Because I have the flu, I wasn’t at the weekly press conference yesterday. But I did get a quick injury update from coach Dave Hakstol.
Zach Jones practiced yesterday, so things look promising for him to play on the weekend. Everyone else should be available.
That’s about all I have in terms of this weekend.
*****
Last night, recruit Joe Gleason and the Edina Hornets advanced to the state tournament by beating Burnsville 4-3 in overtime. Pairings haven’t been set for state.
Jayson Moy’s weekly Bracketology column on USCHO brought up an interesting scenario this week.
He has UND playing Wisconsin first round.
The selection committee does everything in its power to avoid intraconference matchups in the first round. Since the tournament went to 16 teams a few years ago (2002-03 season, I believe), I don’t think there has ever been an intraconference matchup in the first round.
But right now, it is entirely possible that eight WCHA teams will make the NCAA tournament. Then, the committee would likely have no choice other than to have at least one, possibly more, intraconference matchups.
I bet they never saw a scenario like this coming.
Another good bracket article was done by Adam Wodon from College Hockey News. Wodon seems to think the Sioux will end up in Albany if they keep playing well. Check that one out here.
Brandon Bochenski was traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the Nashville Predators for future considerations, according to TSN.
This is the second time Bochenski has been traded in about a month and the fourth time he’s been traded in his career.
Bochenski has went from Ottawa to Chicago to Boston to Anaheim to Nashville.
He had two goals and two assists in 12 games with the Ducks.
Here’s another look at some statistics for the Sioux team.
Goals
1. Andrew Kozek 14
2. Ryan Duncan 13
2. T.J. Oshie 13
4. Chris VandeVelde 12
5. Matt Watkins 7
Plus-minus
1. Joe Finley +22
2. Chay Genoway +19
3. Ryan Duncan +18
4. T.J. Oshie +11
4. Robbie Bina +11
Face-offs (more than 100 draws)
1. T.J. Oshie 230-177 (.565)
2. Chris VandeVelde 272-213 (.561)
3. Darcy Zajac 151-164 (.479)
4. Rylan Kaip 173-193 (473)
5. Evan Trupp 78-95 (.451)
Penalties
1. Joe Finley 26
2. Rylan Kaip 26
3. Robbie Bina 18
4. Kyle Radke 17
Penalty minutes
1. Joe Finley 85
2. Rylan Kaip 71
3. Kyle Radke 53
4. T.J. Oshie 49
5. Darcy Zajac 44
WCHA scoring title race
1. Ryan Lasch, SCSU, 15-15–30
2. Andreas Nodl, SCSU, 15-14–29
3. T.J. Oshie, UND, 11-16–27
3. Ryan Duncan, UND, 9-18–27
3. Chad Rau, CC, 18-9–27
WCHA goaltending champ race
1. Richard Bachman, CC, 1.68 GAA
2. Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, UND, 1.88
3. Michael-Lee Teslak, MTU, 2.08
4. Mike Zacharias, MSU, 2.17
5. Alex Kangas, Minn, 2.29
WCHA game-winning goals
1. Chad Rau, CC, 5
2. Evan Trupp, UND, 4
2. Eric Walski, CC, 4
WCHA defenseman scoring
1. Jack Hillen, CC, 1-17–18
2. Chay Genoway, UND, 5-12–17
2. Robbie Bina, UND, 1-16–17
4. Taylor Chorney, UND, 2-14–16
5. Jamie McBain, UW, 2-12–14
I turned on KNOX this evening and was disappointed to hear a comment from Red River coach Matt Malm, who was a guest on Let’s Talk Sports.
Malm started out by complimenting Grafton-Park River, calling them deserving champs. Then, he addressed the blown call that led to Grafton-Park River’s game-tying goal.
He said something along the lines of, "If I was on the other side, I couldn’t look at that trophy and think ‘that’s ours.’ It wouldn’t be right."
I appreciate his honesty and candidness, but it seems a little ridiculous.
In every hockey game, there are going to be questionable calls. Sometimes, there will be extremely bad ones, like missing the sixth man on the ice.
If a ref makes a poor call that benefits your team, what are you supposed to do? Quit? Stop playing? Pack up your gear and go home?
No, it’s the officials’ job to call the game. The players just play the game. That’s what the Spoilers did. And they won.
It’s a shame for both teams that this happened. It’s too bad for Red River, which has to wonder "what if?"
But it’s also too bad for Grafton-Park River, because once that goal was allowed, there was nothing the Spoilers could do to earn the state championship in many people’s minds. And that’s wrong.
Who’s to say that the Spoilers wouldn’t have scored anyway? There was plenty of time left — almost eight minutes to be exact.
The Roughriders also had plenty of time left to win the game in regulation. But they didn’t.
They could have won it in the first overtime. But they didn’t.
They could have won it in the second overtime. But they didn’t.
They could have won it in the third overtime. But they didn’t.
Grafton-Park River (Ryan Mohagen specifically) made the play. Red River didn’t. The Spoilers deserve it.
Malm said on the radio show that he told his players that this controversy would come up, and he asked them to take the high road. Judging by the talk around the city and on the internet, that’s not going to happen.
The blown call is worth taking a look at, and it’s worth exploring ways to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.
As for the game itself?
It was a fantastic hockey game. One of the best state championships ever. I hope people remember it for what it was, instead of for what it wasn’t.
Once again, the North Dakota state high school hockey tournament provided a classic, memorable game.
Grafton-Park River rallied from down 2-1 to win the game 3-2 in triple overtime. But now there’s some controversy. A new video on YouTube clearly shows Grafton-Park River had six men on the ice when it scored the game-tying goal with 7:46 left in the third period.
The Spoilers still may have won the game even if the penalty was called. That’s something we’ll never know. But what does this mean for the future of the state tournament?
A few years ago, a blown call in the state championship (one Moorhead was on the wrong side of) caused Minnesota to institute replay at the state tournament. What will happen in this instance? What do you think should happen? Is replay a little too much for high school sports or is it something that makes sense if the game is televised anyway?
The Sioux stayed second in the USCHO poll, but dropped to third in the USA Today poll, as New Hampshire had a big weekend against Boston College. The Sioux are still in position for a No. 1 seed according to the PairWise Rankings. Michigan, despite falling to Michigan State over the weekend, remains at the top spot in all three polls.
USCHO.com poll
1. Michigan (35) 26-4-4
2. UND (10) 21-8-2
3. New Hampshire (5) 21-7-2
4. Colorado College 23-8-1
5. Miami 27-6-1
6. Michigan State 21-9-5
7. Denver 21-10-1
8. Boston College 16-9-7
9. MSU-Mankato 16-11-4
10. Clarkson 18-10-4
11. Notre Dame 21-11-4
12. St. Cloud State 16-13-3
13. Wisconsin 14-13-7
14. Princeton 17-10
15. Minnesota-Duluth 12-12-6
16. Boston University 14-14-4
17. Minnesota 13-13-8
18. Northeastern 14-13-3
19. Providence 13-13-4
20. Harvard 13-11-3
USA Today poll
1. Michigan (28)
2. New Hampshire (3)
3. UND (3)
4. Colorado College
5. Miami
6. Michigan State
7. Denver
8. Boston College
9. Clarkson
10. MSU-Mankato
11. Notre Dame
12. Princeton
13. St. Cloud State
14. Wisconsin
15. Minnesota-Duluth
PairWise Rankings
1. Michigan
2. New Hampshire
3. Colorado College
4. UND
5. Miami
6. Denver
7. (tie) Boston College
7. (tie) Michigan State
7. (tie) MSU-Mankato
10. St. Cloud State
11. Clarkson
12. (tie) Minnesota-Duluth
12. (tie) Notre Dame
14. (tie) Wisconsin
14. (tie) Minnesota
16. (tie) Princeton
16. (tie) Boston University
18. Providence
19. (tie) Northeastern
19. (tie) Vermont
21. (tie) Quinnipiac
21. (tie) Harvard
23. Michigan Tech
24. (tie) UMass-Lowell
24. (tie) Cornell
It seems every time UND and Mankato square off, there is a fight (see here).
Apparently, it’s not limited to just the men’s teams.
The Sioux women took a page out of the men’s book and mixed it up this weekend. Four players were ejected and penalty minutes totaled 140 for the game.
It has found its way onto YouTube.
First period
No scoring.
Second period
No scoring.
Third period
UND 1, Bemidji State 0 — Andrew Kozek (T.J. Oshie, Derrick LaPoint) 15:05. Oshie makes an outstanding play to fight off two Bemidji defenders behind the net. As he got tripped by one of them, he sent a pass to the slot, where Kozek knocked it by Alamano’s glove.
UND’s lines
10 Andrew Kozek–7 T.J. Oshie–16 Ryan Duncan
20 Matt Watkins–29 Chris VandeVelde–17 Rylan Kaip
8 Ryan Martens–19 Evan Trupp–21 Matt Frattin
15 Brent Davidson–11 Darcy Zajac–14 Brad Miller
4 Taylor Chorney–28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley–5 Chay Genoway
25 Jake Marto–3 Derrick LaPoint
30 Aaron Walski
1 Phil Lamoureux
Scratches: Zach Jones (injury), Kyle Radke (suspension), Brad Malone (injury) and Michael Forney (healthy).
Bemidji State’s lines
14 Tyler Scofield–8 Travis Winter–28 Matt Read
22 Blaine Jarvis–13 Matt Pope–21 Brandon Marino
15 Ryan Cramer–26 Tyler Lehrke–17 Matt Francis
20 Joey Moggach–23 Chris McKelvie–11 Ian Lowe
7 Cody Bostock–6 Riley Weselowski
9 Chris Peluso–5 Graham McManamin
25 David Deterding–4 Dan McIntyre
35 Orlando Alamano
1 Matt Dalton
First period
UND 1, Bemidji State 0 — Chris VandeVelde (Taylor Chorney, T.J. Oshie) 12:59 (pp). UND capitalizes on a 5-on-3 power play when VandeVelde gets the puck to Climie’s left. He has three chances at it and on the third one he flips it over Climie’s outstretched left leg.
UND 2, Bemidji State 0 — Ryan Duncan (Chris VandeVelde, T.J. Oshie) 13:36 (pp). Oshie sent a pass up to the right wing to VandeVelde, starting a 3-on-2 rush. Duncan cut down the slot and tipped VandeVelde’s pass between Climie’s pads.
UND 3, Bemidji State 0 — Matt Watkins (Brad Miller, Rylan Kaip) 14:30 (pp). Miller cut down the high slot and found Watkins camping out in the right circle. Watkins one-timed the feed past Climie for UND’s third goal on Bemidji State’s major penalty.
Note: Bemidji State’s Matt Read is ejected for checking Ryan Duncan from behind with 7:28 left in the first period. UND scores three times on the ensuing power play.
Second period
UND 3, Bemidji State 1 — Riley Weselowski (Travis Winter, Ian Lowe) 14:28 (pp). From behind the net, Winter sent a pass out to the high slot for Weselowski, who fired a shot past Lamoureux low to the glove side.
UND 4, Bemidji State 1 — Ryan Duncan (T.J. Oshie, Chris VandeVelde) 19:25 (pp). Oshie collected the puck in the left circle and sent a pass to the top of the crease, where Duncan re-directed it in. It’s the third straight goal Duncan has scored on a tip/re-direction.
Note: After two periods, Chorney has eight shots on goal and UND has 21 power-play shots.
Third period
UND 5, Bemidji State 1 — Brad Miller (Robbie Bina) 18:52 (en). Miller gained control of the puck near the right-side boards and fired it into an empty net.
UND’s lines
10 Andrew Kozek–7 T.J. Oshie–16 Ryan Duncan
20 Matt Watkins–29 Chris VandeVelde–17 Rylan Kaip
22 Brad Malone–19 Evan Trupp–21 Matt Frattin
8 Ryan Martens–11 Darcy Zajac–14 Brad Miller
4 Taylor Chorney–28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley–5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones–3 Derrick LaPoint
1 Phil Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski
Bemidji State’s lines
14 Tyler Scofield–8 Travis Winter–28 Matt Read
22 Blaine Jarvis–13 Matt Pope–21 Brandon Marino
15 Ryan Cramer–26 Tyler Lehrke–17 Matt Francis
20 Joey Moggach–23 Chris McKelvie–11 Ian Lowe
7 Cody Bostock–6 Riley Weseloski
9 Chris Peluso–5 Graham McManamin
25 David Deterding–27 Kyle Hardwick
33 Matt Climie
35 Orlando Alamano
