farce poobah

If its not in the UND record books, I would suggest asking Jayson Hajdu of UND.

I agree. There's really no other reason to expect Bemidji to skate circles around them (and that was the case both nights, even during Bemidji's 2 major PKs). No disrespect to Bemidji intended. My best guess is a combination of things. Start with illness (flu). combine it with potentially less than perfect conditioning. AND something with the chemistry or locker room presence of the top guys. Other teams have gotten by with fewer forwards (say, 9) and won key games. But they were a tight group that really pulled together. Says something about how rare last years' UND accomplishments are.

Bemidji ups their lead on DU to 3-0. Early 2nd.

Great game through 2 periods. Hope this one is decided by a good goal.

Knight draws a penalty. Pretty weenie call, given that they could have called DU for half-dozen hooks earlier. Of course, hooking is legal in the WCHA unless someone falls down. EDIT: And the even-up call comes a minute later, when Caggiula doesn't draw the tripping call.

Notre Dame hosting Michigan State on the Notre Dame Network NBC Sports Network. A guy in the Notre Dame student section wearing a Blackhawks #19 with the "C". Something about that seems wrong. Maybe I'll wear a Las Vegas Wranglers Geoff Paukovich jersey to the Ralph and see what happens.

Some important games last night for PWR purposes down the line. WCHA goes 1-0-1 vs Hockey East (CC ties NH, MN beats VT) ... given the strength of HEA, that's nice. WCHA goes 1-0 vs CCHA (UND vs Notre Dame) ... gven that Notre Dame will be a TUC, that's nice also. UNO beats Huntsville (a loss would have hurt, not that a win helps a lot) but Denver losing to Yale will hurt.

Ridiculous home cooking tonight from CCHA referees. Geez. If that's interference, they should have called it the first 1000 times it happened tonight.

Agree. It seems that they really miss the elite players and finishers they've had the last couple years - no Connelly, no JT Brown, no Kenny Reiter.

Worst LINES officiating I have ever seen at a WCHA game. Least consistency EVER. Missed icings, phantom icings, phantom offsides, offsides when the defending team knocked the puck in, failure to enforce standard protocols like bench-clearing after end of period. Please PLEASE can we get a couple linesmen who can do the job. Otherwise give the whistle to their seeing eye dogs. Worst penalty calling ever also, but other people have already ragged on that.

Tonight's win came courtesy of elite players stepping up at the right time. Kristo definitely carries the reputation of being a goal-scorer (puck-shooter), and he creates space for his teammates as well as anyone in hockey. Tonight, UMD was overcommitting on him, based on that reputation, and for over 50 minutes it worked for them. But in the last 10 minutes of regulation and overtime, he made two great plays to create space draw the defenders, then dish to a wide open teammate. If he keeps doing that, that line becomes unstoppable. (And his value to Les Habs goes up exponentially.)

Well, UND's strength of schedule is getting a little boost tonight: Holy Cross wins BU wins Miami tied OSU but Notre Dame lost to BC

At the time it was scheduled ... a while back ... UND didn't have much negotiating leverage; Montana held all the cards.

So for North Dakota vs. Idaho, can I design the potato?

Hey Rosen! Sux to B. U.

I really enjoyed the game tonight. Observations: 1. One (of many) good things about NCHC next year is that a 24-game conference schedule gives us more room to play great programs like BU more often than once a decade. It is truly sad that the all time series between these two consists of just 20 games. 2. I really did love watching BU skate. They have big bodies that are strong and fast and are not afraid to dish it out. Their breakout and neutral zone systems look a lot like ours. For the first 30 minutes, if you had switched colors, you could have believed either team was BU and the other UND. 3. The last 30 minutes, after killing the major, we were all over them like white on rice. It was a joy to behold. We stuffed breakouts, we read plays, we got sticks on passes, BU really had nothing going and it was all because of a great skating TEAM effort by UND. Particularly playing without big #2. Couple times Forbort looked gassed but came right back out 45 seconds later for another shift. If we can play like we did the last 30, we will be dang difficult to beat. 4. Grimaldi is going to have one [expletive deleted!] highlight video to show to the Hobey Baker voters. WOW. Just wow. Tonight would have easily a dozen fantastic plays. His speed creates chances that others can't defend against. His passes are magical, somehow always finding the teammate. (Of course, as happened to Magic Johnson sometimes his teammates weren't ready to get the pass! and that happened half-dozen times to Rocco tonight.) His shot is sneaky fast, and he gets if off quickly. Its magnetic, so that it is attracted to iron. J/K. And he forechecks really tenaciously. Last Friday vs UAA, he didn't take PK duty, but his line was always the first out after the PK. Tonight a lot of PK and gotta say already on par with Kristo and Knight as excellent on the PK. This guy makes everyone on the ice look better, and the last Sioux that impressed me that way was Jonathan Toews. (Hennessy: "you're gonna get rich playing with Grimaldi". So true.) 5. Like Rowney with Kristo and Knight. Very effective together. 6. Like ODonnell playing with Pattyn and Chyzyk. Nice chemistry. 7. I know Hakstol has some guys that need to get in the lineup - some really excellent players in the press box - but it is hard to take anyone out after tonights performance. I did not see any passengers and that's frankly amazing against a quality opponent like BU. 8. Perhaps we bring in a little muscle to take on BU's guys that are spoiling for a fight. (?) 9. Saunders made a couple great saves early to keep us in it, including 3 back to back to back early in the second period, just before we tied it. Could have been a different game if he hadn't made those saves. 10. Other than the score, the run of play was really more like 6-2. Dominant. 11. Great atmosphere tonight. The fans were into it, even the old people sections making some noise. This is one of the things I will like about NCHC next year - the opportunity to schedule more big names, and to build some rivalries with nationally-best teams from other leagues. Bring on Saturday! A win and we are guaranteed a slot in the NCAA's! (Well okay that's overstating it BUT going 2-0 vs an elite Hockey East power might be huge down the line.)

I think its very likely this weekend. Unless he has some kind of injury. Hakstol likes to reward guys for hard work, and spread around the game action early in the season. Also, the BU games are VITAL for our PWR (the UAA games not nearly as important), so next weekend is probably not when you put a rookie goaltender in.

If you would have told me Montana would punt 9 times, I would have bet on a North Dakota victory.

Well actually ... I couldn't tell if you were joking ... he WAS a wrestling announcer. Go to the 4 minute mark on this video: There's other old vids out there ...

I can see Knight filling the same role that Dave Bolland does for the Blackhawks. Keep the puck away from the other team's top line, take PK draws, score 15-20 goals a season. "Top Six" but perhaps centering the 3rd line ...

First down UND. Our offensive line looks really good at this point ... really good push this series.

Wish I was more help...

Seems unlikely. Did you "mouse over" the football icon and click on the "play" box that comes up?

Check your plug ins? I'm on a mac /Chrome and it didn't work until I downloaded the OneVision player.

NDSU vs Prairie View is on ESPN3.com