Gophers 3 Huskies 2

Tonight's game between the SCSU Huskies and the Minnesota Gophers was for the most part an pretty exciting hockey game that featured a lot of up and down the ice offensive action, almost the race horse hockey that many in the WCHA have come to love. To say the least it was nice to see the return of of hockey with a focuse on offensive and less on the defensive side. I was affraid going into the game that it was going to be a bit of a yawner.

Surprisingly; during tonight's game referee Derrick Shepherd unexpectedly found his whistle again as he called an amazing 17 penalties during hockey game. There were 9 penalties whistled against the Gophers and 8 whistled against the Huskies. I am not sure there were 17 penalties called all of last weekend between the Mavericks and the Gophers.

I was surprised at the score of this game as I thought the Huskies would have run the Gophers out of the building. Seriously, common sense would have told me that the Gophers would have been tired after playing almost 5 games last weekend. The Gopher found their legs, won the game and will get the 7:00 pm game tomorrow night. I guess we won't get to see if there is actually still the Gophers rule this season.


Box Score

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MIN 1 - 0 6x6 Tony Lucia (7) (Evan Kaufmann, Derek Peltier) 0:25
MIN (+): 12,5,20,22,19,G33 STC (-): 26,9,12,21,24,G33
MIN-1 Mike Howe (2-Tripping) STC 0x1 6:05
STC-1 Andreas Nodl (2-CHARGING THE GOALIE) 6:27
MIN-2 Ben Gordon (2-Hooking) STC 1x2 7:00
STC 1 - 1 5x4 PP Garrett Raboin (2) (Ryan Lasch, Aaron Brocklehurst) 7:33
STC: 7,19,21,9,G33 MIN: 5,20,16,G33
MIN-3 Stu Bickel (2-Hooking) STC 1x3 7:49
STC-2 Chris Anderson (2-Slashing) MIN 0x1 12:02
MIN-4 Jay Barriball (2-Hooking) STC 1x4 16:30

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STC-3 Michael Olson (2-Tripping) MIN 1x2 3:12
STC-4 Brent Borgen (2-Elbowing) MIN 1x3 3:12
MIN 2 - 1 6x4 PP Evan Kaufmann (9) (Blake Wheeler, Cade Fairchild) 4:35
MIN: 19,17,28,26,13,G33 STC: 13,24,7,G33
MIN-5 Patrick White (2-Cross-Checking) 8:10
STC-5 Aaron Brocklehurst (2-Interference) 8:10
STC-6 Ryan Lasch (2-Diving) MIN 1x4 8:10
MIN-6 Ryan Flynn (2-Slashing) STC 1x5 12:40
MIN-7 Tony Lucia (2-Hooking) STC 1x6 13:06
MIN-8 Cade Fairchild (2-Roughing) 15:36
STC-7 John Swanson (2-Roughing) 15:36
MIN-9 Mike Carman (2-Tripping) STC 1x7 18:34

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STC 2 - 2 6x6 Tony Mosey (5) (Ryan Lasch, Garrett Raboin) 15:34
STC (+): 27,19,24,12,28,G33 MIN (-): 7,17,13,6,2,G33
STC-8 Nick Oslund (2-Goaltender Interference) MIN 1x5 15:50
MIN 3 - 2 6x6 GW LL Mike Howe (6) (Derek Peltier, David Fischer) 19:47
MIN (+): 24,20,5,16,11,G33 STC (-): 10,21,13,24,12,G33
Timeout - St. Cloud State 19:47

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pictures from tonight's game.

The SCSU Huskies mascot

Starting them out early in life.

Someone asked me tonight how the Goon's daughter is doing? Well we are already working on her hockey allegiances, she hates the goofs and loves the Sioux. Abby is also growing up as a NHL hockey fan

Here is a stat that I am sure makes DG happy.

WCHA Final Five Preview**No. 1 Colorado College (28-9-1)
Last Broadmoor: Never

You would think with C.C. storied history that the Tigers would have won a Broadmoor Throphy at least once. Even SCSU has a Broadmoor.

Gophers and Huskies (game preview)

First off Goon's world wishes Gophers senior forward Tom Pohl a speedy recovery; also I would ask that we keep both Pohl and Mavericks forward Jason Wiley in our thoughts and prayers. Both players need our moral support at this tough time. First off Hockey is a game and we never want to see opposition players hurt and or injured. We are human beings and not combatants.


Since October 2005 the SCSU Huskies have a impressive record of 5-1-3 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. That stat probably means nothing tomorrow night other the Gophers haven't beat the Huskies in 2 1/5 years. This should be a competative game from the drop of the first puck to the last wistle. Both teams have good goaltenders that have put up some pretty impressive numbers as of late. Jase Weloski shut out the Wisconsin Badgers 3-0 on 3-14-2008 and Alex Kangas was the difference in the Gophers series against Minnesota State Mankato.

Offensively the Huskies are lead by

R. Lasch 25-26-51
G. Roe 18-26-44
A. Nodl 18-26-44
J. Swanson 8-14-22
N. Dey 10-11-21

In goal the Huskies are lead by

Jase Weslosky 16-11-2 2.09




If you look at the stats offensively for both teams it would appear that the Huskies are going to run the Golden Gophers out of the Xcel Energy Center. The offensive minded SCSU Huskies are lead by a powerful trio of players; Nodl, Lasch, Roe. On the other side of the ice the offensively challenged Gophers have Wheeler and Ben Gordon.

So how big a difference is there in the offensive numbers? Minnesota is scoring an anemic 2.46 goals a game; however, SCSU isn't doing all that much better averaging 3.03 goals a game.

Offensively the Gophers are lead by

B. Wheeler 15-18-33
B. Gordon 14-14-28
J. Barriball 6-14-20
M. Howe 5-13-18
D. Peltier 4-14-18

In Net the Gophers are led by

Alex Kangas 10-8-9 1.95
Jeff "Long Island" Frazee 6-7-0 2.93

Prediction SCSU wins the game 3-1. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the Gophers lose the rest of their hockey games this season.

Get Well Tom Pohl (HeidiSioux62)

Get Well Tom
On Sunday night a horrible accident occurred in the Minnesota/Mankato playoff game. An accident that brought back horrific memories to Sioux fans of Robbie Bina crumpling to the ice after breaking his neck during a game.
Tom Pohl of Minnesota was checked into the boards, his helmet came off and he hit his unprotected head on the boards and ice and suffered a very severe skull fracture. This was an incident that terrifies all hockey parents, family, friends, coaches and fans. Hockey is a very rough sport and all of us who have someone we care about playing the game has the fear tucked into the back of our minds that something like this may happen. Fortunately, these accidents are rare, but when they do happen, it causes us to pause and say “but for the Grace of God …”.

Tom,

I just wanted to let you know that I, along with many, many others are praying for you and wishing you a speedy recovery. This Sioux fan has been thinking of you often and I was very encouraged to read this morning that your condition has been upgraded and you have been moved out of ICU. It doesn’t matter that you may play for an arch rival’s team because if you play hockey, you are “one of the family.” Get well soon.
HeidiSioux

While most of the attention has rightfully been directed towards Tom, his family and his injury, someone that may be overlooked in this incident is Jason Wiley. Jason is the player who checked Tom. From what I could see watching the play, the hit was not malicious or done with the intent to injure (unlike the hit that occurred previously in a similar instance). From all accounts, Jason appears to be sincerely remorseful and extremely shaken up by the hit (again, unlike the player involved in the previous incident). This shows great compassion and heart, and I would like to encourage Jason to seek out all the help and support he can find from his family, friends, coaches and teammates to assist him in dealing with this situation. I would also like Jason to know that this Sioux fan is not only thinking of and praying for Tom Pohl, but also for him.

From the Final Five Media Guide.

This is from the Media guide for this weekend's tourney.
Fighting Sioux
University of North Dakota

North Dakota (25-9-4 overall) is headed to the 2008 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., to take on Denver (24-13-1 overall) at 2:07 p.m. Friday in the tournament semifinals … UND is the No. 2 seed,
while Denver is the No. 3 seed …

~UND advanced by beating Michigan Tech 2-1 on Sunday in the third game of the teams’ WCHA first round playoff series… the Sioux won the first game of the series 4-0 on Friday, and Michigan Tech won the second game 3-2 in overtime on Saturday …

~this weekend’s Final Five appearance will be the sixth in a row for the Fighting Sioux … it will be UND’s 11th appearance in the past 12 years and 12th appearance in the 16-year history of the Final Five in its current format … the No. 2 seed is UND’s highest since the Sioux were seeded No. 1 in 2004 … this will be the second time the Sioux have been seeded No. 2 in the last 16 years … the Sioux have been the top seed five times, the No. 3 seed twice, the No. 4 seed once and the No. 5 seed twice …

~North Dakota has won the Final Five tournament three times – in 1997 as a No. 1 seed, in 2000 as the No. 2 seed and in 2006 as the No. 3 seed … UND is 13-8 in its previous 11 appearances at the Final Five … last year UND defeated St. Cloud State 6-2 in the semifinals and then lost to Minnesota 3-2 in overtime in the championship game …

~UND’s all-time overall WCHA playoff record is 77-57-7 in 141 games for a winning percentage of .571 … the Sioux have won eight WCHA playoff titles in their history (1967, 1968, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1997, 2000 and 2006) … UND has now won 11 consecutive home first round playoff series …

~the Sioux and Denver have met just twice previously at the Final Five, with the Pioneers winning both of those games…

~Denver beat the Sioux 4-3 in the 1999 Final Five championship game and 2-1 in overtime in the 2005 Final Five semifinals …

~the Sioux were 3-1 against Denver this season … the teams split a Nov. 30-Dec. 1 series in Denver (1-0 Denver win, 3-1 UND win) and UND swept a Feb. 15-16 series in Grand Forks (5-4 and 4-1 UND wins) … UND has won four of their past five games against Denver …

~the Sioux are 1-6 all-time against the Pioneers on neutral ice … last weekend UND extended its unbeaten streak to a school-record 18 games (15-0-3) and home unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2) with a 4-0 Friday win over Michigan Tech … goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Sr., Grand Forks, N.D.) posted his sixth shutout of the season and the 10th of his career in the game by stopping all 14 Tech shots …

~four different players scored for the Sioux, including forwards Ryan Duncan (Jr., Calgary, AB), T.J. Oshie (Jr., Warroad, Minn.), Darcy Zajac (So., Winnipeg, MB) and Andrew Kozek (Jr., Sicamous, BC) … Oshie and Duncan each added an assist on Friday, while defenseman Chay Genoway (So., Morden, MB) had two assists … UND’s overall and home unbeaten streaks came to an end last Saturday when the Huskies tied the game 2-2 on a Tyler Shelast goal with :05.5 seconds left and then won on a Shelast goal 1:59 into overtime …

~each of UND’s last three losses (Dec. 29 to New Hampshire, Jan. 4 to St. Cloud State and Friday against Michigan Tech) had similarities in that the Sioux had two-goal leads in all three contests and also had second period leads in all three games before eventually losing … last Saturday marked the first time since Nov. 24, 1979, that an opponent tied a game against UND in the final minute and then won in overtime … Michigan State did it in the 1979 game, tying it 4-4 with :12 seconds left and then winning 5-4 in overtime …

~scoring for the Sioux in their 3-2 loss to Michigan Tech were forwards Brad Miller (Jr., Alpharetta, GA) and Matt Frattin (Fr., Edmonton, AB), who each also assisted on the other’s goal … on Sunday, Shelast gave Michigan Tech a 1-0 lead, but Oshie scored his second and third goals of the series to lift the Sioux to the win … Oshie now has a team-best 17 goals on the season, one more than Kozek …

~Oshie’s game-winner was the 16th of his career, moving him all alone into second place on the all-time school list, two behind school record holder Mark Taylor (1976-80).

Silly season continues: Michael-Lee Teslak gone at MTU

MeanEgirl wasn't lying when she said that Teslak was as good as gone at MTU over on Siouxsports.com. Today we find out that Michael-Lee Teslak will forgo his senior season with Michigan Tech to sign a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyer's.

This is bad for the MTU Huskies and in a way it is bad for the WCHA because they will lose another top player. Not bad for the Sioux because they won't have to face him anymore. Goon's world wishes Michael-Lee Teslak the very best at the next level. It is not unfathomable to think that Teslak should get a chance to play in Philly because they have gotten some really poor goaltending as of late. I should know because I had Biron as my goaltender in fantasy hockey.

It also appears that the story on College Hockey News about Teslak's facebook entry had some truth to it as well...

While we are talking about early departures

Here is an interesting story that I found on line. I think the NCAA has to be careful because if they push this too far with the NHL they risk pushing away some of the top recruits that would have gone the college route.

NCAA to look at Hockey Departures

In today’s Portland Press Herald, Jenn Menendez writes about the recent departures in college hockey. It begin with the uproar over Kyle Okposo leaving the University of Minnesota for the New York Islanders in December. I find it ironic that this was released on Ojposo’s debut. The NCAA wants to build a partnership with the NHL so departures like this don’t happen again. The NCAA is going after the wrong organization. Excluding underclassman that leave after their NCAA season is over, Okposo is the only player in recent memory to leave for the NHL mid season. The up roar of the signing went through the roof in Minnesota. The signing had one sports talk host in Minneapolis (Puffy)to call in sick and in tears. I found this so funny. First I had no sympathy for the Golden Gophers for losing Okposo. This loss won’t affect Minnesota in the long run. I don’t agree with Okposo’s decision but Minnesota has other talent. They are a five star program and hasn’t lost there recruits. Sure there season was a middle of the road but are still in the playoffs.

Who should the NCAA make a partnership with? The Canadian Hockey League. There are more mid season departures to the CHL then the NHL/AHL. The CHL lures college talent to cross the border for more playing time. Like I said above I don’t have sympathy for the five star programs because they are all set for the next three years with top notch recruits. I do have sympathy for the mid major teams. Bowling Green had a five star goalie recruit in Josh Unice. In August before school starts he signs with the Memorial Cup hosts, the Kitchener Rangers. Where’ was the uproar there? The Rangers new all the long they wanted Steve Mason who was with the London Knights at the beginning of the year. They finally got him in a trade in January. Unice is now the back up. They stole Unice from Bowling Green. The only only player that I know of that departed for major juniors this season was Ryan Hayes who signed with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. He started the year with Boston College. Last season there were a few more.
-------snip-------
If the NCAA wants to have an agreement with the NHL to have kids stay longer, you can kiss all the top players good bye. The agreement wouldn’t work because current players will jump to the CHL. Some NHL teams will tell their draft picks to go that route to. It will hurt development of the US development system. The National Team Development Program could suffer where players would jump to the CHL at 16 instead of waiting a year or two if they haven’t decided if they would play college hockey or junior hockey. The United States Hockey League would lose their top players and maybe join the Canadian Hockey League to retain their top players. If that happens the North American Hockey League would be stronger though because the players who haven’t gotten drafted in the NHL would play there until they head to college. The NCAA and the NHL shouldn’t have an NBA rule and force kids to stay in college against their will. Because it will destroy hockey development in the United States.

The NHL latest thugs of the week.

Here are the latest acts of thuggery in the NHL. Repeat offender Chris Pronger will miss 8 games (the rest of the Ducks regular season games) for his skate stomp on Ryan Kesler's leg. Seems this act earned another repeat offender 30 games, I wonder why the disparity?

Pens tough guy Georges Laraque earns three days on the beach for his vicious elbow on Buffalo Sabres player Nathan Paetsch.

FINAL 5 - This Week in the WCHA (Sioux 7)

The first round of the WCHA playoffs have come and gone, WOW, where some of those games fun to watch or what! CC, DU, and SCSU swept their series, while UND and UM played 3-games before prevailing in those series. The Final 5 starts this Thursday at 7pm in St. Paul, with the "play-in" game.

The Thursday night tilt will feature the SCSU Huskies versus the UM Gophers (SCSU will be the home teams, since they are the 4th seed, UM is the 5th seed). SCSU has had an extra day of rest compared to the Gophers, not counting all the overtime minutes the UM had to play at MSUM last weekend. I'm thinking this game will be SCSU's top line players (Roe, Lasch, Nodl) versus the UM defense, mainly Kangas. Whoever wins that battle will most likely win the game. If SCSU gets an early lead I think they will win the game, since it will force the UM to play an up-tempo game and the fatigue factor will come into play.
F5 PLAY-IN GAME WINNER - SCSU.

On a side note, everyone here at Goon's World are sending our prayers and well wishes to Mr. Pohl, and his family. We all hope that he will make a full and complete recovery from his tragecic head injuries, suffered on Sunday nights game, and be back to full strength in the near future.

Friday afternoons game, 2pm, will feature the the number 2 and 3 seeds, UND and DU. The question is this, "has DU gotten back to first half form?" The Pioneers have got some wins lately, but they have been against the bottom teams in the league. On the other hand UND is still on a hot streak, granted MTU ended their 18 game unbeaten streak, but 19-1-3 is not bad... Both goalies have been playing great as of late, so this could be a low scoring affair, on the other hand both teams have plenty of offense as well, so something has to give.
F5 SEMI-FINAL GAME #1 WINNER - UND

Friday nights game, 7pm, will have the UM/SCSU winner playing CC, the number 1 seed. The Tigers have been a steady eddie team all year. How will CC's freshman goalie Bachman hold up under the BIG TOP? I'm thinking that SCSU will put the pressure on CC's defense and try to outscore the Tigers, in what will be a bit of a shot-out. IF the UM wins and plays the Tigers, I think it will be more of a defensive struggle, with UM suffering from 5+ games in 7 days.
F5 SEMI-FINAL GAME #2 WINNER(S) - CC over UM, SCSU over CC

I'm not going to put up predictions on the Title and 3rd place games until late Friday, or early Saturday. We'll see how good (or bad) these three predictions turn out to be :)

The Goon, Sioux 7, and friends, will be invading the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area around noon on Thursday. We will try and give everyone game recaps and predicts everyday of the Final 5. The Goon has a laptop, I don't :( but I'm sure he will share with me :)

Kyle Okposo reporting for duty on the Long Island

New York Islanders photo
The much anticipated NHL debut of Kyle Okposo is upon us. Kyle's debut is going to take place tomorrow night when the Islanders and the Leafs play on long island. I wonder if there will be a lot of Gopher fans tuning in to see him play? I am going to try and tune in because it will be interesting to see how he will do. Since leaving the Minnesota Gophers in mid-Season Kyle has been developing his game in Bridge Port of the AHL.

Okposo scored eight goals and added 16 assists in 29 games in the AHL. After earning an assist in Bridgeport's victory on Saturday night, Sound Tigers coach Jack Capuano gave him the news that he was headed to the NHL.

KYLE'S FIRST SKATE--read the whole story here

Islanders 2006 first-round draft pick Kyle Okposo practices on a line with Park and Comeau at Islanders Iceworks. Donning jersey No. 21, Kyle Okposo took to the ice at Islanders Iceworks in Syosset, Monday afternoon, signifying his first step onto the NHL scene.

Today, Okposo joined his fourth team of the season after playing for the University of Minnesota to begin the 2007-08 campaign and representing the United States at the World Junior Championship. While in the Czech Republic, Okposo signed with the Islanders, and next suited up for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he recorded 24 points in 29 games. His final destination…Long Island.

"It feels pretty good being out there in my first NHL practice," said Okposo, following today's practice. "Knowing a few guys (from Bridgeport) I felt a little more comfortable today. The guys have been awesome and have taken me under their wing. The guys have been great."

Wearing an orange jersey, Okposo skated on a line with Richard Park and Blake Comeau, fitting in seamlessly with his older counterparts. Comeau, at 22, is the closest in age to 19-year old Okposo. But the age discrepancy was hardly noticeable as the talented Okposo impressed the coaching staff with his skill and maturity.

"He's an exceptional player that we're looking forward to see play at the NHL level," said head coach Ted Nolan. "There are certain players who have that instinct. He doesn't just skate and shoot the puck well, he also has that great hockey sense. Kyle has all of the ingredients good players have. We wanted to start him on a line with one of our most reliable guys in Richard Park. And considering Blake Comeau has good hockey sense, the three of them should form a pretty good line out there."

Another links to this story

Not all is well between Snow and Islander coach Ted Nolan. I am personally not surprised after watching how Snow acted during the whole Okposo mess. I have never been a fan of Garth Snow always thought the "Snowman" was a cry baby and a loose canon when he played in the NHL.

The coming of Kyle Okposo was the worst kept secret on the Isles in the last week or so. We all knew it was going to happen. Back when I, with my fellow blog boxers, questioned Garth Snow, who kindly allowed us a special session after we had already been in on the press questions, the question was broached. "Will be see Okposo before the season was out?"

Very possible, was the answer, and it showed Garth's general interest and excitement with a youth movement.

And in lieu of the Isles tailspin into the NHL season ether, with more rumors of a fracture within the team between Nolan and Snow. Albeit these are just rumors, but they seem to be coming at a steady stream now. Was Nolan's touch so golden? Did Garth Snow make more decisions, if not all, back over the summer? Are sides suddenly being taken?

Of course, the fact that they are wrought with injuries and a shell of themselves these days, does not help. The freefall in the standings now has many fans now more excited about what draft pick we'll get this offseason. So, is pressure is mounting within the Isles? There have been no clear words otherwise to stem a rumormill tide that is turning towards some sort of action. Whether to staunchly discount those rumors, or to make definitive changes.

So, while all this is happening, perhaps, is it any wonder why OkposoMania is running wild? I half expect Kyle to come out, rip off his t-shirt and then cup his ears to each side of the rink for cheers from eager OkposoManiacs.

A few things.

Wow, what an ending to the Fighting Sioux and Michigan Tech WCHA playoff series, here is some footage of the end of game three. It really was that close right down to the end.

Game ending goal

Here is the game ending goal between the Minnesota State University Mavericks and the Gophers. From what I can see on the (poor) video it almost appears that the Mankato player kicked the puck into his own net. I do feel bad for the Mavericks I think they are tough, well rounded hockey team that deserves to be in the NCAA tourney based on who they beat and their strength of schedule. There is a good chance the Mavericks will be in the NCAA tourney Cheer against Northern Michigan, Harvard and Notre Dame. If some of the other bubble teams don't win this weekend there is a good chance they are in.

The Blog that Yost built breaks it down:

-Looking very strong for Mankato to get in barring an upset in one of the title games. Making the title game isn't good enough for BU. They're going to need the autobid if they want to get in.

That being said, the 2nd overtime period last night was nothing short of unbelievable, I was sitting on the edge of my Ottoman during the whole overtime. Mankato had its own chances to end the game minutes before the game ending bubble bursting goal. In my opinion Mankato is a sniper away from being one of the top teams in the WCHA.

They said what? According to the FSN Arizona boys; Michigan super star senior forward Kevin Porter a Hobey candidate/finalist played on the defending national champions team last season. Really, I thought Michigan State won the NCAA tourney. Michigan was eliminated in the region of death last season by by North Dakota.

The Pollsters think UND is worthy of dropping in the polls. UND is 4th in the USCHO/CSTV, 5th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll. The only poll that really matters is the PWR.

Here is an interesting perspective/comment that I found over on Brad's blog. I have to say I agree with what is said here.

I agree with you on Thul. In fact, a number of us were saying that about Thul when he reffed the Sioux games in Duluth. He is the only referee I can recall in the WCHA, in recent history, that seemed to have an understanding of what one team was trying to inflict upon the other with hooking and holding and calling the game that way. He did a good job of penalizing both Duluth and Tech for trying to slow us down with obstruction, without attempting to even the penalties up with isolated minor retaliations by the Sioux. To some degree he took bending the rules away from both teams. Russell definitely made the right move requesting the change. It is about time that we have a referee with the instincts and brains to ref the game that way. Especially, when it is clear well in advance of gameday that one team is going to try to use obstruction to slow the other team.

Calling games like this is the way that the WCHA is going to finally protect its star players. Anderson is a ref that will call penalties with no conscience, but he has a tendency to call a lot of legal body checks as penalties, yet let plenty of obstruction go. I do give him credit for cutting Duncan a break on his slash prior to Kerr's misconduct, knowing the beating that Tech was trying to give Duncan.

The rest of them are masters of the obvious and real susceptible to theatrics and at the end of the day go out of their way to make it even. Don Adam is one of the few refs I have seen that can take a good game and turn it into a brawl. How many times have we seen him get in the face of players and coaches? He regularly puts one guy out of a skirmish(and the wrong one)in the box or gives them the extra penalty and then frustrates the players to the point of taking it out on each other because the ref is not doing justice.

I think very few people want a game that is loaded with penalties and few want what Shepherd allowed in Mankato. I believe the true fan really wants a ref that calls infractions that stop scoring opportunities or create scoring opportunities and to penalize team's attempts to control the game through systematic infractions.

Posted by: GDeeton on Monday, March 17 9:43 PM

Check out this sweet versus Comercial; Toews leads it off.

This is a sweet commercial. I think Versus has some really good promos, while it is not ESPN I think the NHL on Versus has come a long way. I am sure most Sioux fans would agree that it is a pretty nice honor to see Jonathon Toews in this commercial with the likes of Lidstrom, Turco and Chara. Man how would he look in a Sioux jersey this season?

Last night the Rookie Jonathan Toews got his 20th goal of the season last night.

Hey Ya; March Madness...

I found this song/video over on YouTube a few days a go and have been whistling this song all day every since. I can’t get this song out of my head. I am not much of a hip-hop/rap kind of guy, I am more of a country and rock and roll fan, never the less, this is an awesome song. Goon and Hip-Hop I know; maybe I am just punch drunk from working 6 overnight shifts in a row with one more overnight shift to go. We started this new schedule at work and this was the first time through it for me. To say the least it has been a death march, but it is almost over, and the fun is about to begin.

Why am I so up beat? This is the best time of the year, its almost spring and nothing beats this time of year it except maybe the opener of Duck hunting season (Ducktober) and the beginning of golf season in the spring.

The NCAA hockey tourney is Hockey's version of March madness. March Bring the NCAA hockey tourney and then the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Every night there is another big game with huge implications. I would liken going to the final five as a religious experience, hockey and beer.

Goon's prediction of who in or not.

It is that time of year again. You are the committee

1 [AQ] Michigan
2 [AQ] New Hampshire
3 Miami (Mm)
4 [AQ] North Dakota (ND)
5 Colorado College
6 Denver (DU)
7t Boston College (BC)
7t St. Cloud State (SC)
9t Michigan State (MS)
9t Clarkson (Ck)
11 Minnesota (Mn)
12t Minnesota State (Mk)
12t Wisconsin (Wi)
14 Notre Dame (Nt)
15 [AQ] Princeton (Pn)
16[AQ] Niagara (Ni)

I still think that 7 teams might be too many for the WCHA; but that is based on my picks from you are the committee. Personally, I don't believe that Wisconsin deserves to be in the tourney by missing the conference tourney and being below .500. Just my opinion. I don't mind the Sioux going to Madison either even if the BADgers are in the tourney.

Whew.... UND punches ticket to St. Paul Sioux 2 MTU 1

When I was looking at the match ups for this weekends WCHA playoff series I thought great we get the Huskies again. As most Sioux fans will tell you the Huskies are never a give me or an easy win and have beaten the 4 Sioux times in the last two seasons. True to form this weekends game were not easy. This weekend's series was way too close for my comfort, and I would have rather the Sioux closed out the Huskies last night. Tonight after the Huskies scored I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack and the feeling continued until the end of the game. I think I am going to start calling the Fighting Sioux the cardiac kids. Tonight the Sioux and Tech played another close tight checking game and got (2) two huge goals from my pick for P.O.Y. in the WCHA T.J. Oshie. How huge was T.J. Oshie this weekend? T.J. Oshie although slowed by injury had another strong weekend chipping in 4 points in the weekend series (3g-1a), Oshie was held scoreless on Saturday night and that may have led to the Sioux failing seal the deal. Not to be over looked also; Ryan Duncan (1g-2a) and Chay Genoway (0g-3a) were solid and had strong weekends as well on the stats sheet.

It would not be an understatement to say that the win(s) against the ever tough Michigan Tech Huskies did not come easy. I have to take my hat off to the Huskies because this series was the stereotypical, hard nosed hockey series as the Sioux were in a dog fight all weekend long. I guess you have to love parity in this league and this is a perfect example of how close our league is any team can win on any day. Every game the players have to strap it on and buckle down to get the wins.

Scoring/Penalties

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MTU-1 Peter Rouleau (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x1 5:01
NDK-1 Ryan Duncan (2-Hooking) MTU 0x1 5:33
MTU 1 - 0 6x6 Tyler Shelast (16) (Alex Gagne) 11:27
MTU (+): 23,18,5,12,14,G29 NDK (-): 2,5,7,14,16,G1
NDK 1 - 1 6x6 T.J. Oshie (16) (Ryan Duncan, Chay Genoway) 14:09
NDK (+): 7,16,14,2,5,G1 MTU (-): 14,12,8,19,16,G29
MTU-2 John Schwarz (2-Roughing) 19:45
NDK-2 Chris VandeVelde (2-Roughing) 19:45

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK 2 - 1 5x5 GW LL T.J. Oshie (17) (Robbie Bina, Taylor Chorney) 0:19
NDK (+): 7,28,4,16,G1 MTU (-): 14,18,12,5,G29
MTU-3 Jimmy Kerr (2-Slashing) NDK 0x2 1:56
MTU-4 Drew Dobson (2-Holding the Stick) 11:41
NDK-3 Ryan Duncan (2-Hooking) 11:41
NDK-4 Joe Finley (2-Interference) MTU 0x2 17:59

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MTU-5 Jimmy Kerr (10-Misconduct) 10:35
NDK-5 Chay Genoway (2-Holding) MTU 0x3 13:41
Timeout - Michigan Tech 19:33

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game


Scores of note

AHA: Air Force 5, Mercyhurst 4 (F in OT)
CHA: Niagara 3, Bemidji State 2 (F)
CCHA: Northern Michigan 3, Michigan State 2 - OT
EZAC: Colgate 3, Clarkson 2 - 2OT Clarkson = Over-rated
WCHA: Gophers 3 - Mavericks 2 (F in 2xOT)

I suppose the league office is excited that their meal ticket made the final five this weekend in St. Paul.

Why is this obstruction holding?

Herald photo by John Stennes Can someone please tell me why this isn't a penalty? Checking the box score from last night's game I do not see John Schwarz's name for holding. This picture is a perfect example of what we have to witness every night in the WCHA. Now I can see why Duncan was getting upset with the officiating. In the NHL if you hand comes off of your stick you are whistled for a penatly.

An interesting stat.

While trying to look for the silver lining in last night loss to the Michigan Tech Huskies, I found this ineresting stat reading Todd Milewski's Ice House blog.

The home team has won Game 1 70 times in 95 chances since the WCHA started playing best-of-three series in 1988. The road team has forced Game 3 only 10times, and won it only once.

All the home teams won the first game of WCHA series last night, with the road teams combining for a grand total four goals (three of them by Minnesota-Duluth, one by Alaska Anchorage).

Turn your back on a rabid dog it will bite you. MTU 3 ND 2 O.T..

Here is what we do know. If you turn your back on a rabid dog or if you push him into a corner he will bite you. While it is pretty much a given that if the playoffs started today (they don't) the Sioux would be in the NCAA tourney. Honestly, I don't think UND wants to sit out it's conference tourney watching the other teams in the league play for the Broadmoor Trophy. Make no mistake about it, there is something to play for. Tonight's loss should refocused the Sioux that slept walked through the third period playing uninspired hockey. Play to the final horn is tonight's lesson; a standard regulation game is 60 minutes long not 59:55. Make no mistake about this MTU is the best 9th place team in college hockey I would take them against; Alaska, Holy Cross, St. Lawrence, Maine any day. Time to show some respect to the Huskies and knock them on their ass.

I looked back and the Sioux went to a third game twice in the past 6 years (Denver University 2003 and Minnesota State 2006) and they were able to prevail. We have seen this before. We have all felt like this before, losing sucks. While I am not happy, the law of averages was going to catch up with the Fighting Sioux, this is th first loss UND has had in 18 games. Now, is a great time for the team to refocus grab some perspective and put the Huskies away. The Fighting Sioux are not unbeatable but they are also not a bad team.


Scoring/Penalties

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK 1 - 0 6x6 Brad Miller (5) (Matt Frattin, Ryan Martens) 4:19
NDK (+): 14,21,6,8,3,G1 MTU (-): 15,9,8,14,25,G29
NDK-1 Chay Genoway (2-Tripping) MTU 0x1 5:25
MTU-1 John Schwarz (2-BROKEN STICK) NDK 0x1 9:15
MTU-2 Jordan Baker (2-Hooking) NDK 0x2 11:32
MTU-3 Alex Lord (2-Kneeing) NDK 0x3 14:13
NDK-2 Ryan Duncan (2-Slashing) MTU 0x2 18:56

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MTU-4 Drew Dobson (2-Holding) NDK 0x4 4:47
MTU-5 John Schwarz (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 6:35
NDK-3 Chris VandeVelde (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 6:35
NDK-4 Robbie Bina (2-Hooking) MTU 0x3 13:32
NDK 2 - 0 6x6 Matt Frattin (4) (Brad Miller) 16:58
NDK (+): 21,14,8,6,3,G1 MTU (-): 7,8,15,10,19,G29

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Period (20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-5 Ryan Duncan (2-Holding) MTU 1x4 0:36
MTU 1 - 2 6x5 PP Jimmy Kerr (9) (Geoff Kinrade, Eric Kattelus) 1:19
MTU: 19,12,23,15,14,G29 NDK: 2,5,17,20,G1
MTU-6 Eric Kattelus (2-Hooking) NDK 0x5 10:41
Timeout - Michigan Tech 17:43
MTU-7 Ryan Angelow (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 0x6 18:04
MTU 2 - 2 5x6 SH EA Tyler Shelast (14) (Jimmy Kerr, Jordan Baker) 19:54
MTU (+): 19,22,5,10,23 NDK (-): 2,4,20,14,17,G1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overtime (10:41)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDK-6 Chris VandeVelde (2-Hooking) MTU 1x5 1:27
MTU 3 - 2 6x6 GW LL Tyler Shelast (15) (Geoff Kinrade, Peter Rouleau) 10:41
MTU (+): 15,14,19,12,23,G29

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Game

This makes me smile.

Nothing cheers me up more than watching the Gophers lose a game. This is a better/clearer updated version of the video of last nights goal that vaulted the Mavericks to the drivers seat of the series between the Gophers and the Mavericks. Wow, what a goal. You have to love the Mavericks celebration at the end of that goal.

~Classic Wooger all that 22-2-5 means that is 22-3-5.