Stack

Since the first of the year we played CC four times, Minnesota twice, Alaska twice and Tech twice. So we finally played the top other two teams in the league and also got to play two of the lowest teams in the league. During that stretch we are 4-4-2. We all knew things were going to get tougher with the majority of the games on the road in the second half. To tell you the truth I'd be very happy if we were still .500 after the next two weekends at Denver and Mankato. If we are then I think we've shown we deserve to be at the top of this league and are not only a contender but have a shot at the national title. If we play anything like we did Saturday the next two weeks and get swept by Denver and Mankato we will have to really scramble to make sure we get home ice. So I'm hoping for a split this weekend and a split next weekend. Anything more than that I will be ecstatic. Then we can take our chances against Duluth and Wisconsin.

I just voted for Hobey and checked the standings: http://voteforhobey.com/vfh/standings_phase2.php Can anyone tell me why Spiewak has more first place votes than Parise? Talk about fans distributing the votes so no one from your team has a chance to win the fan balloting. I can see a UND fan voting for Bochenski over Parise with his stats etc. But to have Kevin Spiewak getting more first place votes than Parise is nuts. I like Spiewak as much as the next guy but Hobey Baker Spiewak?

Gees it's only two games. We all hoped for at least a split be we also knew that we could get swept. So the worse thing that could happen to us did. Let's move on. I want this team to take second so we don't have to play Duluth in the playoffs. So what we need is a sweep of Tech, splits at Denver and Mankato, sweep of Duluth, and at least a split in Wisconsin. We do that and we take second. I've given up on First and will be rooting for CC to kick the Gophers this weekend so we have a better shot at second. PS. I thought our goaltenders played well this weekend. Neither of these games was lost because of their play. When you only score one goal in the last 5 periods of play, you lose.

After voting for Hobey today I see where CC fans have voted Seyna first and Preissing second. I think us Sioux fans need to pick a guy and make sure we consistently vote for that player for first. Right now people have almost voted for Spiewak in first as many times as they have voted for Parise. I like Spiewak too but he's not going to win the Hobey Baker. I would recommend that us Sioux Fans pick Parise as our Number 1 guy. After that we can vote for Bochenski or Spiewak or anyone else you think deserves it. That way we aren't muddying the water with us all splitting votes amongst those 3 guys. Thoughts?

After watching both of these games this weekend, I'd have to say that the Gophers are probably the most disappointing team so far this year. Not to say they can't turn it around but they haven't shown they can consistently beat the upper level teams. They have split with UND at home, taken 1 out of 4 points against CC at home, split with SCSU, etc. Unless the infusion of Potulny has a major effect on this team they are simply a dangerous team with a lot of talent that hasn't show they can consistently win against top competition. Based upon the season so far I'd have to say the Gophers are lucky they don't have to go to Grand Forks this year.

OK. I've been getting the Sioux games on Mid-Continent cable. I see in this thread that the games are on WDAZ. I need to know if the games are on Mid-continent or on WDAY or any other options rather than WDAZ. If they are only on WDAZ I'll be taking a trip to the Buxton bar since that's the closest place that handles WDAZ. So let me know about both games. Thanks.

1. Minnesota: I base this on my reaction when Minnesota plays Wisconsin. For some inexplicable reason I root for the Badgers or anyone else that plays the Gophers. 2. Wisconsin: I love their fans when I don't have to be in their arena. They are Stepford fans. They can be talking to you very nicely, the band strikes up, and they turn like zombies and begin chanting stuff. Scary. That's it. There are no other teams I would consider our rivals. Sure it's nice to beat St. Cloud, Mankato, CC etc. but they aren't really rivals. They are simply WCHA opponents. The non-confreence team I love to beat is Boston College. Their fans are arrogant and act like they deserve to win even if the Sioux put forth a better effort and are the better team. Gees they remind me of the Gopher fans.

I put in what I thought were very conservative results for UND: 1. Getting swept at Minnesota 2. Sweeping AA 3. Getting Swept at CC 4. And then splitting all of the rest of their series. That put UND at 35 points and in third place. So if they are able to win a game in Minnesota and one in CC I think they finish at least second depending on how well CC finishes. I'm still opimistic but I'm leery about this weekend and the one at CC.

Thanks Greyeagle. I'm just hoping that us lowly Sioux can make the two games close this weekend against the mighty Gophers.

Greyeagle, I'm stuck in Bloomington that night probably at an Outback steakhouse. When you say over the air do you mean that a place like Outback probably gets it or is it the old (You need a UHF antenna to get it)? Thanks

I'm going to be in the cities on Friday night but cannot make the game. I was hoping to watch the game in some local bar. I know that FSN is not broadcasting the Gopher game live but is doing it tape delayed at 3:00AM Saturday morning. Is there anyone broadcasting the game live and if so who? Any help would be appreciated.

I'm still not sure if Ranfranz is one of "the men" but based upon what I've seen with Siembida this year and what I've read about Sedivie and Lamoureux they are not the answer. I'm fed up with the goalie situation. After tonight's game I heard people say " Pull Siembida's scholarship, tell Sedevie and Lamoureux No Thanks, and get a goalie from someplace". I'm sure that every team needs a goalie but how does a team like Maine get two like Howard and Doyle. We need a goalie like these guys. We either need a good goalie or we need a good goalie coach. Any suggestions?

Forecheck, Thank you for the update. I keep missing the show what with commitments and forgetfullness. Of course you know that all us lazy a$$e$ are counting on you or someone to keep us up to speed. Once again thanks. Stack

At the last Sioux booster lunch Hakstol was asked if they were bringing in a new goalie at the break. His response was a curt "Why?". He said they were happy with their goaltenders and they were coming along as planned. I think they realize that they made a mistake last year bringing in Siembida and losing a year of eligibility with him and don't want to make that mistake again.

I agree with the majority of the thoughts on Fylling and Prpich. I think Prpich had a great weekend against Wisconsin. He checks well and plays his position well. He had a couple of breaks that showed he needs to work on his foot speed but overall he was a top contributor. I hadn't thought about trying to jump start another line with Fylling. I just hope that he continues to develop because I think he has great potential but needs to improve his strength.

I was just talking on Saturday about how Leinweber has improved so much this year. He must have really worked on his strength this summer. In the past he was usually getting muscled off the puck. This year he can hold his own and has played enough where he hasn't made any really dumb plays. He's been a pleasant surprise. The guy that has seemed to fallen off the map is Fylling. He still looks like he has the speed but not the strength to go into the corners. I think he was on the 4th line on Saturday. From 1st to 4th is a major drop. I expect that he will improve and move up again. Does anyone else think that Cannady and Genoway are starting to lok like clones when they are on the ice?

I've been looking at the returning players and new players a lot recently. Like everyone else I'm expecting great things from Parise. I'm also expecting Fournier to show this year why he led the uSHL in scoring two years ago. I'm also expecting to see a more mature Fylling come in and contribute big time. I think that McMahon will be an force on the ice this year both offensively and defensively. I've tried to guess the line combinations with some of these things in mind. I've also looked at the production of some of the players last year. I decided that this year it's time to break up Noterman and Spiewak. They are fine on a penalty kill but I think they need new linemates. Also I have seen Lunbhom's proudction decline rather than improve so I've moved him down until I see an improvement. Here are my guesses: Parise centering Bochenski and McMahon (I think McMahon will have a breakout year) Fournier centering Hale and Spiewak (Fournier needs to get stronger and stay healthy. If he does I can see the second line being very good. I'm sure this line will have a lot of changes depending upon who works the hardest this summer. You could see a number of players moving up and down. Fylling centering Noterman and Massen Lundbohm centering Cannady and Genoway (I've tried to keep the speed with at least two faster/smaller players on a line along with a bigger player but it's so dang hard to predict. Other forwards: Faul, Connely, Palmiscino, Connely D: Hale and Schneider Jones and Greene Fuhr and Marvin/Leinweber (I'm not optimistic about Leinbweber either. He seems to have gotten worse rather than better as his career went along. G: Siembida #1 Brandt #2 Sedevie sits unless these guys don't produce or get hurt. Watching Siembida I sure hope the coaches work on his tendency to go down right away. He's got a great glove hand but leaves too much room upstairs because he's down on the ice too quickly. The area this team needs improvement in the most excluding goaltending is special teams. We stunk it up last year on the power play. We played with anyone in the country 5 on 5 but our downfall was goaltending and special teams. We need someone on the point (schneider or Jones?) and we need someone who can stand in front of the net and not get moved out of the play like a Goren (Canady or Massen?)

I was at the games this past weekend wearing Sioux stuff on both Thursday (A Sioux Jersey) and Saturday (A Sioux pullover). I had a number of Minnesota fans give me grief which I expected. Asking me questions like "What was I doing there? or Are the Sioux still playing?". The one that I was asked 3-4 times was "Are you cheering for the Gophers?" My response was "Did you cheer for us last year?" The look on the Gopher fans face was incredulous that I'd ask that and then it turned sheepish when they fully well knew they had not cheered for us. I then pointed out that it was tough to cheer for Minnesota when the entire crowd booed every WCHA teams jersey that was shown on the big screen. Net result for me is that I hoped for a fun game (it was), I hoped Potulny did well (he did), and I didn't really care who won after that. Now if the game would have been out east rather than in front of 18,000 Minnesota fans I'm guessing I would have been hollering for the Gophers. At least Hockey East didn't win!