The College Hockey HighHorse

Bulldogs Travel to Mankato for Maverick Rematch

2012-02-17T12:31:00.000-06:00

UMD Looks to Shake Funk as Playoffs Near

Playing the 10th place team in the WCHA this late in the season shouldn’t cause this much angst for the second place Bulldogs.

The trip to Mankato sets the stage for the Bulldogs who are trying to build back to their early season form coming off their win against North Dakota last Saturday. UMD is currently 4-4-1 after going on a school record 17 game unbeaten streak.

Partnered with MSUM’s recent surge from the basement of the conference and the once seemingly easy series will prove to be another test. The Purple Mavericks are 5-2-0 in their last seven games including a sweep at Alaska – Anchorage last weekend, a place and foe that UMD split with the weekend prior.

The main reason for the recent divergent paths may very well be injuries.

MSUM was ravaged by injuries early in the season. At times the Mavs had trouble putting a full team on the ice having to jockey around players from position to position. Now they are getting into stride with players back and UMD is getting hit with some injuries.

Justin Crandall made the trip to Mankato and may be able to play this weekend while leading goal scorer JT Brown stayed back in Duluth with an upper body injury. If Crandall can’t play, UMD will suit 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Into every season some adversity must enter. Timing may not be the best for UMD, but the weekend in Mankato presents a good chance to break out of their funk and get back on track for the playoffs.

By the Numbers. Broken record…UMD has the statistical advantage over their opponent, this time the Purple Mavs. Maybe the most concerning stat is the shorthanded goals. UMD is still trying to find consistency on power play. This weekend besides looking for goals on the PP, they need to be wary of MSUM taking to the offensive.

The UMD – MSUM StatPack:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldogs, WCHA, Mavericks

Of note, UMD’s PP success last weekend (5/13) bolted their national ranking from 32nd to 17th.

Predictions by Fiskness. Last week's WCHA games didn't go as I had expected. In a week where it seemed every series could been a split there were three sweeps and the one sweep I did pick, I am glad that it didn't go as predicted (UMD – UND). With all 12 teams in conference play for the last time in the regular season this weekend, the importance of getting points will be amplified.

Minnesota – Duluth at Minnesota State Mankato: The Bulldogs’ turnovers cost them the game on Friday. UMD rebounded Saturday with a win sparked by the 5 point night by Jack Connolly, but J.T. Brown left the game with an injury and is not expected to play this weekend against the purple Mavericks. The Mavericks have been finding ways to get at least a split in every series since Christmas and last weekend they swept the Seawolves in Anchorage. Mankato is playing a lot more confident and are a healthier squad. Recent streaks considered, Mankato should be able get a split against a now banged up Bulldogs.

Nebraska – Omaha at Colorado College: The red Mavericks are coming off a big three point weekend in the U.P. and look to stay in the top half of the WCHA standings. This team has been streaky since the New Year and their success lies firmly with goaltending. UNO will need to get two good games of goal tending in order to sneak away with points. The Tigers have not played well since the Christmas break, but maybe the return to Colorado Springs can energize the Tigers. These should be two good games resulting in a split.

Alaska – Anchorage at Saint Cloud State: The Seawolves season is one that started great and has gone downhill since mid October. The Huskies are trying to get in the top half of the WCHA and should be helped by playing the Seawolves this weekend. Huskies sweep the series in Saint Cloud.

Bemidji State at Minnesota – Twin Cities: The Beavers are a now the hardest team to figure out in the WCHA. The sweep last weekend for Bemidji at home against Colorado College was a surprise to most. The Beavers positive results recently can be linked to better goaltending. It would be expected the Beavers will put in a good effort this weekend while trying to get into the top half of the WCHA. The Gophers are coming off being swept last weekend at the hands of the Pioneers and are looking to keep the #1 spot in the WCHA and gain some cushion in the PWR. I think Dan Bakala will play well enough to get the Beavers a win and split the series.

Michigan Tech at North Dakota: One point separates these two teams in the standings marking the difference between home ice and traveling for the first round of the playoffs making this a giant series. The Huskies had a disappointing Winter Carnival weekend by only getting one point in a tie against UNO. Maybe the Saturday game where Tech was shut out was an anomaly. The North Dakota Men’s Hockey Team got a big win in Duluth and had nice come back, but still lost, Saturday night. If North Dakota can stay out of the penalty box maybe the ND mystic will be enough to overwhelm the Huskies. I don't think North Dakota will be able to do that for two games resulting in a series split.

Denver at Wisconsin: After losing to the Chargers of UAH in January the Pioneers now might be the best team in the WCHA. A healthy Sam Brittain might be what they needed to make a run for the MacNaughton Cup. The Badgers season is now spiraling downward as the goal scoring even at home in Madison has slowed. This weekend should be a tough one for the Badger's to get back on track. Denver will get the sweep and a tie for first in the WCHA after the weekend.

WCHA Race Getting Closer Every Weekend

2012-02-14T20:52:00.000-06:00

Three Teams Currently In Line for Conference Title

Muddy the waters. Who’s on first? Insert a Yogi Berra-ism here that would confuse us all.

Tops in the WCHA, let alone college hockey, will be as interesting as ever this year.

UMD worked new magic to pull out a sweep winning Saturday by keeping a surging North Dakota team at bay just long enough to let the final horn sound. A win is a win, and yes UND, a loss is a loss. It is too late in the season to read so many UND people, media included, talk about how close their team was to a win. Three weekends left in the regular season, there are no moral victories.

That is why the Bulldog’s win is so important; it counts as a win and two points in the standings. During Friday’s UMD loss, media members around the league were looking at a five point Gopher lead in the conference after the night assuming the Gophers held their lead at Denver. They didn’t hold a lead Friday or Saturday, so we are looking at the Top three of the WCHA separated by three points.

Enter the newest chapter of the race to MacNaughton, or at least the coveted top two spots, the upcoming WCHA weekend. Week to week, this is an ever changing story of who will take the WCHA and how many teams from the conference will make the NCAA Tournament.

Up Next, MSUM. UMD travels to Mankato to take on the Purple Mavericks fresh off a trip to Anchorage. Similar situation to UMD’s last weekend, but the Bulldogs didn’t get a sweep at UAA like MSUM did. Yeah, crazy season.

UMD cannot let points go by the wayside any longer. The 4-4-1 record since the 17 unbeaten streak has to go North with a sweep this weekend. If not, there’s no telling where this Bulldogs team may end up in the wild WCHA.

Bulldogs Host the North Dakota Mens Hockey Team

2012-02-09T13:35:00.003-06:00

UMD Looks to Stop Slump

Via Wikipedia: Bulldog

New weekend and a new focus or goal for UMD. With the WCHA Championship likely out of reach, the Bulldogs still have high stakes on their finish position. With a second place finish UMD is in line for a first round bye in the Final Five.

So the Bulldogs start again, at home against North Dakota. No small task for the Bulldogs as North Dakota has proved to be a challenging opponent for the Bulldogs over the last few years.

Last weekend it was stated here the series in Anchorage was a “do or die” series. A split wasn’t enough “do” and what died was most likely the Bulldogs’ MacNaughton Cup chances. All weekends from here to the playoffs are important for UMD. The Bulldogs are trying to get their season back on track going 3-3-1 since their 17 game unbeaten streak.

The Bulldogs are also looking to bolster their PairWise Ranking (PWR), currently #5, by taking on the #15 North Dakota hockey team.

Jack’s Back. After having his school record points streak broken, Jack has been on a little skid. Connolly made it on the score sheet again in each game last weekend with an assist in each game. What the team needs is to have the playmaker, multiple-point-per-game Jack back.

Jack is still an almost lock to be in the ten Hobey candidates, but his place in the Hat Trick (the final three) may be in jeopardy if his points totals don’t continue to increase. That is ultimately what national voters will be looking at, not the great plays he makes away from the puck that we who get to watch him regularly get to see.

Seniors Key to Successes. College hockey is used to players leaving early, it is now part of the game that every team has to deal with. One characteristic that makes a great team is the senior leadership that has stayed to play out their four years.

In the nation, UMD has the highest point producing senior class. In all, the senior Bulldogs have amassed 40 goals (38% of the team) and 83 assists (46%) for 183 points.

TUC Tanking. A major component of the PWR is results against teams under consideration (TUC). Recent weeks have seen UMD’s opponents falling out of the TUC thus damaging the Bulldog’s TUC. Teams in the TUC remaining on UMD’s regular season schedule are North Dakota this weekend, Colorado College and Saint Cloud State.

UMD and UND By The Numbers. Like in so many weeks this season, UMD has the statistical advantage. So again, can the Bulldogs us their talent to win the real games.

StatPack for the upcoming weekend:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldogs, WCHA, North Dakota

Predictions by Fiskness. After a disappointing weekend in Anchorage UMD will need to play better to compete for the WCHA regular season title. It is likely that UMD is now competing for the 2nd through 5th place in the overall standings. The grind of the season appears to hitting UMD right as the season is winding down. An improvement in the special teams play and more contribution from the defense is needed for this team to be successful. Maybe this past weekend was the wakeup call that you have to go out there and give it your all because you have to score and can't depend on the top lines to do it all.

At quick glance at this week’s matchups in the WCHA. One could probably pick all splits and be safe, but I dig a little deeper and see what I find.

Colorado College at Bemidji State: The Tigers are coming off a win and tie against the in-state rival Pioneers and the Beavers are coming off a win and a tie in Omaha. The Tigers are currently in 3rd place in the WCHA and seem to be playing better hockey, but the Beavers will be able to keep the scoring low enough to earn the split.

Minnesota – Twin Cities at Denver: The Pioneers are desperate after a disappointing weekend against CC. They know the need for points right now and I expect Sam Brittain to see action after an impressive first game back, even if it was a loss. The Gophers should be rested and looking to expand on their 3 point lead in the WCHA regular season race. The Pioneers are good team with a fresh goalie and will get a win this weekend, but only one in a series split.

Nebraska – Omaha at Michigan Tech: This weekend marks the annual Winter Carnival in Houghton, Michigan. The Huskies are streaky and last weekend they earned a split to stay in the hunt for the top half of the WCHA. UNO hosted Bemidji and only got 1 point in a 1-1 tie. The red Mavericks might be the hardest team in the league to figure out this year. This series is a complete guess, I will say that MTU plays strong at home and gets 3 points and the Winter Carnival trophy.

Minnesota State – Mankato at Alaska – Anchorage: In the battle for the last place in the WCHA should be a good series. With only 4 points separating the two teams a sweep by the Seawolves will result in a tie for 11th place. The Seawolves ended their winless streak last Saturday with a big win over UMD. The Mavericks have been playing well recently, but the trips to Anchorage are always tough for teams. This one will be a split.

North Dakota at Minnesota – Duluth: The Bulldogs went to Anchorage last weekend and a few players decided to they wanted to play, while others basically watched their teammates. A 3-3-1 stretch for most teams wouldn't mean a slump, but the way UMD has lost the games is more an issue. UND is rested after a week off and should be ready to go this weekend. UND matches up well against the Bulldogs and have played well in Duluth and at AMSOIL. This weekend might be the bottom for the Bulldogs as UND sweeps.

Bulldogs Land in Anchorage for Weekend

2012-02-03T12:27:00.003-06:00

Bulldogs Looking to Get Back on Track

UMD has cut their teeth over the course of this season. They have proven that they are not rebuilding after a national championship. Still many writers and college hockey enthusiasts want to say that UMD’s recent “swoon” was going to happen…”see I told you so.”

In reality, every team that has been in the top 10 of the college hockey world this season has gone through a rough patch. Many of the same people thought Minnesota – Twin Cities, Boston University and Notre Dame were or are going to take over and run away as number one. They haven’t and neither is UMD.

It is not time to think about giving up on the Bulldogs as an elite team this season. But this weekend in Anchorage does present an opportunity for UMD to continue down a slippery slope more than raise their profile.

UMD should win the series this weekend against UAA. Anything less will be looked at nationally as disappointing, maybe even a failure. Just take a look at our StackPack comparison between the teams. This is a series where you hear those overused, and mostly meaningless, “trap game.” Lots to lose, not much to gain.

Here is what UMD is playing for:

Getting their winning ways back after a hiccup,
Solidifying one of the all important top two spot in the WCHA and
Using the games in hand to catch up to UMTC in the WCHA standings for the home stretch.

What is scary about a series, this series, in Anchorage:

Bulldogs power play and penalty kill have to get better (currently six games without a PP goal),
UAA is playing for pride, they have nothing to lose and
Trips to Alaska are always physically hard on the players.

We don’t want to say “do or die”, because it’s not. But we, and all Bulldogs fans, want to see how the team responds to the setbacks of the last couple weeks. So drink some coffee and get ready to listen to the Bulldogs in Alaska!

Predictions by Fiskness. Here are my picks for the week, another important one in WCHA play. If things go right for either Denver or CC either one could find themselves in second place in the standings. Meanwhile UMD is hoping to bounce back with a sweep to get within one point of the first place Gophers who are off this weekend as well as North Dakota. After this weekend, all the top half teams of the WCHA will have played the same number of games.

Minnesota – Duluth at Alaska – Anchorage: Duluth let a victory slip from their hands on Friday only to follow it up with a JV effort on Saturday. The Bulldogs road record is great this year and a trip Alaska might be what the doctor ordered to get back to the level they were playing earlier this season. The Seawolves have not won since a road win in Colorado Springs on December 9 and they haven't had a home win since November 18. UMD will get the sweep as the Seawolves just do not have enough talent to keep pace with the Bulldogs.

Colorado College and Denver (home and home): The final weekend series of the season for this interstate rivalry. Denver has put together a nice little win streak for themselves beating the teams they should (Huntsville, Bemidji and Anchorage). The Tigers on the other hand have been splitting series. Both teams know the need for points and will end up with a split.

Michigan Tech at Minnesota State – Mankato: The Huskies came off an impressive three point weekend in Duluth and continue their road trip through Minnesota. The Mavericks of Mankato took points last weekend with a split in Bemidji. Can the Huskies ride the momentum and come away with more points on the road? I think a letdown is in the cards and Mankato gets the split.

Bemidji State at Nebraska – Omaha: The Beavers have given some good teams fits this season, but most of their tight series have been at home. Earlier this year when these teams played in Bemidji the Mavericks of Omaha took three points. The Mavericks are still trying to find consistency in net as they move towards the playoffs. I think the Beavers will have a tough weekend to find any points and may salvage a tie if they can keep the Mavs scoring down. UNO wins one game and ties the other with the Beavers.

Saint Cloud State at Wisconsin: The Huskies had a disappointing home and home against the Gophers last weekend getting swept in two low scoring, and low shots on goal for SCSU, games. The Badgers went to UND and fought hard, but got swept too. The pattern continued for the Badgers as they struggle on the road. A home series is just what they are looking for this weekend. However, the Huskies defense will play good enough to get a split this weekend in Madison.

UMD - UAA Statistic Comparison

2012-02-01T15:18:00.001-06:00

If the games were played on paper, the Bulldogs would have this in the bag. But we know that UMD ahs to travel to Anchorage and prove that they deserve their rankings.

The StatPack for the UMD - UAA weekend series:

Bulldog and WCHA via Wikipedia; Seawolves

Bulldogs Move On After Tech

2012-01-30T18:09:00.001-06:00

No Time to Waste As Team Sets to Travel Wednesday

It was a tough weekend for UMD fans to stomach. Is this really the team that went on the 17 game unbeaten streak?

That is the thing about streaks, they have to end. And when they end, it is many times with a thud.

We thought the thud may have been the previous weekend when the Bulldogs seemed to outplay Alabama – Huntsville but win two one goal games (2-1 and 4-3). Obviously the UAH series was the precursor to the thud against Michigan Tech. But is it over or is the louder thud coming? No doubt that a slip-up in Anchorage would be the biggest thud. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Many are left asking what happened this past weekend. UMD controls, no, outplays or even dominates the first period on Friday to collapse into a five period coma where they are outscored 9-0.

To be fair, MTU goalie Josh Robinson played well and really tightened up his angles. Additionally the Huskies stopped giving away the puck and played better team hockey. But the Bulldogs have seen many attempts to slow them down and it hasn’t kept them off the board before.

Before…when the team was on the streak. Before this thud.

A new week, a new time to focus on goals on and off the ice. A road trip may just what UMD needs, time to get away and start the final stretch of the regular season.

Game highlights are available from @TechHockeyGuide for both games. Take a look and maybe all the writing I did above is explained without words.

MacNaughton Hunt Over? It has been written at College Hockey News that the WCHA race is pretty much over. They have crowned Minnesota – Twin Cites champs with their five point lead on UMD. Agreed that the Gophers have the upper hand, but what was not mentioned is UMD has two games in hand in the conference.

Let’s wait until after this weekend when the top WCHA teams are again on even footing as far as games played to talk about who is in and out.

Back to Conference Play as Huskies Travel to Duluth

2012-01-27T00:10:00.001-06:00

First Trip to AMSOIL for Michigan Tech

This weekend marks the first repeat opponent for the Bulldogs. At the start of the marathon eight game road trip, UMD traveled up to Houghton and swept the Huskies 5-3 both Friday and Saturday.

The games were both hard fought and UMD had to be on their game as they trailed at least once in each contest.

This weekend the venue is different and the teams have fallen into more of a groove. UMD is at the top of the league and MTU is fighting for the middle and home ice. The Huskies are currently tied for seventh, one point behind North Dakota.

This week we will cut the chase and banter and go straight to the StatPack. The Bulldogs and Huskies stack up as follows:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldogs, WCHA, Huskies

UMD is still trying to get the ship righted on the special teams as mentioned on our recent Report Card column. This just may be the weekend to stack up some PP goals.

Prediction. This is the section where Lead Photographer and Staff Writer Andrew Fiskness puts in his two cents on the weekend in the WCHA. I need to give him his proper due because I cannot pick these games with any reliability what so ever. AF has been doing well and has a knack for it, so here they are:

The rest of the WCHA is hoping for a MTU sweep or at least a split so maybe Tech can be a TUC again. UMD needs to keep winning to stay high in the PWR. Which will it be?

Duluth is coming off a sweep at home of the Chargers, meanwhile the Huskies are re-grouping after a loss to Northern Michigan in Houghton. MTU's size and style match up well against UMD. Duluth has played a lot of close games at AMSOIL (UMD has played in six one goal games and all have been at home) and this weekend probably won't be any different. MTU squeaks in a tie as UMD takes three points.

Around the WCHA. 10 teams are in conference action in the WCHA while Nebraska – Omaha and Colorado College take the weekend off.

As stated above, many WCHA teams would benefit from more of their conferencemates in the TUC category and the easiest way for that to happen is for MTU to get points this weekend. The NCAAs are a long way off and I think the CCHA will lose their strangle hold on the PWR as teams beat up on each other in conference play and teams fall out as TUCs. It will be a more even spread among leagues….CCHA will not have seven teams in the tournament, but I digress.

Minnesota State – Mankato at Bemidji State: The Beavers have played well enough at home to get splits in conference play but have had a hard time getting wins on the road. The Mavericks have only one road conference win all season which was against Michigan Tech in November. The road woes will probably continue as Mankato tries to figure out consistent effort in a Beaver sweep.

Denver at Alaska – Anchorage: The Seawolves had a rough road trip and should be happy to be back home even if it is without players who have done much of their scoring this season. Denver seems to be playing batter after the loss at home to the Chargers of UAH. Denver is the better team and should see the importance of the weekend series in Anchorage. The Pioneer's scoring will be too much for the Seawolves in a Denver sweep.

Saint Cloud State and University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (home and home): This series has split written all over it. The Huskies always get up for games against the Gophers and the Gophers inconsistent play will likely result in one loss. SCSU is right in the middle of the WCHA pack and is a team that is still fighting for a top 6 finish. As I said earlier this is a split.

Wisconsin at North Dakota: UND is fighting to stay in the top half of the WCHA and have a two point lead on the Badgers who come to Grand Forks this weekend. This series could be a huge factor in to the final standings if there is a sweep by either team. The Badgers have a good record at home but struggle on the road. UND had been hot, but have not scored many goals in their last 4 games which have resulted in splits. The Badgers offense will probably show up 1 of the 2 nights and will get a split.

Second Intermission: Bulldogs Two-Thirds Through Season

2012-01-26T23:06:00.000-06:00

A Report Card on UMD's Second Trimester of the 2011-12 Season

Here we are again, grading time.

UMD is two-thirds of the way through the regular season and have compiled an impressive 17-4-3 record for the season. They are currently #1 in the polls for the seventh week and are currently #2 in the PWR.

With the current success, it really makes for an easy report card. It is like those parent-teacher conferences where the student is doing really well and the teacher may wonder why the parent even came in. And when the parent asks what the student can improve on, the teacher may struggle to find a facet to work on, but they usually can and we have too.

Offense: A. The offense is the least of any worries UMD fans may have. Over the period, the Bulldogs averaged 4.25 goals per game. Scoring is still spread out among players with three players in double digit goals and 10 with double digit point totals.

Of note:

Jack Connolly (15-25-40) is the team, and the nation, points leader and should be considered a favorite for at least the Hobey Hat Trick (final three).
Travis Oleksuk (16-14-30) is the goals leader.
Blue line offensive output is a key to the Bulldogs success led by Lamb, Kishel and Bergman, 6-8th on the team for points respectively.
For the season, the Bulldogs average 3.96 goals per game, the most in the nation.

Team Defense: A. Kenny Reiter and the defensemen are playing great. Over the period the team allowed 2.33 goals per game which any team in college hockey would take especially in a league like the WCHA. Bottom line is the team is never really out of a game because the defense keeps them close. Reiter started 11 games in this period before Aaron Crandall took over for one game giving Kenny some rest and building confidence with a win.

Of note:

Reiter’s GAA is 2.11 (13th in the nation) with a saves percentage of 0.921.
No skater on the team has a negative plus/minus rating.

Special Teams: C. Here is that spot that can be worked on. Overall the team doesn’t look that bad, but we are looking at the last 12 games. In that 10-1-1 stretch, the power play unit is scoring 15.9% of the time, not what fans are used to from Bulldog teams of late. The penalty kill unit is also struggling a little with a success rate of 79.7% for the period. Both numbers are what you would expect from an average team, not the #1 team in the nation. Good news out of it is that the Bulldogs play really well even strength if the specials teams are this average.

Of note:

Of the 28 goals allowed, 12 were during UMD penalties.
Of the 51 goals scored, 10 were on the power play.
Travis Oleksuk leads goal scorers with 6 PP goals. Brady Lamb leads defensemen with 3 goals on the PP.

Goaltending: A. Kenny Reiter has played as good as any team could ask for. Fatigue is always a back-of-the-mind worry for a goalie that starts so many games. Kenny will become an elite goalie for program history if he can keep his numbers up at this pace for the rest of the season.

Of note:

Reiter now has 3 shutouts for the season, none in the period.
Reiter’s GAA went up in the period from 2.05 to 2.11.

Coaching: A. Coaching is great and they deserve much credit in keeping this team’s focus on hockey.

Overall Team: A. #1 in the polls for 7 weeks and # 1 or 2 in PWR. Yes they can still improve in the stat departments but they can't go any higher in the standings and rankings.

Looking Ahead. The Bulldogs look to finish off the season and take the MacNaughton Cup for the first time since the 1992-93 season. The remaining schedule is likely in UMD's favor for a surge tot he top. A really beneficial goal is to finish in the top two to be in line for a bye in the Final Five, but that is a long way off at this point.

Of note:

Challenging series will mainly be at home with North Dakota and Colorado College visiting.
Road series of interest are Alaska – Anchorage and Saint Cloud State.
This season UMD is 4-1-1 against future co-members of the NCHC.

The final grading period starts this weekend at home against Michigan Tech and will finish after the regular season. We will look at the post-season as a final exam.

Back at It: Alabama - Huntsville Dispatched

2012-01-24T17:16:00.004-06:00

UMD Sweeps 2-1; 4-3 to End Non-Conference Schedule and Keep #1 Rankings

Image via Wikipedia

The Bulldogs made it through the weekend against Alabama – Huntsville. Weird to read, eh?

UAH has “feasted” on the WCHA this season gaining their only two wins against Nebraska – Omaha and Denver.

The wins by the Chargers both relied heavily on great goaltending by Clarke Saunders and this past weekend was no exception.

Friday’s 2-1 UMD win was nothing less than frustrating. It proved to be a shooting gallery for the Bulldogs who outshot UAH 54-26, but just couldn’t seem to find the net. Saunders played great, as stated, but did give up some huge rebounds the likes I haven’t seen in college hockey in years. Two rebounds in particular went off Saunders’ pads right up the slot to the RED line. Yeah, where were the Bulldog attackers or even defensemen? Wrong place, wrong time.

Saturday was similar with UMD again just doing enough scoring to best the visitors 4-3.

But that is the bottom line, UMD gained the sweep. They beat the team they were supposed to, but it would have been nice to see a 9-1 score like Minnesota State – Mankato hung on UAH.

On the plus side of the weekend:

Jack Connolly kept his point streak going with an assist Friday and two goals and an assist Saturday,
Both Bulldog goaltenders got a win (Reiter with 18 saves and Crandall with 14) and
The team started another winning streak!

Last Saturday’s game marked the end of the second “period” of the season (the regular season is two-thirds over). Look for the second intermission report card tomorrow here in the College Hockey HighHorse.

Recruits On The Rise. UMD's recruiting class ahs been all over Twitter this past week with a couple of big names making oral committments. For the most recent and reliable news on future Bulldogs, take a look at Bruce Ciskie's blog.

Road Trip Part IV, The Final Chapter: Omaha

2012-01-12T14:00:00.002-06:00

UMD Takes On UNO as WCHA Second Half Starts

The last leg of UMD’s long eight game road trip is finally here. And who would have thought that we would be talking about it being an unbeaten road streak?

Every week can be seen as the biggest challenge and each for a different reason. This weekend the Bulldogs are in Omaha in time for “Sell Out” night. You may ask how big the UNO arena can be, I mean last weekend was also a WMU push to sellout their arena which looks to be a barn that holds 3,667 people on mostly benches. Is the Lawson really a challenge to sellout, and if so why are they in the NCHC? Anyway, this week’s sellout night is different. The Century Link Center holds over 16,000. It could be a similar crowd to the Xcel, but nothing new to UMD.

Don’t think for moment that it will all be read and black in the stands. After last year’s results and the successes of this year, the Bulldogs will have a good following to the flatlands.

Experience and Confidence. It is no mistake when you think that UMD only gets stronger as games go on. The Bulldogs have used a constant attack to not only keep leads in the third, but to build on them. For the season, the Bulldogs are even during the first period (goals for and against) and +18 for both the second and third periods each. The great difference in goals has to be a result of conditioning, but also experience from the upperclassmen.

As a contrast, Nebraska – Omaha has the tendency to start fast then fade only to come back at the end. The Red Mavs are a +4 in the first period, –7 in the second and +7 in the third. If you can only catch part of the games this weekend and you want to see/hear UMD goals, the second period may be your best bet.

Shooting and Shooting. UMD and UNO are both big shooters in the WCHA. The Bulldogs seem to have quite a margin in shots on goal amassing 695 so far this season, but the Red Mavs have a leg up here. UNO has logged 794 shots on goal for the season. Both teams lead their opponents thus far in the season, but the Bulldogs may have met their match in this department. Kenny, get your pads ready.

Stat Comparison. College Hockey HighHorse StatPack for UMD/UNO is below:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldog, WCHA, Maverick

Notes from the StatPack:

Second weekend in a row that UMD faces an opponent who takes few penalties. UMD showed last weekend their style of play forces opponents to take penalties.
On the same note, the Bulldogs take their fair share of penalties, and then some. UNO has speed and opportunistic penalty killers demonstrated by their 4 shorthanded goals.

Prediction. UMD had a great defensive effort both nights last weekend at WMU which kept them in the games when the offense wasn't clicking early. Then the offense took over including a balanced scoring attack, especially Saturday night. The most impressive thing for UMD during this undefeated stretch is the ability to stay in games through great defense and goalie play and then score from so many different players and lines. This team really appears to have figured out winning, but can they keep focus?

This should be a couple very entertaining games in front of a lot of UNO fans and a Nationally Televised audience Friday night. UMD will lose a game at some point and this has been the weekend that has looked precarious for UMD since the schedule came out. It is hard to know how UNO will play after the break, but I expect a solid effort to get a split, giving UMD the first loss since October. Split picks as of late have been wrong, but we predict what we see.

Around the WCHA. A weekend that has all 12 WCHA teams in conference play. This weekend could really start to separate the teams and make a front runner for the MacNaughton Cup.

Saint Cloud State at Colorado College: The Huskies lose another forward, but might get back their starting goalie Mike Lee after recovering from hip surgery. Both teams have been inconsistent this season which makes one wonder which team will show up for the series that will end in a split.

Bemidji State at Denver: The Beavers are on a five game winning streak and their last loss was to the Pioneers in Bemidji. The Pioneers suffered a very disappointing loss last weekend to the Chargers of UAH and now are going to try to catch back up in the PWR. This should be a great couple games, but Denver still can’t turn the corner resulting in a split.

Wisconsin at Minnesota State – Mankato: The Badgers have not played well on the road this season so a trip to Mankato may be the thing they need to get some road wins. Unfortunately for the Badgers the Purple Mavericks are getting injured players back and will play well enough to get a split.

Alaska – Anchorage at Michigan Tech: The Seawolves travel to Houghton for their first games of the New Year without their leading scorer Mickey Spencer who has left the team. The Huskies started out great and have had some big road wins but have been inconsistent recently. The Huskies had a very disappointing couple games in the GLI and look to bounce back to break a four game losing streak.. Tech will come close to a sweep with a 3 point weekend against the Seawolves.

Minnesota – Twin Cities at North Dakota: The two teams have had a much different paths since the last time these two teams played early in the season. UND is now hot and the Gophers are an average team. This is a clichéd weekend where “You can throw out the records” and have great games. In the end, this series will end in a split.

Bulldogs Keep #1 Ways; State of WCHA at Half Point

2012-01-11T18:13:00.000-06:00

Bulldog's Unbeaten Streak Continues as Second Half of WCHA Starts

If you are expecting UMD to lose you’ll have to wait and maybe for a long time. The way the Bulldogs dispatched the Broncos of Western Michigan last weekend gives serious credence to an even longer school record unbeaten streak. The current streak stands at 16 (13-0-3).

The sweep in Kalamazoo coupled with Ohio State’s pair of ties against Bowling Green has placed UMD in the top spot of the Pairwise Rankings (PWR), the formula that mimics the NCAA selection criteria. The Bulldogs are unanimous #1 in both major polls in addition. With all those #1 rakings, it is interesting, and refreshing, that the scoring is coming from a group of many. It is the group effort in scoring coupled with tenacity of finishing games in the third period that has carried UMD to 16.

As much as Jack Connolly keeps plugging away with his Hobey-like numbers (12-21-33), it is Travis Oleksuk who is the recipient of the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week. Oleksuk is the UMD goal leader at 15 after adding two goals this past weekend in addition to two assists for a season total of 11.

And don’t forget the solid goaltending of Kenny Reiter during this current streak. Kenny’s play this weekend earned him yet another WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, his third of the season.

Why wouldn’t UMD sport two WCHA Players of the Week? They are on a tear and the rest of the conference who was in action were busy laying eggs for the most part. What has happened to the WCHA mystique? Questions were posed wondering if the WCHA might only have one NCAA entrant. That is definitely an exaggeration, but it could be as low as two.

Why? The conference did not do very well in non-conference play this past weekend most aptly punctuated by the Colorado College and Denver games.

Colorado College had a less than stellar weekend at home losing and tying against Cornell 3-1 and 1-1. Yes we did pick CC to win the WCHA and we will admit that, but more on the WCHA race below. If CC was less than stellar, Denver was painfully inept. First the disclaimer that Denver is reeling from injuries, but this last weekend was against Alabama – Huntsville (2-22-1) and should not have been a split. Word to the future opponents of Huntsville, Clarke Saunders, the Chargers goalie bound for North Dakota next year, is good and gives the team reason to believe they may be able to win. He made 41 saves Friday night in the UAH 3-2 win. The Chargers will visit Duluth January 20-21.

The State of the WCHA. Right now it really appears it is a two horse race to the MacNaughton Cup between Minnesota – Twin Cities and Minnesota – Duluth. Looking at the standings, this upcoming weekend is important if anyone else, especially North Dakota and Nebraska – Omaha, the weekend’s opponents of the frontrunners.

The interesting race to watch play out is for home ice. Right now there are three points separating 5th and 9th place. Expand that a little and eight points separate 3rd and 10th place. It is still a log jam in the middle and a weekend like this one coming where all 12 WCHA teams are in conference action might be what is needed to allow some teams to separate.

UMD at UNO preview with StatPack and full WCHA preview later this week.

Road Trip Part III: Western Michigan

2012-01-05T21:03:00.001-06:00

Bulldogs Face Broncos in NCHC Preview Weekend

The University of Minnesota - Duluth will play their first games of likely many in Kalamazoo, Michigan this weekend as they face off against future fellow NCHC member, Western Michigan University. The teams have played only two games previously, UMD swept a home series in 2008.

UMD takes their show on the road again, their third of four straight road series, sporting a 14 game unbeaten streak, 11-0-3.

The Bulldog’s opponent isn’t familiar, but they will be when the NCHC starts in the fall of 2012 ensuring that UMD and WMU will play at least two games per year. With the lack of past games, it is a good place to have a rivalry start. Seniors on each team were likely on the teams when the only other games took place.

In fact, Jack Connolly’s first goal came in the last meeting of these two teams, a Bulldog come from behind 6-5 win in overtime. It is that type of history that the NCHC should build upon to create new rivalries. The games are few, but were close enough to be remembered going into this weekend. It also doesn’t detract that it is a top ranked Bulldog team going to an up and coming program fresh off their NCAA appearance last year.

Coaching Changes. Off that NCAA appearance, the Broncos had to find a replacement for the coach that brought them back to prominence, Jeff Blashill. In Blashill’s first, and only, season at WMU, the Broncos worked their way to the CCHA Championship game for the first time since 1986. They lost the game to Miami. The result gained them their first NCAA berth since 1996. Then it was over, Blashill bolted for the Detroit Red Wings after the season was complete.

As one young coach made his way to the NHL, a former NHL veteran coach Andy Murray landed in Kalamazoo to take the reins of the Broncos team.

Murray is no stranger to NCAA ice hockey and UMD. Murray’s two sons played in the WCHA at North Dakota and Wisconsin and his daughter, Sarah, played on two national championship teams with the Bulldogs.

Road Wows, Not Woes. Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, UMD is 19-5-7 on the road including an impressive 5-0-3 this season. Numbers like that make travel not seem as bad. But UMD is currently in the middle of a grueling eight game road stretch that will test the mental and physical mettle of this Bulldog team.

StatPack. This weekend’s College Hockey HighHorse StatPack:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldog, Bronco

The key statistic that jumps out is the low goals against and penalty minutes for WMU. UMD has a knack for scoring on the power play, but that won’t matter if they don’t get chances.

Prediction. UMD remained the number one team during their break as no other teams appear like they really want to take the spot from last season’s champs. It is unlikely that the Bulldogs will go the rest of the season without losing and there may be some rust that has developed after this long break. The Broncos are a good team, especially defensively, and will get a split this weekend.

Around the WCHA. The WCHA is still in non-conference mode coming out of the holiday break and world juniors US flop. This weekend has big implications for TUC and the NCAA tournament. It will be interesting to see if the WCHA teams will have non-conference success this weekend.

Two games are again the one game and done “series,” but that is quite understandable as one is North Dakota playing in Canada.

Cornell at Colorado College: One thing that the Golden Knights do well is keep the opponent off the score board. CC has been a little up and down recently and will probably continue through this weekend. Watch Andy IIes in net for Clarkson as they earn a split.

Alabama – Huntsville at Denver: The Chargers just do not have enough talent to get points on the road, Denver sweeps.

Minnesota State – Mankato at Saint Lawrence: The Saints are hosting the purple Mavericks for two games. The Mavericks have not played well and the road will not help their cause, but the Saints have been streaky through the first half of the season which brings us a split.

RIT at Wisconsin: The Tigers are coming off two impressive Holiday tournament victories in the Catamount Cup. Meanwhile the Badgers have been up and down all season, but definitely play better at home. All that said, RIT will play good enough to get a split.

Notre Dame at University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (Saturday): This is a very good match up. The Gophers are basically a .500 team after the sweep at home against UND, and have not played consistently. Both teams have a number of players returning after the World Junior Tournament and it will be interesting to see what kind of legs they will have. Notre Dame had been in a little bit of a slump but may have righted the ship with a big win against BU. I look for the Irish to get the win.

Clarkson vs. North Dakota (Saturday in Winnipeg): Both teams are about 0.500, but in very different conferences. Neutral site game is anybody’s to win, but we will go with North Dakota.

NCHC News Round-Up

2012-01-03T22:49:00.000-06:00

Western Michigan Becomes Acquainted with New Opponents; NCHC to Name Commissioner

It is only fitting on the reported eve of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s announcement of their first commissioner that we take a look at what happened last weekend and look towards the next.

In what seems to be a burgeoning trend of one games “series” here in the west, the two newest teams to enter the NCHC, Saint Cloud State and Western Michigan, squared off this past Friday. The host Huskies hung in the game only to succumb in overtime 2-1.

Were there any conspiracy theorists at the game? The same group who have villainized the late-comers the most for waiting out the summer before joining the NCHC? As far as my sources say, it was a game without incident or further accusations of being double-agents against their current leagues.

Fast forward to tomorrow, well actually today, where it has been reported that Jim Scherr will be officially named as the first head of the NCHC. That report comes from the Colorado Spring’s Brian Gomez.

Scherr has his work cut out for him. First order of business is to maybe get a website and start some image management. The “Super Conference” hating has died down, but it is still simmering there somewhere. That is especially true in the WCHA where three of five Minnesota teams will be bolting, two to the NCHC and one to the Bi6 Ten. He should have a good handle on image maintenance/repair as Scherr is a former US Olympic Committee Chair.

Or maybe Scherr can start working on where the league’s tournament will be…better yet where it won’t be. It was reported just before the Christmas break by Let’s Play Hockey that the Target Center wants to bid on the event. Alert the media, the Target Center is pining for a big event to host. We would love for the tourney to be in Minnesota, but the Target Center is not the place. Two main problems:

Would the NCHC really leave the Xcel Center, the premier hockey facility in Minnesota, empty to play at the Target Center? Would anybody do that? And
If the Xcel isn’t available that is because they would already have a college hockey tournament there. Two college conference tournaments in the Twin Cities at the same time? Again, who would do that?

So as much as we would love to see the NCHC Tournament in Minnesota, the right and prudent choices have to be made as to where it makes the most sense.

Lastly, we take our tour of the NCHC news to the upcoming weekend when UMD will play their first games against Western Michigan. The trip to Kalamazoo will be the first of likely many between these teams bound for the NCHC. It will be a real test for the Bulldogs to continue their road quest and it will provide some momentum for the NCHC on the heels of naming their first commissioner.

Watch for the forthcoming College Hockey HighHorse preview of the UMD and WMU series set for this Friday and Saturday.

UMD Mid-Season Break

2011-12-16T10:56:00.000-06:00

WCHA in a Very Limited Weekend Schedule

It is the mid-season break for most teams including UMD. It is hard to believe that we are right at the halfway point of the regular season and maybe as unbelievable that UMD is tied atop the WCHA with the Gophers after losing a pair against the Twin Cities team in October. The Bulldogs will take it and the 14 game unbeaten streak while resting up for the new calendar year.

In the meantime, we look at the weekend’s schedule to find only eight games in total, all with at least one WCHA team involved.

Colorado College at Minnesota State – Mankato: The Mavericks swept the Chargers of UAH at home last weekend. The Friday night contest was tight and Saturday was a blowout. The Tigers come into this weekend after coming from behind to earn a split at home against the Seawolves. CC is the better team, but there play has not been consistent and that will not change in a split.

Denver at Saint Cloud State: SCSU is rested after a week off and DU continues a road trip through The State of Hockey. Denver has recognized the importance of this series in recent Twitter posts by players, but will there be enough focus by their star players prior to leaving for the World Juniors? Included are all the injuries the Pioneers are dealing with, most recently Beau Bennett. Denver's road struggles will continue and they will split.

Alabama – Huntsville at Bemidji State: The Beavers earned a split against DU last weekend and even though the Chargers looked plucky on Friday night they don't have enough horses to beat another. The slow-it-down, grind-it-out down Beavers sweep this series.

Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan (Friday only): This is the first game of a home and home series between the two teams with the second game coming on January 21 in Houghton. NMU is coming off a split in Sault Sainte Marie with Lake Superior State and Tech split against Minnesota – Twin Cities. The Huskies last weekend left Minneapolis with 2 points. The big question is did Tech leave with a new fight after the emotional Saturday night loss, or did they lose all composure and now fade away? NMU is a pretty good team and plays very good at home, but my impression was a Tech team with fight and they will get a win on the road.

Russian Red Stars at North Dakota (Saturday exhibition).

Wild Western

2011-12-13T10:47:00.002-06:00

WCHA Tough To Figure Out

Just when you think teams are starting to find their groove and become somewhat predictable, we have yet another weekend full of splits. The only conference series that was not a split was UMD continuing their unbeaten streak in tying and beating Wisconsin in Madison.

If there were a weekend that looked from the outset sweeps would prevail and set teams apart, it was this last weekend. Instead, we are one partial conference weekend away from the mid-point in the WCHA schedule with a logjam still in the middle of the standings. All teams have played 14 games, half of the conference schedule, except four teams that play each other this weekend: Colorado College is at Minnesota State – Mankato and Denver is at Saint Cloud State.

The top and bottom are aerating from the pack, but the middle is up for grabs. Fourth through 10th places are separated by four points. One weekend series could change the fortune of bottom half team and out them in the upper ranks.

The WCHA is harder than ever to figure out this season. About all we can do is sit back and enjoy the games and continue to see surprising results.

UMD’s Unbeaten in 14, But… It has to end at some point. UMD will lose a game at some point and the challenge will turn to getting back on track and not allowing a loss to change player’s mindsets. Doesn’t sound difficult, but these are college age kids we are talking about. But if we have learned anything about this Bulldogs team, they can face adversity and bounce back. You don’t have to look further than the start of the season with their three game losing streak that they bounced back nicely with the current 14 game unbeaten streak.

The Saturday night game did get dicey at the end. It was like UMD was on cruise control with a 4-0 lead. Then the five minute major happened and just like that Wisconsin cut the lead to 4-2. UMD of course still won, but that finishing instinct was markedly missing last Saturday. We will just chalk it up to one of “those games” at this point.

Road Trip Part II: Madison, Wisconsin

2011-12-09T11:03:00.001-06:00

UMD Carries 12 Game Unbeaten Streak and #1 Ranking to Wisconsin

Nothing has really changed with the Bulldogs except for a new number in front of the team’s name. Being #1 in both major college hockey polls is nothing new to UMD who owned the ranking for three weeks around this same time last season prior to winning the national championship. Don’t look for a change in the Bulldogs, but expect one from the opponents.
This week the Badgers play host to UMD in Madison and it is not new from them to host a top ranked team. So far this year UW has hosted North Dakota, then #5, and swept them. Later the Badgers hosted then #1 UMTC Gophers and the series was a split. In all, the Badgers are a respectable 7-3-1 at home and a miserable 0-5-1 on the road. Yeah, leg two of this road trip will be a tough one for the Bulldogs.

Their D is Really O. Badger defenseman Justin Schultz is on a scoring tear this year. He is currently first in the nation for defenseman in scoring at 7-18-25. He is also tied for second in the WCHA for power play points with 4-8-12. The ice sheet at Kohl Center is nearly Olympic sized, and all of it needs to be defended especially when Schultz is on the ice.

Streaks. The Bulldogs sport a nation leading 12 game unbeaten streak including a seven game winning streak. During the current unbeaten streak, UMD has played all of their road games amassing a 4-0-2 record. Last season UMD went 3-1-0 against Wisconsin that included a Bulldog sweep at Madison from two overtime games.

StatPack. Bulldogs and Badgers by the numbers. From the comparison, it looks really one sided for UMD. But we know that the Badgers can win at home and one player on UW can change the whole game. Here is this week’s StatPack:

Images via Wikipedia (Bulldog and WCHA). Badger.

Prediction. This is arguably the toughest road trip of the four the Bulldogs are currently in. The Badgers are not a good team, but they play really well at home. The key will be goaltending and special teams. If Kenny Reiter adds more shutouts to his career stats, it will be a good weekend and Kenny with UMD D-corps can do that. These games will be close and competitive. UMD is the better team here, but the games are in Madison were UW plays well, good enough for a split this weekend.

Around the WCHA. Things are really starting to shake out in the conference. You will see that in this week’s picks with many more “seeps” than the alternatives.

Denver at Bemidji State: The Beavers had a successful weekend at SCSU and scored a bunch of goals. Denver seems to have found some stability in net with Olkinuora and their high power offense will be too much for the Beavers resulting in a Denver sweep.

Alaska – Anchorage at Colorado College: UAA played well at Mankato in their last road trip only to get swept the following weekend at home by North Dakota. CC had a big emotional win over Denver on a penalty shot in overtime and will likely be riding high. CC should sweep at home.

Michigan Tech at Minnesota – Twin Cities: The Huskies are much improved since last year, but are not at the level of the WCHA elite teams. The Gophers played good enough, and right enough, to get a sweep at home against Mankato. Their team effort wasn't the greatest in both games, but they have a few players that can carry the whole team. UMTC will sweep at home.

Nebraska – Omaha at North Dakota: UNO lost to UAH for the Chargers only win this season. It is hard to know what the team's mental character will be for a rematch of Dean Blais' squad in Grand Forks. UND appears to have righted the ship and has found some scoring. It would be easy to say that this is a split, but my picks haven't been as good recently. UND will continue with the scoring from more than one line and get goalie play that is good enough to take a chance and pick a North Dakota sweep.

Alabama – Huntsville at Minnesota State – Mankato: What will the reprieve of the Chargers program do to the heads of the UAH players? It must be a huge lift, or it may be a huge sigh of relief. The chargers come in red hot after getting a win the previous weekend against the other WCHA Mavericks team. MSUM looked a lot better last weekend than they did when they play UMD. MSUM may have figured a few things out in the losses in Minneapolis, enough to earn 3 points this weekend. I basically said the same thing when UAA took 3 points. It will probably be a split, but I will go with the 3 points for Mankato.

Road Trip Part 1: Houghton, Michigan

2011-12-01T14:56:00.001-06:00

Bulldogs Look to Start Long Road Trip Continuing Unbeaten Streak

Looking at the Bulldog’s schedule when it came out, it looked a dream come true for an upper half WCHA finish. Four games against Mankato, Anchorage and, as every year, Michigan Tech. UAA was expected to be the best of those three teams, but the Huskies in Houghton under new head coach Mel Pearson have jumped out to the front.

The Huskies have proven that a change at the top could ease the pain of a miserable season last year and put them in contention for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Tech has made a nice run this season built primarily on home wins. The Huskies are 6-1-1 at home and 2-4-0 on the road. The lone loss at Houghton for the Huskies was to Minnesota State – Mankato 6-3.

The trip for UMD will be a challenge as Tech seems to always save a great effort or two for when they meet the Bulldogs. It isn’t like a game against Northern Michigan, but the effort is always upped for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs themselves come in on a hot streak winning their last five games while on a ten game unbeaten streak, the longest in the nation. The main reason for the streak is improved defense starting with goalie Kenny Reiter. Reiter has started all but one game this season, gained three shutouts and has been named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week twice this season. Reiter’s overall stats are 0.922 saves percentage and goals against of 2.12 good for 23rd and 17th in the nation respectively.

It isn’t UMD that has used good goaltending. Tech has been backed by strong goaltending from Josh Robinson. Robinson and Reiter have the same conference saves percentage of 0.926 and similar conference GAA (Reiter is 2.08 and Johnson is 2.22).

Team statistics are compared in our UMD – MTU StatPack:

Images via Wikipedia (Bulldog, WCHA, Husky)

Most facets being equal, it will be the scoring offense that will be key in this series. If UMD can generate scoring, the defense should be able to limit the Huskies for UMD wins.

On the Plus Side. UMD sports four defensemen in positive territory for plus/minus ratings. Leading the team in the category is Wade Bergman at +12 followed by Scott Kishel tied for second with +10. Other defensemen on the list are Brady Lamb +7 and Chris Casto at +6. Positive numbers for defensemen is a good indicator that the defense is strong and that they are in on the scoring. Both are true for the Bulldogs.

On the Road, Part 1 of 4. The next four series will be on the road for UMD and will be a pivotal part of their schedule. While not sounding like fun, it may not be all that bad. UMD is 2-0-2 this season on the road and 16-5-6 in their last 27 road games.

Prediction. It is a good week for UMD to be playing at Tech. After their off-week, the Bulldogs should be rested and ready to play. The Huskies always give UMD fits and there should be no reason to think it will be any different this weekend. Tech will want to prove that they are a top half of the WCHA team and the Bulldogs are trying to keep their unbeaten streak together while continuing their push for the top spot in the WCHA. UMD will show why they are near the top of the WCHA and will take home three points unless they come out rusty Friday night, which will likely result in a split. Look for the three-point weekend.

Around the WCHA. This is the last weekend where most WCHA teams are playing and playing two game series. After this weekend bye weeks and holiday tournaments become common. Looking at our picks, we will continue with the parody the league is stuck on this year. Lots of splits and no sweeps…hmmm, could that really be true? We’ll have to see.

Denver at Colorado College (Friday): This should be a great game. Yeah, that is not a misprint; it is a one game finish to a series that started Saturday, November 12 at Denver. The Pioneers won the first game 5-4. Both teams have high end talent that can score, but how the goalies play in each game will decide the winner. The “series” should be a split, meaning that CC wins this game in Colorado Springs.

Bemidji State at Saint Cloud State: The Beavers have not been great on the road and the Huskies are trying to stay in the middle of the pack. BSU will look to keep these games low scoring and should be able to do so in at least one of the games resulting in a split.

North Dakota at Alaska – Anchorage: Is the UND Men's Hockey Team beginning their mid-season surge or was last weekend just one great effort at home? This is an important series for UND if they are going to try to work their way back up to the top half of the WCHA standings, let alone the top few teams. UAA finally found the net at the purple Mavericks and that should carry over enough to this weekend. Until UND can play well every week and find more success on the road, a split is the only choice.

Minnesota State – Mankato at Minnesota – Twin Cities: MSUM has often played up to the Gophers in years past and this year shouldn't be any different. The Gophers are the much better team, but there defense has shown their youth and inexperience the last few weekends. The purple Mavericks are beat up and that will it difficult for them to win another game for quite a while. We go back on an earlier prediction and go with the Gophers in a sweep.

Nebraska – Omaha at Alabama – Huntsville: The Chargers are still looking to get there first win of the season, unfortunately for them it won't be this weekend against the red Mavericks. The Chargers could trip up a couple WCHA foes in the coming weeks, but not here in a UNO sweep.

WCHA: Who's on First?

2011-11-28T15:05:00.001-06:00

Mixed Results Keeps Us Wondering Who Is Tops?

Does anyone want the MacNaughton Cup? Parody might be the word of the season for the WCHA.

After a weekend of the haves getting beat and the have-nots winning, the middle and lower end of the conference keeps moving up creating more of a log jam at the top of the WCHA.

The facts are that it is early in the year and not all of the teams have played equal games, but we are at the end of November and the next games will start the December part of the schedule, real hockey time. There is no more saying, “Yeah, but it is still early…”

Right now in the conference standings the difference between first and seventh is six points. The biggest jam-up is in the middle where 4th through 10th is separated by four points.

And it’s not just conference games that are perplexing. The perennially non-conference dominant WCHA is showing weakness in games around the country.

This past weekend:

Minnesota – Twin Cities, once thought to be unbeatable with their goalie alone, surrendered 8 goals in a loss and tie at Michigan State (4-3 and 4-4),
Denver “split,” beating Princeton 3-0 then losing to Miami 4-2 both at home,
Michigan Tech continues their up and down road season by losing to St. Lawrence 3-2 before beating them 3-1,
North Dakota may have turned their season on high by sweeping our pre-season league favorite Colorado College (PS, who is going to be the Tiger’s goalie?) and
Saint Cloud State keeps plugging away and not going away by getting points here and there. This past weekend they stuck with Nebraska – Omaha to take a point with a Sunday tie on the road.

The early season is over as we look towards December, and right now, it looks like no team is going to run away with the thing. We will just have to keep on watching to see how the parody of the WCHA will play out.

UMD: Taking Care of Business

2011-11-23T10:53:00.001-06:00

UMD Uses Favorable Schedule to Get Rolling

UMD has done what they needed to do. A team that has aspirations of being tops in the nation has to beat lesser opponents, especially at home. And beating them soundly is always a positive.

In the first 14 games, UMD has played top teams in their conferences like Notre Dame, Minnesota – Twin Cities, Denver and Providence (debatable whether Providence should be included here). In those games the Bulldogs have compiled a 3-3-2 record. In the other games, really against the bottom half teams of the WCHA, UMD has a 6-0-0 record. In total, UMD has outscored opponents 56-33.

There are so many things that UMD is doing right. Arguably, the rebound the team made from the less than stellar (1-3-0) start. This team is good and it has been noted by players that they believe the best is yet to come.

Enjoy the Thanksgiving break Bulldogs team and fans. There are many UMD Hockey accomplishments to be thankful for.

Around the WCHA. With the holiday weekend, we have many non-conference games that will play an important role in WCHA SOS and PWR when the end of the season rolls around.

Alaska – Anchorage at Minnesota State Mankato: This maybe the weekend to decide who will be last in the WCHA. The Mavericks did show signs of hope from returning players from injury in the games against UMD the previous weekend even though they were swept. This weekend the Seawolves who have played poor on the road come into Mankato after winning their first conference game at home. We don't think UAA has the mustard to find a win on the road, but maybe enough to sqeek out a tie. Mavericks take 3 points.

Colorado College at North Dakota: UND hockey fans might still be in denial, but CC is the better team. However, with the ups and downs in the net for CC right now, UND finds a way to get a split.

Saint Cloud State at Nebraska – Omaha: This might be the most even match up of the weekend. Other than a sweep in Marquette, Michigan, SCSU has be able to at least a split in every weekend series this season. This should continue in Omaha as the teams split.

Mercyhurst at Wisconsin: Mercyhurst is currently at the top of Atlantic Hockey and did beat a pretty good Cornell team on the road earlier in the season. And they may be going to Madison at a good time as the Badger's are 1-4-1 in their last 6 games. But this Badgers team has played decent at home. This will be a good test for both teams and end in a split.

Minnesota – Twin Cities at Michigan State: A future Bi6 Ten matchup in East Lansing should be a good series and a big test for the Gophers. After a slow start the Spartans have been playing pretty good hockey as of late and have played good defense. The Gophers will have to work to get some goals and playing better on the road. Gophers are 1-2-0 in their last three away from Mariucci and thus it will be a split

Princeton at Denver and Miami at Denver (Denver Cup): Denver may be righting the ship after a tough spot in the schedule. The Tigers of Princeton are not the team they were a few years ago when they beat Denver in the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Pioneers beat the Tigers. Miami (Future NCHC matchup) is finding their legs at the same time as Denver which really makes this the better of the two games. Miami will win giving Denver a split.

Michigan Tech at St. Lawrence: The Saint's are looking to get some wins at home. They have been somewhat inconsistent this season, which is a similar story for MTU on the road. So something has got to give. Tech will look to continue the positive momentum from the road win in Anchorage by leaving Canton, NY with 3 points.

Up, Up, and Away!

2011-11-18T13:34:00.001-06:00

UMD Hosts Minnesota State - Mankato to End Home 2011 Season

The Superman reference fits the Bulldogs well.

Since the 1-3-0 start to the year, the Bulldogs have not lost, upping their standing in college hockey. And the teams that they have beaten have been decent teams. Maybe not Alaska – Anchorage last weekend and maybe the same could be said for this MSUM team coming to Duluth. And that is what makes this series dangerous, the Mavericks have struggled and UMD cannot look past them.

The “away” part of the column title is also fitting. After this weekend, the Bulldogs do not play in Duluth until January 20, 2012. That will be eight games away from Duluth. It really does make sense, though. The Bulldogs played 8 of their first 12 at home and now will play 8 of their next 12 on the road.

All that said, this weekend is a launching pad for the surely difficult road stretch in the UMD schedule. Can’t you see Superman in a UMD uniform getting ready to take flight?

StatPack. Sporting the second longest unbeaten streak in the country at 6-0-2, the Bulldogs host Minnesota State – Mankato this weekend. MSUM is currently 10th in the WCHA sporting a 3-7-0 overall record. Here is how the two teams’ stats compare:

Compiled by College Hcokey HighHorse

Prediction. UMD has an 8 game unbeaten streak on the season going into this weekend’s series at AMSOIL with the Mavericks. UMD is clicking on all cylinders right now and there is no reason to think that this trend will change. UMD sweeps.

Around the WCHA. It will be refreshing to have all 12 teams playing in league games. This is one of only four weekends this season where all will be in league action.

Wisconsin at Colorado College: UW might be going to CC at the perfect time as Joe Howe has struggled in net as of recent. CC has a high power offense and should be able to get 2 points on the weekend. Split.

Nebraska – Omaha at Denver: Great match up at this time of the year. Both teams have good scorers and have be up and down in the net. UNO is currently playing better between the two teams, but perhaps the win against in state rival last weekend will inspire the Pioneers play. Split

Minnesota – Twin Cities and Saint Cloud State (home and home): The number one team in the country will be playing an injured Huskies squad. This is a big rivalry series for SCSU and should be able to play well enough to get 2 points on their home ice. Split

Michigan Tech at Alaska – Anchorage: Is Tech for real? This weekend will let everyone know. Tech was not good in their only road series this season getting swept by the Beavers in Bemidji. UAA cannot find the opposing team's goal as of late. MTU is the better team and will get 3 points on the road.

North Dakota at Bemidji State: The US 2 battle by Lake Bemidji should be a good one. Looking at the names alone this would appear to be a lopsided one in favor of the UND Men's Hockey Team (we are phasing out the nickname here at the HighHorse), but in reality it is nearly a pick’em. UND has not played well on the road this season and the Beavers have been up and down at home. The easiest pick is a split, which we go with. However, if BSU slows the games down and keeps UND shots in check they will get 3 or 4 points.

First Intermission: Bulldogs One Third Through Season

2011-11-16T19:23:00.001-06:00

A Report Card on UMD's First Trimester of the 2011-12 Season

The first third of the 2011-2012 UMD Bulldog’s season is in the books. In following with our past precedent, we are issuing our first trimester report card.

First, a disclaimer...overall the team would be receiving all A’s except for the really rough streak to start the season. The first four games, two against Notre Dame and two against Minnesota – Twin Cities, really put a damper on the season and made many fans wonder how big the drop off from National Champions this season would be. As we have seen in the last eight games, the kinks were worked out and the Bulldogs are now nicely on track.

Offense: A-. There was little concern over the offense entering this season. The players have lived up to, and in many cases, exceeded early expectations. One of the most positive stats is the number of players on the scoring sheet. Of the 44 goals for the Bulldogs, 15 different players have tallied at least one.

Of note:

Jack Connolly (6-11-17) and JT Brown (3-11-14) have been the strong points of the offense, as expected. Each are #4 in the nation for assists.
Pleasant surprises include Travis Oleksuk (11-3-14, #2 in the nation for goals) and Mike Seidel (5-2-7) who is chipping in the third most goals for the Bulldogs.
Strong freshman presence is noted from Caleb Herbert (3-7-10).
We want to see more from one of the heroes of the national championship, Max Tardy. With only two assists to show for this year, we were definitely expecting more.

Stick salute:

We would have really liked to see Cody Danberg finish off his career at UMD in the playoffs, but the injury bug struck him again ending his season after the first game this season. He was coming off a medical redshirt from last season and now can just watch his team play. Little consolation, but Danberg did tally an assist in his only game this season, his 100th as a Bulldog.

Team Defense: B+. Maybe it isn’t fair, but the three game losing streak and the soft goals against Minnesota – Twin Cities is stuck in our craw. The team has bounced back nicely, but there were some scary moments in the first four games that include two losses from ahead and the Friday Gopher game where the game tying goal was scored with an extra Gopher attacker and the loss in OT. Since that low point, the defenders have come together including goalie Kenny Reiter (see goaltending below). The defense corps and Reiter bettering their play begs the question of who sparked, or even carried, who? The defense is better, but we believe it is ultimately Reiter who is playing the best defense.

Of note:

Wade Bergman has really stepped up to the leadership role on the blueline as a junior. His one goal and six assists doesn’t put him the lead for defenseman scoring on the team, but his solid play makes him top notch.
The strong freshman presence from Chris Casto (2-3-5) after a couple of tough games to start the season is very encouraging.

Special Teams: B-. What can you really fault as of late? It again was the beginning of the year that put this facet of the Bulldog’s game in question. Look at the facts: UMD penalty kill is tied for 31 in the nation at 81.2%, but they have not given up a power play goal in six games and only one in the last eight. Those are great stats, but when you add in the 33% penalty kill rate against the Gophers (3 for 9 killed) it is your stats that get killed. On the power play, the national rankings don’t look great (#17), but the power play rate is really good (22.2%). It is difficult to give a lower grade to a team that is really clicking right now, but we feel the whole body of work needs to be taken into account. If things stay on track, this category will have the biggest grade jump at the next grading period.

Of note:

Oleksuk (4 PP goals) and Connolly (3) leading the way on the PP.
Mike Seidel is making hay on the PP too, scoring three of his five total goals with the man advantage.
We like the way that Brady Lamb is chipping in on PP (2 goals), but we are concerned about the seemingly large number of shots coming from the blueline on the PP.

Goaltending: B+. This is maybe the biggest travesty in our grading. Reiter should really have an A all by himself, but he did have his own rough start (1-2-0). Additionally, this category is for all the UMD goalies and Aaron Crandall has been disappointing in his only game this season. His 0.783 saves percentage and 5.05 GAA is alarming even though it was only one game. Reiter is playing lights out (0.923 and 2.05), but the Bulldogs need a capable backup and so far Crandall has not given the coaches a real reason to try him again. If he is needed, hopefully practice has been getting him more ready.

Of note:

Reiter now has 3 shutouts, good for #2 in the nation.
Reiter’s 2.05 GAA is 12th in the nation.

Coaching: A. For all the strife in the start of the season, the coaching staff has kept with this team and got them to perform to high standards. Additionally, the recent changes in forward lines has sparked more offense. By not staying with a safe status quo, the coaches have made the team more potent at scoring.

Overall Team: B+. Again, we can’t overlook the slow start, but we are loving the current team’s level of play. A long season may be on the menu again this year.

Looking Ahead. The schedule so far has been quite favorable for UMD. Of the 12 games, four have been away from Duluth. That will change with a vengeance as the opposite will occur for the next 12 games when UMD plays at home for only four games. It will be a challenging test for this team to see if they have the mettle to be a top tier team in the WCHA.

Of note:

Two of the next six series will be against future NCHC teams, Nebraska – Omaha and Western Michigan.
During this last grading period UMD was 1-0-1 against future NCHC teams (Denver).

The next grading period will end after playing Alabama – Huntsville on January 21, 2012.

Goaltending Hit and Miss in WCHA

2011-11-14T23:58:00.001-06:00

Goaltending is Boon for Some, Bust for More

It really is no secret if you read our columns, we put emphasis on the goaltender position. It is the great equalizer, or downfall, in college hockey. An otherwise really good team can look terrible in the standings and an average team can go far in the postseason all depending on their goaltending.

To cut the chase, so far we have really blown our pre-season prediction. Our #1, Colorado College, goaltender Joe Howe has not looked like two-thirds the goalie has was last season. He has struggled mightily at times leading now to talk of a goalie controversy in Colorado Springs. But the season is still young, just ask Minnesota – Duluth.

The Bulldogs, who looked like a rudderless ship until Kenny Reiter took control of the wheel, have surged after a slow start. The team has an eight game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) including shutouts in three of the last five games. The only goaltender in those games, Reiter, the same guy who had to battle to get his saves percentage above 0.900 after the team’s 1-3-0 start.

The Gophers really can’t complain, or seriously say that they expected, what Kent Patterson has done in the nets. Patterson has five shutouts while going 10-2-0 for UMTC. The Gopher’s scoring has been great and abundant, buoyed by 15 goals in two games against Sacred Heart, but the real story of success lies between the pipes at UMTC.

CC isn’t the only team not getting what they expected from their goalie play. Coming into the season, one thing that Saint Cloud knew that they could not lose is Mike Lee, their only goalie with experience behind now graduated Dan Dunn. And here it is, SCSU now has to rely on a senior who has never played a minute in a college game that counts and two freshmen as Lee is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery. A Huskies season with some, albeit limited, promise of competing has turned into an all out fight for home ice for the first round playoffs.

Yet another story of goalie trial by fire is taking place in Denver. Sam Brittain last year made Denver into a real force backing up all the Pioneers scoring with good goaltending. A knee in Denver’s last game in the 2010-11 season forced Brittain to have surgery and will keep him out until at least mid-January. All coach George Gwozdecky asked is that backup Adam Murray keep the Pioneers in the hunt while Brittain heals. Not going as planned as Denver has used freshman Juho Olkinuora in relief of Murray on multiple occasions, because really, he couldn’t have been any worse than the starter…but he was. It got so bad at Michigan Tech that Gwozdecky was compelled to try no goalie.

In the meantime, while Denver waits for their goalie to come back from injury while showing up rival CC’s Howe in a game last Saturday, 5-4. The place holder beat the expected league #1...go figure.

Minnesota - Duluth Hosts Alaska - Anchorage for Two Game Series

2011-11-11T12:24:00.001-06:00

UMD Meets UAA in First of Two Home Series for Bulldogs

Make hay when the sun shines. It is an old adage that is still used extensively be people in sales. In this case, it is the perfect outlook and mind set for UMD. The Bulldogs host Alaska – Anchorage this weekend in Duluth and then UMD will close out their 2011 home games hosting Minnesota State – Mankato the following weekend. The next home game for UMD after November 19 is January 20, 2012.

The Seawolves started the season on a tear going 3-0-1, but have since gone 0-4-0. The difference is clear, the first four were non-conference and the last four were WCHA conference games. Dig deeper in Anchorage’s record and their story becomes murkier.

UAA played some decent non-conference teams, most notably two WCHA teams. The Seawolves went 2-0-0 against Saint Cloud State and Nebraska – Omaha in their non-conference portion of the early season. Even more intriguing is UAA traveled to UNO for their first WCHA games and were swept in Omaha 4-1 and 3-1.

The first meeting between UAA and UNO was in Alaska so maybe it is a home state thing for Anchorage. But Anchorage hosted Minnesota – Twin Cities in their most recent WCHA action and were decidedly swept 5-0 and 3-1.

The Seawolves’ struggles should give UMD confidence on the weekend, but measured confidence. UMD has seen the lows this season and have fought their way back to being very competitive. It is no time to sit back on recent laurels.

UMD’s Turnaround. UMD has the third longest national unbeaten streak in the nation at six games. It is the longest currently in the WCHA. There is no secret about the improvements. It comes from goaltender play of Kenny Reiter.

Reiter’s impressive weekend at Denver earned him the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honor beating out the likes of UMTC’s Patterson.

To us at the HighHorse, we saw the vote going to either University of Minnesota net minder, but then you see the stats of Reiter at Denver where he put up five shutout periods after giving up 3 goals in the first period Friday. So that first period wasn’t good, but how he responded on the road for the next five definitely makes him deserving of the honor.

Sleeping Around. As stated prior, UMD has two weekends of home games left before mid January of 2012. In between the Bulldogs will play four series, eight games, away from home. Those opponents are Michigan Tech, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, and Nebraska – Omaha.

These next two weekends are important games for UMD to keep the momentum going before the extended road trips.

By the Stats. This week we are trying a new format and have embedded the StatPack for UAA and UMD here in the preview.

It is refreshing to see UMD finally come around on their stat categories and have the edge against an opponent. UMD has to remember that stats don’t win the games, but they should be well aware as they have been battling back from a subpar start to the season.

Weathering the Storm, SOS? It is embarrassing to be talking PairWise (PWR) this early in the season, but here it goes. The advantage of looking at the ratings this early is to judge the strength of schedule (SOS) of games played so far.

In the PWR, the Bulldogs have played eight games against the top 25 in the PWR going 4-3-1. The only team with more games against the top 25 (known as the TUC or teams under consideration) is Northern Michigan who have played 10 games against TUC.

Prediction. The UMD defense has come together and Kenny Reiter is playing at the top of his game. UAA has not showed much after a hot non-conference start. Finding the goal has been difficult and will likely continue to be difficult this weekend at AMSOIL Arena for the Seawolves. This will be a UMD sweep.

Around the WCHA.

Nebraska – Omaha at Bemidji State: After a tough start, the Mavericks have been playing better and finding some scoring. The Beavers have played well at home and should be able to hold off the Mavs enough to earn a split.

Saint Cloud State at Minnesota State – Mankato: SCSU has been playing very good hockey recently, but have struggled early in the season on the road. The Mavericks have had a tough season so far at home and on the road mainly due to injuries. If Austin Lee can play well enough MSUM can get 2 points, but we think SCSU is the better team and will leave Mankato with 3 points.

Minnesota – Twin Cities at Wisconsin: UW is back at home after a tough trip to St. Cloud. The Badgers have played well at home and should be able to continue even against a Gopher team that is really clicking right now. This is the second rivalry series for the Gophers in two weeks and will again bring the fireworks. Bottom line, you should expect to see top efforts from both teams and thus a split.

Colorado College at Denver (Saturday only): In a strange scheduling move, these teams play one game this weekend and play the second of this “series” on December 2. Denver's struggles in net will continue and CC will come home with the win.

Still Trying to Make Statements

2011-11-04T12:38:00.004-05:00

UMD Makes First Trip to Denver in Two Years

In a season of tests, UMD is embarking on their most difficult in the young season. Denver is a very inhospitable place for the Bulldogs in recent years. Granted they did not play at DU last season, but the seniors on this UMD squad are 1-5-0 at Denver including playoff games.

This is a new year and UMD is 1-0-1 on the road…not much of a road record to go off of and it is against a (arguably) weaker non-conference opponent. The challenge is definitely present and waiting for UMD in Denver.

Conversely, the Pioneers have only played two games that count at their home building. They are a perfect 2-0-0. And the Pioneers are not to a great start in the record book just like the Bulldogs, but they are playing at home and that means something especially this year in the WCHA.

Shoot Away! UMD has outshot their opponents in every game this season and their record is what it is. Denver has outshot their opponents in all but one of their games. The Pioneers are 2-2-1 when outshooting their opponent and 1-0-0 when being outshot.

See the College Hockey HighHorse UMD/DU StatPack for a breakdown.

Prediction. It is too tall of an order to think that UMD can go into Denver and sweep the series. Reiter has been getting stronger in the net, which had to happen. He will really be tested this weekend by some really good players for the Pioneers. UMD will be able to score, but score enough is the question. The last time Denver was swept in a WCHA series was November of 2008, almost three years ago. Maybe they’re due? Nah, but this won’t be a wasted weekend for the Bulldogs as they salvage a split at Denver.

Around the WCHA. There are some really hot teams in the league and we see them staying hot this weekend.

Minnesota State – Mankato at Michigan Tech: Tech seems to be a good team at home and will continue to be against a bad MSUM. Huskies sweep in Houghton.

Wisconsin at Saint Cloud State: Both teams are playing inconsistently…meaning: a split.

North Dakota at Minnesota – Twin Cities: UMTC is playing teams at the right time and are definitely one of the best teams (quite possibly the best) in all of NCAAs right now. Currently the goal tending is top notch and the defense is good because the offense has been so good. We see a couple very high scoring very close games similar to the series against UMD and UMTC come out with a sweep of the down spiraling UND. This series will likely be another 90 shots per game weekend for both teams.

Colorado College at Nebraska - Omaha: Finally, a good test for CC. It looks like a sweep for the Tigers of CC, but in the end we see this being a 3-pointer for Colorado College playing at Omaha.

Bemidji State at Lake Superior State: LSSU will continue their winning ways and take 4 points in a home sweep of the coming-back-to-earth Beavers.

UMD at Denver: The StatPack

2011-11-03T19:38:00.000-05:00

UMD is still diffing out of their statistics hole and things are getting better. In comparison to opponents, it still isn't up to par for an upper half WCHA team. This weekend against the Pioneers will be a challenge and the stats will not get padded when playing a strong team like the Pioneers.

This weeks StatPack: