tnt

The one concussion at the Ralph was the one for which Pinto got suspended. Of course, no mention that it was in retaliation for a dangerous cheap shot.

I remember when Gabinet took the Omaha job he talked about how important culture is, and that is what they were going to create. From the outside looking in, I think the type of culture he is creating, can only make them worse. When you have a player absolutely tackle a guy by wrapping both arms around him, then shrug as to why he received a penalty, there is no accountability.

I’m thinking we come out different against Omaha last night if we wouldn’t have clinched last Saturday.

Well, there you go. Sounds like they made the correct decision based on that.

So is Minnesota smart enough to change the rule before they really have to answer for not following their own rules?

...and both teams are still on the bubble.

Exactly. Championship hangover has happened before and will happen again. I thought since they didn’t play the next night after clinching, they would avoid it. Knowing who they would have to share it with, I thought they would get the outright clinching done tonight so they could play it safe tomorrow, but now with Senior night for the Mavs and the confidence we gave them, we need to really step it up tomorrow.

I know UND hasn’t offered a bunch of legacy recruits early. Curious to know if they talked to them all and needed to see more and the kids didn’t want to wait and took offers that were there, or if UND didn’t show much interest at all. Three of those guys from Omaha became top scorers for them in Archibald, Morelli and Ward. It will hurt to see Slukynsky become another legacy guy who stands out for another team as well. To be fair, at that age it is tough to project, but you would think they could get a few guys to wait a year longer before they commit so young with the prospects of playing and developing at the Ralph. Hopefully guys like Blake, Panzer and Ausmus can make up for some that we lost.

How many have an indoor practice facility like ours?

I heard Pinto agreed to sit in the National Championship game so a senior can play in their last possible game.

He and Glen Klotz were the two best hip checkers I can remember. Of course if you hip check someone now and send them flying, it would be a penalty for tripping or interference or something of the sort. Maybe it has become a lost art for a reason.

Just think where Omaha would have been without former Fighting Sioux offspring like Zombo, Archibald, Morelli, and Ward. Dayn Belfour didn't play a ton there. Am I missing someone?

Hopefully they achieve all of the objectives. Point three is important this time of year -- keep rolling. There has traditionally been a letdown, especially the game right after clinching, but with a week in between clinching hopefully that isn't an issue. We had the layoff after Christmas where it took a while to find our bearings again, we don't want to be searching to find our form again at this time of year. I think with their attitude towards not sharing, and their goals for the rest of the season, we should be focused on staying in great form.

It could be that in the back of an officials mind that they would rather not determine the game on a call that is close to 50/50. Maybe earlier in games those calls may go the other way. If they truly looked at it as that type situation, letting the teams fight it out more may be preferable to rock, paper, scissors.

Yes, but since the contact hadn’t been made, perhaps you can revise it and say he knew Kawaguchi was going to slash him, so he was bracing himself with his knee coming down.

I thought you said he slashed the player causing his leg to come down. Your story seems to be changing.

I slow motioned it and his knee was coming down before Kawaguchi made contact.

Do we even get to that point if the officials didn’t even up the penalties with the high stick to Kiersted late in the game? Kiersted’s stick wouldn’t have been high if the Western player hadn’t interfered with his path to the puck.

Saturday’s call was truly a judgement call on whether the Western player could have avoided contact with the goalie despite Kawaguchi’s contact with him. I could have seen it going either way. Friday’s call seemed it should have been more clear cut since it was the goalie diving out creating the contact.

Hennessey was talking about an injury last night when he was out.

Massimo Rizzo was first star in the first game of the playoffs last night with 2 goals, 2 assists.

If we lose four defensemen off this year’s team there will be a big learning curve next year, even with the talent level. Look at Minnesota with Lacombe and Johnson, talented players, but still have some growing pains. Forwards coming in will most likely be Rizzo, Budy, Ness, and Gaber, and then have to figure out who else is ready between Portz, Bowen, and Halliday.

Don’t think we want to bring our pairwise down by bringing in a losing program. If anything, bring in MSU Mankato and hope they fill their place in the new CCHA.

I will save the overrated tag on teams outside our league. Denver’s losses have largely been against us and Duluth, so that doesn’t scream overrated to me.

You never know what goes on behind the scenes. Someone could say, “you should open up your recruitment again” wink wink. Even if opening up his recruitment was a farce, he still would have been complicit in it.