Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/19/2012

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This is my weekly WCHA Power Rankings for INSIDE HOCKEY, Zack Friedli from Hockey State of Mind and I do a weekly WCHA Power Rankings.

1. Minnesota Duluth – (14-6-4 WCHA, 20-7-5) The Bulldogs took three of four points (4-2 W, 4-4 T) from the Minnesota State Mavericks this past weekend in Mankato. This weekend the Bulldogs entertain the Colorado College Tigers.

2. Minnesota – (17-7-0 WCHA, 21-11-1) The Gophers swept (3-0 W, 4-1 W) the Bemidji State Beavers this past weekend in Minneapolis. This weekend the Gophers travel to Omaha Nebraska to play the UNO Mavericks.

3. Denver – (13-7-4 WCHA, 18-10-4) The Pioneers Split (3-0 W, 2-5 L) their weekend series with the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison. This weekend the Pioneers return home to play the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. 

3. North Dakota – (13-10-1, 17-11-3) The Fighting Sioux took three of four points (4-2 W, 1-1 T) from the Michigan Tech Huskies this weekend in Grand Forks. This weekend the Fighting Sioux travel to Denver to play the Pioneers. With a sweep of the Pioneers and UND would pass the Pioneers in the standings. 

5. Colorado College – (13-10-1 WCHA, 16-12-2) This Tigers split (4-3 W, 3-5 L) their weekend series with the Mavericks in Colorado Springs. This weekend the Tigers travel to Duluth to play the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. 

6. Nebraska-Omaha – (11-5-5 WCHA, 14-12-6) The Mavericks split (3-4 L, 5-3 W) their weekend series with the C.C. Tigers in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This weekend the Mavericks entertain the Gophers in Omaha. 

7. Michigan Tech – (10-10-4 WCHA, 13-15-1) The Tech Huskies took one point (2-4 L, 1-1 T) in their weekend series with the Fighting Sioux in Grand Forks. The Tech Huskies entertain the Saint Cloud State Huskies in Houghton. 

8. St. Cloud State – (10-11-3 WCHA, 13-15-4) The Huskies split (2-3 L O.T., 8-3 W) their weekend series with the Anchorage Alaska Seawolves in Saint Cloud.   This weekend the Saint Cloud State Huskies make the trek to Houghton Michigan to play the Huskies. 

9. Bemidji State – (9-12-3 WCHA, 15-14-3) The Beavers were swept (0-3 L, 1-4 L) in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Gophers. The Beavers look to get back on track when they entertain the Wisconsin Badgers in Bemidji. The Badgers are 1-8-1 on the road in ten games this season. 

10. Wisconsin – (8-14-2 WCHA, 13-15-2) the Wisconsin Badgers split their weekend series (0-3 L, 5-2 W) with the Denver Pioneers in Madison and broke a five game losing streak with a victory over the Pioneers on Saturday night. This week the Badgers take their unimpressive 1-8-1 road record to Bemidji where they will play the Bemidji State Beavers. 

11. Minnesota State – (8-16-2 WCHA, 12-20-2) The Mavericks took one point (2-4 L, 4-4 T) in their weekend series with Minnesota Duluth. This weekend the Mavericks are idle. 

12.  Alaska-Anchorage – (5-20-1 WCHA, 8-20-2) The Seawolves split (3-2 W O.T., 3-8 L) their weekend series with the Saint Cloud State Huskies in Saint Cloud. This weekend the Seawolves have a home and home series with their cross-state rival the University of Alaska Nanooks in the Governor’s Cup.

Related articles

• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/12/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/5/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 1/29/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 1/22/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 1/15/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

North Dakota’s Knight Named Red Baron® WCHA Men’s Player of the Week

Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week
Corban Knight • Junior, Forward, University of North Dakota
MADISON, Wis. – University of North Dakota center iceman Corban Knight, who led his team with three goals and four points in a victory and tie against visiting conference rival Michigan Tech last weekend, has been named the Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for February 21.

A junior from High River, Alberta, Knight also won more than 62% of his face-offs in the two-game series in addition to his four scoring points and played a key role on UND’s penalty-killing units that blanked the Huskies on all six weekend power-play chances. He scored two goals, including a third period insurance goal with 1:37 remaining, drew an assist on teammate Carter Rowney’s  game-winning second period tally, earned a +2 plus/minus rating and was the No. 2 star of the game last Friday (February 17) night as North Dakota won 4-2 over MTU. Knight then came back last Saturday (February 18) to score his team’s only goal in a 1-1 (ot) tie against Michigan Tech, giving his club a 1-0 lead with his power-play marker at 6:04 of the third period, earning No. 3 star of the game honors in the process.

In 28 games played so far this season, Knight ranks third in scoring among UND players with 30 points on 11 goals and 19 assists. He is a draftee of the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers.

Also nominated: Jaden Schwartz, F, CC; Jason Zucker, F, DU; Erik Haula, F, UM.

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings - February 21 (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - February 13 (insidehockey.com)

Chambers; Stakes are high in University of Denver-North Dakota hockey series

From the opposition media guy; Mike Chambers who covers the Denver Pioneers and writes for the Denver Post and usually has some red meat articles to stir up the masses and enflame the UND hockey fan base. This article is almost too tame.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post --- Each team has four regular-season games remaining. DU needs one victory and a Michigan Tech loss to clinch home-ice advantage for the first-round, best-of-three WCHA playoffs March 9-11. The Sioux could finish anywhere from first to ninth.

The league's top six teams host the bottom six, with the winners advancing to the WCHA Final Five on March 15-17 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The top four seeds in St. Paul will get a quarterfinal bye in the second year of the six-team format. (The name remained the same because there are five games.)

A year ago, North Dakota beat DU 3-2 in double overtime in the Final Five championship game. The following week, the Sioux eliminated the Pioneers 6-1 in an NCAA Tournament regional title game in Green Bay, Wis.

Friday's game at DU is the first this season between the storied programs and bitter rivals.

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings - February 21 (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/19/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - February 13 (insidehockey.com)
• Chambers; Stakes are high in University of Denver-North Dakota hockey series (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

The Gloves are off UND vs. DU. – College Hockey’s version of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s

One of the best rivalries in college hockey, DU and UND. I would call it college hockey's version of the Hatfield's and McCoy's, two teams that don't like each other very very much. The first video is the reason that Sioux fans refer to George Gwozdecky as the Dasher Troll and this is what a dasher dance looks like.

The second video is from the game where former UND forward/defenseman Kyle Radke unofficially got into two fights in one college hockey game. It was a game where Todd Anderson and former WCHA official Jon Campion lost control of the game.

I think it would only be fitting if Todd Anderson was the official of this weekend's series.

Incidently, WCHA official Todd Anderson was the referee that was on the ice and called both games that George Gwozdecky was kicked out of and did his dasher dance. [Dasher dance game part II, Prpich cup checks Geoff Paukovich]



Good news Fighting Sioux hockey fans that have DirecTV. Friday's game will be on at 9:00 PM Central Time on channel 603. Saturday night's game will be on channel 683 on Roots on DirecTV, at 8:00 PM on Saturday Night.

Roots Sports is the network that used to be Fox Sports Net Rockey Mountain, this is also the same network that employs Alana Rizzo who doesn't is not a big fan of Sioux fans and doesn't like them very much.

Related articles

• Lucky Bounces Save Sioux in Tie (insidehockey.com)
• Tech and Sioux skate to a 1-1 Tie. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Former NHLPA boss resigns from College Hockey Inc. (mysanantonio.com)
• The gloves are off part II - UND and UW week (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Poll Monday - UND 12th and 14th in National Polls.

INCH Power Rankings

1. Ferris State
2. Union
3. Minnesota
4. Minnesota Duluth
5. Boston College
6. Michigan
7. Boston University
8. UMass Lowell
9. Denver
10. Cornell
11. North Dakota 4 With Aaron Dell sidelined due to injury, goaltender Brad Eidsness made his first back-to-back starts in nearly two years and stopped 42 of the 45 shots he faced in North Dakota’s win and tie against Michigan Tech. 17-11-3 (13-10-1 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 4-2; T vs. Michigan Tech, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at Denver, at Denver
12. Maine
13. Miami
14. Colorado College
15. Michigan State
16. Merrimack
17. Colgate
18. Ohio State 19. Air Force
20. Western Michigan

Dropped out: Notre Dame
Bubble-licious: , Lake Superior State, Quinnipiac, RIT
As always I post the INCH Power Rankings because they add some weekly entertainment for college hockey fans to look at.

This week’s entertainment from INCH has UNION of the ECAC in second place in the INCH power rankings again. I am not sure why they have them ranked so high because they're sitting at 7th in the PairWise Rankings. Yeah, Okay!

Warren Peters suspended by the NHL

I don't have a problem with the suspension, it probably could have been a 2-4 game suspension in my opinion. This is the kind of hit that the NHL needs to do away with.

But I digress, I am still upset that serious infractions from the opposition players against the Minnesota Wild have gone unpunished, first hit that comes to mind is the Zach Bogosian hit on Pierre-Marc Bouchard. PMB has yet to return to the Wild because he is out with a concussion.

Related articles

• Bouchard boarded by Bogosian (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Av's Hack McLeod boards Spurgeon (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• No Supplemental Discipline for the Jets Bogosian (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Shanny throws the book at Brad Marchand (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Av's Hack McLeod will not be suspended (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Sioux City vs Sioux Falls Line Brawl

Wow! Here is a good description of what happened.

Mark Krebs, Examiner.com --- The second period started out much the same way as the first ended. Sioux Falls came out hard but as a result picked up a couple of quick penalties which put them at a disadvantage. Then 7:16 into the period chaos broke out at center ice. Tempers flared after a high hit on Lordo and all 12 players on the ice broke into their own separate fights. All twelve players were sent to the penalty box while the referee and his linesmen tried to sort out all the different penalties. Eventually every player involved was given a game misconduct penalty and ejected for their part in the brawls.

Related articles

• Lucky Bounces Save Sioux in Tie (insidehockey.com)

Zombo Disallowed Goal UNO vs. CC

This is from last night's game [Friday Night] between UNO and C.C., the Tigers won the game 4-3. I don't know, it looks like the on ice officials blew the call on this one. There is no distinct kicking motion on the play. Of course the on ice officials for this series were Don Adam, Timm Walsh, two of the worst officials in the WCHA.

I was surprised that Dean Blais didn't protest this goal more but he seemed to be fine with the call after the explanation from the refs.

Related articles

• UND, UNO to play outdoors in February 2013 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Blais not ready to retire just yet... (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Tech and Sioux skate to a 1-1 Tie.

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Grand Forks, ND – They say that a goalies best friend is the goal post. 

Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness had to like his goal post tonight after the Michigan Tech Huskies hit the iron three times (2 posts and a cross bar) during the first period. 

When the puck didn’t hit the iron Eidsness was there to make the save for the Fighting Sioux.

In explaining the lucky bounces in the first period Eidsness kind of brushed it off.

“Sometimes the game just goes that way and maybe I had a horse shoe stuck on my rear end, but I want to think that I just didn’t give them anything else to shoot at,” Eidsness said. 

Goal post aside, the Fighting Sioux outshot the Huskies 9-8 in the first period and neither team was able to put a puck in the twine as both goalies played exceptional and they gave neither team’s fans anything to cheer about for most of the game. 

Tonight, Fighting Sioux senior goalie Brad Eidsness was playing in his 100 game of his college hockey career.  

At the beginning of the weekend, Eidsness was inserted into the starting lineup after starting goalie Aaron Dell sustained an undisclosed injury. Dell is listed as day-to-day.

Eidsness made the most of his opportunity and didn’t disappoint as he stopped 42 of 45 shots on the weekend. Eidsness’ strong play helped his team take three of four points from the upstart Michigan Tech Huskies this weekend. 

Edisness also made a case that he deserves to play more down the stretch for the Fighting Sioux as he played well all weekend long and made many big saves at key times during the games.  

The game was a bit of a boring grind it out defensive battle. The second period could have been described as being less than exciting, as both teams had to fight for every inch. The Fighting Sioux and the Huskies each put six shots on net and gave the fans little to cheer about.  

Finally, after playing 46:06 minutes of scoreless and uneventful hockey, Fighting Sioux junior forward Corbin Knight put the Fighting Sioux on the board, with a bit of a fluky goal from the end line.

“I would lie to you and tell you that I meant to do that, but obviously that wasn’t true,” Knight said. “I saw Nelson back door there back door there and I thought a quick turnaround play and kind of catch them off guard. Luckily enough it went off a skate and went in.”

“I will take it. It’s one of the greasier ones [goals] that I have had.” 

The Huskies would answer the Fighting Sioux goal with a shorthanded marker from Huskie senior forward Jordan Baker (Chestermere, Alberta), who ironically had hit a crossbar and a post in the first period.

Coming into the game the Fighting Sioux had won 12 straight games against the Michigan Tech Huskies, that winning streak would come to an end with a 1-1 tie, however, the Fighting Sioux are still 12-0-1 in the last 13 games against the Huskies.  

Coming into this game Carter Romney had scored six goals in three games, that streak would also come to an end tonight as the line of Rowney, Michael Parks and Mark MacMillan was held off of the score sheet. 

Tonight wasn’t about the forwards and the defenseman; the two goalies stole the show. 

“Josh Robinson kind of said to me in the line that was fun, Eidsness aid.  “Sometimes goalie duals are fun, we are both seniors and we have played each other in our careers. I don’t know sometimes a tie and isn’t always what you want, its fun to go against a guy that is playing well.”

When Eidsness was asked how felt about his game he had this to say. 

“I feel pretty good.” 

“It’s been a long road back from last year, but I think I have cleared up some things, there were some hairy moments,” Eidsness said. “The first period was interesting to say the least.   I feel pretty confident in the way that I am playing right now.”

“I think a lot of that has to be with the way our team is playing in front of us. We are playing pretty well in front of both me and [Aaron] Dell.”  

Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol didn’t seem that disappointed about the tie tonight. 

“It was a good point for us, at the end of the day, both teams worked real hard,” Hakstol said. “we were obviously were not at our best, but we emptied the tank tonight.”

“We were not nearly as sharp to start the game as we would to have liked to have been. But as the game wore on we got a little bit better, the third period was a real battle. Both teams gave everything that they had.  It came down to a one to one tie, as we came in wanting four points here at home, it’s a point in the standing and we will move forward.”

With the tie tonight the Fighting Sioux (17-11-3, 13-10-1 WCHA) are in a three way tie for fourth place in the WCHA. 

With the tie tonight, Michigan Tech (13-15-4, 10-10-4 WCHA) is sitting alone in seventh place.

Related articles

• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (insidehockey.com)
• Michigan Tech vs. North Dakota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• UND vs. MTU game 2 lines (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

UND vs. MTU game 2 lines

FYI: Live audio on FightingSioux.com is currently unavailable because of a server crash. Fans can also listen on 961thefox.com and IHeartRadio.

Fighting Sioux Forward Lines

29 Brock Nelson–10 Corban Knight (A) –7 Danny Kristo
16 Mark MacMillan–27 Carter Rowney–15 Michael Parks
Stephane Pattyn 28 –9 Mario Lamoureux (C) – 20 Joe Gleason
8 Dan Senkbeil–13 Connor Gaarder–14 Taylor Dickin

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

UND Goalies 

31 Brad Eidsness
35 Tate Maris
UND Official Players Stats 

UND Injuries: Forwards Rocco Grimaldi (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell (season ending surgery), and Derek Rodwell (season shoulder surgery) are out.

Michigan Tech’s lines

19 Blake Pietila–16 Brett Olson (C) – 22 Jordan Baker (A)
15 David Johnstone–8 Jacob Johnstone–18 Alex MacLeod
12 Ryan Furne–10 Tanner Kero–28 Milos Gordic
27 Bryce Reddick–9 Dannis Rix–14 Chad Pietila

MTU Defensive Pairings 

3 Bradley Stebner–25 Carl Nielsen (A)
24 Daniel Sova–5 Justin Fillion
6 Steven Seigo (A) –34 Riley Sweeney

MTU Goalies 

30 Josh Robinson
35 Kevin Genoe

MTU Official Stats

Related articles

• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (insidehockey.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• MTU vs. UND series Notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Michigan Tech vs. North Dakota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)

Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2

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Grand Forks, ND – The Fighting Sioux hockey team has been decimated by injuries this season and the last healthy scratch for UND was sophomore forward Taylor Dickin back in December of 2011, so the theme for the Fighting Sioux during the second half of the season has been all in. 

Everyone that has been healthy is in the lineup for the Fighting Sioux hockey team. With all of the injuries, there are no extra skaters for the Fight Sioux hockey team, and barring any more injuries the rest of the season, there will “only” be 12 forwards, six defense and two goalies. That’s it, there is no one else left. 

Unfortunately, Fighting Sioux junior goalie Aaron Dell was the latest Fighting Sioux hockey player to get bitten by the injury Ninja. Dell was a scratch for tonight’s game with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day to day.   

With Dell out of the lineup, two time all-WCHA goalie Brad Eidsness would take Dell’s spot in the starting lineup and get a rare start. 

After starting out the first period by giving up two soft goals that Eidsness would probably like the have back, the senior goalie settled down and played very well the rest of the way, leading the Fighting Sioux to a 4-2 conference win over the upstart Michigan Tech Huskies. 

After being the backup goaltender for the better part of two seasons, the senior goalie from Chestermere, Alberta is making the coaching staff’s line up decisions more difficult, but also giving them options between the pipes.  

Eidsness is finishing his senior season strong and sporting some pretty impressive numbers. With the win tonight, Eidsness has 5-2-0 record and has a 2.07 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.  

The senior Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness was upbeat about his role after the game. 

“I try to not to look at myself as a backup goalie the last couple of years, Eidsness said. “I always had confidence in my abilities.” 

Certainly it’s nice to get in there and play a little bit more and maybe prove to everybody else; that I can still play and still help the team win.” 

There has been another re-occurring them for the Fighting Sioux hockey team. Fighting Sioux junior forward Carter Rowney has been red hot and has scored nine goals in nine games. 

Rowney also has had a shot at a hat trick in three straight games, but has yet to score a third goal in any of those three games.  When Rowney was asked if he was ever going to bury a third goal in a game to secure the hat trick, the junior forward said this.   

“The boys in the locker room giving me a lot of heck on that one,” Rowney said. 

“I don’t know, I will just keep working hard and maybe it will come one day or maybe it won’t. I don’t know. I will just keep working my hardest.” 

For the past three seasons the Michigan Tech University Huskies have been a very bad hockey team and went 15-85 during that time period.  

Fast forward to this year, the Michigan Tech Huskies are a much improved hockey team and coming into tonight’s game had a record of 13-14-3 overall record, much better than the squad that went a dismal 4-30-4 last season. 

Tonight, the Michigan Tech Huskies proved to be a hard team to play against. The Huskies gave the Fighting Sioux all they could handle and in the third period had the Fighting Sioux on their heels for about a three minute period. 

In the end the Fighting Sioux would prevail to secure the win with a pair of power play goals. That would be the 12^th game in a row that the Fighting Sioux have won against the Michigan Tech Huskies.

The last time the Michigan Tech Huskies beat the Fighting Sioux was at the Great Lakes Invitational on December 28, 2008.  

MTU head coach Mel Pearson was asked about his teams play after the game. 

“It was a good hockey game; it was very entertaining for the fans,” Pearson said. 

“It was a hard fought game, obviously two desperate teams trying to get points in the standings. I thought out goaltender Josh Robinson gave us a chance to win and he made some big saves at critical times.  I thought their guy [Eidsness] made his best saves in the third period when we pressed a little bit.”

After the slow start in the first period Fighting Sioux made adjustments and were able to overcome a 2-1 deficit by scoring three unanswered goals; two on the power play. 

Head coach Dave Hakstol seemed pleased that his team was able to recover from the rough start and win the game with a pair of power play goals in the second period. 

Coach Hakstol was also asked about the importance of having two power play units clicking at this time of the year.   

Extremely important! 

“We had an early power play earlier in the game we didn’t accomplish very much that is something that we have to improve on,” Hakstol said. 

“Latter in the game, the power play did come through with some big plays for us. It’s important specialty at this time of year, this is playoff hockey, specialty teams, goaltending a lot of little things make big differences.” 

 With the win tonight, UND improves to 17-11-2, 13-10-0 in the WCHA. UND has won five out of the last six games and is sitting in 5^th place in the WCHA standings. 

The Huskies with the loss drop to 13-15-3, 10-10-3 in the WCHA and currently sit in 7^th place in the WCHA standings. MTU has lost two games in a row and is 1-3-1 for the month of February. 

Same two teams’ faceoff tomorrow night at 7:07 pm.

Related articles

• MTU vs. UND series Notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Michigan Tech vs. North Dakota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)

UND vs. MTU lines

Fighting Sioux Forward Lines

29 Brock Nelson–10 Corban Knight (A) –7 Danny Kristo
16 Mark MacMillan–27 Carter Rowney–15 Michael Parks
Stephane Pattyn 28 –9 Mario Lamoureux (C) – 20 Joe Gleason
8 Dan Senkbeil–13 Connor Gaarder–14 Taylor Dickin

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

UND Goalies 

31 Brad Eidsness
35 Tate Maris
UND Official Players Stats 

UND Injuries: Forwards Rocco Grimaldi (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell (season ending surgery), and Derek Rodwell (season shoulder surgery) are out.

Michigan Tech’s lines

19 Blake Pietila–16 Brett Olson–22 Jordan Baker
15 David Johnstone–8 Jacob Johnstone–18 Alex MacLeod
12 Ryan Furne–10 Tanner Kero–28 Milos Gordic
27 Bryce Reddick–9 Dannis Rix–14 Chad Pietila

MTU Defensive Pairings 

3 Bradley Stebner–25 Carl Nielsen
24 Daniel Sova–5 Justin Fillion
6 Steven Seigo–34 Riley Sweeney 

MTU Goalies 

30 Josh Robinson
35 Kevin Genoe

MTU Official Stats

Related articles

• MTU vs. UND series Notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Michigan Tech vs. North Dakota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey coach Dave Hakstol weighs in on the nickname ... (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Dineen: Hit that injured him a ‘cheap shot’ from Zucker

When the news of the Rau hit on Zucker first broke last weekend, someone from the Tigers fan base brought up a questionable hit that Zucker had put on Colorado College Tigers forward Nick Dineen, during a recent Gold Pan game between C.C. and DU.

Interesting that this article came out today, it's good that this is being brought up.

Brian Gomez, Eye of the Tigers --- Colorado College center Nick Dineen (above) maintains he was the victim of a “cheap shot” from Denver left wing Jason Zucker in a Feb. 4 game in which he endured a concussion, and in a strange twist, if Zucker had been suspended, he too wouldn’t have been injured.

Dineen was knocked out in the first period of a 2-2 tie at World Arena that gave CC the Gold Pan, crushed so hard by Zucker that he admitted he doesn’t remember grimacing in pain on the ice, talking to Tigers trainer Jason Bushie or skating to the locker room. After Dineen was demolished by Zucker, he lost track of pretty much everything until Bushie was doing a concussion test on him. Even then, his head felt like an indescribable haze.

CC was on the penalty kill when Dineen headed toward the corner with Zucker in pursuit. “I went to get the puck, and I was kind of turned toward the boards, and Zucker came in, and left his feet, and elbowed me right in the back of the head,” said Dineen, whose head struck the boards as he crumbled to the ice. Zucker didn’t draw a penalty for the blow.

Someone also suggested it was a “karma” thing for Zucker as well.

This brings up the argument and has the potential to open up a whole new can of worms. Don Lucia asked the question earlier in the week. "You can go back to incidents -- what deserves extra and what doesn't?” Lucia has a point.

The problem is that there is no transparency in this league. It would be interesting to know why one hit was worthy of a suspension and another hit was not. I would be nice to see the WCHA communicate like the NHL does.

Whether it’s fair or not, these kinds of decisions also makes the league look like a bunch of bumbling buffoons that make decision in a smoke filled room. It also gives the impression that the refs call games and hand out suspension based on the team uniforms involved in the incident.

So why is one hit worthy of a suspension, while an equally questionable hit, that appears to be just as bad, is not worthy of a suspension or even a five minute major and a game misconduct?

This isn’t the first time I have seen it suggested that Zucker should have been suspended for his hit on Nick Dineen… I seen people suggest that the only reason that the league suspended Rau was the game was on National TV and it would have been an embarrassment to the WCHA if they had failed to act in this instance. I don’t know. Others have suggested that the suspension was because Bruce McLeod’s office is in Denver.

Shot Chart from Saturday's game between UND and UMD

Someone requested that I post the Short Charts from Saturday's game. So with the help of @UNDSID here they are...

As the game when on UND took over the game and almost was able to creep back in and tie the game.

If you look at the UMD end of the ice you will see a lot of shots on the UMD Bulldog net. You will also see where the UND defense shut down the Bulldogs in the the third period.

20 questions with former Sioux Matt Frattin

I really enjoyed this interview that Former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Matt Frattin did for the Toronto Maple Leafs web site. Notice his favorite goal was the game winner in the Final Five against DU.

Related articles

• Matt Frattin's second career goal. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Maple Leafs assign Matt Frattin to AHL (theglobeandmail.com)
• Crabb from Bozak (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Matt Frattin assists on Joe Colborne's first NHL goal... (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
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MTU vs. UND series Notes

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The University of North Dakota  Fighting Sioux entertain the Michigan Tech Huskies at Ralph Englestad Arena February 17-18, 2012.

Game Time: 7:37 Friday and 7:07 Saturday Night

Records and Rankings: University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (16-11-2 overall, 12-10-0 WCHA); The Fighting Sioux are ranked 14th in the USCHO poll and 15th in the USA Today Poll. North Dakota split their weekend series with the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (3-1 W, 4-5 L). UND is 7-3-1 their last 11 games. Official Release

Michigan Tec Huskies (13-14-3, 10-9-3 WCHA) are unranked in both national polls. The Tech Huskies took one point against the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (3-3 T, 0-4 L). MTU is 4-3-3 their last 10 games. Official Release

Series History:  The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux lead the all-time series against the Michigan Tech Huskies with a 144-90-9 (.611). UND owns a record of 81-33-4 against the MTU in Grand Forks.

Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

WEBCAST: fightingsioux.com

TV Friday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, DirecTV 617, MidcoSN3
TV Saturday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, MidcoSN3

Players to Watch:

For UND: Forwards: Danny Kristo (14g-17a—31pts), Corbin Knight (8g-18a—26pts) and Brock Nelson (20g-12a—32pts), Carter Rowney (12g-9a—21pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (5g-10a—15pts), Dillon Simpson, (1g-12a—13pts), Ben Blood (2g-12a—14pts).  Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .890 save percentage and a 2.90 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .924 save percentage and a 2.08 goals against average.

UND Injuries: Forwards Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell out (season ending surgery), Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery).

For MTU  Forwards: Brent Olsen (9g-18—27pts), Jordan Baker (9g-16a—25pts), David Johnstone (9g-14a—23pts) Ryan Furne Defense: Steven Seigo (3g-16a—19pts), Daniel Sova 2g-9a—11pts) Riley Sweeney 0g-10a—10pts)  Goaltender: Josh Robinson .909 save percentage and a 2.85 goals against average.

Other games in the WCHA:  Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State, Alaska Anchorage at Saint Cloud, Denver at Wisconsin, Nebraska Omaha at Colorado College, Bemidji State at Minnesota.

Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY...

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• UND vs. UMD Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/12/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - February 13 (insidehockey.com)
• UND, UNO to play outdoors in February 2013 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Goon's weekly WCHA Picks 2/17 - 2/18 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• The Gloves are off - UND and UMN (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND stops UMD 3-1 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Series Notes: UND vs. UW (insidehockey.com)

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

This week we have a full schedule of six WCHA series. Every team is now down to six games left in the regular season, except MSUM and UAA which are down to four. This means teams have a maximum of twelve points left on the table to grab in an effort to move up the WCHA rankings. Taking that into account, it is looking the MSUM Mavericks, the Badgers will be on the road in the first round, and the Seawolves are already assured of first round trip. It also appears to be down to a three team, UM, UMD, and DU, race for the coveted McNaughton Cup.

Also we wish the young Mr. Zucker a quick and full recovery from the illegal hit he received from the UM’s Kyle Rau.


WCHA STANDINGS

Team………………………W-L-T………Points
1. Minnesota………………15-7-0…..……30
2. Minnesota-Duluth……..13-6-3….…….29
3. Denver…………..………12-6-4………..27
4. Colorado College ……..12-9-1………..25
5. Nebraska-Omaha………10-7-5………..25
6. North Dakota……….….12-10-0….…….24
7. Michigan Tech………….10-9-3………..23
8. St. Cloud St……………. 9-10-3……….21
8. Bemidji State….…………9-10-3…….…21
10. Minnesota State………8-15-1………..17
11. Wisconsin……………..7-13-2…..……16
12. Alaska-Anchorage…...4-19-1…………9


WCHA Games
Note - the #'s are now the PairWise Ranking (PWR)

Nebraska-Omaha @ Colorado College
Last weekend Mavericks took 3-points from the MTU Huskies in Houghton and the Tigers were swept by the Beavers in Bemidji.

The Tigers have started to slide, only get one win in their last five games, going 1-3-1. Over those games, they have not scored more than two goals in a game. CC needs their offense to start scoring some more, if they want to get claw their way back into the win column. The Mavericks also only have one win in their last five games too, going 1-2-2. However, they have been scoring more than CC, but have given up too many goals. UNO needs to get some solid goaltending in better defensive zone coverage to limit opponents scoring chances. The Mavericks play the Gophers and the Pioneers after this series. UNO will need to get points any way possible to stay in the mix for a home playoff spot. SPLIT


#3 Minnesota-Duluth @ Minnesota State
Last weekend Bulldogs split with North Dakota in Duluth and the Mavericks swept the Seawolves in Anchorage.

The Mavericks are hot right now, winning five of their last seven games, going 5-2-0. Also since 2012 they have not lost back to back games. The Bulldogs have been struggling lately going 2-3-1 in their last six games. UMD has a chance to win the WCHA again, thanks to DU sweeping UM. I’m sure they are fully aware of this fact and will step up to the challenge and try and win their first McNaughton Cup this millennium. SPLIT


Alaska-Anchorage @ St. Cloud State
Last weekend the Seawolves were swept by the MSUM Mavericks in Anchorage and the SCSU Huskies enjoyed a free weekend at home.

The Huskies still have a chance to get home ice, but they need points and some help. They can help themselves this weekend by taking four points from the woeful Seawolves. UAA is playing for pride now and can play the spoiler role, if they can get a win here or there. Huskies 3-pts


Bemidji State @ #14 Minnesota
Last weekend the Beavers swept the Tigers in Bemidji and the Gophers were swept by the Pioneers in Denver.

The Beavers are on a four game unbeaten streak going 3-0-1 their last four games. The Gophers saw their grip on the top spot dwindle down to a single point last weekend. UM’s struggles on Friday nights continues on, and if it happens again this weekend they could slip down the standings a spot. These are the only games they play this year, last season the Gophers won one game and tied the other, in Bemidji. This year BSU has struggled on the road, going 4-8-2, and the Gophers are 12-5-0 at Mariucci Arena this season. SPLIT


Michigan Tech @ #15 North Dakota
Last weekend the Huskies earned one point against the UNO Mavericks in Houghton and North Dakota split with the Bulldogs in Duluth.

This will be the first meeting for these long time rivals this year. Last year UND beat MTU the last two games of the regular season (6-1, 11-2) and then twice again the next weekend in the first round of the playoffs (8-0, 3-1). The Sioux…North Dakota has won four of their last five games and looking to be finding their scoring touch again. The Huskies have been sliding their last seven games, going 2-3-2 over that span. Tech is 5-7-1 on the road this season. The last time they won in Grand Forks was March 15th of 2008 in overtime, in a first round WCHA playoff game, UND won the three game series. North Dakota is fighting for home, just like the Huskies are and every point now is critical. North Dakota Sweep


#7 Denver @ Wisconsin
Last weekend the Pioneers swept the Gophers in Denver and the Badgers had a weekend of in Madison.

The Pioneers pulled themselves within three points of the top spot in the WCHA last weekend. In case you forgot DU was the preseason favorite to win the league this year. The Pioneers are heating up going 7-1-1 in their last nine games. The Badgers are just playing for pride now, they best they could do we be to end the season with an even record. The Badgers are winless in their last four games. In the end, the Pioneers just have too much talent for the Badgers to handle this season. Pioneers Sweep

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings - February 13 (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/12/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings for 11/13/2011 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - November 20 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Goon's weekly WCHA Picks 2/17 - 2/18

Fri 02/17/12
Bemidji State at Minnesota 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSn)
Denver at Wisconsin 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSw,Wisc)
Alaska Anchorage at St. Cloud State 7:37 p.m. CT (TV-Charter)
Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State 7:37 p.m. CT
Michigan Tech at North Dakota 7:37 p.m. CT (TV-FSSN,FCSc)
Nebraska Omaha at Colorado College 8:07 p.m. MT (TV-CBSSN)

Sat 02/18/12
Alaska Anchorage at St. Cloud State 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-Charter)
Bemidji State at Minnesota 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSn)
Denver at Wisconsin 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSw,Wisc)
Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State 7:07 p.m. CT
Michigan Tech at North Dakota 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSSN,FCSc)
Nebraska Omaha at Colorado College 7:07 p.m. MT

Alaska Anchorage at St. Cloud State – SCSU Sweep
Bemidji State at Minnesota – Split
Denver at Wisconsin – DU Sweep
Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State – UMD Sweep
Michigan Tech at North Dakota – Split
Nebraska Omaha at Colorado College – Split

Last Week 4-6 Record for the season 121-74

Here are some interesting stats from @UNDSID on the Sioux's record after the first of the year...

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 9-8-1 (.528) 7-3-1 (.682)
Totals 80-57-12 (.577) 122-47-17 (.702)

UND has been particularly effective once the calendar turns to February. Over the previous three seasons, the Sioux have gone 26-5-1 (.828) from February to April, and 77-24-12 (.735) overall in those months during Hakstol's entire tenure. - Jayson Hajdu

Related articles

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• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/12/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA at the mid point. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings - Super Bowl Sunday (insidehockey.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings (2/2/12) (insidehockey.com)

Marchand’s hit on Emelin

It looks like the “little ball of hate” Brad Marchand’s has escaped supplementary discipline this time around but checkout his hit on Alexei Emelin of the Montreal Canadians. For his efforts Marchand received 2 minute penatly for clipping Emelin. It would appear that Marchand has not learned from his five game suspension.

John Shannon tweet,

NHL has looked at BMarchand clipping penalty on Emelin last night. Don’t expect anymore discipline from the play. He might get a phone call.

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Alex Mason’s goal...

s/t Ryaan S. Clark. Here is the video that everyone has been talking about on the Internet. Alex Mason who plays for Detroit Lakes has scored 37 points in 24 games for the Lakers. Mattson has also scored an eye popping 16 points in the last five games.

Mattson wants to play junior hockey in hopes of getting a scholarship to play college hockey.

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Adam McQuaid vs. Ryan White

Good hockey fight as the Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid works over Hab's punching bag Ryan White. The Boston Bruins are second in the NHL in fighting majors with 42.

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UND Hockey coach Dave Hakstol weighs in on the nickname ...

Fighting Sioux head hockey coach Dave Hakstol spoke out today at the Wednesday press conference about the continued use of the Fighting Sioux nickname.

I believe that coach Hakstol has unfairly taken a lot of heat by some, that want to blame him for the Sioux nickname debacle. Today the Fighting Sioux hockey coach weighed in on the issue.

UND hockey's Hakstol: Sioux nickname law creates ‘insurmountable challenges’ Grand Forks Herald.

UND, UNO to play outdoors in February 2013

MEN’S HOCKEY – FEBRUARY 14, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Official Press Release

North Dakota, Nebraska Omaha to play outdoors in February 2013

Tickets go on sale in October 2012

OMAHA, Neb. – The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team will face the University of Nebraska Omaha in an outdoor game on Feb. 9, 2013 in Omaha at the home of the College World Series.

The Omaha Sports Commission, Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha Lancers and Mutual of Omaha jointly announced TD Ameritrade Park Omaha will be the site for this first-of-its-kind hockey event. The Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice will feature the Omaha Lancers playing United States Hockey League opponent the Lincoln Stars at 12:30 p.m., followed by the UNO Mavericks facing off against Western Collegiate Hockey Association foe the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

Tickets for the two games will go on sale Monday, October 1, 2012, and prices will start at $30. One ticket will cover both the Omaha Lancers and UNO Mavericks games. Officials expect the Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice will draw hockey fans from across the region. UNO and Omaha Lancer season ticket holders will be able to order tickets for the game during their regular ticket renewal program. Tickets will be sold to the public through ticketmaster.com and the CenturyLink Omaha box office.

“Outdoor hockey games have become extremely popular in cities around the country and we think games featuring UNO, the Omaha Lancers and their rivals will be a big hit in Omaha,” Omaha Sports Commission President Harold Cliff said. “The Omaha Sports Commission is proud to host this event and we want to thank Mutual of Omaha for serving as title sponsor of this unique sports competition.

“We believe outdoor hockey will be extremely popular at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha,” MECA President and CEO Roger Dixon said. “Our goal is to offer a wide variety of sporting events at the ballpark and we think outdoor hockey will be an exciting attraction.”

“This will be a tremendous event both for our long-time fans and folks who may be relatively new to college hockey,” UNO’s Director of Athletics Trev Alberts said. “As we attempt to grow our flagship sport, a game like this will showcase all that UNO hockey has going for it – a supportive community, great facilities, outstanding opponents and national exposure.”

“Our players are already excited to play in a game like this, which is sure to receive plenty of local and national attention,” said Dean Blais, UNO Mavericks head coach. “We have had very competitive games against North Dakota since we joined the WCHA, and playing outdoors in front of a big crowd will only make these games more fun for everyone.”

“Lancers fans have seen a lot in the long and storied history of the Omaha Lancers, but they haven’t seen anything like this,” Omaha Lancers President and Managing Partner Ben Robert said. “This year begins with the opening of our new arena in Ralston, while the February 9 Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice will showcase two fixtures of the Omaha sports community against two of their biggest rivals in what will be a day the City of Omaha will never forget.”

“An extraordinary amount of hard work has been done to make this event possible,” said Mike Aikens, Omaha Lancers head coach. “It will be a great day for hockey, the people of Omaha and State of Nebraska.”

“Bringing these two teams together in an event like this will only add to the intensity that has been established over the years,” said Chad Johnson, Lincoln Stars head coach. “We’re looking forward to being a part of it.” This game will be an exceptional, and unique, opportunity to showcase collegiate hockey,” said North Dakota Athletics Director Brian Faison. “We are looking forward to a great event.”

“This will be a great event and an exciting venue to continue building the healthy rivalry that we have with the Mavericks,” said Dave Hakstol, North Dakota Fighting Sioux head coach. “Our team and fans are looking forward to the opportunity to be part of an outdoor game that is sure to bring national attention to college hockey.”

“The UNO Mavericks and Omaha Lancers both have outstanding hockey traditions and Battles on Ice will showcase these two great teams as never before,” Mutual of Omaha Senior Vice President John Hildenbiddle said. “Mutual of Omaha is very proud to sponsor this unique event, further establishing Omaha as the nation’s amateur sports capital.”