Gotta give Bucky credit. They played hard both nights. I chalk Friday night up to Bucky playing hard and sometimes for UND, freshmen are gonna play like freshmen. Kunin for Wisconsin is a stud, hope he stays and doesn't jump to major juniors as has been rumored. I have season tickets so I don't miss very many UND games. I think Wisconsin is going to be better this year than most expected. They have enough high end talent that if the rest of the team buys into the Eaves system(dump, change, don't get scored on, have a good power play) they will be a handful....especially if they play with that much effort every night.
It was mostly a reference to being a Nebraska football fan this year, and the first UND hockey game I go to is their first loss.
Vegas Baby! One of college hockey’s greatest shows is headed for the bright lights of Las Vegas. Longtime rivals Minnesota and North Dakota are in the process of finalizing a game that will be played just off The Strip in Las Vegas in three years, a college hockey source has confirmed to the Grand Forks Herald. The contract for the game has not been signed yet, but officials at both schools have verbally agreed to play the game. Once it is signed, an announcement is expected. The schools have set aside Oct. 27, 2018, for the single game, a Saturday. The contest will be a U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game. It is tentatively slated to be played at Orleans Arena, part of Orleans Hotel and Casino. The arena, which opened in 2003, seats 7,773 for hockey. It used to be home to a minor league team, the Las Vegas Wranglers of the East Coast Hockey League. The game will be widely attended by fans of both programs -- some who will make the trip from the North and others who are snowbirds in nearby communities and states. North Dakota and Minnesota have paired together to form one of college hockey’s fiercest rivalries throughout the years. The games are always sold out and often feature memorable theatrics that are remembered by simple names or numbers -- from Neal Broten to Evan Trupp to Blake Wheeler to Chris Porter to The Timeout to 0.6 seconds. But with the teams moving to different conferences in 2013 -- Minnesota to the Big Ten and North Dakota to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference -- the frequency of the games has dropped off. Last season was the first time since 1946-47 that the rivals did not meet in men’s hockey. The rivalry will resume next season with a two-game series in Mariucci Arena. In 2016-17, they will play a two-game series in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The following year, it will be the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Las Vegas.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/new...me-vote-ended-57-percent-favor-fighting-hawks the Fighting Hawks pfft
In actuality 19% of eligible voters supported the new name and I would bet half of those only voted to prevent one of the other horrible choices.
Yeah, I wasn't thrilled by any of the choices. Nodaks was alright and not generic as fuck, so I voted for that one the first two times. Whatever.
I'll just leave this here. http://www.citypages.com/news/what-happened-to-the-university-of-minnesota-hockey-program-7960026
I took my son to his first Gopher Hockey game tonight. We showed up early so he could get down on the glass.
Crazy finish between Ohio State-Minnesota 3-2 Ohio State, Minnesota scores 2, Ohio State ties it with .2 left after it took them about 2 minutes to even get in the offensive zone Minnesota wins it in OT
I've seen enough outdoor hockey (Soldier Field - Gophers vs. Wisconsin & TCF Bank Stadium - Gophers vs. Ohio State) to know not to pay the prices they were asking. It is a fun novelty for a period but the ice generally sucks, the sight lines are terrible and when the cost to get in the door is like $200...I'm out. I just thought the picture looked cool.
This has been a super disappointing season for UMD. It would have been great to be able to beat up on a new B1G school every week.
As far a regular season goes sure. But the Gophers loss tonight all but cinches the fact they will have to win the conference tournament in order to make the tournament.
Our PWR is 18. I don't have a model but I'd be surprised if winning our next 6 games (very manageable w/ Mich, @MSUx2, Wiscx2 & a non-Michigan opponent in BTT) and then losing the tournament championship would leave us outside of the tournament. Note, we would currently beat the two teams directly ahead of us (Miami & Mich Tech if we could pull up in to a tie).
He was responding to "all but clinches" based on one game of 7. I think the response was justified. Gophs aren't making it this year IMO and their play gives me that idea, but they have chances to get in if they win after we kick their ass again tomorrow.
Minnesota is limited as to how far they can climb in the pairwise because they are losing comparisons to #23 Mankato, #25 Duluth, and #32 Bemidji. They will need to win the Big 10 tournament at the Excel to gain the auto bid or have a lot of things break their way......meanwhile I will be across the River watching quality hockey in a less than quality building.
Your graph agrees with what I said. We need to win our next 6. Mich, @MSUx2, Wiscx2 and hopefully PSU in the BTT. In that scenario, your graph predicts the Gophers PWR would most likely fall in the 12-14 range which gives a reasonable cushion from conference tournament upsets. If you said "the Gophers back is against the wall" instead of "all but clinches they need to win the BTT" I would be in agreement. With another loss, particularly to Wisconsin, I would agree with needing to win the BTT.
Does PSU need to win the BTT to get a bid? We're currently 15 in the pairwise, but we finish @wisky and @mich. I assume we lose both @mich and 1 @ wisky if Gadowski continues to trot Skoff out in goal for 1 game each weekend. Losing 3 out of the last 4 knocks us out of an at-large, right? I'm thinking this is the most likely scenario.
Losing 3 of 4 would knock you out. Wisconsin has only won one B1G game all year. If PSU swept Wisconsin and split with Michigan, you'd probably continue to be right on the bubble heading in to the BTT.
Probably. Dropping just 1 game to Wisconsin might be trouble. If PSU wins 3 of 4 I think they have a good shot. Just root for high PWR teams to win conference tournaments.
Yeah, I know losing to Wisconsin would be bad. Really, we should sweep Wisconsin, but I have more faith in Skoff blowing a game than winning one.
Sorry. This graph was made prior to losing to Michigan last night. Now if the Gophs win out all the way to the Big 10 title game and lose, could they get an at large bid? Sure, but they would need a lot of things to break their way.
To be safe, you really need to be in top 13-14 in the pairwise like Rabid said in order to account for tournament upsets and that whoever comes out of the Atlantic Hockey conference is "stealing" 1 of the 16 spots. He didn't do a prospectus for Penn State lately but he probably will soon. http://collegehockeyranked.com/category/forecasts/ Once the regular season is wrapped up, he also activates a predictor that is a great time waster in which you can plug in tourney results to see how if affects your team.
Losses to a top 5 PWR team aren't going to hurt a lot. I'm still guessing that if we won out until the BT Championship game and then lost that to Michigan we'd be 14-15 in PWR. Definite bubble. Definite back against the wall. Not necessarily to the point of all but eliminated; but very little margin for error or things to go against you (upsets).
Case in point, with tonight's win over Michigan the Gophers moved back to 16. They currently win comparisons against #14 & 15 so if they go 5-0 down the stretch it seems unlikely Someone ahead of them wouldn't drop a game or two (and in the case of #14 PSU the Gophers have some control). But, yes, backs are against the wall.
They have a tough time climbing because of the comparisons they lose behind them. Keep an eye of Duluth who is currently #23 but if they beat St. Cloud again tonight they will vault way up by flipping a few comparisons. Also if SCSU loses and Quinnipiac loses and UND wins I think the F'n Hawks move to 1.
Clinched a tie at worst. The Penrose will be in Grand Forks next weekend! Pretty cool for my buddies nephew this weekend. He plays D for Miami and had scored 1 goal in his career and it was at the Florida classic last year. Senior weekend and his parents were there from Minneapolis(his dad played for Gophs) and he gets 1 each night this weekend! Great kid, glad to see how his college career and experience turned out!