sagard
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Posts posted by sagard
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Does the fact that they went 0-fer against Brown on the Power Play and 2-13 for the weekend show that the PP of Minnesota's is slowing down?
Plus, playing on an NHL size sheet of ice will limit the time and space(even if it's only 15' across) that Minnesota can throw the puck laterally.
Gophs power play is pretty decent and seems to be clipping along at about goal per game. Stay out of the box is an easy way to keep them in check. I'm going to hope that the small sheet brings out a lot more from Hoeffel (even though we all know he'll be exhausted) and White.
The teams that have dominated the Gophers (Michigan and CC) did it for the most part with their legs and simply won all the races to the pucks.
You won't notice Schroeder until watching the goal replays. He'll either force a turnover or make a non-flashy pass to Stoa to open him up for a rocket.
Kangas has been good so far, but not the brick wall he was at the end last year.
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The Gophers have had a lot of good results this season, but things don't come too easy for them. Goaltending and power plays will no doubt be the key to the weekend.
I'll be looking to see if Pat White's good play and goal scoring from this weekend was a fluke or a start of something. If he can get going the Gophers may develop the scoring depth to make them very dangerous this spring.
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I really wouldn't have minded seeing Canada lose. Their fans are getting to be too much, and they already have 4 golds in a row, they don't need 5.
Go Sweden!!
I don't care a lot one way or another in the Canada/Sweden game, but I'll never root for the Russians vs. anyone. Let Canada keep winning them. Maybe someday we will model our program after theirs vs. the Euro model.
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Russia had 3 opportunites to put the game on ice:
Yep. They gagged completely. Couldn't have happened to a bunch of nicer guys.
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Gotta hand it to the Canadians. Number 3 for the Russians is going to have nightmares forever.
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I heard about this on the XM-204 and some are concerned that there might be a call by some to eliminate fighting from the NHL and Junior hockey.
Fighting will always be part of hockey as long as the Canadians are in charge. No fears there.
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not wcha but sad story in hockey
That is sad. The response of pointing blame at the equipment is worse. How about when guys are done playing competitive (juniors) hockey maybe a ban on fighting should be considered.
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I am as disappointed as the next guy with this showing, but in their defense they did badly outplay the Slovakia team today. The Slovakian goalie had 44 saves (many of them outstanding) compared to McCollum's 14. McCollum may very well be the best goalie and deserved to be on the team and to start, but he shat the bed today and should have been pulled. I agree with whoever said it that this started vs. Canada, when they started showboating in front of the Canadian bench. Instead of being pissed about the sucker punch, Rolston should have given his players an a** chewing for their antics against Canada. A game is not 10 minutes long, and Canada is the WRONG team to be doing that against. It shouldn't happen against any team, especially Canada. This has become too commonplace for US teams to have such an embarassing showing at this tournament, and it needs to change.
McCollum and the defense stunk all tourney. I think Rolston is in way over his head as well. Not sure why they don't get top level college coaches to give it a shot like they have done in the past.
I'd feel much better with virtually any WCHA coach behind the bench vs. Rolston. He certainly didn't prepare his team to face success vs. the Canadians. As the Slovaks showed today with proper planning it really isn't that tough to stop a powerful opponent when your ahead 2-3 goals.
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You know I was wondering where the hot dogging was coming from but Don Cherry revealed something in the first intermission of the Winter Classic that I didn't see from my nosebleed seat last night. It turns out that Hayes from Team USA may have in fact triggered alot of what happend in last night's game as after his goal he went past Team Canada's bench and cupped his hand to his ear. I remember that actions like that use to fire up Sioux teams and it obviously fired up Team Canada although the goals alone should have done the talking and Tavares didn't have to give it back to them.
You and me don't agree often, but that is exactly what I noticed after one of the early US goals. I couldn't identify the player though.
Tavares can do what he wants. I hate to say it but the US looked like a bunch of babies after JVR got punched.
The US finds a new way to torture it's fans.
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I was surprised with the cheap antics of the Canadian team.
I guess when they actually face a team of equal skill, they have to goon it up.
I really hope that the US gets another shot at them, this time for a medal.
And then I hope that they shutup the goons, the showboat Tavares, and the 20k fans and take the whole thing.
This was a typical US collapse. You know the rest of the story. Beat Slovakia, lose a tough one to the Swedes, get blown out by the Russians. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The US boys started the trash by buzzing the Canadian bench after the goals, somebody should have taught these lads that games aren't over ten minutes into the first period.
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From a Gopher fan perspective:
2004-2005: The Sioux welcome in new coach Dave Hakstol with a team of veteran defensemen. The Sioux defensemen are all big and have a nice mix of strong puck movers and strong body movers(3 defensemen from this team have seen action in the NHL). At forward, four guys have seen action in the NHL since graduation including Travis Zajac, Drew Stafford, Brady Murray, and Chris Porter. The Sioux ride the defensemen, some timely scoring, and "do it for Robbie" all the way to the finals only to lose to DU. This team was built ,on veteran leadership, tough defense and some young skilled players. Realistic expectation: NCAA regionals. Actual result: NCAA runner up. Team Exceeded Expectations.I thought this team should have been great and one of the best. Defense and goaltending weren't going to be an issue. Scoring can often be replaced easier than the blueline. Regular season grades poor, post season great with a nice Frozen Four win over the Gophs.
2005-2006: THe Sioux lose some of that veteran leadership from the Blue Line as well as a surprising early departure in Brady Murray, but bring in an extremely talented class. Maybe the most talented team in Sioux history. The team includes 6 first round draft picks and 3 second round draft picks. Plus a smattering of every other round, a future Hobey winner, a European pro and a veteran goalie. Realistic expectation: NCAA Champion. Actual result: Frozen Four. Team Did not meet Expectations.Didn't think this team would be nearly as strong as the previous one. Nice WCHA tourney and Regional. Can't complain.
2006-2007: THe Sioux lose Stafford, Zajac, Spirko and Smaby along with many key role players and fan favorites, but expectations are high. The DOT line becomes the most feared line in NCAA hockey, Duncs wins the Hobey. Sioux have an NHL line, but are essentially a one trick poney. Realistic Expectation: Frozen Four. Actual Result: Frozen FourI thought this team would be dominant. Disappointing regular season, great WCHA playoff (despite the Wheeler goal) and quick Gopher payback at the regional. Can't be happy with the Frozen Four performance. I thought UND was the best team in the Frozen Four.
2007-2008: The Sioux lose some role players to graduation and Toews to the NHL, but the rest of the guns make "the pact". Partly based on this hype expectations are very high, but depth is still lacking. JPL becomes one of the best goalies in the nation. Realistic Expectation: Frozen Four. Actual Result: Frozen Four.Losing Toews was a big deal. Team looked pretty strong to me from start to finish. That game in Denver was a shock. Thought Michigan was the best team in Denver, but as it often turns out the goalie who plays best wins.
2008-2009: No real top-end recruits (first rounders or World Junior players). Duncan, VV, Kozek and Finley looked to to lead. Realistic Expectations are for a top 5 WCHA finish. Actual Result is unknown.Team doesn't look as strong as any of the previous Hakstol teams to me. However I'm not dumb enough to count out a strong second half and a post season run. The WCHA doesn't seem that strong this year and the Final Five will be there for the taking.
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I've been lucky enough to watch all USA and Canada games so far. (thank you NHL network) Man, it is going to be very hard for the US to beat Canada tonight. The skill level, IMO, is much greater on the Canadian team. Add the home crowd, and it is a tough game for the good guys tonight. I hope I'm wrong, but I predict a 6-3 or 6-4 game for the Canadians. Tavares is very very good.
I agree. Canada "might" lose one game this tourney, I'm almost preferring it be in the medal round vs. tonight. Both teams are good up front, but Canada seems way better at the blueline.
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i bet he comes back but if he is a top 5 and that team wants him NOW then you never know. hope he keeps it up for USA as of now then lucia can blame travel and the WJT when he struggles at the ralph
IF he struggles at the Ralph we'll blame it on the refs and the opponents clutching and grabbing.
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this has not been a good weekend for the wcha as msum just lost to princeton 5-2. Add that to our failures, scsu in florida and wisconsin technically not getting 2 w's in their own tourney
Unfortunately the WCHA has pretty much proved itself out of conference this year. There are going to be lots of teams in St. Paul this year needing to win the league championship to make the field.
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so is pat kane, although i think schroeder has some work to do to get to that level, i don't doubt he will be an impact player in the nhl in the next few years. i wouldn't be surprised to see him come back for his soph season.
Yep. It is still more likely that a top ten pick will return for a second year of college hockey.
Kessel, EJ, Suter, Turris -- Gone after one.
Wheeler, Montoya, Skille, Lee, Toews, JJ, Okposo (kind of), Van Reimsdak, Wilson, Whitney, Ballard --- Returned.
It's hard to say what Schroeder will do because I doubt he knows at this point. He has always moved up his level of competition as quickly as possible, so I'm guessing he would leave given the right contract and a legit shot at 50+ NHL games next year.
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And it looks like Blake made the right choice, even if it did make him look like a horse's backside.
How did Wheeler's choice make him look bad?
I (like everyone else) thought it was crazy to turn down the guaranteed money. I'm guessing he was told he wasn't going to have a shot at the NHL in Phoenix so he rolled the dice and took his game to Boston. I just hope he can avoid any of the streaks where he goes stone cold this year.
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team usa is going to need him to step up like parise did that one year if usa wants to contend with canada and the others top guns
If we are going to compete with Canada it will come down to our defense and goaltending playing at or above the best of their abilities. Hopefully it is just my lack of familiarity, but our blueline doesn't impress me compared to the Carle, Stuart, and Suter blueline with that Parise team or the EJ/JJ blueline.
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Just like Kessel owned Norway, Schroeder owned Latvia.
I think you'll actually like Schroeder when he gets out of his Gophers/USA sweaters. The guy plays far more like Parise than Kessel.
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this is a interesting situation overall as i bet buddish would have been a 1st round selection coming up but now who knows with the injury. its the athletes choice in the end, not lucias but i also get lucias concern. if the kid wants to play then he should play whatever he wants, im sure other schools would be happy to have him if thats a big deal to don jaun lucia. i know lucia has mentioned in the past kids shouldnt play hockey year around if he plays other sports so now since it hits him with buddish he changes his mind.
There is also a difference for me between high draft pick guys like Forney and Budish vs. other guys. Guys like Budish and Lee have it the toughest, because they both could likely play football at the D1 level.
It's a tough call and really should be left up to the kid, if a coach doesn't like football players don't recruit them.
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I love it when Minnesotans get on this site and start debate and bashing of Team Canada and Canadian Hockey players. There is nothing that makes me happier than getting under the skin of the truly arrogant ones.
Team Canada rocks at pretty much every possible level. Their fans who root for Russians over the US, not as much.
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The UND women will get a win vs. the Gophers sooner rather than later. Almost all the other WCHA teams have beaten them. UND would quickly become a national power in the women's game if they committed more to scholarships and they honestly could get anyone to coach there with the facility.
If the Gophers and other schools are paying a full roster of scholarships vs. half as many the results will be fairly consistant. Surprises can and will occur as we all know.
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Toews/Frazee was from two years ago. There was nothing close about last years tournament, a 4-1 win by Canada in Pardubice
I was refering to the Canada/Sweden final. Canada schooled the US last year and you could see it coming as soon as they lost their pool game and got in the US bracket.
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Sure, their arrogance is aggravating, but they have backed up their arrogance. It's not like UMich's arrogance for a while. They haven't won anything in hockey since what.. 1998? Minnesota prior to their repeat DI championships is another example of arrogance without anything to back it up.
And here I thought you'd mention the UND arrogance since the new Ralph opened....
I truly don't mind anyones arrogance. How Canada hockey fans consistantly cheer for Russia against the US is beyond me. As much as I'm jealous of Canada's hockey success, I wouldn't stoop to rooting for Russia to beat them.
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Canada keeps winning but the margins seem to be getting smaller again. Couldn't get much closer than the Toews/Frazee game and last year Sweden seemed to be the better team for much of the game.
A US victory over Canada in the Final would make my season as a hockey fan. Heck maybe even in the semis.
Unfortunately it will likely come down to defense and goaltending and the US boys will come up short.
For once can we at least beat the Russians.
SIOUX vs GOPHERS
in Men's Hockey
Posted
The Gophers don't play a lot of regulation ice games (only three so far) so I'm pretty sure Lucia doesn't really have any specialists. The Gophers did look very good at the X and Denver. Their quick passing seems to spring plenty of odd man rushes and chances. The players on the power play also will avoid the drifting into the corners that occurs on the big sheet.
Shack would be the only guy that I'd consider a lot more likely to get in a game on regulation ice. It wouldn't surprise me to him in Grand Forks with a chip on his shoulder.
This Gophers team doesn't score in bunches, but for the most part they keep fighting all game long. When they do have a bad period, Kangas usually keeps them in the game.
If they are going to be a nationally elite team they need big steps from another group of forwards and Ness and Fairchild have to keep improving.