jk

I can't get too worked up about EJ because he's in the same boat as Toews. Top five pick, could get offered a ton, could go. Might opt to play 2006-07 in college to get physically stronger. I'm guessing we see both in college next year, but it could be only EJ just as easily as only Toews. I'm also not jumping up and down about Potulny and maybe Irmen leaving, because the list of UND players who could leave if their future employer deems it desirable is probably as long as it has ever been.

Thanks for posting that. As much fun as it has been celebrating Holy Cross' achievement and following the Potulny and Irmen chronicles, I'm ready to move on to the other maroon and gold menace. Bring on BC. Let's Go Sioux.

Let's see, hockey players clean up, second maybe only to rock stars. What's Stafford's hobby again?

And Potulny is now a pro.

Was Hennessy channeling there? "Are you kidding me?"

Can't believe I just wasted a bunch of time watching the third period again. Spirko and Zajac have a 4-on-4 shift that is just sickening with about seven minutes left. Then two minutes later Oshie has his ridiculous shift that ends with Zajac's goal. Given a little extra room on the ice this team is unbelievable.

Here are Wisco's goals against by period since they were wiped out by Mankato (formatted terribly for dramatic effect). Tells you something about Wisco, but tells you something about UND too. 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

It's like the punchline to a joke: Wisco and Cornell 0-0 after 4 periods. The Sioux have only one tie because their defensemen have been young and make mistakes and because the front line is so stacked with elite offensive players.

Now this one hurts. The reason HC felt they could beat MN? Because MN is like Mercyhurst. From INCH's West write-up: McGregor said that he and his teammates felt confident entering the game, fully believing they could win. He compared the Golden Gophers to Mercyhurst, a high-flying offensive club that his Crusaders toppled twice earlier this season.

So much to say, but just a few things ... Paradise said, when it went to 4-on-4 earlier in the third, maybe this will give Michigan's skaters a little more room to use their speed. I laughed out loud thinking about the pairs of forwards UND was going to put out there. Yeah, they won't enjoy the extra room at all. Later, Paradise said, the Sioux are winning all the 1-on-1 battles ... heck, they're winning the 1-on-3 battles! Oshie's diving assist was very reminiscent of his assist to Marvin in the state tourney overtime last year. Overall, I could not believe how dominating the Sioux were in closing the game out in the third. It was so different from the games at the X, where they were back on their heels. It was truly men against boys, except of course that in reality it was boys against boys. What a dominating, dominating performance. And last year I wondered if Duncan might be another Hoogie, but I figured I was just dreaming. Well, he sure looks the part right now. Dynamic offensive skater, shooter, passer.

Lucia was fine. He gave HC credit and thought they played well. "It's not like shots were 60 to 20. They were in the game." Hill was very stand-up immediately after the game. Ryry was hurting but stood in front of the TV camera. For sagard, FHG, WPOS, and others, sorry guys. This will hurt for a long time. For now, Go Sioux!

and kessel comes out of the box into a 2-1 and scores. neither hc goal is briggs' fault BTW.

massive pp goal on the 5-3 for HC. 2-1 now. great one-timer.

big goal for MN, sh howe from guyer. 1-1

MN's getting plenty of shots now, some good, none yet requiring spectacular saves by Q. Q is just playing a very steady positional game. HC just killed a penalty, and is now going on the PP.

Honestly I think Toews has come pretty close to catching him, at least based on last weekend. Both beat defensemen numerous times on the rush. Oshie's still more physical, and I think Toews may move the puck a little better (tough to say that though). Overall it's a nice problem to have.

Absolutely right. Plus he took a big step towards securing a future career option by permanently becoming a "non-import" player in the Swiss league. Had he not gone this season, he would have been unable to secure this designation. Now he can return to North America, give pro hockey a shot here, and head off to a nice Swiss career if it doesn't work out here. It's unfortunate for UND that it worked out that way, but he did the right thing. Adding Murray to the abundance of elite offensive players already on this team would have been something (unless, of course, it meant Oshie wasn't here). Don't think of the Murray who struggled through the end of last year skating with a knee brace and shoulder harness, but the healthy one from his freshman year.

Find out where they're staying and borrow one? It would even be game-worn.

I posted this after my first live viewing of Jones in a game: "Jones, in the major PK, was just roughing someone up all the way from dot to the corner. It was beautiful." But I posted it on 2/12/02 at 4:25 p.m., and it was after my first viewing of Matt. It was a deja vu moment for me last weekend seeing Zach beat someone up in the corner, just working him over, because it was just what Matt had done as a freshman. Zach was right on the edge of a cross-checking or roughing call, though, and with more girlish refs this weekend that kind of brutality will be called, I fear. Anyway, the younger Jones is going to be the foundation of the team by the time he's done, much as Matt was.

I was also thinking about the lineup. It'll take me a few steps to get there, but here's where I'm going. With Stafford out, Kozek took his spot on the second PP unit this weekend. Then, after the PP, Porter took Kozek's spot on the Watkins-Kaip line to give Kozek a rest. I know Kaip's first goal was scored with Porter on this line, and I think both might have been. On those occasions, Porter and Watkins seemed to work well together on the cycle. So, with Stafford back, you could put Watkins-Porter-Kaip together, and Prpich-Kozek-Someone. It's interesting, but maybe it's best to just stick with what has worked pretty well down the stretch and leave everyone together, just substituting Someone directly into Fabian's spot.

Now that's sandbagging! I can already see the posts on GPL about "SS calling the Gophers a sham," not realizing it's a Gopher fan doing the namecalling. Well done.

Since UND's awakening in Mariucci in January (a team tired from the WJCs and the Anchorage trip got annihilated on Friday and gutted out a big win on Saturday), UND is 10-5, and the details of their performance are encouraging. Here's a rundown: W 6-3 MSUM - Very solid win W 4-2 MSUM - Cruising to a solid win, and then a lapse in the closing minutes made it close at the end. L 1-2 SCSU - The Sioux didn't play real well, and lost a very close game. L 1-2 SCSU - UND played very well by most accounts, but lost in OT. W 4-2 CC - Another very solid win. A late CC goal made the score closer. L 2-3 CC - A tough loss considering UND's third-period lead, but still a very close game. W 4-0 UMD - A blowout W 5-1 UMD - Blowout W 6-2 DU - A dominating win from start to finish. L 3-7 DU - The only meltdown in this stretch. A third-period lead evaporated under a barrage of PP goals. W 4-0 MTU - See UMD W 6-0 MTU - Boom goes the dynamite L 2-3 MSUM - Similar to the Friday SCSU game, UND lacked intensity but still lost a very tight game in OT. W 4-1 MSUM - Solid win. W 3-0 MSUM - Solid win. In 9 of the 10 wins, UND went into the closing minutes with at least a two-goal lead. Basically, they dominated in their wins. In 4 of the 5 losses, UND lost by just a goal, with two of those in OT. Only the DU loss stands out, but even there UND had a third-period lead. Overall, I think their performance over the last two months should be considered encouraging.

The Beavers are the only team that has clinched. The WCHA's playoff champion can clinch a spot on Saturday night.

Maybe we can make up for it at least a little by getting Chay here. I know people aren't expecting a ton from him, but what if he is similarly talented, just smaller? He's getting here a year later than Colby did, so maybe he'll be able to step in and play at closer to his top potential earlier in his career.

So really, just more uninformed speculation. ... If the snow ends mid-day Thursday, it shouldn't be affecting traffic too much by Friday night. However, I agree that the time of day alone plus the residual weather effect will mean you'll have to chop a little early.