Despite the outcome of the first game,  I felt that overall, St. Cloud State
looked like the better team.
I thought they dominated the side boards and were much, much faster than
Clarkson  (and I was rooting for Clarkson).  I was constantly amazed how
SCSU could send 3 men deep in their offensive zone, but when Clarkson
eventually picked up the puck,  they faced 3 defensemen moving through
center ice.  SCSU got back so fast, I sometimes had to count the white
jerseys to make sure they didn't have 6 men out there.   I also thought that
St Cloud moved the puck better, cycling the puck and passing faster and more
accurately.  While the Huskies moved the puck around the perimeter well,
give Clarkson's penalty killing squad credit as they consistently kept the
St Cloud power play unit on the outside.  Good thing too since I thought
Clarkson netminder, Leggio, looked very shaky; He didn't look confident in
net and gave up far too many rebounds in the low slot.
Clarkson's first goal came as a result of luck and determination. The St.
Cloud goalie gave up a rebound out front  and David Cayer was in the right
spot cutting through the slot. Nevertheless, he had two Huskies defensemen
between him and the net and he took a half swipe and half shot at the
rebound that hit the blade of a defensemen's stick and floated ever so
slowly over Weslosky's shoulder to tie the game.  Clarkson's second goal was
pure guts and hustle.  Shea Guthrie grabbed the puck from the Huskies
defenseman and took off down the right side, outflanking the retreating
Huskies defense, putting a nice move on the St. Cloud goalie beating him on
the backhand.
So my opinion is this.  St Cloud was the better team but no so much that
guts, hustle and determination couldn't overcome the advantage.

Game 2 was a different story.  Just watching the team warm ups was a
revelation. The Wolverines warmed up at the west end of the arena, directly
in front of the Niagara section.  By the end of the warm ups, Niagara fans
were already very quiet.  The difference in the skill level of the teams was
that obvious.  Michigan came out in typical CCHA style, hitting everything
that moved (and some that didn't).  Despite that, Niagara kept pushing
forward and never backed down and even put on a few hits of their own.  But
for all the believers of David being victorious over Goliath,  everyone knew
that the difference in talent levels was just too great for an upset.  The
only way Michigan could lose would be for them to give the game away.  I do
agree with the previous poster who thought Michigan was coasting a bit,
especially in the third period..  Yet, even coasting, Michigan was far
better than Niagara's best efforts.  Credit goes to Niagara who played their
hearts out and never gave up.

I will be rooting for Clarkson tonight (may the spirit of RPI hockey forgive
me) but they are looking at a long night.  Clarkson will probably have the
louder cheering section and will probably be playing with more guts and
determination, but I think Michigan is just too good to be beat.  Their only
hope is that Michigan is looking ahead to Denver and overlooks a lowly ECAC
team.  I think Michigan is a shoo in, but what do I know?  I had UNH and
Colorado College in the pool last night.

My apologies to anyone who took to heart my comments about the heat in the
T-U center for last week's ECAC tournament.  The Times-Union center was back
to normal yesterday with cool spots and drafts.  There was a disappointing
crowd on hand for day 1 (less than 4500 I believe.  There was the expected
contingent of Clarkson fans, a surprising section full of screaming Purple
Eagles and a significant number of Michigan fans.  Could those fans have
travelled here from Michigan or are they embedded among us in Albany?
Sadly, there were only a handful of people sporting St. Cloud State jersies.
Then again,  Minnesota is a long way away and Albany isn't exactly a resort
destination, especially in March.  The biggest disappointment was the lack
of walk-in's but the weather was nasty and the games were on opposite TV
coverage of that other tournament.  In addition, Time Warner cable carries
ESPNU locally and both East regional games were televised to those people
with digital cable.  The crowd was disappointing but I was happy as it
allowed me to remove myself from the midst of several obnoxious Michigan
fans and move upstairs to relative comfort and a great view.  Then when I
got home, I sat down and watched the last two periods of Colorado
College-Michigan State.

Today, I get to watch Air Force-Miami in the afternoon, go to the East final
and then watch a west game tonight.  Tomorrow, I get to watch games all
afternoon and evening.  Monday, I should probably start calling around to
retain a lawyer to defend myself in the inevitable divorce proceedings ;-)