Ice may have had something to do with it to slow things down and make Tech more reactive with all the crazy bouncing pucks, but Ferris played their game well. I disagree with the current FSU/BSU style being good for the sport, and style that the conference wants to promote; which by their inaction on ice towards the mugging, the officials are in a sense promoting it.
By far the most heinous missed call was Anselmini dislodging the net deliberately when Lucchini had an open look to score. Absolutely obscene that it wasn't at minimum a delay of game call, or more appropriately a penalty shot. Just the kind of chicken sh** play you'd expect from the Ferris that everyone has always known and despised.
or the dive?That and the trip call on Tech
I don't care to watch defensive hockey either, but keep in mind in the last four weekends that same team was the "Greatest Show on Turf, err Ice" with 12 goals vs UAF, 9 vs NMU, another 9 vs UAF and 9 vs BSU. Unfortunately when they got in the spotlight the offensive went flat and put up a goose egg. Can't fault Phillips because you should be a able to easily win a game when you only give up one goal against. Tech was the highest scoring team in the conference (and second fewest goals allowed), but unfortunately they got shut out twice in the last 10 games, last night being the biggest and now their season is over. Gotta bring it every night, especially on the big stage.the 1-0 tackle football league
Lots of potential again next season, Tech loses a bunch of talent, but have almost a full lineup coming back with experience without the freshman.
Top 6 next year looks like some combo of Lucchini, Heinonen, L'Esperance, Steman, Jackson, and Gillies/Baltus/Sturos.
A couple questions, what do the fans think?
Will Evan Anderson need to play wing for a regular spot?
Will Gerrie command playing time right away?
Who of Beretta, Smith, and Gould will command playing time?
Can Ford, Reinke, or younger Watson supplant one of the d regulars?
Who wins the number 1 goalie job or will it be by committee?
Gotta bring it every night, especially on the big stage.
Ryan J
In addition to it not being entertaining, it's also the style of play that will drive high-skill players to other leagues. If I'm a coach from another league, I'm asking USHL guys why they would even consider going to the 1-0 tackle football league
Lots of potential again next season, Tech loses a bunch of talent, but have almost a full lineup coming back with experience without the freshman.
Top 6 next year looks like some combo of Lucchini, Heinonen, L'Esperance, Steman, Jackson, and Gillies/Baltus/Sturos.
The last few years I've been suspicious of our returning talent, then I'm pleasantly surprised to see that there's really good and obvious development. That speaks to Mel's coaching as well as the players totally buying in to the system.
Has anyone else noticed Lucchini's mouth is always either running or he's smirking? I'm so glad he's on our side otherwise I'd want to strangle him. He reminds me of Matthew Barnaby. He does some good work after the whistle.
There's a lot of teams nationally that play very defensive and i'd put Bg in that group, not just in our league.
let me name a few. Cornell, PC, Quinnipiac, Lowell, union, Princeton, Denver, ( more like BG) Notre Dame, Yale, is defensive but not quite a lock. et. and this is only the top teams. so you get the idea.
To be fair, UML would be in if they had lost. UML was the higher seed and at home. I watched those games, BU wanted to win, but remember UML had a week of rest while BU got the extra weekend.I'd like to say that I have a problem with the way the pairwise is calculated. A lot of teams, once they earn a probable berth, don't play as hard. For instance last year, St Cloud didn't deserve to be in and got lucky to beat UND after UND had essentially gotten in. Same this year, Duluth got in by beating them after they had made it. Also this years lowell vs BU games. BU mailed it in and so Lowell got two wins they didn't really deserve.
So i'd like to see the pairwise games involving the top teams who have clinched, not counted to the same degree.
Well maybe Lowell was a bad example but my point still stands. the teams who have clinched simply do not play as hard as they might have otherwise.To be fair, UML would be in if they had lost. UML was the higher seed and at home. I watched those games, BU wanted to win, but remember UML had a week of rest while BU got the extra weekend.
The part that frustrates me is the 12-team conferences..there is a pretty significant advantage to 5-8 if they can get hot. Northeastern got to lay two best-of-three series before the HEA final four...
I also think MTU got completely screwed because they played "nobody" They managed to finish top 20 in PWR despite having the lowest QWB in the top 33 teams. They only had 2 chances at a QWB this year thanks to the lack of top-20 teams in the WCHA. That's why a team like Northeastern or UMD can go from so far out to in. They each had 20+ chances at a QWB and to compound that, they already got the benefit of a tougher schedules so their losses were worth more than MTU's. I'm not sure what the ultimate answer is but I do think that RPI and RPI+QWB should be 2 separate categories in the PWR along with H2H and common opponents. If I get a chance, I will rerun the numbers based on that sense, but I still need to decide which gets the tiebreaker.