UND can't be as bad as some think...

I have been reading with amusement that some of my fellow Sioux fans and other pundits around the Internet/blogsphere that were ready to award the UMD Bulldogs a sweep and 4 points for the series before the games were even played. After reading some of this stuff, I was wondering why we should even bother to play the series. We could have saved a lot of time and money by stopping the UMD bus and sending them home, there was no need for them to show up. According to some it was going to be a remake of the slaughter at the OK Coral.

Let’s look at this a little more closely UMD Bulldogs have a roster that sports 5 NHL draft choices and the UND Fighting Sioux have a roster with 16 NHL draft choices. Are we to believe that those 16 draft choices for the Fighting Sioux are just smoke and mirrors and a bunch of prima donnas. Isn’t this the same team that was picked to finish in the top spot of the WCHA standings in both the media and the coaches’ poll? The way some people had talked about the Sioux you would have thought they were a bunch of worthless, talentless hacks.

How the hell did we get there?

So I must say to my fellow fans, yeah some of you are sandbagging. If you’re a golfer you know what I mean. You have probably played against a golfer that claimed to be a really poor golfer and then they go out on the course and shoot lights out and carded a really good score, then you had to listen to them say, "oh, I played the best game of my life. I have no idea I had this in me."

Fast forward to this weekend's series; the Fighting Sioux have incredible and talented dept throughout their line up and can roll four lines if there isn’t aren’t a lot of penalties called against them. Key word in this sentence is “aren’t” but I digress, the Sioux are known traditionally as having a big mean mobile defense that limits their opposition to low shot totals and punishes the opposition when they come in front to the net, hence the high penalty minutes.

On the flip side of that argument the Bulldogs are known to have quick speedy forwards a decent sized defense, however, the Bulldogs are probably more of a two line team, albeit their top line is as good as many in the country. Am I saying that means that UND can’t lose to the Bulldogs, never said that. I am just saying the Sioux are no slouches either. It’s not like the UND Fighting Sioux are sitting at the bottom of the WCHA standings. In spite of the early goaltending eruptions malfunction, failures and defensive breakdowns/lapses the Sioux have some how (if you listen some in the fan base) managed to hang around the top of the top of the league standings.

This blog post isn’t intended to disrespect the Bulldogs I think they are a nice team with incredible speed through the forward lines. This post is intended to give credit to our team.

Better Days ahead

I have to be honest with you I am a little worried like everyone else about our defense and goaltending to date; they haven’t looked as good as billed. There have been positives, Dillon Simpson is much better than I would have believed a 17 year old would be. Aaron Dell is starting to settle into the starting position and is getting better with each start in net. Dell has only played in 11 games during his college career and can only get better, I like Dell's positioning and he seems to be getting up to speed and seeing the play more clearly.

I do think that Derrick LaPoint has had a tough season to date, however, traditionally Derrick has been more of a player that gets hot during the second half of the season. If the Fighting Sioux can get consistent goaltending and the defense can limit shots and scoring opportunities this season could prove to be pretty good one.

While some like to say that past history between two teams doesn’t matter I don’t agree at all, UND is 5-1 against the Bulldogs their last six games. Since the 2004-2005 the Sioux are an amazing 16-5-2 against the Bulldogs, you can’t tell me that the record doesn’t play into the opposition players minds. Just saying; does that mean the Sioux can’t lose tonight? Nope!

Links to the this weekends series

College Hockey: WCHA Picks Nov. 5 [USCHO]

Patchwork lineup comes through for Sioux [USCHO]

Friday night rewind [UND Hockey Blog]

Saturday in the WCHA [Rink and Run]

Final: North Dakota 4, UMD 2 [Rink and Run]

College men's hockey: Bulldogs' unbeaten streak ends [Duluth News Tribune]

MEN'S HOCKEY: Sioux hand Minnesota-Duluth first loss of the season [Grand Forks Herald]

Scores from 11/05/2010

Friday, November 5

Army 5 at Massachusetts 2
Colgate 4 at Clarkson 4 OT
Cornell 0 at St. Lawrence 3
Merrimack 0 at Providence 2
Niagara 4 at Northeastern 1
Princeton 3 at Yale 5
Quinnipiac 3 at Brown 3 OT
Rensselaer 4 at Dartmouth 1
New Hampshire 2 at Boston College 1
Union 2 at Harvard 1
Vermont 1 at UMass Lowell 3
Alab-Huntsville 2 at Ohio State 6
Canisius 2 at Connecticut 3
Miami 2 at Ferris State 3
Michigan 0 at Alaska 3
Mercyhurst 6 at Air Force 2
Notre Dame 2 at Bowling Green 3
Northern Michigan 4 at Lake Superior 1
Robert Morris 4 at Holy Cross 2
Bemidji State 3 at St. Cloud State 6
Wisconsin 6 at Minnesota 0
Colorado College 1 at Denver 4
Minnesota Duluth 2 at North Dakota 4
Minnesota State 1 at Nebraska-Omaha 5

Analysis – Gopher fans have pitch forks, rope and torches and they are ready to ________? I don’t know but it’s getting ugly in Minneapolis. The Fire Don Lucia campaign is in full force and prevalent on Gopher Puck Live and USCHO. The 250,000.00 question is; will the UMN administration fire two head coaches in one season? It also sounds like Gopher Senior Jay Barribal isn't all that happy with his fellow teammates effort. Win as a team and lose as a team, I am not so sure it's recommended that you call them out in the media if you haven't scored either.

Star Tribune --- "They outworked us in the corners, they beat us to the net," Barriball said. "We didn't do too many things good. ... They did the same thing that [Nebraska]-Omaha did to us. We have to find a way to deal with teams like that."

Before the Gopher fans run their coach out of town they might want to keep in mind that their team is very young and they have suffered a lot of injuries and illness. Zach Budish injury, Jake Parenteau illness, Nick Larson injury Nick Bjugstad illness. [Gopher Beat Writer]and [Badgers Beat Writer]

The Maverick Bowl - (The battle of the cows, Red Cows versus Purple Cows) The UNO Mavericks played the MSU Mankato Mavericks in their first ever home WCHA series. The UNO Mavericks won going away 5-1. The UNO Mavericks continue their winning way and are now 6-1-0 overall and 3-0-0 in the WCHA. [UNO Beat Writer]and [Puckato]

DU and C.C. the fight for the Gold Pan – I watched the end of this game after I got home from the Sioux and UMD game and from what I can see DU dominated the Tigers 4-1. I also saw a stat where the Tigers have scored twenty goals over all and nine of their goals (almost half) of their goals on the power play. The Tigers only goal came at 5:11 left to play in the third period. Moral to the story is don’t let C.C. go on the power play too many times. According to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post Jesse Martin is scheduled to have surgury on Monday.

Marty was scheduled to have surgery on Friday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Instead, he was transferred to Regions Hospital in St. Paul and surgery is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Monday, according to his father.

[C.C. Beat Writer] and [DU Beat Writer]

Beavers vs Huskies - Ben Hanowski was benched last weekend by his head coach Bob Motzko and Hanowski responded by getting a hat trick against the Bemidji State University Beavers as the Huskies beat the Beavers 6-3. This was the first away series for the BSU Beavers that played their first two WCHA series at home. [SCSU Beat Writer] and [Bemidji Beat Writer]

Sioux 4 Bulldogs 2

The Fighting Sioux keep beating/whopping that Bulldog ass. The game really wasn't as close as the score board indicated as the Fighting Sioux dominated play for most of the game and spent long periods of time in the UMD end attacking the UMD net, if it wasn't for Aaron Crandell it could have been a 6-2 game in favor of the Fighting Sioux.

Lets not beat around the bush, seriously, the Bulldog goalie Aaron Crandall was very pretty good tonight and he did a good job keeping the Dogs in the game. In addition to the goaltending exhibition in the UMD net, the Sioux would have run away with the game it it wasn't form some selfish untimely, knuckle-headed penalties. The Ralph Englestad Arena continues to be a house of horrors for the UMD Bulldogs as they are now 2-12-2 against the Fighting Sioux since they moved into the Ralph.

Defense is key?

I am starting to notice a pattern with this year Fighting Sioux team, the defense is preventing/limiting a lot of shots, but they are giving up goals off of untimely turnovers at key times in games. Also, Derrick LaPoint has been a turn over factory and at times has looked slow. I think when the Andrew MacWilliam and Derek Forbort come back, Derrick LaPoint he should be the one sitting in the stands. I would like to see more of Joe Gleason as he looked good tonight and I hope that they Fighting Sioux coaching staff can get him into the line up more frequently. Since it's late I will post more tomorrow.

Goon's three stars of the game

1. Evan Trupp, UND 1g-1a-2pts
2. Matt Frattin, UND 1g-0-1pts
3. Aaron Crandall goalie, UMD

[Official Box Score]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ND-1 Keegan Flaherty (2-SLASHING THE GOALIE) NDK 0x1 5:05
MND-2 Travis Oleksuk (2-Tripping) NDK 0x2 8:12
NDK-1 Brett Hextall (2-Cross-Checking) MND 0x1 9:25
MND-3 Mike Seidel (2-Roughing) 11:46
NDK-2 Mario Lamoureux (2-Holding) 11:46
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NDK 1 - 0 6x6 Derek Rodwell (3) (Evan Trupp, Brock Nelson) 2:22
NDK (+): 11,19,29,24,18,G32 MND (-): 5,17,8,14,10,G31
NDK-3 Matt Frattin (2-Hooking) MND 0x2 14:50
MND-4 Brady Lamb (2-Roughing) NDK 1x3 16:03
MND 1 - 1 5x5 Travis Oleksuk (6) (Kyle Schmidt, Dylan Olsen) 16:25
MND (+): 11,7,4,28,G31 NDK (-): 8,26,18,24,G32
NDK 2 - 1 6x5 PP LL Evan Trupp (2) (Chay Genoway) 17:57
NDK: 19,5,17,7,10,G32 MND: 37,5,25,27,G31
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NDK 3 - 1 6x6 GW Matt Frattin (8) (unassisted) 5:05
NDK (+): 21,7,8,25,5,G32 MND (-): 23,7,2,28,11,G31
NDK-4 Brett Hextall (2-Interference) MND 0x3 5:39
MND-5 Jake Hendrickson (2-Tripping) NDK 1x4 8:41
NDK-5 Jason Gregoire (2-Interference) MND 1x4 14:39
MND 2 - 3 6x5 PP Justin Fontaine (5) (Jack Connolly, Mike Connolly) 15:49
MND: 37,12,22,25,2,G31 NDK: 26,10,3,25,G32
MND-6 Justin Fontaine (2-Shooting after the Whistle) NDK 2x5 18:23
MND-7 Justin Fontaine (10-Misconduct) 18:23
Timeout - Minnesota Duluth 18:23
NDK 4 - 2 6x5 PP EN Corban Knight (5) (Chay Genoway) 19:49
NDK: 10,5,7,21,24,G32 MND: 23,25,11,22,12
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday morning pontifications

Here are a few things that are worth looking at this morning.

Apparently Brandon from Sioux Yeah Yeah is either sandbagging or doesn't think our team has a chance of winning the hockey games this weekend. Not mention, that the UND Fighting Sioux are a pretty good hockey team it's self, even with the rash of illnesses and the impending suspension. Add to the fact that the Fighting Sioux have also played a tougher schedule to date to start the season. That's not saying that UMD isn't a good hockey team because they are, but lets not forget that UND is pretty good as well.

Against my advice; Brandon was also participated and was taken to task in this week's gauntlet by Runnin' With the Dogs. I would tell people to enter at your own peril when agreeing to run the gauntlet.

Also apparent, is that Brandon forgot to read the Bruce Ciskie blog, where Bruce said this, "Since it opened in October of 2001, UMD is 2-11-2 in games played at Ralph Engelstad Arena." [Ciskie Blog] Let not your heart be troubled Brandon.

Sioux fans will be able to send DU forward Jesse Martin their best wishes this weekend. This from Jayson Hajdu' Twitter page, the UND Sports Information Director.

@UNDSID --- Sioux fans can send their best wishes to DU's Jesse Martin by signing a giant card at REA guest services during this weekend's men's games.

So go and sign this card if you are in the building this weekend. The Fighting Sioux fan base is pulling for the Denver University Pioneer forward.

A few predictions and thoughts from the Pundits

From the Star and Tribune; N Dakota's Malone suspended 1 game for check that left Denver player with neck fractures [Star Tribune] It seems like every post that involves the Sioux in the Star and Tribune turns into a name calling fest between the Gophers and Sioux fans.

According to Brad Schlossman Carter Rowney is out this weekend with an apparent upper body injury as the result of an elbow.

UND will likely be without Carter Rowney up front, too. Rowney was injured at the end of the second period Friday when Beau Bennett’s elbow caught him up high. There is no timetable on Rowney’s return yet. He did not practice today.

I am wondering why this hit wasn't reviewed by the WCHA officials as well? [Crickets chirping ]

Roman from Goal Gophers of the Red Star and Sickle thinks the Sioux will slap that Bulldog ass this weekend. I just hope he hasn't jinxed the Sioux this weekend.

Roman: Wish I could be in two places at once, at the Ralph and Mariucci. UMD (6-0-2) has the nation's longest unbeaten streak after escaping Bemidji with three points. Beavers slowed down 'Dogs top line, so will Sioux. North Dakota won four of five meetings last season. ... Sioux sweep.

This is what Tyler Buckentine WCHA Columnist from USCHO had to say about the match up between the Sioux and the Bulldogs this weekend. The combined record of UMD opponents is 9-20-7.

USCHO --- UMD’s opponents have a combined record of 9–20–7, and Sandelin said he believes the Bulldogs will see the toughest competition they’ve seen all season when they step into Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday.

“They’re obviously the best team we’ve faced to this point,” Sandelin said. “They’re deeper and a little more skilled than the other teams we’ve faced, plus we’re at [UND’s] rink. We need to take care of the puck and play smart hockey because teams with their ability will take it and put it in your net.”

The Sioux are known for having one of the deepest lineups in Division I and have the ability to roll four solid lines each week.

Paul Stastny talks about the Malone hit on Martin

Here is what a former DU player and current Av's player Paul Stastny had to say about the Malone hit on Martin.

The Denver Post --- Stastny, who played two seasons at DU and skates with Martin and other Pioneers during the summer, was rattled because he knows what happened to Martin can happen to anyone.

And Stastny also knows North Dakota's Brad Malone, who delivered the hit on Martin. Malone, a 6-foot-2, 212-pound senior forward, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Avalanche in 2007.

While Martin's hockey career is probably over, Malone will likely continue his career with the Avs organization next season.

"I only saw the replay from one angle and it wasn't the best view, but I don't think there was any intention to hurt him," Stastny said. "Honestly, I've been thinking about it for the last two days. Jesse had his head down, but you don't want to blame anyone."

Martin was skating the puck up ice, out of the defensive zone, and wanted to pass it ahead. But he lost control of the puck and looked down to find it just before Malone crushed him on a forecheck.

Where do we go from here?

This what perpetual Fighting Sioux hater Western College Hockey blogger Chris Dilks had this to say about the Malone hit.

All in all, I'm not going to declare Malone the worst person ever because I think he was honestly trying to throw a legal check, but the bottom line is that he definitely threw an illegal check which seriously injured another player. What type of suspension should that be worth? For those willing to search through internet archives, you could probably find all sorts of creative solutions from North Dakota fans, demanding pounds of flesh from Aaron Marvin last year, not the least of which was former Grand Forks Herald writer Virg Foss, who penned an editorial last year saying players that injure a player with an illegal check should be suspended until the injured player returns to the ice. I doubt the Herald will be reprinting that this week. There's no need to be excessive, but the suspension should definitely be significant.

Personally, I don’t mind the WCH blog, I read it all the time almost every day, I think there are a lot of good points brought up in this blog but let’s be frank and realistic and call it like it is, Chris Dilks hates everything UND, you can’t tell me otherwise. It is what it is. I get it; I don’t have a problem with that. I have my own teams and players that I have don’t like, cough, cough.

Also, I think in retrospect; unfortunately we all had to know this day was going to happen, when a Fighting Sioux hockey player injured another player on the ice. You could predict that opposition fans would say that, “hey what about Malone, you guys were calling for Aaron Marvin’s head last season as well.” I am not sure we are comparing apples to apples in this situation. It was pretty evident from the video of the Marvin that he followed Genoway all the way up the ice and went around another one of his teammates to put a devastating and a illegal hit on Chay Genoway.

I don't think the Marvin hit on Genoway compares to the hit that Malone put on Martin. Marvin's hit on Genoway was a CFB/boarding penalty. Malone on the other hand it would appear was attempting to put a “legal hit but violent hit" on Martin and unfortunately ended up injuring another player.

Malone has shown remorse for his hit and has had a tough time dealing with this. I hope as fans we don't forget what happened and continue to put both players in our thoughts and prayers. I think all of us have a sick feeling in our stomach about what happened on the ice, none of us want to see another player injured, if they do they aren’t wired right, and need to seek professional help. During last Saturday’s game, if Martin skates away I don’t even know if we are looking at a penalty because hockey happens so fast.

Both players were suspended for their hit(s). I think we could have seen both players get longer suspensions for their hits/checks and the league would have been justified. In talking to a lot of people this week there are a lot of people that said, don't be surprised if there is a lengthy suspension attached to this hit. Malone was given a one game suspension but will now be a repeat offender and the scope will be on him just like it's on Aaron Marvin and it was on on former MSU Maverick Trevor Buress. If both players put a questionable hit on another players they will be subject to heavy disciplinary action. The fans and teams in the WCHA will demand that this happen.

Matt Niskanen vs Sidney Crosby Fight

I figured this would be a fitting video for this weekend's series with the UMD Bulldogs. Ok! For those of you that haven't seen this fight video, former UMD defenseman Matt Niskanen drops the glove against the Penguins crybaby star forward Sidney Crosby.

Brad Malone suspended one game by the WCHA

I don't have a problem with the suspension, however, why did it take the WCHA so long for the league to hand it down this suspension? They couldn't have come down with the decision on Tuesday? I mean seriously, by moving slowly in handing down this suspension, the WCHA looks like a bunch of bumbling buffoons, that makes them also look incompetent. I don't think any of us are shocked by the decision, most of us figured a suspension was coming, it was just a matter of how long.

MADISON, Wis. – The Western Collegiate Hockey Association today (Nov. 4, 2010) announced a one-game suspension to University of North Dakota hockey player Brad Malone for his actions in the October 30 game vs the University of Denver.

Malone's suspension was determined after a review of the incident under the WCHA's Supplementary Discipline Policy and Procedures. At the time of the incident, he was assessed a 5:00-minute major penalty for charging and a 10:00-minute game misconduct.

Malone will be required to serve this one-game suspension in his team's next regularly scheduled game on Friday, November 5 vs the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

First I want to start off by wishing Jesse Martin (and his family) a quick and full recovery from his broken vertebrae.

There has already been lots of speculating on this incident from fans around the league, and I’ll leave it at that. However, I want to talk briefly about hockey hits in general. I believe that Don Cherry (Hockey Night in Canada announcer, ex-coach), had the answer to all these injuries, years ago. Get rid of the hard plastic arm pads that players wear, and replace them with some of the new cotton/foam padding. Let’s face the physics of the matter, plastic, it doesn’t give much when you hit it, cotton/foam padding on the other hand does.

Now, back to this week, yet again we have five league series this weekend. The standings are starting shake out, but it is still too early to say who really is the best team in the league is right now.

WCHA standings

TEAM……………...W-L-T...Pts
1. Minnesota-Duluth....3-0-1…7
2. North Dakota………3-1-0…6
2. Minnesota…………..3-3-0…6
2. Minnesota State…...2-2-2…6
5. Denver……………...2-1-1…5
5. Wisconsin…………..2-1-1…5
7. Nebraska-Omaha…2-0-0…4
8. Michigan Tech……..1-2-1…3
9. Colorado College…..1-3-0…2
10. St. Cloud State….....1-1-0…2
11. Alaska-Anchorage...0-3-1…1
11. Bemidji State……….0-3-1…1

WCHA

Colorado College vs #13 Denver
Last weekend the Tigers where swept by the Gophers in Colorado Spring and the Pioneers split their series with the Sioux in Grand Forks.

After getting swept last weekend the Tigers need to get back in the win column. Like the saying goes, “you can’t win the league title in first part of the season, but you can lose it.” This is start of this year’s Gold Pan games, and from what I read/know the Pioneers are the Tigers most disliked rival. It seems that most DU fans consider UND to be their arch-rivals the past few years, replacing the Tigers. Any way you slice it, it is still an in-state rival (too bad Air Force is not in the WCHA too). The Tiger need some points this weekend, if they want to stay in contention for a league title come March, or just home ice. For the Pioneers, it will be focusing on this weekend, and trying to put last weekend’s unfortunate incident in the past. After this weekend series, DU will have finished up what looks to be the hardest stretch of their season schedule. I’m going with the home team to win in their home building, SPLIT.

Bemidji State @ #20 St. Cloud State
Last weekend the Beavers lost and tied the Bulldogs in Bemidji and the Huskies split with Quinnipiac in St. Cloud.

The Beavers are still trying to get their first WCHA conference win, with this weekend being their first WCHA road games. BSU came close last weekend with a pair of overtime games. The Huskies have been sporadic to start the year, win here a lose there, repeat. SCSU had/has high hopes for the season, and the league coaches thought the Huskies were/are going to be one of the top teams in the league. This early in the year, you have to look past the standing some, SCSU sits in 10, but they have only played 2 games, where most played four or six games. BSU is winless in four games and sitting in the basement. The Beavers might have too big of a hole to dig out of, if they don’t get some points, and soon. SPLIT

#15 Wisconsin @ #17 Minnesota
Last weekend the Badgers swept the MTU Huskies in Madison and the Gophers swept the Tigers in Colorado Springs.

It looks like the Gophers found their offense last week, who knew it was hiding in Colorado, huh. The Gophers put up 13 goals on the weekend, posting 4 on Friday night and 9 on Saturday. Wisconsin put some goals up the board last weekend too, 5 and 4 respectively. If both those offensives show up in Minneapolis this weekend, we might have ourselves some old fashioned barn burners. Of course, now that I speculate shoot outs, the games will end up more like 1-0. This is the other big rivalry series this weekend, CC vs DU is the other rivals game. I’m going to go with a safe conservative pick here, SPLIT.

#2 Minnesota-Duluth @ #9 North Dakota
Last weekend the Bulldogs took three points from the Beavers in Bemidji and the Sioux split with the Pioneers in Grand Forks.

The Sioux outshot the Pioneers in both games last weekend, 30-17 Friday and 33-17 Saturday. UND has scored 14 goals in conference play and UMD has scored 13 goals, both teams have played 4 games. If you look at BSU being a common denominator between UND, UMD you would have to go with the Sioux in this series. They beat BSU by a pair of 5-2 scores, and UMD beat them 3-2 OT and tied 1-1. I’m going to stick with the home team this weekend, SIOUX SWEEP.

Minnesota State @ #8 Nebraska-Omaha
Last weekend the MSUM Mavericks took three points from the Seawolves in Anchorage and the UNO Mavericks enjoyed a weekend off.

This will be the first time these teams play each other as members of the same league. The last few years these teams have played one another, as non-conference games. That should make for a good background between these pair of Mavericks. Like the cliché goes, “familiarity breeds contempt” and these teams should be familiar with each other. I saw the UNO v UM games a few weeks ago, and the Red Mavericks looked pretty good (of course, the Gophers looked bad then too). I haven’t seen the Purple Pucksters in action this year, so its hard to predict these games. MAVERICKS Win and the other MAVERICKS Win too :)

BYE WEEK
University of Alaska Anchorage – Seawolves
Michigan Technological University – Huskies

I’m Sioux 7 and I approve of this message.
(Man, I’m glad I don’t have to hear that fraise for a couple of years.)

Hockey culture doesn't sit well with dad

Here is an article from Slam Sports/Canoe.CA, Terry Martin is in favor of changing the culture of hockey as soon as possible.

EDMONTON - The father of a young hockey player who is still recovering in a Minneapolis hospital from a broken neck after a devastating hit says the entire sport is due for a fundamental fix when it comes to bodychecking.

Terry Martin's son, 22-year-old Jesse Martin -- a centreman with the University of Denver -- was taken off on a stretcher Sunday night following the hit by Brad Malone, a player with the University of North Dakota during a match Sunday in Grand Forks.

The former player for the Spruce Grove Saints and a product of the Atlanta Thrashers was rushed to hospital after suffering three fractures to his C-2 vertebrae to his neck.

"I am absolutely in favour of the discussion going on right now about changing the culture of hockey," Terry Martin said in an interview.

Former Duluth Sieve Brady Hjelle Commits to Ohio State University

I just saw this on line over at the Cedar Rapids Roughriders team web page.

Cedar Rapids, IA- RoughRider goaltender, Brady Hjelle, has committed to play the remainder of his college hockey career at Ohio State University.

"We congratulate Brady and are very happy for him and his family. Brady will fit in very nicely with the culture Coach Osiecki and his staff are building at OSU," said Head Coach and General Manager Mark Carlson.

Flyers Danny Briere suspended three games for cross-check

If you haven't seen this Danny Briere was suspended by the NHL for three games for this hit on Islanders center Frans Nielsen. Apparently Briere didn't agree with the Suspension. This is what Briere had to say on the manner.

ESPN.COM --- "I'm shocked," he said before Philadelphia hosted the Hurricanes on Monday night. "Surprised is not strong enough. After all the suspensions that have been handed out the last couple of years and this year, I didn't think I was going to get a game. Then I thought, 'OK yes, I am a repeat offender, they'll probably give me a game because of it.' I'm shocked that it was more than a game."

Come on Danny, you did cross check him in the head and you're a repeat offender, how did you think the league was going to respond? Three games is about right for this hit. I am beginning to wonder who is a bigger POS, Matt Cooke or Daniel Carcillo.

Edmonton product suffers broken neck

Here is a story from the Edmonton Journal that I found on line about Denver forward Jesse Martin, lets not forget this young man as he makes his recovery.

EDMONTON — The father of a city-born hockey player whose neck was broken in a hockey game in North Dakota on Saturday says the prognosis looks good, but it's way too early to know if his son can continue to pursue his dream to play in the NHL.

Terry Martin says his 22-year-old son Jesse has feeling in his extremities, but will likely require surgery within the next couple of days to align the multiple fractures in his second cervical vertebrae.

"The good news is he has got a good range of motion in his arms and legs," Terry Martin said Monday from bedside at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

"It is traumatic, but there has been progress, and that's been positive.

"We have guarded optimism, knowing that it is really serious, but he is in very good hands."

His son suffered multiple fractures to his C2 vertebrae after he was hit with a crushing bodycheck midway through a contest between his University of Denver Pioneers and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

The six-foot, 180-pound forward was skating with the puck out of his team's end of the ice when he was hit with a thundering check from Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone. He appeared to be planning to make a pass, but was glancing down when the six-foot-two, 212-pound Malone caught him with his shoulder.

College hockey coaches to meet with NHL officials over player raids

It will be interesting to see how this story shakes out. I think this is a work in progress. Division I college hockey took a pounding this summer as a lot of great players fled for the CHL and or NHL.

Twincities.com --- Don Lucia didn't garner a ton of sympathy when he started losing his best players to the NHL. The Gophers men's hockey coach already had won two NCAA titles, and seemed to have his pick of talent, anyway.

But now it's not just the Gophers' cupboard being raided of underclassmen, and college hockey hopes to do something about it.

Lucia and a handful of other Division I coaches, including Wisconsin's Mike Eaves, Boston University's Jack Parker and Harvard's Ted Donato, will meet with NHL representatives next month in Toronto to exchange ideas on the subject.

Among the NHL representatives will be Commissioner Gary Bettman.

"There are things we want to talk about that hopefully we can do with a new (collective bargaining agreement) that can help college hockey," said Lucia, who lost Nick Leddy (to Chicago) and Jordan Schroeder (Vancouver) last spring before either had turned 20.

Before that it was Kyle Okposo, who left in the middle of his sophomore season to join the New York Islanders, and Phil Kessel (Boston) and Erik Johnson (St. Louis), each of whom played one season for the Gophers.

"College hockey has been under assault," said Paul Kelly, executive director of College Hockey Inc., a newly created organization charged with promoting college hockey. "It used to be hard to keep your highly skilled players for three years; now it's two years, and sometimes one. You're constantly recruiting; you have to re-create your team."

When I read this article; my first question is; when is reality is also going to set in. What are the division one hockey coaches going to use as bargaining chips to convince the NHL to stop talking their top players after being college hockey for only a year or two? Seriously! While this is an interesting story, these coaches don't anything to bargain with. I am not sure what they think they can do to stop GM’s and NHL hockey teams from raiding division one hockey teams. That is one of the negatives about recruiting blue chip hockey players to play for their teams, if they are successful their NHL teams are going to want them to play for them. Phil Kessel and Erik Johnson were ready to play in the NHL after only one season in college.

Zach Budish injured; out for the season?

Goal Gophers is reporting that Sophmore winger Zach Budish could be out for the season because of a knee injury. This is bad news for the Gophers if true. According to the Star Tribune Budish was injuried in a moped accident.

Goal Gophers --- Zach Budish, a sophomore right winger for the Gophers, was injured Monday in a moped accident, a team spokesman said. The severity of Budish’s injuries are being determined.

According to at least one report, Budish appears to have a torn anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees and could be out for the rest of the season. That’s what Kevin Gorg, FSN’s analyst for the Gophers-Colorado College series this past weekend, said on KFAN radio on Tuesday morning.

Gophers coach Don Lucia will provide an update on Budish on Wednesday, the day regularly scheduled for media interviews, said Paul Rovnak, the assistant director in athletic communications for men’s hockey.

DU player with broken neck talks to North Dakota opponent who injured him

The Denver Post is reporting this story. Wow! The kid is lying in bed hurt and worried about the kid that checked him. This stuff really thugs at your heart strings. Classy move by Martin, lets hope he makes a speedy return.

The Denver Post --- While recovering from three fractures to his C2 vertebrae today in a Minneapolis hospital, University of Denver center Jesse Martin reached out to the player who inadvertently ended his season and possibly his career.

According to Martin's father, Terry Martin, Jesse called North Dakota senior Brad Malone to ease Malone's mental anguish over his check that caused the injury midway through DU's 3-0 victory on Saturday in Grand Forks, N.D.

"Jesse had heard Brad was having a tough time and he wanted Brad to know he had no hard feelings," Terry Martin said. "Jesse doesn't think it was an illegal hit and he wanted Brad to know that."

Poll Monday - Sioux drop to 9th

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[November 1, 2010]
1 Miami (33) 5-1-2 977 1
2 Minnesota-Duluth ( 8) 6-0-2 926 3
3 Boston University ( 7) 6-0-1 836 6
4 Boston College ( 1) 4-2-0 835 2
5 Yale ( 1) 2-0-0 790 5
6 Michigan 4-1-3 762 4
7 Maine 4-1-2 707 7
8 Nebraska-Omaha 5-1-0 597 9
9 North Dakota 4-3-1 565 8
10 New Hampshire 2-1-2 555 10
11 Notre Dame 5-1-1 488 13
12 Michigan State 3-0-3 481 11
13 Denver 3-3-2 389 12
14 Alaska 5-2-1 358 15
15 Union 5-1-2 286 16
15 Wisconsin 5-2-1 286 18
17 Minnesota 5-3-0 191 20
18 Rensselaer 3-1-3 104 20
19 Cornell 0-2-0 91 14
20 St. Cloud State 3-4-1 88 17
Others Receiving Votes: Merrimack 44, Quinnipiac 38, Robert Morris 34, Colorado College 18, Michigan Tech 13, Ferris State 12, Western Michigan 12, Clarkson 7, Rochester Institute of Technology 6, Bemidji State 2, Canisius 1, Vermont 1


USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[November 1, 2010]
1Miami University, 494 (23)15-1-25
2University of Minnesota Duluth, 469 (7)36-0-25
3Boston University, 407 (4)56-0-15
4Boston College, 40324-2-05
5University of Michigan, 36144-1-35
6Yale University, 35972-0-05
7University of Maine, 322 64-1-25
8University of Nebraska Omaha, 23595-1-03
9University of North Dakota, 208 84-3-15
10University of New Hampshire, 200102-1-25
11University of Notre Dame, 163115-1-12
12Michigan State University, 152143-0-32
13University of Denver, 94123-3-25
14Union College, 88135-1-22
15University of Alaska, 70NR5-2-14

Get Well Jessie Martin

Vizoroo quote from USCHO: For those of us who "live and die" for our favorite college hockey team, there comes a time when that is secondary. And that time came to Pioneer fans this weekend.

First off; I don’t think there are truer words. That being said; I don’t think anyone in the Fighting Sioux fan base is happy that an opposition player was carted off of the ice during Saturday’s game, if they are they need to have their heads examined because they aren’t wired right. Personally, I have also been on the sideline and in the stands for football players that were carted off of the playing surface for a catastrophic injury, it ruins the whole game and puts a dark cloud over the event, this kid may never play hockey again. I have also been to auto races that ended with a driver being taken to the hospital for a bad crash; again the race/event becomes secondary. In the end we are all just human being.

This game puts another dark cloud over a great rivalry between two great programs, whether you like the DU hockey or their head coach, the Denver University Pioneers are a class organization; evidence of this was when their players stood still and slapped their sticks on the ice for the Ed Belfour presentation on Friday night. The last thing we need is more ugliness between the two programs and their great fans.

Personally, while I enjoy the back and forth between the two programs, now is not the time for that, let’s have some empathy for the DU fans as they go through this trying time. I would imagine that Sioux forward Brad Malone also feels bad as well, the big screen caught a glimpse of Malone after the incident and the expression on his face was one of concern. Rember to keep Jesse Martin in thoughts and prayers as he goes through medical treatments.



Denver Post photo.

INCH Power Rankings - Sioux 8th

INCH Power Rankings

1 Miami of Ohio
2 Minn. Duluth
3 Boston University
4 Boston College
5 Michigan
6 Maine
7 Yale
8 North Dakota - The Fighting Sioux outshot Denver by a 63-34 margin last weekend, but the Pioneers outscored NoDak by a 6-4 margin. Feel free to jump to your own conclusion here. 4-3-1 (3-1-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Denver, 4-3; L vs. Denver, 3-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota Duluth, vs. Minnesota Duluth.
9 Union
10 Michigan State
11 New Hampshire
12 Notre Dame
13 Denver
14 Nebraska-Omaha
15 Alaska Fairbanks
16 Wisconsin
17 Rensselaer
18 Merrimack
19 Robert Morris
20 Quinnipiac

I must say that I am surprised that UND is still in 8th I was expecting to be dropped to 10th in the power rankings.

Big Ten Conference hockey? It's a strong possibility

I found this little news nugget in today’s Saint Cloud Times. First off; I can’t be the only one that is uninspired by McLeod’s leadership in moving the WCHA forward with the Big Ten Hockey Conference looming in the future. I am actually more worried now after reading these comments from McLeod; combine these comments in this news article with his interview with Scott Williams Lakeland Public Television during the UND and BSU series a few weeks back I am even more concerned. I am still trying to download the interview between Scott Williams and Bruce McLeod and will do so as soon as I can figure out how to rip the DVD to my hard drive.

Times news services --- Though Penn State officially is committed to playing NCAA Division I hockey, Big Ten Conference representatives won’t speculate about the possibility of an official Big Ten hockey conference.

The Nittany Lions, they point out, haven’t even hired an architect to design their arena. And, they add, such a monumental decision would require a significant amount of discussion at the elite levels of college athletics.

Bruce McLeod doesn’t buy it.

“The way I see it, there’s not much to speculate about,” the Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner said. “They were already looking at it, and now they have six teams. They will have it.”

Last summer, the Big Ten reached out to McLeod and other college hockey leaders about the possibility of starting a hockey conference. Despite only having five schools that play Division I men’s hockey — Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State — the Big Ten thought a conference could be created through affiliate memberships with schools such as Notre Dame.

“I and some other people fought very, very hard for several months to avoid that,” McLeod said Monday. “We made a pretty good case, and it didn’t happen.”

Minnesota was among those opposed, though with the addition of a sixth conference team — the number the NCAA requires for a conference championship — arguments against a Big Ten men’s hockey conference might have dried up

Martin in stable condition...

This is a press release from Denver University, it would appear to be good news. Martin is in good hands at HCMC, as it is one of the best level one trauma center in the upper Midwest. I know I can speak for all of us at Goon's World that we hope that he makes a speedy return.

DENVER - University of Denver senior center Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta) is in stable condition at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn., tonight after suffering a season-ending injury in last night's 3-0 win over the University of North Dakota.

Martin suffered the injury at the 11:06 mark of the second period after an on-ice collision with North Dakota's Brad Malone, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty for charging and 10-minute game misconduct on the play.

Martin was taken off the ice on a stretcher and was immediately taken to nearby Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, N.D., for observation. After tests were conducted at the hospital, it was determined that Martin needed to be air-lifted to Hennepin County Medical Center for further testing and possible surgery.

According to University of Denver Associate Director of Sports Medicine Aaron Leu, Martin suffered three fractures to his C-2 vertebrae in his neck and is in stable condition. Martin has feeling in his all of his extremities and will undergo further testing during the next 24 hours to determine if surgery is required.

How good is Tim Thomas? How do you like him now?

According to ESPN Tim Thomas' numbers are very impressive and hard to top. Consider last season Bruins fans were ready to throw him under the bus and anoint Tuukka Rask the starter and run Thomas out of Boston on a rail.

ESPN --- With his third shutout of the season Saturday night, Tim Thomas becomes only the second goalie in the expansion era (since 1967-68) with at least 3 shutouts in his first 6 games of a season was Pascal Leclaire in 2007-08 who had 4.

Thomas is now 6-0-0 with a 0.50 goals-against average in his first 6 games of the season. That's also the lowest goals-against average for a goalie who won his first 6 games of a season in the expansion era.