jk

I saw somewhere that DuPont said one of the players he models his game on is Buium. Gave me a bad feeling.

Michigan impressive, more than their other recent all-star teams. They take away space the way Duluth usually takes it away.

Wow, now that was a game. Both goalies amazing. Won't be surprised to see Duluth beat Michigan Sunday.

Many years this Thursday and Friday are the best sports days of the year, with most every game a nail-biter. This year not so much.

Lol. Zmolek might have helped as well.

That's what you took from this? They went toe-to-toe with Western in consecutive years, and frankly looked better today than UND did yesterday. Strand has basically worked miracles there, coming in and inheriting a smoking wreck of a roster after Hastings left. BTW three of Wisconsin's goals yesterday were scored by players who went with Hastings.

When UND scored early and then had a few dominant shifts, the ones that were even strength but looked like a 5-on-3, I think that messed with their heads. Or maybe just mine. It seemed like the rest of the game they thought they were the Harlem Globetrotters, hence the overpassing. Instead of making the fourth pass, maybe just shoot and the guy you were thinking of passing to can clean up the rebound. As others have noted, teams often have an early brush with death before doing well in the tournament (looking at you, Duluth), so there's still hope. We'll see how teams look tomorrow, but no one looked impressive today.

Lee Goren says hi on that UConn goal.

I was nearly shocked he was able to keep SC as competitive as he did. I expect him to turn MN around quickly.

Interesting first round games. Duluth - PSU. Star power vs the relentless Sandy postseason machine. MSU - UConn. Not your average four seed, as they ran into the hot goalie, but showed an overwhelming attack at times. WMU - Mankato. Last year Mankato took this game to 2OT, and Western has arguably taken a step back.

Rust versus momentum, the Thursday night story. I know some want to use the TV timeouts to lean on the top of the lineup, but I'd be happy enough if they just rolled the four lines. Each one is capable of scoring on any shift. Unless UND trails in the third. Then you need a heavy dose of Zellers et al. Puncture the aura of the hot goalie early and go from there.

What is the new 19 year old rule?

Mankato has a good goalie, and Strand took a program that Hastings left in tatters and had them good again immediately. But everyone in the tournament is either really good or on a roll, so nothing but tough games.

Not 18 until June. He would be a young HS senior had he not accelerated.

Carle should consider resting Pohlkamp this weekend, to prevent Duluth from giving him the Poolman treatment.