farce poobah

Just gotta say what a treat it is to have Gord Miller and Kerry Fraser doing commentary. They are fantastic. You'd think they see these guys every week; their recognition of names and numbers is flawless, their facts are on target, and the knowledge and experience is unmatched. Kerry Fraser is better than I thought he would be. Plus he called a spade a spade in noting that MacWilliam shouldn't have been called for a major.

Good article on Sam LaShomb (4G, 1A today) and the rivalry with the Marvin (Layla 3A, 1A) clan, following today's girls quarterfinals: http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_20020087

There are a number of things that can be done at the Ralph to improve the atmosphere. I'll start with a few obvious ones .... and last I heard the mailbox fans@theralph is still available for ideas. 1. Eliminate commercial interruptions during the third period. Its crunch time and we are selling our home ice advantage away for a few bucks worth of commercials. Ugh. Besides, we really do NOT need yet another reminder about how much fun the Sioux Kidz Club iz. 2. If you must have commercial interruptions, at least make them hockey videos. For example, if you're selling tickets for the Sioux women (which can be done in the first two periods, by the way) don't use the PA guy, put in a Jocelyne Lamoureux highlight reel goal or two. 3. During breaks in the play, leave up the out of town scores, the shot chart, the penalty clocks, the face off stats on the fascia. Don't use it only for advertising. Apply "best practices" from the NHL, please. 4. Create a set of pump-up videos to use during crunch time, depending on the situation. Here's an example from the Chicago Blackhawks ... play it with 6 minutes left in a tie game ... (it got the United Center going):

Brian Lee notches his first of the season tonight for the Senators: http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2011020883 Nice to see him getting a regular shift for a while.

Just getting back to the computer after a weekend of hockey: 1) Eidsness looks rested, focused and ready to go. He's in a position to steal a couple wins. Yes, "iron is a goalies best friend", but the only goals Tech got all weekend were fluky (off a guys chest) or unstoppable tips (right in front). Given a chance, he made the save. I hope I'm not overestimating his play, because Tech doesn't have finishers like Minnesota or Denver do. 2) On Friday, Kristo, Nelson and Knight could just as well have had 6 goals. Dominant. Then Saturday it looked like they were skating in mud. 3) Way too much flinging the puck blindly in our own zone, and in neutral zone. This is something that can be coached, but time runs short this season. This was not just rookies, it was players who know better. Somewhat shocking, actually. 4) Will need to run a longer bench on Friday ... and Saturday ... in the higher elevation of Denver. I'm expecting to see some kind of rotation scheme with spot-shifting 4th liners in with 3rd and 1st liners, as a way to keep legs fresh but without risking getting exposed. 5) Saturday was one of the quieter libraries I've been in in a long time. 6) There's a lot to admire about how this team sticks together, plays together, and plays with discipline. But we're left with no margin for error against teams like Denver. One bad penalty, one bad turnover, one soft goal, and it might cost a game. But on the other hand, if you are going into battle, pick someone you trust, and this team seems ready to do that. Here's hoping for an epic finish to a tumultuous season. Go take down Denver, boys.

Because tArrogantOnes are always chippy, and tBucky's are playing to extend their scholarships.

48-0

Interesting observation from Kevin Pates' column. The last two Fridays, UMD has gotten 4 and 3 goals, followed by not much the rest of the way. http://rinkandrun.areavoices.com/2012/02/05/updated-final-anchorage-3-umd-2/ Reinforces the old adage about "the first ten minutes". We better come out of the gate ready, and weather the storm early.

Granted the scenario is rather extreme, but an 8-way tie for first is still possible. http://siouxsports.com/hockey/whatif/index.php?view&username=farce poobah UND 32 UM 32 UMD 32 CC 32 DU 32 Tech 32 Bemidji 32 Omaha 32 SCSU 29 WI 21 Mankato 21 UAA 9 Usually by this point in the season, a lot has shaken out ... in more realistic scenarios, Minnesota and UMD are odds-on into the top two spots, and UAA and Mankato are unlikely to get home ice, but the chaos in the middle of the pack is simply astounding. St Cloud could still win it. Bemidji could still win it. And, of course, teams higher in the standings now could still win it - CC, DU, UND, Tech. Kudos to the designers of the what-if tool here at ss.com.

UND women leap up to 4th in Pairwise after sweeping Bemidji. http://www.uscho.com...ings/d-i-women/

Yeah baby at 10:38 pm, UND is up to #14 in the pairwise. Woot.

So .... ... on a combined score basis, its UND 11, SCSU 2.

Here's hoping the NCHC sets up a formal review process to consider suspensions on hits - like the NHL has - as the only way to move toward fairness in the process. Here's hoping the future head of officials in the NCHC declines to interview Don Adam.

Time to Own Omaha. Will go if I can. On the "overdone" note, I see Michigan and Ohio State played outside in front of 25000 in Cleveland. Considering Ohio State is averaging more like 4000 a game, that's a decent step forward. If they ever put their mind to it, they will be formidable. Hiring Osiecki was a good first step.

If they want Canadian viewers, who are fiercely proud of their successes, show DU, UND and Wisconsin from the west ... the combined list of native Canadians who became top-flight NHL players from those three schools borders on the unbelievable.

I'm enjoying the comments from Toronto fans who are defending Frattin ...

The other thing that hurt UND in the pairwise is that Wisconsin became a TUC after last night's win.

The Ralph still has a few available ... ticketmaster.com or the Ralph.

For me, the first game of the Gino Gasparini era was memorable. You have to recall this was when UND had not been to the frozen four in over a decade, had missed the WCHA playoffs a couple years, and it was a rather quiet and not-full Winter Sports Building in the years leading up to that era. Game 1, Sioux beat Michigan Tech 5-3, and this was the Michigan Tech that was only 1 year removed from 3 straight NCAA Championship game appearances. Beating them was something special indeed. Some of the new guys that picked up points that night included Kevin Maxwell and Cary Eades. More important, the SIoux played with heart and skill. We left the building that night totally stoked, because the dream of UND winning a championship had a chance of coming true.

Time to call Idalski and see if he would lend Monique and Jocelyne to the men's team for a couple games.

As to the new conference, the Colorado Springs Gazette has a nice overview of Jim Scherr: http://www.gazette.com/sports/brian-131092-gomez-scherr.html

UND 3 Kansas 2 I had to post that quickly before it changes.

Simpson and Mattson

Would be nice if the NCHC membership could step forward with a scheduling agreement with UAH to "tide" them over for a few years. For example, one series every other year from each member ... 8 games from the NCHC, 8 from the WCHA membership, 6 from the Big Ten (as if), plus the remainder from eastern conferences, and you've got a pretty good schedule.

Brad Malone with an assist tonight for the Avs. First NHL point.