DDC's NCAA Preseason Top 20, NCHC picks and an exhibtion peek

No, this is not baby Emma. Sorry. This is DDC's giddy face.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! It's HOCKEY TIME!

DDC is bouncing up and down like baby Emma with a poopy diaper, but certainly in much happier spirits.

"Giddy" is a good choice of words, right?

Let's get into it, shall we?

DDC's NCAA Preseason Rankings

The march to the 2016 Frozen Four in Tampa is on.

Here's how DDC sees the Top 20 coming into the 2015-16 campaign:

1) Denver
2) Boston College

3) Minnesota-Duluth
4) North Dakota
5) Minnesota State
6) Boston University
7) Nebraska Omaha
8) Colgate
9) UMass-Lowell
10) St. Cloud State
11) Michigan
12) Minnesota
13) Bowling Green
14) Quinnipiac
15) Miami
16) Yale
17) Providence
18) Michigan Tech
19) St. Lawrence
20) Notre Dame

Denver F, Danton Heinen

Simply put, Denver is loaded. Danton Heinen might be the best player in the country. Losing Joey LaLeggia is no easy task, but Will Butcher is certainly no slouch. With Heinen, Trevor Moore and Quinten Shore leading the forward group, the Pios look to be the real deal. In the pipes, Evan Cowley and Tanner Jaillet look like a duo that will continue the goalie-rich tradition in Denver.

BC loses Noah Hanafin and Michael Matheson, both outstanding defenseman, but still carry stalwarts Steven Santini and Ian McCoshen. That duo in front of Thatcher Demko, seems to be one of the best.

UMD returns a bunch of dynamic scoring and North Dakota sports a blue line that could be the best in the country.

NCHC Preseason Picks

1) Denver
2) Minnesota-Duluth
3) North Dakota
4) Nebraska Omaha
5) St. Cloud State
6) Miami
7) Western Michigan
8) Colorado College

Had to mimic the Top 20 rankings, here. Man, is this conference loaded, or what? Nebraska Omaha could turn some heads again this year. Lots of scoring on that team that returns a bunch of quality forwards. If North Dakota gets the scoring that expects to out of Brock Boeser and the rest of the incoming freshman, UND could very well defend its Penrose Cup.

Preseason All-NCHC Team

F- Danton Heinen, Denver
F- Drake Caggiula, North Dakota
F- Trevor Moore, Denver
D- Andy Welinski, Minnesota-Duluth
D- Paul LaDue, North Dakota
G- Kasimir Kaskisuo, Minnesota-Duluth

Player of the Year: Heinen
Defenseman of the Year: LaDue
Rookie of the Year: F, Brock Boeser, North Dakota

Lots of names nearly miss the cut. UNO forward Austin Ortega, UMD forwards Dom Toninato and Alex Iafallo, Miami forward Sean Kuraly and UND defenseman Troy Stecher are hard to leave off, but DDC likes his picks. Miami rookie forward Jack Roslovic could push Boeser for ROY honors.

Quick Peek at Manitoba

The Green and White come into their tune up tussle with the Manitoba Bisons looking for some answers. Returning who they do on the blue line, North Dakota should be just fine there. However, who will be the man in the pipes and who is going to score up front are the questions looming large.

Freshman goalie Matej Tomek, a third-round NHL pick, and potential, long-term replacement for all-world netminder Zane McIntyre, will not play on Saturday night due to a lingering, preseason injury. Cam Johnson will get the nod early. Johnson struggled mightily in his lone appearance last season, getting yanked in the first period against Lake Superior State, but will have a chance to prove himself a bit against the Bisons.

UND will take care of Manitoba, but will the Green and White faithful see the scoring and goaltending they are looking for? DDC is interested in seeing what Brock Boeser can bring to the ice. The potential is certainly there for the first-round pick.

UND wins 6-2.

Let's get it. Let's go.

It's time to drop the puck.

Who’ll be the King of Queen City? NCAA HOCKEY TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

After six months of hockey, two of the four teams in this weekend’s NCAA Midwest regional in Cincinnati, their season’s final buzzer will sound.

The tournament kicks off at 3:30 p.m. CT on Friday from U.S. Bank Arena when the two teams who started the NCAA campaign way back on October 5, Ferris State and Colgate, take the ice to see who can keep their season alive.

At 7 p.m. in the other half of the regional, former WCHA conference rivals the Wisconsin Badgers and North Dakota renew past pleasantries.

The winners of the two semifinal matchups will play each other the next night for the right to head to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia.

No. 2 FERRIS STATE VS. No. 3 COLGATE

These two teams have gotten to know each other a bit this season, playing each other three times, two of which Colgate won.

The Raiders, coming off a 5-2 semifinal loss to eventual ECAC tournament champion Union, are a young team, led by a group of five sophomores with 26 or more points. Dynamic twins Tyson (10 goals, 23 assists – 33 points) and Tylor Spink (14g, 16a – 30 pts) spark the young forward corps.

Colgate is young between the pipes, as well, as freshman Charlie Finn paced the 20-13-5 Raiders with a 16-7-4 record, 2.40 goals against average and a steady .916 save percentage.

Colgate will look to slow down the nation’s 10^th ranked scoring offense in Ferris State. The Bulldogs, who fell in the WCHA Final Five championship game to MSU-Mankato 4-1 this past Saturday, are led in goals (16) and points (32), by senior winger Garrett Thompson.

Junior netminder C.J. Motte, a Hobey Baker finalist, has been a stalwart in the net for Ferris State this season, notching 27-8-3 record, good for fifth best in the country, a 2.25 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.

The Pick
DDC was impressed by the Raiders in 2-2 tie (shootout win) against then No. 2 Minnesota back in January. The Spink Twins are a heck-of-a duo. 

Ferris was among the best teams in the college hockey this year, winning the WCHA regular season title and reaching the No. 2 ranking in the country on December 30. Since then, including a 3-0 loss to Colgate, the Bulldogs are a respectable 14-8-0, but feasted on a weak WCHA schedule. DDC thinks Colgate’s youth takes over as the RAIDERS WIN, 4-2.

No. 1 WISCONSIN VS. No. 4 NORTH DAKOTA

Sweet fate finds these once bitter rivals on the same ice.

After a 5-0 win over Western Michigan in the NCHC third-place game this past Saturday, UND needed two things to happen to make their 12^th-straight NCAA tournament. 1) Have UMass-Lowell beat New Hampshire in the Hockey East final and 2) have Wisconsin beat Ohio State in the Big Ten final. 

The River Hawks downed the Wildcats, easily. Check.

But, things looked bleak for the Green and White as the Badgers trailed the Buckeyes 4-2 with just over 6 minutes left to play in St. Paul.

Twenty-eight seconds later, UND had a pulse.

Wisconsin tied it with back-to-back goals.

DDC, as many UND fans, watched this back-and-forth battle head into overtime, pacing around a downtown Minneapolis apartment with three other crazed fans, knowing that their favorite team was one bounce away from dancing or depression.

Then, with just under eight minutes gone in the extra frame, Senior Mark Zengerle scored the game-winner in a net-front scrum for a 5-4 Wisconsin win.

Cheers could be heard from Minneapolis to Grand Forks and back to St. Paul.

The win gave the Badgers the inaugural Big Ten tournament title and a No. 1 seed in the regional.

It gave North Dakota a chance.

Friday’s tilt renews a rivalry that is 163 games old. Simply put, these teams know each other very well.

Wisconsin’s Zengerle leads a trio of highly-touted forwards in Sophomore Nic Kerdiles and Senior Michael Mersch into the first-round matchup. Zengerle’s 43 points leads the team.

Junior goaltender Joel Rumpel, a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist, paces a defensive group that allows 2.50 goals a game. Rumpel’s winning percentage this season (21-5-1, .756) is second best in the nation. His goals against average (2.03) and save percentage (.930) are both in the top 10 nationally.

For UND, sophomore forward Rocco Grimaldi leads the team in all scoring categories with 14 goals, 22 assists and 36 points.

North Dakota’s defensive scoring has been a major story this season as three 'D' men, sophomore Jordan Schmaltz (6g, 17a – 23 pts), senior captain Dillion Simpson (7g, 15a – 22 pts) and junior Nick Mattson (4g, 17a – 21 pts), have all more than 20 points on the year.

After battling senior Clarke Saunders for playing time early in the season and a short bump with an injury, sophomore goaltender Zane Gothberg has been stellar in the net for UND this season.

Gothberg’s 2.05 goals against average is 9^th in the nation and since Nov. 30, has gone 16-4-1. During that stretch of 21 starts, Gothberg owns a 1.76 goals against average, a 9.31 save percentage and his first three shutouts of his collegiate career.

The Pick
This is a tough pick. Rivals on the grandest stage – the NCAA tournament.

Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is attributed to the famous quote: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

Although the stakes are clearly not as high as Pearl Harbor, DDC thinks the Badgers have done just this.

UND was just 6 minutes away from watching teams play this weekend. DDC thinks UND brings a new energy to the Queen City and gets a clutch performance from Gothberg in the pipes and skates to a slugfest win. UND WINS, 4-3.

TITLE GAME

Although I like Colgate and how they’ve played down the stretch and throughout this season, DDC thinks UND will be too motivated from beating their rival the night before to drop this one. Gothberg leads the charge again as NORTH DAKOTA SKATES TO PHILLY, 4-1.

THE REST OF THE DDC BRACKET

West
No. 2 Notre Dame knocks off No. 1 Minnesota in the Gophers’ backyard. DDC hasn’t seen a killer instinct from Minny yet this season, as they consistently played down to their opponents all season. Goaltender Adam Wilcox is a legitimate stud this season, but it isn’t enough. IRISH EYES ARE SMILIN’, 4-2.

East
One name to learn for this post-season run: Connor Hellebuyck.

No. 2 UMass-Lowell stymies No. 1 Boston College in Worcester behind a continued out-of-this-world effort from the sophomore netminder against the best player in college hockey, Johnny Gaudreau.

Still don’t believe DDC? Hellebuyck’s goals against average: 1.73, best in the nation. Hellebuyck’s save percentage: .943, best in the nation. Hellebuyck’s shutouts this year: 6, second in the nation. 

No more questions. RIVER HAWKS SOAR, 3-1.

Northeast
DDC has seen Union play a few times this season. Up front, they are good; defensively, they are great.

Junior Shane Gostisbehere is a Hobey finalist and senior Mat Bodie is third in the country in defenseman scoring. Goalie Collin Steven’s goals against average of 1.96 goals a game is fifth in the nation. This grouping is flat out good.

Providence’s Jon Gillies is no slouch in net, but DDC doesn’t think even he can keep pace with Union’s 'D' corps. UNION DUTCHMEN TOP THE FRIARS, 5-2.

A Birthday and a Berth?

It’s a big weekend on multiple fronts.

For the No. 10 UND men’s hockey team, it’s a trip down I-94 to take on the No. 5 St. Cloud State Huskies with the two teams deadlocked for 1^st place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference with four games left in the regular season.

For the namesake of Daddy Dump and Chase, it’s his daughter’s first birthday.

You can cut the tension with a cake knife.

“I think you always know the reality of your situation and then you focus on short term things,” said UND head coach Dave Hakstol at his weekly press conference on Wednesday. “We need to take care of business today and have a good practice and work hard to prepare for the game on Friday. Nothing else really matters.”

This weekend features two teams that are playing well down the stretch, as their spot at the top of the NCHC standings would suggest.

The Huskies, (12-5-3 conf., 18-7-5 overall)  6-3-1 in their last ten games, are coming off a split last weekend against Miami in Oxford, Ohio, dropping Friday night’s contest 4-3 before a 3-0 Saturday victory.

North Dakota (13-7-0 conf, 18-9-3 overall) comes in as one of the hottest teams in the country. After sweeping Minnesota Duluth 3-0 and 6-2 last weekend, UND has rattled off a 14-2-1 run since a Nov. 29 loss to St. Lawrence at home. In that span, UND has given up more than two goals only three times; two of those were losses.

The two teams met last on Nov. 1-2 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks and the Huskies swept UND, becoming the first team to sweep the Green and White at home since 2010.

That didn’t sit well with UND.

“I think we’re excited. Them sweeping us at home back in the beginning of the year is something that is still fresh in our minds,” said UND sophomore forward Rocco Grimaldi to the media. “It’s playoff hockey. It kind of starts right now. But more importantly, we are just trying to get back at them for what they did to us at home. It’s going to be a good series.”

LOOKING FOR A BERTH

With a sweep, either team would be in the driver’s seat for a NCHC regular season title and name on the top line of the Penrose Trophy as the league’s inaugural champion. Two wins for either team would almost assure either a berth in the NCAA tournament, as well.

Although there is certainly a lot on the line this weekend, UND realizes that they can only control their own play this weekend.

“It’s a big time of the year, big picture and small picture,” said UND senior captain Dillon Simpson, the NCHC’s leading defenseman scorer. “The excitement is there, the intensity is there, but we just got to go play our best hockey.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

St. Cloud has a healthy scoring punch that is the 3^rd best in the country with a 3.63 goals per game average. They also sport the 4^th best power play in the NCAA, clipping at 25.2%.

Senior goaltender Ryan Faragher is 6-3-1 lifetime against UND and has some pretty eye-popping numbers. In his 10 career games against the Green and White, Fargher carries a 1.80 goals against average and a whopping .938 save percentage. 

Nic Dowd, Sr. F – 18g, 15a – 33 pts, 12g, 10a – 22pts conf (2^nd in conference goals, 3^rd in points)
Jonny Brodzinski, So. F – 16g, 17a – 33 pts
Ethan Prow, So. D – 4g, 15a – 19 pts
Kevin Gravel, Sr. D – 4g, 12a – 16 pts

Ryan Faragher, Sr. G -- 16-6-4, .910 sv pct, 2.62 GAA, 1 SO

North Dakota features a balanced attack in which 11 players have scored 10 or more points this season, including four defensemen. Simpson leads the NCHC in defensemen scoring with 18 points in conference play and his 10 points on the power play also leads the league.

Rocco Grimaldi, So. F – 12g, 17a – 29 pts
Michael Parks, Jr. F – 10g, 16a – 26 pts
Dillon Simmer, Sr. D – 7g, 13a – 20pts
Jordan Schmaltz, So. D – 4g, 15a – 19 pts

Zane Gothberg, So. G – 13-5-3, 2.12 GAA, .922 sv pct, 1 SO

Clarke Saunders, Sr. G – 5-4-0, 3.22 GAA, .905 sv pt

PREDICTIONS

Emma will take down her birthday cake and it won’t even be close. The birthday girl devours her first big-girl confection, EMMA JEAN –1, CAKE – 0

The series in St. Cloud will be much closer. One stat that I think may prove large this weekend: The Huskies are 51st nationally in penalty kill. Although UND has looked dreadful with the extra man at times this season, a few personnel and system tweaks have them 7 for their last 21 on the power play. I think that makes up the difference. Couple that with the stout play goaltender Zane Gothberg has been showing recently and UND SWEEPS – 4-2, 3-2.

WELCOME!

Hello, World Wide Web!

My name is Scott Stone and this is my blog, Daddy Dump and Chase.

I thank you for reading and I hope my musings on sport and fatherhood bring you as much enjoyment as writing it will bring to me.

For my first blog, I thought I’d ease back into the writing world after a three-plus year hiatus with a small back story of who I am and where this blog came from.

My love for sports is a simple one. I was raised on them and they have been a large part of my life. I don’t see this changing any time soon.

After working for the Dakota Student covering the UND men’s hockey team for nearly four years, I spent the two years after my graduation as a page designer at the Grand Forks Herald. As my future wife graduated college, we decided to leave the plains of the Dakotas for the bright lights of Minneapolis. Six years of living the newspaper life of weekends, nights and holidays had worn on me, and as I looked to my future, I decided a career change was in order.

After a 10-month stint as a banker to pay my bills, I took a job in Bloomington, Minn., in advertising. I’ve come to love my work as it is exciting and fast paced, but much more structured and presents me the opportunity to be home more often. 

What does this have to do with this blog? Sorry… I’ll quit rambling.

Being creative has been something I’ve always enjoyed. Writing had always been my choice for this. So, as I reflected on my 2013 that saw the birth of my daughter, I decided I needed to write again. My goal? Create a blog. What should I write about? Well, naturally, sports. But, every sports rube out there seems to have a sports blog, so what could I do to make it more enjoyable? More exciting? More fun?

Add. A. Cute. Baby. This is Advertising 101.

So, this is it. Daddy Dump and Chase.

Disclaimer: This blog will, at points, have swear words and poop references. I have a baby. I get to talk about these things sometimes.