farce poobah

I've never gotten the first 10 correct before ... enjoying the view haha

Handful of things combined: (1) New teams joined which competed in our recruiting area (Wisconsin and UMD most notably), (2) Hard to break the cycle once it started (Michigan Tech just kept winning, and Minnesota hired Herb Brooks), (3) just not good coaching (Gino won with basically the same guys in his first year as Head Coach). Then, once we started winning, it snowballed and we kept getting better and better ...

I think we can match them drink for drink.

Same 4 teams as the 2009 Final Five semis - Denver, Duluth, Wisconsin, UND. That would be something else.

I mean ... a game is a kind of appointment ...

First time ever - that UND tossed back-to-back shutouts in NCAA play. A lot of great teams in the past, lot of great goaltenders, but this team just put one up on them all.

Amazing that all the non-champion teams lost in round 1, leaving only previous winners in the national elite 8. Put another way, the remaining 8 teams have won 41 national titles. Blue bloods.

When the East and West All-America teams are voted on, they include all of the Big Ten as West (also NCHC and CCHA) and the other 3 conferences as East. So I've thought of them as West. Aggregate scores so far: Big Ten 12-3. NCHC 11-1. My bracket is very happy, since I picked West over East in all my matchups.

So far ... MSU Mankato is still the only team to score vs the NCHC in the Tournament.

1. Its very unsportsmanlike for Bozek to start an argument in the handshake line. All credit to Jackson for just ignoring Bozek. 2. Even when Mack started making some plays, our guys did a great job not taking penalties. I can't remember any obvious calls that we should have been hit with a penalty. (Sidebar: For as long as I can remember, there's been differences in how Western vs Eastern refs call the game.West is more forgiving of hard hits and positioning/interference while the East is more forgiving of stick fouls that get called out West. That shows up in post game comments/articles going back to the NCAA finals in 1979 and 1980 "Sioux hit Dartmouth with a blizzard of late checks and hard hits" and so on. So its always possible that Bozek actually thought there were uncalled penalties that our Western eyes don't see as a penalty. Heck, sometimes with Eastern refs, UND has been hit with a parade to the box that mystifies me.) 3. Barring transfers, they've got almost everyone returning, but unless Hockey East stays down, I don't expect to see Merrimack back in the NCAA's anytime soon. 4. Our seniors really stepped up their game last night. (Rickwood, James, Young, Zmolek ...) "Experience leads" in a tournament like this, and they get high marks from me.

So ... just like 2015-2016, we beat the Hockey East playoff champ in the Regional Semifinals.

Trivia du jour: Dartmouth hasn't been to The NCAA Tournament for 46 years. I had the privilege of watching their last two games in person ... both vs UND and both UND wins. 1979 in Detroit and 1980 Providence.

Actually got to chant that at the Old Ralph. UND played Moscow Dynamo in the 1988-1989 season. Dynamo was NHL-style good (and professional). And a feeder team for the USSR National Teams. Just a year later they played in the Super Series vs NHL teams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Series The only game I can recall not being dissatisfied with a loss.

DA! DA! .... Fighting Hawks!

It's signalled already, with Knott named Associate Head Coach, and Oliver named as an Assistant.

20 NCAA titles in Michigan vs 8 in Minnesota.

Yup. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/teamHistory/Merrimack/29 Nothing ever better than that first title.

Dartmouth making the NCAA .... I'm getting serious flashbacks. SERIOUS. Their last two NCAA appearances, UND beat them in the National semifinals. I had the serious fun of being at both. 1979 and 1980.

Is this just Mick Hatten wanting a new coach for SCSU?

32 new players on the rosters for St Thomas and Mankato tonight. Sometimes rebuilding is the way to go ...

Mankato 4-1 over St Thomas. Final

it is kinda fabulous to see Josh Morton doing so well.

reading what other smart people here have written, I feel like we collectively have a strong start.

I look forward to the day when awards ALSO for: * Assistant Coach / coaching staff * General Manager And yes, our guys would be shoo-ins for those awards this year.

I'm hoping they go after Brett Larson. I mean, St Cloud hasn't been trending up since he took over. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/teamHistory/St-Cloud-State/52 I just don't see them ever cracking into CHL talent. (1) all the "better" recruits "right on their doorstep at home" ... and those complaints tearing alumni support apart, and (2) if you're a CHL talent, there's a lot of great places to go that LOVE Canadian hockey players.