Slap Shot

btw - just read through the game thread at GPL and there are a lot of complimentary posts about your team in there - and rightfully so. It was a fair game and UND deserves to be congratulated on a great effort. Again - good luck!

Dang that loss sucked, but at least the Gophers lost to a great team playing excellent hockey. I was disappointed with how much trouble the Gophers had putting more than 2 passes together and breaking out of the zone (one of their strengths for much of the season) but I think the speed of UND caused them to be a bit jumpy and that pressure made the tape to tape passes hard to come by. I was also bummed that a wrap-around goal was the deciding one but that's how OT goes so often. I'm also disappointed that the Gophers PP continued to do exactly what I said they can't do - try to create everything from the blue-line via one-timers instead of getting the puck down low and cycling in the zone to create passing lanes and opportunities for shots on net. Too many shots were blocked and/or never reached the net and UND's PK is great at putting pressure on the PP unit - they don't sit back and wait for something to happen. That said UND won the game fair and square and deserve to represent the WCHA in the FF. I can't sincerely say I'll be standing up and cheering for you all but I sincerely wish you good luck!

He hurt his hand in practice late in the week - Thu or Fri. He played plenty of minutes yesterday but if you watch the game again you will notice he didn't shoot the puck one time - which is very unusual for Goli. So once again the assumption Lucia had an ulterior motive/is evil was wrong.

Dear Parise, the irony.

You realize the role of Jan Brady is already taken?

Regardless of how the regionals were set up, I do agree that this is currently the best rivalry in college hockey. While I realize a lot of Gopher fans consider UW the better overall rival because our states clash in so many different ways, UM-UND imho has always produced better hockey and UND is a team I have typically feared more than any other team. UW - not so much.

MafiaMan - you're right about the first name but it was definitely Schutte that shushed the crowd. Either way that didn't offend me in the least - I thought that was a pretty fitting reaction to having about 18,000 people cheering against you.

Talk about a gross mis-interpretation of events. He didn't blame the fans on the loss, he said that the reaction to the loss was wrong because essentially on any given night any team can get beat. In essence to assume there was no way for them to lose was ignorant and alas we all found out that was true. Also he didn't call out Gopher fans but fans in general. The actual quote:

I think when the WJC was at the REA that the Russian team spent a lot of time yapping. Many of you probably have a better recollection of that than I do. I agree to a point. The kind of stuff celebrating that Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson do annoys me. However, even as a Gopher fan I got a kick out of Brian Schutte (sp?) when he 'shushed' the crowd at the X in 2002. That might be inconsistent I suppose but I think there are ways to celebrate outside of just raising a stick that aren't necessarily going too far. Even I had to laugh at that.

That's my point - no set of fans is any better/worse than any other. And no one is forcing me to visit here just like no one is forcing you to respond to me.

As usual there's a perfectly logical explanation for everything a Sioux coach/fan/player does and no good reason when it's done by a Gopher. We whine, you cheer, we showboat, you celebrate, we horde, you share, blah, blah, blah, we suck, you're perfect....

So Wheeler skating over the Gophers' fan section and grabbing a flag to parade around the rink would have been just hunky dorey in your opinion? **WARNING - HOCKEY RELATED COMMENT TO FOLLOW** As for if UND and UM should meet again - I have a feeling that Lucia won't game plan UND the exact same way because you can bet that Hak is going to develop an altnerate game plan of his own. Lucia may try something more in between the first series and last weekend, and I hope like heck they try to go down low on the PP instead of trying to create opportunities from the blue line every time. I said before that game that UND was not going to sit on their heels and let UM dictate the flow of the PP and they didn't. I think they need to use the corners and space behind the net more and crash the net. A garbage goal counts just as much as a pretty one-timer.

Here are your halos.

Go away. Nice game tonight even though you all obviously are unahppy with the outcome. It was fun to watch and I was glad the Gophers were able to play determined, tenacious hockey against a team that brings it themselves. Good luck Sioux until we meet again.

What was assinine [sic] about what he said? He's annoyed with everyone essentially handing the title to UND and he followed that up by saying tonight should provide a great atmosphere. I swear if Lucia saved a baby from a burning building some of you would still call him a jerk if he didn't also put out the fire.

I think your overreaction is more telling than anything Lucia said. He was obviously sarcastic with the first comment and does anyone not agree that the tonight's game should bring a championship like environment?

Perhaps luapsided thinks he comes from the hood?

I don't know what to make of this game. Obviously UND made UM look a silly the last time but the Gophers seem to be getting back to where they were earlier in the season. Whether or not they are all the way back or not remains to be seen. My thought is that unless UND doesn't play like they have lately, the Gophers will have to play sharp early and keep it close in the 3rd. Move UND forwards away from Briggs and don't give up too many odd-man rushes because no one is finishing better than UND. If SCSU was nearly as strong yesterday at that as UND was they might have kept that game closer. One key lately for UM is they've had a few come from behind wins which imho represents some grit. Okposo was like a bull last night, and Lucia, Carman and Barribal are also playing as feisty as they had earlier. They need the same from guys like Kaufmann and Flynn, and the defensemen are going to have the play the body. The Gophers' biggest weak spot right now imho is their PP. Too much passing around the peremiter and not enough play down low. They need to approach the PP almost as if they didn't have a mad advantage - in other words don't take it for granted and force the play instead of waiting for something to happen. Either way lets hope this is another UND-UM classice WCHA Final Five championship game - and hopefully with the same result as last time.

DOH!!!

Well shoot everyone knows it was a Gopher fan on the grassy knoll. The Great Depression? The fall of Saigon? The 1991 Halloween snowstorm? That's right - we did it. I gotta tell you - it feels really good to finally get that off my chest.

Here's your tinfoil.

That's not a fact that's an opinion, and I doubt Lucia would have given a rats behind if the posters were wrong - especially with the way the team played last year. Reporter: Don, so what do you guys do to regroup before the NCAA regionals? Lucia: Playoffs? Playoffs? You think I want to talk about playoffs? Those IDIOTS at Red Baron screwed up the *($&#*&$()&$()$& POSTERS you imbecile!!! How can I be concerned about losing a stupid hockey game when the they GOT THE POSTER WRONG? SOMEONE'S GOING TO HANG FOR THIS I SWEAR IT!!!! Yeah, I can hear him now. What?

Good luck you guys. While the U hopefully getting their head straight on this issue probably doesn't make a difference to the overall fight, I hope you guys win.

One Gopher fan said Bina shouldn't win. Just saying.... Personally I wouldn't put any money on a Gopher to win it this year but I think Goligowski has a shot at the final 10.

HockeyMom I'm well aware of, "innocent until proven guity" - I've just never personally had to stand in front of a judge before and it's hard to draw from Law & Order to relate to a case like this one. I asked because I would have thought what's considered to be pretty minor offense could be dismissed by the judge and/or prosecutor upon plea rather than require the parties to return at a later date. But I suppose it makes sense to try and have all charges waved if possible so nothing remains on their record.