Bruins make a few head scratchers...

The Boston Bruins appear initially that they were buyers at the trade dead line but a few of their moves are quite unpredictable and unexpected and downright silly. The Boston Bruins pick up a few defensive prospects and move a few defensemen around; most of the moves appear to be a wash. The Bruins biggest need is in the forward position.

This trade is one that shocked me the most, I thought Derek Morris was a high end offensive defenseman and this trade doesn't make any sense unless the Bruins are trying to clear cap space to get a high end forward. I am sure we will know what the Bruins intentions were at the end of the day or at least by the 3:00 pm eastern dead line.

BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has acquired a conditional draft pick in 2011 from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Derek Morris.

The 31-year-old Morris has skated in 58 games with the Bruins this season, registering 3-22=25 totals and 26 PIM. Morris has played 851 games in the NHL, recording 79-286=365 totals and 820 PIM. The 6’0” 221-pound native of Edmonton, Alberta was selected in the first round (13th overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He was signed by Boston as a free agent on July 24, 2009.

This move here is also a head scratchers, it doesn't really make any sense to me at all. The Bruins are in need of offense in a very bad way and the Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli seems to be uninterested in improving this season squad. It almost appears that they are standing pat and going to bank on the two first round draft choices in this summers entry draft.

BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has acquired defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Matt Bartkowski from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forwards Byron Bitz and Craig Weller and a second round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. The second round pick in 2010 will be Tampa Bay’s, which Boston acquired at last year’s trade deadline along with Mark Recchi, in exchange for Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums.

The 28-year-old Seidenberg has skated in 62 games with the Panthers this season, registering 2-21=23 totals and 33 PIM. He currently leads the NHL in blocked shots with 179. Seidenberg has played 376 games in the NHL earning 17-96=113 totals and 162 PIM. The 6’1” 210-pound native of Schwenningen, Germany was selected in the sixth round (172nd overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He recently competed on Team Germany with Bruins forward Marco Sturm at the 2010 Olympic Games, and has been a teammate of Sturm's in four international tournaments (2001 Worlds, 2002 Olympics, 2008 Worlds, 2010 Olympics). Boston will be the fifth NHL team Seidenberg has suited up for, along with Philadelphia, Phoenix, Carolina and Florida. He set career highs in all offensive categories with Carolina in 2008-09 with 5-25=30 totals in 70 games played.

The 21-year-old Bartkowski has skated in 34 games for Ohio State University this year, registering 4-12=16 totals and 16 PIM. Over two seasons with the Buckeyes, Bartkowski has played in 75 games recording 9-27=36 totals and 133 PIM. The 6’1” 196-pound native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was selected by the Florida Panthers in the seventh round (190th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The Boston Bruins picked up another defenseman from Michigan Wolverines Steve Kampfer.

BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has acquired the rights to defenseman Steve Kampfer from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a conditional fourth round draft pick.

The 21-year old Kampfer has skated in 37 games for the University of Michigan this season, recording two goals, 15 assists and 48 PIM. Over four seasons with the Wolverines, Kampfer has played in 139 games, registering 6-51=57 totals and 132 PIM.

The 5’11, 188-pound native of Ann Arbor, MI was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the fourth round (93rd overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Jovanovski gets run over by the Oshie

Couldn't have happen to a nicer guy, T.J. Oshie should be given a medal for this hit. Jovanovski is the same goon that was suspended twice in 2009, one of his suspensions was for knocking out Wild forward Andrew Ebbett with this brutal hit.

NHL's Bettman defends TV deal with Versus

Does anyone see anything wrong with this statement by Gary Bettman? I think until the NHL gets back on ESPN or a more visible television network, the NHL is going to be handcuffed for being on Versus, the biggest problem is that Versus it's not available to all markets and cable providers. This is sad because the NHL has all kinds of momentum coming out of the Olympics and this guy is such a buzzkill to the great sport of hockey.

"We think Versus is doing a terrific job for us," Bettman said. "They're giving us the most promotion and attention that we could ask for from a cable and TV partner and, quite frankly, we are the most important property that they have."

Bettman said he is hopeful the cable network will resolve the issues that have kept Versus off DirecTV. [chicagobreakingsports.com]

Standing Rock Supporters: Enough Signatures on Petition

It would appear that supporters of the Fighting Sioux nickname might have gotten some good news. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

WDAZ - A group of Sioux nickname supporters on the Standing Rock Reservation say they have enough signatures to ask for a reservation-wide vote on the issue.

They have collected more than 800 signatures. They only needed 600 for the tribal council to consider the issue.

The tribal council has already voted against putting support for the nickname to a public vote.

Supporters are hoping to present the petition to the council tomorrow to see what the next step is.

One problem: the Standing Rock constitution doesn't outline a procedure to dealing with a petition asking for a referendum vote.

It's up to the council and tribal attorney to outline a plan and that could take a while.

The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education is waiting until the North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled on an appeal to a decision that previously blocked them from changing the nickname.

That ruling is expected by early April.

Marvin got lucky

For those that haven't seen Bruce Ciskie's blog today, the WCHA really wanted to throw the book at Aaron Marvin. The WCHA wanted to give Marvin a 5 to 8 game suspension. Wow! Personally I actually think 5 games would have been an appropriate suspension lenght for the Genoway hit. SCSU won an appeal to knock it down to only three games.

The WCHA is taking plenty of heat for its decision to suspend St. Cloud State forward Aaron Marvin for three games. The league has been late to the party on hits to the head, and it was assumed they were going to let Marvin off easy, or maybe suspend him for one game heading into their home-and-home with Minnesota State, Mankato, this weekend.

Instead, the WCHA dropped the hammer, giving Marvin a three-game ban that will sit him for the entire MSU series, as well as Game 1 of St. Cloud's home WCHA playoff series (opponent TBA).

While it could be argued that this punishment is a bit excessive, it's in line with what the league should have been doing from the start. Not only that, but it's apparently not nearly as bad as what the initial decision called for.

A source with knowledge of the talks has told me that the WCHA's original punishment would have banished Marvin for the entire first round of the WCHA playoffs, and possibly the WCHA Final Five -- should St. Cloud make it there. That ban -- which could have been as high as five games if the Huskies played a three-game first-round series and eight games if it included the Final Five -- was then reduced to its current state on appeal. The source was unclear if the league wanted to keep Marvin out for the entire league tournament, or just the first round. Either way, the suspension was reduced after the school appealed.

Bracketology

Someone had mentioned Bracketology and Chuck Schwartz has his latest version of that posted over on 60 Minutes, No Alibies, No Regrets, I know it's still early but I think UND might get to see the Miami RedHawks again and that could be an epic game. I don't SCSU getting out of a regional that looks like the one listed below, I would say it looks like another one and done for the Huskies.

Northeast Regional (Worchester, MA):

1 Denver vs 16 Atlantic Hockey Champ
8 Yale vs 10 New Hampshire

Midwest Regional (Fort Wayne, IN):

2 Miami vs 14 Minnesota-Duluth
7 North Dakota vs 9 Alaska

East Regional (Albany, NY):

3 Wisconsin vs 15 Ferris State
6 Boston College vs 11 Cornell

West Regional (St. Paul, MN):

4 St. Cloud State vs 13 Vermont
5 Bemidji vs 12 Michigan State

Men's hockey WCHA first round playoff tickets on sale March 2

If you don't have your tickets for the firt round of the the WCHA playoffs time it's time to start thinking about buying them.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota men's hockey team has clinched home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Tickets for the best-of-3 series will go on sale March 2 at 10 a.m.

Ticket prices for the series, held March 12, 13 and 14 (if necessary):

Adult - $20 single, $40 series
Student - $7 single, $14 series
Youth - $10 single, $20 series
Season ticket holders were sent tickets for series with initial ticket mailings.

Series ticket packages for the general public in non-student areas will be available on March 2 at 10 a.m. Single-game tickets for the pubilc will be available March 8 at 10 a.m.

Student ticket packages can be purchased at the UND Box Office and online at Ticketmaster.com. Student season ticket holders will receive an email with password to purchase tickets. Lower bowl sections and select upper bowl sections will be held for series packages. Students may purchase up to 4 reserved seats with UND student ID, however, seperate UND student IDs must be validated per student ticket for entry into venue on game date.

Student series package sale ends Monday, March 8. All unsold student series tickets will be available as single game tickets for students and general public at 10 a.m. on March 8.

All tickets may be purchased via the UND Box Office at Ralph Engelstad Arena, Ticketmaster.com or any Ticketmaster location.

MacNaughton Cup History (by Sioux 7)

I found this article a few weeks ago on the St. Cloud Times Newspaper website, and thought this would be a good time to share a little history.


The MacNaughton Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the regular season champion of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The trophy is named after James MacNaughton of Calumet, Michigan, who was an avid supporter of amateur ice hockey. The Cup is hand crafted of pure silver and stands almost three feet high and weighs nearly 40 pounds.

In 1913, MacNaughton purchased a cup trophy for approximately $2,000 and donated it to the President of the American Hockey Association, which was to be awarded to the league’s champion at the end of the season. The MacNaughton Cup remained with the American Hockey Association until 1932. From 1933 to 1950, the Cup was given to semi-pro and intermediate hockey teams in Michigan’s Copper Country.

In 1951, the MacNaughton family arranged to have the Cup awarded to the newly founded Midwest Collegiate Hockey League (MCHL), a precursor to the WCHA. The MCHL was composed of Michigan Tech, Colorado College, Denver, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Michigan Tech became the trustee for the MacNaughton Cup. In the original spirit of the trophy, the league decided to award the trophy to its regular season champion. In 1953, the MCHL became the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League (WIHL).

The Cup remained a part of the WIHL until the league was disbanded in March of 1958. There was no league play for the 1958-59 season and for the 1959-60 season, the seven teams resumed competition under the new name of the WCHA.

From the 1961-62 through the 1964-65 seasons, the MacNaughton Cup was awarded to the WCHA’s playoff tournament champion instead of the regular season champion, but the WCHA resumed awarding the Cup to the regular season champion again for the start of the 1965-66 season through the 1981-82 season.

Michigan Tech left the WCHA to join the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for the 1981-82 season. Since Michigan Tech is the trustee of the Cup, the Cup went to the CCHA.

The Broadmoor Trophy was created as a replacement and awarded to the regular season champion until Michigan Tech returned to the WCHA for the start of the 1984-85 season. The McNaughton Cup also returned and continues to be awarded to the regular season champion today. With the return of the MacNaughton Cup, the Broadmoor Trophy is awarded to the WCHA tournament champion.

Poll Monday (Sioux 7th in both polls)

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[March 1, 2010]
1 Denver (48) 24- 6-4 998 1
2 Miami ( 2) 24- 5-7 940 2
3 Wisconsin 21- 8-4 907 3
4 St. Cloud State 20-10-4 833 4
5 Boston College 20-10-2 738 7
6 Yale 19- 7-3 723 5
7 North Dakota 18-11-5 714 8
8 Bemidji State 22- 8-2 671 6
9 Cornell 17- 8-4 601 9
10 New Hampshire 16-10-6 544 11
11 Michigan State 19-11-6 489 12
12 Minnesota-Duluth 19-14-1 457 10
13 Ferris State 19-11-6 339 14
14 Alaska 16- 9-9 332 17
15 Colorado College 17-14-3 252 13
16 Vermont 15-11-6 221 18
17 Maine 16-13-3 212 16
18 Union 18-10-6 183 15
19 Northern Michigan 17-11-8 146 NR
20 Nebraska-Omaha 18-14-6 110 19
Others Receiving Votes: RIT 36, Mass.-Lowell 35, Boston University 7, Colgate 6, Michigan 5, Northeastern 1

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

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Mar. 1, 2010]
1 Denver (32) 24-6-4 508 1
2 Miami (Ohio) (2) 24-5-7 476 2
3 Wisconsin 21-8-4 443 3
4 St. Cloud State 20-10-4 397 4
5 Boston College 20-10-2 345 7
6 Yale 19-7-3 323 5
7 North Dakota 18-11-5 318 8
8 Bemidji State 22-8-2 279 6
9 Cornell 17-8-4 231 9
10 New Hampshire 16-10-6 217 10
11 Michigan State 19-11-6 146 13
12 Minnesota Duluth 19-14-1 138 11
13 Alaska - Fairbanks 16-9-9 100 NR
14 Ferris State 19-11-6 54 14
15 Colorado College 17-14-3 30 12
Others receiving votes: University of Maine, 26; University of Vermont, 19; University of Nebraska Omaha, 9; Rochester Institute of Technology, 8; Union College, 8; Northern Michigan University, 4; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1.

St Cloud Player, Aaron Marvin Suspended 3 Games

Good.

MADISON, Wis. – The Western Collegiate Hockey Association today (March 1) announced it has suspended St. Cloud State University junior hockey player Aaron Marvin for the next three games as a result of his actions in a recent game played at the University of Wisconsin on February 20.

The supplemental disciplinary action was taken after discussions between officials at St. Cloud State University and the WCHA Executive Committee and Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod.

“Player safety is of paramount concern to all of us in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and players are responsible for conducting themselves in a proper manner,” said Nancy Sampson, Faculty Representative from the University of Denver and Chair of the Association and Commissioner McLeod in a joint statement. “Our student-athletes need to make every possible effort to play within the spirit of the rules and know that they will be held accountable for their actions.

“The Association, through its administrators and officials and member team administrators, coaches and student-athletes, will continue to work together to address concerns in a responsible and constructive way.”

This is certainly well deserved. It's nice that the WCHA is finally taking dirty hits seriously.

One has to wonder if the league had taken the Aaron Marvin hit on Chay Gennoway seriously if Blake Geoffrion would have been injured the way he was.

Edit: Links to the story

Goal Gophers; WCHA suspends St. Cloud State's co-captain

Puck and Bats; WCHA suspends Marvin 3 games (updated)

60 Minutes, No alibis, No Regrets; Erin Marvin Suspended three games

North Dakota Hockey Blog; Marvin suspended three games

Rink and Run; WCHA suspends Marvin

College Hockey News; WCHA Suspends Marvin 3 Games

Western College Hockey; Marvin Suspended Three Games

Grand Forks Herald; HOCKEY: WCHA suspends SCSU's Aaron Marvin for three games

Saint Cloud Times; WCHA suspends SCSU forward Marvin 3 games

Madison.com; Geoffrion returns to practice; St. Cloud's Marvin suspended

The Ciskie Blog; Aaron Marvin First Victim of WCHA Late-Season Crackdown

Dave Shyiak does his George Gwozdecky impersonation

I would like to see the tape on this one, I am sure it was entertaining for the fans at the arena. I want to go on the record and say that I think Dave Shyiak is a good coach and has done a pretty good job coaching the Seawolves, all things considered. Look at the teams the Seawolves have beaten this season.

This past weekend it sounds like UAA coach Dave Shyiak did his impersonation of the dasher dance after the Seawolves were the victim of a bad call by the on ice officials. I have also read a few comments from fans that said that UAA coach Dave Shyiak should be suspended by the WCHA after he threw a water bottle onto the ice and was ejected from Saturday night's 3-2 Governor's Cup loss at UAF. Why? I believe that Shyiak has been punished enough and I don’t expect the WCHA to do anything additionally. Why should they? The WCHA did nothing to the DU coach George Gwozdecky until it was discovered that he had communicated with the DU bench after his ejection.

Unofficially, DU and their fans cheered the performance by George Gwozdecky and the University of Denver issued a flimsy meaningless reprimand. So if the WCHA does anything to Shyiak I am calling foul, because the WCHA would be showing a double standard giving punishment for one act but doing nothing for the same thing. If anything it’s about time the coaches show a little more emotion and help bring to light the shoddy officiating in division one hockey. Below is the statement from the UAA Athletic Director Steve Cobb.

Statement from Dr. Steve Cobb, UAA Director of Athletics - Feb. 28, 2010 ---- "On behalf of the University of Alaska Anchorage athletic department, I sincerely apologize to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, game officials and to UAA supporters for Coach Dave Shyiak's behavior on Saturday night that resulted in a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct and 10-minute game misconduct penalty.

Coach Shyiak's actions were out of character and regrettable. At UAA we have high behavioral standards, not just for student-athletes, but for all department employees. He has received a formal reprimand for his actions and understands that his behavior was unacceptable.

Respect for our opponents and officials is a core value of UAA's athletic program and will remain so in the future. We expect our coaches to model the highest degree of sportsmanship." [goseawolves.com]

INCH Power Rankings

As always I post the INCH Power Rankings for discussion purposes.

1. Denver
2. Miami
3. Wisconsin
4. St. Cloud State
5. Yale
6. North Dakota — Forward Matt Frattin, who didn't score a goal in his first 11 games after returning from a first-half suspension, has five in the Sioux's last five outings including the game-winner in overtime Friday at Colorado College. 18-11-5 (13-10-3 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Colorado College, 3-2 ot; W at Colorado College, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech, vs. Michigan Tech
7. Cornell
8. Boston College
9. Michigan State
10. Bemidji State
12. Union
13. Minnesota Duluth
14. Ferris State
15. Alaska
16. RIT
17. Colorado College
18. Maine
19. Northern Michigan

Dropped out: Boston University
Bubble-licious: Vermont, Colgate

USA something to be proud of; Olympic hockey finish

I was reading the blog post by Redwing77 I got to thinking, US College Hockey has come a long ways. Look at the list of players and where they came from. The best goalie in the Olympics was a colligate hockey player from Michigan State and a Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner. Two of the top forwards Zach Parise USA, Jonathan Toews Canada, came from my alma mater the University of North Dakota. The Top Defensive hockey player was an Wisconsin Badger Brian Rafalski, or as I like to say he is a "dirty Badger", I know I am kidding.

The purpose of this post is not about beating my chests and saying that the NCAA division one hockey is better than the CHL because, I don’t believe this an argument we need to have, I think it's counter productive. I think both hockey associations serve their purpose and both have their strong points. I think it’s just a good time to give recognition where recognition is due, college hockey produces some really good hockey players. Based on the USA WJC finish and the Olympics hockey results, I also think that the USA is closing the gap with the Canadians in hockey.

I also like what Ron Wilson and Brian Burke are trying to do with Team USA, they built a team around players that buy into the name on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back. This team also excelled when many thought they would be on the outside looking in. Does it sound like a sports cliché? Yeah it does. I only wish there had been another miracle on ice.

Goaltender: Ryan MILLER (USA) Michigan State University
Defenceman: Brian RAFALSKI (USA)University of Wisconsin
Defenceman: Shea WEBER (CAN)Kelowna Rockets WHL
Forward: Pavol DEMITRA (SVK) ZTS Dubnica
Forward: Jonathan TOEWS (CAN) University of North Dakota
Forward: Zach PARISE (USA) University of North Dakota
Most valuable player: Ryan MILLER (USA)

Tournament Directorate Best Player Awards
Goaltender: Ryan MILLER (USA)
Defenceman: Brian RAFALSKI (USA)
Forward: Jonathan TOEWS (CAN)
Cross posted @ the Sin Bin

Gods Absent: Olympic Selection Committee cited for Atheism

Ok, another cynical post but actually...

The Olympics named their "All Star Team" and MVPs. And guess what! Both Gods are absent just like they were all tourney long!

Sidney "Jesus" Crosby and Alexander Ovech-Christ didn't make the the All-Olympic Team.

Who did? Why, 1 foreigner, 1 Major Junior alum, and FOUR former collegians.

TWO of them former Sioux and THREE of them former WCHA players.

SUCK IT DON CHERRY!

Ryan Miller got the MVP and Top Goaltender awards. Well, gee, thank you Team Canada for starting out with Brodeur or I think Luongo would have gotten this award.

Brian Rafalski got top D. Former UW player. Former Devil. Current Red Wing. Booyah.

Parise and Toews on the Forwards listing with Toews getting top forward. Suck it Crosby. That's not fair! Sid will always be tops in McGuire, Milbury, and Cherry's books. I'm sure there was some conspiracy as to why Crosby didn't get named to the list.

Shea Weber and Pavol Demitra got the other honors. HEH! Former Wild Demitra. HEH!

To be honest, Shea Weber was amazing defensively but I can't believe he got the award because usually these things favor the offensive dmen. Weber might've done ok in the offensive zone, but I thought his best work came playing defense.

Demitra... nice to see. The Slovaks should've won Bronze. Finland seemed ripe to choke after not showing up to the USA game.

Anyways, here's the list (from CTV Olympics):

Goaltender: Ryan MILLER (USA)

Defenceman: Brian RAFALSKI (USA)

Defenceman: Shea WEBER (CAN)

Forward: Pavol DEMITRA (SVK)

Forward: Jonathan TOEWS (CAN)

Forward: Zach PARISE (USA)

Most valuable player: Ryan MILLER (USA)

Tournament Directorate Best Player Awards

Goaltender: Ryan MILLER (USA)

Defenceman: Brian RAFALSKI (USA)

Forward: Jonathan TOEWS (CAN)

RATS! Congrats.

Oh well. What can I say? Congrats to Canada for squeaking out a Gold Medal. To be honest, I'm not surprised they won. They were the clear cut favorites all tourney long (screw you Vanbiesbrouck, they were. Accept it and move on). USA wasn't even supposed to medal.

To make matters better, it was actually a good game! Toews got a goal. Parise with a HUGE game tying goal with just 24 seconds left. When they went to OT, I said to myself "Hey, we made a game of it. I'd still like to win, but if Canada wins in OT, I'll be ok with it... provided..." You guessed it. Provided Jesus Crosby didn't make any noise in OT. Well, he got the game winner. And Vanbiesbrouck and Gillstein (I think that's what that putz's name was) went nuts. But let me back this up a bit...

I knew they would go nuts. How? Well, they've been practically drooling over the Canada D all game long. No, not even that got me thinking they would. What got me thinking they would was during the initial part of the intermission between the 3rd period and OT. They said "Team Canada played the third period perfectly. They just lost track of one player..." WAIT A BLEEPING MINUTE HERE.....

What're you saying, pal? If they played a "perfect 3rd period" this game would have been OVER in regulation! Losing Parise wasn't a mistake? Seriously, they couldn't admit that the Canadians made a mistake and Parise made them pay. This isn't a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial. Oh well.

Then Sidney Crosby potted the game winner on a beautiful pass by, IIRC, Rick Nash. I'm happy for Nash. I'm happy for Toews, but the radio commentators played it like this: "The legend wins it! The legend of Sidney Crosby gets even bigger!" Uh......... Nope.

You see, legends aren't born WHILE THE PERSON IS STILL ALIVE. Here's Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary's definiton of the term legend:

1 a : a story coming down from the past; especially : one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable b : a body of such stories c : a popular myth of recent origin d : a person or thing that inspires legends e : the subject of a legend (http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/legend)

You see, this isn't exactly accurate. Sidney Crosby's accomplishments aren't a story coming down from the past that is popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable. It's not a body of such stories. The stories might be of recent origin, but it is no myth. Sidney Crosby MIGHT accomplish 1(d) and/or 1(e) of the definition, but right now? How many stories are being spawned about the prowess of Sidney Crosby? I can't speak about things in Canada, so there might be something to it there. But there's nothing in the U.S. And, if you've never seen a hockey game, nor tuned into these Olympics, nor watched NHL Network, there's a decent chance as an American that you've never even heard of Sidney Crosby. HARDLY legendary.

Fancy the fact that I still run into students in OMAHA, NE that know who Wayne Gretzky is. How would they know or care about Gretzky when they have a "legend" playing right now in Crosby?

Look, I know it looks like I dislike Sidney Crosby. He's a great player and surely Hall of Fame quality at this pace... but he's not there yet. Let's let him get there before we crown him and start worshipping him like some sort of Sports God.

Yeah, Milbury, McGuire, and Cherry, you got your two wishes: Canada wins Gold and Crosby pots the Gold Medal winning goal. But Crosby was NOT the best player on the ice during this Olympics. He wasn't even the best player on the ice in this game!

Here's my 3 Stars of this game:

1st Star: Roberto Luongo
2nd Star: Ryan Miller
3rd Star: Zach Parise

Honorable Mention: Rich Nash, CAN; Ryan Kesler, USA; Sidney Crosby, CAN

Yeah, I know Crosby scored the game winner, but if Luongo hadn't played the best game I've EVER seen him play, and the Canada D hadn't played good when Luongo wasn't facing pressure, would Crosby even have been necessary? Crosby was a COMPLETE NON FACTOR until OT. Arguably, wasn't a factor for all but this game and the game against the Swiss!

Hardly a "legend."

Let's give props to where it lies: Congrats to TEAM Canada. They won. They did so fairly. They played GREAT. They deserved it.

And now, with the Closing Ceremonies commencing, we can say good bye to NBC's crappy coverage and return MSNBC and CNBC back to where it belongs: Obscurity.

Don Cherry predicts Canada will win...

I must admit that I am nervous for today's game because I don't think the Americans are going to sneak up on Canada. Ryan Miller is going to have to bring his "A" game in net to beat the Canadians. Cherry is right there are going to be a lot of pucks on net today. The Americans need to play smart, get pucks deep and not give up odd man rushes to the Canadians.

It may be the most anticipated hockey game in Canadian history.

And with national pride at stake — and some serious ice bragging rights on the line — the country’s biggest puckhead has made his prediction.

“I am calling it 5-3 for Team Canada,” declares Don Cherry.

It won’t be long now until we find out.

At 3:15 p.m. Sunday, the country will gather together to watch the gold medal match between Canada and the United States for hockey supremacy.

“It just shows you the interest in hockey, the greatest game in the world,” Cherry said.

And today, he said, Canada will prove once again we are the best at it?

“I am pretty sure we will but it won’t be easy,” said Cherry. “Ryan Miller has been excellent in the American’s goal and has only allowed five goals in five games. They are going to have to earn it.”

The coverage on CTV has been stellar throughout but a lot of hockey fans miss hearing The Coach’s take on each development. He will be back on CBC’s Coach’s Corner next week but American fans will get a taste of Grapes on NBC today.[Toronto Sun ]

UND sits at 6th in the PWR

Here is the latest Pairwise Rankings. UND has gone an impressive 5-1 in the last 6 games, all of them against teams that sitting higher than them in the WCHA standings. Also, as Brad Elliot Schlossman mentioned that UND has made up 10 points in 15 days on C.C. in my opinion that is an impressive run. It wasn't long ago that I was ready to give UND the paddle and put them on life support.

1 Denver1 24 0.5885 24-6-4 0.7647 Feb 27 Mankato
2 Miami2 23 0.5845 24-5-7 0.7639 Feb 27 Ohio State
3 Wisconsin 22 0.5712 21-8-4 0.6970 Feb 27 MTech
4 St Cloud St 19 0.5581 20-10-4 0.6471
5 Bemidji State 19 0.5522 22-8-2 0.7188 Feb 27 Nebraska-Omaha
6 North Dakota 18 0.5527 18-11-5 0.6029 Feb 27 CC
7 Boston College 18 0.5501 20-10-2 0.6562 Feb 26 Massachusetts
8 Yale 17 0.5458 19-7-3 0.7069 Feb 27 Quinnipiac
9 New Hampshire 16 0.5437 16-10-6 0.5938 Feb 27 Northeastern
10 Alaska 16 0.5357 16-9-9 0.6029 Feb 27 AA
11 Cornell 14 0.5359 17-8-4 0.6552 Feb 27 Rensselaer
12 Michigan State 12 0.5335 19-11-6 0.6111 Feb 27 Bowling Green
13 Minnesota-Duluth 11 0.5362 19-14-1 0.5735 Feb 27 UMN
14 Ferris State 11 0.5351 19-11-6 0.6111 Feb 27 Western Michigan
15 Northern Michigan 10 0.5310 17-11-8 0.5833 Feb 27 Lake Superior
16 Vermont 10 0.5282 14-11-6 0.5484 Feb 26 Boston University Feb 28 Boston University
17 Maine 9 0.5284 16-13-3 0.5469 Feb 27 Merrimack
18 Nebraska-Omaha 6 0.5255 18-14-6 0.5526 Feb 27 Bemidji State
19 Union 6 0.5223 18-10-6 0.6176 Feb 27 Colgate
20 Colorado College 5 0.5319 17-14-3 0.5441 Feb 27 UND
21 Boston University 5 0.5150 14-14-3 0.5000 Feb 26 Vermont Feb 28 Vermont
22 Mass.-Lowell 4 0.5192 17-14-3 0.5441 Feb 27 Providence
23 Northeastern 3 0.5204 16-14-2 0.5312 Feb 27 New Hampshire
24 Minnesota 2 0.5201 16-16-2 0.5000 Feb 27 UMD
25 Michigan 0 0.5147 19-17-1 0.5270 Feb 27 Notre Dame

Cam Janssen hit on Matt Bradley

Since the NHL will return on March 1st I thought we would get back in the swing of things. This is the latest controversial hit from the NHL that will cost Blues tough guy Cam Janssen 5 games. I was kind of surprised that it was worthy of a 5 game suspension, but I digress, because you can never really guess what the Colin Campbell wheel of justice is going to yield. What do you think?

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues forward Cam Janssen received a five-game suspension from the NHL on Thursday for his Feb. 13 hit to the head on Matt Bradley of the Washington Capitals.

Janssen must forfeit $14,248 and will miss the Blues' first five games once they return from the Olympic break from March 2-13. He is eligible to return March 14 against Minnesota.

Janssen received a five-minute major interference for the first-period hit along the boards. He also was challenged to a fight by Washington's Quintin Laing, with Laing picking up a two-minute instigator penalty, two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct.

Janssen was eventually assessed a game misconduct penalty.

EDIT: It's been a tough season for Matt Bradley this is the same guy that Flyers hack Daniel Carcillo smoked.

Sioux clinch home ice for the WCHA playoffs

The Fighting Sioux have a 3-0 record when I don't listen or watch them play. I know what you’re thinking, it’s not going to happen. The first win was when UND won in Duluth the first night of the two game series back in December when I was in Bemidji to watch the Beavers play the Purple Eagles. Add 2-0 this past weekend I was at the state hockey tourney in Grand Forks, ND watching the Central Knights win the 2010 state tourney.

Central Knights 2010 champs

Let me just say congrats to the Grand Forks Central Knights for winning the State title. Your hard work, dedication and focus finally payed off tonight. I can remember two years ago the Central Knights were sitting in the stands after they failed to make the tourney and you could see it in their eyes that they wanted to be there, tonight was their night. The 2009-2010 Knights were a impressive group of hockey players with a stifling defense and it only seems right that you end the year with a shutout. Senior goalie Seth Lang got his 13 shut out of the season.

Sioux play air tight defense

With the Sweep at C.C. the Sioux clinch home ice for the WCHA playoffs. I remember it wasn't too long ago most of us that UND was going to be on the road for the WCHA playoffs. Just when you think the Sioux are down and out Coach Hakstol pulls a rabbit out of his hat. The Sioux are 5-1 in their last 6 games and have won 5 straight games. For 2010 the Sioux have a 9-5-2 record. In the last 5 games the Sioux haven’t given up more than two goals and have beaten the teams above them in the standings. The Sioux are the top defensive team in the WCHA and are ranked third nationally giving up 2.18 goals per game.

Frattin Smoking hot

Matt Frattin remain hot this weekend as the junior forward had (2g-2a-4pts) for the weekend, you would think he would get some consideration this week for offensive player of the week. Just a gage on how hot Frattin has been he had 8 points in February and the Sioux didn’t play one weekend. I can only imagine how the season could have gone for him if he hadn't screwed up last summer. I honestly think Frattin could have scored 15-20 goals this season. Matt Frattin has an amazing shot and his potential upside is not yet tapped. Brad Malone (1g-4a-5pts) and Evan Trupp also had a good weekend has he picked up (0g-3g-3pts) for the weekend.
[Friday's box score] [Saturday's box score]

WCHA wheels of justice squeak to a halt

In reading this article; do you see a potential problem? It’s almost a week later and the league still hasn’t made a decision on Aaron Marvin’s status for next weekend. If this was the NHL the NLPA would be all over this. This is a joke, either suspend the player in question or not. This hit in question is either worthy of additional supplemental punishment or it’s not. What is taking so long? This is why the WCHA league administrators are looked at with contempt. It’s incidents like this that make the WCHA leadership look like a Kangaroo Court but also makes them look like a bunch of bumbling buffoons.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said Friday that there is a potential violation stemming from last Saturday's St. Cloud State game at Wisconsin and the Huskies are in the process of an appeal.

The "potential violation" in question is Huskies forward Aaron Marvin's center-ice shoulder-to-head hit on Badgers captain Blake Geoffrion. No penalty was called but Geoffrion was knocked out of the game and is missing this weekend's series at Michigan Tech because of a concussion.

"We're into the process and St. Cloud was notified Sunday of the potential violation in our view," McLeod said. "It's been a little slower than normal coming to a resolution in part because we have the luxury, I guess, of St. Cloud not playing this weekend. We want to get through this as quickly as possible. I don't think anything would happen before (early next week). But we know (SCSU coach Bob Motzko) and his team needs to prepare for the series ahead so we want to do something as early as we can."

McLeod said he could not discuss the specifics of the violation or the hit on Geoffrion until after the process is completed.

Reading between the lines here, it seems all but certain Marvin will face some penalty next week and could miss one or both games of the regular-season finale against Minnesota State-Mankato. If senior defenseman Garrett Raboin (who suffered an ankle injury on a questionable hit by Badgers forward Aaron Bendickson) also can't play, the Huskies would be without both of their captains. [Pucks and Bats]