Irish

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.

We have some real dead weight on this team. Surprised they couldn't bring in better talent than some here.

Actually, badgers were much more difficult than gophers, but you did see some

He got walked twice right in front of me - both led to goals - the guy drives me nuts.

Wolanin is just brutal, but it seemed like every time I looked he was on the ice. We seem to have a few guys who still don't know what to do at this level.

80 years? I'll put it on my calender

"In front of the net, they were men" - one of the best compliments for a Sioux team I have ever heard.

Who would cover it - The Grand Forks Forum?

I agree, although at this point in his career the "locking on" problem might just be too ingrained.

This ^^^^^

I confess to be more worried than you - it seems to me that we have a lot of passengers on this team. Other than Jost, Boesser, and Gersich I don't see a ton of talent on the last two huge classes. When the studs leave after this year who do you see as stepping up?

I know you are trying to put a positive spin on things, but I'm not sure how crapping away a home playoff game represents a positive step towards anything.

I'm still burning over this one - no matter how you slice it, when you do this in a playoff game at any level it is a massive choke. Sorry to say this on this forum but it is true. Look, Bubba has done a spectacular job building this program - far exceeded expectations so far. However, program building and game coaching are two different things. That's why Nick Sabin brought in Lane Kiffin to coach the Alabama offense. In my opinion, this defeat is squarely on the coaches. Among the problems - we lost a game earlier this year to a blocked punt - there is absolutely no way anyone should go through untouched in a playoff game. Running into the punter - the idiot who did that should have much more game and situation awareness - this should have been emphasized on the sidelines (hell, if we had put the ball boy in for him on this play we would have won the game). Defensive coverage - isn't there anyone on the sideline who can count the number of receivers split to one side and make sure we have enough guys to cover - I haven't seen this happen since the Sioux Falls Game. And finally (and most frustrating to me) - we have an O coordinator whose reputation is to try pound the ball no matter how many in the box we are against - he seemed very happy to go 2nd and 9, 3rd and 7 series after series. Now we are successful pounding the ball and need to run some time off and he double reverses and chucks the pigskin?????????

Still smarting and frustrated - not as much by the loss as by the way we lost - I honestly expected more from the coaches. What frustrates me about Rudolf is that during the season he would pound the rock against 9 in the box continually, but now the one time we were successful and needed to do that he went away from it at the worst time possible. A really really crappy ending to a great season. I hate to have this on my mind going into the off season.

Come on Geaux - you're classier than that

I'm sure we will get some talent upgrades, but his body of work shows that we can rely on Rudolf to call the same stupid, losing game year after year.

It was not the crowd's fault!!!!!!!

When you have a young team in a playoff game for the first time in years, it falls on the coaches to make good game decisions. Not so today. This is on the coaches.

It makes much more sense when you realize that Rudolf has been living in Bizarro World this season where everything is opposite. Opponents have 9 in the box - time to pound the rock continuously - the 2nd and 9, 3rd and 7 situations put us right where we want to be. We're getting 5 yards a crack on the ground and need to chew some clock - time to rest Olivera and chuck the pigskin. This may be the most frustrated I have ever been after a Sioux football game (and with the Sioux Falls game that is saying something). Time for Bubba to be a real leader and fix some constant problems like special teams and offensive schemes.

Agree that goaltending isn't the main problem and the stats surprised me a bit. However, they do not reflect the unevenness of his performances. Lights out back to back shutouts amid several games where he let in a couple of softies (in one or two goal games). Cam is not as consistent as last year even factoring in the increase in times he has been hung out to dry. However, my opinion is that other that the big guns we are pretty toothless - not only a lack of scoring touch, but a complete inability to move the puck down the ice. To be honest, I am surprised at what low skill some of our guys are showing - even factoring in the youth. The drop from last year's spot on passing and forchecking to this years futility is almost unbelievable. We need some guys to step up and right soon. And I would like to be done with the great Wilkie experiment.