Re: Nebraska-Omaha vs. Minnesota. 11/30, 12/01.
Does UNO play physical at all? Last weekend it seemed like Vermont, once they were down big on Friday and pretty much the whole game Saturday, went to the physical game. Not cheap shots, just physical hockey. While the Gophers definitely have the big bodies to "play that game", it did seem to wear them down in the Saturday game, especially in the 3rd period it became evident.
Yes, to the extent that we can. I'll explain.
UNO is the biggest team in all of college hockey (taken right from a recent blog article by Roman Augustoviz of the Star Tribune--something I didn't really know). We have 13 guys 6' 2" or taller on our team. 5 of those are 6' 4" or better (3 of those guys are defensemen).
Rumor has it that, during faceoffs, UNO defenseman Andres Sustr, who is 6' 8" and looks and sounds like Ivan Drago's son, skates around the faceoff circle prior to faceoffs saying "I must break you".
I think other teams have been a little reluctant to really take us on
because we are so big. Just my humble impression. We are a physically imposing team and, as an aside, the only team that has really skated with us so far this season is Notre Dame. Fast, too. We haven't had to be real physical since, if the opponent can't skate with you, why bother?
At the Icebreaker in Kansas City, I heard BOTH Army and Notre Dame fans sitting around me making some "those guys are
huge" comments. They weren't talking about
their guys.
I expect this series to be physical, though, since it is a big, important conference series. Plus, we have a couple of tough, bitter 3-2 losses in the back of our minds late last season to the Gophers as well that are still being stewed about here. If you Gopher fans see either Tony Turgeon or Alex Simonson getting any meaningful ice team this weekend you'll know that Coach Blais has decided we're are going to play "old time hockey". Those guys are the goons on our team and they don't play a lot. The way Coach Blais uses them, I somewhat seriously see that as their actual roles on the squad. Brock Montpetit is the other player kinda in that category except he plays regularly.
I doubt that we get worn down by anybody, either. Coach Blais' offseason conditioning program is supposedly right out of the book of Bear Bryant's in intensity and he proudly thinks there is nobody in college hockey that is in any better shape than we are. It's one of the few things he ever really comes close to bragging about when talking about our program. You hear the players talking about it, too.
Another thing to watch for, UNO has already been whistled down an uber-ridiculous
6 times this season for too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties! More than the last two seasons combined. Maybe we are
stupid and big and fast. We don't seem to be able to count to 5, that's for sure.
I think this is going to be a war. I just have that feeling. I don't see either team backing down from the other. There is a lot at stake. On paper, these are
remarkably similar teams if you look at team and individual numbers. That said, you don't play on paper, you play on ice. And, we have two head coaches squaring off here that have been here, done this, many times before, with great success. Lucia has a little advantage there in having Guentzel on his bench since he could hardly have better a scouting info source than what he could provide.
It will be an interesting weekend and will set the tone for the remainder of BOTH these team's seasons.
If you're talking about winning the MacNaughton, sure, that is a good recipe, but not the required one.
