nodakvindy

I think this is more evidence that a D-I NCC wasn't going to happen, refuting claims out of Fargo that it was UND that killed that possibility.

I certainly won't question Maine's goaltending, but to win you also have to be able to put the puck in the net yourself. They managed only 3 goals in nearly 170 minutes of hockey at the Hockey East Finals. The week prior they eeked out 1 goal victories over a mediocre Merrimack club. They are reminiscent of the Michigan St. clubs of the recent past. If you can get on them early, you can win. Wisconsin certainly has the capability, and I think Harvard does as well. Harvard is gelling at the right time and won't be an easy out.

jojo East BC-Niagara Michigan-UNH Northeast Maine-Harvard Wisconsin-Ohio State West UND-Holy Cross Denver-Miami Midwest Minnesota-Notre Dame UMD-Michigan St

Sean McDonough doing color. Wow! He is a quality announcer despite being an eastern guy.

Ohio State is Hot and Cold and certainly a winnable game. They also have the goaltending to stick with Maine. Maine-Harvard could be a 0-0 3 OT game. Eastern teams seem to really play it close to the vest in the postseason, not much scoring.

Two more bids decided, Ohio State and heading to their first big dance, Holy Cross.

UMass ties Maine 1-1 with 5 left in the 3rd

Duluth controlled the first last night and it didn't do them much good. We are a third period team, I like where we are at right now. Although some 5-on-5 time would be nice.

No Prob Also, The ECAC tourney game are being webcast here - http://ne.cn8.tv/channel/article.asp?lArti...subhead=cn8live Quality isn't too bad

http://www.warpradio.com/popTuner.asp?id=5230 This is the Duluth radio feed.

I''m no fan of Carl Pohlad, but how about ripping Fox Sports Gopher for not putting in a winning bid.

Actually Chad Sturrock was also a Sioux, albeit briefly.

The problem is that road games aren't theirs to sell. If Michigan and Ohio St. decided they wanted to do a separate TV deal apart from the Big Ten (becuase they are the ones people want to see.) the other schools would scream bloody murder. Why is that so difficult to comprehend? Again, the Gopher TV contract kills the possibility of a league-wide deal and that is to the detriment of the league. It would be great to have a league wide deal with say Jim Rich doing play-by-play and then getting color commentators from that week's home school. If the Gophers wanted to do a side deal to get games on more power to them. That is what Boston U. does to supplement the Hockey East contract.

If this meant the difference between the league making or losing money, you might have an argument, but that simply isn't the case. Minnesota shouldn't be rewarded because its fans are too lazy to go to afternoon games. It's pretty galling to call out fans of UND, UW, etc. when it is almost universally excepted that Minnesota is one of the worst schools in terms of travelling fans. It's a big reason that even with decent records that they go to dog bowl games. The TV situation is an even bigger joke. As I said in another post, the other league schools should bar Fox Sports from their rinks. What benefit to they get with Minnesota's homer announcers. Minnesota has a Notre Dame-football style TV contract with all the benefits of being in the conference. That deal is a big reason there is no league-wide contract, which would benefit all teams. The WCHA should have a game of the week deal with both Fox North and Fox Rocky Mountain (and possibly Fox Northwest, if that is what is seen up in Alaska). Maybe open up the bidding for the Final Five to CSTV. I'm sure having the best conference tournament would be of interest to them.

The funny thing is that if Duluth loses they lock up a #1 seed in the NCAAs, but if they win, they must be Minnesota again.

Penalties expire and Michigan gets an empty netter to make it 5-2

3 min left in Ann Arbor. UNO has a 5-on-3 PP and has pulled the goalie. Still 4-2 Michigan.

This is why the other league schools need to stand up to Minnesota. They get all of the benefits of being in a conference but then have their own TV deal a la Notre Dame football. The other league teams should quit allowing FSN in to do games. What benefit do they get? Forcing the issue might result in a long overdue league TV deal or at least a nice chuck of change from Minnesota and FSN.

The Gopher-Bulldog game will decide the final #1 seed. Michigan scores again on the PP to make it 4-2.

59 seconds and another Michigan goal to lead 3-2. Timeout UNO.

Michigan scores with 13:00 left in the third to tie UNO at 2-2.

or the BU team of 1998, that as the #1 seed fell to #8 Merrimack in the Hockey East playoffs and then made a quick exit from the NCAAs as well.

You are right sagard, but after Minnesota broke the #1 West jinx and the back-to-back drought last year, perhaps now is the time for the overall #1 curse to go down.

Interesting about Vanek not being nominated by Minnesota, but not entirely surprising.

Bingo!