GFG

Fully agree with this. He'll be right up there with Leopold who is wanted by many teams. Erik Johnson was a let down at Minnesota and in the NHL I thought. Leddy will just continue to get better and I agree he has a legitimate shot at the 2014 Olympics.

The funny thing with Leddy is, even though I thought he was a huge let down in college (Just my opinion), he's doing exceptionally well with the Craphawks (Sorry, I hate Chicago). Most nights he's in the starting D-pair or else the 2nd D-pair and he's in the top 20 in scoring for NHL defensemen right now. I never thought he'd do this well, especially in his 2nd season.

Not gonna lie haha, this thread probably needs to be locked soon so the "verbal assaults" going both ways stop

THIS! There is nothing that pisses me off more about the NHL than seeing a huge clean hit and seeing that player get jumped by the other 4 players on the ice for that team. There's been at least 10 times this year that i've seen it happen, including a couple of times where the hitter kept trying to play but gets tackled and pounded in the face 15 times. Are you sure? I've seen probably about 20+ in Wild games alone this year. The problem with NHL officiating is that they're not near as strict on calling it as the NCAA is. It's only called a major in the NHL if it's very malicious looking, or if "the player receiving the hit did not put himself in that vulnerable position." Which pisses me off. There's a couple instances where Wild players sustained pretty big injuries this year and nothing major happened to the players who hit them because of that quote i just said.

I don't think it would. It would just cause more retaliations, leading to more injuries and stupid plays. The NHL has way more checking from behind hits and dirty plays than college does and they allow fighting.

My opinion is that fighting should be banned in college, like it is. My reasoning is for the sole reason that at this level, especially when your representing a school, you should be developing skills to try and move the player to the next level, not fighting. I don't think players should get a full ride in college just to beat the piss out of people, either. Notice some of the best hockey you'll watch (The Olympics, World Juniors Championships, NHL Playoffs) has very little to no fighting. You will see one once in a while in the NHL Playoffs but it's very rare compared to the regular season. And why is that? The "enforcers" are afraid of hurting their team. I do like a good fight every now and then in the NHL, but the best hockey anyone watches is proof that there is technically no need for it in the sport.

Alright, according to my guide on TV the UND and Wisconsin game is in HD on FSN+. Whether it's correct or not, I guess people will find out.

This!

I find it ridiculous that Oxford is even in the top 40. Shouldn't Merrimack be in there then? Pretty sure they average the same amount of fans What a joke. I still think Minneaplis-St. Paul should be ahead of Detroit and competing with Boston. Definitely cant argue about Montreal and Toronto, though. Those are the top two in my opinion.

It is possible that they could pick up the FSSN feed. All I could find is that it was being broadcasted on FSN+. Not sure if i've ever seen FSN plug into other networks but since it's their plus channel you never know. Especially since the game is already being broadcasted on FCS, I guess it wouldn't surprise me if they just plugged into it.

In my pick em league I have UND sweeping. They are depleted but Wisconsin has won one game on the road this year, and that was against Mankato. Edit: Also, if fans want to watch the games on HD this weekend they will be broadcasted on FSN+ both nights with the Badgers crew i'd assume. I believe all sports on FSN+ are in HD, so I just assume this weekends games will be as well.

Good point! And that's why UND, even with all the struggles that they've had, is still in position to jump in the PWR. I have a feeling they have gotten a small boost because of Maine's recent success in the second half, especially last weekends sweep over BC.

Duluth being in second in the PWR is struggling?

Thank you Jim

The all importance of having your conference do well in non-conference games. That is why the WCHA teams, other than Duluth, are struggling so badly in the PWR. The WCHA didn't have impressive showings against the CCHA or HE. This is why Minnesota is so far down the PWR. Minnesota didn't help their own cause going only 4-4-1 in non-conference. Including a loss to Vermont which really hurts them. Just keep in mind that the PWR are extremely close right now from 3 to about 18. It's possible that if Mass-Lowell is swept this weekend they can fall to 16 in the PWR.

No comment. Although I must admit overall he normally does a decent job with what resources he has. It would be hard for a school like that to get a more qualified coach

Totally agree with this. Duluth is in the hot seat to win the MacNaughton Cup, and I assume that they probably will win it. CC didn't look to strong in Minneapolis this past weekend. They were definitely outplayed both nights but they got some lucky bounces their way Friday and goaltending kept them in it. Which I suppose is what you need in one and done playoffs. Luck and goaltending. Both CC and Denver are so up and down its hard to know what team you're going up against. Since mid November Minnesota has been the same way.

Hakstol should have about the highest job security of any college hockey coach in the nation, right up there with Red Berenson and Jerry York. Just my opinion, though.

UW-Green Bay released an official statement today saying that they have had no talks with the WCHA about going DI.

Just curious as a Minnesota fan, what does your formula say for us? Any input would be greatly appreciated

the future WCHA is looking for a 10th member to join and according to this article the top four candidates are: - Wisconsin-Green Bay - Iowa State - Minnesota State Moorhead - Alabama Huntsville Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Nanooks’ Karr working on organizing new WCHA Would definitely be interesting to see Iowa State go DI, as that could definitely spark interest to Iowa alums.

Fair enough. The PWR is one thing I've never even tried to understand other than the positions. My personal opinion would be that they decide the teams with the KRACH rankings.

I just said that because I thought I remembered a few occurrences this past decade where more WCHA teams should have gotten in but didn't because they already had so many. I could be wrong, but I thought I remembered it happening a couple years in a row earlier in the decade.

Coatta had a very good game yesterday. I haven't heard if anyone is looking at him, though.

Realistically you could probably get in at 17 couldn't you? Because I find it hard to believe the selection committee will let the CCHA have 7+ teams in the tournament like they would right now.