October
26, 2005
Forward-Looking
Fighting Sioux
By
Jess Myers
It’s a common sports cliché to
hear players talk of taking things “one game at a
time” and “not looking ahead” to future
opponents. But in the case of at least one member of the
North Dakota Fighting Sioux, not looking ahead was nearly
impossible this summer.
In August, INCH had an extended conversation
with Sioux forward Drew Stafford as the junior-to-be took
a break from his summer training regimen to meet some friends
in Chicago. During the long drive through Wisconsin (a journey
the Sioux hope to reprise in
April en route to the Frozen Four in Milwaukee), Stafford
spoke via cell phone about how the summer seemed to be dragging
along, with an October weekend in Grand Forks foremost in
nearly all of his returning teammates’ minds.
“It was an amazing feeling to make it
as far as we did, and to have the season end like it did
makes us even more hungry,” Stafford said. “We
play DU right away in October, at home, and everyone on
the team is looking forward to that.”
Those thousands in attendance in Columbus
last April and countless more Sioux fans watching on TVs
from Williston to Wahpeton saw their hockey heroes outplay
Denver in the second period of the national title game and
look poised to take control before a Pioneers rally brought
the NCAA’s top hockey trophy back to the Front Range
for a second consecutive year. That lingering sense of unfinished
business has the Sioux Nation snapping up tickets, and their
opponents prepared for a big pre-Halloween series.
“It’s only natural that you’d
get a little more revved up for the team you’ve butted
heads with, not only in the regular season but in the national
tournament,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “Their
team, on paper, looks somewhat similar to ours, as far as
strengths and potential weaknesses. Their blue line took
some big hits due to pro signings, as did ours.”
The reasons Sioux players want to see the
Pioneers again go back much further than a warm April Saturday
in central Ohio. None of them have forgotten Grand Forks
native Robbie Bina, who will miss the entire 2005-06 season
after suffering a broken neck via a hit by Denver’s
Geoff Paukovich in the WCHA Final Five last March. And Stafford
notes that the past two Sioux hockey seasons have ended
with a loss to the Pioneers in the NCAA Tournament.
“They ended our season twice,”
Stafford said. “They’ve taken away championships
from us. So it’s up to our older guys to let the younger
guys know how important this is.”
SEEN
AND HEARD IN THE WCHA
|
Great Weekend Getaway |
 |
|
Denver
at North Dakota (Fri.-Sat.)
Denver has won its last five meetings with
North Dakota, including one in the WCHA playoffs,
one in the NCAA regionals and one in the national
championship game. But none of North Dakota’s
current top scorers will be truly looking for revenge
this weekend when the Pioneers visit the Fighting
Sioux because the top four scorers on the team are
rookies. Freshmen T.J. Oshie, Jonathan Toews, Ryan
Duncan and Brian Lee have led the way as the Sioux
have jumped out to a 4-1-1 record and the no. 2 spot
in the INCH Power Rankings. And one Sioux veteran
is just fine with having the youngsters lead the way.
“It’s not really surprising because they’re
so talented,” said junior Drew Stafford. “We
really don’t think about this being a young
team because their skills take over as soon as the
game starts.”
While You’re There: The Hrkac
Circus returns to Grand Forks for a one-day engagement
this Saturday, as the 1986-87 Sioux hockey team will
be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
North Dakota cemented its status as the hockey dynasty
of the 1980s that season, winning the WCHA and its
third NCAA hockey title of the decade with an impressive
40-8-0 record. In addition to Hobey winner Tony Hrkac,
the team featured such notables as Bob Joyce, Ian
Kidd, Steve Johnson and a freshman goalie named Ed
Belfour.
|
| Stick
Salute |
| College
Avenue in Houghton and Canal Street in New Orleans
are 1,338 miles apart, but the folks on the former
will be pitching in to help the people on the latter
this weekend. The WCHA is coordinating
an effort to collect hurricane relief dollars on Saturday
night during the games at Michigan Tech, Wisconsin,
St. Cloud State, North Dakota and Minnesota State,
Mankato, as well as at three WCHA women’s games.
In addition to collecting monetary donations at the
rinks, each home club will donate an official team
sweater to the effort, dubbed “WCHA Cares, Katrina
Relief Drive.” |
| Bench
Minor |
|
The Minnesota
Duluth Bulldogs set a school record last
weekend – but it’s not anything you’ll
see commemorated on a plaque in the locker room. Saturday
night’s 5-1 loss at Vermont gave coach Scott
Sandelin’s crew three consecutive losses by
that identical score. For many long-time Bulldog fans,
it brought back unpleasant memories of the team’s
trip to the St. Paul Civic Center for the inaugural
WCHA Playoff Championships in 1988. After upsetting
Denver to make the league’s final four, the
Bulldogs limped back to Duluth following back-to-back
6-0 losses to Minnesota and North Dakota in St. Paul.
|
Lambeau Labor –
During last Sunday’s Vikings-Packers game at the Metrodome,
Tice and Sherman weren’t the only head coaches named
Mike roaming the sidelines. Wisconsin fans with a keen eye
might have been surprised to spot Badger hockey head coach
Mike Eaves among the support staff near the visiting team’s
bench.
Thanks to the Titletown connections of Badgers
assistant coach Mark Oseicki, who spent several years with
the Green Bay Gamblers, the trio of Eaves, Oseicki and director
of hockey operations Rob Malnory took a detour on their
way home from the team’s win and tie at St. Cloud
State and worked the game as volunteers on the Packers’
sideline. Their main duty was to ensure that the assistant
coaches’ headset cords didn’t get tangled. Eaves
found the Sunday afternoon experience to be filled with
similarities to his work on Friday and Saturday nights.
“It was like being on the bench with
the same intensity as a (hockey) game,” Eaves said.
“It didn’t seem like a break at all. In fact,
we were all exhausted when we got into the car afterwards.
But it was fun to see up close how those people operate
and the intensity of preparation on the part of the coaches.”
For Eaves, it might have been good preparation
for the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic, set for Feb. 11 at
Lambeau Field. On that day he’ll get the experience
of coaching a hockey game and being on the Packers’
sideline simultaneously. After the Packers’ ticket
office sold 22,000 tickets for the Wisconsin-Ohio State
match-up the first day of public sales, there may be considerable
intensity in the stands that day too.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• It’s a well-known fact that sunlight
is in short supply in Alaska during the hockey season. Apparently,
goals are in short supply among the Alaska hockey teams
this season too. Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks are
tied in the race for the Governors’ Cup after the
teams split a pair of 2-1 games last weekend in Anchorage.
The six total goals scored in the two-game were the fewest
scored between the teams in a two-game set since their intrastate
rivalry began in 1979.
• While his team struggles to
make marks in the win column, Michigan Tech forward Chris
Conner made a mark in the school’s hockey record books
last weekend. Conner scored shorthanded for his team’s
lone goal in a 5-1 loss at Northern Michigan on Friday,
giving him a dozen shorties for his career – which
is the most ever by a Husky. Conner’s goal gave the
Huskies three shorthanded goals in their first six games.
By contrast, the team scored three shorthanded goals in
all of the 2004-05 season.
• When Colorado College rallied
from a 2-0 deficit to beat Colorado Springs rival Air Force
6-3 on Saturday, it marked two decades of domination by
the Tigers in their series with the Falcons. Since a 6-5
overtime win by Air Force on Nov. 9, 1985, the Tigers are
27-0-1 in their last 28 games versus their cross-town counterparts.
• St. Cloud State TV hockey announcer
Clay Matvick will make his ESPNU debut Friday night, calling
his alma mater’s game versus Minnesota. In a related
note, Matvick was thisclose to making his big screen
debut last Friday. The new Charlize Theron/Woody Harrelson
movie “North Country,” which is set on Minnesota’s
Iron Range, features a scene with Harrelson in a bar where
a St. Cloud State-Minnesota Duluth game is playing on a
TV in the background. SCSU officials sent the movie’s
producers video of the 1993 game for use in the film and
it originally featured audio from Matvick, who was a student
broadcaster at the school when the game was played. Matvick,
who saw the film this week, said any traces of his call
of the action are drowned out by the sounds of karaoke.
• Minnesota State, Mankato rookie
goalie Mike Zacharias didn’t get a win in his first
collegiate start. The Plymouth, Minn., native stopped 31
Minnesota shots in the Mavericks’ 4-3 loss last Saturday
in Minneapolis. But he gained the respect of his coach for
finding a groove after allowing three opening period goals,
and turning in a solid effort.
“I thought he played very well
in a situation where obviously he’s going to be nervous,”
said Mavericks coach Troy Jutting. “He’s making
his first collegiate start 10 miles from where he grew up.
But he settled down and played a solid game.” With
that said, Jutting admitted that his team’s goaltending
situation is still unsettled and with top defenseman Chad
Brownlee out of the lineup when high-scoring Colorado College
visits Mankato this weekend, he’s got a tough task
ahead. “It’s not an ideal situation, but I don’t
know what is an ideal situation when you’re facing
the Hobey Baker winner and his compatriot who could’ve
easily been the Hobey Baker winner,” Jutting said.
• When Minnesota coach Don Lucia
looks over at the opposing bench on Friday night at the
National Hockey Center, he’ll see a familiar sight
– one of his former assistant coaches facing him as
a head coach. Lucia notes that he’s seen it before
in Dave Laurion at Alaska Fairbanks, Scott Owens at Colorado
College, John Hill at Alaska Anchorage, Tavis MacMillan
at Alaska Fairbanks and now Bob Motzko at St. Cloud State.
“I’m just happy that so many of my former assistants
have gotten the chance to run their own programs, and I’m
particularly happy for Bob,” Lucia said. “I
want them to be the second-best team in the state of Minnesota.
I just want to make sure that they’re behind us.”
