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The Greatest Games ever played

Re: The Greatest Games ever played

The two BU ones I would point out have been mentioned...the NMU title game was crazy - it had big leads, comebacks, multiple OT, game saving plays, shots off posts etc...it was a lot packed into one game.

The 09 title game was certainly great if you were rooting for an exciting finish or BU. Probably won't get many votes from Miami fans on that one.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Here's the thing with the multiple-overtime games, though. I have seen some 3-overtime games in my life, both NCAA and NHL, and they are not exciting toward the end. Suspenseful, of course, but not exciting. I have never seen a third overtime that was more exciting than the first overtime. Teams are ragged, there are no scoring chances other than potshots from the blue line. The St Lawrence-BU quarterfinal in Albany in 2000 is the perfect example of a very bad, unexciting (but suspenseful) multiple overtime game. The hockey in the last couple of overtimes was just terrible--like watching a high school jv game or something.

I would almost suggest that games should start losing points in your formula once 90 minutes or so have been played.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Great topic FS23!! Here are some I haven't seen mentioned. Unfortunately, I think box scores will be next to impossible for most of them.

Minnesota 7 - Michigan St. 6 3OT - 1976 WCHA Tournament - Old Mariucci Arena - Minneapolis, MN
Game 2 of total goal series. Qualified Minnesota for the Frozen 4, where they won the National Championship.

Bowling Green 5 - Minnesota-Duluth 4 4OT - 1984 NCAA Championship - Olympic Center - Lake Placid, NY
Marathon game that was always UMD's close call...until last spring.

Lake Superior St. 4 - St. Lawrence 3 OT - 1988 NCAA Championship - Olympic Center - Lake Placid, NY
Overtime thriller for Lake State's first ever championship.

Maine 4 - Michigan 3 3OT - 1995 NCAA Semi-Final - Providence Civic Center - Providence, RI
Maine went on the lose to Boston U in the Championship 2 days later.

North Dakota 4 - Minnesota 3 OT - 1997 WCHA Championship - St. Paul Civic Center - St. Paul, MN
Teams tied for the MacNaughton Cup and this game paved the way for UND's National Championship.

The following have already been mentioned but they are the best non-overtime games I've ever seen.

Minneosta 5 - North Dakota 4 - 2004 WCHA Championship - Xcel Center - St. Paul, MN
Both rosters loaded with high end talent. High flying, end to end action. Unfortunately, both teams kind of crapped out the next weekend in their respective NCAA Regional Finals with both missing the Frozen Four.

Denver 1 - Maine 0 - 2004 NCAA Championship - FleetCenter - Boston, MA
Speaking of the 2004 Frozen Four. DU's kill of a Maine 6 on 3 advantage for what seemed like an eternity. Unbelievable game. Side note: My brother-in-law and I looked at each other after this game and decided that we're never missing the Frozen Four again. That game remains the last Frozen Four game I didn't see in person.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Happy said:
Minnesota versus Brock Hall, 9-1, winning the AAU National Championship, and ending the 1939–40 season undefeated at 18-0. the Minnesota team had 2 All-Americans, John Mariucci and Harold Paulsen.
Click to expand...

Great game indeed.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

I only heard about this game, and it may not be among the greatest, but certainly one of the most unusual. Lake State vs.NMU(I think). Halfway through, Lake State is down 6-0. Don Jackson starts pulling his goalie on every faceoff on the other half of the ice, and ends up winning 7-6.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

The 2000 NCAA Regional Final between Boston University and St. Lawrence University. Someone else had mentioned this game below as well. This game was won by St. Lawrence University 3-2 in the 4th overtime. It was a great game! Also, I would go with the 1988 NCAA Championship Game where Lake Superior State won there first National Championship 4-3 in overtime against St. Lawrence University.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

2002 NCAA Final - Minnesota vs Maine


1979 NCAA Final - Minnesota vs North Dakota

 
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Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Yeah great topic.. Fun to read through the posts and be reminded of so many great games.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

slowfoot said:
I only heard about this game, and it may not be among the greatest, but certainly one of the most unusual. Lake State vs.NMU(I think). Halfway through, Lake State is down 6-0. Don Jackson starts pulling his goalie on every faceoff on the other half of the ice, and ends up winning 7-6.
Click to expand...
First off, who the hell is Don Jackson?

Second, some of the older Lake State fans can correct this, but it was Frank Anzalone who did this (and was affectionately referred to as "Crazy Frank" by some opposing fans) during his first stint with LSSU (1982-1990). From how I remember it (the thread that it was originally discussed has since been deleted), Frank started pulling the goalie during the second period after going down 5-0, and wound up chipping back to tie the game and then lose the game 7-6 or 8-7.

And none of the LSSU fans said it happened against NMU.




How have the MTU fans not said that October 18th, 2003 was the greatest game ever?
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

This may be more along biggest upsets, but certainly a great game was RIT 3, St Lawrence 2 in RIT's first year of DI. St. Lawrence dominated territorially, but RIT goalie Jocelyn Guimond made an NCAA record 66 saves. RIT scored the only even strength goal in the win. I have that game on DVD - quite amazing to think that an RIT squad of mostly DIII players could upset then #18 St. Lawrence.
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

1998 OT title game between Michigan and BC in the Fleet Center though i'd prefer to not remember it
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Maine vs LSSU was a thriller... No one ever thought you could come back in 3rd down by 2 against that D core. Monty and PK had something to say about that, on top of Walsh's brilliant coaching/goalie change
 
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Maine's Dimitrakos going 5 hole on BC's mr. five hole himself in the waning seconds, Scott Clemmensieve, to win the 2000 HE championship 2-1. And the ensuing whiining was un-bear-able. :D
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

Admitting my DU bias, but here goes:
March 15, 1969 , Denver 4 Cornell 3 NCAA Finals Keith Magnuson's Pioneers vs Ken Dryden's Big Red
March 27, 2004 , Denver 1 North Dakota 0 West Regional - Quarterfinals Described by INCH"s Mike Eidelbes as the best college hockey game .
April 8, 2004 , Denver 5- Minnesota Duluth 3 Frozen Four - Semifinals
http://proicehockey.about.com/cs/college/a/2004_frozenfour.htm

April 2006 Wisconsin 1 Cornell 0 3 OT Nailbiter all the way


Most exciting 2 minutes
April 10, 2004 Frozen Four Finals Denver 1 Maine 0
Most exciting 2 minutes that seemed to last 2 hours for DU fans with 6 skaters for Maine and 3 for DU.

** DU did not play in the Final Five. Second leading scorer, Connor James, broke his leg 3/4/04 against CC. He returned for the Frozen Four. Coach Gwozdecky suspended (violating team rules) Luka Dora, who scored the GWG against Duluth, for the finals.**
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

JF_Gophers said:
Seems difficult to define in a formula what makes a game great, since there are so many influences.

- Game Implications: Did the game mean something? Was a win required for the team to make the playoffs? Was it a tournament game? Was it for the National Title?

- Non-Game Cultural Implications: The US beating Russia (1980 Olympics) was great for more than just beating a seemingly unbeatable team. This was also an unstable time between the two countries politically.

- Non-Game Sports Implications: Not directly related to that particular game, but still something that was being played for. The Gophers finally winning a National Title after 20+ years for example, or like the Red Sox winning the World Series after 86 years. The games outcome meant more in a sense then the individual game ever could.

- Game Quality: Was it a great game because the two teams played well? Did a goalie stand on his head, or one of the players record a hat trick? Or was it simply great based on how long the game went (5 OT)? Maybe it was a last second goal that changed the game.

- Rivalry: Rivalry games certainly mean more to the players. They always have a chance to be great games, because everyone is giving their top effort. Rivalry games, even when not good games, tend to stick in peoples minds.

I am sure there are many more factors you could list. I'm not sure how you can cram these things into a formula.
Click to expand...

Obviously, it is very difficult to come up with a formula as there are so many things that make the game great. Like I said, I haven't plugged any games into it yet, so I am still open to tweaks to it if they are reasonable and convince me that they should be included.

On a basic level it includes...

1) The Quality of the two teams playing: Fortunately I already have a formula for this, so I will plug the two sides into the formula and get their point values.
2) The Importance of the game: Obviously, a National title game should hold significantly more weight than a regular season game, but that doesn't mean that a regular season game cannot be great.
3) Intangibles: This includes, but is not necessarily limited to hat tricks, shutouts, great comebacks, length of the game, and how long the game stayed close.

As many of you know, I try to cram as much as makes sense into my formulas to try and get accurate results. Obviously, at this point, I am just looking for some recommendations so I have a solid list when I start plugging in numbers. I have not included rivalry games, although I suppose that could make its way into the formula. My biggest issue with that is what is a rivalry and what is not? Do we just include the obvious ones? For example, is BC-UND a rivalry? If so, what about a BC-UND game from back in the 60s? What about Michigan-Maine from the early-90s? To me, this becomes very subjective. I'm open to suggestion though...
 
Re: The Greatest Games ever played

FS, as much as it kills me, I'd like to add this game to the list:

Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech. October 18th, 2003.

http://www.uscho.com/box/mens-hockey/2003/10/18/northern-michigan-vs-michigan-tech/

Michigan Tech went up 3-1 on NMU just five minutes into the second period, until late in the second when NMU got on a roll and scored five goals (6-3) to put the game out of reach with just over five minutes to go in the third.

Well, that's what NMU thought. Michigan Tech scored a "doesn't matter" goal on the Power Play with just over two minutes to go in the game to make it 6-4 NMU. Then Colin Murphy scores his second of the game with a minute thirty to go in the game to make it interesting (6-5 NMU).

Tech pulls Ellsworth for the extra attacker in the final minute of the game. With just thirty seconds remaining in what looked like an easy NMU victory just four minutes earlier... MTU's Colin Murphy scores a hat-trick to tie the game.


Followed up by his fourth goal of the game, and the winner with two minutes to go in OT.



And I'm pretty sure this was "The Game" that got most, if not all of the "old" misfits addicted to the Huskies. It's a shame that it wasn't televised, as I doubt there is a tape of that game anywhere anymore.
 
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