Stack

Just saw this on USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/m/ch/?data=preview He picks Bemidji to win 5-2 and 4-3. I guess he thinks UND is not very good. I also think it's time for this team to step up and it begins with a sweep of Bemidji State this weekend.

I've got us splitting every series the rest of the way: CC 44 UMN 40 UW 38 Denver 37 UND 29 UMD 26 AA 21 SCSU 20 Mankato 19 MTech 6 If this is what happens we would still get home ice for the playoffs but would play a dangerous Duluth team.

I edited my first post and changed Miller and took out Oshie and Vandevelde.

One thing I've noticed is that we have sort of turned into Minnesota of the Doug Woog years. We have begun to recruit a lot of kids right out of high school and they are coming in at 17-18 year olds. For example: Minnesota's freshmen next year: 9 coming in. 2 born in 1984, 4 born in 1985, 2 born in 1986, 1 in 1987. So they will have 6 kids that are 20 or older coming in. Our class next year: 10 coming in. 1 born in 1985, 4 born in 1986, 4 born in 1987, and 1 born in 1988. We'll have one guy 20 or older. In the Woog years he recruited right out of high school while we recruited from the USHL and Canada. Our players were more mature and were able to adapt more easily than Minnesota's. Now we seem to be doing it. It bothers me because the young guys have potential but are not as experienced or seasoned as the guys we used to get. What do you think?

Just for my own perspective I put the list together of the players leaving, those coming back, and the new ones coming. This assumes that the NHL is in the same boat and Greene does not go pro and that all underclassmen on the roster also come back. Leaving Matt Jones D Andy Schneider D Nick Fuher D Quinn Fylling F Colby Genoway F Rory McMahon F Brian Cannady F James Massen F Jake Brandt G Coming Zach Jones D Taylor Chorney D Brian Lee D Ryan Duncan F Matt Watkins F Andrew Kozek F Chris VandeVelde F Possibly 2006 TJ Oshie F Possible 2006 Jonathan Toews F Brad Miller F Returnees: Forwards: Mike Prpich Sr Eric Fabian Jr Brady Murray Jr Chris Porter Jr Drew Stafford Jr Rastislav Spirko So Travis Zajack So Rylan Kaip So Defense: Matt Greene Sr Lee Marvin Sr Robbie Bina Jr Scott Foyt Jr Matt Smaby Jr Kyle Radke So Goalies: Jordan Parise Jr Phillipe Lamoureux Fr So that puts us at 13 forwards and 9 defensemen plus two goalies. That means we'd have 2 forwards and 3 defensemen sitting each game. Possible lines are: Zajak-Murray-Stafford Toews-Porter-Spirko Watkins-Prpich-Duncan Kaip-Kozek-Miller That means we'd have Fabian and either Kaip or Oshie sitting out. Of course anyone could sit depending on how well the freshmen actually perform. Defense: Greene-Jones (sounds sort of familiar) Smaby-Radke Lee-Chorney So we'd end up sitting Foyt, Bina, and Marvin. I'm sure they will still be recruiting a goalie since they need 3 for practice but I'd expect this guy to be a project or someone very young. Just a first crack at some possbilities for next year's team.

I have a friend that lives in Buffalo NY that used to attend UND. He told me that he occasionally will get WCHA games in Buffalo and has seen UND about 3 times on TV. I asked him for his view of the team. Here is his comment: "I can't say I am optimistic. Actually they play like the USA Jr. team. Weak defensively, a bit slower than other teams and can't finish at the other end. I do like Stafford and the goaltending." When I read this it sort of hit me that yeah he's right. UND seems to have the talent but do not play as a team and defensively look terrible at times. They don't seem to have melded their talent into a true team. Pesonally I'm optimistic that this Christmas break has helped and they get back to stable lines and playing together. In my mind we'll see right away if they are because to be in the upper echelon of the country they need to sweep Mankato and split in CC. If they can do this I think we may be able to consider ourselves a contender. On with the games!

Hey last year at the Regionals at Colorado College they had NCAA 3rd place banners in the rafters. I thought that was strange.

Here's mine. I thought I was very realistic but if we can pull off a couple of sweeps like with Denver and Wisconsin at home we could finish as high as third. UMN 28 42 CC 28 38 UW 28 36 Denver 28 36 UND 28 35 UMD 28 32 SCSU 28 22 Mankato 28 19 AA 28 16 MTech 28 4 All I know is this unbalanced schedule sucks. Look at the bottom 4 teams according to me. Minnesota plays 2 series with all 4 teams. They play one series with Denver, Colorado College, North Dakota, and Duluth. I can only hope playing the lower tiered teams hurt them in PWR but probably not that much because their record will be so good. CC has a tough schedule so I'd be surprised if they passed Minnesota. Here's to hoping we get a little luck the second half and Denver and Wisconsin don't.

I, like PCM. have seen little or no change in this team since early season. They continue to make defensive lapses. The one that is most disturbing is when Jones and Greene (our two best defensemen?) continue to hurt the team with undisciplined play. The undressing of Bina was another example of how this team does not play the basics. What's even worse is that I just did the WCHA What If calculator and I have us finishing 6th. The way this team has played so far I have them getting swept at CC. The rest of the games I have them splitting. To truly be a force this team would need to do the following to show they could go anywhere in the playoffs: Sweep Canisius at home Sweep Mankato at home Split at Colorado College on the road Sweep Denver at home Sweep Alaska on the road Sweep Wisconsin at home Sweep or split with St. Cloud on the road. Realisitcally I can't see this team doing this. Terrible Power Play, Undisciplined defensive play, and continuing to take stupid penalties. The only facet of the game that seems fairly stable right now is the goaltending. I expect an occasional goal to get missed but in general Parise and Lammy have done their job. To be honest this team seems slow. Watching Peluso and Scwabe buzz around the net while we chase them is pretty discouraging. Oh well I'll be at the games rooting them on hoping that we see a change and that my assessment is completely wrong.

This was just one of many breaks that went Pitt's way instead of ours. I have always thought that the calls usually favor the home team and once again I was proven correct. Now after listening to the Pitt State coach Broyles talk about " No matter how good their defense is we will eventually wear them down , score and win" I will be a Valdosta fan on Saturday. Coach Broyle's gave little or no recognition to the Sioux defense. The reality folks is that when you play at home, don't turn the ball over, and get a few calls you win. Pitt got every break they could during that game and until the last 8 minutes of the game the game was still in question. So next year the key is to get those home playoff games and not be seeded 5th in the region so you have to play games on the road and play an extra game. Go Valdosta!

I'd actually prefer that he sits until after Christmas. We should be able to beat UAA at home without him and hopefully win one in Duluith. Then we sweep Canisius and play the US Jr. team. I'd say if there is any questions sit him and let him heal until after the break.

And just think. The Sioux have 5 losses this year. One to #1 Minnesota, one to #2 CC, two to #4 Wisconsin, and one to #6 BC. Off all these games the only game they truly sucked was the 6-0 loss to Minnesota.

Check this out: http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/5079645.html Hobey Baker after one month of the season?

So which if these guys from Heisenberg's site are expected to officially sign: Andrew Kozek-LC (10/1/04) Surrey (BCHL) 5'11 175 6-8-86 58-19-22-41-67 Matt Watkins-LC (9/26/04) Vernon (BCHL) 5'10 175 11-22-86 2004 SMHL Zach Jones-RD (7/26/04) USNDPT U-18 Team 5'11 175 1-14-87 Chris Vandevelde-LW (6/8/04) Moorhead 6'2 180 3-15-87 (for 2006) Brad Miller-LW (3/12/04) Green Bay (USHL) 5'10 170 1-31-86 T.J. Oshie-LC (2/5/04) Warroad 5'10 165 12-23-86 Brian Lee-RD (2/3/04) Moorhead 6'2 180 3-27-87 2004 USA U-18 team; Ryan Duncan-RW (12/18/03) Salmon Arm (BCHL) 5'6 155 7-14-85 Taylor Chorney-LD (10/23/03) Shattuck St.Marys 5'10 170 4-27-87 2004 I believe they hae verbally committed but have not offically signed. Is this right? So we have 5 forwards and 3 defensemen at least leaving after this year. The list above shows 6 forwards and 3 defensemen. I'm guessing we'll get a couple of others too. Of the ones above who is expected to contribute right away?

I agree about Genoway. Just think. This guy came to UND as a 17 year old. Because he had played 3 games in juniors he had to miss a year of college hockey. So he is now a senior and he still is not old enough to have a beer. He is just starting to come into his own as a hockey player. One fault he may have is he likes to pass so much that sometime he passes rather than shoots. That worked well last year when he played with a guy like bochenski who could bury the puck but this year we seem to be missing that sniper. But I think Genoway will only get better this year and even the next 2-3 years if he gets a chance in the pros. Most players don't reach their prime until 24-26 years old. He's only 20 now so he has some developing to do. By the way, his last name is actually pronounced with a hard G not with the J sound.

Mike Burgraff? The player that I thought did so much with not the greatest talent was Mike Burgraff. He didn't have the best skills but made up for it by going 100 miles an hour at all times, playing with tenacity, and always giving his best. He was the nicest guy off the ice and on the ice he was a major pain in the butt for the other team.

jk, I agree about Genoway. Just think. This guy came to UND as a 17 year old. Because he had played 3 games in juniors he had to miss a year of college hockey. So he is now a senior and he still is not old enough to have a beer. He is just starting to come into his own as a hockey player. One fault he may have is he likes to pass so much that sometime he passes rather than shoots. That worked well last year when he played with a guy like bochenski who could bury the puck but this year we seem to be missing that sniper. But I think Genoway will only get better this year and even the next 2-3 years if he gets a chance in the pros. Most players don't reach their prime until 24-26 years old. He's only 20 now so he has some developing to do.

When I looked at our early schedule before the season started my first thought was that I would be happy if we were sitting at .500 after the Wisconsin series. We are now 5-3-2 and look who we have played so far: Maine away: Picked as a top 2 team before season started. (won 2) Mankato away: Mankato always gives us fits (3 points) Minnesota at home: In top 10 and toughest rival (split) BC away: in top 3 (loss) Northeastern away: beat Michigan earlier (tie) Colorado College at home: undefeated and picked to finish in top 3 of WCHA( split) So we've played 10 games and 6 have been away. Four of the six teams we've played are in the top 10 in the country. We now have to go to Wisconsin who is again in the top 10 in the country. Of all the games we've played the only one that I expected to win and we didn't was Northeastern and we still tied. With Parise and Bochenski leaving plus Hakstol as the new head coach this team had a lot of adjustments to make. So here we are after 10 games and I'm feeling OK. It bothers me that we've been outshot a number of games but I feel that this is mainly because of the new penalty calling practice. It's tough to outshoot your opponent when he has three or four 5 on 3s during the game. So we have 12 games before Xmas. I'm predicting that we go 9-3 or 8-4 the rest of this calendar year. I'd be happy with that too since we play Wisconsin and Duluth on the road. Thoughts?

Where are the Gopher players? Not good enough this year? It's also nice that Stafford may not miss a UND game because of this comittment. Pretty nice to not schedule any games during the Juniors.

I posted this at USCHO. Thought it belonged here too. Random thoughts after this weekend 1. Sioux forwards look like they've never played defense before. Can someone say backcheck. Heck can someone say forecheck. 2. Sioux defensemen looked like they were afraid to touch anyone on Saturday and continue to have a tough time with the breakout pass. 3. Ryan Potulny is a stud. 4. The young Minnesota defense didn't look like freshman. I kept wondering who this Peltier guy was. 5. Tallackson's tip-in to start the second game was a great deflection. 6. Briggs looked much better than I remember him from last year. 7. Now I know why I have started to dislike Lucia more and more: After this quote in the Star Tribune: "Isn't it funny that whenever there is a fight North Dakota is one of the teams involved?" Lucia said. I think Don should meet Brad Berry in the alley. 8. I hate the scheduling with 10 teams. Heck Duluth only plays North Dakota twice and Minnesota twice. That sucks. 9. Is Wisconsin really this good? Oh that's right. Mercyhurst and Tech. Never Mind. 10. Does all of the pessimistic UND talk end if they were to beat BC and Northeastern this weekend? 11. That was a good old fashion butt kicking on Saturday night. Minnesota kicked North Dakota's ass.

Rivalry? I just know when we play Minnesota I want to beat them worse than any other team. I'm guessing this comes from heated games in the past but also from the many condescending conversations I had with Gopher hockey fans when I lived in the Twin Cities. Back then it was always the "Yeah but we have all Minnesota players" and "yeah but you have 25 year-old canadians." In general it was simply that UND was second class in comparison to the Gophers. That's why it pained me so much to see them win back-to-back championships. For me I like beating the Gophers more than anyone else. My second closest rival depends on who is closer to us in the standings when we play them. So no one in particular. It is a lot of fun beating Hockey East schools though.

The way they had it a couple of years ago, only those Fighting Sioux Club memebers that were at the Coaches or above could get into the bars before games but all FSC members could get in after the game started. This pissed off a lot of Century, Captain, and Varsity level FSC members. Most of these guys bought 2 season tickets the first year and then decided they'd like a couple more. But since they can't get any more seats why increase your FSC memberships. Heck the only time I frequented the bar was after the game to let the traffic clear out. I hope they at least open it up afterwards.

When I started looking at these guys I couldn't figure out who the centermen would be this year. Then I realized that Zajac and Kaip were centers. So here's how I think they will start out and then adjust as the year goes on: Genoway centering Bochenski and Murray McMahon centering Stafford and Fylling Zajac centering Porter and Prpich Kaip centering Spirko and Fabian That leave Massen (Sr.), Cannady (Sr.), Marvin (jr) sitting in the stands. With this team being so senior laden they definitely need to work in 2 of the 3 new forwards at least. I think you'll see a lot of juggling at first to see if Massen or Cannady can play this year and also to see how Spirko,Kaip, and Zajac perform at the next level. Greene/Jones Schneider/Radke Smaby/Fuher Bina/Marvin/Foyt/anyone else This is the year that Blais said he thought he'd win a national championship when he recruited all of these seniors. Here's hoping he's right.

From the St Paul Pioneer Press:

Mike Burgraff: The nicest guy off the nice but on the ice was questionable. Always hustled, usually on the penalty kill, and whenever the whistle blew you had to find him if he was on the ice because he usualy did something. A fan favorite from the 70's.