Hump day in the No Hockey League…

Good morning everyone – its 31 days until UND the Fighting Sioux plays the Manitoba Bison in the first exhibition game of the season. To quote Dean Millard of the Pipeline Show, it’s hard to not refer to UND hockey as the Fighting Sioux.

But I digress.

Jess Myers has the latest - INCH A-Z: and UND’s Brendan O’Donnell makes the cut… Also, last week Jess Myers revealed on twitter that he will for the most part only be covering two teams for ESPN 1500, the Minnesota Gophers and the Minnesota Wild. Myers said that he would write an occasional article for INCH but will not be doing it on a full time basis.

The WCHA pre-season ballots have been mailed out and it's getting to be that time of the year again. The third annual blogger poll should come out in a few weeks.

Joe Paisley has his Wednesday links up on his Paisley’s hockey blog.

Apparently a few of the Golden Rodents were interviewed at the Minnesota State Fair and Senior forward Zach “riding mopeds are dangerous" Budish’s said that his favorite game last was the one against the Fighting Sioux at the Midwest Regional at the Xcel Energy Center. From the looks of it - it appears that UND hockey team needs to refresh Mr. Budish’s memory that most games against UND are not all fun and games.

"Definitely the regional final against North Dakota. They kind of embarrassed us a week before, and it was nice to get back at them. It was just a great game for us...so much fun and such a great atmosphere." [Gopher Sports]

A Tradition of Excellence has it's Wednesday links up as well Toews, Freshmen, & Recruits By the Numbers

Here are my pre-poll rankings - feel free to cut them to pieces if you want. These might also change a bit... I will be putting up a WCHA season preview on INSIDE HOCKEY later this month.

1. Minnesota
2. UND
3. Wisconsin
4. Denver
5. UMD
6. C.C.
6. MTU
8. UNO
9. SCSU
10. BSU
11. Mankato
12. UAA

Andrew Weisss of the Hockey Guys, had the UND incoming freshman ranked 8th and I think personally that is a little low. Then again titles are won on paper they're won on the ice so these rankings will be meaningless once the season starts.

The No Hockey League - CBA

According to Scott Burnside of ESPN.com, it looks like the Coyotes might have a new owner finally, as Greg Jamison who used to be the CEO of the San Jose Sharks has gotten his financials in order and is set to purchase Coyotes from the National Hockey League for $170 million dollars.

The NHLPA wants to return to the bargaining table and kick start talks – stay strong boys – don ‘t let the NHL Owners take you to the cleaners again this time around.

James Mirtle breaks down the numbers on what a NHL player can make if they decide to play overseas. Mirtle says that a fair number of players are looking at playing overseas including Alex Ovechkin.

This is what Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings had to say about the current state of the NHL CBA talks. In reading Henrik’s comments, one really can’t remain positive any more. This could be a very long work stoppage.

“There's no two-way street in their proposal," Zetterberg said. “We're trying to find a way to partner up with them. We have problems in the league. We have to find a solution, players and the league together, and both help out.

“But in their proposal, they want us to (sacrifice) everything. [Mlive.COM]

This is the day that none of us want to see – the 13th of September is D-Day for the NHL and the NHLPA – this is the day that condescending, pompous, little Jerk Gary Bettman is going to ask the owners if they want to lock the NHL player out for a third time since 1994 and I am sure the owners will agree with Bettman. #FIREBETTMAN

Tim Panaccio, CNSPHILLY.COM --- On Sept. 13, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will address the league’s Board of Governors in New York City.

According to governors, who spoke anonymously with CSNPhilly.com, Bettman will outline where both sides are in the collective bargaining process.

He will then ask them – via a vote – whether they are supportive of his strategy to lock the players out on Sept. 15 if there is no agreement on a new, long-term – not short-term – CBA.

Tort's favorite New York Rangers beat writer Larry Brooks tells us that the lines of communication are open but there isn't much going on right now.

Alex Ovechkin is pretty clear where he wants to play hockey this season. “But I don’t want to be there; I want to be here,” Ovechkin said in a conversation with beat reporters Tuesday. “But, again, my contract is here and I hope the NHL and NHLPA are going to sign a deal before the 15th.” [Washington Times]

Here are a few familiar names of few NHL players that are just now turning 25 or will soon be 25 years old. It’s seems like a long time ago – eight years – when a 17 year old Jonathan Toews showed up to play for the University of North Dakota.

Roy MacGregor, the Globe and Mail --- It was also the season in which he was 25 years of age.

And what of Claude Giroux. Last year, the young Philadelphia Flyers forward scored 93 points and soared to the highest echelons of the game. Giroux will turn 25 – perhaps his greatest season, who knows? – on Jan. 12, 2013. He has no idea where he might be playing at that moment.

Jonathan Toews, the brilliant captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, who won the Stanley Cup, the Conn Smythe Trophy and an Olympic gold medal at 22, will turn 25 on April 29, when normally he would expect to be well into the 2013 playoffs.

And then, of course, there is Sidney Crosby, whose contract and number both salute the day, month and year of his birthday: August 7, 1987.

He turned 25 this summer.

Hopefully, next month we are talking about something other than player and owner squabbles and just hopefully, we will have an NHL season. #FIREBETTMANNOW

Enter caption for this picture....

I found this picture on line today and I thought I would share it with you to get you into the mood. Since this is the last season of the WCHA as well we will take a little time to look back at some of the buffoonery that we have seen from the strips. 

Seriously, I would like to have heard what coach Dave Hakstol told Derek Shepherd during this conversation. I am sure that Hak wasn't asking Derek where he was going to go after the game so the two could discuss the game over a few drinks. 

Related articles

• Hakstol, 'Joe Gleason the epitome of a great teammate'
• UW and UND to continue series after both teams leave the WCHA
• UND's Andrew MacWilliam and Nate Ewell on the Pipeline show
• WCHA Unveils All-New Mobile Website

Are there more than one set of rules for certain universities?

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a story that happened to catch my eye today - especially after the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. It appears that the NCAA has cleared the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill of any wrong doing when it appeared that UNC did in fact commit academic fraud. I guess the unprecedented precedence the NCAA set this past summer only applies to certain schools and not to other schools.

First off, I want to be clear - in no way is accademic fraud as bad as a child sex abuse scandal - that being said there should have been some kind of punishment for UNC's transgressions.

Dan Kane, News Observer --- The NCAA’s position that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has done nothing wrong by offering bogus classes that helped athletes maintain their eligibility has spurred a wave of skepticism from national sportswriters and others who follow college sports.

“The NCAA concludes no violations in UNC academic scandal,” tweeted Stewart Mandel, a college football writer for Sports Illustrated’s website. “This actually happened.”

Several said the announcement last Friday has given universities looking to gain the advantage in the big-money sports of football and basketball a license to bend the rules.

Bruce Feldman, a college football columnist for CBSSports.com, said in a blog post the announcement shows that the “NCAA MAKES IT UP AS IT GOES ALONG. The NCAA finds pretty much whatever it wants to find ... or not find.”

Jay Bilas, ESPN analyst and former Duke basketball player, said on Twitter: “And the NCAA wonders why it’s a laughingstock? Cue NCAA Prez to lecture on integrity, and who’s ‘in charge.’ ”

Neither UNC-CH officials nor the NCAA offered an explanation for the determination. UNC-CH officials announced the news Friday morning ahead of a holiday weekend. The NCAA did not issue a statement, but provided a brief confirmation of UNC’s announcement later in the day.

Again, I want to be clear, while  child rape and abuse for 15+ years is much worse than academic fraud - in anyone's universe; because in the end the fact that PSU athletic department knew about Jerry Sandusky and and covered up the crimes of Sandusky is not acceptable and inexcusable and I have no problem with how the NCAA treated Penn State University. I honestly don't know, if you can punish the PSU football team enough to make things right - they are going to be cleaning up Sandusky's mess for a very long time.

That being said, the NCAA also set a precedence by letting big basketball/football programs let players that shouldn't have been eligible continue to compete on the playing field. By letting one college fudge academic records to keep a player eligible has set  a precedence for other schools that might be entertaining this idea and this is also not acceptable.

If any thing the next school that get's caught cheating and doing the same thing should immediately stand up and say hey, you let UNC get away with it and if they are sanctioned the NCAA will open itself up for a lawsuit in my opinion. I was also wondering how long before something like this happen - you knew the NCAA would return to it's hypocrisy of not treating all institutions of higher living the same way. We should know by now that the big schools in many instances are allowed to skate while other smaller schools feel the full brunt of the NCAA.

Column: After UNC ruling, what does NCAA tell Penn State? Or UConn? m.si.com/news/wr/wr/det…
— Michael Rosenberg (@Rosenberg_Mike) August 31, 2012

And NCAA wonders why it's a laughingstock?:bit.ly/O1bzUF Cue NCAA Prez to lecture on integrity, and who's "in charge."
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 31, 2012

Related articles

• Are there more than one set of rules for certain universities?
• NCAA clearing North Carolina leaves some in disbelief

EDIT: NDSU Football players back in trouble with the law

As a fan that can remember the NDSU and UND rivalry so many thoughts come to mind – I am sure that others can come up with their own.

Nice to see that nothing has changed at NDSU – also – it will be interesting to see if any of these players are in the lineup next weekend when the Bison play the Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colorado.

"North Dakota State University football coach Craig Bohl says the eight Bison football players charged with petition fraud won't be suspended...at least for now." You can listen to the press conference that was held on AM 740 the fan.

Don't count on any players for NDSU Sitting out this week... Accroding to Jeff Kolpack of the Fargo Forum - NDSU Head Coach Craig Bohl said he's known about situation for quite some time. Players deserve day in court.

Here is the link to the North Dakota Attorney General’s page... [ND AG]

Forum staff reports, INFORUM --- Eight current North Dakota State University football players and one former player are among 11 people facing charges in connection with voter fraud tied to general election ballot measures.

Four of the accused are starters on the football team.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Secretary of State Al Jaeger identified the individuals charged as: Aireal Boyd, Josh Colville, Josh Gatlin, Demetrius Grey, Jennifer Krahn, Lane O’Brien, Samuel Ojuri, Brendin Pierre, Antonio Rodgers, Bryan Shepherd and Marcus Williams.

All have are charged with facilitation of voter fraud or filing a false statement, according to Stenehjem and Jaeger.

The charges are Class A misdemeanors.

Criminal complaints claim that all circulators of a petition are required to sign an affidavit stating they witnessed all the signatures and that all signatures are genuine.

Some over on Bisonville the Bison fans are taking a wait and see look at the new revelations about their beloved football team –  some seem to think that it’s a minor issue or are already looking for a way to deflect blame and claim that it’s political. Let's blame UND for our problems.

While it's funny because it's NDSU, we will see how this plays out in the coming days; this could end up being a distraction that NDSU didn’t want to have any part of. Some will say that it’s a lot to do about nothing - yeah  okay! I don't think that messing around with elections or committing fraud isn’t something I want to be associated with nor is it a minor infraction.

Break out the tin foil hats

EDIT:One NDSU fan even suggested that this is a conspiracy; I am not making this up. Just for the record – I would highly doubt that the A.G. of North Dakota would simply go on a witch hunt against the other school for something like this.

Wayne Stenehjem was born in Mohall, North Dakota, and he graduated from Bismarck High School in 1971 and Bismarck State College in 1972. He attended the University of North Dakota and the UND School of Law, graduating in 1977.

Jaeger was born in Beulah, ND in 1943. Raised in Beulah, he graduated from its high school in 1961. He attended Bismarck State College and in 1963 earned an Associate of Arts degree. In 1966, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Dickinson State University majoring in Business Education with a minor in Speech. He also completed post-graduate work at the University of North Dakota

Get out those tin foil hats folks, the North Dakota A.G. is out to get NDSU because he is a graduate of North Dakota.

Seriously?

Lastly, you would have to be a complete imbecil to think that the Attorney General of the great state of North Dakota Wayne Stenehjem and Secretary of the State of North Dakota Al Jaeger would conspire against NDSU just because they went to UND?

UND's Andrew MacWilliam and Nate Ewell on the Pipeline show

Andrew MacWilliam was on the Pipeline show on this past weekend on September 1st, 2012 and this is what the UND captain had to say.

The audio is a little broken up at times due to the cell phone that MacWilliam was talking on. I don't know if it was talking on a Verison cell phone or not... Can you hear me now?

You can listen to said podcast of UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam and his appearance on the Pipeline Show with Guy Flaming. All you have to do is clicking on this link to the right of this paragraph. Also, you can down load the Pipeline Show by down loading it from ITunes if you want to listen to their show on a weekly basis. [Click to Listen]

Guy asked Mac what it means to be the captain at UND.

“It’s awesome – it’s a great honor,” MacWilliam said.

“Like I have said… there have been a tremendous amount of guys that worn the “C” throughout the years. I have played with two of them – it’s a great honor and an absolute privilege and it’s something that I take a lot of pride and I take very serious.”

Guy asked Andrew MacWilliam about the goaltending situation at UND with Aaron Dell and Bard Eidsness moving on.

“Yeah were excited... We have some good new guys coming in…” MacWilliam said.

"Like you said we have couple of fresh faces in net and that will be good… They’re going to compete hard and have a completion through the week and they’re going to push each other which is going to make everyone better. So they are both good goalies. You have Zane Gothberg that played at Fargo in the USHL and Clarke Saunders that is actually a transfer from Alabama Huntsville.”

Guy asked Andrew MacWillam about the big changes coming to college hockey landscape and college hockey re-alignment. Is it a little bit different because of this being the last year in the WCHA?

"It is, but it’s not a huge thing on our minds – but it’s definitely something that we’re thinking about leaving our mark on the WCHA for North Dakota especially being a senior and our senior class," MacWilliam said.

"I know we have kind of talked about it and it would be kind of nice to be the last ones that MacNaghten [Trophy] and that Broadmoor [Trophy] … and just kind of leave our mark on the WCHA and the University of North Dakota."

During the last segment of the same show - Nate Ewell from College Hockey Inc was also on the Pipeline Show with Guy Flaming and you can listen to that segment by clicking on this link. [Click to listen]

Nate Ewell on the upcoming CBA and the impact on college hockey… Guy asked Nate to give a bit of a perspective from the college hockey point of view.

“A lot of the thought coming out of the last CBA agreement was that it would benefit college hockey because of the rookie salary cap,” Ewell said.

“The sense was okay, it’s not as lucrative now for a player to leave school for example and so they were more likely to stay. Well… In fact, it made it smarter for NHL teams to stock up on young players; more and more often they were signing players out of school early – even a lot of players that weren’t quite ready for it. So from a college stand point, it was bitter sweet to see guys sign and then get stashed in the minors because they weren’t ready. “

“What we are hopeful for with the…first of all we are hopeful that they sign an agreement soon so we can get some NHL hockey back going. Hopefully, it can address some issues that we think could help the college game and really help developmental hockey on a wide scale. Just a few things that we have sort of asked about, is the possibility of assigning deadlines so that colleges can have a sense of what their roster will be you know before say July or August.”

“Some looks at the draft, I know the 19 year old draft has been talked about a lot. We feel like that would benefit college and really benefit the pros because they get another year to look at the prospects before they select them. You know there are any numbers of things that could change and as we see from the last experience a small change could have a big effect.”

Tuesday at the Links… The No Hockey League and "Sloppy Seconds"

Good morning and there are now roughly 32 days until the University of North Dakota plays it’s first exhibition game against the Manitoba Bison.

Former Maine Star and current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Teddy Percell says that the lockout is going to hurt the players. [CBC.CA]

"Sloppy Seconds"

Here is a story that is just too good to pass up. Toronto Maples Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf is now engaged to former 24 actress Elisha Cuthbert– in case anyone has forgotten, Cuthbert was the center of a crude and disparaging comments that Sean Avery made about her while he was a member of the Dallas Stars.

"Uh, I'm really happy to be back in Calgary, Avery said. "I love Canada."

"And I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. "Enjoy the game tonight."

Avery was suspended indefinitely by the NHL for those comments and after his suspension he was traded to the New York Rangers and he has since retired from the NHL.

Here is all you need to know about the star studed engagement - Exclusive: Elisha Cuthbert Engaged to Dion Phaneuf: All the Details!

Lockout Talk

If this doesn’t sink for you - The Ottawa Senators have begun preparing their fans for the strong possibility of an NHL lockout.

Former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog and current Vancouver Canuck defenseman Jason Garrisonis growing a beard and he says that he'll keep the beard until the National Hockey League and its players sign a new CBA. Garrison might have to trim that beard or it could get pretty long.

The on going saga that is the Phoenix Coyotes; deal with Glendale in flux .

Misc stuff

While we are on the subject of the Phoenix Coyotes; Though ownerless, Coyotes have shown signs of staying power...

Apparently, Wayne Gretzky 'dreamed' of second Summit Series... [The Observer]

From ESPN yesterday - Bloomberg Businessweek has its annual ranking of the smartest spenders in sports. Check out the Smartest and worst spenders...

Smartest spenders:
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Boston Bruins
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. San Jose Sharks

Worst spenders:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Edmonton Oilers
3. Columbus Blue Jackets
4. Calgary Flames
5. Minnesota Wild

Here is the defending Stanley Cup Champions National TV schedule "if" there is a season. [LA Kings Insider]

University of North Dakota Defenseman Andrew MacWilliam made the latest Hot List.

Andrew MacWilliam, D – University of North Dakota (WCHA) Never to be confused with an offensive dynamo, MacWilliam has nonetheless been a sturdy, physical presence on the UND blueline during his first three campaigns. Entering his final year in college, the Calgary native will don the green sweater as captain, with Habs prospect Danny Kristo as one of the assistants. Drafted 188th overall by Toronto in 2008.

NHL - 'Together We Can' goes viral

This video has been making the trip around Twitter today and it's kind of gone viral... I you haven't seen it yet - it's a very moving video - I would rate this video as one of the better one's to come out as of late. I am sure that most NHL fans can look at the video and find a some thing moving from the montage. Every time I watch the video I noticed something new.

If you're emotional person it you may find the video very moving - especially if you're familiar with the Ray Bourque story - at the end of the video Ray Bourque finally after playing with the same team for 20 seasons - gets a chance to lift the Stanley Cup while a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Ironically, the cup was handed to him by Avalanche captain Joe Sakic who normally in that case would have taken a lap around the arena with the Stanley Cup simply handed the Stanley Cup to Ray Bourque.

Another interesting historical fact, the goaltender on the 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche was former Montreal Canadian's all-world goalie Patrick Roy who had been a former league rival of Bourque's for many years - the two had played many heated games against each other while they were a member of the Boston Bruins and Montreal Candians - the two had played many epic games against each other were now teammates on a 2000-01 Stanley Cup winning team in Colorado.

If your unfamiliar with the story, Ray Bourque had played for the Boston Bruins for 20 season, during the 1999-2000 season Bourque asked the Boston Bruins to trade him to a team that has a chance at winning the Stanley Cup - the Boston Bruins GM at the time, Harry Sinden honored Bourque's request - Ray was traded to the Colorado Avalanche before the 2000 trade deadline and won the Stanley Cup the following season with the Avalanche during the  (2000-2001) season.

Bourque would go out a winner as the cup clincher was his last game in the NHL Bourque played 1826 games in the NHL and on his final game he was able to have his name put on the Stanley Cup - hence the Gary Thorne call, "after twenty two years...RAYMOND BOURQUE!"

Must watch fan video #theplayers #thefans #united! Please watch and retweet: youtu.be/EWQs3O_IDas (via @jannemakkonen1)
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) September 3, 2012

Video NHL - 'Together We Can' #nolockout (HD)

This is an awesome video that's making it's way around the Internet - lots of good memories on this video.

As a Boston Bruins fans that watched Ray Bourque play many games with the spoked "B" on his chest, I can still remember that day that Bourque "finally" lifted Lord Stanley's Cup above his head, Gary Thorne with the call - it seems like it was just yesterday, "after twenty two years...RAYMOND BOURQUE!"

Is this an accurate Gary Bettman portrayal?

Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette has really hit the nail on the proverbial head with this zinger on Garry Bettman – I see the guy as a bully and a smug narcissist whose time has passed him by.

Jack Todd, Montreal Gazette --- You have to hand it to Gary Bettman – the man has all the animal bases covered. Bettman has the cheek of a cat burglar, the determination of a pit bull and the stubbornness of a mule. He treats hockey fans like a bunch of monkeys and his latest offer to the NHLPA was pure, unadulterated horse patootie.

Bettman’s most recent stunt was so cute, it could have been a Kodak Moment. First, he hit the players with an “offer” that was more like a rollback to 1994.

Then, when he softened that “offer” ever so slightly, he made like he had offered an enormous concession. Bettman is like a bully neighbour who knocks on your door and says he’s going to be taking your house, your wife, your kids, your cars and your dog. You mutter something about places where the sun don’t shine and he leaves.

Bettman’s face would also probably be a popular choice for NHL fan’s dart boards. I do think there is a reason that he is booed when the Stanley Cup is presented to the winning teams after the cup clinching games – he is one of the most polarizing figures in the game of hockey. #FIREBETTMAN

You have options during an NHL Lockout

Here is a good article that I found this morning that piqued my interest and this article kind of sums up the lockout in a nutshell – I would have to say that I agree with the author – I do believe that both sides could come to an agreement very quickly that would allow the season to start on time if both sides were equally committed to starting the season on time. I mean seriously, lock the NHL owners and the NHLPA in a room by themselves and tell them do not come out until you have an agreement.

I also agree with others that say the lockout is not our fault – we aren’t culpable.

Let’s not kid ourselves, both sides are banking on the assumption that no matter how long the work stoppage lasts that the fans are going to come back in droves when the work stoppage is over and watch the NHL play hockey.

The players want to play and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman seems bound and determined to lock the players out for a third time since 1994.

Robert Tychkowski, Edmonton Sun --- It seems rather odd that NHL owners are hurrying to sign as many players as possible under the current CBA before locking those same players out because the current CBA just isn't working.

But that actually sums up hockey's latest labour strife perfectly: it makes absolutely no sense, millionaires squabbling with billionaires over who gets the bigger slice of an obscenely big pie.

If the players were a little more understanding and the owners were a little less stupid, they could solve this thing in a week.

But they aren't, and they probably won't.

Why should owners worry about making smart business decisions, like not putting hockey teams in places where 12-year-olds knew they couldn't survive and not trying to cheat their way around their own salary cap, when all it takes to get about $350 million in taxpayer money for a new arena is stamping their feet and threatening to leave town?

And why should players settle for $4 million a season when they can get $4.5 million? Think it's easy scoring 12 goals a year?

While it appears that the NHLPA and the NHL owners are on a collision course to be locked out for an unprecedented third time since 1994 by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman – there’s no reason to fret – hockey fans have many viable otions. Unlike the professional ranks there are no lockouts in college and junior hockey. These are good options to fill the NHL.

With the aid of DirecTV you can watch oodles of College Hockey. The best comprehensive schedule for all of the college Division I hockey games can be found at the College Hockey News. While the television Schedule is not posted yet it will be closer to the start of the college hockey season.

While the prospects of not starting the NHL season on team – they NHL cynically released their 2012-13 television schedule this past week.

This is what we are going to be missing if there is Lockout...

Just to remind you what you will be missing if the NHL owners lock out the players on September 15, 2012. The past two Stanley Cup Finals were some of the best hockey that I have watched in a very long time - the game of hockey has never been more popular and I think that a work stoppage might cut into those gains that have been made.  The NHL owners made a record 3.3 billion dollars in profit last season.

That being said that most of us understand not all is equal and not all teams enjoy these same profits - but it's the owners that have signed these players to these exuberant salaries and I hold them culpable for the mess that we are in. I hope everyone has a great and safe Labor Day holiday.

Got my annual must read "The Hockey News Yearbook".202 awesome pages. Top 50 players in the NHL list and not one owner made the cut.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) September 2, 2012

UND goalie Clarke Saunders new mask

Pic of my new helmet, great job David Leroux it looks awesome!! #audioslavetheme twitter.com/clarkesaunders…
— Clarke Saunders (@clarkesaunders) September 1, 2012

In coming University of North Dakota Junior goalie Clarke Saunders posted a picture of his new goalie mask on twitter tonight looks like a nice looking mask. You can see this mask also on deilairbrush.ca as well and as a fan mentioned below this is Gothberg's Mask.

Tweets from today.

@_markmarino @goon48 @themikemoonan @_timrosenthal @bruinsdaily Keep it going everyone. #FireBettman
— Chris Wassel (@ChrisWasselTHW) September 1, 2012

Guessing NHL might shut down camps well before then RT @renlavoierds: Meeting on Sept 12 & 13 in New York for NHLPA members
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) September 1, 2012

Fehr -- if you can get an agreement on big conceptual issues the rest of a deal can be done pretty quickly#NHL #NHLPA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 31, 2012

Bettman -- we got stonewalled today so we're not in position to move ahead on other issues#NHL #NHLPA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 31, 2012

agent on NHLPA: “Back in 2004, the NHLPA was synonymous with apathy. That's changed since then. It’s a whole new world right now."
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) August 31, 2012

Fact: NHLPA proposals do more to help small market teams with $100M industry Growth Fund than last NHL offer. @puckinghockey
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 31, 2012

Fehr & NHLPA want revenue sharing but have to believe there are numerous NHL owners who oppose that, or at least a few of the big ones
— Ed Frankovic (@EdFrankovic) August 31, 2012

For the rest of us, lager heads in order. RT @sn_nhl: Talks resume, end quickly as NHL, union remain at loggerheads dlvr.it/24wlF3
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) August 31, 2012

NHL players stand their ground, talks break off #NHL #NHLPA #CBA #badnews tinyurl.com/9l3rodo
— Pat Leonard (@NYDNRangers) August 31, 2012

Bettman points out MLB's 8 work stoppages. Mentions player strike before World Series. Mark today as the day it got ugly.
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) August 31, 2012

Here are some of the tweets that I found today that relate to the NHL CBA Negoiations - as most of you know already, talks broke off today and it appears that there is a huge gap between the NHLPA and the NHL owners. While there is still time to get a new CBA agreement in place it would appear that is not going to happen and the fans should think about making other plans for at least the start of the hockey season. This is beginning to look a like 2004-05 all over again.  

Players indicating NHL 1st CBA proposal looked to reduce player salaries by 24%, 2nd proposal by 19.3%.Reason for NHLPA counter today #tsn
— Aaron Ward (@aaronward_nhl) August 31, 2012

Compare and contrast - it's the same thing right?

During the Frozen Four in 2011 the poor guy in question see picture above; you've probably seen the video and pictures before got caught up in the moment and was taken to task by opposing fans that don't cheer for the Green and White.

I was tipped off about this little gem through an email - if you watch this Through These Doors video an at roughly the 5:32 mark of the video you will see a fan wearing lets say maroon colors sitting to the left of the stanchion in the front row flip off the Fighting Sioux players as they celebrate a goal against the Saint Cloud State Huskies.

The moral of the story is you never know when the camera is watching and don't do something that you might regret later. I would also say that no fan base is immune to this either.

Top-30 Fantasy Hockey Goalie Rankings

The NHL has been running their Fantasy Rankings based on position and today they put out the Top-30 Fantasy Hockey Goalie Rankings. No big shocker who they ranked number ne –but I am surprised that Quick isn’t number two.

1.Henrik Lundqvist
2.Pekka Rinne
3.Jonathan Quick - UMASS
4.Cam Ward
5.Jaroslav Halak
6.Ryan Miller - Michigan State
7.Marc-Andre Fleury
8.Niklas Backstrom
9.Tuukka Rask
10.Jonas Hiller
12.Cory Schneider - Boston College
22. Brian Elliott - Wisconsin

UND Football and Hockey on the Web - the future of broadcasts?

Last night I had the opportunity to watch some of UND and South Dakota School of Mines game on the internet via Big Sky TV.

I stopped watching the game when the score got out of hand it was apparent that one could be more entertained by watching a UND practice with the number one’s going against the scout team. I had a few of my friends make the comment, “why would UND even play a NAIA team?”

First off, game action is always better than practice action. Game action gives the coaches got a chance to see their players in live action against another foe other than their own team mates. Unfortunately, UND lost their starting quarterback Braden Hanson to a leg injury and appears to be unavailable for a couple of weeks.

I would have to say that my first impression of the Big Sky TV’s on-line version was very good.

There are a couple of things that you will need to do to be able to watch the on-line video – you have to have to down load Adobe Flash Player 10.x and the ONE Vision Plugin. I also highly recommend using the Google Chrome Browser as well.

On line broadcasts are going to be a thing of the future – especially with the NCHC kicking off it’s season in 2013-14. As most of you know the NCHC signed an exclusivity agreement with CBSSN to broadcast at least 18 games and UND will not be able to broadcast the games on FCS like they have in the past because of the exclusivity agreement.

While fans aren’t happy with this, this doesn’t mean the University isn’t trying to solve this issue and there is a lot of time yet to come to a solution. Jayson Hajdu aka @UNDSID posted this new nugget on Sioux Sports.

At this point, Fox College Sports is only picking up men’s hockey. All home men’s hockey games will be broadcast on Fox College Sports for 2012-13 only. Once UND joins the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in 2013-14, CBS Sports Network holds national broadcast rights to all NCHC games. Thus, UND cannot broadcast nationally on another network, even if CBS Sports Network is not showing that particular game.

Is this ideal for UND as an individual institution? Of course not. In college athletics, there is a cost to doing business. Sometimes concessions have to be made for the best interests of the league(s). Now, this doesn’t preclude us from attempting to regain that national footprint in the future. We are well aware of how many loyal fans we have nationwide and we will make every effort to make sure we reach as many as possible, in as many ways as possible.

In the meantime, fans outside of the MidcoSN viewing area will still have the opportunity to view home men’s hockey games via UNDInsider webcasts. We like to think we already offer high-quality webcasts – we pull the feed directly from the television broadcast – but we are still making significant upgrades for the upcoming season.

Specifically, we are upgrading in terms of quality (to near-HD), video player (better streaming for your connection speed) and accessibility (iPad, etc.). Once MidcoSN makes the conversion to HD in 2014-15, our webcasts will also be available in full HD.

With the upgrade to near-HD – and eventually full HD – you’ll still be able to enjoy UND men’s hockey games on your television screen by connecting your computer. It will essentially be the same quality you previously enjoyed, albeit with an extra step involved.

Our goal is to provide our programming to as many fans possible through as many platforms as possible. We’ve come an awful long ways since the days of one or two games per year being broadcast on local network television. In 2012-13, every home game will be available to watch on television, webcasts and mobile devices.

So going forward it appears that on line broadcasts are going to be a wave of the future for UND sports. This is an issue that fans are positive about and while watching sporting events on line is not the best method of watching football and hockey – it at least gives fans an option to listening to the game on line – that’s not a slam on Tim Hennesy either, because he is one of the best hockey play-by-play guys in the business in my humble opinion.

Personally, I prefer to watch hockey live or on a television set as opposed to listening to hockey on a radio or on the computer. Most sports fans that I know are visual people. Talking to other people that I know and through the blog, it appears that there are others that feel the same way.

Let’s not kid ourselves, some schools on line broadcasts are better than others – one of the best free on line broadcasts is the GCI Cable out of Anchorage, Alaska. For the most part the B2 Broadcasts in the past have been questionable and in some cases brutal.

From my vantage point, it appears that the UND will probably be on the fore front of this issue and the athletic department at the University of North Dakota knows that they have a huge fan base outside of the state of North Dakota that is very passionate about UND sports. If there are any updates on this issue I will post it on the blog – I will also keep my ear to the ground.

Friday dreaming...

There are 36 days until the University of North Dakota plays it’s first exhibition game against CIS team the Manitoba Bison. One thing college hockey fans will never have to worry about is that the NCAA will never have a lockout. That being said, I do like the NHL.

A tradition of Excellence has it's Rankings and Features, Part 2

The picture that you see on the right is the goalie mask of Western Michigan University Broncos goaltender Frank Slubowski. It’s been making it’s way around the internet to the various sites and I think it’s an impressive site to behold. Slubowski's mask has The Big Lebowski theme on it. The paint job on the mask was done by Head Strong Grafx.

On the NHL CBA negotiations front, it looks like the NHL is once again going to be the No Hockey League as Bettman and the owners are bound and determined to lock the players out for a third time since 1994. Why does the Bettman and the owners want to lock out the players? it's simple, because they can!!!

Some of the Redwing Players are impressed with the NHL owners latest proposal – I don’t think that anyone is really that shocked by this either. I am sure that if we polled a majority of the NHL players we would get the same response.

Ansar Khan, MLive.com --- “We understand some clubs are struggling,'' Cleary said. “Our revenue-sharing (plan) helped lower-end teams. There's a lot more sharing of the pie, so everyone would keep their heads above water.''

Privately, some players are saying there is little hope of getting a deal done in time to prevent a lockout on Sept. 15. They don't believe the entire season will be canceled, like it was in 2004-05, but some think the 82-game schedule will be reduced to 60 or 65 games.

Cleary, however, said he hasn't abandoned hope of saving the full season.

“There's still time,'' Cleary said. “No one wants a lockout. The money that will be lost for everyone will be astronomical. A lot of people at Joe Louis Arena I know personally could be laid off. That's one side no one thinks about.''

Said Abdelkader: “We know Sept. 15 is coming up. I don't think anyone is panicking. The sides are still apart, but we've still got some time. Hopefully, we can get something done before opening night (Oct. 12). We still got a lot of time to hash things out. I think there's still a lot of optimism that something can get done.''

So when the NHL owners made their latest proposal this past Tuesday to the NHLPA there was a discussion about the new offer’s revenue split being somewhere in the neighborhood of 51.6 per cent to 48.4 – but after some the great hockey minds perused the NHL owners new proposal – the consensus was that the players’ was more like 54-46 in favor of the NHL owners. This new breakdown was based on changes on how the owners calculated the Hockey Related Revenues, it seems that what is consider Hockey Related Revenues has shrunk making the players share of the HHR less, hence the smaller share for the players.

Apparently, the NHLPA would like to have set standards to know just what exactly the owners are calculating as their Hockey Related Revenues. While the owners originally came out and said that the new revenue split was something like 50-50, it all depends on how you look at it. Some have referred to the 50-50 revenue split as being less than generous revenue definitions.

From the latest proposal, these are the four changes that the owners are proposing - this doesn't necessarily mean that the owners are going to get these proposed changes - but this is what the owners have put out.

1) In the existing CBA, teams can deduct the cost of doing business from HRR. But there are limits. For example, deductions from preseason games or "special games" such as European openers, "shall not in the aggregate exceed fifteen (15) per cent per League Year on a League-wide basis" of the revenues. You can find all of the examples, if you wish, in Article 50 of the current document. The NHL is arguing that costs far exceed these caps.

2) One area of HRR the NHL cannot deduct ANY costs from is luxury suite sales (e.g., paying people to sell them). Everything must be thrown into the pot. Mistake, oversight, whatever - the league would like a re-do.

3) Lightning owner Jeff Vinik spent $35 million US last summer to upgrade The Tampa Bay Times Forum. Meanwhile, Rangers owner Jim Dolan committed an estimated $977 million to a massive renovation of the Madison Square Garden. (Say what you want about Dolan, but doing that without public funding is extremely impressive.) As it stands, teams receive no financial credit for that. The league would like that changed. The model is probably the latest NFL CBA, which allows the league the option of taking 1.5 per cent from the NFLPA's 47 per cent share to build new stadiums. Larger revenues from newer buildings, the reasoning goes, benefits the players, too.

4) When players on one-way deals like Wade Redden or Jeff Finger are sent to the minors, their salaries no longer count. Not only is the NHL trying to eliminate this loophole from the salary-cap portion of the discussion, it is trying to make those contracts tied to HRR, too. [Elliotte Friedman CBC.CA]

With each passing day it looks like there is going to be a work stoppage in the NHL. It also looks like the players are preparing for delayed start to the season – but they also have to be ready because these impasses can come to a quick conclusion. While there is really no reason to believe that a quick solution can be reached and I also think many hockey fans are of that mindset as well – based on what we are hearing in the media and from Gary Bettman. Fans as well as the players would like to see the NHL start on time. I just hope that there is a quick solution to the CBA negoiations.

George Richards, Miami Herald --- Commissioner Gary Bettman has said if a new deal isn’t reached by that time, the league will lock out its players for the third time under his watch.

There is some optimism a deal will get done especially after the league’s latest proposal. Yet expectations are games will be missed. So what exactly are these players doing working out in August?

“Getting ready for November,” joked one former Panthers player who asked not to be identified. “I hope we play in October. But I also hope we play in November. We’re still getting ready.”

According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune this is the way the defense pairing are going to look to start training camp for the Minnesota Wild. It's nice to see that he Minnesota Wild have more depth than they have had in a very long time.

Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella and Tom Gilbert
Clayton Stoner and Nate Prosser or Jonas Brodin

Fred Poulin of the Hockey Writers has his top 20 overpaid players in the NHL. I think you will also notice a few familiar names from the WCHA as well as players from our favorite teams. Also, it’s not hard to see how some teams can get into financial trouble – look at some of the salaries some of these players are paying – in retrospect, I doubt the owners of the Islanders or any other team would pay Rick Dipietro what he is getting paid right now.

Ville Leino, Buffalo Sabres– $4,500,000 cap hit
Christian Ehrhoff, Buffalo Sabres – $4,000,000 cap hit
Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary – $6,680,000 cap hit
Mike Cammalleri, Calgary Flames – $6,000,000 cap hit – Michigan Wolverines
Joni Pitkanen, Carolina Hurricanes – $4,500,000 cap hit
Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche – $6,600,000 cap hit – Denver Pioneers
Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers – $5,500,000 cap hit
Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers – $5,000,000 cap hit
Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers – $4,125,000 cap hit
Dany Heatley, Minnesota Wild – $7,500,000 cap hit – Minnesota Wild & Wisconsin Badgers
Scott Gomez, Montreal Canadiens – $7,357,143 cap hit
Rick Dipietro, New York Islanders – $4,500,000 cap hit
Lubomir Visnovsky, New York Islanders – $5,600,000 cap hit
Paul Martin, Pittsburgh Penguins – $5,000,000 cap hit – Minnesota Gophers
Martin Havlat, San Jose Sharks – $5,000,000 cap hit – Former Minnesota Wild
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning – $7,727,273 cap hit
Tim Connolly, Toronto Maple Leafs $4,750,000 cap hit
Mike Komisarek, Toronto $4,500,000 cap hit – Michigan Wolverines
Keith Ballard, Vancouver $4,250,000 cap hit – Minnesota Gophers
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver $5,333,333 cap hit

Former NHL agitator Sean “Sloppy Seconds” Avery has officially announced his retirement.

Here is a pretty good read on the CBA One could make the argument that the rich teams are the ones that are going to pay a heavy burden with any new CBA agreement. - Frank Seravalli: How Flyers will suffer with labor changes.

The Edmonton Oilers have locked up two of their young stars Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle to identical seven-year deals worth an eye popping $42 million dollars. It’s apparent that the Edmonton Oilers don’t want to lose their two up and coming stars to an offer sheet and would like to keep them well into the future.

Big Sky TV Launches Tonight

[OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE]

The Big Sky Conference and America ONE Sports recently agreed to a three-year contract extension, allowing fans and alumni to enjoy free video streams of most football, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball games held in Big Sky venues.  The new contract also calls for events to be available through iOS and Android mobile devices free of charge. 

With the additions of North Dakota and Southern Utah as full members, and Cal Poly and UC Davis as football affiliate members, Big Sky TV will feature more events than ever.

“America ONE Sports has done a tremendous job distributing our video stream feeds for the last three years,’’ said Big Sky Conference assistant commissioner for media relations Jon Kasper. “Now, America ONE and the league are taking Big Sky TV mobile, something we think fans will appreciate.’’

Big Sky TV is entering its seventh season of service, and fourth with America ONE Sports. Through the years, Big Sky TV has brought thousands of events live and free of charge to computers, giving fans access to events that were previously unavailable to be seen. Fans can begin creating new accounts effective immediately.

“Big Sky TV represents the best of college sports and its members’ fans love their teams,” said Bruce Levine, America ONE Sports Director of Programming “We are extremely pleased to continue our association with the Big Sky Conference and for our part in keeping their fans connected with their favorite teams.”

In order to view games, viewers will need to log on to www.bigskytv.org , and create an account. Fans will then need to click on the Big Sky All-Access Pass to receive access to all events during the season. PC viewers also need to have the One Vision Plugin and Adobe Flash installed on their computers. Accounts created last season will work in 2012-13, however fans will need to make sure to click on this year’s Big Sky All-Access Pass.

Mobile viewing through iOS devices is available immediately. The Android version won’t be available until next week.

This season’s schedule of more than 500 events starts Thursday with football action. At 7 p.m. Central, North Dakota takes on South Dakota Mines from the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. At 7 p.m. Mountain, two-time co-Big Sky champion and fourth-ranked Montana State opens its season against Chadron State. At 7 p.m. Pacific, UC Davis takes on Azusa Pacific.

On Friday, volleyball makes its debut on Big Sky TV. North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State are all hosting tournaments this weekend.

North Dakota opens against South Dakota at 7 p.m. Central, while defending Big Sky champion Northern Colorado takes on Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Mountain. At 6:30 p.m. Pacific, Sacramento State battles Boise State.

On Saturday, North Dakota plays at 1 p.m. and at 7 p.m. Central. Northern Colorado hits the court at Noon Mountain and 7 p.m. Mountain. Sacramento State plays at 1 p.m. Pacific, and again at 7:30 p.m. Pacific.

Saturday’s football slate includes two games. At 4 p.m. Pacific, Cal Poly welcomes San Diego to San Luis Obispo. At 5 p.m. Mountain, Portland State takes on NAIA power Carroll College at JELD-Wen Field. Montana’s home game against South Dakota will not be available on Big Sky TV, only at gogriz.com.

The 2012 football season will feature 12 games televised by ROOT SPORTS. Those games will not be available on Big Sky TV, but will be widely available across the nation in high definition on DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as through many cable providers in the Big Sky footprint.

In all more than 50 games will be video streamed on Big Sky TV.

WCHA well represent in the Top-60 Fantasy Hockey Defensemen Rankings

The WCHA is highly represented in this season’s Top-60 Fantasy Hockey Defensemen Rankings – as was expected the University of Wisconsin aka Defenseman U placed four defenders on the list and the University of Minnesota placed second with three defenders…

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Zdeno Chara
3. Shea Weber
4. Kris Letang
5. Dustin Byfuglien - Roseau Minnesota
6. Alex Pietrangelo
7. Dan Boyle - Miami
8. Alexander Edler
9. Ryan Suter - Wisconsin
10. Brian Campbell
19. Jack Johnson - Michigan
27. Alex Goligoski - Minnesota
39. Matt Carle - Denver
48. Brendan Smith - Wisconsin
49. John-Michael Liles - Michigan State
51. Ryan McDonagh - Wisconsin
52. Nick Leddy - Minnesota
53. Erik Johnson - Minnesota
54. Justin Schultz - Wisconsin
57. Justin Faulk - Duluth
60. Jared Spurgeon

Bruins 2012-13 National television schedule

s/t to my friends at the Bruins Daily - the NHL has released their television schedule even though some or all of schedule could be wiped out due to the work stoppage – in fact its’ a bit disingenuous for them to release a schedule when the two sides are so far apart. The good news is that the NHL owners and the NHLPA are set to resume talks tomorrow for a time to be determined. It's thought that the players are going to make their second proposal.

Here is the Boston Bruins Games Broadcast schedule on NBC Sports Network (all times Eastern):

Oct. 11 at Philadelphia (NBCSN)
Nov. 23 vs. Rangers (NBC)
Nov. 27 vs. New Jersey (NBCSN, NESN locally)
Dec. 10 at Detroit (NBCSN, NESN locally)
Jan. 9 at Buffalo (NBCSN)
Jan. 13 at Rangers (NBCSN)
Jan. 29 vs. St. Louis (NBCSN)
Feb. 4 at Colorado (NBCSN)
Feb. 6 vs. Buffalo (NBCSN)
Feb. 17 at Chicago (NBC)
March 4 vs. Montreal (NBCSN, NESN locally)
March 10 at Washington (NBC)
March 17 at Pittsburgh (NBC)
March 27 vs. Montreal (NBCSN)
March 31 at Philadelphia (either NBC or NBCSN)
April 10 at New Jersey (NBCSN)
April 13 at Buffalo (NBC, NESN locally)

What’s Travis Zajac worth?

Former Fighting Sioux forward Travis Zajac will be looking for a new unrestricted free agent deal when his current deal expires next summer. Zajac over the course of six seasons he has played in 423 NHL games has scored 91 goals and 164 assist for 255 career points.

According to Cap Geek, Travis Zajac has one more year of a deal that is worth $3,887,500. While Zajac was injured this past season and only played in 15 games during the regular season scoring (2g-4a—6pts), he did pick up his game during the New Jersey Devils run to the Stanley Cup Finals scoring (7g-7a—14pts) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Zajac was pretty good through much of the playoffs – tieing Bryce Salvador for third in scoring  on the Devils - much like the rest of his Devils teammates - Zajac ran into the Los Angeles Kings buzz-saw during the finals and his game cooled off and he was pretty much held in check like the rest of his team scoring (0g-2a—2pts) in the last five games that he played in.

For comparison sake, former Wisconsin Badger’s and current Ottawa Senators forward Kyle Turris recently signed a contract extension for 3.5 million dollars per year for five years’ worth 17.5 million dollars. Based on the Turris signing I would have to think that Travis Zajac is going to be due a substantial pay raise.

Breaking it down further, Zajac is currently making only 300,000 more a season than Turris and yet has been substantially more productive on the ice than Turris, this is why I think that Zajac is due is a pretty big raise. Here is the line on Kyle Kyle Turris, he has played in the NHL for parts of five season and has a modest line of 186 NHL games played, he has scored 31 goals and 41 assist for 75 points.

When Zajac’s line mate Zach Parise signed a big unrestricted free agent deal with the Minnesota Wild some suggested that the Minnesota Wild also make an attempt to sign Zach as well. Others have suggested that Zajac will try to sign with the Winnipeg Jets during the offseason next summer.