USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll; UND stays at 7.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

January 07, 2013

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Minnesota	(38)	13- 3-3	979	1
2	Notre Dame	( 8)	14- 4-0	915	3
3	Boston College	( 1)	12- 3-2	914	2
4	New Hampshire	( 1)	13- 3-2	854	4
5	Quinnipiac	( 2)	16- 3-2	812	5
6	Miami		12- 4-4	731	6
7	North Dakota		12- 5-3	707	7
8	Boston University		11- 6-0	636	9
9	Denver		12- 6-3	607	11
10	Western Michigan		12- 5-3	568	10
11	Minnesota State		14- 6-2	440	14
12	Dartmouth		8- 5-2	420	8
13	Nebraska-Omaha		13- 8-1	397	16
14	Yale		7- 4-3	290	17
15	Cornell		7- 6-2	264	12
16	Union		9- 6-4	231	13
17	Niagara		11- 3-4	210	18
18	St. Cloud State		12-10-0	166	15
19	Colgate		11- 7-2	125	NR
20	Massachusetts-Lowell		9- 7-1	64	NR
Others receiving votes: Robert Morris 61, Ferris State 50, Lake Superior 26, Holy Cross 20, Michigan Tech 4, Providence 4, Northern Michigan 3, Mercyhurst 2.

(Updated) How some of us voted..

Here is some of us voted for the TECH Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll.

Matthew Semisch, Radio Free Omaha

1.  Nebraska Omaha

2. Minnesota

3. North Dakota

4. Denver

5. St. Cloud

6. Minnesota State

7. Wisconsin

8. Minnesota Duluth

9. Michigan Tech

10. Colorado College

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

Andy Johnson, Bucky’s Fifth Quarter

1. UMTC

2. UND

3. UNO

4. Mankato

5. Denver

6. SCSU

7. UW

8. UMD

9. C.C.

10. TECH

11. Bemidji

12. UAA

Troy Mills, Beaver Pond

1. UNO

2. Minnesota

3. North Dakota

4. Minnesota State

5. Denver

6. St. Cloud

7. Minnesota-Duluth

8. Wisconsin

9. Colorado College

10. Bemidji State

11. Michigan Tech

12. Alaska-Anchorage

Eric J. Burton, Goon’s World.

1. UMN

2. UND

3. DU

4. Minnesota State

5. UNO

6. SCSU

7. Saint Cloud

8. Wisconsin

9. Minnesota Duluth

10. Colorado College

11. Bemidji State

12. Alaska Anchorage

I have had a few people ask me why UNO isn’t higher… UNO is 4-5 in their last 9 games and are 4-7 against teams that are under consideration (TUC).  The reason that I have Minnesota State above UNO is that the Mavericks has lost one game in 12 games  (11-1-0) and split with UNO as well.


Tim Braun, Tech Hockey Guide

1. Minnesota

2. UND

3. UNO

4. SCSU

5. MSU-M

6. DU

7. MTU

8. UMD

9. CC

10. UW

11. BSU

12. UAA

WEEK 13 WCHA POWER RANKINGS

Here is the week 13 WCHA Power Rankings. This season, I have been doing the WCHA Power Rankings with Taylor Seibel who is a contributor of College Hockey Weekly.

In my humble opinion, there are two tiers that are starting to emerge in the WCHA. You have the first tier; this is the top six teams that all have at least 12 wins in their over-all record. You also have your bottom six teams, this is the second tier. These teams all have eight or less wins. Also, all but Minnesota and North Dakota have played 14 league games.

1. Minnesota Gophers – (13-3-3, WCHA 6-3-3) – This past weekend, the Minnesota Gophers were off. This Tuesday, the Gophers will play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a single nonconference game at Marriucci Arena. This game has significant Pairwise Ranking implications for Minnesota and the rest of the WCHA, because the WCHA has a 10-15-1 record the CCHA. The Gophers also entertain the UAA Seawolves in a two game WCHA series.

2. University of North Dakota – (12-5-3, WCHA 7-2-3) – This past weekend, UND Swept their (5-2 W – 3-2 w) nonconference series against Holy Cross at Ralph Englestad Arena. This weekend, UND entertains Colorado College at the Ralph Englestad Arena in an important two game conference series.

3. Denver University – (12-6-3, WCHA 7-4-3) – This past weekend, the Denver Pioneers swept (5-1 W – 2-1 W) by ECAC foe Cornell in a nonconference series in Magness Arena. This weekend, the Pioneers entertain the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks in an important two game series at Magness Arena.

4. Minnesota State Mankato – (14-6-2, WCHA 8-6-0) – This past weekend, the Mavericks swept  (4-3 O.T. W – 4-0 W) Hockey East Foe Providence at the Verizon Wireless Center, in Mankato, Minnesota. This weekend, the Mavericks entertain the Wisconsin Badgers in a two WCHA series at the Western Wireless Center. The Badgers will be looking to avenge an earlier sweep by the Mavericks at the Kohl Center, in Madison, Wisconsin.

5. Nebraska Omaha – (13-8-1, WCHA 9-4-1) – This past weekend, the Mavericks swept (8-4 W – 3-1 W) the Colorado College Tigers at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. This weekend, the Mavericks travel to Denver to play the Pioneers in an important two game WCHA series.

6. Saint Cloud State – (12-10-0, WCHA 9-5-0) – This past weekend, the Huskies were swept (2-6 L – 1-2 L) by Northern Michigan, in a two game nonconference series at the National Hockey Center. This weekend, the Huskies are off.

7. Michigan Tech – (6-10-3, WCHA 3-8-3) – This past weekend, the Huskies were off. This weekend, the Michigan Tech Huskies travel to Duluth, Minnesota play the Bulldogs in a two game WCHA series at the Amsoil Arena.

8. Wisconsin – (6-7-5, WCHA 4-5-5) – This past weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers swept (5-3 W – 1-0 W) a very bad UAA Seawolves team at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage Alaska. This weekend, the Badgers travel to Mankato to play the Minnesota State Mavericks in a pivotal two game WCHA series. While some want to declare the Badgers a team on the rise, they have beaten one team from the upper part of the standings (Denver) this season. True, Wisconsin has won four games in a row but they have played UAA and UAH two teams with a combined record of 4-27-5.

9. Minnesota Duluth – (7-10-3, WCHA 5-6-3) – This past weekend, the Bulldogs were off. This weekend, The Bulldogs entertain the Michigan Tech Huskies at Amsoil Arena in a two game WCHA conference series.

10. Colorado College – (8-12-2, WCHA 5-8-1) – This past weekend, the Colorado College Tigers were swept (4-8 L – 1-3 L) by the Nebraska Omaha Mavericks. This weekend, the Tigers travel to Grand Forks, ND to play UND in an important two game WCHA series.  The Tigers come to Grand Forks mired in a horrible slump; the Tigers have one win in the last 12 games (1-9-2). The Tigers are also winless in the last seven games.

11. Bemidji State – (5-11-4, WCHA 4-7-3) – This past weekend, the Beavers recorded a tie (0-6 L – 2-2 T) in their nonconference series against the Western Michigan Broncos. This weekend, the Beavers are off.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-11-4, WCHA 1-10-3) – This past weekend, Seawolves were swept (3-5 L – 0-1 L) by the Wisconsin Badgers at the Sullivan Arena. This weekend, the Seawolves travel to Minnesota to play the Gophers in a two game series at Marriucci Arena. The Seawolves are mired in horrible streak and have won one game in the last 14 games (1-10-3).

Taylor Seibel Power Rankings

1. North Dakota – (12-5-3, 7-2-3 WCHA) – North Dakota swept their non-conference series with Holy Cross, dominating Friday in a 5-2 victory before coming back for a 3-2 win on Saturday.  UND hosts Colorado College in WCHA play next weekend.

2. Minnesota – (13-3-3, 6-3-3 WCHA) – The Gophers did not play this weekend, but they have a huge non-conference game against Notre Dame on Tuesday.  Following the midweek matchup with the Irish, Minnesota hosts Alaska Anchorage in WCHA play.

3. Denver – (12-6-3, 7-4-3 WCHA) – The Pioneers may be over the mid-season swoon, as DU swept Cornell in non-conference play this weekend.  Denver hosts Nebraska Omaha in a key WCHA series next weekend.

4. Minnesota State – (14-6-2, 8-6-0 WCHA) – Another week, another sweep.  The Mavericks are on fire right now, having won 11 of their last 12 games.  Next weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers travel to Mankato.

5. Nebraska Omaha – (13-8-1, 9-4-1 WCHA) – Following a disappointing weekend in Connecticut, UNO responded with a sound sweep of the CC Tigers in conference action this weekend, vaulting these Mavs to the top of the WCHA standings.  Next weekend, UNO travels to Denver.

6. St. Cloud State – (12-10-0, 9-5-0 WCHA) – The Huskies are on a slide of late, as they were swept at home by Northern Michigan of the CCHA.  SCSU is 1-3-0 in their last 4 since Christmas.  They are off next weekend.

7. Wisconsin – (6-7-5, 4-5-5 WCHA) – Wisconsin swept WCHA foe Alaska Anchorage this weekend to extend their unbeaten streak (that unsurprisingly corresponds to when star forward Nic Kerdiles joined the team) to 8 games (5-0-3), including a 4 game winning streak.  Wisconsin travels to Mankato next weekend for a key WCHA series for the Badgers.

8. Michigan Tech – (6-10-3, 3-8-3 WCHA) – The Huskies were off this weekend.  Tech looks to continue their winning ways following their GLI championship next weekend as the Huskies travel to Minnesota Duluth in WCHA play.

9. Colorado College – (8-12-2, 5-8-1 WCHA) – The Tigers were swept again in WCHA play this weekend at Omaha.  CC has struggled mightily of late, winning just once in their last 12 games, going 1-9-2 in that stretch.  Next weekend, the Tigers travel to North Dakota in WCHA play.

10. Minnesota Duluth – (7-10-3, 5-6-3 WCHA) – The Bulldogs were off this past weekend, but hope to right the ship following a disappointing performance in the Florida College Classic.  Next weekend, the Bulldogs host Michigan Tech in WCHA action.

11. Bemidji State – (5-11-4, 4-7-3 WCHA) – The Beavers hosted CCHA power Western Michigan this weekend, but only managed a loss and a draw against the Broncos.  Next weekend Bemidji is off.

12. Alaska Anchorage – (3-11-4, 1-10-3 WCHA) – UAA hosted Wisconsin this weekend, but the Seawolves came away with no points, getting swept for their third consecutive series, this time by the Badgers.  Next weekend, UAA travels to Minnesota to take on the Gophers in WCHA play.

So the NHL wants us back... (RW77)

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So the NHL is back with pretty much a joke of a season...but wait!

They have to get all those players back...  Will they succeed?  I'm not sure everyone will return.  There has to be concern that injuries may take control and there is no room to develop talent and anything that makes a team a team.  It's basically the ultimate scramble tournament format.  Who can get started fastest and play the best the quickest.  That's the test.

What does the NHL need to do to get the fans back?

Barry Melrose talks about how the fans always come back after a work stoppage, but I am hoping that they do come back... next season.  I think the fans should sit back and watch what the teams and the league does to try to earn our support back.  Here's a list of things that should be done:

1.  You know NHL Center Ice?  Yup.  Free for the season, playoffs, and ALL of preseason next year.  If they do anything for the offseason, that's free too.

2.  NHL Network - Free view for the same period of time NHL Center Ice is free (if possible... this might be more on the cable providers than NHL Network itself).

3.  The Players become available more than ever before.  ENDLESS autograph signings, school visits, community outreach programs, volunteer sightings.

4.  Promotion nights fall on EVERY GAME IN THE SEASON.  Teacher in the metro area?  Show us your ID and get $5 tickets!  Military?  FREE tickets to you and $5 tickets for one friend or nonmilitary family member with the display of a Military ID.  Civil Servant Night (see Teacher Night).  Got a hockey team of 12 year olds or younger?  Call ahead for seating and your entire team gets $1 tickets (Coach goes free) when they show up wearing their jerseys!

5.  Radio promotions - Give away ticket packs to the local radio stations

6.  The average ticket prices for NHL games (per Hooked on Hockey Magazine) for the 2011-12 season ranged between just under $30 (Dallas) to just over $123 (Toronto).  Well....  Dallas residents can look forward to $15 tickets.  I can see a Detroit game in Detroit for $25 (regularly $53.28).  Toronto residents still overpay at $61.50 per ticket but still...  Season tickets would be restructured to accommodate for the loss of games either by making this season tickets cost less than 50% of normal cost or discounting next year's season tickets by, say, 40% (I don't know....  either way it should be SIGNIFICANTLY discounted).

You cannot change existing TV contracts so unfortunately there is no free TV showings outside of what's mentioned but if it was possible, I'd do it.

I'd love to say Gary Bettman resigns but the smug so and so survives yet again to pull another work stoppage in 8 years.  You can market Sidney Crosby all you want but Gary Bettman is the face of the NHL and NO ONE outside of the ownership likes him.  What a better image saver than to offer Bettman early retirement?  The owners will never fire him, but surely Bettman could take the golden parachute and have roses pave his way back to obscurity if the League really cared about fan opinion (but they don't).

In any case, we'll see how things pan out but...  It's now or never for Columbus' Stanley Cup hopes.  :D

(Video) Highlights from the weekend. UND vs. HC

Here is the video from this weekend's games between the University of North Dakota and the Holy Cross Crusaders.

Danny Kristo is the leading active NCAA player with (52g-82a—134pts). After the game last night, Kristo was upset with his play and his line mates play as well. “Personally, I think our line was very below average for the game,” Kristo said. “I thought that all three of us were below average and didn’t play very well. But I guess we scored two big goals in the third period to help us contribute to the win. So that’s a positive you know. Big time players like that got to step up and be better in a 60 minute period so.” If last night was a bad game for Kristo and their line mates, the rest of the league is in big trouble.

Related articles

• Knight's four points leads UND past Holy Cross 5-2 (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND: The Weekend Ahead (01/04-01/05) (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND completes the sweep with late goal from Danny Kristo (thehockeywriters.com)

Cornell's Mike Schafer sounds off on WCHA officials

You have to wonder what kind of a fine that Cornell head coach Mike Schafer will garner after his postgame comments on the WCHA Officials. I think the WCHA would be well served to move on.

“I’m looking at the sheet now, and we’re the ones that were assessed all the penalties,” said Schafer. “You’re supposed to hold your guys at the end of the game. That obviously didn’t happen. It’s just really disappointing on the calls. … It’s disgusting. That’s all you can say. I won’t come back to the WCHA.”

 

Here is the link to the video of the postgame comments by coach Schafer.

I wonder if Cornell will play against the NCHC teams in their home buildings? I hope they do, they’re a great college hockey program with a great hockey history and they have a fired up fan base as well.

You know Mike, I have to agree that there is some horrible officiating in the WCHA over the last 3-5, in my opinion I have seen examples of absolutely brutal officiating. Being armed with a new DVR+ recorder, I am going to give examples that I see along the way as well. The quality of officiating has to be addressed in college hockey.

The fans and the players deserved better. In looking at the box score from the game I have never heard of these two guys, Chris Perrault, Johnathan Morrison.   

So what do you think of Schafer's comments? Do  you think he is out of line?

After 113 days NHL Lockout is over… Yay!

I woke up this morning to find out that the winter of discontent is over; the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to sign a new CBA, according to Minnesota Wild beat writers Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

"We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement," Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a joint news conference with NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr at 5:45 a.m. ET. "The details have to be put to paper. ... It's good to be at this point."

Do you hear that? Yay! The NHL lockout over! The NHL will no longer be the No Hockey League. I suppose now the NHL will try very hard to win back the millions of fans that they upset and too for granted. If the reports that I have been reading are correct, the new deal is for 10 years with a mutual opt-out after eight years.

So we shouldn’t have to go through another lockout until the 2021 season. Winning back the fans that they took for granted is not going to be an easy task, especially in this economy. Many fans will stay home and watch the game on NHL Center ice or get the games through their regional sports channels. I can say many.

Now the NHL teams have to fish their players out of the different European hockey leagues, especially the KHL.

The Kontinental Hockey League was a favoured (sic) destination, especially with the Russians as Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk were among that league's scoring leaders, just as they usually are in the NHL. [TSN.CA]

So basically, for 113 days the NHLPA and the NHL owners who acted like a bunch of spoiled children. Finally got to work and signed a deal. This should have been done last summer. I think the fact that the NHL owners put that ridiculous proposal out in September, kind of slowed things down and polarized the two sides.


Now the NHL wants us back. I think they have one hell of a marketing job to do. It’s not going to be easy getting some of the casual fans back into the NHL arena’s to watch the games. The NHL had a lot of mojo after last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and they squandered that momentum.

There might be some people that don’ want to spend that $70.00 - $200.00 to see a national hockey league game. I spent $70.00, for lower bowl seats the last time that I went to a Minnesota Wild game in March of 2011.

Honestly, I will be back watching the game from my living room, and I can’t wait to see the Boston Bruins play hockey again. I can’t wait to watch my Bruins smash P.K Subban and the Canadians again, but I am still angry.

I can’t wait to watch the Brad “Little Ball of Hate” Marchand’s antics as he drives the opposition fans and players nuts. I already have a shot across the bow to one of my buddies that hates Marchand.

Lastly, I still think that the Vancouver Canucks led by the Sedins Twins and Alex Burrows are still a bunch of diving frauds.

UND completes the sweep with late goal from Danny Kristo

Grand Forks, ND – Last night UND had a 2-0 lead before Holy Cross had their first shot on UND’s net. Tonight, the start to the game was very different. UND came out of the gates and didn't have the energy that they had the night before.

Last night, where there was time and space to move around, tonight’s game was more of a grind it out game. Michael Parks agreed. “It was definitely tighter checking tonight,” Parks said. It was pretty evident in the first two periods. I don’t think we were expecting that and we came out a little light. We listened to the coach and changed the game plan a little bit in the second intermission and picked it up.”

You have to also give credit where credit is due – the Crusaders came out in the first period and were on top of the Green and White – they were hard to play against and clogged things up. The Crusaders also were getting in the shooting lanes and taking away UND’s time and space and it looked like Holy Cross was going pull another big upset in the Ralph Engelstad arena.

The Crusaders beat UND at their own game for most of the first period.

That energy carried the Crusaders for the first 14-15 minutes of the period, as they raced to an early 2-0 lead with an power play and and even strength goal from forwards Brandon Nunn and Rob Linsmayer.

During the latter part of the first period, the momentum started to turn in UND’s favor. UND found their legs and they started making plays and generating chances and started to take the game away from Holy Cross.

That’s kind of the way that the head coach Dave Hakstol saw it as well. “We had to work our way into this game," Hakstol said. “Last night, I thought we came out on our toes at the drop of the puck. But tonight we had to work our way into it. That took 10 minutes. The fact that we ended up down 2-0 by that point in time, we had to jolt ourselves into the game.”

Then in the waning minutes of the first period, the energy line of Dan Senkbeil, Steph Pattyn and Colten St. Clair had a great shift and generated a great cycle in the Holy Cross end. That shift set the tone and UND would score at the 19:00 minute mark with a hardworking, ugly goal from sophomore forward Conner Gaaarder.

There was no scoring in the second period, but UND did generate a lot of scoring opportunities down low and spent most of the second period in the Holy Cross end of the rink. However, UND was unable to cash in on numerous grade “A” opportunities. UND outshot the Crusaders 13-2 in the second period.

At the 04:15 mark of the third period, UND would tie the game at 2-2 with a goal by Michael Parks on the power play. Assisting on the Parks power play goal was Corban Knight who extended his point’s streak to 15 games.

Danny Kristo would score the game winning goal for UND on a power play at the 14:37 mark of the third period. 3-2 UND. Assisting on the Kristo goal was Corban Knight and Joe Gleason. UND would outshoot the Crusaders 14-10 in the third period.

With the two assists tonight, Knight now has (10g-19a—29pts). Tonight, Knight also continues his torrid streak in the faceoff circle – where he was an impressive 21-3. Knight was also 31-9 in the faceoff circles for the series. Per UND Sports Information Director Jayson Hajdu, Knight now sits at 60.2% on the season, on pace to break his school record of 59.9%.

UND senior forward Danny Kristo had another strong game and seemed to take the team on his back as the game wore on. Kristo disagreed.

“Personally, I think our line was very below average for the game,” Kristo said. “I thought that all three of us were below average and didn’t play very well. But I guess we scored two big goals in the third period to help us contribute to the win. So that’s a positive you know. Big time players like that got to step up and be better in a 60 minute period so.”

With tonight's win UND completes it's first home sweep of the season. 

With a full line up, UND is going to have some decisions to make with their lineup. There are going to be good players that might not get to play.

“I guess think I know enough not look too far down the road,” Hakstol said. "We’ll worry about practice on Monday and Tuesday and evaluate our lineup and trying to put together what we feel is a lineup that can be successful against Colorado College. We’re not going to look too far down the road and worry about difficult lineup decisions; we will have some, going into Monday and Tuesday’s practices. We will take it one step at a time dealing with those lineup decisions.”

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine. 

Related articles

• Knight's four points leads UND past Holy Cross 5-2 (thehockeywriters.com)
• Knight's Four Points Leads UND Past Holy Cross (insidehockey.com)

UND vs. Holy Cross game two lines

ND’s Forward lines

15 Michael Parks –10 Corban Knight (A) – 7 Danny Kristo (A)

9 Drake Caggiula– 27 Carter Rowney (A) –13 Connor Gaarder

25 Mitch MacMilliam – 16 Mark MacMillan – 21 Brendan O’Donnell

8 Dan Senkbeil – 28 Steph Pattyn –17 Colten St. Clair

UND Defense Parings 

2 Andrew MacWilliam (C) – 5 Nick Mattson

18 Dillon Simpson–20 Joe Gleason

4 Derek Forbort – 24 Jordan Schmaltz

UND Goalies 

33 Clarke Saunders

31 Zane Gothberg

Not in lineup:  29 Bryn Chyzyk , 11 Derek Rodwell (Injury), 19 Rocco Grimaldi (WJC) 8, Coltyn Sanderson – 26, Andrew Panzarella – 22.

Referees: Tom Sterns, Matt Ulwelling. Linesmen: Andy Carton, Nathan Freeman.

Holy Cross Crusaders Lines

Crusaders Forward Lines

15 Castan Sommer – 27 Shayne Stockton – 14 Adam Schmidt

29 Brandon Nunn – 10 Kyle Fletcher – 26 Rob Linsmayer (A)

17 Mike McNamara – 11 Jake Youso – 33 Erik Vos (C)

20 Tommy Dwyer – 21 Brent Lubanski – 19 Matt Vidal 

Crusaders Defensive Parings

18 Evan Zych – 3 Nagy Nilan

7 Nathaniel Domagala – 6  Karl Beckman

23 Ryan MacGrath – 2 Jake Bolton 

Crusader Goalies

35 Matt Ginn

1 Derek Kump

30 Thomas Tysowsky

Related articles

• Knight's Four Points Leads UND Past Holy Cross (insidehockey.com)
• Knight's four points leads UND past Holy Cross 5-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Knight's four points leads UND past Holy Cross 5-2 (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND's Rocco Grimaldi leads Team USA to gold over Sweden (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Why Canada’s world junior loss to U.S. should not come as a shock

Here is a good read that I found in the National Post, a major newspaper from Canada. I would have to say that contrary to public belief, the Canadians aren’t going to win a WJC every year. It’s just not possible. I also don’t think that it’s realistic to expect them to win a medal every year either. There are good hockey players all-over the world. The USA has closed the gap between us and the Canadians. Both countries develop good hockey players. That’s a fact.

Cam Cole, National Post --- So Canada’s under-20 national team won’t be playing for the gold medal, after getting clocked 5-1 by the United States Thursday at the world junior championship in Ufa, Russia.

So this means … what? A colossal failure? Cause for a royal commission? A closing of the borders so that those dastardly foreigners — all two of them, per team — can’t play in our major junior leagues, take spots away from our own kids, and then turn around and use what they’ve learned here to beat us over there?

Or is it simply one more chapter in the ongoing story of a sport that now belongs to the elite players of a half-dozen or more nations, not just one or two. To Americans and Swedes, to Russians and Canadians, to Finns and Swiss and Czechs.

This is also a fact that makes me very happy.

Nearly one in four NHLers is an American. And the NHL footprint has greatly increased the number of states that now produce elite junior players.

I have been reading some of the pundits break down the Canadians 4th place finish and you would think that with their line-up that the Canadians had, this would have been their year. But as we know, talent doesn’t always equal victory.

While it’s easy to bag on the Canadians for them not winning the gold. I believe that the Canadians play the game the right way. You don’t see the Canadians flailing all-over ice diving like a bunch of ballerinas. I am pointing my finger at a few of the European teams.

Lastly, going forward in the future, if the USA can’t win the gold, I would much rather see the team wearing Maple Leaf standing at their blue ling singing their national anthem than the Russians or the Swedes any day.

UND’s Rocco Grimaldi leads Team USA to gold over Sweden

Rocco Grimaldi (UND/FLA) in Team USA doghouse big time. Hasn't played a shift today. Sounds as if it's performance/attitude related.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 31, 2012

After being in the doghouse for what was characterized as an attitude problem, it’s nice to see USA forward Rocco Grimaldi get some sweet vindication after being the 13th forward on Monday during team USA’s win against Slovakia. This morning, Grimaldi was named the player of the game and lead Team USA with two goals, as USA beat Sweden 3-1 in the championship game of the U20 IIHF WJC. Grimaldi was two posts away from scoring a hat trick as well, but the puck never crossed the goal line.

Here is the video Grimaldi two goals, [this is the one snuck past the Swedish goalie] and [a deflection off a shot from the point]

Knight’s four points leads UND past Holy Cross 5-2

Grand Forks, ND – The last time the Holy Cross Crusaders came to town, they knocked off the top ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers in the 2006 NCAA West Regional.

Tonight, history did not repeat itself as the Holy Cross Crusaders found the host team to be less than hospitable. UND handily beat the Crusader 5-2, in the opening game, of an important two game, nonconference series.

Coming into the weekend – fresh off being named National College Hockey Player of the Month – Corban Knight was sizzling, in fact he’s smoking hot right now. That hot streak would continue tonight.

How hot is Corban Knight?

The senior forward entered tonight’s game, against the Holy Cross Crusaders, riding a 13 game scoring streak. When the night was over, Knight would leave the building riding a torrid fourteen game scoring streak.  Breaking it down further, Knight has scored 10 points in the last three games (5g-5a—10pts) and has scored four points in two of the last three games that he has played in. Knight also has seven multi point games so far this season.

The Green and White much like the sizzling Knight, came out of the gates like a team possessed. UND would rush to a 3-0 in the first period, led by Knight’s two markers.  UND would out-shoot the Crusaders 18-4 in the first period.

I don’t’ think we can downplay Knight’s accomplishments; 14 game scoring streaks don’t happen very often in college hockey – per the UND Sports Information Director Jayson Hajdu; Corban Knight’s 14-game point streak is the longest in a decade for a UND hockey player.

After the game, Knight attempted to downplay his accomplishments and his current offensive streak.

“I have been on the good end of a lot of nice plays – by my line mates and other teammates,” Knight said. “It’s not just me, I think our whole team is playing well and I have been getting on the good end of some good plays.”

The senior forward Knight also thought that the focus on his hot streak might have been blown a bit out proportion, and it was more of his teammates also playing well. UND head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say about his senior forward’s modesty.

“Corban’s a humble person,” Hakstol said.  “That’s one of the great qualities, that’s what makes him a great leader, such a presence in our looker room.”

Knight on the fast start to the game for UND… “Yeah, I think that’s what our plan was,” Knight said. “Coming out after break, I think it’s important to try and get as much rust off as we could.  I think with the start we had – I think we’re all pretty happy with it – we came out and we were changing quick and getting everyone involved. “

UND head coach Dave Hakstol was also impressed with his team’s start to the game.

“It was the right start for us to get a couple of power play goals,” Hakstol said. “It was probably the ideal start for us. I thought a workman like 60 minutes.”

UND would continue the trashing in the second period, as they put two more goals behind the Holy Cross goaltender Matt Ginn to make the score 5-0.  UND outshot Holy Cross 10-6 in the second period.

The Crusaders would get two goals from Mike MaNamara and Castan Sommer in the third period to make the final score 5-2, but the game wasn't as close at the score would indicate. UND absolutely dominated the Crusaders through two and a half periods of hockey and might have let up a bit at the end of the game.

Tonight marked the return of sophomore forward Michael Parks. Parks had missed all but one period of hockey this season, due to a lower body injury.  Parks seemed relieved to play his first complete game, 19 games into the season.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to me to finally be back,” Parks said. “The first 15 to 20 minutes felt kind of slow and rusty. As I thought I would. I think I got back into by the second period.”

Parks played on a line with Danny Kristo and Knight and he enjoyed playing on that line.

“It’s a privilege to play with those two guys,” Parks said.  “I mean they’re pretty special players. With my first game back it made my job a lot easier, playing with guys like that. So definitely, I like playing with those guys.”

Tonight, was also the debut of junior forward Mitch MacMillan, who had to sit out for a year after transferring from Saint Cloud State. MacMillan played on a line with his brother Mark and Brendan O’Donnell. While Mitch didn't figure in on the score sheet, his speed and offensive prowess was noticeable.

Cross posted at The Hockey Writers - Combine...