Snake

I wish I could have heard the postgame. I think most of us are in the same boat in that we believe this team can play better - we've seen it. Unfortunately the margin for error is slim right now. I'm glad to hear Hak was unhappy, because in the couple years he's been here he hasn't let his emotions get to him too often. I think back to Oshie's post-game comments after sweeping the gophers. He said the team was stung by getting swept by Tech at home, and that they never wanted to forget that feeling. It provided them with motivation. It sees to me that this team has maybe forgotten what that felt like.

Last weekend: Three goals in two games last weekend against Duluth with a combined 40-something shots. Prior weekend: 3-shot 3rd period OT tie against Mankato. The phone's been ringing for a while - we better pick it up before it goes to voicemail...

SCSU played OK tonight, but the Gophers looked equally awful.

Couple things about tonight... The team didn't move their feet other than the DOT line. Lots of gliding around and watching. I think the replay of Paukovitch's goal exemplified it best when Pauk skated by Kaip and then Kaip just pointed his stick at the D-man who was trying to defend a rapidly developing 2-on-1. Maybe Kaip should have thought about moving his feet and back-checking instead of trying to direct traffic. I'm starting to think Miller (and others) have never met a drop-pass they didn't love to make. For whatever reason they're getting too cute when they should probably be putting the puck on net. Shot total in the low 20s once again - bogus. The D looked flat overall. I liked Genoway's energy and his assertiveness with the puck, but it was his own worst enemy at times. Many of the odd-man rushes seemed to be attributed to a D-man getting trapped deep without a forward rolling back to cover for him. What can I say about the DOT line other than these guys came to play. Sure, they were on the ice for a couple of the goals, but when you're team's only offense you've got to take some chances of your own. Lammy was pretty good. If they want to win tomorrow they're definitely going to need to move their feet better and stop dinking around when they get the puck into some prime scoring areas. The D needs to make better decisions with the puck coming out of our zone. We're going to learn a lot about this team tomorrow.

Well said.

He's got an amazing shot - when he gets it off. He takes forever to get his shot off.

Actually, I think there was some good analysis in there if you don't have your green glasses on. Glad I made my post after you made that comment... By the way, your sig line is outdated.

I think both of these posts touch on what I feel is a glaring weakness - that is the lack of a seasoned veteran WHO CAN SCORE AND NOT JUST BE A ROLE PLAYER. Guys like Kaip and Fabian are nice, and it's cute when they actually find the back of the net, but can we get a Senior forward to average a point per game for once in the foreseeable future? Those types of players should be the ones that are developed by the coaching staff. All of the guys that jump after their sophomore season already have it in them - that's why they're NHL draft picks.

tDon called Jutting this summer and asked if they could move the game. Since it's UM's home game they have such options. Jutting decided to go with it since he figured it was the right thing to do. PA and Dubay interviewed Jutts yesterday and asked if he would have made the same decision a month ago he said NOPE! The Sioux have no significant depth at forward, so I guess it's no surprise to me they'd go 0-5 on the PP without Toews and Lee. Last night was a pretty good indicator of how far away this team is from being a serious contender. We lose 1-0 on the road to CC with only one forward gone and the Gophers handle 'Kato on the road 5-1 with three lines. There's not enough time to make baby-steps, either. It could get ugly at Mariucci...

More like a nightmare!

Are we sure the "real" season doesn't start until next weekend?

What team have you been watching this year?

I understand that college teams are more likely to release their players for the WJC, but making the jump to the NHL doesn't totally wipe out his chances of playing in a 3rd WJC - especially if he doesn't crack the Blackhawks' lineup like some people think will be difficult for him. I think Toews would have an excellent shot at cracking the Blackhawks' lineup next year. Comparing his situation to Bochenski is a little apples to oranges. Bo's a good player, but I think Toews has a better all-around game and he comes in with a higher draft status so I'd bet Chicago would be more apt to get him out there to see what he can do. Now, would there be room for both Skille AND Toews? Maybe Skille jumps early and Toews stays? That sure would be nice.

It's apparent by what he's doing in the WJC.

I think you're thinking of HKNTSMN...hockey nut in southern minnesota.

I think this is a good summary. I'd also like to add that I think this is the year where we're really feeling the impact of Brady Murray leaving early. Man, would he look good in Green right now. Couple that with Spirko leaving early and there are two players most everyone on this board thought would be playing all 4 years. We just don't have an upper classman that can make a significant impact on the scoreboard. Spirko and Murray would have been those guys this year. Instead, we're stuck relying on Frosh and Sophomores to carry the load offensively.

Gotcha - thanks!

Obviously expecting a team to win every game is unrealistic. A more realistic goal would be to expect the team to compete hard in every game. I'm not necessarily seeing that. On the other hand, winning at least ONE game against MTU in your own building is absolutely realistic; unfortunately this team is underachieving as measured by their 0-2 record this weekend.

Goon, I'm having trouble understanding where you stand. Do you think they should recruit another goalie for the merry-go-round and give Grieco thoughts about leaving the program or should they stand pat with Grieco's potential?

Yeah, because we intentionally recruit non bad ass goalies on purpose? The coaching staff must have missed the "ass" part when evaluating Grieco and got a guy that was just "bad." It's easier said than done; and who's to say the same people who made the decision to bring Grieco in won't mis-evaluate someone else (not implying Grieco was mis-evaluated). I seem to remember people clamoring for Grieco early in the season, and now that we've got a little taste - not even a significant sampling - of what he can do AS A FRESHMAN we want another guy. Let the kid play with a team in front of him that gives a damn and the goaltending situation may not look as bad as it seems right now.

Here's something positive: I'm looking forward to watching this team pull the 10 vs. 1 uppie at Mariucci in March!!

He sure doesn't have a problem "reffing the scoreboard" on most nights during the first 58 minutes of a game!

No disputing the effect on momentum here. I just wish the team would help the goalies out a little more. They've got a tough enough job as it is, and when the goalie's the only defender down low it gets that much more difficult. Maybe Grieco should have "controlled" his rebound out to the circles...that's where is defenders were

I'd like to think it's not the latter. I'd sure hope these guys don't enjoy losing and that would be motivation enough to play well. Guys that we counted on to take scoring roles aren't doing it this year. Last year they played in the shadows of Zajac, Stafford, Spirko, Oshie, Toews, etc. so it was maybe easier to see their "potential" on the 3rd and 4th lines. Now that they're the focus of the team it's a different story. This lends me to believe they either haven't made the progression from year 1 to year 2, or they aren't as good as we think they are. Maybe they've just been put into this role too quickly? We also have an issue with sub-par veteran leadership. When I say sub-par I'm not talking about hard-working, inspirational types, but more to the effect of 20+ goal-scoring, 1.0 PPG type. This team has relied on underclassmen for too much of the scoring burden over the past few years. That's what is making the early departures so difficult to overcome. It's great to get the blue-chip guys, but we need to have some players that will develop into scoring threats as seniors and not just muckers and grinders.