Not sure why anyone would rather play Yale when they snuck into the tourney. Niagara was up to Number 7 in the PWR late in the season until Canisius upset them.
My take:
1. I think it really hurts us to be in the same regional as Minnesota. Not because I'm scared of the Gophers but it takes the focus off Game 1. The boys need to really be focused on Niagara now.
2. We need to solve Chubak early. The longer Niagara goes and keeps the game close the more they think they can actually win. We are a much better team but we need to show it by scoring.
3. Everyone talks about Rocco. Rocco needs his hands to catch up to his feet. Either that or he needs to slow his hands down and not be so fast on the release. He needs to relax and let his talent take over.
4. If we get past Niagara I think we'll be playing the Gophers. Then I think the game comes down to penalty kill and power play. We need to be better than they are and that will be tough. This year the Gophers are huge and draw a lot of penalties cycling down low (the way a lot of Sioux teams used to). This Sioux team is not a physical team and they need to be patient when the Gophers are in our zone. Also they need to stop pushing everything into the high slot since it makes them so susceptible to odd man rushes when they make mistakes. This time of year if you are plus on the power play you usually win. I feel that this North Dakota team is more talented than Minnesota. We just need to let it all hang out and play like we did the last game against Tech where the focus was shots on goal. If we do that and get decent goaltending we make the Frozen Four.
First Niagara. And what the heck is a Purple Eagle?