No "Classics" (by Sioux 7)

I’m getting on my soap box, so watch out for opinions.

I hate it when they call games “classics” that aren’t, like the “Camp Randall Hockey Classic” coming up this Saturday. They have never had a hockey game at Camp Randall (that I’m aware of). How can you call it a classic, since there is no tradition of UW playing outdoor hockey, and before it happens. Everyone throws this word around, without thinking about what it truly means. IF, Saturday’s game turns out to be a great, exciting game that fans will be talking about for years to come, then AFTER the game is over you can call it a classic, but not before. Both U-Wisc and U-Mich have classic hockey sweaters, UW has had it’s Wisconsin written from left to right at a downward angle for a long long time. Same can be said for UM has had its big M on theirs for years too.


Merriam-Webster defines classic as:
1 a: serving as a standard of excellence: of recognized value
b: Traditional, enduring
c: characterized by simple tailored lines in fashion year after year
2: of or relating to the ancient Greeks and Romans or their culture
3 a: historically memorable
b: noted because of special literary or historical associations
4 a: Authentic, Authoritative
b: Typical
5 Capitalized: of or relating to the period of highest development of Mesoamerican and especially Mayan culture about A.D. 300-900


I think we can all agree that the “Camp Randall Classic” doesn’t fall under numbers 2, 3, 4, or 5. So that leaves only number 1, and I can only see it falling under letter b, since in traditional days hockey was played outdoors. So why not call it something like “Traditional Outdoor Hockey host at Camp Randall”?

Make no mistake about it; I’m not picking on this game only. I dislike the NHL’s outdoor game on New Year’s Day is called a classic. I also dislike that UND’s Thanksgiving tournament is called the Subway Classic. I believe that you need to do things the old fashioned way, play your outdoor game(s) once a year, and then after, oh, say 10 years of doing it, now it’s a tradition, and then after another, oh, say 5more years, then you can call it a Classic. Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest I will step down off by soap box.

More on Ott and Clutterbuck

[props]Here is what the Dallas Stars beat writer had to say about Steve "the hack" Ott's fight with Clutterbuck after Cal hit Brad Richards with a hard and clean hit. It's more of the; you hit my skilled player with a clean check and now I am going to fight you. As opposed to an opposition player doing something egregious on the ice that requires a response. It’s silly, whatever happen to taking a number and hitting them later?

But watching Steve Ott stick up for Brad Richards on Tuesday, you got to see another side of the argument. Cal Clutterbuck is a good, clean player who made a good, clean hit, and that should be rewarded. But Steve Ott was right there when the hit occured, and he did exactly what the Stars needed him to do.

He fought Clutterbuck immediately, and it was very clear that it brought the arena together and the Stars together. Bottom line, you can not get away with hitting Brad Richards like that. It just cannot be acceptable anyplace, and certainly not at American Airlines Center. As trite as it is to fall back on the ``not in our house'' cliche, there is a huge aspect of that statement that is true in sports.

Anyway, here is how Steve "the hack" Ott saw it:

``I was actually watching some stuff from the 60s and 70s today and they used to have bench-clearing brawls, so I don't think it's something that we should take out of our game. It was a situation where I'm right there and you just can't hit Brad Richards like that. That can't happen without some kind of response, so I responded.''

Ott had seen a bunch of the discussion spurred on by the Mark Stuart fight and subsequent injury, and it's pretty obvious which side of the debate he falls on. And after Tuesday, I kind of agree with him. The Stars have been missing this element for much of the season. They need to be tight, and they need to protect each other. [Stars blog]

Here is the take that Mike Russo had on the incident. Ott has been a torn in the side of the Wild all season long and took out former Wild Petr Sykora with a cheap hit that ended up putting Sykora on the shelf with a concussion.

The Wild also can't figure out a way to neutralize Steve Ott. Two meetings ago, he concusses Petr Sykora with a hit that most people (minus Colie Campbell) felt was dirty. Last game, he runs around, sits on top of Harding, hits Derek Boogaard hard and then laughs at the Wild bench. Tonight, with Boogaard injured and John Scott scratched (Richards considered dressing him but chose to play James Sheppard instead), Ott ran around, talked smack, took a run at Brent Burns' head and fought Cal Clutterbuck twice in one-sided decisions.

Clutterbuck said afterward dressing Scott wouldn't have mattered. Ott's run around every single game he's ever played the Wild with Boogaard and Scott playing, including two weeks ago, and it's never stopped him. Last month, Boogaard challenged Ott. He won't fight those guys.

Tonight, for some reason Ott didn't get an instigator (2-5-and-10) for going after Clutterbuck after he lay a clean check on Brad Richards. I don't know why. The league has publicly said that if you start a fight after a clean hit,. it should be a 2, 5 and 10. The refs tonight gave him 2 for roughing. [Russo's Rants]

The problems with guys like Ott they wont fight the heavy weights like Boogaard because he would rather fight the guys that aren't feared fighters or in some cases that are smaller than him.

I was reading the comments from the Dallas Stars beat writers blog and look at what this guy had to say, talk about not having a clue when it comes to hockey.

Posted by jaybird @ 7:53 AM Wed, Feb 03, 2010
I think there is definitely a place for fighting in Hockey. Especially when a hard hit is made on one of the skill players. Guys like Richards and Modano rarely hit other players and if that courtesy is not extended to them, then I think one of his team mates should remind the other team that we require them to show some respect.

This guy has no clue every player on the ice except the goalie is fair game and can be hit and good teams will encourage hitting skilled players so you can take them off their game. There is no courtesy extended to star players.

Clutterbuck hit on Brad Richards

Another example of a legal hit and then another player that has to fight because he hit someone legally with a text book hit. Hockey is a physical game and Clutterbuck shouldn't have to fight because he smashed someone within the rules of the game. Steve Ott proves once again that he is nothing more than a knuckle dragging nethanderal hack. Again I think fighting is a part of the game and I find it entertaining but why would you drop the gloves because someone checked a team mate? That is bravo sierra, checking is part of the game.

When you play the Minnesota Wild, you have to be weary of two things: Methodical play, and the Clutterbuck bullet train. Apparently Dallas didn’t get the memo. You know, the one released a month ago?

Resident bone crusher Cal Clutterbuck laid some serious wood on Brad Richards, then tangled with Dallas Stars enforcer Steve Ott – twice.To the doubters of Cal’s strength and whether it transitioned to his play on the ice, you will soon be silenced.

As the puck was coming out of the Dallas zone, Brad Richards tried to find a forward up ice and flicked the puck in the direction of another Star. Unfortunately for the seasoned veteran, his head was down, and Cal Clutterbuck was waiting in the wings. There’s not much else I can say about this, other than Brad Richards will keep his head up the next time Clutterbuck comes to the American Airlines Arena
[Pete Prose]

WCHA Issues public remprimand to SCSU head coach Bob Motzko

So here is the official rebuke from the WCHA. So I wonder if we can assume that the coaches in the WCHA are now on notice and they won't tolerate anyone showing up any of Shepherds buffoons’. I would be willing to bet that the officials’ performance WILL BE a point of discussion in the WCHA spring meetings. Further investigation reveals that Don Adam was one of the on ice officials for this weekend's series. I guess you could color me surprised.

WCHA Issues Public Reprimand To SCSU Coach Bob Motzko

MADISON, Wis. – The Western Collegiate Hockey Association today (February 2) issued a public reprimand to men’s head coach Bob Motzko of St. Cloud State University for actions at the conclusion of the Jan. 30, 2010 game at Colorado College that were in violation of the WCHA Code of Conduct/Sportsmanship Rules.

– WCHA –

St. Cloud coach reprimanded by WCHA

Hum, ref blows call on a goal that cost a team points. Where have we seen this before? First thing that I would say is maybe if the refs in this league weren't a bunch of buffoons on skates they wouldn't have a coach getting upset with refs every week. This has become a weekly occurrence, every week there seems to be a controversy in a game somewhere in the WCHA. I have to wonder if this had been Gwozdecky out on the ice arguing with the officials if the league office would have done anything about it?

So what did Motzko do and why did he do it?

He violated the WCHA Code of Conduct/Sportsmanship Rules.

With the score 5-4 and 90 seconds left, the Huskies appeared to score the tying goal. But referee Brett Klozowski had lost sight of the puck underneath goalie Joe Howe's arm and blew his whistle. Then the puck went into the net. After officials reviewed replays, they stuck with the decision on the ice: No goal.

Motzko went on the ice after the game and had to be restrained by other officials as he argued with Klozowski, according to game stories written by Candace Horgan of uscholcom and Joe Paisley of the Colorado Springs Gazette.

“We scored a goal,” Motzko said later. “Everybody in the rink knows we scored a goal." [Goal Gophers]

Matt Frattin found not guilty in drunk driving case

Interesting turn of events, as they say you're innocent until proven guilty. Fighting Sioux junior forward was found not guilty in his DWI case by a jurry of his peers.

A jury of six Grand Forks County residents found UND hockey player Matt Frattin not guilty of drunk driving today.

The trial began this morning and ended this afternoon, with jurors returning a verdict after less than 30 minutes of deliberation, prosecutor Jason McCarthy said.

Campus police pulled over Frattin, a junior forward, in the early morning hours of Aug. 19. According to police, Lt. Tracy Meidinger smelled alcohol on Frattin’s breath and a test at the station put his blood-alcohol level at .12 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent.

McCarthy said Frattin passed some of the sobriety tests, but failed others. “This was a closer one,” McCarthy said.

Meidinger testified for the prosecution; the defense did not call any witnesses. Among the evidence the prosecution presented was a video showing Frattin that night.

Frattin was kicked off the team following his arrest, which was his second run-in with police that summer. He rejoined the team and began playing again in January.

In July, campus police arrested Frattin and Joe Finley, a player who graduated in the spring of 2009, for throwing objects into a street. In that case, Frattin pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct.

Messages left for Frattin’s attorney were not returned this afternoon
[Grand Forks Herald]

Here is the link to Frattin's Court Case [link]

Toronto deal could leave Bruins with bad hand

Personally, I think that Chiarelli has done nothing to make the Bruins better or make them a contender this year. I said it before that when Kessel left the Bruins for Toronto and Chiarelli said that Wheeler, Sturm and Bergeron where going to fill the void left by Kessel I knew the Bruins were in trouble. Looks like my predictions are coming true. My grade for the Bruins GM for far this season is a "D".

A practical man with a Harvard education, Chiarelli now founds himself in a most precarious position. He may have to do something that goes against his nature; he may have to do something purely for the sake of doing it. Last week, Chiarelli told anyone who would listen that he had no intentions of trading the Toronto selection in this year’s draft because of the depth of talent available at the top of the first round. During his weekly segment on 98.5 The Sports Hub, he went so far as to say that current Islanders rookie John Tavares (the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft) might be no better than the No. 4 overall selection in this year’s event.


By the way, Tavares is 19. He has 33 points and 17 goals this year, the latter a total unmatched by any Bruin this season. And dare we even mention that Kessel has the same number?

As encouraging as the Bruins’ efforts were over the weekend, goal-scoring remains a problem of colossal proportions. In the overtime loss to the Kings on Saturday, the Bruins had six chances to score in the shootout and managed just two tallies, by Michael Ryder and Marc Savard. Zdeno Chara, Blake Wheeler, Recchi, and Patrice Bergeron all failed.

For what it’s worth, Chiarelli last week gave no indication that the B’s were close to any deals, be it for Phaneuf, Ilya Kovalchuk or anyone else. To the contrary, Chiarelli suggested that the asking price for all trades was still much too high. (Of course, these things can change quickly.) Regardless, the addition of Phaneuf suggests the Leafs are far closer to being the Bruins than the Bruins are to being, say, the Penguins or Capitals, setting the stage for the kind of scenario that would drive the most loyal Bruins fans absolutely wild.

What if the Bruins do not make the playoffs? And what if the Leafs somehow end up finishing in front of Boston? The end result will have the Bruins picking before the Leafs following the most highly anticipated Bruins season in years, all after trading away their top goal scorer, regardless of whether Kessel wanted to be in Boston.
[Boston Globe]

Heard at the rink.

INCH had this blurb on their site. I think this sums things up pretty well. Time for the guys to bear down and go to work, no finger pointing, just hard work. Time for some deep self reflection. The fans well; we will worry about the Monday morning quarterbacking and pontifications.

“You can go two ways. You can start to get individualistic and point fingers at one another or you can pull together, do everything a little better and give a little more to your team and teammates. And that’s what we’ll do.”

North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol preached calm in his remarks to the press following his team’s 4-2 loss to Denver in Grand Forks Saturday. We’re sure the guys in the locker room are on the same page with the coach, but with the Fighting Sioux having a bye this weekend, there’s time for panic to ferment among NoDak fans

Mark Stuart smokes Anze Kopitar

Check out the hit that former C.C. star Mark Stuart puts on Anze Kopitar, it’s text book clean, elbows down, didn’t go for Kopitar’s head. Then you have Wayne Simmonds dropping the gloves because Stuart put a legal hit in his teammate. I have to agree with Bob McKenzie and what he has to say, don't we want legal hitting in the game and I think fighting after a legal hard check is senseless in this case. I would the fighting reserved for violations of the hockey code.

Immediately after the hit, the Kings' very fine forward Wayne Simmonds immediately challenged Stuart to a fight and Stuart obliged by dropping the gloves. As it turned out, Stuart broke his pinky finger in the fight. He will be out a number of weeks now and the Bruins will be without a defenceman who was playing quite well.

And for what? Getting into a fight that was started because of a clean, open-ice hit?

Am I the only one who finds this sensibility odd? We want more hitting in the game. Or at least we don't want to take hitting out of the game. So here's a novel concept. When there is a really good, clean bodycheck, let's make the person who throws the check have a fight. That sounds like a heckuva way to keep hitting in the game. (Actually, it sounds more like a way to keep fighting in the game.)

I must be getting old. I've never fully embraced or understood the concept of not being able to hit a star player on the other team. I mean, isn't that the point? Make the stars earn their ice. Isn't that what makes hockey great - that even the star players have to take some physical abuse to do their job. I am not sure when the game fully changed on this. It was probably in the 1980s when Wayne Gretzky earned special status with the Edmonton Oilers. [Read the rest of the article]

What do you think, I am not for taking fighting out of the game but I don't think there needs to be a fight after a legal hit. If Stuart had charged Kopitar then maybe not for a legal hit.

Lucia safe for now.

For all of the Gopher fans calling for Don Lucia head, it doesn't appear that it's going to happen this season. I don't know how the University of Minnesota could pay for another coach’s contract buy out? The UMN is already paying for an ex-football coach and ex-basketball coaches’ buyouts. The only way I could see a Donny Lucia firing happening is if a big time Alumni with pockets full of money came up with said big money to buy out that huge contract that Donny Lucia has floating on the books. I have to give kudos to Jess Meyers for a asking the Minnesota athletic director the question though.

While admitting that the Golden Gopher men’s hockey results have been less than expected, University of Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi gave his coach a vote of confidence on Monday.

“I can tell you that Don Lucia will be coaching Gopher hockey next year unless he chooses not to,” Maturi told InsideCollegeHockey.com.

The Gophers currently stand in seventh place in the 10-team WCHA and are looking likely to miss the NCAA playoffs for the second consecutive year. The non-typical on-ice results, coupled with health problems that led to Lucia missing a few games last season, have led to many questions raised by fans and others in college hockey media circles regarding Lucia’s future. Some have gone as far as to speculate that Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais, a Minnesota alum, would coach the Gophers next season. Maturi acknowledged disappointment with the on-ice results, but said that Lucia has the athletic director’s full confidence.

“I think we’ve got to just take a deep breath and stay the course,” Maturi said. “Nobody’s happy that we’re not winning more. I’m concerned and we’re all concerned. But I’m not concerned about the competencies and talents of Don Lucia.” [INCH]

Going forward

The Fighting Sioux were swept at home for the first time since December 15th and 16th 2006 against the MTU Huskies. That’s a little over four years ago, breaking it down further, the Sioux were also swept the weekend before by the Wisconsin Badgers on the 8th and 9th of December 2006. In reading Mike Chambers blog he said that this was the first time UND was swept by anybody in three years. That is an impressive streak that was ended the Denver Pioneers. Time to start a new streak.

Not all is lost

This isn’t the first time a Sioux team has been swept by Denver only to have them go on and have a successful post season run; in 1997 the Sioux were swept in Denver the last series of the 1996-1997 season. Obviously the Sioux went on to win the NCAA title. I am not saying this will happen and the chances of this happening this season aren’t that great unless something drastically changes in a hurry. Not all is lost either, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility. There is a lot of balance and talent on this team, 11 players have 10 or more points. The Goaltending has to be better and the power play must start scoring again.

I think UND has hit a low spot in their season and I expect them to rebound in the coming weeks, they have a week off to get back to basics and right the ship. Last night I was watching the Sioux Sports Extra on WDAZ and Coach Hakstol was interview about what UND had to do going forward. Let me tell you that Coach Hakstol didn’t looked happy. The word pissed comes to mind.

Coach Hakstol talked about making some personnel changes on the power play and that there is a 50/50 chance that Brett Hextall will be back for the SCSU series. The return of Hextall would boost the Fighting Sioux in the right direction. I would also be willing to bet that this week in practice isn’t going to be all fun and games. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sioux have a very hard week of practice and I wouldn’t be surprised if the team was gassed a few times. I would be disappointed if they weren’t.

I also think that a hard paced intense two weeks of practice is what the Sioux need to get refocused and retool for the stretch run. I would be willing to bet that the Sioux coaching staff will put the guys through a grueling week and a half of practice working on the fundamentals and working on specials teams. The penalty kill is fine and ranked 8th nationally, but the power play lacks well: goals. I don’t think there will be much fooling around leading up the SCSU series.

Come off the ledge

I like many Sioux fans are concerned the way this season has gone. The Sioux were an unimpressive 4-4-2 in January and that isn’t going to win the Sioux any league championships. They are fighting just to get home ice and will have to probably go 6-2 or 5-3 get home ice.

If the playoffs started today the Sioux would probably travel to Colorado Springs to play the C.C. Tigers. Wouldn’t that be irony? UMD traveled to the Springs last season and then went on a roll and marched to the NCAA playoffs by beating C.C. in Colorado springs. The following weekend they went on to win the Final Five from the Thursday play in game. Again I am not suggesting that the Sioux would do this but the Sioux very well could win a playoff series on the road, C.C. has stumbled as of late winning only 3 games in the last 9 games and has a record of 3-6-0 during that time period.

Give DU credit

While this is a blog focused on the UND Fighting Sioux and I am not going to spend time pumping up other teams tires, you can check out the various team blogs from my links section and I will leave the tire pumping to the specific team fan blogs. If you want to read a blog that pumps DU tires you would want to read DG’s Let Go DU hockey blog. This isn't the site for the half eaten jelly donut.

I will give some credit to the DU Pioneers they are good hockey team with an All-American goalie that is red hot right now (not to be confused with hot or not). It’s not a given Marc Cheverie will keep playing like he has. Lets not be confused he is good, the kid has something like 6 shuts outs on the season and he is seeing the puck right now.

There could be a time where that puck gets smaller and starts going in. Sometimes the puck goes in and sometimes it doesn’t. Things are going to change for DU next season when they lose some major players like Rhett Rakhshani (17g-16a-33pt) graduation, Tyler Ruegsegger (13g-16a-29pts) graduation and possibly Joel Colborne (11g-15a-26pts) Boston Bruins.

If you look at DU’s stats that is about 50 percent of their goal scoring 41/81 and the Pioneers drop off pretty fast after their first line. Their first line spent a lot of time on the ice during the weekend series. Just saying that their time is right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Marc Cheverie sign a professional contract after this season, because his stock couldn’t be higher after this season.

Lastly the DU Pioneers never had to face a healthy Fighting Sioux line up. Chay Genoway who may not come back this season because of his concussion issues, never got to play against DU. Taking Chay Genoway out of the lineup is like taking Rhett Rakhshani out of the Denver line up. In the second series the Sioux were without Genoway and Hextall. That had an effect on the four games of this series. Also, the Denver Debacle probably cost the Sioux points, it also cost the refs a paycheck with a suspension. I have been told from multiple and credible sources that those officials were in fact suspended. The league will never probably acknowledge this or issue a statement but I have been told by multiple sources that it did happen.

All in and on board

Lastly, the season is not over by any means and I think we should hold off with the lynch mob till after the season. Things could be worse. I am in and I am not going anywhere. I will be there for the Saturday game in Saint Cloud for the second game of the Sioux and Huskies game.

Programing note: As some have noticed I have added another member to the team Redwing77 from Sioux sports will now be posting blog articles from time to time. This summer I had the pleasure of meeting him in person and played some golf with him. While might not always see eye to eye, he is a Redwings fan and I am a Bruins and Wild fan he will add an interesting perspective to this blog.

Gabby's hat trick against the Av's

Props to RWD for bringing this to my attention, being she is such a huge Marian Gaborik fans I thought I would post it. It's games like this that I miss the Former Wild forward Marian Gaborik as he scored a hat trick last night as the Rangers beat the Av's 3-1. Gaborik had been in a slump and only scored once in 11 games, with his hat trick last night Gabby has 33 goals and is 4th in the NHL in goal scoring. I wonder at times if he would have made a difference in Todd Richard's wide open system.

Also, former University of Alaska Fairbanks goalie Chad Johnson got the win for the Rangers. Johnson has played in 5 games for the Rangers and has a (1-2-1 record 9.19 SV % and a 2.35 GAA).

Poll Monday (Sioux 9th in both)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[February 1, 2010]
1 Miami (43) 18-4-6 993 1
2 Denver ( 6) 16-6-4 950 3
3 Wisconsin ( 1) 15-7-4 895 2
4 St. Cloud State 17-8-3 817 5
5 Cornell 12-5-3 718 8
6 Minnesota-Duluth 17-10-1 690 9
7 Bemidji State 18-6-2 635 7
8 Yale 12-6-3 603 6
9 North Dakota 13-10-5 581 4
10 Colorado College 15-10-3 548 11
11 Ferris State 17-8-3 516 10
12 Michigan State 17-9-4 483 12
13 New Hampshire 13-8-4 443 13
14 Boston College 13-8-2 432 14
15 Massachusetts 16-10-0 347 15
16 Maine 12-9-3 212 19
17 Vermont 12-9-3 167 17
18 Mass.-Lowell 14-10-2 149 16
19 Michigan 15-12-1 137 20
20 Union 13-7-6 100 18
Others Receiving Votes: St. Lawrence 46, Lake Superior 24,
Sacred Heart 6, Notre Dame 4, RIT 2, Alaska 1, Minnesota 1

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

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Feb. 1, 2010]
1 Miami University (Ohio) (30) 18-4-6 506 1
2 Denver (4) 16-6-4 480 3
3 Wisconsin 15-7-4 446 2
4 St. Cloud State 17-8-3 381 5
5 Cornell 12-5-3 358 8
6 Minnesota Duluth 17-10-1 289 9
7 Bemidji State 18-6-2 278 6
8 Yale 12-6-3 251 7
9 North Dakota 13-10-5 241 4
10 Colorado College 15-10-3 172 11
11 Ferris State 17-8-3 169 10
12 Michigan State 17-9-4 166 13
13 New Hampshire 13-8-4 138 12
14 Boston College 13-8-2 112 15
15 Massachusetts 16-10-0 57 14
Others receiving votes: University of Maine, 16; Union College, 11; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 10; University of Michigan, 3; University of Vermont, 2; Rochester Institute of Technology, 1; Sacred Heart University, 1; St. Lawrence University, 1; University of Nebraska Omaha, 1.

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings. I can already see the questions in this week's INCH Chat. I can even write the question that some college hockey fans asking, how come UND is ranked 9th when they are only sitting in 6th place in the WCHA?

1. Miami
2. Denver
3. Wisconsin
4. Cornell
5. St. Cloud State
6. Yale
7. Michigan State
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. North Dakota 5 Maybe it’s coincidence, but the Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that since Brett Hextall has been out of the lineup with an injury, the Fighting Sioux are 1-4-1 and have scored two goals in their last 40 power-play opportunities. 13-10-5 (8-9-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 2-0; L vs. Denver, 4-2. THIS WEEK: Off
10. Colorado College
11. Bemidji State
12. Ferris State
13. New Hampshire
14. Boston College
15. Union
16. Maine
17. St. Lawrence
18. Massachusetts
19. UMass Lowell
20. Michigan

Dropped out: Vermont

Bubble-licious: Lake Superior State, Vermont, Rensselaer

The Trials of a Down Season

The Trials of a Down Season

As I write this opinion piece, my team, the Sioux, have lost another game in heartbreaking fashion, giving up four straight after scoring two and seemingly emerging from the cocoon of inability to cracking DU goaltender Marc Cheverie.

This team has had so many ups and downs it’s like a really bad rollercoaster ride at a top tier amusement superplex. When they are up, fans (such as myself) are almost in a euphoric state talking about how good we’ve played and aspiring towards greater things such as postseason awards and even, God willing, a National Championship. When we’re down we’re agonizing and pulling our hair out trying to diagnose what is wrong and how to change it.

This brings out the worst in some fans. Some fans are grounded in their beliefs, realist, mature, practical whatever. However, some fans get so caught up in the history of the team and past players and coaches that it paralyses their rationality and forces them to go back and make ludicrous claims and wistful wishes. For example, if former UND and current UNO head coach Dean Blais were still coaching UND, we would have won the games this past weekend. How do we know that? Having watched plenty of games live under the coaching of Dean Blais, I’ve watched UND teams practically give up. I’ve seen them blow leads. I’ve watched them slump like we’re doing now.

It’s hard to take. It’s unimaginable that this team… MY team… OUR team… could falter like they are right now. There are no stats or records that can be put forth to change the reality that this part of our game isn’t working, that part of our game isn’t doing well, and so on.

Brad Schlossman’s blog covers the fact that I’m portraying here. We pine for Blais. We think he’s the savior and Hakstol is the mule. One commenter on his blog states that “before our very eyes, UND is turning into St. Cloud State.” Well, let me tell ya folks, unless the NCAA is going to take away 7 National Championships and all of our NCAA tourney victories, that’s patently untrue. Also, they talk about Hakstol as a recruiter being a problem. Funny how he recruited such guys as Matt Greene, Matt Smaby, had a hand in snatching Johnny Toews, Zach Parise, and all those players we covet so much. Blais didn’t recruit everyone on his teams. Hakstol got the job based upon his ability to recruit, not just coaching ability. If you want to know how important that ability is, ask Scott Sandelin. It’s arguably why he’s still in Duluth after a few down seasons. We talk about how Hakstol should at least show some emotion on the bench yet, when other coaches do so, we berate that coach for being such a fool (see Gwozdecky, George).

UND has a passionate fan base, but we are whiny. I’ve surfed my share of hockey message boards and I have yet to find a fan base that is more over the top critical of their players than UND. Fans talk about how the team “should be better than this.” Or cite historical context and our National Championships as a way of explaining such harsh, unfair, and unbelievably ridiculous criticism of kids no older than 21 years of age. Sometimes it fades, but other times, it festers and becomes an embarrassment upon those who root for the team.

The point to be made is that, whether we think we are entitled to greatness year after year or not, there will be down years. EVERY team in EVERY sport has experienced them. Examples of the Yankees had a Title drought of 18 years between 1978 and 1996. The Canadians may lead the NHL in Stanley Cup victories, but they haven’t even been to the Finals since they last won it all in 1993. The Michigan Wolverines have 9 National Championships to their name, but none since 1998. I’d cite basketball if I gave a darn about that sport. It is true we’re going on 10 years since our last title and what… 3 years since our last NC game appearance? It doesn’t make things easier to take. No one likes down years. No one.

So what can we take out of this season? Well, we can take the highs for what they’re worth. No one likes seeking out silver linings, but those silver linings could be a key to what the next few years bring out in UND’s future. Or fans can take nothing out of this year; start up attempts to run players and coaches out of town. Or fans can simply abandon the team altogether. I see a lot of good from our team. I don’t know if this is the year. It isn’t over yet and we’re not eliminated. It is going to be a huge uphill battle and it will be hard on the players, coaches and especially the fans. However, it is possible. And this fan isn’t going to give up until the fat lady sings. And even then, I’ll eagerly look forward to next year. We’ve hit a bump in the road. It’s gut check time for us fans. Are we on board? Or are we stowaways? Just remember, the power button on the electronic device of choice can be used as a safety device in the event that you don’t wish to stay on board any longer. There’s no shame in pushing the button. The Chicago Cubs probably would thank me for it if they knew who I was.

Jason Blake is now a Duck. (update with links)

The Twitter world has been on fire this morning as there was news of a block buster deal in Toronto. Apparently the Toronto fans are happy to rid them selves of former Fighting Sioux forward Jason Blake. Since he arrived on scene in Toronto with a big contract the Leaf fans have been relentless in their maligning of Blake.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastien from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for netminder Vesa Toskala and veteran forward Jason Blake.

The deal reunites Giguere with his long-time goaltending coach Francois Allaire, as well as former GM Brian Burke.

The most valuable player of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Giguere needed to waive his no-trade clause in order for the deal to go through.

The Montreal native recently lost his starting job to netminder Jonas Hiller, who inked a four-year, $18-million extension on Saturday, clearing the way for the trade.

Giguere, 32, has a one year, $7 million contract remaining while the 32-year old Toskala is making $4 million this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Blake, 36, has struggled playing for the blue and white this season, posting just 10 goals and 26 points in 55 games. The Moorhead, MN native signed with the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in 2007 and has 50 goals and 141 points in that span.[TSN.COM]

Links to the deal

Leafs acquire Phaneuf in multi-player deal [National Post]

Anaheim Trades Giguere To Toronto For Toskala And Blake [SB Nation]

The cap hit [the Globe and Mail]

Leafs acquire Phaneuf and Giguere [NHL.COM]

Burke's Busy Morning [the Rink]

Maple Leafs nab Phaneuf, Giguere [NHL.COM]

Risky investments[Sports Net]

Leafs send Toskala, Blake to Anaheim for Giguere [Toronto Sun]

Leafs acquire Phaneuf, Giguere [Globe and Mail]

The NHL silly season begins.

Apparently Toronto didn't get the memo to bag the season and stink up the joint so the Bruins can get Taylor Hall in this summers NHL draft. Now more reason to hate the Toronto Maples Leafs first Mike Komisarek and now Dion Phaneuf. Marvelous.

The Calgary Flames have traded defenceman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom, and prospect defenceman Keith Aulie to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenceman Ian White.

The Maple Leafs and Flames have been working on the components of this blockbuster for a week to ten days, but sources say the details of the deal didn't fall into place until late last night.

"[Phaneuf] is a warrior. He's got a cannon for a shot," explained Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke on Sunday. "He plays the game hard and I want players who play the game hard because they're hard to play against."

Phaneuf has two goals over his last three games and is signed through the 2013-14 season ($6.5 million per). He had 18:49 TOI last night, only the third time this month he's been under 20 minutes in a game. The big defenceman has 10 goals and 12 assists to go with a minus-3 rating over his 55 games.

Sjostrom has played 46 games with one goal and five assists for Calgary this season. Aulie was drafted in the fourth round, 116th overall of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot-six defenceman had spent this season with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL.

Hagman has 20 goals and 13 assists, while Stajan has 16 goals and 25 assists, each over 55 games this season. Both players have a minus-3 rating. Mayers had expressed interest in being traded earlier in January. He had two goals, six assists and 78 penalty minutes over his 44 games with the Maple Leafs this season. White had nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-1 rating over his 56 games.

Burke admitted the loss of Stajan and Hagman would leave a hole in the Maple Leaf attack, but explained acquiring Phaneuf was too good to pass up.
[TSN.COM]

Fighting Sioux unimpressive in 4-2 defeat.

This should sum things up from last night pretty well. This weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Denver University Pioneers is unacceptable and down right depressing. The Fighting Sioux had their butts handed to them last night and looked like a bunch of boy playing men. Thirty minutes of hockey will not win you a game even against the last place team in the WCHA.

Cue the cute sports clichés, we didn’t play for 60 for minutes, we didn’t burry our chances, we didn't move our feet; we didn’t put the Pioneers away when we had them down 2-0 and on their heels. Blah, blah, blah, blah…

The home locker room in Ralph Engelstad Arena was full of frustration, disappointment and anger late Saturday night, consumed with a feeling that only two players inside of it have ever experienced.

For the first time in 37 months — a span of more than three years and 25 series — the UND men’s hockey team was swept at home after the University of Denver rallied for a 4-2 victory in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series finale.

Coupled with a 2-0 victory Friday night, the Pioneers became the first team since Dec. 16, 2006 to win back-to-back games here, snapping the WCHA’s longest streak without getting swept at home. [Grand Forks Herald]

This Fighting Sioux hockey team is, well, lacking leadership, focus and heart. It is what it is, UND is going to be on the road for the first round of the WCHA playoffs and will probably be golfing with the Gophers this spring during the NCAA tourney if the don't get their head out of their collective asses. This is not acceptable at the University of North Dakota. Right now this team isn’t worthy of wearing the proud Fighting Sioux warrior on the front of their jerseys. We are definitely not hostile or abusive. The Fighting Sioux hockey team went down without a fight.

Here is what our fearless leader coach Dave Hakstol had to say after this weekend's debacle at the Ralph.

“It doesn’t sit very well,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “It has to be something that’s a real slap in the face and pushes you in the right direction. You can go two ways. You can start to get individualistic and point fingers at one another or you can pull together, do everything a little better and give a little more to your team and teammates. And that’s what we’ll do.”

Since a sweep of Minnesota State-Mankato earlier this month, UND has just one win in its last six games, dropping to 13-10-5 overall and 8-9-3 in league play. UND’s record against teams ranked in this week’s national polls is now 3-8-2 and the Sioux dropped into a tie for 15th in the Pairwise Rankings.

What was good

The Fighting Sioux won the first half of the game, was ahead for half the game before the roof fell in on them. The Fighting Sioux came out and got pucks deep and fore checked, and chipped pucks out of the defensive zone. The Fighting Sioux were a text book example of what championship hockey looks like. Keep your opponent on their heals; attack and counter attack. Play smart when you don’t have the puck.

Senior forward Chris VandeVelde had another one of those break out games and scored some nice goals, Vandy’s second goal was a thing of beauty.

Sophomore forward Jason Gregoire had a solid game and was flying around all weekend.

Matt Frattin is starting to get back his game legs back and released a few bombs that just barely missed. I expect these will start going in soon. I would have to say that he has one of the harder shots that I have seen.

Freshman Danny Kristo is an awesome player but he needs to shoot the puck more, he has a laser for a shot. If this kid could get hot he could carry the team on his back.

What was not so good

You can not leave an opposition forward all alone in the slot like they did on two of the four DU goals, you're going to get killed. DU has some very talented forwards and if you let them shoot the puck unchallenged in the slot they are going to burry the puck. Half of their goals were scored in said manner.

Sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness lacks focus and needs to get back to the basics, the first things that comes to mind when I see him play is, not square to the shooter, does not cover the short side well, goes down too early. Maybe you should watch some game tape of Marc Cheverie, and see what a fundamentally sound goaltender looks like. Maybe Eidsness should consider employing his goalie coach. While I don’t fault him on most of the goals, you can not keep getting beat on the short side all of the time, his glove had is brutal.

From here on out

UND has games against SCSU (X2), UMD (X2), C.C. (2X), and MTU (2X), I figure that UND has got to go 6-2 or 5-3 in those remaining games to even have a chance to make home ice in the WCHA playoffs. All but one of those teams are sitting ahead of UND in the standings. From here on out there are no mulligan’s or give-me’s. The Fighting Sioux are currently sitting at 15th in the Pairwise rankings right now.

[Box Score]

Let's Go DU hockey Blog [Click to read]

Denver Post write up: DU road rally sweeps Sioux[Click to read]

USCHO write up: Patrick Miller/USCHO Arena Reporter[Click to read]

Grand Forks Herald write up [Click to read]

Post game press conference [Click to listen]

UND and DU Lines. (Gut Check Time)

UND Fighting Sioux hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman has the lines posted for tonight's games. I would have to say that tonight is a must win game, it's officially gut check time. It's time for VandeVelde, Frattin and Gregoire to produce and become leaders. DU is a very good opponent but really, there is no reason UND can't get points against the Pioneers tonight. Come on Sioux lets wipe that cocky grin of their face.

UND's lines

17 Jason Gregoire--29 Chris VandeVelde--21 Matt Frattin
19 Evan Trupp--22 Brad Malone--7 Danny Kristo
10 Corban Knight--27 Carter Rowney--18 David Toews
9 Mario Lamoureux--11 Darcy Zajac--13 Brett Bruneteau

2 Andrew MacWilliam--24 Ben Blood
3 Derrick LaPoint--25 Jake Marto
20 Joe Gleason--4 Corey Fienhage

31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell

[UND Fighting Sioux stats]

Denver's lines

17 Matt Glasser--23 Drew Shore--11 Chris Knowlton
16 Anthony Maiani--22 Brian Gifford--19 Kyle Ostrow
9 Rhett Rakhshani--15 Tyler Ruegsegger--12 Joe Colborne
27 Brandon Vossberg--37 Nate Dewhurst

28 Patrick Wiercioch--5 John Lee
4 Matt Donovan--6 Chris Nutini
7 Paul Phillips--25 Cody Brookwell
24 John Ryder

1 Marc Cheverie
33 Adam Murray

[Link to DU Pioneer stats]

More red meat stuff from Chambers.

This guy must love baiting the UND faithful because he sure seems to like to write the red meat blog articles about UND. It’s almost like he has UND derangement syndrome. Just for the record any WCHA team is going to put up a big fight if they are facing the prospects of getting no points during a season against a team. This why I like Brad Schlossman because I feel he is more objective and even handed than this guy. We can only hope for a full scale war tonight with our favorite dance partner the Denver Pioneers.

Grand Forks — Here are some leftover quotes from DU coach George Gwozdecky and goalie Marc Cheverie after last night’s 2-0 Pioneers’ win over the Fighting Sioux — the first win at Engelstad Arena for any current DU player. The teams conclude their two-game set tonight, in what I think has the makings of a full-scale war. The Sioux, 1-3-1 in their past five games, are falling out of the WCHA race and even the NCAA Tournament picture. They are 0-3 against DU this season, having previously been swept by the Pios in November (the first time UND was swept by anybody in three years).[Denver Post Hockey Blog]

Here are some interesting notes from the other side without the red meat.

Grand Forks — Last night’s game here was a terrific college hockey environment. Great sold-out crowd of nearly 12,000 and DU played extraordinarily well at times. The first period was probably the best stretch of hockey I’ve seen this year since, well, the last time these teams met in November. Back-and-forth, great skill. However, both teams skated off at the buzzer a little frustrated. The Sioux, despite creating a ton of good chances, were blanked for the second time in three games, and fell to 0-3 against DU this season (two shutouts). The Pios, despite a great start, were on their heels in the final 40 minutes — the product of killing off nine power plays — and perhaps lucky to get the full two points.

– North Dakota is scoreless on its last 28 power plays. Without injured stars Chay Genoway and Brett Hextall, who hasn’t played since Jan. 3 (leg injury), the Sioux are just 2-of-36 with the man-advantage. Still, the Sioux move the puck well on the power play. Their problem last night was ineffective finishing around the net, and, of course, DU goalie Marc Cheverie.
[Denver Post Hockey Blog]