Thursday, March 19, 2015

Update: UND Confused with NDSU Yet Again



Again, UND is mistaken for the AG School to our south. Apparently, this sign was in one of the bars in Minneapolis. What a great way to end up with no UND fans in your bar. I am not 100% sure what bar this was in. Tom Miller from the Herald posted that it was Sneaky Peats. I trust Millers word on that. 

Update: Seen the tweet from Tom Miller bellow. I would have posted this earlier, but I was in transit and not able to make sure the record was corrected. 



UND Press Conference. Hakstol and Pattyn



Well, another conference tourney is upon us. I really like the extra things the NCHC does during a season and during the conference tourneys. You get all of the video at this link.

Dumba's Dirty Goal



What a blast by the youngster. I like this kid's game. Matt Dumba seems to do everything at a high rate of speed.

And from the big story of the day, yesterday.
From Michael Russo, - Uh, uh, uh, well, lots of Wild fans asked me on Twitter what Zach Parise chirped at Shea Weber after Matt Dumba’s OT winner Tuesday. Said Parise with a big laugh: “Nothing you want to write. We were just going after each other all game. You reach your boiling point. I think he reached his, too.”

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

How I Think It's Going to Turn out



Before some Gopher fan comes on here and calls me a moron, UMN is 1-2-1 in the state of Michigan, so I wouldn't be surprised if the final Pairwise Rankings looked like this. Feel free to share yours.

Here's another thing to consider, Minnesota has a 2-1-1 record against Michigan State and a 3-1 record against Ohio State this season. Three of those combined wins against the two teams came at home

Conor Gaarder, UND's Mr. March


I love this picture. Maybe we're on to something, in UND's last seven March games, Connor Gaarder has five goals & four of them were game-winners. This isn't a one-time thing either, last year, in UND last four games of the season, Gaarder scored four goals in four games.

Nazem Kadri Suspended Four Games for Head Shot



This is an ugly hit and was dealt with by the NHL Department of Player Safety. For his efforts, Kadri has been suspended four games by the NHL.

NEW YORK– Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri has been suspended for four games, without pay, for an illegal check to the head against Edmonton Oilers forward Matt Fraser during NHL Game No. 1039 in Edmonton on Monday, March 16, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 10:58 of the third period. Kadri was assessed a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head.

Kadri is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, will forfeit $141,463.40. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
Is this suspension excessive or not?

(Video) Andrew Shaw Headbutts Brock Nelson



Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw headbutts Islander forward Brock Nelson. Shaw received a Game Misconduct for his efforts. I would imagine that the NHL's Department of Player Safety will look at this, but I don't think he will get suspended for this.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Ovie Takes Krug Slap Shot in the Junk.



S/t to Pete Blackburn.... Alex Ovechkin takes a Torey Krug slap shot in the junk. Dead center.

A Picture is Worth A 1,000 Words



This kind of sums it all up. Guy can barely walk after his surgery and he's out on the ice lifting the Penrose Cup above his head. Mark MacMillan is a character guy, a glue guy on this UND hockey team.

Connor Gaarder's game-winning goal vs. Colorado College (Video)



Coming into Saturday night’s game, Connor Gaarder had scored four game-winning goals. With his eighth goal of the season, Gaarder would add another game-winning goal to his total. Gaarder has scored five goals in the last six games, four of which have been game-winning goals. Gaarder’s five game-winning goals also leads UND.

UND Hockey: Tradtional Circle of Sticks with the Penrose


A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on


A video posted by Erik Martinson (@erikmartinson1) on

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Malkin Hurt in Bruins Game



Pittsburgh Penguins All-World forward Evgeni Malkin was hurt on this check by Chris Kelly.

C.C. vs. UND, game 2 Lines



Friday, March 13, 2015

C.C. vs. UND game 1; Links


Game one, Tigers vs. UND. A few changes on the lines for UND.







Friday Morning Links

Good Morning, the NCHC playoffs are finally here. The second season is upon us. Let’s take a look at what’s happening today.  It's really hard to believe that the season is winding down already. Next weekend Frozen Faceoff.  

Predictions Stoney Sioux says sweep...It's Hard to End Somebody's Season

Schloss is going with a sweep as well.

The University of Hockey Sweep it is.

UND looks to End Tigers Season

USCHO has UND sweeping this weekend as well: NCHC picks: March 13

CC Tigers hope to surprise everyone but themselves in NCHC playoffS

BU phenom Jack Eichel learning lessons on, off the ice

Thursday, March 12, 2015

NCHC Final Award Nominees and Redwing77's Predictions

By Redwing77

I haven't posted in a while and I thought I'd do this.  The NCHC announced its award finalists today.  I'm going to go through and give my opinion on as many of the nominees as I feel comfortable opining upon and finish each section up with my predicted winner.

Herb Brooks Coach of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Dean Blais (UNO).  You can't really argue with his body of work over most of the regular season.  UNO was pretty dominant despite not having a real star studded lineup.  Ryan Massa returned from personal problems to be every other teams' personnel problem.  He was very hard to beat for most of the year.  Freshmen Tyler Vesel, Jake Randolph, and defenseman Luke Snuggerud were very nice surprises coming directly from the USHL (coincidentally all from the Omaha Lancers) and Austin Ortega was everything advertised.  Blais is no stranger to these types of awards.  Most UND fans who were around during Blais' tenure will attest to how good of a coach he is.  Oh yeah, going 12-8-4-3 with one of the youngest teams in the nation tends to garner attention too.

Finalist #2:  Dave Hakstol (UND).  Not bad for all the "he should be fired" crowd, eh?  He led UND to the Penrose Cup and won it by 6 points.  His team is among the NCAA leaders in a variety of statistical categories.  That being said, most coaches who win the conference regular season title will be on this list.

Finalist #3:  Scott Sandelin (UMD).  Despite finishing 5th in the NCHC, UMD is top 6 in the nation in ranking.  His team plays well and is a very solid opponent.

My Prediction:  I'd LOVE for it to be Dave Hakstol, but my feeling is that it will be Dean Blais.  For most of the season, it was neck and neck with UND and Miami for the Penrose and he did it with a younger team that was picked to finish 6th in preseason NCHC polls.

NCHC Rookie of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Louie Belpedio (D - Miami):  I do not know much about this player.  However, according to his stats, he's done quite well.  10 points, +7, 21 blocked shots.  Not at all bad.

Finalist #2:  Patrick Russell (F - SCSU):  10g-10a-20pts.  He won 3 Rookie of the Week honors.  He was very noticable on the ice.

Finalist #3:  Danton Heinen (F- DU):  Heinen was the only of the three players listed I looked up as to where he came from (Surrey of the BCHL).  What a diamond find for the Pios.  Rookie of the Month and 4x Rookie of the Week winner, he led all rookie skaters in points.  His 26 points not only led all rookies but was good for 3rd overall in the conference.

My Prediction:  Hard for it NOT to be Heinen, so I will play it safe and say Danton Heinen.

NCHC Goaltender of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Ryan Massa (UNO):  2nd team All Conference, great stats, miserable to play against.  League-best .933 Save% and 2nd best 2.12 GAA.  Nominee for the Mike Richter Award.  He is the only senior up for this award.

Finalist #2:  Zane McIntyre (UND):  Junior goaltender led the NCHC in win percentage (.708), wins (16), and saves (704).  First Team All Conference.  Mike Richter nominee.  2nd only to Massa in Save Percentage (.931).

Finalist #3:  Kasimir Kaskisuo (UMD):  A freshman.  How about out of the gate good?  24 starts (only other to do that is McIntyre), .918 Save%, and 2.27 GAA.  Again, as a freshman.  (As an aside:  How can he be a finalist for this award and NOT be a finalist for the NCHC Rookie of the Year award?)

My PredictionZane McIntyre (UND).  Best goaltender in the NCHC and a big reason (perhaps THE reason) why UND is where it is.

NCHC Forward of the Year Award

Finalist #1:  Jonny Brodzinski (SCSU):  Rocket shot, 13 goals (tied for first), 2 game winners, NCHC leading Power Play scorer.  Patrick Russell may be "tomorrow" but Brodzinski is definitely TODAY. 13g-10a for just under 1 point per game in 24 games.  First Team All Conference

Finalist #2:  Austin Czarnik (Miami):  A measely 4 goals on the year (3 in one game ... 2 short handed..  against UND ARGH!!!!) but is among the NCAA leaders in assists (he led the NCHC in assists with 22). Second Team All Conference.  46 points in 24 games means over 1 PPG.

Finalist #3:  Trevor Moore (DU):  Sophomore.  First Team All Conference.  13g-17a-30pts.  Tied for league lead in goals but won the scoring title outright.  NCHC best +15 as well.

My Prediction: This one is hard.  I want to say Trevor Moore and it wouldn't be far fetched, but I'm going to go with Brodzinski.

NCHC Defenseman of the Year Award and Offensive Defensemen Awards

Look at the stats folks.  It's going to be Laleggia and it's not even close (13 point difference to be exact).

Defensive Forward of the Year

Czarnik reappears to join DU's Doremus and UND's Mark MacMillan.  Defensive statistics for Czarnik and MacMillan are virtually identical (2 shorties, 17 blocked shots with +/- being a bit different).

My Prediction:  Ok, I'm going full homer on this one because I honestly don't know who will win this one so I'll go with Mark MacMillan (UND).  All 3 are deserving in my opinion.

NCHC Player of the Year

Jonny Brodzinski (SCSU), Joey LaLeggia (DU), and Zane McIntyre (UND) are the finalists.  I'm going to go right to my prediction on this one and say it is Joey LaLeggia (DU).  YES, I know that McIntyre has been THE man all year but how often does a player who DOESN'T SCORE win the big award?  LaLeggia has the vote.  Look:  Best offensive defenseman by a LONG SHOT, great on defense.  He's the total package this year.  An opportunity to give the big award to a defensive player who can score.  Zane gets snubbed.

DU could be the biggest winner in the amount of awards won this year.

Just my two cents.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

UND Women's Hockey Season Review

In a season of struggles during the first half of the season (9-9-2), the North Dakota Women's Hockey team managed to earn yet another 20 victory season, but once again are on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA tournament due to the automatic bid by CHA champion RIT.

Looking at the PairWise rankings, it made me think. Is it time to expand the NCAA tournament to 10 teams with two play in games between seeds 7-10? There are certainly questions that could be raised about this. Mercyhurst and Minnesota-Duluth were the two other 20 win teams that were on the outside looking in on selection Sunday and with the auto bid by RIT being a factor, let those four teams battle it out for seeds 7 and 8 and keep the rest of the tournament with the same structure it has now. Just a thought.

The story of the second half for UND had to be the play of Junior Goalie Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who set countless records for UND this season. She set the career victory record, eclipsing the 50 win mark with the two victories against Ohio State two weeks ago. She also holds the career shutout record at 14, single season shutout record at 9, but came just shy of the single season wins record, which she holds, with 18 victories on the season. Amsley-Benzie also would set the school shutout streak record at 297 minutes and 13 seconds.

This was also a season where the ladies in kelly green and white would play with heavy hearts. Early in the season, Sophomore Forward Lisa Marvin was struck by a wreckless driver while filling up her truck with gas on the side of the road after she had ran out. The injuries she would sustain forced her to have a few surgeries to help repair the damage, and would end her season, if not her hockey career. Since that moment, the team would pull the laces tighter and play for Lisa, which was a big motivating factor for their amazing second half run, that included 8 shutouts, one of which was against the Gophers.

Although the season didn't end the way they wanted to, there is still many positives to take from what looked like was going to be a very long season for UND.

TEAM AWARDS:

Most Valuable Player: Shelby Amsley-Benzie
Amsley-Benzie set numerous team records this season, and her 8 shutouts since the turn of the calendar to 2015 are nothing to laugh at. She ended the season with a 1.21 goals against average and a .952 save percentage. She was also a top 10 finalist for the Patty Kaz Memorial Award, women's hockey's version of the Hobey Baker, and the only goalie to make the list this season. She would also record an assist during a game this year too making just Goalie Lexie Shaw the only player who dressed and played to not record a point.

Rookie of the Year:
No freshman would dress in the line-up this season so this award will not be given.

Offensive Player of the Year: Josefine Jakobsen
Jakobsen led the team in goals this season at 16, one more then Sophomore Amy Menke, and was the driving force down the stretch for this team's offense. Some may ask why team point leader Meghan Dufault, Becca Kohler, or game winning goals leader Amy Menke isn't the winner of this award, but Jakobsen's niche to find the net helped UND finish off many games this season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Shelby Amsley-Benzie
Keeping pucks out of the net is a big part of team defense and although the defensive core for this UND squad is one of the most talented in the country, it is hard to not give this to Amsley-Benzie, especially with her just under 300 minute shutout streak to end the season and her 9 shutouts this season.
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Most Improved: Amy Menke
The sophomore forward had a year she will probably remember for a very long time. She was third in team scoring with 28 points, and would lead the team with 5 game winning goals. She would set career highs in goals (15), assists (13) and points (28). With her willingness to go to the net, I can only see these numbers going up in the future.