For those of you who don't follow the MIAC, it should be noted that Hamline won their first regular season MIAC title since 1947-48. In the Star Tribune today, there was an article about the Pipers big weekend, as well as some information I never knew about Scott Bell and how he helped rebuild the Hamline hockey program as quickly as he did.
Click on the below link
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/15957782.html
Congratulations to the Pipers. Now if they can win the MIAC tournament and make an NCAA appearance, that would be even crazier.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
NCHA Playoffs - First Round
"Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game, another game." - Jim Mora
Yes, its that time of year again in the NCHA...playoff time. This season, the Peters Cup playoffs mean much more than in season's past, because if any team (besides SNC) wants to go to the NCAA postseason, they will need to win the Peters Cup in order to do so.
Here is my analysis of the first round series of the NCHA Peters Cup playoffs.
#1 St. Norbert vs #8 Lake Forest:
This is a series that is pretty straight forward. The best and worst of the NCHA collide as SNC brings their undefeated conference record against a Lake Forest team that was lucky to win even one conference game this year. SNC will have an easy weekend in my opinon as their offense should easily put up 6+ goals each game this weekend against LFC. When you add in the fact that Kyle Jones is in net for the Green Knights, it adds up to SNC being an easy favorite to pick here. Heck, for all we know, Coach Coughlin may even rest Jones Saturday and start Blake Bashor depending on how things go Friday night.
On the other side of the puck, Lake Forest does not have much going for them. I will admit that if they had better defense, Scott Campbell would be recognized as one of the better goalies in the NCHA, but with weak defensive corps, Campbell ends up facing a staggering 44.4 shots per game while making a stunning 40.4 saves per game. Lake Forest has had no offensive support this season, as the offense has averaged a whopping 1.6 goals per game this season. These numbers just go to show why they finished 3-21-1 this season.
Even with Campbell standing on his head for two games in this series against SNC, it wouldn't be enough for Lake Forest to manage a win in this series. This first round prediction here is an easy one as the Green Knights play the role of a lumber company and cut down the entire "Forrest" in their opening round matchup. SNC takes the series 2-0.
#2 UW-River Falls vs #7 St. Scholastica:
I cannot help but cringe at the fact that River Falls is playing at home versus St.Scholastica...again. The Saints have beaten River three straight times in the friendly confines of Hunt Arena, and are very comfortable in what has become their underdog role come playoff time (See 2007 NCHA Playoffs).
Although River has lost three straight home games to this team, as the old addage goes, "What goes around, comes around", the Falcons are due to win at home against the Saints. River played a great game last Friday against Stout, scoring early and often, and they will need to replicate that effort if they want to beat a pesky Scholastica team. Generating offensive chances in the Scholastica zone, getting powerplay opportunities, and keeping the pressure on the Saints for sixty minutes are just some of the the keys to victory in my opinon. Also, they will need to avoid the penalty box, as last weekend against Stout, the Blue Devils scored all three of their goals on the PP against River Falls. If the Falcons can played disciplined hockey, the offensive firepower of Dahl/Hansberry/Borgestad, plus the defensive corps and solid goaltending from Stephen Ritter should be able to seal the deal in this one.
Looking at the Saints, they are coming into this game with high hopes of winning. Based on their past three road wins at Hunt Arena, and their successful run in last year's playoffs, they will be a confident team entering this series. Also being the 7th seed, Scholastica will have that laid-back underdog attitude on their side as well for this opening series tilt against River Falls. It should be noted that Scholastica comes into this series having played some of their best hockey of the year in beating Point/River Falls on the road, and tying Superior in their final game of the regular season. If they want this success to continue, they will need to have good offensive and defensive production. That means Tucker/Chong/Martini getting points up on the board offensively, and goaltender Steven Bounds coming up big in net defensively. If one of the two above does not happen, I think River Falls wins this series...but if the Saints can play two perfect 60 minute games of hockey, they will be having one hell of a fun bus ride back up to Duluth Saturday night.
When looking at this series overall, if the Saints can get on River's nerves early and often, it should be a very interesting weekend of hockey at Hunt. On the other hand, if the Falcons sets the tone early like they did against Stout last Friday, then this series may be over in two games. Personally, I see this series going to the decisive mini-game, as River Falls wins it 2-1 with the mini-game win.
#3 UW-Stout vs #6 UW-Stevens Point:
This series is a carbon copy of last year as the Blue Devils and Pointers met last season in the first round of the Peters Cup, in which Stout won the series 2-0. This year however, Stout brings back the same club as last year, and Point brings forward an even stronger team to the table than they had last year.
At first glance, I immediately see Point's success in the postseason based off of goaltender Thomas Speer. Speer has had a great freshman campaign for the Pointers, and with him making saves, Stevens Point will go places in the NCHA Playoffs. What is the main concern for Point is their offensive production. This season, when the Point offense has scored 4+ goals in games, Point is 9-0. In their seven losses this season, Stevens Point has averaged a meager 1.14 goals per game. If Point wants to win this series, they must give Speer some offensive support, and not rely souly on his goaltending skills to take them to the next round.
Stout has been a pretty interesting club all season long and I had them predicted to win the NCHA in my preseason prediction. They basically have the same roster as last season, and also have a key addition with former Yellowjacket Joel Gaulrapp added to their lineup, who has scored 29 points this season. Basically I look at this team and wonder how they are not better than their 15-7-3 record indicates.
These teams met twice during NCHA conference play, and Stout beat Point 6-3, and the two teams tied 1-1. I sort of see this matchup as this year's 4 vs 5, as I think its a more even matchup than the UWS/EC series. With that being said, this series goes to the mini-game, and in the end Point gets some spectacular goaltending from Speer, and pulls the upset in Menomonie. I'm sure some of the Pointers have a sour taste in their mouth from last year's postseason loss to the Blue Devils, and this year, revenge occurs at Dunn County Arena. Point wins the series 2-1.
#4 UW-Superior vs #5 UW-Eau Claire:
Usually the 4 vs 5 series in the NCHA playoffs is a very even matchup. This year however, I see it as being a bit one-sided with Eau Claire/Superior matching up. Sure in terms of conference records, its pretty even, but when including other varaibles such as postseason history, and recent games, and overall record, Superior is a better team than Eau Claire.
Looking at this series, the Yellowjackets it was a season of highs and lows for them. After starting out with a shaky non-conference effort, having multiple injury issues and losing one of their best scoring forwards in Nate Rein, Superior has put that all aside and closed out the season by going 3-0-3 in their final six games, playing very solid hockey, and finishing the season at 12-5-8. I think they are peaking at the right time in the NCHA, and will be a formidable opponent to whoever they face in the postseason. Although they are a young team, they do have veteran leadership, and a experienced goaltender in Chad Beisswenger who can lead his team back to the Peters Cup Finals.
Eau Claire on the other hand has been hit or miss this season. They have played great hockey in shutting out River Falls, beating Stevens Point and winning on the road at Superior. On the other hand, they have had two long losing streaks this season of four and five games each, which is a key reason as to why they finished the season at 9-14-1. Bottom line is that the Blugolds are still a very young team, and I don't see them making it past the first round. They have three seniors on the team, but only one of them has played significant time this season, and I just don't think they have the leadership to make a run this year. However next year, I see them being a better team as they will have every key player back for the 2008-09 season.
With my Eau Claire rant pushed off to the side, looking at the head-to-head, these two teams split the regular season meetings, as both won in the oppositions barn. Right now however, with Superior peaking right now, the edge goes to the Yellowjackets in this opening round series.
When thinking Peters Cup, Eau Claire does not come to my mind at all. The past six seasons, Eau Claire has lost in the first round of the playoffs and if I had access to a larger database of NCHA Playoff results, I'm sure this streak stretches even further. Superior will take this opening round series, as they will skate out two hard earned wins against Eau Claire. Maybe this one goes to a mini-game if Eau Claire goaltender Tyler Brigl is able to stand on his head for two games, but I just don't see that happening and I certainly don't see the Blugolds advancing onto the second round. Superior wins the series 2-0.
Well thats my first round analysis of the Peters Cup playoffs. Once again, the NCHA is stacked from top to...well almost the bottom of the conference, which makes for some very interesting matchups in the first round of the playoffs. It should be an interesting race to see who emerges from the wreckage in a few weeks as NCHA Peters Cup Champions.
Monday, February 4, 2008
All Star Weekend – The Skills Competition
In breaking down last weekend’s NHL SuperSkills Competition that was held Saturday, it was a mixed bag of fun/disappointment put on by the National Hockey League. The skills competition put the West/East teams in a friendly rivalry as players tested their hockey skills in eight different events in front of a packed house at Phillips Arena.
After spending my Saturday night watching this competition, I provide a quick review of what went right, and some things the NHL should rethink before the 2009 All-Star Weekend comes around.
The Good:
Obstacle Course Relay – A crafty new addition to the skills competition, the relay consisted of a set of players from each squad controlling a puck through cones, completing saucer passes, one-timers and goalies shooting pucks from their own goalie crease to score goals. The team that had the best score/fastest time won. This was very innovative and fun to watch.
Accuracy Contest – This contest is always fun one to watch, and this year was no different. Not only was seeing Tomas Kaberle go 4 for 4 in this event an added bonus, but the contest was also a lot closer than in past years, and it came down to the final target (it literally did), as Kaberle defeated Jason Arnott.
Elimination Shootout – One of the new events (similar to the breakaway relay) in this year’s competition, players had to score on a breakaway, or they were eliminated. Last shooter standing would win the event. Dion Phaneuf, a Flames defenseman won this contest, which also shows that breaking panels of glass are not the only thing he can do with the hockey puck.
Hardest Shot – I like the simplicity of this event, and it's pretty self-explanatory. Zdeno Chara won with a 103.1 MPH slapshot, which goes to show that hockey pucks do move faster than they appear to be moving on your TV screen.
The Bad:
YoungStars Contest – What formally was a full-length game held the night before the skills competition, was condensed down to a single twelve minute period. You got to be kidding me. Sure it was cool watching 3 on 3 hockey, but I would rather see this return to a full game in the future. Oh, and Manny Legace provided some good entertainment, as he was a goalie who wore a microphone during this event and had many things to say while the puck was in play.
Fastest Skater Contest – In the past, this event has been one of the most exciting things to watch in the skills competition, as skaters went as fast as they could to make a lap around the ice. There were crashes, record speeds, and everything you’d want to see in this event. This year however, they reduced the fastest skater competition to a simple sprint from the end line to the far blue line, which was a big disappointment.
Trick Shot Competition – I know this was one hell of a creative idea by the NHL which is good, but I toss it in the bad column due to the players poorly executing this event. The objective here was for each skater to try and score the most creative goal possible, and gain the highest score by the celebrity judges. The players did a poor job, as the creative juices were not flowing, and overall, the contest was pretty dull. Let’s just say that I have seen better trick shots posted on YouTube than the ones performed in this competition. I will say though, that if each player had the kind of creativeness Ovechkin had, I would have been much more satisfied with this event. Instead it was like a NBA dunk contest that consisted of lame/missed dunks.
After spending my Saturday night watching this competition, I provide a quick review of what went right, and some things the NHL should rethink before the 2009 All-Star Weekend comes around.
The Good:
Obstacle Course Relay – A crafty new addition to the skills competition, the relay consisted of a set of players from each squad controlling a puck through cones, completing saucer passes, one-timers and goalies shooting pucks from their own goalie crease to score goals. The team that had the best score/fastest time won. This was very innovative and fun to watch.
Accuracy Contest – This contest is always fun one to watch, and this year was no different. Not only was seeing Tomas Kaberle go 4 for 4 in this event an added bonus, but the contest was also a lot closer than in past years, and it came down to the final target (it literally did), as Kaberle defeated Jason Arnott.
Elimination Shootout – One of the new events (similar to the breakaway relay) in this year’s competition, players had to score on a breakaway, or they were eliminated. Last shooter standing would win the event. Dion Phaneuf, a Flames defenseman won this contest, which also shows that breaking panels of glass are not the only thing he can do with the hockey puck.
Hardest Shot – I like the simplicity of this event, and it's pretty self-explanatory. Zdeno Chara won with a 103.1 MPH slapshot, which goes to show that hockey pucks do move faster than they appear to be moving on your TV screen.
The Bad:
YoungStars Contest – What formally was a full-length game held the night before the skills competition, was condensed down to a single twelve minute period. You got to be kidding me. Sure it was cool watching 3 on 3 hockey, but I would rather see this return to a full game in the future. Oh, and Manny Legace provided some good entertainment, as he was a goalie who wore a microphone during this event and had many things to say while the puck was in play.
Fastest Skater Contest – In the past, this event has been one of the most exciting things to watch in the skills competition, as skaters went as fast as they could to make a lap around the ice. There were crashes, record speeds, and everything you’d want to see in this event. This year however, they reduced the fastest skater competition to a simple sprint from the end line to the far blue line, which was a big disappointment.
Trick Shot Competition – I know this was one hell of a creative idea by the NHL which is good, but I toss it in the bad column due to the players poorly executing this event. The objective here was for each skater to try and score the most creative goal possible, and gain the highest score by the celebrity judges. The players did a poor job, as the creative juices were not flowing, and overall, the contest was pretty dull. Let’s just say that I have seen better trick shots posted on YouTube than the ones performed in this competition. I will say though, that if each player had the kind of creativeness Ovechkin had, I would have been much more satisfied with this event. Instead it was like a NBA dunk contest that consisted of lame/missed dunks.
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