Putting the final touches on this past weekend.

I never said UND wasn't good. I said they were wrong. That still stands.
— Brandon Veale (@redveale) December 16, 2012

During the summer of 2011 the college hockey world blew up with announcement of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, this was a response to the formation of the Big Ten Hockey Conference.  These new leagues will begin play in the 2013-14 season.

There are a lot of fans that are unhappy with what has transpired.

This is the last season, before the CCHA disbands and teams leave for the Big Ten Hockey Conference and the NCHC. I expect, as the season winds down that there will be more articles like “Last Minute of hate in this period/The Red Line” which was written by Brandon Veale Sports Editor of the Mining Gazette.

In retrospect, I wonder if Veale regrets writing that article or not. I think all he did was fire up the UND hockey team even more. In the post-game of last night’s game head coach Dave Hakstol said that the team was aware of the article and some of the chatter on twitter as well.

I understand why the fans of the Anchorage, Michigan Tech, Bemidji State, Northern Michigan, Lake State, Bowling Green State University, Mankato State and Fairbanks are mad. I think they have every right to be mad.

I attended BSU for two years before I transferred to UND; I even have a BSU Beaver tattooed to my right calf. So I feel a lot of empathy towards that school.

I wasn’t a big fan of splitting up existing leagues, I would have rather seen PSU join the CCHA and everything would have been alright.

Or would it?  Some of these money issues probably existed before the realignment issue came to bear.

I also think that some of this anger is misdirected. Someone was chirping me on twitter for the realignment, the first thing I said was don’t blame the fans of the various teams that are moving on, blame the school’s athletic directors.

Some teams in the WCHA saw an opportunity to start an old league and break away from the WCHA and it’s leadership.

What I do think is funny; is that DU and UND are the ones that are getting the majority of the blame in this matter; they’re seen by many fans as the two schools that blew up college hockey. PSU and the B1G schools get no blame what-so- ever. I don’t see Veale writing articles slamming Michigan or Michigan State, maybe he will later.

More power to PSU for starting a Division I college hockey team. Maybe just maybe, this will get the ball rolling so other schools will throw their hats in the ring and start college hockey teams. I am all for letting the CIS schools join the NCAA Division I ranks.

If you really think about it, the B1G and the NCHC schools are no different, they’re doing the same thing, but only one conference is getting the majority of the flak. While the other is getting a free pass. We can argue to were blue in the face but this is all about trying to make a buck, it's the American way.

College hockey is not immune to the issues that have driven realignment in division I basketball and football. I just hope the nWCHA doesn't end up being college hockey's Big East.

I think it’s going to be an interesting to see what transpires moving forward. I am not convinced that all of the realignment is totally finished. A lot can happen in 5-10 years.

@redveale How that your team was beaten 6-1 and 4-1 do you regret writing that drive by hit piece?
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) December 16, 2012

WCHA Power Rankings: 12/16/12

Here’s this week’s WCHA Power Rankings. This season, I will be doing the WCHA Power Rankings with Taylor Seibel who is a contributor of College Hockey Weekly.

In my opinion, the Denver Pioneers officially have hit rock bottom and are winless in eight games and are in a free fall. Again, I believe that you could swap any of the top four teams in the league as well.

This is the last power ranking until 2013. The WCHA Power Rankings will again resume on January 6, 2013 when teams will resume full league or nonconference action. Some of the teams in the WCHA will be off for three weeks.

1. University of North Dakota – (10-5-3, WCHA 7-2-3) – This past weekend, UND swept (6-1 W – 4-1 W) the Michigan Tech Huskies in Houghton, Michigan. UND is off till January 4-5 when the Green and White play nonconference foe Holy Cross at the Ralph Englestad Arena.

 2. Minnesota Gophers – (11-3-3, WCHA 6-3-3) – This past weekend, the Minnesota Gophers were off. The Minnesota Gophers return to action on December 29, 2012 when the Gophers host the Mariucci Classic. The Gophers will play Air Force Academy and Boston College in their annual tourney.

 3. Saint Cloud State – (11-7-0, WCHA 9-5-0) – This past weekend, the Huskies swept  (5-3 W – 3-1 w) the Colorado College Tigers at the National Hockey Center. The Huskies are off till December 27, 2012 when the Huskies will entertain nonconference ECAC foe Rensselaer in a two game series at the National Hockey Center.

 4. Nebraska Omaha – (11-6-1, WCHA 7-4-1) – This past weekend, the Mavericks split (3-6 L – 5-1 W) their weekend series with the Minnesota State Mavericks at the Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The Mavericks return to action on December 29, 2012 when the Mavericks travel to Hamden, Connecticut to play nonconference ECAC opponent the Quinnipiac Bobcats in an important two game series. The Bobcats are currently ranked sixth in the Pairwise Rankings so this matchup will have significant pairwise implications.

5. Minnesota State Mankato – (10-6-2, WCHA 8-6-0) – This past weekend, the Mavericks split (6-3 W – 1-5 L) their weekend series with University of Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks will return to action on December 29, 2012 when the Mavericks play in the UConn Hockey Classic in Storrs, Connecticut.

6. Denver University – (9-6-3, WCHA 7-4-3) – This past weekend, the Denver Pioneers took (1-1 T – 1-5 L) a single point from the Bemidji State Beavers at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, MN. The Pioneers will return to action on the December 29, 2012 when the Pioneers play a single game against the Boston University Terriers in the Hall of Fame Game. The Pioneers are currently mired in a horrid streak; they have not won in eight games (0-5-3) and have scored a total of nine goals in the six games.

7. Colorado College – (8-10-2, WCHA 5-6-1) – This past weekend, the Colorado College were swept (3-5 L – 1-3 L) by the Saint Cloud State Huskies at the National Hockey Center in Saint Cloud, MN. The Tigers are (1-7-2) in their last 10 games. The Tigers are off until January 4, 2013 when the Tigers travel to Omaha to play an important two game series against the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks.

8. Minnesota Duluth – (7-8-3, WCHA 5-6-3) – This past weekend, the UMD Bulldogs swept (5-1W – 2-1 W) their series against the University of Alaska Anchorage, in Anchorage Alaska. The Bulldogs are (5-2-1) in their last eight games. The Bulldogs return to action on December 28, 2012 when they travel to Estero, Florida to play Maine in the Florida College Classic tourney. Other teams that are participating in the Florida College Classic are Ferris State and Cornel. Since 2000, Maine has won the Florida College Classic six times.

9.  Bemidji State – (5-8-3, WCHA 4-7-3) – This past weekend, the Bemidji State Beavers took three points (1-1 T – 5-1 W) in their weekend series with the Denver Pioneers at Sanford Center in Bemidji, MN. The Beavers return to action on December 30, 2012 when they play Massachusetts in the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, NH.

10. Wisconsin – (4-7-5, WCHA 2-5-5) – This past weekend, the Badgers swept (5-0 W – 4-1 W) University of Alabama Huntsville in a two game nonconference series at the Kohl Center.  The Badgers return to action on January 4, 2013 when they travel to Anchorage, Alaska to play the UAA Seawolves.

11. Michigan Tech – (4-10-3, WCHA 3-8-3) – This past weekend, the Huskies were swept (1-6 L – 1-4 L) by the University of North Dakota at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Michigan. The Huskies return to action on December 29, 2012 when they play Michigan in the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit Michigan. The Huskies are winless in seven games (0-4-3).

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-9-4, WCHA 1-8-3) – This past weekend, the Seawolves were (1-5 L – 1-2 L) swept by the UMD Bulldogs at Sullivan Arena. The Seawolves return to action on January 4, 2013 when they entertain the Wisconsin Badgers at the Sullivan Arena. The Seawolves have won one game in the last 12 games (1-8-3).

Taylor Seibel’s WCHA Power Rankings

1. North Dakota – (10-5-3, 7-2-3 WCHA) – North Dakota swept Michigan Tech this weekend in convincing fashion, outscoring the Huskies 10-2 on the weekend.  With the sweep, North Dakota is now leading the WCHA in win%, and is just 1 point behind St. Cloud State with 2 games in hand.  Heading into Christmas, North Dakota is my favorite to take home the MacNaughton.

2. Minnesota – (11-3-3, 6-3-3 WCHA) – The Gophers did not play this weekend.  Minnesota has struggled at times this year, but has received strong goalie play from Freshman Adam Wilcox.  If Wilcox continues his success, Minnesota should make a charge to the top of the WCHA because one has to think that the Gophers will continue to improve offensively as the season progresses.

3. St. Cloud State – (11-7-0, 9-5-0 WCHA) – The Huskies swept Colorado College this weekend in WCHA action to vault to the top of the points race.  SCSU had to deal with some difficult injuries in the first half, and now that the squad is mostly healthy, the Huskies should have no problem staying at or near the top in the second half.

4. Nebraska Omaha – (11-6-1, 7-4-1 WCHA) – UNO split their series with Mankato this weekend, but still had a strong first half of the season.  With the top of the standings bunched up, UNO has a chance to make a run in the second half thanks to a schedule that sees the Mavericks play only 2 top-half teams (@ Denver, vs. North Dakota) in their last 16 games.

5. Minnesota State – (10-6-2, 8-6-0 WCHA) – Mankato split at Omaha this weekend, and has been very impressive thus far this season.  The Mavericks are in excellent position for home ice at the midway point.  Their second half schedule opens up quite a bit as well, as they only play one road game (@ Minnesota) and three home games (vs. Minnesota, vs. North Dakota) against top half competition.

6. Denver – (9-6-3, 7-4-3 WCHA) – Denver had another disappointing weekend, only taking 1 point against Bemidji.  The Pioneers are now winless in their last 8 games (0-4-4).  It won’t get any easier in the second half either, as Denver squares off against Omaha, SCSU, North Dakota, and Minnesota, in addition to another series with arch rival Colorado College.

7. Minnesota Duluth – (7-8-3, 5-6-3 WCHA) – The Bulldogs completed the sweep up in Anchorage this weekend, and are now on a nice streak going 5-2-1 after starting the season 0-4-2 in conference play.  Duluth only makes 3 trips in the second half of the season, and only has to leave the state of Minnesota once (@ CC).  All sets up well to give the Bulldogs a shot at home ice.

8. Colorado College – (8-10-2, 5-6-1 WCHA) – The Tigers were swept by SCSU this weekend.  CC has fallen significantly after sweeping Wisconsin and Bemidji State back in early November.  Since then, the Tigers are 1-7-2.  CC has a difficult second half schedule to boot including 9 road games, and 10 matches against top half teams.  Unfortunately for Tiger fans, it doesn’t appear as though CC has what it takes to get home ice this season.

9. Wisconsin – (4-7-5, 2-5-5 WCHA) – The Badgers may finally be back on the right track following a sweep of Alabama Huntsville.  Since the return of Nic Kerdiles to the lineup, the Badgers are 3-0-3.  Wisconsin faces a difficult test in the second half, playing 10 games against top half teams, but the outlook in Madison is a whole lot brighter than it was just three weeks ago.

10. Bemidji State – (5-8-3, 4-7-3 WCHA) – The Beavers took 3 points from a struggling Denver squad this weekend.  If Bemidji can get more consistent scoring, they are a team that can compete for home ice.  Unfortunately for Beaver fans, that scoring just has not been there this year.  With a second half schedule featuring 8 games against top half squads, it may be a long winter in Bemidji.

11. Michigan Tech – (4-10-3, 3-8-3 WCHA) – The Huskies were swept by North Dakota this weekend.  The first 17 games this season have been disappointing for the Tech faithful, many of whom (along with myself) thought that Tech would be a top half team.  The play just has not been there.  The Huskies play only 6 top half teams in the second half, all on the road, but perhaps with a strong GLI performance Tech will play better down the stretch.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-9-4, 1-8-3 WCHA) – The Seawolves were swept at home by Duluth this weekend.  While most thought UAA would be in this position at the beginning of the year, UAA had a relatively strong start to the season, scoring ties against North Dakota and Minnesota, and beating SCSU at home.  Since that win, UAA is 0-4-0, and has scored only 3 goals in that perio

Time to tweak the NCAA Division I Hockey Tourney

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, there was an November 29 article by Mark Bedics at NCAA.com and the chair of the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and current athletic director of Notre Dame Tom Nevala, would like to see the first round of the Men’s NCAA Division I hockey tourney moved on campus and have the games played at the home ice of the higher seed.

Our current setup provides a lot of challenges,” said Tom Nevala, chair of the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and senior associate athletics director at Notre Dame. “You need to find buildings that are neutral sites, have NHL ice and ideally are within close proximity to the host school’s fan base. Right now for the most part, we really need the host to qualify if we are going to have good attendance and atmosphere at our regionals. In an effort to increase attendance, the NCAA has been working with the hosts to try and make tickets more affordable but the nature of neutral sites and non-traditional game times works against us a bit.”

Although, there have been five fairly major format changes in the first 65 years of the tournament, there have been none in the last 20. The ongoing debate about championship format has become more active during the last couple years.

“Personally, I would like to see us move to an on-campus best-of-three series format for the first round,” Nevala said. “The top seeds would host regardless of size of its building. Right now we do it at the conference level and it works very well. There are upsets even with the home ice advantage and the atmosphere for everyone involved would be better. We have such great campus facilities that are such a part of the fabric of college hockey, it’s a shame that the national tourney isn’t played in them.”

I personally would welcome the change with open arms.

I would imagine something like this 1 versus 16, 2 versus 15, 3 versus 14, 4 versus 13, 5 versus 12, 6 versus 11, 7 versus 10, and 8 versus 9. This would protect the integrity of the NCAA Tourney; I would imagine that there would be some tweaks to avoid conference matchups during the first round of the playoffs, if possible.

Obviously, after the first round there would be eight teams left and you could play two regionals at predetermined locations.

This would seem a little fairer to me.

Apparently, a majority of Division I Hockey coaches would rather play in quiet half empty arenas that in some cases aren’t very attractive venues.

One of these less than attractive regional sites that immediately comes to mind is the 2010 Midwest Regional that was held in Fort Wayne, IN, where a whopping 7337 people attended three NCAA Midwest Regional games held on March 27 and 28, 2010.

Watching the Midwest Regional on television, you could see that regional was poorly attended and you had to ask; why? Seriously, why was that regional held in that location? All of the hockey arenas in the USA and the NCAA couldn’t do better option than that? Notre Dame could have hosted that tourney in Chicago or some other attractive location. Hence, the more logical idea of having the first round of the NCAA Division I Hockey tourney the on campus of the higher seeds.

In 2006, the University of North Dakota hosted a West Regional at the Ralph Englestad Arena and it was one of the best attended hockey regionals in NCAA Division I Hockey history when it drew 22,645 fans. For comparison sake, the 2006 regional outdrew the 2012 West Regional Championships that was held at the Xcel Energy Center drawing 20,360 fans.

Obviously, some teams aren’t going to be real excited about going to another teams building to play in the first round of the NCAA tourney but there needs to be an actual reward for getting a number one seed.

Most years, it wouldn’t make much difference if a number four seed played in the home building of a number one seed or played at a regional site; they’re lucky to be in the tourney and anyway you sliced it and they also deserve  play a game against a higher seeded team.

Also, why shouldn’t a higher seed be able to have the luxury of playing in their building with 11,500 of their screaming fans cheering them on. Why shouldn’t the better seed be rewarded for good play during the course of the season? Isn’t that what the NCAA is trying to do?

I am not so sure.

Is it fair for a team that is ranked number one over-all; have to fly half way across the country to Worcester, MA to face the Boston College Eagles in an arena that is 37.9 miles away from their campus. This happens on a very regular basis.

Make no mistake about it, the Eagles have been a great team over the last 10 seasons and they have the record to show for it.

But that being said, why should a number one seed from the west be rewarded with traveling to a regional championship where they have to play the Boston College Eagles in their home state a mere 40 miles away. There’s no way that you can convince me that’s a neutral site.

Maybe question should be; neutral site for who? In its present form the NCAA Division I Hockey tourney is awarding select teams the luxury of playing close to home more times than not. That’s hardly fair for all of the teams involved in the NCAA tourney.

That scenario has happened to the Miami University RedHawks twice in the last four years. In 2008, the Miami RedHawks traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts to face the Boston College Eagles and lost 4-3 in the Championship game – a great reward for finishing with the number one seed over-all.

Not Really!

In 2011, the number one seeded RedHawks would travel to Manchester, NH and this time they had to face the fourth seeded University of New Hampshire Wildcats who were playing a short 35 miles away from their campus, the top seeded RedHawks would again lose, to the host team the UNH Wildcats. Again, where was the reward for gaining the number one seed?

If you look at the schedule of the Boston College Eagles schedule over the last 10 season, they haven’t traveled very far very often. Here is a breakdown of that less than strenuous travel.

In 2003, the B.C. Eagles jumped on highway 95 and traveled a short 46.8 miles to play the Cornell Big Red in the East Regional, the Eagles would go on to lose 2-1 in double overtime.

In 2004, the B.C. Eagles traveled to Manchester, NH; a mere 60 miles up I-93 from the campus of Boston College to play the in the Northeast regional. The Eagles would advance to the Frozen Four where they would lose to Maine in the Semifinals.

In 2005, the B.C. Eagles would travel to Worcester, MA to play in the East Regional. The Eagles would lose to the University of North Dakota. To get to the Frozen Four the Fighting Sioux would have to go a mini Bean Pot Tourney beating both Boston University and Boston College to qualify for the Frozen Four, no easy task.

In 2006, the B.C. Eagles would again travel to the friendly confines of Worcester MA to play in the Northeast Regional and would advance to the Frozen Four where they would lose to NCAA Champion Wisconsin in the Championship game of the Frozen Four. (NCAA runner up)

In 2007, the B.C. Eagles traveled to Manchester, NH for the Northeast Regional, where they would again reach the Frozen Four before losing to NCAA Champion Michigan State in the Championship game of the Frozen Four. (NCAA runner up)

In 2008, the B.C. Eagles were back in Worcester, MA for the Northeast Regional where the Eagles would advance to the Frozen Four by beating both Minnesota and Miami. The Eagles would go on to win the NCAA title beating Notre Dame in the Championship game. (NCAA Champs)

In 2009, the B.C. Eagles missed the NCAA playoffs.

In 2010, the B.C. Eagles would again make the short 37.8 mile trip to Worcester, MA for the Northeast Regional were they would again advance to the NCAA Frozen Four where they would beat the Wisconsin Badgers in the Championship game. (NCAA Champs)

In 2011, the B.C. Eagles would finally travel outside of the Northeast to St. Louis MO, where the Eagles would get drubbed by the Colorado College Tigers 8-4 in the quarterfinals.

In 2012, the B.C. Eagles would again make a return to Worcester, MA to play in the Northeast Regional where they would advance to the Frozen Four and win the NCAA championship with a win in the championship game against Ferris State. (NCAA Champs)

So you can imagine that the Boston College Eagles would like to keep the status quo and keep going to regional held in Manchester, NH Providence, RI or Worcester, MA.

Obviously, the B.C. Eagles are a great hockey program and Jerry York is a great hockey coach but you can’t say that Boston College didn’t benefit from getting to play close to home where their fans travel no more than an hour to see their favorite teams play hockey.

This short travel is a huge advantage over the teams, especially the team in the west unless you’re the University of Minnesota who gets to enjoy the same luxury of getting to have a regional in their back yard virtually every other year.  The distance for the Gophers from their campus to the Xcel Energy Center is a short seven mile trip.

If you break this down, B.C. won three NCAA titles in five years and the year that they didn’t get to play close to their home they failed to make the NCAA Frozen Four and ended up losing in the first round.

What are we to make of that?

I also think that there are a certain handful of teams that benefiting from having the regionals championships in their back yards almost yearly at the expense of others.

The NCAA has announced that the 2013 Division I College Hockey regionals are going to be at Grand Rapids, Michigan, Manchester, New Hampshire, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island and Toledo, Ohio. The 2014 regionals will be held at Bridgeport, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Ohio, St. Paul, Minnesota. and Worcester, Massachusetts. Do you see a pattern here?

So I agree with Tom Nevala lets do a few tweaks to the NCAA Division I Hockey Tourney, the status quo doesn’t work for everyone.

UND; puting the final touches on the first half of the season

Last night, the University of North Dakota pounded the Michigan Tech Huskies 6-1 in the first game of an important two game WCHA series. This is the last game of 2012 before UND goes on a three week hiatus during the Christmas break.

I don’t know what I am going to do with a three week break from UND hockey, especially with the NHL Lockout which looks like it’s far from over.

A win tonight would be a good way to end the first half of 2012-13 season. UND will not return to the ice until they play Holy Cross in a two game series at the REA on January 4-5, 2013. I know right now, some are giggling when thinking forward to our next opponent. I did wonder myself if we’re going to see any UND fans sporting the Holy Cross Jersey’s in the stands during the first weekend in January. A few games back, one of my friends was actually wearing a Holy Cross jersey.

But I digress.

Like someone said on Twitter last night, the win against Tech was really nice especially after the moronic column by Brandon Veale, Sports Editor of the Mining Gazette. I really hope that UND beats them even more handedly tonight again. In my opinion, that article was unneeded and what was the point.  

I get the fact that there are a lot of people that are upset about the impending college hockey realignment and the effects that it might have on the teams left in the WCHA going forward, but the fans didn’t have any say in the matter and I think some of that anger is misdirected. I have had a few people make comments to me about the NCHC on Twitter. Don’t blame me I am just a fan like the rest of you.

To be honest with you, I am kind of excited about the NCHC going forward – the prospects of playing teams like Miami and Western Michigan do intrigue me – I am also going to miss the traditional WCHA matchups as well – these are the games against Mankato, Michigan Tech, Bemidji – these are some of my favorites opponents. I would imagine that the UND coaching staff will continue to play these teams; I know the BSU matchup is going to happen as early as next season with UND and BSU playing in a home and home series.

If UND can sweep the Huskies tonight, it will put them in good position going into the second half of the season. UND is two points out of first place with two games in hand on the teams ahead of them in the standings; DU, MSU-M and SCSU.

This year’s version of UND hockey hasn’t lost during the month of December and has a record of 3-0-1 during that time period and has outshot their opponents in 192/135 in the last five games.

During the month of December, UND has scored 17 goals during that same time frame and only give up 8 goals.

Senior forward Corban Knight has been smoking hot as of late; he also has (7g-14a—21pts) in the 16 games this season and he is currently on a 12 game point streak. Knight also leads the team in points and is also a team leading +9. It would appear that Knight’s final crescendo is going to be a masterpiece.  

Senior defenseman Joe Gleason has also been on fire and has scored (1g-4a—5pts) in the last six periods of hockey that he has played in. Since being a healthy scratch on November 17, 2012 Gleason has been solid on the blue line (2g-4a—6pts).

A couple of tweets - Open thread...

Danny Kristo's assist was his 125th career point, tying Dan Brennan for 43rd all-time at UND. Chay Genoway (127), Troy Murray (129) up next.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

#mtuhky vs. North Dakota Friday hockey lineups, with David Johnstone IN and Blake Hietala OUT: twitter.com/steander/statu…
— Stephen Anderson (@steander) December 14, 2012

Corban Knight's first period: 1 even-strength goal, 1 power-play assist, +1, 5-of-6 on faceoffs.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

NHLPA Statement Regarding NHL’s Complaint and Unfair Labour Practice Chargenhlpa.com/news/nhlpa-sta… via @nhlpa
— Spector's Hockey (@SpectorsHockey) December 15, 2012

“The NHLPA has just received a copy of the National Labor Relations Board charge and has not yet been served with the lawsuit....
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) December 15, 2012

“The NHLPA has just received a copy of the National Labor Relations Board charge and has not yet been served with the lawsuit....
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) December 15, 2012

Joe Gleason with a PPG to make it 3-1 UND with 9:45 left in the 2nd. Knight, Simpson the assists. Great hold by SImpson at the line.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

Danny Kristo and Mark MacMillan work a lovely 3x2 rush, with MacMillan converting to put UND up 4-1 with 3:43 left in the second.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

Corban Knight has tied Ken Purpur, Art Miller and former teammate Chris VandeVelde for 58th on UND's career scoring list with 117 points.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

Second assist goes to Joe Gleason. Gleason's third career 3-point game.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

Also, #mtuhky 1st and 2nd line centers, Khaira and J. Johnstone, getting owned in faceoffs: 3-of-16.
— Stephen Anderson (@steander) December 15, 2012

Also worth nothing that Knight has won 12 of 16 draws tonight.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 15, 2012

Second intermission Knight stats: 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points, +3, 12-4 in draws.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) December 15, 2012

UNO and Mankato tied up at one after the first period.Photo from @chrismachian #OMavsHockey twitter.com/OWHmavs/status…
— World-Herald Mavs (@OWHmavs) December 15, 2012

Updated; National Hockey Televison Schedule

This season I have tried to keep a running national college hockey television schedule. With the SCSU vs. C.C. game being added to Altitude’s line up, I updated this television schedule.

Fri.	Dec. 14		UAH at Wisconsin	FS Wisconsin	7:07 p.m.	652
Fri.	Dec. 14		Miami at Ohio State	BTN	7 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Dec. 14		Western Michigan at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Dec. 15		Colorado College vs. Saint Cloud	Altitude Sports	7:07 p.m.	681
Thu.	Dec. 27		Michigan State vs. Western Michigan	FS Detroit	3:30 p.m.	663/430
Thu.	Dec. 27		Michigan vs. Michigan Tech	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Dec. 28		GLI Third-Place Game	FS Detroit	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Dec. 28		GLI Championship Game	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Dec. 29		Air Force at Minnesota	FS North +	7:05 p.m.	657/444
Sat.	Dec. 29		Boston University at Denver	ROOT Sports	9:00 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Dec. 30		Boston College at Minnesota	FS North +	7:05 p.m.	657/444

Updated; Approaching Christmas Break...

This afternoon, I updated the numbers from a post that Jayson Hajdu did last season at around this time, looking at Coach Hakstol’s teams before Christmas break and then the coach’s record after the Christmas Break. I think the record speaks for itself. With UND outshooting their opponents 154/90 in the last four games, it would appear that UND is getting things going.

2004-05: 13-7-2 (.636) - 12-8-3 (.587)
2005-06: 12-7-1 (.625) - 17-9-0 (.654)
2006-07: 7-10-1 (.417) - 17-4-4 (.760)
2007-08: 8-6-1 (.567) - 20-5-3 (.768)
2008-09: 9-8-1 (.528) - 15-7-3 (.660)
2009-10: 9-6-3 (.583) - 16-7-2 (.680)
2010-11: 13-5-2 (.700) - 19-4-1 (.813)
2011-12: 9-8-1 (.528) - 17-5-2 (.750)
2012-13: 9-5-3 (.617) - ?
Totals 89-62-16 (.557) - 133-49-18 (.710)

Friday Links.

Good morning from snowy Grand Forks, ND. The holiday season is upon us and soon UND men’s and women’s hockey will be getting ready for the stretch drive.

As some of you know, Brandon Veale of the Mining Gazette put his moronic spin on the formation of the NCHC.  In my opinion, I believe that that article was really unnecessary, and basically give the Houghton newspaper a black eye... If you watched the video of the Wednesday press conference you will see that

UND head coach Dave Hakstol was very complimentary of MTU and I also think that UND will continue to play the teams like BSU, MSUM and MTU after UND leaves the WCHA for the NCHC. 

With the formation of the NCHC and the B1G there are some teams in the new WCHA that are already starting to see the pinch finically. Jack Hittnger of the Bemidji Pioneer lays out BSU’s problems that the Bemidji State is currently experiencing.

As most you would expect Chris Dilks of Western College Hockey goes down the same road as Brandon Veal of the Mining Gazette. I guess he feels if he insults UND fans that we will flock to his blog. I am disappointed because UND has done a lot to help out the small market teams, UND traveled to Bemidji before they were a member of the WCHA and they will continue to play BSU after they leave for the NCHC.

Chad from A Tradition of Excellence has his links up this morning.

Here are my series notes from the Hockey Writers Combine; UND vs. Michigan Tech.

Joe Paisley and Tyler Buckentine from USCHO have their weekly picks up.

Stephen Anderson of the Mining Gazette has his series preview.

I am glad that this guy de-committed from UND to play in the OHL.

According to Joe Paisley, Altitude Sports is going to broadcast Saturdays C.C. game. That game should be on 681 on DirecTV.

More NCHC Hate

Michigan Tech logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What an awesome idea, insult a whole fan base travels well before they show up and spend money in your hometown.

I actually expected to read more poorly written  editorials like this during the final year of the WCHA as we know it today, but we haven’t so far. Why write this now?

First off, if you’re going to attack someone you should have saved your ire for the Wisconsin Badgers athletics department. Wasn’t Barry Alvarez one of the big cheer leaders of the B1G? Without the Big Ten Hockey Conference none of this would probably ever happened.

Brandon Veale; DMG Sports Editor --- You can probably bet on this being the last time UND slums around here, thanks to they and the rest of the band of mutineers that formed the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. You may remember the NCHC as the league formed to avoid undesirable (and more importantly, untelevised) trips to places like Houghton, Mankato and Anchorage and replace them with occasionally televised places like Oxford, Ohio and Kalamazoo.

They're very excited about this, as the NCHC is already sending out regular releases on each future member's progress, even though league play doesn't begin until next season. It's a job Winston from the book would be proud of.

I'm sure everyone the television industry is beating the door down to go to Grand Forks in January to show the Fighting _____ play Western Michigan, though I wouldn't mind seeing how they're going with uninstalling all the _____ logos paid for, and demanded by, Ralph Engelstad's hard-earned casino money.

First, I don’t have anything against Michigan Tech and appreciate their school and their hockey program so this isn't directed at their team. I have met many great Michigan Tech fans and have enjoyed interacting with their fans during the Final Fives.

Last year, during the Final Five I had a 0:300 am breakfast at Mickey’s Diner in Saint Paul with a Gopher fan, two Tech fans and two other UND hockey fans that I know and the general theme was we’re were going miss days like this when our favorite teams all go different directions in 2013-14.

That being said, this sports column was hardly needed.

Like I have said a few times, the fans are hardly to blame when it comes to College Hockey re-alignment; we had no choice in this matter. These types of conference decisions are made by people in athletic departments that are supposed to be a lot smarter than the rest of us. I don't remember them asking any of us for our feed back when they made these decisions either.

I have always told people if you’re unhappy with the formation of the NCHC send the people that made this happen an email or letter. That’s where your anger should be focused.

Lastly, I also don’t think that it’s necessary to take shots at a dead benefactor. What’s the point? I don’t know any college hockey program that would have turned down a 100,000,000.00 donation/gift to build a hockey arena. Ralph Englestad Arena has been a God send to UND, and helps recruit some the best hockey players in college hockeys. I am just shocked there wasn't a Nazi reference in there. I mean seriously, Ralph Englestad has been dead since November 26, 2002 but yet the hateful comments never cease, ten years later.

Related articles

• Former Gophers Andy Brink's thought's on college hockey and the WCHA (thehockeywriters.com)
• WCHA Issues One-Game Suspension to Wisconsin's Little (ndgoon.blogspot.com)