For the first 64:57 of the game between Minnesota and North Dakota tonight, there was a three way tie for most predictable part of the game, between Minnesota not scoring, Don Adam not being able to control a game, and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux taking dives. By the end of the game, they were all battling for second place.
I'm not even sure why I'm reporting this since it barely qualifies as news anymore, but North Dakota was involved in another fight. Back on November 12th, I wrote this: "If somebody had come up to me on Friday afternoon and said, "Hey, there's going to be two huge fights this weekend. Who do you think will start them?" I would have quickly responded with "North Dakota and the Russians"(FWIW, that's also the answer to "Which two teams are run by the Mafia?")."
In retrospect, I was probably a little harsh on the Russians, since it turns out the better answer to that question is North Dakota and North Dakota.
Here is the video.
In the world of college hockey, it's pretty rare for the Gophers to be the lesser of two evils, but somehow, North Dakota has found a way to make it so. It was actually pretty nice to see Tony Lucia give Darcy Zajac a free lesson on how to hit someone face-to-face.
And then North Dakota managed to take it to the next level by starting a fight during the handshake line. I'm hoping the WCHA will review the incident and come back with a suspension for Joe Finley. First off, it's absolutely unacceptable for someone to be starting things during a handshake line. It's just one of those sacred things in hockey. Second, Finley shouldn't receive much leniency from the WCHA, since it is the second time this season Finley will have been involved in an incident.
And finally, North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol made news for making his views on Don Adam public. He's since apologized. I'm a bit more sympathetic towards Hakstol since just about every WCHA has felt that way about Don Adam. Still, Hakstol is probably better off using his words to express that feeling instead of public gestures.
I'm not even sure why I'm reporting this since it barely qualifies as news anymore, but North Dakota was involved in another fight. Back on November 12th, I wrote this: "If somebody had come up to me on Friday afternoon and said, "Hey, there's going to be two huge fights this weekend. Who do you think will start them?" I would have quickly responded with "North Dakota and the Russians"(FWIW, that's also the answer to "Which two teams are run by the Mafia?")."
In retrospect, I was probably a little harsh on the Russians, since it turns out the better answer to that question is North Dakota and North Dakota.
Here is the video.
In the world of college hockey, it's pretty rare for the Gophers to be the lesser of two evils, but somehow, North Dakota has found a way to make it so. It was actually pretty nice to see Tony Lucia give Darcy Zajac a free lesson on how to hit someone face-to-face.
And then North Dakota managed to take it to the next level by starting a fight during the handshake line. I'm hoping the WCHA will review the incident and come back with a suspension for Joe Finley. First off, it's absolutely unacceptable for someone to be starting things during a handshake line. It's just one of those sacred things in hockey. Second, Finley shouldn't receive much leniency from the WCHA, since it is the second time this season Finley will have been involved in an incident.
And finally, North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol made news for making his views on Don Adam public. He's since apologized. I'm a bit more sympathetic towards Hakstol since just about every WCHA has felt that way about Don Adam. Still, Hakstol is probably better off using his words to express that feeling instead of public gestures.