Wild not as boring this season.

I know it's only one game and it was the first Wild game that I have been able to watch this season, however, after only one game I can say that the Wild are going to be a much more exciting brand of hockey to watch then they were last year under the defensive minded former coach Jacques Lemaire.

Personally, I don't watch hockey to see the neutral zone trap, I want to see attacking and counter attacking hockey and that was what the Wild did as they pushed the puck up and down the ice and created offensive opportunities all night.

This season with the Wild playing a more up tempo offensive style of play it will cause a higher risk/reward. There were a few instances last night where the Wild got caught up ice focusing on offense and not remembering where the defensive zone was.

Last night I thought defenseman Brent Burns had a poor game and looked like a pylon as there were numerous times he was caught up ice on turnovers in the neutral and offensive zone. None the less, I liked what I saw last night and it was a lot more exciting hockey to watch and I expect more of the same.

Helluva night in the Twin Cities, eh? I’m not about to compare tonight’s comeback at the X in Game 2 of an 82-game season with the Twins’ finish to win the division and advance to the playoffs, but if you happened to be one of the fans that actually attended this doubleheader, man, you won’t ever forget this night.

Wild down 3-zip. Playing absolutely hideously. Coughing up pucks. Giving up 2-on-1’s and 3-on-2’s and even an astonishing 4-on-1. Getting zero done in the offensive zone.

And then … a couple choice words during the second intermission and a fight, and the first-ever Wild comeback from three goals down in the third for a W.

Yes, I know there are people who hate fights, but tonight, there was an example about what a fight can do to a hockey game.

Kinda like when Stephane Veilleux got goaded into fighting Dion Phaneuf in Calgary once when the Wild was ahead 3-0, George Parros decided to fight John Scott. Well the 6-foot-8 Scott absolutely clocked the experienced fighter with a right uppercut. He went down, and for the first time in the game that wasn’t Carlos Gomez scoring at the Metrodome, the Wild fans had reason to cheer.

And, said Todd Richards, “It stirred up some emotion on the bench.” [Russo's Rants]

Da Costa’s Eligibility In Question

Merrimack collge hockey beat writer Mike McMahon has an update on their star freshman's status for this weekend's games. His status is still in doubt. Sounds like if this kid couldn't play this season it would be tough pill to swallow for Merrimack. I can't even remember the last time I seen someone from France playing in college hockey.

Freshman forward Stephane Da Costa has not made it through NCAA clearninghouse as of Tuesday afternoon.

Merrimack officials are currently awaiting word on his status, which is expected to come from the NCAA later this week. The Warriors open the season on Friday night in North Dakota, where they’ll take on the defending WCHA Champions.

Da Costa, who comes to Merrimack from Paris, France, finished fourth in the USHL in scoring last season. [Warrior Rink Rat]

Merrimack Links

Merrimack College hockey beat writer Mike McMahon gave me a few links on this weeks opponent the Merrimack College Warriors.

[Merrimack Overview]

Returning leaders: Chris Barton (9-14—23), Jesse Todd (7-16—23), Joe Cannata (2.35 goals-against average, .918 save percentage)

Coaches poll: Merrimack was picked to finish last for a sixth straight season. The Warriors avoided the Hockey East basement last season, finishing ninth ahead of Providence. The last time the Warriors made the Hockey East playoffs was the 2003-04 season, when the Warriors finished seventh overall and lost to Maine in the first round. The 2004-05 season, the last under former head coach Chris Serino, snapped a streak of nine straight years in which the Warriors made the postseason.

Here is the scouting report on the Merrimack Warriors. This is Mikes words on what the Sioux are going to experience. They sound like your typical WCHA team. Looks like Hexy will have someone to jaw with as well.

They're a big, hard-hitting group - especially some guys on defense. Ryan Flanigan is a pest and sure to be hated by the ND fans quickly. Kyle Bigos (6-5, 240) is a frosh defenseman who was picked by EDM in the draft and is going to be VERY good, I think. He's a big-time physical presence, too.

Here is the link to the [Merrimack Hockey Message Board]

Here is a preview on the Merrimack College hockey team. Sounds like the Warriors are big, physical, play defense first hockey teams. The Sioux will have to have their head on a swivel and be ready to be hammered into the boards. Also, Sioux forwards are going to need to get their feet moving and get the puck deep to defeat the NZT. Should be a couple of good hockey games this weekend.
[Warriors hope scoring machine is eligible]
EDIT: Just for the record; Merrimack lost 14 games by one goal last season — the most in the nation. So the Sioux cannot over look.

Scott knocks down Parros

Check out former MTU Husky and current Wild goon John Scott as he knocked the snot out of former Princeton star and current Duck goon George Parros. Looks like John Scott is going to do what ever it takes to stay in the line up. This was also the turning point in the hockey game as the Wild came back to win 4-3 in overtime. Mark me down; guilty as charged, I relish a fight. [props]
EDIT: Check out what the Ulitmate officials had to say about this fight.

p.s. I remember working games with John Scott, playing for Michigan Tech, and he was HUGE. I mean, he was a MONSTER. I thought, "If you do anything, I literally will jump on your back." (note: he was pretty gentle back then...it took hanging around Boogaard to turn him into a beast. IALTO).

Sioux 3rd in INCH preseason WCHA poll.

Interesting read. I was wondering where Jess Meyers of INCH was going to pick UND to finish this season. I think the WCHA could be very close race again this season. I also predict that you will see 5 - 6 teams in the NCAA playoffs this season. There is going to be a lot of exciting players in this league this year.

1. Denver The Pioneers have everything in place, talent-wise, to finish on top. They also have the jinx of being the consensus favorite, which means they almost certainly will not.
2. St. Cloud State Add a hot freshman goalie to the likes of Lasch, Roe, and Raboin, and all of the pieces are in place for the Huskies to make another run at the NCAAs.
3. North Dakota After wave upon wave of eye-popping offensive talent coming from the Ralph, the duo of Genoway and Eidsness are prepared to do it with defense this season.
4. Minnesota Gopher players expect to be better. With trips to North Dakota and Wisconsin and a home duo with Denver among the first eight games, we’ll know soon.
5. Wisconsin Goaltending is a question in Madison. Although with the array of blue line talent
wearing red this season, you or I could be competitive in goal there.
6. Minnesota Duluth An exciting crop of freshmen, and an even more exciting run last March, has Bulldog fans expecting home playoffs in the DECC’s final full season.
7. Minnesota State The last two teams we’ve picked for seventh have won the MacNaughton Cup. If the senior-laden Mavs find goaltending, they could make it three.
8. Colorado College The schedule gods are smiling on the Tigers, who play 11 of their first 15 games at home. But the holes to fill on offense and in goal are considerable.
9. Alaska Anchorage A respectable 7-10-3 post-holiday record last season gives Seawolf fans confidence that the days of fading away in February are over.
10. Michigan Tech The duo of Jordan Baker and Brett Olson combined for 50 points last season. Those two, and better team health, provide hope in Huskyland.

Here was something that I agree with Jess about, the WCHA has to be better in non-conference play this season. Last year was not a good season for the WCHA. This season I think the WCHA is going come back with a vengence and kick some non-conference foes ass. It starts this weekend with DU vs UVM, MTU vs NMU, C.C. vs NE, SCSU vs MU, MSU-M vs BGSU, UMD vs LSSU, and UND vs MC. It's time to make a statement.

The 10 (soon to be a dozen) coaches of the WCHA might haven take a moment to look around the Verizon Center in downtown Washington D.C. last April, noticed the dearth of league members there, and realized that we’re a long way from Columbus.

You’ll recall that the 2005 affair in central Ohio was the notorious all-WCHA Frozen Four, which was cheered nearly everywhere west of Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and jeered pretty much everywhere else. In sharp contrast, for just the fourth time in Frozen Four history (1993, 1998 and 1999 being the others) there was no WCHA team at the 2009 Frozen. Although the strongest league backers will claim future member Bemidji State’s run to D.C. ought to count. Not likely.

But the 2008-09 doldrums went beyond a rough patch in rounds one and two of the NCAA playoffs. As evidenced by the fact that just one WCHAer (league MVP Jamie McBain from Wisconsin) made the list of Hobey finalists, and the fact that for the second year in a row the MacNaughton Cup champion (this time, North Dakota) ended the season on a 0-3 streak. It was clearly a down year for the WCHA.

Bruins resign Lucic to three year deal.

The Boston Bruins have resigned their tough guy Milan Lucic. Since his arrival in Boston Milan Lucic has developed a cult following with his monster hits and great fights. Last week he brutalized Jay Harrison from the Carolina Hurricanes. I am sure Bruins fans are relieved that Lucic has been locked up for three more seasons after this one. Just off the wire: According to TSN Lucic According to TSN, the deal is worth $12.25 million, giving Lucic a $4,083,333 annual cap hit. Lucic will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the contract. [TSN]

BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has signed forward Milan Lucic to a three-year contract extension through the 2012-13 NHL season. Per club policy, financial terms of the deal will not be disclosed.

The 21-year-old Lucic set career highs in all major statistical categories last year after recording 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points, in addition to tallying 136 penalty minutes and a +17 rating. He netted his first career hat trick and a career-best four points on October 25, 2008, after a 3-1=4 performance against the Atlanta Thrashers.

During the 2008-09 postseason, the 6'3'' 228-pound winger had three goals and six assists and a team best +12 plus/minus rating in 10 games.

In his rookie year in 2007-08, Lucic registered 8-19=27 totals and 89 penalty minutes in 77 contests. Lucic earned the team's "Seventh Player Award" for his efforts, an award voted on by the fans and given to the Bruin who performs above and beyond expectations. He also contributed two goals in seven postseason games.

Lucic has skated in both games during the 2009-10 season and has notched one assist and five penalty minutes.

Matt Gilroy scores his first NHL goal.

Former BU Terrier star defenseman Matt Gilroy scored the first NHL goal of his young career last night as the Rangers beat the Devils 3-2. In my opinion this is a nice story and I hope this kid does really well for the Rangers. Assiting on Gilroy's first goal was former Wild player Marian Gaborik. Former Fighting Sioux forward Travis Zajac scored for the New Jersey Devils, Parise and Clarkson assisted on Zajac's goal.

Genoway makes CHN's first team.

Some nice gee whiz reading for Sioux fans. Chay Genoway is getting some serious love from the college hockey sites. Here is the preseason first team from CHN. Chay was also made the first team of the Inside College Hockey 2009-10 Preseason All-America Team. One might have to start the Hobey Chay campaign.


First Team
F David McIntyre, Sr., Colgate
F Louis Caporusso, Jr., Michigan
F Jordan Schroeder, So., Minnesota
D Ian Cole, Jr., Notre Dame
D Chay Genoway, Sr., North Dakota
His defense has been consistently strong, and he's continued to become more involved in the offense, with 32 points last season. He was WCHA Defensive Player of the Year last season.
G Zane Kalemba, Sr., Princeton

Fighting Sioux ranked 6th in first USCHO poll.

Six WCHA teams are ranked in the first USCHO poll of the season.
1 Denver (20)
2 Boston University (17)
3 Michigan ( 2)
4 Miami (5)
5 Notre Dame (2)
6 North Dakota
7 Cornell
8 Yale
9 Minnesota
10 Princeton
11 Mass.-Lowell
12 Boston College
13 Wisconsin
14 Vermont
15 St. Cloud State
16 New Hampshire
17 Ohio State
18 Minnesota-Duluth
19 Air Force
20 Northeastern
Others Receiving Votes: Northern Michigan 72, Bemidji State 66, Harvard 35, Colorado College 25, St. Lawrence 23, Massachusetts 17, Minnesota State 11, Clarkson 10, RIT 10, Mercyhurst 6, Union 4, Alaska 1, Alaska-Anchorage 1, Dartmouth 1, Ferris State 1, Maine 1, Quinnipiac 1

DU's Anthony Maiani suspended.

Seems that DU hockey team is going to be short in the line up for the next three games as Anthony Maiani has gotten himself into disciplinary trouble, it would be interesting to see what this undisclosed team rule was? I am sure Mr. Maiani wasn't out raising hell, that stuff never happens in Denver.

Junior wing Anthony Maiani, who led the team in scoring last season, will begin a three-game suspension in today's exhibition game against the University of Calgary. Maiani broke an undisclosed team rule and also will miss next weekend's season-opening, two-game nonconference series against visiting Vermont.

Maiani led DU with 30 assists and 41 points as a sophomore. He is practicing with the team but not skating on a regular line.

"It's going to be tough sitting out, watching the team play," Maiani said. "I'm just working hard in practice and being supportive of the team. I'll be ready when I get back in the lineup." [Denver Post]

A couple of things. (Monday Links)

Here was an article that I thought was interesting UAA is one of the bigger teams in the WCHA as well as the NCAA. That's fine and dandy if the Seawolves can skate and keep up the opposition without clutching, grabbing and interfering up and down the ice. The NCAA refs are going to focus on protecting the puck carrier and did so quite well last night during the game between Manitoba and UND. If they call the games like that I don’t know if UAA will be able to keep up with fleet footed teams like DU, UND and Minnesota. If the Seawolves end up taking a bunch of penalties against these teams could get buried.

While some want to make outlandish predictions about the Seawolves finishing in the top five of the WCHA, I just don’t see it happening. To the UAA Seawolves; I beg you to prove me wrong. Personally, I think it’s going to be more of the same and predict that the Seawolves will be a big, slow, lumbering team with mediocre goaltending that will end up 9th or 10th in the WCHA yet again this season.

With no shortage of small, dangerous forwards dancing around the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, UAA has hit upon a tactic aimed to squash such skill: Knock the shiftiness out of them.

"If we play physical and finish our checks, it wears teams down and they get tired and make mistakes,'' said Seawolves coach Dave Shyiak. "As a staff we demand our guys finish their checks and play physical.''

Toward that end, Shyiak and company have assembled a roster that embraces the notion size matters and bigger is better. Goalies aside, the Seawolves average 6-foot-1 and 192 pounds, which means it will be rare for them to come across a bigger opponent.

Shyiak, in his fifth season, has recruited size to counter the skilled players that traditional league powers like Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Denver routinely attract.

"You're looking for talent and skating, and size is always a bonus,'' he said. "We're fortunate with being able to find guys who have good size and can still get around the ice. We're strong along the wall and that really levels the playing field against more skilled teams.''

UAA last season went 14-17-5 overall and finished ninth in the 10-team WCHA with a 9-14-5 record in league. That marked an improvement over the previous season, in which they went 7-21-8 overall and 8-19-1 for last place in the league, and the Seawolves flourished most when they banged bodies consistently. [ADN.COM]

Check out Ben Pherson and Jason Feldman's WCHA predictions, yet people give Sioux7 a hard time about his predictions.

Ben Pherson's predictions
1. St. Cloud State.
2. Denver.
3. North Dakota. I'd like to push Feldy's Sioux down this list a little bit, but looking at the rest of the teams, I don't see anyone else with the talent to jump into this spot (Gophers included). I like how good Brad Eidsness was down the stretch for the Sioux ... especially with how shaky the goaltending was early in the season. If he plays well, the Sioux can compete for a top spot. Oh yeah, and Chay Genoway is a stud.
4. Minnesota.
5. Minnesota State.
6. Colorado College.
7. Wisconsin.
8. Minnesota-Duluth.
9. Alaska-Anchorage.
10. Michigan Tech
The ones by Jason Feldman seem a little more reasonable.
1. Denver.
2. Minnesota.
3. Wisconsin.
4. North Dakota. The Sioux lost a lot after last season, but there is a buzz in Grand Forks about this freshman class. Still, relying on 10 freshmen is a lot to ask. Plus, the Sioux need to find out if goalie Brad Eidsness is more like his first three-quarters of the season, or more like the guy who (didn't) show up in the postseason. They should be decent on the blue line, with senior Chay Genoway a possible top-10 Hobey candidate. Watch out for sophomore forwards Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall, too. They quietly had really good freshman seasons.
5. St. Cloud State.
6. Minnesota-Duluth.
7. MSU, Mankato.
8. Colorado College.
9. Alaska-Anchorage.
10. Michigan Tech
[props]

I have to admit that I miss former Fighting Sioux coach Dean Blais and will enjoy seeing how his team progresses this season. There will be the interesting quotes/zingers in the paper. There was an old song by Cinderella, "You don't know what you got till it's gone." [props] to RWD for pointing that out for me. I also must admit that I saw them in concert at the Boston Garden with ACDC in 1990.

Dean Blais' approach to the UNO hockey team's season-opening exhibition against Lethbridge is simple.

The Mavs' new bench boss sees it as part tuneup and part tryout.

The puck drops on a new chapter in University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey history tonight, when Blais, the two-time NCAA championship coach, makes his Mavericks debut.

The game won't count a lick for NCAA purposes. But it will mean a lot to Blais, who wants to see his players set an aggressive tone for the season. And he expects every person who sets foot inside Qwest Center Omaha to be impressed with his skaters' tireless work ethic.

“It's a dress rehearsal, although the guys, when they put those jerseys on, they're competing for jobs,” said Blais, who was the leader among active NCAA coaches in winning percentage when he stepped down at the University of North Dakota in 2004.

“This community and our fans aren't going to tolerate half (hearted) effort, and we're not going to give it to them. If a kid even takes one shift off, he won't get another one.”

Of course, in addition to sizing up his roster, Blais wants UNO to win.

Rumor: Toronto buyers moving Thrashers to Winnipeg

Here is a rumor that I really hope someday comes to fruition. Moving a team back to Winnipeg makes sense, I mean seriously, since the Phoenix Coyotes have been an utter failure in the desert. I am also not a big fan of having two NHL teams in Florida and on in Atlanta as well. Hockey is a sport that belongs in cold weather markets like Winnipeg. I can remember going to a few games in the old Winnipeg Arena when the Mercury was well below zero on both scales (Celsius and Fahrenheit)

Someone please remind me why that was such a great move? Every since the Jets left Winnipeg in the 1996 I have hoped that someday the NHL will return to Winnipeg 140 miles from my home in Grand Forks, ND. Of Course the Atlanta Trasher are denying the rumor.

There was more NHL/Winnipeg speculation on Saturday night's Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hotstove.

On the season's opening weekend, the captivated nation was told that big money from Toronto has done plenty of work already to buy the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg. Is it just another episode of wishful thinking or a real indicator of what's afoot?

True North Sports and Entertainment chairman Mark Chipman wasn't saying on Sunday, taking his usual tack of the less said the better. There are several known quantities to this ongoing story:

* The NHL has more problems than just the financially drowning Phoenix Coyotes.

* Chipman, whose company owns Winnipeg's MTS Centre, has been a consistently keen observer of NHL

franchise matters for longer than his arena has been open (2004) and has never denied his interest in some future deal that might bring the NHL back to the city.

* One of the biggest partners in the True North success story, and certainly its most well-heeled, is Osmington, Inc., the Toronto-based private real estate company of David Thomson, the richest man in Canada and son of the late Ken Thomson.

* Chipman and True North have been to NHL headquarters in New York to address league executives and governors about their new arena, their situation and their interest and they continue to maintain a very quiet but open channel for dialogue with the league's leadership.

* In this case of Saturday's HNIC outburst, the Thrashers' owners, the Spirit group of eight partners, have been embroiled in disputes and legal wrangling for about four years over control of the NHL team, the NBA Hawks and Philips Arena. This summer, a judge tossed out a lawsuit that sent the bickering partners back to the starting blocks over share valuation and how one side or the other could be bought out. It's thought that the group is far more interested in basketball and could sell the Thrashers, but that's only speculation. [Winnipeg Free Press]

Lucic works Jay Harrison

This is the fight that everyone has been talking about on the Bruins hockey blogs. Milan Lucic just proves that he is an animal. Seriously what the heck was Harrison thinking here? 

Sioux smoke Bisons 7-1.

Tonight was one of the first times in a long time that I missed a home Fighting Sioux hockey game and watched the game at home on my television. I was out hunting this weekend and had planned on staying out at the shack through Monday so I gave my tickets away. After getting rained on nonstop all weekend and having the rain make most of my hunting choices impassable and a muddy mess I decided to come home early. So tonight I watched the game at home. None the less I was impressed with what I saw tonight.

While the Sioux were rusty and a maybe little sloppy in all three zones of the ice they displayed a lot speed and offensive creativity. It appears that UND is going to roll 3 - 4 forward lines this season and wear out opponents. I predict that UND will be well balanced on offense and defense. On offense the Sioux will have a combination of grit and speed. Defensively, UND will have a combination of stay at home rugged defenseman (Fienhage , Blood, MacWilliam ) and well as the offensive minded carry the puck up ice and make plays offensively (Genoway, LaPoint, Marto) defenders .

+PLUS+

Andrew MacWilliam is a monster and I can’t wait to see him in this season, it will fun to see how he responds against the Golden Gophers in a few weeks.

Ben Blood has really improved and is going to be a stalwart on defense.

Chay Genoway is going to be one of the top offensive defenseman in the Nation this season. Start the Chay Genoway for Hobey Baker campaign.

Michael Cichy and Danny Kristo appear to be a good as advertised.

This is a very talented team and the freshman have a lot of talent and are very skilled. Hakstol and Company are going to have some tough line up decision to make each week.
[Box Score]

1st Period (20:00)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MTB-1 Chad Erb (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x1 0:56
MTB-2 Troy Crowley (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x2 4:39
MTB-3 Chad Erb (2-Tripping) NDK 0x3 9:25
NDK-1 Danny Kristo (2-Hooking) MTB 0x1 10:58
MTB 1 - 0 6x6 David Brown (Rick Wood) 13:48
MTB (+): 28,27,20,9,11,G34 NDK (-): 24,5,11,15,27,G31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTB-4 Greg Beller (2-Hooking) NDK 0x4 3:46
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Danny Kristo (Chris VandeVelde, Jason Gregoire) 11:23
NDK (+): 7,29,17,3,25,G31 MTB (-): 18,20,16,28,23,G34
NDK-2 Chay Genoway (2-Cross-Checking) MTB 0x2 14:17
NDK-3 Chay Genoway (2-Holding) MTB 0x3 19:07
MTB-5 Tyler Dittmer (2-Holding) NDK 1x5 19:52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NDK 2 - 1 5x5 GW LL Jake Marto (Evan Trupp, Brad Malone) 0:21
NDK (+): 25,19,22,3,G32 MTB (-): 16,19,4,2,G34
NDK 3 - 1 6x5 PP Jason Gregoire (Chris VandeVelde, Chay Genoway) 1:28
NDK: 17,29,5,7,26,G32 MTB: 21,4,5,19,G34
NDK 4 - 1 6x6 Mario Lamoureux (unassisted) 5:34
NDK (+): 9,10,8,4,2,G32 MTB (-): 10,19,21,4,5,G34
MTB-6 Jared Walker (2-Hooking) NDK 2x6 11:13
MTB-7 Rick Wood (2-Interference) NDK 2x7 11:49
NDK 5 - 1 6x4 PP Chay Genoway (Danny Kristo, David Toews) 12:40
NDK: 5,7,18,17,29,G32 MTB: 21,4,20,G34
NDK-4 Corey Fienhage (2-Hooking) MTB 0x4 14:04
MTB-8 Tyler Dittmer (2-Hooking) 15:05
MTB-9 Jared Walker (10-Misconduct) 15:05
NDK-5 Ben Blood (2-Roughing) 15:05
NDK-6 Brad Malone (10-Misconduct) 15:05
NDK-7 Ben Blood (10-Misconduct) 15:05
NDK-8 Ben Blood (2-Roughing) MTB 0x5 15:05
NDK 6 - 1 6x6 Michael Cichy (David Toews, Joe Gleason) 17:28
NDK (+): 8,18,20,9,5,G32 MTB (-): 10,4,19,21,5,G34
NDK 7 - 1 6x6 Brett Hextall (Carter Rowney) 18:28
NDK (+): 26,27,20,3,15,G32 MTB (-): 2,26,9,21,12,G34
MTB-10 Troy Crowley (2-Roughing) 18:59
MTB-11 Troy Crowley (2-Roughing) 18:59
MTB-12 Troy Crowley (10-Misconduct) 18:59
NDK-9 Andrew MacWilliam (2-Roughing) 18:59
NDK-10 Andrew MacWilliam (2-Roughing) 18:59
NDK-11 Andrew MacWilliam (10-Misconduct) 18:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

Why the EZAC get so much love?

This is my weekly column that I wrote for the Illegal Curve.

There is a question that a lot of western college hockey fans ask. Why does the EZAC get so much love from the hockey pundits every year in the pre-season polls? This is a question that I would like to see answered. Its common knowledge that the ECAC is made up of schools with great academic records, however, these teams are not as good in NCAA division one college hockey as the ECAC feigning media wants us to believe.


Here are the current pre-season rankings of the teams in question.

INCH has three ECAC teams ranked in the top 15, Cornell 7, Princeton 8 and Yale 11.
The USA Today polls have three ECAC teams ranked in the top 15 Cornell 7, Princeton 9 and Yale 11.
The College Hockey News has three ECAC teams ranked in their top ten preseason poll as well, Cornell 4, Princeton 7 and Yale 10.

Let’s look at this further; the Ivy League teams in the ECAC won’t start their exhibition play until around the 23rd – 25th of October. By that time all other teams in division one college hockey will have played at least an exhibition game and probably at least a game or a series against a non conference opponent. A few teams will have played in a pre-season tourney. The travesty is that college hockey fans are going to have to suffer through two weeks of games when three ECAC teams will be ranked in the top 15 and they won’t have played even one college hockey game.

Just so you think I am not piling on the ECAC, since 2001 the ECAC has a combined NCAA playoff record of 6-18, that is not an impressive record folks. Breaking it down further Cornell is responsible for 5 of those wins with a 5-5 record. The rest of the EZAC teams are 1-13. Yet the NCAA hockey selection committee still gave Clarkson a number one seed in 2007 which Clarkson promptly went out and lost their first round game. Yeah like they were the 3rd best team over all that season. Not!

Seriously folks, the last time an ECAC team won an NCAA title was in 1989 when the Harvard Crimson beat Doug Woog’s Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-3 in overtime. That was 20 years ago. So I ask you again why is there three ECAC teams ranked so high.

Just for historical purposes; here is the break down of the NCAA titles won by ECAC teams.

Cornell 2-time NCAA men's champions (1967, 1970)
Harvard -time NCAA men's champions (1989)
RPI -time NCAA men's champions (1954, 1985)

Bruins are unimpressive in game one.

Alexander Ovechkin proved why he is the best player in the NHL as he ran through the Boston Bruins like they were swiss cheese. The Bruins were a step late all game as they lost the race to the puck and they looked lost. The only bright spot was Patrice Bergeron  scoring on a breakaway and the Bruins are going to need more than one forward going. Final Capitals 4  Bruins 1.

Will Newly Elected Chair Really Make A Difference

That is a very good question. I does appear that there is still a long way to go before UND can secure permission for use of the Fighting Sioux name. Jesse Taken Alive seems to think a vote is not going to happen. I guess time will tell. My only question is what are some in the Standing Rock leadership afraid of? Are they afraid that the members of the Standing Rock Tribe would approve UND’s use of the Fighting Sioux name by an impressive majority like the Spirit Lake Tribe did?

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe voted in a new chairman in Charlie Murphy yesterday. But what does this really mean for the nickname issue. The previous chair was against it .


Yesterday's election brought a new chairman in Charlie Murphy to the Standing Rock Reservation. More than half a dozen new council members will join him. Some existing tribal council members say new people could mean a new outlook on UND's use of the Fighting Sioux nickname.

Jesse Mclaughlin: "They'll be the key there, what their stance is will be some might have a problem some might not."

Even if Murphy supports a tribe-wide vote, two-thirds of the Standing Rock tribal council's 15 representatives have to support it too. And any possible tribe-wide vote at Standing Rock could take a minimum of 2 months to secure. Standing Rock tribal council member Jesse Taken Alive says he doesn't think the council will allow a vote. He says a moratorium banning a referendum vote was passed last year. A two-thirds vote to rescind the moratorium would be needed as well. But others on the council say with seven new members it could change.

Margaret Gates: "At least its being brought up in a good manner instead of just we oppose it. Instead its being brought up as should it be put on the agenda."

Jesse Mclaughlin: "I've been on the council for two terms and my stance is if its that big a deal then let the people vote."

Mclaughlin says he feels past discussions excluded nickname supporters. Something they say Murphy won't do. Jesse Mclaughlin: "I know a couple of them and they don't seem to have problem with it but tribal politics can be crazy."

Margaret Gates: "Its being brought forth with open minds to hear it."

But Taken Alive maintains that a vote is unlikely. He says the council, which is usually 16 members strong, lost a possible vote for the nickname when Murphy gave up his at-large council seat to run for tribal chair. His at-large seat was not filled this election cycle, leaving the council one voting member short. As tribal chair Murphy can only vote to break a tie. Council members say either way the issue needs to be resolved they have more important issues to focus on [WDAZ.COM]

Krejci will play tonight.

The Boston Bruins got some good news today when they found out that David Krejci is back in the line up after having off season surgury. Krejci is a major cog in the Bruins plans this season.

David Krejci, who skated between Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder during the morning skate, will be in his No. 2 center slot tonight.


"I'm excited," Krejci said. "I'm ready to go."

Claude Julien said he'll keep an eye on Krejci and monitor his play to determine his ice time. Krejci didn't play in the preseason. [Boston Globe]

More Silliness from down south.

Holy cow! you really can't make this stupidity up. The Fargo fish wrapper known for it's journalistic excellence uses an out dated and old picture.

I mean seriously, let’s take a look at the picture more closely again. My first question to the Forum is can you at least use a picture that is up to day? Give me a break. Even to the untrained eye you can see that the jerseys the UND students are wearing are pre-Ben Brien Logo. This was the jersey before the current one that UND is using. This would be some where in the 1997-2000 time frame.

For the morons [see comments section] that are suggesting that this is a “Sieg Heil” Nazi salute. Give me a break. For the mentally challenged let’s review, this is not a “Sieg Heil” Nazi salute, it is the sieve, sieve, sieve chant. You know the one that is done after an opposing goalie lets in a goal; if you don’t have hockey at your school you probably don’t understand this concept. Incidentally, the fans in Wisconsin and Minnesota do the same thing when their team’s score a goal. So are you also calling these fans Nazi’s as well?

Check out these comments. Common sense hardly.

CommonSens E - Fargo, ND 10/01/2009 1:12 PM
LOL. awesome pic to go with the story. a bunch of sheeple zombies looking like they are doing a Nazi salute (i know its a tomahawk chop). I bet old racist Ralphy would approve.

Rob W. - Fort Collins, CO 10/01/2009 1:11 PM
I M H O. Fargo, ND 10/01/2009 10:36 AM Anyone else think this conflict makes North Dakota look bad? Not as bad as those fools in Atlanta and Tallahassee FL doing their 'war chant' and tomahawk chop. Not as bad as those fools in Washington D.C. who cheer for a team that was PURPOSELY given a racist name as a way to 'stick it to the heathens'

The state Board of Higher Education has extended the deadline (moron of the week)

As Whistler noted in his blog post, the SBOHE has extended the October 1st deadline.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The state Board of Higher Education has extended the deadline to decide the fate of the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname.

The board had set an Oct. 1 date to drop the name. Board members say there was a misunderstanding about the date of tribal elections on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and more time is needed to get the opinions of the new council.

The deadline is extended for at least 30 days and possibly as many as 60.

The NCAA considers the nickname "hostile and offensive" and says UND cannot host postseason events without approval from the state's two Sioux tribes. Supporters say the logo shows pride and tradition.

The board says it will drop the nickname unless the state's two namesake tribes sign 30-year agreements giving the school permission to keep the moniker.

From the Comments section of this article: here is my candidate for "Moron of the Week."

ole - United States
OLE AND LENS SEZ, LEAVE THEM INJUNS ALONE, IF DE DONTA WANT FOR YOUSE TO MAKEA FUN OF DEM, DONT YOUSE DUMBASSES, GEEZ BY GOLLY YA.

Only an imbecile would write something so offensive. Come one moron why would write something as stupid as this? This is just about as stupid as the morons that shoot road signs when they are out hunting. You sir are a douche bag. This person should be ashamed of themselves and his mother should have been slapped for giving birth to him. This is the kind of stuff that will make the anti-Sioux nick name people go see. Anyone want to bet this person is not a Sioux fans and has no clue about the proud storied history behind the Fighting Sioux name.

I am in a fantasy Hockey league with the hockey blog the On Goal Analysis. Here is the team that I picked. Two former Sioux hockey players.
Tim Thomas - G BOS
Pavel Datsyuk - F DET
Marc Savard - F BOS
Niklas Backstrom - G MIN
Daniel Sedin - F VAN
Chris Pronger - D PHI
Mikko Koivu - F MIN
Marek Zidlicky - D MIN
Derek Morris - D BOS
Dennis Seidenberg - D FLA
Travis Zajac - F NJD
Bryan McCabe - D FLA
T.J. Oshie - F STL
Brent Burns - D MIN
Milan Hejduk - F COL
David Perron - F STL
Dustin Brown - F LAK

New Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Supports UND's Use of Sioux Name

UPDATE: I just heard that the State Board of Education has extended the deadline for 30 days to give the Standing Rock Tribe a chance to certify its election results.


Cross posted from Say Anything Blog.

It's a good day to be a Sioux Fan.

Former Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Charles Murphy has easily defeated incumbent Ron His Horse Is Thunder to win back the job.

Unofficial results show Murphy received 64 percent of the votes in the tribe's general election Wednesday, to 36 percent for His Horse Is Thunder. More than 1,900 people voted.

Mr. Murphy is in favor of letting the Tribe Members vote on the issue something the previous Chairman refused to let happen.

I don't know what other issues were important in this election, but certainly the UND's Use of the Sioux name for their sports names was part of the mix. We know that the members of the Spirit Lake Tribe were overwhelmingly in favor of the Sioux name, and it's not unlikely that the Standing Rock Tribe will feel the same way.

Another factor I'd like to think weighed on this rout was that Ron His Horse Is Thunder was anti-democratic. He didn't seem to care what the public thought about the issue. He seems to have paid for that arrogance.

Funny the unelected State Board of Higher Education has the same arrogance and disdain for the public.

They have a phone conference today to discuss extending their artificial deadline to get the Tribe's support. I don't think they have much choice but to drop their deadline.

WCHA Pre-Season Picks (Sioux7)

Well it has been a year since last I made pre-season predictions. I hope I'm as accurate this year as I was last season. So with out any further delay lets start my WCHA pre-season predictions.

10. Alaska Anchorage
I'm sure I won't be the only one with picking the Seawolves to finish in the basement. They always play a tough physical game, which I like, but they can't seem to score enough goals to get the wins. Unfortunately I don't see them moving up the WCHA ladder this season.

9. Michigan Tech
The Huskies suffered numerous injuries last season which kept them in bottom of the league. I think they will remain in the bottom half again this season, call it a hunch. However, they should be avoid the basement spot this season.

8. Minnesota State - Mankato
The Mavericks, what can I say, but there will two of them next season in the WCHA, with the addition of UNO. These purple puck people will post a poor record this year in the league, according to my crystal ball. Oh, and as a side note I heard Jutting got a multi-year contract extension.

7. St. Cloud State
These Huskies will cause problems in the league and figure to will their fair share of games. I know Motzko will have his dawgs ready to play. They seem to go in go in streaks winning and losing, and unfortunately for them the losing outlasts the winning streaks. They will have a freshman in net, Mike Lee, I saw him play last year here in Fargo, with the Force, (USHL team) and he didn't look bad, seemed to wonder away from the net.

6. Colorado College
The Tigers, have lost some of their roar from last season, Rau and Walsky, last years top scorers. (Asst. coach Mike Guentzel left CC to coach a USHL team) I don't think the incoming freshman will be able to take up the slack of losing their top scorers. Don't get my wrong, they still have talent and will be competitive in the league, but they won't be in the top three. At times this season it will look like these Tigers will have had a bit too much catnip, meow...

5. Minnesota-Duluth
The Bulldogs will be without Alex Stalock in net, but do return four of their top seven scorers from last season. The Duluth boys will be right in the mix for home ice at the end of the season. I've lost track, when, if ever, are they getting a new rink up by the lake?

4. Wisconsin
The Badgers from Mad-town, they have been playing their defensive system for a few years now, not exiting hockey, but affective at winning games. Coach Eaves finds ways to keep his team in games and even steals some wins here and there. The cheese heads may have lost Favre to Minnesota, but the hockey team will win this years series with the Gophers. This season team will dig and claw their way to a top five finish.

3. Minnesota
The Gophers from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, will safely get home ice advantage this year, unlike last season. They return almost all of last years squad to the ice, including both goal-tenders. I'm sure that most UM fans are wondering is which Kangas will show up in net, and Patterson is waiting for his chance to stop some pucks. The Gophers hockey team, unlike the State, will not end up broke at the end of the year.

2. Denver
The Pioneers are looking to put their chuck-wagon into the pole position this season. The Gwoz always seems to put together teams that win, one way or the other (see past seasons ref-ing, lol). Like the Gophers, the Pioneers return most everyone from last season, which is why I think they will end up number two this year.

1. North Dakota
What kind of SIOUX fan would I be if I didn't pick my team to finish first? Even though UND lost six players to graduation and one to poor behavior, I dont' see this as a rebuilding year. North Dakota, as we maybe called the rest of the year, will rely on Eidsness in net to repeat his numbers from last season, and hopefully improve them this year.

Indian Activists Protest Sioux Logo

This is a crosspost from Say Anything Blog.



Tomorrow the State Board of Higher Education is having a conference call to discuss extending their deadline for the Sioux logo and nickname. If you remember right the State Board (appointed by Governor John Hoeven moved the deadline up right after the Spirit Lake tribe gave it's overwhelming support for UND to continue to honor the Sioux name.

It seems that some people that DON'T care what the tribal members want decided to show up for a chance to get their names in the press.

About 50 people demonstrated outside UND’s Memorial Union on Wednesday. Some carried signs reading, “UND Sioux Logo = Identity Theft,” and “We Demand Our Civil Rights.”

The demonstration comes a day before state board meets to decide whether to extend the Oct 1 deadline for dropping the nickname and logo.

American Indian Movement activist Clyde Bellecourt said they should be dropped because they are racist.

So who are the leaders of this protest. Tu Uyen Tran wrote up a quick listing:

Here's who will be speaking:

* Concerned Native Students on campus
* David Gipp, President of United Tribes Technical College
* Erich Longie, Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
* Clyde Bellecourt, American Indian Movement activist for Native rights
* Duane Martin, Sr., Strong Heart Civil Rights Movement
* Denise Lajimodiere, Alum of UND (University of North Dakota)

Most of them are local voices against the nickname, except Bellecourt and Martin, who are big names in what I suppose might be the more militant wing of American Indian civil rights. Both were involved in the 1973 Wounded Knee incident, in which the American Indian Movement took over the town of the same name and engaged in shootouts with the feds.

Bellecourt is a co-founder of AIM, whose brother Vernon was a leader in the fight against Indian nicknames and mascots.

Besides being a member of AIM, Martin is involved in the Strong Heart movement, but I don't know exactly what that is. I found a couple of news items/press releases in which:

* He "blockaded" a dry reservation to block alcohol from entering; he got arrested for that .
* He joined others in declaring the independence of the Lakota nation -- as in making it a foreign country -- a purely symbolic move that he and others seem to take very seriously. The Republic of Lakotah has a Web site, which claims, among other things, an ongoing genocide by the U.S. government. Oops. Wrong Web site. This interesting article says Martin has essentially seceeded from the Republic of Lakotah to form the Lakota Oyate.
* He helped found a bank that trades only in silver and gold currency. I suppose this is a way to avoid using U.S. currency.

So the point is nickname opponents are bringing in the big guns, figuratively, to oppose the nickname.

Now most of the people scheduled to speak just disagree with me. That's OK, they have every right to do so. I have to question why they think that their feelings outweigh even the members of the spirit lake tribe. I'm not saying that the local speakers are bad people, I just disagree with them on this. I don't know them and they have every right to speak out as they see fit.

But we also have some hard core activists speaking. I think it will interesting to find out if the State Board of Higher Education agrees with Belcourt who claims that he's seceeded from the United States or if the agree with the vast majority of the public including the Spirit Lake Tribe who know that UND's use of the name is honoring the name.

Or does the State Board of Higher Education (appointed by Governor Hoeven) think that we're all a bunch of racists just like Clyde Bellecourt thinks.

BSU 2010-2011 schedule. (BSU and UND to face off twice).

Here is an example of what the 2010-2011 twelve team WCHA schedules are going to look like. UND will play BSU four times next season. UND will also play former CHA league mate UAH. Question of the day is what jersey will Moose Richards wear? Will it be the NMU or the Beaver jersey?
10/15 7:37 pm • North Dakota Bemidji, Minn. notes
10/16 7:07 pm • North Dakota Bemidji, Minn.
10/29 7:37 pm • Minnesota Duluth Bemidji, Minn.
10/30 7:07 pm • Minnesota Duluth Bemidji, Minn.
11/5 7:07 pm at • St. Cloud State St. Cloud, Minn.
11/6 7:07 pm at • St. Cloud State St. Cloud, Minn.
11/12 7:37 pm • Alaska-Anchorage Bemidji, Minn.
11/13 7:07 pm •Alaska-Anchorage Bemidji, Minn.
11/19 7:07 pm at • Denver Denver, Colo.
11/20 7:07 pm at • Denver Denver, Colo.
11/26 7:37 pm Northern Michigan Bemidji, Minn.
11/27 7:07 pm Northern Michigan Bemidji, Minn.
12/3 7:37 pm • Nebraska-Omaha Bemidji, Minn.
12/4 7:07 pm • Nebraska-Omaha Bemidji, Minn.
12/10 7:07 pm at • Wisconsin Madison, Wis.
12/11 7:07 pm at • Wisconsin Madison, Wis.
12/31 TBA vs Mariucci Classic Minneapolis, Minn.
1/1 TBA vs Mariucci Classic Minneapolis, Minn.
1/7 7:07 pm at Ala.-Huntsville Huntsville, Ala.
1/8 7:07 pm at Ala.-Huntsville Huntsville, Ala.
1/14 7:07 pm at • Nebraksa-Omaha Omaha, Neb.
1/15 7:07 pm at • Nebraska-Omaha Omaha, Neb.
1/21 7:37 pm • St. Cloud State Bemidji, Minn.
1/22 7:07 pm • St. Cloud State Bemidji, Minn.
2/4 7:07 pm at • Minnesota State Mankato, Minn.
2/5 7:07 pm at • Minnesota State Mankato, Minn.
2/11 7:07 pm at • Michigan Tech Houghton, Mich.
2/12 7:07 pm at • Michigan Tech Houghton, Mich.
2/18 7:37 pm • Colorado College Bemidji, Minn.
2/19 7:07 pm • Colorado College Bemidji, Minn.
2/25 7:07 pm at • North Dakota Grand Forks, N.D.
2/26 7:07 pm at • North Dakota Grand Forks, N.D.
3/4 7:37 pm • Minnesota Bemidji, Minn.
3/5 7:07 pm • Minnesota Bemidji, Minn.
[props]

Nickname opponents bring out the heavy hitters.

Looks like the anti-Fighting Sioux nickname croud is bringing out the big guns for it's Rally against the Fighting Sioux nickname. I am surprised Russell Means isn't coming as well. The Standing Rock Tribe also has their election today. EDIT: Happened to drive by the Memorial Union today when I was out about 9:15 A.M. and there was a very SMALL croud protesting the Fighting Sioux name. I would estimate the size of the crowd to be abut 50-75 top end. Probably closer to 50 people. Not a very big crowd. Of course the news cameras were there.

Senior American Indian civil rights activists are among the speakers at Wednesday’s rally against the Fighting Sioux nickname at UND, according to information in a press release issued by rally organizers.

Both Clyde Bellecourt and Duane Martin Sr. took part in AIM’s 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., a seminal moment in Indian civil rights.

Bellecourt, an Ojibwe, is also considered a founder of the civil rights group.

Martin, in 2007, joined activist Russell Means and others in declaring the Lakotah nation independent of the United States, claiming vast tracts in North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. These are lands it said were given to Lakotah people in the original 1868 treaty.

Other speakers include Erich Longie, longtime nickname opponent from the Spirit Lake reservation; David Gipp, president of United Tribes Technical College; and Denise Lajimodiere, a UND alumna and an education professor at North Dakota State University.

The rally will take place at 9 a.m. in front of UND’s Memorial Union.

The focus of the rally is on a meeting of the State Board of Higher Education on Thursday in which the board would consider extending the deadline for the state’s two namesake tribes to approve of the nickname.

Nickname opponents say the American Indian nicknames are derogatory.
[Grand Forks Herald]

Lucic works Neil

It's only the preseason but nothing pleases me more than watching Lucic work over Ottawa Senators' thug Chris Neil. Apparently this Fight is a result of a dirty hit that Neil put on Savard earlier in the game. I expect to see a rematch of this fight later on in the season unless Neil Smartens up.
[props]

Decompression addition.

I have been out of the pocket hunting ducks and haven't had a computer since midday on Friday. Finally I am getting back up to speed on everything that has happened in the college hockey world. The preseason WCHA coaches poll and the Media Polls are finally out.
The Grand Forks Herald Coaches poll has been released.
1. Denver (8) 80
2. UND (2) 70
3. Wisconsin 61
4. Minnesota 58
5. St. Cloud State 55
6. Minnesota-Duluth 37
7. MSU-Mankato 34
8. Colorado College 26
9. Alaska-Anchorage 20
10. Michigan Tech 9

Madison.com Media Poll has also been released.
1. Denver (23) 248
2. North Dakota (1) 205
3. Wisconsin 190
4. Minnesota (1) 186
5. St. Cloud State 152
6. Minnesota Duluth 118
7. Colorado College 101
8. Minnesota State-Mankato 88
9. Alaska Anchorage 57
10. Michigan Tech 30

I posted my WCHA preseason poll at the Illegal Curve.
1.) Denver
2.) Wisconsin
3.) UND
4.) Minnesota
5.) UMD
6.) SCSU
7.) C.C.
8.) MSU-M
9.) UAA
10.) MTU

It's official that UND and BSU will open the new Bemidji Regional Event Center next October 15-16. It's a nice honor for the Fighting Sioux to be able to help open the new arena. [Bemidji Pioneer]

Brandon from Sioux Yeah Yeah got the DU fans all upset with a recent blog post about DU hockey Coach George Gwozdecky. [Lets Go DU Hockey Blog] Now, I have to admit that I was less than impressed with Alanna Rizzo's  comments she made about UND fans during last January's series between the Pioneers and the Sioux. I also read some where that FSN RM won't be airing the DU and UND games when the Pioneers come to the REA. Before someone makes a ridiculous conclusion that it was because of the perceived treatment that poor Alanna Rizzo received from the mean Fighting Sioux fans while visiting UND, think again. UND hockey will now be on FCS so there would be no need for the FSN RM crew to come to UND, FSN RM would just pick up the broadcast from UND's announcing crew and save a bunch of money. Personally, I think the DU and UND rivalry is heating up.

The USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Preseason poll is up.
1.) Miami (Ohio)
2.) Denver
3.) Boston University
4.) Michigan
5.) Notre Dame
6.) Minnesota
7.) Cornel
8.) North Dakota
9.) Princeton
10.) Massachusetts Lowell
11.) Yale University
12.) Boston College
13.) St. Cloud State
14.) Wisconsin
15.) Vermont
Others receiving votes: New Hampshire, 71; Minnesota Duluth, 64; Ohio State, 60; Air Force, 43; Northern Michigan, 31; Colorado College, 8; Northeastern University, 8; Bemidji State, 6; Harvard, 3; Mercyhurst College, 3; Niagara, 3; St. Lawrence, 2.

The poll is a joke there is no way Cornel and Princeton are worthy of being ranked that high, if they played in a tough league like the WCHA these Ivy League schools would be fighting for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. This is almost as bad as the College Hockey News Poll.

Goon’s WCHA pre-season ranking

This was the article I wrote for the Illegal Curve.
1.) Denver University – It would appear that the Denver Pioneers don’t have many real weaknesses offensively; on the blue line the Pioneers will be young this season. There is a very good possibility that there could be two or three freshman defenseman playing in the top 6 defensive positions from night to night. The WCHA championship is theirs to lose. The Pioneers return forwards Anthony Maiani (11g-30a-41pts), Rhett Rakhshani (15g-22a-37pts), Joe Colborne (10g-21a-31), and Tyler Ruegsegger (15g-11a-26pts). On defense Patrick Wiercioch (12g-23-35pts) decided to not sign a contract. Junior goalie Marc Cheverie (23-12-5, 2.34 GAA and .921 SV %) is a very serviceable goaltender and with a younger defensive core he will be tested. The Pioneers lose forward Tyler Bozak (8g-15a-23pts), defensemen Patrick Mullen (4g-21a-25pts), and J.P. Testwuide (3g-10a-13pts). Dustin Jackson (3g-9a-12) was injured in preseason practice and will be out for the year. The Pioneers bring in some impressive recruits, defensemen William Wrenn and Matt Donovan, forward Drew Shore and goaltender Adam Murray. The Pioneers are the odds on favorite to finish first in the WCHA. Anything less than a trip to the Frozen Four is going to be unacceptable.

2.)University of Wisconsin – On paper the Badgers would appear to have one of the best defensive blue lines in college hockey: Brendan Smith (9g-14a-23pts), Jake Gardiner (3g-18a-21pts), Ryan McDonagh (5g-11a-16pts), and Cody Goloubef (5g-8a-13pts) is a pretty solid top four defensive group. While there seems to be the perception around the WCHA that Wisconsin is all defense and no flash, the Badgers were ranked 3rd in WCHA scoring last season. This season the Badgers should be a pretty balanced offensively, led by sophomore Derek Stephan (9g-24a-33pts) who is a game breaker and will only get better in his second season. The Badgers also return senior Ben Street who sat out last season with a knee injury. The biggest question mark for the Badgers is in goal.

3.) University of North Dakota – Dave Hakstol has been the coach of the Fighting Sioux hockey team for five seasons and has compiled a 130-70-19 record, winning a regular season title and a conference tourney title. Hakstol’s teams have also finished 2nd (x1) and 3rd (x3) in the NCAA tourney. Last season was the first time in his tenure at UND Hakstol’s team didn’t win a regional title and advance to the Frozen Four. Key losses Ryan Duncan (20g-19a-39pts), Brad Miller (6g-29-35pts), and Matt Frattin (13g-12a-25pts). While there were some key losses for the Fighting Sioux, there are good replacements coming in for the Fighting Sioux in forwards Danny Kristo, Michael Cichy, Corbin Knight, Carter Rowney as well as defenseman Andrew MacWilliam. Goaltender Aaron Dell should challenge Brad Eidsness (24-12-4, 2.56 GAA and 906 SV%) for playing time.

4.) University of Minnesota – Key loss Ryan Stoa (22g-22a-46pts) signed with the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL in the off season. Super sophomore Jordan Schroeder (13g-32a-45pts) returns for what will probably be his last season in the WCHA. Key new arrivals for the Gophers are forward Zach Budish and defensemen Nick Leddy and Seth Helgeson. Gopher fans are wondering which version of Alex Kangas is going to show up this season. Will it be the version that finished in the top half of the league (12-10-9 1.98 GAA .930 SV %) in goaltending or the mediocre one (17-11-6, 2.79 GAA .901 SV %) that played for the Gophers last season? If the Gophers are to contend, their defense and goaltending must improve. The Gophers also need to get tougher as last year’s team got pushed around all over the ice.

5.)University of Minnesota Duluth – While this season’s version of the UMD Bulldogs might be a little young and minus some solid players, the Bulldogs also return an exciting pair of forwards named Connolly. No, they are not related: Mike Connolly (13g-29a-42pts) and Jack Connolly (10-19-29). Add to the mix Justin Fontaine who is an offensively gifted forward (15g-33-48pts). I have been told by UMD fans that Brady “Peanut Butter and Jelly” Hjelle (1-0-0, 1.50 GAA .941 SV %) is the second coming of Alex Stalock. Expect UMD to play very physical and be responsible defense in their end of the ice. Coming in for the Bulldogs this season is monster defenseman Dylan Olson from Camrose Kodiaks of the AJHL who also played on the Canadian U18 team in Fargo this past spring. I was very impressed with his game and he skates pretty well for a big guy. Olson will probably have a pretty big impact on the blue line for the Bulldogs this season.

6.) Saint Cloud State University – Garrett Roe (17g-3a1-48pts) and Ryan Lasch (18g-24a-42pts) lead the SCSU offense, while Garrett Raboin (10g-23-33pts) leads the Huskies on the blue line. Last season the Huskies 18-17-3 including a horrible 0-6-0 record against the Gophers who ended the Huskies season in the WCHA playoffs. Key additions for the Huskies: Goalie Mike Lee, Forward Ben Hanowski, Defensemen Taylor Johnson, David Eddy. Rookie Goalie Mike Lee is highly regarded and expected to take the reins in net for the Huskies if Dan Dunn (2-4-1, 2.60 GAA and .904 SV %) stumbles.

7.) Colorado College – C.C. has had a horrible off season. First they lost their top goalie Richard Bachman (14-11-10, 2.63 GAA and .914 SV %) to the Dallas Stars and then lost two of their top recruits John Moore to the NHL and Colton St. Clair to UND. The good news for C.C. is that Bill Sweatt (12g-11a-23pts) decided to come back to finish school and not sign a professional contract. The Tigers lost solid players Chad Rau (18g19a-37pts) and Eric Walsky (12g-24a-36pts) to graduation.

8.) Minnesota State University - Mankato – The good news is that the Mavericks return five of their top six scorers: sophomore forward Mike Louwerse (13-13--26), juniors defenseman Kurt Davis (6-25--31) and forward Rylan Galiardi (8-20-28), and seniors forwards Kael Mouillierat (17-13--30), and Geoff Irwin (12-16-28). The bad news is that the Mavericks lose goaltenders Mike Zacharias (14-14-6, 2.00 GAA and .911 SV %) and Dan Tormey (1-3-0 3.87 GAA and .878 SV %) as well as forwards Mick Berge (7g-21a-31pts) and Trevor Bruess (12g-5-17pts). More bad news: the Mavericks have three inexperienced goaltenders, none who have played in a division one college hockey game, competing for the starting goaltending job.

9.) University of Alaska Anchorage – I am going to go out on a limb and say this year’s UAA team is not going to finish in the basement of the WCHA. However, I don’t see the Seawolves finishing any higher than the eighth or ninth spot either. Sure UAA was a better team last season than they were the previous three seasons when they finished in the ninth spot as opposed to their customary tenth position. Many took notice when the Seawolves swept cross-state rival University of Alaska Fairbanks who was the fourth place team in the CCHA. That says a lot about the strength WCHA in comparison to the CCHA and how our mediocre teams can beat the fourth place team in the CCHA. That being said, I don’t expect the UAA Seawolves to do much at all in the WCHA this season. Nothing personal, now go ahead and prove me wrong Seawolves. Key returnees for UAA are senior forwards Josh Lunden (14g-6a-20pts) and Kevin Clark (13g-18a-31pts) and junior Tommy Grant (15g-10a-25pts). In net the Seawolves have a two headed monster with unimpressive numbers, Bryce Christenson (8-8-4, 2.60 GAA and .893 SV %) and John Olthuis (6-9-1 3.43 GAA and .873 SV %).

10. Michigan Tech University – The good news: the Michigan Tech Huskies will enter the 2009-10 season with three-fourths of their scoring offense returning from a the 2008-2009 season. They also return an experienced blue line as six of their nine defenders return from last season’s team. The Huskies also return sophomore goalie Josh Robinson who played in 20 games last season and had a 4-8-2, 3.09 GAA and a .889 SV %. Senior captain Malcolm Gwilliam (2g-5a-7pts) returns to the Huskies line up after suffering a stroke nine games into last season. Senior Drew Dobson (5g-14a-19pts) is a talented player that can play both forward and defense. The bad news: Michigan Tech will be much younger than last season with freshmen and sophomores accounting for 17 of the 27 players on the roster.

This is what we look forward to.

 Although the weather feels like it's still August and the fact that the Weather Channel tells me that it's supposed to be 79 degrees today and tomorrow; this puzzles and causes me to ask the question, "where the hell was this weather in June, July and August?" I want a refund on the summer. Weather or not I am going on record and announcing that summer is officially over and College and NHL hockey seasons are upon us.

Vacation Time

I am off to the hunting shack for some decompression and duck hunting. Sioux7 is coming up to the shack on Sunday and we are going to do some duck hunting on Monday and Tuesday. Don't tell anyone from Minnesota but this is going to be a banner duck hunting season, probably one of the best since about 2004. No I will not be giving out any GPS coordinates. My partner in crime and Gandalf the Red's favorite blogger Sioux7 will be posting a top ten in the next week and my WCHA preseason prediction will go up tomorrow afternoon about 1500 hours at the Illegal Curve, here and at MVN.COM. If you click on the link on Gandalf the Red's name it will bring you to his prediction where he predicts the Sioux to finish fourth in the WCHA behind the SCSU Huskies. I think the Huskies will be better a team this season but they won't be very physical and you can defeat them by pounding on them in the corners.  I am going to leave you with a clip from one of my favorite all time movies, City Slickers.

Fighting Sioux sign major recruit.

Fighting Sioux hockey beat writer Brad Elliott Schlossman is reporting that the Sioux have gotten a verbal commitment from Brock Nelson of Warroad Minnesota. This is a nice pickup for Coach Hakstol and the Fighting Sioux that recently received a verbal commitment from Thief River Falls High star Goalie Nate Gothberg. Make that two highly talented high players from the local areas with the acquisition of Warroad High School's Brock Nelson.

Brock Nelson grew up admiring his uncles, Dave and Eddie Christian.

So, when it came time to pick a college, the Warroad (Minn.) High standout followed their paths.

Nelson, a high school senior and a standout hockey forward, has verbally committed to UND for either the fall of 2010 or 2011.

“I’ve always followed them,” Nelson said of the Sioux. “My uncles played there and they’ve always been my favorite.”

Nelson said he also was considering Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha.

At 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, Nelson has great size to go along with a strong skill set. He scored 45 goals and racked up 76 points for the state runner-up Warroad Warriors a year ago.

“We should be pretty good again, but we’ll have to contend with (Zane) Gothberg and Thief River Falls,” Nelson said, referring to the UND goalie recruit.

Nelson scored the game-winning goal of the section championship on Gothberg to send the Warriors to state last season.

Nelson currently is playing in the Minnesota high school elite league, which features most of the best prep players in the state. Nelson is the second-leading scorer in the league with five goals, seven assists and 12 points in six games. His team, Great Plains, is 4-1-1.

“He just has a knack with the puck,” Warroad coach Albert Hasbargen said last season. “He seems like he’s got stickem tape on both sides of his stick blade. He’s a kid who can find the twine, something you don’t coach.” [Grand Forks Herald]

Matt Gilroy makes the Rangers out of training Camp.

This is nice feel good story; the kid out of New York that made the BU hockey team as a walk on, the player not many teams wanted, the same kid that went on to win a scholarship at BU and the Hobey Baker award and an NCAA title with the Boston University Terriers ends up making the NHL out of training camp his rookie season. It doesn't get any better than this. BU fans should be proud of Matt Gilroy.

Coming into tonight's game against the Capitals, Gilroy, 25, last season's Hobey Baker Award winner while leading Boston University to the NCAA title, had one goal and was a plus-three in four preseason games. But what's been most impressive is how comfortable and confident Gilroy has looked in his first NHL action, particularly in his skating and pushing the puck up the ice and shooting when he has the opportunity. Granted, his age gives him a bit of an advantage over other rookies. Gilroy is a lock to make this team. [Ranger Rants]

Deadline looms for University of North Dakota decision on whether to ditch Fighting Sioux name

My buddy Bert sent me this article from the Star and Tribune aka the Red Star and Sickle. Wow, just wow... I guess Dave Kolpack forgot to mention that this past summer the Spirit Lake Nation voted overwhelming majority to approve the Fighting Sioux name by about 2/3 margin, which translates somewhere in the 67% - 33% area. The Tribal Council reaffirmed this vote this past week.

The members of Standing Rock are waiting till after the Tribal Council Election on the 30th of September, in hope they will be allowed to have a vote on the Fighting Sioux name. The reason the Standing Rock Tribe isn’t voting on whether UND can use the Fighting Sioux name issue is because that Ron His Horse is Thunder won’t allow the people of the Standing Rock Tribe to have an up or down vote on UND’s use of the Fighting Sioux name.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Brett Potas is so angry the University of North Dakota may drop its Fighting Sioux nickname that he's canceled his season hockey tickets and says he won't give his alma mater another dime.

"They tried to get me to think about it. I said that I've been thinking about it for years," Potas said. He says he doesn't want to be associated with a university that takes a politically correct position.

Lucy Ganje, an art professor who led protests against the name, said the school not only should drop its nickname and Indian head logo, it should also apologize to the Sioux tribes and the school's American Indian students.

The two views illustrate the passionately fought debate over the nickname that has nagged the school for years and could finally be resolved this fall. Unless the school gets the support of the state's two Sioux tribes by Oct. 1, which appears unlikely, the state Board of Higher Education says it must drop the nickname.

"One thing's for sure, the feelings run deep," athletic director Brian Faison said. "I'm sure there are other places where emotion has been attached to the logo, but here there's an intensity I've never experienced any place else."

UND teams have been known as the Fighting Sioux since 1930. Those who support the name echo the argument made by fans of other teams with American Indian mascots — that it is part of the school's heritage and is a sign of respect that honors the Indians' proud traditions.

But critics argue that naming sports teams after Indians, a historically disenfranchised race of people, is demeaning, and even racist, and that the practice should stop because many tribes oppose it.

Just this month, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to look into whether the Washington Redskins' name defames American Indians. A lower court ruled in favor of the NFL team.

The NCAA in 2005 listed 18 schools with American Indian mascots and images that it considered "hostile and abusive," and banned them from postseason play pending name changes. William and Mary was added in 2006. Some schools, like Florida State University (the Seminoles) and the University of Utah (the Utes), were allowed to keep their nicknames by getting permission from local tribes.

But most changed their nicknames, leaving UND as the lone holdout.

The state of North Dakota sued to block the NCAA stipulation, but it agreed in a 2007 settlement that the school would drop the name by 2010 unless it got the approval from the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes. The Spirit Lake tribal council voted last week to allow the school to remain the Fighting Sioux, but the Standing Rock council has refused to give its approval. [Read the whole article here]

Sean Avery is at it again.

I honestly think Sean "Sloppy seconds" Avery is good for the NHL; the man is a drama queen he give hockey bloggers so much to talk about. This time he zings his own team from last season. Now mind you this is the only team that would have him after he was disowned by the Dallas Stars.

Avery, who arrived in March after alienating himself in Dallas, said of the retooled Rangers: "We're excited to get the season going and just about being together" - a stark difference, in his opinion, from last season.

"It was a long year," he said, referring to the 2008-09 Blueshirts. "I think it was a lot of smoke and mirrors with the team - I don't think it was as close as a lot of people indicated."
[New York Daily News]

Boogeyman out with a concussion for the Wild.

This isn't good news for the Minnesota Wild as their tough guy/goon Derek Boogaard is out indefinitely with a concussion, last year Boogey missed some time with various upper body injuries. Enter former MTU bumper car driver and winner of LetsGoDUHockey 2005-2006 bad boy of the year John Scott will take Boogaard's role as team goon in Boogaard's absence. Last season in Boogaard's absence John Scott did get in three fights beating up Av's punk Cody McCormick, New York Islanders goon Joel Rechlicz and Oilers hack Zack Stortini. [Hockey Fights]

As mentioned on the earlier blog, Derek Boogaard is out indefinitely with a concussion. Coach Todd Richards thinks in the Columbus exhibition game that Boogaard was nailed in the chin with a stick after a check. Concussions are unpredictable, and Richards said the Wild doesn’t know yet the extent of Boogaard’s injury. He said it could be a week or two, could be a month or two.

If Boogaard misses the start of the season, the fighting will likely fall onto 6-foot-8 defenseman John Scott. I wrote a story on Scott for Thursday’s paper, which I highly recommend. Scott’s a character, and he told a couple really funny anecdotes about Jacques Lemaire and Mario Tremblay. [Russo's Rants]

Don't forget UAH: UAH program standing alone

As the college hockey season moves forward, I would urge college hockey fans not to forget about UAH program and their status in college hockey world, they still need a home. There are 58 teams in division one hockey and we can’t afford to lose any teams. I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the 12 team NCAA tourneys.

Future without league affiliation poses big hurdles

As Danton Cole enters his third season as coach of the Alabama-Huntsville hockey team, he faces a formidable task: Trying to preserve the 31-year-old program.

After being snubbed by the Central Collegiate Hockey Association last month and with College Hockey America in its final season, the Chargers' existence is tenuous. After this season, they would be the lone independent team among the 60-plus NCAA Division I programs.

"It's what it is right now," Cole said of the CCHA situation. "They've decided to move forward without us.

"But we've put together a good independent schedule. It'll be interesting."

With five conferences left after the upcoming season (CCHA, Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Hockey East, Atlantic Hockey and ECAC), scheduling for the next four years is going to be a chore. Teams are locked into their league schedules from January-March, followed by conference tournaments and the NCAAs.

Cole was away for two weeks coaching a U.S. National Select team in Eastern Europe when the CCHA rejected UAH's bid to join.

"I haven't had a chance to catch my breath," he said. "But that's the nature of this job. Coach (Chris) Luongo and Coach (John) McCabe have been hustling and doing a ton of work." [Al.com]

J.P. Lamoureux sent to Portland.

Former Fighting Sioux goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux has been assigned to Portland of the AHL.

SABRES ASSIGN 14 PLAYERS TO PORTLAND ---- GM Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have assigned 14 players to the Portland Pirates of the American League.

In addition, defenseman Ryan Stokes and goaltender Glenn Fisher have both been released from their training camp tryouts. The moves leave the Sabres with 33 players remaining in camp: 19 forwards, 11 defensemen and three goaltenders.

Heading to Portland are:

Paul Byron, T.J. Brennan, J.P. Lamoureux, Tyler Ennis, Matt Generous,
Brad Larsen, Mike Kostka, Maxime Legault, Dennis Persson, Mark McCutcheon Drew Schiestel, Kyle Rank, Travis Turnbull, Derek Whitmore.
[Buffalo Sabres]

Downie the hack gets his...

There is an old saying in hockey, ‘live by the sword, and die by the sword.’ Finally Steve “the hack” Downie got what was coming to him when Chris Neil got him last night. Eventually if you run around the ice dishing out cheap hit someone is going to smoke you. I still think that Jack Johnson did the hockey world a favor when he elbowed Downie in the World Junior Championship in 2006. While people say it was a cheap shot, what they didn't talk about was how Steve Downie was hacking Johnson with his stick before that.

REGINA — The Senators finally got even with Steve Downie.

Dean McAmmond might be long gone, but Downie’s cheap shot from two years ago (earning him a 20-game suspension) wasn’t forgotten last night. Chris Neil nailed Downie, a Tampa Bay Lightning winger, with 6:04 left in the third period of a 3-1 pre-season win last night in front of a packed house at the Brandt Centre.

Neil was given a charging minor and game misconduct for his hit along the boards in the dying minutes.

“I didn’t get him as good as I would like to have,” said Neil. “He drops his gloves with me and then he says, ‘Oh, I’m not fighting.’ He tried to flip me. I got him with some good ones. I wish I got him with some better ones.

“I’m not concerned at all (about supplementary discipline). I finished my check. It might have been a little late. It was a clean hit. It’s one of those things. He was just lucky he was able to get me down before I got going.”

Asked if he thought he would hear from the league, Senators coach Cory Clouston said: “I don’t think so.”