burd

Pearson's no dummy, though, showing there's still something to fight for is what his players need to see being down 5.

Not me. If they lose tonight, I'm a gopher fan forever. Ordering my panties now.

Good post.

Good point.

Depends on where we are allowing the shots to come from.

Gotta admit though, he has a pretty quick jab.

Tech definitely lost it in the third after the Kristo goal, but I think it is unfair to say they were playing a dirty, clutching and grabbing game before that. They were getting a lot of shots on net and beating the Sioux to the puck much of the time. They played well until . . .

I agree. Especially on the part about the official needing to see the penalty instead of applying a presumption when there is possible injury.

That's not at all what you learned from that penalty. You learned that a violent hit will usually draw a penalty, even if it's clean. Johnstone got smoked by a good hit and he was hurt. Not many players would have gotten right up after that bomb.

I thought Tech played very well for two periods then just kind of fell apart with the kristo goal. they actually had the Sioux on the run much of the time in the second.

It's OK. I think we all want this to be the year.

1963 - 1980 = ?

Thoughtful post. I have a question that I'm not putting out there for a rhetorical purpose. Would you give up watching the DOT line their last year for bounce or two against Michigan a couple of years ago and a banner (assume we win the final)?

True statements. It has changed big time. No player will score as many points in a season as Hrkac did or as many points in a career as Johnson did. More kids are playing, and they are playing all year round, finishing high school away from home in order to become better players. It seems like that should make it more difficult to be in the hunt for the big prize on a consistent basis, but I'm not sure how that works, to be honest. I just know we are lucky to be able to watch such good hockey year in and year out.

When did you grow up watching Sioux hockey? It took them 10 years to win a banner after the Circus left town. Don't even get me started on the teams from the late 80s/early 90s. Some of those teams had more offensive firepower than UND has ever had, with G Johnson, Dixon Ward, Russ R and others, yet they couldn't make it into the tourney some years. The '97 team got lucky that BU took down the prohibitive favorite. The '98 and '99 teams were supposed to win it all, but the coaching must not have been good enough, or the teams did not want it bad enough, or the fans just didn't care enough, because they just choked it up, at least in your mind. As for UND's ancient "glorious past," how many banners did they win between the time Kennedy was elected and 1980? What a pathetic program. Do you go to the games because you love the game, or are you just looking for someone else to accomplish something that will give you some second-hand validation you are lacking in other areas of your life? You are mistaking childishness for pride.

I don't think anyone would say that. But. I can say that I value the Mac a great deal, not because it's cool hardware but because if the Sioux win it that means I would have enjoyed watching extremely good hockey week in and week out for an entire season in the best conference in the country. Banners are nice, especially natties, but in my old age I've gotten more selfish in wanting to watch good hockey on many weekends than I care about the bragging rights that come from succeeding over two weekends, which, for fans, is what natties are mostly about. Not to diminish the thrill when the Sioux win one--it's great. But for example, I would not trade the pleasure of watching the DOT line for a year for a nattie. Would have been nice to have both, for sure, and a lot of fans would think that's crazy. But it's the game and the way it's played at the college level that is so great, not the numbers 7 or 8 or 9. As long as it's more than 5, of course.

I thought the boys worked very hard last night and played well overall. The second Beaver goal was not a softie and it wasn't a fluke--just a good sensible decision on the blue line by their D and a good tip. We didn't finish some of the good chances we had and came up with a tie. Had they scored on the breakaway, we'd all be feeling a deeper shade of blue. I love Rocco. Dynamic player and generous with the puck now too. Great vision. Sometimes he dishes the puck so quickly others aren't quite ready. He's not ready to go up the ladder, though. Rubbed out on the boards too easily to be ready to deal with the big boys. Not that he isn't physical and intense--he just has to develop some techniques, I guess. Some of you more experienced hockey experts here will have a better assessment of that. He'll have to be a Kane-type player, relying on his quickness and vision. The Kane who is playiing this year and showing more defensive responsibility. I love that so many teams are in the mix going into the last weekend of the soon-to-be old WCHA. It's been such a pleasure being in this conference. They better do a tribute of some kind at the Fin Five.

Now go out and play 60 minutes tomorrow. Play Sioux hockey. Take care of business. Still one game at a time. Hey, it worked tonight.

Keep your stick on the ice and don't Bogart that joint.

As long as you take it one game at a time.

And some people think with them.

SPARKY!! Somewhere? Surely there is a way.

We would be dam lucky to get that bracket.

Pattyn is a hard worker who plays a physical game. I hope he can still play with a brain and leave the stupid stuff in the locker room. It's getting close to that time of year, when an avoidable penalty at the wrong time has a steep price. Much as people loved Prpich and Hextall, those two made extremely stupid plays at times, and even when they did not get the box, contributed to closer scrutiny by refs, IMO. Hit hard, play aggressive, but walk away from the stupid shat.

You have to account for the fact that he is a Minnesota product, Mariucci.