You've got to be kidding me...

Student Costumes at Hill Murray Game Called Racist: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

All I can say is, Wow!!! You have got to be kidding me?

FOX 9 was at that game, and saw the Hill Murray students dressed as gorillas and a banana, a practice that the school’s principal said has been happing since last year regardless of what team they’re playing.

According to the principal, the costumes grew out of what’s called the “banana cheer.” Though she declined an on-camera interview, she did say that “if there were any malice, we would put a stop to it.”

Video shows the same students in the same costumes at the girls’ state tournament, when Hill Murray beat Alexandria.

Still, there were a number of Johnson parents on Friday night who did not know the costumes were typical, and instead took it to be a racial statement. A few of the players also said they were offended.

Yet, one father said he felt whether a person finds the costumes racist will depend on their perception of what they mean, and he equated the controversy with the one facing the University of North Dakota’s “Fighting Sioux” mascot -- which the NCAA is pressuring the school to drop

Nanne wants Gophers to add Minnesota hockey tournament

This was in Shooter's column today, former University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and Minnesota North Stars player Lou Nanne comes up with a pretty decent idea for the Gophers to continue scheduling the Minnesota WCHA schools and still keeping the main rivalry games against DU, UMD and UND. Perusing the proposal from my seat, it looks like a pretty good idea, however, how often are the Big Ten Schools going to want to come to the REA, Amsoil or Magness Arena and get beat.

Charley Walters, pioneerpress.com ----- Lou Nanne, the former University of Minnesota All-American, said he likes that the Gophers will become part of an upstart Big Ten hockey conference in 2013-14 because of Big Ten Network exposure.

But, Nanne said this morning, he has an idea "that no one is talking about and that they should do. I would have a Minnesota tournament every year instead of that Christmas tournament they've got now with schools you've never heard of."

Such a holiday tournament would include St. Cloud State, Minnesota State Mankato and Bemidji State.

"That would give visibility and credibility to the Minnesota schools and build rivalries," he said. "Don't have Duluth in it, because Duluth would be on the non-conference schedule. I would maintain Duluth and North Dakota for two non-conference games a year. The (holiday tournament) would mean two more games for Minnesota.

"That would give you six (Gophers) games that should be a must. And they would, by far, draw better at the Christmas tournament. No one has thought about it, and they better start thinking about it."

Nanne, who owns four Gophers season tickets, intends to suggest the holiday tournament to Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi.

"I don't want to go watch the weaker schools from the East; I don't care about them," Nanne said. "I care about the Minnesota schools.

"That's what this is all about, maintaining Minnesota rivalries somehow. But I really hope that they work in traditional rivalries with North

Dakota and Duluth and Denver and Colorado. North Dakota and Duluth are the biggest rivalries we've had."

Color me less than impressed

One scenario that I can see is in the future, I think the Big Ten Schools are going to fill their schedules with teams that aren’t as hard to beat, shall we call them cupcakes because face it, their conference schedule is going to be tough in the Strength of Schedule department and they are going to need rack up some wins after beating the hell out of each other to possibly to make the NCAA tourney and might have to line their non conference schedule with less challenging opponents cupcakes that are looking to travel to the Big Ten teams arena's for a pay day.

One thing I would've liked to have seen when then Big Ten Schools made their big annoucement would've been for the WCHA and CCHA athletic directors to tell the Big Ten Schools to tell them, "don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." I would have liked to seen the Bruce McLeod tell the Big Ten Schools Minnesota and Wisconsin whatever and or nice knowing you and good luck. I would rather not have the commissioner falling all over himself. In the next breath as soon as possible I would have called for a meeting with the head of the CCHA Tom Anastos to set up discussion about forming a new super conference between the WCHA and the CCHA.

I mean seriously, what we are really doing here; the way I see it, college hockey is adding one college hockey team in PSU, this is a team who has never played a single friggen division one hockey game ever and we are now going to possibly sacrifice up to five CCHA teams, FSU, LSSU, WMU, BGSU and or NMU so the BTHC can have 40+ hockey games on their beloved BTN. I am not anti Big Ten but why not put a little more thought into it.

WDAZ to Broadcast Fighting Sioux Hockey Game With RPI

Nice to see that the Sioux hockey game is going to be picked up by ABC, if there are any changes I will post them to the blog. Nice to see the game on TV and not on ESPN3.COM which is unavailable in Grand Forks, ND on Midco Communications.

Grand Forks, ND --- WDAZ and all North Dakota ABC network stations will televise the UND men's hockey game against RPI, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Green Bay.

The North Dakota ABC network includes:

WDAY-TV Channel 6.1 in Fargo.
WDAZ-TV, Channel 8.1 in Devils Lake/Grand Forks.
KBMY-TV, Channel 17.1 in Bismarck.
KMCY-TV, Channel 14.1 in Minot.
KXMA-TV, Channel 2.2 in Dickinson.
KXMD-TV, Channel 11.2 in Williston.

If UND wins, it will play either Denver or Western Michigan in Sunday’s regional championship. That game will be broadcast at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU, which is available on Midcontinent digital cable in Grand Forks on channel 320.


Regional and national television options have not been announced yet.

Where have you been NHL? Finally Cooke gets some justice...

Picture from http://www.puckinghockey.com

I am going to piggy back on what Redwing77 said earlier. Now that the NHL has made an example out of Matt Cooke, one must ask the question, what took the NHL head office so long to finally give Matt Cooke what he has deserved for so long. This suspension was long overdue and it’s too short in my opinion, Matt Cooke deserves to be suspended for the rest of this year and all the way through the playoffs and add ten games to start next season, then I would be satisfied. Like I said already, Matt Cooke has deserved this suspension for a very long time and it's time for the NHL to make a statement against d-bags thugs like Matt Cooke. It's time for the NHL to take a stand and say that enough is enough... Don’t get me wrong, I am all for playing hard nosed hockey and playing a physical game with in the rules of the game but you can’t excuse what Cooke does on a day to day basis. Cooke not only crosses the line, he has no idea where the line has been drawn. This suspension should refocus Matt Cooke and remind him that the NHL will no longer tolerate his bag of tricks anymore.

DETROIT --There is only anecdotal evidence that controversial Penguins winger Matt Cooke has found enlightenment after his latest nasty hit -- an elbow to the head of New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh on Sunday that led the NHL to suspend him Monday through Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"After the game with me, and when I saw him at the airport and the ride in, he said all the right things," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said yesterday of Cooke. "He takes full responsibility. He sent Ryan McDonagh a text.

"The words are great, but it's going to be your actions when you come back as a player and still be a productive player in the league. That's going to be up to Matt Cooke."

Cooke, who has been suspended five times overall and four in three seasons with the Penguins, has defended himself in previous disciplinary hearings with NHL Hockey Operations. He didn't take that tact Toronto yesterday.

"In the past, I've been very defensive and have argued my point," he said. "The (Players Association) talks, they argue their point; and your agent gets on and defends you a lot.

"I realize and understand more so now than ever that I need to change. That was what I wanted my message to be.

And now after “uber hack” has been suspended and he can’t play for the rest of the regular season and for one series into the NHL playoffs we are to believe that Matt Cooke has finally had an epiphany and seen the light and will now finally play within the rules of the game? Really Matt? Forgive me if I am coming off as being a little bit cynical but the proof is in the pudding and I have seen a lot of foul dishes of pudding served up by Matt Cooke... I also wonder if these masters of thuggery had been punished in the past like they deserved, maybe they wouldn’t still be doing these questionable things. Matt Cooke has felt the sting that he deserved a long time ago and the next time he screws up he should be banished for even longer. I just don’t trust anything this psychopath says until he proves us wrong and Cooke has a long ways to go to prove us wrong. As it stands right now I hold Cooke in a very low regard on the same level as the dog excrement that you scrap off of your shoe - that's pretty low.

UND and C.C. Pictures

Again pictures for the C.C. and UND game were taken by Corrie Block.

BSU and DU pictures

Goon's World would like to thank Corrie Block for the photos of the BSU and DU game.

Pittsburgh's UberGoon Matt Cooke gets Unpaid Leave

A stunned Matt Cooke gets some time to reflect.

Matt Cooke has been suspended the rest of the regular season (10 games) AND the first round of the playoffs. With any luck, Pittsburgh will get ousted in the first round and Cooke can just take the time off he deserves.

NHL Network blowhard and former NHL Career Backup Kevin Weekes actually made a decent point. He talked about how playing in the NHL is a privilege and Cooke just doesn't get it despite being sat down and talked to by just about everyone in power from Byslma to Campbell. Perhaps even Gary Bettman himself. Heck, when the guy who works on the financials between the team and your agent says "Heck yeah, the suspension was a great idea!" COULD you possibly ignore it again? Weekes is right on. I bet no reader of this blog nor any hockey player, coach, or fan could post in this comment section the name of ONE minor league player in Pittsburgh's system or free agent CHLer or free agent NCAA grad who wouldn't jump at the chance to take Cooke's slot on the Pens.


Take away his illegal hits and incredible lack of anything resembling a brain and he's actually a pretty decent hockey player. He can score. He can play gritty. He can win faceoffs. He can fight. He just can't play the game legally.

Look, illegal hits will happen. Injuries and concussions will happen too. But when you go out and do such a thing on a repetitive basis, then you are showing a different attitude than what is in the spirit of the game. It's because of this that I think that he's an unbelievable idiot. I can understand the vehement anger regarding Chara's hit, but his was the first incident this season and I HIGHLY doubt he'd repeat this if given the opportunity to. But Cooke's earlier hit on Tyutin was rationalized by saying that Tyutin didn't protect himself. He is already famous for injuring Marc Savard and saying that he was only "trying to make his presence known."

An Interesting Rule Change

Speaking of Penguins and GM meetings... I'm watching the DET vs. PIT debacle (or PIT Domination if you are a PIT fan or hate the Wings, whichever) and during the intermission, one of the intermission commentators suggested that a suspended player's slot should be forfeited by the team for the duration of the suspension. So, instead of 23 players on the active roster, Pittsburgh would only be allowed 22 until the second round of the playoffs.

The NHLPA wouldn't like that much, but I can't see the fans or the League being against it. It would certainly harm the team as much as it hurts the player.

I'm for it.

Redwing77's F5 Final Impressions

It's been a very long time but I have finally visited the XCel. My first Final 5 game. I still consider myself not having been to the Final 5 because I didn't get to see every game. However, here are my impressions:

The Fans

I sat around a wide variety of fans. Mostly were Sioux fans, but I sat next to two Gopher fans, in front of two SCSU fans, and talked to a few others. Oddly enough, the people who were the coldest were the two Sioux fans in front of me from Lincoln, NE. Stupid of me to consider we had something to talk about since I live in Omaha, NE. Oh well. Oddly enough, I spent most of my time talking to the Gopher fan and the Sioux fans behind me and to my right. I had fun even though I didn't get to put any faces to any of the names I see on USCHO, SS.com, or Schlossman's blog and here. As for Goon, he'll just owe me a drink for blowing me off this summer.

Talking to the Gopher fan, he was a fun guy despite him yelling Hobey Baker whenever Brittain made a save. However, it was all in fun anyways. I talked to him about the Gophers and he agreed with me about Hill. I didn't expect him to disagree with me though. Oh well.

The Seats

My seats, fans excluded, sucked. I had absolutely NO sightline to the far end of the rink. That meant that I only saw ONE goal, Frattin's game winner, live. The rest I saw on the jumbotron. In the end, with the up and down hockey we witnessed in the Broadmoor game (as I call it), I had a lot of trouble following the puck.

The Venue

XCel is nice. Unfortunately, I got screwed by the woman in front of me for the TShirts but oh well. She ordered one TShirt so, thinking she was done, I placed my order for 1. There were only three left. She turned to me and said "Hey, wait a minute, I'm not done!" And she took all 3 TShirts remaining. What a... Oh well. Not XCel's fault but certainly turned my mood slightly bitter postgame.

The Game

Denver came ready to play and they took it to us. Yes, we had one good period (2nd period), one half-good period (3rd period) and put it in the net in the end, but they had an OT that, by my opinion, was just Aaron Dell away from putting us away something like 3 or 4 times over.

Davidson's goal to put us ahead was SUPER soft. Brittain will have nightmares on that goal. Sam Brittain was DU's POTG for sure (and was awarded as such). Like I said, UND dominated in certain stretches but not for any too impressive stretch of time. Brittain stood on his head. If he stays hot into the NCAAs this could be trouble. Oh, and Zucker is fast. His play on Kristo would have been the Play of the Game, imo, if Brittain hadn't made that save on Knight.

UND didn't play poorly by any stretches, but they did get a bit careless at times. Failure to clear when they could have resulted in the first goal and chasing the puck caused the second. Aaron Dell isn't unbeatable but we should do better to protect him.

The Refs

Meh. I think they called a pretty decent game until the 3rd period when they were starting to let some overt penalties go. The first OT had some incredible noncalls in it. Oh well. It happens.

The Keys to Come

RPI is next. They aren't in the tourney because someone from the ECACHLMAO had to go besides Yale. They are good. VERY good. They have a Hobey finalist on the team. I believe it is his second time as a finalist. Unfortunately, that's as much as I know about RPI. Oh, they're no Holy Cross. They've been to the NCAAs before and have a pretty solid result at least once. We respect them and worry about DU after that.

DU will have no problem, in my opinion, with WMU. It could even turn into a laugher.

The #4 with the best chance to go all the way this year is UNH. CC is good, but won't be able to beat BC. I wish Air Force would beat Yale, especially since Air Force has already beaten them once this season... but I don't anticipate it happening. If Air Force doesn't beat Yale, I predict UMD will.

Notre Dame is also a #3 that has a great chance to make the Frozen Four. DU is the best #2, imo. Merrimack and Union... no offense, but... Thanks for playing.

I want Blais and Co. to beat Michigan badly but I think they'll be focused and ready to go after laying a steaming turd vs. WMU. Nevertheless, go Mavs.

There aren't any "easy" brackets this year. I guess the closest would be Yale's bracket. The hardest bracket is either Green Bay or St. Louis. It really depends upon how well Michigan and UNO play.

Poll Monday - UND number one in both polls. Links!!!

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[March 21, 2011]
1. North Dakota (37) 30- 8-3 985 1
2. Boston College ( 7) 30- 7-1 951 2
3. Yale ( 5) 27- 6-1 901 3
4. Miami ( 1) 23- 9-6 841 6
5. Denver 24-11-5 780 5
6. Michigan 26-10-4 748 4
7. Merrimack 25- 9-4 732 7
8. Union 26- 9-4 605 9
9. Notre Dame 23-13-5 546 8
10. Western Michigan 19-12-10 539 12
11. Minnesota-Duluth 22-10-6 509 11
12. New Hampshire 21-10-6 507 10
13. Colorado College 22-18-3 419 13
14. Nebraska-Omaha 21-15-2 342 14
15. Dartmouth 19-12-3 243 15
16. Rensselaer 20-12-5 227 18
17. Boston University 19-12-8 196 16
18. Maine 17-12-7 140 17
19. Cornell 16-15-3 92 20
20. Air Force 20-11-6 75 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 67, Minnesota 25, Alaska-Anchorage 8, Bemidji State 5, Ferris State 5, Rochester Institute of Technology 4, Northeastern 3, Princeton 3, St. Cloud State 2
_______________________________________

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[March 21, 2011]
1. University of North Dakota 503 (27) 1 30- 8-3
2. Boston College 480 (6) 2 30- 7-1
3. Yale University 441 (1) 3 27- 6-1
4. Miami University 402 6 23- 9-6
5. University of Denver 353 5 24-11-5
6. University of Michigan 349 4 26-10-4
7. Merrimack College 320 7 25- 9-4
8. Union College 246 T-8 26- 9-4
9. University of Notre Dame 197 T-8 23-13-5
10. Western Michigan University 192 12 19-12-10
11. University of New Hampshire 181 10 21-10-6
12. University of Minnesota Duluth 176 11 22-10-6
13. Colorado College 125 13 22-18-3
14. University of Nebraska Omaha 72 14 21-15-2
15. Rensselaer 28 NR 20-12-5
Others receiving votes: Dartmouth College 12, Boston University 2, United States Air Force Academy 1.

Links to the Big Ten Hockey Announcement

Denver Post

Big Ten Officially Announces Hockey Conference [College Hockey New]

WCHA Issues Statement Regarding Today's Announcement from Big Ten Conference [WCHA.COM]

Men's Hockey Recommended as Big Ten Sport [Gopher Sports]

WCHA IN AWE OF SIOUX FANS --- Doug Spencer, WCHA associate commissioner for public relations, said Monday that he was "totally in awe of the contgent of fans representing North Dakota. In all my years, I have never seen anything like that. It was remarkable support."

Spencer has worked at Final Fives (and Final Fours) since 1988.

He said preliminary reports indicate the Final Five average about 140 more fans per session that last year. He said that was quite a development, considering three of the six teams were from so far away, Alaska Anchorage, Denver and Colorado College.

Matt Frattin's Broadmoor Winning Goal

What's cool is that it went from Trupp (senior) to Gennoway (senior) to a pile of guys that were tied up with Brad Malone (senior) to Matt Frattin (senior) who buried it.

Men's Ice Hockey To Be Recommended As Official Big Ten Sport Beginning With 2013-14 Academic Year

There it is, the official announcement, it's not like it was a big shocker to anyone, coming soon to a half empty arena near you, the Big Ten Hockey Farce. I talked to a lot of Gopher hockey fans this winter and even this weekend; I don’t think I talked to anyone that was really in favor of the Gophers and the Badgers joining the Big Ten Hockey Conference. What is wrong with the status quo now? Personally, I think it’s a horrible idea and it could have damaging effects for the smaller schools in the CCHA that are hanging on by a thread.

Some of the questions that are out there are; will the WCHA pluck Notre Dame and Miami from the CCHA or will there be a super conference with the remaining CCHA and WCHA schools? One thing that needs to be address is that the University of Alabama Huntsville is going to need a conference to play in as well, so they don't go belly up. It has been confirmed on numerous Fighting Sioux weekly chats from Sioux Hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald that the WCHA is going to go after Notre Dame and Miami. That is one option as well.

One of the first things I thought about this past weekend was the Xcel Energy Center and how full the building was with green and white jerseys connected to Fighting Sioux fans, 57000+ plus fans attended the WCHA Final Five. I also think that UND making the final game of the WCHA Final Five saved the WCHA’s bacon, they could have taken a bath if the Sioux had lost to the C.C. Tigers. Could you fathom how many people would have been in the building for a C.C. and DU title game, I would say there would have been 5000-10000 fans probably.

Park Ridge, Ill. - The directors of athletics of Big Ten institutions which sponsor men's ice hockey unanimously announce their intention to recommend to the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors in June the establishment of men's ice hockey as an official conference sport for the 2013-14 academic year with participation by Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

The recommendation includes both the establishment of the inaugural Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in March of 2014, with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, and a 20-game conference schedule with each team playing the other five schools four times (two home games and two away games). In addition, the Big Ten's men's ice hockey programs will continue to proactively work to maintain a strong schedule of non-conference competition with the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

In September of 2010, Penn State announced the establishment of men's and women's ice hockey programs set to begin competition in the 2012-13 academic year, giving the Big Ten six institutions sponsoring men's ice hockey. Big Ten rules allow for a conference championship when six institutions sponsor a program in any given sport.

Since Penn State's announcement, the conference has researched and investigated the establishment of men's ice hockey as a conference sport. The conference has sought input and communicated both internally with conference chancellors, presidents, administrators and coaches, and externally with members of the hockey community, including the CCHA and WCHA.

With the addition of Nebraska on July 1, 2011, the broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions will sponsor 298 teams with more than 9,500 men and women student-athletes competing for Big Ten Championships. The conference currently features 25 official conference sports, 12 for men and 13 for women. The last official conference sport established by the Big Ten was women's rowing in the 1999-2000 academic year.

Pictures from day one of the WCHA Final Five.

Pictures from day one of the WCHA Final Five by photographer Corrie Block. I will get day two and three up as soon as I get the pictures.

T.V. Schedule for the NCAA Division one Hockey Tourney

Here is the Television Schedule for the NCAA Division 1 Ice Hockey Tourney. 206, 208 and 209 is Direct TV and 141 is Dish Network.

Fri. March 25 NCAA East Regional ESPNU 3 p.m. 208 / 141
Fri. March 25 NCAA West Regional ESPNU/ESPN3.com 5:30 p.m. 208 / 141
Fri. March 25 NCAA East Regional ESPNU 6:30 p.m. 208 / 141
Fri. March 25 NCAA West Regional ESPNU 9 p.m. 208 / 141
Sat. March 26 NCAA Midwest Regional ESPNU/ESPN3.com 1:30 p.m. 208 / 141
Sat. March 26 NCAA Northeast Regional ESPNU 4 p.m. 208 / 141
Sat. March 26 NCAA Midwest Regional ESPNU/ESPN3.com 5 p.m. 208 / 141
Sat. March 26 NCAA East Regional Final ESPNU 6:30 p.m. 208 / 141
Sat. March 26 NCAA Northeast Regional ESPNU/ESPN3.com 7:30 p.m. 208 / 141
Sat. March 26 NCAA West Regional ESPNU 9 p.m. 208 / 141
Sun. March 27 NCAA Midwest Regional Final ESPNU 5:30 p.m. 208 / 141
Sun. March 27 NCAA Northeast Regional Final ESPNU 8 p.m. 208 / 141
Thurs. April 7 NCAA Semifinal ESPN2 5 p.m. 209 / 144
Thurs. April 7 NCAA Semifinal ESPN2 8:30 p.m. 209 / 144
Sat. April 9 NCAA Championship ESPN 7 p.m. 206 / 140

Unfortunately, Midcontinent Communications does not offer you access to ESPN3.com

Goon's on 1310 KNOX - Monday from 2:00 – 3:00 PM

Listen to the Goon live at 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm on 1310 AM KNOX on Monday March 21st, 2011. R.J. and Goon will be talking about the WCHA Final Five, and the up coming NCAA tourney... If you live out of town you can listen live by clicking on this web link... [Click to Listen]

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

Uber Hack Matt Cooke is up to his old tricks.

Whenever I read Mario Lemieux’s comments about the league protecting it’s players I have to wonder if Mario is oblivious to the fact that on roster of the team he owns is one of the dirtiest and most despised players currently playing in the NHL. It seems like almost every week we are talking about “uber douche” Matt Cooke and his on ice transgressions. It’s time for the NHL to suspend this worthless P.O.S. before he kills someone or paralyzes someone for life, enough is enough.

“We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

Today we have Matt Cooke driving his elbow into Ryan McDonagh’s head. Seriously! There is no excuse for that play, there is no reason that Matt Cooke should play again during the regular season, I also believe that Matt Cooke should be suspended for the first round of the playoffs for this latest escapade. I also believe that Ken Daneyko is right when he says “that the NHL [should declare] open season for one week on Matt Cooke. You won't get suspended. Then we'll see if he'll continue [his behavior] for the rest of the season or his career." Also, if Mario had any cojones he would suspend Matt Cooke for the rest of the year to send a message that he is serious about player safety, if not he has egg on his face.

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]