farce poobah

There's no easy draws this time of year, but from a style of play standpoint, I like UNO's chances against Michigan. For a #12 seed, they got a decent draw (only 400 miles from home, its not at someone else's house, and its a team they are familiar with). Go Deano. Beat the ugly helmets.

Nothing evil tonight. Too many TV cameras around. George will comb his hair every 10 seconds, straighten his tie every 30, ask the FSN cameraman "how do I look?" every 45 seconds, and change his suit after the first period to make sure he contrasts with the wave of green and white sitting behind him.

I look for the Sioux to come out and roll four lines, keep the legs fresh up and down the lineup, and work on fine tuning some specific things (faceoffs, PK, etc). I would expect the same from Denver, particularly since their NCAA seedings aren't really affected much by winning or losing tonight. Given that DU has less depth (but their top guys are as good as anyone in the nation), I think that scenario favors the Sioux. Last WCHA game as the Fighting Sioux (?) - come on boys / fans, let's continue the proud tradition with one more win tonight.

CC is really REALLY young. If they can keep their team together, next year might be the big year for them.

It was a very slow motion, gentle check; neither player was doing more than slow coasting. However, it was from behind. I thought it was a 2-minute cross check.

Taking a gloved hand and smearing around the other players mask/face. Pretty much what moms do to little kids, making it a mild insult to the face washer. (As it too timid to actually fight.)

I got impressed with Bemidji today. They react to the play as one cohesive team as well as anyone. They keep numbers on the right side of the puck. They didn't give UMD much (except the last 30 seconds of regulation!). They make good decisions with the puck. (They didn't finish well today.) I can see why they gave UNO fits. UNO makes a living off other team's mistakes, and turns them into goals. BSU rarely makes mistakes, rarely gives up odd man rushes, etc. They make you beat them - they don't beat themselves. Mr. Serratore is one excellent coach. Once he gets WCHA-level talent up and down the roster, look out.

Oh, and this thread wouldn't be complete without a tip of the cap to the strong turnout from Bemidji. Well done, guys.

Late in the first period, I was thinking "gee, I would rather the Sioux play CC than UAA". UAA is big strong physical, play good positional hockey, and they simply don't beat themselves. CC got puck luck in droves tonight. And once they got the lead, they too are tough to play against.

If you were there, please vote. If you watched on TV, its OK to vote. If you listened on radio ... oh what the hey its St Patrick's Day.

... and when Gino won titles, his assistants were the likes of Rick Wilson (still in the NHL after all these years), Dean Blais, Jim Nelson ....

Most of the 4000 diehards were at Mariucci last night .... but seriously, what a horrendous atmosphere for a proud program. They badly need to reseat Mariucci, and start by creating a real student section (and a larger one). That's what creates the college atmosphere that old folks like me love. Don't expect it to happen .... but when Mariucci gets full, it can get loud and intimidating. Of course, that was 10 years ago.

Blackhawks, on a day off, visit Walter Reed Hospital. Says something about that franchise that they are apparently the first to bring the Stanley Cup there. "You know, we think we make sacrifices," said captain Jonathan Toews. "And then you come here and learn what real sacrifices are. These are such young people whose bodies have been changed forever. Yet their spirit is terrific. They don't feel sorry for themselves. They just move on. I've learned a lot here today. It's been amazing. I've never spent a day quite like this and I'm not going to forget it. I hope none of us will." Amen. Full story: http://blackhawks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=555690

we got outshot in the second period. that is unexceptable.

This might be the shortest game thread in years. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Sioux women take a 3-2 lead on the Gophers. 2900 at the Ralph tonight.

BC lost to Northeastern 2-1. Surprising Merrimack wins again, 2-1 over UMass.

Mankato draws first blood. Ole! oleoleole! Ole! oleoleole! Ole! oleoleole!

Definitely going. My final view of this season will be of Captain Genoway, wearing his Fighting Sioux jersey, raising the Trophy.

Good memory there, Blackheart. Let's take that "Never Say Die" attitude a bit further. In the first of those 4 regular season games, in November in Minneapolis, the Gophers had a 10-3 lead. The Sioux scored three goals in the last 2 minutes to make the final 10-6. Without those three "meaningless" goals, the Sioux lose the tiebreaker. A great object lesson for the kids ... Never give up, don't ever give up.

Methinks Marvin is secretly hoping to get suspended. That way he doesn't have to man up for a Showdown with Mario.

Add to this, that we have a coach who understands that he's the custodian of a great Fighting Sioux tradition, and a team filled with seniors, I expect the weekend to be a truly memorable performance. Buy now. You'll be glad you did.

Some interesting omissions, including Lynah (Cornell). Most of them are easy to agree with, although I would have ditched Yale for Cornell. If UNO keeps drawing 15,000 like they did for the Badger games this weekend, they will get onto people's radar.

I have questions about faceoffs: * How do you teach them (just repetition?) * How do you coach them ... seems like an awful lot of faceoff wins depend on linemates not just the centerman. Year after year, I see UND winning well over half ... and I'm wondering how that comes to be.

One of the great stories out East is Merrimack, who's now up to #5 or #6 depending on which website you look at. With an OT sweep tonight against UNH, and the fact tonights game was played without their leading scorer da Costa, they are on a roll. Not out of the question that they sneak into a #1 if the WCHA teams lose any momentum. Over on USCHO, Redwing8831 has an interesting scenario which sends Wisconsin out East ... http://board.uscho.com/showthread.php?92167-Too-early-for-the-PWR-Princeton-and-Brown-say-no!&p=5030843&viewfull=1#post5030843 Oh - and one other interesting observation is just 3 CCHA teams would make it in ... Miami, Notre Dame and Michigan. This maybe speeds the desire of some to flee the CCHA in favor of a Big Ten Hockey conference. Still, I'm singing "Meet Me In St Louis" for the NCAA Regionals. Not just because I like the idea of playing on neutral ice (not road ice which would be the case at the other 3 regionals), but because its a manageable trip / drive from the Twin Cities.