tnt

These are kids that don't have the benefit of years of seeing what happens when teams get overlooked. We saw it last weekend with being ahead of CC by a lot. I'm sure the coaches warned them that the game wasn't over, but until it actually happens sometimes it falls on dear ears. I would hope after the Wisconsin and CC games they would be ready to go, but players see the same things and stats as fans do. I have no doubt that the players would be ripped to no end if it happened against Western Michigan, but sometimes fans need to show a little more respect for teams too, especially if they expect the players to do so. Western Michigan has beaten some good teams, so they play well on occasion. The key will be to jump on them early and let them get the "here we go again" feeling.

I don't know if they can do that. I would guess the NCAA requires an overtime to try get an outcome. If they did allow it, then I believe they would have to consider it a tie after regulation, because they don't recognize 3 on 3, or any result after the regular overtime.

Wisconsin wasn't supposed to be a problem either, but weird things do happen, especially if you approach it from the perspective that it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure UND felt that way after they got up on CC 4-0, so hopefully they will be on guard against that.

Hopefully nobody buys into the goal differentials and believe that any weekend is going to be a piece of cake. Losing to Wisconsin should have taken care of that line of thinking. Minnesota outscored them 13-2 last weekend, so clearly every weekend is a fresh start for every team.

http://www.youthhockeyhub.com/news_article/show/489555--15-bantam-player-of-the-year-finalists Gotta love how they keep the talented players with grit coming. Hopefully he continues to develop.

Nice night for Ludvig Hoff tonight with 3 goals and an assist, while Jost had 2 goals and 3 assists for Penticton.

Why would they not use a redshirt for her at NDSU?

My perspective is that it would be really nice to get the regional in St. Paul if the gophers don't make it there. If St. Cloud finishes ahead of us in the Pairwise, would they get placed there rather than us? It would be huge for us to have a regional with great fan support for the second straight year.

Left before what?

Did it also mention that while they did well in the last two years of the WCHA, they also are a part of a conference that has been less than spectacular. Does it also mention that Minnesota didn't play many road games outside of the state of Minnesota. Until recently it only helped them, but when the NCAA changed the rules, it hurt them. The fact that they compared themselves to us after a run of losing players like Miller, Matteau, Koules, Mantha, Lemieux, etc. pretty much shows that UND has that work ethic that can offset losses like that. When was the last time people complimented Minnesota that they work so darn hard. You always hear coaches say that about UND and how they want to instill that in their team.

Yeah, I don't think St. Cloud is going anywhere, and it will be a fight to the end. Since their powerplay was near 30 percent, hopefully the second half they have nowhere to go but down compared to ours hopefully nowhere to go but up. They have a lot of experienced forwards to keep them in games, but hopefully we have an upside in that direction as well.

Michigan beats Ohio State 8-6, with a big scrum at the end of the game. At least the officials had the common sense to call off the handshake. I'm sure Donny Lucia will tell them it's not a healthy rivalry.

So if one player can singlehandedly beat UND, what does that say about us? You might also want to ask Duluth what they think about us, as the only reason we beat them on Friday was a goaltending effort for the ages. So does that make Duluth better than us? Winning is the bottom line, and Omaha is going to be in the tournament, so at that point in a one game shot they can beat anybody.

If Gardner's hand is 100 percent he plays, if not they probably let it heal more. Nice luxury that they have been able to utilize this year.

Has Colton been a good faceoff guy in the past? I know LJ and Gardner have been pretty good in their careers, so don't know if that leaves one line without a natural faceoff guy. If the chemistry works though, I don't know if you complain that much about a slightly lower faceoff percentage, because you can put out other lines in certain circumstances.

Yeah, and if he goes to those lengths to help Notre Dame, does anyone believe his scheduling of Notre Dame for four years at the expense of the North Dakota rivalry is done for the benefit of Minnesota and their fans?

Well, let's not kid ourselves, if NDSU wasn't winning titles in FCS and UND was still in Division 2 and winning multiple National Championships, there would be a lot of people down south that would belittle those titles. Similarily, if NDSU moved up and all of a sudden UND won FCS Championships, there would be those that downplayed it by saying "Yeah, but at the level below us". It's all part of the game. The fact that the NCAA doesn't seem to care about the competitive balance and "home field" advantage or seeding nationally at the FCS level shows that they are hypocritical when they talk about not allowing regionals to be played on "home ice" in hockey, although if NDSU wins a few more championships I wouldn't doubt they would institute an "NDSU Rule".

One even has to wonder about Hartzell's mindset when he is looking at the program because wasn't he passed over for coaching positions before? Not saying he has an axe to grind, just wondering.

... and greatly exaggerates things. He seems like a lot of Minnesota fans, spouting off on things where he doesn't have a command of the real facts, mixed in with half truths. I suppose many of their fans deserve a dose of their own medicine. No doubt many still use the tired 25-year old Canadian routine when talking about UND.

I'm not saying we will have a down year, just saying that the fine line between making the tournament and not making the tournament is the bounce of a puck in any one given game. We know that all too well with needing Wisconsin to have a miraculous comeback against Ohio State in order for us to make the tournament a couple years ago.

They were in the National Championship game a few years ago and made the tournament and lost to a good Duluth team last year. They had much worse years before Guentzel came back. They are a pretty young team, and have played decent teams pretty well lately. True, we have a young team too, but if we had the same record we would be saying this is the time of year we come around. Be careful how bad you say they are, as if we lose who we probably lose at the end of this year, there is a chance we will find out next year that their demise is much exaggerated. The fact that we have been the exception to the rule thus far doesn't mean it can't or won't happen at some point. There will come a time when making the NCAA tournament isn't a sure bet for us either. Just look at some of the teams on the bubble year in and year out. Providence turned out to be the best and they were the last team in.

They should have Loadholt and Sullivan back, which should help, but they obviously need to have better depth.

You either have to go for it, or trust your kicker. If you go for it on first down by passing and the pass is incomplete, then you leave over a minute for Russell Wilson to get into field goal range for a game winner.

Would Hastings possibly want to leave Mankato? Not positive Guentzel would leave Minnesota unless it is clear he won't be the man after Lucia leaves.

Were the 49-22 shots for St. Cloud totally not reflective of the game?