Monday, October 31, 2011
Spirit Lake Tribe To Make “Major Announcement” on Fighting Sioux nickname
Chuck Haga; Grand Forks Herald ---- Fighting Sioux nickname champions at Spirit Lake say they will make “a major announcement” Tuesday in their campaign to thwart retirement of the name and logo.
Members of the Committee for Understanding and Respect, acting with the blessing of the Spirit Lake Tribal Council, have scheduled a news conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Spirit Lake Tribal Headquarters in Fort Totten, N.D.
Frank Black Cloud, the designated spokesman for the committee, said today that members of the committee, their attorneys and perhaps a Tribal Council representative would make statements, but he could not comment on the nature of the announcement. A news release issued today by the group provided no other details.
Eunice Davidson, a leader of the effort to preserve the Fighting Sioux name at UND, also declined to comment.
In a statement released Oct. 13, the committee denounced remarks by UND President Robert Kelley and Grant Shaft, president of the State Board of Higher Education, both of whom have urged repeal of a state law ordering UND to retain the nickname.
A trip down memory lane, 2007 West Regional... Sioux beat Gophers 3-2...
I was been reading the various message boards and I get a chuckle out of how Gopher fans love to bring up the Blake Wheeler goal against the Sioux in the Final Five, I have to give credit where credit is due, that was a great highlight goal, in fact it was one for the ages, that euphoria was short lived as a week later the Fighting Sioux got the last laugh with a great overtime winner in Denver.
Zajac doing light skating
Image by clydeorama via FlickrThis might be good news for the New Jersey Devils, Travis Zajac is a valued member of the New Jersey Devils and had been pretty durable up until this injury. In fact if you look at his Hockey Database page you will see that he has only missed two games in five season before this year. NJ.COM --- Travis Zajac, who has missed the entire season so far with a torn left Achilles' tendon, is at practice today, having flown into New Jersey over the weekend to tend to some "personal business'' he said. The Devils top center said he skated lightly for the first time on Thursday at home in Winnipeg and will skate again this week after he returns to Winnipeg.
Zajac, who suffered the injury during an off-ice training session over the summer, said he "definitely'' will play this season, but he has no idea when that might be. He said he doesn't have pain as much as tightness that restricts his movements. He said skating was actually easier than walking, because the skate boot provides more support than his normal shoes. He said now that he has skated, he anticipates being able to skate more often -- more than once a week.
INCH Power Rankings
Image via WikipediaAs always I include the INCH Power Rankings and I think you will find them amusing, Yale who has played two games against ECAC foes is ranked 5th. 6 ECAC teams in the two twenty power rankings. Are we to glean from these rankings that the ECAC is the best conference in college hockey?
1. Boston College
2. Colorado College
3. Minnesota
4. Michigan
5. Yale
6. Merrimack
7. Union
8. Denver
9. Notre Dame
10. Western Michigan
11. Ferris State
12. Lake Superior State
13. Colgate
14. Boston University
15. Dartmouth
16. Quinnipiac
17. North Dakota
18. Michigan Tech
19. Clarkson
20. Northern Michigan
Dropped out: Miami
Bubble-licious: Harvard, Maine, Minnesota Duluth
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Something to get you in the mood, Sioux vs Gophers
It's Sioux and Gophers week again and I would compare this historic rivalry to the Hatfield’s and McCoy feud. All you have to do is watch the videos to figure out that these two teams just that don't like each other very much. Some of it’s due to the fact that UND has quite a few players from the Metro area that like to play against the Gophers and beat them. I am expecting an awesome effort from Danny Kristo, Ben Blood, Nick Mattson, Joe Gleason, Brock Nelson, Derek Forbort.
Nothing like a big hit by one of the Sioux’s forward to fire the team up and then start a Donny Brook.I found this gem on Gopher Puck Live...
Why do Sioux fans continue to manufacture reasons to fuel the rivalry? There's this phantom incident, Wheeler insulting Finley's sister, the never seen Lucia spear and they also accused Bickel of "hiding behind a ref" a few years ago. I figure in a few years some idiot will recycle the spear and sister insult. Just embrace your goonery and stop trying to justify it.As you just read above, we will hear from Gopher fans how the Fighting Sioux are a bunch of classless Goons. If you believe the hype, it's almost like the Sioux are a bunch of knuckle dragging Neanderthals straight out of the movie Slap Shot.
Me personally, I like to refer to the Gophers as being "Minnesota's Pansies on Ice". You know the team that won’t go head to head with your favorite team, but will stand behind the referee and yap (i.e., Stu Bickel, Seth Helgeson, Tony Lucia) and when they are called out beg for the ref to save them.
Just a reminder to folks, remember it’s just a game folks, we don’t need anyone getting into a fight outside the arena or in the bars on either side of the ice. When it’s all said and done hope everyone has a fun time and no one gets hurt or arrested. Back in 2009 I wrote a blog post on fan behavior at the Illegal Curve.
Here is the video of the after math of "the never seen Lucia spear," of course there wasn't going to ever be a video proving that there was a Lucia spear. FSN isn't going to come forward with a spear that showed on of their golden boys in a bad light.
Related articles
- Will the Gophers want to duck the Sioux? (mvn.com)
- Fighting Sioux men's hockey tickets on sale tomorrow! (mvn.com)
- Huskies Take a Bite Out of the Sioux (insidehockey.com)
- Gophers want to play state teams (mvn.com)
- New York Daily News covers Sioux nickname issue (mvn.com)
Dan Carcillo suspended for two games...
Ironicall, this is the first time that Chicago forward Dan aka "Car Bomb"Carcillo has never been suspended by the National Hockey League for an "illegal hit" during his NHL career. It seems like the 2 game suspension is a standard suspension NHL nowadays.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
MacMillan's goal against SCSU
s/t BadgersSioux... There were three defensemen on the ice for the Fighting Sioux on the ice for this goal, Blood was playing the wing on this play as Simpson and Forbort were the Defensemen on this goal.
Sioux beat Huskies 3-1
Grand Forks, ND – With the 4-0 loss the night before, the Fighting Sioux are off to their worst start since the 1989-90 season. The Fighting Sioux came into the game looking to right the ship, and get their first conference win of the season in the WCHA. No Fighting Sioux hockey team has ever started out the season 0-4 in WCHA play, and that statistic was not broken tonight as the they ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Saint Cloud State University Huskies.
After last night’s game, it would be an understatement to say that the Sioux was an unhappy group. Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo said, “I think everyone’s frustrated starting from the goalies on out, all the way to the coaching staff.” Tonight the Fighting Sioux took out some of those frustrations on the Saint Cloud State Huskies. The Fighting Sioux “finally” buried their offensive chances and got back on the winning track by beating the Huskies in a gutsy 3-1 win, to earn a split on the weekend with the Huskies.
With the win tonight, the Fighting Sioux improved their overall season record to 3-4-1, and a league record of 1-3-0. Fighting Sioux forward Corbin Knight lead the Sioux with a two-point night (1-1-2). After the game Corbin Knight had this to say about the win; “We knew were playing good hockey and we knew if we stuck with it, it would come sooner or later, we were lucky it came tonight.”
The game wasn’t much different from last night. Tonight’s contest started out as a tight checking affair. There weren’t a lot of offensive chances for either team, as the Sioux and the Huskies played to a 0-0 tie in the first period. The Fighting Sioux outshot the Huskies 10-3 in this period.
The Sioux finally broke through in the second period, with Husky forward Nic Dowd in the box for slashing. Mark MacMilllan put the Fighting Sioux on the board at the 1:13 mark of the second period. Blood took a shot on net from the top of the faceoff circle that MacMillan re-directed past Husky goalie Ryan Faragher, breaking an 80+ minute goalless streak by the Fighting Sioux.
The Sioux took a 2-0 lead with a nice goal from Corbin Knight at the 11:12 mark of the second period. Knight took a feed from Kristo and ripped a hard low shot off the right inside post.
The Huskies continued their undisciplined play, as defenseman Nick Jenson was sent off for tripping Ben Blood. The Fighting Sioux didn't waste time, making the Huskies pay when Brock Nelson scored a power play goal at the 12:40 mark of the second period. Assisting on Nelson’s power play goal was Roco Grimaldi and Corbin Knight. This was the first career point for the highly touted freshman Grimaldi.
The Huskies didn’t go away quietly into the night, as they cut the lead to two goals at the 19:24 mark of the Second period with a goal from Husky forward Ben Hanowski, his third of the season. Picking up assists on Hanowski’s goal were Nic Dowd and Kevin Gravel. That was all the scoring for the game, as Aaron Dell shut the door on the Huskies in the third period. The Sioux outshot the Huskies 26-21 for the game.
After the game, Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol was asked if this was on his team’s better defensive efforts of the year. To this he replied, “I think it was our most consistent sixty minute defensive effort. Part of what we did pretty well was remain...continue possession in the offensive zone.”
Box Score
Sioux vs Huskies
UND’s Forward Lines
29 Brock Nelson–10 Corban Knight– (A)7 Danny Kristo
9 Mario Lamoureux (C) –27 Carter Rowney–11 Derek Rodwell
16 Mark MacMillan–19 Rocco Grimaldi–20 Joe Gleason
28 Stephane Pattyn–14 Taylor Dickin–15 Michael Parks
Defensive Parings
4 Derek Forbort–24 Ben Blood (A)
2 Andrew MacWilliam (A) –5 Nick Mattson
18 Dillon Simpson–22 Andrew Panzarella
Goalies
32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness
Official stats
St. Cloud State’s Forward Lines
23 Cam Reid–19 Drew LeBlanc–11 Jared Festler
10 Ben Hanowski–26 Nic Dowd–22 David Eddy
15 Mitch MacMillan–13 Jordy Christian–12 Travis Novak
18 Garrett Milan–8 Corey Thorson–17 Joey Holka
Defensive Parings
28 Andrew Prochno–14 Nick Jensen
7 Kevin Gravel–2 Jarrod Rabey
3 Sam Zabkowicz–40 Tim Daly
Goalies
29 Ryan Faragher
33 Joe Phillippi
Official Stats
29 Brock Nelson–10 Corban Knight– (A)7 Danny Kristo
9 Mario Lamoureux (C) –27 Carter Rowney–11 Derek Rodwell
16 Mark MacMillan–19 Rocco Grimaldi–20 Joe Gleason
28 Stephane Pattyn–14 Taylor Dickin–15 Michael Parks
Defensive Parings
4 Derek Forbort–24 Ben Blood (A)
2 Andrew MacWilliam (A) –5 Nick Mattson
18 Dillon Simpson–22 Andrew Panzarella
Goalies
32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness
Official stats
St. Cloud State’s Forward Lines
23 Cam Reid–19 Drew LeBlanc–11 Jared Festler
10 Ben Hanowski–26 Nic Dowd–22 David Eddy
15 Mitch MacMillan–13 Jordy Christian–12 Travis Novak
18 Garrett Milan–8 Corey Thorson–17 Joey Holka
Defensive Parings
28 Andrew Prochno–14 Nick Jensen
7 Kevin Gravel–2 Jarrod Rabey
3 Sam Zabkowicz–40 Tim Daly
Goalies
29 Ryan Faragher
33 Joe Phillippi
Official Stats
So does Chara have to worry?
So with the Bruins coming back to Montreal tonight to play the Habs, one has to wonder if the Montreal Police are going to arrest Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara and drag him out of the Forum in hand cuffs? I think it's moronic that this case is still open and has not been closed yet.
Staff report, AOL.COM --- Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara returns to Montreal on Saturday night, still facing legal uncertainty regarding his on-ice hit of Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty last March.
Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions says that no decision has been made on whether or not to bring Chara up on criminal charges regarding the hit.
Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara returns to Montreal on Saturday night, still facing legal uncertainty regarding his on-ice hit of Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty last March. (AP Photo)
“For the case of Mr. Chara, there are no developments for now and the case is under review,” Crown prosecutor Jean-Pascal Boucher said.
Chara’s hit on Pacioretty ended the Montreal forward’s season last year, breaking a vertebra. Chara was not suspended by the league and following public outcry, an investigation was opened by the Quebec director of criminal prosecutions.
Did he really say that?
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| sctimes photo |
“That definitely helps to get the first couple of shots out of the way,” he said. “I think the way the guys played allowed me to see the puck when I needed to. Bad penalties aside, I think we really outplayed them.”Since Faraghers team was badly outshot 44-23 and out played that's not a very accurate statement. Let’s not forget to give credit where credit is due, Faragher had a very good night but that game could have been 8 or 9-3 in favor of the Fighting Sioux. The Sioux were all over the Huskies and couldn't get anything past the freshman goalie. If I was one of the leaders on the team that statement would be on the blackboard in the Fighting Sioux locker room.
An illustration on how bad the Huskies were outshot
Here is a fun fact for you; Sioux have outshot their last two opponents 86-38 and have gone 0-2. Sioux have 164 shot attempts in those two games. [link]
I also wonder if the Fighting Sioux hockey players saw Faragher’s Statute of Liberty pose in their sleep last night.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Huskies take a bite out of the Sioux 4-0
Image via Wikipedia
CROSSPOSTED AT INSIDE HOCKEY.
Grand Forks, ND --- Going into the weekend series between the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux and the Saint Cloud State University Huskies, there were many story lines. Early in the afternoon on Friday, news broke that Huskies starting goalie Mike Lee was injured this week in practice and wouldn't make the trip to Grand Forks. The extent of Lee’s injury won’t be known until he is evaluated next week.
In Lee’s absence, Husky freshman goalie Ryan Faragher was named the starter and was solid in his second start of his college career. Faragher’s night ended with a shutout, as he stopped all 44 shots he faced.
The second story line of the night was the battle of the MacMillan brothers. Fighting Sioux freshman forward Mark MacMillan played with his older brother, Mitch, when they were in juniors together in the Alberni Valley of the BCHL. The MacMillan brothers had never gotten a chance to play against each other until last night. Mitch’s team, the Huskies, got the best of the Fighting Sioux in that period, as they shutout the Fighting Sioux 4-0.
The highly talented Fighting Sioux freshman forward Roco Grimaldi finally played after being out of the lineup for five of first six games of the season. Grimaldi proved to be an electrifying player, but it wasn’t enough to put the Sioux over the top, as Grimaldi like his teammates, were held off of the score sheet tonight.
The Fighting Sioux, for a second game in a row, put 42 shots on net and outshot their opponent two to one, only to lose both games. The Sioux have outshot their last two opponents by a combined total of 86-38 and yet have nothing to show for their efforts.
With the loss tonight, the Fighting Sioux start the season with a 0-3 record in the WCHA play. This is the worst start for the Fighting Sioux since the 1989-90 season.
The Huskies were given two five minute majors (Nick Oliver checking from behind, and Ben Hanowskit hit to the head) and the Fighting Sioux were unable to cash in on either of the two power plays.
Neither team had any success on the power plays tonight, as the Huskies went 0-2 and the Sioux were unable to cash in on seven total power plays.
The Saint Cloud State University Huskies drew first blood when they scored at the 07:16 mark of the first period,when Jared Festler took a Drew LeBlanc feed and shot the puck past the Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell, who was unable to get across the crease to stop the puck. That was the only goal of the first period. The Sioux outshot the Huskies 15-8 in the opening period.
There was no scoring during the second period, as the Fighting Sioux outshot the Huskies 24-8 and spent most of their time on the power play in the Huskies end, but couldn’t break the Faragher wall.
The Huskies buried the Sioux in the third period with three more goals. Andrew Prochno got the Huskies on the board with an even-strength goal at the 02:54 mark. Huskies defenseman Sam Zabkowicz put the final nail in the coffin when he blasted a shot from the point past Aaron Dell. Travis Novak finished the scoring with an empty net goal for the Huskies.
Overall a good effort by the Sioux, but it takes more than 'effort' to win league games. Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol said, "that they are going to have to start putting the puck in the four foot by six foot space."
Sioux7's picks for this week.
Denver vs MTU - DU Sweep
Bemidji vs UMD - Split
St. Cloud State vs UND - Sweep UND
UNO vs Wisconsin - Split
Minnesota and Alaska Anchorage - Split
C.C. vs RPI - Sweep Tigers
Donn has been really busy so I took the liberty of posting his picks for the week.
Bemidji vs UMD - Split
St. Cloud State vs UND - Sweep UND
UNO vs Wisconsin - Split
Minnesota and Alaska Anchorage - Split
C.C. vs RPI - Sweep Tigers
Donn has been really busy so I took the liberty of posting his picks for the week.
Sioux and Huskies Facts and Info
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| USCHO Photo |
TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, DirecTV 617, Midco SN3
Special teams key
So far this season, the Fighting Sioux have been pretty good on the power play, going 6-for-28 (21.4 percent). On the penalty kill, the Fighting Sioux have struggled at times killing 20 of 27 penalties (74.1 percent). Last season during the run to the Frozen Four the penalty kill was a strength for the Fighting Sioux.
Lee no fan of the Sioux?
Saint Cloud State University junior goalie Mike Lee has a 0-5-1 record in six starts against the Fighting Sioux. Lee has not played well against the Sioux he has given up 25 goals during his career against the Fighting Sioux. EDIT According to Brad Schlossman’s blog, SCSU junior goalie Mike Lee did not make the trip to Grand Forks for the series because of an injury. Word is that the injury could be season ending.
Fighting Sioux have success against the Huskies...
Since the 2008-09 season the Fighting Sioux have a 9-3-1 record against the SCSU Huskies including a win in the Final Five Championship game two seasons ago .
CHN Power Rankings...College Hockey News posted their WCHA power rankings and The Fighting Sioux are ranked 6th. This is what Dan Meyers had to say about this weekend's up coming weekend between the Huskies and the Fighting Sioux.
St. Cloud State at North Dakota
The Fighting Sioux broke with history last season by starting the year red-hot — and pretty much carrying that momentum all the way to the Frozen Four. UND is back to its old tricks this season, but with questionable play in net combined with missed man games from Rocco Grimaldi, climbing out of this hole will be significantly harder than in years past. UND can’t win the MacNaughton Cup in October, but they’ll certainly able to lose it. SCSU is the only team without a conference game played, so any points this weekend will be points in hand on everyone else.
Where are they now? Paul Ladue
Former Central Knight defenseman and Grand Forks resident Paul Ladue is currently playing with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL and making an impact in the line up for the Stars. The Lincoln Stars are coached by former Fighting Sioux player Chad Johnson. Johnson is also the General Manager of the Stars as well.
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| NAHL.COM picture |
Brent C. Wagner; Journal Star.com --- Paul Ladue, a 19-year old defenseman, has shown he belongs with the Lincoln Stars after playing one season with Alexandria (Minn.) in the NAHL.Also it would appear that Fighting Sioux recruit Luke Johnson is currently out of the line up with an undisclosed injury.
He scored the game-winning goal in the Stars' 3-1 win against Indiana last week. The power-play goal, on a shot through traffic, was a memorable first USHL goal.
"That was exciting," Ladue said this week. "I always like playing those hyped-up teams. I feel like we're one of the best in the league if we play our best. It was fun upsetting them.
"I had a few chances the night before against Sioux Falls I should have put in, but to get that goal one game after was exciting and a huge relief."
Ladue is in the top six in scoring for the Stars (4-2) with one goal and two assists. He's one of the top defensemen on the power play, and has played in all six games.
*The Stars will be short-handed because of injuries for their game at Cedar Rapids (4-1-2) on Friday. Those injured include Luke Johnson, Brent Tate, Colton Saucerman and Dominik Shine.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Through these doors episode III
I love this mini series, it's very well done it gives the fans a taste of what goes on behind the scenes with the Fighting Sioux hockey team. Also, props to the UND Sid office.
Did Lucia give his players an out. Did he lower expectations?
Does anyone think that Lucia is in a way maybe lowering the Gopher fan's expectations of his Gopher hockey team? I guess one could say that Lucia is covering all of the bases in case the Seawolves beat the Gopher either one or both games this weekend. The Seawolves are hard to sweep in their own barn and the Gophers are a young team.
BEAUTIFUL SPOT
"It is obviously a beautiful place, but we don’t have time to go on sightseeing trips," said Lucia, who was the Alaska Fairbanks head coach from 1987-93. "I enjoyed my week [vacation there] this summer fishing and getting around the state in July. I had a great time. But we get in Thursday afternoon, we play Friday and Saturday nights and come back Sunday morning. It is a quick trip,"
Lucia said the biggest problem playing games in Alaska is the three-hour time change. "You have the [six-hour] flight, but even that it is a direct flight for us. So it is not a big deal. The hard part for us is just the time change. ... The games are starting at 10 [p.m. CDT] and then you get up and your clock is a little bit off."
UAA IMPROVED
"Anchorage is a much better team" than in years past, Lucia said. "They had a great end of the year last year. Their program has been getting better every year. They have a very veteran team right now."
In the first round of the WCHA playoffs last March, the Seawolves beat the Gophers 4-3 and 2-0 and blocked 50 shots, four out of 10, over the weekend.
"You have to keep shooting [against them], that is No. 1," Lucia said. "We didn’t see anything different watching their video against [Nebraska] Omaha. They are going to lay down and block shots. That is just part of their identity, and so it is difficult to get pucks through."
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