We have maybe a 5% chance of making the NCAA without winning the B1G tourney
I honestly believed if this team put it together enough to make the NCAAs, they might actually win it, based on the nature of the tournament coupled with the whole program's wealth of post-season experience. I expected a balls to the wall sense of urgency tonight and saw that for a minute here or there, but I also saw a lot of play that I will generously say did not rise to that level of compete. My guess right now is they fall 3 or 4 spots short.
much better against OSU than in our earlier meeting in South Bend
and while it is sometimes hard to discern who got the better of who over the whole game from a radio call, it certainly seemed like the Irish played well enough and generated chances, only to fall a little short. But we need to know that playing well enough will BE enough against good teams. If we bounce back with a good effort tonight and a win, I'll have a measure of confidence the team IS good enough to make another run. OSU is backing up their somewhat unexpected run to a FF with a season that proves at the very least they have a collection talented enough to win it all. Beating them late in the season on their ice shows that we do too.
And by the way if another team, say OSU, wins their first NCAA hockey title before we do, I am gonna puke.