Here is something we will probably see a lot of...

(Clif Reeder/Michigan Daily
Here is something we could see a lot of come this weekend Jeff Frazee's 2007 WJC back up Jeff Zatkoff getting scored on.

Talk about Sand Bagging: I can't believe some moron picked these guys to finish 4th? WTF?

Andy Reid, Daily Sports Writer on 3/26/08

At CCHA Media Day in September, the Michigan hockey team was picked to finish fourth in the conference.

A lot has changed in 183 days.

The Wolverines, winners of both the regular-season and conference tournament championships, have been one of the biggest surprises in college hockey. And the national pundits aren't the only ones scratching their heads at Michigan's run to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

A interesting Perspective.

Here is an interesting perspective from the From the MGOBLOG

Hypothetical second-round opponents. Those unfamiliar with college hockey might look at the second-round matchup, which features conference champ and 21-12-4 Clarkson as the lower seed against fifth-place and 19-15-5 St. Cloud State, and go "huh"?

Well, unlike college football, college hockey has a clear conference pecking order with the WCHA on top, HE and the CCHA fighting it out for second -- this year it's advantage CCHA -- and the ECAC existing as a clear fourth, halfway between the power conferences and Atlantic Hockey. The last ECAC national champion was RPI in 1985. The last time an ECAC team reached the final was Colgate in 1990. Since 2000 only two ECAC teams have reached the Frozen Four. And so on. With all due respect to the league, the vagaries of the PWR are such that drawing an ECAC team is almost always the best possible scenario given your seeding.

While I agree with what he says I am going to take this a bit further. First off the fact that Clarkson is as high as a three seed puzzles me, espeically after they lost to a weak team like Colgate, I think their ranking is a joke actually. All most as silly as them being a one seed last season.

If Clarkson had actually held on to win their conference tourney there would have only been one EZAC team in the NCAA tourney this year. Second records are missleading as SCSU is in the WCHA which top to bottom is the toughest league in college hockey, they are not the AHA but their conference isn't the WCHA or the CCHA. Clarkson is in the EZAC considered the weakest of the Big Four college hockey conferences. They are closer to the AHA then they are the CCHA or the WCHA most of the time their teams get killed in head to head match ups with the CCHA or WCHA.

Clarkson also plays against a schedule that is what I would consider weak by many. Clarkson has lost to some really bad teams one of them was LSSU. Look at the numbers Clarkson's strenght of schedule is very Miami like at 31st over-all and has lost to some really bad teams. Lets look at the Huskies; SCSU strenght of schedule is ranked 9th sure they are like the 5th place team in the WCHA but, has beaten some really good teams. Just for some perspective, C.C. clobbered Clarkson 5-2 and 6-2 when the Knights played the Tigers. SCSU a fifth team split with C.C. the top team in the WCHA during the regular season.

Lee answers Senators' call and makes the Play of the Day

Here is an interesting article on Brian Lee's NHL debut and he saved a goal in his first game. Nice got to love a former Sioux player taking a goal away from a former Gophers player. Here is a better link to the video here from ESPN.

Rookie defenceman makes NHL debut on eve of 21st birthday.
by Rob Brodie
Lee One day early, Brian Lee is getting quite the birthday gift. The young defenceman from Moorhead, Minn., will make his National Hockey League debut tonight –hours before he celebrates his 21st birthday – when the Ottawa Senators face off against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena (7 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet, Team 1200).

While Lee’s callup is related to the hip injury suffered by veteran blueliner Wade Redden during the Senators’ 7-5 loss Monday night in Montreal, head coach/general manager Bryan Murray said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound rookie will be in the lineup regardless of whether Redden is a go tonight or not. His status and that of forward Dean McAmmond (bruised thigh) won’t likely be determined until game time, Murray added.

What can the Senators expect tonight out of Lee, who’ll wear No. 55?

“He’s a rookie,” Murray said Tuesday morning. “He handles the puck and he skates (well), but he’s a young player and we have to know that going in. He’s going to be an NHL player and I think a real good NHL player.

“We know what he brings to the table when he has a little time under his belt. What can he do tonight? I hope play like he plays in the minors, where he does a lot with the puck… He retrieves the puck, he makes the first pass real good. He’s an all-star in the American Hockey League.”

Former Sioux Brian Lee vs Derek Dorsett

I found this video on line today and my first word of advice for former Fighting Sioux hockey and current Senators player Brian Lee is that I would stick to your day job, fighting is not your strong point. I do have to give him credit for dropping the gloves though.

Misc Ramblings.

I have finally landed back in Grand Forks last night waking up in my own bed after being gone since last Wednesday (well except for one night on Sunday). I had to go to Duluth Monday to take my daughter to the doctor at the Duluth Clinic and thank god for vehicle warranty plans. You know that light in your vehicle that comes on and says service engine soon, ah they mean nothing. I have heard about people that actually put tape over them so they don’t have to look at them. One of my buddies has been driving around for like 25,000 miles with his service engine light on. Well my wife would have nothing to do with playing the odds. Mrs. Goon said, “You’re getting it checked out before we leave Duluth.” I guess the thought of being stranded along highway 2 didn’t seem like an attractive offer to Mrs Goon. So I find out that my engine cooling fan was going and it would have been like $900.00 dollars if I hadn’t bought the service plan. My price after deduct able was $100.00, sweet. Thank you Luther Chevy…

One could say this past weekend was quite a trip. I was able to meet so many of the WCHA bloggers that I chat with on-line. It was interesting because you are able to finally put a face to some of the bloggers names as well. Unfortunately there will be no pictures. This is to protect the guilty. LOL…

This is who I met this past weekend in no particular order: Amy from Lets Go Mavs, Heather from Win-Twins, Beth aka MeanEgirl (wasn’t there a movie with Mean girls or something like that?) from the Michigan Tech Hockey Blog and Donna from RWD’s and her husband A.J.; I also had the opportunity to briefly meet the legend Fire Helmet guy.

Here is an interesting post that I found on USCHO.COM. First off anything can happen in a one and done tourney, lose and you go home. I am not sure why people think the Sioux can't beat DU. First off DU has to get by Wisconsin. This view is sumed up well by:

SiouxFanatic
It's kind of funny. Since the loss to Denver in the Final Five many people have deemed the Sioux's post-season doomed saying we don't have a chance if we get around Princeton and have to play Denver in the regional final. I'm not at all convinced that Denver isn't beatable. Honestly, I think Wisconsin is going to give them a very good run for their money in the semifinal game.

I think Denver is a good team but I think if the Sioux have the chance to play them again I think it'll be a whole different game than what we saw at the Final Five.

So if the Sioux get past Princeton; Good luck watching the game on Sunday evening. Apparently ESPNU is not very available if you have midco.

The Sunday game is being broadcast exclusively by ESPNU, and the Fighting Sioux Sports Network has been unsuccessful in its attempts to obtain rights for the game.

ESPNU is not available on Midcontinent Communications, the major cable carrier in this area. But it is available on DirecTV (Channel 609) and Dish Network (Channel 148).

Several local food and beverage establishments with satellite dishes plan to carry the game.

I have been calling Midcontinent for years about them carrying ESPNU in their digital cable line up and they basically said that they don't intend on carrying the channel because they would lose money or it's not profitable for them to carry it. Apparently ESPN channels are expensive to carry. What we should do is swamp the lines and threaten to swtich to DirecTV.

Some more pictures from the Final Five

Here are a couple pictures and video of the guy that passed out in the Xcel Energy Center. One of the Gopher fans that was sitting next to us said leave it to a Sioux fan to ruin a game that they aren't involved in, lol. I will be posting a final blog article on this years Final Five experience a little later on in the week. I am still picking through the 100's of pictures of mine and some of the other people we went to the Final Five with. I am actually still recovering from the damage that I did this weekend. Some call it a hang over I call it not being to keep like I once could because of my old age.
Drunk Passed out guy a day later after he was checked out by the paramedics. I would have been embarrassed if I was that guy.




Actually the snow set a very nice back drop for the Final Five this past weekend. Hey it is March so it can snow at any time and it did and it didn't stop snowing from Friday on. Even with the snow, this is the best time of the year and the Xcel Energy Center is a great venue for a hockey tourney. I also get upset when I hear fans complain about it being in St. Paul because it is in the Gophers back yard. Big deal, it gives guys like us an excuse to travel to a hockey game or 5.

Another person that thinks DU got screwed.

Its your Monday after selection Sunday and the whining is starting already. Jim Connelly feels as if DU got screwed as well. I would say how about Colorado College. The Tigers have this season region on death. Look Jim every team has to beat good teams to win a national title, DU was a second ranked seed their match up in the NCAA tourney is about right. DU is the only team that gets to play a first round match up against a team with a losing record.

With the six teams from the WCHA in the field, and most of them seeded either second or third, avoiding a first-round match up became impossible. It was fortunate that this occurred only once (Denver vs. Wisconsin).

As for the locations of where each team ended up, I liked the committee’s rationale. With two host schools in the tournament, the committees hands were locked with Colorado College and Wisconsin. Thus, it seems the committee chose to take the top two seeds - Michigan and Miami - and send both teams east to avoid ever having to play a team on home ice. I don’t think that this necessarily gives Michigan and Miami an advantage (though Michigan may possibly have the easiest path to the Frozen Four) but at least they’re not “rewarded” with having to play a “road” game as the top seed in the regional final.

This year’s region of death appears to the Colorado Springs. Defending national champion Michigan State will have a tough time repeating having to face host Colorado College in the opening round. And New Hampshire doesn’t have a cake walk in its first game against Notre Dame. Whichever team can survive this region, though, may just win the national title.

I thought if any one team kind of got screwed it was Denver. The Pioneers won their conference tournament on Saturday but now must beat Wisconsin at Bucky’s home. If they do survive this game, I like their chances of playing for the national title in their own backyards. What an atmosphere that would make.

All in all, I like the job the committee did in placing these teams. Now the question lies which teams will survive to make it to Denver. I’ll be back with those thoughts later this week.

OUCH Region of Death

Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State

NCAA tourney thoughts.

Here is are couple of things that I thought were important and need to be analyzed. The playoff bracket have been announced and the Sioux are not going to Colorado Springs to play the Tigers. I think most Sioux fans are cool with that.

Joel Maturi, the chair of the men's ice hockey committee and the athletic director at Minnesota, confirmed that the thought process behind Michigan's move to Albany was to "protect" the top seeds.

Could someone please tell me what the Red Hawks have done to secure a 2nd over all bid? The RedHawks have played a very weak schedule (the 24th ranked schedule over all). I mean seriously folks, and the committee is going to protect a team that has shamelessly feasted on cup cakes all season long raking up wins against a less than impressive list of teams. In fact if you look at the RedHawks schedule you will see they have beat very few teams that are considered good. Let’s break this down; the RedHawks have beaten SCSU (once in a holiday tourney), Notre Dame two times (they played three games and are 2-1 once in the CCHA tourney minus their top forward) and MSU twice. Against the top team in the CCHA the Michigan Wolverines the RedHawks are an impressive 0-2-1. Lets break this down further; Miami is 9-3-1 against teams under consideration for the NCAA tourney. That means they have played just 12 teams that are a team under consideration for being in the NCAA tourney. If you want to take this further; in comparison UND is 21-10-4 against teams that are a TUC, that means out of their 40 games UND has played 35 games against teams that were a TUC. I have no problem with awarding Michigan with the opportunity to beat up on a cup cake in its first game, they have earned that right...

The other joke is the Wisconsin Badgers making the tourney with a losing record and failing to make the conference tourney but still was able to leap frog Minnesota State University Mankato who had a winning record. I can see how Maverick fans might be a little ticked at this decision. Want to bet this rule is changed in the near future?

Let the complaining begin

Here is the Fighting Sioux's Bracket is in Madison, Wisconsin; it looks pretty fair enough to me. You either win or you go home. According to the Lets Go DU hockey blog some seem to think that DU was screwed by the NCAA committee. I am not sure how they are the 2 seed. Did they want to play in Colorado Springs? Also it appears that College Hockey News thinks DU got the short end of the stick as well. Personally I think it is poetic justice; DU got a win they may not deserved as the result of a bad call by an on ice official. Mike Eaves could use this as a way to fire up his troops in the game against the Pioneers. Personally I think DU gets a nice draw in playing the Wisconsin Badgers and they should have no trouble dispatching of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin

Kyle Okposo's first NHL goal

I was wondering how long it would take? It also couldn't have happen against a better team than to have Kyle Okposo score his first goal against Sioux7's favorite team.

Olshansky on T.J. Oshie being a Hobey Baker Candidate

Seems as if our friend Elliot Olshansky is a little shocked about Oshie being selected for the Hobey Baker. While I do think Oshie is a good candidates I think the Hobey Baker committee has no intentions of giving the award to a North Dakota player this season. It wouldn't matter if Oshie had 50 goals or Jean-Philippe Lamoureux had 10 shut outs the award is going to go to a player from the CCHA or Hockey East.

T.J. Oshie, North Dakota: Is anyone else amused that after all the hand-wringing over whether Nathan Gerbe should be considered for the award after his one-game suspension in the fall for an on-ice incident, he’s joined among the finalists by a player who was arrested this season? There’s no denying that Oshie is a great player, but if I’m a Michigan fan, I am livid right now, because this looks - shall we say, “interesting?” - in the wake of last season’s T.J. Hensick saga, not to mention the fact that Oshie beat out a very worthy Chad Kolarik, among others, for this spot. Is anyone else amused that after all the hand-wringing over whether Nathan Gerbe should be considered for the award after his one-game suspension in the fall for an on-ice incident, he’s joined among the finalists by a player who was arrested this season? There’s no denying that Oshie is a great player, but if I’m a Michigan fan, I am livid right now, because this looks - shall we say, “interesting?” - in the wake of last season’s T.J. Hensick saga, not to mention the fact that Oshie beat out a very worthy Chad Kolarik, among others, for this spot.

OK, enough of the controversy, although I maintain that I’m very surprised by the pick. Oshie is a great player at both ends of the ice, a player whose worth isn’t truly captured by his healthy numbers, and one of the biggest reasons that the Fighting Sioux are where they are right now. Not only that, he was part of the celebrated pact in the offseason that brought Oshie, 2007 Hobey winner Ryan Duncan, Joe Finley and Taylor Chorney back to Grand Forks. In this era of widespread early NHL signings, the sort of commitment that those players showed and the follow-through that Oshie and his mates have delivered deserve to be rewarded.

UND 4 C.C. 2

The UND Fighting Sioux regained some momentum it lost yesterday by resoundingly beating the C.C. Tigers 4-2 in the third place game for the Final Five. In the past we have heard how the third place game is a meaningless game and there is no reason to play it. This afternoon that couldn't be further from the truth as the Sioux locked up a number one seed with the win against WCHA regular season champion C.C. today, now the Sioux have to wait to see where they go next. Seems as if the Lets Go DU hockey blogger has taken great pleasure in the Tigers losing both its game in the WCHA Final Five this weekend.



Box Score

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1st Period (20:00)
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NDK-1 Taylor Chorney (2-Boarding) CC 0x1 2:40
CC 1 - 0 6x6 Chad Rau (28) (Mike Testwuide) 7:56
CC (+): 14,25,7,4,21,G30 NDK (-): 4,28,16,14,7,G1
CC-1 Jack Hillen (2-Holding) NDK 0x1 8:13
NDK-2 T.J. Oshie (2-Slashing) CC 0x2 9:24
CC-2 Ryan Lowery (2-Tripping) NDK 1x2 17:27
NDK 1 - 1 6x5 PP T.J. Oshie (18) (Taylor Chorney, Chris VandeVelde) 19:20
NDK: 7,4,29,28,16,G1 CC: 21,4,7,14,G30

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2nd Period (20:00)
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CC-3 Kris Fredheim (2-DELAY OF GAME) NDK 2x3 3:48
NDK 2 - 1 6x5 PP LL Chris VandeVelde (15) (Taylor Chorney, T.J. Oshie) 5:01
NDK: 29,4,7,28,16,G1 CC: 14,8,26,11,G30
NDK-3 Brad Malone (2-Kneeing) CC 0x3 8:10
CC-4 Jack Hillen (2-Interference) NDK 3x4 10:09
NDK 3 - 1 6x5 PP GW Chay Genoway (7) (Jake Marto, Brad Malone) 10:27
NDK: 5,25,8,10,14,G1 CC: 9,10,11,7,G30
CC-5 Nate Prosser (2-Slashing) NDK 3x5 12:28
NDK-4 Kyle Radke (2-Hooking) CC 1x4 15:06
CC 2 - 3 6x5 PP Jimmy Kilpatrick (15) (Brian Connelly, Ryan Lowery) 16:36
CC: 11,23,14,24,26,G30 NDK: 2,5,7,16,G1

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3rd Period (20:00)
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CC-6 Nate Prosser (2-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) NDK 3x6 2:45
NDK-5 Brad Miller (2-Roughing) 4:21
CC-7 Scott Thauwald (2-Roughing) 4:21
NDK 4 - 2 6x6 Darcy Zajac (3) (Kyle Radke, Jake Marto) 10:02
NDK (+): 11,26,25,6,21,G1 CC (-): 23,24,19,16,11,G30
CC-8 Nate Prosser (2-DELAY OF GAME) NDK 3x7 10:44
Timeout - Colorado College 18:35

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End of Game

Roseville = Safe-ville (Sioux 7)

Friday morning, the snow is falling the Goon and Sioux 7 are having a drink for breakfast. You know, Captian Morgan is the new Breakfast of Champions, sorry wheaties ;) We get up and get showered, so we don't stink, too bad we couldn't say the same for our team yesterday. So anyway, I go out to my SUV and start dusting off the snow. The Goon and the rest of the gang come out, we load up and head to downtown St. Paul. We are there all day, meanwhile back at the hotel, the Goon left our hotel room door OPEN. To our suprise when we get back, the room has not be touched by anyone, include the maids. So we have decided to rate Roseville the safest suburb in the USA. Just think yesterday I was wondering why everything shut down at 10pm, oops. Everything in Roseville is just rosie today, but today, we will shut our door before we go to St. Paul, and not temp fate a second time.

Friday's pictures from the Final Five.

Here are some pictures from day two of the final five. I must admit that my pictures are not as good as the pictures from the stalkerazzi camera and I have seen the camera it is an impressive digital camera. When I was in school I also didn't do very well in my visual arts classes. :)

So if there is a hockey Jesus, I guess that makes Parise the hockey God?

Some one has to tell Pat M to smile. Craig Dahl got a pretty good reception when he showed up at the Great Waters Brewery. I recommend their steak sand which and their beer is absolutely amazing especially the dark ones.

12.7 second left.

Here is the goal that put the Gophers in the semis.

The Anthony Maiani goal that buried the Sioux

I have to give credit where credit is due, that was a hell of a goal that buried my favorite team. That was a hell of goal.

DU 3 and UND 1

Tomorrow C.C. Tigers and the Fighting Sioux play in the third place game of the WCHA Final Five, this is because both the top seed were bounced by their opponents in the semi final games. The Gophers defying the odds beat the C.C. Tigers in a single over time and the Fighting Sioux looked listless in early game losing to the Denver Pioneers. It would be an understatment to say that the early game was a boring game that lacked little if any excitement as the Denver Pioneers had all the answers for the the Fighting Sioux. I do know if the Sioux play like this next weekend their season will be over before it starts.


Scoring/Penalties

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1st Period (20:00)
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DEN-1 Matt Glasser (2-Boarding) NDK 0x1 1:57
DEN-2 Chris Butler (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 2:32
NDK-1 Derrick LaPoint (2-Holding) DEN 0x1 9:30
DEN-3 Tyler Bozak (2-Hooking) NDK 0x3 18:39
DEN-4 Andrew Thomas (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
DEN-5 Chris Butler (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
DEN-6 Peter Mannino (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) (Served by Brandon Vossberg) 19:01
DEN-7 Peter Mannino (2-Slashing) (Served by Matt Glasser) NDK 0x4 19:01
NDK-2 Chay Genoway (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
NDK-3 T.J. Oshie (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01
NDK-4 Chris VandeVelde (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 19:01

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2nd Period (20:00)
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NDK-5 Joe Finley (2-Slashing) DEN 1x2 4:50
DEN 1 - 0 6x5 PP Rhett Rakhshani (14) (Patrick Mullen, Tyler Bozak) 5:58
DEN: 9,7,21,19,4,G29 NDK: 4,5,17,20,G1
NDK-6 Taylor Chorney (2-Slashing) DEN 1x3 15:42
NDK-7 Joe Finley (2-Slashing) DEN 1x4 18:45

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3rd Period (20:00)
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NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Taylor Chorney (3) (Darcy Zajac, Jake Marto) 6:16
NDK (+): 4,11,25,28,22,G1 DEN (-): 12,25,14,4,16,G29
DEN 2 - 1 6x6 GW LL Anthony Maiani (7) (unassisted) 18:40
DEN (+): 16,14,5,7,21,G29 NDK (-): 2,5,11,10,8,G1
Timeout - North Dakota 18:40
DEN 3 - 1 6x6 EN Matt Glasser (6) (Tyler Ruegsegger) 19:54
DEN (+): 17,15,9,4,8,G29 NDK (-): 5,28,29,7,17,16

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End of Game
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Jeff Dubay of FSN/KFAN 1130 wearing a Fighting Sioux hat!

This is one of these pictures that you just have to share. That's right folks Gopher rube and KFAN personality Jeff Dubay wearing a Sioux hat. I guess we always thought he was a closet Sioux fan. A couple of weeks ago he was wearing a SCSU Huskie tie during a hockey broadcast. What next Joe Finley jersey? That is probably not going to happen.

Play-in Game Recap (Sioux 7)

Maybe it was having seats too close to the ice or maybe the refs finally read the rules book. The SCSU and UM game last night actually was reffed exceptionally well, in my opinion. It could also be that I don't have my green Sioux glass on, or the fact that I wasn't drinking (I had to drive us home after the game). I just hope that the reffing is like that the rest of the play-offs, they got most of the calls right. What suprised my was that both teams had 5x3 power plays, I can hardly recall more than once that happened for UND in a game.

I wonder if SCSU was laying off, only wanting to play one game this weekend and rest up for the NCAA tourney... I was also suprised at the lack of physical play, for a while I thought I was watching the womens game, no checking. I think I could count the number of hits on one hand. The only good hit was when Bickel got taken hard into the end boards in the 3rd period. I didn't notice any fatigue factor on the side of the Gophers, we will see if they show any signs of fatigue on Friday night versus the Tigers.

On a side note, after leaving the X and going back to the hotel, it is hard to understand a city of more than a couple million people that so many restuarants close at 10pm, and so do the liquor stores, whats up with that!

Conspiracy theorists in the CCHA.

I saw this article on the blog that Yost built first and I think the black Helicopter is circling at the Joe in Detroit. You have to check this article from the NMU out. I think Michigan is going to beat NMU because they are a better team, I don't think the refs are going to have much of an impact on the game.

On offense, no one can claim that they are as good as Michigan. Senior Kevin Porter should be easily the Hobey Baker winner. If not, then the NCAA is a bunch of crooked goons. He sports fantastic numbers (28 goals, 28 assists, 56 points) which lead the nation. You’ll see him in the NHL for Phoenix next season. Chad Kolarik is not far behind with 46 points. On defense, Mark Mitera, Carl Hagelin and Chad Langlais are also pretty damn good. The only true weakness really comes down to grit and toughness. All hockey players are tough. But with all this talent and speed, the brain becomes conditioned to playing pretty. So if a team can rough these boys up, then the Wolverines can be pushed around and challenged.

HOWEVER, the key is the refs. We’re not going to mention the Ref by name at the Berry Events Center last fall when NMU and Michigan played. I know this site complains about the refs, but after you read this story, you will know why. Last October, two eye-witnesses saw the Ref in the locker room prior to the NMU-Michigan game on Friday night wearing Michigan Wolverine suspenders. That ref then proceeded to call 10 penalties on NMU, giving Michigan 9 powerplays to NMU’s 5. This was at home mind you. Fans were irate and sick with what was being called. Fortunately, Yoopers are kind souls and easy-going otherwise this Ref would have had the snot kicked out of him in Motown or New York City. SO, next time you don’t believe in CCHA Ref conspiracy, think of this story. This is not a CCHA Democracy, it is a dictatorship of Michigan and Michigan State.

End of the season awards

Top 10 Hobey Baker Finalists

The 10 finalists are:

Nathan Gerbe, Jr, F, Boston College
Ryan Jones, Sr, F, Miami
Kevin Porter, Sr, F, Michigan
Jeff Lerg, Jr, G, Michigan State
Lee Jubinville, Jr, F, Princeton
Simon Lambert, Sr, F, RIT
Ryan Lasch, So, F, St. Cloud State
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Sr, G, North Dakota
T.J. Oshie, Jr, F, North Dakota
Kevin Regan, Sr, G, New Hampshire

Congratulations to Oshie and Lamoureux. My prediction for the Hobey Hat Trick will be Lamoureux, Jones and Porter.

Fighting Sioux players on All-WCHA Team(s)

First Team

F T.J. Oshie, Jr., North Dakota (27 gp, 12-17—29)
D Taylor Chorney, Jr., North Dakota (28 gp, 2-14—16)

All-WCHA Second Team

F Ryan Duncan, Jr., North Dakota (28 gp, 9-19—28)
D Chay Genoway, So., North Dakota (23 gp, 5-13—18)
G Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Sr., North Dakota (18-7-3, 1.74 gaa, .929 sv%)

All-WCHA Third Team

D Robbie Bina, Sr., North Dakota (28 gp, 1-16—17)

There was much discussion over how many Sioux players would be selected to be on the All WCHA team(s). When your team gets second or first in the conference your team is going to get a fair number of players on the first three teams. From looking at the various teams the Fighting Sioux did put a fair number of players on the first three teams. I am surprised that Mannino getting third team over Zacharias?

4 Mike Zacharias Minnesota State 2.08 .924
7 Peter Mannino Denver 80 2.26 .916