Tigers Need to Feel Pain

It's hard to complain about a weekend that sees you split a road series in a tough venue, but there weren't many people happy with UMD's performance in Colorado Springs.

Yes, they gutted out a huge win on Friday, but they lost their cool and took some undisciplined penalties in a 6-2 loss to Colorado College in the Saturday game of that series.

Now, a Tigers team branded as "chirpers" by many in attendance in Colorado has to visit the DECC, a rink where they'll find fewer places to hide than there are on the big ice in Colorado Springs.

What will happen? Is Colorado College going to get behind their captain -- Mike Testwuide (pictured) -- and put up the kind of gritty effort required to get points at the DECC? Or will they get frustrated and knocked off their high-tempo game?

It seems like the classic matchup. UMD knows how to play in-your-face hockey in their rink. They know they can take away time and space effectively, and they can -- at the same time -- create room for their big playmakers to strut their stuff.

It's worked this way all season. Teams like North Dakota and Denver have tried to silence Justin Fontaine, Rob Bordson, and the Connollies (Jack and Mike), only to find them too hard to contain for 120 minutes.

Even if you keep them off the scoreboard, they wear you down with their puck possession and cycling ability. Once you're worn down, you've opened up for shots from UMD's secondary scorers (Travis Oleksuk, Kyle Schmidt, and Drew Akins come to mind), and the top line will hit you eventually.

Colorado College is dangerous, too, especially on the power play. That's where they burn you for trying too hard to play physical hockey. However, the Tigers have slumped a bit offensively as of late, putting more of a burden on freshman goaltender Joe Howe. He's been good, but he can't hold up forever.

UMD would be wise to hit everything that moves on Friday. Take their skill guys -- Bill Sweatt, Stephen Schultz, Rylan Schwartz, William Rapuzzi, and company -- off their game a bit. Don't cross the line, obviously, but make sure they know they won't get time and space to freewheel. Make them use the whole ice, and take advantage of your ability to more easily clog passing lanes while killing penalties.

The Bulldogs are going to need better goaltending than they got Sunday. UMD coughed up five goals on 23 shots, and neither Brady Hjelle nor Kenny Reiter looked terribly sharp. Reiter starts Friday, and he needs to be like he was against Mercyhurst. Hopefully, he won't be hung out to dry nearly as often.

With the Bulldogs just two points back of second-place Colorado College, and both teams within striking distance of league leader Denver, the weekend should be very interesting. The march to St. Paul is on in full force.

FSN Blows Away 'High School Hockey Night' Schedule

A few years back, Fox Sports North started up a pretty cool program called High School Hockey Night. It was a chance for the network to show local teams and highlight the tradition of the sport in Minnesota.

The broadcasts were generally well-done, and fans seemed to enjoy them.

Unfortunately, it appears advertisers didn't feel the same way. The network announced recently that it is dropping all but a few games from the original broadcast schedule.

“It’s totally financially related from a business standpoint," Mike Dimond, FSN's senior vice president and general manger, said today. "[Ad revenue] wasn’t coming in to the degree that we needed it to. The simplest way to put it is that we’re not a non-profit business, and ultimately I have a responsibility to the bottom line of the company. This time, it just wasn’t making it. The revenues didn’t offset the costs.”

This is bad news for hockey fans around the state, as the work FSN did helped expose people not only to great players, but also great rivalries (the team made the trip to Warroad for a Warroad-Roseau game, and they've also done great rivalries like White Bear Lake/Hill-Murray, Cloquet/Duluth East, and Hermantown/Duluth Marshall).

While it's easy to understand FSN's sentiments, it's odd that they would go through with announcing an ambitious broadcast schedule when they didn't have the revenues coming in to cover the costs of the schedule.

Doing things that way would allow FSN to keep the egg off their face.

That said, I don't think anyone in their right mind would seriously ask FSN to keep doing games if they're losing gobs of money off the deal.

The network will still broadcast Hockey Day Minnesota, which is Jan. 23 and will mainly take place in Hermantown, where there are three high school games scheduled to be played outside.

UND's Kristo Led Now-Famous Song

By now, you've probably heard the song done by members of the gold-medal winning United States World Junior team.

You haven't? Well, I'm here to help.



Purely awesome.

It was led by North Dakota freshman Danny Kristo, a veteran of international play (he's an alum of the Ann Arbor NTDP). Kristo talked to Grand Forks Herald writer Brad Elliott Schlossman, who does a great job covering the Sioux hockey team.

That goes back to when I played on the national team (U.S. Under-17 and 18 teams). Our boxing coach there made up that song. Whenever we had big victories, we sang that song in the locker room. We had a lot of guys from the national team on the (World Junior) team. Before the game, I told the guys that if we win, we’re singing for sure. After we won, someone asked if we were singing tonight and I said you bet we are. It was pretty fun to sing that song one last time. I couldn’t be more happy to win that gold.

Yes, this means the song was somewhat premeditated.

Doesn't change anything, though. It's still awesome, as is what this team was able to accomplish in Saskatoon.

Blogroll

Folks --

I'm looking at updating the blogroll that you see down the left rail of the page. Please advise via comment or e-mail if you know of a good blog or sports site that fits one of the categories and isn't on the list.

Thank you!

Go America

The United States has an opportunity to win a second international hockey gold medal in as many days Tuesday night, as they battle Canada for the World Junior Championships gold in Saskatoon.

The last time Team USA played for World Juniors gold was back in 2004, a game highlighted by a famous gaffe that led to the American victory.



Seven WCHA players are on the Team USA roster. Team Canada has none. If, for some reason, you're having trouble figuring out who to root for, that should help you.

This is a rare chance to cheer for guys like Danny Kristo (North Dakota), Jordan Schroeder (Minnesota), Matt Donovan (Denver), Mike Lee (St. Cloud State), and three guys from Wisconsin (John Ramage, Jake Gardiner, and team captain Derek Stepan). They're all great players who we hope to watch UMD shut down when they meet.

For now, they're part of a great hope for a internationally-recognized hockey upset.

Game 20: UMD at Vermont

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- We're buried in snow, but apparently it won't stop us from getting out of here in the morning.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Tonight is the championship game of the Catamount Cup, a tournament Vermont -- the host -- has only won twice. UMD has won it once before and will try for a second.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Bordson - Oleksuk - Schmidt
Fulton - Akins - Seidel
Danberg - Hendrickson - Flaherty

Olsen - Montgomery
Olson - Lamb
Kishel - Huttel

Hjelle - Reiter

Vermont
Downing - Roloff - Stacey
Vock - Irwin -Milo
Nilsson-Roos - Stalberg - Pacan
Marshall - Higgins - Anctil

Cullity - Miller
Medvec - Lawson
MacKenzie - Franzon

Madore - Spillane - Vazzano

Game 19: UMD vs. Mercyhurst

BURLINGTON, VT. -- The Catamount Cup is set to start, as UMD battles Mercyhurst in under an hour. The Bulldogs are (almost) fully healthy (get well, Trent Palm!), and it should be interesting to see how these teams come out after a long layoff.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Bordson - Oleksuk - Seidel
Fulton - Akins - Schmidt
Danberg - DeLisle - Flaherty

Olsen - Montgomery
Bergman - Lamb
Kishel - Huttel

Reiter - Hjelle

Mercyhurst
Graham - Risi - Collins
Gurtler - Pitt - Chiasson
Coccimiglio - Blakey - Elliott
Echternach - Bremner - Vandenbeld

Noble - Eddy
Terminisi - Fennell
Goebel - Carkin

Zapolski - Strang

By the Way ...

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Just to update folks ...

UMD did arrive rather uneventfully to Burlington for this weekend's Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup tournament. Flights out of Minneapolis and Chicago left virtually on time, and only a few UMD bags failed to arrive safely in Burlington early Friday evening. Something about a full cargo bay or whatever.

Potentially more worrisome for us is an impending snowstorm that could last into Monday morning. It's been snowing since we got here, but it's just those big, fluffy flakes and it isn't anything serious. Heavier snow is expected Saturday into Sunday night, and perhaps spilling into Monday morning. They're talking about up to a foot with that part of the system, so let's hope things don't get dicey.

Anyway, a late evening practice and a good night's sleep later, UMD will do battle with Mercyhurst Saturday afternoon. You can catch the game in the Twin Ports on The Fan 1490, or outside the Twin Ports on KQ Network stations KQ 105.5 or KQ 106.7. You can also listen live online at www.fan1490.com, and our broadcast will also be fed on the B2 Networks feed provided by the University of Vermont. Pregame coverage begins around 2:30 Central time.

It's good to have hockey back, and we hope you can join us for the action this weekend.

The NFL Could Be Making A Mistake

Earlier this week, you probably read my thoughts on the decision Sunday by the Indianapolis Colts.

While I still think it was a stupid thing for the Colts to do, the NFL might be on the verge of trumping their stupidity.

It seems common sense that there will be teams who don't take Week 17 games seriously. It's happened for many years, and it's hard to think anyone would want to stop it. While the integrity of the sport is extremely important, so is common sense.

If you're, say, the Green Bay Packers, who have clinched a spot in the NFC's postseason tournament, why on Earth would you play starters deep into a game against Arizona that means nothing? The best Green Bay can hope for is the fifth seed in the NFC, which nets them a path to the Super Bowl that consists of road games. Same deal for the sixth seed. There is no tangible benefit, outside of the very slight chance to host the NFC Championship should the fifth and sixth seeds advance through.

This makes sense, right?

Then why would the NFL's Competition Committee look at somehow forcing teams to play healthy starters?

"This is an issue that we have reviewed in the past. The position of the competition committee, and affirmed by the clubs, when it was reviewed in 2005 was that 'a team that has clinched its division title has earned the right to rest its starters for the postseason, and that preparing for the postseason is just as important as protecting some other team's playoff opportunity.' That is the current policy," league spokesman Greg Aiello said.

"We are aware of the fan reaction and that is a factor to be considered," he continued. "Some teams that have everything clinched, like the Giants and Patriots two years ago, choose to play all out to continue or gain momentum for the playoffs. We expect to continue to review this issue."

I'll save you the trouble.

Let teams do what they want.

I stand by my comments on the Colts. They threw a winnable game, and a chance to make history, so their starters could get some much-needed rest. The bottom line is that they decided the starters needed to come out of the Jets game in order for the Colts to stay on track for a Super Bowl title, even though they've lost in the divisional playoffs the last three times they procured a first-round bye and proceeded to half-ass one or more regular-season games.

It's just not something the league should intervene on.

If you don't want to be stuck relying on the Colts to beat someone to help you make the playoffs, win more games. It's not the Colts' problem.

In 2003, Vikings fans screamed bloody murder when the Broncos chose to half-ass a Week 17 game with Green Bay. We all know how that ended up for Minnesota, who needed to win because the Packers had won easily.



That's still an all-time classic.

Anyway, you should have heard Vikings fans on my radio show the next day. You would have thought Brett Favre and Mike Sherman had paid the Broncos off.

This wasn't a shot at the integrity of the game, nor was it a grand injustice against a team that started the season 6-0 and still managed to miss the playoffs.

The bottom line was that Denver earned the chance to rest starters before a road wild card game the next week. They did that by winning enough games to make the playoffs. The Packers have earned that right this week, and they should feel no obligation toward the Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, or anyone else on the planet. If they feel the need to bench Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Grant, or anyone else for any portion of the game -- or the whole damn thing -- it's fine.

And that's the way it should be.

Now, if you already have a first-round bye, it's pretty stupid to be sitting guys in Week 16. It locks that you're going to sit them in Week 17, and then they have a week off. Do you really want them screwing around for three weeks before a win-or-go-home divisional playoff game against a foe who won the week before and doesn't have any rust to shake off?

But, again, that's not the NFL's decision to make.

You can't legislate stupidity. That said, you can legislate stupidly. That's where the NFL might be going here. They need to tread carefully.

Bulldogs Fire Up Offense in Hopes Of Exciting Second-Half Run

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- When the UMD Bulldogs hit the ice at Gutterson Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, it will mark the start of a pivotal stretch of games.

January is a huge month for UMD. That's not to pooh-pooh February, March, or (hopefully) April. It's to speak the truth. The other months could end up mattering less, depending on what the Bulldogs do this month.

Why is it so important? UMD plays every weekend in January, starting Saturday. In that ten-game run, the Bulldogs will see two WCHA rivals (Colorado College, Wisconsin) they are going to battle for position with for most of the stretch run. Another (Minnesota State) has played very well as of late, as they look to set themselves up for a surge.

The other four games are non-conference games, and they're important in their own way. With the use of the Pairwise system to set up the NCAA Tournament field, non-conference games are a tad overvalued. That means that games with Mercyhurst, Vermont/UAH, and Bemidji State are extremely key for the Bulldogs' NCAA hopes.

Mercyhurst -- Saturday's opponent here in Burlington -- is unbeaten in their last eight, and they're tied for first place with Air Force in Atlantic Hockey. While they're nowhere near the Pairwise rankings at this point, they will be in those ratings automatically if they win their league tournament (this would be true of any automatic qualifier not already in the Pairwise).

The same is true of Vermont and Alabama-Huntsville, the combatants in Saturday's nightcap in this tournament. No matter who UMD plays, wins are essential because of the nature of non-conference games.

When the Bulldogs face Bemidji State in a home-and-home Jan. 22 and 23, you can add another factor to the Pairwise-related importance. The Beavers have played (and split with) Minnesota, and they've played (and been swept by) Minnesota State. The common opponent factor is part of the Pairwise, so UMD needs to play well in this series.

As for this weekend, let's hope the offense is as hot as it was when we left it. When we last spoke about Bulldog hockey, UMD was in the process of carving up Denver's vaunted defense, and making Marc Cheverie look like a sieve when we all know he's not.

The three-goal third period that snapped a 3-3 tie in that Dec. 12 game might have been UMD's best of the season. They had jump, won battles, and got pucks to the net. Kyle Schmidt's winning goal was a bit of a lucky bounce off Cheverie, but the other two -- by Jack Connolly and Rob Bordson -- were things of beauty.

Reality is that while UMD's defense continues to grow and mature, the offense is carrying the team. They can score with virtually anyone in the country, and they're starting to get serious contributions from their secondary players. That takes pressure off Bordson, Justin Fontaine, and the Connollies (Jack and Mike). The more free they are to make things happen without being smothered by opponents' shutdown units, the better off UMD will be.

The key this weekend will be to continue making the defense better. Don't give up grade-A scoring chances, and don't let them make you look silly. UMD likely didn't watch a ton of tape on these teams, as they're more focused on their own game at this point. As with any good team, the feeling is that if they play well and work hard, good things will happen.

However, they also have to be aware. Letting teams you expect to beat hang around is a good way to find yourself in an undesirable third-place game.