Not at all surprised. These guys were so full of themselves midway through the second period that they bascially sat back, seemingly thinking "we've got this in the bag," and stopped playing almost altogether. Coach Lucia and his squad got exactly what they deserved tonight: an epic third period butt-whipping. Great way to head into the NCAAs guys.
That was pathetic. That was lazy. That was humiliating. I never never seen a team send such a clear statement that they had no interest in winning a hockey game. For a team to dominate an opponent through half the game and then give up six unanswered is just unacceptable. These guys played with no pride, no character, and no effort. They got exactly what they deserved and should be thankful that hockey uses the PWR and not a selection committee to pick the tournament field.
Wow. What in the name of all that is good and holy did Hakstol tell his guys during that timeout? They dominated the Gophers from that point on and the Pioneers were never in it.
I've seen some effectively used timeouts before in hockey. That was a superior example of an effective hockey timeout. Big question: Why did Lucia do nothing in response? The entire team just froze for an entire period of hockey in an elimination game!!!
I'm not calling for anyone's head here, but Lucia had better use this to educate this young team on poise and focus.
Can we get someone to change the title of this thread to, "Good first 2 periods, horse-poop 3rd"??
Certainly the Gophs thought that game was in the bag. I was watching the last period and a half on FSNorth.com and we were up 3-1 when my wife came home and needed help carrying some groceries in. by the time I got back to the computer we were losing. I'm hoping that was just a Friday night slump and that they got their bad hockey all done and over with. The real deal is this weekend.