NCAA Round Up: Before we kick dirt on the CHA.

While the Illegal Curve has officially rode off into the sunset I will continue to do a weekly Saturday column called the NCAA Round Up, during the College Hockey season. Here is what Richard of the Illegal Curve had to say about his closing the site down.

The opportunities the site created for us were, and still are, endless. Through IllegalCurve.com we have met and interviewed some of the most significant players in the hockey world. Whether it be interviewing Mike Keenan and Vincent Lecavalier in person, or interviewing Eric Duhatschek and Scott Morrison on the radio show, we have been allowed to hear the latest and most in depth hockey information from the most informed members of the hockey world. Further, we have been able to meet many of the other bloggers and website writers and have an enjoyable and respectful hockey dialogue with them. Without IllegalCurve.com and your support none of that would have been possible.

While we have the utmost in gratitude for other writers, our guests and interviewees, we owe our biggest thank you to you–the readers. Without your constant support in the way of website traffic, emails, tweets, phone calls we would not have felt worthy enough to take the chances and strides that we did. Simply, IllegalCurve.com would not have lasted for thousands of posts and for over two years if not for your support.

While I am writing this post on behalf of the entire staff, I would be remiss if I did not thank the many writers who have contributed to the website along the way. From the beginning writers on September 4th, 2007, such as Kyle Kosior and Ezra Ginsburg to co-creator Michael Remis, everyone contributed to IllegalCurve.com along the way. If not for the writings of Ari-Baum Cohen, Drew Mindell, Neil Rockman, Adam Gutkin, Rusty Parra and last, but certainly not least, David Minuk, IllegalCurve.com would have merely been an idea. A special thanks also goes out to some our new recent contributors Daniel Hogan and Eric Burton.

It’s a sad day for me because I really loved writing my weekly column and occasional random other occasional columns for the Illegal Curve. Richard ran a very good NHL hockey blog and it was a sad day to find out one of my favorite hockey blogs is now out of commission. Moving forward there is another opportunity that is in currently in the works and looks like it might possibly pan out very soon.

The End of an Era

The CHA was created back in the 1999 to give new programs a conference to play in. This season will be it's 11th and Final Season.

College ice hockey’s continuing development and expansion received another boost during the summer of 1999 with the formation of College Hockey America. The seven charter members of College Hockey America were the United States Air Force Academy (Colorado), University of Alabama-Huntsville, United States Military Academy (New York), Bemidji State University (Minnesota), University of Findlay (Ohio), Niagara University (New York), and Wayne State University (Michigan). [CHA]

Over the years the makeup of the CHA has changed dramatically. Finlay, Wayne State dropped hockey all together. The Air Force Academy and Army moved to the AHA, leaving the CHA with 5 teams.

After Wayne State University decided to drop their hockey program the CHA was left with four teams, this put their conference on life support. The NCAA wouldn’t give a four team hockey team an at large bid for more than a couple of seasons. Something had to be done the NCAA hockey couldn't afford to lose anymore teams or there was a risk losing a few auto bids. So the four remaining teams applied for membership in the other five conferences. Three of the four teams found new homes.

Through some work there was a few adjustments to the various conferences, three of the four teams have found homes; BSU is moving to the WCHA, Niagara and Robert Morris University are moving to the Atlantic Hockey Association. The University of Alabama Huntsville applied for the CCHA and was denied or basically told not now maybe later in the future. Some college hockey fans including myself looked at this as an elitist attitude. That conclusion wasn't much of a stretch, looking at the CCHA members it’s not the strongest league top to bottom and the CCHA snub of UAH looked petty to a lot of on lookers.

There has also been rumblings that the Big Ten wanted its member schools to play each other more. Get out your tin foil hats and lets start the Big Ten Hockey Conference argument again. That's for another day.


Going out in style

Fast forward to the final season for the CHA, the BSU Beavers are sitting in the top spot of the CHA and haven’t lost a conference game all season. Nationally the Bemidji Beavers have also been ranked in the top 10-15 spots of the national polls most of the season and are currently sitting in 6th in the Pairwise the rankings mimic the NCAA Hockey tourney selection. The Beavers schedule hasn’t been overly tough and has been slammed by a few of self appointed hockey experts but the Beavers did beat the number one ranked Miami RedHawks in the Subway Holiday Classic back in November over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Take that CCHA

UAH out to prove that they didn’t appreciate the snub by the CCHA went out and beat Notre Dame in their first series of the season and then went out and swept the Air Force Academy Falcons as well. In fact the CHA has own the AHA this season and has a record of 6-0-1 against them.

Fast forward to last night, the 4-12-3 Robert Morris University Colonials didn’t want to be out done by their other CHA counter parts beat the number one Miami RedHawks 3-1 in the Igloo in Pittsburgh, PA. In fact three of their four wins have come against nonconference opponents; the Colonials have beaten the UAA Seawolves, Quinnipiac Bobcats, and now the Miami RedHawks. While they have had a rough season they aren’t a team to be over looked. I believe that Derek Schooley is a good coach and he will have the RMU team playing well in the AHA next season.

Derek Stepan has gotten his medal back.

This was in Russo's twitter today. The missing gold medal has arrived from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Wisconsin's and Rangers draft pick Derek Stepan just texted me: "I got my medal!"

I had a feeling this is what happened. Being around airports it’s not uncommon for luggage to get lost in the shuffle moving it from one plane to the other. A lot of times a plane will land and there isn’t much time to get the luggage off of the one flight and onto the connecting flight, especially if the plane landed in Minneapolis.

I would be willing to bet that in Stepan’s case this is probably what happened. Yet there were some that wanted to blame the TSA for his lost luggage, as if they don’t have enough problems of their own.

Finally, I would be willing to bet that no one from the TSA actually touched Stepan’s bags, they were inspected by Canadian security. This was all on the airlines. I would be willing to bet that Saskatoon was very busy getting everyone out after the WJC.

Sioux rope Mavericks 4-1.

The Sioux came out of the gate fast and looked like they were going to run the Purple Cows Mavericks out of the building, then the Fighting Sioux gave up a untimely goal on a power play to Ben Youds at 10:13 of the first period. It was Youds first goal of the season, the Maverick defenseman came into the game with (0g-18a-18pts)

I like the way UND played in this game and I don’t think the Sioux were ever really in danger of losing control of this game. There was a short period of time during the second d where I thought MSU-M took it to UND but the Fighting Sioux started moving their feet again got the momentum back and kicked into gear and cruised to the win.

In goal for the Mavericks Phil Cook (3-0-1, 0.87 GAA, .967 SV%) started the game and wasn’t as impressive as his numbers coming into the game. Cook had a rough start, he gave up two goals on two shots, Cook pulled his hamstring on the second goal and then pulled himself out of the game.

For the Fighting Sioux Corbin Knight and Jason Gregoire both had impressive (2g-0a-2pts) goal nights for the Fighting Sioux. Knight had been held scoreless since the first game of the year looked much more comfortable on the line with Zajac and Toews. Jason Gregoire is the first Sioux forward or defenseman to get to 10 goals.

Welcome Back Matt Frattin

Tonight was the first night Sioux forward Matt Frattin has played a home game since the Sioux beat the MTU Huskies in the first round of the 2009 WCHA playoffs. While this is only the third game for Frattin since his reinstatement, Matt seems to be getting back to game shape. I think it is just a matter of time before Matt shows up on the score sheet. I had forgotten how fast he was and what he brings to the table. Frattin is tough on the fore check and plays a high pressure game. His presence is defiantly a plus.

I expect the same effort tomorrow night from the Fighting Sioux.

[Box Score]
--------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------

NDK 1 - 0 6x6 LL Corban Knight (2) (Joe Gleason, Derrick LaPoint) 2:07
NDK (+): 10,20,3,11,18,G31 MNS (-): 28,20,14,24,22,G30
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 GW Jason Gregoire (9) (Chris VandeVelde) 6:48
NDK (+): 17,29,21,25,4,G31 MNS (-): 12,11,18,28,16,G30
NDK-1 Ben Blood (2-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) MNS 1x1 9:13
MNS 1 - 2 6x5 PP Ben Youds (1) (Geoff Irwin, Zach Harrison) 10:13
MNS: 5,19,10,15,9,G1 NDK: 25,22,2,19,G31
MNS-1 Kael Mouillierat (2-Interference) NDK 0x1 11:29
NDK-2 Jake Marto (2-Slashing) MNS 1x2 13:47
MNS-2 Mike Louwerse (2-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) NDK 0x2 14:43
NDK-3 Chris VandeVelde (2-Slashing) MNS 1x3 18:22

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

MNS-3 Channing Boe (2-Tripping) NDK 0x3 5:46
NDK 3 - 1 6x6 Corban Knight (3) (Darcy Zajac, Derrick LaPoint) 9:41
NDK (+): 10,11,18,24,25,G31 MNS (-): 11,17,15,12,16,G1
MNS-4 Eriah Hayes (2-Holding) NDK 1x4 15:47
NDK 4 - 1 6x5 PP Jason Gregoire (10) (Danny Kristo, Chris VandeVelde) 16:26
NDK: 17,7,29,21,25,G31 MNS: 10,12,28,22,G1

--------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------
NDK-4 Derrick LaPoint (2-Tripping) MNS 1x4 2:45
MNS-5 Adam Mueller (2-Interference) NDK 1x5 13:05
NDK-5 Brad Malone (2-Slashing) MNS 1x5 13:51

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

Vote for Chay Genoway in Hobey Baker Award fan balloting

It's that time of year again and I believe that Chay Genoway is a deserving of Hobey Baker Memorial Award Candidate. Vote early and vote often.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Fighting Sioux hockey fans can vote for North Dakota senior defenseman Chay Genoway in the 2010 Hobey Baker Award fan balloting, which begins today.

To submit your vote, visit the Hobey Baker site and click on the ‘Vote for Hobey Baker' tab. This first phase of fan balloting will run through March 7, 2010. The fans' vote accounts for a full one percent of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.[Fighting Sioux]

NHL Coaches told to watch their language.

I think this is the type of language that the NHL is talking about. John Tortorella is always an interesting during the post game press conferences. Check out this youtube.com clip.

(NHL Memo)

"Recently, we have had several instances of team personnel using inappropriate and profane language in media interactions and, in particular, in press conference settings. We appreciate the intensity and passion with which you approach your jobs, however, what is said publicly, and how it is said, reflects directly on the images of your respective organizations, the National Hockey League, and the game of hockey generally. In this context, profanity in public areas or where likely to be overheard by members of the media and/or general public is clearly inappropriate and unacceptable and, as previously advised in a memorandum to Clubs dated April 28, 2006, will be deemed a violation of the Media Regulations, NHL By-Law 17.4(a) (prohibiting statements "prejudicial to the welfare of the League or the game of hockey or of a Member Club"), and Article 6.3(j)(1) of the NHL Constitution (prohibiting conduct "detrimental to the League or the game of hockey"). Please be reminded that any such violations will subject both the individuals involved and their Clubs to potential fines." [TSN]

Stepan's missing luggage.

This was on Russo's Twitter. I already saw where people are trying to blame the TSA over on Twitter for this. Stop! Before someone tries to blame the poor TSA for losing Stepan’s luggage it’s not their fault, the airlines lost his bags like Russo said. Also the TSA ENFORCES the laws that DHS and the American congress enact. If you want to blame someone blame Janet Napolitano and DHS.

Just got off phone with Team USA captain Derek Stepan. Airline lost all his bags, including his gold medal, bc no carry-ons out of Canada

It's Game Day!! (by LGM)

It’s game day people! YEA!!

As promised, here is another post for the week of my thoughts on the Sioux/Maverick game and what to expect from the Mavericks.

Let’s start out by the most important thing….who’s hot or not on the UND team. Goon’s probably going to beat me for putting this on his blog, but I just can’t resist. Normally I do a run down of each player. This time, however, I’ll just point out who’s the #1 hot and #1 not. While I’m not going to comment on every player, I must point out that UND has an abnormally high number of red haired players. What’s up with that?!? It significantly brings down the hot factor!

Drum roll please……………

#1 HOT

#1 NOT....it's Lurch's long lost nephew!
#2 NOT…woah, nice hair. No wonder this kid wears his goalie mask all the time!

I was pretty tempted to pick Mario Lamoureux or Brett Hextall but I figured my opinion was jaded from “Brad Miller Time.” I’m not going to lie, I’m a closeted fan of that show. It cracks me up on a regular basis and Lammy and Hextall are pretty good hosts. I especially love it when they have Ben Blood on the show. Seriously, how many hits to the head has that kid taken?!? (Sorry Sioux fans…but we can all agree he’s not that bright!)

Moving on from Hot or Not, let’s talk about the Mavericks and what the Sioux fans can expect to see this weekend.

Tonight in goal you’ll see a new goalie, Phil Cook. Cook’s been hot in goal as of late and I really like his style of play. He’s aggressive, quick, and doesn’t leave a lot of fat rebounds. I’m hoping he has an excellent night and gets the nod again tomorrow night. It’s not that I have anything against the other goalie on the trip, Lee, but I just don’t think he’s as good of a goalie and that the Sioux players will take advantage of his weakness. I’m sure they’ve watched lots of films on the Mavs and know exactly how to easily score on Lee. Hell, at this point in time I think that even I could get a few goals against him!

Forwards to keep an eye out for are #11 Mike Louwerse. He’s small but fast, feisty, and talented. I think UND fans will probably be reminded of Ryan Duncan with his ability to play at this level with his size. Next to watch is #10 Zach Harrison and #15 Jerad Stewart. They’re the team leaders in points and both play an intensive and quick game. Stewart is much more physical than in past years and will give the Sioux players a run for their money. Other forwards to take note of are #25 Eriah Hayes, #9 Kael Mouillierat, and #19 Geoff Irwin. All play a pretty intense game and are capable of scoring at any given time.

A standout forward freshman to watch it #7 Tyler Pitlick. Make all the jokes you want about this kid’s name….the end story is he’s damn talented. He’s got some sick moves and will make the Sioux D look silly at times.

The main defenseman to keep an eye on is #28 Channing Boe. He’ll be a favorite of Goon’s since he’s a home grown Bemidji boy and I think most people have become a fan of him, especially since he was attacked by Gopher hack Brian Schack. Boe is a good defenseman that is 100% committed to playing defense. He’s not worried with scoring goals or afraid to be hit or give hits (ala #22 Kurt Davis). He takes his role as a defenseman and Alternate Captain seriously and does a great job. Plus, he’s a LGM favorite so you all have to love the kid!

The other D combo to watch is Mosey and Elbrecht. They’re a new freshman D combo and as of late they’ve been looking very good. The Mavs will need them to bring their “A” game this weekend to pull off a win for sure.

So, there are the Mavericks in a nutshell as seen through my eyes. Most Sioux fans are calling this an “easy sweep” series and seem to have the attitude that there is “no way” that the Mavericks can win at the Ralph. Granted, the stats show that the Sioux have had the Mavericks number in the past years. However, I’m saying this weekend will be a split with the Mavs winning tonight.

Flyers get hosed by video review.

Check out this blown call. So what is the point of this going to video review if they can't make the right call. How do they manage to screw this video review up this bad? I guess its not only the WCHA refs that are blowing the calls on legit goals. Wow!
[Props]

Jeff Finger vs Scott Hartnell

I have to give former SCSU Huskie Jeff Finger credit for fighting Scott Hartnell who is one of the biggest hacks in the NHL, notice how Hartnell takes off his helmet and shield after the fight. The Pittsburgh television announcers call him mop head. I think he looks like a French poodle. If you going to fight on a regular basis lose the face shield.

Alcohol Control at the Ralph: Actual Concern or Greed? (by Sioux 7)

I received the following message from "The Ralph"

Responsible alcohol service is a priority at the Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA) and we are committed to promoting responsible alcohol consumption at all events.

In an attempt to more appropriately align our operational plans with our stated alcohol service objectives, effective immediately, the largest serving size of draft beer at REA has been changed from a 32 ounce serving size to a 24 ounce serving size for all events.

The price of a large domestic draft beer has been reduced from $6.75 to $6.00 and a large premium draft beer has been reduced from $7.25 to $6.50 to accompany the serving size change.

We're committed to promoting responsible alcohol consumption that enhances the entertainment experience for all of our guests while also reducing alcohol-related incidents both in our facility and on surrounding roadways. We believe this proactive step is the right thing to do.

Thanks for your support and understanding.

Sincerely,

Jody Hodgson
General Manager

I'm an engineer working in marketing now, and this doesn't sound like a sound alcohol policy. People can still buy as many beers as they want. This is greed, make no mistake about it. If they wanted to control alcohol consumption they would have to scan your ID and only allow you to purchase, say 2 or 3 drinks, at the Ralph each game. If you do the math on a regular beer, the 32-oz works out to be $.21/oz.,with the new 24-oz beer it will be $0.24/oz. If they want to maintain the same pricing the new 24-oz beer should be $5.04. This is clearly another way for the Ralph to make more money, or as they call it "align our operational plans" and increase their mark-up by 19%, not curb alcohol sales.

I understand that alcohol was a factor in the unfortunate incident after the UND-UM game in the parking lot. People will always be drinking at, or before, hockey games, legal or illegally. If the Ralph really wants to lessen the amount of inebriated individuals at the game, they need to keep track of how many drinks a person is served. I also know that their will always be ways around it, like having your friend (or even sober driver) by drinks for someone who already has been "cut off" at the Ralph. The Ralph is attempting to minimize drinking by hitting fans in the pocket book, during tough economic times already.

I like the spirit, that they want to cut down on the number of drunk fans at the game, but they are going about it the wrong way.

Is the USA catching up to Canada?

It doesn't get old watching that video, for me it’s something special, especially as an American hockey fan. It had been too long since the last USA title in the World Junior Hockey Championship. There is no doubt about it, team USA’s win in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada was big,no matter how you spin it Team USA was the underdog.

I also don’t know if the has USA caught up to Canada in hockey, this argment might be a bit premature. Hockey is Canada’s game and they have enough talent to field two or three WJC teams. I do think team USA has closed the gap between the two countries, there is still a ways to go.

This also makes one wonder what USA hockey could be like in the future. The Canadians are still the king of international hockey but USA has had some big win in hockey as of late, Fargo U-18, Saskatoon U-20…

On the heels of Canada's loss to the U.S. at the world juniors and Al Maki's story today on the development of hockey in both countries, I wanted to chime in on the topic a little.

My own theory as to why there’s a shift is that there are simply a lot more Americans playing hockey these days than a decade or two ago. USA Hockey is just a far bigger organization than it used to be.

All of those American juniors in the tournament were born around 1991 and would have entered the system five or six years later, right as participation in hockey in the U.S. was beginning to catch up with Canada (in terms of overall numbers).

I'm just using the data provided by Hockey Canada and USA Hockey on their websites, but it does make sense that with so many American youngsters now playing in places like California (and going on to the WHL for junior hockey) that the number of total players in the U.S. is up significantly.

It's a trend that's been evident in the NHL for a while, too. Ten years ago, Canadian players made up roughly 60 per cent of the NHL, a number that was down to around 52 per cent last season. American born players, however, are up from about 16 per cent of the NHL to close to 20.
[Globe and Mail]

Weekend Match Ups (by Sioux 7)

I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas break and took in some holiday games and/or tournaments. (I took in some local action and caught a Fargo Force USHL game, and a couple of local High School games, one game was the Fargo South High and Moorhead High Minnesota tilt.) We now start the year 2010 and the second half of the WCHA season. So with out any more babbling on, here we go.

Current WCHA standings

TEAM.......................GP....W-L-T...PTS
1 Denver.................14....9-3-2...20
2 Colorado College..14....8-3-3...19
3 Wisconsin.............14....8-4-2...18
4 Minnesota-Duluth..14....8-5-1...17
5 St. Cloud State.......14....7-5-2...16
6 North Dakota........14....6-6-2...14
7 Minnesota............14....6-7-1...13
8 Minnesota State.....14....5-8-1...11
9 Alaska-Anchorage..14....4-10-0...8
10 Michigan Tech......14....2-12-0...4

WCHA

Alaska-Anchorage at #2 Denver
Holiday break, UAA was enjoying the Christmas season and DU beat Nebraska-Omaha (7-0) and Boston College (4-3) to win the Denver Cup.

Earlier this season these teams split in Anchorage, and it’s now time for the rematch.
UAA has only 1 win on the road this year and that came in the state of Colorado, against the CC Tigers. DU is the better team, their record shows that, but UAA has got some quality wins, in my opinion, this season. I’m sure everyone in the middle of the league would like to see the Seawolves take some points from the Pioneers. Interesting tidbit is that all of UAA‘s WCHA wins have come on Saturday nights. DU should beat UAA handily on Friday, since UAA hasn’t played a game since December 5th. I’m going to go with a split DU Friday, UAA Saturday.

#3 Colorado College at #13 Minnesota-Duluth
Holiday break, CC was at the Florida College Classic where they beat Cornell (4-2) and lost to Maine (3-2). UMD was participating in the Catamount Cup in Vermont, they beat Mercyhurst (6-0) and lost to host Vermont (5-2).

Early in November these teams split in the Springs with UMD winning 4-3 in the opener and CC winning 6-2 the following night. CC has brutal schedule in 2010 with the only, shall I say lax games against UAA in conference, after going to UMD they host UW. The Tiger have not lost on the road this season, posting a 4-0-3 record to date, and the Bulldogs are 8-4-0 in this, the last year at the DECC. I’m going to go the safe bet and call this a SPLIT.

Minnesota State at #5 North Dakota
Holiday break, MSU-M swept RIT (6-1, 3-0) and UND played in the Shillelagh Tournament beating Niagara (3-1) and tying Notre Dame (3-3).

This will be the only meeting between these teams this season, barring a match up in the playoffs. The Sioux split in Mankato and then swept the Mavericks in Grand Forks in the ’08-’09 season. It looks like UND will still be without the services of D-man Chay Genoway, and possibly without forward Brett Hextall (lower body injury). The Mavericks are 4-5-1 on the road and the Sioux are 5-2-3 at The Ralph this season. Since Coach Hakstol has had the reigns he has gotten the Sioux going after Christmas break, so why change now? SIOUX SWEEP.

Michigan Tech at #15 St. Cloud State
Holiday break, MTU was swept at the Great Lakes Invitational they got hammered by Michigan St. (10-1) and lost to Michigan (5-3). SCSU hosted Brown and swept them last weekend (5-1, 5-3).

To say that MTU has struggled this season is a nice way to put it. They have given up 8 or more goals in 4 games this season already. They have been outscored 85-38 on the season in 19 total games, that’s 2 goals for a game and 4.5 goals against per game. The other Huskies from SCSU have quietly put together a good record in and out of the league, having a 10-7-3 overall record and are 5-2-3 at the National Hockey Center. This should be all Huskies (SCSU that is) in this series, SCSU SWEEP.

Non-Conference

Harvard at Minnesota
Holiday Break, the Gophers hosted the Dodge Holiday Classic (here is my cheap shot to start 2010 – maybe it is sponsored by Dodge because that is what you should do with this tournament, dodge it!) where they beat Bowling Green(3-1) and lost to Northern Michigan (4-2) in the title game.

Harvard are the owners of a 2-8-2 overall record and currently sit in 10th place in the ECAC. The Gopher own a 9-10-1 overall record this year and are looking to improve on that. The Gophers will need to get a pair of wins this weekend if they hope to make a run at the NCAA tournament in March. The rest of the WCHA needs UM to win these non-conference games to help everyone in the league with the PWR system. It kills me to say we need to cheer for the Gophers, but here it is, GOPHERS SWEEP.

Exhibition

US Under-18 Team at #4 Wisconsin (Saturday)
Holiday break, the Badgers hosted the Badger Showdown, where they proceeded to beat Merrimack (5-4) and tie Yale (2-2).

Since this is an exhibition game, it doesn't officially exist. But I have to go with our cheesy friends, BADGERS WIN.

Tuesday January 12th

Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech

The Huskies lost to the Wildcats 2-1 on Dec. 18th at Marquette. This time it is in Houghton, and the Huskies don't want to drop another to their Yopper competition. I will go with the Huskies to upset the Wildcats in this match up. HUSKIES WIN.

Clutterbuck and Scott talk smack with Phaneuf

This was too good not to share, I wish we could hear more of the back and forth that goes on between the players. I suppose a lot of it is unfit for public consumption.

On Phaneuf, recently snubbed from Team Canada, Clutterbuck said, "I asked him how his Olympic break was going to go. [Defenseman] Johnny Scott asked him first. It’s not my joke. It’s Jonny’s. I double-used it on him.”
[Russo's Rants]

Dallas gets sloppy seconds...

New York Super punk former Dallas Star Sean Avery had a career night against his former club having a career game and racking up four points (1g-3a-4pts)to help sink his former club 5-2. Check out these quotes, they are classic.

Avery said, “I was getting paid by two teams,” he deadpanned. It was the only joke he made as he talked afterward about his need to play well consistently.

“I would have loved to see that delinquent do that for us last year,” Dallas goalie Marty Turco said.
[NHL Round Up]

Empty seats in Saskatoon for WJC.

The WJC not selling out in Canada. This actually surprises me a bit because hockey is a religion in Canada. I think this is a legit question why was Winnipeg, Manitoba passed over?

SASKATOON -- It's been one of the most asked questions of the 2010 world junior championship: What's the deal with all the empty seats?

There have been thousands of them -- swaths in the upper deck for the preliminary round. And that's for games involving Team Canada, no less.

In fact, the only sold-out game to date at Credit Union Centre was for the much anticipated Canada-USA tilt on New Year's Eve. And tickets for that game were available practically until game time.

As of Monday morning, there were still tickets left for tonight's gold-medal final -- a Canada-USA rematch -- at least, for anyone willing to shell out $388 dollars for a pair.

So you can forgive a red-blooded Manitoba hockey fan for wondering why the Winnipeg-Brandon bid for the 2010 junior worlds was passed over in favour of our Saskatchewan neighbours. The Regina pool featured perennial junior powers such as Sweden, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic, yet those matches didn't come close to selling out the 6,000-plus seats in Brandt Arena, either.

Mike Liambas suspended again.

Remember this guy? Mike Liambas the guy who was suspended from the OHL for the rest of the season for this hit has gotten himself suspended again from the IHL.

BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington PrairieThunder forward Mike Liambas, who was suspended for the remainder of the season at the junior level in October for a hit that caused serious head injuries to an opposing player, has been suspended for the next five games by the International Hockey League for a Dec. 29 hit against a Muskegon player.

The suspension issued Tuesday stems from a hit that Liambas made on Lumberjacks defenseman Jason Lawmaster early in the game at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The hit ruptured Lawmaster’s spleen, and he spent four days at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington after undergoing a splenectomy.

Are James Sheppard's days numbered?

I really think that the Wild should keep Robbie Earl up with the big club and put waste of a Wild uniform and first round bust James Sheppard on waivers and then send him to the Houston Aeros and leave him there and let him play out his contract in Houston. Robbie Earl has played in less games (10games 3g-0a-3pts) than James Sheppard (37 games 2g-3a-5pts)and had more goals. There seems to be a correlation the Wild are winning without the Sheppard in uniform as well, lets keep it going.

James Sheppard has found himself again on the outside looking in. If Robbie Earl plays, he will have to clear waivers in order to be sent back to Houston, as will James Sheppard. So ... if Robbie Earl plays well again (as he has every game he's played up here) is there any way they don't keep him on the roster the rest of the season?
[Hockey Wilderness]

EDIT: This situation actually got more interesting. Let Christmas come again early...

• Robbie Earl, who scored three goals in nine games during three previous call-ups, played after Richards said in the morning he may "shake up the lineup." Petr Sykora and James Sheppard were healthy scratches, meaning Earl's 10th game is an official recall and not an emergency recall. He will require waivers if the Wild wants to return him to Houston. [Star Tribune]

Good news and bad news.

Wednesdays mean press conferences and updates on what is going on with UND hockey. Unfortunately, there is some bad news this week. Brett Hextall is out with an injury, the North Dakota injury bug continues. It would be nice to see the guys get a break.

Kristo and Zajac are back in the line up, Hextall is out with an assumed leg injury. [UND Hockey Twitter]

Good point on the shoot out.

The boys at INCH really have a good point on the shoot out. I am on record as being in favor of the WCHA having the shoot out to decided CONFERENCE game.

Regular readers of this site know that we’re not the greatest fans of post-game shootouts. Unfortunately, at many holiday tournaments across the country, the shootout is used to determine which teams advance and in some cases which teams win the tournament (Wisconsin). Our personal opinions aside, the holiday tournament season is probably the best time to use this format. With teams playing back-to-back nights and more than one game at each venue, there are time concerns and burdens on the players. Still, we applaud the Great Lakes Invitational and Beanpot for putting 20 minutes on the overtime clock.

We can accept that the CCHA uses the format for its league games, but why was there a shootout after Saturday’s 0-0 tie between Bemidji State and Western Michigan? When the host Broncos prevailed, fans left the rink with the perception that the Broncos won the game. Not bad for a team that failed to score an actual goal all weekend.
[INCH]

Personally I do find the shoot out to be exciting, however, to suggest that WMU won the 0-0 nonconference game against the Beavers last weekend after winning a shoot out is asinine. I don’t see the point of having a shoot out in that game. When it is all said and done WMU was shut out twice and the game in question will go down in Pairwise rankings as a tie.

As for breaking ties in the WCHA/college hockey I would run overtime in this manner. I would have 5 minutes of 4 on 4 hockey like the NHL does. Then I would have a three round shoot out. Points would be awarded in this manner; 2 points for a win in regulation overtime and or shoot out. One point would be awarded for a loss in over time or shoot out.

More WJC video.

Watch and enjoy...

Some more on the USA WJC win. (Kristo interviewed)

USA had lost 6 games in a row to the Canadians.

Gopher forward Jordan Schroeder is the all time leading American Scorer over taking Jeremy Roenick's for the all-time U.S. Under-20 scoring mark.

USA strikes gold in Saskatoon

Team USA’s win in Saskatoon doesn't require a lot of pontification, one of the first words that comes to mind is F’N awesome. It’s about time and not since 2004 has team USA been able to lay claim to the crown.

Enjoy the game winning goal scored by John Carlson. I swear my heart was in my throat during the overtime until the game winning goal, then I had tears of joy in my eyes. Yes, I did the dance again.


This win means so much for American hockey; it’s one of them defining moments in history like the 1980 Olympic team win in Lake Placid. The Canadians were the over whelming favorites to win the gold medal game and what makes this win more significant is team USA beat the Canadians on their turf. What makes it even more specials is after listening to their fans boo our players for almost two weeks our guys get to walk out of Canada carrying the gold.

Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo leads team USA [in a song]

Roenick 'baffled' that Drury named to Team USA

Tip of the hat to my friend Mike Swainey of Jackets required. I have to say that I agree with Jeremy Roenick, how the hell does Drury make team USA? No disrespect to Drury but he doesn't deserve to be on the team. There are other American players that are having better seasons than Drury.

Jeremy Roenick says there isn't too much to quibble about when it comes to Brian Burke's picks for Team USA, but that didn't stop the outspoken American from picking apart some of the roster decisions.

Roenick said Tuesday he was surprised at the addition of Chris Drury to the team ahead of someone like Scott Gomez and T.J. Oshie.

"Not to take anything away from the guy because he's had such a great career, but for Chris Drury to be on the team, it baffles me," Roenick told Toronto radio station AM640.

"I know he's a great leader and if he's captain of the team, he'll be a great captain, but I just don't see him being as good for the team as a guy like Gomez would be or T.J. Oshie. Oshie would bring so much energy to this team and this type of format in an international event, that I don't understand how those two guys aren't on the team."

Roenick, who won a silver medal in 2002 with Team USA, believes Burke is likely counting on Drury to provide leadership on a very young team. But the two-time Olympian can think of at least one other player who could have filled the same role.

Bruins work Brian Elliot and the Senators 4-1.

This is for our friends over at Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. I couldn't resist this one. I got found this priceless picture over at Stanley Cup of Chowder. The Bruins hung 4 goals on former Badger goalie Brian Elliot in the first period of tonight game between the Bruins and the Senators and cruised the rest of the way, winning 4-1. To add injury to insult former Gopher Blake Wheeler picked up two goals and an assist tonight.

Patrice Bergeron out 2-6 weeks with injury.

I just saw this and it's bad news for the Boston Bruins who have had some series injury problems this season. Savard, and Lucic have been out for long periods of time this season and now Bergeron has been bitten by the injury bug. As a Bruins fan I hope this doesn't affect his Olympic status.

BOSTON -- Star center Patrice Bergeron could be out anywhere from two to six weeks with a thumb injury, a source told ESPN.com Tuesday.

The same source said Bergeron still had to see a specialist later Tuesday and that would more precisely determine his absence.

The 24-year-old Bergeron took a Dennis Wideman shot on the hand in Monday night's loss at the New York Rangers and returned to Boston on Tuesday morning for medical tests.

Bergeron is the Bruins' leading scorer and head coach Claude Julien has called him their best player since the start of the season. The Bruins have already dealt with long-term injuries to star center Marc Savard and top-line winger Milan Lucic this season.

Bergeron's injury also calls into question his Olympic participation. Team Canada named him to its team last Wednesday. Canada's Olympic opener goes Feb. 16 against Norway, exactly six weeks from Tuesday.

Do you believe? Go Team USA.

This video brings back some really good memories. There were 3 Fighting Sioux hockey players on that USA WJC roster; Brady Murray, Drew Stafford and Zach Parise.

It's been a long six years since USA has won the WJC. The Canadians are on a roll, it’s time for the Americans to stop them dead in their tracks. I hope that team USA can finally break the Canadian stranglehold on the WJC. I want to hear the American anthem at the end of the game.

No shortage of history as Canada, U.S. clash in Championship.

This is what TSN has to say about the WJC final tomorrow night. I must be theon of the only people that doesn't see USA beating Sweden as a upset. I expected it. Tomorrow night game is also on the NHL Network which is 215 on Direct TV and 307 on Midco.net in Grand Forks, ND.

Any time Canada and the United States meet at the world juniors, there's a heightened sense of importance to the game - and that even goes for the preliminary round. Make it the gold medal final with everything on the line, throw in the recent track record and long-standing rivalry between these two teams and it seems fans are in for another thrilling night of entertainment in Saskatoon.

You can see the gold medal game Tuesday night on TSN, TSN HD, and TSN.ca beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt.

Just a few days ago, on New Year's Eve, with first place in Group A on the line, Canada scored a comeback victory over the U.S., winning 5-4 in a dramatic shootout to clinch a bye into the semifinals of the world junior hockey championship. It was the highlight of the tournament thus far, and no doubt had many fans hoping for a rematch later in the proceedings.

They got their wish.

Thanks to a 5-2 upset victory over Sweden, the U.S. will indeed get another crack at the Canadians, this time for world junior hockey supremacy.

The Canucks, who beat Switzerland to lock down their spot in the final, are looking for a record sixth straight championship, but there a few potential obstacles in the way of that prize.

First of all, the last time these two countries faced off in the championship game of this tournament was 2004. The winner? The U.S.A., with a 4-3 win to claim that year's tourney in Helsinki, Finland.

It was the Americans' first world junior title, and it came at the expense of the boys in red and white.

In addition to that historical tidbit, there are roster issues as well. Canadian defenceman Travis Hamonic will miss the final as he is out 6-8 weeks with a shoulder separation.

"It's a potentially devastating loss," says TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie. "Team Canada loses a guy that can hammer the puck from the point on their power play. They also lose a penalty killer and they lose one of their shut-down defencemen. It's an absolutely huge loss for Team Canada, and they're a little thin on the blue line to begin with." [Read the rest of the article]

Bring on Maverick/Sioux Week! (by LGM)

Well, given that it's Maverick vs. Sioux week I figured I better make my second post on Goon's World.

My beloved Mavericks will hit the road for the long trek to Grand Forks this week to play at the always dreaded Ralph. This trip, however, is probably the only one to date where the weather is just as cold in Mankato as it is in Grand Forks. Seriously, how do you Sioux faithful put up with such dang cold weather all winter long?!?

Sadly, I will not be making the trip to Grand Forks this year. I made my first trip there last year and a return trip was just not in the cards. Sorry folks, none of you will get to yell at me in person. I'm sure my good buddy Archie will be sure to yell at me in the comments section here at Goon's World sometime this week though.

I'll start out my first post of the week (if you're lucky there will be more than one) with the Top 5 reasons it's better to be a Maverick Fan than a Sioux Fan.

#5 We don't have to rely on racists jerks to build us an arena. We go at it the old fashioned way with a local tax and naming rights to a wallet gouging cell phone company.

#4 While Jutting is ugly and a poor coach, at least he remembers to take the coat hanger out of his suit jacket before wearing it and occasionally smiles. This can not be said about Hak!

#3 It takes more pride and effort to be a Maverick fan than a Sioux fan. You have to pay more money for Maverick wear and it's not the "only" hockey team around to really cheer for. (Fargo doesn't count because it's new) The Mavs struggle at times and it takes a lot of heart to stand behind a team that doesn't get all of the top players. Face it, it's easier to jump on and off the Green and White bandwagon...just like the Maroon and Gold one!

#2 Year in and year out, the Mavericks always bring an intense and physical game to the ice. That makes for some excellent hockey watching!

#1 We do not have a hostile and abusive mascot. To date, there have not been any lawsuits or complaints from any Mavericks that are offended by us using them as a mascot!

*this is humor people....roll with it before you totally flip out at me!

Oh and the SUPER #1 reason it's better to be a Maverick fan. Well, hello...ME. It's all about me:)

That's it for now Sioux dwellers....I'll hopefully be back to razz you some more this week and give you a break down of what to expect from the Mavericks. From the Sioux I'll be expecting...um, ice packs and crutches? Seriously, is anyone on your team not injured?!? YIKES! I feel your pain, really...the Mavs had a horrible injury season a few years back. It sucks.

P.S- anytime you Sioux fans want to be Maverick haters, I'm pretty sure most of you were the biggest Maverick fans several times in the past years when we beat on the Gophers or when their dirty hack Brian Schack attacked LGM favorite Channing Boe and loser Lucia defended it. Just remember those times people.

Poll Monday (Sioux 5th)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[January 4, 2010]

1 Miami (45) 13-2-5 995 1
2 Denver ( 5) 13-5-2 952 2
3 Colorado College 12-5-3 848 3
4 Wisconsin 12-5-3 778 7
5 North Dakota 10-6-4 718 6
6 Yale 8-3-3 714 9
7 Boston College 10-5-2 638 5
8 Cornell 8-4-2 627 4
9 Michigan State 14-6-2 605 13
10 Bemidji State 14-4-2 578 10
11 Ferris State 14-4-2 515 11
12 Quinnipiac 13-4-1 481 8
13 Minnesota-Duluth 12-7-1 423 12
14 Mass.-Lowell 11-7-1 276 14
15 St. Cloud State 10-7-3 235 19
16 Massachusetts 11-7-0 192 15
17 Union 10-4-5 184 18
18 Maine 10-7-2 166 NR
19 Vermont 10-6-2 156 NR
20 Alaska 9-5-4 142 17
Others Receiving Votes: New Hampshire 128, Notre Dame 93, Lake Superior 30, Minnesota State 14, St. Lawrence 5, Michigan 4, Northern Michigan 2, Minnesota 1
--------------------------------

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Jan. 4, 2010]
1 Miami University (Ohio) (33) 13-2-5 509 1
2 Denver (1) 13-5-2 477 2
3 Colorado College 12-5-3 409 3
4 Wisconsin 12-5-3 377 7
5 North Dakota 10-6-4 344 6
6 Yale 8-3-3 328 8
7 Cornell 8-4-2 297 4
8 Boston College 10-5-2 265 5
9 Michigan State 14-6-2 262 13
10 Bemidji State 14-4-2 227 9
11 Quinnipiac 13-4-1 157 10
12 Ferris State 14-4-2 145 11
13 Minnesota Duluth 12-7-1 111 14
14 Massachusetts Lowell 11-7-1 65 12
15 St. Cloud State 10-7-3 27 NR
Others receiving votes: University of Maine, 20; University of Vermont, 19; University of Massachusetts, 14; Union College, 8; University of Alaska, 8; University of New Hampshire, 6; Lake Superior State University, 3; University of Notre Dame, 2.

INCH Power Rankings

As always for a good laugh I include the INCH Power Rankings.

First off Yale has not business being ranked higher than Wisconsin. Yale is not a better team than Wisconsin, sure they tied this weekend but the Badgers have three players in Saskatoon for the WJC (Ramage, Derek Stepan, Jake Gardnier). Cornell sitting at 6th, yeah. Yawn!

1. Miami
2. Denver
3. Yale
4. Wisconsin
5. Colorado College
6. Cornell
7. North Dakota 1 How did former Sioux star Jonathan Toews, now the toast of Chicago as the Blackhawks' captain, spend New Year's Eve in the Windy City? Dining with his brother, David, and the rest of the NoDak hockey team, in town for Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament. 10-6-4 (6-6-2 WCHA) RECENT GAMES: W vs. Niagara, 3-1; T vs. Notre Dame, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota State
8. Boston College
9. Michigan State
10. Bemidji State
11. Quinnipiac
12. UMass Lowell
13. Ferris State
14. Minnesota Duluth
15. Massachusetts
16. Union
17. Maine
18. Alaska
19. St. Cloud State
20. New Hampshire

Dropped out: None
Bubble-licious: Lake Superior State, Notre Dame, St. Lawrence, Vermont

Sioux 3 Irish 3

The Fighting Sioux ended the game in a 3-3 tie; the tourney was then decided by the most exciting way to break a tie in hockey, the shoot out. Unfortunately the Shootout went to the Fighting Irish. Like coach Hakstol said, the shoot out really means nothing as far as national stats go. If you listen to the post game interview you will hear Coach Hakstol say that he liked the way his team played tonight, he thought they put up a good effort.

Tonight on the radio broadcast Tim Hennessy said, ‘What the Sioux got out there isn’t doing that bad.’ I think that is a good way to summarize this weekend. Think about it; our best forward Danny Kristo is at the WJC in Saskatoon. Our best defensive forward Darcy Zajac is out with an injury and in addition to that our All American Defenseman Chay Genoway is on the shelf and we still get a win and a tie in a holiday tourney. I think I will dwell on the positive and not focuse on the negatives.

I by nature don't stay mad long or like a lot of negativity, I think there is a lot to be positive about, this team has a lot going for it. I also think UND is sitting pretty well nationally, the Fighting Sioux sit at 10th in the all important Pairwise, the Fighting Sioux have an out of conference record of 4-0-2. The Fighting Sioux still have a chance to move up in the standings and get home ice for the WCHA playoffs.

During the pre-game of tonight’s radio broadcast Zajac kind of predicted that there is a good chance he might be back for this next weekend series. I would have to think there is about a 50-50 to 60-40 chance the Fighting Sioux have his services for next weekend. That would be a huge lift on the penalty kill.

[Box Score]

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

NDK-1 Mario Lamoureux (2-CTH ROUGHING) NDM 1x1 3:13
NDM 1 - 0 6x5 PP Ben Ryan (4) (Ian Cole, Nick Larson) 3:59
NDM: 19,28,26,4,9,G32 NDK: 3,19,22,25,G31
NDK-2 Brad Malone (2-Holding) (Served by Michael Cichy) 10:01
NDK-3 Brad Malone (10-Misconduct) 10:01
NDM-1 Sean Lorenz (2-Cross-Checking) 10:01
NDK-4 Matt Frattin (2-Hooking) NDM 1x2 11:43
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Chris VandeVelde (6) (Jason Gregoire, Derrick LaPoint) 16:54
NDK (+): 29,17,20,21,25,G31 NDM (-): 15,17,24,26,28,G32

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

NDM-2 Brett Blatchford (2-Interference) NDK 1x1 0:24
NDM-3 Teddy Ruth (2-Tripping) NDK 1x2 1:54
NDK 2 - 1 6x4 PP Brett Hextall (8) (Jake Marto, Joe Gleason) 2:15
NDK: 26,25,20,17,19,G31 NDM: 2,9,28,G32
NDK-5 Ben Blood (2-Tripping) NDM 1x3 5:18
NDM-4 Nick Larson (2-Goaltender Interference) NDK 1x3 5:52
NDK 3 - 1 6x6 Brett Bruneteau (1) (Mario Lamoureux, Carter Rowney) 8:47
NDK (+): 13,9,3,24,27,G31 NDM (-): 2,6,15,24,27,G32
NDM 2 - 3 6x6 Kevin Deeth (2) (Ryan Guentzel, Brett Blatchford) 12:22
NDM (+): 21,27,3,22,33,G32 NDK (-): 3,9,13,25,27,G31
NDK-6 Matt Frattin (2-CTH ROUGHING) NDM 1x4 14:04

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

NDM 3 - 3 6x6 GT Billy Maday (7) (Christiaan Minella, Joe Lavin) 1:36
NDM (+): 17,15,16,3,28,G32 NDK (-): 8,18,20,21,24,G31
NDK-7 Ben Blood (2-GRASPING THE FACEMASK) 3:57
NDM-5 Kevin Deeth (2-Roughing) 3:57
NDM-6 Kevin Deeth (2-Boarding) NDK 1x4 15:47

--------------------------------------------------------
Overtime (5:00)
--------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

Blackhawks don't back down vs. Blues

Here is what Toews had to say about his fight with Backes last night.

''I still don't think I won,'' Toews said with a smile of his second NHL fight. ''I'm not going to argue that, but I did a little better than the first one [against the Phoenix Coyotes' Martin Hanzal on Nov. 18, 2008].

Toews and Backes fight

For the ten people that haven't seen this fight, here is the video from the Toews and Backes fight. A Maverick and a Sioux getting after it. After tonight the Fighting Sioux favorite dance partners come to town.

The German scores; Bruins win 2-1 at Fenway.

I thought I would include this video of the goal that helped the Bruins beat the Flyers in the Holiday Classic. I thought it was a nice goal to end a relatively boring game. What an effort by Patrice Bergeron to get the puck on net where it was tipped into the Flyer net by Marco Sturm. Its plays like this; is why Bergeron is going to be on the Canadian Olympic team.

John Scott and Matt Greene.

This fight was from the other night when the Wild were beat at home by the LA Kings. Actually, to call this a fight is kind of a stretch, it was more of a hug feast between former MTU defenseman John Scott and former Fighting Sioux star Matt Greene.

I think this video illustrates they only reason John Scott is playing with the Wild is because he can Fight and shows a willingness to drop the gloves. Now that the Wild have Clayton Stone on their roster who is more talented than Scott and can fight; we will probably see Scott sent back to Houston. On the flip side Greene is in the NHL because he has the talent to play in the NHL and will fight if he has too.

Russo's slight?

After reading one of Russo's articles about the USA Olympic roster selection yesterday I realized that he had left out Zach Parise's college "UND" after mentioning a few area players and where they had gone to school. I was going to make a blog post about it but decided against it because I like Russo's work; I doubt that Russo would do it maliciously.

Parise, a Minneapolis native, former Shattuck-St. Mary's player and current Devils star, will be one of the Americans' go-to scorers. He finished third in the NHL last season with 45 goals, and he's scored 42 points this season and leads the league with a plus-21.
-------------------
Besides Parise and Langen- brunner, six other Olympians have Minnesota ties: Devils defenseman Paul Martin is a former Gopher and Elk River High standout; St. Louis defenseman Erik Johnson hails from Bloomington and is a former Gopher; St. Louis winger David Backes is a former Spring Lake Park High and Minnesota State, Mankato standout; Tampa Bay winger Ryan Malone played at St. Cloud State and lives in Plymouth; Toronto's Kessel is a former Gopher, and Los Angeles defenseman Jack Johnson played at Shattuck-St. Mary's. [Russo's Rants]

Apparently one of our fellow Sioux fans noticed the slight (it was probably unintended) and took issue with it because here is what Russo put in one of his blog posts today. You have to love Russo's humor.

Lemaire nuggets; Burns traveling; Gushing about the Devils, and hatred of the Sioux

As usual, Lou Lamoriello's put together another great room with guys like former UND star Zach Parise (labeling it that because a reader today accused me of hating UND, and in actuality that we at the Star Tribune have a "policy" of not naming UND when a player played there. Being the longtime Minnesotan that I am, he's right. I have an immense hatred for the Fighting Sioux. It keeps me up at night. I have a dartboard with Jonathan Toews' face on it), two of my favorite players that I've ever covered, Brian Rolston and Rob Niedermayer, Brodeur, Jamie Langenbrunner, etc., etc, etc. I'll write a lot about Rolston for tomorrow.
[Russo's Rants]

Time for the "what-if" calculator

You can go over to the what if calculator and make your predictions for the final WCHA standings. I was goofing around with the numbers on the "what if" calculator and this is what I think the Fighting Sioux can do. I preface this with the assumption that the Sioux will get Chay Genoway back soon for the second half and will pull off one of their historical patented second half runs.
["What if" calculator]

WCHA Final
Team GP Pts
Denver 28 39
UND 28 38
CC 28 37
UW 28 35
SCSU 28 30
UMD 28 29
Mankato 28 27
UMN 28 22
AA 28 16
MTech 28 7

Sioux skate past Purple Eagles 3-1.

There were a couple of themes to this game. It was the first time the Sioux had played a meaningful game in 21 days and the boys might have been a little rusty. It was also the first game Matt Frattin had played since Northeast Regional Semifinal game against UNH on March 28th 2009.

Frattin has rejoined the Fighting Sioux this week after satisfying Coach Hakstol’s expectations and changing his off ice behavior(those are my words that I inferred from listening to everyone involved talk this week). Frattin had been suspended indefinitely or basically expelled from the team pending further review at a later after being arrested last summer for two alcohol related incidents in very short period of time. That review at a later date ended up being this week, so Frattin had been given a life line by the Fighting Sioux coaching staff. It's up to him to make the best of it and to keep his nose clean and out of trouble. I am hoping Frattin can chip in 5-10 goals in the second half of the season.

Not burying the shots?

I read on line were some people are worried about the Sioux getting more goals after putting 40 shots on the opposition net. Sometimes an opposition goalie gets hot and it’s impossible to get a few more shots past him, as we know from the past UND has a target on it’s back every time they play. Everyone wants to take a piece of the Fighting Sioux. That’s the way it is, look how many times the Wild’s goaltender Niklas Backstrom has held the Wild in a game when they should have lost or had no business winning.

As I write this blog post, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have made easy work of EZAC opponent Colgate smoking them 5-2 in the other semi final game so the Fighting Sioux will play the Fighting Irish tomorrow night in the championship game of the Shillelagh Tournament.

[Box Score]
---------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
---------------------------------------------------------

NIA-1 Jason Beattie (2-CTH ELBOWING) NDK 1x1 7:48
NDK 1 - 0 6x5 PP LL Brett Hextall (7) (Evan Trupp, Jake Marto) 8:05
NDK: 26,19,20,22,25,G31 NIA: 5,7,9,22,G33
NDK-1 Ben Blood (2-Interference) NIA 0x1 8:53
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 GW Carter Rowney (1) (Brett Bruneteau, Mario Lamoureux) 13:50
NDK (+): 13,9,4,20,27,G31 NIA (-): 3,19,24,27,28,G33

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

NDK-2 Corey Fienhage (2-CTH ROUGHING) NIA 0x2 3:12
NDK-3 Brett Hextall (2-Slashing) NIA 0x3 9:29
NDK-4 Michael Cichy (2-Boarding) NIA 0x4 14:02
NIA-2 Marc Zanette (2-O-HOLDING) NDK 1x2 17:06
NDK-5 David Toews (2-Hooking) NIA 0x5 18:16

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

NIA-3 Egor Mironov (2-Charging) NDK 1x3 8:31
NIA 1 - 2 6x6 Ryan Olidis (10) (Chris Moran, C.J. Chartrain) 11:04
NIA (+): 11,21,12,4,10,G33 NDK (-): 2,4,9,13,27,G31
NDK 3 - 1 6x6 Evan Trupp (5) (Brett Hextall) 16:49
NDK (+): 19,26,2,22,24,G31 NIA (-): 4,7,19,23,24,G33

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

Their press release said what?

Check out the title to this game summary. Please! The Sioux bombed your goalie for 40 shots and you were lucky it wasn’t 6-1 or 8-1. Maybe the Niagara goalie should sue his defense for non support, because they left him out to dry all week. The game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate and I didn't think that the Purple Eagles would get back into the game or win it.

No. 6 North Dakota Squeaks By Men's Hockey, 3-1
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. - A third period rally by the Niagara men's hockey team (3-11-2, 1-3-1 CHA) fell a tad short, dropping a close 3-1 decision to the No. 6 North Dakota Fighting Sioux (10-6-3, 6-6-2 WCHA) in the opening round of the 2010 Shillelagh Tournament.

With Niagara down 2-0 halfway through the period, the Purps would dent the scoreboard to come within one. Senior Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) picked up a bouncing puck due to a Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) shot, spun around and fired it low past Fighting Sioux netminder Brad Eidsness to come within one. The goal extended the point-scoring streaks of both Olidis and Moran to 10 games, but it wasn't enough as the Fighting Sioux would net another insurence marker with four minutes left to round out scoring.

The Purple Eagles are back in action against either No. 20 Notre Dame or Colgate on Sunday,

Moving forward, hockey today.

The Sioux play a meaningful game for the first time in 21 days. I actually thought the exhibition against the USA WJC team was a meaningful game because it let them play at a high level before the Christmas Break.

The UND defense is ranked 7th nationally with a GA of 2.17 that is 39 goals against in 18 games.

The UND offense is ranked 20th nationally with 58 goals in 18 games for 3.22.

The Fighting Sioux are ranked 9th nationally on the power play 25/106 23.6%.

The Fighting Sioux are ranked 10th on the penalty kill 83/ 96 86.5.

In combined special teams the Fighting Sioux are ranked 9th nationally 108/202 53.5.

Unfortunately UND is ranked 1st in penalty minutes nationally. But if you look below you will see that 5 of the top ten teams are in the WCHA so that might be more of a statement of how bad the WCHA officials are.

1 North Dakota 18 385 21.4
2 Ferris State 18 384 21.3
3 Alaska Anchorage 18 372 20.7
4 Wisconsin 18 354 19.7
5 Canisius 20 374 18.7
6 Minnesota Duluth 18 329 18.3
7 Miami 20 360 18.0
8 Michigan Tech 19 330 17.4
9 Michigan 20 347 17.4
10 Mercyhurst 20 345 17.2
[College hockey stats]

Frattin Revisited

I have seen where a few people think Coach Hakstol’s reinstatement of Matt Frattin to the Fighting Sioux hockey team as an act of desperation. My response to these people is hardly. I also don't think in his six seasons of coaching the Sioux hockey team I have seen Coach Hakstol act in a desperate manner.

I believe it was a calculated move, based on an analysis of the situation. From reading the newspapers and listening to the double speak and innuendo you can see where Hakstol gave Frattin some very tough benchmarks to accomplish and Matt took the hard road. Matt could have probably just signed a contract and played in the ECHL but he chose to recommit himself to the Fighting Sioux hockey team. I would also think that Matt had to make some difficult life changing moves to become eligible to compete with the Fighting Sioux again this season. Here is why I say this. Read what Coach Hakstol said this week.

Hakstol said four months ago, he didn’t think Frattin would return this season and the door wasn’t open for him at that time.

“He changed that with his actions,” Hakstol said, “and with the method he’s gone about taking responsibility. Accountability is a big thing with this program and Matt has been very accountable to earn his way back here.”

I think we can read into responsibility as took step to address issues that they coaching staff felt he needed to take care of. I will leave it at that.

Tim Thomas on being selected to the USA Olympic team.

I have to admit that I was touched by the way the USA did the announcement of the USA Olympic hockey team today. I really liked the announcement with the kids wearing the team USA jerseys with the player’s names on the back. Let’s say that it was a cool way to announce the USA team.

It thought it was even classier to see Tim Thomas skate out onto Fenway Park field wearing his USA jersey. While I am on record as not being a big fan of the outdoor game (I have seen them all) I thought the presentation of team USA after the Winter Classic was a nice touch. That being said, the outdoor game really doesn’t work in really gold locations like the Midwest. Winters aren't as bad in Massachusetts or New York as they are in North Dakota, I know because I lived in Massachusetts. I know that I really have no urge to go to a hockey game at memorial field in Grand Forks, ND when it's -20.

While for the most part I thought today's game was a bore, the end of the game was pretty exciting as Tim Thomas made some big saves then the German Marco Strum scored the game winner and I danced around my living room, a win against the dirty Flyers no matter where it's played always feels good.

Team USA passes on Okposo.

Here is what Islander Blogger had to say about KO not making team USA. I know there are a few head scrathers on team USA's roster this year. There is no way Chris Drury deserves to be on Team USA. In my opinion I believe that Drury has done nothing this season that makes me believe he is worthy of being selected. I think two players off the top of my head that deserve to be there more than him; Kyle Olposo, T.J. Oshie.

The first thing you realize about Team USA’s decision to pass on Kyle Okposo is that Scott Gordon clearly had no say. For the last 100 games, Gordon has played Okposo in every situation and in just about every position except goal. The Islanders are not world-beaters, but Gordon coaches Okposo like he’s world-class.

I’ll just say what I told several writers on press row after the USA announcement. I’m a big fan of David Backes and Ryan Callahan. However, it is completely impossible to have watched Okposo, Callahan and Backes play this season - as Brian Burke said his committee did dilligently - and determine that Okposo was the player to keep off the team.

On the positive side for the Islanders, this will make Okposo a better and more rested player this season and a better player for years to come.
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Team USA (Parise Makes Team USA)

Jan 1, 2010 - Team USA has announced the roster for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Here's who made the cut:

Forwards:

David Backes (WCHA, MSU-M)
Dustin Brown
Ryan Callahan
Chris Drury (HE, BU)
Patrick Kane
Ryan Kessler (CCHA, OSU)
Phil Kessel (WCHA, UMN)
Jamie Langenbrunner
Ryan Malone (WCHA, SCSU)
Zach Parise (WCHA, UND)
Joe Pavelski (WCHA, UW)
Bobby Ryan
Paul Statsny (WCHA, DU)

Defensemen:

Eric Johnson (WCHA, UMN)
Jack Johnson (CCHA, MICH)
Mike Komisarek (CCHA, MICH)
Paul Martin (WCHA, UMN)
Brooks Orpik (HE, B.C.)
Brian Rafalski (WCHA, UW)
Ryan Suter (WCHA, UW)

Goaltenders:

Ryan Miller (CCHA, MSU)
Jonathan Quick (HE, UMASS)
Tim Thomas (ECAC, UVM)

Here is what I predicted team USA would look like:
Goaltenders

Ryan Miller (MSU)
Tim Thomas (UVM)
Craig Anderson (OHL)

Defense

Andy Green (MU)
Ryan Whitney (BU)
Ryan Suter (UW)
Brooks Orpik (B.C.)
Brian Rafalski (UW)
Jack Johnson (UMICH)
Mike Komisarek (UMICH)

Forwards

David Backes (MSU-M)
Phil Kessel (UMN)
Dustin Byfuglien (OHL)
Patrick Kane (OHL)
T.J. Oshie (UND)
Zach Parise (UND)
Paul Stastny (DU)
Ryan Malone (SCSU)
Bill Guerin (B.C.)
Jason Pominville (QMJHL)
Bobby Ryan (OHL)
Jamie Lagenbrunner (OHL)
Ryan Kesler (OSU)
First off: Nice to see former Fighting Sioux star Zach Parise make team USA. That makes two former Sioux to be on Olympic roster for the 2010 games.

Second: I am surprised that T.J. Oshie didn’t make the Olympic team over Chris Drury. I know Drury has played in International play before but I don’t think his play this season has warranted being selected to play in the Olympics.

Apparently, LGM has connections to Team USA to know that Backes was a lock to be on team USA. I am not shocked by the selection and David has played in International competition for team USA before. I kind of felt that he would be there as well.

As a Bruins fan do we have to cheer for Mike Komisarek? I just every time I see him on the ice I vision him getting worked by Milan Lucic.

Flyers, Bruins say don't expect fight in Fenway Winter Classic

Oops, that prediction didn't pan out the way they said it would. I figured if you put these two teams on the ice there is going to be some fighting. Guess what? There was a Fighting between Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton and Flyers hack Dan Carcillo during the first period.

BOSTON -- Shawn Thornton(notes) of the Boston Bruins knew the question was coming.

"Oh God," he sighed, obviously exasperated, "here we go."

No, there has never been a fight in a Winter Classic, or the Heritage Classic for that matter. No, there's never even been anything approaching a dustup. The closest anyone has gotten is a pair of matching roughing penalties in the Heritage Classic between Francis Boullion and Jason Chimera(notes). It was real exciting stuff.

So hockey fans are waiting for that historic first fight. And the media talks about it. Dan Carcillo of the Philadelphia Flyers said his team wasn't ignorant to the talk. But that doesn't mean players are making plans to fight like it's seventh grade meeting by the flagpole at recess.

"I don't know," said Thornton. "I honestly have never gone into a hockey game thinking about fighting. This is no different. I mean, you guys can ask because it's kind of one of my roles, but other than you guys bringing it up, I don't think about it." [Puck Daddy]

Happy News Years (USA Olympic roster prediction)

Happy New Years from Goon’s World. Here is what I would like to see the Olympic hockey team look like when it is announced tomorrow.

Goaltenders

Ryan Miller (MSU)
Tim Thomas (UVM)
Craig Anderson (OHL)

Defense

Andy Green (MU)
Ryan Whitney (BU)
Ryan Suter (UW)
Brooks Orpik (B.C.)
Brian Rafalski (UW)
Jack Johnson (UMICH)
Mike Komisarek (UMICH)

Forwards

David Backes (MSU-M)
Phil Kessel (UMN)
Dustin Byfuglien (OHL)
Patrick Kane (OHL)
T.J. Oshie (UND)
Zach Parise (UND)
Paul Stastny (DU)
Ryan Malone (SCSU)
Bill Guerin (B.C.)
Jason Pominville (QMJHL)
Bobby Ryan (OHL)
Jamie Lagenbrunner (OHL)
Ryan Kesler (OSU)

Goon's ten favorite goals of the decade. (In no particular order)

1.) This Goal would have to be number one for me. The Bina goal against Gophers sieve goalie Jeff Frazee. It was one of the longest goals that I have ever seen in college hockey history.



2.) This goal doesn't require much discussion. As the Holy Cross homers said, "It's the second chance and the second effort."



3.) The Kessel return and subsequent goal in Madison after he scores for the Gophers, then cups his hand and put it up to his ear. The Wisconsin Badger fans didn't really like that one. I thought it was ballsy thing to do that in Madison, others thought it lacked class.



4.) I never get sick of seeing goal; in fact it still brings tears to my eyes. The Gophers had beaten the Sioux the week before on this sick goal.



5.) It never gets old beating the Badgers, Kozek with a beautiful goal to send the Sioux to the 2008 Frozen Four.



6.) Sparky Scores; watch this video as he goes down town against Gophers sieve  goalie Kellen Briggs for a short handed goal in the 2005 Final Five in St Paul. I wish this kid would have stayed and played for the Sioux for another two years.



7.) This has to be one of the hardest goals to duplicate, the Trupp goal. It seems like most of his goals are of the highlight variety.



8.) The Stick is hot, Alexander Ovechkin's 50 goal for a third straight season. The Tampa Bay lightning wasn't impressed but they could have stopped him.



9.) The Irish man Owen Nolan's pretty goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning.


10.) The Jonathan Toews Goal vs Colorado October 19th 2007, it even sounds good in French.
[Note] There are some of the goals of the past decade that I really like, there are others that I have probably forgotten or couldn't find video of. One goal that comes to mind is the Wild's goal to win the playoff series against the Av's to send Patrick Roy is one of my favorites as well.