Edit - UND 3 DU 2 Double O.T.

You can listen to the audio of tonight's game on this link. UND is 131-115-8 all time against DU, this season 1-1 record, tonight's game is the rubber match. Current Pairwise UND 29-8-3 vs DU 24-10-5...

UND Forward Lines

*19 Evan Trupp 22 Brad Malone 21 Matt Frattin
25 Jake Marto 10 Corban Knight 26 Brett Hextal
14 Talor Kickin 29 Brock Nelson 7 Danny Kristo
15 Brent Davidson 9 Mario Lamoureux 20 Joe Gleason

Defense pairing

*4 Derek Forbort 24 Ben Blood
2 Andrew MacWilliam 5 Chay Genoway
3 Derick Lapoint 18 Dillon Simpson

Goalies

*32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

[UND Players Stats]

DU Pioneers Forward Lines

*17 Jason Zucker 15 Drew Shore 18 Luke Salazar
22 Jarrod Mermis 23 Nick Shore 9 Beau Bennett
16 Anthony Maiani 19 Kyle Ostrow 8 Dustin Jackson
11 Chris Knowlton 37 Nate Dewhurst 26 Shawn Ostrow

Defense pairing

4 Matt Donovan 10 David Makowski
*24 John Ryder 6 Chris Nutini
7 Paul Phillips 5 John Lee

Goalies

*1 Sam Brittain
33 Adam Murray

[DU Players Stats]

DU Goal 1, at 5:06 mark of the first period Dustin Jackson 5(Beau Bennett 16, Anthony Maiani 28). 1-0 DU...

UND goal 1, at the 2:32 mark of the second Danny Kristo scores his 7 goal of the year assisted by (Taylor Dicken 1, and Derrick LaPoint 8). - Two goals in two games for Kristo since his return from Frostbite. 1-1 tie game

UND goal 2 , Brent Davidson at the 8:18 from (Danny Kristo 18, and Derrick LaPoint 9). Davidson shot the puck behind the goal line and Britain kicked it into his own net. 2-1 UND. Stats - Kristo (1g-1a-2pts) Derrick LaPoint (0g-2a-2pts)

DU goal 2 at 17:47 mark of the third period by Anthony Maiani 8,from (Beau Bennett 16, and Matt Donovan 22). 2-2 score.

Shots on goal 42 DU and 36 UND

Penalties
9/18 minutes for UND
7/14 minutes for DU

--------- Over Time ----------
1st O.T. No Scoring
2nd O.T. UND goal 4, Matt Frattin score his 35th goal at the 5:11 mark assisted by (Chay Genoway 26 and Evan Trupp 21) ending the longest games in Final Five History... This was the first time since the 2007 WCHA Final Five that the Championship game had gone to overtime when Blake Wheeler scored a highlight goal against Jean-Philippe Lamoureux.

Goon's Three Stars of the Game
1.) Matt Frattin UND, scored the game winner, 35th goal of the season.
2.) Aaron Dell UND, 40 saves for the Fighting Sioux.
3.) Sam Brittain, DU 33 saves in the loss.

UND and C.C. post game press conference...

This from last night's press conference. Here is the link to the DU post game press conference as well. [Click to view]

Evan Trupp's Slick move...

This is an unbelievable move. Evan Trupp's stick handling display brought the Xcel Energy Center to it's feet and energized Sioux fans. When asked about the Trupp Play Matt Frattin had this to say, “I was breaking to the net there and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should pull up or what. He’s been doing things like that. . . he did something like that last year at the Final Five, too. He’s got a creative side. ”

Nelson's Checking From Behind

Here's the video of Brock Nelson's checking from behind penalty last night.

So what do you think? Did Guentzel embellish?


My opinion is that Nelson gave him a little tap, Guentzel felt it coming and dropped to his knees and took the hit. You don't go down like that when you know there's a guy right there.

That being said I don't blame Don Adam (the devil incarnate)a bit for making the call. I don't know what else he was supposed to do. From Nelson's shoulders you can see that he gave Guentzel s shot and with contact like that to the boards the call had to be made.

Kristo Scores; Sioux win 4-3

In the fourth game of the WCHA Final Five, the Xcel Energy Center finally came to life as the Sioux fans showed-up in full force and brought down the roof on the Xcel energy center. It almost appeared to be a home game for the Fighting Sioux. I actually think in retrospect that the WCHA is relieved that UND made the final game against their heated rival the DU Pioneers.

The Fighting Sioux got on the board first; setting the table for a great story line, in his first shift back from suffering from frostbite, Danny Kristo scored at the 2:24 mark of the first period to give the Fighting Sioux a 1-0 lead. Later in the first period, with Corbin Knight off for high sticking, at the 17:06 of the first period, C.C. score 18 seconds into the power play at the 17:24 mark with a goal from Rylan Schwartz (assisted by Gabe Guentzel and Jaden Schwartz). The Sioux out-shot the Tigers 15-7 in the first period.

In the second period, the C.C. Tigers scored at the 5:14 mark with a goal from Rylan Schwartz assisted by Ryan Lowery and Jaden Schwartz to pull ahead 2-1con the scoreboard. The Sioux and the Tigers played an even period of hockey with each team getting 8 shots on goal. The Fighting Sioux would even the game at the 14:55 mark of the second period with a goal from Senior forward Brent Davidson assisting on the goal were Andrew MacWilliam and Joe Gleason.

The Sioux were put in a hairy situation in the third period. At the 6:41 mark UND forward Brock Nelson was assessed a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for checking Gabe Guentzel from behind. The Sioux gained momentum at the 8:30 mark of the third period, when CC took a penalty. Sioux forward Matt Frattin was hooked down by Rylan Schwartz. The hook resulted in Frattin sliding into the Tigers goalie Joe Howe and Brad Malone scoring into an empty net. After further review the goal counted.

At the 11:10 mark of the third period Tiger forward Rylan Schwartz scored his second goal of the game. Rylan was assisted by his brother Jaden Schwartz and Nick Dineen, thus making up for his penalty that led to the third Fighting Sioux goal. UND's goal at the 14:20 mark of the third period was scored by Matt Frattin. It was Frattin's 34th goal of the year, with assists going to Evan Trupp and Ben Blood. Frattin’s goal sent the Xcel Energy Center into a wild frenzy with a Hobey Baker chant echoing through out the arena.

It got interesting at the 17:06 mark of the third period when MacWilliam was assessed a 2 minute penalty for cross-checking. The Sioux survived by successfully kill the penalty.

With the Victory, the UND Fighting Sioux become the first team in four seasons to win the MacNaughton Cup and then win their first game at the Final Five. The Last three teams had lost CC in 2008, UND in 2009 and DU in 2010.

Scott Owens on the Fighting Sioux.
"They are old, they are big and strong and they come at you."

[Box Score]

Denver ends BSU’s season 6-2; Pioneers advances.

Photo by Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer

The Bemidji State University Beavers came into this afternoon’s game against the DU Pioneers having to win two games to advance to the NCAA tourney. Their season ended at the hands of the Denver Pioneers 6-2.

During the first period there was hope for the BSU Beavers. The Beaver came out and they were taking the game to the DU Pioneers, the Beavers had a strong forecheck and they were racing through the neutral zone with speed and they were getting pucks deep past the Denver Pioneers defenders. The Beavers were also generating chances down low and ended the first period with a 2-1 lead. Going into the second period it still looked like the Beavers were in the game and had a chance.

The Beavers had a great opportunity going into the third period as the Pioneers had two players whistled for minor penalties ( Nutini 18:31 and Maiani 19:57) in the closing minutes of the second period, the Beavers had a five-on-three power play for 29 seconds to open play in the third period. The Beavers couldn’t cash in on the five on three power play and it seemed to change the game around for the Pioneers. The Pioneers put the Beavers into hibernation as they scored four goals in third period to (Nick Shore, Jarroad Mermis, Luke Salazar and Kyle Ostrow) cruse to a 6-2 score and end the Beavers magical run in the WCHA playoffs.

[Box Score]

Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer

Post game quotes...
George Gwozdecky Head Coach, DU...
"First I want to compliment our opponent today. They had a tremendous postseason run. Sam Brittain made some tremendous saves in the first couple of periods to keep the game close for us and killing off the five-on-three to start the third period was an emotional boost for us and we fed off of that. [Bemidji State] was a challenging opponent for us."

On tomorrow's championship game and the importance of playing well heading into the NCAA Tourney...
"Both teams, CC and North Dakota, like to get up and down the ice. They like to attack from end to end. They're going to force you. They're going to forcheck you hard. Both have very good penalty units and both have very good power plays. They're very similar in a lot of ways. Whoever we face, we know it's going to be a major challenge for us.

Over the corse of the past 10-12 games, we've been counting this down as a team and trying to get all of us to realize how important [it is] to be ready to play, emotionally and physically, to the best of our ability at this time of year. The one thing that really helps is to be healthy."

Just for the record Gwozdecky said that 9 of the Pioneers has surgery after their season was over last year.

University of North Dakota to Hold Firm on Board’s Direction, Despite Legislature Ruling

This story is developing, looks like UND and the NDSBoHE is setting themselves up for a fight with the North Dakota Legislature .

GRAND FORKS, ND: Even though North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple signed a bill on Tuesday that would sanction the use of the Fighting Sioux logo for UND’s athletic teams, school officials will still uphold the Board of Higher Education’s earlier decision to drop the contentious Indian head logo…at least for now.

Speaking yesterday on the Scott Hennen Show, University of North Dakota spokesman Peter Johnson clarifies the University’s official position regarding the new bill:

“I dictate to the Board what the Board’s position is and they have not yet met to officially alter their position. So that got out in a way that caused me some problems and hassles. But in no way shape or form did we intend to thumb our nose at the legislature. But unfortunately, that’s how it sounded and it sounded that I was doing that.”
Listen

Mr. Johnson’s latest comments address charges from critics who characterize the Board of Higher Education’s reaction as defiant to the legislature’s authority and the rule of law.

The House passed the bill on a 65-28 vote. The Senate passed it on a 28-15 vote.

USA Hockey names Blais as coach for 2012 WJC

Former UND Fighting Sioux and current UNO Maverick head coach Dean Blais has been named head coach of team USA for the 2012 USA WJC.

NHL.COM --- USA Hockey will once again turn to Dean Blais to lead the U.S. National Junior Team to international prominence when the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship is held in Alberta, Canada.

It marks the third time Blais, currently the head coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, will be behind the bench for Team USA at the WJC. USA Hockey announced Blais as coach on Friday prior to the first semifinal game of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The remainder of the coaching staff will be announced at a later date and prior to USA Hockey's National Junior Evaluation Camp, Aug. 6-13, in Lake Placid, N.Y.

"I'm extremely honored to coach this team," Blais said. "It's really exciting to see how far hockey has come in our country. We now go into the World Juniors expecting to win and that will be our mind set from the summer camp right through the tournament next December and January in Edmonton and Calgary."

After leading Team USA to a sixth-place finish at the 1994 WJC in the Czech Republic, Blais was given the reigns once again in 2010 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He'd lead the U.S. to five regulation wins, one overtime victory and one OT loss, capping the tournament with a memorable 6-5 overtime victory over host Canada in the gold-medal contest. It was the second gold won by the U.S. in the WJC and first since 2004 when Mike Eaves was at the helm.

Live Blog DU and BSU

We are going to give it a try yesterday the wireless was a bit questionable in the Xcel Energy Center but we will give it a go.

College Hockey Links

Brad Malone was interviewed by Mike Chambers yesterday. [part 1], [part 2], [part 3]

Here is the list of 2011 Hobey Baker Finalists
Matt Frattin, UND
Jack Connolly, UMD
Justin Schultz, University of Wisconsin
Cam Atkinson, BC
Paul Thompson, New Hampshire
Chase Polacek, RPI
Carter Camper, Miami University
Andy Miele, Miami University
Gustav Nyquist, University of Maine
Paul Zanette, Niagara University

Kristo happy to be back

FIGHTINGSIOUX.COM

There is a bible verse  from John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Back when the incident first surfaced there were many rumors out there floating around Grand Forks, ND and on the Internet. Most of them were various degrees of a student athlete being in an intoxicated state. I guess there are a few people out there that owe Danny Kristo an apology eh? Brad Schlossman from the Grand Forks Herald has an interesting interview with Kristo and none of the stories that I heard jive with Danny’s take on the incident. Kristo said that “No alcohol was involved,” where are all the prognosticators today?

Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald ---“No alcohol was involved,” Kristo said. “I was not drunk. I know there are rumors going around about that. I did make some poor decisions that night, like not wearing socks and a pair of tennis shoes when it’s 30 below in Grand Forks. That’s not very smart. I did have some bad judgments on that night, but alcohol was not one of them.”

The incident

Kristo said he was home alone at his apartment, located across the street from the Alerus Center and behind Ray Richards Golf Course at about 9 p.m., when he decided to walk to a girl’s apartment located about seven-tenths of a mile away.

Kristo couldn’t drive because his car was at Ralph Engelstad Arena. He left it there the night before, opting to ride home with his roommates, Matt Frattin and Evan Trupp, when the team returned home from a road trip to Colorado College.

“We always carpool,” he said.

So, Kristo decided to take a shortcut across Ray Richards Golf Course to the girl’s apartment, which was located near the new Red Pepper location on 42nd Street. Kristo said he walked that path many times before.

This time, he wasn’t properly clothed for the cold temperatures. Kristo said he was wearing tennis shoes, no socks, sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt. He had a stocking hat on, but no gloves or mittens.

There was a significant amount of snow on the course, but Kristo said it was iced over and he could walk on top of it.

“As I was walking, I hit some powder,” Kristo said. “My right foot dug way in there. It was almost waist deep. My left foot was still on top of the snow. I pulled my foot up and my shoe was off. I pulled out my phone (for light) to scan the snow. I couldn’t find it. It was dark in the middle of the course. My foot started getting really cold and I was digging pretty hard with my hands and I couldn’t find it.

“I looked back at my apartment and I looked to the apartment I was going to. I was closer to the apartment I was going to. My foot and my hands were starting to lose feeling and I knew I had to get there pretty quick. So, I pretty much ran there with one shoe on.”

UND team physician Greg Greek said frostbite doesn’t take long to set in when it is that cold.

“With those conditions? It doesn’t take more than a few minutes, if that,” Greek said.

Kristo, who also sustained frostbite on the hand he used to dig in the snow, said his foot was white when he got to the apartment. He wrapped it up and called Frattin and Trupp to tell them what had happened. They immediately went to the girl’s apartment.

“My first reaction was that I don’t know what to think,” Kristo said. “I knew I had to warm it up, but you don’t know many people who have had frostbite.”

Kristo told his teammates that he didn’t have feeling in his foot and they decided to take him to the hospital. Frattin threw Kristo (whose foot was wrapped) on his shoulders and carried him to the car and got Kristo to Altru.

Semi-Final Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

The play-in game have come and gone. The Beavers won in overtime over the Bulldogs in the afternoon game, and the Tigers ousted the Seawolves in the the evening game.

Bemidji State vs Denver
I was impressed with the overall defensive play of the Beavers yesterday. Other than the short-handed goal, I don't remember them giving up an glaring odd-man rushed. This game really comes down to which Denver team shows up. Last weekend they had to come from behind both games to win, this time of year you don't want to make a living doing that. The Pioneers need to score first and force the Beavers to try and generate offense. If the Beavers score first they will gain confidence and can/could play a more of a defensive style game. I would like to see the Beavers pull off another upset, but the Pioneers have too much depth. DU WINS 3-2

Colorado College vs North Dakota
I was not impressed with the Tigers yesterday. The Seawolves had some great scoring opportunities early in the game and didn't capitalize on them. If UAA would have scored on one of them, I feel they would have won the game. The Sioux will have to adjust to someone other than Michigan Tech, since they played them the last two weekends. If the Sioux play there standard game, speed and solid defense, they should be victorious. SIOUX WIN 4-2

PS - Attendance seems be down this year, it was fairly empty in the arena, especially in the evening game. Without the Gophers in the tournament this year, the atmosphere is not all that good, in my opinion.

Goon is such a man's man

Nothing says I'm a man like having a make up bag in your bathroom. Yes people, this is Goon's bag!!

Beavers 3 Bulldogs 2 O.T.

The Bemidji State Beavers have proven to be giant killers as of late, after traveling to Omaha, Nebraska and beating the third place UNO Mavericks during the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the Beavers went into tonight’s game having everything to gain and nothing to lose. Their task is to secure an auto qualifier in NCAA tourney. Based on their Pairwise ranking and their record 15-17-5 the BSU Beavers are going to have to win the WCHA Final Five if they want to make the NCAA tourney.

Tonight with the win against the UMD Bulldogs the Beavers were successful in the first step of a long journey. The BSU Beavers now live to fight another night as they will play the Denver Pioneers tomorrow afternoon at 2:07 pm. Denver swept the Beavers back in November 3-1 and 4-2 at home. So if the Beavers want to move on to the next round of the Final Five they are going to have to go through the second place Pioneers. If the Beavers beat Denver they are going then have to play the winner of the UND-CC game; albeit a tall order but not impossible.

BSU down 2-1 going into the third period when senior forward Matt Read scored the eqfualizer at the 0:28 mark of the third period to send the game to overtime. The Beavers beat the fourth place UMD Bulldogs 3-2 in overtime as Shea Walters scored at the 06:12 mark of the first overtime to send the Bulldogs packing and the Beavers to the semis. It was the first goal of the season for the junior forward from Hibbing, Minnesota.

Quotes from the post game press conference

Mike Connelly, UMD Junior Forward
"We came in and we did what we had to do, take the lead, got the second one. We came into the third period with a 2-1 lead. We came out pretty flat and we were never able to recover. Our record shows that we've been [to overtime] quite a bit. I think we are all comfortable in overtime, but tonight obviously wasn't our night, mainly because of a lack of effort from the players. We need to regroup and get ready for the next weekend."

Scott Sandelin UMD Head Coach
On not having to play (potentially) three games in three days before the NCAA tourney...
"The one thing about this team all year is that when they've had their backs against the wall, they've responded the right way every time and I expect our team to do the same. For us it gives us some time to rest a little bit. We have some guys that are banged up, hurt, sick and that stuff. It's no excuse. They've played because they came here to win this tournament. We have another chance, so hopefully our guys can continue to do what they've done all year.
-------------
Shea Walters BSU Junior Forward
On his game winning goal in overtime...
"It was a big win off the draw. It got kicked up to Dan MacIntyre who made a nice pass across and [Jamie McQueen] had a nice screen in front fortunately it went in. I just wanted to get it on net as quick as I could."

Tom Serratore BSU Head Coach
On the game...
"First off, I'm just proud of the guys. It was a tough game. I felt in the second period that we didn't have good legs. I thought UMD took it to us, but we were only down one goal [heading into the period]. Read converting in the first minute of the third period really elevated our play. It was a great 3rd period and we were fortunate to get the last bounce in overtime."

Ness signs contract with N.Y. Islanders

This is one of those moves I would classify as being a head scratcher of the silly season, the underperforming Aaron Ness has decided to fore go his final year of eligibility to sign with the hapless New York Islanders.

Roman Augustoviz, Goal Gophers - Junior defenseman Aaron Ness on Wednesday signed a three-year entry level NHL contract with the New York Islanders.

The Islanders took him in the second round of the 2008 NHL draft. The 5-10, 177-pound Ness scored two goals and had 12 assists for 14 points this past season with the Gophers.

Ness, 20, will join the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders' AHL affiliate for the rest of their hockey season.

In his three-year career, Ness played in 111 games and had six goals and 37 assists for 43 points.

Ness said he was ready to take the next step in his hockey career. "I've still got to make improvements in a lot of areas," Ness said, "But my dream it to play in the NHL and this is best opportunity to keep progressing."

He was it was his decision to leave the university, not the Islanders' pressing him. "After three years, I had a lot of fun and got a lot better," Ness said. "But I asked around to see what I had to do.

"I had a great three years," Ness said. "And realistically, if I had to do it all over again," Ness said, "I would do the same thing. I had great coaches, great fans. Everything is put on a platter for you to succeed. I would have wanted to do better in the playoffs, to go further, but it happens."

Bruins' Marchand suspended for two games

The Wheels of justice have spun and Brad Marchand received a two game suspension from the NHL and will miss the next two games against the Predators and the Leafs.

TORONTO – Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for two games and will forfeit $6,330.64 in salary for delivering an elbow to the head area of Columbus Blue Jackets player R.J. Umberger in NHL game #1044 Tuesday night, the National Hockey League announced today.

Marchand's fine is based on his average annual salary and is calculated under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 11:40 of the second period when Marchand approached Umberger from behind and struck him in the neck and side of the head with his elbow. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Marchand will miss the Bruins' next two games -- tonight at Nashville and March 19 at Toronto. He will be eligible to return March 22 against New Jersey.

Dany Heatley elbows Steve Ott

First off I am not a fan of Steve Ott and his antics and I think he is a disgusting puke and his hit from Dany Heatley is probably about karma and in a way I am sure that he probably had it coming and deserved this based on all of the questionable things that Steve Ott does on the ice, however, the rules are the rules and Former Wisconsin Badger Dany Heatley did elbow Steve Ott in the face and was suspended for two games by the NHL.

Here are a few examples of Ott's Thuggery...

Steve Ott Runs Campbell.

Steve Ott hits Jordan Leopold with cheap shot

Steve Ott spears an L.A. King

Brad Marchand hit on R.J. Umberger

Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins has a disciplinary hearing with the NHLfor this hit on R.J. Umberger in last night game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In my opinion it's a violation of rule 48 and worthy of a suspension from the NHL.

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.

Final Five Play-in Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, come one come all to the greatest hockey tournament of them all, the WCHA Final 5.

This is year it is a different format, since we have 6 teams, instead of 5. Now we have two play-in games on Thursday, and eliminated the third place game (which normal took place on Saturday afternoon).

Every team in St. Paul has a chance at the Broadmoor Championship and the NCAA auto-bid to the tournament. Three teams, UND, DU, and UMD are all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament, so the remaining three teams have more to lose this weekend.

Note - There will be a total of three Broadmoor Trophies. The largest will be on permanent display at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul in conjunction with the WCHA Final Five, one will be a traveling trophy, and one will be given to the winning team each year as a permanent addition to their display case.

WCHA 2010-11 FINAL standings
TEAM……………..…....W-L-T...Pts1. North Dakota…...…….21-6-1…43
2. Denver……..……...……17-8-3…37
3. Nebraska-Omaha.…..17-9-2…36
4. Minnesota-Duluth......15-8-5…35
5. Minnesota…….....…...13-10-5…31
6. Colorado College…....13-13-2…28
7. Wisconsin……….....….12-13-3…27
8. Alaska-Anchorage…12-14-2…26
8. St. Cloud State….......11-13-4…26
10. Bemidji State…….….8-15-5…21
10. Minnesota State…...8-16-4…20
12. Michigan Tech………2-24-2…6

(Numbers are current PairWise Rank)

Bemidji St. vs #6 Minnesota-Duluth(season series UMD wins 1-0-1)
Last weekend the Beavers swept the UNO Mavericks in Omaha and the Bulldogs swept the SCSU Huskies in Duluth.

These teams played a pair of games in Bemidji back at the end of October, with the Bulldogs winning a 3-2 in OT and the rematch ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Beavers will be the underdog in this series, something they are use to this year. Other than beating up on UNO this season, the Beavers have had a hard time against the other top teams in the WCHA. Perhaps BSU needs to pretend they are playing UNO again this weekend? The Bulldogs dispatched a hot SCSU Husky team last weekend, granted it was a sweep, but going into a 3rd overtime on Saturday night is almost like playing 3 games. That coupled with a short off week, could be a factor in Thursday afternoons game. The Beavers need to continue to ride the stellar goaltending they got last weekend into St. Paul, if they want to advance. Giving up that many shots game in and game out will eventually catch up with a team, BSU hopes that isn’t this weekend. UMD appears to have righted their ship after it was listing a little toward the end of the regular season. If BSU can keep UMD’s top line off the score sheet they should be able to win. If UMD can get some goals into the net and get a lead they can open up the offense and try to bury the Beavers. BULLDOGS WIN

#20 Alaska-Anchorage vs #13 Colorado College(season series UAA wins 3-2-0)
Last weekend the Seawolves swept the UM Gophers in Minneapolis and the Tigers won their series with the Badgers in Colorado Springs.

These teams played have played 5 times this season. First time these teams met this season was in October in Fairbanks Alaska with the Tigers winning that game. In mid-November they met in Colorado Springs with the teams splitting, a 4-3 OT win for UAA and a 2-0 CC win. Then they met in Anchorage in mid-January with the Seawolves sweeping the Tigers, by 4-1 and 2-1 scores.

The Seawolves are riding a season best 5-game winning streak at the moment. The Tigers were the only team to play a 3-game series last weekend. This marks the 2nd time UAA has made the Final 5. The last time was March of 2004 and then like now, they play the CC Tigers. Back in 2004 the Seawolves beat the CC Tigers in the play-in game and then fell to UND and UMD. The Tigers had to come from behind twice to advance to this point, some might call it luck, some might say they rose to the occasion. Whichever way you put, I think they are living dangerously and don’t want to do it a third time. It is also hard to believe that UAA is heating up at the right time of year, they are getting goals and limiting their opponents scoring opportunities. The Tigers need to win to secure up their place in the pairwise and the NCAA picture. The Seawolves need to win this game and one or two more to get into the tournament; obviously if they win the Broadmoor they get the auto-bid. SEAWOLVES WIN

#2 North DakotaLast weekend the Sioux swept the MTU Huskies in Grand Forks.

The Fighting Sioux will play the winner of the UAA-CC game on Friday night.
On the season, UND is 2-0-1 versus UAA, and is 1-1-0 versus CC.

#6 DenverLast weekend the Pioneers swept the MSUM Mavericks in Denver.

The Pioneers will play the winner of the BSU-UMD game on Friday afternoon.
On the season, DU is 1-1-0 versus UMD, and is 2-0-0 versus BSU.

Also to note, UNO is currently tied with CC for 13th in the Pairwise rankings. So barring some major upsets getting auto-bids, the Mavericks have a good shot at getting into the NCAA tournament.

Ex-Gopher Cepis signs with Lake Erie Monsters

According to Roman Augustoviz of Goal Gophers, former Minnesota Golden Gophers punk Jacob Cepis will start his professional career with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League this weekend, it will be interesting to see if he continues his antics from college or if he will now just play hockey instead of diving and flailing all over the ice. Goon’s World would like to wish him well in the next level of his hockey career and good riddance we won’t have to watch his antics anymore.

Goal Gophers --- Jacob Cepis, who finished as the Gophers' leading scorer, has signed with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League.

"They called me right away," said Cepis, who practiced with the Monsters on Tuesday. "They are 10 minutes away from my home. I am super excited to play some games this weekend."

Cepis is from Parma, Ohio. The Monsters' arena is in Cleveland.

Lake Erie has three games this weekend and 13 left total in the regular season.

"Their head coach [Dave Quinn] recruited me when I went to Minnesota," Cepis said. "He was an assistant at BU."

That's Boston University. This is Quinn's second season at Lake Erie coach.

Cepis finished with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points for the Gophers. He wore No. 17 as a Gophers, but that number was taken on the Monsters so he is No. 38.

Gopher fans are really going to be happy now; Minnesota Gophers AD Joel Maturi, hockey coach Don Lucia talking contract extension

According the Pioneer Press the University of Minnesota is going to give Minnesota Golden Gophers head hockey coach Don Luica a contract extension. That Gopher fans that I know have to be beside themselves after this announcement, when I first saw the link to this article posted on Twitter.com earlier today I thought that it had to be an April Fools type joke but I realized that it was only the 15th of March and that I have half month to go before it’s the first of April.

Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi is working on a contract extension for Don Lucia, and the men's hockey coach said this afternoon there is no doubt he will sign it.

"I want to be here, and someday when I leave here, I want to leave when it's going good," Lucia said this afternoon. "I want to win another national title; I don't want to just make the Frozen Four. I want to walk away when we're on top, and I want to get that back. That's my goal."

Lucia led the Gophers to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03 but has struggled to keep pace in a new era of college hockey, one in which top players are lured early to pro hockey by NHL clubs looking to save money.

Minnesota's season ended last weekend with a first-round loss to Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA playoffs, marking the third straight year the Gophers (16-14-6) failed to make the NCAA tournament, and the second straight year they missed the WHCA Final Five, which starts Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

Maturi and Lucia met Monday and for the first time discussed an extension. Lucia has one year left on his contract.