Unknown Hawks player yaps at Bruins' Thornton as he leaves the ice

I am scratching my head on why the Blackhawks players would yap at Sean Thornton as he was leaving the ice with a huge gash in his face. Nothing but class there. Like I said in another post, "the Hawks players are lucky they were saved by the ref."

ESPN.COM ---- Referee Don Van Massenhoven assisted Thornton off the ice. As the two skated past the Blackhawks bench, a Chicago player shouted something at Thornton, and the Bruins’ pugilist took exception. He attempted to get past the ref and at the bench, but he was held back before exiting the ice.

“Something was said,” Thornton said. “Obviously I can’t swear when I talk to [the media]. There was some stuff said that I’m not happy about. I’m going to find out who it was and I will deal with it in my own way.”

Thornton said Van Massenhoven also was upset by the comments coming from the Chicago bench.

“He heard it,” Thornton said. “He didn’t know who it was either. He actually yelled at their bench. I appreciate it. Those guys on their team chirp a lot. I don’t know if it is right when someone’s face is half across the other side of their face, but it’s a tough game and people have to live with their actions. If you guys ever find out who it is, don’t be afraid to send me a Christmas card.”

Check out this video, Shaw Thornton gets cut

I was watching this game last night and I was kind of amazed by Shawn Thornton's tenacity and toughness. After being cut in the face by a skate blade most players would've just skated off the ice and down the tunnel to receive repairs. Someone on the Blackhawks bench said something and Thornton took issue with it and was ready to go toe to toe with one of the Blackhawks. Lucky for the Blackhawks player there was an official escorting Thornton to the Bruins' players bench. The cut required 40 stitches and Shawn Thornton will be OK.

Matt Frattin a Hobey Hat trick finalist

The Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist were announced today, they are; Boston College junior forward Cam Atkinson, University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux forward senior forward Matt Frattin, and Miami University senior forward Andy Miele.

fightingsioux.com ---- Matt Frattin, the 2010-11 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Player of the Year, leads the nation with 36 goals and ranks second nationally with 60 points. The Edmonton, Alberta, native was also named to the All-WCHA First Team after winning the WCHA scoring race with 40 points in 28 league games.

The first Fighting Sioux to score as many as 36 goals since 1990-91, Frattin enters the NCAA Frozen Four with five more goals than any other Division I player, and nine more than any other WCHA player. He has scored an NCAA-leading 22 goals in 22 games away from home, with 11 of those coming in the third period or overtime. Two weeks ago at the WCHA Final Five, he scored both game-winning goals in leading the Sioux to their second straight Broadmoor Trophy as WCHA playoff champions. In all, Frattin was in on nine of 14 game-deciding goals in February and March when UND went 13-0-1 and captured WCHA regular season and playoff championships.

Frattin brings a career-long 15-game point streak into the Frozen Four, having amassed 16 goals and 29 points during that stretch. He also put together two of the five longest goal-scoring streaks in UND history, scoring in nine straight games from Jan. 29 to March 26, and in eight straight games from Nov. 27 to Jan. 8.

Frattin's 40 points during league play were the most by a Sioux since Jeff Panzer (49 points) and Bryan Lundbohm (40) in 2000-01, enabling him to become UND's first WCHA scoring champion since Ryan Duncan in 2006-07. His 33 goals are the most by a Sioux since All-American Brandon Bochenski scored 35 in 2002-03, and he has scored 44 goals in his last 52 games.

A recreation and tourism studies major with a 3.0-plus grade point average, Frattin was named to his second All-WCHA Academic Team earlier this month. He was also named to UND's Athletics Director's Fall 2010 Honor Roll.

Frattin has been

Brett Hull blames T.J. Oshies teammates.

Sports Illustrated

I was reading this article in the stltoday.com tonight and I have to admit that I kind of agree with Brett Hull. You've thought that one of his teammates would've given him a call on his cell or stopped by the house to see if he is ok.

This afternoon, Hull said that he didn't want to speculate on why Blues forward T.J. Oshie missed Monday's practice, but the Hall of Famer does know where he would point the finger.

"I don't know what the reason is, why he missed," Hull said. "But to me, I put less blame on him and blame his teammates. When we played together ... (Kelly Chase), (Adam Oates) and (Brendan Shanahan) ... we took care of each other. That never would have happened. Someone would have been at his house getting him up and getting him to practice.

"So to me, I would blame more the teammates than I would him. You've got to take care of each other, especially that team. They're so young. They've got such an opportunity to bond together and be a great team. There's so much talent there. They've got to take care of each other in those situations off the ice."

So you want tickets? Be prepared to pay.

Stub Hub Frozen Four Tickets

I have a bunch of people asking me about tickets, I know no one with tickets that are trying to sell theirs but here is a good place to go if your interested in going to the Frozen Four, it's going to cost you a lot of money though. I am sitting this one out but I am watching the Frozen Four in my brother-in-laws basement where we watched the UND Fighting Sioux go 2-0 this past weekend. [Check out this link for Stub Hub], [Tennessee Ticket Company]

UND Head Coach Dave Hakstol a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award

2011 AHCA Men’s Ice Hockey Spencer Penrose Award Candidates

Red Berenson, Michigan— NCAA Semifinalist*
Dean Blais, Nebraska Omaha—WCHA Coach of the Year*
Dave Hakstol, North Dakota— NCAA Semifinalist
Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame—CCHA Coach of the Year and NCAA Semifinalist*
Nate Leaman, Union—ECAC Coach of the Year
Paul Pearl, Holy Cross—AHA Coach of the Year
Scott Sandelin, Minnesota Duluth— NCAA Semifinalist*
Jerry York, Boston College—HE Coach of the Year*
* Past Spencer Penrose Award Winner

Compare and contrast - What's the difference?

I know I am going to take some flak from fellow Sioux fans but watch the DU coach and what he says during the press conference. Seriously, say what you want about George Gwozdecky but I believe the man is a class act, to start the press conference he gives credit to his opponent… This seems to be a reoccurring theme. I had a chance to see him speak at two press conferences during the Final Five and in both instances coach Gwozdecky gave credit and kudos to the opposing team that his own team just played, Coach Hakstol did as well in both cases. Check out what Coach Hakstol had to say after Yale beat UND last year in the regional. [click to watch]

Now watch this press conference. Do you hear the coach from Yale give the UMD Bulldogs any credit? When I was in college one of my old football coaches said you win with class and you lose with class, you give your opponent credit as well. Yale didn't lose because of the officiating, they lost because UMD was the better team.

EDIT: Todd Bertuzzi elbows Ryan Johnson

The right call was made in this situation (5 minute major and game misconduct) as the Redwing's Todd Bertuzzi elbows former Fighting Sioux forward and current Chicago Blackhawk Ryan Johnson. I don't think that a suspension is coming from the NHL, but who knows with the NHL. Bertuzzi is a repeat offender so the league might take that into consideration.

Bertuzzi will not be suspended for his hit on Ryan Johnson. [detroitnews.com]

Monday Links...

There are some nice stories out there that are worth looking at on this Monday evening after an awesome weekend of hockey. Go Fighting Sioux…

Julie Robenhymer from Hockey Buzz has a great blog post on the NCAA tourney. Breaking Down the Brackets - How The Frozen Four Got There...[Click to view]

Looks like Merrimack College forward Stephane Da Costa will not be returning to college in the fall. [Click to view] That's a huge loss for Merrimack College.

Tim Boger from the Dakota Student has a blog post about the Sioux being half way to pay dirt. Good stuff there... [Click to view]

Kevin Pates has an article about the UMD and Yale game. College hockey: Penalty proved key for UMD's run to the Frozen Four [Click to view]

Without a Peer refered to UND as a runway truck... [Click to view]

Our Favorite USCHO writer Brian Sullivan has an article on Yale’s misfortune during the Regional; Yale pays the penalty and sees its season end. This article sounds more like sour grapes to me. From my perspective the hit was a penalty and the ref made the correct call, lets also be real, UMD out played Yale. Got to like how there is no credit given to UMD for their victory, that unacceptable in my opinion. Also, sounds like major league whining to me. [Click to view Article]

It sounds like Michigan junior defenseman Brandon Burlon will be returning for the Frozen Four for the Ugly Helmets Michgian Wolverines [Click to view]

The College Hockey blog has the Frozen Four by the Numbers. [Click to view]

More whining and lack of class from the Yale Daily. Hopes dashed in Bridgeport...[Click to view]

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's poll
[March 28, 2010]
1 North Dakota (34) 32-8-3 510 1
2 Michigan 28-10-4 462 6
3 Minnesota Duluth 24-10-6 418 12
4 Notre Dame 25-13-5 394 9
5 Boston College 30-8-1 378 2
6 Yale 28-7-1 330 3
7 Denver 25-12-5 302 5
8 Miami (Ohio) 23-10-6 282 4
9 New Hamsphire 22-11-6 230 11
10 Merrimack 25-10-4 200 7
11 Colorado College 23-19-3 186 13
12 Union 26-10-4 134 8
13 Western Michigan 19-13-10 128 10
14 Nebraska Omaha 21-16-2 94 14
15 Rensselaer 20-13-5 16 15
Others receiving votes: Dartmouth 10; Boston University 4; Rochester Institute of Technology 1; Air Force 1.

Blood Check on Zucker

Here's a video of Big Ben Blood taking out Jason Zucker with a textbook body check.



Ben Blood is leading the country in plus minus. His 36 is far better than the next guy on the list, Notre Dame's Sean Lorenz who is at 29.

Matt Frattin is #3 at 28.

Blood has been a rock for us on defense, but he hasn't gotten the national attention that he's deserved.

Goon's in studio on 1310 KNOX - Tuesday from 4:30 – 5:00 PM

Listen to the Goon live at 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm on 1310 AM KNOX on Tuesday March 29th, 2011. R.J. and the Goon will be talking about last weekend NCAA Regional tourney... If you live out of town you can listen live by clicking on this web link... [Click to Listen]

Call in 701-775-5559, 1-866-KNOX-1310, email: Live@KNOXRADIO.com

Fire Hakstol… err wait a minute. Sioux 6 DU 1...

I was told by a friend tonight in an email that I should get the "Fire Hak!" thread going again. I laughed pretty hard when I read that email. Just think after losing to the UNO Mavericks 8-4 that there were fans that wanted the head coach of the Fighting Sioux fired for not winning that game and thought that if the Sioux didn't win the Frozen Four that would also be ground for Hakstol's termination. I would bet any money that those same fans that were calling for Mr. Hakstol's head are now firmly on board the Hakstol bandwagon at this very moment as the Sioux are once again going to the Frozen Four. But I digress... Not many coaches in the WCHA can claim to have the success that Dave Hakstol does.

The Fighting Sioux with the victory last night against the Denver Pioneers are making their fifth trip in seven seasons to the Frozen Four. Not a bad coaching job for Dave Hakstol and his staff. There were a lot of doubters in the Fighting Sioux fan base, but I never doubted this coach or this group of hockey players.

Good goaltending

There were people that questioned the goaltender Aaron Dell and said that he wasn’t very good. Those people were proven dead wrong as Aaron Dell took the reins from two year starter Brad Eidsness and won his 30th game of the season (30-6-2, 1.81 GAA and .924 sv%) with the win last night surpassed former NHL All Star and Fighting Sioux goalie Eddie “the Eagle” Belfour… Nationally, Dell is tied for first in the nation with 6 shutouts, number one in winning percentage, eight in save percentage, number one in goals against average. So I ask the doubters, how they can say that Aaron Dell isn’t very good goaltender?” Me personally, I would rather have Dell than any other goalie in the WCHA right now. Where would this team be if the Fighting Sioux didn’t have Aaron Dell, Brad Eidsness is a shell of his former self and couldn’t stop a beach ball earlier this season?

Balanced scoring

The Fighting Sioux were the second highest scoring team in the nation, second only to the EZAC team Yale, who was number one. You know how I feel about that stat so we will leave it at that, it is what it is, Yale racked up points playing a less than impressive schedule (44th SOS) the Fighting Sioux picked up their points playing the seventh toughest schedule. Breaking down the Sioux stats sheet, there are fifteen players on the Sioux roster with ten or more points, three players with twenty or more points, six players with thirty or more points, five players with forty or more points and one player with sixty points. That is some pretty good scoring dept.

Total Domination

Tonight after the first period I thought the Sioux did to the Pioneers what they did to the RPI Engineers, they beat them with their dept, the Pioneers were basically playing three lines to the Sioux rolling four lines and in the end the Sioux took the Pioneers to the wood shed.

An unnamed radio personality was complaining on twitter tonight about the Fighting Sioux still having their top players out on the power play at the end of the game. Like one of my old football coaches said, if you don’t want to get scored on play better defense, the time in the game is relevant. What the hell is the Fighting Sioux coaching staff supposed to do? UND isn’t a one line wonder like some teams and they are deep through the forward lines and the Pioneers were hacking away at the Sioux at the end of the game so I don’t blame Hakstol and co for putting the better guys out on the power play at the end of the game. The best cure for getting a team to stop taking penalties is to score on them on the power play. Just for the record Brett Hextall and Jason Gregoire are second line players. Yeah I know, they would be first line players on other teams in the WCHA.

Goon's three stars of the game
1.) Chay Genoway (0g-3a-3pts)
2.) Aaron Dell 1 GAA
3.) Brad Malone (1g-1a-2pts)

[Box Score]

Regionals Wrap Up (Redwing77)

It turns out I didn't do too badly after all.

I batted .500 on the Frozen Four lineup. I hit with UMD and UND and missed with Michigan and Notre Dame. For the record, I had UMD, UND, BC, and Miami.

UND vs. DU:

I was very nervous for this game because I believe that very few coaches know how to unravel UND's game plan. Gwozdecky and Blais do. York of BC have had luck in this as well. So, as you probably can guess, UNO, DU, and BC aren't teams I wanted UND to face off in the playoffs. And, from what I've read, I think UND still shouldn't have had to.

I agree with Michigan's blogger (link missing) who stated that DU and Michigan should have swapped regionals. Of course, then it would be UND vs. DU in the Frozen Four but oh well.

I was very impressed in this game with UND.

As for the Resch Center: They're only slightly better than Ford Field and that arena in Indiana. I think I've noticed ponds in rural Minnesota that had better quality ice. Actually, if I went to North Central Nebraska, I might find a few ponds in December that would rival the Resch Center.

My three stars:

First Star: Aaron Dell
Second Star: Brad Malone
Third Star: Chay Genoway

My All Regional Team:

Matt Frattin - UND
Jason Zucker - DU
Brad Malone - UND
Chay Genoway - UND
Matt Donovan - DU
Aaron Dell - UND

Tourney MVP: Aaron Dell - UND

Update: I can't find the actual All Tourney Team, but I now know that Genoway, Malone, Dell, and Trupp represented UND with Dell winning MVP.

Commentators for the Midwest Regional:

I don't know what to take of Paradise and whatshisface. During the RPI game they spent almost the entire first period apologizing for RPI and acted as if almost consoling RPI fans to prepare for the worst like UND is a big bad bully about to steal their milk money and give them a wedgie. Then UND starts scoring and suddenly their alter ego takes over and they're all chipper and happy about the goals.

DU/UND they spent almost the entire game blathering about whatever. They actually tuned out the Brock Nelson goal entirely. At least the cameraman paid attention. Look, I know what a 6-1 game looks like but every goal in this matchup mattered. It would have been nice if the commentators understood that.

CC vs. Michigan:

Michigan and CC both looked slow, but Michigan looked better and that's all that was needed to beat CC. CC was on borrowed time and made it much further than I originally thought they would. That being said, only UNH can match CC in terms of lethality among #4 seeds.

UNH vs. Notre Dame:

This game was boring... if you like offense. UNH tried to bring a fast game to the ice and Notre Dame kept slowing it down. Mike Johnson (goaltender, Notre Dame) played an awesome game and was named Player of the Game for it. I wouldn't be surprised if he was also the tourney MVP for that regional.

The Frozen Four matchup:

UND vs. Michigan:

Michigan is no slouch. They aren't great, but they're no slouch. Shawn Hunwick (UM goaltender) has played great... a lot better than I thought he would. Michigan does have some scoring but I think their offense is much like DU in that they really don't have any dynamic scoring. They're pretty balanced overall, but pretty easy to outmuscle. If UND plays a fast but physical game, much like they did today against DU, keeps the front of the net clear, and takes care of rebounds both on offense and defense, I think UND wins.

On paper, UND wins. In reality? Still a toss up.

My prediction: UND wins. No percentage on this one. I'm a Sioux fan. No one should expect any different in this category.

End Thought:

Don't know if I should be happy that Notre Dame won or sad that UNH lost. With Notre Dame in the tourney, you have ZERO Eastern teams. That's a good thing. With Notre Dame in there, you have two big schools (Michigan and Notre Dame) and two little schools comparatively (UND and UMD). I wonder how the coverage will work. Will they pull the Eastern Team Red Carpet act on Notre Dame and Michigan and poo-poo UND and UMD or will they play it equal or what?

Yeah!!! Blame the Sioux.

You've got to be kidding me??? I can't believe he would even say this, what a buffoon for even writing it. This is the beat writer that asks DU Head Coach George Gwozdecky what time RIT is playing at the press conference after his team has just beat C.C. in the WCHA Final Five. Surprisingly it was legit eh?

GREEN BAY, Wis. — After defeating Western Michigan 3-2 in double OT Saturday and faced with a relatively short rest period before this afternoon’s regional championship game against top-ranked North Dakota, the Denver Pioneers had trouble sleeping. They awoke twice at the Aloft Green Bay Hotel because of fire alarms, at about 7 and 8:30 a.m., according to DU radio guy Jay Stickney.

Yeah, your first reaction is to blame the over-indulged Sioux fan, and there are lots of them here, but apparently it was legit. Stickney said he checked with the front desk people and they said there were problems in the kitchen. Nobody had to evacuate the hotel, just exit their rooms and hang out in the hallway for short periods.

Something to ponder on Sunday morning; ECAC Hockey...

So after Union, Yale and RPI went an impressive 1-3 in the NCAA tourney this past weekend, can we now again call the ECAC the EZAC again? All season long we heard how tough the ECAC was top to bottom. The ECAC fans were upset with the rest of the college hockey world for rolling our eyes at this suggestion. We had seen this drill before. After watching Yale rack up wins against a list of unimpressive teams, we were lectured by the “Eastern college hockey pundits” that Yale was one of the best college teams in the country and they’re going to be punching their ticket to the Frozen Four in March. #epicfail #notwinning

I ask you, has anything actually changed? But I digress. After watching Yale play two games, I don’t think that Yale was even the best team in their conference. I had the opportunity to watch Union play three or four times this season, I believe that Union was best team in the ECAC. The Dutchmen gave UMD more of a fight that Yale did. Before someone jumps down my throat I saw the O’Neill hit on Jake Hendrickson that was a penalty and worthy of a major penalty and the refs made the right call in that situation.

Let’s think about this, Duluth (the fourth place team in the WCHA) rolled through Yale like a hot knife through butter. Almost true to form; and right on script, the ECAC teams were all gone by the end of the NCAA regionals. That right, the ECAC went 1-3 in their four NCAA games played. So I ask you college hockey fans, has anything really changed? NCAA titles are won and lost in March and April, there is no trophy for being number one in the pairwise during regular season nor is a there a trophy for having the most wins in January and February.

I had a debate recently with a person that had said top to bottom that the ECAC was most balanced league in all of college hockey. I immediately took issue with what this man had said; I told his argument was highly flawed and flat out wrong. Of course the man was perplexed that I would even question his logic.

Going forward I think my argument has been proven to be right with the results of this post season. All you have to do is look at what the WCHA has done this post season and what has transpired, the 10th place team in the WCHA took out the third place team and the fourth place team in the WCHA playoffs.

I honestly think after watching the tourney to this point that the WCHA has proved to be the toughest league top to bottom; think about this, how often does the 6th place team in any league take out the defending NCAA champion in the NCAA tourney? That doesn’t happen very often. Think about this, when the regular season ended the C.C. Tigers finished in 6th place in the WCHA standings and had to go to a third game against the Wisconsin Badgers to make the WCHA Final Five. The Tigers were also a bubble team and were one of the last teams in.

The Eagles were no cupcake and the Tiger took them down and hung an 8 spot on their team. Their goaltender had gone an impressive 8-0-0 in the NCAA tourney. That’s no small accomplishment in my opinion; the Eagles were the team that had won NCAA titles in two out the last three NCAA’s. The next night the Tigers played tough against Michigan. UMD took two of the anointed best teams that the ECAC had to offer and chewed them up and spit them out.

Sioux 6 RPI 0

Today was the first game of the Midwest Regional and the Fighting Sioux came out and put the woods to the RPI Engineers, the game was tight checking and close for the first period and the Sioux only led the game by one after one period, the Sioux eventually wore down the Engineers with their dept and broke open the game with four goals in the third period. The Sioux got one more goal in the third period to ice the game away. It was apparent as the game wore on that UND and RPI are no t on the same page are there is a huge difference between the two teams talent wise.

Nelson Knocked out of the game

There was one area of concern as RPI Josh Rabbani knocked Brock Nelson out literally and then Nelson was helped off of the ice by the trainer. In reviewing the video of the hit I would say that it could have been called a charge or interference. There was no penalty on the call and the Sioux went down the ice and scored. I do think that Brock Nelson has to keep his head up in that situation especially with a big physical team like RPI that tried to play physical against UND but to no avail.

Scoring for the Fighting Sioux were Brad Malone (2X), Danny Kristo, Jason Gregoire, Matt Frattin. Since coming back from frostbite, Danny Kristo has been on fire scoring (3g-2a-5tps) in his last three games. Kristo started out the season snake bitten and could hit water if he was standing in a boat in the middle of a lake. During the second half of the season, his fortunes have changed, Kristo has been on a scoring tear, if my math is right, Kristo had 1 goal, 4 assists and 5 points on November 26, since that date, Kristo has been red hot scoring (7g-15a-22pts).

Since coming back from his frostbite episode, It's almost like his frostbite incident has caused Kristo to refocus his efforts and play like a man that is possessed, his goal today was an awesome and the toe drag move was one for the highlight reels.

[Box Score]

Goon's three stars of the game
1.) Brad Malone (2g-0a-2pts)
2.) Danny Kristo (1g-1a-2pts)
3.) Aaron Dell shutout

Bracket Busting is legal

I think it would be an understatement if I said, “that my brackets are busted.” Actually, my brackets are now a piece of smoking rubble, I got one pick right the last two days. I am not doing very well I have only gotten on pick right and that was UND beating smoking RPI like a cheap cigar. I virtually have no chance of winning my pick-em contest that my buddy entered me into. #epicfail...

Controversy in St Louis

Last night there was a lot of controversy about the Michigan game winner against UNO, of course the ugly helmet fans are happy about this decision, why wouldn’t they be? Seriously, their team lives to fight reviewing everything that I have seen on the goal, I still think the refs made the wrong call on that goal review... That’s my opinion and I am not changing it. It should not take almost 10 minutes to review a goal, I am sorry if you can’t figure it out in 2-5 minutes it’s time to wave the goal off and get back to playing the game.

Ref that made call fired by the NHL

The ref that was part of controversial call is a disgraced and fired NHL/AHL referee. Harry Dumas who was fired by the NHL/AHL during the summer of 2006, I am not making that point up. So let me get this straight; in the biggest games of the year, the NCAA is using an on ice official that was fired by the NHL, that is not something to be proud of, that means this guy wasn’t very good, yet he is good enough to ref and NCAA Division 1 hockey game? How?!? I don’t like this precedent at all, you can’t tell me we don’t have other competent officials that haven’t been fired from the NHL or AHL that could call these regional games. [The Hockey Blog], [Hockey Refs] ... As a college hockey fan I find this to be unacceptable. But of course, Secretary Rules Editor Steve Piotrowski released this statement after the game.

"The officials' initial on-ice call was no goal. There was reasonable evidence to believe the puck had completely crossed the goal line. The play was stopped at the next non-advantage situation to allow an opportunity for the on-ice referees to review the video. Following video review, the on-ice referees determined through conclusive video evidence that the puck had completely crossed the goal line and exited the net by way of the goalie's leg pad."

What I find eve more puzzling is that Steve Piotrowski is from the CCHA so of course he is going to stick up for one of his member schools that benefited from the controversial ruling. The thing that really sticks in my craw is that it took the on ice officials almost 10 minutes to make the call, in my opinion that's unacceptable, if you don't see conclusive evidence that it's a goal in 2-5 minutes it's not there, no review should take that long, either there is visual evidence or there is not.

Ode to the Blown Bracket (Redwing77)

It's only the first day! But yup. My brackets shot to hell...sorta.

Union vs. UMD - Got this one right. Union shows that, though they are a good program, they haven't played anyone. UMD has had a tough schedule having to play teams like UND, DU, CC, UW, and UNO.

Yale vs. AFA - Unfortunately, I got this one right. I know I said unfortunately, because I know deep down AFA could have beat Yale. Yale is just like Union... Talented, but have played nobody. They're a lot like the SDSU of college hockey. Sure SDSU was something like 30 and 3 in this year's basketball season but they played nobody and UCONN destroyed them. The AHA somehow manages to be a weaker conference than the ECACHLMAO and they still took Yale to OT.

Yale vs. UMD - UMD easy. This will be the only bracket that will go according to my prediction. UMD will win because Yale hasn't played a team like UMD all season long. The Bulldogs of Yale bowing out to not even the best WCHA team would be epic and awesome.

UMich vs. UNO - I can't honestly remember who I picked for this matchup. However, I believe I picked UNO. When I went to the gym, UNO was up 2-0. And then they fell prey to the reason why I thought they would fall eventually: Not enough firepower to keep up with the big powers. Michigan is NOT a great team. They laid an egg to a slightly above average WMU team and it took the refs to give them the game vs. UNO. And I don't care about the blown call: UNO should have won this game so that the call wouldn't have had to be blown in the first place.

BC vs. CC - This game I went INCREDIBLY wrong and I let everyone who listened in to 1310 am this afternoon know how wrong I was. Who knew BC would score 4 goals and lose? Who thought CC would score EIGHT goals? You know what this reminds me of? Last year. UND vs. Yale. BC was totally looking forward to Michigan. Now they can look forward to Michigan without the pressure of actually having to play them. I guess Howe came up for them but 4 goals does not a great goaltender makes.

CC vs. Michigan - Well, I lose regardless in this bracket so I'm going to give the feel good props to CC. Michigan SHOULD win this game but BC SHOULD have won tonight so.. There you go.

This NCAA tourney isn't like the basketball tourney where #1s and #2s are dropping like flies... but year in and year out we learn that there is a reason why they play the games.

I just hope we don't pull a 2011 BC and RPI doesn't pull a 2011 CC. And maybe Goon wasn't smoking something when he predicted WMU beating DU. I don't know. I still have it UND vs. DU.

After further review the refs blow call, Michigan goal in O.T.

In reviewing this controversial goal it's my belief that the one ice officials Harry Dumas, Chip McDonald made the wrong call and in my opinion should never be allowed to ref a NCAA Division one tourney game ever again, it should not take 9 ½ minutes to review a goal. In my opinion this is a bitter pill for UNO to swallow and the refs are culpable in my opinion.

Former Badger Ryan Suter kicks puck into own net - video

Check it out