UND line up changes.

RWD's favorite beat writer is reporting via Twitter that Brad Eidsness and Chay Genoway will be back in the line up tonight. Fighting Sioux defenseman Andrew MacWilliam is out with an undisclosed injury. MTU forward Bennett Royer is back in after getting disqualified for a fight in Minnesota's Jake Parenteau during the MTU and UMN series.

UND’s Forward lines


19 Evan Trupp–22 Brad Malone–21 Matt Frattin
17 Jason Gregoire–10 Corban Knight–26 Brett Hextall
8 Mike Cichy–29 Brock Nelson–20 Joe Gleason
15 Brent Davidson–9 Mario Lamoureux–11 Derek Rodwell

UND's Defense pairing
4 Derek Forbort–24 Ben Blood
3 Derrick LaPoint–25 Jake Marto
18 Dillon Simpson–5 Chay Genoway

Goalies

31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell
[UND Stats]

Michigan Tech’s Forward lines

12 Ryan Furne–8 Jacob Johnstone–29 Evan Witt
19 Bennett Royer–11 Daniel Holmberg–18 Alex MacLeod
32 Tyler Gubb–7 Patrick McCadden–13 Aaron Pietila
23 Ricky Doriott–9 Dennis Rix–17 Mikael Lickteig

MTU's Defense Parings
26 Deron Cousens–25 Carl Nielson
21 Tommy Brown–6 Steven Seigo
3 Brad Stebner–24 Daniel Sova

Goalies

30 Josh Robinson
35 Kevin Genoe
31 Corson Cramer
[MTU Stats]

EDIT: Schlossman erred in the lineup listing Rodwell as both a forward and Defenseman, having 2 numbers (11 and 4), and scratching Derek Forbort. I corrected it on the blog so that it would be accurate. To be absolutely clear, this is not a Goon error. [Redwing77]

College Hockey Scores from Friday, March 4, 2011

Hockey East
Mass Lowell 4 at Vermont 4 OT
Boston University 3 at Northeastern 2
Maine 4 at Massachusetts 3
Providence 1 at Merrimack 6
New Hampshire 0 at Boston College 4

CCHA
Michigan State 2 at Alaska 3 OT
Ohio State 0 at Lake Superior 4
Bowling Green 3 at Northern Michigan 6

ECAC
Brown 0 at Quinnipiac 4
Harvard 2 at Clarkson 1
St. Lawrence 1 at Princeton 4
Colgate 2 at Rensselaer 4

WCHA
Alaska Anchorage 4 at Minnesota State 0 [Box Score]
Minnesota 3 at Bemidji State 3 OT [Box Score]
St. Cloud State 3 at Denver 2 [Box Score]
Nebraska-Omaha 1 at Minnesota Duluth 4 [Box Score]
North Dakota 6 at Michigan Tech 1 [Box Score]
Colorado College 3 at Wisconsin 2 [Box Score]

Analysis – Friday night was a semi interesting night of college hockey and by the end of tonight we will have the final standings and know where everyone is going for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The playoff scenarios are a bit fuzzy right now. First things first, UND clinched their 15th McNaughton Cup outright last night with their win in Houghton, Michigan against the MTU Huskies, and the same two teams will play again next weekend.

We also know that UND, UMD, UNO, DU, UMN and C.C. have home ice, where these teams end up is still up for discussion; both UMN and C.C. have clinched the final two home-ice spots on Friday night. The Wisconsin Badgers continued their free fall/slide and they will be on the road for the WCHA playoffs, the Badgers have not won a game since January 29, 2011. The Badgers will probably have to win the WCHA tourney to make it to the NCAA tourney.

Alaska Anchorage 4 vs Minnesota State 0 – In the battle for 7-8-9 spots the UAA Huskies shutout the Minnesota State Mavericks. UAA Senior Nick Haddad had two goals for the Seawolves and Freshman goalie Chris Kamal stopped 35 shots to get the shutout for the Seawolves... [Puckato], [Delusions of Grandeur],[ADN.COM]

Minnesota 3 vs Bemidji State 3 OT – The Beavers tied the game on a goal from Brad Hunt with 19 seconds left in regulation after receiving a power play on a controversial hooking call against Nick Bjugstad. [Up North Sports Report], [Goal Gophers]

St. Cloud State 3 vs Denver 2 – The SCSU Huskies Senior forward Aaron Marvin scored with 1:36 remaining in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and give the Huskies a 3-2 win. Sophomore Goalie Mike Lee stopped 32 shots for the Huskies. Before the game Pioneers head coach George Gwozdecky suspended DU senior forward Anthony Maiani one game for a violation of an undisclosed team rule. If the Pioneers win tonight they will be the second seed overall for the WCHA playoffs. I think it’s safe to say that no one really wants to play the SCSU Huskies in the WCHA playoffs, especially if they are sitting on the bubble of an NCAA tourney bid. [Mike Chambers], [Mick Hatten]

Nebraska-Omaha 1 vs Minnesota Duluth 4 – The Bulldogs got two goals from Junior forward Travis Oleksuk to lead the Bulldogs to a 4-1 victory against the UNO Mavericks. Senior Goalie Kenny Reiter made 29 saves for the Bulldogs who with the win are tied for second place in the WCHA standings. The UNO Mavericks defense held Duluth’s all world forwards Mike Connolly, Jack Connolly and Justin Fontaine to one assist between the three of them. [Rink and Run], [Omaha.com]

North Dakota 6 at Michigan Tech 1 – The UND Fighting Sioux wrapped sole possession of the McNaughton Cup defeating the hapless Huskies 6-1. Matt Frattin paced the Sioux with a goal and three assists. According to Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman ‘Sophomore defenseman Andrew MacWilliam, left last night’s game during the first period with an undisclosed injury and MacWilliam’s status for today’s series finale is unknown.’ As far as watching the game last night, I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary in regards to Andrew MacWilliam and how he could have gotten injured. Cross your fingers folks that its nothing too serious.[UND Hockey Blog],[Fighting Sioux], [Daily Mining Gazette]

Colorado College 3 vs Wisconsin 2 – The Wisconsin Badgers extended their losing streak to seven games (0-6-1) and with the loss will be on the road for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. C.C. Tigers Junior David Civitarese’s scored with 2:55 left in the third to lift the Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. [Eye of the Tigers], [Madison.com]

Controversial Call on Gophers?

Mike jm posted this on Sioux sports this morning, as I thought last night, the refs were right in calling a penalty; they made the wrong call, it’s a matter of semantics. This straight from the NCAA rule book… If you don't believe me you can peruse rule book...
Interference
SECTION 29. a. A player shall not interfere with or impede the progress of an opponent who is not in possession of the puck, deliberately knock a stick out of an opponent’s hand, prevent a player who has dropped the stick, or any other piece of equipment, from regaining possession of it or knock or shoot any abandoned or broken stick or illegal puck or other debris toward an opposing puck carrier in a manner that could cause the player to be distracted. Waving of arms in front of a goalkeeper by an opponent is interference.

Sioux 6 Huskies 1

The game was what we thought it would be tonight, the Huskies have won 4 games the entire season and the first period was a close hard fought period of gritty hockey as the Huskies goaltender Kevin Genoe was rock solid turning back 17 shots, however, hockey is a game of three periods.

In the Second period, the Fighting Sioux’s fortunes changed as the Sioux starting cashing in on the Huskies miscues and turnovers and blew the doors off of the MTU Huskies by scoring three in the second period and then getting two more goals in the third period to run away with a 6-1 win.

Being nothing short of amazing Fighting Sioux senior forward Matt Frattin was a man among boys as he scored a goal and three assists. I know I am biased and I get to see Frattin play every weekend, but I have not seen another player dominate like Frattin has this season. I have to say that Frattin is the player of the year in the WCHA, I think the race for that award has pretty much been decided already. With the Four points Frattin has (28g-18a-46) points and barring injury or an unseen absence Frattin should break the fifty point threshold soon.

Andrew MacWilliam leaves game in second period

With the win tonight UND UND wins MacNaughton Cup outright and is the number one seed in the WCHA. There is some concern for Sophomore defenseman Andrew MacWilliam, who left the game during in the second period and did not return, as of right now it’s not known what happened to MacWillam and there are no details on the reason MacWilliam left the game at this time, speculation is that there is a "possibly injury" maybe, I am sure we will hear more tomorrow. I will write more tomorrow during the morning.

Lines for tonights game against MTU...

The UND SID has posted the lines for tonight's game... Rumor has it that the Sioux are wearing the "Black" jerseys tonight.

Forwards lines

1. Evan Trupp – Brad Malone – Matt Frattin
2. Jason Gregoire – Corbin Knight– Brett Hextall
3. Mike Cichy – Brock Nelson – Joe Gleason
4. Brent Davidson – Maio Lamoureux – Derek Rodwell

Defense pairing

1. Andrew MacWiliam – Jake Marto
2. Derek Forbort – Ben Blood
3. Derrick LaPoint – Dillion Simpson

Goalies

Starter – Aaron Dell
Backup – Brad Eidsness

Scratchs

Carter Rowney Injury, Genoway Injury, Kristo Injury, Hill Healthy Scratch, Dickin, Maris Healthy Scratch, Bruneteau Healthy Scratch...

Michigan Tech’s Forward lines

12 Ryan Furne–8 Jacob Johnstone–18 Alex MacLeod
32 Tyler Gubb–7 Patrick McCadden–9 Dennis Rix
13 Aaron Pietila–11 Daniel Holmberg–29 Evan Witt
23 Ricky Doriott–33 Alan L’Esperance–27 Bryce Reddick

MTU Defensive Pairings

26 Deron Cousens–25 Carl Nielsen
21 Tommy Brown–6 Steven Seigo
3 Brad Stebner–24 Daniel Sova

MTU Goalies

35 Kevin Genoe
30 Josh Robinson
31 Corson Cramer

Scratches
Brett Olson Injury, Milos Gordic and Bennett Royer DQ.

NHL throws book at Islanders Goon Trevor Gillies...

This buffoon just got back from a nine game suspension and on his third shift back this clown does this despicable act, apparently he didn’t learn anything on his first suspension. Here is an interesting stat, Trevor Gillies has played less than five minutes combined in his last two games and been suspended a total of 19 games. Unbelievable!!! Already Islander fans are saying that Cal Clutterbuck should have been suspended for 5 games, which is a load of crap, Cal hit the Islanders player from behind, he didn't target his opponents head, so no suspension is warrented.

NHL.COM----- New York Islanders forward/Hack Trevor Gillies has been suspended for 10 games for delivering a blow to the head of Cal Clutterbuck of the Minnesota Wild in Tuesday's game at Nassau Coliseum.

Gillies will forfeit $60,975.60 in salary.

The incident occurred at 2:23 of the second period and Gillies was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind.

"By targeting his opponent's head, three shifts into his first game back from a suspension for a very similar action, Mr. Gillies has forfeited his privilege of playing in the League for 10 games," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "While it is fortunate there was no injury on the play, there can be no justification for a player delivering a dangerous check to an opponent in this manner."

Gillies, who was suspended for 9 games on Feb. 11 for his actions in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (186).

Watch the Sioux Women vs UW Badgers...

Watch live streaming video from nottinghammediaservices at livestream.com

The Live Chat is on this link...

UND lines:

Alyssa Wiebe - Jocelyne Lamoureux - Allison Parizek

Kelsey Ketcher - Sara Dagenais - Stephanie Roy

Holly Perkins - Mary Loken - Megan Gilbert

Margot Miller

Defense:

Candace Molle - Monique Lamoureux-Kolls

Kayla Berg - Ashley Holmes

Ashley Furia - Madison Kolls

In net: Stephanie Roy

Goon's on KNOX 1310 Friday from 2:00 - 2:30 PM

Listen to Goon live at 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm on KNOX 1310 AM on Friday March 4th, 2011. R.J. and I will be talking about hockey... We will talk about the WCHA playoff race, and the Fighting Sioux's upcoming series with MTU…. If you live out of town you can listen live by clking on this address. [Click to Listen]

Call in 701-775-5559, 1-866-KNOX-1310, email: Live@KNOXRADIO.com

Dalrymple mum on Sioux bill

Grand Forks Herald Picture

 I think it would be bad move politically and possible political suicide if Governor Dalrymple he doesn't sign the bill if it is approved by the House and Senate, especially with how much support it has from the people of North Dakota.

Bismarck, ND --- Gov. Jack Dalrymple said Thursday that he’s asked Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley, a former U.S. attorney, to “thoroughly” study a bill in the North Dakota Legislature that would require the University of North Dakota to retain its Fighting Sioux nickname.

But he’s keeping mum about what he will do if the legislation gets the approval of the Senate and comes to his desk for a final signature.

He told the Grand Forks Herald’s editorial board that he needs to know “exactly what it does” before making a final decision. House Bill 1263, which easily passed the House in a 65-28 vote last Monday, could be changed in the Senate.

Another issue is that the North Dakota Constitution doesn’t allow the governor to threaten a veto, he said.

Dalrymple said he told Wrigley to look over the legislation and study the issues behind this bill as it heads to the Senate.

“I want him to totally understand all of the legal arguments on both sides and keep an eye on it,” he said. “But we think that it’s very possible that we could see an amendment or two in the Senate. I’m not going to say anything about it until I see what I’m being asked to sign.”

Reason not to fight... Taylor Hall injuried

While I am old school and believe in the hockey code, I am all for a player solving their differences on the ice instead of hoping the refs make the right call. That being said, a player has to be smart and pick his time and place for fighting, while I applaud Taylor Hall for fighting his own battles, on the other hand Hall picked a fight with a player Derek Dorsett who has been 14 fights this season and ended up getting hurt in the process. If I was the general manager or head coach of this hockey team I wouldn't be all that pleased with Hall, but such is life.

EDMONTON — Edmonton Oilers’ rookie Taylor Hall said Thursday morning that he had only been in two junior fights in his hockey life and didn’t like his chances with the bigger boys in the NHL, but after one goal and a dazzling rush later, Hall shockingly dropped the mitts with one of the toughest pound-for-pound customers, Derek Dorsett, eight hours later.

Give Hall an A for bravery, but an F for foolishness after he exchanged punches with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward, who’s had 14 fights this season. Hall hung in after instigating the scrap in the wake of a hard Dorsett hit along the boards, but fell to the ice, landed awkwardly and injured his left ankle. There was no immediate word on how badly he was hurt but it didn’t look good as he limped to the dressing room. His night was over 33 minutes into the hugely entertaining affair with the Oilers driving Jackets’ starting goalie Steve Mason to the bench with three goals in their first 14 shots.

Thursday Links - Is the winter ever going to end addition???

Back Row (L to R): Jordan Parise (Pro Europe), Kyle Okposo (NY Islanders), Casey Boer (Carolina Hurricanes), Chris Porter (St. Louis Blues), Travis Zajac (NJ Devils), Paul Matin (Pittsburgh Penguins), Scott Bjugstad (Shooting Coach), Diane Ness, Troy Stevens Front Row (L to R): Troy Davenport, Chris Student (MN Gopher), Zach Parise (NJ Devils), Drew Staffor (Buffalo Sabres), Andy Ness

First off, RWD sent me this picture on Twitter and I must say that I am very disappointed in former Sioux forward Drew Stafford, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that God awful Minnesota jersey. Noticed former Sioux Zach Parise with the correct wear on... :)

There are quite a few hockey related things out there that might be of interest to hockey fans. For those wondering about Chay Genoway and Carter Rowney, according the Sports Information Director for UND Fighting Sioux hockey Jayson Hajdu said that Chay Genoway made the trip but he won’t play on Friday night, Carter Rowney didn’t make the trip. Rowney was hurt during the Sunday game between BSU and UND.

N.D. Senate panel to hold Fighting Sioux hearing on Monday [Grand Forks Herald]

Here is an interesting article about college hockey. Fighting in hockey begins long before games [Boston Globe]

Air Force coach Frank Serratore says that the Atlantic Hockey Association playoff format is a joke and after looking at their league playoffs format I have to agree that it's a joke. It would be interesting to know who was the genius that designed that playoff format? [Gazette.com]

Dan Meyers from College Hockey News has his WCHA Playoff Prognostications posted. [College Hockey News]

If case you have haven't heard it yet Rob Port from sayanythingblog interviewed Terry Ree; the Sioux Indian half of the comedy team "the Indian and the White Guy," during the Scott Hennen show yesterday. [Click to listen to the Interview]

There was an interesting news tidbit that surfaced from that interview between Terry Ree and Rob Port, apparently the Indian and the White guy were in the process of being booked to perform at the Alerus in Grand Forks, however, the show was never finalized because of the Fighting Sioux nickname issue.

Grand Forks Herald --- Williams and Ree, the longtime comedy duo who bill themselves as “the Indian and the White Guy” and play off race for some of their material, were negotiating in February to play Grand Forks this month when UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname controversy apparently derailed the talks.

Williams and Ree frequently perform on Indian reservations as well as in Las Vegas and at other major venues. They performed two shows at the Spirit Lake Casino near Devils Lake on Feb. 28.

In a video clip posted on sayanythingblog.com, Ree talks about the unscheduled concert and his reaction when Battle told him the engagement would not happen – but might if they agreed not to make references to Indians.

“When I pulled myself up off the floor and stopped laughing, I told him yeah, we’ll do it.”

He hinted, though, that the performance might have included some new material drawn from the UND nickname fight.

“I was going to hang this son of a bitch out to dry, any moron who could be that narrow-minded,” he said.

“I don’t know any Indian that doesn’t like Fighting Sioux,” Ree said in the undated video. “I don’t know any. I’m a Sioux and I think it’s a hell of a deal. I like to see that Indian head on there.”

Bloggers who favor keeping the nickname and logo have been citing the incident as evidence of “political correctness” influencing the debate.

If this isn’t an example of political correctness run amuck I don’t know what is? There is no other way they can spin this.

According to Roman Augustoviz @eyeonupuk  the Minnesota Rule is still in affect... I guess the WCHA front office figures that Minnesota fans won't take time off work like the rest of us other WCHA hockey fans to go to the Final Five if their team had to play in the afternoon game.

That being said, I wouldn't worry about this yet since their is still a good chance that Minnesota Gophers wont make the Final Five anyways. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that If UMN has to play the SCSU Huskies I could see their season ending at Mariucci Arena, just a hunch. If I am wrong Gopher fans  can send me love letters at the end of the playoffs. What are the Gophers going to do when the Big Ten Hockey Conference no longer fawns over them like the WCHA front office does.

Also checked on the Gophers' rule at the Final Five. It's still alive. If Gophers get in, they will play in night session on Thurs.

And if they win first game, Gophers also will play at night on Fri. Theory there is, Gophers fans will flock to X after work both nites.

Darren Dreger has a new up date on the Coyotes situation.  [TSN.COM]

Here is what Trevor Gillies had to say about his attempted decapitation of Cal Clutterbuck; "I went over and finished my hit," Gillies told Newsday. "There was no intent to injure him. I saw him hit DiBo, and I made a hit on him. That's it." [Star Tribune]

It amazes me that Islander fans can defend the hit by Trevor Gillies. [Light House Hockey]

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Here we are - we’ve finally arrived - the last weekend of the WCHA regular season.
The MacNaughton Cup will be moving to a new home, good-bye Denver, hello Grand Forks. (The Sioux clinched at least a share of it last weekend.) It doesn’t seem that the season started almost five months ago – My how time flies when you’re watching WCHA hockey.

I wonder about the future… Will Goon’s old liver survive the Final 5 in St. Paul? Will team’s still play their “natural league rival” 4 games next season? Will the refereeing improve? (Not likely) How many early departures will teams suffer over this spring? Will UND pick a new nickname?

Okay, enough daydreaming, back to what’s at hand, 10 positions will be decided this weekend, MTU locked up the 12th spot a few weeks ago, and UND locked up the top spot last weekend. The top 4 teams cannot be caught, so it is just deciding who gets what seed there. Spots 5 thru 8, that’s where the action will be. It’s possible to have a 3-way tie for 5th place after this weekend - possible, not probable. The bottom 4 teams are stuck, they cannot get home ice.


WCHA standings

TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts
1. North Dakota…..….….19-6-1…39
2. Denver……..…………16-7-3…35
3. Nebraska-Omaha.…..16-8-2…34
4. Minnesota-Duluth......14-7-5…33
5. Minnesota……..…...12-10-4…28
6. Colorado College.…12-12-2…26
7. Wisconsin………..…11-12-3…25
8. St. Cloud State........10-12-4…24
9. Alaska-Anchorage…10-14-2…22
10. Bemidji State…….….8-14-4…20
10. Minnesota State…….8-14-4…20
12. Michigan Tech………2-22-2…6


WCHA (Numbers are current PairWise Rank)

#14 Colorado College @ #21 Wisconsin
Last weekend the Tigers took 3-points from the UMD Bulldogs in Colorado Springs and the Badgers were swept by the SCSU Huskies in St. Cloud.

A month ago the Badgers were a big cheese, now they’ve turned into a dried up, crusty cracker – what happened in Badger-ville? They went winless in February, going a 0-5-1. (Perhaps they were lucky - February is the shortest month.) The Tigers have just been plugging along and are 2-points ahead of the Badgers for the final home ice playoff spot. The fans in Mad-town will need to cheer hard this weekend, as they need a sweep to grab that coveted last playoff spot. It’s also quite possible these teams will be playing each other next weekend too, in the first round of the playoffs. CC has been okay on the road this year posting a 6-7-1 record away from World Arena. The Badgers have been good at the Kohl Center going 13-5-2 at home this season. This is going to be a battle, for both teams. If Wisconsin can score first and get the crowd really into it, CC could be in trouble, but if CC can score first they can take the crowd out of the game. SPLIT

#8 Nebraska-Omaha @ #11 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Mavericks split with the DU Pioneers in Omaha and the Bulldogs got 1-point from the CC Tigers in Colorado Springs.

UMD has a 4-1-0 advantage in the all time series versus UNO. The Bulldogs had a rough February, going 2-3-3 and the Mavericks went 6-2-0 last month. Both teams still have a chance to grab the number two seed in the WCHA and neither can drop lower than fourth place. If you start looking ahead at first round match-ups, UNO might be concerned about hosting the Beavers. The Bulldogs need to stop the bleeding and playing a tough UNO team isn’t going to make it easy. Both are still in good shape for making the NCAA tournament, but if UMD can’t stop the bleeding their season might end earlier than expected. UNO has scored 88-goals in league play this season and UMD has netted 85-goals. The Bulldogs are 9-4-2 at home this season, 7-1-2 at the old DECC and 2-3-2 in the new Amsoil Arena, while the Mavericks are 7-8-1 away from Omaha. UMD fans might want this series played back at the good old DECC. I’m leaning towards a split in this series, but a sweep either way wouldn’t be to shocking. SPLIT

#19 Minnesota @ Bemidji St.
Last weekend the Gophers swept the MTU Huskies in Minneapolis and the Beavers were swept by the UND Fighting Sioux in Grand Forks.

The Gophers lead the overall series with a 6-1-0 mark. The Gophers also lead the WCHA in penalty minutes this season with 412, and they are 11th in conference on penalty killing. The Beavers should know this and try to capitalize on their power play chances this weekend, since BSU is leading the WCHA power play perecentage at 21.7%. The Gophers look to lock up home ice this weekend, and can do it on Friday with a win. The Beavers can only climb as high as 8th with a sweep this weekend. Don’t expect BSU to roll over play dead, since home ice is out, coach Serratore won’t let his team do that. Do expect the Beavers to play a tough, close to the vest, style game(s) this weekend. BSU has had problems scoring goals, much like the Gophers have this season. The Gophers found some offense last weekend, but hanging a pair of 5’s on MTU is not exactly climbing Mount Everest. The Beavers need scoring from their top line and power play, if they want to get some points this weekend. I see these games as a race to three. The first team to reach three goals in the game will most likely win it. SPLIT

#2 North Dakota @ Michigan Tech
Last weekend the Sioux swept the BSU Beavers in Grand Forks and the Huskies were swept by the UM Gophers in Minneapolis.

The Sioux clinched at least a share of the MacNaughton cup last weekend and can get it out right by getting one point this weekend. I watched the Huskies and Gophers game last weekend, as well as the Sioux-Beavers. MTU isn’t as bad as their record would indicate, they just haven’t gotten any bounces. Look for the Sioux to use their team speed to cause problems this weekend at John MacInnes Arena. This will be the first of back to back weekends these teams play. Next weekend the Huskies will make the return trip to Grand Forks for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The Sioux are 10-4-2 away from The Ralph and the Huskies are 1-10-4 at home this year. (I can see UND winning Friday and then resting players on Saturday, with nothing to gain.) SIOUX SWEEP

#19 St. Cloud St. @ #5 Denver
Last weekend the Huskies swept the UW Badgers in St. Cloud and the Pioneers split with the UNO Mavericks in Omaha.

The Huskies have been mushing their way up standings in 2011. Unfortunately their horrible first half has them sunk into a bottom half finish. They Huskies are heating up at the right time of the year and are not a team people want to see in the first round of the playoffs. The Pioneers have stumbled a bit, but are back home at Magness Arena where they are an impressive 13-3-2 overall this season. The Huskies are 5-6-1 this season away from the National Hockey Center. (They are going to update/renovate the NHC using $31M to do so, I can’t wait to see a new upgraded NHC.) The Pioneers are just about a shoe-in for the NCAA tourney, and the Huskies still have a chance too. DU has talent and is at home, so I don’t think they’ll get swept, but do they have the instinct to finish off teams? SPLIT

Alaska-Anchorage @ Minnesota State
Last weekend the Seawolves split with in-state rival, the UAF Nanooks, in a home-home series and the Mavericks were enjoying a bye weekend.

These teams met back in October in Anchorage, and MSUM won and tied UAA at Sullivan Arena. The Mavericks hold a 7-6-3 home record at Verizon Wireless Center this season and the Seawolves are a lowly 3-10-0 away from Anchorage. Both teams will be on the road next weekend, regardless of what happens in this series. The Seawolves are the second lowest scoring team in the league (only MTU is lower) netting only 54-goals. So needless to say, they want a couple of low scoring games. Same could be said for the Mavericks, they have only scored 66-goals in the WCHA so far this season. I’m going with the home team in this series. MAVERICKS SWEEP

More to Cooke than meets the skull

National Post Picture

Wow! I can’t believe a major Canadian Newspaper would try to paint Matt Cooke in a positive light. The fact remains he is one of the dirtiest and most hated players in the NHL. It’s hard to get to that level. No matter how the National Post tries to portray Matt Cooke, he is a major P.O.S. and one of the dirtiest hockey players that I have ever witnessed play the game during my lifetime.

National Post ---- One of the National Hockey League’s greatest villains finds peace in a garage near the water east of Toronto. Matt Cooke has stocked it with the essential tools, sanders and saws among them, while eschewing any of the chatter that might remind him of what he does during the winter to earn his summer retreat.

“The crash of the waves is my radio,” he said.

Cooke collects antiques. His prized find is a pine cabinet, six feet long and seven feet tall, that he refinished himself after stripping off several layers of paint. There was pink, baby blue, green, white and grey.

“You could tell it came through different eras, where that colour was ‘in’ at the time,” he said. “It wasn’t the easiest thing to get back to wood, but I managed to do it.”

The cabinet is still standing, eight years after its rebirth, in the kitchen of his cottage near Belleville, Ont. It is a testament to the constructive skills of a man with legions of critics screaming about his destructive behaviour, most recently and notoriously with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Highlight reels have been dedicated solely to his apparent willingness to abandon almost all sense of human morality on the ice. Don Cherry railed against Cooke in one segment of Hockey Night in Canada last year, an animated dissertation on Cooke’s decade-long hit parade that ended with a prediction — correct, as it turned out — that without adequate protection, such violence would eventually find Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

The catalyst for Cherry’s rant was Cooke’s (unpunished) headshot on Marc Savard. The Boston Bruins forward had just released a shot on goal when Cooke slammed a shoulder into his right temple, sending him to the ice with a severe concussion and, ultimately, toward the prospect of an early retirement.

Ovechkin's sick goal in ovfertime.

Wow! If you haven't seen this awesome game winning goal by the Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin I would have to say that this is one of the better goals I have seen this season... Alexander Ovechkin now has 25 goals and 40 assists in 64 games.

Mike Milbury nails it on Trevor Gillies

Check it out...

Islanders hack Trevor Gillies elbows Cal Clutterbuck

You have got to be kidding me, what the hell was this worthless P.O.S. Trevor Gillies thinking about? Did he not learn anything during his last suspension? Tonight was Gillies first game back from a nine game suspension for being a total goon against the Pittsburgh Penguins and he does this despicable crap.

I know some Islander fan will make the argument that Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck hit the Islanders player Justin DiBenedetto hard from behind, maybe he did, so what? If Gillies or DiBendetto took issue with the hit then challenge Clutterbuck to a fight don’t plant his head in the boards with your elbow. I mean really, what the hell was Trevor Gillies thinking? Trevor Gillies is basically a cement head that plays 2.52 minutes a game and gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 shifts a game, I think this clown should get 10 game suspension for this.

Matt Frattin makes the INCH Hobey Tracker

Nice to see Matt Frattin get some recognition from the College Hockey pundits. So props to the boys at INCH for putting Frattin in their Hobey Tracker…

MATT FRATTIN
North Dakota | Sr. | Forward
To Date: 35 GP, 27-15–42

The Skinny: The Matt Frattin goal machine keeps turning on the red light and potted three more this past weekend in a sweep of Bemidji State that helped North Dakota clinch the MacNaughton Cup. Frattin is tied for second nationally with 27 goals on the year, and has been particularly hot down the stretch. He’s scored seven goals in North Dakota’s last seven games, and the Sioux are 6-0-1 in that span. Frattin is the leading scorer on one of the nation’s top teams, and among a talented group of forwards, there’s no doubt that he’s the guy you’ve got to keep the closest eye on to slow down North Dakota.

He said what?

First off, I enjoy Roman’s articles and his blog posts… As a regular reader I find his blog post to be amusing and I like his style. Roman writes in a style that I find easy to read and enjoy and he doesn’t talk down or use a bunch of fancy words no one can understand… I admit that I usually read Goal Gopher a few times each day because there are usually lots of juicy nuggets that make good conversation pieces and blog posts. This post caught my eye and I couldn’t resist.

Goal Gophers --- Senior Jacob Cepis said the Gophers have beaten most of the best teams in the WCHA -- North Dakota, Denver and UMD -- and the top teams from other leagues, too.

The U beat Michigan 3-1 in the final College Hockey Showcase and took Union to overtime before losing 3-2 in its holiday tournament.

Michigan won the CCHA title this past weekend while Union won the Cleary Cup, symbolic of its first ECAC title.

The Gophers, of course, had a good weekend, too, sweeping Michgian Tech 5-2 both games. It got chippy Saturday as the U built a lead

That being said, I think this Star and Tribune blog post is an illustration of how far the mighty have fallen from grace; the Minneapolis Star Tribune is taking quotes from Jacob Cepis, just a few short years ago you would’ve seen more polished all American like players, you can picture the Gopher players names in your head. More prolific names like Jordan Leopold, Johnny Pohl, Thomas Vanek, Paul Martin, Alex Goligoski, Danny Irmen, Matt Koalska, Grant Polulny and Ryan Potulny. These all American like players would would be feeding the local media printable quotes and the media and their fans from the Metro area would be eating it up.

There would have been interviews in which the home town players would be talking about how the Minnesota Gophers had just wrapped up another league title or secured a high seed in the WCHA tourney and were looking forward to their upcoming trip to the Final Five and the NCAA tourney... Now the Gophers and the local media and their fans are talking about how their team can hopefully finish in fifth or sixth place in the WCHA standings so they can secure home ice. Gone are the annual trips to the NCAA tourney and as the Gophers are sitting on the bubble of making the NCAA tourney… They more than likely are going to be sitting on the outside looking in again, or playing golf when April comes around. Most of us would be grumbling about how Minnesota is going to get the evening game again on Friday, they will be lucky to play on Thursday.

Now the local Minneapolis/Saint Paul media talk about moral victories and how they took Union to overtime before they lost in overtime, in years past the former Gopher team would have taken the Dutchmen to the wood shed and hung a five or six spot on them. Now Minnesota is hard pressed to score five goals on anyione. Ironically the same Union team then lost the next night to the BSU Beavers... The Bemidji Beavers also are the same team that has gone further than the Gophers in the NCAA tourney the last two seasons.

So fast forward to present time, am I the only one that finds it funny that senior Jacob Cepis has become the face of the Minnesota Gophers hockey team? With nineteen NHL draft choices on the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ hockey team roster, some of which were taken in the first round; instead the have an undrafted player from Parma, Ohio that seems to have become the preferred spokes man for the Gophers hockey team. Wow! How times have changed.

Slashing is now sticking up for a teammate...

I have been reading this article a few times and I find it more amusing each time I read it. First off what is the Stib’s definition of a brawl? Does anyone see a problem with this paragraph? Usually if you going to take exception with something that an opposition player has done on the ice, in my opinion slashing would be an inappropriate and gutless response. It's not sticking up for a teammate, and it might get you fined, suspended and or probably beat up in other leagues.

* On whether brawl the Gophers' 3-2 win at North Dakota on Jan. 14 was a bonding experience: "We've got a lot of bonding experiences this year. We see each other too much. Every second of the day. We've got some young guys who are not afraid to mix it up. Enough of that stuff where people are criticizing us for not being tough. We showed we can be tough. Same with North Dakota. You want to try to bully us, it's not going to work. We are going to back ourselves up."

After a big hit on Gophers defensemen Kevin Wehrs, the 5-8, 170-pound Cepis actually took exception and started the donnybrook at the end of the second period. He got called for slashing.

* On the roughing calls and fighting on Saturday: "If somebody is going to take a shot at you, we are going to take a shot back."

Linus Omark shootout goal...

Edmonton Oilers forward Linus Omark is starting to compile a shootout highlight reel. While some fans think that the shootout is a farce or a side show, perhaps, but I also like watching shootout goals like this… I think it’s a good way to end a tie during the regular season.

Jake Marto wins Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week

Congrats to Jake Marto on winning Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week. Marto had a goal and two assists against the BSU Beavers on Sunday afternoon to pace the Sioux.

WCHA.COM ---> Jake Marto, a veteran defenseman at the University of North Dakota, has been named the Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for March 1, 2011 after playing a key role at both ends of the ice in a two-game conference sweep over visiting Bemidji State, a pair of wins that guaranteed the Fighting Sioux at least a share of the regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming league tournament.

A 6-0, 175-pound senior from Grand Forks, N.D., Marto scored the game-winning goal and had two assists in last Sunday's 5-1 win over Bemidji State, which clinched a share of the MacNaughton Cup for No. 1-ranked UND, and earned him No. 1 star of the game honors on Senior Day. The game-winner was his third of the season, tying a UND single-season record for Sioux defensemen.

Marto also helped key a strong defensive effort for North Dakota in the series, which saw them limit the Beavers to 16 shots on goal in a 5-2 victory last Saturday and 16 shots on goal in the 5-1 triumph on Sunday. The Sioux also limited BSU to one power-play goal in seven series man-advantage opportunities.

Playing in all 35 games this season, Marto has contributed 15 points (6g, 9a) from his blueline spot while his four-year collegiate career totals show 148 games played with 58 scoring points (19g, 39a).

Also nominated this week: Joe Marciano, D, CC; Nick Jensen, D, SCSU.

Who should be player of the WCHA Year?

Who is the Player of the Year in the WCHA?
	Matt Frattin, F, North Dakota
	Drew Shore, F, Denver
	Jack Connolly, F, UMD
	Mike Connolly, F, UMD
	Justin Schultz, D, Wisconsin
	Drew LeBlanc, F, St. Cloud State
	Jason Gregoire, F, North Dakota
	Jordan George, F, Bemidji State
	Justin Fontaine, F, Minnesota Duluth
	Jason Zucker, F, Denver
	Kent Patterson, G, UMN
pollcode.com free polls

The Media will be casting their votes for WCHA player of the year in the very near future. While I am not a member of the hockey media, I do think this is a discussion worth having. Now before some one from SCSU accuses me of being biased, yeah, "I always like that one." Duh! This is a blog written about fighting Sioux hockey and I have never once claimed that I am not biased. I make no bones about it; I believe that Matt Frattin is the best player in the WCHA this season… To use a sports cliché, Matt Frattin has been a man among boys this season, it is what it is. Tom Serratore had this to say about Matt Frattin, “He’s (Frattin) such a dangerous player and he showed why he’s probably going to be the WCHA player of the year.”

s/t to Bruce Ciskie for the link to the poll…