Siouxman

I was trying not to take an easy shot at the Gophers.

According to GPL, Vermont plays a strong center ice trap that the Gophers could not solve. Hopefully UND's speed will be evident and break any trapping.

Obviously you weren't in on the live chat with Brad and Jason over the weekend. There were enough naysayers that were.

So lets assess this "sky is falling" start to the season: UND is 2-0-2 UND is allowing 2.25 goals per game UND is scoring 3.75 goals per game UND has eleven freshman on the roster, but so far they look like they belong UND's underclassman group have drastically stepped up their play from last year UND's injury list looks like the team roster The NCHC again appears to be dominating other conferences. Cam Johnson's GAA in his first period was 6.0, since then it is 1.80 and he is the 19th ranked goalie in the NCAA Hrynkiw's GAA in his first period was 6.0, since then it is 2.0 The Gophers are 0-phers on the season. UND is undefeated. The sky is not falling. Imagine what this machine may look like when the injuries slow down and we get a chance to see what Tomek can do. I love Fighting Sioux hockey. (None of them other pretender names)

So lets assess this "sky is falling" start to the season: UND is 2-0-2 UND is allowing 2.25 goals per game UND is scoring 3.75 goals per game UND has eleven freshman on the roster, but so far they look like they belong UND's underclassman group have drastically stepped up their play from last year UND's injury list looks like the team roster The NCHC again appears to be dominating other conferences. Cam Johnson's GAA in his first period was 6.0, since then it is 1.80 and he is the 19th ranked goalie in the NCAA Hrynkiw's GAA in his first period was 6.0, since then it is 2.0 The Gophers are 0-phers on the season. UND is undefeated. The sky is not falling. Imagine what this machine may look like when the injuries slow down and we get a chance to see what Tomek can do. I love Fighting Sioux hockey. (None of them other pretender names)

Friday - Boeser Saturday - Gersich

I should have clarified my comments a little bit. Yes, UND did make him move side to side, but the passes typically were not turned into quick shots, but the UND player mishandled the pass slightly, delayed getting the shot off, etc. so that most of the time the Maine goalie had time to slide across and mostly square up to the shooter. There were a few exceptions where there was good side to side puck movement with a quick shot. Several were shot wide, but there was one where the goalie made an excellent toe save to rob the Sioux player. We just did not see the good quality back door shots that we are used to seeing that pretty much leave the goalie helpless unless he pulls off an extremely difficult save. Those were not evident in this game with those few exceptions. The Maine goalie definitely had a better start to his career than Cam Johnson did, but I believe that Johnson made great strides in the two games to step up to this level of hockey. And I am guessing that the Maine coach had a few words for his team after the Friday night game because we did not see the bad penalties on Saturday that Maine was taking on Friday. One other observation that I made is that Wolanin had a pretty good first game on defense. He was not hesitant at all and his offensive instincts kicked in pretty well. He was deep into the corner a number of times to help with the offense, or to cut off the puck coming around the net along the boards. I did talk with a number of Maine fans who expressed thanks, and some amazement, that we had traveled so far for hockey. Then I would explain we arranged a family reunion around the tournament. We had a good time, but way too short. And, unfortunately our 23 month old grandson now believes his Daddy eats spiders, because he thought lobster was a spider.

From our vantage point this was not a hot goalie issue. UND fired way too many pucks at the center of the net, right into the goalie. And they missed a number of prime opportunities. He did not have to play spectacular, just make the basic save and not give up an easy rebound. UND dominated this game from start to finish except for very late in the second period when they got tired. Knowledgeable Maine fans recognized that they got outplayed. Unfortunately there were many Maine fans who thought they won an NCAA tournament. They could not understand that this goes into the books as a tie for NCAA purposes. Cam Johnson got a good game under his belt. He played solid, although Maine did not have a ton of shots. This team could do some really good things this year, although the NCHC will provide much better competition than the Icebreaker did.

There is no conceivable way anyone could interpret from yesterday's games that Maine is faster than UND. And that is unanimous in our group. Maine may be a little bit bigger, but Maine could not handle Michigan State last night without taking a ton of penalties. MSU did not have UND's ability to grab a turnover and head the opposite direction with speed. For years I have felt that Maine and UND had developed a friendly rivalry associated with the Shawn Walsh era and his passing. UND held a Native American Ceremony for the Dead on the ice the year after his passing when Maine came to UND. If Maine fans are as whiny and upset tonight about legitimate penalty calls as they were last night, that feeling will be long gone in my mind. The penalties called on Maine last night against Michigan State were legitimate, and yet they were as whiny as junior Gopher fans. Maine will have to drastically step up their speed tonight. You cannot hit what you cannot catch. And I will say it here: If UND's young gunners hit the net with accuracy, especially on the power play, it could be a lopsided victory for UND. There is a reason Maine was picked to do poorly in Hockey East this year.

Watched the Maine - Michigan State game after the UND - LSS game, which wound up in a 3-3 tie after OT. They did have a shootout, which was won by Maine 1-0 but I believe the game is officially a tie. I was not impressed with the skating of either team. Maine played more physical than Michigan State, but both teams took some stupid penalties with Maine taking way too many penalties. Our conclusion was that UND is a faster better skating team with better passing. But it will likely come down to goaltending. If UND gets the Cam Johnson that played the last 54 minutes of the game against LSS, they should win. If the goaltending is nervous again, then Maine could easily win on Saturday.

Only Tomek stayed home. Everyone else traveled, per Brad.

An interesting read on what it is costing the University of Maine to host this tournament. They are paying each school $15,000 plus providing the hotel rooms, a reception, and gifts for the coaches and players not to exceed $350 per person. http://www.pressherald.com/2015/10/04/umaine-has-higher-goal-as-host-of-hockey-tournament-in-portland/

No town, just the service plaza along I-87 about 1.5 hours west of Boston. Seeing some good fall colors, although it is spotty.

Have arrived in Portland. And to my surprise, I got a "GO SIOUX!" at a rest area in western Massachusetts today because of my t-shirt.

The game last night was fun and surprising to watch. In past year's UND has not looked good in the first period against Manitoba. Except for the goaltending, last night UND looked very good right from the start. Wilkie fit right into the top line. Boeser is a sniper. The freshmen fit right in and were engaged in the play, filling the right spots. Give Manitoba's starting goalie some credit, he made some great saves. UND simply outskated Manitoba all over the ice. UND has always beat them in the past, but not like last night. This is going to be a fun year to watch. This team can skate and it can shoot. UND has one of the best defenses in the country. The question mark is goaltending. I thought that Cam settled down somewhat as the game went on. His big problem was rebound control. He absolutely set up the Manitoba player on the first goal. Hopefully a certain goalie coach we all know can help work those things out. I though I read that Tomek won't start in the Icebreaker, so Cam is probably it for now.

Our whole family will be viewing the tournament in person. Using the tournament as an excuse for a family reunion in Portland, ME.

Dagies??

I heard a rumor that he could be a third cousin to the guy who use to deliver the newspaper to Virg Foss's aunt.

Thank you. I was looking for it and couldn't find it.

If I remember correctly, I believe the U of Wyoming went after Breckenridge High School Cowboys because their logo was too close to the Wyoming logo and Breckenridge had to change..

The St. Cloud ticket policy may be a reaction to something I never thought that I would see, UND fans taking over St. Cloud's arena. That is what happened during the Saturday night game at SCSU last year and it was incredible. Even the hockey players commented about it.

Nah, I think they like being the big fish in a mud hole.

It depends on whether NDSU football players get involved. Sorry..............I just could not resist.

Season tickets showed up today. So ready for the season.

Really liked the Brad Schlossman interview. It gives some great insight into his job and what he does. Some really wonderful quotes.