farce poobah

Think back to the Gophers' defense when John Hill was coaching them.

Tonight, Chicago scored first and held the lead. That forced Claude Julien to change matchups of forward lines - which meant less of Toews line vs Kreicji line and more of Toews line vs Bergeron. Result? Kane +2, Toews +2, Bergeron -2, Marchand -3. Back in Chicago, Quenneville gets choice of matchups. I expect him to assemble a third line that matches up better against Boston's third line, and to put a little more speed into the lineup. Dave Bolland started to look more like the Bolland of old tonight. Marian Hossa (with one arm?) is still a force. Duncan Keith, somehow, ended the night +3. Boston looked tired at times, both forwards and defense. Perhaps the shorter bench is wearing on them. More likely is that playing from behind forced them to open up, which plays into Chicago's hands. Key stat: faceoffs (after Boston domination in game 3) were even. After the series, I expect a lot of revelations about who was playing with injuries, and how severe those are. There are a few hints in the statistics ... but that's outside speculation at this point.

Claude Julien doing a masterful job of working matchups based on the score and the situation.

But it would be a shame if we let someone like that interrupt a nice round of Bison bashing.

So many straw dogs, so little listening ability. Five conferences are making the proposal ... the Big 12 happens to be the host of this set of discussions. But make no mistake, this is a pitch from all 5 conferences. And, without doubt, those 5 commissioners went through the agenda and selected the person best suited to make the pitch. Bowlsby got the privilege of leading the presentation, for political reasons which I don't understand. He is a Moorhead State grad after all, which obviously makes him one of the elite. Pretty clearly this kind of change doesn't happen in a year, or even in less than 5 years. But the discussions have to start sometime, and no doubt there will be lots and LOTS of meetings and preparing positions ... the politics of this are massively tricky for the Power Five.

Normally the team down 0-2 or 0-3 gets the calls. (Not as bad as they do it in the NBA, but still...)

NHL.com is running a "best player drafted at position #__" ... 30 first-round picks, 30 days in June. Brock Nelson, 2010 draftee, got a vote as the best player drafted at #30. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=672524

I'll make no secret of being a Blackhawks fan. Before the Boston-Pittsburgh ECF started, I found myself believing that Boston would be the easier opponent, should Chicago get past LA. I changed my mind.

So Chicago has 14 playoff games under their belt, and are finally in a "net goals allowed" position on their penalty kill. (2 goals allowed shorthanded, 1 goal scored shorthanded)

I can think of a few lawyers I'd like to deliver a clean body check to.

I didn't call him dirty, so please don't create straw dogs. Yes, he plays hard, but the rules of hockey say that the onus is on the player attempting a body check to control himself. Reckless abandon is no excuse for leading with your elbow. Setting that aside, he's one of the NHL's best players and I have a natural liking for hard nosed guys who play both ends of the rink and can also score. (Matt Frattin, Brad Malone, Travis Zajac, to name just 3 of UND's alumni.)

Brown did it again tonight, leading with his elbow attempting to check Duncan Keith. Fortunately Keith fell and Brown missed.

2-0 Hawks after 1 period, but LA playing a lot better than yesterday. Something tells me this is about to get nasty.

Hey thanks - I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waiter or waitress.

Meanwhile out West, yet another coach opposing the Blackhawks talks about how his top line didn't play very well. He sounds a lot like Mike Yeo in round 1 and Mike Babcock in round 2. The Kings felt they were better in the third period, but coach Darryl Sutter commented on how he didn't get nearly enough from his top players throughout the game. Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Richards and Doughty combined for four shots on goal. Sutter said they were "having trouble keeping up." "We had guys fall off," he also said. "Shifts fell off primarily from the top end of our lineup. It's tough to sustain it." This is the effect that playing against Toews and Hossa (and Keith and Seabrook) has on people.

I think its fun to imagine what kind of changes he might make. 1. All arenas shall install step-stools behind all player benches. Step-stools shall be at least 18 inches high. 2. All arenas shall install extra-grip coating on top of dasher boards. 3. Immediate prohibition on all signs saying "you must be THIS TALL to be NCHC Commissioner". 4. Denver University gets 2 points for wins, and everyone else gets 3 points. ... so much fodder for the offseason ...

What. A. Terrific. Series. Hockey at its finest.

Agree. There's no punishment for the divers - either professional or lower levels. In the NHL, Brendan Shanahan can and should start reviewing and handing out punishments, starting with fines and leading to suspensions. Its worked remarkably well in cutting down on head shots, or at least getting the riff-Raffi off the ice. Diving should have the same structure, with commensurately lower penalties. This isn't about those questionable things, but the despicable phantom acting. The same concept could be applied in the NCHC ... and if they modernize their discipline for head shots, dangerous plays, and fighting, then I hope they add embellishment to the list of punishable incidents. Its taken years to get fighting out of the game, and its nearly gone, but a determined effort has paid dividends. A determined effort is getting head shots out of the NHL. And a determined effort could get rid of embellishment.

Much as I'd like to say I'm freaking magic ... At NHL.com, the SCORES tab has boxscores for all the games, and in the upper right corner there's detailed reports such as TOI, faceoffs, playbyplay, etc...

The other Dakota schools will also be without a paddle when Omaha leaves for the MVC ... perhaps as early as the end of their probationary period. With UNO hockey moving out of the Qwest Center, that leaves room for Creighton and UNO to share it for basketball.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20122013/TH030144.HTM

Minnesota worked harder than Chicago today. Happy for Zach; what a beautiful backhand.

Yeah, no kidding. If that's the standard, they need to call 500 of those each game.

Yeo rolling the dice again this afternoon ... loading up on his top 2 D and playing 2.5 lines. Hawks rolling 4. Its 1-1 after one, but this game has "Hawks 3rd period rally" written all over it.

Chicago has a very talented rookie on their top line as well. The Wild problem is not with their top 6 players. I agree with your point that the problem is lack of depth and lack of production from the rest of the roster. Brodziak -18 Heatley -12 Gilbert -11 Falk -9 Mitchell -8 The fact these guys are in the lineup every night is tribute to how thin the NHL-ready talent pool is for the Wild. As a result of a thin roster, Yeo has over-played his top guys. Game 1 was such a gamble - put 41 minutes in Suter's legs! - that was worth trying, but as the series goes on the Wild top players will get even more leg-weary. This reminds me of Chicago last 2 years, but this year Quenneville has really spread out the playing time. For example Game 1 Roszival (!) with 27 minutes led the Hawks. Lack of depth is not Yeo's fault. That's with the General Manager. I think he deserves another year.