tnt

I think the point is you never know what these guys are going to do. Nobody had a worry about Hextall, yet how nice would it be to have him suited up in that slot where we aren't able to field a player. As far as Kristo being ready to play in the NHL, I would bet that if our season ended early, Montreal would certainly like to get a look at him through their remaining games so they can feed their maniacal fans hope for the future. I think Kristo is more dominant than Bjugstad, even if his numbers aren't quite there. As far as a player being ready for the NHL, it is sometimes whether the opportunity is there or not. I would say that at the college level Kristo is more dominant than Derek Stepan, yet Stepan was a candidate for rookie of the year. Kristo has been to Montreal's camps, so I am sure they know whether he has a chance with the big club right away or if he needs some minor league development. Regardless, I am sure they want to get him in their system if not to sell the fans hope, to keep from running the risk of losing him after another season.

Frattin with a goal and an assist in a 3-1 Toronto win over Montreal in Randy Carlyle's first game as head coach.

I see that Denver scored in the last 38 seconds to tie Omaha and then went on to win it in overtime. Wonder what a loss there would have done to Denver in the Pairwise.

Yeah, let's hope Seth Jones wasn't here to fight through that nasty weather last night.

Yeah, Merrimack had a bad loss to Massachussetts last night and didn't really drop at all. Sioux could use a Denver or Northern Michigan loss tonight, if not a few more upsets.

I agree, it's kind of a "be careful what you wish for" scenario. Hopefully the players aren't hoping for one team at the expense of overlooking the other. I just don' want to hear Mike Eaves whining all weekend and all the pushing and shoving that came along with the last time we played Wisconsin.

Looks like there was a lot of roughing and slashing during the closing minutes of the Minnesota/Wisconsin game. How can that be? Anybody see any of the incidents?

Bemidji State beat Anchorage 2-1. Looks like it will be decided tomorrow night.

Question. If Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota, do they offer the Sioux more in the way of gaining in the Pairwise rankings, even if it had to go to 3 games, or does any loss for the Sioux kill us now? What prevents us from playing Wisconsin, a Bemidji sweep and a loss for Wisconsin to the gophers tomorrow?

If the Sioux have any shot at the NCAA at all, they need Minnesota to beat Duluth.

Dickman was 2nd star of the game tonight with an assist and 6 shots in a 3-2 shootout loss. Gothberg was 3rd star.

It does kind of seem like that doesn't it. How great would it be to have a job following the sport you love. On the other hand, sometimes a level of detachment is a good thing, especially if the objectivity becomes a problem. I think Schlossman does a good job of reporting to Sioux fans but also revealing both sides of the equation from strengths to weaknesses. Of course he will always be weighted to some degree to the Sioux point of view, but I don't think it rises to the level it does with some broadcast or print outlets.

I guess I would like to see what this would look like in some sort of environment first. Are we then just going to have the pushing and shoving after the whistle in which now everybody will play the tough guy? The next question is how do they propose to do this? They can't even effectively tackle the checking from behind problem. Out of the four guys that got kicked out of the Sioux/Denver series last weekend, I thought Parks was the only one that deserved a major. The other one that deserved to be booted was Loney and he only got a minor penalty. I just envision the excruciating pushing after the whistle along with face washes and slashes being the norm like we saw against Wisconsin. And why should it not then be applied to the Professional level? If you want the younger kids to stay away from fighting, then don't give them role models that are doing it.

Yes its his kid.

Ever heard of Eddie Belfour?

Don't know why you would say that. If the Sioux can go from 14 to 9 and then back to 14 in one game, there is still plenty of room for movement as long as the Sioux take care of their business on home ice. Denver has to go to Omaha next week, so Hakstol can give Blais a call and ask for a little extra support, and a loss here or there by Northern Michigan, Merrimack and Michigan State, and the Sioux move right back. Don't know what the CCHA playoff matchups look like, but hopefully there are a few in the running for the NCAA that have to play each other in the early rounds.

Certainly they should be consistent with hits to the head as it relates to disqualifications. How is an unintentional hit to the head by MacWilliam in the ordinary progression of the game ruled as more flagrant than an intentional elbow to MacWilliam that snapped his head back by Loney? Loney's hit had nothing to do with the play itself. It would be interesting to get an explanation from officials themselves why one is worthy of a DQ, while the other one wasn't even debated for something more than a 2-minute minor.

But many gopher fans consider MacWilliams hit dirty even when a former head of NHL officials thought it was clean, and of course Rau is an angel, even though he hit a player that had let up after a touch up for a penalty that Rau was fully aware was being called. Some gopher fans truly are delusional in their viewing of the game. Rau has already built up a number of questionable circumstances that are borderline dirty. Some I can give him the benefit of the doubt on, last nights makes me wonder if he truly deserves the benefit of the doubt. I would say that as a rookie his reputation as a scorer and hard worker are well deserved, but he also will be watched for questionable activity beyond those positives as well.

But to get 7 or 8 shifts a game from the fourth line certainly helps with giving the rest of the guys a bigger breather, especially in an intense game in high altitude which takes even a bigger toll on energy reserves.

Feels like a great win to me. Bottom line is the Sioux won in Denver, a place where it is very difficult to win. At this time of year survival is the name of the game.

Can't remember, what was Vinny Saponari kicked off the team for a few years ago?

Getting hurt is something you can't control, and he was able to sign with his hometown team in Winnipeg. I don't think people would be saying that Rocco maybe should have went Major Juniors because this year didn't work out for him.

If the Sioux can't pull a win out of Denver this weekend, I am afraid the tournament hopes might be over unless they win the Final Five or get a whole lot of help.

Who knows, maybe he would stay at UND for 4 years if he is drafted by Winnipeg and he doesn't like cold weather. Our winter was probably as tame as Ann Arbors this year. Of course it is pretty nice every winter, right! Maybe that is why he doesn't look like he'll visit until March, if he visits at all.

Like I said, I am an optimist. I think if he takes a long hard look at what will help him be NHL ready, he will give UND a good hard look. And unless he is lying, when he says he is losing sleep over the decision leads me to believe it is a hard decision one way or the other. If he doesn't come, UND still has a great outlook for next year. It's funny, when bunches of fans are overconfident, see Michigan game in the Frozen Four last year, I am kind of leary. When everybody is pessimistic, I tend to look at the possibilities. Have seen way to much on this board or elsewhere that there is "No chance" only to have it turn the other way, see Luke Johnson committing to UND. The great thing is that even if he doesn't commit, I am not going to be one of the "sky is falling" type who are wondering if the Sioux will ever get a recruit as good as Minnesota does. The Sioux are who they are because they fit together the pieces of the puzzle who they have and always manage to be a top-end team, see this year's team.