OETKB

4-0 Sioux with 1 period until the Cup celebration. "It's a good thing."

"The Mac" will be in Grand Forks next weekend - McCloud said so in an interview on Friday. Boy, was it sweet to watch the Sioux go 5-0 against the upstart Dogs this year. Sweet! To walk into Duluth and pull of the sweep on the road at crunch time was, I hope, a defining moment for this team. I freely admit to being one who was openly questioning this team after the Wisconsin series. However, the slump is over and it couldn't have happened in better fashion. Time to put together a nice little 10 game winning streak, boys!

UND's got no forcheck going tonight. This kind of game plays into Duluth's hands more. End to end wide open is fun to watch, but not really the game we want.

"Fighting Sioux hockey is on the air" is one of my favorite phrases. Sioux hockey really helped me get through some tough transition years while I was moving from city to city.

Okay, back to the subject. I was fortunate to see the 4th goal just before I left to play sports myself tonight. What a great transition rush on the penalty kill! Sioux proved something to me tonight. They proved that they are NOT last year's team all over again. They proved that they can recover from a slump against one of the best teams in the country. They proved that they can play on the road. Great job, Sioux. The MacNaughton WILL NOT BE SKATED AROUND THE DECC this weekend. Mission accomplished. Now, lets go out there and sweep em!

That was NOT a good period for the Sioux. The powerplay where UND had zero shots and the Dogs had 3 or 4 says it all. We were lucky to get out of that period without giving up a goal. Then again, so were they.

Duluth does not seem to know what to do about UND's forechecking style. The Sioux have been able to sustain long offensive zone possessions when they establish 5 guys in the zone and work the puck behind the net. Overall, a very good period for UND. Too bad about the Greene penalty at the end.

I remember that video being shown on the evening news in GF. Funny. I'd rather see a real Heavy Metal Hockey video for this year's team, with lots of clips of big hits and saves and scoring.

No offense to Jones, who is having a stellar year, but Greene is the most physically gifted D-man out there, and is ahead of where Commodore was as a Soph. We'll have him for next year, but perhaps not after that.

The joy in TH's voice when he was calling Fabian's hat-trick was priceless. Obviously, he likes the kid.

Blais: "We had an unbelievable crowd here tonight." In his estimation, 1,000 out of about 4,500 on hand. Way to go, Sioux faithful. If I lived close enough, I wouldn't think twice about driving and paying for tickets. Of course, that is partly because I drive 40 min's and pay outrageous prices for everything here in CA. Never-the-less, I would.

Dean Blais: "We may have to rent ice next week in Duluth" (On Saturday, in order to do a skate-around). Tonight was "kind of a mismatch".

With scouts in the stands, Stafford only manages 4 points on the night. You might think he would put some effort into the game.

10-1 "Lundblum" w. 18 seconds to go.

Shots 42 - 16 in favor of UND!

FABIAN!!!

At the risk of being a complete bore...for anyone who remembers last season: Hypothetical UND Spokesperson "This is NOWHERE NEAR the most important weekend in UND's hockey history." UND still sweeps on the road. Disclaimer: I needed that as a cathartic experience.

You are very diplomatic. As I remember TH describing it, a 'Kato defensman ran into the net on his own. I would take that to be intentional, but that is just my O. Thanks again for your informative input.

Murray's 16th of his freshman season. TH's latest great comment: "...99 points for Parise. That means one more, and he'll have 100....(my mind) like a steel trap!"

Another fine call, Donny. Thanks, PCM.

TH favorite comment of the night..."You call this a pressbox? We're sitting in the stands, really!" Go Sioux.

How is UMD's special teams this year? It could be an ugly series next week!

Fabian almost got the hat trick, but Clark robbed him. The kid is playing hard tonight!

I'm caring, because it means the difference between being behind or being ahead going into next weekend.

It's nice to see the Sioux dominating the shots on goal (25-14 or so). They really need a game like this heading into next weekend.