Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday Potpourri: An Ingrate, UAA > Aces and Other Stuff

Dave "Too Busy" Hakstol (center) ...
UND's victory over UA_ gave them the tournament championship regardless of the outcome of the UAA and Air Force game.  Why?  Because they won the Friday night shootout.  All well and good and congratulations for that.  But let's never invite them to a tournament in Anchorage ever again eh?  Not because they took the tourney title.  That's quite meaningless, two teams were 1-0-1 in the tournament.  


No, I say let's never invite them again because Dave Hakstol is discourteous.  First, he doesn't show up for the coaches luncheon and passes along the excuse that it was the only time his team could schedule ice.  Um ... the team wasn't invited to the luncheon ... Dave, you were.  Apparently, Hakstol's two assistants are completely incapable of running a game day skate?  He HAD to be there ya know?  Weak sauce, Dave.

Here's the deal, the WCHA Coaches Luncheon's are a pretty frequent event across the WCHA realm.  But there is one coach who really hates them.  He's been openly negative about going to them.  Donnie Lucia.  He's elaborated his reasons and I won't get into them too deeply here.  Suffice to say that tDon has lots of requests for his time from fans and media ... and the coaches luncheon is one place he thinks he shouldn't have to be if he doesn't want to go.  Especially, on the road.

So Dave Hakstol thinks he's Donnie Lucia?  Well, not exactly ... but in this case he's all about riding Donnie's anti-luncheon coattails.  Gee, Dave.  Do something original ... be your own man.  Why you gotta try to act like tDon?

Here's the thing.  It's a fucking tournament, not some regularly scheduled league game.  Your team is going to get to schedule two home games and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from it's participation here by cashing in the exemptions it gets from playing here.  Doubtless that along with the invitation, UAA paid some of your team's airfare here.  So you get all that benefit from the trip and you're discourteous enough to not show up to the luncheon?

Did I mention how they apparently had to get to the airport to leave and didn't stick around to collect their championship booty?  Weird, cause I saw them in the building late in the 3rd period last night. 

Let's never waste another tournament invitation on UND eh?  This is what happens when you invite trailer-trash ... they act like trailer-trash.  It's ZERO skin off UAA's nose if they are never invited again.

And oh yeah Coach Hakstol, you wouldn't have been the only coach in Frank Serratore's speaking shadow.  Why are you so skerred of Serratore?  Does your wife like his brother Tom or something? 

Brian Faison is the UND Athletic Director.  His email address is brianfaison@mail.und.edu.  Let him know how you feel about the lack of sportsmanship and discourtesy of his premier program's head coach.  I'll give away a pair of passes (good to any regular season game) to any fan that actually get's Faison to reply and let's us know what he said.

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How about a quick recruit update.  Naturally, I'll start of with Sam Mellor.  Since I last mentioned him being at the top of the goal scoring in the league, he's scored 3 more goals in two games.  He's been awarded a first star and second star in those games.  He now has 16 goals and 12 assists in 14 games and is maintaining that 2.0 points per game pace.  He da bomb.

Sticking with the BCHL; Andrew Pettit has gotten back on track solidly it appears with Powell River.  In 12 games now, he has 6 goals and 3 assists.  He scored a hat trick in a game this weekend and was awarded the 1st star.

Scott Allen returned to the Spruce Grove Saints to play this season instead of Des Moines in the USHL.  Since getting home he has scored 3 goals and 1 assist in 4 games.  Looks like he's back in form at home after perhaps being a little out of his element in Des Moines.  Nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed.

Down in the USHL ... Eric Scheid has one goal and two assists in his first three games for the Lincoln Stars.  In Dubuque, Derek Docken and Tony Larson have both appeared on the blueline in all three of their games.  Derek has one assist.  Zach Rall has tallied a single assist as well with Tri-City in the three games he's played.

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Tommy Grant and Sean Wiles were the two UAA inclusions on the Kendall All-Tournament team.  Congratulations to them for that.

There was a good buzz and response to the Seawolf Thunder Drumline from fans in and around the Sully this weekend.  The student section has righteously been moved to the sections just east of the team bench on the south side of the rink.  This new "drumline" appeared there this weekend and added a welcome energy to the arena.  Good on you guys.  Bring more and keep bringing it loud.  Looks like this could be the start of a beautiful thing.  I'm encouraging anyone with good sense of rhythm to bring their own "drum" and join in.

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There was little to nothing compelling about any college matchups around the country this weekend.  Naturally, it's just the first weekend of the season.  But a couple of interesting results to report on.  Clarkson pasted St. Cloud 6-2 in the Maverick tourney in Omaha.  The night before, UNO had bombed Clarkson 8-0. 

Mankato tied St. Larry twice.  Da Gophs put up to five spots sweeping UMass in a couple of fairly tight looking games.  Denver beat Vermont 5-3(empty netter) and then tied them on Saturday 1-1.  Tech swept it's CCHA Michigan rivals NMU and Lake State.  Duluth only managed a tie against the Lakers but beat NMU.

One of our opponents next week.  CC played a 2 game series with RPI.  CC won the first night 2-1 and tied them the next night 2-2.

Our other opponent next weekend at the Brice, Union scored 16 goals (9 the first night and 7 the second night) in a two game series against Sacred Heart.

Take what you will from that. 

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College Hockey News has a new live scoreboard that is quite simply "teh shit".  College Hockey Inc. (D-1's new marketing arm) last week unveiled their new live scoreboard system with a lot of hoohaw and claims.  Then College Hockey News (the national site with the fewest resources) promptly usurped them with a vastly superior implementation.

If you want live score updates ... College Hockey News is the place to get them.  Nice going Adam Wodon.

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Do I have to talk about Doyle Woody?  He crossed the line again this weekend for me.  I have a higher tolerance than lots of you for his shitty attitude.  In the past I've tried to excuse him by invoking journalistic ethics and requirements etc.  But when he comes out in his blog trying to shit on the team with some weak sauce inference about attendance numbers and makes himself look like a total asshole?  Well, I'm not about to defend that.

Here's the thing that my thinking always comes back to with regard to Doyle and his feeding on Aces-teat.  The Seawolves would beat the Aces.  WCHA > ECHL.  It's just better hockey.  He knows it.  Otherwise why would he shit on the Seawolves all the time.  The WCHA is on par with the league above the ECHL; the AHL.  Ask former WCHA players that have played extensively in the AHL and/or NHL. 

So what it seemingly comes down to is insecurity.  Doyle is skerred that the Seawolves would beat the Aces.  Someone should make a 2 game exhibition series against the Aces happen.  A mid-to-late December, 2 game series would be a huge draw in Anchorage obviously.  Rules for college hockey exhibitions don't preclude it.  It can and should happen.

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Last but not least allow me to thank all the volunteers who made this weekends tournament a rousing success.  From the Kappa boys dishing out free food to all the folks inside the rink plugging away at their various responsibilities.  This tournament would be half of what it is if there weren't dedicated fans willing to give up their time in support.  You all have my thanks.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good stuff, been looking forward to your Sunday Potpourri all day. Too bad a great weekend had to be tainted by coaches and "journalists" (I say that tongue in cheek) who are classless.

Donald Dunlop said...

"Taint" is an excellent choice of an adjective for both of those fellows.

Anonymous said...

Haha, you just get angry over any little thing, don't you?
Cry me a river. :)

Dirty said...

You complained when Hakstol was original and flipped off Don Adam. Now you complain when he copies Lucia. Make up your mind.

Donald Dunlop said...

Anon (who is it ... the pig Geist or the dummy Goon???)@838,
Where is the anger in suggesting that we never invite your team back? Just a request that we actually invite teams that will be good guests.

Your trailer-trash coach wants to be a dick? We're happy to let him be a dick somewhere else is all. Grand Forks is a perfect place for dicks ... always makes me wonder why so many of the Internet UND faithful don't actually live there.

Grand Forks: A great place to be FROM ...

Now ... prove that everyone associated with UND isn't a complete slobbering fool and make yourself some sort of fucking name the next time you comment here. There are multiple simple options to do so while still maintaining your anonymity.

If you don't. I promise to delete everything you say regardless of the content.

Dirty,
Zephyr or Zephyrs? Which do you think is the better usage? Will it be the Fighting Zephyr(s) or just Zephyr(s). And how do you feel about cheering for a Train/Wind? Seriously, a big train logo pushing through the unceasing wind is all win baby. All win.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Potpourri Donald! Always a joy and this weekend an especially sweet Sunday night reminder of a great weekend of Seawolf hockey. I gotta agree that Doyle was way off-base in his caustic comments about attendance. Maybe he wasn't even there? Because if he had been what he'd have seen was a WHOLE LOT more loud and happy fans that we've been getting for most games the last few years. THAT'S what he could and should have written about. I don't read the adn much. Is he always negative?

Donald Dunlop said...

Deleted Anonymous,
"How come" ??? Really? Not "Why"???

Ok .. here's "why". Because Anon@634's comment wasn't negative in nature and didn't look as if it would require a continued interaction. However, since I knew YOU'd be back with some stupid shit like "How come..." then my request was only to differentiate you from some other anonymous.

But that was too difficult for you.

UAAalumni09 said...

The first goal for Calgary this year was a shortie that came from Glencross, he made it look easy
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=35&id=78097

Anonymous said...

Woot! I got Glencross in both of my fantasy teams. Great weekend for the boys, even if Woody & Hakstol pissed on it. We tied the #2 team in the nation and beat Air Force. We had the best weekend at the Sully. Good to have Lyle Woods back, friday night you could really tell he was having fun. Building blocks Seawolves, building blocks.

Dirty said...

Aren't I proof that not everyone associated with UND is a slobbering fool? I didn't even drool on my application to UND. And yes, before someone asks, I did manage to stay between the lines in the coloring portion. Proud moment. My parents took me out for ice cream. I think I got cookies and cream.

If we're going with trains, why not go with Soo? That way everyone is happy.

Donald Dunlop said...

Dirty,
Touche. Hence, I'll forever stipulate that not every UND fan is a slobbering fool. I'm happy to do it actually.

I think my next post will even be titled "Not Every UND Fan Is A Slobberling Fool".

Donald Dunlop said...

Also, In train parlance, Zephyr is much more recognizable than Soo. You guys will never choose Zephyr though. I have ensured that by suggesting it well before the name change was required.

Pick Zephyr(s) and I can forever claim I suggested it first. Don't pick it and it was because I suggested it first.

It's such a total sweet win when one blogger like me partially controls the future nickname for UND.

I rock.

Wisconsin Hockey said...

UAA must be such an awesome town that the biggest news story about a terrible hockey team is the opposing coach didn't go to the tournament dinner. What a winning town attitude. Congrats Mr. Dunlop and the UAA fanbase.

Donald Dunlop said...

Yeah Wisconsin .. that's it. An obscure blogger references the events and gives his opinion in a post that has 6 other topics and so it's the biggest story in town.

Anonymous said...

It does seem like kind of a dick move. Oh well, it looks like his team thought it was a case off leading by example so they didn’t show up to the third period on Friday night.

None said...

Damn DD, you are throwin' down big work on this blog. Video interviews are good too.

Now that I'm back in AK and can actually go to the games I'm done taking my frustration out on you... I will now be taking it out on jackass fans from DU and Minn who show up in our building and cheer against the home team, look the hell out.

Keep the content coming.

UAAalumni09 said...

UAA received 13 votes in the new poll, which puts them at 25th.
8 WCHA teams in top 20, 11 in top 26

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/

BBEF said...

UAA and Tech are both among "others receiving votes"

Never Summer said...

I have a couple of questions about this snubbing that I thought you (Donald) might be able to shed some light on. Was there some sort of power outage the caused the teams to receive limited ice time for practice? If not, why were the visiting team practice and the coach’s luncheon scheduled for same time? I’m all for calling people dicks and assuming they're trailer-trash, I just want some info on the situ-ma-vation.

Donald Dunlop said...

With four teams needing their game day skate, there is a limited amount of time to fit everyone in. So generally at least one team is going to have their game day skate around the time of the luncheon.

A couple of years ago, I sat with Jack Parker at a tourney coaches luncheon in the Hilton while BU was having it's game day skate.

Assistants are quite proficient generally at running a less than intense game day skate. For that matter, these young men are responsible enough to have a game day skate on their own if such a thing needed to happen.

But yes, I'm not privy to the scheduling details. Any number of scenarios could have had some effect on the timing. But as I said ... Jack Parker didn't need to watch his team's game day skate ... but of course he's only won 833 college hockey games.

Dirty said...

And he's 833 years old. Hakstol will probably be skipping afternoon practices when he's 833 years old for luncheons too. Or to take naps.

Donald Dunlop said...

Game day skate.

Judge Ross said...

This is interesting:

http://www.lexisone.com/lx1/caselaw/freecaselaw?action=OCLGetCaseDetail&format=FULL&sourceID=gdjd&searchTerm=ebLQ.cgfa.aadi.Ybff&searchFlag=y&l1loc=FCLOW

My favorite quote:

"Dunlap's remaining contentions lack merit."

Isn't that true of all of Donald's contentions? :)

Donald Dunlop said...

Oh ... it's even Donald W. Dunlap. Wow. You're even more stupid than I first thought.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you tell him how you really feel?

Anonymous said...

Did you enjoy winning your $100 for getting the puck in the face-off circle on Friday?

The Sully is a nice facility, to bad its not on UAA's campus. It was sad that UAA didn't have much of a student section. The Seawolves players play hard, and the school they represent doesn't support them. (Do the students have to buy tickets or do they get into the games free?)

It was my first trip to Alaska, it's an awesomely beautiful state. I really enjoyed driving the highway down to Seward. It was also cool to see Mt. McKinley form Earthquake Park in Anchorage. Everywhere you look, it appears to be postcard perfect. Thunderbird falls is also a nice little hike.

Sioux 7 (Goon's World)

Anonymous said...

The student body @ UAA doesn't really care. Hate to say it but it's true. They'd rather go clubbing, party's on campus, or go see a movie. Sad but true. I invite everybody I know, and try to convince them to try it at least once. I mean if your a full time student you get in for free.

Donald Dunlop said...

Seven,
I enjoyed spending it. I wish they'd give folks 3 attempts though. The first I was just after the 100. With that out of the way, I really wanted to car. And having that car in your head for those moments definitely builds the pressure a bit. Maybe that's why my second attempt sucked?

Suze said...

The athletic dept. told me that about 500 students do attend the games, but they insist on sitting where ever they wish, instead of in the student section. Hopefully that resolves itself with the section being moved behind the team and the new drum line.

Boy it is nice and warm down here in Louisiana!

Anonymous said...

Laissez les Bon temps rouler!!

BrettB in STL said...

Why would the tournament host schedule a visiting teams game day skate the same time of another scheduled event for the tournament? I understand your reference to the holier than thou Jack Parker, but if it's not a big deal, why didn't the host of the tournament sacrifice his ice time and take that spot. So his Assistant's could run the game day skates?

Also, it was the 2nd game day skate for the coaches and the team, it has a lot more meaning then a game day skate in late December. Especially if you recognize that UND always has slow starts, coupled with the Fighting Sioux giving up a huge lead the night before. It only makes sense that Head Coach was there to give some players some motivation, also if I recall some players were taken out of the lineup, and some were inserted. Which I'm sure decisions were made then as to who should dress.

Not trying to make an excuse, but I don't see it as being discourteous more so, then recognizing his team needed to have the right preparation. If that offends anyone then maybe they should take it up with the person in charge of scheduling ice time, as that sort of thing would never happen at the Ralph Engelstad Arena where Hockey comes first.

I am impressed with your research capabilities, maybe you could do some research to inform us who was in charge of double scheduling?

Anonymous said...

BrettB I am still waiting for Donald to answer your question.

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