Rick

I believe Eades comes in for his interview on Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed over Sunday night and was introduced as the new assistant on Monday. I'll also predict, if it does turn out to be Cary, UND will win another WCHA title next spring and go very deep into the NCAA's. I wonder if Mike Prpich has seen the tape of the early '80's UND/Wisc water bottle game? If Cary is hired, he would end up being the forwards coach. It could be a real interesting year with Cary coaching Mike.

It's been a busy summer and I don't get much time to read the message boards so I somehow missed the news that Roche was traded. It must have happened soon after the weddings because the guys there didn't know anything about it. Hopefully he will get his shot at the NHL now. Clayton, it's a late summer Friday afternoon. There shouldn't be any fallout today. Anyway, I'm just repeating what was told by Gopher parents/players.

If Roche can get out of the Wild organization he will be fine. He is playing extremely well for the Houston Aeros. Several weeks ago I was at a wedding. Some of Roche's teammates and a person within the Wild organization was there also. His problem is that he somehow got into Jacques Lameire's doghouse, and I was told that once you get into his doghouse it is impossible to get out. His teammates said they are amazed at what Travis can do on the ice. It sounded like he is dominating at the AHL level like he did when he was at UND. If he can somehow get traded, I suspect we would see him in the NHL. That same day, there was also a wedding ( former Gopher Reggie Berg) in The Cities at the Basilica. Lots of talk about Vaneks attitude issues and the things he did last year. There isn't a lot of sympathy for him in his inability to secure a deal from Buffalo. I think the best thing that could happen, if your a Sioux fan, would be for Vanek to be left with no other choice than to return to college. He doesn't want to do that and his attitude would probably be worse than last year. He was a handful for the captains and the coaches last winter.

No, TB and friends don't care about UND, but they all have to answer to one guy, and he very much cares about UND. TC will make sure everything done at REA is in the best interest of UND. If it means TB needs to go, he'll be gone. We'll see shortly. No matter what happens, don't think for a minute that TC is going to allow any REA funds to go to anything other than for the betterment of UND. If funneling most of the REA revenue to pay for The Betty and other UND sports facilities is best for UND in the long run, that's what TC will do. TC was Ralph Engelstads most trusted UND advisor. You can bet that nothing is happening (regarding REA) without the blessing of TC. He'll make the changes that are necessary. We don't have to lay awake at night worrying about it.

Actually, I should re-phrase that: Once it became clear that Roger and I weren't going to come to terms on long-term contract, I then fully supported his decision. There were just too many hurdles to overcome....the signing bonus, the annuity, annual salary, piece of the REA action, car, boat, etc. Roger just failed to see what I could bring to the table (ice).

Great post Canuck. I'd like to add a little: Last winter, Blaiser told me that Hak was ready to be a Head Coach at a top program and he hoped Dave would get a chance soon. He said that, like Sandy was 3 years ago, Dave is the best candidate to move to the next level. I too remember all the screaming when Tom Clifford gave the job to Gino instead of taking the sure thing in Harkness. I wouldn't be surprised if RT had a conversation or two with the Master (Clifford) over the last couple of days. I suspect there are about 5 guys RT consulted with before he came to this conclusion. I doubt that one of those six is currently in the Alumni Office though. If Blaisers departure had happened 4 years ago and RT would have done a national search to find the best candidate, and what if that candidate would have turned out to be someone with a great resume, with WCHA or college head coaching experience? They hire the outside guy, Sandy moves on to UMD, does a remarkable turn-around and takes the Bulldogs to the National Championship game in three years. We'd be calling for RT's head because he didn't give the job to Sandy, even though he didn't have the head coaching experience at the time. Many recruits came here to play for the best coach in college hockey. He is moving on to the next level and he's told me quite a few times that Hak and Brad Berry are the two best assistants in the country. Over the last 3 years, Blaiser has had to devote a lot of time to "out-of-hockey" issues. During that time, he has relied heavily on Hak and Brad to pick up more and more of the hockey coaching/operations. I think that is one of the reasons that Hak is ready to continue on without us, as fans, noticing much of a difference in the on-ice performance of the team. Another question will be......will they be able to attract the top recruits without Blaiser? That will be tough, because recruits like Zach Parise look at the head coach and want to know if he will be able to prepare him best for the next level. Zach came to UND because he knew that nobody prepares you for the NHL like Dean Blais. But when a recruit would talk to Blaiser about this, Blaiser would talk to the recruit about being coached by guys like Hak and Brad Berry. He would talk about their playing experience in the NHL and how that experience will best prepare them for the next level. Not all programs have great assistants with NHL experience. I don't think recruiting will fall off at all. I believe that once Hak and Berry announce their first few recruits, most of us, and the opposing fans, will say...."how did they pull that one off, I didn't think they'd be able to land him without Blaiser being there". The only disappointment for me in this process was there were no rumors being circulated about me being on the short list. Once it became clear that RT wasn't going to give me the call, I fully supported his choice.

I've never seen Mario play so I don't know about him. But I saw the other two play quite a few times last year for the Bismarck team. They both have a ways to go. But they were the two youngest players on the team by far. They were the only two players with '86 & '87 birth years. All the other players on the team were '83s, '84s & '85s.

POI

Source = Vanek Teammates. Just ask them, they're not too shy about telling what they think of him.

Sorry if I hit a nerve. But I do have a clue about the talent level there. If you played for Springfield I most likely saw you play last winter. What number were you? I watched approximately 40 NAHL games. I also was at the NAHL Fall Showcase in Blaine, MN and the Windy City Showcase in Orland Park, IL in January. I don't want to argue with you about the talent level in Georgia. I'm sure there are some talented hockey players there. Brad Miller has all the skills to play D1 hockey, But, if you ask any scout why he isn't ready at this point, they will tell you he needs to figure out how to put all the skills into a total package and he needs to figure out how to play with a team full of players that will be at least as talented as he is. They will tell you that's the result of not having the talent around as you were progressing through the levels. Again, I'm sure you have talented players in Georgia, maybe just not enough of them.

Brad Miller is extremely talented. The reason he has to play Juniors is because he has always played on teams in Georgia where he was “the only player”. They had no other players to put around him, so he never learned how to play with other talented guys. He isn't lacking "any" skills. Once he figures out how to put all the pieces together, and how to play with other talented players, he will be a great college player. He is a great kid and works hard. It's only a matter of time.

There PCM goes again.....clouding the obvious with facts.

I think VandeVelde is much like Brad Miller (the SSM forward who committed earlier). Both are great skaters with speed, real good shot, great puck skills, etc. Once they learn how to put the total package together, they will be great players. They are highly skilled with all the tools, they just have to figure out how to put all the pieces together. They both have a tremendous, almost unlimited, upside and that's why several of the top programs wanted to get them committed early. My guess is that Brad Miller will be with the Sioux a year from this fall. VandeVelde will most likely be with them the year after that.

I see the Bison folks still have a serious case of Sioux envy. I thought it might end once they made it to the "big-time". Or maybe D1 Midgets isn't as "big-time" as they were led to believe. Why are you concerned with the Sioux and their facilities? You're going to be playing at St. Mary's of Cal and all the rest of those big-time programs.

I posted this on the hockey board, but I thought I would add something on the end for our NDSU folks. I

I

In this case, hair was the difference between winning and losing. Donny Adam and other WCHA ref's didn't like Commodore, or his hair, and I suspect sent Mike to the penalty box more than once on a "hairy" call.

I don't think that's the consensus at all. He may end up play MJ's, but I don't think he is leaning one way or the other right now. I would say.....if you see him in a USHL uniform next fall, get ready to watch him play college hockey. Drew Stafford scored 116 points for Shattuck last year. Toews will probably equal that as a 10th grader this year. Parise played college hockey, and Danny Bertram decided to take the college route. Toews just might decide to do it also. This kid has way more skills than Wheeler, so given the choice of recruiting one over the other, I think I would spend my time with Toews.

Yes, Spirko should be at UND this fall. Another player to watch from Shattuck is Jonathan Toews (pronounced Tase). He's from Winnipeg and has 108 points as a 10th grader and has the skills of Zach Parise. But he is bigger than Zach. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to the USHL next year. I believe he is projected as the #1 pick in the Major Junior Draft so it will probably be difficult to keep him here. But nobody will prepare him better for the NHL than Blaiser.

We had the opportunity to watch Zach play in the Windy City Showcase back in January. He is a very skilled defenseman and Matt has said that Zach is better than he was at a similar age. So that says a lot, unless Matt is being a nice older brother, which wouldn't surprise me because Matt is one my all-time favorite Sioux players. Not only in terms of hockey skills, but he is a terrific young man also. I saw Zach was at the Final Five in St. Paul, so he had a chance to see what kind of following the Sioux Hockey Team has on the road. Hopefully he was impressed. Probably the most impressive player on the USNDT I saw was Jack Johnson. I believe he is going to Michigan. This guy should be an instant star. Another player I thought would stand out was Ryan Stoa. But in the three games I saw he did not look very good. He's a big kid and maybe it will take some time for him. There was another kid who is committed to the Gophers that looked good. I can't remember his name right now, but I think he was only a 10th grader.

This isn't really a surprise, but I see that future Sioux Travis Zajac was selected as the Interior MVP for the BCHL. MVP - INTERIOR - TRAVIS ZAJAC - SALMON ARM COASTAL - KEVIN LACHANCE - COWICHAN ROOKIE - INTERIOR - JUSTIN ST LOUIS - TRAIL COASTAL - RAYMOND SAWADA - NANAIMO TOP DMAN - INTERIOR - CRAIG SWITZER - SALMON ARM COASTAL - DOUG KRANTZ - ALBERNI TOP SCORER - KYLE GREENTREE - VICTORIA MOST SPORTSMANLIKE - INTERIOR - KEENAN HOPSON - PG COASTAL - BROCK BRADFORD - COQUITLAM COACH - INTERIOR - RICK PITTA - WILLIAMS LAKE COASTAL - SCOTT ROBINSON - COWICHAN TOP GOALTENDER - DENNIS BERUBE - NANAIMO TOP GOALTENDER DUO - DENNIS BERUBE, JEFF PASEMKO - NAN TOP GOALTENDERS - INTERIOR - PETER VITRI - WL COASTAL - CURTIS DARLING - CHILLIWACK

siouxnami....I have no idea. Typically, the coaches don't even know how long someone might stay. In the case of Spirko, maybe Jeff Panzer would be a good comparison. Because of his size, he ended up staying four years. I doubt that Spirko will be another Panzer, but I'm told that he has tremendous hockey skills. BTW....none of those observations were mine. They actually came from several people who know something about hockey. No, not PCM.

It would be interesting to know how they go about making their picks. I guess we