Irish

Interesting discussion - From what I've seen (especially last year) during the first half of the season we almost never carried the puck across - we almost always dumped it. As a result, our players looked for this option first. In fact I had a fan from another team ask me if we ever carried the puck into the zone - he was rather amazed at the amount of dumping we did. As a result of this style, we almost never had odd man rushes the first half and struggled as a team. In the second half, we seemed to open up and play more and our offense became much more potent. We finally started looking for the good pass and the open teammate - the results speak for themselves. As for Hak being more versitile than Blais, I'm not buying it. Versitile in this context seems to mean taking a full half year to play to potential every year (and having to try some different things because of it). Blais found a system that worked, recruited and coached to make it work, and won his second national championship at the end of his 6th year - he also took over a program in much worse shape. The continual dump/chase/cycle offense drives me nuts - give me Blais style every time.

Several questions come to mind- Are we getting beaten to the blue chippers? For now, the answer appears to be yes - We haven't had a first round pick in how long. Other teams seem to be picking them up. We have the facilities and program to compete with anyone. We should be getting our share or more. We used to be the program many sure-fire NHL prospects picked. Is this by design? Did we get who we want - are we confident that we have some great "under the radar" kids? Hard to say. At this point, coaches are reluctant to admit that we didn't get the players we were after and imply that they are not happy with who we have. Same with many Sioux fans. No one wants to put our class down. We do have some nice players comming in, which brings us to question 3 - Do we have what it takes to go all the way? I'm not sure - time will tell. Many posters seem very optimistic - however, almost no one else in the hockey community sees what we do. It would be nice to show them. I see some nice things on this team - good competition at goalie, 4 line that can score - and some question marks - defense, another slow start, can we get that hard nosed attitude? We have a lot of underclassmen who need to take that next step up. Regardless of how many posters have made high draft choices sound iffy, we would be a better team with a Parise, Toews, or Oshie or even a Schroeder. For me, the future is now. I would be happier with some blue chippers coming in. It's been long enough.

I agree that the entire team is responsible for defense, and outside of some glaring mistakes, many defensive lapses are the result of several players. UND has a combination of offensive and stay at home players - however the combinations don't always work. Sometimes one defenseman (many times Finley) is hung out to dry. What strikes me, however, is the total defensive breakdown we have had the last many years during our season ending loss. From goaltending to foreward play to defensemen, we have collectively looked horrible - usually one of our worst games of the season. How we can play so well at the end of the season and look like this is beyond me. I feel that this is the hump we need to get over in order to get # 8. Personally, I would like to return to the hard-hitting defenses of the past. While we have some physical players, top to bottom we don't hit like we used to. I'm getting restless for # 8 - We need put it all together this year.

Remember, in 2002 we were only a couple of years removed from an National Championship, which helped dull the frustration. In addition, we expected to reload and challenge for a Championship immediately (in Bais we trusted). The same type of season now would be met with a lot more frustration because another Championship has been a long time comming - we've come tantalizingly close but no cigar. I'm having a hard time deciding what I feel about this season - definately greater highs and lows than others. Although I love the second half surges, these types of seasons are wearing me out. When we rely on this, we need to peak exactly right or we get a finish like this year. The timing seems too fragile to want to continue this pattern. I know that there are different opinions out there, but I feel that we were one blue-chipper away from the big time this year. I like 4 solid lines also, but give me a Toews or Oshie to seal the deal. The high point for me was watching Duncan end a fantastic college career.

Is it unfair to compare this coach to his immediate predecessors and have roughly the same expectations - I don't think so Is it way harder to win a championship now compared to 10 years ago - I don't know, but since we last won one Minnesota, Boston College, and Denver have each won 2 and Wisconsin has won one. Am I writing off next year's season because I said I don't see a National Championship at this point - no more than others who are trying to be realistic - Big A HG picks us 4th in the WCHA, Yzerman states we're going to be in a lot of trouble defensively" - etc. I'm stating my opinion and could do without your snide remarks.

Kidding - no At this point in their coaching careers, Gino had 2 national titles and Blais 1 with another one coming in his 6th year. We have gone thorugh an incredible run of talent without one. Did we overachieve this year and win a MacNaughten - yes. My point is that we have tried it both ways now - loaded with top end talent and running 4 lines without a star. We still have not found a way to win it all. I don't see a national championship team next year either. I'm frustrated with the drought. Hak knew the expectations coming in. We need to pick it up.

Does anyone else feel that after all these years of playoff frustration and no championships that this type of year is unacceptable. It's time for us to bring in some studs and become an elite team again. I want the days back when we reloaded in stead of rebuilt. Hak needs to step it up. I'm getting impatient.

These playoff collapses recently all have the same feel. - Our defense looks like crap. I think the thing that killed us was our 5th goal - we then went into our totally ineffective defensive shell - I have Never see this work. Come on coaches. I am tired of our seasons ending on this kind of game. I want #8 and am getting impatient. We have just graduated the greatest recruiting class in our history (maybe in the history of college hockey) and have no championships to show for it. Unless we get turned around I see a long drought (good but not great teams). With our tradition and facility we expect better. I'm having another drink and going to bed - I can't believe we ended like this again.

Ah, what to make of our power play - I agree, lately it has been dreadful. We'd sometimes be better off declining the penalty. We are very slow to move the puck around and seem to need to tee it up in order to shoot. My solution is simple - SHOOT THE PUCK Everytime we seem to struggle on the power play it is almost painful to watch because we never put it on net. We went through a stretch last year - same thing. Why no one can convince our people to shoot is beyond me. At our level, if we struggle with a phase of the game, we should be making corrections in the next week. This type of play will kill us in the regionals.

Did I dream the last three months? Is it still December?

Best captain ever is hard to rate - Howeve, I've been a Sioux fan for a long time, and Duncan may be my favorite player of all time - A heart as big as North Dakota. Duncan's the man - we'll miss him next year.

Huge win - nice character showed by the team. We need to take a lesson from this game into the playoffs - when we play defensively and go into a shell, we almost always lose ground. As soon as they tied it up we started attacking again and won. Our natural state is not defensive hockey - playing not to lose with a 1 or 2 goal lead just loses us momentum. Thankfully we were able to pick it up tonight. Although Bachman looked good, is there any goalie we cant score on in the second half of the season - again attacking hockey is the way to go.

During the World Juniors there were a lot of complaints about ice quality. It seems like this has been a problem since day one.

In my opinion, the game was as much a result of Eidsness as anybody - he kept them at bay until our skaters took over in the 2nd - Great game.

You just listed 5 elites that we have had since the New Ralph opened. I don't see anyone at that level for the past 2-3 years (longer if you include the classes that have not come in yet). I'm not saying we don't have some great players, but I feel we need some top end (first rounders) in the mix. UND used to be a prefered school to top end talent because they felt they would develop most quickly under Blais (think Parise). I hate to see us get away from landing the blue chippers. Our past 4 years in the frozen 4 have been largely as a result of their contributions (Toews, Oshie). Think where we would have been without them. Again - I'm not putting down our current players or recruits, just wishing we would another Oshie or Toews soon. We need this type of talent. Tell me with a straight face that we would have had a couple of 4 year players instead of Oshie and Toews.

Agreed - count the 12 goals we hung on the goophers - how many came from the dump/chase/cycle and how many came from carrying the puck into the zone, working for odd man rushes, crisp passing and playing Blais style offense. If we play like that, we look like worldbeaters.

Other than the Gophers, this team doesn't seem to put anyone away. A 2 goal league against the worst offense in the country should hold up. How many times have you seen us score and put ourselves in a good position only to give up a goal within 1 or 2 minutes. We need a killer instinct.

The best two periods of hockey I've seen at the Ralph - way to take the play to the Gophers.

I couldn't agree more with your point on the breakout - we seem to be in robot mode. I wonder why the coaches don't make adjustments after watching game film? Are they seeing something I'm not? Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for the recap - looking at the players listed it makes me think more than ever that we have a big lack of high end talent this year, and down recruiting classes for our juniors and sophomores (freshmen to be determined). Hak just isn't the recruiter Blais was. As for the theory that we have good players up and down the line-up - that only works if the players develop and show up every game. One of the main problems with this team is the lack of development for almost everyone. Hardly anyone is playing better than expected - many are worse than last year. Gregoire was mentioned in the same breath as Schroeder as best newcomers to the WCHA - see them at par now? (please note - I'm not criticizing Gregoire - just using this as an illustration for our player development). How do you think our sophomore and junior classes are developing? Blais had a reputation for developing talent and was able to recruit the likes of Parise because of it. Under Hak, many players just plain don't develop. I'm not so sure our system isn't grinding them down. Our offensive break-out and cycling are horrible. If fans can see it why can't the coaches. You would think that after watching game film after game film the light would go on. I'm not saying we don't have some good players - we do. I just think that almost everyone is not playing to potential. If it is one player it probably is the player if it's everyone we have to look at the coaching.

We got 2 goals total against two of the worst teams in the country. Tell me again why we don't need any blue chippers on our roster.

My comment was aimed more at our current roster - In fact, please put your fine eye for talent to use and evaluate our current classes. I am interested in your opinion on the last 3 recruiting classes as they compare to other top NCAA teams like Minnesota, BC, Denver, ETC.

True, but in my opinion we should have had at least one. You make a valid argument - I personally am on the side of needing top end talent, but understand what you are saying about team chemistry and work ethic. We don't seem to have either top talent or chemistry this year, and I'm not sure Hak has shown he can develop chemistry or work ethic. Hopefully this team can right itself ( a sentiment I've had for four or five weekends this year). Time is short.

I'm not saying we don't have some decent hockey players coming - just like we have some decent players on the team this year. I am saying that we don't have any top end blue chip talent - the kind you win championships with. No Toews, Oshie, Parise, etc. In my opinion, both our sophomore and junior classes are performing below expectations. No one has had a real break-out season. Hell, some have not improved at all. The jury is still out on our Freshmen - some nice talent, but not top end. No first round draft choices, under representated on the 18 and under and World Junior teams. Look at this team's stats and tell me who would make all conference or all american. Our Shattuck pipeline seems to have dried up and we haven't found a replacement. I'm just not happy with mediocre hockey. When we were in the race to recruit Zack Parise he was told to go to UND = that was his best shot at developing his skills for the pros - do you think he would get the same advise today?

Unacceptable - We're the Fighting Sioux, not some crap ass team like Bemidji State. To show up like this when our non-confernce games are crucial to getting into the dance is pathetic. How many times have we seem a Hakstol team mail it in? Do you think Blaiser would put up with our effort so far this year? I've said this before - we need some blue chip studs on this team. We just don't seem to have the talent this year. Hak better hit the recruiting trail hard - the product he's putting out this year is below expectations. We got it handed to us by one of the worst teams in the country.