Now, I realize it's early in college sports' longest campaign to their
Championship Tournament, but early signs from Omaha look promising.

We managed to catch both games at places who subscribed to DirecTV which had
the FoxNorth feed.

Some observations:

1.  Maine finished their checks.  Especially in periods 1-2 and early in the
third stanza of the Minnesota game, no Maine player allowed a Gopher
puckhandler to escape getting hit when carrying the puck.  I really don't
think Minnesota was expecting that, which may have been the cause for
another observation that Maine seemed a half-step or more ahead in the
skating department.

2.  Nothing fancy in the offensive zone.  Maine may have (finally) lost the
tendency to over-pass after crossing the blue line; lots of shots were taken
on net instead of waiting for trailers, or stop-and-see things.  Also, they
were cycling and setting up more toward the dots than at the goal line,
which I always like because I think it sets up more plays by being at more
favorable angles to shoot.

3.  Young defenders shined.  An earlier point here is spot on.  Howard had
easy time because the defense did not let him down.  I was really impressed
with Mushaluk; he seems a no-nonsense kind of player and not much
intimidated.  He protected his goaltenders well in both games.  Build from
the crease out !!

4.  Prestin Ryan was invisible in the penalty column.  I've seen what
happens sometimes when Prestin faces non-conference officiating (I still
remember the second game at Ohio State).  Nothing of the sort happened in
these games.  Best way to look at the positive result of that is how many
points he came away with from Omaha -- very impressive.

The good lessons learned in these two games must be reinforced throughout
the rest of the season.  It is the style of play that will advance them far
in the post-season if they DO NOT forget.

What galls me is that the pollsters did not advance them this week past
Minnesota, and even New Hampshire is ahead of them !!  A little voice tells
me, though, that it's probably better for the boys to stay the "underdog"
and be "unappreciated" than getting an even higher ranking and thinking they
can slide...

Go Blue...