The Whistler

It must be nice on the Riveria. Officially we were 31 below. I like to keep track in Kelvin myself.

As long as the winds not blowing and the car starts it's no big deal. You just stay inside most of the time.

Maybe I've got it wrong, but I don't see taking a grudge against a new teammate. That's got to be a bad thing for the team.

I think it's a bigger thing to get into the top 3 in the Final five versus positioning in the National tournament. In the National tournament you've got to beat the best to be the best. Does it matter which day you play the #1 seed? On the other hand there is an advantage to being in the top 3 in the WCHA playoffs. You avoid playing 3 games in three games vs your opponent who will only play 2.

I see the Inside College Hockey guys moved us up 3 spots this week. Last week they only moved us up 2 points when we beat the #1 team in the country on the road. Of course they still have us at #12 even when we're a top ten team in the PWR. What's the point of a subjective poll when it lags behind the statistics.

You got me figured out Diggler.

If the Sioux and the Gophers were both lower ranked teams this year we wouldn't expect people to care that much. I think the game was interesting in a national sense because a #15 knocked off a #1. I think the college hockey press makes themselves look poor by hyping these games that are insignificant. Furthermore I would expect the games between BU and BC to be a lot of fun for their fans no matter what the standings. They're two great programs and I expect the rivalry to match that. But come-on calling it a tournament of significance when you're inviting Northeastern and Harvard every year. To put it into perspective this tournament, this year, should get as much attention as the one we played up in Dartmouth this year. Nobody except for the Sioux fans really cared about how it turned out. Really college hockey shouldn't be impressed when BU or BC beat Northeastern.

A couple observations. BU and BC have strong programs. How exciting is a yearly tournament when only two teams have a chance of winning most any year. It's been what 13 years since Harvard last won it. Right now on BU is in the tournament and you've got to consider them a bubble team. The fans might get excited but it's not good hockey, it's hype.

Well the hype is on. USCHO is building up the most over hyped tournament in hockey. I think the WCHA should hold a tournament with the same level of competition. Using the KRACH this is the WCHA Beanpot field. The number one ranked team in the Beanpot according to the KRACH is the Boston University at #13. The closest WCHA team to #13 is #14 Michigan Tech who enters our tournament as the well-deserved #1 seed. The number two team in the Beanpot field is Boston College which holds down the 18th spot in the KRACH. I could offer my bid to Mankato who's just above them at #17 but I'm granting my bid to Alaska Anchorage as they need to get out more and they're one step below at #19. The number three team in the Beanpot is #27 Northeastern. The red-hot Duluth Bulldogs are just above them at #26 so they're my third seed in the WCHA beanpot. The number four team in the Beanpot is #32 Harvard. This one's a hard pick. I suppose I ought to give the bid to Mankato since I snubbed them on the second seed. But I'm going to mend some burnt bridges and offer my bid to #36 Northern Michigan a two-time member of the WCHA. Plus they gallantly lost to us in the 1980 Championship game so they can't be all bad. So in order to have a comparable WCHA Beanpot we'd have Michigan Tech, Alaska Anchorage, Duluth and Northern Michigan. Wow let the party begin. You could sell tens of tickets to this tournament so I can see what they hype is all about for the Beanpot in Boston.

I am not much of a drinker, even during college I was less of a drinker than all of my buddies. Alcoholism and driving drunk are problems. But the way they define "binge drinking" is just a way of some people getting attention and trying to boss the rest of us around.

One thing about the Herald's article, he refers to the scoring record held by Tony Hrkac and how it won't be seen again. I seem to recall plenty of clutching and grabbing back in the 80's.

Take away the center line and go back to using the blue line for icing? How many years ago was that rule changed? That'll do a lot to cut out the trap, but the D could still play back far enough to win the race to the puck. Still....That's less stops in play which has to be a good thing. Aside from that the options would be 1) better enforcement of current rules (have we heard that before?) 2) A larger net 4-6 inches would make a big difference and/or 3) limitations on the size of goalie equipment. Since we're tampering with the rules, let's institute a different point system akin to the NHL system along with the shootout. The rules I'd most like to see enforced are "keep your hand on your stick and the stick on the ice" rather than having them on another player.

You can say that again.

He was a bit into the ticky tack calls, but I guess as long as you're consistent that's ok. In the NHL the players know any tug with the stick means you're sitting. That's a better situation than the sometimes it's called and sometimes not. As far as next weekend....Campion didn't work in the WCHA this weekend. I wouldn't put it past Sheppard to inflict him upon us and Mankato again. At least you could think it might be equally bad.

You mean like the referee will skate over and ask the other team if they're going to let that punk get away with that stuff? By the way did you see the 'major' slash that the Denver player milked. Pathetic.

At this point in the season we have to be real happy where we are at. Right now we've got a pretty good hold on home ice for the first round of the WCHA. We have games in hand on the two teams right behind us in the standings. We've moved up to an 8th place tie in the PWR ranking so we've got SOME margin to get a bid for the national tournament. We've got to keep winning, but we can lose some games we 'should' lose. I'd like us to move up at least one place in the WCHA because in the not so unlikely event that a team above us gets beat we'd move out of the play in game. For that we're going to need some help. The best thing is that we've been getting stronger every week since Xmas. Before Christmas? I can't remember that far back.

First day in the AHL? I can't stand the guy for obvious reasons, but if you're going to be a cheap player than back it up.

The Binge Drinking is a term invented to create a crisis. It's a nothing statistic and the people that seriously use it should be shunned.

Oops games started I guess. Denver's been diving quite a bit in the first period IMO. Thuls been around a bit, mostly I've seen his name in box scores for Minnesota non conference games. I don't know how much he's working.

End of the first Dunver up 1-0, Brock Trotter. There was a little scrum in front of the Denver net. "You know who" went after a guy from behind. (minor deal)

I've decided that tonight we're better off with a Maine win. Oh well off to Denver, go Bulldogs!

Would someone make up my mind, the thirds about to start.

Can you do the sieve cheer over an internet connection? I guess it doesn't matter for me, I fall asleep when the Sioux are playing up there.

Even with the sports pack on Direct TV the pickings are slim. The only WCHA action is Duluth vs Denver. Sure hope Sandy can pull one out. That's not scheduled to start until 8:30 so I might watch Maine vs New Hampshire. I just don't like how the Leveille plays the game (and I still don't understand that either.) Might have to watch some NHL on the side and you shouldn't have to do that on Friday or Saturday night.