schmidtdoggydog

When Williamson came on the team, Nick Naumenko, Dane Litke, Mark Pivetz, Mitch Vig and Kevin Rappana were already in the fold. Now I realize the name Rappana doesn't necessarily strike fear in the hearts of opponents, but those other four were very solid college d-men. Naumenko is one of the best offensive d-men of all-time at UND. Litke and Vig were both captains during their tenure and Pivetz was a rock in '97. Remember '97, that is the year Litke, Pivetz and Vig were members of a national championship team. As much as I hope these year's team can enjoy the same success, it doesn't appear likely unless something drastic changes, and soon! With regard to Radke, I am not suggesting he should, or is worthy of, taking any of the upperclassmen's spots. BUT, if he is expected, and he will be, to be ready and successful next season (and be considered a veteran) he needs more ice time, plain and simple. Bottom line - Radke hasn't come close to meeting preseason expectations, but he is most definitely not the reason this year's team is underachieving.

Also a good point!

The big difference is CM skated in most of the team's games his freshmen season. He finished with 16 points, skating in 33 of 39 games (85% of games). Brad Williamson is another example. He only had 4 points his first year, but skated in 34 of 38 games (89%). Radke has two points thus far, but has only played in 15 of 24 games (62.5%). If he is going to be relied on next season, which he will be I would think considering the departures, Greene included, he needs to see more ice time. He needs to be provided the opportunity those guys were. At this juncture, his play has been disappointing, but he really hasn't been given much of a chance to improve or even get a feel for the level play in the WCHA.

According to reports, Lucia is frustrated with USA Hockey for overusing Hagemo during the WJ considering his shoulder injury; evidently he is going to making some calls tomorrow and if not for the injury this weekend's results may have been different. I guess we can assume the Sioux lost Saturday night because a linesmen broke Stafford's nose (the reason for the shield during the bronze medal game) during the semi-final game!

Sagard, I honestly don't know if it will be the "shaft" this season. Although both UM's are solid with great potential, Montoya's play during the WJ's certainly gives hope to any team that lands in the Michigan regional. And although the Gophs have looked pretty good and likely exceeded expectations, some holes were certainly exposed this weekend. My guess is they best hope they don't drop too far in the power rankings as the season progresses and end as #2 seed (not likely to happen considering their schedule). I am not a statistical or pairwise guru, but if they dropped to a two seed and cc keeps chugging at a #1 seed, they both could feasibly end up at the Ucch (depending on how other things shake out and considering the NCAA's avoidance of first round conference matchups), which makes for an interesting battle to reach Ohio. I could be way off base, but imagine the possibilities!

Dagies, you know he was dq'ed because Sheppard has it in for the Gophers! Without trying to rile Gopher fans, the other thing about Chucko that warrants discussion is his lack of production thus far in WCHA games. Coming into tonight he had 4 points in 13 league games and during some of those games, at least, he was skating with the "two greatest forwards" thus far in college hockey (sorry, I won't attribute the quote), Potulny and Irmen. I realize he hasn't skated with those two every game, but I am surprised his point production isn't higher. He is a good-sized kid and a first round draft pick. What's the skinny?

Funny comment considering your quote earlier this week: Feared? This weekend they got smoked by RR - IN Grafton!

Sertich and Sterling have been very good this season, but CC showed tonight that they have some depth with goals from Thauwald, Crabb, Brannigan and Polaski! Quite frankly, I am not surprised by the sweep. Despite the Gophers solid play thus far I have thought for some time that CC is the team to beat in WCHA this season - time will tell. As for the Gophers, other than slowing their momentum and stopping their home win streak, the sweep shouldn't effect them too much considering how easy their remaining WCHA schedule is.

According to collegehockeystats.com and my recollection of the play, Schneider, Greene, McMahon, Prpich and Fuher (?) were on the ice when Mankato scored the winning goal. I am not sure about Fuher, but the only four seem correct. Those are arguably the best players UND could have on the ice at the time (solid defensemen and two of the team's best defensive forwards) and mistakes were still made. In defense of Schneider and Greene, they both logged a lot of minutes on Saturday (moreso after Smaby's benching) and had been on the ice for a very long shift when the goal was scored. But, in reality there is no excuse! As for goaltending, Parise play was boneheaded in that he threw it across ice, but goaltending is not this team's problem: WCHA GOALTENDING LEADERS (USCHO) (Minimum 33% of team's total minutes needed to qualify) Rk Name GP W-L-T MIN GA SV SV% GAA 1 Philippe Lamoureux, Fr, UND 9 6-3-0 537:13 18 222 .925 2.01 2 Kellen Briggs, So, UMN 13 9-4-0 785:52 31 344 .917 2.37 Bernd Br

Last I heard, yes!

Thanks, PCM. It is great reading about Sioux hockey again!

Old news by now, but an interesting read nonetheless! Drew Stafford's World Junior Journal 01.03.05 January 3rd....2005.....Happy New Year. Well, this update is going to be a short one for there is really not too much to say. We aren't exactly where we want to be as far as tournament standing, but we have a great opportunity to accomplish a huge feat; winning a bronze medal. The great USA has only won four medals in the history of this tournament, and we have a chance to win five tomarrow night. We are going into tomorrow night's game with the mindset to end this marathon on a good note. We have a chance to win a medal tomorrow and were going to go after it. Our loss to Russia in the semi's hurt, especially after all their taunting and stupid celebrations, but we still have an opportunity to finish strong. I am kind of in a rut, because I don't want either team to win the gold tomorrow, I wish it were us, but I hope someone on Canada goes after those Russian showboats. It will probably be Sidney Crosby. He does everything. On a side note, Ovechkin looks like Robocop's second cousin on the ice with that halfie he's got on. Anyway, tomarrow is the last day of the tournament and overall it has been a great experience; definitely a learning experience. I hope we end on a good note. Until then...stay hot. 12.30.04 New Year's Eve.....One more day until we bring in the new year. As a team we didn't exactly finish off 2004 the way we wanted to dropping two straight games to a fiesty Belarus team and a very skilled Czech team. The focus over the past week has basically just been on just getting better and obviously winning. Since we didn't accomplish the second part of our focus, we have been just trying to put the losses behind us and keep our eyes on the path ahead, which is a huge quarterfinal game against Sweden on Saturday. Here is where I usually describe what happened in each game and all, but there isn't really much to say. In the Belarus game we did not play as well as we could have and we waited until the third period to start playing how we can. By then it was too late, and Belarus hung on and won a well deserved game. That one was hard to swallow, but we still had an opportunity to clinch 1st in our pool if we beat the Czechs. However, even though we played a really good game, the Czechs defeated us and ripped the 1st place spot from our hands. That game was even harder to deal with because I felt we definitely deserved to win that game, we just didn't get the bounces and their goalie was hot. So, it is just back to work for us, and we took today off basically, just resting up for tomarrow night. A lot of guys have bumps and bruises, and a few guys are getting sick, so today was a day to heal up a bit. A lot of teams seem to be having injury problems so we are not alone. Its just a little more adversity we have to deal with. Overall though the team morale is pretty good still and not too many people realize that we are still playing for a gold medal. We are taking the long way, but I think we will be ready. We took a step forward in our game against the Czechs and we should be hungry and anxious to play against Sweden. Everyone is favoring Canada and saying the gold medal is already theirs, but there is a lot of hockey left, and we are very much in the hunt......we now are going to take this one game at a time and the real tournament starts tomarrow night. Next time I write, I am hoping we are sitting in the semis. It will take a lot of hard work, but I have faith we will perservere. Until next time.....have fun always. 12.28.04 Hello all...today is the 28th of December and we are just about half way through the tournament. We had a huge game against Russia last Saturday on Christmas Day and it was one to remember. After finally settling into the Ralph lockerroom and working out any kinks during our remaining pre-tourney practices, we were ready to face arguably our toughest opponent in our pool. Los Russians. Anyway, they have the greatest NHL prospect of all time on their team. Alexander Ovechkin. Wow, is this guy special. Seriously, can anyone say snapper in stride? His explosiveness rivals Zach Parise's in my opinion. So, the Russians had a ton of fire-power up front, and we had to play great defensively in order to prevent them from using their best attribute. However, our offensive proved to be the better and highlighted by a two goal performance from Ohio's own Danny "The Polish Hammer" Fritsche, the great USA won. What an unbelieveable feeling it was hearing our anthem at the end of the game with the home crowd singing along. That was an unbelieveable experience. But, 7 minutes and a pool party later, we realized there is a lot more tournament left and we have to get ready for a hungry Swiss team. The Swiss were a really tough team to play against and they really made it hard for us to put the game away. Although we never trailed during the game, we never could break away from the hard-checking Swiss and they kept scoring and coming back. Finally in the third period we started getting bounces and put the game away 6-4. Phil Kessel's play put him in the highlight portion of Sportcenter that night, by the way. He is going to be a good one too, even though he is still 12. Ladies, stop calling him too, he's taken. Anyway, from the Swiss game we learned a valuable lesson, and Coach Sandelin definitely made sure we understood what we were playing for and why we are here. He reiterated the fact that everytime we step on the ice we need to use that time to get better and prepare and we cannot take that time for granted. This tournament is definitely not a sprint....it is a marathon and everyday is a chance to improve and get ready to go back to war. So here we are, one day away from Belarus, and this next game is a great chance for us to move forward in our quest for 1st place in our pool. Belarus works hard and are pretty skilled so it should a good test for us, but I believe that if we work harder than them and win all the little battles, our skill will take care of the rest. Speaking of that, while I was watching Casey Borer freestyle walk today, he told me, "You know what Staff? Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." That is like the worst quote or cliche of them all, but it definitely is true. But when talent also works hard....oh man, all I can say is keep your pants on. In all seriousness we are ready for Belarus and it should be battle. By the way, if anyone wants to take on Cory Schneider and I in the game Catchphrase, you know where to find me. Until next time....dare to dream.

The Canadian fans in section 102 sank to a new low last night. Their behavior, taunts and language were classless and embarrassing (and I have pretty thick skin). And altough I certainly don't condone Ovechkin's antics on the ice especially during the semifinal game with USA, the language directed toward him once he appeared on the Russian bench last night, right arm in a sling, was beyond offensive. Throughout the tourney, I enjoyed the chants, cheers and general behavior of the Canadian fans, last night, at least in part, I did not. As the one ad in the program said - Relax, it is just a game. And when your team is up 6-1 in the third, calling out an injured, 19-year old who wasn't even playing, with language that isn't worthy of print was unnecessary. Just as players can show poor sportsmanship on the ice, so too can fans in the stands. Last night, that Canadian fans sitting near me made that very evident.

There is a clearly an age-related pecking order on the Canadian team. Because of his youth, he doesn't get the icetime the older guys do and he doesn't have to due of their depth. Whereas most teams base icetime on talent, Canada seemingly bases it on age and experience. I bet next year he logs almost as many minutes as Phaneuf has this season. Two-years from now when he is 19 he will likely be tearing up the NHL!

Actually, you bagged on the USA team before the tourney and then after they beat Russia on Xmas Day you said you couldn't be more wrong in your pre-tourney assessment of the USA team. And now that they aren't playing for the gold you are patting yourself on the back with your pre-tourney prediction - I call that wishy-washy. I imagine your position will be very self-serving if they win the bronze! Btw, predicting Lee's lack of ice time wasn't exactly going out on a limb. As for Kessel/Crosby, they are both very good players, but Crosby is a much more rounded and complete player. Considering that he is near the top of the tourney scoring chart while only skating about ten minutes a game (very short shifts, no penalty kill, etc.) is a testament to the type of player he is. I agree that he has benefitted in part by some sweet passes from his teammates, but I have also witnessed him making some incredible passes, always coming out of the corner with puck, having an innate knack for where the puck will be and always being able to position himself for a goal while in the offensive zone even though everyone on the ice knows that he will hang out around the net, and still no one can stop him. I would guess that if Crosby saw as much icetime as Kessel has he would far and away lead the tourney in scoring. Kessel is also very talented, but is much more one-dimensional. His play in the defensive zone and away from the puck need some work and that will come with time. He put on a show against Sweden, but when he tried making the same moves against a much stronger Russian team, it didn't simply didn't work. That being said, he is going to torment college opponents for a year or two.

From hockeysfuture.com. Bo ranked as the Sens 6th best prospect, all positions considered. Brandon Bochenski (LW)

Borer didn't dress because he was ill. Bourque suffered a knee injury of some sort, I believe.

I will be in Columbus for the Frozen Four, hopefully watching the Fighting Sioux battle for #8.

A Canadian fan that sat in front of me on Saturday videotaped most of Slovakia/Canada game without any complaints or visits from security. I also noticed many people using cameras on Saturday.

Remade by Disturbed - they put out a better version of a bad song!

I understand the importance of rituals and how commonplace they are, but after watching sports and hockey, in particular, for many, many years, I have never seen one player overtly separate himself from their team like Ovechkin did tonight. It is not as if he sat on the bench by himself for 20 or 30 seconds without his team, he sat there for five minutes or longer, across the ice from his team after they had departed the ice for their lockerroom. Like I said, ritual or not, it was very bizarre.

I agree with everything you said. What a fantastic game. When Stafford scored the first goal, I thought the roof was going to come off the place. He looked great tonight, especially in the first. His level of play was elevated; as good as he has been at times, I don't recall seeing that kind of play from him wearing the green and white - maybe that is about to change. As an aside, Montoya was terrible in the first. I can't fault him on the penalty shot, but giving up three goals on four or five shots in the first, when goaltending is supposed to be the one of USA's strengths, was unexpected. He recovered nicely in the second and third though. Ovechkin gives the appearance of arrogance, but he is quite a player and to me seemed to back up the ego. My group noticed him skating in toward Montoya before the start of the third. I also haven't seen that before. The fact that he was wearing a shaded visor tipped us off during warmups to a possibly inflated ego. Did anyone happen to notice following warmups when the entire Russian team was off the ice, in their lockerroom, Ovechkin sat on their team bench by himself, with his gloves and helmet off staring at the ice while the zamboni made its rounds. Every once in a while he would look back toward the suites and tug at his jersey and nod his head and smile. After the zamboni made about four laps he put all his gear back on, hopped the boards, skated across the ice and went down his tunnel. To me, that was very bizarre. Hockey is clearly a team sport and he made every indication that he was separating himself from the team (ritual or not). Anyway, congrats to USA on a great start. Hopefully, they can keep it up.