I'd like to start out by congratulating all the teams that made it this far. This is one of the most exciting times of year to be a hockey fan, but also one of the saddest. Teams are going home, done for the season, sad and frustrated at not being able to do something - anything - to pull out that last win. I thought of all the predictions that I've seen bandied about here the last few days, the one that called the UW/MSU game the closest matchup was certainly the most accurate. This was a great game to watch (at least if you are a Badger fan). We don't have cable, so I was trying to find a bar in the area that I could convince to watch hockey instead of pituitary ball. Then my neighbor, whom I hooked on college hockey at this year's Badger Hockey Showdown, offered to let me watch at his house. The catch? He and his family were going to be out. He left his house unlocked so I and a friend could walk into his house and see the game! He did get back in time for most of the 3rd period and watched the finish with us. I have gained a convert! I think that the way the Badgers buzzed the Spartans from the 2nd period on puts to rest the claim made by some that the Badgers play clutch-and-grab. Not to say that style isn't appropriate against some teams, but Wisconsin showed that they could turn it on and keep it up. MSU looked lost, frankly, for good stretches of the 2nd and 3rd periods - frequently icing the puck just to get a break from the pressure. I wonder, though, how the game would have played at a neutral site. The crowd was loud and I'd be inclined to give a good share of the Wisconsin comeback to their raucous support. A word on the s**ve cheer - it's short and to the point. Nuff said! (Okay, that's more than *one* word. Sue me.) So it comes to Wisconsin and Michigan again. Seems like this is getting to be an almost annual event. On paper you have to like the Wolverines, but this young Badger team has learned how to win over the course of the season. They've showed this in the WCHA tournament. [ Yes Reed, they won. Get over it. :) ] And they showed it last night. I wonder what flakey play this UW/UMich tilt will hinge on. There has always been one play in the prior playoff games between these two that has tipped the balance one way or the other. Like the unforgettable time in '92 when Tamer from UM checked himself into the UW bench, giving the Badgers a man-advantage in the attacking zone which they capitilized on. I think that *this* game could be the matchup of the tourney. We'll know tomorrow if I'm any better at predictions than those that called Denver/RPI to be a close game. (No slam on RPI intended.) -- Steve Manning Milwaukee, WI [log in to unmask] "Life's a long song, but the tune ends too soon for us all." - I.A.