puck swami

If I had to it from scratch, it would take three days to write it. But at least there is some original content there, and it's all in one place.

My In-depth look at North Dakota is here: www.puckswami.blogspot.com Enjoy.

Looks like you were right, redwing77. DU showed up to play tonight, and while the score was 4-0 DU, it was a close game - DU just earned a few more bounces than the Gophers. Cheverie finally played a consistent 60 minutes. The big surprise was Gwozdecky sitting Mullen, Martin and Salazar tonight as a message to the rest of the team, and DU responded. The net-net of all of this that the WCHA is again locked into a fierce top-to-bottom death struggle. There may be no tougher league in sports. The SEC in football is perhaps the only thing that compares to the WCHA...

As a Denver fan, here's my take on Totter: I believe Brock was either expelled or about to be expelled by the University (prompting a withdrawl) and when he knew he couldn't come back to the team, he signed with the best pro deal he could find. I have no idea what he did to get himself into that dangerous position the first place- the usual reasons for expulsion are either 'student conduct' or 'academic' violations. Denver likely kept quiet while Trotter found his pro deal, and annoucned his departure as a pro sigining. This gives Trotter an out, and saved DU from having to embarrass Trotter with a public dismissal. Either way, it's a blow for the Pios. Losing your top scorer is never a good thing.

Come on. Sure they owe you. You pay for it. Don't kid youself -- College sports at this D-I revenue level IS a big business - it is professional hockey in all respects except for direct cash payment to the players. The Sioux generate serious revenues, and those revenues come mostly from you and your friends. Without you and others like you, do you think UND would have the hockey program they have?. The die hards that post here are the core fans who enable the whole ship to float- the ones who spend the money on the tickets, the jerseys, the arena food and finance the whole program, Uncle Ralph notwithstanding. Yes, the athletes are college students - but they MUST be held to a higher standard of conduct, since those players represent state and school, and get enormous benefits that are not available to the rest of us. The athlete acknowledges this extra responsibility when they sign the scholarship. These are young men that should honor their commitments. To whom much is given, much is expected. North Dakota is one of the finest college hockey programs on the planet. I would expect ND fans to have very high off-ice expectations for the players that wear the green.

You say you want to support Oshie. Great. That's part of being a fan. Nothing wrong with that. I'd also say it's the other way around. Oshie owes you. I'll say that again. Oshie owes YOU. YOU are the ones who buy the tickets, YOU pay for his tuition, YOU pay for his equipment, and YOU cheer your guts out for him every weekend, making it possibile to develop his hockey talents so he can bring honor to your school and state and even hit the big NHL payday someday. Oshie represents YOU, the fans of North Dakota, every time he skates out on the ice as an ambassador of your school and your state, and off the ice as well. Oshie owes it to YOU to act in an exemplary way. It's right there in the scholarship agreement he signed... If he goes out and gets arrested twice, he's not thinking about you. He's thinking about him. And that's the difference, folks. He's no longer a kid. You might think you owe him your support, but he's the one that owes you, especially now. You need to be demanding of your student athletes, because without YOU, there is no high profile hockey team. TJ Oshie is a fine hockey player, but you have every right to question his chacracter and judgment...

College hockey players have been doing this kind of thing at most schools for 50 years or more. The difference now is that police departments, school administrations and coaches are no longer able to sweep this kind of thing under the rug... Society has become much more transparent and the media and personal communications much more pervasisve. And I don't think you can reasonably compare UND hockey players to regular UND students - they are not regualr students like you and I. UND hockey players VERY SPECIAL and very different from you and I. They are given thousands of dollars in free education, the best facilities, equipment and coaching in America, great media exposure and instant celebrity status as the most important, high profile athletes in the state. UND is also a very high profile hockey program that has a very proud tradition and is rightfully seen as one the very best in the country. In return for their talents, the players wear the name of their university and state on their chests, and represent your school and your state to all others. Wearing that jersey should be a tremendous privilege for each Sioux player, and when they sign on the dotted line, a player needs to understand that, along with the great rewards that come with it, as school and state ambassadors, they also take on certain responsibilities to act in a manner that brings honor to their school and state. That repsonsibility should include acting in an exemplary manner -- not getting arrested. If they want to party and get into trouble like regular students do, then great - just don't be a D-I athlete then.

Congrats to your UND boys tonight from this Denver fan - this was a must-win game for UND, and they played like it, especially on the special teams. Hakstol's adjustments to positional play took a lot of energy out of Denver's transition game, and gave DU very little space. Duncan buried his chances, and the game was pretty much over in the second period after the shortie. Denver also had no answer for Lammy in the third, who slammed the door on us. I think we saw two of the better teams in the WCHA go at it tonight, and this was the Sioux's night. We'll be looking forward the Feb games in Grand Forks between these two teams (which will be on TV in Denver - a road series rarity here), and won't be surprised to see the Sioux in Denver come April.

Even as a DU fan, I think you are selling your boys a little short. UND skates very well, but I think you are missing Genoway's contribution, which is huge, especially in transition, which UND loves to do. Tonight was a typical mid-season WCHA defensive game between a couple of very good hockey teams and good goalies in mid-season form. Both teams had chances to convert. UND played its typical aggressive, attacking forecheck, and Denver compensated for it by matching its speed line of Rugesegger, Rhakshani and Gifford against Oshie, Duncan and VV, with tight gaps. The Pios won the game in the face off circle and in the shot blocking, going to a 1-2-2 setup late in the game as the Sioux were looking to overload and create a mismatch. I expect Hak will try to spread DU out tommorow, and try to use thier size in the corners to win battles down low. Gwoz is going to counter that with a more counter-attack style, making the Sioux D carry the puck and trying to force turnovers. Should be another good game.

We're looking forward to hosting the Sioux in Denver. If you haven't seen the Pios this year, it's a much different crew than last year's team. Denver is faster and more skilled than last year, but gets 95% of it's scoring from freshmen and sophomores, and relies on Mannino to keep them close, which he does in most cases. There are 12 freshmen on the roster, but only seven of them play regularly - Bozak, Maiani, Ostrow, Martin, Jackson, Nutini and Ryder. Denver will run 3-4 lines, and points can come from anywhere. They aren't all that physical, but they rely on the transition game, and they have some very good top end skill players like Trotter, Ruegsegger and Rakhshani that are among the league's better forwards. Defense is a work in progress, with some converted forwards from last year (Mullen and Testuide) stepping into new roles, and combining with stalwarts like Andy Thomas and Chris Butler to form a very good (3rd ranked) defensive squad.

I doubt Denver is using full money to bring in Comrie. While he was once a DU committ, he's now a probably something of a project player now given his medical history, and has some family connections to the Denver program, as his cousin, Paul Comrie, was a key player for Denver in the late 90s. Denver also would love to get Riley Nash, too. We'll see how that goes. Denver probably also needs to find a d-man or two, especially with Viedeman graduating.

As a Denver fan, there are lots of permuations here that we need to kind of wait and see where the chips fall. From DU's perspective, they want out of the Sun Belt, but only if the alternative adds value. DU would love to be in the WCC with other western private schools that are all similar sized, but the WCC said no due to distance - even with DU willing to pay its way in. Right now, the Big Sky as t is currently arranged has little more interest in Denver than the Sun Belt does. Many Big Sky schools already play Denver in men's hoops, and the crowds for them are the same as they are for Sun Belt schools - high school sized (1,200 -2,500 on average). UNC is the only school with any interest to Denver fans, but it is a marginal interest at best. But if UND joins the Big Sky, it would hold more alot interest for Denver, and if UND and UBC join the Bg Sky, Denver would be all over it, IMHO.

Prospect camps are different from training camps in that college players are allowed to attend prospect camps if they pay their own way. With, Training Camps, players are paid by the team and you must be under contract to attend them, hence college players would lose eligibility.

There are no more $900,000 signing bonuses. 2004 Draft Picks can receive the maximum $688,940 in the first two years of the contract, and $984,200 in the third year under the terms of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. In addition to salary, players can receive a signing bonus of $590,520, to be paid in the first two years of the contract, and has the potential to earn the maximum entry-level performance bonuses, totaling $850,000 per year.

Cherry is an entertainer first and foremost - a true bombastic anomaly in a nation full of mostly quiet people who usually don't like to ruffle feathers. His nationalism schtick is a key part of his entertainment offering. He is one of the few distictly Canadian voices who breaks through to everyday Canadians -- he says things most Canadians often feel but won't say, and that's why he is unique. Lot's of people in Canada remember when the NHL players and management were 100% Canadian. With the advent of globalization of hockey, those numbers can only fall, as European and American hockey continue to grow. Cherry's rants are emblematic of the mixture of Canadian pride and fear.

As I posted elsewhere, it must be nice to be Matt Carle. Let's see, two National Championship Rings, one World Junior Gold Medal, a Hobey Baker Award, a two-time first team all-American, a WCHA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, A two time all-WCHA First Teamer, INCH National Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, USCHO Player of the Year, An WCHA All-Academic Team selection, a $3 million dollar NHL contract and a goal in your first NHL game, and 3 points in your first six NHL Games, all before you are 22 years old. And he has a hot girlfriend, too. Nice writeup by the Sharks here, with pictures of Matt with his mom and girlfriend when you scroll to the bottom.... http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=2258

I said this on USCHO as well, but this was two very young hockey teams trying to respond to heavy pressure. The result was a helter-skelter game of mistakes on both sides.

I know about 55-60 other programs that would like to be as "cursed" as yours. Laughable.

If you look at Parise in the key playoff knockout games in the last three seasons, I think he was at his best in 2004. Denver's late goal by Bull/Fulghum was an unmakeable save to knock the Sioux out of the Regional. Other than that goal, he was perfect. Last year in the NCAA final, Parise seemed pretty good, but Mannino was a shade better and Denver won. This year, Jordy looks to be off his game entirely. Very makeable saves. I wonder about his mental preparation...

For the Sioux to have a chance, they are going to need to own the puck in the BC zone and get more traffic in front of Cory, and perhaps Hakstol might want to go with Lammy the rest of the way. It's not impossible, but it's not looking very good for the Sioux today.

Motherwell goal - straight shot that beat Parise cleanly. Should've probably made that save. Collins' first goal - good shot that picked the corner, but JPar saw it cleanly. Saveable, IMHO. Collins's second goal - nothing JPar could do - deflection BC fourth goal - Pure softie. Very makeable save. In short, UND is going to need better goaltending if they want to advance. It's that simple. Parise must slam the door the rest of the way...

Denver has always drawn a good portion of its students from the East Coast, and had club lacrosse team even in the 1960s. What really made Denver lacrosse possible at the D-I level was dropping baseball in 1999, where climate was always an issue, and Denver could not consistently compete at a high level. It was an emotional cut, since Denver had a baseball team since 1867. Today's lacrosse stadium was built over the old baseball field. It cost $7 million, much of which was donated by a rich alum. The team makes several trips east each year as well as its league schedule, and often, one of those trips is over spring break. The school also funds a small tournament at the beginning of each year, where top teams like North Carolina, Virginia and Syracuse are flown in on DU's dime to draw crowds (which they do). Denver, with a $30,000 tuition price tag, must use its scholarships wisely. The fortunate thing about lacrosse is that it is a highly-upscale sport that is often played by kids that mirror Denver's affluent student demographic. In other words, even if you use/split your scholies on top athletes who may or may not otherwise afford a place like Denver, you can still fill out your team with enough tuition paying walk-ons to make the sport revenue positive. I think the NCAA D-I max on lacrosse scholarships is only 12.6 per team, and Denver has 38 guys on the roster. That means that vast majority of the players are getting little or no scholie money, and it is like that all over college lacrosse. The net effect of this is that the school is getting way more money from tuition-payers than it is paying out in scholarships. Addtionally, becuase so many lacrosse players come from affluent backgrounds and pay for themselves, it frees up extra money for more needy regular students. Lacrosse attendence is a little smaller than D-I hockey. Top teams like Hopkins and Navy might draw 8-10,000 per game. Denver is in the 1,500-3,000 range for most games if the weather is nice, and more for big name teams at $9 per ticket. Record crowd is about 5K. North Dakota with a indoor facility would probably draw 1,000 or 2,000 at first, more if the team did well, as there is little competition in Grand Forks. Denver's womens team draws about 500 people on nice weather, 150 in poor weather. Women's games are free.

As a Denver Fan, lacrosse is turning into a huge spring hit on campus. After only seven years at the D-I level, the Pioneers are ranked #12 in the nation. There are sellout crowds at $9 per ticket, and FSN-RM is picking up TV games. There are now 50 high schools in Colorado playing the game, and DU no longer must recruit all east coast atheltes. Today, DU is bringing Canadians, Colroadans, Texans, etc. The new stadium lax is already too small, and they are thinking about building more seats to accomodate the growth. One of the coolest things about the game is that it is played by name-brand schools. In recent years, DU has hosted men's lax teams from serious schools such North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Syracuse, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Harvard, Penn State, Penn, Dartmouth, Villanova, etc. I think North Dakota would great for the game- with an indoor facility, recruits would come. And the fans would enjoy the game - it's fast, physical and goes great with hockey fans. With only 55 schools playing at D-I, its much easier to get good in the sport quickly.

From Inside College Hockey: "The third-period dustup between Denver