farce poobah

I think the goalie was Eric Pateman, who stood on his head for the first two games. He was seeing more rubber than .... (delete colorful euphemism) .... and frustrated UND's skill guys. But two early ones on Sunday and his head was no longer in it. Panzer, Blake and Co. took care of it from there.

Playing in Vegas seems like a way to stay on (get on?) the good side of Kris McGarry.

Sweeping Arizona State is more valuable than it may have seemed at the time. But playing only 5 games vs non-WCHA opponents doesn't leave any room for error. Certainly helps that the league is better this year.

If MSU had beaten St Cloud State at Mariucci, they would be #1 in the Pairwise. Its that close.

The eastern bias in the polls makes me happy (again) we have Pairwise to protect teams away from big media centers. Using KRACH to compare objective reality is pretty startling. Of the Eastern teams in their poll, 9 of 10 polled higher. Sometimes by large amounts. Harvard at #20 vs #31 KRACH was the largest. Western teams: 1 polled higher. 8 polled lower. Both Western Michigan and Minnesota are objectively 5 spots too low in the polls.

I almost voted for Ian Mitchell or Chris Wilkie. Or Hunter Shepard. Or Dryden MacKay. But then I saw the dude from Army is catching up. Vote often.

With the win, both Denver and SCSU are eliminated from the chase for the Penrose Cup.

DU bench was probably happy to get a five minute timeout on that review. Argh.

For most of the past 40 years, as long as I can remember , playing Denver is a lot like playing ourselves. Strap your pads on tight. A mix of Canadian and US players. Part of why I enjoy the rivalry so much.

Upset watch: #47 Merrimack 1-0 over #6 BC. End of 1.

The team at 26-4-2, if they can stay healthy, may make a run this year too.

28 seconds in and the Gophers lead the Irish. Game on NBCSN.

I’m imagining the brackets if hockey used smoke filled rooms. West: UND, DU, UMD, Minnesota State Midwest: Penn State, Michigan State, AIC, Robert Morris. Northeast: BC, UMass , Providence, Harvard. East: Cornell, Clarkson, Quinnipiac, BU. I count my Pairwise blessings every day this time of year.

Windchill minus 40? Just means all the little kids are at home and the outdoor rinks have more room for big kid games.

Basically we are selling away our home ice advantage- and frustrating the fan base - for a few advertising dollars. Compromise proposal: stop commercial interruptions during Period 3.

And it continued with Paul "Whiplash" Butters. (Yeah we brought him a neck brace to the Saturday game after he gave up a bunch on Friday.)

Well, they do like to replay games they won.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/ Leading the nation in goals, but only 17th in shots means a clear #1 in shooting percentage of 13.5%. I'm still perplexed - thrilled but perplexed - about why the incredible rebound from last year's 7.8% (#50 or so in the nation).

When the score hit 8-0 last night, I started having a flashback to another blowout vs CC, from the 79-80 season. A friend of mine had been goose hunting earlier in the day (month?), and it was unsuitable for consumption. So it became a candidate for a post-goal celebration. He smuggled it into the game, wearing bib overalls, and strapped it to his back, under a down jacket. Of course he was frisked, as we regularly were, but somehow he and the goose passed in. Early in the first period, the Sioux scored. He decided to wait. Then another goal, and he waited again. And again and again. At 6-0 he said he was waiting for 10. True to form, the Sioux got the 10th goal, and the goose floated out. Gracefully with wings extended. It slid to a stop a couple of feet in front of the beleaguered CC goalie. He was probably happy not to have to make a save on it. The Old Ralph was perfect for hockey, back in the day.

With the win, Gophers are now one point out of first place in the Big Ten.

Upset alert: Wade Allison has scored but Western trails Omaha 2-1 after two.

As of this moment, we've all played 15 games. (Be careful not to double count shootouts.)

Western Michigan looking like an NCAA Tournament team tonight. All over Omaha. 3-0 after two.

Upset watch: Quinnipiac 3, Cornell 0. early 2nd period.

If there's still time to take Kierstad out of your fantasy team, it seems like a good idea. Bummer, though: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/hockey/4888738-UND-may-be-without-back-to-back-NCHC-defenseman-of-the-week-against-Colorado-College