Wilbur

Can't believe that Grimaldi has fallen as far as he has..........I guess size does matter in the NHL more than I thought it did.....

Glad to see that Miller got picked up by New York. I thought he would go later in the first round..... Grimaldi won't slip out of the first round, but I think I jinxed him with picking Chicago for him.....guess he could be playing hockey by the beach!

I have a feeling that Grimaldi will go higher than expected. I mean every report you hear about him it says that his size is the issue (one of the only ones), but he has the lowest body fat of any guy in the draft, which means the kid is a rock at 5'6, not a pudgy 5'6. Add to that the kid has a heart larger than 5'6, a great attitude, and has been always playing at levels ahead of his time. Teams like character guys, and I think they'll get a great one with this kid. I don't know why, but I can see the Blackhawks taking him at pick #18. Tampa Bay loves him, but I can't see him falling to them. I really hope I didn't just jinx the kid..... Miller being more of a "North-South" guy I believe will go to Pittsburgh or Detroit. Favorite all time draft moment: The look on Devil's GM Lou Lamoriello's face when Zach Parise fell to his team in the later first round. Like he just won the lottery.

If Simpson makes the Canada U20 team and has a tremendous season I could see him being a huge flight risk after his sophomore season. Either he or Gleason needs to step into Genoway's role on the powerplay. I think you'll see Kristo start early on the point, but at times you want to have two defenseman on the blue line on the powerplay in case a rush goes the other way. Frattin proved this year why he is a forward with his lack of skills in one on one situations defensively when he was the point man on the powerplay.

I think Canada should keep producing great hockey players that end up at UND. Like Frattin, Genoway, Malone, Dell, Eidsness, Simpson, Knight, Balfour, Hrkac.......The Hoogsteen brothers......Chris Porter....Travis Zajac..... But they should take a deep breath after a team of theirs loses a big hockey game.

Yeah....I read something about that a while back too.......darn it......If he stays healthy Zucker should be the guy who ends up being the league MVP. Maybe him or Schwarz......

Triple header weekends used to rule my world when I was at school at UND. Now if I was a student I don't know if I would want to do a triple header with some of the teams that UND is playing at home at the Alerus..... I mean..... Drake Black Hills State (NAIA) Montanta Western Cal Poly Sioux Falls (NAIA....but they are a pretty good team I guess) South Dakota The only games that sound interesting at all are South Dakota and Cal Poly.......attendance may be awful this year for the football team. On the other hand, at least they'll make a little money going to Fresno State to get murdered.....

Got to give credit to the bruins for a great game seven game plan thus far. Playing good physical team defense and letting Con Smythe in the crease see everything in front of him. This could get chippy at the end. Alex Burrows learned that biting someone equals you getting run for the remainder of the playoffs without any calls...

Thinking about the last ten or so years of UND hockey at the Ralph......(at least what I remember).....Can anybody remember a big name recruit that has come in to UND, had a ton of success, and left right away? I'm talking was a top two line player, and left after one season? Landon Wilson was before the new Ralph.....Of course Eddie was too.....Anybody got names of guys that skipped out after a year that left us wishing they had stuck around? I mean Parise was two years, Toews was two, Bochenski was three, Greene was three, Murray was two. One year guys from the new Ralph that left after a year listed below here.....at least that I can think of? The only one that was kind of a big name coming in was Fournier. But he just never really matured into the type of playmaker they wanted him to be. ~Hunter Bishop ~Chris Fournier ~Nate Ziegelmann

FIRE HAK!!!! HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO WIN THE BIG ONE!!!! BRING BACK GINO!!!!!! Agreed with Hakstol bringing in great recruits in recent years. I think the thing that I've been most impressed with is the toughness of the guys that Hak has brought in. Guys like McWilliam, Blood, Lamoureax, Frattin, Malone.

Nothing to do with Sioux hockey (Well...maybe), but Brad reported that Sam Brittain is undergoing surgery for a torn ACL and will likely miss most of the season. IMHO I don't think Adam Murray is the goaltender that will lead the pios to the McNaughton Cup. They'll be a great hockey team, but Brittain is a huge loss for them. I guess he tore it during the WCHA Final Five Championship game. He made some great back across his body saves in that game, so I can see where he might have injured himself. Now if the Wild would only sign Zucker.....

Brad said today on the live chat that it will likely be an ECAC team. Didn't say who, but was pretty steadfast in the fact it would be one from that conference. Just looked at Brad's blog page and I don't see where they are supposed to play the Russia U-18 team. Is this a game that was just added recently? Brad has them playing Ferris State the 16th and 17th of December.

I saw Nate Gerbe play for the Buffalo Sabres earlier this year when my wife and I visited her family out in that direction. Of course I was rooting for Drew Stafford (who scored two goals and was the game's #1 star) but the whole fricken game I couldn't forgive Gerbe for that crap that he pulled against us..... Of course he is a fan favorite of my wife's family..... And I had to explain why I shook my head every time he touched the puck....

I am a high school teacher, and this is so true it hurts........You wouldn't believe how many former students I have come back to me and tell me that they "have come back from wherever they started college at (many times because it wasn't the right fit of course), taking a couple courses online, working part time, LIVING WITH MY PARENTS." EDIT* This happens at least 5-6 times a year.

I heard someone say the exact same thing the other day.... I agree with your assessment. By the time it got to McMahon's senior year he played a huge role for the team with faceoffs and enabling the team to play four lines. That being said though, yeah Rodwell will score more!

As long as we're picking most improved for next season I'll throw my hat into the ring. I think Gleason will have a great season. Per Brad it sounds like Gleason will play defense for the most of next season, but I think he'll be a regular in the lineup and put up somewhere near 20 points (with a lot of those coming on the power play). Twenty points may be a bit of a stretch but I think he's capable of being an impact player. In the Rodwell vs. Rowney comparison, I think Rodwell has the bigger impact next season. Although Rowney should have a good season too.

Sad to see him leave, but at the same time he is ready to take the next step. I mean without Frattin this year he was the team MVP. The guy did everything they asked him to, and he was tremendous for the Sioux. I hope he signs with Atlanta....and then gets to play in his hometown when they move to Winnipeg.

This year will be all about defense and goaltending. There are some guys that can score, but I see the Sioux in a lot of 3-2, 2-0 hockey games. With two juniors jumping ship it kind of makes me wonder about a guys like Blood and Eidsness staying. Very glad they're staying though.

Thought the same thing. Its nice to have seniors. A lot of the time nowadays with college hockey you see the two years and out or three years and out. I think we take for granted the value of having senior role players....especially ones that buy into their role by their junior or senior year.

Nothing to do with the Sioux....yet. But I saw that the Force drafted Jordan Nelson from the Alexandria Blizzard who played his high school hockey at Williston High School, and was the North Dakota Senior Athlete of the year last hockey season. Could possibly be the next kid with North Dakota ties after Lamoureax to play for the Sioux. He did have 41 points for a team that wasn't overly talented. I wonder if he's anywhere close to UND's radar.

Agreed with the last two posts. I don't think you can put all of the eggs into the basket with Kristo-Knight-Gregoire on the top line. Put Miller up there, and let Kristo and Grimaldi play together on the second line. If Gleason ends up playing forward I wonder if he becomes a fourth line winger with the Lamoureax line.

I wasn't ripping on the NAHL people. I was just referring to the fact that UND rarely takes players from that league.

I am absolutely amazed that you knew that or found that as quickly as you did. Well done. Both guys didn't see a ton of time for the Sioux. Maybe this means that this guy won't see a ton of time for the Sioux.

Made me laugh... Not surprised the Sioux signed another defenseman. What does surprise me is the kid played the last year in the NAHL. I know he did spend some time in the USHL, but I can't remember the last time a player from the NAHL or formerly the AWHL came directly to UND (help me out here wise Sioux followers)? I wonder why he ended up up in Alaska? I wonder if the size of the kid perked the coaches interest (6'4). Or maybe his plus 18 rating? He did have 90 penalty minutes, so maybe he has a mean streak....

Yeah, there have actually been psychological research studies done with sensation and perception that have tried to prove this theory. Can't remember if they proved or disproved the theory. I want to say that they proved the theory.