Wilbur

Talk about your goalie bailing you out at the end for both teams.....How you let a guy alone behind you with under a minute......I dunno....

Eidsness in the net again tonight as Dell isn't suited up. Obviously, no surprises for the Sioux tonight as far as the lineup goes. Would like to see the fourth line a bit more tonight, but last night there just weren't a whole lot of opportunities, especially in the third period to get them in.

I believe the right call was made in this situation. Although he doesn't use the distinct kicking motion he knew what he was doing, and his reaction on the bench after the no goal kind of proves he knew what he was doing. Either way it would be a controversial call. I feel bad for UNO, they've been on the wrong end of some reviews over the years.

Agreed about it being a pretty clean game. I was worried with the last puck drop with 1.8 seconds left in the neutral zone. But the players just skated away from each other and went to their goalies. I thought with UND being the goons and thugs that they are they'd clearly be fighting players from Tech or having the coaches yelling back and forth at each other...ala Pride on Ice.

Big win. I don't think they played their best game either. Wilbur's three Stars: 1. Rowney 2. Johnstone 3. Eidsness

Talk about a tremendous sequence.....wow....

Chip it out....get it deep....cover everything.... I don't know if the Sioux are flat right now or Tech is that much better of a squad, but Tech is putting on the pressure. Eidsness has had to be sharp in the net.

Powerplay for Tech with about 7 minutes left.

The top line for UND probably had one of their best periods of the year there, but couldn't find the back of the net to save their lives other than the powerplay. Hopefully that continues to the third. Get the next one, and keep it running down hill.

Give Eids the start on Friday and Dell on Saturday. I think either way both goalies need to see time in the net this weekend. Eidsness has quietly had a pretty good year when he's gotten a chance to play. Saturday night in Duluth he was almost the difference that brought them back to tie the game. If the team sneaks into the NCAA tournament and Dell gets on a role, I wouldn't want to play North Dakota.

I think the Sioux will come out absolutely flying on Friday night. They need to set the tone with a physical first twenty minutes and go from there the entire weekend. I'll predict: UND 5 Tech 1 UND 3 Tech 2

I have never seen so many UND defensemen get walked like they did when he was on the ice. If the guy finished maybe even half of his chance he would have won the Hobey Baker. I think it was Aaron Schneekloth at the old Ralph who got walked by him like three shifts in a row and sat the rest of the period because Blais was absolutely livid.

I'll tell ya one thing....like JT brown or hate him, by gosh can he fly up the ice. Its amazing how he can go from first to fifth gear in such a hurry even with the puck on his stick (Nick Mattson learned this in the first period on Saturday night). College football teams commonly list 40 times for players, it'd be cool to see NCAA hockey have some kind of stat for a goal line to goal line skate, or a lap around the ice time. I'd be willing to bet Brown is one of the top five fastest skaters in the nation. Faster than Steve Cygan though? Hmm...

Yeah, that was right in front of us. Rowney took a whack at the puck that Reiter had covered, so Reiter got up and punched Rowney in the face with his blocker right in front of the official..... Neither play drew a penalty....surprise surprise.....

Just got home from Duluth, and my first visit to AMSOIL. Fun weekend. Stayed at the Comfort Suites right on the water, and had a good old fashioned time....minus the Edina girls hockey team staying at the hotel.....I never want a 12 year old daughter....yikes... I for one hope that Don Adam doesn't end up officiating in the new conference. He didn't cost UND the game, they did that by themselves the first two periods, but just such inconsistent officiating both ways just took away from a pretty good game. Probably his worst call came when the UND player (can't remember who....maybe Knight) was the last man with the puck in the zone, lost his stick, and was diving to knock the puck away from the Duluth player, and he called it tripping on the Duluth player....Just a disaster. I know the Bina hit has been beaten to death over the years, but if Ben Blood's penalty was a game, then the Paukovich hit from years ago in St. Paul would be a lifetime ban nowadays. I just cringe every time Adam calls a checking from behind that is a bit controversial, because he missed such a blatant one right in front of his fricken face. As for the game, the Sioux were fun to watch that last period. Carter Rowney just took over. Extremely impressed with his development into a go to guy for the Sioux. That play at the end was right in front of us, and if not for some poor ice conditions (puck bounced everywhere all night), could have been a tie game. Could not believe the amount of empty seats in the lower bowl.....That or people were dressed like yellow seats....

With the superb color analyst abilities of Dave Starman. I for one can't wait. Lets see how many times he says sandpaper.....not kidding....he'll use the term a lot....

I agree with the notion of allowing a kid to play college hockey after signing with a CHL team. Then again, college hockey doesn't make the NC$$ the money that basketball and football does.....they'll be fine with the status quo.... A kid from my hometown just signed a deal with a WHL team and he's only a Sophomore in high school. 16 years old and he's lost his amateur status....It could end up going really well for the kid, but at the same time what happens to him if he plays half a season, fizzles out, or gets hurt? What does the CHL do in cases of severe injuries? I know they'll pay for a kids college for years completed in their league, but if you play two games and have a career ending injury, what do they do?

Glad you said this before I got the chance to Goon. Aaron Dell has not had the best of seasons after his All-American campaign of last year (I know...Thanks for stating the obvious Wilbur). Had he put up similar numbers to last year he'd for sure be an early departure with a contract in hand probably by the end of the season. Now it wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if he was around for another year. His save percentage is down below 90, and his GAA is up by over a goal per game. Its not the same team as last year, but I don't exactly think its fair to say he's been hung out to dry by his defensive core all season long either. He is probably the key component to UND making the NCAAs. Tough to say it rides on one position, but for this team to make a serious run the goaltending needs to be excellent the rest of the way. I like Eidsness, but I don't think he's got the ability that Dell does. Big start on Friday night up in Duluth for Mr. Dell. He needs to be huge in what will be a very hostile environment at AMSOIL.

Right now I guess its up for grabs, but likely Minnesota or Duluth takes the league. I've done the what if calculator a couple of different times and it just doesn't seem logical that Minnesota doesn't win the league in my book. BSU and Bucky at home (both sweeps), and likely splits on the road with Omaha and Denver. In my what if world UND ends up in 3rd place hosting Bemidji State in the first round. Here is what I've got: Maybe Anchorage can find some Mariucci magic again eh? 1. Minnesota 2. Duluth 3. UND 4. Denver 5. CC 6. Nebraska-Omaha 7. Tech 8. SCSU 9. UW 10. BSU 11. Mankato 12. Anchorage

Will be at AMSOIL on Saturday night meeting up with some college friends that live in St. Paul. Very excited to see the rink, and to see UND play. Haven't seen the team live this year, when on normal occasion I'll get to five or six games a year. Need two points.....splits on the road and sweeps at home=home ice.

I'm on the fence with this one....its good and bad for the game. You don't like seeing bench clearing brawls with three or four fights going on in certain games, and at the same time you don't like players taking liberties and putting the health of other players in question. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer in this debate. Everyone has their opinion (lots of good discussion points), but one way or the other everyone isn't going to be happy. Derek Boogaard spent most of his career lurking around making sure players didn't take shots at his teammates, or they'd meet up with him. Now, its a question of whether this fighting could have cost him his life. Like I said....I don't know what the right answer is.

Well the scoring change keeps me alive... Saturdays pick for me is knight

This hockey season more than ever has reaffirmed the case that a hockey team needs four lines to be successful. On the live blog on Saturday night I believe the UND SID said that the fourth line wings (no center, not enough bodies) had only seen one shift the entire third period..... I think someone said it earlier....absolutely need to slow the pace down. Race horse hockey can't happen for long stretches. Heck yes its fun to watch, but you saw at the end of the SCSU Saturday night game.....one gassed hockey team....lucky to get out with two points.

Playing extremely shorthanded.......and five hundred hockey the rest of the way won't cut it..... LETS GO FELLAS! We're all behind you!

Gosh I hope you're right.....13-0 when Mario lights the lamp.