sagard

It is a good thing the Sioux hockey team doesn't have your whiny attitude. I never said and I didn't mean to imply that what Vanek did was OK. After seeing the replay it should have been five. Running the goalie will happen, maybe not when the Sioux/Gophers matchup, but it will occur. Last year it was BC crashing into that Cornell goalie a couple of times, I would not be surprised if a DU player goes after Parise/Brandt. You should be either. As for Prpich getting Vanek, he will no doubt be going for it. If he gets to Vanek early and often, the Sioux will likely win. If he takes stupid penalties leading to PP goals, the Gophers will have a chance. Sioux fans at this point should be VERY happy. The team has earned the best path to the Frozen Four, as FF semi with likely one of two teams they are 8-2 on the season with, and a championship game with likely a weaker eastern team. If all you have to complain about at the end of the season is Final Five loss and some Parise mistreatment, it will have been a great season for the Sioux.

I don't think Miami will beat DU, they looked absolutely abysmal on the big sheet at Mariucci. I wouldn't worry though, I'll be surprised if UND doesn't win by three in both games.

After watching them every weekend, it is Vanek, Ballard and Talleckson who are most likely to stick you. Something as nominal as stealing the puck or a clean check is likely to earn a whack from these guys, though Talleckson seems to have cooled it lately. Taylor likes to hit people, and Riddle it is almost always and eye for an eye.

I think we will be seeing an absolutely viscious semi-final between the teams. The Gophers will have to play a much more sound game to win again, I'm sure the Sioux will. As for the rough/cheap play, it happens this time of year. Vanek was lucky not to get five, Parise continues to impress.

This post sums up my picks, though I'm not convince any defensemen had great weekends. Voting secrecy is stupid. There is no accountability then.

Gophers and Sioux will play for it all in the semi. Maine over Michigan in the other semi. I won't pick against the Gophers but they will have to improve dramatically defensively if they are to beat the Sioux again. No way do the Sioux allow five again.

I'll be shocked if UW isn't one and done. They played over their heads this year.

I'd echo Potulny's comments about not wanting to play the Sioux, but now it appears inevitable. The Gophers will not be able to put up a fiver against the Sioux next time, so they will have to dramatically improve defensively and in nets to beat UND again.

Parise would have been a good choice. The Gophers scoring was so balanced, they picked the goalie without checking the stats. I'd would have picked Irmen.

The worst of it is that with UND being the #1 overall seed and UM being #4, the Western regionals will again meet in the semi-finals. That leaves BC or Maine in my opinion cruising to the NCAA Final, without likely having to beat a decent western team. As for the thirteen losses, the Gophers are very young and often shaky defensively. For the Gophers to go deep into the NCAA's they will need to be popping 4 to 5 a game. They have a lot less margin for error than the previous two Gopher teams.

I've been trying to bet you all year. Your on. I pick your summer avatar if the Gophs get to Boston through GR, otherwise you pick mine. Deal?

I think you are right about the physical play. The Gophers have to keep it up the rest of the way if they are going to make Boston. They survived viscious semi-finals with Michigan the last two years and I expect tomorrow will be more of the same. Grant P. was a beast tonight. He didn't show up in the score sheet, but everytime the puck went behind the net he was back there absolutely banging the UMD defense around. Barry Talleckson also stepped up the checking in the last two periods. These two guys will be key, because they are really the only forwards that will be able to put some hits to the Sioux defensemen.

I think the Wooger has a case of wishful thinking, but he has seen some VERY strange seedings and placements in his day. I have a bad feeling the Gophers just earned Michigan in GR.

Not really, but it was a few years ago when I was a full on Sioux hater. Amazing the affect Jason Blake had on me, as soon as he left I started rooting for the Sioux in the NCAA's. Of course it may have been the obnoxious BC/ESPN contingent that flipped me.

How did that clown last from October '03. Kudo's to the admin for the appropriate action.

I've worn a Sioux jersey before, of course I turned it inside out!

Ahhh.... The playoffs must be upon us if you all are lighting WPOS up. As bad as some of you think the Gophers are, I ask who is better? UND UMaine BC UMD DU? Michigan? It is a pretty short list. The last couple of years the list was shorter, but so be it. Of course there isn't a list of teams better than UND this year. I think this weekend is huge. This is the Gophers last chance to prove to themselves they can win two games against elite teams. As for UND, if they win the WCHA tourney I think they will win the NCAA's. If they don't, the NCAA are in question as well, although they would still likely be my pick.

Good point. I should have said the goalies were taking the fall for the lack of scoring last year. At least if I wanted to be accurate.

No. I only stated my opinion of his work. The guy will write anything you want him to for a buck.

I've been telling you all longer than I can remember that the Sioux's biggest problem was when they don't play Brandt. It obviously hasn't been a problem this year, but last year it cost them.

Gilbert is such a shill. Long time Gopher beat writer beginning in the '70s, gets chased out of town to Duluth in the late Woog years. Then he turns more anti-Gopher than anyone on this sight for a couple of years, but he wears out his welcome in Duluth. Now he starts writing Gopher fluff books and articles now that they are champs again. Complete snake.

Don't shift blame to the league! It is a vast Gopher conspiracy.

I'm not willing to add UW.

Is it safe to say that we can add these two players to the ever growing list of players that both UND and UM coveted? These programs sure don't seem like they are going to be hurting for talent very often.

Us Gopher fans will get our chance to whine during the regionals. Only about the lack of television availability though!