Fighting Sioux coaches show.

(Click here for the broadcast)

Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol was on the Fighting Sioux coaches show at 43:45. First question out of the gate was about league expansion and coach Hakstol didn't have any information on it at all.

The next question out of the gate was about injuries and Coach Hakstol said, “That he talked to Derek LaPoint in the weight room and he is not coming back this season.” Coach Hakstol said Derrick is coming along in his recovery. Other than that he said that he really couldn’t comment on injuries and that basically everyone is banged up this time of year.

Tim Hennesy said, “I just got my ballot today for the all league voting and all that. I like Brad Eidsness, I think that Brad Eidsness should be a slam dunk for Rookie of the year. I don’t think it is negotiable. But the people I am talking to I don’t think he is going to be. In your mind is he the best rookie and done the most for his team that is on top of the league right now in the WCHA. Shouldn’t he, shouldn’t he be a slam dunk? Coach Hakstol said, he is pretty good. Coach Hakstol also said, “I am not campaigning or on a on a soap box for any of our players, that is not what our team is about.” Coach Hakstol said there are lots of good young players in our league.

Boucher goes Frazee.

Check out Zidlicky's goal, talk about getting a favorable bounce. I never thought I would see a goal from this far out again, at least not in the NHL. This was the game tying goal between the Wild and the Sharks. Brian Boucher does his best Jeff Frazee impression. The ice was really bad in the Shark Tank last night and this one just keeps on bouncing right on into the net.

INCH CHAT...

Here is the latest from the boys at INCH. First; call me a homer but I think UND is a little stronger than Denver right now, when the Pioneers get Tyler Bozak back then I think they are probably a little better than the Fighting Sioux.

Second; I don't see Walski playing this weekend, UND doesn't have the luxury of giving him another start, he played himself out of a starting job at the beginning of the season. I don't see how it would benefit UND in playing Walski. Based on the PWR numbers the Fighting Sioux can't afford to just throw games away. This is Brad Eidsnes's team and he has earned the Starting position on the merits of his play. Brad Eidsness give the Fighting Sioux the best chance to win this weekend. Again over the last twenty three games the Badgers and Sioux have spilt the series 11-11-1, In Madison the Sioux have gone 3-2 the last 5 games in Madison. Last season the Sioux were 2-1.

Third I could see the MTU Huskies winning a game against the Gophers this weekend. The Gophers have gone 2-4-2 in February and 6-8-2 since the turn of the year. It's the Huskies last weekend of hockey in Houghton, Michigan before they travel to Denver or Grand Forks, ND. Look for the Huskies to clog up the neutral zone and give the Gophers fits. I also expect the Huskies to hit the Gophers every chance they get.

Eric Fargo, ND: The Sioux have made another fabulous second half run. They have four lines contributing to the scoring. So what do the INCH guys think about UND chances to make the Frozen Four this year?

Jess Myers: If I were a betting man, I would not pick them to get to DC. Of the past five Sioux teams, this one is probably the deepest because the lack of a superstar (like Toews or Oshie) makes them harder to play, and kudos to them on a widely-expected MacNaughton Cup this weekend. But if I had to pick a WCHA team to get to the Frozen, I would pick Denver right now.
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KS (Minneapolis-for now): Since I'll be watching the next batch of stars tonight at Mariucci, I'll miss the UM/Tech game. Unless I ignore work-and watch the live scoring-I can only imagine what happens. Put me, and the rest of Gopher Nation at ease and tell me they get 4 this weekend and make some noise at the Final Five.

Jess Myers: I'm picking a split. The Huskies have not won a WCHA game since Halloween night, but they've been pesky at home lately, earning some nice ties with teams clearly more talented than them. Combine the emotion of senior night with the fact that not many of us are sold on this Gopher team lately and I see Minnesota bringing two points home on the long bus ride from the U.P.
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Dustin (Grand Forks): If North Dakota clinches the cup with their game Friday, does Dave Hakstol give senior goalie Aaron Walski a start for Saturday?

Jess Myers: Yes. It makes sense to give Brad Eidsness a physical and mental break heading into what could be a tougher-than-expected playoff series with Michigan Tech.
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Ryan (Grand Forks, ND): Do you think Ryan Duncan is an underrated player this year? He wasn't on the ballet for WCHA player of the year, but he is near the top in most statistics. That doesn't even take into account his leadership and all the hard work he brings to every shift on the ice that helped him win a Hobey a few years back. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Jess Myers: Duncan has been a pure joy to watch on the ice and, as a member of the media, to cover. I agree with you that for a guy with a Hobey on his resume, he's surprisingly overlooked a great deal. Part of that is his size, and part of it is by his own design, as Ryan is always quick to proclaim there are no superstars on the Sioux roster
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The GM's at the trade dead line.

Today I was listening to Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski on XM-204 and he rated the NHL general managers at the trade dead line. I think Wyshynski's grade on Boston is is spot on. My next question is; anyone notice how the Bruins have done since the former General Manager Harry Sinden left the Bruins in 2006? The Bruins have gotten drastically better and have drafted well and have a stable full of good young players. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is doing a bang up job getting the Bruins back into the hunt for a Stanley cup championship.

Boston Bruins: Acquired F Mark Recchi and a 2010 second-round pick from Tampa for D Matt Lashoff and F Martins Karsums; Traded F Petteri Nokelainen to Anaheim for D Steve Montador.

After swinging for the fences with Marian Hossa last year (and missing the ball), GM Peter Chiarelli managed like a man with a first-place team yesterday. Recchi's career resurgence now gives him a chance for a Cup, and there's no way that isn't going to energize him even more. Montador is another player already having an outstanding season, and a rather perfect fit for what the Boston blue line needed. Boston sniffed around some high-end deals (like one for Keith Tkachuk), but were unwilling to move a major asset like Phil Kessel. Maybe Lashoff becomes a top-pairing defenseman, and maybe Nokelainen finds his game with the Ducks; it won't matter if Recchi and Montador win a Cup for Beantown. GRADE: A-.

Now! Compare and contrast the two organizations. The Boston Bruins are in the playoffs will probably get the number one seed in the east unless they really fall apart. They also added more high end talent at the dead line for the playoff run. The Boston organization had players in their organization they could use to bargain with and make trades if they need to. Minnesota on the other hand is in a state of disarray. They are barely alive for the eighth and final playoff spot. I don't see a way the Minnesota Wild can manage to make the playoffs this season.

Minnesota also has nothing as far as prospects in their minor league system they can offer to other teams. Minnesota is team made of third liners and has a shortage of talent that can score goals and make plays. Yet they want to hold on to players like James Sheppard who show no sign of ever scoring goals this season or even in this life time. Like Archie said in a previous blog post that Doug Risebrough as managed to screw up two teams in a matter of a decade and smugly sat by and did nothing to better his team. Doug Risebrough should have gotten an F- and for his efforts should be shown the door.

The thing that is also a major head scratcher is that there are no players on the Wild roster that have been division one college hockey players. I want to know how Doug Risebrough can reside in a state with five division one hockey teams and not end up with one player that isn't a former college hockey player. You also have Wisconsin and North Dakota in neighboring states. Boston on the other hand has a roster stuff with former college players; Tim Thomas (Vermont), Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler (Minnesota), Mark Stuart (Colorado College), Byron Bitz (Cornell), Matt Hunwick and Aaron Ward (Michigan), Chuck Kobasew (Boston College).

Minnesota Wild: Nada. While the team did ink goalie Niklas Backstrom to an extension before the deadline, it did jack and squat otherwise. Pending UFAs Marc-Andre Bergeron and Martin Skoula didn't move. The asking price for Marian Gaborik was too high, so he becomes a de facto deadline move when he rejoins the Wild lineup soon. While he deserves credit for not overpaying for, say, Olli Jokinen, General Manager Doug Risebrough was taken apart by The State of Hockey for his inactivity at the deadline. GRADE: C-.

INCH Podcast

Interesting podcast this week. (Click here for the lastest INCH podcast)

Couple of things. Jess Meyers starts off the podcast talking about the WCHA. First off IF UND wins the MacNaughton Cup this weekend in Madison, Wisconsin it would be the 14th MacNaughton Cup the Fighting Sioux have won. The Fighting Sioux currently have won 13 MacNaughton Cups on 11.

Quest For the Cup: UND enters the final weekend of the regular season gunning for its first MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular season champions since 2003-04 and its first under fifth-year head coach Dave Hakstol.

UND has finished progressively higher in the WCHA standings each year under Hakstol, placing fifth in his first season in 2004-05, fourth in 2005-06, third in 2006-07 and second last season.

The Sioux have won the WCHA regular season championship 13 times in their history.

Jess Meyers If I get to D.C. and a WCHA team makes the Frozen Four I would feel fortunate.

Fire Doug Risebrough NOW!!!

I have had it. As a fan of the Wild I am disgusted as I watched Wild GM Doug Risebrough screw up another trade deadline and picked up nobody. This time the Wild didn't even go for a rent a player like Chris Simon. (click here for the article)

Risebrough said it was quiet for him all day. The team maintains that it will not trade its core players like Mikko Koivu and Brent Burns or its young talent like James Sheppard, Colton Gillies and Tyler Cuma.

Wow, James Sheppard has scored a grand total of 8 goals in two NHL seasons. Colton Gilies is lighting up the league as well scoring a grand total of 6 points. Tyler Cuma isn't even in the NHL yet he is in the OHL and has been hurt most of the year. Tyler Cuma has played 21 games scoring 1 goal and 8 assist for 9 points. Obviously Koivu and Burns are the future of the Wild. That being said if you can trade the current nobodies on the Wild to get players that will make an immediate impact on the Wild you have to pull the trigger and inactivity is unacceptable. Earlier this summer the Wild had a chance to get Olli Jokinen but Doug Riesbrough didn't want to give up Pierre-Marc Bouchard and James Sheppard. Are you kidding me? I would have made the deal in a heart beat. Bouchard is a soft perimeter player that has scored 14 goals 26 assists for 40 points. I can only dream how Olli Jokinen would thrive in system with fellow Finlanders Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen.

Here is the petition to sign agreeing with the fact that Doug Risebrough neeeds to be fired! (click here)

Who has more penalty minutes?

National Statistics
Penalty Minutes: Games PIM PIM/G
1 Ferris State 36 815 22.6
2 Michigan 36 730 20.3
3 Minnesota State 34 689 20.3
4 Minnesota 32 648 20.2
5 Quinnipiac 34 683 20.1
6 Rensselaer 34 679 20.0
7 Wisconsin 34 675 19.9
8 Boston University 34 674 19.8
9 Northeastern 34 654 19.2
10 Mercyhurst 36 690 19.2
11 Alaska Anchorage 32 608 19.0
12 Yale 29 542 18.7
13 Denver 34 629 18.5
14 Miami 34 622 18.3
15 North Dakota 36 657 18.2

I keep hearing how UND is a bunch of goons. So I looked at the national statistics and this is what I found. Interesting, but UND isn't a bunch of goons and is taking about two minutes less per game in penalty minutes than the golden boys from Minnesota. Breaking it down even further, the Fighting Sioux are taking less penalties than Michigan, Boston University, Yale, North Eastern and Denver University.

Last Regular Season Games (Sioux 7)

Last weekend saw UND grab the WCHA lead from DU by a point by taking 3-pts from CC, MSU-M took 3pts from UW, UM also took 3-pts from UMD, DU and SCSU split a pair, and UAA swept in-state rival UAF. As a side note 6 out of 8 league games went to overtime, last weekend.

The race for home ice comes down to the last games of the year. I know I will be glued to the TV's this weekend. The only thing that is certain is UND and DU will be hosting either MTU and UAA. The rest is a mess, for instance if MSU-M sweeps SCSU and UM and UMD get swept their would be a 4-way tie for 5th, or how about CC ties DU and SCSU, UMD, and UM sweep, UW gets swept, 4-way tie for 3rd. I don't even want to go there with trying to figure out those tie breakers. CC and UW are not even safe, if they lose their games, and UM, SCSU, and UMD sweep, the Tigers and Badgers would be on the road.



WCHA standings

1 North Dakota..................16-6-4...36
2 Denver.........................16-8-3...35
3 Colorado College.............12-9-6...30
4 Wisconsin.....................13-10-3..29
5 St. Cloud State................13-12-1..27
5 Minnesota......................11-10-5..27
5 Minnesota-Duluth...........10-9-7...27
8 Minnesota State............10-13-3..23
9 Alaska-Anchorage..........7-14-5...19
10 Michigan Tech.............1-18-7...9



#16 Minnesota at Michigan Tech
Minnesota kept their hopes alive for home ice with a three point weekend against Duluth, while MTU enjoyed the weekend off. MTU got a tie earlier in the year against the Gophers at Mariucci, can they do that at home or perhaps get win number two? In case you were wondering, the Huskies lone conference win was against UAA, on Nov. 1st. The Gophers started Kent Patterson last Friday and Kangas on Saturday, I wonder if Lucia will do the same this weekend? The Huskies could be the first team in WCHA history to record 8 ties in a season, with a tie. (Dare I say a pair of ties for numbers 8 and 9 on the season.) To MTU's credit, they have only been swept five times this season, not bad considering they only have one win. The Gophers need two wins if they really want to help their odds for home ice. Anything less than four points for UM and they are most likely on the road. I'm going with Tech for the record, a tie on Friday and UM on Saturday.


Alaska-Anchorage at #15 Minnesota-Duluth
UAA comes in riding a two game winning streak, both games they shut-out UAF. Earlier this season the Seawolves took 3-pts from the Bulldogs in Anchorage. UMD comes in on a three game winless streak (0-1-2) and saw their chance to improve their home ice standing slip away last weekend. With UAA carrying some momentum and UMD desperately wanting home ice this should make for a good series. However, the Seawolves are a respectable 5-7-1 away from Sullivan Arena and the Bulldogs are 10-2-3 at the DECC. UAA is going on the road the first round and I'm sure they would like to make the Bulldogs go on the road too. With UAA goalie Bryce Christianson getting back to back shut outs last weekend mean UMD star goalie Alex Stalock will try to equal that this weekend... I'm going to call this series a split.


#6 North Dakota at #19 Wisconsin
The Sioux continue to be red hot the second half, and the Badgers have cooled off, now win-less in their last four games (0-3-1). UW is 9-7-2 at home this season and UND is 9-5-2 away from Grand Forks. If the Sioux win on Friday they win the regular season WCHA title outright, which would be their 14th. Winning the WCHA isn't an "auto-bid" into the NCAA but it is almost a given. The Badgers need points to help their cause of sewing up home ice, I think two points would get them home ice. UND was only 1-12 on the man-advantage against CC last weekend. They need to capitalize more on the PP to really start putting teams away, but the upside is they can score five on five and don't rely on PP's to win. I'm going with a split this weekend, UND Friday and UW on Saturday.


#18 St. Cloud State home/at Minnesota State
I don't like the home and home series, they should only be played if it is the only two games the teams against each other all year. These teams last meet the first part of December, with the Huskies sweeping those games, 4-2, and 6-2. The Huskies are doing well going 6-3-1 in their past 10-games with quality wins over CC, UND, and DU in that stretch. The Maverick are 4-4-2 in their last 10-games with wins over UM and UW. With MSU-M having little chance of home ice, they can try and spoil SCSU's home ice chances this weekend. However, I don't see the Huskies losing two games in a row, they haven't done that since mid-January. I'll take the Huskies on Friday night and the Mavericks on Saturday, splitsville.


#13 Colorado College at #5 Denver (Sat Only)
The Tigers got a point last weekend in Grand Forks, that was what Pioneers got out of Grand Forks too. CC needs points to hold on to home ice and try to move up in the PWR to make the NCAA tourney. DU still might have a chance for the WCHA title if UND loses on Friday. But probably more important to them is trying to stay in the top 4 in the PWR to get a number one seed for the NCAA tournament. Needless to say that these two arch-rivals would like nothing more than to beat the tar out of the other one. In three meeting this year the edge goes to CC, 1-0-2, and will retain the coveted Gold Pan. I think we will another game just like the previous three, closely played and entertaining to watch, but in the end nobody will get the outcome they were looking for, here is to tie number three.

INCH 4 X 4

The latest INCH 4 X 4 is up. Interesting! From looking at these bracket predictions it would appear that Denver University would have the easiest chance of any WCHA team to make the Frozen Four. I am not so sure I would be that giddy at another change for the Fighting Sioux to play Michigan even if it's in Minneapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS West Regional
1. Michigan
2. North Dakota
3. Princeton
4. UMD

GRAND RAPIDS Midwest Regional
1. Notre Dame
2. Vermont
3. Miami
4. Air Force Academy

BRIDGEPORT East Regional
1. Northeastern
2. Denver
3. Yale
4. St. Lawrence

MANCHESTER Northeast Regional
1. Boston University
2. New Hampshire
3. Cornell
4. Bemidji State University

A couple of things.

This weekends games between the Fighting Sioux and the Wisconsin Badgers will be on television. That is good news for Fighting Sioux fans. I will have to tape on my DVR and watch the game when I get home from work on Friday night.

Games will be on TV

This weekend's games will be on FSSN, thanks to Nodak Mutual, REA, WDAZ and Midcontinent Communications. UND says to contact your local cable provider for details, but it's supposed to "be aired on most local and regional cable systems that normally carry FSSN hockey broadcasts (click here for the official press release)

----------------UPDATE----------------
Sprig from Sioux sports just posted the freq's for those that have satellite dishes.

Here it is, from Jamie at the REA:

Echostar 9 - 121 w
Ku Band - Downlink Frequency: 11840.1250 V
L Band - Downlink Frequency: 1090.1250 V
Symbol Rate 4.88
FEC 3/4

Most of us that follow the Minnesota Wild know that that Wild GM Doug Risebrough does not usually pick up free agents that have a back ground in college hockey, there have been a few exception but the current team has none with college hockey experience. Here is a little heads up to Risebrough if he doesn't get shown the door. Jordan Leopold is a unrestricted free agent after the season is over.

LEOPOLD RETURNS TO CALGARY

Jordan Leopold is returning to the Calgary Flames. The Colorado Avalanche sent Jordan Leopold to the Calgary Flames in exchange for blue-liner Lawrence Nycholat, prospect Ryan Wilson and a second-round draft pick in 2009.

Leopold has 20 points (6-14) and is a minus-10 in 64 games this season.

Nycholat, who has one assist in 14 games, had been picked up on waivers a day earlier.

The 28-year-old defenceman spent three seasons with the Flames before being dealt to Colorado in the Alex Tanguay trade in June 2006.

Leopold is earning $1.5 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Bruins trade Montador for Nokelainen, Mark Recchi a Bruin.

This trade kind of puzzles me, Boston has a ton of defensive players and must be trading one of their many defensemen(s) out of Boston if they are making this deal. Not too much going on league wide. Yet!

Bruins acquire Montador for Nokelainen...
Trade Deadline NHL.comBoston, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has acquired defenseman Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Petteri Nokelainen.

The 29-year-old Montador skated in 65 games this season for Anaheim, compiling four goals and a career-high 16 assists. The 6-foot, 211-pound Vancouver, BC, Canada native was signed as a free agent by the Ducks on July 11, 2008.

Before joining the Ducks, Montador played two-plus seasons for the Florida Panthers from 2005-2008 and three-plus seasons for the Calgary Flames from 2001-2005. A veteran of 355 career games played in the NHL, he has registered 18 goals and 49 assists. Montador has also appeared in 20 postseason contests- all during the 2003-2004 postseason -- and was a member of the Calgary Flames club that was defeated in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2003-2004.

Montador will be reunited with former teammates and current Bruins Andrew Ference, Chuck Kobasew and Stephane Yelle, who all played together with the Calgary Flames. In July of 2007, Montador and Ference traveled on a trip to Tanzania to benefit the Right To Play charitable organization. They visited schools and orphanages while serving as inspirational Right To Play participants and role models for the children in Right To Play programs.

Breaking News

The NHL Network and Sportsnet.ca is reporting that Boston Bruins have Acquired Mark Recchi from Tampa Bay for Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums...

Recchi played with Aaron Ward in Carolina in 2005-06 when the Hurricanes won the Cup. Recchi is the left-handed shot up front that could give them a boost on the power play. He is also a veteran presence they like.

The 41-year-old Recchi has scored 13 goals and 32 assists in 62 games this season.

"I have no idea," Recchi told TSN when asked what kind of role he'd play. "When I get there, the coaching staff will fill me in. I don't really care, to be honest. I'll do whatever role they ask."

UPDATE: Recchi and a 2010 second-round pick to Boston. Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums to the Lightning. (link to the blog post)

Mike Commodore versus Matt Greene

Someone posted this over on Sioux Sports. I was wondering when was the last time two Fighting Sioux alumni went toe to toe in an NHL match up? It would probably be a good sports trivia question that could be up on the tv screen at a sports bar in Grand Forks somewhere.

While they were never team mates they probably have crossed paths during the off season at UND. Mike Commodore played for the Fighting Sioux from 1997-2000. Matt Green played for the Fighting Sioux from 2002 - 2005.

A National Holiday/Obsession?

Only 3:49:17 to go and I am counting the digital minutes.

The 3 pm (EST) deadline is closing and I am live blogging.

We have too much time on our hands here in Canada

Today is NHL trade deadline day and it's an unofficial national holiday in the land of ice and snow.

In Toronto there are three competing television networks, over 20 talking heads and counting and 26 hours of combined coverage to let us know that Brendan Bell was put on waivers by the Ottawa Senators and Antoine Vermette was traded to Columbus for Pascal LeClaire and a second round pick.

Talk about putting the "care" in "I don't care."

Hold a minute, breaking news: Montreal recalled goaltender Marc Denis from Hamilton (AHL affiliate) and the Thrashers place Eric Perrin on waivers.

Now things are heatin' up!

This is interesting: Flames in pursuit of Ollie Jokinen for Matthew Lombardi.

Now back to Nick Kypreos and his Blackberry.

Wait! Don't change the channel. Darren Pang is about to say something.

Hold On! Jordan Leopold is going back to Calgary and he's on the phone right now! TSN has him on the line. Live! Nice scoop guys.

Pierre McGuire is arguing with TSN host Darren Dutchyshen. Good television.

Let's see what's up with the Score Television Network.

Damn! An interview with Randy Sportak from the Calgary Sun.

Maybe The Score got the scoop. I don't know I wasn't watching them. I'm sure that disapoints The Score management. All that market research and over priced beer ads.

Hey! My old buddy Marty McSorley just made a cameo on Sportsnet. He's debating the merits of Miroslav Satan. Thanks to TSN, maybe it was Sportsnet who told me the Penguins put him on waivers.

This is big.: Alex Ovechkin has a sore foot.

It's almost noon and the waiver wire deadline is approaching.

McGuire is giving Oilers' management a thrashing right now.

Michael Farber from Sports Illustrated, Steve Simmons from the Toronto Sun and Damien Cox from the Toronto Star are debating the fourth line of the Canucks.

Phoenix just traded Mikael Tellqvist to the Buffalo News ? For a fourth round draft pick.

Darren Pang and Keith Jones love the trade. McGuire is over the moon about it and he calls it a "positive day for the Buffalo Sabres."

Bob Mackenzie from TSN informs us at 12:03 (EST) pm that the Leafs just picked up Marty Gerber from Ottawa on recallable waivers and Darren Dreger says the Leafs might shut down Vesa Toskala for a while because of hip and groin problems.

The Leafs are on live television at the Lakeshore Lions Arena in south Toronto. Where's Vesa?

Are they going to trade him?

Had enough yet?

According to Sportsnet there is 2:46:51 left.

You can't do that! I want my Kypreos back. He's leaving.

The Score and Sportsnet are in commercial break right now.

Just enough time to check the weather in Slovenia.

Where's Alan Eagleson?

Former Tampa Bay Lightning GM Jay Feaster is having a heated debate with Matthew Barnaby about Dominic Moore. I wonder what's gonna happen to him?

The Score says the Islanders are 2500-1 to win the Cup.

It's 12:30 pm now and I'm going to find what's left of my pathetic life.

2:30:10 and counting...

Final Week of the Season.

Check out this press release from the WCHA. I like the sounds of sentence that is bolded. The league leading and number 6 ranked North Dakota (should say Fighting Sioux).

MADISON, Wis. - The final weekend of the 2008-09 regular season will bring about some of the most intriguing scenarios in the long and storied history of the 57-year-old Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The battle for the league championship and MacNaughton Cup is on the line as well as the final three first round home WCHA Playoff berths. And with all 10 member teams engaged in conference play this Friday and Saturday, March 6-7, fans everyone can be assured of a playoff atmosphere in the five arenas that will host games.

At the Kohl Center (15,237) in Madison, league-leading and No. 6-ranked North Dakota (21-11-4, 16-6-4 WCHA) will take on host and No. 19-ranked Wisconsin (16-14-4, 13-10-3 WCHA) in a pair of 7:07 pm CT face-offs that, for the Fighting Sioux, offer them the chance to add to their league record 13 regular season titles and that, for the Badgers, can elevate them as high as a third place finish and secure a home playoff berth. North Dakota enters the series on a seven-game unbeaten streak at 6-0-1 and sporting a 12-1-3 mark over their last 16 WCHA games. The two teams split their first series of the season in Grand Forks back on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, with UND winning 3-2 on that Friday and the UW taking a 5-2 decision on that Saturday.
---------------(snip)---------------
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, North Dakota (26 WCHA gp, 35 points) holds a one-point lead - and one game in hand - over second place Denver (27 WCHA gp, 34 points). One, or both, of those teams will emerge as WCHA champions this weekend. Colorado College (27 WCHA gp) is third with 30 points, Wisconsin (26 WCHA gp) is fourth with 29 points, and Minnesota (26 WCHA gp), Minnesota Duluth (26 WCHA gp) and St. Cloud State (26 WCHA gp) are intwined in the fifth spot with 27 points each. Minnesota State (26 WCHA gp) stands eighth with 23 points, Alaska Anchorage (26 WCHA gp) is ninth with 19 points, and Michigan Tech (26 WCHA gp) is 10th with nine points.

A season ago (2007-08), it took 28 points to earn a top five finish and the home-ice advantage for the first round of WCHA playoffs, and only three teams - league champion Colorado College, second place North Dakota, and third place Denver - finished their 28-game league slates with winning records. So far this season, seven teams - UND, DU, CC, UW, UM, UMD and SCSU - all have winning records in conference competition. Also through games of March 1, there have been 22 ties in league competition, 37 games have been decided by just one goal, 27 have been decided by two goals, and 43 have been decided by three goals or more.

Linkorama

Rangers claim Sean Avery on waivers. This should get interesting.

The Minnesota Wild have resigned Niklas Backstrom I am not sure why General Manager Doug Risebrough wait so long to get a deal done. One free agent down another to go. Apparently Marian Gaborik upset a few people with these stupid comments.

When asked about the pressure to get back in the lineup given the 10th-place team's struggling, Gaborik said, "Quite frankly I haven't really been watching games. I've been following the scores, but I haven't been watching games. From my perspective, I just really need to focus on how am I feeling, how everything goes with me and then if everything goes good, I'm going to jump in to play. Definitely the pressure is on, but first of all I want to feel confident in my body and ... so far everything is going well."

Former Sioux Zach Parise is being mentioned as a candidate for the Hart trophy.

Here is a nice story about soon to be Fighting Sioux hockey player Danny Mattson.
(click here for the whole article)

"I'm willing to do whatever the coach wants," he said. "I like to mix it up a little bit and play physical when the situation calls for it. I feel like I'm more of a playmaker, though, more of that finesse-type of player."

Mattson, who finished seventh in the state in 2007-08 with 69 points (30 goals) in 25games, will attend the University of North Dakota next fall.

"I also had visits to Minnesota and Wisconsin, but my mom graduated from North Dakota and when I was on campus, it just felt like a good fit and all the coaches were great," Mattson said.

While he openly admits a need to improve his defensive-zone coverage, there's no question Mattson's vision and distribution of the puck are second to none.

Chris Edwards, who scouts the Ontario Hockey League for Central Scouting, had an opportunity to evaluate Mattson in November during the 2008 Nike Bauer National Invitational Tournament in New Hope, Minn. Through the years, the NIT field has included many of the top players selected at the NHL Entry Draft.

This should fire up Sioux fans.

This is a pretty goal and might be the defining cup clinching moment as UND needs only a point in it's next series to tie for the McNaughton Cup. I am making the assumption that DU is going to beat C.C. next weekend so UND will need two points to win the McNaughton outright.

Trade dead line moves. As seen through the eyes of INCH

This was found on an napkin over on INCH. I have a hard time believing the Bruins would give up two number one draft picks to aquire a defenseman. The defenseman rumored to be going to Boston would be Chris Pronger.

• Joe Colborne/Phil Kessel/Mark Stuart (Boston): The B's are apparently in hunt for a top flight defenseman, and this troika with WCHA ties appears frequently as trade bait.

Ode to the 2009 Fighting Sioux Seniors

Here is the salute to the Seniors class of 2009: Joe Finley #2 (147 games 7g-28a-35 pts), Zach Jones #6 (161 games 1g-10a-11 pts), Ryan Martens #8 (91 games 14g-27a-41 pts), Brad Miller #14 (121 games 21g-42a-63 pts), Ryan Ducan #16 (168 games 80g-85a-165 pts), Aaron Walski #30 (.842 Sv% 2.87 gaa record 1- 3- 0), Matt Watkins #20 (162 games 25g-32a-57 pts),
Andrew Kozek #10 (160 games 38g-26a-64 pts) (Video Courtesy of badgersioux)

In case anyone is keeping track: This Fighting Sioux recruiting class also included three NHL players, Jonathan Toews Chicago, Brian Lee Ottawa and T.J. Oshie St.Louis, Taylor Chorney Springfield AHL, were also members of this class that have since moved on to play in the professional ranks. The thing I like about this senior class is they are an unselfish hard working lunch pail group. It seems only fitting that this group could be rewarded with a MacNaughton Cup. I am looking forward to hopefully seeing the McNaughten Cup paraded around the REA.

Here is a pretty good description of how UND season has gone in the second half and what they are closing in on. Their first MacNaughton Cup sine 2004, and actually UND was a bounce away from going to the Frozen Four that season as well.

The Sioux (36 points) could back into the MacNaughton Cup if Denver (35 points) loses or ties to Colorado College in their single game Saturday night, but UND has no intentions of doing that.

The Sioux have been predictably on fire in the second half of the season, going 16-3-3 since the start of December and 12-1-3 in this calendar year. They haven’t lost back-to-back conference games since mid-November. (click here for the whole article)

Don Cherry on Ovechkin.

I found this story over on Puck Daddy and while Cherry's comments might be xenophobic - intense dislike and/or fear of people from other countries, Don Cherry has been on record as not being a big fan of European hockey players. Ovechkin is a Russian, I don't believe Don Cherry's comments are necessarily racist, per se.

Don Cherry is right, I do think if Ovechkin keeps up with his antics of over celebrating after a goal, eventually there will come a day when someone is lurking in the weeds to light Alex up.

For Canadian fans, he's an institution whose xenophobic Archie Bunker-lite persona is balanced with a genuine championing of hockey's grand traditions. With that in mind, I'm not stunned that we received over a dozen emails about Cherry's comments over the weekend. It's like Rush Limbaugh and the conservative movement: Just when you think the guy is on the margins, suddenly he's the torchbearer again.

The torch Cherry grabbed this weekend was that of Sidney Crosby and other players who are critical -- publicly or privately -- of Ovechkin's enthusiastic displays after goals or victories.

While the hell Cherry's catching for his views is warranted, here's the thing: Once you get past the cultural bias and subtle racism in the presentation of his argument, there's actually some validity to what Cherry actually said on "Hockey Night In Canada" about the biggest star in the NHL.

Poll Monday

USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
March 2nd 2009
1. Boston University (44)
2. Notre Dame (6)
3. Michigan
4. Northeastern
5. Denver
6. North Dakota
7. Vermont
8. Miami
9. New Hampshire
10. Princeton
11. Yale
12. Cornell
13. Colorado College
14. Ohio State
15. St. Lawrence
16. Minnesota-Duluth
17. Minnesota
18. St. Cloud State
19. Wisconsin
20. Boston College
Others Receiving Votes: Air Force 56, Mass.-Lowell 22, RIT 16, Dartmouth 6, Minnesota State 5, Alaska 4
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USA Today
March 2, 2009

1. Boston University (26)
2. Notre Dame (8)
3. Michigan
4. Northeastern
5. Denver
6. North Dakota
7. Vermont
8. Miami
9. New Hampshire
10. Yale
11. Princeton
12. Cornell
13. St. Lawrence
14. Ohio State
15. Colorado College