Cardinal

They are still DQ's on Gophersports...they said on the Gopher post-game show that Lucia and Niagara's coach both had "heated exchanges" with Greg Shephard after the game, so I'm guessing the DQ's stuck.

Way off topic and I'm sure it will be brought up in the coming UND @ UM thread, but Harrington got a DQ tonight and will be out for Friday's game. Just got tangled up with a Niagara player and they wrestled to the ground (no punches) but they ref gave both players a DQ.

According to the Comcast on-screen guide, FSN North will air the title game tonight at 10 p.m. after the Wild/Avs game.

JJ and EJ also played about half the tournament for the U.S. on the blueline, so those two wearing down late last night wasn't really a surprise.

I heard the only reason the Sioux recruited Travis was to get Darcy.

I could care less if you care about him or not, but it seems silly that a college hockey fan wouldn't care about someone of Kessel's stature. Same would be true if a Gopher fan posted on GPL saying they didn't care about Toews. It all goes back to the "halo theory" when it comes to this site though.

If he played for UND would you care about him?

Remember that goal differencial is a tie-breaker in this tournament and it was pretty clear the top line was dominating. USA Hockey would get ripped to no end if they got hurt later on in the tournament by goal differencial if they had Kessel riding the pine in the third period of a blowout game.

I don't think Irmen has any regrets about not playing for UND, just as I'm sure the Minneapolis-area kids are happy they are with the Sioux. Both of these teams have blue-chip talent from each other's backyards, and when you cut through all the BS, any Minnesota fan would love to have Stafford or Smaby, just as any UND fan would love to have Irmen or Potulny. You can't get 'em all...

Irmen will have way more success at the NHL level that Prpich, mainly because Prpich will never see that level, but also because Irmen has much more skill. The numbers don't lie. UND didn't recruit Grant much at all, and Minnesota and Michigan State were the two finalists for him. Irmen was also recruited by UND but as a earlier poster said, Minnesota wanted him more. CC to the guy who said either one was wanted: if that's the case, Deano screwed up.

I didn't read through the whole thread, so sorry if this has been mentioned, but the Potulny's had bricks thrown threw their windows after Ryan verballed to Minnesota.

Clear Channel puts the show up for bids when they go on the road. This year when the Gophers played at UMD, the show was at Famous Dave's as opposed to Grandma's Sports Garden, where it had been every time they had done a show from up there, because Famous Dave's coughed up the coin.

There's some logic.

Points via defenseman are always tough to come by.

Me and some buddies went out there last year for the Gophers/Tigers series and we thought it was a fabulous trip. I've made each WCHA trip sans AA, and this one ranked near the top of the list for me. The area around the arena is very good for roadtrips, since there are a few restraunts (Outback, some Italian grill place, and a few others) within walking distance. Plus there are 2-3 hotels right next to the arena as well. I believe there's a Doubletree and I know for sure there's a La Quinta which was pretty nice and you can't beat the price (about $60/night when we went). There's also a Target and a strip mall all in that same little area. We drove towards Pike's Peak one day and there was a lot of cool photo ops and light climbing type things to do along the way. The city of Denver is only about 45 minutes away so you can scoot up there for fun stuff to do as well. Also, typically flights are about 1/2 the price if you fly into Denver as opposed to the Springs, so look into that. The drive in scenic to the Springs from Denver and the speed limit is 75 I think, so it's worth it if you can save the money. Arena is okay, nothing special.

Day 1 Scoring USA Blue GAME 1 1, USB, Wheeler (LaVallee, Abdelkader) 3, USB, Weller (Pineault, Zalewski) 4, USB, Pineault (unassisted) 7, USB, Wheeler (unassisted) 8, USB, Schremp (Fritsche) USB: Keserich (16, 17 shots, 29:26), Quick (16, 18 shots, 30:34) USA White GAME 1 1, USW, Dubinsky (Davis, Lerg) 2, USW, Foligno (unassisted) 3, USW, Skille (Gerbe, Lee) 4, USW, Ryan (Foligno) 5, USW, Lashoff (Ryan, Lerg) USW: Schneider (11, 11 shots, 30:00), Frazee (14, 14 shots, 30:00)

Off topic, but DU loses more than you'd think, unless sagard was being facetious. Fulghum (42 pts.), Drummond (39 pts.), Ulanski (33 pts.), Foster (29 pts.), and also two defensemen (Laatsch and Halme) who were rocks on the blueline.

Most of the time defensive liablilties kill penalties for the U-18 team like Kessel did so often. Very few people have seen both play at all, let alone seen both play enough to make a logical stance as to the exact type of player they'll be. On here, is appears as this is how it goes: North Dakota recuit: hard working, great at everything, lockerroom guy, digs pucks out of the corners, etc. Minnesota recruit: cherry-picker, lazy, will be a cancer in the lockerroom, defensive-liablilty, primadonna, etc.

USA Today Aricle on the NHL Draft Some of thing digs you guys are making at Kessel are pretty laughable when you take a look at some of the quotes, such as this one, from neutral onlookers about him. Toews will be a GREAT college player, but don't just blindly dismiss Kessel as just another recruit Gopher fans are pumping up. It's almost even between NHL GM's on who they'd rather have between Kessel and Crosby, according to McGuire. I wonder if that makes Crosby, a guy who has been tabbed to by many as a possible savior to the NHL, a one-way player who won't work hard? I doubt it. Just because he's not going to UND (or, in this case, going to Minnesota) doesn't make him lazy and only offensive-minded.

I'd wait until after Wheeler at least plays a year of college before comparing the two, although it's pretty safe to say Wheeler will not put up as many points his freshman year as Zajac did his. Minnesota will have more forward depth this year than North Dakota had last year, so Wheeler will likely not see much time on the power play like Zajac did last season. Taking nothing away from Zajac mind you, since he's a fantastic player, but just stating a fact. Also, as far as NHL (i.e. not college) prospects go, Wheeler is taller and bigger than Zajac despite being a year younger. Again, this isn't meant to take anything away from Zajac, but Wheeler's size is a big reason that he was taken so high (too high some would say).

http://www.nhl.com/futures/features/prospects_njd071205.html