Silent Spring

Huh, how about that? Nearly a month has gone by since our lives were made complete.

Let's wrap up a few things.

First, College Hockey Armageddon appears to have passed us by. Scary Princeton Coach is going to go to Nouveau Riche University instead of our coach, who somehow still does not have a contract. Dear Bob, get it done or I am not sending you ANY MONIES. Michigan Tech has a new coach, too. Some Michigan person. Clearly he's trading up by going to the WCHA.

RWD awards for the season:

My Guy of the year is Jack Connolly, for the second year in a row.

Freshman of the year is JT Brown, though Justin Faulk was breathing down his neck.

Jacky is also the Connolly Champion, though with Mike gone he will not be able to defend his title.

Drew Olson wins the penalty title over Dan DeLisle, which was uninteresting as neither took a boatload of penalties.

Seniors Trent Palm, Kyle Schmidt, Mike Montgomery, Chad Huttel and Justin Fontaine leave us. Thank you for your fierce and unwavering commitment to the program, for making it better than when you arrived, and for giving us your very best no matter what was asked of you. Palm played on one leg. Schmidt had hand surgery days before scoring the game winning goal against Michigan. Montgomery and Fontaine gave up pro opportunities to return to school. Huttel stuck with the program despite limited playing time.

Thanks to your families as well; all five of you have families who were vocal and visible in their support for you and for the program. I didn't go to a single road game without seeing at least one Palm, Schmidt, Montgomery, Huttel or Fontaine in the crowd. Sometimes even wearing a gorilla suit or a blonde wig, making candy for fellow fans, or buying beers for rowdy road-trippers.

I'm contemplating a site re-design but haven't seen anything I liked yet. Don't worry, it won't become busy or overloaded with ads or scripts that crash your browsers, it will still be as spartan as ever. At the very least I will be doing a new banner for the off-season.

Posting will be sporadic throughout the summer, as always. I might have some other stuff to say about the season, and of course there's the All-Hottie team, and I'm trying to get tickets to the draft. I'll tweet if I update and try to keep you informed of any exciting and fun news going on in the world of Bulldog hockey.

Thanks again for reading, for your comments and your emails and tweets. Thank you for the sense of community you all provide, as Bulldog fans or as hockey fans in general. In the seven seasons I've been writing this site, I've never once wanted to shut the site down; it is always fun and the connections I've made as a result of writing are priceless. What you folks say makes me laugh, makes me think and humbles me. Victories are sweeter and losses are easier to bear when we celebrate and suffer together.

On the Road

Why think about that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see? -Jack Kerouac, On the Road

The yellow brick road. The road not taken. The long and winding road. The road to redemption. Whatever we're on here, it's a helluva ride.

There were times when many of us wanted to give up. There were times when we felt like the season was slipping through our fingers. There were times when it felt like our players had given up. Too many times we'd read the same tired old quotations in the papers after a loss. "We weren't ready to play." "We didn't have the effort." "We didn't play as well as we thought we could." It was disheartening.

Instead, this weekend tUMD showed exactly what kind of team they really are. Gritty, defensively sound, with explosive offense. tUMD chased Yale's goaltender from the game after he gave up five goals, a season high. The power play was lethal, and they got a shorthanded goal and killed off a two-man disadvantage, which was actually more like a 2 1/2 man disadvantage as one player did not have a stick.

We've had our ups and downs, our roadblocks and setbacks. Forwards, defencemen, goalies, fans, everyone. We lost a player to the pros at mid-season. We had a horrible first game in our new rink. We limped into the playoffs, some might say. We lost to a lesser team in the Final Five.

And we closed down our rink in style. We won a marathon 3OT game. We had a player put up five goals on the southern branch of our school. We never got swept, never lost back to back games. We have a Hobey Baker finalist. AND WE ARE GOING TO THE FROZEN FOUR.

And by we, I mean the players of course.

Certainly there was a lot of pressure on tUMD on Saturday. Yale was ranked as the top team in the PWR, which comes with its own pressures, but most folks felt that ranking was undeserved, which means losing to them would be a bit shameful. I'm sure that was more in the minds of fans than anything else. (I think it's funny that fans think they know the mindset of players; one fan of a nameless team [literally] stated that tUMD deliberately lost to Bemidji in order to get placed in the East regional, which is ludicrous.)

tUMD had to weather quite the storm in the first period; the first ten minutes were uneventful but then they had to fight off the two-man disadvantage, followed by another penalty, and Kenny Reiter and the penalty kill stood tall. Then MCON and Fonz had a 2 on 1 on the PK and Mikey scored, then plowed over a Yale player and taunted him. And that set the tone for the game.

Bergy scored even strength on a soft goal that Rondeau just... I don't know, missed? He tried to catch it and looked like... well, what I would look like if I played goalie. Yale started to get chippy, and Jack Connolly scored a sick goal from a wicked angle on a power play after a Yale played ran Kenny.

Yale's Brian O'Neill scored on a power play and gave them a little life. Then he decided to run Jake Hendrickson and head-butt him. I thought Yale students were supposed to be smart, but I cannot think of a dumber thing to do. It wasn't O'Neill's first dangerous hit on a tUMD player; he also took an elbowing penalty earlier in the second. The referees decided to kick him out of the game. This was certainly a fortuitous call for tUMD and a backbreaker for Yale, but perhaps Mr. O'Neill will think twice about headshots now, knowing that his desire to injure other players contributed to the end of his team's season.

My Guy Mike Seidel scored on the power play 20 seconds in, and then when another Yale player made a dumb mistake and put them down two players, Justin Fontaine cashed in on a lovely tic-tac-toe play.

Yale scored two in the third period, which was enough to cause severe panic for Biddco and me. My heart was pounding and my legs were shaking. I couldn't stay still and had to pace around a little bit, then sit down, then stand, then sit. I couldn't even eat the green bean casserole with bacon that MEg had made.

Then tUMD's brilliant defence kicked in, and while I was still scared out of my mind, they remained calm and collected and in control. It wasn't until there were about 30 seconds left in the game that I really, truly believed we would win the game.

And then an overwhelming sense of relief flooded over me. I was completely exhausted when we got home after we finished watching the Ugly Helmets - CC game, and still somewhat unable to believe that tUMD is going to be in the Frozen Four. Two more wins and we can finally get that title. 27 years after we should have gotten the first one.

For once, it's not just about the journey, but the destination. GO BULLDOGS!!!!!

Blog in the Time of Cholera

Ok, no, I don't have cholera. I'm just suffering from some horrible crud that has left me out of commission since Sunday. Yes, Sunday, and I know today is Thursday. Blah. This weekend is going to be exhausting.

The one upside is I have watched most of the state tournament, with the exception of the Edina/Blaine game, because I was still sleeping. Absolutely awesome game for the Greyhounds today, plus Hermantown and Hibbing advanced. My brackets aren't completely shot to heck, but both of my consolation winners have advanced, so blah.

tUMD racked up quite a few All-WCHA honors. Jack Connolly and Mike Connolly were both named to the first team, Justin Fontaine to the second team, Justin Faulk was both a third team and a rookie team selection, and JT Brown was a rookie team choice. [Edit: the WCHA's website had JT Brown on the 3rd team and finally corrected it.] Wade Bergman, Jack Connolly, Aaron Crandall, Dan DeLisle, Keegan Flaherty, Justin Fontaine, David Grun, Chad Huttel, Kenny Reiter and Kyle Schmidt all made the academic team! Great showing guys!!

So we've got a playoff series against the toothless hicks. Great. So glad to see them so soon after they clobbered us 8-2. Remember the whole "advocating suicide" post? Yeah. But now... now tUMD players are blonde. (And dear god, I got a sneak preview photo, and it is NOT PRETTY.) Blondes have more fun. Speaking as someone who has had every hair colour under the sun, I can confirm that. So guys, have FUN this weekend. BY WINNING. LOSING IS NOT FUN. Even if you may go out and enjoy yourselves afterward just the same while your fans go home and tear their hair out. Kenny Reiter! Making saves is fun! Both the easy ones and the crazy ones! Defence (meaning both defencemen and forwards in our zone)! Throwing hits is fun! Do it! Especially when players are trying to go to the net! Stop them! Forwards! And offensive defencemen! Scoring goals is fun! Try it a lot! Often! Constantly!

Damn, coaching is easy.

All-WCHA Ballot

It's that time of year again! The All-Conference ballots are being released. Might as well release mine.

First Team
F: Jack Connolly
F: Mike Connolly
F: Justin Fontaine
D: Justin Faulk
D: Mike Montgomery
G: Kenny Reiter

Second Team
F: Travis Oleksuk
F: JT Brown
F: Kyle Schmidt
D: Brady Lamb
D: Drew Olson
G: Aaron Crandall

Third Team
F: Mike Seidel
F: David Grun
F: Dan DeLisle
D: Wade Bergman
D: Trent Palm
G: Christian Gaffy

Rookies
F: JT Brown
F: Max Tardy
F: Joe Basaraba
D: Justin Faulk
D: Luke McManus
G: Christian Gaffy

Coach of the Year: Scott Sandelin
Player of the Year: Mike Connolly
Rookie of the Year: Justin Faulk

Band of Bulldogs

This day is call'd the feast of Sandelin.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Sandelin.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Sandelin.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Sandelin's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Justin Fontaine, Mike Montgomery,
Trent Palm and Kyle Schmidt, and Chad Huttel-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Saint Sandelin shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in Duluth now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Sandelin's day.

-William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 4 Scene III

Thanks, seniors. All five of you, in your ways, have gone above and beyond for the team, and that is more than appreciated.

The Tygers

For any team other than DU, CC week is one of the most boring weeks of the season. Let us just read some poetry instead.

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

-William Blake

That's a lovely poem. I was inspired to write some more.

Haiku
Goal! Connolly from
Connolly and Fontaine. And
the Bulldogs win it!

Limerick
There once was a player named Brown
Who liked to shut opponents down
On goalies he'd score
Check others into the boards
And make all of them look like a clown.

Elegy
The Golden Gopher once stood for glory
Its players were proud and brave
And now the players who wrote that story
Have all gone into the grave.

Couplet
Brett Hextall found his hair and hat
Jared Allen could have told him that.

Acrostic
For every shot he lets fly on
An
Unlucky goaltender, we Bulldog fans see how
Lucky we would be to
Keep him for another year.

Cinquain
Hockey
Fast, crazy
Skating, shooting, scoring
We need a win
Bulldogs

Sonnet
Bulldog hockey ebbs and flows
Its rabid fanbase shrinks and grows
We yell we scream we chant we cheer
We razz we boo we taunt we jeer
We think about what might have been
Had not we choked when in Boston
Had Fonz not been ruled in the crease
Had Kosti been tethered with a leash
We go to games when it's minus-twenty
Dear players, we have suffered plenty
Don't you think this year's the one
To go the distance on a playoff run
What's not important is the manner
In which you go and get that banner!

Agitating

tUMD 6, Mankato East High School JV Squad 2

You know what I love?

Winning.

You know what makes winning even sweeter?

Irritating opposing fans.

Last night's game started in typical (of late) Bulldog fashion. Eriah (horrible name) Hayes scored on a delayed penalty just over two minutes into the game. Weak. Mike Seidel made up for his penalty with a goal later in the period and we managed to get out of the first period even steven. Chad Huttel took a tripping penalty for a hip check that apparently the cave-dwellers in Mankato thought was kneeing.

Now for the irritation.

Mankato Coach Troy Jutting is known for three things: coaching goons, chain smoking, and whining constantly to the referees. And of course he started in his ref whining. And since I was within earshot of Jutting, I decided he needed a taste of his own medicine. And also to remind him that he needs to have a smoke. And people didn't like it! This horrible old hag behind me was just so offended. "You just don't go after a coach," she whined. "I always had a good impression of Duluth fans until now." Well, lady, I've never had a good impression of your fans, so you only cemented my opinion. I laughed at her passive-aggressive comments to her seatmates. I'd be embarrassed if Sandelin behaved the way Jutting did, not defensive of it.

At the end of the period Jutting decided to bend the ears of the referees again and we decided to remind the refs that they don't have to listen. And the Mankato fans didn't like that either. Hey, have a little respect for your Zamboni drivers. They need to get the ice re-surfaced.

In the second period tUMD took the lead on a JT Brown goal and then had a completely disastrous turnover to allow Mankato to tie it up. Guys, come on. Enough of that crap. PROTECT THE PUCK!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

Mike Seidel got his 2nd goal of the game (yeah for Team Coug!!!) on a power play just before it expired, which is always great. It's demoralizing for the killing team. And Trent Palm had an assist! Always great to see. Justin Faulk put the puck in the net on the next power play but it was waved off due to goaltender interference. Some Mankato fans decided to call tUMD cheaters, but failed to remark that, as they were on the penalty kill, they were also cheaters. MCON scored a legit goal on the next PP and then the period ended.

And the refs didn't even talk to Jutting! They just skated off while Jutting waited, shaking his head. Hilarious. Best decision they made all night!

In the 3rd, JT Brown scored another goal, making two players with two goals in the game, and then Justin Fontaine laid the hammer down. By that point, pretty much all the Mankato fans around me had left, which was so unfortunate! I wanted them to witness my glee! Although they witnessed plenty of glee from the SIX!!! SIX!!!!! SIX! goals we scored, so there's that. Also, to further solidify my high opinion of the people behind me, apparently while it is not ok to rib a coach, it is ok to mock a player for getting checked from behind into the boards (which should have been a five minute major, but the refs were just bizarre all weekend.)

The game could have been much closer, as Mankato fanned on two WIDE FREAKING OPEN NETS and Crandall was NOT on his game. Dear Sandelin, NO MORE GOALIE ROTATION.

Today is Hockey Day in America so I'm chilling watching the Wild followed by the Canadiens. Yay!

Gophers Screwed Out of WCHA Championship

tUMD 2, UMTC 2
tUMD 6, UMTC 4

In what has become a disturbing trend in college hockey recently, the Minnesota Gophers were once again denied their rightful wins by the shameful officiating of Don Adam, Timm Walsh, Jarod Moen and Jeff Schultz.

Friday night, the Bulldogs scored when goaltender Kent Patterson made a save on Justin Fontaine, but forward Nico Sacchetti kicked the puck into the net. Head Coach Don Lucia was disgusted with the call.

"That was a terrible call. The puck was kicked into the net. It should have been reviewed and overturned. A puck cannot be kicked into the net," Lucia told reporters after Friday's game. When reminded that the rule does not apply to defensive players, Lucia merely continued, "It was kicked in, it should have been waved off. Or called goaltender interference. A player was interfering with the goaltender's ability to make a save. It doesn't matter who. We should have had a power play."

The game ended in a tie, instead of the win the Gophers clearly earned.

On Saturday, the Gophers went down 3-0 before battling back to put the game within one. First-round draft pick and high school superstar Patrick White appeared to score the game winning goal, when the beleaguered Sacchetti was called for goaltender interference and the Bulldogs were awarded a power play. Assistant Coach John Hill commented after the game.

"This call changed the tone of the game. If we had been awarded this goal they earned fair and square, they would have gone on to score again, and then we would have had a power play goal, followed by a shorthanded goal, and then two more even strength goals. The refs are the only thing standing in the way of us scoring those goals. The goaltender needs to make the save, regardless of what other players might be interfering. It's part of hockey. The Bulldogs got that power play, and that's what caused us to be shut out by Anchorage last weekend. In fact, I think the officiating in this game prevented us from sweeping North Dakota a few weeks ago. If not for this weekend series, we would be on top of the league standings. I will be writing up a formal complaint to the league."

The Bulldogs won 6-4, with Mike Connolly scoring five goals. Young assistant coach Grant Potulny commented on Connolly's performance.

"I don't know that any of those goals can count. The Bulldogs were using illegal players. I mean, Connolly isn't even an American. The way I see it, the real score last night was 4-0."

Even Athletic Director Joel Maturi was incensed. "We pay good money for these wins, and we're getting ripped off."

Vote For Hobey!

Once Photoshop is back on my computer I'll probably have something more fun, but in the meantime:

Vote early and vote often!

You can vote for MCON, JCON or FONZ! It doesn't actually mean anything, but vote anyway!

The Unbearable Lightness of Losing

tUMD 2, Twin Cities Diving Squad 3
tUMD... oh, wait, that game hasn't been played yet

So, this is what losing feels like. I'd forgotten. Isn't it funny to read how excited the Gopher fans are!? They're all saying it's their best game of the year. Well, it was the worst Bulldog game that I've seen, and the Gophers looked like a trainwreck on the power play and at other times, and they still only beat us by a goal. What a sad state of affairs in Gopher Nation.

Someone mentioned something to me that I think is worth repeating. tDogs needed to lose that game. If they had come back to win it after playing two terrible horrible no good very bad periods of play, it would only reinforce the whole ten feet tall and bulletproof nothin's gonna stop us now attitude. They've gotta, you know, try. The whole game. If they had played like they did against Denver on Saturday night the Gophers would not have sniffed the net.

The Gophers actually put the puck in the net four times and the Bulldogs three, but Mike Hoeffel's goal was waved off for a high stick (he is apparently unable to control his stick... he had a goal waved off against tUMD last year and he also hit Kenny Reiter in the face with his stick in the 3rd period, which set up Justin Faulk's power play wicked slappah.) MCON scored but it was waved off as it was a kick in. It's frustrating because the puck was on its way in anyway, but whatever. It's not like it happened with 2 seconds left and cost us the game or something. Fontaine failing to put a puck in an essentially open net with seconds left in the game DID cost us a tie and a chance for a win, though. But, again, a consistent effort was ultimately what cost us the game, not anything that the Gophers did or didn't do or the refs did or didn't do.

tUMD will be without Dylan Olsen, assuming he can get a flight out of MSP and be on his way to kicking ass and taking names at the WJC tryouts. With Bergman out with an injury and Olsen gone, tUMD will have 4 regular defencemen: Monkey, Faulk, Lamb and Olson. They will also have two irregular defencemen, some combination of Huttel, Palm and Kishel. Probably Huttel and Kishel, but who knows? This is not ideal but if tUMD can put the puck in the net like they should and if the Gophers quit diving (unlikely), then all will be right again in the world. Well, not entirely, because we still have a loss to a far inferior team. It'll probably hurt our PWR severely.

tUMD football is awesome, though! They gutted out a win against some directional something school and are going to the D2 National Championship!! The only good thing about the hockey game getting canceled was getting to see this game! I wish I'd been there in person though. So much excitement!

Ready for some Sunday hockey and a big Bulldog win!

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 7
Points until we reach last season's total: 14

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 24!!!
JT Brown: 16
Mike Seidel: 6
Brady Lamb: 4
Drew Olson: 1

Freshmen
JT Brown: 16
Justin Faulk: 14!!!
Joe Basaraba: 1
others: zeros

Connollys
Jacky: 24!!!!
Mikey: 23!!!!

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 13
Drew: 1

Dan/Drew
Olson: 10!
DeLisle: 4

On Notice
Joe Basaraba
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
David Grun
Jake Hendrickson
Brady Lamb
Drew Olson

Goals Only
JT Brown
Justin Fontaine (UNACCEPTABLE)
Mike Montgomery
Travis Oleksuk (ALSO UNACCEPTABLE)
Dylan Olsen

By Hook or By Crook

tUMD 6, Red Menace 5

Well, hello there. Have we all recovered from the weirdest hockey game I've seen in a long time?

Let's discuss while it's still fresh in my mind. First of all, the game was on TV! Glorious. Since the Gopher broadcast team is afraid to go to Houghton, FSN-North showed the UMD game! How exciting and awesome for us!

I assumed tUMD would give up an early goal and was pleasantly surprised when I received a text from my friend Corrin that it was already 1-0! On a Mike Seidel goal! Team Coug of course did not start him in fantasy hockey.

Then, terribleness. Wisconsin scored to tie the game, I didn't see the goal either. Then three minutes later they scored again, and then five minutes later they scored again and Kenny was yanked. I gotta say, the replays showed they were pretty brutal goals. Yikes.

tUMD had a power play opportunity to open the second and did not convert, but then Mike Seidel had his second goal of the night at the 2:07 mark! Exciting! I'm so happy for Mike. He is really a hard worker and has a lot of skill and if it weren't for the chemistry of that second line he'd have a good chance at playing on there.

Justin Fontaine scored to tie the game three minutes later, and Eaves yanked Gudmanson. Travis Oleksuk scored 17 seconds later for the Bulldogs to take the lead. Schmidt cashed in on a PP to make it 5-3, and rounding out the scoring in the second, Jordy Murray got a PPG. Then he was promptly called "Brady" by the commentator during his intermission interview. It could have been worse, they could have called him "Sarah."

Not a whole heck of a lot happened in the third period, although Wisconsin's PP is pretty dangerous, and they pulled Bennett and scored 18 seconds after they pulled him. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. And then I totally crashed. Why, oh why, did we let three guys that close to the net to get a whack at the puck? There were way too many people in there and the puck just found its way in there on a bounce or a tip or something.

Wisconsin had the advantage for the beginning of the overtime and then (just as Chuck commented in the UW chat room that UW was dominating) tUMD got some great chances and then some penalties were called and the remainder of the game was 4 on 4. tUMD had the puck in the zone and a UW player made a play on the puck. Mike Connolly dove for the puck, got a stick on it, and at the same time tripped the UW player. Dylan Olsen got the puck to Travis Oleksuk who put it five-hole on Bennett and it trickled into the net and the 'Dogs won.

Or so it would seem. But the referees wanted to review the goal. For... no apparent reason other than they realized that the alleged trip (although a couple of people who are not Bulldogs fans have said that perhaps it was a good non-call because he did play the puck, I don't know the rules well enough to try to make a case for it, and I would certainly have lost my mind if this had happened the other way) had led directly to the goal.

There is no way they could have waved that goal off without invoking some bizarro rule like "intent to blow." I wonder if perhaps they were thinking they could use that but realized that way, way too much time had elapsed. I don't know what they could possibly have been doing, but they finally, finally, finally called it a goal and the game was official.

So, not only was the #1 ranking NOT a curse in the end, it was actually a freaking good luck horse shoe four leaf clover rabbit's foot pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Congratulations, boys. Now go out and win a no-doubter tomorrow night.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 9!
Points until we reach last season's total: 18!

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 19!!!
JT Brown: 14!!!
Mike Seidel: 5!!!
Brady Lamb: 4
Drew Olson: 1!!! (Yeah! So glad to see you on the board, Drew!)

Freshmen
JT Brown: 14!!!
Justin Faulk: 10
Joe Basaraba: 1
others: zeros

Connollys
Jacky: 19!!!!
Mikey: 18

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 11!!!!
Drew: 1!!!!

Dan/Drew
Olson: 8
DeLisle: 2

On Notice
David Grun
Jake Hendrickson
Brady Lamb
Max Tardy

Goals Only
Wade Bergman
Keegan Flaherty
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen

Wireless

tUMD 5, Tech 3
tUMD 4, Tech 2

Four people asked me when I was going to post. FOUR. Amazing. Anyway, I'm sorry. I did want to post this weekend but the Interwebs at my hotel (The Suites at Waterfront Plaza) had the worst wireless internet connection ever. All I had for internets was my BlackBerry and I can't really post on here.

Okay, folks, let's see if Grandma can remember the weekend.

Friday I went to the Coaches'? Coach's? Which one is it? Show at BWW. I don't like it there as much as I did at the Sports Garden because it is really hard to hear the show. That's fine because there was plenty to discuss with my gals. I wanted to win a Bulldog football jersey but this old guy decided to steal it. At first it seemed like a joke but then it became clear that this klepto wasn't going to let it go. So my friend Kris had to use her feminine wiles to get the jersey back to the table where it belonged. Bruce made me answer a trivia question. You know, it was not that long ago that Bruce was, oh, a bit recalcitrant to allow me on the radio. Now he's practically begging me for it! He asked me who scored the GWG in the 2009 Final Five championship game. The answer is MacGregor Sharp. I got it right although at the time I was guessing because I was very nervous. Sandy and Justin may were like totally right there watching! So I won a jersey thanks to Schmidt's mom and my own amazing brain!

The game on Friday started very poorly. tUMD was down 2-0 until just before the end of the 2nd period when Justin Fontaine hooked us up with a goal! Hooray! In the third period, tUMD got a penalty. Fontaine was on the PK and he was taking the puck into the attacking zone and got tangled up with a Tech defender. He shoved the puck toward the net and Tech's goalie, Robinson, came out to play it. The puck went through his five-hole and into the net. Glorious! MCON and Brett Olson went to the penalty box together and MCON stood there and yelled at him for like 5 minutes before play resume. Then My Jacky got a goal, finally getting himself off the naughty list, Joe Basaraba got his first goal as a Bulldog, Justin Faulk let fly a shot that rang off the pipe, shot up into the air and flew practically all the way to the blue line, and then Dan Delisle got this crazy bouncy goal. The only black mark on that period was the final goal, which came right as tUMD students were chanting "This game's over." Oopy. Oh, also, at some point JT Brown did a cannonball right into Tech's goalie.

Saturday it snowed a lot. I took some pictures. They will be uploaded sometime in 2015. Unless we all die in 2012.

MCON started the scoring off right away in the second game, although Tech answered back quickly. A Tech player got a contact to the head major penalty and was ejected from the game, and tUMD scored early in the 2nd period during that major. Tech scored again, on a play where Kenny tried to dive on the puck and missed and it went under him and into the net. These things occur. A scrum caused tUMD to get a 5 on 3 as Tech's entire team decided to go after Mike Seidel. He is so badass though and they failed. Justin Faulk got a goal and Eric Kattelus went totally apepoopy and cross-checked Mike, then hit him in the head, then skated toward the bench and had to be dragged away by the referees. It was not his best choice. Then tUMD had another 5 on 3 and Justin Faulk scored another goal. It was the exact same play! Lovely. No one else scored and my little Benny the Elf was kicked out of the game with about a minute left.

MEg and Shirtless guy were part of the on-ice entertainment during intermission. They tried valiantly but could not overcome Champ's "assistance" to the other team. Walt, the Zamboni Dude, recklessly drove the zam around the ice for his final resurfacing. It was totally awesome. Also, total fail on tUMD's part for not putting Walt in the middle of their stick salute.

Sorry this post came so late, but another one is coming soon! It's already half-written. And allegedly a Gauntlet.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 10! (SWEEP!)
Points until we reach last season's total: 20! (SWEEPITY SWEEP!)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 18!!! (Offensive player of the week!)
JT Brown: 13!!!
Brady Lamb: 4
Mike Seidel: 3!!!!
Drew Olson: 0

Freshmen
JT Brown: 13!!!
Justin Faulk: 10!!!! (2 PPGS!!!)
Joe Basaraba: 1!!! (First goal as a Bulldog!!!)
others: zeros

Connollys
Mikey: 18!!!
Jacky: 18!!!

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 10!!!!
Drew: 0

Dan/Drew
Olson: 8
DeLisle: 2

On Notice
David Grun
Jake Hendrickson
Brady Lamb
Max Tardy

Goals Only
Wade Bergman
Keegan Flaherty
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen
Kyle Schmidt (Kyle, you are needed this weekend!)
Mike Seidel

Six of One

tUMD 6, Drownedwolves 0

Tickets to the game? Er, I don't remember what it breaks down to per game.
Gas? I think about $30.
Junk food at the convenience store? $10 or so.
Mini hockey road trip with my best friend? Priceless.

What a glorious game. Other than MEg wearing a Seawolves jersey for most of the game. And also I almost killed us (well, not Bethlyn, I think I would have taken the brunt of the crash) turning onto Harbor Drive, but we lived. Obviously.

Travis Oleksuk scored in the first minute of the game. I was ecstatic. Partially because it was an excellent goal, partially because we scored first in a game, which we never seem to do. That was the only goal of the first period but there were numerous chances.

In the second period Fonz got a PPG that I didn't really see as it was at the other end, and then Dan DeLisle had a beauty of a goal for his first as a Bulldog. The last time tUMD faced the Seawolves at tDECC was the last regular season game two years ago and they sucked; Dan DeLisle was at that game. I was sitting with Bruce and pointed him out (I'm not that creepy, it was easy to deduce the 7'6" guy in the Totino-Grace jacket was DeLisle) and we were both blown away by his gigantism. And both horrified that a recruit had to see that crappiness. Thank you, Dan, for seeing how you could rectify the situation.

In the third period, an excellent goal by Kyle Schmidt opened the scoring in the period, and then Mike Seidel took one of those new mandatory-major penalties. I feel like in a few years a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty is going to be a mandatory forfeit. I was nervous, mostly because of the shutout. Travis Oleksuk was like "No, RWD, I got this," and after about 2 minutes of killing (which went by quickly! Usually I feel like even 10 seconds takes FOREVER) he had a nifty breakaway for a shorthanded goal. It looked originally like Kamal had made the save but then the puck trickled through his legs and into the net.

Jacky and Curtis Leinweber, in the ultimate "Pick on someone your own size" battle, got matching minors for cross checking and were awarded for their efforts with a 2-minute coffee break. They seemed to be having a scintillating conversation, probably about the new DECC, because at one point Jack gestured to the scoreboard. He must have been saying "In AMSoil arena, we'll have instant replay." Curtis seemed opposed.

Dan DeLisle scored with 4 seconds left, strangely. He just sort of stuffed the puck into the net. Half the arena was already gone and did not witness what can only be the start of a massive scoring streak for Mr. DeLisle.

Tuesday: Seat Selection
Friday: Devastate Bemidji
Saturday: Devastate Bemidji again while I am in attendance!

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 14!
Points until we reach last season's total: 29!

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 10!! (Too busy mixing it up to get too many points!)
JT Brown: 9!! (But some goals would have been nice for Team Cougar, dear)
Brady Lamb: 4
Mike Seidel: 2!
Drew Olson: 0 (Playing forward!)

Freshmen
JT Brown: 9!!!
Justin Faulk: 3
others: zeros

Connollys
Mikey: 11!!
Jacky: 10!!

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 4
Drew: 0

Dan/Drew
Olson: 8
DeLisle: 2

On Notice
David Grun
Jake Hendrickson
Mike Montgomery
Max Tardy

Goals Only
Justin Faulk
Keegan Flaherty
Brady Lamb
Dylan Olsen
Mike Seidel

Notes on a Weekend

tUMD 5, Monks 3
tUMD 7, Monks 1

Mes amis, how could I have abandoned you like this? No posts, no tweets, nothing since Thursday?

I know, I know. Sometimes life interferes, and sometimes, life is just too important to spend it snarking about hockey.

What a perfect weekend it was for all of us, wasn't it? I just finished watching a Vikings win and it was just the icing on the cake. The cherry on the sundae. The empty net goal by Mike Connolly with three seconds left in the game. Got it.

Friday I did actually go to the game, along with 6 members of my family, and we started off the season the right way: with dinner at Sammy's. As we got to the game (right on time... 30 seconds into the period...) we ran right into elusive Gopher fan/RWD reader The Beard, with an extra special sighting of Mrs. The Beard (who is not bearded), which is always a blast. Apparently The Beard coached a person on Providence. He must have done an ok job as said person managed to get an assist this weekend. It must have been nice for him to see some real hockey instead of the crap going on at Mariucci.

Friday's game was maybe not the best game tUMD could have played. It took the guys awhile to get going. My uncle, not knowing this, felt that every puck that went somewhere in the offensive zone was going to go in the net and yelled "THERE IT IS!" UMD dumped the puck in the zone and I asked why he didn't say anything. Good times! Then Providence got the first goal with under two minutes to go in the first period, and a collective "here we go again" arose from all of us.

But, these aren't your grandfather's Bulldogs! Or, more specifically, these aren't my grandfather's Bulldogs. Justin Fontaine scored a little over a minute later on the power play to even it up going into the break! It's like a brand-new hockey game when the team can come out tied after the break instead of down a goal.

I'm so pleased I was there to see JT Brown's first goal as a Bulldog! He's of course already one of My Guys, but MEg decided we also needed him on our fantasy team. OF COURSE. He is just a sick player. We have 2 legit lines and are working on a third. Sucks to be all those people who thought tUMD lacked "depth." Providence tied it up on the PP, which was annoying, but Mike Connolly, with an absolute blast that caused me to do a double take because I thought it was another player, put tUMD on top again, and then Travis Oleksuk, on a clean shorthanded breakaway, drew a penalty shot... and actually scored on it!!! Awesome! Miraculous, even!

It would have been nice, in the third period, to continue to pour it on, but no more scoring occurred until Providence pulled their goalie and scored to come within one. That was unfortunate. Then Mike Connolly got an empty net goal to seal the game for us and we drove home happy!

I have no specific game commentary for Saturday's game, as I wasn't listening or watching. I was, however, unable to stay off my BlackBerry during the wedding dinner, which is horribly rude of me, but I WAS VERY STRESSED when I heard Crandall let in the first shot he faced. Not even a minute into the game! But I should have more faith, because Kyle Schmidt got us back into the game and from the second half of the first period onward, tUMD poured it on. They had 41 SOG, but oddly only one PPG. Not to worry. If we score 6 non-PPGs every game, I don't care if we have ANY power play goals! And Crandall stopped the next 17 shots he faced, which was great!

Next weekend I should be fully engaged in the hockey game, listening Friday and attending Saturday.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 16 (Ready for next week!)
Points until we reach last season's total: 33 (Also ready for next week!)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 8!!!!!!!! (OUTSTANDING!)
JT Brown: 6!!!!!!!!! (INSANE!)
Brady Lamb: 4!!!!!!!!!!! (YAY!)
Mike Seidel: 1
Drew Olson: 0

Freshmen
JT Brown: 6!!!!!!!!!!
Justin Faulk: 3!!!!!!!
others: zeros

Connollys
Mikey: 8!
Jacky: 8!

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 4!
Drew: 0

Dan/Drew
Olson: 8
DeLisle: 0

On Notice
Jake Hendrickson

Goals Only
Dan Delisle
David Grun
Mike Montgomery

Postcards from RWD, Vol 12

Dear Bulldogs,

If you are going to suck, let me know right away please. Give me a sign. Say, getting swept by Providence this weekend. Don't be confused, I don't want that to happen, but I don't need any of the 2004-05 soul-sucking heart-breaking sucker-punching gut-wrenching undefeated through three weekends then completely throw it away with only 3 more wins in the first half and allow a 14-goal differential in the playoffs. No, that was hardly the worst season we've ever lived through as a fanbase, in fact we had even fewer wins in subsequent seasons, but we all knew that was coming.

I'm in a sports-related depression right now. The Twins? They managed to keep roping me in with their clutch hits and winning streaks and Thome homeruns and such. Then they clinched the division and became the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked. The buzz, pre-season, about the Vikings, perpetuated by one Bruce Ciskie, was they would win the division. They have one win. They got Randy Moss, and I became hopeful again, and then let me down AGAIN Monday night. (Dirty said "And with that nice stop it's time to send in the clowns." And then there was clownery.) The Wild have the opportunity to suck in three countries this year, a rare opportunity, and they are seizing the day. But I appreciate their upfront terribleness, because now I have low expectations.

The Bulldogs are the one bright spot for me right now, and I don't know if they are even a bright spot. Certainly a 1-0-1 weekend is not rotten, and three years ago I would have been pleased, but now we have expectations and talent and a new arena and Hobey candidates.

Here are my bare minimum expectations for a non-sucky season:

1. Home ice for the WCHA first round play-offs.
Just home ice, I feel, is lenient. Like I said, these are bare minimum expectations.

2. A Final Five appearance.
The Final Five, in its new, annoying, format, gives each team only one guaranteed game. Annoying. Under the old format, three teams's fans had two guaranteed games and two teams's fans had one guaranteed game. Now six teams's fans have one guaranteed game. That sucks, especially for people coming from out of town. A fan from Denver, Grand Forks, etc. could take two days off from work and reserve a hotel room for three nights only to find their team loses on Thursday. The Final Five is still a heck of a time, but that would certainly suck some of the fun out of it. This has turned into a rant about the new Final Five, but unlike in years past, when we simply hoped for a top three berth to guarantee two games, now the seeding barely matters, except for #1 and #2 getting a bye. (A bye is nice, no doubt, but one could argue that #1, #2 and #3 got a bye under the old system.) Just get there.

3. An NCAA regional bid.
Anything can happen in the playoffs, as we've seen from Holy Cross, RIT, Buttmidji, etc. Just get to the playoffs and we'll worry about winning later. Winning would make for an AWESOME season and we're worried about non-suckiness only.

4. At least 1 player on the Hobey Baker top ten list.
It doesn't really matter who it is. Perhaps Fontaine this year and then Jack Connolly next year, as I've mentioned before. Perhaps Jack could put Mike on his shoulders and they could wear a large overcoat and try to pass as one person. Perhaps JT Brown will outscore Paul Kariya and win as a freshman.

5. WIN THE FREAKING ARENA OPENER.
DUH. MOST IMPORTANT.

Okay, now don't lose this weekend... AND don't suck!

XXOO,
RWD

666

This is my 666th post on RWD. It's so metal. I'd like to dedicate this post to the late Earl Root.

So, the insiders voted in their respective polls recently (the 94X WCHA Media Poll, conducted by the man who will be hiring me to do colour commentary this fall, Bruce Ciskie; and the Grand Forks Herald Coaches’ Poll, conducted by the always delightful Brad Schlossman), and I have to say that these folks need to read RWD. Then they would know of my clairvoyance and all make the same picks as I did.

Here are the media poll results:

1. North Dakota (28) 347
2. Minnesota Duluth 300
3. St. Cloud State (1) 295
4. Denver 242
5. Wisconsin 218
6. Minnesota 203
7. Colorado College 182
8. Bemidji State 156
9. Nebraska-Omaha 125
10. Minnesota State 97
11. Alaska-Anchorage 51
12. Michigan Tech 46

Preseason WCHA Player of the Year
Chay Genoway, UND (10)
Garrett Roe, SCSU (5)
Justin Fontaine, tUMD (4)
Jack Connolly, tUMD (3)
Jason Gregoire, UND (2)
Mike Connolly, tUMD (1)
Matt Read, BSU (1)
Evan Trupp, UND (1)

This is like Sesame Street. One of these players is not like the other. 8 people cast excellent votes. Fascinating there are no Gophers, Badgers or Pioneers represented. That’s the state of hockey, folks.

Preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year
Jaden Schwartz, CC (10)
Derek Forbort, UND (6)
Beau Bennett, DU (4)
Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota (2)
Tyler Barnes, Wisconsin (1)
J.T. Brown, Minnesota Duluth (1)
Rob Gunderson, Alaska-Anchorage (1)
Radoslav Illo, Bemidji State (1)
Jason Zucker, Denver (1)

I don’t know who Rob Gunderson is. Chuck from 60MNANR Googled him for me last night. Rob Gunderson for Hobey!

I can’t quibble with the near-omission of tUMD players (fortunately there’s another J.T. Brown groupie out there) because there isn’t an incoming freshman from the Bulldogs projected to have a significant impact on the game. tUMD is an upperclassman’s team; so is St. Cloud, and though they allegedly have some notable recruits (doubtful), those players didn’t receive any votes either. The three players most likely to have an impact on their teams immediately are Jaden Schwartz, Beau Bennett, and Nick Bjugstad: players whose teams don’t have any guys on player of the year list. Teams like UND, St. Cloud and tUMD have their top lines filled with seasoned veterans and their freshmen, talented as they may be, won’t see the ice time that their counterparts on other teams will.

Here is the esteemed panel of judges:

BSU
Brian Schultz, KKBJ (hehehe)
Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer

CC:
Ken Landau, KRXP
Joe Paisley, Colorado Springs Gazette

DU:
Mike Chambers, Denver Post
Jay Stickney, KXDP

MSUM:
Shane Frederick, Mankato Free Press
Mike Sullivan, KTOE

MTU:
Dirk Hembroff, WKMJ
Brandon Veale, Daily Mining Gazette

SCSU:
Mick Hatten, St. Cloud Times
Don Lyons, KNSI

UAA:
Kurt Haider, KENI
Doyle Woody, Anchorage Daily News

UMD:
Bruce Ciskie, KZIO
Kevin Pates, Duluth News Tribune

UMTC:
Roman Augustovitz, Minneapolis Star Tribune

UND:
Tim Hennessy, KQHT
Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald

UNO:
Dave Ahlers, KKAR
Chad Purcell, Omaha World Herald

UW:
Andy Baggot, Wisconsin State Journal
Brian Posick, WIBA/WTSO

Officially Unaffiliated Though Possibly Unofficially Affiliated:
Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey
John Gilbert, WCHA.com
Todd Milewski, USCHO
Dan Myers, College Hockey News
Jess Myers, INCH
Theresa Spisak, USCHO

And then the coaches voted, too. From what I understand and then mathematically proved, coaches cannot vote for their own teams, and rank the others from first through eleventh. So, obviously one St. Cloud vote is from Hakstol, and one UND vote is from Motzko. That doesn’t explain why the coaches weren’t smart enough to pick the eventual winner, tUMD.

1. UND (10) 120
2. St. Cloud State (2) 105
3. Minnesota-Duluth 100
4. Denver 88
5. Minnesota 82
6. Colorado College 67
7. Wisconsin 64
8. Nebraska-Omaha 55
9. Bemidji State 46
10. MSU-Mankato 41
11. Alaska-Anchorage 19
12. Michigan Tech 15

Player of the year:
Jack Connolly, tUMD (5)
Chay Genoway, UND (4)
Garrett Roe, SCSU (3)

Fortunately, the most votes for player of the year went to the correct person, although it should have been unanimous.

The voting for rookie of the year is so obvious I can identify who voted for whom.

Rookie of the year:
Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College (9) (Hakstol, Motzko, Sandelin, Gwozdecky, Owens, Serratore, Jutting, Shyiak, Russell)
Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota (1) (Lucia)
Tyler Barnes, Wisconsin (1) (Eaves)
Matt White, Omaha (1) (Blais)

Blurb

So the best part about the Wild's development camp?

Being quoted in a feature article for Wild.com. (Sorry Uncle Les, I can't make the gold text any darker, I've tried!)

Many fans were talking about the college free agents, including quite a few University of Minnesota-Duluth fans, like Donna Carpenter of St. Paul, who says that the Wild "should sign Justin Fontaine, but NOT until after April,” she demanded, insinuating that she predicts a Bulldog appearance at Xcel Energy Center in April. “Make sure they understand that. After April!"

(Just ignore the part about me living in St. Paul, because I don't.) I'm so bossy!!!!!! Even though that's not a direct quotation. I think I said "In April" about 100 times. I don't want to jinx anything. I also mentioned the drafting of Son of Mikko, but they used "Mini-Mikko" instead.

Campin' Out

I have a crappy camera, so here are some crappy photos from this morning's scrimmage. Justin did not have any points after his 2-goal showing yesterday. The score was 3-1 White (Fonz's team) (including an empty net goal) and the game itself was relatively lackluster. I guess they were told to do a better job for the season ticket holders? Suckmidji's Matt Read had the first goal of the game, which was... probably not the best goal he's ever scored. Someone named Brandon Buck from the ECHL got the second goal, and then Cody Almond, who might actually be in the Wild's lineup this fall, got the goal for green. CC's Chad Rau had the empty net goal. There were really no stoppages of play except for occasional offsides and a few icings, so the goalie-pulling was somewhat... odd. The game had strange rules, with two 30-minute halves, and instead of penalties, they just had penalty shots, with a trailer from the defending team to... I don't know, give the puck to the ref after the save was made? They didn't do anything else.

In case you were wondering, the Wild's first-round pick, whose name is Mikael Granlund but who I call Son of Mikko, was not present. Disappointing!!!!



















Fontaine, Jared Spurgeon (a midget from Spokane, WHL), Jarod Palmer (formerly of Miami-Ohio, a recent FA signing of the Wild), Cody Almond (Houston, AHL), and other unknown players follow the play up ice.



















Justin Fontaine waits for a pass, or has just completed a pass, or something.



















The Wild's 2nd round pick and incoming DU freshman, Jason Zucker (#62). Green was trying to break out of their defensive zone, where they spent a good portion of the game. Fonz is not in this photo but I thought I'd get at least one with Zucker for Vizoroo.



















Colton Gillies (Houston, AHL) and Fonz try to prevent green from getting the puck out of the zone. Fonz and Gillies were almost always on the ice together. I take this as a good sign.




















Fonz tries to position himself for a rebound. #67 is former Vermont Catacheat, Kyle Medvec.



















This is either of Fontaine (second from left, if it is him) or Zucker (left, if this is a picture of him). I am pretty certain it is Fontaine.



















Fontaine lines up with Colton Gillies and someone else. He was on the first line out to start the game. (This is not the opening face-off, however.)

Fun times! There were lots of Bulldogs fans there, including Jeremy from Minny View, Faribobulldogguy, who posts on the Penalty Box, a guy in a Wellman game-worn jersey and tUMD hat, and some others. I wore my bee Seidel jersey to make sure I stood out.

New Developments

As you all know because you diligently read RWD, Justin Fontaine is here in Minnesota for the Wild's development camp.

Over at the Wild site, they had a little write-up on college free agents invited to the camp. The only one who matters, of course, is Fonz.

This is Fontaine's first development camp and he said that after two days, its been an eye opening experience.

"It's been a great experience so far," Fontaine said. "They treat you well. You just have to try and ask a lot of questions to the guys that have been to these."

There is little doubt Fontaine will receive an opportunity at a professional contract following his senior season. He's scored more than 40 points each of the last two seasons and will likely be a first team forward selection in most preseason WCHA polls.

"I want to get faster and just improve in all areas of the ice," Fontaine said. "I want to work on everything and hopefully it will show when I get back to Duluth."

Summer Camp

While most students are on vacation, some of our favourite Bulldogs are hard at work at NHL Prospect Camps.

**edit** Kevin Pates has posted some more folks on Rink and Run

Anaheim
Rob Bordson
MacGregor Sharp

Carolina
Justin Faulk

Chicago
Jack Connolly
Dan DeLisle
Dylan Olsen

Columbus
Drew Olson

Edmonton
Mike Connolly

Minnesota
Justin Fontaine

Montreal
Scott Kishel

Pittsburgh
Brady Lamb

St. Louis
Max Tardy

San Jose
Alex Stalock
(note: I am just assuming this)

Tampa Bay
Adam Krause

Vancouver
Evan Oberg

Washington
Caleb Herbert

Make us proud, boys!