This Is Why I Don't Make Predictions

I probably should have gone out on a limb and made some NCAA Tournament picks at some point this week. I was going to. I meant to. Other stuff kept getting in the way.

In the end, it's probably just as well. I would have wound up looking stupid.

OK, Michigan-Niagara was a slam dunk. That said, it's probably the only game I would have gotten right.

I would have figured the University of No Hardware to bow out early, but not in the first round against a Notre Dame team playing without its top forward.

I would have gone back and forth several times about Michigan State and Colorado College, but then I would have gone with the Tigers at home on the big sheet.

I would have picked St. Cloud to beat Clarkson...against my better judgement.

But now that I've said what I was expecting yesterday, here are a few thoughts for the rest of the weekend.

Denver beats Wisconsin, if for no other reason than that the Pioneers own the Badgers at the Kohl Center. If you need more reasons, try Peter Mannino.

North Dakota beats Princeton. Congratulations on returning to the tournament, Tigers, but it's time to go home.

BC beats Minnesota. I'd wonder how the Gophers would contend with the likes of Mike Brennan, Tim Filangieri, and all the other Eagle defensemen from Long Island, but Alex Kangas is the Gophers' starter these days, so I can't really make that joke.

Miami beats Air Force, despite the inspiring return of Eric Ehn. The Falcons are going to give the RedHawks one hell of a run, but Miami is too strong from top to bottom.

Michigan State beats Notre Dame As much as I'd love to call the revenge win for the Irish - who, of course, fell to the Spartans in last year's regional final in Grand Rapids - I think the champs get to try and defend their title, and Jeff Lerg may just play his way into the Hobey Hat Trick.

Michigan beats Clarkson. Clarkson is the first ECAC Hockey team other than Cornell to win a game in the tournament since 2000 (St. Lawrence), so good on them for that, but this Michigan team is just too doggone good.

And for tomorrow

Miami beats Boston College The RedHawks exorcise their demons...wait...demons? At a Jesuit school? How does that work?

North Dakota beats Denver I like Denver as much as the next guy, but I maintain that the Sioux are a Frozen Four team under Dave Hakstol until proven otherwise.

That gives us a Frozen Four of Michigan-Michigan State and Miami-North Dakota. Oh, wouldn't the CCHA-haters love that? I suppose it's only fair, though, after the WCHA had four teams in Columbus in 2005.

Michigan over MSU, North Dakota over Miami in a multi-overtime classic, Michigan over North Dakota for all the marbles.

One quick Rangers thought: I don't like Renney tinkering with the lines. It took most of the season to figure out how to get Jagr to work, and while the Rangers have taken three of a possible four points since changing things up (and having to because of the Gomez injury), I'd stick with the way things were now that Gomez is back in the lineup.

Catching Up

Yeah, I know, I haven't posted in a while...although I have posted a couple of entries at my blog over at USCHO, so hopefully you haven't missed these entries too much.

In my sort-of-silence, the Rangers have amassed five points in three games, making it 28 points in 18 contests for the Blueshirts. Sadly the one game they didn't win was last night against the Flyers, and as you know, I can't stand the Flyers, particularly in their current form.

It'll be interesting now to see whether Prince Vali-ant, previously thought to be a Flyer-killer, will get the start for the return engagement on Tuesday at the Garden. Of course, the more pressing concern will be the center position, with both Scott Gomez and Blair Betts out of the lineup. Greg Moore, Artem Anisimov, come on down...

Meanwhile, in the college ranks, there's an interesting day of action on tap in conference championships. Miami gets one more shot at Michigan, the top national contenders out of the WCHA will meet in the consolation game at the Final Five, Princeton has a chance to make the NCAA tournament by beating Harvard for the ECAC Hockey title, and Vermont gets to play for the Hockey East title against a Boston College team that played into triple overtime against New Hampshire before pulling out a 5-4 win in a game they trailed 4-1.

Of course, that means Boston University is done for the year, which is quite a shame given their admirable second half run. Speaking of admirable runs, Minnesota has a shot at the WCHA title, and if the Gophers pull it out against Denver tonight, someone should look into getting Don Lucia an at-large berth as a Spencer Penrose finalist (only conference Coach of the Year winners and Frozen Four coaches are nominated). Given how the Gophers had been left for dead after everything that happened in the first half of the season, this is really an impressive accomplishment.

That doesn't mean I'm rooting for them tonight, though. I really have no preference in that WCHA game, although I do have a soft spot for Denver and George Gwozdecky. I like both Michigan and Miami, too, although Miami has much more to lose in that game, since the RedHawks' ability to beat the Wolverines and Jeff Zatkoff's ability to "win the big one" are both in question.

In the east, I'm for Princeton and Vermont. Besides my not-so-warm feelings toward Harvard, it'd be great to see this Princeton team that came from out of nowhere win the ECAC and make it to the NCAA tournament. As for Vermont, my dislike for Harvard seems kind of odd in light of the fact that Crimson alum Kevin Sneddon has long been one of my favorite coaches to work with, and I think he runs a great program. It'd be good to see this team get into the NCAA tournament.

Like this blog entry, it's been a long time coming.

Oh Well

You know those jokes about Florida being someplace where people go to die? A lot of those people happen to be New Yorkers, so it's only appropriate that the Rangers' point streak died in Florida.

Yep, the Rangers return to the Garden to face the Penguins on Tuesday night (with yours truly in attendance), looking to snap a two-game pointless streak. Ugly game against Tampa tonight. No real jump that I could talk about from the Rangers, although Lundqvist made his best effort to steal a point or two for the Blueshirts. Just hoping the boys can shake it off and get back at it in a huge game against the Pens on Tuesday, to be immediately followed on Wednesday by a game against the Devils in Newark.

Friday against Florida, I didn't mind so much, because I'd like to see Florida make the playoffs. For starters, Tanner Glass would be part of a taxi squad, I assume, which is his only real shot at the postseason since the Rochester Americans aren't making the Calder Cup playoffs. Also, the Panthers getting in would probably mean that Philadelphia would drop out, and if there's one team I can't stand, it's the goon squad known as the Philadelphia Flyers. There are things that have happened in Flyer uniforms this season that have no place in hockey, and I would rather not see them rewarded with a playoff berth.

Of course, they're the teams trying to get into the playoffs. In the college hockey world, we have playoffs going on right now, and two conference champs set to be crowned tomorrow. Bemidji State, having dropped the final curtain on Wayne State, will face Niagara for the CHA title, while Mercyhurst, having beaten Sacred Heart and Army, will look to post one more upset against Air Force for the Atlantic Hockey title.

I'm sad to see Army's season come to a close, but I'd love to see Air Force go to the tournament. Actually, I'd love to see a Serratore Sweep go down, with Bemidji and Air Force going to the tournament. Both Frank and Tom are great guys, even among college hockey coaches, who are pretty much good guys all around to begin with.

Meanwhile, in playoffs that end next weekend, there are some interesting Game 3 situations going down on Sunday night, with teams on the bubble potentially playing for their seasons. Notre Dame, sitting fourteenth in the Pairwise after Saturday's game, goes into a potential do-or-die situation against Ferris State, while Boston University, on the outside looking in at the moment, needs a win against UMass-Lowell to stay alive. I'd love to speculate on the implications of the Minnesota-Minnesota State game, but as we've learned, the Gophers are about as indestructible as their coach's hair.

Finally, there's Michigan Tech and North Dakota. Now, I doubt there's much in the way of implications here, because the Sioux are clearly in, and the Huskies are almost certainly out (if they take two out of three from North Dakota, who's to say they couldn't win the WCHA, you know?). However, I do think it's kind of funny that after handing North Dakota its first loss of the season, Michigan Tech snaps another North Dakota unbeaten streak.

Oh, and I've started doing some blogging for USCHO, speculating on the Hobey Baker race. You can read my first entry here.

Good Night For Green

Quick thought on the Rangers: was it just me, or did they look better defensively against the Sabres on Monday night without Marek MaWeak in the lineup? Next question: think the Islanders can take him off the Rangers' hands sometime soon the way they did Tom Poti?

But that was Monday night. From Tuesday night, kudos go to David Jones, who scored his first NHL goal and handed out two assists as the Avalanche beat Atlanta, 5-2. I don't know Dave personally, just professionally, but it's another proud moment for the Dartmouth program.

Lee Stempniak, meanwhile, scored a third-period goal for the Blues Tuesday night, to help send their game in Edmonton to overtime. However, Andrew Cogliano is apparently Mr. Overtime these days, with his third OT goal in as many games to win it for the Oilers. I really had high hopes for the Blues this year, so seeing them basically playing out the string at this point is unfortunate. Of course, since my real team is on a 13-game point streak, I'm not going to spend too much time complaining.

In women's hockey news, congrats to the Dartmouth women on making the NCAA tournament. They managed to sneak in, and they draw Harvard in the first round. I can't say I have terribly high hopes for this one, given how good Harvard is this season, but the Big Green does have Carli Clemis, and as the Big Green learned in painful fashion last season, a career performance by a goaltender can make a world of difference in the NCAA tournament.

As for me, though, I'm actually taking the weekend off from hockey, at least Friday. Dartmouth tied for the Ivy League women's basketball title, and is in a three-way playoff with Harvard and Cornell this weekend for the right to advance to the NCAA tournament. It's being held at Columbia's Levien Gymnasium - aka The Bargain Basement (it is literally in the basement of Columbia's athletic center) - so I get to stay close to home this weekend.

I know I should be at a hockey game somewhere this weekend, but there are a couple of things here. First, no one is paying me to travel, so I may as well support the alma mater...especially since I get to be fully unbridled as a fan when I go to this game (as opposed to having to behave somewhat professionally). Second, I've seen Dartmouth at two Women's Frozen Fours (2004 and 2005). I have never been in the building for Dartmouth at an NCAA women's basketball tournament game. This is notable since every four-year Dartmouth women's basketball player since 1980 has won at least one Ivy League title except for two...those two were my classmates in the Dartmouth Class of 2004. I was working at CSTV when Dartmouth made the NCAAs in 2005 (when the Big Green got crushed by UConn) and 2006 (when Angie Soriaga gave Rutgers one hell of a scare), but this is a time when I plan on watching the Big Green dance. It starts Friday against Harvard.

Oh, one last New York thought, going back to the Rangers: the question of a game at Yankee Stadium. There seem to be two issues at the moment:

Should it Be Played?

I have two minds about this. The venue is a major part of an outdoor game, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I covered the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic in 2006, and I can tell you that the venue of Lambeau Field made the game truly special. Obviously, it can be special without a storied venue - with all due respect to Spartan Stadium and Ralph Wilson Stadium - but it would be wonderful for the sport to play at Yankee Stadium.

There are also the people who insist - understandably and justifiably - that a baseball game should be the final event at The House That Ruth Built. It is worth noting, of course, that some serious college football games have been played in the Bronx over the years as well - the "Win One For The Gipper" speech was made there at halftime of an Army-Notre Dame game, for one - but it is a baseball stadium, the most famous one on the planet. If the Yankees want baseball to be the last event there, then so be it (I do understand, however, that Yankees management is on board).

I can see both sides here, but if the Yankees are on board, then I say go ahead. The Yankees were concerned in the past about the effects of building a rink on the field, so this is really the only time they could do this, with the stadium on its way out. The building is being torn down...is anyone really going to be offended in five years that hockey was the last event at the stadium?

Whom Should They Play?

Original plans called for the Islanders. Now, word is that the league and NBC want a different market represented, preferably one from the Western Conference and/or an Original Six team. Obviously, if you're talking Original Six and Western Conference, you mean either Detroit or Chicago. Detroit is a perennial powerhouse, of course, and Chicago certainly does have two of the NHL's stars of the future in Pat Kane and Jonathan Toews. However, I would actually stay away from either of those teams.

If New Year's Day is going to be the day for this game, I'd rather pick a market where minds are less likely to be on a bowl game. Do the names Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame ring a bell?

Staying with the Original Six, though, I like the idea of the Boston Bruins (since BC football isn't likely to play on New Year's Day). If a Yankees game isn't going to close the House That Ruth Built, I do like the idea of a New York-Boston game being the final event. This, of course, leads to talk of a return engagement at Fenway, but I'd want another team involved. Bruins-Canadiens would be my choice for Fenway, since bowl games aren't much of a thought up there, either.

Save that game for 2011, though. 2010: Wings-Blackhawks at Wrigley. It's their time.

Memo To The Mouse

OK, here's a thought for the folks at ESPN, specifically the ones responsible for the ticker on ESPNews: if an NHL game is 0-0 after regulation and OT, and the shootout is won by a 1-0 score, maybe you should say who scored the goal on the ticker.

I was at a friend's birthday celebration during the Rangers-Bruins game, and I went to the gym afterwards. I watched ESPNews while on the elliptical (it was a non-lift day), and they kept showing:

BRUINS 0
RANGERS 1 NYR wins shootout, 1-0

and then

BRUINS 0 OTL Auld 35 svs
RANGERS 1 W Lundqvist 29 svs

It wasn't until I went to a bar later that I found out that Nigel Dawes was the shootout hero for the Rangers. I haven't said much about Dawes this season, but I love the Rangers' young talent in general: Dawes, Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan. The energy they bring to the team - in addition to being fine players - is one of the biggest factors in the way the team is playing right now (10-0-3 in the last 13 games, heading into tonight's game with the Sabres).

That's an exciting game, but I'm still amazed at how exciting the Army-American International game on Saturday was. The Black Knights' 5-2 series-clinching win included the following:

a disputed goal

a power outage immediately following the disputed goal

the underdog leading 2-1 after the first

a penalty shot

two goals (including the penalty shot) on the same penalty kill in the last 45 seconds of the second period

The power outage was a pain, as West Point hosted the Patriot League women's tournament this past weekend in addition to the Army-AIC playoff series. It lasted about half an hour, and affected the entire post, not to mention the neighboring village of Highland Falls. During the break, I shared stories with the Yellow Jackets' SID, including the North Dakota-BC fiasco from the fall, and a multiple-overtime classic from 2002 between Dartmouth and Colgate. Then, the announcement was made over a barely-functioning bullhorn that the power would be restored in 15 minutes (listening to the megaphone, I couldn't help but think, "Our tax dollars at work.").

When the lights came back on, AIC led after the first, and was actually in pretty good position until the last minute of the second, when Owen Meyer scored on a penalty shot and Ken Rowe followed with a true shorthanded goal. Meyer almost added yet another shorthanded tally in the last few seconds, and AIC was just about done at that point.

I will say that AIC was much better this season than in the past. Gary Wright's coaching job this year was not reflected by the record, and Dan Ramirez in goal will give AIC an opportunity to move up in Atlantic Hockey in the next couple of years. Of course, there may not be much room to move up in the conference between Army, Air Force, RIT, Sacred Heart, Mercyhurst and Holy Cross. Those are six quality programs that will have staying power at the top, but they'll find themselves having more and more trouble with AIC in coming years.

Finally, Dartmouth's season ended last night in ugly fashion, in a 6-0 loss to Cornell that clinched the ECAC Hockey first-round series for the Big Red. It was an ugly year in confernece for my alma mater - although, oddly enough, the Big Green beat the top three teams in the Hockey East standings - owing largely to the graduation of Grant Lewis, Ben Lovejoy and Mike Hartwick, which left Dartmouth with a very young defensive corps. Of course, the departures of David Jones to the Colorado Avalanche and T.J. Galiardi to my favorite major junior team, the Calgary Hitmen, didn't help matters. (And yes, I do have a favorite major junior team, owing largely to the Hitmen's namesake, Bret Hart). Dartmouth will be back, though. You can count on that.

Never Say Never

If we ever have a nuclear war, G-d forbid (I'm not about to go making Zach Parise jokes for something like nuclear war), I've got a sneaking suspicion that the Boston University and Minnesota hockey teams will be among the survivors. I mean, I always figured Don Lucia's hair could survive a nuclear war, but his team?

The latest edition of the PairWise Rankings sees the Terriers and Gophers as part of a four-way tie for 11th. While I was taking in Army's 4-0 win over American International, BU was finishing off a 2-0 win and a weekend sweep against Providence, while Minnesota beat Minnesota Duluth by a 4-1 margin.

It amazes me that those two schools could have the kind of disappointing seasons that they did and still make the NCAA tournament.

And you know what? Good for Minnesota. I know the Gophers are the team everyone loves to hate, and there was plenty of schadenfreude going around when the Gophers were really down and out. However, this is a team that got half a season from Kyle Okposo, is getting half a season from Mike Carman, and got all of two games from Ryan Stoa. Oh, and they lost half of their defensive corps - and the really good half, at that - from the 2006-07 season, not to mention a first-round draft pick who was supposed to move back to D to help alleviate the loss. Alex Kangas has made a huge impact in goal, and even though this will be the first Minnesota team in decades not to have a point-per-game scorer, they are on track to make the NCAA tournament. It's hard to envision the Gophers as underdogs, but if they do finish this off and get into the tournament, it may well go down as one of Don Lucia's best coaching jobs in his career, and this is a man who's won two NCAA championships, won 500 games, and been to the Frozen Four with two different programs.

BU, meanwhile, has won nine of its last 10 games and gone 13-5-2 in the second half of the season. One of those losses was the overtime loss to Boston College which would have been a tie if the Beanpot didn't have full overtimes. Pete "The Prophet" MacArthur and Bryan "Boomer" Ewing have had a great senior year, and Colin Wilson has contributed a point per game as a freshman. Wilson will be a first-round pick in the NHL draft, and if the team that drafts him is college-friendly (think Colorado, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, etc.), he could have the opportunity to be a very special player for BU.

Yes, I have a soft spot for the Terriers. Their fans were among the first to really embrace what I did at CSTV, and I've never forgotten that. I've also really enjoyed the atmosphere around the program: the way they make the balcony and pressbox shake at the KurtCenter when they do "The Song," the frequent appearances by "Sasquatch," the painted faces, and of course, the wit of Jack Parker (and it never hurt that BU's press meal is extremely consistent in terms of high quality). The BU players have also been a lot of fun to work with, although I wouldn't be surprised if Pete MacArthur was happy to see me gone from CSTV, given how often I've referenced his freshman year promise to deliver a national championship before he graduates.

I kid...Pete is a great guy, just like every other BU player I've been privileged to talk with. But I'm not too worried about BU right now, since the Terriers aren't playing tonight.

Army, however, is, and I'll be up at West Point again.

Attitude ADJustment on the Island

How about that 4-1 win for the Rangers last night on the Island, huh? Two goals for Sean Avery as the Attitude ADJustment line, plus goals by Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez.

The Rangers have now gone 11 games without losing in regulation, and while I'm not a fan of one point for an overtime loss (certainly for a shootout loss, but not OT), I won't complain too mightily about 11 straight games with a point, especially when it puts the Rangers four points away from the top spot in the conference.

Not that I think the Rangers will capture the top spot; Pittsburgh is just plain scary, last night's loss to Florida notwithstanding.

Speaking of Florida, talk about lousy timing: I get my Tanner Glass jersey delivered exactly one day before he gets sent back to Rochester. Nothing he did, of course, just the fact that Radek Dvorak and Bryan Allen have returned to the lineup for the Panthers. I did say that it would take more than one player returning to Florida to return Tanner to the A, and so it did. Glass should be very pleased with his rookie season, as the 41 games he's played in the NHL are about 41 more than anyone expected him to play as a ninth-round draft pick right out of college. Jacques Martin has been very complimentary of Tanner while expecting that he would return to the A, so I doubt we've heard the last of him.

Now, though, with the weekend upcoming, I turn my attention back towards college. I'll be recapping Army's playoff games against AIC this weekend for USCHO, and I also make a guest appearance in Theresa Spisak's weekly WCHA column. Take a listen to the Army game if you can, I think I'll be making some radio appearances.

Oh, and one more semi-hockey related item...the trailer for The Love Guru is out:



Looks pretty good to me, although I still don't know about Justin Timberlake as a hockey player. At least he's a foofy Francophone player.

That's it...off to West Point with me.

Roger That

As mentioned last night, it turns out that there never was a rule about needing to have a .500 record to be considered for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

I'm very sorry to hear that.

Now, in one sense, I suppose there are some benefits to not having such a rule. I can see some teams, being concerned about a .500 record, taking it easy in the non-conference schedule to compensate for a tough conference slate, and one thing I think we always want to see is non-conference games between top teams.

On the other hand, a team with a sub-.500 record making the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection doesn't sit right with me, and here's why:

You may or may not remember a former president of Union College by the name of Roger Hull. Dr. Hull - who happens to be a Dartmouth alum, class of 1964 - was president at Union College from 1990 to 2005, a period that included the 2004 vote on Prop 65. Prop 65, as you may recall, would have forced RPI, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Colorado College to stop offering scholarships (along with other D-III schools that play up in a single sport, like Johns Hopkins and Hobart lacrosse).

Anyway, an amendment passed that would allow the D-III schools in question to keep their scholarships for the Division I teams, but ol' Roger voted against it, and afterwards, offered this comment, which Adam Wodon quoted in a column for USCHO (Hey, remember when Adam and the USCHO folks got along?):

“Let me tell you of my idea of being competitive: fielding a team that has a reasonable chance of winning every time it steps on the ice,” Hull said. “And when they got to 40 percent [winning percentage] , I was proud, and when they reached nearly 50 percent a few years ago, I was tremendously proud of them.”

Now, Dr. Hull does some excellent work, and is the founder of the Help Yourself Foundation, which helps underprivileged children prepare themselves for college. Dr. Hull deserves a world of commendations for that important work. However, he was roundly mocked for his comments on Prop 65, and rightly so. I think a Union fan on the USCHO board still uses the quote in his signature.

A sub-.500 record is nothing to be "tremendously proud" of. You can be proud improvement to get to that point - as Minnesota Duluth should certainly be, in light of losing Mason Raymond and Matt Niskanen - but I doubt you could get Scott Sandelin to say, "We are tremendously proud of our 12-14-6 record."

I know the WCHA is great. It's far and away, top to bottom, the best conference in college hockey right now. However, I don't think that means that you can justify an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament based on a sub-.500 overall record without getting very close to Dr. Hull's theory of competitiveness.

Now, the truth is this: Minnesota Duluth won't make the NCAA tournament with a sub-.500 record. Either they'll get it over .500 between the Minnesota series and the NCAA tournament, or their bubble will burst. Ditto anyone else who's hanging around the .500 mark, whether it's eastern teams like Providence and BU (who meet this weekend) or western teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin.

However, I like the idea of writing it into the rules: a winning record, or no at-large bid for you.

In other news, I got my Tanner Glass replica jersey delivered today. I tried it on briefly, but the only NHL attire I'm wearing right now is my Rangers Bluephoria t-shirt, although I may go to the hat as well when the puck drops on the Island tonight.

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.

Upon Further Review...

You know, I was wondering where the reaction was when I suggested that teams that finished below .500 in conference play - including teams from the mighty WCHA - but I suppose all it took was Chris Dilks posting about it over at Western College Hockey to bring out the hate.

First, let me say it's amusing that one of those people called me "little." I suppose I should take it as a compliment, since one of the things I'm trying to do while I'm unemployed is lose some weight (having more time to go to the gym and fewer press meals to eat are two excellent conditions for trying to get back under 200 pounds). As for the post about my personal life...well, that's one of the other things I'm trying to improve on. And as for a girl who goes to a Western Conference school changing my mind, I'd be happy to arrange a trip to Oxford for myself (Oh, come on, that's funny).

However, all (half-)kidding aside, the overriding theme I sense here is one of my supposed East Coast Bias. I suppose I'll be hearing more of that now, since my travel will no longer be nearly as extensive. However, just because the comments will be more frequent doesn't mean that they're any more true.

I would hope that my commitment to college hockey - regardless of geographical location - would be beyond question at this point. I've traveled as much as budgetary factors would allow to cover college hockey on a national level. If, after three and a half years, you think I favor college hockey in the east over the west, then I suppose there's not much else that I can say, other than "You should take off the tinfoil hat...it looks kind of uncomfortable."

But this isn't about me, or at least, it shouldn't be.

I am more than happy to acknowledge that the WCHA is the best conference in college hockey, and has been for some time. Former Hobey Baker winner Tom Kurvers, now the director of player personnel for the Phoenix Coyotes, went so far as to call the conference the second best league in the country after the NHL, and he just may be right.

The thinking behind my comment is this: as nice as it is to have a perfectly transparent system to determine who gets into the NCAA tournament and who doesn't - with no talk about "who got screwed by the committee" - part of me likes the idea of achievement being rewarded at tournament time. If there's an argument that Minnesota's achievements this season deserve to be rewarded with an NCAA tournament berth - other than the PairWise itself, of course - I'd love to hear it. I would submit that Princeton and Providence (if not Notre Dame) have done more this season to deserve an NCAA tournament bid. Of course, no one sits around and decides who deserves to be in the tournament, and that's generally regarded as a good thing, by me and by just about everyone else. Still, I think that finishing .500 in conference play is a fair enough measure of achievement that making it a condition for at-large consideration shouldn't be all that mind-boggling.

All of that said, I have taken some time to think further on my controversial assertion, and I have a couple of additional thoughts.

Since this isn't actually a rule, and just my opinion, I'm making an exception in the case of Wisconsin. I will have no problem with the Badgers making the tournament if the PairWise puts them in. Yes, the Badgers' WCHA record is 11-12-5 with their regular season over. However, it is worth noting that Wisconsin has been screwed by WCHA officiating not once...



but twice...



If not for the crack officiating in the WCHA this season, Wisconsin would probably be at least .500, and also, the fact they're hosting this year makes their participation a little bit easier for me to handle.

However, on the subject of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota, there's one little nugget in the NCAA manual that hasn't been talked about much until the other day, when it popped up on the USCHO board:

"To be considered during the at-large selection process, a team must have an overall won-lost record of .500 or better."

In other words, Minnesota can't lose any more than one more game than it wins between the series against Minnesota Duluth this weekend and the WCHA tournament, or else the Gophers are out of the NCAA tournament picture. Meanwhile, Minnesota Duluth needs to win two more games than it loses between the Minnesota series and the WCHA tournament, or it's bye-bye Bulldogs. Wisconsin can't get swept in the WCHA tournament, or else the Badgers are out. St. Cloud needs at least one point against North Dakota, or a sweep in the WCHA tournament knocks them out.

The eyes are growing wider at Notre Dame, Princeton, Providence, BU and Harvard. Now, in all fairness, BU has had a disappointing year by many measures - and is also in danger of falling victim to the .500 record rule, but the Terriers have taken care of business in conference.

I'm not sure exactly how any of this is going to play out this weekend, but I will take a stab at it later in the week, when I make a guest appearance in Theresa Spisak's weekly WCHA column on USCHO to make my predictions for the weekend. However, I will always say that I'd rather see teams that overachieve make the NCAA tournament as opposed to teams that underachieve.

Wow, that was more time than I expected to spend on this issue tonight. Brief NHL observations from yesterday.

- The Rangers beat the goon squad known as the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday, 5-4, in a shootout. Henrik Lundqvist allowed three goals in the first period before being pulled in favor of Stephen Valiquette, while Antero Niittymaki allowed four goals before giving way to Martin Biron early in the second. While Valiquette - or as I call him, "Prince Vali-ant" (since he backs up "King Henrik") - did give up the tying goal late in the third period, it was the one goal he allowed in his last eight periods of play against Philadelphia. It was kind of funny tonight, watching the Capitals destroy the Bruins and seeing Lundqvist talking about the rivalry tonight in an ad for the next Rangers-Flyers game (which, like the Caps-Bruins game, will air on Versus), knowing that the likelihood of Lundqvist starting that game is pretty low right about now. Of note: the Attitude ADJustment line did not score.

- While I watched the first two periods of the Rangers game on NBC - as called by DOC~! and Eddie Olczyk - I listened to the third, overtime, and the shootout on the radio as I headed for Long Island, where I saw the Islanders lose to Tanner Glass and the Panthers, 1-0. Tanner had seven shifts and 4:54 total ice time in the win, but the big story was Panthers backup netminder Craig Anderson, who outdueled Denver alumnus and fellow backup Wade Dubielewicz. Former Michgian State Spartan David Booth supplied the lone goal for the Panthers, who have a tough uphill climb to get a playoff spot.

I was also none too impressed by Wade Belak. His mobility is definitely an issue, and to be honest, I think Florida will need more than one of its five injured forwards back before Tanner can be sent back to Rochester. Just as the Wild cannot afford to have Derek Boogaard in the lineup every night, so too is Belak going to be a liability for the Panthers. There will be nights when a smaller, more mobile player (who can still drop the gloves when it's called for) will be necessary, and I think it's pretty obvious who that guy is.

Hopefully, he will still be up when the Panthers close the regular season against the Capitals, because I'm thinking of visiting some friends in DC that weekend. By the way, I got my New Era caps (Blues and Panthers) today (ordered during NHL.com's trade deadline sale), and they are really pretty nice (especially for the four bucks each I paid).

OK, that's it for now. Time for me to go and figure out which direction my bed points and which way I'd need to lay in it to...oh, never mind!

Taking In The Action

I already don't like Josh Gratton.

Since I am no longer professionally responsible for college hockey, I decided to check out the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday night, driving out to Hartford to see my friends Hugh Jessiman and Mike Ouellette. The Pack beat Norfolk, 6-2, in a game that saw both Dartmouth alumni record an assist each.

Gratton got on my bad side with a really ugly boarding call early in the second period, the kind of hit, head first into the boards, that there's really no place for in hockey. Naturally, he was challenged to a fight all of five seconds after he got out of the box, and David Koci scored a pretty decisive win in that bout. Myself, I just sat back down and said, "Well, he had that coming."

Other observations:

I think it's horribly cruel what happens with visiting goaltenders in Hartford. Apparently, there's no room for them on the bench, so Norfolk's backup watched the game from a folding chair set up just outside the tunnel. Why is this cruel, you ask? Because loudmouths like me - and yes, I am a loudmouth when I go to a game as a fan - can chirp at the poor backup sieve the entire game. I didn't have too much to say to Jonathan Boutin, but I said enough that he turned around and stared at me.

Mike Ouellette will play in the NHL before he's done. He's not going to be a big numbers guy, but he's going to be a good role player for someone. The role he was in on Friday was largely a defensive one. He was Hartford's go-to guy on faceoffs in the defensive zone, and he was absolutely money on those faceoffs. The assist wasn't particularly notable - Mike's ontact with the puck came back in the defensive zone - but killing penalties and winning faceoffs in the defensive zone are skills that you can take anywhere.

Jessiman looked good as well, although he did wind up a -1 on the evening for being on the ice during Rob Klikhammer's goal. He was comfortable in the Wolf Pack power play unit, which is where he contributed his assist. He's maturing nicely, and I think he'll compete for a spot on the Rangers next season.

Always nice to hear Kevin Nash's shoutout of "WOLFPACK IN DA HOUSE!" That brings back memories...

Moving on...last night, I headed up to West Point for Army's game against Sacred Heart. I recapped the game for USCHO, and you can read that here.

If Army wins the conference tournament - hardly a given with RIT, Sacred Heart, and Air Force in the mix - Michigan will have one hell of a time with the Black Knights in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Atlantic Hockey has abeen a very tough out in the NCAA tournament in recent years, generally speaking.

2005: BC 6, Mercyhurst 5
2006: Well...you know.
2007: Minnesota 4, Air Force 3

Army will be in that mold if given the opportunity. Mark my words. The Black Knights check like the dickens, and I mean forechecking and backchecking. Their puck pursuit is relentless, and Army makes it nearly impossible to complete a pass cleanly.

The big problem for Army is that the Black Knight power play is one of the least efficient in the country, and special teams are such a key in playoff hockey. What Army does have, however, is a great top line, with Bryce Hollweg (yes, that's Ryan's little brother, or as I call him, "Little Hollywood"), centering Owen Meyer and Luke Flicek. That line has 40 of Army's 90 goals this year, and their chemistry will serve them well in the postseason.

In my first year at CSTV, I interviewed the five new D-I head coaches before the season: Dave Hakstol, Ted Donato, Guy Gadowsky, Tavis MacMillan and Brian Riley. When I wrote my article on Riley, one of my superiors at the time asked me what the heck he was doing at Army, having been successful as a head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's.

The answer, by the way, is that Brian cares deeply about West Point. Obviously, he's the third Riley to be the head coach of the Black Knights after his older brother Rob and their legendary father, Jack (who was in attendance last night), and this is the job he wants. He's won the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year award twice in a row, and he's earned it. I know I've said this before, but what you have at West Point is a world-class coach working with some of the most coachable and hardest working student-athletes you will find. The combination has been more and more successful each year, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of these guys next weekend, as I'll be covering their first-round playoff series against American International.

Oh, and I'd like to expand on my previous comments on at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. This isn't just Minnesota. It's Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, and - in all likelihood - St. Cloud. I may need to think about this one a bit more, given that Wisconsin is one game under .500 with five ties, but generally speaking, I think that you should need a .500 record or better in conference play to make the NCAA tournament. For the record, taking out the three teams with sub-.500 records at the moment would put Providence, Notre Dame and Princeton in the tournament, and simply based on what the teams have done this season, I would much rather see those three teams make the tournament than a sub-.500 WCHA team.

Speaking of Notre Dame, SportsCenter had a great feature on Christian Hanson this morning. It's always great to see college hockey get that kind of airtime when it isn't the NCAA tournament or the Beanpot.

OK, that's it for now...time to get set to head for the Island, where Tanner Glass and the Panthers are in town. Hey, the man got me a job interview...you think I'm not going to go see him?