The Sicatoka

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.

Tony Hrkac had two good (albeit not back to back) college years by ANY standards: Freshman (1984-85): 18 - 36 - 54 Sophomore (1986-87): 46 - 70 - 116 Career (two seasons): 64 - 106 - 170 For comparison, Brandon Bochenski, the reining WCHA ROY: Freshman (2001-02): 17 - 15 - 32

2001-2002 NCAA D-I Team Offense (goals per game): 1 New Hampshire 4.67 2 Minnesota 4.52 3 St. Cloud 4.26 4 Maine 4.19 5 Denver 3.85 6 Boston University 3.71 7 Air Force 3.62

Denver? My sheet shows them losing Paradise and David Neale at forward. That's 28 goals, and that's 20% of their goals this season. My sheet shows DU losing Cook, Adams, Vines, and Armstrong, four senior defensemen who played 38, 37, 35, and 18 games respectively so far. Those four only kicked in two goals so that's not an issue. They return MacKensie, Caldwell, Grahame, and Halme (36, 37, 18, 9 games respectively). Sounds like probably three freshman defensemen each night to me. Playing the system DU plays, smart, know-the-system defensemen are a must. Teams that catch DU before Christmas will probably have some success.

What's on the Arena web site fogs things up worse.

We'll go generic. Rivals: A/B, C/D, E/F, G/H, I/J A's schedule first year: x2: at C, at E, G, I x4: D, F, H, J, and B A's second year: x2: C, E, at G, at I x4: D, F, H, J, and B A's third year: x2: at D, at F, H, J x4: C, E, G, I, and B A's fourth year: x2: D, F, at H, at J x4: C, E, G, I, and B The Herald says: x2: at UM, at DU, UMD, MTU x4: UW, CC, UAA, Mankato, and SCSU except that doesnt' work unless UMD and MTU really aren't "rivals" like the link says. Maybe UMD and Mankato are rivals. Maybe someone screwed up and swapped MTU and Mankato in print. Also note the Herald lists 39 games. OK, take out the Oct 22 Manitoba exhibition and that's 38. Figure one exhibition game (Brandon probably, considering Manitoba will have already been played once) in the holiday tournament. That's 37 games. The Punch Imlach Tournament is probably, probably, like the Icebreaker and doesn't count as games (don't quote me). That's 35. The limit is 34, unless you play in Alaska against UAA or UAF, then you can do 36 games, thus UND's limit next year is 36. I guess that's the schedule. Actually, they have room one more game, or even two if they don't play Bemidji in the holiday tournament final.

YaneA: If all you know comes from the Herald, you are hurtin'. That still isn't right compared to what the link said, but I'll blame the Herald. Under the new system you play half a "rivals pair" four games and the other half for two. Supposedly UAA and Mankato are rivals but you show four against both. Supposedly MTU and UMD are rivals but you show two against both. Did the Herald make a mistake or did the rivals pairs switch? If MTU was rivals with either UAA or Mankato the schedule you list would work. Actually, wouldn't Mankato and UMD and UAA and MTU as rivals make some sense? Who knows. Ask Don "the architect of the schedule" Lucia.

There's a mistake in there somewhere. The schedule lists only 13 conference weekends (26 games). It should be 14 weekends (28 games). It shows seven home but only six road series. Also, based on the link that describes the new scheduling format, it appears that schedule is missing a trip to SCSU (you play your 'rival' four times). However, UMD and MTU were supposed to be "rivals" as were UAA and Mankato. Rivals means we'd play one of them for four and one of them for two. The schedule shows both UMD and MTU for two and both UAA and Mankato for four. That also doesn't jive unless there's been a switch.

Three? Uh, Chris Leinweber. And Brendan Connelly played two years at Air Force plus last year at UND. Technically he's a senior also. The good news is that Ryan Hale is only a junior next year by eligibility (due to the medical redshirt). dagies: Another epiphany in the works?

The new WCHA scheduling technique explained, sort of: http://sports.yahoo.com/m....ng.html YaneA: What you said doesn't follow. MTU and UMD are 'rival' partners. If UND only plays two games against one of them they play four against the other.

This is Rule 6.1.a from the 2001 NCAA rule book: "A minor penalty shall be assessed against any player displaying unsportsmanlike conduct including, but not limited to, taunting an official or opponent in order to incite the opponent into incurring a penalty; spitting; spraying the goalkeeper; shooting the puck after the whistle; or kicking, throwing or knocking an opponent

You expect someone to read a dissertation, or dare I say an epiphany, like that in its entirety?

Grayeagle: It's been fixed. Happy now? When they were down on the ice at the dots in the UM end, as he got up Ballard grabbed the back of DL's jersey and pulled it up over his helmet. It cost DL a couple extra seconds getting up and back into the chase. Being those few seconds behind Ballard prevented DL from backchecking and allowed Ballard to roam free with a loose puck in the slot.

Chri ....., er, I mean dagies, You missed Brendan Connelly at forward.