yzerman19

UNH was resting this weekend, just like us They are going to be fresh and near home. We will have our work cut out for us. They have beaten some good teams this year. I saw JVR in the WJC, and the kid has some tremendous skill. Fortunately they are even more woeful on the PP than we are. They score on 11.5% of man advantages. UNH is also 1-9-0 when trailing after one. We must score first. We need to come out flying. It is a mental thing. They seldom come from behind and we seldom lose when playing with a lead.

Perhaps the boys are only motivated by banners that we actually hang... On a serious note, the change in RPI calculation weighting more heavily to winning percentage actually made a big difference this year. When 2/10,000 in RPI keeps Wisconsin out and puts OSU in. Just think, losing a game in OT to a national powerhouse hurts your chances while destroying cupcake U helps.

there shouldn't be any surprises with BU or NH. We know what to expect. Its NCAA tourney time, 1 and done, and every entrant is a threat. I have to wonder if fatigue is affecting some of the freshmen...JG has been really quiet for the last few weeks. Any latest and greatest on Watty? Speaking of mustaches, did any of you see that pic of Chorney on the all wcha team in the F5 calendar? Can anyone say 70's pornstar?

Lots of crazy outcomes still possible. Looks like WI can't get in even with a win now based on all my PWR potentials. MN stays on the bubble in all scenarios I ran. They are usually out, but can get in with help. Dogs, Denver and UND are all locks.

What happened last night? Sloppy play to start the game results in an early two goal lead for the Dogs. This makes it so Duluth can play their game not ours. Duluth is excellent defensively, they are outstanding at clogging shooting lanes and disrupting flow. We never got to play our game . Add in ineptness on the pp and you have an ugly loss. While our depth has been our strength all year, our lack of an Osh or Toews or Parise hurts in games like last night. I give Duluth credit for outplaying us. I think that our pp and our defensive breakdowns cost us. BE has won us a few games over the last month. His screw up playing the puck might've been a case of freshman nerves. I would like another crack at them in the NCAAs, no matter how poorly we seem to match up with them. I still believe we are a better team. It will be interesting to see how the boys respond today. If were chanpionship material, we will come out flying. If not, we will be in for another slug fest. I am curious to see how the senior leadership performs. Bucky has their season in the balance. They must win to have a prayer. Its tough to end a program like WIs season. It is just a game, he says to himself...

I am concerned that another loss will kill our psyche. I no longer believe that we are the best team in the wcha.

dogs deserved it. As for the wiscosin game...I am not all that excited.

Two words: pathetic. Unacceptable. Only malone and hextall came to play tonight. The rest of the boys owe all of us an apology

COuple things that are wrong with the pp 1. We seldom carry the puck into the offensive zone, so we resort to dump and chase. That results in a coin flip as to who will gain possession. 2. UMD's aggressive PK puts a lot of pressure on the player with possession. Couple that wiht the fact that they beat us to every loose puck and you can't get anything going. 3. PP depends on good passing, side to side, and up and down. We were simply not connecting and not reading each other. All the credit to the Bulldogs, they took advantage of two Sioux mistakes and made no mistakes of their own. They deserved to win. We did not have it tonight. Poor effort once we were down. It was like the wind just vanished from our sails...let's face it, UMD isn't the red army team of the 70's and 80's. Sioux were terrible tonight, Dogs weren't good, but they didn't make any mistakes, so they were the better team. We were awful tonight. Let's hope this a wake up call.

I'm actually hoping for the #5 overall seed with Yale #4.

Can't hate the dogs...good fans, quality team. It will take a big effort tomorrow night.

If all the higher seeds win here out, MN is the first team not invited...#16 PWR

119 row 21

How many time zones down under? It's a big country. Is there any hockey in Australia? I think Russell Crowe would've made an awesome hockey player...sorta Cam Neelyesque!

It is simply fun to watch Zajac, Parise and Langenbrunner. I remember watching Langenbrunner in the MN high shcool tournament when he and that russian kid took Cloquet to St. paul. Langenbrunner was just sick. I think he had 100 points in a high school season as a junior, then he left Cloquet to play in the OHL and did well at Peterborough. Fun to have an NHL line and team with so much WCHA and MN and UND representation. Paul Martin is an important member of that team as well. Congrats to the boys and congrats to their goaltender for becoming the winningest in NHL history.

AM or PM? I am trying to think this over...

I wrote another post where I questioned how they can get paid to cover college hockey and not understand the pwr and why wisconsin got in last year. MN is in if they either win the Final 5 or finish in the top 16 in the PWR less the teams outside the top 16 who happen to win their tournaments. Historically that mean top 14 due to the AHA and CHA, but could be as high up as top 12 if BC or WI win their conference tournaments. Could even be 10 or 11 if some crazy upsets happen in CCHA or ECAC as well.

Are you setting low expectations so as not to hurt too much if they lose? The past is not a predictor of the future with hockey. I do agree that on paper, this team does not have Parise or Toews or Oshie. The only first rounder is Big Joe, our second rounder skates on the fourth line. However, team trumps talent. At this time of year it is all about leaving it all on the ice every shift. I think the seniors who (if they make it) will have tasted the f4 4 consecutive years and have seen their predecessors sit in the locker room, fighting back tears, not wanting to take the jersey off for the last time...that sinks in. The boys might not win, it takes skill and luck and determination, but I'll never right off this team...they've come too far.

I definitely do not like the big ice. Big ice doesn't change much to a forwards game, but it definitely changes the approach of the dmen. Any little positioning mistake can turn into a clean look at the goalie. It exaccerbates positioning mistakes and exposes weaker skating dmen. As much as I'd love for the Sioux to play at Mariucci in the regional (so I can attend), I think our odds are much better on an NHL surface.

Again, UW got in last year due to the pwr, not because they hosted the regional. The committee went 100% by the pwr last year, it just so happened that UW had the right wins against the right opponents. Record is only a part of RPI, it is not the determinant. BC and UW are legitimate threats at winning their conference tourneys. IF they do, only the top 12 in PWR will get in. MN will have to win 2 games at the five to be on the right side of the bubble.

DOn't you think if MN is out they'd put us in Mpls? I know they claim closest to home for highest seed, but the NC$$ wants to make sure they have good attendance.

If MN gets bounced, I could see that committee putting us in Mpls for attendance. I am assuming MSU is done as a TUC meaning we will keep the PWR vs Yale.

A Denver loss to WI and a Sioux win on Friday flips our comparison with them. It would tie COP, we would win the TUC, they probably will still have RPI, and we will have H2H. We would win the PWR 2-1, we'd have 21 then and they'd have 20. THat would bea number 4 seed overall and probably a regional at Mariucci...

True enough, but I did't think it looked as sharp as I'd like it to be rolling into the playoffs.

Hak better be doing nothing but special teams this week. I did think our passing was off the tape this weekend too. THe boys need to look where they're aiming.