07/08 Season In Review: Whiner of the Year!!

Here it is. The season is over, all the individual awards and national title have been handed out. Except one...the most prestigious of them all, the one that every fanbase strives to achieve. Of course I am talking about the WHINER OF THE YEAR!

But this award is just too big for one man to decide on and give out. How could I be expected to remember all the incidents from the past year, and then pick the whiniest from the bunch? It's too large of a responsibility for a single person. Plus, as has been mentioned on here in the past, the blog was started up too late to capture many of the best, whiniest moments from this past season. So, I have decided to open this award up to all the readers of this fine blog. That's right. YOU pick the events that have resulted in the biggest whine-fests, and once we have them all listed, YOU get to vote on the winner of the WOTY!

So go ahead and post your favorite WOTY-worthy event from this past season...either in the comments thread or send me an email, and once we get them all tabulated I will put it to a vote to decide the fanbase that most deserves the WOTY. It can be any team, not just from the WCHA, and there can be multiple incidents nominated from the same team if needed.

Let's get this party started!

Review: Frozen Four Posters Game

For the 2nd straight season, the WCHA failed to win the national title. And worse yet, those damn easterners took home the grand prize, with the hated BC Eagles winning it all. Hopefully the WCHA can bring the title back next season. The best game of the weekend: The USCHO Poster's Game at Magness Arena. I was in the stands watching the festivities and enjoyed it immensely.
Best Fight: SloeGin vs. Arafel
Cutest Poster: Tie between MeanEgirl and Quizmire (although Quiz won points for doing the shootout in just her sports bra)
Best Sponsor: LetsGoDU and Puck Swami
Poster with the Best Tan: The Darkness
Best Shootout Move: Lord Sidious (too bad that he didn't get it in the net)
Best Shootout Snipe: pgb-ohio
Best Shooter: Arafel
Best Skater: brianvf
Best Assist Man: MinnesotaNorthStar
Best Hockey Pants: Tie between Mavboni Pilot and MinnesotaNorthStar
Best Post-Goal Celebration: SloeGin
Best Playoff Beard: Bakunin
Biggest Goon/Hack: Arafel (for her two-handed chop on shrader)
Biggest Whiner: shrader (after said hack)
Best/Worst Ref: Eric
Best PDA: SloeGin and Quizmire
Best Jersey: con1977 and his game-worn UW jersey
Most Time Spent Sprawled On Ice/Best Newbie: Mowers10
Hottest Photographer: UNHhockey29
Hairiest Photographer: thecomicbookguy
Best Play-by-Play: GreatLakerMohawk

Any that I missed? I look forward to watching this again next year in DC...it's too bad that I just found out about it this year.

Look for the Whiner of the Year to come out in a few days...

Who to Root For?

So the WCHA got a record-breaking 6 teams into the NCAA's, yet only one made it to "the show". To be honest, the most that I was expecting was two, so this result isn't too surprising.

Midwest: Everyone knew that at least one WCHA team would make it, and it would come from this regional. No one expected Princeton to get past one, let alone two, WCHA schools. UW was a surprise with their blowout of DU, and the regional final was a great game. UND advances, UW and DU have their seasons cut short.

East: Did anyone honestly think that SCSU could break the curse/streak? Michigan pretty much got a free pass to the F4, which is to be expected when you are the #1 overall seed. SCSU lost in the first round. Again.

Northeast: UMN had a tough test if they wanted to get to Denver. BC proved that they are a good team, and while Miami certainly wasn't as good as their record indicated (or as good as people in the CCHA thought they were), they were still a great overall team that could have advanced. Not a dynasty, that's for sure. UMN exits in the first round as well.

West: Here is where I was expecting the other WCHA school to come from. CC was the strongest WCHA team all season, and then they pretty much laid down for the last 3 games against UMN, UND, and MSU. Still, they were in what I considered the toughest regional with UNH and the defending champs. But they had home ice (where their record was amazing), so I figured they would get through. I was wrong. But I'm guessing that everyone picked this regional wrong...who would have guessed that freakin Notre Dame would make it to Denver?? CC gone in the first too.

So there we are...start with 6, and now down to just one. Now the real question. As WCHA fans, do you stick with WCHA loyalty and cheer on the Sioux, or do you cheer for another team? Here's my thinking: I could never root for Boston College (darn east-coasters) or Michigan (9 titles...but only 2 since 1965!). So I am hoping for a UND/ND final, and then I'll figure out which team to root for at that time.

Thoughts?
See you all in Denver.

*Above picture shamelessly stolen from CHN.

The DU Timeline for the 2007-2008 Season

Since LetsGoDU is so fond of "timelines", here is one for them:

Oct 12th-Jan 10th: DU is on a magical run, going 17-4 to start the season, battling with rival CC for the MacNaughton, and well on their way to a #1 seed for the NCAA's.

Jan 11th: The infamous VideoGate with UW. The tying goal as time expired is disallowed. This is the second incident of the season in which a blown call has gone in favor of DU. UW fans complain; DU fans rejoice and make fun of the Badger fans. The hockey gods are angered over this. They decide to do something about it.

Jan 12th: UW blows out DU, 7-2. It has begun.

Jan 18th: Air Force beats DU for the first time in 28 years.

Jan 20th: It is announced that freshman dman John Ryder will miss the rest of the season with an injury.

Jan 26th-28th: DU loses 2 recruiting battles in a matter of 3 days, as MacWilliam commits to UND and Wiercioch commits to UW.

Jan 31st: It is announced that Brock Trotter would miss the MSUM series for undisclosed reasons.

Feb 1st-2nd: MSUM sweeps DU.

Feb 2nd: Tyler Ruegsegger is injured during the Sat night MSUM game.

Feb 7th: After a full week of speculation by DU fans, Trotter bolts for the pros with no explanation from DU. Could this be a Bad-Boyz cover-up?

Feb 8th-9th: Despite Trotter and Ruegsegger out of the lineup, DU still manages to get 3 points against Minnesota (not that tough this year). Have they turned it around?

Feb 15th: That's a negative. After going up 4-1 against UND, DU gives the game away, losing 5-4.

Feb 16th: UND completes the sweep, and manages to cleverly have Testwuide and Vossberg get suspended for a game due to their fighting fun.

Mar 7th: Ruegsegger finally returns to the lineup.

Mar 7th-8th: DU gets swept by CC, essentially handing the MacNaughton Cup to their biggest rival.

Mar 13th-14th: DU sweeps UMD in the first round playoffs, securing their spot in the F5.

Mar 21st-22nd: DU beats UND and then UMN (which had huge crowd support) in the F5 to win the Broadmoor trophy once again. The DU fans rejoice, as this surely means that the team has turned things around just in time for the NCAA's.

Mar 23rd: It is announced that DU has to face UW in the Madison regional with a shot at playing in the F4 in DU's own backyard. How sweet that would be for DU fans!

Mar 29th: DU gets pummeled by UW, 6-2, ending their season and ruining their chance at playing in the F4 in their hometown. It is a tough pill to swallow, especially being that UW was the only sub-.500 team in the tourney. In the end, the hockey gods prove that they have a sense of humor, as the team that started it all way back on Jan 11th now fittingly ends the Pioneers' season.