spfreak

I just got home from watching the morning games at the midget tourney. I left after the 2nd period of the Shattuck slaughter. I thought that Erik Haula was one of the best players on the ice. Looks really strong on his skates, good size, nice skills. Fallstrom was also impressive. Iwouldn't mind having either of those guys at UND in the next couple years. Nolan Zajac is much improved this year over last. Still seems a little raw and not too physical but pretty good with the puck and also skating. I was hoping that Rocco Grimaldi was going to play for Little Caesars but he didn't (is he injured)? That was my opinion on how the players looked. Take it with a grain of salt though as I am far from an expert. USA, were you there this morning? If so what did you think of these players?

I know that Michael Parks is playing AAA midget hockey this year. He just committed so maybe it is him just visiting for the hell of it.

I would tend to disagree that Lapoint is a disappointment this year. I feel like he is much improved over last year both in awareness and physicality. I know that he has some improving to do but I see no reason that he won't make those improvements in the next year or two.

I was one of the people that wanted UND to hire Steve Johnson when the women's job opened up. Now looking back I am glad that they hired Idalski. I have never been this excited about the women's team. They actually are moving forward rather than backwards or treading water as in the past. From 2 years ago to now there has been a 180 degree turnaround in the way the team is playing and I look forward to the rest of this year and many future years of contention for league titles and hopefully national prominence. They are finally playing with a plan rather than whatever it was that Rivard was doing. To say that Idalski needs to be fired or "can't get the job done"is ridiculous and completely moronic. You have earned a spot on my blocked users list soohockey15.

I didnt see any mention of this so far so I thought I would make a thread for it. Brad's blog has a little writeup but he says he will have more tomorrow. http://westerncollegehockey.blogspot.com/2...e-to-sioux.html It sounds like he could be a good pickup in a couple years when he gets to campus. We have some good classes coming in the next couple years.

LaDouceur ended up with a couple black eyes and most likely a broken nose out of the deal. I know that UND was looking at Ryan when he was still at Red River. I am not sure if that has changed.

I know that we are going after Hartzell to some extent as we are one of his 3 or 4 finalists.

That was the best I have seen the Sioux play, ever. One question though. Do the Sioux get a point because of losing in a shootout? I thought I remembered that that was the rule that they would use but wanted to make sure.

They both are receiving some interest. Meland has been getting regular calls from the coaching staff. He already has some offers from Ivy League schools. Ladouceur has also gotten some pretty solid interest from what I have heard. Both players will play for Lincoln next year.

Does anyone know why Mike Cichy isn't in the rankings? Apparently despite a pretty good year in the USHL he didn't crack them or am I missing something as to the reason?

Hopefully he makes a full and speedy recovery. It will be great to see him out on the ice again, whenever it happens. Get better soon, Tom, we're all pulling for you.

Colton St. Clair is committed to CC for 2010.

I would have to say that my favorite is Karl. I loved watching him play. The first time he came in as a freshman (I believe it was in a game at CC), no one seemed to know what to expect except that he was so small. Then he made a lightning fast glove save over his head and a few others and everyone realized that he was going to be something special. Good times. I always had confidence that he would make the saves. I know there are a lot of Parise lovers on the board but I never was comfy with him in the net. He seemed reckless at times and let in some softies. I am too young to remember much about Belfour or Casey or that era of goalies.

The only reason the RLR rankings are the way they are and the reason that Ohio State is ranked so high is because I believe they only use the draft eligible players that are coming in. For the Sioux that would exclude Eidsness, Gregoire, Hextall, Lamoureux, Blood, Bruneteau etc. So I don't put much weight into those rankings. I will wait for the preseason rankings in August or September. I don't expect Ohio State to be anywhere near 2nd place at that point.

Please No!!!

He is a 20 year old and there is a limit on "overage" players in MJ's so that may have played a part in it. As far as the USHL prohibiting MJ players, they don't. Last year Lincoln had a forward that had played MJ's.

I know that UND is keeping an eye on Meland and is very interested in LaDouceur. Meland has gotten interest from Connecticut as well as Princeton. Harvard hasnt shown interest as of yet from what I heard. I don't know who else has shown interest in LaDouceur.

Nm, just looked in the prospective recruits thread.

Did Budish commit elsewhere? Or are we not one of the schools that he is interested in anymore?

He is Craig's son as far as I know.

Yeah, Michigan got Jon Merrill to commit at 14 years 9 months I believe. Garret Clarke is 15 years 2 months right now. However Clarke would definitely be the youngest player to commit to the Sioux. I believe Kristo was the youngest and he had just turned 16 when he committed..

Clarke is listed at 5'10'' and I think 170. Being that he just turned 15 on November 3rd, I would think that he would most likely grow some more over the next couple of years. He is listed as a 2011 recruit on Heisenberg's site.

I noticed Landman a lot during the games at the Ralph a few weeks back. He is a good one to watch. Other than Landman and Hebel, I don't know that there are any uncommitted players that will get a long look at this point from upper end D1 schools.

Never ever wash a game worn jersey. Personally, I hate when people wear them as well but that is up to the person who paid a premium to get it whether they want the jersey to remain in the game worn condition that they received it in. Put it in a frame on the wall.