Siouxman

I think the coaching move to put Mitch on the top line stands a good chance of being a solid success. In only four games of eligibility he has shown a strong tendency to be right in the action, he knows what he is doing, he is physical enough to play in the greasy areas, he has a solid shot, and he has playmaking ability. He does not disappear out on the ice. He already could have had several goals in the four games he has played. I think he will work out fine in that slot. I thought that Knight had an off weekend, for whatever reason. He just did not seem to be his typical self. His draw percentage was not up to usual standards. I had thought Friday night that Parks would have been a good fit for that top line, but he made some unwise choices in Friday's game and his five minute major really disrupted the team flow. He just didn't seem to bring that much to the top line. Maybe it will take some more time for injury recovery to get back into the flow. For those clamoring for Rocco in that top line role, I do not believe he would be a good fit at this time. He is getting bounced off the puck too easily with physical play. CC took him off the puck quite easily a number of times, and he made some passing choices that were not very wise. While Rocco can get to the front of the net, I don't think he can camp there like Mitch or Parks can. I also think we will see more out of him against the Gophers as the World Juniors has to have had some impact on him. Not saying he is tired, but he has been away from the team for quite some time and it must take a little time to get his UND rhythm back.

Well, it is pretty much raining off and on along the I-94 corridor in Minnesota. Roads should be icy in the next few hours. It looks like the rain will let up later tonight (before midnight) and the snow will hold off until late Friday afternoon. So there is a window of opportunity on Friday to get to Grand Forks, but do it carefully and wisely.

Been going to the Final Five every year for a number of years and it is a good time with great hockey. We will definitely miss the Final Five, having St. Patty's Day fall during the Final Five tournament and EVERONE wearing green, and a couple of Gopher fans that we have become friends with. The Hoggsbreath tradition can continue (thanks to MafiaMan) even though it will be a farther drive from the hotels people are staying at in Mpls. I expect some Gopher fans who are also diehard hockey fans will attend either the WCHA or NCHC tournament when the B1G is out of town. I think we are all sad to see the WCHA Final Five as we know it fade into history.

They clearly were not playing like the best team before Christmas, but appear to have put it together over the break. The potential difference for them this year is that they do not have a lot of freshmen playing key roles that typically hit the wall about 3/4 of the way through the season. Still, their only major challenge might be to ensure they don't flame out by peaking too early.

It is huge. What makes it a much bigger deal is many Canadians seem to believe that it is their sole right to win it every year. There will be great national discussion of Canadian youth hockey and what has gone wrong with the Canadian system. In reading some of the comments on TSN (and there are many pages) many seem to imply that politics is an ingrained part of the Canadian world juniors team. I was at the Ralph when Canada played Russia in the gold medal game. It was an eye opening experience. The profanity, vulgarity, and everything else the mostly Canadian crowd threw at the Russians was intimidating. Electronic bullhorns, sirens, air horns and numerous other noise makers were throughout the crowd. They are unbelievably passionate about it. And according to the comments on TSN, they would rather lose to the Russians than the USA. We aren't worthy of beating them evidently.

It is way too early to even think about this. It is one game at a time.

Could be. 29 pages of comments so far on TSN. Some even suggest trying the coach for treason.

Still tied after OT, so it goes to a shootout. Sweden wins the shootout 1-0. USA-Sweden for gold. Canada-Russia for Bronze.

Russia-Sweden 2-2, going to OT. Russia did not have a shot on goal for the first 26 minutes of the game. This has been nothing but end to end hockey since then.

Lots of negative comments about the Canada team, goalie, coaching, etc. on the TSN website. Several are saying that the worst part is 80% of US citizens won't even know about the game. Well the population of Canada is about 35,000,000 and the population of the US is about 313,000,000. 20% of the US population is 62,000,000 which is almost double Canada's entire population. So more US citizens will know the US won than Canadian citizens will know their team lost. Personally, I am skeptical that even 20% of the US will know about this game, but it really doesn't matter. It is still a big deal in the US to many people.

Player of the period in the third was clearly Gibson in goal. That game could have turned really ugly if Canada had scored another goal. He made a number of big saves.

5-1 USA. Man, this third period has been a nail-biter, even with the three goal lead. Now a four goal lead with time winding down and it is a little more comfortable.

4-0 USA. Canada changing goalies.

Wow o wow! 3-0 USA. The Canadian fans were right. It is too early for them.

OK, I decided to do both.

USA looking fast and good so far. I'm guessing it is nasty in the Canada locker room.

I am just hoping Grimaldi comes out without an injury. Canada will come out and play extremely physical and pound anything that moves, legal or not. That is their history. The U.S. will need to score early (either before Canada scores or before they get to two goals) to have a chance at a win. Still haven't decided if I will get up at 3 am or DVR the game.

At the Final Five, if the Gophers are in the tournament and if the Gopher fans show up, they cheer for anyone playing against UND. I know, I know, some big ifs in there.

Most players come back from the world juniors a better player. They have been exposed to the world's best at that age, and they get to see what it takes and how it is done.

Michigan Tech pounding on Michigan. That is great.

I also received the "One Goal" book. Very nice.

Is that why my keyboard is all slimy? It really is a surprise given his background, but that is one of the things that we all love about college hockey. Nothing is a sure bet in this game. Anyone, at any time, can . . . . . .

Be sure to watch the UND Sports Zone video with highlights from Michigan Tech. There are some great goals.

And that is a major mistatement of the facts. Frattin was suspended from the team the day after he was stopped for DWI. Hakstol did not wait for the legal system to take its course. Frattin lost his hockey scholarship. Frattin was not a "star" of the hockey team at the time. He was not brought back to the team to help the team for a late season push. He was suspended indefinitely. He came back when he was able to convince Hakstol that he had changed and asked for a chance to re-establish himself, paying his own way in college. Matt's story is quite public and is a story of rehabilitaion and paying his dues. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/sports/03frattin.html

One just might begin to wonder if there is something going on with that team that is not being made public. They have been skating shorthanded recently, but their injury list does not appear to be that long. There has been a non-player due to a "coaches decision" but maybe there is more to it than that. Their turnaround has been so steep it is hard to understand, especially with a goalie like Olkanuora.