FROZEN FOUR

[geneva6]

We had a group in Chicago and the town and locals were great. The arena is not very close to many bars so we ended up Thursday afternoon at Park Tavern...newer place and home of the Harvard pregame party. The Harvard folks were fun and they had other Eastern school folks, Yale, Northeastern and Union supporting them who actually were pretty fun. Ran in to some Duluth folks there and lost even more respect for there fans...got all bent out of shape when I told them I wanted Harvard and Denver in the final. Thursday crowd was ok but it was easy to sit anywhere in the arena you wanted. We ended up by a bunch of scouts and agents and they thought UND had the best fan base ever and knew the entire event would be different with them in it. Not many Chicago people we talked to over the four days even knew the Frozen Four was in town. Saturday had lots of non-hockey people at the event...we ran in to a couple of rugby teams that were in town and decided to attend...they got really cheap tickets. Duluth definitely had the more energetic crowd on Friday and Denver was it's usual quiet and reserved.

[tnt]

24 minutes ago, geneva6 said:

We had a group in Chicago and the town and locals were great. The arena is not very close to many bars so we ended up Thursday afternoon at Park Tavern...newer place and home of the Harvard pregame party. The Harvard folks were fun and they had other Eastern school folks, Yale, Northeastern and Union supporting them who actually were pretty fun. Ran in to some Duluth folks there and lost even more respect for there fans...got all bent out of shape when I told them I wanted Harvard and Denver in the final. Thursday crowd was ok but it was easy to sit anywhere in the arena you wanted. We ended up by a bunch of scouts and agents and they thought UND had the best fan base ever and knew the entire event would be different with them in it. Not many Chicago people we talked to over the four days even knew the Frozen Four was in town. Saturday had lots of non-hockey people at the event...we ran in to a couple of rugby teams that were in town and decided to attend...they got really cheap tickets. Duluth definitely had the more energetic crowd on Friday and Denver was it's usual quiet and reserved.

Don't know how Sioux fans would react if someone went out of their way to say they are cheering for the other teams in the tournament.  I would bet snide remarks would be fairly common in that case as well.  Now if Duluth fans asked the question and got snooty from the reply, that's a little different. 

[cowboys5xsbs]

17 hours ago, Cratter said:

Guess Denver was never much of a rival after all.

I respect Denver they have a good program.  The games we play against them are always intense and fun.  I was never a fan of Gwoz but  they have been a real classy program. 

[geneva6]

43 minutes ago, tnt said:

Don't know how Sioux fans would react if someone went out of their way to say they are cheering for the other teams in the tournament.  I would bet snide remarks would be fairly common in that case as well.  Now if Duluth fans asked the question and got snooty from the reply, that's a little different. 

They asked us who we were cheering for and when we told them is when they got all bent out of shape.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

8 minutes ago, geneva6 said:

They asked us who we were cheering for and when we told them is when they got all bent out of shape.

Duluth fans getting bent out of shape? What a surprise... 

[tnt]

33 minutes ago, geneva6 said:

They asked us who we were cheering for and when we told them is when they got all bent out of shape.

In that case, if they weren't ready to accept the answer unless it met with their approval, then don't ask the question in the first place. 

[runaroundsioux]

Had a great time in Chicago. Stayed on the Magnificent Mile.Chicago is a beautiful city, sorta like New York but cleaner and less crowded. United Center was a nice facility. The fan fest was cancelled on Thu. due to weather.( Turned out they could have had it,weather was fine.) The Saturday fan fest was packed, the most I have seen at one.It was in a smaller area than usual though. The crowd at United Center was quiet Thursday, much more energy Saturday.Not Tampa energy by any means but decent. They announced it was record attendance for a Frozen Four NHL arena venue. (two day total.)The best part of a Frozen Four (if your team isn't there) is the atmosphere with all the college hockey fans from around the country. Unbelievable the jerseys you see from all over the country. Visited with a UNH guy who has been at 31 F4s. He was at the regional in 09 when Big Joe chipped it out of bounds. He said that game was a major mark in UNH history as they beat North Dakota. Talked to another guy from Boston who has been to 41. His first was UND championship '63. We were told several times by fans from all over "Wish you guys were here, it's a lot more fun when you are". We agreed. Even got a Go Sioux from a guy in a Gopher sweater. You don't realize the respect UND has in the college hockey world until you attend one of these. Most were aware of our game with BU followed by "you got screwed". I still think the best part of a Frozen Four is the fact that most everyone there is a diehard college hockey fan. The knowledge,mutual respect,and love of the game make it a very unique experience,

[MafiaMan]

3 hours ago, SJHovey said:

If you're talking about the broken leg, I didn't think that was a particularly terrible hit. 

Duluth plays up to a line, and over.  But we sometimes play that way as well.  We dodged some bullets last year with a couple of the hits, the Olson one in particular.

 

3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

I didn't like the little high tug by the left hand on the left shoulder to throw the man off balance as he went into the boards. 

Exactly what I saw as well.  Hammond would have gone into the boards straight up if it wasn't for the tug on his shoulder that made him fall backwards and go in skates-first.

[SJHovey]

3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

I didn't like the little high tug by the left hand on the left shoulder to throw the man off balance as he went into the boards. 

But that happens all the time.  Second period of a game in November, you might even draw a penalty call out of it.  But I wouldn't characterize it as dirty or cheap.

[Oxbow6]

4 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

 

Exactly what I saw as well.  Hammond would have gone into the boards straight up if it wasn't for the tug on his shoulder that made him fall backwards and go in skates-first.

Conspiracist!

Who do you think you are... Lawrence O'Donnell????

[MafiaMan]

2 minutes ago, SJHovey said:

But that happens all the time.  Second period of a game in November, you might even draw a penalty call out of it.  But I wouldn't characterize it as dirty or cheap.

But yet we scream bloody murder at the hit on Poolman?  

[The Sicatoka]

Put the second referee up in the press box already!

And I know it's non-traditional, but I still like the 5 points per game in the standings idea too (same link). 

[SJHovey]

57 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

But yet we scream bloody murder at the hit on Poolman?  

I didn't scream about the Poolman hit, although I do think that hit was worse.  What I though was different about the Poolman hit was that basically he was grabbed from behind and driven shoulder first into the boards.  Because he was being held as he was driven into the boards, he had no chance to protect himself.  The Denver play was a little different.  I think the Denver play was more akin to a player going in and getting tripped, then sliding awkwardly into the boards and injuring himself.  It may be a penalty, but I don't think it's malicious or dirty.

[MafiaMan]

1 minute ago, SJHovey said:

I didn't scream about the Poolman hit, although I do think that hit was worse.  What I though was different about the Poolman hit was that basically he was grabbed from behind and driven shoulder first into the boards.  Because he was being held as he was driven into the boards, he had no chance to protect himself.  The Denver play was a little different.  I think the Denver play was more akin to a player going in and getting tripped, then sliding awkwardly into the boards and injuring himself.  It may be a penalty, but I don't think it's malicious or dirty.

I didn't say "you" specifically screamed about it, I said "we" as in a lot of fans on this board.  Again, the players were both skating hard into the boards when the UMD player tugs at Hammond's shoulder at the very-last second.    

[SJHovey]

18 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

I didn't say "you" specifically screamed about it, I said "we" as in a lot of fans on this board.  Again, the players were both skating hard into the boards when the UMD player tugs at Hammond's shoulder at the very-last second.    

Yep, and if you go back and watch all of UND's games, you'd see something similar happen 10-15 times a game between the two teams.  Sometimes it causes a player to lose his balance, sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes the player who loses his balance gets injured.  Sometimes he doesn't.  The workings of chance don't make it dirty.

[Wilbur]

Finally watched the whole game on YouTube.  Interesting play happened under the 8 minutes remaining mark in the third period.  A certain Duluth defenseman takes the puck to the net and loses his balance and miraculously is able to step around the goalie and not pile drive him into the net.....

Makes his hit at the frozen face off that much more stupid.  Watch the two plays....it's basically the same play. 

[MafiaMan]

1 minute ago, Wilbur said:

Finally watched the whole game on YouTube.  Interesting play happened under the 8 minutes remaining mark in the third period.  A certain Duluth defenseman takes the puck to the net and loses his balance and miraculously is able to step around the goalie and not pile drive him into the net.....

Makes his hit at the frozen face off that much more stupid.  Watch the two plays....it's basically the same play. 

Your take on the Hammond play and subsequent injury is?

[#33]

A friend of mine who is a ref in the AHL told me that the linesman for the UND-BU game that called the offsides (same linesman that called the 2016 and 2017) national championship game was actually fired from the NCHC before he was a ref in the B1G. 

[Wilbur]

26 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

Your take on the Hammond play and subsequent injury is?

Duluth player uses free hand to tug shoulder of Hammond from behind causing him to go awkwardly in the boards.  

The Duluth player causes the injury, but the only penalty would be holding or interference.

[Sodbuster]

8 minutes ago, #33 said:

A friend of mine who is a ref in the AHL told me that the linesman for the UND-BU game that called the offsides (same linesman that called the 2016 and 2017) national championship game was actually fired from the NCHC before he was a ref in the B1G. 

Is that actually true?

[MafiaMan]

5 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Duluth player uses free hand to tug shoulder of Hammond from behind causing him to go awkwardly in the boards.  

The Duluth player causes the injury, but the only penalty would be holding or interference.

Agreed.  I don't think the incident was intentional, but there is no doubt it should have been a 2:00 minor penalty.

[#33]

45 minutes ago, Sodbuster said:

Is that actually true?

I'm not sure but thought someone on this forum would be able to verify it. 

[Fetch]

I've heard the Blackhawks arena is in a bad part of town - did anyone feel that way ?

[MafiaMan]

9 minutes ago, Fetch said:

I've heard the Blackhawks arena is in a bad part of town - did anyone feel that way ?

Well, only 7 Sioux fans, 6 Maine fans, 3 BU fans and 2 Michigan fans were shot after the game, so it's safe to conclude that Chicago's violence problem is a bit overblown. 

[ksl_sioux4ever]

11 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

Well, only 7 Sioux fans, 6 Maine fans, 3 BU fans and 2 Michigan fans were shot after the game, so it's safe to conclude that Chicago's violence problem is a bit overblown. 

I suppose since you said no Duluth fans were shot is because so few showed up?