NCAA tourney this year. Second records are missleading as SCSU is in the WCHA which top to bottom is the toughest league in college hockey, they are not the AHA but their conference isn't the WCHA or the CCHA. Clarkson is in the EZAC considered the weakest of the Big Four college hockey conferences. They are closer to the AHA then they are the CCHA or the WCHA most of the time their teams get killed in head to head match ups with the CCHA or WCHA.

Clarkson also plays against a schedule that is what I would consider weak by many. Clarkson has lost to some really bad teams one of them was LSSU. Look at the numbers Clarkson's strenght of schedule is very Miami like at 31st over-all and has lost to some really bad teams. Lets look at the Huskies; SCSU strenght of schedule is ranked 9th sure they are like the 5th place team in the WCHA but, has beaten some really good teams. Just for some perspective, C.C. clobbered Clarkson 5-2 and 6-2 when the Knights played the Tigers. SCSU a fifth team split with C.C. the top team in the WCHA during the regular season.

Lee answers Senators' call and makes the Play of the Day

Here is an interesting article on Brian Lee's NHL debut and he saved a goal in his first game. Nice got to love a former Sioux player taking a goal away from a former Gophers player. Here is a better link to the video here from ESPN.

Rookie defenceman makes NHL debut on eve of 21st birthday.
by Rob Brodie
Lee One day early, Brian Lee is getting quite the birthday gift. The young defenceman from Moorhead, Minn., will make his National Hockey League debut tonight –hours before he celebrates his 21st birthday – when the Ottawa Senators face off against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena (7 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet, Team 1200).

While Lee’s callup is related to the hip injury suffered by veteran blueliner Wade Redden during the Senators’ 7-5 loss Monday night in Montreal, head coach/general manager Bryan Murray said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound rookie will be in the lineup regardless of whether Redden is a go tonight or not. His status and that of forward Dean McAmmond (bruised thigh) won’t likely be determined until game time, Murray added.

What can the Senators expect tonight out of Lee, who’ll wear No. 55?

“He’s a rookie,” Murray said Tuesday morning. “He handles the puck and he skates (well), but he’s a young player and we have to know that going in. He’s going to be an NHL player and I think a real good NHL player.

“We know what he brings to the table when he has a little time under his belt. What can he do tonight? I hope play like he plays in the minors, where he does a lot with the puck… He retrieves the puck, he makes the first pass real good. He’s an all-star in the American Hockey League.”

Former Sioux Brian Lee vs Derek Dorsett

I found this video on line today and my first word of advice for former Fighting Sioux hockey and current Senators player Brian Lee is that I would stick to your day job, fighting is not your strong point. I do have to give him credit for dropping the gloves though.

Misc Ramblings.

I have finally landed back in Grand Forks last night waking up in my own bed after being gone since last Wednesday (well except for one night on Sunday). I had to go to Duluth Monday to take my daughter to the doctor at the Duluth Clinic and thank god for vehicle warranty plans. You know that light in your vehicle that comes on and says service engine soon, ah they mean nothing. I have heard about people that actually put tape over them so they don’t have to look at them. One of my buddies has been driving around for like 25,000 miles with his service engine light on. Well my wife would have nothing to do with playing the odds. Mrs. Goon said, “You’re getting it checked out before we leave Duluth.” I guess the thought of being stranded along highway 2 didn’t seem like an attractive offer to Mrs Goon. So I find out that my engine cooling fan was going and it would have been like $900.00 dollars if I hadn’t bought the service plan. My price after deduct able was $100.00, sweet. Thank you Luther Chevy…

One could say this past weekend was quite a trip. I was able to meet so many of the WCHA bloggers that I chat with on-line. It was interesting because you are able to finally put a face to some of the bloggers names as well. Unfortunately there will be no pictures. This is to protect the guilty. LOL…

This is who I met this past weekend in no particular order: Amy from Lets Go Mavs, Heather from Win-Twins, Beth aka MeanEgirl (wasn’t there a movie with Mean girls or something like that?) from the Michigan Tech Hockey Blog and Donna from RWD’s and her husband A.J.; I also had the opportunity to briefly meet the legend Fire Helmet guy.

Here is an interesting post that I found on USCHO.COM. First off anything can happen in a one and done tourney, lose and you go home. I am not sure why people think the Sioux can't beat DU. First off DU has to get by Wisconsin. This view is sumed up well by:

SiouxFanatic
It's kind of funny. Since the loss to Denver in the Final Five many people have deemed the Sioux's post-season doomed saying we don't have a chance if we get around Princeton and have to play Denver in the regional final. I'm not at all convinced that Denver isn't beatable. Honestly, I think Wisconsin is going to give them a very good run for their money in the semifinal game.

I think Denver is a good team but I think if the Sioux have the chance to play them again I think it'll be a whole different game than what we saw at the Final Five.

So if the Sioux get past Princeton; Good luck watching the game on Sunday evening. Apparently ESPNU is not very available if you have midco.

The Sunday game is being broadcast exclusively by ESPNU, and the Fighting Sioux Sports Network has been unsuccessful in its attempts to obtain rights for the game.

ESPNU is not available on Midcontinent Communications, the major cable carrier in this area. But it is available on DirecTV (Channel 609) and Dish Network (Channel 148).

Several local food and beverage establishments with satellite dishes plan to carry the game.

I have been calling Midcontinent for years about them carrying ESPNU in their digital cable line up and they basically said that they don't intend on carrying the channel because they would lose money or it's not profitable for them to carry it. Apparently ESPN channels are expensive to carry. What we should do is swamp the lines and threaten to swtich to DirecTV.

Some more pictures from the Final Five

Here are a couple pictures and video of the guy that passed out in the Xcel Energy Center. One of the Gopher fans that was sitting next to us said leave it to a Sioux fan to ruin a game that they aren't involved in, lol. I will be posting a final blog article on this years Final Five experience a little later on in the week. I am still picking through the 100's of pictures of mine and some of the other people we went to the Final Five with. I am actually still recovering from the damage that I did this weekend. Some call it a hang over I call it not being to keep like I once could because of my old age.
Drunk Passed out guy a day later after he was checked out by the paramedics. I would have been embarrassed if I was that guy.




Actually the snow set a very nice back drop for the Final Five this past weekend. Hey it is March so it can snow at any time and it did and it didn't stop snowing from Friday on. Even with the snow, this is the best time of the year and the Xcel Energy Center is a great venue for a hockey tourney. I also get upset when I hear fans complain about it being in St. Paul because it is in the Gophers back yard. Big deal, it gives guys like us an excuse to travel to a hockey game or 5.