TSN TOP 50 PLAYERS: 2010 EDITION

Two former UND Fighting Sioux hockey players made the TOP 20 of the TSN top 50 players.

3. F - Jonathan Toews (1,398)
16. F - Zach Parise (1,047)

A couple of things (Sioux Hockey)

As the summer winds down and the days gets shorter and the weather gets colder, on can only notice that college hockey is back on the “radar”. This weekend the Fighting Sioux travel to the last frontier to play in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. There is good news for Sioux hockey fans that have Midco as their cable carrier.

Fighting Sioux --- This weekend's games will be broadcast live on the Fighting Sioux Sports Network on cable systems in North Dakota and Minnesota. FSSN is picking up the GCI production of both games.

A video webcast of Friday's game against UAA can be purchased at www.GoSeawolves.com, where FREE live stats are also available. There will not be a video webcast for Saturday's UND-UAF game, but FREE live stats will be available. Live audio of both games can be heard at FightingSioux.com.

All UND home games are broadcast live on the Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Midco Sports Network and Fox College Sports Central. Sunday's game will also be carried live on DirecTV 617.

Since the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team plays the big slow, lumbering team from UAA I thought I would direct your attention to something Delusions of Grandeur had to say about UND. Let's hope Aaron Dell shuts out UAA again this season. Also, Sioux7 is making the trip this week so hopefully we will get a full report from Alaska when he gets back.

North Dakota

It is finally the last year that this team is allowed to continue using it's offensive nickname in the NCAA. Thank christ for that. UND returns eleven skaters as upperclassmen this season. That 11 may very well equal SCSU's 15 in terms of overall talent.

But their 8 sophomore skaters could likely drive this team. There is definitely a lot of scoring potential in their sophomore class. UND will be tough across all four lines. And all four lines will be potential scoring lines.

Sure, they could be the WCHA team to get to the Frozen Four and kill kittens. But I think that just like every other year when UND puts Minnesota in their rear mirror they'll lose the motivation that keeps them so ultra competitive in the WCHA. So they'll finish 2nd in the league. They'll finish 3rd or 4th at the Final Five. Then lose to lower seeded B.C. in the first round.

Don't think for a second that I don't see this talent-laden roster. There's a bunch of real goal scorers on it; Cichy, Knight, Rowney, Gregoire, Kristo. But the mantle of "dealing with personalties" has shifted a bit from it's ever-presence at Minnesota to UND. Those fucking guys all know they're studs.

Okay? So yah ... you manage that. They also better hope Eidsness is good to go all year. Because they're going to ride that boy like they rode Lammy.

This is what Dean Blais had to say on media day. Looks like UNO might get a new hockey arena on campus.

12:32 p.m.: UNO's Dean Blais spoke Tuesday afternoon on the WCHA coaches teleconference. Here's some of the highlights of what the legendary coach -- who led North Dakota to NCAA titles in 1997 and 2000 -- had to say:

>>“We're glad to be in WCHA. It's a great bunch of guys, as far as coaches … and even the referees -- we kind of enjoyed (seeing them) last week when we played British Columbia. We had a good crowd here, we had 5,700 fans, and won 6-1. We had five different players scoring, and it was a really exciting game.”

>>“A new building, like Duluth and Bemidji, is hopefully going to be announced here. We've got three more years at the Qwest Center, then we want to break ground in the spring, and it will take about two years to build. They're thinking 7,500 to around 8,000 (seats). Details should be out hopefully within a month or two.”

INCH gives Sioux the kiss of death

In case you haven't seen it, INCH has The Great 58 up and they have University of North Dakota ranked number one. I would say that B.C. should be number one because they are the reigning NCAA champ and they returned most of their good players.

1. North Dakota - A crucial four-week stretch of October and November for the Sioux has home series with Denver and UMD sandwiched between trips to Maine and Wisconsin.
2. Boston College
3. Miami
4. Michigan
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. St. Cloud State
7. Yale
8. Maine
9. New Hampshire
10. Alaska
11. Denver
12. Union
13. Rensselaer
14. Boston University
15. Cornell
16. Notre Dame
17. Michigan State
18. Minnesota
19. Wisconsin
20. RIT

Michael Cammalleri Slash on Nino Niederreiter

In looking at this video I don't think a one game suspension is a stiff enough punishment for this egregious act. The slash by former Michigan Wolverine hack Mike Cammalleri on Nino Niederreiter is a bush league move and there is no room in hockey for this type of crap. Cammalleri should be out at least 2-4 games in my opinion.

Poll Monday

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[October 4, 2010]
1 Boston College (45) 29-10-3 993 3
2 North Dakota ( 3) 25-13-5 935 4
3 Miami ( 2) 29- 8-7 892 1
4 St. Cloud State 24-14-5 749 7
5 Michigan 26-18-1 741 11
6 Yale 21-10-3 719 8
7 Maine 19-17-3 639 18
8 Minnesota-Duluth 22-17-1 618 14
9 Denver 27-10-4 534 2
10 New Hampshire 18-14-7 510 12
11 Cornell 21- 9-4 509 6
12 Alaska 18-12-9 435 17
13 Wisconsin 28-11-4 295 5
14 Boston University 18-17-3 280 NR
15 Minnesota 18-19-2 271 NR
16 Michigan State 19-13-6 191 19
17 Notre Dame 13-17-8 156 NR
18 RIT 28-12-1 152 20
19 Union 21-12-6 136 16
20 Colorado College 19-17-3 127 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Vermont 105, Bemidji State 101, Northern Michigan 96, Ferris State 83, Nebraska-Omaha 49, Northeastern 39, Rensselaer 32, Mercyhurst 31, Quinnipiac 18, Merrimack 15, Ohio State 13, Colgate 9, St. Lawrence 5, Air Force 4, Mass.-Lowell 2, Robert Morris 1

Sioux 5 - Bisons 2

First; I thought the game was kind of a yawner and the Sioux played very sloppy at times, however, that is probably to be expected since they haven’t had many practices under their belt, I was told that the Fighting Sioux hockey team had like one practice before this game. I also thought Manitoba was a bit cheap and took a lot of runs that UND’s skilled players. I am not sure I would put them in the hack category but they did seem to play with a bit of a edge. It’s one thing to play hard but I don’t think it’s necessary to try and start a brawl during an exhibition game, we would like to save the brawling for conference opponents like the Pioneers and the Gophers.

Second; I thought that Manitoba Bison defenseman Chris Benias and Zachery Tully were a couple of punks. Tully’s hit on Pointer in the corner during the third period was unacceptable and should have been a penalty, I don’t know if it was of the “Major Penalty” variety but it was definitely a hit to the head and could have been five and a game misconduct. Here is the video from the NCAA ice hockey rules committee and at 12:00 they show the definition of major penalty for hits to the head.

Just a few observations from last night's game...

Corban Knight – I thought Knight played well last night and looked good playing at the center. I also thought Knight played a strong physical game. I think Corban Knight is ready to break out this season and fill the net with pucks the up side on this kid is very good.

Mike “Ocho” Cichy – I thought Mike Cichy looked pretty good last night and it would be a plus to have him playing at a higher level to start the season. Last year coach Hakstol said that Cichy came into came out of shape and this season Mike appears to be leaner and in better shape. From the sidelines it would appear that his hard work might have paid off.

Derek Forbort – I think that Forbort is going to fit right into the Sioux line up and didn’t look out of place at one bit. I was impressed with Forbort’s poise in the defensive zone.

Chay Genoway – I think Chay looked a little rusty from only playing nine games last season but I believe he will get back up to speed after a few games and practices.

Brock Nelson – I think Nelson showed us a glimpse of the future and will only get better as the season unwinds. I also expect that he will gain some much needed muscle during the season as he gets into the weight room.

Matt Frattin – Wow! What can you say but Fratts was a beast last night, he looks bigger, stronger, faster, meaner and ready to make an impact on the WCHA. His shot from the point last night on the power play was a laser and it appeared as if it was shot out of a howitzer.

Dillon Simpson – Although he didn’t play that much, I thought that Simpson looked a bit like a deer in the head lights last night. I would say that he will probably be the extra to start the season for the Sioux on defense.



Goon's three stars of the game

(1) Corban Knight
(2) Jason Gregoire
(3) Matt Frattin

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

MTB-1 Tyler Dittmer (2-Slashing) NDK 0x1 1:19
NDK-1 Brad Malone (2-Tripping) MTB 1x1 2:16
MTB 1 - 0 6x5 PP Dane Crowley (Ian Duval, Blair Macaulay) 3:38
MTB: 5,18,26,11,4,G34 NDK: 4,21,24,19,G31
MTB-2 Blair Macaulay (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 6:48
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Corban Knight (Brett Hextall, Jason Gregoire) 14:20
NDK (+): 10,26,4,17,24,G31
NDK 2 - 1 6x6 LL Jason Gregoire (Derek Forbort) 17:25
NDK (+): 17,4,10,26,24,G31 MTB (-): 11,26,15,19,4,G34

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

NDK 3 - 1 6x6 GW Brett Hextall (Jason Gregoire) 1:11
NDK (+): 26,17,24,4,10,G31 MTB (-): 3,23,4,21,9,G34
MTB-3 Troy Crowley (2-Interference) NDK 0x3 1:44
NDK-2 Mario Lamoureux (2-Interference) MTB 1x2 4:57
MTB-4 Troy Crowley (2-Slashing) NDK 1x4 13:11
MTB-5 Travis Mealy (2-Slashing) NDK 2x5 13:58
NDK 4 - 1 6x4 PP Matt Frattin (Corban Knight, Derek Forbort) 14:16
NDK: 21,10,22,4,19,G32 MTB: 19,2,5,G34
NDK 5 - 1 6x5 PP Brad Malone (Matt Frattin, Brock Nelson) 15:11
NDK: 22,21,29,19,4,G32 MTB: 3,10,4,17,G34

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

NDK-3 Evan Trupp (2-High-Sticking) MTB 1x3 0:05
MTB-6 Chad Erb (2-Roughing) 4:05
MTB-7 Tyler Dittmer (2-Roughing) 4:05
MTB-8 Chris Benias (2-Roughing) 4:05
MTB-9 Zachery Tully (2-Tripping) NDK 2x6 4:05
MTB-10 Zachery Tully (2-Roughing) NDK 2x7 4:05
NDK-4 Derek Forbort (2-Roughing) 4:05
NDK-5 Ben Blood (2-Roughing) 4:05
NDK-6 Corban Knight (2-Roughing) 4:05
MTB 2 - 5 6x6 Mike Hellyer (Blair Macaulay, Dane Crowley) 9:18
MTB (+): 11,26,5,15,18,G34 NDK (-): 22,19,24,26,4,G32
MTB-11 Dane Crowley (2-Holding) NDK 2x8 9:54
MTB-12 Dane Crowley (2-Roughing) 12:13
MTB-13 Dane Crowley (2-Roughing) 12:13
NDK-7 Mario Lamoureux (2-Roughing) 12:13
NDK-8 Mario Lamoureux (2-Roughing) 12:13
NDK-9 Chay Genoway (2-High-Sticking) MTB 1x4 14:21

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

UND 5, the OTHER Bisons 2

Holy Crap! We had to come from behind against the Bisons! Fire Hakstol! Bench Eidsness! Call a Priest to put our season 6 feet into the ground!

No, seriously, it was just an exhibition game, so I won't pontificate on our season based off of this game. However...

Jason Gregoire and Corbin Knight had great games offensively. Derek Forbort was head and shoulders the best freshman on the ice.

I didn't get as much out of this game than perhaps Goon did (however, I THINK I saw Goon on the FSSN feed for a fleet second...), but those three stood out the most to me.

Brock Nelson will eventually be pretty good, but he wasn't the best on the ice.

Also, Chay Genoway did ok, but he did have his rough moments.

I also thought the officials did a passable job tonight...except when it came to protecting the players safety. Derek LaPoint was checked into the boards from behind, no call. I thought for a second that Don Adam was officiating but I remembered that he wasn't. How'd I know? Because if he had, he'd've done two things in the aftermath of the play:

1. He would have called LaPoint for a 10 minute misconduct for telling him that he wasn't doing his job. (By the way, I found out Don Adam guest starred on South Park. You can see him right here.)
2. He would have found a way to give Manitoba the powerplay. He'd've probably added a 2 minute minor to LaPoint for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Manitoba actually played very well all things considered. Steve Christie played alright. He didn't do a great job on Malone's goal. Erb and Dudar did a decent job as well.

They Sioux looked like they hadn't played together at all in the first period (which, except for one practice and a handful of captain's practices, was true) but played better and better as the game wore on. I also thought the first period was also where they missed Kristo the most. Manitoba scored simply by throwing the puck on net. It deflected off of Blood's skate and voila. Danny Kristo isn't afraid to shoot the puck, which, up until that point, was basically what the Sioux seemed to need. No one shot the puck. They tried to be too cute and flashy.

Of course, I've always been a strong proponent of "when in doubt, shoot the puck" as well as the adages "No goals have ever been scored on a pass" and "The more you pass on the power play the more your opponent gets away with too many men on the ice." To further beat the dead horse, a garbage goal is just as good as a highlight reel goal and are much easier to come by.

Anyways, we've got a little work to do before we play Anchorage.

Annnnnnnnnd We're off!

The season is 25 hours and change away when we start the season with the OTHER Bison skating to (hopefully) defeat in the Ralph.

Thus begins the last season as the Fighting Sioux and the following as whatever lame toothless name the idiots on the SBoHE and the UND Administration pigeonhole us into.

But I digress, HOCKEY!

Manitoba boasts a ton of "talent" with again being the team to actually bring a bunch of 25 year old Canadians back to Grand Forks. So, once again, this is the one time a season where Minnesota fans can point at Grand Forks and say that there is a hockey team playing there full of 25 year old Canadians and be right.

Manitoba is a classy program even if the CIAU (or whatever they now call it) is truly a third tier hockey league. To be honest, I'd love to see a USHL team, a DIII team, and a MJ team play a CIAU team and see who would win. I think a USHL team could give them a run for their money and both the DIII and MJ teams have a very good chance at winning.

Anyways, Manitoba brings back 2 former 7th rounders and 2 former 6th round draft picks. A few of their players have actually played pro hockey, in either the AHL or overseas. Their starting goaltender will undoubtedly be Steve Christie, though their backup was, at one time, the Brandon Wheat Kings' rookie of the year before his performance slowly faded into fail.

Once again, Manitoba brings to Grand Forks a washed out ex-NCAA player. The first time it was some former NMU defenseman whose name I don't care too much to remember or even look up. This time it is former Bemidji State University defenseman Joey Moggach.

Just once, I'd like to bring in that team in Alberta that Graeme Harrington transferred to or perhaps U Alberta or U British Columbia to see what they can do. But who cares really. And then there's real news.

We start things off with a little backwards movement: UND Forward and reigning WCHA Rookie of the Year Danny Kristo did something stupid and got caught. Unlike Finley, Kristo wasn't able to do something unique in getting caught doing something stupid, but it was stupid nonetheless. So, he starts the season when UND heads to Alaska.

I'll take flak for this but.... I think Kristo should sit a regular season game in addition to the exhibition. I know that there is some power to sitting him tomorrow because the Sioux start the regular season on the road facing hapless UAA and less hapless UAF and being on the ice when the Sioux skate out with the Broadmoor would be special, but... No.

I think Kristo sitting against UAA would send the message double time without Hakstol hurting the team any more than is absolutely necessary. I think we could bench half our forwards and still win against UAA though.

Speaking of UAA....

They lose Kane LaFranchise for a semester because he actually found something to do other than go to classes last Spring or Summer! Maybe it was the endless sunlight or temps over the freezing point of water that distracted him? I dunno. In any case, UAA goes into the season without much in the way of scoring, nothing in the way of proven goaltending (even MTU has that!) and now, almost nothing in the way of defense.

Looks like my prediction of picking UAA dead last (while Goon and the rest of the media world went with MTU and even MSUM finishing behind UAA!) may become reality. Don't worry, folks, I'll be sure to taunt Goon mercilessly on his blog over this should a Redwing77 Prediction actually come true. Why? Because, to my knowledge, this would be the first time one of my predictions even remotely came true!

Kristo will sit for Sunday's game

According to RWD’s favorite beat writer Brad Schlossman, Sophmore forward Danny Kristo will be sitting out for the exhibition game against Manitoba because he was cited for underage drinking. I hope once the season begins that the Fighting Sioux hockey players focus on the task at hand. Unacceptable!

Sophomore forward Danny Kristo will be benched for Sunday’s exhibition against Manitoba after being cited for drinking underage.

UND announced the suspension for violating team rules today. Kristo will be eligible to return to the team for the first regular-season game against Alaska-Anchorage next weekend.

Blais on the BTHC

I have to agree with Dean Blais on this one, what does Barry Alvarez really know about hockey? I think the Big Ten should concentrate on things that they do well;  like Basketball and Football championships. These athletic directors are messing with college hockey that is already successful and there is a delicate balance that they could upset if they get greedy.

Q: What's your take on the Big Ten possibly starting a hockey league?

A: I don't know what's going to happen for sure. I hear Penn State is starting a program and building an arena. It's hard, hard to get into a conference. They are talking about it. There's got to be a lot of thought that goes into it if the Big Ten schools are going to get together at the expense of hurting college hockey. If you have 55 (58) schools playing hockey and five fold because of that, you better know what you're doing.

(Five programs would fold? Blais said it could happen in the CCHA if it loses three teams to the Big Ten. He had some strong words for the Big Ten schools in the WCHA. “Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin athletic director, has been pushing this. He's a football guy. Does he know anything about hockey? This could really hurt the sport. Minnesota and Wisconsin have to think about the backlash in future schedules. What's keeping everyone from blackballing them and making them look east?”)

Chorney headed to Oklahoma City

Former Fighting Sioux defenseman Taylor Chorney is head to the AHL to start the season. Chorney played in 42 games last season and was a horrific -21 and became a whipping boy for the Oiler’s faithful.

Edmonton Oilers Press Release --- Edmonton Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today the club has assigned the following four players to Oklahoma City of the American Hockey League:

Taylor Chorney (D)
Colin McDonald (LW)
Jeff Petry (D)
Alex Plante (D)

Is that Bettman or Booman?

When will the NHL come to the realization that Gary “Buttman” Bettman is ruining the image of the NHL? When ever Bettman is asked a question by fans or the press he sounds like a condescending American politician or high priced trial lawyer. What really bothers me and other is his smugness and arrogance as well.

To a chorus of boos, of course.
Why does Bettman insist on putting himself through the humiliation of hearing the catcalls? He heard them on the biggest stage when he presented the Chicago Blackhawks with the Stanley Cup in June. Tuesday he heard them at the 1,200-seat venue, which was full of children.

We understand why Bettman needed to be in the building on both occasions. Obviously, he needs to be in the house when the league’s champions are crowned.

In the Dundas instance, he wanted to show he believes in the grassroots of hockey. We get that. Not to be overly cynical about it, it was also an opportunity for TV time.

Yet in hindsight, does it really help the image of the NHL — and the future of the NHL — when the guy running the league is being booed in front of several hundred children? Why bring on the hatred by taking centre stage at centre ice?

Surely, Bettman couldn’t have imagined the crowd was going to seranade him. Remember, Dundas is only a long slapshot away from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, the place where the NHL commissioner so steadfastly refused to consider as a landing spot for the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes franchise last year.

Dundas is, in fact, now part of the amalgamated city of Hamilton. (We can imagine Bettman was jumping for joy when a community connected to Hamilton won the rights to the game over every other Canadian possibility).[Read the whole article here]

Great Expectations - UND first in Media and Herald Polls...

94X WCHA MEDIA POLL
1. North Dakota (28 first-place votes) 347 points
2. Minnesota Duluth 300
3. St. Cloud State (1) 295
4. Denver 242
5. Wisconsin 218
6. Minnesota 203
7. Colorado College 182
8. Bemidji State 156
9. Nebraska-Omaha 125
10. Minnesota State 97
11. Alaska-Anchorage 51
12. Michigan Tech 46

Grand Forks Herald Coaches Poll
1. UND (10) 120
2. St. Cloud State (2) 105
3. Minnesota-Duluth 100
4. Denver 88
5. Minnesota 82
6. Colorado College 67
7. Wisconsin 64
8. Nebraska-Omaha 55
9. Bemidji State 46
10. MSU-Mankato 41
11. Alaska-Anchorage 19
12. Michigan Tech 15

Goon's Preseason poll
1. UND
2. SCSU
3. UMD
4. DU
5. UW
6. UMN
7. UNO
8. BSU
9. CC
10. MSU
11. UAA
12. MTU

Josh Birkholz, gets a chance to rejuvenate his career in Everett

This is a text book definition of a "prima donna." This is the problem with today's hockey players, some of them think they are entitled to play on the first line and when they don't play as well as they think they should they just change teams instead of working harder in practice.

HeraldNet.COM --- But Birkholz wasn't given his chance to shine. Instead he found himself buried on the depth chart, seeing just a handful of shifts per game while playing on the fourth line. In 36 games he managed just five goals and one assist.

Everett had added Birkholz to its 50-player protected list a year earlier, and as he rode the pine Birkholz's thoughts turned toward Everett. His mind was all but made up to leave Minnesota for Everett when he was slapped with a suspension by Minnesota for violating team rules. That erased any final lingering doubts about his decision.

“Growing up in Minnesota it's always a goal for the young hockey players to play for the University of Minnesota,” Birkholz said. “It's tough leaving that and tough leaving home. But it's part of the sacrifice you have to make to reach your goals.”

Now in Everett, Birkholz sees opportunity. He sees the chance to show the Panthers the full range of his abilities, something he says he was never able to do at Minnesota. And he sees a chance to move into the professional ranks as quickly as possible.

This was a perfect opportunity for a life lesson for the young Josh Birkholz, instead of facing the music, he just quit and went somewhere to escape his punishment.

Oilers assign Pitlick

This happened over the weekend when I was out but it's news worthy because it's technically another one and done player in the WCHA that left College Hockey to sign early and was sent down to a WHL team that owned his rights after he failed to make the Edmonton Oilers. I know there were rumblings that Pitlick was leaving school anyways, because college really wasn't for him or something like that.

NHL.COM --- Edmonton Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today the club has assigned centre Tyler Pitlick to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League.

Pitlick, 18, played in 38 games for Minnesota State in the WCHA collecting 19 points (11G, 8A). The Minneapolis, MN native was drafted by the Oilers in the 2nd round, 31st overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Wild looking at Jose Theodore

I have a feeling it could be a long season for the Minnesota Wild if Niklas Backstrom were to get hurt or have another sub par season like last year. I am also not a big fan of Jose Theodore, I think he is past is prime in my humble opinion.

COLUMBUS, OHIO - If the Wild is interested in bringing in free agent Jose Theodore to replace injured Josh Harding, the longtime NHL goaltender would be interested in coming, his agent said Monday night.

Don Meehan, whose firm also represents Harding, said he spoke with Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher on Sunday about Theodore.

"When Chuck called to tell me Harding would be out for the season, Chuck said to me, 'Look, I've got to make a move.' And I said, 'Keep me in the loop. Jose Theodore is available,'" Meehan said. "He said, 'That's certainly an interesting possibility.'

"I told Chuck to keep me in mind. I think they'll probably get their staff together and assess where they go from here, but I'd say, 'It's a consideration for them, yes, and Jose would be intrigued by Minnesota.'"

Poll Monday

USA Today-USA Hockey Division I Men

1 Boston College
2 North Dakota
3 Miami of Ohio
4 Michigan
5 Yale
6 St. Cloud State
7 Maine
8 New Hampshire
9 Minnesota Duluth
10 Cornell
11 Denver
12 Alaska Fairbanks
13 Wisconsin
14 Boston University
15 Minnesota

Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame, Rochester Institute of Technology, Bemidji State, Ferris State, Union, Vermont, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Colorado College, Northeastern, Nebraska-Omaha, Merrimack.

Wow! Yale must be a world beater sitting they're sitting at number 5 in the country. Personally, I would put SCSU ahead of them in the pre-season poll. Time will tell and this is why we play the game. Again two ECAC teams in the top ten.

WCHA Preview Final Part

Alright. It's the part that one or two of you have been anxiously waiting for: The top 3 preseason previews of the WCHA teams and their predicted finishes. Ok, enough of self-inflating my ego. The final three teams will be the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, the Huskies of St. Cloud, and the Sioux of Grand Forks, ND.

(the) University of Minnesota at Duluth Bulldogs
2009-2010 Overall Record: 22-17-1 WCHA Record: 16-11-1 (6-5-0 NC Record)

Key Losses: Brady Hjelle, Rob Bordson, Drew Akins
Key Returners: Jack and Mike Connelly, Justin Fontaine, Kenny Reiter, Brady Lamb, Travis Oleksuk, Mike Montgomery, and Dylan Olsen
Key Recruits: Justin Faulk, Joe Basaraba...

It's kindof telling when you are looking through the key losses and you find that, except for Bordson and Hjelle, the rest either were quiet or flat out played so little you had to double check the stat sheet to see who they even were.

What this means is that Minnesota Duluth returns a team with dynamic scoring and experience. Though there is dynamic scoring present, they're not all that flashy. This means they are a solid team up and down the ice and are assuredly cohesive. Though this doesn't necessarily guarantee good results, it rarely results in a trip to the cellar.

tUMD will not run away with the league or anything like that. They did really well last year but their record would show a different story. However, this season should be a fine one for the Bulldogs. Only one player, Bordson, bolted early for the pros. Brady Hjelle, the biggest head scratcher since Isaac Reichmuth in net, left for the juniors. I say head scratcher because he was scary good in juniors and showed tendencies that this would continue in the WCHA. Hjelle didn't exactly have a poor year in Duluth, but he didn't exactly take the town by storm either. In fact, he had a "freshman goaltender" type year. But instead of focusing on the problems and pushing surprise #1 goaltender Kenny Reiter, Hjelle bolted for the USHL. It's too bad. I guess it is for the better.

tUMD is similar to SCSU but for different reasons. tUMD could finish lower than where I predict them rather easily. I definitely cannot see them finishing higher than where I predict them though. I'm a big fan of Sandelin and excited to see Duluth finally get a new facility. Things should be interesting on Lake Superior this season.

Predicted Finish: 3rd

St. Cloud State University Huskies
2009-2010 Overall Record: 24-14-5 WCHA Record: 15-9-4 (9-5-1 NC Record)

Key Losses: Ryan Lasch, Garrett Raboin
Key Returners: Garret Roe, Mike Lee, Dan Dunn, Tony Mosey, Drew LeBlanc, Jared Festler, David Eddy*, Olivier Lauridsen, Chris Hepp
Key Recruits: Kevin Gravel, Mitch MacMillan

The Huskies are a scary team. They return probably the best tandem of goaltenders outside of Oxford, OH (Miami's duo is better). They return the reigning 2009-10 Robbie Earl Memorial Trophy (Best diving over the course of a season) winner Garrett Roe. They only lose their leading scorer and their leading scoring defenseman but return everyone else.

They gain a bunch of recruits that I've not heard of and one that has had a rocky junior career (Ravndalen... big hype, got cut to the NAHL for a season before returning to the USHL this past season). This isn't much of note because I doubt the freshmen will have key roles on this veteran team.

This team SHOULD be very very good. They have a lot of talent and scoring up front. They've got grit in Hepp and Marvin (despite his rather bad season last year). They even ended up winning an NCAA playoff game! Things are on the up and up in St. Cloud.... but then again, things have been looking up since Saigo retired.

The only question mark lies in depth defensively. However, depth will not be tested unless the proven players struggle or get injured. This means that, on paper, the Huskies will be tight on North Dakota's heels most (if not all) of the season. The reason why I bring this up is that Coach Motzko very much emulates Minnesota defensively in terms of game play style. However, they've been able to keep to their game plan and have successfully started including physical grit into their playbooks and the results were pretty obvious. They've also added former UND player Steve Johnson as an assistant.

I don't think SCSU's bottom dwelling days will be returning to them any time soon.

Predicted Finish: 2nd...barely

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (for now)
2009-2010 Overall Record: 25-13-5 WCHA Overall Record: 15-10-3 (10-3-2 NC Record)

Key Losses: Chris Vandevelde, Darcy Zajac, Corey Fienhage, David Toews
Key Returners: Chay Genoway, Jason Gregoire, Ben Blood, Danny Kristo, Andrew MacWilliam, Brett Hextall, Evan Trupp, Brad Malone, Derrick LaPoint
Key Recruits: Derek Forbort, Dillon Simpson, Brock Nelson

This team may be "my" team, but even the most ardent detractors of UND will have to admit that who the Sioux lost and who they return simply make UND hands down the best team in the WCHA on paper going into the season. UND fans take it one step further: they, of course, expect UND to show it on the ice.

The biggest news for UND was the return of Chay Genoway. Last year's Senior Captain was hit from behind by SCSU's Aaron Marvin and had his hockey career placed in jeopardy because of it at one point. Luckily, though the concussion was indeed severe, it wasn't as bad as originally thought. So Genoway only lost the entire season instead of the rest of whatever hockey career he has waiting for him after he graduates. Nevertheless, he medically redshirted and now he returns. He was Captain last year and I doubt things will change this year either.

They're extremely solid on defense and now they got two more recruits in 2010 1st Rounder Derek Forbort and 2011 Draft Eligible Dillon Simpson. This provides UND with depth...and controversy...sorta. Who plays and who doesn't? None of the defensemen that are returning have played particularly poorly over the season and yet we have 8 dedicated defensemen (and 1 converted one in Davidson...who has since, I'm told, reverted back to forward) and can dress only 6. When you are talking about high profile players like Simpson and Forbort, it's hard to say they'd sit. Yet to have them play means benching players who don't deserve it (despite no fan support) like LaPoint or players who won't be benched (including fan favorites) like Blood, MacWilliam, and especially Genoway.

They also return a solid goaltender in Bradley Eidsness. Now, I say solid and seemingly the rest of the Sioux faithful argue against it. I just see it like this: If you are relying upon your goaltender to carry the team or steal games for you, then your team is doomed to fail. Eidsness won't steal any games. He won't carry the team. But he shouldn't have to.

As with all teams, there are what ifs... What if Eidsness gets injured? What if we stop playing solidly across all four lines? What if we continue to have penalty problems?

That being said, I believe we're in line to do very well this year. It's not out of the question to think of winning it all. However, we're a ways away from that. Let's just hope the ride there is one filled with fun, excitement, and not a whole lot of players being thrown under the bus.

Predicted Finish: 1st

WCHA Preview Part III

We are going to delve now into the top half of the league. As I get closer to #1, the tougher it goes to determine who will finish where. For example, I'm pretty certain of UAA finishing dead last. However, I'm not certain where any of the top 6 will finish. As usual, the top 5 will be very tightly packed in terms of talent. It would not surprise me at all if my top 6 looks completely different than reality even by week 3 of the season.

University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
2009-2010 Overall Record: 18-19-2 WCHA Record: 12-14-2 (6-5-0 NC Record)

Key Losses: Jordan Schroeder, Nick Leddy, Jay Barriball, Mike Carman, Ryan Flynn, Tony Lucia
Key Returnees: Jacob Cepis, Alex Kangas, Aaron Ness, Cade Fairchild
Key Rookies: Nick Bjugstad, Erik Haula, Max Gardiner(?)

Let's face it, 4 or 5 years ago, if you said Minnesota will end up barely in the top half of the league and have 2 or 3 straight poor seasons where they miss the NCAA playoffs and one where they didn't even make the Final Five, I'd've called you just another blind homer. Well, it's a reality. The Gophers enter into this season facing arguably the most important season in Coach Lucia's career. This season could be it for Lucia in Minnesota if he doesn't produce. And it is a shame, because his biggest fault is his blind loyalty to John Hill. Hill's incompetence is going to cost Lucia his job this year because I don't see the Gophers any higher than #5 with their current defense.

The Gophers, in my view, have been a finesse/puck possession styled team. They're not overly physical. They rely upon forechecking, outlet passing, a dynamic transition game in the neutral zone, and special teams. I argue that they are still a very good passing team. They're still pretty good at finishing if given the opportunity. However, their Team Defense and their Special Teams (especially their PK unit) is a train wreck. They are easily taken off of their game and that often results in goaltender Alex Kangas being left hung out to dry.

Alex Kangas' stats aren't good or great, and they're not accurate as to how well or poorly he's actually played in his time with the U. Kangas is probably the most consistent player the Gophers have. He's actually pretty good. I consider him to be better than just about every goaltender the Gophers have had since Weber left. In fact, though he's a work in progress, Kent Patterson has the potential to pick up the mantle left by Kangas (Kangas is a senior this year) with little drop. However, no one will notice given how, again, atrocious Minnesota is in their own zone.

They added Cepis mid season and he gave them a boost, thanks to an incredible knack for Cepis to manipulate the shoddy officiating the WCHA offers through the use of acting. Like Roe and Earl before that, Cepis has enough talent to be able to succeed without diving, but he chooses again and again to flop to the ice. Too bad. On a positive note, he finished runner up last season in the Louganis Freestyle Diving (Frozen Water Division) Award to SCSU's Garrett Roe. This year, I'm sure he'll use his first full year's eligibility in Minneapolis to pressure Roe to bring the Trophy to Dinkytown.

I don't see there being a lot of room in the upper echelon for the Gophers in their current configuration. Losing Schroeder was expected, but losing Leddy was a big hit. All Eyes will be on DU and UW's goaltending situations (DU's got a new goaltender and UW's goaltender is almost Carey Price-like in terms of Achilles' Heel). If DU falters and UW is exposed (which I predict they will be), Minnesota could finish as high as tied for 4th! Most likely though, they'll finish 6th.

(?) - I heard Max Gardiner is coming in for the departed Nick Leddy, but Heisenberg still lists him as coming in 2011.

Predicted Finish: 6th

University of Wisconsin Badgers

2009-2010 Overall Record: 28-11-4 WCHA Record: 17-8-3 (11-3-1 NC Record)

Key Losses: Blake Geoffrion, Michael Davies, Ryan McDonaugh, Derek Stepan, Brendan Smith, Cody Goloubef

Key Returners: Jake Gardiner, Craig Smith, John Ramage, Jordy Murray, Scott Gudmanson
Key Recruits: Jason Clark, Frank Simonelli, Chase Drake, Mark Zengerle

Truth be told, this team succeeded far beyond what I thought was possible last season and this season they'll be woefully exposed. Why? Gone is their defensive team that was just as good if not better than the defensive crews I watched dominate for the Sioux in the days of Matt Greene and the NC winning Sioux in 2000. They were simply stifling. Now they're pros. And the Badger faithful should worry. No, they'll not be cellar dwellers. Mike Eaves is too good a head coach to allow them to fall that far. However, they will be forced to revert back to the Badgers of the early 2000s: boring, trap/lock based, insomnia-curing hockey. Why? Because Scott Amundson is NOT Bernd Bruckler or Brian Elliott. In fact, he's, at best, mediocre. And when you don't have that team D ahead of you, all you're left is: exposed.

The Badgers went a long way last season, but they will not see the same success this year. They'll surprise a few and they may return to the NCAAs, but they won't win it all.

Predicted Finish: 5th

Denver University Pioneers
2009-2010 Overall Record: 27-10-4 WCHA Record: 19-5-4 (8-5-0 NC Record)

Key Losses: Marc Cheverie, Joe Colborne, Rhett Rakshani, Tyler Ruegsegger, Patrick Wiercioch
Key Returners: Adam Murray, Matt Donovan, Anthony Maiani, William Wrenn, Drew Shore, Kyle Ostrow
Key Recruits: Sam Brittain, Beau Bennett, Nick Shore, Jason Zucker

Interesting this: Denver loses as much talent, including arguably the best goaltender in the NCAA last season and I have them finishing ahead of the returning DI Hockey runner ups. Why? Because defensively, Denver is still more sound than Wisconsin. Adam Murray and Sam Brittain have more potential than Gudmanson and Bennett. And Gwozdecky, as deplorable he is to Sioux fans, always seems to get the most out of his players.

Sam Brittain has turned heads both in juniors and at the Combine. He's a big guy at 6'3" 190: something you usually use to describe defensemen. Beau Bennett seems to have an innate ability to score. I don't think DU is going to have much trouble in scoring and in Team D. The major question marks this season lies in consistency and goaltending. Murray looked shakey in spot duty last year, but this year is always different. Not every goaltender can tear the league apart like Cheverie did over his 2 years and 1 game he played in Colorado.

DU is going to beatable this year, but it won't be a cakewalk.

Predicted Finish: 4th

Hand gesture bad, leg check ok

I saw this over on Puck Daddy and former Boston Bruin Nick Boynton got a one game suspension for a hand jester towards Blair Jones who just finished kicking his ass. Seriously! What I am more concerned about is the questionable hit that Nick Boynton laid on former Michigan Tech Husky Chris Durno. I believe the NHL has it's priorities messed up again. Maybe I am missing the boat.

TSN --- The NHL has handed Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Nick Boynton a one-game suspension for gesturing a throat slash towards Blair Jones of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Boynton made the gesture after the two players fought during a preseason game on Wednesday.