Mariucci

It got watered down because it was 12 teams and the programs that were added are either bad or average at best. Mankato, Omaha, AA, and Bemidji. Anyone who thinks that the WCHA got better by adding those four programs is just clueless.

Nope.

Both teams had great scoring chances throughout the night. It was not a defensive type game other than the score.

Well than you must have been very tired because it was a very exciting game. Im so tired of people saying UW is boring to watch. They have ELITE offensive talent with Kerdiles, Mersch, Zengerle, Barnes and they forced Wilcox to make some stunning saves last night. They always have skilled puck moving d-men as well.

I've been a rabid college hockey fan since '87 and I do not miss the old WCHA one bit. The WCHA got watered down with when it went to 12 teams. Omaha, Bemidji, Anchorage, etc. Why would I ever miss playing those schools? There is one program I miss playing and that's UND. Now we have much more room for fun non conference series against programs like Notre Dame and BC. We still kept our in-state rivals on our schedule. We're on national TV more. As a Gopher fan I'm not sure what's not to like.

This is what I've been saying since day one. Anti Big Ten hockey people are incredibly short sighted. They're also jealous of the national exposure we get from our own national network.

This is true. The Gophers are one inujry away from the season going down the tubes. I would have very little faith In Shibrowski if it came to that.

Not sure why they overturned that goal.

My bad. But still im shocked as the Gophers have been average during this stretch of games.

Gophers continue a ridiculous 14 game unbeaten streak while not playing well since November. Amazing how we continue to escape game after game without a loss. Wilcox and luck is why. Gophers are good but not great. Very beatable.

I said home rinks. The X isn't a home rink. I have no problem with home crowd advantages, I have a problem with home ice advantages and there's a huge difference.

As much as I hate the low attendance at regionals I still like it more than using home rinks.

Four professional sports teams and a Big Ten University. We're talking 7 popular sports teams. During just one weekend in the fall it's very possible to have Gopher hockey home game Friday and Saturday night, Gopher football home game Saturday afternoon, A Vikings home game that Sunday, and quite possibly and probably a Wild or T-Wolves game Friday, Sat, or Sunday. Even now in the dead of winter you have Gopher hockey and basketball plus T-wolves and the Wild. Some people don't think Minnesota has great sports fans but when you think about it it's pretty impressive that only the 12th biggest media market in the country can support 7 teams. 9 if you count the Linx and Gopher womens bball.

In Omaha? No. But I guarantee you that UND doesn't have as many fans in Madison as Minnesota. I remember the Kessel year in 2006. Gopher fans took over the entire third deck. A badger fan told us he's never seen a fan base do that to their arena before. Bottom line is that we're talking about two of the best, largest, and most passionate college hockey fan bases with UND and UM. It's silly to argue otherwise.

UND has a large and passionate fan base, one of the best there is and there's no debating that. But the fact is that the Gopher hockey fan base dwarfs UND's. This fact should not upset UND fans nor should it be a point of pride for Gopher fans considering the populations of GF and the Twin Cities.

Do you honestly believe that a regular season hockey game in Grand Forks could draw almost 50K like the Gophers did last week?

Haha I was waiting for that. I think he got that one based on reputation is all I meant. I admit he tends to embellish here and there.

We agree 100%. I watched a high scoring great game between two rivals that inevitably would have ended with an overtime thrilling goal but yet we decide to basically stop a game in progress so we can have a cute little one on one contest to decide the winner. I honestly question the hockey IQ of anyone who is seriously in favor of this crap.

Rau didn't take a dive though. Shootouts are embarrassing to the sport. Just embarrassing.

Even in the state of hockey its the fourth most popular sport. Just the way it is.

You're a waste of skin.

Hardly pal. The U's academics are right where they need to be for a Big Ten school. There's hardly a difference between 56(OSU) and the U at 68 nationally. You're trying to hard and failing miserably.

From USNews 2013 National Rankings: (National Ranking) Northwestern (12) Michigan (29) Wisconsin (41) Penn State (46) Illinois (46) Ohio State (56) Maryland (58) Purdue (65) Rutgers (68) Minnesota (68) Michigan State (72) Iowa (72) Indiana (83) Nebraska (101)

I'm not positive but I think this is how it works. Whichever team is not included in the North Star Cup that season will get a home series vs the Gophers and this year that was Bemidji. And because the Gophers had scheduled series' this year versus Mankato and UMD, that means St Cloud plays the Gophers in a semi final thus insuring that the four other Div 1 programs in the state will play Minnesota every year. Again I'm not positive but pretty sure that's how they do it.

Reading about college hockey.