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Look around AMSOIL Arena Friday and Saturday nights, and see how many “Fighting Hawks” jerseys you see in the crowd. Now look again, and see if you see any “Fighting Sioux” jerseys. Yes, the North Dakota hockey team has had to change its name for the sake of a few activists, armed with political correctness, and the Sioux...er, Hawks personnel are tired of talking about it. They prefer to do their talking on the ice.

With that in mind, the series will have the national attention it deserves, thanks to UMD’s recent surge back into contention in the NCHC. The Bulldogs had been floundering, struggling to score, after getting swept at Nebraska-Omaha and then losing and tying against Denver before escaping the tie with a shootout victory. But five goals in the four-game winless stretch was hardly the calling card of a league champion.

But when North Dakota comes to town, it will bring an NCHC-leading 7-1 record along, and will challenge UMD’s 4-3-1 record. That 4-3-1 mark, however, represents a rocket-like rise from 0-3-1. Four straight victories can make a huge difference to a team in a tight, tough league like the NCHC. In the process, UMD shed its image of scoring problems, but also used Kasimir Kaskisuo as the lynchpin for their rise.
When a hockey team wins 7-0 -- or 6-0, or 5-0 for that matter -- it’s easy to celebrate the glut of goal-scoring and overlook the work of the goaltender. But when Western Michigan scored a goal against UMD sophomore Kasimir Kaskisuo last Saturday night, it was an eye-opener. The goal came at 13:36 of the second period, after the Bulldogs had taken a 2-0 lead in what eventually became a 6-2 UMD triumph, and it ended a remarkable streak for Kaskisuo.

It was easy to dismiss UMD’s sweep at Colorado College, because even while the results were 5-0 and 6-0, CC was the only remaining winless team in the world of Division I men’s hockey. We knew Western Michigan would be a lot tougher, but a rebuilding season interrupted by several key injuries left the Broncos shorthanded and suffering from six consecutive losses. Thump! UMD whipped Western 7-0 on Friday night.

When you think about it, winning three straight games in the NCHC is remarkable; scoring 18 goals in the three victories is unbelievable. But having a sophomore goaltender register three consecutive shutouts in those games is record-shattering. That’s what Kaskisuo did. So when Oliwer Kaski -- a Finnish prospect who didn’t even play Friday night -- scored at 13:36 of the second period on Saturday, it ended Kaskisuo’s shutout stretch at 263 minutes, 56 seconds.

The stretch goes back to the first period of the second game against Denver, and is not only a record for NCHC goaltenders, but for UMD goaltenders, all-time.

The four-game winning streak puts coach Scott Sandelin in position to make a serious challenge at his alma mater, North Dakota. Kaskisuo is one reason, and the suddenly prolific scoring is another, led by senior Austin Farley, who has nine goals. Farley didn’t score in Friday’s 7-0 victory, but he did score twice on Saturday, after also scoring twice in both games at CC.

From Western Michigan’s standpoint, the Saturday game represented something of a basis for getting things together. After the 7-0 blowout Friday, the Broncos had dropped seven straight, and Saturday’s 6-2 loss made it eight. That is an enormous and discouraging dropoff from the start of the season, when the Broncos stunned Nebraska-Omaha 4-2 and 6-1 for an NCHC season-opening sweep. Western hasn’t won since.

“We played pretty well our first four games,” said Murray, a former NHL coach. “We had a couple 2-1 losses to Miami, and a fairly close (5-2) loss to St. Cloud. But they crushed us 11-1 in the second game, and the wheels came off.”

I’ve known Murray for many years, and I’ve always appreciated his scholarly and even-handed method of coaxing maximum performance from his players. They had lost several players to injury, including top defensemen, which caused him to play some forwards on defense.

“But that 7-0 game -- there’s no question, we are not playing good hockey,” Murray said. After that game, anyone waiting to talk to Murray outside the dressing room had a long wait. So what did he do? Did he yell and scream? Throw stuff around the dressing room? Hardly.

“I pulled some chairs into a circle in the dressing room,” he said, “and then I talked for a while, and asked the players to also talk -- to contributed anything that was on their minds. It was very productive. We had all sorts of comments, and guys admitting to failures on the ice.”

Interesting approach. And no, it didn’t bring immediate results, but scoring a couple of goals and pretty well matching up in shots, while being outscored 3-0 on the power play, may have given the Broncos a baseline for the rest of the season.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have no time to sympathize with their victims. They have plenty to occupy their concentration just thinking about trying to extend their winning streak this weekend, against North Dakota...whatever their name is.

Around the rest of the NCHC, Nebraska-Omaha got pounded at St. Cloud State, 4-1, but then bounced back for a 7-2 victory in the rematch in a battle of top league teams. North Dakota beat Denver 5-1 and 4-0 to strengthen its hold on first place. The biggest surprise of last weekend, however, is that previously winless Colorado College shocked Miami of Ohio 2-1, and then shocked themselves with a 3-2 victory in the second game for a sweep.

Nonetheless, this weekend the NCHC spotlight will shine squarely on AMSOIL Arena.

Vikings flunk high-pressure test, now face another

There are no excuses that can be offered for the sad display of football by the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday. The only valid excuse is that the Vikings were facing the Seattle Seahawks, who have risen to their Super Bowl-winning best, and put it on exhibit at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, whipping the Vikings 38-7.
These were the first-place Vikings the Seahawks were crushing. And the score, if anything, failed to register the total domination the Seahawks inflicted on the Vikings.
Russell Wilson, Seattle’s brilliant quarterback, was virtually unstoppable as he ran and passed the Seahawks to their victory. With ace running back Marshawn Lynch sidelined by injury, undrafted rookie Thomas Rawls took his place and did a fair impersonation of being unstoppable, gaining 101 yards.
Meanwhile, Teddy Bridgewater was decidedly stoppable as Vikings quarterback, and Adrian Peterson was decidedly stopped, with only 18 yards on eight carries. Down 21-0 quickly, there was no more rushing attack needed, so Peterson didn’t spend his day getting stuffed. Instead, he exerted more effort complaining afterward about only getting eight carries, and lashed out at coach Mike Zimmer by saying the Vikings were outcoached in many ways.
The only Vikings touchdown all day was Cordarrelle Patterson going 101 yards on a kickoff return after one of the many Seattle touchdowns.
It made matters worse, for Purple faithful, that over in Detroit a few days earlier Aaron Rodgers had hurled a 70-yard missile through the air that became a Hail Mary victory touchdown against the Detroit Lions, boosting the Packers up to within tying range of the Vikings. When the Vikings accommodated them, the two teams were left with 8-4 records.
As usual, of course, the biggest game of the season for the Vikings is no longer Seattle. Now it’s the Arizona Cardinals. If the red-hot Seahawks are not the best team in the NFL right now, the Cardinals might be. Assuming the Vikings can right their ship and take care of business at Arizona, and home against Chicago and the New York Giants, their season will come down to a final game on January 3 at Green Bay. How great would that be?

Kayla Black Shines

While Kasimir Kaskisuo deserved and got the proper attention for his incredible string of over three consecutive shutouts, women’s hockey goaltender Kayla Black was much more subtlely setting a goaltending record too.
Black, a senior from Blyth, Ontario, was going to get her proper chance as No. 1 goalie this season from new UMD coach Maura Crowell, but she was injured in the first game at Bemidji State, and freshman Maddie Rooney stepped in and played very well, taking over the position.
But last week, Crowell and her assistants decided that even though Rooney ad a solid goals-against average of 2.57 and save percentage of .909, it was time to put the senior back between the pipes. Black responded with two impressive games.
St. Cloud State, which had been a fairly regular pigeon for the Bulldogs, almost seeming to collapse from UMD’s offensive pressure, is a different team in coach Eric Rud’s second season. After getting acclimated to the women’s game last year, Rud brought in a half-dozen freshmen, including Julia Tylke, a quick, dashing forward who had gone unrecruited from Delafield, Wis.
Rud put her on a line with Molly Illikainen from Grand Rapids, and center Alyssa Erickson from British Columbia, and the line gave UMD fits all weekend. Friday night, the teams traded rushes evenly all night. Michela Cava scored on a rebound early in the second period for a 1-0 UMD lead, but Tylke moved in on the left and plinked the tying goal into the far side. St. Cloud senior Vanessa Spataro, untouched at the crease, scored in the last minute of the second period for a 2-1 Huskies lead.
Demi Crossman tied it for UMD midway through the third period, and the teams battled through a scoreless overtime and went to a shootout. Cava went first for UMD, but St. Cloud goalie Katie Fitzgerald dropped and threw her right leg out to catch Cava’s backhander on her pad. Tylke went first for the Huskies, and made a sizzling move to get Black moving before cutting to her right and depositing the puck in easily. Lara Stalder went next for UMD, but Fitzgerald stopped her, too. Illikainen sailed in on the second St. Cloud try and scored to clinch the shootout for the Huskies.
Black got the starting call again Saturday night, and came through in flawless style. While Rooney tends to a mild injury, Black stopped all 20 shots and registered a 4-0 shutout. Maria Lindh, Jessica Healey, Cava and Ashleigh Brykaliuk got the goals, but almost unnoticed was that Black’s shutout was the 20th of her career -- setting a school record, despite all the brilliant goalies who have played on championship UMD teams.
“They have a solid team and never stopped working,” Black said. “At the end of the day, winning is what really matters, but getting a shutout takes a big load off.”
Black said she used to get some shutouts with the Blue Water Hawks, the team she played for in Ontario before being recruited to UMD. While the Bulldogs are less than thrilled with their 4-7-1 record in the WCHA, they have a series at Ohio State this weekend before a month-long holiday break.
“Maddie and I get along really well, and I think we both pull for each other in goal,” Black said.
The WCHA is taking on a split, with Wisconsin’s sweep of Minnesota last weekend in Madison leaving the Badgers undefeated at 12-0 in first place, Minnesota second at 11-3, Bemidji State -- which surprised North Dakota by swapping 1-0 games for a split -- moving into third at 10-5-1, with North Dakota fourth at 7-5-2. The bottom half of the league shows St. Cloud State 4-8-2, UMD 4-7-1, Ohio State 3-9, and MSU-Mankato 0-14.
“I think we can be satisfied getting near .500 for the first half of the season -- as long as we can get Ohio,” said Black.