I don't think Red said anything that Jeff Jackson didn't say about the officiating in ND's semi final game. Neither said the officiating was unfair or even biased. Jackson called it "different". I felt Michigan was in trouble when they disallowed the goal. PA at the arena said there was "incontrovertible evidence of a no goal". Oh, the ref made the save, not the goalie. I knew MIchigan wasn't going to win in the third when it took a committee to call a penalty on UMD. In the first period, Clare was called for a hitting after the whistle. The whistle blew, and the UMD player skated right at Clare and he shoved him. He went down like a ton of bricks. Ok, the rule book says you can't do that. Normally (this was my 8th FF) the refs in the NC game warn the players and let it go. Then in the third period , Hagelin and a UMD player were racing after a Michigan icing. (I hate the delayed icing call, but that's another thread) The Duluth player reached the faceoff dot first and the ref blew the whistle. Then he hit Hagelin into the boards behind the goal line. Considering that they knew the rule from the earlier call I couldn't figure out why it took all four to call the penalty, hitting after the whistle. They reviewed that call longer than they reviewed the no goal.
Of course the crowd booed. I lost a lot of respect for Minnesota hockey fans last weekend. I always thought that being from the State of Hockey they would be the most knowledgable fans around. On one of the rare UMD penalties, UM was still in control of the puck and the refs still hadn't blown the whistle. The guy in front of me shouted, "He touched the puck!!!" Pretty soon, everyone around us was yelling that. Eventually UMD gained control and the ref blew the whistle.
That being said, UMD was the better team. THey were faster, played better D, better goaltending, and even better Coaching. Knowing what Jackson said the game before about the officiating, Red should have had the team better prepared to play pansy a55ed eastern hockey. Sandelin certainly had his team ready to play pansy a55ed eastern hockey. Look at some of the photos M Wade took. Half of them are of Duluth players laying on the ice. By the middle of the game UM was afraid to touch anybody for fear of geting a penalty. It turned into a synchronized skating contest. There was more hitting and less falling on the ice in the Posters Game. There has been a lot of debate lately about the B1G hockey. We should be more concerned about pansy a55ed eastern hockey. That's the real threat to college hockey.