PCM

Correction: Tom Gorowsky of Sioux Falls was the player of the game for Team USHL. I've corrected my post above.

I found myself questioning that as well. Sure, Bradford scored the game-winning goal, but it was pretty much a gift. The most dominant line on the ice was Vokes, Purcell and Ricci for Team World. It probably had something to do with the fact that they play together for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

At times like these, it's good to step back and gain some perspective. Hockey is just a game. There are things more important in life than won-lost records. Dave and his family and have my deepest sympathy.

Note that she said WHEN, not IF.

Team World beat Team USHL 5-3. The world team (dark jerseys) was coached by former Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer. Team USHL was coached by Mike Sertich, formerly of UMD and Michigan Tech. This is the unofficial scoring as there were no stats provided and I didn't realize it until after the first goal was scored. (I've listed each player's USHL team and which university he's committed to, if any.) First Period Goal 1: Team USHL - Tim Kennedy (Sioux City) from Kyle Kuk (Tri-City/Vermont) and Tom Gorowsky (Sioux Falls/Wisconsin) Goal 2: Team World - Matt Vokes (Cedar Rapids/Brown) from Ted Purcell (Cedar Rapids/Maine) and Rob Ricci (Cedar Rapids/Merrimack) Goal 3: Team World - Trevor Smith (Omaha/New Hampshire) from John Mitchell (Green Bay) Second Period Goal 4: Team USHL - Corey Carlson (Omaha/Vermont) from Tim Miller (Omaha/Michigan) Goal 5: Team World - Ricci from Smith Third Period Goal 6: Team USHL - Gorowsky Goal 7: Team World - Brock Bradford (Omaha/Boston College) from Blake Wheeler (Green Bay/Minnesota) Goal 8: Team World - Purcell from Vokes Bradford was named game MVP. Gorowsky was player of the game for Team USHL and Vokes was player of the game for Team World. As you can see from this photo, the similarities in the uniforms made the two teams a bit difficult to tell apart.

I don't know if it was in or not. None of the video was conclusive. Shepherd obviously didn't think it was in. And if the goal judge knew it was in, why would he say it wasn't?

Good question. Nobody seems to know.

I think Sparky would agree. Look at how many goals he's scored or assisted on that have been quickly wiped out. No wonder he said after Friday's game:

For what it's worth, I was told by game officials that the goal judge admitted he'd made a mistake and that he never saw the puck cross the line. You can take this with a grain of salt, but Peter Mannino, the DU goalie, also said the puck never crossed the line. Colby Genoway agreed with him. And the overhead video and other replay angles were inconclusive. If Shepherd didn't see the puck cross the line, there was no reason for him to overturn his ruling on the ice.

Bad analogy. There's never a guarantee that fans are going to get what they pay for with any sports team.

It's an honor just to be mentioned in the same sentence at Mapletoft.

Tonight's USCHO recap.

Now if he could just get his serve down and work on his overhead smash, he'd be awesome.

The season's not over yet, which means it's too early to make Steckel-Hakstol analogies. Plus, Hakstol's first season hasn't been anywhere near as bad as Steckel's first season with the Vikings. I don't like it when some try to gloss over the team's problems, but going the opposite direction isn't useful, either.

I wondered when the "Skippy Alert" would be issued.

So losing to an NCAA playoff team on neutral ice nearly two years ago is worse than the Gophers being swept at home this season by the last-place team in the WCHA? I think you need to worry about Minnesota's current distractions, not North Dakota's distractions past.

Nope.

Michigan Tech (cough)

I guess news travels slowly where you live. Bochenski's been gone for a year. But thanks for dropping by to demonstrate your knowledge of current events and Sioux hockey!

Beats me. It's the first time I heard it.

From Suite 49 sports grill near beautiful Ralph Engelstad Arena, Tim Hennessy is the host with Sioux hockey coach Dave Hakstol. TH: The Sioux have a large recruiting class this year and will have a young squad next year. With Denver University coming to town, it will be an interesting weekend for the Sioux. The good news from the series with Bemidji State is that UND came from three goals down for a tie. The bad news is that the Sioux were down three goals. DH: BSU came out and played hard on Friday. We were back on our heels for the first half of the game. We had a good performance in the second half of the game. Overall on the national scene, the win and the tie helped us in the pairwise rankings. TH: Really, there aren

Then he should also count East Grand Forks, Thompson, Manvel and the Air Force base -- the Grand Forks metro area.

Hey, I thought Fargo was almost three times bigger than Grand Forks. Maybe that was before the Iraqi oil embargo of '92. I won't argue that both cities have problems with sprawl, but I think most people characterize sprawl by how it looks rather than square miles.

Trend-setting downtown Fargo in the national media? I must've missed that. Was that a story Dan Rather did on 60 Minutes II?