Cheese Head

FROM THE WISCONSIN GOAL JUDGE: After further review it was a goal! Congratulations, you lose 5-3!!!

[Keep hoping, Wisco can't match the offensive/defensive combos of several teams in the WCHA. ] Hmmmmm.... obviously the exception would be the Sioux.... right? "Punks"? Yes... the Sioux are first class hockey fans. haha

MinnesotaNorthStar: I suppose you are just trying to be deliberately obtuse to push my buttons, but no Eaves does not TRY to get outshot or TRY not to score. The Badgers are very young particularly at forward. Our strengths our goaltending and defense. That is what we hang our hat on. When the Badgers play a team like the the Sioux who are very strong at Forward we don't necessarily want to get into a run & gun game. Hence, we have to be opportunistic and make the most of our chances. When we got the lead on Saturday we often kept a winger back and set up our defense at the red line. The Sioux needed goals and the Badgers didn't. Simple as that. Now for the Poster who downplayed the importance of goaltending and defense in the playoffs in just plain nuts. The NCAA tournament is not a long haul. Two games max to get to the Frozen Four. Games get tight and often can be lower scoring. Who wouldn't want to ride a hot goaltender through the playoffs? Goal scoring can come and go (as the Sioux found out this weekend), but defense is more of a constant.

First, you are correct, the ref ruled it was not a goal because it came after time expired. I was just saying it wasn't a goal even if it had occurred while time was on the clock, because it was kicked in. Second, I haven't seen the word "domination" used by a team that was just swept before. Very interesting use of words to say the least. If you lose two games to your mother in H.O.R.S.E., did you "dominate"? Cliche of the Day: "Defense wins championships""

Just noticed a lot of hand-wringing by the N-Dak faithful. The Sioux were just exposed a little bit by a young talented team. N-Dak is still a very good team! N-Dak Strengths: Forwards -- Parise & Murray are the real deal. It will be good to see Parise in the NHL next year. (if not sooner) Depth: Four solid lines. Keep the "money line" together. N-Dak Weaknesses: Yes, goaltending will no doubt be your achilles heel in the playoffs. Definitely start Jake Brandt. No-brainer in my opinion. A shorter bench with the defensemen will also help. Jones is a stud, but there seems to be a noticeable dropoff after the top 4. Smaby seems a little shaky at times, but a talented freshman. As far as last night's game. It appears many were not able to see the game, I can tell you ZP's "goal" was not a goal. He re-directed the puck into the net with his skate. The shots on goal differential was a result of style of play. The Badger's strengths are goaltending & defense with an opportunistic offense (Freshman Forwards). Bruckler simply made the first save with his defensemen taking care of the rest. Most N-Dak shots coming from outside the box where Bruckler had a clear view. You could see N-Dak's frustration rise as the game went on, with a lot extra stuff after the whistle. Anyway, hope to see you guys at the Final Five. We look forward to more battles by two evenly matched teams.

Basically, it boils down to the fact that opposing fans know which buttons to push to get you guys all riled up. You have to remember that "elitists" come in many forms. This board appears to have many for a 4th place team.

Now Kiork, you have to agree there can't be much going on in Grand Forks, if you have the time to churn out these figures? BUT... I like it in a strange way. So.... if Wisconsin were to average 72,600 fans per game for 19 home games, that would give us 1,379,400 fans for the season. That would mean North Dakota would have to schedule at least 130+ home games to lead the Nation in attendance! Right? You know it's Summer when you're crunching attendance figures. I'm guilty.

I think the general consensus among Badger fans, is that things cannot get any worse after last season. We have good goaltending, a top rated freshman class and a decent sophmore class going into next season. (which will hopefully translate into a middle of the pack league finish) Until we get better on the ice I can only bring up things like "attendance" with Sioux fans. I'm hoping it won't be too far down the road that a Badger-Sioux series REALLY means something. There aren't to many rivalries in college hockey that can top the Badgers & Sioux.

And we stunk last year!

How many home games do you guys have this year? 30? Try leading the nation in attendance with only 19 games? UWBadgers.com