UND and UAA match up courtesy of CHN

Tale of the Tape

Alaska-Anchorage vs. North Dakota / February 12, 2011

	Alaska-Anchorage	North Dakota
Record	10-13-3	19-8-2
Head-to-Head	0-0-1	0-0-1
Goals	62 / 2.38	106 / 3.66
Goals Against	77 / 2.96	72 / 2.48
Power Play	15.9%	20.3%
Penalty Kill	81.0%	84.2%
Avg. Height / Weight	6' 0.25" / 188.64 lbs.	6' 0.58" / 194.85 lbs.
Avg. Age	22y 3m	21y 8m
Coach	Dave Shyiak	Dave Hakstol
Latest Results	2/05 vs. Michigan Tech ... 4-2 W 2/04 vs. Michigan Tech ... 4-1 W 1/29 at Minnesota ... 1-0 W 1/28 at Minnesota ... 1-5 L	1/29 at Colorado College ... 6-0 W 1/28 at Colorado College ... 2-4 L
Injuries	Andrew Pickering (head)	Chay Genoway (lower body) Danny Kristo (frostbite)
Team Scoring Leaders
	T. Grant 10-13-23 M. Bailey 8-9-17 J. Kwas 4-13-17 C. Parkinson 7-8-15 M. Bruijsten 8-5-13	M. Frattin 21-10-31 C. Knight 12-16-28 B. Malone 9-16-25 C. Genoway 6-19-25 E. Trupp 11-14-25
Team Goaltenders
	R. Gunderson 6-10-2 2.72 C. Kamal 4-3-1 2.97	A. Dell 18-6-1 2.07 B. Eidsness 1-2-1 4.56
More Info
Radio	650 AM KENI	KQHT 96.1 FM
	Netcast	Netcast
	Roster	Roster
	Stats	Stats
	Schedule	Schedule
Recent Team vs. Team Result History

Is there a Colin Campbell conspiracy?

www.montrealgazette.com/sports

Apparently the Montreal media was less than amused with watching the Montreal Canadians get their asses handed to them last night in Boston. If you don’t want to get into a fight, do not lock up with a tough guy that has a reputation of pummeling guys who makes his living with his fists. This article is highly entertaining and worth a look. The author also suggests that there is a conspiracy by Colin Campbell to look the other when his son commits a questionable and egregious act on the ice. My first follow up question would be who determines what is considered egregious and questionable?

Montreal Gazette ---- There was no supplemental discipline coming from the NHL Thursday, hardly surprising given the fact the league probably couldn’t organize a haircut at a skinhead convention.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin wasn’t willing to discuss the provocative final-minute use by Bruins counterpart Claude Julien of his roster’s foil fists with the game’s result by then well decided.

That resulted in the pummelling by Boston’s Johnny Boychuk of pacifist Habs defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, the chasing around by Shawn Thornton of rearguard Roman Hamrlik, and the bloodying of Montreal forward Tom Pyatt by Gregory Campbell, the ankles-sharpened son of NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell.

Photos of the Pyatt-Campbell scrap show the latter clearly having nearly lost his left elbow pad, which is hanging from his arm and essentially being used as a tethered weapon.

In hand-to-hand combat, Pyatt was badly over matched by a player who has 10.7 penalty minutes for each of his NHL goals. But in this case, he was cannon fodder.

Leaving Thursday’s morning skate, a box lunch in hand and a baseball cap tugged low on his head, Pyatt wore a blue-black shiner beneath his right eye and had seven small stitches zippered high into his right cheekbone.

This article also suggests the same Colin Campbell conspiracy theory as well. Same Montreal newspaper of course. Maybe it's just a Montreal Gazette thing? Of course they aren’t going to be amused because their team was taken to the wood shed last night and exposed for being a bunch of pansies. Last night Hab's Punk P.K. Subban was yapping at the Bruins all night long while hiding behind the refs.

While the game featured the silliest fight of the year between goaltenders Carey Price and Tim Thomas, there were others that fell into the gratuitous violence category. There was Johnny Boychuk who kept beating on Jaroslav Spacek even after the Canadiens defenceman had stopped fighting, and Gregory Campbell who used his elbow pads as weapons against Tom Pyatt. It’s the sort of action that the NHL should be compelled to look into but, then again, the guy who handles discipline for the NHL is Colin Campbell, who is Gregory’s proud dad.

While we’re on the subject of the way the NHL views fighting, it’s ironic that it has taken a hard line on shots to the head, but doesn’t have any problem when Brent Johnson rearranges Rick DiPietro’s face with a left hook. That incident was on Thomas’s mind as he faced Price, but the Canadiens goalie had the grace not to press the advantage when he landed on top of Thomas after a graceless - and punchless - waltz. [Read the whole article here]

Me personally, I don't think there is a Colin Campbell conspiracy but I am a Boston Bruins fans so I might not be seeing it from a Hab's fan perspective, I have seen a lot more egregious thuggery and other questionable stuff go unpunished by Colin Campbell. Puck Daddy seemed to be hinting at this conspiracy as well .   I do think the Hab's were exposed last night as being a bit soft. I do think we will see other teams playing Canadians in a physical manner.

Thursday afternoon pontifications

In looking at this video posted above, it's like watching two games with in a game. This is the video from the Kendall Hockey Classic, tournament the Sioux played in back in October, while it was at the beginning of the season, it should serve as a reminder for the Fighting Sioux. The UND Fighting Sioux raced to a 5-1 lead and then ended up hanging on for a 5-5 tie, the Sioux almost lost that game in the overtime period. I hope that the Fighting Sioux do not take this Seawolves team lightly, they are big, physical team and they will come at you and they will play the body. This team is not a bunch of pansies that are afraid to hit, beware of Jade Portwood.

If the Seawolves get a lead on the Fighting Sioux they will back into the defensive zone and play a collapsing defense. The Seawolves are one of the biggest teams in division 1 hockey so they will be a hard team to get inside the dots on. The Sioux are going to have to cash in on their opportunities… The Fighting Sioux are a deeper team offensively and they are going to have to use their speed to capitalize on the Seawolves mistakes and burry the turnovers. The Fighting Sioux are going to have to get a lead and to cause the Seawolves to have to open up their game.

Listen to Gopher Puck Lives' Ryan Cardinal and P.A. on KFAN on [click to listen]

Delusions of Grandeur has a preview to the Sioux and Sea Dogs series. It was amazing that he was able to write a blog post free of profanity.

The Fighting Sioux Hockey team had five of their players recognized for their academic achievements. This was the fourth year in a row that Chay Genoway has made the list.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Senior defenseman Chay Genoway was named a four-time recipient of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Scholar-Athlete Award today, highlighting North Dakota's five recipients of the league's highest academic honor.

UND's other honorees include Tded two-time recipients Brad Eidsness (Jr., Chestermere, Alberta) and Derrick LaPoint (Sr., Eau Claire, Wis.) and first-time recipients Brett Bruneteau (So., Omaha, Neb.) Tate Maris (So., Denver, Colo.).

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

The playoff picture is starting to take shape with only four more weekends to go in the regular season. We have all 12 teams in league games this weekend again. The top 5 teams are separated by only 5 points. Also 6th place thru 11th place is only separated by 6 points. It looks like the last home ice playoff spot will come down to the last weekend of play, the way things are going. MTU is the first team to be eliminated from home ice contention. The most points Tech can end with is 19, and that would require them to win their last 8 games. The Sioux look to have the “easiest” schedule down the stretch, they do not playing any of the current top teams in the WCHA. (UND schedule has series with UAA, @ SCSU, BSU, and @ MTU to finish out the regular season.)

We at Goon’s World are still hoping Kristo will make a full recovery from his frostbite, keep going Danny.

WCHA standings

TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts
1. Denver………….....……13-4-3…29
1. Minnesota-Duluth.....13-4-3…29
3. North Dakota…….….14-6-0…28
4. Nebraska-Omaha…..12-6-2…26
5. Wisconsin……...….…11-7-2…24
6. Colorado College…10-10-0…20
6. Alaska-Anchorage….9-11-2…20
8. Minnesota……….……8-9-3…19
9. Minnesota State……6-12-4…16
9. St. Cloud State….....7-11-2…16
11. Bemidji State……….6-12-2…14
12. Michigan Tech………1-18-1…3

WCHA

#7 Wisconsin @ #16 Nebraska-Omaha
Last weekend the Badgers enjoyed a free weekend and the Mavericks swept with the SCSU Huskies in Omaha.

This should be the marquee matchup this week in the WCHA. These teams are separated by only 2 points in the standings. This will be a battle to take possession of 4th place and keep pace on the league leaders. The Badgers and the Mavericks have played 5 times before this weekend, with Bucky winning all 5 times. The Badgers are leading the league in defense, giving up a league low 41 goals. The Mavericks are 3rd in the league with goals scored at 67 (trailing DU and UND with 70 each). Buck also have done well this year away from the Kohl Center posting an overall road record of 5-3-2, and the Mavericks have a 10-3-1 overall record at the Qwest Center in Omaha. The Badgers are red hot going 12-1-0 in their last 13 games, but they can’t look past UNO and to the Gophers next weekend. We’ll see what the Mavericks are made of the next month, after UW, they go to UAA, host DU, and finish up at UMD. With a schedule like that, they could easily end up in a fight for a home ice spot. SPLIT

#4 Denver @ Minnesota
Last weekend the Pioneers split with the CC Tigers and the Golden Gophers got a point against the Bulldogs in Duluth.

The Pioneers are owners of a 5-4-3 overall road record this season and the Gophers sport a 6-7-1 overall home record. The Gophers are in need of points, if they don’t want to travel the second weekend in March. DU has gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games, while the Gophers 3-4-3 in their last ten games. I watched both Gopher games last weekend, and they showed some resolve in their games against UMD. They also showed some defensive lapses too. This year’s Gopher’s season is shaping up to be like their last 3 seasons, where home ice is decided that last weekend. Like they say, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” I think that desperation will get them some points this weekend. SPLIT

Bemidji State @ Michigan Tech
Last weekend the Beavers split with the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato and the Huskies were swept by the Seawolves in Anchorage.

The Beavers can seal the Huskies fate this weekend. If BSU can sweep the hapless Huskies, MTU will be locked into the bottom spot. The Beavers have played better since the Christmas break, they are 5-4-1 overall over that span. BSU has seen overtime in 4 of their last 6 games. The Huskies are still winless since October 15th, this weekend is looking the best for MTU to get another win this season. After the Beavers, the Tech-sters play, DU, UM, and UND. This could be Tech’s weekend, the Beavers have scored only 44 goals in league play (2.20/game) and Tech has 36 goals (1.8/game) in the WCHA. With what could theoretically be a couple of 2-1 games, the Huskies have hopes of winning. SPLIT

Alaska-Anchorage @ #5 North Dakota
Last weekend the Seawolves swept the MTU Huskies in Anchorage and the Sioux were on a bye weekend.

The Seawolves keep their dream of hosting a first round playoff series alive with a sweep of MTU. But this weekend, they have a much taller order, the 5th ranked Sioux, in Grand Forks. These teams met once this season back in October, in Anchorage at the Kendall Classic, where the teams skated to a tie. The Sioux will be missing a couple of key players this weekend, forward Danny Kristo (frostbite) and their captain, d-man Chay Genoway. Fortunately for the Sioux have great depth this and should be able to manage this weekend. All the Sioux players had last week to rest up and get healthy, and now should be ready to start the stretch run. If UND isn’t rusty on Friday from the break and come to play they should be able to take care of business. SIOUX SWEEP

Minnesota State @ #19 Colorado College
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the BSU Beavers in Mankato and the Tigers split with the Pioneers in a home-and-home series.

These teams met back in October with the teams splitting that series, MSUM 5-4, and CC 1-0 in the rematch. The Mavericks will be down to four league games, after this series, so they direly need points if they want to climb into the 6-spot and host a playoff series. The Tigers are currently tied for the last home ice spot, with UAA, but have two games in hand on the Seawolves (and MSUM). The Tigers could assure the Mavericks a bottom half finish, if they can sweep them at World Arena. CC played their arch-rivals tough last weekend, so they proved they can play with the big boys, but they have also lost to lesser teams. SPLIT

St. Cloud St. @ #3 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Huskies were swept by the UNO Mavericks in Omaha and the Bulldogs got 3-points against the Gophers in Duluth.

The Bulldogs are slowly breaking in their new Amsoil Arena, they are 2-2-1 in their new home and are 9-3-1 overall at home this season. The Huskies are 4-6-0 overall away from the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud (3-1-0 at neutral sites). The Huskies need help if they want to host a first round playoff game, which is a long shot when looking at the schedule they face. SCSU had high hopes to start the season, and most coaches and the media thought that SCSU would be a MacNaughton Cup contender this season. Now they can play spoiler role. By getting some points over the last month they can try and avoid a bottom 3 finish and avoid playing the “big boys” in the first round. The Bulldogs will get home, barring some type of historic meltdown. UMD is a puck possession team, so if SCSU wants to win, they need to play keep-away with the Bulldogs. UMD’s weakness appears to be their defensive zone coverage, followed by their net minders. The Huskies need to exploit these aspects if they want some points. SPLIT.

Coach Hakstol unhappy with the distraction

Check out coach Hakstol’s response when asked about Danny Kristo’s frostbite. If you watch coach Hakstol’s body language you can tell that he is not very happy to have to be dealing with this situation in the playoff stretch drive. Coach Hakstol said that he is unhappy with the distraction that has been created for our team at this time of year.

Bruins and Habs brawl

Bruins beat up the Habs and beat them 8-6 on the score board

If you didn't see this game tonight, watch this video by NESN, it was amazing, oh my!!! What a game tonight. There was a lot of goals tonight 14 and a there were a lot of fights as well, there were 187 192 minutes in penalties minutes. Wow! This is the way the Boston Bruins need to play to be successful, they need to show the opposition that they will not be pushed around and that they will push back, last week they beat the hell out of Dallas Stars and the Bruins won the battles tonight as well. The big bad Bruins are back. This blurb by NESN.COM really explains it pretty good.

"We're on opposing team but we spent some time together at a hockey camp a few summers ago and we were just at the All-Star Game together," Thomas said. "We're on friendly terms. It was business, but once business is done, it's done."

It wasn't done for the rest of the players though. Another melee saw David Krejci and Benoit Pouliot break away from the pack and square off, only to have Krejci dropped with a big punch. Andrew Ference and Travis Moen later exchanged blows in a spirited scrap, and while that was being broken up three other fights broke out simultaneously.

The Bruins had the decided edge in each of those bouts, with Shawn Thornton fighting through the refs to pound on Roman Hamrlik after a shot from Hamrlik ignited that powder keg. Johnny Boychuk worked over Jaraslav Spacek and Greg Campbell won a one-sided decision over Tom Pyatt during the same line brawl.

Between the punchups, the goals came fast and furious, with Boston matching a season-high output with eight goals to make it a truly enjoyable evening for the Bruins faithful.

Goalie Fight - Carey Price vs Tim Thomas

Redwing77's favorite Habs goalie Carey Price got into an alleged fight tonight with all world Bruins goalie Timmy Thomas. While they called it a fight in the box score this looked more like a dance among friends if you ask me. Here is the penalties from the scrum [Box Score]
12:36 MTL Brian Gionta : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 MTL Brian Gionta : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 MTL James Wisniewski : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 MTL Max Pacioretty : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 MTL Carey Price served by Roman Hamrlik : Goalie leave crease - 2 min
12:36 MTL Carey Price served by Roman Hamrlik : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
12:36 BOS Mark Recchi : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 BOS Brad Marchand served by Shawn Thornton : Charging - 2 min
12:36 BOS Brad Marchand : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 BOS Zdeno Chara : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 BOS Steven Kampfer : Roughing - 2 min
12:36 BOS Tim Thomas served by Patrice Bergeron : Goalie leave crease - 2 min
12:36 BOS Tim Thomas served by Patrice Bergeron : Fighting (maj) - 5 min

Hump Day thoughts - 3201 and a few other things

I know a lot of my fellow Sioux fans don’t like Kevin Gorg but he did have a lot of nice things to say about the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team at about 7:00 Minutes in on the P.A. show on KFAN. Personally, while Kevin Gorg is a homer (He is from Minnesota) I think he is a great college and NHL Hockey Mind. [Click to listen]

Wisconsin Badgers defenseman Jake Gardiner rights were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs from the Anaheim Ducks before he ever laced up the skates. [TSN.COM] Check out the comments from the Canadian fans about American players as well.

Brad Schlossman had this on his blog today. This would be very good news if this happens to come to fruition. I would love to see the Sioux play the Eagles and or Michigan in our house.

I’ve tried for over a month now to get official confirmation on this, but have been unable to. That’s probably because no contracts have been signed, so nobody wants to talk. But I’ve gotten extremely strong indications from several people that UND is going to be hosting the Ice Breaker to open next season with a big-time lineup of Boston College, Michigan and Air Force coming to town.

The Ice Breaker, which is awarded by the American Hockey Commissioners Association, usually puts together stellar lineups like this year’s in St. Louis, which featured Wisconsin, Boston University, Notre Dame and Holy Cross. The Sioux last played in it two years ago at Boston University along with Michigan State and UMass.

Penguins’ hack gets flimsy four game suspension

I know we have covered this subject a lot here but I really think that Matt Cooke needs to be suspended more than four games, his latest suspension is a friggen joke and a travesty. This was an opportunity for the NHL to throw the book at this P.O.S. and make a statement that they will no longer tolerate this kind of crap anymore, they let him off the hook with a flimsy four game suspension.

Hey I don't have a problem with players being a pest and it’s one thing to be a antagonize but Cooke goes way beyond the what should be considered ethical behavior on the ice. In looking around the internet today there is a common theme among the fans and bloggers, Matt Cooke needs to sit and there needs to be some teeth to his suspension, maybe a lengthy 15-20 game suspension. Cooke’s four game suspensions is a joke and is basically the league condoning his behavior. Cooke tried to take Ovenchkin’s knee out earlier this week, now this. The next time Cooke commits another dirty hit or bush league the league needs to make it hurt.

NHL.COM --- Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins was suspended four games by the NHL on Wednesday for hitting Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin from behind Tuesday night, according to Nick Kypreos of Rogers Sportsnet.

I have to agree with Don Cherry that Matt Cooke is a back stabbing piece of _________. We don’t need to put it down here because you know I mean. If you think I am over blowing this go back and watch this video, this is the kind of player Matt Cooke is, in my opinion Cooke is a text book definition of thuggery and goonery. [Click to watch]<<<--Watch this video it's a great historical breakdown of Cooke's antics.

Today on XM-204 Jeremy Roenick called Matt Cooke a chicken shit. [Click to listen]

Drew Stafford's big night.

Former Fighting Sioux forward and Buffalo Sabre Drew Stafford has three hat tricks this season (two against the Boston Bruins) and has been on a terror scoring 17 goals in the last 22 games. Stafford as scored 5 goals in the last two games, that's an amazing pace. [Watch all three of Staffords goals]

Matt Cooke's bush league hit on Fedor Tyutin

Matt Cooke is up to no good again. It's becoming a nightly thing, every game he plays in, Matt Cooke doing something questionable. The other night he was kneeing Ovechkin. Eventually the league has to throw the book at this gutless puke. Where is Evander Kane when you need him? Some will argue that Fedor Tyutin had this coming because he turned his back to Matt Cooke at the last moment and put himself in a vulnerable position. Fortunately, the P.O.S Cooke was tossed from the game for this hit. Props to Tyutin's team mate Derick Brassard for challenging Matt Cooke to a fight for his hit on Tyutin.

Milan Mikhalek hit on Keith Ballard

Check out this hit by the Senators Milan Mikhalek on former Gopher and current Vancouver Canucks forward Keith Ballard, the hit caused an injury to Ballard's leg and he will probably be out of action for 2-4 weeks. From looking at the video it would appear to be a slew foot. What do you think?

Tuesday Linkorama – shuffling through the B.S.

There is a lot of news in college hockey this week. It’s the dog days of winter, no pun intended since three of our teams in the WCHA are named after dogs, Huskies (X2) and Bulldogs. The Huskies (X2) aren’t having very good seasons but the Bulldogs are coming off a three point weekend against the not so Golden Gophers. Mike Connolly had a magical night in Duluth as he lit the lamp 5 times. s/t Ciskie blog

Contrary to what Delusions of Grandeur says the story that he has linked on his blog was an A.P story that was posted on the Herald site and was not what was printed in the Grand Forks Herald. Hell, let’s not let facts get in the way of a good blog post. His latest dissertation is really a piece of work as well. If the state of North Dakota is so bad, why do I see a humongous boat parade every fall from Minnesota?

delusions of grandeur - a delusion (common in paranoia) that you are much greater and more powerful and influential than you really are delusion, psychotic belief - (psychology) an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary megalomania - a psychological state characterized by delusions of grandeur

Chuck Schwartz from 60 Minutes, No Alibis, No Regrets has his latest addition of Bracketology up and he has the Sioux in St Louis playing the BU Terriers followed by the winner of the DU and Notre Dame game. That would be a region of death in my opinion.

Without a Peer has the Fighting Sioux out east playing in Manchester as a number two seed against Michigan with the winner getting WMU and or University of no hardware UNH. Personally unless UND stumbles down the stretch I see UND finishing as a one seed and not a two seed playing out east. Just my humble opinion, but you never know with the NCAA.

According to Mike Chambers DU's freshman hockey class is as good as advertised, I would have to agree. I hope the Wild sign Zucker after the Pioneers lose in the first round of the NCAA tourney. [Denver Post]

The Bemidji State University Beavers ended a seven-game losing streak to the Purple Cows Mavericks dating back to the 2006-07 season. The Mavericks won the first night on a goal by Bemidji boy Channing Boe in overtime. The Mavericks won game one 2-1.

Kessel: ‘I love Toronto, I want to be here’ Edit Video added

Aaron Lynett/National Post

This story has really taken off and created a fire storm around the blogsphere, if you haven’t seen it, the story is worth a read. It seems like wherever Kessel goes he is either misunderstood or maybe he really is part of the problem. Kessel is an amazing offensive talent but you won’t see him going over the boards to kill a penalty very often.

TORONTO — Nobody in the audience seemed to be listening as intently as Tyler Bozak. He nodded at some answers, grimaced at others and shook his head in bemusement at the tenor of the questions facing the man one stall over, inside the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room.

Phil Kessel, his friend and teammate, was the reluctant star, holding an unwanted media conference after Monday’s pre-game skate to clarify his comments from a day earlier and dispel any notion that he was demanding a trade. It got a little awkward, and Bozak smiled.

“I kind of just give it to him a bit, bug him about his interviews,” he said with a smile not long after the lights dimmed. “I love it when he gets interviewed, because I like watching him after, cracking jokes to him about it.”

Kessel does not do interviews very often, and he generally does not do them very well. It is a source of humour for some of his teammates, but it became a source of alarm Sunday afternoon, when he hinted at friction with his head coach and stumbled in explaining how he felt when Ron Wilson demoted him to the third line.

The 23-year-old said, flatly, that “me and Ron don’t really talk.”
[Read the Whole Article]

While we are talking about the BTHC

While we are on the subject of the BTHC here are a couple of articles that I have found that might be of interest to some. There is a big unknown out there hanging over everyone’s head, there is a lot of variables that I believe haven’t been thought out. This could have a devastating effect on college hockey. When the BTHC come on line you will probably see the WCHA go after Notre Dame and Miami as well.

news.cincinnati.com ---- Currently, three Big Ten schools compete in the CCHA: Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Two, Minnesota and Wisconsin, compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Miami athletic director Brad Bates said Friday he didn’t have any inside word on whether or when the Big Ten hockey league might become a reality.

Given Miami’s high profile in college hockey – the RedHawks have played in back-to-back Frozen Fours – he expects the RedHawks program to not only survive such a thing if it were to happen, but to thrive from it. Miami routinely has standing-room only crowds at 3,200-seat Steve Cady Arena.

“We’ve been very proactive in our talks about it, and we’ll (weigh it) as to how it affects college hockey in general, our league and (Miami),” Bates said.

An Associated Press report this week speculated whether the CCHA’s smaller programs might be “crushed by the Big Ten’s power” if that conference began playing league hockey.

Hockey is expensive, and schools like Lake Superior State in the CCHA are buoyed by big draws like Michigan, the AP said.

This is actually a news story that I am surprised isn't getting more play or exposure. This could speed up the shake up of college hockey. It's worth a read as well.

www.collegian.psu.edu ---- Happy Valley may become Hockey Valley even sooner than expected.

The Pegula Ice Arena is now projected to open in the fall of 2013 rather than in the spring of 2014, said Associate Athletic Director for Ice Arena Operations and the Director of the Ice Arena and Hockey Campaign Joe Battista.

With that news, Battista said Penn State is now projected to begin Division I conference play in 2013-14, a full season earlier. It has yet to be decided whether a Big Ten conference will be created, or if Penn State will join one of the existing Western Collegiate Hockey Association or Central Collegiate Hockey Association conferences.

The men’s and women’s D-I hockey programs are set to begin play in 2012-13 and will spend the first season as an independent, playing in the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.

“We’re pleased with the progress we’re making on the design and the schedule,” Battista said Friday. “A lot of work has gone into this by a lot of people.”

Battista said a meeting held Saturday between himself, Penn State donors Terry and Kim Pegula, Penn State President Graham Spanier, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and others could produce more even more news.

“The meeting between everyone was to talk about arena bowl configuration, number of seats and number of suites,” Battista said. “Those official numbers could be released as soon as Monday.”

Don Adam gets the call right - No Goal!

This is the goal that has gotten much discussion on the internet and on Twitter.com. Watching the video I have to respectfully disagree with FSN analyst Kevin Gorg this was not a goal, Don Adam made the right call, the UMD player's hook should not have caused Nico Sacchetti to take out the goalie. In my opinion Sacchetti makes no effort to not run into the goalie and therefore interfered with the UMD goalie.

Matt Cooke's hit on Ovechkin

Here is the latest cheap shot from P.O.S. Matt Cooke, watch the video as he tries to take out Alexander Ovechkin’s knee with a leg check. Of course Cooke will say that he wasn’t trying to injure Ovechkin. I predict that one day very soon Matt Cooke is going to get what is coming to him, live by the sword, die by the sword and then it will be interesting to see the expression on stupid his face will be.

Poll Monday

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[February 7, 2011]
Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Boston College (47) 19-6-0 996 1
2 Yale ( 1) 19-4-0 932 3
3 Minnesota-Duluth ( 1) 18-5-4 871 4
4 Denver 17-6-5 850 2
5 North Dakota 19-8-2 804 5
6 New Hampshire ( 1) 17-5-4 780 6
7 Wisconsin 19-8-3 671 7
8 Rensselaer 18-6-4 599 9
9 Union 20-7-3 558 11
10 Notre Dame 16-9-5 536 10
11 Merrimack 17-5-4 521 12
12 Miami 16-9-5 479 13
13 Michigan 17-9-4 464 8
14 Boston University 13-7-7 341 14
15 Western Michigan 15-6-9 300 16
16 Nebraska-Omaha 16-10-2 227 18
17 Dartmouth 13-7-3 191 17
18 Maine 11-9-6 140 15
19 Colorado College 16-13-1 127 20
20 Princeton 14-8-1 58 19
Others Receiving Votes: Ferris State 24, Rochester Institute of Technology 17, Alaska 5, Cornell 3, Minnesota 2, Robert Morris 2, Ohio State 1, Quinnipiac 1
____________________________________

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[February 7, 2011]
1 Boston College 508 (32) 1 19-6-0
2 Yale University 468 (1) 2 19-4-0
3 University of Minnesota Duluth 424 (1) 4 18-5-4
4 University of Denver 399 3 17-6-5
5 University of North Dakota 389 5 19-8-2
6 University of New Hampshire 356 6 17-5-4
7 University of Wisconsin 263 7 19-8-3
8 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 255 8 18-6-4
9 Union College 247 11 20-7-3
10 University of Notre Dame 186 10 16-9-5
11 Merrimack College 185 12 17-5-4
12 Miami University 152 13 16-9-5
13 University of Michigan 118 9 17-9-4
14 Boston University 60 14 13-7-7
15 Western Michigan University 40 NR
Others receiving votes: University of Nebraska Omaha 18, Dartmouth College 9, Rochester Institute of Technology 3.

We Are - Penn State Hockey! Edit Why I am not impressed...

Yawn! If the hockey pundits think that Penn State University is just going to march into college hockey and start winning titles I think they are delusional. Minnesota is an established hockey program and they are having a hell of a time right now in the WCHA, they will be lucky if they get home ice and make the Final Five, they probably are going to miss the NCAA tourney again. Last time I checked Minnesota has all the advantages of a premiere hockey program. Big Ten School Michigan State is floundering this season and sitting in the bottom of the CCHA standings in 10th place. If some think they can just throw money at a big name coach and expect a winning program they are misinformed. I would be surprised if Barry Melrose would know where Penn State is located.

Edit: Some apparently have mistaken satire for hate. Forgive me if I am not colored impressed with the big announcement about PSU going division I in college hockey. While I don’t begrudge PSU wanting to add hockey more the merrier, I am sick and tired of this fawning over PSU the college hockey media and pundits the schools big announcement. They fawn over a school that isn’t division I yet but could give a "EF" about an established school looking for a conference so their program won't fold, they can't hang on forever as an independent.

Going forward, the WCHA is set up and will survive even without the Big Ten Schools Wisconsin and Minnesota. That theory was proven already with Minnesota missing the Final Five all together last season, however, the Big Ten Hockey Conference could have a very catastrophic affect on the not so stable CCHA who some schools are hanging on by a thread, cue BGSU. I am looking at the big picture for the rest of college hockey not just 6 schools that perceive themselves as being elite. Or I should say their athletic directors perceive their schools as being elite. Most of these teams aren’t even a power in BCS football anymore, except maybe OSU which has had trouble getting anyone to show up for their hockey games, even when they make the NCAA tourney.

Why am I not impressed; what pissed me off is how the CCHA wanted nothing to do with UAH a season ago and basically told them to go take a flying ____, however when PSU made their big announcement that they were going Division I in hockey, the commissioner of the CCHA Tom Anastos was all but falling all over himself all of a sudden to extend an invitation to PSU to join the CCHA. Why because he knows what is head for his conference minus MSU and Michigan.

I also think it’s funny that a conference commissioner would sacrifice an established school like UAH to invite a program that has no history other than being an ACHA club hockey school. Yeah that rubs me the wrong way and yeah I can see come college hockey fans might not be that happy. Does that make me a hater, absolutely not!

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because they are worth a look. No big surprises this week.

INCH Power Rankings
[February 6, 2011]
1. Boston College
2. Yale
3. Minnesota Duluth
4. North Dakota — The series between the Fighting Sioux and Alaska Anchorage, this weekend’s opponent, has been surprisingly close in recent years. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, NoDak owns a 7-4-2 edge on the Seawolves.
19-8-2 (14-6-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage
5. Denver
6. New Hampshire
7. Union
8.Rensselaer
9. Merrimack
10. Miami
11. Wisconsin
12. Michigan
13. Notre Dame
14. Western Michigan
15. Boston University
16. Nebraska-Omaha
17. Dartmouth
18. Colorado College
19. RIT
20. Maine
Dropped out: Princeton
Bubble-licious: Cornell, Princeton, Robert Morris

Maybe it's him? (Kessel)

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America

This seems to be a reoccurring theme wherever the young Kessel goes. Seems like Phil Kessel is in the proverbial dog house in Toronto now, oh that can't be. To Bruins fans Kessel is the gift that keeps giving for the Bruins. The Leafs traded two number one draft choices away to get Phil Kessel and the Bruins are set to get another great player of Tyler Seguin's quality in this years draft because the Leafs are at the bottom of the league again.

Toronto Sun ---- Much to the displeasure of Phil Kessel, Maple Leafs’ coach Ron Wilson has finally broken up his second and third lines.

With the season down to 30 games, a huge chasm in the standings between Toronto and the playoff pack and Kessel goal-less in his past 10 starts, Wilson is splitting up the right winger from centre Tyler Bozak, at least for the start of Mondays’ game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Kessel appeared with centre Darryl Boyce and regular left winger Joey Crabb at Sunday’s practice, while Bozak is now between Colby Armstrong and Kris Versteeg.

After practice at the MasterCard Centre. Kessel took the unusual step of sitting in full equipment waiting for reporters at his stall to talk about his woes. Separation from his good pal Bozak is clearly gnawing at him.

“Maybe it’s just not working out here I guess, I can’t get anything going,” Kessel said. “Maybe it’s time for a change or something. I’m not sure if that (putting him with Boyce) is it. Who knows? I’m trying.”

When asked if he and Wilson have discussed the skid off the ice, Kessel replied “me and Ron don’t really talk...that’s all I have to say about that.”

Wilson replied that Kessel is not one to share many thoughts on scoring.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it or even work on it in practice, it’s kind of a touch thing,” Wilson said. “He comes and goes with cold streak and hot streaks. Just be patient and change up the line. This is a different look, it makes you think a little bit.

“At the end of the day, he’s getting the chances (averaging more than four shots per game) and he has to figure a way to put he puck in the net. But a scoring chance that fails, should not shut you down the next five or six minutes.”

The long, bitter fight

I agree with the critics that more could have been done to save the name and the political leaders dropped the ball. I don’t blame people for being angry. I think there are some legitimate questions that need to be asked. Why wasn’t former governor John Hoeven and now U.S. Senator involved in the process? Hoeven is a very popular state wide and he could have made a difference in the process of retaining the nickname. Why wasn’t North Dakotas’ elected leaders team “North Dakota” (Dorgan, Conrad and Pomeroy) involved in the process?

Grand Forks Herald --- In the cascade of venom and conspiracy theory surrounding the fight over the Fighting Sioux name and logo, few key players have escaped abuse or censure.

In public comments posted on the Internet in response to recent news stories on the nickname, UND President Robert Kelley has been called a “buffoon” and worse. “Fire the liar,” another posted.

Student senators who voted to oppose the nickname bills, which would enshrine the Fighting Sioux name in state law, were called cowards. Faculty opponents of the bills were tarred as “Political Correctness Nazis.”

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who negotiated a lawsuit settlement with the NCAA that gave the state board three years to gain Sioux tribal authority to retain the symbols, was declared “an idiot.”

And Shaft, who took the lead in board efforts to seek responses from the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes, was dismissed as a “PC puppet.”

His school-age children have been taunted. He has received hundreds of e-mails, mean and rancorous. Horse manure was deposited on his driveway. Legislative leaders publicly scolded Shaft and the board for “mishandling” the nickname issue.

He has been vilified on blogs as a schemer, dupe and traitor to the Fighting Sioux tradition.

“I try not to read the blogs,” Shaft said recently over coffee at the Urban Stampede in Grand Forks. “They have a preconceived notion as to how this went down, a misunderstanding of the facts. Unless we engaged each of them in a 45-minute sit-down, they would not understand.”

Other nickname devotees, “people I know — friends, business acquaintances, members of Sioux Boosters and the Alumni Association board, people who have a more vested interest in the university than most of the bloggers — will tell me they’re deeply disappointed,” he said. “But they recognize the board has done everything it could. It’s time to accept it and move on.”

Just as he did at the legislative hearing, Shaft recited his own Fighting Sioux credentials. He earned his law degree from UND. His wife and brother are graduates. The family connection to Sioux athletics goes back four generations.

“I’m a Fighting Sioux guy,” he said.

The House Education Committee, which heard more than eight hours of testimony on Jan. 26, may take up the nickname bills this week after dealing with budget bills, Chairwoman Rae Ann Kelsch, R-Mandan, said. The committee has work sessions scheduled Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.

also think it’s funny that people thought the Fighting Sioux nickname would just go away quietly during the night and there wouldn’t be any hurt feelings and all parties would just embrace a new nickname, It’s not going to happen folks. I would be willing to bet that this is going to be a nasty fight.

There has been a lot of stuff said on both sides of the issue and both sides are culpable. It’s laughably predictable that there is now going to be finger pointing and name calling. How nice! I do think that people have a right to question the AG as well as the president of UND, maybe calling him a “buffoon” is a little much but I do think people have a right to question Kelley as well. That's not out of bounds. In the last election I voted against the Attorney General Stenehjem I voted for the democrat whose name escapes me. I mean seriously, Kelley can’t act all smug as say, ’hey, don’t blame me I am not involved in this nickname mess’. Kelley shouldn’t let off the hook so easily. Dr. Kelley can sit in the band with his instrument with his interlocking ND logo jersey on at REA and act as if nothing is happening, but we aren’t stupid.

Boston's Marc Savard done for season

According to Joe McDonald of ESPN Marc Savard is going to be shut down for the season. This is not good news for the Boston Bruins as they have lost one of their top players for the rest of the season. This was the second concussion in ten months for Marc Savard.

Boston Bruins center Marc Savard will be shut down for the remainder of the 2010-11 season because of ongoing problems with concussions, according to a team source. An official announcement is expected from the team on Monday.

General manager Peter Chiarelli declined to comment on Savard's status on Sunday, but early last week Chiarelli admitted to ESPNBoston.com that there was a "strong possibility" Savard's season was over.

Earlier Sunday, at the conclusion of the Bruins' practice, coach Claude Julien said there was no update on Savard.

Savard, along with his agent, Larry Kelly, met with Chiarelli this weekend after undergoing further tests.

Savard suffered his most recent concussion on Jan. 22 against the Avalanche in Colorado when his head hit the bottom of the glass after a clean hit by former teammate Matt Hunwick. In fact, it was the second such hit he suffered in a week's time after he was hit by Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland early in the third period on Jan. 15 at TD Garden.

While the loss of Savard hurts the Boston Bruins they have played a good portion of the season without him and with their dept the Boston Bruins can still make a big move in the post season. When Savard is healthy he can make a major contribution on the ice for the Bruins.

Hockey Night in Canada - Coach's Corner: Feb 5

Interesting Coach's Corner. Don Cherry discusses the Andrew Ference comments on Daniel Paille's hit on Stars forward Raymond Sawada, in a way I agree with Don Cherry, go up to your teammate in the locker room and tell him you thought the hit was dirty . Don Cherry also addresses the Tim Gleason hit on the Leafs forward Nikolai Kulemin after he hit him twice in the face. Below is the transcript of what Grapes said about Ference.

NESN.COM --- "You do not, I don't care if your teammate is an axe murderer, what you got to say to the guy is you [go to him] in the dressing room and tell him that it was a dirty hit," Cherry said during the segment. "But you wouldn't do that anyhow.

"I'd hate to be in that dressing room right now. You see what happened [Saturday], 2-0 [Bruins loss to San Jose]. That brings your dressing room down. When you have a guy in the dressing room talking about your own players and know he's going to get suspended."

Malkin has torn ACL and MCL

This is really bad news for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Malkin is one of the Penguins top forwards. Sidney Crosby has been out with a concussion since January 5th, so the injuries are starting to pill up for the Penguins.

NHL.COM --- Head coach Dan Bylsma told the media that Evgeni Malkin has a torn ACL and MCL.

"Evgeni Malkin had an MRI this morning. The results show that he has a torn MCL and ACL. At this point in time we are discussing options with the doctors on what to do next.

"This is a difficult injury for him. It was kind of a fluke situation going into the boards with a guy. That's a tough injury for Geno. We have dealt with games without him. We've managed to find our way without him. That's what we're going to have to look at now.

"We're discussing options with our doctor. Surgery is a possibility. I'm not sure if there is a rehab possibility. But right now I just got the news on the MRI."

Volatility on the edge of TUC

This article was silly and probably not worth a mention but I couldn’t resist. Yep, the Pairwise Rankings are volatile and unpredictable, I think that is why the Pairwise Rankings were made to look at after all of the games have been played, to include the conference playoffs. It doesn't hurt to take a look, but they will change.

USCHO.COM --- Robert Morris’ loss Thursday night to Canisius had a big effect on North Dakota’s PairWise ranking. The Colonials dropped as a Team Under Consideration (TUC) when their RPI fell below .500 in the 5–4 defeat. That cost the Fighting Sioux two wins against TUC (causing them to lose that comparison against Denver) and a few decimal points in RPI (causing them to lose the RPI comparison vs. Boston College), moving North Dakota to fifth in the PairWise and out of an NCAA regional No. 1 seed.

Why does this matter now? Because it has implications for the final few games of the season. Robert Morris is likely to stay right around .500 in the RPI as it battles for its first AHA title. The Colonials could return as a TUC with a decent regular-season finish and a successful Atlantic Hockey playoff run.

North Dakota fans may find themselves keeping tabs on Atlantic Hockey playoff results to see whether those two wins against RoMo at the Ralph in January will help the Sioux or not.

I think that I can predict that Sioux fans probably won’t be watching Robert Morris University or the AHA playoffs. It would probably be like watching paint dry. Yeah the Fighting Sioux are on a bye week and with the loss of Robert Morris on Thursday night The Sioux did drop to 5th in the Pairwise Rankings but the next night they moved back up to second in the pairwise rankings. If you want good analysis on the Pairwise Ranking check out Jim Dahl of Sioux Sports, Jim is the PWR master.

Big Bad Bruins beat the snot out of the Dallas Stars...

In case you haven't seen this video, called by my favorite homer NESN'S Jack Edwards it's worth a look. As a Bruins fan this makes me smile because I like the toughness that the Bruins displayed last night. Dallas ended up on the short end of the stick as they now have a beat up lineup after last night's game.

ESPN/Dallas.com --- Thursday night's game against Boston was costly for the Dallas Stars.

They placed forward Adam Burish on injured reserve because of a facial injury Friday and recalled forward Francis Wathier from the Texas Stars of the AHL.

Burish was injured in a fight with Boston defenseman Andrew Ference, continued to play and eventually left the game.

Forward Krys Barch is also out with what is being called a facial injury and Ray Sawada is out with a shoulder injury. Sawada also suffered a broken nose after being hit in the head by Boston forward Daniel Paille, who had a disciplinary hearing with the league Friday morning and was suspended four games.

NHL throws the book at Daniel Paille

This is a text book example of the type of hits that the NHL is trying to get rid of. When I saw the hit last night I figured that this hit warranted a multi game suspension and the NHL has decided that Daniel Paille will sit for four games. Going forward I hope the league is consistent in making their decisions.

NHL.COM --- Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille was suspended four games Friday by the NHL for a hit to the head of Dallas Stars forward Raymond Sawada during Thursday's game.

He will forfeit $23,118.28 in salary.

Sawada was carrying the puck into the Bruins' zone midway through the second period when Paille hit him. Sawada left the ice under his own power but did not return to the game. Paille was given a five-minute penalty for an illegal hit to the head, as well as a game misconduct.

"Paille delivered a lateral hit where the principal point of contact was his opponent's head," said Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy. "Additionally, the injury suffered by the Dallas player was a factor in this decision."

The incident occurred at 8:39 of the second period and Paille was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct under Rule 48 for Illegal Check to the Head.

This is the fourth suspension under Rule 48 handed down this season. Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan was suspended three games Oct. 17 for a head check against Anaheim's Dan Sexton. San Jose's Joe Thornton was handed a two-game ban Nov. 4 for striking the head of David Perron of the St. Louis Blues. On Dec. 8, Matt Martin of the New York Islanders was handed a two-game suspension for a check to the head of Vern Fiddler of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Paille hit on Sawada

Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille received ten and a game misconduct match penalty for this hit on Raymond Sawada tonight. Will there be a suspension to Daniel Paille for this hit? It does look like Paille catches Sawada with a elbow to the head.

Thursday night at the fights Boston and Dallas...

Check out this video, this is old old time hockey between the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars. One second into the period Boston's Greg Campbell and Dallas hack and menace Steve Ott drop the gloves, Ott catches Campbell with an elbow. Next not to be out done, Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton works Stars punching bag Krys Barch like a clown sending Barch to the locker room for repairs. Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid show Brian Sutherby why he shouldn't dropped gloves four seconds into the game. Then after a few goals former Wisconsin Badger Adam Burish gets his ass handed to him by Andrew Ference, wow what a fight. Oh yeah and the Bruins won the game as well 6-3.

Here is the call of the three fights to open the game by my favorite homer Jack Edwards. The game wasn't 10 minutes old and there was four fights, and the Bruins had a 3-0 lead.

Friday morning free for all. Why does everyone hate the Gophers so much?

Since the Sioux are on the dreaded bye week and I am bored out of my friggen mind already, I figured I would stir things up a bit with this blog post. Why not? Let’s wade into another area that might be better off left unexamined. Ah, can we say what the hell; lets pose this question that that Gopher fan Paul LaPlante posted on Twitter the other day. I think it’s worth a look. Why do Sioux fans hate the Gophers fans so much? Why do Gopher fans hate Sioux fans so much. Do fellow Sioux fans hate UW fans as much?

@laplante5 Paul LaPlante @UWChuckSchwartz serious? Why does everyone else but Gopher fans hate the Gophers so much? For example, do UW fans hate UND as much?

First off I might rephrase the question to dislike instead of hate, because I really don’t hate too many people. I think back in the days when the Gophers were actually good and weren’t getting knocked out of the NCAA playoffs by Holy Cross or missing the Final Five and the NCAA tourney all together; I think what rubbed people the wrong way was their fans’ in your face lectures and pompous attitudes towards other fan bases by Gopher fans. In their hay day Doug and Frank the clownish but loveable buffoons in the FSN broadcast both helped fan the flames of discontent. Let the discussion begin…

Update on the condition of Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo

Here is the latest on Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo... Sounds like he is very fortunate.

St. Paul, Minn. - Feb. 3 - University of North Dakota hockey player Danny Kristo remains in fair condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn.

Kristo, who is suffering from frostbite on the toes of his right foot, maintains full use of all of his extremities and is in the early stages of recovery.

"I'm doing fine, I'm planning on recovering as safely and as quickly as possible," Kristo said. "I'm just trying to get better day by day. I'm doing better today than I was yesterday and I was doing better yesterday than I was the day before. I'm feeling a lot better than I was the first two days.

"I definitely feel fortunate, I definitely feel lucky. I want to say thanks to the fans and friends and family members who have prayed for me."

Said Kristo's father, Mark Kristo: "Our family wants to express our sincere gratitude for all of the thoughts and prayers from his friends, supporters and the Sioux family during these past few days."

After being discharged from Regions Hospital, Kristo is expected to remain at his parents' home in Eden Prairie, Minn., for continued treatment before returning to Grand Forks.

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

We are now into February and the league race for a top half finish is heating up.
And mathematically everyone still has a chance to finish in the top six. However, there are some teams that realistically will not get home ice. I think we all know which team(s) those are. UND’s Danny Kristo suffered frostbite on this right foot this past week, we here at Goon’s World wish him a quick and full recovery.

WCHA standings

TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota……….14-6-0…28
2. Denver………………12-3-3…27
3. Minnesota-Duluth.....12-4-2…26
4. Wisconsin……..….…11-7-2…24
5. Nebraska-Omaha…..10-6-2…22
6. Colorado College……9-9-0…18
6. Minnesota……….……8-8-2…18
8. Alaska-Anchorage….7-11-2…16
8. St. Cloud State….......7-9-2…16
10. Minnesota State……5-11-4…14
11. Bemidji State……….5-11-2…12
12. Michigan Tech………1-16-1…3

WCHA

Michigan Tech @ Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Huskies were swept the Badgers in Houghton and the Seawolves split with the Gophers in Minneapolis.

The Huskies are, well, not a good team this year, let’s just let those poor doggy’s lie. The Seawolves are still in the hunt for hosting a first round playoff series. The UAA guys need to get all four points this weekend to keep in the race. I saw both UM-UAA games last weekend and the Seawolves played their game on Saturday night and won. They should be able to take out the lowly Huskies twice this weekend. SEAWOLVES SWEEP

#2 Denver vs #20 Colorado College
Last weekend the Tigers split with the Sioux in Colorado Springs and the Pioneers were on a bye weekend.

Earlier this season these teams split their series. This weekend is a huge series for both teams again, more so for CC. The Tigers are looking to secure a home ice spot and the Pioneers are looking to repeat as league champions. DU has pretty much locked up home ice and a spot in the NCAA tourney, barring some type of historical melt down. CC would like nothing better than to beat their archrival – twice – and watch them fall down the standings and rankings. The Pioneers are coming off a bye, so they might be a little rusty on Friday and the Tigers will be out to avenge last Saturday’s blow-out loss. Then Saturday’s rematch should be a good one too. Also of note – CC’s captain alluding to a Tigers sweep of the Pioneers, by win the Gold Pan (it’s good to be confident and not so good to be cocky, in my book). SPLIT

Minnesota @ #4 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Golden Gophers split with the Seawolves in Minneapolis and the Bulldogs enjoyed a free weekend.

Earlier this season, just before Christmas break the Gophers took 3-points from the Bulldogs in Minneapolis. This will be the Gophers first visit to the new AMSOIL arena in Duluth. The Gophers are running out of games to get points to try and climb into a home ice spot. Watching them play UAA last weekend, it looks like they were un-inspired on Saturday. The Gophers appear to be “satisfied” to get splits every weekend. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The Bulldogs are in the hunt for the MacNaughton cup and want to keep themselves in that race. UMD fans might say they have been on back-to-back bye weeks; they played MTU two weeks ago. The Bulldogs could be a little rusty on Friday. The Gophers have been good on Friday’s lately, so they hope to continue that pattern this weekend. SPLIT

Bemidji State @ Minnesota State
Last weekend the Beavers were on a bye and the Mavericks took 3-points from the SCSU Huskies in St. Cloud.

The last time the Beavers were in action they lost twice to SCSU. If the Mavericks are to stick to their four game streaks, they should get a win or two this weekend. Both teams could use a sweep to keep their hopes alive for a home ice spot. Getting swept this weekend, by either, would pretty much seal their fate to a bottom half finish. These teams are similar, not only in their records, but their hot and cold playing. The Mavericks should be motivated this weekend. They don’t want to lose to the new guys in the league and end up behind them in the standings at the end of the year. SPLIT

St. Cloud St. @ #18 Nebraska-Omaha
Last weekend the Huskies got 1-point against the MSUM Mavericks in St. Cloud and the UNO Mavericks split with the UAH Chargers in Omaha.

The Huskies were riding a six game win streak until last weekend. SCSU fans are hoping that was just a blip, and then can get back on track this weekend against the other Mavericks. These teams met in St. Cloud back in mid November with UNO grabbing 3-points that weekend. The Mavericks started the season red hot, but have cooled their heels in 2011. The Huskies have done better this half, after a few players were let go from the team. I kind of wonder if it was those players affecting the others, like one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Anyway they’re playing like everyone thought they would be playing the whole season. One thing for sure is there will be lots of red, white, and black at the Qwest Center this weekend. SPLIT

BYE week

#5 University of North Dakota – Fighting Sioux
#7 University of Wisconsin – Badgers

Genoway out 3-5 weeks

According to Brad Schlossman and from listening to the UND coaches show, there is some good news on the Chay Genoway front; he will be out 3-5 weeks and his injury is not career/season ending, and we should see him in a Fighting Sioux uniform again.

UND is expecting to get its captain back this season.

Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said on the coaches show this evening that defenseman Chay Genoway is expected to be out for three to five weeks. Genoway, who suffered a leg injury last Friday at Colorado College, was being evaluated for much of this week after returning to Grand Forks.

Hakstol said the team’s medical personnel were thorough in their evaluation, which continued into Wednesday.

“We’ve really taken time to make sure that we went through the right steps and the right processes,” he said. “I know people want to know right away what’s going on, but that’s not possible in a lot of cases.”

Rick DiPietro vs Brent Johnson Goalie Fight

First off I wish Rick DiPietro would have hit Matt Cooke a little harder with his blocker because I think Cooke is a gutless P.O.S. that skates around the ice taking liberties with other teams skilled players and then won’t fight.

Now! I guess we could call getting punched out a fight, both goalies engage and then Brent Johnson floors him. Yeah, I guess you could classify this as a fight, they did on the score sheet as well. If you watch the video you will see that Brent Johnson actually catches Rick DiPietro with his elbow. Here are the penalties minutes from the scrum.

19:43 NYI Rick DiPietro : Game misconduct - 0 min
19:43 NYI Matt Martin : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min
19:43 NYI Zenon Konopka : Game misconduct - 0 min
19:43 NYI Rick DiPietro : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
19:43 NYI Rick DiPietro served by Rob Schremp : Goalie leave crease - 2 min
19:43 NYI Rick DiPietro served by Rob Schremp : Interference - 2 min
19:43 NYI Matt Martin : Roughing - 2 min
19:43 NYI Zenon Konopka : Roughing - 2 min
19:43 PIT Brent Johnson : Game misconduct - 0 min
19:43 PIT Brent Johnson : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
19:43 PIT Matt Cooke : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min
19:43 PIT Matt Cooke : Roughing - 2 min
19:43 PIT Brent Johnson : Goalie leave crease - 2 min

RW77 Rant: All Star Games, Head Shots, Physicality in Hockey and Crosby

Ok, it's been quite a while since I've had a good rant to get the blood boiling and commenters telling me how wrong I am/have a personal vendetta/etc.

So, here we go.

All Star Games: Who needs them anyways?

I was watching the AHL All Star game noticing, like the ECHL, that they're just as completely disorganized in their media coverage as the NHL as I was never quite able to find an up to date roster on who was actually on the teams. During the broadcast, they didn't seem to care about updating the player movements or rotation as well. They waxed poetic about the days of yore and bubbled nonsensically on how awesome the AHL is almost to the same effect that the NHL commentators had during the NHL All Star game. Nothing like watching meaningless hockey, showcasing a lot of stickhandling skills and the commentators not even caring provided no one scored. Instead, we watched a hockey game going on in the background of a Ron Francis interview. Whoopdedoo. I was shocked that the commentators even knew who scored at the end of the interview... or maybe the goal ended the interview. I wonder if no one scored for the rest of the second period, would the interview gone on the entire time? HEH. The NHL wants us to believe that this is not a meaningless game despite no points being awarded nor any advantage to either side winning. Yup. Keep dreaming, Bettman you pathetic loser.

Oh, and it was amazing to listen to the AHL people talk up their league. They talked about how the AHLers were every bit as good as the NHLers. Oh my goodness, that was choke on the soft drink laughing good! Do you know what you call the best AHLers? NHL players. There is no such thing as a player who is as good as the average NHL player that plays in the AHL. The AHL is a developmental pro league. Somewhere where the NHL sends players that aren't ready for the NHL yet but snatches them up when they are. Get over yourselves.

To wrap up this portion, I'll say this: The NHL All Stars Skills Competition is good. The Young Guns or Young Stars game is good. The All Star Game is a joke. Be that as it may, the NHL All Star game is still less of a joke than the Pro Bowl. As bad as the MLB All Star Game is, at least MLB is trying to find ways to make it meaningful.

Anyways, Physicality and the reason for this post. (I warned you this was a rant, right?)... During one of the intermissions, they interviewed Brian Burke about the new NHL Rule Changes. He made right to the contact to the head rule and what he said was awesome.

To paraphrase (as I can't seem to find the interview nor can I find a transcript), he said that physical play is an integral part of the sport of hockey. He favored the new head contact rule provided that's as far as it goes. He said that, though no one likes it, injuries happen in a physical sport like hockey. It's the job of the coaches and GMs to put players on the ice who can play the game right and play it safely and the role of the NHL and its officials to enforce the rules and punish improper or unsafe play.

I agree 100%. Physical play is a vital part of the game. Don't believe me? Watch a men's hockey game and then watch a women's game. Both are hockey. Both can be fun, but when you watch a hockey player deliver a great hip check and then get called 2 minutes for "checking" and realize that you are watching a young lady skating to the penalty box and wonder why you're wasting your time. Now, I am a staunch supporter of women's hockey being changed to allow checking as I believe that women can do everything just like men can... but that's a different rant.

Then he talked about Sidney Crosby's concussion. He basically said, you can have the identical hit Crosby got from Dave Steckel on ANY other NHL player and it wouldn't garner the media attention that it is getting. You know what? He's RIGHT THE EFF ON!

The media attention on Crosby's injury is INSANE. People rail me here on why I'm so anti-Crosby and this is exactly it! The media could give a flying fart about ANYONE provided that person getting injured isn't Sidney Crosby. Sure, some players (like Sean Avery, Daniel Carcillo, etc.) garner their share of dislike... but why would I want them injured? Would Sean Avery garner the same disdain if he were injured the same as Crosby is?

Look, I'm not belittling the fact that Crosby got injured. I dislike Crosby, obviously, but I don't think injury is the answer. I would rather he played his entire career injury free but that's not possible. However, I don't think we should sacrifice an integral part of the game just to protect him. Sidney isn't an idiot. He knows damn well that Hockey is a physical game. People get hit...hard. Injury is a potential every time he steps onto the ice.

The truth is that the league's media is set up to be just a circus surrounding Crosby, the Penguins, and Ovechkin (in that order). Everyone else is just supporting cast members. And, like a broken record, I'll say this isn't necessarily Crosby's fault. Sure, he whines to the media on occasion, but I can understand that. He's simply playing to the media's adoration of him. The NHL uses him as a money maker and he certainly obliges their every whim. And I admit that his ability is pretty much epic.

Alex Ovechkin's check on P.K. Subban

Check out this awesome hip check hit by Alexander Ovechkin on Hab's punk P.K. Subban... It's well documented that P.K.Subban is a bit of a show boat and players around the NHL are going to be looking for him and they are going to hit him. My advice to the young Subban is learn to take a hit, take a number and get him back later.

Penguins' Jordan Staal not suspended for punch

NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell has spun the infamous "Wheel of Justice" and Campbell has decided that there will be no suspension for the Penguins' Jordan Staal. I guess I really don't have a problem with it, in a scrum you're going to get hit sometimes especially if you elbow someone.

NEW YORK -- The National Hockey League will not take further action on Penguins center Jordan Staal for his punch to Rangers' forward Brandon Prust's face in the second period of Tuesday's game. Staal received a match penalty and by rule he was automatically suspended until the League reviewed the incident and the Commissioner made a ruling.

"We have reviewed the play and have communicated to (Penguins GM) Ray Shero that Jordan Staal is available to play tonight," NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said.

The Penguins host the New York Islanders tonight.

Staal hit Prust with his left fist and sent him spinning to the ice at the end of a scrum in front of the Rangers' bench. The officials first sent Staal to the box and then sent him to the dressing rooms with the five-minute match penalty.

Prust cleared out Tyler Kennedy with a hard hit and then he got his elbow up on Staal, who appeared to be coming into the fray to defend Kennedy. Staal returned the favor on Prust, dropping him to the ice with a quick left hook.

Nichlas Backstrom robs JMFJ in the shootout...

Usually I find 0-0 hockey games to be extremely boring but this game has some amazing goaltending. Check out this amazing toe save by Wild Goalie Nicklas Backstrom in the shoot out against Jack Johnson aka "JMFJ" of the LA Kings. In my opinion this save has to be one of the top ten save of the year for the 2010-2011 season.

Jordan Staal Sucker punches Brandon Prust

So how many game suspension does Jordan Staal get for punching Brandon Prust? Does Brandon Prust embellish the hit at all? It will be interesting to see what kind of suspension the Colin Campbell "Wheel of Justice" rules. One could make the argument that Brandon Prust tries to take off Kennedy’s head off, then throws an elbow at Staal. Was the punch warranted. It's looks like a very questionable play in my opinion.

Phil Kessel chance in overtime

Wow! Check out this move by Phil Kessel and his shot on goal in overtime - what a save by the Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen, Minnesota Golden Gopher against Boston College Eagle.

Kristo out indefinitely with frostbite - Updated Links

According to Brad Schlossman Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo is out indefinitely with "frostbite" Goon's World would like to wish Danny Kristo a speedy recovery... It's a big loss to the Fighting Sioux hockey team because Danny Kristo had been hot as of late, in the past twelve games, Kristo has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points.

UND forward Danny Kristo suffered frostbite on his toes of his right foot due to exposure to extreme cold while walking near campus on Sunday evening, the school announced today.

He is out indefinitely and there is no timeline on a possible return. Kristo is being treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

“We have been in close contact with Danny’s family,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “My concern is with Danny’s health and his full recovery.”

"Links to the Story"

Frostbite strikes UND hockey player; return to ice uncertain [PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune]

UND hockey forward Kristo out indefinitely with frostbite [Fargo Forum]

UND hockey player Kristo out indefinitely with frostbite [Grand Forks Herald]

Kristo Has Frostbite, Out Indefinitely [Hockey Buzz]

Sioux Star: Out from Frostbite [MSLSD, AKA MSNBC]

Sioux Star: Out from Frostbite [Valley News Live]

Kristo absence will be felt. [Valley News Live]

Danny Kristo, North Dakota Hockey Player, Hospitalized With Frostbite. [NHL Fan House]

UND Hockey's Kristo Out Indefinitely with Frostbite [WDAZ.com]

Bruins Marc Savard might be done for the season...

According to ESPN.COM Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard might be done for the year after suffering another concussion. This is not good news for the Boston Bruins. Marc Savard missed 23 games to start the season as well due to post concussion syndrome. Marc Savard was hurt on this hit from former teammate Matt Hunwick, there was no penalty called on the hit.

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli admitted Monday night that there has already been an internal discussion of whether or not to shut down center Marc Savard for the remainder of the 2010-2011 season due to his fourth career concussion.

Before a final decision is made, however, Savard will be re-evaluated on Wednesday in Boston.

"There is a strong possibility [of shutting him down], but you have to take it step by step," Chiarelli said in a phone conversation with ESPNBoston.com.

Savard remains at home in Peterborough, Ontario and he's still experiencing symptoms from a moderate concussion he suffered on Jan. 22.

Chiarelli, who is in Raleigh, N.C., with the Bruins as they prepare for their game against the Hurricanes on Tuesday, said he has not spoken with Savard. The team will likely wait to make a decision until after the player's examination on Wednesday.

Wow! It's cold - Tuesday Links

Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. have their weekly Bracketology up and I have to admit that I really like the brackets that they have up right now. I know it's early and there is a lot of hockey left, but I would really love to see Yale and B.C. in the same bracket, I would be willing to bet that the Yale fans wouldn't like that bracket one bit. There's old saying that something’s gotta give, in that bracket you would take out a top team because only one team Yale or B.C. is going to get out alive. It would also be a region of death. Hum! Been there, done that!

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
5 Boston College vs 12 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Union
7 Wisconsin vs 10 Merrimack

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Denver vs 14 Dartmouth
8 New Hampshire vs 9 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
6 RPI vs 11 Western Michigan

Former UND Fighting Sioux forward Michale Forney is starting to get it going in the ECHL. [gwinnettedailypost.com]

Former Gopher and current Maple Leaf forward Phil Kessel was picked last in the NHL All Star Game draft and that has rubbed some "Make Me Laugh" fans the wrong way. I mean seriously, someone had to be picked last. There are a lot of NHL hockey fans that didn't like the way Phil Kessel handed his departure from Boston. [Puck Daddy]

Bruce Ciskie has a great blog post about Gopher Hockey head coach Donny Lucia and how he might actually be the best choice to coach the Gophers going forward. [Ciskie Blog]

Lucia has won two national championships and, literally, hundreds of games in college hockey. He hasn't lost his mind, and he hasn't simply forgotten how to coach kids.

If Minnesota thinks they can do better, they're probably mistaken. The Gophers have been hit hard by early departures, and they've been hit hard by the ability of the state's other four NCAA Division I programs -- along with nearby North Dakota -- to recruit Minnesota kids. Minnesota no longer has their pick of Minnesota talent. Instead, they have to 1) compete with UMD, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Minnesota State, and North Dakota; 2) realize that they won't win all those races; and 3) succeed in recruiting out-of-state players to make up for the in-state talent they don't get.

The sport isn't what it used to be. It's not easy to get to the NCAA Tournament, the Frozen Four, or the title game. It's not easy to get home-ice and make the WCHA Final Five.

[Save UAH Hockey] has a great blog post up on the lack of media coverage for UAH Hockey. UAH beat UNO this past Saturday in Omaha and it wasn't till Monday that the local news paper [AL.COM] finally decided to post a very small story about UAH's victory. I would say that they were a little late to the party. You're right GeofF, Goon has your back.

[Omaha.com] has their WCHA Power Rankings up and I have to admit that I like the way Chad Purcell thinks.

Poll Monday Sioux 5th in both polls

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
January 31, 2011
1. Boston College (41) 18-6-0 988 2
2. Denver ( 6) 16-5-5 922 3
3. Yale ( 2) 17-4-0 881 1
4. Minnesota-Duluth ( 1) 17-5-3 840 5
5. North Dakota 19-8-2 813 4
6. New Hampshire 15-5-4 745 7
7. Wisconsin 19-8-3 670 8
8. Michigan 17-7-4 629 6
9. Rensselaer 17-6-3 594 10
10. Notre Dame 16-9-5 549 9
11. Union 18-7-3 507 13
12. Merrimack 15-5-4 436 14
13. Miami 14-9-5 427 11
14. Boston University 12-7-7 314 16
15. Maine 11-7-6 289 12
16. Western Michigan 14-6-8 274 17
17. Dartmouth 12-6-3 177 18
18. Nebraska-Omaha 14-10-2 161 15
19. Princeton 14-6-1 157 19
20. Colorado College 15-12-1 80 20
Others Receiving Votes: Alaska 10, Providence 10, Robert Morris 7, Minnesota 4, Northeastern 4, Ferris State 3, Ohio State 3, Minnesota State 2, Rochester Institute of Technology 2, Niagara 1, Quinnipiac 1
_____________________________________________
USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
Jan. 31, 2010
1. Boston College (26)18-6-0 497 2
2. Yale (3) 17-4-0 448 1
3. Denver (2) 16-5-5 445 3
4. Minnesota Duluth (3) 17-5-3 407 4
5. North Dakota 19-8-2 393 5
6. New Hamsphire 15-5-4 325 8
7. Wisconsin 19-8-3 272 7
8. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 17-6-3 259 10
9. Michigan 17-7-4 258 6
10. Notre Dame 16-9-5 197 9
11. Union 18-7-3 189 12
12. Merrimack 15-5-4 147 14
13. Miami (Ohio) 14-9-5 95 13
14. Boston University 12-7-7 41 NR
15. Maine 11-7-6 39 11
Others receiving votes: Western Michigan 37; Dartmouth 16; Princeton 10; Nebraska Omaha, 4; Robert Morris 1.

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because they are interesting to look at. Sometimes they provide good cannon fodder. I took the liberty of correcting their post for UND, the Sioux are on the dreaded bye week and play the big slow lumbering team from UAA next weekend.
1. Boston College
2. Yale
3. Denver
4. North Dakota 1 Senior defenseman Chay Genoway was hurt in Friday's loss at Colorado College and didn't play Saturday; his replacement, sophomore Joe Gleason, scored his first career goal in Saturday's 6-0 rout. 19-8-2 (14-6-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Colorado College, 4-2; W at Colorado College, 6-0. THIS WEEK: OFF Next Weekend vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. New Hampshire
7. Rensselaer
8. Union
9. Michigan
10. Merrimack
11. Wisconsin
12. Notre Dame
13. Miami
14. Western Michigan
15. Boston University
16. Dartmouth
17. Princeton
18. Maine
19. Nebraska-Omaha
20. Colorado College
Dropped out: Ohio State
Bubble-licious: Minnesota, Niagara, RIT, Robert Morris

Pegula drew violations as gas driller

Hum! Here is an interesting read about the Terry Pegula the money man behind PSU's hockey program and their new "Pegula Ice Arena" as well as the guy that is trying to buy the Buffalo Sabres.

Buffalo News ---- In the course of making his fortune, the Florida billionaire negotiating to buy the Buffalo Sabres contributed heavily to politicians in a position to advance his business interests and established a less-than-stellar track record in the environmentally dicey business of drilling for natural gas, The Buffalo News has found.

A News review of compliance records found East Resources, the company Terrence M. Pegula sold last summer for $4.7 billion, had a middling record of complying with environmental regulations in Pennsylvania, his base of operations. The company last year paid the largest regulatory fine in its history and was involved in a spill of toxic wastewater that resulted in the first quarantine of cattle in the history of natural gas drilling in the state.