The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team is closing in on their third National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season title. This past weekend, against St. Cloud, UND took one of a possible six points (3-3 T, and 1-2 L).
Friday’s game was officially a tie. The Huskies took the extra point in the shootout. It’s a shame that a conference hockey game has to be decided by a sudden-death shootout.
Adopt the NHL’s 3-on-3 OT
In a perfect college hockey world, I’d like to see college hockey adopt the NHL’s regular-season rules for overtime. Play five-minute 3-on-3 overtime. I know some of the leagues like having games that end in a tie. There’s a fix to this. Have the NCAA adjust the Pairwise Rankings, so teams aren’t punished as severely for an overtime loss.
It would be up to the various conferences to decide how they award their points. I would suggest one point for an overtime loss and three points for the 3-on-3 overtime win.
Saturday’s loss aside. Here’s what we know, according to Jim Dahl of College Hockey Ranked, the Fighting Hawks will be in the NCAA playoffs. What we don’t know, their final seedings. The Hawks don’t want to get lazy and back into the playoffs. They want to enter the playoffs on a high note.
Look at this past weekend as an attention-getter. I don’t blame Huskies fans who are excited about taking 5-of-6 conference points. Let’s face reality. One team is probably staying home for the NCAA playoffs, the other is almost a lock for a number one seed.
Looking at the recent history between the two teams in St. Cloud, this past weekend’s results aren’t shocking. It’s par for the course.
Haven’t they usually split there?
— Biddy 📐 🐶 (@Biddco) February 23, 2020
UMD super fan David Cummings aka @biddco posed the question above. Going back to the first season of NCHC play, in 12 games, UND has a 5-5-2 record against the Huskies in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Breaking it down further, UND is 0-2-2 the last four games against SCSU at the National Hockey Center.
| 28 Fri | W | 5 | – 2 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
| 1 Sat | L | 1 | – 3 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
| 21 Fri | L | 1 | – 3 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics | |||
| 22 Sat | W | 3 | – 2 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
| 20 Fri | W | 4 | – 3 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics | |||
| 21 Sat | L | 1 | – 6 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
| 18 Fri | W | 4 | – 0 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics | |||
| 19 Sat | W | 3 | – 0 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
| 08 Fri | T | 2 | – 2 | ot | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics | ||
| 09 Sat | L | 1 | – 3 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
| 21 Fri | T | 3 | – 3 | ot | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics | |||
| 22 Sat | L | 1 | – 2 | at St. Cloud State | Box | Metrics |
NCHC Dominates the Strenght of Schedule
Looking at the KRACH rankings, five of the top 10 toughest schedules reside in the NCHC. UND has the third toughest schedule in college hockey.
I agree with Dave Berger, this is a bad take.
This is just an awful take.
— Dave Berger (@DBergerHockey) February 24, 2020
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