So he crouched down and grabbed that puck and put it in his glove. For once, he would skate off with it.
He made toward the benches, toward his teammates, toward his friends. They said little.
As they patted him on the back, he skated on until he arrived not as his bench, but at the bench next to it, where he found a Cornell assistant coach.
For the last time, Hunwick took the puck out of his glove, and he handed it to the coach whose team had just defeated him. It was their goal, not his, and he wanted them to have it.I always find that I'm more disappointed because the players didn't get a chance to win than I am for my own interests or my own school. They're the ones that make the program so special. This year was no exception. With the heartbreak of last season, I really wanted Hunwick, Luke Glendening, David Wohlberg, and Greg Pateryn to get their chance to shine. They're the seniors. They're the ones that
make it all possible. I was more disappointed for them than I was for myself.
They had great careers and I wish them the best in their future endeavors.
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The Frozen Four competitors are BC, Minnesota, Ferris State, and Union. The bracket is set up nicely for a David and Goliath final as traditional powers BC and Minnesota face off in one semi and Ferris State and Union in the other. I've got to pull for the winner of Ferris and Union because both of those schools have never won a title. It would be an incredible story. BC would be tough because I'd never hear the end of it from BC fans, but they do have the best program in the country right now. Minnesota would also be tough as the BTHC is on the other side of the horizon.It should provide for some awesome hockey.
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The Elite Eight wrapped up last night, and we have our Final Four competitors. Sunday, Kentucky demolished Baylor with alley oops and just generally being the most talented team in the country, and Kansas outlasted UNC to book the last spot in New Orleans. They'll be joined by Ohio State and Louisville who booked their places on Saturday.All I can say is I'm scared for New Orleans.
While I don't think Buckeye basketball fans are nearly as bad as Buckeye football fans, I'm not sold on them not being bad. Kansas fans are Kansas fans and we should expect that a lot of them will travel to NOLA. Oh, and they're going to be joined by the entire state of Kentucky. Yeah, that Kentucky. It's the perfect recipe for disaster.
Regardless of my concerns for the city, it should be a great Final Four with four big time basketball programs. Despite John Calipari's history of failure in the Final Four, his team will be the favorites in New Orleans. The talent on that team is undeniable, but Calipari will remain one of the big stories:
Calipari almost has to return to Lexington with a national championship. If he doesn't, fairly or unfairly, the whispers will become shouts: His one-and-dones can't get it done … he needs to recruit players who aren't infatuated with the NBA … he can't win the big one.The way Calipari runs his program is controversial from an ethical stand point so far as how we view amateur athletics. Many of his players are like mercenaries, using Kentucky as a stage to feature for the NBA draft and nothing more. There's no passion for Kentucky. It's about the future, not the present. There will be basketball tomorrow if they don't win. There will be money to play basketball to boot.
If it isn't about Calipari, it will be about Calipari versus Pitino:
John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats and Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals don’t meet until Saturday in the Final Four, but the signs are evident that this isn’t just the latest flare-up of their long-simmering rivalry, or even just an historic, high-stakes meeting between two programs bitterly opposed to each other.
That, alone, will make this one of the most anticipated, heated and intense college basketball games ever played.There is going to be a lot of hype going into that game. The game itself will either be really interesting or a bore. Kentucky is the best team in the country. Louisville came out of nowhere to win the Big East Tournament and to make this run. I've always said that Pitino is one of the best coaches in the tournament. He's proven it this year. He could prove his worth further with a win over Big Blue.
The other game is a rematch between Ohio State and Kansas from earlier this year. The big story will be the fact that Jared Sullinger is healthy as he was missing from the first game which the Jayhawks took in Lawrence back in December. Bill Self knows it will be a big challenge:
"We caught a break the first time when Jared didn't play, and we were kind of finding ourselves," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We knew they were a team that could make a run and win a national championship. They have so many pieces that are so good. It starts with Jared."Sullinger, for his part, knows that the burden of being the difference will be on him:
"At the end of the day [Matta] told me this team goes as I go and just play my game," Sullinger said on Feb. 28, the day before he scored the game-winning basket in the final seconds at Northwestern. "As long as I play and show emotion and play with energy, this team should be where we were when we were beating teams by 15-plus points.
"I know I've probably been dogged by a lot of people who are saying I'm not as good as I used to be. But at the end of the day, it's not about what they think, it's about how we can win basketball games."He certainly has the talent to do it as do his teammates. I'm actually really interested in that game. It should be one of the best of the year. I have Kentucky and Kansas in my Championship game, so that's who I think will see the finals, but that's not to say we won't see two entertaining games.
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ON A META-NOTE: I'll be trying to have a more regular posting schedule, shooting for a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule with possible specialty posts in between.
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