Irish

We got jobbed by the officials at Minnesota. Is there a link to the WCHA that we can email our protests?

If we were talking about any single game your assessment would be correct. However over the course of a season, there is only one person responsible for recruiting the players, developing their talent, implementing an offensive and defensive scheme, and developing team attitude and intensity - the head coach. It is his job to bring in the talent and get the most from it. Ultimate responsibility for the program is his. Please note - I am not calling for Hakstol's firing - However, I believe he is responsible for the team OOps - this was meant as a response for Redwing, not you.

I agree with every point. In addition, my major frustrations with this program right now includes the fact that other than Duncan, no one is progressing or getting better - think I'm wrong - name one person who is making even the expected progress from last year let alone having a breakout year. When Blais was here, he got major talent even in the old Ralph mainly because players knew if they came to this program and worked hard, they would leave playing like NHL talent. Why do you think Parise came here. Now, almost everyone is playing worse than last year. In addition, our style of play drives me nuts. We have gone from a program that had the most feared defensemen in the country to one in which even Alaska Anchorage and MTU players camp out in front of our net without fear with lightning speed. I'm tired of thinking "maybe this week we will put it together" week after week only to be disappointed. I feel that I am as big a Sioux fan as anyone, but having the Gophers reload and us flounder drives me nuts.

I saw a different game than you. Alaska Anchorage basically took it to us the last 2 periods. They camped out in front of our goal way too much and out shot us. We have some guys who don't show up at all - I'll be surprised if some of them score this year. This is not a good hockey team. Remember, this isn't the Gophers we tied, it's Alaska Anchorage . In addition, the poor play of the Sioux has killed what ever atmosphere was left at the Ralph. We are not a team to be feared anymore. Teams must love to come to the Ralph. We'd best ratchet things up soon or not only is this year shot, but we will be on a serious downhill slide. I'm not happy with the state of Sioux hockey.

That means that Minnesota had 5 years of hockey before we joined the WCHA. Within that time, they built their program to the point that they had 5 Olympic players. What have we built in our 5 years? - Doodly squat.

Here's my two cents worth - I'll admit to being a "Negative Nelly" as of late for reasons we won't get into. I see a surge of hope among fans after this weekend - not necessarly because of a split, but because most people see a return to "Sioux Hockey" - the hardnosed, intense kind that we love. I hope we can build on this over the comming weekend. Here's my idea of what needs to improve now that our goaltending and defense seem to be getting with the program. What concerns me is the lack of scoring - I know that it has been mentioned many times before, but I was still shocked when I looked at our season stats so far. Other than Duncan - here are our top scorers and their output: Miller - 7 goals Oshie - 5 goals Watkins - 5 goals 5 tied with 4 goals This is after 22 games - these stats scare me. If anyone would have predicted these numbers at the beginning of the year he would have been laughed off the board. I know that we have much more talent than the numbers show - I'm not sure what should be done to get our offense going. Remember - even though we split this week, we scored only two goals total. Is it chemistry? Offensive scheme? lack of intensity? poor bounces? - I don't know. I'm sure the coaches are working on this as well. I hope we find the key soon. If we can unlock the offense, we can play with anyone - if not, I'm afraid that the best we can do is split with the better teams. I hope we can open the floodgates soon - Almost every weekend I think "this is going to be the weekend we score in bunches". I know we can turn this around - however, the clock is ticking.

After Friday night's loss, there were multiple posts including mine that expressed unhappiness with the state of Sioux hockey - you can read them on this thread. JK, basically called all of these posts "incredibly stupid" without elaborating. I just pointed out the irony of his tagline about how tough and physical the Sioux play when the lack of intensity and physical play is the major complaint about our defensemen this year. The fact that the quote came from Clement has nothing to do with anything. The fact that this quote was on JK's tagline struck me as ironic because the Sioux have been anything but physical this year and he basically ripped us (the posters) for pointing this out.

I'm not really sure why you are trying to insult me - are you saying that this year's team is not disappointing or that we have had great goaltending and scoring? If so, make your case. If you can't back up your opinions with facts and think that insults are the way to go, shut your pie hole.

Among the many disapointments from this team this year has been the lack of scoring.

Yes, but crappy D-1 goaltending

I don't think there's one NHL team that plays as tough a game from the back end, on the blueline, as North Dakota does. They've got at least 5 guys that always play the body and are big enough and strong enough that just drive you into the ice." Bill Clement 3:45 of the 3rd period I noticed this on your post - Have you seen anything that remotely resembles this type of play this year - that is one of the points many of us have made.

Really? - make your points as to how this is a good, well coached hockey team with a great freshman class. It's easy to call people stupid when you don't have to back anything up.

I agree that this is pathetic hockey. Hakstol basically went to the final four the last two years with Blais's talent. Objectively rate the coaching staffs performance this year (the first year that most of the players are Hakstol's recruits) Recruiting - Name a freshman impact player - regardless of earlier speculation that our freshman class is just as good as the Gophers (they just didn't get as much press) and statements about how our recruits will play "Sioux style hockey (which usedto be hardnosed - this freshman class has not shown us anything yet Player development - most players have gone backwords this year. Game coaching - Just look at our power play and our ppk - pathetic - how we can have a power play with both Toews and Oshie and still be impotent is beyond me. Motivation - have you seen any of the games Intangibles - we have gone from being a team that you feared (especially in front of the net) to one that teams feel that they can camp out at will - In addition, we seem to take more stupid penalties than anyone I would be stunned if anyone could rate our staff at any higher than a C- for any of these catagories Week after week we hear comments about how we had a "good effort, but fell a little short". This will sell for a couple of weeks - let's face it - we are not a good hockey team. This is unacceptabe. I wouldn't be as upset if we appeared to be playing hard consistantly.

I'm not saying fire Hak, but I sure would like to have Blais back. That being said, there are some serious problems with this team - they are underperforming across the board. In addition, I'm not wild about this years recruits - who is making an impact. almost no one has improved from last year including Toews and Oshie. These are all coaching issues - you can't tell me that if a Blais team played like this heads wouldn't roll. I strongly disagree with your comments abour expectations and tradition. They should be alive and well - this is the type of season I haven't seen since Bjorkman.

Agreed This is totally unacceptable - the Gophers on a 20 game tear and us on a horrible losing streak. we should not be a second tier team ever. I'm so tired of the "great effort - just a little short", "bad breaks", "the real season is just starting", "Hak will get us going soon" comments I could puke - Let's be honest - this is one pathetic hockey season. Things need to change right now.

Agreed!

There's no doubt that Hak was basically anointed as coach. Whether he was the best man for the job remains to be seen. Most of us don't have enough information yet to make that call. What upsets me most is not that we are losing (although that burns too), but the type of play we are getting lately. We have had it taken to us physically, are making stupid mistakes, and don't show up for all 3 periods - this has been going on for way too long. In my mind, my biggest question about Hak as a coach is in player development. When you look at our talent on paper (number of drafted players, expectations of level of play when signing etc) there is no way on God's earth that we should be playing like this. This is basically the first year that we are Hak's team as opposed to Blais' recriuts - I'm worried. No one seems to be getting better or playing above expectations. Usually someone unexpected has a breakout year - not this year however. We seemed incapable of scoring 5 on 5 last night. If the play doesn't pick up soon we're in for a long haul and not only for this year. Relying on nexy year's recruits seems iffy - We are basically a team made up of the last highly praised recruiting class (this year's sophomores) and look at how they are developing. We need some fire. We have for the past month - nothing yet. I hope tonight's the night (although I am tired of saying this)

Sorry to say it, but if you can't get a better effort out of this group than we saw tonight you have to wonder what is going on with the coaching staff.

I hust got home also and listened to the radio on the way - I almost threw up listening to the crap they were spewing.

This seems to be a new modern day (post Bjorkman) low. We got our asses handed to us at home by Michigan Tech. Did we even come close to scoring a 5 on 5 goal?

I just got back from Friday's game with Michigan Tech - Just what kind of freshman class do you think will turn this team around? - In addition, if they progress like this years sophomores, we're in real trouble.

Take Toews and Oshie from this team (which might happen if they decide to move up) and what do we have to build on? The lack of development of current players who have been highly rated (Lee for example) leaves me to worry no matter who's comming in. No one seems to be getting better. In addition, there are several disturbing trends this year - One is our lack of physical play on Defense. We went from a team who had the most feared defensemen in the league to a team that gets outhit in our own arena. In addition, the undisciplined play (stupid penalties), inconsistant play (taking entire periods off), horribe penalty kill, and poor goaltending make me worry that unless we get our acts together we are in for a long period of frustration. Counting on next year's freshmen to pull us up (especially at this point of this year) makes me uneasy. Our mental approach as a team may be my biggest concern - why can't they turn it on for 3 periods?

The Sioux lost a lot of talent from last year - so did other teams especially the Gophers. I think the frustration on several threads boils down to the fact that the Gophers seem to have reloaded and we haven't - or haven't shown much so far. Our freshman class may develop with time, but no one seems to be able to step up and make a difference now. Other teams (Gophers again) seem to have recriuted impact players. In addition, many of the Sioux players this year seem to have stagnated or gotten worse - our entire sophomore defensive corps are not playing like last year and we seem to have the worst goaltending tandem in the league at least according to their stats. Other than Duncan, no one is scoring like up to potential including Oshie and Toews. Although most of us are loyal Sioux fans, sitting each week thinking mayby this will be the week where they get it together is getting old. We are used to being at the top or near the top every year. Add in the finest facility in college hockey and mediocrity is not acceptable. In addition, several aspects of the Sioux play are particulairly frustrating - especially being out hit, being taken to task at home, extremely poor goaltending, and stupid penalties especially from people who should know better. I'm certainly not giving up on the Sioux, but would like to see some traditional Sioux hockey out of this team. They have played some of the crappiest periods of hockey that I have seen from a Sioux team since the early 70's. I hope things turn around or the next few years may be bleak.