Bouchard scores in overtime.

It is about time that Pierre-Marc Bouchard earns his pay and scores a goal. The overtime goal sealed the win for the Wild as they took a two games to one lead in the best of seven series against the Av's. This is the third game of this series and all three have gone overtime. If you watch the film you will see that Brian Rolston beat the slow footed Jeff Finger to the puck.

Apparently the Denver Post blogger Mark Kiszla is less that impressed with the Wild. Funny I have never seen the Wild referred to as a bunch of goons. I think the Wild have gotten tougher with Voros Boogaard and Simon but they are far from being a bunch of gutless hacks and goons. But check out this article, talk about sour grapes.

Ugly Betty hockey in Colorado's future
By Mark Kiszla

Let the mugging begin.

It's the only way the Minnesota Wild can win.

To advance in the NHL playoffs, the Avalanche must embrace the darkness. When playing this goon-it- up Wild bunch, hockey is a no-holds- barred battle of attrition, not skill.

The only good thing that can be said about Minnesota's 3-2 overtime victory against Colorado was the game lasted so deep into the night that it ended past the bedtime of most kids who could be frightened by the way the Wild mauls all the beauty from the sport.

In a long playoff series, this is the Wild motto: If you can't beat 'em, break 'em.

"You hope to wear down the opposition," Minnesota mauler Aaron Voros said Monday.

"By Games 4, 5 or 6, those bumps and bruises start

Minnesota, the land of 10,000 dead car batteries, has an inferiority about this hockey team. The Wild's style of play is as ugly and obnoxious as the uniforms, which look as if designed by a toddler who randomly pulled two crayons from the box of 64 and began scribbling.

This hard truth makes the Wild faithful grumpier than they are after waking up to yet another subzero morning. But why deny what makes the team so successful?

Andy Strickland on Oshie

As the silly season continues this is something Sioux fans will have deal with; the loss of their favorite player(s), it has become a yearly right of passage, this year very painful as there could be many defections. I am sure other college hockey fans feel the same way as they hold their breath and hope the NHL doesn't come and take their favorite players. In my opinion T.J. Oshie has been nothing but class since he has been at UND and it will be a sad day for this hockey blogger when Oshie does sign on the dotted line.
Andy Strickland blog article on Oshie

Oshie Will Take His Time Before Making Announcement
Blues super prospect T.J. Oshie has yet to make an official announcement regarding any decision to leave the University of North Dakota and signing an NHL contract.

Word is Oshie could wait until his final exams are completed before he goes public with his decision. UND holds their finals during the first week of May.

Due to NCAA regulations, the Blues are prohibited from directly contacting Oshie.

Oshie will likely start game planning his future with his family advisors sometime next week.

It appears to be pretty much a slam dunk that Oshie will sign with the club who selected him in the first round back in 2005.

Oshie will likely have an opportunity to step right in and be a top six guy for Andy Murray next season. He’s primarily been a centerman his entire life but could be asked to play wing in the NHL.

Oshie arrived at UND a little under the radar with Jonathan Toews, Brian Lee, and Taylor Chorney getting most of the attention.

That will be far from the case when he joins the Blues. Fans know who this kid is and have been patiently waiting for his arrival.

Here is some other stuff that is related to the Fighting Sioux players that might also be leaving.

The Fighting Sioux could also lose Capitals first round pick Joe Finley, Oilers second rounder Taylor Chorney, and last season’s Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan.

Duncan, whose saw his production take a dip from 31 goals a year ago to 18 this season with the absence of Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews, was never drafted. He did participate in the Blues development camp last summer and he and his father have a relationship with St. Louis Head Coach Andy Murray.

With that being said I’m not certain the Blues are sold on signing Duncan.

The Blues will likely ask Oshie to spend several weeks in St. Louis after he signs to familiarize himself with the Blues off-ice program.

Q&A with Joe Finley on Hockey Futures.

He might not be the most popular player around Grand Forks, ND right now but Joe Finley sat down for an interview with hockeyfutures.com before the recently completed Frozen Four.

Q&A with Joe Finley
Written by: DJ Powers on 04/10/2008
Towering junior defenseman Joe Finley is enjoying a career season with North Dakota. Coming into the Frozen Four he has more than doubled his entire point production from last season having posted 15 points (four goals, 11 assists). The Edina, MN native currently leads the Fighting Sioux in plus/minus (plus-27) and penalty minutes (92). One of his most memorable games came back on Jan. 5 when he posted an assist and was a plus-5 in North Dakota’s 6-2 win over St. Cloud State.

Hockey’s Future caught up with Finley after practice on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The NHL develops the Avery rule

Seems that the National Hockey League felt Rangers tough guy Sean Avery stepped over the line last night.

INTERPRETATION OF RULE 75 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

NEW YORK/TORONTO (April 14, 2008) -- National Hockey League Senior
Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell today issued the following advisory on the interpretation of Rule 75 - Unsportsmanlike Conduct: "An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

Here is the play everyone is talking about.

I saw this last night on Versus and this is one of the oddest things that I have ever saw. It is no doubt that Avery is trying to get in Martin Brodeur's head and it appeared that it worked on this play as Sean Avery scored a goal.

Last night over on CBC Ron McClain (who is a ice hockey official) said that he could give Avery a penalty for poor sportsmanship and according to the rules may and should be penalized. Below is the NHL rule that could cover this conduct.

NHL Rule 41.G
A misconduct penalty shall be imposed on any player who persists in any course of conduct (including threatening or abusive language or gestures or similar actions) designed to incite an opponent into incurring a penalty.

If, after the assessment of a misconduct penalty, a player persists in any course of conduct for which he was previously assessed a misconduct penalty, he shall be assessed a game misconduct penalty.

Future Sioux

There has been a lot of negativity lately around the blog sphere on how the Sioux exited the NCAA tourney. It should be expected since they stunk up the Pepsi Center, for what ever reason they got away from what got them there.

I was telling some friends at lunch on Friday that there is a lot to be positive about, the future looks bright, there are some nice blue chippers coming in next season. This past season UND earned a reputation of being a bunch of hard nosed players that played a tough brand of hockey. Some fans in the WCHA called UND a bunch of goons. I think that was a well deserved badge of honor.

If you think this years club was a bunch of goons you're going to like next years team.

Well let me expound on that here is Brett Hextall pounding Brock Palasty.

Phil's brother Mario Lamoureux can throw them as well and here is another example of Mario holding his own.

Here is a very bad video of future Sioux recruits Mike Cichy and Mario Lamoureux with 6 seconds left in the game scoring to ice the game.

The Silly Season Continues: DU's Chris Butler gone.

The Lets-Go-DU Hockey blog is reporting that Chris Butler is leaving the Denver Pioneer to sign a entry level professional contract with the Buffalo Sabres. The silly season continues and it looks like the 17 departures from a couple of years ago might be broken this summer since the college hockey season has just ended and there are 5 1/2 month till the 2008-2009 season ends.

Official press release on the Bulter signing.

Early departures in the WCHA

Wisconsin (1)
Kyle Turris, freshman

MSU-Mankato (1)
Jon Kalinski, junior

Michigan Tech (1)
Michael-Lee Teslak, junior

Minnesota-Duluth (1)
Jason Garrison, junior

St. Cloud State (1)
Andreas Nodl, sophomore

Minnesota (1)
Jeff Frazee, junior

Denver (1)
Chris Butler, junior

B.C. 4 Notre Dame 1 (ND gets hosed)

First congrats to the Eagles for winning their third national title. The Eagles proved that they are the best team in college hockey this season, and they did it being very creative in the offensive zone.

On their way to the national title, the Boston College Eagles burned the Gophers, RedHawks, Sioux and Irish with their teams speed and got good to great goaltending from Muse. I am sure other teams in college hockey will take note that you CAN win a national title by outscoring your opponents and playing smart defense without just simply piling up at the blue line and a focusing on defense first and offense as an afterthought. As a hockey fan, it makes me long for the days of racehorse hockey under Dean Blais. They just went out and tried to score as many goals as possible and played smart defense.

If you think about it, B.C. Eagles's style of play is a breath of fresh air. The Eagles play racehorse hockey and are actually really exciting to watch. Some teams in the NHL and college hockey should take note. In fact I am hoping that my favorite coach takes a look at the film from this past weekend and changes up his game plan a bit.

WCHA officials shine again

Looking back at the National Championship game, the off ice officials (WHCA head of official Greg Shepherd) got another call wrong on a goal. Leave it to the WCHA officials to screw up a perfectly good game and ruin it. If you go back and watch the film, at the end of the embedded video you will see that the Notre Dame player Kyle Lawson had the puck bounce off his left foot. Lawson tried to kick the puck with his left foot but missed. After a long review by the off ice official the goal was waved off. We saw numerous replays of the Notre Dame goal in question and there is no doubt in my mind that the goal should have counted. Adam Wodon also has a really good explanation:

But was the call wrong?

I think it was.

The longer it went on, you knew there was trouble for Notre Dame. The officials explained it as needing to see if the puck hit a stick. Otherwise, they felt pretty early on that Lawson knocked the puck in with a "distinct kicking motion."

I disagree. I've watched it over and over, and I have no idea how you look at that replay and determine that the player kicked the puck in with a distinct motion. And particularly, how do you look at that and determine it conclusively — which is necessary to overrule the on-ice call.

Lawson took a cross-ice feed and tried to corral the puck with his left skate. Then, as he was trying to get his stick down to tap it into what became a wide-open net, he turned his right skate to again try to control the puck. The puck hit off his skate blade, then went rolling towards the net. Lawson tried to tap at it, but whiffed. He also clearly tried to kick it — but it was also clear, at least to me, that Lawson made no kicking motion until after the puck had already deflected off his skate blade and went rolling away.

You don't expect an on-ice official to see that in a split second, but you do expect that, with the benefit of super slo-mo replay, that the video judges would have.

According to Greg Shepherd After a long delay, "The puck was kicked in by the Notre Dame player's right skate. The skate was moving toward the goal line." Way to go, Greg. You managed to botch another call this season.

Another shining moment for the WCHA officials. The WCHA league office must be proud today that they were able to affect a tourney they weren't even playing in.



Box Score

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

BC-1 Kyle Kucharski (2-Holding the Stick) NDM 0x1 8:41
BC-2 Matt Greene (2-Cross-Checking) NDM 0x2 14:33
NDM-1 Brock Sheahan (2-Roughing) BC 0x1 17:02
BC-3 Anthony Aiello (2-Tripping) NDM 0x3 18:24

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

BC 1 - 0 6x6 LL Nathan Gerbe (34) (Brian Gibbons, Ben Smith) 2:23
BC (+): 9,17,12,6,26,G1 NDM (-): 14,5,9,23,19,G1
BC-4 Andrew Orpik (2-Slashing) NDM 0x4 2:51
NDM-2 Ryan Thang (2-Interference) BC 1x2 4:58
BC 2 - 0 6x5 PP GW Nathan Gerbe (35) (Ben Smith, Dan Bertram) 5:37
BC: 9,12,22,15,21,G1 NDM: 25,14,5,22,G1
NDM-3 Dan VeNard (2-Cross-Checking) BC 2x3 6:29
NDM-4 Dan Kissel (2-Tripping) BC 2x4 7:27
BC-5 Kyle Kucharski (2-Holding) NDM 0x5 7:32
BC 3 - 0 5x4 PP Joe Whitney (11) (Nathan Gerbe, Benn Ferriero) 8:11
BC: 15,9,21,12,G1 NDM: 5,23,14,G1
NDM 1 - 3 5x5 Kevin Deeth (11) (Kyle Lawson, Ian Cole) 9:07
NDM (+): 21,2,28,22,G1 BC (-): 4,5,21,14,G1
NDM-5 Dan VeNard (2-High-Sticking) BC 2x5 16:49

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

BC-6 Nick Petrecki (2-Elbowing) NDM 0x6 0:08
BC 4 - 1 6x6 Ben Smith (25) (Nathan Gerbe, Brian Gibbons) 5:31
BC (+): 12,9,17,4,26,G1 NDM (-): 14,5,16,25,22,G1
BC-7 Matt Price (2-Obstruction Tripping) NDM 0x7 8:05
BC-8 Matt Greene (2-Hooking) NDM 0x8 9:54
Timeout - Notre Dame 19:12

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

Alex Ovechkin scores his first career playoff goal.

Wow, this has to be one of the nicer goals I have seen this season. Alex Ovechkin picked a great time to score his first ever NHL Stanley Cup Playoff goal. I don't see the Flyers beating the Captials.

The Devils get hosed by the Refs.

picture by Tony Kurdzuk/Star-Ledger


It would appear that the WCHA was officiating the NHL Stanley Cup playoff game between the Devils and the Rangers last night. First off I am not a fan of either team, so I have not interest in the game other than being a hockey fan, however, the officiating has to be better than it was last night.

The two most blatant calls was the checking from behind called that was missed by the ref at the end of the game and the linesman calling icing when the Devils were on the penalty kill and causing the face off to be at center ice. These are blown calls at critical times at the end of the game and this should not happen, not in the NHL. Personally, this has to be one of the worst officiating jobs I have seen in the NHL in some time. At the end of the game last night John Madden was screaming at the ref. i wonder if he will be spoken to by the league office?

Former Fighting Sioux Zach Parise is also going to need some dental work after being hacked in the face.

Check out New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's save on Zach Parise.

The lone Bright spot from the Frozen Four.

This is one of the few bright spots from the Frozen Four for North Dakota. Jake Marto gave us a few glimpses of what we can expect in the future. Jake Marto the 2005 North Dakota Mr Hockey was a game breaker on the blue line when he played at Central high school, we are starting to see that same person in college with the Fighting Sioux.

T.J. Oshie named to the All-American Team.

Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie was named to the West First Team All-American team. It is a nice honor for gutty Sioux forward. There was one freshman and one Sophomore on the West All-American teams the rest were juniors and seniors.

WEST FIRST TEAM
G — Richard Bachman, Fr., Colorado College
D — Tyler Eckford, Jr., Alaska
D — Jack Hillen, Sr., Colroado College
F — Ryan Jones, Sr., Miami
F — T.J. Oshie, Jr., North Dakota
F — Kevin Porter, Sr., Michigan

WEST SECOND TEAM
G — Jeff Lerg, Jr., Michigan State
D — Chris Butler, Jr., Denver
D — Alec Martinez, Jr., Miami
F — Chad Kolarik, Sr., Michigan
F — Ryan Lasch, So., St. Cloud
F — Chad Rau, Jr., Colorado College

Big shock Kevin Porter from Michigan won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Duh, we all knew Kevin Porter would win it back in January. Porter was the best player on one of the best lines in college hockey.

Eagles 6 Sioux 1

Grand Forks Herald Picture

For the third year in a row the Fighting Sioux lost to the Boston College Eagles in the semi finals of the NCAA Frozen Four. For the third year in a row the Fighting Sioux goaltending and defense failed the Fighting Sioux. While I don't like to point fingers the Sioux defense looked like a bunch of pylons as the Speedy Eagles put on offensive exhibition. I must give credit where credit is due; hats off to the B.C. Eagles for beating the Sioux like a rented mule. It happens sometimes, that is life, your not going to win them all. In a one and done tourney anything can happen, ask Jeff Jackson and the Fighting Irish. The Fighting Irish were the last team in the NCAA tourney and they are going to beat the Eagles tomorrow night and win their first NCAA title. Just a hunch.

They say bad things come in threes; 1.) Last night the Minnesota Wild lost in over time. 2.) The Bruins got owned by the Habs. 3.) Finally the Sioux stunk up the Pepsi Center and looked like a western North Dakota high school team. Well something good has to happen, it is the law of averages (as I write this blog post the Fighting Irish win the game in overtime). This makes this loss a lot less painful.

Players last games

Tonight was the last game for seniors Rylan Kaip, Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Kyle Radke and Robbie Bina Goon's World would like to thank these seniors for the their dedication to the Fighting Sioux program, I have enjoyed watching you guys play for the Sioux. Also you can probably expect T.J. Oshie, Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley to sign professional contract very soon. I would also like to thank these players for taking one more kick at the can, I will never forget T.J. Oshie drive and determination, your truly a warrior. If you three guys want to come back for one more kick at the can because of unfinished business I am sure most of us will take you back with open arms.


I think the Green Team from Sioux Sports sums it up best.

I think

If you had asked my fellow Sioux fans who I wanted to see the Sioux play in the semis, I said Boston College, because of their track record, their excellence, I wanted the opportunity to beat them. I was surprised that was not the case where I watched the game 2 weeks ago. Most wanted Miami of Ohio to be the possible opponent. Despite the result, I'm still glad it was Boston College. One it shows us we need to improve, I honestly think that had we even played better we still would have been beaten by this squad...unfortunately they are better...this year. This Boston College team reminds me a lot of the teams in 97 and 2000 that we had, by quickly turning turnovers into instant scoring chances, they have a great transition game- they are tenacious bunch and it reminds me of those 97 and 2000 teams. We need to get quicker...

I've believed all year that the "Speed Kills" slogan may not apply to this team and to the last few. Boston College to their credit has found a chink in our armour over these last few years and that is to use their speed to get on our defenseman in a hurry, and you know what we haven't responded. A coaching change is not necessary but I will say that our staff has recruited to fit the style of play that continues to be allowed to be called in the WCHA-it's effective against the clutch and grab style of the bottom teams of our league. The players that we recruit to play in the WCHA, and have success here, may not match up well the style of play, skills and abilities that the players from BC have.

Goon sees a silver lining

First off life is full of disappointments, you're are not always going to come out ahead. There are always going to be losses and disappointments, its how you deal with these life lessions that truely makes you a man. There are going to be people that get great pleasure out of the Sioux losing against the Eagles tonight. So what! The UND Fighting Sioux finished ahead of 54 other teams in division 1 hockey again for a fourth year in a row. So when that relative or buddy that is a Gophers fan gets in your face and tells you your team choked again, tell them yep you're right but our team finished ahead of your team for a fourth year in a row.

Box Score

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

BC 1 - 0 6x6 LL Andrew Orpik (7) (Kyle Kucharski) 7:08
BC (+): 27,18,5,4,2,G1 NDK (-): 11,22,5,26,2,G1
NDK-1 Darcy Zajac (2-Slashing) BC 0x1 7:08
BC-1 Kyle Kucharski (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 8:45
BC-2 Pat Gannon (2-Tripping) NDK 0x2 12:00
BC 2 - 0 5x6 SH GW Nathan Gerbe (31) (unassisted) 13:14
BC (+): 9,5,17,7,G1 NDK (-): 10,5,14,2,17,G1
BC-3 Dan Bertram (2-Roughing) 14:23
BC-4 Matt Price (2-Roughing) 14:23
NDK-2 Matt Watkins (2-Roughing) 14:23
NDK-3 Joe Finley (2-Roughing) 14:23
BC-5 Mike Brennan (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 14:59
NDK-4 Rylan Kaip (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 14:59
BC 3 - 0 5x5 Nathan Gerbe (32) (Brian Gibbons, Carl Sneep) 15:13
BC (+): 9,7,5,12,G1 NDK (-): 7,4,10,16,G1
BC 4 - 0 6x6 Dan Bertram (10) (Pat Gannon) 19:45.2
BC (+): 22,13,25,7,26,G1 NDK (-): 10,5,2,7,16,G1

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

BC-6 Nick Petrecki (2-Interference) NDK 0x3 0:24
NDK-5 Robbie Bina (2-Obstruction Hooking) BC 1x2 5:49
BC 5 - 0 6x5 PP HT Nathan Gerbe (33) (Ben Smith, Dan Bertram) 6:37
BC: 9,12,22,15,21,G1 NDK: 7,20,5,6,G1
NDK-6 T.J. Oshie (2-Charging) BC 1x3 7:11
BC-7 Matt Price (2-Roughing) NDK 0x4 9:38
BC 6 - 0 6x6 Ben Smith (24) (Nathan Gerbe, Brian Gibbons) 11:58
BC (+): 12,9,17,5,7,G1 NDK (-): 20,7,5,29,28,G1
BC-8 Andrew Orpik (2-Roughing) 12:26
BC-9 Anthony Aiello (2-Roughing) NDK 0x5 12:26
NDK-7 Kyle Radke (2-Roughing) 12:26
NDK-8 Rylan Kaip (2-Obstruction Holding) BC 1x4 17:55

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

NDK-9 Kyle Radke (2-Hooking) BC 1x5 2:25
BC-10 Carl Sneep (2-High-Sticking) NDK 0x6 5:43
BC-11 Nick Petrecki (2-CTH HIGH STICKING) NDK 0x7 13:28
BC-12 Nick Petrecki (2-Boarding) NDK 0x8 13:28
NDK 1 - 6 6x6 Jake Marto (2) (Matt Watkins) 18:44
NDK (+): 25,20,17,28,29,G1 BC (-): 27,6,18,24,7,G1

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

Julie Robenhymer on the Frozen Four...

Check out Julie Robenhymer's blog on hockeybuzz and her take on the Frozen Four. The only problem with the article that I saw was that she said the Sioux were in the CCHA.

In a 40-ish game schedule (depending on in-season tournaments), a team will play about 10 non-conference opponents. The top tier teams often take on other top tier teams from different conferences to guage their abilities on a national level and improve thier strength of schedule. So it was a big deal when two-time National Runner-Up Boston College (Hockey East) hosted North Dakota (CCHA), the team they had beaten both times to advance to the National Title game, earlier this season...but more on this later...

Here is another interesting point on the Sioux and the Eagles.

I have loved the Fighting Sioux ever since the off season when current Hobey Baker winner - Ryan Duncan and teammates TJ Oshie, Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley decided not to follow former teammate, Jonathan Towes, to the NHL and stick together to hopefully finish what they started and make another run at the National Championship. They started the season ranked #1, but quickly fell after a rather mediocre start. In fact, they split every series in the first half of the season and didn't kick things into high gear until after thier holiday tournament (Click here to read my blog about it from earlier this year). Since then, they have found their groove. Backstopped by Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux and his 1.64 GGA and led by Oshie and Duncan and their 45 and 40 points respectively, they roll all four lines and boast 14 skaters with double digits in points.

On the flipside...I've not been a fan of BC ever since my time at UMass, but I've gotten over it...this team ROCKS! Talk about overcoming adversity...there was a time this season when they weren't even in the nation's Top 15!! But much like the Sioux, they kicked it into high gear mid-way through the season. They won their holiday tourny and then the Beanpot in February followed by the Hockey East Tournament. Led by Hobey Baker Finalist, Nathan Gerbe and his 60 points, these Eagles might be on the smaller side, but man are they FAST. Thier PP converts at 21.7% led by freshman and last week's OT hero, Joe Whitney and his 28 man-advantage points. Another freshman stand-out (much like Michigan, this was a rebuilding year for BC), goaltender John Muse has started all 42 games in goal with a 2.26 GGA, but stepping it up in the post season he has a 1.60 GGA in the last six games. Yet another freshman to keep your eye on is San Jose defensive prospect Nick Petrecki - an absolute stud at the blueline.

I also like the way she is thinking...

Personally, I'm hoping for a North Dakota victory, but most importantly a GREAT game and of that I am assured. :)

Jeff Frazee's WJC back up signs with LA.

The LA Kings signed Jeff Zatkoff "aka Jef Frazee's WJC backup" to an three-year entry-level contract. Jeff Zatkoff the L.A. Kings' 2006 3rd draft choice led the Miami RedHawks to a number two over all seed in this years NCAA hockey tourney. Unfortunately, Miami was bounced from the 2008 NCAA hockey tourney by the Boston College Eagles 3-2 in overtime during the North East Regional final.

Zatkoff LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings have agreed to terms on a three-year entry-level contract with goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today. Zatkoff was the club’s third-round selection (74th overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Per club policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

(Caution this post is an attempt at humor and is not meant to be malicious)

Linkorama: Articles on the Eagles and the Frozen Four.

Here is an interesting discussion from B.C. Interruption I must say that I am nervous as well. One might say that it is hard to concentrate at work today. I am hoping that the third time is a charm against the Eagles. It would be interesting if the Fighting Sioux and the Fighting Irish both advance to the Frozen Four Finals the battle of the....

Last one, Toss Up - Who ya got? BC - North Dakota, and Michigan - Notre Dame?

Brian: I am nervous about the Eagles matchup tomorrow. It's REALLY hard to beat a team 3 years in a row in the national semifinals, but I'm going to go with my heart here and say that the Eagles keep things rolling. For the other matchup, again it's really difficult to beat a team 3 times in the same season ... ask this year's version of the Dallas Cowboys. I'm going to go the other way on this. I'm going with Notre Dame with the major upset, if only because Notre Dame survived the West regional of death, and Michigan had, by far, the easiest road to the Frozen Four. All Catholic final, let's do this.

Jeff: Notre Dame beat New Hampshire easily and then went on to beat Michigan State in this tournament. I don't know a lot about hockey but I know UNH had a good season so Notre Dame is clearly playing well and I give them the edge. Michigan expects to win and therefore has pressure, ND has no pressure on them to win. In the important matchup, I'm going with BC, obviously. What difference does it make that we've beat North Dakota the last two years? 3 times in one year might be a big deal but 3 times in 3 years ... no big deal. In 2001 North Dakota scored two late goals to force OT but then somehow BC regained composure and won the game. If BC could beat them under those circumstances I certainly expect them to win before the game starts tomorrow!

Foggy Notion: Eagles and Sioux destined to meet again.

Eagles confident they'll measure up

B.C.'s Muse plays like seasoned veteran

No stopping him: Irish's Pearce always wanted to be a goalie

Jeff "Long Island" Frazee gone at Minnesota.

Jeff Frazee has signed a professional contract with the New Jersey Devils and will forgo his senior season at the University of Minnesota. Goon's world would like to wish Jeff Frazee good luck and hopefully a fresh start in your hockey career. This video is one of the things I am going to remember Frazee for. Some of us are also going to remember Frazee in the WJC and being owned by Toews.

Early departures in the WCHA (In case anyone is keeping score)

Wisconsin (1)
Kyle Turris, freshman

MSU-Mankato (1)
Jon Kalinski, junior

Michigan Tech (1)
Michael-Lee Teslak, junior

Minnesota-Duluth (1)
Jason Garrison, junior

St. Cloud State (1)
Andreas Nodl, sophomore

Minnesota (1)
Jeff Frazee, junior

Frozen Four/NCAA hockey Linkorama.

The The Dasher Troll gives UND some unexpected love. Actually I was shocked when I read this since I thought Gwoz thought UND was a bunch of thugs/goons; especially after the series they had in Grand Forks.

* On North Dakota: "North Dakota is well balanced. They've had a terrific second half of the season and have great offensive capabilities with Ryan Duncan and T.J. Oshie. They complement each other and make others around them better. They have great experience in the Frozen Four. This is the fourth year in a row they have been there, and I think everybody expected them to advance no matter what regional they were in because of that experience and how well they played in the second half."

A MSU writer not a fan of the NCAA tourney selection process.

I am not a fan of the job the selection committee did for this year’s NCAA hockey tournament.

My lone complaint with the field is that Wisconsin made the postseason with a sub-.500 record. That shouldn’t be allowed, especially with other programs barely behind them with better records.

But that doesn’t really upset me as much as how the 16 teams were paired.

Essentially, I’m upset that MSU got shipped out to Colorado Springs, Colo., when it should be playing St. Cloud State in Albany, N.Y.

As it stands now, MSU, the best No. 3 seed, is playing Colorado College, the best No. 2 seed. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

It should’ve been Clarkson that got shipped out to Colorado. Instead, Michigan is given an absolute cakewalk to the Frozen Four. It’ll destroy Niagara and whoever wins the game between St. Cloud State and Clarkson.

If MSU gets past Colorado College, it’ll have the tough task of facing either No. 1 seed New Hampshire or No. 4 seed Notre Dame. I’d guess New Hampshire. That is no small task, either, even though MSU has had New Hampshire’s number in recent years.

But the truth is, it’s sad when your first-round game looks to be the toughest of the four it would take to win a national title.

First off; I want to know where they get some of these skippy's? Does this kid not realize that MSU has benefited many times from playing in front of regionals that are very much in favor of MSU Spartans and or in their home state of Michigan. The team that advanced from the Colorado Springs regional was the last team to make the regional and they managed to prevail.

Linkorama Boston College Eagles.

Here is a pretty good blog from a Boston College Eagles fan: B.C. Interruption he seems to have a pretty good analysis of Boston College Hockey. This is the only B.C. Hockey blog that I have found this season.

History vs. the Eagles

Unbelievably, Thursday’s game marks the 7th time out of the last 10 years that the Eagles and Sioux have faced one another in the National tournament. The teams traded national titles in 2000 and 2001. BC has won the last two meetings, both in the national semifinal. This is North Dakota’s fourth consecutive Frozen Four appearance (longest current active streak). The last team to make four consecutive trips to the Frozen Four? BC from 1998-2001.

2007 – Boston College 6, North Dakota 4 (Frozen Four)

2006 – Boston College 6, North Dakota 5 (Frozen Four)

2005 – North Dakota 6, Boston College 3 (East Regional Final)

2001 – Boston College 3, North Dakota 2 OT (National Championship)

2000 – North Dakota 4, Boston College 2 (National Championship)

1999 – Boston College 2, North Dakota 1 (West Regional Final)

Goon's World makes the front page of Sayanything blog.

Yesterday my article about Hillary and the Fighting Sioux name made the front page of Sayany thing blog. To me that is a great honor and thanks goes out to the Whistler.

Marian Gaborik vs. Ian Laperriere

Do the Wild really need their top forward mixing it up before the first round of the NHL playoffs? I think someone should remind Marian Gaborik what his role is; it's not to be a fighter/goon. Gaborik can leave that to Simon, Boogaard, Fedoruk aka the Fridge. It would have been really devastating to the Wild if Gaborik had broken a fist or gotten a concussion. Lastly, I would also like to know why Jacques Lemaire didn't have Derek Boogaard in the line up? I look for Wednesday's game to have a little bit of life to it. Apparently the Minnesota Wild were less than thrilled with Ian Laperriere.

Here is an explaination of what happen from the Star and Tribune: Colorado winger Ian Laperriere, a veteran of 161 NHL fights, did everything he could to get inside Wild star Marian Gaborik's head.

Taking advantage of a rare Gaborik third-period shift without bruising linemate Todd Fedoruk on the ice, Laperriere locked onto Gaborik's stick, collared his arm around Gaborik's head and drove Gaborik hard where the glass ends and the Avalanche bench begins.

"It was just battling on the boards and stuff," Laperriere said.

Then, at the end of overtime and knowing there was nobody but Wild skilled players on the ice, Laperriere again collided with Gaborik, the shocking result being Gaborik's first fighting major in 485 career games.

"We kind of collided, pushed, shoved and just happened to drop the gloves," said Gaborik, his right hand covered in gashes. "It happened so quick. It shows things are heating up. It's going to be a tough series. It's going to be a battle like five years ago."

When the Wild next meets Colorado, Gaborik plans to "play my game and leave that stuff for other guys."

And those "other guys," Fedoruk, Derek Boogaard and Chris Simon, weren't happy with Laperriere's antics.

"Obviously I'm going to be playing in the first game," said Boogaard, who was scratched Sunday. "We'll see if somebody has a problem then."

"We'll see if [Laperriere] does it again and on who," coach Jacques Lemaire said.

The March to the Frozen Four...

Not everyone that is a Sioux fan read Siouxsports or USCHO.COM, so if you haven't seen this video you have got to check it out. The video is from RedFrogND and in looking at this video, while the original was pretty good this one even better. I think this video montage is a great illustration the Fighting Sioux's 2007-2008 season. If your a Sioux fans and this doesn't get you ready for this weekend Frozen Four you have to check your pulse. I like how the video starts off with UND dismantling the Michigan State University Spartans to last weekend's Madison regional.


The results of the latest poll are in.

Q: Do you like UND's Bracket?
a.) No problem with it all 293 (68%)
b.) It Sucks 63 (14%)
c.) UND should have gone east 54 (12%)
d.) UND should have been sent to the Springs 21 (4%)

Sioux recruits Corey Fienhage and Ben Blood photos

A buddy of mine that runs the new Sioux blog was at the USHL game between the Ceder Rapids Rough Riders and the Indiana Ice. The Indiana ice sports two Sioux recruits Ben Blood number 20 and Corey Fienhage number 15 on its teams. Jakes girl friend Kori took the pictures.











Here is the scouting report on Ben Blood according to Jake.

Ben Blood: is one of those recruits. I have to tell you I really enjoyed watching him play. He's a big, solid defenseman and moves the puck very well. He jumps up in the play when needed and scored a goal last night. He had a lot of ice time last night, I swear he was on every other shift. I think he's got a very similar style to Genoway or Chorney. Should be a great addition to our D core.




Here is the scouting report on Cory Fienhage according to Jake:

Corey Fienhage: is the other recruit. He didn't play nearly as much as Blood and his stats show that he's played many fewer games.



Note: Corey Fienhage played high school hockey at East View High School and joined the ice after his High School team was eliminated from the Minnesota High School hockey tourney.

You can track all of the Sioux recruits stats here.

More on Wheeler.

There seems to be more unfolding in the Blake Wheeler story. Check out this article on the Hip Shot blog... Seems as if Blake is holding a lot of the cards that make up a good hand. I has to be tough to be a college hockey player; your season has just ended you feel that you have more work to do but there is a chance of a life time waiting on the other end.

Blake Wheeler Yotes 2004 pick might stay in school...

Now some want to throw Hillary under the bus for uttering Fighting Sioux.

I am not a Hillary Clinton fan nor a democrat by any means but this is absolutely silly. The anti-nick name foes are always stirring something up and always seem to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Come on; honestly folks! Hillary Clinton is a liberal Democrat and I am sure she didn't mean anything disrespectful by uttering the Fighting Sioux nick name at a rally for DEMOCRATS. Again I am not a fan of Hillary but some of the stuff she has had to face because the main stream media's being in Barack Obama's corner is down right ridiculous. It is surprising she isn't down by 20 percentage points to McCain or Obama.

But Sele and the rest of the table said Clinton “stumbled” when she repeatedly used the full, and controversial, nickname of UND’s Fighting Sioux hockey team. Sele called herself a serious sports fan who’s not a nickname advocate, but not forcefully opposed to the nickname either.

By using the controversial nickname, Sele said, Clinton invited a divisive issue into the conversation that needn’t be there.

“I don’t think she recognized how contentious that is,” Sele said. “Unless you’re here, you can’t know that.”

A variety of UND student and faculty groups and many of the campuses’ American Indians have long opposed the school’s nickname. A legal settlement with the NCAA requires UND to retire the nickname within three years if it cannot win the endorsement of both the state’s Sioux tribes.

Clinton used the Fighting Sioux nickname at the opening of her speech after Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., presented her with a hockey stick signed by the entire UND men’s hockey team. She used the nickname again at the end of speech, comparing the determination that sent UND men’s hockey players to the upcoming Frozen Four competition in Denver with her own determination to stay in the presidential race.

Obama was also presented with an autographed hockey stick, but did not use the nickname while accepting it, joking instead that he’s a worse hockey player than he is a bowler.

Glassheim also called the Fighting Sioux statements an “error,” noting that Sen. Byron Dorgan called the team the “UND Sioux,” when presenting the hockey stick, considered by many to be a less offensive version of the name.

“I’m not violently anti-nickname, but it disturbed me a little,” Glassheim said.

Glassheim speculated Clinton was likely poorly prepared for the hockey stick acceptance, by staffers that aren’t sensitive to local issues.

However, he said, it’s just possible Clinton’s use of the nickname was a calculated appeal to her base. In primaries and caucuses nationwide Clinton’s supporters have tended to be more working class and socially conservative than Obama’s.

DS article on the Sioux name.

Here is an interesting article that I think all Sioux fans need to be read and possibly discuss it. Steve Fool Bear, Mato Iyotaka submitted an article to the Dakota Student on What it means to be Sioux. While there was an online petition to keep the Fighting Sioux name. I think the people we need to have a dialog with is the people of the Sioux, Lakota, Nakota nation. Contrary to the Sioux football people; Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota isn't going to play us in football no matter what our name is. It is a pipe dream by some at UND that we are going to magically be given a football or basketball game with these teams if the Sioux change their name. Heck, forget the snobby Big 10 conference. Maybe UND should concentrate on getting Montana, Montana State, UNI and some of the other Division 1AA schools to play us first.

I also disagree with Chancellor of the North Dakota University System
Bill Goetz that we need to bring this to a conclusion as soon as possible. What's the rush? Is Bill Goetz getting pressure from Ron His Horse Thunder? UND per the settlement has three years to get this issue solved? I think more time should be spent finding out from as many of the people of the Sioux nation as possible and not just the tribal council; and asking them what do you think? If the people of the Sioux nation does in fact really want UND to retire the name, so be it.

Here is some of the important points: This issue is not a clash of Native vs. White, or any combination of the two. This is an issue of people who seek to divide versus people who wish to unite.

Both races share these groups. The dividers respond to one another by creating turmoil, and the animosity that results radiates to the rest of us. Now our social atmosphere is in increased discord.

This topic has been long ignored by those who were indifferent; many of us believed this issue was settled in 1969, when Standing Rock gave our blessing to UND, but because of these divider groups, the issue has resurfaced and is now affecting us all.

Some believe that by taking back this given Sioux name from UND will result in some victory against racism, like a logo is going affect a racist person's behavior. We have no control of these people's thoughts and actions, removing the logo will not change their view of Natives.

To chastise UND for opposing team's antics and our states local bigoted population is fruitless; nothing good will come from it, but more importantly, nothing will change.

The people that create this turmoil will still be here. UND is not to blame; it is the immoral third party chauvinists who are. Reality: If we take back the Sioux name and logo we gave to UND, we are taking a piece of their adopted culture, heritage and identity. Sound familiar?
---snip----
We do not need outside entities speaking for us like we're some dysfunctional dim-witted defeated shells of our ancestors. The NCAA, APA, NAACP and whoever else who think they know what's best for Natives, do not speak for me, and should not speak for Standing Rock.

We are the decedents of the greatest culture to have ever walked these plains, and it's time to start acting like it. The self-pity attitude that many have adopted has reached its apex.

We cannot claim any honor by hiding behind these groups.

Chairman His Horses Thunder, I respect you and your accomplishments, your job I'm sure is challenging; I would respect you more as a leader if you actually visited our communities, and in a unbiased manner spoke to your members about this most debatable topic, or visited with the UND students who never experienced all the negative incidents others attest to.

It's evident that there are a very large number of your constituents who don't agree with what is happening. It's obvious this debate is split; I'm sure as the highest ranking officer of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, you would want to represent us accurately. After all; it is your job as our democratic leader to represent the majority, a vote would settle the issue once and for all. (Read the whole article here)

March 6th 2008 Andy Strickland interview with T.J. Oshie.

I have not seen this posted anywhere. Fighting Sioux forward, T.J. Oshie was on with Andy Strickland of AM 1380 From St Louis, March 6th 2008. Keep in mind that Strickland has always been in the camp of get T.J. to St Louis right away. After the Sioux get number 8 then the Blue can have him.

Recap from T.J. Oshie:

-Difference in UND from the beginning of season when they were struggling to now, "We had a couple of injuries and the bounces weren’t going our way. Now we are getting the bounces and getting the puck in the net and things are going well."

-Is this year's team as good as last season's, "I’m not sure, we are a different team and it is hard to say. We have other guys stepping up this year and we are on the better run this season than we were last season."

-Do you have any regret on going back to college this season to play for UND, "No regret at all. I am having the time of my life here and I am enjoying every minute of it. It is a blast and I have not once second guess my decision."

-On his health, "I am 100 percent. I had a hip injury but that is fully healed now and I am playing fully healthy right now."

-On if he catches himself watching more NHL hockey and the Blues, "Actually, I don't watch much hockey on television. I am coming around now though because it is fun watching the Blues and watching other guys in the league that I have played with. I don't like watching hockey on TV because it gets me going too much and it makes me just want to go out and play."

-On if he thinks he can make an immediate impact in the NHL whenever he decides to go pro, "I think I can. I will have to improve my strength, as well as my puck control and my vision on the ice. A couple of things that I have really been focusing on this season is becoming a better player on faceoffs and concentrating on my defensive play in our own zone."

-On leaving UND and playing for the Blues next season, "I have not made a decision yet. I am just focusing on the present and taking everything day by day. I haven't really thought about it too much and I am just blocking it out of my mind and focusing on what I am doing here with UND. When it is time to make the that decision I will, but the time to make that decision is not now. It would be unfair to my team if I did not focus 100 percent of my attention on my play here at North Dakota." (I love that answer all class right now I am playing for UND and concentrating on playing for the Sioux.)

-On UND's chances of winning the Frozen Four and being national champions, "I like our chances and it is the goal we have been striving for since the first day of practice. We just have to keep improving as a team and play up to our team's potential."

-On the rivalry with the University of Minnesota, "I am friends with most of the guys on Minnesota's team. But when we get on the ice, it is a big rivalry and with the emotions, it can get pretty heated out there."

Is Wheeler going to sign?

I found this little news nugget while I was over on HockeyBuzz.com checking out some of the posts that were in the fan forums when I stumbled across this blurb on Blake Wheeler. Personally it wouldn't shock me or probably anyone else, since even Minnesota Gophers head coach Don Lucia said on the PA and Dubay that he wouldn't be surprised if Wheeler signed a professional contract after this season. Here is a blog post that I found on the subject by the coyoteshipcheck blog.

Fan question: What is the status of Blake Wheeler?

General Manager, Don Maloney: right now we are not making much headway towards getting Blake signed but we are talking to his agent. Wheeler is very much a prospect, not someone we see as coming to the big club straight off and making an impact. He’s a very good prospect and we will continue to try to get him signed. If the contract doesn’t get done we have a *5th round* pick coming our way and that is good for the team too. *gotta confirm the exact pick… * probably like 2nd round (31st , or so pick)

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.