Winnarz!

tUMD 4, Red Menace Zippity-doo-dah Zippity-ay!

Folks, that's what a WIN looks like! I'd almost forgotten. I guess all the sandbagging I did over on USCHO and on Twitter worked miracles.

Speaking of USCHO, I'm quitting cold turkey! Yeah!

Sandy switched up the lines last night, which was interesting. Connollys were still together, but with rising star David Grun! Then Fontaine was on with Akins and Fulton. I am wondering if that will continue or if the BI-MON-SCI-FI-CON line will be back together again.

tUMD chased UW starting goalie Brett Bennett after tUMD's 2nd goal (by Brady Lamb). Somehow he got credited with a save, which I dislike. 2 shots 2 goals sounds so much better! He's no Kenny Reiter, that's for sure.

Oh, I am happy. So happy with last night's game. It was just what I needed to get excited about posting again. I was kind of dragging a bit. I got so used to writing about wins and things that this little bitty losing streak was getting me down. Heck, we went THREE HOME GAMES without SCORING A GOAL just two season ago. And I lived through that still posting.

Fun stuff coming up this week! Or, at least, I think so... I should have some photos of the throwback jerseys once MEg uploads them.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: Done!
Points until we reach last season's total: Done and done!!!!

My Guys (GREAT game for them!!!)
Jack Connolly: 38!!!!!
Brady Lamb: 15!!!!!
Mike Seidel: 10!!!!!

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 11
Mike Seidel: 10!
Wade Bergman: 4!
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 38!
Mikey: 29!

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 11

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 47

On Notice
Cody Danberg
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Scott Kishel
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Drew Akins
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen

Peanuts

tUMD 2, Red Barons 5

Achtung!
Jetzt wir singen zusammen die Geschichte
Über den schweinköpfigen Hunds
Und den lieben Red Barons!





After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over northern Minny
Came a roar and a thunder men have never heard
Like the scream and the sound of a big war bird

[Eins, zwei, drei, vier...]

Up in the sky, some dudes in some planes
Barons von Wisconsin were their names
Eighty Dogs tried and eighty Dogs died
Now they're buried together over the hillside

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Barons were rollin' up the score
Eighty Dogs died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Barons of Wisconnie

[Left, two, three, four...]

In the nick of time, a hero arose
One hundred fifty pounds of muscle, from his head to his toes
He flew onto the ice to seek revenge
But the Barons shot him down "Curses, foiled again!"

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Barons were rollin' up the score
Eighty Dogs died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Barons of Wisconnie

[ok this part happens tomorrow]

Now, Jacky had sworn that he'd get every man
So he asked the Great Sandelin for a new battle plan
He challenged Wisconsin to a real dogfight
While the Barons were laughing, he got them in his sight

Those Bloody Red Barons were in a fix
They'd tried everything, but they'd run out of tricks
Jacky fired once and he fired twice
And those Bloody Red Barons were laughed off the ice

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Barons were rollin' up the score
Eighty Dogs died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Barons of Wisconnie

Numbers (Yeah, I finally got around to doing them)
Wins until we reach last season's total: Well, at least that's done
Points until we reach last season's total: 2 (Still hangin' on)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 36
Brady Lamb: 14
Mike Seidel: 9

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 11
Mike Seidel: 9
Wade Bergman: 3
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 36
Mikey: 27

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 11

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 47

On Notice
Cody Danberg
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Scott Kishel
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Drew Akins
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen

Buckingham T.

Okay. I dislike Wisconsin. I don't just mean the team. I mean the state and all its affiliations. I will make an exception when I need alcohol and it's late or Sunday. Way to go, Wisconsin, you got one thing right. Now work on the other 8700384573489 things you got wrong.

Anyway, those of you who read RWD on a regular basis know that I went to the University of Illinois for college, round 1. I worked at pretty much every football game, doing parking (re: eating people's food in exchange for looking the other way when they "side-gated" instead of "tail-gated," and then tried to stay out of the way of the crazy guy who ran the thing and was always mad at us for our corruption), concessions (hauling over-priced soda in the bleachers or getting soaked in hot chocolate inside the windy and FREEZING Memorial Stadium), and most importantly, ringing the Navy bell on the field.

Because I am amazing and cool, I got to ring the bell for the UIUC-UW Homecoming game. And because this was 2001, Illinois was good and won the Big 10.



(I am totally just out of frame for this!)

Why am I telling you this story?

Because I met Buckingham T. Badger at this game. And although I dislike Wisconsin, I do kinda like Bucky, or at least whoever was in the Bucky suit at the time, because after the game (Illinois won 42-35, and there was much bell-ringing!) one of my friends got him to come over and let us (well, not me, but the dudes with me) pick him up and pretend to ring the bell with his head. What a sporting chap that popcorn box is!

So, that's the one nice thing I'll say about Wisconsin. Probably ever.

Dear Drew, Vol. 2

It is a somewhat common misconception that Minnesotans are tough because of the winters, or our occupations as farmers or miners or some other rugged job, or because we are the sons and daughters of the rapers and pillagers from Valhalla.

No way. It's because of our sports teams. What a brutal weekend. That Vikings game was probably one of the most agonizing I have ever seen, because we all knew it was over but IT JUST WOULD NOT DIE. I am pretty sure that the next installment of the Saw franchise will incorporate elements of the game into its script.

But, as D.H. Lawrence says, "we have to live, no matter how many skies have fallen." And what better way than with the next installment of Dear Drew?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------













Dear Drew,

I have a reputation as an angry person with a bad temper. I think it's pretty unjustified. Sometimes a coach just needs to hit a player with a chair. Is that so wrong?

Sincerely,
Robin Red Vest

Dear RRV,

Please stay on your side of the ice this weekend.

-Drew

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Drew,

I'm not having a very good season. Not because of my stats or anything, but because my coach would literally rather play no one in net than me. Even if the other goalie on my team gives up 8 goals in a weekend. I mean, what's so special about him? What do I have to do? Wear a giant afro wig? I WANT ATTENTION TOO!!

Frantically,
Patty

Dear Patty,

Uh, don't shoot the messenger, but my magic 8-ball says Outlook Not So Good.

-Drew

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Drew,

I have a very stupid nickname and I must have been high when I decided to use it as my official moniker. How can I overcome this?

Nominally,
Josh T.

Dear Podge,

Dream on, sucka!

-Drew

Thanks again, Drew! I know you're a busy guy, two blogs in a week!

Meltdown

We've been swept by Bemidji despite about a million chances to just CLEAR THE PUCK. No post tonight. I'm too angry. Everyone still on notice.

Nightmare on Blog Street

A few weeks ago I sent out a little questionnaire to some great hockey minds about how angry they get about hockey. I planned at some point to write a little article about it. Recently I got a tweet from one of the participants, Ryan from The Two-Line Pass, asking me to remind him why he filled out the survey. I responded that I needed to get good and angry first.

WELL, WE HAVE ARRIVED, PEOPLE.

I have enclosed a wonderful song by one of my favorite bands, The Haunted, as background music while you read. Unless you don't like heavy metal, in which case, why not?


As I was driving this afternoon I was listening to KFAN and stressing over Percy Harvin's status for Sunday. I'm very nervous about the Vikings. With or without Percy.

I didn't watch the game or even follow it as I had class tonight and I gave my phone to my friend to hold until after class was over so I could focus and be prepared for the quiz at the end. So I didn't read my texts until I was walking down the EXTREMELY ICY STREETS trying to locate my vehicle which was parked a million miles away because THERE WAS NO PARKING and I nearly did the splits trying to step over a snowbank and then I discovered WE WERE LOSING BY FOUR GOALS and seriously considered jumping in front of a car, but they were not going fast enough to kill me so I opted not to.

I AM SO VERY ANGRY RIGHT NOW. I called MEg, the only person who understands how I feel about this sorry excuse for a D-3 team, and flipped out for awhile, and then I tuned to 93X, hoping to listen to something LOUD and HEAVY and of course they had some terrible song on that was neither heavy nor loud. Well, it was loud because I had the stereo turned up. So I came home and listened to The Haunted, the greatest band ever. Mostly because I was hanging out with my friends after one of their shows and when the (now former) vocalist came out of the club my friends were trying to shake his hand and he gave them the brush-off and came up to me and told me how much I rocked. But also because they have great music.

And then I got home and had an envelope waiting for me from UMD Athletics ASKING ME TO DONATE MONEY!!!!! TO THIS TEAM!!!!! WHAT!!?!?!!?!?!? Talk about THE WORST TIMING EVER.

Whatever. It's just another game to us, but this is like their pathetic little national championship.

And that article? Can't even write it tonight. Gotta be up at 6:30 for school tomorrow.

No Numbers tonight. As far as I'm concerned, EVERYONE is On Notice, except for the injured guys.

SHENANIGANS!

So, this morning I was checking Pates' blog (which I do like 500 times a day because I do a lot of things to try to get through the day, so I am totally jacking up his hit count) and he had this post:

UMD captain Drew Akins, majoring in communications, has an internship with the school's sports information department and will be doing a Bulldog Blog on the UMD sports Web site.

What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks? Please, Drew. I ask you to be a guest columnist on RWD and you let it go to your head? That's it. I am going to insert myself into the lineup for the Bulldogs. YOU SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT. I will punch someone in the groin and receive a game disqualification.

Anyway, I will give you some tips. For example, let's start off with that photo. You seem unhappy in it. Perhaps a new one? It is definitely not your best expression. Secondly, you need a catchy name. I know that the best name is already taken (Runnin' with the Dogs) but as a communications major, you need a title that, uh, communicates. Maybe something that rhymes like Drew's News. Or something witty like A Little Captain. You could change your photo to one in with a leg up! Or Dirty's idea, the Akins Diatribe. I'm really nice and didn't take credit for that. I'm no Bobby Goepfert.

The content I really have no beef with, although I would prefer shorter paragraphs. White space! White space! White space! I am anxious to find out the winners of the ping pong tournament.

But lay off the Photoshop. That's my schtick. Mama will cut you.

Swagger?

Well now. Isn't this cute? Win your first two games that have any sort of meaning and all of a sudden you're the #1 stunna?



Oh, just the 9 billionth reason to hate this team. I know you're wondering, but no, that isn't Dirty at the 2:39 mark. Or so he says.

Here's our friend again. Careful, he's semi-nude in this one.


I really wish that I could attend the games this weekend, and not because I always wish I could, but because I am just dying to know if this guy is there. I would totally ask for his autograph and probably a photo op. I wonder if he still attends games.

BTW, I hear the Bemidji game is sold out! So, fantastic, they managed to find 1,000 people to attend one of their games! Probably 750 are Bulldogs fans!

Moving right along. Just in case you were wondering, tUMD fans, IT CAN BE DONE.











Oh yeah, and you know what else can be done?

Dear Drew

It takes a special kind of player to be elected captain of a hockey team. The player has to be a leader on and off the ice, has to be matured enough to speak to the refs, and has to be a bit of a mentor to his teammates. In addition to all that, "Drew" has "agreed" to be a guest columnist on RWD and give advice to his fellow players.




Dear Drew,

I am a hockey player on a team that is supposed to be good in the second half of the season. I have a "friend" who also plays hockey on my team and he is hurt. How can I make him feel better? I already give him foot massages and send him flowers.

-Wario

Dear Wario,

That is very nice of you to be so caring. Please tell me the injury this player has. That will allow me to, uh, be more helpful in my assistance. Also, tell BOTH of your sisters that Big D says hi.

-Drew

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Drew,

I have a bit of trouble making up my mind sometimes. For example, I had a really hard time making up my mind about the team I wanted to play on. Now I am on a horrible team and I wish I was on the first team I'd picked. Please help!

-Not A Window, But A...

Dear NAW,BA...,

We didn't want you anyway. SUCK IT.

-Drew

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Drew,

I think my teammates and fans like my dad more than me. He has a stomach of iron, is writing his memoirs, and is very loquacious. Actually, I think I like my dad better than me. I don't know if this is actually a problem after all. Sorry to bother you.

-Not Even Going To Bother To Try To Spell My Own Last Name

Dear NEGTBTTTSMOLN,

Stevie V. for President, 2012!

-Drew

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Drew,

I play for a hockey team with a pretty embarrassing fan base. The most embarrassing person in the fan base is my dad. He played hockey, like, a million years ago and never made it in the pros and now he can't move on. What should I do?

-Confused from Detroit Lakes

Dear Confused,

Rock out to Bruce Springsteen's Glory Days until he gets the message. Or goes deaf.

-Drew

That's all we've got in the mailbag this week! Stay tuned!

Under Pressure

tUMD 4, Blue Earth County Penal League All-Stars 3 (OT)

Well, it's later than late and I've had a long day, but of course I was dumb and decided it would be good to allow my wild and spastic rantings to be broadcast over the airwaves (AND Interwebs!!) and thus should probably have something going on here before I go to bed.

So, for those of you who are here because of the whole radio thing, hello, how are you? I am pleased to meet you. Please be advised that the best of RWD is not found in the game recaps. Don't judge too harshly. Also, for those of you who are here wondering whether TJ Oshie has a girlfriend (and there are so many of you! Why?), I can not help you, I am truly sorry.

I... don't know. Really. Mankato plays a style of hockey that makes it very difficult for tUMD to play their style of hockey. So it was not really the best of times. It wasn't the worst of times, either, but... well, there's a lot to discuss.

The first period wasn't that fabulous. Mankato set the tone as usual. They seem confused about some of the rules of the game. Gentlemen: making contact to the head a "point of emphasis" does not mean the league wants you to do more of it. THEY WANT YOU TO STOP, YOU IDIOTS! Lots of things happened but by comparison the first period was boring. I have forgotten it mostly. BECAUSE THE GAME WAS ALMOST THREE HOURS. Zach Harrison took a checking from behind penalty in the final minute of the game and was ejected from the game. Because I am unkind, I stood up and waved. He hit my Jacky. That makes me hate him more. I did not see the hit as it was along the boards (duh) on the same side of the ice as I was. tUMD went into the locker room knowing they had 4 1/2 minutes of power play free-for-all smorgasbord bonanza.

The second period was much better! I do not understand how tUMD can be so fantastic in the 2nd period after being so terrible in the 2nd period during the first half. Brady Lamb scored 31 seconds into the period and we were back to even. I am stupid and did not start him in my fantasy league. That was the only goal on the power play. Then Rob Bordson scored to make it 2-1. Again, I am stupid because I did not start him in my fantasy league.

About 5 minutes after Bordo's goal, Kael Mouillierat (Mall Rat) viciously elbowed Scott Kishel in the head. Do not be fooled by Bruce Ciskie's commentary. This was not a clean or legal hit. It happened right in front of me. And I am a Great Hockey Mind. Scott was lying on the ice motionless for quite some time. It was scary. No, the referee did not signal a penalty right away. But really, if the league will allow this "intent to blow" b.s. they can certainly allow "intent to call." This was the first exceptionally long delay of the game as it took awhile to figure out what they were going to do, and then they explained it to Sandy, and then to Jutting, and anyone who has watched a Mankato hockey game knows that Jutting does not know when to STFU. He complained for so long that Kishel had time to recover and was back on the ice after missing only a few shifts. Mall Rat received a game disqualification for that hit, which means he will be suspended for a game. Justin Fontaine scored on the ensuing power play free-for-all smorgasbord bonanza, but again, they were only able to get one goal out of it.

A minute and a half after Fonzarelli's goal, some things occurred. I was sitting in probably the worst place in the entire rink for seeing these things, so I can't describe it. I saw some shoving and things, and then the refs came over, and suddenly someone shoved David Grun from behind and then we had ourselves a hoedown. SOMEHOW, and I really can't imagine how, and I have a very vivid imagination so that is saying something, tUMD ended up short two players. Also, somehow, and this is even more unfathomable, Drew Akins was involved in these things and was escorted to the penalty box (all the while motioning for the Maverick player to bring it on), and then was allowed to leave and did not receive a penalty. I am unsure why. That was fine. That was the only thing that was fine. Deciding to give Mankato this unwarranted and undeserved 5 on 3 took an annoyingly long time. For some reason Jutting decided he wanted to whine about that, too. There's no such thing as a 5 on 2, Jutting. Just shut up. I told him so. Mankato scored once on the power play while on the 2-player advantage.

The 3rd period began oddly as Jack Connolly ended up riding a Maverick. He did not stay on for 8 seconds and thus did not receive a golden belt buckle. The rest of the period was pretty disjointed. tUMD did not carry the play for any length of time. There were some bad line changes. (Ok, all game there were bad line changes.) And they let Mankato tie it up with 18 seconds to go. It was... preventable. We'll just say that. But OF COURSE the game would go to overtime. It wasn't long enough!

Overtime seemed like an extension of the 3rd period with its choppy play, and then MCON was all alone with the puck and put it just under the crossbar RIGHT in front of the tUMD fans and we FREAKED out. I was confused and at first thought it was Jacky, but WHO FREAKING CARES, THEY WON IN OVERTIME, OMFGBBQ!!!!!!!!!

God it's even later than later than late. Enough of this. Big day tomorrow. Skol Vikings!

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: -2! (Eee!!)
Points until we reach last season's total: 2! (Look out Wisconsin, we're coming to collect!!!)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 35!
Brady Lamb: 14!
Mike Seidel: 8

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 10
Mike Seidel: 8
Wade Bergman: 2
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 35!
Mikey: 26!!!!

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 10

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 30

On Notice
Cody Danberg
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Jordan Fulton
Chad Huttel
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Scott Kishel
Mike Montgomery
Travis Oleksuk
Mike Seidel

First Things First

tUMD 2, Elbowers 1

If this game was in Duluth, I don't think I'd be home yet!

Short recap tonight. I have to work tomorrow and then zippity zip back to the Midwest Wireless Alltel Verizon Center. For those of you not attending the game, make sure to listen to the radio broadcast as Bruce will be interviewing me! Terrifying. I sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

One thing I was going to mention in my interview (which I can't now, but I did write it down so I have proof!!) was one of my hopes for the year. I listed some other things (which I will not say here, as Bruce may still ask me about it!) but I wrote that I wanted David Grun to get a goal. And he did! That's so amazing! On the power play! How about that? I was FREAKING OUT. He looked very happy.

Oh, but that's not all. Because 27 seconds later, Dylan Olsen scored! And he was, I think, even happier! I know a lot has been said about his hunger for that first goal, but I am thrilled that he got it. He's not the first player and certainly won't be the last to feel frustration over a scoring drought and to let that carry over into the rest of their game. It was a huge goal for tUMD as it ended up the game-winner after a slow whistle let Mankato finally put a puck past Kenny Reiter.

And the most important first?

FIRST PLACE BULLDOGS! *CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!*

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: -1! (FINITO)
Points until we reach last season's total: 4! (Just two more wins!!!)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 33
Brady Lamb: 12
Mike Seidel: 8

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 10!!!!!!!!!!
Mike Seidel: 8
Wade Bergman: 2
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 33
Mikey: 25!

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 10!

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 30

On Notice
Cody Danberg
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Jordan Fulton
Chad Huttel
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Rob Bordson
Scott Kishel
Brady Lamb
Mike Montgomery
Mike Seidel

Accolades

I know, I know, no game recap from Saturday. It's Tuesday and I've practically forgotten what happened, and I have a bunch of other stuff to get to, so there's not going to be one.

This week in the WCHA, Mike Connolly is co-Player of the Week. I'm not an uber-homer like Brad Schlossman, so I WILL use the co- qualifier, as Mike shared the honor with Jason Gregoire of North Dakota. Mike had two goals and three assists last weekend and is coming on strong. Obviously being part of the BI-MON-SCI-FI-CON line has helped bring his stats up where they belonged, but he's also been kicking all kinds of badonkadonk all over the rink.

I think that's important, of course, but here's what I think is more important. Kenny Reiter was nominated for defensive player of the week! I think he should have won, and not just because Garrett Raboin's dad is the epitome of everything wrong with America, but because scoring on Michigan Tech is like shooting fish in a barrel. Kenny led tUMD to a sweep of a ranked team. Raboin got some power play points against the worst PK in the country. Anyway, who cares? Bottom line: I think Kenny has done a fantastic job lately and he deserves any recognition that comes his way.

Stay tuned because there's going to be some awesomeness this week, including a new weekly guest column and a feature-length article!

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: DONE!! (FANFARE! POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE!)
Points until we reach last season's total: 6! (Will be taken care of soon!)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 33!! (AMAZING! Look out, James Marcou!)
Brady Lamb: 12!
Mike Seidel: 8

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 9
Mike Seidel: 8
Wade Bergman: 2
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 33!
Mikey: 24!

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 9

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 30!

On Notice
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Dylan Olsen
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Jordan Fulton
Chad Huttel
Scott Kishel
Mike Montgomery
Mike Seidel

Imagine

tUMD 5, Puddytats 2

I had a little bit of a stressful night tonight. You see, I have a Friday night class this trimester. This is the first Friday class I've had since fall '07 and I can tell you right now, it is the worst freaking feeling. Actually things have changed since then because I did not have unlimited texting and data on my phone at the time. I still had to use the numeric keypad. So, thanks for the updates, folks.

Evan Oberg has been called up to the bigs. Doesn't mean I like the Canucks.

So I missed the game. Didn't even listen to it. Froze in the classroom as though I was at the rink. Whoopee. I sort of imagined how the game would go. Let's go to the score sheet!

FIRST PERIOD
10:12 UMD 0 - CC 1
Stephen Schultz (David Civitarese, Nate Prosser)

I looked at the stat sheet on College Hockey Stats, and it lists no tUMD players on the ice at the time of the goal. This is a good explanation for what happened. They were probably getting porketta dogs at the concession stand. Who wouldn't?

17:44 UMD 1 - CC 1
Kyle Schmidt (Rob Bordson, Travis Oleksuk)

Hello, Kyle Schmidt is the most clutch guy we have on our team. I need to look at our record when he has a goal. Pretty sure Oleksuk probably rubbed some CC guy off the puck, chipped it to Bordo, and then Bordo got it to Schmitty at our blue line and he took off like a he'd just been hit with 1.21 jigowatts of electricity, leaving a pair of fire trails in his wake, and Sandy stood in between them and yelled "IT WORKS! I'VE FINALLY FOUND A LINE COMBINATION THAT WORKS!!!!" Because really, I love the idea of those 3 together.

SECOND PERIOD
4:31 UMD 2 - CC 1 (PP)
Drew Akins (Rob Bordson, Scott Kishel)

The secondary unit strikes again! I like it!
An Akins goal? Well, that's gotta be a Kishel blast from the point, rebound to Bordo for another save, and then Akins jams the puck in while using one hand to punch two CC defenders and their goalie. The Akins Diet? It's tiger meat.

6:04 UMD 3 - CC 1
Mike Connolly (Jack Connolly)

CC players were too busy heeding one of the #1 rules in hockey: Keep Your Head Up, to notice our Lilliputian brothers-from-another-motherland skating unheeded to the net. Then they danced a jig and found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

11:03 UMD 4 - CC 1 (PP)
Justin Fontaine (Jack Connolly, Mike Connolly)

FIRST OF ALL I hear this goal should belong to my Jacky. This upsets me as a fantasy hockey manager. The guy who has Fontaine is in the lead or in 2nd place or something. However, his strategery is flawed, and I do feel that Team Cougar is still gonna make the playoffs.

Anyway. I think what happened here is CC was like "Look, we're on the penalty kill, and the BI-MON-SCI-FI-CON line is out, why even try?", waved a white flag, and fled like the French. Mon Dieu!

THIRD PERIOD
0:44 UMD 4 - CC 2
Bill Sweatt (Mike Testwuide)

44 seconds into the period? The team was probably lined up, waiting for a whistle, so they didn't walk in front of the play.

2:25 UMD 5 - CC 2 (PP)
Justin Fontaine (Mike Connolly, Brady Lamb)

Um, duh. Obviously this happened.


I am certain this is accurate! Back in action tomorrow night!

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 1! (I'm going to invite Kirby Puckett's kid to turn this from 1 to 0, TOMORROW!)
Points until we reach last season's total: 8! (We had a lot of ties.)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 30! (Has now beaten his point total for all of last season. WOW!)
Brady Lamb: 11!
Mike Seidel: 8 (Not in the lineup??? What???)

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 9
Mike Seidel: 8
Wade Bergman: 2
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 30!
Mikey: 23! (AWESOME GAME!!!!!)

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 9

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 24 (Had a little bit too much fun despite his "new" "safety" equipment)

On Notice
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Dylan Olsen
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Jordan Fulton
Chad Huttel
Scott Kishel
Dylan Olsen
Mike Seidel

Hello, Clarice.

Guys, I'm sorry in advance. No, not really.

After the last series with Colorado College, tUMD will debut some new safety equipment this weekend.



I like it.

FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Attention RWD readers:

If you live in the Twin Cities, I have two tickets to the Friday CC game that are yours, on the hizzay.

Sorry Duluth folks, but there's no way for me to get them to you.

Let me know.

**UPDATE** Tickets have been claimed. But there will probably be more in the future!!

All The Marbles

Team USA 6, Canada 5 (OT)

http://watch.tsn.ca/international-hockey/clip252487#clip252487

http://watch.tsn.ca/international-hockey/clip252502#clip252502

All you need to know.

Fuhgeddaboutit

tUMD 2, Catacheats 5

F. Scott Fitzgerald called January "the Monday of months," and my god is it true. I'm sitting here waiting for the Novocaine to wear off so I can go to work, and it is -1 outside. It's actually warmer in Duluth than it is in Minneapolis. Kill me now.

Overall yesterday was a great sports day! The Vikings won, the Eagles lost, which secured the Vikings' #2 seed and first round bye, and Team USA beat Sweden to advance to the gold medal round in the World Junior Championships (which is watched, according to PA, by the other person on the show with him, someone named "Fluffy," Ryan Cardinal, and 8 other people. 6 others after you count Dirty and me.) Sandwiched in between these wonderful things was a not-so-wonderful hockey game. Although there was a mascot hockey game which involved a seahorse, a donut, and Grimace.

Yeah, there were a lot of penalties. In the first period. What about the other two? I don't think anyone's gonna look back and be proud of yesterday. Oh well. Come back to league play with a chip on your shoulders. Take those Tigers and tell them where to stick that last game we had against them. Especially that horrid Nate Prosser. We won't have those EZAC [er, Hockey Least... or whatever] refs again, so we can put all that nonsense behind us and get back to the usual WCHA style of officiating which, flawed as some may see it, is at least familiar. Other than that? Just move on.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 2 (NONCON)
Points until we reach last season's total: 10 (NONCON)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 28!
Brady Lamb: 10
Mike Seidel: 8

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 9
Mike Seidel: 8
Wade Bergman: 2
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 28!
Mikey: 20

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 9

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 17

On Notice
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Jordan Fulton
Chad Huttel
Scott Kishel
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen
Mike Seidel

The Tipping Point

tUMD 6, Sad Pandas 0

This season is either going to take off or crash and burn. I don't know which. But what I do know is that a game against a somewhat insignificant opponent (no offense, Mercyhurst, but let's be honest) gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to put the little things together. Little things that separate the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff, etc.

Kenny Reiter had a great game. He still wandered, but with a purpose. He'd had an even longer break than the rest of the guys, as Hjelle played both Denver games and Kenny's last game was against UND, which left a lot of us with that not-so-fresh feeling.

The penalty kill was 6 for 6, including a 5 on 3, and Brady Lamb had a shorthanded goal.

Only 6 skaters did not register a point. Scoring was balanced, with every line and every defensive pairing getting at least an assist.

The second period was the best period. tUMD scored three goals in the 2nd, one in the first, and two in the second. Could it be the second period abomination is a thing of the past? Please say yes!

I hate that I'm not in Vermont right now. Last year's road trip to the Shillelagh tournament was one of my favorites. We had the run of the arena, and it was pretty obvious from the B2 feed that we would have again. I think if I yelled the entire state of Vermont would have heard me. I could have caused an avalanche.

In case you don't know, the Dogs will be playing Vermont tomorrow at 6:05 Central. Vermont squeaked by Huntsville 4-3. If you want updates, don't forget, I'm on Twitter!

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 2 (NONCON)
Points until we reach last season's total: 10 (NONCON)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 27!
Brady Lamb: 10!
Mike Seidel: 8

Freshmen
Dylan Olsen: 9
Mike Seidel: 8
Wade Bergman: 2
Keegan Flaherty: 2
Dan Delisle: 1
Jake Hendrickson: 1
Drew Olson: 1

Connollys
Jacky: 27!
Mikey: 20!

Olsen/Olson
Drew: 1
Dylan: 9

Drews
Olson: 10
Akins: 15

On Notice
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Drew Olson

Goals Only
Jordan Fulton
Chad Huttel
Scott Kishel
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen
Mike Seidel