#1Hakfan

Stafford played with a a pretty good player named Sidney Crosby. That may have helped his point totals. But I wont take anything away from Stafford he is probably the most talented player in the WCHA this year . He should score over 30 goals this year. Maybe Toews will be his center on the SSM line with Porter or Duncan. I think Toews is going to be comparable to Zack. Also Stafford didn't play on 1st or 2nd line as a freshmen at UND until very late in the season and no powerplay time either.

This is all an act. Dont get your hopes up that he will be back. He is just trying to get more money. Just like Boechenski did last summer.

I think the fact that people on this board including myself are comparing him to Kessel, shows that we know that he will be a great player. I can't wait to see him. I think that if players like Stafford, Spirko, Zajac can have big years that Toews will have a great chance at being rookie of the year in the WCHA. UND was working hard to get him and even though it didn't get the publicty of the Kessel decision, I know it was huge for the Sioux program to get Toews. I cant wait to here it. Heeeeeeeeeeerres your University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux SCORING. Scoring his 4th goal of the year #9 Jonathan Toews, assisted by #22 Brian Lee.

It will help (the western schools) playing better competition, but with the exception of Grand Forks and maybe Grafton the best athletes in other North Dakota cities are not playing hockey. You have to do something to get the younger kids involved in hockey. Look at football. Grand Forks rarely beats the Fargo or Bismark schools. But in hockey it's the other way around. In GF most kids (not all) grow up wanting to play hockey and they become rink rats.

I dont think you can judge Belmore and Manke by last year because they were both so inexperienced, the team really had no running game and there was a lot of inconsistency all season because they rotated 3 QB's all year. I hope one guy steps up and wins the job and is starter all year so he can grow with the offense all year. I dont care who it is, Its just to hard to be consistent when every game you have a new QB.

Two part question. Who will be starting QB to start the season and who will be starting QB at the end of the year? I guess I think That there wilol be a lot of competetion and it wont be one guy all year long. I hope it's not QB by committe, so who do you think will win the job and will they keep it all season?

This is from some Canadien newspaper on Toews leading the Canadien under 18's. Forwards Jonathan Toews of Winnipeg, Brad Marchand of Halifax and Sheppard were among the leading scorers at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Lethbridge, Alta., in January in a tournament that featured regional squads from Canada in an international field. Toews, who will play for the University of North Dakota this fall, was the leading scorer in the tournament and also scored the winning goal for Team West in the final. So the six-foot-two, 185-pound forward is expected to be a top producer for Canada in the Junior World Cup. "There's a lot of pressure to perform, but I don't look at it that way," Toews said. "It's a great opportunity to play with the best players in Canada for my age. "I think our team is going to do great at this tournament. We've got a bunch of hard workers, a bunch of great guys on the team so I'm going to go out there and do the best I can and see what we can do to bring home a gold medal." www.slam.canoe.ca Click on Hockey and scroll down to under 18's

Congrats. Thats Great. He was so loyal to the program. One of my favorite players too.

Almost every player recruited to UND was a scorer when they came here. Canady led his team in scoring(Waterloo). Kaip was a scorer. Fabian was a scorer. It's just that when they get to the next level they may have to change their roles. Maybe for just a year or two, that why I think guy's like Watkins and Duncan wont have to score their first year or two. They will probably kill penalty's and be more like an energy line players. Bryan Lundbom had like 8 points as a freshmen. He ended up scoring over 30 goals his junior year.

Oshie can grind because he is one of the strongest players on his skates. He can play any style. Our regular grinder will be Fabian, Porter, Prpich, Kaip, Foyt and this season some of the incoming freshmen will play the role of grinders or energy players. Guys like Watkins, Duncan and Martens probably wont score much so they will have to play a different role.

They are both great players. when people think of Kessel they remember him blowing by the Swiss defensemen all night long at the world juniors. Those Dman probably couldn't play for Williston High. But Kessel is a great player with Jason Blake type speed and when he is going fast he puts it into a higher gear and can go faster. Toews is a great player, very smart, great passer and yes he is a 88 and Kessel is a 87. I bet if Toews playes with a Spirko or Stafford he will be in the mid to high 50's and flirt with 60. I cant wait to see Toews. Getting to watch players like him is why hockey is the greatest game in the world. Kessel will have a lot of points for sure because of the easy nonconfrence schedule and there power play percentage is always higher because they have more room to work it. He will benefit from playing on an olympic sized ice sheet. But he would also score a lot anywhere he goes because he is good. But don't call him the best american player ever until he has at least one nhl season under his belt. That is insulting to Modano. I suppose in a year or two Jordan Schroeder will commit to Minnesota the gopher fans will think he is the Greatest PLAYER ever.

This will give Ulmer a chance to make the biggs.

I would like to know how many points Gopher fans think Kessel will get next season?

This is from Foxsports.com click on NHL and you will see the story about top sleeper picks. Here are 10 prospects we think could be the sleeper picks of this year's draft. 1. Atlanta Thrashers: 53rd pick, Andrew Kozak, C, South Surrey Eagles (BCHL) Yes, he was drafted in the second round, but many teams had the opportunity to take a flyer on this kid and they might end up regretting it. This slick center with sniper ability had 48 goals and 49 assists in 60 games to lead his team in points in 2004-05. He has exceptional speed and acceleration and could become a menace with the new rules in the NHL. He is headed to the University of North Dakota this fall, and if he can improve his defense and add a little strength while he's there, teams will wonder how he slipped.

Someone tell Ottawa to sign Scott Niedermayer to a 3 year deal.

I forgot that you probably cant beat the rookies incoming in 1978-79. They played in 3 National Championships and won 2. All 6 guys played in the NHL.

I think that this will be one of the best classes ever. It is a lot bigger than you would like, but there is proabably 5 guys that will leave early which is unfortunate, but it should even the classes out in the long run. This class has a little of everything. The top NHL draft Picks and Toews will go in the first round next year. It has a lot of talent, very competetive gritty players that have played and won championships. It has size and speed. It has top end players that will be here 2, 3 years and players that will have great 4 year careers. It's obvious that people didn't realize Oshie's talent until the draft. I know others are going to be shocked at how good Kozek is right away. How nice it will be having Watkins and Duncan for 4 years and the most underated player will be Miller. He wont be an impact player next year, but in the future he will impress you with his hands and how smart he is. He will have a great career and a great power play play maker.

Spirko Zajac Stafford Kozek Toews Porter Prpich Kaip Fabian Watkins Oshie Duncan Martens Foyt Miller Smaby Radke Chorney Lee Finley Jones Marvin Alexander * Chorney and Lee have played together a lot so it would help putting them together at the start of the season.

I bet that Okoposo will be top 10 next year. As for Dowzak, I hope I am wrong, I would love to see a kid from northern Minnesota come to UND and do well, but it seems like his mobility hasn't improved much and his overall skating needs to get better. I am not cutting him down and hopefully after a year in the USHL he proves himself, but right now he will probably end up at a St. Cloud or Duluth.

I think that Dowzaks development has slowed down and that is why no one has picked him up yet. I bet teams wait to see how he does in the Ushl.

I have been reading a lot of stuff on the hockeyfutures.com message boards (I noticed others from this board too) and Its funny to see how shocked some of the fans were at their picks. (I am just talking about the UND players drafted). One great thing I got from reading all the different sites for different NHL teams is the Respect for the University of North Dakota. Most of them sites are Canadien people, who probably believe that all of the best players in the world come from the CHL, so it was fun to see their reaction and to see the respect and trust they have in their future players going to UND for their development.

How come he didn't get his own thread? Greg Beller went 178th in 6th round to the Rangers. This kid is so underated. Some school should pick him up. How about UND...............

I didn't know that the resort on lake Bemidji has a Football team?

I guess that I was off on this prediction back in may.

One thing about Brian Lee is that he is very loyal. He could have left Moorhead the past two seasons to play at Shattuck, Lincoln or the USDTP in Ann Arbor. He was loyal to the Moorhead program and to his buddies. He wanted so badly to win a State Championship. I bet he stays at UND for 2 years for sure.