LeftyZL

Kaip and his guy were wrestling and eventually went down to the ice, with the Mankato guy ending on top. Kaip took a couple of good, clean shots to the face(I thought he was done personally), then rolled over, popped up, and tied the Mankato guy up. He kept skating towards the Sioux bench with his hands up in the air while tieing-up the Mankato guy up to see if he could fight. Hak stepped on to the dash boards and said no!(and made the safe signal like in baseball), so Kaip just held on to him. The Lee fight started late compared to the others, but I didn't think either player deserved to be DQ'd personally from what I saw. The Mankato guy's helmet got ripped off and Lee just kept jawing with him. They both got a couple shots in, but nothing serious. Plus there was a linesman in between them the whole time. I don't think either of them should have gotten thrown out, but that's just from what I saw. I may have missed some of their skirmish.

Oshie and Toews will not and should not have to sit a game for getting a minor. Parise got a minor at a down town bar and he didn't sit a game. Matt Greene got a DUI and he only sat one game. Those 2 will not sit this weekend or any weekend for that matter. End of story. As for the Bina scenario, I would say that there will be no punishment until its decided whether or not he was proven guilty or pleads guilty to his crime.

Who says you can't stand? The people in your section? I say if the situation calls for it, by all means stand.

By the first point I bolded in your statement, why do you talk about the Big 10 winning the majority of bowl games over the SEC(2-1) when in your statement you say that it's not fair to compare conferences like that? But, in all honesty, you hit the nail right on the head with the second point I bolded. You have to look at the entire conferences body of work. Not just the top teams. Not just the bottom teams. All of the teams.

I believe you are correct that the majority of Sioux tribal governments have expressed opposition about the nickname. I believe you are incorrect in that it was done in a way with a democratic vote of the entire tribe.

I never said we could give up 3-4 goals a game and still win games. I said if we can increase our scoring to between 3-4 goals a game consistently, we could be a very dangerous team. Once this team starts scoring more, I feel our defense will be more confident, hit more people, and our goaltender that much more confident. We Can Be A Shutdown Team. Lastly, it's been reported by many people on here and in the newspapers that Phil isn't actually hurt anymore, but that the injury was limiting him somewhat. He can't re-injure it at all. The only thing that will improve his movement is time. According to Schlossman's blog, since the Christmas break, Phil has been getting back to his old self.

That's what I have been trying to tell people this whole time. If we can begin to score 3-4 goals/game, every game, we can be a pretty good team by the end of the year and put us in good shape for another run. Now, I'm not saying we will be national champions or anything like that, but we can be a very very dangerous team in the 2nd half if we can score 1 more goal per game.

My original post had nothing to do with this year's team. I replied to your statement regarding Blais winning at least one national championship over the last 2 years if he were the coach. If a player isn't producing, say like Jonathan Toews, I'm sure the coaches do talk to him a little bit. In fact, they did right before he left for Team Canada. He looked like the Toews of old to me on TV this past week. Bottom Line, the coaches can say all the right things to try and motivate individual player's and the team, but the player's still have to execute. As for you calling it a lost season, go right ahead if that's your perogative. I'm not giving up on this team. I never have, I never will. Maybe they won't make it to the NCAA tournament, but when you make it 80% of the time according to your math, I would be satisfied with that percentage. 8 out of 9 trips currently to the NCAA tournament is rediculously good in my opinion.

If Blais was the coach for the 2005 Frozen Four game against Denver, would Manino from Denver not been as spectactular against UND? I was at the game in 2005, and there's some things that are out of your control, such as what the other team's goaltender does. UND had something like 45 shots in that game. Last year in Milwaukee, our team just picked a bad time to play a bad game against Boston College. For how well we were playing up to that point last year, no one could have seen that kind of game coming. But a coach can't control if your goalie is going to have an off-night like Jordan Parise had last year. Hakstol can't control Smaby getting his feet crossed and falling down, allowing Gerbe(?) to have a breakaway opportunity. I'm as passionate as anyone on here about Sioux hockey and Sioux sports in general, but to read/hear so many people giving up on the season, coach, or players, it's really disheartening to see.

The 7th place team in the Big 10 had a record of 5-7, the 8th place team had a record of 6-7, the 9th and 10th teams each had a record of 4-8 and the 11th team had a record of 2-10. I don't understand the point you are trying to prove/make. The best team Minnesota beat IMO is Iowa, and Iowa finished with the same record as UofM, 6-7. The Big 10 dropped off dramatically after the top 2-3, I don't really feel like putting Wisconsin in with Ohio State and Michigan just for the fact that I don't feel they had a tough conference schedule.

Sorry that I am so late in responding to this, and I cut out the rest of your post to make this post shorter, but that statement I quoted from you is completely false. Did you look at their schedules or just think about it? Wisconsin played one ranked team during the regular season, and got beat handily by Michigan. Florida played four ranked teams during the regular season, and won 3 of 4. Not to mention that it's already been stated that the SEC is the better overall conference IMO. The top teams of the Big 10 are better than the top teams of the SEC. But overall, top-to-bottom, the SEC is better IMO.

I'm looking for 2 tickets for next Saturday's game again Alaska, Lower Bowl Preferred. Willing to pay $25/each depending on location. If anyone has tickets available, either PM me, email me at LeftyZL@hotmail.com, or I can be reached at 218-779-0318. Thanks. Zack Ludtke

The goalie also forgot to get his paddle on the ice and close the 5 hole....It really was a pretty harmless shot. I'd place more blame on Chorney just for the fact that the guy he was covering was able to get a stick on it. Lee got beat but still was able to get his man to throw out a really weak pass from behind the net.

The NHL Center Ice Package is probably the best "extra" you can buy for your digital cable or dish IMO. With the lack of coverage overall of NHL hockey on TV, this package is amazing in that you get to watch a lot of teams that we wouldn't get to see at all. And with the World Jrs. on their pretty much every year, it's an added bonus and you don't have to lose additional NHL games because of the time difference of where the World Jrs. are held. And if you buy the NHL Center Ice package early enough, it's something like $125 or so. Best investment I ever made, TV-Wise.

This has been discussed on here over and over. In case you have forgotten, the team was probably averaging 2 goals a game for Phil last year when he started in net. They could usually score early and often when Parise was in net, but for some reason never when Phil was in net. Hakstol couldn't even explain it. His stat's last year: Win-Lose Record: 5-7-0 Save Percentage: .911 Goals Against: 2.61 Those stats are actually really good if you ask me. If I sat down at the beginning of the year as coach of a hockey team and someone told me that my goalie would have those kind of numbers and still not have a winning record, I would laugh in their face. The rest of the team has to do their part, that's why it's a team effort. It's a complex puzzle to me. Without that certain piece of the puzzle, the rest will never fall into place.

Who doesn't deserve better on the team? Grieco deserved a better fate last night in goal. Oshie deserved more than the 2 goals he scored last night. Duncan and Miller deserved more last night. Phil has deserved more throughout the entire year. I thought Radke deserved more last night. I thought Vandevelde and Kozek deserved more last night too. You could go on all damn night about each and every single player on this team and come up with at least one instance where they deserved better throughout this year I bet. And where does it get you? No where. Just because you earn something and deserve more, doesn't mean you get it. You go out and you take it from someone. Our losses will still be losses at the end of the day. But it makes people on here "happier" to openly bash and be critical of player's on here. I say that's just plain-old chicken $hit. These player's don't get paid by us. These player's are here voluntarily. They are here because of the tradition, the fans, the arena, etc... No one asks you to go to the games. No one asks you to give money to the university. You do it voluntarily. These player's sacrifice much, much more than anyone can imagine I would believe. Give them a break. When player's start getting paid to play here, then you can complain. Until then, settle down. Or go watch the Minnesota Wild. Or just don't go to the games anymore. Give your tickets to someone who will enjoy watching the game. After all, it's still just a game at this level. Finally, I'm as pissed off as anybody on this board about where the level of our hockey team is at right now. But to see so many threads on here bashing a player or players is just rediculous. As someone suggested in a different thread, if you don't like how a player is playing or feel he is doing something wrong, give him a call. Send him an email. Call Coach Hakstol and tell him you would like to give <insert player> your 2 cents about his play. I've seen it done in public already this year. If you have a problem with a player, go to the root of the problem, the player itself. Not some internet message board.

Just listening to the radio commentary after the game when I got to my car, I thought one of our radio guys said something like Shepherd said the guy didn't freeze the puck with his hand while in the crease, but that the puck was actually in between the MTU's player's legs. Anyone else hear that?

I agree. But I don't think that shot was a very difficult one to control the rebound on. For how well we were playing up to that point, to get the lead for the first time in forever, and have a goal like that go in, it just was a momentum-killer IMO.

I never said anything about the second goal, because Grieco didn't have a chance on it. I never said anything to the effect the Grieco played poorly, because I thought he kept the game scoreless with some big saves early on. I never said anything to the effect that Grieco didn't make some great saves, because obviously he did. I said he wasn't all that sharp. I said he needed to control his rebounds more. Settle Down. Grieco gave up 2 goals in less that half of a game. That is equal to 4 goals a game. What does it mean? Nothing. Our offense still isn't gonna score enough right now to offset the goals allowed. I don't think our goalies are playing terrible, I think its our offense that needs to get on track. Find some line combinations that work and stick with them.

Phil made some great saves on Friday night in the 1st period too. And I don't think Grieco was that sharp all-around. He gave up a lot of juicy rebounds and looked tentative with the puck all-together. Maybe that just comes from not playing in a while. But Grieco has got to figure out how to control rebounds. The 1st goal was a direct result of him not controlling a rebound.

Who are you gonna cut? Phil? Grieco? Walski? Phil is a good goaltender, the team needs to score more than 1-2 goals per game to take some pressure off of the goalie situation. It's tough on a goalie when you know you can only give up 1 goal or 2 goals per game at the most. You start to press. When the offense comes around, I believe our goalie situation will as well. Until then, hold on... Grieco is gonna be really good. Call it a hunch, call it whatever you want, but that's just what I think. He's rough right now around the edges, but you can see those glimpses of brilliance that allow you to see what kind of potential he has. Walski is a walk-on. UND is not going to bring in another walk-on goalie to replace Walksi. He's earned his time and played well when given the chance. You can't bring in a so-called "stud" goaltender next year because there simply isn't enough room for him.

Settle Down...I hope you feel better after your rant...Anyways, Did you watch the game? How about the 1st period where Phil made 2 huge saves: One on a breakaway, the other on a scramble in front of his net. He was sharp. This team needs to score for him. They just need to score period. Did you actually watch the game or are you just speculating again? Because if you feel the 1st goal Phil gave up was weak, than I guess Miller's goal he scored sucked too. The 2nd goal was on a power-play, and tipped. Grieco gave up how many goals to Mankato on the power play? Everyone was so happy with Grieco's play then. I, for one, don't think Grieco would fair any better with him in net than with Phil in net. The 3rd goal was probably the one I would want to have back if I were him. But at the same time, Oshie should have just chipped the puck off the boards and gotten it out of the zone instead of trying to dangle it around a forward who wound up getting the assist on their 3rd goal. Why don't you bash Oshie a little more? He single-handedly caused a goal scoring opportunity deep in his own zone. You bashing someone on this board so ruthlessly is a complete discrace to all Sioux Fans. That's what embarrasses me the most about your post. Grow Up. Show A Little Class.

What did he do wrong tonight? He hit A TON of people, cleared the puck, hit some more people, tried to be offensive somewhat, and overall was pretty good tonight. As for the goals: 1st goal-Good Shot off of a scramble in front of the net. 2nd goal- Didn't actually see it, on the replay it looked like it was tipped at least once, if not twice. 3rd goal- Oshie's Fault. Plain and simple. Got cute with trying to clear the puck off the face-off and turned it over. Phil probably wants that one back. It hit him square in the mask and he looked shaken up a little bit. He didn't cover the puck in time. What did Joe Finley do wrong tonight?