Siouxman

In the four games Nick missed, UND was 1-15. So with Nick in the other 5 NCHC games (leaving out the second CC game) UND was 2-18. Not much difference. In one NCHC game against CC UND was at 5-9, 55% on the PP. The rest of the NCHC games UND was 3-33, 9% on the PP. MacMillan got hurt in the first Providence game. So in the Miami, SCSU, UNO, and DU series UND played without MacMillan or Schmaltz or with both recovering from injuries. I am hopeful that impacted the power play and that things will get better with some healing.

Goon, if you take out the second game against CC when UND went 5-9 on the power play, they are only 3-33 in the other nine of the NCHC games. That is a bit of a struggle, especially when four of the last five series have been against DU, UNO, SCSU, and Miami.

I really like the position this team is in. Yes, we have struggled on the power play, and in faceoffs, etc. But this team is 13-4-2, struggling through some significant injuries, with two top centers having arm/wrist injuries that affect their puck handling and faceoff capabilities. They have a tough schedule ahead, but they are not in a do or die situation in every game from here on out. Some key freshmen are stepping up, some key upper classmen are stepping up, and if this team progresses in the second half of the season like Hakstol teams usually do they could really be special. My disappointments so far are: that first game against Bemidji, Wade Murphy (although I have not completely given up on him), Pattyn taking stupid penalties and not keeping a cool head like a captain needs to do, and Jordan Schmaltz just seems to have lost his confidence. My wow factors so far are: Caggiula, Chyzyk, Poolman, Stecher, Nick Schmaltz. McIntyre could probably be in here but he was this good the last half of last year. I am grateful that we are able to sit here and discuss the good and the not so good with a 13-4-2 record.

Mr. Parks for Friday night please.

Unless Cam Johnson demonstrates to Hakstol that he is not ready to go back in tonight, I think he has to play. The debate is whether you start him or put him in later in the game.

You are correct. I don't know how the heck I read the table wrong. Some of the guy must be using my eyesight when they shoot. I cannot figure out how you can miss the net by 10 feet on a shot from 10 feet in front of the net.

With Coltyn Sanderson getting an assist in this game, every UND player who is not a goalie now has at least one point this year.

I would guess that it has something to do with being thrown violently into the boards head first in St. Cloud. He was pretty woozy being helped off the ice and went to the locker room. I was at the game and I was shocked that he returned to action the next period. He might have had a slight concussion, a neck or shoulder sprain, or even a collar bone a little out of shape. Or it could be something totally unrelated to that incident.

Very recently, earlier this season, there was an article on interviews with current hockey players on a number of hockey teams. It may have been all NCHC teams. When asked which opponent arena was the most hostile, The Ralph was the response of almost 100% of the players interviewed. A few threw in the names of other arenas as being close, but The Ralph was far and away the one most cited. I've been looking for the news article, but haven't located it.

And yet opposing players almost unanimously identify The Ralph as the most intimidating place to play.

Pairwise is really quite simple: Winning = good, Losing = bad It is the degree of each of these for each game that is complicated.

This should all make the series in Omaha at the end of January interesting. We plan to be there.

Well now, he should really be happy to know McIntyre was named NCHC goalie of the week. You know, the one he couldn't score on.

Obviously they would be much lower. UND was 4-7-2 at this time last year, and not 10-3-2

It is hard to tell. He is definitely contributing on the offensive side, but may be coming up short on the defensive side. Someone with 28 points should be more than +12 in my mind, but +/- is not necessarily an individual statistic. For comparison against current Sioux forwards. I've done some multiplying to get close to Tambellini's number of games or points Parks 15 games, 16 points, +10 (If you double that you get 30 games, 32 points, and +20) Caggiula 15 games, 20 points, +9 (if you double that you get 30 games, 40 points, and +18) Chyzyk 11 games, 5 points, +5 (If you triple that you get 33 games, 15 points, and +15) Poganski 11 games, 3 points, +2 (If you triple that you get 33 games, 9 points, and +6) Simonson 14 games, 3 points, +2 (if you double that you get 28 games 6 points, and +4) St. Clair 12 games, 3 points, +2( if you take it times 2.5 you get 30 games, 7.5 points, and +5) On average of those players, the +/- should be about 60% of points, so Tambellini should be at about +17 or more. Again, that is just a rough comparison because +/- is not completely an individual statistic. But it appears Tambellini may be a little short on the defensive side. If he was playing at UND and forced to also contribute more on the defensive side his +/- ratio to points would be better but total points would be less.

If the quality is there, then variety is fine. Unfortunately, the quality just wasn't there too many times. And just to clarify my comments, the singer is there to lead the crowd in the national anthem, not to put on a performance. Singing it in a manner where people cannot sing along is not leading. You never hear singers take liberty with the Canadian national anthem in the same manner that they do with the U.S. anthem. As a result, the Canadian fans sing their anthem with great participation, along with the song leader. This year I am already noticing more people singing along with the anthem at The Ralph, because it is consistent and without all of the personalization. I have been a singer most of my life, and doing the anthem properly is a critical item for me. It is about your country, not the singer. And as a veteran, I do not have a problem with "Sioux" at the end of the anthem. At the end, meaning after "Home of the Brave." It should not be Home of the Sioux.

I like him too. I was sick and tired of the "American Idol" tryouts of the national anthem that no one could sing along with. I started emailing The Ralph several years ago that they needed to upgrade the national anthem. I did not suggest going with one person, but just that they stick with people who could sing the national anthem in a manner so that people could sing along.

The third period was due to the team being tired. Hakstol shortened up the bench. I believe that is the reason he took the timeout when he did. Give the team a rest. UND did not go into a shell, they just simply could not keep up with UNO for some reason. MacMillan was out taking faceoffs for more than one line. I've thought that NCHC reffing has been much better than WCHA reffing, but this weekend was a puzzler. Very obvious penalties by UNO were not called numerous times. In this game they missed a number of them, including a blatant too many men on the ice with Massa pulled. And that one was obvious because it happened right in front of the UNO bench.

Friday - Luke Johnson Saturday - Parks

Miami and St. Cloud. Of course, St. Cloud has now dropped out of the top 16 in PWR. Yes it is early and there will be a lot of bouncing around. It is still fun to watch. Right now it looks like being #1 is a recipe to lose.

Wow. UND, at 9-3-1, dropped to 12 in PWR with the results tonight.

Was at the game tonight. The Sioux crowd was great. I hope all of you could hear the Sioux cheers throughout the game. I never thought that I would see a Sioux crowd take over on St. Cloud ice. After being a beast all over the ice on Friday night, Brodzinski literally disappeared on Saturday night. Great job by the Sioux to neutralize him. I did not see the line charts before the game and was getting a little upset with Poolman until I finally realized he was playing forward. Blame the missed 3-0 on O'D. He could have had the easy tap in, but got his body out of position and was not ready for the puck. I was surprised O'D was back on the ice the second period. That was an ugly head into the boards collision. For sure I thought it could have been called a boarding penalty as it seemed to me O'D was in that danger zone of being far enough from the boards that they would not hold him up but near enough to be driven into them at a dangerous angle. Fun game, great win for the Sioux. Unfortunately, they don't get any easier.

Drake Caggiula

We will be at the Saturday night game, thanks to NorthDakotaHockey.

After watching UND against CC in Colorado Springs on the big ice, this UND team is very well suited for the big ice. It was quite evident on the power play as the team was able to whip the puck around the zone quite quickly. The only drawback was that on Friday night it took them a while to get the angles down on the larger sheet. Once they did, it was quite a performance.