MafiaMan

I didn't rub comments in people's faces at all. You want to take pot shots at a guy who has done nothing but represent the USA with class and gamesmanship his entire career, you go right ahead. I'm glad people with common sense didn't push the panic button after one-goal losses to Russia and Canada.

I wasn't trying to call in particular out. Like I've said several times, I just don't quite get the venom against a coach who is seeking to improve on last year's 3-3 World Junior finish.

So along with the Canadian-born coaches listed earlier in this thread who may or may not have had any interest in coaching the American kids in this particular tournament, who would have been on your list of candidates?

Stillwater plays in the same section as Hill-Murray. I guess I just don't understand the venom being spewed at Phil Housley. Someone felt he should be given a chance to coach this team (and being an assistant coach in '07 and '11 certainly showed he has interest in coaching at this level) and he's done a good job with a team not expected to medal at all. I seem to recall lots of Sioux fans going nuts over 'high school coach' Dean Blais being picked to coach North Dakota back in the day. That worked out pretty well...

So now the requirements have to include coaching schools you have heard of? Wow. Stillwater recently handed #2-ranked Minnetonka its first loss of the season. Perhaps you've heard of that school.

No affinity for Phil Housley at all and no "inside scoop" either. He can't win either way with some of you posters. Lose a preliminary game or two and you want him fired...get the team to the gold medal game and you give all of the credit to the players.

I'm picking up your sarcasm. Did Phil Housley run over your dog and drive off without stopping to see if it was ok or something? You sure have an aversion to a person who has represented the USA many times in his playing and coaching career...and done an outstanding job of being a fine representative for USA hockey.

So after one season of being an assistant coach at Minnesota and four years of being the head coach at Minot High School, was Dean Blais qualified enough to become an assistant coach for the University of North Dakota? We could debate qualifications all day long.

LOL...yep, the true measure of coaching genius is how your team plays in the preliminary rounds. And certainly, one-goal losses to Russia and Canada call for Housley and staff to be publicly flogged as punishment. Sheesh...tough crowd. Win or lose tomorrow, this tournament was a success for Team USA.

Good stuff! Maybe this Phil Housley character isn't such a bad coach after all.

Frankly, son, I'm at a loss for words here...

It's not the CCHA that's not good this year...it's specifically Michigan State and Michigan.

That might be a stretch...but I would LOVE to see that storied program get back on its feet again.

Then I'll get you up to speed this morning...Kim Kardashian is pregnant and Lebron James had Cheerios for breakfast. Oh, and Piers Morgan still hates gun owners.

I watched the two Gopher/Tech games on TV a few weeks ago and was impressed with the Huskie performance in the split. Both games were very close. Tech will be a tough out for someone in the WCHA playoffs this season.

I bet Phil's tactics work just fine and Rocco gets the message in the next game and plays quite well.

Oh please. If that's a Gopher player, you're calling for Phil to ship him back to Minneapolis for being a team cancer.

I expected much more out of Slovakia in this game based on their performance in this tournament up to this point. Good win for Team USA...maybe there is hope for a medal after all!

Wilbur, in 2011 Boston College was smoked in the opening round of the NCAA's by Colorado College...and it wasnt in Worcester!

On the off-chance that Lake State can ever turn around its program and became a high-seed, a trip to Sault Ste Marie would be possible under this proposed format.

Wow, that's an educated post. Those schools doing well would be beneficial for ALL of college hockey. If you want to start weeding out the Bemidjis, Mankatos, Lake States, etc., college hockey will become an even smaller niche market than it already is.

Sad but true. In a few years, most everyone in the crowd at REA will be sporting new jerseys...and Sioux jerseys will pop up as often as a North Stars jersey at a Wild game.

Yea, Michigan Tech had every chance to go back to the CCHA when Northern Michigan left and they chose to stick with the WCHA. It would be a shame for the new-look WCHA to struggle attendance-wise and revenue-wise - even worse if some schools decided to 86 hockey altogether.

The difference now is that fans can speculate as to where their team will be placed (like UND fans figuring they were coming to the X two weekends in a row)...once you open up remote locations, it will get trickier. A February-March trip to Marquette or Sault Ste Marie is a white-knuckler!

That's a lot of absolute last-second planning...and won't ever happen. Imagine pairings coming out on Sunday afternoon and having to make travel arrangements to go from Boston to Kalamazoo or Grand Forks to Sault Ste Marie on 3-4 days notice...that's pretty tough logistically-speaking. I believe a three-game series is a better option that still rewards a team for having a successful regular season.