I thought this game was much more aggressive than either one with MTU. There were some monster hits thrown in this game too. I'll tell ya, that hit from behind on Budish was frickin' brutal and the nutcase that delivered it was Mike McCarron, a Mich. kid and Cornell recruit whose listed at 6'5" 227 lbs. That was vicious and reckless deserving of the GM and 5 min., AND the kid should be horsewhipped to boot...seriously. Deadly hit and Budish laid there for while and then finally got up and skated off.
Did you see the sick hit Schmidty delivered on the glass in the D zone in the 2nd period? They showed a replay of it. He could have been called for an elbow had the ref saw it, but that was one of the hardest velocity hits I've ever seen him land and it literally sent the USA player (didn't get his number) slamming with such velocity into the glass, I was surprised it didn't shatter.
The Helgy open ice slam reminded me of a hit I took exactly like that playing in the old version of the ECHL...there's no way you don't get up in Lala Land after a pop like that.
I thought it was funny after Bjugs scored and fell to his knees, a USA player nearby thought he'd take advantage of the opportunity and give him a hard cheap shot cross check in the middle of his back. Probably a UND recruit. Bjugs skated over and towered over the kid and he backed off.