keikla

No one was noticeable all weekend (at least in a positive light). He was good as a freshman and good at the beginning of this season. Yes, he needs to work on consistency, as does everyone on the team. But he has the offensive upside to be more than 'a role player at best.'

I realize that OD isn't exactly the next Kristo. But anyone who was at Saturday's game at BU would disagree with your statement that he 'gives you very little.' OD was absolutely dynamic in that game...you noticed him every single time he stepped on the ice. And he's one of the few guys consistently showing up on the score sheet. This isn't the OD of last year; I think we should give him a little bit more credit.

Sorry; the third sentence wasn't geared at you specifically. It seems every fall the wheels fall off, and this team won't amount to anything, and this and that. That sentence was pointed at the multitudes of doom-sayers who come out every fall. And, before I get jumped on, I'm not saying that this team doesn't deserve some criticism, especially after seeing the difference between their play on Friday and Saturday nights at BU. I just tend to give them a little bit longer to get their stuff together before flying off the edge.

They certainly weren't a #1 seed before going into the Final 5. But winning that tourney had a way of boosting middle-of-the-pack teams to the top.

It was the 11-12 team, and they were a #1 seed. The Sioux got 'rewarded' for their #1 seed by playing Minnesota in St. Paul (after beating Western Michigan).

November 2011. UND started 4-7-1 that year. Translation: back away from the ledge and give the team a little time to figure it out. That 2011 team ended up as a #1 seed and won the Final Five. Note: total credit to Schloss for looking up the info and sending out into the twitter world (though the 'translation' was from yours truly).

Thoughts from Saturday's game (in person): 1) In hindsight, I should have been a lot harsher regarding Friday night's performance. This was a whole different team out there. 2) LOVE the OD, Grimaldi, Caggiula line. We already knew the latter two had chemistry, and OD was a great compliment to that. 3) OD was absolutely amazing. He made you take notice every time he was on the ice...tons of jump and determination. Despite a stellar performance, I'm not convinced that he's 100% yet. He was grimacing and slowly shaking his legs out in between whistles. Of course part of that could be due to exhaustion from not playing in awhile. 4) I don't understand how a program like BU is only pulling 4400 fans for a Saturday night game. I realize that there are a lot of other sports teams in the area competing for attention, but Boston needs to wake up. They're missing out on a gem right there. 5) As a whole, I thought the 4th line was effective. That being said, I was surprised to see them get ice time during OT. Most of the puck possession BU had during OT was while that line was on the ice. 6) The puck possession in this game was absolutely ridiculous. The Sioux had control for large stretches of time. It's no wonder that they put so many shots on goal. At the end of the third period, BU had 25 total shots. The Sioux had 23 shots in the third period alone. 7) In some respects, the officiating was slightly better than Friday night (at least BU got called for more than 1 penalty). That being said, it was still ridiculously bad. A broken stick does not automatically signify that it was slashed. Seriously. And that was just one of many. 8) Pattyn needs to stay out of the box. That being said, he was excellent in this game and not just because of the goal. It was fun to see him and O'Connor yapping at each other throughout the game. 9) The times at which the Sioux scored showed a lot of resilience. BU's second goal felt back-breaking, because UND had already been dominating play but had little to show for it. But the boys didn't let it shake them; they came back and scored immediately after. 10) I think the team deserved better than a tie. But hopefully they build on this game and are able to find some consistency. On the plus side, I'm pretty sure this was the first Saturday night this season that the team didn't lose.

Thoughts from the game (in person): 1) the Sioux applied good pressure for the first five minutes. After that, it definitely dropped off, which I guess is expected when you're constantly a man down. 2) Some of the penalties called on the Sioux were borderline. And that's fine if you want to call borderline penalties, you just have to do it on both teams. There was a tripping no call just moments before BU's second goal (among many other non-calls). 3) the Sioux lost a lot of 1 on 1 battles. While I certainly don't think this game was nearly as bad as many on this board are making it out to be, that was frustrating to see. 4) I missed Jake Marto tonight; he was the one defenseman I would trust more than any other to handle a 2 on 1. Mattson...not so much. 5) This team is not good enough offensively to have average goaltending. 6) Schmaltz took a dumb penalty with an offensive zone slash, but his steady improvement is still apparent. He also almost killed me tonight. With about five minutes left, he sent the puck into the stands, and it missed my head by just a few inches. Some other guy earlier wasn't so lucky, as a puck deflected off his head. 7) Drake and Rocco have so much chemistry and talent. That didn't show a ton tonight, but when it was 4 on 4, the two of them had some impressive puck possession going in the offensive zone. 8) I tend to find Boston sports fans (any Boston based sports team) to be ridiculously obnoxious. This opinion was reaffirmed many times tonight. If you think I complained about calls, you should go to a CC game. 9) I met a ton of Sioux fans, all of whom were incredibly friendly. While chatting with one woman, I asked if she lived out here or came out from North Dakota. When she said she lived in Maine, I told her I did too. Then she asked if I was 'keikla on Siouxsports.' I was simultaneously proud and totally weirded out that she knew who I was! 10) The BU student section rocks. The band was excellent, and the students were lively with good cheers. Even though I wish the Sioux had silenced them early, it was fun to watch them from an objective standpoint. 11) I missed the third BU goal (the one called off) because I got stuck in the slowest beer line ever. The arena was great, but they definitely need some TVs in the concourse.

I think you hit the nail on the head with that assessment.

I figured it was an NCAA restriction, not university specific.

I don't think that's the case. Maybe only a certain number of players are allowed to travel. If you can bring more than are healthy enough to play (but not everyone), I would at least reward the ones who consistently made the line-up before their injuries by bringing them. Rodwell didn't make the line-up when healthy; I wouldn't expect him to make the trip if injured. At least the other three players mentioned here were in the line-up before they were sidelined by injuries.

Sounds good to me

Great! At the moment she's at the window freaking out because she can hear geese flying by outside. She's definitely a hunting dog, through and through! Thankfully, only about 6 hours each way this time!

Yep. I'm in Section 102 on Friday night and 105 on Saturday.

1) This is my third day of being a dog owner, and she sleeps on the floor right beside me all night long. 2) I get to see my best friend today!! (We haven't lived near each other for 7 years now) 3) This is turning into an amazing road trip; 9 days in, 2 or 3 more to go!

Haha yep. We were right there in the corner for that goal, and we all looked at each other and said, "What the hell was that?"

I'm pretty sure I've heard several current and former players state in interviews that they love the business-like approach. The majority of them reached this place in hockey because they've worked their butts off, and they will likely continue to do so, even if Hak has a more laid back approach. I'm also fairly certain that Hak's 'business-like' approach was in place back when Trupp went lacrosse-style at the Final Five. Being 'business-like' in mindset and being able to adequately use creativity and skills in play are not mutually exclusive.

Yes, Zane gave up a weak goal. But he also earned the respect of a lot of us last night. When Zane lost his helmet, it took the officials FOREVER to blow the whistle. Meanwhile, rather than trying to put his helmet back on, Zane followed the puck and squared himself to make the save. It was quite possible that he could have taken a puck to the face, but he still followed through until the whistle blew. Mad respect for that.

I thought about mentioning today's 2+ hours spent in Toronto rush hour traffic in the other thread, but then I remembered that I'm still on my way to a Sioux hockey series. And to get a dog.

My road trip for Omaha starts in less than 24 hours!!!!!

I love Prpich and Hextall stories. As fans, we tend to assume (or at least I did), that they only chirp the opposing players. But they chirped opposing coaches as well. I remember hearing the story about how Hextall would yell something about Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig whenever he skated past Scott Owens at CC; I could not stop laughing. Owens has said that he thought it was pretty hilarious, too.

Agreed; especially if we keep seeing them in post-season play.

That's a great TOP line. Thank you, thank you; I'll be here all week.

I'm getting a dog in two weeks!!!!

I don't think there's anything to read into it; just had to make room for Sanderson and Rodwell to get some ice time. I know it doesn't count since it's an exhibition game, but it was fun to see Sanderson score. You could tell all the guys were pumped for him.