SIOUX vs. gophers

[Sioux-cia]

The gophers didn't beat the best goalie in college hockey, because he and the rest of his TEAM were busy shutting down Two teams in BU, and BC that each had alot of offensive firepower.  And doing it in their backyard.  This team has found the heart, the drive, and the motivation it needs at the perfect time of year.  Combine that with their strength, and skill, and confidence they now have in each other, man what  pleasure to watch.  Try to shut down one line, and the next one comes on the ice and smashes right in the mouth. I love it.

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Yeah baby!!

[redwing77]

BUt the good news in all of this is that home ice advantage doesn't mean a lot in the NCAAs.

It may have helped Minnesota, though probably not that much. It didn't help BU, BC, or Michigan, that's for sure.

[Five-HoleFrenzy]

Reading posts on here for the most part is entertaining and having a number of friends who are first and foremost Sioux fans but second of all college hockey fans has given me (a gopher fan) a lot of respect for North Dakota and the WCHA in general. What I say is what I see and I am franky not very confident in what Minnesota brings to the table as of right now.

Minnesota being in the Frozen Four is a product of a few things. Number one is exactly that, a number one seed when in all honesty, they did not deserve it. Number two is a home regional. Number three is seeding that gave them Maine, Ohio State, and Cornell. All the talk about beating good goaltending is just sugarcoating the fact that they have only played a couple of good hockey games since Jan. And that has to be tempered with the fact that it came against MTU and SCSU.

North Dakota on the other hand is playing their best hockey right now and they can shut you down with their defense and goaltending as well as playing fire wagon hockey and beat you with speed and depth. Frankly from where I sit this looks like a mismatch in favor of the Sioux. It may not be what I want to hear but it is the reality that I see.

[farce poobah]

... seeding that gave them Maine, Ohio State, and Cornell...

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Gotta agree with that. While those are pretty decent teams, their style of play was poorly suited to beat Minnesota.

Maine and Cornell rarely attack or go heavy on the forecheck. They counterattack, dump and chase, let the goalie stop the first shot and clean up the rebounds. This let Minnesota get the puck to center with minimal pressure and then dump it in ...

The teams that have beaten Minnesota have done it by pressuring Minnesota's D, by hitting (especially the D and a few forwards who don't like getting hit) and none of these 3 teams had the horses to trouble Minnesota.

The remaining 3 WCHA teams all have the speed size and personality to go after the Gophers.

========================

As to the Sioux, I liked our regional and matchups also. And I like the semifinal too. I like our chances against Minnesota better than DU or CC.

Nice.

[Sweeny]

I don't know why goofer fans are so confident. They might claim that their team just "didn't care" about the game v. UND in the final five but it appears that even Lucia was able to recognize the significance of that game and did not just shrug it off:

[Lucia]

[brianvf]

Gotta agree with that. While those are pretty decent teams, their style of play was poorly suited to beat Minnesota.

Maine and Cornell rarely attack or go heavy on the forecheck. They counterattack, dump and chase, let the goalie stop the first shot and clean up the rebounds. This let Minnesota get the puck to center with minimal pressure and then dump it in ...

Agreed.

Congrats to Briggs for giving up only one goal all weekend, but Maine and Cornell aren't exactly known for their offensive prowess. I still see a close game taking place, because there is too much on the line for one of the teams not to show up.

Go Sioux! April 7th will not get here soon enough...

[sagard]

Keys for the Gophers:

1. Limit the Sioux breakaways. Force the Sioux to grind out PP goals.

2. Stop a Sioux breakaway if/when it occurs. Every time I've seen your team lately they are cashing in breakaways. Goalies can stuff shooters, Briggs will need to do this.

3. 0-15 with a shortie allowed. Needless to say this will not be acceptable if they wish to play in the Final. The Gophs will likely need a PP goal to win.

4. Another goal by Kaufmann's line.

If the Gophers accomplish all four items, they will win. Two or fewer they lose.

Both teams will be ready, both will play very well. I really think the "7>5" will be changing again this year, but I honestly don't know which direction.

[brianvf]

The gophers just beat the 2 best goalies in college hockey.

According to these stats:

1 David McKee, So, COR 34 27-4-3 2060:35 42 746 .947 1.22

2 Dov Grumet-Morris, Sr, HU 31 19-9-3 1910:33 52 923 .947 1.63

3 Matti Kaltiainen, Sr, BC 24 13-6-3 1369:07 41 480 .921 1.80

Matt Climie, Fr, BSU 21 12-5-1 1167:16 35 382 .916 1.80

5 Steve Silverthorn, Sr, COL 37 24-10-3 2229:43 70 817 .921 1.88

6 Cory Schneider, Fr, BC 18 13-1-4 1102:23 35 382 .916 1.90

7 Jim Howard, Jr, ME 39 19-13-7 2309:43 74 900 .924 1.92

8 Joe Fallon, Fr, UVM 32 17-10-4 1932:00 63 736 .921 1.96

9 John Curry, So, BU 33 18-11-3 1949:40 65 769 .922 2.00

Minnie just beat the #1 and #7 goalies in the nation. UND just beat the #6 and #9 goalies in the nation. Keep in mind that these stats include the games played this weekend. Minnie scored 2 goals against McKee and 1 against Howard. UND scored 4 against Curry and 6 against Schneider.

[GBpakrzz]

Should be a fun Frozen Four to watch. Having all WCHA teams in the four team dance is a huge statement to college hockey across the country. We have all grown tired of hearing about Hockey East and the love affair they have with the national media.

That being said, UND is on top of it's game right now and I fully expect them to beat Minny by 2+ goals.

The championship game will be the tough one no matter if it's DU or CC.

One thing is certain from my vantage point: The Gophers are clearly the worst team in the Frozen Four and I am damn happy about playing them in game 1.

[WPoS]

WOW! This is gonna be one great FF! ALL WCHA! HA! Screw you HE! What do you think Euruzioni(sp) is trying to spin off this?

Anyway, no trash talking form me here. Good teams make it to the FF regardless of who they play, where they play or what their record is.

I would love to see the Gophs beat UND there, but I will wait and see which team wins. All the opinions on the message boards in the world will NOT change the outcome of the game.

I WILL say this tho, from what I heard from a GOPHER fan, JPar off the ice is ONE CLASS ACT!

Drop the puck!

WPoS

[Turk 77]

Nice job this weekend UND. It was great seeing Jack Paaaka and Jerry Yaawk both looking like they just ate a turd. Id say all of our teams did the WCHA proud. UND is red hot coming in right now and id pick them as favorites. Of course im hoping otherwise but nice job this weekend.

[cfm567b27]

[cfm567b27]

Seriously...the star of the weekend for UM wasn't Briggs....Is was the entire UM defensive corps and PK unit. I didn't see too many impressive saves that Briggs made quite frankly because the defense played well so he didn't have to stand on his head.

[sprig]

Both teams will be ready, both will play very well.  I really think the "7>5" will be changing again this year, but I honestly don't know which direction.

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You may be right, but from what I saw in the Denver/UNH game, if Denver stays close in any game and then is allowed to tackle and obstruct (pick) to create scoring opportunities late in the game, they will win.

In a tightly called DU/UNH contest (thought the calls were good both ways), when it came down to the last 5 minutes of the game, UNH was putting on most of the pressure in the Denver end, and, on two consecutive forechecks in the Denver end, first, Denver tackled a UNH forechecker, leading to an odd man rush down the ice, but not a goal. The next trip, a very obvious pick that knocked down the UNH forechecker in the Denver end allowed a Denver rush that resulted in the GWG. If any team can do this stuff, their chances of winning are magnified, and although it's not surprising Denver got away with it in the WCHA, it was surprising when the same crap was allowed in a NCAA regional final by an official from another league. (If you're thinking I have no time for Denver, you're thinking right). Go CC.

[Upper Deck]

Keys for the Gophers:

1.  Limit the Sioux breakaways.  Force the Sioux to grind out PP goals.

2.  Stop a Sioux breakaway if/when it occurs.  Every time I've seen your team lately they are cashing in breakaways.  Goalies can stuff shooters, Briggs will need to do this.

3.  0-15 with a shortie allowed.  Needless to say this will not be acceptable if they wish to play in the Final.  The Gophs will likely need a PP goal to win.

4.  Another goal by Kaufmann's line.

If the Gophers accomplish all four items, they will win.  Two or fewer they lose. 

Both teams will be ready, both will play very well.  I really think the "7>5" will be changing again this year, but I honestly don't know which direction.

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I would agree w/Sagard's post.. The Sioux are excellent at PK's but it may bite 'em in the butt eventually, although they need to set the tone early. I think if they limit the penalties somewhat they grind out a 4-2 win. Both teams have good weapons and it should be a classic. It would be sweet to see Spirko repeat his FF breakaway goal for the game-winner. Living in the TC's, nothing would make me happier than all the crying and excuses by the Goph fans on Friday . . .

[ScottM]

Should be a fun Frozen Four to watch. Having all WCHA teams in the four team dance is a huge statement to college hockey across the country. We have all grown tired of hearing about Hockey East and the love affair they have with the national media.

Agreed. I love the whining, purse-swinging Nancy-boys from HE on USCHO crying about "ratings", "nobody will watch", etc. Who cares? "Nobody" watches these games, except diehard fans of the game and their programs, regardless if you had Michigan and BC in the final. So the ratings "issue" is just more bunch of horse crap. I think that having four teams playing, especially two teams in Minnie and UND that "weren't supposed to be there" based on preseason ratings, rebuilding, etc., says volumes about the quality of the WCHA and our programs.

That said anybody who underestimates Minnesota, or Lucia's ability to coach his teams to another level, is really not paying attention.

[dagies]

Maybe CC,MN, and DU should just stay home, according to most of you UND will win hands down.

This board is about the same image of the GPL consensus. Just a different color.

[Sioux_Hab-it]

According to these stats:

1 David McKee, So, COR 34 27-4-3 2060:35 42 746 .947 1.22

2 Dov Grumet-Morris, Sr, HU 31 19-9-3 1910:33 52 923 .947 1.63

3 Matti Kaltiainen, Sr, BC 24 13-6-3 1369:07 41 480 .921 1.80

Matt Climie, Fr, BSU 21 12-5-1 1167:16 35 382 .916 1.80

5 Steve Silverthorn, Sr, COL 37 24-10-3 2229:43 70 817 .921 1.88

6 Cory Schneider, Fr, BC 18 13-1-4 1102:23 35 382 .916 1.90

7 Jim Howard, Jr, ME 39 19-13-7 2309:43 74 900 .924 1.92

8 Joe Fallon, Fr, UVM 32 17-10-4 1932:00 63 736 .921 1.96

9 John Curry, So, BU 33 18-11-3 1949:40 65 769 .922 2.00

Minnie just beat the #1 and #7 goalies in the nation. UND just beat the #6 and #9 goalies in the nation. Keep in mind that these stats include the games played this weekend. Minnie scored 2 goals against McKee and 1 against Howard. UND scored 4 against Curry and 6 against Schneider.

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And how many pucks did the Sioux put behind Jim Howard this season. A meaningless stat when all is said and done as they all play for teams that any of the top WCHA teams should be able to bury. I know you Goofer fans are trying to look for reasons to feel good about only scoring 3 goals and barely scraping by but you won't get that warm and fuzzy from this board.

[redwing77]

Seriously...the star of the weekend for UM wasn't Briggs....Is was the entire UM defensive corps and PK unit. I didn't see too many impressive saves that Briggs made quite frankly because the defense played well so he didn't have to stand on his head.

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I agree 100%. Briggs wasn't really tested, though he did come through for the few times that Maine and Cornell did try to shoot the puck and it got past the defense.

I thought the biggest two factors facing MInnesota coming into the NCAAs were heart and defense. I never questioned their offensive capabilities even without Hirsch and Goli. What I did question was their defense, which was rather porous during the final 5. They came through big time, IMO. In so doing, though, they seemed to have lost their offense. With the way Cornell was playing, I didn't think 2-1 would be the end score... more like... 5-1 UMN.

[Jackson]

Gophers-Sioux, title game berth on the line. Woo Hoo, it's on baby!

Should be a great game. As a hockey fan I can only hope for a game like the Final Five title game last year, not because Minnesota won but because it was a fun up and down game (unlike this year's snoozefest).

Going into the game NoDak certainly has all the momentum and despite being a lower seed I would call them the favorite. Minnesota needs to right the ship despite winning their last two. NoDak just needs to maintain.

Good luck to both teams.

Go Gophers. Rah.

[streakygopher]

Just wanted to stop in and congratulate your team on their FF berth...as for the who's better discussion, that will be settled in two weeks. What happened this past weekend is over. There's two weeks of practices, coaching, and healing to be done. Both teams will be ready. Personally, I expect a close game...why would anybody think otherwise??

I will say this, however, the goaltending at the U this weekend was as good as I have ever seen. Holding Minnesota to 3 goals in two games on the big sheet is an accomplishment for any team.

I'm not into predictions, but it's looking like it might finally be CC's year. They came back from a 3-0 deficit against a solid Michigan squad in Michigan. Both Colorado squads are better than UND or MN. One of us will need a little luck to beat them...good thing it's a one-game take all.

[cfm567b27]

Just wanted to stop in and congratulate your team on their FF berth...as for the who's better discussion, that will be settled in two weeks.  What happened this past weekend is over.  There's two weeks of practices, coaching, and healing to be done.  Both teams will be ready.  Personally, I expect a close game...why would anybody think otherwise??  

I will say this, however, the goaltending at the U this weekend was as good as I have ever seen.  Holding Minnesota to 3 goals in two games on the big sheet is an accomplishment for any team.

I'm not into predictions, but it's looking like it might finally be CC's year.  They came back from a 3-0 deficit against a solid Michigan squad in Michigan.  Both Colorado squads are better than UND or MN.  One of us will need a little luck to beat them...good thing it's a one-game take all.

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If the Sioux are fortunate enough to play CC in the title game I like our chances...More so than if we had to play Denver.

[redwing77]

[Fedorov]

I mean, who comes back from a 3 goal lead? 

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I know BU and BC don't.

[DAR]

With so much on the line the nerves are going to be at a high level for this game. The winner will have bragging rights for the whole summer over the other. There is no team I hate losing to more than the Goofers. The Sioux must play physical but cannot take as many needless penalties as they did out East. Eventually that is going to cost us. We need to play aggressive but play smart as well. I thought Smaby had a real good couple of games, he was just as physical as Greene but w/out as many penalties. The Goofies will have a lot of time to work on their PP and you can bet Lucia Pet is telling his players that scoring on the PP will be the key to the game as UND is going to take some penalties. Watching Rosen's Sports Sunday last night here in Mpls. they had Tallackson, Potulny and Irmen on. I hope the Sioux knock the Goofs right in the mouth and knock the cocky smirks off those guys faces.