Bettman, NHL will be backCoyotes deal doesn't shut door on Winnipeg

If you haven't seen this article it's worth a look.

Winnipeg Free Press ---"This was never about Winnipeg. This was about Arizona and keeping the Coyotes where they are," said Bettman, in a patient and respectful tone during a short one-on-one interview with the Free Press.

Bettman is predictably single-minded and perhaps a touch disingenuous in this statement. Certainly this was about Winnipeg when the league entered negotiations with True North Sports and Entertainment last spring and came within a day of closing on a relocation sale. Certainly the threat of that sale prodded the people of Glendale to bend and finally kneel at the NHL's feet.

Now before you get all high and mighty and accuse Bettman of using the city of Winnipeg, keep in mind that we went into this thing with our eyes wide open.

There was never a guarantee the NHL would leave Glendale and return to Winnipeg. But we were more than happy to sit in the on-deck circle and hope for the Coyotes to strike out and give the 'Peg another turn at bat.

There are no victims here, except maybe the Glendale taxpayers who were set up by their city managers and then pushed in front of the train by their elected officials.

There's no way the use of 5,500 parking stalls at Jobing.com Arena can cover the cost of issuing $125-million in bonds and the interest that will need to be paid. Maybe in Manhattan but not in the wide open spaces of the southwest.

Where does this leave Winnipeg in terms of chasing an NHL team? In the same place we've been since the building of the MTS Centre and the formation of a partnership between the Chipman and Thomson families. Ready and able should the NHL decide to abandon one of its current markets.

Bettman threw us a bone last spring saying, "Frankly, if we're going to move a franchise, there are a couple of places in Canada that I'd like to give my attention first. I'd like to try and fix something that I wished might not have happened in the first place."

On Tuesday he wasn't so charitable.

"Again, what went on here had nothing to do with Winnipeg," said Bettman. "As of right now we're not expanding or looking to relocate. We're aware of the great interest in Winnipeg. We're appreciative of that but that's not something we're in the position to address right now."

Yes, it's a dirty business and in this exchange Winnipeg was left out in the cold.

Step outside for a minute. We're used to cold and we have the patience to wait for warmer days. We do it every year as summer crawls near. It always comes back.

So too will Gary Bettman and the NHL.

When I read this article it appears that the NHL used the city of Winnipeg as a pawn, if there was a threat of having a fall back plan in Winnipeg Bettman could use Winnipeg as leverage to get a deal in Phoenix.

Colton Orr vs Zack Stortini

In case you haven't seen it, this was one of the better hockey fights that I have seen this season Rangers Colton Orr vs Oilers Zack Stortini this was definitely a battle of heavy weights.

Drew Stafford hat trick sinks Bruins...

Leave it to former Fighting Sioux forward Drew Stafford to stick it to my Boston Bruins tonight, Stafford returned from an injury to score a "Hat Trick" and the last two goals of the game. In case you wondering that is MSG voice of the Buffalo Sabres Rick Jeanneret who is one of the best hockey play by play television announcers in the business. Unfortunately, some of my worst Boston Bruins Memories are with Rick Jeanneret at the helm calling the game. My friend Mike once left Rick Jeanneret's call of my Boston Bruins being eliminated in the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs on a goal by former Sabres tough guy Brad May on my answering machine, "May Day, May Day, Brad May...

Former Wild forward Brian Rolston put on waviers by the Devils

Holy Cow the New Jersey Devils are in full meltdown mode. I wonder if the Wild would be interested in picking Brian up? Probably not, the Wild can't afford 5 million a season and they do not have any room under the cap.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Veteran left wing Brian Rolston(notes) has been placed on waivers by the struggling New Jersey Devils.

Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced the move after practice on Tuesday.

If Rolston is not claimed by Wednesday at noon, the Devils can either assign him to their AHL team at Albany, N.Y. or keep him on the roster for a game against the Phoenix Coyotes later that night.

The Devils will get no salary cap relief sending the 37-year-old Rolston to the minors. He was over 35-years-old when he signed his contract so his $5 million salary will count against the Devils’ cap whether he plays for them or in the minors.

The only way his salary would come off the cap would be if another team claimed him, and that seems unlikely.

Brad Malone is the WCHA WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for Dec. 14, 2010

The Pony Express delivered. Brad Malone had a good week on the score sheet and in the face-off circle and was rewarded for his good play by receiving the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week.

WCHA.COM ---University of North Dakota center iceman Brad Malone, who propelled his team to a pair of come-from-behind conference road victories at Minnesota State last weekend and into first place in the league race, has been named the Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for Dec. 14, 2010.

A 6-2, 212-pound senior from Miramichi, New Brunswick, Malone led all players with four points and a +4 plus/minus rating in UND's sweep over the host Mavericks, which enabled the Sioux to take over first place in the race for the WCHA regular season title and MacNaughton Cup. In a 4-3 victory last Friday (Dec. 10), Malone matched his career high with three assists, setting up three straight UND goals after his team trailed 2-0. Then last Sunday afternoon (Dec. 12) and with the Sioux trailing 2-1 in the second period, he capped another rally by scoring the game-winning goal at 14:47 to complete the sweep. Malone also earned a +3 in Sunday's game and was named the No. 1 star. In addition to his four points, Malone also won 56.8% (25-of44) of his face-offs in the series.

Alexander Ovechkin and Brandon Dubinsky fight

If you haven't seen this fight it's worth a look, I am not sure the Washington Captials want their top star Alexander Ovechkin fighting on a regular basis. I guess in this case I really don't have a problem with this fight because it is between two "star" players, it's not like Brandon Dubinsky is a Goon, Dubinsky has (14g-13a-27pts) in 32 games and Ovechkin is a well a super star (12g-24a-36pts) in 32 games.

In watching the video it would appear that Ovechkin is a better fighter than Sidney Crosby. Here is a look at the Sidney Crosby - Matt Niskanen fight in case you haven't seen that fight.

A look further at the Strength of Schedule

Here is an interesting conversation that I found on Twitter between Ryan Durling of the Somethings Bruin hockey blog and USCHO Hockey ECAC Blogger Brian Sullivan, the discussion is worth taking a look at, there is some legitimate points brought up by Durling.

@SullivanHockey it's tough to credit a team that's played 3/4 the schedule of UNH/BC and almost half as many games as NoDak, Minny, etc.
@SullivanHockey I'd love to, honest. Sadly, they don't dance with Hockey East too much and it's tough to get that far away to see them
@SullivanHockey i'm not an ECAC hater nor a HE homer, lol. Just find it tough to compare the schedules.
@Ryan_Durling And RPI is probably the LEAST impressive of that bunch right now. Really... Yale. Check 'em out, they're crazy fun to watch.
@Ryan_Durling Seriously though, you really ought to watch Yale, Union, Dartmouth & RPI before passing stereotypical judgment on #ECACHockey.
@SullivanHockey I don't deny that they're good teams. RPI looked solid earlier this year and I'm sure they've improved, BUT...
@Ryan_Durling The poll isn't necessarily about who'd beat whom, but who is doing the best they can...which Yale certainly is.
@Ryan_Durling Everyone has his own ballot philosophy, but there's no doubt that Yale's season is the most successful in D-I to date.

First off, I am glad that someone else is saying these things. This is also one of the reason I am so glad that there isn't a BCS of college hockey, this is not a beauty contest folks where your team loads up on cupcakes and over inflate their stats racking up wins against unimpressive opponents. I am not personally impressed if your team schedules a Sacred Heart and then beats them 8-1. I am more impressed with a game between two teams that play in a tough contested match with the outcome is in doubt till the end of the game.

The being said, the NCAA Division I Hockey tournament is a tourney that is based on merit you have to be one of the final 16 to make the tourney and your team has to win 4 games to get to the top.

Yeah first let’s compare Strength of Schedule, eight of the ten teams with the toughest Strength of Schedule are in the WCHA and the other two teams are from the Hockey East and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Let’s take a look at the ECAC strength in scheduling or should we say a lack of strength.

The Top Ten Strength of Schedule

North Dakota 1
Bemidji State 2
Denver 3
Michigan Tech 4
Alaska-Anchorage 5
Minnesota-Duluth 6
Boston College 7
Notre Dame 8
Wisconsin 9
St. Cloud State 10

EZAC Strength of Schedule

Rensselaer 21
Brown 22
Yale 29
Dartmouth 33
Union 34
Harvard 35
St. Lawrence 40
Princeton 43
Quinnipiac 44
Cornell 45
Clarkson 46
Colgate 49

In conclusion; I am not saying that the ECAC or the Atlantic Hockey Associations aren’t good hockey leagues, they are the mid majors conferences of college hockey and “a few” of their teams can beat any team from the big three on any given night, but let’s be honest with ourselves, they are not in the same class as the Hockey East, WCHA or CCHA... Let the debate begin.

My first crack at the "what-if"

WCHA Final
Team GP Pts
1. UND 28 48
2. Denver 28 42
3. UMD 28 39
4. UNO 28 34
5. UW 28 32
6. C.C. 28 29
7. UMN 28 28
8. Mankato 28 21
8. SCSU 28 21
10. AA 28 18
10. BSU 28 18
12. MTech 28 6

Here is my first crack at the WCHA standings "what-if" calculator. You can pick your standings by going to this link... [Click to play "What-If"] Also, include your picks if you would like.

Rankings

Here is the rankings comparisons [click to view]

Pairwise rankings [click to view]

NCAA Division I - College Hockey RPI [Click to view]

Wheel of Justice rules; Jody Shelley suspended 2 games for hit on Adam McQuaid

I have read that Jody Shelly while one tough hombre is not a dirty player… When I read that he apologized on the ice, I thought that was a class act. Honestly, with Colin Campbell being as erratic as he is, there really is no way of knowing what to expect when the NHL disciplinary makes his rulings…I think a two game suspension is about right.

NHL.Com ---- Philadelphia Flyers forward Jody Shelley has been suspended for two games and fined by the NHL for his hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid on Saturday.

Shelley was given a five-minute major for checking from behind and a game misconduct 5:08 into the second period after shoving McQuaid while both players were racing for the puck. McQuaid, who just missed hitting the boards head-first, remained on the ice for several minutes before finally being helped off by teammates.

Shelley will forfeit $11,827.96 in salary, which will go to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

"I mean, I kind of got my hands up, braced myself a little bit, so it ended up not being as bad as I guess it could have been," McQuaid told reporters after the game.

Shelley apologized to McQuaid at the time of the incident and in the hallway outside the dressing rooms. The 24-year-old defenseman did return to the ice in the third period.

"You know, he was saying to me, I could hear him on the ice saying that he didn't mean to, so I guess, I'm not sure if maybe I don't know if he hit a rut or what happened, but he was saying he didn’t mean to," McQuaid said. "When I was coming off the ice, (Shelley) was waiting for me there. He said he was sorry and he didn’t mean to, so I just kind of got to take what he says."

Poll Monday!!! - Sioux 3rd in USCHO and 5th in USA Today...

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
[December 13, 2010]
1 Yale (45) 11-1-0 990 1
2 New Hampshire ( 1) 10-2-4 945 3
3 North Dakota 13-5-2 854 5
4 Minnesota-Duluth ( 2) 12-3-3 853 2
5 Boston College ( 2) 11-5-0 849 4
6 Miami 10-5-3 687 6
7 Denver 12-5-3 660 9
8 Nebraska-Omaha 11-4-1 631 10
9 Maine 8-4-4 589 8
10 Boston University 8-4-5 541 7
11 Michigan 10-5-4 505 12
12 Notre Dame 11-6-2 449 11
12 Union 10-3-3 449 13
14 Rensselaer 9-4-3 367 15
15 Wisconsin 10-7-3 272 16
16 Alaska 9-6-3 255 14
17 Merrimack 7-4-4 197 17
18 Ferris State 9-7-3 121 18
19 Minnesota 9-7-2 92 NR
20 Colorado College 10-7-1 49 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Clarkson 41, Dartmouth 36, Princeton 23, Robert Morris 22, Western Michigan 16, Northern Michigan 3, Providence 2, Minnesota State 1, Niagara 1
____________________________________________

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
[December 13, 2010]
1 Yale University 510 (34) 1 11-1-0
2 University of New Hampshire 458 3 10-2-4
3 University of Minnesota Duluth 418 2 12-3-3
4 Boston College 410 4 11-5-0
5 University of North Dakota 403 5 13-5-2
6 Miami University 306 8 10-5-3
7 University of Denver 273 10 12-5-3
8 University of Nebraska Omaha 261 9 11-4-1
9 University of Maine 218 6 8-4-4
10 Union College 178 13 10-3-3
11 University of Michigan 176 12 10-5-4
12 Boston University 148 7 8-4-5
13 University of Notre Dame 141 11 11-6-2
14 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 107 15 9-4-3
15 University of Wisconsin 31 NR 10-7-3
Others receiving votes: University of Alaska 22, Merrimack College 6, University of Minnesota 6, Ferris State University 3, Robert Morris University 3, Colorado College 1, Dartmouth College 1.

INCH Power Rankings

As always for a good laugh I include the INCH power rankings… Since the Yale Bulldogs don't play till January 2nd the Bulldogs will be at the top of the rankings until after the first of the New Year... Then when Yale resumes play they have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way and they really don’t play anyone except Holy Cross outside of their conference.
1. Yale
2. New Hampshire
3. North Dakota
4. Minnesota Duluth
5. Boston College
6. Maine
7. Nebraska-Omaha
8. Union
9. Michigan
10. Miami
11. Denver
13. Boston University
14. Wisconsin
15. Notre Dame
16. Alaska
17. Merrimack
18. Robert Morris
19. Ferris State
20. Clarkson
Dropped out: Dartmouth
Bubble-licious: Colorado College, Minnesota, Niagara, Princeton

Ducks forward Bobby Ryan scores using Mikko Koivu’s stick.

This is one of the most bizarre things I have ever witnessed in hockey. Mikko Koivu takes Bobby Ryan's stick away from him so Ryan returns the favor. I have never seen a player pick up the opponents stick and score with it... Also, the stick has the wrong curve for Ryan as well but he still ends up scoring.

Jody Shelley hit/push on Adam McQuaid

This is the latest hit that will be reviewed by the NHL on Monday morning by Colin Campbell. Flyers tough guy Jody Shelley pushed Adam McQuaid into the end boards and it was an unnecessary and unfortunate hit. I don’t know if Shelly will get a suspension from the NHL because he is not known for being dirty players and apologized for the hit almost immediately.

Sioux rope Mavericks 4-2 end first half with a sweep.

The UND Fighting Sioux are famous for their second half surges under head coach Dave Hakstol and finally end the first half of the season alone in first place in the WCHA. It will be interesting to see if they can put the rest of the league in the rear view mirror during the second half of the season. I think there is a lot of potential to even get better because I don’t think UND has played it’s best hockey so far to date, they are still making crucial mistakes that elite teams shouldn’t make.

The Sioux also need to get more of their players scoring and can't just rely on the Pony Express to get the job done. Hopefully the Fighting Sioux can get Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall back for the second half run and get them clicking on the power play again, both players have missed the last four games.

If UND can solidify their goaltending and cut down on the turnovers in the neutral and defensive zones I think they could make a run to the Frozen Four and finally get that elusive 8th national title. This team has played the best during the first half of the season during Dave Hakstol's reign.

Got away with two this weekend

I think UND played well in stretches but it wasn’t their best hockey of the season this weekend. Sweep at home and split on the road, frankly they got the sweep and that’s good, doesn’t hurt to get the breaks going your way. Personally, I don’t think MSU-M is an elite team and the Mavericks will finish somewhere in the middle to lower rung of the WCHA standings. Currently the Mavericks are tied for eighth place with 10 points. The Mavericks are a tough team that has decent speed and above average defensive corps. Kurt Davis is one of the better defenseman in the WCHA and is always a threat to score; fortunately, the Sioux were able to hold him to one point on the weekend.

Goon's three stars of the game
1.) Matt Frattin (1g-0a-1pts)
2.) Evan Trupp (1g-0a-1pts)
3.) Brad Malone (1g-0-1pts)

[Box Score for the game]

Here are some stats for the first half of the season

The Sioux are 13-5-2 to start the season, that is the best start in seven seasons under Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol. The Sioux are in first place in the WCHA with 22 points.

The Sioux have record of 7-1-0 for conference games on the road. The Sioux have a record of 8-3-1 on the road to start the season. The Sioux have a record of 5-2-1 at home. The Sioux have a non-conference record of 2-2-2 and have three more nonconference games this season.

UND Fighting Sioux have a record of 6-0-1 against unranked teams and a record of 7-5-1 against ranked teams and a record of 6-3-1 against ranked teams in the WCHA.

The Sioux have a 5-0-1 record on Olympic ice, 7-5-2 on NHL ice.

10-0-1 when scoring 4+ goals this season and the Sioux have scored 5 or more goals six times.

Sioux have a killed 87.3 % of the penalties that they have taken; tops in the WCHA.
Four of the top five scorers for the Sioux are seniors.

Aaron Dell is still leading the WCHA in GAA with a 1.94 average.

Matt Frattin is first in the Nation with 17 goals and second in the WCHA with 12 goals. Jason Zucker from DU is leading the WCHA with 13 goals.

Chay Genoway is first in the WCHA for scoring by defenseman 3g-11a-14pts

The Fighting Sioux offense is second in the WCHA scoring 3.43 goals per game.

Sioux Defense is top in the WCHA giving up 2.21 goals per game. [Click for stats]

Redwing77's Fan Behavior Rant and PR Fiasco

Ok, not related to Sioux hockey. Not even related to the NHL Interests of Goon (Boston), the region (Minnesota), or me (Detroit). This relates to the game I'm just watching right now on NHL Network: The NY Rangers vs. the Washington Capitols.

The game was out of hand. The Rangers were winning 6-0. Semin shoots the puck and hits Ovechkin in the knee. He goes down. THE CROWD CHEERS.

Ok, you know what? I boo every time Ovechkin and Crosby touch the puck. I boo ESPN and NHL Network every time they say their names. But cheering when one gets injured? I don't think that's classy... at least in that context. I cheer Pittsburgh without Crosby and Washington without Ovechkin because it forces the commentators are forced to NOT cream their shorts every time those two step on the ice. In other words, they're forced to recognize that these teams and the NHL are more than these two players (great or otherwise).

I'm sick as all get out of "Sid the Kid" or "Alexander the Great" or their newest incarnation: "The Great Eight." It's like calling LeBron "King James." King James is a version of the Bible. King James wasn't a basketball player.

It's never appropriate to cheer an injury. Injuries suck. There were some DU trolls on USCHO.com Fan Forum back when Paukovich hit Bina that gloated about it. Those people drove us UND fans nuts. I guess the scale of this one really set me off. The WHOLE ARENA cheered!!!!

On the flip side, like I hinted at above, I'm finding myself somewhat sympathetic. I can't be the only one who is simply sick to his stomach over the fact that the NHL seems to be Crosby and Ovechkin and nothing else. It's no wonder why they do little to promote the league and their televised games unless either the Capitols or the Penguins are one of the two teams playing. It seems often enough that the other teams in the NHL are afterthoughts. After Ovechkin got injured, the analysts went on and on about how the Great Eight got injured and this and that and seemed to be crying over how the Rangers fans could possibly fail to see how awesome Ovechkin is and become rabid fans of his. The commentators simply can't get it into their heads that no matter how good Ovechkin and Crosby are, they're still going to love their teams more. They'll nod and say "Yeah, they're pretty good," but they won't get all heavy breathing over them. It's almost as if you aren't their fans, you're obviously a clueless fan.

There's now a DVD being put out about Ovechkin! The height of egotism! But, hey, let Bettman pave the road towards the NHL's demise. No, not many in the front office would acknowledge such a thought because the NHL has been on a slight upward trend lately. They'd probably cite Crosby and Ovechkin as two of the reasons. But people don't see the long term big picture here. Bettman is carbon copying his mentor, David Stern (or maybe its his predecessor). The NHL and Crosby/Ovechkin absolutely REEKS of the NBA and Michael Jordan. Now... look at the trend. What happened to the NBA when Jordan retired?

The NBA went down the toilet. Why? Because their only recognizable player was gone. Now, look at what is happening with Crosby and Ovechkin. It's a few years away, sure, but what are you seeing the NHL doing to promote the league outside of Crosby and Ovechkin hype? Very little, if anything. So, when Crosby and Ovechkin depart the NHL, do you think the NHL will continue to trend upward? Will the popularity even out? Nope. I predict that the NHL will decline back into the irrelevance produced by the lockout. And the NHL is STILL recovering from that.

The NHL needs to do more to promote THE LEAGUE and all of its players rather than a select few. It's a tough proposition, for sure, but gimmick games and the Dynamic Duo isn't going to do it. ESPN is at the level of caring that they don't even bother to have the anchor people even study the basics of hockey. Hockey isn't relevant to ESPN and that's a direct statement towards the state of the game. Bettman isn't doing it. He thinks of us as no better than the NBA. Perhaps we can not hope to be more popular than the NBA overall and we definitely will not overtake Football, but we should try like hell to promote at every level. We should be trying to make some players from EVERY team visible to at least their regional fan base. We should have commentators that spend as much time ranting and raving praises towards players ON the ice as they do Crosby and Ovechkin. We should be pushing that EVERY team in the NHL is important, not just Pittsburgh or Washington. Oh, and by the way, it's not because a Red Wing is also mentioned as an "and by the way"

Sioux and Mavericks deuce

The lines have been posted for today's game. Sophomore Joe Gleason is in and Brent Davidson is out of the line up. The WCHA GAA leader Aaron Dell will be in net again this afternoon for the Fighting Sioux. The Purple cows from Mankato will be going with Austin Lee in net.

UND’s lines

19 Evan Trupp–22 Brad Malone–21 Matt Frattin
25 Jake Marto–10 Corban Knight–7 Danny Kristo
11 Derek Rodwell–9 Mario Lamoureux–27 Carter Rowney
8 Mike Cichy–29 Brock Nelson–20 Joe Gleason

24 Ben Blood–5 Chay Genoway
2 Andrew MacWilliam–4 Derek Forbort
3 Derrick LaPoint–18 Dillon Simpson

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness

[link to the stats]

MSU-Mankato’s lines

23 Michael Dorr–9 Mike Louwerse–25 Eriah Hayes
29 Eli Zuck–12 Rylan Galiardi–11 Corey Leivermann
15 J.P. Burkemper–19 Zach Lehrke–14 Justin Jokinen
24 Adam Mueller–26 Joe Schiller–7 John McInnis

16 Tyler Elbrecht–5 Ben Youds
28 Channing Boe–22 Kurt Davis
3 Cameron Cooper–17 Evan Mosey

1 Austin Lee
30 Phil Cook
35 Evan Karambelas

[link to MSUM stats]

Bruins trade Sturm to L.A. for 'nothing'...

The Boston Bruins needed to clear some cap space and they did so by trading one of their best defensive forwards Marco Sturm for future considerations to the L.A. Kings.

BOSTON, MA – Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that Boston has traded forward Marco Sturm to the Los Angeles Kings for future considerations. The trade is contingent upon Sturm passing a physical conducted by Los Angeles’ medical staff.

2010-11 marked Sturm’s 14th NHL season and sixth with the Bruins. The Dingolfing, Germany native is a veteran of 855 NHL games with 234 goals, 232 assists and 466 points and is the NHL’s all-time leader in those categories for German-born players.

In his Bruins career, the 32-year-old skated in 302 games with 106 goals and 87 assists for 193 points. He began this season on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in Game One of the Bruins/Flyers Eastern Conference Semifinal series on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

The 21st overall pick in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Sturm was acquired by the Bruins from San Jose with Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart for Joe Thornton on November 30, 2005.

I have seen where some think that the Boston Bruins will probably get some thing like a fifth round draft choice for the German. In my opinion the Bruins basically get nothing in return for him for a guy that scored 187 points in 300+ games. I would think the Bruins could have gotten something for a guy that scores 20 goals a season on a consistent basis.

The Sky is the limit for the Sioux in 2011...

I have dusted off an old tweet by Jayson Hajdu that he posted last January 12th. So I updated his numbers.

@UNDSID Jayson Hajdu --- UND is 49-36-9 before Christmas under Hakstol and 84-33-14 after. In 07-08, the Sioux won an amazing 20 games after the break.

So as of today the Sioux are now 61-41-11 before Christmas under Head Coach Dave Hakstol. With an impressive record in the first half of the season and the Sioux being a traditionally strong team in the second half the sky is the limit for this squad.

Sioux and Mavericks postponed till tomorrow

Well it's now official according to the MSU-M SID.

Mankato, Minn. --- Officials have announced that due to severe weather conditions in south central Minnesota, the Minnesota State vs. University of North Dakota men's hockey game, originally to be played Saturday beginning at 7:07 p.m., will now be played Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

The decision was made jointly after discussions were held with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association office and athletic administrators from both schools.

Linus Omark shootout goal

Check out this goal by Linus Omark the rookie from Sweden was playing in his first NHL game and he scored this highlight goal beauty to help the Edmonton Oilers win the shootout against the Tampa Bay Lighting.