farce poobah

Yeah, like the Gophers winning Saturday.

If I'm coach Blais, and thankfully for all of us I'm not the coach, I'm less concerned with sweeping this weekend that with how well the team plays. What is there to work on? (who plays on the 4th line; how to play vs various neutral zone traps; what else) Maybe somebody could ask DB on the Wednesday coaches show.

Classes? Oh, yeah, I remember. Vaguely. It was a long time ago. The skilled, dedicated hockey fan made sure not to schedule Friday afternoon classes. Real students, however, went to class Friday afternoon. All I remember is it had been a decade since the Sioux were upper-division WCHA, and the excitement of that fended off the cold pretty well.

February 2, 1979: classes cancelled at the University of North Dakota, due to air temps -30 to -40, northwest winds at 35-40, wind chills quoted at -80. Which meant that the students could get in line REAL EARLY to watch the #1 UMD Bulldogs take on the #2 UND Fighting Sioux. We were in line outside for 3 hours; UND staff took pity on us and opened the doors 2 hours before gametime instead of the normal 1 hour. I have never been so cold in my life. But it was worth it!! Ah, the good old days.

I gotta say UAA going from winless 0-22-6 last year, to #13 in the Pairwise with a realistic shot at the NCAA's, is the most impressive.

A few other postmortem reactions: The John was close to full last night; a pleasant surprise. Lot of Sioux colors in the stands; perhaps as many as 1000. Nice turnout. I was very Happy about the Sioux PK last night. Not only did we kill all 5 pp, the Rodents didn't generate a lot of great chances. To a layman's eyes, two strategies were obvious. One, don't let Ballard one-time from center point; a forward always stayed between Ballard and the goal, dropping back to prevent the cross-ice pass when others had the puck. Second, Parise and Bucks were out against the Rodent #1 unit which has Vanek on it. The Gopher seniors stepped up last night. Riddle and Koalska, in particular, on the big ice, were tough to defend. I thought our D did a good job of forcing them wide and not giving up the middle. But they use the extra width very well. I marvel at Zach's skills and effort every time I see him. I thought he was the best player on the ice last night, with about 5 "just missed" scoring opportunities, and a fistful of terrific defensive plays. I'm concerned about a letdown after this weekend, and hope we don't underestimate DU. They will be looking for a bit of revenge, methinks.

Sorry I just got back from The John. I stayed to watch the #@&*% Overtime. Ended in a 2-2 tie. The only other comment I have right now is that whoever counts shots at The John does it with brown and yellow colored glasses. No way were shots really 28-14 or whatever they counted. Yes the brown rodents had more, but not that many. We had a lot of chances EARLY (Zach, Porter, Hale, etc etc) and didn't convert. Lot of shots missing the net "just barely". Then in the second, we didn't match their intensity ... plus D Sh!&herd decided to make sure the home team got their powerplays. I still like our chances. But I'm grouchy tonight. Gotta go take a shower and rinse off the scum. More later.

During the 1980 National Semifinal, the Sioux trailed Dartmouth 0-1 after 2 periods. A reporter from Hockey News came down to talk with us, and after we each said "we're a 3rd period team" 3-4 times, he got the picture about how supremely confident we were going into any 3rd period. This year's Sioux gives me that same feeling. (PS those 1980 Sioux scored 4 unanswered in the 3rd .... and the rest is history.)

I predict the ice will magically melt after two periods as the Gophers desparately try to avoid playing the 3rd.

On the first goal ... Stafford ... came down the left wing, got the SOG with enough juice so that Briggs had to leave a fat rebound ...

Great game, a couple regrets: 1) Lundbohm won't show up on the scoresheet despite setting a terrific screen on the edge of the crease ... no way Porter scores w/o "Lundblom" messing up Briggs. 2) Murray didn't show up on the scoresheet despite a terrific little screen / touch pass / decoy on Bochenski's goal.

http://uscho.com/news/2004/01/20_007752.php We seem not to be the only ones seeking to drive change in officiating. Cornell coach Mike Schafer got suspended for public criticism after last Friday's game.

Speaking of Bucky, they lose 3-1 to Notre Dame on Sunday night too. While they have a strong and improving defense, and Bruckler is a top-tier goalie, I don't think they have the offensive firepower to threaten. I agree with sagard, MN sweeps Bucky in 2 weeks.

Feb 15 and 16, 1980. The Sioux were in the midst of a 14-game winning streak that led to the NCAA title at Engelstad East Arena in Providence. It was glorious. Yes I was there. We had balcony seats and since Saturday was not even close (6-2 I think), we got to use all our best taunts and insults. This weekend? Maybe.

I could have sworn I heard an "overrrated" chant.

CC kills powerplay Rodents lead 5-0 after 2. Mankato couldn't put the puck in the ocean, couldn't connect on a pass to a hoar, and can't stop nuthin. They are definitely in for 10th place in the WCHA.

That's OK, you'll see the last 8 then.

While I like the scenarios from Goon and NorthStar where the Sioux basically win out the season and cruise to a 9 point margin I looked at it from the other perspective - what's the minimum that we have to do in key series to win the title. First, the Sioux need to win the games we should win - Tech and Mankato in particular (12 points up for grabs). Second, get 3 points each from home series with CC and DU. My hypothetical total so far is 38 points. Third, get 1 point each from road series at MN, WI and UMD. 41 points would put the title out of reach. Even if UMD or if WI were to run the table, it would not be enough for them. (As to the Rodents, MN can only get to 41 if they win all their remaining games. Looks like their run for home ice may boil down to a series at DU on 2/27&28.) =================== UND 41 UMD 39 UW 36 SCSU 36 DU 32 MN 32 CC 22 UAA 18 MSU 13 Tech 11

Great recap. Thanks again. Your quickies are better than most guys' longies. Or so I hear.

End of 1. 1-0 UAA Sioux PP starts the second.

Sioux take 2 penalties - Smaby / Greene, kill the 5x3, but UAA scores 1-0 (Kronschnabel) Sounds like UAA is running a short bench.... I think that will cost them later. If we don't get too far behind that is.

Underway In Goal, King for UAA, Parise for UND. Bit of a surprise, the latter. UND lines sound like: Bochenski, Porter, Genoway Parise Murray Stafford Canady McMahon Fylling Marvin Hale Palmo

If Zach were taking shifts off, he would be on the ice for opponent goals. He's only been on the ice for 4 (even strength) opponent goals this year, and 3 of those were somebody else's fault (I didn't see the 4th, it was at DU). Since so many experts give him credit for two-way effort and hustle, I don't think there's a problem here.

Other than the naturally rare natural hat trick last night, my favorite stat was that in the 3rd period UAA had 1 SOG even-strength. (5 total, 4 of those on the powerplays) That's air-tight.

So does the Friday UAA game count for 6? Bo and Brady bagged six. Or is it zero since Blaiser shuffled the lines?