farce poobah

#16 North Dakota vs #1 Minnesota in Fargo?

If I were the Omaha coach, that five-minute timeout gave me a chance to shorten the bench for the last few minutes. Challenging that goal early in the game would have been a waste of a timeout. Glad the refs got the call right.

No conference has a week of rest. The NCHC gave all their teams a week off in February, and I think the coaches are happiest to play every week down the stretch. Also , the NCHC has a single elimination final four, whereas other conferences are a mix of best two of three, and some single elimination on campus with that extra travel. So NCHC has a shorter playoff season. PS it’s way better than the grueling grind that the WCHA schedule had. (Best two of three plus another game the next Thursday Friday Saturday.). That wrecked a lot of good WCHA teams’ chances in the NCAA.

Asking a lot there, bro

I agree with their objective (10 years ago) to not be stuck in a D-2 bus league with Ferris et al. I'm not smart enough to know why they haven't been competitive, but it seems clear that Bergeron hasn't improved things after 4 years of his tenure.

Just a reminder that St Thomas' coach is the guy that couldn't get the job done at Miami. No reason yet to believe he will at UST.

#4 very lucky Omaha didn’t challenge the latest penalty for CTH. Wow.

Real wins get a Cadillac Eldorado. Shootout wins get a set of steak knives.

Probably not a guy who's just won 6 conference championships in a row. (in a rebuilding year no less) But his associate head coach, Todd Knott, is a key part of their recruiting success. (And, yeah, I think our recruiting has missed on a few guys in recent years. )

Wherever we travel to for round one, they will be thrilled at the chance to end our season. And a little nervous.

Apparently, sometimes its good to have off-season losses.

So … he’s just like his Dad.

I didn't have the same impression about goals at end of periods, so I decided to throw the whole season into a spreadsheet. Here's what I came up with (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong; I did this quickly and by hand so errors are possible): For the entire season, in the first two minutes and last two minutes of a period: UND 26, Opponents 15. ** Excluding the first and last two minutes: UND 81 Opponents 81. Hypothetically, if the only goals that counted on the season were those scored in the first/last two minutes of periods, UND's record would be 15-8-8, instead of the actual 13-13-5. This is also a consistency check, seeing that the stats aren't inflated by a couple games with a lot of goals (ahem Miami). ==================================================== By no means do I disagree with the often stated emphasis on avoiding GA and getting GF in the end and start of periods. I agree with that. (Case in point: last night vs St Cloud where that's their only two goals.) ** I excluded OT goals, since those are almost always first/last, but that's only 3 goals for the full season anyway.

Nearly four minutes of zone time in one possession. Wow. Keep it rolling guys.

Tip of the iceberg ... Really glad there wasn't such thing as camera phones or social media back then.

If you're seeing the shortcomings in his 200 foot game, and I'm seeing them, chances are good the pro scouts and his family advisor are seeing the same thing. I see a guy with a lot of potential. I'm sure someone has told him to work on one-timers and start using them in games. He has the speed, hands and game sense to be a great forechecker, but its not quite there yet. "You have talent. Develop it!" ( - said to me by an insightful teacher once upon a time)

Wraparound is a fabulous way to create openings vs the defensive coverage. Hope to see us use it (or just use the net as a legal pick vs your defender) more often.

McLaughlin certainly made that first goal look easy. So smooth. if he starts potting regularly, we get a lot harder to beat.

Roster construction: one fascinating piece of Mankato’s success is interviews with several (all?) other team members as part of the selection process. Does UND do that? Should we?

St Cloud is not ready to play at the speed of game on a regulation size rink. Let’s get a couple before they figure it out.

Speaking of guys who are future head coach material .... oops wrong thread. He's been amazingly durable given he's not Ludwig-size or Patrick-size.

The timing of announcement gives hints as to what went on behind the scenes. Immediately after last game, Head Coach asks DC for assessment, top to bottom of players, training, and all the DC staff. And presumably a list of what to change for next season to improve results. HC reviews the resulting assessment (couple weeks later), asks for changes (perhaps to DC staff). They disagree. HC says "its time to part ways, but I'll give you the chance to announce it to the world first". Bottom line, I think there's more changes to come.

Well, at least we split with Denver on the weekend. Counting basketball that is.

Tom Sterns: please leave. Ryan Hersey: please leave. And take your seeing eye dog with you.

Now starts the string of penalties on UND until Denver has a Five goal lead.