stickboy1956

I heard Bina had the flu as well. There were times on Sat when Bina was out of the rotation.

IMO - Kozek > Miller, especially in St. Paul. I thought Kozek should have been on ice instead of Miller when we pulled Lammy v. Denver. Miller lost a battle in the corner and the puck came out of the Denver zone. Kozek and Martens played well together this weekend - they may be looking for balance - then Kozek with Martens makes more sense.

1. It looks like the committee pretty much followed the numbers, except for 5 v 12, which they had to switch due to Wisco and CC hosting regionals. 2. Everyone is knocking Miami - they finished #2 in the PWR - the committee had no choice but to give them an "easy" bracket. 3. This year's version of the Sioux is well suited on a bigger rink like the Kohl Center. It will be harder for trap-teams to clog up the lanes and negate our speed on a bigger rink. Our smaller/quicker D will be able to take advantage of the big sheet as well. If we play like we did period 2 v CC the rest of the season, we can take on anyone, anywhere, including Denver and Wisconsin.

Here is the Stickboy bracket Albany Michigan 1 AF 16 SCSU 8 MSU 9 Madison Wisco 12 BC 6 ND/MSM 13 UNH 4 Worcester 3 UND 14 Princeton 11 UMTC 7 Denver Colo Springs 10 Clarkson 5 CC 15 Niagra 2 Miami

If we win and they decide to send us to Worcester, expect to see BC and UMTC in that bracket as well. The Sioux like Worcester. As I mentioned before, if Wisconsin gets in, it screws everything up. If they end up #12 overall, which #1 goes to Madison and still keep some bracket integrity - probably UNH. Who would Wisco play round 1? 12 should play 5 but what if the 5 is CC - does BC then end up in Madison? The bracket would look lke this - UNH BC Wisconsin and Notre Dame.

If we end up 3, UNH 4, CC 5, there is no way we would be sent to Worcester and UNH to Colo Springs. Here is my bracket prediction after the dust settles tomorrow. Madison Mich v AForce SCSU v Mich St. Albany Miami v Niagra Clarkson v Denver Colo Springs UND/CC v Princeton/Harvard CC/UND v Notre Dame* Worcester UNH v MSM* BC v UMTC If BU or UVM beats BC, they probably go to Colo Springs to avoid a 1st round game w/UNH, Notre Dame goes to Worcester, and MSM is the last team out. All this assumes Notre Dame beats NMich. If not this is all wrong.

After tonight, cannot see how we would not be in CC next week. If we win tomorrow, we are #3 overall, and the closest regional for us is the West. If we lose, CC is #4, we are #5, which puts us in the same bracket.

Sometimes TJ looks like he is trying to do too much on his own or trying to make the near impossible pass and when it doesn't work out it looks bad. Great players try to do the extra-ordinary. When you see highlights of Gretzky, Orr, etc. you always see their great goals/assists. However, if you can find an old game tape and watch an entire game Gretzky/Orr played in, along with the great plays, you will also see plenty shots/passes that didn't work out either. The plays that worked made up for the plays that didn't. Take a good look and enjoy - #7 is winding down his career as a Sioux. I wouldn't trade him for any player in the country.

Red Frog is right - root for Notre Dame v Miami. If that happens and CC and UND get to the finals, they both should get #1 seeds, regardless of Hockey East/ECAC results (per: You Are the Comm. tool)

Anyone that watched the series saw the Gophers "run" Zacharias as much as Kangas was "run" by MSM. Goal 1 on Sat by the Gophs included contact with Zacharias. Muz-sucko started whining about this Sun during the OT during a no-goal review. If he hadn't said anything I doubt we would be talking about it. Going hard to the net is part of college hockey and NHL hockey - there is contact with the goalie all the time. As long as you are making a play on the puck contact is ok.

Including head to head and RPI, too. There is no way Wisconsin gets picked ahead of MSM.

Scanlan said this move lets Dunc switch wings.

Who started this standing stuff anyway, the Dukies? There wasn't a better student atmosphere anywhere than at the old Ralph and we didn't stand the entire game. This is hockey - not basketball. Standing does not equal atmosphere.

Right - if they lose to ND, they would either face NMich who by then would not be a TUC, or Mich. If they beat NMich we would win the TUC comparison with them. If they beat Mich, Miami would move to a #1 and Mich would drop below us to a #2 seed. It also looks like UNH is the only team that is a lock for a #1 seed - I can only drop them to #4 overall with them losing to BC Friday. HE is the only conf without a 3rd place game this weekend.

That was last night - there was a too many men against MSM Friday in OT that was weak. Last night's call was a no-brainer.

Update - it looks like the only way Wisco can make the tournament is if Notre Dame loses twice this weekend, and there are not any more low seeded auto bids making the tournament. http://www.madison.com/tct/blogs/icehouse/277400

Clarkson is in the tournament - the fact the auto bid from from the ECAC will not be a top 14 PWR team moves the "magic number" for making the NCAA from 14 to 13

The magic number is now 13 - with Clarkson losing, the ECAC auto bid will not be a top 14 PWR, which means you need to be at least 13 in the PWR. And in Hockey East, 2 out the 4 remaining teams (Vermont and BU) are below 14 in PWR. If one of those team's wins the HE tourny, the last team in the tourny would be PWR 12.

I feel sorry for SCSU. Is there any doubt that Sheppard will be offciating Thur night? If he calls that game like the UMTC/MSM series, it will be a hack/chop fest, which puts SCSU at a disadvantage vs. the Goophs. It is also bogus the coaches decide who will officate a playoff game. It should be a clear policy - the same ref for all 3 games or always bring a new official for game 3. This shows how "weak" the WCHA office is.

CHN - Your Are the Committee is now available. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/ratings/yatc.php Bottom line: -If UND and CC get to the the F5 champ game - the winner = #1 seed, loser #2 seed, probably in seperate brackets. This assumes no other upsets. -I don't see how Wisco can make it in -Can Mankato/UMTC drop out?- only with below the bubble teams pulling upsets - without upsets UMTC ends up 11, MSM 12 in the PWR. -Hockey East has 2 teams below the bubble left (BU and UVM) the CCHA has 1 (NMich). Notre Dame needs to win at least the 3rd place game to get to 13 in PWR. Mankato will be rooting hard for BC, NH and Mich Friday night. -A win Sat vs. SCSU and a win Sat vs. MTU would have let us lose to CC and still beat out Miami for #1 seed (assuming Miami loses to Mich Sat.)

UMTC and Wisco will drop a bit if they lose tonight. Then it all depends what teams behind them do. Say Notre Dame manages to win its series and move on - what happens to their PWR if they lose 2 at the Joe. The same with Harvard - If they stumble next week they may drop back. The bottom line - the season is not automatically over for UMTC or Wisco if they lose tonight. The NCAA's aren't a sure thing but it's not out of reach either.

Not really - they can actually skate so they don't usually take those kind's of penalties. And if you pay attention to the NHL, they do call alot more stick penalties than in WCHA - like John Madden's penalty at the end of the Wild/Devils game on Thur.

Many comments in the MTU/UND game post about Thul and being very consistant last night. What are the chances he will be reffing at the final 5 - NONE. Get ready for the Shep - who will go out of his way to call pens on the Sioux.

I stand corrected - FS beat Miami twice - this actually helps us.

I stand corrected - Ferris State being a TUC helps us - they were 2-0 vs Miami. I wonder if they will stay a TUC even with 2 losses to ND?