WAY TO GO UMD!!

I wear my UMD hat proudly. I got to go to a couple UMD football home games this year when my schedule didn't conflict. I have thoroughly enjoyed being around the UMD athletic program all these years, and I'll admit my biases without apologies.

I'll also admit that I didn't think UMD stood a great chance of winning Saturday in Allendale, Michigan. Grand Valley State is the 800-pound gorilla of Division II football. They have four national championships in the last six years.

Er, make that "seven".

UMD didn't care about that tradition and reputation. They just wanted to show that the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference can field some good football teams, too.

And UMD did just that. The Bulldogs used their dominant defense and superb preparation to upend the nation's top-ranked team 19-13 in double overtime Saturday. The win propels UMD to heights never before seen by a UMD football program. They are in the Division II national semifinals against California University of Pennsylvania. It's a game we are told will be at Malosky Stadium on the UMD campus, though that hasn't been officially announced yet.

The football team is already en route to Duluth, where it's expected that they will land within 90 minutes of faceoff here at the DECC, where the UMD men's hockey team will be playing St. Cloud State. I'm also being told the team will be introduced during one of the intermissions, which should provide a pretty loud ovation here at the DECC.

Speaking of the hockey game, here are tonight's lines.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Fulton - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Carroll - Akins - Gergen
Greer - Bordson - Schmidt

Meyers - Montgomery
Oberg - Palm
Cascalenda - Huttel

Stalock - Hjelle - Reiter

SCSU
Swanson - Marvin - Novak
Festler - LeBlanc - Volpei
Olson - Oslund - Borgen
Christian - Roe - Lasch

Rioux - Raboin
Lauridsen - Barta
Zabkowicz - Hepp

Weslosky - Dunn

UMD'S FIVE-GAME SKID ENDS?

Maybe? Please?

Lines

UND
Duncan - VandeVelde - Hextall
Watkins - Malone - Toews
Gregoire - Trupp - Frattin
Kozek - Lamoureux - Martens

LaPoint - Genoway
Jones - Marto
Blood - Miller

Eidsness - Walski

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Fulton - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Carroll - Akins - Gergen
Greer - Bordson - Schmidt

Meyers - Montgomery
Palm - Huttel
Oberg - Lamb

Stalock - Hjelle - Reiter

LET'S GET FIRED UP!

This isn't Saturday. And North Dakota isn't Wisconsin. They're better.

That means UMD has to be better.

Here are the lines for Game One, and to change the luck, we'll start with North Dakota.

UND
Duncan - VandeVelde - Hextall
Kozek - Zajac - Watkins
Gregoire - Trupp - Frattin
Lamoureux - Malone - Toews

LaPoint - Genoway
Jones - Marto
Blood - Miller

Eidsness - Walski

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Carroll - Connolly (Jack) - Gergen
Fulton - Akins - Fontaine
Greer - Oleksuk - Schmidt

Meyers - Montgomery
Oberg - Palm
Cascalenda - Huttel

Stalock - Hjelle - Reiter

ATTENTION NORTH DAKOTA FANS

THE FOLLOWING IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NORTH DAKOTA HOCKEY FANS

If you're traveling to Duluth this weekend for the UMD-UND games, I want to make sure you arrive safely and in plenty of time for the games.

Friday night is the annual Christmas City of the North Parade in Duluth. It shuts down some roads in the Canal Park/Downtown area, and you need to be aware of where to go so you don't get stuck in traffic and miss the start of the game.

The parade begins at 6:30 near the DECC, so you'll want to wait until around 7:00 or so to arrive. By then, they should be cleared out of the DECC area.

But with that in mind, you're still going to have to get around some road closures and traffic snarls. When you head to the DECC from the west, you should follow the route pictured here.


View Larger Map

If you're coming in from the east, you'll want to do as pictured below.


View Larger Map

Hope to see you all at the DECC Friday night. Drive safely!

UMD TRIES FOR THREE

Three points is okay, right?

3-3 tie last night. Connolly (Mike), Oberg, and Fontaine with the goals for UMD. Connolly shot a wobbling puck top-shelf, which seems like quite the display of skill to me. Oberg's goal was a one-timer during a five-on-three, and Fontaine scored off a rebound to tie the game less than a minute after Wisconsin took the lead.

Anywhoot, here are tonight's lineups.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Connolly (Jack) - Fulton - Fontaine
Carroll - Akins - Greer
Gergen - Schmidt - Danberg

Oberg - Meyers
Cascalenda - Lamb
Kishel - Montgomery

Stalock - Hjelle - Reiter

UW
Gorowsky - Geoffrion - Stepan
Murray - Thurber - Johnson
Mitchell - Bohmbach - Grotting
Turnbull - Bendickson - Hickey

Smith - McBain
Gardiner - Springer
McDonagh - Goloubef

Connelly (Shane) - Gudmandson

HOME!

Good to be back home. Here are the lines for the first game against the BADgers.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Carroll - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Greer - Akins - Grun
Gergen - Schmidt - Danberg

Oberg - Meyers
Cascalenda - Lamb
Kishel - Montgomery

Stalock - Hjelle - Reiter

UW
Gorowsky - Geoffrion - Stepan
Murray - Thurber - Johnson
Motchell - Dolan - Bohmback
Turnbull - Bendickson - Grotting

Smith - McBain
Gardiner - Little
McDonagh - Goloubef

Connelly (Shane) - Gudmandson

BULLDOGS LOOK TO RALLY

Our lineups for tonight, starting with the good guys.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Akins - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Greer - Carroll - Fulton
Gergen - Schmidt - Danberg

Oberg - Meyers
Cascalenda - Huttel
Kishel - Montgomery

Stalock - Hjelle

DU
Colborne - Bozak - Salazar
Rakhshani - Ruegsegger - Jackson
Maiani - Martin - Ostrow
Glasser - Gifford - Marcuzzi

Wiercioch - Mullen
Ryder - Nutini
Brookwell - Lee

Cheverie - Paulgaard - Guinn

BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE

Game 8: Denver 5, UMD 1

UMD goal
Michael Gergen 1 (Cody Danberg, Chad Huttel), 7:29 2nd period. Gergen flew through the neutral zone after getting a feed from Danberg, and his wrist shot trickled past Denver goalie Marc Cheverie.

Thoughts
Just not UMD's day. Hopefully, Saturday goes a bit better for the guys.

When the Bulldogs were playing well, they had trouble finishing in front of the Denver net. Cheverie was sharp, but he got help from UMD players missing their spots and overskating loose pucks.

Then things started going badly. Alex Stalock wasn't able to cover a loose puck in the crease that appeared to hit a teammate as he dove towards it, allowing Luke Salazar to get an easy goal. That came after Salazar put a rebound in an open net when Stalock made a save and Huttel lost a battle in front of the net.

Goals by Rhett Rakhshani and Tyler Bozak on the power play were too easy, as both players were open for backdoor goals while Stalock was on the other side of the net.

Brady Hjelle made his UMD debut in the third period, stopping all nine shots he faced. We'll see tonight if Stalock benefits from watching the third period from the bench.

Then again, none of the goals were really his fault. It's not like he has to play better. Instead, the guys in front of him do. They took pretty good care of Hjelle. If they can do the same tonight for Stalock, you can expect a different result.

UMD AT DENVER - GAME ONE

Here are tonight's lines, first for the visitors.

UMD
Fulton - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
Connolly (Mike) - Sharp - Kemp
Carroll - Akins - Greer
Gergen - Schmidt - Danberg

Oberg - Meyers
Cascalenda - Huttel
Montgomery - Lamb

Stalock - Hjelle

Denver
Colborne - Bozak - Salazar
Rakhshani - Ruegsegger - Jackson
Maiani - Martin - Ostrow
Glasser - Gifford

Wiercioch - Mullen
Ryder - Nutini
Brookwell - Lee
Marcuzzi

Cheverie - Paulgaard - Guinn

BACK IN DENVER

I feel like I practically live here.

Five times in less than four seasons, UMD has made the trip to Denver. Usually, it goes pretty well for them, with last year's playoff series a notable exception.

This series ought to be thoroughly interesting. Denver, with guys like Tyler Bozak, Tyler Ruegsegger, Rhett Rakhshani, Patrick Mullen, Luke Salazar, and so on, has the top offense in the WCHA.

UMD, thanks in large part to the play of guys like MacGregor Sharp, Justin Fontaine, and the unrelated Connolly brothers (Mike and Jack), is right behind Denver on the scoring ledger.

And this might actually be an okay time to get Denver on the schedule. The Pioneers are coming off two non-wins (a home tie and a road loss) against rival Colorado College. In those games, Richard Bachman stood on his head while carrying the Tigers on his back. He stopped 84 of 88 shots, including some amazing saves during Denver's power plays.

(Denver's power play is sick. I'll get to that in a moment.)

Anyway, the Pioneers have "only" netted ten goals in their last four games (1-2-1). It hasn't stopped guys like me and UMD coach Scott Sandelin from drooling over Denver's offensive talents. We know this is a deep and highly-skilled team. We're not stupid (especially true of Sandelin).

But there might be a hole. Perhaps that confidence can be shaken a tad. Maybe it already is. Bachman did a number on this team last weekend. Alex Stalock is no slouch.

Offensively, even though there is a mini-slump going on and UMD has been playing pretty well, Denver gets a slight edge. They're able to roll three really good lines and play a fourth that will make some plays and create problems. UMD can roll their four lines, but I don't know that they are quite as explosive as Denver. Consistent? So far. But not as explosive.

Denver has more power play depth, too. I can't believe they're only hitting at 15 percent so far. Watching them click against Colorado College, I'm convinced that they're a good bounce away from catching fire. Let that happen some other time. UMD's on-again, off-again penalty kill was on again last weekend and has to stay that way.

Keys to UMD success start with solid puck possession. The Bulldogs' defensive corps has been better than expected so far. A lot of that credit goes to improvements by returnees Josh Meyers, Evan Oberg, and Trent Palm, among others, along with sophomore Mike Montgomery, a former forward who has been a real find for UMD on defense. This is an area Stalock can contribute to, but he can't do it all himself. The Bulldogs have to avoid turnovers on their half of the ice. Preferably, if they're giving the puck up, it's deep in the DU zone. Make the Pioneers go 200 feet to score.

Get pucks deep and forecheck the hell out of these guys. Make them be the ones working to get the puck out of their own zone. If you let them dictate the forecheck and pressure your defensemen, you're hanging the goaltender out to dry.

Obviously, goaltending is a huge key. Marc Cheverie's numbers are lukewarm for Denver. He's allowing almost three per game and has a save percentage around .900. Stalock is the statistically superior goalie, and outside of a rather odd two-game stretch where he wasn't seeing the puck that well, he's been really good for UMD this year. Again.

Letdown syndrome is also a key. Denver is coming off an emotional and very disappointing series against CC. The Gold Pan is important in this state, and Denver got off to a bad start. That's after they blew a two-goal lead and lost at home to Ohio State the previous weekend. If UMD can get off to a good start Friday and take advantage of their positive momentum after last week, the Bulldogs could surprise some people out there.

One thing's for certain: I don't believe they're going to surprise themselves if they have success. This a confident group of kids. Let's hope they can get on a roll.

BULLDOGS IN THE PROS ... UPDATED

Click here.

Please contact me if I'm missing anyone.

BLOGPOLL BALLOT

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas Tech	9
2	Penn State	--
3	Alabama	--
4	Southern Cal	--
5	Texas	4
6	Oklahoma	1
7	Florida	1
8	Oklahoma State	--
9	Utah	--
10	Boise State	1
11	TCU	1
12	Missouri	2
13	Georgia	6
14	Ohio State	1
15	Brigham Young	1
16	LSU	3
17	Ball State	3
18	Georgia Tech	6
19	North Carolina	3
20	Michigan State	1
21	Maryland	2
22	Tulsa	9
23	Northwestern	3
24	Minnesota	7
25	Florida State	7

Dropped Out: South Florida (#25).

Certainly, I'll get some flack for bumping Texas Tech to the top spot. However, in my mind their win over Texas was the most impressive by any top-five team this season. I'm putting them in the top spot, but if Alabama waxes LSU Saturday (highly possible, in my view), the Tide may roll back up there.

Penn State is a really good team, don't get me wrong. But I don't think beating Ohio State - even in Columbus - is on par with beating Texas on any field. The Longhorns were firing on all cylinders and even starting to play some defense before Tech got after them.

Thoughts?

MASHING THE MULLETS

Game 7: UMD 5, St. Cloud State 1

UMD goals
Matt Greer 1 (Andrew Carroll, Trent Palm), 4:54 1st period. Palm took a shot from the blue line that St. Cloud State goalie Jase Weslosky stopped. The rebound was free for Carroll, who was also stopped, but Weslosky paid for not controlling the rebounds when Greer got one past him to get UMD on the board.

Nick Kemp 2 (MacGregor Sharp, Mike Connolly), 1:35 2nd period. Connolly (Mike) and Sharp did some good work to keep the puck in the offensive zone after a failed odd-man rush. Sharp fed the puck to Kemp in the right faceoff circle, and Kemp ripped a wrister past Weslosky.

Josh Meyers 3 (Evan Oberg, Jack Connolly), 13:39 2nd period (4X3 power play). Connolly (Jack) worked the puck free along the wing, and Oberg got it across the top to Meyers, who was open for a one-timer. He used Justin Fontaine as a screen, meaning all four UMD players on the ice had a hand in the goal.

Mike Connolly 3 (MacGregor Sharp, Josh Meyers), 19:06 2nd period (power play). Meyers came on off the bench after Palm broke his stick, and he fed Sharp, whose pass/shot was deflected in by Connolly (Mike).

Drew Akins 3 (Jack Connolly, Justin Fontaine), 9:21 3rd period (power play). Just good old-fashioned hard work by Akins in front of the net. He spun after getting a feed from Connolly (Jack) and jammed at the puck before he was able to tuck it inside the right post.

Thoughts

Wow. That might have been better than the Northern Michigan game. St. Cloud's lethal power play was almost a complete non-factor, and the Bulldogs got after Garrett Roe and Ryan Lasch to the point of frustration. Weslosky played well in goal for St. Cloud, but he didn't get a lot of help. UMD had 45 shots, many of good quality, and they put on relentless pressure at times.

The tone for the game was set early. The Huskies had good puck possession and offensive zone time over the first 90 seconds or so, but they couldn't capitalize with any quality scoring chances. UMD was able to weather whatever storm was offered, they got the early goal from Greer, and they were easily the better team for 60 minutes.

It's a virtual lock that the St. Cloud State team we see at the DECC November 29 will be better than this one was, but UMD has to feel pretty good about how they played. It's a good way to go into a tough trip to Denver this weekend.

More from Denver beginning Thursday. Hope the weather's nice.

NISKANEN'S FIRST FIGHT

Matt Niskanen is not a fighter.

I mean, if you don't believe me, just watch the video. Courtesy of the wonderful hockeyfights.com:



I've seen more pronounced beatings before. Gutsy of Shane Hnidy - he of 33 career regular-season fights - to go after the 20-something second-year player who has never thought.

While Jack Edwards' "pretty little boy" line was completely uncalled for, it was also kind of funny. I guess you can be the judge. Edwards sucks, so it's not terribly surprising, but he's also the Bruins' announcer, so he's paid to be biased.

I just think rooting for "Sheriff Shane" to go after an unsuspecting kid is a bit over-the-top. On the bright side, it looked like Hnidy really enjoyed himself.