Big 10 Follow-Up

Frustrations have mounted since the Gophers loss to Union (7-4)
in the National Championship game

Before the holiday break, I took a look at the Big 10 conference after reading an article on USCHO that made me laugh on how stricken from reality they were. Now with more games under the conference's belt and only one month left in the season, well before playoffs, let us take another look at the conference and why it could possibly be just as terrible as the Atlantic Hockey Conference.

Let's start with the obvious, the should be conference power houses(Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) are sitting at the bottom of the league, with the exception of Michigan who is the conference leader. Between Wisconsin and Minnesota (last and 4th respectively) their combined inter conference record is 3-8-5, with all the victories belonging to Minnesota, and two of which came against Wisconsin.

Their conference non-conference record is nothing to write home about either. In fact, it is one of the worst in all of NCAA hockey. The overall record is 38-43-7, very detrimental to their conference hopes in the Pairwise rankings when it comes time to make the NCAA tournament brackets. So basically if you want to make the NCAA tournament out of the Big 10, you have to win the Big 10 tournament. The only team within the top 16 in Pairwise right now is Michigan, but at 14 they are on the bubble, especially with the 16 seed probably going to the Atlantic Hockey auto bid.

Looking at the overall records, you have one team below 500 tied for second in the conference, Michigan State (10-11-2), at 16 points with Penn State. Yes that's right Penn State. Between them and Michigan, they are really the only good things the conference has going for them right now.

The Big 10 should have kept their noses out of college hockey, yes I know it will lead to more expansion in the coming years, but right now the lack of competition is frustrating fans to the point where it is getting tough for conference teams to get people to their arenas to watch them play. If things do not change soon, they will be the cellar conference behind Atlantic Hockey.

Grand Forks has been named America's #1 Hockey Town.

According to @smartasset, Grand Forks has been named America's #1 Hockey Town. #UNDProud https://t.co/UVc5Cqk6Kp
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) February 5, 2015

Here's a new article that came out this week. I am sure the other 58 teams in college hockey will probably offer some argument to why this article is flawed. It looks like they might have a solid method of analyzing the different schools.

Data & Methodology

While the NHL is the premier hockey league in the U.S., there are several others with significant fan bases. In addition to all U.S. NHL towns, we considered every U.S. town or city with a team competing in America’s top two minor leagues (the American Hockey League (AHL) and the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL)) or in Division I NCAA hockey. That brought the total of towns in our study to 129.2 For each of those 129 towns we first looked at the overall quality of life enjoyed by residents. Specifically, to develop our Quality of Life Score we looked at the following five factors:

Violent Crimes per 100,000 people.

Property Crimes per 100,000 people.

Disposable Income (median income minus median housing costs).

Dining and Entertainment Establishments per 10,000 residents.

Unemployment Rate.3

Related articles

• America's Best Hockey Towns(smartasset.com)

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Is Evander Kane on Trading Block?

It appears so, check out what's making its way around the blogosphere today. I can think of a couple of teams that he would look good on. You have to wonder if Kane could use a fresh start?

The Winnipeg Jets are reportedly listening to offers on Evander Kane. http://t.co/YHi2G7grCp pic.twitter.com/4xo1xsfBf4
— theScore (@theScore) February 5, 2015

Many questions around Evander Kane and the Jets. Some medical issues to be resolved, but teams are calling and Jets are listening...hard.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 5, 2015

NHL rumors: Jets taking trade calls on F Evander Kane. Is this the year it finally happens? http://t.co/F4uXXwZPpZ pic.twitter.com/TwtyYwgnL4
— Eye on Hockey (@EyeOnHockey) February 5, 2015

Further to @DarrenDreger's tweet, also hearing Jets taking calls on Evander Kane. Big name to have on trade market for sure.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) February 5, 2015

Winnipeg Free Press: Healthy scratch could be turning point in Kane saga

View image | gettyimages.com

This is a story that has garnered a lot of attention the last few days. To me, it seems a little excessive, but team rules are team rules. Right? On the surface it appears minor, Kane wore sweats to a team meeting.

Here's what at stake, Kane broke team rules and if the coach hadn't disciplined him, it would appear that the coach has two sets of rules. One set of rules for star players and rules for the rest of the team.

Gary Lawless, Winnipeg Free Press --- Kane’s transgression on Tuesday, as it turns out, was fairly was minor. He broke dress code, arriving at the rink for a midday team meeting in sweats, instead of a suit. By gametime, Kane wasn’t a player.

Jets coach Paul Maurice scratched Kane from the lineup and after the game called it a coach’s decision. This is the second time Maurice has made Kane a healthy scratch for disciplinary reasons. The coach has rules and he expects his players to follow them and there are few exceptions. The margin of error for a repeat offender such as Kane is thin. So he got benched.

Track suit and healthy scratch could be turning point in Kane saga - via @winnipegnews http://t.co/oZd4Q2F8rr via @sharethis
— gary lawless (@garylawless) February 5, 2015

UND WHKY: Border battle

Grand Forks, N.D. -- Rewind to Nov. 21 of last year and the North Dakota women's hockey was on a eight-game winless skid. The team was swept by the Minnesota Gopher powerhouse and the newly revitalized Bemidji State program. They had a loss and a tie against Wisconsin.

Nothing seemed to be going right at that point in the season. But since Dec. 12, the team has gone 8-1-1. Most recently tallying back-to-back sweeps of Ohio State and BSU. Last weekend North Dakota was able to pull off a in and tie against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

The games that North Dakota has won as of late haven't been high scoring or glamorous, but the program has done enough of the right things to claw themselves back from sixth place in the WCHA to fourth.

The keys to UND's success have been the defense and being backstopped by junior goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie. Amsley-Benzie has allowed only four goals in the last six games and has three shutouts against nationally ranked opponents. She has also been named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week twice since the beginning of 2015.

Currently North Dakota trails Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA standings by three points and is ranked 10th in the Pairwise with only six games remaining in the regular season.

This weekend North Dakota will face rival Minnesota on Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 4:07 p.m.. The Gophers are 17-1-4 with the lone loss to Bemidji in Nov. of last year. If UND plans to be successful this weekend against the Gophers they will need carry momentum from the past three weeks and have exceptional goaltending and defense.

UND is hoping to pack The Ralph and break last year's attendance record. Attendees will receive one of these ridiculously fun(ny) foam stick hats. Tickets are available for $1 at The Ralph box office.

P.K. Subban Fined for Diving

It was only a matter of time before P.K. Subban was fined by the National Hockey League for embellishment. Now with the fine, Subban is now a documented diver. It will be interesting to see if Subban cleans up his act.

NHL.COM -- Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban has been fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment), the National Hockey League announced today.

Revised for the 2014-15 season following offseason approval by the League's Board of Governors and the National Hockey League Players' Association, NHL Rule 64 is designed to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale outlined below:

Carolina Hurricanes: Brad Malone Scores on the Penalty Shot (Video)

Former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone scored his fifth goal of the season with this beauty on the penalty shot. In 39 games this season, Malone has scored (5g-3a--8pts).

HIGHLIGHT: @Bmalone22 draws a penalty shot and scores for the #Canes last night --> WATCH: http://t.co/HJXh2W8gmc pic.twitter.com/G7E3RMD1bz
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) February 4, 2015

2015 Beanpot: Harvard No Goal

Game one of the 2015 Beanpot Tournament, BU vs. Harvard.

After watching the video, I don't know? I have no invested interest in either team, I think Harvard scored a goal. Based on what I can see on my television screen. I don't have all of the angles that the refs have. Tough call to make for the officials. I As a result of this goal being waved off, the two teams went to overtime.

Shelby Amsley-Benzie, WCHA Defensive Player of the Week

Congrats to UND junior goalie Shelby Amsley-Benzie for being named the WCHA defensive player of the week.

WCHA Defensive Player of the Week

Shelby Amsley-Benzie, Jr., G, North Dakota (Warroad, Minn.)

Amsley-Benzie continued her run of stellar play, backstopping North Dakota to a five-point weekend at No. 6 Minnesota Duluth. The junior from Warroad, Minn. recorded her fourth shutout of the season – third against a nationally-ranked opponent – when she stopped all 30 shots faced Friday in a 1-0 victory. She then followed up her shutout performance with a 25-save effort Saturday, helping UND to a 2-2 tie and shootout victory. North Dakota’s netminder helped her team’s penalty kill go a perfect 6-for-6 on the weekend, stopping 10 shots while short-handed. Amsley-Benzie currently leads the nation with a .949 save percentage. Since Jan. 1, she tops the country with both a .971 save percentage and 0.71 goals against average.

Also nominated: Ann-Renée Desbiens, So., G, Wisconsin

UMN vs. UND, Pack the Ralph

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

February 02, 2015

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Minnesota State	(20)	21- 5-1	952	3
2	North Dakota	(14)	19- 6-2	946	1
3	Boston University	(16)	16- 4-4	945	2
4	Nebraska-Omaha		16- 7-3	841	5
5	Michigan Tech		20- 7-1	740	8
6	Harvard		12- 5-2	708	4
7	Minnesota-Duluth		15-10-1	680	7
8	Bowling Green		15- 6-5	606	6
8	Miami		15- 9-1	606	9
10	Denver		15- 9-1	536	11
11	Boston College		16- 8-2	488	14
12	Massachusetts-Lowell		16- 8-3	482	10
13	Providence		16- 9-1	405	12
14	Michigan		15- 8-0	324	13
15	Yale		12- 6-3	297	16
16	Quinnipiac		16- 8-2	261	18
17	Vermont		15- 9-2	196	15
18	Merrimack		14- 9-3	173	19
19	Robert Morris		19- 5-4	111	20
20	Colgate		14- 9-3	70	17
Others receiving votes: Penn State 42, St. Lawrence 29, Minnesota 26, Dartmouth 14, Bemidji State 8, St. Cloud State 7, Western Michigan 5, Canisius 2.

Corbin McGuire hit on Connor Reilly (Video)

During Saturday's game, Wisconsin's Corbin McGuire hit Minnesota's Connor Reilly with a knee-on-knee hit. According to Minnesota head coach Don Lucia, Reilly is going to miss a substantial amount of time. The Gophers have already talked to the Big Ten about the hit. I am thinking suspension.

(Video) UND 4 UNO 3 O.T.

It was a great weekend of hockey, what an amazing series. It's the kind of hockey that I like to watch. I thought UND played well both games, but kind of lost their composure during the later part of the game on Friday night and it cost UND. I touched on it a bit here.

Here are a few fun facts, with the with the win, UND is 16-0-1 when they're leading after two periods. UND is also 13-0-1 on Saturday nights. UNO 1-5-1 when trailing after two.

There have been four games in the series, three-of-four went to overtime. All four games were decided by a goal. Also, there's been one sweep in this series. All-time, UND leads the series 9-6-1.

UND improves to 13-0-1 on Saturday this season, 19-0-1 when O'Donnell scores a goal, and 2-0-0 in the #BusinessSuits. #LuckOfTheIrish
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) February 1, 2015

UND vs. UNO Game two Lines

UND goes with the same lineup as last night.

(Video) UND vs. UNO (Overtime Implosion)

You have to give credit to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. They beat UND fair and square. I think last night's display in the overtime period was a textbook display of an implosion.

noun
1.the act of imploding; a bursting inward (opposed to explosion).
2. Phonetics.the occlusive phase of stop consonants.
(of a stop consonant) the nasal release heard in the common pronunciation of eaten, sudden, or mitten, in which the vowel of the final syllable is greatly reduced. The ingressive release of a suction stop.
Compare plosion.

UND vs. UNO (UND goals 1/30/2015)

“We didn’t play a full 60 minutes, but in the third period, we came out and played desperate hockey and showed what kind of team we are,” Caggiula said. “When you lose a game in overtime, it’s never going to sit well. But we have to play a full 60 minutes, like we did in the third period, and I think we’ll have a better result tomorrow.” (Grand Forks Herald)

UNO Head Coach Dean Blais Throws the Water Bottle.

Friday Links UNO vs. UND

Epic series this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. UND takes on the Red Mavs in an important two-game conference series. Should be an exciting series. #hateundweek

After 3 days in Sisseton and a disgusting, vomit-filled bus ride home, UND is changing up the Omaha trip this year http://t.co/3eM2P3c63F
— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) January 29, 2015

NCHC Hockey: UND and UNO Take Center Ice - http://t.co/ypqgshLKhW #hockey #THW pic.twitter.com/lF6QNhpHmH
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) January 29, 2015

#1 North Dakota travels to #5 UNO in college hockey's biggest series this weekend http://t.co/EijRlHboFX pic.twitter.com/y47lJKvitA
— SBN College Hockey (@SBNCollegePuck) January 30, 2015

UND Women Push Win Streak to Four - http://t.co/3XiGTdVVuf #NHL pic.twitter.com/y9WmNqVsJS
— THW Hockey (@HockeyLinks) January 29, 2015

UND Hockey: Shorthanded, No Problem - http://t.co/lmeOAl3YBJ #hockey #THW pic.twitter.com/UN9PcPat39
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) January 29, 2015

UND and UNO Set to Clash in Omaha http://t.co/Ip3XM8pOcW pic.twitter.com/YfHU8WKmAL
— Goon's ND Redneck (@NDRedneck) January 29, 2015

ICYMI, watch the newest episode of #ThroughTheseDoors https://t.co/VddunC7iBr #UNDproud #NCHCHockey
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) January 30, 2015

UND Hate Week in Omaha :)

Ah yes... It's "Hate UND Week" on ESPN 590 AM Omaha. So, if you haven't heard this, you might want to listen to it at the 31:00 mark of the embedded broadcast.

For some interesting hockey analysis from a UNO fan's perspective  you can check out MAV PUCK.

This should be a good series of hockey, both teams hate each other and it should be a rough series. Both games will be on TV and for those with DirecTV, you will be able to watch Friday's game on CBSSN and Saturday's game on Fox College Sports.

If you haven't seen it, Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy has been taking hacks at UNO all season long.

Meanwhile, the poor-but-they-keep-winning-anyway Omaha Mavericks swept Denver.

Omaha will fall off, but might have enough points banked that it doesn't make a difference. North Dakota is better but still not great.

Collin Adams Committs to UND

Collin Adams a 16-year old forward from Brighton, MI, has committed to play for UND. Below, is his Elite Prospects page.

Very honored and excited to announce my commitment to the University of North Dakota. Thanks to everyone for the help along the way #GoSioux
— Collin Adams (@sniper4398) January 29, 2015