C.C. vs. UW: winner to the NCAA tourney

The University of Wisconsin Badgers (21-12-7) and Colorado College (18-18-5) faceoff tonight in the championship game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five at 7:00 pm. Central.

You can watch that game on DirecTV channel 668 FSN, if you don’t have cable.

This is an important game for both teams.

The winner goes the NCAA playoffs. The Tigers if they lose, they’re season is over. The same may happen for the Wisconsin Badgers if they don’t win tonight as well, it’s up to the Pairwise math.

Wisconsin is currently sitting at 17^th in the Pairwise so they’re definitely a bubble team.

After the win last night, Colorado College Tiger goalie Joe Howe summed it up with the quote of the weekend, “Rylan [Schwartz] put a quote on the board from Mike Babcock [Redwings head coach] you don’t have to win three games, you have to win one game three times.”

I have told people that the Tigers have one of the best lines in college hockey and the opposition has had a tuff time stopping Rylan Schwartz, Alexander Krushelnyski and the local boy Charlie Taft (Edina, Minnesota). Regardless of the record, the Tigers are a good hockey teams and are peaking at the right time. The Tigers have also won five of their last six games.

Last night, the Tigers looked as if they had watched some game film from the BSU and Minnesota series. At times, it looked like C.C. used some of the same offensive strategies. On one play, the Tigers chipped the puck up the glass and the forward from C.C. skated into the puck and got a quick shot on net that Adam Wilcox made a big save on. If Wilcox doesn’t make that save, it’s a 3-0 game.

You have to give credit, where credit is due. The Tigers beat DU (20-13-5) in games, they beat UND (21-12-7) and Minnesota (26-8-5).

Colorado College Tigers: Rylan Schwartz (19g-32a—51pts), Alexander Krushelnyski (15g-27a—42pts), William Rupuzzi (15g-20a—35pts), Scott Winkler (13g-15a—28pts), Archie Skalbeck (12g-11a—23pts)Defense: Mike Boivin (14g-14a—28pts) Eamonn McDermott (3g-20a—23pts), Peter Stoykewych (2g-9a—11pts). Goalies: Joe Howe 14-11-4, 2.97 GAA, .915 save percentage, Josh Thorimbert 4-7-1, 3.73 GAA, .873 save percentage.

Wisconsin Badgers: Forwards: Michael Mersch (23g-13a—36pts), Mark Zengerle (9g-21a—31pts), Nic Kerdiles (9g-21a—30pts), Joseph Labate (9g-13a—22pts),  Tyler Barnes (14g-15a—21pts), Defense:  Jake McCabe (3g-17a—20pts) John Ramage (8g-10a—18pts). Goalies: Landon Peterson 6-4-3, 2.01 GAA, .926 save percentage, Joel Rumpel 15-8-4, 2.21 GAA, .921 save percentage.

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writes Combine

Related articles

• Day two reflections from the WCHA Final Five (thehockeywriters.com)
• Day two reflections from the WCHA Final Five (getrealhockey.com)

This weekend’s NCAA Division one television schedule (3/15 – 3/17)

2004-2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is this weekend’s National College Hockey television schedule. There is a full slate of college hockey on television again this weekend.

Check your television guide for times in your local area. As with any schedule, channels will change and have in the past. There may also be games on in your local area that may not be on nationally.

Even with the NHL ending it’s lockout and making it back to our television dials, there has is still been a lot of watchable college hockey on television.

This weekend, there will not be any college hockey games that will be available on television in Canada.

Also, the Hockey East Quarter Final game on Sunday, March 17, 2013, is showing up in the queue as TBD at this time.

Fri.	Mar. 15		Vermont vs. Boston College	NBC Sports Net.	6:00 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	May 15		Bemidji State vs. Minnesota	FSN	7:00 p.m.	668/436
Fri.	Mar 15		Michigan Tech vs. UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	local listings
Fri.	Mar. 15		Michigan vs. Western Michigan	FS Detroit	7 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 15		Michigan Tech vs. UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	628
Sat.	Mar. 16		New Hampshire vs. Providence	NESN	3:00 p.m.	628 / 434
Sun.	Mar. 17		Hockey East Quarterfinal	NESN	3:30 p.m.	628 / 434

*NESN = New England Sports Network, FCS = Fox College Sports, FSN+ = Fox Sports North-Plus, NBCSN = NBC Sports Network, DirecTV requires the “Sports Pack” to view the Regional sports Networks.All times are Central Standard Time.

DirecTV will not be able to pick up Friday's game. Still awaiting word on Saturday and Sunday (if necessary).
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) March 13, 2013

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine...

The Weekend Ahead: (2/22-2/23)

Seal of the University of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This weekend, the University of North Dakota travels to Denver, Colorado to play the Denver Pioneers in an important two game WCHA series at Magness Arena February 22-23, 2013.

Matchup: North Dakota (16-8-6, 11-5-6 WCHA) #6 versus #10 Denver Pioneers (15-9-5, 10-7-5 WCHA).

Dates: February 22-23, 2013

Times: February 22: 9:10 p.m. (CT); February 23: 8:07 p.m. (CT)

Radio:  UND 96.1 (KQHT-FM) – The Fox.

TV Friday: NBC Sports Network, channel 220 DirecTV

TV Saturday: Root Sports, channel 683 DirecTV

Webcast: (NONE)

SERIES HISTORY: UND leads the All-time series 136-116-9 (.538). UND leads the series 81-42-6 (.651) in Grand Forks. UND trails the series 50-67-3 (.429) in Denver. Neutral sites, UND trails 5-7-0 (.417). In the last 10 games against DU, UND leads 7-2-1 (.750).

Players to Watch:

North Dakota: Forwards: Corbin Knight (13g-27a—40pts), Danny Kristo (18g-21a—39pts), Rocco Grimaldi (10g-14a—24pts), Mark MacMillan (9g-9a—18pts), Carter Rowney (6g-12a—18pts), Drake Caggiula (6g-6a—12pts).  Defense:  Dillon Simpson (2g-15a—17pts), Derek Forbort (4g-8a—12pts), Joe Gleason (4g-9a—13pts) Jordan Schmaltz (2g-7a—9pts) Andrew MacWilliam (1g-7a—8pts). Goaltenders: Clarke Saunders 10-5-4, 2.34 GAA, .914 save percentage, Zane Gothberg 6-3-2, 2.42 GAA, .918 save percentage.

Denver Pioneers: Nick Shore (11g-15a—26pts), Chris Knowlton (12g-12a—24pts), Shawn Ostrow (10g-10a—20pts), Daniel Doremus (8g-9a—17pts), Defense: Joey LaLeggia (10g-14a—24pts) David Makowski (6g-16a—22pts) Nolan Zajac (5g-16a—21pts). Goalies: Juho Olkinuora 9-3-5, 2.11 GAA, .935 save percentage, Adam Murray 2-1-0, 3.00 GAA, .902 save percentage, Sam Brittain 4-5-0 3.03 GAA, .902 save percentage.

UND Officials Web Page

Denver Pioneers Official Web Page

Cross posted at the Hockey Writers Combine... 

This weekend’s NCAA Division one television schedule (2/22 – 2/24)

Here is this weekend’s National College Hockey television schedule. There is a full slate of college hockey on television again this weekend. Check your television guide for times in your local area. As with any schedules, channels will change and have in the past.

This weekend, there will also be four college hockey games that will be available in Canada, so, for college hockey fans north of the border, you should check your local television guides as well.

For UND hockey fans, this weekend, both games from Denver will be on television. Friday night’s game will be a national broadcast on NBC Sports Network. Saturday night’s game will be on Root Sports, so if your cable company gets Root Sports or if you have the Sports Pack and you have Dish or DirecTV, you will be able to watch Saturday night’s game as well.

Fri.	Feb. 22		New Hampshire at Vermont	NESN	6:00 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Feb. 22		Yale at Quinnipiac	NBC Sports Net.	6:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 22		Notre Dame at Western Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	6:00 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 22		Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota	FS North +	7:00 p.m.	657/ 444
Fri.	Feb. 22		North Dakota at Denver	NBC Sports Net.	9:00 p.m.	220/ 159
Sat.	Feb. 23		New Hampshire at Vermont	CBS Sports Net.	6:00 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Feb. 23		Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota	BTN	7:00 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Feb. 23		North Dakota at Denver	ROOT Sports	8:00 p.m.	683 / 414
Sun.	Feb. 24		Boston College at Merrimack	CBS Sports Net.	3:00 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)

*NESN = New England Sports Network, FCS = Fox College Sports, FSN+ = Fox Sports North-Plus, NBCSN = NBC Sports Network, DirecTV requires the “Sports Pack” to view the Regional sports Networks, (C) Denotes games available in Canada. All times are Central Standard Time.

Cross posted at the Hockey Writers Combine.

This weekend’s NCAA Division one television schedule (2/15 – 2/17)

Big Ten Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ere is this weekend’s National College Hockey television schedule. There is a full slate of college hockey on television again this weekend. Check your television guide for times in your local area. As with any schedules, channels will change and have in the past.

This weekend, there will also be three college hockey games that will be available in Canada, so, for college hockey fans north of the border, you should check your local television guides as well.

For college hockey fans that are looking for college hockey to watch on television this weekend, because their favorite team is on a bye week, there are many games to choose from, again this weekend.

This weekend, there will also be two more outdoor hockey games on Sunday, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. This will be a double header, and it’s being billed as the Hockey City Classic. If you have you have the sports pack on DirecTV, you can watch the game between Miami and Notre Dame at 1:00 p.m. CT and then at 3:30 p.m. CT you can watch the Badgers and the Gophers on the Big Ten Network, which is on most premium sports cable television packages.

Fri.	Feb. 15		Northern Michigan at Michigan State	BTN	6:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Boston University at Maine	NBC Sports Net.	6:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 15		Notre Dame at Miami	CBS Sports Net.	6:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Minnesota at Wisconsin	FS North	7:00 p.m.	668/669 / 436
Sat.	Feb. 16		Bowling Green at Ferris State	FS Detroit	6:00 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Feb. 16		Boston University at Maine	NESN	6:00 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Feb. 16		Northern Michigan at Michigan State	FS Detroit	6:00 p.m.	663 / 430
Sun.	Feb. 17		Notre Dame vs. Miami (Soldier Field)	FS Detroit	12:00 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sun.	Feb. 17		Minnesota vs Wisconsin (Soldier Field)	BTN	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430

*NESN = New England Sports Network, FCS = Fox College Sports, FSN+ = Fox Sports North-Plus, NBCSN = NBC Sports Network, DirecTV requires the “Sports Pack” to view the Regional sports Networks, (C) Denotes games available in Canada. All times are Central Standard Time.

Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers Combine... 

Video of Cagguila hit on Navin

At the 13:30 mark of the third period, freshman forward Drake Caggiula was assessed a five minute major and given a game misconduct for checking from behind. At the time, I didn't think that was the proper call, it looked like a shoulder to shoulder check. I don't think this call is worthy of a five minute major. (s/t to Tim Brubakken for the picture.)

Thanks to @cjzero for addin the video. He's a must follow on twitter. 

This weekend's NCAA Division one television schedule

This hockey season, with this absence of the NHL I have focused on the game of college hockey while the NHL and the NHLPA decided to act like a bunch of children, and hence, the two sided ended up causing the cancelation of 40% of the NHL Hockey season.  Now that the NHL is back up, and running, I would urge fans to continue watching the Division I college hockey.

This season, I have tried keeping up with the ever changing NCAA Division I hockey schedule, and for the most part it’s been difficult because the national college hockey television schedule is very fluid, they continually add games, and obviously delete games. So, I have decided to do it more by a week-to-week basis.

Programing note, for UND hockey fans that are looking for tonight’s game to show up on their DirecTV lineup, there is one change, DirecTV is not picking up Friday’s game between the Wisconsin Badgers. This was announced by the UND Sports Information Director Jayson Hajdu.

If you watch the NHL during the week, you will see numerous former college hockey fans lighting up NHL goalies all over the NHL.

On Wednesday  30, 2013, there was a game between the Minnesota Wild and St Louis Blues and it  looked like all WCHA reunion as there were nine former players from North Dakota (2X), Wisconsin (4X), Minnesota State,  Saint Cloud State, Colorado College. What I didn’t mention is the other schools that were represented in that game as well.

Last night, former Minnesota Gopher Thomas Vanek torched Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask for three goals and lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-4 victory over the Boston Bruins. Vanek is currently leading the NHL in points with 15. Former Wisconsin Badgers forward Joel Pavelski is sitting in fourth place with 12 points.

In the offseason, The Minnesota Wild signed former Fighting Sioux All-American Zach Parise, the Wild are seeing instance results from Parise, who’s currently leading the Minnesota Wild in scoring with (5g-4a—9pts).

In Toronto last night, former Fighting Sioux forward Matt Frattin scored the game winning goal for the Toronto Maples Leafs as they beat the Washington Capitals 3-2. Frattin is currently third in the NHL with 2 game winning goals.

I think that it’s safe to say, that the future of the NHL is on stage every Friday and Saturday on a television channel near you.

So, if you don’t have the NHL package or you’re one of those fans that have refused to spend the $50.00-$60.00 to get this package, you have options, especially if you have DirecTV.

*NESN = New England Sports Network. FCS= Fox College Sports. NBCSN = NBC Sports Network. DirecTV requires the “Sports Pack” to view the Regional sports Networks.

Fri.	Feb. 1		Michigan State at Michigan	BTN	6:35 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 1		UMass Lowell at Merrimack	NESN	7:00 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Feb. 1		Dartmouth at Union	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Feb. 2		Michigan vs. Michigan State (JLA)	FS Detroit	3:00 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Feb. 2		University of Wisconsin at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	626

Cross Posted at The Hockey Writers - Combine...