FROZEN 4

Just wait until the NCAA is opened to CHL kids as the NIL laws progress

No doubt.

Championship game is now on ESPN2. ESPN will instead have a UFC fight.

What a momentum shift this period. Kato had it locked down and now the Pios have a lead.

First two periods were all Minn State. They didn’t capitalize on how sloppy Denver was playing. DU went 20+ minutes without Shot on goal. 3rd period has been all Denver.

NCHC

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Greenhorn wrote:

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Unreal. Mankato hadn’t surrendered a lead after 2 periods all season. They really did implode. Of course, Denver is the best offensive team in the country too, but still. Didn’t see that coming in the third.

Picked up a quick 200 bucks for my winning bracket though. Consolation prize.

Great game. Denver played outstanding and kato had quite a few missed opportunities. Didn’t seem like the same team that’s been sweeping college hockey all season.

404 ERROR wrote:

Great game. Denver played outstanding and kato had quite a few missed opportunities. Didn’t seem like the same team that’s been sweeping the CCHA all season.

Fixed it for ya.
Good tournament to watch overall..

How could the officials miss the Denver’s too many men on the ice when they had 7 on the ice and the puck actually hit one of the guys trying to get off the ice. This was when the Mavs were still up 1-0!!

Ripjiggen wrote:

Fixed it for ya.
Good tournament to watch overall..

+ECAC, NCHC and Hockey East. But who’s counting.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Fixed it for ya.

They actually did quite well in non-conference play though too. They went 6-2 against St Cloud, Duluth, Michigan, Providence, and Massachusetts.

There’s nothing they can do about their CCHA conference schedule. Its no secret they want out of that, and want into the NCHC. Heck, they even applied a few years ago and were rejected. The CCHA from top to bottom is generally poor, so breezing through that isn’t anything new. They’ve done that for years. They do have some control over their non-conference opponents though, and they generally schedule quality opponents simply because of their geographic proximity to teams around here.

I’m sure lots of programs would love to be in the NCHC. They’ve won 5 of the last 6 national championships. Every year the ESPN hockey guru’s promote the heck outta the Big10 teams…

Kevin wrote:

I’m sure lots of programs would love to be in the NCHC. They’ve won 5 of the last 6 national championships. Every year the ESPN hockey guru’s promote the heck outta the Big10 teams…

Mankato makes a lot of sense from a geographical stand point though. You could make a case for Bemidji State too, but the Beavers aren’t nearly as competitive as Mankato in recent years.

Take a look at a program like Miami OH. When they used to play in the old CCHA before re-alignment, they were consistently very good and nationally ranked. Since joining the NCHC, they have had 1 top half finish in 8 seasons. Certainly you could make the case that they have gotten worse as a program, but their regular competition has been significantly better too. Colorado College has also fallen off a cliff since re-alignment.

I would prefer to just replace Western Michigan and Miami OH with Mankato and Bemidji State in the NCHC but there’s no way WM or Miami would go for that. And the Beavers would likely get their butts whipped a lot more often too lol.

Dryden McKay (winner of the Hobey Baker) has been suspended for performance enhancing drugs from a test conducted on, get this, January 23. He played almost have the season after that test. Hmm. I have to wonder how this affects teams looking to sign him. Not sure if that drug is banned from the NHL however.
Sounds like it was an innocent mistake, but man these athletes have to be more careful.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article/hobey-baker-winner-dryden-mckay-discusses-suspension-for-banned-substance/

It was a test from the Olympics not the NCAA.

Ripjiggen wrote:

It was a test from the Olympics not the NCAA.

Correct, but he would have been banned from the NCAA too.

Had he not gotten his provisional suspension lifted.

“NCAA rules state “athletes under a drug-testing suspension from a national or international sports governing body” under WADA codes can’t play intercollegiate sports “for the duration of the suspension.” However, he or she “may resume participation if/when a suspension is lifted/completed.”

The day before, March 23, USADA notified him of a six-month ban. The 20-day response period took him to April 12. The Frozen Four championship game was April 9. McKay was clear, if Minnesota State could get that far.

Not everyone is going to be happy with that outcome. There will be complaints. But Greene bristles at any thought of favouritism or special dispensation.

“(USADA) is not going to rig anything for anyone,” he said. “There is going to be an inevitable, ‘He never should have been allowed to play,’ or whatever. Legally, he was allowed to do everything.”

There is precedent for that stance across different sports and leagues. Defenceman Sean Hill was suspended during the 2007 playoffs for violating the NHL’s performance-enhancing protocol. It did not become public until he lost an appeal, with the NHL indicating at the time that Hill deserved his right to play through the process — in case his penalty was nullified. Same with Nate Schmidt in 2018.

There are examples in track — sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson among them — where athletes were allowed to compete while these kinds of issues were sorted out.”

This may be a dumb question, but would PEDs enhance a goaltender’s skill? If so, how?

They could. Stronger faster just like every other athlete.

In this case I do not believe it was the type of steroid you are thinking of.

Doping stuff is really confusing. Is he actually suspended from anything? The article reads like if the suspension ruling came earlier his season would have been over.

Reading the articles, he’s obviously not cheating. And the tiny amount he had in his blood wasn’t enough to actually do anything. Only thing he really did wrong was take something that wasn’t certified and turned out to be contaminated.

Pretty sure it is why he hasn’t signed a minor league deal with an NHL team yet. Sounds like he is suspended still from actually playing in the AHL till next season. Reading between the lines I am guessing NHL teams were waiting on the final ruling.

McKay can resume practising with a team on Aug. 25 and play games on Oct. 11. According to several sources, there will still be interest. He’ll have to start at the AHL level and work his way up, and there’s no shame in that.

To me, that game was clear evidence of why a bigger goalie is required. The shots that McKay was getting beat by were being stopped by the much larger Denver goalie. Those high shots on McKay were over his shoulders while for the Denver goalie, he took up the whole net and those shots had no chance. The only way to beat him was to make sure a bang/bang pass that he didn’t have time to react to.

I doubt he gets much interest from NHL.

Being under 6 ft is very tough for a a goalie to make it to the show, but it does happen.
Sarros and Tuka Rask come to mind. I am sure there are others, but I agree it will/would be tough.

With Augustana (Sioux Falls) firing up a D1 men’s hockey program for 2023, there’s been more chatter about conference moves and additions. I think Augie would be a great fit in the CCHA.

Greenhorn wrote:

This may be a dumb question, but would PEDs enhance a goaltender’s skill? If so, how?

Faster recovery time?

Ripjiggen wrote:

Being under 6 ft is very tough for a a goalie to make it to the show, but it does happen.
Sarros and Tuka Rask come to mind. I am sure there are others, but I agree it will/would be tough.

Yeah goalies under 6 feet are rare these days. No more Darren Pangs of the world in the NHL. They can have serviceable AHL careers, but life in the NHL doesnt seem like a lengthy endeavor.

“The amount was trillionths of a gram, which McKay said provided no direct performance benefit.”

Are you serious, if he is telling the truth, and it was found out to have come from a contaminated source I would be furious. The exponentially low amount how do they even measure 0.000000000001.

Kiddo goes to DU, she said the celebrations were a good time out there.