Mary-Ann is back. (John Scott Fight Video)

Well Marian Gaborik is giving us a taste of what we were missing while he was out with his hip/lower body injury. Since Marian's long over due return from yet another extended injury Gabby has played very well, during those three games he has 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points.

In a way I am torn because while I want the Wild to do good, however, I can't help but think that Gabby won't be back after playing all of those years for the Minnesota Wild. I guess you could say that Marian is playing hard and finally back on the ice so he can sign his next big contract. Most of us have pretty much accepted the fact that it probably won't be as a Wild player. (second goal of the night for Gaborik)

During last night game there was a nice scrap by former MTU Husky John Scott as he faced off against Islanders goon Joel Rechlicz. I am hoping that John Scott stays on with the Wild because he can fight and play defense and he isn't as one dimensional as the Boogey man. (Click here for the Fight Video)

Tuukka Rask snaps.

This is the latest snap that everyone in hockey is talking about. Tuukka Rask is the goalie of the future for the Boston Bruins. Funny thing is that Rask was not suspended for his antics on the ice. You have to wonder if the same clowns that run the WCHA are also running the AHL.

Boston Bruins prospect Tuukka Rask won't be suspended for his meltdown after Friday's AHL Providence game against the Albany River Rats.

Rask, the Bruins' top goaltending prospect, went ballistic after a 1-0 shootout loss. He was outraged that referee Frederic L'Ecuyer for allowing goals by two Albany players during the shootout.

Video of the incident made the airwaves Tuesday. In it, Rask screams at L'Ecuyer, smashes his stick against the goal's crossbar, then against the glass next to the Providence bench and tosses a crate onto the ice.
Coach Rob Murray told the Providence Journal on Tuesday the AHL said Rask would not be suspensed. A fine remains a possibility

Beavers shooting for the moon.

Here was an interesting story in the Red Star and sickle about the Bemidji State Beavers. Having attended BSU they're my sentimental favorite in the NCAA tourney. I don't know if we will see the Beavers Holy Cross Notre Dame or not, but it would be a nice story if it happens. You also have to wonder if one of the top seeds that everyone penciling into the Final game fo the Frozen Four is going to get knocked off. That is why we play the games.

Bemidji State is trying to join college hockey's elite and beat them at the same time.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Beavers' new 4,000-seat arena on Lake Bemidji will be held April 3. By the time it opens in 2011, school officials hope that the Beavers will be members of the WCHA, arguably the best of the six NCAA Division I conferences.

Whether the WCHA accepts the Beavers' application is out of the school's control. What is in the Beavers' hands is the chance to be a giant-slayer this weekend in the NCAA tournament. Bemidji State (18-15-1) and Notre Dame, the No. 2 overall seed, will meet for the first time on Saturday at the Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Irish (31-5-3) were national runners-up a year ago, but the Beavers should be ready. "We are battle-tested," said coach Tom Serratore, whose team is the lowest seed in the 16-team field.
(read the rest of the story here)

Spirit Lake Tribe to vote on Fighting Sioux name.

While I applaud the effort. I just think it's a little too late and isn't going to make a difference. The only way it will make a difference is if the members of the Standing Rock Tribe are allowed to vote on UND using the Fighting Sioux nick name as well. That will not happen because Ron His Horse Thunder will not allow the Standing Rock tribe to vote on the Fighting Sioux nick name issue. I believe the name will be gone and that the University of North Dakota will cave to pressure from P.C. groups, this is a perfect example of what happens when Liberalism and political correctness runs a muck. The Basketball and Football teams needs a conference to play in and some look at the Fighting Sioux Nick Name as being an impediment to them getting into a conference. Oh yeah! The University is going to give up our storied Fighting Sioux nick name so we can play in a second rate conference (not even a mid major)like the Summit.

Group: Tribe OKs Sioux nickname on April ballot
By: Tu-Uyen Tran, Grand Forks Herald --- UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname will be on the ballot in the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation primary elections in April, a member of the committee trying to save the nickname said Wednesday.

Eunice Davidson said the Tribal Council approved the signatures her group collected.

The group will be campaigning and reminding tribal members to vote, she said.

A legal settlement between UND and the NCAA requires the university to win approval from the Spirit Lake tribe and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to retain the nickname. UND would otherwise have to begin phasing out the nickname by Nov. 30, 2010. The NCAA said the nickname is “hostile and abusive.”

Jamie McBain signing with Carolina.

DPlaya is reporting that Junior defenseman (7g-30a-37pts)is going to sign a professional contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. That is a big loss for the Badgers if it is true.

DPlaya ---- 3/25/2009Hockey in Wisconsin has learned that WCHA Player of the Year Jamie McBain signed a professional contract with Carolina last night. As far as I can tell, this news has not yet been released by any official sources or traditional media outlets.

At today's team meeting where McBain's contract was revealed, all other Badger players indicated that they expect to return to the Badgers, meaning the team currently expects a whopping 29 players on it's roster next season (18 forwards, 9 defensemen & 2 goalies). According to my source, it is nearly inevitable that a number of players will transfer, remain in junior hockey or choose to play elsewhere due to the logjam of players on the roster. Stay tuned for an interesting Summer of Badger hockey action....I'll do my best to bring you the details as they unfold.

Watkins still doubtful

According to Brad's blog Matt Watkins is doubtful for this weekend's regional but they are going to do everything they can to get him playing. Matt Watkins is a major cog on the team and kills penalties and is a great leader on the ice. I hate leg checks I have seen them end the career of one of my favorite hockey players and I think that Lamb should have been given a game for his leg check on Watkins. I guess if his name was Bruess he would have been given a game.

The main news you are all probably wondering about is forward Matt Watkins. Coach Dave Hakstol said that he didn't have any new updates on Watkins and that the situation is still the same was it was on Saturday. On Saturday, Hakstol said that Watkins was doubtful to play in the regionals, but they were going to "work like hell" to get him ready. The fact that UND plays on Saturday instead of Friday has to help a little bit. Watkins is on the ice, as you would expect

.

Cal Clutterbuck vs Sean Avery

Last night game between the Minnesota Wild and The New York Rangers was well a snorer. Minnesota Wild pop icon Cal Clutterbuck took on Sean "Sloppy Seconds" Avery in a good bout. Notice to Don Cherry Clutterbuck took off his helmet before the fight.

Also, I have to give Owen Nolan credit for taking on one of the toughest goons in the NHL Colton Orr.

Force to play in Grafton and Grand Forks, ND.

I just got this message from Whitney Baumgartner through my face book and this would be good news if wasn't for the fact that our friends in Fargo are fighting to save their city.

Due to the flooding in the Fargo-Moorhead area as well as surrounding areas, the Fargo Force games have been moved to Grafton Centennial Center in Grafton, ND on Friday night at 7:05 PM vs. the Tri-City Storm and Saturday's game to be played at Purpur Arena in Grand Forks, ND-tentative time to be at 7:45 PM.

Addresses for both arenas are listed in the updated event for this weekend. Due to the change of venues, the Pink the Rink event has been POSTPONED until Friday, April 3rd vs. the Omaha Lancers.

UND by the numbers.

Here are a few things from the UND press release. I highlighted the things that jump out at me the most, UND power play has been abysmal, horrible and frankly it's just unacceptable that it has failed this bad as of late. I am hoping the coaches make adjustments to the power play has to get better or they won't make it out of the first game let alone the bracket.

~UND in the NCAA Postseason: The Fighting Sioux are making their seventh straight NCAA postseason appearance, the third-longest active streak in the nation behind only Michigan (19) and New Hampshire (nine).

~It is the 24th all-time NCAA appearance for the Fighting Sioux, who have a nation’s-best .678 postseason winning percentage (40-19).

~UND Against the Field: The Sioux are 4-4-2 against this year’s NCAA 16-team field: 2-0-0 vs. Bemidji State; 0-1-0 vs. Boston University; 1-1-0 vs. Cornell; 1-1-0 vs. Denver; and 0-2-1 vs. Minnesota Duluth.

~UND’s last action: The Fighting Sioux went 0-2 last weekend at the WCHA Final Five, losing 3-0 to eventual champion Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals on Friday and 4-1 to Wisconsin in Saturday’s third-place game.

It was the first time UND has ever gone 0-2 at the conference tournament. It also marked the first time the Sioux dropped back-to-back games since Dec. 27-28 at the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit.

~The Sioux power-play went 0-for-14 last weekend at the conference tournament, going 0-for-5 Friday against UMD and 0-for-9 Saturday against UW. Saturday’s 0-for-9 performance against the Badgers represented UND’s most power-play chances without a goal this season.

~UND is 4-for-51 (7.8 percent) on the power-play over its last eight games.

Maturi supports Don Lucia.

If you read the various message boards and newspaper articles around the blogsphere you will see that there are a lot of Gopher fans unhappy with the current direction of the Golden Gopher's hockey team. Don't expect any major changes at the top, yesterday Gopher athletics director Joel Maturi gave Don Lucia his support.

"Of course I'm not happy with the direction of the program. No one is," he said Tuesday.

But Maturi contends that missing the NCAA tournament by a hair and ending a streak of eight consecutive NCAA berths for the Gophers is only temporary.

"I think I'm involved enough with the sport and knowledgeable enough about the sport that I'm not in panic mode," he said. "I think we'll be back in the hunt next year."

Asked if coach Don Lucia, who has two national championships in 10 seasons at Minnesota, still is the man to lead the Gophers back to national prominence, Maturi hesitated for only an instant.

"In my opinion, yes," he said.
(Read the whole story here)

Booze for Tickets.

Kyle from the illegal curve had this posted, heck I would buy a 1.75 of Smirnoff for a free NHL ticket, even if it is the Yotes. It is a shame that the Phoenix Coyotes have been run into the ground after leaving Winnipeg. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Coyotes.

Ruegsegger might play this weekend.

I have been following this story via the Denver post hockey blog and it appears that DU forward Tyler Ruegsegger is going to do everything and anything in his power to play in this weekend's regional down in Minneapolis. Originally it was announced that he was out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. As a hockey fan you have to admire his grit and effort. Kind of reminds me of the Wild's Andrew Brunette who is playing with an is playing on at least a partially torn right ACL. If the Pioneers have both Bozek and Ruegsegger they are substantially a much better hockey team and really tough to beat.

Meanwhile, junior center Tyler Ruegsegger surprisingly participated in some practice drills Tuesday, donning full equipment and an orange “no crush” sweater. Ruegsegger’s season was deemed over when he partially tore a ligament in his right knee on March 13 against Alaska-Anchorage.

“We’ve been working really hard with rehab and I’m wearing a custom brace right now that helps stabilize it,” said Ruegsegger, who is tied for the team lead with 15 goals, including a team-high 12 on the power play. “We originally thought 4-6 weeks, and it still might be that time, but it doesn’t feel too bad . . . I’m definitely happy with the way rehab is going so far.”
(Read the whole story here)

WCHA third place game to remain.

This is some good news; the third place game of the Final Five will remain for the forseeable future. Personally, I think this is a very good thing for college hockey fans. I love the final Five because it give you a chance to see other teams from the WCHA and it gives you five games in three days.

The WCHA has two more years on its contract with the Xcel. ”Next year already, we will begin the process of renegotiating the contract,” McLeod said.

One topic brought up at the postgame press conference after the third-place game was whether to keep playing it.

There is no third-place game in several of the conference tournaments. This year Wisconsin’s 4-1 victory over North Dakota in that game almost was enough to get the Badgers in the NCAA tournament. They just missed being the last at-large team, edged out by Ohio State.

McLeod said the third-place game is going to remain for the forseeable future.

“We’ve debated it since the get-go, whether it hurts or helps more,” McLeod said. “I don’t have the answer. It almost got Wisconsin in. It’s always something we talk about. Let’s be honest, there’s a financial factor, so it depends on whether you talk to coaches or athletic directors.”

North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said his team didn’t need to play in third-place game this year. The Sioux were already assured a spot in the NCAA tournament. In other years, when his team needed an extra win, Hakstol said, he might want another game. (read the rest of the article here)

The latest Hockey show.

I know it is a little late but I just got around to listening to it Hockey Show that was on the 20th of March. Click here to listen to an awesome Hockey show (Click here to listen to the show on the Web site) (Click here for the iTunes version).



Here is the latest from the Hockey Show.

At 13:00 in: BSU Coach Tom Serratore talks about college hockey is a grind, there is no tougher sport than major college hockey, season starts in October and if you go to the Frozen Four your season ends on April 10th. We travel all over North America. There are three seasons in one, Time in the season you can't do anything right, there is a time in the season where everything is clicking, then there is a time that your 50/50.

At 20:00 in to the podcast WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod talks with Moose Richards about the WCHA and a few of the issues they had on the ice this season. Some interesting stuff here, one point really made my blood boil. They talked about the Mankato game and Channing Boe getting injured.

McLeod said the Mankato game was not a good game; McLeod was at the game a lot of things started to happen in that game that just got away from everybody. Channing had a faux pas right before he got hurt he got a checking from behind penalty and that is a real, real no no. A penalty was going to be called. One of the Minnesota players took objection and kind of grabbed him from behind and in the melee it wasn't the action of the Minnesota player I can't tell you how he actually broke his leg.

First off; Bruce you kind of missed a major point there. You glossed over the Todd Bertuzzi style attack by Schack on Channing Boe that in my opinion is WAY more serious than a checking from behind penalty. Also, I am not saying that checking from behind isn't a serious offense because it is, however, when the league allowed a player to get away with a gutless act like Schack did and to only give him one game DQ for jumping a fellow competator and beating him with your gloves and helmet on your opponent was laying on the ice in a vulnerable position can not be allowed to happen. Boe could fight back and was being attacked while his leg had already been broken is a horrible situation.

Expansion was talked about at 30:40 minutes in. McLeod didn't reveal any other schools other than BSU that has indicated that they are going to apply for membership; they are evaluating what they want to do with their programs in the futures. There is a degree of interest from other schools. It would be interesting to see who the other schools. McLeod wouldn’t reveal who they were since they are still playing in other conferences. So I wonder if we can assume UNO, NMU, UAH are the schools that interested?

Final USCHO and 1997 similar to 2009...

Final USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
March 23, 2009

Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Boston University (27) 31- 6-4 977 2
2 Notre Dame (23) 31- 5-3 973 1
3 Michigan 29-11-0 882 3
4 Denver 23-11-5 832 4
5 Yale 24- 7-2 803 7
6 Northeastern 25-11-4 727 5
7 North Dakota 24-14-4 661 6
8 Minnesota-Duluth 21-12-8 621 17
9 Cornell 21- 9-4 578 9
10 Princeton 22-11-1 541 8
11 Vermont 20-11-5 506 10
12 New Hampshire 19-12-5 465 11
13 Miami 20-12-5 399 12
14 Ohio State 23-14-4 243 18
15 St. Lawrence 21-12-5 239 14
16 Mass.-Lowell 20-16-2 228 19
17 Wisconsin 20-16-4 201 16
18 Air Force 27-10-2 192 NR
19 Minnesota 17-13-7 175 13
20 Boston College 18-14-5 150 15
Others Receiving Votes: Colorado College 44,
Bemidji State 26, Northern Michigan 25, Alaska 9,
St. Cloud State 2, Dartmouth 1

1997 similar to 2009?

I was talking to someone before this years Final Five; and I said that I think this year seems a lot like 1997. In 1997 there was a dominant team in college hockey that was heads and tails above everyone else.

To take a page from Brendan Morrison's book the best team doesn't always win. Hence, the Michigan Wolverines then went out and got beat by the Boston University Terriers in the semis of the Frozen Four.

The Fighting Sioux then turned around and beat the Terriers in the next game two nights later. This year Boston University appears to be an unbeatable foe that no one might be able to touch, they have all of the pieces to the puzzle. Like 1997 the Sioux again have won the MacNaughten Cup and have another team with a good mix of role players and good young talent. This years Fighting Sioux has another daunting task ahead of them, Boston University, if the Sioux can beat the Wildcats they will get a chance to play the hockey Goliath. I see no way OSU beats the Terriers.

There is also a flood forecasted for this spring just like 1997 as well. The Fargo Forum and the Grand Forks Herald have their flood cams up (Fargo Forum flood cam) (Grand Forks Herald Flood Cam)

Mom says J.P. will play...

I thought this story was interesting and in a way kind of funny. Denver defenseman and student-athlete of the year in the WCHA J.P. Testwuide will play, mom says he will be fine. Hey you can't argue with the mom...

Gwozdecky said Sunday he hasn’t talked to Testwuide or the training staff about his leg injury, and sorry to say, I have no update today. J.P. (Testwuide) had class until 4 p.m. and I had to split to pick up my son. If you think “mama knows best,” assume J.P. will play. Janet Testwuide told me her son is going to be fine. I’ll be at practice Tuesday and update then.
(Click here for the full article)

A couple of things from INCH

Here are a couple of things that caught my eye that was written by Jess Meyers of INCH. First off, all I can say is come on Jess. There were a few of us that took exception respectfully with what you have written about our favorite team.

I don't think anyone has been overly rude on this blog towards your predictions. Second what do people expect Finley to do in that situation, he just clobbered Jordy Murray with a awesome, clean legal hit and Blake Geoffrion wants to challenge Finley to a fight. If I was Finley in that situation, I wouldn't let someone attack me after I hit one their teammates with a legal check. I suppose it's North Dakota's fault. Right? Lucky for Geoffrion the refs rescued him before he got himself hurt. LOL...

+ We’ve ribbed them, and a few of them have ripped INCH repeatedly, but here’s a deserving shout-out to Fighting Sioux fans for traveling in such numbers and making so much noise this weekend. Love them or loathe them, their passion makes the tournament’s atmosphere more fun.

Applause for a nice fashion trend we’ve seen at the rinks recently - pink hockey sweaters (we saw sharp-looking North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth versions on Saturday) designed for female fans. A portion of the proceeds from their sale goes to fight breast cancer. As the Sandelin family can attest, that’s a very worthy cause.

While there were plenty of empty seats on the upper level, Xcel Energy Center officials tell us they were within a few hundred tickets of an official sellout on Saturday. Nice work, ticket-buyers in snapping up more than 82,000 seats over the weekend, and so much for those fears that no Gophers equals no crowd.
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- North Dakota’s power play was 0-for-9 on Saturday and 0-for-14 on the weekend. “We’ve been streaky on the power play all season, and this was a bad streak for us,” Hakstol said.

After a hard check late in the third-place game, North Dakota defenseman Joe Finley looked very much like a man who wanted to fight Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion. We’re all for defending your turf and whatnot, but getting tossed and possibly disqualified for your team’s NCAA opener is a low-percentage play.

Ovechkin scores number 50

Check out the video Former Fighting Sioux defenseman Matt Smaby was on the ice when Alex Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season. I think the celebration by Ovechkin was a little over the top and maybe he should act like he's been there before. We has 50 times this season.

Matt Watkins interview on Hockey Buzz.

Julie Robenhymer from Hockey Buzz interviewed Matt Watkins Some good stuff here and Watty's opinion on who should be the next host of Miller Time.

Here is what Julie had to say about the UND Fighting Sioux and the fan support at the Xcel. Pretty accurate assessment of this past weekend.

In the second semifinal, the Bulldogs took on the Fighting Sioux, who's fans showed up in full force. No joke, you might have thought this tournament was being held in Grand Forks there was so much green in the crowd. Too bad it didn't help the Sioux as the crowd was taken out of the game early on a big time boo boo by their goaltender, Brad Eidsness. He went behind the net to corral the puck coming around the boards and then left it there for his defenseman and skated around the long way to the front of the net, but was unaware of McGreggor Sharp, who has been Johnny on the Spot for the Bulldogs this weekend, coming up around the other side who scooped up the puck and tapped it into an essentially empty net. Did I mention that was shorthanded?? The Sioux finally got their act together in the middle of the second and started playing to their potential, but Stalock put up another solid performance and didn't let anything by as the Bulldogs advanced to the Championship Game.

Wow, Bulldogs make history.

A few weeks back after the Bulldogs had lost five games in a row and one of the local Duluth writers; Howie Hanson had wrote a scathing hit piece on the Bulldog hockey team and their coach. The article as called ANOTHER BULLDOGS MELTDOWN After reading this drive by shooting by Howie Hanson I wrote this blog post in response to Howie Hanson's ridiculous premature blog post.

The quote that is posted below, is the part that really struck a nerve cord with me. If you fast forward to this weekend Howie's hit piece was basically ruled to be irrelevant and a premature panic attack. Who could writtem this story any better than Scott Sandelin’s scrappy Bulldog team. UMD because the first play in game winner to win the Final Five, yeah I guess the WCHA was closer this season than you thought. Maybe those 9th place Seawolves weren't as bad as you made them out to be.

Competing for fifth-place and a home ice series in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs in the final weekend, UMD’s once-proud program sunk to perhaps the most pitiful low in Coach Scott Sandelin’s mostly unproductive tenure last weekend — when the poorly-prepared Bulldogs lost twice at home to (drum roll, please) the mighty, ninth-place Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.

This is the response that I wrote to Howie's blog post. I guess I was pretty close on my prediction eh? The Bulldogs winning the Final Five from the play in game is definitely one of the Cinderella sports moments.

To taking a quote out of the sports cliches' it isn't over until the fat lady sings. Hey Howie, the season isn't over for the Bulldogs, not yet anyways. Why don't you let the games play out first. In case you haven't noticed the Bulldogs get to play C.C. in the Springs this weekend where they have a record of 1-0-1 against the Tigers this year. Personally, I would wait till the end of the season before you start kicking dirt on the Bulldogs season.

You have to wonder if this guy followed the rest of the WCHA very closely because seeding for the WCHA playoffs were not really decided until the last hours of the season. Maybe he should stick to high school hockey. Seriously, who is to say the Bulldogs don't go to Colorado College beat the Tigers in two or three games and get to the Final Five? UMD is also ranked 17th in Pair Wise Rankings so a series win in Colorado Springs and a couple of games in St Paul could put them into the NCAA tourney. During the 2005-2006 season the UMD Bulldogs were 11-25-4 and went to DU and won a WCHA playoff series against the Pioneers in Denver.