Goon's World

Monday, November 28, 2011

Goon's WCHA Power Rankings for 11/26

Each week Zach Friedli and I do the WCHA Power Rankings for INSIDE HOCKEY.

1. Minnesota Duluth – (7-2-1 WCHA, 9-3-2) The Bulldogs were idle this past weekend, Travel Houghton, MI to play the Michigan Tech Huskies. The Bulldogs sit one point out of first in the WCHA standings. The Bulldogs have played 10 games 7-3-0 at home and four games 2-0-2 on the road.

2. Minnesota – (8-2-0 WCHA, 11-4-1) The Gophers experienced some rough sledding this past weekend, (3-4 L, 4-4 T) and only came away with a tie in their non-conference series with the Michigan State Spartans, in East Lansing, Michigan. The Mighty Golden Gophers entertain the Minnesota State Mavericks this weekend. The Gophers have split their last two WCHA series and have 2-3-1 record in their last six games.

3. Denver – (4-2-3 WCHA, 6-4-3) The Pioneers beat Princeton 3-0 and lost to Miami University 4-2 in the Denver Cup this past weekend. The Pioneers play a single game in Colorado Springs, CO, on Friday night against their cross-state rivals the Colorado College Tigers. The game will be on CBS College Sports @09:07 p.m. central standard time.

4. Colorado College – (5-4-0 WCHA, 7-4-0) The Tigers were swept the Fighting Sioux in Grand Forks, ND. Entertain their cross-state rivals the Denver Pioneers in a single game on Saturday night. The game will be on CBS College Sports @09:07 p.m. central standard time. Rylan Schwartz had 6g-0a—6 points on the weekend, yet his team was swept by the Fighting Sioux. According to Joe Paisley of the Colorado Spring Gazette, Tiger forward Jaden Schwartz now has a career-best 17-game point streak 9g-22a—31pts during that streak.

5. Nebraska-Omaha – (6-3-3 WCHA, 7-6-2) The Mavericks won 4-3 and tied 2-2, in their series against the SCSU Huskies 4-3. The Red Mavericks travel to Nashville, TN to play University of Alabama Huntsville. The Mavericks hold a 3-1 all-time record against the Chargers and split their season series last season in Omaha.

6. North Dakota – (4-6-0, 6-7-1) The Fighting Sioux swept the 4th ranked Colorado College Tigers 7-6 and 4-3 at home this past weekend. This weekend, the Fighting Sioux head to the last frontier to play the UAA Seawolves, who took three of four points from Minnesota State in Mankato this past weekend. The Sioux have a 9-4-2 record the last 15 games against the Seawolves. With the sweep of the Tigers, the Fighting Sioux now have a 10-4-3 record against C.C. in the last 17 games at home against the Tigers. The Fighting Sioux also have an all-time record of 82-19-6 against the Tigers in Grand Forks, ND.

7. St. Cloud State – (4-4-2 WCHA, 6-7-3) The Huskies took one point 4-3 L, 2-2 T, from the UNO Mavericks this past weekend against the Red Mavericks in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend. This weekend the Huskies entertain the Bemidji State Beavers at the National Hockey Center. The Huskies have an 8-2-0 record against the Beavers in the last 10 games between the two teams.

8. Wisconsin – (4-7-1 WCHA, 7-8-1) The Badgers swept the Mercyhurst Lakers 7-2, 5-2 in Madison, this past weekend. The Badgers are the WCHA’s version of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Badgers are 7-3-0 at home and 0-5-1 on the road this season. After scoring three goals last weekend the Badgers scored 12 against their AHA opponent. The Badgers are idle this weekend.

9. Michigan Tech – (5-4-1 WCHA, 8-5-1) The Tech Huskies split a non-conference series 3-2, 1-3 with the St. Lawrence University this past weekend in Canton, New York. The Huskies entertain the defending NCAA Champion the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at MacInnes Student Ice Arena this weekend. The Huskies are 6-1-1 at home and 2-4-0 away from the

10. Bemidji State – (3-6-1 WCHA, 5-8-1) The Beavers were idle this past weekend. The Beavers travel to Saint Cloud State to play the Huskies. Since 2002-03 the Beavers have won two games in the last 10 games against the Huskies 2-8-0.

11. Alaska-Anchorage – (2-7-1 WCHA, 5-7-1) The UAA Seawolves who took three points from Minnesota State in Mankato this past weekend. The Seawolves entertain the Fighting Sioux this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska. The Seawolves have a 4-9-2 record the last 15 games against the Fighting Sioux. The Seawovles have had better luck against the Fighting Sioux at home where they are 3-3-1 in the last seven games at home against the Sioux. The Seawolves are 2-3-1 at home and 1-4-1 on the road this season.

12. Minnesota State – (2-7-1 WCHA, 3-10-0) The Minnesota State Mavericks took one point this past weekend against the UAA Seawolves. The Mavericks goaltenders Phil Cook and Evan Karambelas, gave up five goals on 13 shots, that an unimpressive .615 save percentage. The Mavericks travel to Minnesota to play the Minnesota Gophers in Mariucci Arena. In the last eight game against the Gophers the Mavericks have a 5-2-1 record.

Max Pacioretty suspended three games

I am surprised that Max Pacioretty was suspended three games, I was thinking that the league would give him 1-2 game suspension in this case, personally I don’t have a problem with the the length of the suspension, these are the types of hits that the NHL is trying to do without.

I know there are going to be Hab’s fans that are unhappy with the ruling and will want to know why Ryan Malone wasn’t suspended for hitting Chris Campoli in the head, video is embedded below. Inconsistency, I don’t know, but it would appear so. What do you think?

Poll Monday - UND receives votes in both polls.

The Fighting Sioux recieved votes in both polls this week.

Monday morning quarterback

North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's ice hockey

Image via WikipediaHow do these predictions look on Monday morning?

No. 4 Colorado College (7–2–0, 5–2–0 WCHA) at North Dakota (4–7–1, 2–6–0 WCHA)

Tyler: With the exception of Minnesota, I believe CC is the best team in the WCHA, and though the Sioux is sitting in 10th place, this is going to be an entertaining series. UND has to play disciplined because it doesn’t want to put the nation’s sixth-best power play (25.5 percent) on the ice. The Tigers are 8-for-27 on the man advantage in their last five games. This one’s a split. Ralph Engelstad Arena is a difficult place for opposing teams to play, no matter what UND’s record is. But the Tigers are going to show why they’re the better team and leave Grand Forks with one win.

Brian: North Dakota holds and impressive 135–76–10 (.633) advantage over Colorado College in the all-time series but are a staggering 80–19–6 (.790) against CC in Grand Forks. Despite the Sioux’s scoring troubles and the emergence of Josh Thorimbert in goal for the Tigers, I’m having a hard time betting against history and feel like North Dakota steals one this weekend. Split. USCHO.COM

Here is what the Roman Empire had to say on this past week's series.

* Colorado College at North Dakota. CC, with its high-powered offense, could gain on two leaders with a big weekend. Fighting Sioux are mired in a tie for 10th with Minnesota State Mankato. With smooth freshman Rocco Grimaldi out with a lower body injury, UND will have trouble staying with their visitors, so this is hard to write but ... CC sweeps

Who would have thought? The experts really didn't give the Fighting Sioux much of a chance this past weekend. The Fighting Sioux gutted out two wins against a offensive juggernaut. What a difference a week makes.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because they are ussually good for a chuckle or two. I find this week's just as amusing as some of the other additions of the INCH Power Rankings. Really 4 ECAC teams in the top 20?

1. Merrimack
2. Notre Dame
3. Boston College
4. Minnesota
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. Colorado College
7. Ferris State
8. Ohio State
9. Union
10. Colgate
11. Denver
12. Yale
13. Western Michigan
14. Lake Superior State
15. Boston University
16. Miami
17. Cornell
18. Michigan State
19. Michigan Tech
20. Nebraska-Omaha

Dropped out: Michigan
Bubble-licious: Clarkson, UMass Lowell, Michigan

Max Pacioretty hits Kris Letang in the head.

Montreal Canadians forward Max Pacioretty has a phone call from Brendan Shanahan on Monday, I am going to say that Pacioretty gets a one - two game suspension for this hit on Letang. This is the type of hits that the NHL is trying to eliminate. The impressive fact was that Letang went to the locker room and had his nose set and then returned to the game to score the game winning goal in overtime.

Montreal forward Max Pacioretty will have a phone hearing with the NHL Monday morning for his hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang during the third period of the Penguins' overtime win in Montreal Saturday night.[NHL.COM]

Here is what the Montreal Gazette has to say on the matter. Notice how the Montreal paper had to mention the Chara hit when bringing up this issue. I don't think that fact is going to help Pacioretty in this instance.

— Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty faces a phone hearing with NHL disciplinarian for a head hit that broke the nose of Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, according to NHL.com.

Letang, hurt in the third period, returned in overtime and scored the winning goal. He said after afterward that Pacioretty apologized to him.

Pacioretty returned this season after breaking a neck vertebra when Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara checked him into the end of a glass partition in March. That play didn’t draw a suspension.

Official Derek Boogaard tribute...

As a rabid hockey fan, but also a fan of the NHL, I must say that I have always appreciated the efforts of the NHL tough guys, the “Goon’s” or the enforcers. These are the character guys that with their very presence on the ice keep the game honest and they are also an insurance policy to help protect their teammates. These are the guys that keep the Matt Cookes of the world honest.

In my opinion Derek Boogaard was one of the most feared fighters in the NHL and I don’t know if there will ever be another character quite like him. This is one of my favorite Derek Boogaard moments against the hated Ducks during in the NHL playoffs, the Ducks announcers are some of the biggest homers in all of hockey.

Shot Charts from 11/26 Tigers and Sioux game

From time to time I have read and heard fan comments about Aaron Dell being an over rated goalie or not worthy of the hype. If you look at the shot charts from Saturday night’s game you will see the Aaron Dell made some big saves and kept the Fighting Sioux in the game.

You will see that both goalies stopped some grade “A” opportunities down low from the slot. The Fighting Sioux defense also blocked 15 shots during Saturday night’s game.

The Fighting Sioux had to kill a 5 on 3 power play in the third period and Aaron Dell said that, “it [penalty kill] was huge, we have had a hard time with five on threes this year, and that was the biggest kill of the game, it was a huge momentum swing there.”

s/t @StatsOnCrack

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Sioux hold to sweep Tigers, win 4-3.

Cross posted at INSIDE HOCKEY.

Grand Forks, ND – Looking at the stats this year, there seems to be a reoccurring theme, the Fighting Sioux get scored on first in most of their games, and after getting the first goal in Friday night’s game, the Fighting Sioux again added to their streak of having the first goal scored against them; after tonight's first Tiger goal, the Fighting Sioux have now been scored on first in 10 of 14 games.

This time that stat didn’t matter, as the Fighting Sioux won the game in a gritty team effort, led by Fighting Sioux sophomore forward Brock Nelson (1g-2—3pts). The Fighting Sioux also survived a late surge by the Tigers in the closing seconds of the game, to hold on to win 4-3. Tonight's win, allowed the Fighting Sioux to get their first sweep of the 2011-12 season.

Much like Friday’s game, the score remained 0-0 for a very short time, this time it was the Colorado College Tigers that got on the scoreboard first as they scored .40 seconds into the game. Tiger junior forward Rylan Schwartz scored on the first shot of the game, as he took a snap shot from the right circle that beat Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell.

That would be the first of three goals on the night for the junior forward from Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Schwartz also had a hat trick in Friday’s game for the Tigers. It’s not very often that a team can have a player that gets a hat trick in back to back games, only to see his team lose both games.

Anyone that has watched the Colorado Tigers play, know that the Schwartz brothers are very good hockey players, dating back to last season, Rylan's younger brother Jaden Schwartz has scored (9g-22a—31pts) in the last 17 games he has played.

The Sioux would go on the power play at the 05:02 mark of the first period, with Tiger defenseman Aaron Harstad in the penalty box for roughing, the Fighting Sioux wasted little time cashing in on the man advantage; Brock Nelson took a pass from Corbin Knight and scored at the 05:07 mark of the first period, just five second into the power play.

The Tigers would get their first shot on the power play, when Dillon Simpson was assessed a minor penalty for delay of game, at the 15:28 mark of the first period. The Tigers not to be outdone by the Fighting Sioux, scored eight seconds into their man advantage as Rylan Schwartz scored at 15:36 mark of the first period to give the Tigers a brief 2-1 lead.

The Sioux would tie the game four minutes and six second later at the 19:42 mark of the first period. Sioux forward Derek Rodwell, who was camped in front of the Tiger net, tipped a Ben Blood blast from the point past Tiger goalie Joe Howe. The Fighting Sioux outshot the Tigers 11-6 in the first period.

Going into the second period of tonight’s game, Tiger forward Rylan Schwartz had scored seven goals in seven periods of hockey against the Fighting Sioux dating back to last season’s semi final game at the WCHA Final Five. That streak would end during the second period of tonight’s game as Schwartz was held off of the score sheet during the second period.

The Fighting Sioux scored in the waning minutes of the second period, this time with 34.3 seconds remaining in the period. Sioux forward Brock Nelson took the puck, raced into the into the offensive zone, passed the puck to Danny Kristo, who attempted a wrap around shot on the Tiger goal, that shot was saved by Tiger goalie Joe Howe, Knight picked up the rebound and shot the puck into the Tiger net, giving the Fighting Sioux a 3-2 lead. The Fighting Sioux outshot the Tigers 11-4 in the third period.

The Fighting Sioux got into penalty trouble in the early minutes of the third period and started a parade to the penalty box; with Mario Lamoureux already in the box for a hooking, Ben Blood was assess a two minute minor for boarding. The Sioux would kill the two man advantage, that penalty kill seemed to give the Fighting Sioux momentum.

Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell was asked about killing the Tiger two man advantage in the third period, Dell said, “it was huge, we have had a hard time with five on threes this year, and that was the biggest kill of the game, it was a huge momentum swing there.”

The Sioux extended their lead to 4-2 at the 06:09 of the third period with a shorthanded goal from Danny Kristo. The Tigers would close the gap to 4-3 at the 13:25 mark of the third period with another goal from Rylan Schwartz.

The Fighting Sioux would survive a frantic finish by the Tigers at the end of the game to hang on for a 4-3 win to sweep the Tigers. After the game Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol said, “that his team took a step forward tonight.” Coach Hakstol said, “that he liked the overall play of his team.”

Box Score

How SIOUX-eep it is! (RW77)

Well, call me impressed!

We came into this series a defensive, low scoring team and we leave Thanksgiving weekend as a goal scoring not so defensive team. Ok, that's a bit harsh but...

This weekend we saw huge weekends from Danny Kristo, Derek Forbert, Corbin Knight, Brock Nelson, and Nick Mattson on the UND side.

Danny Kristo is something else. Brock Nelson is right behind him. Corbin Knight is pretty much unbeatable in the faceoff circle.

My 3 stars for tonight's game:

3rd Star: Corbin Knight
2nd Star: Danny Kristo
1st Star: Rylan Schwartz

My 3 stars for the weekend:

3rd Star: Brock Nelson
2nd Star: Danny Kristo
1st Star: Rylan Schwartz

May the Schwartz be with CC... until UND faces them again.

Yeah, by the end of the first period tonight, I was hoping that Rylan Schwartz's NHL team would sign him before the second period began... Now I look it up and... He's a free agent! It's JADEN who is the "star." Well.... Jaden did do a stellar job this weekend but Rylan... WOW. I think there's a team about 5 hours drive SE of Grand Forks that could use some more offense.... just sayin'.

To put it bluntly: I don't want any more of Rylan Schwartz.

Here are some more thoughts:

1. Again, the ice was crap tonight. The puck didn't sit well at all, skaters slipping and sliding without being touched, and more whiffs.

2. The officials were meh. UND finally benefitted from the refs. I felt at times, UND did definitely get away with a few. The refs didn't call everything, but I felt that there were times where CC was held by tighter regs than we were. In an unethical way, I'm happy we finally got the benefit of it. In an ethical manner, once again: I'll be happy to be rid of the WCHA officials.

3. O'Donnell was the unsung hero tonight. He SERIOUSLY looked GREAT out there. The only thing missing was a goal. His poise, patience, aggressiveness... I loved it all.

4. I noticed Gaarder but Hennessey had to tell me Pattyn and Panzarella were on the ice. I guess that's a good thing for Panzarella but we are seriously shallow in forward depth (but that's just beating a dead horse).

5. If Rylan Schwartz goes cold, CC is in trouble. This weekend, CC scored 9 goals. All but 3 were scored by Rylan Schwartz. He's fantastic and, if he continues lighting it up like this, will surely be the WCHA MVP. However, if he goes cold, they may be in the same trouble as UND.

6. Defensively, tonight's game was a much better game than last night's game (at least through the first half of the game)

7. Our Powerplay looks A LOT A LOT A LOT Better. I finally saw us moving the puck down low and trying to work the puck in close for the tap in. There were still a lot of perimeter bombs but we were now in the right position to use it and we didn't rely solely upon it.

8. Garbage Goals? THERE YOU ARE!!! Unlike last night, only one of our goals (Kristo's shortie) was of the non-garbage goal variety. Highlight reel goals are highlight reel goes because not every goal is a highlight reel goal. Games are won through garbage goals. We won this game because we owned the front of the CC net.

9. I'm not sure, but... I think we may be better in the faceoff circle now than we were with Vandevelde...and crew.

Hennessey suggests that this series might be the turning point for UND. Maybe it will be, but we won't know until later in the season. Even so, I do hope it is.

11/26 CC vs. UND Lines

Image via WikipediaUND goes again with Dell in net. CC goes with Howe. A lot of line changes for UND. The only other note is that CC Defenseman Eamon McDermitt is out tonight. Ian Young, a freshman, is in.
(per Brad Schlossman's blog located here)

UND’s lines
29 Brock Nelson–10 Corban Knight–7 Danny Kristo
11 Derek Rodwell–9 Mario Lamoureux–27 Carter Rowney
21 Brendan O’Donnell–16 Mark MacMillan–15 Michael Parks
28 Stephane Pattyn–13 Connor Gaarder–20 Joe Gleason

Fighting Sioux Defensive Paring

4 Derek Forbort–24 Ben Blood
2 Andrew MacWilliam–5 Nick Mattson
18 Dillon Simpson–22 Andrew Panzarella

Fighting Sioux Goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness
35 Tate Maris

UND Player Stats

Colorado College’s lines
8 Jaden Schwartz–13 Rylan Schwartz–27 William Rapuzzi
16 Alex Krushelnyski–22 Nick Dineen–25 Scott Winkler
9 Dakota Eveland–11 David Civitarese–21 Jeff Collett
12 Archie Skalbeck–23 Tim Hall–15 Andrew Hamburg

Tiger Defense Pairings

10 Gabe Guentzel–4 Joe Marciano
20 Ian Young–6 Peter Stoykewych
5 Aaron Harstad–28 Mike Boivin

Tiger Goalies

31 Joe Howe
39 Josh Thorimbert

Tiger Player stats

Zach Parise's waved off goal.

So did former Fighting Sioux forward Zach Parise score a legitimate goal or not? In reviewing the video it looks like the refs "may" have made the right call. What do you think? Did the ref make the right call, or not? Why?

Shot charts from 11/25

If you look at the shot chart from the first period you will see that Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell was under attack and had to make many saves from shot taken down low in the slots.

s/t to stats on crack for the shot charts. After losing Sunday’s game to the Bemidji State Beavers, Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol talked about his team not getting to the dirty area to score goals. Fast forward to Friday night, the Fighting Sioux scored five of six goals from the slot.

Sioux goals versus Colorado College

Stick tap to BadgerSioux for recording the videos from tonight's game between the Colorado College Tigers and the Fighting Sioux.

Here is the video of Sioux forward Carter Rowney's goal. It was the second goal of the game for the Fighting Sioux on the power play [Click to view]

Here is the second goal of the season for Fighting Sioux forward Michael Parks [click to view]

Here is the video of Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo and his second goal of the game, but also his post game press conference. [Click to view]

Friday, November 25, 2011

Sioux outlast Tigers 7-6

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athl...

Image via Wikipedia

Cross Posted at INSIDEHOCKEY.COM

Grand Forks, ND – The Fighting Sioux have had the first goal scored on them in nine of 12 games they have played this season; the Fighting Sioux finally changed their fortunes tonight by scoring the first goal of the game on their first shift of the game.

After being held scoreless the weekend before, Fighting Sioux junior forward Danny Kristo wasted no time getting the first of his two goals for Fighting Sioux. At the 0:36 mark of the first period, Kristo took a pass from Corbin Knight at the right faceoff circle, Kristo skated towards the Tiger net and shot the puck through Tiger goalie Josh Thorimber’s pads to give the Fighting Sioux an early 1-0 lead.

The Fighting Sioux weren’t done in the first period as they went on the power play at the 06:24 mark of the first period when Tigers forward Nick Dineen was assessed a two minute minor for tripping.

The Fighting Sioux wasted little time on the ensuing power play, extending their lead to 2-0. Corbin Knight fed Carter Rowney a nice pass from behind the net and Rowney shot the puck into an open net as the Tiger goalie Thorimber was looking the other way. After the game Colorado College Tigers coach Scott Owens said, “he wasn’t happy with his defensemen’s play down low near their net.”

The Colorado College Tigers didn’t go away quietly and cut the score to 2-1 at the 12:04 mark of the first period with a goal from Tiger forward Rylan Schwartz.

The Fighting Sioux answered the Tiger goal and extended their lead to two again at the 14:40 mark of the first period when Sioux freshman forward Michael Parks scored his second goal of the year.

The Tigers didn’t take long to answer the Fighting Sioux’s third goal and at the 17:31 mark of the first period, Scott Winkler picked up a loose puck and scored a off of a wild scramble in front of the Sioux net, to make the score 3-2 Sioux. The Tigers outshot the Sioux 13-12 in the first period.

The second period was as exciting as the first period and the Tigers scored the game tying goal at the 0:29 mark of the second period, Tiger defenseman Gabe Guentzel took shot from the left point that appeared to surprise Dell. On the replay, it looked as if the Guentzel’s shot from the point might have hit something in front of the Sioux net.

The Sioux scored again at the 05:38 mark of the second period; Ben Blood took a hard shot that caromed off the post, the rebound shot out the point and Nick Mattson blasted the puck past the Tiger goalie Thorimber.

The Fighting Sioux fans didn’t get a chance to sit down from celebrating Mattson’s goal before Brock Nelson gave the home town fans something else to cheer about, when Nelson scored his first of two goals a minute and 10 seconds later.

The Tigers then scored three goals in a little over three minutes and chased Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell from the net with a goal from Nick Dineen and two goals from Tiger forward Rylan Schwartz to make the score 6-5 Tigers. That ended a less than impressive night for the Dell and he was replaced by senior goalie Brad Eidsness.

Neither starting goaltender was very sharp tonight and both starting goalies would watch the rest of the game from their respective benches, as both starting goalies were pulled midway through the second period.

Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo stopped the string of three unanswered Tiger goals, by taking a Tiger turnover in the slot and shooting the puck past Tiger goalie Joe Howe to tie the game at 6-6. That was all of the scoring in the second period and the Tigers would outshot the Sioux 16-13.

After scoring 12 goals through two periods of hockey, both teams settled down and played more conservatively in the third period. The Sioux would go on the power play at the 11:19 mark of the third period, Tiger forward Jeff Collett was assessed a two minute minor for cross-checking. Brock Nelson scored the game winning power play goal for the Fighting Sioux at the 11:54 mark of the third period.

The Fighting Sioux would hang on for the win, and Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness would finish the game picking up the win for the Fighting Sioux. Eidsness stopped all 13 shots that faced. The Sioux also had to kill a Tiger penalty when Ben Blood was called for cross-checking at the 15:54 mark of the third period.

Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say after the game when asked about pulling his starting goalie Aaron Dell and replacing him with Brad Eidsness in the second period. Hakstol said, “he needed to make a change for our team and try to dam things up a little bit and Brad [Eidsness] did a great job going in and gave us a chance to win.”

Tonight’s game was the highest scoring game between the two teams since November 24, 1995 game where the Tigers won 9-5.

Box Score

The First WTF Game of the year for UND (RW77)

Image via WikipediaWhat the [BLEEP]

Ok, I admit that family engagements took me away for half the game. I came into the picture just after Kristo scored the game tying goal and both goaltenders were replaced. And when Hennessey said "6-6" on the radio, I assumed he was talking about some player's height. Later, on I-29 at the I-29/I-94 Interchange when he restated that it was the score, I almost crashed (ok, I didn't but I was shocked).

What the BLEEP happened in this game? Where did our D go? Where did our goaltending go? Where did our offense come from? Where did CC's D and goaltending come from? Why did Thrombert (sp?) start this game and not Howe?

I thought I was in bizarro world because our D took a break and our offense showed up... unlike previous contests where our D was the only positive aspect of our gameplay.

So I get home as the second period ends and it appeared (as much as the radio can tell me) that it was pretty much blah hockey after the sixth UND goal until the third period began.

Anyways, I was able to get online to watch the third period and here are a few things I noticed:

1. CC was atrocious with the puck. I've never seen more whiffs in my life! Was this because the ice was bad or were they seriously NOT paying enough attention toward handling the puck?

2. CC was disorganized at times and seemed to be lost. CC better thank Howe big time tonight because he bailed out their backsides many many times.

3. Eidsness was solid but not great. He did not give up a goal and he did make a few great saves, but there were plenty of instances where CC took themselves out of the equation when they had a clear shot. I am a Eidsness supporter and I do believe he played well enough tonight to earn a start tomorrow, but who knows what Hakstol has in mind. I could see Hakstol going back to Dell to see if he gets a good game on the rebound.

4. Forbert was amazing in the third period. I thought he played incredibly well and saved Eidsness' hide a few times.

5. Kristo ends the night with 2 goals and 1 assist. Although he may end up with it anyways, if he scores one more point this weekend, there's no way Kristo isn't the WCHA Offensive POTW. No way.

6. This is not the format we need to win. Once again, it was almost exclusively first and second liners scoring the goals. The only exception was Nick Mattson's goal and Michael Parks' goal. That's something like the 2nd or 3rd goal this year from the 3rd or 4th line. Not very balanced still.

7. Howe is clearly better than Thrombert. I don't need to elaborate other than the game winner was a goal that Howe had ZERO chance of saving... without super powers anyways.

8. Gleason looks a lot better.

9. I definitely like this look better than dressing a D as a forward. Sorry "Big Jim" but I do not like Senkbeil as a forward. He doesn't add anything and he even said he's never played forward until recently.

10. My three stars: 3rd Star: Brock Nelson (2g, 1a; solid night overall). 2nd Star: Rylan Schwartz (3 goals). 1st Star: Danny Kristo (2g, 1a). Honorable mentions to Corbin Knight, Nick Mattson, Nick Dineen

I think Eidsness gets the nod tomorrow (my hunch). I also think all the offense we saw tonight will be gone tomorrow. I say no more than 5 goals combined tomorrow.

Sioux vs Tigers game one lines

Image via Wikipedia

Fighting Sioux Forward lines

29 Brock Nelson – 10 Corbin Knight (A) – 7 Danny Kristo
9 Mario Lamoureux (C ) – 27 Carter Rowney – 20 Joe Gleason
21 Brendan O’Donnell – 16 Mark MacMillian – 11 Derek Rodwell
28 Stephane Pattyn – 13 Connor Gaarder – 15 Michael Parks

Fighting Sioux Defensive Parings

4 Derek Forbort – 24 Ben Blood (A)
2 Andrew MacWilliam (A) – 5 Nick Mattson
18 Dillon Simpson – 22 Andrew Panzarella
Fighting Sioux goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

Fighting Sioux stats

Tiger Forward lines

8 Jaden Schwartz – 13 Rylan Schwartz 27 William Rapuzzi (A)

16 Alexander Krushelnyski – 22 Nick Dineen (C) – 25 Scott Winkler

9 Dakota Eveland 11 David Civitarese (A) – Jeff Collett

12 Archie Skalbeck – 23 Tim Hall 15 – Andrew Hamburg

Tiger Defensive pairing

10 Gabe Guentzel (A) – 4 Joe Marciano

6 Peter Stoykewych – 7 Eamonn McDermott

5 Aaron Harstad – 28 Mike Bovin

Tiger Goalies

39 Josh Thorimbert

28 Joe Howe

Tiger Player Stats

One Ice Officials; Refs: Jonathan Morrison (27), Brian Thul (14) - AR: Andry Carton (92) Nathan Freeman (78)

Let’s not jump off the ledge just yet.

Image via WikipediaThis past week, I have been reading the various fan message boards to include fan comments. I’ve also been listening to the numerous podcasts around the college hockey world and the hockey pundits aren’t giving the Sioux much of a chance this weekend or for the rest of the season. They are too young. There is no talent through the forward lines. The Fighting Sioux forwards are standing around watching Kristo make plays.

On one podcast, a self professed expert and fan of an unnamed team basically said the Sioux have shown him nothing this season and just aren’t very good, his blanket statement included the Fighting Sioux’s defensive unit.

When a hockey team loses 270+ points from their line up due to graduation and early defections it’s going to be noticeable on the ice in the early going of a hockey season.

I guess this self congratulatory and self professed expert missed the part where the Fighting Sioux have clamped it down on defense and have only given up nine goals in the last five games that is an average of 1.8 goals per game during that stretch; unfortunately the Sioux have gone 2-3-0.

In net for the Fighting Sioux, junior goalie Aaron Dell who had a rough start to the season has been in the zone as of late and has muscled the starting goaltender job away from senior goalie Brad Eidsness.

Most knowledgeable hockey fans know that hockey starts with a strong defensive team scheme. Smart defense in your own end, generates offensive opportunities going the other way.

I guess this same expert, some how missed the part where the Fighting Sioux’s defense and goaltending held the mighty Golden Gophers to “five” goals for a weekend series and their All-American team “barely” got out with the sweep against the hapless Fighting Sioux at Mariucci Arena. But I digress.

More specifically, if you believe the hype and prattle the Fighting Sioux have little chance of doing anything this season and you can stick a fork in them because they are done. I am not a math expert but if my count is right there are 21 regular season games left, if the Fighting Sioux can make their annual run at about a .600-.700 clip the Fighting Sioux should be right in the mix of things.

It’s easy to coach from the stands especially after a few beers

There has been a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking of the Fighting Sioux coaching staff, some of this criticism is very petty and almost hurtful; some of the criticism is deserved and well thought out.

If you believe some of our anonymous fans that hide behind a screen name on the Internet, it would sound like the Fighting Sioux coaching staff is made up of a bunch of bumbling hacks that can’t coach a hockey team and are basically just lucky with the success they’ve had to date.

The same rumblings surface every time the Fighting Sioux face some adversity, the weekly FightingSioux.com chat blows up with comments of how Hakstol can’t win the big game when it counts the most.

Personally, I am not ready to write the Fighting Sioux’s eulogy just yet, there is a lot of hockey left to be played. There is also a lot of pride in that Fighting Sioux locker room and I expect the leaders of that team to take the bull by the horns and play Fighting Sioux hockey.

After Sundays 1-0 loss against the BSU Beavers; you could tell that the head coach of the Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol was not pleased with his team’s effort. Hakstol talked about his team not getting to dirty areas and how some of his players let their teammates down.

One game at a time

It starts with a good shift, and then couple of good shifts, a big hit in the corner or a goal off of a turnover. I know it’s cliché but Roman wasn’t built in a day. You can’t turn the season around in one game or series. I would be willing to bet, that from this point forward you will be some urgency in the Fighting Sioux game plan.

Speaking of historical statistics

The Fighting Sioux take on the Colorado College Tigers this weekend and historically the Fighting Sioux have had a lot of success against the Tigers. According to USCHO.COM, the Fighting Sioux have an all time record 135-76-10 (.633) against the Colorado College Tigers. Also the Sioux have an impressive 80-19-6 (.790) at home against the Tigers.

The Fighting Sioux are historically a second half team since Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol took over the coaching duties in 2004-05; the Fighting Sioux have an impressive and almost mind blowing record of 111-44-16 after Jan. 1. That means that under Hakstol the Fighting Sioux have been historically very hard to beat after the first of the year. The $64,000.00 question is how will this team fare?

Year Before After

2004-05 13-7-2 (.636) 12-8-3 (.587)

2005-06 12-7-1 (.625) 17-9-0 (.654)

2006-07 7-10-1 (.417) 17-4-4 (.760)

2007-08 8-6-1 (.567) 20-5-3 (.768)

2008-09 9-8-1 (.528) 15-7-3 (.660)

2009-10 9-6-3 (.583) 16-7-2 (.680)

2010-11 13-5-2 (.700) 19-4-1 (.813)

2011-12 4-7-1 (.375) ?

Totals 75-56-12 (.566) 116-44-16 (.705)

Sioux - Tigers Series Preview

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux entertain the Colorado College Tigers this weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena game times; 7:37 PM CT Friday and 7:07 PM CT Saturday.

Since 2002-03 the Sioux have a 13-12-3 record against the Tigers.

The games will be on Fighting Sioux Sports Network 23 Midco, 617 FCS DirecTV.

Radio: The games can be heard at 96.1 the Fox.

Internet: Webcast from FightingSioux.com

Records and Rankings:

UND – 4-7-1 overall, 2-6-0 WCHA; unranked in both polls. The Fighting Sioux split with BSU last weekend 5-2 win, 1-0 loss.

C.C. – 7-2-0 overall, 5-2-0 WCHA, ranked fourth in both national polls, the Tigers swept Wisconsin last weekend 4-2, 4-1.

Players to Watch:

For the Fighting Sioux, junior forwards Danny Kristo 4g-8a—12pts and Corbin Knight 5g-7a—12pts are tied for the team lead in scoring. On the other side of the ice, for the C.C. Tigers the Schwartz brothers, Jaden Schwartz 5g-8a—13pts and Rylan Schwartz 7g-4a—11pts lead the Tigers in scoring.

Junior goalie Aaron Dell is the top goaltender for the Fighting Sioux. Dell has a 3-6-1 record with a 2.87 goals against average and a .887 save percentage.

The Tigers goalies Joe Howe 4-1-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average with a .906 save percentage has split time with Josh Thorimbert 3-1-0 record with a 2.42 goals against average with a .923 save percentage.

Key Numbers:

0 – The number of ties the Colorado College Tigers have at this point in the season.

2 – The number of losses that Colorado College Tiger have at this point in the season.

2 – The Colorado College Tigers power play is ranked second in the WCHA going 12/47.

2 – The Colorado College Tigers penalty kill is ranked second and have killed 34/40 penalties.

3 – The Fighting Sioux are ranked third on the penalty kill and have killed 42/51 penalties.

7 – The number of losses that the Sioux have so far this season.

8 – The Fighting Sioux power play is ranked eighth in the WCHA going 11/61.

9 – The Fighting Sioux have scored nine goals in the third period.

9 – The Colorado College Tigers have scored nine goals in the first period.

10 – The Fighting Sioux are ranked 10th in the WCHA in scoring.

10 – Aaron Dell is ranked 10th in goals against average (2.87) in the WCHA.

11 – The Colorado College Tigers have allowed 11 goals during the second period

11 – The Fighting Sioux have scored 11 goals on the power play.

12 – The Colorado College Tigers have scored 12 goals on the power play.

15 – Aaron Dell is ranked 15th in save percentage .887 in the WCHA.

Other games in the WCHA: Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota State, Saint Cloud at Nebraska Omaha, Minnesota at Michigan State, Michigan Tech at Saint Lawrence, Princeton, Miami, Providence at Denver (Denver Cup), Mercyhurst at Wisconsin. Duluth and Bemidji State are idle.

Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY...

Goon’s Weekly Picks for 11/25-11/27

Friday 25th, November 2011

Fri 11/25/11 Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota State 7:37 p.m. CT
Fri 11/25/11 Colorado College at North Dakota 7:37 p.m. CT (TV-FSSN, FCS)
Fri 11/25/11 Michigan Tech at St. Lawrence 7:00 p.m. ET
Fri 11/25/11 Minnesota at Michigan State 7:05 p.m. ET (TV-FSN)
Fri 11/25/11 Mercyhurst at Wisconsin 7:07 p.m. CT
Fri 11/25/11 Princeton at Denver 7:37 p.m. MT Denver Cup (Denver, CO) (TV-Root)

Saturday 26th, November 2011

Sat 11/26/11 Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota State 7:07 p.m. CT
Sat 11/26/11 Colorado College at North Dakota 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSSN, FCS, The CW)
Sat 11/26/11 St. Cloud State at Nebraska Omaha 7:07 p.m. CT
Sat 11/26/11 Michigan Tech at St. Lawrence 4:00 p.m. ET
Sat 11/26/11 Minnesota at Michigan State 7:05 p.m. ET (TV-FSN)
Sat 11/26/11 Miami at Denver 7:07 p.m. MT Denver Cup (Denver, CO)
Sat 11/26/11 Mercyhurst at Wisconsin 8:07 p.m. CT

Sunday 27th, November 2011

Sun 11/27/11 St. Cloud State at Nebraska Omaha 2:07 p.m. CT

Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota State – UAA Sweep
Colorado College at North Dakota – CC Sweep
St. Cloud State at Nebraska Omaha – Split
Michigan Tech at St. Lawrence – Split
Minnesota at Michigan State – UMN Sweep
Miami at Princeton – DU
Miami at Denver – DU
Mercyhurst at Wisconsin – UW Sweep

Record last week 8-4 Record for the season 38-33

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

College Hockey, North Dakota Fighting Sioux, WCHA Hockey
Now that we have gobbled up too much turkey, let’s gobble up some hockey games.

WCHA STANDINGS

Team.............................W-L-T....Points1. Minnesota.......................8-2-0...........16
2. Minnesota-Duluth..........7-2-1............15
2. Nebraska-Omaha...........5-3-2............12
4. Denver............................4-2-3............11
4. Michigan Tech................5-4-1............11
6. Colorado College.............5-2-0...........10
7. St. Cloud St.....................4-3-1.............9
8. Wisconsin.......................4-7-1.............9
9. Bemidji State..................3-6-1............7
10. Minnesota State...........2-6-0............4
10. North Dakota...............2-6-0............4
12. Alaska-Anchorage........1-7-0.............2

WCHA GamesAlaska-Anchorage @ Minnesota StateLast weekend the Seawolves split with the MTU Huskies in Anchorage and the Mavericks were swept by the Bulldogs in Duluth.

If one team can sweep the other in this series they will be able move into the middle part of the standings. The Seawolves removed the zero from their win and point column last weekend. The team that put up a few goals this weekend should come out on top, given the lack of scoring on both ledgers. SPLIT

#4 Colorado College @ North DakotaLast weekend the Tigers swept the Badgers in Colorado Springs and the Sioux split with the Beavers in Bemidji.

The Sioux need to get more scoring, period. They can’t win games when they don’t score. They averaging just over 2gpg, that isn’t going to win many games, and their record reflects that. UND has been getting good defensive play and goaltending, now they just need to find their scoring touch. The Tigers on the other hand have been put the puck in opponents nets quite regularly this season. The Ralph might not be so hostile this weekend, one since many students are away for the holiday and two many fans might be suffering from a turkey hangover. SPLIT

St. Cloud State @ #19 Nebraska-Omaha (Sat/Sun)Last weekend the Huskies split with the Gophers in a home/home series and the Mavericks took a point from the Pioneers in Denver.

The Mavericks haven’t done to well away from Omaha this year, having a 2-3-2 road record. The Huskies are undefeated at the NHC this year, 3-0-2. Both teams are pretty even in the GF-GA categories, SCSU is 45-43 and UNO is 47-48. So looking at those numbers, these could be a couple of close games. SPLIT

NON-CONFERENCE#3 Minnesota (11-3-0 overall) @ #20 Michigan State (7-5-0 overall)Last weekend the Gophers split with SCSU Huskies in a home/home series with each team winning at home and the Spartans split with Northern Michigan in Marquette.

In a season and a half this will be 4 game series in the Big Ten (shouldn’t be the little six for hockey…). The Gophers have suffered two of their three loses on the road this year. SPLIT

#18 Michigan Tech (7-4-1 overall) @ St. Lawrence (4-6-0 overall)Last weekend the Huskies split with Seawolves in Anchorage and the Saints beat Dartmouth and then lost to Harvard last weekend.

The Huskies have cooled down a little after their hot start, and this will be a lengthy road trip for them after just traveling to Anchorage. Also MTU is 1-3-0 on the road, so I wouldn’t be surprised if SLU got a win. SPLIT

Mercyhurst (6-5-1 overall) @ Wisconsin (5-8-1 overall)Last weekend the Badgers were swept by the Tigers in Colorado Springs and the Lakers took 3-points from Bentley.

The Lakers from Eire, PA are leading Atlantic Hockey this year with a 5-1-1 record. Ah, it’s the Badgers at home in the Kohl Center. BADGERS SWEEP.

DENVER CUP
Princeton (2-6-1 overall) @ #10 Denver (5-3-3 overall) Friday
Miami(6-6-2 overall) @ #10 Denver (5-3-3 overall) SaturdayLast weekend the Pioneers took 3-points from the UNO Mavericks in Denver and

I’m taking the Pioneers over the Tigers on Friday night and Miami over the Pioneers on Saturday.

BYE WEEK

Bemidji State - Beavers
Minnesota-Duluth - Bulldogs

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Fighting Sioux Nickname disputes make the Daily Caller…

The Fighting Sioux nickname debate has made the national stage at the Daily Caller web page. I am not sure that it's a good thing though.

First off the article kind of glosses over a few of the facts here, “Archie Fool Bear, doesn’t have the full support of his tribe.” The members of the Standing Rock Tribe tried to have a referendum on UND’s use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and the “Tribal Council” failed to let their members have a vote, that's a lot different than saying Fool Bear doesn't have the full support of his tribe.

The Spirit Lake Members held a referendum and approved UND’s use of the Fighting Sioux nickname by a 67% margin. The Lawsuit against the NCAA is filed by member of both the Spirit Lake Tribe and the Standing Rock Tribe.

Bob Dorigo Jones, Daily Caller --- As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving and perhaps even consider how far our nation has come since the days when the Pilgrims relied on help from a Native American named Squanto to survive, a new lawsuit over whether a university should use an Indian nickname may have some people wondering just how far America has really advanced after all this time.

This is not, however, a story about a Native American tribe suing to stop a sports team from using its name. Surprisingly, it’s a story about a tribe that wants a local college to keep its Indian nickname, the Fighting Sioux.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the college, Archie Fool Bear, doesn’t have the full support of his tribe. Some members of the tribe can’t bear the lawsuit and think it’s foolish to sue the university. They would rather spend the money now being spent on lawyers on more productive things that would improve the quality of life for the tribe.

Now, that’s an idea worth fighting for.

After finding out about this unfortunate situation, my first thought was, where is Squanto when we really need him? There are better ways to resolve this conflict than by litigating it.

Look, like I have said in the past, I love the Fighting Sioux nickname and I understand why it has to go. That being said, if a major publication is going to write an article about the Fighting Sioux nickname at least do some fact checking before you publish your article.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving Pictures, Comments, Images, Graphics

Thanksgiving Pictures Comments - Photobucket
As the editor of Goon's World I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I think as Sioux fans we have many things to be thankful for.

While the season might not be going as well as the Fighting Sioux Nation would like, I am still thankful that I am able to cover and watch one of the most storied college hockey programs in all of college hockey.

~Go Fighting Sioux ~

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Cal Clutterbuck short handed goal.

This is the crazy short handed goal that Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck scored against Nashville Predator goalie Pekka Rinne.The goal by Clutterbuck gave the Wild some breathing room who got into penalty trouble shortly after.

Zdeno Chara vs Robyn Regehr

This is probably the under card for tonight's game between the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins captain Zdeno Chara fights Robyn Regehr after a scrum behind the Boston Bruins net. I am going to score the win in Chara's favor as well.

Goon's World Extras

Monday, November 28, 2011

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