Goon's World

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Gopher Vs Sioux in pictures.

This should get Sioux fans in the mood for this weekend series with the Golden Gophers from Minnesota.

UND to attempt to end RedHawks streak.

True to form; SCSU lost again to the Miami RedHawks last night. Miami has now won six games in a row against WCHA teams. Just for the record the last WCHA team to beat Miami University RedHawks was the Fighting Sioux 3-0 in Lefty McFadden Invitational on October 8th 2005 when Jordan Parise held of a Miami surge and got a shutout against the RedHawks. When Miami plays UND on November 28, 2009 in the Subway Holiday Classic UND has a chance to end the RedHawks streak against Miami. This could prove to be an exciting game with huge PWR implications.

Here is the last 7 games that Miami has played against WCHA teams.

October 8th 2005 UND 3 Miami 0
October 6th 2006 Miami 5 DU 2
December 27, 2007 Miami 2 SCSU 1 O.T.
March 27, 2009 Miami 4 DU 2
March 28, 2009 Miami 2 UMD 1
October 10, 2009 Miami 3 SCSU 2 O.T.
October 11, 2009 Miami 2 SCSU 0.

Scores from 10-10-2009

Non-Conference

Northeastern 4 at Colorado College 3
Maine 3 at Union 6
Ferris State 0 at Canisius 1
Colgate 3 at RIT 2
St. Cloud State 0 at Miami 2
Vermont 6 at Denver 4
New Hampshire 1 at Rensselaer 3
Alabama-Huntsville 1 at Notre Dame 3
Clarkson 3 at Michigan State 4
Merrimack 2 at North Dakota 3
Air Force 3 at Bemidji State 7
Bowling Green 1 at Minnesota State 4
Holy Cross 1 at Providence 2

Analysis: DU shows that it’s not unbeatable by losing to the UVM Catamounts. BSU gets revenge on AFA by repaying the favor and sweeps the Falcons 3-1 and 7-3, does anyone want to rehash the CHA > AHA? Go Beavers. Notre Dame beats UAH after the Chargers shocked the college hockey world with a win over the golden boys from Notre Dame the night before. Incidentally, ND is 1-2 in its last three games against CHA teams. Still an impressive showing for UAH Chargers which is sure to have many fans from all over college hockey in their corner this winter, screw the CCHA. UNH loses to EZAC team Rensselaer not impressive at all. WCHA teams went 2-3 last night. The Two Colorado teams and SCSU dropped the ball last night. SCSU was swept by the Miami RedHawks and now have lost three games in a row to the RedHawks.

IceBreaker

Mass.-Lowell 3 at Nebraska-Omaha 4
St. Lawrence 5 vs. Army 2

Dean Blais and the UNO Mavericks win the Icebreaker Championship. The Mavericks beat a good team in UMass Lowell.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha kicked off the Blais era in grand fashion this weekend, winning the Mutual of Omaha Icebreaker with a pair of gutsy victories. The Mavs locked up the tournament title Saturday night with an impressive 4-3 win over UMass Lowell, a team ranked Nos. 10 and 11 in the country and picked to finish second in the heavyweight Hockey East conference. [omaha.com]

Kendall Hockey Classic

Mercyhurst 1 vs. Alaska 5
Michigan 6 at Alaska-Anchorage 1

University of Alaska Fairbanks wins the Kendall Hockey Classic.
My prediction on the UAA and Michigan game looked pretty good.

It's here Sioux and Gophers week.

This is the game on the calender that most of us put a mark next to and get fired up for. The "Brown and Yellow" Rodents and their fans are coming to town. Here is a break down of how the games have gone the last five seasons.

2008-2009 Sioux 2-0
2007-2008 Sioux 2-1-1
2006-2007 Sioux 3-1
2005-2006 Goofs 3-1
2004-2005 Sioux 3-1

The Sioux have a 11-6-1 the last 18 games against the Golden Rodents.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Fighting Sioux 3 - Merrimack Warriors 2

Edit: First off my prediction about UAA being a big slow, untalented, team is coming to fruition as the Seawolves are getting run out of their own building and losing 5-1 to Michigan in the second period. We will see what the final score ends up being. What can I say; same UAA team as the last four seasons, same results. Yeah this team is going to finish in the top four. How?

Series notes:

What can I say about this weekend, the hockey for the most part lacked the emotion of a conference game but the Warriors were a good test for the Fighting Sioux, in preparing them for the regular season. The Merrimack College Warriors have two very good goalies in Joe Cannata and Andrew Braithwaite and both goalie played well this weekend and gave the Fighting Sioux nothing. Merrimack College plays a neutral zone trap and they are very good in their own end and are very smart with the puck. They will give the Hockey East a good fight this season.

Freshman Impress

This past weekend I was very impressed with Danny Kristo, Mike Cichy and Joe Gleason. First off, based on his play this past weekend I don't see how Joe Gleason sits, the kid has earned a spot in the line up because plays very smart hockey, Gleason is an offensive defenseman but he doesn't get carried away and he always keeps the opposition in front of him.

Cichy and Kristo both left a good impression as I thought both were very good with the puck and have great offensive imagination and will score a lot of points before they leave UND.
[Box score]

1st Period (20:00)

NDK 1 - 0 6x6 Brett Hextall (2) (Brad Malone) 4:11
NDK (+): 26,22,20,2,19,G31 MER (-): 7,3,14,23,12,G33
MER-1 John Heffernan (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 7:39
NDK-1 Darcy Zajac (2-Interference) MER 0x1 10:08
MER-2 Simon Demers (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 14:21
NDK-2 Jake Marto (2-Hooking) MER 0x2 15:06

2nd Period (20:00)

MER 1 - 1 6x6 Chris Barton (2) (Jesse Todd) 0:32
MER (+): 23,27,7,3,16,G33 NDK (-): 25,22,26,19,3,G31
NDK-3 Mario Lamoureux (10-Game Misconduct) 0:55
NDK-4 Mario Lamoureux (5-Checking from Behind) MER 0x3 0:55
NDK 2 - 1 6x6 LL Michael Cichy (1) (Chay Genoway, Carter Rowney) 7:15
NDK (+): 8,5,27,11,24,G31 MER (-): 17,26,23,9,15,G33
MER-3 Brandon Sadlowski (2-Slashing) NDK 0x3 11:37
MER-4 Kyle Bigos (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x4 19:31

3rd Period (20:00)

MER-5 BENCH (2-Too Many Players) (Served by Brandon Brodhag) NDK 0x5 4:43
MER-6 Jesse Todd (2-Interference) NDK 0x6 5:26
MER-7 Kyle Bigos (2-Slashing) NDK 1x7 7:19
NDK 3 - 1 6x5 PP GW Jake Marto (1) (Chris VandeVelde, Danny Kristo) 8:53
NDK: 25,29,7,26,17,G31 MER: 26,4,15,27,G33
MER 2 - 3 6x6 Chris Barton (3) (Jesse Todd, J.C. Robitaille) 16:08
MER (+): 23,27,16,4,5,G33 NDK (-): 22,3,25,26,19,G31
Timeout - Merrimack 18:53

End of Game

Is Miami a powerhouse?

Here is this weeks Illegal Curve Article.

On October 27th 2007 Miami Student writer Mike Zoller declared that Miami University hockey ‘was on the Brink of being a dynasty.’ While Miami Hockey is not a dynasty by definition (need to win a few NCAA titles), I am also going to hold off calling them a dynasty for now but Miami does have a good shot at being a title contender this season if they play up to their potential.

Since 2003-2004 the Miami RedHawks have compiled a 144-76-23 record and have made the NCAA tourney five out of the last six seasons. Last spring the RedHawks had the NCAA chapionship in their grasp, the RedHawks made it to the NCAA Championship game, took a 3-1 lead before losing the game in over time to the Boston University Terriers. [Box Score]

This is what I found in my Twitter posts this morning when I got up this morning.

MikeSwainey @goon48 All I know is Miami continues to knock off WCHA teams. IIRC, 5 straight wins against your league. But tomorrow’s another day.

First off I wouldn’t be surprised tonight if SCSU loses to the RedHawks again tonight to make it six games in a row. Breaking it down further, Mike is right, Miami has done pretty well against WCHA foes as of late. Both DU and SCSU have both lost their last two games they have played against the Miami University RedHawks. Also, the Miami RedHawks beat UMD in last season’s Midwest regional at Mariucci Arena. Incidently, the last WCHA team to beat Miami University was the Fighting Sioux 3-0 in Lefty McFadden Invitational on October 8th 2005 when Jordan Parise held of a Miami surge and got a shutout against the RedHawks.

Here is the last 6 games that Miami has played against WCHA teams.

October 8th 2005 UND 3 Miami 0
October 6th 2006 Miami 5 DU 2
December 27, 2007 Miami 2 SCSU 1 O.T.
March 27, 2009 Miami 4 DU 2
March 28, 2009 Miami 2 UMD 1
October 10, 2009 Miami 3 SCSU 2 O.T.

First off; I wouldn’t be surprised tonight if SCSU loses again to make it six games in a row. Breaking it down further, Mike is right, Miami has done pretty darn good job against the WCHA teams as of late. Both DU and SCSU have both lost their last two games they played to the Miami University RedHawks. Also, the Miami RedHawks beat UMD in last season’s Midwest regional championship game at Mariucci Arena. Incidentally, the last WCHA team to beat Miami University was the Fighting Sioux 3-0 in Lefty McFadden Invitational on October 8th 2005 when Jordan Parise got a shut out against the RedHawks. The Fighting Sioux might have to stop that streak if the Huskies can’t stop them tonight.

Non Conference scores from last night

Last night the WCHA went 7-1 in non conference play. Last season the WCHA’s non conference play was their Achilles heal, last night SCSU was the only team in non conference play from the WCHA to lose.

UND 5 Merrimack College 2
MTU 5 NMU 3
C.C. 4 Northeastern 2
UMD 4 LSSU 3
MSU-M 3 BGSU 2
DU 5 VMU 4
UAA 5 Mercyhurst College 3
Miami 3 SCSU 2 O.T.

CHA 2-0 in Non Conference play last night

UAH 3 Notre Dame 2 (this one makes me happy)
BSU 3 AFA 1 the battle of the Serratore brothers

More on Sioux and Warriors.

Here are a couple of the goals from last night's game.

Looks like David Toews has found his scoring touch early.

Here is Corbin Knight's first collegiate hockey goal.

Hextall should've scored two or three goals last night. This goal was a thing of beauty.

Here is what Mike McMahon the hockey beat writer from Merrimack College had to say on last night's game. In my opinion Mike does a pretty good job reporting the news and I enjoy reading his blog.

The score was 5-2, but this game was not out of reach for the Warriors until the very end.

North Dakota scored two early goals but Merrimack battled back with tallies from Chris Barton and Justin Bonitatibus to close the first tied at 2-2.

Getting back in the game the way they did was a promising sign for this team. In years past, down 2-0 early meant that the Warriors would fold and you’d see a 5-1 or 6-0 game. That wasn’t the case on Friday night and shouldn’t be going forward.

Trailing 4-2 entering the third the Warriors needed a big period and came out flat. Merrimack was outshot 17-5 in the third period (40-17 overall); obviously a gap that isn’t going to be a recipe for success.

Three of ND’s five goals came off of rushes or other plays in which Merrimack attacked and was caught coming back the other way. Joe Cannata played a solid game (35 of 40 on shots) and was tested more often than I’d like to see. But, he held his own and, as he did last season, kept his poise and made his saves. [Warrior Rink Rat]

Here are the heaviest teams in division one hockey. The Fighting Sioux are the 11th heaviest team in the WCHA.
1. Vermont 194.61
2. Alaska-Fairbanks 191.96
3. Notre Dame 191.78
4. Boston University 191.54
5. Ohio State 191.50
6. Alaska-Anchorage 191.42
7. Rensselaer 190.97
8. Minnesota State 190.67
9. Miami 190.35
10. Michigan Tech 190.27
11. North Dakota 190.16
15. New Hampshire 189.92
16. Nebraska-Omaha 189.81
17. Minnesota-Duluth 189.80
18. Clarkson 189.71
19. Northern Michigan 189.45
20. Providence 189.35
21. Minnesota 189.23

Who has egg on their face now?

The big upset win of the night was in South Bend as the UAH Chargers stung the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-2. This win by the Chargers had me smiling from ear to ear. The CCHA might want to go ahead and reconsider UAH's application for admission since the Chargers just took down one of the top teams in the CCHA. I read a lot of post during the off season where fans were saying UAH doesn’t belong in the CCHA or they can’t compete. Yeah! How do you like the Chargers now?

SOUTH BEND — Alabama-Huntsville coach Danton Cole downplayed the significance, but his Chargers hockey team came to town with something to prove.

Denied admission this summer into the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, UAH exacted some revenge Friday night against the league's defending champions.

Cody Campbell scored a power play goal with five seconds left to give the Chargers a stunning 3-2 upset win over No. 5 Notre Dame in front of a sold-out Joyce Center crowd.

Alabama-Huntsville, looking to join a new league since its current home, the CHA, will disband after this season, found motivation from the summer snub. UAH Goaltender Cameron Talbot told the Huntsville Times earlier in the week, "We want to show we can play with the big dogs of the CCHA."

Friday, October 09, 2009

Sioux 5 - Warriors 2

The Fighting Sioux got a very solid effort from all four lines as the Fighting Sioux beat the Merrimack Warriors 5-2. This was the first time I got to see the new line up live and I was really impressed with the efforts of David Toews 1-1-2, Chay Genoway 0-2-2, Michael Cichy 0-2-2. If last year’s team was well balanced, then I have got to think this year is even more balanced. Team speed wise I think the Sioux are faster with the addition of Cichy, Kristo. David Toews had a really good start tonight.

Also, I hope I am not the only one that is impressed with freshman Joe Gleason, I thought he made a very strong case for staying in the lineup as Joe played a very well with the puck and was smart defensively. Gleason also chipped in with an assist.

I thought the Sioux got sloppy in the offensive end at the end of the first period that led to two untimely goals. It's not good to let the opposition score a goal at the end of a period, it can be a serious momentum killer. The forwards have got to be aware when Chay Genoway pinches in the offensive zone a forward has got to pick up the point. That didn't happen and Eidness let in a goal on a breakaway.

More to follow tomorrow.

[Box Score]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK 1 - 0 6x6 Jason Gregoire (1) (Chay Genoway, Danny Kristo) 0:39
NDK (+): 17,5,7,24,29,G31 MER (-): 11,4,25,20,7,G35
MER-1 Karl Stollery (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 2:22
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 David Toews (1) (Darcy Zajac) 12:31
NDK (+): 18,11,25,24,8,G31 MER (-): 17,20,4,25,11,G35
MER 1 - 2 6x6 Justin Bonitatibus (1) (Francois Ouimet, Joe Cucci) 15:20
MER (+): 17,21,14,4,7,G35 NDK (-): 5,24,22,19,26,G31
NDK-1 Andrew MacWilliam (2-Holding the Stick) MER 0x1 16:32
MER-2 Joe Cucci (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 17:21
MER 2 - 2 6x6 Chris Barton (1) (Joe Cucci, Pat Bowen) 19:35
MER (+): 23,14,4,27,26,G35 NDK (-): 5,29,17,7,26,G31

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-2 BENCH (2-Too Many Players) (Served by Michael Cichy) MER 0x2 8:03
NDK 3 - 2 6x6 GW LL Chris VandeVelde (1) (Chay Genoway, Michael Cichy) 10:16
NDK (+): 29,5,8,17,24,G31 MER (-): 3,5,16,18,17,G35
NDK 4 - 2 6x6 Corban Knight (1) (David Toews, Michael Cichy) 10:57
NDK (+): 10,18,8,2,20,G31 MER (-): 15,18,22,26,10,G35
MER-3 Kyle Bigos (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x3 12:30
NDK-3 Chris VandeVelde (2-Roughing) MER 0x3 17:13

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MER-4 Pat Bowen (2-Holding) NDK 0x4 3:14
MER-5 BENCH (2-Too Many Players) (Served by Justin Bonitatibus) NDK 0x5 5:25
MER-6 Bobby Kramer (2-Roughing) NDK 1x6 13:59
NDK 5 - 2 6x5 PP Brett Hextall (1) (Evan Trupp, Joe Gleason) 14:51
NDK: 26,19,20,22,3,G31 MER: 3,23,27,26,G35

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday afternoon Links

My yard work isn't getting done with me sitting at the computer but there were a few interesting items out there to read about in the hockey world.

Pat Quinned was fined for saying this:

"I don't understand the players of today," Quinn said. "If that had happened in the old days he would have got hit over the head with a stick right after. It was a pretty dirty play in my opinion. He poked his feet out and then piled on top of him. Somehow they never deal with that ... and they won't let the vigilante stuff happen to deal with it. It's disappointing." [NHL.COM]

The Redwings just got some really bad news when one of their top forwards Johan Franzen will be out for at least four months. Looks like former MSU Star Justin Abdelkader will be getting another shot at playing in the NHL.
One man's loss is another man's gain.

Bad news on the Johan Franzen injury front: The Red Wings just announced that the big forward will be out a minimum of four months after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Thursday’s 3-2 win over Chicago.General manager Ken Holland said the team has recalled Justin Abdelkader from Grand Rapids (AHL).
[Abel to Yzerman]

Predict the score of this game between UAA and Michigan, I am predicting a 7-2 ass whooping. Nothing like a game against Michigan to lower those save percentages and raise the goals against averages.

It will be interesting to see how optimistic some remain after the Seawolves play like a big, slow, untalented, lumbering team, with little recognizable talent. I predict that UAA will get beat to the puck up and down the ice and will get into penalty trouble as soon as the Seawolves realized they can’t keep up more talented and fleet of foot Michigan Wolverines. Being an early season game the ref will be out to prove a point and there will be a parade to the penalty box.

Both of their goalies played in their exhibition win. Jon Olthius got the start and made 7 stops in a little over half the game. Bryce Christianson stopped ten pucks in the second half of the game. Christianson was the better of the two a year ago, with a 2.60/.893 to Olthius's 3.43/.877. [The Blog that Yost Built]

According to the New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella they are not playing rund and gun hockey. Sounds like they need to work on their defense.

John Tortorella wasn’t so thrilled with what he saw on the tape from the Pittsburgh game, or with what he saw on television from one of his players: “The biggest thing that we need to address tonight is puck support. If we’re going to be aggressive as far as defending, trying to jam the neutral zone, pinching in the end zone when we have opportunities, we need to have some support coming back, and I think we lost ourselves a little bit there” - most glaringly on Sidney Crosby’s go-ahead goal, with Marc Staal caught behind the play and no one helping out.

“I even heard one of our players say on a TV program or something like that before last night’s game, ‘Run-and-gun.’ This isn’t run-and-gun,” the coach went on. “This is pressure defense, pressuring the puck, defense first with support, allowing us to be aggressive, it’s not run and gun. These are the things we have to curb and make our team understand, because we gave up too many odd-man rushes. … Some was due to us just blowing up with the puck.” [The Blueshirts blog]

So is Wild forward Benoit Pouliot playing his way out of the line up in Minnesota? I don't know but I hope so, I just don't see anything that leads me to believe that Pouliot is going to be anymore than a fourth line player.

Benoit Pouliot’s got some work to do if he wants more than the five-minutes of fourth-line work he got Tuesday against Anaheim.
“He can play as high as the second line because he has that skill, but he needs to be a reliable player in his own zone and provide some energy and physical play,” Richards said.

Richards was displeased with the goalie interference penalty Pouliot took with the Wild down 3-1 in the third period. Pouliot nullified a power play he had drawn.

“He did a great job moving his feet to draw the penalty and then put himself in a position to take a penalty. You can’t do that,” said Richards. [Russo's Rants]

Cornelius Hardenbergh from the Hockey Blog Adventure was not impressed with the play of the Boston Bruins last night against the Ducks. I DVRed the game but I haven't had the displeasure of watching that game yet and if I do I might just vomit as well. I made the mistake of looking ahead of time on line to see what the score was and 6-1 kind of ruined it for me.

The Bruins powerplay sucked so hard that I was hoping the Bruins would take a penalty just to even the numbers of players on the ice. The PK managed to let old man teemu to bury 2 goals. If Tim Thomas is going to be a sieve every other game maybe the Bruins should look at this promising Rask kid soon. I expect him to play sometime this weekend, but I'm no NHL coach. [the Hockey Blog Adventure]

Patrick Kaleta smokes Petr Prucha

Holy Cow! What a hit. That was right on the line of being a questionable hit, it probably would be classified as interference because it looks like the puck isn't on Prucha's stick when he gets smoked.

Weekend Match ups (Sioux 7)

The opening weekend games feature non conference games and a tournament. So lets start off with the weekend series first. Three series are against Hockey East teams, Vermont, Northeastern, and Merrimack. There is also one CCHA series, and then the Superior Showcase, with two WCHA and two CCHA teams. These non conference games can give us a good indication of where the league stands as a whole against the other top conference.

St. Cloud State at Miami
The RedHawks of Miami had a great run last year in the playoffs and just came up short of a national title. The question will be, can they do it again this season? The Huskies will be trying to win and show that they are going to a force to be reckoned with this year. I'm betting we will see freshman goalie Mike Lee in net both nights. I see this series being a split, UM on Friday and SCSU on Saturday.

Vermont at Denver
I'm not up to snuff on the Catamounts, but if history can be used, they have been a good competitive team in years past and the fact they are rated #14 to start this season. The Pioneers being ranked #1 will have a big target on them this weekend as they look prove they are deserving of the pole position to start the season. I think conditioning and altitude might factor into UV's game plan, but in the end I think DU will come out on top. I'm picking DU to get a win and tie, this weekend.

Merrimack at North Dakota
The Warriors invade the Ralph this weekend in hopes of pulling of an upset win. UM was picked to finish last in their conference, ouch. Meanwhile the Sioux where picked to finish second in the WCHA and are ranked #6 to start the year. UND has 10 freshman this year in the line up and only 3 seniors, yeah, they are a young team. The Sioux are use to have many youngsters in the line up with the numberous defections to the NHL before the player graduates. I think the Warriors will put up a fight but the skill of the Sioux will win out in the end. SIOUX SWEEP.

Bowling Green at Minnesota State
I'm sure many people didn't realize that Ohio has two hockey teams, but BG has a team. The Falcons haven't had that much success in recent seasons past, but are looking to move up the CCHA standings. If I'm not mistaken they have a new head coach this season, so this could be a little bit of a transition year too. The Mavericks gave their head coach Jutting a contract extentsion, so he will be the bench boss in Mankato for years to come. The Mavericks are always tough team to beat and the Falcons will find that out this weekend. MAVERICKS SWEEP.

Northeastern at Colorado College
The Huskies invade the Tigers home this weekend for a pair of tilts. CC has many questions to answer, goalie and offense are the main ones... Northeastern finshed last season with a 25-12-4 record, pretty darn good in any league. The Tigers will have their hands full with these doggies. But don't count the Tigers out just yet, they have suprised us before. I'm hedging my bet and going to call this a SPLIT.

Superior Showcase

Lake Superior at Minnesota-Duluth
The Lakers take on the Bulldogs since this is a round robin tourney I'm going with Dogs at home over the Lakers.

Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech
This is an old WCHA rivalry, I remember when the Wildcats played in the WHCA. The Huskies are going to have to be on their A-game to get wins this season, and I don't see them starting with a win over their Upper Penisula rivals. Wildcats Win.

Lake Superior at Michigan Tech
I think the Huskies will drop this game by one goal to the Lakers.

Northern Michigan at Minnesota-Duluth
This game is a tough one to call, but hey its only speculation, right...Bulldogs Win.

Kendall Hockey Classic
Mercyhurst at Alaska-Anchorage
The Seawolves are looking to start the season with a win, and to do that they will need to beat the Mercyhurst Lakers from Atlantic Hockey. The Lakers where 8-11-1 away form Erie PA last year, and the Seawolves were 5-8-4 at home last season.
I think the Lakers will handle their first road/airplane trip of the season well and will hand the Seawolves a loss.

Michigan at Alaska-Anchorage
Lets just let this one be. #3 Michigan wins.

A goal worth seeing. (Kyle Okposo)

I am not much of a Islanders fan but this is a really nice goal by former Golden Gopher Kyle Okposo. That is a power forward move. This kid could still be playing in college if he hadn't left 1 1/2 years into his college career.

Check out this scrum.

I saw this game's highlights on TV tonight and I thought it was worth a look. The the Broad Street Bullies are up to their old tricks again. Check out this scrum at the end of the Flyers and Penguins game. Edit: It was Mike Richards that ran over the Penguins goaltender, now that is a bush league move. I wonder if they league will review this tape.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Update on Warrior's Da Costa.

Here is the latest from Mike McMahon of the Warrior Rink Rat. Looks like Da Costa won't be playing this weekend. That is a tough break for the Warriors.

Stephane Da Costa traveled with the Warriors to Grand Forks on Thursday, but will not participate in either game against North Dakota this weekend while he waits for the NCAA to rule on his eligibility.

It was originally thought that the NCAA would make its ruling this week, however, now one isn’t expected to be handed down until at least next week.

The NCAA has cleared Da Costa to practice, and he has been practicing with the team since they began sessions. He also participated in the Blue-Gold game on Monday. [Warrior Rink Rat]

St Louis Blues turning the corner.

It would appear that the St Louis Blues hockey team is headed in the right direction and should be a force to be reckoned with this season. Personally, I really enjoy watching great young American players like Erik Johnson (UMN) David Backes (MSU-M) and T.J. Oshie ( UND) play hockey.

Fans haven’t been this jacked up since the old President’s Trophy days, when the Blues finished first overall in 1999-2000 and then reached the Final Four the following spring.

Those were heady times. Blues fans believed Bill and Nancy Laurie and their big Wal-Mart dollars would power this franchise to its first Stanley Cup.

But the Lauries lost tens of millions of dollars during their Cup quest. They threw their support behind the NHL lockout, then decided to abandon the team when the league resumed play.

Now Blues fans are hopeful again. They are a bit uneasy about David Checketts’ quest for an NFL team, since his ownership group hasn’t quite finished its job with the Blues.

Otherwise, all is well in Blues Nation. This team commands league-wide respect again. Kariya’s return adds star power to an already entertaining group.

The franchise has developed its best corps group of young players since the Bernie Federko/Brian Sutter days. Johnson is legit, as are David Backes, David Perron, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and Roman Polak.

If Chris Mason falters in goal, Ty Conklin will be a worthy stand-in. Our Town’s Ben Bishop offers huge long-term potential in the nets and numerous other top prospects are toiling for the team’s AHL affiliate this season.

The hockey operation is in great shape. Good organizational depth extends to the low minor league, junior hockey, the college ranks and Europe. The Blues are good now and they should remain good for many years to come.
[stltoday.com]

The first round bust known as Benoit Pouliot.

In the off season I was very disappointed to find out that the Minnesota Wild had decided to keep their first round bust Benoit Pouliot, instead of finding someone else to take his place on the roster in Minnesota. Drafted in the first round of the 2005 NHL entry draft Pouliot is another reminder of the players selected in 2005 that the Minnesota Wild could have had instead of the dead weight known as Benoit Pouliot (52 games 7g-7a-14pts).

Let’s take a quick look at the players who were drafted behind Beniot Pouliot in the first round of the 2005 entry draft, Anze Kopitar 11th by the LA Kings (81g-128a-209pts), Marc Staal 12th New York (5g-22a-27pts), Tuukka Rask 21 by Toronto and T.J. Oshie 24th by the St Louis Blues, 59 games (14g-26a-40pts). I am sure that Kopitar, Staal, Rask and or Oshie would look a much better in a Wild jersey than the slacker currently wearing number 67. Frankly I find that Pouliot is a brutal reminder of the horrible first round draft choices that now departed Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough made during his ho hum tenure in Minnesota. Another reminder is the first rounds busts as James Sheppard I wonder how much longer we are going to have to watch James taking up a roster spot on the Wild.

A line that Kurt Russell immortalized in the 2004 movie, “Miracle,” and a line that fits perfectly with the crossroads that Benoit Pouliot’s career is at.

Drafted 4th Overall in the 2005 Entry Draft, Pouliot was drafted as the Minnesota Wild’s “Next Big Thing.”

Taken just three spots behind Sidney Crosby and ahead of names like Carey Price, Devin Setoguchi, and Anze Kopitar, Pouliot was expected to give the Wild the scoring punch beside Marian Gaborik that they had needed for so long.

Entering his fourth pro season, Pouliot has yet to live up to those lofty expectations.

In 52 NHL games, he has tallied just 7 goals and 14 points. After an impressive rookie campaign with the

Houston Aeros in the 2006-07 season, one that saw him tally 19 goals and 36 points as a rookie, Pouliot was expected to contend for a roster spot on the big squad the following season. He was even given the opportunity to play pivot between Gaborik and Pavol Demitra in what would form the team’s top line.

Unfortunately, Pouliot didn’t quite make the cut. He did, however, earn a late season call up that saw him get a couple goals in the last eleven games of the season. [Bleacher Report]

Fighting Sioux coaches show.

Check out this week's Fighting Sioux coaches show that aired on 10/07/2009. Coach Hakstol and Tim are on at with 29 minutes left to go in the broadcast.

[click to listen]

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Wild not as boring this season.

I know it's only one game and it was the first Wild game that I have been able to watch this season, however, after only one game I can say that the Wild are going to be a much more exciting brand of hockey to watch then they were last year under the defensive minded former coach Jacques Lemaire.

Personally, I don't watch hockey to see the neutral zone trap, I want to see attacking and counter attacking hockey and that was what the Wild did as they pushed the puck up and down the ice and created offensive opportunities all night.

This season with the Wild playing a more up tempo offensive style of play it will cause a higher risk/reward. There were a few instances last night where the Wild got caught up ice focusing on offense and not remembering where the defensive zone was.

Last night I thought defenseman Brent Burns had a poor game and looked like a pylon as there were numerous times he was caught up ice on turnovers in the neutral and offensive zone. None the less, I liked what I saw last night and it was a lot more exciting hockey to watch and I expect more of the same.

Helluva night in the Twin Cities, eh? I’m not about to compare tonight’s comeback at the X in Game 2 of an 82-game season with the Twins’ finish to win the division and advance to the playoffs, but if you happened to be one of the fans that actually attended this doubleheader, man, you won’t ever forget this night.

Wild down 3-zip. Playing absolutely hideously. Coughing up pucks. Giving up 2-on-1’s and 3-on-2’s and even an astonishing 4-on-1. Getting zero done in the offensive zone.

And then … a couple choice words during the second intermission and a fight, and the first-ever Wild comeback from three goals down in the third for a W.

Yes, I know there are people who hate fights, but tonight, there was an example about what a fight can do to a hockey game.

Kinda like when Stephane Veilleux got goaded into fighting Dion Phaneuf in Calgary once when the Wild was ahead 3-0, George Parros decided to fight John Scott. Well the 6-foot-8 Scott absolutely clocked the experienced fighter with a right uppercut. He went down, and for the first time in the game that wasn’t Carlos Gomez scoring at the Metrodome, the Wild fans had reason to cheer.

And, said Todd Richards, “It stirred up some emotion on the bench.” [Russo's Rants]

Da Costa’s Eligibility In Question

Merrimack collge hockey beat writer Mike McMahon has an update on their star freshman's status for this weekend's games. His status is still in doubt. Sounds like if this kid couldn't play this season it would be tough pill to swallow for Merrimack. I can't even remember the last time I seen someone from France playing in college hockey.

Freshman forward Stephane Da Costa has not made it through NCAA clearninghouse as of Tuesday afternoon.

Merrimack officials are currently awaiting word on his status, which is expected to come from the NCAA later this week. The Warriors open the season on Friday night in North Dakota, where they’ll take on the defending WCHA Champions.

Da Costa, who comes to Merrimack from Paris, France, finished fourth in the USHL in scoring last season. [Warrior Rink Rat]