Goon's World

Monday, March 19, 2012

Goon's predictions for the Final Five

I thought I would dust off an old post and see how I did. My prediction unfolded just like I predicted. I would rather be lucky than good. I was also called a homer by one poster.

Thu 03/15/12 - Quarter Finals
Michigan Tech vs Denver 2:07 p.m. CT WCHA Final Five Quarterfinal (St. Paul, MN)
St. Cloud State vs North Dakota 7:07 p.m. CT WCHA Final Five Quarterfinal (St. Paul, MN)

Fri 03/16/12 - Semi Finals
Denver vs Minnesota Duluth 2:07 p.m. CT WCHA Final Five Semifinal (St. Paul, MN)
North Dakota vs Minnesota 7:07 p.m. CT WCHA Final Five Semifinal (St. Paul, MN)

Sat 03/17/2012 - Championship

DU vs. UND 7:07 p.m. CT WCHA Final Five Semifinal (St. Paul, MN)

Last Week 12-4 Record for the season 154 - 93

Broadmoor Trophy - WCHA Playoff Champions

2000-01 St. Cloud State
2001-02 Denver
2002-03 Minnesota
2003-04 Minnesota
2004-05 Denver
2005-06 North Dakota
2006-07 Minnesota
2007-08 Denver
2008-09 Minnesota Duluth
2009-10 North Dakota
2010-11 North Dakota
2011-12 ?

MacNaughton Cup

2000-01 North Dakota

2001-02 Denver

2002-03 Colorado College

2003-04 North Dakota

2004-05 Colorado College/Denver

2005-06 Minnesota

2006-07 Minnesota

2007-08 Colorado College

2008-09 North Dakota

2009-10 Denver

2010-11 North Dakota

2011-12 Minnesota

Bolded teams won both the MacNaughton and Broadmoor Trophy.

As you can see I have picked the Fighting Sioux to repeat the champions of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five. Before you jump down my throat, read this.

Since Fighting Sioux head coach Dave took over the Fighting Sioux in 2004-05 the Fighting Sioux have gone 38-14 in the playoff s (WCHA and NCAA combined). Coach Hakstol has 13 more wins than the next-closest WCHA School. Under coach Hakstol, the Fighting Sioux are 16-3 in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

The Fighting Sioux have also not lost a WCHA first round playoff series.

Including the WCHA Final Five games, The Fighting Sioux are 27-8 in the WCHA Playoff s under coach Hakstol. Statistics according to @UNDSID.

From 2008-2010 the MacNaughton Cup champion lost all of their games in the NCAA playoffs and all of their games at the Red Baron WCHA Final Five.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Redwing77's NCAA Tourney Bracket Pick'em Part Two

Here's the final installment. I'm not going to predict the Frozen Four outcomes until the teams have been set.

Midwest Regional:

This is about as difficult as the West. It features Michigan, Ferris State, Denver, and Cornell. Since I haven't seen 3 of the 4 teams in this bracket play, I'm going to be brief.

Ferris State vs. DU:

Ferris State is a Cinderella story. They came out of nowhere to choke away the CCHA tourney by losing in the first round.

DU is a tough team mad as all get out after getting embarrassed vs. UND in the WCHA Tourney championship.

Prediction: Feel good Ferris State. You made the tourney. Bad news: DU destroys you.

Michigan vs. Cornell:

SNOOOOOOOOOOOZEFEST. Cornell historically plays a boring style of hockey. Michigan is cold and calculating. If Shawn Hunwick shows up like he did vs. UND a year ago, Michigan wins easy. If he lets in weak goals like he did vs. WMU, then oops.

Prediction: Michigan wins.

Regional Final: Michigan vs. DU. I think DU stuns the #1 seed in this Regional.

East Regional:

This is the easiest bracket in the tourney by a LONG SHOT. If you could believe in a team like Union, it would be easy to think they'll walk into the Frozen Four however....

Union vs. Michigan State:

Union is a team that hasn't really played many quality teams. They've played a few ranked opponents. They've played nonconference ranked opponents in DU, CC, WMU, Michigan, and Merrimack. Against those opponents, they have a 2-2-2 record. Their wins were against Merrimack and Michigan.

Michigan State is an interesting story in that they squeaked in by the hairs on their chinny chin chin. If it was any other opponent I wouldn't give Michigan State a sniff at a win.

However....I'm not sold on either team doing anything, but since I have to pick a team...

Prediction: I predict upset city. Michigan State wins in OT. Union becomes the only #1 to fall in the first round.

Miami vs. Mass Lowell:

UMass is another Cinderella story. They've seemingly come out of nowhere. And that's where they're going in this NCAA tourney.

Miami: Been here done it before. Miami has been very inconsistent looking downright pathetic vs. WMU in the CCHA tourney. However, Blasi always watches his team drop one in their shorts before the NCAAs and well, things turn out alright.

Prediction: Miami wins.

Regional Final: I may not be sold on Union/MSU outcome but I am sold on this: If Miami beats UMass Lowell, they go to the Frozen Four.

I also predict that this Regional will be the most poorly attended.

Frozen Four Wrap Up:

Using my predictions: I think the final four teams will be BC, Minnesota, Miami, and DU.

Since I'm not sold on any teams but BC and Miami listed above, I'll wait until the Frozen Four is set to make my predictions.

Redwing77's NCAA Men's Hockey Bracket Picks Part One

I've decided to do something I haven't done all season long: A Pick'em. Sioux7 and Goon have done it. Maybe even Whistler has. But I haven't... Until now.

Ready the pitchforks and torches!

Northeast Regional:

In my opinion, this is the toughest bracket out there. In the bracket is Maine, BC, Air Force, and Minnesota Duluth.

Maine vs. UMD:

Maine is better than most people think. The problem is: They're not flashy. They're not especially fast as a team. Kindof like Vanilla Ice Cream. They are just solid all around and have a very deadly powerplay (#1 in the Nation). They key player is Spencer Abbott. He got injured after he fell feet first (it almost looked like he was hooked or interfered with) into the boards and left the game (no call.. made me think of WCHA officials). If he can't play then Maine may not necessarily be as dynamic as they would like.

Minnesota Duluth is a team built on grit and a flashy high end. Their top line is as good as anyone's. They are the returning champions so they have the bullseye on their jerseys.

The keys to this game is going to be special teams and blueline scoring. O'Neil from Maine got 2 goals and an assist in the defeat of BU and seems to be quite the sniper. If UMD can stay out of the penalty box though, I think they'll prevail.

My prediction: tUMD

BC vs. Air Force:

Air Force can surprise people but... they won't surprise BC.

My prediction: BC. I'm not even sure it will be close.

Regional Final: BC vs. tUMD. This will be a good game... and BC will win it despite having questionable goaltending (no matter what the NBC Sports homers say).

West Regional:

The West and Midwest Regionals are about equal in difficulty. If there is an edge in difficulty, it would be the West that holds the edge.

Minnesota vs. BU:

BU could win this game. They played extremely well vs. Maine... for a period or so. Then they started getting penalties and left their gameplan behind. Milan will not steal any games for BU. But BU's edge is in speed and defense. Their weakness, imo, is in discipline and special teams.

Minnesota is hurting after getting embarrassed in front of the home crowd (60% anyways). They're not that bad and they are well balanced. Like typical Lucia teams, Minnesota gets destroyed when they are forced to abandon their game plan. Their Team D has improved dramatically under Guentzel but there are still holes.

Prediction: Minnesota edges BU. This one is a good bet for OT.

UND vs. WMU:

WMU.... they're nobodies right Miami? Right Michigan? The problem is, if UND has that attitude, WMU will destroy the Sioux. They are healthy for the most part. They are playing above expectations. Some might say that they've exceeded expectations by simply making the NCAAs and winning the CCHA tourney. If that's the case, then WMU is playing bonus hockey and they can play more loose than UND because they don't have the weight of tradition riding on their shoulders like UND does.

UND... they've played amazing games since being unable to dress 18 skaters. They do have issues with giving up the first goal in the game.... stat monkeys will point out that they are 1 game below .500 when giving up the first goal this season (9-10-?). They also have the haters waiting in the wings. If they should lose vs. WMU (or heck, not make the Frozen Four), I'm sure there will be a fair smattering of "Fire Hakstol" commentary... not just from Red Lake Falls.

For me, it's hard to tell how far UND will go with the adversity they've faced thus far this year. The best I can do is to take the homer approach and stick with them to the end.

My prediction: Admittedly homer: UND wins in a squeaker.

Regional Final Matchup: Minnesota vs. UND. I'm not certain that Minnesota will make the same mistakes that they did in the Final Five. I also think that the ride will finally come to an end. Prediction: Minnesota wins in a heartbreaker and there will be a race between Minny trolls and the Haters to post the most flames at UND.

The NCAA Regional Pairings are set

Write text here...

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Dell backstops Sioux to 4-0 victory over the Pioneers

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athl...

Image via Wikipedia

St. Paul Minn. – Back in November, who would have thought that the Fighting Sioux would face off against Denver University and win the championship game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five?

Especially on Sunday the 20th of November 2011. The Fighting Sioux had just suffered an unimpressive 1-0 loss to the Bemidji State Beavers at the Sandford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. After that loss, the Fighting Sioux had a lackluster record of 4-7-1 overall and 1-5 in the WCHA. That record was good for 11th place in the WCHA standings.

After the game, the Fighting Sioux took the two hour bus trip down highway two back to Grand Forks, they regrouped and on Monday morning the Fighting Sioux coaching staff conducted a bag skate on the Fighting Sioux hockey team at six o’clock.

Since that early morning bag skate, the Fighting Sioux have gone an impressive 21-5-2. That is the best overall record in Divison I hockey since November 26, 2011.

Coming into the game, the Denver Pioneers had played five games in eight days and there was the question of fatigue, the last three games the Pioneers played in, had gone to overtime including yesterday’s double overtime win against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. You had to wonder how much was left in the tank for the Pioneers.

The Sioux would test the Pioneers tired legs early and often.

The Fighting Sioux got on the board first and broke the 0-0 dead lock at the 17:43 mark of the first period when sophomore Brock Nelson scored his 27th goal on the power play.

Before the public address could announce the first goal, the Fighting Sioux would score again with a goal from junior forward Carter Rowney at the 18:29 mark of the first period. That was the 18th goal of the season for Rowney.

The Fighting Sioux never looked back as they added a power play goal by Michael Parks in the second period and a shorthanded goal in the third period by Mark MacMillan.

Pioneers Head Coach George Gwozdecky was very complimentary of the Fighting Sioux after the game.

“Congratulations to North Dakota,” Gwozdecky said. “They did a nice job tonight, they are a good defending champion, they took advantage of a couple of leg weary defensemen and they did a nice job. They were better than us, pretty much in every area of the game and they are a good champion.”
The Sioux took advantage of the Denver Pioneers being a step slower and they kept moving their feet and making plays.

In the third period, the Fighting Sioux didn’t miss a beat, with Carter Rowney in the box for cross checking the Sioux cashed in shorthanded as well with a goal from Mark MacMillan to seal the game for the Fighting Sioux.

Goaltending was the story in this game as Fighting Sioux junior goalie Aaron Dell was the difference stopping all 22 shots that he faced, to record his second shutout of the season. Dell ended up securing a spot on the all-tournament team and was also awarded the WCHA Final Five tournament MVP.
With tonight’s win, the Fighting Sioux have won three Broadmoor Trophies in a row for the Fighting Sioux. No other WCHA team has ever done that.

Overall, Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol seemed pleased his team’s effort after the game.
“I am really proud of my team,” Hakstol said. “We tried to come into today and play a complete hockey game, right from the drop of the puck, try and play 60 minutes, third game in three days, energy levels aren’t going to be necessarily at the top end. We won the game through small details, plus one, five on five, we score two power play goals and a short hander, and we got very good goaltending. That’s a pretty good formula for a playoff time especially going in to a championship game.

“Denver has been one heck of a run here, in terms of the battles they have been through; maybe they ran out of gas just a little bit with the amount of hockey that they played. That was one of the things that we had try to exploit if we possibly could by being a really tough team to play against. We are proud to be Broadmoor Cup Champions.”

With the win tonight, the Fighting Sioux improve to 25-12-3 and will find out where they are going in the first round of the WCHA tourney.

WCHA Champions Fighting Sioux

UND vs. DU 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– No forward.

UND Defensive Pairings.

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

UND Goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness
Fighting Sioux Players Stats

Denver Pioneer Lines
12 – Ty Loney – 15 Drew Shore (C) – 18 Luke Salazar
17 Jason Zucker -23 Nick Shore – 19 Daniel Doremus
37 Nate Dewhurst – 26 – Shawn Ostrow – 8 Dustin Jackson (C)
14 Larkin Jacobson – 25 Matt Tabrum – 22 Jarrod Mermis
16 Zac Larraza

Pioneer Defense Pairing

21 Joey LaLeggia – 5 John Lee
24 John Ryder – 4 Josiah Didier
2 Scott Mayfield

Goalies

31 Juho Olkinuora
33 Adam Murray
1 Sam Brittain

Pioneer Player Stats

Related articles

Sioux dismantle Gophers 6-3 in St. Paul (insidehockey.com)
Sioux vs. Pioneers Final Five championship game notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Sioux vs. Pioneers Final Five championship game notes

Image via Wikipedia

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux will play the Denver Pioneers in the WCHA Final Five Championship game tonight. This is the rematch of last years Final Five Championship game where the Fighting Sioux beat the Pioneers 3-2 in double overtime.

Game Time: 7:07 pm CT

Records and Rankings:

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (24-12-3); ranked 12th in both the USCHO and USA Today polls. The Fighting Sioux beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers 6-3 in the semifinals of the Final Five on Friday night. Ranked 4^th in the Pairwise Rankings.

The Denver University Pioneers (25-12-4) are ranked 9^th in both the USCHO Poll and USA Today Poll. The Pioneers beat the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 4-3 in double O.T. in the semifinals of the Final Five on Friday afternoon. Tied for 8^th in the Pairwise rankings

Series History: The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux lead the all-time series against the Denver Pioneers 131-116-8. Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol’s teams have a 12-15-1 record against the Denver Pioneers. The Fighting Sioux have won five of the last seven games the Pioneers. The Fighting Sioux and the Pioneers split the season series (4-3 W and 3-5 L).

Radio: UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

Webcast Audio: WCHA.COM and Fighting Sioux.com

TV Saturday: Fox Sports North – 668 DirecTV

Players to Watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Danny Kristo (18-25a—43pts), Corbin Knight (15g-23a—38pts) and Brock Nelson (26g-17a—43pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (6g-13a—19pts), Dillon Simpson, (2g-15a—17pts), Ben Blood (3g-17a—20pts), Andrew MacWilliam (2g-5a—7pts). Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .898 save percentage and a 2.74 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .920 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against average.

North Dakota injuries: Taylor Dickin (lower-body injury), forward Rocco Grimaldi (season, knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell (season-ending surgery) and Derek Rodwell (season, shoulder surgery) are all out of the lineup.

For DU Forwards: Jason Zucker (22g-24a—46pts), Drew Shore (21g-31a—52pts), Nick Shore (13g-28a—41pts) Luke Salazar (12g-17a—29pts) Defense: Joey LaLeggia (11g-27a—38pts), Jon Lee (3g-11a—14pts) Goaltenders: Sam Brittain .931 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average, Juho Olkinuora .928 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average.

Denver University Injuries: Paul Phillips, Beau Bennett (wrist)

Injury Ninja supports Fighting Sioux

Friday, March 16, 2012

Sioux dismantle Gophers 6-3 in St. Paul

Image via Wikipedia

ST. PAUL, Minn. – For the first 30 minutes of play, the Minnesota Gophers were the best team on the ice tonight. Someone forgot to tell the Gophers that hockey games are 60 minutes long.

Tonight, it was a tale of two games.

The Gophers were able to get the first goal of the game at the 12:37 mark of the first period with a Kyle Rau power play goal that was the freshman’s 17th of the season.

Minnesota limited the Fighting Sioux’s time and space and got in the shooting lanes, bottling up the Fighting Sioux in their own end.

Getting scored on first is not uncommon for the Fighting Sioux. They have had the first goal scored on them in 20 of 38 games this season. During those 20 games the Fighting Sioux have a record of 8-10-2.

Make that record 9-10-2 with the win tonight.

The Gophers scored two more goals during the second period with a power-play goal by forward Jake Hanson that was his 13th goal of the season. The Gophers would get an even strength goal from junior forward Zach Budish at the 10:01 mark of the second period.

Then a funny thing happened. The Gophers took the foot off of the gas and the Sioux raced on by them.

The Fighting Sioux called a time out with 5:53 left in the second period, then took over the game. The Fighting Sioux seized the momentum and beat the Gophers at their own game.

Derek Forbort would break the run of three Golden Gopher goals with a blast from the right point at the 14:51 mark of the second period. That was the second goal of the year for the sophomore defenseman.

The Fighting Sioux started methodically chipping away at the Gophers lead in the third period.
They got two quick goals when Michael Parks and Brock Nelson scored 30 seconds apart to tie the game 3-3. They never looked back.

The Fighting Sioux outscored the Golden Gophers 5-0 in the third period and also outshot the Golden Gophers 17-2 in the stanza to send 16,378 hockey fans home in disbelief.

North Dakota was led by senior captain Mario Lamoureux’s two goals and three points. When Lamoureux scores a goal for the Fighting Sioux they have a record of 14-0-0.
The Captain savored the win against the Golden Gophers.

“It was definitely a special win for us,” Lamoureux said. “I think once we went into the intermission in the third period, we just said, let’s go out and give it everything that we got, let’s try and pop an early one in, Parksy did that. We just kind of rolled with the momentum and I think once we got that first one, we got a little confidence in ourselves. Once that happened that game became a little more fun, it wasn’t so frustrating playing in your own end and once you’re out there having fun making things happen, it’s a pretty easy game.”

After the game, Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol was proud of his hockey team.

“Tale of absolutely two worlds tonight,” Hakstol said. “Obviously, we had no gas in the tank the first 30 minutes, we didn’t make any plays and we couldn’t get ourselves going. Its little things in this game and you find a way to survive, when you’re going through some points in the hockey game, our guys did a good job of that tonight. One good thing happened. We got a good bounce in the second period tonight, that gave us a chance and I heard Mario [Lamoureux] talking about it. Let’s just go out and see what we can do and let’s get one and see where it goes. This is where it went. I am proud of our hockey team.”

With the win tonight the Fighting Sioux improve to 24-12-3. North Dakota will try for the Final Five three peat tomorrow night against their heated rival Denver.

UND vs. UMN

Video online for all Final Five Games.
The game is on Midco and 668 on DirecTV.

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– (No forward).

UND Defensive Pairings

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

Fighting Sioux Goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

Fighitng Sioux Players Stats

Minnesota’s Forward Lines

7 Kyle Rau–27 Nick Bjugstad–24 Zach Budish
11 Sam Warning–19 Erik Haula–21 Jake Hansen
16 Nate Condon–9 Taylor Matson–17 Seth Ambroz
14 Tom Serratore–22 Travis Boyd–13 Nico Sacchetti

Minnesota Defense Parings

4 Seth Helgeson–12 Justin Holl
10 Ben Marshall–20 Mark Alt
6 Jake Parenteau–29 Nate Schmidt

Goalies

35 Kent Patterson
1 Michael Shibrowski
30 Jake Kremer

Gophers Players Stats

Larkin Jacobson hit on Tim Smith

Here is the Larkin Jacobson hit on the Bulldog’s Tim Smith. From watching the video it would appear that the refs made the right call in this situation. What do you think?

UMD vs. DU game three chat

The University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs vs. the Denver University Pioneers. Join me for the chat.

Sioux vs. Gophers game notes

Image via Wikipedia

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux play the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in the semi-finals of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center.

Game Time: 7:07 pm Friday.

Television: FOX Sports North, DirecTV 668.

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

Internet: WCHA.COM

Records and Rankings:

The UND Fighting Sioux (23-12-3) UND is ranked 12^th in the USCHO and 12^th in the USA Today Poll. The Fighting Sioux beat the Saint Cloud State Huskies (4-1) in the quarter finals of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (26-12-1); is ranked 4^th in the latest USCHO poll and 4^th in the USA Today Poll. Minnesota swept the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in the first round of the WCHA playoffs (2-1 W, 7-3 W).

Series History: The Minnesota Golden Gophers have compiled a 143-129-14 record against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux in 286 games. The Gophers won the 2011-12 regular season series by winning three out of four games.

Players to Watch:

For UND: Forwards: Danny Kristo (18-24a—42pts), Corbin Knight (14g-22a—36pts) and Brock Nelson (25g-17a—42pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (6g-12a—18pts), Dillon Simpson, (2g-15a—17pts), Ben Blood (3g-16a—19pts). Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .899 save percentage and a 2.73 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .920 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against average.

UND Injuries: Taylor Dickin is out (lower body injury), forward Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell is out (season ending surgery), Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery).

For the Gophers: Forwards: Erik Haula (19g-25a—44pts) Kyle Rau (16g-20a—36pts), Nick Bjugstad 24g-16a—40pts), Zach Budish (11g-19a—30pts). Defense: Nate Schmidt (3g-33a—36pts), Mark Alt (5g-17a—22pts). Goalie: Kent Patterson .914 save percentage and a 2.12 goals against average.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sioux grind out 4-1 win against Huskies

Image via Wikipedia

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Saint Cloud State Huskies are always a tough draw; they have only been swept once all season long. The Huskies managed to get points every single weekend this season.

Tonight was no different, as the Fighting Sioux had to work hard to get the win against the Huskies. One can markup tonight’s game as another hard fought epic battle tonight as well.

Coming into tonight’s game, Huskies’ junior goalie Mike Lee has never won a game against the Fighting Sioux in his three seasons with the Huskies, going 0-5-1 during that run. With the 4-1 loss tonight, Lee’s record drops to 0-6-1.

While his junior goalie has yet to win a game against the Fighting Sioux, Saint Cloud State coach Bob Motzko described his goalie, “as a big time goaltender.”

The Huskies and the Sioux play a similar style of play as both teams like to limit the other’s time and space and get into the passing lanes making it difficult to generate scoring opportunities. That rang true tonight. At times the Huskies frustrated the Sioux by clogging up the neutral zone and they also did a good job getting the shooting lanes.

The Fighting Sioux also got in the passing lanes, took away the Huskies time and space and frustrated them as well.

Corbin Knight broke the defensive stalemate at the 7:40 mark of the first period, when the junior center curled in front of the net to center the puck. It went off of the SCSU defenseman Sam Zabkowicz and into the net past Lee.

With Knight in the box for charging, junior forward Ben Hanowski made the Fighting Sioux pay with his 23rd marker of the season.

Fighting Sioux sophomore forward Brock Nelson had been a little bit snake bitten as of late, but was able to get off of the snide with his 24th goal of the season as he snapped a shot over Lee’s blocker.
Motzko was impressed with Nelson’s first goal of the game.

“He’s coming down on his off side, a pretty good hockey player to, I think that’s the player in our league that you’re going to watch play in the NHL for a long time,” Motzko said. “He was able to cut back in the middle of the rink and that is where is he is going to go he is on his offside, kind of one on one and you can keep him on his back hand and you keep him down there, and he was perfect. Our guy crossed his feet over and he stepped back into the middle and was able to make a shot.”

The pesky Huskies wouldn’t go away quietly into the night.

With the Huskies goalie out of the net and pressing hard down low, Nelson would get his second goal of the game and his 25th goal of the season to ice it.

Fighting Sioux junior goalie Aaron Dell played well, and was the difference in the game stopping 28 of 29 shots.

When it was all said and done, this was a very even game and either team could have won. Motzko agreed.

“It was an extremely hard fought hockey game,” Motzko said. “It was a tough grinding game; it was a great game down on the bench. I don’t know if there were a ton of plays being made…”

With the win tonight, the Fighting Sioux improve to 23-12-3 and jump up to ninth in the PairWise Rankings.

The Fighting Sioux will play the top-seeded Minnesota Gophers in the semifinal game at 7:07 p.m. tomorrow night.

Coach Dave Hakstol seemed excited about the prospects of playing the Minnesota Gophers again.
“I said it yesterday, we are in the greatest venue possible for post season play in college hockey,” Hakstol said.“Saint Paul… the entire town is electric, this building is an awful lot of fun with the number of fans that are in the building, we have an opportunity to play a rival tomorrow night. If you like competition, you will like the game tomorrow.”

UND vs. SCSU quarterfinal game.

Image via Wikipedia

Video online for all Final Five Games.
The game is on Midco and 668 on DirecTV.

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– (No forward).

UND Defensive Pairings

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

Fighting Sioux Goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

UND Official Players Stats

SCSU Forward lines

10 Ben Hanowski–12 Travis Novak–2 Jarrod Rabey
11 Jared Festler –26 Nic Dowd–22 David Eddy
27 Nick Oliver–8 Cory Thorson–21 Brooks Bertsch
18 Garrett Milan–16 Joe Rehkamp–17 Joey Holka

SCSU Defense Pairings

28 Andrew Prochno–14 Nick Jensen
7 Kevin Gravel–40 Tim Daly
3 Sam Zabkowicz – 4 Taylor Johnson

SCSU Goalies

30 Mike Lee
29 Ryan Faragher
33 Joe Phillippi
Huskies Player Stats

Refs: Don Adam (7) and Tim Walsh (11) AR: Bob Keltie (57), Tim Swiader (88)

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Monday, March 19, 2012

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