The statistical details of the weekend's west regional games have been
posted, so I thought I'd just add a few stray thoughts as I look back at
it...
 
Minn-RPI:  RPI's offense never really got going, and Callinan stopped
whatever came his way.  Tamburro kept the game from being more of a blowout
than it was, in my opinion; he just didn't have enough help.  The RPI band
was a blast, though, and seemed to get along well with the Badger band for
the rest of the tourney. (Red schools stick together?)
 
Wisc-MSU:  A thoroughly exciting game to watch.  I was very impressed with
Anson Carter for the Spartans.  He always seemed to be open right in front
of the goal mouth, and his skating and passing made him ever-dangerous on
the ice.  Once the Badgers battled back in the second, the wave of momentum
was incredible, and the Dane was rocking like I've never heard it.
 
Minn-CC:  The goal at 19:59 of the 2nd was a real killer for CC.  They
never recovered, after hanging in against a Minnesota team that was clearly
the sharper one out there.  Perhaps CC had the NCAA jitters (been a loooong
time for them), while Minnesota knew the drill all too well.  As for the
Badger fans booing at the end of the game, that upset me as well (and I
certainly didn't participate).  Minnesota played some darn good hockey to
get to the Final Four, and earned my applause.  I don't root for the
Gophers, but booing for no good reason is out of line.  Other note: none of
the Gopher fans are music majors, I presume -- the M-I-N-N... chant was not
in unison the whole night long, and ended up rather jumbled.  It sounded
better in '89 in St Paul :)
 
Mich-Wisc:  What a game!  As a Badger fan, I'm disappointed that we lost,
but I still had a blast.  The Wisconsin team had a lot of heart, and really
put in a great effort against a faster and more skilled team.  Kirk
Daubenspeck made some amazing saves.  After Turco's now-famous blue-line
muff, he made some nice saves as well, esp. in the third period.  The
Michigan band was rather unimpressive, playing the same cheer over and
over... with the entire Dane shouting "high school band!" at the end of it
each time. :)  (ECAC fans will know exactly the cheer I'm talking about.)
The Michigan fans were a vocal and spirited bunch, however -- hats off to
them for showing class and spirit in a decidedly hostile arena.
 
These teams always seem to play a great game... I look forward to seeing
next year's College Showcase game!
 
Good luck to the Gophs and Wolverines at the Phinal Phour!!
 
-john nash