The Sicatoka

I probably should have said "losses" in the secondary. I knew Thornberg was moving over to the hot corner. He'll need time to adjust to the different turns and rotations over there. The secondary spooks me worse than the linebacker corps for some reason. Maybe it's because I know that I saw more linebackers rotated in last season (compared to the secondary) so I know there's a larger experience base. But still, to me the offensive line will be the most important answer to the questions about this season's team. I normally reserve this comment for use on USCHO, but it's appropriate here: The only 'poll' that matters is the 'pole' that you raise a championship banner on.

How much do those opinions matter? How much do those folks know? Well, we'll let them speak for themselves: From http://www.gliac.org/m-football/FB_cpoll_02.htm and that is the official GLIAC press release.

Passing thoughts reading through the roster: Porcupine, Onterio. Yagatta lovit. More players from Alaska or Illinois or Colorado than Alberta. I'd have lost money on that bet a couple of years back. Heck, there are as many from Michigan as Alberta on that roster! Mr. Greene is wearing #2. That's a tough one to lug around given one of your coaches, and some in the past (Al Hangsleben I believe), who wore it. There are a lot of 2s on that roster .... 220 .... 215 .... 218 .... 224. No need to ask, "Where's the beef?" Is Colby Genoway really up to 200 pounds? And Spiewak too? Not one, but two 200 pound centers? Add to that Massen and Ryan Hale each over 215 on the wing .... All of those 2s make me wonder about team speed at this point. I remember some DU and Wisconsin teams that were big and slow. I hope that's not the case here. David Hale, Jones, Schneider, Greene: All over 6'0" and 215. Who would have believed that 6'1" or 6'2" and 196 or 197 pounds or wouldn't get into the group of the four largest defensemen? At 5'11" and 185, Chris Leinweber almost sounds ..... small. I believe those numbers, at least for the Hales. When I saw them they looked it.

He was, uh, too, uuuhhh, enthusiastic, yeah, enthusiastic, for the normally morgue-like atmosphere in Tragic, er, Target Center.

Looks like some of the mysteries are answered. Derek Faul and Brendan Connelly aren't listed. http://www.fightingsioux.com/sports/hockey/roster.asp

I believe it was the 1999 WCHA Final Five (it was at Target Center) where the cops tried to remove Al from the arena. I'd never seen cops/security get boo-ed so hard. I was worried .... for them. The best part: It wasn't just Sioux fans giving security the noise! The CC fans behind them were REALLY giving it to them! That whole end of the arena was watching that more than the game!

You didn't see much of Jones on the offensive side of the offensive blueline until later in the year. I think that was cautious play on his part. You can't blame him. He was learning the college game. When he did start to jump up into the rush later in the year he did it at smart times. You could see him pick his spots. He never hung his D partner out alone; there was always someone else back to cover. One of his goals this year was a "jump up into the play" attack that even fooled the opposing defenseman. (I don't think they expected Matt to move up.) Jones showed soft hands in receiving a snap pass into the slot and a shot that gave the goaltender no chance. He may be 6 feet tall and 200+ pounds, but don't forget that he only turns 19 later this week. That's still fairly young in hockey terms, especially for defensemen. His skating? That's the least of the concerns. Actually, his skating covered more than one of his "errs of youth" last season. Maybe it's the number on his back, but his size and composure always seem to give me flash-backs to another defenseman who wore 3 at UND. I don't think Matt will have the offensive upside that James Patrick had in the collegiate game, but I do think he'll provide the same fan confidence in the defensive end.

Of the "second year" players, Fylling has more games than any (42). I suspect he'll work his way into the normal line-up.

For the record: Canady played in 36 of 37 games last season. Matt Jones was the only freshman to play in all 37. Canady, Bochenski, and McMahon were all at 36. When I think of Fylling I think of the best pure skater on the 2001 team. Not the fastest, just the purest skater. What he didn't have was strength along the boards on those skates. If he fixed that he could be a lot of fun to watch.

Just random ramblings, and I'm sure most of these won't meet my own past thoughts/criteria: Fournier and Bochenski were a force in Lincoln two years ago. What I perceive them to lack is the grinder mindset. My first pick would be, based on numbers, either Fylling or Prpich or Canady, because you'll need a guy who can agitate and pick up their cheap points too. Spiewak and Notermann have a natural synchronism. Spiewak loves to pass and Notes loves to hit pipes. Put someone out there that has what they don't: size and a more of a scorers touch. James Massen needs to become their "third." He did it with Skarp and Bayda when Bochenski wasn't there. He'd get a lot of points trailing them down the rink and picking up their garbage, plus he's strong enough to take care of himself if either sends him away with a pick and a long pass. Parise is going to need some time to adjust. All freshmen do. He's also going to be a marked man. I'm thinking let him adjust on the left wing at the start. I'm also thinking personal escorts and body guards. McMahon (at center) and Ryan Hale could do that. And if either of those two aren't available for whatever reason, I'd have Canady and Prpich ready. Oh, did I mention I'd like to see Schneider and David Hale out with him also? Beyond that? Who knows. We'll all probably be surprised by what we see. The beauty-part of all this? We'll ALL be right at some point in the season the way Coach Blais bounces his lines whenever he feels he needs to.

Pssssst, dagies, ..... NHL CSB says Parise shoots left. Otherwise, I agree with the rest.

Who was the offensive defenseman in the early 1980s? You could argue James Patrick, but Craig Ludwig outscored him one season. I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: It can be done (and very well) without an offensive defensman. Patrick, Ludwig, and Zombo (heck, Glen Klotz and Scott Sandelin) were far from offense machines. They had solid (if not outstanding) forwards to get the puck to. No, it's not a glamourous formula (like a Murphy, Williamson, or Roche) but it's effective. But mentioning Patrick, Ludwig, and Zombo: No, they weren't offensive machines, but they also made a lot of money later on doing 'the job' for pay.

The answer is very situational: Offensive or defensive zone? Goalie's right or left, or better, goalie's stick or glove side? Power play? Are you looking to get the puck on net and try to scrum one in, get it to a shooter in the high slot, get it to the boards and try to cycle it, or draw it back and set it up? Of course, if your guy can't win a draw, all the best strategy is worthless.

gosioux: ScottM has seen all four sides of the block more than once (and not just on this board) and I can tell you the last thing he is is that. Greyeagle: Why, when I read your post, did I hear a mechanical, air-filtered, James Earl Jones voice?

What do I know about all of this? Well, I don't care about a guy's mailing address: Can he play? I don't care about where a guy's been: I care about where he is, and where he's going. And finally, I know that this guy from Devils Lake had better be better than the fifth best defenseman on the team at the start of 2003. Why? Because if he's less than that, with only two years of eligibilty remaining, he won't see much ice. (If it comes down to two equally skilled guys, I normally see Coach Blais playing the younger hoping he'll develop further. Don't believe me? Look at last season. Who played more, Brendan or Ryan Connelly?) Dahlen has two years of D-I experience behind him; his play had better be at that level or the best he can hope for as a walk-on is seats close to Tim Hennessy. I'm not cheering for or against him. I'm cheering for the best 20 we can put jerseys on on any given night. Good luck to him in his pursuit of one.

Somewhere back in here, http://siouxsports.com/cgi-bin....1;t=202 , I made the following comments: 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. I'm still pondering and it still ain't easy.

A nudge to get this one back in view.

Hey Greyeagle, give them credit. They've expanded their horizons to include age discrimination too! http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3059502.html

I think Rick's point is this: The core of Lucia's CC teams were recruited by his predecessor (Buetow). The core of Lucia's Minnesota teams were recruited by his predecessor (Woog). He can coach talent, but have we seen an entirely "Lucia team" (recruits and coaching) yet? (I'm not entirely sure if I want to or not.)

dagies:

I'm going to say what I've wanted to say for quite a while: Too many people expected too much from the 2001-2002 team. Period. The 2000-2001 team ran well because of Jeff Panzer, Bryan Lundbohm, Travis Roche, and Karl Goehring. That team was four D, a pair of penalty killers (Spie and Notes), KG, and an offensive line and a half (Panzer/Lundbohm/Bayda plus some support by senior Wes Dorey). How much of that returned? A pair of D (who greatly underperformed in 2001-2002) and Spie and Notes. And does anyone else remember Mary Beth Blais' problems? The 2000-2001 team was playing its guts out for Coach Blais. I'll say it: The 2000-2001 team overachieved. Now look at 2001-2002. A new arena. Distraction? Can you say "Uh huh!" How many new faces in The Room? 12? 13? (Freshmen plus transfers.) How many freshmen dressed each night? 10? 11? That's half and that half was even spread among the forwards (6), defense (3), and goaltending (1) on the average night. There was no strong, experienced suit to fall back on. Nothing to fall back on? Yup. Nothin'. The previously mentioned underperforming defensemen were met in underperformance by only an underperforming senior goaltender. The closest thing to a strong suit was a first line made up of Ryan Bayda, an overachieving Tim Skarperud, and a freshman (Bochenski). But one line is not enough. Spie and Notes didn't step up to make up for the lack of seniors like Skarp did. Luckily, Spie and Notes get another chance. Will they take it? I hope so. I had big hopes in 2001-2002 for the Hale boys too, except the worst happened: their mother passed away just as the team was getting back to school in the fall. I'm pretty sure that slowed those two, who I expected to see step up, through at least the first half. And I'll say it here because I heard Tim Hennessy mention it on the air: David Hale was not well (non-hockey medical) for a good deal of last season. (That's all I'll choose to say here.) Let's see, three of your four returning defensemen are underperforming or have outside issues, and the fourth can't break the lineup past three freshmen. Good luck. Forwards? How about a team where if you put every forward with D-I experience on the ice (Skarp, Bayda, Spie, Notes, Hale, Lundbohm, Palmiscno, and transfer Brendan Connelly) and you don't have a senior and you still have to put a minimum of four freshmen out? Sound like a formula for success? Putting high expectations on a team that half of it was in junior leagues the year before is unrealistic. Yet, too many did it. I expected that team to take some lumps in 2001-2002. That's why I preached "patience" a lot last year. But I've seen the glimmers of hope for the future. Rory McMahon and Chris Fournier started to assert themselves in the last weeks of last season and it was fun to watch. Bochenski proved he can score even when he is the focus of the other team. Ryan Hale realized that he can make havoc and dominate games. The young defense started to figure out how to handle the speed and motion of the college game. I still wonder about goaltending, but Siembida and Brandt's numbers behind a young defense weren't terrible. Guys need to come in this fall and show some character and establish themselves in the roles it takes to be a winner. They have the talent, they need to finish the intangibles: leadership, desire, teamwork, role playing. That'll take a period of adjustment. The schedule to start the season is reasonably friendly in that regard. Let's hope people step in and step up to the roles. I'm going to preach "patience" until December 1. If they don't have it figured out by then, the schedule will eat them alive. http://www.uscho.com/schedul....ender=m I think the team took all of its lumps at once (reloading talent, following up a group of overachievers, and new arena blues). I think this team will mature into something that will remember all the lumps they took as freshmen and return them. I don't expect it all to happen next season, but the lumps of 2001-2002 will be returned to the rest of the league before this group is through. That's my $0.02.

I had Hale and Martin in mind. I forgot all about DeMarchi being a Devils pick. Very interesting.

Let me come at this from a different angle: The Devils have traded a young defensemen that most had pencilled in for their post-Stevens, post-Daneyko rapidly-approaching future. Does this mean that getting some of their other draftees signed and into the system sooner becomes a priority? I ask because one of those guys is Minnesota's Paul Martin.