Just Curious

Malone had a goal on 2 shots on Sunday night. He was +1 with 4 PIM in his teams 4-1 victory. Second game fo the series is tonight, hope he can continue to produce.

I realize we have already stolen some great recruits from Wisconsin, my biggest worry now it that UND already has so much talent that some potential recruits could opt for another program just to ensure they get alot of playing time on the top lines. UND is still a young team, and while we will surely loose a few players to early departure next year, they still have so much talent that a recruit might figure that he would have a better shot at being a star with a different program. There is such a thing as doing too good a job of recruiting. I think Jordy Christianson is an example, he may have gone to SCSU because he knew he could be an immediate impact player, maybe the same could be said for Mario. Wisconsin has room for more guys, they most of their top end talent and are sure to loose some more this year. recruits would be more likely to get immediate big time roles with that program.

It will be interesting to see where a few of these recruits go. UND and Wisconsin have a few high recruits in common, and Wisconsin seems to be putting in alot of effort to bring in some more recruits, I hope we can compete and steal some of theirs. Gregoire and Bruneteau would be great additions and both Wisconsin and UND are high on their lists.

Marto and LaPoint's teamed played a two game series this weekend. Both of them looked to have good weekends. LaPoint had 1 goal on 4 shots and +/-0 on Friday, and added 2 goals on 3 shots and a +2 on Saturday Marto had 4 shots, 2 PIM, and a +/-0 on Friday, while he had a goal on 2 shots with a -1 rating on Saturday Malone's team plays tonight and Monday, so we shall see how he does. Both Marto and LaPoint continue to impress me, Marto has started solid this year, compared to last year where he took some time to adapt. LaPoint has come out strong and keeps adding to it, can't wait to see these guys next year.

I say give Walski a shot, he has put in his time, and witthout knowing the extent of Lammy's injury, it might be nice to see what depth we have at the goaltender position if he has to be out a while.

Its gotta be hard for a freshman to give a good first interview, when TH can't seem to get his facts straight or ask a decent question. We really should stop letting TH speak with the players, its just makes the program look bad.

I might have missed this, but Zach lost 2 teeth in the game Tuesday against Pittsburgh. Apparently its the first time he has had any dental work in his hockey career. Its never good to loose teeth, but if those are his first, hopefully he can go another 23 years before his looses anymore.

I expected a little more from Jones, he got dominated!

What I find more encouraging from LaPoint is that he is fresh out of high school and has not had any delay in picking up the pace of the game. Most newcomers to the USHL and college for that matter have a period of adjustment while they adapt to the new speed and flow of the game. LaPoint has jumped right in and been productive. His +/- keeps getting better, his penalties are low, which suggests he is disciplined and intelligent, and his keeps putting points on the board. I think he is going to be a tremendous player and have some immediate impact next year.

This could be a stretch and doesn't really go with the sighting, but if you look on the USHL site you'll notice that Gregoire did not dress in either of Lincoln's games this weekend. There is nothing on the team sight about him being out of the lineup, so maybe, just maybe, he was visiting. Like I said its a stretch, but its possible.

I have a feeling that the Sioux will turn it around tonight. Typically if a coach walks out before the game is over, there is going to be an urgency amongst the team to step it up and perform better. Back when I used to play, we had a coach that got so upset that he left after the 2nd period. Needless to say, he didn't need to tell us what was wrong, we were hard enough on ourselves and called each other out and bounced back the next night. If the Sioux just keep moving their feet and finish their checks, tonights result should be vastly improved.

I agree that we should let the whole Mario and Phil situation go and move on, but I did want to make a quick statement first. I know many of you wanted Mario to come to UND and that the rumors are that his father is unhappy with the situation Phil is in. The thing we need to remember is that those are just RUMORS and even if they are true, so be it. I would hope that this board would give more support to the family because Phil has worked very hard while he has been at UND. He has always been a great competitor and given the team his all. He has had problems with support, look at last year when the team averaged over 4 points a game with JPar, but less than 2 with Phil in the net. Those aspect have to be frustrating, and we may be missing some aspect of team dynamics that may be making Phil unhappy. I would hope this board would try to encourage Phil and not bash him because his brother chose to go elsewhere. Bottom line, we have a very skilled goaltender in Phil, and he will continue to work to improve himself and if the team and the community give him a chance I think we will all be pleased with the results. Any comments that are negative should not be aimed at him. Again, I think enough is enough, why dwell on rumors and creat distrust, lets focus on the other recruits and the people we have on the team now.

jloos, Thanks for the update. I agree that it was a pretty shady move on Lincoln's part. I hope Eric sticks with it and makes it back to the USHL next year and hopefully starts drawing some attention from college recruiters.

I apologize, but I didn't see LaPoints stats for the saturday game until just know. He had 2 assists and was +3, that is encouraging.

LaPoint with another goal and an assist in Green Bay's game on Sunday. Surprising point production for a defensemen. He was also -2 for the night though, which is a little frightening, since he was on the ice for all 4 Indiana goals. Hopefully the points keep coming and the +/- goes up.

I know his name hasn't been brought up much, but I was wondering if anyone knew what former Fargo South standout Eric Gault was up to? He was with the Lincoln Stars, but I checked their roster today and he is no longer on it. I know most people counted him out because of his size, but I thought he had some potential with a year or two in the USHL.

I think that the polls will have UND ranked much lower than we would all like to see. Most people think that UND lost too much talent to be competitive this coming year (for example remember the Blackhawks coaches about Toews playing for UND this year). Also with some other teams not losing as many individuals or with much higher ranked recruiting classes, I expect UND to hover right around #10 in the NCAA and probably 4-5 in the WCHA. I know that UND lost some good players, but as most of us on this forum think, they still have enough to be competitive. Maybe a initial low rank will relieve some pressure and provide some motivation.

I apologize if this has been brought up in another thread, but I didn't see any fitting topic except former players which is 78 pages long and too much to sort through. So, my question is does any one know where Stafford is currently playing? He was on Buffalo's rookie camp roster, but not on their training camp one. Also, checking the stats for Buffalo's first few games, he has not been in the lineup. Did he get assigned to the AHL already, or am I just missing something? I appreciate the help.

NCAA has recommended a few changes to the selection for the tournament. I have never really been one to calculate or figure odds on if a team makes it or not, but thought it was interesting for those of you that figure those things out, also it may dramatically affect the Sioux with concerns to their RPI http://www.uscho.com/news/id,12675/Changes...ntCriteria.html

Inside college hockey has Grieco listed as 9 in the top 10 goalie recruits for this coming year. Pretty good for a guy who was off most peoples radar until UND signed him. http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/7Archiv...tsgoal_0501.htm Unfortunately, they don't provide any comment, but after seeing Minnesota dominate the forward and defense groups, its good to see UND get another recruit mentioned. Forney is listed as 3rd in the forwards. \

I am looking forward to seeing how players like Kozek and Watkins play this year. With all of last year's depth, there were lots of players on 3rd or 4th lines that had alot of offensive potential. With the departures, we should see Kozek, Watkins, Martens, and Miller step up and fill more active roles. I think there was plenty of untapped resources last year and that the team is in much better shape than some people tend to think.

Found a nice little article about Kozek as a Atlanta prospect on NHL.com http://www.nhl.com/features/system/kozek082906.html

Oshie- WOW, what a great suprise coming straight out of high school!! There were thoughts that he might not be ready for DI hockey, but he quickly ended that conversation. TJ is a pure goal scorer. He is one of those guys that can just find the back of the net. The biggest surprise is his physical play. At 5'10" 165 lbs. (he looks more like 180) not exaclty a imposing guy, but hits like a mack truck and seems to thrive on contact. Thanks goodness he came direclty out of high school, because if he played in the USHL this year he IMO he'd be one and done. Let's hope St. Louis keeps him down here to season a few more years. Only negative is that he needs to work on his skating, but certainly is getting the job done. I would have to disagree with the comment on Oshie skating. While he certainly isn't the best skater on the team, I have rarely seen an instance that would suggest he needs help with his footwork. I have been more impressed with his hard skating and back/fore checking than his scoring. We all knew he would put up points, but who would have thought he would have immediately become such a great two-way player.

So, this is going to be strongly hockey biased, but then again nothing on this board isn't. I was wondering if anyone else had the same feelings towards the playoffs as I do. I would like to see the playoffs expanded. I like the 3 games series in the first round and would like to see that continue throughout. I know this dramatically increases the time the season takes up, but I would love to see it. Take our games with Denver the last two years. A 1-0 loss in one game, who's to say that if they were 3 game series how we would have faired. Personally I would like to say that UND would have taken both those series. I am afraid any change in the playoffs would affect the regular season, as in the two conferences that changed their playoffs this year, but would still like to see the format stay the same throughout. Luck is as big a contributor as skill in one game, where as over 3 games, you rely more heavily on skill. Just a thought.

You forgot Brian