Mike Liambas suspended again.

Remember this guy? Mike Liambas the guy who was suspended from the OHL for the rest of the season for this hit has gotten himself suspended again from the IHL.

BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington PrairieThunder forward Mike Liambas, who was suspended for the remainder of the season at the junior level in October for a hit that caused serious head injuries to an opposing player, has been suspended for the next five games by the International Hockey League for a Dec. 29 hit against a Muskegon player.

The suspension issued Tuesday stems from a hit that Liambas made on Lumberjacks defenseman Jason Lawmaster early in the game at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The hit ruptured Lawmaster’s spleen, and he spent four days at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington after undergoing a splenectomy.

Are James Sheppard's days numbered?

I really think that the Wild should keep Robbie Earl up with the big club and put waste of a Wild uniform and first round bust James Sheppard on waivers and then send him to the Houston Aeros and leave him there and let him play out his contract in Houston. Robbie Earl has played in less games (10games 3g-0a-3pts) than James Sheppard (37 games 2g-3a-5pts)and had more goals. There seems to be a correlation the Wild are winning without the Sheppard in uniform as well, lets keep it going.

James Sheppard has found himself again on the outside looking in. If Robbie Earl plays, he will have to clear waivers in order to be sent back to Houston, as will James Sheppard. So ... if Robbie Earl plays well again (as he has every game he's played up here) is there any way they don't keep him on the roster the rest of the season?
[Hockey Wilderness]

EDIT: This situation actually got more interesting. Let Christmas come again early...

• Robbie Earl, who scored three goals in nine games during three previous call-ups, played after Richards said in the morning he may "shake up the lineup." Petr Sykora and James Sheppard were healthy scratches, meaning Earl's 10th game is an official recall and not an emergency recall. He will require waivers if the Wild wants to return him to Houston. [Star Tribune]

Good news and bad news.

Wednesdays mean press conferences and updates on what is going on with UND hockey. Unfortunately, there is some bad news this week. Brett Hextall is out with an injury, the North Dakota injury bug continues. It would be nice to see the guys get a break.

Kristo and Zajac are back in the line up, Hextall is out with an assumed leg injury. [UND Hockey Twitter]

Good point on the shoot out.

The boys at INCH really have a good point on the shoot out. I am on record as being in favor of the WCHA having the shoot out to decided CONFERENCE game.

Regular readers of this site know that we’re not the greatest fans of post-game shootouts. Unfortunately, at many holiday tournaments across the country, the shootout is used to determine which teams advance and in some cases which teams win the tournament (Wisconsin). Our personal opinions aside, the holiday tournament season is probably the best time to use this format. With teams playing back-to-back nights and more than one game at each venue, there are time concerns and burdens on the players. Still, we applaud the Great Lakes Invitational and Beanpot for putting 20 minutes on the overtime clock.

We can accept that the CCHA uses the format for its league games, but why was there a shootout after Saturday’s 0-0 tie between Bemidji State and Western Michigan? When the host Broncos prevailed, fans left the rink with the perception that the Broncos won the game. Not bad for a team that failed to score an actual goal all weekend.
[INCH]

Personally I do find the shoot out to be exciting, however, to suggest that WMU won the 0-0 nonconference game against the Beavers last weekend after winning a shoot out is asinine. I don’t see the point of having a shoot out in that game. When it is all said and done WMU was shut out twice and the game in question will go down in Pairwise rankings as a tie.

As for breaking ties in the WCHA/college hockey I would run overtime in this manner. I would have 5 minutes of 4 on 4 hockey like the NHL does. Then I would have a three round shoot out. Points would be awarded in this manner; 2 points for a win in regulation overtime and or shoot out. One point would be awarded for a loss in over time or shoot out.

More WJC video.

Watch and enjoy...

Some more on the USA WJC win. (Kristo interviewed)

USA had lost 6 games in a row to the Canadians.

Gopher forward Jordan Schroeder is the all time leading American Scorer over taking Jeremy Roenick's for the all-time U.S. Under-20 scoring mark.

USA strikes gold in Saskatoon

Team USA’s win in Saskatoon doesn't require a lot of pontification, one of the first words that comes to mind is F’N awesome. It’s about time and not since 2004 has team USA been able to lay claim to the crown.

Enjoy the game winning goal scored by John Carlson. I swear my heart was in my throat during the overtime until the game winning goal, then I had tears of joy in my eyes. Yes, I did the dance again.


This win means so much for American hockey; it’s one of them defining moments in history like the 1980 Olympic team win in Lake Placid. The Canadians were the over whelming favorites to win the gold medal game and what makes this win more significant is team USA beat the Canadians on their turf. What makes it even more specials is after listening to their fans boo our players for almost two weeks our guys get to walk out of Canada carrying the gold.

Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo leads team USA [in a song]

Roenick 'baffled' that Drury named to Team USA

Tip of the hat to my friend Mike Swainey of Jackets required. I have to say that I agree with Jeremy Roenick, how the hell does Drury make team USA? No disrespect to Drury but he doesn't deserve to be on the team. There are other American players that are having better seasons than Drury.

Jeremy Roenick says there isn't too much to quibble about when it comes to Brian Burke's picks for Team USA, but that didn't stop the outspoken American from picking apart some of the roster decisions.

Roenick said Tuesday he was surprised at the addition of Chris Drury to the team ahead of someone like Scott Gomez and T.J. Oshie.

"Not to take anything away from the guy because he's had such a great career, but for Chris Drury to be on the team, it baffles me," Roenick told Toronto radio station AM640.

"I know he's a great leader and if he's captain of the team, he'll be a great captain, but I just don't see him being as good for the team as a guy like Gomez would be or T.J. Oshie. Oshie would bring so much energy to this team and this type of format in an international event, that I don't understand how those two guys aren't on the team."

Roenick, who won a silver medal in 2002 with Team USA, believes Burke is likely counting on Drury to provide leadership on a very young team. But the two-time Olympian can think of at least one other player who could have filled the same role.

Bruins work Brian Elliot and the Senators 4-1.

This is for our friends over at Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. I couldn't resist this one. I got found this priceless picture over at Stanley Cup of Chowder. The Bruins hung 4 goals on former Badger goalie Brian Elliot in the first period of tonight game between the Bruins and the Senators and cruised the rest of the way, winning 4-1. To add injury to insult former Gopher Blake Wheeler picked up two goals and an assist tonight.

Patrice Bergeron out 2-6 weeks with injury.

I just saw this and it's bad news for the Boston Bruins who have had some series injury problems this season. Savard, and Lucic have been out for long periods of time this season and now Bergeron has been bitten by the injury bug. As a Bruins fan I hope this doesn't affect his Olympic status.

BOSTON -- Star center Patrice Bergeron could be out anywhere from two to six weeks with a thumb injury, a source told ESPN.com Tuesday.

The same source said Bergeron still had to see a specialist later Tuesday and that would more precisely determine his absence.

The 24-year-old Bergeron took a Dennis Wideman shot on the hand in Monday night's loss at the New York Rangers and returned to Boston on Tuesday morning for medical tests.

Bergeron is the Bruins' leading scorer and head coach Claude Julien has called him their best player since the start of the season. The Bruins have already dealt with long-term injuries to star center Marc Savard and top-line winger Milan Lucic this season.

Bergeron's injury also calls into question his Olympic participation. Team Canada named him to its team last Wednesday. Canada's Olympic opener goes Feb. 16 against Norway, exactly six weeks from Tuesday.

Do you believe? Go Team USA.

This video brings back some really good memories. There were 3 Fighting Sioux hockey players on that USA WJC roster; Brady Murray, Drew Stafford and Zach Parise.

It's been a long six years since USA has won the WJC. The Canadians are on a roll, it’s time for the Americans to stop them dead in their tracks. I hope that team USA can finally break the Canadian stranglehold on the WJC. I want to hear the American anthem at the end of the game.

No shortage of history as Canada, U.S. clash in Championship.

This is what TSN has to say about the WJC final tomorrow night. I must be theon of the only people that doesn't see USA beating Sweden as a upset. I expected it. Tomorrow night game is also on the NHL Network which is 215 on Direct TV and 307 on Midco.net in Grand Forks, ND.

Any time Canada and the United States meet at the world juniors, there's a heightened sense of importance to the game - and that even goes for the preliminary round. Make it the gold medal final with everything on the line, throw in the recent track record and long-standing rivalry between these two teams and it seems fans are in for another thrilling night of entertainment in Saskatoon.

You can see the gold medal game Tuesday night on TSN, TSN HD, and TSN.ca beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt.

Just a few days ago, on New Year's Eve, with first place in Group A on the line, Canada scored a comeback victory over the U.S., winning 5-4 in a dramatic shootout to clinch a bye into the semifinals of the world junior hockey championship. It was the highlight of the tournament thus far, and no doubt had many fans hoping for a rematch later in the proceedings.

They got their wish.

Thanks to a 5-2 upset victory over Sweden, the U.S. will indeed get another crack at the Canadians, this time for world junior hockey supremacy.

The Canucks, who beat Switzerland to lock down their spot in the final, are looking for a record sixth straight championship, but there a few potential obstacles in the way of that prize.

First of all, the last time these two countries faced off in the championship game of this tournament was 2004. The winner? The U.S.A., with a 4-3 win to claim that year's tourney in Helsinki, Finland.

It was the Americans' first world junior title, and it came at the expense of the boys in red and white.

In addition to that historical tidbit, there are roster issues as well. Canadian defenceman Travis Hamonic will miss the final as he is out 6-8 weeks with a shoulder separation.

"It's a potentially devastating loss," says TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie. "Team Canada loses a guy that can hammer the puck from the point on their power play. They also lose a penalty killer and they lose one of their shut-down defencemen. It's an absolutely huge loss for Team Canada, and they're a little thin on the blue line to begin with." [Read the rest of the article]

Bring on Maverick/Sioux Week! (by LGM)

Well, given that it's Maverick vs. Sioux week I figured I better make my second post on Goon's World.

My beloved Mavericks will hit the road for the long trek to Grand Forks this week to play at the always dreaded Ralph. This trip, however, is probably the only one to date where the weather is just as cold in Mankato as it is in Grand Forks. Seriously, how do you Sioux faithful put up with such dang cold weather all winter long?!?

Sadly, I will not be making the trip to Grand Forks this year. I made my first trip there last year and a return trip was just not in the cards. Sorry folks, none of you will get to yell at me in person. I'm sure my good buddy Archie will be sure to yell at me in the comments section here at Goon's World sometime this week though.

I'll start out my first post of the week (if you're lucky there will be more than one) with the Top 5 reasons it's better to be a Maverick Fan than a Sioux Fan.

#5 We don't have to rely on racists jerks to build us an arena. We go at it the old fashioned way with a local tax and naming rights to a wallet gouging cell phone company.

#4 While Jutting is ugly and a poor coach, at least he remembers to take the coat hanger out of his suit jacket before wearing it and occasionally smiles. This can not be said about Hak!

#3 It takes more pride and effort to be a Maverick fan than a Sioux fan. You have to pay more money for Maverick wear and it's not the "only" hockey team around to really cheer for. (Fargo doesn't count because it's new) The Mavs struggle at times and it takes a lot of heart to stand behind a team that doesn't get all of the top players. Face it, it's easier to jump on and off the Green and White bandwagon...just like the Maroon and Gold one!

#2 Year in and year out, the Mavericks always bring an intense and physical game to the ice. That makes for some excellent hockey watching!

#1 We do not have a hostile and abusive mascot. To date, there have not been any lawsuits or complaints from any Mavericks that are offended by us using them as a mascot!

*this is humor people....roll with it before you totally flip out at me!

Oh and the SUPER #1 reason it's better to be a Maverick fan. Well, hello...ME. It's all about me:)

That's it for now Sioux dwellers....I'll hopefully be back to razz you some more this week and give you a break down of what to expect from the Mavericks. From the Sioux I'll be expecting...um, ice packs and crutches? Seriously, is anyone on your team not injured?!? YIKES! I feel your pain, really...the Mavs had a horrible injury season a few years back. It sucks.

P.S- anytime you Sioux fans want to be Maverick haters, I'm pretty sure most of you were the biggest Maverick fans several times in the past years when we beat on the Gophers or when their dirty hack Brian Schack attacked LGM favorite Channing Boe and loser Lucia defended it. Just remember those times people.

Poll Monday (Sioux 5th)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[January 4, 2010]

1 Miami (45) 13-2-5 995 1
2 Denver ( 5) 13-5-2 952 2
3 Colorado College 12-5-3 848 3
4 Wisconsin 12-5-3 778 7
5 North Dakota 10-6-4 718 6
6 Yale 8-3-3 714 9
7 Boston College 10-5-2 638 5
8 Cornell 8-4-2 627 4
9 Michigan State 14-6-2 605 13
10 Bemidji State 14-4-2 578 10
11 Ferris State 14-4-2 515 11
12 Quinnipiac 13-4-1 481 8
13 Minnesota-Duluth 12-7-1 423 12
14 Mass.-Lowell 11-7-1 276 14
15 St. Cloud State 10-7-3 235 19
16 Massachusetts 11-7-0 192 15
17 Union 10-4-5 184 18
18 Maine 10-7-2 166 NR
19 Vermont 10-6-2 156 NR
20 Alaska 9-5-4 142 17
Others Receiving Votes: New Hampshire 128, Notre Dame 93, Lake Superior 30, Minnesota State 14, St. Lawrence 5, Michigan 4, Northern Michigan 2, Minnesota 1
--------------------------------

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Jan. 4, 2010]
1 Miami University (Ohio) (33) 13-2-5 509 1
2 Denver (1) 13-5-2 477 2
3 Colorado College 12-5-3 409 3
4 Wisconsin 12-5-3 377 7
5 North Dakota 10-6-4 344 6
6 Yale 8-3-3 328 8
7 Cornell 8-4-2 297 4
8 Boston College 10-5-2 265 5
9 Michigan State 14-6-2 262 13
10 Bemidji State 14-4-2 227 9
11 Quinnipiac 13-4-1 157 10
12 Ferris State 14-4-2 145 11
13 Minnesota Duluth 12-7-1 111 14
14 Massachusetts Lowell 11-7-1 65 12
15 St. Cloud State 10-7-3 27 NR
Others receiving votes: University of Maine, 20; University of Vermont, 19; University of Massachusetts, 14; Union College, 8; University of Alaska, 8; University of New Hampshire, 6; Lake Superior State University, 3; University of Notre Dame, 2.

INCH Power Rankings

As always for a good laugh I include the INCH Power Rankings.

First off Yale has not business being ranked higher than Wisconsin. Yale is not a better team than Wisconsin, sure they tied this weekend but the Badgers have three players in Saskatoon for the WJC (Ramage, Derek Stepan, Jake Gardnier). Cornell sitting at 6th, yeah. Yawn!

1. Miami
2. Denver
3. Yale
4. Wisconsin
5. Colorado College
6. Cornell
7. North Dakota 1 How did former Sioux star Jonathan Toews, now the toast of Chicago as the Blackhawks' captain, spend New Year's Eve in the Windy City? Dining with his brother, David, and the rest of the NoDak hockey team, in town for Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament. 10-6-4 (6-6-2 WCHA) RECENT GAMES: W vs. Niagara, 3-1; T vs. Notre Dame, 3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota State
8. Boston College
9. Michigan State
10. Bemidji State
11. Quinnipiac
12. UMass Lowell
13. Ferris State
14. Minnesota Duluth
15. Massachusetts
16. Union
17. Maine
18. Alaska
19. St. Cloud State
20. New Hampshire

Dropped out: None
Bubble-licious: Lake Superior State, Notre Dame, St. Lawrence, Vermont

Sioux 3 Irish 3

The Fighting Sioux ended the game in a 3-3 tie; the tourney was then decided by the most exciting way to break a tie in hockey, the shoot out. Unfortunately the Shootout went to the Fighting Irish. Like coach Hakstol said, the shoot out really means nothing as far as national stats go. If you listen to the post game interview you will hear Coach Hakstol say that he liked the way his team played tonight, he thought they put up a good effort.

Tonight on the radio broadcast Tim Hennessy said, ‘What the Sioux got out there isn’t doing that bad.’ I think that is a good way to summarize this weekend. Think about it; our best forward Danny Kristo is at the WJC in Saskatoon. Our best defensive forward Darcy Zajac is out with an injury and in addition to that our All American Defenseman Chay Genoway is on the shelf and we still get a win and a tie in a holiday tourney. I think I will dwell on the positive and not focuse on the negatives.

I by nature don't stay mad long or like a lot of negativity, I think there is a lot to be positive about, this team has a lot going for it. I also think UND is sitting pretty well nationally, the Fighting Sioux sit at 10th in the all important Pairwise, the Fighting Sioux have an out of conference record of 4-0-2. The Fighting Sioux still have a chance to move up in the standings and get home ice for the WCHA playoffs.

During the pre-game of tonight’s radio broadcast Zajac kind of predicted that there is a good chance he might be back for this next weekend series. I would have to think there is about a 50-50 to 60-40 chance the Fighting Sioux have his services for next weekend. That would be a huge lift on the penalty kill.

[Box Score]

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

NDK-1 Mario Lamoureux (2-CTH ROUGHING) NDM 1x1 3:13
NDM 1 - 0 6x5 PP Ben Ryan (4) (Ian Cole, Nick Larson) 3:59
NDM: 19,28,26,4,9,G32 NDK: 3,19,22,25,G31
NDK-2 Brad Malone (2-Holding) (Served by Michael Cichy) 10:01
NDK-3 Brad Malone (10-Misconduct) 10:01
NDM-1 Sean Lorenz (2-Cross-Checking) 10:01
NDK-4 Matt Frattin (2-Hooking) NDM 1x2 11:43
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Chris VandeVelde (6) (Jason Gregoire, Derrick LaPoint) 16:54
NDK (+): 29,17,20,21,25,G31 NDM (-): 15,17,24,26,28,G32

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

NDM-2 Brett Blatchford (2-Interference) NDK 1x1 0:24
NDM-3 Teddy Ruth (2-Tripping) NDK 1x2 1:54
NDK 2 - 1 6x4 PP Brett Hextall (8) (Jake Marto, Joe Gleason) 2:15
NDK: 26,25,20,17,19,G31 NDM: 2,9,28,G32
NDK-5 Ben Blood (2-Tripping) NDM 1x3 5:18
NDM-4 Nick Larson (2-Goaltender Interference) NDK 1x3 5:52
NDK 3 - 1 6x6 Brett Bruneteau (1) (Mario Lamoureux, Carter Rowney) 8:47
NDK (+): 13,9,3,24,27,G31 NDM (-): 2,6,15,24,27,G32
NDM 2 - 3 6x6 Kevin Deeth (2) (Ryan Guentzel, Brett Blatchford) 12:22
NDM (+): 21,27,3,22,33,G32 NDK (-): 3,9,13,25,27,G31
NDK-6 Matt Frattin (2-CTH ROUGHING) NDM 1x4 14:04

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

NDM 3 - 3 6x6 GT Billy Maday (7) (Christiaan Minella, Joe Lavin) 1:36
NDM (+): 17,15,16,3,28,G32 NDK (-): 8,18,20,21,24,G31
NDK-7 Ben Blood (2-GRASPING THE FACEMASK) 3:57
NDM-5 Kevin Deeth (2-Roughing) 3:57
NDM-6 Kevin Deeth (2-Boarding) NDK 1x4 15:47

--------------------------------------------------------
Overtime (5:00)
--------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

Blackhawks don't back down vs. Blues

Here is what Toews had to say about his fight with Backes last night.

''I still don't think I won,'' Toews said with a smile of his second NHL fight. ''I'm not going to argue that, but I did a little better than the first one [against the Phoenix Coyotes' Martin Hanzal on Nov. 18, 2008].

Toews and Backes fight

For the ten people that haven't seen this fight, here is the video from the Toews and Backes fight. A Maverick and a Sioux getting after it. After tonight the Fighting Sioux favorite dance partners come to town.

The German scores; Bruins win 2-1 at Fenway.

I thought I would include this video of the goal that helped the Bruins beat the Flyers in the Holiday Classic. I thought it was a nice goal to end a relatively boring game. What an effort by Patrice Bergeron to get the puck on net where it was tipped into the Flyer net by Marco Sturm. Its plays like this; is why Bergeron is going to be on the Canadian Olympic team.

John Scott and Matt Greene.

This fight was from the other night when the Wild were beat at home by the LA Kings. Actually, to call this a fight is kind of a stretch, it was more of a hug feast between former MTU defenseman John Scott and former Fighting Sioux star Matt Greene.

I think this video illustrates they only reason John Scott is playing with the Wild is because he can Fight and shows a willingness to drop the gloves. Now that the Wild have Clayton Stone on their roster who is more talented than Scott and can fight; we will probably see Scott sent back to Houston. On the flip side Greene is in the NHL because he has the talent to play in the NHL and will fight if he has too.

Russo's slight?

After reading one of Russo's articles about the USA Olympic roster selection yesterday I realized that he had left out Zach Parise's college "UND" after mentioning a few area players and where they had gone to school. I was going to make a blog post about it but decided against it because I like Russo's work; I doubt that Russo would do it maliciously.

Parise, a Minneapolis native, former Shattuck-St. Mary's player and current Devils star, will be one of the Americans' go-to scorers. He finished third in the NHL last season with 45 goals, and he's scored 42 points this season and leads the league with a plus-21.
-------------------
Besides Parise and Langen- brunner, six other Olympians have Minnesota ties: Devils defenseman Paul Martin is a former Gopher and Elk River High standout; St. Louis defenseman Erik Johnson hails from Bloomington and is a former Gopher; St. Louis winger David Backes is a former Spring Lake Park High and Minnesota State, Mankato standout; Tampa Bay winger Ryan Malone played at St. Cloud State and lives in Plymouth; Toronto's Kessel is a former Gopher, and Los Angeles defenseman Jack Johnson played at Shattuck-St. Mary's. [Russo's Rants]

Apparently one of our fellow Sioux fans noticed the slight (it was probably unintended) and took issue with it because here is what Russo put in one of his blog posts today. You have to love Russo's humor.

Lemaire nuggets; Burns traveling; Gushing about the Devils, and hatred of the Sioux

As usual, Lou Lamoriello's put together another great room with guys like former UND star Zach Parise (labeling it that because a reader today accused me of hating UND, and in actuality that we at the Star Tribune have a "policy" of not naming UND when a player played there. Being the longtime Minnesotan that I am, he's right. I have an immense hatred for the Fighting Sioux. It keeps me up at night. I have a dartboard with Jonathan Toews' face on it), two of my favorite players that I've ever covered, Brian Rolston and Rob Niedermayer, Brodeur, Jamie Langenbrunner, etc., etc, etc. I'll write a lot about Rolston for tomorrow.
[Russo's Rants]