UND Recruits - Jack Rowe and Ryan Mantha

Fellow UND recruits Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) and Ryan Mantha (Sioux City Musketeers) did battle in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on 16 November 2012.  Jack had 1 assist on the night in the RoughRiders 4-3 win over the Musketeers.  The Musketeers play the Waterloo Black Hawks in Waterloo on the 17th while the RoughRiders travel to Michigan to play Team USA on the 18th.

University of North Dakota recruit Jack Rowe (19) of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders takes control of the puck as Dylan Steman (8) and Tanner Pond (37) give chase.  The RoughRiders would go on to win 4-3. - Serena Dalhamer

University of North Dakota recruit Ryan Mantha (4) of the Sioux City Musketeers battles Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Dylan Steman (8) for the puck.  The RoughRiders would prevail on the night, scoring 4 goals to Sioux City's 3. - Serena Dalhamer

Shot Charts UMD vs. UND game one

Tap of the stick to @statsoncrack ... After having a tough night in the face off dot last weekend, senior forward Corbin Knight was stellar going 18-11. UND as a team was dominant in the faceoff circle and went 53-32 in the faceoff circle. Freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi was 15-6 in the faceoff circle as well.

UND is ranked 48th overall nationally in the Penalty Minutes. So UND is not a bunch of goons that some seem to think… The “Halos” from Minneapolis are ranked 56th overall. On the flip side of that equation, UMD is ranked second overall nationally in Penalty Minutes.

I think that one point that has been glossed over so far this season is that fact that UND’s energy line which has included the likes of Steph Pattyn 4 PIM, Derek Rodwell 2 PIM, Bryn Chyzhyk 4 PIM and or Colton St. Clair 2 PIM have not taken a lot of penalty minutes.

Just for the record, from what I have heard from a few people that Steph Pattyn was a feared fighter in the MJHL and took his share of Penalty Minutes in junior hockey and has a grand total of 2 minors so far this season. Here is a video of one of his fights if you want take a look, there is an old saying, it's better to be the hammer than the nail...  [click to view]

At a recent press conference Bryn Chyzyk was asked, how intense of a person is Steph Pattyn.

It’s funny you ask, I played against him up in Manitoba. I was so scared of that guy, he’s a scary guy to play against, but I defiantly like him a lot better on my team.”

UND and UMD gut out hard fought 4-4 tie

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grand Forks, ND – This past week at the Wednesday press conference University of North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol said, “records mean nothing this time of year.” While the UMD Bulldogs came into the game with a 2-5-1 record overall and 0-3-1 WCHA – good for last place in the WCHA – the Bulldogs didn’t play like a team that was in 12^th place.

They played more like a team that was at the top half of the standings and were the aggressors all game lone.

The Bulldogs came out of the gates hard in the first period and put a tenacious forecheck on the Green and White. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Bulldogs has UND on their heels early and were a miserable team to play against.

That hard work would pay off for the Bulldogs as they would take an early lead with a goal from senior forward Mike Seidel at the 03:49 mark of the first period.

The opportunistic Seidel would take a UND turnover deep in the UND defensive zone and deposited the puck in the UND net past Clark Saunders.

UND would answer the UMD goal at the 13:49 mark of the first period with a goal by senior defenseman Andrew MacWilliam – the burly defenseman teed up a shot from the blue line and launched a missile that blew by the UMD goalie Aaron Crandall.

That was all of the scoring in the first period. UMD outshot UND 15-11.

The second period would turn into a track meet for both teams as UND senior forward Danny Kristo would book end two goals by UMD freshman Austin Farley.   UMD would again outshoot UND 14-13 in the second period.

You see a pattern developing here?

Both teams exchanged goals in the third period. At the 12:47 mark of the third period freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi sniped a beautiful goal to give UND a short lived 4-3 lead. That lead lasted one minute and 20 second.

At the 14:08 of the third period, UMD defenseman Drew Olson scored a nice goal from the point that Clarke Saunders didn’t see – tie game once again.  UMD would get the better of the chances in the third period but neither team would dent the twine again and the game with end in a hard fought 4-4 tie.

Tonight, UND gave up 46 shots on goal – that is the most shots on goal that UND has given up in seven seasons of hockey. Coach Hakstol didn’t see that all that pleased about that stat either but was quick to credit UMD’s effort.

“Yeah that’s too many to give up in our own building.” Hakstol said. “They worked awful hard for them – they played hard through 60 minutes – so did we. We were a little too sporadic at times and I thought that soaked away some of our momentum at different times.  But it was a really hard fought back and forth hockey game.”

Not only was UND outshot by a pretty big margin during the game, UND was also outshot 17-7 in the third period. Coach Hakstol didn’t seem to be all that pleased with giving up 17 shots in the third period.

“We don’t want to give away 17 shots in the third period too often,” Hakstol said.

You have to give credit where credit is due, Bulldogs utilized their aggressive forecheck and speed to beat UND at their own game all night long. As the game wore on, UMD didn’t back off either and the Bulldogs keep attacking and counter attacking. In the end it was a hard fought ugly game and maybe a tie was an appropriate ending. Senior forward Danny Kristo  also thought UMD played well.

“Duluth played well,” Kristo said. They came at us hard. They definitely got a lot of puck to the net we got to shape up our defensive zone a little bit; we gave up a lot of shots tonight. It was a hard fought game and we got the rubber match tomorrow.”

The same two teams face off tomorrow night at 7:07pm CT.

 cross posted at the Hockey Writers – Combine 

Related articles

• UND: The Weekend Ahead (11/16-11-17) (thehockeywriters.com)
• Results of the WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 3 (thehockeywriters.com)

UMD vs. UND game one

UND’s Forward lines

7 Danny Kristo (A)–10 Corban Knight (A)–27 Carter Rowney (A)

21 Brendan O’Donnell– 16 Mark MacMillan–13 Connor Gaarder

9 Drake Caggiula–19 Rocco Grimaldi– 15 Michael Parks

28 Steph Pattyn–17 Colten St. Clair –11 Derek Rodwell

UND Defense Parings

4 Derek Forbort – 24 Jordan Schmaltz

2 Andrew MacWilliam (C) – 5 Nick Mattson

18 Dillon Simpson–20 Joe Gleason

UND Goalies

33 Clarke Saunders

31 Zane Gothberg

Scratches: 8-Dan Senkbeil (D/F), 29-Bryn Chyzyk (F), 22-Andrew Panzarella (D), 25-Mitch MacMillan (F), 26-Coltyn Sanderson

Bulldog Forward lines

25 Justin Crandall–21 Caleb Herbert–18 Joe Basaraba
11 Austin Farley–13 Tony Cameranesi–17 Mike Seidel
20 Cody Danberg–15 Jake Hendrickson–14 Keegan Flaherty
10 Dan DeLisle–19 Max Tardy–26 Adam Krause

Bulldog Defense Pairings

8 Drew Olson–7 Andy Welinski

28 Wade Bergman–6 Derik Johnson

16 Tim Smith–5 Chris Casto

Bulldog Goalies

31 Aaron Crandall
36 Matt McNeely

Refs: Todd Anderson, Brad Shepherd - Assistant Refs: Andy Carton, Nathan Freeman

Minnesota hesitant to play North Dakota in hockey for now…

Recently, I wrote a blog post about the UND and UMN rivalry and from the outside looking in; it would appear that UMN is shying away from the historic rivalry. If you ask UND fans, a lot of them will tell you it appears to be for egoistic reasons. From this UND fan’s perspective, it smacks of “elitism.”

Seriously!

I have seen some UMN fans try to blame UND’s former moniker on the lack of a scheduling agreement.  I think that excuse is convenient when you have nothing else to fall back on.  

After the state wide vote this past summer – that objection has been overcome – they can no longer blame the Fighting Sioux nickname, that’s a nonfactor – the Fighting Sioux nickname is gone.  One has to wonder if this goes deeper than a nickname or wanting to play teams from Minnesota… Does this smell like a possible riff between the two athletic departments?

Like I said before, the University of Wisconsin kept dates open on their future schedule with the caveat that if UND didn’t change the Fighting Sioux nickname the future nonconference games would be canceled. There is no reason that the University of Minnesota could have done that as well unless they really didn’t want to play UND in the first place.

I’ve had UND fans ask me, why the heck did we change the name to appease the B1G schools, only to have them turn around and tell us that they don’t want to play us anyways.

I have also read where UMN has said that they need to focus on the team in the State of Minnesota first as well. Really! How many times is UMN going to “actually” travel to BSU, Duluth, Saint Cloud and Minnesota State? Yeah! I can see Minnesota saying, sure we will play you but at our rink, with the possibility they “may” make an occasional trip from time-to-time.

UND Hockey beat writer Brad E. Schlossman has this article in today’s Grand Forks Herald and this is what UMN’s head coach Don Lucia had to say about the rivalry last winter. 

Minnesota coach Don Lucia was unavailable for comment Thursday, but has said in the past that he may not want to play the rivalry every year.

“We will go back there as a nonconference team,” Lucia said at a media gathering in January. “We have a great rivalry. Sometimes, it gets a little over the top and I’m not sure that is healthy for anybody. So we will continue to play, but I doubt we will continue to play each and every year.”

Wait, what? When I read Don Lucia’s comments last winter I thought those comments were over the top. I have learned that coach speak at times is tough to decipher at times and you have to be able to wade through some of it to actually figure out what their trying to say. This time it’s pretty evident.

What is Luica really saying? If I am reading his comments right, and I think I am, Lucia is saying in so many words, that he didn’t want to play UND in hockey for a few years because they [UND] have beaten us up pretty bad in the physicality department.

I can’t imagine Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves, Denver head coach George Gwozdecky or Nebraska Omaha head coach Dean Blais saying something like this. Honestly, does that not make you ask the question; what the heck is that?

If you think that I am being melodramatic this is like the Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma telling the Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette that his team doesn’t want to play the Flyers anymore because the games got a little rough.  

 Is Men’s Division I Hockey not a game played by men? College sports are about heated rivalries and at times rivalry games do get a bit out of hand. But so what?

Since the 2004-05 season, when Dave Hakstol took over the coaching duties the University of North Dakota has a 18-13-2 record against the University of Minnesota. All you have to do is go to YouTube and do a search of Sioux vs. Gophers and you will see hours of highlights of fights, dustups and handshake lines that have gone awfully wrong. One could liken the rivalry the feud between the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s.

But again; so what?

Finally, the UND and UMN series is one of the best rivalries in all of college sports. I agree with Coach Hakstol, “The rivalry, tradition and history is important.”  I also think the fans deserve to have this historic rivalry continue. Let’s hope the two schools can set aside their differences and get this done.

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.

UND 7-3-0 the last ten against UMD

This weekend the University of North Dakota takes on the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and I have noticed a few people that have said that UMD has a 5-6-1 record in the last twelve games against UND. That’s not the case that stat is incorrect… Here is a screen shot of the UND and UMD series from College Hockey News, you can see the record is 7-3 the last 10 games that the two teams have played. If you go further UND has a 7-5-1 record against UMD the last 13 games. [click to view UND game notes]

Since the 2002-03 season UND has a 23-9-3 record against the UMD Bulldogs.

Tweets of Silliness - Bettman wasn't two week Moratorium.

Daly: "Regardless of what we propose or how we suggest to compromise the answer is "no,"At some pt you have to say "enough is enough".
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 16, 2012

I really don't know why the two side can't come to an agreement and get a deal done. The NHL can't afford to lose another whole season. The NHL owners lead by one of the most unlikable people Gary Bettman is trying to break the player union or at least weaken it. If the season is lost, the blame in on the NHL Commissioner in my opinion.

Daly: "unfortunately, we have determined we are involved with Union leadership that has no genuine interest in reaching an agreement."
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 16, 2012

Series of Daly quotes on league initiated hiatus:"We have made repeated moves in the Players' direction with absolutely no reciprocation."
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 16, 2012

Sources have indicated Bettman floated the idea to NHLPA that both sides take 2 week moratorium.This has NOT been discussed further. #TSN
— Aaron Ward (@aaronward_nhl) November 16, 2012

#CBA Can confirm what @aaronward_nhl first reported, that Gary Bettman suggested to NHLPA's Don Fehr that two sides take 2-week moratorium
— Katie Strang (@KatieStrangESPN) November 16, 2012

My opinion: Bettman's 2 week moratorium makes no sense if he really wants a deal. Trying to burn calendar, put more pressure on players.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) November 16, 2012

57% is irrelevant now that both sides talking about principle of 50/50. NHLPA agreed to eliminate back diving deals. @globekpd
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) November 16, 2012

Related articles

• Did Bettman over play his hand? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

This sums it up well.

Jonathan Toews finally back to 100 percent

English: Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews during warm up prior to a National Hockey League playoff game against the Calgary Flames, in Calgary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is one person the lockout probably helped. Former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews suffered a concussion during the 2011-12 season and is now just finally getting back to normal.

Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune --- The Blackhawks captain wasn't 100 percent healed in July. Or October. In fact, it wasn't until late last week that Toews was convinced he's completely over the concussion that caused him to miss the final two months of the 2011-12 regular season before he returned in the postseason against the Coyotes.

While Toews was symptom-free and had cleared all the NHL-imposed concussion protocols before returning to the Hawks' lineup, there were lingering effects from the injury that even the 24-year-old center didn't realize were affecting him. They included balance and eyesight issues that were discovered and solved during a five-day stint at an Atlanta-area chiropractic neurology facility last week.

"Even if you don't feel something and you think you're symptom-free, there's probably still something there that's kind of hindering you and affecting the way your brain works," Toews told the Tribune on Wednesday. "It was just a lot of eye-movement things. My eyes didn't track very well. They didn't look from one target to the next very well. My balance with my eyes closed and my head turned a certain way was terrible. (There were) little things that I would think were normal because I didn't feel something in my head.

Regional site ticket packages now available for 2013 Championship

The Huntington Center, home arena of the Toledo Walleye (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The NCAA shouldn't be be shocked when the Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio is sparsely attended. Wow! I can't believe that the NCAA wants their regional games to be played in half empty arenas in town that aren't probably your first choice as a destination.

Three games for 75 dollars or two days of hockey is a bit steep in my opinion. 

Official Press Release... 

INDIANAPOLIS – Tickets for the 2013 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship regional rounds are now on sale.

The Northeast regional tickets, held at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., and hosted by New Hampshire, are available for $75. Start times for the first-round games are 4:30 and 8 p.m. ET on March 29, while the regional final is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on March 30.

Start times for the East regional at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., hosted by Brown will be 5:30 and 9 p.m. ET for the first-round games on March 30, with the regional final scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on March 31. Tickets for the three-game package are $75.

The Midwest regional at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, hosted by Bowling Green will have first-round start times of 1:30 and 5 p.m. ET on March 30, while the regional final will be 4 p.m. ET on March 31. Tickets for the three-game package are $75.

Tickets for the West regional at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich., hosted by Michigan are on sale for $60 until Dec. 31 and will then increase to $65. The first-round contests are at 2 and 5:30 p.m. ET on March 29, while the regional final is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on March 30.

Tickets for all sites can be purchased by visiting the respective arena box office, calling (800) 745-3000 or online atwww.NCAA.com/frozenfour. If any of the host schools are selected to participate in the 2013 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, they will be assigned to their host site. Times for all regional contests are subject to change.

Related articles

• ESPN Announces NCAA Hockey Regional TV Schedule (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Check out the UND Women's new black jerseys

UND women's hockey new black jerseys in! Check them out! twitter.com/UNDWHockey/sta…
— North Dakota WHockey (@UNDWHockey) November 15, 2012

The women's new black jersey's are similar to the ones that the UND Men's Hockey team wore last Saturday night against SCSU in Saint Cloud.

The team goes with the new black sweaters for the first time. @undmhockey twitter.com/PeterBottini/s…
— Peter Bottini (@PeterBottini) November 11, 2012

Related articles

• Michelle Karvinen Returning to UND Lineup (insidehockey.com)

UND: The Weekend Ahead (11/16-11-17)

The University of North Dakota entertains the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in an important two-game WCHA series this weekend at Ralph Englestad Arena on November 16 and 17.

North Dakota (4-3-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) #6 USCHO and #5 USA Today polls versus University of Minnesota Duluth (2-5-1, 0-3-1 WCHA)

Game times: 7:37 pm CT on Friday, 7:07 pm CT on Saturday.

Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

Webcast and Audio:  UNDSPORTS.COM  and UMD 94X 

TV: Midco Sports Network, FOX College Sports Central,

DirecTV 623 (Friday), DirecTV 608 (Saturday)

Series History: All-Time: UND leads the series against the Bulldogs 135-75-8 (.638), UND’s record against UMD in Grand Forks, ND – UND leads 75-31-2 (.704). UND’s record against UMD in Duluth, MN – UND leads 55-39-5 (.581). UND’s record against UMD at Neutral sites – Series tied 2-2-1 (.500). UND record against UMD the Last 10 games – UND leads 7-3-0 (.700) 

Players to Watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Danny Kristo (1g-6a—7pts), Rocco Grimaldi (3g-3a—6pts), Connor Gaarder (3g-3a—6pts), Mark MacMillan (3g-3a—6pts), Corbin Knight (2g-3a—5pts), Carter Rowney (2g-2a—5pts). Defense: Jordan Schmaltz (1g1a—2pts) Dillon Simpson (1g-2a—3pts), Andrew MacWilliam (0g-2a—2pts), Derek Forbort (2g-3a—5pts). Goaltenders: Clarke Saunders 3-2-1, 1.98 GAA, .931 save percentage, Zane Gothberg 1-1-0, 2.54 GAA, .902 save percentage.

University of Minnesota Duluth: Forwards: Mike Seidel (5g-4a—9pts), Tony Cameranesi (3g-4a—7pts), Austin Farley (2g-4a—6pts). Defense: Wade Bergman (0g-6a—6pts), Andy Welinski (1g-2a—3pts), Chris Casto (0g-2a—2pts). Goaltenders: Matt McNeely 1-3-1, 2.78 GAA, .892 save percentage, Aaron Crandall 1-2-0, 3.05 GAA, .898 save percentage.

UND Official Web Page

UMD Official Web Page

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers – Combine

Dillon Simpson from boy to polished defenseman… UND’s defensman steps up to make major impact on team.

Edmonton Oilers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is what I wrote for the Hockey Writers - Combine. 

University of North Dakota Junior defenseman Dillon Simpson accelerated his high school studies to come to UND at a very young age of 17 years old. His first season with UND, Simpson could have been attending high school with kids his own age instead of playing in a league full of 20 year old men.

Simpson was drafted in the fourth round, 92^ndover-all in the 2011 NHL entry level draft by the hometown Edmonton Oilers.

The Edmonton Oilers Hockey’s Future page

has Simpson listed as a project.

Simpson is a project in the purest sense. It’s unlikely he leaves school early, barring an incredible jump in production, so it won’t be clear where he fits for a couple years.

This season has kind of been a coming out party for the young defenseman.

This season, Simpson has shown us a peak of what we can expect from him in the weeks to come.

On the ice Simpson’s play oozes with confidence.

Head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say about Dillon Simpson’s play during the last series and more specifically last Saturday Night.

“I thought this past Saturday especially in a game where we weren’t happy with a lot of things – there were very many things that we did. I thought he was one guy that continued to play at a real efficient level. We’re happy with his play – he’s made a nice step forward from where he was as a sophomore and he has held that level of play at a pretty consistent level. So there have been a lot of positive signs for him.

Coach Hakstol on whether Dillon Simpson is physically stronger this season.

He’s stronger, he’s more mature, Hakstol said. You always have to remember that everyone’s body matures at a different age. But also, Dillon’s a junior but he just turned 19 years old, he’s a young junior. I think what we’re starting to see is some of that physical maturity starting to kick in and that combined with a lot of the hard work that he has put in over the last couple of years you’re starting to see the payoff of that added strength and improved conditioned levels and that usually leads to an improved level of consistent play.

Coach Hakstol was asked whether junior defenseman Dillon Simpson has improved dramatically from last season.

“Number one he [Simpson] is getting a little more opportunity,” Hakstol said. “But usually opportunity comes with performance. The two have a coincidently way of meeting in the middle. You perform well you tend to see more opportunity. I think it’s a combination of the two for Dillon, he has very good offensive instincts, that’s a hole that he jumped into obviously it’s part of the power playset up but it’s also a read from his stand point – he made a good read – he jumped into a hole and finished a play. That’s something that we hope to see more and more out of him, we hope to see more of his offensive talents coming through.”

I believe the sky is the limit with Dillon Simpson and as his play improves, his minutes increase and so does his points total.

In case you were wondering, Dillon is the son of former NHLer, Hockey Night in Canada television broadcaster and MSU Spartans Alumnus Craig Simpson.

Related articles

• Joey Holka check on Dillon Simpson (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Jordan Schmaltz hit on Drew Leblanc (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Slips Past UAA (insidehockey.com)
• UND third in CHN's Preseason Top 10 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• North Dakota Wednesday Press Conference notes. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Und 4 Uaa 1 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• North Dakota Wednesday Press Conference notes. (thehockeywriters.com)

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

We are now 7, that’s seven weeks into the college hockey season.  I noticed a few key zeros in the standings, as in, the Tigers are the only undefeated team in league play, and the Bulldogs and Seawolves are the only winless teams in the league.

WCHA STANDINGS 2012-2013

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

1. Denver…………..………5-1-0………...11
2. Nebraska-Omaha………4-1-1…….......9
3. Colorado College ……..4-0-0..….…….8
4. St. Cloud St………….…4-2-0………….8
5. Minnesota………………3-2-1………….7
6. North Dakota.………..…2-1-1…..……..5
7. Bemidji State……..…….1-2-1.……......3
7. Wisconsin…....…………1-2-1………....3
9. Alaska-Anchorage…......0-2-2….…..….2
9. Michigan Tech………….1-5-0…………2
9. Minnesota State………..1-5-0.….……..2
12. Minnesota-Duluth….….0-3-1…..…….1

WCHA Games

Michigan Tech @ Bemidji St.

Last weekend the Huskies had the weekend off and the Beavers were swept by the Tigers, 3-2 and 6-3, in Colorado Springs.

The Beavers have a chance this weekend to even their record or go above it.  The Beavers at 1-1-0 at the Sanford center this year, and the Huskies are 0-3-0 on road this year.  MTU started off winning two of three, but have since lost 5 in a row.  The Beavers haven’t played a home game in almost a month now, so I’m sure their fans are excited to see them return.  The Huskies have given up 5 goals in 3 of their last 4 games.  MTU needs to clamp down on the defensive zone and get some timely saves, if the hope to leave Bemidji with some points.  SPLIT

#2 Denver  vs  #14 Colorado College (home and home series)

Last weekend the Pioneers swept the MSUM Mavericks, 4-3 and 3-2, in Mankato and the Tigers swept the Beavers, 3-2 and 6-3, in Colorado Springs.

The quest for the Gold Pan starts this weekend in Colorado.  The Tigers will look to remain perfect in league play and take the top spot from their arch-rival Pioneers.  Meanwhile, DU will look to keep their counterparts below them in the standings and retain the top spot this weekend.  Also of note, CC is in the mist of playing 8 of 9 home games, before they enter a 8 of 10 on the road.  I know players’ emotions and fans feeling will be full of adrenaline this pre-Thanksgiving weekend.  I’m going with each home team winning.  SPLIT

Wisconsin @ #3 Minnesota

Last weekend the Badgers were resting up on a bye weekend and the Gophers took three points from the Seawolves, 4-0 and 2-2, in Anchorage.

The Badgers are undefeated on the road this year at 1-0-1 and the Gophers are undefeated at home 4-0-0, so something has to give, well unless they tie twice.  UW has scored just 11 goals in 5 total games, so just barely over 2gpg, whilst the Gophers have scored 31 goals in 9 games for a 3.4gpg.  If the Badgers want to get back across the border bootlegging some points they are going to have to either play perfect defense or get some timely/frequent goals.  SPLIT

Minnesota-Duluth @ #6 North Dakota

Last weekend the Bulldogs were swept by the UNO Mavericks, 3-2 and 6-3, in Omaha and NoDak split with the SCSU Huskies, 3-0 and 2-5, in St. Cloud.

The Bulldogs have been the surprise team so far in the league and not for the right reasons.  I didn’t think they would be at the bottom of the standings after four games.  UMD has scored only 7 goals in those 4 WCHA contests, and surrender only 13 goals against.  NoDak has scored 12 goals in their 4 league games and only given up 9.  The guys from Grand Forks have not lost a Friday night game this year, so they have given themselves chances for sweeps, but haven’t been able to cash in on Saturday night.  I say that changes this weekend.  NoDak Sweep

BYE WEEK

Alaska-Anchorage
Minnesota State
#18 Nebraska-Omaha
#15 St. Could St 

Michelle Karvinen makes her return against the Beavers...

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The UND women’s hockey fans got some much needed good news today, Michelle Karvinen their injured all-world forward will be making her season debut as she returns to the lineup this weekend when UND travels to Bemidji to take on the Bemidji State University Beavers in a Saturday and Sunday series at the Sanford Center.

Karvinen (24g-37a—61pts) has missed all 10 games that UND has played in this season because of an injury.

The UND Women’s Hockey team is ranked 10^th nationally and is currently sitting in 4^th place of the WCHA standings; has had trouble scoring goals this season, so Karvinen’s return to the lineup is a much needed boost for their lethargic offense; to date the UND Women have been outscored by their opponents 22-24.

Getting Karvinen back in the UND lineup is like getting a coveted player at the NHL trade deadline, her being in the lineup could be the spark that UND needs to make run in the second half of the season.

UND Women's head coach Brian Idalski had this to say, when asked about the status of his all-world junior forward Michelle Karvinen.

“Karvinen was cleared this morning,” Idalski said. “She practiced – she looks good – she will play this week.”

On getting Michelle Karvinen back in the lineup this weekend…

“Huge… I mean, she is definitely a threat not only with her skill but with her foot speed,” Idalski said. She’s kind of a kid who can slash in from the exterior and really get in the middle of the ice and push defensemen back. I think we have been lacking a little with that where people on their heels – keep them long and wide and she should open up the ice for more team mates here this weekend I believe.” 

Joey Holka check on Dillon Simpson

Back by popular demand. I apologize about the quality of this video, it was taken with my iPhone. This is the hit that SCSU forward Joey Holka put on UND defenseman Dillon Simpson at the 16:56 mark of the second period of Saturday night's game, Holka was given a 2 minute minor. This is one of these hits that are right on the line, it could be a five minute major but after reviewing the hit a few times, I am not so sure. What do you think?

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