The WCHA playoffs are set

WCHA Men’s First Round Playoff Pairings Set

Best-of-Three Series to be Held March 9, 10, 11

No. 1 University of Minnesota Gophers vs. No. 12 University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves

No. 11 Minnesota State Mavericks Mavericks vs. No. 2 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

No. 10 University of Wisconsin Badgers vs. No. 3 Denver University Pioneers

No. 9 Bemidji State University Beavers vs. No. 4 University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux

No. 8 Michigan Tech University Huskies vs. No. 5 Colorado College Tigers

No. 7 University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks vs. No. 6 Saint Cloud State University Huskies 

2011-2012 WCHA STANDINGS

		WCHA Games								Overall
		GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA		W	L	T	GF	GA
1	Minnesota	28	20	8	0	40	88	57		24	12	1	130	78
2	Minnesota Duluth	28	16	7	5	37	103	73		22	8	6	132	92
3	Denver	28	16	8	4	36	96	79		21	11	4	125	96
4	North Dakota	28	16	11	1	33	82	73		20	12	3	108	94
5	Colorado College	28	15	12	1	31	95	86		18	14	2	110	97
6	St. Cloud State	28	12	12	4	28	86	74		15	16	5	112	99
7	Nebraska Omaha	28	11	12	5	27	83	85		14	16	6	105	105
8	Michigan Tech	28	11	13	4	26	85	87		14	18	4	102	109
9	Bemidji State	28	11	14	3	25	72	89		17	16	3	97	101
10	Wisconsin	28	11	15	2	24	76	83		16	16	2	101	96
11	Minnesota State	28	8	18	2	18	73	102		12	22	2	97	122
12	Alaska Anchorage	28	5	22	1	11	60	111		9	23	2	81	125

Eidsness and Sioux shutout the Mavericks 3-0

Image via Wikipedia

Grand Forks, ND – The start of the game was delayed by a broken glass pane behind the Fighting Sioux net. One of the Fighting Sioux players had broken the glass with a hard shot during the pregame warm-ups.

After the game, Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness said that ‘the pucks being made of a harder composite rubber has been the cause of many broken glass panes in arenas all over the WCHA.’

The Fighting Sioux have broken three panes themselves in the last week, however, the delay to the start of the game didn’t seem to faze senior Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness. He was stellar all night in stopping all 29 shots that he faced, leading the Sioux to a 3-0 shutout of the Minnesota State Mavericks on “Senior Night” in Grand Forks.

Many of Eidsness’ saves were of the grade “A” variety down low. Eidsness stopped six shots from the slot in the third period alone to ice the Mavericks.

Over the years, UND has had some amazing senior classes.

Last year’s senior class was highly heralded and included the likes of all-Americans like Chay Genoway and Matt Frattin. While there might not be any all-Americans, this year’s senior class is the epitome of the lunch pail group. They go to work and do whatever it takes to win the game.
Tonight, it was Eidsness that stood tall in his final regular season game.

While this season’s Fighting Sioux senior class might only have three members, the trio of Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta), Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minnesota) and Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks, North Dakota) have been part of some amazing teams that have won two MacNaughton Cup championships (2010-11, 2008-09) and two Broadmoor Trophies (2010-11, 2009-10).

This year’s senior class, has also made the NCAA tourney every season that they have played at UND and last season they were part of a team that went to the Frozen Four.

Last night, junior goalie Aaron Dell was stellar in the win stopping 25 of 27 shots that he faced and you had to wonder, who coach Hakstol would start in net on Saturday’s night.  It was the senior Eidsness that got the nod on Saturday.

It appears that the Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol made the right game time decision; in picking senior goalie Brad Eidsness as his starter.

After the game, Hakstol explained his decision on picking Eidsness as his starter.

“I wouldn’t say that we exactly split them, but each guy has gotten quite a bit of time in the net and each played well with that rotation,” Hakstol said. ”We have two goaltenders that are playing well. We have to win the best two out of three series next weekend. We need to have players in all positions playing well.”

With the shutout, Eidsness is now ranked fifth all time on UND’s shutout list tying him with former fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Schweitzer (1996-1998).

An emotional Brad Eidsness was pleased with the shutout after the game.

“It was pretty special,” said Eidsness.

“It’s a good way to cap off a pretty good weekend and a pretty good senior weekend. I don’t know. It’s kind of something you look at and I think I will cherish it for a very long time”

A choked up Eidsness continued, “senior night is kind of a celebration of your four years here. I certainly had a lot of great memories here.”

The night was also a milestone game for Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol whose teams have won 20 or more games in each of his first eight seasons.

Junior forward Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minnesota) paced the Fighting Sioux with two assists on the night.
Incidentally, sophomore forward Brock Nelson (Warroad, Minnesota) won the WCHA goal scoring title with an open net goal to ice the Mavericks. That open net goal, helped Nelson beat Denver Sophomore forward Jason Zucker 20-19 in the goal scoring department.

With the win tonight, the Fighting Sioux improve their record to 20-12-3 and 16-11-1 WCHA. Next weekend the Sioux will either play the Bemidji State Beavers.

With the loss tonight, the Minnesota State Mavericks drop to 12-22-2 and 8-18-2 WCHA. The Mavericks will play the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

BOX SCORE

Related articles

• Dell back stops Sioux to a 4-2 victory over Mavericks (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Dell backstops Sioux to a 4-2 win over Mavericks (insidehockey.com)
• Lucky Bounces Save Sioux in Tie (insidehockey.com)
• Tech and Sioux skate to a 1-1 Tie. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (insidehockey.com)
• North Dakota vs. Minnesota State: Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• UND vs. MSU-M Senior night (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Another perspective on the Fighting Sioux nickname (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Frattin's 6th goal of the year

In his fourth game back since his call up, former Fighting Sioux all-American forward Matt Frattin scores for the Maple Leafs to tie the game against the Montreal Canadians. That's the sixth goal of the year for Frattin.

Related articles

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UND vs. MSU-M Senior night

The regular season game for three Seniors. Brad Eidsness, Ben Blood and Mario Lamoureux make the final regular season appearance of their college hockey career.

Fighting Sioux 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) – 20 Joe Gleason
8 Dan Senkbeil–13 Connor Gaarder– No forward.

UND Defensive Pairings.

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

UND Goalies 

31 Brad Eidsness
32 Aaron Dell

UND Official Players Stats 

UND Injuries: Forwards Taylor Dickin is out (lower body injury), Rocco Grimaldi (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell (season ending surgery), and Derek Rodwell (season shoulder surgery) are out.

MSU-M Mavericks Forward Lines

23 Michael Door (C) - 19 Zach Lehrke - 8 Max Gaede
12 Jean-Paul Lafontaine - 18 Matt Leitner - 25 Eriah Hayes
24 Adam Mueller - 26 Joe Schiller - 22 Johnny McInnis
15 J.P. Burkemper - 29 Eli Zuck - 14 Justin Jokinen

Mavericks Defense Pairing

16 Tyler Elbrecht (C) - 2 Josh Nelson
7 Zach Palmquist - 17 Evan Mosey

3 Cameron Cooper - 27 Brett Stern

Maverick Goalies

 1 Austin Lee

30 Phil Cooke

Maverick Player Stats

Officials: R: Marco Hunt, Derek Shepherd AR:  Andy Dokken, Justin Hills

 Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.
Webcast:  www.fightingSioux.com
TV Saturday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Pacific, MidcoSN3
*Note this weekend’s games will not be on DirecTV.

Another perspective on the Fighting Sioux nickname

Here is a link to a blog post that one of my friends on twitter sent me. While I have always been a fan of the Fighting Sioux Nickname, I honestly I don't think that this kind of rhetoric is ever going to go away. Not if UND remains the Fighting Sioux nickname remains.

But tribal members support the mascot! So it's ok!
No. It isn't. Hitler was a white guy. Can I then deduce that all white men think it's ok to murder millions of people? And don't cite that stupid Sports Illustrated poll that says 90% of Indians support mascots. That thing has so many issues with sampling and validity it's not even funny. Yeah, a few tribal members might support the mascot. But it's a sad commentary on how invisible we are in society, because most of them cite the fact that they feel "proud" to be "recognized" and "remembered". If the only way Native peoples are viewed in the US are as racist stereotypical mascots, (or in movies, tv, and advertising) is it better to be invisible, or seen as a stereotype? [Native Appropriations]

This is almost as bad as Native American activist Russell Means saying that Indians that support the Fighting Sioux nickname are stupid, words he once uttered at a protest in front the REA before construction was finished.

Related articles

• It's UND's fault because they are the Fighting Sioux (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Barnstorming and a Hat Trick

It has been a tumultuous season for the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, even more so on the road. Plagued with injuries, the team found themselves with a 19-18-8 overall record, 6-14-3 on the road, headed into their game last night in Lincoln. After ending the regular season on top last year, it is difficult to stomach being buried in 5th in the league. Yet something lit these guys on fire last night as they took on the 27-14-4 Lincoln Stars at the Ice Box, led by 19 year old forward Davey Middleton, in what can only be called an exhibition of well-executed play.

Gerald Mayhew led the attack with a goal in the 1st period that was answered in the second by Stars forward Markus McCrea. It was Davey Middleton who came out swinging in the third, kicking it off with an early goal. When Stars forward and Grand Forks native Luke Johnson responded in kind, Davey lit it up two more times to complete his hat trick, rounding out his night with an assist to Ryan McGrath on an empty net goal.

Middleton started his season with the Tri-City Storm having an almost silent single goal and single assist record in his 10 games played. Since coming to the RoughRiders, Davey has played 23 games scoring 7 goals and 7 assists. He has been a quiet, but effective force for the RoughRiders to date. He does not have an announced college commitment.

Dell backstops Sioux to a 4-2 victory over Mavericks

Image via Wikipedia

Grand Forks, ND – Minnesota State University came into this series as one of the hotter teams in the WCHA. Coming into the game the Mavericks had gone an impressive 6-3-1 in their last ten games.

While they started the season with a dismal 3-13 record and are currently the 11th-placed team in the WCHA standings. But the Mavericks aren’t as bad as their record shows as the start of their season was decimated by a rash of injuries. Those players have returned and the Mavericks have improved as the season has gone along, going 9-8-1 in their last 18 games.

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux have been hot themselves 6-3-1 in the last 10 games, making tonight’s game a contest of two in-form teams.

The Mavericks are led offensively by a pair of prolific freshman players in Jean-Paul Lafontaine (Oxford, MI) and Matt Leitner (Los Alamities, CA). This dynamic duo lead the team in points, but tonight the duo would be held to just a single point.

The Mavericks came out of the gates fast and were on the scoreboard early, with Leitner scoring the first goal at the 01:37 mark of the first period.

The early marker against didn’t rattle the Fighting Sioux.

As the season has progressed, this year’s Fighting Sioux hockey team have become accustomed to giving up the first goal of the game.  If anything it’s been a recurring theme.

The Fighting Sioux have given up the first goal in 20 out of 33 games that they have played this season. But by the same token, the Fighting Sioux have a record of 8-3-2 at Ralph Englestad Arena when giving up the first goal of the game.

“It’s not the first time that we have given up the first goal in the first five minutes or so of the game,” UND forward Michael Parks said.  “A couple months ago we wouldn’t have responded the way we did tonight, but we have matured quite a bit as a group, and we came out and responded really well to giving that first one early.”

After the Maverick’s first goal, the Fighting Sioux would score three unanswered goals of their own, and would not surrender the lead the rest of the game.

The second period was a little less dramatic than the first period as both teams had some good chances and the Mavericks appeared to have more jump in their step. Both goalies played well and gave neither team anything.

The Mavericks would outshoot the Fighting Sioux 9-7 in the second period and would get many great chances that were repelled by Fighting Sioux junior goalie Aaron Dell.  With the win tonight, Dell was able to record his 44th win of his career tying him for 10th all-time at UND.

“He [Dell] played great,” junior forward Danny Kristo said of his goalie’s performance. “He made three or four saves that could have been goals.

“Awesome for him. He has been sick and battling injuries for the last two weeks, so he came in to night and played good. Everyone is happy for him.”

The third period was more action packed, as both teams were able to light the lamp and give the home team fans something to cheer about and the Fighting Sioux were able to gut out a 4-2 win.
Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol was pleased with his team’s effort.

“I thought our ability to answer back after giving up the first one early in the game was very important,” Hakstol said.

“We got a couple of grinding goals down low on the crease, after that. Once they [Mavericks] made it a one-goal game in the third period, we had a couple of guys that made a big play to extend it to a two goal lead again.”

With the loss tonight, the Mavericks dropped to 12-21-2, 8-17-2 WCHA record. The Mavericks remain in 11th place of the WCHA standings and they travel to Minnesota Duluth for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

With the win, the Fighting Sioux secured fourth place in the WCHA standings and will play the ninth-placed team in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the Fighting Sioux improve to 19-12-3, 15-11-1 WCHA.

The same two teams play tomorrow night.

Related articles

• North Dakota vs. Minnesota State: Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Eidsness leads UND past MTU 4-2 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Lucky Bounces Save Sioux in Tie (insidehockey.com)
• Sioux vs. Mavericks series notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND stops UMD 3-1 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Fighting Sioux vs. Mavericks game one

Fighting Sioux 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) – 20 Joe Gleason
8 Dan Senkbeil–13 Connor Gaarder– No forward.

Fighting Sioux Defensive Pairings. 

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

Fighting Sioux Goalies 

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

UND Injuries: Forwards Taylor Dickin is out (lower body injury), Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell is out (season ending surgery), Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery).


Fighting Sioux Players Stats 

MSU-M Mavericks Forward lines

23 Michael Door (C) - 19 Zach Lehrke - 8 Max Gaede
12 Jean-Paul Lafontaine - 18 Matt Leitner - 25 Eriah Hayes
24 Adam Mueller - 26 Joe Schiller - 22 Johnny McInnis
15 J.P. Burkemper - 29 Eli Zuck - 14 Justin Jokinen

Mavericks Defense Pairing

16 Tyler Elbrecht (C) - 2 Josh Nelson
7 Zach Palmquist - 17 Evan Mosey
3 Cameron Cooper - 27 Brett Stern

Maverick Goalies

30 Phil Cooke
1 Austin Lee

Maverick Player Stats


 Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.
Webcast:  www.fightingSioux.com
TV Friday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, MidcoSN3
TV Saturday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Pacific, MidcoSN3
*Note this weekend’s games will not be on DirecTV.

Related articles

• North Dakota vs. Minnesota State: Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Sioux vs. Mavericks series notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Fighting Sioux nickname debate makes Fox News (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Michigan Tech vs. North Dakota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• MTU vs. UND series Notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND vs. DU Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• UND vs. DU Series Notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND vs. MTU game 2 lines (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Devin Setoguchi's epic fail.

Minnesota Wild forward Devin Setoguchi scored the game tying goal with ten seconds  remaining in the third period of last night's game against the Montreal Canadians. Setoguchi's goal tied the game to send the game to overtime. The Wild and the Canadians didn't score during the extra session.

Setoguchi was able to go from hero to goat in about ten minutes in time with this epic failure. Fast forward to the shootout, the Wild forward  Setoguchi has a chance to extend the shootout, but he falls flat on his face during his failed attempt in the shootout.

Related articles

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Fighting Sioux nickname debate makes Fox News

The Fighting Sioux nickname debate has picked up national exposure and not all of it's very possitive. There are many stories on line, almost too many to count. All you have to do is run a search on google.com with Fighting Sioux nickname and logo and you will get thousands of hits.

One common story is this one -> The NCAA is saying don't bring the nickname and log to the playoffs.

Here is my suggestion, if you're going to have a debate about an issue on national television, at least have the facts right when you come to the table to debate. None of these three had all of their facts straight and basically makes the argument pointless. I would at least expect a person that is arguing as a legal scholar to a least have the facts right before you go on camera.

The one person that was the most informed of the three on the issue, was Fox News host Jenna Lee. While she was the most informed one of the three, and the most prepared for the debate and she still was missing a few of the key important facts.

Franklin's letter says if UND's use of the nickname and logo forces the school to forfeit games, the NCAA may demand that the university reimburse it for its travel and meal costs in connection with the championship. "It is the spirit of the NCAA's championship policy that the competing student-athletes (both North Dakota and its opponents) not be distracted or disrupted during the championship by debates about when and where your institution's Native American imagery or nickname may be displayed or worn," Franklin said in the letter. [read the whole article]

Here is another story that is flat out wrong. This time in the Hockey News.

Of course it’s the players who lose out here. The men’s team has “neutral-themed” jerseys on order in case the squad makes it to the Frozen Four – and with 15 NHL draft picks on the roster, including first-rounders Brock Nelson and Derek Forbort, that’s not a stretch – but state law would prevent them from wearing the alternative sweaters. What, exactly, is the university’s sports department supposed to do?

No where in the nickname law does it say that UND can't wear the alternative sweaters, I don't know where that person is ever getting this incorrect fact?

Related articles

• So what if we keep the name? A devil's advocate look at the nickname. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• The Egregiousness of the NCAA and North Dakota University (onemorecup.wordpress.com)
• Letter from the NCAA to UND (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• NCAA: Don't bring Fighting Sioux name to playoffs (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Future Stars - Amlong and McGrath

The USHL has been a breeding ground for the up and coming stars of the NCAA and the NHL. Next year, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are losing two good ones, Greg Amlong and Ryan McGrath, to the UMass-Lowell River Hawks. The River Hawks are having a respectable season at 14-0-6, standing 5th in Hockey East.  It will only get better with these two in their stable.

After playing together in the 2009-2010 season for the St. Louis Jr. Blues of the CSHL, McGrath and Amlong both came to the RoughRiders for the last 2 years and they have been very powerful for the team.

Ryan McGrath is a 20 year old forward from O'Fallon, MO. After suffering an early season wrist injury, he has played only 24 games this year, but has come back with a vengeance holding 7 goals and 11 assists in that time. This has been pretty consistent with his 18 goals and 24 assists in 58 games last year. Ryan is a leader on the ice with an infectious energy that permeates the team.

Greg Amlong is a 20 year old defenseman also from O'Fallon, MO. Greg has played 44 games this season with 9 goals and 15 assists. Perhaps more impressive is his 94-mph slapshot that seems to fly through the goalie on its way into the net. Greg is focused on the ice with his eye always on the puck as he protects the crease and his goalie.

Sioux vs. Mavericks series notes

Image via Wikipedia

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux entertain the Minnesota State Mavericks at Ralph Englestad Arena March 2-3, 2012.

Game Time: 7:37 pm CT Friday and 7:07 pm CT Saturday Night

Records and Rankings:  University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (18-12-3 overall, 14-11-1 WCHA); The Fighting Sioux are ranked 14th in the USCHO poll and 15th in the USA Today Poll. North Dakota split their weekend series against Denver University (4-3 W, 3-5 L). OfficialRelease

Minnesota State University Mavericks (12-20-2, 8-16-2 WCHA) are not ranked in either national poll. The Mavericks were idle last weekend.  Official Release

Series History:  The UND Fighting Sioux leads the all-time series against the Mavericks 35-10-7.  Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol owns a 20-3-2 record against the Mavericks. The Fighting Sioux is 16-1-1 in the last 18 games against the Mavericks.


 Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

Webcast:  www.fightingSioux.com

TV Friday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central,MidcoSN3
TV Saturday: UND Sports Network, Fox College Sports Pacific, MidcoSN3 
*******Note this weekend's games will not be on DirecTV.**********


Players to Watch:

For UND: Forwards: Danny Kristo (15g-21a—36pts), Corbin Knight (12g-20a—32pts) and Brock Nelson (22g-16a—38pts), Carter Rowney (16g-9a—25pts). Defense: Nick Mattson (5g-11a—16pts), Dillon Simpson, (1g-14a—15pts), Ben Blood (2g-14a—16pts).  Goaltenders: Aaron Dell .891 save percentage and a 2.91 goals against average. Brad Eidsness .914 save percentage and a 2.30 goals against average.

UND Injuries: Forwards Taylor Dickin is out,  Rocco Grimaldi is out (season knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell is out (season ending surgery), Derek Rodwell is out (season shoulder surgery).

For Minnesota State: Forwards: Jean-Paul Lafontaine (13g-15a—28pts), Matt Leitner (8g-18a—27pts), Eriah Hayes (13g-10a—23pts) Michael Dorr (8g-10a—18pts). Defense: Zach Palmquist (6g-12a—18pts), Evan Mosey (2g-8a—10pts).  Goaltenders: Austin Lee .905 save percentage and a 3.20 goals against average Phil Cook .890 save percentage and a 3.50 goals againstaverage.

Other games in the WCHA: Wisconsin at Minnesota, DU at Nebraska Omaha, Michigan Tech at Colorado College, Minnesota Duluth at Saint Cloud State, Bemidji State at Alaska Anchorage

Related articles

• WCHA Power Rankings: 2/28/12 (insidehockey.com)
• Michigan Tech vs. North Dakota Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• Goon's WCHA Power Rankings 2/26/2012 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND vs. DU Series Notes (insidehockey.com)
• MTU vs. UND series Notes (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Goon and Lucic agree on Fighting

Image via Wikipedia

Huh! I looks like Boston Bruins tough guy Milan Lucic has the same stance that I do when it comes to Fighting in Junior Hockey. In fact he is saying many of the same things that I have.

“I’m totally against it,” Lucic told The Province on Wednesday.

“I think there will be more injuries because there’d be no fear of fighting. The game will become dirtier. And, for myself, I don’t think I could have made the NHL the way I did without it.”

 Lucic, maintains, though, that fighting in junior “kept me out of trouble because it’s a way of getting my aggression out.” . [The Providence]

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• Corvo expects Turris to answer the bell. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• 2012 NHL Trade Deadline Breakdown (Part 3) (insidehockey.com)
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A "Dirty" Hit that wasn't (RW77)

Last night, I watched the Dallas vs. Pittsburgh game (unfortunately, Pittsburgh won in a shootout). However, during the game, there was a hit that got everyone talking.

I do not know how to embed but: Here is the video.

The Stars (and former Michigan star) Eric Nystrom hits Pens Defenseman Kris Letang high-ish.

Mike Milbury (aka the idiot in this post) and Jeremy Roenick (who usually is the idiot but in this case was right on) had an on air argument over this hit.

Here's the pros and cons on it being a dirty hit:

1. Pro: Nystrom makes no move to get the puck.
2. Con: If Nystrom made head contact, it was the brushing of his shoulder on Letang's chin.
3. Pro: Injury to the head occurred.
4. Con: Injury was more to the effect of the big hit rather than the shoulder.
5. Con: Main impact area is Letang's shoulder/collarbone. He got rocked and the impact alone would have knocked most guys out of the game anyways, imo.
6. Con: Letang was coming out of the corner and his head was down.
7. Con: Letang was away from the boards and his back was not turned to Nystrom at the time of impact.

In the end, Milbury ended up having a stroke on air (exaggeration) because even incidental or the brushing of the head should be a suspendable offense. Roenick correctly stated that if there is fault for the hit, it rests on Letang. Nystrom did not leave his skates nor made any distinguishable upward motion of the shoulders to attempt to headhunt.

Milbury went on to rant that hits like these should be eliminated from the game. This was NOT a head shot! It was whiplash due to the extreme and sudden change in direction of Letang's right shoulder exaggerated by the helmet hitting the ice.

This hit cannot be made illegal or the slippery slope will become a cliff.

My stance against banning fighting

There is a lot of talk about eliminating fighting from the game of hockey. In fact this call is at an all time high right now. Unless you live in a vacuum, you will know that there are a fair number of  hockey pundits (most of which have never played the game of hockey) that are racing to jump on the eliminate fighting from all levels of hockey, band wagon. It's getting crowded fast. 

I for one am not a big fan of this idea. I think it's highly flawed, short sighted and flat out wrong.

Here is why. I believe that there are a lot of “Rats” in hockey, you know the ones, these are the gutless pukes that have no regard for their opponents, players like Matt Cooke, Max LaPierre, Jordin Tootoo, Jarkko Ruutu, Alexandre Burrows and they will run wild, if left unchecked, especially if they don’t have to face the music or look over their shoulder.

These types of players will flourish and morph, if they know they don't have to face the music and don’t have something to keep them honest.

I am dead serious, you will also see more of these “Rats” surface "if" hockey is transitioned to non-fight sport. 

If fighting is eliminated from hockey, this will be the direct cause of a lot of gratuitous. unneeded and brutal violence. Eliminating fighting will cause injuries will spike as well.

This is because a player won’t be able to settle differences on the ice like men and you will see also see a lot more of the dangerous checking from behind and boarding incidents, many of which will lead to serious injury.

One could make the argument that this is the reason you see some many of the dangerous hits in the NCAA, which is a non-fight league. I guarantee that you would see a lot less of the extra after the whistle garbage from the agitators in the NCAA, if these players had to answer for their antics on the ice, once in a while.

How many times have we seen a game where there is a fight and after the fight the games settles down and the teams play hockey again.

As we have seen this past season, we can not count on the NHL to protect the players and most of the concussions that players have suffered this season are as a result of dangerous dirty and or high hits.

I broke it down recently in this blog post with my favorite team, the Boston Bruins, which currently has 3-4 players currently out with symptoms that would suggest that they have post concussion syndrome. None of these guys were injured in fights but injured with high hits. So what next eliminate checking from hockey?

I don’t agree with Bob Boughner on a lot of things. But I do think he is right in this situation.

We’re on a very, very dangerous slope,” Boughner said. “We’re preparing guys for the next level and if you toughen the rules and get rid of it (fighting) in the game, it would have to coincide with the NHL and AHL. “If they’re not doing it, then you’re putting kids (looking to go pro) in a tough situation.” Taking fighting out of amateur hockey might also take away an enforcer’s ability to battle for an NHL roster spot [The Windsor Star].

I also think before we run off and drastically make unneeded changes to the game of hockey maybe they need to talk to the hockey people first.

“When you eliminate the opportunity for players to quote-unquote defend themselves, there’s significantly more stickwork, significantly more bullying or verbal abuse, where a player knows if he does something he can get that other player out of the game,” said Kelly McClintock, who as general manager of the Saskatchewan Hockey Association is in charge of amateur hockey in the province. [New York Times]