Ok, I only got to listen to part of the game on the radio and I did get to see the replay (Thanks to RedFrogND and Brad Schlossman) of the penalties and the goal.
First off, I feel sort of vindicated. Why? I predicted that, with the outflow of all that talent UW had, Eaves would revert back to the boring style of hockey UW was famous for in recent memory. I was right. It was a very boring game.
Second, I was very impressed with the penalty kill. I don't believe UW got any shots off in the 10 minutes of gift PP time thanks to the buffoons in black and white. I'll get on the penalties in a moment. Regardless, I'm happy Gleason was getting time at Forward because I can't see him cracking the lineup on a regular basis without that ability. On a completely different note: I feel that UND has a lot of players (at least more than I can recall) that can play both Forward and Defenseman on its roster. I know that Gleason, Genoway, and Davidson have played for UND both at forward and as Defenseman, but I also think that Marto is capable of doing it. I thought he has played at least one game or part of a game as a forward before with UND, but I can't rightfully confirm it.
Third, the major penalties. The WCHA is a reactionary league so I shouldn't be so upset about the majors. What I'm upset about is that they're letting the way the player falls or what the player looks like after he's hit dictate the severity of the penalty. Gleason and Hextall's hits were penalties. Gleason's hit was a boarding minor, or perhaps a double minor at worst. It was not worthy of a Game misconduct. He did not impact the player in the head or cross check him into the boards. He hit shoulder to shoulder with the player and the player was knocked off balance and hit head first into the boards. A bad position for the UW defender for sure, but not a major penalty. Jordy Murray's major was a thing of beauty. Jordy did something stupid. He skated around the net with his head down and forgot that there were players on the ice that were also going to go after the puck. He didn't recognize that he'd get hit and he got "rocked." He somehow ends up bleeding, and to the best of my abilities, the only way I see that happening is if he somehow cut his chin on his cage when his cage and his chin impacted the ice. He lays on the ice for a little bit and even pulls the "I'm out cold" immobility stuff. The whistle blows and up he jumps and off he skates to the bench to participate in the up coming power play. I can't remember if Brady was that soft, but whatever.
Dell played great tonight. Gudmanson did great too. In truth, I'm more impressed with Gudmanson than Dell. Why? Because Gudmanson played above his potential. Stats are irrelevent in this scenario because he's shown time and time again that he's mediocre to slightly above average goaltender. Gudmanson REALLY benefited from the defense in front of him last year because, when that defense had a bad game, vs. BC, Gudmanson got lit up. Dell has benefited from the same thing thus far, so I'm still waiting to see what happens when Dell faces a team without Team D backing him up. We all know Eidsness has faced that scenario this year already.
Nevertheless, it is still amusing to read fans asking if Eidsness will be worthy of playing again this year. I agree we should ride the hot hand, but I also agree that those who think Eidsness will be relegated to backup duty needs to check in to Narcotics Anonymous. Last time Eids played he did not play poorly. For now, I hope Hakstol goes with Dell on Fridays and Eidsness on Saturdays. If Hakstol does go with Dell, then I'll be ok with it too.
Gregoire's goal was a thing of beauty. UND's Centers were dominant. I did find it interesting, though not surprising, that Gleason played over Bruneteau or Davidson, but I don't mind it at all.
Overall, a good game.
Here's the replays.
