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.

Take Good Care of My Babies

So, we bid farewell to Justin Faulk and Mike Connolly.

Here's Justin's press release and apparently the Sharks are too busy to have one for Mike's signing.

Sure, we'd have love to have both of them for another year. But Justin is the most outstanding freshman defenceman I've ever seen (he blows EJ out of the water) and there's no way that he was staying. We were lucky to have a player of that caliber who also had a lifelong dream of being a Bulldog. I have no doubt he gave us his very best and while I'm sad to see him go, I wish him nothing but the best.

And Mike. It's been a treat watching him over the past three years. A few years ago, a Camrose fan posted on tPB and told us he was even better than Mason Raymond, and we thought it was impossible. Well, Alice, there's some use in believing in impossible things, because in the college game, Mike was better.

The two most memorable goals of Mike Connolly's career are his goal against Yale where he scored short-handed and then plowed over a Yale player, and his overtime game-winner against Princeton that caused absolute pandemonium among the toga-ers. I will never, ever forget those goals. Mike is leaving at the pinnacle of his career: national champion, All-American, WCHA superstar and Bulldog legend.

Thank you both for your hard work and your legacy. Make us proud in the NHL.

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!

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!

Jersey Chasing

Hello.

Just wanted to say, I now own this:



















Carry on.

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.

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.

It Was A Very Good Year

Yesterday I was talking to Dirty about when I was in high school and I employed guerilla warfare tactics to try to get a certain guy to go out with me. (I'm still not sure if I was actually successful or not. We are friends and I think he reads this site occasionally, or at least keeps saying he means to, which is probably just a lie. It would really be my luck if this was the first time he surfed on in. Dirty assured me that guys are stupid so I'm going to assume he probably wouldn't recognize I'm talking about him anyway.) All of a sudden it dawned on me that my stalkerazzi salad days were ten years ago! TEN YEARS!!! What?1?!?!?!? I’m old! It’s horrifying.

The point of this story is not to appear even more scary and aggressive than usual, but rather to segue into discussing the weekend. Tomorrow night tUMD takes on the US NTDP U-18 Team. (They should have a mascot or something. Like the USA Bald Eagles or the USA Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragons.) These kids are freaking young. They were born in 1993! That just made me pull more gray hairs from my head and ears! Frightening. Let’s get some perspective.

Jurassic Park came out and grossed $915 million. Schindler’s List won best Picture and Sookie from that vampire show won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Piano. I was horribly jealous because she and I are the same age and she was in a movie and I was in a summer school theatre production of Aladdin.

River Phoenix overdosed outside the Viper Room. Frank Zappa died. No one cares about this except AJ, but Mayhem guitarist Euronymous was stabbed to death by fellow band member Varg Vikernes. Some people were born, but I’ve never heard of any of them because I don’t watch the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon.

Tragically, the band Korn was formed. Fortunately, so were the Backstreet Boys! (Who I recently learned are back together.) Arrested Development won best New Artist at the Grammys. Arrested Development! "Mr. Wendal!"

The #1 song on the Billboard Top 100 was "I Will Always Love You." A much better song, "Whoomp! (There It Is)" was #2.

The other 98 were songs I skated along to at the Roller Gardens.

Saved by the Bell The New Class and Saved By the Bell the College Years debuted, as did Mighty Morphin Power Rangers AND Walker: Texas Ranger. The Wonder Years and Cheers ended.

Czechoslovakia separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Bill Clinton was sworn in as President and Boris Yeltsin was elected. The Brady Bill was signed into law. The Branch Davidians in Waco offed themselves. The World Trade Center was bombed.

Kirby Puckett was the All-Star MVP. That pitcher with no hand threw a no hitter. Jim McMahon, Cris and Anthony Carter, Mike Tice, Randall McDaniel and Fuad Reveiz played for Denny Green and the Vikings. Basketball occurred, I assume.

Guy Carbonneau et les Habitants (avec G.M. Jacques Lemaire) ont gagne le Stanley Cup sur les LA Kings et Wayne Gretzky. Alexandre Daigle was the #1 draft pick, by the Ottawa Senators (#2 was Chris Pronger. Hm...) The North Stars left Minnesota.

Paul Kariya won the Hobey Baker and Maine beat a Jeff Jackson-coached LSSU in the national championship game in Milwaukee. Derek Plante was still playing for the MacNaughton-winning Bulldogs. Bruce Ciskie was on the chess team at Superior High School. Mike Montgomery and Kenny Reiter were in first grade. Christian Gaffy, Justin Faulk and Joe Basaraba were in diapers.

Anyone else feeling a little bit older now?

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

Woohoo!

Hey guys! Guess what! Dylan Olsen made Team Canada's WJC Roster!!! He'll be #4 and we'll see who he's paired with.

You've gotta watch this video, too. It's so darn cute. They've got several of the players after they just woke up and found out the news that they made the roster. Dylan and his roomie Brett Connolly are on there. Brett has some hair on him, that's for sure. Dylan has his sweatshirt on inside out and backward. Jaden Schwartz answers the door with no shirt on and says he's going to go call his sister Mandi.

Congratulations Dylan (and Jaden) and make the NCAA proud!!!! Can't wait to see you guys with your silver medals!

Now we'll see if Justin Faulk will make Team USA's roster!

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

I Hope You Had The Time Of Your Life

tUMD 2, Unlucky Stiffs 1

I'm so tired I can barely think.

I woke up this morning terrified tUMD would lose tonight's game. I've never been so nervous in my life for a non-playoff game. The 'Dogs opened the DECC with an 8-1 win over UMTC, and there was nothing I wanted more than to see them close it down with a win.

Oh, and a jersey. Right.

I went out to brunch with Biddco and the Aaaahj at Pizza Luce, and then my dad, Biddco and I went to the football game, where we met up with DHG and tPB Dude. Wrapped in layers of blankets and clothing, we watched the Bulldog football team beat Augustana 24-13. It was an exciting football game and it took my mind off the hockey game for a little while.

After the game, the waiting started to get to me. I was so nervous, in fact, that I couldn't even stay at Green Mill past 5:50. Biddco and I headed over since he wanted to get a good seat in the student section. I noted there were no other bids on the jersey I wanted and then hung out with Ma Ciskie and Li'l Ciskie and watched the DECC fill up.

The team was about to come out when the Zamboni came out onto the ice. Slowly, it opened, and out came the Loon! People were on their feet and cheering. It simply would not have been right if the Loon had not been there to close down the DECC.

The game started strangely, as I think there was supposed to be a ceremonial puck drop with Huffer, and there was not. I can't imagine what could have occurred to prevent it from happening but finally the refs just dropped the puck and the game began.

The Bulldogs were absolutely dominant for at least 40 minutes of the game. If not for Sam Brittain and the pipes, the game would have been a blowout. tUMD didn't get anything into the back of the net until Justin Faulk got a power play goal and I did my first and only goal lap around the DECC. Some of it alone, because I was too slow for Kleiner, DHG and Boody, and the students caught up with me, but I kept going once we got to the student section. Oh well. I didn't want to trip and go flying, or pass out from lack of oxygen.

In the second period, Montgomery was called for interference with 2:38 to go and I had to go down to protect my bid. I missed seeing MCON's goal but I certainly celebrated. I saw a replay of it later. Incredible goal. Just sick. I don't know if Mike Connolly has ever had a garbage goal in his life; his goals are all so lovely.

The jersey auctions are always insane. This year's was no exception. There was lots of posturing and covert observing and flat out panic (ok, that was just me.) I aggressively bid myself into owning Dylan Olsen's jersey. My dad won Trent Palm's, and the Aaaahj was boxed out at the last minute for Max Tardy's by some guy who sandbagged writing down his bid. Argh. I finally felt some of the stress melt away as I realized the jersey was mine.

In the third period, Nick Shore did his best to try to murder Kyle Schmidt, and was asked to leave the game. Let it be known that tUMD had more power play opportunities and fewer overall penalties than DU. We can put to bed any rumors from other teams' fans that the WCHA league officials are biased in favor of DU. (NCAA DII football officials may be biased in favor of Augustana, though.) tUMD did not score on the 5-minute power play although they had some excellent chances, including one that went for review. JT Brown took a slashing penalty and DU scored at the 8:25 mark, making the game too close for comfort once more.

DU put really their only sustained pressure on somewhere around maybe 8 minutes to go? I'm not sure. They had multiple chances and Kenny Reiter played the way we've known he can play all along. He was up to the task, and so were the rest of the Dogs. DU managed to pull their goalie with 1:48 to go, and the Dogs played probably the best final two minutes of a hockey game they have all year. MCON missed a chance for an empty net goal, but instead of trying for a bad shot with a DU player in his way, and a possible turnover, he tied up the puck for precious ticks off the clock. The 'Dogs kept Denver from getting anything decent going with the extra attacker on, and they gained possession with just a few seconds left and that was the game. Incredible. A gutsy way to go ungently into that good night.

After the game, the 'Dogs had a stick salute for the fans before the handshake, and then once DU left the ice, they invited all the alumni present to come down for a final stick salute. After some words from Huffer and the lowering of the "Final Year" banner, Hoagy led over 100 Bulldogs, past and present, in another final stick salute. Audio clips were played of a few milestone tUMD games, and I only wish there had been more. Finally, the players left the ice, and one final audio clip had Marsh Nelson wishing us goodnight.

What a way to go. I cried, I'm not ashamed to admit it. The DECC means a lot to a lot of people. I heard people who had sat next to each other for years saying goodbye to each other. I saw couples who met in college taking pictures with their children in the seats they used to sit in. People lingered, taking pictures, talking, in disbelief that they'll be sitting in a new arena next time the Dogs play in Duluth. The arena was a dump, but it was ours, and it held a lot of memories. And it was built at a time when most arenas were dumps, anyway.

Finally we tore ourselves away from the arena and went to claim our jerseys. I was standing around talking with other successful jersey winners and then the players snuck in. Dylan was one of the first ones in and he came over and was very friendly. I managed to rein in my extreme awkwardness and had a real conversation with him. I asked if he was excited for next weekend and the WJC tryouts and he said yeah. I told him I'd cheer for him, but not for Canada, and asked him if he would light up Justin Faulk if they played against each other. He was noncommittal. I think that means yes. I asked if his dad was there and he said no, but he wished he was. As you all know, Dylan's dad Darryl played for NMU and certainly had some games at the DECC. I also told him I'd converted some Blackhawks fans to UMD fans because of him, and told him I looked forward to watching him play in the NHL and the rest of this year... and maybe next year. He sort of smiled and I said I knew it might not happen and I just wanted him to make the right choice for himself. We got a photo together which is sort of crappy as the Aaaahj was trying to turn on the flash and failed, and then I forgot to ask him to sign my jersey. I'll have to be a creepy stalker after a game sometime and get him to sign it then.

I've spent an hour writing this post and I could probably wax rhapsodic about the DECC for another hour, but for now, I'll just wish you all goodnight.

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.

A Burden In My Hand and An Anchor On My Heart

I love Soundgarden. Grunge is one of the best genres of music ever.



I've made no secret about how much I dislike tUMD being #1 in the polls. I know it doesn't matter, it doesn't mean anything, it's just, like, someone's opinion, man. But it's just a ginormous target and an extremely weighty expectation.

Last time tUMD was ranked #1 in the polls was my first season writing RWD. The subsequent disastrous weekend contest against Vermont, which resulted in a loss and a tie, precipitated the complete abomination of a season. And I'm being polite there.

Now, would they have had the same terrible season without that #1 ranking? Uh, yeah. There were a lot of problems with that team. And yes, I know, these aren't the same guys. Most of them don't even know the guys on that team. Except for Justin Faulk, who is Marco Peluso's cousin. Oh Marco, what could have been. (Okay, upon further inspection, maybe there was more overlap than I thought.) But until this weekend is over I'm just going to sit here and freak out about that #1 ranking.

I prefer my teams to fly under the radar. Then they get overlooked, and pounce while their opponents are caught napping. Other teams champ at the bit to knock off #1 teams. Last weekend, #1 BU played Merrimack, a useless school I find interchangeable with Mercyhurst. If not for the Chris Connolly Come From Behind Special, BU would have made out with one sad little point. Instead they got two sad little points. Wisconsin is almost, but not quite as pathetic as Merrimack, and I'm nervous we'll come out of there with a big fat zippity-zero.

So the #1 ranking is great for recruiting, as DHG and Ciskie said, and it's nice to see their hard work and great success get rewarded. I don't want this ranking to end up the albatross around their necks. Let's hope these young gentlemen don't take their focus off the REAL issue: WINNING.

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

Another BREC in the Wall

tUMD 1, Those Still Yet to Win in Their New Arena 1

So, we made the drive up to Bemidji to see what we could see. And what do you think we saw? We saw the other side.

No, not really, I was getting us confused with the bear that went over the mountain. We saw a tie. And even though UMD got that power play goal late in the game, I knew that lead wouldn't hold. Granted, it was hard to get things going. This is my first time seeing Bemidji State play live and they did not play a style I expected them to play. These guys stomped on the Bulldogs last year and this year were struggling to find offense. It took someone named Bilbo Baggins or something almost the entire game to find the net. Most of the game seemed to be focused around stopping the Bulldogs rather than beating them.

Bemidji's goalie made some great saves including one on JT Brown in OT that I thought was a for sure game winner. Kenny did not make any brilliant saves that I noticed. Much of UMD's puck luck this weekend came from Bemidji players being a day late and a dollar short on rebounds. I am not sure Bemidji players knew they could play in the slot or camp out in front of the net. tUMD's defence played an outstanding game.

tUMD should have scored on the 5 on 3. Here's the deal with that play: once tUMD got the delayed penalty, a Bemidji player made an even worse hit on another Bulldog as if daring the refs to make the call. They did. Yay.

Overall the BREC is nice but lacks atmosphere. The students do not have a leader. They do even fewer cheers than UMD fans. And their mascot is named Bucky but looks like an ethnic Goldy. Get it a leather tail or something. Most students were in costume and there were some really funny ones, like a Rubik's Cube or Wooderson from Dazed and Confused.

Alcohol is for sale at the BREC. Unfortunately this led to some obnoxiousness. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the biggest jerk of the night was a guy in a Sioux jersey who went down behind the Bulldog bench and started swearing at them and pounding on the glass, then tried to get by me to get out of the row. I told him to wait for a whistle and blocked his way. He took umbrage, swore at me, then climbed over a bunch of other seats and spent the rest of the time he was there swearing at me some more. Two students came up during the break between the 3rd period and overtime and screamed and swore at the UMD team and at Suz for almost the entire break before an usher came and led them, very slowly, away. I like to be a big jerk too but I am now sober while I do it. A Bemidji player grabbed JT Brown's facemask and it popped open, and no call was made. So Phil Loadholt can't do that to a Packer but Bemidji can get away with it? So I yelled "I know they haven't won yet but you don't have to give them the game." I'm mean.

I still had a great time despite the outcome. And now I'm chillin' in paradise at the Bjorneby homestead on Lake Bemidji.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 13! (Ugly wins count the same!)
Points until we reach last season's total: 27! (Sweet!)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 12!
JT Brown: 11
Brady Lamb: 4
Mike Seidel: 2
Drew Olson: 0

Freshmen
JT Brown: 11
Justin Faulk: 5!!! (Off notice!!! Tragically unable to see his goal as it was at the other end of the rink and they did not replay it!!!)
others: zeros

Connollys
Mikey: 13!
Jacky: 12!

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 6
Drew: 0

Dan/Drew
Olson: 8
DeLisle: 2

On Notice
Wade Bergman
David Grun
Jake Hendrickson
Brady Lamb
Mike Montgomery
Max Tardy

Goals Only
Jack Connolly (WHAT??? JACKY, GET IT TOGETHER!!!)
Keegan Flaherty
Dylan Olsen
Mike Seidel

Superior Showcase, We Hardly Knew Ye

tUMD 3, Mildcats 2

Well, folks, there we go. The Superior Showcase has come to an end. And Michigan Tech is the winner. Up is down! Black is white! St. Cloud lost to Clarkson! All of our goals were scored by defencemen!

MEg and Biddco came over for a little listening party. MEg listened to Michigan Tech's game through headphones while we broadcast tUMD game through the speakers of our desktop computer. The internets worked almost the entire time, for once! Domino's pizza is really tasty.

I'm pleased to see the first win of the season, and I hope I'm witnessing another one in FIVE DAYS. FIVE DAYS UNTIL I'M IN DULUTH, AGAIN, FINALLY, AT tDECC, IN MY SEATS, WATCHING A BULLDOG HOCKEY GAME. Yes.

I hope this time both the offense AND the defence are playing at full strength. And, our freshmen kick all kinds of ass.

Numbers
Wins until we reach last season's total: 16 (x)
Points until we reach last season's total: 33 (x)

My Guys
Jack Connolly: 2
JT Brown: 1!!!!!!!!!
Brady Lamb: 1!!!!!!!!!
Mike Seidel: 1
Drew Olson: 0

Freshmen
Justin Faulk: 2!!!!!!!
JT Brown: 1!!!!!!
others: bupkis

Connollys
Mikey: 3
Jacky: 2

Olsen/Olson
Dylan: 3!!!!
Drew: 0

Dan/Drew
Olson: 4
DeLisle: 0

On Notice/Goals Only
Nobody (only 2 more game to get your scoring on!)

Results Show

40 days!!! Only 40 days to go!!! Are we going to make it??? I don't know. I guess we've still got baseball, Vikings football, and UMD football (who won 35-10 yesterday, yeah!)

Last year I posted for 40 days straight leading up to the season. That's not going to happen this year. I am busy working on my WCHA Fantasy Hockey research. Also I used up some of my ideas already.

But I did a couple of polls in the past few weeks and should probably share the results with you.

For the season finish:
5 people believe we will be national champions
7 people believe we will be national champions and win the league
22 people believe we will be national champions and win the Final Five
26 correct people believe we will be national champions, win the league and win the Final Five.

The winner of the Matt Niskanen Award for Most Anticipated Freshman is Justin Faulk, by a landslide, capturing 44% of the vote. In second place was Max Tardy with 19% of the vote; Max must have had a late push because last I looked, J.T. Brown was in second; he ended up in third, with 17% of votes. Joe Basaraba came in fourth with 14%, Christian Gaffy took fifth with 5%, and Luke McManus, who took last place with 2%, will probably make us all regret overlooking him as he displays his defensive prowess. I know that adds up to 101% but I was rounding.

And finally, we come to our experiment in trust. As we know, in the most recent poll, rather than list every Bulldog player who a. is a returning player and b. has not already had a breakout season (decided by me), I decided to select a few that I thought most likely, and then allowed write-in votes. And, comrades, you did not let me down, as I knew that people would be unable to resist writing in votes that made no sense.

Dylan Olsen and Jake Hendrickson tied with 16 votes, Kyle Schmidt was one vote behind with 15, Mike Seidel had 6 votes, and Wade Bergman had 4. Those were the only players I listed. Seven people wrote in Dan Delisle, one wrote in David Grun (they actually wrote "Grun - yes, Grun," as if I wouldn't believe them, but he's great!), one wrote in Drew Olson (yay! Let's hope he gets the chance), and one wrote in Chad Huttel. I wonder if that was Bruce's son.

So... then... the rule breakers. We had one vote for Hoagy and one for Kenny Reiter to have a "breakdown." Two people said no one. One person was just spamming for their website. One was a test vote from me. FHG told me he voted for a mysterious "Howie F." Another person voted for Dustin Abreu, and one voted for my cat. One voted for Aaron Marvin, another for the pot-smoking Josh Birkholz, and one for Danny Kristo, which breaks two rules because Danny doesn't play for UMD and has already had a breakout season. It breaks a third, unspoken rule about voting for gingers.

I have run out of ideas for polls. I mean, there are always boring ones like who will be the top scorer, but I'm going to skip that. There's only one possibility: My Jacky. I like polls, though, so I hope that I'll have another good idea later on. Maybe about road trips or something.