Apologies

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past two weeks. I've been planning a move to Badger Country, so between apartment hunting in Madison and packing I've been pretty busy.

I was planning on having a take on the NHL and NBA trade deadlines up on Friday, but an ill-timed truck-into-a-utility-pole knocked out the power in my office. So that'll be up tomorrow--only slightly updated to add in some comments about the mint that Atlanta gave up for Keith Tkachuk.

I don't have a ton of comments on Michigan hockey. Disappointing to split the last two weeks, especially against middle-of-the-pack CCHA teams, but we should be solidly in the tournament barring a complete disaster and that's really all that matters. I wasn't happy we lost last night, but it didn't disappoint me a bit that we dropped out of that 8-9 spot. It should be pretty clear by now that I want no part of Minnesota. They're beatable (in their last 6 series, they've swept two, been swept two, and split two), but not by us. Let someone else deal with them and if we've gotta play them later, so be it.

It was especially disappointing to see the defensive breakdowns rear their ugly head last night, giving up what was said to be two pretty awful goals in a 20 second span late in the second period last night. Sauer's been playing pretty well for awhile now, and though several posters disagreed that he could be faulted for the loss last night, the first goal and the sixth goal need to be stopped. He's entitled to a stinker with as well as he's played, but it needs to be a one-time thing.

Allow me to state the obvious for the next couple of paragraphs:

Overall, we are what we are--as much as I hate that expression. We're a team that has a stellar top line, a very productive second line, and not much else up front. We've got a lot of talent back on the blueline that doesn't always play well together. We've got a goalie who has had his ups and downs--but thankfully in the second half of the year it's been more ups--but still scares the hell out of me. And we've got special teams that probably aren't as good as they should be given the talent.

This year in college hockey has been a weird one, in that I don't think we head into the postseason with a clear-cut favorite. It looked like it was going to be Minnesota, but they've been strangely human the past few weeks. It's a wide open field and the Wolverines could just as easily bomb out in the first round as they could make the Frozen Four. The matchups will tell me a lot about this team's chances. If we have to beat two WCHA teams to make it, no shot. If we luck into a draw that includes Clarkson and/or Notre Dame, then we just might have a chance.