WCHA Playoffs

[pgb-ohio]

Well done, ARM

Well done, ARM

The last time these two teams met in the championship ...

Findlay still had a program;
North Dakota was an independent;
forget 6 teams in the league tourney, Hockey East only HAD 6 teams;
UMD's roster included Jenny Potter and Gopher fan favorite Tricia Guest;
fans of both teams were trying to convince the rest of the country that the Badgers really were good.

I hope today's game makes the wait worthwhile.

Cool post!

 

[CrazyDave]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

In the interest of good sportsmanship...

Congrats to the Bulldogs on their victory today. Maybe we'll see you back at Ridder in two weeks.

WCHA All-Tournament Team:

F - Sarah Erickson - Minnesota
F - Emmanuelle Blais - UMD
F - Laura Fridfinnson - UMD
D - Anne Schleper - Minnesota
D - Jaime Rasmussen - UMD
G - Jennifer Harss - UMD

Tournament MVP - Emmanuelle Blais - UMD

Link - Championship game box score

 

[just_a_fan]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

CrazyDave

Did something happen to Schleper that she wasn't playing in the third? I don't recall anything on the ice...

 

[CrazyDave]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

CrazyDave

Did something happen to Schleper that she wasn't playing in the third? I don't recall anything on the ice...

I didn't notice anything either, and I'm not that close to the team to be able to find out.

 

[ARM]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

Did something happen to Schleper that she wasn't playing in the third? I don't recall anything on the ice...

She played a little. She was out for the PP and EA situations. My guess as to why would be how she sounded at yesterday's press conference.

Congratulations to the Bulldogs on their title. I'd like another chance at you down the line, but I'm sure a couple of teams from the east will have something to say about that.

 

[Badger Booster]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

Please tell me that there was more than 824 in attendence that was listed in the collegehockeystats.net box score. I realize that the Minnesota men's team was playing (and crushing) Wisconsin next door, but that was still a league tournament title game. How can that game not draw at least 1,000 fans?

 

[JosephPSchmoe]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

I was thinking the same thing. I don't know what it's going to take to get women's hockey to attract more fans. They sure don't know what they're missing.

 

[ARM]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

How can that game not draw at least 1,000 fans?

The attendance is disappointing in general for the conference tournament, and there seem to be more reasons for them not attending than there are actual fans. But I don't imagine that noon on Sunday is an ideal start time for what is best suited as a family event.

 

[Badger Booster]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

Is there a reason why they can't have the semis on Friday starting at 5 & 8 and then have the championship game on Saturday night? For me, hockey is meant to be played at night.

I assume that the Gopher women average more than 1,000 game, so again I ask how can a title game against a huge rival UMD not draw more?

I hate to think what the actual attendence for the Frozen Four will be if neither Minnesota or UMD aren't in the title game.

 

[dhmn]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

Is there a reason why they can't have the semis on Friday starting at 5 & 8 and then have the championship game on Saturday night? For me, hockey is meant to be played at night.

I assume that the Gopher women average more than 1,000 game, so again I ask how can a title game against a huge rival UMD not draw more?

I hate to think what the actual attendence for the Frozen Four will be if neither Minnesota or UMD aren't in the title game.

If neither aren't in, we'll sell out ...

I don't want to even think about a non WCHA team winning the NCAA Championship until I absolutely have to

 

[Badger Booster]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

I didn't catch that double negative the first time around. Yeah, that would be a big draw, but I'm not sure that Ridder would sell-out even with that match-up. How much advertising is there up in the Cities for the Frozen Four?

 

[dhmn]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

I saw a bunch of UMD men's fans who came down for today's WCHA Championship game.. who weren't there Saturday.. .. but Frozen Four weekend is also the Red Baron Final Five for the men.. so the crowd may be lacking for sure if both teams from UMD and/or Minnesota are playing that Friday

 

[D2D]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

WCHA All-Tournament Team:

F - Sarah Erickson - Minnesota
F - Emmanuelle Blais - UMD
F - Laura Fridfinnson - UMD
D - Anne Schleper - Minnesota
D - Jaime Rasmussen - UMD
G - Jennifer Harss - UMD

Tournament MVP - Emmanuelle Blais - UMD

There has to be some kind of rule saying that in order to make it your team needs to advance to the final; otherwise, Spooner's name would be listed. She did the Bulldogs a big favor by helping to extend the Gophers both physically and mentally.

 

[just_a_fan]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

She did the Bulldogs a big favor by helping to extend the Gophers both physically and mentally.

I'll be sure to send her a thank you note for helping us because clearly, the Bulldogs weren't good enough on their own to beat UM.

 

[D2D]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

I'll be sure to send her a thank you note for helping us because clearly, the Bulldogs weren't good enough on their own to beat UM.

No slight intended, but it obvious to me that fatigue was a factor in the game today - less than 24 hours to regroup after an exhausting double overtime game is not easy. That said, the Gophers had a great opportunity to beat OSU in regulation, but didn't get it done. If you saw the game, you'd realize that Spooner had a lot to do with it, which was the point I was trying to make, that's all.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

There has to be some kind of rule saying that in order to make it your team needs to advance to the final; otherwise, Spooner's name would be listed. She did the Bulldogs a big favor by helping to extend the Gophers both physically and mentally.

No actually the team is picked by the media,who are present for all 3 games....

Congrats to those girls who made the all tournament team!!!

 

[xwildfan]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

I was at all games; Spooner was most impressive forward. Re/ attendance for Frozen Four; I would be very surprised if it sold out. Mpls is not a college town; professional teams dominate media. Only exception is Boys State HS Hockey Tournament.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

No actually the team is picked by the media,who are present for all 3 games....

Different rule, but it almost guaranteed the same result.

Media members covering either the Buckeyes or the Beavers would already have been outnumbered, and likely would have left after Saturday's results. I'm not suggesting that the other media members would have been consciously biased, but they would have been more familiar with the finalists prior to the tournament. Perhaps more importantly, the players in the title game have twice as many opportunities to impress the voters, and Sunday's performances are fresh in mind when the voting takes place.

I'm not sure if this problem is serious enough to require a formal response. But if you wanted to tweak things just a bit, you could reserve one place on the all-tourney team for the semi-finalists. Voting for that spot could take place at the end of the first day. To create the opening, you could have a rule that the MVP's name isn't included in the group of six players recognized by position.

Again, I don't feel all that strongly about this. But I will say that if you're the MVP, the secondary recognition must be close to meaningless. Conversely, for one of the semi-finalists, such an honor might be very much appreciated. Food for thought.

 

[brookyone]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

WCHA All-Tournament Team:

F - Sarah Erickson - Minnesota
F - Emmanuelle Blais - UMD
F - Laura Fridfinnson - UMD
D - Anne Schleper - Minnesota
D - Jaime Rasmussen - UMD
G - Jennifer Harss - UMD

Tournament MVP - Emmanuelle Blais - UMD

For Miss Spooner to be omitted from this recognition is wrong. I thought she was the most impressive presence in the 2010 WCHA tournament.

 

[ARM]

Re: WCHA Playoffs

No actually the team is picked by the media,who are present for all 3 games...

The Frozen Four does it more like that; the WCHA appoints a selection group that I believe is mostly WCHA representatives. The SIDs might have input, but that doesn't do those knocked out in the semis much good.

Media members covering either the Buckeyes or the Beavers would already have been outnumbered, and likely would have left after Saturday's results. I'm not suggesting that the other media members would have been consciously biased, but they would have been more familiar with the finalists prior to the tournament. Perhaps more importantly, the players in the title game have twice as many opportunities to impress the voters, and Sunday's performances are fresh in mind when the voting takes place

Teams that lose in the semis of either tournament are typically not well-represented, in part because a) they only get to play one game as you said; b) they aren't there when the awards are made.

The awards do tend to be weighted toward a) the final; b) player reputations. I'll reserve my comments here on the Gophers who made the team, so it isn't construed as sour grapes. Sarah Erickson had the best final of the MN forwards; Francis, with 2a yesterday and 2g on Saturday, had the better Final Face-Off. If you analyzed both players beyond just scoring, I'd say that was still true, so I think a) applied here. Schleper is a good case of b). She had an excellent semi, but clearly wasn't at 100% for the final. She did score a key goal on Saturday, but in light of her missing a portion of Sunday, I think her selection was helped by being WCHA DPotY.

Spooner left everyone who saw Saturday's game commenting on her performance. Maybe she had a better chance of getting on the team despite the odds if her numbers had been more dominant. The goal and assist in four plus periods was nice, but Emily Erickson of Bemidji wound up being more productive with 2g and 1a. In her own way, she was just as dynamic, but her team wasn't really in the game, and Blais and Fridfinnson overshadowed her performance.

As with all awards, too many deserving performances, not enough spots. Congrats to all those selected, as well as those worthy of consideration.