Freddie wrote:St Cloud can REALLY skate. Their forwards made Irish look flat-footed and SLOW. I think the officials will have a lot of input on the outcome of the Miami-St Cloud game. If Miami is allowed to use all the elbows and fists to the face at the blue line (which they got away with all thru the Mankato game) they'll win. If those calls get made, St Cloud will skate circles around the preppies.
This. Also a lot will depend on who shows up to play. St Cloud played a puck posession style and relied heavily on precise passing. The puck was really bouncing otherwise they would have scored more. Miami plays similar to BG and relies more on throwing the puck at the net and hacking at rebounds. They also rely heavily on transition play and odd man rushes.
The ice was warm yesterday due to it being almost 60 degrees outside. The kids cleaning the crease were shoveling slush more than snow.
I won't give an edge either way. Two different styles of play, changing ice conditions, 4PM SUNDAY start. The teams are so evenly matched that whoever adapts to the conditions the best is going to win.
After watching all four teams play, I don't think St. Cloud should have been a number 4 seed. They won the WCHA regular season title yet were seeded lower that Minnesota State? Makes me question how the selection committee works. I was torn between rooting for them or for the CCHA, even if it was Miami. The CCHA is truly done with Miami losing.
bgpuckster wrote:After watching all four teams play, I don't think St. Cloud should have been a number 4 seed. They won the WCHA regular season title yet were seeded lower that Minnesota State? Makes me question how the selection committee works.
While I will agree that St Cloud didn't PLAY like a #4 seed, I feel I must defend the selection committee's methods in choosing the teams and assigning the seeds. Unlike in Football (where subjective polls play a large roll) all the criteria for the hockey tournament are objective, measurable and cast in stone. Take a look at this, especially the explanation at the bottom of the ranking chart, and I think it will begin to make sense.
As you see, St Cloud was the #13 overall seed, the highest of the regional #4s. The PWR rates teams on the "entire body of work" throughout the season and playoffs, giving ZERO extra credit for teams that get hot at the end...that hasn't always been the case. There used to be a 5th comparison that looked at each team's record over the last 10 games played, but they eliminated that piece of the puzzle several years ago.
Some of you may get a kick out of this conversation that took place at the Toledo regional Saturday. It all started when I was approached by a group of Miami fans who saw my orange BG gear.
Them: So, you're rooting for us, right?
Me: What would bring you to that conclusion?
Them: We're conference mates.
Me: Correction, we WERE conference mates, until you bailed. Mankato's my conference mate now.
Them: (awkward pause) whatever, dude.
Me: Let me ask you this. Any of you guys ever been married? or better yet, divorced?
Them: Huh? What are you talking about?
Me: Would you favor your ex-wife or your new girlfriend?
Freddie wrote:Some of you may get a kick out of this conversation that took place at the Toledo regional Saturday. It all started when I was approached by a group of Miami fans who saw my orange BG gear.
Them: So, you're rooting for us, right?
Me: What would bring you to that conclusion?
Them: We're conference mates.
Me: Correction, we WERE conference mates, until you bailed. Mankato's my conference mate now.
Them: (awkward pause) whatever, dude.
Me: Let me ask you this. Any of you guys ever been married? or better yet, divorced?
Them: Huh? What are you talking about?
Me: Would you favor your ex-wife or your new girlfriend?
HAHA!! Well played!!
"Regarding BGSU, I would think their biggest strength is that they never give up, They never slow down and they battle hard even after the other team scores. We have to be on our game and never, ever take the foot off the gas for a second." ~~USCHO Poster "BG was relentless. It's like they know that a good first pass on the breakout from a defenseman will almost always result in an odd-man rush against them - but they go in anyway and dare you to make that pass. All three of their goals were just grit and effort. That's a team any fan can be proud to support...they give all they've got." ~~USCHO Poster, AFTER Tech beat us #NeverGiveUp
#NeverSurrender
#Relentless
#Resiliant
Life was very good at the regionals this weekend. after listening to redskin fans calling an empty net a sieve saturday it was so fun calling mckay the sieve today. Watching their fans cry about every single call in the sunday game was hilarious and showed they can't figure out a very easy offside call. The whole weekend was a wonderful time with some of my Bgsu fan friends but mostly getting to know hockey john even better was a highlight of my weekend along with talking to coach bergeron on sunday. Love to hear Jackson cry but Notre Dame could not stop the scsu speed, they just skated around their tall defensemen who could not catch them. The Redskins may regret that new conference after watching what the Cloud did to them today, this might be something that becomes common for them. LLLLLL I also had no allegiance to the CCHA this weekend because it does not exist. Good to see the traitors beat on. Go Falcons 2014 WCHA champions.
I understand where the Pairwise rankings had St. Cloud, I just think it may need tweaked. St.Cloud wins the WCHA regular season and a team that finished 4th in that same league was ranked above them in the same region? Something is a bit out of whack. I think the Pairwise system may put too little emphasis on winning the conference, especially one that gets 6 teams into the tournament. I know a perfect system does not exist, but winning a conference title should be counted more heavily than a conference playoff as it represents a larger body of work.
I understand where the Pairwise rankings had St. Cloud, I just think it may need tweaked. St.Cloud wins the WCHA regular season and a team that finished 4th in that same league was ranked above them in the same region? Something is a bit out of whack. I think the Pairwise system may put too little emphasis on winning the conference, especially one that gets 6 teams into the tournament. I know a perfect system does not exist, but winning a conference title should be counted more heavily than a conference playoff as it represents a larger body of work.
Interesting to note they did not have a difficult game regardless of seed.
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
Was also at the Huntington this weekend. Good to see so much Orange and Brown. My annual rant with the NC$$ ... lower the ticket prices for the regionals! Empty seats don't sell hot dogs or look good on TV. Offer some deals to groups including youth hockey teams! Anyway, the Huntington Center was a good venue. Both ND and Miami withered ... ND looked slow, tired and just gave up after falling behind ... and Miami, as described by Yahoo Sports, "has become famous for losing in the most painful ways possible." OK, heading into Pittsburgh, how many of you still have your bracket intact?
Miami, meanwhile, has become famous for losing in the most painful ways possible, most famously coughing up that late two-goal lead against BU in losing the 2009 national title game. Last year they erased a three-goal, third-period deficit against UMass Lowell in the opening game only to lose in overtime after failing to convert a five-minute power play. They looked like they'd earned every inch of their higher seeding on Saturday, but today didn't even get off the bus.
"Regarding BGSU, I would think their biggest strength is that they never give up, They never slow down and they battle hard even after the other team scores. We have to be on our game and never, ever take the foot off the gas for a second." ~~USCHO Poster "BG was relentless. It's like they know that a good first pass on the breakout from a defenseman will almost always result in an odd-man rush against them - but they go in anyway and dare you to make that pass. All three of their goals were just grit and effort. That's a team any fan can be proud to support...they give all they've got." ~~USCHO Poster, AFTER Tech beat us #NeverGiveUp
#NeverSurrender
#Relentless
#Resiliant
Miami, meanwhile, has become famous for losing in the most painful ways possible, most famously coughing up that late two-goal lead against BU in losing the 2009 national title game. Last year they erased a three-goal, third-period deficit against UMass Lowell in the opening game only to lose in overtime after failing to convert a five-minute power play. They looked like they'd earned every inch of their higher seeding on Saturday, but today didn't even get off the bus.
I'll disagree with that last part. It was a very close and exciting game against SCSU. The score may have ended up 4-1, but SCSU earned every one of them. Their goalie played a phenomenal game, especially when it came to the point blank shots.
