Game 20: UMD vs Ferris State (Florida College Classic)

ESTERO, Fla. -- For UMD, the 1-0 loss to Maine was its worst Friday performance in some time. In fact, UMD had not lost a game on a Friday since falling to Notre Dame Oct. 19.

Now, for the first time all season, really, UMD has a chance to come back the day after a poor performance and atone for it. I'm very intrigued to see how this team responds.

Lines?

Lines.

UMDFarley - Cameranesi -

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Just when things started to show signs of looking up, it's gone back into the swirl of negativity for the UMD Bulldogs.

4-1-1 over six games going into the Christmas break, the Bulldogs spent 40 minutes looking like they ate too many cookies during the bye, and a two-win Maine team got the one break it needed to burn UMD.

The break happened when Martin Ouellette made a save

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Game 19: UMD vs Maine (Florida College Classic)

ESTERO, Fla. -- Greetings from Germain Arena, which sits 10 miles or so south of Fort Myers, where the UMD hotel is located.

This is the home of the ECHL's Florida Everblades, and also the 12-year home of a college hockey tournament.

People wonder how the hell this works. I'll confess I'm also curious to an extent, but the Everblades have run this thing long enough for me to realize that it's

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UMD Prepares for Business in the Sun

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The palm trees scattered around the hotel property add a sense of "Holy crap, we're in Florida" to the fact that we're in Florida.

For hockey.

Holy crap.

Before incorporating some beach time into the itinerary, the UMD men's hockey team has business to take care of. The 13th annual Florida College Classic is underway Friday, with UMD playing Maine after Cornell takes on

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UMD Preps for Florida Excursion

There are worse things in the country to prepare for than a late-December trip to Florida.

Yes, UMD is still a game under .500 (7-8-3), but at 4-1-1 over the last six games, the Bulldogs got things going in the right direction before a weekend off. During that off week, UMD players wrapped up final exams for the first semester, and also got to take some time away from the rink to celebrate

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Bob Nielson Leaves UMD For Division I Gig

Speculation ramped up late last week that UMD football coach and athletic director Bob Nielson could be on his way out. In its search for a new coach, Division I Western Illinois University listed Nielson as a finalist for the position last week, and interviewed him on Monday.

Tuesday, it began to become more clear that there was at least a real chance Nielson would move on.

Now, it appears to

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Game 18: UMD at Alaska Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- For UMD, it's the final game of the season's first half. It's a first half that included a few low points, but the last ten games have generally been pretty good for the Bulldogs, starting with a series at North Dakota in mid-November.

It isn't enough to completely shake a poor start to the WCHA season, but UMD can still get to 13 points with a Saturday win in Anchorage. It

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Here We Go Again

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The definition of insanity is usually described as something remotely resembling the following:


Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

With that in mind, UMD is teetering on the brink of insanity when it comes to Saturday games. Entering this weekend, UMD is 0-6-2 in such situations, with four losses (Ohio State, Notre Dame, St. Cloud State

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Game 17: UMD at Alaska Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Needless to say, all of us send our thoughts and prayers to the victims of the awful shooting in Connecticut, along with their families.

For many of you horrified by the news, I hope we can deliver you a short diversion from reality on this night.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Cameranesi - Basaraba
Farley - Herbert - Crandall (Justin)
Danberg - Hendrickson - Flaherty
Sampair

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UMD Heads North for Final Time With WCHA

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- With more schedule holes to fill, and the attraction of two extra home games in exchange for a trip here, there is no guarantee that UMD is done making trips to Alaska.

However, what is certain is that UMD won't be visiting the 49th state next season, and there are no concrete plans to return after this trip.

The Bulldogs match up with Alaska Anchorage here Friday and

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Wisconsin's Ryan Little Earns First WCHA Supplemental Discipline of Season

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Greetings from Anchorage, where it's shockingly mild, and we finally started to get daylight around 9:15am local time.

(Enjoy it while it lasts, Ciskie. It'll be dark by 4:00.)

Anyway, more content on the UMD-UAA series is coming before Friday's series opener at Sullivan Arena. For now, I wanted to discuss some news that broke while we were traveling Wednesday.

Not so long

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Game 16: Bemidji State at UMD

Let's try this again.

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Cameranesi - Basaraba
Farley - Crandall (Justin) - Herbert
Danberg - Hendrickson - Flaherty
DeLisle - Krause - Tardy

Olson - Welinski
Bergman - Johnson
Smith - Casto

Crandall (Aaron) - McNeely - Fons

BSU
Kinne - McLeod - George
Illo - Ward - Mattson
Orban - Jubinville - Boehm
Gerbrandt - Cain - Robbins

Areshenko - Wacker
Carlson - Prapavessis

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Rides Seniors to Hard-Fought Win

At various points this season, two of UMD's main lines have been productive. Tony Cameranesi and Mike Seidel have done plenty of damage this season, and the line of Justin Crandall, Caleb Herbert, and Austin Farley had a pretty good weekend in Houghton.

Friday night at Amsoil Arena, the seniors got in on the scoring act. Center Jake Hendrickson scored twice, and Keegan Flaherty had the

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Game 15: Bemidji State at UMD

The final home series of 2012 kicks off here tonight, as UMD takes on Bemidji State. The Bulldogs have played well as of late, outside of that infamous Saturday night hiccup against St. Cloud State.

Bemidji played two good games with Michigan Tech a couple weekends ago, but got zero points, then the Beavers took three from UAA before losing both games in Mankato last weekend.

Lines?

Lines.

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Opportunity Ahead for UMD as Christmas Approaches

There are four games left in the 2012 calendar year for UMD. Those four games could tell the tale of the Bulldogs' chances in the second half of the college hockey season.

Heading into Friday's game with Bemidji State at Amsoil Arena, UMD sits at 4-7-3 overall, 2-5-3 in the WCHA. Those seven points are good for an eighth-place tie, and leave the Bulldogs three points behind a home-ice position

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Bret Bielema's Departure Stuns Wisconsin

Shocking news out of Madison Tuesday, as Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema has decided to head to Arkansas.


Bielema’s agreement with Arkansas came together in less than 24 hours, according to multiple sources.... Money likely played a role in Bielema’s decision. He reportedly will make $3.2 million from Arkansas and turned down even more, so the money could go to his assistants.... Having a

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Christian Ponder Running Out Of Time

A few things I will say are absolutely true with no arguments:

Adrian Peterson is the best player in the NFL. If the Vikings had two more wins, he'd be a serious candidate for MVP, and he probably should be anyway. Unfortunately, we have a somewhat warped idea of what an MVP is, and the MVP can't come off a 6-6 team that is probably on its way to 7-9 more than on its way to the playoffs.
Aaron

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Game 14: UMD at Michigan Tech

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- On an uncharacteristically mild Saturday in Houghton, the UMD men will try this four-point thing again.

Three previous series-opening wins, followed by three losses, the last two (Notre Dame and St. Cloud State) by a combined 9-2.

To continue to improve, the Bulldogs need to show they can close out a series. Another opportunity looms in this game, after a 7-3 win on Friday.

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Gets Much Needed Touchdown, Win

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Earlier in the week, I crabbed about how UMD has seen a pretty notable decline in its even-strength scoring this season.

All season, I've used various opportunities to crab about how UMD hadn't scored a short-handed goal since an early December game here last season.

Apparently, someone is tired of my whining.

UMD rode a season-high four even-strength goals and its first

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Game 13: UMD at Michigan Tech

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- It's not exactly a snowglobe this time around.

I don't think Houghton has much more snow -- if more at all -- than Duluth does. A nice, uneventful drive here.

The game shouldn't be that way. Both teams have reason to be desperate for their own reasons. UMD needs points, while Michigan Tech is 1-3 in WCHA play at home so far. The Huskies are also entering a stretch of five

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Bulldogs Seek Snow Belt Slump-Buster

With 12 games played, we are one-third of the way through this UMD season.

No longer can "It's early" be used as an excuse when things go poorly. Instead, it's time to seek solutions and get things going the right way.

I already told you what I think the primary problems are. The biggest issue I'm seeing is how one bad thing spills into another, creating a cavalcade of bad stuff that the

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What Will Snap UMD Out of Funk?

At 3-7-2, things have not gone according to plan for the UMD men's hockey team.

But rather than trying to oversimplify things (score more and give up less, rah rah!), I thought it would be worth it to throw a few things out there that I'm seeing, stuff that I believe could help turn things around for the Bulldogs for more than a single night.

Scoring. Wait, I just said I wouldn't make it this

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Packers Slaughtered on National TV

Before Sunday night's Packers-Giants debacling, I sent a tweet imploring my favorite football team to not get embarrassed on national television.

Truth be told, it's been years since Green Bay was handed a defeat like what we saw Sunday when the lights are turned on for national television. It was a thrashing so sound and so complete that it made last January's 37-20 playoff shellacking look

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Game 12: St. Cloud State at UMD

For the first time since the season's opening weeks, UMD has a chance to claim consecutive victories.

It won't be easy. St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko wasn't pleased with his team's offensive push on Friday, and more is expected in this game. SCSU is a quality team, and it's not likely the Huskies will just accept being swept and get on the bus.

UMD has to earn this, and it won't be easy. It

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Works to End Winless Streak at Seven

For UMD, Friday night was a long time coming.

I think it had been pretty well-documented that the Bulldogs played quite well despite earning just one point last week in North Dakota.

Many "Your team deserved a better fate" comments could be found in the press box in Grand Forks, as well as on Twitter after Saturday's overtime loss.

From an effort standpoint, there's no question that UMD was

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Game 11: St. Cloud State at UMD

After a four-week hiatus, UMD returns home Friday to take on St. Cloud State. The Huskies are 6-4 and coming off a bye week, while 2-6-2 UMD is still trying to shake a seven-game winless skid.

UMD is 2-1-1 against SCSU in this building, with the loss being an 8-2 humdinger during the 2010-11 season, and the wins both coming in a two-game WCHA playoff series here in March 2011.

Lines?

Lines.

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Game 10: UMD at North Dakota

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Off an exciting 4-4 tie that was virtually everything but a win for UMD, the Bulldogs try again to snap their winless slide.

For all the talk about UMD's poor record in this barn, the Bulldogs are now 1-0-1 in their last two games here.

Hey, it's something. Can't move Earth in an instant.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Crandall (Justin) - Herbert - Basaraba
Farley - Cameranesi -

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UMD Signs Three Recruits

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Missed the chance to post this Friday, because I was already at the rink when it was announced.

But if you didn't hear, UMD officially signed three 2013-14 recruits to letters of intent during the fall signing period.

Of course, this is all pending the whole NCAA Clearinghouse bit, but here is the lowdown:


Alexander Iafallo • F • 5-11 • 165 • 12/21/93 • Eden, N.Y. (Fargo/

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Didn't Win, But Progress Made

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- No, it wasn't a win.

No, a tie is not a win. But Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena, a tie indicated progress.

At this still-somewhat-early stage of the college hockey season, UMD fans should be pleased with progress.

The Bulldogs earned a 4-4 tie here in a wild game that featured 135 shot attempts, 79 shots on goal, 85 faceoffs, and enough momentum swings to drive both

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Game 9: UMD at North Dakota

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Greetings from Grand Forks, where UMD enters the proverbial house of horrors to try to snap a five-game winless streak.

UMD is 3-12-2 all-time at Ralph Engelstad Arena, and has been outscored by more than two goals per game over that stretch.

UND has given UMD plenty of fits over the years in Duluth, too, but the numbers aren't quite as pronounced, and the games are usually

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UMD Returns to Grand Forks, Trying to Stop Slide

Over the years, UMD has seen some droughts when it comes to trips to WCHA buildings.

Even knowing that, it's really strange to think that the Bulldogs haven't visited Ralph Engelstad Arena in over two years.

It was Nov. 5-6, 2010. UMD fell 4-2 in the series opener before beating UND in overtime 3-2 on a Justin Fontaine winner.

Because it's been so long -- and UMD has struggled so much in that

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Video: Frank Serratore Clairvoyant After Win

This is a couple days old, but still worth the time to post.

After Friday's 5-1 win over Penn State, Air Force men's hockey coach Frank Serratore sat down for a press conference with the assembled media. What followed -- even for a Serratore, which sets a pretty high standard -- was absolute gold.




Serratore's money shot came around 35 seconds in, when he declared that if his Falcons were to

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Game 8: UMD at Nebraska Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. -- Things to watch for in this game are plentiful. They include UMD's discipline, five-on-five scoring, physical play (which goes back to the discipline issue, because you can't be afraid to take penalties and not hit as a result), and defensive zone coverage, which can -- and must -- continue to improve.

Also, watch the first couple shifts. See which team -- if either -- gets a big

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Undisciplined and Unlucky: UMD Must Shed Labels

OMAHA, Neb. -- It's hard to win hockey games when you're undisciplined. Killing off a ton of penalties is a good way to wear down your best players -- most of whom will kill penalties. It's not a good way to be successful.

When you're snakebit, life becomes even more difficult.

UMD enters Sunday's game averaging over 20 penalty minutes per game, and with just five goals over a four-game winless

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Game 7: UMD at Nebraska Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. -- Time to get this series rolling ... finally.

Expecting a 5,000-ish crowd here for the opener, which doesn't directly compete against Nebraska football, but comes close enough (that game should be over before this one starts). Might be fewer people than that for Sunday.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Crandall (Justin) - Herbert - Basaraba
Farley - Cameranesi - Seidel
Danberg - Hendrickson -

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Face Challenge in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. -- This is a tough stretch of games for UMD to try to climb back over .500. Six games that could send things south in a hurry if they don't go well, even if I think it's unrealistic to expect such a thing to happen.

The Bulldogs had a bye last week, a chance to correct the little errors that have helped cause a 2-3-1 start to the 2012-13 season. It's too early to panic, but there is

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Bulldogs Hope Bye Week Cures Struggles

OMAHA, Neb. -- For the UMD Bulldogs, there's good and bad to last week's bye.

The good? Any time a team is struggling, the coach will take the bye. UMD, winless in three and with three goals scored over those three games, certainly isn't in a position to turn down a bye.

The bad? Well, in an ideal world, you can heal some injuries during a bye week. UMD was and is a pretty healthy team, so in

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Random Rabble: Election Day

Get out and vote. Seriously. You probably don't need me to remind you, but there it is, anyway.

You'll notice that I haven't spent much time dissecting the issues on this blog. I figure you're here to read about sports -- chiefly UMD hockey -- so you don't need me polluting the feed with my views on things. I do enough of that on Twitter, and if you follow me there (thanks, by the way), you can

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Dangerous, Controversial Hits Take Headlines

(Yeah, I took a week and didn't update the blog. Sue me.)

Off weekends aren't the best, because we all enjoy what we do, and an off weekend means we don't get to cover the team that we normally cover.

What does it mean? In the case of Friday night, I'll park my expanding posterior on the couch and watch hockey on television.

There were some very good games on, too. Minnesota State-Minnesota

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Game 6: Wisconsin at UMD

After a decent start Friday, UMD ended up falling 2-0 at home to Wisconsin.

As expected, the lineup is a tad bit different for Saturday's rematch. The Bulldogs can ill afford to drop two straight at home to open the conference season for a second straight year, and they can ill afford to keep playing the way they played for a good chunk of Friday.

If this setup doesn't work, I'm sure the

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Badgers Keep it Simple to Beat UMD

Friday night looked like the home opener against Ohio State for a little bit, minus the frantic goal-scoring.

The game between UMD and Wisconsin started with a great pace. Both teams were flying up and down the rink, and there were scoring chances to be had. Wisconsin had a couple good opportunities blocked, and UMD was able to generate a superb flurry that started on a shot by defenseman Tim

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Game 5: Wisconsin at UMD

Someone asked me on Friday if I'm going to miss the UMD-Wisconsin rivalry.

A bit, I guess.

In my seven-plus years of calling games, it hasn't been that nasty (outside of Patrick Johnson breaking Jason Garrison's leg a few years ago, and then John Ramage trying to behead Chad Huttel at the end of a bad night -- for UMD -- a couple years back at the DECC). These two teams aren't as compatible in

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UMD Tries to Badger Visitors in Final WCHA Opener

History will be made at the end of this, the final of 48 seasons for UMD in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

The 2-2 Bulldogs host the 0-2 Wisconsin Badgers this weekend at Amsoil Arena, opening the last league schedule before many longtime WCHA members go their separate ways.

Outside of a ceremony commemorating the 1992-93 UMD team that won the school's last MacNaughton Cup

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UMD Hockey Commemorates 1993 MacNaughton Cup Team's 20th Anniversary

This weekend marks another opportunity for the UMD men's hockey program to celebrate its rich history.

20 years ago, Duluth was invigorated by the Bulldogs, as veteran coach Mike Sertich and locally-raised star Derek Plante led UMD to its second -- and most recent -- MacNaughton Cup championship.

The legendary trophy awarded to the WCHA regular-season champion has been handed out annually since

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BlogPoll Ballot: October 22

Here is this week's ballot:






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 8

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 Kansas St. Wildcats 3
3 Oregon Ducks -1
4 Florida Gators -1

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Game 4: UMD at Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- For the second straight weekend to start the season, it's UMD trying to pull off a sweep in Game 2 of a series.

Didn't go so well last time, and if you talk to UMD coach Scott Sandelin about it, he seems to think it was largely a self-inflicted defeat. Not mistakes so much, mind you, but just not a crisp performance, and certainly not play that was up to Friday's standards.

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(Friday?) Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Grinds Out Road Win

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Sometimes, you have to win ugly. For starters, it beats the hell out of losing pretty, or losing any other way. It also counts just the same as any other kind of win does.

UMD did that on Thursday night, grinding out a tough 3-1 win over Notre Dame.

Bulldog head coach Scott Sandelin noted -- and most observers would have to agree -- that UMD had a few passengers in

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Game 3: UMD at Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Thursday nigh hockey?

It's weird. I keep thinking it's Friday.

Either way, hockey is near.

Thursday was "Tour The Awesome Notre Dame Campus" day for me. Check twitter.com/bruceciskie for pictures.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Crandall (Justin) - Herbert - Seidel
Danberg - Hendrickson - Flaherty
Farley - Camaranesi - Basaraba
DeLisle - Decowski - Krause

Bergman - Casto
Olson -

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Bulldogs Make First Roadie of Season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Last weekend wasn't bad.

It's tough to get a real gauge of what we saw from UMD last week against Ohio State, but I keep going back to this sentiment.

I saw a lot more things I liked than things I didn't like, and it has to be considered a good starting point for this Bulldog team that was chalk full of uncertainty entering the season.

With all that being said, however, UMD

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BlogPoll: This Week's Ballot

This week's ballot looks as follows:






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 7

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 Oregon Ducks --
3 Florida Gators --
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

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Game 2: Ohio State at UMD

According to last year's UMD media guide, Friday's 6-2 win over Ohio State marks UMD's most lopsided season-opening victory since a 12-4 win over U.S. International to kick off the 1985-86 season.

(That doesn't count exhibitions, since exhibition games don't count in the standings.)

The previous mark under Scott Sandelin was a 5-2 victory over Nebraska-Omaha in the 2002 Maverick Stampede.

This

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Well, That Was A Good Start

UMD head coach Scott Sandelin looks at Opening Night as a starting point.

He has to like the point his players gave him to start from Friday.

UMD overwhelmed Ohio State 6-2 at Amsoil Arena, using dynamic freshmen, experienced skill players, and plenty of snarl to frustrate the young but capable Buckeyes for most of the evening.

In my slew of season preview materials, I mentioned a few keys to

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Game 1: Ohio State at UMD

Here we go.

Time to kick off the 2012-13 UMD men's hockey season. It's nice to see Steve Rohlik again, as the man who helped build this program as an assistant coach for a decade at UMD is now working with old college teammate Mark Osiecki at Ohio State.

Rohlik got a bit emotional reminiscing before the morning skate Friday, and he joked his daughters will probably be cheering for UMD in this

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UMD Starts Anew, Hopes Not To Start Over

It's one thing to have to rebuild.

After UMD made the 2004 NCAA Frozen Four, UMD was never able to put it together in the 2004-2005 season. A slew of freshmen -- 11 of them -- came on board for the 05-06 campaign, one that saw only 11 wins as UMD tried to rebuild its talent base.

Three years later, UMD was back in the NCAA hunt. The WCHA playoff champions rode the hot stick of senior center

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2012-13 UMD Hockey Preview: Forwards

For being 5-8 and 160 pounds, Jack Connolly casts one hell of a shadow.

After four years, three All-American honors, three NCAA Tournament appearances, a national championship, a Hobey Baker Award, and 197 career points, Connolly has taken his talents to Sweden to play professionally in the Swedish Elite League.

On the surface, Connolly's departure -- coupled with the losses of offensive stars

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2012-13 UMD Hockey Preview: Defensemen

When Justin Faulk and Mike Montgomery -- among others -- departed from UMD after helping the Bulldogs to the 2011 NCAA title, they left some question marks behind.

UMD had bodies on defense last season, but no one knew going in how it was going to play out. While there were some bright spots, the Bulldogs also had their share of struggles against forecheck pressure at times, and the defense had

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2012-13 UMD Hockey Preview: Goalies

Replacing an All-American who practically carried a No. 7 seed to a league championship and NCAA berth wasn't going to be easy.

And Kenny Reiter wasn't expected to be the guy carrying the torch.

Indeed he was, though. Reiter, of Pittsburgh, came in to UMD out of the North American Hockey League -- regarded as the second-best junior league in the country behind the USHL -- and he sat for his

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Packers Apparently Paranoid As Well As Not Very Good Right Now

I think it's safe to say frustration is setting in for the Green Bay Packers.

I don't think that's necessarily a good thing, but only time will tell for certain.

Sometimes, the news reports on NFL teams on Wednesdays can be a little scarce. Teams typically give Tuesdays off to the players, with Wednesday being the first day of practice ahead of a Sunday game.

This time around, the Packers

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BlogPoll: Week 7 Ballot

Here you go:






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 6

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 Oregon Ducks 1
3 Florida Gators 7
4 South Carolina Gamecocks 3

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Nic Kerdiles Ineligible For Now

College hockey season is underway, as evidenced by tweets I saw from people relaying actual scores over the weekend.

UMD opens Friday at home against Ohio State, which means I finally have some content for this blog.

There is a potential controversy brewing down the road at Wisconsin. The Badgers played an exhibition game Saturday, whipping the US Under 18 Team 5-0 at the Kohl Center. UW has a

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UMD Hockey Loading for Future

The 2011-12 UMD men's hockey season saw perhaps the most decorated senior class in school history depart.

A group that included goalie Kenny Reiter, defensemen Brady Lamb and Scott Kishel, and forwards Jack Connolly, Travis Oleksuk, and David Grun ushered in a beautiful new arena (the still-a-gem Amsoil Arena), won a national championship, were a part of four straight 20-plus win seasons, and

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BlogPoll: Week 5 Ballot

After some crazy games and very little defense, here is this week's ballot:






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 5

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 Florida St. Seminoles --
3 Oregon Ducks 3

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Seattle Screw: The Aftermath

With the Packers holding on to a 12-7 lead late in Monday's eventual "loss" to Seattle, I texted a friend/co-worker, a Vikings fan who was enamored with the way Green Bay clawed back and took the lead.

Livid at two horrific calls against the Packers in a Seattle drive, and already practically foaming at the mouth after the shenanigans at the Metrodome Sunday*, I had seen enough.

(* - If you

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WCHA Preseason Media Poll: Nerd Factor

It's time to crunch a few numbers from this year's media poll.

The full poll results are here.

My votes are here.

We had 25 votes this year. Minnesota got all but one first-place vote, and Alaska-Anchorage got all but one last-place vote.

North Dakota was first on one ballot, then second on 19 others. UND was no lower than fourth, and a clear No. 2 in the poll.

Opinions really started to

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WCHA Preseason Media Poll

Here is the release sent to WCHA media and the league office regarding this year's preseason media poll, conducted through 94X -- the home of UMD hockey -- for a third straight year.

My votes can be found here.

A year after surprising many by winning the WCHA's MacNaughton Cup Championship, the Minnesota Golden Gophers are a nearly-unanimous pick of WCHA media to win the league. The annual 94X

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BlogPoll: Week 5 Ballot

Busy day today with WCHA poll work, but I did submit a ballot for the BlogPoll. Here goes:






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 4

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 Florida St. Seminoles 2
3 LSU Tigers -1

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WCHA Preseason Poll: My Ballot

The annual WCHA Preseason Media Poll will be released Wednesday morning. Monday night is the voting deadline, but we do have 21 ballots returned. That's a quorum as far as I'm concerned, so I'm going to proceed with the poll.

I vote in the poll, and I invited two media representatives from each of the WCHA's teams to take part. No team is unrepresented when the list of returned ballots is looked

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Central Scouting Rankings Include Numerous UMD Recruits, Local Faces

The NHL is locked out, but the process of scouting players for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft is underway.

(Of course, if the NHL season is cancelled, we don't know when that draft will happen. Or who will pick first.)

(Then again, if they use the same lottery system they rigged so Pittsburgh could win used in 2005, Toronto will be practically a shoo-in to win. Which means someone else will. Maybe

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Karson Kuhlman Latest Local Hockey Star Headed to UMD

UMD has done quite well as of late when it comes to bringing in top local players. This year's crop of freshmen includes former Duluth East defenseman Andy Welinski, who could be the best rookie blue-liner in the WCHA. He joined UMD after two seasons with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers, where he helped the team to a Clark Cup title.

Hibbing forward Adam Johnson committed to UMD during the 2010

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Random Rabble: September 17

Hockey is coming. UMD's season opens 25 days from now. It's inching closer. The WCHA Preseason Media Poll is due out on Sept. 26, and I'll have a full preview before that date that includes my predictions that are sure to be incorrect.

Meanwhile, the NFC North is all 1-1 after Sunday's action. Somehow, the Vikings managed to get virtually no pressure from their defensive line against a team

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BlogPoll: Week 3 Ballot

More movement this week. Thank you, Stanford and Pittsburgh.






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 3

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 LSU Tigers 2
3 Oklahoma Sooners --
4

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BlogPoll: Week 2 Ballot, I Guess

Here is this week's BlogPoll ballot, as submitted by yours truly Monday morning.






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 2

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 USC Trojans --
3 Oklahoma Sooners --

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2012 NFL Predictions Sure To Be Bad

I posted these on Twitter earlier in the week, but I figured I'd expand on it. I'm not big on making week-by-week predictions on the blog anymore, but you can follow me for the occasional pick and plenty of bad jokes and snark.

Here are my division picks, with some commentary.

NFC EAST
1. NY Giants
2. Philadelphia
3. Dallas
4. Washington

The Giants are still the best. The Eagles are not far

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Random Rabble: September 6

Football is front and center, and my NFL division predictions -- tweeted Wednesday -- will be published later.

In the meantime, other happenings this weekend include St. Scholastica taking on Eureka in the UMAC conference opener. The Saints won last year in Illinois 48-7, holding Eureka quarterback Sam Durley to a scant 169 yards passing.

That could be troublesome this time around. Durley set

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BlogPoll 2012: Week 1 Ballot

Here you go, after a so-so weekend of games.







The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 1

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 USC Trojans --
3 Oklahoma Sooners --
4 LSU Tigers

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College Football Begins

Thursday is just the beginning.

College football gets underway this weekend, with a bunch of games on Thursday and even more on Saturday.

As you've already seen on the blog, I'm taking part in the BlogPoll once again this year. Thanks to Andy Hutchins and the folks at SBNation for keeping this thing going.

I'm also taking part in a Wisconsin-centric deal with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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2012 BlogPoll: Week 1

BlogPoll 2012 is underway.

It's become a bit of a tradition for your humble correspondent to cast a vote in this thing every week.

The Week 1 poll is already out, but I figured I'd stick with my "be transparent" rule and post my ballot, even if I voted last week and forgot to post it then.






The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 1

Rank Team

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Vikings Sit Starters Thursday

Did you watch the Vikings game against San Diego on Friday night?

It wasn't good.

The Chargers were sitting 18 starters, including a number of their elite defensive players. Most notably, cornerback Quentin Jammer was sidelined. By no means do I think the Chargers are a one- or two-man operation on defense, but one would think so many guys out would give Minnesota an advantage.

Or not.

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Adrian Peterson Sits Until Opener

It hasn't been officially announced, but a number of Twin Cities media outlets are reporting that the Vikings have decided to keep running back Adrian Peterson on the sidelines for the rest of the preseason.


Although there was talk of the running back returning to play Friday in the Minnesota Vikings' exhibition game against San Diego, an NFL source said Monday night that the Vikings are

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Danny O'Brien Named Wisconsin Starting Quarterback

It comes as a surprise to probably no one not named Joel Brennan, but Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema named his 2012 starting quarterback on Sunday.

It's Maryland transfer Danny O'Brien.


In June, O'Brien transferred to Wisconsin from Maryland, where he made 17 starts the past two seasons and passed for 4,086 yards with 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He graduated from Maryland in May

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Badger Football Rabble: August 14

With Wisconsin's football team in its second week of practice, much is going on in Madison. What won't be going on there is a significant on-field challenge, at least not until October.

(No, Nebraska fans, that's not a shot at your overrated team. The Badgers and Cornhuskers play in Lincoln. Wisconsin's home games before an Oct. 27 date with Michigan State are as follows: Northern Iowa, Utah

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Mounting Packers Injuries Show Importance of Depth, Other Things

Thursday was an ugly night for the Green Bay Packers, in more ways than one. A 21-13 loss is relatively inconsequential at this stage in the game. Doesn't matter. The way Green Bay got there, though, wasn't good, and neither has been the start of camp in terms of the team's health.

The Packers turned the ball over like crazy in San Diego, with reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers fumbling and throwing

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Troy Jutting Hired at Nebraska Omaha

While we wait out the final two months before college hockey season kicks in, Nebraska Omaha has hired a new assistant coach. You might be familiar with this particular gentleman.


University of Nebraska Omaha head hockey coach Dean Blais announced today that Troy Jutting has been named the team's new assistant coach.  Jutting takes over for Brian Renfrew who left Omaha after one year to take a

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Percy Harvin: Part-Time Special Teams Weapon?

Interesting nugget from Judd Zulgad, the fine 9am co-host on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.

(I'm a PA guy both by affiliation and by choice, largely because I feel the rube vibe when it comes to my sports passions, and because I enjoy even insanely-slanted football conversation at random times of the year. That said, Zulgad and the crew put on a good show if you're willing to grab the web stream. I'm

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Brewers Scapegoat Bullpen Coach for Bullpen Failures

From the Brewers' website beat writer, Adam McCalvy:


The Brewers’ struggling bullpen has produced another casualty. Longtime coach Stan Kyles was “relieved of his duties” today, according to the team.Lee Tunnell will replace Kyles on an interim basis and report to the team on Tuesday. Kyles had been in his current role since 2009 and coached in the Minor Leagues before that.“It is important

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Big Ten Football Poll Likely Not Far Off

Tuesday begins Big Ten football Media Days, as the league looks to get on with life following the historic hammer-dropping on Penn State's program Monday, both by the NCAA and B1G.

As we move into the last week of July and get ready for football camps to open, select members of the media put together a preseason Big Ten football poll.

The results? Well, I'll give them to you now, and tell you

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Penn State Sanctioned, JoePa Statue Gone, But It's Not Enough

That's what I keep thinking. It's not enough. It will never be enough.

What Jerry Sandusky did to those kids defies any kind of words that I can deliver. And nothing Penn State can do will ever serve as a make-good. You can't retroactively change what happened, or magically heal the human beings affected by Sandusky's inhumane behavior.

However, it's equally unreasonable to expect that nothing

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UMD Hockey Mock Depth Chart 2012-13

It's July, but UMD released its expected 2012-13 men's hockey roster this week. It comes complete with numbers and everything!

Since I'm 1) a nerd, and 2) starving to talk hockey in the middle of summer, it prompted me to start thinking. I got the clipboard and a sheet of scratch paper, and started trying to put a lineup together.

Obviously, it's all preliminary. As far as I know, none of it is

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Brewers Season Falls Under Axe

It's not been a good season for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Things got worse Monday night.

The Brewers have actually done a pretty admirable job of fighting off injuries -- Alex Gonzalez, Mat Gamel, Shaun Marcum headlining -- and underperforming players -- hello to Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Randy Wolf, John Axford, and probably Francisco Rodriguez here -- to stay at least somewhat alive in the

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Random Rabble: July 16

Former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand penned this week's Monday Morning Quarterback at SI.com, filling in for the incomparable Peter King. LeGrand, who suffered a serious spinal cord injury on a kickoff play in 2010, was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this spring. The Bucs are now coached by LeGrand's college coach, Greg Schiano. LeGrand insists he will walk again, and

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Jeff Dubay Opens a Vein

Back in 2008, KFAN's radio lineup -- a lineup syndicated then and now on stations around the state, including Duluth -- was shaken up by the arrest of midday personality Jeff Dubay. With drug charges looming, the station eventually fired Dubay, and he hasn't really been heard from publicly since.

Co-host of the popular "PA and Dubay" show on The Fan, Jeff had become a household name among

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All-Star Game's Loss of Relevance

Tuesday night was baseball's All-Star Game. The 83rd edition of the midsummer classic was a thrashing, with the National League coasting to an 8-0 win. It was 5-0 by the middle of the first inning.

So, yeah, I can't imagine these ratings will be good.

It would be part of a trend. The 1988 game scored a 20 rating for ABC, but FOX hasn't seen a number in double digits since 2001. Last year's 6.9

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Packers Have Skill Position Logjam

One of the things I really enjoy about the summer is the immense amount of information and speculation out there ahead of football season.

With hockey on hiatus, I actually have time to consume a ton of the available information.

The Packers stunk defensively last season.

Such is probably an understatement, since Green Bay had the worst defense in the NFL, despite a 15-1 regular season.

The

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Zach Parise, Ryan Suter Change Wild Culture Just By Signing

What an amazing Fourth of July, eh?

For the first time since its run to the Western Conference Final in 2003, the Minnesota Wild are on the map.

I columnized the bit for SBNation yesterday. Here that is.

Michael Russo of the Star Tribune was on top of this story throughout. Here is his main story for the Thursday paper.

Strib columnist Jim Souhan talked to Wild owner Craig Leipold, who is

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Former UMD Players Cash In

A number of former UMD players signed new pro contracts over the weekend, as NHL free agency opened on Sunday.

One -- defenseman Jason Garrison (2005-2008) -- really cashed in on the league's annual spending spree. Garrison inked a six-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks, one that will pay him $27.6 million.

Garrison spoke with me Monday from Chicago about his new beginning.

He joins another

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The Death of the BCS

We've hashed away at this for years.

For Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel, the subject was enough for him to turn into a book that -- dare I say -- helped spring everything that's happened as of late.

And, now, it's time to (finally) lay the BCS to rest.


A committee of university presidents approved a plan for a four-team playoff put forward by commissioners of the top football conferences.

Rejoice

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Justin Schultz Gets His Choice

When Blake Wheeler bailed on the Phoenix Coyotes for the chance to become an unrestricted free agent, it was a rather surprising move. It was a rule people knew about, but not one a first-round pick and highly-touted prospect had used the way Wheeler did.

Wheeler has carved out a pretty good career for himself in the NHL, so it's hard to say things didn't work out for him. Phoenix has turned

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St. Scholastica and St. Norbert Join MCHA

Earlier this year, the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association saw itself blown up. Five members -- all University of Wisconsin system schools -- pulled out of the league so the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference could start its own hockey league.

The move immediately cast doubt on the futures of two private schools -- St. Scholastica of Duluth and St. Norbert, near Green Bay -- in the

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Wild Plans For Duluth Exhibition Dropped Because of Lockout Concerns

The Minnesota Wild visited Duluth last fall for two training camp practices and team-building time. You might remember that goalie Josh Harding was injured during one of the team-building exercises, forcing Houston Aeros GM Jim Mill to don the goalie pads for the first practice at Amsoil Arena, as Aeros goalie Matt Hackett couldn't get to Duluth in time for it.

At the time, nothing but nice

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Phil Housley Hire Stunner From USA Hockey

According to multiple reports, most notably a tweet from ESPN hockey guy (no, that's not an oxymoron) John Buccigross, former NHL defenseman Phil Housley will be named head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team Monday.

The team will compete in the IIHF World Junior Championships, which start the day after Christmas in Ufa, Russia.

USA Hockey supporters on Twitter aren't exactly loving this

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WCHA Makes Waves With Odd Playoff Idea

Normally, I'm all for thinking outside the proverbial box. To me, a sports league can make good things happen by trying it, no differently than a sports team can.

(Yes, some ideas -- the A-11 offense, for example -- are almost examples of trying too hard. But at least it's outside-the-box thinking.)

The remnants of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association met this week in Detroit, with plenty

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North Dakota Ready to Move On From Fighting Sioux Nickname

When North Dakota's men's hockey team was preparing for a February visit to Duluth, the team was without a nickname. The "Fighting Sioux" moniker was dropped as of Jan. 1, and the school was planning to go sans nickname for a couple years.

Then a group of petitioners in the state decided to intervene. A successful drive led to enough signatures to trigger a statewide referendum on the nickname.

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Random Rabble: June 11

I'm not a boxing expert. I don't watch a lot of big-time fights, largely because they're on pay-per-view, and I refuse to pay $64.95 to watch a star fight a guy I've never heard of.

When I heard Manny Pacquiao was fighting something called Timothy Bradley, Jr., Saturday, and it was nearly $70 to buy the fight, I didn't do any further investigating into the event. I hadn't heard of Bradley, and

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Kevin Durant Is Becoming What LeBron James Can't Be

I don't watch much NBA basketball, but after the New Jersey Devils found a way to stay alive in the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday, I flipped over to TNT and caught the last 14 minutes or so of the San Antonio Spurs' season.

This didn't seem to be a likely scenario as the hockey game was playing out. The Spurs led by 15 points early in the game, saw it peak at 18 in the second quarter, and took a

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Hockey Rabble: June 5

I want to send sympathies to the family and friends of Dick Stewart. The longtime Duluth hockey supporter died Monday night at the age of 92, just nine days after he lost his wife of 63 years, Maxine. Stewart was a fixture at UMD hockey games, listening on the radio after his eyes failed him, but rarely missing a game. It became a tradition for the UMD students to chant his name as he waved his

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Nicklas Lidstrom's Timing Off?

Much has been made of last week's retirement announcement by Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom.

(I wrote two pieces for SB Nation regarding Lidstrom's decision. This one talks about Lidstrom's greatness, both on and off the ice. After I took a shower, I wrote this one, which contains lots of speculation about how it could affect the free agent status of Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter,

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The Brewers Season Summed Up In 122 Words

This is all that needs to be said.


Teammates were left shaking their heads as word spread in the visitors' clubhouse Monday that catcher Jonathan Lucroy had injured his right hand in a bizarre hotel-room accident, the latest in a long line of Brewers to go down.Lucroy will miss 4-6 weeks with what the Brewers termed a "boxer's fracture" of the right hand. That diagnosis sounded more fearsome

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Random Rabble: May 22

I tweeted a few times about Anthony LaPanta being named the voice of the Wild on Fox Sports North, but haven't commented on here. LaPanta has me by a few years (he's publicly admitted to being 43, while I'm a couple months short of 35), but our pedigrees aren't that dissimilar. I don't know him that well, but he's talked about dreaming of this kind of opportunity his whole life. I grew up a

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Mike McCarthy Recognizes Obvious Problems With Packers

The Green Bay Packers did not tackle well last season, on their way to a divisional round playoff loss to the New York Giants.

I don't think I'm breaking new ground here.

The Packers struggled all season with fundamentals surrounding tackling, catching, and protecting the ball. Aaron Rodgers didn't throw a lot of interceptions, and he completed nearly 70 percent of his throws, but he was

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UMD Hockey 2012-13 Schedule

Much of this was known a few months ago, but now it's official.

The UMD men's hockey team announced its 2012-13 schedule Tuesday, marking the program's 48th and final year as a member of the WCHA. Here is the slate of 37 games (including an exhibition).

Oct. 12-13 –OHIO STATE (NC), 7:07
Oct. 18-19 –at Notre Dame (NC), 6:05 p.m.
Oct. 26-27 –WISCONSIN, 7:07 p.m.
Nov. 10-11 –at Nebraska-Omaha, 7:

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Random Rabble: May 14

If you're not a huge hockey fan, there's nothing sexy about the NHL conference finals. Of course, I'm a hockey fan, so I'm thinking we'll get two enjoyable series. In the East, New Jersey visits the Garden to battle the Rangers starting Monday night. Two longtime rivals who play in the same division, with visions of 1994 never too far away when the teams meet in the playoffs.




Of course, we

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Vikings Fans Close to Relief, Rejoicing

The last two days have been long ones for fans of the Minnesota Vikings.

Between non-sensical debates, stupid amendments, and senseless alternative ideas, the Minnesota Vikings stadium plan has survived both houses of the state Legislature.

The House passed the bill Monday night, and the Senate followed up on Tuesday.

Wednesday is a big day, though. The bills are different, which means a

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Alex Ovechkin, Dan Girardi Involved in Questionable Hits

Much has been made since Saturday's Washington win over the New York Rangers of a hit by Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin on New York defenseman Dan Girardi. Puck Daddy has more. Let's go to the videotape.




It doesn't sound like Ovechkin will face a suspension, which will surely endear him to Ranger fans as they play Game 5 at the Garden Monday night.

I don't have a real problem with the

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Kurt Warner Causes Slight Stir With Comments on Kids and Football

In the wake of NFL great Junior Seau's suicide earlier this week, there has been a run of football legends appearing on national radio and television shows to talk about the tragedy. As you could imagine, much of that discussion has revolved around head trauma in sports, mainly football.

We don't know that head trauma had anything to do with the end of Seau's life. I think it's being largely

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Kurt Zellers Confuses and Contradicts

Minnesota House Speaker Rep. Kurt Zellers -- a Republican from Maple Grove by way of Grand Forks -- spent much of this year's legislative session saying nothing of note about the Vikings stadium issue.

Based on his comments Thursday, he probably should have kept it that way.

When it was announced that the $975 million plan to build the Vikings a new stadium in Minneapolis would finally get a

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Junior Seau's Death Comes With No Immediate Answers

The video of Junior Seau's distraught mother -- not long after learning of her son's death by suicide -- pretty much says it all.

(This isn't graphic in any way, but it is extremely emotional, so keep that in mind before you hit the play button.)




It's a mother who now has to bury a son. And in front of the world, she's trying to come to grips with that and find some reason why.

So are the

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Saints Player Punishments Released

The NFL had already dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints for a bounty scandal that came out in early March. Head coach Sean Payton is suspended until after the Super Bowl, and then-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is out indefinitely.

Wednesday, four players who were prominently involved in the program were suspended by the league. The full press release is below.

The Packers

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Vikings Stadium Becomes Political Pawn

Just one week ago, the Minnesota Vikings' push for a new Minneapolis stadium seemed like a legislative priority. It seemed important.

Granted, this all happened after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell visited the Capitol and delivered what one prominent Minnesota politician called a "reality check," but it happened. For a few days after Goodell's visit -- he said there was no threat, but it's clear

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2012 NFL Draft: Packers Bolster Defense

In the interest of fairness, equal time, and actually taking a few moments to write about the team that has made the playoffs over the last couple years, I figured I'd offer up a few draft thoughts on my favorite football team, the Packers.

As I mentioned earlier this week, the Packers were in a rather odd position. Even though Green Bay was 15-1 last season and didn't lose much in free agency,

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2012 NFL Draft: Vikings Score With Smarts

The Minnesota Vikings were 3-13 in 2011. There are noticeable holes at wide receiver, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, cornerback, and safety. It could be argued that the Vikings needed to get three and perhaps four immediate starters out of this draft to fill the holes that clearly exist.

That they got two out of the first round of the draft is a great accomplishment, one that isn't easy to

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Random Rabble: April 25

Here's a shocker: The Vikings stadium bill -- which looked dead in the water before Friday -- now appears to have an "air of inevitability," just days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell showed up in Minnesota for half a day and scared the hell out of the politicos. Listen, you know where I stand on this. Couldn't be more clear. And I agree with Sen. Richard Cohen, a DFLer out of St. Paul, who

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2012 NFL Draft: Packers Need To Do Well, Despite Recent Success

The Green Bay Packers have posted three straight winning seasons since a 6-10 performance the year after Brett Favre's first retirement.

Once Aaron Rodgers got his feet wet and was entrenched as the starter, there was no need or reason for worry about the offense.

In 2010, Dom Capers got his defense to peak at the best time possible, as it played incredibly well late in the season to help the

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2012 NFL Draft: Fresh Off 'Reality Check,' Vikings Get to Focus on Football

I can't pretend to know what it's been like for Minnesota Vikings fans as of late.

The promising 2009 season went up in smoke when Brett Favre threw across his body to Tracy Porter. The promising 2010 season never really got going the way everyone expected, as the Vikings went 6-10 and appeared to bottom out, as Favre never seemed interested and the defense crumbled under the pressure of

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Raffi Torres Adds to NHL's Playoff Pain

There is a lot of good to have come out of these NHL playoffs so far.

The games have been -- for the most part -- close, dramatic, edge-of-your-seat stuff. Exciting finishes, overtime games, upsets, and some great pace to games. It's enough to keep a hockey fan excited on a nightly basis.

Unfortunately, the controversies are getting close to outweighing everything good that has happened. There

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Vikings Might Be On Way Out

I don't think I have to remind anyone around here of my Packers fandom. I'm almost insane at times. But there are times for poking fun at rivals, and there are times for supporting them. This is a time to reach out and support a rival. The Vikings stadium situation absolutely sucks. As I noted Tuesday, the Vikings have been saying all the right things throughout this process, not dropping threats

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Minnesota Legislature Drops Ball

This might be a worse fumble than anything Adrian Peterson uncorked in his career -- before he seemingly stopped fumbling altogether.

The Minnesota House Government Operations and Gobbledegook Committee voted down the Vikings stadium bill Monday night, after some four hours of debate. The plan to build a near-$1 billion stadium near the site of the Metrodome to replace the Metrodome now goes

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Shea Weber Welcomes Brendan Shanahan to Stanley Cup Playoffs

Well, we almost got through the first night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Just when NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan thought he'd get to sleep without incident, Shea Weber introduced Henrik Zetterberg's head to the glass at Bridgestone Arena.

Let's go to the videotape, so to speak.




No question about this one, kids. Even in the playoffs, and even if Zetterberg is healthy enough to play

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2012 NHL Playoff Predictions

You'll see my picks round by round at SBNation, and the round one picks you see below will be there later Wednesday.

In the meantime, here is my look at the opening round, followed by one person's stab at the rest of the playoffs.

I was going to let my son post his picks on here, but he's just picking Detroit. No drama there.

WESTERN
FIRST ROUNDLos Angeles vs. VancouverIf I were a Canucks fan,

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Bobby Petrino Gone, Showing Integrity Matters SOMEWHERE in College Football

Ever since the news broke Tuesday night that Bobby Petrino was out as the football coach at Arkansas, I've been battling a couple different reactions.

Frankly, I don't like the idea that Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long should be commended for doing the right thing here, even though the school obviously did just that.

It's not that I disagree. Long clearly didn't want to fire Petrino, but

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Random Rabble: April 10

The idea of crooked coaches with screwed-up ideas of what constitutes discipline and leadership isn't really new to college sports, but the last few days have been another hit to the overall reputation of the profession.

It started early last week, when Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino was in a motorcycle accident that landed him in the hospital with (thankfully) non-life threatening

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One Year Ago ...

It's April 9.

Happy anniversary, UMD fans.




You didn't forget the anniversary, did you?

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Jack Connolly's Hobey Journey Ends Today

Duluth may swell with pride late Friday afternoon, as the 2012 Hobey Baker Award presentation takes place at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

It's there that UMD senior center and team captain Jack Connolly will vie for the school's record-setting fifth Hobey award.

Connolly will already have his third All-American honor in his pocket, to go along with the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, three

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Jack Connolly Wins Senior CLASS Award

In what we can only hope is the first of two major national college hockey honors coming his way this week, UMD senior center Jack Connolly has won the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

Connolly, a three-time WCHA All-Academic, will likely be named an All-American player for the third straight year Friday.

Here is the press release on the Senior CLASS Award:


Minnesota Duluth All-American Jack

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Gregg Williams Speech Should End Saints Appeal of Bounty Bans

Thursday, the NFL is scheduled to hear appeals by the New Orleans Saints, general manager Mickey Loomis, assistant coach Joe Vitt, and head coach Sean Payton of their respective punishments from the bounty scandal that's been all the rage. The Saints took a fine and lost two draft picks. Loomis was suspended for half the upcoming season. Vitt got a six-game ban. Payton was suspended for a year.

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Random Rabble: April 4

The NCAA Frozen Four starts Thursday in Tampa, and apparently ticket sales haven't been as brisk as in the past. The NCAA announced Tuesday that single-session tickets would be available for the event. All-session passes were in the neighborhood of $200, with single-session tickets priced at $110.

Does this sound absolutely insane to anyone else? This isn't St. Paul, where you can turn on the

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Troy Jutting Out At Minnesota State

Minnesota State made the first coaching change of the men's college hockey offseason Sunday, announcing that Troy Jutting will be reassigned within the athletic department. Jutting spent 26 years at Minnesota State, including four as a player, a decade as an assistant coach, and then 12 years as head coach. I may not have approved of the physical play I saw from many of his teams, but Jutting

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Jack Connolly Makes Hobey Hat Trick

For the first time since 2004, a UMD player is in the Hobey Hat Trick.

The award's selection committee has spoken, and a list of ten finalists has been trimmed to three for next Friday's award ceremony in Tampa.


The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation on Thursday announced the three Hobey Hat Trick finalists for the 2012 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, honoring college hockey’s top player. 

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Random Rabble: March 29

The Montreal Canadiens did the expected Thursday morning, firing general manager Pierre Gauthier. This has been a disastrous season for the Canadiens, who are last in the Eastern Conference and have already made waves by firing an assistant coach a couple hours before a game, firing the head coach on a game day, and hiring a non-French speaking coach to finish the season. Gauthier's reign being

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JT Brown Signs With Tampa Bay

You've probably heard, but congratulations to UMD sophomore forward JT Brown, who inked a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday.

Here is the official announcement from the club.


The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward J.T. Brown to a two-year contract that runs through the 2012-13 season, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced today.“We are pleased to

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Game 41: UMD vs. Boston College (NCAA Northeast Regional Championship)

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Hoping for better technology around me for this game. Fingers crossed.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Basaraba - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - BrownFlaherty - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto - Smith
Olson - McManus

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron)

BC
Almeida - Arnold - Whitney
Kreider - Hayes - Straight
Gaudreau - Mullane - Carey
Smith -

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Sunday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Survives, Advances, Must Start Better

WORCESTER, Mass. -- For the ninth time this year, UMD allowed the first goal in a game and won anyway.

In this case, the timing was pretty good.

After falling behind 2-0, UMD used a huge power play goal and a funky bounce to gain momentum, and then never looked back, beating Maine 5-2 in the Northeast Regional semifinals Saturday night.

Maine took a 2-0 lead on a very strange play that I'll

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Game 40: UMD vs. Maine (NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinal)

WORCESTER, Mass. -- You're going to have to bear with us if you're looking for online updates without listening to the broadcast. I'll update at twitter.com/BruceCiskie as much as I can, but the wireless in this building is pretty awful. It will be hard to use TweetDeck as I usually do.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Now, You See Why I Give Everyone A Shot

WORCESTER, Mass. -- I get crap every year, it seems, for not wanting to make any predictions on the NCAA Tournament.

Now you see why.

16 teams make this tournament. Any damn one of them could hoist the trophy in Tampa, and they all have a shot until someone eliminates them.

It sounds like cliche-ish coach speak, and it might be, but it's also absolutely, positively true. 100 percent true.

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NCAA Northeast Regional: Spencer Abbott a Game Time Decision

WORCESTER, Mass. -- As soon as I heard what happened to Maine senior forward Spencer Abbott -- a Hobey Baker finalist -- I knew this was going to be a story throughout the week.

Abbott sustained a head injury during the Black Bears' 5-3 win over Boston University in last week's Hockey East semifinals in Boston. He has not practiced much this week, but did skate without taking contact during

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NCAA Northeast Regional: Where Experience Could Matter

WORCESTER, Mass. -- I've danced this dance enough to know what the typical refrain is when it comes to the NCAA Tournament and the topic of experience.

Teams that don't have it talk about how it's not that big a deal. Teams that have it talk about how it is absolutely a big deal.

I've always been on the fence. Yeah, it's nice to have NCAA Tournament experience, but it doesn't grow on trees. It

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NCAA Northeast Regional Notes and Quotes: UMD vs Maine

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The practice sessions have wrapped up at DCU Center, as have the press conferences for each team involved in Saturday's Northeast Regional games, which begin at 4pm Eastern time.

UMD battles Maine at 7:30 Eastern in the second game. Here are some thoughts, starting with Maine.

Maine coach Tim Whitehead on the health of senior and Hobey Baker finalist Spencer Abbott:

"We

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NCAA Northeast Regional Notes and Quotes: Boston College vs. Air Force

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Greetings from the underbelly of the DCU Center in Worcester. I like the media working area in the basement, and the rink is wonderfully accessible.

The press box doesn't exist. It's a table set over some chairs, with chairs behind it. If this were a WCHA building, it would be the 12th- or 13th-best press box in the league, possibly ahead of Alaska Anchorage.

Doesn't say

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NCAA Tournament Underway

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Greetings from downtown Worcester, which bears a resemblance to downtown Bridgeport. Very industrial, and not a whole lot going on around our hotel.

UMD arrived via charter flight at around 9 Eastern time Thursday evening. The Bulldogs arrived at the hotel a little after 10, once they dropped their gear off at the DCU Center.

All four teams in the Northeast Regional practice

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UMD Game Will Air on Fox Sports North

For those who haven't heard, UMD's game Saturday in Worcester against Maine will air on Fox Sports North's Plus channel.

Game time is at 6:30pm, and it will air following the conclusion of the Minnesota-Boston University game in the West Regional, which starts at 4pm. The full broadcast will air live on ESPN3.com, regardless of when FSN Plus is able to join the game.

You can find out where you

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Random Rabble: March 19

Where Bruce rambles about topics that interest him but have nothing to do with college hockey.

Haven't done anything like this in a while, so here goes.

The NCAA Tournament is remarkably low on Cinderellas this year. Yeah, there are some double-digit seeds still alive for the round of 16, but it's hard to look at North Carolina State as a Cinderella. They do play in the ACC, after all. Ohio is

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NCAA Tournament Brackets Out; UMD to Worcester Saturday

Here are the pairings for the 2012 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, which begins with regional play at two sites Friday. UMD has been placed in the Northeast Regional, a Saturday/Sunday regional that includes No. 1 overall seed Boston College.

All times are Central.

EAST REGIONAL (Bridgeport, CT)
Friday
No. 1 Union vs. No. 4 Michigan State, 2pm
No. 2 Miami vs. No. 3 UMass-Lowell, 5:30pm

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Game 39: UMD vs. Denver (WCHA Final Five)

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here we go from the Mecca of Minnesota hockey. The last time UMD played in this building ...

Well, you know.

Time for an afternoon affair with Denver. UMD seeks a bit of redemption after going one-and-done in this tournament last year.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

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WCHA Final Five Should Have Crazy Friday

Before I make my way down I-35 for the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five, here are a few quick thoughts on what's happened and what is to come.

Michigan Tech gave Denver all it could handle, largely thanks to goalie Josh Robinson. You might not see a better goaltending performance all weekend. He was in good position, saw the puck well, and was aggressively challenging all afternoon. That Denver

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WCHA Final Five Previews

Instead of writing completely separate previews on all the Final Five teams here, I partnered with my pals at Hockey Wilderness (SB Nation), and I wrote team previews for them.

Here are links to all the pieces, along with one more look at the tournament schedule.

PREVIEWS
1. Minnesota
2. UMD
3. Denver
4. North Dakota
5. St. Cloud State
6. Michigan Tech

SCHEDULE
Thursday
Denver vs. Michigan

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UMD Readies for Final Five Test

Some of what you're seeing here is similar to last year, when UMD made the trek to St. Paul knowing it had an NCAA Tournament bid locked down.

Armed with that knowledge last year, UMD laid a bit of an egg at the Final Five, losing to Bemidji State 3-2 in overtime in the quarterfinals. We all know what happened from there.




And, yes, that was an excuse to embed this video again. Enjoy.

This

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ESPN Announces College Hockey Tournament Coverage Plans

I'll present the ESPN information to you, largely because I know many of you are interested in watching the NCAA Tournament, and because a lot of you won't be traveling to regionals or the Frozen Four, even if UMD is involved.

This came from the Worldwide Leader in Sports Other Than Hockey on Wednesday.


For the eighth consecutive year, ESPN will present every glass-crushing moment of the 2012

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Jason Garrison Makes History

It's been a hell of a year for Florida defenseman and former UMD Bulldog Jason Garrison. He spent much of the season leading NHL defensemen in goals, and he made some history Tuesday night in Sunrise. During Florida's 5-2 win over Toronto, Garrison tallied his 15th goal of the season, tying a Panthers franchise record held by Jay Bouwmeester and Brian McCabe.









The goal comes at around the

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WCHA Final Five Set

Thanks to Denver's 3-2 overtime win over Wisconsin Sunday night, the field of six is finally set for the WCHA Final Five, which starts Thursday in St. Paul.

Luke Salazar's wrap-around at 1:40 of overtime pushed the Pioneers into the field, and likely locked DU into the NCAA Tournament, meaning the WCHA will get four teams -- and maybe five -- into the tournament.

Here is the Final Five schedule

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Game 38: Minnesota State at UMD (WCHA Playoffs Game Two)

Here we go with the second game.

There better not be a third.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto - Smith
Olson - Kishel

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron) - Gaffy

MSU
Dorr - Louwerse - Gaede
Lafontaine - Leitner - Hayes
Mueller - Schiller - McInnis
Burkemper - Zuck - Jokinen

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Work to Do, But UMD Starts Playoffs Strong

Friday night was a pretty good example of playoff hockey, not only in Duluth but many other WCHA venues.

Games were tight on the scoreboard. Many of the games were "loosely" officiated, meaning the standard for a penalty was blatantly obvious (too many men) or flagrant (foul from behind on a breakaway).

In Duluth, only three minor penalties were served, and a fourth was called that led to a

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Game 37: Minnesota State at UMD (WCHA Playoffs Game One)

Blah.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto - Smith
Olson - Kishel

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron) - Gaffy

MSU
Dorr - Louwerse - Gaede
Lafontaine - Leitner - Hayes
Mueller - Schiller - McInnis
Burkemper - Zuck - Jokinen

Elbrecht - Nelson
Palmquist - Stern
Cooper - Mosey

Lee -

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UMD Ready to Crank It Up Again

The ultimate prize has yet to be decided, by any stretch. That doesn't happen until April 7, when two teams will collide in Tampa for the right to spend the year known as the national champions.

However, the drive to Tampa is underway in college hockey, as the five Division I leagues hold their postseason tournaments. On the line? Automatic bids to the NCAAs for tournament champions, but there

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Jack Connolly Named WCHA Player of the Year; Other League Honors

As usual, I present the WCHA press release announcing the league honors without commentary or snark. Just the facts, ma'am/sir.


A pair of seniors have earned two of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s most prestigious individual awards as announced today (March 8), with forward Jack Connolly of the University of Minnesota Duluth being named WCHA Player of the Year for 2011-12 and Brad

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WCHA Road Warriors Seek Upsets

For six WCHA teams, the chance to be at home for the first round of the WCHA playoffs this weekend certainly presents a tremendous opportunity. Of course, that's not to discount road teams.

Road teams have been traditionally competitive, if not successful, in these opening-round series. In fact, in the last six years, only once (2010) have the home teams swept through the first round unscathed.

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Justin Faulk Wins One For Carolina

There was some chatter on Twitter a few weeks ago about former UMD defenseman Justin Faulk being a candidate for the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL's top rookie.

I chuckled a bit, and didn't take it all that seriously.

Now, I am.

Faulk continues to play big minutes, and his contributions are increasing virtually every time I look. Tuesday night, he scored the overtime winner for the

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2012 All-WCHA Ballot

Geez, this is difficult. I mean, there are always hard decisions, but this year seemed more difficult than most.

I tried to flesh out some of the award candidates this week, but in some cases, I made the picture cloudier for myself.

After a couple hours spent Saturday looking at the ballot, moving people around, and complaining about the decisions on Twitter, I've filled out a complete ballot.

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Game 36: UMD at St. Cloud State

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Final game of the regular season, and no matter what ends up being on the line for UMD, a win sure as hell would be nice.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto - Smith
Olson - McManus

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron)

SCSU
Hanowski - Novak - Rabey
Festler -

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Blows Another Chance

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- It wasn't long after Friday's game here started before those of us in the press box were well aware of the opportunity presented to UMD.

Wisconsin scored once in the first period, then added three in a stunning second period, on its way to a 4-1 win over Minnesota at Mariucci Arena. That Minnesota loss swung the door wide open for UMD to get in position for the WCHA regular

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Game 35: UMD at St. Cloud State

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- After an absence of 860 days during which UMD has played at least four games in every other WCHA building, the Bulldogs are finally back in St. Cloud.

It's as we left it, which is a big part of why the school is undertaking a huge project to remake the arena. You'll hear more on that from head coach Bob Motzko during the first intermission of the game broadcast.

For now,

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UMD Heads to Unfamiliar Territory

It's been 860 days.

The last time UMD made a trip to St. Cloud, Trent Palm and Mike Montgomery were the top defensive pairing, Brady Hjelle was the starting goalie, and the programs had a rather healthy rivalry, much of which was left over from the 2007 WCHA playoffs.

(That year, UMD won the opener of a best-of-three series in St. Cloud, then lost consecutive overtime games, including a

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WCHA Awards: First Team Forwards

While a couple individual award races in the WCHA should prove to be interesting, I wanted to take a little bit to focus on what should be a fun little problem for voters, and that's the fact that only three forwards can make the All-WCHA first team.

In all honesty, this could be the toughest decision I've had to make in seven years of calling games. In most years, you have a slam-dunk couple of

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WCHA Awards: Coach of the Year

Monday, I ran down the three players I think are the top candidates for WCHA Rookie of the Year.

Now, it's time to look at the race for top coach. Like Rookie of the Year, the Coach of the Year award is a simple vote for the participating media and other panelists. There isn't a first team, second team, and third team. Just one name.

Like Rookie of the Year, there might be a clear-cut choice

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WCHA Awards: Rookie of the Year

When I arrive at the National Hockey Center Friday night, there will be some paperwork waiting for me. It's going to be time for the WCHA awards ballot, and there will be some deliberating going on, at least for me.

Throughout the week, I'm going to take some time to look at what I think are the most intriguing races, presenting arguments for and against some of the top candidates for various

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Game 34: Colorado College at UMD

Senior night at Amsoil Arena, and UMD is looking for a crucial two points against a good and probably pretty desperate Colorado College team.

Can't afford any letdowns like what we saw -- however brief -- on Friday.

Lines?

Lines.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto -

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Welcome Back, JT Brown

JT Brown's first shift Friday night ended with a shot on goal.

So did his last.

In between, you could see why UMD so badly missed the sophomore winger, even though it got three points out of its one series without him, last weekend against Minnesota State. Brown led UMD with nine shots on goal, was a factor all over the ice, and ended up scoring the game-winner in overtime to give the Bulldogs

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Game 33: Colorado College at UMD

Yes, JT Brown is back.

Let's line 'em up.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Basaraba - Hendrickson - Grun
Crandall (Justin) - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto - Smith
Olson - Johnson

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron) - Gaffy

CC
Schwartz (Jaden) - Schwartz (Rylan) - Rapuzzi
Krushelnyski - Dineen - Winkler
Skalbeck - Civitarese - Collett
Wamsganz - Hall -

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UMD Stretch Run Includes Drive for MacNaughton Cup

As freshmen, UMD's current senior class was a part of the team that won three games in three days to earn the WCHA Final Five title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs won the Broadmoor Trophy.

(Yes, I know Cody Danberg was a sophomore on that team. But you get the point.)

As juniors, this group celebrated the first NCAA title in program history, thanks to a 3-2 overtime

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UMD Salutes Successful Seniors

Seems like only yesterday that this senior class started up at UMD. For five of the seven Bulldog seniors, that would be four years ago (Kenny Reiter and Cody Danberg are fifth-year seniors).

As the team prepares for its home finale this weekend -- a two-game series against Colorado College -- there should be plenty of emotions on Saturday night, which will be the annual Senior Night. During the

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UMD Students Apologize for Obviously Offensive Chants

The UMD student section is pretty cool. The kids have fun, they're very loud when they are in unison on a topic, and it's a big part of Amsoil Arena's top-notch atmosphere.

(Don't believe me? Attend a home game when the bulk of the students are on break, and then attend one when they're all there.)

The section drew some heat this week, after the text of a letter from UMD athletic director Bob

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Justin Faulk's First NHL Fight

Former UMD defenseman Justin Faulk is seeing some serious success in his first professional season. The 19-year-old is being talked about as a Calder Trophy candidate, and he continues to get better virtually every time he plays.

Monday night, Faulk scored the first goal in a 5-0 pasting by his Carolina Hurricanes of division rival Washington. As the score swelled, and the Capitals became

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Paul Kelly Out, Some Guy Eventually In at College Hockey, Inc.

When College Hockey, Inc., started in 2009, I was optimistic. It seemed like a good idea by the commissioners of the Division I leagues to consolidate under one banner for the expressed purpose of promoting college hockey.

It wasn't a short-term deal. This is a long-term project in every way. It's about educating young teenagers on the importance of keeping the options open. Make sure they don't

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Game 32: UMD at Minnesota State

MANKATO, Minn. -- With a win Saturday, UMD will clinch home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs for the third straight year.

Couple changes for UMD, including in goal, where Kenny Reiter has sent his virus packing and will start Saturday's game. Austin Lee will go for Minnesota State in goal.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Flaherty - Connolly - Seidel
Herbert - Oleksuk - Basaraba
Krause -

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UMD Seeing Lots of Shepherds

MANKATO, Minn. -- Oh, the things you do when you're bored. After walking around downtown Mankato, I fielded a call from a friend, and was immediately inspired to start doing some counting.

For UMD's series against Minnesota State, the assigned referees are Brad Shepherd and Todd Anderson. While it should be noted that I don't know either individual and certainly have nothing personally against

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Keeps it Simple

MANKATO, Minn. -- For the UMD Bulldogs, Saturday's win over North Dakota wasn't necessarily a shining example of how to play a third period with a lead.

Friday did the trick, however.

Travis Oleksuk scored two second-period goals, including a back-breaking tally with 0.8 seconds left in the period, as UMD beat Minnesota State here 4-2 Friday night.

The Bulldogs displayed a suffocating

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Game 31: UMD at Minnesota State

MANKATO, Minn. -- Greetings from Mankato. Duluth News Tribune reporter Kevin Pates -- seeing his fifth road game this season -- handled our driving duties, and did a splendid job until we got into the parking ramp near the Verizon Wireless Center, which is connected to our hotel.

And, as usual, even that worked out in the end.

(Long story short: We ended up going through the entrance gate to

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Desperately Seeking Consistency

With six games left in the regular season, UMD is looking for something that remotely resembles the consistency that helped it to such a long unbeaten streak.

The Bulldogs found some of what was lost on Saturday, when a strong power play and solid third-period goaltending led UMD to a 5-4 win over North Dakota. It was an exciting game, and UMD's best players stepped up when needed most. Jack

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High School Hockey Playoff Schedule

Here is the schedule for all three Northeastern Minnesota-esque boys' high school hockey sections.

SECTION 7AASaturday, February 18
9 St. Francis at 8 Cambridge, 7pm

Tuesday, February 21
 St. Francis/Cambridge winner at 1 Duluth East, Heritage Center, 7pm
5 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton at 4 Elk River, 7pm
6 Forest Lake at 3 Grand Rapids, 7pm
7 St. Michael-Albertville at 2 Andover, 7pm

Saturday,

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WIAC Schools Leaving NCHA

Big news out of local Division III hockey Wednesday, as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference announced its five hockey-playing member schools will leave the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association after the 2013-14 season.

In an emailed statement, WIAC commissioner Gary Karner says the move was announced now so the remaining NCHA teams -- only Duluth-based St. Scholastica and St.

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J.T. Brown Out This Weekend

UMD sophomore forward J.T. Brown will miss this weekend's series against Minnesota State. Brown suffered an upper-body injury Saturday, and there is no set timetable for his return.

Brown was injured during a UMD power play late in the first period. Multiple sources indicate he was slashed by a UND player. He came off the ice in some discomfort during a four-on-three advantage, and was replaced

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Chiming in on Kyle Rau's Hit

I would have written about this over the weekend, but hockey parenting duties had me away from the computer. Would leave it alone, but I feel compelled to throw out my $.02.

Friday night in Denver, Minnesota freshman Kyle Rau was guilty of a late and high hit on Denver sophomore forward and Wild draft pick Jason Zucker.




Rau was given a five minute major and a game misconduct, which left him

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Game 30: North Dakota at UMD

Work smarter, not harder.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Flaherty - Hendrickson - Grun
DeLisle - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Casto - Smith
Olson - Johnson

Reiter - Crandall - Gaffy

UND
Nelson - Knight - Kristo
MacMillan - Rowney - Parks
Pattyn - Lamoureux - Gaarder
Senkbeil - Gleason - Dickin

Forbort - Blood
MacWilliam - Mattson
Simpson -

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Game 29: North Dakota at UMD

There are already a lot of people in this press box. Must be a national TV game or something.

UMD tries in this game to get its first non-overtime home win over North Dakota since the 2008-2009 season (3-1 at the DECC).

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Flaherty - Hendrickson - Grun
DeLisle - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Kishel - Casto
Olson - Smith

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Amsoil Arena Ready for Spotlight; Bulldogs Better Be Ready for Sioux

North Dakota. UND. The Fighting Sioux. As someone said this week, the Fighting Who (thought that one was funny).

No matter the name, it's shaping up to be a hell of a weekend at Amsoil Arena. The new building makes its national television debut Friday, as CBS Sports Network broadcasts the series opener. The crew of Ben Holden, Dave Starman, and Shireen Saski took in practices on Thursday, and

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UMD Honors Its Past

The Hobey Baker Award was first given out in 1981.

Over that time, the UMD Bulldogs have produced four Hobey winners, a number not surpassed by any other school in the country. UMD might not have nine national championships, but the school sure has a pretty good track record of producing big-time players.

The four Hobey winners -- Tom Kurvers, Bill Watson, Chris Marinucci, and Junior Lessard --

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Gearing Up For High School Playoffs

The boys' high school hockey season is winding down. Most Minnesota teams have two to four games left on their schedules, which will wrap up by next weekend at the latest.

There are three sections that feature area teams, and there's a good chance we'll have three area teams in the state tournament. However, there's a lot to decide before we get to that point, and things tend to change.

Section

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Game 28: UMD at Alaska-Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Couple tweaks to UMD's lines for the series finale, as the Bulldogs look for their first sweep here since 1996. Justin Crandall is scratched, and the top two lines look like they did before the Tech debacling last week.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Flaherty - Hendrickson - Grun
DeLisle - Tardy - Krause

Bergman - Lamb
Kishel -

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Shows Improvement in Win

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Before Friday's game, UMD head coach Scott Sandelin identified four areas he wanted to see his team improve in.

He noted that "battle level" was atop the list. The others -- execution, defensive zone play, and special teams -- partially relied on the first in order to see the necessary improvement.

Alaska Anchorage would be a great test for UMD's battle level. The Seawolves

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Game 27: UMD at Alaska Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Ready for a little late night hockey?

Well, late for most (all?) of you.

Here we go from Anchorage with the series opener.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Herbert
Basaraba - Oleksuk - Brown
Crandall (Justin) - Hendrickson - Flaherty
Krause - Tardy - Grun

Bergman - Lamb
Kishel - Casto
Olson - Johnson

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron)

UAA
Pustin - Gellert - Crowell

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WCHA Needs to Step Up When It Comes to Illegal Hits

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In the wake of the hit that left Benilde-St. Margaret's hockey player Jack Jablonski paralyzed, hockey organizations started to look long and hard at the way they were policing the game.

Two prominent Minnesota groups -- the Minnesota State High School League and Minnesota Hockey -- quickly announced stiffer penalties for hits from behind and boarding fouls, along with

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UMD Prepares for Desperate UAA

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Expectations were much higher than this.

Our good friend Jess Myers picked Alaska-Anchorage to earn a home ice position for the first round of the WCHA playoffs, something that hasn't happened once during UAA's time in the league.

I thought last year's finish was a real stretch in the right direction for UAA, one that could lead to bigger and better things this season. UAA

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Clock Issue Leads to NHL Controversy

Greetings from Anchorage. UMD-UAA coverage is on the way, with all of the usual stuff -- a preview piece, lines before both games, the ever-unpopular Saturday notes column, and more. In the meantime, check out what happened in Los Angeles Wednesday night.

Drew Doughty's goal in the final second gave the Kings a win over Columbus. At first glance, it appeared to be an incredible finish to a game

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NCHC Inks Deal With CBS Sports Network

As expected for some time, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference -- which launches in 2013 and includes UMD -- has signed a multi-year deal with CBS Sports Network.

The press release is below.


CBS Sports Network has agreed to a multi-year agreement with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, beginning in the 2013-14 season. CBS Sports Network will be the exclusive national

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Mike Montgomery Involved in ECHL Line Brawl

Former UMD defenseman Mike Montgomery -- the captain of last season's national championship team -- has bounced between the ECHL and AHL this season. His time in the ECHL has been spent with the Ontario (Calif.) Reign, while he's had a couple cups of coffee in the AHL, including with the Wild affiliate in Houston.

Saturday night, Montgomery was involved in a line brawl that has gone viral on the

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UMD Back to Work

After a weekend that shocked many and was deemed unacceptable by most around the program, the UMD men's hockey team is back to work Monday in preparation for a weekend set against Alaska-Anchorage.

Saturday's 5-0 loss to Michigan Tech was UMD's first home loss since Oct. 15 to Minnesota, and the first time it had been shut out in a league game in over 100 games.

(Shutout losses to North Dakota

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Game 26: Michigan Tech at UMD

No time for chit chat. Sorry.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Herbert
Crandall (Justin) - Oleksuk - Brown
Flaherty - Hendrickson - Basaraba
Krause - Tardy - Grun

Bergman - Lamb
Kishel - Casto
Olson - Smith

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron) - Gaffy

MTU
Pietila (Blake) - Olson - Baker
Johnston (David) - Johnstone (Jacob) - MacLeod
Furne - Kero - Gordic
Reddick - Rix - Pietila (Chad)

Stebner -

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Now THAT'S a Bad Point

When UMD rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to earn a 3-3 tie at Denver in November, it was deemed a good point by everyone on the UMD side.

When UMD rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to earn a 3-3 tie at Wisconsin in December, it was deemed a good point by everyone on the UMD side.

They were right.

Along the way, I got a couple questions from people asking what would constitute a "bad point,"

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Game 25: Michigan Tech at UMD

Roads around these parts are a tad greasy, so be cautious on your way to the rink. Arrive early if you can, because if this game isn't sold out already, it will at least end up being close.

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Crandall (Justin) - Hendrickson - Grun
DeLisle - Tardy - Flaherty

Bergman - Lamb
Kishel - Casto
Olson - McManus

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron) -

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UMD Wants To Go Streaking Again

Two weeks ago, UMD experienced the unfamiliar feeling of a loss. The Bulldogs hadn't lost in 18 games, and it doesn't sound like they enjoyed the feeling very much.

"It was pretty special," sophomore forward Joe Basaraba said of the streak. "We can't sit back now that we've started a new one. We got two here, we're looking for number three on Friday night."

I've mentioned this before, but the

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Jack Connolly Marches Toward History

Jack Connolly's season goes beyond his Hobey Baker candidacy, his point streak, his exemplary work as UMD's captain, or his march up UMD's all-time scoring list.

The UMD senior center had four points last weekend -- including three on Saturday -- in a non-conference sweep of Alabama-Huntsville. That lifted Connolly into sole possession of 12th place on UMD's all-time list with 177 points. It

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Jason Garrison Leads Successful Group of UMD Alumni in NHL

One of the prices you pay for success in college hockey is the risk of losing star players early to professional hockey. Sometimes, even losing teams can have players coveted by the pros.Defenseman Jason Garrison played at UMD from 2005-2008, flashing his big slapshot at times and developing his game enough that he got noticed by pro scouts. Garrison signed as a free agent with the Florida

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Dom Toninato Commits as UMD Makes Recruiting Noise

Within a couple days of UMD winning the NCAA title last April, I had already grown tired of people -- both in and out of the Twin Ports area -- asking if the championship would make a difference in UMD's recruiting.

After all, the Bulldogs had already secured the services of players like forwards Tony Camaranesi and Kyle Osterberg, defenseman Andy Welinski, and goalie Matt McNeely, and while I

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Brendan Shanahan's Biggest Challenge So Far: Suspend Alex Ovechkin?

Since taking over as the NHL's dean of discipline, there have been a lot of tough decisions for Brendan Shanahan and his group in the Department of Player Safety.

Outside of dropping the ball a couple times -- most notably involving hits on Minnesota Wild players -- Shanahan and his people have done a pretty good job.

But Shanahan's biggest challenge comes Monday, when he has a hearing with

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Game 24: Alabama-Huntsville at UMD

Unhappy with most of his team's Friday night effort, UMD coach Scott Sandelin is looking for more in Saturday's series finale.

Alabama-Huntsville kept UMD largely in check Friday night, and the Bulldogs seemed to struggle more as the game went on.

We'll see how this one goes, with some changes for UMD.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Crandall (Justin

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UAH Future Looking Better

It's been a hell of a few months for second-year head coach Chris Luongo and Alabama-Huntsville. Faced with plenty of gloom and doom surrounding his independent program already, the Chargers players found out early in the season that this would be their last season as a varsity program.

Many in the community and among UAH's alumni protested, and Luongo was recently made aware of his team's

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Game 23: Alabama-Huntsville at UMD

Good news. I didn't get lost on the way in here.

Now let's pack this place and make it loud ... like home.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Crandall (Justin) - Hendrickson - Grun
DeLisle - Tardy - Flaherty

Bergman - Lamb
Kishel - Casto
Olson - Smith

Reiter - Crandall (Aaron) - Gaffy

UAH
Roy - Csester - Lysaght
Geoffrion (Sebastian) - Easton - Kotlarz

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Bulldogs Back Home Again

After nine weeks, it's nice to have a home game to look forward to again.

UMD is back at Amsoil Arena to host Alabama-Huntsville in a two-game series. The Chargers aren't having a good year -- 2-22-1 playing an independent schedule that includes just ten home games out of 31 total -- but they are coming off a weekend split at Denver Jan. 6-7, a split that came after it was announced the

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North Dakota, Gophers Misbehave Again; Announcer Off the Rails, Coach Angry

Outside of Danny Kristo's hit from behind, last Friday's North Dakota-Minnesota game was relatively tame. Just two rivals playing a hard, physical game that ended on a third-period goal by Brock Nelson.

Saturday was more of the same, for the most part. Minnesota defenseman Mark Alt was sent off for a hit from behind, but otherwise, the game stayed clean until the clock was at zeroes.




Here is

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Blais Comments on Zombo Suspension

On Tuesday, the WCHA shocked some -- namely me -- by suspending Nebraska Omaha freshman forward Dominic Zombo one game for a kneeing incident during Saturday's game against UMD.

If you were listening to our broadcast, or you follow me on Twitter, you know how upset I was by the hit. Zombo clearly was guilty of a blatant knee-on-knee hit on JT Brown, a hit that probably should have been a

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Packers Post-Mortem: Plenty of Blame to Go Around

Yes, we know. The Packers lost.

It was glorious, assuming you're not a fan of the Packers. And I don't blame you one bit for thinking it was glorious. Packer fans can be an insufferable bunch, especially when their favorite team looks like it's going to repeat.

The team isn't going to repeat now. A virtual no-show against the New York Giants Sunday made that a certainty.

(GIVE CREDIT TO THE

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Game 22: UMD at Nebraska Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. -- After Friday's sellout promotion, the crowd doesn't look to be as big for Saturday's finale. There are large pieces of tarp over a large part of the seating in the higher reaches of this facility. If the rest of the seats are filled, you're probably looking at a crowd in the neighborhood of 11,000 at the most.

UMD tries to run its unbeaten streak to 18, and improve to 13-0-3 away

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Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: The Train Keeps A Rolling

OMAHA, Neb. -- For the UMD men's hockey team, it's unquestionably been an awesome ride.

J.T. Brown made sure it continued.

The sophomore's career night Friday helped UMD past Nebraska Omaha 6-2 in front of over 16,000 paid customers, a record crowd for this program. It was a monumental night for UNO hockey, but the Bulldogs did their thing and ruined it.

UMD used a four-goal third period to

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Game 21: UMD at Nebraska Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. -- Only standing room and single seats remain for this Friday night tilt. UMD and Nebraska Omaha should have an awesome atmosphere to play in front of, and they are the kind of teams that can produce an awesome game in that environment.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Seidel - Connolly - Basaraba
Herbert - Oleksuk - Brown
Crandall (Justin) - Hendrickson - Grun
DeLisle - Tardy - Flaherty

Bergman

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UMD Stays Humble Through Streak, Ready for Test From UNO

OMAHA, Neb. -- It's almost getting to the point where UMD's next loss can be greeted by a table talking about what the price of gas was the last time UMD lost, or how much it cost to buy a gallon of milk.That's somewhat sarcastic, but Oct. 15 was a long time ago. After all, we had no idea the Wild would be good.(Wait, we still don't really know. Carry on.)The 16-game unbeaten streak is something

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Mike Smith's Save on Marian Gaborik

You.

Need.

To.

See.

This.




Incredible save by Smith. Big spot, too.

And, yes, I'm accounting for the fact the Rangers got the two points anyway.

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Central Scouting Releases Mid-Term Rankings, Including UMD Recruits

NHL Central Scouting released its mid-term rankings Wednesday morning. A number of players with local ties -- including some UMD recruits -- are included.

North American skaters are here. Follow the links to check out the other lists.

UMD recruits on the list are as follows:
100. Austyn Young, F, Sioux Falls (USHL)
139. Adam Johnson, F, Hibbing
187. Austin Farley, F, Fargo (USHL)
34 (goalies).

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