This Weekend Match Up.

Lost Weekend.
Last weekend is over the Sioux were swept in Anchorage putting up a goose egg in two games in the win column, incidentally it was the second time they have been swept in a two game series this season. While I didn’t listen to Friday’s game (I went deer hunting Saturday and had to get up early) it was apparent that the Sioux had issues both in goal and took some untimely penalties at crucial times. Saturday I had the misfortune of both watching the game via the UAA Internet broad cast and I also listened to the broadcast on the radio. In my opinion the Sioux played well but failed to get much needed good goaltending but also failed to bury numerous opportunities in close when they had the chance. During last weekend’s games UND’s top forwards T. J. Oshie and Jonathon Toews seemed to be snake bitten and missed many glorious opportunities.

While some have and had a hard time scoring goals, but it’s time to move on and focus on the task at hand, get wins and gain momentum. The Sioux hockey team needs to score goals in bunches and keep the Tigers off the scoreboard. The game starts from the goaltenders out. The Defense must get in the shooting lanes and keep the front of the net clear so the goalie can see the puck, pick up the rebounds and cycle the puck.

Lammy to Play?

It appears that Lammy might be healthy enough to play in goal this weekend in the series against the Colorado College Tigers. Phil suffered an undisclosed lower leg injury in practice during the week of the Mankato series and has been on the shelf for the past 6 games. Tony Grieco has played in his abscence and had mixed results posting a 3-2-1 record with a .880 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.68.

Brad is reporting via his blog that Philippe Lamoureux should play in this weekend's series against the C.C. Tigers. http://www.areavoices.com/undhockey/

UND coach Dave Hakstol said Wednesday that he expects Philippe
Lamoureux to be available for this weekend's series against Colorado
College. Lamoureux has been bothered by a leg injury he suffered a month ago in practice. He's missed the last six games, which have all been started by freshman Anthony Grieco. Hakstol said he hasn't decided who will start this weekend.

Topic for Discussion-The Controversial Gopher Goal.

Check out this goal

This past weekend in the game between the Minnesota Gophers and the Wisconsin Badgers there was a goal that has been the topic of much debate. Tony Lucia scores his first goal of his career in a Gopher uniform. To some the goal will be seen as being controversial goal. Over on Western College hockey this topic has stirred much debate, to date there have been 79 posts on the subject. I believe Western College Hockey blogger Chris hits the nail right on the head with his analysis of the goal in question. I believe just as the author does the goal should have been at least reviewed by the on ice offical and ruled no goal because the Badger goalie Elliot was interferred with before the puck was shot into the net.
http://westerncollegehockey.blogspot.com/2006/11/you-make-call.html Here is what Chris had to say about the goal.

When I saw this happen in real time, I said, "They've gotta take that back." But referee Marco Hunt chose to not even review the play.The 2005 Points of Emphasis memo says "Anytime an opposing player prevents the goalkeeper from preventing a goal, interference must be called."It's quite obvious that Michael Carman runs into goalie Brian Elliott and prevents him from preventing the goal. The question is whether Carman interfered with Elliott or if he was pushed into Elliott. My feeling after watching the play if that even if Carman is pushed a little bit, he certainly doesn't try to avoid Elliott, and after he makes contact with Elliott, he turns his shoulders towards Elliott and tries to make a play of the puck. He obviously comes no where near the puck, and instead ends up taking Elliott out of the play. The other thing is that if Carman is pushed, at some point after the Wisconsin defender makes contact with him, Carman should speed up as he gains momentum from the push, and I don't really think that ever happens. Really, if the Wisconsin defender keeps his hands down, it's probably an easy call to make. I personally probably wouldn't have allowed the goal, but whatever we decide is irrelevant. What's most important here is that it was an extremely close and questionable play at a key moment in the game, and the officials didn't even bother to look at it.

Differing opinions.
Whether you agree that the goal should have counted or not it’s not hard to see how some have come to the conclusion the goal shouldn’t have counted. It’s not about hating a team as some have suggested, it’s about the on ice officials making the right call in a crucial game at a crucial time. The rules are pretty cut and dried. Sure the defender make some minor contact with the gopher forward Carman but it’s not enough to warrant taking out the Badger goalie. In fact the Gopher forward makes no effort to avoid contact with the Badger goalie what so ever. It would have been different if the Badger defenseman had blatantly crosschecked and whipped out the Gopher Carmen causing him to barrel into Elliot but that doesn’t happen in my opinion. To quote Woog from the broadcast, “oh man somebody came through took a piece.” It appears even Wooger saw it.

Something to think About.

Lights Action Camera
This past Thursday the University of North Dakota and the NCAA finally had their day in court as UND and the State of North Dakota filed an injunction against the NCAA. This injunction will allow the University of North Dakota football team to host an NCAA Division II playoff game.

Also present at the county Court house in Grand Forks on Thursday were the anti-name protesters. There seems to be a direct correlation between news cameras and protesters being present. It’s almost like the protesters had a scanner in their possession and they monitor it to see when the media is around, whenever the media shows up the protester do to. The protesters did not disappoint us Thursday there were out in full force, anti-Fighting Sioux name signs in hand. That’s not the funny thing, on Thursday I was going to shoot my deer rifle before the North Dakota deer-hunting opener when I realized I was low on rifle shells, as all hunters know you can’t shoot your rifle without having an ample supple of shells. So I decided to head to Cabela’s in East Grand Forks to purchase some more shells for my rifle. I decided to drive by the county courthouse on my way to Cabela’s to see if there were any protesters out and about. When I drove by the courthouse there was not one single protester anywhere to be seen, nor did I see any signs. An hour later my buddy Langer drives by the courthouse and calls me on his cell phone to say that the protesters are out there on the courthouse lawn. Hum, that’s funny I told him they weren’t there an hour ago.

An Interesting Perspective
There has been much written on this subject, in fact we have beat this one to death. It’s all over the Internet; of course everyone has an opinion on the matter. We all know the old sayings about opinions, they are like ___holes, everyone’s got one and they all stink. I think that there is one perspective that really hits home the crux of this argument Katherine Kersten a Star Tribune writer that has a conservative slant to her writings really touched on the facts in a recent article that appeared in the November 13th Star and Tribune. Here are a few of her points that I thought were really interesting. It really paints a different picture than what we have been led to believe.
Katherine Kersten

Fool Bear himself voted for such a resolution in 2005. “They told us just negative things — that UND was a racist place,” he explains. Now, he says, he believes that he and others were fed a bill of goods.

“When I went around to my constituents on the reservation,” says Fool Bear, “a majority of people said, ‘Why can’t we vote on it?’ “Most tribal members would support the name if they got the chance,” adds Joe White Mountain, another committee member.
That would be consistent with Indians’ views nationally. In a 2002 Sports Illustrated poll, 81 percent of Native American respondents said no when asked whether high school and college teams should stop using Indian nicknames.

Members of the Standing Rock judicial committee visited UND early in 2006 to assess the situation for themselves. “We spoke to everyone, from students on the street to people at the gas station,” says Fool Bear. “Not one gave us any evidence of racism. We went to a hockey game, and they talked about the courage and integrity of the Sioux people. We looked at each other like, ‘Wow, we don’t even honor our Sioux warriors or veterans like this on the reservation.’ ”

White Mountain recalls the committee’s meeting with a UND group that opposes the name. “I asked them, ‘What tribe do you belong to?’ ” he says. “Not one was a Sioux Indian.”This group insisted that the name promotes racism on campus,” adds Fool Bear. “I told them, ‘Put any instances of abuse in writing.’ Today, I’m still waiting — I haven’t gotten one complaint.”

Hum. That’s an interesting perspective that we just can’t ignore. No one was able to give him any instances of racism. So who is telling the truth? So if UND is such a bad place why do we have one of the largest American Indians programs in the country? I like the part where he talks to a group of students and none of them are Sioux. More to come I am sure. April 24th is a long time from now and it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

UND is granted Injuncton by Court.

UND Wins Battle In Court.
UND Wins Injunction
UND took its first step in defeating the NCAA in court by winning an injunction against the NCAA. This is good news because it means UND's Football, and Basketball teams will not be affected by the NCAA stupid policy. So we should see at least one Football game at the Al before we have to go to GVSU and beat the Lakers. Well lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Looking at the Mound of Paper Work in the Lawsuit UND vs NCAA.

Breaking down the Lawsuit
The past few nights while working on the night shift, I have been picking through some of the paper work that makes up the lawsuit, UND vs NCAA. I figured, why not? I am sick and tired of listening to the Democrats bragging about their win on November 7th. All I can say is whoopee. The Democrats will be a minority party in two years if they try to enact their ridiculous policies they have been talking about the last few nights.

But, I digress, like I mentioned I have been picking through some of the paper work on UND’s lawsuit against the NCAA, there is mountains and mountains of paper work and I have been watching the lawyers talk about some of the different things they have seen I the law suit. Let me tell you these lawyer gurus have a whole different language, its kind of like when the office tech guys try to explain something to you about computers and you wonder what language they just spoke to you in. The more they talk the more they confuse the common folk, however, that is why we need good lawyers to weed through the legal mumble jumble and make the right decisions for this lawsuit. I would imagine this why they get paid the big dollars. For that I am thankful for. I know I have a lot of confidence in the UND legal team to take the necessary step to insure our Fighting Sioux logo is protected and not put on the scrap heap of history.

I know I am really glad this thing is finally going to court. Enough is enough. It’s time to put this issue to bed, and beat the NCAA in court. One person mentioned why it wasn’t moved to Federal Court. I honestly think that the reason the NCAA’s didn’t try to move the case to federal court is that may their case isn’t that good. Maybe the NCAA is afraid to take it to the Federal Court. Time will tell.

Mounds of Paper Work
In looking at the mounds of paper work that make up this lawsuit. I did find something that I found interesting. On page 19 in the foot notes its states talks about how UND has the approval of one name sake tribe and of course the disapproval of a few others. However they granted CMU the right to keep their name after 5 Michigan Chippewa tribes opposed the CMU name. That my friends is blatant hypocrisy by the NCAA, its little facts like this that is going to bury the NCAA and cost them millions of dollars.
_______________________________
For the reason set forth in its opening memorandum, the Spirit Lake Tribe Resolution No. A05-01-041, which is still in effect, satisfies the Executive Committee’s equirement that only on '"name sake' tribe consent to UND's use of the Sioux name and imagery. The NCAA attempts to distinguish UND's situation from CMU's by stating that it "received no Resolutions or other official statements in opposition from Chippewa Tribes in connection with use of the name by CMU" (emphasis added) while not denying that it has been on actual notice that in fact five other Chippewa Tribes in Michigan actually do oppose CMU's use of the name, which UND pointed out to the NCAA in its Nov. 4th 2005 memo. (Def. NACD's Mem. Opp"n to Pl.'s Mot. for Prelim. Inj. at 41-42). The NCAA's disparate treatment of CMU and UND constitutes bad faith.
________________________________

Finally, I think this is very a good point that needs to be exposed more, and in the end may prove to be a very compelling argument that used against the NCAA in court. It is also probably just one many things that the UND legal team will use to prove that the NCAA is not applying this policy evenly and honestly. Also it has been stated earlier that the University of Utah has not held up its end of the deal to keep the nickname Utes. I am sure there is more to follow.

PC Nazi's: SCSU Media Department Scratches Sioux off Jersey.

The Evidence 

SCSU Media Department Sensors Sioux
It was revealed this past weekend that the SCSU's Media Department scratched the words Sioux off of Tony Grieco's jersey for a picture it used for its webpage. A blatant display of disrespect for the Sioux name. Look closely at Grieco's jersey you will see what I am talking about. This is what happens when you get poltical correctness runs a muck. 

Grieco Honored this week.

Tony Grieco Named Rookie of the Week
University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux Freshman goalie Tony Grieco won Rookie of the week award after strong performance this past weekend against the SCSU Huskies, Grieco was stellar in net as he kicked out 53 of 56 shots and allowed the Sioux to take three out of four points against the high flying SCSU Huskies. Goon's World would like to give its congrats to Grieco. Grieco Wins WCHA Rookie of the Week
Red Baron/WCHA Rookie of the Week
Anthony Grieco
Fr., G, North Dakota
MADISON, Wis. - Anthony Grieco, a first-year goaltender at the University of North Dakota, has been named Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week for Nov. 7-12 as a result of his strong performance in a victory and tie against visiting league-rival St. Cloud State. A 6-1, 187-pound freshman from Brampton, Ontario, Grieco stopped 27 of 28 shots on goal last Friday (Nov. 3) in a 3-1 Fighting Sioux win over the Huskies to win his third consecutive game. Grieco then stopped 26 of 28 opponent shots on goal last Saturday (Nov. 4) in a 2-2 overtime tie against SCSU, with the win and tie extending his unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) and helping league-leading UND pick up three points in the WCHA standings.

For the weekend, 17 of Grieco's saves came on the power-play, as the Sioux killed 11-of-12 St. Cloud State man-advantage attempts. Grieco had an overall weekend save percentage of .946, stopping 53 of 56 shots. The last Sioux net minder to start his career with a four-game unbeaten streak was Jordan Parise, who had an 11-game unbeaten streak to start his career in 2003-04. On the 2006-07 season, Grieco sports a 3-0-1 record, a 2.94 goals-against average, and a .902 saves percentage.

When a Penalty is Not a Penalty. Sioux Tie Huskies 2-2.

  

Three Blind Mice
At the end of tonight’s game the refs blew it. Now before we work over the officials for their poor performance, most know I hold the refs in the WCHA in very low regard, I think they do a horrible job; tonight’s debacle just reinforced that opinion. For most of the season the officials are having trouble. Tonight’s latest issue was the ability to count the number of players a penalized team can have on the ice when they are short handed. Even most of the 5 years olds in the arena can figure this out. Here is the scenario; a SCSU player get called for the hook on the Sioux forwards as he is on a break away heading towards the opposition net (it should have been a penalty shot by the way) so that player is sent to the penalty box, so after much discussion you think the SCSU Huskies would have 4 players and a goalie on the ice. NOPE, not even close, with 11,000 fans screaming that there are too many Husky players on the ice the games goes on and one second ticks off the clock game over. Come on officials can you get it right?

Clueless Fan of the Week
This was posted on Brad’s blog on Saturday. It’s funnier that hell.
Brad's Blog

I am very disappointed in GF this morning... I guess we have never watched a good goalie in our lives. Yes Greico is 3-0 but he is not a very good goalie. Mark my words, when the Sioux play a team that gets to him he will be destroyed. I watched him for the first time last night and he cant control the rebounds, has no idea where the puck is, and looks behind him every time he saves a puck. Grieco will never be the number one goalie for the Sioux; he should still be playing juniors. I have heard from many sources...Sioux players in fact that Walksi is better.... interesting what happens when u get some money to play for a team. I thought politics would be gone at this level of hockey but i guess not...

This is classic stuff here, I would be willing to bet it’s a Gopher fan or one of the locals that stumbled into Brad’s blog full to the gills and wrote this to rile people up. I think it is funny; I even corrected his grammatical errors to make it more readable. Lets look at the Grecio numbers far.

Freshman Anthony Grieco has started in 4 games: his record is 3-0-1 his GAA is 2.94 and he has a save percent of 902. Grieco’s numbers are better than Phil Lamoureux’s who is 3-3, his GAA is 2.53 and his save percentage is .899. Funny thing is, there were fans that said the same things after Aaron Schwitzer after he had played his fist couple games. I can still remember the nay Sayers saying Schwitzer was no good. You have to see his positioning its horrible; every save he makes is an adventure. The kid went on to win an NCAA title. I remember after three season people were still saying Parise sucks. I think as fans we have too high of expectations of the goaltenders.

Oh Yeah the Sioux win
I went off on a tangent and forgot what I was here for in the first place, that was to talk about a Sioux tie. I have to say that I was very impressed with the Sioux and their play this weekend. The Fighting Sioux played their natural rival this weekend and took three points from them. No easy task in my opinion because SCSU is a good hockey team (please don’t tell Skeeterman I said that). Don’t look now it appears that Bobby Goepfert is back on track and ready to take the WCHA by storm again, Goepfert was back in net lucky rabbit foot in pocket and kicking out pucks left and right. I wonder if the Coach at Providence ever regrets kicking Bobby off the Providence Hockey team? It definitely appears that SCSU got the better part of that deal. The guy is amazing.

It appears that Bobby has broken in his new pads (which my buddy Seth tells me that they are Itech Prodigy’s and they are supposed to the be next hot thing in goalie equipment) by the way the look very expensive and very nice. Much better than last years pads.
The Goepfert Line from Saturday’s game

Bobby Goepfert (65:00 T) 9 13 14 4 = 40 (2 GA)

Sioux Take Game One 3-1

  
Sioux Start Slow
Last night I looked at my buddy and said, "wow the Sioux are playing not to lose." They didn’t lose and they slow start didn’t bury them as super freshman goalie Anthony Grieco bailed the boys out stopping 15 first period saves and then stopped numerous point blank shots later in the waning minutes of the game as UND cruised to a 3-1 victory.

This is a big time character win for one the young Fighting Sioux hockey team, first by beating Bobby Goepfert who is one of the best goalies in NCAA division one hockey. This win is a huge emotional lift for the young Sioux team that is still searching for a identity early in the season. However, the Sioux are starting to establish themselves as hard working, hard skating team.

Last year the Sioux only beat him twice last season, once in Saint Cloud and once at the end of the year when it mattered most during the WCHA Final Five. Last season SCSU came into the REA and stole two hard fought games leaving a bad taste in Sioux fans mouth, with the win last night assures the Fighting Sioux of a split, winning again to night would be big and losing in not acceptable.

Last night UND scrapped out a big win against a tough team that plays with a chip on their shoulder, they come to play every night. Lastly, getting points last night was key in the WCHA race, and a win or a tie tonight would put the Sioux in good position going in to the bye weekend.

When Something is Objectionable.

To Link or Not to Link
Linkorama Continued:
On October 29, 2006 I Posted a Link to a blog of a Mankato fan, shall we say was objectionable. Actually I couldn’t believe some of the stuff that was written on here about Fighting Sioux fans. Here is a post that I got on my Blog today:
Ok Goon...feel free to take the link to my blog off of your blog. I've read enough of your friend's comments. I actually took what you said about UND fans into consideration but with the more posts I see...the more it cements my opinion.

My blog is just a little 'ol blog for my friends and family to enjoy...I don't need it to be linked to people that are going to smear it with nastiness, stupidity, and comments that don't even make sense.

That's exactly why my blog isn't all about the WCHA, Mavs, stats...it's a little hockey, a little my personal life, a little twins...etc. More of a personal thing than a sounding board for rabid hockey fans.

Thanks.

We Have a Decision

Well after putting much thought into this decision: (drum roll please) I have decided to leave the link to your blog up on Goon’s World for the time being, but hey I can do this since this is my site. One could say this is about proving a point. Enjoy the traffic; Goon’s world has done quite well lately. Goon’s World had 3959 hits during the month of October, the most of any month since Goon’s World joined the Blogsphere back in March of 2006. But don’t worry the link will be gone in a few days after I have posted more articles on the blog and the linkorama to will be kicked off of the front page only to be stuck in the archives forever.

My advice to you in the future is don’t insult a whole group of people if you don’t want them coming back to post on objectionable things on your blog. Seriously, most Sioux fans I know or associate with are very respectful people and fun to hang out with. Most of them have real jobs in the professional field and aren’t what you described on your blog. Lastly, most of the Sioux Fans that I know don’t shout profanity-laced tirades in opposing team’s buildings nor do they do it in their own building. In fact most of us are in our middle ages and have long left these objectionable behaviors behind and have grown up.

It’s called net etiquette but it’s also about being a good neighbor and acting in a responsible way in the Internet community. I know I have been burned a few times by not engaging my brain before I have written something and posted it on line. My advice to you is think before you write something, especially when your attacking a whole specific group of people. You made your bed now sleep in it; eventually the posters you despise and hold in contempt will go away. Posting on line is like a shooting a missile on the battlefield once it has been released it is not coming back. As blogers we have to be careful and responsible. Now you are going to pay the consequences for insulting a group of people.

Writing this type of stuff does nobody any good:
Example of what I am talking about:

I hate UND. I know hate is a strong word, but it's appropriate here. I seriously hate UND hockey, their fans, and their program. They are the BIGGEST whiners out there. They're the most rude fans when they come to our arena and walk around all smug and think they're SO much better than Mankato fans and players. Total disrespect is all they show, and it's annoying as hell. Sure, we didn't have some jack-hole give us millions of dollars to build a new hockey arena and to buy players...but that doesn't make us peons. OR for the Sioux fans to say that the Mavs don't belong in the WCHA. Screw off.

We deserve to be there just as much as you...just minus the money. Plus, you seem to forget that the Mavs are good at taking away important wins from teams (yep, though people may hate Lucia...he's figured this out and always says to not underestimate the Mavs, as they'll take games from you if you do...ask CC from 2 years ago, SCSU and UW last year...). UND doesn't get this though, and when they do lose then we see crazy actions, like when Parise stormed the Maverick bench last season and then refused to leave the ice when he got burned on the OT goal by Rankin. Get over it! You lost and that's that...no matter how much you whine or try to buy your way in the WCHA...it's not always going to work.

In Conclusion:
I do not know the woman that writes this web page nor have I had much if any interaction with her on the Internet. Personally I hold no grudge against her and I am sure she is probably a really nice person that mean no harm to anyone, that being said. Please think next time before you insult the whole fan base of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux

Go Fighting Sioux

Linkorama part Two.

Check out Kevin's Blog on the Huskies
Kevin Allenspach Huskie Blog

Some interesting stuff here. On the Sioux being Swept in REA a few weeks back.

North Dakota, regardless of the $100 million the late Ralph Engelstad spent, has always been an intimidating place to play. Well, the top-ranked Maine Black Bears may have stirred up a hornets' nest for the next team to visit there -- St. Cloud State.
Maine swept the Sioux, 6-2 and 3-1, on Friday and Saturday. North Dakota allowed a five-goal second period in the opener and the Black Bears' Michel Leveille scored two goals in the rematch.

"This is our rink, we want to make it the toughest place to play and you can't do that by getting swept in your own barn," Sioux assistant captain Erik Fabian told the Grand Forks Herald. "We want it to burn ... but the sun's going to come up tomorrow and we've just got to learn from it."

North Dakota plays at Minnesota State-Mankato this week before getting a chance to determine whether Maine's sweep was a blip or symptomatic of something more.

Linkorama.

Check out this blog
Lets Go Mav's Web Page
I found this blog tonight, apparently this person doesn't like UND or its fans. It happens. I suppose this person is really not going to like our team after we took two games from their team this past weekend, from the sounds of the radio broadcast it also appears that the Sioux hockey team had a large showing of fans.

If anything I think most Sioux fans respect MSU-M and the hard nosed hockey their teams plays, I know I have learn to respect the battles they give our team each season. I belevery game agaisnt them is a battle. I believe the reason for the big battles between the two teams is when Mankato was entering the WCHA former Fighting Sioux Head Coach Dean Blais made sure the Mavericks were on the schedule, I also believe of all the WCHA teams the Fighting Sioux have played MSU-M the most. Maybe there is a history of bad blood between the teams fans, who knows. In my opinion life is too short to be unhappy.

Huskies up Next for the Fighting Sioux

Bobby Goepfert
Time for the Sioux to Kick Some Husky Ass: Bobby and the Huskies up next
Two weeks ago after being swept by a veteran Maine Black Bears team Sioux Assitant Captain Erik Fabian said ”This is our rink, we want to make it the toughest place to play and you can't do that by getting swept in your own barn, We want it to burn tonight. But the sun's going to come up tomorrow and we've just got to learn from it."
Cliché maybe: but Erik Fabian is right, its time for this young talented Sioux hockey team to start taking back the REA and make teams not want to play up here. In fact teams should dread playing here. Last year the Huskies came into REA and laid two pain-staking losses on the Fighting Sioux. Maybe the theme for this weekend is time for some payback. Sioux are coming off a couple of high scoring road wins over upstart Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks: 5-4 Friday and 8-5 on Saturday, are going to have to stay out of the penalty box and clamp down on the stupid, selfish, knucklehead penalties if they want to take points this weekend. Being swept this weekend in not acceptable. If the Sioux don’t cut down on taking untimely penalties SCSU is going to burry the Sioux because SCSU is always tough on the power play and will take advantage of all opportunities given to them. If Bobby is tough in net and goals are going to be tough to come by is Bobby gets hot.

SCSU is going to be a tough team to face. SCSU plays a defensive systems that starts from the goaltender and works it way out to the forwards. Lets say it starts with preseason all-American goaltender Bobby Goepfert, but it doesn’t end there. The Huskies aren’t as one-dimensional as they have been in the past. The Huskies under second year head coach Bob Motzko have a new found offensive punch lead by junior Andrew Gordon 4 goals 1 assist for 5 points and super frosh Andreas Nodl 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points.

Tony Grecio Makes First Starts in Goal for Sioux

Last weekend 17 year old Freshman Tony Grecio made his first two starts in a Fighting Sioux uniform due to an unspecific lower body injury to Phil Lameroux. Two wins in by a rookie goaltender in Mankato (a tough place to play in) are character-building experiences and win is a win, no matter how Grecio looked getting it done. Some have said he looked shaky but I think we should hold judgment on young Grecio’s performance until he gets some more games under his belt.

Starter for this Weekend Series Unknown

It’s unknown who will be the starter in goal this weekend against SCSU. Whoever plays in net this weekend is going to have to be ready to make timely saves and keep the Fighting Sioux hockey team in the game. Untimely poor efforts by Sioux goaltending this weekend will kill whatever momentum the Sioux gained after sweeping the Mavericks. The Sioux are going to need to play with a chip on their shoulder and be ready to do the things needed to score dirty goals inside the paint.

Lammy Out with Injury, Grecio next?

  Lammy
Line Up Shuffles this Weekend
The injury bug has hit the UND Fighting Sioux this past week as Phil Lamoureux went down with an undisclosed injury during Tuesday’s practice and super sophomore Jonathon Toews remains on the shelf after suffering an undisclosed upper body injury (damn HIPAA Laws) during last Fridays game against the Maine Black Bears. HIPAA The coaching staff must now decide who is going to start between the pipes for the Fighting Sioux this weekend against the MSUM Mavericks. I say the logical bet is Tony Grecio. While injuries are a part of the game, these set backs couldn’t have come at a worse time. The team is still searching for an identity after losing three games in a row to Frozen Four finalists.

Who Starts in Goal For the Sioux
Who starts for the Sioux in goal for this weekend’s series? This seems to be the $64,000.00 question that loaming over the coaches head. This is a subject that has been discussed in much detail by the bloggers around the Internet Brad’s Blog the last couple of days. There are various opinions on who should start in net for the Sioux and why? Some of these feelings seem to based on emotion: some had said lets see what Walski can do, he played junior hockey, he can’t be that bad. Some still remember Walski’s 73-save performance during the North Dakota State High School Hockey Playoffs. I am not so sure that starting Walski is the right move when the Sioux desperately need points in a bad way. This weekend’s series may prove to be a pivotal series early as the Sioux need points if they want to be in the mix come March as they make another march towards the NCAA playoffs. Anything less than three points this weekend is unacceptable.

I think that its time to see what the young heralded freshman goaltender can do. One could ask the question. What possibly could be a better opportunity to get Tony Grecio’s feet wet then having him play this weekend? What a test; having Tony play in a hostile environment against a hard hosed opponent. There is no time like the present. Lets see what the kid can do.

Lost Weekend. Sioux Fail to Beat Black Bears.

Lost Weekend:
Not Since the Sioux were beat by Mankato 6-0 December 1st 2001 had Sioux fans witnessed such a one sided affair at home. One could make the argument that this past weekend was eerily similar to last season’s sweep of the Sioux by Wisconsin Badgers, when the younger Sioux lost a pair of one-sided games 4-2 to the Wisconsin Badgers; who at the time were another junior and senior laden team. Just like Wisconsin the Maine Black Bears are an older experienced and pretty talented hockey team, and they took advantage of the Sioux’s youth all weekend.

The Black Bears used their battle-hardened experience to dismantle and keep the Sioux at bay all weekend. The Maine Black Bears came into our house and kicked our ass all weekend. Untimely penalties, poor passing by forwards, defensive lapses, poor goaltending cost the Sioux both games and the weekend series this poor showing also left fans disgusted and leaving for the exits early. I remember even chanting a beat the traffic as our section emptied early. Leaving a few of us to ponder the future of this young squad. If the Fighting Sioux keep playing like this it’s going to be a very long season.

Saturday Better But Not Much
Losing at home in our barn sucks, although the Sioux played better on Saturday night the result was the same. Sioux minus Sophomore Jonathon Toews put up a full 60-minute effort only to lose 3-1 but weren’t able to crack the mountain of a goalie Ben Bishop. Fire plug TJ Oshie briefly gave the fans something to cheer about on Saturday as he light up Maine giant Danis-Pepin by checking him into the Sioux players bench.

Post Game Comments by Hakstol
While listening to the radio Saturday night after the game the voice of the Fighting Sioux radio announcer Tim Hennesy basically asked Dave Hakstol if he would be giving Michel Leveille any props for his play this weekend. Hakstol said no that he didn’t like the way he played the game. When I heard this on the radio during the post game interview I thought that was interesting, but it kind of reminds me of a former Golden Gopher player Jeff “after the Whistle” Taffe good player but...

From SiouxSports.com 7>4 Sums up the weekend incident:

What Hakstol said about the Maine player is no different than what coaches were saying about Jeff Taffe a few years ago. Great player but a cheap shot. I didn't see either game, but I would tend to trust Hakstol's judgement based on his history. That said, it doesn't matter. They kicked our butts twice in our own house. Period.

Finally From the Captain Erik Fabian

This is our rink, we want to make it the toughest place to play and you can't do that by getting swept in your own barn," Sioux assistant captain Erik Fabian said. "We want it to burn tonight. But the sun's going to come up tomorrow and we've just got to learn from it."

I really like what Fabian said, this is our house and we need to make team hate to play here. The last thing we want is the opposing teams come in here and be licking their lips at the thought of playing in the REA.

Will the Real Sioux Team Stand Up.

I would have to say since I have been a Fighting Sioux fan last night shellacking at the hands of the Black Bears was an all time low. These are the type of memories that leave a very bad taste in you mouth. I think it would be an understatement to say that last night’s game was brutal, unacceptable and horrible. While I wouldn’t blame the loss on officiating, we do deserve to see a better effort on the part of the officials. High sticks that lead to goals are not acceptable in any leagues, however, like the guy sitting next to me said, “the Sioux had three chances to get it out of the zone before it was put in the net.

I hate the Officials in this league.
I honestly think the WCHA should look at getting rid of Don Adam and some of the other clowns they have working as on ice officials in this league. I am tired of the status quo: We aren’t going to call the game the way it supposed to be called because the coaches wont like it. Seriously, I am not kidding you. Last year while Greg Sheppard was waiting to take a flight out of Grand Forks after a weekend series one of the NWA workers and myself were talking to Greg and I asked him when the WCHA was going to start calling the games like they do in the NHL and Greg told us that it would never happened because the coaches would go for it. Are you telling me the coaches want the Bull Shit we saw on the ice last night? Adams and Albers not control of the game at the drop of the puck.

Poor Effort
Last night effort will not win an award for anything; there will be no moral victories, only negativity. Last night’s effort is not Sioux pride is all about? These are not the type of performances that win league titles or Broadmoor cups. It was a very hard game to watch.


Evening of Upsets:
It appears that there are a few more teams dropping in the rankings come Monday Morning. The old saying goes championships are not won in October, November and December, nor are they won in January. Let the chips fall where they may now. Sure it would be nice to see us sweep Maine but UND needs a split, 4-2 for they schedule they have had early with a young team would be a huge lift for the team. I just hope Hakstol can hold the team together and put together another run like last season. Winning is everything and losing sucks.

From USCHO front page: Notre Dame began a remarkable evening of upsets by throttling last season’s national runner-up, top-ranked Boston College, 7-1 on Chestnut Hill. Ouch, good showing by the number one team in the nation All American Goalie Cory Schnider Rocked The victors in that title tilt, No. 2 Wisconsin, gave up a late goal at home and had to settle for a tie with the upstart Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth.Up Stat Bull Dogs Meanwhile, third ranked North Dakota – buoyed by their success in Madison last weekend -– came home to welcome No. 4 Maine. The Black Bears (who previously beat Minnesota in their home state) were again unpleasant guests, riding five second-period goals to a surprisingly easy 6-2 victory. In the other showdown, No. 9 Miami bested fifth-ranked Michigan -– its first win at Yost Arena in a dozen years -– while Michigan Tech stunned host Vermont in overtime and RPI shocked No. 11 Denver atop the Rocky Mountains.

USCHO Poll for the Week is out. 10-16-2006

1 Boston College (31) 1-0-0 781 1
2 Wisconsin ( 3) 2-1-1 700 2
3 North Dakota ( 4) 3-1-0 693 5
4 Maine 3-0-0 650 7
5 Michigan ( 2) 2-0-0 643 6
6 Boston University 0-0-1 594 3
7 Minnesota 2-1-0 548 8
8 Michigan State 1-1-0 522 4
9 Miami 3-1-0 467 9
10 Vermont 2-0-1 376 10
11 Denver 2-2-0 340 11
12 New Hampshire 0-0-0 320 13
13 Harvard 0-0-0 317 12
14 Cornell 0-0-0 264 14
15 Clarkson 3-0-1 252 17
16 Colorado College 3-0-1 250 15
17 St. Cloud State 1-1-0 245 16
18 Dartmouth 0-0-0 128 18
19 Nebraska-Omaha 0-0-2 70 NR
20 Colgate 2-2-0

Interesting ratings that mean absolutely nothing: I think it's way to early to even have rankings. B.C. has played one game against a horrible North Eastern University team and they are the consensus number one pick, that's funny. Not that I don't think they should garner some attention, I say let them have the curse of being the number one, it means nothing in October and November or January for that matter. Again another funny joke, the Ivy/EZAC schools, Harvard and schools haven't played game yet and they crack the top 15. What's a matter no money in the budget to schedule non-conference games. Fellow EZAC member Clarkson has managed to play four games so far. That is asinine in my opinion.

Linkorama.Logo Politics.

NC-ASS I mean NC$$ no its NCAA.
Here is an interesting perspective/read from a pompous NCAA official. I guess the world perspective looks differently when you live in an ivory tower.
NCAA Link

North Dakota sues NCAA. In a move I think we all anticipated, North Dakota sued the NCAA on Friday to challenge its restrictions of the Fighting Sioux nickname. I was thinking about this last night before I went to bed, and while I understand the frustration of the North Dakota administration and fans, I can’t help thinking that the institution is suing itself.

The NCAA executive committee, which is comprised of presidents and chancellors from member colleges and universities, is the body responsible for imposing restrictions on Native American mascots and imagery. By filing suit on the Association, North Dakota is asking for remuneration from the NCAA’s coffers, which go to support North Dakota and the other 1,000 or so schools in the structure. If North Dakota wins, there would be less money for the NCAA to spread out among its members. Just a thought.

Can we say whiner. Maybe the NCAA should have considered this before they enacted their screwed up policy. Here are some of the responses this guys letter got. Some of them really make for some interesting reading: This one is from an anonymous reader.

After further reading, I am even more unimpressed with the tone of the NCAA. Their representative (according to the cited story) stated "We are planning on aggressively defending our right and our responsibility, quite frankly, to conduct our own NCAA championships in an environment free of racial
stereotyping."

Is that so? So when the tomahawk chop shows up during the annual basketball playoffs, that wouldn't be racial stereotyping?

Oops, I bet the NCAA didn’t see that response coming. The NCAA really does have egg on their face. Think about this for just a minute. Florida State University has a mascot that happens to be a white guy dressed as a Seminole Indian mounted on a horse, the mascot rides his horse out on to the football field. When reaching midfield he throws a flaming spear into the turf of the stadium to the applause of thousand in the crowd. All which is very stereotypical. One could make the argument that this is a red faced minstrel. Of course none of which is considered hostile and abusive behavior. But at the NCAA headquarters UND logo’s is. Does anyone see the hypocrisy of this at all? None of these behaviors will ever be seen at a UND sporting event. Sure the pro-name change crowd will say there is, but no one has seen it. Personally I have never seen a tomahawk chop or heard Cherokee Autumn played at a UND sporting event. There are no war dances or flaming spears. None.

Next classic response: From USCHCO's Own.

I couldn't help but notice last March that when the NCAA sponsored the West Regional hockey tournament at the University of North Dakota's Ralph Engelstad Arena, video advertisements for Pontiac -- the association's official sponsor -- frequently ran on the arena's big-screen scoreboard.
Who was Pontiac? He was the chief of the Ottawa Indian tribe. What does Pontiac use for logo? It’s a stylized arrowhead.

Keep in mind that this tournament was held in an arena in which the NCAA once insisted could not happen until all Fighting Sioux references were covered up. And yet the NCAA has no problem accepting money from a car manufacturer that uses an American Indian name and image to promote its products.
Any objective person who spends time studying this issue will be astounded by the hypocrisy of those who claim to be against all forms of racial stereotyping.
Posted by: Patrick C. Miller

These responses just prove how stupid this policy is. There it is in black and white the hypocrisy of the NCAA and their ridiculous policy. I am sure there is more to follow.

On the Recruiting Front
I Was Linked back to one of my earlier posts:Western College Hockey Blog I personally don’t have a problem with what Chris said, (its his opinion and we live in a free world) I do, however, find it interesting, since we are still relatively early in the 2007-2008 recruiting period. The Fighting Sioux’s recruiting class size will also depend on how many more players defect to the pros at seasons end. I would say lets see what happens once the cards are all laid on the table. From what I have read UND still has a few irons in the fire. On a final not, Goon’s world is thankful for the great coverage that Western College Hockey provides to the college hockey blog sphere.

Linkorama.

Apparently Chris from WCHA
has hit a sore spot with UND fans.

North Dakota's 2007 recruiting class was a little behind the other top teams in the WCHA in terms of numbers and quality, but landing one of the top remaining forward recruits is a huge boost.

No offense to Chris but the UND 2007-2008 is pretty good with Trupp and Malone, I am sure Hak will have a few more surprises.

Sioux Finish of Sweep of Undermaned Bobcats.

Sioux Run by Quinnipiac University again

The story line this past weekend was the play of the Prairie Fire Line or is it the TOD, no maybe its the DOT line, or could we call it the ODT line? I kind of like the ODT line too. Is that oppositional defiant terror line? Probably not.

Jonathon Toews, T.J. Oshie, Ryan Duncan where nothing short of amazing, there are just not enough words that could used to explain their play this past weekend. There is also another story line that didn’t get much mention or barely any press: the play of the QU goalie Bud Fisher. The kid was nothing short of awesome and stood his ground well as the Toews, Oshie, Duncan camped out in front of his net all weekend and put a lot of shots on net. Some unfairly slighted Fisher and wanted to give credit to the Quinnipiac University hockey team, but it was apparent from the start of the first game they were over matched, one could say the Bobcats were out of their league. In the end it was the stellar play of sophomore goalie Bug Fisher that kept the two teams close. If not for In Bud the Bobcats trust the games would have been 10-1 and 11-2.

Fisher is the one that deserved most of the credit for keeping the score as low as they were. Seriously, lets try not confuse the issue with facts, but if it wasn’t for Fisher the scores of these past weekends games would have really been out of hand as Fisher was under attack all weekend. The QU defense had no answer for the speedier Sioux forwards. All four lines showed great speed and prowess.

If Quinnipiac was a WCHA team they would be near or at the bottom of the standings, there is a big difference in the two teams. The difference between the two leagues is very apparent the EZAC doesn’t have the high end players that the WCHA does, but there is nothing wrong with that it’s just a fact.

This Weekend’s Series
This past week I have seen fans predicting sweeps in Madison this weekend. I am not sure that is realistic since many Sioux teams have gone to Madison, only a few have swept the Badgers. While nothing would be more satisfying that winning in Madison or well Minneapolis it just doesn’t happen very often. The Sioux also haven’t fared well in Madison as of late as they have gone 2-4-0 in their last 6 trips.

The last time the Sioux have gone to Madison and swept a series was March 7th and 8th of 2003, when the Sioux beat the listless Badgers 5-2 and 5-0 in a two game series. Incidentally, this was also the last time the Sioux have won a game in Madison. While this series this weekend is important series, it’s the first WCHA games of the year. Its not the end of the world if the Sioux get beat. I think its imperative that Sioux fans not put an undue pressure on this young team. Seriously, I am as guilty of this as anyone else, because they will not be hitting their stride until later in the season. As we know championships are not won in October and November, they are won in March and April.