On a night when DU had a chance to clear up the WCHA title race, the Pioneers were steamrolled 8-3 by North Dakota. The game wasn't that close.
DU fell behind 4-0 in the first 16 minutes and Coach George Gwozdecky played Musical Chairs with his goaltenders for the rest of the evening. Marc Cheverie and Lars Paulgaard rotated throughout the the game.
Once the game was in hand for UND, DU resorted to chippy tactics to regain some luster. It remains to be seen if it will lead to a more inspired effort on Saturday night. Certainly DU will need to raise its level of play exponentially to salvage a split.
DU fell behind 4-0 in the first 16 minutes and Coach George Gwozdecky played Musical Chairs with his goaltenders for the rest of the evening. Marc Cheverie and Lars Paulgaard rotated throughout the the game.
Once the game was in hand for UND, DU resorted to chippy tactics to regain some luster. It remains to be seen if it will lead to a more inspired effort on Saturday night. Certainly DU will need to raise its level of play exponentially to salvage a split.
Box Score
Pairwise Rankings
Rocky Mountain News game recap
Grand Forks Herald game recap
23 comments:
DU looked stupid tonight. Not sure what their toughness got them. Nothing! Go Sioux!
DU wanted to come in with playoff intensity and match their performance in the Final 5.
The game turned into a track meet and UND blew their doors off.
DU's worst performance since the NCAA playoffs against Wisconsin. Luckily they have time to regroup.
Great showing for UND... my guess is DU is coming out strong in the 2nd half of this series.
Hey Sioux Sioux!
*oh and sorry for being incorrect regarding Testee... it was Vossberg who threw punches with his helmet still on.
Hats off to UND. That was an ass whipping from opening puck drop to final bell. If not for a couple of oustanding saves early on by Chevy the Sioux could have been in double digits and won by a touchdown. The Sioux appear poised for another run to the Frozen Four, while DU appears to be headed in the opposite direction. Ugly game.
If you're a Pioneer fan this game certainly raises a lot of questions and makes you wonder in which direction this team is heading. There really wasn't much of anything to be excited about tonight. DU was once again victimized by a poor start, sloppy play, mental mistakes, and poor execution. Throw in an inconsistent will to compete (or so it appeared) and that's a recipe for disaster. I find it hard to believe that all of that can be attributed to the bye week.
There is still a lot of hockey to be played, beginning tomorrow night. The Pios are still a respectable 15-7-2 overall and 11-5-1 in the WCHA. But truth be told--they haven't looked sharp since before Christmas. I hope these guys can figure things out soon, otherwise they'll wake up and find themselves on the road for the WCHA playoffs.
PATHETIC!
DU is too good of a program for this to be happening (the chippiness, not the loss).
Time for a coaching change, I think. Gwoz isn't getting it done.
Hey, don't be do hard on your Pioneers. They played much better than Minnesota did two weeks ago at the Ralph.
I thought Cheverie played well, early he stonewalled Hextall with a nice diving save. The D left too many Sioux players skate up the slot uncontested.
Me and the Goon saw the refs and Greg Sheppard at the Green Mill (restaruant) after the game. The Goon asked them if they thought we (the Sioux) we not as big as goons as last season, and all refs just juckled :)
I'd don't know what they all showed on TV but their was a lot of yapping from both sides after the whistle.
Oh, and case your curious about the weather and the "cold reception" for the Pioneers, it is currently -17F at the airport.
DG- we hit 4 posts in the Wisconsin game. This was way worse.
We've got to pull something off tomorrow. Even stay within a goal or 2. Otherwise we'll for sure be in the same predicament as the last 4 years- tank in the 2nd half of the season when it really matters and watch North Dakota get hot at the perfect point in the season. Disgusting. Why can't we play after winter break? And aside from CC, we don't play any of the top tier teams for the rest of the season, so there aren't many real tests left before the playoffs.
Horrible odd man rushes that DU let go. That's why UND made us look completely pathetic. DU's defense has to show up on Saturday.
Lets see what happens tonight. Then we can better judge this team. A coaching change not hardly.
Who the hell was that team on the ice last nite and where are the real pios????
That was AWFUL!!! Maybe they needed to get kicked in the nuts like that though....
And I disagree, RJ about the Gwoz. There was a time when I thought that about him as well, but the type of Hockey Program he brings to DU is excellent. He keeps them under control OFF the ice - which isn't exactly easy for any coach to make happen. And the off-season workout program is fantastic.
I do agree it seems he isn't preparing the team for the intensity of some games - but the guys should have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER finding the fire to play against any WCHA opponent.
I totally disagree on the "Get rid of Gwoz" comment. I'm a NoDakian who now lives here, and I like Gwoz. I like his "no nonsense" interviews the best. There is never an excuse, even though it seemed like he blamed in part DU's play on a 2 week layoff. He normally would not even do that. I was surprised. Keep the coach. Keep Coach Hak (referring to get rid of Hak thread on ss.com) as well and Go Sioux!
I find this funny. The typical bolgs out of Denver and MN all talk about UND being a cheap team. It's crap. The Sioux play tough nose hockey which gets in the heads of their opponents.
DU played like goons last night and when they get down tonight will resort to the same tactics. I'm looking forward to Hextol or Finley kicking the crap out of Lee. They should have kicked the crap out of his brother when they were team mates.
Go Sioux!
SiouxFanatic...
The only person who mentioned UND being goons on this thread is one of your own fans!! C'mon now, read the whole post - and who the author of a post is part of that.
I know you were probably itching over there to talk some shit - and rightfully so - you done pwned us last nite ... but for once we WEREN'T calling you a bunch of goons :D
TT...
I said and meant the "typical blog," not this blog. Just pointing out that all the trash talk that comes out of the league is that we are the goons. When in actuality, our hard nose hockey drives other teams, and their fans, crazy. The results show our opposition breaking mentally and lashing out like goons.
Oh, and that wasn't shit talking. I'll try this...
You are correct. We made a good Denver team look very bad. And, I had to make a trip to the doctor to have my shoulder looked at, after all the high 5'ing.
Looking forward to a great game tonight. I'll be the crazy guy in the stands drinking all the beer...
SiouxFanatic --
LOL ... fair enough, fair enough!!! There are plenty of goon accusations go go around between those three teams. Throw in CC and we've got a good battle of hate there! :D
Hopefully your rotator cuff is in poor shape today damnit.
You're going to need all sorts of beer to drown your sorrows and your pain tonite (I hope, lol)
Great Job on the Blog.
My only comment really is if we could somehow mic up Hextall, because the stuff he must have come up with last night is probably legendary! I've watched hockey for over 20 years, and never witnessed a player wreak havoc without taking a penalty while being the sole reason for 4 opposing players to march to the Penalty Box!
Survey Says,
That's a Guiness Book of World Record's record. At least an NCAA record? Buehler... Anyone?
TT...
Eating crow isn't my favorite, so that's all the smack I've got. Tonight will most likely be a different affair. Hopefully nobody gets hurt or out for Friday next week. With all the intensity it should be an interesting game.
Fortunately they haven't ever run out of beer. At $7.25 for a 32oz I doubt they ever will. I'm taking $21.75 (at least, lol).
And BretB...
Hextall has a nack. He did the same against MN two weeks ago. Sure would like to know what he's saying...
$7.25 for a 32ozer eh?? Nice. Best deal at Magness is the 24oz Can 'o Molson @ $7.50 or same size Coors Banquet for I think its $6 or $6.50. I'm not sure. I only get the Molson. Last year I believe they had the 32oz Molson but due to lameness we now have the smaller can.
About 4 of those in a game and I'm good. Not to mention before and after.
Go DU, may we split the "What's all this crap I've been hearing about Diversity" Series tonite!
I don't have and never have had any problem with the UND style of play. They are no more goons than anyone else, in my opinion. There have been some isolated incidents over the yeras in which I thought a Sioux player crossed the line, but that happens with every team. The Sioux play a tough, physical, aggressive style and do it very effectively. Furthermore, they have the right personnel to play that way, guys who are willing to play physical and not back down. I think DU needs some more of that grit and physicality in their overall game.
Re: Hextall--Hextall seems to be the new kid on the block who opposing teams love to hate. Last night was the first time I saw him play, and he was very effective. He skates hard, gets a hit on every shift, and had some chances offensively. I think he was the guy who Chevy absolutely robbed early in the game. Hextall might be a talker, but he's tough and effective and not a cheap player. Quite frankly, I wish he played for DU. And I'm guessing every other team that plays against Hextall wishes he was on their team. And anyone who doesn't admit they would want Hextall on their team is probably lying.
So what do you think is colborne going to show any emotion or intensity tonight? or is he gonna be too busy daydreaming about what move he would pull if he was in the nhl superskills competition
Re: Hextall
I'm curious, what does a person need to say to get such attention from the opponent, esp. without evidence of a dirty hit? I played HS BB and golf so not much said there. Did anyone out there play collegiate hockey and could give an example that might set someone off? I'm surprised anyone would get offended by smack in today's era. I am thinking if he is so original, I would probably laugh and get a kick out of the originality.
Blog-guy,
You linked to the KRACH rankings instead of the PairWise Rankings, didn't you?
It does show the PWR on one of the column's though, just not in order.
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