Hockey Tournament—2023 begins on page 3 with post #52; 2022 precedes it.

[JogginFrog]

And as someone who lives about 10 minutes from their campus and attends somewhere between 8-10 of their games a season even though I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of the program I guess I ‘m happy for them. Even though I would have bet the ranch on Minn had I been so inclined

Quinny had twice as many shots. Tough to defend for half an hour against a talented and increasingly desperate team. Congrats to the Bobcats; condolences to the Gophs and @froginmn. That the flagship program of the 'state of hockey' has gone two decades without a title shows how fickle the game can be.

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as PhormerPhrog]

Still a survey school.

 

[bc puckett]

Quinny had twice as many shots. Tough to defend for half an hour against a talented and increasingly desperate team. Congrats to the Bobcats; condolences to the Gophs and @froginmn. That the flagship program of the 'state of hockey' has gone two decades without a title shows how fickle the game can be.

QU played the game the way they played all year. Probably couldn’t have drawn the defensive plan up any better

 

[bc puckett]

Still a survey school.

At best. Although somehow growing at a ridiculous rate and spreading their campus over two towns It ‘s actually somewhat amazing to see

 

[froginmn]

Worst thing ever: I saw the first and part of the second periods before having to leave for Easter vigil.

Gophers were up 2-1 when I left; only saw the disappointing result. Will need to watch the recording when I get time.

Great season with frustrating ending, but to lose to the #2 team isn't devastating. Tip of the cap to the Bobcats.

 

[East Coast]

It was an amazing game. I turned it on right before the 2nd Minnesota goal, so probably just before froginmn left. It seemed to me that the Bobcats went very aggressive after that and Minnesota decided to turtle and just hang on.

 

[JogginFrog]

Not college, but Boston Bruins fall to a last-minute-of-game-7 EAG, followed by a seeing-eye OT goal. Hockey'll break your heart.

 

[bc puckett]

Not college, but Boston Bruins fall to a last-minute-of-game-7 EAG, followed by a seeing-eye OT goal. Hockey'll break your heart.

This one certainly damaged mine

 

[JogginFrog]

This one certainly damaged mine

Sorry, BC.

I'm sitting here hoping that Colorado can somehow overcome giving up the first goal in all 7 games of a playoff series.

Edit: Nope. At least my team can't say it deserved to advance. Kraken with a .683 away winning percentage.

 

[froginmn]

Not college, but Boston Bruins fall to a last-minute-of-game-7 EAG, followed by a seeing-eye OT goal. Hockey'll break your heart.

 

[bc puckett]

Sorry, BC.

I'm sitting here hoping that Colorado can somehow overcome giving up the first goal in all 7 games of a playoff series.

Edit: Nope. At least my team can't say it deserved to advance. Kraken with a .683 away winning percentage.

You also played the entire season without one of your 3 best players

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

Some crazy power play stats in the Stars and Wild series which Dallas won in six.

Dallas was 9 for 24 (38%) on power plays and 9 of 21 Dallas goals were on the power play. Two of the 21 goals were concluding empty net goals, so 9 of 19 (47%) meaningful goals were on the power play. Ridiculous.

Game 4 was maybe a crucial game. Wild were better in that one, but missed their scoring chances. Win that and they would have been up 3-1 in the series, but Dallas scored on 2 power play goals and won 3-2. And unfortunately those 2 penalties were debatable, some would say baffling or erroneous. Since the Wild didn’t compete in Game 5 and 6, Dallas proved to be the better team anyhow.

For comparison, 4 of 14 Minnesota goals were on PP, but one goal was a concluding empty netter so 4 of 13 (31%) meaningful goals, versus Dallas’ 9 of 19 (47%). Minnesota was 4 for 22 on PP chances (18%) versus Dallas’ 9 for 24 (38%).

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

This Toronto Star opinion article says the game is too fast, among other reasons, to not have penalty reviews. I don’t think there’s any other sport where a minor penalty has such a huge consequence, having to continue a man down, five on four, and the subsequent goals. So it might make sense to review minor penalties, but maybe only in the playoffs when the bench asks for a review. The equipment is there and used to review goals and major penalties.

I think the Gophers got burned by that in the final vs Quinnipiac near the end of regulation, that along with the goalie then being pulled, led to a 6-on-4 tying goal. A crucial penalty that should not have been called, or if called, then reviewed to get it right in a championship moment—it was too fast to clearly see what happened. Quinnipiac was maybe the better team anyway, so not taking anything away from them, they were great.

Damien Cox: NHL referees have made some disastrous calls in the playoffs. It’s time to expand video review

The NHL needs to spend less time defending its officials and more time helping them avoid wrong calls by giving them more tools to work with.

www.thestar.com

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

Sorry, BC.

I'm sitting here hoping that Colorado can somehow overcome giving up the first goal in all 7 games of a playoff series.

Edit: Nope. At least my team can't say it deserved to advance. Kraken with a .683 away winning percentage.

I too am sorry @bc puckett —a season that begins in October with a season long high of winning with an incredible 65-12-5 record and 135 points, then ending in Game 7 OT in the first round. Jeepers

And the Kraken in their second season win their first playoff series while winning 3 of 4 on the defending champs ice. I had not noticed the Kraken’s great road record and Colorado’s too. And the Kraken scoring first in all 7 Is remarkable.

 

[JogginFrog]

Goofy rule? You can pull your goalie for an extra attacker. Sometimes it works (Cornell scored a goal) and often you get burned (Minnesota got an empty netter against St. Cloud).

You could have a soccer goalie run out of the box on an attack in the same way, can have all of your DB's blitz in football, etc.

Football has on side kicks... Completely disagree that ability to pull a goalie is goofy.

I don’t care what it’s called. Both teams have 6 players on the ice. It’s not a man advantage. It’s an offensive advantage with this cost being a defensive disadvantage. Same as putting extra CB’s on the field for a Hail Mary attempt.

Way out of season on this reply, but remembered this discussion while listening to a Malcolm Gladwell pod riffing on Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life. Gladwell says he wanted to put out his own list of rules, but lamented that he really didn't have any, then concluded with: "I only have one rule: Pull the goalie."


Edit: Gladwell interviews financial analysts who modeled the optimal time to pull the goalie. His take about the use of analytics in hockey: "Baseball is quantum theory. Hockey is the grownup, professional version of 'Red rover, red rover, let Wayne Gretzky come over.'"