rochsioux

Actually, the best help by NH beating BC at least once is the COP. Losing the COP will definitely cost UND the comparison. The Sioux have no control anymore on this and they must win it to be able to win the comparison. Currently, the Sioux win RPI vs. BC (.5458 to .5362), BC wins TUC (.3864 to .5000), and COP is tied (both teams are 4-1-1 .7500). The pairwise tiebreaker is RPI which UND leads. A BC sweep this w/e puts the COP in BC's column and will flip the comparison to BC. Will be difficult to take back unless BC were to play and lose to NH in the Hockey East tourney. A split or NH sweep gives the COP to UND and cannot be undone in conference tourney play (COP teams are NH, NE, and Harvard). To then keep the comparison win it will come down to maintaining the RPI advantage.

I want nothing to do with Minnesota at REA. If for some reason the Sioux don't make the tourney the last thing I want to see is the Gophers win the regional on our ice. If the Sioux do make the tourney I would like the easiest path possible to the frozen four. At much as this pains me to say, the Gophers are the best opposing team I have seen this year...puke, barf...gotta go shower now. I'm not afraid of playing the Gophers again, just would prefer that when it happens, it is in the frozen four championship. I think their goaltending is still suspect and in a big game like this against the Sioux I think the Sioux would win. Right now I would settle for any matchup since the Sioux still have to make the NCAA tourney.

All pairwise discussion below is without the bonus added. Since it is not known exactly what the bonus will be I will not comment on it for the most part. Current best estimates show the bonus should help but I'd rather not have to rely on this. Currently the Sioux sit in a tie for 12 place with BC, with each team having won 16 comparisons. The Sioux win the tiebreaker today based on a higher RPI. Assumptions: Top 12 finish in pairwise will be enough for the NCAA tourney. Top 14 might make it but upsets in conference tourneys would start to eliminate some teams. E.g. There is a reasonable chance the ECAC tourney winner will not be a top 14 team. 17 comparisons wins will be enough to be 12th or higher. Teams dropping in/out of TUC not factored. Current comparison wins that are close, score in (). UNO (2-1) Will come down to RPI. Currently Sioux have a .5458 to .5418 lead. Cornell (2-1) Will come down to RPI. Currently Sioux have a .5458 to .5411 lead. Maine (2-1) Most likely RPI. Sioux lead .5458 to .5449 TUC and COP are close enough that they could change depending on matchups and results. Michigan (2-1) Most likely RPI. Sioux lead .5458 to .5411 TUC is close enough that it could change depending on matchups and results. Sioux currently losing TUC. BC (1-1, Sioux win due to RPI) Sioux need to maintain RPI. COP is tied, so this could be the final factor. BC and NH play this Thur. and Sat. A BC sweep and they will win COP and probably keep this comparsion. Sioux need NH to win at least one game. NH win(s) should also help keep them in position for the Sioux to get the RPI bonus points for the road win earlier this year. Colgate (2-1) Sioux need to maintain TUC lead. Current comparison wins that the Sioux will mostly keep: NH (3-1) The fact the Sioux went 1-0-1 in NH early in the season will give them this. Dartmouth (3-0) TUC is extremely close but even losing this should not be a problem. Providence (2-1) Ferris State (3-0) St. Lawrence (2-1) Vermont (2-1) Lake Superior (3-0) Notre Dame (3-0) Notre Dame is barely eligible (.5023 RPI). Holy Cross (2-0) Sacred Heart (1-1) Sioux win tie on RPI. No common opponents. Current comparisons the Sioux will probably lose: Minnesota (1-6) Wisconsin (0-5) Miami (1-2) BU (1-2) Play Northeastern this w/e, RPI likely to drop. Too far behind in RPI to likely flip (.5458 to .5623) ? Not sure how much playing NE will hurt their RPI (NE is 3-22-7) Michigan State (0-4) Loss to MSU early in season makes this a done deal now. CC (1-4) Need to play and defeat in final five and they could flip this (RPI close). Harvard (2-3) 1-0 loss at home during XMAS really hurt. Denver (3-4) Need CC to sweep them this w/e to put this back in play. Current comparison losses that are close: Northern Michigan (1-2) COP will decide this. Need to sweep Michigan Tech this w/e to flip. COP are St.Cloud, Mich.Tech, Mich.State, Wisconsin, Miami Ohio State (1-2) COP very close (Sioux trailing 2-4-0 .3333 to 3-6-1 .3500) COP are CC, Miami, Mich.State, Wisconsin St.Cloud (3-4) TUC very close. Mankato becoming and staying a TUC would flip. Wisconsin sweep this w/e would flip. Meeting in first round WCHA will probably settle this. Alaska-Fairbanks (1-2) Losing both COP and TUC. COP can only be flipped if AF loses 2-0 to COP in playoffs. TUC more likely case for Sioux winning. Mankato becoming and staying a TUC would flip. Summary: Sioux have 10 pairwise wins they probably keep, 6 wins they could lose, 4 losses they could win, and 8 probable losses. So, of the 10 comparisons in play the Sioux need to win and keep 6-7 of those and they will probably make the NCAA tourney. Most of the close pairwise wins are due to slight RPI advantages. Can't afford an RPI drop and need to improve. Playing Tech will not help. Really need to finish 5th and play St. Cloud in the first round. Don't really want to move up to fourth (not likely, but could happen) as this would mean we play Mankato. We want Mankato as a TUC, not sure that is possible if we play and win the first round against them. Most of the close pairwise losses are due to COP or TUC. To maintain or improve pairwise this w/e: A sweep of Tech this w/e is very important. This may be easier said then done. (gain N.Mich comparison) Need NH to win at least one against BC. (maintain BC comparison) Wisconsin sweep of St.Cloud. Not likely based on Wisconsins play lately. (gain St.Cloud) Maine is so close the Sioux could sweep and still lose the comparison. (Maine plays UMass, slightly higher RPI than Tech) Other games this w/e of note: Notre Dame vs. AF (CCHA 1st round) ND sweep would give control of who wins this comparison to the Sioux (not factoring in Mankato). Ohio State beating Ferris State (CCHA 1st round). Seems odd, but an Ohio State playoff loss this w/e would reduce the chances of flipping the comparison. With no more games to play the Sioux would have to meet and beat CC in the play-in game. No guarantee they meet CC since they will probably play Mankato and Mankato is on a run. Otherwise, they would need to win enough to play and beat Wisconsin. If they do that the Ohio State comparison probably won't matter for making the NCAA anyway. A sweep of Tech (at worst 1-0-1), and a first round win against a TUC will probably be enough to get into the NCAA tourney. If they don't get a TUC in the first round they may have to win the play-in game.

Toews name WCHA rookie of the week Congrats to Jonathan. His play since the World Juniors has really picked up. In my view he was the best player on the ice for either team this past w/e.

I think it goes something like this: Right now the Sioux are losing a number of comparisons due to the TUC category. If they were to sweep Denver it would add two wins to the TUC, this definitely helps, at least short-term. Next week they play Mich Tech so these games cannot help us in the TUC. A sweep of Denver and Tech would likely move the Sioux to 4th place, possibly even 3rd. If they end up third there is no chance they play a TUC in the first round so they can't help their TUC record. Not only that but it eliminates one more game in the WCHA tourney that could help the TUC record. If they end up fourth they would probably play Mankato, they are not a TUC today but could be after the Wisconsin series this w/e. Mankato does not play next w/e. If Mankato is a TUC after playing Wisconsin, this would help UND by adding two earlier wins to their TUC total. But if the Sioux sweep them in the first round they might drop back out of being a TUC, thus again providing no help for the TUC comparisons. As strange as it sounds, it may be possible that a split with Denver and a sweep of Tech may prove better then a sweep of both. A split with Denver and sweep of Tech will probably leave the Sioux in 5th place with a chance to play a TUC in the first round. A sweep of the first round would then give them a 3-1 record against TUC recently (Denver 1-1, 1st round WCHA 2-0). Since UND's current TUC record is sub-500, a 3-1 record may help more than a 2-0 record being added to TUC. You also probably get the play-in game in the final-five which is more winnable than the semi-final game, probably against Wisconsin. The rule for tournament games is that is won't hurt your RPI if you win, it can definitely hurt your pairwise. I will take my chances with going 4-0 to end the reg. season. If they do that they should flip the DU comparison and the Northern Mich. comparison. They will also improve their RPI enough to flip some other ones they are narrowly losing today based on RPI (such as Michigan and Maine, depending on how they do). There are so many close pairwise comparisons right now that they just need to win and see how it shakes out. Right now I think an improved RPI will help just as much as improving the TUC. They need to maintain the comparisons that they have won and add enough to get in the top 12 to be safe. I think going 4-0, then sweeping the first round would be good enough to get in.

Looking for 2-4 tickets for Sat night only, preferably in the lower bowl.

Thanks again, the weekly recap is much appreciated.

You could try the REA ticket office. Not sure when they send unsold tickets back to Denver.

On a pure statistical basis it looks to me that Jordan is every bit as good as Karl was. I have always thought of Karl as one the best (or maybe even the best) goalie to ever play for the Sioux. The longer a player has been away from the school the more I think some tend to add to that players "legend". Here are the stats for Karl's last two years and Jordan's last two years: Name Yr GP W L T GA MIN GAA SH SV SV% Karl Goehring, Jr 30 19 6 4 55 1741 1.90 8 697 .927 Karl Goehring, Sr 29 16 6 6 66 1661 2.38 3 734 .918 Jordan Parise, So 27 17 7 3 56 1575 2.13 2 621 .917 Jordan Parise, Jr 20 13 6 1 46 1180 2.34 2 597 .928 Jordan's current save percent this year is actually slightly better than either of Karl's last two years. While Karl's GAA as a junior was 1.90 this was also a function of the fact he faced fewer shots each game. While Karl faced an average of 25 shots/game as a junior, Jordan is facing 32 so his GAA is going to be higher. For Jordan to have a GAA of 1.90 he would need to have a save percent of .941. The goalie play is not a problem. What I see is a team that is inconsistent on offense and is giving up too many shots on the defensive side. I suspect both of these are a result of being a very young and inexperienced team. For them to do anything this year, at least one of these areas has to improve significantly. The team was having problem with effort on one night of most series, that seems to be resolved now.

Well, I've seen 23 of the 32 games in person. Of the remaining 9, I have seen 3 on TV. The only games I have not seen at all are AA, Mich. Tech., and CC. I agree that Phil is an excellent goalie, he has played outstanding in some games and was probably the sole reason they won a few times (such as the first Bemidji game). I also believe Jordan is equal or better then Phil. He has also been the sole reason we won some games (such as Miami). He is a proven tournament goalie, as good as there is in the NCAA IMO. In addition, for some reason the Sioux generally score more goals when he is playing, not sure why that is. Could be they have more confidence and willing to take a few extra chances on the offensive side. As far as stats go, every category favors Jordan (W/L, GAA, SavePct). Pretty hard to make a convincing logical argument that it is better to play Phil. Since every game from here out is extremely important it is time to pick a goalie and ride him to #8. The case can be made that the best choice is Jordan...not sure I can make even a weak case for Phil over Jordan. That said I have confidence in both and feel fortunate that we have two outstanding goalies. Wasn't too long ago we had trouble finding one. Most teams are fortunate if they have one good goalie. See what has happened to Wisconsin since Elliot went down, they are not the same. Will be interesting if they can regain their ealier form when he comes back.

Best chance for home ice would probably be if St. Cloud sweeps. A split puts the Sioux in 6th, 3pts behind St. Cloud for 4th and 1 pt behind CC for 5th. Remaining Sched. date StCloud CC Sioux 2/17,18 at MSU AA UMD 2/24,25 MichTech at UMD at Denver 3/03,04 at Wisc Denver/at Denver MichTech Not sure anyone has an advantage. Sioux drop to 16th in Pairwise. A win would have probably put them somewhere 8-10th. Somewhere here the Sioux are going to have to sweep a series against a good team (denver or 1st round WCHA) if they want to move up and stay there. It's a given that they have to sweep UMD and Tech. This game and the 1st St. Cloud game (leading 2-1 after 2, lost 3-2, same as tonight) really hurt their WCHA standing and their NCAA standing.

UNH 5 Maine 3 with 8 min left. Vermont 3 Providence 3 OT final UMD 3 Wisconsin 1 OSU 2 Michigan 1 mid 2nd St Cloud 3 AA 1 Miami 2 AF 1 early 3rd

UNH 5 Maine 1 early 3rd. Vermont 3 Providence 2 late 3rd UMD 2 Wisconsin 1 OSU 1 Michigan 0

Prior to last nights games the Sioux were losing the comparison to St. Cloud 5-2. By winning last night the Sioux increased their TUC record just enough to overtake St. Cloud. Up till last night St.Cloud's two losses earlier in the season to CC didn't count in the COP with UND, so just by playing CC there were two losses added to St. Cloud's COP, coupled with the Sioux win it was enough to flip the COP category to UND which then made the pairwise comparison 4-3 for UND despite losing the regular season series 3 games to 1. Just goes to show how many variables can effect the pairwise and how tough it is to predict how things will turn out. Wasn't it last year where it would have been better for Wisconsin to lose a first round WCHA playoff game cause a win would knock the other team out of TUC when would have dropped a number of wins from Wisconsins TUC totals. Not a great system when that kind of scenario can occur.

Possible pairwise comparisons that the Sioux could flip with a WIN tonight against CC. 1. CC - RPI is so close now that a win should do it. Comparison win 3-2. 2. Providence - if they lose to Vermont the TUC will flip to UND's favor. Last nights win pushed them ahead on RPI so they would win the comparison 2-1. 3. Alaska Fairbanks - if they lose to Miami the TUC will flip to UND so they win 2-1. The unknown factor is if some team drops in/out of TUC and how that effects everything. Don't see any other comparisons they are currently losing that they could flip tonight. My guess is we will see Jordan again tonight. Philippe is an excellent goalie but they have to go with Jordan in tonights game, this is a must win and they have had better success with Parise in the net (13-5-1 vs. 5-7-0 for Lamoureux).

Currently the Sioux are winning 14 comparisons and losing 16. Here are the 16 they are losing (each col. is opp/Sioux): TEAM RPI TUC COP H2H TOTAL Wisconsin .6005/.5413 10-5-2/6-9-1 9-5-1/8-9-0 2/0 5/0 Minnesota .5906/.5413 7-4-3/5-8-1 8-4-3/7-8-0 3/1 6/1 Miami .5873/.5413 15-3-4/5-11-1 0-0-0/0-0-0 0/1 2/1 BC .5578/.5413 8-5-1/6-11-1 3-1-1/4-1-1 0/0 2/1 BU .5501/.5413 8-5-2/6-11-1 2-1-1/5-2-1 0/0 2/1 CC .5493/.5413 8-8-1/6-11-1 10-8-1/10-11-1 0/0 3/0 Michigan .5469/.5413 10-9-3/6-11-1 1-5-3/4-6-0 0/0 2/1 Providence .5486/.5413 7-7-1/6-11-1 2-0-0/3-0-1 0/0 3/0 Ferris State .5417/.5413 6-9-6/6-11-1 3-4-1/5-2-1 0/0 2/1 Mich. State .5357/.5413 9-9-6/6-10-1 1-1-1/3-5-0 1/0 3/1 St.Cloud .5336/.5413 4-6-2/5-8-1 6-5-1/7-7-0 3/1 5/2 Harvard .5254/.5413 5-3-1/5-10-1 1-0-0/1-0-1 1/1 3/2 St. Lawrence .5449/.5413 5-8-1/6-11-1 1-3-1/3-3-1 0/0 2/1 Denver .5295/.5413 6-6-1/5-10-1 10-4-2/9-9-0 1/1 3/2 Northern Mich. .5170/.5413 10-11-0/6-11-1 4-5-0/4-6-0 0/0 2/1 Alaska-Fair. .5135/.5413 7-11-4/6-11-1 4-4-2/2-5-0 0/0 2/1 A given is that they can't lose any more comparisons. They will probably need to win at least 18-20 comparisons, so they need to flip 4-6 of these. I don't think they have any chance to flip Wisconsin, Minnesota, Miami, BC, and Harvard. TUC would have to drastically change to flip the Harvard one. Also, the Providence comparsion will be difficult to change. They will need to sweep CC to have a chance to flip this one. They will probably have to sweep Denver to flip that comparison. Obviously sweeping both would dramatically improve their chances. Even though we lost 3 of 4 to St. Cloud we can flip that comparison but have to improve both TUC and COP. Since all games left are in conference all games will count in the comparison with SCSU. Also, 1st round WCHA could see them matchup again. There are seven other teams we are losing to by one comparision point. A sweep of Mich Tech could flip the Northern Michigan comparison. They probably need Miami to sweep Mich.State to flip that one. They need to improve the RPI to flip Michigan, BU, Ferris St. They need to improve RPI or TUC to beat St. Lawrence. They need to improve TUC to beat Fairbanks. So, five of these seven comparisons are highly dependent on the CC and Denver games. While there are way too many permutations to be sure of anything, it looks to me that just splitting with CC and with Denver might not be enough. That would make at least nine comparisons that would probably be set against them. I suspect it will also make it difficult to win many of the remaining ones since the two home series left will not help RPI or TUC. They would then need to make up ground in the WCHA playoffs. Anything less then splitting the CC and Denver series would probably leave them out of the NCAA tourney unless they win the WCHA tourney. The playoff drive must start this weekend. If it were up to me I think I would play Jordan on Friday and hope to get a run started like last year.

I would like to believe this but I am very doubtful. The Sioux have two home series against Michigan Tech and Duluth, neither are TUC so I think we can only hurt ourselves by losing, not sure winning will help much. The two road series are against TUC so it is imperative to get wins. I am thinking they will need to win 3 of 4 to have a good shot at the tourney. If they only get two then they will almost have to sweep the first round WCHA games which should be against a TUC. To start winning more pairwise comparisons they need to improve their TUC record and RPI. Playing Tech and Duluth will not help these. Right now playing .500 against TUC might not be good enough to flip enough comparisons. Since the Sioux can only control what they do, they best win 3/4 road and all 4 home...based on current play this may not be realistic.

I believe they are looking at him.

It is entirely appropriate for people to stand during those times, just as it is not appropriate to stand for the entire game if it blocks others view. IMO, at all sporting events there is a time when standing is fundamental to the enjoyment and excitement of the game. The problem as I see it is that some want to stand all the time. So if the students sections are changed to allow this and it will be permitted, then just be sure to inform anyone purchasing unused student tickets so they know what to expect. If you purchase the ticket knowing that you might have to stand then you have no grounds to complain. If everyone would adhere to "standing when action warrants" then we wouldn't have this discussion and there wouldn't be any reason to discuss moving the student sections. I can understand why some would want to stand the entire game and I am all for it if it can be done without impacting others.

I have seats in 306A for some games. When the students stand it blocks my view from the far left (my left) faceoff dot to the boards. Can be worse depending on how many are standing. I personally have no problem with standing and in fact would prefer it sometimes. HOWEVER, if I stand to see then I start blocking other people from seeing even more of the ice surface. I suspect some in 306A have much worse views depending on their exact location. Do I deserve to not be able to see part of the game ? Should I just stand and then block others from seeing ? Some people just physically can't stand for long or at all, others such as smaller children still can't see even if they stand. This past w/e was not too bad after the first 10 minutes or so but some games have been bad enough that some people have complained to the ushers who then try to get the students to sit down. IMO, it comes down to forcing all people to stand or getting all students to sit down with the current seating arrangement. On Friday a lot of the students in 307 did try to sit down but since those in 308 were standing they couldn't see so they started standing up again. I try to be considerate of other people and their view of the game but I don't drive 400 miles each way to watch the game on the scoreboard. Right now the only solution I see is to have the students sit down. If the solution is to move the students so they don't block others then I hope they also take into consideration what happens when the students don't sell out all their seats. If they make them available to the general public they better be sure to indicate that standing is allowed so anyone who purchases these seats will know what they are getting. Otherwise you will still see complaining about people standing and blocking their view.

I basically follow three sports for past 35+ years. Hockey: Already DI and consistently one of the top programs in the country. Football: Consistently one of the top DII programs. I have no doubt they would be very successful at the DIAA level if they want to be. BB: Men's program in poor shape and has never consistently been considered a top program in DII. Schedule sucks and is hard to generate any interest playing Upper Iowa, Mary, Crookston, Valley City State, Mayville, Minot State, etc. Take a look at the schedule and name more than one or two home games that would get fans excited. Now, is this due to the fact the team is not a powerhouse or because of the schedule ? If they were a dominate DII team with this schedule would that excite the fans ? With the schedule they have they should rarely lose at home. A combination of poor schedule and poor results will destroy fan support. Frankly I don't see this getting any better. The Women's program is consistently one of the top DII programs. It is here that I have my biggest doubts about going DI. So for football I think UND would be competitive and would still be able to challege for an NCAA championship. Men's basketball will struggle but they already struggle in DII. At least in DI the talent level will be upgraded and the teams they play should be more appealing. Can't see fan enthusiasm being any worse. I think the women's bb program would be competitive but probably won't challenge for the NCAA title. As for other sports I don't follow them enough to know the impact. I do think the decision to go DI has to focus on the revenue generating sports and the impact to them. I don't see the DII landscape improving over time, only degrading further as more quality teams leave for DI and scholarships get cut. IMO, it is not a matter of if, only when UND will make the move. If not for pesky little things like conference and $$$ I think the decision would have already been made. I think if UND goes, St. Cloud and UNO will follow suit, then USD can't be far behind. Maybe then discussion will start up again about forming a DI NCC conference.

From what I saw I would agree with this as well. I didn't see anything Finley did that would result in a DQ. Could it be that Hakstol and Jutting got together and agreed to shift the DQ's to Finley and Cummings (I think) ? Hakstol would agree to this since Spirko's family is in town, also he might not want to split up the forward lines as they seem to be finally clicking. Jutting might prefer Cummings suspended rather then the initial Mankato player (I assume there was a different Mankato player ejected originally, can't find a box score that shows the Spirko DQ to verify). Then they both went to Shepard and asked that the DQ's be changed.

I think it did. Jones was sent back to San Antonio on Jan. 21.

I don't think Zelkin controlled the games at all. Friday night, in the 2nd period (I think) there was a skirmish among a number of players and then someone from Mankato took a run a Smaby and cross-checked him from behind. Out of all this there was only one 2-min penalty called on the Mankato player who hit Smaby. At a minimum that should have been a double minor or major penalty, extreme cheap shot. Jones then got a 10-min misconduct for going by the penalty box and slapping his stick on the glass. I think that set the tone for the rest of the series - go ahead and play cheap, not much cost penalty-wise. Hopefully that incident was filed away for future payback.

My understanding is that his folks were here for the Mankato games and were going to stay and see the St. Cloud series as well. I thought the disqualification was not warranted, but what do you expect with the refs we get in the WCHA. Radke should have and was disqualified, other than that the only other Sioux player I thought might get tossed was TJ. I think Zelkin and company did a poor job in sorting the penalties and generally had a pathetic w/e in controlling the games. Mankato is a cheap team and for that I blame Jutting. Also, I was not impressed with the goalie, seems like he never controlled the first shot.