Old Barn Guy at Home

As a life long Blackhawk fan and Sioux hockey fan, I do have mixed feelings about this, but we all know that JT was ready for the big time. I look forward to him helping the Blackhawks regain some of their lost respect in the NHL and for him to go on to a long and successful career there. Best of luck to a very classy young man!

Hooray for the Sioux. They killed off a full 5 minute penalty and hung in there to beat a very talented team for the right to go to the Frozen Four. As I was saying to my wife at some point in the middle of the 3rd period, "It really is a shame that these two outstanding teams have to be playing in this regional tourney, and one won't get into the finals." I really don't know if I could have pulled for the Gophers if they had won, but I guess I don't have to worry about it now, do I? Congrats to Hak, Cary, and Dane. And "congrats and get some rest" to the boys in black an green. I think that the AC/DC song could become a new anthem for these guys if they keep this up!

I have read all the posts on this thread and would like to make some comments/observations: Watching the game last night on FSN, we were treated to one of the most exciting college hockey games we've ever seen. I would like for it to have had the Sioux winning, but it was great action. At stoppages during the game, I switched to the Notre Dame - Michigan game from Detroit. It was like a morgue with no atmosphere and the tempo of play was shockingly 3 or 4 levels below what we were watching in the Sioux-Gopher contest. The Sioux played hard, but did probably tire out key players from the numerous penalty kills that they endured. Remember, they successfully killed of all of their short-handed situations! Their own power play looked pretty good, too, but didn't get as many opportunities to use it. That all said, the Gophers won the game on a tremendous effort by a young man who has pretty much played in the shadow of most of his teammates. Wheeler had a great tournament and was the Gophers' saving grace in this tournament. That goal immediately reminded me of Neal Broten's game winner in the 1980 National Championship game against the Sioux. If my memory seves me right, the Sioux had won the WCHA title in a series in the "old Mariucci, " clinched by Dave Christian's empty net slap shot from the top of the crease. Maybe the Sioux can turn the tables and repeat history on the Gophers this year? I think it would be a shame if they placed any of the WCHA teams in the same region, just because we all know that they (3 at least) could very well reach the Frozen Four if separated from each other. Hak and the boys should not hang their heads over this loss. Sure, it is important to come out each game and win, but they played hard and just couldn't get into the slot for any rebounds. Give the Gophers credit for following their game plan of not allowing the Sioux to shoot from the slot or get to any rebounds. The number of shots that were blocked or deflected by the Gophers was the main difference in their victory, besides having a bit more jump in their legs. And as far as blaming Lee on the winning goal: He didn't turn the puck over at the offensive blue line, and he wasn't the 3rd forward that entered the zone to cause 4 Sioux to be trapped up ice. It's a team game, and they lost together. I do believe that the Sioux will come out stronger after playing this game and they should know that they can play and beat any team they may face in the coming weeks. Thanks to both programs for providing college hockey fans such an entertaining and exciting event for us to watch. Oh yes, it was hilarious to hear Mozacco continue to call Toews, "Oshie," and then later in the game he even called Okposo, "Oshie." Must be something about that #9 that sends Frank's mind into a tailspin. At least he finally figured out how to say "Vandevelde!"

Siouxmama, You can watch paint dry on the home improvement station. I'm not sure which station it would be on where you live, but I've seen it on when channel surfing.

I wonder how many people will be totally disgusted that their favorite sports show on Fox North Sports (All Star Poker Players) will not be on tonight because they are showing some stupid hockey game that no one really cares about? I wonder who is more disgusted, the poker fans or the guys sitting in a locker room decked out in maroon and gold waiting to play a game they didn't want to have to play?

Has there ever been a time that Jutting didn't act like the penalty his player was receiving was a total misapplication of the rules by the ref? Like, "you can't possibly mean that our player is receiving a penalty for that!" I mean, once in a while (depending on who is reffing), a coach has reason to give that kind of response, but every time? Come on! Their aggressiveness toward the goalies is also a coached behavior. Because of the lack of enough skill players, they try to work on intimidation. I believe if Hak just let our guys "go," they could more than handle these bums. I just hope that our players can maintain enough cool to not get sucked into the Mavericks' low down trap, but still prevent them from running the goaltender and/or other cheapshot antics. I also hope that the refs can see through these cheapshot antics and deliver just penalties to the instigators and less to the victims of these jerks. I, too, will not miss Jutting's whiner-acts. I just hope that Blais is not the replacement for him!

PCM: It seems you are misreading the meaning of what I posted. Here's what I said: "I'm still wondering why Don Lucia was a no show after Saturday's game. Seemed to lack class and fortitude." I didn't mention the "media." I was watching the game on FSN and Lucia failed to show. Period! If the Gophers had won both of those games or even just the Saturday night game, I wonder if Don would have been on FSN? Now, you can stop defending Lucia. I have apologized for confusing some of you that he didn't speak with anyone from the media. I just felt it was odd that the asst. coach, who is usually the between periods' interviewee also did the postgame on the Gophers' home network. That's all I have to say.

I guess I must have missed Lucia's postgame conference. On the Fox Sports North channel, I watched asst. coach John Hill's interview, and the three DOT line members' interviews, and coach Hakstol's interview, but I didn't see Lucia. My apologies if I turned off that station after they spoke with Hak. I assumed that Hill's interview was the representation for the Gophers (although I thought it was odd that he did the postgame interview because they had spoken to him earlier between periods of that game). Also, I could have just been so happy with the Sioux sweeping the Gophers that I mentally tuned out Don's interview.

I have disliked Woog since his days coaching the St. Paul Vulcans in the old Junior hockey league in which the Fargo-Moorhead Sugar Kings played back in the mid-70's. I saw his team many times, and they were the dirtiest, cheapest hockey team I have ever seen. A Fargo player named Lawson was butt-ended in the eye by a Vulcan and the case almost ended up in court. It was obvious that they were coached to play that way. His record at Minnesota wasn't as filled with the "goon squad" mentality, but he still always seemed to have a couple of loose cannons on his teams. I think Doug liked to have that around. His recruiting included special favors to people he must have owed. Dan Hendrickson was a slightly above average high school hockey player when he played at Richfield. I remember him well, playing on the wing with big brother Darby (who was a great player). Dan jumped to juniors as a senior in high school and played four years for the Goofs on their 4th line as a cheap shot artist. Doug also recruited a South St. Paul forward named Johnson (all I remember about him was that he had long hair and should have been playing in the MIAC, maybe). I also knew of some other pretty good talent that Woog didn't attempt to recruit in the out-state and TC areas. His lack of success at the national tournament was his own doing. His teams were very "in-bred" with most players coming from the metro area, except for the likes of Larry Olimb and a few others. Most of them were one-trick ponies that couldn't match up with tight checking and physical teams in the playoffs. Woog and Mazocco's ramblings during the last part of Saturday's third period reminded me of a child that starts to yell and put his hands over his ears so he cannot hear what he does not want to hear (in this case, the butt-whupping on the ice their beloved #1 Goofs were taking from the #15 Sioux). Woog's comments that the Goofs couldn't really practice the power play leading up to this game because they had so many players on the injury list was hilarious to me. Maybe Don Lucia should have called Hak to find out how the Sioux did it earlier when Toews, TJ, Lammy, and Fabian were out with injuries and when the WJT guys were out of town. I actually laughed out loud when he said that. If Minnesota is the big-time program that they claim to be, maybe they'd better do some better planning on how big their roster should be, or maybe they should just contact some intramural hockey players to come out and play them so they can work on what they need to do on the power play. I will give Woog credit for not letting Mazocco get too "homeristic," but the bottom line is that Doug should have probably been in broadcasting a long time ago, and passed up the coaching gig. Maybe some place on Saturday night, a butt-end scarred former hockey player by the name of Tim Lawson was smiling. I'm still wondering why Don Lucia was a no show after Saturday's game. Seemed to lack class and fortitude. Congrats to Hak and the crew for a most impressive display of perserverance, not only for this past weekend, but for this season so far! (Pardon the length of this post, but I haven't been able log on for a long time and this has just been welling up in me.)

I am so glad I'm no longer coaching. The people who made this rule should have their butts kicked until they choke on the mouthguards they are wearing when they type up this kind of "safety" legislation (they are wearing them, you never know when a key might snap up and hit you in the mouth). If coaches are that inept on the ice, then maybe they should be coaching basketball. I'm sorry, this is total baloney. For those of you that may say, "If it saves just one person from injury.....blah, blah, blah." I say, save them from injury and get them off the ice and into a badminton coaching position. No one will ever convince me that they have to require legal adults (the coaches) to wear any particular protective gear against their wills. The next rule coming will be requiring the coaches to wear those "inflatable sumo wrestler suits" so they won't crack their tailbones when they trip over the blue line. I'll have to admit that when I played high school hockey, goalies didn't even wear masks, but that is not the point. I coached for over 27 years and never once had a head injury that a helmet would have prevented. I will say it again: If coaches are that inept on their blades, then by all means get them the heck off the ice!

Steve Johnson led the NCAA in scoring in 87-88 (without the help of Tony or Bobby Joyce). Their line in 1987 was by far the most dominating line for the Sioux, since I started watching Sioux hockey in 1961. That includes a lot of great ones, but they are the standard to be measured by. I also know that Brent Bobyck played on the Hrkac Circus line at the end of that 1987 Championship season, but Johnson did start out there and was on the pp with those guys also.

I distinctly remember an article I read (way back when) about Bobby Hull. His wrist shot was timed at 116mph, and his slapshot SLOWER at around 110mph. The most interesting thing I remember is that he was timed skating at 25mph. Hull was considered to be one of the fastest skaters in the 60's (if not THE fastest). Cournoyer was fast, but not 50mph!

Thanks for the pp info Siouxman. I just know that when I am watching Sioux hockey on tv, I often switch to the Gopher game during stoppages of play, just to see how their game is going. I should have kept track of the number of times I switched channels, only to find the Gophers were on a power play. I honestly think it must have been about 60% or more that they were. I know it's not a scientific stat, but it has become a joke at our house when we play "Let's see how much time is left on the Goofs' powerplay."

Did anyone actually see the "roughing" on the goaltender? I agree that the Gophers should have at least had two minutes for what was going on with their guy on top of the St. Cloud guy laying face down (with his head/face being pushed numerous times into the ice) on the edge of the crease. How in the world could any officials have Mn come out of that with a man advantage. That was a disgrace. If it wasn't for power plays, the Gophers would be a fairly average team. They do have a tremendous pp, but the fact that they are given so many opportunities to use it is up for question. Does anybody have a statistic on how many power plays teams have had throughout the season? I'd have to feel that the Gophers must lead the WCHA, if not the nation, in that category. Looks like what a lot of us hockey fans have known all along has come to haunt the Gophers. Their goaltending in pressure-filled games comes apart at the seams. Now I'm sure some Mn fans will point out that the supposed top goalie in the league (Bobby G.) was lit up for 7 goals last night, but you must remember that the team Bobby was facing is probably the most offensively potent team going in college hockey right now. I don't think you can really say that St. Cloud is even near them in offensive capability, but Briggs and Frasee made the Huskies look like the second coming of Gretzky and Lemieux.

Robbie Earle.....what a pusshy.....("Oh, I didn't score, now I think my leg hurts. Oh, I couldn't split the defense, now my ankle hurts.")....how could anyone with a micron of a hockey brain make a comparison between Prpich and Earle? One guy blocks shots, gives up his body for the good of the team, doesn't back down from anyone (maybe to a fault). The other guy is an opportunist (very skilled, at that) that expects the refs to let him roam at will. If he actually was tripped on the play that Mozzaco whined about, it's only fitting that the ref looked the other way. Earle's career has been based on getting the weak calls for phantom hooks and trips, and now it finally has caught up to him, and it's about time! Does anyone else feel that Mazzoco seemed to be a Wisconsin cheerleader during most of the telecast today? Lots of luck on the ND goals, but no mention of the Wisconsin horse shoe that kept the puck out of their net a couple of times. I think that Frankie and the Golden boys are probably krapping in their breezers after seeing the "Big Green Menace" in action today. Great to see Kaip finally get rewarded for his hard work. Woog said something like, "The kid can shoot, how come he hasn't scored before?" Well, after watching Kaip play on the "tube" for the past season and a half, I have to agree....why hasn't he scored more? Maybe this shot of confidence might unleash some more offense from #17..... My son called from Arizona during the 2nd intermission and said it was only fitting that a guy wearing a green shirt with the number 17 on it should score a couple on St. Patrick's Day! Maybe he's got something there? By the way, to the guy who wondered why the coaching staff hasn't "fixed" Duncan so he doesn't shoot so high all of the time.........I hope you were watching today's first goal for the Sioux.........that's why! I don't care who the Sioux get to play tomorrow night, this is AWESOME hockey and a great job by Hak, Bubs, and Birdie. Go Sioux!!!!!!!

For Tony's sake, I hope they didn't count "off" for spelling.

I wonder if there is some way to apply this to Fox North play-by-play announcers?

At first, I thought I was reading some posts from last year, around this time of the season. Doom, gloom and criticizing the guys who are on the ice (a total of two seniors, and only one of which is a regular player), blah, blah, blah. Don't get too up, or too down. Sit back and watch the development of some young guys who go out under the microscope every night wearing the proud, Sioux hockey jersey. Sure, they may not always perform up to their expected potential, but let the coaches do their jobs and they'll be peaking at the right time again this season (check back to last years posts around playoff time). I certainly am not happy that the Sioux lost last night, but I came away with some positives after watching the game on tv. The team did miss some of their fire power, but they had enough chances to win the game by more than just a couple of goals. Harvard's power play came in with about a 20% success rate, and they have beaten some quality opponents this season. Yeah, the Sioux have played better, and been a whole lot sharper around the net, but they didn't quit. They dominated the last 10 minutes of the game, but were "snake bitten" around the Harvard net. Discount the shots on goal total, just think back about which team had the better of the offensive chances throughout the game. I'd have to give the nod to the Sioux. I expect that the Sioux will win tonight's game by at least 3 goals. Their overall play, especially with many players playing with new linemates, different power play units, etc. was not bad. They just didn't get the goals they needed. After watching parts of the Gophers-Union debacle on ice, I guess you'd have to wonder which team benefitted from their respective games last night. Even though the Sioux lost their game, I have to believe very little of a positive nature was gained by thumping Union (except for some players padding their stats). If I had to name some players that I felt played pretty well last night, I would list Duncan, Stafford (just finish off a couple of those great efforts and we win), Spirko, Lammy, and the "Grinder Line" of Prpich, Fabian,and Kaip. We do need a better effort from Zajac, Porter, and Smaby, and that's what I'm expecting tonight.

And what's the matter with the name "Gladstone." signed: Gladstone Gander (Donald Duck's rich cousin)

Following up on the mention of Mazacco: I couldn't believe how he and Woog made the comments about how they thought the checking from behind call (on the Badger in the Friday night game) was the wrong call and that he didn't deserve to be booted from the game, etc. I couldn't believe it because that is how I felt about the call, also! Then I realize that Sagissor (the Wisconsin "booth rep") was sitting right next to them and they couldn't go into their usual "homer" whinning about "they have to make that call" and all of the other baloney they usually say (like FM's favorite.........."the gopher player is knocked to the ice,....no call, play goes on," insinuating that the ref missed an obvious penalty against the poor gophers. The phoney attempt by the two gopher announcers brought to mind the "he protestith too much" comment, that I think was a quote from some Shakespearian character whose suspicions were arroused concerning the truthfulness of some perpetrator of evil. I have a suggestion to FSN: How about always having a rep from the opponent's broadcast crew in the booth with Wooger and FM? It would certainly give a more balanced and less biased commentary of the action than that with which we are usually fed from this pair of gopher cheerleaders.

A big congratulations should go out to the entire Sioux hockey coaching staff for their recruiting efforts this season. Even though these players have not stepped on the ice wearing the green and white yet, I think it speaks highly that the professional hockey world's view of the draft year's talent is very much in line with the opinions of Hak, Brad, and Cary. Great job coaches, and best of luck this seaon. It should be very exciting, indeed.

The problem with allowing players to kick the puck into the net is mainly safety, as I see it. Along the boards or elsewhere, the chances of kicking someone in the neck or upper body are pretty slim. Around the goal area, players are often sprawled out on the ice, especially the goalie. I would not like to see the goal-mouth scrambles turn into "soccer" scrums, with blades flashing (and blood gushing). The rule allowing goals if a player is in the crease, but not interferring with the goalie, should have been in the book from the very beginning.

Congratulations on a great season played with determination, skill, and class. I'm very proud of this team, for the way they handled adversity and the way they never quit. They dominated the first two periods, but got very little in the "breaks" dept. again. Thanks to all of the players and coaches for what will prove to be the building blocks of a very good team next year and continuing the Sioux tradition in hockey.

Congratulations to Hak, the coaching staff, the players, and the University. He has well earned this recognition and if he wins the award it will be "icing on the cake." Keep up the good work!

Just got back from Phoenix last night. They DO NOT go on Daylight Time, so it will be 3 hours difference (Thursday game time at 4 PM Phoenix time). My son, who lives there, is not too happy about the start time, but what are you gonna do. Aren't the games going to be on ESPN or ESPN 2 ? If not, there are a few places you may be able to watch. There is O'Sullivan's, of course, but if you are up in Scottsdale, try the Buffalo Wild Wings at a shopping center a few miles north of Bell road (I'm not sure of the exact address). They were very hospitable to us so we could watch the UND-BU game on Friday night. Most of the tvs in the place were showing basketball. It was more difficult to find a place to see the Saturday night game, as the places were packed with Arizona basketball fans watching their choke out vs Illinois. The one tv showing the Sioux game at Wild Wings had no available seating near it, so we ended up going to a place called Jillian's in the Desert Ridge Shopping Center in Scottsdale. They did have the game on one of the many big screens, so we could at least see the second and third periods of the BC defeat, even though the place was going bonkers for the basketball game (AZ vs Illinois). Enjoy the weather and hope you can watch and enjoy the Sioux when you're there.