I Ranger

Olson will be here next year as he will be too old to play another year of juniors. It will be interesting to see who they bring in other than Olson, Simonson and Schmaltz at forward.

Last scheduled games are Saturday and they will head to Sochi Sunday.

I have to comment on the bolded statement above and totally disagree with you as I can't think of another Sioux team that had as much defensive depth and completeness as that one. They were 8 D deep with Genoway-MacWilliam, Blood-Forbort, Marto-LaPoint, and Simpson-Gleason and the mix between big defensive D-men and strong skating offensive D-men was there. In my opinion, I would take the 11 team over the 04 team due to depth throughout the lineup. The 11 team was 4+ forward lines and 8 D deep. That team was made to win it all and it still stings me that they couldn't find a way to score on that little Michigan goalie.

I agree there should have been a call on the DU player as well if not the only call but like Schlossman said, the reffing wasn't' a strong point of the game saturday.

It was the penalty on Caggulia that O'Donnell was shown yelling at the ref. Not the greatest call by any stretch but Caggulia was holding the D's stick.

The conversation should include Caggulia as well and it should be pretty simple. You have to stop jumping when you hit someone. I think we are lucky that neither of these guys have gotten a major for contact to the head.

That very well could be true. I didn't hear it first hand but was told of it happening. I have my doubts as well since it would seem quite odd any coach would say something like that.

To expand further on what I mentioned in my previous post, someone I know ran into the Archibald's on the journey home from Omaha and asked why he went to UNO. The answer was simply UND wasn't interested and Eades told him he wasn't good enough to play Division I hockey.

I have also heard that our previous associate head coach told him that he wasn't good enough to play division I hockey. If UND was going to offer, it wasn't going to be while he was in high school. He was going to need to prove himself in the USHL.

Looks like we need two wins to set us up decently for the stretch run. Can't really afford a loss let alone two.

He is a Gopher committ so I would say no. I think I read something when he committed that he was a Gopher fan and I don't know if it mentioned if the Sioux were in on him or not.

I've wondered if these two, along with Charlie Pelnik, will ever make it to campus. They all can play another year of juniors with Voltin and Pelnik still eligible for two more I believe. It seems like these three have been committed forever.

With Tambo leaving, I wonder if Hak and the boys go hard/harder after Cameron Hughes? Obviously it opens up scholarship money immediately that wasn't available. I would like to see the kid end up here just based on what I have read and the teams that are after him.

I think this really is a set back for next year's team that was shaping up to be pretty talented. He reminded me of Brock Nelson his freshman year although less talented. You can see the skill but he just needs to put on some weight and get stronger. His development was on the same path if you ask me. Remember Brock didn't do a whole lot his freshman year all but on a pretty loaded team.

On head scratchers for other countries, how about Sweden leaving off Hedman and Brodin on D when their D isn't all that strong and Semin being left off Russia. The Czechs left of some NHL talent forwards as well for a country not all that strong at the forward position. Hopefully it all plays out well for the USA!

At first glance, I really like the looks of the Swedish team especially up front. If Lundquist is his usually self, they will be tough to beat.

It sounds like Hughes will be visiting Wisconsin this weekend and that they have a good chance of landing him. UMD and UND are also interested but it looks like Wisconsin is the favorite because they need forwards badly for next year and can offer 2014 whereas UND would likely be 2015 and I'm not sure on UMD.

I was thinking the same thing. I like the lines other than Panzarella in on the wing. I would rather have Murphy in there without a doubt. I just don't like playing a D at forward especially one with very little offensive ability.

Yes he didn't have a good year last year but it is looking like he is going to have to play a top 6 role this year. He is far from our most underwhelming forward to date. This year's forward group is going to have to find their roles and I don't see this team having any chance if Pattyn is one of our top 6 forwards. He is and always will be a third/fourth line penalty kill guy at best and I know he is playing that role due to injury which is why we need to get healthy fast.

Fixed your post above on the lines from 2011-12. We were short two forwards so Gleason played on the third line with Mario and Pattyn and Gaarder and Senkbeil were on the fourth line with someone double shifting usually Nelson. As far as the Nelson vs. Rocco comparison realize the difference between the twos linemates. As evidenced by Friday night this past weekend, Rocco has to carry the load whereas Nelson had great talent around him with Knight and Kristo. Big difference but they are totally different players.

I'm not exactly sure but I believe Wisconsin is and I know they have forward spots available for next year.

Anyone have any insight on whether or not we are interested Cameron Hughes? I've heard many big schools are after him but many, like UND, don't have any spots open for next year. Maybe he could be a replacement for Gropp?

I'm with you. There are 4 guys in the lineup tonight that I would prefer St. Clair over. I like his game especially as a penalty killer.

Tough to say but if Drake is able to go I like the lines from the Miami series. I don't see any real weak lines with Tambellini-Cagguila-Grimaldi, Parks-MarkMac-O'Donnel, Murphy-Johnson-Chyzk, Gaader-Pattyn-St. Clair. I could see Rodwell working his way onto that fourth line possibly and maybe Mitch in instead of Chyzk on the third.

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