Irish

Totally agree - I look for a great running game next year for two big reasons - first, the O line should have simpler schemes, better development, and better techniques. Second - teams should be off balance and not able to dig in for an obvious run call like the last many seasons. It is amazing what plays can develop when the defense doesn't know what's coming.

Do you know what they call alternative medicine that works? ......... Medicine

Certainly a pertinent question - I feel that Goehring will bring in a lot of expertise and not just in the goalie area. We certainly need to fix the power play - watching it lately is just painful. The good news is that it should not be rocket science. It's not like we have to invent some secret, never been seen before system. We need to find a way to get the puck into the zone - we were horrible when pressed last year and when we dumped it in it was usually promptly ringed out again. Then we need some movement - both with and without the puck. I have never seen a team fiddle around and tee it up out in front as much as we did. Finally, we need a presence in front of the net. Actually, the Central coach could probably come in and draw up something that is light years better than what we did last year. The big mystery to me is that with all of the coaching experience on the bench last year we couldn't improve the PP - I think it actually got worse as the year went on. Any fresh eyes has to help. I look for a big improvement this year. It seems like Berry is willing do dig in and make some changes - maybe this will be one.

Great hire - I predict Karl will be head coach someday. Looks like Berry is working to right the ship after the last couple of years. A nice more forward.

I agree that the new Heraldo is horrible - but to blame a "sell out to hockey" is utterly ridiculous. As I travel around the country and wear UND apparel I get lots of recognition for the great Sioux Hockey Program. The only other athletic complement I get is when they mistake our football team for the Bison. Maybe hockey is a "niche" program, but it has fans all over and allows us to be the best program in the country at the DI level with 8 National Championships as well as strong representation in the NHL. Are you saying FCS Football is less of a niche level? Or perhaps you think the Summit League is a well known and well respected conference (talk about a niche - and not a very high one). I love and support UND Football, Basketball (M & W) and Volleyball, but to think we are going to get much national recognition for these programs is indeed pie in the sky. Do I wish for more coverage of these sports - absolutely. Is it Hockey's fault - not one bit. I think Hockey is getting some good article coverage to make up for the fact that the Saturday game results are at our doorstep on Tuesday. Actually, if the Heraldo cut its annoying coverage of the Gophers there would be many more column inches available for other sports. The real problem isn't Hockey - it's that we now have the Fargo Herald.

Not a comment on Smaby but here is my wish list of qualities 1. A relentless recruiter who hopefully has new contacts or is familiar with different territories than we usually recruit in 2. Some fire and emotion on the bench and in practice. Not saying Berry's approach is bad - it seems to fit his personality - but some intensity seems to be what we have been missing in the mix for a while. (since the departure of you know who) 3. Some ideas to get scoring back in the offense - for sure ideas on how to get a better presence in front of the net. 4. Power play - I put this 4th because I don't think designing a working power play is rocket science. Thjere are many many teams on all levels including high school who have figured it out. We just need to do some different things both to gain zone entry (a big problem) and getting movement of players and puck when we have it in.

In that case you are correct and I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm not convinced it's all luck but I don't know what it is.

Yes ...... lucky. They anticipated a stud departing early and had quality options to replace him. Remember when we did that. And we didn't call ourselves lucky then.

Are they ill-tempered? Seriously, one thing that could change easily is that incessant mood-killing crap coming over the PA during every break. If play stops during an exciting stretch dominated by the Sioux, you can count on the PA to take the crowd out of it with blaring music or a commercial. Those who were in Vegas can see the difference.

I believe the crowd could come together on many chants and yells if they fixed the PA system during breaks - what a mood killer. A great investment would be to supplement the money they get from the constant ads and have them fire up the crowd instead. The Ralph needs to look at what many pro teams are doing. Nothing worse than blaring music or a commercial just when things on the ice get going.

Fair enough -

Tell me how I'm wrong.

We were on the road for the first round while Duluth and Denver were again in the Frozen 4 and St. Cloud (before their annual choke job) was the highest seeded team in hockey. Our offense and power play were the worst most fans have seen. I'm not sure that the fact that we had the puck a lot brings much optimism to me. Our team was hard to watch this year and we need some serious changes starting with Shaw. I'm not sure Berry has the will to do what is necessary. I hope so. We can't take much more of this as a fanbase and program. We do have some talent coming in, but we've seen what Berry's program seems to do to scorers.

That is the prevailing sentiment of a large percentage of posters. And although we were were 1-4-1 against Denver we had the puck a lot of the time.

There's a little more to the story - Sandy took over a program that hadn't won crap and played in a crappy arena. Berry took over the top program in College Hockey playing in the best arena in College Hockey with fans that lead the nation in attendance and which has a history of developing NHL players. Berry also inherited a team with a top line of NHLers. Now, we are getting worse each season and have missed the playoffs for the second straight year while Sandy's team has been in three straight finals and are back to back champions. See the difference?

If this doesn't light a huge fire under Berry's butt we have the wrong guy. Absolutely no way that Duluth and St. Cloud should have better programs than us. An occasional season - sure, but year after year. Couldn't be more frustrated.

Sorry - lost track of time on this test and didn't hear you call for answer sheets.

My friend wants to know what percentage makes up for not scoring a goal from November until the end of the season.

Hers's how you could make that case (not a Donovan fan but here is a scenario I see) We have a recruit with a decent up-side whom we want to play USHL another year. He doesn't want to and signs with another program. Meanwhile we have 4 players who will be Juniors or Seniors on the roster who scored 3 goals or less last year. Berry was unwilling to make roster room for Donovan - and he probably needed another year of seasoning - but he has to be as good next year as several of our returners and then we have him in our program to possibly develop into a good offensive player. No way 4 of our returners are going to do that. It comes down to hard roster decisions. Still waiting for Berry to do what is necessary.

I respect your hockey knowledge, but then why are we on the road for the first round of the playoffs and Duluth (looking for back-to back titles) and Denver are once again at the Frozen Four and St. Cloud (before their annual choke job) the top rated team in College Hockey. According to you, the only guys we have missed on are the one and done guys we don't want because - see Boston University. We are excelling at developing 200 foot players. We have the best system (one that is used by the Pros), and we are fine in player development. Why does our top scorer have 10 goals? Something is off the rails. To Berry's credit he seems to be recruiting his butt of lately - now if only he would address the roster dead weight and coaching staff. Reading Schloss's article on how former Sioux are the top scoring college program in the pros only emphasized our current roster woes. See anyone on this year's roster that would add to the pro scoring total? We are used to having some absolute studs play here in addition to well chosen role players. No way St. Cloud should have 8 guys with more goals than our highest scorer.

We scored 2 goals or less in 19 games and missed the playoffs for the second year. In my mind there are a limited number of possibilities as to how this happened. 1. Missing on recruits 2. Lack of development of recruits 3. Systems systems systems 4. A combination of 1 and 2 5. All is going according to plan (which seems to be your take on things). No way St. Cloud and Duluth should be skating circles around us. None.

I agree with your assessment - however, he mentioned that stats speak for themselves and I wanted to show another stat that should speak for itself - The fact that St. Cloud had 8 people scoring more than our top scorer should alarm Sioux fans regardless of how highly rated our recruiting classes are. There is a serious disconnect somewhere that needs to be fixed. If someone posted 4 years ago that this would be the case I think collectively we would move for a commitment to an institution. Yet here we are.

Speaking of stats and facts - according to NCHC overall scoring stats, St. Cloud has 8 players (count em, 8) who had more points than our leading scorer. So I do wonder where that silly idea started.

In my opinion that is the million dollar question about our program. Even though we have some nice recruits, to have our leading goal scorer at 10 goals raises some red flags as does general player development. There is no way that year after year Duluth and St. Clown should have much more talent up front.

I trust your evaluation - then this is really good news. We need high end talent every year.