*Official* NCAA Hockey Thread

Toewser wrote:

Eh, FGG, I'm especially curious on your take. I think most people agreed with your assessment last year that the Gophs had too many cruisers and not enough bruisers. Every thing I saw from Sam indicated that he was one of what you guys needed.

Lofquist is a 5 tool player, unfortunately none of those tools were ones that made him a better player. He had size but no snarl and contributed nothing offensively. Happy Gilmore had a more accurate shot than Sam. Once Leddy comes back, and rumor is that it may be this weekend, and Shack goes back to his role as team press box food consumer, Lofquist will be an afterthought.

what... the hell... is up with the Gophers this year? I'll be honest, I haven't had time to catch most of their games this year, but the games I have seen, they looked pitiful!

fucking horrid against michigan.

Got that right. Michigan pretty much skated circles around the Gophs.

BSU looked pretty good against Miami, pulling out a 3-2 win.

UND is back in the win column after 3 straight losses, looking very good against Ohio State. Final was 4-1.

ugh. hopefully we can do better against MSU.

gophers are blowing it this year

http://areavoices.com/undhockey/?blog=66283

Quote :

Hockey arena tourist Erik Castro made Ralph Engelstad Arena his 124th stop on his tour of trying to hit every NHL, AHL, ECHL, OHL and college hockey rink in North America.

He talked to Herald columnist Ryan Bakken for this story here. He also sent Ryan an e-mail through his BlackBerry after the game to give his final thoughts of the rink. Here are his comments:

This has the atmosphere of a Frozen Four game, but people here just call it a Saturday night.
REA and UND does such an incredible job honoring the Sioux heritage that it amazes me that the NCAA would ever consider sanctioning a team that honors Native Americans.
Unlike other modern venues, it perfectly and tastefully captures the great history.
It's a good thing I waited until No. 124 for this, because otherwise it would have ruined it for all of the other rinks.
The student section has prime seats, rather than jamming them in the corners or ends -- a salute to true fans.
Sometimes I could not mind the action because I was so mezmorized by the detail of the arena. Seemingly nothing was out of place, except for a few Wisconsin fans.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/144161/publisher_ID/40/

Quote :

Even before stepping inside Hockey Venue No. 124 Saturday, Erik Castro knew something about Ralph Engelstad Arena.

“It was the hardest-to-get quality ticket I’ve ever had,” the New York City resident said. “That says a lot about the loyalty of the fan base.”

Few, if any, people know as much about hockey arenas as the 35-year-old Castro. For the past six years, he has chased his dream of watching a game in all of the top arenas in North America. He is getting there, although he’s not making up as much ground as you’d think because new buildings keep popping up on the landscape.

That’s why he made this weekend’s trip to the Northland. He wanted to see Bemidji State’s Glas Fieldhouse before the Beavers start playing in their new arena next season. So, he flew into Grand Forks, drove to Bemidji for Friday’s game and attended the UND-Wisconsin tilt Saturday at the REA, which he originally planned to visit during the 2005 World Juniors.

He wasn’t disappointed.

“Without question, this is the No. 1 college hockey arena,” Castro said. “It’s definitely in the top five of all arenas if not No. 1 or No. 2.”

Castro was especially impressed by the student fans. “They’re smart hockey fans here,” he said. “It’s not just a night out here/it’s following the boys. It’s like the Sioux are part of them.” That covers wide territory because he’s been at 22 of the 25 current NHL arenas, more than half of the Division I college facilities and most of the American, East Coast and Ontario hockey leagues. He’s hit arenas in 34 of the states, including Hawaii.

“When I’m done here, I’d like to continue this in Europe,” he said.

Castro already has a head start, having attended games in the United Kingdom, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. He’s been at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., of 1980 Winter Olympics fame, the 2006 Olympics facilities in Torino, Italy, and special events such as the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs’ stadium. This year’s Winter Classic is at Boston’s Fenway Park, which he plans to attend.

Living his dream

His hockey arena obsession extends to defunct ones, as he also wanted to see the old Ralph. But the building is locked up, used for storage and not available for tours, UND officials said.

Hockey is his favorite sport, so he’s most obsessive about arenas, but he’s also been to more than 250 sports venues, including all of the major league baseball stadiums.

“A few years ago, it dawned on me that I’d like to see a lot of sporting venues, such as Notre Dame’s stadium or Joe Louis Arena,” he said. “So, instead of putting out New Year’s resolutions, I put out a to-do list of sports.”

Is latest passion is college football, but with more than 200 teams, “that one will be a little tough to tackle,” he said.

The average trip, for airfare, lodging, car rentals, meals and game tickets, is $750. For hockey trips alone, that’s almost $100,000.

“Luckily, I have a very understanding wife,” he said, adding that his wife sometimes accompanies him to “the warm places.”

More than the structure

Castro lives and works in New York City as a European trader for the United Kingdom investment bank. Madison Square Garden, the 40-year home to the NHL’s New York Rangers, is his home arena, 23 minutes away from his home.

“The Garden could learn some lessons from this place,” Castro said as he toured the REA. “The view from their suites is horrible, while here you’re real close to the ice.”

Castro said he always wondered why a remote place such as Grand Forks could be home to a college hockey power. “I wondered why the top talent would go to North Dakota and now I see why with the training and other facilities,” he said. “Recruits can’t help but be impressed.”

But to this arena connoisseur, it’s about more than the structure — the brick, the steel, the ice sheet and the seating. It’s also about the atmosphere, the ambience, the fan enthusiasm, the banners, the history, the players and the quirks.

Since its start, his quest “has seen several metamorphoses from seeing legendary venues before they meet their demise now to seeing everywhere major hockey is played,” he said. “I can experience different fans’ passions for their teams, how they bleed their colors and their many customs and differences. Of the approximately 25 venues where I have seen a pro, minor or college sporting event, one of my main observations has been that the most passionate fans live within the NCAAs.”

Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena and the REA are the two most obvious examples, he said.

“The Minnesota rink is a shrine to their players,” he said. “(The REA) is a palace, but it’s a palace built for hockey. Here, you know it’s all about Sioux hockey.”

Castro quotes former United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill in making his case of the importance of appropriate venues. Churchill comment was: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”

If that’s true, Castro’s reshaping journey has about another 60 stops.

I'd love to have Mr. Castro's disposable income. The Ralph is still on my radar as a rink to go see one of these seasons. Preferably when the Gophers aren't there so that I can enjoy the experience.

I saw half of the NCAA Division 1 games played tonight (only one other on the schedule). A 1-1 tie between Minnesota State and Nebraska Omaha. They definitely looked like 2 teams that just got done taking finals and are looking ahead to Xmas break.

The rodents have won 4 of their last 5 maybe they are putting a streak together, if anyone has watched leddy since his return how has he done on ice?

forthewild wrote:

The rodents have won 4 of their last 5 maybe they are putting a streak together, if anyone has watched leddy since his return how has he done on ice?

I'll get excited about the Gophers when they can start beating teams above them in the WCHA standings. I've only seen Leddy play twice since his return. He looked a bit timid in his first game, understandably so. His second game brought his first goal and I really didn't notice him much, so I'd say that's a good sign for a defenseman. Not sure how he did up at Houghton last weekend.

Well, the Gophers and UND had a pretty entertaining tilt tonight. I thought the Gophers had some stretches where they were watching UND and not skating much, but for the most part played a decent game. I guess Gopher improvement will have to be in baby steps. BTW, Danny Kristo is a stud. Montreal may have a good one on their hands.

unbelievable. Gophers take it to UND to a tune of a 5-1 score at Mariucci. They break a school record by scoring 2 goals in 8 seconds in the 2nd period. I thought the roof was going to come off the place when that happened. It was feeling like the good ol' days even if it was only for one night.

Has Schroeder picked it up since the WJC at all?

cehnehdeh wrote:

Has Schroeder picked it up since the WJC at all?

He hasn't really stood out. He's getting more assists now because Jacob Cepis (a transfer who didn't become eligible to play until after the holidays) has added some punch to his line. What I think hurts JS too is that with the lack of depth on the Gophers forward lines, he gets the opponents best shutdown players going up against him. When he's playing with players at his level as he did in World Juniors, he doesn't get focused on as much. He did have a PP goal on Friday and an assist on a goal Saturday night.

faribogopherguy wrote:

cehnehdeh wrote:

Has Schroeder picked it up since the WJC at all?

He hasn't really stood out. He's getting more assists now because Jacob Cepis (a transfer who didn't become eligible to play until after the holidays) has added some punch to his line. What I think hurts JS too is that with the lack of depth on the Gophers forward lines, he gets the opponents best shutdown players going up against him. When he's playing with players at his level as he did in World Juniors, he doesn't get focused on as much. He did have a PP goal on Friday and an assist on a goal Saturday night.

Thanks for the update FGG, appreciated.

Well my Huskies pulled out a miracle tie last night. Probably shouldn't have come down to this much of a nail biter against Alaska, but I'll take it. Now we know why coaches stress playing 60 minutes of hockey. Or at least in this case 59:59.9 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RqqUtVU8bw

Looks like they didn't mess around on Saturday, did they (6-0 blanking of UAA)?

I personally think Schroeder has great skills, but sort of like Pierre-Marc Bouchard he doesn't look to take his own chances enough. He's less passive than Bouchard but not by much. Although he could perhaps be scary good on a line with Mason Raymond or perhaps Michael Grabner. The fact Cepis has brought about a surge in production is due in part of Cepis' willingness to shoot and take the puck to the scoring areas of the ice.

I say the Wild should jump at this and snatch up Frank and get Terhaar the hell off the broadcast!

I would rather have a different color guy, but I stick by my previous statements about Terhaar/Greenlay not being as bad as at least 50% of the other announcers out there.

The Fox Sports format needs some serious work, though. It's pretty much the same graphics from region to region and the same stupid shit. It's sad when I like "What's your angle?" on 45 much better than anything on FSN.

That doesn't change the fact that Mazzocco is easily 10 times the play by play guy that Terhaar is.

I say bring Shafer and Sonmore onto TV... I LOVE to listen to the games on the radio because of them! Esp. Glen and his "unbiased" opinions.

The Fighting Sioux logo and nickname have been retired.