So how long are the Sabres going to whine about the Lucic hit.

We should have called the Lucic hit on Miller shot heard round the world. Every since Milan Lucic ran into or over Ryan Miller ("potato potato" right) the hockey pundits are gnashing their teeth over what should've happened to Milan Lucic.   

Now you can expect the next player that has a major collision with a goalie to get the book thrown at them. While I am not suggesting that we run goalies; collisions between players and goalies are going to happen, one might say that it goes with the territory, being a goalie is hazardous duty. I might even call it collateral damage. 

If a goaltenders comes that far out of their crease to play a puck, their stepping into the kitchen, to borrow a football term. I think Miller is in a way part culpable for his injury. Does it make things right, not at all, there is going to be some hurt feelings, you can count on it. I think the rematch of this game is going to be a must see and there will be a lot of DVR set just in case something happens and there will, because the "hockey code" demands it.

Dan Rosen - NHL.com --- Buffalo GM Darcy Regier suggested that a majority of the general managers have told him that Lucic should have been suspended.

"Well, based on our conversations in the room, I personally believe it would be," Regier said. "It is not just my feeling, it is the feelings of my counterparts."

Shero suggested that at the very least a major penalty could have been called on Lucic.

Rule 42.3 on charging allows for a major penalty to be called at the discretion of the official "based on the degree of violence of the check." There is a similar stipulation associated with Rule 69.2 on interference with a goalkeeper.

Shanahan confirmed to NHL.com that he did have a discussion with the League's Director of Officiating, Terry Gregson. The conclusion was that a major penalty may have been an appropriate call in that case, but again it is up to the discretion of the on-ice officials.

Right on cue you could have predicted the response. Post decision from Shanahan, all of the arm chair disciplinarians wanted blood and when they got none they went off. Much to their dismay, NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan failed to give a suspension or even a fine to Milan Lucic. They felt like they had been cheated, they wanted their pound of flesh. Almost on cue, you could hear the howling from Montreal, Buffalo and points elsewhere. The Big Bad Bruins had beaten the wrap again.

Then the tin foil hats came out and suggested as long as Greg Campbell is a member of the Boston Bruins nothing is going to happen to any of the Bruins players. They claim its because Colin Campbell is part of the front office stat. I am not lying, I saw something along those line from a beat writer of a major metro newspaper say that. 

Today we see Ryan Miller still rehashing the non-punishment with the media. My question is, how long are the Sabres and Ryan Miller going to complain about this. They would be better off to challenge Lucic to a fight and be done with it. Now they have this hanging over their head. Think about this, with one collision the Lucic and the Boston Bruins are in the Sabres heads. 

Tuesday Links...

Image via Wikipedia

Fargo Force beat writer Ryan S. Clarke has a great feature on Devils Lake resident and Fighting Sioux recruit Keaton Thompson. [Slightly Chilled]

This kid might be good at this hockey thing. The 16 year-old defenseman was part of the U.S. U-17 Team, which won its third straight Four Nations title over the weekend scoring two goals (three if you include an exhibition game) during the tournament.

Scoring goals in an international tournament is just adding to what’s been a good year for the Devils Lake, N.D. native.

“It’s really good,” said Thompson a few weeks before the tournament. “Everything is going good. Hockey is doing good. Every thing is going really good. Its kind of rainy out here so I’d say that’s the only bad thing.”

The NHL Hockey GM’s are going to discuss the 1-3-1 defense. Personally, I don’t know what they are going to discuss? Playing the trap is perfectly legal in the NHL and in all levels of hockey, “all” teams play it from time to time. [NHL.COM]

Vancover Canucks hack Alex Burrows isn't happy that the NHL didn't suspend Bruins forward Milan Lucic for his hit on Ryan Miller. My first question is, why does anyone care what the Canucks punk Alex Burrows has to say on anything? [Yahoo Sports]

"I'm really surprised and even more confused," Canucks winger Alex Burrows said after the ruling. "I've been trying to figure it out and I don't know if goalies are in play now if they're out of their crease. This might set a precedent. Shanahan played the game and he probably knew that he [Lucic] had time to move and growing up you learn you can't really hit the goalies. I would have dove at the puck or have tried to get out of the way.

"I thought there would be repercussions. We're concerned. I thought we were trying to get those kind of hits out of this league and now it might be back to old-time hockey. The next thing you know, you might have a line brawl or a bench clearing."

Alex Burrows can’t be serious; this clown doesn't have a leg to stand on or the moral compass to make these comments. In case anyone forgot, this was the same buffoon that bit Patrice Bergeron last spring in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Buffalo Sabre goalies are having a rough go of as of late. After Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was run over by  Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic, Sabres backup goaltender Jhonas Enroth was run over by the Canadiens' Erik Cole. The funny thing is there isn’t as much public out cry about Cole running over Enroth [Video]

Former Fighting Sioux goalie Eddy Belfour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. [Click to view video]

Lucic will not be suspended.

Image via WikipediaObviously the Buffalo Sabres aren't going to be happy with this decision, Lindy Ruff let it be know that he isn't happy with his goaltender getting run. [click to listen] Ruff claims by not suspending Lucic the league is basically saying that you can run a goalie over when he is out of the net playing the puck.

 "If [Lucic] isn't suspended, it just means teams will be able to do exactly what Lucic did," Ruff said. "Their goaltender can play the puck, we can run him over. We can hurt him and all you get is a two-minute minor penalty. That's essentially what that means. You can concuss the other team's goaltender. You can run him going at whatever speed he was going. He made no attempt to get out of the way. It means it's fair game on goaltenders."

 I don't hink we have gone down the slippery slope, at least not yet. I also don't think we are going to see more NHL goaltenders getting run over. I don't blame the Sabres for being mad, I think the Sabres have a right to be upset. That being said, if I was a Sabres fan I would be upset that no one on my team challenged Lucic for that hit. I also don't think that it's now open season on goaltenders either. I also don't think that this hit by Lucic was worthy of a suspension, like I told a friend of mine, not every questionable hit or penalty is worthy of a suspension. 

TORONTO -- Shanahan held a hearing with Lucic via conference call because he had specific questions he wanted to ask before making a determination on potential supplemental discipline.

"I had the hearing because I did make an initial assessment of the play as I do with all plays, but I did have some questions for Milan and I wanted to hear directly from him," Shanahan told NHL.com. "They were regarding his intent; at what point did he know there was going to be a collision; and whether or not he felt he had the time to avoid the collision. I was satisfied with his answers."

Shanahan said the minor penalty for charging was the proper call in this case because it follows Rule 42.1, which reads "a goalkeeper is not fair game just because he is outside the goal crease area."

"The minor penalty called on the ice was the correct call," Shanahan said. "And, while it's unfortunate that Miller was hurt I saw nothing egregious about this hit that would elevate it to supplemental discipline."

The fans that hate the Boston Bruins are now going to say that there is a conspiracy and that the league loves the Boston Bruins and that the Bruins will always get way with bush league hits and that by not suspending Lucic only confirms what most of the Bruins haters thought last spring when Chara didn't get suspended for his hit on Max Pacioretty. Until one of the Boston Bruins gets the book thrown at him by the NHL front office the tin foil hat crowd is going to be out in full force.Notice a lot of the howling and complaining coming from the fans in Montreal.What do you think of this ruling by Shanahan?

Poll Monday - Sioux no where in sight.

The Sioux have a bye week and drop out of the USCHO.COM poll. I can't remember the last time that UND isn't in the USCHO.COM, INCH Power Rankings or US Today Poll. Edit: According to Fighting23, The last time the Fighting Sioux was not ranked was on January 5, 2009, the Fighting Sioux went on to win the MacNaughton Cup that year. 

INCH Power Rankings

As always I include the INCH Power Ranking because I find them thought provoking and well interesting. My first question is, why is BU ranked only 20th after schooling B.C. yesterday? There are five teams from the ECAC in the power rankings. Alright!

1. Merrimack
2. Minnesota
3. Boston College
4. Colorado College
5. Yale
6. Ferris State
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan
9. Western Michigan
10. Minnesota Duluth
11. Denver
12. Union
13. Ohio State
14. Lake Superior State
15. Colgate
16. Michigan Tech
17. Providence
18. Cornell
19. Dartmouth
20. Boston University
Dropped out: Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Northern Michigan
Bubbelicious: Clarkson, UMass-Lowell, Nebraska-Omaha, New Hampshire, Quinnipiac

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• Union cracks top 10 in national poll (timesunion.com)

Ryan Mller Post Game Comments on the Lucic hit....

Last night, Boston Bruins tough guy Milan Lucic ran over the Sabres All-World goalie Ryan Miller during the first period of last night's game between the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres.

If you watch the video again you can see that Lucic does have a hard time hiding his glee on the way to the Boston Bruins penalty box. Like NESN analyst Andy Brickley said after the hit, "as a player this is a penalty you don't mind killing." If you haven't seen this, here is the link to the Buffalo Sabres television crew's call of the Lucic hit on Miller. [Click to watch]

After watching Miller's reaction to the Lucic's hit, which is considered a bush league move by many in the NHL, I have to think that the hit might have been a game changing moment, some might consider the hit a smart move. After the Lucic ran over Miller, the Bruins then steam rolled the Sabres on the score card as well.

Let’s not forget the Boston Bruins were very effective last season when they brutalized and pulverized their opponents and used those tactics to skate to away with the Stanley Cup championship. Miller would later leave the game with an upper body injury.

The more puzzling fact was that no one on the Buffalo Sabres challenged Lucic to a fight for his hit on the Sabre goalie. That is unacceptable for an NHL hockey team, the Sabres sent the message that basically said that it's O.K. to run over our goaltender.

The Sabres did not come to Miller's defense following the hit, other than a couple of shoves by Thomas Vanek and Andrej Sekera. Was it the response they needed?

"No, no it wasn't," said center Paul Gaustad, who was on the ice along with Vanek, Sekera, Tyler Myers and Jason Pominville. "I can do more. I'm embarrassed that we didn't respond the way we should have. It falls on myself. I look at myself first, and I wasn't good enough. [John Vogl, Buffalo News]

According to ESPN it has been confirmed that Ryan Miller has suffered a concussion from the hit. In addition, the General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres Darcy Regier thinks that there should be some additional disciplinary action for Lucic's hit on Miller.

Regier also told the Buffalo News that he felt the play deserved a suspension from the league.

"If this hit and other types of hits like this are not suspended, we are opening up the possibility of losing goaltenders to injury," Regier told the Buffalo News. "And not just injury, but concussion. ... When I look at the position of goaltending, in a lot of ways it's not unlike quarterback in football. I feel very strongly the protection has to be provided and players committing these types of action should be punished. [Mike Harrington, Buffalo News]

If Lucic running over Ryan Miller is deserving of suspension from the NHL, then I think that Millers attempted and missed chop with his carbon fiber goalie stick at Milan Lucic is worthy of some consideration as well. Can you imagine if Miller had connected with Lucic? Yikes! That would have been an ugly incident.

According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, Milan Lucic has a 1 pm ET hearing tomorrow with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. If Shanahan doesn't suspend Lucic, we will hear the fans with the tin foil hats whine and complain about how the NHL favors the Bruins because Colin Campbell's son plays for the Bruins.

Apparently some in in the media are less than impressed with the Lucic hit on Miller. Dave Stubbs, The Gazette had this to say about the Lucic hit. Just a little disclosure, Stubbs is a sports writer for a Montreal newspaper so his opinion is going to be slanted towards the Canadians perspective, you know the Bruins are a bunch of knuckle dragging Nethanderals.

The two lunkheads on the Hockey Night in Canada panel, both former Boston Bruins, thought it was fine. So surely it was a clean hockey play, right?

Heaven help you if you shape your opinions based on the moronic blathering of these two attention-craving doorknobs, who took time out from their combined 2,313 NHL penalty minutes to score 59 goals.

Bruins forward Milan Lucic’s concussing of Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller on Saturday in Boston was deemed to be a two-minute penalty. But the open-ice hit was high, cheap, late, dangerous, entirely avoidable and was in absolute violation of the spirit of hockey.

The check again revealed the dishonest play of Lucic and, in failing to lift a finger in defence of their franchise goalie, the turtling of the Sabres as a whole.

Steve Kendall, from the Hockey Writers wasn't very  amused with the Lucic hit either, now from reading some of his work, it appears that Kendall is also not a big fan of Lucic or his style of play, or that is what I gleaned from perusing some of his articles, this is also the same guy that suggested that the Bruins trade Milan Lucic.

In my opinion, anyone who defends Lucic’s hit is dead wrong, as it was yet another in a long line of bad decisions/cheap shots in Lucic’s recent career.

Saturday’s hit was not only uncalled for, it was downright dirty. Lucic had plenty of time to avoid the hit, which is shown below, and broke both an unwritten code of the game and a long-standing rule that players do not purposefully target a goaltender who is out of his crease.

Lastly, the self congratulatory hockey pundits are going to demand that Lucic serve a lengthy suspension for his latest transgression, but lets not forget goalies are run over almost weekly. Is it right? No! But lets get real all teams do it from time to time, it's called going hard to the net. Some goalie and skater collision are less obvious than this one was.

The fact that the perpetrator in this collision is Milan Lucic has the pundits and haters foaming at the mouth. If this had been Matt Cooke or Alex Burrows I would be foaming at the mouth as well.

While I think Brendan Shanahan for the most part has done a pretty good job as the head of Player Safety; I think in some instances Shanny has also been a little heavy handed on some of his suspensions, chalk it up as learning on the job. It will be interesting to see if Lucic gets fined or suspended.

Michael Mersch penalty.

At the .50 second mark on [this video] above you will see the check that the Wisconsin Badgers forward Michael Mersch put on Minnesota Gophers forward Kyle Rau.

This check in question would end the night for the Badgers Mersch as he was given a five minute major for contact to the head and a game misconduct. In watching the video, I honestly don't understand how that hit could be a five and a game. To me it looked like a legal check. Here is what Jess Meyers had to say on the hit.

The score was tied 1-1 in the second when the Badgers missed a golden opportunity to take the lead, misfiring with two white jerseys alone in front of Patterson. Just seconds later, Wisconsin's Michael Mersch leveled Kyle Rau along the boards and drew an iffy call for contact to the head. Mersch was tossed from the game, and the Gophers got a five-minute power play. While they did not score on the extended man-advantage, the Gophers captured momentum that they would not relinquish.

The Gophers were unable to score on the five minute power play. The Badgers head coach Mike Eaves looked highly agitated with the Todd Anderson call and gave Anderson an earful at the Wisconsin Badgers players bench. 

Goon's WCHA Power Rankings for 11/13/2011

Image via Wikipedia

After a week hiatus the WCHA Power Rankings are back and are posted at Inside Hockey.  Here is the link to Zach Friedli's power rankings.

1. Minnesota – (10-2-0, 7-1-0 WCHA) Split with the Wisconsin Badgers this past weekend in Madison. Up next for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a home and home series with the pesky Saint Cloud State University Huskies. Due to the two schools proximity to each other, this in state series should prove to be an exciting weekend of hockey.  With the Gopher’s win on Saturday night, Don Lucia hit the 300 win mark for his coaching career. 

2. Minnesota Duluth – (7-3-2, 5-2-1 WCHA) Swept the lowly University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in Duluth this past weekend.  Up next for the Bulldogs, a home series with the Minnesota State University Mankato. UMD Bulldog goalie Kenny Reiter has been on fire as of late, in the last seven games that Reiter has played in he has 5-0-2 record with a 1.26 goals against average and a .952 saves percentage. With the shutout on Friday night, Reiter tied the UMD record with 9 career shutouts. The Bulldogs are playing great team defense as well as they are ranked 2^nd in the WCHA.  Just to illustrate how well the Bulldogs are playing defensively they have only given up four goals in last five games.

3. Nebraska Omaha –  (6-5-1, 5-2-1 WCHA) The University of Omaha Nebraska Mavericks took three of four points from the Bemidji State University Beavers in Bemidji, Saturday’s victory against the Beavers was the first in eight games for the Mavericks 1-5-2. Up next for the Mavericks, a trip to Denver to play the Pioneers.  

4.  Denver – (4-3-2, 3-2-2 WCHA), The Pioneer beat their in state rival the Colorado College Tigers 5-4 at home this past weekend, the return game of that series is in Colorado Springs on December 2^nd, that game will be on CBS College Sports at 7:07 MT. Up next for the Pioneers, a home series with the UNO Mavericks.  

5.  Colorado College – (5-2-0, 3-2-0 WCHA) The Colorado College Tigers lost 5-4 in a single game this past weekend against their in state rivals, the Denver Pioneers in Denver. The return game of that series is in Colorado Springs on December 2^nd, that game will be on CBS College Sports at 7:07 MT. Up next for the Tigers, a home date with the Wisconsin Badgers.

 6. Wisconsin – (5-6-1, 4-5-1 WCHA), The Wisconsin Badgers split their series with the high flying Minnesota Gophers. The Badgers took the Gophers to the woodshed on Friday night and looked a step slow against the Gophers in the second game of the series. In my opinion Badgers Defenseman  Justin Schultz (4g-12a—16pts) is  one of the best defensemen in the WCHA. Up next for the Badgers, a trip to the Springs to play the high octane Colorado College Tigers.  

 7.  North Dakota – (3-6-1, 1-5-0 WCHA) The University of North Dakota was idle this past weekend, Up next for the Fighting Sioux, a trip down highway 2 to Bemidji, Minnesota to play the BSU Beavers.  The Sioux are off to their worst start since the 1974-75 season when the Fighting Sioux started the season 1-9-0. The Fighting Sioux hope to regroup against the Bemidji State Beavers, a team the Fighting Sioux have never lost to in the modern era. 

7.  Michigan Tech – (6-3-1, 4-3-1 WCHA), The Huskies was idle this past weekend, Up next for the Michigan Tech Huskies, a trip to Anchorage, Alaska to play the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. People from the Michigan Tech fan base are going to ask me why I don't have the Huskies ranked higher. You can include me in the I am not convinced crowd when it comes to the MTU Huskies. While the Huskies have played better hockey this season, they have also been swept by BSU and beaten badly by MSU-M. 

9.   St. Cloud State – (5-5-2, 3-2-1 WCHA), the Huskies split with the Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks in Mankato this past weekend. The Huskies have been bitten by the injury bug and are missing two major cogs in their lineup; senior forward Drew LeBlanc broken leg and junior goalie Mike Lee undisclosed lower body injury. Up next for the Huskies, a home and home series with their in state rival the Minnesota Golden Gophers. 

10. Bemidji State – (4-7-1, 2-5-1 WCHA),  The Bemidji State University Beavers are another team which is hard to figure out, they swept the upstart Michigan Tech Huskies in Bemidji and split with Miami University to start the season but have had trouble getting consistent goaltending and have used all three of their goaltenders so far this season.  Leading scorer junior forward Jordan George (6g-2a-8—pts) has been held scoreless in 7 out of 12 games so far this season.  Up next for the Beavers is the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux who were idle this past weekend.  

11.  Minnesota State – (3-7-0, 2-4-0 WCHA), The Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks have had a tough time with injuries and recently lost six games in a row before winning two of the last three games. The Mavericks split with the SCSU Huskies this past weekend in Mankato. Up next for the Minnesota State Mavericks, a trip to Duluth to play the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The Mavericks who are last in goal scoring in the WCHA are going to have their work cut out for them next weekend against the Bulldogs who have been a defensive juggernaut the last five games.  

 12.  Alaska Anchorage – (3-6-1, 0-6-0 WCHA), The University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves have an impressive 3-0-1 record in non-conference play but a dismal 0-6-0 record in conference play, the Seawolves scored an paltry one goal last weekend and were outscored 8-1 as the Bulldogs swept the Seawolves in Duluth.  Up next for the Seawolves, a home series with the MTU Huskies.

Milan Lucic runs over Ryan Miller

Wow!!! Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic absolutely mowed over the Sabres all-world goalie Ryan Miller. To quote Andy Brickley, "just because the goaltender is out of net doesn't make him fair game." Brick also said, "that's a penalty you don't mind killing as a player." What concerns me more is the reaction from Ryan Miller, if he had made contact with that big goalie stick he could have been looking at a suspension.

Virg Foss Nails it.

Image via WikipediaIn case you haven’t seen it former Fighting Sioux hockey beat writer Virg Foss absolutely nailed it with this article on the Fighting Sioux nickname.

Virg Foss, Grand Forks Herald --- By marching on without a nickname might be the ultimate show of respect to the Sioux name as we say goodbye to it.

I suspect that for as long as I live, fans will wear their Fighting Sioux jerseys to UND games. Sioux cheers will erupt from the crowds.

Taking away the name won’t change that. Neither will forcing a new nickname upon us.

A few years ago, I watched the movie “We Are Marshall” and felt chills go through me listening to the fans chant the school name in a slow cadence.

I watched Penn State students turn out to protest the firing of football legend Joe Paterno earlier this week and heard the chants of “We Are . . . Penn State” rise from their throats.

When the next school year begins at UND, we’ll no longer see the logos or Sioux name on UND uniforms.

UND will press on and in time bitter feelings and wounded hearts will begin to heal.

There’s no need to rush to a new nickname, if one is ever needed.

While there are some pointy headed P.C. hand wringers that want UND to select a new nickname right away because they claim that the no-nickname approach is a way for UND to remain a sort of de Facto Fighting Sioux. Realistically, you’re going to have a hard time totally getting rid of the Fighting Sioux nickname, it’s been part of UND storied history for a very long time, The Fighting Sioux nickname is engrained in our culture and is part of our schools rich history.

I am going to continue to wear my Fighting Sioux sweaters, hoodies and hats with pride until they fall off and disintegrate. Lastly, I also agree with Foss, I like the no-nickname approach and why not simply remain just “North Dakota” wouldn't that be an awesome name? No need for a ridiculous replacement nickname that few will get behind and that no one will like, UND sports teams could just be plain "North Dakota".

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