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WCHA first round


siouxguyinstpaul

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Say, who holds the tie breaker between us and CC?

The first tie breaker is head to head. Since they split this season we move to the second tie breaker, league wins. If UND wins tonight and pulls into a tie for fourth place with CC, UND would hold the tie breaker with 16 league wins to CC's 15. :whistling:

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I have to disagree with us wanting to play St Clown. I would rather play Mankato, even if they swept a broken Wisconsin team. The goals against is much higher for Mankato amost 1 for 1 with goals for. Clown is amost at 2 goal for every one against. The Sioux should lock up a place in the tourney with a win tonight and face off with the Mavs at home next weekend. Last I checked Sioux moved up to a #2 seed with some help from around the league.

Go Sioux

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In the latest Bracketology from USCHO (with bonuses), the Sioux sit at #7, so if the season ended today, they would be a #2 seed.

http://www.uscho.com/pdf/general/2006bracket.pdf

Hopefully the Sioux can move up even more to the fifth or sixth overall seed. If that happens I doubt very much that the Gophers would be in Grand Forks because of bracket integrity. There's no way the NCAA will put the #1 overall seed in the same region as the #5. Ideally the gophers should get the #8 seed or possibly the #7 in their region. If the Sioux move up a little, get ready to see either Miami or UW in Grand Forks. I for one desperately want to avoid the Sioux in Grand Forks. It doesn't seem right that we should have to beat UND at home for a third time in the same year.

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It doesn't seem right that we should have to beat UND at home for a third time in the same year.

Here we go again...

Maybe if the Gophers get upset in Grand Forks by the Sioux or anyone else, the NCAA will step in and eliminate schools hosting regionals. :whistling: After all, It's bad enough that Minnesota was sent to Kalamazoo back in 1997 (hardly U of Michigan country, but their fans cried about how ridiculous that seeding was anyways after they were eliminated by Michigan).

1998...UND overall #1 seed sent to Yost Arena...and loses to Michigan.

2001...Denver #1 overall seed sent to Yost also...and loses to Michigan.

Those are two instances of host schools who defeated higher-ranked teams en route to the Frozen Four because of the distinct advantage of playing in their own building. Denver wins the WCHA regular season outright and wins the Final Five and the reward is a meeting with Michigan in its own barn? C'mon, NCAA, you can do better.

Funny, but I didn't hear any Gophers crying about the seeding in those years. Denver losing to Michigan was huge because it meant Michigan playing Minnesota in the Frozen Four at the X and not Denver. Think Minnesota wanted to see Denver again that season after getting outplayed and outworked in the WCHA Final Five a few weeks before that? Not a chance.

While not playing teams ranked higher than them to create a situation like UND and Denver found themselves in above, Minnesota was able to use Mariucci to its advantage in 2003 and 2005. In fact, I'm not sure they would have beaten Maine or Cornell anyplace outside of Mariucci last year. Had the Gophers made the NCAA tournament in 2000, they could have again taken advantage of home ice. What goes around comes around, and if the Sioux take advantage of the situation by hosting the regional, my response will be "it's about damn time."

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Here we go again...

Maybe if the Gophers get upset in Grand Forks by anyone, the NCAA will step in and eliminate schools hosting regionals. It's bad enough that Minnesota was sent to Kalamazoo back in 1997 (hardly U of Michigan country, but their fans cried about how ridiculous that seeding was then), this should get real interesting if they're beat in Grand Forks.

1998...UND overall #1 seed sent to Yost Arena...and loses to Michigan.

2001...Denver #1 overall seed sent to Yost also...and loses to Michigan.

Funny, but I didn't hear any Gophers crying about the seeding in those years. Denver losing to Michigan was huge because it meant Michigan playing Minnesota in the Frozen Four at the X and not Denver. Think Minnesota wanted to see Denver again that season after getting outplayed and outworked in the WCHA Final Five a few weeks before that? Not a chance.

What goes around comes around, and if the Sioux take advantage of the situation by hosting the regional, my response is "it's about time."

I'm against regionals in home arena's, including Mariucci. I honestly felt guilty about having a regional at home those two years. But let's not forget that the Gophers were a number one seed both those years, so they did earn a favorable draw. And those two examples you mentioned were not involoving arch rivals like this does. And it wasn't Kalamazoo, it was Grand Rapids. I'm not whining, I'm just saying I'd rather not face UND at the Ralph.

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some gophers fans are starting to sound like cornell fans last year :whistling::lol::D

I couldn't agree more and made the same statement at gpl.com. I'm tired of the complaining from some fans about the possiblity of playing UND in Grand Forks. While there are obviously scenarios that would be preferred if you can't beat UND in the regional you don't deserve to go to the FF.

That said, I think the Gophers playing UND would be slightly more disadvantageous than Cornell playing UM last season given the familiarity between these two teams. However, there's nothing preventing Gopher fans from making the short trip to Grand Forks and gobbling up as many tickets as possible to made the home-ice advantage not as great as what the Gophers experienced last season.

So while I'd rather we not have to play UND in ND, you have to be careful what you wish for and play the cards you're dealt - that's the way it goes so stop complaining fellow Gopher fans.

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some gophers fans are starting to sound like cornell fans last year :whistling::lol::D

I was gonna say that, too, AZSIOUX. "We shouldn't have to...," "it doesn't seem fair," blah blah blah.

The Denver 2001 issue was the most ridiculous seeding I have personally seen. Again, 2001 conference and conference tournament champs, including beating the Gophers at Xcel, and the seedings were like this:

Minnesota vs Colorado College/Michigan State winner

Denver vs Michigan/St Cloud State winner

Any way you slice that regional pairing will tell you that a French Olympic ice skating judge must have made that bracket up. You can practically throw out the rankings when you're talking regionals in a host facility, whether it be Yost, Mariucci, or REA.

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I'm against regionals in home arena's, including Mariucci. I honestly felt guilty about having a regional at home those two years. But let's not forget that the Gophers were a number one seed both those years, so they did earn a favorable draw. And those two examples you mentioned were not involoving arch rivals like this does. And it wasn't Kalamazoo, it was Grand Rapids. I'm not whining, I'm just saying I'd rather not face UND at the Ralph.

I stand corrected, Buckysucks, the 1997 regional was in Grand Rapids. I'm glad to know some Gopher fans agree that hosting of regionals is just wrong.

Frozen Fours, well, those happen and 2002 worked like a charm for Minnesota. However, I get tired of ridiculous comments, particularly from Gopher fans, about the X being a neutral site. Even Donny Lucia mentioned before the NCAA title game that he expected a "50/50" crowd Maine/Minnesota at the title game. I'm not sure what Don was smoking that weekend, but it wasn't Malboro Lights.

Had Minnesota been anything other than a #1 seed in 2003, they would also be on that infamous list of 1997 Michigan and 2002 Michigan. Assuming (and it's a big assumption) that Minnesota goes to Grand Forks and the Sioux end up knocking them off, UND will be on that list instead. It's taking advantage of hosting a regional and I agree, the system isn't right.

Whatever happened to higher-ranked teams hosting a best-of-three series in their own buildings. That seemed fair, in my opinion. The small schools and those never able to host a regional are clearly at a disadvantage. This is exactly the reason why the new REA came to be. Fair or not, it is what the NCAA has made it to be.

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I stand corrected, Buckysucks, the 1997 regional was in Grand Rapids. I'm glad to know some Gopher fans agree that hosting of regionals is just wrong.

Frozen Fours, well, those happen and 2002 worked like a charm for Minnesota. However, I get tired of ridiculous comments, particularly from Gopher fans, about the X being a neutral site. Even Donny Lucia mentioned before the NCAA title game that he expected a "50/50" crowd Maine/Minnesota at the title game. I'm not sure what Don was smoking that weekend, but it wasn't Malboro Lights.

Had Minnesota been anything other than a #1 seed in 2003, they would also be on that infamous list of 1997 Michigan and 2002 Michigan. Assuming (and it's a big assumption) that Minnesota goes to Grand Forks and the Sioux end up knocking them off, UND will be on that list instead. It's taking advantage of hosting a regional and I agree, the system isn't right.

Whatever happened to higher-ranked teams hosting a best-of-three series in their own buildings. That seemed fair, in my opinion. The small schools and those never able to host a regional are clearly at a disadvantage. This is exactly the reason why the new REA came to be. Fair or not, it is what the NCAA has made it to be.

Mariucci has another regional in '09, the Kohl Center has one in '08, and the World Arena has one in '08 I believe. So it's not gonna change anytime soon. What's interesting is that Denver has a regional in the next few years but it's at Pepsi Arena. At least it's not at Magness. If the "U" gets one again it should be at the "X", not Mariucci. It's still a home crowd but it's more fair than a home arena.

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I'm not whining, I'm just saying I'd rather not face UND at the Ralph.

First off your team hasn't been seeded at the Ralph yet.

Second now your in the same boat Schaffer from Cornell was in last season.

I going to serve some cheese with that whine. :whistling:

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First off your team hasn't been seeded at the Ralph yet.

Second now your in the same boat Schaffer from Cornell was in last season.

I going to serve some cheese with that whine. :whistling:

I'm not saying it's unfair for the gophers to play UND in Grand Forks. I'm just saying it's a tall order to beat them three times in their home rink in one season. It's actually a compliment to the Sioux when I say I don't want to play them. They're a very good team and on their home rink with a regional type atmosphere they will be VERY hard to beat. I was at Yost in '02 and Mariucci in '03 and '05. The atmosphere for regionals in a home arena is crazy which is why I want to avoid the Sioux. If the NCAA had a pair, they'd put us in Green Bay because that's the closest regional to Minneapolis and the overall #1 seed is supposed to go to the closest one.

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I'm not saying it's unfair for the gophers to play UND in Grand Forks. I'm just saying it's a tall order to beat them three times in their home rink in one season. It's actually a compliment to the Sioux when I say I don't want to play them. They're a very good team and on their home rink with a regional type atmosphere they will be VERY hard to beat. I was at Yost in '02 and Mariucci in '03 and '05. The atmosphere for regionals in a home arena is crazy which is why I want to avoid the Sioux. If the NCAA had a pair, they'd put us in Green Bay because that's the closest regional to Minneapolis and the overall #1 seed is supposed to go to the closest one.

I know you are paying the Sioux a compliment. I wouldn't want to play UND at home in the Regionals either. I feel the same way when we have to play in the Final 5 every season in the Gophs backyard. But hey, it is what it is, right?

GO SIOUX!!!!

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I'm not saying it's unfair for the gophers to play UND in Grand Forks. I'm just saying it's a tall order to beat them three times in their home rink in one season. It's actually a compliment to the Sioux when I say I don't want to play them. They're a very good team and on their home rink with a regional type atmosphere they will be VERY hard to beat. I was at Yost in '02 and Mariucci in '03 and '05. The atmosphere for regionals in a home arena is crazy which is why I want to avoid the Sioux. If the NCAA had a pair, they'd put us in Green Bay because that's the closest regional to Minneapolis and the overall #1 seed is supposed to go to the closest one.

Ya know Buckysucks it would be easier to believe in your sincerity if you did't make comments like this when your supposedly being 'complimentary.'

It doesn't seem right that we should have to beat UND at home for a third time in the same year.
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They're a very good team and on their home rink with a regional type atmosphere they will be VERY hard to beat. I was at Yost in '02 and Mariucci in '03 and '05. The atmosphere for regionals in a home arena is crazy which is why I want to avoid the Sioux. If the NCAA had a pair, they'd put us in Green Bay because that's the closest regional to Minneapolis and the overall #1 seed is supposed to go to the closest one.

Actually UND is really good on the road going 11-5-1 on the season.

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Ya know Buckysucks it would be easier to believe in your sincerity if you did't make comments like this when your supposedly being 'complimentary.'

I don't see what was offensive about that comment. I wasn't rubbing it in about the sweep at the ralph earlier this year. I simply stated that it's hard to beat UND three times in their home rink in the same season, and that's exactly what's being asked of the Gophers if they're placed there. It feels like we're pushing our luck in a way.

It wasn't meant to be a smarta** comment. That's the problem with print. It's easy to misinterpret things.

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Mariucci has another regional in '09, the Kohl Center has one in '08, and the World Arena has one in '08 I believe. So it's not gonna change anytime soon. What's interesting is that Denver has a regional in the next few years but it's at Pepsi Arena. At least it's not at Magness. If the "U" gets one again it should be at the "X", not Mariucci. It's still a home crowd but it's more fair than a home arena.

At least you'll never have to worry about UND ever hosting again due to the NCAA's political correctness run amok. :whistling:

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