I would like to know (as specifically as possible) was Terry Meagher an
angel in this situation?  Where was the rest of his team during this?
Did the trainer actually spit on him or towards him?  Why would it
matter if or what song the band played?  Maybe they were trying to stop
the on-ice fracas in the only way they could?

Weren't fights common back then?  (I kind of liked it back then but I
was young)  Of course that kind of style would not be allowed to happen
now.  These are different times. Instead we see lots of "face washing"
and high sticking and lots of constant stick work. I see lots of trash
talking between players.  It is a different era and very tough to
compare.

Minnesota has five titles. Were all those titles won with great honor &
pride?  Did Michigan win 9 titles with honor & pride?  Denver's 6?
Wisconsin's 5? How about BU's 4 titles?  You can go down the entire
list.  Did BU play with honor & pride in every game in that season?
Even if Meagher was thrown out, was the game already decided before the
fracas?  Can you say BU would have won the game with him in the lineup?
Maybe? Maybe not?

Here is another question with the Gophers current situation.  When they
get to tourney time, and should they happen to win the title (I'm still
hoping and not jumping off the wagon), can anyone say they do not
deserve to win?  If Merrimack were to win the HE playoffs and make the
tourney, win the National Title, could you say they did not deserve to
be in the tourney?

Back to what brought this up.

The Pairwise may not be a perfect model to use to select teams for the
tourney, but do you really want the perfect model?  Yes, the best/most
deserving teams should be in the tourney.  Did Denver deserve to be in
the tourney last year after being swept in the first round of the WCHA
playoffs?  Yes. I know they won 23 games before the tourney started, but
they also lost 12 games as well. Granted, in NCAA Hockey, we do not get
the "Cinderella" story very often if at all, but it sure was fun to
watch Denver last year!

Does Minnesota deserve a number 1 seed?  I do not know the definitive
answer to that question.  However, of the teams below Minnesota in the
Pairwise, are there any that deserve the #1 over Minnesota?  There could
be argument that there is not another team based on the records in head
to head comparisons that they do not deserve the #1 over my beloved
Gophers.

That brings us back to the question is the PWR flawed?

I apologize for rambling.

Mike "Peach" Larson
Gopher Hockey Stat Crew

P.S. I rarely post if at all and I guess you would call me a reader
member of the list and I will continue to do so.  I do enjoy the reading
and wish we could get more topics like this that really bring out the
passion.