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.

The Game That Was

tUMD 3, Ugly Helmets 2

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Saturday started as a day like any other day. I fell asleep watching Miracle, as I had done before the Union game, the Yale game and the Notre Dame game. The sky was gray but it was warm out, and for a moment as I got out of bed it seemed no different from a normal weekend morning.

Then I remembered that tUMD was playing for a national championship in just a few hours and it was like being hit by a bus. The impact of the realization was so powerful it was almost physically jolting.

And so I did what any smart hockey fan would do: I laced up my skates and played hockey for two hours. Every year a cabal of USCHO posters organizes a hockey game at the Frozen Four. It's supposed to be just for fun, a good time and a way for people who hurl insults at each other in the anonymity of the internet to face up to their behaviours. (This is no problem for me because I am truly a horrible person.)

For me it was two blissful hours where I didn't have to quiver in fear at the implications of the upcoming game. Two hours where I was the one playing and attempting to make things happen on the ice. I mostly failed at making anything happen, but here is a picture of me looking awesome.

As you can tell, I (second from the left) am getting burned by Yager (far left) for the 700th time. But that's ok because in the rest of the pictures I'm standing around like a fatty. You can tell it's me because of the horrible bright yellow ponytail. Also something quite strange happened in the locker room afterward but you'll have to ask me about that on your own time.

It was fantastic to focus solely on the game at hand and just to step out on the ice and skate and have a good time. I left feeling a Zenlike equanimity I hadn't had since the season started.

Of course, once we were in the car heading to the Xcel, the PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! alarm was going off inside my head. It was like 7 fire alarms, 3 tornado sirens, the horrible monthly test of the emergency broadcasting system noise and an air raid siren ALL AT ONCE. Plus a panic attack, brain aneurysm, freefall from 10,000 feet and ADHD. Oh my.

We sat at McGovern's for awhile, everyone but me acting totally normal and watching golf. Why, I don't know, because who freaking cares? It's not even interesting. Eric Stromgren from the Bemidji Pioneer stopped by to say hello. Randomly he happens to be friends with this person who bought a bee jersey last year and was standing in line with me when we were buying them.

FINALLY I convinced everyone to go over to the UMD event at the River Center. We sat there for awhile until I couldn't stand it anymore and ditched the rest of my group to go to my seat (which is good because they didn't arrive until puck drop, and the also stole a UMD flag from somewhere) and I sat there alone until Dirty showed up.

When Michigan scored, it was like Thursday all over again, and I thought I was going to vomit. Rather than vomiting, Travis Oleksuk scored a goal. Michigan started taking all these penalties and then Max Tardy banged home his own rebound and made a believer out of me. Then something weird happened and My Jacky was lying on the ice and the puck was in the net behind Kenny and I thought "Oh my god we're not going to win" even though it was tied. My gal Britt came up during the intermission and helped me pass the time without having a nervous breakdown.

In the 3rd period Michigan was given a power play for... running into Brady Lamb (who had an assist on all three goals, FYI), I guess. I mean, really, whatever. Then JT Brown made an incredible play to bring the puck up the ice for a shorthanded scoring chance and Merrill had no choice but to haul him down and we were at fours. JT drew about 3 penalties and could have drawn a few more. It was so funny to watch him frustrate Michigan. Well, it's funny now that I can relax and breathe.

When the game went to overtime I wanted to... I don't even know. I felt like I was going to pass out. I walked around the arena and found Biddco and we just sort of panicked together. I talked to a Sioux fan friend of mine and I also saw the Maroon Loon blogger who claims that I said "Don't worry, we'll be celebrating soon," as he walked away from me. That's so unlike me. I'm more likely to say "Don't worry, we'll be committing mass suicide soon."

I walked back to my seat in a daze, and to be honest I probably should have stayed in my seat. I felt like I was going to faint. Then I heard the crowd start to roar just as I rounded one of the pillars in the corner and I went RUNNING for the nearest stairway just in time to see Mike Connolly with a great scoring chance.

The only reason I can tell you how the winning goal went is because I've seen it so many times in replay. All I know is the puck was in the net and my brother practically pile-drived (pile-drove?) me and I was screaming and crying and the Aaaahj was screaming "We're #1! We're #1!" and I fell over on to the seats and someone kicked my soda and it spilled everywhere and I called Schmidt's mom and screamed nonsensically into her voicemail and I don't even know.

I am amazed that for nothing more than the price of admission I could feel so amazing. But it's not the price of that ticket. It's years, and dozens of admissions, and hundreds of miles and thousands of words. All for something that, for someone who doesn't get it, seems so meaningless and insignificant. And if I think too hard about what it means to be a sports fan, it is completely ridiculous and I'm totally overly obsessive and I don't really care. If I cared what other people thought I wouldn't be writing RWD, ya know.

And really, what else in life can give a person the high highs without the low lows. I could never feel the way about a sports team that I do about, like, a death. But yet I was screaming "THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!" as we celebrated, high atop the upper deck, the ultimate victory after fifty years of almosts, could have beens and not a prayers.

I feel like in a way the window of opportunity for writing this post has probably gone. I should have written it Saturday night, if I was really dedicated, but I chose to go out and party like a puck star with my friends. We watched the game again at Tom Reid's and cheered the game all over again and sang the Beer Song and sang Don't Stop Believin' even though I'm still having a hard time believing that the Bulldogs are National Champions. I could have written it a dozen times this week but I had to get it just right and now I think the moment and the feeling have slipped through my fingers.

But it really happened, and no one can take that feeling away from us. To see the first national championship by my team? I don't think there are many Gopher fans, or Michigan fans, or UND fans who can say that. But when I'm 800 million years old (next year) I can tell all the young Bulldog fans in the student section what it was like to watch Kyle Schmidt do snow angels on the ice and see the players come flying off the bench and watch the fans, young and old, absolutely lose their minds as tUMD won the national championship, in overtime, in our home state.

Thanks for the memories.

No Joke

tUMD 4, Racist Mascots 3

There's nothing funny about winning.

Over the years I have had some horrible losses to write about. I mean, including this year. I try to spin the losses with humour, which is the entire foundation of this site, but with losses that makes sense. One needs a good laugh to dull the pain.

With winning, one doesn't need to be entertained, as one's already going OUT OF THEIR FREAKIN' MIND WITH JOY AND EXCITEMENT!

Which, by the way, I am, and I know you are all as well.

We arrived at the GPL tailgate just after 12 to a much smaller crowd than was at the Final Five, but that's expected. Still, it was great that the die-hards were there, no one does a tailgate like the GPL crew.

I missed the red carpet arrival because I was HOPING to get some food before heading over. I met up with my buddy and former UW blogger Badger Backer and made his friend and him come with me, then felt like a total tool when we missed it. Blah.

Honestly, I kind of wanted to die when tUMD gave up a goal 49 seconds in. It was just... so horrifying and sad and I thought it was the beginning of the end. JT Brown thought otherwise and found the back of the net so decisively that the puck bounced back out again. Something called TJ Tynan scored to get the Leprechauns another pot of gold, and I was ready to puke, and Kyle Schmidt was all "I have a bionic hand!" and we were at deuces. MCON scored another PPG and then the first period was over. You know, for some teams that's an entire game worth of scoring.

Not so for the Bulldogs, who were DOMINANT in the second period. Jack Connolly and his beard got a lovely power play goal (they were 3 for 6 on the PP, which is a Union-like stat, except we did it against a good team, not Army) and weathered some QUESTIONABLE penalties and QUESTIONABLE NON-CALLS ON INTERFERENCE and headed into the 3rd period with a two-goal lead.

The Leprechauns got a short handed goal by borrowing a player from their women's team named "Calle Ridderwall." tUMD was in the offensive zone battling for the puck along the endboards and totally jacked it up. WIN BATTLES WHEN YOU HAVE MORE PLAYERS. WHOA. The Leps took the puck all the way to the other and and into the Bulldog net, and then fear took over and I was unable feel any sort of confidence or hope we were going to hold the lead.

tUMD weathered a penalty for "Leprechaun dropping his stick" as well as 1:08 of extra attacking scariness and as the clock wound down the final seconds I was on my feet, knees shaking, and I nearly blacked out from the sheer panic and excitement and disbelief.

THE UMD BULLDOGS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

Sasquatch

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

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!!!!!

Dark Horse

So did you know there are only two candidates for Hobey Baker? Some guy from Florida and a criminal?

tUMD's own Jack Connolly is a Hobey candidate, and there's no reason that he's unworthy and that he doesn't belong in the discussion.

Jack's blurb on the Hobey Baker site (where you can go and VOTE FOR HIM, just register and you can vote once a day) says the following:

Jack Connolly – University of Minnesota-Duluth, Junior, Forward, Duluth, Minnesota
The play-making key on college hockey’s highest scoring line, Connolly is presently tied for third in the nation in scoring with 54 points and is second in assists with 39. He has been named a WCHA First Team all-star two straight years and has more points in the past two seasons, than any other WCHA player.
• Has scored 15 goals and 39 assists in 37 games – led team in scoring past 2 years
• Finished second in WCHA conference scoring race – played 120 straight games
• Communications major and twice on Dean’s list – active community volunteer

Jack plays in all phases of the game: power play, penalty kill, four on four, and he's an integral part of the best line in the nation, hands down.

He's fifth in the nation in points per game (and the first player in the WCHA on that list), second in assists per game, led the WCHA in power play points (along with Justin Schultz, another Hobey finalist), and he does all this while getting the daylights beat out of him by teams who are simply unable to defend against him legally. For reals, it is a miracle he hasn't had a serious injury after the repeated, unpunished head shots he takes. He's an iron man who hasn't missed a game in his Bulldog career.

Some might argue he doesn't have enough goals (he has 16), but those idiots haven't seen what a Jack Connolly assist looks like. This kid makes the sickest passes you'll ever see. He stick-handles like there's a magnet attraction between the puck and his stick. And a lot of his assists would be goals if he were a more selfish player. Jack's so unselfish he's currently sporting bleach blonde hair with a dark beard, all for the sake of team unity.

You're not going to find Jack Connolly's name on a police blotter. He's not going to get arrested for a DUI; you're more likely to find him as a designated driver. He's on the All-WCHA Academic team and the Dean's List, and he's a captain and a leader in the locker room. He was voted Fan Favorite last year. He sets an example for his teammates and for the children in the community who play on the same rinks he grew up skating on.

Jack Connolly for Hobey.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

tUMD 2, WTF 3 (OT)

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

This is really not the end of the world. Actually I think the end of the world would have been sitting through the entire UAA-CC game. The only other matchup that would match that level of boredom is UAA-DU, because DU fans don't attend the Final Five.

tUMD gets to go home and think about what they did. Maybe sit in the corner for awhile. But they do also get to rest, and then practice, and then get ready for wherever they are sent and whoever they will face.

tDogs will be fine if they can:

Play defence. We all know goaltending is our weakness. Play D like you did in OT against St. Cloud, and you'll be unbeatable.

Get the secondary scoring going. Our second line needs a shakeup. Get Seidel or Grun up there and what you lose in speed a little you will more than make up for in play-making ability and physicality.

Stay hungry for the win. I'm sure they can. tDogs are superb in do-or-die situations. Today was not a do-or-die situation. I'm not pleased that they don't have the killer instinct in all situations, but they know their next game is going to be their last.

tDogs are capable of beating anyone they come up against, whether that's UND or BC or Michigan or Miami or ANY. TEAM. IN. DIVISION ONE HOCKEY.

Guys, remember. Adam Freaking Hauser has a National Championship ring. ADAM HAUSER. That's all you need to know. Get out there and win next weekend and get back to the Xcel for some redemption, and also to see Jack Connolly win the Hobey Baker, as he was just announced as a finalist for the award. The list stands at ten now, with Justin Schultz from Wisconsin and the lawn mower throwing thug from UND as the other WCHA representatives. GO JACK GO!!!

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

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!

File Under: I, For Irony

from tUMD Statesman:

Saturday night, Feb. 5,
2011, will be remembered as Jack Connolly night. The junior from Calgary tied a
UMD Bulldog men's hockey record by scoring five goals in one contest. That is
not a misprint. Jack Connolly scored five goals in a Division I hockey game on
Saturday night.

Indeed. (Thanks Mullet for the tip.)

All Work and No Play

So much My Jacky content to go over!! Zomg!

First off, he has a new blog entry up. He talks a little about what the team did in practice in the off-week. I don't plan on posting here every time there is a new Jacky Blog entry so you should be checking that out on your own.

I think the team should just get an official blog that Christian or some intern could run/write, and then the player could have their posts there. Then they could have a neater design and have individual blog posts instead of having every post on the same page. tUMD's website doesn't give a whole lot of freedom.

So Jack linked to an interview he did for "This Week in the USHL." The host of this show sounds totally hilarious. Between exceptionally long monologues by the host, Jack talks about the new arena, being a Duluth native, the state of the program and his development in the USHL.

I also got a tip from Angel on Facebook that he had done another interview on the Northland News Center's site. Jack gives the team a B+/A- so far, discusses the AMSoil opener and the Gophers series (where he said we ran into a hot goaltender and felt the Dogs played better, which I disagree with, they may have played better but they played nowhere near their potential) and the team's focus down the stretch (winning the McNaughton cup).

Thank goodness that the bye week is over and the Wild will be back Tuesday and tDogs on Friday!!!

Tom Miller is My Hero (And Other Stories)

ZOMG! All-Star week AND tUMD off-week! What's a girl to do? Well, I'm going to play some hockey, but first I shall make fun of others!

First, UND fans. I know, I know. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. It's almost too easy. Also they are like cannibals over there, eating their own. Today, though, the Grand Forks Herald's Tom Miller wrote a hilarious column about how Sioux fans are ready to jump off a cliff (after traveling to another state to locate said cliff) because they have lost a few games.

I just have one issue with the article. Miller writes:

The online message board Siouxsports.com even saw its legendary and laughable “Fire head coach Dave Hakstol” thread re-emerge. It’s five pages of babble and counting.

Tom, come on. Be serious. It's five thousand pages of babble and counting.

Next up, My Jacky. Okay, I'm not actually going to make fun of him. I am just going to point out that he is blogging over at tUMD's website.

So far he's got three posts, and while they are a good start, there's nothing on there other than the movies they watched on the bus that we could not read in a beat writer's blog or newspaper article. (Well, you could, I could not because of the boycott, which is going well, thank you.) I don't know about other fans' opinions, but I can't imagine they differ much from mine, and I would like to see more behind-the-scenes information. The best parts about Drew Akins's blog last year were his little jokes about his teammates or his little insights into his quotidian life as a hockey player. So, more of that! However, if I see that he starts writing about hotties and interviewing opposing fans in a humorous manner, I'm coming after him!

It seems like there should be a third topic here but there is not. I'm trying to avoid stressing about the upcoming Gopher series. Someone asked me if there would be a Gauntlet and I don't think so. Brent sort of ruined it for everyone else. I will probably do a story on Gopher fans and Bulldog fans skating together arm and arm in harmony at AA or something.

Like Lambs to Slaughter

tUMD 5, Bad News Huskies 0
tUMD 3, Bad News Huskies 0

Everyone all thawed out after the chilly weekend? It's 15 degrees (in Minneapolis, in Duluth it's 21), I'm wearing shorts!

I know this is going to blow your mind, by Friday I went out with friends instead of listening to the game. I know! I can't even believe it either! I have friends! What? And my whole life doesn't revolve around Bulldog hockey! I'm as surprised as you are. I thought I'd break out in hives.

Saturday I wasn't really paying attention either, because I was over at MEg's house helping her paint and helping assuage her grief over the impending loss of Jamie Russell. This upsets me as well, as it's well-documented how I feel about Le Russell.

So finally! Finally tUMD gets 8 points from Michigan Tech! That has not happened since before College Hockey Stats has data! That really sucks!

The PP still needs work. Discussion over on tPB tends to favor abandoning the four forwards approach. As did the overall sentiment in AA (I can't write the arena name anymore, not because I have a problem with it but because I am getting spammed like scrazy* with "questions" about my "involvment" with a certain synthetic oil) when we played Wisconsin. Also on the list, not waiting forever to shoot it into the opponent's legs. Just do it right away.

Also, my link for the Hobey Baker vote is jacked up, and I've been too lazy to change it, but here's the correct one. UND's Lawn Mower Tossing Champion is in the lead right now, thanks to some Maple Leafs fans who ran out of waffles to throw. I've been voting pretty much daily just because I can, but all of our guys are sitting with less than 1% of the vote. Good thing the fan vote counts for 1% of the total voting process. Theoretically.

You can also vote for an award a Bulldog player is guaranteed to win: the Stauber Brothers Fan Favorite award. Past winners are My Jacky, Stalock and Garrison.

I already have another idea for a post! I'm hoping this is the end of my posting doldrums!


*Scrazy is a new word Dirty made up last night. Definition pending.

Two Minutes in Heaven

tUMD 2, Red Menace 0
tUMD 2, Red Menace 3

Oh, yes, blogging. I still do that?

I’ve got a case of the Januarys, it seems. In fact, I even wrote a post on Friday in anticipation of the series, but I was so tired it was completely incoherent and I couldn’t be bothered to edit it.

I guess the title can refer to either the two minutes at the end of Saturday's game or can refer to how much fun the penalty box was as our players seemed to end up in there a lot.

Friday I was stressed out. I just wasn’t feeling the team, I was back in that “We’re never going to win again” mode, even though the Dogs beat Clarkson and played a fine game against the Minors. Also it snowed again and it took me an hour to drive ten miles, and I missed the first period and thus both goals in the game. But what an awesome game! Everyone was raving about the complete team effort and how great everyone played and other things. I’m sad I didn’t see the game.

So then I was too tired to post on Friday night and then Saturday I had to go buy breezers with my dad so I didn’t have time to post. It is very hard to find breezers that are not for adolescent boys or gigantic men. They are a little bit big on me still but they don’t come up to my armpits or down to my knees so I’m pleased overall. I also got some new elbow pads that don’t cover my whole arm. Success! Thanks Dad!

Saturday we drove up to Duluth for the night and be it known, I did not get in a fan altercation! Amazing!

tUMD got down 2-0 fairly early on, and Justin Faulk decided to hit a guy from behind just before the period ended and was given the night off by our friends, the referees. Not a good choice, Justin. But you are young, it happens. Wisconsin scored early in their major power play and tUMD hung on.

Some interesting things occurred in the second period. A conspiracy theorist might say these things occurred because of the controversial officiating from our series in Wisconsin. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, though. Mike Connolly was ejected from the game on a contact to the head major penalty. It happened in the corner I can’t see as well, and the replay was sort of poor, so I can’t really say one way or another what I think happened. Some folks have said it was b.s. but until I see it for myself I’m not going to comment. What I did see for myself were some world-class, Robbie Earl would be proud, Academy Award winning dives.

I don’t understand why diving is never a point of emphasis. There is a whole subset of penalties that can be called in relation to diving. Embellishment, unsportsmanlike conduct, I think I have even seen unsportsmanlike diving. Every team does it, because players constantly get away with it. Refs love to call penalties. Why not call the dive, too? I mean, they are all paid per whistle, right? It is not as dangerous as hits to the head or hits from behind, plays that put players in danger when they are in a vulnerable position. But it damages the sport, and it discourages hard work. Why fight through a check when you can fall down like a sack of rocks and your team is rewarded with a power play? Why work to get to the puck when you can deliberately skate over your opponents stick blade and do a pratfall? The way WCHA games are officiated right now actually encourages diving and embellishment.

So tUMD is already down one guy and some sad pathetic little Badger, who is already falling, draws a penalty on Joe Basaraba for cross checking. Though Joe’s stick didn’t contact him. And though he was falling already. tUMD went down 5 on 3. Then Jack Connolly was called for hooking forty seconds later. I was staring right at the play. No hook occurred.

What makes this so suspect is it is so far away from the typical WCHA officiating. We usually know what to expect. Even-up calls, whistle-swallowing in OT, those types of things. We don’t like them but they are predictable. One thing referees normally fear doing is putting teams down two players. So to put a team already killing their second major penalty of the night down on an extended two-man disadvantage? That’s the complete opposite of the officiating philosophy of the WCHA as we have all witnessed.

Not to worry, though, because the Red Menace didn’t score on that little bonanza of theirs. And of course we got a couple PPs of our own (although I was yelling at Shepherd and Beaurline “You’ve got the wrong team? You’re supposed to call it on the Bulldogs!”) and were content to fanny around with the puck for 30 seconds before shooting it directly into the legs of the defender. (At this, I yelled “Stop doing that! It never works!” and then once they started shooting at something other than a player, I yelled “No! You’re doing it wrong! Shoot it into his legs!” I have to entertain myself somehow to keep from going insane.)

Wisconsin took a major penalty of their own… except tUMD had to play the first two minutes 4 on 4 because Kenny Reiter tripped someone. Poor Max Tardy had to serve that penalty too. He spent 34 minutes in the penalty box though he committed only one penalty of his own. tUMD finally took a timeout after they iced the puck on the PP and then converted the next power play on a funky goal that demoralized the jubilant Red Army comrades in my vicinity. Then tUMD scored again with the extra attacker and then just ran out of time. It was an exciting finish though!

So, to sum up Saturday’s game: Two pipes + two crossbars + 4 zebras + 1 lethal UW PP unit + 5 terrible tUMD PPs = a 3-2 loss and an overall 3-1 advantage in the season series. Not the end of the world. Now, if tUMD doesn’t take care of biznass in the UP, then we’ll have issues.

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!

Rumble in the Jungle

tUMD 4, Teenagers 1, RWD 2

Yes! That's a correct score, folks!

So I got my first live crack at Matt McNeely, future tUMD superstar. He was voted player of the game and he certainly deserved it. 42 saves on 46 shots. Yay!

It was hard to really get into this game since it had no statistical value and our opponents were just widdle bitty boys. Biddco and I did make up some nice chants like "Obama Payroll" and "No Blood For Oil!" McNeely's fan club started chanting "USA! USA!" and we responded with "CANADA! CANADA!" and "MEXICO! MEXICO!" Meh. That was the best we could do.

So David Grun got the first Bulldog goal in the building. Not the first OFFICIAL goal as this was an exhibition game, but still, yay! Sick goal, too. MCON has the puck and the USA player falls down to try to break up the pass, MCON waits and then feeds the puck to Grunner who slams it home.

Oh, AMSoil folks? Play the rouser after a goal. Not Sweet Caroline.

I missed the second goal because a certain short person needed a pretzel and it took forever to complete the transaction, although there was no apparent reason for the slowness. Sigh. But there was a TV right there! So I could see it! My Jacky put a bouncing puck into the net. Whee!!

I missed the Teenagers' only goal too, because of another reason. It was scored by UND recruit Rocco Grimaldi, also known as the Prince of Liechtenstein. How a foreign prince is on our national team is unclear at this time.

I was, ahem, "selected" for the Subway Shoot-out in the second period and was waiting to get on the ice when the Teenagers had their goal. Biddco and Boody were also "selected." The Subway Shoot-out, in case you are unaware, is one of those competitions where contestants shoot at a board with a slot in in. One starts between the face-off dots, and gets five pucks to try to get a goal. If a goal is scored before all five pucks go in, then one moves back to the blue line, and if a goal is scored there, then one makes an attempt from center ice with any remaining pucks.

Biddco went first and missed all five. I was very nervous, because I'm not exactly Justin Faulk with his pinpoint accuracy, but I RECEIVED A SIGN FROM THE HOCKEY GODS. The stick used in the shootout? IT WAS MIKE CURRY'S! Now, that pretty much means zero goals were scored using it, but Curry's My Guy! So on my 4th shot, I got the puck in from between the face-off dots, and on the fifth one I scored from the blue line! Yay! I have four years of NCAA eligibility, BTW, coaches. Boody had to go and steal the show by scoring from center ice as well, but that was pretty cool so I can't hold a grudge.

Then something happened.

I purposefully selected my seats in AMSoil Arena at the top of a section in the upper deck so that I could stand during games, because I like to and also because I get nervous. I couldn't stand during the UND game because there were people behind me and next to me, but through the first two periods of tonight's game there weren't any people behind us.

So. Then. Some drunken man and his drunken friend showed up and decided to sit behind and to the right of us. And they didn't like us standing, although at first the drunken man asked me if we were going to stand the whole game, so they could move, and I said yes, thinking that was the end of it and they'd just move to one of the myriad other seats available. But no, Drunky McDrunkerson wanted to get into it with me, and since I'm classy like that, I made him say please before I would sit down. Which he obviously would have rather died than said. And then he yelled at me that he was 47 years old, which was hilarious, and reminded Biddco of this:



So finally some kid comes over and gets the moron to say please and I sat down, just as I said I would, and then I thought that was the end of it. But no, Drunky McDrunkerson and his stupid friend decided they would keep running their mouths. So after about three or four minutes of that I whipped around and snapped at them, and then a DECC lady intervened and I asked her to call security and they came and that shut them up. And then they went away. Yay! I win!

I think, instead of keeping a list of arenas where I have visited, I'm going to keep a list of arenas where I have had an altercation with another fan. It just so happens that list is almost identical to the list of arenas I have seen. Funny how that works.

In the third period, Keegan Flaherty and Jake Hendrickson got their first goals as Bulldogs, although for official statistical purposes they still are without a goal. Still, that just opened the floodgates, no?

The arena seems more lovely with a win, although it's not quite right yet without the students and the band.

Filler

Hm, I didn't mean to take a hiatus, but yet I did.

Some notes:
Justin Faulk is officially on the USA WJC team! I look forward to him returning with a gold medal around his neck.
tUMD football won the D-2 national championship!
I watched Matt McNeely play for the US-U18 team against UND. He did a good job. I don't really know much about goalies. He only gave up 2 goals on 40 shots. I wonder if he will play against tUMD.
The second Gopher game sucked and I don't want to recap it, I would prefer to move on.
I got banned from USCHO until 12/30 for trolling and also using profanity. Excellent.

A Christmas post is forthcoming, and it's gonna be good, but for now, here are my Posts of Christmas Past.

A Brady Hjelle Christmas
Jacky's Christmas Story
Santa Baby
How Derek Shepherd Stole Christmas

Penultimatum

tUMD 4, Lucky Stiffs 5 (OT)

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

The penultimate game at the DECC was not what we had hoped, no. What a strange game it was! I missed the first period, as the traffic in the Twin Cities was rotten and the trip took four hours. I did not need to see the first period, as it was 2-0 after seven minutes of play.

After 1:25 of play in the second period, it was 3-0. I sent a text to Cardinal saying it was the worst goal I'd ever seen given up short of Frazee. He said it was a bold statement. I felt it was necessary. Crandall was given the hook (and no, his eyeballs did not pop out of his head like our one sad scoreboard animation) and then SEVEN SECONDS LATER my Jacky scored!!! Boom!!! Then three minute later, Wade Bergman stuffed home a rebound of Fontaine shot that I cannot believe did not go in!! And finally Mike Connolly scored to tie the game on the PP, on a sick snipe. He waited, waited, waited for Brittain to make a move and then Boom!!! the puck was in the back of the net. INSANE.

With just under five minutes to go in the 3rd period, Kyle Schmidt scored on a crazy behind the back type goal or something. I wasn't looking, for some unknown reason (sorry Kris!) but I certainly went bananas.

Then, blah, sadness, Denver scores on a deflection off a skate, and then tUMD dominates in overtime for like three minutes but lets Drew Shore pitch a tent in the crease and he scored. Two people cheered. Jeez, Denver fans, have some pride and go on a road trip or two.

Next on the docket is the football game, and then...

Then it's the final game at the DECC. I can't believe it. Four generations of my family have attended games at the DECC. It has seen it all, from the worst blowouts to the craziest comebacks. It has seen national championships and section championships. It is a dump, like all truly great college hockey rinks.

I know the team can rebound. They always play better on Saturday nights. Just stay focused. It's a big night. There's a lot of publicity and pressure. But elite hockey players will face that night in and night out, so it's not an excuse.

Please, Bulldogs. Send the DECC out in style. Give it the farewell it deserves after 45 years as our host. I know you're excited for the bright, shiny new arena with all its bells and whistles, but a lot has happened in this little building. It sounds stupid, but people's lives have been changed in the DECC, and attention must be paid. Play your very best hockey for your teammates, your fans, and forty-five years of Bulldog hockey.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 8 ("'Has your luck run out?' she laughed at him, 'Well, I guess you must have known it would one day.'" -Bob Dylan)
Points until we reach last season's total: 18 (Blah)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 23!!!
JT Brown: 16!!!
Mike Seidel: 5
Brady Lamb: 4
Drew Olson: 1

Freshmen
JT Brown: 16!!!
Justin Faulk: 11!!!
Joe Basaraba: 1
others: zeros

Connollys
Jacky: 23!!!!
Mikey: 21!!!!

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 13!!!!
Drew: 1

Dan/Drew
Olson: 8
DeLisle: 4!

On Notice
Joe Basaraba
David Grun
Jake Hendrickson
Brady Lamb
Max Tardy

Goals Only
JT Brown
Dan Delisle
Keegan Flaherty
Mike Montgomery
Dylan Olsen

Jerseylicious (and other stories)

Oh, there's a lot to talk about.

First of all, tonight's the first night of Hanukkah. Smoke some marijuanukkah, drink a gin and tonukkah.

Next, I was going to do a post of DECC memories from RWD friends and family. The only people who responded were FHG and my mom. See, I don't really have any readers. Sadness.

Then, I saw this article today about the Canadian WJC roster announcements. (Thanks to Tom from Without a Peer!) O, Canada, you crazy mofos. Why can't you respect the players and the decisions they made? Dylan Olsen will be attending their tryouts. (The article shows a picture of him. It looks like he is being punched in the back.) Last year he was snubbed from the team. Now, of course, he was young and still developing, but Team Canada did some funky things. Like inviting Patrick Wiercioch, and then when he arrived (after missing the Denver vs. Duluth game), telling him his knee injury, which they had already known about, was going to keep him off the team. They could have just picked up the phone and reached out and touched someone, but instead they flew him there to jerk him around. Odd, no?

I still hope for the best, that Dylan Olsen will come back to tUMD in January with a silver medal for Team Canada, and that Justin Faulk will come back with a gold for Team USA!!! I will be rooting for Dylan ALL THE WAY!!!!

Okay, finally. There's going to be a jersey auction this weekend. Sigh. Here's a photo of the jerseys that the team will wear. It's a 1960s throwback, naturally. But WHAT DO I DO??? Last year's jersey auction nearly killed me. Seriously, the 2nd intermission, when I was waiting to find out if I'd get my Seidel jersey, was the longest 15 minutes of my life.

I don't know what to do. I'm not sure who I want to bid on. Do I go all in and bid on My Jacky's jersey? Or do I try for an under-the-radar guy? I don't know! Actually I have a plan on another possible jersey but we'll see. I'm getting all nervous just thinking about the possibility that I don't win a jersey. This is so upsetting! And probably a sign that I need a straitjacket instead.

Two days!!!! Then hockey!!!! And football!!!! Anyone else planning on going to the football game? I'm making a trip to Fleet Farm to stock up on foot warmers.