Irish

Hak and the crew (including Berry) for these last two fiascos, Berry and crew (basically the same cast going forward). How we got away from getting top talent up and down the roster so fast amazes me.

Tell me again about all of the young talent this team has. Lose the big 3 and we have a crapfest - no scoring, pathetic defense - looking at you, Wolanin - and a lackadaisical attitude. If we don't bring in a boatload of talent and right soon we are in for a long dark stretch. As of right now, Sioux hockey is almost unwatchable.

Notice that all of the added layer of upper level administrators seem to be safe from cuts - pathetic.

I admit to venting and searching for an explanation. What I don't get is this kind of play we've been seeing when the majority of the team just got done playing on a championship team last year that did all of the things this team does not. I thought the hard, fast play and take no prisoners forchecking and backchecking as well as the play around both nets would carry over and the talent may be young, but play with inspiration. What a difference a year makes. Why does this team only play like that in spurts then revert?

First - I didn't make that comparison, nor would I. I may have been typing while frustrated, but I just do not see much talent the last two years outside of the big 3. Neither do I see the desired improvement from the Sophs. For some reason I can't get current stats, but our highest ever drafted goalie (soph) is in Siberia. Outside of the big 3 we just don't seem to have any firepower or scorers. We do have guys who have played with various degrees of grit - some a lot of grit, but no one that seems to be able to finish. On D, Wolanin and Shaw continue to frustrate. I just don't see a loaded roster - or even one that has a balance of grit and skill. If we lose Johnson or Jost or Gersich I don't see next year as being much better. I see a serious drop off in talent on this team. Some younger guys have shown flashes, but no one has stepped up. We are extremely uneven, playing "like men" in front of the net to letting teams set up in the slot without bothering them. And we have had an absence of guys in the net. We have lots of guys with 3 or less goals. Good high-end talent, but missing the mid-level players. Maybe I am being too quick to judge, but based on the play so far I have seen more things to worry about than to be excited about.

We are seriously under talented for a program of our stature.

I know they are Sophs - what I am saying is that in addition to guys who will be pretty good after playing regularly for 2 years we need some higher end talent who can make a difference immediately - a combination. We seem real short on the high end talent on D and there is a serious drop-off on O after the big 3. At times we are horrible in transition and with puck movement. I think we are under-talented and with our recruiting advantages should not be - I get we had departures, but where are the stud replacements (who were recruited for the most part several years ago)

Both those guys have been brutal at times this year with the give-aways.

Not 6 of them

I think we have as many or more marketing tools as any school in the country.

My original comment was to the point that we need better guys on defense than we have brought in recently and should be able to get them given our program status. I don't care about draft status, but I do care that we have a much better defense than we have seen this year and so far next year looks to be more of the same. Not only are we puking up goals, we are having tremendous difficulty starting our rushes and gaining the zone. This starts with the D.

It's Wolanin's sophomore year and he's still killin' us frequently. Why no high enders? We should be able to attract them. I can see one class, but 3 in a row?

Agreed that defensemen can be difficult to judge early, but we may have our third average defensive class in a row - the last two and the next one. With our three successive Frozen Fours, our Championship, and the type of defense we showed on a national stage, we should be able to recruit some studs. Am I missing something?

Agree with the Quinn comment - And while BU has their recruiting points we have ours - a history of developing high end pros, the best facilities, the best fans, fans who travel like no one else, great coaching, and a program that is probably top two of all time with a run of Frozen Fours. Given that, I'm not saying we should even shoot for the BU type of class, but I think we should expect better than the last two groups (with the exception of the big 3 talents). We have a group with no scoring punch and defensemen who give away goals. We should expect better classes than that.

True - but we had no Stechers the last couple of years - we must be due for 3-4 next year.

Have you seen our current bunch play lately?

I agree, but given how long it takes freshmen D players to adjust and who we will have back what kind of defense do you think we will have next year?

Half below C. Now do the defense.

Your honest assessment - other than the big 3, how much talent do you see in those 19 underclassmen?

I don't disagree and am not necessarily arguing for more #1 picks (although it would be nice). My point is that other than the three stars we have very little talent to build into a Duluth like team. Many are below average. After the big 3 we have a serious lack of scoring - punctuated by Wilkie and if you saw our defense this week you know what I mean there too. Not only that, we have serious issues clearing the slot and around the goal, clearing the zone, on the power play, and with concentration and not making stupid plays. We don't seem to be able to play Sioux hockey for a whold game and sometimes for a whole period. Maybe Gornal, Wilkie, and Wolanin will develop a lot, but I am seriously worried.

I couldn't agree more - take away those three and the last two classes aren't competitive. No scoring, a goalie who is in Siberia, and defensemen who cough up goals repeatedly. While the championship accelerated the process a bit with the departures, I really don't see a core of talent who will improve with time. We have lots of dead weight and with our recruiting advantages (NHL Stars, top program, top facility) there is no way we should be in this boat. Other schools have reloaded quickly. If we don't have one of the best classes in history coming in, if we have early departures we will be in big trouble.

The talent level drops off like few Sioux teams I have seen since the end of Gino's run. How did this happen with all of our success in making the Frozen Four. No way some of these teams should out-recruit us.

Not even in the ballpark

Why are we going to our walk-on instead of our 3rd rounder? I wish someone would shine a little light on this - pulling Cam for Wrinks is futile.

I know we lost a lot on defense, but jeez - how can BU recruit all of the first round draft picks in the universe to play defense and we have to play this crew anchored by Walanin. Time to hit the recruiting trail and hard. We were beaten physically and mentally last night.