The Sicatoka

Semper Fi. Lux et Lex. You'll be missed TC.

And you have to assume that cutting a womens program is not an option due to needing those womens scholarships to balance out mens FB (Title IX).

<cue the Barry White music> " ... We're gonna take the receiver off the phone ... because baby, you and me, heh ... this night, we're gonna get it on ... "

Minnesota and UAA have each only played 24 games where the rest of the league has played 27+ meaning Minnesota and UAA have seen a lot of Bye so far this season. It really doesn't seem to have done much for either, other than maybe making Minnesota somewhat feistier than usual. I wonder about Bye's style of play affecting teams. UND played the GLI after seeing them earlier this year and we know how *that* turned out.

Correct: G. Shepherd was in St. Cloud. Why? Because UND and UM went at it and so did UND and DU. Yet there was nothing in the UND and SCSU game last night like that. So apparently (according to some at least) the Sioux were in Mankato and Denver.

1. A Schack/Boe fight? When. Boe got run in the corner after the bad hit at center on Barriball (or was it Carmen?). A pile-up happened, like six players, and out if it comes Boe, leg twisted under, down on the ice, no helmet, and Schack pounding on the back of the head of a guy face down on the ice. There was no offer, there was no square-up: there was a run, and an opportunist. 1a. Jones offered Lucia. Lucia ran. Period. That's all that need to be said about either team. 2. None of this would have happened if MSU-M would know their place and not have scored on the three (four?) fat juicy breakaways given up by the suspect (at best) UM defense. Shame on MSU-M, right? 3. The WCHA officials are calling, well, nothing. "Let 'em play!" I'd love to. When'll they start? All they do now is clutch and grab and interfere because it's not called. 3a. A broken neck didn't trigger real change. A broken neck didn't. I guess, unfortunately, we know what it's going to take. 4. The NCAA do something? Let me give you a clue: I corresponded with a member of a key NCAA committee last week* (re: Gwozdecky of the Wandering Coach Hockey Association). If you're expecting them to step in don't be holding your breath. It's a league matter I guess. 5. I haven't laughed as hard as I did this morning when the "Beyond the Pond" guys on KFAN were talking about how taking the masks off would be a good thing. Really? You want to see Gophers get their butts kicked for that trademarked facewash they're so adept at? That's what'll happen when there's no mask and you really are getting into another guy's face with a glove. * For those who don't believe me, a well-regarded former poster here was on cc:.

No score. 15:20 left in the first. (KFGO on the 'net.)

Patrick C. Miller wrote the Friday Rocky Mountain News story (his name was on it), but he did not write for Rocky Mountain News on Saturday. Virg Foss wrote the Saturday Denver Post story.

Unacceptable. If I had the power, I'd suspend operations of the Michigan State mens hockey program until the day fall practice is allowed to commence per NCAA guidelines. By "suspend operations" I mean no games, no practices, no recruiting, no contact between Comley and his staff and the existing team. Think: SMU Football death penalty type sanctions. I'm The Sicatoka, I'm running for conference commissioner, and I approve this message. (Before you start ripping on me, ask yourself, how far from a potential homocide charge were those two MSU players.)

GG told the media after his departure from the game he watched the remainder of the second from just down the tunnel from the DU bench (in the press/media post-game interviews room) and the third from the press box. Folks, allow me to speculate aloud about GG remaining in full compliance with Rule 4, Section 4.b, specifically the words about ... Anderson yelled at someone down the DU tunnel late in the second. Who was it. And doesn't DU have someone on wireless communications in the press box down to the bench? I'm sure GG went nowhere near that person or the communications gear.

Folks need to read the rulebook. I'd recommend Bruce McLeod and Greg Shepherd give it a try, and then have their direct reports do the same. For example ... There's this Rule 6, Section 49 about "spearing" being a major (and either a Misconduct or DQ at ref's discretion). There's no black or white. DU #11 should have been in a suit Saturday for the spear followed by two malicious cross-checks (the DQ discretion decider) on Friday. But McLeod's press release this week? Point separation at the top. League parity (aka referee a split). Bruce McLeod = Vince McMahon.

GG was penalized under Rule 6, Section 1.d. He should have been penalized under Rule 6, Section 44.a. -- His entrance onto the ice was a refusal to start play. What's the penalty for that? UND 1, DU 0 (Final, by forfeit) And for those of you without the rulebook ... Under Rule 4, Section 10, no, the game can not be retroactively made a forfeit; however, it should have been called such by Anderson and Campion under 6:44.a. However, 4:10 says GG's actions may (should) face additional scrutiny.

Did you know ... George Gwozdecky was thrown out of the game before he came onto the ice. That action should have forfeited the game for DU. Lord knows I'm not a big fan of the NCAA, but they need to step into operations of this league if DU and GG don't face additional sanctions for this, up to and maybe including a retroactive forfeiture of that contest.

OBSERVATION 1 Denver changed strategies Saturday. They realized after the first goal that they just can't skate with North Dakota. So, they pulled out the game plan from the DU v. Maine championship game a few years back. And the officials allow those tactics to play. OBSERVATION 1A The officials (on ice and league) had better pray the NCAA doesn't look at that game. The "focus" on obstruction and holding was, shall we politely say, more than blurred. OBSERVATION 2 "Curious George, the Dancing Dasher Monkey" (attribution unknown) should have cost his team a game. The minute his shoes hit the ice, officials with (again, politely) gonads would have forfeited Denver on the spot. OBSERVATION 2A Curious George's stunt was dangerous and he should be sanctioned more harshly than "Birdman Hak" was. No helmet, on the ice, by the dasher: Remember UM at MSU-M in last year's playoffs? Ol' GG (pronounced "Gi-Gi") was out of control and the league must respond. With malace. OBSERVATION 2B The officials are weak. No official should put up with, much less acknowledge, such treatment. Anderson and Campion should have sent their linesmen down the tunnel when GG hit the ice, and then followed. And then sent the message of OBSERVATION 2 back up the tunnel from their room. No official should put up with an out of control "look at me" one-ups-manship display from a coach like that. Ever. Punish it. Harshly. So that it never happens again. OBSERVATION 3 Brad Eidsness ain't a freshman. Not any more.

OBSERVATION 1 I've seen goalies pulled. I've seen goalies pulled twice by a team in a game. I'd never seen the *same* goalie pulled twice in a game. OBSERVATION 2 How can Hextall be so well known around the league already? Is he a sparkling conversationalist that spurs vibrant dialog evoking primative response from the less linguistically capable. Or did he send league-wide pre-season calling cards (including pictures of him with opponents' moms, sisters, and girlfriends)? OBSERVATION 3 I must have picked up the wrong calendar at the mall last week. I thought it's 2009 so I bought a 2009 caledar. By the officiating I saw, it's 2004.

Dare I say ... "The Father, The Son, and the Holy ... Ghost." Yeah, old school Catholic, but just the same. I think that's your "churches" answer.

Mel Gibson wears Chuck Norris pajamas. Heck, Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas. More Chuck Norris facts.

Some observations (from a spy at the Jan 17 Waterloo at Fargo Force game) ... - Mike Fink seems to be thinking more than playing and reacting. He may be caught in a "system" coaching style that has him overthinking every action instead of reacting, or better, just acting. - Lee, the Force goalie headed to SCSU, seemed to mind-wander at times.

Good luck. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues...0005821985.html http://www.hockeydb.com

Whitey's West.

It's time for ... "WWDLS?" Yes, that funfilled game ... "What would Denis Leary Say?" [about people who complain their lives haven't turned out the way they wanted] "Hey, join the ******* club! I thought I was going to be the starting center fielder for the Boston Red Sox!" and, in closing he'd say ... Life sucks, get a ******* helmet, okay? It's going to suck bad for both sides of this unless something radically changes in the next few months. Funny, but only one side seems to realize that (the other seems to think the world will be all duckies and bunnies if a school changes a piece of artwork on a shirt). Tighten that chin strap. And thus ends today's installment of WWDLS.

No, you don't run, it's a motion/cut offense from set formations, not run and gun. Princeton Offense

Tech to the CCHA for UN-Omaha (and a bag full of old pucks to be named later). Add Bemidji State. Add Air Force. Viola! 12 team conference: McLeod Division - UAA, DU, CC, USAFA, UNO, MSUM Shepherd Division - UM, UW, BSU, SCSU, UMD, UND Play home and home in your division - 20 games Play other division half home, half road - 12 games Problems? Not a lot of room for non-conference games. DU only sees UM in Denver every other year. EDIT: Play other division as follows (and this is far from perfect) ... If you're UND you play at DU Friday, at CC Saturday (or at MSUM Fri, UNO Sat; or at UAA Fri and USAFA Sat). Then you they come to GF say CC Fri and DU Sat. For example -- Friday: DU at UND, CC at BSU Saturday: CC at UND, DU at BSU later in season ... Friday: UND at CC, BSU at DU Saturday: BSU at CC, UND at DU You'd see everyone at least once home and road. But that USAFA/UAA trip, that'd be a ... (makes you wonder if Fairbanks would be better that USAFA). EDIT OF MY EDIT: Make the pairs when you're playing cross division ... UND/BSU (2 hours by bus) SCSU/UMD (3 hours by bus) UM/UW (4 hours by bus) CC/USAFA (Colorado Springs) UNO/MSUM (5 hours by bus) UAA/DU (you have to fly, but this way you eliminate additional bus travel as you fly to Anchorage or Denver)

What we know: BSU Hockey is in trouble if they don't get into the WCHA. Minnesota and Wisconsin are not in favor of adding another MnSCU school. An 11 team conference is almost unworkable. A 12 team conference is workable, but it makes "prime matchups" even less common than today. And then there's the Big Ten Network ... This is going to get messier before clearer.

He's playing zone because it's part of the Princeton system that they're installing (motion, back-door cuts, team play, and zone defenses). We'll never have the horses to play run-and-gun with the ACC or Big Ten, so why not play a style that fits the talent UND will be able to get.