Just Do It

Dear Bulldogs, we have been waiting a long, long time for this. And by we, I mean all of the fans and Bulldog hockey alumni.

Win it for us.

Win it for your coach, Bill Watson. Give him the ring he should have had 27 years ago. And don't take 4 OTs to do it. And good lord, Kenny, stay in the net, because Bulldogs fans cannot handle another fluky DECC hop garbage BS goal and I want to PUKE when I see that Bowling Green banner hanging at the X because THAT SHOULD BE OURS.

Win it for your old captain, Andrew Carroll. The consummate hard worker, who willed himself and his teammates to be better. Win it for him, as vindication for that Miami game.

Win it for Dick Stewart. Win it for his windsock and his dedication to the youth hockey players of Duluth. Win it because you bought your gear from him. Win it because he lost his vision at a Bulldogs game.

Win it for Isaac, for Junior, for Schwabe, Timmay, Hards, Geisler, Unks, for those guys who brought us so close in Boston.

Win it for the students, the ones who make up cheers and signs and drink to the wins and the losses and get the crowd going. Win it for the former runners of the goal lap. Win it for your classmates and your neighbors.

Win it for the DECC. The arena you closed down in style just over four months ago. The arena where Bulldog legends have played. Win it and do something they didn't. Win it and make your mark on both buildings.

Win it for the city of Duluth, the people who voted to give you this beautiful new arena. Win it for AMSoil and hang a banner next October.

Win it for Hoagy. Because there's no one more dedicated, more caring, and more invested in you guys than he is. Win it for all he's given the program for so many years.

Win it for your fans. For those of us who sat through the agony of defeat, through seasons where wins were scarce, through seasons where talent was wasted, through seasons where the highest scorer would finish 8th on the team in points. Win it for those of us who have lost hope and then found it again and again. Win it for those of us who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to see you play. Win it for those of us who have driven hundreds or thousands of miles to see you play. Win it for people following you all around the world. Win it for the folks who have made total fools of themselves in public, in print, in pictures, and on television. Win it for the fans who are starving for a championship, who have been waiting half a century to see this happen. Win it in the state you play in, the home state for many of you, the adopted home state for others. Win it in front of a crowd that will overwhelmingly support you.

Win it for us. Win it for each other. Win it for yourself. Go get 'em, Dogs.

America, Jr.

So, I enjoy making fun of the Canadian university hockey teams, but really, I love Canada. J'aime le Canada! Canada has given me MacGregor Sharp and Evan Schwabe, two of my favorite Guys EVER!! And also Fonzie, and Junior Lessard, and Jamie Russell. Mmmm....

Anyway, Canada also has lots of amazing stuff. Their national anthem is AWESOME. According to Mike it is also the UMD fight song.

Other things about Canada that are awesome:

Childrens programmes:


Junior hockey:


Dapper sportscasters:


Heavy metal gods:


Totally awesome donuts!!!!:


Marty McFly (yes I realize this video is mostly Doc-related but Doc is amazing and also this is freaking funny):


Ice Road Truckers:


And, finally, THE GREATEST TELEVISION SHOW EVER:

Hindsight

In the basement awhile ago, I found a program from the 2003-2004 season. It's kind of amazing. I mean, Justin May has more hair. It's from a January series against Michigan Tech. This was prepared before these guys had any idea they were going to be in the Frozen Four. I mean, yeah, I'm sure they hoped they would, because who doesn't. But they weren't making plans to visit the Freedom Trail and eat at Legal Seafood or anything.

The team photo is laid out really weird. It's not all seniors in the front. Probably because there were only 5 seniors (NO ONE FORGET ABOUT MATT KLEIN. He is very nice and funny!) so Stauffacher is kind of jammed in there (probably because he was an assistant captain) and Beau is sitting in the middle flanked by all the coaches. I've never seen them do a picture in quite this way before. The coaches are not wearing skates, incidentally. Dan Kronick is in the photo and he looks ugly as ever. Couldn't he have put a bag over his head, or worn a veil or something?

I did not know Evan Schwabe was majoring in elementary and middle school education. And Tim Hambly was a math major. You all know how I feel about math.

There's an unintentionally hilarious photo of Park Point, which would be more unintentionally hilarious if it had Junior Lessard in it. (That's for you, Dirty.) There's also this advert for an optometrist that has Champ telling a basketball ref that he needs new glasses. I know it's a basketball ref because Champ is wearing a basketball jersey, and he has a potbelly. It's like middle-aged Champ.

The "Spotlight" feature is on T.J. Caig. It's in English, unlike the last feature I read on ol' Teej. He likes Trevor Linden, Pop-Tarts, and Kurt Cobain. (I wonder if some of the kids on the current team have even heard of Kurt Cobain. TJ is like 10 years older than some of them.)

This was Jamie Russell's first season as the MTU head coach. They had 2 wins at that point in the season. Ah, good old reliable Tech. But one of those wins was against UMD. Hmm. It wasn't even a Tech win, it was a regular 2-pointer!

There is a coupon for a free cup of coffee with a gas fill-up at a Holiday Stationstore. It has no expiration date. I'm clipping it now!

The program ends with a column written by ambiguously-named Jess Myers. He talks about the "New DECC" project. Truly a visionary! He wrote "a myriad of" instead of myriad. Argh. I hate that. But he does mention UMD's raucous road trippers made more noise at Magness than the DU fans. This is unsurprising. It's like a morgue. Except when that high school kid wanted to fight me. He looked like a woodchuck. He picked the Bulldogs to sweep Tech. And he was right!

I really need to hang on to more of these programs. Ahhh, memories!

Sharp News

I love it when the Friends of RWD make it easy to post.

RWD reader and fellow MacG S fan Vizoroo sent me this link this morning. The article is from April, but it's still relevant. Some Anaheim fan (I'm having trouble forgiving him/her for being an Anaheim fan, but s/he is a MacG S fan, which supercedes all) really likes MacG. And what's not to adore and worship about him, anyway? He is talented, hard-working, handsome, and so very very very clutch. Which is not the proper usage of the word, but whatevs.

Let's see the highlight reel from the article:

In many ways, the story of MacGregor Sharp is the story of Mason Raymond. The Alberta natives played together for four years, two years on the same junior hockey team and two years at Minnesota-Duluth. At both programs, the same pattern played out: Sharp and Raymond would post similar numbers in their first year together, only to have Raymond pull away as the superstar in the second year. Though identical in size and age, their styles were different: Mason, the speedster with great hands and MacGregor, the relentless grinding puckhound.

I'm so glad we had MacG for 4 years. Sorry Mase, but I'm sure you're not surprised. Nor do I think you care. (Though I'm sure MacGregor Sharp doesn't care either, but that's not the point. I care enough for both of us!)

Sharp followed up a shot on Gophers goaltender Alex Kangas, potting the rebound and knocking the flu-ridden Kangas out of the game. MacGregor opened scoring again the next night when he chased down a misplay by Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness, depositing the shorthanded puck in the net before the tender could return to his crease. Then, in the championship game, Sharp made a sweet pass on a 2-on-2 break on the power play, only to slide the return feed under Pioneers backstop Marc Cheverie. It was the first of Sharp's three goals that night, and the Bulldogs became the first Play-In winner to ever take the WCHA championship.

How did he pick from so many different choices? I can not WAIT until the UMD Hockey Facebook Fan Page comes out with the 3rd installment of its highlight series.

His performance in both the WCHA and NCAA tournaments shows he's developed poise. He has great two-way hockey sense: a grinding backcheck, but equally skilled at sniffing out rebounds and anticipating bad plays. He can create relentless first man pressure, but he's also played a lot of time as the second forechecker. He plays a solid penalty kill, but his impressive passing and his ability to dangle on the halfboards made him an indispensible center on the best power play in the WCHA. If I had to pinpoint the part of his game that caught McNab's attention, I'd say it was his play in the NHL sized rink. The Final Five was played at Xcel Energy in St. Paul, and the smaller but longer zones seemed to benefit Sharp on both sides of the puck.

He forgot to mention: he's dreamy. Anaheim better not try to make him mean and cheap. I mean, seriously, you've got enough cheap goons. Mitts off my Sharpie.

Huh. I copied like, 3/4 of the article. Oh well, there's still other a few other things on there.

Speaking of dreamy, WCH listed Mike Seidel as the 24th best prospect in the west. MacGregor Sharp is mentioned. But sorry, Chris. No one will replace MacGregor to me. Just like no one will replace Mike Curry or Evan Schwabe.

Standing On Guard For Me

Today is Canada Day! Essentially, this is functions as Canada's "birthday," when the British North America Act was enacted and unified the provinces. I learned that on Wikipedia, which as we know is infallible as a source. While this is not nearly as bada$$$$ as event that we commemorate on the United States' birthday, we here at RWD still want to recognize a holiday that's important to some folks very important to RWD.

We have had a LOT of Canadians come through the DECC and the Duluth Curling Club; 140 to be precise. I counted! But I might be off by one or two. Let me know.

Currently, UMD has 5 returning Canucks on the roster: Brady Lamb (AB), Travis Oleksuk (ON), Cody Danberg (SK), Mike Connolly (AB) and Justin Fontaine (AB). We're also adding two more Canadians this fall: Wade Bergman (AB) and Dylan Olsen (AB, although I think he was born in the U.S.). I love Canadians! They add so much to my roster. A lot of My Guys have been Canadians... I pretty much favor Canadians and Northern Minnesotans, except for Gergy and Curry. Canadians were very good for UMD last year! They scored a lot of points and won a lot of games for us (including some BIG ones in the playoffs!) Canadians scored 63 goals and had 115 assists for 178 of the 344 points the team got.

Some of UMD's most successful alumni are Canadians. In addition to the awesome guys we have on our roster, last year's superstar senior MacGregor Sharp (AB), Hobey Baker winner Lucien Lessard, Jr (QC), WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod (ON), Bulldog legend Keith "Huffer" Christiansen (ON), TV Analyst Judd Medak (BC), Bulldog daddy Bill Oleksuk (ON), former NHLers Curt Giles (MB), Pat Bouttette (ON), Norm Maciver (ON), and Glenn Resch (SK), UMD assistant coach and Hobey Baker winner Bill Watson (MB), Hall of Famer Brett Hull (BC), current NHLer Mason Raymond (AB), and most importantly, the original My Guy and all-time RWD favorite cutie pie, Evan Schwabe (SK) are ALL Canadians and important players in Bulldog history. Not that the rest of the guys aren't important.

Robby Nolan is Canadian, too. Even though he's not a Bulldog, he's still a very special person to RWD.

Happy Canada Day, everyone!!!!

Debut

tUMD 5, WMU 2

I'm in Duluth! Hooray! And actually connected to the internet! Which is a plus! Although, I can't connect on my own computer, which is depressing. I can't update my glorious spreadsheet of numbers.

I had some struggles on the way up. I was pretty excited to get on the road (once I finally got my gear in order... it took awhile, but it didn't really matter since without the Grandma's luncheon, it didn't matter so much what time I arrived), and when I drive by myself, I usually rock out pretty hard to some music. If you were to drive alongside of me, you would probably do a double take, or at least laugh. Yes, I really am screaming along to the songs. Anyway, as soon as I got on 169, I turned on an 80s rock mix I had made to get myself pumped up for the games! As if I needed any assistance, but still. The first song on was "Eye of the Tiger" which is a fairly moto song... Well, I was so excited to get on the road that I missed my usual exit at 694 (I was just so excited to go north I forgot I needed to go east, too) and didn't realize it until I was at a really long stoplight and couldn't figure out why. Oops. I called around trying to find someone to help me get back on track, and who comes to my rescue? Well, the guy who rescues people on a fairly regular basis: Fire Helmet Guy. Of course, by the time he got back to me, I had already implemented a plan (find a major road that runs east-west and get on it), but it was still nice of him to help me out. I can't believe I actually said something nice that didn't have some hidden insult to it. I'm growing as a person right before your eyes.

FHG also filled me in on the Dubay situation. My initial reaction was a laugh but really, it's more sad than anything. I won't discuss it here, as it really has nothing to do with tUMD other than when he said we were terrible and I yelled at him about it and then made him pose with me for a picture. I look totally deranged in that photo.

I talked to DA as well and he mentioned the polls and their utter failure. We freaking smoked Northern and we're not even ranked yet? He seemed appalled. I commented that we get no respect, no regard neither. tDogs are the Rodney Dangerfield of the hockey world.

Once I got to Duluth I was welcomed by a huge ship going out, which was nice. I don't usually go out of my way to try to catch a ship coming in or anything, but if it's there, yeah I'm going to watch it and take photos. I forgot to take photos at the game, sadly. Whoopsie. Then I went over to tDECC to buy my tickets (which took forever since I was buying for tonight, tomorrow night, and the Wisconsin games, and in different quantities) and saw the guys running their laps around the concourse. Some cute little kid that was probably playing in the Little Chippers game saw them and was like "Is that the team?" and he was all atwitter. Well, so was I, but I was more discreet. See, I have restraint. You were all thinking I'd be over there with my nose pressed against the glass slobbering over them. Well HA! I wasn't. I couldn't really tell who anyone was except Bordson because he has that terrible bleached hair. I think I recognized Josh Meyers too. Maybe. Who cares. I know you all don't.

OF COURSE I pregamed at the Curling Club, which involved a dice game, Jag Bombs, and loudness. Lots of loudness. The good thing about DHG is he is louder than me. I know most people would say that's not a good quality, but I'm sometimes self-conscious about my loudness, especially if I am loud near a bunch of quiet people, so it was nice to be around someone else loud. I had to buy a shot for this drinking game and the bartender did not know how to make it. I had to use a lifeline.

We made it to the game just in time for the puck drop, which is fine with me. It was just so great to see my 'Dogs back in action!!! Of course I was getting all hot and bothered every time JCON touched the puck because I soooo want to see him score a goal, but he is such a great set-up man that if he never scored a goal but got an assist in every game I would not put him on notice. THREE ASSISTS!! THREE!!! AMAZING!!! I thought someone had injured him at one point and was ready to cut a bitch, but he ended up being ok. I'm already hearing comparisons between Evan Schwabe and him, and we all know how I feel about Evan...

As for the game winning goal... well, I know that B2 wasn't working nor was the audio feed online, but oh baby, it was a highlight reel goal... if there were actually highlights one could reel. But NO. The only hockey on TV in Duluth tonight was some stupid game in some hick town in Western MN. Mike Connolly made an absolutely sick move to the net and beat the goalie, plain and simple. I was so depressed that it was in the second period because it was at the other end of the rink so I didn't have a close-up view, but I could watch that play over and over and over and over again and love it more each time.

Justin Fontaine continues to bring the amazingness I knew he'd be bringing. That's all I have to say on that. 2 goals, the first one not even two minutes into the game (Remember when that used to be us, giving up early goals? Well, not anymore!) and the second on the power play.

When the game ticked down to its final minutes, the Broncos decided to pull their goalie. I happen to think it was a futile effort (we just rock too hard to let them come back) but it also showed a lot of character on their team's part. They weren't just going to roll over and die, and I think it's difficult to keep that focus when you lose a lot of games. Granted it is early in the season but it's not like last year they were tearing it up in the CCHA. We took a timeout shortly after that and DHG and Boody decided that it was to set up Stalock for a goal. We were pretty excited and started screaming at him that we wanted a goal. The three of us are pretty loud and the DECC isn't all that big so I know that he heard us. I mean, we were practically the only people left in tDECC anyway. Which is another issue altogether. When we're losing, I guess I can kind of see leaving early, but when we win, we should be cheering at the end!! A win is a beautiful thing and should be basked in!!!

Anyway, Stalock didn't get a chance to score because Nick Kemp had to go and ruin everything and get the empty netter instead. My companions were not pleased. I do think it would be totally amazing for Stalock to get a goal. We gave Nick a little razzing. But Nick! We kid because we love!!

My main criticism of tonight's effort is the 3rd period. A TWO GOAL LEAD IS NOT A SAFE LEAD! IT IS NOT. AT ALL. EVER. I've made every formatting change I could to try to emphasize this point. The boys seemed to sit back on their heels a bit (not all of them, I still saw some guys out there hustling) and seemed content with the game as it was. Our defense seemed to break down toward the end. WMU had 11 SOG through two periods and we let them get 12 in the 3rd. That should not have happened. We should have continued to attack. We may be Bulldogs but we need to behave like pit bulls some times. Rabid pit bulls. Both of Western's goals were on the power play, which is a bummer because usually our PK is so good, but sometimes if a team has a strong PK it makes them a little less concerned about taking penalties, and if a team takes a lot of penalties, eventually they're going to give up some PPGs. We did survive a 2-man advantage unscathed, though.

For tomorrow night, I'm hoping adjustments are made and we see a much tighter game, similar to the differences between the Lake State game and the Northern game. The guys played so-so against Lake State, made adjustments, and came out flying against the Wildcats. I'm thinking maybe another shut-out? Or is that too much to ask?

The Numbers
Wins until we equal last season's total: 9 (STILL non-conference)
Points until we equal last season's total: 23 (STILL ditto)

My Guys
MacGregor Sharp: 5! (Assisted on the AMAZING GWG and the ENG)
Jack Connolly: 3! (Hat trick of assists!!! SO HOTTT!!!!)
Michael Gergen: 1! (And it was an assist, Chris. An ASSIST!)
Rob Bordson: 0 (Looked so cute running around the DECC for warmups, though!)

Freshmen
Mike Connolly: 5!
Jack Connolly: 3!
Scott Kishel: 0
Brady Lamb: 0
Travis Oleksuk: 0
David Grun: ###

On Notice:
Still nobody, but some guys had better kick it into gear or they will be!

Mustang Sallies

I realize that we are actually playing a team called the Broncos this weekend, but I got confused/didn't care and thought that Western Michigan were the Mustangs, and I refused to waste a so-so joke.

I'm excited for this weekend. I'll be heading up to Duluth at some point on Friday. The main problem with this is I'll be staying with a friend who I don't think even knows how to use the internet. It'll be like staying in a cave in the woods. I can't wait. I'll have to go to a coffee shop or something and bogart some wireless.

DISAPPOINTINGLY, there doesn't appear to be a Bulldog Club luncheon this weekend, so how will I get to Ask A Question??? Last year I had nothing to ask/chickened out/realized no one cared because they were all there to talk about tUMD football. I went up to the buffet table three times though. Yum.

Sweep this weekend or else, guys.

Additionally, I'm sure some of you are noticing there's something different about this site. The rest of you are like "No habla ingles," or "I was looking for a diagram of the bones of the human leg," which is the most common reason for people to come to this site. I changed a few things around, most notably I added a few links: first, you can get information on this site, then you can easily access all The Gauntlet interviews, and you can view all of the All-WCHA Hottie Teams. I also added a link to Puck Swami's new blog, Know Your Foe, although if you are not a DU fan, I must warn you that the subjects of his blog are not your foes.

The other thing I added is the lovely banner at the top of the site. I made it myself using photos I did not obtain permission to use. So please, start the lawsuits, I dare you. From left to right, the photos are: Jack Connolly; Huffer et. al.; MEg, Justin St. Louis, me, and a cup of beer; a ship and lighthouse; Evan Schwabe; Curry and some other guys celebrating a goal; FireHelmetGuy and me (he complained that the words were covering most of the photos but in his case it's a public service); tDECC; Mike Curry; and Raymond, Sharpy, Knighter and Gors from a few years ago. I thought the site could use a little color.

To wrap things up, I hope to see you all at either Grandma's or the Curling Club, and please, someone be on alert to bail me out of jail. BTW, my birthday's coming up soon, and if you all wanted to go in on a gift, a radar detector would be amazing.

The Gauntlet: Last Rites Edition

This week, RWD offers extreme unction to Badger Backer, blogger over at The Wisconsin Hockey Blog, which is just being kept comfortable with morphine at this point.

RWD: Let's begin with a thorough dissection of last weekend. Did you think you guys would be able to take three points from the Gophers?

BB: Yes. The Gophers just aren't as explosive this year as in past seasons. Looking at the records, it seemed like an evenly matched series, and it was. This year was the first time in a while that the Badgers seemed equally dangerous on offense.

RWD: That's a bold statement right there. I mean, "Badgers" and "offense" are rarely used in a sentence together. Unless to say "Wisconsin Badgers players committed a major offense against a tent."

BB: Ha. Well, I think the Badgers get sort of a bad rap for their offense. They were tied for third in the league in scoring in 2005-06 and were 4th in the league in 2004-05. [Way to look that one up, Sparky. Unless you knew that off the top of your head, which would be ultra-nerdy. It reminds me of a quotation from the Simpsons I heard the other day: "That's E-3 if you're keeping score at home. And if you are, your loneliness saddens me."]

RWD: Do you think it makes Bucky nervous that Eaves uses a "trap" system? [EXTREMELY LONG PAUSE]

BB: No, I think it makes Bucky successful. You'd be hard pressed to find a team at any level of hockey these days that doesn't use the trap at least some of the time. It's become somewhat of a dirty word, but the numbers show that the Badgers have had some success offensively, and certainly play an open enough style that the fans are excited. Most of the criticism comes from outside of the Badger ranks, from opponents that are tired of seeing lock down defense in the neutral zone, good goaltending, and solid shot blocking. [Really, because how dare a team play their own system instead of playing the other team's game?]

RWD: I meant Buckingham T. Badger personally. Do you think he is nervous about a "trap?" Like he might be skinned and have his pelt sold at a trading post in Mile 40, Saskatchewan? [The future home of me and Mr. Evan Schwabe.]

BB: Bucky is too much of a celebrity for that. He finished 2nd in the national mascot contest. [To what? Mr. Peanut?]

RWD: Don't you think the people who complain about the trap are just a bunch of whiners who are mad that other teams don't just bow down to their greatness coughNORTH DAKOTA FANScough?

BB: Yes. Minnesota fans too.

RWD: Because really, if you're a good team, you'll find a way to beat any system, am I right?

BB: I agree. Plus I think I noticed some trapping from the guys wearing maroon and gold last weekend anyway. [Who, UMD? What? Oh... the other maroon and gold.]

RWD: Hah, or against Wayne St. [as Donald pointed out]. Who's a bigger rival for the Gophers: Wisconsin or UND?

BB: Wisconsin, even though our record against them isn't great. [FHG disagrees, but he's a tUMD fan.] It's a Big Ten rivalry that transcends all sports. [I wouldn't say it's simply a Big Ten rivalry, but it certainly is transcendent.] Plus given how badly we've destroyed them at football and basketball the last few years, hockey's basically all they've got left. 1-11. [That last part must be a communique to some Communist Party leader.]

RWD: Oh man, they'll be crying from Fargo to Williston.

BB: I am impressed with your knowledge of North Dakota geography.

RWD: It's not really all that difficult. I already named half the cities. [In 5th grade, I won the geography bee, which was actually just a written test, and it was mistakenly attributed to another person, who had a huge crush on me. He was a huge freak.]

BB: In fairness, though, I don't think there’s too much love for UND in Fargo.

RWD: Dirty lives in Fargo. Case closed.

BB: Go Bison. [Go banana!]

RWD: So did you watch FSNN or FSNW this past weekend?

BB: FSNN.

RWD: Did you miss Sagissor's lovely face? [I wonder why they didn't do their little FSNN/FSNW collaboration again this year? Anyone got any dirt on that?]

BB: I missed hearing his extremely insightful comments about the game of hockey.

RWD: Whom do you prefer: Sagissor or Mazocco?

BB: Well, Sags is a color guy and Maz does play by play. I think both of them are homers, so I'll go with Sags because he's a homer for my side.

RWD: Bruckler or Elliott?

BB: Elliott.

RWD: Lenin or Trotsky?

BB: Lenin.

RWD: Aha! Why are Wisconsin fans so offended when I correctly refer to them as Commies?

BB: I don't know why they'd be offended; I think it's a pretty unoriginal insult. [I would disagree. "You suck" is unoriginal.]

RWD: I felt like I've made some creative uses of it.

BB: Hey, if it works, go with it.

RWD: I guess I wouldn't say Mike Eaves is a commie. He's more of a megalomaniac. [KMFDM, anyone?]

BB: I don't actually know anything about Eaves' personality. He scored 267 career points at UW and won titles as a player and a coach. Whatever kind of ego he's got probably isn't totally delusional.

RWD: So he's never physically assaulted you?

BB: Nope, only Alex Leavitt. [That we KNOW of!]

RWD: There's time. I notice his sons weren't interested in playing for him.

BB: Well, Ben Eaves was already playing for BC when Eaves took over as coach at UW, and Patrick Eaves went to play with his brother. [Uh...]

RWD: Wow, I don't even have to go too far out of context to make a joke out of that.

BB: Yeah it was unfortunate wording.

RWD: So you spent several years as a member of the WCHA's most storied student section. What sort of exciting flair did you wear at games? [I hope at least 17 pieces!]

BB: Four years. I graduated on time. [Underwater basketweaving is the way to go!] Not much, [Oooh, sexy!] I wore Crease Creatures t-shirts, which they gave out for free. I also usually wore a Badgers stocking cap and "Solar Shield" sunglasses, which are large sunglasses usually worn by elderly persons. [Not Blu Blockers?]

RWD: Wow, so no pants or anything. Sounds like a Wisconsinite for sure!

BB: The sunglasses broke after I stepped on them celebrating a goal. I continued to wear them with one ear holder broken. [Somebody give this man a medal! He wore broken sunglasses! What a sacrifice!]

RWD: Are those the ones that have the huge side blockers, too?

BB: Oh yeah. Also, they fell off so many times during "Hot Time" that they got kind of scratched and it became hard to see through them, but tradition is tradition. [And they were scratched, too? Well, if you tell me they were also not your prescription, I think that’s the third miracle that would qualify you for sainthood!]

RWD: It seems like "tradition" might be more important than "knowing about hockey" in the student section.

BB: I certainly hope so. [Your prayers have been answered.] Badger fans know about hockey, but we also know how to have a good time. Fans are supposed to be FANS. They're supposed to cheer for their team, and be pumped up to be there, and have a good time. We have a long tradition from the Coliseum to the Kohl Center of having pumped up, excited, fun loving fans that know the traditions and the dances. I think it's good to know a lot about hockey, but it isn't a class where you go to sit silently and observe the game. We get our money's worth. Additionally, a lot of the cheers are tied to specific events in the game. If you don't know anything about what's going on, you can't participate. [Damn you and your double space bar after each period!]

RWD: Yeah, that cheer about a delayed offsides is a real show-stopper.

BB: We don't have one for that. Maybe someday.

RWD: Any good stories for the folks out there in TV land?

BB: Of being in the student section?

RWD: Or just your glory days in general. Make like Bruce Springsteen and reminisce. [That was so High Fidelity of me.]

BB: Well, one of my favorite stories is from the playoff series against Alaska at the Coliseum. Don Adam was officiating the series and had been on the bad side of the fans. On the Sunday game, Shepard officiated the game. I'm not sure if that's WCHA policy or if they just decided they had to pull Adam off the game because a riot might happen.

RWD: It is WCHA policy. [Don't think you're so special, buddy.]

BB: That's what I thought, but it did prevent a riot. Anyway, after the game we're walking out, and the way the Coliseum is set up, the refs are hanging out right next to the exit. My friend yells at Shepherd, "Hey Shepherd, good job tonight, not like Adam, he's a bitch." And Shepherd turns around and says, "That's funny, because last time I was here, I sucked."

RWD: I'm sure there was a protest filed by Wisconsin in regards to both refs.

BB: Well, they probably deserved it.

RWD: Do you feel like you missed out since Wisconsin won their NC after you graduated?

BB: Maybe a little. I went to the national title game, and saw it in person, so that dulled some of the pain.

RWD: It's just not the same.

BB: Obviously given that I sat through the horror which was the 02-03 season, I would have liked the payoff before I graduated.

RWD: So why aren't you blogging anymore?

BB: It actually takes suprisingly more time than you'd think. [I raised my eyebrow here.] So, it's a little bit of burnout. When I wasn't having as much fun writing any more, I decided it was time to stop. It's nice to be able to watch the games or read about them without having to write down my thoughts, and although I enjoyed blogging for the time that I did it, I don't regret stopping. Maybe I'll be back some day. [APPRECIATE ALL I DO FOR YOU, PEOPLE! BUY ME SHOTS!]

RWD: It doesn't take more time than I would think. Considering that I've been doing it for 4 seasons.

BB: Okay. It takes more time than I thought it would.

RWD: Damn straight. Do you have any favorites on the current squad?

BB: I've never really been the kind of person that picks favorite players, but Kyle Turris is an exciting player who can score at any time, and I'm glad to see Ben Street having a nice season and Blake Geoffrion bouncing back from last year. Patrick Johnson is also a favorite given his two goals against Minnesota on Sunday. [Who?]

RWD: So you don't have any all-time favorites?

BB: Well, all Badger fans love Mark Johnson. Brian Elliott may also be in that pantheon one day with his Hobey nomination and national title win.

RWD: That's it? You don't like any other Badgers? No one made your little heart go pitter-pat?

BB: I like the whole team. I don't really pick favorites. I like whoever is contributing as best they can and playing well. [He's a fickle guy.]

RWD: You'll make a good mini-mite coach one day.

BB: I also like Sara Bauer; she was fun to watch on the women's side. I always wondered how she's stack up in the men's game.

RWD: And who is the hottest Badger this year?

BB: That's for you to decide.

RWD: False!

BB: You left us totally off last year if I remember right. [It's not the freaking All-Star Game. There doesn't have to be a pity pick from each team!]

RWD: It's not my fault there's a bunch of uggos. Maybe there will be a hott freshman. Eaves always looks sharp on the bench, in a Won't You Be My Neighbor? sort of way. [I'm sure he zips into a cardigan when he goes home at night and ties on some crisp sneakers.]

BB: Ha. Well, I'll reserve judgment and hope one of the freshmen can make a run this year.

RWD: It doesn't look good. Rumour has it that you're also a hottie. The ladies want to know if there's a Mrs. BB.

BB: Thanks for the compliment. [Don’t get used to it.] No, there's not a Mrs. BB.

RWD: !!!!! Exciting news, gals! [What if BB and someone found love because of RWD. It would certainly be a first, usually people find hate here.] I assume any potential woman must enjoy drinking PBR and eating cheese.

BB: Miller Lite. I do enjoy cheese.

RWD: Wow, that's shocking.

BB: Not to mention cheese of the curded and deep fried variety.

RWD: Yum. [I had some cajun cheese curds at the Taste of Minnesota that changed my life.] So I heard on the street there's a hockey series this weekend.

BB: Pretty exciting. Battle for 4th place. Maybe get over .500. [Way to get the party started.]

RWD: We are over .500.

BB: In the conference.

RWD: We like to tie. We're making our case for the shoot-out.

BB: I like ties. Shoot-outs are so NHL.

RWD: Imagine that. A Wisconsin fan saying "I like ties."

BB: I think a relatively good management strategy is to not do anything the NHL does.

RWD: Got any advice for Bulldogs fans visiting Madison? Where should they eat?

BB: I think they should go to Dotty's to eat. It's near the stadium but it fills up fast so you have to get there early. They make good hamburgers.

RWD: And where should we drink to our victories? [Two, to be exact!]

BB: The Church Key. Best bar in Madison, stiff drinks, nice staff, and it's nice now ever since they remodeled it.

RWD: And then when they absolutely need something greasy as heck to eat at 2 am?

BB: If you want a kind of different place, there's a dumpling restaurant called Pelmeni on State Street that is good. I'm not 100% sure they're still open at bar time, but I'd imagine that they are. Ian's Pizza is the most popular, and there are two locations now.

RWD: Excellent. Who's going to have 4th place after this weekend?

BB: The Badgers. I like you, RWD, [well thanks, babe!] but when it comes down to Badgers vs. Dogs, I've gotta go with the Badgers.

RWD: Really? Even in a fight between two actual animals?

BB: Badgers are pretty vicious. They'll claw your face off.

RWD: So will I, but I didn't hear you picking me as a winner.

BB: The Badgers used to have a live mascot. It escaped and attacked people, so now we have a human mascot.

RWD: Hah, way to go. [Now Bucky is the one getting attacked by Cro-Magnon Finley. The winds of change have blown through Madison.] So what's your weekend prediction?

BB: 3 points to Wisconsin

RWD: Score?

BB: Friday 4-2, Saturday 2-2 I never get those right.

RWD: Excellent. 4 points UMD!

Checking In

Just thought I'd see what some old Bulldog favorites are up to...

Tim Stapleton: Viime kausi: Saapui Jokereihin koeajalla, joka muuttui nopeasti vuoden sopimukseksi, pelasi Jani Ritan ohella joukkueen kaikki ottelut kauden aikana 16.01 minuutin keskiarvolla, oli 48 (19+29) pisteellä joukkueen kolmanneksi tehokkain pelaaja runkosarjassa, ainoastaan Wayne Thompson, Otakar Janecky ja Glen Metropolit ovat olleet Jokereiden ulkomaalaisista tehokkaampia ensimmäisillä kausillaan, pudotuspeleissä Stapleton oli joukkueen piste- ja maalipörssin jaettu ykkönen kymmenellä pisteellä ja kuudella maalilla, ensimmäisenä ammattilaisvuotenaan SM-hopeaa.

Evan Schwabe: Tehnyt paljon pisteitä uransa aikana kaikissa pelaamissaan joukkueissa. Koostaan huolimatta terrierimäinentaistelija. Liikkuu ja laukoo hyvin. Nykysääntöjen ja ison jääalueen pitäisi suosia Evanin pelityyliä hyvin.

TJ Caig gets interviewed:
größter sportlicher Erfolg: niederländischer Meister mit Nijmegen 2006, Aufstieg in die 2. Bundesliga mit den Heilbronner Falken 007
Lieblings- bzw. Hass-...
-essen: Meeresfrüchte*/ Bohnen
-getränk: Red Bull/ Kaffee
-eishalle: Lavatec Arena/ Peiting, Grafing, Miesbach - die waren alle schlimm ;-)
-band: 80s und alter Rock’n Roll/ Rap
Hobbys: Fischen, wakeboarden
Familienstand: In einer Beziehung
Berufsabschluss: Eishockeyprofi
Welches Auto fährst du bzw. willst du mal fahren? Zu Hause fahre ich einen Jeep, ich würde aber auch gern mal Bentley fahren.
Wenn du einen Tag im Körper des anderen Geschlechts stecken würdest, was würdest du machen? Ich würde mit der Mannschaft duschen gehen (grinst).
Wenn du einen Wunsch frei hättest, was würdest du dir wünschen? Ich würde mir wünschen glücklich und gesund zu sein und zu bleiben.
Wer ist dein Lieblingskomiker? Larry the Cable Guy
Welche Person würdest du gerne mal kennen lernen? Donald Trump
Wie oft bist du in deinem Leben schon umgezogen? Ca. achtmal
Wo bist du aufgewachsen? Vancouver

Well. Keep it up, guys! Ich liebe Dich!

*Meeresfrüchte means "sea fruits" according to Babelfish.

2-2, 2-2, 2-2

UMD Attack Dogs 2, Lake State Lakers 2.

Well, here we are folks, the long wait is over, the season is underway, and there's already controversy! Not in tDogs game, of course, but in the Gopher/RPI game, where the hometown call was in full effect. I don't want to get into it, as this is not a Gopher site, but I had the game on TV while I was watching tDogs, so I did see what went down. And it was UGLY.

Conversely, in the Bulldogs game, I wouldn't say the officiating was that poor. I mean, I may have raised my arm a few times when I felt the officials missed something, but I did appreciate the Bulldogs were allowed to play with a physicality unseen in the past few seasons. Kemper the Wrecker was breaking skulls all over the place, and overall the guys were playing the body a lot more. I can't wait to see what Mike Curry can do with the New Bulldogs. Elbows will be flying!

I was pretty disappointed with some of the first power plays, as I like to see a lot more shots on the power play, and for crying out loud, when you go into the corner with someone, YOU COME OUT WITH THE PUCK WHEN YOU HAVE THE MAN ADVANTAGE. You just do, okay? I don't care how you do it. But then I was placated with a power play goal, and our penalty kill kept the streak alive, so all in all, I'm pleased with the outcome. We did have some interesting PP units, as I saw Fontaine out there quite a bit (the B2 feed makes it hard to see 1. numbers on jerseys and 2. the puck, which is a bit challenging), but hey, we got a goal.

And the freshman. Oh mother, were they fun to watch! When I got the lineups for the game, I thought hmm... an all-freshman line... I don't know about that. Then I figured they'd just see limited ice time. And yet, they were out there regular-shifting (it seems... can't tell who was on the ice, remember?) and they seemed pretty good. We already know that I am a big fan of Rob Bordson (he is #15, and I tend to like players with #15!), but The Danberg is quickly becoming my favorite freshman. Those guys seemed to cycle fairly well and hustled. I felt they had a few pretty good scoring chances as well.

It was very, very wrong for there to be a player named Schwab (except, no e) from Saskatchewan playing, and have it not be the Almighty One.

Trent Palm = awesome. We are going to get so many freaking goals from the defencemen this year. Garrison was letting it rip, Chaser was letting it rip, Palm was letting it rip, Oberg is known to give some offensive production, Meyers has proven himself offensively already, and Gawryletz looks like a serial killer, so no one is going to score on him. We have not seen Chad Huttel yet, but I have heard he likes to bang around the body (The Hutt was also a halfback/middle linebacker for the Hawks), which I always appreciate.

Al made some crucial saves, but I could always, always, always use more rebound control and puck awareness. I'll never get tired of that, so don't stop, baby. I am overly critical of goalies, so I'm going to stop there, because seriously, what do I know?

My Guys played well, as they ALWAYS DO, for they are My Guys. MacGregor Sharp was a one-man playmaking machine, and he assisted on Trent Palm's goal, which was totally sweet and right off the face-off. I love goals like that, and I feel like we have the defencemen to score a lot of those. I love the element of surprise. Gergen created a scoring chance out of absolutely nowhere, and let me tell you, it is no surprise that Sharp and Gergzilla led the team with 5 shots apiece. Matt McKnight played to his usual Matt McKnight awesomeness, although he did not stand out as much as the other two. I probably should have taken notes on the game, as I'd have more to say. Mike Curry, as we all know, did not play. I can only assume that he would have had a hat trick and prevented both LSSU goals.

I am SO GLAD I am able to watch the games on TV now. Seriously, it has made recapping WAY more fun, and I can get a little more technical, although that is not my strong suit. $50 is SO worth it for the season pass!

Tomorrow's forecast will be a little late, as I have something going on all day, and then have to go in to work for an hour or so. I can't say that it will be all that exciting, excecpt that I'm not very happy Tech lost to Northern, as we don't need Northern to come in with any momentum. However, they do have to bus it over to Duluth, so that should wear them down a bit.

THE NUMBERS (back despite zero demand!)
Wins Until We Surpass Last Year's Total: 8 (conference-only)
Points Until We Surpass Last Year's Total: 20 (ditto)

My Guys:
MacGregor Sharp: 1
Everyone Else: Zipparoo

Freshmen:
Nobody scored... yet

On Notice (for those who don't know, people are On Notice when they go more than 4 games without a goal):
No one, obvs.

TOMORROW: Win! Win! Win! Let history repeat itself, copying last year's opening weekend! Then don't let history repeat itself ANYMORE, as the rest of the first half kind of sucked a lot.

Evan Sasquatch

Okay, I would like to know just who said it was okay to look like this. Remember when you looked like this, and you won All-Hottie First Team Honors? NO ONE SAID YOU COULD HAVE A HOCKEY MULLET. Sheesh.

Meanwhile, being de topscoorder van de Nederlandse competitie has been kind to TJ, taking him from this to this.

Huh.

The Century Club

Though The Century Club is normally thought of (esp. by RWD) as a game very similar to the Hour of Power, only 100 minutes instead of 60 minutes, I would also like to point out that this blog has now hit the Century Club. 100 posts!

Actually, that's pretty sad, if you think about it. This blog has been going for 590 days, and that means I've posted maybe once every 6 days. You could take into account the off-season, of course, and that would bring us to about one post every 4 2/3 days, but that still means I've been pretty darn lazy.

It's funny, because when I look back to those early days, I realize how much evolution has taken place in a pretty short time. That should be a shot in the arm for those punctuated equilibrium enthusiasts out there. Sure, my love for Evan Schwabe was well-documented, even back then, and I was already lobbying to be a color woman for the radio broadcast, but that's about it. I mean, Rhino Lining isn't even a sponsor anymore, so my counter doesn't make sense anymore. Neither is Keyport Liquor, whose question-and-answer format for advertisement was a source of unending entertainment (Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks? Keyport Liquor!). The features were different: I paid attention to the polls (I guess it was a heck of a lot more relevant last season), I kept track of the penalty leaders on our team, and I had the Hater Report (shhh! Don't tell Satnu!) going.

I think right now, RWD is right where I want it to be as far as development. Since there is no NBDP (National Blog Development Program), I've been going at this blindly. I think I've finally found my voice as a blogger, and that's probably most of the reason why I'm now actually, you know, telling people who do not share genes with me about this site. I like what I'm doing here, and even though some people might not, I'm cool with that.

When I started RWD, I don't think any of the other college hockey blogs I currently read existed. I'm not saying this because I want to feel special or fancy or anything; I certainly didn't have an original idea when I decided to start this thing. I like things how they are now, especially now that there is a blogger for every WCHA team. I would expect nothing less from the best conference in college hockey. Once the season gets started again, I'll probably check out the blogs from non-WCHA teams, or maybe I'll make that my summer reading, who knows?

Here's hoping the next 100 posts are much better than the first.

(It should be noted here that I have never, ever been a member of The Century Club. As for the Hour of Power, well... never mind.)

The AARP

It's time to say "So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good ni-ight" to our senior citizens. At a farewell Early Bird Special at Perkins this afternoon, the RWD staff bid a tearful adieu to the old codgers on the bench. Here's a recap of the event:

Player: Ryan Swanson
RWD Speech: "What can I say about Ryan Swanson? Well, nothing nice."
Parting Gift: Friend Of Bill t-shirt
Exit Music: "Na-na na na, Na-na na na, hey hey hey, go-od bye!"

Player: Justin Williams
RWD Speech: "I'm sorry I didn't vote you onto the All-WCHA Hottie Team, because you really came into your own as a hottie this year."
Parting Gift: RWD's phone number
Exit Music: Tom Jones, "Sex Bomb"

Player: Tim Stapleton
RWD Speech: "I've really enjoyed watching you score goals over the years, I just wish they weren't so often the only goals of the game. I guess you didn't enjoy it as much, because you didn't score as many as you should have."
Parting Gift: Gift certificate for a Mike Eruzione motivational speech
Exit Music: Roxette, "It Must Have Been Love"

Player: Isaac Reichmuth
RWD Speech: "You know, earlier in the year I flipped out at someone because he said you weren't a good goaltender. Now I look stupid. That's not nice. You forgot some WCHA players can actually lift the puck OVER your flopping body."
Parting Gift: Clothespins and a clothesline (from your defense)
Exit Music: Kool and the Gang, "Get Down On It"

Player: Steve Czech
RWD Speech: "I know that you and I have had our differences, but it's not my fault that I like good defensive play and you like to take lazy stick penalties."
Parting Gift: A rubber donut to sit on (all that time riding the penalty box pine has taken its toll)
Exit Music: Johnny Cash, "Folsom Prison Blues"

It's a shame that I didn't do this last year, but please know, Evan Schwabe's exit music would be "Soul and Inspiration," and for a gift, I would have thrown myself at him.

Can't Hardly Wait

TOMORROW is the FINAL FIVE!!!!!!

Now, I always enjoy going to the best darn tournament in college hockey (Frozen Four be damned!), but this year is going to be way more special, since the 'Dogs will be there. Whatever they did to shake that monkey off their backs, I want to know. Where the heck was this team all season? Who cares, they peaked at the right time. It wouldn't have been so exciting if it hadn't been such a huge upset!

My memories of the WCHA tournament go back to the days the tournament was in the St. Paul Civic Center, Northern Michigan was still in the conference, and it was still the Final Four. The most memorable goal scored during that era was not on the ice, but rather at the World Trade Center Mall, where I won a Vikings water bottle for scoring on one of those cardboard "goalies" with a couple slots cut out in the bottom. It was a game-winner, for sure.

Two years ago, with the Bulldogs as a 2-seed, I was driving home from Illinois in a rented truck, speeding along at an average of about 90 mph (Dad, you can read that as 90 kph if you wish), trying to get to Wisconsin as fast as I could, to get in range of WCCO. The Bulldogs lost that game, 7-4, despite a stellar game from RWD favorite Evan Schwabe. The next day, vs. UAA, Junior Lessard got injured, and some LIAR who shall remain nameless tricked me into believing he was done for the season. The Bulldogs got revenge on the Gophers in the NCAA regionals (and I'm sure they would have traded us the WCHA playoff win for the Regionals win), Lessard won the Hobey, and the rest we got revenge for last weekend.

Last year, the 'Dogs were owned by UND in the first round of the playoffs, but I wore my 'Dogs jersey anyway. The bonus of last year was the lack of stress. I feel very stressed when the 'Dogs are playing, when they aren't playing, I don't really care what goes on, I can cheer for the teams I want to without worry (except worry of being jumped by the Gopher band.) The serious downside to last year was the Paukovich cheap shot that seriously injured UND forward Robbie Bina. That took a lot of the fun out of the entire weekend for me, as well as many other people.

This year, I'm looking forward to a little revenge on St. Cloud (Dan Kronick, 0 points this weekend!), a terrific game on Friday night, and Bulldog hockey on Saturday in some form. I don't ask for much, but if it isn't too much, a Mike Curry goal would be a beauty to behold.

UMD Announces New Assistant Coach

From the Duluth News-Tribune

"Thanks to her amazing pep talk going into the Michigan Tech series, the University of Minnesota-Duluth has announced that Runninwiththedogs will be a new assistant coach of the Bulldogs' mens hockey team. Head coach Scott Sandelin says he is excited about the new addition to the staff. '[Runninwiththedogs] is a real motivator, she really gets the point across to the guys in a way I was not capable of last year. I really wish she had been with the team last year, because we had the talent but not the heart. This year we've got a lot of young people coming in, and we want to exorcize any of the remaining demons from last year, so we can build a strong team. Anyone who can take a team that loses its first four games and give them a strong road win in the first league series of the year really knows what they are doing.' The coach was not alone in his sentiments. Senior Captain Steve Czech, who was loudly criticized by RWD last year for some key defensive mistakes, looks forward to her guidance. 'She's really shown me what I need to work on, and she doesn't pull any punches. If I had a bad game, she tells me. If I did a good job, she grudgingly admits it. I think if we'd had someone as tough as her last year, we'd have gutted it out and made it to the NCAA tournament.' Teammate Michael Gergen was not around last year for the disappointing season, but he notes that Runninwiththedogs has changed the atmosphere since she has been on board. 'Even if we lose, she still points out the bright spots, which is great, because that means she says a lot of things good about me. But she has a great way of getting right to the crux of any problem.' The Bulldogs are going into a home stand against key rival Minnesota, and things are looking brighter than they were a few days ago. Some home points against strong teams will get this team turned around, and the staff has every confidence that with this more complete coaching staff, they will have a strong showing in the next few series. On the lighter side, former Bulldog captain Evan Schwabe was reached for comment on the new coach. 'I wish [Runninwiththedogs] had been with the team last year. Man, is she hot.' That's what we hear."

Okay, so maybe that didn't really happen. There is a slight possibility I might not have had anything to do with the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING showing the 'Dogs had this past weekend. While I was watching the Denver-North Dakota game at Joe Senser's in Bloomington (with resident Sioux guru MafiaMan and former UW correspondent The Hick), the 'Dogs were busy beating the breezers off of Michigan Tech. Scoff if you will, but if the 'Dogs had played the way they had against Vermont and Bemidji, they could have been swept in Houghton. And then things could have been reaaaaaaaally ugly for the Minnesota series, and then HIDEOUS for the UND series, and that would be a real tragedy, because I'm going to the Saturday night game.

The thing is, THEY DIDN'T PLAY THAT WAY. They played WELL. I am HAPPY.
Key reasons:
1. Tim Stapleton found the net on the power play (thanks to Matt McKnight, who also set up Mason Raymond's first goal)
2. Michael G got another goal, which always makes me happy.
3. Mike Curry, offensive STUD, got two goals in less than a minute.
4. Isaac played well. I hope he will become the go-to guy, and we will no longer start our rookies on Friday night games.
5. All important entry into the W column, and 3 conference points! I won't even nitpick about the tie, because it was a road series, and 3 points in a road series is pretty darn good!

LET'S GO DOGS!!!!

(p.s. to the UMD AD: if you DO want to make me an asst. coach, I have a crummy job I would give up in a heartbeat.)

If You Can't Say Anything Nice...

... just say you love Michael Gergen and leave it at that.

Really, what else am I going to say? Stop taking stupid penalties? Stop getting MAJOR penalties? Put the puck in the net? Don't turn the puck over? I mean, these sorts of things are what you learn in, say, mini-mites. And all of these players have been in mini-mites (or the Canadian equivalent), so they should know. It's like in kindergarten when you learn to share, and listen when the teacher is talking, and not to pinch, and then you grow up and see other adults being selfish, talking over each other, and pinching people's behinds. You think what the heck, didn't you learn anything in kindergarten? There was a whole book written on the subject. Evan Schwabe should write a book about hockey: All I Need To Know About Hockey I Learned in Kindergarten. Then he will lovingly dedicate the book to ME. Right.

I'm not going to start calling anyone out... yet. YET BEING THE OPERATIVE WORD, PEOPLE WITH NO POINTS AND MANY PENALTY MINUTES, I AM LOOKING IN YOUR DIRECTION.

I am going to the North Dakota @ UMD game on 12 November AND YOU GUYS HAD BETTER MAKE ME PROUD because I am taking time off work and driving up there and I had to get up early to buy tickets and they were not super cheap. BUT I KNOW THE HOUSE WILL BE ROCKIN' AND YOU'LL PULL IT TOGETHER AND WIN IT FOR ME AND WE WILL JOIN HANDS AND SING KUMBAYAH.

Word.

The All-WCHA Hottie Teams!

What you've been waiting for!!

This year's hotties cover 9 of the WCHA teams (CC did not have any candidates! They didn't even bother to look nice or even comb their hair in their photos!)

Coach: Jamie Russell (MTU)

1st Team
F- Evan Schwabe (UMD)
F- Chris Porter (UND)
F- Gabe Gauthier (UD)
D- Zach Blom (UD)
D- Kyle Peto (MSUM)
G- Kyle Nixon (MSUM)

2nd Team
F- AJ Degenhardt (UW)
F- Colin Murphy (MTU)
F- Charlie Kronschnabel (UAA)
D- Aaron Brocklehurst** (SCSU)
D- Ryan McMullan (UAA)
G- Cam Ellsworth (MTU)

3rd Team
F- Brad Thompson (MSUM)
F- Chris Connor (MTU)
F- Justin Bourne (UAA)
D- no one hot enough
D- Alex Goligoski (UMN)
G- Jake Brandt (UND)

Freshmen
F- Merit Waldrop (UAA)
F- Ryan Dingle (UD)
F- Malcom Gwilliam (MTU)
D- Zach Blom (UD)
D- Aaron Brocklehurst** (SCSU)
G- no freshmen goalies were good looking

*not enough hott defensemen
**only made it for his resemblance to Jim Morrison

The Look of Triumph

And here it is, folks:

The beauty my eyes beheld last night.

What you don't see is Evan Schwabe's absolutely amazing goal. He worked for that one. You don't see Tim Hambly's superhuman effort, including 8 shots on goal, and one big fat goal in the first period that gave us the lead. We never trailed. Tim Stapleton had 9 shots. Jay Rosehill nearly doubled his season point total (and spend a long time in the penalty box.) Isaac made some amazing saves (and let out some big fat rebounds, but the Gophers couldn't cash in.)

What you don't see is the policewoman that stood behind me for over half the game. Or my acrobatics as I nearly fell over the rail each time there was an exciting play. Or the people sitting in front of me who thought I was insane. Or Doug Woog's bald head not 20 feet away, who could hear every word I screamed. I'm sure the whole stadium could.

But Christmas Present 2 of 2 is just as lucky as 1 of 2.
[no more picture!]
WHERE HAS THIS TEAM BEEN????????
I'm glad they're back, though. Broadmoor Trophy, here we come!

Reading Between The Lines

Here's the scoring summary from College Hockey Stats, but you won't really understand the game without my expert analysis. This game was special and magical.
1st Period (20:00)
CC-1 Brett Sterling (2-Interference) MND 1x1 1:26
MND 1-0 6x5 PP Evan Schwabe (14) (Tim Hambly, Tim Stapleton) 2:08
*Yes, that's right folks, Evan Schwabe scores ANOTHER goal within 2 minutes of the game's start. AND the 'Dogs get ANOTHER power play tally.
MND-1 Evan Schwabe (2-Boarding) CC 1x1 12:08
*Evan Schwabe gets called for boarding? He's like 160 lbs, soaking wet!
CC 1-1 6x5 PP Jack Hillen (2) (Curtis McElhinney) 14:02
*Note, the goaltender gets an assist.
CC-2 Jimmy Kilpatrick (2-Obstruction Hooking) MND 1x2 15:51
MND-2 Bryan McGregor (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 16:13
CC-3 Weston Tardy (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 16:13

2nd Period (20:00)
MND-3 Justin Williams (2-Slashing) CC 1x2 0:14
MND-4 Brett Hammond (2-Obstruction Hooking) 5:50
CC-4 James Brannigan (2-Diving) 5:50
CC 2-1 6x6 Brett Sterling (20) (Jimmy Kilpatrick, Marty Sertich) 8:45
MND-5 Todd Smith (2-Elbowing) CC 2x3 9:27
CC 3-1 6x5 PP Joey Crabb (10) (Marty Sertich, Aaron Slattengren) 10:19
*Here's where most folks left the 'Dogs for dead. But not me!
MND 2-3 6x6 Josh Miskovich (4) (Justin Williams, Tim Stapleton) 11:54
MND-6 Luke Stauffacher (2-Holding) CC 2x4 12:33
MND 3-3 6x6 GT Travis Gawryletz (2) (Brett Hammond, Josh Johnson) 14:58
*This, ladies and gentlemen, I will call one of my top ten moments of the season. After being on the ice for the entire penalty kill, plus 0:25 after Stauffacher got back on the ice, Hammond gets the puck to Gawryletz, who came out of nowhere, and Gawryletz buries it. You try killing a penalty when you can't clear the puck out of your zone, then skate your ass off down to the other end and put the biscuit in the basket. He should get a freaking medal. And so should Hammond. Also, since McElhinney got an assist, Johnson thought he'd better get one too.
3rd Period (20:00)
MND-7 Justin Williams (2-Boarding) CC 2x5 10:56
CC-5 Jimmy Kilpatrick (5-Spearing) MND 1x3 12:45
CC-6 Jimmy Kilpatrick (10-Game Disqualification) (Served by Braydon Cox) 12:45
*The 'Dogs could have capitalized on this chance and taken this game from the #1 team in the nation. The 'Dogs, too, were a #1 team at one point. But try as they might (and they did get some shots on net), the 3rd period was the period of the goalies.
Overtime (5:00)
*Both goalies made game-saving grabs in this back and forth overtime. Everyone got their money's worth.
End of Game
*Let's Go 'Dogs!

Guess Who's Back?

The 'Dogs are back!

Oh, I'm so excited! I mean, yeah, we're going to play Colorado College next weekend, but they really struggled against North Dakota, only winning by one goal, only scoring 3 on the weekend. And yeah we don't score many goals and our goalies aren't as good as Philippe Lamoreaux. But after the 5-1 win on Saturday (I'll forget about the 5-2 loss Friday night), I think the 'Dogs remembered who they were. Maybe a giant cloud that looks like Junior Lessard came to them in a vision in the sky and told them, "Remember who you are." Like in the Lion King. But how long will they remember? That's the key.

The Saturday night game was sort of bizarre, with C.J. Beaurline getting injured after Smitty knocked Reeder right into him, and a UW-Superior style brawl at the end (although our Rosehill did not get kicked out!) However, I would like to point out, that in the box score, not a single Bulldog had a -, they were all E or +1. And did you know that we went 3 for 8 on the POWER PLAY???????? And we had a shorthander???????? And Evan Schwabe scored twice???????? And even Bryan McGregor kicked some major ass? And Evan Schwabe took someone to the ice? Little Evan Schwabe! Who would have thought? And Hooton thought he was tough, but wouldn't go toe-to-toe with Jay Rosehill, who is ready to fight, no matter what.

Oh yeah, that brawl? Here's the penalty list:

STC-8 Konrad Reeder (2-Roughing)
STC-9 Konrad Reeder (2-Roughing)
STC-10 Aaron Brocklehurst (2-Roughing)
STC-11 Aaron Brocklehurst (2-Roughing)
STC-12 Josh Singer (2-Roughing)
STC-13 Josh Singer (2-Roughing)
STC-14 Casey Borer (2-Roughing)
STC-15 Casey Borer (2-Roughing)
STC-16 Aaron Brocklehurst (10-Misconduct)
MND-13 Tim Hambly (2-Roughing)
MND-14 Tim Hambly (2-Roughing)
MND-15 Marco Peluso (2-Roughing)
MND-16 Marco Peluso (2-Roughing)
MND-17 Bryan McGregor (2-Roughing)
MND-18 Bryan McGregor (2-Roughing)
MND-19 Evan Schwabe (2-Roughing)
MND-20 Evan Schwabe (2-Roughing)
MND-21 Marco Peluso (10-Misconduct)

All of those came at 18:51. Oh Marco, you are a hot head. But you're hot.

Anyway, my good friend dagies from Sioux Sports posted this:

Question about scoring goals:

Can a team get too focused on putting the puck on net and not focused enough about where the puck is going?

Sioux teams historically have outshot opponents but what I'm wondering about is whether players lose the edge to try and make each shot count.

For example, from what I read about games this weekend it appears we had a player with a breakaway who put the biscuit in the goalies bread basket, not the net. Last week I saw Fleming for the gophers with a bit of space and he aimed his shot in the upper corner stick side and guess what, it went in. I realize sometimes you miss the net on a deal like that but I wonder if we're too focused on just getting the puck at the net. Maybe that's accounts for the puck not getting by the goaltender. The shooter's job must be to not only get off a shot, but try and direct that puck where it has a chance to be successful.

Maybe that already happens. I'm just grasping at straws. There has to be a reason why we can put a lot of shots on goalies consistently without scoring the requisite number of goals.

So he got me thinking, and I responded:

I think you may have something here (not just with North Dakota, but with the 'Dogs as well. I'm going to have to quote you on my site.)

I don't listen to many of your games, but I am constantly hearing things about how "the puck won't lie down" or "he fanned on it" or "he just got his stick on it" or any number of things about the 'Dogs' offensive, um, struggles.

It's quality, not quantity. You can shoot the puck at the net all you want and run up the totals, but if you shoot it right at the logo each time, quantum physics says there's only an infinitesmally small chance that the puck will, rather than reflect, go through the goalie. I hope they aren't waiting for that.

I've been frustrated for awhile about the 'Dogs' flurry of shots with little results, but now you've got me thinking...

I don't know. I guess maybe those shot totals aren't telling the whole story. When they take their time and make a good shot, it goes in. You can't just shut your eyes and shoot. The Force isn't with us.

I guess I should make long posts more often, as when I was more committed to this site, we were doing better. And then I stopped posting so much, and we sucked. Then I post the mid-season review, and we rocked (for one game)!

And I'm going to the 'Dogs-Gophers game on the 29th! Yeah!