Maybe he wants to call a mulligan?

If you haven’t seen the 2011 Starzies Homer Awards over on USCH they are worth a look. I thought in the past that CBS College Sports personality Dave Starman does a pretty good job as a hockey announcer, however, it does appear that he wrote this blog post with his blinders on and has failed to notice that there were some good hockey players in the WCHA that don’t play for the Wisconsin Badges or the Denver Pioneers. Based on the comments from the fans that responded to this article it would appear that others have issues with it as well.

Check out these lists… I have to say, “what a friggen joke.” Maybe next time they should just call it the homer awards or the Big Schools that everyone likes… There are other schools in college hockey besides Miami, B.C., DU, Michigan, Notre Dame… Or so we have been told in the past by the college hockey pundits.

Ken Morrow Award, best defenseman
The finalists:
Justin Schultz, Wisconsin
David Warsofsky, Boston University
Jake Gardiner, Wisconsin
Taylor Fedun, Princeton
Matt Donovan, Denver
Denny Urban, Robert Morris
That list is lazy and an example of blatant homerism, the writer must not have done an home work on this list. What about Chay Genoway? II guess Dave Starman thinks the only good defensemen in the WCHA are from the Big Ten school of Wisconsin…

Ron Mason Award, top coach
The finalists:
Wayne Wilson, Rochester Institute of Technology
Jeff Blashill, Western Michigan
Nate Leaman, Union
Mark Dennehy, Merrimack
Jerry York, Boston College
Red Berenson, Michigan
Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame
WTF? Really? Seriously? How can you not include one of the following coaches on this list? You would have to think that Dean Blais should at least be a finalist …. One could also make the argument that Dave Hakstol, Scott Sandelin, Dean Blais, and George Gwozdecky should all be worthy of consideration as well.

Dave Poulin Award, best freshman
The finalists:
TJ Tynan, Notre Dame
Anders Lee, Notre Dame
Jason Zucker, Denver
Mike Pereira, Massachusetts
Charlie Coyle, Boston University
Jon Merrill, Michigan
I guess Jaden Schwartz doesn’t deserve a spot on this team either; he missed what 15 games with an injury that he received while playing in the WJC for team Canada and probably would have been the hands on favorite to win the ROY in the WCHA had he not been injuried.

Ken Dryden Award, top goalie
The finalists:
John Muse, Boston College
Keith Kinkaid, Union
Sam Brittain, Denver
Cal Heeter, Ohio State
Pat Nagle, Ferris State
Shawn Hunwick, Michigan
Again this list is a joke as well Aaron Dell is the best goalie in Division 1 hockey statistically with a Record of 26--6-2 with a goals against average of 1.87, and a save percentage of .921 and during that time he picked up 5 shutouts playing against one of the toughest strength of schedules in all of college hockey.

Rick Meagher Award, top defensive forward
The finalists:
Brian Gibbons, Boston College
Ryan Guentzel, Notre Dame
Matt Mangene, Maine
Reilly Smith, Miami
Riley Sheahan, Notre Dame
Matt Rust, Michigan
Looks like Starman is having trouble seeing past the CCHA in this list of finalist again as he has four CCHA players one ECAC and one player from the Hockey East and no players from the WCHA, I do think that there are many good “defensive forwards” in the WCHA. I think that Kyle Ostrow would be a good choice aloong with Jason Gregoire and Matt Frattin as well.

Bavis Brothers Hustle Award
The finalists:
Joe Pereira, Boston University
Carl Hagelin, Michigan
Torey Krug, Michigan State
Pat Cannone, Miami
Jason Zucker, Denver
Reilly Smith, Miami
Antoine Laganiere, Yale
So I guess Dave Starman hasn’t seen Mike or Jack Connolly play from the University of Minnesota Duluth, both players are high energy guys that go 100 miles an hour on the ice on every shift. If your defenders lose sight of these jitter bugs they’ll skate right past you and score before you can blink an eye. I also think Jason Gregoire fits that profile as well as he is one of the better two way forwards in the WCHA that missed seven games this season due to injury and still amassed a respetable 1.28 points per game.

Brian Gionta Award, top forward
The finalists:
Andy Miele, Miami
Carter Camper, Miami
Paul Zanette, Niagara
Paul Thompson, New Hampshire
Matt Frattin, North Dakota
Seriously, I think that Starman has just over looked the forwards in the WCHA; for the record there are quite a few excellent forwards like Mike Connolly UMD (25g-23a-58tps), Jack Connolly UMD (13g-34a-59pts) Matt Frattin UND (33g-21a-54pts), Justine Fontaine UMD (20g-31a-51pts) and Jason Gregoire UND ( 24g-17a-41pts) while missing seven game with an injury. Niagara's Paul Zanette racked up those points playing a less than impressive schedule, lets just call them cupcakes that ranked 51/58. I can only imagine what the aforementioned players would do with that schedule they might be in the 60s or 70s for points.

Dee Rizzo Award, unsung hero
The finalists:
Matt Tomassoni, Miami
Patrick Wey, Boston College
Scooter Vaughn, Michigan
Pat Cannone, Miami
Shawn Hunwick, Michigan
Travis Oleksuk, Minnesota-Duluth
James Mello, Dartmouth
Pat Nagle, Ferris State
One could make the argument that Bemidji State University junior goalie Dan Bakala could have been on this list as well as Bakala had 13-12-4 record with a save percentage of .922 and a GAA of 2.41 playing on a team that record and backed stopped his team to a 5-0-1 record against the UNO Mavericks.

CCHA - 22 finalists
Hockey East - 9 finalists
WCHA - 8 finalists
ECAC - 4 finalists
Atlantic - 1

The Silly Season is upon us… Jake Gardiner signs contract...

This is probably the first of many early departures by underclassmen that are sure to come in the next few weeks as college hockey team’s season’s end. Jake Gardiner and Joffrey Lupul  were traded before the trade dead from the Duck organization to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Francois Beauchemin and there were rumblings that the Maple Leafs were anxious to get Gardiner into the Leafs system so this isn’t a big shock to anyone.

Russo's Rants ---- Lastly, according to multiple NHL sources, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed University of Wisconsin junior defenseman Jake Gardiner to an entry-level contract tonight. The former Minnetonka Skipper star had a fabulous final season with the Badgers with 10 goals and 41 points and was a mainstay on Wisconsin's second-ranked WCHA defense.


Gardiner can skate like the wind and will get a heck of a chance in Toronto. Brian Burke, who traded for him in the Francois Beauchemin deal, drafted Gardiner in Anaheim.

Home UND puts transition on hold

It will be interesting to see how this issue plays out over the spring and summer. I think there is going to be a big fight between the Legislature and the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education. I would really like to know what the process is for coming up with a new nickname if the change is made; I have a bad feeling about that concept as well. This is what happens when political correctness runs amuck, we would probably get stuck with a horrible nickname no one likes except the P.C.  hand wringers.

bismarcktribune.com ---- The transition away from the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo is on hold at the University of North Dakota while the school awaits further direction from the State Board of Higher Education.

UND is supposed to have phased out the nickname and logo by Aug. 15, but after the passage of House Bill 1263 in support of the nickname, the university is waiting to see what happens among the board, the NCAA and the Legislature.

"The state Legislature is indicating a direction that is strongly different from the State Board of Higher Education, so we think the best thing we can do for the state of North Dakota is to hold off," said university spokesman Peter Johnson.

The Aug. 15 deadline is one of many UND has seen over the years as the board has continually pushed back the date for various reasons.

While August is not far away, Johnson said he expects the board to give direction before the bill becomes law on Aug. 1, just two weeks before the required transition date.

Regardless, the university is in a good place to pick back up with the transition if necessary, Johnson said.

The Honoring History and Traditions Task Group has already evaluated all non-athletic uses of the nickname and recommended retiring those as well.

The New Directions Task Group, which will be appointed by UND President Robert Kelley, will be charged with coming up with a new nickname.

Johnson said the process of picking a new nickname could be time-consuming, along with the wait that comes with getting entirely new uniforms and apparel.

"For just a year or two, we would just be North Dakota," if the transition takes place, Johnson said

Poll Monday - Sioux first in both polls

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[March 14, 2011]
1 North Dakota (42) 28- 8-3 991 1
2 Boston College (7) 28- 7-1 953 2
3 Yale (1) 25- 6-1 874 3
4 Michigan 25- 9-4 848 5
5 Denver 23-10-5 772 6
6 Miami 21- 9-6 757 7
7 Merrimack 24- 8-4 650 9
8 Notre Dame 23-11-5 619 8
9 Union 26- 9-4 602 4
10 New Hampshire 21- 9-6 584 10
11 Minnesota-Duluth 22- 9-6 571 11
12 Western Michigan 18-11-10 417 15
13 Colorado College 21-17-3 368 16
14 Nebraska-Omaha 21-15-2 318 12
15 Dartmouth 18-11-3 298 18
16 Boston University 19-12-8 244 13
17 Maine 17-12-7 222 14
18 RPI 20-12-5 117 20
19 Wisconsin 21-16-4 98 19
20 Cornell 15-14-3 58 NR
Others receiving votes: Minnesota 39, RIT 30, Alaska-Anchorage 23, Northeastern 20, Ferris State 18, Air Force 4, Bemidji State 3, Colgate 1, St. Cloud State 1.
_____________________________________________

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[March 14, 2011]
1. University of North Dakota 505 (29) 1 28- 8-3
2. Boston College 479 (5) 2 28- 7-1
3. Yale University 425 3 25- 6-1
4. University of Michigan 414 5 25- 9-4
5. University of Denver 359 6 23-10-5
6. Miami University 345 7 21- 9-6
7. Merrimack College 298 9 24- 8-4
8. Union College 248 4 26- 9-4
8. University of Notre Dame 248 8 23-11-5
10. University of New Hampshire 213 10 21- 9-6
11. University of Minnesota Duluth 202 11 22- 9-6
12. Western Michigan University 125 15 18-11-10
13. Colorado College 86 NR 21-17-3
14. University of Nebraska Omaha 58 12 21-15-2
15. Dartmouth College 50 NR 18-11-3
Others receiving votes: Boston University 13, University of Maine 4, Rochester Institute of Technology 4, Cornell University 2, Rensselaer 2.

Maturi: 'I expect Lucia to be back'

It has been interesting watching the implosion 300+ miles to the south east of us in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Gopher hockey fans are in full melt down mode as another team from the University of Minnesota fails to meet the Gopher fans expectations (Tim Brewster's Football, Tuby Smith's Mens Basketball, Don Lucia's Mens Gopher Hockey). It’s not an understatement to say that the Golden Gopher fans have their pitch forks and rakes and they are marching on the University of Minnesota Athletic director’s office.

ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ, Star Tribune ---- Disgruntled Gophers men's hockey fans who want a coaching change this offseason are probably going to be disappointed.

"I expect Don Lucia to be back," Joel Maturi, the University of Minnesota's athletic director, said Sunday, a day after the Gophers were swept out of the WCHA first-round playoffs by Alaska Anchorage.

Lucia has one year left on his current contract. Next season would be his 13th as the Gophers coach.

"We will talk soon and discuss the future of Gopher hockey," Maturi said. "The most unhappy guy today is Don Lucia. Nobody likes to lose."

After Saturday night's loss, Lucia would not comment on his future.

Eighth-place Alaska Anchorage defeated the Gophers 4-3 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday, ending their season.

"This is not the place Gophers hockey belongs," Maturi said. "When you look at our program, we've got to find a way to get to the Xcel for the Final Five and not only get to NCAA tournament but to the NCAA championship game."

Under Lucia, the Gophers won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2002 and 2003 and advanced to another Frozen Four in 2005. But the team has struggled in the national tournament since, going 1-2 in three appearances, including a stunning first-round loss to Holy Cross in 2006.

The Gophers, who finished 16-14-6 and in fifth place in the WCHA this season, will miss the Final Five for the second year in a row, the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year.

I don’t know if anyone has noticed this but the down fall of the Minnesota Gophers hockey team started when Bob Motzko and Mike Guentzel left the program and moved on to other positions. These two coaches were replaced with uber buffoon John Hill, who seems to lack any usable hockey knowledge of how to run a defensive corp, penalty kill or power play. If Lucia is able to keep his position one more season with the Minnesota Gophers it will be interesting to see if the Hill is still with the Gophers in the fall when the 2011-2012 season begins. Personally I think Don Lucia and John Hill are doing a great job in Minnesota and I hope they both stay on next season.

Joel Maturi in the cross hairs of Gopher fans

I think it would be an understatement to say that Minnesota Golden Gopher fans are upset with Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi as well. During Marturi’s reign of terror the University of Minnesota has had more head coaches than most fans could count, just off the top of my head the Gophers have had four football coaches, 1.) Jim Wacker, 2.) Glen Mason, 3.) Tim Brewster and now new head coach 4.) Jerry Kill. The Basketball program has been no better as the University of Minnesota and has had more than a few head coaches come and go as well, 1.) Clem Haskins 2.) Dan Monson and finally current head coach 3.) Tuby Smith. I don’t know if the University of Minnesota can afford to pay for another head coach’s buyout, there is only so much money to go around and the state of Minnesota has a budget deficit. Unless some big time alumni steps up and writes a check for 250,000.00 I think the Gophers are stuck with Don Lucia for another season.

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because they are worth a look. The Sioux remain in the top spot.

INCH Power Rankings
March 13, 2011
1. North Dakota — Friday must've been a profitable night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena team store; forwards Matt Frattin and Jason Gregoire both netted hat tricks in the Fighting Sioux's 8-0 rout of Michigan Tech in the first game of the WCHA playoff series between the two teams. 28-8-3 LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 8-0; W vs. Michigan Tech, 3-1 (WCHA First-Round Series). THIS WEEK: at WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
2. Boston College
3. Miami
4. Michigan
5. Yale
6. Merrimack
7. Union
8. New Hampshire
9. Denver
10. Minnesota Duluth
11. Notre Dame
12. Western Michigan
13. Colorado College
14. Dartmouth
15. Nebraska-Omaha
16. Boston University
17. RIT
18. Wisconsin
19. Rensselaer
20. Air Force
Dropped out: Minnesota, Maine
Bubble-licious: Cornell

Goon's on KNOX 1310 Monday from 2:00 – 3:00 PM Monday

Listen to the Goon live at 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm on KNOX 1310 AM on Monday March 14th, 2011. R.J. and I will be talking about WCHA hockey and which teams punched their tickets to the Final Five in Saint Paul, Minnesota this weekend... R.J. and I will also review the first round of the WCHA playoffs and the Fighting Sioux's playoff series against the Hapless MTU Huskies... 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

Cox: Will Chara hit still outrage hockey fans in a month?

If you haven't seen this article it's worth a look.

By Damien Cox Sports Columnist --- If you’re the NHL, why change when you know that all it takes to turn today’s outraged consumer into tomorrow’s satisfied fan is seeing his team’s enforcer win a fight?

That said, there is a sense that even hardcore hockey fans have had enough of the head shots and don’t like that Sidney Crosby is sitting out with a concussion so serious that his career may be threatened.

The GMs felt they made a significant move last year, enacting Rule 48 to try and take blindside headshots out of the game. It may have done specifically what it intended (no more Matt Cooke hits on Marc Savard to go unpunished) but hasn’t quieted the overall drumbeat, that hockey has become too dangerous and too destructive, even to its elite players.

So the challenge facing the GMs and the league is to be seen as responding to the problem without doing so in a knee-jerk manner. The GMs are paid not to be fans; they’re there to think carefully and dispassionately about change, looking beyond the needs of just their team and just their players.

Of course, it’s that latter point that always trips up the hockey executives. They always want the other guy suspended, while claiming their players would never intentionally hurt a fly.

So don’t look for big news out of Boca Raton this week. What you can hope for is a few good ideas, and possibly the emergence of a new philosophy, one that puts more emphasis on protecting the rights of victims of hockey violence, as opposed to keeping brutes and cheap-shot artists in the league.

It’s time that the perpetrators of on-ice crimes — not just the victims — are the ones who see their careers come to an end.

But even that may not happen. And then, inevitably, people will forget

Goon on the Program at 8:00 PM Central

Chris Wassel from the Program has asked me to come on the program and talk hockey with him at 8:00 pm this evening. Call-in Number: (347) 826-7358 [Click to listen]

Sioux 3 Huskies 1

FightingSioux.com Photo 

There is not a lot you can say about the UND Fighting Sioux victory over the hapless Michigan Tech Huskies. The win on Saturday night hopefully is the first step in what could be a run deep into the NCAA playoffs culminating with the Sioux winning number “8” which has proven to be a very elusive NCAA Championship. It’s very hard to win an NCAA title and the Sioux have failed four times in the 2000’s to get number 8. From here on out after the Final Five the Sioux are in the one and done, one loss will end their season like 57 other teams that will not win the NCAA title.

Moving forward, the MTU Huskies had what many would call a historic forgettable season and according to Dave Starman of CBS College Sports, told the Pipeline show from Edmonton, Alberta in so many words that MTU head hockey coach Jamie Russell might not be the coach of the Huskies much longer.

Last night’s game was surprisingly closer than the other three games where the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team had outscored the MTU Huskies 25-3 and saw two different Sioux hockey players get hat tricks in the same game. Last night’s game was a different story with the same ending result. The Huskies came out in the third period and limited the time and space of the Fighting Sioux.

MTU forward Ryan Furne scored at the 6:15 mark of the first period and the Huskies lead the game for roughly seventeen minutes. Then the fortunes changed for the UND Fighting Sioux as junior forward Brett Hextall scored the equalizer at the 3:33 mark of the second period. Fighting Sioux freshman forward Tyler Dicken scored his first career goal 2:01 minutes later and the Fighting Sioux never looked back. The game lacked anymore scoring until the 19:54 mark of the third period when Frattin brought everyone that wasn’t standing to their feet when he scored his 33rd goal of the season into an empty net to send the Huskies back to Houghton, Michigan.

After the hockey game the Fighting Sioux were awarded the MacNaughton Cup, however, the Fighting Sioux barely wanted to even look at the Historic MacNaughton Cup and as far from I could see didn’t even touch the cup as they took their team photo. Incidently, the last time the Sioux touched the MacNaughton Cup they lost their next three games in the playoffs and were sent home in the first round of the NCAA playoffs by the UNH Wildcats.

[Box Score]

Goon’s Three Stars of the Game

1.) Taylor Dicken (1g-0a-1pts)
2.) Brock Nelson (0g-1a-1pts) and (0g-3a-3pts) for the weekend
3.) Aaron Dell 1 goal against, 1 goal against all weekend.

Last night bitter sweet victory?

After the game was over and I was watching the awards ceremony with Sioux7 he turned to me and said this could very well be the last time that UND wins the MacNaughton Cup with the nickname Fighting Sioux. I said, “I don’t know we will find out very soon, we will just have to see.”  

College Hockey Scores from Saturday; March 12, 2011

AHA
Mercyhurst 3 at Connecticut 4 OT
Canisius 3 at Holy Cross 2 OT
Sacred Heart 0 at Air Force 4
American Int'l 1 at RIT 5

CCHA
Bowling Green 1 at Michigan 4
Ferris State 1 at Western Michigan 3
Alaska 1 at Miami 4
Lake Superior 4 at Notre Dame 3

ECAC
Quinnipiac 1 at Cornell 0
Harvard 1 at Dartmouth 2 OT
St. Lawrence 2 at Yale 5
Colgate 4 at Union 2

Hockey East
Vermont 3 at New Hampshire 4
Massachusetts 2 at Boston College 4
Maine 2 at Merrimack 6

WCHA
St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 3 3OT [Box Scores]
Bemidji State 3 at Nebraska-Omaha 2 [Box Scores]
Minnesota State 2 at Denver 3 OT [Box Scores]
Michigan Tech 1 at North Dakota 3 [Box Scores]
Wisconsin 3 at Colorado College 4 OT [Box Scores]
Alaska Anchorage 2 at Minnesota 0 [Box Scores]

Analysis - There were some amazing story lines emerging from last night’s college hockey games. Three games went to overtime... The Minnesota Golden Gophers, MTU Huskies, SCSU Huskies, MSUM Mavericks all had their season ended and will not play in the Final Five or the NCAA tourney. UNO after losing to the "pesky Beavers" is on the “bubble” of making the NCAA tourney, however, I think the UNO Mavericks will make the NCAA tourney baring some unforeseen wild finishes in the other leagues, like a 11 or 12 seed winning a conference tourney.

St. Cloud State 2 vs. Minnesota Duluth 3 3OT – I really expected this series to go another way, The Huskies owned an impressive 4-0-2 the last six games against UMD and after the SCSU Huskies had beaten the UMD Bulldogs 8-2 I really though that the SCSU Huskies would push the Bulldogs to the "brink" in this series. Nope! That result didn't happen. The win didn't come easy as the UMD Bulldogs needed three overtimes to beat the SCSU Huskies as Mike Connolly scored at the 1:13 mark of the third overtime to send the UMD Bulldogs to the Final Five. [Rink and Run], [SCSU Times]

Bemidji State 3 vs. Nebraska-Omaha 2 – The UNO Mavericks out shot the BSU Beavers 91-37 on the weekend but still ended up losing the series in two games. In talking to someone that watched the game in Omaha, BSU goalie Dan Bakala was nothing short of amazing this weekend and the difference in both games. Maverick fans will be watching the score board and the PWR/RPI this next week after the series loss to the BSU Beavers. The Mavericks are currently sitting in 12th of the PWR and should make the NCAA playoffs baring an unforeseen meltdown.

To quote a sports cliché this is why we play the games folks, there are no sure things in life and there are no give me’s in college hockey. Also, the games aren’t played on paper, the higher seed doesn’t always win the series. That’s life! That's WCHA hockey. I know there are some people in Omaha that are upset by the Beavers winning the series against the Mavericks but if you know anything about the BSU Beavers (I have followed them for years), they are team known for beating teams with better records, just ask Notre Dame and Cornell, shall we call the BSU Beavers giant killers?

The Beavers have been known to build their team from the goaltender out and add skilled smallish forwards with speed that play a high energy game and as the fans in Omaha found out Beaver goalie Dan Bakala is an awesome goaltender add the Beavers forward line of Matt Read, Ian Lowe and Jordan George and the BSU Beavers are a pretty good hockey team.

Seriously!!! I watched the Miami RedHawks outshoot the Beavers last season at the Ralph only to watch the Beavers win the game, the Beavers are intimidated by no one and the RedHawks were highly favored in this game. You have to play 60 minutes of hockey. I also believe that you have to give credit where credit is due; Beavers head coach Tom Serratore is a good hockey coach and gets the most out of his players. The Beavers resemble their coach they are small, they are intense and they're a hard working team. UNO went 0-5-1 against the Beavers and they were the only team that the Mavericks didn’t beat this season. [Up North Sports], [Omaha.com]

Minnesota State 2 vs. Denver 3 OT – The MSUM Mavericks blew another lead and lost another game in the third period after leading to the DU Pioneers. Actually, the MSU-M Mavericks have led the DU Pioneers in the last four games they played against the Pioneers, only to watch the Pioneers beat the Mavericks, talk about "ground hog day." I am sure the coaching staff has to be scratching their heads after watching their team go 0-3-1 in aforementioned games. Jason Zucker scored at the 1:29 mark of the first overtime to send the DU Pioneers to the Final Five in St. Paul, Minnesota. [Puckato], [Denver Post]

Michigan Tech 1 vs. North Dakota 3 – The Fighting Sioux won the game 3-1 in an uneventful, listless and relatively boring (insert your adjective) hockey game, that lacked any emotion. Hobey Baker hopeful Matt Frattin scored his 33 goal of the year on an empty net at the 19:54 mark of the third period to seal the game for the Fighting Sioux. Last night’s game was the first time that MTU had led in a game against the Fighting Sioux this season as MTU forward Ryan Furne scored at the 6:15 mark of the first period. UND Fighting Sioux junior forward Brett Hextall scored the equalizer at the 3:33 mark of the second period, new comer Fighting Sioux freshman forward Tyler Dicken scored his first career goal 2:01 minutes later and the Fighting Sioux never looked back.

The goal in the waning moments of the third period by Frattin brought everyone that wasn’t standing to their feet. After the game the Fighting Sioux were presented the MacNaughton Cup at center ice for winning the regular season championship, the celebration was very subdued as the team didn’t even want to touch the MacNaughton Cup. The guys didn't actually touch the cup from what I can see and they looked like they didn’t even want to be around the historic MacNaughton cup. Incidentally, the last three teams to win the cup have lost their first round game in the NCAA tourney. [Fighting Sioux], [USCHO], [UND Hockey Blog], [Grand Forks Herald]

Wisconsin 3 vs. Colorado College 4 OT – The C.C. Tigers need a goal from Scott Winkler at the 16:31 mark of the third period to force overtime and then got a goal from super freshman Jaden Schwartz at the 5:48 mark of the third period to extend the Tigers season. Game three is this evening at 8:07 pm central. [Madison.com], [Eye of the Tigers]

Alaska Anchorage 2 vs. Minnesota 0 – Gopher Fans are already marching on the campus of the University of Minnesota with rakes and pitchforks after their team failed to make the Final Five for a second consecutive season in a row, I don’t think even Doug Woog managed to miss the WCHA Final Five two season in a row.

This will be the third consecutive season in a row that the Gophers have missed the NCAA tourney as well… Gopher fans known for their sense of entitlement are fed up with head coach Don Lucia, a man that Gopher fans once praised not so long ago as being the second coming of Jesus Christ after Lucia’s team had won back to back NCAA titles in 2001-2002 and 2002 –2003.

My how the mighty have fallen, the Gophers have gone from the penthouse to the outhouse in eight short years, Gopher Nation has officially turned on their head hockey coach and they are jumping off Lucia’s bandwagon. Grab a bag of popcorn and a soda and watch Gopher fans are now in full meltdown mode on Gopher Puck Live, Star Tribune and USCHO, it’s almost comedic. Gopher fans are angry and they want blood and they want it now!!! Minneapolis and Saint Paul Police are patrolling the bridges in the Metro area and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has signed an executive order making it a criminal offense to be caught walking on a bridges this week because of fears that distraught Gopher fans will jump off.

Now it’s not tough to put this into perspective, I come from a fan base that wants to fire the head coach of a team that has never had a losing season in his seven years as coach. Mind you, this is the same head coach that has led his teams to the Frozen Four, albeit and they lost in all four (finshing second in one and third three times) and after an 8-4 loss to the UNO Mavericks which are led by former Fighting Sioux head coach Dean Blais; some Sioux fans wanted Dave Hakstol fired. But I digress…

I get it and I can see why the Gopher fans are upset with the way things are, the Minnesota Gophers hockey program has had a relatively successful division one college hockey program that was looked at in the 1980-1990’s and early 2000’s as being the bench mark of college hockey in the WCHA and the college hockey world. None-the-less, I also don’t think it’s an understatement to say that the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey team has all the advantages that the other four division one teams in the state of Minnesota don’t have (BSU, UMD, MSU-M, SCSU), they have an awesome television package with FSN, the Gophers for the most part have a fawning/adoring metro media and the Golden Gophers have all of the advantages afforded to them because they're Big Ten school to boot, these advantages include the Minnesota Rule at the Final Five. That "Minnesota Rule" means jack today. The Gophers also get the first pick of the best blue chip Minnesota hockey players that play on the USDT team in Ann Arbor, Michigan before any other team in Minnesota gets a look.

Here's the problem, the Gopher hockey program never had any respect for their opponent this past weekend, and the Gophers showed it when their players make clueless comments like this, "We knew we had to get in the dirty areas. We knew that we are a better team than they are and we didn't take advantage of it [Friday]." Really! The Gophers are the better team? I wonder how Jake Hansen surmised that. It doesn’t appear to be a true statement. I doubt that the UAA Seawolves were impressed with the Gophers 19 NHL draft choices or the fact that half of their team was made up of blue chip athletes the Gopher coach staff got the first pick of. Who's smiling now?

It’s also comments like this from the beat writers that breath contempt from the opposing fan bases, check it out, “Mickey Spencer, a fourth-line winger for Alaska Anchorage, broke a scoreless tie with a breakaway goal early in the third period. And that's all the Seawolves and Chris Kamal, their freshman goalie, really needed.” Who cares what line Spencer plays on?

The fact remains that the Gophers got beat by a hungrier team that wanted it more. Its teams that play strong fundamental hockey that win college hockey games. The Seawolves got good goaltending from a Chris Camel and blocked 24 shots and the Gophers didn’t score. Season over. [Star Tribune], [Kare 11], [Delusions of Grandeur]

2011 WCHA McNaughton Cup Champs

Yeah!!!!!

NHL keeps Winnipeg waiting...

Photo from the Illegal Curve Hockey Blog

s/t Illegal Curve. I am not sure why the NHL is keeping Winnipeg waiting? Checkout this picture, they are not doing well in the stands in Glendale Arizona.

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]

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.

UND Fighting Sioux nickname bill passes N.D. Senate - Developing

According the Grand Forks Herald the vote passed 28-15...Personally It’s time for the people of North Dakota to stand up to this tyrannical out of control organization known as the NCAA. I mean seriously folks, a vocal minority has been the ones driving the bus on determining the fate of the Fighting Sioux logo and I think this is a cause worth fighting for. I have been informed by a source that the Governor will sign the bill and it has been confirmed by a reporter as well...

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

s/t to PHT...I am glad that Torts is saying this, and kudos for Brooks for writing about it. It’s too bad that it took another player getting injured in the NHL to have this subject come to life. I have been saying this for a very long time that the instigator rule is leading to unnecessary violence and acts of thuggery that wouldn’t happen if the NHL’s thugs/agitators had to fight and answer for their transgressions. Eventually you have to think the NHL General Managers are going to have to look at the instigator rule because I do believe there are players out there taking unnecessary runs at opposition players, especially at critical times in games that might be alleviated if the players had to answer for their actions on the ice instead of hiding behind the instigator penalty or the on ice official, because no one wants to put their team on the penalty kill because of the threat of getting for an instigator penalty.

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."

Fighting Sioux nickname bill on Senate's Friday lineup

Looks like there is going to be a vote on the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname. Preliminary reports show that an unofficial poll taken show more than 50% Of North Dakota Senators Supporting Fighting Sioux Nickname.

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

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

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...

I think this song is appropriate for this discussion… Like I said in earlier blog post, for the most part I like Kevin Gorg and his hockey analysis, I also like listening to Gorg and P.A. on KFAN 1130 during my workouts at the gym or while riding my bike, weather permitting of course, I down load the broadcasts on my ipod so I can listen to Ryan Cardinal and Gorg, I am surprised that Gorg said this… You can listen to it on this link… [Click to Listen]

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.

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.

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.

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.
"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.)

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?

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.

"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.

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.

McKenzie; Pacioretty not happy with Chara or League Decision [TSN.COM]

Bettman say Pacioretty hit horrific, but part of the game. [TSN.COM]

UND Hockey Coach pleads to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname

This article was in the Plains Daily and I actually got this email from a friend of mine as well. You have got to love coach Hakstol, I love his commitment to the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname. Flood the senators email address and let them know how you feel. I would also like to remind your senators if they vote against this bill that they are out of touch with the majority of North Dakotan's. If my Senator Ray Holmberg votes against this bill he will no longer get my vote very again.

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…

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