Joe Gleason and the Edina Hornets are about to come on FSN. They are playing Wisconsin recruit Jake Gardiner and Minnetonka. It should be a very good game.
Other future D-I players for Edina include Minnesota recruit Zach Budish and Harvard recruit Marshall Everson.
Update: Edina wins 4-2 in a good game. For more on the game, Dean Spiros has a good story here.
Both Sioux coach Dave Hakstol and Gopher coach Don Lucia said their teams are healthy and everyone should be able to go this weekend.
That is, of course, except for Minnesota’s Ryan Stoa, who is out for the year.
Hakstol said that Brad Miller is feeling better and has overcome the flu. Whether or not he is going to be in the lineup this weekend, Hakstol said, remains to be seen.
Here are a few stories and some stats….
Taylor Chorney was featured on CSTV’s Tuesday at the rink chat. Check it out here.
The new USCHO.com Bracketology has UND and Bemidji State in a regional with Michigan and Boston College.
College Hockey News’ Adam Wodon has a special report on Bemidji State’s future.
Former Sioux player Hunter Bishop, an Ohio State recruit, is the No. 2 scorer in the BCHL with 48 goals, 32 assists for 80 points in 49 games (five hat tricks). He will soon become Vernon’s first 50-goal scorer since 1992. He recently made news for winning the BCHL’s fastest-skater competition.
There’s some sad news out of Minneapolis about former Gopher defenseman Nate Hagemo, who is suspected of possessing heroin. Hagemo was injured at the World Juniors in Grand Forks and never ended up recovering from it. He announced his hockey retirement last fall.
Colorado College’s Jimmy Kilpatrick joined Ryan Duncan and T.J. Oshie as the WCHA’s only members of the Century Club.
It’s still early, but sophomore defenseman David Fischer told the Pioneer Press’ Bruce Brothers that he plans to stay in school for four years. I don’t think it would come as a huge shock, although no Minnesota first-round pick has ever stayed through their senior season.
The Gophers didn’t practice Tuesday as Don Lucia went to Warroad to watch the Warroad-Roseau game…. or as someone in the Gopher hockey office said, "Apparently it’s not cold enough in Minneapolis, he had to go to Warroad."
St. Cloud State’s Nate Dey will miss next weekend’s series against Colorado College.
Wisconsin is unbeaten in the five games since the blown call in Denver.
Duluth completed an impressive weekend sweep of UMass-Lowell.
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And now the stats. Did you know….
T.J. Oshie moved into first in the race for the WCHA scoring title. He is tied with CC’s Chad Rau. Keep in mind, the WCHA scoring title is based solely on conference games. Ryan Duncan and Chris VandeVelde…. yes, Chris VandeVelde…. are nipping at their heels.
Here are a few categories where UND players are fighting for the top spot:
WCHA scoring title race
1. T.J. Oshie, UND — 10-14–24
1. Chad Rau, CC — 15-9–24
3. Ryan Duncan, UND — 8-15–23
4. Ryan Lasch, SCSU — 10-12–22
5. Garrett Roe, SCSU — 8-13–21
6. Chris VandeVelde, UND — 9-11–20
6. Andreas Nodl, SCSU — 10-10–20
WCHA assist scoring
1. Robbie Bina, UND — 15
2. Ryan Duncan, UND — 15
3. T.J. Oshie, UND — 14
4. Taylor Chorney, UND — 14
WCHA defensemen scoring
1. Taylor Chorney, UND — 2-14–16
1. Robbie Bina, UND — 1-15–16
3. Jack Hillen, CC — 1-12–13
4. Chay Genoway, UND — 4-8–12
4. Jason Garrison, UMD — 4-8–12
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UND moved into a tie with CC for the top offense in league games. The Sioux are second behind CC in team defense in WCHA games. The Sioux also have taken over the top spot in the power play.
In addition to the article about how far scoring has dropped in the league, notice the power play numbers this season. They are incredibly down. Tech is converting at 13.7 percent. Four years ago, that exact number was the worst in the WCHA. Now, it’s good for the top half.
WCHA power play
1. UND 21.4
2. CC 18.8
3. St. Cloud 17.8
4. Denver 14.9
5. Michigan Tech 13.7
6. Mankato 12.8
7. Wisconsin 12.2
8. Minnesota 11.7
9. Anchorage 11.4
10. Duluth 10.0
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Lastly, SCSU’s Lasch is fourth in the country in scoring — just three points off the top spot. But he actually is a minus on the season at -4. Roe also is at -4 and Nodl’s -5 is the second-worst on the team. Those numbers are surprising, for sure.
So, who has the best plus/minus for the Huskies? None other than Warroad’s Aaron Marvin at +5.
The recruiting page has been updated.
A few notes about recruits:
Brett Hextall moved into a tie for first in scoring on his team this weekend.
Jason Gregoire is on an 11-game point streak and will play in the USHL All-Star game tomorrow.
Joe Gleason will be on Fox Sports North at 7 p.m. Thursday while his Edina Hornets take on Wisconsin recruit Jake Gardiner and Minnetonka. The game is at Braemar Ice Arena.
Corey Fienhage will be on Fox Sports North next Tuesday at 7 p.m. His Eastview Lightning will take on Burnsville, which is led by Wisconsin recruit Tyler Barnes and Minnesota-Duluth recruit Jake Hendrickson. That game is at Apple Valley Sports Arena.
UND (surprisingly) moved up one spot to No. 3 in both polls after sweeping Anchorage. This weekend’s opponent, Minnesota, is No. 18 in the USCHO poll and No. 15 in the USA Today poll. Miami is the new No. 1 in both, gaining all but one first-place vote. Minnesota-Duluth was the big mover going up from 19 to 12 in the USCHO poll after an impressive sweep of UMass-Lowell. Here are this week’s rankings:
USCHO.com poll
1. Miami (49) 25-3
2. Michigan (1) 22-3-1
3. UND 16-8-1
4. Denver 18-6
5. Michigan State 17-5-5
6. Colorado College 18-7-1
7. New Hampshire 15-7-1
8. Notre Dame 20-9-1
9. Boston College 12-5-7
10. Clarkson 15-7-2
11. Wisconsin 11-10-5
12. Minnesota-Duluth 10-8-6
13. Northeastern 11-8-3
14. Providence 11-9-2
15. Massachusetts 9-8-6
16. (tie) UMass-Lowell 11-8-4
16. (tie) Quinnipiac 14-7-3
18. Minnesota 12-11-5
19. Princeton 10-8
20. St. Cloud State 11-12-3
USA Today poll
1. Miami (34)
2. Michigan
3. UND
4. Michigan State
5. Denver
6. Colorado College
7. New Hampshire
8. Notre Dame
9. Boston College
10. Clarkson
11. Wisconsin
12. Minnesota-Duluth
13. Providence
14. Northeastern
15. Minnesota
PairWise rankings
1. Miami
2. Michigan
3. Denver
4. New Hampshire
5. Colorado College
6. UND
7. Michigan State
8. (tie) Notre Dame
8. (tie) Clarkson
10. Boston College
11. Providence
12. Minnesota-Duluth
13. (tie) Northeastern
13. (tie) Wisconsin
15. UMass-Lowell
16. Massachusetts
17. Minnesota
18. Michigan Tech
19. Quinnipiac
20. Minnesota State-Mankato
Here’s a story about how goals continue to disappear in college hockey, specifically the WCHA. The league is probably going to set a scoring futility record for the fourth straight season.
Check out these graphics that lay it out plain as day for you.
The big discussion, as some of you pointed out in the comments section of other posts, will be about how obstruction is called. The NHL cracked down big time and saw a bump in scoring. But the last two seasons, goals have started to go down again in the NHL.
How low can these numbers go? What do you guys think should happen? And are you college hockey fans worried about this trend?
Here’s a year-by-year look at the drop in scoring:
Year — Goals per team — Goals per game
1970-71 — 4.27 — 8.54
1971-72 — 4.46 — 8.92
1972-73 — 4.47 — 8.94
1973-74 — 4.38 — 8.76
1974-75 — 4.42 — 8.84
1975-76 — 4.41 — 8.82
1976-77 — 4.80 — 9.60
1977-78 — 4.50 — 9.00
1978-79 — 4.78 — 9.56
1979-80 — 4.93 — 9.86
1980-81 — 4.36 — 8.72
1981-82 — 4.40 — 8.80
1982-83 — 4.37 — 8.74
1983-84 — 4.24 — 8.48
1984-85 — 4.56 — 9.12
1985-86 — 4.57 — 9.14
1986-87 — 4.14 — 8.28
1987-88 — 4.29 — 8.58
1988-89 — 3.82 — 7.64
1989-90 — 4.58 — 9.16
1990-91 — 4.03 — 8.06
1991-92 — 4.23 — 8.46
1992-93 — 4.05 — 8.10
1993-94 — 3.67 — 7.34
1994-95 — 3.84 — 7.68
1995-96 — 3.66 — 7.32
1996-97 — 3.45 — 6.90
1997-98 — 3.38 — 6.76
1998-99 — 3.12 — 6.24
1999-00 — 3.09 — 6.18
2000-01 — 3.19 — 6.38
2001-02 — 3.30 — 6.60
2002-03 — 3.27 — 6.54
2003-04 — 3.18 — 6.36
2004-05 — 3.06 — 6.12
2005-06 — 3.00 — 6.00
2006-07 — 2.71 — 5.42
2007-08 — 2.62 — 5.25
Game story is here. Shot charts are below.
First period
UND 1, Anchorage 0 — T.J. Oshie (Ryan Duncan, Robbie Bina) 3:45. Oshie entered the zone one on four, took the puck wide around a defenseman and buried a wrist shot high on the short side from the right circle.
UND 2, Anchorage 0 — Matt Watkins (Chris VandeVelde) 8:23. VandeVelde gained possession of the puck behind Anchorage’s net and fed Watkins in the slot. Watkins beat Christianson between the pads. Christianson is pulled after the goal. He faces only three shots on the night. Jon Olthuis now in net for the Seawolves.
Second period
UND 2, Anchorage 1 — Merit Waldrop 12:41. Waldrop stole the puck from Chorney behind the net and scored on a wraparound, beating Lamoureux between the pads.
Note: UND survives a rough second period with the lead. The Seawolves are outshooting the Sioux 25-8, including a 16-3 mark in the second.
Third period
UND 3, Anchorage 1 — Chris VandeVelde (T.J. Oshie, Ryan Duncan) 2:36. A tic-tac-toe passing play from Duncan to Oshie to VandeVelde gives the Moorhead native the puck on the doorstep. VandeVelde gets Olthuis down and moves the puck around him for the goal.
UND’s lines
10 Andrew Kozek–7 T.J. Oshie–16 Ryan Duncan
20 Matt Watkins–29 Chris VandeVelde–17 Rylan Kaip
19 Evan Trupp–11 Darcy Zajac–21 Matt Frattin
26 Kyle Radke–22 Brad Malone–15 Brent Davidson
4 Taylor Chorney–28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley–5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones–3 Derrick LaPoint
1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski
Scratches: Ryan Martens, Michael Forney, Brad Miller and Jake Marto.
Anchorage’s lines
24 Blair Tassone–37 Peter Cartwright–18 Chris Tarkir
21 Josh Lunden–17 Craig Parkinson–9 Kevin Clark
14 Merit Waldrop–20 Paul Crowder–22 Jared Tuton
28 Nick Haddad–34 Brad McCabe–16 Tommy Grant
5 Luke Beaverson–33 Mat Robinson
10 Shane Lovdahl–23 Luka Vidmar
4 Kane Lafranchise–42 Trevor Hunt
1 Bryce Christianson
30 Jon Olthuis
Game story is here. Shot charts below, as are some video clips of postgame interviews.
First period
Anchorage 1, UND 0 — Shane Lovdahl (Jared Tuton, Tommy Grant) 14:17. Lovdahl snapped a shot from the bottom of the right circle through traffic and past Lamoureux on the short side. It didn’t look like Lamoureux saw it at all.
Anchorage 1, UND 1 — T.J. Oshie (Andrew Kozek, Ryan Duncan) 18:27. Oshie skates through most of the Anchorage team, pulls the puck from the left wing across the slot, gets Christianson down and beats him with a water bottle shot.
Second period
UND 2, Anchorage 1 — Evan Trupp (Chay Genoway, Joe Finley) 16:22. Genoway starts the rush up ice and gains the zone before flipping the puck to Trupp. Trupp carries it on his backhand along the right wing, beats a defenseman, moves it to his forehand at the last second and shelves it.
Third period
UND 3, Anchorage 1 — Andrew Kozek (T.J. Oshie, Taylor Chorney) 7:21. Oshie took a shot from the left wing and Christianson turned it away. But Kozek was there to jump on the rebound.
UND’s lines
20 Matt Watkins–29 Chris VandeVelde–17 Rylan Kaip
10 Andrew Kozek–7 T.J. Oshie–16 Ryan Duncan
19 Evan Trupp–11 Darcy Zajac–21 Matt Frattin
26 Kyle Radke–22 Brad Malone–8 Ryan Martens
4 Taylor Chorney–28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley–5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones–3 Derrick LaPoint
1 Phil Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski
Anchorage’s lines
22 Jared Tuton–34 Brad McCabe–16 Tommy Grant
21 Josh Lunden–17 Craig Parkinson–9 Kevin Clark
14 Merit Waldrop–20 Paul Crowder–27 Sean Wiles
24 Blair Tassone–37 Peter Cartwright–18 Chris Tarkir
5 Luke Beaverson–33 Mat Robinson
10 Shane Lovdahl–23 Luka Vidmar
4 Kane Lafranchise–42 Trevor Hunt
1 Bryce Christianson (first college start)
30 Jon Olthuis
Postgame
Comments from Dave Hakstol
Comments from Evan Trupp
Comments from Joe Finley
A pair of Sioux recruits will be in Grand Prairie this weekend playing in the AJHL All-Star Game.
One is goaltender Brad Eidsness, who leads the AJHL in both goals-against average and save percentage.
The other is defenseman Andrew MacWilliam, UND’s latest recruit.
Read more about MacWilliam and his commitment here.
Follow the AJHL All-Star Game at www.ajhl.ca.
The NHL All-Star break officially began today.
Sometimes in years past, that meant former Sioux players have come back to Grand Forks to watch their alma mater during their days off. Two seasons ago, Zach Parise and David Hale came back to watch the Sioux during the Olympic break.
Tonight, apparently Jonathan Toews will be in town.
One of the previously mentioned Denver crew (Big Sweens) told me that Toews flew into Grand Forks this morning. As you may remember, some of Toews’ best friends are still on the team, including the former Shattuck players.
I’m not sure if there will be any other UND NHLers in the arena tonight, but I’m sure many fans will be excited to see No. 9 back.
