jk

I'm bitter, I admit it. The UND team that I saw beat Denver 12 days ago could very easily have repeated. They were in prime playoff form. A rematch with Denver would have been an epic game. Fast forward 24 hours and UMD had taken out the Sioux's top defenseman, the quarterback on UND's PP and it's top penalty killer, on a questionable hit. For good measure, they blatantly ran UND's goalie. Does anyone doubt Poolman would have made a difference against BU? Put your PP QB back in, and it makes both the first and second units more effective. So the last thing I want to see is UMD winning. Which means of course they will.

I've seen a few questions about Cam in the game, not moving side-to-side well enough. Just my opinion, but no one's getting over on those two back door plays. Really the only one Cam had a chance on was the breakaway, and just reading that tells you all you need to know. The one in tight in the third, there were five Sioux players packed down low, but no one picked up the guy in front of the net. I guess they were maybe out of practice playing defense, since BU hadn't touched the puck much in the game to that point. About those cross-ice back door plays. The winner didn't look dissimilar to the Schmaltz/Caggiula title game goal. Schmaltz was looping in the other direction, but the pass got sent from a similar spot. I believe it was Simpson in the FF game against MN who sniffed out several of those plays, especially when MN was on a PP. Just got his stick in the passing lane at the last minute. It reminded me of how Leopold was able to break that play up a lot of years earlier. Anyway, that play is made by a savvy defenseman reading it, not by athleticism (though it doesn't hurt of course). It makes me wonder if UND's best defenseman, with the longest reach, might have seen those coming and gotten a stick in the way. I still think the most amazing thing about that game is the absence of garbage goals. Not one. After 145+67 shot attempts. (Bowen's would have been.)

They keep score based on goals, I know. Shot attempts were 145-67, so UND attempted 78 more shots. Midway through the second OT, BU seemed to find their legs and the Sioux hit a wall. It may have been the hockey rope-a-dope, as the Sioux wore themselves out shooting the puck. Oddly, none of the 212 shot attempts resulted in a garbage goal, as all seven goals were on nice plays. (The OT winner that wasn't would have been the only one.)

This one might have to be at the top of the list. I'll always think of 2011 as that type of game, but the 2011 team didn't play its best game that night. They were a better team than Michigan by a lot more than the 2016 Sioux were better than BU, but the 2016 team was absolutely at the top of its game, and outplayed BU much more than the 2011 team did Michigan. Which makes it that much harder to take. 2004 and 2005 also come to mind. In 2004, Parise and co. outclassed Denver badly, with Denver scoring on its first shot of the third period with about three minutes left. 2005 might feel more like last night, with a shorthanded, banged up squad outplaying what might have been a more talented Denver team. The Sioux had the puck a lot, but Denver got the bounces. I guess they're all different. I can't recall any other hockey games with so great a disparity between lopsided play and result as last night.

It would seem to me that the guys deserve the benefit of the doubt. Especially this one, who had so much to do with a national title, and could have gone last year.

OK, it was bad, but it's probably time to get over it. It was a meaningless game, and UND did end up on the PP for what seemed like half the game. At this point, it's time to look to Friday, for me. Pionk may experience renewed interest in the topic when the teams first meet in the regular season next year. For this weekend, if both NCHC teams are fortunate enough to advance, I doubt you'll see more than about six PPs in the game. They both will know what's on the line.

I really disliked Denver for a long time, almost enough to move them past MN. That's how I feel about UMD at the moment. We had so many good UMD fans around us at the Final Five, and this time, along with the antics on the ice, I had one try to tell me the guy ran the UND goalie because UND was so cheap, referencing the Travis Roy injury, among other things. Seriously. I actually wouldn't mind DU winning, because they're really good, because Monty has been so fair-minded, and because it's good for the league. I wouldn't feel that way if 2016 hadn't happened, but I'm more charitable now. Monty tweeted this when Caggiula scored in the third period of the title game: There it is! Boom @TheNCHC @UNDmhockey. This may be just a passing interlude, but it feels like this could be similar to UND/Wisconsin in the early 80s, where we hated each other but there was a ton of mutual respect.

Tough call for me. If you could put the x in mpls, it would be ideal. It's so much easier to get to, to park near, with many more eating options.

UND: Sr 1, Jr 5 Duluth: Sr 8, Jr 4 Just hope for improvement. But beware the Duluth, MN, Denver, SC schedule run. Swept, split, swept, split?

Air Force, on the other hand, typically has no problems flying to games.

Something is different in Beantown ... Agganis Arena.

I'm less optimistic. The team loses two of the best D we've had in a long time in LaDue and Stecher, and two of the best forwards we've had in Caggiula and Schmaltz, plus other important players. Replacing them requires everyone down the line to step up a notch, and we won't know if they are capable of it until it happens. I think some will, and some won't, just because that's usually how it works. Can they be there at the end? No doubt, although you can say that about perhaps 25 teams each year. I'll enjoy "good" or "very good" anyway, and I'll be thrilled to be wrong if "great" shows up again.

Agree with everything here. Honest question: If Denver finishes the comeback on its late PP, does this thread even exist?

I don't know if some of you have ever actually watched the NCAA hockey tournament, but it's hard to win. Strange things happen to good teams. Not only that, but it might be hard to even get into it. There's a lot of potential on next year's team, but it will be missing half the regular defensemen from last year's team, including arguably the top two. Also subtract five forwards from last year. There's no way to know if they'll be able to generate the kind of chemistry this group had. I shudder to think what this forum might look like if they struggle.

Veering off topic here, you've hit on one of the keys to the effectiveness of this outstanding defensive corps: their age. Give me a well-seasoned Ladue or Poolman over a green Thompson, Forbort, Lee or Chorney any day. Those guys eventually developed into fine players (some are works in progress), but they were not as ready to play college hockey at an elite level. And I mean that more mentally than physically.

The bolded part above is very true, thanks for noting it. Credit for #8 needs to be spread far and wide, including all the way out to Philadelphia. Congrats to everyone who had a hand in it.

KT has some dynamic athleticism that none of the other defensemen on last year's team had. For that reason, and his age, he's got a shot at eventually being the best NHLer of the group. Which is not to say he was the best defenseman on the team last year, but people develop at different rates. Thanks for bringing home the title, and good luck!

Not that everyone is right all the time, but you do learn over time who to pay attention to. I'm listening here.

To be fair, his situation is just one more example of addiction being something you can't control, or he wouldn't have blown his life up over and over. As for his message, well, good job living in the past.

While there were some beautiful plays to set up Caggiula's goals against Q, finishing them, in the moment, is not a sure thing. The first pass was coming in hot, and guys miss that all the time. On the second, Boeser set it up for him on a tee, but how many times does that shot go high, or wide, or into the chest protector? Finishing is a special skill.

I just couldn't disagree with you more. Was I hating life in third period Thursday night? Yes, without a doubt. Did I even once consider it bad coaching, or laziness, or a lack of caring? Not once. The fact is hockey is a momentum sport, and Denver got on a roll, and perhaps due to recent history, UND didn't handle it very well. Part of the reason Denver got on a roll is because they were really good, one of the top three teams in the country, along with St. Cloud. And I recognized that the other team has a say in what goes on during a game, and it doesn't mean the UND players don't care or are choking. I'll grant you this. Emotional comments posted in the heat of the moment are likely to be honest, and reflect your true feelings. So if it reveals, for all to see, a lack of respect for players or coaches, do you really want to post it? And it's safe to say that speez has never, ever posted comments disrespectful of any of the players or coaches, in haste or after lengthy consideration. Ever.

2011 especially, they just couldn't seem to let it all hang out against Michigan. To be fair in the comparison, though, the twenty minute stretch against Denver three days ago was worse than anything we've seen in the Frozen Four except the last debacle against BC (2008?). It was getting through that meltdown against Denver that seemed to have freed them to let loose the hounds against Q. They looked just like they did against Northeastern -- way too hot to handle.

I haven't re watched it since that night. My recollection is that Panzer was everywhere, setting up chances left and right. It'll be interesting to see if that holds up to a new viewing.

Let's say LJ is out. Not that you want to be making a ton of changes right now, but is it possible they consider sitting Olson after the third period gaffe? That would potentially mean two new faces, out of St. Clair, Wolanin and Wilkie. Each has their virtues. Wolanin might be the least effective of the three as a forward, but would give you insurance in the lineup in the event of an injury or DQ to a defenseman. I think St. Clair might be most likely to bring a big energy boost, which last night's team seemed to need. And Wilkie, as a shooter, brings the best chance of converting a Bobcat mistake into a goal.

I have to pretty much agree. After the Q/BC game, I liked whichever NCHC team advanced to win it all. But that was with the "regional" UND team in my head. With last night's team fresh in my mind, I have to think Pecknold is liking his chances. UND's just going to have to play a lot better tomorrow.