I just finished watching the (taped) game between Michigan and North Dakota. The Sioux won 8-5 in a wild one. Blues prospect TJ Oshie netted a hat trick and added an assist in a great offensive performance. The game itself was weird to watch. In the first 30 minutes of the game there were twelve goals. In the last 30 minutes there was one, a empty netter scored by Oshie. Michigan scored 2 goals in the first minutes of the game. They also scored 2 goals in the first minute of the second period. The other 58 minutes they were outscored 8-1.
The first 30 minutes saw bad defense and worse goaltending, on both sides. Michigan, coached by Blues legend Red Berensen, was a wildly undisciplined team tonight. They took boatloads of penalties. The refs were even being kind to them. If the refs had felt like actually calling "charging" when it happened you could have added another 10 minutes in penalties easy. The Sioux goaltender was really, really bad at times, but turned in a nice third period when he needed to. So I give him credit for that. The Wolverine goalie was just awful throughout.
Oshie had a dynamite game. I really don't see what this kid has to gain by staying for his junior year in college. I hope the Blues offer him a contract this summer. he has a shot of staying with the team after the next training camp.
The other semi saw Minnesota come back in the last few minutes to beat Air Force 4-3. This was after Air Force took a 3-1 deep into the third period. Air Force was able to give the Gophers fits by doing something incredibly simple. They forechecked with only two, but they really pressured the Minnesota defensemen hard and were able to force bad pass after bad pass. The Gophers simply could not get anything going off the rush, which neutralized what advantage they had as the more offensive team. Air Force played about as perfect a game as they could play, but they still came up short.
The Blues prospects didn't fare too well. Barriball had a sub par game. He simply didn't add much, mostly because he never could gain speed on a rush because of the bad passing from his defense.
Eric Johnson played ok. There were no glaring errors, like last time out against North Dakota, but he certainly didn't put his stamp on the game. He picked up a nice assist on a powerplay goal, and he does seem to have a nice, heavy shot from the point. That will come in handy.
In other Regional action (which I did not get to see unfortunately), goaltender Ben Bishop has lead Maine to the Frozen Four with a 3-1 win today. So there will be at least two Blues prospects in town for the finals.
[In my best greedy Mr. Burns voice]
Excellent!
The first 30 minutes saw bad defense and worse goaltending, on both sides. Michigan, coached by Blues legend Red Berensen, was a wildly undisciplined team tonight. They took boatloads of penalties. The refs were even being kind to them. If the refs had felt like actually calling "charging" when it happened you could have added another 10 minutes in penalties easy. The Sioux goaltender was really, really bad at times, but turned in a nice third period when he needed to. So I give him credit for that. The Wolverine goalie was just awful throughout.
Oshie had a dynamite game. I really don't see what this kid has to gain by staying for his junior year in college. I hope the Blues offer him a contract this summer. he has a shot of staying with the team after the next training camp.
The other semi saw Minnesota come back in the last few minutes to beat Air Force 4-3. This was after Air Force took a 3-1 deep into the third period. Air Force was able to give the Gophers fits by doing something incredibly simple. They forechecked with only two, but they really pressured the Minnesota defensemen hard and were able to force bad pass after bad pass. The Gophers simply could not get anything going off the rush, which neutralized what advantage they had as the more offensive team. Air Force played about as perfect a game as they could play, but they still came up short.
The Blues prospects didn't fare too well. Barriball had a sub par game. He simply didn't add much, mostly because he never could gain speed on a rush because of the bad passing from his defense.
Eric Johnson played ok. There were no glaring errors, like last time out against North Dakota, but he certainly didn't put his stamp on the game. He picked up a nice assist on a powerplay goal, and he does seem to have a nice, heavy shot from the point. That will come in handy.
In other Regional action (which I did not get to see unfortunately), goaltender Ben Bishop has lead Maine to the Frozen Four with a 3-1 win today. So there will be at least two Blues prospects in town for the finals.
[In my best greedy Mr. Burns voice]
Excellent!
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