Sunday, January 25, 2015

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Traditional Circle of Sticks. UND Sweeps out C.C.

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


That's two sweeps in two weekends of hockey. UND has now won five games in a row and is 8-2 in their last 10 games. UND improves to (18-5-2, 9-4-1 NCHC).

C.C. vs. UND Lines - Game Two



Almost the same lineup as last night, Colten St. Clair is in for Wade Murphy. Tonight's game is on Fox College Sports Pacific, DirecTV 608 and DISH Network 452.


MSU-M 4 UMN 2 (Maverick goals)



After watching the video, I can see why the Gophers are having a tough time.

It's pretty simple, if the Gophers don't start winning hockey games, they will be sitting home for the NCAA tournament.

Right now, they're not a good hockey team.

It's kind of puzzling. Minnesota returned most of the team that went to the Frozen Four last season and finished as the runner-up.

After you watch these goals, you will see why the Gophers losing. They're getting beat to pucks. They're not strong on pucks. They're losing the battles. They're not going to the hard areas.

The Gophers All-American goaltender Adam Wilcox looks human. Wilcox is getting beat by shots at the top of the faceoff dots. That didn't happen last season.

Stephon Williams Knocks Net Off


Minnesota State Mavericks goalie Stephon Williams didn't like the fact that his teammate was laying on the ice as play continued. Williams did the veteran move and knocked the goal off it's moorings.

"I was willing to take a delay of game (penalty) to get him off the ice and get fresh guys on --get a break," Williams said. "Wasn't really wasn't aware of the penalty shot rule. It was just an impulse reaction, something I am not going to make a habit out of, obviously."

UND 2 C.C. 1 (UND goals)



The University of North Dakota improved to 17-5-2 with the 2-1 win against the Colorado College Tigers on Friday night.

Last night, UND also scored its nation-leading 9th shorthanded goal of the year. Four players have two shorthanded goals. Also, four of those shorthanded goals have been game-winning goals.

NDK 1 - 1 6x6 Mark MacMillan (12) (Michael Parks/16, Andrew Panzarella/3) 16:23
NDK 2 - 1 5x6 SH GW LL Michael Parks (9) (unassisted)

Friday, January 23, 2015

UND vs. C.C. Game One - with Links


Looks like the same lineup as last weekend. Tonight, Johnny Simonson sits along with Trevor Olson, and Colton St. Clair who are still recovering from illness and injury.






Taking Care of Your Favorite Jersey

The one thing that sports fans know is that one of the most coveted pieces of sports memorabilia you can own is your favorite player's jersey. Sometimes sports fans are happy with a jersey they can buy from the store, but many other serious collectors will seek out that signed, game-worn jersey of their dreams. If you happen to have a very valuable jersey, you will want to take special care of it so that it can last a lifetime and just keep going up in value. 

Keep it Away from Potential Hazards

The best way to keep your one-of-a-kind sports jersey safe is to make sure that you keep it in a place where it is away from potential hazards. These potential hazards can include water damage, smoke damage and fading from the sun. The best way to keep your jersey clean, safe and protected is to find a display case that will let you enjoy looking at it while still keeping your investment safe. 

Protect it With a Display Case

A way to protect your jersey is a must, especially if you have put a significant investment in a rare jersey. You can choose from a variety jersey display cases that will give your jersey the protection it needs. You can find jersey cases that will display just the jersey itself that you can hang on the wall. If you have a small collection of other items, you can choose a jersey display case that serves as a shadow box so that you can include your whole collection into one display case. 

To find the display case that is right for your jersey, make sure that it is the right size of the type of jersey you own. You will also want to consider whether you want to include a photo of your favorite player or a plaque into the display case with the jersey. Finally, you should make sure that the glass as some sort of UV barrier so that you can prevent fading from harsh lighting conditions. 

Once you have to your jersey inside the the display case, you can put it together with all of your other sports collectibles to give any room in your home or your office a touch of pride for your favorite tea

Friday Afternoon Links

The weather makes it seem as if it’s March outside. Actually, there’s less than two months till the Frozen Faceoff at the Target Center. The year is clicking along and soon the playoffs will be here.

Here are a few links to get you ready for game time.

UND Will be Ready for Tigers

UND Looks to Scratch out Wins against the Tigers

Friday Gameday: It's Time to Stretch

CC hockey gets another crack at No. 2 North Dakota

UND MEN’S HOCKEY: A special teams focus

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Dougie Hamilton Fights Gabriel Landeskog (Video)



Being a Minnesota Wild apologist, I was very happy to see this. In my personal opinion, this was long overdue.

Finally, someone decided to collect the bill with Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog. For those keeping track at home, this was the first professional fight for Boston Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton.


Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Philadelphia Flyers: Forward Zac Rinaldo on his game misconduct



In the post-game media scrum, Zac Rinaldo said, "I changed the whole game."

I am going to predict that Zac Rinaldo will have the book thrown at him for his dirty hit on Kris Letang. I am going to say that he gets at least a 6-8 game suspension he deserves more. Rinaldo is a repeat offender so he "should" be suspended 10 games.



Minnesota Wild to get an Outdoor Game



It appears that the Minnesota Wild are finally getting an outdoor game next winter. This is good news for Minnesota Wild fans. First thing that popped into my head: is there's going to be a college hockey outdoor game as well? I am hoping.




A Bear and Rabbit go to a Hockey Game



s/t to the Illegal Curve. This one was too good to pass up.

NCHC Three Things

With six teams in conference play this weekend, Duluth in non conference play, and NCHC leader,
Omaha, off, this is a big weekend for the six teams in NCHC play to gain some ground in the conference standings. So here are three things I believe will come out of this weekend.

1. North Dakota Puts Offense on Display
The final series of an entire month at home, UND looks to close out this homestand just one point behind Omaha, who sits at 29 points on the season. Last time North Dakota met Colorado College this season, Colorado Springs got a good taste of what the UND offense has with UND outscoring CC 10-3 on the weekend, including a 7-2 victory in the Saturday night game. With scoring coming equally on all four lines for UND, I'd expect them to score plenty of goals once again this weekend and take a sweep of CC into their battle in Omaha next weekend.

2. Miami Returns to Winning Ways
Miami had a rough weekend in St. Cloud in their last week of play and were swept by the Huskies. Their off week last weekend couldn't have come at a better time to regroup and refocus to finish out the stretch run strong and healthy, and with their series against Denver at home this weekend, I expect a successful weekend for the Red Hawks. One game will be close and possibly take overtime because Denver is always a tough opponent and very good this season, but Miami comes out hard Friday night and will win by more than one goal.

3. Western Michigan Continues to Roll
Since late November, the Western Michigan Broncos have been on a roll. at 7-1-2 since November 28, they have been one of the top teams in the conference and are finding success as they look to make another return trip to Minneapolis this March. With now only seven points back of third place North Dakota, this is a team who could possibly keep rolling into home ice once the NCHC playoffs start this March. There recent success will continue into St. Cloud this weekend as they take battle with the toughest sub 500 team in the country. This will be the series to watch in the NCHC this weekend.

NHL Mid Season Awards

With the NHL All Star Game this weekend, it is time to take a look at my mid season favorites for the NHL's major individual awards. So without any more waiting, here we go!

Hart Trophy (NHL MVP): Rick Nash: New York Rangers
Now although Rick Nash is not leading the league in the major individual categories, he has been the prime reason for the success the Rangers are having this season. Nash is 15th in the NHL with 43 points, tied for the NHL lead in goals at 28, and 10th in the NHL in plus/minus at a +18 rating. The Rangers are sitting third in the Metropolitan Division just five points back of division leader, and in state rival, the New York Islanders. It is easy to say Nash is the catalyst to the Rangers first half success and will continue being that for the Rangers as the season continues down the stretch towards the playoffs.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (NHL Top Defenseman) Mark Giordano: Calgary Flames
Well, I think it is safe to say nobody expected the Flames to have as much success this season as they are right now and much of that is due to the outstanding defensive play or Giordano. Not only is he a factor of keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard, his +21 rating shows that he is a force when it comes to scoring goals too. He leads NHL defensemen in points (39), third in assists (28), tied for fifth in goals (11) and is second in plus/minus, only behind teammate TJ Brodie. I think it is safe to say Mark Giordano has earned this honor at the mid season point. 

Vezina Trophy (NHL Top Goalie) Pekka Rinne: Nashville Predators 
Pekka Rinne has been amazing between the pipes for Nashville in the first half of the season. Although he recently has been sidelined with injury, he still holds four more victories than any NHL goaltender with 29 in 37 games played this season. He is also second in goals against (1.96), which is also the only other goalie in the NHL below a GAA of 2. Rinne is third in save percent (.931) and sixth in shutouts (3). The numbers speak for themselves, now lets see if he can keep it up once he returns from injury.

Selke Trophy (Top Defensive Forward) Jonathan Toews: Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are one of the top teams in the NHL once again this sesaon and their defense is one of the main reasons for their success, and Jonathan Toews is leading the defensive charge with all forwards. The Hawks as a whole are one of the top defensive teams in the league this season, just allowing 105 goals on the season. Captain Jonathan Toews, with a +15 rating always does the little things right and is not afraid to battle below the goal line and in the corners. He also is a top penalty killer for Chicago and a big part of that is because of his ability to win key faceoffs. 

Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) Filip Forsberg: Nashville Predators
Forsberg leads every major category for skaters among all rookies. The kid has turned heads of the entire NHL and has instantly become a major part of the Nashville line-up. His 40 points have him six points ahead of Johnny "hockey" Gaudreau in Calgary. Forsberg is the future face of the Predators and will be among the top scorers in the NHL for many years to come if he can keep this dynamic style of play up. 

Jack Adams Award ( Coach of the Year) Peter Laviolette: Nashville Predators 
After the departure for the only coach in Nashville Predators history, Barry Trotz, Nashville was put up to the task of finding a replacement for the long tenured coach and Peter Laviolette was that answer. Last season, Nashville was one of the worst teams in the NHL, and with some off-season additions, or trades last year by gaining James Neal, the light at the end of the tunnel was near. Peter Laviolette has turned this ship around, at least for now, and has this team at number one in the NHL. Even with the falling of Pekka Rinne, the Predators continue to roll, and much of that is the players have the trust in Laviolette's system and trust him in his methods.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Who Wins the Super Bowl? (Online Poll)



Who wins the Super Bowl? Go.. I am going with the New England Patriots. I used to live west of Boston and actually went to a game in Foxboro. That was a while ago.


Who wins the Superbowl?

Patriots
Seahawks
Poll Maker

Zac Rinaldo Boards Kris Letang



First, this is an awful, nasty hit. I know it's been said before, but these are the types of hits that need to be removed from the game of hockey, forever.

Since Zac Rinaldo is a repeat offender (he's been suspended by the NHL for a total of six games) he could get hit with a lengthy suspension. I know, this sounds like groundhog day.

For those keeping track at home, Rinaldo was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

First I realize that hockey is a contact sport that everything happens at a very high rate of speed, but Rinaldo had no other intention, but to take out Kris Letang. I don't think we can blame the victim on this one. (Zac Rinaldo's Suspension History)

Apr 07, 2014
Suspended by the NHL for 4 games.
Feb 13, 2012
Suspended by the NHL for 2 games.
Feb 04, 2012
Fined $5,000 by the NHL.

Friday's game between UND and C.C. at 7:07 PM CT



For those that haven't looked at the schedule, that UND's game on Friday is at 7:07 PM CT.

Monday, January 19, 2015

UND Second in USCHO Poll





USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll


January 19, 2015


Team
(First Place Votes)
Record
Points
Last Poll
1
Minnesota State
(42)
18- 4-1
992
1
2
North Dakota
( 7)
16- 5-2
941
3
3
Boston University
13- 4-4
874
2
4
Harvard
( 1)
11- 3-2
820
4
5
Massachusetts-Lowell
15- 5-3
762
6
6
Bowling Green
14- 4-4
705
7
7
Minnesota-Duluth
13- 8-1
695
5
8
Nebraska-Omaha
15- 6-3
670
8
9
Miami
14- 8-0
607
9
10
Michigan Tech
16- 7-1
527
11
11
Denver
13- 7-1
507
13
12
Vermont
15- 6-2
434
10
13
Yale
11- 4-2
326
18
14
Merrimack
13- 6-2
289
20
15
Colgate
14- 7-1
246
15
16
Michigan
13- 7-0
235
19
17
Minnesota
11- 7-2
228
16
18
Providence
14- 8-1
214
14
19
Boston College
13- 8-2
193
17
20
Quinnipiac
15- 8-1
182
12
Others receiving votes: Robert Morris 45, Western Michigan 5, Penn State 2, Mercyhurst 1.


The latest USCHO.COM poll is out. Five NCHC teams are in the top-15 spots.