The Sicatoka

Do you keep O'Leary and Hasbargen when Canady and McMahon can play that same grinding game plus have scoring talent? I believe that was the deciding factor. The rest of the league sees 10 new faces in Sioux jerseys each night. They know that "payback" time (for 1997 through 2001) is now because it won't get easier in the future. I'm sure Brandon Bochenski, James Massen and the rest have good memories and will return this year's "favors" to the league in coming days. Patience.

On that goal Siembida looked tired. He went to cover it and didn't get there first. I like playing the number 2 goaltender every other Saturday. It keeps them sharp. It keeps the team sharp. It gives the number 1 a rest.

Hot off the wire from http://www.fightingsioux.com : UND to introduce Shantel Gammie as head women

Siembida has played six straight (Mich, MSU, UMn, UMn, UAA, UAA) and it sounds like it'll go to seven tonight. I'd say it's time to get Brandt back in there. Remember, he played well at Wisconsin and got two wins at St. Lawrence before the arrival of Siembida. A number 1 and a dependable number 2 goaltender is needed (for example Goehring/Kollar). Get him some playing time so we know if he can do the job. If he battles Siembida for the number 1 role, all the better.

Dixon Ward as the Gopher trainer? He'd either run them into the ground and leave them for dead: "Whaddaya mean you can't benchpress that Buick off your chest? PUSH! It'll be a Cadillac next time!" or it'd be: Hey boys, lots and lots of beer and chips are good for you! And don't forget the nachos.

Clayton (and his psychic link dagies ): Leaving four skaters only takes 18 skaters on the road.

Along this same line of thought .... The NCAA lets you travel with 19 skaters and no more than 3 (and not less than 2) goaltenders. I figure Siembida, Brandt, and Kollar are all going. Which 19 skaters are going to CC?

In the 1997-1998 schedule, league games went from 32 to 28 per year. How many points has it taken to get home ice since then? 1997-1998: 30 1998-1999: 26 1999-2000: 31 2000-2001: 32

I'll get this out of my system here so I don't start something somewhere else. Eric "Skateblade" Westrom! Matt "The Knee" Doman! Matt "Back Injury" DeMarchi! That should do it for now. Whew! Do I feel better.

I watched Pelawa a couple of times. Imagine Jay Panzer All-American skills (I say Jay because GP wasn't as quick as Jeff) in a Mike Commodore frame but with bulk like Lee Goren. GP wasn't just tall, he was solid. The best comparison at the time was Joel Otto (big, strong, skilled) of Bemidji State then Calgary.

A Siembida/Brandt rotation doesn't sound too bad based on the last six or seven games. The defense needs to learn to make a twelve foot pass and let the forwards move the puck and out. None of them (right now) have the ability to carry it out, or make the long on-the-tape pass, consistently. Give them time. Spiewak and Notermann are best suited for that PK and the "shut down their #1 line" role. When they can be put back to that (meaning not having to worry about creating their own offense but strictly being opportunistic) they will probably show up with more scoring (as backwards as that sounds). Please note that the recent success seems to correspond with the emergence of ..... James Massen. The team began to win when he started playing well enough to be out there with Bayda and Skarperud. Canady and Connelly showed a flash of Waterloo on Saturday. They were all Waterloo had last year and they were good. Now that I've seen Fournier's eyes and hands and Bochenski's shot first hand I know why they were 1-2 in USHL scoring last year. They have trouble in defensive zone. Maybe McMahon could fill in what they lack there. How's Tyler Palmiscno (other than sore and lucky)? Anyone heard?

dagies: I knew the Sioux were screwed on Sunday when Tim O'Keefe mentioned that a UND sweep would eliminate all hope of Minnesota winning the WCHA. Don't talk about no-hitters or sweeps until they are recorded, #@$*@!

Goon, where'd you hear that? PS - He's more than an official, he's the Supervisor of Officials for the WCHL and runs a school for training officials! (http://www.donadamskating.com/officiatingcamps.htm) YIKES!

Officiating recap: Game 1 summary: Tyler Palmiscno is very lucky that he isn't contacting Travis Roy about rehab centers. (The replay from the side was scary to watch. Tyler's chin hit dasher and his head snapped back.) Game 2 summary: The WCHA "referee a split" doctrine remains in place.

Goaltenders, by their very nature, are, how should we say it, unique. Goalies wear "old pads" when they change teams for a good reason. Breaking in a new set of pads is hard. I had a goalie ask me to help break in a set of new, very stiff leg pads once. I was thinking "shot after shot after shot." Nope. We went to a relative of mine's farm, he sprayed down the leather with saddle soap and leather cleaner, and then (what he needed me for, because he couldn't drive one) he had me drive over them with a four-wheel drive tractor. Back and forth and back and forth. Scary thing is .... it worked! They softened up!

My spin on the Minnesota series? Mighty #2 in the polls versus a team that had to struggle (with a four game, road, barely won them, took a couple of OTs, winning streak) to reach back to the 0.500 level (9-9-1). Yes, Minnesota should take four points defending their home ice. Anything less is weakness on Minnesota's part. Next, if North Dakota hung banners for winning the WCHA post-season tournaments, space would have to be made for seven MORE banners (1967, 1968, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1997, 2000) than the seven NCAA titles and eleven WCHA regular season titles. For the record: NCAA Division I National Champions: 1959, 1963, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997, 2000 NCAA Division I National Runner-Up: 1958, 1968, 1979, 2001 NCAA Division I National Semi-finalists (other appearances): 1965, 1967, 1984 NCAA Divison I National Appearances (all): 1958, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 WCHA Regular Season Champions: 1958, 1964, 1967, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 WCHA Tournament Champions: 1967, 1968, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1997, 2000

Running under the assumption that this is accurate. Josh Siembida (through Dec 17): 2.81 GAA (10th in GAA in the USHL) 0.918 save ratio His Waterloo team has scored 40 goals. Sioux Falls has scored 123! Waterloo is one of three in the USHL to not break the team 60 goal mark yet. Waterloo is dead last on the powerplay but third in killing penalties (I don't consider the US NDT a USHL team). Uh, no powerplay but third on the kill? Even (or is it especially) on a bad team, a good penalty kill begins with the .... who? And how can you not like a guy from a place called Porcupine, Onterio. (Edited by The Sicatoka at 4:47 pm on Dec. 21, 2001)

Remember, Sedevie has suffered two injuries this year at Sioux Falls: First a shoulder and then a knee. The knee required a scope job.

I don't have any new info but for what it's worth at the start of December Waterloo had three goaltenders. They traded one to Tulsa for .... a forward. That leaves two goaltenders, one of which is Siembida. What's that say to you? It says 'no' to me. Who knows. Wait for official word.

Chad Mazurak: Knee. Status: unknown to me. David Lundbohm: Deep thigh bruise (knee checked out OK). Status: after St. Lawrence Ryan Connelly: Shoulder (vs. MSU-Mankato). Status: January

"It took four years, but he finally broke his first tackle." UND LB Eric Schmidt on his roommate's (UND WR "Saint" Luke Schleusner) catch and run to set up the National Championship winning TD. December 8th was the Feast of the Second Immaculate Reception.

David Lundbohm, interviewed between periods on Saturday because he was hurt Friday, said it best. "We only played 50 minutes." Believe it or not, that's a positive in ways. Not long ago they were only playing 30 minutes.

I believe Andy simply has the make-up to be an excellent reserve goaltender. He was fabulous when he was needed (meaning Karl Goehring wasn't available). It is a completely different mindset being the #1. Andy hasn't handled the transition well. If we could just find a way to convince him he is the #2 again.

There was no delayed call pending. Proof? 1. 'dagies' is right. An MSUM touch of any kind stops play if a delayed call is pending. 2. Where's the call after the goal? It's not there. The next penalty call is nearly a minute later. http://www.collegehockeystats.com/boxes/mmnkndk1.d01 Kollar was moving out of the net, as normal and taught, because it looked like play was coming down the right (his left) side. The 'grenade' was tossed. The linesman's arm (not the referee's) went up because the shot was coming from beyond the red line (about 130' from the goal) and ICING was going to be called, then a short-hop and a goal. WildSioux: The arm you saw go up was on a zebra that was straddling, or very near, the red line right? I saw that icing (not penalty, because it doesn't have orange stripes) arm go up too. That was pre-signal* for icing, not a penalty, call. * Pre-signal meaning the up-ice linesman signalling the down-ice linesman that the shot/pass came from beyond the center red line so if it gets to the end line before it is touched it is icing. (Edited by The Sicatoka at 4:51 pm on Dec. 4, 2001)

Pssst .... most college students aren't legal in ANY bar. And if UND owned the rink it'd be campus proper and thus .... DRY, like the old rink. Are you sure you're thinking this all the way through?