Big A HG

Starting Aaron is the right thing to do. If we lost with him, big deal...Phil has lost plenty of games in his career. Yeah, our Pairwise would take a hit, but we're still going to make the playoffs, and like AZSioux said in the Bracketology thread, either way you have to beat 2 good teams to make the Frozen Four. So, in the long run, starting Aaron is the right thing to do. He's put in his time. Like dagies said, if JPL got hurt, to have a goalie that never made a start (or even play this season) would be scary to watch, plus Aaron would have to go in cold. If he knows he'll get a start, he can mentally prepare and do the things it takes to get ready to be the starting goalie. If we were to win, and win convincingly, with Aaron as our starting goalie for a game, that will do wonders for the confidence of a team.

Who are you and how do you know my name?

No, I was right next to your girl actually.

11th actually....good guess though.

Sweet, I'm in that pic, hehe

Aaron deserves at least one start throughout the course of a season. I don't care how much better Phil is, if he actually is that much better. Even if we lose the game, it's not what matters. You have to give the kid a chance when he puts in all this work just to make his teammates better. I hope Aaron gives Brad a run for the starting job next year. For all the locals, Aaron is actually originally from Grand Forks...another reason to like him that much more!

I tried to use the old adage of "less is more"

It's going to be virtually impossible for the WCHA to get more than 5 teams in the tournament. Only five teams can make it to the Final Five, so that means five won't make it, which means that 2 teams currently in now will have lost at the very best 2 of their last 3. UND and CC are virtual locks, even if they don't make it to the final five...but they play the 9th and 10th place teams (as of right now), and only maybe the Gophers out of those two has a chance to make it. So, that means the 3 and 4 seeds would have to lose to allow the 6 and 7 teams to make it. Denver at #3 would still probably make the NCAA tourney, as long as they can right the ship these last few weeks. But, whoever finishes in the 4th spot will HAVE to make the Final Five...I think...to make the tourney. So, we're most likely guaranteed 5, but 6 is going to be hard, and 7 virtually impossible. Just a thought.

It's just one of those teams where if you run into them while their goalie is hot, it's gonna be tough. They have enough scoring with Bozak and Rakhsani in their lineup. It's hard to beat a team 4 times in a row in one season. I agree though, they aren't as good as past years, it's just one of those teams that's scary. Thanks Bob

How bout this one when referring to how much we like Michigan State?

Wow, thanks for posting something else that makes me angry.

I really dislike the idea of having to play Denver...

I want everyone to think back to the days following our defeat of Manitoba in the exhibition. Remember JP let in 2 insanely easy goals and all hell was about to break loose in Sioux Nation? I was one of the nay-sayers after that (still had confidence, but wasn't sure how it would really pan out), but you can't argue with how stupid some of us sound now.

INCH 4x4 is posted for this week. Sioux are a #1 in Albany with #2 Denver, #3 Clarkson, and #4 Niagara Click here

I've seen your little guys Zajac Swift, you wanna get him another?! You gotta teach him some self-control before he becomes a jersey addict like some around here.

Let me guess, Mr. Jonathan Toews?

What's wrong with just telling us?

This is already posted in the Hobey Talk thread, and Kozek won't win unless he scores about 35 more points the rest of the year.

I think it's Lapic myself...

Dear God no!

Wow, impressive...thanks sod.

There's also a good chance they do. They do have four away games (Minnesota, SCSU) to finish the year, but if they get 5 or 6 points, I don't see them not making the playoffs. This would be the best option for us. One thing that could happen is CC could drop to a 2-seed, Denver could drop to a 3-seed, us stay at a 1-seed, and then the NCAA has the perfect oppurtunity to make sure only one of us makes it to the Frozen Four. That regional would be tough to get tickets.

I think the Badgers have the potential to be just as tough or tougher than CC for us. I think the big difference is in goal. Bachman has been awesome all year, but he's still a freshman. The Badgers defensive style I think could hurt us more in the long run since our problem has been scoring. A speedy, uptempo team was more difficult for UND early on, but I think right now our team can match that speed and intensity and easily play at the level CC does. We just got done playing Minnesota who has been solid defensively as late (more like a WI), and they took us to OT both times. We just got done playing up-and-down style against Denver, and if it wasn't for a mental lapse in the second period, we would have easily swept these guys worse than we did.

I don't want to end up in Madison either. They proved how hard it is to win in Wisconsin 2 years ago.