CC vs UMD: The battle begins

Note: Subjective blog.


Colorado College has spent this past season wondering what has happened. After last years devastating loss to Michigan in the NCAA tournament, many players were optimistic about this years team. Joe Howe even said "2012 national championship: The journey has already begun" the day after the loss.

Things have not gone the Tigers way this season for a variety of reasons. No one outside of the tigers can really say why this is happened. Sometimes it just does. Look at Alex Kangas for Minnesota. Probably one of the better college goalies of his time. During his tenure the Gophers only made the tournament once, during his freshman year.

So it's usually not the level of talent that a team has, but their overall focus that drives the national championship bid.

Colorado College has a very large test this weekend: Minnesota-Duluth. Last season, CC played a very good series against the bulldogs in Colorado Springs. That was well before anyone knew that the bulldogs had N.C. aspirations.

This season, the bulldogs have thrived on their offense and defense. I still don't understand how a team with average goaltending can be as high as they are.

Why will this series mean so much to the tigers?
If CC can sweep, they stand a very good chance of moving into the top 16. As the saying goes "the higher you are, the farther you fall". In this instance, that saying speaks volumes. The tigers need something big out of their offense. In my biased opinion, Thorny is far better than Reiter. That should be a story by itself going into this weekend. The bulldogs have not dealt with quality goaltending in weeks. This will honestly be a test for them.

I am also mystified by what the tigers have done on defense this year. Many players who I thought should have been on the ice, have been benched. I don't yet know the lines for this weekend, but I think Coach Owens has quite a bit of adjusting to do. Our defense is improving but is not fully capable of handling this offense without some help. If the defense can do their part, this game can stay close. I don't expect the tiger defense to match up well against the bulldog offense. But I do expect the 5 skaters and 1 goalie for the tigers to make the normal opportunities for the bulldogs become luxury.

CC's offense scares me a bit in this series. During the bemidi series, the tigers didn't produce much. That speaks volumes for how much of a leader Nick Dineen is. During the second game against Omaha, CC brought the power during the second period. It's the first period that is troublesome. If CC only manages 3 shots during the first period of the game, thorny is going to be a very tired student athlete at the end of this game. Forget about studying friday night, he can make his plans to be sleeping.

I predicted in an earlier blog that CC has a chance for 1 win and will likely face a loss. I still stick with the series split. CC has not been known for making adjustments well from game 1 to game 2. Most of the time that CC wins, they do it on a friday. The other team makes great adjustments and comes back to win on Saturday. I believe that the focus of this weekend will have to be on Friday night first. Make the adjustment from period to period. Make this game difficult.
If CC can do that, I think they can win Friday nights contest.

Saturday will be a different story. What won you the game on Friday, could turn to be your weakness on Saturday. Once Duluth figures out what CC did the first night, they will correct themselves as every other team has and put a great showing on Saturday night. The question then becomes: What does CC have to adjust for during their Saturday night game.

My answer is this: I do not believe that CC's offense is going to get any better than it already is. The injury bug has hit this team hard. Keeping the offense the same and possible moving the wings around could help. They key will be to adjust the defense. Duluth will likely come with a very fast attack during the saturday game. Putting in players who can handle that will be key.

As before, My prediction:
Friday win, Saturday loss.

Friday: 4-3 win or a 1 goal game.

Saturday: 6-3 loss.