Well, they saved the best game for last, no question. Game 1 I stand by everything I said about New Hampshire yesterday, but the emphasis needs to be reversed tonight. This team can put the puck in the net, no question about it. Mark Mowers is as good as people have described; he belonged on the all-tournament team, but I'll get to that later. In the second period, Harvard seemed to give up. After the Wildcats first goal of the period, I turned to Pam Sweeney and said that it really seemed like a much more even game than the 4-1 score (it may have been the second goal of the period, it's been a long week). Harvard obviously heard me; unfortunately, their response was to make it clear that this wasn't such an even game. Neither team covered anyone in front of the net or was able to stop rushes. The difference was that New Hampshire generated far more opportunities to take advantage of the Crimson's deficiencies than the other way around. Based on this game, UNH isn't a threat to beat another very good team anytime soon. I can see the talent there that could have enabled them to beat BU a couple of months ago, but the effort and discipline (perhaps more the latter) isn't there to do it again. In all, it was a game that I was glad to see end; the only highlight of the third period was Harvard's #19 putting an unbelievable move on a Wildcat defenseman to produce a short-handed goal. Kirk Nielsen reminds me a lot of his older brother, an ex-Gopher. Not as much scoring ability, but every bit the same willingness to take dumb penalties. One of my hockey-l companions at the game suggested that Mama Nielsen showed them how to run over goalies as toddlers. Game 2 Minnesota was very, very fortunate to win this game. If it were measured by heart and effort, the outcome would have been different. When you have a game that is a 2-2 tie after two periods and one team outshoots the other 11-2 in the third, you would expect that team to win. Well, it didn't happen that way. Dan Trebil put a blast between Mike Savard's legs with about 8 minutes to play, and Steve DeBus made it stand up. To open, the two teams traded periods. BGSU controlled the first, by a margin that exceeds the 14-8 shot disparity. The Gophers, in parcticular the third line of Bobby Dustin, Dan Hendrickson and, well, I won't name the third since he wasn't actually guilty, took dumb penalties. I thought we were very lucky to be tied 1-1. then it turned around, and the Gophers outshot the Falcons in the second by the same 14-8 tally, and the play was just as lopsided. (Maybe the rink was tilted; that was the same end UNH scored seventeen bazillion goals in the second period of the consolation game.) This was the Minnesota team I keep hoping to see. Bad breaks, scrappy last-ditch play by Bowling Green and good net-minding by Savard produced a 2-2 tie at the horn. In the third, I didn't realize until late (and with an assist from Erik Biever) how lopsided the shots were. I don't think that the play was quite that uneven, but we certainly didn't have the best of it. Ryan Kraft for the Gophs couldn't have hit the net with a club and was more of a danger to the fans in Section 12 than to BGSU's chances. Without question, Minnesota's hero was Steve DeBus in goal, with a very strong second place to Greg Zwakman for being in the right place at the right time to help him out on 'D'. In close, Minnesota defensemen played well for most of the game, and it was a good thing given the number of chances given up. With about three minutes to play, I said that DeBus was going to have to come up big one more time. Sure enough, he stoned BGSU (I think it was #10, but I'm not sure) on a breakaway not 45 seconds later. What I didn't realize is that he was going to have to make two more great saves in the last minute. It was a great game to watch, even if it wasn't played at the highest of levels at all times. I tip my hat to the Falcons; in yesterday's post I said that I wasn't sure if they were a very good team. If they continue to play like they did tonight, they're going to beat some good teams, and I'm just glad we weren't one of them. Now, three hours after the final horn, I will accuse Bowling Green of sabotaging our National Championship hopes by not scoring down the stretch so that we could win 4-3 in overtime. Come the end of March, if we don't win it all, I'll blame you. All-Tournament Team G - Steve DeBus - Minnesota No argument here. He only played in one game, but he was absolutely the difference tonight. D - Todd Hall - New Hampshire Quite frankly, the two games UNH played didn't hold my interest well enough, considering how little sleep I've had over the last three days, to really feel confident in an opinion either way. i seem to remember his name being called on a number of goals, so I'll accept this choice happily. D - Mike Crowley - Minnesota He played very well at both ends all weekend. Good choice. F - ? I got distracted momentarily and missed a name. I think it was from New Hampshire, but it wasn't Mowers. It might have been BGSU. F - Brad Holzinger - Bowling Green Good hockey runs in the family. If I were in the CCHA, the prospect of this guy being around for two more years would frighten me. F - Brian Bonin - Minnesota This is the selection I disagree with. I really think the Bonin got the honor on his reputation. He had two points last night, and really wasn't a factor tonight. He played well, but I could come up with several forwards more impressive. Most obviously Mark Mowers, who was instrumental in blow-torching Harvard in the second period this afternoon. Was there possibly a home town bias in the selection? Tournament MVP Steve DeBus - Minnesota He played extremely well, no question. Still, I would have picked Holzinger. J. Michael Jackson HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.