"The playoffs are to the regular season what cream filling is to the Twinkie. It's a smaller portion of the whole, but it's the tastiest part."Anaheim Ducks Enforcer and Princeton graduate George Parros on the NHL playoffs in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated
Summit League 'intervening issue'
Tu-Uyen Tran and Wayne Nelson ------- Grand Forks, ND
UND’s chances of entering the Summit League athletic conference may require the state to resolve the controversy over the university’s Fighting Sioux nickname sooner than expected, according to the chairman of a state committee working on the issue.
“I look at the Summit League as an intervening issue,” said Grant Shaft, who will report to the State Board of Higher Education today. “It might lead the board to move our timeline up.”
Under a timeline established earlier this year, the committee has until the end of the year to gather information about the nickname and how it affects the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux reservations and the UND community.
The state board will need the approval of both the state’s Sioux tribes for UND to keep the nickname under an agreement with the NCAA. The board has until the end of November 2010 to get that approval, although to make time for a transition period, approval has to be in place by February.
After speaking with Summit League and UND officials, Shaft said the board may not have the luxury of time.
Last month, Spirit Lake tribal members voted 764-371 to keep the nickname, although formal approval by the Tribal Council is needed to satisfy the NCAA agreement.
Some Standing Rock tribal members are gathering signatures to put the nickname on the ballot there either in July or September. The Standing Rock Tribal Council also has to give formal approval.
However, the time frame of the tribal approval process may conflict with the Summit League’s plans for expansion, according to Shaft. He said he’ll ask the state board to weigh both in its decision, which he does not expect today.
Rather, Shaft said, he’ll ask board members to mull it over until possibly the next monthly board meeting June 18.
Why is timing important for entry into the Summit League or any conference for that matter?
UND views the Summit as an attractive home for the majority of its Division I athletic programs.
The 10-team league is viewed as a good fit geographically for UND. In addition, a number of Summit schools — including North Dakota State and South Dakota State — have similar academic missions.
The Summit recently accepted South Dakota as a new member. Like UND, South Dakota also completed its first season as a Division I athletic program.
Ward: 'It's a joke' --- Aaron Ward, who is sporting a purple bruise under his left eye, spoke this morning for the first time since taking a punch from Scott Walker in the third period of Game 5.
"It's a joke. It's honestly a joke," Ward said of the situation.
Ward, who will play tonight, said he was tussling with Matt Cullen prior to Walker's punch. According to Ward, Cullen had slashed him across the legs. Ward was telling Cullen he didn't like the slash when Walker came in with a punch. Ward said he didn't see Walker and never exchanged any words with him.
"I don't remember a single word being said," Ward said of the exchange between he and Walker. "I was looking at Matt Cullen. The moment I saw his right hand was when it was about a foot away from my face."
Ward said a team doctor saw "something" on an X-ray and advised him to wear a shield.
"I haven't worn one in 16 years," Ward said. "I'm not going to start now."
Ward said he never spoke with Colin Campbell about the incident.
Report: Ward will play in Game 6
James Murphy --- May 11, 2009
Thankfully for the Boston Bruins, defenseman Aaron Ward is OK and will play in game 6.
TSN and NBC analyst Pierre McGuire reported on “Melnick In the Afternoon” on the Team 990 in Montreal on Monday that Ward’s injury is not “as serious as they thought” and that he will be ready to go for Game 6.
It is unknown if the Bruins will still call up another defenseman from Providence as insurance.
The NHL rescinded the automatic suspension that Scott Walker received as a result of the instigator penalty assessed to him with 2:47 remaining in the third period of Sunday’s game.
“We respectfully disagree with the NHL’s ruling to rescind the automatic suspension to Scott Walker, but we will abide by the league’s ruling,” Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said in a statement.
While the Bruins took the high road in regard to the NHL’s decision, they surely aren’t happy about what transpired.
“I don’t care what people say [that] Ward should’ve protected himself,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “He had no intention of getting involved. We asked our guys to stay composed and not fall into that trap, and he just did that. A guy with Walker’s experience should know better than to sucker punch a guy, and again, this is an area that I don’t deal with. I deal with my team and let other people deal with the situation.”
NHL head disciplinarian Colin Campbell deemed Walker’s actions did not warrant the mandatory one-game suspension, and Walker and the Hurricanes agreed with Campbell.
BOSTON --- Scott Walker has been fined $2,500 for his incident with Aaron Ward at 17:13 of last night's third period. Walker will not be suspended for Game 6.
"We are satisfied with the league's ruling," said president and GM Jim Rutherford in a statement. "After our team received several punches throughout the series leading up to Game 5, it was a matter of time before one was going to be thrown back."
According to Claude Julien, the Bruins are awaiting results on Ward's left eye.
"I accept the league's decision," Walker said in a statement. "Based on what was said on the ice as I was dropping my gloves, it was my understanding that I was engaged in an altercation."
According to Claude Julien, Aaron Ward might have suffered a broken orbital bone when he was sucker-punched by Scott Walker at 17:13 of the third period.
Ward will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
Former UND goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux has tied the ECHL record with 12 shutouts including record 8 in the regular season for Alaska Aces
There have been better times during his rookie NHL season for Boston Bruins winger Blake Wheeler.
Among the league’s top rookie scorers and overall leaders in plus/minus all season while skating for one of the top teams in the overall standings during the 2008-09 regular season, Wheeler suddenly finds himself with a goose egg on the stats sheet for a team on the verge of getting eliminated in the second round.
But he continues to flaunt maturity beyond his years even with the Bruins down 3-1 heading into tomorrow night’s Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with Carolina.
“There’s two sides of any sport. Any time adversity comes, you have to react in a positive way and let it make you a better player and a better person,” he told TheBruinsBlog.net today after what might have been the Bruins’ last practice of the season in Wilmington, Mass. “You can’t feel sorry for yourself, you can’t walk around with your tail between your legs, you have to kind of embrace it, learn from it and just try to get better from it. And when you come out of it, you feel a lot better about yourself.
(read the rest of the article here)
Questionable officiating
The Canucks probably had reason to complain about the officiating in Game 5 Saturday night. There were a few questionable calls, including an extra two minutes called on Shane O’Brien after a scrap with Matt Walker.
The Blackhawks scored on that man advantage as Dustin Byfuglien converted his second goal of the game, squeezing in a Brian Campbell rebound between the legs of Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo.
After the game, O’Brien expressed some frustration with the call. He was originally tied up with Byfuglien, who skated away before an altercation. O’Brien says Walker then challenged him and they dropped the gloves, but the officials called the Canucks defenceman for an extra two minutes for roughing.
Vancouver also took two penalties late in the game. Defenceman Kevin Bieksa hit Patrick Sharp along the boards and high-sticked him in the process. That led to the winning goal by Dave Bolland, his fourth of the post-season.
“That’s happened to us three times in this series…what are you going to do.” said Luongo after the game.
The game was pretty much decided with Ryan Kesler’s final penalty of the game at 16:07. Kesler was called for holding Chicago defenceman Brian Campbell, who seemed to embellish. But Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said the “two penalties at the end of the game were deserved. We got in penalty trouble and they made us pay.”
No local TV for either team
Versus will carry Game 5, meaning NESN (Bruins) and FSCarolinas (Hurricanes) will not have the broadcasts at the Garden Monday. Carolina play-by-play announcer John Forslund and Boston analyst Andy Brickley will be the Versus broadcast team for Game 5.
Pens' Gonchar possibly out for tonight's game, Goligoski called up
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Penguins have recalled defenseman Alex Goligoski from their farm team in Wilkes-Barre, and he is expected to be in the lineup for Game 5 of their second-round playoff series against Washington tonight at 7:08 at the Verizon Center.
He would replace defenseman Sergei Gonchar, whose right knee was injured on a hit by Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin during the first period of the Penguins' 5-3 victory in Game 4 at Mellon Arena last night.
Coach Dan Bylsma said this afternoon that Gonchar has not been ruled out of tonight's game, and that Goligoski was recalled as "insurance."
Ovechkin was assessed only a two-minute tripping minor for the hit on Gonchar, and Washington officials said that as of late this morning he had not had a hearing with league officials.
The extent of Gonchar's injury has not been announced, but he accompanied the team here last night. He was wearing a large black support on his right knee at the team hotel today.
Gonchar has not spoken with reporters since he was injured.
PITTSBURGH -- Matt Cooke knows what the verdict would be if it were him on the stand today facing what passes for NHL justice.
"If I did what he did, I wouldn't be on the ice," the Penguins forward said last night in the bittersweet aftermath of a critical 5-3 win over the Washington Capitals.
Matt Cooke is not Alex Ovechkin, however, which is the challenge NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell faces in making a ruling prior to tonight's Game 5 of the riveting best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal that is now tied at 2-2.
Ovechkin's knee-on-knee hit on Sergei Gonchar in the first period had the star defenceman writhing on the Mellon Arena ice and potentially gone for the remainder of the Penguins' playoff run.
And it had the Pens seething and fiercely seeking justice despite having just put the series back on equal terms.
"He goes out there to hurt players," Pens defenceman Brooks Orpik said of the flamboyant Russian star. "That's three games in a row against us. Just watch the way the guy hits. He leaves his feet and takes countless strides at guys. There's a line you can't cross and he does it.
"We're not in charge of suspending guys, but it looks pretty obvious to us."
In what was an all-around wasted night for Ovechkin, who was held to just two shots on net and one assist, what the league decides today may carry as much weight on how the remainder of the series plays out.
Tonight's contest, as with all Game 5s, has massive implications for the series, so too then does the manner in which the NHL handles it.
Campbell must decide if, as the Caps claim, Ovechkin led with his shoulder and then couldn't move quick enough to avoid contact. And depending on the level of guilt, there is a matter of weighing on a team's superstar being taken down by another.
*Claude Julien confirmed that Andrew Ference will not play tonight. Shane Hnidy, a healthy scratch for the first three games, will be making his series debut tonight.
* Blake Wheeler will play tonight. Wheeler skated with David Krejci and Michael Ryder during the morning skate.
