Godsmack

Good call. I could root for ‘Kato.

Northeastern will be my team of choice in the tournament. Them and Air Force if the Falcons can make it.

That first goal was incredibly deflating for both the team and its fans. We out-played and out-chanced DU the entire first period and to give up that goal with a minute left in the period stung....a lot.

First goal was a defensive breakdown by us, allowing the DU forward to walk in uncontested and beat Thome from inside the slot. Second goal was a tipped shot from the point through traffic that Thome probably couldn’t see.

Doesn’t offend me one bit, this is a results-oriented business. I will say that the culture at UND is pretty strong having witnessed the team continue to battle and work hard even when down a couple goals late in the game. I didn’t witness this during Haviland’s first 2-3 seasons at CC. They’d fall behind a couple goals and their body language on the bench said it all, they’d pack it in. UND players last night continued to battle for each other and their coach and that was admirable.

Tough man. I’ve seen UND in person now eight times on the road this season and they’re 2-5-1 (the tie with DU though felt like a loss). Not my year to see wins I guess.

The only thing better than a glass of beer is having tea with Ms. McGill!

To siouxeleven’s point about desired line pairings, Berry mentioned something in the post game last night that he would be splitting up Jones and Gardner. Man, tough to watch them last night. I do not question their effort, they definitely try hard and rather than pack it in after the second goal, they continued to play hard but they just cannot find any creativity in the offensive zone.

You’re asking a lot of your goalie when you can’t score goals. Basically, pitch a shut out or give up only 1 goal in order for us to have a chance at winning.

I’m not going to pin this loss on Thome and if I’m reading your comments correctly, I don’t think that’s what you’re saying either. All I’m saying is, we didn’t lose last night because of Thome. Bottom line: we simply don’t have the snipers or finishers. We work really hard down low in the opponent’s end and rarely generate many grade A scoring chances. I think DU and other opponents this season have scouted us pretty good in that regard. Hell, UND had the puck in DU’s zone for about the entire last 3 minutes of the game, including the final 2 minutes with our goalie pulled and DU wasn’t making an effort to play aggressively in the D zone; rather, they packed their 5 guys in tight in the slot area, taking away any clear shooting lanes. They gave UND all the space they wanted on the perimeter, betting on their goalie, Larrson, that he won’t give up a leaker from a bad angle.

I thought Thome played well. We did catch a break late in the second period as a defensive breakdown led to a wide open DU skater who rang one flush off the cross bar. Thome made a brilliant save off his right pillow on a wrap around attempt in the third. Can’t blame him on either of DU’s goals.

That’s more than the entire UND squad!

We go to the Frozen Faceoff every year and if CC and UND don’t make it, we will be finding ourselves rooting for Western Michigan. Wow.

We had two early power plays tonight and didn’t do diddly poo on them.

More of the same. I don’t remember a UND team this offensively inept.

We did have several logo buster shots too. If we’re going to do that, at least shoot low and try to get the DU goalie to kick out some rebounds.

Under two minutes to play, goalie pulled, and Bast gets the puck a few feet inside the O zone blue line and walks in and shoots....about 3 or 4 feet above the net. That’s been our season.

I’m doing what any normal UND hockey fan living in Monument, CO does on game day.....I’m stuck at home due to snow, ironing dress shirts while rocking out to the new Volbeat live blue ray!

I might have an extra ticket for tomorrow night’s hockey game if anyone wants it. It’s in electronic format in a PDF file. I’ll know for sure tomorrow but I don’t think we will get plowed out here in Monument.

Frank Serratore faces all kinds of obstacles and his teams seem to overachieve. It really is inspirational. That, and Frank gives some of the funniest, most candid interviews in the business. He definitely doesn’t partake in the usual “coach speak.”

Good place to practice as it’s at well over 6,000 feet above sea level.

I just played at Air Force the other night. They have really good ice, probably the best ice in town.

UND will not make it to Magness this afternoon to practice as I-25 northbound between Monument and Castle Rock is still closed. I wonder if they’ll practice at World Arena instead?

I follow the B1G Mistake Facebook page and based on the commentary from its founders, part of the reason for the poor attendance is a multitude of reasons including, fan apathy, the university administration price gauging its season ticket holders (they recently revamped their pricing structure), poor fan experience (poor quality of concessions, high prices, no beer sales), lack of long standing rivals, etc. Basically, the long term season ticket holders have not been renewing and year over year, season ticket holder numbers have been dropping. I’m sure this isn’t an exhaustive list but the sense I get is that Gopher fans are tired of being taken advantage of and taken for granted by the Athletic department.

I liked what Jake Brandt said during Saturday’s broadcast about how so many times guys are trying to pick corners and oftentimes miss and that it’s sometimes better to simply put the puck on net and play for rebounds. I get why guys try to hit the corners, because these goalies are so big and athletic but throwing one off their pillows and crashing for rebounds can be effective too. Hopefully we’re successful at both this weekend.