Puckbag

Later this afternoon, pucks will be dropped and the NCAA Hockey Regionals will begin. Time for a quick skate around in response to my tourney picks before the fun starts.

Mark e-mails to complain about my lack of faith in our local lads:

Damnit, Chad. ND 5, Gophers 3? Why? One bad game and you toss them over the side?
I swear by all that is holy, if you've cursed my team I will never forgive you.

Because of your parochial and misguided attempt to earn "street cred" with the college hockey watchers who read Fraters, you have forgotten the first rule of college tournament play: look at the sweater you have hanging in the closet and then pray for irritable bowel syndrome to cripple everyone else who tries to skate with the Gophs.

Fine, Chad. Fine.

Sorry Mark, but I'm a conservative. My views are founded on observation, facts, and reason. You and your bleeding-heart Utopian comrades can rely on your feelings and sing "Imagine" all you want, but wishing it does not make it so.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be cheering for the Gophers as much as anybody (with the possible exception of this nutter). But I gots to calls 'em like I sees 'em.

By the way, I don't need to earn any college hockey cred. I've already got that in spades.

Next we have Dan, who's managed to sober up long enough to compose a semi-thoughtful e-mail:

I'll give you some credit, picking Minny to lose to ND shows that you are able to maintain a modicum of objectiveness about the teams' various prospects.

But, "Wisconsin is overrated"?? Well, as the #1 seed in the tourney, they couldn't be underrated, so you were working from a reduced set of options.

And, "Saturday's loss in the third place game doesn't bother me much."? It only cost you the #1 overall seed, which means going through much easier competition, both in the opening rounds and the semifinal game of the frozen four. I mean just look at the 1's and 2's in each side: Cornell, Harvard and MSU versus NoDak, Miami and BU. Yikes on the latter.

"Fragile psyche"? I'll admit, they looked a bit lost when Elliot went down mid-season, but I think they just realized that he was covering up for a lot of weaknesses on defense. They were coming around with a freshman in goal when Elliot came back. And 4 of the 7 losses were to Denver and (gulp) the Goophers, so not exactly easy competition. If Elliot is on his game, the Badgers are in the final game.

OK, OK, you put the Badgers in the Semis, so how can I really complain? Well, you're a Goopher fan, so I can't help myself (and your colors are ugly).

Here's to a Goopher/Badger final.

Anybody but Maine,

Dan

I don't think that the third place game meant that much. The Badgers were already going to Green Bay. The Gophers and Sioux were set for Grand Forks. Sure, Bucky technically may have an easier opening game, but I wouldn't look past Bemidji State.

Wisconsin's been overrated all year. There's something that's just not right about the team. They rely on Elliot too much and, despite some obvious big league talent (Gilbert, Pavelski, Burish, etc.), I don't know if they have the kind of clutch playmakers you need to win a championship. Take Ronnie Earl for example. No doubt that he's a heck of a talented player, but too often he looks soft in the heat of battle. He goes down easier than Paris Hilton. If it comes down to an overtime situation with the game on the line do you want him or Ryan Potulny? I thought so.

I do like Dan's closing sentiments on Maine, although I have been getting a lot of e-mails like this one from Amy:

I really do have to ask.... Why the intense antipathy towards Maine? I haven't seen this kind of antipathy outside of BU fans in Ages. Other than that one strike, you guys are fun to read. Keep writing.

Amy (Incorrigible Minneapolis based Maine fan who is tired of paying for riots insighted by Gilded Rodents.)

I've addressed this issue a couple of times in the past, most recently in a post called Remember (Why You Hate) The Maine (Hockey Team) :

Outside of the WCHA, I can't think of a college hockey team that I dislike more than the Maine Black Bears. There's just something about the squad that rubs me the wrong way. There's an arrogance and attitude that they carry that transcends individual players and seems to be a trademark of the program. Perhaps it's the painful memory of the 2001 NCAA East Regional quarterfinal game in Worcester, MA (which JB Doubtless attended), when Adam Hauser literally handed the game to Maine in overtime. Hauser's choke led to my prediction that just as the Vikings would never win a Super Bowl with Denny Green as coach, so the Gophers would never win a NCAA title with Hauser between the pipes.

Of course, just a year later Hauser would prove me wrong by helping the Gophers win the 2002 National Championship. And as sweet as it was to end a twenty-three year championship drought, it was all the sweeter for me because the Gophers beat Maine in the title game in St. Paul. The way that some of the classless Black Bears conducted themselves after the game did little to change my opinion of the team.

Fortunately, the Gophers did defeat the hated Black Bears last year. I think that most real college hockey fans outside of Maine share my views. If you think I'm harsh on Maine, you should spend a little time with New Hampshire fans. They're brutal.

Finally, a CCHA supporter who wishes to remain anonymous, comes out of the closet and admits the obvious:

I love your blog and visit the site often. As much as it pains me to say this, your predictions on Michigan State are off by one game. Michigan State will likely come out on top of Wisconsin but like you I think NoDak will be crowned champion. I believe that the partisan sports writers who create the national polls feel sorry for the teams outside the Midwest (for confirmation compare the polls which are based on feelings and then look at the PWR and KRACH ratings on USCHO). I realize that this may be humbling to the WCHA partisans but the CCHA has more teams in the top 20 of the quantitative methods than the WCHA this year. However, I am inclined (grudgingly) to agree that overall historical performance favors the WCHA as the strongest league in Div. 1 hockey.

This from a UAF (remember them from earlier this season Minnesota, Michigan, and Miami (Ohio)...don't forget the "(Ohio)" fans?) hockey fan who would desperately like to believe that my alma matter was only knocked out the NCAAs by a soon to be crowned champ.

Please don't use my name if you choose to publish this as there are some who believe that Div. 1 Hockey is a code word for CCHA and I fear these people ;)

This gentleman is to be commended for his honesty and forthrightness. And I will say that the CCHA is undoubtedly the second best conference in college hockey.

Now, the time for chatting is over. The time for serious hockey begins. Stock up on your beverage of choice (Sierra Mist in the case of JB Doubtless). Secure the remote. Lock up the dog. Put the kids to bed ("But dad, it's still light out.") Settle in your couch's ass groove and enjoy a fantastic weekend of college hockey.