Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Daniel Sedin loses a tooth against the Kings



Ouch! L.A. Kings forward Jake Muzzin received a double-minor for high-sticking Vancouver Canucks forward Daniel Sedin in the mouth. That has to hurt? But he's a hockey players so he has to be tough right? Oh Daniel Sedin had a nice smile right? Sedin would return to the game.
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Went to a hockey game and a football game broke out



Sundays are made for watching the Vikings lose on football.
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Boston Bruins: Torey Krug O.T. thriller



Thank you Michigan State. Torey Krug has become kind of a rock star in Boston. The Boston Bruins (16-6-2), first in the Eastern Conference are 7-0-2 in their past nine game at home. Torey Krug also has points in three straight games (1g-2a—3pts) and has scored (7g-8a—15pts) on the season and is fourth on the Bruins in scoring.
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Monday, November 25, 2013

Top-eight teams in the NHL


Check out the top-eight teams in the NHL so far. The Minnesota Wild are ranked sixth right now. The Boston Bruins have the best goals against, before tonight's game. Top-seven teams are western teams.
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Highlights from Saturday's game between UND and BU



s/t to Hockey East online. Really nice job on the video.
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UND Slips and Falls out of both polls




Sunday, November 24, 2013

(Video) Drake Caggiula Elbowing Penalty



North Dakota's Drake Caggiula was assessed a two-minute minor for elbowing at the 3:32 mark of the third period. Terriers forward Kevin Duane scored 1:27 later to give the BU a 3-0 lead. In my opinion, this is a shoulder-to-shoulder check. This is not a penalty. Elbowing?
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UND ties Boston University 3-3

Seal of the University of North Dakota
Seal of the University of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Last night, the University of North Dakota put a season high 58 shots on the Boston University net, but still had to settle for a 3-3 tie. Standing in the way of a UND victory, was Terrier goalie Matt O’Connor. The sophomore goalie was nothing short of amazing, as he stopped a career-high 55 shots. Many of his saves were of the spectacular variety. Yes, I am cuing the hot goalie storyline.

I didn't know that was a crime? 

If it wasn’t for O’Connor, the game “probably” would’ve been very one sided, as UND attacked the BU net in waves. It was one of UND’s best efforts of the season, as they held a 58-31 shot advantage over the Terriers.

“He’s a good goalie,” UND junior forward Stephane Pattyn said.

According to the UND SID Jayson Hadju, that’s the most shots that UND has put on net in a game since December 30, 2000, when UND put 65 shots on the goal, to beat Princeton 4-1.  

Did I mention the play of the BU goalie? So did UND’s head coach Dave Hakstol.

“That’s the game of hockey,” Hakstol said. “Their guy (Matt O’Connor) played well in net.”
“We played a better game tonight than we did last night,” Hakstol said. “As usual when you come out on an eastern swing you usually run into different challenges. Obviously, we ran into some challenges this weekend, but we probably got better as a hockey team.”  

While some will look at this weekend as a lost weekend, I think you can look this weekend as a building block, moving forward. UND came out last night and was on their toes for most of the game. Rocco Grimaldi was the best player on the ice for UND. Second best player for UND was junior forward Brendan O’Donnell, who looked really good in his return to the lineup, after missing five games due to injury.

I think he was the difference in the game for UND. I would imagine that UND should get Mark MacMillan back soon. Moving forward, I wonder, if we will see the all junior line of Mark MacMillan, Michael Parks and O’D? That line seemed to have some chemistry together before the run of bad luck and injuries took hold for UND.

Stats, stats, stats

On Saturday night, UND was one-for-seven on the power-play, and had 19 of its 31 shots on the power-play. UND was one-for-nine (.10%) on the power-play for the weekend.
After writing an article about UND forward Rocco Grimaldi and Drake Caggiula,  Grimaldi had a six game point streak snapped last night and Caggiula was kept off of the score sheet all weekend long.
After last night’s game, Zane Gothberg’s season numbers 2-5-2, 2.84 GAA, .906 save percentage.
After this Friday’s game, Clarke Saunder’s season numbers 2-1-0, 3.50 GAA, save percentage .910.
This season, UND is 1-1-2 against Hockey East this season.

Looking ahead to next weekend 

With the tie the University of North Dakota is (4-6-2, 3-5-0 NCHC) and entertains ECAC opponent St Lawrence (7-5-2, 2-2-2 ECAC) at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, in an important two game nonconference series. 
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Saturday, November 23, 2013

A couple of coaches have a chat


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(Video) Brendan O'Donnell Slashing Penalty



At the 16:57 mark of the third period, Brendan O'Donnell was incorrectly assessed a two-minute minor penalty for slashing. You can see by the video that O'Donnell never should have been given a penalty. That was a blown call by Kevin Shea. Thank God it didn't cost UND the game. 

My six-year old child could tell you that this was a bad penalty. This was a blown call by the Hockey East officiating crew. In my opinion, I thought that Scott Hansen, Kevin Shea made some ticky-tacky calls all night long. Hate to say it, but I would rather have some of the officials that we have had in the WCHA. There's no excuse for this call. 
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A New Drinking Game for UND Hockey



This one is actually funny. I still like the one where you take a drink in the post game press conference when head coach Dave Hakstol says, "You know."
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Let's not jump off the Sorlie Bridge yet... UND hockey

Sorlie Bridge connecting Grand Forks, ND to Ea...
Sorlie Bridge connecting Grand Forks, ND to East Grand Forks, MN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Site information: Yesterday I tried to install the Disqus commenting system and I couldn’t get it to work. I am going to take another crack at installing the Disqus commenting system when I get a chance. If anyone is good at HTML code and wants to help me, let me known and I will buy you a couple of beers.

I also deleted my Intensedebate comments system. So I don’t have a real commenting system right now. You can comment on the blog if you have a Goggle + Account. Which is the wave of the future, or so I have been told. I am also in the process of redesigning my blog; I have no Idea where I want to go with it.

Last night’s game.


First off, I don’t see any reason to jump off the Sorlie Bridge (pick your bride, Sorlie, Kennedy, Columbia, Point). Not yet, but if want to jump ship, make sure to cut a hole in the ice so you don’t break your neck. I am not ready to give up on this team.

Rocco Grimaldi seems to think that the boys can right the ship.

Contrary to what some say, I think that there’s talent on the UND hockey team. Let's take a deep breath. I think that the goaltending has been questionable, but that will come. I thought Clarke Saunders was left out to dry last night. One the on goal, I thought that he was caught cheating as well.  I think that Zane Gothberg has had concentration issues and needs to focus.

I find do it comical that some fans are panicking already. We have seen this drill before. There’s a lot of season left. In nine plus seasons that Dave Hakstol’s has been the head coach, his teams, have been second half teams. Only exceptions, were the 2010-11 (Frozen Four team) and the 2012-13 season (Lost in the West Region to Yale).

This is a young team. It’s not an excuse. Last week during the Wednesday hockey press conference Dave Hakstol said, “This is a young team.” I was actually shocked that he said it. Hakstol wasn’t offering up an excuse, just stating a fact. I see no panic in the man’s body language. Although, the head coach didn’t look happy very happy either.

I know it’s cliché, but there’s a lot of season left. Sure, UND hasn’t looked very good so far this season. But, let’s examine reality. UND has 11 healthy forwards skating right now. That’s not an excuse, that’s brutal reality.

I have said this before and I will say it again. You don't hang Banners for winning in the early season. There’s no award given for the best record in October, November, December and January.

From the UND game notes: UND head coach Dave Hakstol, now in his 10th season behind the bench of his alma mater, is the only active head coach in Division I men’s hockey who has recorded a winning record in every season as a head coach. That includes Jerry York. 

Last night’s game


I thought the guys took some undisciplined penalties at key times during last night’s game. That has to stop if they’re going to be successful this season. 

From my perspective, from my seat on the couch last night, I thought the officials called some horrible ticky-tacky penalties last night. When I went back and looked at the play on my DVR, I thought where was the penalty on that call?  I don’t like the way that Hockey East officials call their games. I think that ECAC officials calls the game much like they do in the West. 

Brutal!

In my opinion, I felt that the refs let the Terriers get away with a lot of things that could have been called penalties both ways. That's how I saw it. I will be doing some video work this week. Let's also give credit, where credit is due. I thought BU played a pretty good hockey game, too. 

This is what head coach Dave Hakstol had to say about last night’s game. It is what it is. There’s no sugar coating it with Dave Hakstol, he call it like he see it. I don’t see him making any excuses.

“I thought BU played well tonight,” Dave Hakstol said.  “They capitalized on opportunities, did a good job on the power play.”

This is what the head coach had say on UND’s penalty trouble and trying to fight back after falling behind.

“I thought we had a real good first seven, eight minutes of the game. We spent last half of the period killing penalties.” “Had a two goal deficit, that’s hard to overcome on the road.”

“BU did a good job defending,” Hakstol said. “We had to attempt to kill five penalties in a row.

The head coach was asked about the team’s injuries.

“We had 20 guys dressed,” Hakstol said. That’s not an issue what-so-ever that’s not a topic in our locker room.

A couple of stats


During the 2011-12 season, UND started the season 4-7-1.

UND is 3-2-1 on Friday nights, 0-4-1 on Saturday nights and finally, 1-0-0 on Sunday nights.

Clarke Saunders 2-1-0, 3.50 GAA, .910 save percentage.
Rocco Grimaldi (4g-7a—11pts)
Drake Caggiula (4g-4a—8pts)
Michael Parks (3g-5a—8pts)

Goals for 29
Goals against 36
Scoring margin 40/59
Penalty Minutes 28
UND power play 26

UND penalty kill 10
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Friday, November 22, 2013

Classy Move by the Lincoln Stars



Classy move by the Lincoln Stars to honor their former coach Chad Johnson who passed away this week.

Amazing save by Josh Harding: Avoidance of the subject


You should never get to high or too low. Josh Harding is a perfect example of this. Last year, Harding was diagnosed with M.S. and ended up missing most of the season. He came back and played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks.  Now, this year, he's the Minnesota Wild starter. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Harding could be an All-Star.
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Mark me down for no! (Canada's Jersey)



Mark me down as not being a fan of the jersey.

UND Hockey: The Weekend Ahead (11/22 -11/23)

This weekend, the University of North Dakota travels to Boston, Massachusetts to play the Boston University Terriers at Agganis Arena in a nonconference series.   Last weekend, UND split their weekend series with the UMD Bulldogs (4-2 W, 3-6 L). This is the first time that UND will visit Agganis Arena since the 2008-09 season.
Matchup: North Dakota (4-5-1, 3-5-0 NCHC) vs. Boston University (5-6-0, 2-3-0 Hockey East).
Date: November 22-23, 2013.
Time: 6:40 p.m. Friday / Saturday 6:07 p.m. Agganis Arena (6,150).
Radio: UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM)  The Fox : NBC Sports Radio AM 1510
Webcast: None
TV: NBC Sports Network (Friday) • Midco Sports Network, NESN (Saturday)
Series HistoryRecord All-time UND leads the series 12-8-1 (.595). In Grand Forks, UND leads the series 6-1-1 (.813). In Boston, the Terriers lead the series 6-4-0 (.600) On neutral ice, UND leads 2-1-0 (.667). Under Hakstol: Series is tied 2-2-0 (.500). Last 10 games, UND trails the series 4-5-1 (.450). Last year, UND split with BU (4-2 W, 2-4 L) at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Players to watch:
North DakotaForwards: Rocco Grimaldi (3g-7a—10pts), Drake Caggiula (4g-4a—8pts), Michael Parks (3g-4a—7pts), Luke Johnson (1g-4a—5pts), Defense:  Dillon Simpson (1g-5a—6pts), Nick Mattson (1g-4a—5pts), Troy Stecher (1g-3a—4pts), Jordan Schmaltz (1g-1a—2pts). Goaltenders: Clarke Saunders 2-0-0, GAA 3.62 and .906 save percentage, Zane Gothberg 2-5-1, 2.86 GAA and .907 save percentage.
UND injuries: Colten St. Clair, Mark MacMillan, Derek Rodwell, Brendan O’Donnell.
Boston University TerriersForwards: Robbie Baillargeon (3g-6a—9pts), Cason Hohmann (2g-6a—8pts), Danny O’Reagan (4g-3a—7pts), Matt Lane (3g-4a—7pts). Defense: Anti Oksanen 2g7a—9pts), Garrett Noonan (2g-6a—8pts). Goalies: Sean Magurie 1-4-0, 2.49 GAA, 929 save percentage, Matt O’Connor 4-2-0, 3.08 GAA, .913 save percentage.





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Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T………Points
Denver…………………..…3-2-1…………..11
Nebraska-Omaha…………3-1-0…………..9
St. Could St……………….3-1-0…………...9
North Dakota………………3-5-0……….….9
Miami……………………….2-2-0……….….6
Minnesota-Duluth…………2-2-0……….….6
Western Michigan………..2-2-0…………...6 
Colorado College………...1-4-1…….….….4


NCHC Games

Colorado College @ # St. Cloud State.
Last weekend the Huskies swept the hapless UAH Chargers in Huntsville (10-0, 4-3) and the Tigers lost to the Falcons (3-1) on Tuesday evening in Colorado Springs.

The Tigers will look to move out of the NCHC basement this weekend with a trip to St. Cloud.  But they will have a tough go of it, against a high caliber Huskies team.  The Huskies will have it a little harder than last weekend’s games in Huntsville.  Still, SCSU has the better team.  HUSKIES SWEEP


# Miami @ Nebraska-Omaha
Last weekend the RedHawks split (2-0W, 3-2L) with the UW Badgers in Oxford and the Mavericks split with Michigan (3-2W, 4-3L) in Omaha.

This is series for Omaha is the end of their gauntlet stretch (NoDak, UMich, UMiami) in November.  If the Mavericks can get another split they will be well deserving of a BIG thanksgiving dinner.  The RedHawks have also split their last two series as well.  I say they both continue on their splitting streaks.  SPLIT


Non-Conference Games

# Minnesota-Duluth @ #1 Minnesota (Fri/Sun)
Last weekend the Bulldogs split (4-2L, 6-3W) with NoDak in Grand Forks and the Gophers swept the Minnesota State Mavericks (4-1, 3-0) in Minneapolis.

The Bulldogs travel south down I-35 for this weekend tilts with in-state foe the Gophers.

This will be UMD’s third weekend in a row on the road; the Bulldogs have split their last four series.  The Gophers have played a couple of quality series (BC, ND) this season, but didn’t sweep those series.  Now after this weekend the number one team in the country has a fairly soft schedule the rest of the season.  I think the Bulldogs will have another split on their record come Sunday evening.  SPLIT


# North Dakota @ Boston University
Last weekend NoDak split the Bulldogs (4-2W, 6-3L) in Grand Forks and the Terriers lost at Maine (7-0) and won at home against Connecticut (4-1).

A year ago the Terries made the trip to Grand Forks and this year NoDak travels to BU for the return games.  If they could this would be a good rivalry to keep going into the future.  Both teams are still trying to find their ways this season, winning some and losing some.  I think it continues on for both in Boston.  SPLIT


Michigan State vs Western Michigan
Last weekend the Broncos were swept by the Pioneers (5-3, 1-0) in Denver, and the Spartans were swept by Michigan Tech (3-0, 3-2ot) in Houghton.

The Broncos are on four game winless streak and will be looking to right the ship this weekend against an in-state foe.  The Spartans are winless on the road, so this home and home series might be what the doctor ordered.  I’m taking the home team, teams.  SPLIT


Air Force vs Denver
Last weekend the Falcons beat the CC Tigers (3-1) and the Pioneers swept the WMU Broncos (5-3, 1-0) in Denver. 

The Pioneer have won three in a row and are undefeated in four games.  Now they start playing a lot more road games, six out of the next seven are away from Magness Arena.
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Ref Humor



Funny story, last Saturday Night, @StatsOnCrack told me to meet him down by the referee's dressing room after the warm up between UND and the UMD Bulldogs. I was introduced to on-ice official Derek Shepherd. That was kind of awkward and I said, "I hope I haven't been too hard on you." Shepherd said, "Don't worry, I talk behind your back as well." He told me to keep up the good work. Apparently, the refs like the videos I post.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

UND's injury situation



Last Saturday night, after the game against the UMD Bulldogs, UND head coach Dave Hakstol said that he would get Mark MacMillan some time off to heal what ails him. It was obvious to all of us that MacMillan was hurt. Hakstol said he's suffering from an undisclosed injury and that he had no choice to play him because of numbers. Mark will make the trip to Boston, but not play against the BU Terriers.


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BU Hockey: The Season (Episode 1 - A New Day)



Not exactly Through These Doors production by any stretch of the imagination, but pretty good, none-the-less. Also, the BU Terriers’ first year head coach David Quinn seems like a no nonsense kind of guy. Should be a good series. BU is one of my favorite opponents for UND to play.
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