NDHockey

I don't think any team should be feared in a one game scenario. I don't see shots as being all that meaningful as a stat without some analysis though. Minnesota may give up shots but it isn't the quantity that matters. It is the quality. They do a good job keeping the shots to the outside and whenever they do give up good opportunities, Wilcox seems to consistently shut the door. That's what every team needs in the playoffs. I recall they were outshot by SCSU but a lot of that was MN was clearly in a defensive mindset in the 3rd period and SCSU was firing a lot of low percentage shots at the net. Shots alone mean nothing. I don't think you can fairly say that the 3rd ranked defense is only the product of the goalie. Given we are not a team with a high caliber offense this season and they are, I think it is fair to say it wouldn't be a very good match up for us to see Minnesota in the NCAAs this year.

St. Cloud really doesn't add that much. It is a little over 3.4 million people in MSP area without St. Cloud. About 3.75 million with them.

I would say that judging who is more passionate is rather difficult. I think it is misguided to say in either direction who is more passionate because passion isn't something you can really quantify. It is simply an opinion. I saw the government stats on D1 sports finances and Minnesota makes something like twice as much money on its hockey program than we do. If their fans are willing to spend that much more money on their team than we do, does that make them more passionate? I'm not making that argument but somebody else certainly could. I guess my point is we can't definitely state either way who is more passionate. Obviously we would say our side and they would differ. It is a matter of our own personal bias.

Does your definition of fan really matter? Some fans are more dedicated than others but the reality is every team has a mix of those kinds. There are also no rules that say you aren't a real fan just because you didn't attend a school that you cheer for. I know people from schools like Mankato, SCSU, and others that actually cheer for other teams for differing reasons. Considering Minnesota's student population runs something over 50,000 every year and with a large city around their school, I don't think there is any shame in admitting they have a much larger fan base. If we had a big city and a bigger student population, we'd probably be able to match it. We simply don't.

I'm sure they scouted him far more than one bad game though. He committed later in his senior year so there was ample chance to see him before he decided. He is a kid that lives in relatively close proximity to us, has a family connection to our program, played in an elite league that we scout a lot, etc. There is little doubt they saw him play more than that. This simply appears to be a bad job by the coaches. He would have been great here.

The problem I have with Hakstol though is if the kid has this type of character, the odds are pretty good that he would have showed it prior to this. You don't just turn into a self centered individual overnight. The fact that this kid left (as well as some of the other guys who have bailed on us recently) make me wonder if the coaches are selling out a bit for the sake of talent but not doing as good job of looking into their character. I don't believe that all these guys suddenly just changed their attitude once they committed to us. There had to have been some clues and we either didn't do our homework or we simply chose to ignore the warning signs.

Not the worse thing. But not getting the win to split the series won't help with PWR comparison either

The problem with judging various coaches by records alone is it totally overlooks the factors it takes to build a championship program. The Sandelin comparison is especially ridiculous when you compare what he had to sell to recruits vs. what Hak does. Compare the facilities like the old DECC vs. the Ralph. Compare the traditions. Compare the overall support. It's not even close to an equal situation. Any coach that gets handed the keys to this program should be expected to win at a pretty high clip. I can understand a season or two where our results slips a bit. Even the best programs have those things happen. I believe this will be one of those seasons we'll have to overlook as a negative. But I don't fault the frustration of some over the lack of a championship under the current coach either.

I don't think having expectations and being disappointed in the failure to achieve them is whining. Even the people that complain the loudest still want the same thing that you do. Which is a team that is living up to the program's standards. This is a season that I would love to see them rally but I just don't think they have the personnel to pull off a major run of wins. This appears to be a middle of the road team this year.

Woog was getting those critical remarks from us long before those last two years though. If your argument is he only heard those comments from us in those last two seasons, you are not being honest. That was always the punch line about Woog even before the last two seasons he had. It was always he can't win the big one.

I didn't say anything about letting Hak go. I just pointed out that we can talk about all of Hak's positives like win percentage, Frozen Four appearances, and all of that. But we used to ridicule MN when Woog was their coach and was getting similar results because it never ended up in an NCAA championship. It just seems like there is some inconsistency when we overlook the same thing here that we ripped on them about.

I don't think there is any argument to be made. We should be having much more success here. Up until a few years ago, Sandy had to lead a program that played games in the run down DECC.

Yet this is the reason we all laughed at Woog and the Gophers for so many years. They had great teams under him and all it got him was the he can't win the big one label. The way it is going here, Hak is our version of that.

This team is definitely missing some pieces this year. Too many underachievers or grunts and not enough difference makers. I'm not really expecting a great second half run either.

A little different result tonight.

Not to rain on your parade but CHL players like Gropp aren't eligible for this event.

I might understand Gropp's choice a little more if next summer was his draft and he needed to jump start his stock right now. But he won't be drafted until Summer of 2015 because he just barely misses the cut off date to be eligible for next summer's draft. I think he would have been just fine if he had stayed the course. But I guess some kids just lack some faith at times.

I might be reading this differently. I almost wonder if the "start" being mentioned in the Penticton press release was more about not being off to a good start with regard to accelerating his studies to be able to enter college next year as opposed to anything on the ice. 10 games is not a lot of time to judge anything. Even really good players can start a season off slower than expected before hitting their stride. Seems a little rash if this is is about early season production.

RIP. Condolences to his family and friends.

I looked it up and Penn State was amassing $50 million in profits from football alone before their scandal hit. OSU something like $30+ million in football alone. Add in the many millions from basketball and I don't think either of those places need the BTN hockey money to do more for their football or basketball teams. They are already overflowing in money for those things. My bet is those places use that money for their hockey program more than is being assumed here.

Considering there are only 59 college teams, 17th is hardly great either.

Well, they were just behind Wisconsin in lowest goals against in the league too so it seems pretty consistent overall. I guess I just think you are reaching for excuses. Our boys did not play good defense this year.

They did give up about a half a goal less per game than we did. Just sayin'

The regional is played at the home rink of the top 4 seeds in the tournament. It's not a premeditated decision by the NCAA.

They hand out majors for any serious hits like they hand out candy at Halloween right now. It's not just checking from behind either. With all the attention concussions are getting, they definitely focus on the high hits. I've seen it plenty the last two seasons at the HS games I have been to. He's going to need to deal with it because it's not going to get any easier. Opponents won't be coddling him in the USHL or college. If his reason for leaving HS was because of the physical stuff he faces now, he is in for a rude awakening in the coming years.