After watching the Bruins stumble to the Ottawa Senators backstopped by former Badger Brian Elliot, I then watched the DU and Wisconsin game that I had saved on my DVR from last night. I have to give kudos to the NHL Network for putting that game on last night. The Badgers and Pioneers played to a 3-3 sister kissing. Then I went out and attempted to blow the slush out of my driveway.
Then I watched UND Fighting Sioux and Cornell Big Red game on the Cornell Webcast and I have to admit that the game tonight wasn’t as good as light night’s game. The game did have a happy ending and was a little better game to watch than last night trap feast.
After watching the UND and Cornell game I decided to spend the $7.00 and watch the BSU and UMD game on the B2 Network. Honestly, that game was one of the most exciting hockey games that I have seen in a very long time.
BSU came back three times in the third and won the game in overtime. BSU scored a shorthanded goal, a power play goal and an even strength goal. It was a attack and counter attack game. I will take this type of a game anytime over a grind out defensive battle. The game winning goal by Jordan George was a thing of beauty; George spilt the UMD defensemen and scored to end the game just 36 seconds into overtime. [BSU - UMD box score]
How do you like the Beavers now?
I have been telling people all season long that BSU is a good hockey team, they are not over rated. I have been told by fans of WCHA teams that I am delussional and clueless for backing BSU. So now BSU is 3-0 against teams ranked in the top 5. What else do the Beavers have to do to get some respect? They Beavers just took two wins from a good Bulldog team, the second win was a hard fought gut it out win. Tonight was the first time I had ever listened to Bruce Ciskie on the radio and he said that he would love to see these two teams play for a regional championship in the Xcel Energy Center in March. It would be an exciting game.
i think people are having a hard time accepting that the beavers are real contenders this year because you don't really know if they've beat a quality team yet.
ReplyDeletebefore anybody gets too worked up over that comment, let me explain. it seems like this year, even more than normal, any team can win.
the sioux get dismantled by the gophers last saturday, then the huskies come out and sweep the goofs? while st cloud was doing a number on mn, und played to a road split with the number nine ranked team in the nation, something we were unable to do against the un-ranked gophers.
the beavers pairwise ranking does speak for itself in my opinion. they keep winning when they need to win so nobody can argue with that. of course, there are those out there that will get it in their head that a team is no good and will stick by their opinion even if that team was to go on to win the national championship, which is not far fetched anymore when you're talking about the beavers.
between last year's post-season and this season so far i think the beavers have made a statement and i hope they continue to make that statement.
at the same time, i have no faith in any team this year. hockey is an "anybody can win any night" game more than any other major sport, but this year is more indicative of that than any season i've experienced in recent history.
i'm okay with that though becaue, as a result, i have a feeling the next two and a half month are going to be very exciting with a lot of important games coming down to a late 3rd period or over-time goal.
Krangodance, I think this year is wide open and there could be 7 WCHA teams in the NCAA's although it will probably be 6 teams, I actually think a team that missed the Final Five could win the NCAA tourney.
ReplyDeletegoon, absolutely. we may be looking at the most exciting post-season in a long time. i can easily see a couple teams in the bottom half of the wcha making the final five.
ReplyDeletei wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the fourth seed going into the first round of the wcha playoffs ends up not having to comptete in the play-in game the following week because of a loss by one of the top three seeds in the first round.
I think I am very excited about the NCAA playoffs this spring.
ReplyDeletekrangodance, you just typed everything I've tried to the past 3 months, but for some reason the Goon would not hear it from me. Well done.
ReplyDeleteYou're dead wrong WCHAdominates you have said all season long that BSU was a weak team and they proved themselves and you keep coming back about how dominate the WCHA is. Duh!
ReplyDeleteNot earth shattering news, everyone knows the WCHA Is dominant, however, you can't have it both ways. I totally refuted each and everyone of your arguments. Yet you kept coming back and bad mouthing BSU...
Your team is lucky you haven't face the Beavers this season or your team would have faced the same fate. I have seen a lot of chest pounding from SCSU fans this season but look at who they have played on their current win streak...
Brown (X2), MTU (X2), Quinnipiac (X2), and finally Minnesota (X2) not a very impressive schedule.
News flash: they have wins over Denver(1), Wisonsin(1), Minnesota (2), and UMD(1). How many in comparison does the Sioux have? (the answer is 1). All I have to do is point to the WCHA standings or the pairwise rankings.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked the season still has 6 weeks left to it and the Huskies have a pretty tough schedule left. Also, you just proved my point about beating your chest.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think it's a stretch to say that Krangodance was agreeing with you
the beavers pairwise ranking does speak for itself in my opinion. they keep winning when they need to win so nobody can argue with that. of course, there are those out there that will get it in their head that a team is no good and will stick by their opinion even if that team was to go on to win the national championship, which is not far fetched anymore when you're talking about the beavers.
That description very well could fit you. Either BSU is really good or UMD is a one line wonder. I tend to think that UMD is a good team. I think their defense and goaltending is their weak link but they score enough goals to make it count.
Lastly I am not here to pick a fight with you but this tweet kind of sums up how I feel on the situation, from the BemidjiPioneerSports tweet:
ReplyDelete@runwiththedogs I wasn't referring to you; just the mostly the arrogant,elitist fans I've come across over the last year. I enjoy your blog.
He talking about the fans that have been bad mouthing the Beavers. Check it out.
http://twitter.com/BemidjiSports
It is what it is, UMD is a good team and so is BSU and they cashed in on their opportunties.
not sure what was said that is the same, or similar, or not at all the same as something said by wchadominates.
ReplyDeletehowever, i do agree with goon that the beavers are a tough team. last year i was surprised when they did as well as they did in the ncaas, but a bsu victory over any team would no longer come as a surprise to me, at least not this season.
i do think their is strong parity in the wcha, and college hockey in general, this year, but my original post was still agreeing that the beavers have undeniably put together a quality hockey team this year.