Denver 6, North Dakota 4 (Video)

When  it's was all said and done, UND's sloppy play in their own end was one of the major reasons they lost Friday's game against Denver. That being said, it was definitely an exciting game.

Defensively, the pairing of Paul LaDue and Keaton Thompson had very rough night. I would imagine that the coaching staff will have a chat with them tomorrow at the morning skate.

Credit to Denver for playing a good game, too. They played a good 200-foot game and capitalized off of the turnovers.

Tonight, it was a poor team effort all the way around. The forward play of a few lines was not very good at all. Not the end of the world. The mistakes that were made tonight are minor. However, these numbers below should concern us all.

Bryn Chyzyk	0	0	0	-3	4	0
Luke Johnson	0	0	0	-4	3	0
Paul LaDue	0	0	0	-2	4	0
Austin Poganski	0	1	1	-3	2	2
Tucker Poolman	0	1	1	-2	4	0
Keaton Thompson	0	0	0	-2	1	0

Hatfields and Mccoys Round Two - Lines (UND vs. DU)

Some lineup changes from last game. Senior forward Coltyn Sanderson and Chris Wilkie, and Hayden Shaw are out of the lineup. For UND. There's some good new, Todd Anderson will NOT be reffing tonight's game. :-)

Friday Links

Big Ten’s Traviolia weighs in on fan frustrations, attendance, league’s future plans [USCHO.COM]

Finally, the UND hockey teams is back to full strength. [UND Hockey Blog]

The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs are probably going to have to win the NCHC tourney to make the NCAA playoffs: College men’s hockey: Hard way only way left for UMD after loss to Bemidji State [Duluth News Tribune]

Bemidji State Hockey: Road trip continues with key series at Lake Superior State [Bemidji Pioneer]

Minnesota-Hockey: B1G Idiot Leads Big Ten Hockey [ Daily Gopher]

MEN’S HOCKEY: Poolman a big piece for UND [Grand Forks Herald]

WOMEN’S HOCKEY: UND’s German-born defenseman and Crookston-born forward have become inseparable [Grand Forks Herald]

UND HOCKEY: For the first time this season, UND has a full lineup available [Grand Forks Herald]

DU-UND 1994: The Last of the Great College Hockey Brawls [Let’s Go DU]

Some Pairwise news from Jim Dahl: North Dakota eyeing taking #1 from Quinnipiac, but don’t count out St. Cloud [collegehockeyranked.com]

North Dakota Fans Begin to Arrive [Let’s Go DU]

Matt VanVoorhis grew up North Dakota fan, dreamed of playing for Denver Pioneers [Denver Post]

Breaking Down the NCHC Conference Races [SBN College Hockey]

Gophers-Ohio State men’s hockey game preview [Star Tribune]

Between the Lines: Potpourri [College Hockey News]

Patrice Bergeron vs Blake Wheeler (Video)

Announcer, "We've got Wheeler and Bergeron. Really."

I couldn't believe it either. Patrice Bergeron came after Blake Wheeler. This was the fist fight for both players this season.

Neither players fight very often. Wheeler has been in seven NHL fights and Bergeron has been in four NHL fights.

Sioux Shop Selling Dacotah Legacy Merchandise

There's been some discussion about the REA selling merchandise with the Fighting Sioux nickname. Of course, there will be some that will not be happy about this.

I was told that the clothing with the Fighting Sioux logo has been going like hot cakes. This is your chance to get something new with the Fighting Sioux logo.

Today, when I was at the Ralph, it looked like they had just gotten a new shipment of goodies.

In addition to the University of North Dakota’s prudent decision to protect intellectual property, UND is required by 2007 settlement agreement with the NCAA to protect certain University trademarks. To protect these marks, the University must continue to use the marks and monitor unauthorized uses.

The first edition of the Dacotah Legacy Collection went on sale Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 and were sold exclusively at Scheels All Sports in Grand Forks and at the Sioux Shop at Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA). Since then, select commemorative items have been produced for exclusive sale at the Sioux Shop at REA. (UNDSports.com)

Rob Port of Sayanythingblog.com has a blog post about UND selling the merchandise bearing the Fighting Sioux logo. I am not sure why some are shocked by this, the University did say that they were going to do this from time-to-time to protect the trademark.

Beanpot 2016: Minnesota Wild Draft Choice Alex Tuch Scores the Game-Winning Goal

This is a perfect example of why you try to get the puck deep. Great goal if you're an Eagles fan. Tough break if your cheer for the Terriers. It was an exciting game.

Minnesota Wild draft choice Alex Tuch scores the game-winning goal to give the Boston College Eagles the Beanpot championship. Tuch overtime goal gave the Eagles a 1-0 win. The first in the Beanpots 64-year history.

#mnwild prospect, @alextuch17 with the OT winner in the #Beanpot for Boston College 🏒 https://t.co/sxl6zrB5Ak

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 9, 2016

Beanpot 2016: Ahti Oksanen's Academy Award Performance (Embellishment)

Boston College forward Miles Wood was assessed a two-minute minor for boarding. First, the penalty was probably appropriate. That being said, what disgusts me was the acting job by Boston University senior forward Ahti Oksanen. His performance was worthy of an Academy Award. Oksanen miraculously recovered to play on the ensuing penalty.

This is the same guy that put on the acting job at the Ralph when BU and UND played on November 2, 2012., UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam checked Oksanen with a shoulder-to-shoulder hit. We've seen this act before.

Obviously, the hit was late, but there was a late whistle, too.  Oksanen actually shot the puck on the UND net after the whistle. Oksanen laid on the ice as if he was hurt badly and then somehow miraculously recovered on the bench, well enough to come back during the five-minute power play and score a goal for BU, his first of his career.

I knew we had seen this act before.

(Video) Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton Walks Out Of Post Game Interview

This is what I don't understand. You're paid millions of dollars to play a sport. Football is a team game, the Panthers played poorly as a team.

More specifically, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton played horribly. On many occasions, Newton overthrew his receivers. The Panthers line did a poor job of protecting their quarterback.

He tried to force the ball into double and triple coverage. You can't do that. I think the Denver Broncos did a good job of throwing Newton off his game. On a few occasions, I thought that the Broncos did a good job of disguising their coverage.

Your team got their ass kicked and lost. I think as a player, you should sit and answer questions from the media/writers. They want to hear what you have to say. Be a man, step up and face the music. Don't act like a spoiled brat.

Tom Dennis: Shield UND's logo selection from budget cuts

I don't always agree with Tom Dennis of the Grand Forks Herald, but this time he has a great point. Stopping the process because one college professor is concerned about the cost is not  a good idea.

Tom Dennis, Grand Forks Herald -- As a UND faculty member put it at the meeting, the logo "cannot be a priority for the university at this time.

"It is not respectful of the financial decisions we must make, nor at this moment does it further the needs of our students, staff and faculty."

But here's the thing: This year of all years, UND's new logo is central—not marginal—to the university. Choosing it will help the university as a whole.

And that, in turn, would help students, staff and faculty—by stamping "Closed" on one of UND's most divisive controversies and letting the newly liberated university get back to work.

While some people are worried about the cost of the nickname logo design, we don't know, the actual cost of the UND president search. The price tag of that process remains a mystery. I am more concerned about that.

UND Second in this Week's USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

February 08, 2016

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Quinnipiac	(37)	21- 1-6	984	1
2	North Dakota	(12)	22- 3-3	953	2
3	Boston College	( 1)	19- 4-4	890	4
4	St. Cloud State		23- 6-1	851	3
5	Providence		19- 5-4	793	6
6	Michigan		17- 4-4	748	5
7	Boston University		16- 7-4	685	9
8	Notre Dame		16- 5-7	610	10
9	Harvard		13- 6-3	591	7
10	Yale		14- 5-4	574	11
11	Massachusetts-Lowell		17- 6-5	511	8
12	Nebraska-Omaha		16- 9-1	436	12
13	Denver		13- 8-5	418	13
14	Michigan Tech		16- 7-5	336	15
15	Cornell		12- 7-4	256	17
16	Penn State		17- 8-3	241	16
17	Minnesota State		15-10-5	144	18
18	Rensselaer		14-10-6	123	14
19	Bowling Green		16- 9-6	119	19
20	Clarkson		15-10-3	67	NR
Others receiving votes: Robert Morris 64, Dartmouth 52, St. Lawrence 22, Minnesota-Duluth 14, Minnesota 6, Miami 4, Union 4, Ferris State 3, Air Force 1.

The University of North Dakota remains in second in this week’s USCHO poll. UND coming off a bye week remained in the third of the pairwise rankings. 

Let’s take a look at the NCHC. St. Cloud State dropped a spot in the USCHO rankings, but remained in second place of the more important Pairwise Rankings. Rough patch aside, UNO is 12th in the USCHO poll, but in 9th place of the Pairwise rankings. If the NCAA playoffs started today, UNO would be a number three seed, yet will probably have to travel in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. Denver is in 13th place in the USCHO poll but is in 12th of the Pairwise Rankings.

Bye Week: Gone Fishing

This weekend, the UND hockey team is off and I am heading north. I am going fishing in Lake Winnipeg with my buddy Mike. I will leave you my lastest.

UND Hockey: Team-First Mentality - https://t.co/67LDPTflAB #hockey #THW pic.twitter.com/6MJt8WxA2y

— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) February 5, 2016

PSU's Andrew Sturtz Suspended one Game

The Big Ten has suspended PSU's Andrew Sturtz one-game for this nasty hit this on Michigan Wolverine forward Tyler Motte (video above).

For his efforts, Sturtz was given a five-minute major penalty for interference and a two-minute minor for roughing.  Sturtz hit Motte long after the puck was gone. (box score).

First, I believe the Big Ten blew it by not giving Sturtz a longer suspension. This hit eems worthy of a two-game suspension. In my opinion, this is a predatory hit and the kind of hit that hockey is trying eliminate from the game hockey.

If you watch the video, You will notice that Sturtz leaves his feet to make contact with Motte, you can't do that. The pucks is long gone when Sturtz makes contact with Motte. Obviously, if you're from PSU, you might see the hit differently.

You may also disagree with what PSU's head coach Guy Gadowsky has to say about the hit.

Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky addressed the suspension during his weekly media interviews but noted that while the suspension was the correct application of the rules that the severity of the hit was unintentional.(Ben Jones, State College)

I am not sure how you can say that the severity of the hit was unintentional. This is the end of a game when the score is out of reach. You have a player taking a run at a star player, maybe to send a message. I think I can see the intent.  Right call or not? Should the suspension be longer?

SME Inc. it Is

The University of North Dakota has picked SME Inc. to design the Fighting Hawks Logo. SME Inc. is a company out of New York City. According to SEM's web page, they've worked with the Minnesota Wild.

Personally, I don't care who designs the Fighting Hawks logo. That being said, this very crucial time in the nickname transition. I am concerned about the Fighting Hawks logo and what it will look like.

The university’s Graphic Identity RFP Evaluation and Recommendation Team chose New York-based SME Inc. Tuesday after three firms made their pitch to design the logo. Pending final approval from UND interim President Ed Schafer, the company is expected to design the logo by this summer so the school can implement it in the fall.

“It’s an important next step, and it’s been a short but very engaged process,” said UND Athletic Director Brian Faison, who served as a co-chairman for the committee. “It’s nice to get to this point, absolutely.”

NHL Throws Book at Dennis Wideman

The NHL has thrown the book at Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman. Seriously, Wideman was given a 20-game suspension for running over NHL linesman Don Henderson. Wideman said this of the hit on Henderson.

"At the last second, I looked up and saw [Henderson] and couldn't avoid it, Wideman said. "I went up to Donnie and apologized to him on the ice," he said after the game. "I didn't see him. I didn't know where to go and how to get out of the way."
I still wonder if Wideman wasn't dazed from the hit he took before the incident with Henderson. I am fine with the length of the suspension, I think it sends a clear message. However, the next player that abuses an NHL official also need to have the book thrown at them.