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I am very skeptical that the Sioux will benefit from this obstruction crackdown. I guess time will tell. Let's just see how many times the Sioux have more powerplays than the opposition, and let's see how many times we have the benefit of the 5 on 3 for a full two minutes. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see us having an edge in the powerplay category. I can still see the marble theory come into play and evening out of calls, especially after the outcome of the game has been decided.

I think the officials are going to have to use some discretion on penalties. That was not a fun game to watch at all. Didn't even get a good look at Zajac and Kaip because they don't kill penalties. If this is a glimpse of things to come, the Sioux better get their powerplay in order, because special teams will win our league, not 5 on 5 play. I am much more confident that the Sioux are better than a lot of teams even up, but less so on the powerplay. Still plenty of time to improve though, only one week into the season. I'm concerned that many clean hits that are a bit harder than average will be called penalties due to a perception that they need to clean things up. With the size of our defense, I would like to use that to our advantage, but it could turn into a disadvantage if our defensemen's elbows are head-high to begin with. Don't need to worry about Bina though. All in all, an ugly win, but nonetheless a good win.

I believe our friends to the south have Canisius on their schedule as well.

Amen to that. Just as it is too early to complain about the powerplay and sloppy play, it is also too early to draw premature conclusions. Virg Foss implied in today's Herald that the Sioux have already answered the questions about losing Bochenski and Parise. One game against inferior competition is hardly a barometer. I will agree that there are positive signs that the Sioux can minimize the loss of the two, but to suggest that freshmen will replace them is not wise. They can very well put up big numbers, but there are things that you learn in the WCHA that can only be learned through game experience. My hope for the Sioux is that they tackle the loss of the two by becoming more of a team and getting more production throughout the lineup and not leaning on one line in key games. The Sioux had decent support from other lines last year, but seemed to rely on the top line in critical situations. Hopefully each line will take it upon themselves to be the difference-maker this year.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but hopefully Massen will get off to a good start for his Senior season and put last year behind him.

I have a single season hockey ticket for sale in section 302A right above the entryway in the upper deck. Please email me at briane@youngmfg.com if interested.

Ah yes, that wonderful brand of DIAA caliber football that has the Northern Colorado coach refusing a penalty on the kickoff which would have killed more time off the clock and given them better field position. Not only did he accept the terrible field position, but he played ultra-conservative on top of it and forcing his team to sweat out a last second field goal attempt. By the way, gotta love that former Division I quarterback Tony Stauss, he is quite the gem. Wish the Sioux defense could continue feasting on him.

The difference between that season and this season is that they were coming off a National Championship and weren't as hungry the following year. They lost many games by a few points and last year they won those games. They could easily have lost 3 or more games last year without incredible finishes. I just hope they take that into consideration and don't take anyone lightly.

If I were Hakstol, I would play up our NHL-size ice when in competition in recruiting with Olympic ice schools. Let's face it, if you have NHL aspirations, wouldn't you want to be playing 75% of your games on the surface you will be playing on at the next level rather than 25%? Things happen a lot faster on the small ice, and being able to practice and play on that daily and in most games would be a benefit I would think. Just watching the World Junior evaluation camp, you can see how fast you had to make a decision with the puck once you got it. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, he was on the roster during Karl's rookie year. In fact, I believe Schweitzer played in the regionals when we lost in Michigan because Karl was hurt, or was it vice versa.

I would much rather have players like Cary Eades, Dave Hakstol etc. than guys like Demarchi, Ballard, Taffe and Westrum who will cheap shot you then turn away. In my opinion face to face confrontations are all a part of hockey, but the cheap checking from behind needs to be eliminated from the game. That is where the injuries come from. That said, I'm not saying that all Sioux players are saints in that regard, but as far as Eades and Hakstol are concerned, they were straight up players. In fact, when Hakstol fought Hankinson, he reached for his own helmet as if to offer Hankinson the opportunity to dance like they do in the NHL, but Hankinson would have no part of it.

Oops, meant John Newberry from Wisconsin, must have had Prpich on my mind when fighting came to mind.

http://www.hockeyscouting.ca/forum/topic.a...C_ID=223鎢 Retired 27 must be a fairly credible source if the administration thinks so. Is that how you read it? Regardless, it is very true that much can change in a year and until he is "signed, sealed and delivered" to college, I'll hedge my bets and cross my fingers.

Mike Newberry from Wisconsin squirted Cary Eades a few times with the water bottle as he skated by, so Eades went into the Wisconsin bench after him. A brawl ensued.

I would tend to lean toward a candidate that can help bring our powerplay to the next level. Any thoughts on who might specialize on the powerplay? I would have thought being the offensive star Steve Johnson was at UND, he might be the ticket.

I find it interesting that people want Bochenski to stay for the selfish reason of getting to see him play more, but think he is selfish for leaving. If someone I knew was offered the big bucks, I'd say take the money and run. You never know what could happen in a year, and I think the University made just as much if not more off his skills than he did from the University with his scholarship money.

Question regarding the first paragraph in the article. Todd Jones, the goalie in the 90's certainly must have lettered, didn't he?

http://www.sasilverbacks.com/ It's good to see Travis Zajac's brother will be playing for Salmon Arm. I believe it was Tim Hennessey that said that he has some brothers that may end up being just as good as Travis. Let's hope that's true, because we may have a nice little feeder system should Travis and family enjoy his stay at UND.

Be interesting to see if McCrimmon of Vernon's Vipers recruits does anything next season. Looks like he's from Brandon, Manitoba, so I guess he would be on the radar if he has the skills. http://bchl.bc.ca/notice_board.cfm?leagueI...3&clientID=1413

I don't know if this was written elsewhere, but Duncan's name popped up as a Salmon Arm player on Heisenberg's 2005 recruiting page.

I agree the Sioux should have a good class next year, but I'm sure a lot of teams think their class is good top to bottom as well. I don't remember a class of signings that I haven't been excited about, and some haven't panned out like their stats would suggest they should.

The way the Devils look, they aren't going anywhere anyway. Why not get a rookie Stanley Cup Playoff experience now and be better off down the road. They aren't going to score any less goals with him in the lineup. I can see why they didn't put him in the lineup to ruin chemistry they had going, but let's face it chemistry is out the window now.

In no way am I complaining about Ralph's generous gift, it is an awesome building. I just think that the purpose of the arena, to keep the Sioux hockey team in the forefront of college hockey, has become a secondary purpose. If I ever see the Sioux men's hockey team forced to practice on a rink that is not the size they will be playing on that week, it will very much upset me, as I'm sure it would have for Ralph as well. Maybe my frustration lies the most with being in seats that are not as good as they could have been had I known this was coming down the pike. I would have been in the front row in the upperdeck one section over instead. If there is no season ticket increase in the next few years on top of this, I won't have a problem with it. In short, like I said, there are ways to budget around this. After all, people only have so much disposable income.

Can anyone explain to me how any of the smaller schools like Tech or Duluth seem to be paying their scholarship dollars, probably with higher tuitions. I'd be surprised if Tech averaged 3000 fans, and I know Duluth's ticket prices are lower than ours. Bottom line is that it is not about paying bills, it is about the bottom line and making more money, which isn't necessarily bad. Don't make it sound like you absolutely need the money to keep your head above water.

Just got a notice in the mail yesterday stating basically my long season ticket holding days are over unless I become a member of the Fighting Sioux Club. Because I love hockey so much, I am forced to do it at the $110 level, but what irritates me is that if I would have known I was going to have to do this when the arena first opened, I would have done it then and had a lot better seats. The way they seem to be money grubbing isn't exactly endearing to the fans. First they institute a policy where they will not give refunds for the unplayed 3rd game of the Michigan Tech playoff series, and now everyone in the arena except students and opponent's fans have to become members of the Fighting Sioux Club. I thought a "club" was supposed to be exclusive. Like I said, I will pay the minimum because I like Sioux Hockey so much, but events that I would normally attend like basketball games against lesser opponents and events like the Men's Division 2 elite eight next year will be cut from my budget. I will not support the money grubbing policies of the arena, as I don't think this is what Ralph's wishes were. If I hear the need for more scholarship money, etc., anymore I will throw up. In the old arena you had maybe 3000 season ticket holders and many weren't in the Fighting Sioux club. Now you will have just about 11,000 seats that are bringing in money, most at the FSC level. Add to that the suite level and the money for concessions, and you still need to bilk your fans out of a refund for a single game? I know many of you are probably thinking what a cheap person, but I think it is more the principle than a refund for one game that bothers me. I will continue to support the Sioux hockey team, just not the arena, because I think they are selling out the hockey team as well in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Our schedules in the past attest to that. In short, I won't support an institution that takes rather than asks. I'll buy my Siouxwear at Scheels. There, that feels much better.!! Now rip away!