Will the CCHA be affected by the BTHC?

With this being the last College Hockey Show Case Andy Baggot has another article about the impending Big Ten Hockey Conference. I am really getting the feeling that no one is really looking at what this new league could do to college hockey.

Will the Western Collegiate Hockey Association hold up without Minnesota and UW?

Will the Central Collegiate Hockey Association endure without Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State?

"That's the question everyone's asking," Michigan coach Red Berenson said this week before leaving to face UW tonight and Minnesota Saturday night in the final College Hockey Showcase. "Is this good for college hockey?

"If it is, it's a no-brainer. If it's not, if it's going to hurt other programs, then we have to consider that."

UW coach Mike Eaves acknowledged both sides of the coin, but tends to believe an organized Big Ten presence will be a "good projector of college hockey."

The sport has survived a multitude of landscape changes — the advent of Hockey East and the exchange of programs between the WCHA and CCHA to name two — and will do so again.

Heck, if the WCHA can continue to prosper with its backwoods approach to management, it can seemingly withstand anything.

Besides, in terms of priorities, college hockey has a much bigger problem with personnel — only 18 scholarships, recruiting inequities in Canada and the unregulated exodus of underclassmen to the pros — than future realignment.

"Give us coaches a chance," said Michigan State coach Rick Comley, whose two-senior roster is one of those raided annually by NHL teams.

During a recent appearance in Madison, Delany was asked about the advent of Big Ten men's hockey. He implied a league was in the offing, but raised eyebrows by saying it's possible the six schools could maintain residence in the CCHA and WCHA while having their head-to-head series count toward a Big Ten champion.

"Quite frankly, if you're going to get your bang for your buck, make the conference, put it on TV and let's showcase it," Eaves said.

He's right. Bring the Big Ten schools together, let them play their 20-game schedule, let them incorporate their current rivalries into the non-conference mix.

Comley, whose club comes to the Kohl Center on Saturday night, has seen a lot in 38 seasons and 772 wins as a college coach. He has some reassuring words.

"Regardless of what happens," he said, "college hockey is going to be fine." [Read the rest of the story]

I don’t think the right people are taking a very thorough look before jumping head long into the Big Ten Hockey Conference Farce. I am being serious. I think it takes a lot more than fancy platitudes like the one by Rick Comley; “college hockey is going to be fine." How does he know? Has anyone looked at the attendance numbers of the CCHA lately? Their attendance numbers are pathetic. Most of their schools aren’t in the top 20 for attendance except Michigan 8th and Michigan State 12th. Can you imagine a league minus OSU, MSU, and UM?

Many of the schools in the CCHA are located in Michigan which is experiencing harsh economic conditions; the State of Michigan is broke. So if the CCHA takes the marquee schools like Michigan and Michigan State out of the CCHA, what’s the draw for NMU, LSSU, WMU, FSU? There aren’t a lot of fans watching their college hockey games now. Add the other programs of Miami, Alaska, Notre Dame they are barely averaging in the 3000’s.

Here are the average attendance numbers minus the Big Ten schools.

Alaska – 3,192
Miami – 3088
Northern Michigan – 3048
Notre Dame – 2742
Western Michigan – 2742
Lake State – 2245
Bowling Green – 2239
Ferris State – 1586

Friday Morning pontifications....

#11 Notre Dame
(9-3-1, 7-2-1 ccha) SOS - 47.4478

Versus

#9 North Dakota
(8-5-1, 7-3-0 wcha) SOS - 64.7059

Historical perspective of the Subway Classic

The UND Fighting Sioux have compiled a 10-5-1 record in the Subway Holiday Classic since it started during the 2002-2003 season. Last season their were four teams in the Subway Holiday Classic and the Fighting Sioux beat tOSU 4-1 on Friday night and then tied Miami University 5-5 on Saturday night in a thriller.

During the 2008-2009 season the Fighting Sioux split with Cornell they won 7-3 on Friday night and then lost 2-1 on Saturday night.

During the 2007-2008 season UND split a pair of game with the University of No Hardware University of New Hampshire, the Sioux won on Friday night 3-1 before losing on Saturday night 7-4.

Prediction: I think UND is bound to break out at home and I am going to go out on a limb and agree with Sioux7 and say that the Sioux sweep this weekend.

Here is what the Pundits had to say about this weekend series between the Fighting Sioux and the Fighting Irish.

USCHO said this:

No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 9 North Dakota (8–5–1, 7–3–0 WCHA)
Theresa: This could easily be a split since both teams are about even when you look at the big picture (rankings, record-wise, etc.). However, I’m going to go with the league here and say a Sioux sweep.

Tyler: The Fighting Sioux are playing good hockey right now after they won three out of their last four games, all on the road, and nearly escaped Omaha without a loss. The Fighting Irish have three scorers to keep an eye on. Ryan Guentzel, Ben Ryan and T.J. Tynan all have 16 points, but with UND back at home, I’m going to say Sioux sweep.

Notre Dame at North Dakota

Roman: Sixth weekend in row No. 9 Sioux have played ranked opponent. Irish are No. 11 and are visiting Ralph for first time since 1998-99 when they played in old Ralph. Matt Frattin of Sioux is tied for national lead in goals with 12. NoDak split at Nebraska Omaha last weekend. ... NoDak sweeps.

Austin: On paper, about as evenly matched as a series could be and NoDak has a habit of splitting its annual Subway Holiday Claissic. ... Split
[Goal Gophers]

Happy Thanksgiving!!! - Linkorama

Goon's World would like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving... Personally, I have many gifts to be thankful for…



Our loveable buffoon from the ECAC has a new poll up – [ECAC blog]

The College Hockey Blog has his Weekly Rankings up - [College Hockey blog]

Delusions of Grandeur talks about the Travis Novak incident and apparently the video of the Saturday game is missing… 

Gopher Puck Live previews what might be the last college hockey Show Case.  [Gopher Puck Live]

Jesse Martin’s father Terry suffers heart attack... [Denver Post] Our thoughts and prayers go out to Terry Martin.

Two Mercyhurst hockey players charged with sexual assault... [Merciad]

The Code: Hockey's unwritten rules revealed [Down goes Brown]

The Coyotes saga continues; Phoenix Coyotes potential buyer hopes for Dec. deal [The Arizona Republic]

So will Notre Dame blink this time?

According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette the Big Ten has extended Notre Dame an invitation to join the league, it will be interesting to see if Notre Dame says yes this time. Notre Dame has refused the Big Ten on numerous occasions. If Notre Dame left the CCHA it could have devastating effect on the CCHA because it would leave the CCHA with one attractive draw, Miami.

FortWayne.com ---- Paul Kelly, president of College Hockey Inc., said Tuesday the Big Ten Conference has asked Notre Dame if it's interested in joining a new hockey conference.

"The invitation has been extended," said Kelly, whose year-old company is working with the NCAA to increase the profile of college hockey.

"But as I understand it," he added, "the Big Ten's rule is that if you come in for one sport, you come in for all of them, and NotreDame is interested in keeping its independence in football."

That seems to indicate the Big Ten is not interested in adding satellite members to a new hockey conference.

The last major independent in college football, NotreDame is a member of the Big East for most of its other sports, though the hockey team is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Kelly also said Tuesday other Big Ten schools are interested in adding Division I college hockey, though it's an expensive proposition. Penn State recently announced its intention to add Division I men's and women's hockey, a move made possible by a record-breaking $88 million donation from a wealthy alumnus.

Minnesota spends a little more than $1.4 million a year to maintain its men's program, and $655,000 on its women's program.

"Adding Division I hockey is a complex issue," Kelly said, "but there are some schools that would be interested in joining a league with the other Big Ten schools and a school like NotreDame."

Big Ten schools Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State are CCHA members. Penn State athletics director Tim Curley said he would like his team to have a conference affiliation by the 2014-15 season. [another link to the story]

Thanksgiving Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Since it is Thanksgiving weekend I think we should all say what we are thankful for. I’ll start. I’m thankful for my family and friends, my job, my health, the Sioux hockey team, and my convertible Mustang (which I look forward driving in the summer). Your turn.

The Bulldogs are on top of this week’s league standings followed by DU, the Sioux, UNO. Last week 5pts separated 5th place from 12th, now 5pts separate 6th place from 12th place. It still looks to be four team UMD, UND, UNO, DU race for the McNaughton Cup, with the UM, UW and SCSU looking make up ground.

WCHA standings

TEAM……………...W-L-T...Pts
1. Minnesota-Duluth....8-1-1…17
2. Denver……………...7-2-1…15
3. North Dakota………7-3-0…14
4. Nebraska-Omaha…6-1-1…13
5. Minnesota…………..5-4-1…11
6. Wisconsin…………..3-5-2…8
7. St. Cloud State….....3-4-1…7
8. Minnesota State…...2-6-2…6
9. Alaska-Anchorage...2-5-1…5
9. Bemidji State……….2-7-1…5
11. Colorado College…..2-4-0…4
12. Michigan Tech……..1-6-1…3

WCHA (overall records)

Alaska Anchorage (2-7-1) @ Colorado College (5-6-1)
Last weekend the Seawolves split with the SCSU Huskies in Anchorage and the Tigers enjoyed the weekend off.

The Tigers can even their WCHA record and get back in the middle of the pack this weekend if they can sweep the Seawolves, if. I wonder if CC is asking the fans to be part of a black out on black Friday? The Seawolves need to a big helping of points this weekend, a pair of wins and they will be stuffed into the middle of the pack too. I think the Tigers will be gracious hosts this Thanksgiving weekend and share the points. SPLIT.

NON-CONFERENCE (overall records)

#11 Notre Dame (9-3-1) @ #9 North Dakota (8-5-1)
Last weekend the Sioux split with the UNO Mavericks in Omaha and the Fighting Irish swept the Michigan State Spartans in South Bend.

First off, why aren’t the Fighting Irish on the NCAAs hit list for nicknames? The Sioux face another ranked team this time around. UND has done well against ranked opponents this year, except for those Maine games. I think the Sioux will be glad to be back home, and will be poor hosts to the Irish Catholics this weekend. SIOUX SWEEP.

Northern Michigan (5-6-2) @ Bemidji State (2-7-1)
Last weekend the Beavers were swept by the Pioneers in Denver and the Northern Michigan Wildcats took 3points from Alaska in Fairbanks.

It’s a new WCHA member (BSU) versus and old WCHA member (UNM currently in CCHA) in these games. I don’t know much about the wildcats this year, or any year since they left the WCHA. But if they can take points on the road from a top 15 team, I’m guessing they’ll be able to steal some food off the Beavers plates this weekend. SPLIT.


Minnesota State (2-6-4) @ UMass-Lowell (2-8-2)
Last weekend the Mavericks were enjoying a bye week and the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks split with Merrimack.

I don’t know who to go with in this series. Both teams have already burned their turkeys this year. I think they will split the pie out east. SPLIT.


Lake Superior State (5-7-2) @ #12 Denver (8-4-2)
Air Force (4-6-1) @ Denver
Last weekend the Pioneers swept the BSU Beavers in Denver and the Lake Superior State Lakers were swept by Michigan in Ann Arbor and the Air Force Falcons tied Canisius and beat Niagara.

I have to go with the WCHA in these match-ups, but I wouldn’t be surprised if DU dropped a game this weekend.


Michigan St (4-5-3) @ #15 Minnesota (7-4-1) (Friday)
Michigan (8-3-3) @ Minnesota (Sunday)
Last weekend the Gophers swept the MTU Huskies in Houghton and the Spartans were swept by Notre Dame in South Bend and the Wolverines swept Lake Superior State in Ann Arbor.

This will be a good test for the Gophers, to see if they get the whole turkey or just the wishbone. Gophers win Friday and lose on Sunday.


Michigan (8-3-3) @ #16 Wisconsin (6-6-2) (Friday)
Michigan St (4-5-3) @ Wisconsin (Saturday)
Last weekend the Badgers were swept by the UMD Bulldogs in Madison and the Spartans were swept by Notre Dame in South Bend and the Wolverines swept Lake Superior State in Ann Arbor.

I don’t think the Badgers will drop another home game; UW beats UMich on Friday and beats MSU on Saturday.



BYE WEEK
#4 Nebraska-Omaha
#1 Minnesota-Duluth
St. Cloud State
Michigan Tech

WCHA attendance numbers

Rank -------------Dates-Total---Attnd Average cap.%
1 Wisconsin----------8--99,699--12,462-15,237-81.8
2 North Dakota-------4--46,675--11,669-11,634-100.3
3 Minnesota----------8--75,999--9,500--10,000-95.0
4 Nebraska-Omaha-----6--41,974--6,996--16,680-41.9
5 Colorado College---6--40,102--6,684--7,343--91.0
6 Michigan-----------8--51,978--6,497--6,637--97.9
7 New Hampshire------5--30,837--6,167--6,110--100.9
8 St. Cloud State----8--47,721--5,965--5,763--103.5
9 Boston College-----5--29,401--5,880--7,884--74.6
10 Boston University-6--33,929--5,655--6,221--90.9
11 Denver------------9--48,732--5,415--6,026--89.9
12 Michigan State----9--47,379--5,264--6,470--81.4
13 Minnesota-Duluth--6--29,759--4,960--5,233--94.8
20 Bemidji State-----6--22,698--3,783--4,373--86.5
22 Minnesota State---4--14,345--3,586--4,832--74.2
23 Alaska-Anchorage--6--21,310--3,552--6,206--57.2
31 Michigan Tech-----5--13,294--2,659--4,200--63.3


The WCHA is one of the best attended leagues. UND is ranked second over all again.

Since We're Griping... (RW77)

About Sticks, I might as well start in on the new NHL All Star Format:

The new format is to be a lot like a pickup game where we vote in the players and two captains are "selected" and they choose teams from the list of eligible players voted in... at least that's how I understand it.

Why is this a good thing? It's not... unless you are a fan of Alexander Ovechkin and/or Sidney Crosby. Why? Comon people, do you HONESTLY think that they AREN'T going to be Captains? It's nothing more than a brilliant marketing ploy for the NHL to further um...fellate... Sidney Crosby and Ovechkin, or as I like to say it: Jesus Crosby and Alexander Ovech-Christ. The brilliant part of it is that the NHL can fully claim to NOT have selected the Captains at all! They can "Say" that "we" did it ourselves!

I guess things were like that in the NBA when Jordan was around, and we all know that Bettman is praying for Crosby's fandom to be as epic as Jordan's, but meh.

I think the system is dumb. How it should work is, instead of captains, the COACHES of both teams get a list of the players voted in and they have a draft to select the teams. From there, the 3 forwards, 2 D, and 1 goaltender on each team that garnered the most votes from the fans will be the starting lineup. True, in a traditional hockey sense, this leaves the possibility that there won't be a Center on the ice for the faceoff and any permutation of handed-ness mistakes as well, but that's the breaks. The coach can leave them on for a shift and then mix and match the line makeups to make it work. It's not like this game counts for much anyways. Oh, and who are the coaches? I like MLB's system: The Head Coach of each of the teams that went to the Stanley Cup Finals the season before are the Head Coaches at the All Star Game. OR.... Have the Stanley Cup winning Head Coach vs. the Coach of the Year from last year (if they are different people). The Assistant coaches can be selected however the league sees fit.

Hmmm, I wonder if Crosby and Ovechkin will drop the gloves over who gets to draft Stamkos or Thomas?

In any case, this is just another one of Bettman's inane moves to further try to bring Crosby and Ovechkin fans more time hyperventilating over their dream players. And yeah, it's not fair to either of them.

For the record, I think Crosby and Ovechkin are great players, but their hype is so far beyond what is realistic it's very hard to take for say... 30 seconds or longer at one sitting. Try John Madden talking about Brett Favre annoying.

HERE is a great comparison done by Down Goes Brown blog. It's an awesome blog that follows (for the most part) the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it is downright hilarious and I'll continue to plug it as much as I can.

No more wood sticks in the NHL.

This story depresses me and basically takes that away that nostalgic feeling I once held for wood sticks. As I watch game after game and watch these carbon fiber sticks shatter, I know that we are stuck with them and they are the future. This article also is an accurate illustration of what happens when you farm out your labor to an over seas location.

Actually, not so much. There is no longer a single NHL player wielding the true meaning of the word twig. Like zero. Zilch. Zip.

Even more upsetting is there probably will never be again.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Adrian Aucoin, one of the last holdouts, who switched last season. “In my case, Reebok changed factories with their shaft and the wood stick they produce now is a completely different stick. It was just not close to what I used to. I wasn’t so thrilled about it, but times change and you have to move on.”

The same thing happened to Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza when his brand of choice, Sherwood-Drolet, decided to farm out the mass production of wooden sticks to such far-flung places as Estonia and China in order to concentrate on the production of composite models.

Same goes for 24-year-old Paul Stastny, the last of the Luddites. The Colorado Avalanche centre switched from a Sherwood wooden to a Sherwood one-piece at the start of this season.

“Last season I went through a lot of wood sticks – I think what happened was they were being made at different factories so they were never quite the same although they said they were,” said Stastny. “It was still the same company, but in my mind they were completely different sticks than the ones I was using before. The average person may not notice, but when you’ve used the same stick since bantam and you get something a little different you can tell right away. So that also played a factor in me switching over. That, and technology is always getting better so it’s a case of evolving with the times.”

Aucoin’s first game with a composite stick was on Dec. 19, 2009 against the Anaheim Ducks.

“I’d been using the new Reebok wooden ones and the shot wasn’t right and something wasn’t working so I grabbed a Shane Doan pattern, a Robert Lang pattern, a Peter Mueller pattern and one Warrior had made for me when I was in Chicago,” said Aucoin, a former Vancouver Canuck. “I used all four sticks in a game and I scored with the Shane Doan pattern and it just felt better so basically my stick is a Shane Doan pattern with my name on it.”[read the rest of the story]

Marc Staal smokes Matt Stajan

Check out this vicious, legal and violent hit by the New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal on Calgary Flames center Matt Stajan. There was no penalty on the call as it was a legal hit and that was the right .

Moving forward I am afraid that a college hockey official would call that legal check a penalty and give the offending player that made the hit a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. I am also afraid that hitting is becoming less prevalent in college hockey.

The Coming Down the Pipe nails it.

Thank You Guy Flaming for saying what I have been saying for years…

And while we're on the subject of the ECAC, I can accept that Yale is probably a good team this year but their record is bound to be so inflated that they could finish the season with just a couple of losses and a top 5 ranking without any problem at all. Yale plays all of 29 games this year plus an exhibition against the Russian junior team (which is oddly scheduled during the WJC). The Bulldogs only play 4 teams from outside the ECAC and full credit to them for beating Colorado College because I didn't think they would let alone 5-1. But then they lost to Air Force, which has a 4-6-1 record this year, and it hardly affected Yale in the poll. Their other two non-conference games are against Sacred Heart and Vermont.

In all seriousness - could you not give Boston College or Denver or Duluth or Miami... give those teams Yale's schedule and could you not legitimately expect them to run the table?

Yale might actually be a top 10 worthy team this year but you can't honestly tell until the NCAA tournament because they don't play any other top 10 teams until then.

I would add a number of other teams to Guy’s list that could run the tables against the schedule that Yale has played so far to date… If you’re not convinced with the argument, look at the impressive list of teams that Yale has played this season - Dartmouth (2-7-1/14.2116/tied for 3rd), Princeton (4-4-0/ 24.9490/2nd), Quinnipiac (7-4-1/20.6475/ tied for 3rd), Colorado College (5-6-1/33.3698/11th), Air Force (4-6-1/12.3751/6th), Cornell (2-6-0/ 25.4450/tied for 8th)and Colgate (2-7-1/ 14.2116/12th)… So if you still not convinced; break this down further Yale has a strength of schedule of 22.1094... That means they have been feasting on the weak sisters of the poor... One could make the argument that the Yale Bulldogs are the cream of the cupcakes.

Poll Monday (Sioux drop in both polls)

I think these weekly polls/beauty contests are a joke. Seriously! I know I have been accused of being a homer but the Sioux split with the 4th place team in the country and they drop a spot in the polls. It’s a joke. Yale who has played one of the weakest schedules and lost to one of the bottom teams in Division one hockey and they are ranked third in the nation. Yeah! Ok!
USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[November 22, 2010]
1 Minnesota-Duluth (49) 11-1-2 999 1
2 Boston University ( 1) 7-1-4 893 2
3 Yale 7-1-0 856 5
4 Nebraska-Omaha 9-2-1 824 4
5 Miami 8-3-3 808 6
6 New Hampshire 6-2-3 724 7
7 Boston College 8-4-0 648 10
8 Michigan 8-3-3 635 9
9 North Dakota 8-5-1 631 8
10 Maine 6-3-3 612 3
11 Notre Dame 9-3-1 568 11
12 Denver 8-4-2 442 13
13 Union 7-2-3 421 14
14 Alaska 7-5-2 312 12
15 Minnesota 7-4-1 259 19
16 Wisconsin 6-6-2 199 15
17 Rensselaer 5-3-3 191 18
18 Merrimack 4-2-4 154 NR
19 Western Michigan 6-3-3 147 16
20 Ferris State 6-5-3 48 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Quinnipiac 42, Michigan State 39, Robert Morris 12, Dartmouth 9, Colorado College 5, Princeton 5, St. Cloud State 5, Niagara 4, Clarkson 3, Northern Michigan 2, Providence 2, Brown 1
-------------------
USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[Nov. 21, 2010]
1 University of Minnesota Duluth 509 (34) 1 11-1-2
2 Boston University 438 2 7-1-4
3 Yale University 421 5 7-1-0
4 University of Nebraska Omaha 389 4 9-2-1
5 Miami University 373 6 8-3-3
6 University of New Hampshire 299 8 6-2-3
7 Boston College 272 9 8-4-0
8 University of Michigan 265 10 8-3-3
9 University of Maine 263 3 6-3-3
10 University of North Dakota 252 7 8-5-1
11 University of Notre Dame 201 11 9-3-1
12 Union College 133 12 7-2-3
13 University of Denver 130 14 8-4-2
14 University of Alaska 55 13 7-5-2
15 University of Minnesota 37 NR 7-4-1
Others receiving votes: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 19, University of Wisconsin 15, Merrimack College 8, Quinnipiac University 1.

Claude Giroux scores with his junk

Talk about taking one for the teams eh? No pun intended. Credit Flyers Defenseman Chris Pronger with the assist on the Giroux goal. It will be interesting to see if this goal wins an ESPY or not?

INCH Power Rankings

For a good laugh I included the INCH Power Rankings as they come out each week. In looking at the ranking, there really isn't a lot of movement from last week's rankings and the national ranking will probably mirror these rankings. I am still not convinced that Yale is a top five team, when an ECAC team wins a title then I will be convinced.
1. Minnesota Duluth
2. Boston University
3. Yale
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. Maine
6. North Dakota — Sophomore forward Danny Kristo has been scuffling so far this season, but picked an opportune time to net his first goal of the year, potting the eventual game-winner in the Fighting Sioux’s 6-5 win at Nebraska-Omaha Friday. 8-5-1 (7-3-0 WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Nebraska-Omaha, 6-5; L at Nebraska-Omaha, 1-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame
7. New Hampshire
8. Miami
9. Michigan
10. Union
11. Notre Dame
12. Boston College
13. Denver
14. Alaska
15. Wisconsin
16. Rensselaer
17. Merrimack
18. Minnesota
19. Ferris State
20. Western Michigan
Dropped out: Robert Morris, Michigan State, Providence
Bubble-licious: Brown, Niagara, Robert Morris

Sunday afternoon pontifications.

After watching great professional and college hockey all weekend long I must say that the Minnesota Viking’s effort this afternoon was a buzz kill. Words like atrocious and brutal come to mind, you can also classify today's effort as an EPIC FAIL. For the life of me I have no Idea why the Vikings owner Ziggy Wilf keeps Brad Childress around. I don’t’ buy the argument that the impending work stoppage has a factor in this.

Vikings fans just think every time the aging and broken down Brent Favre throws another interception (and there have been many this season) that that Viking paid 12+ million dollars for that stiff. What is even more discerning is watching the Viking’s players act like a bunch of spoiled Prima Donnas on the side lines, stop pointing fingers at each other and play some football, your professional athletes start acting like professionals. I am having a hard time believing that the Vikings couldn’t have found a better quarter back for less than 12 million dollars a season. I will take Michael Vick and his antics over this buffoon. I bet Michael Vick isn’t sending raunchy text messages of his member to female employees of the Eagles. I know my dog will never forgive me, but can the Vikes sign Vick and send T-Knuckle and Favre down the road?

Also, the Viking secondary is so poor or porous that it couldn’t cover a receiver from a semi professional league let alone a team from Division III. The Tampa cover 2 defense or what you cant to call it now, is no longer working for the Vikings. The Packers receivers were blowing by the Vikings defenders like they were back pedaling in cement. I am not so sure the Viking secondary could cover me with my blazing speed.

Since I can’t stomach thinking about the Minnesota Vikings football team anymore I thought I would share a few things that I found from the UNO beat writers blog.

Both Blais and UND coach Dave Hakstol downplayed their prior relationship leading up to the series. But you know it was significant for Hakstol to win Friday's opener (there are a good number of North Dakota knuckleheads who are super-critical of Hakstol and refuse to acknowledge how well he's done in succeeding Blais). You also know that Blais, without question, wanted Saturday's series finale to prove his new team could get the better of his old team. Blais' Mavs now are 3-1 in four games against UND and Minnesota. It's a meaningful feat for the coach. And it was no coincidence that Blais, without prompting, offered up this quote -- and said it with purpose -- during Saturday's postgame press conference: “I have a lot of pride in North Dakota. But I have more pride in these guys (at UNO).”

There were rumblings late Saturday night about UNO being offsides on the rush that resulted in Hudson's goal. But when you watch the video, it was way too close to call as it unfolded at game speed. It's the type of play that only becomes apparent when you freeze video or play it in slow motion. By no means was it a glaring blown call (it'd be quite the stretch to call it a blown call at all). The linesman was jumping over the puck as Ambroz moved into the zone along the boards. Most telling, Hakstol and North Dakota's players didn't make an issue of it after the game.

CHRIS MACHIAN/OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

If I was one of leaders on the Fighting Sioux hockey team I would put this picture up in the locker room and keep it there to remind them on how this series against the Mavericks ended. The picture was taken in the lobby of the Quest Center in Omaha after the game. "The UNO hockey team sings the UNO fight song in the lobby of the Qwest Center after a thrilling last second 1-0 victory over North Dakota Saturday evening."

Looking at the numbers

1 Minnesota-Duluth 29.6528 10
2 Nebraska-Omaha 46.0139 2
7 North Dakota 64.7059 1
13 Denver 32.8292 7
14 Minnesota 30.4115 9
17 Wisconsin 42.5637 3
26 Colorado College 32.7434 8
31 St Cloud St 33.5745 6
32 Michigan Tech 34.6960 5
38 Alaska Anchorage 25.0449 11
39 Bemidji State 40.3832 4
43 MSU-Mankato 23.8635 12

Here is the strength of schedule from the KRACH, without a doubt the UND Fighting Sioux have played the toughest schedule in Division I so far this season.

While other teams around college hockey are feasting on lesser teams and the weak sisters of the poor and racking up wins by big impressive scores the Fighting Sioux are playing good solid hockey and hold an 8-5-1 record. While that record is not awesome or mind blowing by any stretch of the imagination it’s still a pretty respectable. So to use the old cliché, it is what it is. The Sioux will only get better if they can get their goaltending solidified. Aaron Dell appears to have stolen the show.

So before the Fighting Sioux fan base decided to throw coach Hakstol and his staff under team bus for splitting on the road this weekend; I think we need to grab some perspective here. UND just went 3-1 on the road, swept at Wisconsin and split at Omaha.

Regardless if the play was offsides or not, that’s the breaks, the Sioux didn’t play to the whistle and they lost the game. Go back and watch the video again there were Sioux defenders standing around watching the Maverick forward put the puck in the net, that can’t happen.

Game 2 vs. UNO: The Attack of the Moronic ARs (RW77)

Well... we lost.

The Game

Funny, they didn't show the replay of the goal at the Qwest... at least not without removing the clock. So I was left with the impression that we were going to overtime. Judging on the fact that Campion only reviewed the goal for about 5-10 seconds made me wonder if he even looked at the time. I guess he did.

UND played great... for 59 minutes and 47 seconds. With about 12 seconds left in the game, the puck was tucked behind the UNO goal and I thought "well, OT here we come. We better not tie." And the rush for UNO began. UND bottled up the outside and I thought they would waste enough time to force OT, but... The Red Light went on and the crowd went nuts. It was truly dramatic. And it was scored by a UNO player that gave us fits all weekend, imo.

Alex Hudson (#26 aka last night's 3rd star of the game imo) was again all over the ice and again in the position one needs to be in to capitolize on a rebound. He was there and he made no mistake.

Aaron Dell played well. Matt Frattin can't find a stick that can stay intact for longer than a game. He broke at least 2 this weekend, maybe 3. I can honestly say that we were just beaten by opportunity. We didn't beat ourselves in this one.

My Three Stars:

First Star: Faulkner (UNO)
Second Star: Hudson (UNO)
Third Star: Aaron Dell (UND)

The media went with Hudson as the first star, and I couldn't blame them, but I think it was the UNO goaltender that stole the game for UNO. There were some incredible saves he made on UND down low.

The Experience

I sat near more UND fans this game, but not immediately so. Once again, I sat in front of an incredibly nice UNO family who were great fun to talk to. They were courteous. At one point in the game, UND was dominating (we were on the PK) and he told his wife how UND was a team UNO hasn't played before in terms of talent and ability. "Everything was smooth" according to him. And I agree. Fundamentally, we were MUCH better last night than Friday.

The Officiating

Nope. Not going to rag on Campion and Mason because I think they actually called a decent game. However, Dane Jackson was right. The ARs were atrocious all weekend long. Once again, UND was offsides a few times and got away with it. They once again didn't know how to call hybrid icing. They had a bear of a time trying to stay out of the way. As for the final rush and that offsides, looking at the replay, they couldn't have gotten that one right. If they had, the crowd would have seriously been upset. And they have a right to be. Up until that point, UNO was offsides and got the whistle. UND had been offsides 2 times (3 times this weekend at least) without the whistle going off.

If I were Hakstol and Blais, I'd see if I could get those plays on video and submit them to Sheptard. Then file a copy away for the post season meetings. This was a screw job that affected both UND and UNO.... but at least they didn't get as screwed by the officials as the Husker football team.

The Weekend

UND played well enough to get 4 points offensively, 2 points defensively, and got 2 points despite it all. They were trying to accomplish 3 straight WCHA Sweeps, something they haven't done since '98-'99. Oh well.

I think Dell is the man for now. His numbers are mind blowing. Eidsness' confidence is wandering somewhere between Grand Forks and Minot in that wasteland known as Highway 2. He is the key, imo. We need two goaltenders on their game to make #8, even if it is Dell in the Title game...or Dell taking most of the games as #1.

The only thing I question is: It would have been nice to see Bruneteau play instead of Gleason this weekend. Gleason was invisible (at least from where I was sitting).

Oh yeah, Brock Nelson needs to find away to use his weight. He got thrown around like a rag doll this weekend.

Scores from 11/20/2010

ATLANTIC HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

Air Force 7 at Niagara 4
American Int'l 4 at Connecticut 5
Bentley 5 at Holy Cross 2
Robert Morris 2 at Canisius 3 OT
Sacred Heart 4 at Army 4 OT

ECAC

Dartmouth 3 at Princeton 2
Brown 3 at Cornell 2
Harvard 4 at Quinnipiac 5
St. Lawrence 1 at Clarkson 3
Yale 6 at Colgate 4

CCHA

Michigan State 2 at Notre Dame 4
Miami 3 at Bowling Green 0
Western Michigan 2 at Ferris State 2 OT


HOCKEY EAST

Providence 0 at Northeastern 5
UMass Lowell 2 at Merrimack 3
New Hampshire 2 at Boston University 4

WCHA

Bemidji State 2 at Denver 4
Minnesota 4 at Michigan Tech 1
Minnesota Duluth 3 at Wisconsin 2 OT
North Dakota 0 at Nebraska-Omaha 1
St. Cloud State 4 at Alaska Anchorage 3

Analysis - Denver 4 Bemidji State 2; The BSU Beavers had a 2-1 lead before losing the game 4-2. Denver University goalie Sam Brittain was stellar in net again for the Pioneers. Nick Shore scored the game tying and game winning goal for the Pioneers.

Minnesota 4 Michigan Tech 1 – The Gophers cruised to a series sweep against the MTU Huskies in Houghton, Michigan. Gopher senior Mike Hoeffel scored two more goals giving him four on the weekend as the Gophers beat the Michigan Tech Huskies. Kent Patterson started both games in goal for the Gophers this weekend and was solid in net all weekend as he got his fifth and sixth wins of the season.

Minnesota Duluth 3 Wisconsin 2 OT – The Bulldogs swept in Madison Wisconsin for the first time since 1985. For the season the UMD Bulldogs have a record of 11-1-2/8-1-1 WCHA and have an impressive record of 5-0-2 in the extra session. For the Second week in a row Wisconsin was swept at home. With the loss the Wisconsin Badgers dropped to 6-6-2/3-5-2 WCHA.

Nebraska-Omaha 1 North Dakota 0– The game was tied for 59 minutes and 59 seconds until the Mavericks scored with 0.03 left in the game. I was trying to think back to a game that resembled this one and the NCAA playoff game between UND and UNH comes to mind. This is why you play to the whistle. There was some question if the Mavericks were offside on the goal and from looking at the video I would say yes. Here is what Brad Schlossman had to say about the goal in question.

Screenshots show that Matt Ambroz was offsides by about an inch on the rush on the game-winning goal. Tough call to make when you can’t really tell at live speed. The linesman doesn’t have the luxury of slowing it down frame-by-frame (he was actually jumping over the puck when Ambroz entered the zone). The Sioux didn’t make an issue of it after the game.

According to an eye witness account and a friend of mine who was at the game last night, said that Fighting Sioux assistant hockey coach Dane Jackson was giving it to the linesman at the end of the game and was very unhappy.

Statically: Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell has been impressive to say the least; during the road trip Dell had a 1.20 gaa where the Fighting Sioux went an impressive 3-1. Dell was a brick wall and shut out the opposition in seven out of ten periods of hockey. While Matt Frattin didn’t score a goal on Saturday night, scoring 22 goals in 26 games is still an impressive streak.

St. Cloud State 4 Alaska Anchorage 3 – SCSU won the game but 4-3 but in reading the UAA beat writer blog by Doyle Woody there was hit that resulted in an injury to a SCSU player.

Novak, 22, was injured on a seemingly harmless play. As the horn was about to blow to end the second period, he had the puck in his zone and pivoted toward the boards. UAA defenseman Brad Gorham came from behind and rubbed out Novak -- it was not by any means a malicious hit. Novak appeared to dip his head a split-second before Gorham arrived and Novak went into the boards head-first.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Travis Novak of the SCSU Huskies.

Tim Thomas save on Stoll

This is the save of the night and the year in my opinion. Last year there were many Boston Bruins fans that wanted to throw Tim Thomas under the bus and there were many fans that wanted the Bruin's management to trade him to another team. I wonder if these same fans are happy that Tim Thomas is still on the Boston Bruins hockey team.

UNO 1 Sioux 0

This is the goal in question from tonight's game, if you look at the puck carrier bringing the puck across the line his feet are over the blue line before the puck. The correct call in my opinion should be offsides. MattC over on Sioux sports has a still shot of the play. [Click to view the picture]

I am no sure I can be upset with this game, just the way the puck bounces sometimes. What can you do? The Fighting Sioux were all over UNO for 59 minutes and let their guard down for one minute, and they lost the game. Hockey is a team game, you can win a hockey game if the forwards don't put the puck in the net, the Fighting Sioux had many grade "A" chances in the slot and didn't seal the deal, that's not acceptable either.

The goalie gave the Sioux a chance to win the game, forwards have to put the pucks in the net and defensemen have to pick up the forwards with the puck slot. Other than that I think UND has played well during the first half of the season and they have played the toughest schedule to date in college hockey. The Fighting Sioux has a very favorable schedule down the stretch.

Looking at strenght of schedule

Looking at the KRACH you will see that the Fighting Sioux have played the toughest schedule to date. Yale and Union on the other hand have played one of the weakest schedules to date.

1 Minnesota-Duluth 28.1962
2 Nebraska-Omaha 33.5532
3 Yale 112.6900 18.7817
4 North Dakota 52.9412
5 Notre Dame 39.3082
6 New Hampshire 31.5811
7 Michigan 49.1701
8 Boston University 30.5876
9 Maine 30.1576
10 Boston College 36.0261
11 Miami 33.2945
12 Alaska 37.0023
13 Denver 31.5491
14 Union 17.1503
15 Wisconsin 35.2400
16 Merrimack 30.3300
17 Minnesota 26.0761
18 Western Michigan 19.5535
19 Rensselaer 20.6242
20 Lake Superior 32.8237