Rick

Well this is all good and well, but I'm worried about that dark shadow back in the grassy knoll area.

Even though this is disappointing for Chucko, there is a silver lining.....now he can get back to Dinkeytown, get his wig out, and party at Blarney's over the holiday season with his fellow (and future) teammates.

Actually, UND did want Ryan Potulny and actively recruited him. But there was no room on the roster to offer Grant Potulny a scholarship. I believe that was the year that the Sioux recruited Josh Olsen. If the coaches had known that Olsen was going to bolt for Major Juniors rather than play college hockey they might have recruited Grant P. Blaiser readily admits they made a mistake in not recruiting him, but at the time the Sioux had other needs. Irmen's had a chip on his shoulder ever since the Sioux passed him over. He felt he should have been offered a scholarship but the Sioux had other priorities. He should get over it and move on. I can't think of a Sioux player from the MSP area that has carried a chip on his shoulder like Irman has. I guess UND hasn't had players on it's roster as a result of the Gophers passing them over for quite some time. All of the MSP and Minnesota kids (Z Parise, Brady Murray, Smaby, Finley, Stafford, Chorney, Lee, etc) who are playing and/or played for the Sioux are kids that the Gophers heavily recruited but they chose UND, so I guess there was no reason for them to carry around a chip. Matt Henderson is probably the last player that wanted to play for the Gophers but the Gophers didn't want him. So Billy Butters called Blaiser and Henderson walked on at UND and did quite well. He was the main cog in the Sioux winning the '97 National Championship. But he didn't carry a chip on his shoulder for four years (or even one year). He realized very quickly that the Gophers passing him over was a blessing in disguise. Maybe Irman needs to plow into a goal at the end of this season to exorcize the demons he's carrying.

I agree with your list: A

Another way to think about it----->Toews will play his entire freshman season as a 17 year old. Kessel will play his entire freshman season as an 18 year old. I wonder when the last time someone as young as Toews played college hockey?

Actually, that's not an observation that originated here. I was just repeating what I was told by someone who's job is to evaluate talent for the NHL level. He said it's a well known fact that the Sioux take players like Commodore, Jones, Greene, Smaby, Lee & Finley and prepare them better for the NHL than any other college program in the country. He said there are several things that figure into the equation: (1) The REA and it's training facilities, (2) The Pro-like atmosphere surrounding the Sioux program, (3) Hakstol and Berry are recognized as the best at advancing the skills of these types of players.

You know, it was a pretty sly move on Blaisers part to take Zach just so he could later recruit and sign Jordan.

Joe Finley was also projected as a 3rd round pick. Then he committed to UND and jumped up to a 1st rounder. Brad Berry and Dave Hakstol have acquired quite a reputation for taking big defensemen and developing them into NHL ready defensemen. I heard this from an NHL Director of Scouting, GM and coach at the Frozen Four last spring. NHL teams know that UND develops defensemen better than any college hockey program in the country. The word has spread to players also. That's one of the reasons Finley picked UND. He knew the Sioux coaches would do the best job of preparing him for the next level. If Finley had picked the other school he was considering, he most likely would have remained a 3 round pick. That's also one of the reasons Brian Lee picked UND. Right now, UND pretty much gets their pick of the big skilled defensemen. Lee and Finley are to two most recent. Dowzak would have been another one to pick UND, but unfortunately college didn't turn out to be the best route for him. If Gryba picks UND, it will be interesting to see where he goes in the NHL draft.

There is a major difference in Zajac's upper body since last spring. He's added a lot of muscle and upper body size. He was a major force as a freshman last year and with the added size and muscle, he should be even better this year. That's the good news. Now the bad.....I talked with Lou Lamoriello at the Frozen Four last spring and he was drooling over Zajac then, so how will the we ever keep him away from New Jersey and with the Sioux for a 3rd year?

Don't know about Sparky, but Toews has one brother and Zajac has 3 brothers.

I'd find a different benchmark if I were you.

Although a lot of variables can enter in, we could possibly make a Toews/Stafford comparison. As a senior with SSM, Stafford had 116 points. I believe Toews had very close to that total last year at SSM as a senior (although he accelerated, so that would have really been his junior year). Stafford was still 17 years old when he started school at UND, but turned 18 in October of that year. Toews won't turn 18 until his freshmen hockey season is over. Stafford had 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points his first season with the Sioux, so maybe that's a realistic goal for Toews.

Do you have permission from the NCAA to use that term? Doreen McFeely could read this board and be offended by that type of reference. Note: You're probably aware that Doreen McFeely writes a column for the Grand Forks Herald and Fargo Forum.

I think we have to try to keep everything in perspective. It's hard not to have high expectations for him, but we have to remember that he just turned 17 three months ago. He will play his entire 1st year of college hockey as a 17 year old. Over the years, UND has probably had more 17 year old players than any other school, and it's been a difficult transition for most of them. I've been told that what sets Toews apart from others is that he excels at every part of the game, not just the offensive end. His play along the boards and away from the puck is as good as it gets. This, along with his leadership and offensive abilities, is what will separate him from the other high profile recruits. But we'll need to give him time to adjust to this level of hockey.

Yes, he must have been trying to get back to the bench very quickly. You'll notice as Sparky is giving high fives as he skates in front of the Sioux bench, Harrington is heading to the Gopher bench. If you look closely enough, you can see that Harrington has his jock in his hand and is also holding up his breezers

By making comparisons to Bochenski above, I'm not saying I think Oshie will duplicate what Bochenski did his first year. Bochenski had a year of USHL hockey after graduating from high school, so I think it would be unfair to expect Oshie to do that. But if he can contribute like Spirko did last year I think we'll all be happy.

Just to clarify where I'm coming from on Oshie. A couple years ago, a good friend and former Hockey Olympic Gold Medalist from Warroad started telling me about TJ Oshie. This started before Oshie announced he was going to UND. After Oshie made his choice of schools public, we would talk about him quite a bit. He's had a lot of opportunity to watch Oshie and he keeps talking about the skills this kid possesses. I would ask about his skating because some of the experts on the message boards questioned that part of his game. I asked him to compare Oshie to Bochenski, I told him I wouldn't mind having another bad skater like Bochenski playing for the Sioux. He told me that Oshie is a good skater and that he has terrific hands and hockey sense. He said that because of his size, other players assume they can knock him off the puck or put the big check on him. He said that other players also try to run at him, but because of Oshies great lower body strength, (he has very strong legs) it's always the other player who goes on his butt. He feels Oshie will be able to pick corners like Bochenski did. He also like to talk about how the puck always seems to follow Oshie around. The other thing he says when he's talking about Oshie is what a great kid he is and how humble he is. I say this just so you're not thinking everyone just recently jumped on the band wagon. Guys like The Sicatoka, pcm, dagies, jk, Scott Murphy, Clayton H and several others have been aware of Oshies skills for a couple years.

I agree, I'll be surprised if Oshie isn't on one of the top two lines most of the year.

His development hasn't slowed down at all. He's on a fast track to the NHL and every college that has a hockey team would like to pick him up, but you have to remember that he just finished his junior year of high school. Schools haven't even been able to approach him yet. Hopefully he'll make the right choice when the time comes.

If Bjorkman would have even been close to offering the same as the Gophers, Broten would have been a Sioux. But Rube was sure he could get him "on the cheap" because he was the former Roseau Rams coach and resident and knew the Brotens real well. It's too bad because UND had Kevin Maxwell (Chilliwack, B.C.) coming in also. Kevin had 82 points his freshman year as a Sioux and beat out Broten as the WCHA Rookie of the Year. Maxwell only played one year of college before turning pro. He and Broten would have been terrific together.

Actually, Rube Bjorkman was the coach for the Sioux when Neal was being recruited. Bjorkman is the guy that will be remembered for not offering Neal a full scholarship. Rube was from Roseau and felt he could get Neal to sign at UND without offering him much. The Brotens didn't have a lot of money so when Rube wouldn't offer more than half a scholarship Neal took a full ride to Minnesota. It's too bad UND didn't change coaches a year earlier, because Gino would most likely have made Broten a Fighting Sioux. Had that happened, Butsy Erickson, Paul and Aaron Broten would have followed Neal to UND.

Apparently the picture was taken just prior to Al buying his new hat. While it certainly looks like Al, I'm a little skeptical since I don't see a keg anywhere.

I'm talking about the younger looking guy behind Al Pearson.

I believe that's PCM in back of, and to the left of the Babe. You can only see his head.