The Sicatoka

I have half a Frozen Four after yesterday. I can only get another Quarter. <-- there's a hint in there Blast you UMass! < shaking fist at sky >

Those of you claiming "X and 0" at any point after day one are admitting you picked against North Dakota in round one. <- A pox upon your house. Picking against PWR7 after round one is logical and sadly acceptable.

No, this is not the "name your roster" for the Cup playoffs game. That's coming when the official Cup brackets are set and the teams are known. This game is ... Name the Bracket. Rules: Name the sixteen teams to make the 2022 Cup playoffs, including naming first round opponents, effectively "Name the Bracket". (You are responsible to know how Cup brackets are seeded on your own.) Picks must be in before April 15. (That leaves about ten games to play in the regular season.) Scoring: One point for each correctly named of the sixteen. One point for each correctly seeded in the bracket. Results: When the official 2022 Stanley Cup bracket is announced.

OK, so it's the off-season, ... a-a-a-a-a-gain. And way too early mind you ... The game: Name the roster for 2022-23. Not the changes: The Roster, in full. And yeah, in a transfer portal world this game just got very challenging. Scoring: Every name you fail on ("name and is not" or "do not name and is") counts against you as a demerit. Fewest demerits wins. Entries: Due before the first early departure happens* or official release of the roster this fall (whichever happens first). Final scoring when fall camp roster is released. *For this year's game, Jake Sanderson is NOT considered as an early departure. The first other than Sanderson is the trigger. Someone entering the Transfer Portal is NOT an early departure until a new team is officially announced.

Calder is a shooter. He needs to be with a getter and a setter. For example, 13 is a getter, 11 is a setter, and 20 is a shooter, is how that grouping played when together. However, when 20 was spotted on other lines, he could play the getter role with his speed to the puck.

That defense is dominating the game? That it's time to reopen the game to offense to let that skill shine? That coaches are better at teaching sweep checks and gap control than offensive skills? One more ... That goalie pads of today compared to 30 years ago are king sized pillows compared to mini-marshmallows. http://sportsthenandnow.com/2013/10/23/goalie-pads-then-and-now-a-look-at-the-new-pad-restrictions/ http://blog.hockeyworld.com/the-evolution-of-goalie-gear/

I raise you one circus, one ... Hrkac Circus.

Another soccer game score … 1-0.

What good is a magic talisman that doesn’t work 100%?

Notre Dame’s PK scheme looks awfully familiar …

Maybe green lenses optimistic of me, but UND “took the hit” a year ago —> 14 new faces. About half the league, SCSU, UMD, UNO, WMU, faces that kind of turnover now. I’d rather be in UND’s position.

A fine idea. I think I will.

How many Duluth Bulldogs sign before Monday?

Yeah, something like how “the rabbit” got the eyeball off the planet.

Um, … gfhockey is uh, um, … er, storing them for him.

Evan Trupp on line one for you … https://hockeyphotography.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/100327-PARTIAL-NE-Regional-North-Dakota-vs-Yale/G0000FQBYHOakxwk/I0000yvi4FJSC_is/C0000f88PF79qABQ

Will the maroon and gold skirt be retired for a while?

Why dump and chase? Teams run trap. It’s the way into the zone. If I could come up with a rule or offense to punish the trap I would.

Make leaving your skates to block a shot a penalty. That includes the “one knee tail drag” move.

You mean the “offense” of a shot that is tipped or blocked by the offense and never gets on net? That’s not offense. That’s defense dominating the game. Schlossman stopped pointing out but over the last 30 years total goals per game has gone from 9 down to 5. That’s going from 5-4 games to 3-2 games. Offense down nearly 50%. Defense is dominating the game. That pointed out, a “bad goal” in a 9 goal world is 11% of the game. A bad goal in today’s DU/UMD game was 33% of scoring, and the game winner. That’s not talent; that’s bad luck off the boards deciding outcomes.

It was 2-1. The game needs to be re-opened up to offense. I know coaches and goalies don’t want to hear it, but people pay to see goals not sweep checks and traps.

I could live with Q (save for all the eastern swooning should it happen). UND is the only team to go down 1-0 against Q and come back to win this season.

… little east of there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_French_Connection_(ice_hockey)

That’s a knee … ouch.

Buffalo still rolling the French Connection in your world too?