The Sicatoka

George Pelawa would have been a freshman during the 1986-87 season.

Random thoughts: To me the best UND lines were the ones that had all three factors: Playmaker Board grinder Scorer. Think about Ulmer, Goren, Bayda: Jason Ulmer was the playmaker. Ryan Bayda owned the boards. Lee Goren scored. Bayda got a lot of goals that year but they were mainly from three feet and were rebounds of Goren shots. How about Panzer, Lundbohm, Bayda: Panzer set it up. Bayda ran the boards. Whitey Lundbohm scored. Why not go back to The Circus: Hrkac set it all up. Bob Joyce scored, but was strong enough to run the boards also. Steve Johnson was great on the boards, however, later in his career became a playmaker. The third guy on that line (Johnson, Parks, Bobyck) only had to not make mistakes. Break this down and what do you need? True playmaking centers, true goal scorers (with a preference to the stand in front and take the abuse variety), and a guy to dig the puck out and get it to the creative guy. Now, think about each player and what they do. Rate each guy (on a 1 low, 5 hi scale) in those three areas: creativity, board ability, scoring ability. You need some of each on each line. And then throw in the other factor: chemistry (good luck at that). It's hard going on second-hand knowledge of Genoway and Parise and not knowing how Fylling's game changed at Sioux Falls. I'm pondering it now. It ain't easy.

Number 12: Terry Casey. He played three seasons (63-64, 64-65, 65-66) and is tied with Marc Chorney and Curtis Murphy (for 46th) in all time UND scoring with 88 games, 57 goals, 61 assists, for 118 points. He was an All-American in the 1965-66 season with a 26/28/54 line in 30 games. He died in a car crash and no one has worn number 12 for the Fighting Sioux hockey team since.

Fighting Sioux from Fargo: Pat O'Leary, 2001 runner-up team, Fargo North Gary Kaiser, 1987 National Champion team, Fargo North Brian Williams, 1982-1986, Fargo North

Here's one for you all. Apparently Fargo Shanley is dropping out of their hockey co-op with West Fargo. They plan to have hockey all by themselves from now on. WF will be hurt because I figured them to go to state in 2003. Yes, hockey in WF has come that far. I'm not so sure without the Shanley kids now though. Shanley is serious too. They have hired former Fighting Sioux Rick and Frank Burggraf to coach the team.

Don't be too harsh on the league. They had the current 10 teams plus the past members to pick just 50 guys from. Of course there are some missed. I could ask each of you to create your Sioux 20 man all-time roster and I could find fault and missed players on each. It's just the way it is.

Predictions? Bayda will not be the only person to leave the league (I said league) early this summer. That's enough for now.

Upon further review: "Newly opened in January 2000, The MayPort Community Center is an excellent indoor ice arena and activities center. Already, it has a busy schedule full of youth hockey, family and open skating, and adult hockey." http://www.mayvilleportland.com/templat....reation

To give you an idea of what I know: "They have ice in Mayville !?!?! "

EDC: Schneider (GFRR), Fuher (GFC) WDA: Massen (BHS), Fylling (Minot), Sedevie (BHS) This fall there will be more guys from the NDHSAA's Western Dakota Assocation than Eastern Dakota Conference. I don't think that's happened before.

PHE: I'd have said "southwest to Mayville" because I'm more partial to the Patriots than the Burros, but Thompson, Reynolds, and Buxton would have been in the way.

Come on. The best tune in REA last year was in pre-game warm-up: Alien Ant Farm's remake of "Smooth Criminal."

Diggler: There's a state out east where you can't sell alcohol where there is "live dancing." Those "juice bars" ain't so bad.

If you haven't been to GF since 1987 you remember that the only thing south of 17th Avenue South is Columbia Mall and there is only development for the first three blocks west of Columbia Road once you are south of DeMers. Trust me, it's not like that any more. The city has grown "a little" to the south and west. It's just about solid development now from Columbia at DeMers out to 32nd Avenue South and I-29 and they are starting to develop south of 32nd Avenue South. Going south from my old college apartment was nothing but spud and beet fields until you got to Hillsboro. Now, it's a mile to the end of all of the developments.

Patience was to let that freshman class mature. If you didn't see a different group of freshmen on the ice from October 5 to March 9 you weren't paying attention. Freshmen need to learn and adjust to the speed and size of the WCHA. It takes time and .... patience. Parise will need the same patience next fall as will Greene and Marvin. Quinn Fylling will get less patience because of his past experience. Genoway will be somewhere in between because of a year of practice at that level, but without the game competition. The moral of the story is: last year half the team on the ice were freshmen. This year there will be four or five at most per night. Going from 10 to 5 or less is a big deal. Ten calls for great patience. That time for patience is rapidly coming to a close because the majority of the team is no longer inexperienced. Soon arrives the time to perform, skate or sit if you will. That time will be here in October.

The signing period is April 10 to August 1, 2002. This time period must be the summer before your senior year of HS (or beyond) to sign. Porter could have signed last summer or in the early period in November last fall when Parise did. Murray became eligible to sign today. Porter will be in Lincoln for 2002-03. Murray will be at SSM as far as I know.

What's with Michigan not showing up in National Semifinal games against teams wearing white jerseys with maroon and gold trim? Last year versus BC in Albany and now this year in St. Paul.

They were born on 05/24/85. That makes them 16. The small one is 5'11" and 175 pounds. Give 'em a break. They're still growing.

Sorry 'sprig' but they don't. Tyler is a forward. http://www.midgetkiwanis.com/en/equipes/dallas_stars.asp

"Asked if high school and college teams should stop using Indian nicknames, 81% of Native American respondents said no." Asked whether the use of Native American team names and mascots contributes to descrimination against Indians, 75% of Native Americans said "does not contribute." SOURCE: Peter Harris Research Group, Inc. as reported in the March 4, 2002, issue of Sports Illustrated. But the UND Law School Executive Committee obviously knows what's best for Native Americans.

The top eight scorers in the 1995-96 freshmen: 111 points. The top eight scorers in the 2001-02 freshmen: 102 points. The 1995-96 freshman class had an unknown sit out the year: Jason Blake The 2001-02 freshman class had an unknown sit out the year: Colby Genoway The middle two point totals of the eight in 1995-96: 10 and 9 points. The middle two point totals of the eight in 2001-02: 13 and 11 points. Top in 1995-96: 45 (Ian Kallay) Top in 2001-02: 32 (Brandon Bochenski) I'd say that all bodes well for the future because it is comparable scoring but with probably better balance across the eight. (Higher median, lower top producer output) One last comparison: Brad Williamson had four points and became an offensive dynamo and All-American. Nick Fuher had four points .... OK, that last one's a stretch but a guy can hope!

OK "Dahli Lama," which is it? Dahl claims they ran the clock a couple of seconds long after whistles. Then he claims he got robbed by saying the goal came after the first penalty of the 5 on 3 (which would leave Michigan even) and not during the first penalty (which would leave Michigan on a 5 on 4). But how can that be? Wouldn't they have to be stopping the clock EARLY to leave Michigan with a 5 on 4? So which is it? They're stopping early (leaving the 5 on 4) or late (running time off)? You're telling me the timer is so savvy that they can do the "homer"-thing in each case? Also, the NCAA normally brings in outside officials to run the clocks and such during tournaments. Was it even the Michigan crew on the clock? Mr. Dahl is grasping for excuses and we all know what excuses are like (and usually full of).

dagies, it's the Devil's Advocate here again. Your numbers include the assumption that the save percentage for Magers, Vicari, et al, would stay the same even as the number of shots they faced per game increased. I'd bet against that. I'm interested in a strong competition for the goaltending position. If it's Sofie, Brandt, and Siembida you know who the top two are already.

dagies: Let me play Devil's Advocate. Trust me, I'm good at it. Sedevie has faced 676 shots (69 goals, 609 saves). He's played 1130 minutes. If you calculate shots faced per game (total shots faced/total minutes * 60 minutes per game) you see that he sees 36 shots per game. Here's what some of the USHL GAA leaders are facing: Name Shots/Gm Magers 22 Vicari 23 Goepfert 32 Lamoureux 28 Franck 31 Ziegelman 27 Would some of those league leader GAAs inflate and save percentage come down if those guys had to face five to fifteen more shots per game? Sedevie is a solid goaltender. Currently he's a victim of SF's tendency to forget to play defence. I'd like to see Layne come in now. If he's better than Siembida and Brandt, great! If not, he can redshirt and still face high quality shots. Either way, the additional competition would be a positive.