Senior center and tri-captain Blake Geoffrion sat out a second day of practice Tuesday, raising the possibility that he won't be able to play for the UW men's hockey team in its WCHA series at Michigan Tech Friday and Saturday.
Geoffrion suffered a concussion when checked by St. Cloud State center Aaron Marvin during the second period of a WCHA encounter at the Kohl Center last Saturday. It was the second time this season Geoffrion has suffered such an injury.
"He wasn't good enough to skate today,'' UW coach Mike Eaves said of Geoffrion Tuesday. "He still had a headache today.''
Eaves outlined a series of steps that Geoffrion must make before he's cleared to play. Among them, he must be able to exercise without triggering a headache [read the rest of the article here]
The Gophers' chances will be much better if coach Don Lucia changes his tactics and if the players play with desperation.
Lucia has to stop saying that goalie Alex Kangas has done his job if he gives up only two goals. His job -- especially at this time of the year -- is to play better than the other goalie. He might have to get a shutout sometime in the playoffs, or give up only one goal to win a game.
Kangas has played great at times that in the past and he has to go into games with the attitude that the opponent can't beat him. His mindset has to be that he will give up one fewer goal than the other goalie.
Coach Lucia has rarely asked me for advice -- OK never -- but he also has to stop saying this team has to win games 3-2, that it's not good enough to score more than three goals. In playoff hockey, the Gophers have to score as many goal as it takes to win.
If they get in a shootout with somebody, than they have to keep popping goals in. This team is a real mystery that way. It''s got talented offensive players who seem to do little for weeks at a time and then have one good game here and there. It's surprising Lucia has so much hair and it's not all white already. [Goal Gophers]
1. The Boston Bruins
How do you go from 53 wins and a point away from the President's Trophy, with an eye-popping offense and a stifling defense to, well, this?
The Bruins are in the thick of the fight for a bottom-2 Eastern Conference playoff spot (meaning they'd be miles out of it if they played in the West) and can't seem to do anything all that well.
Let's talk about the forwards. Not one has 40 points. Really. Not one has 20 goals. Only four who have played in 30 or more games have a positive plus-minus. If it weren't for Marc Savard's(notes) 31 points in 37 games, no one would even be close to a point-a-game pace. Besides Savvy and Patrice Bergeron(notes), it's hard to think of anyone that hasn't at least been a disappointment at best, or a colossal, blown-up-on-the-launchpad disaster (hi, Milan Lucic(notes)!). The power play has dropped off by a solid five points as well.
And let's go over the defense. Zdeno Chara's(notes) a plus-6. Johnny Boychuk's(notes) a plus-3. That's it for positive plus-minus ratings there as well. Remember last year when the Bruins defensemen scored 50 goals? Yeah, they must not either, because they have 19 this year with a pretty similar D corps. And yeah, they're fifth in the league in goals against, but last year they were first.
A lot of that defensive slump, though, has to do with Tim Thomas(notes), who has been very mediocre pretty much all season, but only recently was benched by Claude Julien in favor of Tuukka Rask(notes), who, if he had more games, would be getting Steve Mason-type plaudits from pundits for his 2.08/.928 performance. Especially in front of a team as terribly disappointing as the Bruins have been this year. [Puck Daddy]
UND has missed it's opportunity to joining the Summit League this year.
UND president Robert Kelley says he talked with League commissioner Tom Douple over the last few days and learned UND has missed the scheduling window for the 2011-2012 season.
Kelley says 2012 will be the earliest they can play in Summit League conference play if they are even accepted.
They've applied but won't be considered until the "Fighting Sioux" nickname issue has been resolved.
Kelley say this was unexpected, they had hopes they would still make the window.
He says it shows the league won't wait for them even though they've said UND is a perfect fit.
Kelley says this points out the urgency of resolving the nickname issue quickly, so they don't miss out on other opportunities.
" We are seeing some doors start to close the scheduling has moved past us you know this is a long process there is no drop dead date in this the big concern I have is other schools are wanting to get into the Summit League."
Kelley says his concern could lead him to ask the league for a contingency plan to hold a spot for their application if the nickname issue is not solved in a reasonable time frame. [WDAZ]
Winger Mike Connolly is recovering from a concussion received in the final minutes of Saturday's game at North Dakota. Connolly took an elbow to the head from North Dakota's Corban Knight. The play was made along the side glass in UMD's defensive zone and Connolly hit the glass with the left side of his face, and has a bruise and black eye to show for it. He will be allowed to practice and play when his concussive symptoms are gone, he said. There was no penalty on the play. [Rink and Run]
"We talk about it — I tell (the players) every week that we can't take foolish, selfish penalties," said unnamed WCHA coach, 12-9-3 overall in his first season as head coach. "North Dakota, they're notorious for roughing it up.
If you see a fight in our league, chances are they're involved. It's a source of pride for them. They try to get nasty and get in your face. That's the way they like to play, aggressive. We've got to be ready for that."
We have been pretty critical of the WCHA officiating over the years, and rightly so. Actually, in general, offciating at the college level isn't the best, but that's to be expected, actually, and there's not much you can do about it. On that score, we rarely harp on officiating. But the WCHA seems to have this "let them play" atmosphere that, on the one hand, fans have loved vis-a-vis the other conferences, then deplored because it escalates into things like this.
Of course, it's not just this. The WCHA has bungled so many video review calls in recent years, I've lost count.
The issues stem from the top, and the leadership in the conference does not seem very interesting in cracking down on anything. When the other leagues all announced a crackdown on obstruction a number of years ago, for example, the WCHA remained very Laissez-faire about it. Well, that's one thing, but when the league keeps a hands off approach to any discipline of any kind, things start to snowball into instances like this.
Again, forget whether we should indict Aaron Marvin in particular. I just want to know how in the world that play is not a "contact to the head" penalty, a rule that was put in specifically to take the guesswork out of things by ruling any hit to the head, intentional or not, an infraction.
As players have become bigger, faster and stronger over the years, the potential for head injuries has exponentially increased. That is why more and more protective measures have been put in place. But that only works if these things are enforced. Bungling a video review call is one thing — being non-chalent about enforcing hits to the head calls is something that can put players' careers, or lives, in jeopardy. [Read the Whole Article]
(STC-9 Garrett Roe (2-Roughing) 18:51,This is what Chuck Swartz from 60 Minutes,No Alibis, No Regrets had to say about the Marvin hit. It will be interested to see how long it takes for some SCSU fan to defend this hit.
STC-10 Garrett Roe (2-CONTACT TO THE HEAD) 18:51
STC-11 Garrett Roe (5-Cross-Checking) WIS 2x8
Senior Captain Blake Geoffrion had a major scare in tonight's game when he took a dirty check from St. Cloud State goon Aaron Marvin to the head. Now, Wisconsin isn't the cleanest team in the league, that's for sure...but I have no patience for hits to the head and this was as blatant as it can get.
The loss kept No. 9 UMD (18-13-1 and 14-9-1) in a tailspin, going 2-6 the last eight games and 1-10-1 the last 12 on North Dakota ice. The Bulldogs dropped to fourth in the league, four points ahead of North Dakota and Colorado College. [Rink and Run]
@JulieRobenhymer you seem to have brought some luck to the Sioux.Here was her reply.
RT @goon48 you seem to have brought some luck to the Sioux - yet to be seen!! they're 0-6 in games I've attended, although none at home...Yeah we can't lose all the games she watches UND play in right? You have to figure the law of averages will pick up for the Sioux right? Now they are 1-6 with the former Miss New Jersey watching us.
"After hearing the testimonies, examining the evidence and meticulously analyzing the facts, I believe that Patrice Cormier’s gesture was very violent and susceptible of inflicting severe damage to the victim. The decision rendered by the Disciplinary Prefect follows the principals outlined by the League’s Board of Governors in the fall of 2008 regarding the elimination of gratuitous violence. Furthermore, the decision is consistent with the need to establish new and more severe disciplinary standards to dissuade players from taking these actions."
"Consequently, I declare that the Disciplinary Prefect’s decision to suspend Patrice Cormier is justified, reasonable and consistent with the League’s new policy."
