Thank you for visiting. Sorry this is boring, but if the team does not win, then I don't have much to say. I just pat you guys on the back for your wins and then go cry and drink myself into oblivion.
Sincerely,
Donna (Runninwiththedogs, to you)
Crappity crap. This was a great post thanking the 'Dogs for a win and now it's gone??????????????????????
gasdufzbdisdhfjksfhbskjnbeasjtbis.
I almost typed "beast" in there. Whoa.
If we do not win tonight then I refuse to go to Wisconsin next weekend. I would probably puke all over the ice, and puke bounces on ice.
I'm going to have to have a drink during tonight's game. Last night, we sounded like the old Bulldogs. The two quick goals from Steve Czech and Marco Peluso made me believe again. For a few minutes.
Evan Schwabe needs to score. Now. Immediately. He needs to step it up. This team has no leadership, no one to set the standard. I miss Lucien, Jr., and Beau. Are we going to even have one All-American? We never deserved to be ranked #1. We are going to have to earn our way to the NCAAs. It's going to be an uphill battle.
I thought about cruising down to St. Cloud tonight, but I didn't have a good enough reason. I would have settled for a tie last night. Something to build on, for crying out loud.
I'll be rockin' out on Siouxsports.com again tonight. Yeah!
Yeah, I was going to post last weekend. I mean, I was so pumped, we won on Friday!
And then Brown won with 0.1 seconds left and I was so crushed I curled into the fetal position and wept.
The 'Dogs were off last week, so I took the liberty of giving myself some time off.
Plus tonight I'm going to see The Haunted tonight, and they RULE!
So I will write nothing. Or next to nothing. I have lost all my desire to write the Hater Report, or the WCHA action (even though I listened to the entire North Dakota-CC game on Saturday), or the penalty leaders.
I just want to wake the 'Dogs up and tell them they can't play like this anymore. They can make more shots than their opponent, they can have greater speed, they can put the pressure on, but it doesn't matter. If they can't put the puck in the net more times than their opponent, then I'm going to be very, very unhappy for a long, long time.
I'm frustrated. Very, very frustrated. Why? Because we aren't the top Dogs anymore!
I think what's killing us is the new penalty calling b.s., and our inability to adapt. Let's look at the WCHA Standings:
Penalty Minutes: Games PIM PIM/G
1 Minnesota-Duluth 9 241 26.8
2 Minnesota State 7 172 24.6
3 Denver 7 158 22.6
4 Minnesota 8 175 21.9
5 North Dakota 9 194 21.6
6 St. Cloud State 8 166 20.8
7 Alaska Anchorage 7 145 20.7
8 Michigan Tech 7 143 20.4
9 Wisconsin 7 126 18.0
10 Colorado College 5 76 15.2
Power Play: Totals SHA PCT
1 Colorado College 10/ 35 0 28.6
2 Wisconsin 14/ 57 1 24.6
3 Alaska Anchorage 9/ 43 1 20.9
4 Michigan Tech 11/ 53 1 20.8
5 Minnesota-Duluth 13/ 66 0 19.7
6 Minnesota 10/ 56 0 17.9
7 St. Cloud State 9/ 65 2 13.8
8 North Dakota 7/ 53 0 13.2
9 Denver 8/ 64 4 12.5
10 Minnesota State 6/ 50 4 12.0
Penalty Kill: Totals SHF PCT
1 St. Cloud State 64/ 68 3 94.1
2 Wisconsin 44/ 49 1 89.8
3 Minnesota 50/ 58 2 86.2
4 Colorado College 28/ 33 1 84.8
5 Minnesota-Duluth 67/ 79 5 84.8
6 North Dakota 56/ 67 0 83.6
7 Denver 45/ 54 2 83.3
8 Alaska Anchorage 39/ 47 0 83.0
9 Minnesota State 40/ 50 0 80.0
10 Michigan Tech 36/ 48 1 75.0
All right, I've highlighted some key stats for our little examination.
We're #1 in penalties. I know in the past I've gotten excited about penalties, but in this new era of zebras, we've got to stop taking so many penalties! We are spending over a period in the box! (I realize some are coincidental, but for crying out loud!) Now look at Colorado College, the team to beat so far: They're last in the conference in penalty minutes per game! They've obviously adapted well to the new officiating. With a team that relies so much on the game flow, on wearing down their opponents, on speed, we can not be taking so many penalties. It wears us out, and it keeps the other team more fresh, since we have to stop so often.
CC also has the top power play unit, which, coupled with the fewest penalty minutes per game, makes them a tough team to beat. We will not be beating CC any time soon with the amount of time we spend in the box. Our power play unit would be better, statistically speaking, if we didn't waste the power play 15 seconds in with a stupid penalty! Oh yeah, and that awful 5-on-3 where we couldn't get a f-ing goal. North Dakota is also struggling in the power play (Sioux fans are pissed about it, too), and it's showing in their record.
Our penalty kill would also be better, if not for the awful Vermont game where they got all their goals on the power play, and our defense was absolutely decimated by the crappy game DQs. However, five shorthanded goals is pretty freaking amazing. CC has the same penalty kill percentage as we do, so at least we're on par there.
I'm listening to the Sioux game right now while trying to pack for my journey down to Illinois, and I'm on the gamethread at Sioux Sports. Lots of hockey fans there. If you're coming here from the link on my posts on the message forum, then hi!
...they lost FIVE TO TWO!"
That was my response just a few seconds ago.
What the crap?
Good thing no one reads this site, or I might be concerned that I hadn't posted since last weekend. So this is sort of half-assed.
I understand that we are all hurting here. A tie and a loss to a team whose nickname has not yet been figured out (what is a Catamount?) should have us all hugging and having a group sing of Kum-By-Yah or We Shall Overcome or Pieces of Me. It should not have us yelling at the team we loved so much just a few days ago. We're out there for our guys, sink or swim, win or lose, etc. Booing your own team makes you no better than a Yankee fan.
Anyway, the team here on the bench was playing shorthanded as well, after the Alleged Webmaster (who has not mastered us a site) was given a weekend-long major and a game DQ for unsportsmanlike conduct. I'll lie and say this was why the post was late.
This post was actually late because I am just heartbroken that we could have lost this weekend. I am just heartbroken at the poor officiating that caused Jay and Neil to be thrown out of the game for checking from behind (and Neil's player turned at the last second!) while the guys they checked skated away, and then Ryan and Steve are checked from behind and are down on the ice while the Catamounts received only one penalty, a 2 min boarding penalty, for the two incidents! I am just heartbroken that our special teams could not come up with a goal on a 5 on 3 (I think Maine fans can feel my pain a bit here). I am heartbroken that someone was rude to me on the Sioux Sports forum. I am heartbroken that Ryan Potulny is the scoring leader. I am heartbroken that Derek Jeter won a Gold Glove.
Who else thought we were in it to win it when McKnight had a short-hander at 19:47 in the 2nd? Come on, come on! Let's see those hands! Where was Marco Peluso to say "Oh no you did NOT just go Bemidji State on us!"
So uh... yeah. We were unprepared. We were five starters short in the Friday game. We were full of ourselves.
WCHA Action:
Friday
Alaska Anchorage 1, Michigan Tech 5
Denver 3, Wisconsin 6
Minnesota State 2, Minnesota 9
North Dakota 3, Boston College 5
St. Cloud State 7, Princeton 2
Saturday
North Dakota 3, Northeastern 3
St. Cloud State 10, Yale 0
Vermont 2, Minnesota-Duluth 2
Denver 5, Wisconsin 3
Minnesota State 2, Minnesota 3
Alaska Anchorage 5, Michigan Tech 4
Polls:
USA Today
2. Minnesota-Duluth (3 first place votes)
4. Minnesota (2 first place votes? For a win over Minnesota State? Come on!)
5. Wisconsin (1 first place vote. Whatever.)
6. North Dakota
8. Colorado
10. Denver
USCHO
3. UMD (3 first place votes)
4. Minnesota
5. Wisconsin
6. North Dakota
7. Colorado College
10. Denver
SCSU received a vote. Just one.
INCH
2. UMD
3. Wisconsin
4. Colorado College
6. North Dakota
7. Minnesota
10. Denver
