tnt

As already stated, he is the coaches son. His dad was very upset with North Dakota because of his perception that the coaches pushed Forbort to the US development team instead of returning to Duluth East. Don't know if he would let that get in the way of his kid having a good college experience or not, but thought it was worth throwing out there to ponder.

The same things were being said of Ness, Hoeffel, White, etc. Minnesota will be hoping that a few more of this group turn out to fulfill their promise than that group. While I think Minnesota has assembled on paper a lot of talent, I think the Sioux have too. It might just be that Minnesota fans talk up these guys a little more because they are local and have seen them play. I don't think potential wise that Matteau, Jordan Schmaltz, Nick Schmaltz, Keaton Thompson, Luke Johnson, need to take a back seat to any of Minnesota's recruits. All this talent needs to be developed and fill certain roles, and that is where the coaches make their mark.

One has to question the expectations of the fanbase when we have two guys coming in next year that are possible first round draft picks, yet the thought is that we are being out-recruited!

Remember when it felt like the Sioux were losing a very high-end recruit in Michaelson? Not saying he won't end up being a good college player, but he is struggling to get shots on goal, much less points in the USHL. We lost out on Patrick White a few years back as well, and turns out many gopher fans wish he would have come here. Luke Voltin has been just as impressive as Fasching so far with the development team, and I tend to think that when they get here they tend to get better year after year, as witnessed by the totals of guys like Frattin, Trupp and Malone. Bottom line is both the Sioux and gophers will get high end guys, so it is a matter of how they end up playing out.

I don't know if this is a youth thing or not. Is the inconsistency, even when they are at home due to youth, or are some of the players satisfied with where they are at as a young team. In other words, do these players hate to lose. I know when the Bison made their tournament run with Ben Woodside, they had the talent, but it seemed like guys like Woodside just hated to lose. The thing I have always liked about the Sioux hockey team is that they don't always fill their roster with just plain talent, but always had the role players that just bring it all the time. Don't want to brand any of the basketball players with a label yet, but it sure seems like they have the talent based on some performances. Hopefully the consistency will come, but if it becomes too much of a habit, I'm not sure another year can fix not having most hands on deck every night with their lunch pails.

Don't see it changing much at all for most of the schools that already recruit out of Minnesota. There is already a lot of competition for the elite in Minnesota, and I think those schools are each going to get their fair share. Don't know if Michigan will recruit in Minnesota much or not. Have no doubt Michigan State will, but Michigan seems to want to be mostly Michigan recruits, much like Minnesota gets mostly Minnesota recruits. Don't know if Minnesota would go for recruits from Michigan unless we are talking big-time recruits, partly because of the ego factor, and vice versa. One thing that could really make things interesting because of proximity, is if Illinois and Iowa enter the mix for recruits from Minnesota, then I can see a few schools getting shortchanged and needing to find new recruiting grounds. If you look at UND's roster this year, you can see how the hockey landscape has changed over the years. How many different states do the Sioux have recruits from anyway?

I don't think the Sioux had problems recruiting in Minnesota before St. Cloud, Mankato St. and Bemidji State ever had Division 1 programs, so I don't imagine they would have a problem now. There is usually a lot of talent in Minnesota, so where would all of those players go? Sure, Wisconsin might pluck a few more, but I don't see the other teams I mentioned getting rich just because they can play a few more games nearer to home, as the prestige for a few of them playing in a different WCHA wouldn't hold much for some recruits.

True, they are not the best competition, and to that end, the Sioux didn't play Kristo and Nelson that much and got reps for the guys on the fourth line who usually don't play as much. I'm sure this was a big game for Bismarck, while the Sioux just finished finals and had enough focus to take care of a team they were supposed to beat. Comparing scores usually doesn't work that well when the motivation is a lot different.

True, but I wonder why he hasn't created enough offense to stay in a St. Cloud lineup who is hurting for depth like we are. They too are moving defensemen to forward. It isn't exactly like playing time would be a given here either.

I know at one point his brother Chris looked like he was a great prospect playing defense as a 9th grader. Haven't heard much about him lately. Wonder if he hasn't progressed a lot, or if I just am not hearing his name around recruiting circles and the times I see game stats.

If he is a healthy scratch at St. Cloud, chances are he could be a healthy scratch here, unless he and his brother are able to have the chemistry they had in junior hockey. I would assume it would be hard to crack our lineup too, especially if the Sioux recruit to avoid the same kind of problems they are having with depth this year.

You do know that the WCHA tourney was held at the Target Center for the years between when the Civic Center was torn down and the X built. I didn't mind it there. It is better at the X, but the Target Center was fine too.

So you can't point to anything concrete. I would believe that more people were going crazy on live chat to the negative rather than the positive.

Since you seem to be spouting on GPL, do you mind pointing out where Sioux fans are saying that Forbort could be putting up big numbers in the NHL? Most Sioux fans agree that Forbort has struggled early this season along with Simpson, but both of them seem to be coming along pretty well lately. If you could point out specific posts where Sioux fans suggested Forbort was the greatest thing since sliced bread, your credibility on this board would be increased.

Jack Rowe with his first goal for Cedar Rapids tonight. Nick Schmaltz got his first goal last weekend for Green Bay on an assist from his brother.

If you go to Schlossman's blog, his link brings up the story.

I saw that David Marvin said that Kayla Gardner was the most talented player he has coached. Sounds like she could be a good one, as she is only a junior. She also has a sister who has been putting up some numbers as an eighth grader.

I would say it is probably half and half with the media. Half are espousing the same things you are talking about, and half are giving Tebow way too much credit. However, if the Broncos start to fade and lose a few games, even if it is by a missed kick or bad defense, I would say that 90% of them will be all over Tebow and that his success was a stack of cards waiting to fall.

To me Tebow gets too much credit and too much criticism. When many Viking fans talk about Christian Ponder, they say that he has played pretty well, he just has to learn from his mistakes. Everybody realizes there is a steep learning curve for quarterbacks in the NFL, let alone for a quarterback who didn't play the prototypical NFL-type package in college. Since this is basically Tebow's rookie season, people aren't allowing him to have a learning curve. He has already done a pretty good job in avoiding the same mistakes Ponder has made, perhaps because he hasn't been asked to stretch his comfort zone early in the game. If Tebow is ahead of the game on not making stupid mistakes, perhaps he will be able to grow in the other areas of the game as well, as soon as they allow him to be put in those situations. The bottom line is that people shouldn't expect any more out of Tebow than they do from Ponder, because Ponder has, and will probably always have more prototypical NFL experience than Tebow. Allow some time for both players before labeling them as either great or horrible. Time will tell if either has what it takes to make it as a starter long term.

I would like to know what adjustment you make to make the ball go in the hole. I'm sure if they had a surefire way to score, they wouldn't have let it get to 21-0.

I don't think having your first PP unit out when the game is in hand is always so cut and dried. What do you do when you have a nice lead after two periods? I remember our first unit out plenty of times in the past when we had substantial leads. I think if you roll your lines as normal and don't keep them out for extended time, I don't have a problem with it, especially when you have a young unit that needs the reps.

Where did Marion Barber get his education from again!!

Sounds to me like you are upset with the media, but are putting that on Tebow. Don't think he can control the media. There are plenty of skeptics that are ready to pounce on him once the Broncos lose a few games, and as much as Tebow is only a part of the Broncos success and is getting more than his fair share of glory, he will suffer the reverse fate when that happens.

Any recollection of January 11, 1986? http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=204971613

Are you serious! You continue to play the game. I would consider if the game was well in hand and you keep trotting out your first powerplay unit, but even then, if you are a young team, you need them to get as many reps as possible. You don't just keep throwing the puck around and not try to score, that to me is disrespecting your competition.