Cooke vs Richards

I don't get to watch a lot of NHL hockey on the weekend when UND is playing and I wanted to post this so you could take a look. I have to say that Mike Richards from the Flyers just went up in my estimation and I hold Matt Cooke in the same regard as I do Ulfie Samuelson lower than pond scum.

Zenon Konopka vs. Daniel Carcillo

Everyone's favorite Punk Daniel Carcillo. I am actually surprised he fought someone that was considered a heavy weight. Konopka got some nice shots in the Flyer's hack.

The Zucker Spear on Genoway - Update on Martin

Here is another illustration of why I think the officiating in the WCHA is so poor; this was at the end of the first period as Denver Pioneer and Wild draftee forward Jason Zucker blatantly spears Chay Genoway in the midsection. I mean seriously, I don’t have a problem with the refs calling major penalties that’s fine but then when the other team commits an obvious major penalty in front of the referees the same standard needs to apply to the other teams as well.

Also, according to a Denver Post article Denver Pioneers forward Jesse Martin, is going to Minneapolis to have surgery on his fractured neck. Remember to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Grand Forks, N.D. — Most members of the DU hockey team flew to Denver out of Fargo this morning, but a handful of them went to Minneapolis with senior center Jesse Martin.

Martin sustained three neck fractures in Saturday night’s hockey game at North Dakota and was scheduled to have emergency surgery today in Minneapolis to relieve swelling of the spinal cord. He was taken off the ice Saturday in a stretcher midway through the second period after being checked by Fighting Sioux senior forward Brad Malone.

Malone, an Avalanche draft pick, crushed Martin parallel to the boards, as Martin was trying to skate the puck up ice, out of the defensive zone. He had his head down.

No penalty was immediately called, but while medical crews prepped Martin for the stretcher, officials gave Malone a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.

A few ponderings thus far and the DU series (RW77)

Whew...

Life's not been as good to me as of late in terms of being able to catch UND games live. However, I have watched a few games over the webcast and NHL Network re-airings and I have a few comments and wish to bring to the blog the argument Goon and I have over what wins more games: Shut down goaltending and an at least responsible team defense or Shut down Team D and a goaltender that makes all the saves he should.

First off, though, the hit. Brad Malone's hit on Jesse Martin is subject to debate. Yes, I see both sides of the argument. However, if they were going to make a call, Charging was the correct one to make. Unlike other buffoons wearing the stripes, this call actually is somewhat close to what actually occurred. I've seen major penalties called for elbowing or contact to the head-roughing when they weren't even remotely true, but in this case, I can see the case for the call. This hit reminded me a LOT of the hit last year on Toews by Vancouver's Willie Mitchell. However, after watching the replay, Malone only makes a passing attempt to play the puck. I think that is what got him the call. When the hit is made, it is basically Malone hitting Martin half-way between his belly button and his side (sorry my descriptions aren't so good). Malone was in the process of changing directions due to an anticipated change in the direction of the puck or a reaction to it having already occurred. If it is the latter, then it was absolutely a penalty because Martin no longer had the puck.

The biggest problem is that this hit took place so fast. It is a problem being faced in pretty much every popular sport at every level. I'm not sure this hit would be this severe 10-15 years ago. I just don't think the players back then were as fast, big, and hard hitting back then. Usually, players back then were one of those three, or even two of the three. But you rarely, in my opinion, saw a fast, big winger. Nowadays, they're all over the place (so yeah, put Brad Malone at this age in the early 90s and I think he would have been a higher draft pick).

I expect that Malone will get a 1 game suspension because of this hit. Then again, he is a feisty winger that has a history with getting under the officials' skins. Unlike professional officials, they do hold grudges from year to year (see Greene, Matt and Commodore, Mike) so it would not surprise me if Head Idiot Greg Shepherd gives Malone a weekend off.

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Anyways, to the debate. Eidsness has had a rather rough start. I'm not going to make excuses for his poor play. However, I'm not going to throw him under the bus just yet either.

Goon (who can correct this if I misunderstood him) feels that, in order for the Sioux to win #8, we need a shut down goaltender. He maintains that he Sioux doesn't have one of those. Just a sloppy, but drafted goaltender and a backup who turned down fierce and feisty competition from Quinnipiac to join UND (Dell). If I understand him correctly, the debacles vs. Maine and vs. UAA were mostly on Eidsness.

I disagreed with him. I believe that the game is won or lost by the play of the entire team. This means, a good and consistent offense mixed in with a great team defense can cover up and fully compensate for the fact that the goaltender isn't the second coming of Eddie Belfour. Here's my reasoning: Assuming we bury the chances we get most of the time, a solid Team Defense will eliminate most of the high-success-rate scoring chances the opposition gets and eliminate a lot of shots being sent towards the net through back checking, puck possession, and shot blocking. Therefore, the goaltender need only make saves on whatever manages to get through. This would explain why so many goaltenders have won it all or have gotten close. For example, Gudbranson of UW isn't that great of a goaltender yet UW went all the way to the NC game. Fleury was very inconsistent as a goaltender yet Pittsburgh won the Cup a few years back. Osgood isn't that great of a goaltender (I don't give a damn what the stats say) yet he has 3 Stanley Cup rings. What won it all was a consistent offense and a dominating team defense.

Unashamedly, I do like Eidsness, but I'm a solid believer that it is the team that wins or loses games, not an individual player, even if that player contributes to what would undoubtedly be the game winning event for the opposition.

What do you all think?

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In any case, a Split with DU was where I thought we'd be after this weekend was over. Brittain will grow into a thorn in UND (and the rest of the WCHA) hide.

And I do sincerely hope that Jesse Martin is ok.

Pioneers 3 - Sioux 0 - No Dasher Dancing tonight.

I re-watched the game from the Malone hit on and UND out played DU all weekend long and the Pioneers freshman goaltender stole the show for the Pioneers tonight. While UND played good this weekend the Fighting Sioux have a lot of hard work to do to get better and make a run towards the title this season. Say what you want about George Gwozdeky while he might come across to Sioux fans as an arrogant and pompous prick that has the WCHA officials in his back pocket, George is a hell of a coach and he has out coach UND Fighting Sioux head hockey coach Dave Hakstol once again. While the Goaltending was OK tonight, the defense made mistakes a key times that cost the Fighting Sioux.

Good hockey teams and coaches make adjustments and move on and in this case the Sioux made adjustments, however, so did the opposition. Denver reminds me of Cornell University and when they get the lead they clamp it down and play the trap. Denver did the same thing tonight, they lined up on the blue line and made it difficult to get across into the offensive zone.

Buffoon’s in stripes

Edit: Thanks to Whistler for correcting me on the officials for last night's game. None the less, I really had it with the refs in this league, they really are the worst of the worst, a perpetual gong show or a buffoonery in action. Last night Brian Thul, Tom Sterns had a bad night and should sit for their effort this weekend. This crew is almost as bad as the clown Zelkin that was on the ice for the screw job in the mile high city last November. Here is your text book definition of a buffoon.

A clown; a jester: a court buffoon.
2. A person given to clowning and joking.
3. A ludicrous or bumbling person; a fool.

The refs in this league have to be more accountable and do a better job, the fans and the member schools must demand better before the refs will get better. At the tail end of the game there were many obvious infractions that should have been called penalties that would have given the Sioux the power play. The blatant missed penalty/call on Zucker at the end of the first period was a blatant spear on the Fighting Sioux defenseman Chay Genoway and should have given the Fighting Sioux a 5 minute major power play. Obviously the first two minutes would have been negated by Hextall’s moment of stupidity where he took an ill advised roughing penalty on Pioneer defenseman/hack John Lee.

More on the hit

Here is what resident Sioux hater Denver Post beat writer Mike Chambers had to say about the Malone hit, notice that there is no indication from Chambers that he thought the hit was malicious or dirty, trust me he would have said so if thought the hit was dirty. [click to watch the video]

Denver Post --- DU senior center Jesse Martin has just been wheeled off the ice in a stretcher after being hit by North Dakota senior Brad Malone, an Avalanche draft pick.

Malone crushed Martin parallel to the boards, as Martin was trying to skate the puck up ice, out of the defensive zone. He had his head down. No penalty was immediately called, but while emergency crews prepped Martin for the stretcher, officials gave Malone a 5-major for charging and game misconduct.

UPDATE: Martin was unconscious and did not have use of his extremities while on the ice, but regained feeling in his arms and legs while on the stretcher and en route to Altru Heath Systems in Grand Forks and was admitted for precautionary reasons.

Just for the record I am glad that Martin will be OK and that his is not seriously hurt, no one wants to see the opposition get hurt in a hockey game. The fact remains that just because someone gets hurt on a legal check doesn't mean that officials have to call a penalty. The refs in my opinion made the wrong call.

Brad Malone checks Jesse Martin

After looking at the hit numerous times I don’t know? I still think it looks like a shoulder to shoulder check, but the video isn’t that good to tell definitely and FSSN isn’t in HD either. There is no question that it was a violent check, but hockey is a contact sport, and there are legal and illegal violent checks in the game of hockey and in football. I am sure the league will review this hit and determine if further punishment in the way of game(s) are warranted. I also want to stress that the injury put a negative spin on the game; nobody wants to see anyone get hurt. I hope that Jesse Martin makes a full recovery and can resume playing hockey again.

Lines for tonight's game - links to stats as well.

Lines for tonight's game - I will post updates on Twitter, that's if Sioux7 doesn't take my Black Berry away from me, he has threatened to in the past. Well; At least I am not having conversations with people on facebook.com during the game like the guy that sat next to me at the game last night. HA! :)

You can read them here [twiter.com/goon48]. You can click here for scores around the country [click for scores]


UND's lines

17 Jason Gregoire–10 Corban Knight–26 Brett Hextall
19 Evan Trupp–22 Brad Malone–21 Matt Frattin
7 Danny Kristo–29 Brock Nelson–27 Carter Rowney
8 Mike Cichy–9 Mario Lamoureux–11 Derek Rodwell

2 Andrew MacWilliam–5 Chay Genoway
3 Derrick LaPoint–25 Jake Marto
18 Dillon Simpson–24 Ben Blood

31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell
35 Tate Maris

[click for UND stats here]

Denver's lines

19 Kyle Ostrow–14 Jesse Martin–18 Luke Salazar
11 Chris Knowlton–16 Anthony Maiani–9 Beau Bennett
17 Jason Zucker–15 Drew Shore–26 Shawn Ostrow
37 Nate Dewhurst–27 Dan Olszewski–3 Jon Cook

4 Matt Dononvan–6 Chris Nutini
5 John Lee–21 William Wrenn
24 John Ryder–10 David Makowski

Denver Sieves

1 Sam Brittain
28 Josh Rosenholtz

[Click for DU stat here]

Fallout of 'dirty' hit against Miettinen is concussion exam

This kind of stuff concerns me, the league wants to protect the players and then doesn't suspend them for dirty hits. Now another player is out with a possible concussion.

Star Tribune --- Wild right winger Antti Miettinen has been sidelined with what the team now believes may be a concussion stemming from a high hit he took Monday from Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown.

Miettinen, who has been complaining of headaches and vision problems, was to be examined by a neurologist Friday after coach Todd Richards said Wild doctors ruled out an inner-ear infection.

Brown was assessed a 5-minute major and game misconduct for an "illegal check to the head," although he avoided further discipline from the NHL.

That surprised Richards, who called Brown's hit "dirty."

"You've got to protect the players," Richards said. "To me, it's a blindside hit."

College Hockey Scores from 10-29-2010

Friday, October 29

Dartmouth 2 vs Princeton 1
Brown 4 at Yale 7
Boston University 5 at UMass Lowell 1
Merrimack 2 at Boston College 3
Providence 3 at Massachusetts 3 OT
New Hampshire 7 at Cornell 4
Alab-Huntsville 4 at Michigan State 4 OT
Army 0 at Canisius 4
Bowling Green 1 at Alaska 4
Michigan 2 at Ferris State 2 OT
Mercyhurst 3 at Niagara 5
Robert Morris 2 at RIT 3 OT
Minnesota State 3 at Alaska Anchorage 2
Michigan Tech 2 at Wisconsin 5
Quinnipiac 4 at St. Cloud State 2
Milwaukee S. E. 7 at Concordia (WI) 2
Lake Superior 2 at Miami 6
Ohio State 1 at Northern Michigan 2
Western Michigan 2 at Notre Dame 3
Denver 3 at North Dakota 4
Minnesota 4 at Colorado College 1
Minnesota Duluth 3 at Bemidji State 2
Holy Cross 4 at Northeastern 3 OT

Analysis: - The SCSU Huskies have struggled so far this season and are an unimpressive 2-4-1; also their heir apparent over rated goalie Mike Lee has been lit up again in the nets and the Huskies lose another game in non-conference play. [Beat writer story]

Mike Chamber the unapologetic beat writer and self professed Fighting Sioux hater from the Denver Pioneers seems to have focused on this statistical fact a lot this past week; “UND is going with sophomore Aaron Dell in net. He is 2-2 with a 2.88 GAA and .883 save percentage. He gets the nod over struggling junior Brad Eidsness (1-0-1, 4.46, .762).” Yep! Hey I will be the first one to admit it, it's a true fact that UND's goaltending has been brutal and unimpressive and not up to the standards of other teams around college hockey; the Fighting Sioux did manage to beat the mighty Denver Pioneers last night even with mediocre goaltending, and yes Aaron Dell did let in fewer goals than the goaltender from Chamber’s favorite team. – Comment is dripping with sarcasm. [Pioneers beat writer story] and [Brad's blog post]

The Bemidji State University Beavers had what appeared to be their first WCHA point sowed up when they lost to the Bulldogs with 7 seconds to go in overtime. [Bemidji Beat writer blog post] and [UMD Beat Writer blog post]

The Golden Gophers beat the C.C. Tigers in Collorado Springs last night 4-1. I was able to watch the last two periods of the game because it was on a delayed telecast on Fox Sports Net. In my opinion neither team was very impressive but I am sure the Gopher faithful will spin it other wise. Patter is good, Kangas sucks and it's time for a change. It was nice not having to listen to the Rug cheer lead from the broadcast booth. Actually I thought Anthony Lapanta and Kevin Gorg did a great job calling the game. [C.C. Beat writer blog post]

The Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks defeated the big, slow, lumbering team from the University of Alaska-Anchorage in front of a empty Sullivan Arena 3-2 on Friday night Alaska time or in the middle of the night central standard time for the rest of us. [Delusions of Grandeur] and [Mankato Beat Writer blog]

Sioux 4 Pioneers 3 - No Dasher Dancing tonight

Ho Hum, that is how I would describe this evening game between two teams that are supposed to be bitter rivals that hate each other. This is one of those series that traditionally is supposed to look like the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. Unfortunately; this game was really clean, almost boring and there were only four penalties in the entire game.

The part that is even more unbelievable was that the UND Fighting Sioux ended up getting three power play and Denver only got one power play through sixty minutes of hockey. I suppose the Denver head coach George Gwozdecky will call his coffee drinking buddy WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod and lobby for a few more power plays tomorrow night; of course I am kidding but it does seem odd that this game wasn't a parade to the penalty box with at least three scrums. There wasn't any international choking signs, dances on the dasher or walks across the ice. In fact the DU coach never left the bench to enter the playing surface. There wasn't even a conference between the Refs and the DU coach at the DU bench.

I actually expect tomorrows game to be more spirited, more contested. Just not your typical grudge match between the two teams that are supposed to hate each other. What next a hug at center ice after the game showing solidarity? God I hope not.

Defensive Juggernaut?

While the Sioux won the game I am still concerned with the goaltending and the team defense, tonight I saw a few things that concerned me. I know it’s early but the goaltending numbers so far this season are brutal and what I would consider unacceptable and subpar, None the less, seven games into the hockey season and the Fighting Sioux don’t have a goalie with a save percentages over 90 percent. You’re not going to win a lot of hard fought close hockey games with that poor of defensive numbers like that, things have to tighten up if the Fighting Sioux are going to win some hockey games.

Now I know that Matt Donovan is an elite player but on his goal in the second period, he skated around the entire Sioux hockey team before slipping the puck through the goaltenders pads, I mean seriously! That was embarrassing that no one challenged him. That can’t happen. I just hope the Sioux are better tomorrow night.

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[Box Score]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
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DEN 1 - 0 6x6 Jason Zucker (3) (Shawn Ostrow, John Ryder)6:19
DEN (+): 17,26,24,10,15,G1 NDK (-): 7,5,29,2,27,G32
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Dillon Simpson (1) (Jason Gregoire, Corban Knight)11:51
NDK (+): 18,7,17,26,24,G32 DEN (-): 17,18,24,14,21,G1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DEN 2 - 1 6x6 Matt Donovan (3) (unassisted) 1:53
DEN (+): 4,11,10,26,16,G1 NDK (-): 7,27,29,18,24,G32
DEN-1 Drew Shore (2-Hooking) NDK 0x1 3:32
DEN-2 Matt Donovan (2-Holding) NDK 0x2 6:00
NDK 2 - 2 6x6 Michael Cichy (1) (Mario Lamoureux, Derrick LaPoint)9:04
NDK (+): 8,9,3,11,25,G32 DEN (-): 24,14,19,6,18,G1
NDK 3 - 2 6x6 LL Corban Knight (3) (Brett Hextall, Jason Gregoire)16:43
NDK (+): 10,26,17,2,5,G32 DEN (-): 16,18,4,14,21,G1
DEN-3 Beau Bennett (2-Elbowing) NDK 1x3 19:57
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
NDK 4 - 2 6x5 PP GW Corban Knight (4) (Danny Kristo, Brock Nelson)1:13
NDK: 17,10,7,5,29,G32 DEN: 17,6,15,24,G1
NDK-1 Danny Kristo (2-Hooking) DEN 0x1 5:05
DEN 3 - 4 6x6 Jason Zucker (4) (Beau Bennett, Drew Shore)10:37
DEN (+): 17,9,15,24,10,G1 NDK (-): 10,11,24,18,8,G32
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End of Game
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Goon's Three Stars of the game

1. Corbin Knight (2g-1a-3pts)
2. Jason Gregoire (0g-2-a-2pts)
3. Brett Hextall (0g-1a-1pts)

Links to the game

DU loses at North Dakota 4-3 [Denver Post]

Sioux erase bad memories with win over Denver [Grand Forks Herald]

Lines for the Sioux tonight

Someone commented that it was my fault that the Sioux lost because I didn't post the Sioux lines so here they are. I will post updates on Twitter for the those that like to text me during the games. You can read them here [twiter.com/goon48]

UND lines - Forward(s)

Jason Gregoire - Corbin Knight - Brett Hextall
Evan Trupp - Brad Malone - Matt Frattin;
Danny Kristo - Brock Nelson- Carter Rowney
Mike Cichy - Mario Lamoureux - Derek Rodwell

Defense

Andrew MacWilliam - Chay Genoway
Derrick LaPoint - Jake Marto
Dillon Simpson - Ben Blood

Goalie
Aaron Dell
Backup Brad Eidsness

Derek Forbort, Brett Bruneteau, Joe Gleason.

DU Lines - Forwards


19 Kyle Ostrow–14 Jesse Martin–18 Luke Salazar
11 Chris Knowlton–16 Anthony Maiani–9 Beau Bennett
17 Jason Zucker–15 Drew Shore–26 Shawn Ostrow
22 Jarrod Mermis–27 Dan Olszewski–37 Nate Dewhurst

Defense

4 Matt Donovan–6 Chris Nutini
5 John Lee–21 William Wrenn
24 John Ryder–10 David Makowski

Goalies

1 Sam Brittain
28 Josh Rosenholtz

Denver athletic department is losing 7 million a year.

Wow! I found this article in the Denver Post this morning when I was conducting a visual recon of the opposition’s newspaper and I must say; that is a lot of money.

The Denver Post --- Despite having one of the country's premier hockey programs, the University of Denver athletic department is operating on an annual budget deficit of more than $7 million. The massive shortfall is the result of the school's pledge to remain in NCAA Division I in all sports, as well as its effort to upgrade its struggling men's basketball program.

Athletic director Peg Bradley-Doppes said there has been no discussion about Denver returning to Division II in its core sports.

"I believe the chancellor and the board feel very, very, very good about the direction of our program, and confident in the direction of the program," she said in a recent interview. "This university takes pride in that we educate student-athletes. . . . There is no quick fix here."

According to documents obtained by The Denver Post, the DU athletic program lost more than $22 million during a three-year period ending June 30, 2007, the deficits growing from $7.1 million to $7.8 million in the third year. DU is a private school and would not make its recent budgets available.

Brett Hextall on the Pipeline Show...

I was going to put this up the other day but got side tracked. In case you have heard it yet, Brett Hextall was on the Pipeline Show, and you can read their hockey blog Coming Down the Pipe blog here. It's an interesting interview and Dean Millard and Guy Flaming do an awesome job talking to various players from Juniors and NCAA hockey. [Click to listen to the interview]

DU’s Brittain is better than 1-1-2 record

The Media and fan bloggers from Denver have been pretty tame this week and haven’t been their usual belligerent selves. Actually, I am a little disappointed so far. I also believe there has been a lot of sand bagging going on as well.

Denver Post --- DU and true freshman goalie Sam Brittain departed for North Dakota this morning and will begin a two-game WCHA series against the Fighting Sioux Friday night in Grand Forks.

Please look for our series advance in Friday’s paper and catch our blogs and game stories throughout the weekend (I’m traveling Friday). Here are some leftover Brittain items and quotes.

In four games against three quality teams — Vermont, Boston College and Wisconsin (two) –Brittain has allowed just seven combined goals. His 1.70 goals-against average and .940 save percentage ranks sixth and seventh nationally among 62 eligible goalies. (By the way, UND’s Brad Eidsness is 62nd in save percentage, at .762.)
Brittain is 1-1-2, and DU has scored just seven goals in those four games.

“Still looking for those wins,” he said. “The ties are alright but the individual numbers don’t really matter. The only numbers that matter are the W’s for the team.”

Two years ago, Brittain says he remembers thinking about the DU-North Dakota rivalry while playing midget triple-A hockey in Calgary.

In looking at the numbers the better goalie for Denver is going to be playing for the Pioneers this weekend, sophomore goalie Adam Murray who is hurt this weekend has also struggled since he got to Denver, and his numbers aren’t all that impressive 1-1-0. 4.50 GAA and Save Percentage of .859, which is still better than Brad Eidsness’ numbers as noted above. If the Fighting Sioux are going to be successful this weekend they have to get back to basics this weekend, the Fighting Sioux need to concentrate on playing solid defense, moving the puck out of the defensive zone and cutting down on turn over’s down low in the defensive zone but also in teh neutral zone as well.

The Sioux also need to get a good cycle going and set up in the offensive zone and put some heavy sustained pressure on the young Denver Pioneer goalie(s). Lastly, the Fighting Sioux that is usually know for its stellar defense needs to limit shots on their goaltending that has been unimpressive and at times shoddy this season.

EDIT: I misspoke seems as if the smack talk has started and you can go here to get into the act.

Weekly press conference

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Now we are officially going, every team has now played at least two league games, and some have played four (MSUM and UM). This week we almost have a full slate of league games, we have 5 conference match-ups.

WCHA standings

TEAM……………...W-L-T...Pts
Minnesota-Duluth....2-0-0…4
Nebraska-Omaha…2-0-0…4
North Dakota………2-0-0…4
Denver……………...1-0-1…3
Michigan Tech……..1-0-1…3
Minnesota State…...1-2-1…3
Colorado College…..1-1-0…2
St. Cloud State….....1-1-0…2
Wisconsin…………..1-1-0…2
Minnesota…………..1-3-0…2
Alaska-Anchorage...0-2-0…0
Bemidji State……….0-2-0…0

WCHA

#3 Minnesota-Duluth @ Bemidji State
Last weekend the Bulldogs swept the Seawolves in Duluth, and the Beavers enjoyed a weekend off.

The Bulldogs had to come from behind on Friday and then win in overtime and on Saturday they scored less than a minute into the game, and cruised to a 6-0 win. The Beavers will be at home for their second series in the new BREC (soon to be Sanford Health) arena, and will be itching to win a game or two for the home town crowd. SPLIT.

#20 Minnesota @ #19 Colorado College
Last weekend the Gophers split a series with the SCSU Huskies in Minneapolis, and the Tigers split with the MSUM Mavericks in Mankato.

The Gophers got in the win column on Sunday with an efficient win over SCSU. I watched that game it wasn’t flashy, but effective. It would appear that up to this point both teams have had some problems scoring goals. The team which can finally put the puck in the net will get some wins. SPLIT.

Minnesota State @ Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the Tigers in Mankato, and the Seawolves were swept by the Bulldogs in Duluth.

The Mavericks have to make the long trip up to Anchorage this weekend. In the past few years UAA has done pretty well at home, and have gotten some wins against upper level WCHA teams. Both teams were picked in the preseason to finish in the bottom of the league this year. If one of these teams can get more than a split, it will help them to stay in the middle of the pack in this fledgling season. SPLIT.

#12 Denver @ #8 North Dakota
Last weekend the Pioneers took three points from the Badgers in Denver, and the Fighting Sioux were swept by the Black Bears in Maine.

The Sioux managed to rack up penalties to the tune of 14-for-39 minutes on Friday and 12-for-24 minutes on Saturday. They also managed to get a short-handed goal in each game too, Rodwell and Frattin got them. The Sioux need to stay out of the box if they want to win games this season. The upside is UND will be back home for their first “official game” of the season (they played an exhibition game versus U-Manitoba). The Pioneers on the other hand will take to the road for the first time this season. DU has a tough schedule to start the year, they already played Boston College, Wisconsin, and now North Dakota, and next week in-state rival Colorado College. The series between these two old programs has really heated up of the past decade. I hope we have another couple of barn burner games this weekend. Sioux 3-pts.

Michigan Tech @ #18 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Huskies enjoyed a free weekend, and the Badgers got a point from the Pioneers while in Denver.

MTU is off to one of their best starts in a long time, and Wisconsin is in somewhat of a rebuilding year. The Badgers lost a lot of good players to graduation and the pros after last season’s run in the NCAA tournament. This series couldIt is always hard to predict game early in the season, okay, its hard predict them all the time. SPLIT.

NON-CONFERENCE

Quinnipiac @ #17 St. Cloud State
Last weekend the Bobcats beat Holy Cross once, and the Huskies split a series with the Gophers in Minneapolis.

SCSU looked good on Friday against the Gophers, but then again, most teams have looked good against the Gophers this season (I couldn’t resist a little Gopher bashing). Sunday the Huskies looked a little flat, like they were happy knowing they had already gotten a split on the road, and the Gophers played better too, which also factored into the game. I have to go with our beloved WCHA conference in this series. Huskies Sweep.

BYE week
#9 University of Nebraska Omaha – Mavericks

DU Pioneers bit by the injury bug

While the Denver Pioneers have suffered some injuries problems and appear to have broken a mirror in the team locker room, hence the bad luck, the Fighting Sioux hockey team can’t overlook the Denver Pioneers. Let's give credit where credit is due; any team that is lead by Denver head coach George Gwozdecky is a good hockey team, there also appears to be some sandbagging going on in Denver as well. One thing we learned from last season first series with DU is that while the media reports someone as being out and or questionable they seem to show up dressed and ready to play on game day as well, that same scenario happened last season with Chevy their goaltender.

Denver Pioneer --- DU’s maximum 22-player traveling party will feature the 22 players capable of playing at North Dakota this weekend. Weird injuries and illness continue to plague the Pios, who depart for Grand Forks on Thursday and face the Fighting Sioux on Friday and Saturday at Engelstad Arena.

I was at practice today and learned that sophomore goalie Adam Murray and classmate Paul Phillips, a defenseman, will remain in Denver over the weekend. Murray, who missed last weekend’s series against Wisconsin with a groin injury, skated with his gear before practice but then sought treatment during it.

“It’s just slow,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said of Murray’s recovery. “It’s the groin area; that major muscle goaltenders need. It’s improving but very, very slow in improving. He’s going to stay home and continue to rehab and hopefully start skating and practicing next week.”

Phillips, who has played in all six games this season, is out after suffering complications from a dry, bloody nose. True story. He required nasal surgery.

“He had sinus congestion that turned into an infection, and as a result, his nose was running and he was blowing it,” Gwozdecky said of Phillips. “The combination of the infection, blowing the nose, the high altitude and dry air, he developed a pretty severe nose bleed on Monday.

“It would start, and stop, and start again (over and over). We thought it had it stopped, but Tuesday morning about 3 a.m. he couldn’t get it to stop and he was admitted to the hospital. They did some exploratory surgery (Tuesday) night . . . and found he had blown out a blood vessel. They cauterized it and he is about to be released. He’s probably 10 days to two weeks away (from returning).”

Meanwhile, junior forward Dustin Jackson (mononucleosis) and freshman center Nick Shore (broken wrist) will remain out. Jackson has yet to play this season and Shore hasn’t played since the season opener at Vermont. Freshman forward Justin Jones still has not been academically cleared by the NCAA, thus he cannot practice with the team. Senior defensemen Jon Cook and Joey Brehm are DU’s only extra players, so both will travel to North Dakota.

WTF - UND in 18th

Check out this buffoon's top twenty; I mean seriously is John Stewart or Bill Mayer writing about college hockey?

My Top 20

I noticed this week that, with a few exceptions, each team has about a four-spot “zone” in which they could reasonably fit. In other words — and this is a news flash, I know — the polls aren’t incredibly scientific.

1. Miami
2. Boston University
3. Boston College
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. New Hampshire
6. Michigan State
7. Michigan
8. Yale
9. Minnesota-Duluth
10. Notre Dame
11. Maine
12. Michigan Tech
13. Colorado College
14. Union
15. Denver
16. Cornell
17. Wisconsin
18. North Dakota
19. Western Michigan
20. Alaska

NHL Network = UND Network?

This is good news for people that can't watch Fighting Sioux Sports Network. Also, for those that want to watch the Sioux on the NHL network, its on Midco channel 307 in Grand Forks. You have to have the extened sports package to get it.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota has reached an agreement with the NHL Network to re-broadcast eight Fighting Sioux men's home hockey telecasts beginning with Friday night's home opener against the University of Denver.

The NHL Network is seen on numerous cable systems in the United States and is available on channel 403 on Dish Network and channel 215 on DirecTV.

This Friday's broadcast will be seen on the NHL Network Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Central.

UND Hockey On NHL Network
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010 (Denver at North Dakota)
Friday, Nov. 5, 2010 (Minnesota Duluth at North Dakota)
Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 (Notre Dame at North Dakota)
Friday, Dec. 3, 2010 (St. Cloud at North Dakota)
Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 (Robert Morris at North Dakota)
Friday, Jan. 14, 2011 (Minnesota at North Dakota)
Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 (Nebraska Omaha at North Dakota)
Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 (Alaska Anchorage at North Dakota)

Six games into the season the Gophers haven't traveled anywhere.

Six games into the 2010-2011 season and the Gophers haven't left the friendly confines of the Mariucci Arena. It will be interesting to see how they respond against the C.C. Tigers this weekend.

Roman Augustoviz --- The Gophers will practice Thursday morning at Mariucci Arena before flying to Denver, then they will bus to Colorado Springs. "Our guys like if we can practice at home before we head on the road," Lucia said. "Usually it is a much more productive practice. Flying, you are sluggish, and coaches get upset because you don't have a good practice. It's just the way it works."

Flying into and out of Denver, Lucia said, also means the Gophers can avoid an early morning flight back on Sunday from Colorado Springs.

Up to eight freshmen will be on the Gophers' trip to Colorado College this weekend, Lucia said. Doing the math, that means only one healthy freshman may stay home. There are 10 freshmen on the roster and center Nick Bjugstad is out for a month with mono.