Game 26: UMD vs St. Cloud State (North Star College Cup Championship)

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here at the X, we have a fifth meeting this season between UMD and St. Cloud State.

Might there be a good reason here as to why the North Star College Cup never got off the ground level?

I already wrote about this, but give it some thought. What is the incentive for a UMD or St. Cloud State fan to drive any notable length of time to watch this game? The teams already played twice in St. Cloud and twice in Duluth.

And, again, you can give me the Beanpot argument, but that doesn't work. The Beanpot has been around long enough to build a tradition. It wasn't drawing sellout crowds at the NHL arena in Boston when it first started.

Also, parking and traffic around the arena is a mess. Winter Carnival is underway in St. Paul, which means a long parade to close roads and more events into the evening. There's a gigantic cheerleading competition at RiverCentre, and a weekend cat show there also added to the traffic mess.

Anyway, it sucks this tournament is done after this year. Maybe someone tries something different in the future. We'll see.

As for this game, familiar opponents, no question. Just played two weeks ago in Duluth, and it was a good series. Expect UMD to try to attack the SCSU net, which is a lot easier said than done given the ability of the Huskies' defensemen.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Iafallo - Toninato - Johnson
Osterberg - Thomas - Anderson
Tufte - Peterson - Kuhlman
Miller - Spurrell - Exell

Soucy - Raskob
Pionk - Kotyk
Wolff - Molenaar

Miska - Deery - Shepard

SCSU
Eyssimont - Winiecki - Newell
Jackson - Peterson - Papa
Poehling (Jack) - Poehling (Ryan) - Poehling (Nick)
Tedesco - Benson - Wahlin

Ahcan - Borgen
Schuldt - Cholowski
Widman - Lizotte

Smith - Driscoll - Zevnik