Sunday, November 22, 2015

Inforum Weighs in on Fighting Hawks

Check it out.
Inforum.com -- It’s all over but the squawking, which will go on for years among mulish fans of the retired University of North Dakota nickname. “Squawking” is somehow appropriate because the new nickname, as selected last week by 57 percent of 27,378 votes cast out of a potential voting pool of more than 82,000 alums and others, is “Fighting Hawks,” and one of the noises a hawk makes is a kind of squawk!

So, Fighting Hawks it will be. It’s a peculiar choice in some ways, not the least of which is that hawks, as fierce as they look, don’t fight much in the wild. They might scrap among themselves over territory, ornithologists say, but they don’t go about “fighting” other creatures. Their most noteworthy aggression is to kill small animals for food.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

(Video) Fighting Hawks fly Past Huskies 4-3



On Friday night, the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks slipped past the SCSU Huskies 4-3. After going three years without a nickname, it’s hard to get used to.

Second, wrap your fingers around this. UND went 2-for-3 on the power play tonight. UND also held SCSU to 1-for-5 on the power play.

I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but in their last five games against SCSU and Charlie Lindgren, UND is 4-1 and have outscored the Huskies 15-10.

Freshman forward Rhett Gardner has scored (3g-1a-4--pts) in his last three games. Gardner also had his first multi-point game of his college career (1g-1a--2pts).

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Jason Zucker slashed by Matt Beleskey



I suppose, this is what we will remember when it's all said and done. Boston Bruins forward Matt Beleskey's game-ending slash on Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker. When you watch it, the slash looks kind of innocuous. It doesn't look like much. I suppose Belesky caught Zucker in a nerve or something.

UND Hockey: Where to Watch this Weekend


For UND fans, one of the complaints about the National Collegiate Hockey Conference  has been the amount of UND's hockey games that have been available on National TV.

Between the initial agreement with CBSSN and Midco not allowing UND's hockey more than five games to be available on Fox College Sports, UND has had very few games on TV outside the regional area.

I have a feeling in the future this will change. UND not having their home games on Fox College Sports is unacceptable. There are many UND hockey fans that live outside the regional area that's covered by Midco Sports.

There is some good news, this weekend, if you live out the North Dakota/Minnesota region and you have DirecTV, you will be able to Friday's game against the Huskies on channel 668.  You will need to have the sports pack.

Saturday's game between SCSU and UND is being picked up by Midco Sports. So, more of the same. Fans that live outside the area will have to watch Saturday's game on NCHC.TV.

Per the Women's Hockey game notes, you will be able to watch Women's hockey this weekend. Friday’s game will be televised by Midco Sports Net and will also be aired live on Fox College Sports Pacific. Also, you can watch both of the women's games on the web by purchasing the videos at UND Insider.

Go Hawks.



Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Nino Niederreiter's hit on Olli Maatta



Here's the video of Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter's hit on Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta. Make no mistake about it, this is a dangerous, reckless hit. That being said, Niederreiter is not a dirty player, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I included the hit by Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy on Niederreiter. This play happened right before Nino's hit on Maata. This is a push check, right or wrong, it happens in the game all of the time. Both hits should have been a penalty, but were not.

I have seen fans calling for a suspension on Niederreiter. Personally, this is a hit that needs to be removed from the game of hockey. I don't have a problem with the NHL suspending Niederreiter for this hit, but they won't. Not this time.



“It’s unfortunate the whole situation,” Niederreiter told the media following last night's game. “I pushed him and went for a change and I think he toe-picked the same time and the door was open. You never want to see anything like that. Obviously I feel bad.”

UND Votes: Fighting Hawks it Is.


First, I can say, not everyone is going to be happy. For a nickname that received a lot of votes, there are still a lot of unhappy people. 

Also, I am not sure why we had to wait for two more days after the vote was over  

But I digress.

Finally, After not having a nickname for three years, and after three nickname votes...In my humble opinion, the last one was unnecessary. After having a bunch of nickname meetings and committees, UND has a new nickname.  I think this was the best choice of five bad nickname choices. I think eventually we will just be the Hawks.


Total votes: 27,378
  • Fighting Hawks: 15,670 votes (57.24 percent)
  • Roughriders: 11,708 votes (42.76 percent)





Monday, November 16, 2015

WHKY: North Dakota splits with the Buckeyes

Grand Forks, N.D. -- North Dakota wanted to sweep Ohio State this weekend, however, it skated away with a split Sunday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon UND threw everything and the kitchen sink at OSU's goaltender, Alex Lamere in the first period. By the end of the first, UND had 20 shots on goal, but only one goal to show for it.

The lone first-period goal came at the 12:04 mark from Jordan Hampton with an assist from Samantha Hanson. It was Hampton's first career goal for North Dakota.  There were several opportunities for UND to capitalize during the first, but they were unable to complete.

In the second, OSU picked up the pace and wouldn't trail again after potting their first goal which came after a couple of shifts that had North Dakota on its heels.

Early in the third UND's Amy Menke helped take a 2-1 advantage. Menke tallied three goals on on the weekend. A little over a minute later Kendall Curtis scored for the Buckeyes. Followed by another OSU goal from Maddy Field.

That was enough to seal the game for Ohio State after their 2-7-0 record heading into the Ralph on the weekend.

Sunday afternoon shifted North Dakota where they were able to capitalize on their opportunities in the first scoring twice with goals from Kryzaniak and Menke.

Freshman forward, Vilma Tanskanen scored her second goal of the season at the 6:45 mark of the second period.

The Buckeye's Maddy Field was able to break through in the third period for OSU's singular goal of the game, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. Before the game ended, Menke potted her second goal.

Over the weekend, Menke had three goals and registered eight shots on goal. North Dakota skated away with a spilt.

This Friday (7:07 p.m.) evening and Saturday afternoon (4:07 p.m.) UND will face WCHA conference opponent, Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 2-6 in conference. 

(Video) Jonathan Toews vs David Backes



Former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Jonathan Toews has been in a grand total of five NHL fights. Two of them have been against the same player, former Minnesota State Maverick David Backes. While fighting isn't Toews' role, he's fought twice already this season.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll


November 16, 2015

Team
(First Place Votes)
Record
Points
Last Poll
1
Providence
(17)
6- 0-3
933
1
2
Boston College
(14)
9- 1-0
926
2
3
Quinnipiac
(12)
10- 0-0
913
4
4
North Dakota
( 7)
9- 1-2
891
3
5
Massachusetts-Lowell
8- 1-2
791
5
6
Nebraska-Omaha
8- 2-0
735
6
7
St. Cloud State
8- 2-0
671
9
8
Harvard
4- 1-1
630
7
9
Denver
6- 3-1
593
8
10
Boston University
5- 3-2
534
11
11
Yale
4- 1-1
502
10
12
Michigan
5- 1-1
475
12
13
Merrimack
6- 1-3
395
14
14
St. Lawrence
7- 3-1
351
15
15
Bowling Green
5- 3-3
257
15
16
Notre Dame
5- 2-3
215
18
17
Minnesota-Duluth
3- 5-3
173
13
18
Cornell
5- 1-0
164
NR
19
Michigan Tech
6- 4-0
112
20
20
Clarkson
5- 3-1
56
19
Others receiving votes: Miami 50, Penn State 36, Robert Morris 25, Massachusetts 24, Rensselaer 21, Minnesota State 20, Alaska-Anchorage 4, Wisconsin 2, Minnesota 1.

 

The University of North Dakota hockey team drops from third to fourth after sweeping the Miami University RedHawks.  Five NCHC teams make up the 20-team USCHO poll.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

NHL Scoring: Is the Solution That Easy?



My friend Ken Frank and I have had a few discussion about how the NHL can increase scoring. In other words, we would like to see more goals scored in the NHL. People don't come to watch Sidney Crosby being hacked, hooked, or held up and down the ice. They pay great wads of money to watch him score goal and make plays.

More specifically; let's push this point even further. It's not just about the regular season. I'd like to get more goal scoring during the Stanley Cup Playoffs? There's doesn't need to be a bunch of gimmicks to make this happen.

My buddies solution to the NHL's goal drought "BLOW THE F#(KING WHISTLE". Simple right? Call penalties when there are penalties. It's just a very simplistic solution. If the ref sees an infraction on the ice, i.e. a player takes his hand off of his stick to hold up an opposing player in any zone on the ice. Or if a player hooks another player with his stick going through the neutral zone. "BLOW THE F#(KING WHISTLE".

Well, I'll be damned, Adam Gretz from CBS Sports has this same suggestion in a recent blog post on how to increase scoring in the NHL.
1. Bring back the power play and call penalties

This is the most practical solution of them all when it comes to increasing scoring.

Just enforce the rules. It doesn't require any changes to the game. It doesn't require any changes to the equipment or the size of the ice. It's just a matter of enforcing what is already in the rule books.

There is a pretty direct relationship between the number of power plays teams get and the number of goals they score, and as goal scoring has plummeted in recent years, so to have the number of power plays. It's not a coincidence.
There it is. Just blow the whistle and call the penalties. Finally, don't have two rule books, one for the regular season and one for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. An obstruction penalty in October should be a penalty in June.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

UND vs. MU Lines - Games Two



Will there be a traditional circle of sticks at the end of the game? There's only been one series sweep since UND and Miami joined the NCHC. Also, UND junior defenseman Paul LaDue is out of the lineup with an undisclosed lower-body injury. We will try to get a time table tonight.

Nick Schmaltz's Tic-Tac-Toe Goal



You can watch the video above, I dare you to only watch it one time. You can't do it. I find myself mesmerized by it. I have been watching college hockey for a very long time, I have never seen a goal like this, ever. In my opinion, this goal is worthy of an  ESPN Award of some kind.

The Puck was touched by no less than six players in four seconds. One could only describe it as tic-tac-toe highlight goal. I really enjoyed the call by Dan Hammer and Jake Brandt.

Are the Wheels Coming off in Philly?

I have been following coach Hakstol's Flyers since he was named head coach of Philadelphia. Since I have the NHL Center Ice, I have watched a fair number of the Flyers games. Frankly, I think they've deserved a better fate in a few of these games. If it wasn't for bad luck, they'd have no luck at all.
Sam Carchidi, Philly.com – Clearly, rookie coach Dave Hakstol's system, which relies on controlling the neutral zone to create odd-man rushes, isn't working.

"We've got some real talented offensive players, guys who have real tricky shots, real heavy shots that are tough to stop," said goalie Steve Mason, who faces the shooters every day in practice. "I'm obviously not a forward or a defenseman, but I think if you've had trouble putting the puck in the net, it might tend to wear on you a little bit. I think in this situation, all it will take is one goal - maybe going off a shin pad or something - to start feeling good. There's too much talent for this to carry on for too long."
Since beating the Boston Bruins 5-4 in overtime, the Flyers have lost eight-of-10 games. Three of these games have gone to overtime. The Flyers have won just one of them, a shootout win against the Rangers.

From reading the stories from the Flyers beat writers, it would appear that Flyers are returning to the basics. We have seen this before.
Sam Carchidi, Philly.com – One day after an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Colorado, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol turned into a drill sergeant.

The rookie coach put his team through rigorous one-on-one and two-on-two battle drills at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. The one-on-ones started behind the net, while the two-on-twos began about 25 feet from the goalie.

There was lots of intensity, lots of contact, lots of players sprawled on the ice after hits.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Miami vs. North Dakota (The Battle of the Hawks?)



I thought I would throw the Hawks reference in there. I know some have mentioned how hard it's going to be to call a hockey game with two sets of hawks on the ice. Good news for UND, they get Tucker Poolman back tonight.


Gabriel Landeskog Suspended Two Games For Hit On Brad Marchand



Apparently, you can get a two-game suspension for a hit like this in the NHL. So far, kneeing infractions have been okay.

Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog has been suspended by the NHL for this hit on Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand. Anyone what to defend this hit? Marchand was also fined $5,000 for popping Landeskog.


Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Tech Dirt: UND Sending Out Trademark Letters To Parody Artist Over Logo

Interesting.
Timothy Geigner, Tech Dirt: As you may recall, we had written about the University of North Dakota getting trolled by a jackass over attempts to give themselves a new school team name. Once called The Fighting Sioux, the school bent to local tribes' requests and agreed to abandon that name and come up with a new one. After soliciting suggestions from the public, a guy who wanted the school to keep its old team name went ahead and registered for trademark all of the new possible team names. It was a move as annoying as it is ineffective since, as we pointed out at the time, this man would have to prove he was using those marks in the same marketplace as the school in order to allege any kind of trademark violation. UND was the victim of trademark bullying.

But now the shoe is on the other foot, as UND lawyers have sent cease and desist notices to a Denver UND alumnus who has created clothing featuring a parodied version of the old UND mascot logo. Here are the two logos side by side.

Monday, November 09, 2015

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll


November 09, 2015

Team
(First Place Votes)
Record
Points
Last Poll
1
Providence
(29)
6- 0-1
962
2
2
Boston College
(17)
8- 1-0
941
3
3
North Dakota
( 1)
7- 1-2
859
1
4
Quinnipiac
( 3)
8- 0-0
849
5
5
Massachusetts-Lowell
6- 1-2
813
4
6
Nebraska-Omaha
8- 2-0
744
8
7
Harvard
3- 0-1
723
7
8
Denver
5- 3-0
575
9
9
St. Cloud State
6- 2-0
574
10
10
Yale
3- 0-1
539
12
11
Boston University
5- 3-0
505
11
12
Michigan
4- 1-1
426
13
13
Minnesota-Duluth
3- 4-2
415
6
14
Merrimack
5- 1-2
366
16
15
Bowling Green
4- 2-3
274
14
15
St. Lawrence
6- 3-1
274
15
17
Miami
5- 4-1
176
19
18
Notre Dame
4- 2-2
153
18
19
Clarkson
5- 2-1
95
17
20
Michigan Tech
5- 3-0
79
NR
Others receiving votes: Massachusetts 46, Robert Morris 24, Cornell 23, Minnesota State 21, Minnesota 11, Alaska-Anchorage 9, Rensselaer 8, Penn State 7, Colgate 3, Western Michigan 3, Michigan State 2, Wisconsin
 

 

UND was expected to drop in this week’s USCHO Poll, but they really didn’t drop all that far. I am sure there will be fans of other programs that will be unhappy about this.  As I have said in the past, the USCHO.COM poll is a lot of fun, but the only poll that matters is the final Pairwise Rankings one on selection Sunday.