Matt Frattin found not guilty in drunk driving case

Interesting turn of events, as they say you're innocent until proven guilty. Fighting Sioux junior forward was found not guilty in his DWI case by a jurry of his peers.

A jury of six Grand Forks County residents found UND hockey player Matt Frattin not guilty of drunk driving today.

The trial began this morning and ended this afternoon, with jurors returning a verdict after less than 30 minutes of deliberation, prosecutor Jason McCarthy said.

Campus police pulled over Frattin, a junior forward, in the early morning hours of Aug. 19. According to police, Lt. Tracy Meidinger smelled alcohol on Frattin’s breath and a test at the station put his blood-alcohol level at .12 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent.

McCarthy said Frattin passed some of the sobriety tests, but failed others. “This was a closer one,” McCarthy said.

Meidinger testified for the prosecution; the defense did not call any witnesses. Among the evidence the prosecution presented was a video showing Frattin that night.

Frattin was kicked off the team following his arrest, which was his second run-in with police that summer. He rejoined the team and began playing again in January.

In July, campus police arrested Frattin and Joe Finley, a player who graduated in the spring of 2009, for throwing objects into a street. In that case, Frattin pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct.

Messages left for Frattin’s attorney were not returned this afternoon
[Grand Forks Herald]

Here is the link to Frattin's Court Case [link]

Toronto deal could leave Bruins with bad hand

Personally, I think that Chiarelli has done nothing to make the Bruins better or make them a contender this year. I said it before that when Kessel left the Bruins for Toronto and Chiarelli said that Wheeler, Sturm and Bergeron where going to fill the void left by Kessel I knew the Bruins were in trouble. Looks like my predictions are coming true. My grade for the Bruins GM for far this season is a "D".

A practical man with a Harvard education, Chiarelli now founds himself in a most precarious position. He may have to do something that goes against his nature; he may have to do something purely for the sake of doing it. Last week, Chiarelli told anyone who would listen that he had no intentions of trading the Toronto selection in this year’s draft because of the depth of talent available at the top of the first round. During his weekly segment on 98.5 The Sports Hub, he went so far as to say that current Islanders rookie John Tavares (the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft) might be no better than the No. 4 overall selection in this year’s event.


By the way, Tavares is 19. He has 33 points and 17 goals this year, the latter a total unmatched by any Bruin this season. And dare we even mention that Kessel has the same number?

As encouraging as the Bruins’ efforts were over the weekend, goal-scoring remains a problem of colossal proportions. In the overtime loss to the Kings on Saturday, the Bruins had six chances to score in the shootout and managed just two tallies, by Michael Ryder and Marc Savard. Zdeno Chara, Blake Wheeler, Recchi, and Patrice Bergeron all failed.

For what it’s worth, Chiarelli last week gave no indication that the B’s were close to any deals, be it for Phaneuf, Ilya Kovalchuk or anyone else. To the contrary, Chiarelli suggested that the asking price for all trades was still much too high. (Of course, these things can change quickly.) Regardless, the addition of Phaneuf suggests the Leafs are far closer to being the Bruins than the Bruins are to being, say, the Penguins or Capitals, setting the stage for the kind of scenario that would drive the most loyal Bruins fans absolutely wild.

What if the Bruins do not make the playoffs? And what if the Leafs somehow end up finishing in front of Boston? The end result will have the Bruins picking before the Leafs following the most highly anticipated Bruins season in years, all after trading away their top goal scorer, regardless of whether Kessel wanted to be in Boston.
[Boston Globe]

Heard at the rink.

INCH had this blurb on their site. I think this sums things up pretty well. Time for the guys to bear down and go to work, no finger pointing, just hard work. Time for some deep self reflection. The fans well; we will worry about the Monday morning quarterbacking and pontifications.

“You can go two ways. You can start to get individualistic and point fingers at one another or you can pull together, do everything a little better and give a little more to your team and teammates. And that’s what we’ll do.”

North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol preached calm in his remarks to the press following his team’s 4-2 loss to Denver in Grand Forks Saturday. We’re sure the guys in the locker room are on the same page with the coach, but with the Fighting Sioux having a bye this weekend, there’s time for panic to ferment among NoDak fans

Mark Stuart smokes Anze Kopitar

Check out the hit that former C.C. star Mark Stuart puts on Anze Kopitar, it’s text book clean, elbows down, didn’t go for Kopitar’s head. Then you have Wayne Simmonds dropping the gloves because Stuart put a legal hit in his teammate. I have to agree with Bob McKenzie and what he has to say, don't we want legal hitting in the game and I think fighting after a legal hard check is senseless in this case. I would the fighting reserved for violations of the hockey code.

Immediately after the hit, the Kings' very fine forward Wayne Simmonds immediately challenged Stuart to a fight and Stuart obliged by dropping the gloves. As it turned out, Stuart broke his pinky finger in the fight. He will be out a number of weeks now and the Bruins will be without a defenceman who was playing quite well.

And for what? Getting into a fight that was started because of a clean, open-ice hit?

Am I the only one who finds this sensibility odd? We want more hitting in the game. Or at least we don't want to take hitting out of the game. So here's a novel concept. When there is a really good, clean bodycheck, let's make the person who throws the check have a fight. That sounds like a heckuva way to keep hitting in the game. (Actually, it sounds more like a way to keep fighting in the game.)

I must be getting old. I've never fully embraced or understood the concept of not being able to hit a star player on the other team. I mean, isn't that the point? Make the stars earn their ice. Isn't that what makes hockey great - that even the star players have to take some physical abuse to do their job. I am not sure when the game fully changed on this. It was probably in the 1980s when Wayne Gretzky earned special status with the Edmonton Oilers. [Read the rest of the article]

What do you think, I am not for taking fighting out of the game but I don't think there needs to be a fight after a legal hit. If Stuart had charged Kopitar then maybe not for a legal hit.

Lucia safe for now.

For all of the Gopher fans calling for Don Lucia head, it doesn't appear that it's going to happen this season. I don't know how the University of Minnesota could pay for another coach’s contract buy out? The UMN is already paying for an ex-football coach and ex-basketball coaches’ buyouts. The only way I could see a Donny Lucia firing happening is if a big time Alumni with pockets full of money came up with said big money to buy out that huge contract that Donny Lucia has floating on the books. I have to give kudos to Jess Meyers for a asking the Minnesota athletic director the question though.

While admitting that the Golden Gopher men’s hockey results have been less than expected, University of Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi gave his coach a vote of confidence on Monday.

“I can tell you that Don Lucia will be coaching Gopher hockey next year unless he chooses not to,” Maturi told InsideCollegeHockey.com.

The Gophers currently stand in seventh place in the 10-team WCHA and are looking likely to miss the NCAA playoffs for the second consecutive year. The non-typical on-ice results, coupled with health problems that led to Lucia missing a few games last season, have led to many questions raised by fans and others in college hockey media circles regarding Lucia’s future. Some have gone as far as to speculate that Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais, a Minnesota alum, would coach the Gophers next season. Maturi acknowledged disappointment with the on-ice results, but said that Lucia has the athletic director’s full confidence.

“I think we’ve got to just take a deep breath and stay the course,” Maturi said. “Nobody’s happy that we’re not winning more. I’m concerned and we’re all concerned. But I’m not concerned about the competencies and talents of Don Lucia.” [INCH]

Going forward

The Fighting Sioux were swept at home for the first time since December 15th and 16th 2006 against the MTU Huskies. That’s a little over four years ago, breaking it down further, the Sioux were also swept the weekend before by the Wisconsin Badgers on the 8th and 9th of December 2006. In reading Mike Chambers blog he said that this was the first time UND was swept by anybody in three years. That is an impressive streak that was ended the Denver Pioneers. Time to start a new streak.

Not all is lost

This isn’t the first time a Sioux team has been swept by Denver only to have them go on and have a successful post season run; in 1997 the Sioux were swept in Denver the last series of the 1996-1997 season. Obviously the Sioux went on to win the NCAA title. I am not saying this will happen and the chances of this happening this season aren’t that great unless something drastically changes in a hurry. Not all is lost either, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility. There is a lot of balance and talent on this team, 11 players have 10 or more points. The Goaltending has to be better and the power play must start scoring again.

I think UND has hit a low spot in their season and I expect them to rebound in the coming weeks, they have a week off to get back to basics and right the ship. Last night I was watching the Sioux Sports Extra on WDAZ and Coach Hakstol was interview about what UND had to do going forward. Let me tell you that Coach Hakstol didn’t looked happy. The word pissed comes to mind.

Coach Hakstol talked about making some personnel changes on the power play and that there is a 50/50 chance that Brett Hextall will be back for the SCSU series. The return of Hextall would boost the Fighting Sioux in the right direction. I would also be willing to bet that this week in practice isn’t going to be all fun and games. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sioux have a very hard week of practice and I wouldn’t be surprised if the team was gassed a few times. I would be disappointed if they weren’t.

I also think that a hard paced intense two weeks of practice is what the Sioux need to get refocused and retool for the stretch run. I would be willing to bet that the Sioux coaching staff will put the guys through a grueling week and a half of practice working on the fundamentals and working on specials teams. The penalty kill is fine and ranked 8th nationally, but the power play lacks well: goals. I don’t think there will be much fooling around leading up the SCSU series.

Come off the ledge

I like many Sioux fans are concerned the way this season has gone. The Sioux were an unimpressive 4-4-2 in January and that isn’t going to win the Sioux any league championships. They are fighting just to get home ice and will have to probably go 6-2 or 5-3 get home ice.

If the playoffs started today the Sioux would probably travel to Colorado Springs to play the C.C. Tigers. Wouldn’t that be irony? UMD traveled to the Springs last season and then went on a roll and marched to the NCAA playoffs by beating C.C. in Colorado springs. The following weekend they went on to win the Final Five from the Thursday play in game. Again I am not suggesting that the Sioux would do this but the Sioux very well could win a playoff series on the road, C.C. has stumbled as of late winning only 3 games in the last 9 games and has a record of 3-6-0 during that time period.

Give DU credit

While this is a blog focused on the UND Fighting Sioux and I am not going to spend time pumping up other teams tires, you can check out the various team blogs from my links section and I will leave the tire pumping to the specific team fan blogs. If you want to read a blog that pumps DU tires you would want to read DG’s Let Go DU hockey blog. This isn't the site for the half eaten jelly donut.

I will give some credit to the DU Pioneers they are good hockey team with an All-American goalie that is red hot right now (not to be confused with hot or not). It’s not a given Marc Cheverie will keep playing like he has. Lets not be confused he is good, the kid has something like 6 shuts outs on the season and he is seeing the puck right now.

There could be a time where that puck gets smaller and starts going in. Sometimes the puck goes in and sometimes it doesn’t. Things are going to change for DU next season when they lose some major players like Rhett Rakhshani (17g-16a-33pt) graduation, Tyler Ruegsegger (13g-16a-29pts) graduation and possibly Joel Colborne (11g-15a-26pts) Boston Bruins.

If you look at DU’s stats that is about 50 percent of their goal scoring 41/81 and the Pioneers drop off pretty fast after their first line. Their first line spent a lot of time on the ice during the weekend series. Just saying that their time is right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Marc Cheverie sign a professional contract after this season, because his stock couldn’t be higher after this season.

Lastly the DU Pioneers never had to face a healthy Fighting Sioux line up. Chay Genoway who may not come back this season because of his concussion issues, never got to play against DU. Taking Chay Genoway out of the lineup is like taking Rhett Rakhshani out of the Denver line up. In the second series the Sioux were without Genoway and Hextall. That had an effect on the four games of this series. Also, the Denver Debacle probably cost the Sioux points, it also cost the refs a paycheck with a suspension. I have been told from multiple and credible sources that those officials were in fact suspended. The league will never probably acknowledge this or issue a statement but I have been told by multiple sources that it did happen.

All in and on board

Lastly, the season is not over by any means and I think we should hold off with the lynch mob till after the season. Things could be worse. I am in and I am not going anywhere. I will be there for the Saturday game in Saint Cloud for the second game of the Sioux and Huskies game.

Programing note: As some have noticed I have added another member to the team Redwing77 from Sioux sports will now be posting blog articles from time to time. This summer I had the pleasure of meeting him in person and played some golf with him. While might not always see eye to eye, he is a Redwings fan and I am a Bruins and Wild fan he will add an interesting perspective to this blog.

Gabby's hat trick against the Av's

Props to RWD for bringing this to my attention, being she is such a huge Marian Gaborik fans I thought I would post it. It's games like this that I miss the Former Wild forward Marian Gaborik as he scored a hat trick last night as the Rangers beat the Av's 3-1. Gaborik had been in a slump and only scored once in 11 games, with his hat trick last night Gabby has 33 goals and is 4th in the NHL in goal scoring. I wonder at times if he would have made a difference in Todd Richard's wide open system.

Also, former University of Alaska Fairbanks goalie Chad Johnson got the win for the Rangers. Johnson has played in 5 games for the Rangers and has a (1-2-1 record 9.19 SV % and a 2.35 GAA).

Poll Monday (Sioux 9th in both)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[February 1, 2010]
1 Miami (43) 18-4-6 993 1
2 Denver ( 6) 16-6-4 950 3
3 Wisconsin ( 1) 15-7-4 895 2
4 St. Cloud State 17-8-3 817 5
5 Cornell 12-5-3 718 8
6 Minnesota-Duluth 17-10-1 690 9
7 Bemidji State 18-6-2 635 7
8 Yale 12-6-3 603 6
9 North Dakota 13-10-5 581 4
10 Colorado College 15-10-3 548 11
11 Ferris State 17-8-3 516 10
12 Michigan State 17-9-4 483 12
13 New Hampshire 13-8-4 443 13
14 Boston College 13-8-2 432 14
15 Massachusetts 16-10-0 347 15
16 Maine 12-9-3 212 19
17 Vermont 12-9-3 167 17
18 Mass.-Lowell 14-10-2 149 16
19 Michigan 15-12-1 137 20
20 Union 13-7-6 100 18
Others Receiving Votes: St. Lawrence 46, Lake Superior 24,
Sacred Heart 6, Notre Dame 4, RIT 2, Alaska 1, Minnesota 1

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

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Feb. 1, 2010]
1 Miami University (Ohio) (30) 18-4-6 506 1
2 Denver (4) 16-6-4 480 3
3 Wisconsin 15-7-4 446 2
4 St. Cloud State 17-8-3 381 5
5 Cornell 12-5-3 358 8
6 Minnesota Duluth 17-10-1 289 9
7 Bemidji State 18-6-2 278 6
8 Yale 12-6-3 251 7
9 North Dakota 13-10-5 241 4
10 Colorado College 15-10-3 172 11
11 Ferris State 17-8-3 169 10
12 Michigan State 17-9-4 166 13
13 New Hampshire 13-8-4 138 12
14 Boston College 13-8-2 112 15
15 Massachusetts 16-10-0 57 14
Others receiving votes: University of Maine, 16; Union College, 11; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 10; University of Michigan, 3; University of Vermont, 2; Rochester Institute of Technology, 1; Sacred Heart University, 1; St. Lawrence University, 1; University of Nebraska Omaha, 1.

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings. I can already see the questions in this week's INCH Chat. I can even write the question that some college hockey fans asking, how come UND is ranked 9th when they are only sitting in 6th place in the WCHA?

1. Miami
2. Denver
3. Wisconsin
4. Cornell
5. St. Cloud State
6. Yale
7. Michigan State
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. North Dakota 5 Maybe it’s coincidence, but the Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that since Brett Hextall has been out of the lineup with an injury, the Fighting Sioux are 1-4-1 and have scored two goals in their last 40 power-play opportunities. 13-10-5 (8-9-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 2-0; L vs. Denver, 4-2. THIS WEEK: Off
10. Colorado College
11. Bemidji State
12. Ferris State
13. New Hampshire
14. Boston College
15. Union
16. Maine
17. St. Lawrence
18. Massachusetts
19. UMass Lowell
20. Michigan

Dropped out: Vermont

Bubble-licious: Lake Superior State, Vermont, Rensselaer

The Trials of a Down Season

The Trials of a Down Season

As I write this opinion piece, my team, the Sioux, have lost another game in heartbreaking fashion, giving up four straight after scoring two and seemingly emerging from the cocoon of inability to cracking DU goaltender Marc Cheverie.

This team has had so many ups and downs it’s like a really bad rollercoaster ride at a top tier amusement superplex. When they are up, fans (such as myself) are almost in a euphoric state talking about how good we’ve played and aspiring towards greater things such as postseason awards and even, God willing, a National Championship. When we’re down we’re agonizing and pulling our hair out trying to diagnose what is wrong and how to change it.

This brings out the worst in some fans. Some fans are grounded in their beliefs, realist, mature, practical whatever. However, some fans get so caught up in the history of the team and past players and coaches that it paralyses their rationality and forces them to go back and make ludicrous claims and wistful wishes. For example, if former UND and current UNO head coach Dean Blais were still coaching UND, we would have won the games this past weekend. How do we know that? Having watched plenty of games live under the coaching of Dean Blais, I’ve watched UND teams practically give up. I’ve seen them blow leads. I’ve watched them slump like we’re doing now.

It’s hard to take. It’s unimaginable that this team… MY team… OUR team… could falter like they are right now. There are no stats or records that can be put forth to change the reality that this part of our game isn’t working, that part of our game isn’t doing well, and so on.

Brad Schlossman’s blog covers the fact that I’m portraying here. We pine for Blais. We think he’s the savior and Hakstol is the mule. One commenter on his blog states that “before our very eyes, UND is turning into St. Cloud State.” Well, let me tell ya folks, unless the NCAA is going to take away 7 National Championships and all of our NCAA tourney victories, that’s patently untrue. Also, they talk about Hakstol as a recruiter being a problem. Funny how he recruited such guys as Matt Greene, Matt Smaby, had a hand in snatching Johnny Toews, Zach Parise, and all those players we covet so much. Blais didn’t recruit everyone on his teams. Hakstol got the job based upon his ability to recruit, not just coaching ability. If you want to know how important that ability is, ask Scott Sandelin. It’s arguably why he’s still in Duluth after a few down seasons. We talk about how Hakstol should at least show some emotion on the bench yet, when other coaches do so, we berate that coach for being such a fool (see Gwozdecky, George).

UND has a passionate fan base, but we are whiny. I’ve surfed my share of hockey message boards and I have yet to find a fan base that is more over the top critical of their players than UND. Fans talk about how the team “should be better than this.” Or cite historical context and our National Championships as a way of explaining such harsh, unfair, and unbelievably ridiculous criticism of kids no older than 21 years of age. Sometimes it fades, but other times, it festers and becomes an embarrassment upon those who root for the team.

The point to be made is that, whether we think we are entitled to greatness year after year or not, there will be down years. EVERY team in EVERY sport has experienced them. Examples of the Yankees had a Title drought of 18 years between 1978 and 1996. The Canadians may lead the NHL in Stanley Cup victories, but they haven’t even been to the Finals since they last won it all in 1993. The Michigan Wolverines have 9 National Championships to their name, but none since 1998. I’d cite basketball if I gave a darn about that sport. It is true we’re going on 10 years since our last title and what… 3 years since our last NC game appearance? It doesn’t make things easier to take. No one likes down years. No one.

So what can we take out of this season? Well, we can take the highs for what they’re worth. No one likes seeking out silver linings, but those silver linings could be a key to what the next few years bring out in UND’s future. Or fans can take nothing out of this year; start up attempts to run players and coaches out of town. Or fans can simply abandon the team altogether. I see a lot of good from our team. I don’t know if this is the year. It isn’t over yet and we’re not eliminated. It is going to be a huge uphill battle and it will be hard on the players, coaches and especially the fans. However, it is possible. And this fan isn’t going to give up until the fat lady sings. And even then, I’ll eagerly look forward to next year. We’ve hit a bump in the road. It’s gut check time for us fans. Are we on board? Or are we stowaways? Just remember, the power button on the electronic device of choice can be used as a safety device in the event that you don’t wish to stay on board any longer. There’s no shame in pushing the button. The Chicago Cubs probably would thank me for it if they knew who I was.

Jason Blake is now a Duck. (update with links)

The Twitter world has been on fire this morning as there was news of a block buster deal in Toronto. Apparently the Toronto fans are happy to rid them selves of former Fighting Sioux forward Jason Blake. Since he arrived on scene in Toronto with a big contract the Leaf fans have been relentless in their maligning of Blake.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastien from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for netminder Vesa Toskala and veteran forward Jason Blake.

The deal reunites Giguere with his long-time goaltending coach Francois Allaire, as well as former GM Brian Burke.

The most valuable player of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Giguere needed to waive his no-trade clause in order for the deal to go through.

The Montreal native recently lost his starting job to netminder Jonas Hiller, who inked a four-year, $18-million extension on Saturday, clearing the way for the trade.

Giguere, 32, has a one year, $7 million contract remaining while the 32-year old Toskala is making $4 million this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Blake, 36, has struggled playing for the blue and white this season, posting just 10 goals and 26 points in 55 games. The Moorhead, MN native signed with the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in 2007 and has 50 goals and 141 points in that span.[TSN.COM]

Links to the deal

Leafs acquire Phaneuf in multi-player deal [National Post]

Anaheim Trades Giguere To Toronto For Toskala And Blake [SB Nation]

The cap hit [the Globe and Mail]

Leafs acquire Phaneuf and Giguere [NHL.COM]

Burke's Busy Morning [the Rink]

Maple Leafs nab Phaneuf, Giguere [NHL.COM]

Risky investments[Sports Net]

Leafs send Toskala, Blake to Anaheim for Giguere [Toronto Sun]

Leafs acquire Phaneuf, Giguere [Globe and Mail]

The NHL silly season begins.

Apparently Toronto didn't get the memo to bag the season and stink up the joint so the Bruins can get Taylor Hall in this summers NHL draft. Now more reason to hate the Toronto Maples Leafs first Mike Komisarek and now Dion Phaneuf. Marvelous.

The Calgary Flames have traded defenceman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom, and prospect defenceman Keith Aulie to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenceman Ian White.

The Maple Leafs and Flames have been working on the components of this blockbuster for a week to ten days, but sources say the details of the deal didn't fall into place until late last night.

"[Phaneuf] is a warrior. He's got a cannon for a shot," explained Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke on Sunday. "He plays the game hard and I want players who play the game hard because they're hard to play against."

Phaneuf has two goals over his last three games and is signed through the 2013-14 season ($6.5 million per). He had 18:49 TOI last night, only the third time this month he's been under 20 minutes in a game. The big defenceman has 10 goals and 12 assists to go with a minus-3 rating over his 55 games.

Sjostrom has played 46 games with one goal and five assists for Calgary this season. Aulie was drafted in the fourth round, 116th overall of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot-six defenceman had spent this season with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL.

Hagman has 20 goals and 13 assists, while Stajan has 16 goals and 25 assists, each over 55 games this season. Both players have a minus-3 rating. Mayers had expressed interest in being traded earlier in January. He had two goals, six assists and 78 penalty minutes over his 44 games with the Maple Leafs this season. White had nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-1 rating over his 56 games.

Burke admitted the loss of Stajan and Hagman would leave a hole in the Maple Leaf attack, but explained acquiring Phaneuf was too good to pass up.
[TSN.COM]

Fighting Sioux unimpressive in 4-2 defeat.

This should sum things up from last night pretty well. This weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Denver University Pioneers is unacceptable and down right depressing. The Fighting Sioux had their butts handed to them last night and looked like a bunch of boy playing men. Thirty minutes of hockey will not win you a game even against the last place team in the WCHA.

Cue the cute sports clichés, we didn’t play for 60 for minutes, we didn’t burry our chances, we didn't move our feet; we didn’t put the Pioneers away when we had them down 2-0 and on their heels. Blah, blah, blah, blah…

The home locker room in Ralph Engelstad Arena was full of frustration, disappointment and anger late Saturday night, consumed with a feeling that only two players inside of it have ever experienced.

For the first time in 37 months — a span of more than three years and 25 series — the UND men’s hockey team was swept at home after the University of Denver rallied for a 4-2 victory in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series finale.

Coupled with a 2-0 victory Friday night, the Pioneers became the first team since Dec. 16, 2006 to win back-to-back games here, snapping the WCHA’s longest streak without getting swept at home. [Grand Forks Herald]

This Fighting Sioux hockey team is, well, lacking leadership, focus and heart. It is what it is, UND is going to be on the road for the first round of the WCHA playoffs and will probably be golfing with the Gophers this spring during the NCAA tourney if the don't get their head out of their collective asses. This is not acceptable at the University of North Dakota. Right now this team isn’t worthy of wearing the proud Fighting Sioux warrior on the front of their jerseys. We are definitely not hostile or abusive. The Fighting Sioux hockey team went down without a fight.

Here is what our fearless leader coach Dave Hakstol had to say after this weekend's debacle at the Ralph.

“It doesn’t sit very well,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “It has to be something that’s a real slap in the face and pushes you in the right direction. You can go two ways. You can start to get individualistic and point fingers at one another or you can pull together, do everything a little better and give a little more to your team and teammates. And that’s what we’ll do.”

Since a sweep of Minnesota State-Mankato earlier this month, UND has just one win in its last six games, dropping to 13-10-5 overall and 8-9-3 in league play. UND’s record against teams ranked in this week’s national polls is now 3-8-2 and the Sioux dropped into a tie for 15th in the Pairwise Rankings.

What was good

The Fighting Sioux won the first half of the game, was ahead for half the game before the roof fell in on them. The Fighting Sioux came out and got pucks deep and fore checked, and chipped pucks out of the defensive zone. The Fighting Sioux were a text book example of what championship hockey looks like. Keep your opponent on their heals; attack and counter attack. Play smart when you don’t have the puck.

Senior forward Chris VandeVelde had another one of those break out games and scored some nice goals, Vandy’s second goal was a thing of beauty.

Sophomore forward Jason Gregoire had a solid game and was flying around all weekend.

Matt Frattin is starting to get back his game legs back and released a few bombs that just barely missed. I expect these will start going in soon. I would have to say that he has one of the harder shots that I have seen.

Freshman Danny Kristo is an awesome player but he needs to shoot the puck more, he has a laser for a shot. If this kid could get hot he could carry the team on his back.

What was not so good

You can not leave an opposition forward all alone in the slot like they did on two of the four DU goals, you're going to get killed. DU has some very talented forwards and if you let them shoot the puck unchallenged in the slot they are going to burry the puck. Half of their goals were scored in said manner.

Sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness lacks focus and needs to get back to the basics, the first things that comes to mind when I see him play is, not square to the shooter, does not cover the short side well, goes down too early. Maybe you should watch some game tape of Marc Cheverie, and see what a fundamentally sound goaltender looks like. Maybe Eidsness should consider employing his goalie coach. While I don’t fault him on most of the goals, you can not keep getting beat on the short side all of the time, his glove had is brutal.

From here on out

UND has games against SCSU (X2), UMD (X2), C.C. (2X), and MTU (2X), I figure that UND has got to go 6-2 or 5-3 in those remaining games to even have a chance to make home ice in the WCHA playoffs. All but one of those teams are sitting ahead of UND in the standings. From here on out there are no mulligan’s or give-me’s. The Fighting Sioux are currently sitting at 15th in the Pairwise rankings right now.

[Box Score]

Let's Go DU hockey Blog [Click to read]

Denver Post write up: DU road rally sweeps Sioux[Click to read]

USCHO write up: Patrick Miller/USCHO Arena Reporter[Click to read]

Grand Forks Herald write up [Click to read]

Post game press conference [Click to listen]

UND and DU Lines. (Gut Check Time)

UND Fighting Sioux hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman has the lines posted for tonight's games. I would have to say that tonight is a must win game, it's officially gut check time. It's time for VandeVelde, Frattin and Gregoire to produce and become leaders. DU is a very good opponent but really, there is no reason UND can't get points against the Pioneers tonight. Come on Sioux lets wipe that cocky grin of their face.

UND's lines

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

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 Fighting Sioux stats]

Denver's lines

17 Matt Glasser--23 Drew Shore--11 Chris Knowlton
16 Anthony Maiani--22 Brian Gifford--19 Kyle Ostrow
9 Rhett Rakhshani--15 Tyler Ruegsegger--12 Joe Colborne
27 Brandon Vossberg--37 Nate Dewhurst

28 Patrick Wiercioch--5 John Lee
4 Matt Donovan--6 Chris Nutini
7 Paul Phillips--25 Cody Brookwell
24 John Ryder

1 Marc Cheverie
33 Adam Murray

[Link to DU Pioneer stats]

More red meat stuff from Chambers.

This guy must love baiting the UND faithful because he sure seems to like to write the red meat blog articles about UND. It’s almost like he has UND derangement syndrome. Just for the record any WCHA team is going to put up a big fight if they are facing the prospects of getting no points during a season against a team. This why I like Brad Schlossman because I feel he is more objective and even handed than this guy. We can only hope for a full scale war tonight with our favorite dance partner the Denver Pioneers.

Grand Forks — Here are some leftover quotes from DU coach George Gwozdecky and goalie Marc Cheverie after last night’s 2-0 Pioneers’ win over the Fighting Sioux — the first win at Engelstad Arena for any current DU player. The teams conclude their two-game set tonight, in what I think has the makings of a full-scale war. The Sioux, 1-3-1 in their past five games, are falling out of the WCHA race and even the NCAA Tournament picture. They are 0-3 against DU this season, having previously been swept by the Pios in November (the first time UND was swept by anybody in three years).[Denver Post Hockey Blog]

Here are some interesting notes from the other side without the red meat.

Grand Forks — Last night’s game here was a terrific college hockey environment. Great sold-out crowd of nearly 12,000 and DU played extraordinarily well at times. The first period was probably the best stretch of hockey I’ve seen this year since, well, the last time these teams met in November. Back-and-forth, great skill. However, both teams skated off at the buzzer a little frustrated. The Sioux, despite creating a ton of good chances, were blanked for the second time in three games, and fell to 0-3 against DU this season (two shutouts). The Pios, despite a great start, were on their heels in the final 40 minutes — the product of killing off nine power plays — and perhaps lucky to get the full two points.

– North Dakota is scoreless on its last 28 power plays. Without injured stars Chay Genoway and Brett Hextall, who hasn’t played since Jan. 3 (leg injury), the Sioux are just 2-of-36 with the man-advantage. Still, the Sioux move the puck well on the power play. Their problem last night was ineffective finishing around the net, and, of course, DU goalie Marc Cheverie.
[Denver Post Hockey Blog]

Mike Green Elbows Michael Frolik.

Green was only given a two minute minor on the play. I saw this last night while I was watching replays at the Green Mill and it looked like a pretty bad hit to me. The NHL agrees that it was a blatant elbow and has given Mike Green a three game suspension for the elbow.

TORONTO (January 30, 2010) – The National Hockey League announced today that Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green has been suspended for three games, without pay, for an incident that took place during NHL game #802 against the Florida Panthers on January 29.

At 4:24 of the first period, Green delivered an elbow to the head of Panthers’ forward Michael Frolik. Green was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing on the play.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average salary, Green will forfeit $81,606.21. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

In case you haven't seen it.

All I can say is, wow! That was pretty creative.

Saturday morning blah: Cleaning up the mess.

Short of scoring MORE goals I don't know what UND could have done last night, cue the proverbial hot goalie cliché, the Fighting Sioux gave up two quick goals and DU did exactly what Cornell did last Friday night they went into a defensive shell and sat on the lead, they chipped the pucks out and collapsed around their net. It’s almost as if they watched the game film of last Friday’s game between he Big Red and the Fighting Sioux.

On the first goal Dell stopped the first two shots and was beat when the defense failed to pick up the rebound, third shot was in the net. The first and second shot were tough saves as well. Hockey is a team game and they came out flat in the first 3:18 of the game and it cost them. The second goal wasn’t so good; it was your basic five hole.

I have to admit that I am not excited about the current state of the Fighting Sioux hockey team, they have went an unimpressive 1-3-1 in their last five games, however, I believe their record does not tell the whole story. The Fighting Sioux have also played some pretty good hockey during that time frame, that have also ran into three solid goaltending efforts in those three losses.

In the defensive zone of the ice the Fighting Sioux have limited the opposition's shot totals. The Sioux limited the Gophers to 23 shots in the 5-1 loss, against Cornell they limited the Big Red to 31 shots on the weekend and last night the Pioneers were only able to get 20 shots on net. That is good defense, statistically.

During the last three games the Fighting Sioux have only give up four goals. Last night during the second period the Fighting Sioux out shot DU 15-2, and just could put anything past Chevy. What do you do? Sioux7 says that you go out and run over the goalie to start the game. I personally wouldn't recommend that option, unless you want to start a Donnybrook. When Marc Cheverie is on he is a pretty goalie, it is what it is.

Like Tim Hennessey said during the post game comments that eventually they are going to start going in and someone is going to get plastered by this team. [click to the post game]

Latest hatchet job by Mike Chambers.

In case you haven't seen it, here is the latest by uber hack Mike Chambers. Apparently, he is still living in the past and whinning about poor Alanna Rizzo aledged poor treatment at UND last winter. Maybe you should stick to writing about how DU is the greatest team on paper and how they are going to march through the NCAA tourney.

The big screen just showed a video clip of Sioux players urging the crowd to behave and treat all student-athletes and fellow patrons with respect. Nice effort that undoubtedly stems from the university’s crackdown on behavoir at this place. For sure, when I saw the clip I immediately thought of FSN’s Alanna Rizzo, who had a horrible experience here a year ago when covering the DU-UND series. Alanna allowed me to blog her thoughts on fan behavoir, and although many, many Sioux fans didn’t like the piece, I have to think she may have helped the school realize it had a problem.

[Official box score]

Sioux 0 - DU 2

This is the latest goal to be waved off by the refs this season. There is no reason this goal should have been waved off. Horrible call by the officials, the sad part is that Shepherd and Hunt are the best of the worst. I was wondering if someone had broke a mirror in the UND locker room. UND took it to DU all night and came out with nothing to show for. Here is how bad it is, 0-28 on the power play, 4 goals in the last four games. Here is the post game comments. [Click to listen]

UND lines for tonight.

UND Fighting Sioux hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman has the lines posted for tonight's games. Aaron Dell in net for the Sioux. Wouldn't you know it we have Derek Shepherd and Marco Hunt as the officials. There is good possibility we won't see a one sided officiated game either way. While the officials in this league are not good Shepherd and Marco are the best of the worst.

UND's lines

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

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

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

Denver's lines

17 Matt Glasser--27 Brandon Vossberg--26 Shawn Ostrow
22 Brian Gifford--23 Drew Shore--11 Chris Knowlton
16 Anthony Maiani--14 Jesse Martin--19 Kyle Ostrow
9 Rhett Rakhshani--15 Tyler Ruegsegger--12 Joe Colborne

4 Matt Donovan--6 Chris Nutini
28 Patrick Wiercioch--5 John Lee
7 Paul Phillips--25 Cody Brookwell

1 Marc Cheverie
33 Adam Murray

INCH on this weekend's series.

Here is what INCH had to say about this weekend's series.

Denver at North Dakota

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY --- If nothing else, this weekend's series in Grand Forks will provide a look at the resiliency of these two teams. The Fighting Sioux -- in the midst of grueling seven-week stretch during which they've faced or will face Minnesota, Cornell, Denver, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth, and Colorado College -- are trying to get back into the top half of the WCHA standings. The Pioneers were clipped by Wisconsin in Madison, getting just one point from the Badgers.

Denver's healthier and has the edge in goal with Marc Cheverie, but consecutive high-stakes series at unfriendly venues like Wisconsin and North Dakota can be mentally draining. And you can bet that the Engelstad Arena crowd, which hasn't seen the Sioux play at home in three weeks, will be at a fever pitch for this series
[INCH]

This is what Jess Meyers had to say in the weekly WCHA column.

EARPLUG TIME AT THE RALPH?

This weekend will be Denver’s first visit to North Dakota since last year at about this time, when the Fighting Sioux got a sweep, and four very important points en route to winning the MacNaughton Cup. That was also the weekend that Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky, after an on-ice fracas, made his now-legendary stroll across the ice to speak to the officials, on his way to an ejection.

Needless to say, some Sioux fans have been saving some choice words for coach Gwoz for a long time, eagerly anticipating his return. We’re sure there will be the standard pre-game announcements warning against the use of “foul and abusive language” by fans and threatening ejection for same. We wonder, if ushers stringently enforce that threat, will there be any Sioux fans left in the building by the third period?

DU hockey press conference

Here is what George Gwozdecky had to say about the upcoming series between the UND Fighting Sioux and the DU Pioneers. One thing that I notice is that the DU coach and players are choosing their words very carefully.

Vandy's goal against Cornell.

This is the game winning goal against Cornell last Saturday night. This was the goal that Cornell's head coach Mike Schafer was arguing about and the Cornell coach thought there should have been a penalty called on UND's Chris VandeVelde. I didn't know picking someone's pocket was considered a penalty? There is no penalty there. It was the right call by the on ice officials.

Friday Links.

Here is the link to this week's Wednesday press conference [click to listen]

Here is the link to the Wednesday Coaches show. [Click to listen]

UND is going to celebrate the 2000 NCAA Championship team the weekend of the UND and UMD series, it's been 10 years since the Fighting Sioux won a NCAA title.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota athletics department and men's hockey program invites Fighting Sioux fans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of UND's 2000 NCAA championship season during the Feb. 19-20 series against Minnesota Duluth.
Members of the 2000 Fighting Sioux will be on hand for a pre-game autograph session prior to the Saturday, Feb. 20 game. The autograph session will begin at 5:30 p.m. on the northeast concourse of Ralph Engelstad Arena and FREE autograph cards will be provided.*

The 2000 Sioux will be introduced on the ice during the second intermission of the Saturday game.

The weekend will also include a series of video board messages from players and staff from that championship team. A commemorative game program will also be available, featuring a team photo of the 2000 national championship team on the insert poster and special 10th anniversary images. [Fighting Sioux]

DU at North Dakota advance

Looks like the DU hockey beat writer and the DU players are picking their words more carefully this time around. John Lee is one of my least favorite DU hockey players.

If nothing else, the University of Denver will find out this weekend how well it has recruited over the past five years. It won’t be a gauge of talent, in which the Pioneers have plenty, but a test of competitiveness and character while playing in college hockey’s toughest atmosphere.

Third-ranked DU, coming off the first leg of its difficult road stretch last weekend at No. 2 Wisconsin, faces No. 4 and simmering rival North Dakota tonight and Saturday at Engelstad Arena.

The Pioneers were boys when they pledged to play for DU, but they’ll need to perform like men against the Fighting Sioux, who arguably have the most animated and loyal fans in the country.

“It’s a product of being apart of high-profile like ours,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said of playing challenging, back-to-back road series. “There is no question that one of the big reasons why these guys decided to come to DU was to play big games, and win big games, whether it’s the regular season or postseason. Part of that is dealing with the expectations, the stress and the anxiety.”

History says this weekend’s series will be a hard-hitting, emotional affair _ similar to the teams’ two-game set in Denver Nov. 20-21. The Pioneers swept with 1-0 and 3-2 victories, both in penalty-filled and controversial fashion.

The rematch in Grand Forks figures to be just as mentally draining.

“Yeah, it’s going to be very intense, we’re going to play with intensity and emotion, but this is not winner take all, the end-all,” Gwozdecky said. “There is a balance that has to be established and I think the team has that right kind of balance.”

DU sophomore defenseman John Lee grew up in Moorhead, Minn., which is about 80 miles south of Grand Forks. Lee’s older brother, Brian, was a standout at UND when John chose Denver over North Dakota and Minnesota.

A year ago, John absorbed plenty of grief from Sioux players and fans in his DU debut at Engelstad.
[Read the Rest of the Article]

DU Defenseman William Wrenn out for this weekend's series

DU Pioneer freshman defenseman William Wrenn is not making the trip to Grand Forks, ND this weekend. Wrenn in 20 games is (0-6-6 +5).

Freshman defenseman William Wrenn is among those that didn’t travel to Grand Forks today. Wrenn, who has experience at Engelstad Arena — he was captain of the U.S. under-18 team last season — is recovering from a hip injury. Senior Cody Brookwell or freshman Paul Phillips will be in the lineup on Friday’s series opener, likely as DU’s sixth blue-liner.

Sophomore forward Luke Salazar also didn’t make the trip.
[Denver Post hockey Blog]

Jack Hillen smoked in the head by Alex Ovechkin Shot

So you want to be a defenseman in the NHL, it can be a dangerous job blocking shots. Unforunately former C.C. Tiger Jack Hillen took a laser in the head. Hillen is going to be out 6-8 weeks.

Weekend Match Ups (by Sioux 7)

This week I want to start off by asking a question. Does the state of Minnesota still have the DQ (Dairy Queen) Cup thing going on? (They use to have certain games between the MN schools count as points throughout the regular season, and the winner would be the “champion” of MN and get the DQ cup.)

Look at the standings and the MacNaughton cup could end up with 5 different teams. It's a classic log jam only this time its at the top of the standings, instead of the middle. The top 5 teams are only separated by 2 points. I remember a few season where 2 teams have tied for the title, but wouldn’t it be something to see a 3 or 4 way tie!

This weekend we are treated to a full slate of WCHA games. It's funny how it works out that the top teams are playing each other and the bottome teams are playing each other. (UMD vs UW, SCSU vs CC, DU vs UND, UM vs UAA, and MSUM vs MTU)


CURRENT WCHA STANDINGS

TEAM…………………..GP.…W-L-T….PTS
1 Minnesota-Duluth…...18….12-5-1….25
2 St. Cloud State……...18….11-5-2….24
2 Denver……………….....18….10-4-4….24
4 Wisconsin…………......18….10-5-3….23
4 Colorado College…....20….10-7-3….23
6 North Dakota………....18….8-7-3…..19
7 Minnesota……………....18….7-9-2…..16
8 Alaska-Anchorage…...20….7-12-1….15
9 Minnesota State……...18….5-12-1….11
10 Michigan Tech……....18….2-16-0…..4

Minnesota at Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Gophers were swept by SCSU in a home and home series, and the Seawolves split with CC in Anchorage.

In most conferences not many people would pay attention to the 7th and 8th place teams playing each other. But I think this series could have historic meaning this weekend. Let’s face it, UM is considered one of the power-houses in college hockey, and well UAA has generally been a cellar dweller. But, this weekend the Seawolves could pass up the once mighty Gophers, and sit 3 points ahead of them, with a sweep. Of course, the Gophers would still have two games in hand on the Seawolves. Can you image the joy in Anchorage (and other cities around the league) if they would be ahead of the Gophers in the standings at the start of February? The Gophers have to make the long trip to UAA this weekend. The Seawolves are playing well as of late, 3-1-0 in their last four games, and they are 5-7-0 at Sullivan Arena this season. The Gophers are 5-4-1 away from home. UM has more talent on paper, but we've seen what that has done for them this season. I’m going to take the easy way out and call a SPLIT.

Minnesota State at Michigan Tech
Last weekend both the Mavericks and the Huskies were on vacation.

From my figuring MTU is locked into a road trip the first round of the playoffs. The Huskies last win was back on 11-13-09 against the UMD Bulldogs. These teams met in Mankato back on Thanksgiving weekend, where the Mavericks swept the Huskies.
The Mavericks are winless in their last four games, and their last WCHA win was back on 12-4-09 against UM. MSUM can make a push towards the middle of the pack and try and move out of the 9-spot with a sweep over the Huskies. Also the Mavericks have another bye week next weekend (Feb. 5, 6). In league play, the Huskies are averaging only 2.0 goals/game while surrendering 4.5 goals/game, that is a -2.5 goal/game differential, ouch. Sorry Tech fans but I have to go with Mavericks in this series. MAVERICKS SWEEP


#3 Denver at #4 North Dakota
Last weekend the Pioneers got one point while visiting UW and the Sioux split a series against Cornell in Ithaca, NY.

Back in November the Pioneers swept the Sioux at Magnuss Arena by scores of 1-0 and 3-2. This series is more important for UND, who needs points to get into the top five of the WCHA and host a playoff series, and in the PWR standings. This has been a good rivalry for the past, oh, decade or so now. This could possibly be the last time the Pioneers play the Sioux (who knows with all the nickname lawsuits). Starting with DU, the Sioux have games against everyone ahead of them in the standings, except UW. After the DU series UND plays SCSU, UMD, CC, and MTU to end the regular season. DU on the other hand faces the other bottom league teams UM, MTU, MSUM, and then end the season with in-state rival CC. I’m sure the Sioux would love to get revenge from the earlier series and sweep the Pioneers, but DU never rolls over and plays dead. SPLIT

#5 St. Cloud State at #11 Colorado College
Last weekend the Huskies swept in-state rival UM, and the Tigers split with UAA in Anchorage.

The Huskies come into this series with an 8-game winning streak and are looking to run that to double digits. Meanwhile the Tigers are 3-5-0 in their last 8 games. However, SCSU last loss was to the Tigers, so does that mean the Tigers will "finish what they started" this weekend? SCSU is one point ahead of CC in the standing, but has two games in hand on them. A Huskies sweep could put the Tigers way back in SCSU’s rearview mirror. I watched both SCSU-UM games last weekend, and the Huskies played very well in both games. I’m going to say SCSU's win streak comes to an end this weekend. SPLIT.

#2 Wisconsin at #9 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Badgers took three points from DU, and the Bulldogs got swept by soon-to-be WCHA member Bemidji St.

Well this is the only meetings between these two teams this season, and boy-o-boy it should be a good series. One or both teams could be sitting on top of the league come Saturday night. The Badgers are 5-4-1 away from the Kohl center this season, and the Bulldogs are 10-5-0 at this the last season in the DECC. The Badgers are leading the WCHA in scoring this year 70-goals, the Bulldogs are 3rd with 64-goals (CC is 2nd with 65-goals but has played two more games than UW and UMD). I’m not sure what the outcome of this series will be, but it should be fun to watch. Since UW plays on the big ice and now has to play on the smallest ice sheet in the league, I’m going to call a SPLIT.

Announcing the Bemidji Pond Hockey Classic.

Coming February 26th - 28th the Bemidji Pond Hockey Classic.

Mark Fistric and Eric Nystrom fight.

Check out this fight between former University of Michigan Wolverine star and current Calgary Flame Eric Nystrom and Dallas Star player Mark Fistric. The stars player Fistric takes off Eric Nystrom's helmets and hits him with his own helmet. I have never seen anything like this before.

Chiarelli trying to make a deal

The Bruins are starved for goals and now are looking to make a trade, Chiarelli should have thought about that before he failed to sign Kessel. The problem is that the team never replaced the goals that they lost when Kessel scored his big deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs this fall. The Bruins really don't have the room under the cap for KIlya Kovalchuk. You know your team is in trouble when Blake Wheeler is second on the team in scoring.

Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said Wednesday he is working the phones trying to make a deal ahead of the Feb. 12 Olympic roster freeze and the March 3 trade deadline.

"I'm looking every year [to make trades], but maybe more so this year because of the way we performed," said Chiarelli. "Having said all that, we want to be in the playoffs and we want to succeed in the playoffs."

The Bruins, who have lost five straight and currently sit one point out of a playoff spot, have plenty of ammunition at their disposal in trade talks. They have nine draft picks in the first two rounds over the next two years, including a pair of first-rounders courtesy of the Phil Kessel trade in September (Toronto sent over a first-rounder for both 2010 and 2011). Some of those picks are in play.

"But I can tell you one thing, I'm not trading Toronto's pick [for this year]," said Chiarelli. "I am not trading it. That pick is too valuable."

The Leafs are 28th in the overall standings, so that asset looks more like a lottery pick, which could wind up being the first overall selection.

While Chiarelli refused to discuss any specific names, another NHL source told ESPN.com the Bruins are very much in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes along with Los Angeles, in particular. While Vancouver, Philadelphia and Chicago also have reported interest, it appears the Bruins and Kings are the front-runners at this point.

But will anyone pay the price? The Atlanta Thrashers reportedly are looking for a package that includes a first-round pick, a prospect and a player from their NHL roster.

Kovalchuk, who is among the NHL's leaders with 56 points in 46 games this season, is an unrestricted free agent July 1. [ESPN.COM]

It's still possible

I was playing around with the numbers and realistically speaking the Fighting Sioux "COULD" finish in first still. I don't know the Sioux are 4-2-2 during the second half. Try the "what-if" calculator. Go ahead and post your finds if you like. I don't know if I would like to see UND play the Seawolves.

WCHA Final
UMD 28 36
UND 28 36
Denver 28 36
UW 28 35
SCSU 28 35
CC 28 29
UMN 28 26
AA 28 21
Mankato 28 21
MTech 28 5

UND gets some love from INCH.

I was wondering if INCH has gone soft or something. Joe Gladziszewski has been very complimentary of UND this season, if you listen to the INCH podcast as well. I want my team to travel so we can get some good teams to come back to play the Fighting Sioux at the REA. I don’t want to see our team load up cupcakes and nondescript teams, just for the sake of making the NCAA tourney. Playing tough teams helps UND’s PWR for the NCAA tourney.

@SchlossmanGF - In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here.

@undsid - In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here. @SchlossmanGF: Stop whining!

@SchlossmanGF - @INCH_Gladdy Strange that two guys from North Dakota are complaining about the cold?

The Tweets of the Week share some levity from Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman and North Dakota media relations director Jayson Hajdu. Here are a couple of guys who wake up to sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures throughout the winter and got the chills in a 40-50 degree hockey rink.

The bigger picture is that one of the ideas for this week’s Stick Salute was to raise the branches to North Dakota’s willingness to travel east and set up a very good series between two very good teams. We understand that several high-profile Western teams have big rinks and big financial responsibilities to their athletic departments. That being said, North Dakota has made a commitment to get on the plane and play non-league games against prominent Eastern-based teams. Last year, it was the IceBreaker Tournament at BU with another game against UMass. This year, a trip to Cornell; and next year the Sioux embark on a two-game series at Maine.
[INCH]

Some video to get you in the mood.

A little dasher dance by Gwoz [Click for Video]

Pioneers and Sioux get after it [Click to view] Radke's two fight game.

Vandy and Testwuide discuss their weekend plans [Click to watch video]

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.