Weekend Review Nov 5-6

UMD Gains Split in 3rd OT Win

There you go. Saturday’s 3-2 OT win caps the series at Grand Forks off with a split. That will hopefully prove to the Bulldogs they are a team that can play and win against the top tier teams and make the Ralph and the Sioux more mortal.

It cannot be overstated the importance of wining one in Grand Forks, no matter the method or score. This UMD team needed some confidence. After scoring six against Anchorage at the DECC, the Bulldogs went to BSU to escape with three points on four goals and gained the split with UND on five weekend goals. I thought this was the feared offense in the WCHA?

The Bulldogs go from one of their nemesis buildings, the Ralph, to go and play one of their nemesis teams, Michigan Technological University. Again, this is not a typo, but a reality. For whatever reason, UMD has trouble with MTU. Not to the point that they get swept, but UMD did account for two of the Huskies five wins last year…2 of 5!

Now the “real” challenge is over and the “soft” Huskies come into Duluth before the Bulldogs hit the road to Madison. The trap in this, and oh how I despise the “trap” analogy, series against MTU is every bit as real as conquering the demons of the Ralph and Sioux.

Good Call. Justin Fontaine finished off his birthday game Saturday night by scoring the game winning goal in overtime. As Bruce Ciskie said of the play, “…(Fontaine) put it top shelf where Grandma hides the cookies.”

Video of the goals from Saturday night including Fontaine’s OT winner can be found here from Northland’s Newscenter. It is grainy, but good to watch.

Welcome to the Club. The UNO Mavericks are on quite the tear going 7-1-0 to start the season and are undefeated (4-0-0) in WCHA play. Many, including the HighHorse, predicted Bemidji to be the better of the new teams to enter the WCHA. Its early in the season, but it looks like we were mistaken. UNO takes another road trip to Minnesota this weekend to play Saint Cloud State.

Bemidji Tallies First. The Beavers have their first WCHA win and first win of this season beating SCSU 3-2 in OT. Great for BSU program. At the same time, what has happened to the Huskies of SCSU?

Saint Cloud is still having their troubles of not scoring enough or not stopping enough pucks. The Huskies are 4-5-1, 2-2-0 WCHA, and have scored 30 goals for and have allowed 30 goals against. That is an average of 3.0 goals for and against per game. If the Huskies are to build on good last season, they need to figure out at least one side of the goals for/against problem.

Hot and Cold. A tale of two games has been the story of the season for Denver. The Pioneers easily beat their rival CC 4-1 Friday before getting destroyed by the same 9-2 Saturday.

The Gophers of UMTC are also hot and cold exemplified by the one point weekend against Wisconsin. The Gophers are 5-4-1, 3-4-1 WCHA. The winning record is mostly in thanks to a sweep over UMass early in the season. UMass is one of two remaining Division I teams that has not notched a win.