Irish

I think we have paid a high price to have Walski as a senior with one game under his belt on our roster. We lost a good young goalie and haven't recruited a stud until Eidsness. We are one injury away from disaster. Does anyone think that Walski can carry the load in the WCHA? If so why didn't he play last year. Why we haven't gone after another top goalie is a mystery. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us. Our goalie recruitment philosophy is a mystery. What do they see in Walski that others don't see. He is a hard working practice goalie in my book.

It would be nice if we had some competition among the offense and had a situation where if you aren't scoring you sit. I long for the days where we had firepower up and down the lineup. I see a lot of potential, but we need a push and some breakout years. Some guys didn't contribute much offensively at all last year. Waiting for the first line to score can come back to bite you.

Agree 100% - We are a better team with Finley - no question. I too am somewhat frustrated with our style - we used to bring it both on offense and defense. Not any more. Every fan I have talked to wants the old style back. Even with some high end offensive talent, we didn't put on many rushes. We used to fly like BC. Now we have players (hell - whole lines) that are dead weight offensively. It's really tough to watch us play and get lit up and wish that we were the other team. The trouble is that we have been just successful enough to not force a change. While we're on the subject of style - are we to expect our 5th slow start in a row? I for one get very frustrated watching us underacheive and mail it in for half the season. Time to hang another banner.

Welcome to the joys of Division I - It's going to be a crappy transition period for all sports except football ( the only one with IA to compete in), and the coach who was pushing for the move-up has found a better school. I think that it's iffy for all sports at this time - a successful move-up is not guarenteed for any sport, with the minor men's sports in serious danger. The tough part now is the need to raise major funds while putting out a schedule that is less than desirable. I think attendence will suffer for all sports except hockey. I too have very little interest in watching us play Valley City in men's or women's BB. My prediction is that the drive for money and additional charges to loyal fans is going to irritate almost everyone.

Some problems with the atmosphere are fixable, some are not. Suggestions - As stated by others- the blather comming over the PA system especially the paid advertisments definately do nothing but damper the mood of the crowd. Every time the crowd is really into it we hear an ad or canned music. Someone at the Englestad needs to brighten up. We need a coordinated effort to get group cheers going - it could start at the Student section. Many in my section would join in if it was organized right. I like the band, but learn another song besides In Heaven There Is No Beer Cut the students some slack. Cater more to true fans and less to big bucks and corperate interests. The seeds of this atmosphere were planted when many great fans were priced out of good tickets. With the crowds and the consessions, the Englestad has to be hauling in the money.

It's obvious to me that we aren't quite at the next step - What do you think we need to bring back # 8 (this is not intended to bash coaches or players) - I think a constructive conversation would be good My Ideas- - Our lack of speed at the highest level was exposed big time. We need more offensive players who can fly. - Our freshman and sophomore classes are average. I'm not saying we don't have some good players, but compare our freshman and sophomore stats to other WCHA teams (especially on offense) - we don't have any studs like Oshie or Parise. Imagine what one more quality player could have done for this team. We need to recruit harder. A team full of role players and grinders won't cut it against Boston College. - We need scoring from all lines. Wait until next year - you'll see how much Oshie carried us. - I'm disapointed that we don't have a goalie waiting in the wings - In my eyes this is a recruiting lapse. Even though Lammy had a season for the books, wouldn't it be nice to have a goalie with some game experience next year. - Hopefully Vandevelde and Trupp step it up one notch next year. We need someone to have a monster breakout year. - Something different needs to be done as far as prep for the Frozen Four if we make it next year. Our intensity the last two years sucked. I have never seen a Sioux team look as lost in a big game as Thursday. - I love a physical game - It's vintage Sioux hockey. However, Boston showed us that you can have offense and be physical. - I'm not a fan of dump and chase and cycle all of the time. - Uninspired play the first half of the year just doesn;t cut it. If you try to ride a streak instead of playing solid hockey all year it's very easy to miss the peak - I like Blais's hockey approach much better - Be excellent all year Other thoughts?

Not everyone who posts on this thread wants to fire Hakstol (even some with very negative comments). That being said, some of the blame yesterdays humiliating performance must fall on the coaches. This was one of the most painful games to watch that I have ever seen. To come out that flat in a Frozen Four is almost inexcusable. BC handed us our butts on every level - hitting, speed, heart, coaching, you name it. They played like the Sioux used to. Expectations for the Sioux hockey program are that we are going to win some championships. If a coach can't get that done, he is going to be criticized. We have had 4 shots at ithe frozen 4, and have a 1-4 record under Hakstol. While any one loss can be explained, the pattern is not good. We expect more - not every season, but often enough. I hope the freshman class next year is loaded - I feel that much of the problem this year is that we don't have any top of the line (Oshie, Toews, Gerbe for example) studs in either of this years freshman or sophomore classes (I'm not saying we don't have some talented players- just no top of the line players. Add to that that we have no experienced goaltender coming back and I am worried. I'm afraid we blew our last chance for a couple of years. How long are we willing to wait for # 8? I for one am getting restless.

4 straight frozen 4's and no banners = Woog Remember the days in which we were the team buzzing the nets and hanging 6 on someone. I greatly miss the Blais style teams. We have many players who don't carry their weight offensively. Something needs to change. This team was the worst prepared frozen 4 team I have ever seen.

Great win - what we needed was our studs to step up and they did. Anyone have any thoughts on why we gave up 80 shots (to Princeton and Wisconsin?) after playing smothering defense all the second half of the season? Could it be we didn't want to take penalties? Olympic ice? Change of strategy? Tournament tightness? - I was very surprised about this aspect of our game. If Boston puts up 40 shots they'll hang 5 or 6 goals on us.

I'm not so sure - The best thing I could say about the last two seasons is that they have been lackluster. This season's league play is the worst I can remember in the past 40 years. The team played with an unacceptable level of entheusiasm and heart. No team work at all. Don't believe me -here are some of the quotes from other fans who attended games this year: Before the NCC season started, I was thinking we were capable of going 4-2 or even 5-1 at home, and then probably 3-3 or 2-4 on the road. After listening to the first two games and being at the USD game, I'm wondering if we'll win more than 2 more games all year. - Bincitysioux Sioux lose 84-69. This is UND's first 0-4 start to an NCC season since 1995-96, and Sioux men are the only NCC basketball team--men or women--still seeking their first conference win of the season. - Und 92,96 UND Men Lose......73-65 to St Cloud. Frustrating game to watch, UND could have won if the boys would play sound TEAM basketball, and quit the showboating between the legs (meaningless) dribbling...? When they ran the offense, reconized the double team, hit the open man, they were successful. The turnovers were just plain stupid basketball, and trying to be the star. - The Walrus The problems with this team are endless. First, the only head coaching experience our head coach has is what he's done right here!! Never been a head coach before so he has to learn as he goes along. Not sure that is good at this level. Second, team can't shoot a lick. Great athletes but no shooters and it is empasized by our opponents. The NCC has always been a team of big "cornfed" posts and shooters. Look back at some of the best teams this league has had and you'll find this out. - Coach Daddy Okay, so the men officially stink in basketball. Where does the program go from here? Start from scratch? Is next year going to be even more bleak than this year? - GeauxSioux wish I had the answer. This season has been an unmitigated disaster, and there doesn't appear to be many (if any) reasons to think next year will be any better. - UND 92,96 After we got down by 20 points, it was a pretty even game,

"We think the team choked and are upset by that. Do any of you watch sports on a regular basis? Upsets or "chokes" happen all of the time. it's March maddness, you'll probably hear of one or more a day for the next 2 weeks. It is not just UND suffering from this." Agreed - but this seems to be a yearly occurrence for the Sioux Women.

Well - It's gut check time. Let's see how hungry we are. I hope the Sioux put on a clinic tonight.

"The teams that beat him prior to Jenny Crouse and the others was NDSU and Delta St. Those 2 schools only won 6 or 7 national championships between the 2 of them; not bad, I guess." My point exactly - in several of those years I felt we had better teams than NDSU but couldn't get it done in the regional. A couple of other years I felt we were equal. NDSU won the championships and we stayed home and watched. The tournament results in the last 5-6 years speak for themselves. Do good teams sometimes get beat in the tournaments - absolutely. However, when it happens with this frequency, something is wrong. Coach Roebuck has done many positive things including making UND a national contender, recruiting outstanding athletes, and finally learning how to beat Amy Ruley. Getting the best play from his teams at tournament time ain't a strong suit.

Other than the Jenny Crouse years, Roebuck's teams have a notorious reputation for folding in the tournaments. Look at the 5 years directly before Crouse and the last 5 years and you will see what I mean. This is not just a one time happening that reflects on only the current players. This happens almost every year. The coach is involved.

Agreed that these were nice tourney wins - Makes you wonder how we played so poorly during the regular conference season. In terms of redeeming the overall season, these wins are like putting lipstick on a corpse. Coach Jones needs to recriut his but off in order to turn this around.

This isnt Rocket Science - every time the power play goes south, one thing is obvious - we piddle around with the puck until we lose it without ever getting it on net - how we can go from a good power play to this in a week or two is beyond me. The players must know what to do by now - all they have to do is pull the trigger.

Although it is still early in coach Jones's tenure here, so far his teams have shown doodly squat. I don't see any stars in the wings either. Division I is going to be a long hall unless things change and soon.

Great = Almost every Evan Trupp goal is a highlight goal - i can' wait for the next one. Good win for the Sioux

Hey - I think we won the DAC this year!

I can't think of a Sioux team in recent history that has made me feel more schizophrenic. I leave each Friday's home game thinking we have the talent to go all the way and that we have finally started to put it all together only to leave Saturday's game thinking I haven't seen a Sioux team look worse (allowing rallys, taking stupid penalties, finding a way to lose). Our power play looks like the best in the nation and carries us for several games - our power play looks worse that a high school team and has trouble even getting the puck into the zone. Our defensemen look like the unit I thought they would be - our defensemen get toasted and have a stunningly high amount of poor judgement in turning the puck over in our zone. Our freshman and sophomore class looks like it is the nuculeus for great teams for years to come - our young players look much worse than our rivals. Our returning stars look like they are living up to their all-american status - our stars dissapear for games at a time (except Oshie). Our goaltending carries us - Phil lets in soft goals and allows 3rd period rallies. Our coaching staff appears to have all the chemistry working - the staff looks remarkably unconcerned and shows little emotion. We play with intensity and heart - we look like we just plain don't give a crap. I think part of the frustration expressed on this board to the dismay of some is that every time we think we are clicking, we seem to lose focus (often in the same game, usually within the same weekend). I don't know what to think about this team. I feel that this is a coaching issue - getting the team to play consistantly up to its potential. I'm not criticizing the coaches. but just saying that it is up to them to get this team focused. Everybody knows the Blais method for dealing with these issues - I'm not sure what the Hakstol approach is (mainly due to his stoic nature). We need a lesson in focus and determination yesterday.

Now that's Sioux hockey. If we played with this attitude and intensity I would be satisfied win, lose, or draw. It's good to see us turn a visit to the Englestad Arena into 60 minutes of pain. I hope this is the start of a trend. When everyone chips in on the scoring, we tend to win. Even though not all goals were pretty, when we put the puck on the net and crash the net, good things happen. We definately outworked them this weekend. Keep it up Sioux.

"Patience"

When do you think that will be?

The only problem with T J is that there aren't more of him. If the whole team played with his intensity and heart we wouldn't split every series. We don't have anyone in our freshman or sophomore class that comes close to his talent. Lighten up you people on the morals committee.

Agreed - However I don't think we have "recruited like crazy" the last two years. One of our main problems this year is that we have no freshmen or sophomores who are lighting it up (although Vandevelde is playing well). No one who comes close to Oshie, Parise, Toews, Boshinski, Duncan, Zajek, etc. Just look around at other teams and compare our last two classes to theirs (Denver for example). If you think this year sucks, wait until we lose Duncan, Oshie, Lammy, Bina and Finley. We'll have no scoring and a goalie who has not played one period of college hockey. I'm not saying we don't have any quality players, but I don't see any difference makers in our Freshman and Sophomore classes. While I'm ranting - Our inability to make our home ice a tough place to play really irritates me - Sioux fans have seen a very mediocre hockey team at home for the past 3 years. i'd give anything to see us play with fire, pride, and intensity this year. Why we have to wait until January every year to see what I consider "Fighting Sioux Hockey" is beyond me. No way we would play with this lack of intensity for this long with Blais as coach.