Goon's World

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!

Christmas break is upon us. Thus, we only have a few games on the schedule this weekend, and non next weekend and then some games/tournaments just before New Year’s.

WCHA STANDINGS

Team………………………W-L-T………Points
1. Minnesota………………11-3-0…..……22
2. Minnesota-Duluth……..10-2-2….…….22
3. Nebraska-Omaha………7-4-3……….. 17
4. Colorado College……… 7-5-0……….. 14
4. North Dakota……….…...7-7-0….……..14
6. Denver……………………5-4-3………..13
6. Michigan Tech…………. 6-7-1…….…..13
8. Bemidji State…………. 5-7-2……….. 12
9. St. Cloud St……………. 4-5-3……….. 11
10. Wisconsin……………..4-8-2…..…….10
11. Alaska-Anchorage…...3-10-1…………7
12. Minnesota State……… 2-9-1…………..5

WCHA Games

#7 Colorado College @ Minnesota State
Last weekend the Tigers split with the Seawolves in Colorado Springs and the Mavericks swept the UAH Chargers in Mankato.

The Tigers could leap frog UNO this weekend with a couple of wins on the road. Similarly for the Mavericks, they could move out of the basement with a sweep. The Mavericks will be looking to build off of last weekend’s success and head into Christmas on a high note. The Mavs are averaging almost 3 goals/game in league play, which gives them a chance to win games. The Tigers are 3-4-0 on the road in all games this year. I’m guessing each teams gets a little something in their stocking. SPLIT

#14 Denver @ # St. Cloud State
Last weekend the Pioneers split with the Beavers in Bemidji and the Huskies enjoyed a bye weekend in St. Cloud.

The Pioneers could vault all the way to third in the league this weekend, depending on how all the games turn out. However, they have a tough road trip to St. Cloud this weekend. The Huskies only have one blemish on their home record, they are 3-1-3 at the National Hockey Center, and DU is 2-4-1 on the road. The Huskies can also climb the standings this weekend with some points. SPLIT

NON-CONFERENCE

Alabama-Huntsville (1-17-1)@ Bemidji State (7-9-2)
Last weekend the Beavers split with the Pioneers in Bemidji and the Chargers were swept by the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato. The Charges only have one win on the season, which came against the UNO Mavericks a couple of weeks ago. BEAVERS SWEEP

Michigan Tech (9-8-1) @ Northern Michigan (8-7-3)
Last weekend the Huskies split with the Gophers in Minneapolis and the Wildcats got a road split at CCHA foe Lake Superior State.

I think we could call this series the Battle for Upper Michigan, or something to that effect. The Wildcats are an impressive 6-1-3 at home in Marquette this season and the Huskies are 3-5-0 away from Houghton. Gotta go with the WCHA in this tilt. HUSKIES WIN

EXHIBITION

Russian Red Stars @ #18 North Dakota
Last weekend the Sioux split with UNO Mavericks in Grand Forks and the Red Stars .
Since this game is not officially recognized by the NCAA, I’m un-officially pick the university formerly nicknamed the Sioux to win.

BYE WEEK
Alaska-Anchorage
Nebraska-Omaha
#2 Minnesota
#1 Minnesota-Duluth
Wisconsin Badgers

UNO's Alex Hudson Kicked Off the Mavericks

The UNO Mavericks have kicked Alex Hudson off of the team for his second violation of team rules. As most UND Fighting Sioux fans know, head coach Dean Blais will not pull any punches and if there is a star player screwing up and not abiding by the rules he will not hesitate to suspend them and or kick them off the team. Coach Blais once sat former Fighting Sioux forward Jason Blake for a game when he was in the running for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais has dismissed senior forward Alex Hudson from the team for his second violation of team rules this season.

UNO did not say what the incident was, and said in a statement that it would have "no further comment on the matter."

Hudson, 24, started the season as the captain, but had that stripped for a first violation of team rules. The 6-foot native of Corona, Calif., missed four games at the start of the season because of the resultant team-imposed suspension. Since his return, he had 4 goals and 10 points in 16 games.

In his four years with the Mavericks, Hudson had 37 goals and 82 points, with a career-high 31 points last season. His best goal-scoring year was his sophomore season when he had 14.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

McQuaid Knees Foligno

I would expect the NHL to review Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid's knee to knee check on Ottawa Senator's forward Nick Foligno. When I first saw the hit, I thought that Nick Foligno would be done for the night but Foligno returned to game after shaking it off on the bench. McQuaid was given a five minute major and a game misconduct.

Chicago's Bolland rips the Sedins

Chicago's BlackhawksDave Bolland rips into the Sedin twins during a radio show and really has nothing nice to say about the Vancouver Canucks, no offense but I can't stand the Canucks either and I have said in the past, "that the Vancouver Canucks are one of the most unlikable teams in the NHL next to the Montreal Canadians."

SportsDirect ---- Chicago Blackhawks center Dave Bolland didn't have too many complimentary things to say about Henrik and Daniel Sedin - or the city of Vancouver, for that matter.

In fact, he referred to the Sedin Twins as "sisters" on two occasions on a recent appearance on Chicago-based WGN Radio.

When asked if he'd welcome them on the Blackhawks - should a deal arise - Bolland was fairly blunt with his response.
Related Info

"Well, they'll never become 'Hawks," he said. "I don't think we'd let them on our team. We'd be sure not to let them on our team. And, yeah, they probably still would be sisters.

No Supplemental Discipline for the Jets Bogosian

According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, there will be no supplemental discipline for the Winnipeg Jet's Zach Bogosian for his hit on Minnesota Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard. I guess that doesn't make Pierre-Marc Bouchard nose and face feel any better.

Per Michael Russo --- Per league source: No Supplemental Discipline for Bogosian. Player Safety Dept. feels that Bogosian did not run at Bouchard and that Bouchard turned just prior to the hit.

So this season we have seen similar hits result in no supplemental discipline; Letang on Burmistrov, Krejci on Stuart, and now Bogosian on Bouchard. My question is; aren't these the types of hits the league wants to get rid of?

Petitions to retain Fighting Sioux nickname for UND begin circulating

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athl...

Image via WikipediaIs the North Dakota State board of Higher Education on a collision course with the Fighting Sioux nickname supporters? The big question pending is; if the nickname law goes back into effect, what would the ND Board of Higher Education do?

Board could act

If the repeal bill is suspended and the earlier nickname law goes back into effect, “the question then is, ‘What would the State Board of Higher Education do?’ ” Stenehjem said.

Several people argued during the legislative debates that the nickname mandate authored by House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, violated the state Constitution, which grants governing authority over the state’s colleges to the board.

If the requirement that UND keep the nickname goes into effect again, “the board will have to decide what if anything it wants to do,” Stenehjem said.

UND is in the midst of retiring the nickname and logo with a transition that is to be substantially completed by Dec. 31, by state board directive. Board members and UND officials have expressed concern that a continuing fight over the nickname could jeopardize the university’s transition to Division I athletics and its planned affiliation next year with the Big Sky Conference.

Grant Shaft, president of the state board, said on Tuesday that the board has not discussed what it might do in the event referral petitions are filed and the keep-the-nickname law is temporarily reinstated. [Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald]

Bouchard boarded by Bogosian

This is the hit by Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian on Pierre-Marc Bouchard, this is the kind of hits that the NHL is trying to do away with, Bogosian has to be suspended for this hit and there is no room in the game for this type of hit. You simply can not hit someone like this if the checking player see numbers. This is what Michael Russo had to say about this bush league hit.

Biggest concern after the Wild’s seven-game winning streak (overall and road) was snapped tonight is the health of Pierre-Marc Bouchard. He was driven face-first into the ledge that separates the boards and glass behind the Winnipeg net with 1:06 left by defenseman Zach Bogosian.

Bogosian was assessed a boarding major and game misconduct, and Bouchard left with his nose gushing. After the game, the remnants were still there on the ice and by the locker room – a trail of blood. [Russo's Rants]

Bogosian was given a five minute major and a game misconduct and I expect there will be hearing/phone call from Brendan Shanahan and the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tuesday Links.

Here is the video from the third period of the Minnesota and MTU game. The Tech Hockey Guide has a good break down of the events and what happened Saturday Night.

There is two sides of every story and all week long we have heard how the Tech Huskies were the ones that were to blame but it sounds like after a spirited weekend of hockey the emotions of both teams took over.

Stephen Anderson , The Daily Mining Gazette --- In a game that already had a major contact to the head penalty, five-minute high sticking call and a 10-minute misconduct, Tech defenseman Carl Nielsen exchanged blows with Minnesota's Seth Helgeson, followed shortly after by a heated verbal exchange between Muckalt and Minnesota's coaching staff.

"I'd prefer not to really discuss it. I got my point across," Muckalt said, as evidenced by the video footage on USCHO.com's WCHA blog (bit.ly/ubnW4p).

"Hockey is a passionate emotional game, and as coaches we stand up for our players and support our players. We're proud of our players and really that's all there is to it," he added.

When asked whether it was something unsportsmanlike that Minnesota did to spur the exchange, Muckalt said, "That would be a safe bet, but at the end of the day, that's in the past."

What does this mean going forward? It means that every game is going to be contested and there are not give me's in the WCHA this season. There aren't going to be any breeze game against the bottom rung teams. You will not just be able to pencil in wins before the series have begun.

I haven't seen this much parity in the league from 1-10 spots in a very long time and don't expect it change this season. The second half of the season is going to be a war and the Gophers and Dogs can expect it from here on out.

I am not sure what it is but whatever reason the Denver Post Writers do not like Brad Malone, we get it, you don't like him. I also am sure that the coaching staff will have a talk with Brad Malone about his performance in practice if he isn't going 100 percent. My next question is; what's the point of this blog post? Maybe I am missing something? This the same guy [Adrian Dater] that maligned Cal Clutterbuck, so maybe I am expecting to much from this guy.

In the video I see other players lagging as well. I just find it puzzling that there are 23+ guys at the Avalanche practice and the Denver Post happens to call out Malone.

A couple of things: Sacco stood there and watched everyone pretty closely it seemed like. The guys who lagged behind probably didn’t help themselves – and rookie Brad Malone was one. He was totally gassed and seemed to take his sweet time getting back to the end line after Sacco gave everyone a brief break. The rest of the team was there at the end line ready to go again, but Malone kind of glided on in while everyone waited. That was noticeable to some veteran hockey people watching in the stands, not just me. [All Things AV's]

Steve Downie fined 2,500 for leaving bench

I am not a Steve Downie fan by any stretch of the imagination but, I don't have a problem with him leaving the bench in this situation. We all know that the penalty could have been a 10 game suspension, but I am fine with the $2,500.00 fine. The simulation of shooting a gun after scoring a goal was totally classless act by the Rangers Artem Anisimov.

NEW YORK – Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Downie has been fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for leaving the bench on a legal line change to become involved in an altercation in NHL Game No. 408 in New York on Thursday, Dec. 8, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 13:23 of the second period. Downie was assessed a minor penalty for roughing and a misconduct penalty.

The fine money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Aaron Dell named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week

Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell has been named the WCHA Defensive player of the week. Dell was rock solid last weekend stopping 59 out of 61 shots in a weekend split against the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota junior goalie Aaron Dell has been named Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in UND’s series split with Nebraska Omaha last weekend.

Dell stopped 59 of 61 shots (.967 save percentage) in the series, including a 26-save shutout that earned him the game’s No. 1 star in UND’s 1-0 win on Saturday. It was his first shutout of the season and eighth of his career, which ranks fourth all-time at UND behind only Karl Goehring (15), Jordan Parise (10), and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (10). One night earlier, Dell stopped 33 of 35 shots and was named the No. 2 star in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Mavericks.

Over his last three starts Dell owns a 0.99 goals against average and a .963 save percentage. In 16 games this season (15 starts), the Airdrie, Alberta, native is 6-7-1 with a 2.80 goals against average and an .895 save percentage.

Alaska Anchorage junior forward Mitch Bruijsten and Minnesota sophomore defenseman Mark Alt shared WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors, while Bemidji State freshman goalie Andrew Walsh was named WCHA Rookie of the Week.

UND (9-8-1, 7-7-0 WCHA) closes out the first half of the season on Saturday with an exhibition game against the Russian Red Stars. The puck drops at 7:07 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

UND’s WCHA Players of the Week

November 29. Brock Nelson (Offensive)
Dec. 6: Brock Nelson (Offensive), Brendan O’Donnell (Rookie)
Dec. 13: Aaron Dell (Defensive)

How do you not like Kevin Gorg?

This is not a rhetorical question by the way. I see a lot of Minnesota Gopher hockey fans bagging on Kevin Gorg. Listen to this guy, how can you not like Gorg, the man knows his hockey. I listen to him all of the time when he is on P.A. show and he can break down a hockey game.

WCHA unlikely to punish coaches for Saturday's dust up.

Image via WikipediaAccording to Roman Augustoviz the WCHA is probably not going to discipline the coaches from either team. I believe it's a good decision by the league.

But Spencer said things happen sometimes in the "heat of the moment" and mentioned that everyone shook hands at the end of Saturday's game.

Lucia used the same "heat of the moment" phrase on his radio show on Monday in talking about what happened. Lucia also said that he regretted the trash-talking between coaches late in the Gophers's 6-2 victory over Michigan Tech at Mariucci Arena.

Lucia said he was upset because the Huskies were getting too aggressive A handful of penalties, mostly for roughing, were handed out in the final minutes of Saturday's game.

Reading between the lines, it seems unlikely the WCHA will take any action in this matter and considers it closed. If the officials' report does contain any hidden bombshells, I could see the three coaches possibly be given reprimands at worst. Don't think so, though.

Here is some audio from Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson and what he had to say about the incident between the benches. [Click to listen to the audio]

Monday, December 12, 2011

So you're saying there is a chance - Chara on his injury.

English: BOSTON, Mass. (Nov. 4, 2007) - Boston...

Image via WikipediaThe injury ninja has bitten Zdeno Chara and it's unknown how long he will be out of the line up. Sounds like he is day-to-day but out for tomorrow's game against the Kings in Los Angeles. Chara is an important cog in the Bruins line up and if he is gone for any amount of time it would be bad for the Boston Bruins.

WILMINGTON -- Although he sat out today's practice at Ristuccia Arena in preparation for Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, speaking to media for the first time since he sustained a left lower-leg injury in Saturday night's win at Columbus, said he "was feeling better than I expected."

Asked about whether the plan was to take the next week off, Chara replied, "No, the plan is to take it a day at a time, really. You can't really put a time frame on it. You basically have to see how it feels and it feels better than expected.''

Chara, who suffered the injury during a power play in the second period of Saturday's 5-3 road victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, said he wasn't certain how long he would be out of the lineup.

It also looks like Gregory Campbell is questionable as well as the Bruins Blog is reporting that he was hurt blocking a shot in the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Poll Monday - Sioux move up

The Fighting Sioux move up to 18th in this weeks USCHO Poll and recieved votes in the USA Today poll.

INCH Power Rankings

1. Minnesota Duluth
2. Minnesota
3. Merrimack
4. Boston College
5. Ohio State
6. Colgate
7. Notre Dame
8. Colorado College
9. Western Michigan
10. Union
11. Boston University
12. Ferris State
13. Cornell
14. Denver
15. UMass Lowell
16.Michigan State
17. Lake Superior State
18. Nebraska-Omaha
19. North Dakota
20. Northeastern
Dropped out: Yale, Providence
Bubble-licious: Air Force, Michigan Tech, Michigan, Providence

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings because I find them interesting. I don't see anything that sticks out in this week's power rankings.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

College Hockey Inc. will ask the NCAA about a UAH exemption

English: National Collegiate Athletic Associat...

Image via WikipediaI was wondering if something like this would happen in the future? UAH has had a tough time scheduling games in Huntsville, Alabama so this would be a good way from teams to add a couple more games to their schedule much like the Alaska Exemption.

Joe Paisley, USCHO ---- College Hockey Inc. will ask the NCAA next month to add a temporary travel exemption for Alabama-Huntsville in hopes of helping the struggling independent team schedule more home games.

The NCAA’s travel exemption, which allows schools to travel for games in Alaska and Hawaii and not have them count toward their season limit — 34 regular-season contests in Division I hockey — would need to be passed soon. Many hockey programs are close to finalizing next season’s schedule if the administrators haven’t already.

College Hockey Inc. executive director Paul Kelly said the organization, which promotes the college game, would ask for the exemption to last two to three years during its regularly scheduled meeting with top NCAA officials.

s/t to Joe Paisley who recently was laid off from this job the Colorado Springs Gazette, he can now be found at Paisley Hockey...Joe is one of the best in the business and I wish him the best.

Goon going on the program with Rosie and Chris

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Fight night in Minnesota.

If you cross check someone in the face with your carbon fiber stick, people aren't going to respond kindly to said action. Minnesota's Seth Helgeson and Tech's Carl Nielsen square off in what appears to be a fight, however, the refs called the "non-fight" a roughing penalty. In fact, both players involved in the event were given a (3 x 2 min for roughing + 10 min misconduct = 16 minutes in penalties). I have never seen anyone get a triple minor for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct.

Here is how the ref scored the exchange.
MTU-9 Carl Nielsen (2-Roughing) 18:29
MTU-10 Carl Nielsen (2-Roughing) 18:29
MTU-11 Carl Nielsen (2-Roughing) 18:29
MTU-12 Carl Nielsen (10-Misconduct) 18:29
MIN-7 Seth Helgeson (2-Roughing) 18:29
MIN-8 Seth Helgeson (2-Roughing) 18:29
MIN-9 Seth Helgeson (2-Roughing) 18:29
MIN-10 Seth Helgeson (10-Misconduct) 18:29

Shot charts from UNO vs UND 12/10/2012

Looking at the shot charts from game two between UNO and UND; while the second game of the series might not have been a very exciting game, and there wasn't a lot of write about, last night’s game did have the feel of a playoff game. It was hard fought, highly contested hockey game, between two teams that didn't like other...

During last night’s game, I had the opportunity to watch Aaron Dell from behind the end line and the second period of last night’s game and Dell was unbelievable, he made a lot of difficult stops and was seeing the puck all weekend long. I also believe that this was the same Dell that we saw last season, when he was an All-American.

In the WCHA the Sioux are ranked.
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 3rd in scoring defense.
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 5th on the power play20/90 22.2.
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 4th on the penalty kill 65/79 82.3.
Nationally the Fighting Sioux are ranked:
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 33rd nationally in scoring 51 / 2.83
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 26th nationally in defense 50/2.78
*The Fighting Sioux are ranked 49/58 teams in penalty Minutes per game at 11.5.
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 12th nationally on the Power Play 20/ 90 22.2.
The Fighting Sioux are ranked 33rd nationally on the Penalty Kill 65/79 82.3.
*Contrary to public believe the Fighting Sioux are not a bunch of undisciplined knuckle dragging Nethanderal goons.

Goon’s WCHA Power Rankings 12/11/2011

Each week Zach Friedli and I do the WCHA Power Rankings for INSIDE HOCKEY. This will be the last Power Rankings till January 8th, 2012.

1. Minnesota Duluth – (10-2-2 WCHA, 12-3-3) The Bulldogs took 3 out of 4 points from the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, this past weekend. With the win and the Bulldogs moved into a tie for first place with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Bulldogs travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan to play future NCHC foe Western Michigan (9-4-5). Friday’s game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports.

2. Minnesota – (11-3-0 WCHA, 14-5-1) The Gophers split their weekend series with the upstart Michigan Tech Huskies in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Gophers are off until the December 30^th when they play Niagara University (5-5-6) in the Mariucci Classic.

3. Nebraska-Omaha – (7-4-3 WCHA, 9-8-3) The Mavericks split their weekend series with the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux this past weekend (2-1 O.T. W, 0-1 L). The Mavericks are off until December 30^th when the Mavericks play Quinnipiac University Bobcats in Omaha, Nebraska.

4. North Dakota – (7-7-0, 9-8-1) The Fighting Sioux split their weekend series with the UNO Mavericks (1-2 O.T. L, 1-0 W). The Fighting Sioux have now won 6 out of the last 8 games and are tied with the C.C. Tigers for fourth. The Fighting Sioux have a single exhibition game with the Russian Red Stars on Saturday night. The Fighting Sioux will resume play with a non-conference game against the Harvard University Crimson (4-3-3) on December 30^th at Ralph Englestad Arena.

5. Colorado College – (7-5-0 WCHA, 9-5-0) The Tigers split their weekend series with the UAA Seawovles (3-6 L, 4-3 W), this weekend the Tigers travel to Mankato, Minnesota to play the Minnesota State Mavericks.

6. Denver – (5-4-3 WCHA, 7-6-3) – The Denver Pioneers split their weekend series with the Bemidji State Beavers (3-2 W, 1-2 L). The Pioneers travel to Saint Cloud to play the SCSU Huskies.

7. Bemidji State – (5-7-2 WCHA, 7-9-2) The Bemidji State Beavers split their weekend series with the Denver Pioneers (2-3 L, 2-1 W). According to Eric Stromgren from the Bemidji Pioneer, this was the Beavers first win against the Denver Pioneers in the Division I era. The Beavers entertain their old CHA Rival University of Alabama Huntsville (1-17-1). I wonder if we will see any of the “Who Hates Huntsville” T-Shirts this weekend.

8. Michigan Tech – (6-7-1 WCHA, 9-8-1) The Tech Huskies split with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-2 O.T. W, 2-6 L). The Huskies are (6-3-1) at home and (3-5-0) away from the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The Tech Huskies travel to across the Upper Peninsula to Marquette, Michigan for a single game with their arch rival the Northern Michigan University Wildcats (8-7-3).

9. Wisconsin – (4-8-2 WCHA, 7-9-2) The Badgers took one point from the high flying UMD Bulldogs this past weekend, the Badgers are off till New Years Eve when they play the USDT Under 18 team. The Badgers will resume play next year on January 6^th, when they play the R.I.T. Tigers in Madison, Wisconsin.

10. St. Cloud State – (4-5-3 WCHA, 6-8-4) The Huskies were idle this past weekend. The Huskies since beating the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first game of a home and home series are on a five game winless streak (0-3-2). The Huskies entertain the Denver Pioneers with weekend.

11. Alaska-Anchorage – (3-10-1 WCHA, 6-10-2) The UAA Seawolves split their weekend series with the Colorado College Tigers in Colorado Springs (6-3 W, 3-4L). The Seawolves won’t play against till January 13^th when they travel to Houghton, Michigan to play the Tech Huskies.

12. Minnesota State – (2-9-1 WCHA, 5-12-0) The Minnesota State Mavericks swept the UAH Chargers in a non-conference match-up (4-2, 9-1). The Mavericks entertain the Colorado College Tigers this weekend.

Wisconsin Hockey Landon Peterson Great Save

Check out this save by Wisconsin Badgers goalie Landon Peterson on the Bulldogs Caleb Herbert ... Awesome save. The Bulldogs went on to win the game 4-2. s/t to the person that corrected my error.

Sioux slip past Mavericks 1-0

Grand Forks, ND –The Fighting Sioux and the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks have played a total of six games in their school’s history, and every game except one has been very close and highly competitive. This game was no different, as both teams got after each other from the drop of the first puck to the last whistle. There have been six games and each time the two game series has ended in a split.

After the game, Danny Kristo was asked about the new rivalry with the UNO Mavericks. He said, "it’s already a good rivalry, they are a good team over there and one of the most frustrating teams that I play. They do a good job clogging the neutral zone, they finish every check. They have a really good head coach over there, it’s good competitive series every time. For all three series with them have been splits and all three have been great series, it’s a great new rivalry.”

It would not be an understatement to say that the Fighting Sioux have suffered their fair share of injuries this season, and earlier in the day they learned that they would be even more shorthanded as their first line center Corbin Knight had suffered a lower body injury and would be unavailable for game two of the series.

The majority of play during the first two periods of the game was spent in the neutral zone. Frankly, the game wasn’t exciting at all. I am sure that many of the fans that attended tonight’s game would say the same thing. After two periods of hockey, the game was tied 0-0 with both teams having put 21 shots on net. The game would pick up a little bit during the third period.

If I had to pick out one player that was solid all weekend for either team, it would be Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell. Dell was impressive on the weekend 59 out of 61 shots for a .967 save percentage.

After the game, Aaron Dell was asked how it felt to win a game like this for a goalie, to which he said, “It's huge. We had guys battling hard, we did everything right tonight, made my life easier no breakaways tonight.”

After watching two periods of grind it out boring hockey, the game finally got a little more interesting, and at the 0:44 mark of the third period Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo beat a UNO defenseman Jacob Megna into the corner. Kristo picked up the puck skated out front and scored a great wrap around goal, shooting the puck past UNO Maverick Goalie Ryan Massa to give the Sioux a 1-0 lead. That was all the offense the Fighting Sioux would need as the Sioux were able to hold off a late surge by the Mavericks to earn the split in the series against the Mavericks.

After the game Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say about his team’s play, it was a real gutsy performance by our team, in a real hard fought game, in a real hard fought series, I thought it was a gutsy performance by our team.”

The Fighting Sioux are 7-7-0 half way through their league schedule and Coach Hakstol was asked how he likes his team half way through the league schedule. Coach Hakstol said, "we are growing up, I like the team we are becoming. We are starting to define what we are...we are starting to figure ourselves out a little bit. Quite honestly, I have not seen our entire team together yet. That’s something hopefully we will be able to do during the second half. Hopefully we will be able to get healthy and be able to have everybody available and try to put that together to see how good we can become. I know this, we dug ourselves out of a pretty deep hole, I think we have put ourselves back into a position where we have the opportunity to control our own fate in the second half by our performance.”

The Fighting Sioux have an exhibition game next weekend against the Russian Red Stars on December 17^th. The Fighting Sioux will return to action against the Harvard Crimson on the 30^th and 31^st of December.

Box Score
Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY...

Saturday, December 10, 2011

UND vs UNO game 2

Image via WikipediaTelevision: TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, DirecTV (Ch. 623).

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

Internet: FightingSioux.com

UND Fighting Sioux forward lines

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

Fighting Sioux defense parings

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

Fighting Sioux goalie(s)

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness
35 Tate Maris

Fighting Sioux player stats

Scratches: Corban Knight, Roco Grimaldi, Tayler Dickin, Tate Maris
Referees: Adam, Mousseaux Linesemen: Carton, Freeman

Nebraska Omaha Forward lines

17 Terry Broadhurst–11 Jayson Megna–15 Josh Archibald
19 Ryan Walters–12 Brock Montpetit–21 Matt White
23 Johnnie Searfoss–26 Alex Hudson–22 Andrew Schmit
14 Dominic Zombo–25 Brent Gwidt–10 Alex Simonson

Mavericks Defensive Parings

7 Michael Young–24 Bryce Aneloski
8 Jaycob Megna–3 Andrej Sustr
4 Tony Turgeon–5 Kyle Ensign

Maverick Goalie(s)

31 Ryan Massa
29 Dayn Belfour

Mavericks Player Stats

Shot charts from Fridays game between UNO and UND

If you don’t believe me take a look at Mavericks hulk Tony Turgeon who is listed at 6’4” and 232 pounds. But Turgeon isn’t the only one that is big on the Mavericks blue line; in fact the Mavericks only had one guy in their line up last night on the blue line that wasn’t 200 pounds. Kyle Ensign is 6’0” and 189.

Also, looking at the shot charts you will see that both goalies played pretty well and stopped many grade “A” opportunities inside the slot. I also think that this team is very close to putting all of the pieces together. The freshman line of Parks, MacMillan and Brendan O'Donnell is very close to breaking out.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of physical play in last night's game and both teams lined up at the blue line making it more difficult to get across the blue line. Last night I couldn’t believe my eyes, when I saw a team led by Dean Blais use “neutral zone trap.” In the past Blais’ teams have been known for playing a wide open style of hockey, some have deemed it race horse hockey.

Patrick Wiercioch takes a puck in the throat

s/t to Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy... Former DU Pioneer Patrick Wiercioch was struck with a puck in the throat while playing for the Binghamton Senators, the AHL team of the Ottawa Senators. Goon’s World would like to wish Patrick a speedy recovery. Ouch!

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Binghamton Senators have issued the following statement regarding defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, who suffered a throat injury in Friday’s game versus the Norfolk Admirals:

“The Binghamton Senators can confirm that Patrick Wiercioch is resting peacefully and his being evaluated at the hospital. There are no further updates on his condition at this time.”

He just can't help himself.

Oh the Irony!!! Bangs head against table! Just when I am about to give the Denver Post beat writer Mike Chambers, who covers the Denver Pioneers and the Colorado Avalanche, "a little" credit, Chambers goes out and blows it again. Say it isn't so Mike? Why all of the hate?

The irony.

Malone was making his NHL debut in the hometown of former University of Denver center Jesse Martin, a 2006 draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets).

Martin's competitive hockey career ended early last season, when he sustained three fractures to his C2 vertebra from a penalized check by Malone, then a North Dakota senior.

Martin is recovering in Edmonton, surrounded by family in friends, working at a bank and skating in a local men's league. He continues to suffer from numbness in his arms, and he has limited range of motion in his neck. But according to his father, Terry Martin, Jesse is doing well. [Denver Post Blog]

So what is this writer going to write when Bard Malone score his first goal? Is his blog post going to contain something that looks like this? Former UND Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone, who broke Jesse Martins neck with an illegal check in Grand Forks, ND during the 2010-11 season, scored his first NHL goal. So is the Denver post on-line newspaper hurting that bad for hits that Mike Chambers has to insult a whole fan base to get hits from Sioux fans.

Mavericks tip Sioux 2-1 in Overtime

Grand Forks, ND – The Fighting Sioux, winners of four straight and five out of their last six games and fresh off of a sweep of the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in Anchorage, Alaska, welcomed an old friend to the Ralph Englestad Arena for a two-game series.

That four game winning streak would come to an end tonight with a hard fought 2-1 loss in overtime to the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks.

Overall coach Hakstol said that he "thought that his team battled hard through 60 minutes, a very close hockey game.”

The Mavericks led by former Fighting Sioux head coach Dean Blais, came to Grand Forks looking to rebound from a weekend series where Blais saw his team split against the UAH Chargers; a team that previously had not won a game all season long until last weekend. After the 3-1 loss to the UAH Chargers last Friday, UNO head coach Dean Blais said, “I am embarrassed.”

Tonight coach Blais was much happier with the win against his former team the Fighting Sioux. Coach Blais said, “it was a great up and down game, tough game to lose, obviously. Both teams were playing so hard, we hoped for a bounce of the puck, we got that. We blocked the shot that could have gone in, obviously, we had three guys right around the net and blocked the shot and Mat White makes a great neutral zone transition and we ended up scoring a great goal in overtime.”

While the series with the UNO Mavericks has been short-lived, the Sioux and the Mavericks had never played a game until last season when the Mavericks joined the WCHA. The two teams have played some epic games and split their first series last November in Omaha, and then followed up that series with another split last January in Grand Forks.

All four games were highly contested and hard hitting affairs. Only one game of the five games played between the two teams has been a blow out, and the other four games were never decided by more than two goals. Tonight was no different, as both teams battled hard and both goalies played extremely well.

The game was a goaltending display as Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell stopped 33 of 35 shots and Mavericks goalie John Falkner stopped 24 of 25 shots.

While the two teams have only played four previous games, it’s very apparent that neither team likes each other very much. This game proved to be no different than the other series between the two teams, as the hitting was fast and furious.

The first period started out slow and both teams kind of felt each other out. Both teams played a cautious grind it out style of hockey. Neither team generated very many scoring opportunities. The Mavericks outshot the Fighting Sioux in the first period 12-10.

The hitting picked up even more in the second period and the Mavericks finally got on the board at the 13:46 of the second period with what could only be described as a very odd goal. Mavericks forward Matt White shot the puck on the Sioux net, Sioux goalie Aaron Dell made the initial stop and the puck somehow slid under him into the net. After a quick review by the officials, Omaha was awarded a goal.

The Fighting Sioux were able to score the equalizer at the 01:22 mark of the third period. A Bad turnover by the Mavericks in the defensive zone ended on the stick of Connor Gaarder who fed Carter Rowney, who scored a nice goal from the slot.

After the game, Rowney described his game tying goal. "It was a great goal pass by Gords [Gaarder], I guess, I was coming in high and he got the pass through to me and I had half the net there. Tops to Gords for getting the puck through to me."

It was only fitting that this game would go to overtime. With the Fighting Sioux pressing down low in the Maverick end, the Sioux would turn the puck over to the Maverick forward Matt White who was able to spring Ryan Walters on a breakaway at 01:21 mark of the overtime, shooting the puck past Dell to give the Mavericks a 2-1 win.

When asked about the game winning goal, Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said, “we got caught puck watching with the two guys in the back end and they got a quick transition play.”

Box Score

Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY...

Goon's World Extras

Thursday, December 15, 2011

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