Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

[SwedishJustice22]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

*I DVR'ed the game and will watch it after I get home, but from my vantage point in the stands and from the intermission highlights that suuuuuure looked like a goal.

I was watching at home and it couldnt have come any closer. It hit a post and slid right along the goal line but never crossed it. How it didn't cross? I have no idea, nor do I care haha. A no goal is a no goal

[Savage]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Can you show me the link for where we can finish 7th? Because I can't generate it on any of the three tools that I'm using.

And from the replays showed at the time, the reviewed goal for OSU was certainly not a goal. It slid all the way along the line, and then we lost sight of it when SS's leg swept across, next seeing it as it slid out of the crease.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

We will either be 4th, 7th or 8th in the PWR depending on the last game of the night (CC-UW) and our game (the very last game) tomorrow. As long as ND wins, we are 4th. If we lose and CC wins, we are 7th. If we lose and UW wins, we are 8th. A win and 4th and we're in Toledo.

As for today's game: Summerhays sure looked shaky for the first half of the game, but who cares?! He got the win and let in only 1 goal* in the process. And to echo what SJ22 noticed...how great is it that Tynan chose today to get back on track with the PP game-winner?! Once again, Fogarty was awesome, as was Peter Schneider with that goal to tie it up. He played a phenomenal game and I believe I heard the fans behind me talking about him in a foreign tongue. Possibly compatriots? And of course, my pick for break out player, Costello with the insurance goal on a great, patient play by Bryan Rust.

It was awesome seeing and catching up with Erik Condra's and Ian Cole's dads. I sure miss that bunch.

Now let's go and take this thing tomorrow!

*I DVR'ed the game and will watch it after I get home, but from my vantage point in the stands and from the intermission highlights that suuuuuure looked like a goal.

[klbaum1077]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Nice game plan you guys had today. Ohio state never adjusted and you guys took it to them. Good Luck tomorrow and next weekend. Maybe you guys get the #1 in Toledo.

[Savage]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Are the Irish a lock for the NCAA tournament now even if they lose tomorrow?

Yes. From the other thread:
* There are 32 remaining possibilities, and ND is in the Tournament in all of them.
* ND is a 1-seed with a win: if UML beats BU, then the #4; the other way around the #3.
* With a loss, ND is the #8, no matter the other results.

[SwedishJustice22]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Our PWR ranking is T6 right now and with Michigan handing it to Miami as of right now I would say its pretty safe

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Are the Irish a lock for the NCAA tournament now even if they lose tomorrow?

[SwedishJustice22]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

I was able to find it in the outskirts of my Comcast stations here in Chesterton, IN haha. Quiet a game. Stephen Johns was a presence today. Summerhayes was great. Once we got that goal from TJ (about time he showed up and with 2 of the biggest points of the season) it never seemed like the win was in doubt. Maybe you guys have a better outlook from those who attended but maybe the right version of this team is showing up. Cant wait for tomorrow. Maybe I can find myself a ticket and trip up to Detroit by 2 eastern tomorrow....

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

If you are close to campus/South Bend, I might try calling to some bars (Legends, Brothers, Wings Etc. or Main St. Pub) to see if they get the sports pack and FSDet +. They have enough screens that they'd be willing to let one go to ND hockey. Maybe...

[SwedishJustice22]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Is there going to be any stream of the game through und.com or something? I live in Northwest Indiana and dont get FSN Detroit

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

So this weekend ND has a chance to finish as high as a #1 seed or as low as dropping completely out. The likely mathematical scenarios involve us being a #3 seed. Oddly enough, we don't even need to win Saturday and we could still make the tourney. Of course winning takes care of everything. Michigan winning helps us even more as they remain a TUC and beating them 4 times this season will look pretty sweet.

Aside from the overall records and a few other minor stats, OSU and ND are remarkably similar. Both teams' top scorers have 37 points (Ryan Dzingel and Anders Lee), both teams' top PPG scorers have 5 PPG's each (Dzingel and Bryan Rust and Mario Lucia), both teams' top 5 scorers total 144 points. OSU has one player with 8 game-winning points (Alex Szczechura) while ND has 2 players with 7 each (T.J. Tynan and Sam Calabrese). Both teams have great goaltending (although at times I question Notre Dame's...). Brady Hjelle has a slightly better save % while Steven Summerhays has a slightly better GA.

Both teams' special teams totals are virtually identical (OSU's total is 100 while ND's total is 100.1). OSU has scored 3 more PPG's than they've allowed while ND has scored 2 more PPG's than they've given up. Both teams have scored 5 shorties and given up 3. Both teams start off slowly and pick up steam, both offensively and defensively, as the game wears on. Both teams give up fewer than 2.5 goals/game (although ND gives up fewer than 2.25).

Both teams split with UMD early in the season, and both have had stretches where they've struggled. They had some success against teams like UA(F), but got swept by Michigan at home. ND got swept by UA(F) at home, but swept Michigan.

Some of the differences include overall records (ND is 11 games over .500 while OSU sits at .500) and contribution to wins of their top 2 players (ND's combined winning % when Lee or Rust register a point is .712 while OSU's combined winning % when Dzingel or Tanner Fritz get on the score sheet is .581). ND also scores nearly 3 goals/game while OSU scores fewer than 2.5/game.

Motivational speaker and Canadian Brian Tracy is famous for stating, "Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event."

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Ohio State it is at 1:00 Saturday.

[SwedishJustice22]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

Last night proved to me that I would have not welcomed a third and final game at all. BGSU could have easily won either of those games this weekend (especially last night after the refs "let them back in it" but thats another issue for another time). Nice shout out by Mike Collins who gave BG the props that they deserved. They could have easily ruined our hopes for not only the rest of the CCHA Tournament, but the NCAA Tournament as well. But they didn't and all the credit goes to our Irish on that front.

Summerhayes has become a solid Goalie again (besides that ugly goal last night where he got caught out of his crease). Bryan Rust cannot be stopped and should easily be wearing an "A" next season if Jackson decides to bring those back. Anders, well has been Anders. No disappearing act like he had last season. TJ even though he hasn't been on the scorecard has been out making plays happen on the ice and just been pesky. Too bad he disappeared for that stretch because we could have ran away with this conference but that is in the past. Now we get to look forward to next weekend. One game that will hopefully lead to another game that will hopefully lead to the last CCHA Tournament banner hanging in the rafters of the Compton.

Lets go and do what needs to be done. Lets keep this train rolling, improve our PWR, get a decent seed in the NCAA and see how long we can ride this wave of solid hockey once again.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

What a turn of events the last few weeks have been. From nearly dead in the waters to the high likelihood that ND will make the tourney regardless of their next game. I have played around with the PWR tools and have worked many scenarios where ND can be as high as 5th or as low as 11th. We will know tonight at about 9:30 whether we will play FSU, OSU or MSU next Saturday. I don't care who the next opponent is. I just want to win to play for the last CCHA tourney championship on Sunday. I'll be curious to see what the league has planned for the weekend's festivities. As I am not really a Wings fan, this will likely be the last time I ever go to JLA, so I'd like to have fond farewell memories...

As for last night... Steven Fogarty didn't get the GWG, but I'm quite satisfied with Anders Lee getting it. And can I getta Amen for Bryan Rust?! Good grief that man is The Man. I actually wanted Coach Jackson to take the 2 minute penalty to go up 2 men, but when I saw Bryan Rust at center ice for the penalty shot, I changed my mind.

And let me go on record as saying, I will root for BG to win their new conference every single season beginning with next season. They are the epitome of the type of team I love: hard-working, tenacious and fun to watch. They're like cockroaches (in a good way). They never seem to go away.

So it's on to Detroit and a new restaurant I'm dying to try out: Vinsetta's Garage. Are you with me?

[Craig P.]

Re: Irish hockey '12-'13: Why would you not wanna go there?

I thought this to be true too, until seeing information that says otherwise. CHN also has us out with a loss, referring to us as "toast" should we lose this weekend series. Who knows? CraigP? Are you out there? I imagine there are still millions of permutations with so many teams still alive for their conference titles.

I think the biggest thing for our tournament chances might be Michigan winning enough games to be a TUC. In fact, I think that might be the most important thing for us aside from us winning out (and taking care of it ourselves), even more important than beating BGSU (except to the extent that beating BGSU is a necessary prerequisite to winning in Detroit).

The site that DD linked claimed we had a 90% chance of making the field even if we had lost out, but I have no idea what their basis for picking the field was. Unfortunately, CHN doesn't have their YATC tool up yet, so it's still a little prohibitive to start playing around with hypothetical results.