fightingsioux4life

In the NCHC, I don't think anyone is going to have a "dominant home record". But having such a tough schedule will pay off come NCAA tournament time.

Wrong. I hate shootouts as a matter of principle. But since we are stuck with them, we need to win them.

And the "casual fan" would probably love to decide basketball games with a slam dunk contest or baseball games with a home-run hitting contest. But that doesn't change the fact that they are exhibitions of individual talent being used to decide the outcome of a team game. And that is why the shootout has no place in hockey.

This is only the second year of the NCHC and the infernal shootout. People will catch on sooner or later.

The shootout in general is pathetic. But according to Hak, Montreal Canadiens fans like it so we are supposed to like it too. I have no problem settling for a tie in a league as tough as this. That would be better than deciding precious league points via a cute little skills competition.

I don't think that will happen this weekend, but I could be wrong.

I think this will be a low scoring series all around.

If there wasn't so much PR baggage involved, imagine the power of an Adrian Peterson-Ray Rice dual backfield? Heck, Bridgewater wouldn't have to do much of anything if the Vikings had those two in the backfield at the same time. But the damage to the team's reputation is not worth it. Better to get rid of Peterson and re-design the offense during the off-season before the draft.

I think the same rule applies to Red Berenson and Michigan. All they really care about in Ann Arbor is "The Big House" for FB and recreating the "Fab Five" in MBB.

And WMU is looking like one of the bottom-feeders in the NCHC this year. What that says about the B1G, I think we all know.

Alvarez was a big-time cheerleader for the B1G Hockey Conference. Minnesota, on the other hand, hated the idea and probably still does. One of the few times I will ever side with Minnesota vs. anybody else.

I just think that there aren't enough schools in the B1G that put a premium on hockey. Minnesota does; it's their best sport for both men and women. Wisconsin has a loyal fan base, but most people in Madison seem to care way more about FB and MBB. Michigan is a FB school first and MBB school second, same for Ohio State. Michigan State seems to be MBB 1st and FB 2nd. Penn State is just starting their program and MH might catch on as a popular winter sport whenever FB is not playing, but we'll just have to wait and see. In order for the current incarnation of the B1G to be solid year in and year out, at least 3 of their 6 teams will have to be good on a perennial basis. My thinking is that hockey doesn't rank high enough on the food chain at 4 out of the 6 schools (Minnesota and Wisconsin being the exceptions). We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Nice write-up in Goon's blog on the B1G Hockey Conference: http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/2014/11/what-to-make-of-big-10.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FZTZqA+%28Goon%27s+World%29 I suppose their comeback would be: "But our games are on the all-powerful BTN, so it doesn't matter." I strongly suspected that this conference would be mediocre before it got started. It sure looks that way so far.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/11931106/nhl-pat-quinn-remembered-undeniable-impact-hockey-people

Some Gopher fans were holding up a big sign at the 2013 Final Five that said "B1G Mistake"! One of the few times I ever agree with them on anything!

Half the conference is a pretty good batting average. The B1G will get two at the most (probably just Minnesota).

Because anytime someone criticizes Hakstol for not getting over the hump in the postseason, that person gets raked over the hot coals. So that person responds and then we have another online "discussion" on our hands.

Sometimes good things happen to good people.

The point of my sarcastic comment (man, I just love sarcasm too much! ) is that NCAA titles are never easy to win. In the early 1980's, you had Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northern Michigan, ect. to deal with. We beat Michigan State in 1987 for the title and they were coming off of a title of their own in 1986. Then during the Blais era, you had the Boston's (BU and BC), Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire and so on. The bottom line is that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best; upsets or not. And we just don't do that as much as we used to in March and April.

I was being sarcastic. Did you not see the ? I guess not.

Correction: Gino got three (1980, 1982, 1987) and Blais got two (1997, 2000). You know, back when all the other teams sucked and it was so much easier to win a "natty".

That is what we should do if "nattys" don't mean as much as they used to or are just too hard to win.

I think Miami, FL is an easier place to recruit than Laramie, WY. Jimmy Johnson talked about this in his book "Turning The Thing Around" (a very good read, btw). Schnellenberger and Johnson established what was known as "The State of Miami"; an area of south Florida that was neck-deep in High School FB talent. Wyoming doesn't have that kind of access to top-notch FBS talent. And their weather is the polar opposite of south Florida. The U was in the perfect place to engineer a turn around like that. If Bohl can establish a consistent winning program (6-5, 7-4 seasons with trips to bowl games), that would boost his stock big-time. I just think he has a long, hard climb ahead of him.

I honestly don't care about either one; I just don't know if Bohl taking that job was a wise choice. I guess we'll see.

Okay, how about this for a comparison. Joe Glenn wins two D-II titles at Northern Colorado and one FCS title at Montana. Then he gets the Wyoming head coach job. He couldn't work his magic there (no big surprise) and he was fired. And he hasn't gotten so much as a sniff at FBS ball since. That is the risk Bohl is taking; I hope it works out for him.