UND still Fighting Sioux for now.

The Fighting Sioux nickname will stay for now.

GRAND FORKS - The state Board of Higher Education voted 5-3 today to keep the status quo with the Fighting Sioux nickname while an appeal is pending.

The board also directed its attorney to request an expedited hearing with the Supreme Court.

Board member Grant Shaft of Grand Forks said although the appeal does not prevent the board from directing UND to retire the nickname, he thinks it is appropriate to wait for the legal matter to be resolved.

Board member Mike Haugen of Fargo argued for directing UND to begin retiring the nickname.

"I don't see it in 10 months being any different than today," Haugen said.

Prior to the vote, UND President Bob Kelley and Athletic Director Brian Faison told board members a resolution is vital for the university to pursue membership in the Summit League.

Board members Shaft, Sue Andrews, Claus Lembke, Jon Jackson and Duaine Espegard supported the motion.

Members Mike Haugen, Minot State University , Rachelle Hadland, NDSU Student and President Richie Smith, Creighton University opposed it.

Does this sound familiar?

I saw a link to this article over on Maverick Puck. Sound Familier? Seems like the UNO Mavericks are having some of the same issues.

“We’re real close,” UNO coach Dean Blais said of his squad. “But we can’t be satisfied with just being close. We’ve got to be team-hungry. We’ve got to do everything a little bit better in practice. We’ve got to be better on the power play, and we’ve just got to be a little bit better in everything we do.”
[WORLD-HERALD]

Changes coming to the 'Final Five'?

Todd D. Milewski looks at the Final Five and what might happen next season. I don't mind the idea of keeping the tourney at five games, albeit now there will probably be two games on Thursday and only one on Saturday. I am also would not be opposed to the WCHA deciding to go ahead and making the it a Final Six or Super Six (6 teams, 6 games), this would allow them to play two games each day. Money drives college hockey and the league could make a little extra money for its member schools. Of course some of the teams wouldn't want to play a third place game. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

It appears that the postseason will include all 12 teams once the WCHA expands to include Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha next season. That would push six teams to the league’s playoff championship and require a reformatting of the three-day tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Currently, the Final Five includes five games — a play-in contest Thursday night, two semifinals on Friday, a third-place game Saturday afternoon and the title game Saturday night.

The leading thought out of the meeting, the source said, was that the league could still use the Final Five title with a simple redefinition — five games, instead of five teams.

The third-place game has long been a source of contention in the league. While that game can be important — winning the 2006 version gave Wisconsin the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament over Minnesota, which it defeated — it also has been detrimental to some.

In 17 years of the Final Five, the consolation game loser has made the NCAA tournament 10 times. Seven times — including the last four years — that team has lost its first NCAA game.

The third-place game is important to the league’s coffers however, because it is a separate ticket that provides revenue, and therefore the league is reluctant to give it up.

Having six teams involved would allow the WCHA to keep a five-game format — two play-in games Thursday involving the teams seeded third through sixth, two semifinals Friday and the championship game Saturday — and please a vocal group of coaches by dumping the consolation game.
[Read the rest of the article]:

With the Final Five now becoming the Final six it’s time to kill the Minnesota rule, enough is enough. The Final Five is in the Gophers back yard and if they can’t take time off from work or school to see their favorite team play in the afternoon game that their tough luck. Last year proved that even with the Gophers only playing one game the tourney was attended well. I also believe that the “Minnesota Rule” is an unfair advantage; a team should play where they’re supposed to play. If the Golden Boys are supposed to play in the 2:00 pm game than I like other fans feel that is where they should play.

— Whether Minnesota would automatically be assigned to the night game on Thursday and Friday (if it is still alive in the tournament) to maximize local ticket sales. The so-called “Minnesota rule” currently sets the Gophers up with the prime-time semifinal spot, even if it causes the Thursday night winner to play Friday afternoon

Cross Posted on the Sin Bin.

Andy Sutton suspended two games.

Former Michigan Tech Huskie Andy Sutton was given a two game suspension for planting former Wild Pascal Dupuis into the boards. [Note: not a pretty video] Just for the record I don't think Andy Sutton isn't a dirty player, he has only been suspended one other time by the NHL from what I have seen.

TORONTO – New York Islanders defenseman Andy Sutton has been suspended for two games, without pay, for an incident in NHL game #738 against Pittsburgh Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis, Tuesday night, the National Hockey League announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Sutton will forfeit $31,088.08. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Sutton was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding at 17:05 of the third period. Dupuis was injured on the play.

Sutton will miss Thursday's game against Florida and Jan. 23 against New Jersey. He will be eligible to return Jan. 26 against Washington.

Fighting Sioux Nickname Issue Remains Unsettled

I found this article perusing the Ithaca Journal, what I found interesting was this article even made the New York Times. The more I read into the article the more I think Tom Douple, comments that the university would not be considered for admission until it found a solution that made the N.C.A.A. happy. I interpret these comments to mean that the solution that makes the NCAA happy is UND no longer being called the Fighting Sioux.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Some University of North Dakota officials were hoping that a long-running dispute over the university’s Fighting Sioux nickname would be settled this week. Now it appears it could continue for several months.

A state judge ruled last month that the North Dakota Board of Higher Education has the power to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname before a November deadline set as part of a settlement with the N.C.A.A. The board scheduled a meeting this week to officially retire the moniker. But Patrick Morley, the lawyer for a Spirit Lake Sioux group that sued to keep the nickname, filed an appeal late Friday to the state Supreme Court.

North Dakota officials are hoping to get their teams into the Summit League, but the conference president, Tom Douple, said the university would not be considered for admission until it found a solution that made the N.C.A.A. happy.

The nickname issue has been debated since the 1990s. Nearly five years ago, North Dakota was placed on a list of universities the N.C.A.A. deemed to have “hostile or abusive” American Indian nicknames or logos. North Dakota is the only college on that list that has not changed the name or logo or been granted a waiver to keep them.

The Spirit Lake group and other nickname supporters hope a delay will give North Dakota a chance to get approval from the state’s two namesake tribes. A referendum last April on the Spirit Lake Sioux reservation gave overwhelming support for the nickname, but the Standing Rock Sioux tribal council has opposed it, and the tribe has not scheduled a referendum.

Tenative 2010-2011 UND hockey schedule

Brad has the tenative Fighting Sioux hockey schedule for next season. The first three series of the year will be on the road. Looks like no holiday tourney but a series against the ND Fighting Irish on Thanksgiving weekend. Next season we will have 4 games against UNO, BSU, SCSU. 20 games at home next season counting the game against Manitoba and the U-18 team.

Oct. 3 -- MANITOBA (exh)
Oct. 8-9 -- Nye Classic in Anchorage (vs. UAA and UAF)
Oct. 15-16 -- at Bemidji State
Oct. 22-23 -- at Maine
Oct. 29-30 -- DENVER
Nov. 5-6 -- DULUTH
Nov. 12-13 -- at Wisconsin
Nov. 19-20 -- at Omaha
Nov. 26-27 -- NOTRE DAME
Dec. 3-4 -- ST. CLOUD STATE
Dec. 10-11 -- at Mankato
Dec. 18 -- U.S. UNDER 18
Dec. 30 -- at Duluth (Hall of Fame Game)
Jan. 7-8 -- ROBERT MORRIS
Jan. 14-15 -- MINNESOTA
Jan. 21-22 -- OMAHA
Jan. 28-29 -- at Colorado College
Feb. 11-12 -- ANCHORAGE
Feb. 18-19 -- at St. Cloud State
Feb. 25-26 -- BEMIDJI STATE
March 4-5 -- at Michigan Tech

UND and Cornell

Check out what Coach Hakstol had to say about this weekend's game against the Big Red from Cornell.

Here is what I took from the interview; Coach Hakstol is basically challenging his team that now is the time to put the lessons learned to heart and start putting it all together. I also detect a little urgency in Coach Hakstol’s voice that wasn’t there earlier in the season.

#5 North Dakota vs #9 Cornell
•RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM)
•TV: Time Warner Sports (N.Y. only)
•WEBCAST & LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com/Showcase •AUDIO: FightingSioux.com
•MEDIA INFORMATION: All Fighting Sioux men's hockey games, home and away, can be heard on 96.1 FM (The Fox) and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Hockey Network. Veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy is in his 30th season as the voice of the Fighting Sioux.

Friday night's game will be televised live locally on Time Warner Cable Sports in New York. No further TV coverage has been announced as of Tuesday morning.

A video webcast of this weekend's games can be purchased at CornellBigRed.com. FREE live audio is available at FightingSioux.com and FREE live stats are available at CornellBigRed.com.

Nazem Kadri vs Tyler Cuma

Here is Minnesota Wild's prospect Tyler Cuma fighting Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nazem Kari. Kari was part of the second place Canadian WJC team.

Petr Sykora and Robbie Earl put on waivers.

I have to admit that this really chaps my ass. I was hoping they would put the waste of a uniform James Sheppard on waviers. Robbie Earl had played in 13 games and scored more goals than James Sheppard.

The Minnesota Wild have placed Petr Sykora on waivers, meaning any club can claim the veteran forward prior to Noon et on Wednesday.

The 33-year old has had an injury-riddled season since signing with the Wild as an unrestricted free agent last summer. In 14 games, he has compiled two goals and one assist but has missed a total of 29 games with groin and concussion issues.

Sykora began his NHL career with New Jersey in 1995-96 and has also played for Anaheim, the New York Rangers, Edmonton, and Pittsburgh. He won Stanley Cups with the Devils in 1999-2000 and last season with the Penguins.

If Sykora is not claimed, Minnesota can send him to the minors or place him on re-entry waivers where he could be claimed at half the price of his contract.

The Wild also placed forward Robbie Earl on waivers on Tuesday. The 24-year old has divided his time this season between Minnesota and Houston (AHL), and posted three goals in 13 games with the Wild.
[TSN]

UPDATE: Per Russo's Rants, Veteran Petr Sykora and winger Robbie Earl cleared waivers this morning [Link]

CCHA killing the shoot out?

Here is something that I found interesting. CCHA is thinking of dismantling the shoot out because no one else is currently using them. I thought the NCAA was mandating breaking ties in the future? Personally, I find the shoot out to be exciting and would like to see the NCAA/WCHA break ties that way.

Also, this doesn’t appear to be good news for UAH. I can’t imagine the scheduling nightmare with an 11 team league. Cue the Big Ten Hockey Conference discussion again?

Shootouts out?
Anastos says the future of CCHA shootouts will be discussed in offseason meetings. They could be eliminated, since the rest of the NCAA schools are not using them. The CCHA also must decide whether to keep using four officials for financial reasons, and he doubts another school will be added with Nebraska-Omaha leaving for the WCHA.[Lansing State Journal]

Cormier suspended indefinitely

I think this is the right decision to suspend Cormier indefinately and I hope they throw the book at this guy for his dirty hit on Mikael Tam. I would not be surprised if there will be legal charges against Cormier as well.

MONTREAL -- Junior hockey was making sense of another head-hunting incident Monday after Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts was sent to hospital by an elbow from Rouyn-Noranda centre Patrice Cormier, who captained Canada at the recent world junior hockey championship.

Cormier caught Tam with an elbow while skating through the neutral zone during overtime of Quebec's 3-2 shootout win at Dave Keon Arena in Rouyn-Noranda on Sunday afternoon.

The 18-year-old defenceman went into convulsions and was taken to hospital after the hit, where he is listed in stable condition with brain trauma and several damaged teeth.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League gave Cormier an indefinite suspension on Monday and will continue to investigate the incident. No timeline was provided on when league disciplinarian Raymond Bolduc will issue a ruling.

The discussion that has everyone up in arms.

This is the video that everyone was talking about on Saturday night. Listening to Collin Campbell speak makes my head spin. The The National Hockey League teams need to think twice about Collin Campbell's employment and get rid of him, he is a disgrace. Refs should not be settling scores with players on the ice. I don't have a problem with refs talking to players they should not be telling them I going to get you.

I guess I don't blame Alain Vigneault for being upset with the way things have unfolded. I guess I expected more from Ron MacLean even though as a Minnesota Wild fan I am not a big fan of Alex Burrows, but what MacLean did is border line character assassination.

Again, I am not a big fan of Burrows but I do believe that a ref would try to settle a score against a player and that I do find Burrows story to be believable. Burrows went about bringing it to light in the wrong way.

Poll Monday

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[January 18, 2010]

1 Denver (39) 14-5-3 989 1
2 Miami (11) 15-4-5 957 2
3 Wisconsin 13-6-3 863 3
4 Minnesota-Duluth 16-7-1 795 10
5 North Dakota 12-7-5 654 4
6 Yale 10-4-3 651 5
7 Colorado College 13-8-3 641 8
8 Ferris State 16-6-2 633 6
9 Cornell 9-4-3 573 9
10 Michigan State 15-7-4 563 7
11 Boston College 12-6-2 554 12
12 St. Cloud State 14-7-3 523 14
13 Union 13-4-5 485 13
14 Bemidji State 15-5-2 435 11
15 Massachusetts 14-8-0 310 19
16 New Hampshire 10-7-4 220 20
17 Vermont 11-7-2 185 18
18 Lake Superior 14-8-4 118 NR
19 Mass.-Lowell 12-9-2 97 15
20 Maine 11-9-2 83 16
Others Receiving Votes: Michigan 52, Quinnipiac 47, Minnesota 30, Alaska 20, Notre Dame 19, St. Lawrence 2, RIT 1

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

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Jan. 18, 2010]
1 Denver (24) 14-5-3 500 1
2 Miami University (Ohio) (10) 15-4-5 483 2
3 Wisconsin 13-6-3 420 3
4 Minnesota Duluth 16-7-1 361 10
5 Yale 10-4-3 304 5
6 North Dakota 12-7-5 295 4
7 Cornell 9-4-3 263 8
8 Colorado College 13-8-3 249 9
9 Ferris State 16-6-2 237 7
10 Boston College 12-6-2 232 12
11 Michigan State 15-7-4 214 6
12 St. Cloud State 14-7-3 173 15
13 Union College 13-4-5 158 13
14 Bemidji State 15-5-2 90 11
15 Massachusetts 14-8-0 58 NR
Others receiving votes: University of New Hampshire, 35; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 3; University of Vermont, 3; University of Alaska, 2.

Analysis: Color me surprised. It would appear that the Pollsters have to be taking the loss of Chay Genoway and Brett Hextall injuries into account in their rankings because I honestly believe that UND is really probably about a 10th ranked team and not a 5th or 6th ranked team nationally. Cornell and Yale ranked high again. It will be fun watching one EZAC team make it into the NCAA tourney and watching them go out in their first game, again.

Star Tribune says Gophers swept this weekend?

I thought I would include the evidence before it gets corrected. The Fighting Sioux did manage a tie against the Gophers on Friday night so getting three points in a series is not a sweep, in anyone's book. [Link to the page] I decided to take a picture in case the Gophers beat wrtier decided to change his head line.

Cormier Elbows Mikael Tam

This is the latest ugly incident to mar the hockey world. Team Canada's world junior captain Patrice Cormier (New Jersey Devils draft pick) was ejected from a QMJHL game in overtime when he delivered a head shot to Quebec Remparts defenseman Mikael Tam. Caution this is video is not pretty folks.

You have to imagine that there will be a hefty suspension coming from the QMJHL.

INCH Power Rankings

As always for a good laugh to start your Monday morning off the INCH power rankins. WCHA dominating the top twenty.

1. Denver
2. Miami
3. Wisconsin
4. Minnesota Duluth
5. Cornell
6. Yale
7. North Dakota
8. Michigan State
9. Boston College
10. Colorado College
11. Union 3
12. Ferris State
13. St. Cloud State
14. Bemidji State
15. New Hampshire
16. Massachusetts
17. Lake Superior State
18. UMass Lowell
19. Maine
20. Vermont

Dropped out: Quinnipiac, Alaska
Bubble-licious: Minnesota, Michigan, St. Lawrence

Kovalchuk for a couple of former WCHA players?

As a Bruins fan this trade would go a long way in putting Boston in the elite status. I am all for sending Wheeler and Joe Colborne to Atlanta if it gets Boston a crack at the cup.

Kovalchuk trade bait?

Is Ilya Kovalchuk, who has 323 goals but is minus-86 in his Atlanta career, a better trade rental than Marian Hossa was in 2008 when Pittsburgh got him and got to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final? I don't think so. I may be in the minority, but I think Hossa is a better player (he actually can check) and, in his prime all he fetched was centre Erik Christensen, winger Colby Armstrong, suspect draft pick Angelo Esposito and a 2008 first-round draft pick -stocking stuffers really, although Hossa was 29, and Kovalchuk is only 26, so maybe he'd be worth more.

I still think the Boston Bruins are the short-term destination, although they don't have long-term cap room, because Marc Savard and Kovalchuk have a history from Atlanta, and the Bruins can give up Blake Wheeler, their first-round pick (not the one they got from Toronto for Phil Kessel) and, say, centre Joe Colborne, who is a sophomore at University of Denver.

This might cheer up Sioux fans.

Maybe the Viking's win will put some of us into a better mood after watching that debacle that was last night. This was the one postitive of the weekend for me. Along with the Fighting Sioux, the Wild and Bruins both lost yesterday as well.

*Last night before the Sioux and Gophers game on FSN there was a UND fan wearing a Fighting Sioux Jersey with a Native American head dress on his head. That is not cool; this will not set well with the anti-name crowd and just give more fuel to their argument. I hope someone corrected this guy and told him this isn't cool.

*This past weekend Todd Anderson did a good job of officiating during the series and there were no line brawls or dasher dances. I must say that this is one of the few times I will actually give Anderson credit.

*When the Sioux are out of town and on TV or on webcast I like to read the Chat that is on Brad's blog. Jayson and Brad do a good job running a chat and still covering the game, they are great multi-taskers. Here are a few points that stuck out from the Chat.

----
Schlossman: Man, some people sure jump off the bus fast. UND has a 5 game unbeaten streak end, it's probably not the end of the world. Their last loss here was 6-1 and that team went to the Frozen Four
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Jayson, UND SID: One bad loss does not mean a season is over. In 2004 when DU when the NCAA title, it lost three games to the Sioux by a combined score of 20-5.
----
Jayson, UND SID: Of course fans have a right to be frustrated. I'm frustrated too. But it's important to remember that one bad road loss does not mean the season is a write-off.
----
Jayson, UND SID: Perhaps this loss ends up being a turning point for the Sioux, in a positive way. Sports can be funny that way.
----
[UND Hockey Blog]

I must admit that I am frustrated with the Fighting Sioux play as well. After last night's game I was looking at the schedule and since Genoway injury UND has gotten two points from our top rivals, Minnesota 0-1-1 (1 point) DU 0-2 (0 points) Wisconsin 0-1-1 (1 point). That is a record of 0-4-2 that is unimpressive and unacceptable. You can't win a title with results like that.

*Apparently the Gophers beat writer wasn't impressed with the Sioux during last night’s second period. Really! I think its funny how this guy will call out the opposition but didn’t even report Schack the hack's Todd Bertuzzi style attack last year. Yawn!!! I find it hilarious that I can get more credible Gophers hockey info from Cardinal’s GPL weekly columns, Gorg weekly appearances on KFAN or Hammy’s twitter than I can the Gophers hockey beat writer. He is actually paid to do his job that others do better than him. Maybe he should stick to covering woman's volleyball. Thank God the Sioux have Brad. Just for the record I thought that hit was unnecessary. That being said, Cepis should expect to be hit if he is going to over celebrate each and every goal and show up his opponents. The kid in my opinion is a good hockey player but a bit a of a punk.

Then it got ugly. Unaccustomed to trailing 4-0, the Sioux retaliated seconds later. Andrew MacWilliam, a 6-2, 213-pound defenseman, hit Cepis, and the 5-8 junior fell backward. His head hit the ice. [Star and Tribune]

So he had it coming?

For the people that haven't seen this article it really sheds light on the Colin Campbell “wheel of justice” and maybe this will get the ball moving to have Colin Campbell removed at the NHL Senior VP and Director of Hockey Operations. Someone is going to get killed out on the ice under Colin Campbell’s leadership. This is unacceptable, since Cal Clutterbuck is the hits leader in the NHL and hit Sergi Gonchar with a hard hit, which may or may not have been legal (in my opinion it was a legal hit) he deserved to be head hunted? That is what I am getting from this comment. Unfortunately, that is the same kind of leadership we have in the WCHA.

Campbell's comments on NHL Live! -- a weekday radio show on XM Radio and NHL Network -- can be dissected like a frog.

"There's got to be a little bit of passion in the game," Campbell said. "Cal Clutterbuck leads the league, or is close to leading the league, in hits. He hit Gonchar very hard into the boards prior to that -- real hard. It could have been boarding. It could have been charging. It wasn't. So Gonchar, who's been hurt before, knocked out before and suffered a concussion -- he's on the receiving end more than he's on the giving end ... -- he went in and it was a five-minute interference penalty and he hit him with his shoulder."

Campbell proves that the NHL isn't serious about getting rid of head shots.
[Star Tribune]

What kind of logic is this Cal Clutterbuck is the NHL hits leader and has a grand total of 20 penalty minutes in 42 games, so it’s not like he is a dirty player, but since he is the hits leader he has to expect being run once in a while? That is what I deduced from Campbell’s ridiculous statement, Cal Clutterbuck had it coming.
Cross Posted @ The Sin Bin

Gophers 5 Sioux 1

I think this blurb from the Fighting Sioux.com sums tonight game pretty well. Not the Fighting Sioux's night or weekend. Kind of a low point of the season.

MINNEAPOLIS--Minnesota scored three goals in the final 5:09 of the second period, including a pair of goals seven seconds apart, en route to a 5-1 win over the fourth-ranked Fighting Sioux tonight in front of the second-largest crowd in Mariucci Arena history.

The Sioux ran into the "hot goalie" tonight, seems like the Fighting Sioux run into a hot goalie each and every weekend. The Sioux really didn’t play all that bad they put 35 shots on the Gophers net tonight and could only sneak a meaningless goal by in the third period. The Sioux killed themselves with stupid penalties at inopportune times. Players have to stop taking knuckle headed penalties in key points of the game.

The defenseman have to be more smart with the puck, turnovers kill this team each and every week. Chip the puck out of the zone. Don’t count on your goaltender to bail you out, because the goaltending have been absolutely brutal this season. I hate to bag on the goaltender but In my humble opinion I believe that goaltending is the weakest link on this team. Brad Eidseness has to be better if this team is going to win. I don’ t understand it, Eidness stinks up the joint and yet coach Hakstol keeps going back to him. Only think I can figure is that Dell must be hurt or he is not doing well in practice I don’t know what else it could be. Seriously, I wonder why he doesn’t at least get a chance to play, when the starter has stunk up the joint, like he did tonight.

All good teams are back stopped by great goaltenders, unless you can score goals and put teams away. Not this team. Reviewing the game tape in my mind, the first goal was questionable, defense didn't pick up the man. Forward went to the net unchallenged. The second goal, Brad had no clue where the puck was, didn't even see it. On the third goal defense should have been sued for non-support, same with the fourth. On the fifth and final goal, this was grounds for being pulled from the game and sent to the showers. Disgusting effort.

Second Achilles heel this weekend was the power play; UND was 0/9 on the power play this weekend that has to change. I hope finally the guys in that locker room realize that they need to have a team effort from everyone.
[Box score]