What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

Slap Shot said:
Husky4Life, UW will still be slower than UM on a "slower" ice surface. I've never understood nor agreed with such a concept and it has no practical application to what the teams bring to the table.
Click to expand...


I'm not going to say that it will cause the Gophers to lose on Sunday, but there is something to bad ice being an equalizer between a high skill team and an average one. I think that it has a greater proportional effect on the high end of the skill spectrum which becomes proportionally less as you move down the spectrum.

So a team that starts at 10 drops to 6 while a team that starts at 6 only drops to 5.

Can I prove this? Not exactly, but...

Played at the Pond Hockey Championship a number of years ago on a pretty good team. We were erroneously placed in a division lower than we should have been as we had a couple of guys who played d-3 and everyone else was solid. We were playing teams of guys with some guys that didn't even play high school hockey and every game was a frickin' dogfight. At an inside rink on normal ice, we would have absolutely blown these teams out. Outside, it was a lot of work.


The titty bar was fun, but the hockey was wretched and we never went back.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

From my experience "slower" ice makes everyone slower so I still discount the concept as an "equalizer". That said, UM will need to shore up the defensive mistakes they had tonight because I don't expect UW to play a second game in which they wouldn't pounce when given the chance. That said I really like the mindset of this team overall and unless they do what they did against SCSU last Saturday they should get at least a point on Sunday.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

Slap Shot said:
From my experience "slower" ice makes everyone slower so I still discount the concept as an "equalizer". That said, UM will need to shore up the defensive mistakes they had tonight because I don't expect UW to play a second game in which they wouldn't pounce when given the chance. That said I really like the mindset of this team overall and unless they do what they did against SCSU last Saturday they should get at least a point on Sunday.
Click to expand...

Ummm... That was our pounce. :o

If you haven't heard, offense is not our strong suit.


As for the other stuff, the last things I'll say about it is that slow teams are used to functioning slow. There's no adjustment to make to their game or style.

Fast teams on a slow surface have to adjust their preferred style of play to suit the conditions. This can be difficult.


Not saying it's a complete equalizer, but it certainly can narrow the gap.


Hoping for slush on Sunday.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

We can play the trap, too. ;)

With a team like WI, I noticed that MN needs to make STRONG short passes, not just short passes. Many a time, WI got a "pounce" intercepting/disrupting a lazy pass, due to having 8 guys in the immediate area. And for Parise's sake, watch that back door! Too many times this season. Too many times.
 
Slap Shot said:
You could be right in the end, but imho if the Gophers come to play the talent will win out barring something flukey no matter the surface.
Click to expand...

The more I think about it, a smaller sheet is preferred with slower ice. I agree with you on your point though. If they show up from the start they should be okay.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

Sat. forecast for ChiTown is high 22, low 14, Sun. high 34, low 31. Overall favorable conditions for reasonably good ice and with the addition of the refrig. system, I don't think ice conditions will play significant role in the afternoon game.

Agree with others here, if the Gophers can clean up the turnovers, keep pucks in deep, wear the Bucky D down, and press hard and frequently to the net...we're lookin' at a late afternoon broom time and a good shot at the Mac.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

Goal highlights:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yn7hAxk8iKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Good taste in music on the video for a Gopher-BADger rivalry too :cool: :

Enemies by Shinedown

Listen up, there's not a moment to spare
It's quite a drop from the top
so how you feeling down there?
It’s a cold cruel, harsh reality
Caught, stuck here with your enemies
Who do you think you are,
Tearing us all apart?

Where did you think you could go?
'Cause everyone already knows,
It’s 20 to 1
Yeah, so you better run!!!

You got the world on its knees
You’re taking all that you please
You want more
You want more
But you’ll get nothing from me
You’re like the burden we bear
You’re all the hate that we share
You want more
You want more
But you’ll get nothing from me
Enemies
 
Last edited:
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

I don't know what it is but the Gopher's power play is always in the right position! Never really scrambling or trying too hard which leads to fantastic goals like Warning's last night. I have always feared the PP unit when the Mavs played them.

Good win, Gophers do it again to help the Mavs out on Sunday!!
 
Chris Clark Fan Club said:
I don't know what it is but the Gopher's power play is always in the right position! Never really scrambling or trying too hard which leads to fantastic goals like Warning's last night. I have always feared the PP unit when the Mavs played them.

Good win, Gophers do it again to help the Mavs out on Sunday!!
Click to expand...

Your team is having a fantastic season too. Your team is relentless. Really excited for you guys :)
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

mnstate0fhockey said:
Minnesota's best hope is to have some of QU's TUC opponents fall out of TUC status. Most of their TUC wins ca,e against teams close to the borderline.
Click to expand...

It would actually help QU for some of their "borderline" teams to fall off. The only losses that QU has suffered (to date) against TUCs came against those borderline squads. For example, the lowest TUC that QU has played is Colgate. They went 2-1-0 against the Raiders. Take them out, and QU's numbers actually improve from 12-2-2 (.8125) to 10-1-2 (.8461). If say the bottom three teams that they've played fall off (SLU, Ohio St., and Colgate), their record would go from 12-2-2 to 8-0-1. This would mean that the TUC wouldn't come into play (10 game min). However, given that QU is scheduled to play Yale (#11 in RPI) and Dartmouth (#18 in RPI), they would jump over the 10 game number and be back in contention. Now, if QU would say lose out in those games, then the TUC comparison could get real close, especially if Minnesota keeps playing like they have been.

In reality, most of QU's TUC wins came against teams that are currently not all that close to the borderline (.5000 RPI). The result of that, is that it is unlikely that teams falling off will adversely affect QU, and it could very well help the Bobcats. Anything can happen with 4-5 weeks left in the regular season/tournaments, but QU is in a dominant position when it comes to the #1 overall seed. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, this year (if Niagara wins Atlantic Hockey) could be very different, and there will likely be no discernible advantage for the #1 overall seed in comparison with the #2 overall seed, which Minnesota has a Quinnipiac-like stranglehold on over everyone else.
 
Mile High Hockey said:
It would actually help QU for some of their "borderline" teams to fall off. The only losses that QU has suffered (to date) against TUCs came against those borderline squads. For example, the lowest TUC that QU has played is Colgate. They went 2-1-0 against the Raiders. Take them out, and QU's numbers actually improve from 12-2-2 (.8125) to 10-1-2 (.8461). If say the bottom three teams that they've played fall off (SLU, Ohio St., and Colgate), their record would go from 12-2-2 to 8-0-1. This would mean that the TUC wouldn't come into play (10 game min). However, given that QU is scheduled to play Yale (#11 in RPI) and Dartmouth (#18 in RPI), they would jump over the 10 game number and be back in contention. Now, if QU would say lose out in those games, then the TUC comparison could get real close, especially if Minnesota keeps playing like they have been.

In reality, most of QU's TUC wins came against teams that are currently not all that close to the borderline (.5000 RPI). The result of that, is that it is unlikely that teams falling off will adversely affect QU, and it could very well help the Bobcats. Anything can happen with 4-5 weeks left in the regular season/tournaments, but QU is in a dominant position when it comes to the #1 overall seed. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, this year (if Niagara wins Atlantic Hockey) could be very different, and there will likely be no discernible advantage for the #1 overall seed in comparison with the #2 overall seed, which Minnesota has a Quinnipiac-like stranglehold on over everyone else.
Click to expand...

Good point. Forgot they had a few losses to some of those same teams. Though, I disagree with the notion that most of QU's wins haven't come against lower rung TUC and non-TUC teams. They most certainly have.

TUC Ranking of their opponents:

Non-TUC (13 games), 24th, 24th, T27th, T27th, 23rd, T27th, T17th, T17th, T20th, T20th, T17th, T17th, T10th, T27th, 23rd.

One game against a Pairwise Top 15 team. That means only one game against a team in the top half of TUC right now.
 
Last edited:
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

I have no need for the Gophers to catch the Q in the PWR. So what does it mean? We play in W MI. And being #1 in sports is never really a plus until after the last game.

Slap Shot said:
From my experience "slower" ice makes everyone slower so I still discount the concept as an "equalizer".
Click to expand...

I know where you're going with this...but I'm not sure about the outcome.

Sure both teams skate slower. But what matters is the puck. When you're moving at high speeds the margin for error for the puck getting caught up is much slimmer. So it wouldn't surprise me if in fact the slower team had a slight...slight advantage.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin : 02/15 - 02/17

mnstate0fhockey said:
I edited above. They only have one win against a Pairwise Top 15 team. Only one win against the Top half of the TUC field.

Sorry, not impressed.
Click to expand...

I don't really care if you're impressed or not. I'm not a QU fan. I was just trying to help some of your fans out by showing that the RPI comparison is unlikely to flip the pairwise comparison between QU and Minnesota.

Interestingly enough, or at least I find it interesting, North Dakota might be the best bet for Minnesota to get the #1 overall seed. Of course, I can't imagine many Minnesota fans cheering on North Dakota. :)
 
mnstate0fhockey said:
I edited above. They only have one win against a Pairwise Top 15 team. Only one win against the Top half of the TUC field.

Sorry, not impressed.
Click to expand...
Devil's advocate...they also have not lost to a PWR top 15 team. So the teams that can beat them won't make the tournament. :)

I think the reffing in the WCHA right now is not doing any favors to the WCHA teams. The calls in the NCAAs always seem tighter. Our teams could get penalized into losses if they get used to the current, "let them play" style.
 
Mile High Hockey said:
I don't really care if you're impressed or not. I'm not a QU fan. I was just trying to help some of your fans out by showing that the RPI comparison is unlikely to flip the pairwise comparison between QU and Minnesota.

Interestingly enough, or at least I find it interesting, North Dakota might be the best bet for Minnesota to get the #1 overall seed. Of course, I can't imagine many Minnesota fans cheering on North Dakota. :)
Click to expand...

Not attacking you man. I appreciate your insight :)

Not too worried about getting #1 overall seed. More concerned with team playing great hockey down the stretch and going into the tourney with momentum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top