OgieOgilthorpe

Dickinson seems to be the surprise out West so far. They've put together a few pretty solid showings so far. I'm anxious to see how they match up against Minot and the Bismarck teams. That would be a nice change seeing someone new like that in the mix of the top 3 in the West. When's the last time Dickinson put up more than 10-12 goals on someone, let alone 16? Mandan isn't as strong as I was expecting them to be. Did they lose anyone early to Jrs? Davies looks pretty strong as expected. I'm also anxious to see how well they match up against the GF teams. Doesn't appear Sheyenne is going to do any damage this year. Does South/Shanley have to play Moorhead this year like they usually do? That one would get ugly. As poor as they still are, it sure is a pleasant surprise seeing a little glimmer of hope from HB so far this season. I don't care that it was only against JV teams, because they played a lot of those last season and didn't show anything near a glimmer of fight like they have already this season. Positive start for them considering the fate I was anticipating for them. They've already scored more goals than all of last year!

Then please start going to the checkout lines being run by Boomers so there are less people I have to wait for at a millennial run checkout. You guys can fumble with cash and coins while grumbling about millennials all while I get through line and all the way home by the time you reorganize your wallet and paper coupons. Hopefully no other Boomers behind you in line bring up the swipe/insert CC dilemma because that might add another 5 minutes to your checkout time.

Summarizing an entire generation off of one experience you had with a kid using a cash register...seems reasonable.

Looks like I gauged North better most. They got absolutely pumped by century 12-2 last night.

Wade Murphy

They played a JV schedule last year though right?

The only reason I had DL at 4 is because there really didn't seem to be anyone else below them that should be any better than last season. Any word on how Shyenne will be yet?

I'm anxious to see what the North hype is about. They were miserable last season, so even if they had returned every single player, I still don't think they would be any good. Same with south...they lost their top 6 scorers and don't have much else left so I'm curious how they're being ranked higher than last season after they were below .500 even with those 6 guys and their goalie.

I Saw that...so maybe my #4 east preseason ranking was too high for them. Bott should be a little improved this season (but not much) and I also see the shots were 41- 9 in DL's favor. Goals are what count and only getting two against a team like Bott isn't a good sign, but that tells a little bit more of the story.

Anyone have scores from tonight's games?

Glad to hear HB is playing a JV schedule for the entire season. That was what needed to be done. Also, it looks like I probably underestimated Fargo North in my predictions, as they placed 4th in the east region coaches poll.

Read my comment 3 posts up from yours...

Uhhh....okay guys. Now that I've seen the real time replay of the smith hit, I'm having second thoughts. It's WAY more subtle than the slow mo replay made it look. I'll eat a lot of my comments. I didn't watch the Saturday game so this is all new to me.

I didn't watch the game, I only watched this play and I think that's you're problem and would most likely be my problem as well. I didn't see the rest of the game so that isn't influencing my thinking on this. You being frustrated about how the entire game was officiated is effecting your thinking here. Laying out a dude when he didn't even touch the puck and is no where near getting the puck is a cheap shot...and he got hurt. 5 minutes is my unbiased thought about it. Me being at the game or watching it and seeing all this other crap you guys saw would make me hate DU and those refs and I'd probably say 2 mins also lol

Plant going down and being hurt made a 2 minute call debatable for more than that. I'm sure they reviewed that it wasn't a crushing hit, it wasn't to the head, it wasn't boarding.......but man, it wasn't even CLOSE to a debatable inference hit. With that obvious of a cheap shot hit, and the guy gets hurt, how do you not call that a major?

Yet if the tables turned and that was a UND player laying on the ice with a concussion and their player hadn't gotten a major this board would all be saying the opposite. I agree, the play itself was not a major. But him staying down hurt, Smith's reputation within the series, the angry home crowd + coach, and the fact that it was and outright cheap shot hit in a non-hitting situation led it to be a major. Every time

It already has with teams like the Goofs taking full advantage of it.

Smith could've but it didn't look like Plant could've. Who would be expecting a trailing player to come straight at him when he doesn't even have the puck?

Unfortunately, with the increasingly strong push for player protection within all contact sports including hockey, there will continually be more serious consequential decisions made about collisions, which will result in more major calls and more suspensions which will result in the undeniable incentive for players to draw those penalties, which will result in even more flopping. Long story short, I think it's only going to get worse... It makes me miss the rough and tough days of hockey, even just 15 years ago. Sure the cleaner, faster and smoother hockey is awesome to watch, but I think the flopping trumps it all in the other direction. This isn't basketball, this isn't soccer, but we're getting closer to that mentality everyday.

Did they call it a major right off the bat, or was it a delayed decision? If it was later on, then all of the above contributed to their decision. Consciously and Subconsciously I'm sure.

It shouldn't but it does.

Through my years of playing football and hockey, I've seen some of the most giant hits, blocks, tackles result in absolutely nothing, especially if both players are prepared for it. I've also seen some of the most unnoticeable and harmless hits turn into career ending very serious concussions. It doesn't always take crushing contact to get a concussion.

With me seeing JUST the clip (even in slow motion instead of real time speed), I see it as a clear cut 2:00 interference. There is no direct head contact, no high elbows, no high speed running before hand (both gliding), no awkward landing into the boards, and no leaving the feet. No major, just a indisputable interference call. Now, hearing he was down and hurt after the play makes it tough for me to think the refs could've called it any other way though. Majors have to happen, and need to happen, and an unsuspecting and unprepared player getting nailed out of no where and getting hurt over it is always going to turn into a major. On top of that, whether the refs are supposed to or not, or tried to or not, I'm sure they were influenced by the crowd, Monty, and the physical play of the game leading up to that point and the style Smith had been playing with leading up to that point. With all of that said, it only adds on top of the reasoning for them to call it a 5. It sucks for UND, but I think any ncaa ref, at any rink, between any 2 teams will call a major in that situation. By no means am I defending the refs in the game as a whole, as I did not see the game. I do agree that something seems fishy about the extremely lop sided penalty calling and no goal challenge/not challenge ordeal. Especially with what happened against St. Cloud just last weekend. What injury was Plant recovering from before Saturday? A concussion? If not a concussion I don't see how that factors into this conversation? Playing tentative and not able to protect himself the same as normal maybe? Either way, even if he did come back too early I doubt that was something the ref considered when he was thinking about his call during his 2-3 second window...he just saw a blatantly obvious interference where a player got injured. Stupid play by Smith.

What page within this thread is the replay of the Smith ejection hit? I can't seem to find it

Wow, nice.