Sioux 3rd in both national polls.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[December 7, 2009]
Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Miami (36) 11-2-5 977 1
2 Denver (11) 10-4-2 956 2
3 North Dakota 9-5-2 860 3
4 Bemidji State ( 2) 13-2-1 843 5
5 Cornell ( 1) 7-2-2 756 7
6 Colorado College 10-4-2 726 6
7 Quinnipiac 12-3-0 635 4
8 Yale 7-3-2 606 10
9 Mass.-Lowell 9-5-1 578 8
10 Boston College 8-3-2 542 15
11 Wisconsin 10-5-1 489 16
12 Minnesota-Duluth 10-5-1 438 12
13 Ferris State 11-3-2 419 17
14 Michigan State 10-6-2 399 11
15 Massachusetts 9-5-0 383 9
16 Alaska 8-4-4 233 12
17 St. Cloud State 8-6-2 194 20
18 Notre Dame 7-7-4 127 14
19 New Hampshire 7-6-3 112 NR
20 Union 7-3-5 79 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Vermont 47, Michigan 30, RIT 27, Nebraska-Omaha 17, Northern Michigan 10, Maine 8, Colgate 7, Air Force 2
------------------------------
USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Dec. 7, 2009]
Rank School (first-place votes) Record Points Last week's rank
1 Miami University (Ohio) (29) 11-2-5 505 1
2 Denver (5) 10-4-2 478 2
3 North Dakota 9-5-2 426 3
4 Bemidji State 13-2-1 398 4
5 Cornell 7-2-2 358 7
6 Colorado College 10-4-2 328 5
7 Yale 7-3-2 287 10
8 Quinnipiac 12-3-0 239 6
9 Massachusetts Lowell 9-5-1 223 8
10 Boston College 8-3-2 207 14
11 Wisconsin 10-5-1 162 NR
12 Ferris State 11-3-2 116 NR
13 Michigan State 10-6-2 113 11
14 Minnesota Duluth 10-5-1 104 12
15 Massachusetts 9-5-0 79 9
Others receiving votes: University of Alaska, 19; University of New Hampshire, 11; Union College, 8; St. Cloud State University, 6; University of Notre Dame, 4; Northern Michigan University, 3; Rochester Institute of Technology, 3; Colgate University, 1; University of Michigan, 1; University of Nebraska Omaha, 1.
Analysis: I am actually surprised that UND kept the 3rd place ranking in both polls after coughing up and losing a 2 goal lead albeit the second UMD goal shouldn't have counted.

Promo for Bruins and Flyers

Here is the commercial for this years winter classic to be played in Fenway Park.

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings for those looking for a good laugh on Monday Morning.

1. Denver
2. Miami
3. North Dakota 1 Senior defenseman Chay Genoway has missed seven straight games due to injury. Now senior forward Chris VandeVelde could be joining him on the shelf; he missed Saturday's series finale at UMD with an undisclosed ailment. 9-5-2 (6-5-1 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota Duluth, 4-2; L at Minnesota Duluth, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin
4. Cornell
5. Bemidji State
6. Yale
7. Colorado College
8. Quinnipiac
9. Boston College
10. UMass Lowell
11. Wisconsin
12. Michigan State
13. Massachusetts
14. Minnesota Duluth
15. Ferris State
16. Alaska
17. St. Cloud State
18. Union
19. New Hampshire
20. Maine

Dropped out: Notre Dame, Vermont, Nebraska-Omaha
Bubble-licious: RIT, Air Force, Colgate, Vermont, Notre Dame

Coach Hakstol post game comments.

Check what coach Hakstol has to say after the game. Vandy injury status is day to day, hopefully we aren't week to week. Brad says, "that two pretty big leaders out of your line up". The quality isn't that good because all of the back ground noise

KPD at it again...

Apparently now Kevin Paul Dupoint thinks he is an expert on player salaries. This is the same clown that was the cheerleader and on the bandwagon for running Phil Kessel out of town in Boston. Now he is a critic of player salaries in another NHL Market. [props]

Blackhawks’ dollars don’t make sense

The deals signed last week by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and especially Duncan Keith officially and forever severed any lingering ties to the old Bill Wirtz regime in Chicago. In Keith’s case, the Blackhawks also severed any ties to reality (a state they rarely lived in during the miserly Dollar Bill’s days).

Beginning next year, young stars Toews and Kane each will pocket an average of $6.3 million for five years. Their annual payouts will be identical: $6.5 million, $6 million, $6 million, $6.5 million, and $6.5 million. Compared with the likes of, say, the Sedin twins (Henrik and Daniel) in Vancouver, or Anaheim’s Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, or Anze Kopitar in Los Angeles, the Kane-Towes payouts are right on the money. Solid value.

However, Keith’s deal is beyond extravagant, all the worse given that fellow Hawks back liner Brian Campbell is hauling in a bloated $7.14 million through 2013-14. Grossly overpriced.

Keith, 26, will earn an average of $7.913 million over the first four years, $7.55 million for the next two years, $5.5 million for another two, $4 million for two more, and then slightly more than $2 million for the final three. Total: 13 years/$72 million, for a cap hit of $5.54 million. If you’re still holding on to your calculator, it exceeds the 12-year/$62.8 million deal, in both gross dollars and cap hit, that career marksman Marian Hossa pocketed with the Hawks in July
[Boston Globe]

Sunday thoughts

Even when it appears that things aren’t going well, in reality there are a lot of positives moving forward for the Fighting Sioux hockey team. Here are some of the things that UND is doing well.

The UND defense is ranked 5th over all nationally and tied with their next opponent the Wisconsin Badgers. [National Stats]

UND sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness is ranked 8th nationally (8-4-2, 1.97 GAA and .919 SV %) Eidsness has only give up 5 goals once in a game.

North Dakota is 7th in the nation in penalty killing 75/88 for 88.2 percent. [National Stats]

Fighting Sioux freshman Danny Kristo is ranked 11th in points per game by freshman. (5g-9a-14pts) points per game 0.88 [college hockey stats]

UND is ranked 17th in scoring nationally; 16 games 52 goals 3.25 goals per game. [college hockey stats]

UND is ranked 10th Nationally on the Power Play 21/ 92 22.8%. [college hockey stats]

Combined Special teams UND is ranked 10th; 96/177 54.2. [college hockey stats]

Dogs 3 Sioux 2

For a second weekend in a row the Fighting Sioux managed to cough up another two goal lead in the third period and earned a split with the UMD Bulldogs. For the most part it was a pretty exciting game. The Sioux seemingly had the game under control until they basically went into a defensive shell and tried to protect a lead. I thought they did the same thing last weekend against Miami as well. This team needs to start learing how to put their opponents away.

The game tying goal wasn't without controversy. Apparently, the puck left the ice surface before the game tying goal was scored. Coach Hakstol made mention of this in his post game comments and I am sure the league office will get an ear full this week. Not to make excuses about the officiating but the officials have to be better. Having the puck hit the screen above the glass and not blowing the puck dead is a critical mistake and can’t be allowed to happen.

The Sioux (9-5-2, 6-5-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) left Duluth steaming — not only because of the loss — but also because they believe there should have been a whistle right before the tying goal was scored.

Sioux forward Jason Gregoire attempted to clear the puck out of the zone in the final minute. It hit a Duluth player’s stick, flew into the air and off the netting above the glass. When it came down, defenseman Derrick LaPoint pinned the puck along the end wall waiting for a whistle that never came.

Instead, a Duluth forward poked the puck loose and got it to the point, where Jack Connolly ripped a shot that hit Oleksuk standing right next to the post. He easily tucked the rebound behind UND goalie Brad Eidsness, who came out to play the puck. The DECC erupted and Gregoire immediately asked the referee if the play was reviewable.

“That’s a big-time call, because the puck went off of white and the faceoff would have been out of our zone with 40 seconds left in the game,” Gregoire said. “That’s a huge advantage, rather than five seconds later having the puck in the back of the net, the game is tied, and they are still on the power play.” [Grand Forks Herald]

I am disappointed but I also think Derrick LaPoint made a boned headed mistake by pinning the puck along the end boards to eat up time; in that situation I think LaPoint should have chipped the puck out of the zone. It’s almost as bad as the head coach calling time out in the final seconds of the UNH game from last season.

I don’t know if this is irony or what but after 12 games in the WCHA play last season the Fighting Sioux were 6-5-1. Fast forward to this year and the Fighting Sioux hockey team has the same record after 12 games. The good news is that the Fighting Sioux aren’t sitting in seventh place, they are in sixth place. [2008-2009 schedule]

In checking the pairwise rankings there are six teams in the WCHA that are sitting in the top fourteen positions of the rankings. That tells me that the WCHA is back and competitive again. Every weekend is going to be a dog fight, no pun intended.




[Box Score]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-1 Andrew MacWilliam (2-Interference) MND 0x1 1:32
MND-1 Jordan Fulton (2-Boarding) NDK 0x1 4:46
NDK 1 - 0 6x6 Brad Malone (4) (Evan Trupp, Andrew MacWilliam) 14:54
NDK (+): 22,19,2,24,7,G31 MND (-): 17,7,20,28,2,G30
NDK-2 Danny Kristo (2-Interference) 19:25
MND-2 Mike Montgomery (2-Roughing) 19:25

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

NDK 2 - 0 5x5 Brett Hextall (4) (Jason Gregoire) 0:37
NDK (+): 26,17,27,2,G31 MND (-): 8,12,22,6,G30
NDK-3 Brad Malone (2-Holding) MND 0x2 17:59

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

MND 1 - 2 6x6 Kyle Schmidt (6) (Rob Bordson, Travis Oleksuk) 1:15
MND (+): 11,19,21,28,2,G30 NDK (-): 17,26,2,27,24,G31
MND-3 Scott Kishel (2-Tripping) NDK 0x2 9:58
NDK-4 Ben Blood (2-Tripping) MND 0x3 16:17
MND-4 Rob Bordson (2-Interference) NDK 0x3 17:29
NDK-5 Andrew MacWilliam (2-Interference) MND 1x4 18:17
Timeout - Minnesota Duluth 18:17
MND 2 - 2 5x5 EA Travis Oleksuk (3) (Jack Connolly, Mike Connolly) 19:27
MND (+): 21,12,22,37,2 NDK (-): 17,24,3,9,G31

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overtime (0:12)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MND 3 - 2 6x5 PP GW LL Justin Fontaine (12) (Jack Connolly, Dylan Olsen) 0:12
MND: 37,12,4,24,22,G30 NDK: 9,24,25,11,G31

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

Your Bemidji State Beavers.

Last night I went to the BSU and NU game. So here is this week’s column that I wrote for the Illegal Curve.

With my favorite team out of town in Duluth last night so I applied for a press pass and made the trek down highway to take in a game at the John S. Glas Field House in Bemidji, Minnesota. the game featured the CHA leading BSU Beavers 12-2-1 and league 7-0-0 and the Niagara University Purple Eagles 2-8-2, 1-1-1.

Much has been made about the Beaver's poll positions this season as they have been ranked in the top ten for a few weeks now, some have said the BSU Beavers didn’t deserve their high ranking because they hadn’t played anybody and they were overrated. The nay sayers were quieted down a bit when the Beavers went out and beat top ranked Miami University 3-2 last weekend in the first game of the Subway Holiday Classic. Currently the Beavers sit 5th in the USCHO poll and 4th in the USA Today poll. BSU was also ranked 6th in the latest INCH power rankings. The Beavers are ranked number one the PWR/RPI rankings (these rankings mirrors the NCAA selection).

Tenacious, High pressure, get pucks deep and speed

It would be an understatement to say that the Beavers have been winning in an impressive and dramatic fashion. From the drop of the first puck to the last whistle of the game the BSU Beavers play an aggressive fore checking high pressure game. The Beavers pride themselves in outworking their opponents. The Beavers are quick up front and strong defensively (ranked number one defensively) and aren’t very much fun to play against. When you play against the Beavers you can’t take a shift off against them or they will bury you.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers found out the hard way in the second game of their two games series against BSU back in November. With the game close at 3-1 after the two periods the Beavers came out in the third period and scored three goals in less than two minutes to bury the Gophers.

The Beavers keep coming at you by getting the puck deep in the offensive zone and then race in to converge on the puck. The Beavers mirror their coach short in stature but fiery and intense in nature. The Beavers are a breath of fresh air in the era of the Neutral Zone Trap. The Beavers play a race horse up tempo brand of hockey much like the Dean Blais UND Fighting Sioux teams of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

At last night’s game while sitting with my friend who is the faculty rep of the BSU hockey team, we watched in awe as the Beavers picked apart the Niagara defense. I told him that the Beavers just keep buzzing and they are relentless, they cycle the puck with a tenacious pace. The Beavers keep coming in waves as another line comes off the bench and continues the assault. During the Second period we looked on in amazement and after another long cycle by the Beavers in the Niagara end, Bemidji forward Ryan Cramer scored a nice goal.

Avalanche of goals

The BSU Beavers aren’t just squeaking out goals they are winning in impressive fashion. The Beavers have scored 5 or more goals seven times in fifteen games. The Beavers are ranked 3rd nationally in goals. That includes last night’s game where they put eight pucks behind the Niagara goalie Adam Avramenko. The score could have been worse if BSU hadn’t hit two pipes and albeit a strong effort in net by the junior goalie from Strathmore, Alberta.

The wins keep coming

Since January 24th 2009 the Bemidji State Beavers are an impressive 25-5-2. During that time frame the Beavers are 3-1-1 against the CCHA beating the likes of NMU, MU and Notre Dame. The Beavers are also 16-2-1 in their conference games during the same time period. There is a mind set developing; last night while visiting with some BSU fans I heard one of them brought up the point that the Beavers might not have to win the conference tourney to make the NCAA tourney this season. If the Beavers keep winning that is very true. Air Force Academy did it last year by qualifying 13th in the final pairwise ranking. Only time will tell if the Beavers can replicate that feat. Only once has a CHA team been given an at large bid, Niagara did it in 1999-200 season where the Purple Eagles went out and beat UNH Wildcats in the first game of the West Regional at Mariucci arena. Currently the Beavers have a big lead in their conference with a 7-0-0 record and are 10 points ahead of the next closest team the RMU Colonies who have a 1-3-2 record.

Check out more from Eric at twitter

UND 4 UMD 2

I didn't see the game last night because I was in Bemidji MN watching the BSU Beavers run over the Niagara University Purple Eagles. [Box Score]. During the Beaver game I was getting updates via text message. Thank You LGM. When I found out that Zajac had scored I knew UND was on it's way to victory, just a hunch. If I recall correctly UND has only lost one game when Darcy Zajac has scored a goal.

I think the most impressive point to come out of this game is that the Fighting Sioux defense was able to keep the Danberg, Mike Connolly and Jack Connolly line off of the score board. This has been one of the most prolific lines in college hockey this season so far.

[Box Score]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MND-1 Brady Lamb (2-Interference) NDK 0x1 1:04
NDK-1 Brad Malone (2-Interference) MND 0x1 2:03
NDK-2 Brad Malone (10-Misconduct) 4:15
MND 1 - 0 6x6 Drew Akins (3) (Mike Seidel, Jordan Fulton) 8:32
MND (+): 7,17,23,26,6,G35 NDK (-): 18,2,27,19,24,G31
MND-2 Mike Seidel (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 8:48
NDK-3 Brett Hextall (2-Interference) MND 0x2 16:08

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

MND-3 Jordan Fulton (2-Holding the Stick) NDK 0x3 2:27
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Darcy Zajac (4) (unassisted) 4:44
NDK (+): 11,20,9,17,3,G31 MND (-): 37,8,19,2,21,G35
MND-4 Keegan Flaherty (2-Holding) NDK 0x4 7:19
NDK 2 - 1 6x6 LL Ben Blood (2) (unassisted) 13:33
NDK (+): 24,2,13,27,10,G31 MND (-): 7,6,23,37,4,G35
MND-5 Mike Connolly (2-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) NDK 1x5 18:11
NDK 3 - 1 6x5 PP GW Jason Gregoire (7) (Chris VandeVelde, Brett Hextall) 18:56
NDK: 17,29,26,7,25,G31 MND: 2,8,14,11,G35

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

NDK-4 Evan Trupp (2-Tripping) MND 0x3 1:37
MND 2 - 3 6x6 Kyle Schmidt (5) (Mike Seidel, Drew Akins) 3:53
MND (+): 11,17,7,24,4,G35 NDK (-): 22,19,26,24,3,G31
MND-6 Dylan Olsen (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 1x6 11:04
NDK-5 Joe Gleason (2-Slashing) MND 0x4 15:22
NDK 4 - 2 6x6 EN Jason Gregoire (8) (unassisted) 19:07
NDK (+): 17,24,26,2,22,G31

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tonight's Sioux and Bulldog game on Midco

I almost chocked on my scrambled eggs this morning when I read this in the Grand Forks Herald. Midco will be carrying tonight's game between UND and UMD from the DECC in Grand Forks, ND. There is no reason both games shouldn’t have been picked up for this weekend’s series.

Tonight’s game will be televised on Midcontinent Channel 23 in most of North Dakota. [Grand Forks Herald]

Toews goal against Preds.

Check out this goal by former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews, it is a thing of beauty. Unforunately for the Blackhawks it was the only goal they got as they lost 4-1 to Nashville.

Jason Blakes pretty goal.

Last night in Columbus it was the Jason Blake and Phil Kessel show. Check out this pretty goal by former Fighting Sioux forward Jason Blake. This was the second win in a row for the Toronto Maple Leafs that have a 5-1-2 record in their last 8 games.

Report not true. Genoway still out.

Contrary to reports that have surfaced tonight; Fighting Sioux defenseman Genoway didn't travel to Duluth for this weekend's series and Chay is still out indefinitely. I am not sure how this rumor got out and it’s kind of messed up because if it didn’t come from UND and the Grand Forks Herald I wouldn’t believe it. According to Brad Elliot Schlossman the beat writer for the Fighting Sioux Genoway wasn't even on the bus for Duluth. Sounds like irresponsible journalism by Fox 21.

UMD's riding a three-game winning streak, and sits near the top of the WCHA standings, but as i told you last night, faces a tough test this weekend. That test just got tougher with the news North Dakota will have their top defenseman back on Friday.

Chay Genoway's been out since mid November, after an Aaron Marvin check left him injured. But good news for North Dakota, Chay returns to the ice tomorrow night, which isn't such good news for the Bulldogs.

"They're gonna get genoway back who's probably one of the best defensemen in the country. I think he'll be back which I think is gonna add a lot to their lineup, I think they're 1–2–1 without him, but he's a great hockey player and certainly gonna bring a lot to their team. So we know we've gotta be at our best," said head coach Scott Sandlein.

"Yeah, I mean he's a great player, one of the best D in our league for sure no doubt about it, but he's coming off an injury where you never know, he might be a little scared to be in the corner. So I think we just keep coming and laying the pressure as hard as we can. So I think we're just gonna put pressure on their d all uh, all night," added Justin Fontaine.

The Bulldogs host the Fighting Sioux Friday and Saturday night at 7:07pm.
[Fox 21]

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

There are now 6 WCHA teams ranked in the to 20 this week (8 if you want to count Bemidji St. and Nebraska-Omaha already.)

This weekend is another weekend in which all the teams are in conference play. After this weekend 2 teams will reach the half-way mark in regular season league games, MSU-M and UAA.

CURRENT WCHA STANDINGS

#...TEAM...............GP....W-L-T...PTS
1 Colorado College.....10....7-2-1...15
1 Denver................10....7-2-1...15
3 Minnesota-Duluth....10....6-3-1...13
4 North Dakota.........10....5-4-1...11
4 St. Cloud State......10....5-4-1...11
4 Wisconsin............10....5-4-1...11
7 Minnesota State.....12....4-7-1....9
8 Alaska-Anchorage....12....4-8-0....8
9 Minnesota............10....3-6-1....7
10 Michigan Tech......10....2-8-0....4


#3 North Dakota at #12 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Sioux beat Ohio St. and tied Miami(OH) and the Bulldogs had Thanksgiving weekend off.

I'm thinking we could call this the a U.S. Highway 2 rivalry. Last year the Bulldogs won and tied UND in Duluth and then beat the Sioux in the Final 5 semi-final game (they didn't play in Grand Forks last season). If I recall correctly the Sioux are something like 18-9-1 in their last 28-games versus UMD. The Sioux are 125-69-8 all-time against UMD, and are 52-37-5 in Duluth. The Bulldogs are tied for the most goals scored in the WCHA with 36 in ten games while surrendering 29. The Sioux have allowed the fewest goals, 17, in the WCHA while lighting the lamp 29 times in 10 games. This looks like UND's d-men will have to continue their solid play and Eidsness too, if the Sioux are to earn some points this weekend. The Bulldogs will need to play better in their own end if they want to win, true they score but they give 'em up too. SIOUX SWEEP.


#2 Denver versus #6 Colorado College
The Pioneers split with the SCSU Huskies in Denver and the Tigers split with the Seawolves at World Arena in Colorado Springs.

I'm thinking we could call this series either the I-25 rivalry or Rumble in the Rockies, I like the latter. This is also a battle for first place in the WCHA standing at the moment. Like I've said before I don't think CC is as good as their ranking and this weekend I'll find out for sure. The teams CC has faced this year have a combined record of 40-50-5 and for DU their opponents this year are a combined 43-49-8, hmm, maybe I'm wrong about CC, who knows? Last year these teams tied 3 times and CC one the other meeting 3-2. With rivalries you can usually throw the records out the window. I'm taking the safe bet, SPLIT.


Minnesota State versus Minnesota
The Mavericks got a home sweep over visiting MTU and the Gophers lost at Michigan and won at Michigan St. in the College Hockey Showcase.

The Gophers trail the Mavericks by 2 points in the standings, but the Gophers have 2 games in hand on them. These are must have points for both teams this week, for MSUM to keep them firmly in the middle of the league. The Gophers need points if they want to have a chance at stay in contention for a home playoff spot. Last season the Mavericks won the series 2-1-1, sweeping at home and losing and tying on the road. Since this is a a home-and-home series, I'm going with the home teams to win, SPLIT.


Michigan Tech at #16 Wisconsin
The MTU Huskies were swept at Mankato by the Mavericks and the Badgers won at Michigan St. and then lost at Michigan in the College Hockey Showcase.

The Huskies are giving up twice as many goals as they are scoring in the league (21gf, 42ga). The Badgers are scoring an average of 3.3/game and letting in 2.2/game (33gf, 22ga) in the WCHA. On paper this should be a no brainer, but this is the WCHA. The only realy blip on UW's radar this year was a home loss to the Gophers, and I don't see any blips on their radar for this weekend. BADGERS SWEEP.


#20 St. Cloud State at Alaska-Anchorage
The SCSU Huskies split on the road with the Denver Pioneers and the UAA Seawolves split on the road with the CC Tigers.

(This ones for the Goon) The small, fast, fleet-footed Huskies will invade the Sully this weekend to take on the big, slow, lumbering Seawolves for pair of WCHA tilts. Okay, SCSU has 6 loses this season, 2 to Miami(OH), 1 UND, 1 DU, so they have held their own against the countries best teams so far this year. Seawolves on the other hand have beat UND and DU at home (SCSU beat UND and DU on the road). UAA is a long trip and the Seawolves play better at home then the road. This is yet another tought series to predict... SCSU 3pts.

Link to the broadcast for the UND and UMD series.

These weekends games will not be on in the Midco.Net area this weekend, the games are being picked up by Charter in Minnesota. For the lucky folks that live in North Dakota you can pick up the games using this link [B2 Broadband Sports and Entertainment Network]. I have used B2 before when the Sioux played in Mankato so I didn't have any problems using B2.

Minnesota-Duluth vs. North Dakota
12/4/2009 7:07:00 PM CST
Minnesota-Duluth vs. North Dakota
12/5/2009 7:07:00 PM CST
Tomorrow night I have applied and recieved a press pass so I am off to Bemidji State to see the Beavers play Niagara Purple Eagles. In John S. Glas Fieldhouse. In the last 15 games against the Purple Eagles the Beavers have a 6-5-4 record.

Wednesday press conference.

It's always fun to listen to Ben Blood talk. Blood said that he likes playing with MacWilliam. When asked What the Miami players were saying to you on the ice Blood said he couldn't really say other than they were trying to get into his head. On UMD, they were one of my least favorite teams to play against they play hard. Blood is also growing his hair out.

How the mighty have fallen.

Check out this blog post from Goal Gophers. My how the once mighty Gophers have fallen!!! This kind of mentality can’t be sitting well with Gopher fans. It almost looks like Don Lucia is spinning a horrible start to the season as a moral victory. The spin that it's really not as bad as it looks, it could be worse. Personally, as a Sioux fan I think that Lucia is doing a great job in Minnesota but this is almost out of character. This is really the third season of mediocrity. Over on gpl.com the Gopher faithfull are ready to throw their head coach Don Lucia a former Spencer Penrose award winner under the bus.

* Home record: "We have to play better at home, that's the big thing. You look at on the road, we have played North Dakota, at Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State and we are 2-3-1 which is pretty darn good in those games. And we are 3-5 at home that's what has let us down more than anything else. If you even split the Denver and split the UMD series, then all of a sudden you are sitting in decent shape considering with the inuries and some of the things we have had to go through this season."
[Goal Gophers]

Toews deal to be announced tomorrow.

Looks like former Fighting Sioux star Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have or are about to sign some nice fat contract extensions tomorrow.

The Chicago Blackhawks have called a press conference on Thursday where it is expected the team will announce the signings of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith to multi-year contract extensions.

Sources tell TSN that Toews and Kane will sign identical five-year contract extensions worth about $6.3 million per season. Meanwhile Keith's deal is worth $72 million spread over a whopping 13 years at an annual average of $5.5 million.
[TSN]

Team Canada roster.

Team Canada has released its preliminary roster and they will have their try out from 12-16 December. There are three NCAA Division 1 hockey players on it's roster, they are Louis Leblanc; Harvard, Dylan Olsen; UMD and Patrick Wiercioch Denver U.

Goalies

Jake Allen, Fredricton, N.B./N.-B. Montreal (QMJHL) STL '08
Matt Hackett, London, Ont. Plymouth (OHL) MIN '09
Martin Jones, North Vancouver, B.C./C.-B. Calgary (WHL) LA '08
Olivier Roy, Causapscal, Que./QC Cape Breton (QMJHL) EDM '09

Defense

Jared Cowen, Sask Spokane (WHL) OTT '09
Calvin de Haan, Ont. Oshawa (OHL) NYI '09
Nicholas Deslauriers, St-Anicet, Que./QC Rouyn-Noranda QMJHL) LA '09
Ryan Ellis, Ont. Windsor (OHL) NSH '09
Brandon Gormley, Murray River, P.E.I./I.-P.-E. Moncton (QMJHL)
Travis Hamonic, St. Malo, Man. Moose Jaw (WHL) NYI '08
Shawn Lalonde, Orleans, Ont. Belleville (OHL) CHI '08
Dylan Olsen, Calgary, Alta./Alb. UMD WCHA CHI '09
Alex Pietrangelo, King City, Ont. Niagara (OHL) STL '08
Marco Scandella,Montreal, Que./QC Val d'Or (QMJHL) MIN '08
Colten Teubert, White Rock, B.C./C.-B. Regina (WHL) LA '08
Patrick Wiercioch, Maple Ridge, B.C./C.-B. Denver (WCHA) OTT '08

Forwards

Luke Adam, St. John's, N.L./T.-N.-L. Cape Breton (QMJHL) BUF '08
Gabriel Bourque, Baie-Comeau, Que./QC Baie-Comeau (QMJHL) NSH '09
Jordan Caron, Sayabec, Que./QC Rimouski (QMJHL) BOS '09
Patrice Cormier, Cap-Pelé, N.B./N.-B. Rimouski (QMJHL) NJ '08
Philippe Cornet, Val Senneville, Que./QC Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) EDM '08 * Stefan Della Rovere, Maple, Ont. Barrie (OHL) WAS '08
Cody Eakin, Winnipeg, Man. Swift Current (WHL) WAS '09
Jordan Eberle, Regina, Sask. Regina (WHL) EDM '08
Scott Glennie, Winnipeg, Man. Brandon (WHL) DAL '09
Taylor Hall, Kingston, Ont. Windsor (OHL) 2010
Adam Henrique, Burford, Ont. Windsor (OHL) NJ '08
Cody Hodgson, Markham, Ont. Brampton (OHL) VAN '08
Nazem Kadri, London, Ont. London (OHL) TOR '09
Brandon Kozun, Calgary, Alta./Alb. Calgary (WHL) LA '09
Louis Leblanc, Kirkland, Que./QC Harvard (ECAC) MTL '09
John McFarland, Richmond Hill, Ont. Sudbuary (OHL) 2010
Brandon McMillan, Delta, B.C./C.-B. Kelowna (WHL) ANA '08
Greg Nemisz,Courtice, Ont. Windsor (OHL) CGY '08
Brayden Schenn,Saskatoon, Sask. Brandon (WHL) LA '09
Tyler Seguin, Brampton, Ont. Plymouth (OHL) 2010
[click to link to Team Canada]

Team USA Preliminary Roster announced.

Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo has made the Preliminary Team USA WJC roster. Team USA will have their U.S. World Junior evaluation camp in Grand Forks, ND December 17- 19. The Fighting Sioux will play team USA on December 19th at REA at 7:07 pm.

GOALTENDERS (2)
Jack Campbell, Port Huron, Mich. U.S. National Under-18 Team
Mike Lee Roseau, Minn. St. Cloud State University (WCHA)

DEFENSEMEN (11)
John Carlson, Colonia, N.J. Hershey Bears (AHL)
Matt Donovan, Edmond, Okla. University of Denver (WCHA)
Justin Faulk, South St. Paul, Minn. U.S. National Under-18 Team
Cam Fowler, Farmington Hills, Mich. Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
Jake Gardiner, Minnetonka, Minn. Univ of Wisconsin (WCHA)
Brian Lashoff, Albany, N.Y. Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
Jon Merrill, Brighton, Mich. U.S. National Under-18 Team
John Moore, Winnetka, Ill. Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
Max Nicastro, Thousand Oaks, Calif. Boston University (HEA)
John Ramage, St. Louis, Mo. University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
David Warsofsky, Marshfield, Mass. Boston University (HEA)

FORWARDS (16)
Ryan Bourque Boxford, Mass. Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
Chris Brown, Houston, Texas University of Michigan (CCHA)
Jerry D’Amigo, Binghamton, N.Y. RPI ECACH)
A.J. Jenks, Wolverine Lake, Mich. Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
Tyler Johnson, Spokane, Wash. Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Chris Kreider, BoxfordMass. Boston College (HEA)
Danny Kristo, Eden Prairie, Minn. UND (WCHA)
Philip McRae, Chesterfield, Mo. London Knights (OHL)
Jeremy Morin, Auburn, N.Y. Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
Kyle Palmieri, Montvale, N.J. University of Notre Dame (CCHA)
Vinny Saponari, Powder Springs, Ga. Boston University (HEA)
Jordan Schroeder, Prior Lake, Minn. Univer of Minnesota (WCHA)
Derek Stepan, Hastings, Minn. University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
Luke Walker, Portland, Ore. Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
David Wohlberg, South Lyon, Mich. University of Michigan (CCHA)
Jason Zucker, Las Vegas, Nev. U.S. National Under-18 Team (USNTDP)
[link to USA Roster]