Goon's World

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Did Cherry bite the hand that feeds him?

I am a big fan of Don Cherry, his colorful cloths and his straight talk is a quality that isn’t real prevalent in today age.

Cherry is kind of the Rush Limbaugh of NHL hockey and he can be a bit of a polarizing figure. Like Limbaugh, most fans either like him or can’t stand him there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun — Has Toronto Maple Leafs boss Brian Burke had enough of Don Cherry?

An insider told QMI Agency Burke is tired of Cherry criticizing his team — in particular, his coach — and he is contemplating asking for a meeting with CBC brass to complain.

“He is furious at the comment Cherry made about Ron Wilson not applauding for the troops and for other things too,” said an insider. “He is fiercely loyal to his guys.”

On Jan. 14, Cherry mentioned during a broadcast that visiting New York Ranger coach John Tortorella applauded when the troops were introduced at a recent Armed Forced appreciation game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

He also called a clapping Leafs assistant coach Rob Zettler “a good Canadian boy.”

But he said Wilson and other coaches “couldn’t have cared less.”

The Leafs president responded to an e-mail asking him if there had “been a formal complaint,” but chose to not get into the fray.

“No comment,” Burke said in a return e-mail. “All-star weekend (is) hardly the time or place for a beef like this.”

Brian Burke is a big boy and you have to wonder if he is being a bit thin skinned. Burke like Cherry has been know for his off the cuff comments as well.

Also, did Don Cherry bite the hand that feeds him? You have t wonder sometime if CBC will eventually throw Cherry under the bus or will they continue to employ the controversial figure. I am hoping the later.

UND vs. UW shot charts

Looking at the shot charts from last night’s games, you can see that UND’s defense limited Wisconsin to 17 shots on net. That’s no small feat based on some of the players that they have in their lineup.

The most impressive fact of the night was that UND kept All World/WCHA defenseman Justin Schultz off of the score sheet. Schultz got "zero" points last night and that's no small feat. Schultz has been held pointless only six times in 25 games this season.

In the third period Wisconsin only had three shots on net. That's pretty good play by UND’s defense.

I think that people forget how big of a hole UND has dug it’s self out. UND started out the season going an unimpressive 3-7-1. Since the lack luster loss on November 20th, 2011 in Bemidji, Minnesota UND has gone an impressive 10-3-1.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Birthday boy wins it for UND versus UW

Grand Forks, ND – A UND student held up a sign that said, "If you don't squirt, you won't get hurt." That sign was in reference to a game that took place between these same two teams almost thirty years ago.

Over the years Wisconsin and North Dakota have played in some historic battles. The two teams have played against each other for League and an NCAA title.

The two teams have played in many games that were highly contested. Over the years there have been a few punches thrown, some good scrums after the whistle, and a few all out brawls.

Tonight’s game wasn’t quite as exciting as some of the epic battles of the past, but UND was able to grind out a 5-3 victory at the Ralph. It wasn’t really that exciting of a game to watch and was really a chess match. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for either team to score.

The head coach for UND, Dave Hakstol, kind of saw it the same way.

“Both teams played it real tight and close to the vest and looking for a power play opportunity or a power play goal, or one opportunity to win it", Coach Hakstol said. “Fortunately we came up with that opportunities, it was a good play by our captain Mario Lamoureux.”

At times the game was a bit boring as a good share of the play was spent in the neutral zone.

The game winning goal was scored by freshman forward Stephane Pattyn who was incidentally celebrating his 21^st birthday. It was the first career goal for the freshman forward.

When Pattyn was asked about his game winning goal, this is what he had to say. “That was really nice. Mario [Lamoureux] made an unbelievable play. It all started with Joe [Gleason] using his speed. I guess Mario just saw me back door I was wide open and the goalie was nowhere to be seen, and all I had to do was tap it in. That just shows how hard of a worker Mario is, his leadership and his poise on that play. I will take credit for it, but that was all Mario for sure.”

Brock Nelson was able to cement the win by scoring an empty net goal for UND. Nelson, with that goal would finish the night with 2 goals.

As the WCHA, in its current form, winds down after the 2012-13 season, UND and UW will no longer play in league games anymore. North Dakota and Wisconsin will leave the WCHA and go to the NCHC and the B1G respectively. This means that once again, there will be no more historic WCHA battles between UND and UW after 2012-13 season.

Another weekend, another historic match up in the WCHA. This seems to be the story line this season.
Coming into the weekend, UND’s power play had been less than spectacular, having scored only two goals on 17 opportunities. UND was able to break out of that power play funk and score on its first two power plays of the game.

While the UND defense did give up three goals on the night, UND was able to keep Wisconsin's pre-season All-WCHA defenseman Justin Schultz off the score sheet. That is no small task, as Schultz has points in 19 of 25 games played this season.

With the loss, the Badgers dropped to 1-7-1 on the road this season. Wisconsin is 11-4-1 at home. Coming into the game, Wisconsin had lost only one time in the last seven games.

With the win, UND improved its record to 14-10-2, 10-9-0 in the WCHA. The two teams play again tomorrow night.

Box Score

UND vs. UW game 3 lines

UND’s Forward lines

29 Brock Nelson–10 Corban Knight (A) –7 Danny Kristo
16 Mark MacMillan–27 Carter Rowney–15 Michael Parks
Stephane Pattyn 28 –9 Mario Lamoureux (C) – 13 Connor Gaarder
8 Dan Senkbeil–28 - No Center – 14 Taylor Dickin

Defense Parings

18 Dillon Simpson–24 Ben Blood
2 Andrew MacWilliam (A) –5 Nick Mattson
22 Andrew Panzarella- Joe Gleason
4 Derek Forbort

UND Goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

Out: Derek Forbort, Derrick Rodwell, Roco Grimaldi, Brendan O'Donnel

UND Players Stats

Tentative Badger Forward lines

F   16 Joseph LaBate - 9 Zengerle - 7 Tyler Barnes
F    8 Matt Paape - 23 Derek Lee - 25 Michael Mersch
F    26 Brad Navin - 14 Jefferson Dahl - 18 Sean Little
F    21 Brendan Woods - 12 Keegan Meuer - 20 Ryan Little (A)

Badgers Defensive Paring

D   27 Frankie Simonelli - 6 Justin Schultz (A)
D    19 Jake McCabe - 55 John Ramage (C)

D    4 Eric Springer - 24 Joe Faust

Badger Goalies

33 Joel Rumpel
30 Landon Peterson

Referees: for tonight's game: Jonathan Morrison, Tom Sterns
Linesemen: Nathan Freeman, Justin Hill

Wisconsin Player Stats

Putting on the Foil – Friday Links

It’s Friday, so that means there is a lot of college hockey news to be read and sift through. It’s also the All Star break so there won’t be a lot of NHL news this weekend, except for the All Star game. Frankly, I find the All Star Game to be boring.

Bruce Ciskie has a nice article; Jack Connolly Marches Toward History.

Here is this weeks Through These Doors episode 12. If you watch the video you will see UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam wearing the yellow jersey, that is the jersey that they give the players that are injured.

Tyler Buckentine and Brian Halverson of USCHO have their weekly WCHA picks. And you can see from their analysis neither the Badgers nor UND are setting the world on fire.

Wisconsin (12-10-2, 7-9-2 WCHA) at No. 18 North Dakota (13-10-2, 9-9-0 WCHA)

Tyler: The Badgers have won five of six but not against any strong teams and their first road win of the year came Jan. 13 at Minnesota State. The Mavericks blanked UW the next night. Also, the Badgers’ power play is failing the past five games (2-for-14). UW’s 1-6-1 road record doesn’t look good going into Grand Forks this weekend. UND sweep

Brian: The Badgers, who swept UND in Madison in Oct. (5-3, 5-4) have won six of the last 10 meetings overall (6-3-1) and are 6-1-1 in Grand Forks since the 2005-06 season. But Wisconsin is just 1-6-1 on the road in 2011-12 with its only win coming at Minnesota State two weeks ago. Penalty killing has been a staple of success in recent weeks for both UW (82.5 percent in last 13 games) and UND (90 percent in last nine and 83.7 percent overall) but UND’S power play inefficiency lately (5.2 percent in its last five games) is alarming. I think Wisconsin finds a way to pick up a road split.

Roman Augustoviz invited Brian Halverson to be his guest prognosticator, so here are their picks for this weekend’s series between UW vs. UND at the Roman Empire.

Wisconsin (12-10-2, 7-9-2 WCHA) at No. 18 North Dakota (13-10-2, 9-9-0 WCHA)

Brian: The Badgers, who swept UND in Madison in Oct. (5-3, 5-4) have won six of the last 10 meetings overall (6-3-1) and are 6-1-1 in Grand Forks since the 2005-06 season. But Wisconsin is just 1-6-1 on the road in 2011-12 with its only win coming at Minnesota State two weeks ago. Penalty killing has been a staple of success in recent weeks for both UW (82.5 percent in last 13 games) and UND (90 percent in last nine and 83.7 percent overall) but UND'S power play inefficiency lately (5.2 percent in its last five games) is alarming. Wisconsin finds a way to pick up a road win. … SPLIT

Roman: Huge series for home ice in first round of WCHA playoffs down the road. UND is in sixth place, last spot for home ice, the Badgers are ninth, but just two points behind the team without a nickname. Badgers freshman goalie Joel Rumpel is 4-1 with a 1.01 GAA and two shutouts in his last five games. Justin Schultz has a team-leading 12 goals and could become first D-man to lead Badgers in goals for a season. … UND SWEEP

At Tradition of Excellence has his Fighting Sioux vs. Wisconsin: Notes and Links

Brad Elliott Schlossman has his Friday morning reading links up...Brad also has a nice articlea about the Knight Line. Today we also find out that the, Water bottle game turns 30 this weekend.

Inside Hockey has it’s UW and UND series notes.

Andy Baggot the beat writer for the Wisconsin Badgers has his series preview up. UW men's hockey preview: Badgers vs. No. 18 North Dakota

Bucky's 5th Quarter: Take Five With UND Beat Writer Brad Elliott Schlossman.

Mike Chambers of the Denver Post says that Ryder, Brittain have joined trip to Alaska...

Goon’s Weekly WCHA Picks 1/27 – 1/28

Fri 01/27/12
Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-My9)
St. Cloud State at Minnesota 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-BTN)
Minnesota State at Bemidji State 7:37 p.m. CT (TV-LPT)
Wisconsin at North Dakota 7:37 p.m. CT (TV-FSSN,FCSc)
Denver at Alaska Anchorage 7:07 p.m. AT (TV-GCI)

Sat 01/28/12
Minnesota at St. Cloud State 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSn,Charter)
Minnesota State at Bemidji State 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-LPT)
Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-My9)
Wisconsin at North Dakota 7:07 p.m. CT (TV-FSSN,FCSc)
Denver at Alaska Anchorage 7:07 p.m. AT (TV-GCI)

Minnesota at St. Cloud State – UMN Sweep
Minnesota State at Bemidji State – Split
Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth – UMD Sweep
Wisconsin at North Dakota – Split
Denver at Alaska Anchorage – DU Sweep

Last Week 11-0 Record for the season 105-60

Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Big Sky is Coming to Root Sports

I found this video on line and this should get you in the mood for Big Sky Football coming this fall. It’s going to be nice watching the teams in the Big Sky foes coming to the Alerus Center as opposed to watching the University of Sioux Falls or some other NAIA or Divsion II school.

Jordan Schmaltz on the Pipleline show...

Prized UND recruit Jordan Schmaltz was on the Pipeline show with Guy Flaming and Dean Millard.

[click to listen] -USHL Top Prospects Game, the Green Bay Gamblers d-man Jordan Schmaltz talks about going to UND.

When Asked by the Dean Millard, "Do you have any ambition about to Windsor [OHL], or whatever might happen or you 100 percent going to North Dakota?"

“I am 100 percent going to North Dakota," said Jordan Schmaltz. “That’s the place I want to go and that’s the place that is going to develop me the best, I believe."

Weekend Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

Looking at the calendar this is the last weekend of action in January. We all know that means the season is winding down, put the stakes are going up. After this weekend it basically leaves us the month of February in the regular season. The teams are so bunched up in the middle of standings it should be another great race for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

WCHA STANDINGS

Team………………………W-L-T………Points
1. Minnesota………………13-5-0…..……26
2. Minnesota-Duluth……..11-3-2….…….24
3. Colorado College……..11-7-0………..22
4. Nebraska-Omaha………9-6-3……….. 21
5. Denver……………………8-5-3………..19
6. North Dakota……….…...9-9-0….……..18
7. Michigan Tech………….8-7-1…….…..17
7. St. Cloud St……………. 7-8-3……….. 17
9. Wisconsin……………....7-9-2…..…….14
10. Bemidji State….……….5-9-2…………12
11. Minnesota State………4-13-1…………9
12. Alaska-Anchorage…...3-14-1…………7

WCHA Games

Minnesota State @ Bemidji State
Last weekend the MSUM Mavericks split with the UNO Mavericks in Mankato, and the Beavers enjoyed a weekend off.

Since the calendar flipped over to 2012 the Mavericks are holding their own, going 3-3-0 in January. The Beavers have a good record this year at the Sanford Center, owning a 8-3-1 record at home. Both teams are need of points. If they want to climb the standings and make run at home ice for the first round. The Beavers look to have a better shot at hosting, since they have more points currently and two games in hand on the Mavericks. The Mavericks haven’t been to good on the road, their last WCHA road win came back on November 5 versus MTU. MSUM fans would probably say they are due for a WCHA road win. SPLIT

Wisconsin Badgers @ #18 North Dakota
Last weekend Badgers swept the UAA Seawolves at the Kohl Center in Madison and North Dakota split with the SCSU Huskies in St. Cloud.

Earlier this season the Sioux visited the Badgers in Madison and left there with no points. UND will be looking to return the favor this weekend in Grand Forks. North Dakota has suffered numerous injuries this season, making everyone step up their game night in and night out. If they can stay healthy down the stretch here, they could make a run up the standings. This would help to secure home ice in the first round. Meanwhile, the Badgers are in what most are calling a rebuilding year. NORTH DAKOTA SWEEP

St. Cloud State vs #3 Minnesota
Last weekend Huskies split with North Dakota in St. Cloud and the Gophers split with CC Tigers in Minneapolis.

This is a home-home series with the opener in Minneapolis and the finale in St. Cloud. The Gophers have dropped the last few Friday night games they played and this weekend it is even more important for the gophers to win on Friday, with Saturday’s game in St. Cloud. The Huskies have been a bit inconsistent this season, so it is hard to predict which team will show up on which night. SPLIT

#15 Denver @ Alaska-Anchorage
Last weekend the Seawolves were swept by the Badgers in Madison and the Pioneers had a weekend off to rest up.

The Pioneers take the big airplane ride this weekend up to scenic Alaska. The Seawolves have not played in front of the home town fans since December 3-4 (vs. North Dakota). I’m sure the players and fans are chomping at the bit to play a game at the Sully. The Seawolves have been lighting the lamp this year, but have been surrendering a few too many as well. If the Pioneers can take the lead and make UAA play from behind they could leave Anchorage with some points. SPLIT

Michigan Tech @ #1 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend Huskies lost their one game against Northern Michigan in Houghton and the Bulldogs swept the UAH Chargers in Duluth.

Tech hits the road this weekend and will be on it six of their next eight games. The Huskies last road trip was to Minneapolis, where they split with the Gophers. MTU will have to avoid getting into a shoot out with the Bulldogs, UMD packs to much firepower for the Huskies to match. The Bulldogs will need to put shots up on the Huskies; they have allowed five goals or more in six games this season. The Huskies have shown they can take on the top powers this year, so don’t be too surprised if they leave Duluth with a point or two. BULLDOGS 3-pts.

BYE WEEK
#12 Colorado College
Nebraska-Omaha

UW vs. UND series notes

The University of North Dakota entertains the Wisconsin Badgers at Ralph Englestad Arena January 27-28, 2012.

Game Time: 7:37 pm Friday, 7:07 pm Saturday.

Television: UND Sports Network, MidcoSN3, FCS Central (Fri.), FCS Pacific (Sat.), DirecTV 617 (Fri.), DirecTV 623 (Sat.), FSN+, theScore (Fri. game tape delayed on Sat.).

Radio: The games can be heard at 96.1 the Fox and for Wisconsin Badger fans on 1310 WIBA AM locally in Madison or for free online at BadgerSportsNetwork.com.

Internet: Both games at UNDSports.com.

Records and Rankings: University of North Dakota (13-10-2 overall, 9-9-0 WCHA); UND is ranked 18^th in the USCHO poll. North Dakota split with the Saint Cloud State Huskies last weekend (3-1 L, 3-2 W). Official Release

The Wisconsin Badgers (12-10-2, 7-9-2 WCHA) posted a (4-0 W, 3-2 W) sweep over Alaska Anchorage last weekend. The Badgers are unranked in the USCHO and USA Today Polls. Official Release

Series History: The Wisconsin Badgers lead the all-time series against UND 86-62-11 (.575). The University of North Dakota has only won three times in the last 10 games against the Wisconsin Badgers going 3-6-1. UND was swept by the Badgers (5-3 and 5-4) in Madison, Wisconsin earlier this season.

Players to Watch:

For UND: Forwards: Danny Kristo (12g-15a—27pts), Corbin Knight (8g-16a—24pts) and Brock Nelson (17g-10a—27pts), Carter Rowney (8g-7a—15pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (5g-8a—13pts), Dillion Simpson, (0g-12a—11pts), Ben Blood (2g-9a—11pts). Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .895 save percentage and a 2.80 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .919 save percentage and a 2.38 goals against average.

UND Injuries: Forward Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell out, defenseman Derek Forbort questionable; Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery)

For UW: Forwards: Mark Zengerle (10g-28a—38pst), Tyler Barnes (8g-12a—20pts), Michael Mersch (8g-12—20tps). Defense: Justin Schultz (12g-25a—37pts). Goaltender: Joel Rumpel .920 save percentage and a 2.44 goals against average.

Other games in the WCHA: Saint Cloud at Minnesota (Friday), Minnesota at Saint Cloud (Saturday), Denver at Alaska Anchorage, Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State at Bemidji State. Idle Colorado College, Nebraska Omaha

Cross Posted at INSIDE HOCKEY.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A few things...

In case you haven't seen this video, it's the Justin Schultz Highlight video that someone posted on Youtube. Schultz is one of the best defensemen in the country and would be my pick for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award if I had a vote. Schultz would probably be playing in the NHL right now if he had decided to for-go his junior year of eligibility.

You can bet that UND will be aware of Schultz whenever he's on the ice and will probably have someone checking him at all times. Obviously, it will be hard to shut down Schultz's offensive production, but you can bet that UND will put their best players on Schultz to slow him down.

Speaking of Justin Schultz – the Junior Defenseman from the Wisconsin Badgers was named the Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week this past week. Schultz scored (1g-4a—5pts) in helping his team beat the UAA Seawolves (4-0 W, 3-2 W) in Madison Wisconsin. Schultz is second on the Badgers in scoring with (12g-25a—37pts).

Coming into this weekend’s series the Wisconsin Badgers lead the all-time series against UND 86-62-11 (.575). UND has had some tough sledding as of late against the Badgers as they have only won three times in the last 10 games going an unimpressive 3-6-1.

It looks like this will probably be the top two forward lines for the Wisconsin Badgers and they have been together for four games; LW 16 Joseph LaBate (5g-13a—18pts)- C 9 Mark Zengerle (10g-28a—38pst) RW 7 Tyler Barnes (8g-12a—20pts) and from looking at the line sheets this appears to be the second line for the Badgers - LW 8 Matt Paape (4g-4a—8pts) - C 23 Derek Lee (4g-6a—10pts) - RW 25 Michael Mersch (8g-12—20tps)

Compare and contrast this was what the top line for UND has been most of the season; LW 29 Brock Nelson (17g-10a—27pts) - C 10 Corban Knight (8g-16a—24pts)- RW 7 Danny Kristo (12g-15a—27pts) and this was the second line last weekend LW 16 Mark MacMillan (4g-6a—10pts) - C 27 Carter Rowney (8g-7a—15pts) - RW 15 Michael Parks (4g-3a—7pts).

Who is hot for UND; freshman forward Michael Parks has points in four out of his last six games. Corbin Knight broke a five game scoreless streak by recording a (2g-1a—3 pts) in Saturday's game against Saint Cloud.

Another reason to hate the Vancouver Canucks

Image via WikipediaI mean really?!? Cory Schneider is a good goalie and a very serviceable back up to the Canucks head case Robert Luongo, but he isn't even close to the stature of Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. I guess as a Bruins fan, I can just chalk it up as another reason to hate the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.

The Providence --- Cory Schneider, an American from Marblehead, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, was one Canuck willing to weigh in, and his message was simple. Thomas should have sucked it up and gone to the White House.

“I’m not that religious but if I had the chance to meet the Pope, it’d be pretty cool,” Schneider said.
”I don’t believe in everything the Catholic church does, but I’d still show up to the Vatican and say Hi to the Pope.

“I have no problem with his personal beliefs, but (Thomas) can suck it up for an hour, say Hi and be with the team, and avoid all of this.

“Respect the (Presidency). He plays for Team USA and he has no problem making millions of dollars in the USA but he can’t go say Hi to the President.

WCHA Offensive Player of the Week Jocelyne Lamoureux

#17 Jocelyne Lamoureux, #6 Laura Gersten

Image by SaraMelikian via FlickrMADISON, Wis. – University of North Dakota forward Jocelyne Lamoureux, who scored five goals, produced nine scoring points and earned a +9 plus/minus rating while helping her team to a two-game home-ice conference sweep over St. Cloud State last weekend, has been named the WCHA Women’s Offensive Player of the Week for Jan. 25. This marks the second time this season she has received the weekly honor (also on Nov. 9).

A junior center from Grand Forks, N.D., Lamoureux scored as pair of goals and assisted on three others for five points last Friday evening (Jan. 20) to earn second star of the game honors as North Dakota blanked the Huskies 10-0 at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Then last Saturday night (Jan. 21), Lamoureux came back to net a three-goal hat trick and one assist for four points and earn first star of the game accolades as UND completed the sweep over SCSU with a 9-0 triumph. In addition to her nine points in the series, she fired 17 shots on goal, including 14 in game two.

Lamoureux’s nine-point weekend elevated her into the national scoring lead with 62 points (25g, 37a) in 25 games played and a nation’s best 2.48 points per game.

Also nominated: Emily West, F, UM; Haley Irwin, F, UMD; Ally Tarr, F, OSU; Brooke Ammerman, F, UW.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

(Video) Matt Cooke is at it again.

It will be interesting to see how long Matt Cooke gets for his latest act of of stupidity. For the most part Cooke had played it straight up this season, only drawing only 16 penalty minutes in 49 games and had for the most part stayed clear of the dirty play until his recent slew foot on Brad Richards on 1/19/2012.

If you need to have your memory refreshed on the type of hockey player that Matt Cooke is, take a look at this blog post Matt Cooke: A History of Violence; you will see that Matt Cooke's has a resume of being a dangerous, despicable hockey player, that has for the most part been one of the dirtiest players in the league during his NHL career.

DU get some some good news... Brittain & Ryder back

Image via WikipediaIt appears that the Denver Pioneers have gotten some good news as two of their key players have returned from injury. It will be interesting to see how well Sam Brittain plays.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post --- Two of the University of Denver's most important defenders are close to returning to a depleted lineup. Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said sophomore goalie Sam Brittain and senior defenseman John Ryder were cleared to practice Monday and are probable for this weekend's two-game series at Alaska-Anchorage.

Brittain, who took over as the program's No. 1 goalie as a freshman last season, has missed the entire season after undergoing major knee surgery June 17. Ryder, DU's fiercest hitter, suffered a fractured knee cap in November and has missed the past 13 games.

Organizing the new WCHA

Image via WikipediaOr maybe we should call it re-organizing the WCHA.

It looks like the newly reformatted WCHA is going to have a 28 game schedule starting in 2013-14. One of the main things that the new WCHA is also working on is travel to the Alaska schools. For obvious reasons, having both Alaska schools in the same conference is going to cause travel costs to go up.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner --- The revamped WCHA is set to play a 28-game conference schedule during the regular season.

“I think it’s a good thing and it will put us in a strong position,” Karr said Saturday night at the Carlson Center following the Nanooks’ 3-1 win over Bowling Green. “Some of the other conferences may be playing fewer games.”

The administrators of the new WCHA are also considering a plan which teams would come twice in the same season to the 49th State to play the Nanooks and UAA either once out of every five years or twice out of every five years.

“They’re going to come up to Anchorage in the first semester and Fairbanks in the second semester, or vice versa,” Karr said.

There is a possibility, too, of an opponent coming to Alaska to face the Nanooks and UAA during the break for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

There is also an advantage of traveling to Alaska as well, if your team travels to Anchorage or Fairbankds your favorite college hockey team can add two extra games to their schedule, for a team like UND or Minnesota, that can mean a lot more money in the bank.

Looks like the WCHA is also going to add a 10th team and there is a chance that it could be UAH, this was discussed on the Pipeline Show last weekend. Geof Morris from UAHHockey.com, was on the Pipeline Show laid out the problems facing UAH, their situation is not pretty.

“We’re hoping to get to 10 schools as soon as possible,” Karr added.

Among schools under consideration to become the 10th member of the new WCHA are Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iowa State, Minnesota State Moorhead and Alabama-Huntsville.

Officials at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iowa State and Minnesota State Moorhead have discussed adding Division I hockey to their athletic programs.

DQ Cup Redux?

This seems to be the talk of twitter this afternoon, seems like some fans aren't very excited about it as well. There is a little thing about perception.

Roman Augustoviz, Roman Empire --- In 2013-14 the five Division I hockey programs in Minnesota -- now all in the WCHA -- will be in three different conferences.

But those same five teams are near finalizing an agreement to play in a four-team tournament in late January at the Xcel Energy Center, according to Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi.

"We are very close to getting it done," Maturi said. "It will be at the Xcel, that is what we are considering right now."

Maturi said on Saturday that all those schools have all agreed to the general format, but nothing has been signed. Presumably the Gophers would be in the field every year, and three of the other four Minnesota teams.

"We have to work out the finances and make sure everybody agrees to what it is," Maturi said, "and move forward."

Me personally, I agree with others that think it's a bit narcissistic on Minnesota's part, because the Gophers can have their cake and eat it too. The officials at Minnesota will claim that they are helping the have nots in out state Minnesota and will still be able to have their precious 20 home games at Mariucci Arena. Call it what you want, this is all about Gophers.

Let's not kid our selves, the chances of a BSU or a Minnesota State getting the Gophers to come to the Sanford center or the Verizon Wireless Center will still only happen maybe once every four or five years if they are lucky.

The gloves are off part II - UND and UW week

I have to admit that this is one of my favorite match ups, if not my favorite rivalry games and according to Andy Baggot of Madison.com it looks like there will be a continuance of the Sioux vs. Badgers rivalry after next season when both teams join their new leagues.

UW coach Mike Eaves said non-conference scheduling parameters are still being drawn up for the new Big Ten, so any non-conference discussions are on hold.

But there have already been discussions between the schools about committing to a series every year when the new leagues debut. That's how much the rivalry means to those involved. [Madison.com]

I know the Fighting Sioux nickname is gone, but for now, at least for this weekend, I will call it the Sioux Badgers on this blog. I mean what the heck. I think we could get away with it, because the Fighting Sioux name is still on the front of the jerseys, for at least a little bit longer. I am already compliant the articles have submitted for Inside Hockey.

I am excited that UND and UW are looking into continue this historic rivalry after the B1G and NCHC come to fruition. There have been some great battles over the years between the two teams. Also, Wisconsin fans are some of the greatest college hockey fans and they get it, they're awesome. When both teams go their separate ways, I am definitely going to miss seeing the Badgers at the Final Five and discussing hockey with the fans from Wisconsin.

Of course the hockey on the ice hasn't been like the UND vs. UW match ups of the 1980's for obvious reasons, the progressive DQ rule for fighting has probably played a role in that.

None the less, there have been some heated and highly contested battles over the years between the two teams. Who can forget the Steve Reinprecht, David Hukalo and Dany Heatly line, that was "one of" the most prolific lines that I had ever witnessed in college hockey.

Of course there was the Jeff Panzer, Bryon Lundbohm and Ryan Bayda line which was also pretty darn good themselves. You can check out the Wisconsin Badger's side of the discussion with Chuck Schwartz at Bucky' Fifth Quarter.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Alex Ovechkin suspended three games...

Nice to see that the NHL Senior VP Player Safety - Brendan Shanahan have the guts to suspend one of it's star players like Alex Ovechkin for his actions on the ice, this is the right call and thank God Shanny didn't waiver and decided that Ovechkin needed to be suspended for this reckless hit.

Steven Tyler slaughters the National Anthem

I watched this last night in disbelief. While Steven Tyler's rendition of the National anthem wasn't quite as bad or as disgusting as the Roseann Barr travesty. That being said, that was brutal and unacceptable. There are many times we see people sing the national anthem and try to make it an American Idol event, it's not. Sing it right or go home.

The national anthem and flag means many things, for many people. There has been a lot of blood spilled over the years to keep this country free, many veterans that gave their lives also in defense of this great nation, many died to keep this country free from tyranny. Steven Tyler's singing of the national anthem last night was a national disgrace.

Goon's World Extras

Saturday, January 28, 2012

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