NHL players insist fighting still has a place in hockey

Here’s a really good article on fighting and the players wanting it to remain in the game. I think the point by the writer about Steve Yzerman and having Bob Probert protecting him, is another good point. The writer is right, he did enjoy one of the toughest players to ever play in the NHL protecting his backside.

Mark Lazerus, Chicago Sun Times – An NHLPA/CBC poll conducted in 2011-12 found that 98 percent of players were against banishing fighting. Ninety-eight percent. Some of that has to do with protecting the jobs of the likes of John Scott and Parros. But most of that’s simply the ingrained culture of the sport. To players, fighting is as much a part of the game as faceoffs. You can’t change that overnight. It’s going to take generations to get past that.

Yzerman’s concerns ring particularly hollow, given how glad he was to have legendary enforcer Bob Probert watching his back in Detroit. Yzerman rarely had to worry about being touched, because Probert was always lurking. At the very least, opponents would think twice before taking a run at him.

“That’s where fighting comes in, where you want to stick up for your teammates and you want to have tough guys who protect you so you’re not getting run out of the building every night,” Hawks star Patrick Kane said. “If you take it completely out of the game, and they don’t have to think twice about hitting skilled guys because they know they won’t have to fight someone, there’s no [price] for a cheap hit.”

There’s no easy answer. Yzerman proposed game-misconduct penalties (ejections) for all fights, but all that would do is embolden and encourage goons to try to goad star players into fights to take them out of the game. Full-blown suspensions for simple fights would effectively end fighting, but would lead to vigilante justice and serious injuries caused by guys hell-bent on defending their teammates in other ways. What the NHL needs to do is get rid of the useless fights — the staged ones at face-offs, the forced ones during blowouts, the ones where all a guy is trying to do is wake up a sleepy bench or a bored crowd. Players and fans might like those — as Kane put it, “From a fan’s perspective, there are probably three things you love in hockey: scoring goals, big hits, and the fights” — but they serve no real purpose. They police nothing, they solve nothing.

So do what the Ontario Hockey League did last year — create a quota system. Each player in the OHL now is allowed 10 fights, with the 11th and each one thereafter earning a two-game suspension. This forces players to pick their spots. Someone levels your teammate with a dirty hit? Fight him. Trailing 6-0 at the end of a game and just want to send a message? Not worth it.

I will have to admit that I like the staged fights too. I mean think about this, people go to MMA bouts or pay big money to watch them on pay-per-view and it’s one of the most popular sports on the blogsphere, but we have people that are offended about a bout between two hockey players on the ice. Why is that? Here’s my advice, don’t like fighting, don’t watch hockey. I am more grossed out about the pukes that won’t fight and skate all over the ice hammering people into the boards from behind.

UND Hockey: More on the Shootout

The NCAA hockey season kicked off this past weekend with a series of exhibition games and three regular season games. The newly founded National Collegiate Hockey Conference is set to begin play this season. The NCHC will use the shootout to break ties during conference match-ups, if the game is tied after a standard five-minute overtime period.  

Like I mentioned in an earlier article, while this move is going to be a controversial to some NCHC hockey fans, I think it’s a smart move by the NCHC to adopt the shootout.  Why not? To me, it seems like a no-brainer.  According to College Hockey Inc., Division I College hockey is responsible for providing and supplying about 30 percent of the players that play in the NHL. If Division I college hockey is going to continue to be a top development league and a route to the NHL, College hockey rules “should” closely mirror those of the NHL. I believe this is a move in the right direction.

Last night during the exhibition game the Manitoba Bison, at the end of the game, the two teams had a shootout. It was a practice run for UND. UND outscored the Bison 2-0 with UND goalie Zane Gothberg stopping both Bison shooters that he faced.

In interviewing some of the players on the UND Hockey team, they do seem excited about the prospects of the NCHC using the shootout to break ties. This past week, UND goalie Zane Gothberg was asked about the new league and unsolicited he brought up the shootout.

“I am looking forward to it, especially with the shootouts that they’ll have at the end of the game, if there’s a tie,” Zane Gothberg said. That will be kind of cool.

Junior forward Michal Parks was asked about his thoughts on the shootout and this is what he had to say.

“I like it,” Parks said. “It will make our game more like the NHL game.”

To be honest with you, I am excited about the shootout as well. I think it’s going to be an exciting feature of the NCHC. I also believe the fans, for the most part, will embrace them.

For those that are interest in online betting, check out this site Ice Hockey betting online.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Age Not a Factor for Dillon Simpson (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCHC Hockey: Top Stories Surrounding New League (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Headed Monster in Net for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCAA Hockey: Focus on Obstruction and Checking from Behind (hockeywilderness.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Cousins set to make Debut for UND (thehockeywriters.com)

UND Hockey: UND slips past Manitoba

Interior of Ralph Englested Arena during a hockey game. The arena is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tonight, The University of North Dakota kicked off the 2013-14 season with an exhibition game against the Manitoba Bison (Canadian Interuniversity Sport). The Bison entered tonight’s game with a 0-2-0 record and were outscored 9-0 on the weekend by the Alberta Golden Bears of Canada West. Things didn’t get any better for the Bison tonight. When Manitoba left Grand Forks, ND they had been outscored 12-0 on the weekend, and were still winless after losing 3-0 to UND.

The game was choppy at times and the hometown team looked a little bit rusty. UND came into game with only one official practice under their belt, but the green and white still managed to put 39 shots on net. Despite the high shot total, UND was only able to put three past Manitoba goalies Joe Caliguri and Deven Dubyk.

The game featured three players from the greater Grand Forks Area (Gage Ausmus, Luke Johnson and Paul LaDue). One of the local players, Luke Johnson made an immediate impression on the home town folk, scoring UND’s third goal at the 03:26 mark of the third period. After the game, the freshman was asked about his debut in a UND uniform.

“It was incredible,” Luke Johnson said. “Growing up here, I always dreamed of being on the ice with that caliber of player. So, it was nice to get out there and get the first one.”

The rust showed on special teams and the power play went 0-8 on the evening. Johnson was asked about his impression of the power play.

“We have worked on it a little bit the past week, but were going to need some work on it,” Johnson said.

The UND head coach concurred with his freshman forwards assessment of the power play and had this to say about his team’s first game.

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Hakstol said. “I will get a little more specific than that. I thought we really started out the game trying to play with some structure. I thought as we got moving through the game, our five-on-five play improved as we went through the game. As I expected, I thought we were a little rocky on our specialty teams.  We scored the shorthanded goal, we were a little out of sync on the PK, but we got the job done.   Our power play was a little out of sync, but I think we still got 14 or 15 shots on goal.”

Last season, during the exhibition game against Manitoba, UND forward Michael Parks suffered a lower body injury and missed 17 games. After missing all but one game during the first half of the season, Parks returned to the lineup and scored (7g-1a—8pts) in 25 games. Tonight, Parks was one of the forwards that stood out. Parks scored at the 11:38 mark of the second period to give UND a 2-0 lead. After the game the sophomore forward seemed pleased with his game.

“I think we had a real strong game as a team,” Parks said. “I think it’s good that we got the first one out of the way, because we got a lot of young guys in there. We had what seems to be a pretty long preseason here.  Then with working really had at practice, we were really excited to get on the ice in a game.”

The regular season starts for real next weekend (October 11-12, 2013 ) when UND plays the University of Vermont Catamounts in a two game series at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Dillon Simpson named Captain of the UND Hockey Team (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Cousins set to make Debut for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: The Weekend Ahead (10/5/13) (insidehockey.com)
• UND Women: Observations from Lindenwood Series (insidehockey.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Headed Monster in Net for UND (thehockeywriters.com)

UND vs. Manitoba Lines

Forward Lines

Drake Caggiula – 9 - Mark MacMillan – 16 -  Rocco Grimaldi – 19

Adam Tambellini – 10 - Luke Johnson – 27 - Michael Parks – 15 (A)

Bryn Chyzyk – 29 - Stephane Pattyn – 28 (A)-  Colten St. Clair – 17

Brendan O’Donnell – 21 -  Connor Gaarder – 13 - Wade Murphy – 7

Defense Paring

Dillon Simpson – 18 ( C )- Jordan Schmaltz – 24

Nick Mattson – 5 - Paul LaDue – 6

Gage Ausmus – 20 - Troy Stecher – 2

Keaton Thompson – 4 - Andre Panzarella – 22

UND Goalies

33 Clarke Saunders

31 Zane Gothberg

Time to ban fighting in Hockey?

After watching the first game of the season between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. I could have predicted we would see more articles like this. I am sure that we will see more of them as the weeks wear on as welll. Wild tough guy Zenon Konopka was interviewed by Michael Russo and he said some interesting things that are worth a look too.

Larry Brooks, New York Post -- The point has been made here repeatedly. These aren’t your fights from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s or ’80s. Fighters today are massive, weight-trained punchers who do damage with every blow to the head they land.

And, far more often than not, today’s fighters are designated to play that role, whereas in the old days — the days that established the NHL’s so-called tradition and, ugh, code — the best players in the league invariably were the ones to drop their gloves.

Let’s be honest here: It is not called the Donald Brashear Hat Trick.

It simply is intellectually dishonest to claim commitment to reducing the number of concussions in hockey by legislating against checks to the head while blithely permitting players to punch each other in the head. The brain does not necessarily distinguish between punishments absorbed.

What do you think of the call to ban fighting in the NHL? Former UND All-American forward Zach Parise thinks that fighting has a place in the game of hockey and I have to agree with him.

“A lot of times it keeps everything in check,” the Wild’s Zach Parise said. “You can’t just run around and know you’re being protected by the rules and protected by the officials.” [Mike Russo, Star Tribune]

I agree with Zach. I am going to say that Parise is one of the players that would probably face a lot of more scrutiny if the NHL got rid of fighting. Without that deterrent, star players would face more targeted violence from the "Rats" in the NHL.

UND Women's hockey: A period of domination

Check out this shot chart from the second period. @undwhockey pic.twitter.com/dLQikqShnT
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) October 6, 2013

During the second period of the University of North Dakota Women game vs. Lindenwood, the UND women attempted 44 shots, 24 shot got through to the LU goalie Nicole Hensley and three went in. You have to give credit to the LU goalie Nicole Hensley, she has been good all weekend long.

NCHC Hockey: Comparing the Preseason Polls

I put up both of the polls (NCHC media Poll and the 1st Annual NCHC Blog/Media Preseason Poll). If you look at the two polls, you will see that both preseason polls kind of mirror each other, for the most part, at least for the first four spots. Also, both polls have UNO in eighth place.  Finally, if you compare both polls, there’s an agreement on which teams are in the upper tier and which teams are the lower tier of the NCHC.

NCHC media preseason poll

Team (first-place votes) Pts

 1. Miami (7) 115

 2. North Dakota (5) 109

 3. St. Cloud State (4) 99

 4. Denver 66

 5. Western Michigan 61

 6. Minnesota-Duluth 43

 7. Colorado College 42

 8. Nebraska-Omaha 41

 
1st Annual NCHC Blog/Media Preseason Poll

Team (first-place votes) Pts

1. Miami (11) 123 2. North Dakota (2) 103 3. St. Cloud State 100 4. Denver 71 5. Minnesota Duluth 57 6. Colorado College 45 6. Western Michigan 45 8. Nebraska-Omaha 32

Friday Evening Links: Hockey Season is Upon US

Here's my article at the Hockey Writers about UND's Two Headed Monster in Net.

UND Hockey: Two Headed Monster in Net for UND http://t.co/LGV3JuJPyW #hockey
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) October 4, 2013

UND Hockey: The Weekend Ahead (10/5/13): This weekend, the University of North Dakota entertains the Manitoba ... http://t.co/BWqRsOQyc0
— Inside Hockey (@insidehockey) October 4, 2013

1st Annual @TheNCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll: http://t.co/ledEa3OAaM
— Sioux Tradition (@SiouxTradition) October 4, 2013

Karvinen named team captain for 2013-14 season http://t.co/s81BquB7PP
— North Dakota WHockey (@UNDWHockey) October 4, 2013

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Remembering the 'Old Ralph' Engelstad Arena (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: UND set in net (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Cousins set to make Debut for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCAA Women's Hockey Morning Skate: October 4th, 2013 (thehockeywriters.com)

My Ballot for the 1st Annual NCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll

Here is the ballot that I submitted for the 1st Annual NCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll. Feel free to tell me what you think.

Predicted Order of Finish:

Miami University - 1

University of North Dakota - 2

Denver University - 3

St Cloud State - 4

Minnesota-Duluth - 5

Nebraska-Omaha   - 6

Western Michigan - 7

Colorado College - 8

All-Conference Team

F- Jonny Brodzinski – SCSU

F- Mark MacMillan – UND

F- Alexander Krushelnysky – C.C.

D- Dillon Simpson – UND

D- Joey LaLeggia – DU

G- Frank Slubowski – Western Michigan

Player of the Year   - Ryan Walters UNO

Rookie of the Year    - Adam Tambellini – UND

Defenseman of the Year - Joey LaLeggia – DU

Breakout Player of the Year - Zane Gothberg – UND 

Related articles

• NCHC Hockey: Top Stories Surrounding New League (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: The Weekend Ahead (10/05/2013) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey: Remembering the 'Old Ralph' Engelstad Arena (thehockeywriters.com)
• College Hockey: Tallying up the College Hockey Outdoor Games (thehockeywriters.com)

DU Hockey: Student Season Ticket Campout Underway

http://t.co/3B1cu3jhwq - DU Hockey Student Season Ticket Campout Underway #PioNation http://t.co/NHBJBoLjG2
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) October 4, 2013

All fifty of DU's student section is camping out, to get in-line for their season hockey tickets. They shouldn't take long to distribute. :)

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Both games of the UND vs. DU Hockey Series will be on DirecTV (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• NCAA Hockey: Focus on Obstruction and Checking from Behind (hockeywilderness.com)
• UND Hockey: UND set in net (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

1st Annual NCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll.

ATradition of Excellence has posted the results of the 1st Annual NCHC Blog/Web Media Preseason Poll, that Sioux7 and I participated in.   The poll had 16 participants, representing six of the eight schools that make up the conference. What's interesting this poll does mirror the NCHC media poll. I will post my ballot when I get a chance. 

	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
1.	Miami (11)	123
2.	North Dakota (2)	103
3.	St. Cloud State (3)	100
4.	Denver	71
5.	Minnesota-Duluth	57
6.	Colorado College	45
6.	Western Michigan	45
8.	Nebraska-Omaha	32

All-Conference Team

F -	Austin Czarnik, Miami
F -	Ryan Walters, Nebraska-Omaha
F -	Rocco Grimaldi, North Dakota
D -	Joey LaLeggia, Denver
D -	Dillon Simpson, North Dakota
G -	Ryan McKay, Miami

Preseason Player of the Year
Austin Czarnik, Miami (8)

Others receiving multiple votes:
Ryan Walters, Nebraska-Omaha (4)
Riley Barber, Miami (2)

Rookie of the Year
Dominic Toninato, Minnesota-Duluth (6)

Others receiving multiple votes:
Adam Tambellini, North Dakota (4)
Will Butcher, Denver (2)
Anthony Louis, Miami (2)

Defenseman of the Year
Joey LaLeggia, Denver (10)

Others receiving multiple votes:
Dillon Simpson, North Dakota (3)

Breakout Player of the Year
Joey Benik, St. Cloud State (5)

11 others received a single vote.

Again, a big thank you to everyone who took part:
Timothy Boger, Kelly Green & White (North Dakota)
Jeremy Larson (@jclarson02), Husky Hockey Time (St. Cloud State)
Andrew Craig, College Hockey High Horse (Minnesota-Duluth)
Brian Halverson, Minnesota Hockey Magazine
Matt Christians (@Matt_Christians), UMD Bulldog Country/CHN/SBN (Minnesota-Duluth)
Chris Peters (@chrismpeters), United States of Hockey/CBSSports.com
Dave Berger, Sioux Sports (North Dakota) 
Donna, Runnin' With the Dogs (Minnesota-Duluth)
Dave Starman (@DStarmanHockey), CBS Sports Network
Rick Shanley (@rickshanley), Western College Hockey Blog (Western Michigan)
UMD Hockey Blog (Minnesota-Duluth)
Eric Burton (Goon), Goon's World/The Hockey Writers (North Dakota)
Joe Paisley, The CS Gazette College Hockey Blog (Colorado College)
Doug Cutler & Mike Swainey (@MiamiHockeyBlog), The Blog of Brotherhood (Miami)
Donn Schuschke (Sioux 7), Goon's World (North Dakota)
Chad, A Tradition of Excellence (North Dakota)

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Two Cousins set to make Debut for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCHC Hockey: Top Stories Surrounding New League (thehockeywriters.com)

UND Hockey: The Weekend Ahead (10/05/2013)

This weekend, the University of North Dakota entertains the Manitoba Bison in an exhibition game at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on October 6, 2013. This game marks the return of former UND forward Talylor Dicken who transferred to Manitoba after the 2011-12 season. Dicken will wear number 21 for the Bison.

Matchup: UND (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) vs. Manitoba (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Canada West)
Date: October 6, 2013.

Time: 7:07 p.m. Central.

Radio: UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

Webcast: undsports.com

TV: Midco Sports Net (HD channel 622, SD channels 27 & 322)

Series History: All-time: UND leads the series against the Bison 8-0-0 (1.00). UND leads the series against the Bison in Grand Forks 8-0-0 (1.00). UND has never played the Bison in Manitoba.

Players to watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Rocco Grimaldi (13g-23a—36pts), Mark MacMillan (13g-12a—25pts), Drake Caggiula (8g-8a—16pts). Defense: Dillon Simpson (5g-19a—24pts), Nick Mattson (3g-12a—15pts), Jordan Schmaltz (3g-9a—12pts). Goaltenders: Clarke Saunders 13-9-4, GAA 2.30 and .917 save percentage, Zane Gothberg 9-4-3, 2.46 GAA and .920 save percentage.

Manitoba: Forwards: Ian Duval (9g-23a—32pts), Brendan Rowinski (3g-7a—10pts), Jess Paradis (1g-7a—8pts). Taylor Dicken (Redshirt). Defenseman: Travis Bobbee (4g-19a—23pts), Jeremy Schappert (6g-15a—21pts), Dane Crowley (6g-8a—14pts), Darren Bestland (2g-8a—10pts), Goaltender: Joe Caligiuri 1-2-0, GAA 3.29, .901save percentage.

UND Official Web Page

Manitoba Official Web Page

UND Hockey: UND set in net

Something to think about.

While the University of North Dakota hockey team might have a lot of new players coming in this season, the UND hockey team is set at the goaltending position. Looking at the roster, I would say that the goaltending is a strength of the 2013-14 UND hockey team.  In net, UND is backstopped by two very good goaltenders, sophomore Zane Gothberg (9-4-3, 2.46 GAA and .920 SV %) and senior Clarke Saunders (13-9-4, GAA 2.30 and .917 SV %).

Minnesota Wild: Matt Cooke scores his first goal as a Wild

I am actually surprised that Matt Cookes' shot off of the foot counted as a goal.

At 1:04 of the first period in the Kings/Wild game, video review confirmed the referee's call on the ice that Kyle Brodziak's shot deflected off Matt Cooke's skate and into the net in a legal fashion. The determining factor was that the speed of the puck propelled it into the net and that Cooke's skate only redirected it. According to Rule 49.2 "A puck that deflects into the net off an attacking player's skate who does not use a distinct kicking motion is a legitimate goal." Good goal Minnesota.