sagard

Come on it's the best time of year. Who's coming down from 8A this year?

Or crosschecks.

I had to re-read it again today. Man vs. SUV. From the Canoe article: "That's the hardest hit I've taken in awhile," deadpanned Greene, who expects to be ready to play against the St. Louis Blues tomorrow. "I'm sore. My lower body is sore. I got hit by a truck."

I suppose this might help explain the team I cheer for couldn't get anywhere near Parise at the end of last season. Unbelievable.

Kessel rocks.

It seems like about 1 in 10 Gophers fans on GPL aren't worried about going to REA to face the Sioux. Don't let that prevent you from calling us arrogant though.

This is why I suspect Triouxper has a little more reguard for Kessel then he lets on. While he isn't anywhere near the player Oshie is, Kessel is in the way Lucia plays him is a big help for the Gophers.

If the Sioux win out and add a 5-0 to their TUC and ramp up their RPI, they would have a shot at a number one. It would depend on how UW, Miami and BU did in their tourneys. I think they have a lot better shot at missing the tourney then being a number one seed FWIW.

The difference between the Gophers and UND in the standings this year is a lot due to PP effectiveness. Kessel has a lot to do with it. After seeing Kessel's role with the Gophers vs. what Kyle asked him to do is startlingly different. Lucia has basically been playing Guyer's and Potulny's line vs. opponents top lines. This has put Kessel in a position to do what he excels at most. Create offense. If your going to match up against DU's top line to me it's a no brainer to have Oshie center. If you are going to ask someone to run a power play, it's still a no brainer and this time Kessel is the choice. They are both incredible players and Toews is to me showing why he may go #1 overall. His speed, size and shot are superb. With all the hockey you have watched you have to see the value Kessel has brought to the Gophers. It really is the old Parise/Vanek comparison in my opinion, except neither is quite as good as the those guys quite yet.

UND is currently down to 11 comparisons lost. They are not out of the woods yet, but still firmly control their destiny. Little margin for error to be sure. Using a 0.003, 0.002, 0.001 bonus, Mankato is now a TUC and that gives UND the Fairbanks comparison due to tilting the TUC portion. To ensure MSU remains a TUC at seasons end they need to win a game vs. CC in the playoffs. If they don't, it will still be VERY close to whether or not they remain a TUC. The other comparisons UND picked up were all due to improved RPI: Maine, Michigan and UNO. Here are the comparisons UND is still losing: BU - UND needs to pass them in RPI. Probably lost. CC - UND needs to pass them in RPI and to play and beat them at the X. DU - UND needs to play and beat them at the X or have BSU win CHA and have DU play poorly. Harvard - Lost. Miami - Lost. Michigan State - Tough. Need RPI and TUC. Minnesota - Lost. Northern Michigan - Sioux must not lose to Tech. Ohio State - UND needs to retake CO. UND needs to play and beat CC or have OSU lose to someone UND has played. SCSU - UND can either play and beat them in playoffs or pass in TUC. Very likely. Wisconsin - Lost. Still open: Fairbanks - TUC AF 9-13-4 vs. UND 10-13-1. Nice break for UND that Fairbanks has to play Notre Dame. If Fairbanks beats them, ND won't be a TUC. If ND beats Fairbanks, UND has no worries. Still wide open due to RPI: Maine - Probabaly passes UND if both teams sweep. Michigan - UND needs to sweep Tech to stay ahead. UNO - UND needs to sweep Tech to stay ahead. BC - This will get very close if they sweep and UND does not. Cornell - UND needs to sweep Tech to stay ahead. It looks to me like UND can afford one loss between now and the X. If they swept Tech and lost a three game set with SCSU, they would be on the bubble. My advice to Hak. Don't lose to Tech. Not a shift, not a period, not a game. My prediction base on 3pts vs. Tech and a 1st round win vs. SCSU. Then at seasons end UND loses 11 comparisons. BU CC DU Harvard Miami Mich St. Minnesota OSU Mich or UNO, but not both. Maine or BC, but not both. Cornell - Root against them with all your might. This would typically make UND the #12 seed and put the NCAA in a very tough spot if the Gophers win or do better than UW in the WCHA playoffs.

From where I sat the fact that only 17 players were on the ice for those four goals was the problem.

Toews looked outstanding last night. I don't see UND that often but he really stands out as the guy who is improving the most. I didn't really notice him for the Grand Forks series against the Gophers. The Minneapolis series he looked better, but was obviously tired. Last night he looked dominant.

That was very nice.

I'm still seeing UND with the same 15 comparisons lost. BC did win tonight as well, but they don't appear to have improved their RPI enough to take back their comparison with UND. Take the weekend off and root on UND. By Sunday the siouxsports PWR and USCHO PWR are usually matching, and then it's worth looking at it closer.

While I'd agree that bracket placement has been used to create good matchups (and avoid intraconference matchups) within the brackets, PWR and autobids have identified the tourney teams since at least the '95-'96 season. The only exception to this was to exclude the MAAC teams due to insular scheduling in '99 and '00. If this is what you are referring to than I'm with you.

Nobody is going to do UND any favors to get them into the tourney. They will either earn it or or they won't. Could you imagine the outcry of the #13 or #14 PWR team if they got bumped by a home team? What about next year if the Gophers need some favors? It didn't happen for CC (who got probably the biggest screw job PWR will ever deliver) two years ago and it won't happen this year. No matter what USCHO or optimistic Gopher's fans say, UND controls it's destiny and I think 5-2 or 7-3 closing will get them in to the tourney with room to spare. Unless of course some outragous results occur in the conference tourneys. Due to the CCHA's new format that tourney is up for grabs. If UND splits with DU they could easily have a "loser goes home" game at the X, and at that point the third place game would actually be more important than the championship.

UND is not sunk, whoever says so is wrong. They need to improve there TUC record. UND can do that in many ways: 1. Sweep DU. 2. Sweep 1st Rnd playoff series. 3. Win two of three at the X. 4. BSU win CHA. 5. MSU finish as a TUC. Obviously some of the items are beyond UND's control, but many are not.

No, I was decent at it a long time ago but not really anymore. Looking at a group of 7-9 for the REA regional, but no one is going to want to go without the Gophers. Jim is the wizard in my opinion.

One thing you can look at is here: http://slack.net/~whelan/tbrw/tbrw.cgi?200...kings.diy.shtml You can click the "Specify Results" button and add whatever games you like. It's not perfect but you can get a feel for certain scenarios. I added the following for UND, which was splitting with DU, sweep Tech, sweep SCSU, lose to CC. 20060224 ND 1 DU 0 WC 20060225 ND 1 DU 2 WC 20060303 ND 1 MT 0 WC 20060304 ND 1 MT 0 WC 20060310 ND 1 SC 0 WC 20060311 ND 1 SC 0 WC 20060317 ND 1 CC 2 WC Not factoring in other teams results this result would take UND up to #9 in PWR. Taking three games to beat SCSU leaves UND in 15th. However you can also specify other TUCs (Bemidji) and try many permutations. To me it seems like UND is going to have to sweep a TUC. Either sweep DU, sweep the 1st round Playoff series, or win twice at the X. Three points vs. Tech is a must as well due to the Northern Michigan comparison. If nothing else you can kill a lot of time with it.

If the IIHF wants the pool play to be for blood don't take eight teams for the elimination round. Take four or play it like the WJC and take six and give the pool winners a huge leg up.

You better worry about handling JBSU in the playoffs before you punch your tickets!

If UND makes the tourney I don't think the Gophers are a lock for Grand Forks, especially if the Gophers end up the #1 overall.

Nor should you. They still have the best and deepest roster. They have had two hiccups. There is a good chance they won't have another and cruise to another Gold.

It was '03, the Gophers had a home ice regional with no other decent teams placed there.

If the last 10 minutes of the Gophers game Saturday night is any indication, it is going to get VERY chippy if UND is beating them.