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...