Poll Monday. (another candidate for moron of the week)

USCHO Poll --- February 9, 2009
Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Boston University (49) 21-5-1 999 1
2 Notre Dame ( 1) 21-5-3 912 2
3 Northeastern 19-6-2 897 3
4 Michigan 21-9-0 847 4
5 Vermont 16-6-4 791 7
6 Cornell 15-4-4 688 5
7 Miami 16-8-4 668 8
8 Denver 17-9-3 650 6
9 Princeton 17-6-0 622 10
10 Yale 17-5-1 507 14
11 North Dakota 16-11-3 405 13
12 New Hampshire 13-9-4 402 11
13 Wisconsin 16-11-3 389 16
14 Minnesota 12-9-5 360 9
15 Boston College 12-9-4 346 12
16 Ohio State 18-9-3 335 15
17 Minnesota-Duluth 15-9-6 235 17
18 Colorado College 14-9-7 211 18
19 Dartmouth 12-8-3 89 19
20 Air Force 19-7-2 47 NR
Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 34, Minnesota State 19,

St. Lawrence 17, Alaska 8, Niagara 8, RIT 5, Mass.-Lowell 4,

Massachusetts 2, Union 2, Clarkson 1
-------------------

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
Feb. 9, 2009
Rank School (first-place votes) Record Points Last week
1 Boston University (34) 21-5-1 510 1
2 Northeastern 19-6-2 451 3
3 Notre Dame 21-5-3 450 2
4 Michigan 21-9-0 402 4
5 Vermont 16-6-4 380 7
6 Miami (Ohio) 16-8-4 310 6
7 Cornell 15-4-4 294 5
8 Denver 17-9-3 268 8
9 Princeton 17-6-0 263 10
10 Yale 17-5-1 191 14
11 North Dakota 16-11-3 130 13
12 New Hampshire 13-9-4 122 11
13 Wisconsin 16-11-3 92 NR
14 Minnesota 12-9-5 72 9
15 Boston College 12-9-4 67 12
Others receiving votes: The Ohio State University, 51; Colorado College, 13;

University of Minnesota Duluth, 13; U.S. Air Force Academy, 1.
-------------------

INCH Power Rankings
1. Boston University
2. Notre Dame
3. Michigan
4. Northeastern
5. Vermont
6. Miami
7. Princeton
8. Denver
9. Cornell
10. North Dakota
11. Wisconsin
12. Yale
13. Ohio State
14. New Hampshire
15. Minnesota
16. Boston College
17. Colorado College
18. Minnesota Duluth
19. Air Force
20. Niagara
Dropped out: St. Lawrence, RIT
Bubble-licious: RIT, Alaska, Dartmouth

Analysis: Big Tumble by Minnesota Golden Gophers. I thought it was funny that UMD didn't go up further in the rankings after beating DU at the DECC this weekend.

Another Moron of the Week candidate

I want to know what kind of people write this type of garbage? I dare anonymous Skippys to be brave enough to say this to "Big Joe's face." Check out this latest from the Finley haters.

Finley is a huge DB! He acts likes he's so tough. He, in my opinion, is one of THE worst d-men to ever play at UND? I hope whoever drafted him in the 1st round is already fired.

Posted by: AO on Monday, February 09 12:03 PM

Reporting of local hockey?

Grand Forks Central went to Devils Lake, ND on Saturday night and this is all that appeared in today's Grand Forks Herald. By the way Central won the game 7-1 but hardly a mention of the game. When I used to live Bemidji and International Falls, Minnesota, High School hockey got a lot more coverage than it does in Grand Forks, ND. This is supposed to be a hockey town and this is the best coverage we can get. A lot of people are interested in high school but there is hardly any coverage in the local news paper. Lets hear about some of the Central and Red River hockey players.

Boys hockey: John Simonson scored two goals to lead Grand Forks Central to a 7-1 East Region victory against homestanding Devils Lake on Friday. Justin Moody, Jake Plutowski, Brenden Gust, Jared Sorlien and David Sayler also scored for the Knights. “We got off to a great start with three goals in the first five minutes,” Central coach Tony Bina said. “We set the tone early.” Tanner Spicer had three assists for Central. Tyler Roed scored for the Firebirds. The Knights had a 42-18 edge in shots on goal. “It was a good team effort,” Bina said. “We’re rolling three lines. We’re pretty deep.”

Bits and pieces: MSU-M Mavericks come to town.

It is fitting that the Fighting Sioux and the Mavericks go head to head on Valentines day weekend, pick your dance partner. Expect this weekend's series to be a hard fought and a very contested series. Since there is some history with the two teams there is a good chance that there might be a few scraps... (example one) (example two) I also predict you will not see any bush league incidents likes the ones that happen down in Mankato and Minneapolis. Both teams will man up and go head to head.

The Wheels are coming off in Mpls

I have to admit that I am enjoying another implosion down in the Twin Cites. Below is a great illustration on how the Gophers last 8 games have gone. Wow, the Gophers are giving up a lot of goals right now and the fan base in Minneapolis is starting to get restless. The Problem is not Alex Kangas it is the road cones on the Gophers defense that is having problems.

Check out some of the comments here and here. So this season we have had the Jersey excuse, the WJC excuse and the coach excuse and I am now seeing the goalie excuse emerge. What I have failed to see mentioned is maybe the opposition is better than the Gophers.

Here's the deal: Since coach Don Lucia skipped his team's trip to North Dakota to get his medical condition checked, the Gophers have given up 36 goals in eight games, lost six times and dropped like a stone from second place in the conference into a tie with St. Cloud for sixth. Worse: That would become seventh if the Huskies won their late game Saturday night at Alaska Anchorage.

Lucia's health is OK. The Gophers' health? Hard to say.

"We've got to make the game fun again," Stoa said. "When you get frustrated, it turns into a grind."

Stoa shook his head when asked if Lucia's illness caused this team to veer off course after starting with a 7-0-4 record and climbing to No. 1 in the national polls on Nov. 21, then holding fairly steady.

"It's an excuse you can throw out there," he said, "but it comes down to going out there and getting your work done. Put pucks in the net. There are always distractions: School, the coach getting sick and all that stuff is just excuses.

Moron of the Week

This poster right here qualifies as the moron of the week. Check out the same tired logic Sioux fans have suffered through over the years. Just for the record the Minnesota squad he refers to is 3rd nationally in penalty minutes while the Sioux are 12th over all.

sooperthanksfora sking said: The obvious point is that the Gophers, as usual are not physical enough. It's time to offer scholarships to more than just the top three or four offensive defenseman from every graduating class. There are guys out there that can skate, and knock guys on their butts. I am a huge fan of coach Lucia, but it's time for him to adapt a little bit to what the rest of the league is doing to his team. I'm not talking obout turning the Gophers into a bunch of classless clowns like fighting siouxage, but rather finding a balance between the skilled players that they can get at will, and some guys that will come in here and stick up for those guys, and keep the goons from other teams off of their goalie.

Nothing to do but go to hockey in Grand Forks.

Here is the latest jab at UND from Goal Gophers. Yawn! Hey Roman maybe some of us live up here because we don't like the urban sprawl of the metro area and we don't have to put up with wall to wall skippy's in traffic every day. I live two miles from work. I can watch all the hockey I want from my living room. Funny I managed to catch your squad get run over by the Badgers this weekend. Lets see that is 2-4 in your last six games. Lastly, if North Dakota is such a horrible place how come there are so many blue license plates up here in October?

The students on both ends of Mariucci on Friday night wore gold. They got the message. The other fans? Not so much. That was a poor Gold Out. I’m not exactly sure where the blame lies?

Partly, I think, the U did not seem to do a very good job of getting the word out. True, they handed out some gold T-shirts last weekend. But I did not hear the Gold weekend promoted on TV or radio or at Mariucci much? Maybe I live in a cave/

There was a gold pom pom in all 10,000-some seats when fans arrived Friday night. That looked kind of cool. But once the game began, there were only splashes of gold in the public seats.

Contrast that to Grand Forks, N.D., a couple of weeks back. Those fans really responded to the White Out there. Maybe 90 percent wore white. Of course, there is little else to focus on in NoDak. No pro sports — Wild, Wolves — or major college basketball like Tubby’s tubs. The Fighting Sioux are the big sports story in town, I get that.

Lucia says there's not enough respect between players

Props to 60 minutes for this great article from Todd D. Milewski. Hum, I wonder which team Don Lucia is referring to in this article? I will give you a couple of clues. This will some how come back to being UND fault. Mark my words. Funny when an NHL scout is disgusted with the play in the WCHA our league has degraded to an unacceptable level. Funny that one of the teams that tries to pride its self in being above the fray and having a clean image is part of the problem.

MINNEAPOLIS -- How ugly did things get last Friday night at the Alltel Center in Mankato, Minn? Minnesota coach Don Lucia, whose team got thumped 6-2 by Minnesota State in a game featuring 94 penalty minutes, four major penalties and two disqualifications, said a member of his coaching staff heard afterward from an NHL scout who told of being disgusted watching the game.

"That's not a good indictment," Lucia said.

Nor was this assessment of the state of the college game by Lucia: "I don't think we're protecting the players," he said. "I don't think there's enough respect between players in how they play the game. And I think that has to be looked at."
-----------(snip)-----------
"What we have to do is look at, as a league, do we have repeat offenders? Are there certain guys that have multiple major penalties on certain teams? And if they do, it should be addressed from a league standpoint with multiple-game suspensions."

In each of the last four weekends, there has been some form of multiple-player scuffle in a WCHA game.

On Jan. 23, with host North Dakota pulling away from Denver in the third period, a scrap resulted in 42 penalty minutes.

At the end of the first period at the Kohl Center on Jan. 17, Wisconsin's John Mitchell was penalized for igniting a brawl that resulted in 38 penalty minutes.

And on Jan. 10, with host North Dakota on the verge of a sweep of the Gophers, Sioux defenseman Zach Jones, with his helmet and gloves off, appeared ready to throw punches before being restrained by linesman -- and former Michigan Tech captain -- Matt Ulwelling. That resulted in 48 penalty minutes.

I am going to cut Todd some slack because he forgot to mention that Even Trupp was butt ended by a Gopher’s player Tony Luica in front of the Gophers bench. This was the same event that Gopher Coach John Hill said Trupp was acting on. So, Lucia and Jones agreed to fight per the code face to face before Tony Lucia decided he wanted nothing to do with Jones and decided to turtle. Funny how that fact Lucia agreed to fight Jones keeps getting left out of the discussion when Zach Jones actions are mentioned.

Here is the deal I have no problem with Lucia whining about the officiating in the WCHA, the fans, the players and the coaches know the officiating in this leagues sucks but all ten teams have to put up with the same officiating. Last night the game between the Badgers and the Gophers was called tight, when I switched over to the DU and UMD game I saw more of the same, holding, obstruction and slashing. It is about consistency in the officiating and the WCHA is not calling their games in consistent manner, other than in a consistently horrible manner.

On the respect issue your teams seems to have been the most deficient this season. Attacking a player Todd Bertuzzi style because he hit one of your players from behind has nothing to do with respect. At least have enough respect to let the player you’re fighting defend himself. Antithesis of lack of respect is what Shack did to Boe. If your players come in with their sticks high and face wash the opposition how do you expect the other players in the league to respond to your players act? Your offending player is going to get a bow tie cross check or popped back. Don’t stand there amazed that some one dared respond to a bush league tactic. If I am a player and you cross check me in the face I am going to hit you back. That is hockey.

No matter how Lucia or Gwozdecky spin this it isn’t about the big bad Sioux. It’s about players that don’t have respect for the opposition players and haven’t played in a league where if you cheap shot someone during the play or after the whistle you’re going to pay for it. Lucia can recruit all the junior hockey players the USA and Canada that he wants his players are going to have to learn what is acceptable and not acceptable. Butt ending a player in front of a players bench, attacking an opposition player from behind, cross checks and face washes after the whistle are not acceptable and teams are going to respond to your players.

When Bruce M. McLeod's contract comes up for renewal it is time for the WCHA schools to go in a different directions. Shepherd and McLeod need to be gone, the league needs to have a house cleaning starting at the top. There is no way this will change until the people at the top are gone and the member schools decide that the status quo is no longer acceptable. To take a phrase from an old platoon sergeant of mine; "good enough isn't good enough." We are constantly seeking excellence.

Spirit Lake member want vote on Fighting Sioux.

Well this is an interesting turn of events that isn't going to go over well with the pro-name change crowd. The Spirit Lake members want to vote on ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname, why not? I would hope that the members of the tribe at Standing rock would pressure Ron His Horse Thunder and call for a vote as well. Stay tuned folks, it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

While in the end I think the Fighting Sioux name is all but gone, one should exhaust all attempts before the University decides its next move. What is the hurry? Why not have a vote on the issue at the tribal level? I have always said that I would like to see the two Sioux tribes that UND needs approval from to keep the Fighting Sioux vote on whether they want UND to change the name or not. What harm does it do to have a vote? I also think that Ron "His Horse" Thunder is not letting the issue go to a vote because he knows he would lose if the vote was actually conducted. I think the reason Ron His Horse Thunder doesn't want a vote because it takes the power out of his hands and puts it in the hands of the people.

Spirit Lake members want vote on ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname
By Sue Kraft Fischer - Lifestyles Editor
UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname continues to draw criticism, but some members of the Spirit Lake Tribe are in favor of the name — and they would like to see a vote of the people before any final decisions are made.
------------(snip)-----------
Those in attendance agreed the name was given to the tribe as an insult, but insist their ancestors turned it into something to be proud of.

“We’re trying to save the Fighting Sioux nickname,” said supporter Eunice Davidson. “It was placed upon us and our ancestors made it a good thing.”

Fellow supporter Oliver Gourd agreed, “Our veterans went to war and fought for our country under the Sioux name.”

“They took that name and turned it into something respectful,” Davidson added.

“Before we officially sign off and approve the name, we want to make sure our kids are protected,” he said.

“It’s a win-win situation,” added Gourd. “They use the name, we get the scholarships — I don’t know why other tribes are against it.”

Avery to the Rangers.

Here is an interesting story: it would appear that bad boy Sean Avery might be on his way back to the Rangers. The Rangers must be lacking in the toughness department if they are willing to take Avery back. The Rangers have Colton Orr but he is about as one dimensional as they come, Avery is tough, he can fight and has good offensive skills. Avery has also proved to be a pretty good agitator, but isn't dirty like some of the other leagues agitators, ala Matt Cooke.

Lastly, I do believe Sean Avery is a talented hockey player and there is probably a place in the NHL for Sean Avery if he would just stop all of the extra antics both on the ice and off. So if he goes to the Rangers does that mean the Rangers are getting the Dallas Stars sloppy seconds?

GM Glen Sather, who accompanied the Rangers to Dallas for tonight's game, is expected to speak to Stars' co-GM Les Jackson today about a timetable under which Dallas would put Avery on waivers and then, presuming that he clears, assign him to the Wolf Pack.

Before accepting Avery in Hartford on waivers, Sather will need to reach an agreement with Jackson about the Stars then placing the winger on re-entry waivers at the Rangers' request. That would be the final stage of the three-step process under which the Blueshirts would re-acquire Avery for one-half of the remainder of the four-year, $15.5 million contract he signed with Dallas in July.

That means the Rangers would be responsible for $1,937,500 in salary and cap charges for the next three seasons, and the pro-rated percentage this year from the date Avery would join the team.

Did Lucia Suspend Schack?

The line up is posted over on Gopher-luv-feast.com and public enemy number one Brian the Hack Schack was not on today's Gopher line card. So did Lucia do the right thing and suspend Brian Schack or with Fischer back from an injury is Schack a victim of the numbers game since is the least talented of the Gophers defensemen. If Brian the Hack Shack was supspended I applaud coach Lucia's decision.

Calling the game more closely

Notice after last weekend melt down in Minneapolis and Mankato the WCHA refs Marco Hunt and Derek Shepherd are calling the game in Minneapolis more closer to the vest. It would appear that Lucia's discussion with the refs this weekend might have gotten the leagues attention that they need to do a better job officiating.

Stoa - Schroeder - Barriball
Hoeffel - Carman - Hansen
Bostrom - White - Flynn
Fisher - Sacchetti - Miller

Ness - Fischer
Fairchild - Anderson
Wehrs - Lofquist

Kangas
Patterson
Kremer

The Hockey show.

Listen to the latest from the Hockey Show. Moose and Scott talk about the possibility of Colorado State getting college hockey team. Here is the link to the web page for that story. Also Moose and Scott talk about the Channing Boe and Brian Schack incident at about 1725 into the broadcast. Moose said, "After seeing the replay I can see how Don Lucia can defense what Brian Schack did."

To listen to the show (click here)if you have an iPod you can click here to listen to the broadcast (on iTunes)

Fighting Sioux to play Miami RedHawks. (edited)

According to post from a fan on MiamiHawk talk.com the Miami RedHawks are coming to UND to play a in Thanksgiving Weekend Showcase. This means that the RedHawks will play one game against the Fighting Sioux Hockey team next thanksgiving weekend. I am excited that I will finally get to see the Fighting Sioux beat the RedHawks in REA. Maybe the swoonskies from SCSU can finally beat the RedHawks.

Bringing this thread back to hockey scheduling....

At the Red & White Club luncheon yesterday, Coach Blasi again explained the out of conference plans. He mentioned the Thanksgiving trip to North Dakota, hosting St. Cloud, going to New Hampshire, and playing home and home with Robert Morris, with the game in the Burgh to be the one game RMU annually plays at Mellon Arena. It would be after Christmas some time. He made it sound like all of that will take place next season. He's mentioned all of this before, including the return trips with those schools, except the only 'news' to me was the mention of RMU. I'm not sure how it works with the number of O-O-C games available.

Sioux coaches show.

Here is the latest Fighting Sioux Coaches show.

Notes from the Fighting Sioux coaches show

Coach Hakstol called in from his Hyundai Sonata in Alberta Canada. Swig asked coach Hakstol how they keep track of all the UND recruits. Coach Hakstol said when he worked for Dean Blais and they didn’t work on future recruits at all. Now, basically the majority of the recruiting is done on future recruits. Coach Hakstol keeps a depth chart and keeps track where they are from year to year.

Coach Hakstol talked about the ins and outs of recruiting players. Brandon Bochenski’s name came up and Hakstol talked about the knock on Bochenski was his skating but he put the puck in the net every time he touched the puck.

Coach Hakstol likes his d-corps. They have been pretty darn good. The team needs to raise the level of play. Up front it has been someone different every night, everyone is playing well. Zajac lines needs to continue to except the grinding /energy line role. Duncan’s line has been really good both ways.

Chay Genoway third in online fan Hobey voting.

Sioux fans don't forget to go online and vote for Chay Genoway for Hobey Baker.Chay has slipped to third place in the voting.
15158: Mark Magnowski - Princeton - Jr - F
14081: Juliano Pagliero - Niagara - Sr - G
12509: Chay Genoway - North Dakota - Jr - D
9788: Ted Cook - Niagara - Sr - F
9063: Brock McBride - St. Lawrence - Sr - F
8573: Everett Sheen - Holy Cross - So. - F
7802: Jacques Lamoureux - Air Force - So - F
6305: Brad Thiessen - Northeastern - Jr - G
6301: James van Riemsdyk - New Hampshire - So - F
6098: Dan Ringwald - RIT - Jr - D
5825: Cory Conacher - Canisius - So - F
5818: James Marcou - Massachusetts - So - F
4705: Ryan Lasch - St. Cloud State - Jr - F
4329: Jordan Pearce - Notre Dame - Sr - G
4010: Ben Scrivens - Cornell - Jr - G
3335: Vince Rocco - Niagara - Sr - F
1936: Brett Wilson - Princeton - Sr - F

February's First Games (Sioux 7)

Here are the current standings.


1 Denver...................12-6-2...26
2 North Dakota...........11-6-3...25
3 Wisconsin...............11-7-2...24
4 Minnesota................9-6-3...21
4 Colorado College........9-8-3...21
4 Minnesota-Duluth.......8-7-5...21
7 Minnesota State........9-11-2...20
8 St. Cloud State.........9-10-1...19
9 Alaska-Anchorage........6-10-4..16
10 Michigan Tech.......1-14-5....7

* Games played MSUM 22, UM 18, and everyone else 20.


#16 Wisconsin at #9 Minnesota
The Badgers invade Mariucci arena this weekend in round two of the border battle. The first round in Madison this year saw the Gophers take 3-pts. But, the Gophers are a different team now, and so are the Badgers. Currently UW hold a 3-pt edge over UM in the standings, except UM has two games in hand UW. That means the Badgers need at least a split this weekend to try and stay "comfortably" ahead of the Gophers. UM is 2-4-0 in their last six games and 5-5-0 in their last ten, UW is 4-2-0 in their last six games and 5-4-1 and their last ten. With a sweep UW could be a top the WCHA come Saturday night, get swept and they could slip as far as 6th place. I'm going to go with UW on Friday, and UM on Saturday night.


#6 Denver at #17 Minnesota-Duluth
This is a very important series for both teams, DU trying to stay a top the WCHA, and UMD is trying to knock them off the top. The first meetings this season in Denver resulted in a Pioneers sweep. The Bulldogs really want to return the favor this weekend to the Pioneers. If UMD sweeps DU they would be only 1-pt behind DU in the standings and really help their chances of locking up a home ice playoff spot. Duluth goalie Alex Stalock has gotten 2 shut-outs in the past 4-games. DU suffered a loss to UAA last Saturday, giving up a short-handed goal late in the 3rd to tie it, and then lost in OT. The Bulldogs are tough at home, garnering a 9-1-3 record at the DECC, and DU is a respectable 4-4-1 away from Magness Arena. The Bulldogs are the hotter team right now and DU is struggling a bit (3-3-2 in the last 8-games). If Duluth wins on Friday, will DU official hit the panic button. Can UMD score more than 1 goal per game, than they did last week at UW. I'm thinking this could turn into a goalie duel one evening, and a shoot out the next. SPLIT.


#18 Colorado College at Michigan Tech
The Tigers are trying sink their claws into a top five finish and the Huskies are tying to save some face and get their second league win. The Huskies of MTU are usually tough to beat in Houghton, especially during the Winter Carnival, which is this weekend. CC is 1-3-1 in their last 5-games, not good going into the stretch run. The early season match-up, back in October led to a Tiger sweep in Colorado Springs. MTU is 0-2-3 in their last 5-games, and have only scored 31 goals in 20 league games this season, that is 1.55 gpg, which is why they haven't won to many games. The last few Winter Carnivals MTU has gotten at least 1-pt, and here is too that streak continuing. Tigers on Friday, Huskies on Saturday.


St. Cloud State at Alaska-Anchorage
Normally you think a late season match-up between the 8th and 9th place teams would not mean much, but this year both teams still have a chance to get home ice in the playoffs. SCSU has the better chance being only 2-pts behind the three 4th place teams. A Huskies sweep would throw them into the dog fight (couldn't help myself) for home ice and put the Seawolves further behind the pack :) Both teams got splits last weekend against the number two and one place teams in the conference. That shows how strong the WCHA is from top to bottom. It is the standard long trip to Alaska, or is it, there are rumbling in them mountains, as there might be a volcanic eruption... The Seawolves are hoping for an eruption in goals this weekend, as they are 2-2-2 in their last 6-games, and SCSU is 2-3-1. I don't see either team sweeping, so here is to a SPLIT.


#13 North Dakota and MSU-Mankato are on a bye week.

You have got to be kidding me.

Dan Meyer from this is the WCHA has a great blog post this week taking issue with what Don Luica has said in a Goal Gophers blog. Meyer is basically saying you can't excuse the unexcusable, yet there is fans that are still trying to.

Star Tribune Minnesota beat writer Roman Augustoviz made note on his blog the other day of Don Lucia's opinion on the melee Friday night in Mankato between Gophers defenseman Brian Schack and Minnesota State defenseman Channing Boe.

“That’s not the way we like to play,” Lucia said. “But in some of our kids’ defense, Brian Schack included — and I’ve said it, at some point, we got to protect our own players, too. Brian did that and that’s to his credit."

With all due respect coach, give me a break.

Lets review the situation here. It's about midway through the third period and the Mavericks are leading by four goals. They're playing at home. Whether Jay Barriball turns his back into Boe is questionable. I happen to think he did. So does former Minnesota head coach Doug Woog, who said so while watching a replay during the FSN broadcast.

Here is a comment that has to be one of the silliest things I have read in a long time. You can't make this stuff up folks, this is hilarious.

Anonymous Skippy said; This face to face crap is that, crap. here are facts.

1. Boe hit Barriball by the near end bench in relation where the melee took place.
2.Schack is a defenseman.
3. Boe was skating into the zone towards the puck.
4. The combination of 2 and 3 leads to the fact that Schack would be behind Boe, much as Boe was beind Barribal when he drove him into the boards.
5. In your world Schack should have:
a. skated around Boe until he looked at him.
b. asked him to go
c. dropped the gloves
d. waited for Boe to agree
e. then beat the ever loving shit out of Boe with his helmet off and if he gets knocked out and hits his head and god knows what..its ok. It was done within the "code"

BS. UND fans and all fans see everything from different colored glasses. To say if you punch a guy out when he is looking at you and has his helmet off is appropriate vs what Schack did? your an idiot. I think Schacks actions are suspension worthy. I don't hide behind some BS code or face to face crap. It doesn't matter, it doesn't belong in hockey period. But, a gopher did it and we all love to hate the gophers. So we jump on this as if our teams have never done this. Guys attack guys from behind all the time. Its not right, its not more wrong when a guy from a team we root against or not for does it.

Grow up people. This isn't a Minnesota issue, its a WCHA issue and yes, Minnesota has been involved in 2 series with this crap, with 2 teams MSUM and UND who when they play each other pull the same crap. Its a league issue, let's attack the real issue, the officiating and the league. Lucia has the pull to make changes. Lets get behind the changes for the betterment of the league. Mr. Lucia...no comment might be a wise choice until your steroid treatment program is completed.

First; there was a penalty called on the play so you would take five minute power play, there is no need to start a melee at that moment. If you play by the code you learn to pick the right time in a game to right a wrong. There is no reason per the code to immediately exact your revenge for the checking from behind play.

Second; if Schack the hack had gone by the code he could have skated up to Boe and challenged him to a fight face to face not perform some chicken shit move by jumping him from behind and pounding Boe’s helmetless head on the ice while you’re still wearing your helmet and gloves, that is 5x worse than the checking from behind call that you’re responding to.

Third; Or Schack the hack could have told Boe you and I are going in the next game so better be ready, ala Buress and Kaip. The problem we have seen this season is the Gopher hockey players need to become familiar with the code. So yeah face to face is how you settle things like me, not from behind like a bunch of pansies. So the answers to the the Anonymous skippy's question (5) a, b, c, d, would be yes.

If Lucia had the power to change the way games are called in the WCHA Don Luica wouldn’t be making these asinine statements in the media and on television. We all know the Refs in the WCHA are lacking in the quality department, but all teams have to play with the same refs. Maybe some of the Gopher hockey players should make themselves familiar with "the Code".

INCH Chat.

Here is the latest from the INCH Chat: Not much to report.

Victor Crowell, Green Bridge, NJ: Denver split last weekend against the lower division opponent Alaska/Anchorage team. How do you see the Pioneers finishing this season and in the playoffs ? Do you think Patrick Mullen can follow in the footprints of the great Joe and Bryan Mullen ? Way to go for the Seawolf walk-ons !

Jess Myers: Following a legendary relative is always tough, so let's not put undue pressure on the latest in the Mullen hockey line. As for the Pioneers, their coach says that they're about where he expected them to be, meaning they may have overachieved early in the year and the recent near-.500 play is about what should be expected. With that said, Denver and Wisconsin are the only two teams in the league that can win the MacNaughton Cup without help, which is not a bad place to be on the first weekend of February.
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Ryan (Grand Forks, ND): What do you think about the Schack incident last weekend? I felt it was right up there with the Michigan/Michigan State incident and deserved more consequences. Thanks!

Jess Myers: It was ugly all around, and we need to see a stop not only to what Schack did, but to what led up to it as well. Minnesota State's Channing Boe is lost for the season as a result, prompting many to call for further disciplinary action, but at this point I don't see any forthcoming.
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Tim Thomas with the save of the year.

Ok, so I am biased I am a Boston Bruins fan but this is my nomination for the save of the year in the NHL. Check out this sick save by former Vermont Catamount Tim Thomas.

NHLPA head wants to kill staged fights in the NHL.

Thanks to Mike a reader of this blog who sent me this article from ESPN. The other night I was watching a NHL hockey game with my wife when two random goons/tough guys dropped the gloves and broke into a boxing routine. Why wife told me, “This is stupid because these two guys don't even look mad at each other, how can they just fight each other”. I tried to explain the code and the role that fighting has in professional hockey, but I am not sure the random staged fights fall under the code. My also said she likes the fights that happen as a result of a heated emotional play and not some staged bought.

I have to admit that I love watching Derek Boogaard who has played in 187 games scored 2 goals 10 assists and has an eye popping 423 penalty minutes pummel some random thug from the Ducks or the Av’s but I can see Kelly’s point. I also believe it is a slippery slope that the NHL doesn’t want to go down. If you take fighting out of hockey they you run the risk of increasing stick fouls and no way to police the agitators that skate around taking liberties with the games elite players.

TORONTO -- The head of the NHL Players' Association believes it is time to consider a rule mandating helmet use during fights and to examine the role of one-dimensional enforcers in the game.

While a "clear majority" of players want fighting to remain a part of hockey, Paul Kelly feels his constituency is open to restrictions on the process.

"A couple that we've talked about that ought to be looked at anyway is, do you consider a rule whereby players need to keep a helmet on during the course of a fight, and perhaps require officials to step in if a helmet comes off during a fight," Kelly said Wednesday before the Conn Smythe Celebrities Dinner and Auction.

"If it's true that when guys get hurled to the ice or tripped to the ice and bang their skull on the ice is where the real danger comes from, then maybe we can protect against that. It's certainly something worth looking at," the union chief added.

Kelly acknowledged the role fighting has in policing the tenor of play but added that so-called "staged fights" between two players with skill sets limited to throwing punches may no longer have a place in the game. The potential damage that strong men who stand well over 6 feet on skates and weigh more than 250 pounds can inflict might now make such bouts too dangerous.

"If it's a staged fight between two superheavyweights that perhaps arranged it a day before the game, I'm not so sure those are the fights that we need to continue to have in the sport," Kelly said. "And if they're the most dangerous fights, we ought to take a good, hard look at those.
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Instead, Kelly argued that fights arising "out of the spontaneity of the game, the adrenaline of the game, the emotion and the need to protect a teammate or yourself from an unclean hit" were a natural part of hockey and were a required element of the sport.

He went on to say that Wayne Gretzky would have played "several hundred" fewer games in his career if he didn't have Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley as teammates

Don't look for the NHL to ban fighting anytime soon even the commissioner of the NHL isn't for it.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman likened the fighting study to how the league approached the successful revamping of officiating standards coming out of the lockout in terms of its scope.

He warned, however, that banning fighting from the game altogether is a non-starter.
"I don't think there's any appetite to abolish fighting from the game," Bettman said.

Check out Drew Stafford's goal.

I was watching this game last night on the NHL network and this nice goal by Drew Stafford. Not quite the Johnny Toews goal but pretty goal none the less.

Merrimack Warriors coming to the REA.

Mike McMahon from the Warriorrinkrat.com and of the Bruins Hockey Blog has given me a heads up about a rumor that the Merrimack Warriors of the Hockey East are going to be opening the 2009-2010 season at the REA.

A look at the numbers.

Here are the national stats for penalty minutes, take a look at the WCHA teams. Well, well, well, look who is number two over all nationally. It isn't the big bad Sioux.

Penalty Minutes:-----------Games---PIM----PIM/G
2 Minnesota------------------24-----518------21.6
4 Minnesota State------------29-----597-----20.6
6 Alaska Anchorage----------24-----478------19.9
7 Wisconsin------------------28-----557------19.9
13 North Dakota-------------30-----571------19.0
17 Minnesota Duluth---------28-----507-----18.1
18 Denver--------------------27-----486------18.0
31 Colorado College----------28-----453-----16.2
32 St. Cloud State------------28-----442-----15.8
45 Michigan Tech------------28-----394-----14.1

This post is in response to a point that Archie brought up with week. It would appear that Doug and the Rug need to check their stats. UND was right the top spot for PIMS nationally last season is down around the middle of the pack for the WCHA this season.

Another example of the brainwash was last weekend druing FSN broadcast. They put up a graphic showing the Top 3 penalized teams in the WCHA and MN and Mankato were just behind Wisconsin for the top 3. Woog then says,"Whoa, wait a minute, i can't believe North Dakota isn't in there, we might have to check those stats again."