Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...

Well, the bad news, of course, is that the Rangers lost to the Islanders last night, 4-3, in a shootout, with former Michigan Wolverine Jeff Tambellini getting the winner in the shootout. Also, Denver alum Wade Dubielewicz played a hell of a game for the Isles, although I refuse to concede that his stop on Brandon Dubinsky in the shootout gives him the exclusive New York rights to the nickname "Dubie." I think they should settle it over the summer in a penalty shot best-of-seven.

To be honest, I have very little animosity towards the Isles unless the Rangers are directly involved. For one thing, I spent Isles color commentator Billy Jaffe is one of the many outstanding people I had the opportunity to work with at CSTV...which is probably something I haven't made enough of a point of mentioning: in terms of the things I got to do and the people I had the opportunity to work with, I couldn't have asked for much better in terms of a first job out of college. One thing that I've tried to stress has been what a great community we have in college hockey (fans who call me a "little dweeb" and comment on my sex life notwithstanding), and my place in this community is something that CSTV gave to me (or at least, gave me the opportunity to take...I dare say that my willingness to work seven days and sleep on frat house couches and Greyhound buses had a role as well), and it's something that I plan to hold onto for a long time.

...but I digress.

Yes, unless they're playing the Rangers (or Panthers or Blues), I really don't care about the Islanders. Yeah, I have a slight distrust of Ted Nolan for the stunt he tried to pull with Simon Danis-Pepin when he was the coach and GM of the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL, and of course, Garth Snow made a fool out of himself with his comments on Don Lucia and the Minnesota program after signing Kyle Okposo (although 21 points in 24 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers does suggest that the change itself did Okposo some good).

All that said, damn it, they did just beat the Rangers, although it did take a shootout loss for Henrik, which means the Rangers still haven't lost in regulation since February 7 against Anaheim, a streak I expect them to continue tomorrow night at the Coliseum.

In other news...Sidney Crosby came back last night and had a win in Pittsburgh's 2-0 win over the Lightning. I mention this for two reasons: 1) Sid is the star in the NHL right now, and it's good to see him back relatively quickly, just for the good of the game; and 2) I have tickets to the Rangers-Penguins game on March 18, and I'm glad to know that I'll be seeing No. 87 in action.

Meanwhile, how hot is Curtis Anderson right now? Two nights after stopping 53 shots in a 1-0 win over the Islanders, he stops 40 in another 1-0 win, this one in overtime against the Bruins. Tanner Glass played a little less than four minutes in the win. Lee Stempniak had a goal for St. Louis tonight, but unfortunately, it was the Blues' only tally in a 4-1 loss to the Red Wings.

In college hockey news, it's time for another comparison of the current projected NCAA Tournament bracket, as compared to what the bracket would look like using KRACH instead of the PairWise Rankings, comparing the bracket to Jason Moy's latest Bracketology column over at USCHO.

PairWise-Based Bracket

Worcester
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 15 Bemidji State
No. 6 Denver vs. No. 9 Boston College

Colorado Springs
No. 4 Colorado College vs. No. 14 Minnesota Duluth
No. 5 Miami vs. No. 12 Minnesota

Madison
No. 3 New Hampshire vs. No. 13 Wisconsin
No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 11 Minnesota State

Albany
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 16 Army
No. 7 Clarkson vs. No. 10 St. Cloud

KRACH-Based Bracket

Madison
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 16 Army
No. 8 St. Cloud vs. No. 10 Wisconsin

Worcester
No. 4 Miami vs. No. 13 Minnesota Duluth
No. 5 New Hampshire vs. No. 11 Minnesota

Colorado Springs
No. 3 Colorado College vs. No. 14 Clarkson
No. 5 Denver vs. No. 12 Boston College

Albany
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 15 Bemidji State
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Minnesota State

A few quick notes:

Clarkson, the No. 7 seed in the actual projected bracket, is No. 15 in the KRACH system, and only gets into the "bracket" based on being the ECAC Hockey frontrunner (cue "EZAC" comments from the peanut gallery out west).

Wisconsin climbs from No. 13 in the PairWise to No. 10 in KRACH, which means that the NCAA could justify a bracket that makes actual geographic sense, because North Dakota can go to Madison without drawing Wisconsin in the first round. New Hampshire, meanwhile, is left to hold down the attendance fort in Worrcester, while Albany could be something of an attendance disaster (although I think Southwest flies from Detroit to Albany) and CC and Denver would keep things nice and exciting in the Springs.

Of course, the big subject of discussion this week is the "phantom rule" about a .500 record being necessary for at-large consideration. I'll comment more on this tomorrow, but I will say that I can see both sides of the issue, although I would certainly welcome this rule in the future if it ever is actually put into the NCAA rulebook.