Re: Yale Hockey 2010-2011 thread
I gave my report in the thread I started. Here odds and ends specific to Yale game.
the game winner on a goal that may have glanced off of a Russian defender.
The GWG glanced off the Russian captain's skate and in. There was nothing that the goaltender could have done. I was standing next to the railing (with the Russian flag) directly to the left of the Russian goaltender and saw they play clearly. Just a very unfortunate bounce for the Russians (and very fortunate for Yale.)
The Russians were a skilled team that seemed to show a lack of cohesiveness due to a short learning curve as teammates together.
Yeah, I think they only practiced for a week or so.
Much like the Slovaks against USA last night they tend to check leading their elbows and were also called for a couple of checks from behind/boarding infractions as well.
I thought that in the beginning of the game the refs called a couple of phanthom penalties on the Russians, one leading to a Yale goal. Then again, the refs might not have been used to moves like that (which are legal in the MHL, which, as I understand, plays under IIHF rules) and thus were more liberal with the whistle than necessary. As the game went on, I though that refs stopped calling the ticky-tack stuff and let them play.
More thoughts:
-The icing on PK rule is idiotic. Hopefully it stays out of hockey (college and otherwise).
-Impressed with the (near?) sell-out at Yale. I've never seen that building that full. Army marketed their game as being "vs. Red Army" and thus had a near-sellout as well.
-As I said in my post on the other thread, Yale is a great team. Whoever meets them in conference or postseason play should legitimately fear losing (unless they are Brown in play-offs). Anything less than the Frozen Four for you would be a dissappointment (at least at this point in the season). Good luck (unless you are playing Dartmouth)!