Good story by Rico Cooney on Matt Allen.

Enjoyed talking to both his football and hoops coaches.

I did not know that Tre was the first football player at CDH to play varsity as a freshman since Carl McCollough, who rushed for 2000 yards at Wisconsin before being replaced by Ron Dayne. That's dang impressive.

Figure might as well put all commentary in one place.

This week off to an interesting start.

I think Ken Holland picking up Keith was typical Ken. Now he's even a tougher spot cap wise with 2 studs in their prime.

Second, what a shocker today to see both Parise and Suter bought out. Parise saw it coming but not the latter. Look at this dead cap hits
"in Year 2, the Wild will be charged $12.74 million for Parise and Suter to not play for them, then $14.74 million in Years 3 and 4." holy smokes

NHL expansion draft around the corner. Kracken did get dinged by MN in those buyouts as they now can protect their top 3 d man whereas before one was going to be likely exposed with Suter protected.

Here is my Kenneth Walker story.

I thought both these guys handled themselves well today. There's just something about Thorne, however, that leads me to believe that he's going to win the job. I wouldn't say I'm confident in that prediction. It's just a gut feeling. As I stated in the V-cast, I really do believe the position is much better with either than where it was a year ago, irregardless of whether MSU has improved personell around them, which I think is also likely.

We were able to watch only about 15 or 20 minutes.

It's hard to gain impressions that quickly with the naked eye.

I shot video and will go back over it for more impressions.

But I had takeaways on only two or three players.

* Jarrett Horst was indeed working at LT and A.J. Arcuri was at right tackle, like I forecasted in this morning's story on the front.

* I watched Quavaris Crouch move. No shocking news here, but he looks extremely strong and athletic and moves well.

* I watched Ma'a Gaoteote. No opinion yet, but he was working hard.

* The player who stuck out to me was WR No. 0, Keon Coleman. He's listed at 6-4, 210. He looks big, strong, imposing, rippling with horsepower.

I tried to get a look at the RBs, but came away with no opinion. They were doing drills vs no resistence.

We will return at 11 am for interviews with Mel Tucker and a few players.

Well from this fans point of view the end of season points parade did them no favors for the lottery. If they don’t finally get a break there the wings will be picking around 7 or worse most likely. That’s Rasmussen type territory. This draft doesn’t have much clarity so that may help but I’d rather they be picking the higher the better while their roster is still very bad.

I caught up with Dearborn Fordson's Fouad Zaban this afternoon for a commitment feature on Antonio Gates Jr.

I really enjoyed the conversation. Zaban made it clear to me that he believes Gates' best years are ahead of him and that he will thrive in an enviroment where there is a constant challenge for Gates.

Gates is at his best when he is challenged by a tough match-up and has a knack for rising to the occasion.

Coach says last season wasn't a lost season. Own it, learn from it and move forward.

"The days of coming in at an initial press conference, lowering expectations, and talking about a four, five, six-year plan, those days are over.”

Ricky White on the roster. Maliq Carr listed at tight end.

Here is my story on Tucker's podium portion at Big Ten Media Days.

Here is my commitment feature on Chase Carter.

I love his high school coache's comments on Iowa and his surprise that MSU landed Carter because a lot of MSU fans assume that MSU should beat Iowa for recruits more times than not. For a kid from Minnesota, it makes a lot of sense to go to Iowa over MSU from a geographical standpoint. Its a 9 plus hour drive to East Lansing from Minnesota and 4.5 hour drive to Iowa City. Iowa pulled out all the stops in this recruitment and MSU came out on top.

I don't think that this would have worked out for MSU a year ago. This is where being able to have on-campus recruiting is such a big deal. There is no way Carter takes a chance on MSU without getting the full treatment of an official visit with in-person recruiting and his parents there with him.

It remains to be seen whether Carter can be the next Shilique Calhoun or if he ends up being the next Demetrius Cooper. I lean more toward the former than the later, and I feel better about his commitment given the extent to which Kirk Ferentz and his staff pursued Carter. Those guys have a good eye for d-line talent. A lot of MSU Plan B and C guys have from in-state have gone there and done quite well. So it's nice to see win over Iowa for out of state talent.

Dantonio started building something really good when he started getting wins for recruits over solid programs like Iowa and Wisconsin. He lost his fair share as well, but it started building with the Jack Allen picking Michigan State over other solid programs.

They pretty much sucked this year, right?

As we all saw, the coverage of Michigan's team this year made multiple references to the Fab Five. But, as we also all know, most or all of the Fab Five's wins (including both Final Fours) are still officially vacated, right? How is this OK? I am also almost certain that in the coverage of (I think) Oregon State's first round game, they mentioned a previous Beaver run in the tournament, but prefaced by saying that it had been vacated. Again, WTF.

Also, I believe that the "official" story out of Ann Arbor is that Juwan Howard never actually took money. Does anyone have any insight / know the real story there? I find it hard to believe that if one member of the Fab Five was "in the bag" that the others were not. That just doesn't pass the sniff test.

I will say that Michigan fans on Twitter are SUPER sad, butt-hurt, and salty today. It is almost like they realized that they won the regular season based on a weak schedule and dodging three games (two of which were on the road), they got bombed by the best team in the conference (Illinois), lost in the BTT semis to a team that couldn't even beat a No. 15 seed, couldn't sweep the worst MSU team under Izzo, underachieved as a No. 1 seed, lost to a double-digit seed, and that this may wind up being Howards best team.

That's rough and you just hate to see it.

Hypothetical what if.... the NHL actually kept things like they normally do with the regular divisions.

Obviously the standings would look different since you'd be playing different teams - but let's assume for a second the points teams got aren't any different:

Atlantic:

1. Florida 79 pts
2. Toronto 77 pts
3. Tampa Bay 75 pts
4. Boston 73 pts (wildcard #1)
5. Montreal 59 pts
6. Ottawa 51 pts
7. Detroit 48 pts
8. Buffalo 37 pts

Metro:

1. Carolina 80 pts
2. Pittsburgh 77 pts (34 ROW)
3. Washington 77 pts (33 ROW)
4. Islanders 71 pts (wildcard #2)
5. Rangers 60 pts
6. Philadelphia 58 pts
7. Columbus 48 pts
8. New Jersey 45 pts

Central:

1. Colorado 82 pts
2. Minnesota 75 pts
3. Nashville 64 pts
4. Winnipeg 63 pts (30 ROW, wildcard #1)
5. St. Louis 63 pts (25 ROW, wildcard #2)
6. Dallas 60 pts
7. Chicago 55 pts

Pacific:

1. Vegas 82 pts
2. Edmonton 72 pts
3. Calgary 55 pts
4. Arizona 54 pts
5. Vancouver 50 pts
6. LA Kings 49 pts
7. San Jose 49 pts
8. Anaheim 43 pts


The first thing that stands out is - the Pacific stinks, plus Montreal wouldn't even be in the playoffs in this scenario (and Calgary would have made it).

From here on out it's a bunch of speculation but I feel like it ends with a Tampa Bay vs. Colorado/Vegas final - which would probably be a lot more interesting than the one we have.

I ran these match-ups through the simulator on whatifsports.com.... Here are the first round results

First Round - East

#1 Carolina v. WC2: NY Islanders

Game 1: NY Islanders 4 Carolina 1 (Islanders use a 4 goal 2nd period to open up the series on the road with a win)
Game 2: Carolina 3 NY Islanders 2 (Carolina Goal with 2:38 to play puts it away)
Game 3: NY Islanders 3 Carolina 1 (Islanders jump out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a home crowd advantage)
Game 4: NY Islanders 2 Carolina 1 (OT, Wahlstrom puts the Islanders up 3 games to 1 just 3:52 into overtime)
Game 5: NY Islanders 1 Carolina 0 (Offense continues to a problem as the Isles shutout Carolina to end the series)

New York wins series 4-1


#2 Pittsburgh vs. #3 Washington

Game 1: Pittsburgh 2 Washington 0 (I already don't believe this simulation since Pittsburgh shut someone out, 2 goals in the first 30 seconds of the 3rd gives the Pens the series lead)
Game 2: Pittsburgh 7 Washington 2 (Guentzel with a pair of goals gives the Pens a 2-0 series lead)
Game 3: Washington 3 Pittsburgh 2 (OT, Eller puts the Caps back in the series just 2:21 into the first OT period, Backstrom had the other 2).
Game 4: Pittsburgh 4 Washington 2 (A pair of 3rd period goals gives the Pens a stranglehold on the series)
Game 5: Pittsburgh 4 Washington 2 (Pens rally for the series clincher).

Pittsburgh wins series 4-1


#1 Florida vs. WC1: Boston

Game 1: Boston 4 Florida 3 (OT, another quick OT game as Florida continues to struggle for home playoff wins - Marchand scores 2:51 into OT)
Game 2: Florida 3 Boston 1 (Panthers even up the series behind 33 saves from Bobrovsky)
Game 3: Boston 4 Florida 3 (OT, Marchand again in OT - this time just 34 seconds in)
Game 4: Florida 3 Boston 0 (Panthers again rebound to even the series up. Bobrovsky with 31 saves).
Game 5: Florida 3 Boston 2 (2 OT, This game saw 4 penalties in the first 1:02 of the 2nd OT, Vatrano ended it 2:55 in - Rask had 48 saves)
Game 6: Boston 5 Florida 3 (Backs against the wall, Boston peppers 51 shots on goal - they need 2 3rd period markers to break a 3-3 tie)
Game 7: Florida 2 Boston 1 (Down 1-0 going into the 3rd, Ekblad & Barkov score 2:05 apart in the final 7 minutes to rally Florida to a series win)

Florida wins series 4-3


#2 Toronto v. #3 Tampa Bay

Game 1: Toronto 7 Tampa Bay 2 (The Leafs out-shoot Tampa 28-7 in the final period and tally 4 goals, Austin Matthews scores a hat trick)
Game 2: Tampa Bay 3 Toronto 1 (Was really hoping Toronto would blow a 2-0 series lead)
Game 3: Tampa Bay 3 Toronto 2 (OT, Darn, no 3-1 Leafs series lead. Point tallies a PP goal in OT about halfway through the period)
Game 4: Toronto 4 Tampa Bay 3 (Nylander tallies the winner with just under 8 minutes to go in regulation)
Game 5: Toronto 3 Tampa Bay 2 (Matthews carrying the Leafs! Another hat trick)
Game 6: Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 1 (No Northern heart break in this simulated world, the Leafs advance!)

Toronto wins series 4-2



First Round - West

#1 Colorado v. WC2 St. Louis

Game 1: Colorado 6 St. Louis 3 (Avs jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first period and never look back)
Game 2: Colorado 4 St. Louis 2 (Avs trying to make quick work of the series - this time a 2 goal second period is the difference)
Game 3: Colorado 5 St. Louis 1 (Much like real life, the Blues are offering little in the way of resistance, Avs out-shoot the Blues 52-24)
Game 4: Colorado 4 St. Louis 2 (Another dominating performance, shots were 34-21 Colorado)

Colorado wins series 4-0

#2 Minnesota v. #3 Nashville

Game 1: Nashville 4 Minnesota 2 (Preds use a 3 goal 2nd period to break open a scoreless game)
Game 2: Minnesota 4 Nashville 2 (Wild rally with 3 goal 3rd period to even the series)
Game 3: Minnesota 4 Nashville 2 (4-2 is a popular score, guessing this might go 6?)
Game 4: Nashville 3 Minnesota 2 (Arvidsson's goal proved to be the game winner, shots were 41-32 Minnesota)
Game 5: Nashville 6 Minnesota 4 (A wild game, Minnesota jumped out to a 3-1 lead, Nashville rallied to go up 5-3, but the empty netter put the game away at 6-4)
Game 6: Minnesota 2 Nashville 1 (The Wild jump out to a 2-1 lead after 1 and hold on)
Game 7: Minnesota 4 Nashville 1 (A 4 goal opening period and a 51-31 shot edge proves to the difference)

Minnesota wins series 4-3

#1 Vegas vs. WC1 Winnipeg

Game 1: Vegas 3 Winnipeg 1 (Hellebuyck's 43 saves aren't enough)
Game 2: Vegas 3 Winnipeg 1 (Fluery has now stopped 53 of 55 shots faced in the series)
Game 3: Vegas 4 Winnipeg 3 (OT, Martinez puts the Golden Knights up 3-0 in the series with a late first OT goal, Winnipeg had tied the game with 27 seconds to go - Hellebuyck made 56 saves)
Game 4: Vegas 7 Winnipeg 0 (That OT game proved to be the back breaker - Vegas dominates game 4 - 55-19 were the shots, D-man Theodore had 2 goals and an assist, Marchessault had a goal and 3 assists)

Vegas wins series 4-0

#2 Edmonton v. #3 Calgary

Game 1: Edmonton 4 Calgary 1 (Battle of Alberta begins - Draisaitl and McDavid both tally a goal)
Game 2: Calgary 4 Edmonton 1 (Flames rebound - PP went 2 for 4)
Game 3: Calgary 3 Edmonton 0 (Flames dominate the game - shots were 53-20)
Game 4: Edmonton 2 Calgary 1 (Oilers rebound - though McDavid & Draisaitl remain quiet after the first game)
Game 5: Calgary 3 Edmonton 2 (A 3rd period goal by Gaudreau has the Flames on the brink of the upset)
Game 6: Edmonton 7 Calgary 2 (McDavid woke up - 2 goals, 2 assists)
Game 7: Edmonton 8 Calgary 3 (Draisaitl came through with 2 goals, but Nugent-Hopkins had a night - 3 goals, 1 assist, McDavid tallied a goal as well - Edmonton avoids the upset.

Edmonton wins series 4-3

This sets us up with the second round of:

Pittsburgh vs. NY Islanders
Florida vs. Toronto
Colorado vs. Minnesota
Vegas vs. Edmonton

Coming later....

Is anyone else excited for this matchup?? I think the clock finally strikes 12 on Montreal’s Cinderella run. Tampa is deep, experienced and has a goal tender as capable as Price. I think Tampa repeats but looking forward to this matchup.

Brief takes