sagard

The Gophers have been playing like absolute idiots when on the ice since the last time they played the Sioux. The have now been an average to bad team for more of the season than they were a good one. If the Sioux get respectable goalie play and stay out of the box it will be a sweep.

I think it is mostly a talent issue. The blue line was as poor as I've seen from team USA in a long time, and the snipers weren't able to snipe despite having tons of good looks. Also I'm not aware of any glaring omissions, but maybe there are some.

I'll be interested to see if the new conference will be able to keep UMD long term. While they are rulers of the world right now, if they don't have success in the new conference there will be a lot of pressure on them to get back in a league with the rest of the Minnesota schools.

Gotta be the luxurious new palace you guys call the REA. That or it takes a lot of puck luck to win a title no matter how good your team is.

Some of those people think pretty highly of their franchise that hasn't been out of the 1st round of playoffs since Al Arbour was the coach. This move by Gregoire is brilliant for him. He doesn't have to waste any part of his life with those losers and will now definitely get a max contract. Now he just has to make it to the show.

My guess is that this won't get settled until late summer and if he thinks he can get 10 NHL games next year he will be gone.

His choice is easy if it is believed he can play in the NHL next year like Nick Leddy believed he could. His choice gets cloudier if with the Isles he gets a rookie max deal, but is only likely to get nine NHL games and the rest AHL. Then his pay he is turning down by staying another year is roughly $90K (max signing bonus) + $60K (AHL Pay) + $90K (Prorated NHL Pay for nine games) or all told roughly $240K for next year. This is a good amount of money, but gets him no closer to his second contract. It also allows the Isles to limit their losses in a big way if he can't cut it. This is what Okposo got by leaving mid season. If I were advising him I'd be pressuring the Isles to give him a longer than nine game look at the NHL next year. If the Isles were able to convince me he'd get a fair opportunity to play 10+ games in the NHL next year based on merit, I'd advise him to leave. If they never indicate substantial NHL opportunity for next year, I have him return to UND and potentially explore free agency. My guess is that this won't get settled until late summer after he skates with Isles organization and they get a better feel for if he is NHL ready for 2011-12.

Players today get very little unless they make the NHL compared to their peers who signed under the previous NHL collective bargaining agreement.

Rookie max is not very high. He can't do significantly better than what he'd get now, in the future. Unless he doesn't think he can make the big club next year. The Sioux have done very well competing with the NHL/AHL for talent, so who knows what he'll do.

Sorry guys I don't buy it. Puck could be on a 45 angle and we could be looking at the bottom side of the puck and some white pixels. We have a two refs, two linesman, a goal judge, and many angles of replay. If not one of those can show a decisive goal I don't see how you can count it. I think Michigan beats them anyways, but it certainly shouldn't have ended that way.

I think the Sioux roll in two easy games. DU fails to show up and gets beat by Western. If this Sioux team can't beat BC at the X with a ton of Sioux fans at the game, I don't think they will ever will. Dell looks every bit as good as Parise so I think your guys should be able to withstand an off period or two. My only concern is your guys adjusting to the tighter calls that will be call the entire games at the tourney, not just the beginning of the games like in the WCHA final. But that really won't matter to the Frozen Four.

I'll go ahead and look past both RPI and Western. The annual game vs. BC is the one to watch. Your guys are pretty much indestructible and if they avoid the high hits on the BC midgets they should be fine.

Hope he can recover and get healthy. This sucks. The pain is brutal so I hope he is getting the best treatment possible. Whoever found him and got him care is a hero.

My expectations are higher. Any year they aren't in the Gold medal game is a failure.

Great players and great coaching only get you so far. You need a LOT of luck as well, even more so in the 16 team format. First round games vs. teams like Holy Cross, BSU, Air Force, Yale are no longer givens. In the past they were 1st round byes. Gophers fit the cluster model as well, sadly ours are a bit further apart than yours.

Not good enough. Fire Hak!

I looked at their results last year pretty closely last year when I was hoping we'd hire Blais. Unfortunately Lucia is the least of Maturi's worries. Again. On the bright side the Gophers have been very entertaining so far. Hopefully a return to the X and the NCAA tourney is in order.

1. UND 2. UNO 3. UMD 4. UM 5. SCSU 6. BSU 7. DU 8. UW 9. CC 10. MSU 11. AA 12. MTU Outside of UND, I don't see a lot of Frozen Four potential in the WCHA this year. Hope I'm wrong.

I could see the BTN trying to force a Big Ten hockey championship during the Final Five weekend before I could see them trying to play a full season. Lucia has been against the BTHC for a long time. If he can't keep his job long term, and Maturi hires Blasi, I think the BTHC would be formed at some point with or without Penn State. If Lucia turns it around or Maturi hires Blais/Ward/some random "M" man, I'd bet the WCHA stays in place with the Gophers.

We will see how the Leddy situation plays out. If Chicago plays him 10+ games it's clear they wanted him and the decision was a no-brainer. It also really depends what his incentives are. Some are easy and can add a decent amount the rookie max. Leddy would be foolish to turn those down if they were offered. On the other hand if Chicago is simply going to give him a 1-9 game cup of coffee, the Leddy signed for basically ($90K) signing bonus, AHL salary ($65K), and the number of games he plays divided by 80 times the roughly $900K rookie max (maybe $90K). For that he gives up all leverage and can be stashed in the AHL as long as Chicago wants him there. If Leddy truly has the goods, he could easily have signed upon the Gophers season closing and received most of that second offer excepting the AHL salary portion. The Gophers should be able to compete with the second my two scenarios. I find it embarrassing that the "U" can't be attractive enough to keep players an extra season lately.

I felt that in '02 Hauser single handedly tried to lose both games. I will not gloss over his poor effort. He was way worse in the Frozen Four than he had been all season. A goal from behind the goal line vs. Michigan, then again vs. Maine from behind the goal line. Maine's second goal was a fluttering bouncer that most squirts stop. Then he tried to negate the OT PP with a selfish poke at the Maine player. All that said he really improved as a pro and looks to be having a pretty good career overseas. I'll with you that in '03 Weber was great vs. Michigan and UNH. Played much better than the fancy Cornell kid, the UNH kid and the Michigan sieve. How it relates to UND? Eidsness won't have to be great all tourney in the NCAAs next year, but the Sioux will probably need him to be great for at least part of one of the games.

You guys need to get the goaltenders to make the big saves when your boys aren't at their best during the NCAAs. That has been plaguing you since '05-'06 team. The margins are as usual going to be VERY small and at some point your goalie is going to need to make some big stops. Unless you want to try BC's approach and score six per game.

You really want him going to BC?

I condone his fighting with Evander Kane.

I watched a demo at Best Buy. I wore the goofy glasses. I watched 3D content, which was truly amazing. Then I watched a baseball game and let the 3D Samsung TV render a normal HD broadcast into 3D, it was also truly amazing. It seems it gives the video true depth, it doesn't make things pop out at you. Definitely worth buying when the prices of the TV and the glasses come down a bit.