jk

At the risk of offending the faithful ... I'm not sure the best team won last night. I say that not to rip UND but to note that I think Michigan was really, really talented, and easily had enough to go all the way this year. It is a real credit to UND that they stood up to everything Michigan threw at them and won this game unconventionally. A huge part of it was Lammy standing in for the last 39 minutes of the game and stopping something like 25 of 25 shots down the stretch. As horrible as the goaltending and defense seemed early in the game, some credit needs to go to the offenses. Think about the goals: Porter (MI) - a top shelf snipe that Lammy didn't appear to see because of a screen. Not a goalie's fault. Summers - Lammy stopped a clean breakaway, and the rebound got knocked in. Again, the goalie did his job. Porter (UND) - Cleaned up on the second whack at a rebound. Not much Sauer could do at that point. Hensick - A clean look by the nation's leading scorer from 15 feet out. Good luck. Porter (UND) - Nice deflection, not Sauer's fault. Oshie - Nice play by Oshie, but Sauer wants this one back. Toews - On the doorstep on a 5-on-3. Nice offensive play; goalie pretty much helpless. Hensick - Nice move (but with a luck bounce when he fanned) to get around Bina, but Lammy probably wants this one back. Cogliano - Bad goalie play. Bina - A nice shot that the goalie just couldn't see. Kaip - A beautiful rocket with a ton of leverage on it; might be the nicest goal Kaip ever scores. Oshie - A lucky bounce for UND; nice play to get it on net, but these usually don't go in. Oshie - Definitely not the goalie's fault. Michigan was offensively very dynamic; they were big and they hit very hard. I think the main reason UND won was because Michigan got stupid and took a lot of dumb penalties, not hooking and obstruction, but hitting the head and things that are just dumb, and UND made them pay in an epic way. As fantastic as UND's PP has looked lately, part of UND's success on the PP this game was the result of fortunate bounces. As Red said, the puck was just going in the net. It doesn't sound good, but I guess my summary is that UND might have beaten a better team because the other team took a lot of penalties and the Sioux got some bounces. Unsaid there is that UND played an extremely disciplined game (limiting their PK time), they got outstanding goaltending in the last 39 minutes of the game, and they played a very solid third period of playoff hockey. I think Sunday's game will be a lot more like last Saturday's game than last night's. I don't think MN has the offensive sizzle that Michigan has, but they play a more composed game, and they won't take the dumb penalties Michigan did. UND used their bounces up last night, but so did MN, as their third and fourth goals were bounces of the puck as well. Should be interesting and terrifying to watch.

Couple things watching the game again. Lee looked quite a lot like a big-time defenseman tonight. Looking comfortable. Kaip's goal was from Watkins as they changed lines in the middle of a cycle. Last spring two of Kaip's playoff goals were off passes from Watkins on the end boards; both of those came when they were not regular linemates either. Was surprised to see it was Toews that coughed up the puck to Hensick on his first period goal, then I think Toews again on the play that led to Hensick's big breakaway in the second. If I saw that right, that would be two errors from a guy who hasn't made many all year.

Phil might have been the player of the game, believe it or not. Lotsa saves in the last 30 minutes of the game.

Pardon the language, but WTF is going on out there? OMG. I have an idea; let's make it through the first minute of the third at 7-5. As bad as he was earlier, Lammy has kept this lead with several breakaway saves. Michigan sure does gain the zone with speed.

Honestly I think this one comes down to a bounce of the puck. Not sure which way. Each team had the misfortune of drawing an opponent who is one of the 4 or 5 best teams in the country (MN and BC being the others). The Sioux could play great and still lose, and the same can be said for Michigan.

I've only seen the last few minutes of the 2nd OT, but the skating has seemed surprisingly lively for both squads.

I thought UND physically dominated SCSU last Friday, not just on the scoreboard. Maine is doing the same thing. The Huskies look like they just want to go home to mommy. This is where players like Porter and Fabian (and Greene and Jones and Smaby) come in handy.

The good news is that at least the OT was short. Didn't need to burn up the legs for next week in a multiple OT game. This game kind of looked like the #1 PWR and the #8 PWR. I thought UND carried the play pretty well in the first 10 minutes, then after they were on the PK for much of the rest of the period, the game evened out. From then on, MN didn't give UND much room. For whoever is blaming Lee, get over it. It was part great play, part bizarro freaky goal. Lammy stopped a lot of good chances, but might like the first and sort of the second goal back. UND didn't seem to play their best game tonight, but some of that is due to MN. Oddly, the great final a few years ago also featured UND not at its best. (That was a fantastic game, but UND was very loose defensively.) This time, defensively UND was pretty good. MN had a lot of shots, but try to think of how many times Lammy had to flat-out stone someone. Overall, look at it this way: this is UND's second loss since the WJC. Both came in OT, on the road. They're still playing pretty well. I will be troubled and an advocate of a slight change in the bracketing process if UND and MN are in the same bracket, and BC and UNH are in the same bracket, as suggested. We're all sick of seeing our rivals. We just played tonight, and we have to meet again (maybe) in 6 or 7 days?

Sagard, you should just save the keystrokes on the Lucia defense. It's just the way it is on a heated rival's board. As for the team to beat, have you followed what BC has done over the last two months or so? Many very impressive wins over good teams. They appear to be on a mission as well.

I'd love to see Wisconsin again. UND wasn't playing well when they last met, and payback would be enjoyable.

Ness of course has looked great for Roseau, and I wouldn't mind if Landman traded in his green-and-whites for more green-and-whites in a couple years either. That said, I wonder if the best of them might end up being Lee, the sophomore goalie. He admittedly hasn't been tested much, but he seems so composed.

Festler and Marvin are both SCSU recruits. The better of the Hanowski's is being recruited by a lot of people but is said to be a MN fan. LeBlanc will also be recruited by more WCHA schools than just UMD, including some bigger names.

Don't look now, but UND's old nemesis BC is smoking hot right now. They've won 5 in a row, 7 of 8, and 9 of 11. Only loss in the last five weeks was in OT to BU in the beanpot final, which is just one of the laws of nature. They've also done that against good teams, including UNH and Maine twice.

There may have been a time twenty years ago when a UND recruiting pitch focused mainly on hockey, and not academics. That's no longer the case. To avoid retyping it, I'll copy dagies' convincing post from earlier this season:

Mosey to SCSU per Heisenberg.

Especially in the third. I can't remember Lammy being asked to make a spectacular save in the third.

Here's one for all the people who couldn't believe that UND could only get three points each from Mankato and Duluth: Mankato swept CC this weekend, and Duluth swept UAA. Yes I'd love to have that point back from the Saturday Mankato game, but that was still a very solid two weekends of work.

It may be that it is only quality road wins that count, not neutral site wins.

They're going to need a big lead.

It did seem like May held up though. It wasn't vicious at all.

UND will need plenty of defensemen in 2008. Bina and Radke graduate, and Chorney, Lee and Finley will all be legitimate flight risks, based on their lofty draft positions. Of course some of those sophomores could leave after this year too. As for Denver's other recruits, I think Nash is the type of player that Denver or UND will find room for, whenever he wants to come.

Be careful on the pairwise. UND has a ton of TUC wins over teams that are barely clinging to TUC status. If those teams slip out of the RPI top 25, UND's TUC record goes with them. We should be big fans of SLU, Dartmouth and especially Bemidji, Quinnipiac and Mankato.

Honestly the Sioux had no reason to tackle anyone late in the third and in the OT because UMD wasn't trying to push the play and score. They were laying back and waiting for a mistake to jump on. If they mugged Raymond earlier I apologize because I wasn't watching then.

I admittedly only saw the last 7 minutes plus OT, but it looked to me like UND was playing very hard and pretty well. Not sure what everyone is whining about. UMD looked very good as well; it was a playoff-type game. UMD fell back and let UND try to push the play, and was hoping for a mistake to pounce on. The Sioux didn't make many mistakes down the stretch, though. Porter and Watkins were each tackled in the last five minutes, and I didn't see any similar mugging by the Sioux.

With Martens apparently hurt, I think Forney and Foyt are the only remaining skaters available to join the lineup. I would guess that Foyt will skate on defense, leaving Radke at the forward spot where he has been so effective at stirring things up. Forney will hopefully get plugged into a spot on the third or fourth line and get a chance to get up and down the ice.