Vegas
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Posts posted by Vegas
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Did Ryan Duncan lead Shattuck in scoring? A Hobey Baker winner would look more impressive on that list than Ruegsegger..
I believe Ryan was the leading scorer the first year that Toews played at Shattuck. It was Ryan's Senior year and Toews' Freshman.
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One thing Brian Lee will get that he didn't at UND is demotions and bench warming when mistakes are made. It is a luxury that the Sioux couldn't afford to exercise and perhaps, like many other Pros, it is the type of lesson that he will respond to. I am off to watch both he and Blood in today's Senator scrimmages.
I was relieved to see the Blues sign both Tkachuk and Kariya so that they won't have to pressure any of their forward prospects to sign on this summer.
The local Islander's scout was gushing about how good Gregoire has turned out to be. I can't help but wonder if he shouldn't have been added to the team this season instead of Malone or Frattin. He may only be a one or two year player otherwise.
I think you'll get two or three years out of Gregoire. He basically lost a season due to his injury last year, so another year of development in Junior will only help him. He also needs to get a little stronger which didn't happen last year, also due to his injury.
He will be a pleasant surprise to most people on this board once he gets here. I think he was a steal for the 3rd round.
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I think the Islanders are getting a steal with Gregoire in the 3rd round. Something tells me he's going to be the real deal.
I agree. Gregoire was selected in the 3rd due to the limited amount of viewing time. If he had been able to play an entire season, his draft stock would have risen considerably.
I was hoping that he was selected by Chicago. That would have been fun.
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FSSN
in Men's Hockey
Unfortunately my dish and TV are not where I can see both. My fortec receiver worked OK with my wife at the TV and me on the ladder, both with cell phones (although adjustments with one hand are difficult)
, but it is nice to take the receiver outside and see the quality on the front of it, if you don't have the luxury of seeing your TV from the dish.Course everything would be easier with a ground pole mount; trying to see the directions you're pointing when you can't get behind the dish isn't the best setup.
It may be the soft steel that bothers me on the fortec dish and mounts more than the elevation scale. I haven't worked with steel that soft before, it just doesn't seem like steel to me. But the specs say it is galvanized steel?
I use one of those little DVD players to point my dish. They work great and they are about the same size as a receiver.
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FSSN
in Men's Hockey
One additional warning. Do not buy a fortec dish; the elevation scale is wrong by a large margin, and that makes it a nightmare for a first timer to point, since you cannot go by the scale, you have to do trial and error for elevation. Several people with the Winegard 2076 say their scale is much closer, so I'd go with that one if I were buying again.I have found the fortec dishes to be of a higher quality than most. Just because the elevation may be slightly out doesn't mean that these dishes should be avoided. Take a look at the hardware and the fit of the dish compared to others before you make these kind of statements.
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If the USHL started their camps when the QMJHL starts their camps, and the QMJHL started their camps when the USHL starts their camps... I'd say the USHL teams would have a good chance. The way it is now... they'll get creamed. Then, of course, the Canadians will be all over message boards (like Hockey's Future) proclaiming their supreme hockey dominance. I actually think they ARE dominant, but not by as much as these matchups will demonstrate.
Anyway... GO USHL... please prove me wrong!!!
Don't the USHL teams get picked right around now? That would suggest that they will have a leg up on the QMJHL since they can prepare these guys over the summer. The QMJHL team will still likely be in the middle of their tryouts.
I'm going to predict that the USHL teams will be competative in the sense that they won't lose by more than 2 or 3 goals. It will be the manner in which they play that will be more telling however.
I'm going to predict that the CHL teams will be a little more offensive minded and the USHL teams will play a much more defensive style just to keep the games close. The USHL teams will also likely have to shorten their bench.
Should be interesting.
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Gregoire will be a very good player, and I am very happy to have him, but I don't think he is Colin's equal.
I'm not going to argue with you too much, but don't be surprised if Gregoire has similar stats to Wilson when everything is all said and done.
The Wilson men have historically taken a little longer to develop than others. They usually don't get bigger and stronger until their late teens. I also haven't seen Wilson live for a few years now but Gregoire was always the better of the two growing up.
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If there was one player I wish would change their mind, it's Colin Wilson, son of former NHL player Cary Wilson. I know they used to live in Winnipeg, but I think he was out east, which gave Boston University an edge. At one point I thought I read that he was possibly a top 5 North American player in his age group. I was told by a salesman that played city hockey with Cary that he would go to UND. Turns out it didn't work out that way, which is why if it isn't coming straight from a family source, I am skeptical about second-hand information.
The Wilson's still live in Winnipeg. Colin is in Ann Arbor Michigan with the USDP and has been for the last 2 years. Jason said he missed his family and that is why he wanted to come to UND, i.e., to be a little closer to home. Colin has been away for 2 years and I haven't heard similar sentiments so I'm guessing he's ok with being away. It would be cool to have Colin join his former teammate but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Your right, Colin has/is rated in the top 10 for the 2008 draft. I still think Gregoire is his equal however.
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As someone close to the family I can tell you that Jason is thrilled to be part of the UND Fighting Sioux family.
At no time did anyone ever contact Jason or his family after he verbally committed to Denver in an effort to persuade him to change his mind. The UND staff were nothing but professional and ethical in their handling of this difficult situation. It's also important to know that Denver treated Jason exceptionaly well and Jason wishes them the best in the future.
Whether he could play in 2007 or 2008 never had any impact on his decision to change his mind. Jason simply had some time to reconsider what was important to him, which is family. He realized that he wanted to play closer to home and that UND could offer him everything he ever really wanted and needed to ro reach his ultimate goals. He didn't take this lightly but he ultimately had to be true to himself. UND is where he wants to be.
For these reasons, UND should be looking at the top 10 Manitoba boys in every age bracket starting with this year's 93's and have a plan for monitoring and eventually recruiting them. UND is as close if not closer than any other option for a kid in southern Manitoba. In addition, the province in general is poorly served by the CHL (WHL Junior league in Canada), i.e., UND has the advantage in this part of Canada which is quite unique. The first thing they have to do is raise their profile a little more and make sure that the parents know what their kids can and cannot do in order to keep their eligibility.
I could just imagine how powerful UND would have been over the years if they had had guys like Cam Barker, Dustin Boyd, Erik Hunter from the 86's, Codi Burki and Darren Helms from the 87's, Toews and Ian White with the 88's, Gregoire and Colin Wilson with the 89's etc. Yes they would only be two year players but so what. They would be outstanding recruits.
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When you operate on appearances only, then it is much easier to jump to conclusions. So, yes, I expect Hakstol and Co. to recieve plenty of flak over this regardless of how this came about.
That being said, this isn't the first time this summer this has happened. Michael Dorr did this to UMD. He committed to UMD, then withdrew and went to UMN.
I agree with whomever it was (dggoddard?) who speculated that the reason why Gregoire did this was because he only committed to DU in the first place because they said he would come in 2007 whereas I believe (unsubstantiatedly to be sure) that UND only offerred him a 2008 slot. Since DU asked Gregoire to stay until 2008, I'm thinking Jason decided to take the closer school to home with the same options.
I'm happy to have Jason, but I also hope everything is kosher with this.
Now to get Toews and we'll be set through the 2009-2010 recruiting class, I think.
Wow! What the heck is going on here? Jason Gregoire is now going to play for the Sioux? That is absolutely great news if it is true.
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I think what people will eventually come to realize is that Duncan makes players around him better just as much as other make him better.
Duncan is a sniper. He'll get his share of goals with or without Toews. It will just be a little harder next year. If Duncan puts on a few pounds over the summer, I don't see why he can't score as much if not more. Duncan will be a great collegiate hockey player.
Someone mentioned St. Louis. Well St. Louis probably has about 20 to 30 Ibs on Duncan. I'm not saying Duncan can't play in the NHL, just saying he has to get some mass to him if he wants to play an 84 game schedule along with playoffs and be as effective as St. Louis.
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Has Toews ever not won gold when playing for Canada? Has he even lost a game while playing for Canada?
I believe he is batting 5 for 5. Under 17's, Under 18's, 2 - Under 20's and now a World Championship with the Seniors.
Has he lost a game? I can think of one. Team Western lost to the U.S. in a meaningless round robin game after they had clinched 1st place in their pool. I can't think of another game beyond that one.
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Pittsburg is out of the playoffs. Crosby's post game interview sounded like he was going to join the Canadian team.
A hopefull prediction .................... 65/35 that JT is a Fighting Sioux again next year
I predict that he makes it. I have that much faith in this kid.
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I don't know if this is all of Canada. I think it is just Quebec. Quebec thinks they are a cut above the rest because they speak two languages and sympathize with the French more than with the British history of Canada.
This was purely political. More against Shawville than against Murray because they aren't french speaking panzies like the rest of the province.
You don't know all the facts. The story or the reasons for the ban just sounds too simplistic to me. I'm sure there is something else that hasn't been disclosed that may be the real reason for the ban.
The kid looks like he needs to go on a bit of a diet anyway. I'm going to guess that the league they played in wasn't really that competative.
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FSSN
in Men's Hockey
I had read earlier on a different thread that Qwest was now a sponsor of UND hockey and since Qwest has a deal with DirecTV that next year the FSSN will be on DirecTV...was that all a bunch of BS?
I hope they don't get picked up by anybody. FTA is the best deal out there and the picture quality is already close to HD. It's way better than a lot of the national broadcast stuff.
Someone asked that they should go national. Well FTA is national. You can pick it up from virtually anywhere in North America.
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I think there might be some merit to that statement. Small guys can dominate in the NEW NHL.
Here are some stats for you for the year before Hrkac scored his 116 points:
Canadian National Team (this was when NHL'ers were generally not part of the program)
Skaters Regular
# Player Name Birthdate Age Pos. GP G A Pts PIMS
Cliff Ronning 1965-10-01 20 C 71 55 63 118 53
Mike Millar 1965-04-28 20 R 69 50 38 88 74
Don McLaren 1963-01-17 23 R 69 44 38 82 12
Tony Hrkac 1966-07-07 19 C 62 19 30 49 36
Fabian Joseph 1965-12-05 20 C 71 26 18 44 51
Serge Roy 1962-06-25 23 D 67 8 34 42 53
I think we all know who Cliff Ronning was. He became a fairly decent NHL'er for the Vancouver Canucks but no superstar. To suggest that Hrkac would be a superstar in today's game simply doesn't make sense. Nor is it consistent with what he actually accomplished after he left UND.
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And you are wrong about Babe not facing anyone throwing 100 miles an hour. There have been guys that can throw that fast in all eras. Plus, they could legally throw the spit ball when Babe played, current players don't have to face spit ballers on a regular basis. But it is very difficult to compare the eras of baseball because of 2 major factors, segregation and expansion. Babe only played against white players. But then again, there are approximately twice as many major league baseball teams now as in Babe's era. So there are a lot of players in the majors now that would have been lucky to even see AAA baseball if we had fewer teams. Does that balance out some of the differences? We will never know because it is impossible to accurately compare players or teams from different eras. But superstars, like Babe Ruth, would be successful in any era.
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I agree with you about comparing athletes of different eras. Another thing to think about is how much better past athletes would have been if they had todays high tech training and tools. Would Hrkac and the other guys been even faster and stronger if they had todays training programs? How many points would Hrkac have scored with those advantages? How many home runs would Babe Ruth have hit if he kept in good physical shape through strength and flexibility training? He may have hit over 900 home runs in his career. The only fair way to compare athletes of different eras is to look at how they compared to others from their own era.
1st, 3rd, 7th and 20th picks from last year's draft played in the WCHA this year. All of these guys are expected to be first liners and leaders on their respective teams. Hrkac, Smail, Eaves etc, where all utility players at the NHL level. Why was that? You can make all the excuses you want for them but the simple fact is that they played in a league that doesn't compare to today's WCHA. This league is at another level.
An old NHL goalie told me that he doesn't teach the position the way he played. It simply wouldn't work. He has to teach a completely different style. Sccoring on goalies who learned the position in the 70's and 80's is a heck of a lot easier than scoring on a butterfly goalie that knows how to move along the ice. There is no comparison. The equipment is only one aspect of it, knowing how to use that equipment is the key.
And finally, what was the speed of those pitches that the old Babe was hitting 400+ feet out of the park. Where they coming in at 100 mph. I'm going to guess that they weren't.
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Okay, this strikes a nerve with me.
What HockeyMom is referring to here is a Squirts B game between Mayport and the Fargo Flyers about a year and a half ago. The Mayport team had what I would refer to as a ringer on their team. This kid was vastly superior to everybody else on the ice and actually was playing up with their Pee Wee team at the same time. I saw him on the Mayport Pee Wees team picture in the lobby of their rink the previous time the Flyers had played them. There was some question among Flyers, Raiders, Angels, and GF Blues parents as to whether this Mayport kid was actually a true Pee Wee or a Squirt age player who just moved up to Pee Wees because he had the talent to do it. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was young enough to play Squirts, but that is a moot point as far as I'm concerned. Once he gets moved up to Pee Wees because has the talent to play with and against Pee Wees he really shouldn't go back down and play Squirts. In Fargo we have some of the better 2nd year Mites play up with the Squirts and would never ever consider letting them go back to Mites again after having played with Squirts. That would be unfair to the Mites to do that.
Anyways, in the Mayport/Flyers Squirts B game this particular player hogged the puck all game long and scored about five or six goals by skating end to end without making any attempt to pass, including one with about 7 or 8 seconds left in the 3rd period in what was already a lopsided score. After one of his many goals that day he slowly skated by the Flyers bench while mouthing off about how bad we sucked. Having him on the ice was a detriment to all of his teammates, because they all just basically stood around and watched him do all the work. It wasn't doing him any good to participate at that level because it wasn't challenging for him and it obviously wasn't doing his teammates any good because they hardly got a chance to do anything.
That is the concern I had when I approached the coach of that team after the game. However, my train of thought got sidetracked when the coach began gloating about the win (as if wins and losses really matter at that age)
which caused me to get angry and react in a way that I later reretted. At that point I started going off on the running up the score and the star player mouthing off to our bench without being told afterwards that was inappropriate behavior. I had no intentions of yelling at any Mayport parents until they surrounded me and butted into what was intended to be a conversation between myself and the coach, nobody else.The ironic thing that came out of that exchange was the comment about how "we're getting sick of people in almost every town getting upset about this". Soooooooo... if people in every town were getting upset about that very same issue, I guess the people in all those other towns were out of line just like the Fargo people right? I don't think the Mayport team ever thought to look themselves in the mirror and just consider for a brief moment that perhaps maybe they were doing something wrong to have upset so many people in so many different towns. You guys weren't the problem, it was everybody else. Right? Hey, you're the one who made the decision to air this dirty laundry. I'm merely filling in the blanks.
Was I out of line to approach the coach of the Mayport team? Yes I was. I used poor judgement on that day. It's none of my business if that team wants to do whatever it takes to win, even if it at the expense of some of their average players who almost never touch the puck when the ringer is on the ice. If my child was on that team I would have a right to voice my concern, but because I'm in no way associated with that team it's not my place to offer an opinion. I learned from that mistake, and never again will I stick my nose where it doesn't belong. I might shake my head in disgust while feeling sympathy for some of those kids, but I'll mind my own business. I'm just glad that my kids are in a program that puts the development of players as a higher priority than winning the game at such a young age.
As for the coach of the losing team motioning to "bring it"... uhhhhhhh, I was in the box working the clock that day and the handshake line happened literally right in front of my face. I saw no such motion, although I did notice our coach refused to shake hands with your coach. Now, I won't try to justify that. I think it was a poor way to react to what he perceived as poor sportsmanship. He should have taken the high road. But, I have no recollection of a "bring it" motion. Perhaps I blinked and missed it?
PS - This is beside the point, but the original emphasis was on being a poor winner (not a poor loser). Ironically, the Mayport coach and their little ringer displayed a perfect example of being poor winners on that day. Once again, I would like to make it very clear that wins and losses are not important to me at that level. I'm more interested in seeing kids develop skills so they can compete later in life when wins and losses are more important. Being a poor winner in Squirts hockey is 100 times more disgusting than being a poor winner in high school or college hockey, IMHO.
This is why Jon Toews is such a special player. I used to coach against him when he was exactly this age. Jon would score his 5 or 6 goals which would happen about half way through the game. Once he had his fill of goals he would ask the coach (which was rare since he was very aware of what was going on) who hadn't scored in a while. He would then spend the rest of the game trying to get that kid a goal. His leadership qualities started at a very young age. The kid in the above story is not being taught to be a true leader or a good teammate. If it keeps up he will never make it.
Anyway, DaveK, your right, you should never stick your nose in something like this. It never pays. Just remember that the best of the best, don't do this stuff. They are much more gracious in winning or losing.
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The Goren/Bayda/Ulmer line wasn't as flashy as the aforementioned, but they sure got the job done in 2000. They get my vote.
I hate rain on everybody's parade but there is no comparison between the players of today and the players from 20 or 30 years ago. The DOT line is hands down more talented than any of the previously mentioned lines. Players are stronger, faster, shoot harder, better coached, better conditioned, etc, etc, etc. The old boys scored a lot of goals because the goaltending was basically terrible compared to today's goalies and there was really no organized defence to speak of. Some of the aforementioned players would have a very difficult time even cracking a modern WCHA lineup. And if you don't believe me, than ask one of these old guys. I'm sure they would tell you the same thing.
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1, 10 minute misconduct wont have a darn thing to do with a hobey baker award, lets be real, its the top 3 players...and if they feel he is top 3 which i think he should be then he will be in
hensick
brown
duncan
my guesses
The 10 minute misconduct in the most important game of the year will definitely have some impact. It remains to be seen how much.
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If you hit the player in the back INTO the boards, its an automatic 5. The rules are black and white on that one.
It wasn't much of hit, but again, that doesn't matter. The call was correct.
Agree, it wasn't much of a hit at all. The problem is that Radke got schooled by Johnson on this one. I'm not going to be too harsh on Radke even though he is not the sharpest tool in the box. You need guys like Radke to get some energy going once in while. Not everybody can be a power play specialist. I think you see what happens when that's all you've got ,i.e., gophers.
Johnson has obviously done something similiar to this before based on his reaction. Don't know what Lucia said to him or if someone at the USNDP taught them this but he definitely played it up for the ref. I'm glad he lost as a result.
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I believe most of us didn't blame that goal on Lee. Chorney tried to make a play at the far blue line when he probably should have just dumped the puck low into the corner. Taking the a chance at that time in the game was not appropriate. Anyway its water under the bridge. It doesn't mean squat now that the Gophers are gone and everybody can concentrate on some good hockey players rather than a bunch of over-hyped wannabees.
Nothing really wrong with Lee. He's a solid college defencemen who may bulk up and become a decent NHL defencemen one day. He's never going to be the big intimidator that some people want. As long as he separates the man from the puck when he is supposed to and he contributes offensively than that's all that can or should be expected.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again... don't blame this PC garbage on leftists. I'm a leftist but I'm not PC. Those two labels are not one in the same. Although it's fair to say most PC zealots are leftist, that doesn't mean most leftists are PC. I guess the best analogy I can come up with is just because most basketball players are tall doesn't mean most tall people play basketball. It simply is not right to lump leftists in with PC zealots. I personally find that stereotype offensive to me, because I dislike PC zealots just as much as I dislike right-wing political propaganda.
Besides he's getting left mixed up with right. Right
Departures
in Men's Hockey
Posted
So is that two big names now? Seabrook and Gregoire are pretty big losses for any team. I wonder what the heck is going on over at DU.