Wilbur

2-1 is about the right score for this game. Clark got really lucky on that neutral ice shot that beat him five hole and slipped by the net. UND's only goal was a lucky bounce goal. Got to find a way to get one the hard way fellas.

Yup.....2-1 Gophers.

You can tell the gopher defensemen are just totally different with Mike Guentzel coaching them. Blocking shots, sticks in lanes, gritty around the net. Where is John Hill when you need him? Penalty on UND. Get out of the period fellas.

Bjugstad steps in front of a player trying to get to Rau....yep. Kind of reminds me of Parise and Green.

UFFFFFF....one of our d men just TOTALLY blew his chance to fall down and hold his head after getting hit from behind....COME ON!

Wilcox is pretty smooth for a Freshman goaltender. Much in control of his surroundings.

Yeah, got to seal that play off at the red line.

Bad bounce....goal gophers. 1-1

Yup, just saw the "try to draw a major" dive from Nate Schmitt.....

That was a horrible penalty call on the gophers in the UND end. The officiating has been suspect tonight. Thats not a call that has to be made. Let them play hockey.

Rau is a great player, but does he honestly need to cross check Knight from behind after the whistle there when he can't back anything up?

Nice job getting all four lines involved in the first period. And I thought that the fourth unit did a great job getting pucks deep and getting whistles. If you told me 0-0 after one I'd have said sure.

Nice work in the first period by UND. Dillon Simpson is just playing at a different level.

Nice saves by Saunders.

Not a great penalty to take. 180 feet from your net.

Gleason can't attack the wall like that on a 3-2. He made that into a 2-1 and a grade A opportunity for Minnesota.

Puck CLEARLY deflected off a Minnesota stick....faceoff in the zone....yup.

Serratore fine after that hit.....miraculously....

Yeah.....never questionable calls at Mariucci....checking is a penalty tonight.

I like how he manned up after the whole thing.

Three UND cheerleaders are former students of mine, and to call these girls with literally less than 5% of body fat "Fat Cows" is unacceptable. Why don't we leave the cheerleaders out of the comments. These girls are under enough scrutiny with hundreds of drunks trying to look up their skirts every time they perform.

We have a group of sixteen strong this year. I'm hopeful for a UND-Minnesota showdown at the final five. Would be a meaningful final game with all the departures. Could be unique this year. The six qualifying teams could all be out of the league next year. If: Omaha, Denver, UND, Minnesota, St. Cloud, Wisconsin, Duluth..... Holy crap, the top seven teams right now will all be out of the league next year....

Nice, what section? I believe we are in 119.

I don't know if I'm ready to call UND as deep offensively as the U of M. Well.....Lets take a look here....Lets just take top nine forwards by points: Minnesota 1. Haula-26 Pts 2. Rau-25 Pts 3. Bjugstad-22 Pts 4. Budish-19 Pts 5. Condon-18 Pts 6. Warning-14 Pts 7. Isackson-14 Pts 8. Ambroz-12 Pts 9. Travis Boyd-12 Pts UND 1. Knight-31 Pts 2. Kristo-30 Pts 3. Grimaldi-17 Pts 4. Mark MacMillan-17 Pts 5. Rowney-13 Pts 6. Caggiula-11 Pts 7. Gaarder-9 Pts 8. Mike Parks-2 Pts 9. Mitch MacMillan-2 Pts I'm not sure what the gophers fourth line consists of with Haula back in the lineup, but I tried to make sure it was top nine on both teams. Obviously you have some injuries in there that hurt points, but looking at it this way I'm going to call it a dead heat. Both teams definitely have forward depth though, thats for sure.

One of my best friends in the whole wide world (gopher fan) lives in Minnesota, and he even admits its disgusting to see the bandwagon jumping that occurs with Minnesota hockey, and all programs for that matter at the U. (Everybody remembers that wonderful gophers women's basketball team right? Right?) I'll kind of steal a line from Lou Holtz though. College hockey is better off when Minnesota is relevant. Bottom line.