Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
NHL keeps Winnipeg waiting...
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| Photo from the Illegal Curve Hockey Blog |
It is pretty clear, given the paltry attendance at Coyotes games over the years, that if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman decides in the next week the bond sale is never going to happen and announces the team is headed to Winnipeg, the Coyotes attendance will crater. The team is averaging an announced crowd of 11,664 fans per game right now, which is 29th among the NHL’s 30 teams. [Globe and Mail]
College Hockey Scores from Friday, March 11, 2011
Atlantic Hockey Association
Mercyhurst 2 at Connecticut 5
Canisius 3 at Holy Cross 6
Sacred Heart 5 at Air Force 7
American Int'l 0 at RIT 5
CCHA
Alaska 1 at Miami 4
Lake Superior 2 at Notre Dame 3 OT
Bowling Green 1 at Michigan 5
Ferris State 3 at Western Michigan 1
ECAC
Quinnipiac 1 at Cornell 2
Harvard 3 at Dartmouth 2
St. Lawrence 4 at Yale 3 OT
Colgate 1 at Union 4
Hockey East
Maine 4 at Merrimack 5
Northeastern 2 at Boston University 5
Vermont 1 at New Hampshire 3
Massachusetts 1 at Boston College 4
WCHA
Alaska Anchorage 4 at Minnesota 3 [Box Score]
St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 4 [Box Score]
Wisconsin 3 at Colorado College 1 [Box Score]
Bemidji State 4 at Nebraska-Omaha 2 [Box Score]
Minnesota State 2 at Denver 4 [Box Score]
Michigan Tech 0 at North Dakota 8 [Box Score]
Analysis – Last night was an intriguing night of hockey for the WCHA. Two teams that were expected to win now are going to have to win tonight to force a game three.
Bemidji State 4 vs. Nebraska-Omaha 2 – After being snubbed and not making any of the All WCHA teams Dan Bakala stopped 46/48 shots and led the BSU Beavers to another win against the UNO Mavericks. UNO is 0-4-1 against the BSU Beavers and they are the only team the Mavericks haven’t beat this season. [Up North Sports], [Omaha.com]
Wisconsin 3 vs. Colorado College 1 – The Wisconsin Badgers have gone 2-6-1 since February but are on a modest two game unbeaten streak. I still think that the Badgers are going to have to run the table to make the NCAA tourney and have struggled against teams above them in the standing and in the top twenty rankings. The Wisconsin Badgers got timely scoring from their fourth line of Ryan Little (1g-0a-1pts) Jefferson Dahl (1-1-2pts) and Keegan Meuer (0g-1a-1pts) help the Badgers beat the Tigers in Colorado Springs 3-1. Wisconsin Badgers Senior goalie Scott Gudmandson stopped 27/28 shots to push the homesteading Tigers to the brink of elimination. [Madison.com], [Eye of the Tigers]
Minnesota State 2 vs. Denver 4 – The Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks have played the DU Pioneers tough all season long, however, the MSUM Mavericks once again failed to hold lead and lost the game in the third period again as DU scored four goals in the third period, the Ostrow Brother (Kyle and Shawn) scored three goals and Beau Bennett scored leading the Denver Pioneers all the way back to win the game 4-2. [Denver Post], [Puckato]
Michigan Tech 0 vs. North Dakota 8 – The Fighting Sioux demolished the hapless Michigan Tech Huskies 8-0 and hope to close them out in tonight’s game, the Fighting Sioux got hattricks from Jason Gregorie and the b east Matt Frattin. According to Jayson Hajdu the UND SID, The last time two Fighting Sioux hockey players scored a hat trick in the same game was Jan. 17, 2003 at Alaska Anchorage (Zach Parise, Jason Notermann). [UND Hockey Blog], [fightingsioux.COM]
Alaska Anchorage 4 vs. Minnesota 3 – I have been hearing all week long how the Minnesota Gophers were going to cruise to the Final Five win on Thursday night, and beat the Sioux and they would probably be in the NCAA tourney, I think that scenario is easier said than done. I guess the UAA Seawolves also came to play and want to plan a spring trip of their own to the Xcel Energy Center. I do wonder if the Minnesota Gophers looked past the UAA Seawolves as they beat the Minnesota Gophers 4-3 in the John last night and have a chance to make the Final Five for the second time in their team’s history.
Honestly, I told someone this past week I don’t think Minnesota matches up well against the UAA Seawolves because of the style of hockey the Seawolves play. The Minnesota Gophers like to play a finesse game and that involves little physical contact and the UAA Seawolves are the exact opposite of that team philosophy, they are the anti Gophers. I have seen the Seawolves play quite a few times on GCI.COM this season and they are not that bad of a hockey team and ended up finishing tied for 8th place and if they had won a few more games would have been hosting a home series in the first round of WCHA playoffs instead of traveling to the Minnesota. They will play the Gophers tough from the drop of the first puck to the last whistle of the game.
Why the Gophers lose - UAA is a big team that gets in the shooting lanes and is very defensive minded and score goals off turnover in the neutral zone, they erased a four goal lead in Anchorage against the Sioux earlier in the season. I think the Gophers Hockey team looked past the Seawolves based on their past records and they will need to realize that the Seawolves are not a bad hockey team at all. If the Gophers want to win this series they are going to have to limit turnovers in the neutral zone, stay out of the penalty box and use their speed through the neutral zone, if they don’t they will get buried. The Gophers are also going to have to get pucks deep and cycle the puck. [Delusions of Grandeur], [Goal Gophers]
St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 4 – I have to admit after the Huskies beat the Bulldogs in Duluth 8-2 I thought this last night’s game was going to be more of the same and still could be but the Huskies have to win or they are done because they are on the outside looking in. Since February the UMD Bulldogs are unimpressive and mediocre 4-4-3 and kind of stumbling into the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if the Huskies go after the top line of Connolly (X2) , no they are not related and Justine Fontaine and check they hard. [Rink and Run], [SCSU Pucks and Stuff]
Mercyhurst 2 at Connecticut 5
Canisius 3 at Holy Cross 6
Sacred Heart 5 at Air Force 7
American Int'l 0 at RIT 5
CCHA
Alaska 1 at Miami 4
Lake Superior 2 at Notre Dame 3 OT
Bowling Green 1 at Michigan 5
Ferris State 3 at Western Michigan 1
ECAC
Quinnipiac 1 at Cornell 2
Harvard 3 at Dartmouth 2
St. Lawrence 4 at Yale 3 OT
Colgate 1 at Union 4
Hockey East
Maine 4 at Merrimack 5
Northeastern 2 at Boston University 5
Vermont 1 at New Hampshire 3
Massachusetts 1 at Boston College 4
WCHA
Alaska Anchorage 4 at Minnesota 3 [Box Score]
St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 4 [Box Score]
Wisconsin 3 at Colorado College 1 [Box Score]
Bemidji State 4 at Nebraska-Omaha 2 [Box Score]
Minnesota State 2 at Denver 4 [Box Score]
Michigan Tech 0 at North Dakota 8 [Box Score]
Analysis – Last night was an intriguing night of hockey for the WCHA. Two teams that were expected to win now are going to have to win tonight to force a game three.
Bemidji State 4 vs. Nebraska-Omaha 2 – After being snubbed and not making any of the All WCHA teams Dan Bakala stopped 46/48 shots and led the BSU Beavers to another win against the UNO Mavericks. UNO is 0-4-1 against the BSU Beavers and they are the only team the Mavericks haven’t beat this season. [Up North Sports], [Omaha.com]
Wisconsin 3 vs. Colorado College 1 – The Wisconsin Badgers have gone 2-6-1 since February but are on a modest two game unbeaten streak. I still think that the Badgers are going to have to run the table to make the NCAA tourney and have struggled against teams above them in the standing and in the top twenty rankings. The Wisconsin Badgers got timely scoring from their fourth line of Ryan Little (1g-0a-1pts) Jefferson Dahl (1-1-2pts) and Keegan Meuer (0g-1a-1pts) help the Badgers beat the Tigers in Colorado Springs 3-1. Wisconsin Badgers Senior goalie Scott Gudmandson stopped 27/28 shots to push the homesteading Tigers to the brink of elimination. [Madison.com], [Eye of the Tigers]
Minnesota State 2 vs. Denver 4 – The Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks have played the DU Pioneers tough all season long, however, the MSUM Mavericks once again failed to hold lead and lost the game in the third period again as DU scored four goals in the third period, the Ostrow Brother (Kyle and Shawn) scored three goals and Beau Bennett scored leading the Denver Pioneers all the way back to win the game 4-2. [Denver Post], [Puckato]
Michigan Tech 0 vs. North Dakota 8 – The Fighting Sioux demolished the hapless Michigan Tech Huskies 8-0 and hope to close them out in tonight’s game, the Fighting Sioux got hattricks from Jason Gregorie and the b east Matt Frattin. According to Jayson Hajdu the UND SID, The last time two Fighting Sioux hockey players scored a hat trick in the same game was Jan. 17, 2003 at Alaska Anchorage (Zach Parise, Jason Notermann). [UND Hockey Blog], [fightingsioux.COM]
Alaska Anchorage 4 vs. Minnesota 3 – I have been hearing all week long how the Minnesota Gophers were going to cruise to the Final Five win on Thursday night, and beat the Sioux and they would probably be in the NCAA tourney, I think that scenario is easier said than done. I guess the UAA Seawolves also came to play and want to plan a spring trip of their own to the Xcel Energy Center. I do wonder if the Minnesota Gophers looked past the UAA Seawolves as they beat the Minnesota Gophers 4-3 in the John last night and have a chance to make the Final Five for the second time in their team’s history.
Honestly, I told someone this past week I don’t think Minnesota matches up well against the UAA Seawolves because of the style of hockey the Seawolves play. The Minnesota Gophers like to play a finesse game and that involves little physical contact and the UAA Seawolves are the exact opposite of that team philosophy, they are the anti Gophers. I have seen the Seawolves play quite a few times on GCI.COM this season and they are not that bad of a hockey team and ended up finishing tied for 8th place and if they had won a few more games would have been hosting a home series in the first round of WCHA playoffs instead of traveling to the Minnesota. They will play the Gophers tough from the drop of the first puck to the last whistle of the game.
Why the Gophers lose - UAA is a big team that gets in the shooting lanes and is very defensive minded and score goals off turnover in the neutral zone, they erased a four goal lead in Anchorage against the Sioux earlier in the season. I think the Gophers Hockey team looked past the Seawolves based on their past records and they will need to realize that the Seawolves are not a bad hockey team at all. If the Gophers want to win this series they are going to have to limit turnovers in the neutral zone, stay out of the penalty box and use their speed through the neutral zone, if they don’t they will get buried. The Gophers are also going to have to get pucks deep and cycle the puck. [Delusions of Grandeur], [Goal Gophers]
St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 4 – I have to admit after the Huskies beat the Bulldogs in Duluth 8-2 I thought this last night’s game was going to be more of the same and still could be but the Huskies have to win or they are done because they are on the outside looking in. Since February the UMD Bulldogs are unimpressive and mediocre 4-4-3 and kind of stumbling into the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if the Huskies go after the top line of Connolly (X2) , no they are not related and Justine Fontaine and check they hard. [Rink and Run], [SCSU Pucks and Stuff]
Joel Colborne Hit by Selleck
Check out this hit, this is a classic text book example of interference.
Sioux open the WCHA playoffs with a Fratt Party: Sioiux 8 Huskies 0
The Fighting Sioux have played the Michigan Tech Huskies three times this season and have won by an combined 25-3, add to that goal total; in the past three weeks the Fighting Sioux have gone 5-0 and scored 35 goals and given up only 6, albeit the Sioux have played two teams sitting at the bottom of the WCHA standings but you play the schedule you’re given; right. Or that was what we were told when Yale was ripping through some bad teams in early part of the season. The same team the Sioux beat two weeks ago by a combined score of 10-3 waltzed into Omaha’s barn last night and won tonight the first game of the series 4-2.
The games between the Sioux and the MTU Huskies have been so one sided this season that you all most feel sorry for the Huskies, but like I said last weekend this is the same team that swept the Fighting Sioux back in December of 2006 and I doubt they felt sorry for the Fighting Sioux back then. like I mentioned in a previous blog post last weekend, the Michigan Tech Huskies have had two dismal back to back thirty loss seasons and have also lost at least twenty five games six of the last eight seasons... Folks that’s horrible hockey, and what can you do? The Fighting Sioux cannot afford to take the foot off the gas this time of year going into the playoffs. I also think that head coach Dave Hakstol has done a good job managing his team and not allowing them to take it easy on MTU or take the Huskies for granted.
So going forward and not letting the foot off of the gas, the Fighting Sioux have absolutely demolished the MTU Huskies in two previous games and tonight’s game was no different than last weekend’s results as the Fighting Sioux lead by five goals after one period of hockey (5-0) with goals from Hextal, Frattin (X2), Gregoire (X2). The score was 7-0 after two periods of hockey as Frattin and Gregoire finished off their hat tricks. The Sioux finished the scoring off in the third period with a goal from Jake Marto. Also having a big night for the Fighting Sioux was Senior Captain Chay Genoway who had (0g-4a-4pts) on the night.
Goon's Three Stars of the Game
1.) Matt Frattin (3g-1a-4pts)
2.) Chay Genoway (0g-4a-4pts)
3.) Jason Gregoire (3g-0a-3pts)
I think there are a few players that are playing well and worth a mention with four points tonight, Matt Frattin now has as season total of (32g-21a-53pts) so he has actually amassed almost half of his 112 points this season.
Junior forward Jason Gregoire missed seven games earlier in the season with an undisclosed upper body injury and has a season line of (24g-16a-40Pts) and has 106 points in 116 games, (56g-50a-106pts). It’s my opinion that Jason Gregoire is one of the best two way forwards in the WCHA.
Box score
USCHO; My favorite Pseudo Reporter... :)
Grand Forks Herald
Umberger hit on Doughty
Haven't we seen this before? So where are all of the pundits calling for R.J. Umberger's suspension... No I am not, however, I am surprised that some of the hockey Pundits are calling for an 2-4 game suspension R.J. Umberger.
Friday, March 11, 2011
UND Fighting Sioux nickname bill passes N.D. Senate - Developing
Grand Forks Herald --- The North Dakota Senate voted today to approve legislation ordering UND to retain its controversial Fighting Sioux nickname and Indian-head logo.
The vote was 28-15 with four senators absent and not voting, and came after a massive e-mail lobbying campaign that senators said heavily favored approval and clogged members’ e-mail accounts.
The bill, passed earlier by the House on a 65-28 vote, goes now to Gov. Jack Dalrymple (A RINO), who has not indicated whether he will sign it. Dalrymple has asked Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley, a former federal prosecutor, to research potential constitutional problems with the bill.
In addition to writing the Fighting Sioux nickname into state law, the bill directs Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to consider suing the NCAA if the athletics association again threatens sanctions against the university.
Stenehjem sued the NCAA on behalf of the State Board of Higher Education when the association said UND would lose the right to host post-season championships or participate in post-season play wearing Fighting Sioux insignia if it did not comply with an NCAA rule banning Indian-themed nicknames, logos and mascots.
In a 2007 settlement agreement, the NCAA gave UND and the higher education board three years to win authorization from the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes to continue using the name. Standing Rock voters gave their consent, but efforts to arrange a vote at Standing Rock or persuade the tribal council to change its longstanding opposition failed.
Here is the vote breakdown:
(Yea) Andrist
(Yea) Berry
(Yea) Bowman
(Yea) Burckhard
(Yea) Christmann
(Yea) Cook
(Yea) Dever
(Abs) Dotzenrod
(Yea) Erbele
(Yea) Fischer
(Abs) Flakoll
(Yea) Freborg
(Yea) G. Lee
(Yea) Grindberg
(Nay) Heckaman
(Yea) Hogue
(Nay) Holmberg - Grand Forks
(Yea) J. Lee
(Yea) Kilzer
(Yea) Klein
(Yea) Krebsbach
(Yea) Laffen
(Yea) Larsen
(Nay) Luick
(Yea) Lyson
(Nay) Marcellais
(Nay) Mathern
(Yea) Miller
(Nay) Murphy
(Nay) Nelson
(Nay) Nething
(Yea) Nodland
(Yea) O’Connell
(Abs) Oehlke
(Yea) Olafson
(Nay) Robinson
(Nay) Schaible
(Nay) Schneider
(Yea) Sitte
(Yea) Sorvaag
(Yea) Stenehjem
(Nay) Taylor
(Nay) Triplett
(Nay) Uglem
(Abs) Wanzek
(Yea) Wardner
(Nay) Warner
Rangers coach says NHL changes encourage cheap shots
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- John Tortorella has not seen the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty that left the Montreal winger with a serious concussion and a fractured vertebra and sparked an uproar across Canada when the Boston defenseman escaped without a suspension, but the Rangers coach is resolute in his opinion that rule changes have created the environment in which such acts now seem commonplace.
"I think some rules changes have provided players with the chance to disrespect other players," Tortorella said after yesterday's brief but intense practice here in preparation for tomorrow night's match with the Sharks. "It goes on, and I still think it needs to be addressed.
"No one wants to see players hurt," he said. "There needs to be some sort of honor and honesty in our game and I think we've lost that with the rules changes."
The coach made it clear that while he thinks other rules changes such as eliminating benign obstruction have contributed to the problem, the instigator rule is the root cause. Tortorella is not alone among the hockey community in that belief, but the instigator rule that mandates a two-minute minor plus a 10-minute misconduct penalty for those who start a fight in defense of a teammate, is hardly a recent change, having been adopted in 1992-93.
"It's not just that, but I think it's a lousy rule," Tortorella said. "I think the game has gotten [this] way because we have not allowed the players to police themselves. To me, that's the bottom line.
"Players need to police themselves on the ice, not the rules, not supplementary discipline and all that," he said. "That's where I think we've lost honesty. Call me [old school], if you want. It's wrong. "The instigator creates a mindset for players for players who you wouldn't even see them if the instigator was not there."
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Fighting Sioux nickname bill on Senate's Friday lineup
BISMARCK — The Fighting Sioux nickname and logo issue is listed on Friday’s North Dakota Senate voting lineup.
Just because the bill is on the calendar is not a guarantee that it will be voted on tomorrow. At least three senators will not be present because they are away on state business.
House Bill 1263 states UND athletic teams shall be known as the Fighting Sioux. Neither UND nor the state Board of Higher Education may take action to discontinue the use of the nickname or logo.
It requires the attorney general to consider filing a federal antitrust claim against the NCAA if the association takes any action to penalize UND for using the nickname and logo.
Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)
kceyThe bad news, the regular season is over, the good news, the playoff season is starting, yeah! This is it. Everyone has a chance to start their run to the Broadmoor Championship and the auto-bid to the NCAA tournament.
For the bottom six teams this weekend is do or die time. For the top six it is a time to tune up for a run at/into the NCAA tournament. Last year there were no upsets in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. This year I think we might see an upset or two in the first round. Looking at the match-ups this weekend only UNO-BSU have played each other 4 games this season, everyone else is just 2 games.
The Goon and I will be attending the Final 5 again this year. So, next week I will try and get some predictions up for the 2 play-in games on Thursday. And maybe get something up on Friday and Saturday for those games too.
I hope everyone has enjoyed my weekly guessing attempts again this year. I look forward to seeing some of you in St. Paul next week.
WCHA FINAL standings
TEAM……………........W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota…....…….21-6-1…43
2. Denver……..…….......…17-8-3…37
3. Nebraska-Omah.a.…..17-9-2…36
4. Minnesota-Duluth......15-8-5…35
5. Minnesota…….....…...13-10-5…31
6. Colorado College..….13-13-2…28
7. Wisconsin……….....….12-13-3…27
8. Alaska-Anchorage…12-14-2…26
8. St. Cloud State…......11-13-4…26
10. Bemidji State…….….8-15-5…21
10. Minnesota State..….8-16-4…20
12. Michigan Tech….……2-24-2…6
WCHA (Numbers are current PairWise Rank)
Michigan Tech @ #3 North Dakota (season series UND wins 2-0-0)
Last weekend the Sioux swept the MTU Huskies in Houghton.
The Sioux beat-up the Huskies last weekend, by 6-1 and 11-2 scores. UND just needs to keep playing their game - use their speed and size to their advantage. The Sioux need to take care of Tech in 2-games and then concentrate on the Final Five. It appears that MTU might have decided to phone it in last weekend. But this weekend, it’s a new season, everyone is even. The Huskies can try and play spoiler this weekend, but UND needs to keep focused on the games this weekend and not look ahead. SIOUX SWEEP
Minnesota State @ #5 Denver (season series DU wins 2-0-0)
Last weekend the Mavericks were swept by the UAA Seawolves in Mankato and the Pioneers split with the SCSU Huskies in Denver.
The Pioneers are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, not bad, but not good either, especially heading into the playoffs. The Mavericks enter the playoffs on a three game losing skid. MSUM owns a 3-8-3 WCHA road record this year, while DU has an 11-2-1 home WCHA record. The Pioneers beat the Mavericks in Magness Arena back in mid-November by scores of 3-2 and 6-1. Denver definitely is the better team in this match-up, but don’t count the Mavericks out. If MSUM’s goalie(s) get hot they could steal a game in Denver. But in the end, the Pioneers are just too deep for the Mavericks. PIONEERS SWEEP
Bemidji St. @ #6 Nebraska-Omaha (season series BSU wins 3-0-1)
Last weekend the Beavers earned 1-point against the UM Gophers in Bemidji and the Mavericks split with the UMD Bulldogs in Duluth.
The Mavericks get a chance this weekend to get some revenge on the only WCHA team they didn’t beat in the regular season. The Beavers will have the mental edge in this series, they know they can beat UNO. The Mavericks have to stick to their game plan and play at a higher level than BSU, if they want to go on to St. Paul. The Beavers will need to score more than 2 or 3 goals per game in Omaha if they want to win. BSU needs to find some offense, especially if senior Matt Read is unable to play (injury) this weekend.
MAVERICKS in 3
#20 St. Cloud St. @ #10 Minnesota-Duluth (season SCSU wins 1-0-1)
Last weekend the Huskies split with the DU Pioneers in Denver and the Bulldogs split with the UNO Mavericks in Duluth.
In early February the Huskies invaded Amsoil Arena and beat the Bulldogs 8-2 and tied in the rematch 3-3. SCSU is 5-2-2 in their last 9 games with loses to UND and DU, not too shabby. The Bulldogs are 2-4-2 in their last 8 games with wins over UNO and MSUM. This series has upset written all over it. SCSU is playing its best hockey of the year and are looking like the team that was picked to finish in the top 3 to start the year. The Bulldogs seem to be sliding into the playoffs. UMD needs to get back on track if they want to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament, which would include winning their first round playoff series. The Huskies still have hopes of making the NCAA tournament, but they need to win this series and do some damage in St. Paul to get in. Looking at the stats UMD has not last a league game when they were ahead after the 1st period, same goes for their 2nd period. The Huskies need to get a lead or be tied after the 1st and 2nd if they want to win, according to the stats. This could be the most interesting series this weekend, in my opinion.
SCSU in 3
Alaska-Anchorage @ #18 Minnesota (season series tied 1-1-0)
Last weekend the UAA Seawolves swept the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato and the Gophers took 3-points from the Beavers in Bemidji.
At the end of January in Minneapolis the Gophers beat the Seawolves 5-1 to open the series and the Seawolves responded in the rematch winning 1-0. Prior to last weekend UAA had only 3 road wins on the season, now they have 5 with a sweep of MSUM. The Gophers seem to be heating up at the right time of the year, they are riding a 7-game unbeaten streak, 5-2-0. The Seawolves will be looking for the upset this weekend and earn their second ever trip to the Final Five. The Gophers still have hopes of getting into the NCAA. In order for the UM to get in they need to keep winning, but beating UAA will not help them too much, but they need to beat them to move onto St. Paul. The Gophers will need to use their speed and cause UAA to take penalties this weekend. If UAA can find ways to score they could make life miserable for the Gophers. When the Seawolves get a lead and play defense, it can make for a frustrating game.
GOPHERS in 3
Wisconsin @ #14 Colorado College (season series tied 1-1-0)
Last weekend the Tigers split with the Badgers in Madison
A rematch from last weekend, this should be an interesting series, now that they have moved from Madison to Colorado Springs. The Tigers are 7-6-1 at home in WCHA games this year, and the Badgers are 5-7-2 away from the Kohl Center. (The Tigers have lost 3 of their last 4 home playoff series.) CC has clawed their way back into the NCAA picture and UW has fallen off the NCAA picture. Since these teams are the 6 & 7 seeds there won’t be much of an upset if UW won the series. The Badgers need to get more scoring from their forwards, if they want to advance to St. Paul. The Tigers need play smart hockey and not take any bad penalties this weekend.
TIGERS in 3
For the bottom six teams this weekend is do or die time. For the top six it is a time to tune up for a run at/into the NCAA tournament. Last year there were no upsets in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. This year I think we might see an upset or two in the first round. Looking at the match-ups this weekend only UNO-BSU have played each other 4 games this season, everyone else is just 2 games.
The Goon and I will be attending the Final 5 again this year. So, next week I will try and get some predictions up for the 2 play-in games on Thursday. And maybe get something up on Friday and Saturday for those games too.
I hope everyone has enjoyed my weekly guessing attempts again this year. I look forward to seeing some of you in St. Paul next week.
WCHA FINAL standings
TEAM……………........W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota…....…….21-6-1…43
2. Denver……..…….......…17-8-3…37
3. Nebraska-Omah.a.…..17-9-2…36
4. Minnesota-Duluth......15-8-5…35
5. Minnesota…….....…...13-10-5…31
6. Colorado College..….13-13-2…28
7. Wisconsin……….....….12-13-3…27
8. Alaska-Anchorage…12-14-2…26
8. St. Cloud State…......11-13-4…26
10. Bemidji State…….….8-15-5…21
10. Minnesota State..….8-16-4…20
12. Michigan Tech….……2-24-2…6
WCHA (Numbers are current PairWise Rank)
Michigan Tech @ #3 North Dakota (season series UND wins 2-0-0)
Last weekend the Sioux swept the MTU Huskies in Houghton.
The Sioux beat-up the Huskies last weekend, by 6-1 and 11-2 scores. UND just needs to keep playing their game - use their speed and size to their advantage. The Sioux need to take care of Tech in 2-games and then concentrate on the Final Five. It appears that MTU might have decided to phone it in last weekend. But this weekend, it’s a new season, everyone is even. The Huskies can try and play spoiler this weekend, but UND needs to keep focused on the games this weekend and not look ahead. SIOUX SWEEP
Minnesota State @ #5 Denver (season series DU wins 2-0-0)
Last weekend the Mavericks were swept by the UAA Seawolves in Mankato and the Pioneers split with the SCSU Huskies in Denver.
The Pioneers are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, not bad, but not good either, especially heading into the playoffs. The Mavericks enter the playoffs on a three game losing skid. MSUM owns a 3-8-3 WCHA road record this year, while DU has an 11-2-1 home WCHA record. The Pioneers beat the Mavericks in Magness Arena back in mid-November by scores of 3-2 and 6-1. Denver definitely is the better team in this match-up, but don’t count the Mavericks out. If MSUM’s goalie(s) get hot they could steal a game in Denver. But in the end, the Pioneers are just too deep for the Mavericks. PIONEERS SWEEP
Bemidji St. @ #6 Nebraska-Omaha (season series BSU wins 3-0-1)
Last weekend the Beavers earned 1-point against the UM Gophers in Bemidji and the Mavericks split with the UMD Bulldogs in Duluth.
The Mavericks get a chance this weekend to get some revenge on the only WCHA team they didn’t beat in the regular season. The Beavers will have the mental edge in this series, they know they can beat UNO. The Mavericks have to stick to their game plan and play at a higher level than BSU, if they want to go on to St. Paul. The Beavers will need to score more than 2 or 3 goals per game in Omaha if they want to win. BSU needs to find some offense, especially if senior Matt Read is unable to play (injury) this weekend.
MAVERICKS in 3
#20 St. Cloud St. @ #10 Minnesota-Duluth (season SCSU wins 1-0-1)
Last weekend the Huskies split with the DU Pioneers in Denver and the Bulldogs split with the UNO Mavericks in Duluth.
In early February the Huskies invaded Amsoil Arena and beat the Bulldogs 8-2 and tied in the rematch 3-3. SCSU is 5-2-2 in their last 9 games with loses to UND and DU, not too shabby. The Bulldogs are 2-4-2 in their last 8 games with wins over UNO and MSUM. This series has upset written all over it. SCSU is playing its best hockey of the year and are looking like the team that was picked to finish in the top 3 to start the year. The Bulldogs seem to be sliding into the playoffs. UMD needs to get back on track if they want to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament, which would include winning their first round playoff series. The Huskies still have hopes of making the NCAA tournament, but they need to win this series and do some damage in St. Paul to get in. Looking at the stats UMD has not last a league game when they were ahead after the 1st period, same goes for their 2nd period. The Huskies need to get a lead or be tied after the 1st and 2nd if they want to win, according to the stats. This could be the most interesting series this weekend, in my opinion.
SCSU in 3
Alaska-Anchorage @ #18 Minnesota (season series tied 1-1-0)
Last weekend the UAA Seawolves swept the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato and the Gophers took 3-points from the Beavers in Bemidji.
At the end of January in Minneapolis the Gophers beat the Seawolves 5-1 to open the series and the Seawolves responded in the rematch winning 1-0. Prior to last weekend UAA had only 3 road wins on the season, now they have 5 with a sweep of MSUM. The Gophers seem to be heating up at the right time of the year, they are riding a 7-game unbeaten streak, 5-2-0. The Seawolves will be looking for the upset this weekend and earn their second ever trip to the Final Five. The Gophers still have hopes of getting into the NCAA. In order for the UM to get in they need to keep winning, but beating UAA will not help them too much, but they need to beat them to move onto St. Paul. The Gophers will need to use their speed and cause UAA to take penalties this weekend. If UAA can find ways to score they could make life miserable for the Gophers. When the Seawolves get a lead and play defense, it can make for a frustrating game.
GOPHERS in 3
Wisconsin @ #14 Colorado College (season series tied 1-1-0)
Last weekend the Tigers split with the Badgers in Madison
A rematch from last weekend, this should be an interesting series, now that they have moved from Madison to Colorado Springs. The Tigers are 7-6-1 at home in WCHA games this year, and the Badgers are 5-7-2 away from the Kohl Center. (The Tigers have lost 3 of their last 4 home playoff series.) CC has clawed their way back into the NCAA picture and UW has fallen off the NCAA picture. Since these teams are the 6 & 7 seeds there won’t be much of an upset if UW won the series. The Badgers need to get more scoring from their forwards, if they want to advance to St. Paul. The Tigers need play smart hockey and not take any bad penalties this weekend.
TIGERS in 3
All WCHA teams released. Frattin Player of the Year
This is from WCHA.COM
First team all-WCHA
F — Matt Frattin, UND
F — Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth
F — Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth
D — Justin Schultz, Wisconsin
D — Chay Genoway, UND
G — Aaron Dell, UND
Second team all-WCHA
F — Justin Fontaine, Minnesota Duluth
F — Drew Shore, Denver
F — Jason Zucker, Denver
D — Jake Gardiner, Wisconsin
D — Matt Donovan, Denver
G –Kent Patterson, Minnesota
Third team all-WCHA
F — Jason Gregoire, UND
F — Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
F — Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State
D — Kurt Davis, MSU-Mankato
D — Justin Faulk, Minnesota Duluth
G –John Faulkner, Nebraska-Omaha
All rookie team
F — Jason Zucker, Denver.
F — Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
F — J.T. Brown, Minnesota Duluth
D — Justin Faulk, Minnesota Duluth
D — David Makowski, Denver
G — Sam Brittain, Denver
Player of the year: Matt Frattin, UND.
Rookie of the year: Jason Zucker, Denver.
Student-athlete of the year: Chay Genoway, UND.
Defensive player of the year: Justin Schultz, Wisconsin.
Coach of the year: Dean Blais, Omaha.
Scoring champion: Frattin.
Goaltending champion: Aaron Dell, UND.
From WCHA.COM
First team all-WCHA
F — Matt Frattin, UND
F — Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth
F — Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth
D — Justin Schultz, Wisconsin
D — Chay Genoway, UND
G — Aaron Dell, UND
Second team all-WCHA
F — Justin Fontaine, Minnesota Duluth
F — Drew Shore, Denver
F — Jason Zucker, Denver
D — Jake Gardiner, Wisconsin
D — Matt Donovan, Denver
G –Kent Patterson, Minnesota
Third team all-WCHA
F — Jason Gregoire, UND
F — Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
F — Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State
D — Kurt Davis, MSU-Mankato
D — Justin Faulk, Minnesota Duluth
G –John Faulkner, Nebraska-Omaha
All rookie team
F — Jason Zucker, Denver.
F — Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
F — J.T. Brown, Minnesota Duluth
D — Justin Faulk, Minnesota Duluth
D — David Makowski, Denver
G — Sam Brittain, Denver
Player of the year: Matt Frattin, UND.
Rookie of the year: Jason Zucker, Denver.
Student-athlete of the year: Chay Genoway, UND.
Defensive player of the year: Justin Schultz, Wisconsin.
Coach of the year: Dean Blais, Omaha.
Scoring champion: Frattin.
Goaltending champion: Aaron Dell, UND.
From WCHA.COM
Frattin, who received 58 votes in player of the year balloting, also captured the league's scoring title (conference games only) with 40 points (22g, 18a), the most points by a Sioux player in league games since 2000-01. In 28 league games he averaged 1.43 points per game as the Sioux claimed the regular season championship for a record 15th time overall and second time in the past three seasons. A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Frattin is tied for the NCAA Div. 1 lead with 29 goals, including a nation's-best 19 goals scored away from home, and leads UND in points (49), goals (29), power-play goals (9), game-winning goals (4), and shorthanded goals (2). He is currently riding his second nine-game point streak for the season, scored a goal in eight straight games earlier this season, and has gone consecutive games without a point on only two occasions. Frattin is a draftee of the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs.
------------------------------
Genoway, who also earned All-WCHA First Team honors, was named the men's WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year in a vote of league member team Faculty Athletic Representatives. A two-time team captain and one of only three individuals to earn WCHA Scholar-Athlete honors four times (the others were Scott McCulloch of Colorado College from 2005-09 and Jenna Hewitt of Minnesota State from 2006-10), Genoway maintains a 3.558 cumulative grade-point average at North Dakota and will graduate in May with a BBA in Management. After a season-ending injury last year, the Morden, Manitoba product went on to earn a 4.0 GPA in the fall of 2010, has done a team-leading 68.5 hours of community service during this academic year and was named an ESPN the Magazine All-American as a junior. He is the fourth highest scoring defenseman overall in the WCHA this season with 26 points (6g, 20a) despite missing eight games, ranked second in the WCHA in points per game by a defenseman at 0.95, leads all active WCHA defensemen with 116 career points, and put together a 12-game point streak earlier this season, tying a 33-year old school record for defensemen. Genoway is also a finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award and has earned UND's Archie Krum Memorial Athletic Scholarship for "leadership qualities, high academic standards and athletic excellence" three years in a row.
The things that make you go hmmmm...
One note . Heard a respected hockey person (Kevin Gorg) say on radio (KFAN 1130) he hoped the NCAA would give the Gophers special consideration this year for an at-large bid because the Frozen Four is at the Xcel Center.I guess I am shocked because I would think a great hockey like Gorg would know that the NCAA tourney isn’t selected in some smoke filled room anymore, the selection goes straight by the numbers of the RPI/PWR rankings. If Minnesota isn’t in the top 15 schools they will not make the NCAA Hockey tourney.
That won't happen. There is no subjectivity in the selection process of at-large teams. None. Zero. Nada. Schools hosting the Frozen Four get no special consideration.
Complain if you want, that's just the way it is.
Speaking of Ryan Cardinal; Here is the audio from Cardinal's weekly bit on KFAN 1130 on Wednesday. [Click to listen]
So I wonder who Roman is talking about?
Gophers coach Don Lucia said Monday on his weekly WCCO radio show that his staff didn't expect to be playing Alaska Anchorage this weekend.So if silly blogger said that the Gophers would be playing the SCSU Huskies and the coaching staff thought they were going to be playing the Huskies and were even reviewing tape of the SCSU Huskies does that make the blogger in question silly?
"We actually had done our video work for St. Cloud [State]," he said, "because the way things were looking, that's who we thought we would end up playing."
(One silly blogger even predicted it would be St. Cloud State at Minnesota. Won't name names.)
Thursday Links – Where is Spring?
The Zdeno Chara and Max Pacioretty incident has really blown up on the Internet and the blogsphere, now the Montreal police department wants to conduct a criminal investigation on the hit. I don’t think that this warrants a criminal investigation. If there is a hockey player(s) that deserve to be in jail it’s Matt Cooke and Todd Bertuzzi, Zdeno Chara isn't a dirty player contrary to public belief. Zdeno Chara didn't have a history of being a dirty player after 13 years of hockey, however, Chara made a bad decision with his hit on Max Pacioretty and Chara is going to have to live with that hit for a very long time.
Don’t get me wrong I am not excusing this hit; it was an unfortunate hockey play that went poorly and ended up ending a player’s season. This latest dustup will only further strain the Habs and Bruins on ice feud and could possibly make the next game in this series a blood bath. There is a strong possibility that the Bruins and the Habs could end up seeing each other in the playoffs as well.
I was watching the game as it happened in time, no one ever wants to see a player get hurt on the ice, never. That being said, hockey is also a physical sport and people are going to get hurt, unfortunately a player was hurt in this situation. Was this a penalty, you betcha, it was called a five minute major on the ice, it was a classic definition of interference; Pacioretty was no where near the puck when he was driven into a metal stanchion. There has been an on going debate on whether Chara meant to do that, short of giving him a polygraph; I don’t know how we will ever figure out if Chara meant to do it or not.
We have learned nothing in the last week
So here we are a week after the Trevor Gillies hit on Cal Clutterbuck and we are right back at square one again, another horrific incident and another player out with another concussion. Sometime in the future, tonight, tomorrow or next week there will be another hit like this that will make its way onto YouTube.Com and the fans and the media will pick the hit apart and the various NHL fan bases will spar over the hit in question.
So what does the NHL do going forward? In this specific instance should Chara pulled up and not followed through on the hit, yeah probably, the puck was already by him, Chara didn’t pull up and Pacioretty was hurt on the play and carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. I would be willing to bet that Chara feels bad about the hit that he put on Max Pacioretty, I don’t think that there are that many players in the NHL that intentionally want to hurt people. I have also seen where some pundits have said that Pacioretty put himself into that situation by instigating and stirring the pot with Chara over the course of the season and that Chara had enough.I wonder if the league took that into consideration when they made their ruling?
In conclusion; I think that the NHL has pinned themselves into a corner with their past decisions and at times I question whether they really have a clue what they are doing? There is evidence by some of the NHL's recent decisions involving on ice incidents that the front office has no clue what they are doing. That being said, NHL hockey is a physical game and short of taking hitting out of the game, injuries and questionable hits are going to be part of hockey. The way the NHL responds to these hits going forward is going to make a difference on how often we see these types of hits. I also believe that as long as we have a certain player out patrolling the ice conducting acts of thuggery we will continue to have this discussion.
The Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice needs and has to be more consistent going forward, if not the NHL will never improve it’s player safety. While I think that the NHL "probably" made the right decision in this case under their current guidelines and rules it does seem like the only acceptable response to some fans and the talking heads and a percentage of NHL players would’ve been to give Chara a game or two suspension for his hit. I don’t know if the NHL is at that point yet in the discussion but I wonder if that isn’t on the horizon in the future? To be continued.
Links to the Story...
NHL Misses Opportunity to Send Message of Safety by Not Suspending Zdeno Chara [NESN.COM]
Montreal Police Launch Criminal Investigation for Zdeno Chara's Hit on Max Pacioretty [NESN.COM]
Chara: 'It was just a hockey play'[Sabres Edge] Here is what Zdeno Chara had to say on the matter.
That’s hockey?! NHL still whistling after Zdeno Chara’s rub-out of Max Pacioretty [The Vancouver Sun]
Poking the bear [Sportsnet.ca]
Bettman say Pacioretty hit horrific, but part of the game. [TSN.COM]
Don’t get me wrong I am not excusing this hit; it was an unfortunate hockey play that went poorly and ended up ending a player’s season. This latest dustup will only further strain the Habs and Bruins on ice feud and could possibly make the next game in this series a blood bath. There is a strong possibility that the Bruins and the Habs could end up seeing each other in the playoffs as well.
I was watching the game as it happened in time, no one ever wants to see a player get hurt on the ice, never. That being said, hockey is also a physical sport and people are going to get hurt, unfortunately a player was hurt in this situation. Was this a penalty, you betcha, it was called a five minute major on the ice, it was a classic definition of interference; Pacioretty was no where near the puck when he was driven into a metal stanchion. There has been an on going debate on whether Chara meant to do that, short of giving him a polygraph; I don’t know how we will ever figure out if Chara meant to do it or not.
We have learned nothing in the last week
So here we are a week after the Trevor Gillies hit on Cal Clutterbuck and we are right back at square one again, another horrific incident and another player out with another concussion. Sometime in the future, tonight, tomorrow or next week there will be another hit like this that will make its way onto YouTube.Com and the fans and the media will pick the hit apart and the various NHL fan bases will spar over the hit in question.
So what does the NHL do going forward? In this specific instance should Chara pulled up and not followed through on the hit, yeah probably, the puck was already by him, Chara didn’t pull up and Pacioretty was hurt on the play and carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. I would be willing to bet that Chara feels bad about the hit that he put on Max Pacioretty, I don’t think that there are that many players in the NHL that intentionally want to hurt people. I have also seen where some pundits have said that Pacioretty put himself into that situation by instigating and stirring the pot with Chara over the course of the season and that Chara had enough.I wonder if the league took that into consideration when they made their ruling?
In conclusion; I think that the NHL has pinned themselves into a corner with their past decisions and at times I question whether they really have a clue what they are doing? There is evidence by some of the NHL's recent decisions involving on ice incidents that the front office has no clue what they are doing. That being said, NHL hockey is a physical game and short of taking hitting out of the game, injuries and questionable hits are going to be part of hockey. The way the NHL responds to these hits going forward is going to make a difference on how often we see these types of hits. I also believe that as long as we have a certain player out patrolling the ice conducting acts of thuggery we will continue to have this discussion.
The Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice needs and has to be more consistent going forward, if not the NHL will never improve it’s player safety. While I think that the NHL "probably" made the right decision in this case under their current guidelines and rules it does seem like the only acceptable response to some fans and the talking heads and a percentage of NHL players would’ve been to give Chara a game or two suspension for his hit. I don’t know if the NHL is at that point yet in the discussion but I wonder if that isn’t on the horizon in the future? To be continued.
Links to the Story...
NHL Misses Opportunity to Send Message of Safety by Not Suspending Zdeno Chara [NESN.COM]
Montreal Police Launch Criminal Investigation for Zdeno Chara's Hit on Max Pacioretty [NESN.COM]
Chara: 'It was just a hockey play'[Sabres Edge] Here is what Zdeno Chara had to say on the matter.
"I totally understand. He's in the hospital so he's got the right to be emotional so I respect that," Chara said. "I obviously feel bad he got hurt. As a hockey player we all feel bad when something like that happens. ... I'm wishing him to a fast recovery and hopefully he'll be back on the ice soon. That's all we love to do. We love to be hockey. When we go out there, we take risks and sometimes we do get hurt. But it's just very unfortunate."Air Canada threatens NHL over headshots [Toronto Sun]
That’s hockey?! NHL still whistling after Zdeno Chara’s rub-out of Max Pacioretty [The Vancouver Sun]
Poking the bear [Sportsnet.ca]
Personally, I see Pacioretty as a player who poked the bear for three straight games, then was foolish enough to put himself in a position where the big Bruin could exact payback.McKenzie; Pacioretty not happy with Chara or League Decision [TSN.COM]
We're not saying the payback was legal. It wasn't -- the puck was nowhere near.
But we are saying that if you expect Chara to know that turnbuckle was there, then you have to grant that Pacioretty did too. He also knew Chara was after him, since Pacioretty had antagonized Chara off and on for most of three games.
The Habs forward rolled the dice and lost. He could have hit the brakes, he could have gone inside. He chose instead to attempt to squeeze past Chara down the boards, and it was a bad decision.
Bettman say Pacioretty hit horrific, but part of the game. [TSN.COM]
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
UND Hockey Coach pleads to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname
PlainsDaily has obtained an email sent out to a broad list of individuals on behalf of UND Hockey Coach Dave Hakstol. In it, Hakstol makes an impassioned plea for citizens to call or email their state senators and urge them to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname.
The email states:
The North Dakota Senate is expected to vote on the Fighting Sioux name and logo in the next week to 10 days. It is very important that we have as many people as possible contact the senators and let them know they support the name and logo. The senators are all keeping a running tally of how many emails they’re getting in support, and opposition, to the bill. Please voice your opinion.
Feel free to forward this email to as many folks as you want to. We need a good grassroots effort from the silent majority out there to make sure the senators know this is an important issue they need to support.
The email includes specifics regarding the bill number and how to email senate senators. Hakstol also thanks the many people who support the fight to keep the “Fighting Sioux.”
Hakstol has been an unwavering supporter of the nickname ever since his tenure as a former player and in more recent years as a coach. Some faculty have stated that UND administration has made calculated efforts to stifle any faculty or staff voicing support for the nickname, but none have actually issued formal complaints.
Coach Hakstol has earned the title “the 3rd most winningest” coach in UND’s impressive hockey history, ending last season with an overall record of 25-13-5. He has led the Sioux Hockey team into eight straight years of postseason play, one of the longest streaks in the nation. Hakstol coached the Fighting Sioux to an overall postseason record of 30-14, more wins than any other WCHA team over that period of time. The Sioux’s WCHA playoff games boast an impressive 21-8 record, and an NCAA playoff record of 9-6.
North Dakota Senate Email List
Simply cut and paste the entire group of email addresses below into a new email:
rmarcellais@nd.gov; ddever@nd.gov; rkilzer@nd.gov ; msitte@nd.gov; bstenehjem@nd.gov; bbowman@nd.gov; galee@nd.gov; jandrist@nd.gov; doehlke@nd.gov; glnodland@nd.gov; rwardner@nd.gov; colafson@nd.gov; lluick@nd.gov; sdberry@nd.gov ; tfischer@nd.gov; tflakoll@nd.gov; tgrindberg@nd.gov; jlee@nd.gov; tmathern@nd.gov; cnelson@nd.gov;
rsorvaag@nd.gov; jklein@nd.gov; rholmberg@nd.gov; llaffen@nd.gov; macschneider@nd.gov; ctriplett@nd.gov; rchristmann@nd.gov; dnething@nd.gov; tmwanzek@nd.gov; doconnell@nd.gov; rerbele@nd.gov; dcook@nd.gov; raburckhard@nd.gov; dhogue@nd.gov; kkrebsbach@nd.gov; olarsen@nd.gov; dgschaible@nd.gov; jheckaman@nd.gov; guglem@nd.gov; joetmiller@nd.gov; pmmurphy@nd.gov; jwarner@nd.gov; rtaylor@nd.gov; lfreborg@nd.gov; lrobinson@nd.gov; slyson@nd.gov; jdotzenrod@nd.gov
Ladislav Smid Boarding Major on Darroll Powe
It seems like there is one of these hits from behind every night of the week in the NHL, eventually unfortunately someone is going to get hurt very seriously from a check from behind. This one is worse than the some of the other ones I have seen this season that have ended up being suspensions. I don’t like hits from behind, you can really hurt someone badly… From what I have seen I don't believe Ladislav Smid is a dirty player and Smid reacted as if the knew he had did wrong the minute he made the hit.
WCHA without UNO or BSU? (by Sioux 7)
Here are the final standings for the 2010-2011 season. But, what would the standing look like IF the league didn’t expand, and BSU and UNO were not in the league?
WCHA 2010-11 FINAL standings (28-games played)
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota…....…….21-6-1…43
2. Denver……..…....………17-8-3…37
3. Nebraska-Omaha..…..17-9-2…36
4. Minnesota-Duluth......15-8-5…35
5. Minnesota……..…......13-10-5…31
6. Colorado College...….13-13-2…28
7. Wisconsin……….....….12-13-3…27
8. Alaska-Anchorage….12-14-2…26
8. St. Cloud State….......11-13-4…26
10. Bemidji State…….….8-15-5…21
10. Minnesota State..….8-16-4…20
12. Michigan Tech…..……2-24-2…6
WCHA standings WITHOUT BSU and UNO figured in.
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts---GP
1. North Dakota…....…….15-4-1…31---20
1. Denver……..………....…14-7-3…31---24
3. Minnesota-Duluth......13-7-4…30---24
4. Minnesota……..…........12-8-4…28---24
5. Colorado College...….12-11-1…25---24
6. Wisconsin………....….10-11-3…23---24
7. Alaska-Anchorage…10-12-2…22---24
8. St. Cloud State.….......8-10-4…20---22
9. Minnesota State…..….7-13-4…18---24
10. Michigan Tech…..……2-21-1…5---24
You notice in this version, that UND has only 20 games played and SCSU only has 22 played where everyone else has 24 games played. With that in mind it would make sense to say UND would still have won the league, but SCSU could have finished up a few spots. Just something to ponder about…
WCHA 2010-11 FINAL standings (28-games played)
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota…....…….21-6-1…43
2. Denver……..…....………17-8-3…37
3. Nebraska-Omaha..…..17-9-2…36
4. Minnesota-Duluth......15-8-5…35
5. Minnesota……..…......13-10-5…31
6. Colorado College...….13-13-2…28
7. Wisconsin……….....….12-13-3…27
8. Alaska-Anchorage….12-14-2…26
8. St. Cloud State….......11-13-4…26
10. Bemidji State…….….8-15-5…21
10. Minnesota State..….8-16-4…20
12. Michigan Tech…..……2-24-2…6
WCHA standings WITHOUT BSU and UNO figured in.
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts---GP
1. North Dakota…....…….15-4-1…31---20
1. Denver……..………....…14-7-3…31---24
3. Minnesota-Duluth......13-7-4…30---24
4. Minnesota……..…........12-8-4…28---24
5. Colorado College...….12-11-1…25---24
6. Wisconsin………....….10-11-3…23---24
7. Alaska-Anchorage…10-12-2…22---24
8. St. Cloud State.….......8-10-4…20---22
9. Minnesota State…..….7-13-4…18---24
10. Michigan Tech…..……2-21-1…5---24
You notice in this version, that UND has only 20 games played and SCSU only has 22 played where everyone else has 24 games played. With that in mind it would make sense to say UND would still have won the league, but SCSU could have finished up a few spots. Just something to ponder about…
Chara will not be supended.
Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara will not be suspended by the NHL for his hit on Max Pacioretty. I was watching the game last night and nobody wants to see a player get hurt on the ice, if there are fans that like to see players get injured they are seriously demented, that being said I am glad I am not the person that had to make a decision on whether Chara had to be suspended or not. I will predict that there will be fans that are not going to be happy with the hit and the fact that Chara wasn’t suspended by the NHL, whether you want to acknowledge it or not hockey is a physical game and people are going to get injured playing a physical game. Zdeno Chara is not a dirty player and doesn’t have a history of doing questionable things on the ice. I think in this case the NHL might have made the right decision in this case.
"I conducted a hearing with Boston Bruins' defenseman Zdeno Chara with respect to the major penalty for interference and game misconduct that he was assessed at 19:44 of the second period for a hit on Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens.
"After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline. This hit resulted from a play that evolved and then happened very quickly -- with both players skating in the same direction and with Chara attempting to angle his opponent into the boards. I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, that Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous.
"This was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface. In reviewing this play, I also took into consideration that Chara has not been involved in a supplemental discipline incident during his 13-year NHL career."
Goon's All WCHA Team
This is my tongue and cheek who I would like to see on the All-WCHA team(s). Why not the spoils should go to the “victors” right?
Goon's All UND Homer Team
F - Matt Frattin
F - Corbin Knight
F - Jason Gregoire
D - Ben Blood
D - Chay Genoway
G - Aaron Dell
COY Dave Hakstol
POY Matt Frattin
ROY Brock Nelson
This who I would select for first, second and third teams if I had a vote.
First Team
F - Matt Frattin, UND
F - Jack Connolly, UMD
F - Jason Zucker, DU
D - Chay Genoway, UND
D - Jake Gardiner, UW
G - Aaron Dell, UND
Second Team
F - Jaden Schwartz, C.C.
F - Mike Connolly, UMD
F - Jason Gregoire, UND
D - Matt Donovan, DU
D - Justin Schultz, UW
G - Kent Patterson, UMN
Third Team
F - Drew Shore, DU
F - Justin Fontaine, UMD
F - Corban Knight, UND
D - Eric Olimb, UNO
D - Ben Blood, UND
G - Scott Gudmandson, UW
All Rookie Team
F - Jason Zucker, DU
F - Jaden Schwartz, C.C.
F - J.T. Brown, UMD
D - Justin Faulk, UMD
D - Nick Jensen, SCSU
G - Sam Brittain, DU
POY – Matt Frattin, UND
ROY – Jason Zucker, DU
COY – Dean Blais, UNO
How about the Fans have a hand in the selection process?
While I don’t get a vote nor should I get a vote in the process. Also don’t pseudo media and fan bloggers should; none-the-less, it’s a lot of fun to pontificate about who we think should be on the All WCHA teams… There is one thing I would like to see happen, I think that college hockey fans should be able to have a hand in picking the All WCHA teams. The game of hockey is played for the fans and not just for the media. The Fans are what drive the game of hockey, that’s not to say that the media isn’t good at what they do, I am not saying that at all, however, I like how the NHL All Star teams are picked by fan voting. Why not have college hockey all star team picked that way?
Rhythm or reason?
I think it’s a mute point that Matt Frattin is the best player in the WCHA in my opinion, Frattin has been a man among boys this season. Frattin is the complete player, he plays solid defense, skates very well, he is hard to knock off the puck and hits like a freight train. If I was the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager I would be drooling with the prospects of him being in their line up in the very near future. Brian Burke can have him after the Fighting Sioux end their season in April. Having watched Frattin play all season and he is the best player that I have seen on the ice… That’s not to say that Jason Zucker, Mike Connolly and Jack Connolly aren’t good hockey players as well…. There are a lot of good players in our league; some will never get a sniff on the All WCHA teams.
I also think that if a team finishes number one in the standings that they should have the most players on the All-WCHA team. A college hockey team that finished in fourth or fifth place in the standings shouldn’t have 2/3 of their top line on the first team. Just saying… I know there is a solid argument that Kent Patterson and how he should be on the first team, in my opinion Patterson is a good goalie on a mediocre team so he is worthy of being on the second team, "'to the victor belong the spoils." One defensive player that I feel is being overlooked is Ben Blood, while Blood might only have (2-g7a-9pts) Blood is a solid defenseman and is a +28 so he is truly an elite defensive player for the Fighting Sioux.
Injuries hurt your chances of landing on the first team?
I also think that Jaden Schwartz could have been on the first team if he hadn’t missed so many games with an ankle injury, in my opinion Schwartz is still “one of the best” forwards in the WCHA. I also think the injury kept him from being the rookie of the year as well. For the defensemen Chay Genoway finished 7th in scoring by defenseman but he also missed 8 games, that being said, I do think he is definitely worthy of being on one of the three teams.
Here is how the media voted
Goal Gophers
RWD's Favorite beat writer, Schlossman UND Hockey
Puckato
Omaha World Herald
Ciskie Blog
Baggot WSJ
Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer
Mick Hatten, St. Cloud Times
Mike Chambers, Denver Post
They said what?
Here is the INCH first shift... I found this though provoking because traditionally hockey teams sitting at the top of the standing are going to score more of their goals against lesser opponents, on the flip side of that argument I believe that it’s only obvious that playes like Frattin would score less goals against the upper echelon of teams.
This question came in to our weekly chat at ESPN.com on Friday:
Ryan (Sheboygan, WI) — Do you think about strength of schedule when casting your Hobey votes? A player like Matt Frattin has all of his points against TUCs while the players from Miami have racked up points against an easier schedule.
Frattin’s performance against a strong schedule has been a popular discussion point from the North Dakota contingent, and prior to this past weekend’s series against Michigan Tech it was a correct note since all of North Dakota’s games came against Teams Under Consideration as determined by the NCAA Tournament selection criteria. Two things about that got us thinking—first, a TUC is a pretty broad category, since more than half of the nation’s teams fall under that umbrella. Second, just how good was Frattin against the truly elite teams?
We looked at three categories and here are the numbers. We’re not here to draw conclusions, just to present the data.
•Frattin against the second-to-seventh place teams in the WCHA (Denver, Nebraska-Omaha, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota, Colorado College, Wisconsin): 15 games played, 10 points, 0.66 points per game
•Frattin against the eighth-to-12th place teams in the WCHA (Alaska Anchorage, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Minnesota State, Michigan Tech): 15 games played, 31 points, 2.07 points per game
•Frattin against non-league teams (Alaska, Maine, Notre Dame, Robert Morris): 7 games played, 8 points, 1.14 points per game
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Zdeno Chara Hits Max Pacioretty
So what do you think? Is there going to be a suspension coming for Zdeno Chara? You can bet that Colin Campbell will take a look at this hit. Chara was giving a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. Chara and Pacioretty have a history as well, as Chara went after Pacioretty back in January after Pacioretty scored a goal in overtime and pushed Chara...
Mike Chambers on the BTHC...
If you haven't seen this article by Mike Chambers it's worth a look, there are some really good points in it about the impending BTHC. As some of you know I am on record as saying I am not in favor of the BTHC because I think it’s going to do some serious damage to the college hockey landscape. There are going to be some winners and losers, this blog post talks about some of the possible winners.
Another good point that I like is currently there are only one of the six Big Ten Hockey Schools in the NCAA tourney, that's if the NCAA hockey tourney started today, so the only Big Ten Hockey team currently in the NCAA hockey tourney is Michigan. That being said there is a chance there could be two teams, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have a small chance but they are going to need a lot of things to go their way to make it into the final 16 teams. I also like the Notre Dame and Miami being in the WCHA, because I think both team would be attractive options.
Another good point that I like is currently there are only one of the six Big Ten Hockey Schools in the NCAA tourney, that's if the NCAA hockey tourney started today, so the only Big Ten Hockey team currently in the NCAA hockey tourney is Michigan. That being said there is a chance there could be two teams, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have a small chance but they are going to need a lot of things to go their way to make it into the final 16 teams. I also like the Notre Dame and Miami being in the WCHA, because I think both team would be attractive options.
Mike Chambers, Denver Post --- This season’s big off-ice discussions have centered on the possible, if not probable, new Big 10 hockey conference. I’m all for it. If long-time Colorado rivals and WCHA members Wisconsin and Minnesota want to join Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and the new Penn State program and do their own thing, have at it. And we will happily do ours.
Right now, I like the look of ours. What I mean my “ours” is a hypothetical, Western-based power league consisting of DU, CC, North Dakota, Miami (Ohio), Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha, and maybe the other ‘Sota schools — Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State and Bemidji State. If it’s only a six-team loop — preferrable to guarantee home-and-away series against every league member, a key for building rivalries – I’ll take our six teams over the Big 10 boys.
Right now, our six teams are each among the top 14 in the PairWise Rankings: North Dakota (third), Denver (fifth), Nebraska-Omaha (sixth, tied), Miami (ninth), Notre Dame (10th, tied) and CC (14th, tied). How many does the proposed Big 10 have? One — Michigan (four). Minnesota, while hot lately, is a longshot to make the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State will have to win their league tournaments to get in.
Assuming CC gets in, our guys will go 6-for-6 in making The Show, while the Big 10 (or Big 5 right now) is looking at 1-of-5.
If the Big 10 was really smart, it would partner with our league and make it a 12-team super conference split into two divisions. The Big 10 division would have home-and-away series against each other, so 20 Big 10 games apiece, and also play each of our teams in one, two-game series — making it a 30-game league season (or 28 as it is now if we skip one opponent every year).
Whatever happens is fine by me, because I know “our” programs are going to like where they land. I sense that people within the proposed Big 10 conference are full of themselves about how great they are, and at the same time, I don’t like how our teams, our fans, are feeling sorry for themselves about these big schools doing their own thing. If our teams make a plan and stick together, our new league could be more exciting than what we currently have. Certainly, longtime WCHA rivals DU, CC and UND could sell far more tickets in home games against Notre Dame, Miami and Nebraska-Omaha than Michigan Tech, Alaska-Anchorage or Bemidji State. And undoubtedly, if a super conference happens, Minnesota and Wisconsin would benefit by still playing North Dakota and DU a couple times a year.
How did we do? - Inaugural Blogger Poll Standings
At the beginning of the season I participated in the Inaugural WCHA Website/Blogger Preseason Poll and here is how the vote played out.
1. North Dakota (12) 177
2. St. Cloud (2) 158
3. Duluth (1) 154
4. Denver 125
5. Minnesota 117
6. Wisconsin 113
7. Nebraska-Omaha 81
8. Colorado College 77
9. Bemidji State 73
10. Minnesota State 39
11. Michigan Tech 30
12. Alaska-Anchorage 26
WCHA Player of the Year:
Jack Connolly-Duluth (6)
Garrett Roe-St. Cloud (5)
Jacob Cepis-Minnesota (1)
Chay Genoway-North Dakota (1)
Jason Gregoire North Dakota (1)
Matt Read-Bemidji (1)
WCHA Rookie of the Year:
Jaden Schwartz-Colorado College (6)
Beau Bennett-Denver (2)
Derek Forbort-North Dakota (2)
Nick Bjugstad-Minnesota (1)
Erik Haula-Minnesota (1)
Matt White-Nebraska Omaha (1)
Mark Zengerle-Wisconsin (1)
Sam Rendle-Bemidji (1)
Voters:
Goon-Goons World (North Dakota)
RWD-Runnin' With The Dogs (Duluth)
Brandon-Sioux Yeah Yeah! (North Dakota)
Chuck Schwartz-Sixty Minutes (Wisconsin)
Exile on Dayton Street-Sixty Minutes (Wisconsin)
Gandalf The Red-Sixty Minutes (Wisconsin)
Hammy-Gopher Hockey Blog (Minnesota)
Dirty-Dirty's Diatribe (North Dakota)
Jeremy-Husky Hockey Blog (St. Cloud)
USAFA Bulldog-The DECC is Stacked (Duluth)
Jon-Mav Puck (Nebraska-Omaha)
Fade to black and gold-Michigan Tech Hockey Blog (Michigan Tech)
Exiled One-College Hockey Recruit Exchange & DaHuskies.com (St. Cloud)
Donald - Delusions of Grandeur (Anchorage)
Millsy-The Beaver Pond (Bemidji)
Here How I voted in the first WCHA Website/Blogger Preseason Poll
1.) UND
2.) SCSU
3.) UMD
4.) DU
5.) UW
6.) UMN
7.) UNO
8.) BSU
9.) CC
10.) MSU
11.) UAA
12.) MTU
Poy Chay Genoway-UND
ROY Jaden Schwartz-Colorado College
Here is now the league ended.
1.)UND - 43
2.)DU - 37
3.)UNO - 36
4.)UMD - 35
5.)UMN - 31
6.)C.C. - 38
7.)UW - 27
8.)SCSU - 26
9.)UAA - 26
10.)BSU - 21
11.)MSUM - 20
12.)MTU - 6
Here is what I predicted in my only attempt at the "What-If"
Team GP Pts
1. UND 28 48
2. Denver 28 42
3. UMD 28 39
4. UNO 28 34
5. UW 28 32
6. C.C. 28 29
7. UMN 28 28
8. Mankato 28 21
8. SCSU 28 21
10. AA 28 18
10. BSU 28 18
12. MTech 28 6
1. North Dakota (12) 177
2. St. Cloud (2) 158
3. Duluth (1) 154
4. Denver 125
5. Minnesota 117
6. Wisconsin 113
7. Nebraska-Omaha 81
8. Colorado College 77
9. Bemidji State 73
10. Minnesota State 39
11. Michigan Tech 30
12. Alaska-Anchorage 26
WCHA Player of the Year:
Jack Connolly-Duluth (6)
Garrett Roe-St. Cloud (5)
Jacob Cepis-Minnesota (1)
Chay Genoway-North Dakota (1)
Jason Gregoire North Dakota (1)
Matt Read-Bemidji (1)
WCHA Rookie of the Year:
Jaden Schwartz-Colorado College (6)
Beau Bennett-Denver (2)
Derek Forbort-North Dakota (2)
Nick Bjugstad-Minnesota (1)
Erik Haula-Minnesota (1)
Matt White-Nebraska Omaha (1)
Mark Zengerle-Wisconsin (1)
Sam Rendle-Bemidji (1)
Voters:
Goon-Goons World (North Dakota)
RWD-Runnin' With The Dogs (Duluth)
Brandon-Sioux Yeah Yeah! (North Dakota)
Chuck Schwartz-Sixty Minutes (Wisconsin)
Exile on Dayton Street-Sixty Minutes (Wisconsin)
Gandalf The Red-Sixty Minutes (Wisconsin)
Hammy-Gopher Hockey Blog (Minnesota)
Dirty-Dirty's Diatribe (North Dakota)
Jeremy-Husky Hockey Blog (St. Cloud)
USAFA Bulldog-The DECC is Stacked (Duluth)
Jon-Mav Puck (Nebraska-Omaha)
Fade to black and gold-Michigan Tech Hockey Blog (Michigan Tech)
Exiled One-College Hockey Recruit Exchange & DaHuskies.com (St. Cloud)
Donald - Delusions of Grandeur (Anchorage)
Millsy-The Beaver Pond (Bemidji)
Here How I voted in the first WCHA Website/Blogger Preseason Poll
1.) UND
2.) SCSU
3.) UMD
4.) DU
5.) UW
6.) UMN
7.) UNO
8.) BSU
9.) CC
10.) MSU
11.) UAA
12.) MTU
Poy Chay Genoway-UND
ROY Jaden Schwartz-Colorado College
Here is now the league ended.
1.)UND - 43
2.)DU - 37
3.)UNO - 36
4.)UMD - 35
5.)UMN - 31
6.)C.C. - 38
7.)UW - 27
8.)SCSU - 26
9.)UAA - 26
10.)BSU - 21
11.)MSUM - 20
12.)MTU - 6
Here is what I predicted in my only attempt at the "What-If"
Team GP Pts
1. UND 28 48
2. Denver 28 42
3. UMD 28 39
4. UNO 28 34
5. UW 28 32
6. C.C. 28 29
7. UMN 28 28
8. Mankato 28 21
8. SCSU 28 21
10. AA 28 18
10. BSU 28 18
12. MTech 28 6
UND President Kelley on the Fighting Sioux Nickname.
Grand Forks Herald --- UND President Robert and other officials sat through the four-hour morning session, waiting their turn, but time ran out before they and several others on both sides could testify. “We covered a lot of the same ground” as was presented before the House Education Committee, Kelley said, “and I think the chairman balanced the testimony effectively. I had a testimony, but I wanted to give our students a chance to speak. Also, I knew the board (two members of the Board of Higher Education) would testify effectively.”
Kelley said he “would have urged the committee to oppose the bill” because he’s increasingly concerned about the “uncertainty” it raises for the university as a whole.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Poll Monday
USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[March 7, 2011]
1. North Dakota (39) 26- 8-3 987 1
2. Boston College (10) 26- 7-1 953 2
3. Yale ( 1) 23- 5-1 892 3
4. Union 25- 7-4 842 4
5. Michigan 23- 9-4 784 5
6. Denver 21-10-5 709 5
7. Miami 19- 9-6 666 8
8. Notre Dame 21-10-5 620 10
9. Merrimack 22- 8-4 583 9
10. New Hampshire 19- 9-6 573 7
11. Minnesota-Duluth 20- 9-6 531 11
12. Nebraska-Omaha 21-13-2 488 12
13. Boston University 18-10-8 353 13
14. Maine 17-10-7 345 14
15. estern Michigan 16-10-10 286 15
16. Colorado College 19-16-3 221 17
17. Minnesota 16-12-6 185 19
18. Dartmouth 16-10-3 165 20
19. Wisconsin 20-14-4 164 18
20. Rensselaer 20-12-5 98 16
Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 21, Ferris State 17, Cornell 10, Rochester Institute of Technology 4, Robert Morris 2, Alaska 1
_____________________
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[March 7, 2011]
1. University of North Dakota 503 (29)1 26- 8-3
2. Boston College 480 (5) 2 26- 7-1
3. Yale University 438 3 23- 5-1
4. Union College 394 4 25- 7-4
5. University of Michigan 374 5 23- 9-4
6. University of Denver 330 6 21-10-5
7. Miami University 286 10 19- 9-6
8. University of Notre Dame 257 9 21-10-5
9. Merrimack College 241 7 22- 8-4
10. University of New Hampshire 220 8 19- 9-6
11. University of Minnesota Duluth 179 11 20- 9-6
12. University of Nebraska Omaha 171 12 21-13-2
13. Boston University 77 13 18-10-8
14. University of Maine 58 14 17-10-7
15. Western Michigan University 24 NR 16-10-10
Others receiving votes: Colorado College 17, Dartmouth College 15, University of Minnesota 8, University of Wisconsin 4, Rensselaer 3, Rochester Institute of Technology 1.
[March 7, 2011]
1. North Dakota (39) 26- 8-3 987 1
2. Boston College (10) 26- 7-1 953 2
3. Yale ( 1) 23- 5-1 892 3
4. Union 25- 7-4 842 4
5. Michigan 23- 9-4 784 5
6. Denver 21-10-5 709 5
7. Miami 19- 9-6 666 8
8. Notre Dame 21-10-5 620 10
9. Merrimack 22- 8-4 583 9
10. New Hampshire 19- 9-6 573 7
11. Minnesota-Duluth 20- 9-6 531 11
12. Nebraska-Omaha 21-13-2 488 12
13. Boston University 18-10-8 353 13
14. Maine 17-10-7 345 14
15. estern Michigan 16-10-10 286 15
16. Colorado College 19-16-3 221 17
17. Minnesota 16-12-6 185 19
18. Dartmouth 16-10-3 165 20
19. Wisconsin 20-14-4 164 18
20. Rensselaer 20-12-5 98 16
Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 21, Ferris State 17, Cornell 10, Rochester Institute of Technology 4, Robert Morris 2, Alaska 1
_____________________
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[March 7, 2011]
1. University of North Dakota 503 (29)1 26- 8-3
2. Boston College 480 (5) 2 26- 7-1
3. Yale University 438 3 23- 5-1
4. Union College 394 4 25- 7-4
5. University of Michigan 374 5 23- 9-4
6. University of Denver 330 6 21-10-5
7. Miami University 286 10 19- 9-6
8. University of Notre Dame 257 9 21-10-5
9. Merrimack College 241 7 22- 8-4
10. University of New Hampshire 220 8 19- 9-6
11. University of Minnesota Duluth 179 11 20- 9-6
12. University of Nebraska Omaha 171 12 21-13-2
13. Boston University 77 13 18-10-8
14. University of Maine 58 14 17-10-7
15. Western Michigan University 24 NR 16-10-10
Others receiving votes: Colorado College 17, Dartmouth College 15, University of Minnesota 8, University of Wisconsin 4, Rensselaer 3, Rochester Institute of Technology 1.
Rangers Ryan Callahan nets 4 goals versus Flyers
Nice to see the American boy and Rangers forward Ryan Callahan getting four goals against the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday. Callahan single handily destroyed Eastern Conference Leaders the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0.
If the deal in the desert dies, reincarnation in Winnipeg won't be overnight
I have been following the Coyotes story in Phoenix and seeing how it’s playing out and I have to feel just a little bit hopeful that eventually either the Coyotes or the Thrasher are going to end up relocating in the city of Winnipeg, hopefully sooner rather than later… That being said it’s not going to happen overnight but eventually.
Winnipeg Free Press --- There will not be any announcement at Portage and Main this week to reveal news that the NHL is returning to Winnipeg.
If you're hoping for that — stop. You'll only be disappointed.
There is, however, a chance that the NHL will determine it has exhausted all avenues to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona and begin to look at other options.
Winnipeg, we have come to understand, is at the top of the list of those options. But even if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman picks up the phone and tells True North's Mark Chipman it's time to start talking about a potential purchase of the franchise for relocation -- there will still be the matter of a sale agreement to hash out as well as a blessing from the NHL's board of governors.
That's a lot of steps, so cool your, uh... sorry, jets.
Reports are swirling north and south of the border that the NHL is on the verge of either closing this sale or calling it dead.
Any announcement, if one is to come at all as a result of a collapsed sale of the Coyotes to Matthew Hulsizer, would be weeks or months away.
There's a process that would need to be executed and it requires work and time and lawyers and money.
Chipman's True North Sports and Entertainment has all of the above, but the machine has to be put into action before it can spit out an NHL franchise for the city of Winnipeg and we're unsure if it's even turned on or perhaps quietly idling.
Bettman remains tied to Phoenix at this point as the Coyotes are an official franchise of the NHL and he'll be looking behind every cactus for an answer that keeps the team in Glendale's Jobing.com Arena. He's been doing that for more than two years, so don't expect him to suddenly quit.
Bettman, it should be noted, is quite resourceful when it comes to digging up monied folks willing to invest in shaky sports franchises. So don't count him or this bizarre sale agreement in Glendale out.
The commish is still swinging and he can land an unexpected jab at any moment.
Why is Bettman working so hard to save this clunker? That's a question that's being asked all over the province and likely this country.
For starters, just because many of us are convinced a return of the NHL will work in Winnipeg, there are many others who don't believe. CBC's resident genius Mike Milbury ran off at the mouth on Saturday night suggesting Winnipeg, "will need a sugar daddy willing to lose $20 million a season."
Milbury was quickly shut down by ESPN's Pierre LeBrun and host Ron McLean, who apparently have done more homework on the subject, but the reality is many NHL types are still skeptics when it comes to Winnipeg.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
INCH Power Rankings - Sioux remain number 1
For another Week UND is at the top of the INCH Power Rankings...
INCH Power Rankings
March 6th, 2011
1. North Dakota - Jason Gregoire extended his point streak to 12 games with four goals and two assists in the Fighting Sioux’s weekend sweep of Michigan Tech. The junior forward has 14 goals and nine assists in his last dozen matches. 26-8-3 (21-6-1 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan Tech, 6-1; W at Michigan Tech, 11-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech (WCHA First-Round Series)...
2. Boston College
3. Union
4. Yale
5. Miami
6. Michigan
7. Merrimack
8. New Hampshire
9. Denver
10. Notre Dame
11. Minnesota Duluth
12. Nebraska-Omaha
13. Boston University
14. Western Michigan
15. Minnesota
16. Maine
17. Wisconsin
18. Colorado College
19. Dartmouth
20. RIT
Dropped out: Rensselaer
Bubble-licious: Air Force, Cornell, St. Cloud State
INCH Power Rankings
March 6th, 2011
1. North Dakota - Jason Gregoire extended his point streak to 12 games with four goals and two assists in the Fighting Sioux’s weekend sweep of Michigan Tech. The junior forward has 14 goals and nine assists in his last dozen matches. 26-8-3 (21-6-1 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Michigan Tech, 6-1; W at Michigan Tech, 11-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech (WCHA First-Round Series)...
2. Boston College
3. Union
4. Yale
5. Miami
6. Michigan
7. Merrimack
8. New Hampshire
9. Denver
10. Notre Dame
11. Minnesota Duluth
12. Nebraska-Omaha
13. Boston University
14. Western Michigan
15. Minnesota
16. Maine
17. Wisconsin
18. Colorado College
19. Dartmouth
20. RIT
Dropped out: Rensselaer
Bubble-licious: Air Force, Cornell, St. Cloud State
Goon's on KNOX 1310 Monday from 4:00 – 5:00 PM Monday
Listen to the Goon live at 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm on KNOX 1310 AM on Monday March 7th, 2011. R.J. and I will be talking about WCHA hockey... R.J. and I will also talk about the WCHA playoffs, the Fighting Sioux's upcoming playoff series against MTU and who I think should be on the All WCHA ballot…. If you live out of town you can listen live by clicking on this address. [Click to Listen]
Call in 701-775-5559, 1-866-KNOX-1310, email: Live@KNOXRADIO.com
Call in 701-775-5559, 1-866-KNOX-1310, email: Live@KNOXRADIO.com
Where are they now - Corey Fienhage
s/t to Sabres Prospect and Kris Baker. Check out this fight between Mitch Maxwell vs former Fighting Sioux defenseman Corey Fienhage who now plays for Kamloops Blazers of the WHL...
Corey Fienhage finished -1 with his fourth fighting major of the season as Kamloops lost to Lethbridge, 4-1. The 6'4 "Moose" Fienhage dished out a clean hit along the boards early in the third period and was asked to tangle with a Mitch Maxwell. Earlier in the game, Fienhage ended Hurricane forward Philip Tot's night with another clean, hard hit.
Stafford buries the Wild in O.T.
What is it with former Fighting Sioux forward Drew Stafford? Every time I turn around Stafford is sinking another one of my favorite NHL teams, twice this season Stafford takes it upon himself to single handily beat the the Boston Bruins as he scored a hat trick twice, now tonight, Drew Stafford scores this high light goal/game winner in overtime to sink my other favorite NHL team the Minnesota Wild. That was goal number 26 (26g-14a-40pts) on the season for the Former Fighting Sioux forward.
Sioux sled past Huskies 11-2 end regular season as top musher...
Kudos to Redwing77 for posting yesterday’s game summary after the game. I couldn’t help my self with thst title… Yesterday's game between the Fighting Sioux and the MTU Huskies was a dismantling in systematic fashion… The Fighting Sioux scored two goals in the first 49 second of the game and before they could announce those two goals the MTU Huskies forward Patrick McCadden scored to make the score 2-1 only 1:23 into the game.
From that point on, it was off to the races for the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team as they skated around, through and over the hapless MTU Huskies 11-2 in Houghton, Michigan. The game was never close from there on out, the score was 6-1 after one period, 9-2 after two periods and the Sioux got two more in the third period crushing the Huskies… Kudos to both teams for not letting it get out of hand in the third period after the score was out of reach.
Watching the MTU Huskies you almost feel sorry for them, they really are a sad bunch, the MTU Huskies have had two 30 loss seasons in a row, and the Huskies have lost 25 games six times in the last eight seasons. I had not realized the Huskies were this bad until I say a twitter exchange last night between UMD Radio voice Bruce Ciskie and RWD. This is the same hockey teams that swept the Sioux in December of 2006 and beat the Sioux in Houghton during the 2007 season.
Balanced scoring
Breaking down the scoring for the Sioux yesterday afternoon - Junior forward Jason Gregoire paced the Fighting Sioux with a hat trick, Freshman forward Brock Nelson and Junior forward Brett Hextall each scored two goals. Chipping in one goal each was the Pony Express line of Matt Frattin, Evan Trupp, Brad Malone and freshman Derek Rodwell. With the win last night the Sioux extended their unbeaten streak to nine games, in cae anyone is keeping score, that’s the third longest in the nation.
A team full of Champions
Senior Forward Matt Frattin is the points champ in the WCHA with (22g-18a-40pts). Junior Forward Jason Gregoire was 7th with (18g-13a-31pts) Gregoire missed four games because of injury.
Goals Scoring
Matt Frattin was first in the WCHA for goal scoring for the Fighting Sioux with 22 goals, DU Forward freshman forward Jason Zucker was second with 20 goals, UMD’s forward Mike Connolly was third with 19 goals and Jason Gregoire was fourth with 18 goals.
Assists
Corban Knight proved to be a good set up man for the Fighting Sioux as he tied for second in the WCHA for assists with 21; Jack Connolly from UMD was first with 28 assists.
Goaltending
Sophomore goaltender Aaron Dell is the top WCHA goaltender with a 1.97 GAA. Kent Patterson from the Minnesota Golden Gophers was second with a 2.31 GAA and Kenny Reiter from UMD was third with a 2.32 GAA. We can split hairs all day long and say that GAA is a team defense stat, whatever, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
High Flying Sioux
The UND Fighting Sioux were the top offensive team in the WCHA scoring 4.00 goals a game, UNO was second 3.36, DU was third with 3.32 and UMN and UMD tied with 3.25.
Stingy on Defense
The Fighting Sioux were the top defensive team in the WCHA giving up 2.21 goals per game, WCHA new comer UNO was second with 2.46, Wisconsin was third 2.57 and the UMD Bulldogs were fourth with 2.61, DU rounded out the top five with 2.68.
Sioux not a bunch of Goons…
Michigan Tech was the most penalized team in the WCHA with Michigan Tech with 15.7 penalty minutes per game, DU tied UMN for second with 15.2 minutes per games, UNO was third with 14.1, and the Fighting Sioux were fifth with 13.9, C.C. was sixth with 13.8.
Top Power Play in the WCHA
The Fighting Sioux have the top power play in the WCHA scoring on 23.3 percent of their power play chances, UMD was second with 21.9%, BSU was third with 21.2%, SCSU was fourth with 19.3% and Minnesota was fifth with 18.8.
Top Scoring Team in the WCHA
The Fighting Sioux were the top scoring team in the WCHA with 112 goals, Second was UNO with 94 goals, third was DU with 93 goals, Minnesota tied with UMD for fourth with 91 goals and SCSU was sixth with 84 goals. Just for the Record the Fighting Sioux are also the 2nd ranked team in scoring nationally and are currently ranked 8th nationally on defense as well.
From that point on, it was off to the races for the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team as they skated around, through and over the hapless MTU Huskies 11-2 in Houghton, Michigan. The game was never close from there on out, the score was 6-1 after one period, 9-2 after two periods and the Sioux got two more in the third period crushing the Huskies… Kudos to both teams for not letting it get out of hand in the third period after the score was out of reach.
Watching the MTU Huskies you almost feel sorry for them, they really are a sad bunch, the MTU Huskies have had two 30 loss seasons in a row, and the Huskies have lost 25 games six times in the last eight seasons. I had not realized the Huskies were this bad until I say a twitter exchange last night between UMD Radio voice Bruce Ciskie and RWD. This is the same hockey teams that swept the Sioux in December of 2006 and beat the Sioux in Houghton during the 2007 season.
Balanced scoring
Breaking down the scoring for the Sioux yesterday afternoon - Junior forward Jason Gregoire paced the Fighting Sioux with a hat trick, Freshman forward Brock Nelson and Junior forward Brett Hextall each scored two goals. Chipping in one goal each was the Pony Express line of Matt Frattin, Evan Trupp, Brad Malone and freshman Derek Rodwell. With the win last night the Sioux extended their unbeaten streak to nine games, in cae anyone is keeping score, that’s the third longest in the nation.
A team full of Champions
Senior Forward Matt Frattin is the points champ in the WCHA with (22g-18a-40pts). Junior Forward Jason Gregoire was 7th with (18g-13a-31pts) Gregoire missed four games because of injury.
Goals Scoring
Matt Frattin was first in the WCHA for goal scoring for the Fighting Sioux with 22 goals, DU Forward freshman forward Jason Zucker was second with 20 goals, UMD’s forward Mike Connolly was third with 19 goals and Jason Gregoire was fourth with 18 goals.
Assists
Corban Knight proved to be a good set up man for the Fighting Sioux as he tied for second in the WCHA for assists with 21; Jack Connolly from UMD was first with 28 assists.
Goaltending
Sophomore goaltender Aaron Dell is the top WCHA goaltender with a 1.97 GAA. Kent Patterson from the Minnesota Golden Gophers was second with a 2.31 GAA and Kenny Reiter from UMD was third with a 2.32 GAA. We can split hairs all day long and say that GAA is a team defense stat, whatever, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
High Flying Sioux
The UND Fighting Sioux were the top offensive team in the WCHA scoring 4.00 goals a game, UNO was second 3.36, DU was third with 3.32 and UMN and UMD tied with 3.25.
Stingy on Defense
The Fighting Sioux were the top defensive team in the WCHA giving up 2.21 goals per game, WCHA new comer UNO was second with 2.46, Wisconsin was third 2.57 and the UMD Bulldogs were fourth with 2.61, DU rounded out the top five with 2.68.
Sioux not a bunch of Goons…
Michigan Tech was the most penalized team in the WCHA with Michigan Tech with 15.7 penalty minutes per game, DU tied UMN for second with 15.2 minutes per games, UNO was third with 14.1, and the Fighting Sioux were fifth with 13.9, C.C. was sixth with 13.8.
Top Power Play in the WCHA
The Fighting Sioux have the top power play in the WCHA scoring on 23.3 percent of their power play chances, UMD was second with 21.9%, BSU was third with 21.2%, SCSU was fourth with 19.3% and Minnesota was fifth with 18.8.
Top Scoring Team in the WCHA
The Fighting Sioux were the top scoring team in the WCHA with 112 goals, Second was UNO with 94 goals, third was DU with 93 goals, Minnesota tied with UMD for fourth with 91 goals and SCSU was sixth with 84 goals. Just for the Record the Fighting Sioux are also the 2nd ranked team in scoring nationally and are currently ranked 8th nationally on defense as well.
College Hockey Scores from 3/5/2011
Atlantic Hockey Association
Sacred Heart 6 at Bentley 3
American Int'l 6 at Army 3
Mercyhurst 5 at Robert Morris 1
Canisius 6 at Niagara 3
CCHA
Bowling Green 2 at Northern Michigan 0
Ohio State 2 at Lake Superior 3
Michigan State 3 at Alaska 4 2OT
ECAC
Brown 0 at Quinnipiac 4
Harvard 6 at Clarkson 4
Colgate 5 at Rensselaer 2
Hockey East
Boston College 4 at New Hampshire 3
Merrimack 3 at Providence 5
Maine 4 at Massachusetts 4 OT
Northeastern 4 at Boston University 3
UMass Lowell 2 at Vermont 4
WCHA
Alaska Anchorage 4 at Minnesota State 1 [Box Score]
Colorado College 1 at Wisconsin 3 [Box Score]
Minnesota 3 at Bemidji State 2 OT [Box Score]
St. Cloud State 2 at Denver 3 [Box Score]
Nebraska-Omaha 5 at Minnesota Duluth 2 [Box Score]
North Dakota 11 at Michigan Tech 2 [Box Score]
WCHA First Round Match ups
(1) North Dakota
(12) Michigan Tech
(4) Minnesota-Duluth
(9) St. Cloud State
(8) Alaska-Anchorage
(5) Minnesota
(6) Colorado College
(7) Wisconsin
(3) Nebraska-Omaha
(10) Bemidji State
(11) Minnesota State
(2) Denver
Sacred Heart 6 at Bentley 3
American Int'l 6 at Army 3
Mercyhurst 5 at Robert Morris 1
Canisius 6 at Niagara 3
CCHA
Bowling Green 2 at Northern Michigan 0
Ohio State 2 at Lake Superior 3
Michigan State 3 at Alaska 4 2OT
ECAC
Brown 0 at Quinnipiac 4
Harvard 6 at Clarkson 4
Colgate 5 at Rensselaer 2
Hockey East
Boston College 4 at New Hampshire 3
Merrimack 3 at Providence 5
Maine 4 at Massachusetts 4 OT
Northeastern 4 at Boston University 3
UMass Lowell 2 at Vermont 4
WCHA
Alaska Anchorage 4 at Minnesota State 1 [Box Score]
Colorado College 1 at Wisconsin 3 [Box Score]
Minnesota 3 at Bemidji State 2 OT [Box Score]
St. Cloud State 2 at Denver 3 [Box Score]
Nebraska-Omaha 5 at Minnesota Duluth 2 [Box Score]
North Dakota 11 at Michigan Tech 2 [Box Score]
WCHA First Round Match ups
(1) North Dakota
(12) Michigan Tech
(4) Minnesota-Duluth
(9) St. Cloud State
(8) Alaska-Anchorage
(5) Minnesota
(6) Colorado College
(7) Wisconsin
(3) Nebraska-Omaha
(10) Bemidji State
(11) Minnesota State
(2) Denver
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Huskies Put Down by Sioux 11-2
Ok, Ok, a harsh title, but the Sioux absolutely destroyed MTU today 11-2.
The Sioux scored on all but one, maybe two powerplays and even scored a shortie. Jason Gregoire had a hat trick while Frattin, Nelson, and Hextall each had 2 goals each. It got brutal RIGHT AWAY. The Sioux scored 2 within the first minute. It was 2-1 UND only 1 minute and 25 seconds into the first period!
MTU Starting Goaltender Josh Robinson's glove must have been weighted down because he looked ridiculously awful when UND shot glove side. No matter as he was gone with about 4.5 minutes left to go in the first period. Genoe relieved him and lasted until the 3rd period only giving up a paltry 5 goals. Third Stringer Corson Cramer, MTU announcers proclaimed him the first Colorado-born player on MTU to play, actually looked decent... by MTU standards only giving up 2 goals. After looking at one of the two goals, there was nothing Cramer could do about it. Both goals were redirected shots.
How Embarrassing and Shameful!
You'd think with the horrid officiating that took place today, I'd be lighting up the officials with this header but no. I'm talking about whoever the idiots were who ran the cameras and production area for MTU. They missed 2 goals entirely and for about a minute, perhaps more, did nothing more than focus on the goaltenders and forgot completely about the puck and the hockey going on. Hextall's second goal was missed entirely because of their idiotic idea to blow up and show the jumbotron time stamp!
Who are these guys? I will never throw stones at grainy pictures or poor graphic quality because sometimes such things just aren't able to be afforded, but the minimum qualification for running cameras at a sporting event is to record what the EFFING H-BOMB is going on!
Ok, I get the fact that no one likes to watch their team get utterly destroyed and I recognize how hard it must have been for MTU faithful watching this game but... wait a minute... I guess nobody but those present got to watch at certain points in time.
MTU's Radio Commentators
Believe it or not, I'm going to give props to them. They didn't come close to the homerisms I thought I'd experience and they definitely gave props to both sides when deserving. They did correctly call a few times when UND forwards (Hextall or Malone... I can't remember) did a bit of diving. Unfortunately, MTU's first penalty came off of a dive as well. They called it good play by Johnstone. Oh well.
Regardless, they are my MTU second stars of the game. It wasn't bad to listen to at all.
The Officiating
I have often wondered what it would be like if the officials completely ignored UND and called the other guys like they often called UND... well, tonight we saw it. UND did play the majority of the game clean, but there were several instances where we SHOULD have been called and weren't. I'm not talking about gray areas either. A UND point man prevented a short handed break away by taking down an MTU player in what can only be described as "ILLEGAL." Only it wasn't. Hextall shot the puck after the whistle at an MTU player too. Those were only two.
The CFB on Dorriott was borderline major. There was no head contact and the force in which Marto was hit was not out of control. Now, I know those two factors aren't considered by officials when making the call... even when it takes them a few seconds to suddenly decide that it was an illegal check. They could have given Dorriott a minor for boarding and it probably would have been ok.
Sportsmanship
MTU announcers lauded both teams over sportsmanship entirely forgetting the fact that Ryan Furne (commentators made it seem like his name was Burn) was absolutely beyond retarded. I expect that everyone expects the chirping like I'm sure Hextall and Lamoreaux were doing all game long, but Furne, a first line winger no less, mouthed off to the officials on the way into the box for his second penalty (a tripping call) and then left the box mouthing off to the officials, who apparently called a 10 minute misconduct and then Furne apparently mouthed off AGAIN and recieved the rest of the night off. Looks like he has a learning disability. Hey.... next time you get a warning for conduct to the officials, LISTEN THE EFF UP! They gave him the misconduct after the SECOND time he mouthed off in that whole scenario (he may have mouthed off after his first penalty but it wasn't apparent from the webcast or the commentators)!
That being said, it was very nicely played. The coaches were cordial and even the intermission entertainment wasn't too rough to watch... though I'd be pissed if I were the guy who got the RC truck with the bad batteries or controller.
What's Next?
We see if the rest of the MTU team learns anything from this weekend: Go to the Box, get out of the box before 2 minutes is up. Pretty easy. UND's powerplay is ok, but not great.... and MTU made it look like we're unstoppable up a man.
UND cannot party it up even though we play the next series against MTU as well in Grand Forks. MTU did play us very well in Period 1 on Friday and they could do so again if we play like we're playing a cupcake like MTU and not a team that has nothing to lose.
The Three Stars:
1st Star: Jason Gregoire (3g 1a 4pt)
2nd Star: Matt Frattin (2g 2a 4pt)
3rd Star*: Brett Hextall (2g 1a 3pt)
* - I could give it to Brock Nelson or Corbin Knight as well. All three had 3 point nights.
The Sioux scored on all but one, maybe two powerplays and even scored a shortie. Jason Gregoire had a hat trick while Frattin, Nelson, and Hextall each had 2 goals each. It got brutal RIGHT AWAY. The Sioux scored 2 within the first minute. It was 2-1 UND only 1 minute and 25 seconds into the first period!
MTU Starting Goaltender Josh Robinson's glove must have been weighted down because he looked ridiculously awful when UND shot glove side. No matter as he was gone with about 4.5 minutes left to go in the first period. Genoe relieved him and lasted until the 3rd period only giving up a paltry 5 goals. Third Stringer Corson Cramer, MTU announcers proclaimed him the first Colorado-born player on MTU to play, actually looked decent... by MTU standards only giving up 2 goals. After looking at one of the two goals, there was nothing Cramer could do about it. Both goals were redirected shots.
How Embarrassing and Shameful!
You'd think with the horrid officiating that took place today, I'd be lighting up the officials with this header but no. I'm talking about whoever the idiots were who ran the cameras and production area for MTU. They missed 2 goals entirely and for about a minute, perhaps more, did nothing more than focus on the goaltenders and forgot completely about the puck and the hockey going on. Hextall's second goal was missed entirely because of their idiotic idea to blow up and show the jumbotron time stamp!
Who are these guys? I will never throw stones at grainy pictures or poor graphic quality because sometimes such things just aren't able to be afforded, but the minimum qualification for running cameras at a sporting event is to record what the EFFING H-BOMB is going on!
Ok, I get the fact that no one likes to watch their team get utterly destroyed and I recognize how hard it must have been for MTU faithful watching this game but... wait a minute... I guess nobody but those present got to watch at certain points in time.
MTU's Radio Commentators
Believe it or not, I'm going to give props to them. They didn't come close to the homerisms I thought I'd experience and they definitely gave props to both sides when deserving. They did correctly call a few times when UND forwards (Hextall or Malone... I can't remember) did a bit of diving. Unfortunately, MTU's first penalty came off of a dive as well. They called it good play by Johnstone. Oh well.
Regardless, they are my MTU second stars of the game. It wasn't bad to listen to at all.
The Officiating
I have often wondered what it would be like if the officials completely ignored UND and called the other guys like they often called UND... well, tonight we saw it. UND did play the majority of the game clean, but there were several instances where we SHOULD have been called and weren't. I'm not talking about gray areas either. A UND point man prevented a short handed break away by taking down an MTU player in what can only be described as "ILLEGAL." Only it wasn't. Hextall shot the puck after the whistle at an MTU player too. Those were only two.
The CFB on Dorriott was borderline major. There was no head contact and the force in which Marto was hit was not out of control. Now, I know those two factors aren't considered by officials when making the call... even when it takes them a few seconds to suddenly decide that it was an illegal check. They could have given Dorriott a minor for boarding and it probably would have been ok.
Sportsmanship
MTU announcers lauded both teams over sportsmanship entirely forgetting the fact that Ryan Furne (commentators made it seem like his name was Burn) was absolutely beyond retarded. I expect that everyone expects the chirping like I'm sure Hextall and Lamoreaux were doing all game long, but Furne, a first line winger no less, mouthed off to the officials on the way into the box for his second penalty (a tripping call) and then left the box mouthing off to the officials, who apparently called a 10 minute misconduct and then Furne apparently mouthed off AGAIN and recieved the rest of the night off. Looks like he has a learning disability. Hey.... next time you get a warning for conduct to the officials, LISTEN THE EFF UP! They gave him the misconduct after the SECOND time he mouthed off in that whole scenario (he may have mouthed off after his first penalty but it wasn't apparent from the webcast or the commentators)!
That being said, it was very nicely played. The coaches were cordial and even the intermission entertainment wasn't too rough to watch... though I'd be pissed if I were the guy who got the RC truck with the bad batteries or controller.
What's Next?
We see if the rest of the MTU team learns anything from this weekend: Go to the Box, get out of the box before 2 minutes is up. Pretty easy. UND's powerplay is ok, but not great.... and MTU made it look like we're unstoppable up a man.
UND cannot party it up even though we play the next series against MTU as well in Grand Forks. MTU did play us very well in Period 1 on Friday and they could do so again if we play like we're playing a cupcake like MTU and not a team that has nothing to lose.
The Three Stars:
1st Star: Jason Gregoire (3g 1a 4pt)
2nd Star: Matt Frattin (2g 2a 4pt)
3rd Star*: Brett Hextall (2g 1a 3pt)
* - I could give it to Brock Nelson or Corbin Knight as well. All three had 3 point nights.
UND line up changes.
RWD's favorite beat writer is reporting via Twitter that Brad Eidsness and Chay Genoway will be back in the line up tonight. Fighting Sioux defenseman Andrew MacWilliam is out with an undisclosed injury. MTU forward Bennett Royer is back in after getting disqualified for a fight in Minnesota's Jake Parenteau during the MTU and UMN series.
UND’s Forward lines
19 Evan Trupp–22 Brad Malone–21 Matt Frattin
17 Jason Gregoire–10 Corban Knight–26 Brett Hextall
8 Mike Cichy–29 Brock Nelson–20 Joe Gleason
15 Brent Davidson–9 Mario Lamoureux–11 Derek Rodwell
UND's Defense pairing
4 Derek Forbort–24 Ben Blood
3 Derrick LaPoint–25 Jake Marto
18 Dillon Simpson–5 Chay Genoway
Goalies
31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell
[UND Stats]
Michigan Tech’s Forward lines
12 Ryan Furne–8 Jacob Johnstone–29 Evan Witt
19 Bennett Royer–11 Daniel Holmberg–18 Alex MacLeod
32 Tyler Gubb–7 Patrick McCadden–13 Aaron Pietila
23 Ricky Doriott–9 Dennis Rix–17 Mikael Lickteig
MTU's Defense Parings
26 Deron Cousens–25 Carl Nielson
21 Tommy Brown–6 Steven Seigo
3 Brad Stebner–24 Daniel Sova
Goalies
30 Josh Robinson
35 Kevin Genoe
31 Corson Cramer
[MTU Stats]
EDIT: Schlossman erred in the lineup listing Rodwell as both a forward and Defenseman, having 2 numbers (11 and 4), and scratching Derek Forbort. I corrected it on the blog so that it would be accurate. To be absolutely clear, this is not a Goon error. [Redwing77]
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