Day one of the Final Five is over, as are two games. I do not like this format for the tournament. It feels like it's going by too fast. Maybe today will even it out, but only having one game on Saturday is going to change the feel of it as well.
Anyway, we saw two games yesterday afternoon in downtown St. Paul. Game one saw the Beavers of Bemidji taking on the Bulldogs of Duluth. I'd be lying if I said it was a fun game to watch. Both teams played a defensive-type game which really slowed the pace of the game down. Shots on goal were 22-21 in favor of the Beavers.
Both Connolly's scored for the Dogs while Hunt, Read, and Walters scored for the Beavers. Shea Walter's goal at 6:12 of OT, on the power play, was his first of the season. Can you say timely goal? I think so.
The second game saw the Seawolves of Anchorage taking on the Tigers of Colorado College. This was just a boring game to watch. The Seawolves looked to control the game, but couldn't seem to find the back of the net. Shots on goal were 23-16 in favor of the Seawolves.
Rapuzzi, Hall, and Marciano (2) scored for the Tigers and Spender and Vidmar scored for the Seawolves. A three goal lead after 24:39 of play for the Tigers chased Chris Kamal from the Seawolves net. The Seawolves cut the lead to 3-1 with 5:03 left in the second, but then gave up the back breaking fourth goal with :18 left in the period. UAA added a SH goal with 1:01 left in the game.
Yesterday, I went 0-2 to push my record down to 149-125 for the season. I did pick a score correctly, just in the wrong direction... Again, we have only two games today.
Bemidji vs. Denver, 2:07
The Beavers will be riding high on an OT win against the Bulldogs yesterday, but will they be ready to take the Pioneers seriously? I think they will be. Bemidji had a sloppy first period yesterday, and the Dogs could've easily put them away. Sadly, I don't think Duluth took them as seriously as they should have. Bemidji is a hard-working, tough hockey team, and if you don't take them seriously, they'll lull you to sleep with tough defense and timely goals.
Denver, on the other hand, is the second place finisher in the WCHA. They aren't the best they've been, but they're a pretty good hockey team. George Gwozdecky is one of the best coaches in the league, and he'll have his team ready to take on Bemidji.
If the Beavers are looking to win this game, they need to score in the first two periods. After that, watch out. The Pioneers are a third period and on hockey team. they are -5 in goal differential in each of the first two periods and are +34 in the third period on.
Not that I've been right this week, but I'm going to go with Denver in this one. The Beavers less than 24 hours ago and will probably have some lead in their legs towards the end of the game. The Pioneers will be fresh and ready to go. I wouldn't expect a Gwozdecky coached team to take anyone lightly. Denver win 4-1.
Colorado College vs. North Dakota, 7:07
The Tigers will be feeling confident in their goaltending after the stellar job he did in thwarting the multiple high-quality scoring opportunities the Seawolves had yesterday, but I'm certain it won't be enough.
The Sioux will be ready to take the Tigers down. They have had an amazing season thus far, and are only getting stronger as it goes on. They had a winning percentage of over .700 in the first half and over an .800 in the second half. Oh, and they got Chay Genoway back from injury last weekend to boot.
I have to go with Sioux in this one. They are far and away the best team in this game, and league, and CC is going to start wearing down towards the end. Sioux win 5-3.
