THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9
5:07 p.m. -- After seemingly being on the road every week early in the season, it feels a little refreshing to be in Mankato this weekend after a four-game homestand.
It was certainly nice to get on the bus this morning, rather than go through the airline security shuffle. This may surprise some, but I will take a bus over a plane any week. Within reason of course; if there was a way to fly to Houghton, Mich., I would very much be in favor of it!
The Mankato trip has always been one of my favorites for many reasons, not the least of which is the outstanding vantage point in the Verizon Wireless Center press box. It's right on the top of the action in what can be a very fun arena.
Mankato was also my first road trip with the team as interim men's hockey SID way back in 2002-03. Our director of media relations at the time, Dan Benson, had been called to duty as a member of the Army reserve, so I was asked to fill in during his absence. The Sioux lost 2-1 on Friday and as I was following the coaching staff down the tunnel immediately after the game, Dean Blais, furious with how the game had gone, spun around and told me in no uncertain terms, "And NO media tonight, you hear me?"
Twenty-four years old, on my first road trip with the team, and my first order of duty is to tell the media that "Coach will not be available tonight." An inauspicious debut for yours truly, to be sure.
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Hard to believe that we haven't been here since October 2008, when the Sioux won a Saturday game that was as close to being a must-win in mid-October as you can get. UND was 0-3 after dropping Friday night's game courtesy of Zach Harrison's shorthanded natural hat trick -- remember that? -- and the Sioux trailed 3-2 in the third period Saturday. Then Ryan Martens scored a power-play goal to tie the game and Chris VandeVelde, at the end of a shift and with thoughts of dumping the puck and going for a change, scored a brilliant unassistant goal shorthanded with nine seconds left in the third period to get the Sioux in the win column.
That was the first win of the year, my first as the team's SID, and I remember feeling nothing but pure relief. The team was fresh off four straight Frozen Four appearances, and as the new guy I was starting to feel a little warm under the collar at the thought of an 0-4 start.
Not that hockey coaches are superstitious.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10
10:07 a.m. -- A good meal? Check. And even better night of rest? Check. Now, it's back at the rink for gameday skate.
With junior forwards Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall still out of action, Coach Hakstol alluded to facing more "lineup challenges" at his Wednesday press conference. To be quite honest, I'm not sure who he is specifically referring to. Even if I did, I wouldn't disclose it. But I refrained from picking his brain about it this week, if for no other reason than I won't be lying when media ask me and I say, "I don't know."
There are a few guys definitely dealing with maladies of varying degrees, but I don't expect it to affect the effort this weekend. As players like Brent Davidson have shown over the years, there is a 'next man up' sort of culture surrounding this team. Eight different players have scored the game-winning goal in UND's 11 wins this year.
Who will be the hero this weekend?
5:21 p.m. -- I'm deaf. Just arrived at the arena and the P.A. system music is turned up to at least 11, apparently for the benefit of the seven of us in the arena: the four people cleaning the glass, Hennessy, Schlossman and myself. I mean, I like The Stroke and all, but geez...
No changes from lineup since last week. Here goes:
Forwards
19 Trupp--22 Malone--21 Frattin
25 Marto--10 Knight--7 Kristo
15 Davidson--9 Lamoureux--27 Rowney
8 Cichy--29 Nelson--11 Rodwell
Defense
24 Blood--5 Genoway
2 MacWilliam--4 Forbort
3 LaPoint--18 Simpson
Goalies
32 Dell
31 Eidsness
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11
1:00 p.m. -- Oh the weather outside is frightful...
We are in the midst of the intense blizzard that has taken over the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. The Minnesota-Minnesota Duluth game in Minneapolis has already been postponed until Sunday. Now I'm hearing that they've pulled the plows off the roads in Mankato, and all Mankato high school events have been called off. No word yet on the Sioux game, but we'll definitely keep you posted via FightingSioux.com, Twitter, etc.
The plan for the team was to hop on the bus after the game and head back overnight, but even that is up in the air right now. Just another week on the road for the Sioux; flight delays, car accidents, hotels that don't believe in hot water or cool air, and now Mother Nature.
2:41 p.m. -- Another travel first: tonight's game has been postponed until 4 p.m. on Sunday due to the severe winter weather in the Mankato area.
I just scoured the records I had available to me, and I can't find any previous Sioux men's hockey game being postponed because of weather. I just heard from my fine colleague at Minnesota, Paul Rovnak, and he thinks it's equally unprecedented at Minnesota, where the Golden Gophers' game against Minnesota Duluth was also moved to 4:07 p.m. on Sunday.
So now, we wait. And I wonder if the Hyvee across the street is a) open and b) sells men's underwear.
2:49 p.m. -- I just got off the phone with Virg Foss, the ultimate Sioux hockey historian, and he also believes it is the first weather-related Sioux hockey postponement. Yay, I'm a part of history.
9:10 p.m. -- Instead of wrapping up Game Two right about now, we just got back from team dinner. The weather has stabilized a little and the plows have done their thing, so we were able to grab a bite at a restaurant just up the block from our hotel.
The team will have a morning skate at 9:45 and then a quick turnaround to puck drop.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12
9:34 a.m. -- It certainly feels strange being at a game day skate on a Sunday.
To the players, it seems like just another gameday. There are a handful of guys who, physically, will welcome the Christmas break. So, who knows? Perhaps the extra day of rest will work in UND's favor tonight. The players have also been cooped up in their hotel rooms for an extra day, so perhaps that will also add to the energy level, which certainly wasn't where it needed to be on Friday night.
The team has put itself in position to spend the holidays in first place in the WCHA, which is quite the feat considering the Sioux have faced the toughest schedule in the entire nation to this point. And they have done so most recently despite injuries to top-liners Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall and, earlier in the year, illnesses to top-four defensemen Andrew MacWilliam and Derek Forbort.
I will post UND's lineup here as soon as we get to the rink, sometime around 2 p.m.
2:05 p.m. -- As I sit in the press box, the P.A. system is cranking out "What's Going On?"
Well, to answer 4 Non Blondes' timeless question: black jerseys.
Yes, the Sioux will don the black uniforms for their Sunday tilt with Minnesota State.
Coach Hakstol has also done some lineup tinkering. Freshman Derek Rodwell moves to left wing on a line with Mario Lamoureux and Carter Rowney, while sophomore Joe Gleason will dress in place of senior Brent Davidson. Gleason will play right wing on a line with Mike Cichy and Brock Nelson.
Forwards
19 Trupp--22 Malone--21 Frattin
25 Marto--10 Knight--Kristo
11 Rodwell--9 Lamoureux--27 Rowney
8 Cichy--29 Nelson--20 Nelson
Defense
24 Bood--5 Genoway
2 MacWilliam--4 Forbort
3 LaPoint--18 Simpson
Goalies
32 Dell
31 Eidsness
