What about an NCC Cup?

With the talk of the Big Ten Hockey Conference I thought I would add some satire of my own. Since there are now five former members of the now defunct North Central Conference in the WCHA, I think these five WCHA teams (UMD, SCSU, UND, UNO and Mankato)should have a NCC cup like the now defunctDQ Cup.

Maybe we can poach/pursue a team like BSU and start our own hockey league that would be known as the NCC hockey league. Probably not, however, maybe when the almighty BTHC comes into fruition we could divide the WCHA into two division we could have the NCC schools together in one division and the other schools in another division. It would look like this...

NCC Division

UMD
UND
MSUM
UNO
SCSU

Others

C.C.
DU
UAA
MTU
BSU

UNO Mavericks sport all freshman line.

This weekend when the Fighting Sioux play the University Nebraska Omaha Mavericks the Sioux will have to contend with the UNO Mavericks all freshman line of Ryan Walters (4g-3a-7pts), Brock Montpetit (2g-4a-6pts)and Zahn Raubenheimer (4g-3a-7pts). Examining the numbers they are pretty good numbers for an all freshman line.

Chad Purcell World-Herald Staff Writer --- Dean Blais is pretty sure that UNO boasts the best all-freshman line in college hockey.

That's because Blais likes to joke that he's the only coach crazy enough to keep three freshman forwards together game after game.

All self-deprecation aside, the decision to put rookies Ryan Walters, Brock Montpetit and Zahn Raubenheimer on the same line is making Blais look crazy like a fox.

Heading into a key WCHA series against eighth-ranked North Dakota, the University of Nebraska at Omaha has climbed to No. 4, the highest ranking in school history. The Mavs are off to a program-best 8-1-1 overall start. At 5-0-1 in its new league, UNO remains the only WCHA team without a conference loss.

Without question, UNO's hard-nosed rookie trio has played a big part in the squad's early success. From the time Walters, Montpetit and Raubenheimer began working together, they displayed a knack for cycling the puck in the corners and wearing down opposing forwards along the boards.

Lately, their mission to pester and tire out the other team has been accompanied by an offensive explosion. The Walters-Montpetit-Raubenheimer combination has buried six goals in UNO's past four games, helping the Mavs sweep Minnesota State-Mankato and take three of four points from St. Cloud State.

The forward line of Terry Broad Hurst(4g-7a-11pts), Alex Hudson (4g-7a-11pts) and Matt Ambroz (7g-4a-11pts)is impressive as well.From reading the box scores it appears that this line has been in tact for the last four games so I think it would be safe to assume that the Sioux will see this combination again this weekend. This was one of the lines that ran roughshod over the Gophers in their first WCHA series. I was impressed with their speed in all three zones of the ice.

WCHA Defensive Player of the Week - Aaron Dell UND...

Aaron Dell has pick up the defensive player of the week in the WCHA with his strong play last weekend in Madison, Wisconin against the Badgers. Dell played 104 minutes of shutout hockey on the weekend before being scored on.

WCHA.COM --- University of North Dakota goaltender Aaron Dell, who allowed just one even-strength goal while backstopping the No. 8-ranked Fighting Sioux to a two-game conference road sweep over Wisconsin last weekend, is the Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for Nov. 16, 2010.

A 6-0, 191-pound sophomore from Airdrie, Alberta, Dell started and won both games in UND's WCHA sweep at then No. 13-ranked Wisconsin, the first sweep for the Sioux at the Kohl Center in Madison since 2002-03.

He registered his first shutout of the season last Friday (Nov. 12) night, stopping all 16 shots he faced in a 1-0 North Dakota victory. He also helped UND kill all six UW power-plays, including a pair of 5:00-minute majors, in that game. Dell then played two more shutout periods last Saturday (Nov. 13) in a 4-2 North Dakota triumph before UW finally scored twice in the third period. Prior to those two goals, Dell had held the Badgers off the board for the first 104:36 of the series and in the two games he had a 1.00 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

The series at Wisconsin marked Dell's third and fourth straight starts (and his eighth and ninth appearances of the season) after having played in only five games (none consecutive) as a freshman.

Also nominated: Brad Hunt, D, BSU; Sam Brittain, G, DU; John Faulkner, G, UNO; and Scott Gudmandson, G, UW.

Blais ready for the series against Bison?

s/t to @ http://www.bradwilliamsphotography.com/ This was over on Maverick Puck
Edit: Bridget from Maverick Puck tells me via facebook that the person to blame for this article title is the page editor and not the writer who wrote the story. Just thought I would clear that up for everyone.

Moving forward; Fighting Sioux vs Mavericks

This weekend’s WCHA series will feature the once beaten University of Omaha Nebraska Mavericks aka “The Red Cows” versus the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. This match up will be special to Sioux fans because it will be former Fighting Sioux head hockey coach Dean Blais’ first match up against his former team.

Sioux fans will probably always have strong feeling of affection for Dean Blais because of what he accomplished while he was the head coach at UND. Dean Blais led the Fighting Sioux to five MacNaughton Cups, two Broadmoor Trophys, two (2X) national titles in 1997 and 2000 and a runners up finish in 2001 before moving on to coach in the NHL after the 2004 season.

Can I quote you on that one?

Blais is also famous for interesting quotes and zingers. One of Blais’ more famous quotes was, ‘if a players isn’t playing well, he will be sitting on the bench next to the coach or in the stands in a suit.’ Last week Blais made this comment after he was asked by the Omaha media if the Mavericks were adjusting to the teams in the WCHA?

World-Herald --- On Saturday night, following No. 6 UNO’s wild 4-4 tie at St. Cloud State, Blais was asked whether the game was an example of his Mavs learning and adjusting to life in the WCHA.

Blais agreed, then broke out a sly smile.

“These other teams,” he said, “they’re going to have to learn and adjust to us, too.”

I think no matter how the four games go between the Fighting Sioux and the University of Omaha Mavericks, Sioux fans will have found memories and an affection for Dean Blais, because he was one of us.

Chad PurcellWorld-Herald Staff Writer --- Blais knows that UND's coaches, players and fans will want to sweep this series, too. But there's an interesting dynamic that still exists between Blais and those who live and die for Sioux hockey. And that's not likely to change, even if the Mavs enjoy big success this weekend.

“He's a major, major celebrity up there,” said Nick Fohr, UNO's director of hockey operations who grew up in Grand Forks rooting for UND. “Sioux hockey is just as big up there as Husker football is down here, and Dean is obviously a very big part of that program.”

Virg Foss can verify that fact.

Foss, a columnist for the Grand Forks Herald, formerly served as the newspaper's UND hockey beat writer. He covered the program for 35 seasons, longer than any other WCHA writer, including all 19 years of Blais' tenure.

“I think Dean will always have a warm place in everybody's heart here in North Dakota,” Foss said.

Blais grew up along the Canadian border in International Falls, Minn., and he played college hockey at the University of Minnesota. But his hockey identity in large part is defined by what he did at North Dakota.

He worked as an assistant under former UND coach Gino Gasparini in the 1980s. During that nine-year stint, Blais was one of the key recruiters and tacticians as the Sioux went 239-130-11 and won NCAA titles in 1982 and 1987.

Reviewing the UND and UW series.

This past weekend the Fighting Sioux showed us a glimpse of what we thought was possible when the season started. The veteran Fighting Sioux took it to the younger Wisconsin Badgers on their ice and if it wasn’t for the Badgers senior goaltender Scott Gudmandson these games wouldn’t have been as close score wise.

While I was out hunting this weekend, I was able to listen to the games on the radio on the porch of my hunting shack. When I finally got home last night I was able to watch Friday’s game on my DVR. After listening to both games and having the game described beautifully to me by the voice of the Sioux Tim Hennesy, it was very apparent that these games weren’t as close as the score board would indicate. I might add that when you watch the games in the stands or at home you on your television you might not get to hear Hennesy’s analysis of the game, unless you bring your head set to the game. It is this writers opinion that Tim Hennesy is one of the best hockey radio announcers in college hockey.

Hits in question

On Friday night Hennesy was definitely agitated with the referees Derek Shepherd and Marco Hunt. During the Friday game between the Badgers and the Fighting Sioux the Sioux were whistled for two five minute major penalties that resulted in game misconducts for Gleason and Hextall.

In reviewing the hits in question on the ice it would appear that checking from behind was not a correct call in the Gleason hit. At first glance the hit looked like a nice shoulder to shoulder check, but after watching the hit about five times, if this hit is penalty, I think a boarding penalty might have been the more appropriate penalty call. I am not convinced that play was a penalty. I also thought it was a little much that the player from Wisconsin flailed around on the ice like he had been shot but then by some miracle after the five minute major had been doled out by the officials the Wisconsin able to recover to take the ice during the power play.

The Brett Hextal hit on Jordy Murray "could" pose a problem for Brett Hextall, I suppose there is a possibility the WCHA could review that hit and hand out some additional discipline based on the fact that from the video it appears that Jordy Murray was hit in the head by Hextall and did suffer an injury from the check in question. Like I told a friend of mine that with this point of emphasis on hits to the head there could be hit(s) reviewed each week by the WCHA. What was legal even last year is no longer legal today.

Madison hard place to win

Traditionally, winning in Madison has been a hard task for the Fighting Sioux and the Sioux hadn’t swept in Madison since the 2002-2003 season when the Fighting Sioux won by scores of 5-0 and 5-2. The Fighting Sioux are also tough to beat when they wear black, with the win this past weekend the Fighting Sioux are 21-1-2 all time in the black uniforms. UND is now 6-5-1 in the last 12 games against UW.

Poll Monday

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[November 15, 2010]
1 Minnesota-Duluth (36) 9-1-2 981 2
2 Boston University (11) 6-0-4 941 1
3 Maine ( 1) 6-1-3 871 5
4 Nebraska-Omaha ( 2) 8-1-1 808 6
5 Yale 5-1-0 786 3
6 Miami 6-3-3 779 4
7 New Hampshire 5-1-3 673 9
8 North Dakota 7-4-1 662 10
9 Michigan 6-3-3 598 8
10 Boston College 6-4-0 592 7
11 Notre Dame 7-3-1 508 11
12 Alaska 7-4-1 405 14
13 Denver 6-4-2 401 15
14 Union 7-2-3 387 12
15 Wisconsin 6-4-2 264 13
16 Western Michigan 6-2-2 227 17
17 Michigan State 4-3-3 200 16
18 Rensselaer 5-3-3 171 18
19 Minnesota 5-4-1 90 19
20 Robert Morris 7-2-1 50 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Merrimack 42, Dartmouth 18, St. Cloud State 11, Cornell 9, Ferris State 8, Lake Superior 5, Princeton 4, Colorado College 3, Clarkson 2, Niagara 2, Providence 1, Quinnipiac 1
---------------------

Coming later today
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[November 15, 2010]
1. Minnesota-Duluth (27)
2. Boston University (6)
3. Maine
4. Nebraska-Omaha (1)
5. Yale
6. Miami
7. North Dakota
8. New Hampshire
9. Boston College
10. Michigan
11. Notre Dame
12. Union
13. Alaska
14. Denver
15. Wisconsin
thers receiving votes: Michigan State University 8, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 7, Cornell University 6, Western Michigan University 6, Robert Morris University 4, Dartmouth College 3, University of Minnesota 2, Rochester Institute of Technology 2.

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Rankings for your reading enjoyement.

INCH Power Rankings
[11/14/2010]
1. Minnesota Duluth
2. Boston University
3. Maine
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. Yale
6. North Dakota - Prior to this past weekend, the Fighting Sioux had only swept Wisconsin on one prior occasion in the 12-year history of the Kohl Center. 7-4-1 (6-2-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Wisconsin, 1-0; W at Wisconsin, 4-2. THIS WEEK: at Nebraska-Omaha, at Nebraska-Omaha
7. New Hampshire
8. Miami
9. Michigan
10. Union
11. Notre Dame
12. Alaska
13. Boston College
15. Denver
15. Wisconsin
16. Western Michigan
17. Rensselaer
18. Robert Morris
19. Michigan State
20. Providence
Dropped out: Ferris State

Bubble-licious: Merrimack, Niagara, Dartmouth, Princeton

My nomination for "Moron of the Week"

WOW! This is my nomination for "Moron of the Week." I have watched hockey for a very long time and I have never seen anything as stupid or as moronic as this act. Seriously, this makes no sense at all, if you're mad at Blood you settle it with him and not with the opposition's net. I would really like to know what was going through Craig Smith's mind. That's a classic black out snap, there is no other way to define it. I think the funny part is Ben Blood is laughing and point to the official to tell Craig Smith he just got a penalty.

UND 4, UW 2 SIOOOOOUXWEEEP!!!!!

I've said before that a good team can overcome bad officiating. Today, UND proved me right. They absolutely dominated UW almost all game long.

Before I break things down, I'm going to give you my Weekend Three Stars:

Third Star: Chay Genoway (0g 3a) - Points aren't the only reason why he gets the 2nd Star. He was the icing on the cake of absolutely dominant defensive and offensive performance.

Second Star: Scott Gudbrandson - Looking back at where Gudbrandson came from (at one point he was in danger of losing his schollie at UW in a similar situation that former UW/current tUMD goaltender Aaron Crandall went through) and having watched him play last year.... Gudbrandson never has shown the capability of playing like he has this weekend. He was simply the ONLY UW player that came to play.

First Star: Aaron Dell - Almost 150 minutes of shutout time vs. UW. Can't argue with this.

Honorable Mentions: Jake Gardiner (seriously 40 minutes a game? Nuts), Derrick LaPoint (suck it haters), Corbin Knight, Jason Gregoire, Matt Frattin, and Danny Kristo

Next, to get it off my chest: UW got to see tonight just what we're complaining about when it comes to officiating... sorta.

Tonight, DShep and Hunt were consistent.... AWFUL. They managed to find every penalty UW committed all night and called most of them...some of them... it was hard to figure out their formula on which overt penalties they were going to call and which they'd let slide. At one point, Eaves whined and DShep found a way to put UND in the box. It mattered little because Craig Smith had a blackout when his brain shut down and he went berserk. Unfortunately for him (and lucky for Blood) the pesky net got in the way. Blood apparently laughed it off. UND was only really screwed over once when a sympathetic officiating crew decided to use the old version of the NHL rule about skaters in the crease to overturn Kristo's goal.

UPDATE: Ok, I watched some of the game on the Wisconsin Public Television reweb broadcast... I think that's what they called it. Anyways, I'm going to rescind what I said about Eaves convincing DShep to put UND in the box. Hennessey was wrong when he said that they invented a reason to put Trupp in the box. Trupp went to the box for Charging. It probably wasn't Charging, I'll grant TH that. However, Trupp left his skates to make the hit... to Craig Smith's head/shoulders area. This should have been a 2 minute minor for Contact to the Head- Roughing. It was definitely a penalty though. And about Craig Smith.... Seriously, I'm flabbergasted at his run of the UND net. He didn't try to check Dell. No one seems to have any clue on why in the world he did what he did. The net goes flying and ends up against the end boards upside down! What was he trying to accomplish? Dell didn't even move. He just flew by Dell and wham. Wow.

Also, saw the Kristo goal. And I'm now further enraged. That was a goal. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. Rodwell's skate was CLEARLY in the crease, but it was nowhere near Gudmandson. Gudmandson would have had to skate up and to his left to run into Rodwell's skate... Kristo's shot came from Up and Right. So yeah, in order for it to be goaltender interference, Gudbrandson would have had to skate AWAY from the incoming shot. IF that's his idea of good goaltending, then I'll take away his second star status.

The WCHA is a lot like an NHRA Top Fuel Drag Race Team (Great schools, great coaches and players, great (for the most part) fans, great facilities) whose pit crewmembers in charge of the tires cannot seem to get to the track on time and when they do, always seem a bit lazy or uninspired. So, the league's race team could beat ANYONE in the amateur ranks but they keep on having blowouts off the starting line because there's no one to ensure tire quality. How's that analogy?

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

Anyways, it is strange sitting here post game, post sweep. I thought that UW series now would be a split and the series vs UMD would be the sweep. Strike that, reverse it.

UND played like the hype surrounding this team expected them to play. UW looked slow, tired, uninspired.

Frattin scored first on a shot from the point.

Kristo scored seco... no, he didn't. Rodwell stepped in the crease and Sheptard overturned it.

UW scored next on the powerplay. John Ramage scored from the point. UW would end the game with the best PP percentage: 1 for 2.

UND would then score 3 unanswered goals, two in a row by Corbin Knight and the final one by Frattin.

Schultz would pot the final goal of the game when UND actually showed laziness.

I'll post the video if there is one that shows up.

A New Rule Proposal (RW77)

I've about had it with the officials, but this isn't going to be a rant on the officials. I'm actually going to do something to try to eliminate the need to learn what a penalty looks like so that they can actually have an excuse for not knowing what diving looks like and certainly for embellishment.

Jordy Murray helped solidify my belief on this rule. The rule is as follows: A player who requires the assistance from any training or coaching personnel after the whistle has been blown shall be ruled "injured." This condition can be removed 2 minutes after the time the injury time out has been called should the player be deemed to be in playing condition by on-hand staff. Should the player be found on the ice before the 2 minutes has expired, a penalty for Embellishment minor penalty will be called and the player will serve it according to the normal penalty rules. EXCEPTION: This rule will not apply to injury timeouts called for goaltenders.

So, If Player A gets rocked by Player B and Player B and Player A lays on the ice for enough time for a whistle to be called to handle the injury (as the officials are trained to assume it is) and the trainers come out on the ice to see how injured the player is, that player is ruled ineligible to reenter play for 2 minutes after being helped off the ice.

It is no secret that the officials cannot reverse penalty calls. They can't decide to shorten a penalty time or eliminate a Game Misconduct call. However, they can penalize a player who is trying to slow down the game and draw a penalty for faking injury. If the injury isn't being faked, 2 minutes is a great time for medical staff to ensure no injury or ill effects are being felt by the player.

I cannot claim to be the originator of this rule. This rule is actually a Football rule. Funny... not a lot of diving in football because diving (in the context of faking injury) would mean that they'd have to sit out a play.

Enough is enough. I'm pissed at seeing a guy writhing or rolling around on the ice after a big hit, get medical attention, and then, after the "bad guy" goes off to the box or gets kicked out of the game, out he comes to play a shift on the powerplay.

If you're injured, by God, stay down and get help! If you're not injured, get up or get out of the game.

Friday's Game Recap... sorta. (RW77)

Ok, I only got to listen to part of the game on the radio and I did get to see the replay (Thanks to RedFrogND and Brad Schlossman) of the penalties and the goal.

First off, I feel sort of vindicated. Why? I predicted that, with the outflow of all that talent UW had, Eaves would revert back to the boring style of hockey UW was famous for in recent memory. I was right. It was a very boring game.

Second, I was very impressed with the penalty kill. I don't believe UW got any shots off in the 10 minutes of gift PP time thanks to the buffoons in black and white. I'll get on the penalties in a moment. Regardless, I'm happy Gleason was getting time at Forward because I can't see him cracking the lineup on a regular basis without that ability. On a completely different note: I feel that UND has a lot of players (at least more than I can recall) that can play both Forward and Defenseman on its roster. I know that Gleason, Genoway, and Davidson have played for UND both at forward and as Defenseman, but I also think that Marto is capable of doing it. I thought he has played at least one game or part of a game as a forward before with UND, but I can't rightfully confirm it.

Third, the major penalties. The WCHA is a reactionary league so I shouldn't be so upset about the majors. What I'm upset about is that they're letting the way the player falls or what the player looks like after he's hit dictate the severity of the penalty. Gleason and Hextall's hits were penalties. Gleason's hit was a boarding minor, or perhaps a double minor at worst. It was not worthy of a Game misconduct. He did not impact the player in the head or cross check him into the boards. He hit shoulder to shoulder with the player and the player was knocked off balance and hit head first into the boards. A bad position for the UW defender for sure, but not a major penalty. Jordy Murray's major was a thing of beauty. Jordy did something stupid. He skated around the net with his head down and forgot that there were players on the ice that were also going to go after the puck. He didn't recognize that he'd get hit and he got "rocked." He somehow ends up bleeding, and to the best of my abilities, the only way I see that happening is if he somehow cut his chin on his cage when his cage and his chin impacted the ice. He lays on the ice for a little bit and even pulls the "I'm out cold" immobility stuff. The whistle blows and up he jumps and off he skates to the bench to participate in the up coming power play. I can't remember if Brady was that soft, but whatever.

Dell played great tonight. Gudmanson did great too. In truth, I'm more impressed with Gudmanson than Dell. Why? Because Gudmanson played above his potential. Stats are irrelevent in this scenario because he's shown time and time again that he's mediocre to slightly above average goaltender. Gudmanson REALLY benefited from the defense in front of him last year because, when that defense had a bad game, vs. BC, Gudmanson got lit up. Dell has benefited from the same thing thus far, so I'm still waiting to see what happens when Dell faces a team without Team D backing him up. We all know Eidsness has faced that scenario this year already.

Nevertheless, it is still amusing to read fans asking if Eidsness will be worthy of playing again this year. I agree we should ride the hot hand, but I also agree that those who think Eidsness will be relegated to backup duty needs to check in to Narcotics Anonymous. Last time Eids played he did not play poorly. For now, I hope Hakstol goes with Dell on Fridays and Eidsness on Saturdays. If Hakstol does go with Dell, then I'll be ok with it too.

Gregoire's goal was a thing of beauty. UND's Centers were dominant. I did find it interesting, though not surprising, that Gleason played over Bruneteau or Davidson, but I don't mind it at all.

Overall, a good game.

Here's the replays.

Turf Wars.

I saw this story on line while I was perusing the internet this afternoon. The Columbus Dispatch had this news nugget on it.

Puck Rakers Blog --- It’s commonplace for players to limber up by kicking a soccer ball in a circle, but the teams are usually separated by a considerable distance to avoid conflict. For example, in Nationwide Arena teams play soccer at either end of a 200-foot hallway.

The Blues, however, are the one visiting club with a history of circumnavigating the unwritten code in Columbus, an NHL source said. Last night, Blues players walked around the inside of the building to hold their soccer game within about 100 feet of the Jackets’ players, eyewitnesses added.

Jackets alternate captain R.J. Umberger, who does sprints before every game, apparently ran through or nearby the Blues’ circle sparking a verbal exchange, several eyewitnesses said. Umberger has grown weary of what he perceives as gamesmanship by the Blues, a source said. The Blues certainly have set a physical tone against the Jackets in recent seasons and the local club has not always responded well.

It’s unclear how many players on each team were involved. The skirmish was broken up quickly, but the game featured two fights, multiple scrums, 92 penalty minutes and venomous verbal barbs.

Sounds like the rivalry between the Blue Jackets and the Blues is getting heated. As an NHL fan, you have got to love a near scrum in the building before an NHL game. Nice! I would love to have former Ohio State University Buckeye R.J. Umberger on my team any day.

Friday afternoon pointifications

Match up

#10 North Dakota Fighting Sioux (5-4-1, 4-2-0 wcha) versus #13 Wisconsin BADgers (6-2-2, 3-1-2 wcha) UW is 5-4-1 in the last 10 against UND as I mentioned in another blog post.

Televsion - Tonight's game is on FCS if you have Midco.Net, you will need the extended sports package from Midco.net to get the game. Tomorrow night's game is on http://www.uwbadgers.com/ to buy the webcast.

Century mark for Genoway

Chay Genoway is 4 points away from hitting the 100 point total for his Fighting Sioux hockey career. Chay has played in 142 games (21g-75a-96pts). The next closes player for UND to reach the century club is Evan Trupp 123 games (26g-49a-75pts) and Jason Gregoire 95games (35g-39a-74pts) baring injury both players could have a good chance of hitting the century mark.

To trap or not to trap

The BADgers used to be known for being a boring trap first and offense second type of team, now the BADgers are proving that stereotype wrong. The BADgers ranked 3rd nationally in scoring offense (4.3 goals per game) and fourth in scoring defense (1.80).

Links to the series

Andy Baggot beat writer for the BADgers [Madison.com]

My Favorite oppostion hockey blog breaks down the weekend [60 Minutes, No Alibis, No Regrets]

Theresa Spisak from USCHO picks the Sioux to split and her side kick Tyler picks the Sioux be swept by the BADgers this weekend. [USCHO]

Tonight's WCHA Schedule with TV listings

Colorado College at Air Force 7:05 MT
Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth 7:07 CT My9
North Dakota at Wisconsin 7:07 CT FSN/WC
Nebraska-Omaha at St. Cloud State 7:07 CT Charter
Alaska Anchorage at Bemidji State 7:37 CT LPTV
Minnesota State at Denver 7:37 MT

Roman from Goal Gophers has been picking the series this season on his blog, last week he predicted a sweep for the Sioux and they split, this week he is predicting a BADgers sweep, lets hope Roman is wrong again.

Roman: Sioux used frosh G Aaron Dell in both games last weekend, instead of Brad Eidsness and split at the Ralph with UMD. No. 10-ranked NoDak is 4-0-1 when it scores four goals or more, 1-4-0 if held under four. D-man Chay Genoway had three assists as he continues comeback. No. 14 Badgers are 3-0-2 in last five games, are third in nation in scoring, averaging 4.3 goals per game. Frosh winger Mark Zengerle had six-point weekend (one goal) at Maroosh. PP clicking. ... Badgers sweep

Sioux and BADgers week.

This week the Fighting Sioux face off against their heated rival the Wisconsin BADgers. Last week there was a discussion on Sioux Sports about past records and if they mattered. Personally, I do believe that historical records do matter and they might play into a equation on how a team plays another team, even if it’s just a small fraction of the whole equation.

One could say by looking at the numbers/results that the Fighting Sioux have had a tough go against the BADgers as of late. The UND Fighting Sioux went 0-1-1 against the Wisconsin BADgers last season at the REA, the Sioux did not travel to Madison last season.

During the 2008-2009 season; the Fighting Sioux went 2-3 against the BADgers losing the deciding rubber match against the BADgers in the third place game of the Final Five.

In the 2007-2008 Season the Sioux went 2-1 against the BADgers beating them in the regional at the Kohl Center. The BADgers had made the NCAA tourney as a at large bid and there were a few people that were upset the BADgers missed the Final Five but qualified as an at large bid with a losing record. The BADgers beat the Pioneers 5-2 before falling to the Sioux in over time. The next summer the NCAA made a rule that said if you don't win your conference tourney and you have a losing record you can not qualify for the NCAA tourney, no matter where you are sitting int the RPI/PWR rankings.

So in the last ten games the BADgers hold the edge 5-4-1 the Fighting Sioux. This could also be the last time the Sioux play the BADgers as the Fighting Sioux.This weekend I think the Sioux are due to change their fortunes against the BADgers - Sioux Sweep.

2/12/2009 Wisconsin 4 North Dakota 3 Wisconsin
12/11/2009 Wisconsin 3 North Dakota 3 (ot) Tie
--------------------------------------------
03/21/2009 Wisconsin 4 North Dakota 1 Wisconsin
03/07/2009 North Dakota 1 Wisconsin 4 Wisconsin
03/06/2009 North Dakota 2 Wisconsin 1 North Dakota
11/01/2008 Wisconsin 5 North Dakota 2 Wisconsin
10/31/2008 Wisconsin 2 North Dakota 3 North Dakota
--------------------------------------------
03/30/2008 Wisconsin 2 North Dakota 3 (ot) North Dakota
11/10/2007 North Dakota 3 Wisconsin 1 North Dakota
11/09/2007 North Dakota 0 Wisconsin 4 Wisconsin
--------------------------------------------

Happy Veteran's Day...

I would like to thank our brothers and sister in arms for their service to this great nation, I salute you. I honestly mean that, It’s not just a fancy cliché or a day off from work but it’s a day to thank and appreciate those have give so much for in service to this great nation. All game some, some gave all. We still have soldiers fighting two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, yet we hardly hear about them anymore. We can not forget them, or those veterans from the other wars... My wife's grand father talks about fighting the Nazis in World War Two as he landed on Normandy Beach in France. I was talking to a friend on facebook last night that reminded me that it has been twenty years since Desert Storm. Let's not forget these people have given up so much for us. This We'll Defend.

What does it take...

As you know PSU is moving their club hockey team up to division one hockey after one of their wealthy alumni Terrence M. and Kim Pegula decided to give Penn State University 88 million dollars to start a hockey program and build a new hockey arena on campus. Good for them, I am excited for them. Comments oozing with sarcasm.

Thank you Terry --- There's been some discussion in the Penn State community about how successful our men's hockey team will ultimately be. Some (myself) feel like we're going to have everything in place to be a top program, while others point to the men's basketball program as evidence of Penn State's ability to run a high-profile program that isn't football.

There is a school of thought that I have seen a few places on the internet where I have read comments by PSU hockey fans that think they are just going to build a brand new hockey arena, start a hockey program then they are going to become this division one power house hockey team. It doesn’t work like that. That line of thinking is comparable to saying I am starting a division one football program, I want to play the power house teams in the south like FSU, Miami, Georgia, Alabama, beat them on the football field and oh yeah, I am going to compete for a SEC title right out of the blocks. First thing I would ask you, "is what are you smoking?"

Seriously folks, it takes many seasons to build a successful division one hockey team. To answer the comment “We're sorry that Joe Battista didn't abandon his life's work and tell the guy with $88 million to stick it so you could keep playing Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State .” The comments are clueless and lack merit, Oh yeah! In case you forgot; Michigan Tech has more historical significance than you think; they have actually won a couple of NCAA titles during the 1970’s and they gave us the awesome/great Michigan Tech pep band and the MacNaughton Cup. SCSU has left a pretty big mark on college hockey as well and just look around the NHL, you will see many great SCSU alum playing in the NHL. Same thing with new member Bemidji State they have actually gone to the NCAA tourney and made the Frozen Four.

I think this type of thinking is ridiculous; there are established college hockey programs and Big Ten Schools like Minnesota with five NCAA division one hockey titles struggling to make the WCHA Final Five and or make the NCAA hockey tourney. One can make the argument that Minnesota has all the advantages, they have a great television deal with FSN, they have a big beautiful hockey arena, a great metro area with many blue chip hockey recruits sitting right in their back yard and they are struggling to make the NCAA hockey tourney.

What makes people think in the non hockey state of Pennsylvania they are going make it to the top? Where the hell are you going to recruit you players from? The East Coast is already saturated with great hockey teams recruiting for hockey recruits. Do PSU fans think they are going compete with a the BU and B.C. hockey teams for recruits? Traditional hockey powers like DU, UND, UW UMN, and Michigan have trouble at times competing with B.C. and BU. I don’t want to hear the argument that Cindy Crosby has put PA on the map and that is going to benefit the PSU hockey team.

In conclusion I don’t blame college hockey fans for be a little surly when it comes to the discussion of a Big Ten Hockey Conference. We have survived for a very long time without having a BTHC. I don’t like the concept of having a BTHC because I think it’s going to be a death sentence for unstable division one hockey programs. The WCHA will fine but what about the CCHA? How are LSSU, BGSU, WMU and a few other hockey teams going to be able to survive if you take the big money maker teams away from their league? We were told that a few of these teams were on life support and that was the reason why the CCHA couldn’t add UAH.

Is killing college hockey in its present form that important to the Big Ten so the BTN can show a few more hockey game on television? What’s preventing them from doing that now? I think when it’s all said and done that hockey people need to discuss this issue and not make a bunch of rash decision and tell the football cabal needs to get the hell out of the way and STFU.

Weekend Match-Ups

Some teams now have complete the first quarter of league play and most will achieve that mark this weekend, by playing at least 8 games. The standings are starting to show which teams will still be in contention for the title and home ice. I feel pretty comfortable saying that UAA and BSU are already out of the title race, this early in the season. And I also feel safe saying that MSUM and CC are almost out of the title picture too. I know it’s early, but these teams are averaging less than one point a game, in league play. Like the cliché goes, “You can’t win the title in the first half of the season, but you can lose it.”

WCHA standings

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

WCHA

Alaska Anchorage @ Bemidji State
Last weekend the Seawolves enjoyed a free weekend and the Beavers split with the SCSU Huskies in St. Cloud.

The Seawolves are in a familiar place, the basement, but they have a new neighbor this year, Bemidji State. The Beavers are off to rough start in their first year of WCHA action. They knew (or should have) that the competition is a bit stiffer here than in the old CHA. However, the good news for the Beavers is they got their first league win last weekend, on the road. Now all BSU has to do is get a win in their brand new arena. If BSU can get a sweep this weekend it will almost even their league record, the same can be said for UAA. The Seawolves have two games in hand on most of the conference, including BSU, so they have some more games to get points in. BSU has played two of the top league teams in UND and UMD this season, and got only one point. The Seawolves like the Beavers need points every weekend if they want to stay in the middle of the pack. SPLIT.

Minnesota State @ #15 Denver
Last weekend the MSUM Mavericks were swept by the UNO Mavericks in Omaha and the Pioneers split with the Tigers in a home-away series.

The Mavericks in the Pioneers are separated by only a point in the standings this week, but DU has two games in hand. The Pioneers were embarrassed on Saturday by arch-rival CC. I’m not sure if there is a wood shed out back of CC’s world arena, but DU definitely got a whoopin’ to the tune of 9 to 2. I’m sure DU boss Gwozdecky will have his team ready for this weekend. The Mavericks find themselves in the middle of the pack, after playing 8 out of their 28 league games. MSUM will almost be at the half-way point of the season come Sunday and I’m sure they would be happy to have a five hundred record at that point. The Pioneers might be showing signs of playing a tough schedule to start the year (BC, UND, UW, CC). Another hard series to predict this weekend, SPLIT.

#6 Nebraska-Omaha @ St. Cloud State
Last weekend the Mavericks swept the MSUM Mavericks in Omaha and the Huskies split with the Beavers in St. Cloud.

The Dean Blais led UNO Mavericks are now the only team to have a spotless record in the WCHA. The Mavericks will be playing a ranked team this weekend for the first time in league play. The Huskies have been a little bit unpredictable this season; they have split both their league series. If SCSU wants to live up the preseason hype, a couple of wins this weekend would definitely put them back on the radar. I’m going to go out on a limb here and go with the Huskies 3-pts.

Michigan Tech @ #2 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Huskies enjoyed a free weekend and the Bulldogs split with the Sioux in Grand Forks.

The Huskies are off to a mediocre start this season through four league games, and the Bulldogs are off to excellent start through six games. A few bounces here and there for UMD have gotten them overtime wins, some bad bounces and UMD would be in the middle of the pack. The Huskies need to continue to get points week in and week out to stay out of the bottom third of the league. The Bulldogs need to take points from the bottom teams, if they want to stay on top of the standing, because there are better teams on the horizon. SPLIT.

#10 North Dakota @ #13 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Sioux split with the Bulldogs in Grand Forks and the Badgers took 3-pts from the Gophers in Minneapolis.

The Badgers get to play their two biggest rivals, UM and UND, on back to back weekends. I watched the Friday UW-UM game and the 6-0 Badger win was not that impressive. It could be said that the UM defense needs to get better, and they were/are the problem in Minneapolis. (Kangas stopped a penalty shot that game too.) The Badgers lost a bunch of talent from last year and it is starting to show now. The Sioux played well on Friday and looked a little sluggish on Saturday. UND got a split for the second weekend in a row. The Sioux also got a 5-minute major and game misconduct for the second weekend in a row too. The Badgers have done well against the Sioux the last couple of years, but times, they are a changing. SPLIT.

Non-Conference

#3 Yale @ Colorado College (Friday only)
Last weekend the Yale Bulldogs beat Princeton (Fri) and Quinnipiac (Sat) and the Tigers split a pair with rival Denver.

Two weeks ago the Tigers had 9 goals hung on them and last weekend they hung a 9 on rival DU. The question is, will another 9 show up this weekend at the World Arena scoreboard? Tigers win.

BYE WEEK
#19 University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) – Golden Gophers

Thursday links... (Former college hockey player fight log)

I found this picture on Bisionville and I thought it was funny so I included it. 

Gopher Puck Live's Ryan Cardinal was on KFAN this morning. [click to listen]

DU’s Gwozdecky met with NHL brass [click to view] and Badgers coach Mike Eaves is unable to catch a plane out of Madtown.[Click to view].

Andy Baggot beat writer for the Wisconsin Badgers has an article on the early departures. [click to view]

Delusion of Grandeur has an interesting post this week; one might even say that it’s a head scratcher, I am not sure why a division one college hockey coach would even entertain the idea of answering his ridiculous email.[Click to see for yourself]

The College hockey blog has picked traditional doormat team Western Michigan University as his team of the week. [Click to view]

Surgery on Jesse Martin's broken neck 'very successful' Doctors see potential for Edmontonian to play hockey again. [Click to read article]

Oshie's broken ankle severely tests Blues [Click to read article]

Ex-College hockey players fight log

Former Badger Jack Skille purse fight's Sami Lepisto from the Yotes. [Click to view]

Former Princeton Tiger George Parros fights Frazer McLaren [Click to view]

Zack Stortini vs former MTU hot head John Scott. Scott works Zach Stortini like a clown. [Click to view]

Former SCSU Huskies Ryan Malone vs Jamie McGinn [Click to view]

Former MSU Spartan Justin Abdelkader vs Former Gopher Keith Ballard in a hug feast.[Click to view]

Brian Sutherby vs former BU Terrier Brandon Yip, Yip isn't going to known for his fighting skills. [Click to view]

Steve Montador vs Former Michigan Wolverine and Canadian's hack Michael Komisarek. [Click to view]

Former Minnesota State University Mankato Maverick David Backes vs Andrew Ference. [Click to view]

102 million dollar fail - Kovy shoot out fail

I added this one for Sioux7 as he is a unapologetic New Jersey Devils fan. Check out this Ilya Kovalchuk's horrid attempt on the shootout tonight, I think we can classify this one as an #epic fail.