DU Pioneers hockey team faces tough series at North Dakota

Mike Chambers loves to take a swipe at UND when ever he gets a chance, he seems to have UND derangement syndrome, or maybe he is just desperate for hits on his DU hockey blog. I have to admit that this is one of the better series that UND will see this season. DU has become the villains/evil empire and might have actually surpassed Minnesota Gophers as being our hated rivals. There is also a perception that the DU Pioneers have also become the WCHA golden boys that gets all of the breaks as well. Don’t expect Brian Thul, Scott Bokal to ref the games this weekend either.

Last season the Pioneers started running their mouth before they even got to Grand Forks, ND. I guess it's starting already. Just for the record UND has not had a fighting major in two plus seasons.

Last Saturday, the then-No. 1-ranked University of Denver hockey team was greeted by the first Kohl Center sellout of the season, losing 4-3 at Wisconsin before a relatively good-natured gathering of 15,237.

The Badgers' lively student section undoubtedly made it a difficult place to play for the Pioneers. But the atmosphere in Madison will be considered tame compared with the expected antics that will unfold this weekend against North Dakota in Grand Forks.

The Pioneers, who fell to No. 3 in the media polls after failing to win a weekend game for the first time this season, will face the always-willing-to-fight Fighting Sioux, who are ranked fourth.

"I wouldn't say we have to make up for it, but they're big games as far as seeing what we're made of," DU senior center Tyler Ruegsegger said. "Having a tough weekend (at Wisconsin) and then going to North Dakota, where there will be an even more hostile arena, is a big challenge."

DU captain Rhett Rakh-shani is confident the unwanted baggage left from the Wisconsin series won't be brought to North Dakota. The Pioneers played well only in stretches against Wisconsin.

"They're all important from here on out, and this weekend is just as important as next weekend, and so on and so forth," Rakhshani said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing, when you're playing, what the standings are, what you're ranked, what they're ranked. You want to play the same. So we're going to want to bring forth our best game, no matter who we're playing, and that will be the same for North Dakota."
[link to the article here]

In case you forgot the story line from last season's games here are a few story lines from the UND and DU series a year ago. It was a hard fought and fun series to watch.

League to look at Scrums/Fights

AWAITING THE JURY: Not that he wouldn't have reviewed the video anyway, but University of Denver's melee against North Dakota on Friday did not go unnoticed by WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod, who watched the fights unfold live on television from the World Arena press box during CC's tie against St. Cloud.

McLeod said any disciplinary action resulting from the episodes, including coach George Gwozdecky's ejection from the game Saturday, wouldn't be determined until he receives a review from Greg Shepherd, the WCHA's supervisor of officials. [Rocky Mountain News]

Gwozdecky reprimanded by school - Sioux Fighters

My thoughts: Gwozdecky is the most mild-mannered coach I know, and in 14 years I’ve only seen his blood boil twice — both times against North Dakota and with referee Todd Anderson blowing the whistle.

See a pattern there? The “Sioux Fighters” and their fans want minor-league entertainment, Anderson is an emotional official who sometimes jaws at players, and Gwozdecky is a class act. At some point those styles clash, and the mild-mannered coach can’t stomach it. It becomes disgusting, and the coach erupts into what he doesn’t like.

Gwozdecky doesn’t deserve anything except a pat on the back for being the way he is 99 percent of the time. He might be embarrased to have been ejected, but shame on DU for throwing him under the bus.

I think DU is using Gwozdecky to remind the Sioux that it is better than them. But to publicly scorn your respected coach is a bad way to do that.

I can appreciate the Sioux and their fans. They are to North Dakota what football is to Nebraska. The players are hard-nosed and the coaching staff gives them a long leash, maybe too long, but … I don’t hear any apologies from Grand Forks, and there shouldn’t be any from Denver.
[Denver Post Hockey Blog]

FSN’s Rizzo not a fan of Sioux fans

“Honestly, if I’m not covering Denver the next time they go there, I would never have any reason in the world to ever go to a North Dakota hockey game,” she told me Tuesday. “(Sioux fans) need to realize they leave a bad taste in an opponent’s mouth, or anyone that’s going to see the arena for the first time.”

Rizzo’s angst stems from obnoxious and seemingly uncontrollable Fighting Sioux fans — particularly adults.

“It was a little too much for too long,” Rizzo said. “It wasn’t the student section as much as the older crowd, right on top of the DU bench, and I stood in the hallway going into their locker room.

“There were a lot of derogatory comments . . . from men and women, young and old, asking me about Coach Gwozdecky’s behavior, calling him a ‘Little Man,’ asking me ‘Why are you really here?’ and ‘I vote for last night’s outfit.’ It’s one thing to cheer for your own team, I’m all for that, but to constantly berate college athletes that are not being paid to play a sport for the constant length of the game was a little much.”

Rizzo, who also covers the Colorado Rockies, is in her second season working DU hockey for FSN. Previously, she covered the University of Wisconsin’s men and women’s hockey teams in Madison for WISC, a CBS affiliate. She worked Badgers games in 2006, the year both UW teams won NCAA championships.

“The Kohl Center is just as packed, if not more, than Ralph Engelstad Arena is on any given night, and Badgers fans are equally as passionate about hockey as North Dakota fans, but I lived in Madison for 2 ½ years and never in all of my time covering those teams ever heard Badger fans treat opposing teams the way the North Dakota fans treated Denver,” she said. “I never felt uncomfortable in Madison.”
[Denver Post Hockey Blog]

Huskies plan to appeal Cormier’s season-long suspension

I really think that the QMJHL isn't going to over rule or shorten their suspension. Cormier is an adult and he should man up and except his punishment, the punishment fits the act in my opinion.

Patrice Cormier will not accept his suspension by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after all.

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies said Tuesday they will appeal the suspension handed Cormier for his hit to the head of Quebec Remparts defenceman Mikael Tam.

Coach and general manager Andre Tourigny said on a conference call that the suspension for the rest of the season and the playoffs was "excessive."

"He could serve up to 48 games, that's too much," Tourigny added.

Later, Cormier read a short statement to The Canadian Press over the telephone. It said:

"I respect the decision of the QMJHL even if I find it too severe. I deeply regret the circumstances surrounding this event and I wish Mikael Tam a speedy and full recovery. Thanks for your attention."

He declined to answer questions on the decision.

Earlier Tuesday, the Huskies centre had seemed to suggest he had accepted the league's ruling in statement released through his Halifax-based agent Tim Cranston.

"I fully respect the Quebec Major Junior League's decision regarding the Mikael Tam incident," Cormier said in that statement. "I deeply regret the circumstances surrounding this event and wish Mikael Tam a speedy and full recovery." [TSN.COM]

John Tortorella tells Larry Brooks off

In case you haven't seen this, it's kind of funny that a beat writer would have such a bad relationship with one of it's beat writers. John Tortorella is always a fun person to listen to in the post game press conferences. This is the quote from the article that Larry Brooks wrote that set Torts off.

It can't work, not with the 30-year-old Lecavalier under contract through 2019-2020 at an annual cap hit of $7.727 million. It can't work even if the arithmetic does, even if Tampa Bay's cash-poor ownership would be willing to accept Wade "Golden Gloves" Redden as part of the package in return that most surely would have to include Michael Del Zotto or Marc Staal and Brandon Dubinsky or Ryan Callahan , and perhaps Derek Stepan. [Link to the article]

I think you're seeing a pattern developing between Brooksie and Torts. [Tortorella and Brooks part 1]

Couple of things... DU and UND week.

The Voice of the Fighting Sioux Radio Tim Hennessey has a new video show on Fightingsioux.com

The Fighting Sioux have a new comitted recruit. Former Edmonton Oiler's great Craig Simpson's kid Dillon Simpson has comitted to the University of North Dakota.

Over the weekend Dillon Simpson committed to the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. The 16 year old rookie defenceman with the Spruce Grove Saints has 8 goals and 34 points this year in 47 games with the number one ranked Junior A team in the country. Simpson has heated up recently wiht 7 points hin his past 4 games. He was an 8th round choice of the Kelowna Rockets in the 2008 WHL bantam draft, but would have gone much higher, possibly in the first round had he not been leaning towards the NCAA. [Coming down the pipe]

In reading the City Beat blog post on the Fighting Sioux name, I really believe the name is on life support and is a dead logo walking unless the Standing Rock Tribe acts on a vote for the Fighting Sioux logo. UND is so desperate to get into a conference they will just throw the Fighting Sioux logo under the bus without a fight. Buy all of the Fighting Sioux gear that you can, because it's not going to be around much longer, I can only wonder what gay logo the University of North Dakota will come up with to replace the Fighting Sioux logo with?

I want a know who the Board of Higher Education is going to blame for the fall out that comes after they drop the Fighting Sioux logo. There will be a lot of fall out for dropping the Fighting Sioux logo. Who is the State Board of Higher Education going to throw under the bus? The political leadership did nothing to help with this situation either, the governor and team ND (aka the Three Amigos) were AWOL as well.

This is what our University President had to say about the logo. All Robert Kelley sees the logo as nothing more than a controversy or a hindrance; this is why I am not for non North Dakota being in leadership positions at the University of North Dakota. I would really laugh if the University jumped through all of these hoops to get into the mediocre mid major that is the Summit League to only get told that they aren’t accepted.

UND President Robert Kelley: In my conversations with many, but not all, the presidents of Summit League presidents' council, I believe we are in the best position we can possibly be at the present time, pending resolution of this controversy. All the things Mr. Faison said are absolutely true and I do believe that we would be welcomed in the Summit League based upon the conversations I've had with many of the members.

Poll Monday (Sioux 4th in both polls)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
January 25, 2010

1 Miami (37) 16-4-6 984 2
2 Wisconsin ( 8) 14-6-4 938 3
3 Denver ( 5) 14-6-4 917 1
4 North Dakota 13-8-5 748 5
5 St. Cloud State 16-7-3 679 12
6 Yale 11-5-3 637 6
7 Bemidji State 17-5-2 633 14
8 Cornell 10-5-3 631 9
9 Minnesota-Duluth 16-9-1 622 4
10 Ferris State 17-7-2 601 8
11 Colorado College 14-9-3 590 7
12 Michigan State 16-8-4 480 10
13 New Hampshire 12-7-4 436 16
14 Boston College 12-8-2 345 11
15 Massachusetts 15-9-0 326 15
16 Mass.-Lowell 14-9-2 226 19
17 Vermont 12-8-2 214 17
18 Union 13-6-5 210 13
19 Maine 11-9-2 69 20
20 Michigan 14-11-1 68 NR
Others Receiving Votes: St. Lawrence 47, Lake Superior 41,
Notre Dame 12, Alaska 10, Minnesota 6, Quinnipiac 6,

-------------------------------
USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Jan. 25, 2010]
1 Miami University (Ohio) (30) 16-4-6 507 2
2 Wisconsin (3) 14-6-4 472 3
3 Denver (1) 14-6-4 446 1
4 North Dakota 13-8-5 356 6
5 St. Cloud State 16-7-3 322 12
6 Bemidji State 17-5-2 281 14
7 Yale 11-5-3 272 5
8 Cornell 10-5-3 269 7
9 Minnesota Duluth 16-9-1 250 4
10 Ferris State 17-7-2 244 9
11 Colorado College 14-9-3 188 8
12 New Hampshire 12-7-4 144 NR
13 Michigan State 16-8-4 128 11
14 Massachusetts 15-9-0 74 15
15 Boston College 12-8-2 67 10
Others receiving votes: Union College, 31; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 12; University of Vermont, 11; Rochester Institute of Technology, 2; St. Lawrence University, 2; Lake Superior State University, 1; University of Michigan, 1.

Cormier suspended for balance of QMJHL season and playoffs.

Wow! I must say that the QMJHL really threw the book at Patrice Cormier, it will be interesting to see if that will deter further ugly incidents like this one. Maybe the other leagues will take notice, hint to WCHA leadership Bruce McLeod and Greg Shepherd, when someone hits an opposing player with a head shot and knocks them out possibly for the season, a one game suspension is not enough or acceptable.

The verdict is in.

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies forward Patrice Cormier was suspended for the balance of the season and the playoffs by the QMJHL on Monday.

Cormier, 19, created a firestorm of media attention last week when he elbowed Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts in the head, sending Tam into convulsions on the ice and causing him to be taken to hospital with brain trauma and broken teeth.

Chief disciplinarian Raymond Bolduc called the hit "dangerous and unacceptable" after laying out the punishment on Monday.

The incident occurred in overtime of a game on January 17. Cormier took to the ice to start his shift, cut through the centre ice area and threw his right elbow up into Tam's face. Tam then collapsed, his body shaking until he was taken off the ice on a stretcher by medical staff and players.

Cormier, who was playing in just his third game with the Huskies, was suspended indefinitely by the league pending further investigation.

The hit generated a massive amount of discussion in Canada, drawing the ire of head shot critics from the hockey world. The day after the incident, TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie took to his Twitter account, writing, "This Cormier elbow is sickening on so many levels. I have never been so discouraged about the game of hockey as now."
[TSN.COM]

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings. I don't know if I would have ranked UND as the fourth ranked team in the nation. I am thinking more like 10th over-all. Maybe I would rank UND that high with Chay Genoway and Brett Hextall in the line up but not without them. UND is 4-2-2 in the second half of the season.
1. Miami
2. Wisconsin
3. Denver
4. North Dakota 3 We mentioned it in this space last week, but it bears repeating: the Fighting Sioux have eight losses this season and all but one of them have been by one goal. The latest was a 1-0 loss at Cornell Friday, but NoDak salvaged the non-conference series with a 3-1 win Saturday. 13-8-5 (8-7-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Cornell, 1-0; W at Cornell, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. Denver
5. Cornell
6. Yale
7. St. Cloud State
8. Bemidji State
9. Michigan State
10. Minnesota Duluth
11. Colorado College
12. Ferris State
13. New Hampshire
14. Boston College
15. Union
16. UMass Lowell
17. St. Lawrence
18. Massachusetts
19. Maine
20. Vermont

Dropped out: Lake Superior State
Bubble-licious: Lake Superior State, Michigan

Four of five North Dakota Supreme Court justices in Sioux nickname case are UND Law School grads

My first reaction to this story was you have got to be kidding me? Also, I think Leigh Jeanotte is trying to muck up the process by forcing the court hand to make the decision in his favor or the ND Supreme Court doesn't have any credibility. This is right out of the rules for radicals play book; begin the task of agitating: rubbing resentments, fanning hostilities, and searching out controversy. This is exactly what Jeanotte is doing, he is trying to invent a controversy before the appeal even begins. This is shameful. Let the issue play out in the courts without influence from the outside. The group that brought the lawsuit against the State Board of Higher Education are actually members of the Spirit Lake Tribe.

Leigh Jeanotte “would hope” that North Dakota’s Supreme Court won’t be biased in any way about the Fighting Sioux nickname because four of its five members are University of North Dakota law school graduates.

“But you always wonder about that affiliation with UND and the athletics,” said Jeanotte, director of American Indian Student Services at UND and an outspoken nickname opponent. “It just could taint something, I think, in a horrible way.”

Legitimate or not, such concern exists among some nickname opponents hungry for an end to the issue, he said.

Despite his reservations, “My feeling is that they’re going to be fair with this and any other item that they have to deal with,” Jeanotte said.

The Supreme Court has received a notice of appeal from the attorney representing a group of Spirit Lake Sioux trying to stop the state Board of Higher Education from retiring the nickname before a November deadline set in a settlement with the NCAA.

The board voted 5-3 on Thursday to keep the nickname until the appeal is heard, and directed its attorney to request an expedited hearing before the state’s highest court.

Chief Justice Gerald W. VandeWalle bristled Friday when asked whether it will be difficult for justices to set aside their UND connections when hearing arguments in a case that goes to the heart of the university’s identity.

“You start with the presumption, apparently, that all the judges are on one side or the other,” he said. “I don’t know that. I have no idea what their position is on the issue.”

“I’m not happy, very frankly, about the question because I think it raises issues about the credibility of the court,” he added.

Of the four justices who hold law degrees from the UND School of Law, two of them, VandeWalle and Justice Daniel Crothers, also earned undergraduate degrees at UND. Justice Dale Sandstrom earned his bachelor’s degree at North Dakota State University, while Justice Mary Muehlen Maring earned hers at what is now Minnesota State University Moorhead. Justice Carol Ronning Kapsner holds a bachelor’s degree from College of St. Catherine in St. Paul and a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law.
[READ the WHOLE ARTICLE]

Cross posted at sayanythingblog.com

Sunday Morning Reading.

Don Cherry was on the coaches corner last night talking about the stop signs on the back of the hockey players jerseys and helmets. I remember bringing up this idea back in another blog article.[link] [Safety amoung other players]

@ 5:54 Grapes and Ron talked about the Carcillo and Gaborik fight and Grapes said that I have to admire that Gaborik so much, to drop, he can’t fight, but at least he dropped his gloves. This guy is not a tough guy he is not an enforcer, he’s a pest, for him to fight a European is against the code. How he can do that and say that when Gaborik dropped his gloves he licked his chops. Enforcers do not do that.

Gopher fans are in full meltdown mode after being swept by the SCSU Huskies this past weekend. [Link] The Gopher fans one week removed for their win and a tie against the UND Fighting Sioux and with a Gopher player declaring that the Gophers have turned the corner. It too one week for the Gopher fans to jump back off of the bandwagon and back on the fire the coach/lynch mob bandwagon again. Ah, grab a bag of popcorn this is going to be fun to watch.

This comment caught my attention. The Gophers have 20 NHL draft choices on their team that is not my definition of a journeyman.

Pathetic performance I find it funny how these Gopher fans just assume that Coach Blais is going to ride in on a white horse and automatically save their stumbling program. Actually I think that mindset is arrogant and pompous.
This is the worst gopher hockey team i've seen in a long time. No size, no speed, no passion (just like the coach). They are a collection of journeymen - the whole squad. the defense is terrible. They can't skate with St. Cloud. last weekend was a fluke (5-1 win over UND). This weekend was more of the same we've seen all year from this crew, and what really pisses me off is to see other teams in the WCHA with much better Minnesota bred talent. Don Lucia has lost his shine and the Gopher squad has been getting worse each year for the past several now. Just think what a Dean Blais coached team would do to attract better talent on this team. I really think it's time for Lucia to go. So - all you Lucia lovers out there - have at me for stating the truth.

Saturday Morning or that is what it turned into; Bruce Ciskie took almost 6 hours to get home to Duluth from Bemidji because of the roads. This is the one reason that I didn't go. I know how bad Highway 2 can get in this type of weather.

Coming Down the Pipe has a really nice blog post on the NCAA. It sounds like they may agree with my assessment of the 1-0 game the Sioux played in on Friday night.

The ECAC always gives me fits. A lot of scouts have told me that it's brutal hockey (as in horrible, not super physical) and the little bits that I've been able to watch on TV or online haven't given me any reason to doubt that thought. I watched Yale and St. Lawrence last year in the playoffs... a was so bored to tears. Maybe because of that game I've never been able to get on board with Yale.

This weekend they were ranked #6 heading in and yet again they win one, lose one. Clarkson fell 3-2 to the Bulldogs on Friday but Saturday it was Yale that was victimized by the Saints of St.Lawrence. St.Lawrence's 4-2 win gives them a run of only 1 loss in their last 8 games. Maybe I'm not giving enough credit to Yale (or Cornell, Union, Quinnipiac, etc) because the Bulldogs do have a win against Ferris State and tied Wisconsin this year. I still would have a hard time thinking they'd be a .500 club if they were in the CCHA, WCHA or Hockey East. And that goes for all the ECAC programs. Great institutions for higher learning, no doubt about that, but I'm not a believer in them being on par with the other three conferences when it comes to producing hockey players.

I have been saying the same thing about the ECAC for a very long time. The ECAC has the best academic schools in college hockey but they are a bit hamstrung with comes to going for and competing for the best college hockey athletes because of their academic standards and the cost of going to one of these fine schools. I am still convinced if you took the best schools in the ECAC and put them in the WCHA, HE and or CCHA they would have a hard time being a .500 team. While the gap has been closed there is still a big difference in the talent gap.

The other day I was wondering what SKOL Vikings mean here is the definition - Skol (written "skål" in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish and "skál" in Faroese and Icelandic or "skaal" in transliteration of any of those languages) is the Danish/Norwegian/Swedish word for cheers, a salute or a toast, as to an admired person or group. The meaning of the Scandinavian skalli/skalle: skal means simply "shell" and skál/skål "bowl".

Sioux and DU week.

This video should get your juices flowing and maybe your blood boiling and put you in the mood for this weekend's series between the Fighting Sioux and the Denver Pioneers. Last year’s series at the Ralph was an emotional and hard fought series. Few questions; what is the over and under of Gwoz dancing on the Dasher? Also, what is the over and under of Todd Anderson being one of the officials and having a Donnybrook break out?

My prediction

There will be a dasher dance, there will be at least one game where it gets really nasty and Gwoz will egg on the officials and fans. Gwoz will also be on the ice at least once.

Hockey day: UND 3 - Cornell 1 - BSU 5 - UMD 4 in O.T.

Keeping with the spirit of the day (it was hockey day in Minnesota); today was one of the best days of hockey I have witnessed in a very long time. At noon I watched the Bruins game against the Senators, that game had a bad ending but still ended up being a pretty good hockey game.

After watching the Bruins stumble to the Ottawa Senators backstopped by former Badger Brian Elliot, I then watched the DU and Wisconsin game that I had saved on my DVR from last night. I have to give kudos to the NHL Network for putting that game on last night. The Badgers and Pioneers played to a 3-3 sister kissing. Then I went out and attempted to blow the slush out of my driveway.

Then I watched UND Fighting Sioux and Cornell Big Red game on the Cornell Webcast and I have to admit that the game tonight wasn’t as good as light night’s game. The game did have a happy ending and was a little better game to watch than last night trap feast.

After watching the UND and Cornell game I decided to spend the $7.00 and watch the BSU and UMD game on the B2 Network. Honestly, that game was one of the most exciting hockey games that I have seen in a very long time.

BSU came back three times in the third and won the game in overtime. BSU scored a shorthanded goal, a power play goal and an even strength goal. It was a attack and counter attack game. I will take this type of a game anytime over a grind out defensive battle. The game winning goal by Jordan George was a thing of beauty; George spilt the UMD defensemen and scored to end the game just 36 seconds into overtime. [BSU - UMD box score]

How do you like the Beavers now?

I have been telling people all season long that BSU is a good hockey team, they are not over rated. I have been told by fans of WCHA teams that I am delussional and clueless for backing BSU. So now BSU is 3-0 against teams ranked in the top 5. What else do the Beavers have to do to get some respect? They Beavers just took two wins from a good Bulldog team, the second win was a hard fought gut it out win. Tonight was the first time I had ever listened to Bruce Ciskie on the radio and he said that he would love to see these two teams play for a regional championship in the Xcel Energy Center in March. It would be an exciting game.

Lines for tonights game UND and Cornell.

Brad Elliott Schlossman the North Dakota beat writer for the Fighting Sioux has the lines posted for tonight's game. The is a live chat at his site as well.

Interesting fact: With the loss last night, UND actually moved up nationally in defense. They are now ranked 5th with a team GAA of 2.20.

Here are a few links to watch

UND hockey twitter

INCH Gladdy

Brad Schlossman Twitter


UND's lines

17 Jason Gregoire--29 Chris VandeVelde--21 Matt Frattin
19 Evan Trupp--22 Brad Malone--7 Danny Kristo
13 Brett Bruneteau--11 Darcy Zajac--27 Carter Rowney
15 Brent Davidson--9 Mario Lamoureux--18 David Toews

2 Andrew MacWilliam--24 Ben Blood
3 Derrick LaPoint--25 Jake Marto
20 Joe Gleason--4 Corey Fienhage

31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell

[UND hockey stats]

Cornell's lines

15 Colin Greening--27 Blake Gallagher--22 Joe Devin
10 Patrick Kennedy--14 Riley Nash--8 Locke Jillson
28 Joe Scali--12 Sean Collins--26 John Esposito
16 Greg Miller--9 Tyler Roeszler--29 Dan Nicholls

24 Brendon Nash--4 Keir Ross
6 Nick D'Agostino--2 Mike Devin
7 Braden Birch--5 Justin Krueger

30 Ben Scrivens
35 Michael Garman
31 Omar Kanji

[Cornell's stats]

NCAA Round Up: BSU Beavers whoop the UMD Bulldogs 4-1.

All season long I have been telling people that the Bemidji State University Beavers are a good hockey team and they are legit. I have posters repeatedly telling me that BSU is over rated and hasn’t played anyone or anybody. I have told that BSU has a schedule full of cup cakes.

I can refute that argument and say that these people don’t know what they are talking about, in regards to BSU hockey. Bemidji State has a very good coach in Tom Serratore and he has his team well prepared and ready to play when the puck drops. Being in the CHA the Beavers coaching staff works very hard recruiting their players and has gotten the most out of their players. Within moving to the WCHA and having a new arena they will be able to compete with the other WCHA teams on a more even footing.

This season I have been called delusional for saying that the Beavers would whoop that Bulldog ass Friday night in Bemidji and they did. I was supposed to go to last night game but the weather didn’t permit me from going to the game, apparently I made the right decision. I wish I could have seen the 4-1 dismantling that happened last night. A friend of mine called me up after the game and said it wasn't even close.

So to the people that keep telling me that BSU is no good, overrated, haven’t played anyone and is undeserving of their ranking what else do the Bemidji State University Beavers have to do to make you change your mind? I mean seriously, in the calendar year BSU has beaten Miami, Notre Dame (last spring), Cornell (last spring), Air Force (x2) Northern Michigan, Minnesota and now UMD. Oh by the way NMU beat UMD. I also included Air Force because some thought they were so good last season. The AHA has an unimpressive record (0-6-1)against the CHA this season.

Here are some of the comments that one certain person has put on my blog this season. This fan should be thankful the Beavers aren't playing the Huskies this season. This is also a fan of the SCSU Huskies who have never won an NCAA division one hockey game. The Beavers have more wins in the NCAA tourney than their team. Please tell me again who is overrated? Just for the record the UMD Bulldogs are a good hockey team too.

WCHAdominates said...
I have not seen the Beavers play in person or on tv at all this season, and there's good chance that won't happen unless they qualify for the NCAA tournament. While it may be true that they play a race horse style of hockey (which is also known as fire wagon hockey, up and down, etc) I find it extremely difficult to beliece that Niagara offers much resistance to it in any manner. It's like a single A high school team playing a double AA high school team: clearly there is a separable difference in talent and team quality. As long as they don't lose to the cup cakes they keep playing and go about .500 against the decent teams, they're going to put good pairwise rankings and a high spot in the poll. You failed to mention that they also lose one night later to lowly Ohio State after beating Miami. That clearly shows they're win over the Redhacks means almost nothing. Throwing every cup cake win out, they are 4-2 thus far against N. Michigan, Minnesota, Miami, and Ohio State. Those are the only ones that mean anything.

Here is another gem. Just for the Record RMU was the same team that beat Miami twice.

WCHAdominates said...
Yes, the rest of the country will finally see how highly over ranked the Beavers are after beating up on Alabama Huntsville, Air Force, Northern Michigan, and Robert Morris. I don't know if if I've ever seen a team so over rated in the polls than Bemidji State has been this season. They have one decent win all season and they're ranked #6 in the country with 2 first place votes. Gimme a break!

Yawn! Sioux 0 Cornell 1

I watched the game on the internet tonight Kudos to Cornell their internet broadcast was top notch. That being said, this is too bad because this was one of the most boring games that I have watched in at least the last three years. UND scored two goals that didn’t count, story of the season.

The one goal was questionable in that it was one of those ref lost sight of the puck/ref blew the whistle early calls, the other one as per Brad Schlossman: UND's video guy says he thinks the puck may have gone in, but like Hajdu said, nobody reacted like they scored.

Here is the way I saw it, UND skated circles around Cornell tonight, they played a collapsing defense and they basically circled the wagons around there goaltender, they got a break and cashed in on it. I don’t think UND would be afraid to play Cornell in the NCAA’s. Cornell is a decent team but they couldn’t skate with UND in an up and down the ice race horse hockey game. The game really wasn't that close in puck possession and UND out shot them 28-14.

For the Fighting Sioux freshman goalie Aaron Dell (.915 SV% 1.34 AA 1- 2- 1)played pretty well, he was square to the puck and not getting caught out of possition and I hope coach Hakstol starts him tomorrow night; I am trying to remain positive but I am tired of watching Brad Eidsness stink up the joint and let in soft goals and over play the puck. I think Eids needs to sit on the bench and watch a few games.

[Box Score]

NON-CONFERENCE SERIES: No. 5 North Dakota at No. 9 Cornell

Here is Elliot Olshansky's pre-game write up from the NCAA blog.

Dave Hakstol's team is regularly one of the best-traveled in college hockey, but a trip to Lynah Rink in Ithaca is no ordinary road trip. Some 4,000 Big Red fans maybe one of the smaller crowds North Dakota plays in front of (coming out of the WCHA), but they'll also be one of the loudest.

The Big Red, meanwhile, is in a tight spot. Despite their high national ranking, their 2-2-1 non-conference record is less than impressive, with a major missed opportunity in a 3-3 tie with Boston University at Madison Square Garden, and a pair of losses to Colorado College and Princeton at the Florida College Classic. A win against No. 16 New Hampshire, the current Hockey East leader, helps somewhat, but with the WCHA as strong as it is, this year, Cornell needs at least one win this weekend to improve its chances at an NCAA tournament berth. Otherwise, it may be "ECAC Title or Bust" for Mike Schafer's team.

Cornell will have the No. 3 scoring defewnse in the nation on its side, allowing just 2.12 goals per game, as well as the No. 5 power play in the nation (24.3 percent), which features a pair of potent scorers in seniors Blake Gallgher and Colin Greening, who have cooled off a bit from their red-hot start to the season, but are still formidable weapons.

Still, Cornell has scored more than two goals just twice in their last seven games, and North Dakota doesn't figure to make lighting the lamp any easier. NoDak is right behind Cornell and Ferris State among the nation's defensive leaders with 2.25 goals per game, and will provide a different kind of test for Cornell at the other end of the ice, with 11 players scoring in double-digits, led by junior forward Evan Trupp (5g, 15a) and sophomore Jason Gregoire, who has seven assists to go with a team-high 12 goals.

The always-intense Lynah Faithful should be especially fired up for this series: in addition to being a key pair of games against a formidable non-conference opponent, it's also Cornell's first home game since Nov. 24

.
Here is the information for listening and watching this weekend's game.

Jan. 22-23, 2010 • 6 pm CT • James Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.
RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • TV: Time Warner Sports (N.Y. only)
WEBCAST & LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com/Showcase • AUDIO: FightingSioux.com

SECOND-HALF SURGE?: The Sioux are off to a 3-1-2 (.667) start since the Christmas break after a 9-6-3 (.583) first half. In Dave Hakstol's five-plus years as head coach, UND has posted a .688 winning percentage (84-34-15) in games played after Christmas (including playoffs), compared to a .569 mark (49-36-9) prior to Christmas.

In each of the last five seasons, UND has dramatically increased its winning percentage following the holiday break. Below is a year-by-year comparison of UND's pre and post-Christmas records: Year Before After

2004-05 13-7-2 (.636) 12-8-3 (.587)
2005-06 12-7-1 (.625) 17-9-0 (.654)
2006-07 7-10-1 (.417) 17-4-4 (.760)
2007-08 8-6-1 (.567) 20-5-3 (.768)
2008-09 9-8-1 (.528) 15-7-3 (.660)
2009-10 9-6-3 (.583) 3-1-2 (.667)

More on the Daniel Carcillo and Marian Gaborik fight.

I have this game taped on my DVR so I am going to go back and watch this game later on this weekend because it sounds like I missed a good ole fashion donnybrook game. I just caught the highlights from last night's game while watching another game on the tube. Now if you miss a game on NHL Center Ice you will get a second chance to DVR said game after the game is over. Thank You!

Incidents like this is why I hate/loathe the Philadelphia Flyers, the Broad Street Bullies are a bunch of blood thirsty ruffians skating around the ice taking liberties with the opposition team. The two biggest hacks are Scott Hartnell aka “mop head” and Daniel Carcillo. First off Hartnell is you’re going to be a fighter; be a tough guy and take off the shield. Also, get a hair cut you look like a poor mans version of a French poodle. Second Carcillo knew what exactly what he was doing, he know that there wasn’t any tough guys on the ice and he went over and grabbed Gabby, and was looking for an excuse to pummel their top scorer. Here is what Carcillo had to say, "I wasn't expecting him to drop his gloves when he did," Carcillo admitted. "I was pretty much licking my chops."

If you watched the fight (if you want to call that a fight) you will see that Gabby dropped the gloves, but I think it was more out of self preservation. I am sure Gabby saw the the one sided exchange between Carcillo and Bradley and didn’t want to have the same thing happen to him. After the Bradley incident, who knows if Carcillo wouldn’t have just hit Gabby whether he would have dropped the gloves or not. Carcilo’s actions last night might pretty much prove that league top players better beware and are notice because its open season on you if you are playing the Flyers.

PHILADELPHIA -- John Tortorella's sense of honor, an amorphous concept to begin with, was offended last night when Flyers' thug Daniel Carcillo dropped his gloves to throw punches at the Rangers' elegant pacifist, Marian Gaborik, at 5:43 of the second period of the Flyers' 2-0 victory.

Perhaps the head coach should have directed his ire at Dan Girardi and the rest of the Blueshirts on the ice at the time who were bystanders (though hardly innocent ones) to the bout during which their best player was in jeopardy.

Or maybe Tortorella already had done so, because Girardi, who watched from just a few feet away as the unfair fight unfolded in the Rangers' attacking left corner and circle, told The Post that he regretted his decision not to engage on behalf of his teammate.

"I guess I was overthinking it, Girardi said. "I didn't want to take another penalty, because I knew we already had one there [on Brandon Dubinsky], but I should have gotten involved. I should have jumped in. Maybe it was the wrong decision, but it was the decision I made at the time.

"If there's a next time, I would go."

Tortorella, who told the press he already had addressed that issue with the team behind closed doors, did not take kindly to Carcillo's actions.

"There is no honor in that," Tortorella said when asked what he felt about Carcillo, who has 58 career fights in 194 NHL career, going after Gaborik, who had fought once previously in 551 career matches, against Ian Laperriere, then of the Avalanche, on Apr. 6, 2008.

Tortorella expressed further exasperation when told that Carcillo had said something about how he had been licking his chops to get a shot at Gaborik, talked more about honor, how it was embarrassing and all that.
[Read the rest of the story here]

The Guillaume Latendresse for Benoit Pouliot trade

In another blog post I looked at the trade between the Wild and the Habs, (Guillaume Letendress for Benoit Pouliot), at first I thought it was a one sided deal, however, it would appear that both players Guillaume Latendress and Benoit Pouliot have had an resurgence in their hockey careers and are helping both of their respective teams.

Last night the Wild played and beat the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. The Wild victory was fueled a possessed Guillamume Latendresse who led the charge with (1g-3a-4pts). Latendresse is really on a roll, in the last four games he is (4g-5a-8pts)

Incidentally, the guy the Wild traded to the Montreal Canadians to get Latendresse, former Wild player Benoit Pouliot has only scored 4 goals in 9 games. Latendresse surpassed Pouliot's production with the Habs in three periods of hockey. Not hard to see who got the best of that deal?

Since moving over the Montreal Canadians Benoit Pouliot has recorded (8g-1a-9tps) in 13 games. On the other side of the trade Guillaume Latendresse (13g-6a-19pts) in 26 games for the Minnesota Wild. It would appear that the trade is working out for both teams.

On Wednesday I was watching the Habs and the Blues play on my television and I couldn’t believe what I saw, Pouliout scored two goals. It was like Benoit Pouliot was a different player, energized by moving to the Canadians.
[props]

Carcillo proves he is a hack

I know why Gabby dropped his gloves because he probably saw this one sided exchange that Matt Bradley had with uber hack Daniel Carcillo. I don't blame the Ranger coach at all for being upset.

PHILADELPHIA -- Dan Carcillo's bloody knuckles came at the expense of an unlikely victim.

Ray Emery made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season, and James van Riemsdyk and Mike Richards scored in the Philadelphia Flyers' 2-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

But Carcillo's fight against Rangers star Marian Gaborik overshadowed another strong effort by the resurgent Flyers.

Rangers coach John Tortorella was furious that Philadelphia's enforcer went after his best player and sarcastically called Carcillo "a brave guy."

"There's no honour in that," Tortorella said. "I don't play the game, I don't wear the uniform, I don't want to say too much about it, but there's simply no honour in that."

Carcillo floored Gaborik with a hard uppercut early in the second period after the two-time all-star surprisingly dropped his gloves first.

"I didn't really expect to fight who I fought, but it kind of worked out," Carcillo said. "I don't know who on that line would have been able to help him though. I wasn't expecting him to drop his gloves, but when he did, I pretty much was licking my chops."
[TSN.COM]

Press conference and coaches show.

Click here to listen to the Fighting Sioux coaches show. I guess I would call this week’s Fighting Sioux coaches show was interesting because Chay Genoway filled in for the coaches who were missing in action.

Chay Genoway filled in for the coaches. First thing that stuck out was that Chay Genoway was recruited by Cornell. Cornell has a lot of players from out west. Chay said that he played against the Nash Brothers and some of the other guys on the team.

Chay was asked if he was recruited to Michigan Tech. Chay said, no he wasn’t recruited by Tech. Tim or Chay didn’t know of anyone on the team or recently who was recruited by Tech.

Chay says still struggling with a lot of things, doesn’t feel like it’s getting much better, the systems have lightened up a bit. Chay really hasn’t thought about a medical red shirt, but there will a time when they come a point, where they might consider it, it’s coming up on ten weeks since he has last played (2 ½ months). Chay, said that we haven’t jumped any conclusions will just trying to get better. Chay really hasn’t looked into the details of it of medical redshirt but has been told he might be eligible.

Weekend Match Ups (by Sioux 7)

If someone would have said UMD would have been on top of the WCHA with ten games to go at the beginning of the season, I would’ve said, “Is that a type-o, don’t you mean UND?” We have to hand it to the Bulldogs they have been a good solid team this year, and are taking advantage of their league schedule (they play MTU, MSUM, & UND 4 games, all are currently in the bottom half of the league).

The playoff picture is starting to take shape, it looks like both UMD and DU will get home ice, and MSUM and MTU will be on the road.

The interesting thing I noticed in the standings is that 6th place UND has a winning record and 7th place Minnesota has a .500 record. If certain games go a certain way, you could see only 6 points separate the top 7 teams in the league, talk about what could be a pile up in the standings.

The WCHA now has 5 out of the top 7 spots in the USCHO poll this week, or 6 out of the top 12, or if you count BSU, then there would be 7 out of the top 14. The pollsters really seem to love the dub.

WCHA STANDINGS

TEAM…………………GP.…W-L-T….PTS
1 Minnesota-Duluth….18….12-5-1..…25
2 Denver……………....16….10-3-3..…23
3 Colorado College…..18…..9-6-3……21
4 St. Cloud State……..16…..9-5-2……20
4 Wisconsin…………..16…..9-5-2……20
6 North Dakota……….18…..8-7-3……19
7 Minnesota…………..16…..7-7-2……16
8 Alaska-Anchorage…18.….6-11-1….13
9 Minnesota State…….18….5-12-1….11
10 Michigan Tech…….18.....2-16-0…..4

WCHA

#7 Colorado College at Alaska-Anchorage
Last week the Tigers split at home against the Badgers, and the Seawolves swept the MTU Huskies in Houghton.

Back around Thanksgiving these teams split a pair in Colorado Springs. The Seawolves are 2-1-1 in their last four WCHA games and the Tigers are 1-3-0 over that same stretch. The boys from Up North are looking to move into contention for home ice by extending their current winning streak, and the CC Tigers need some points to stay in the top five. Are we now seeing the CC team, which many of us predicted to finish in the bottom half of the league? The Tigers gave up 10 goals last weekend, seeing that, they were lucky to get a split. CC needs to limit their opponents scoring, if they want to win some more games. The boys from UAA look to be playing their best hockey of the year right now, a sweep of cellar-dwell MTU, and a tie and one goal lose to DU, in their last outings. I like the Seawolves at home to take some points this weekend. SEAWOLVES 3PTS.

Minnesota away/home #12 St. Cloud State
Last week the Gophers got 3 points at home against the Sioux, and the Huskies swept Quinnipiac on in Connecticut.

Have the Gophers finally righted their ship? This weekend is another big test for them, the Huskies were my pre-season dark horse of the league and they are quietly sneaking up the standings. SCSU is just five points out of first with two games in hand on UMD. I like the way the Huskies are playing right now they are H.O.T. winning 6 in a row and are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. The Gophers set a record on Saturday scoring goals 7 seconds apart. However, the Gophers were outshot and had fewer scoring chances than the Sioux, but did get some “puck luck” as it were. I’m going with the Huskies in this series, SCSU SWEEP.

#1 Denver at #3 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Pioneers were enjoying a bye-week, and the Badgers split with the Tigers in Colorado.

DU has really owned the Badgers in Madison the past six years. The last time the Badgers beat the Pioneers in Madison was Friday October 30, 2004. DU won the next night (Halloween), and has won their last 7 games in the Kohl Center. The Pioneers are three points ahead of Bucky right now in the standings and both teams will want to get some points to secure their spots for home ice. The Pioneers are starting a tough road stretch, next week they are on the road again at “their real rival North Dakota” according to a DU hockey player.
Both teams are playing well right now and I’m going to take the easy way out and call this series a SPLIT.

Non-Conference

#4 Minnesota-Duluth at/home #14 Bemidji State
Last week the Bulldogs swept the Mavericks in Mankato, and the Beavers split at fellow CHA member Niagara.

This should be an entertaining series between two highly ranked teams, and soon to be league foes. It looks be the Bulldogs are trying to send the DECC out with style and a WCHA title this year. I haven’t been to the DECC in a few years but it was a fun building to watch hockey in and I’m sure it will be missed by the faithful UMD fans. I’m looking at the big picture in this non-conference home-and-home series. I’m taking the WCHA here, BULLDOGS SWEEP.

#5 North Dakota at #9 Cornell
Last week the Sioux got a point playing the Gophers, and the Big Red beat Clarkson and tied St. Lawrence.

The Sioux are in the second half of the season and will be looking to get some wins this weekend to start their “second half run” which they have done every year since Hakstol took over as coach. However, is this the year that streak comes to an end? Does UND start calling this a rebuilding year, if they don’t get a win or two this weekend. The Sioux do have 10 freshmen on the team this season. The other issue in Grand Forks has been the injury bug, Genoway has been out since mid November (concussion), Zajac was out for a month but is back now (hernia surgery), Hextall is out for what sounds like another month (leg injury), Knight was out last weekend… I’ll say this when the Gopher fans started to cheer “over-rated” last Saturday, I would have to agree with them. If UND is the 4th best team in college hockey, that doesn’t say much for the state of hockey as a whole. I’m not making excuses, but if I wanted too, there would be a couple to choose from. Okay, enough of my whining about the Sioux.

I’ve never been impressed with teams from the ECAC (Goon is not impressed with ECAC teams either…) even when they are ranked. I have to look at the big picture and go with WCHA in this match up, SIOUX SWEEP.

OFF – BY WEEK
Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks
Michigan Tech University Huskies

UND still Fighting Sioux for now.

The Fighting Sioux nickname will stay for now.

GRAND FORKS - The state Board of Higher Education voted 5-3 today to keep the status quo with the Fighting Sioux nickname while an appeal is pending.

The board also directed its attorney to request an expedited hearing with the Supreme Court.

Board member Grant Shaft of Grand Forks said although the appeal does not prevent the board from directing UND to retire the nickname, he thinks it is appropriate to wait for the legal matter to be resolved.

Board member Mike Haugen of Fargo argued for directing UND to begin retiring the nickname.

"I don't see it in 10 months being any different than today," Haugen said.

Prior to the vote, UND President Bob Kelley and Athletic Director Brian Faison told board members a resolution is vital for the university to pursue membership in the Summit League.

Board members Shaft, Sue Andrews, Claus Lembke, Jon Jackson and Duaine Espegard supported the motion.

Members Mike Haugen, Minot State University , Rachelle Hadland, NDSU Student and President Richie Smith, Creighton University opposed it.

Does this sound familiar?

I saw a link to this article over on Maverick Puck. Sound Familier? Seems like the UNO Mavericks are having some of the same issues.

“We’re real close,” UNO coach Dean Blais said of his squad. “But we can’t be satisfied with just being close. We’ve got to be team-hungry. We’ve got to do everything a little bit better in practice. We’ve got to be better on the power play, and we’ve just got to be a little bit better in everything we do.”
[WORLD-HERALD]

Changes coming to the 'Final Five'?

Todd D. Milewski looks at the Final Five and what might happen next season. I don't mind the idea of keeping the tourney at five games, albeit now there will probably be two games on Thursday and only one on Saturday. I am also would not be opposed to the WCHA deciding to go ahead and making the it a Final Six or Super Six (6 teams, 6 games), this would allow them to play two games each day. Money drives college hockey and the league could make a little extra money for its member schools. Of course some of the teams wouldn't want to play a third place game. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

It appears that the postseason will include all 12 teams once the WCHA expands to include Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha next season. That would push six teams to the league’s playoff championship and require a reformatting of the three-day tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Currently, the Final Five includes five games — a play-in contest Thursday night, two semifinals on Friday, a third-place game Saturday afternoon and the title game Saturday night.

The leading thought out of the meeting, the source said, was that the league could still use the Final Five title with a simple redefinition — five games, instead of five teams.

The third-place game has long been a source of contention in the league. While that game can be important — winning the 2006 version gave Wisconsin the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament over Minnesota, which it defeated — it also has been detrimental to some.

In 17 years of the Final Five, the consolation game loser has made the NCAA tournament 10 times. Seven times — including the last four years — that team has lost its first NCAA game.

The third-place game is important to the league’s coffers however, because it is a separate ticket that provides revenue, and therefore the league is reluctant to give it up.

Having six teams involved would allow the WCHA to keep a five-game format — two play-in games Thursday involving the teams seeded third through sixth, two semifinals Friday and the championship game Saturday — and please a vocal group of coaches by dumping the consolation game.
[Read the rest of the article]:

With the Final Five now becoming the Final six it’s time to kill the Minnesota rule, enough is enough. The Final Five is in the Gophers back yard and if they can’t take time off from work or school to see their favorite team play in the afternoon game that their tough luck. Last year proved that even with the Gophers only playing one game the tourney was attended well. I also believe that the “Minnesota Rule” is an unfair advantage; a team should play where they’re supposed to play. If the Golden Boys are supposed to play in the 2:00 pm game than I like other fans feel that is where they should play.

— Whether Minnesota would automatically be assigned to the night game on Thursday and Friday (if it is still alive in the tournament) to maximize local ticket sales. The so-called “Minnesota rule” currently sets the Gophers up with the prime-time semifinal spot, even if it causes the Thursday night winner to play Friday afternoon

Cross Posted on the Sin Bin.

Andy Sutton suspended two games.

Former Michigan Tech Huskie Andy Sutton was given a two game suspension for planting former Wild Pascal Dupuis into the boards. [Note: not a pretty video] Just for the record I don't think Andy Sutton isn't a dirty player, he has only been suspended one other time by the NHL from what I have seen.

TORONTO – New York Islanders defenseman Andy Sutton has been suspended for two games, without pay, for an incident in NHL game #738 against Pittsburgh Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis, Tuesday night, the National Hockey League announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Sutton will forfeit $31,088.08. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Sutton was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding at 17:05 of the third period. Dupuis was injured on the play.

Sutton will miss Thursday's game against Florida and Jan. 23 against New Jersey. He will be eligible to return Jan. 26 against Washington.

Fighting Sioux Nickname Issue Remains Unsettled

I found this article perusing the Ithaca Journal, what I found interesting was this article even made the New York Times. The more I read into the article the more I think Tom Douple, comments that the university would not be considered for admission until it found a solution that made the N.C.A.A. happy. I interpret these comments to mean that the solution that makes the NCAA happy is UND no longer being called the Fighting Sioux.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Some University of North Dakota officials were hoping that a long-running dispute over the university’s Fighting Sioux nickname would be settled this week. Now it appears it could continue for several months.

A state judge ruled last month that the North Dakota Board of Higher Education has the power to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname before a November deadline set as part of a settlement with the N.C.A.A. The board scheduled a meeting this week to officially retire the moniker. But Patrick Morley, the lawyer for a Spirit Lake Sioux group that sued to keep the nickname, filed an appeal late Friday to the state Supreme Court.

North Dakota officials are hoping to get their teams into the Summit League, but the conference president, Tom Douple, said the university would not be considered for admission until it found a solution that made the N.C.A.A. happy.

The nickname issue has been debated since the 1990s. Nearly five years ago, North Dakota was placed on a list of universities the N.C.A.A. deemed to have “hostile or abusive” American Indian nicknames or logos. North Dakota is the only college on that list that has not changed the name or logo or been granted a waiver to keep them.

The Spirit Lake group and other nickname supporters hope a delay will give North Dakota a chance to get approval from the state’s two namesake tribes. A referendum last April on the Spirit Lake Sioux reservation gave overwhelming support for the nickname, but the Standing Rock Sioux tribal council has opposed it, and the tribe has not scheduled a referendum.

Tenative 2010-2011 UND hockey schedule

Brad has the tenative Fighting Sioux hockey schedule for next season. The first three series of the year will be on the road. Looks like no holiday tourney but a series against the ND Fighting Irish on Thanksgiving weekend. Next season we will have 4 games against UNO, BSU, SCSU. 20 games at home next season counting the game against Manitoba and the U-18 team.

Oct. 3 -- MANITOBA (exh)
Oct. 8-9 -- Nye Classic in Anchorage (vs. UAA and UAF)
Oct. 15-16 -- at Bemidji State
Oct. 22-23 -- at Maine
Oct. 29-30 -- DENVER
Nov. 5-6 -- DULUTH
Nov. 12-13 -- at Wisconsin
Nov. 19-20 -- at Omaha
Nov. 26-27 -- NOTRE DAME
Dec. 3-4 -- ST. CLOUD STATE
Dec. 10-11 -- at Mankato
Dec. 18 -- U.S. UNDER 18
Dec. 30 -- at Duluth (Hall of Fame Game)
Jan. 7-8 -- ROBERT MORRIS
Jan. 14-15 -- MINNESOTA
Jan. 21-22 -- OMAHA
Jan. 28-29 -- at Colorado College
Feb. 11-12 -- ANCHORAGE
Feb. 18-19 -- at St. Cloud State
Feb. 25-26 -- BEMIDJI STATE
March 4-5 -- at Michigan Tech

UND and Cornell

Check out what Coach Hakstol had to say about this weekend's game against the Big Red from Cornell.

Here is what I took from the interview; Coach Hakstol is basically challenging his team that now is the time to put the lessons learned to heart and start putting it all together. I also detect a little urgency in Coach Hakstol’s voice that wasn’t there earlier in the season.

#5 North Dakota vs #9 Cornell
•RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM)
•TV: Time Warner Sports (N.Y. only)
•WEBCAST & LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com/Showcase •AUDIO: FightingSioux.com
•MEDIA INFORMATION: All Fighting Sioux men's hockey games, home and away, can be heard on 96.1 FM (The Fox) and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Hockey Network. Veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy is in his 30th season as the voice of the Fighting Sioux.

Friday night's game will be televised live locally on Time Warner Cable Sports in New York. No further TV coverage has been announced as of Tuesday morning.

A video webcast of this weekend's games can be purchased at CornellBigRed.com. FREE live audio is available at FightingSioux.com and FREE live stats are available at CornellBigRed.com.

Nazem Kadri vs Tyler Cuma

Here is Minnesota Wild's prospect Tyler Cuma fighting Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nazem Kari. Kari was part of the second place Canadian WJC team.

Petr Sykora and Robbie Earl put on waivers.

I have to admit that this really chaps my ass. I was hoping they would put the waste of a uniform James Sheppard on waviers. Robbie Earl had played in 13 games and scored more goals than James Sheppard.

The Minnesota Wild have placed Petr Sykora on waivers, meaning any club can claim the veteran forward prior to Noon et on Wednesday.

The 33-year old has had an injury-riddled season since signing with the Wild as an unrestricted free agent last summer. In 14 games, he has compiled two goals and one assist but has missed a total of 29 games with groin and concussion issues.

Sykora began his NHL career with New Jersey in 1995-96 and has also played for Anaheim, the New York Rangers, Edmonton, and Pittsburgh. He won Stanley Cups with the Devils in 1999-2000 and last season with the Penguins.

If Sykora is not claimed, Minnesota can send him to the minors or place him on re-entry waivers where he could be claimed at half the price of his contract.

The Wild also placed forward Robbie Earl on waivers on Tuesday. The 24-year old has divided his time this season between Minnesota and Houston (AHL), and posted three goals in 13 games with the Wild.
[TSN]

UPDATE: Per Russo's Rants, Veteran Petr Sykora and winger Robbie Earl cleared waivers this morning [Link]

CCHA killing the shoot out?

Here is something that I found interesting. CCHA is thinking of dismantling the shoot out because no one else is currently using them. I thought the NCAA was mandating breaking ties in the future? Personally, I find the shoot out to be exciting and would like to see the NCAA/WCHA break ties that way.

Also, this doesn’t appear to be good news for UAH. I can’t imagine the scheduling nightmare with an 11 team league. Cue the Big Ten Hockey Conference discussion again?

Shootouts out?
Anastos says the future of CCHA shootouts will be discussed in offseason meetings. They could be eliminated, since the rest of the NCAA schools are not using them. The CCHA also must decide whether to keep using four officials for financial reasons, and he doubts another school will be added with Nebraska-Omaha leaving for the WCHA.[Lansing State Journal]

Cormier suspended indefinitely

I think this is the right decision to suspend Cormier indefinately and I hope they throw the book at this guy for his dirty hit on Mikael Tam. I would not be surprised if there will be legal charges against Cormier as well.

MONTREAL -- Junior hockey was making sense of another head-hunting incident Monday after Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts was sent to hospital by an elbow from Rouyn-Noranda centre Patrice Cormier, who captained Canada at the recent world junior hockey championship.

Cormier caught Tam with an elbow while skating through the neutral zone during overtime of Quebec's 3-2 shootout win at Dave Keon Arena in Rouyn-Noranda on Sunday afternoon.

The 18-year-old defenceman went into convulsions and was taken to hospital after the hit, where he is listed in stable condition with brain trauma and several damaged teeth.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League gave Cormier an indefinite suspension on Monday and will continue to investigate the incident. No timeline was provided on when league disciplinarian Raymond Bolduc will issue a ruling.

The discussion that has everyone up in arms.

This is the video that everyone was talking about on Saturday night. Listening to Collin Campbell speak makes my head spin. The The National Hockey League teams need to think twice about Collin Campbell's employment and get rid of him, he is a disgrace. Refs should not be settling scores with players on the ice. I don't have a problem with refs talking to players they should not be telling them I going to get you.

I guess I don't blame Alain Vigneault for being upset with the way things have unfolded. I guess I expected more from Ron MacLean even though as a Minnesota Wild fan I am not a big fan of Alex Burrows, but what MacLean did is border line character assassination.

Again, I am not a big fan of Burrows but I do believe that a ref would try to settle a score against a player and that I do find Burrows story to be believable. Burrows went about bringing it to light in the wrong way.

Poll Monday

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[January 18, 2010]

1 Denver (39) 14-5-3 989 1
2 Miami (11) 15-4-5 957 2
3 Wisconsin 13-6-3 863 3
4 Minnesota-Duluth 16-7-1 795 10
5 North Dakota 12-7-5 654 4
6 Yale 10-4-3 651 5
7 Colorado College 13-8-3 641 8
8 Ferris State 16-6-2 633 6
9 Cornell 9-4-3 573 9
10 Michigan State 15-7-4 563 7
11 Boston College 12-6-2 554 12
12 St. Cloud State 14-7-3 523 14
13 Union 13-4-5 485 13
14 Bemidji State 15-5-2 435 11
15 Massachusetts 14-8-0 310 19
16 New Hampshire 10-7-4 220 20
17 Vermont 11-7-2 185 18
18 Lake Superior 14-8-4 118 NR
19 Mass.-Lowell 12-9-2 97 15
20 Maine 11-9-2 83 16
Others Receiving Votes: Michigan 52, Quinnipiac 47, Minnesota 30, Alaska 20, Notre Dame 19, St. Lawrence 2, RIT 1

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USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Jan. 18, 2010]
1 Denver (24) 14-5-3 500 1
2 Miami University (Ohio) (10) 15-4-5 483 2
3 Wisconsin 13-6-3 420 3
4 Minnesota Duluth 16-7-1 361 10
5 Yale 10-4-3 304 5
6 North Dakota 12-7-5 295 4
7 Cornell 9-4-3 263 8
8 Colorado College 13-8-3 249 9
9 Ferris State 16-6-2 237 7
10 Boston College 12-6-2 232 12
11 Michigan State 15-7-4 214 6
12 St. Cloud State 14-7-3 173 15
13 Union College 13-4-5 158 13
14 Bemidji State 15-5-2 90 11
15 Massachusetts 14-8-0 58 NR
Others receiving votes: University of New Hampshire, 35; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 3; University of Vermont, 3; University of Alaska, 2.

Analysis: Color me surprised. It would appear that the Pollsters have to be taking the loss of Chay Genoway and Brett Hextall injuries into account in their rankings because I honestly believe that UND is really probably about a 10th ranked team and not a 5th or 6th ranked team nationally. Cornell and Yale ranked high again. It will be fun watching one EZAC team make it into the NCAA tourney and watching them go out in their first game, again.

Star Tribune says Gophers swept this weekend?

I thought I would include the evidence before it gets corrected. The Fighting Sioux did manage a tie against the Gophers on Friday night so getting three points in a series is not a sweep, in anyone's book. [Link to the page] I decided to take a picture in case the Gophers beat wrtier decided to change his head line.

Cormier Elbows Mikael Tam

This is the latest ugly incident to mar the hockey world. Team Canada's world junior captain Patrice Cormier (New Jersey Devils draft pick) was ejected from a QMJHL game in overtime when he delivered a head shot to Quebec Remparts defenseman Mikael Tam. Caution this is video is not pretty folks.

You have to imagine that there will be a hefty suspension coming from the QMJHL.

INCH Power Rankings

As always for a good laugh to start your Monday morning off the INCH power rankins. WCHA dominating the top twenty.

1. Denver
2. Miami
3. Wisconsin
4. Minnesota Duluth
5. Cornell
6. Yale
7. North Dakota
8. Michigan State
9. Boston College
10. Colorado College
11. Union 3
12. Ferris State
13. St. Cloud State
14. Bemidji State
15. New Hampshire
16. Massachusetts
17. Lake Superior State
18. UMass Lowell
19. Maine
20. Vermont

Dropped out: Quinnipiac, Alaska
Bubble-licious: Minnesota, Michigan, St. Lawrence

Kovalchuk for a couple of former WCHA players?

As a Bruins fan this trade would go a long way in putting Boston in the elite status. I am all for sending Wheeler and Joe Colborne to Atlanta if it gets Boston a crack at the cup.

Kovalchuk trade bait?

Is Ilya Kovalchuk, who has 323 goals but is minus-86 in his Atlanta career, a better trade rental than Marian Hossa was in 2008 when Pittsburgh got him and got to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final? I don't think so. I may be in the minority, but I think Hossa is a better player (he actually can check) and, in his prime all he fetched was centre Erik Christensen, winger Colby Armstrong, suspect draft pick Angelo Esposito and a 2008 first-round draft pick -stocking stuffers really, although Hossa was 29, and Kovalchuk is only 26, so maybe he'd be worth more.

I still think the Boston Bruins are the short-term destination, although they don't have long-term cap room, because Marc Savard and Kovalchuk have a history from Atlanta, and the Bruins can give up Blake Wheeler, their first-round pick (not the one they got from Toronto for Phil Kessel) and, say, centre Joe Colborne, who is a sophomore at University of Denver.

This might cheer up Sioux fans.

Maybe the Viking's win will put some of us into a better mood after watching that debacle that was last night. This was the one postitive of the weekend for me. Along with the Fighting Sioux, the Wild and Bruins both lost yesterday as well.

*Last night before the Sioux and Gophers game on FSN there was a UND fan wearing a Fighting Sioux Jersey with a Native American head dress on his head. That is not cool; this will not set well with the anti-name crowd and just give more fuel to their argument. I hope someone corrected this guy and told him this isn't cool.

*This past weekend Todd Anderson did a good job of officiating during the series and there were no line brawls or dasher dances. I must say that this is one of the few times I will actually give Anderson credit.

*When the Sioux are out of town and on TV or on webcast I like to read the Chat that is on Brad's blog. Jayson and Brad do a good job running a chat and still covering the game, they are great multi-taskers. Here are a few points that stuck out from the Chat.

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Schlossman: Man, some people sure jump off the bus fast. UND has a 5 game unbeaten streak end, it's probably not the end of the world. Their last loss here was 6-1 and that team went to the Frozen Four
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Jayson, UND SID: One bad loss does not mean a season is over. In 2004 when DU when the NCAA title, it lost three games to the Sioux by a combined score of 20-5.
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Jayson, UND SID: Of course fans have a right to be frustrated. I'm frustrated too. But it's important to remember that one bad road loss does not mean the season is a write-off.
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Jayson, UND SID: Perhaps this loss ends up being a turning point for the Sioux, in a positive way. Sports can be funny that way.
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[UND Hockey Blog]

I must admit that I am frustrated with the Fighting Sioux play as well. After last night's game I was looking at the schedule and since Genoway injury UND has gotten two points from our top rivals, Minnesota 0-1-1 (1 point) DU 0-2 (0 points) Wisconsin 0-1-1 (1 point). That is a record of 0-4-2 that is unimpressive and unacceptable. You can't win a title with results like that.

*Apparently the Gophers beat writer wasn't impressed with the Sioux during last night’s second period. Really! I think its funny how this guy will call out the opposition but didn’t even report Schack the hack's Todd Bertuzzi style attack last year. Yawn!!! I find it hilarious that I can get more credible Gophers hockey info from Cardinal’s GPL weekly columns, Gorg weekly appearances on KFAN or Hammy’s twitter than I can the Gophers hockey beat writer. He is actually paid to do his job that others do better than him. Maybe he should stick to covering woman's volleyball. Thank God the Sioux have Brad. Just for the record I thought that hit was unnecessary. That being said, Cepis should expect to be hit if he is going to over celebrate each and every goal and show up his opponents. The kid in my opinion is a good hockey player but a bit a of a punk.

Then it got ugly. Unaccustomed to trailing 4-0, the Sioux retaliated seconds later. Andrew MacWilliam, a 6-2, 213-pound defenseman, hit Cepis, and the 5-8 junior fell backward. His head hit the ice. [Star and Tribune]

So he had it coming?

For the people that haven't seen this article it really sheds light on the Colin Campbell “wheel of justice” and maybe this will get the ball moving to have Colin Campbell removed at the NHL Senior VP and Director of Hockey Operations. Someone is going to get killed out on the ice under Colin Campbell’s leadership. This is unacceptable, since Cal Clutterbuck is the hits leader in the NHL and hit Sergi Gonchar with a hard hit, which may or may not have been legal (in my opinion it was a legal hit) he deserved to be head hunted? That is what I am getting from this comment. Unfortunately, that is the same kind of leadership we have in the WCHA.

Campbell's comments on NHL Live! -- a weekday radio show on XM Radio and NHL Network -- can be dissected like a frog.

"There's got to be a little bit of passion in the game," Campbell said. "Cal Clutterbuck leads the league, or is close to leading the league, in hits. He hit Gonchar very hard into the boards prior to that -- real hard. It could have been boarding. It could have been charging. It wasn't. So Gonchar, who's been hurt before, knocked out before and suffered a concussion -- he's on the receiving end more than he's on the giving end ... -- he went in and it was a five-minute interference penalty and he hit him with his shoulder."

Campbell proves that the NHL isn't serious about getting rid of head shots.
[Star Tribune]

What kind of logic is this Cal Clutterbuck is the NHL hits leader and has a grand total of 20 penalty minutes in 42 games, so it’s not like he is a dirty player, but since he is the hits leader he has to expect being run once in a while? That is what I deduced from Campbell’s ridiculous statement, Cal Clutterbuck had it coming.
Cross Posted @ The Sin Bin

Gophers 5 Sioux 1

I think this blurb from the Fighting Sioux.com sums tonight game pretty well. Not the Fighting Sioux's night or weekend. Kind of a low point of the season.

MINNEAPOLIS--Minnesota scored three goals in the final 5:09 of the second period, including a pair of goals seven seconds apart, en route to a 5-1 win over the fourth-ranked Fighting Sioux tonight in front of the second-largest crowd in Mariucci Arena history.

The Sioux ran into the "hot goalie" tonight, seems like the Fighting Sioux run into a hot goalie each and every weekend. The Sioux really didn’t play all that bad they put 35 shots on the Gophers net tonight and could only sneak a meaningless goal by in the third period. The Sioux killed themselves with stupid penalties at inopportune times. Players have to stop taking knuckle headed penalties in key points of the game.

The defenseman have to be more smart with the puck, turnovers kill this team each and every week. Chip the puck out of the zone. Don’t count on your goaltender to bail you out, because the goaltending have been absolutely brutal this season. I hate to bag on the goaltender but In my humble opinion I believe that goaltending is the weakest link on this team. Brad Eidseness has to be better if this team is going to win. I don’ t understand it, Eidness stinks up the joint and yet coach Hakstol keeps going back to him. Only think I can figure is that Dell must be hurt or he is not doing well in practice I don’t know what else it could be. Seriously, I wonder why he doesn’t at least get a chance to play, when the starter has stunk up the joint, like he did tonight.

All good teams are back stopped by great goaltenders, unless you can score goals and put teams away. Not this team. Reviewing the game tape in my mind, the first goal was questionable, defense didn't pick up the man. Forward went to the net unchallenged. The second goal, Brad had no clue where the puck was, didn't even see it. On the third goal defense should have been sued for non-support, same with the fourth. On the fifth and final goal, this was grounds for being pulled from the game and sent to the showers. Disgusting effort.

Second Achilles heel this weekend was the power play; UND was 0/9 on the power play this weekend that has to change. I hope finally the guys in that locker room realize that they need to have a team effort from everyone.
[Box score]