jk

Wow, now that was a game. Both goalies amazing. Won't be surprised to see Duluth beat Michigan Sunday.

Many years this Thursday and Friday are the best sports days of the year, with most every game a nail-biter. This year not so much.

Lol. Zmolek might have helped as well.

That's what you took from this? They went toe-to-toe with Western in consecutive years, and frankly looked better today than UND did yesterday. Strand has basically worked miracles there, coming in and inheriting a smoking wreck of a roster after Hastings left. BTW three of Wisconsin's goals yesterday were scored by players who went with Hastings.

When UND scored early and then had a few dominant shifts, the ones that were even strength but looked like a 5-on-3, I think that messed with their heads. Or maybe just mine. It seemed like the rest of the game they thought they were the Harlem Globetrotters, hence the overpassing. Instead of making the fourth pass, maybe just shoot and the guy you were thinking of passing to can clean up the rebound. As others have noted, teams often have an early brush with death before doing well in the tournament (looking at you, Duluth), so there's still hope. We'll see how teams look tomorrow, but no one looked impressive today.

Lee Goren says hi on that UConn goal.

I was nearly shocked he was able to keep SC as competitive as he did. I expect him to turn MN around quickly.

Interesting first round games. Duluth - PSU. Star power vs the relentless Sandy postseason machine. MSU - UConn. Not your average four seed, as they ran into the hot goalie, but showed an overwhelming attack at times. WMU - Mankato. Last year Mankato took this game to 2OT, and Western has arguably taken a step back.

Rust versus momentum, the Thursday night story. I know some want to use the TV timeouts to lean on the top of the lineup, but I'd be happy enough if they just rolled the four lines. Each one is capable of scoring on any shift. Unless UND trails in the third. Then you need a heavy dose of Zellers et al. Puncture the aura of the hot goalie early and go from there.

What is the new 19 year old rule?

Mankato has a good goalie, and Strand took a program that Hastings left in tatters and had them good again immediately. But everyone in the tournament is either really good or on a roll, so nothing but tough games.

Not 18 until June. He would be a young HS senior had he not accelerated.

Carle should consider resting Pohlkamp this weekend, to prevent Duluth from giving him the Poolman treatment.

I thought Hak built teams to win seven-game series. Unfortunately... One year UND pounded BC physically, took penalties and lost on PP goals. The next game a bruised BC lost another physical game to MSU for the title. Pretty sure our game had an influence on the next one.

From yatc, we know Duluth is 5 if they win and 7 or 8 if they lose. Whether it's 7 or 8 depends on the ECAC. If either Dartmouth or Cornell win, they jump Duluth, pushing them down to 8. If one of the longshots wins, Duluth is 7. What the committee would do with it in either event is anyone's guess.

I can still see it. This is the best team since 2016. They're going to need better goaltending, though, as the high pressure style of play yields quality chances against on counterattacks, and some of the upcoming opponents will have some skill.

No data to back this up, but I feel like they've been sticking to bracket integrity more in recent years, with the exception of first round conference matchups. Those look to not be much of an issue this year, with just an 8-9 ECAC match to deal with, and the NPI still has some wiggles left.

If you believe the NPI probability matrix, this is incorrect. Duluth is 5 if they win, and 7 or 8 if they lose. I don't know what results trigger the move between 7 and 8.

Not sure on this, but I think Mankato and BC only get in if they win their league, but if they do that they also move up to 13 or 14, so UND wouldn't play them in any event.

If UND at 2 draws an autobid 15, I'd rather it be an ECAC team than OSU, who is used to going toe to toe with the big boys. Or BC, which wouldn't be a treat either.

I know it seems crazy, but I think if they lose next week, Duluth could fall to 8 or 9. We'll see the updated probability matrix soon enough to see if that's right.

Does anyone know if the illness running through the team is real, or just a handy excuse? I do see that Kernan was out sick today, but that doesn't tell me anything about the rest of the team.

UST and Mankato is an elimination game. Whoever loses looks to fall off the cutline. I think.

Knowing how Sandy coaches, he could have the ingredients for another run. Stellar goalie most importantly, but also top-end skill to bury chances, even if they're rare, and a good skating balance of the roster that's hard to come back against. That was UND in 2000 and 2001, but this year UND was assembled to be higher octane. We'll see how it works out.

All the things I've liked about this team are still there. They skate well, share the puck, forecheck aggressively. Not that tonight was all the goalie's fault, but he'll have to be better also.