BinaIsGod

Mr. Snow also demonstrated his inability to count in that article...when he states that there will be FOUR first-round draft picks in the FF, 2 for UND, and 2 for BC, then they go on to list the 4 for UND, and the 2 for BC....they can't even count!

Well, I think UND is gonna have to try to set the tone early, and make this a pure guts weekend. Hak should start the Kaip-Fabian-Radke line to set the tone and play physical from the start of the weekend. I think we are starting to find our identity as a tough team, and we can test the gophers fortitude here. The one thing we don't want to do against them is get in a scoring shootout, because it seems as though they have more offensive depth than we do this year. I believe we can take one or both games if we can play tough, old-time hockey, and if we can take advantage of our opportunities and put them in the back of the net. That's the key, Old time hockey, like Toe Blake, and Eddie Shore.

Personally, I don't like it. I thought it was funny the first few times It happened last year, or whenever it started, but now i just think it's a farce. I also want to know why the band has adopted the habit of playing the 'beer' song after every goal. I think that song should not be played so much. I love the song, but it should be played once, maybe twice during a game, otherwise it ruins the fun of it. This is all just my opinion though.

Here is an article from today listing the supposed top candidates for the UM job.

Well, I don't know if you guys were paying attention, but it says his name is Kevin Roy, and it's a High School skills competition in Maine...plus, as good as he is with a puck, he only scored on half of those moves. He can do the moves alright, but he's not fast enough to actually score on all of them. Still, I don't know if I've personally ever seen a 13 year old be able to do some of those things with a puck...he must have used a lot of wax.

my thoughts on the weekend...1. don't have giveaways at the games that are throwable. 2. we need less pinching by the defensemen, and more backchecking. 3. Phil gives us the best chance to win out of any of our goalies. 4. Finley plays better than most seem to care to notice. 5. Elliot is slightly overrated and owes a ton of his success to the defense keeping his fat rebounds from being put in. 6. The student section has become more pathetic as the season has progressed (hard to admit, since i'm in it) 7. Maybe they should try keeping Toews with Oshie and maybe Genoway on a line, and put Duncan on the second line...worth a shot at least. I was hoping to get to ten, but i'm lazy...sue me.

It looked to me like Skille sustained a separated shoulder...his arm was in a bad position when finley hit him, and you could see it just flap around after he got hit. My best guess would be that he'll be out for 2-3 months. But it would be a lot less if it wasn't the shoulder. Either way, bad news for Wisconsin, as it looked like it was UND vs. Jack Skille tonight.

Did anyone else that was at the game notice when Manitoba blatently cheated after the checking from behind call? I am positive that it was #12 that hit Lee in the corner there from behind, he got sent off, went to the bench, sat down, did a little hiding, and then I saw #24 go to the locker room. It appeared that the linesman called them out on it, questioning the player and coach, but the coach started yelling, and got his way...apparently conviced the refs that it was the 5'10" guy, not the 6'2" guy...i guess that's easy to confuse. Stinkin cheaters. I also saw Robbie get away with an obvious trip, and both refs watched him, and nobody called it. Dude's a baller.

Looks like a messy situation for Tom Fritsche. Link This can't be good for Ohio State. Thoughts anyone?

He looks like A.J. Pierzynski...so we got that goin for us...which is nice.

I wish i could find a photo of when the BC mascot was laying on the ice between periods watching the UND cheerleaders. It was priceless...just about the only time during the game when i didn't despise that dang big bird.

People who know me personally, and who know my hockey preferences when it comes to players...well, they know that I hate Christy Bourque. A lot. The boys from the U.S. should win this tournament, they have the deepest team, and the most talent. But putting Bourque on a line with Kessel is just a bad, bad, bad move on Walt's part. Two players who don't like to pass very much...and who aren't particularly good at it...should not be on a line together...Kessel needs to realize that everyone is starting to learn his move, and he's not going to be able to go around everyone all the time anymore. He needs to be more content with setting up in the zone, rather than trying to score all the time. In my opinion, Kessel is far more dangerous when people are setting him up to shoot, rather than him doing everything by himself. Bourque needs to leave the powerplay, immediately. He shoots too often when he is back on the blueline on the PP. I personally prefer that type of powerplay (shots from the point, collapse on the net), but Christy will shoot at the worst times when he doesn't have a shooting lane. With the U.S. squad, I would like to see Lee and Kessel on the blueline on the PP, with Porter, Ryan, and Mueller up front, with those guys crashing the net, and Lee and Phil sneaking in for shots. The U.S.A. is on the verge of throwing this tournament away if they keep relying on Phil Kessel to win games for them. He is probably the most dangerous player in the tournament, but he can't do it along. I would like to see Walt put Fritsche on that top line, as he seems to be a very creative player with a deft passing sense that would benifit Kessel and Porter. Fritsche has earned that spot, i believe, with his great play in the Canada game. As far as the rest of the team goes...I'd like to see Erik Johnson tone it down a little bit...too much end-to-end...not enough breakout passing. Get Bobby in front of the net as much as possible, because that's where he can do the most damage, and he's not the greatest skater...I also found myself wondering during the Canada game, why Erik Johnson was chosen over A.J. Thelen. Johnson is an underager, who is still a bit raw defensively. To me it would seem like Thelen would be able to play a stronger defensive game that Johnson, while still providing the offensive spark they seem do like from Erik. They could be trying to do a similar thing with Johnson like they did with Lee last year, giving him experience for next year...but in a year when you are the favorite, I don't believe you have time to plan for the next year. Aaaaaanyways, I still think the U.S. is the best team this year, and that they can win it all...they just need to pull it together, and Walt needs to improve his tactics a bit and this team will be just fine thank you for your time...you're a beautiful crowd.

Well, the Knights vs. Redskins alumni game was really a fun one to watch. Good to see Robbie in some game action...The Lamoureux's were awesome together, with Phil scoring two goals, the first goal was Lamoureux, from Lamoureux, and Lamoureux...wish we could have seen that at UND. The alumni eventually won the game 8-4, although the HS team was leading after the first period 1-2, and definitely were dictating for a good part of the first. They raised over $2000 for Jason, and it was a great atmosphere, and just a good time overall.

anybody have any stats for the central-minot game?

Players to watch for the Wild tonight: #67 Benoit Pouliot, Minnesota's first round pick in this years draft, and 4th overall in the draft. #21 Mikko Koivu, Minnesota's resident mystery man is finally going to be wearing a Wild jersey this season, after being Minnesota's second first round pick in team history, younger brother of Montreal's captain, Saku Koivu. And three players who are fighting for what seems to be the last roster spot on this year's opening day team, #26 Kyle Wanvig, #76 Peter Olvecky, and #83 Matt Foy. I would expect Manny Fernandez to be starting in goal...

Bettman didn't ruin this game, and it's not his fault that Mess, Ronnie, and others don't get a farewell tour...the blame is on the teams that overspent for years on players, and on the players association for the lockout lasting as long as it has, so don't blame Gary Bettman for them retiring. Get a clue.

Serioiusly, this is going to be one fun game to watch..I don't know why nobody thinks this will be an exciting game, the NHL game is sooo much faster than the college game, and the players are so much better...it's a great opportunity to see some of the best players in the world. There are young players in this game worth going to see, like O'Sullivan, Koivu, Bouchard, Thelen, and Pouliot for the Wild, and guys like Bouwmeester, Horton, Olesz, McArdle and Stewart...and possibly a chance to see the NHL's best goalie, Roberto Luongo. The tickets aren't too expensive, and it's NHL hockey, I don't see why any self-respecting hockey fan wouldn't go...

I found this on Red Deer's site posted almost 2 weeks after the previous article. It had this line in it:

Personally, and I don't mean any offense to him by it, but I don't know if Drew is captain material...a lot of people thought he was a top candidate for the captaincy of the WJC team last year, but he didn't get it. He is definitely this team's best player by far...but I don't think he's the captain...that said, I believe that the captain of this team is Prpich. I think Drew and Smaby could be wearing the 'A' on their shoulder, and Marvin could possibly replace either of those two....

I think that is one of the most utterly ridiculous posts I have ever seen here, and there have been some ridiculous ones...Your idea that any CHL team would cream UND's hockey team is ludicrous. They do have great players, yes, but they are also comprised of players aged from 16 to 20, where UND has players ages 18 to 22, or older...the size and physicality of UND and the WCHA players sets it apart from the CHL. so where the CHL may be a better breeding ground for NHL players, that doesn't mean that any CHL team would beat any college hockey team.

I'm not a huge fan of GA. When it's General Admission, you have one person gettting there early, and trying to save twenty seats for people who can't get there at the same time. If you can find a way to keep people from doing that stuff, GA would be fine...otherwise there are going to be a lot of unhappy students who get there early, but can't get a seat in the lower bowl, because they're all taken by about 50 people and tons of coats. I think the best idea so far is to sell reserved tickets for the lower bowl the week of the games, make it reserved seating, and let the students pick their seats so they can sit in groups with friends...this half and half talk is not very smart...the main goal should be to fill the lower bowl with the students that want the tickets the most...any of this other stuff will only provide yet another weak crowd, just like last year. Selling the tickets at about 6 am on the week of the games is the best way to do that...If you're not willing to be up and ready to get tickets, you don't deserve to have those seats...

It doesn't appear that Dahl will be the coach there much longer though, with Motzko moving in...maybe that played a part in his decision to commit to SCSU?

I don't know if this is relavant to Sioux recruits, but a couple local boys (namely Jordan McIntyre and Josh Stengl) won the MJHL championship with Portage the other day. Portage Website

Yeah, Bourque is probably a bit of a knucklehead who had problems in the classroom...but he also had problems on the ice, namely his passing. Pretty terrible. If he has any players that are better than him, and are the type that get frustrated, he could have a hard time in the Q.

when i said they, i meant Mazocco and Woog on the tv broadcast...