hawkupaloogie

Friday Carolina @ Washington Dallas @ Columbus Los Angeles @ Detroit Minnesota @ Buffalo Edmonton @ Anaheim Vancouver @ San Jose Saturday Boston @ Philadelphia NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh New Jersey @ Buffalo Ottawa @ Toronto Washington @ NY Islanders Atlanta @ Florida Montreal @ St Louis Columbus @ Nashville Chicago @ Phoenix Tampa Bay @ Calgary Sunday Carolina @ NY Rangers Boston @ Detroit Colorado @ Minnesota Los Angeles @ Dallas Vancouver @ Anaheim Edmonton @ San Jose

wow, i was close! only missed the lssu/ferris series by a game...why can't my weekend picks go this well? michigan's beatable at home this year, so, if the stars align, i'm hoping northern can pull this series out. we split at yost during the regular season. this was probably the best match up of the bye week teams northern could've have had. i'm not sure if santos is up for hobey officially, the ten finalists come out in a few weeks. walt kyle (northern's coach) has talked about it, saying that he'd be shocked if mike hasn't been considered. he's definitely deserving, he's dragged the 'cats along kicking and screaming for some games (luckily, not against ohio state, the whole team's stepped it up). for anyone who missed it, after sunday night, lssu, northern and alaska are advance after beating ferris state, ohio state and western (respectively). round two of my completely baseless predictions: alaska beats notre dame in three (pipe dream, i know, but i love the nanooks) northern beats michigan in three (slightly less of a pipe dream, but still one, nonetheless) lake state beats miami in three (miami was hurting at the end of their season, they're takeable, go get 'em lakers) state sweeps nebraska (i don't really care who wins)

i agree. there's no way nebraska makes it past state this year. according to their fans, they're pretty beat up, too. Apparently, Parse is having muscle spasms in his leg, Charleston hurt his knee or ankle, Uotila has something wrong with his leg, and Angell is hurt. doesn't sound good for the mavericks. i'm a little surprised, but not too much. zani's always had problems with ohio state, and stewie did well after bill was pulled on friday. stewie's going to start tonight, too. go 'cats! it's looking like one hell of a series over there in the soo. good luck to the lakers, i'm usually not a fan, but i like to see the u.p. do well, and i'm even less of a ferris fan i had the same feeling, unfortunately. i'm just hoping culhane's habit of shortening the bronco bench at the end of the game tires them out (especially after 3 games). i'm really hoping the 'nooks pull off the upset, if they can limit the shorthanded chances/goals for western, they should make a good game of it.

after saturday night: nebraska-omaha swept bowling green 2 games to none after a 7-5 victory. northern ties up the series with ohio state at 1 game each after a 3-2 win in ot. lake state stays alive against ferris state, tying the series at 1 game after a 4-3 win. western comes back strong against alaska, winning 6-2, and tying the series at 1 game.

sounded like they played well... anyway, i was wondering, what did you think of the olver kneeing penalty? there's was some confusion about it across the radio, and since i couldn't see it, i don't really know what to think. i know it was a 5 min. major, but not a game misconduct, although it was first ruled as one. olver's not really a hitter or even someone who takes cheap shots (which makes a blatant knee odd, especially since he's had leg issues before), at worst, he's a diver. any light you can shed is appreciated.

after friday, nebraska-omaha leads 1 game to none over bowling green after winning 3-2 in ot. ohio state leads 1 game to none over northern after winning 6-2. ferris state leads 1 game to none over lake state after winning 4-3 in ot. alaska (fairbanks) leads 1 game to none over western after winning 3-2 in ot. the alaska game was amazing to listen to. they scored twice within the last two minutes to send the game into overtime. go nanooks! now, if only northern knew how to win via comeback.

Friday Pittsburgh @ Carolina Toronto @ New Jersey Ottawa @ Atlanta Chicago @ Detroit Montreal @ Buffalo Columbus @ Dallas San Jose @ Anaheim Saturday St Louis @ NY Rangers Nashville @ Los Angeles Montreal @ Boston Buffalo @ Toronto NY Islanders @ Washington Tampa Bay @ Florida Columbus @ Phoenix Calgary @ Edmonton Sunday Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh Colorado @ Detroit Carolina @ Atlanta Ottawa @ Chicago San Jose @ Dallas Boston @ New Jersey Nashville @ Anaheim Minnesota @ Vancouver

i dunno about that... *note* this is a joke, this is only a joke. i do not know what they said to each other, if anything, during the handshake, and i am not implying anything of this sort was said.

wow, i hope you guys are right. i'm nervous, i don't think northern's won at ohio state for quite some time, but i'm not sure. this year has been the tale of two teams. friday was probably the worst game i've seen them play all year, but then, on saturday, they were on fire. every line was clicking, and zani was a wall. i don't know if it was inspiration from senior night or if things just clicked, but i hope they carry it into columbus. looking at season series, upsets don't seem too likely this year. nebraska went 4-0 against bowling green western went 2-0 against alaska ohio state went 3-1 against northern lake state went 1-0-1 against ferris my completely baseless predictions (a.k.a. what i want to happen): nebraska sweeps bowling green alaska beats western in three northern beats ohio state in three lake state sweeps ferris

Friday Edmonton @ Detroit Boston @ Tampa Bay Anaheim @ Dallas Saturday Washington @ New Jersey Montreal @ NY Islanders Buffalo @ Ottawa Columbus @ NY Rangers Toronto @ Philadelphia Carolina @ Atlanta Boston @ Florida Detroit @ Nashville San Jose @ Calgary Colorado @ Los Angeles Sunday New Jersey @ Washington Edmonton @ Minnesota St Louis @ Chicago Vancouver @ Dallas Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay Nashville @ Columbus Colorado @ Anaheim

Zani's been around for several years, but this is only his second year starting. He was backup to Tarkki two years ago. I regret to inform you all that he no longer sports the yellow pads. We were all disappointed up at Northern, mainly cuz we couldn't call him "Big Bird" anymore. here's a pic of his new pads, no yellow at all

bill zaniboni is northern's goalie, and brian stewart is the backup. you're absolutely right. goaltending is definitely not the issue in marquette. our defense tends to have lapses and our offense outside of santorelli, just isn't producing. in all fairness, we lost our top defensive pairing, and two of our top scorers to graduation last year. this year just wasn't northern's year, but it didn't really come as a surprise to those familar with the program. anyone else watching the um/lssu game on fsn? lakers are currently down 3-0 after two periods. sorry lssulaker, but this is good for northern, so, even though it makes me feel dirty, go wolverines!

we were slated for 8th in the preseason coach's poll, and if the stars and planets align, we could potentially finish there. i didn't expect much from this season, we simply lost too much with the seniors that graduated. i've got a much more indepth post on another message board here. anyway, this was posted on that other board, uscho. bronconick does these every season, after each week when playoff time rolls around. i thought some people may appreciate it. 1. Notre Dame 43 pts (47 possible) 1st/1st 39----------------------------------->CCHA Regular Season Champions 2.Miami 34 (38) 2nd/4th 3. Michigan 33 (39) 2nd/4th 32----------------------------------->1st round bye 4. Michigan State 31 (35) 2nd/5th 5. Western Michigan 27 (31) 4th/8th 6. Nebraska Omaha 26 (30) 5th/8th 7. Ohio State 26 (30) 5th/8th 25-----------------------------------> 1st round home ice 8. Lake Superior 23 (29) 5th/11th 9. Ferris State 20 (24) 8th/11th 10. Northern Michigan 19 (23) 8th/11th 19----------------------------------------> 1st round travel 11. Alaska 19 (23) 9th/11th 12. Bowling Green 9 (15) 12th/12th

i agree with your picks, but no love for Mike Santorelli? He's second in the nation for goals, and tied for 8th for total points. Not only that, he's had hardly any supporting cast. Mike's 26 goals make up 33% (well, 32.9%) of all of Northern's goals this year. He's pretty much the only bright spot in the wildcat program this year. He's a staple of the power play, and the penalty kill, with 4 shorthanded goals - tied for first in the nation. It's understandable why he's been overlooked this year, as Northern's season has been less than spectacular (to put it nicely), but without Santos, it would've been much, much worse.

are you a northern fan?

Friday San Jose @ Columbus Pittsburgh @ New Jersey Nashville @ St Louis Vancouver @ Chicago Saturday Philadelphia @ NY Rangers Atlanta @ Ottawa Boston @ Buffalo Edmonton @ Toronto Carolina @ Montreal New Jersey @ NY Islanders Tampa Bay @ Florida Minnesota @ Nashville Detroit @ Phoenix Colorado @ Calgary Anaheim @ Los Angeles Sunday San Jose @ Dallas Chicago @ NY Rangers Washington @ Pittsburgh Minnesota @ St Louis Montreal @ Columbus Los Angeles @ Anaheim Colorado @ Vancouver

Friday Tampa Bay @ NY Rangers Chicago @ Edmonton Saturday Anaheim @ Dallas NY Islanders @ Boston Calgary @ Buffalo Pittsburgh @ Toronto Ottawa @ Montreal St Louis @ Philadelphia NY Rangers @ Washington Phoenix @ Florida Los Angeles @ Nashville Carolina @ Minnesota Atlanta @ Vancouver Sunday Colorado @ Dallas Tampa Bay @ New Jersey Chicago @ Columbus Calgary @ Detroit Atlanta @ Edmonton

yep, horses can lie down, and often do inorder to get their REM sleep. in this position, they're flat on their sides, with their legs stretched all the way out. it looks pretty funny, and they typically only do it when there are multiple other horses around inorder to have someone keep watch for predators. they also take many cat naps on their feet, which is much more common to see when strolling around a barn. the reason that they don't just lie the horse down during a serious injury like this is because the horse simply weighs too much to put that much pressure on their organs for so long on their side. they also may develop bed sore-like lesions. inorder to keep all that from happening, they'd have to keep getting the horse up and down, which is not only hard to do with such a large (and typically stubborn when it comes to repositioning) animal, but takes a lot of energy from both the trainer and the horse. the sling is typically the ideal choice when you have the money to use it. now, frankly, IMHO, it was the right thing to do to put barbaro out of his misery. laminitis alone is a horribly painful condition. it typically causes foundering (sinking of the bones of the interior of the hoof). founder is also found in horses who are severly overweight, and in horses that have been used excessively on hard ground (termed road founder). to have it in three feet is almost a certain death sentence. when you add in an abscess in the other hoof (which often is cronic, reappearing in the same foot every 6 months), and broken bones in his lower leg, there wasn't much his owners could do for him, no matter how hard they tried. throughbred racing, in general causes a lot of leg problems, as horses' knees aren't fully developed until they're between 4 and 6 years old. typically, a horse starts racing at 2 (which is why racers are called "fillies" and "colts" - they're still babies); problems are bound to happen. i don't understand the letters to barbaro, though. i've been riding horses for 9 years, and a horse owner for 6. horses are awesome to be around, and will bond to the people they see often, but they couldn't care less about the rest of the world. i guess it's good just to help the people. if you want a real horse tragedy, check out the PMU mares.

northern picked up a sweep, too. i'm happy, even if it was only against bowling green. jakaitis didn't get drafted because when he was younger, he was not as solid as he is now (and personally, i'm still not quite sold on him). lssu is doing better not just to his new-ish found success, but also due to the play of upperclassmen like campbell and rainville, and especially due to the coaching change they made last year. we northern fans will always miss "crazy frank" anzalone, though, and his 2nd period goalie pulling. i've had a lot of opportunity to watch lssu over the years (northern plays them 4 times a year, and i usually make the road trip over to the soo), and while jakaitis has improved greatly since he was a freshman, there are still times when he's grossly out of position, or has trouble with his rebounds. also, next time you get a chance to watch him, take a look at the size of his jersey, he probably has the best impression of a flying squirrell in the ccha.

i'm still excited for the road win over michigan. northern faces bowling green this weekend, as long as they don't underestimate the falcons (see ferris state), things should go well. northern's been....subpar...to put it nicely, this season, but they've looked much better since the notre dame series. hopefully they pick it up for the end of the season. i'm praying for home ice in the first round. pure curiosity, does anyone here also post on uscho?

i wasn't talking so much about winning the game as the frequency of chippy games between northern and state. for whatever reason, partially because the 'cats had something to prove to comley (not so much anymore as all his recruits have graduated), and partially because the 'cats are a defensive minded, hard hitting, in your face, annoying as all hell team to play, wildcat/spartan games are always a little heated. now, don't think you're special, this happens regularly with lssu, mtu, western, and uno, too. as far as northern's record this year, i'm not expecting much. we lost 8 seniors including our top defensive pairing, 2 of our top scorers, our biggest, baddest hitter, and the two way foward with what was rumoured to be the hardest slapshot in the ccha (4 of those were nhl draft picks). there are gaps that just aren't filled this year. i'll be happy to see round 2 of the playoffs....and that makes me a sad panda

make it an off weekend. he picked up 12 penalty minutes on saturday, a minor for holding, then a 10 minute misconduct for starting a fight with siddall during the handshake. maybe it's just a northern thing...we have that effect on state...

yeah, it was an empty netter. our defense pinched too far, and he popped out of the penalty box and had an easy shot (we were only down 2-1 at that point, the second northern goal came with 2 seconds left). question for those of you who have seen him play regularly. is he always so undisciplined? he took 4 different minor penalties tonight. he was also extremely emotional, constantly in the middle of scrums, complaining to refs, even yelling at fans from the box (although, i'll admit, some northern fans can be particularly mean to opposing players :angel: ). i like the spirit, but he's gotta learn to control himself. he didn't really seem to be that much of an offensive threat, either, aside from the empty netter. i haven't seen him play before, though, so, i dunno if it was just an off night for him, or if he's always like that.

i'll be home from school around that time. assuming i'm not working, i'd be game for a get together. a new year's eve party sounds great.

“He’s got the potential to do that. He has got all the talent. He has got the heart and determination as well.� -Future Hall of Fame Defenseman Niklas Lidstrom (on Henrik Zetterberg's potential to be captain of the Redwings after Steve Yzerman retires) April 2004 "The best story about Zetterberg is Nick Lidstrom brought him in to see a friend of mine in the car business and he told him, 'I want you to meet the next Steve Yzerman.' That was in September, after training camp, before he'd played a game. Pretty good scout, that Nick Lidstrom!" -Legendary Redwings Head Coach and advisor Scotty Bowman, November 2003 "Obviously, he's a guy that we're going to build around going forward. I mean, he's a complete player. He's got great hands, great instincts, he's great in traffic and he really sees the ice well. And he's a good person. He's really grounded. He comes to the rink everyday, he works hard..." -Detroit Redwings General Manager Ken Holland, November 2003 'nuff said quotes from zetterbergfan.com