tnt

Personally, if Brooks Bollinger gets cut by the Jets, I would like to see the Vikings pick him up as a backup. I think he did well for the mostpart when he started last year. Trouble is Pennington is back and they have Patrick Ramsey and Kelly Clemons who the Jets drafted last year and are high on.

I have no problem with Minnesota fans thinking Wheeler is going to have a big year, because they have seen the tools he has to work with week in and week out, and the improvement he made throughout the year. I agree that it is no different than Sioux fans counting on Kozek to put up considerably bigger numbers, based on his skill set. If Kozek can figure out how to get off that wicked wrist shot he has more often, he could be a great goal scorer. I think the teams that get the player/players that surprise you are going to be the ones that stand out. You can't expect a year like Oshie had from freshmen, but if you can be pleasantly surpised with a Zajac, Forney, or Vandevelde, the Sioux could be a tough team to beat.

Minnesota has a lot of goals to replace. I don't recall many games where the scoresheet for them wasn't heavily weighted with Potulny and Irmen. They do have great talent coming in, but you can't count on freshmen making a major impact. That said, I would suspect Okposo and Johnson will do quite well, but is it enough to offset the go-to guys they lost. Here's to hoping that Johnson runs into the same kind of officiating that put Commodore, Greene, and Smaby in the box a lot -- you know of what I speak, the philosophy that he's so big it must be a penalty, even on a clean check. I personally wouldn't be surprised if four or five teams won the league. I'm talking UND, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver or Duluth. I know Denver and Duluth seem like longshots, but Duluth played pretty well in taking out a very good Denver team in the playoffs with a huge number of freshmen in the lineup. I assume Denver will be getting back that good little player that was lost for the season early on against the Sioux, and also have good talent coming in. It will be interesting to see who the coaches and media pick to win the league.

Why would you think Lucia has the heat on him to win a championship? I think the Sioux would feel more heat since the gophers have won two NC's since the Sioux championship in 2000. The close but no cigar scenario was Woog's downfall. No, I'm not comparing Hakstol to Woog. It just shows how hard it is to win a NC. If the Sioux get to the Frozen Four again, the pressure might just be on them, and in a one and done format, we know all too well that anything can happen.

According to Tim Hennessey on the radio this morning the word about is that Dane Jackson will be the new assistant. Of course that is speculation, but Hennessey would have some good sources. If he coaches anything like he played, he would be a good choice.

...and the Sioux do have 3 of the top 9 returning scorers from the WCHA scoring race. No other team returns more than 1 of the top 9. It didn't look good there for a while, but then came the news that Toews was coming back and other teams lost some key players.

I see that they were hashing over on GPL the fact that Hakstol hasn't had any big time recruits lately. I think people that get stuck on hype, especially on kids so young are in for a rude surprise many times. Tell me, who would you rather have on your team, an under-hyped TJ Oshie that some gopher fans and Sioux fans were saying needed more development time, or would you want Blake Wheeler, who everyone was anticipating would be a top scorer, still may be, but you get my point. Players like Vandevelde, who was considered a big-time recruit coming out of high school didn't rip up the USHL, so all of a sudden he becomes a no-name recruit. I think Vandevelde will do fine. People get too caught up in draft position. Yes it says a lot about potential, but there are some first round draft picks that have not done well in college, at least to the point where they live up to the hype. Remember, Panzer and Hoogsteen were under-recruited, and if you talk to some gopher fans, Wisconsin hasn't had many big-time recruits. I would take a NC any time.

Tom Ward is a good coach and recruiter, but he is a former Gopher player and assistant coach which would make it hard to swallow for guys like Koberinski and any other alums that might be overlooked in order to hire Ward. But then again, if he was the best man for the job and could bleed green, then who knows. After all, Blais really became a gopher antagonist after playing for the gophs. Ward did play defense, so that would be a plus.

Miller might be the type of player that will work better with more talented players. He showed glimpses last year, and who knows if he might get a chance to work with the top two lines. I'm sure there will be a lot of experimentation in camp to see who can step up into those positions. I would think that five of the six forward spots are going to involve Oshie, Toews, Kozek, Duncan and Porter. Maybe Fabian gets his chance on the top two lines, or maybe its a free for all. It's not like line 3 doesn't have very significant importance for the team -- it always does. Nice to be able to start speculating on line combinations anyways.

Forgot, there is one requirement for being a Sioux coach -- getting booted for fighting against the gophers. Now, with these new guidelines, who is available to coach the Sioux? Are Marty Schriner or Jim Archibald looking for a job?

I'd like to stick with the All-Shattuck line with Porter, Toews and Duncan.

While UND is a great place to coach, some people have aspirations beyond college hockey. Let's face it the hours on the road recruiting can get pretty old, especially when you have a family you would like to spend more time with. It will be interesting to see who they get to replace Berry. Names to consider would have to be Steve Johnson, Ian Kallay (if he wants to coach still), Dane Litke, Mark Pivetz, and Koberinski. Anyone have a list of people that applied last time for the position?

If Toews does indeed come back, that would give the Sioux 3 of the top 10 returning WCHA scorers. Minnesota and CC would have 2 each if they can hold on to Kessel and Salcido. Minnesota's other player is defenseman Alex Goligoski, while CC's is Chad Rau at #10. Should give us enough offense, especially when you can expect Lee, Chorney, Jones, Finley and really Radke to continue to improve. Would like to see Porter join Duncan and Toews on one line and spread the scoring with Oshie, Kozek and whoever stands out in camp to join them. Would like to see a line of Fabian, Kaip and Watkins that could shut the other teams top line down and add a little scoring punch if Kaip can pick up where he left off and if Watkins can take another step forward. Don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but it sure looks better for the home team than it did about a month ago.

Best not to show something that is proving the point against you. NDSU was king of the hill at one point, then it became all UND in the major sports. Seems like an odd time to move up a class when you had been regressing in terms of dominance. In fact if you look at your listing, NDSU and dominance in the major sports haven't been synonymous for quite a while.

Erik Fabian wasn't a walk on was he? I know Phil Sykes was a walk-on and a Captain. Can't remember if Matt Henderson was a Captain or not, maybe just a great leader.

Was he not given an opportunity to play in the USHL, or was this a decision based on more playing time? I would think you would want to face the best competition if your goal is to play D1. Not saying that the NAHL hasn't produced its share, but if given the opportunity, I would opt for the league that is one step removed from the college ranks.

Lapoint reminds me of Marto, not only because of their high school number, but they both skate very well and have good lateral movement. Will be nice to have both of them to fill in for the losses the Sioux are sure to take on the blue line the next few years with the possibility/probability of Lee, Chorney, and Finley moving on early.

I guess that is the difference between Lucia and the Sioux coaches from Blais to the current coaches -- they expect the pride in their jersey to be there no matter the game. Granted it always doesn't turn out that way, but I think you saw how Hakstol reacted last year when the Sioux weren't giving what he perceived to be their best effort.

They may have stated it too, but I have seen and heard it many places, including at work from a gopher fan. Of course most of it was before he even played a shift and probably even back to the old gopher hockey website. As soon as he actually started to play, expectations were downplayed.

Ah yes, Canada, the country that attempts to make heroes of draft dodgers.

Not at all. Using the term best American ever is the part I find ridiculous. My point is that you don't hear that anymore -- I wonder why!

I find it interesting that some gopher fans on GPL are saying that maybe Kessel will be humbled since he won't be the best player on the team. Evidently, Erik Johnson is now the best American ever. We should start a pool as to who will be the next in succession to be exalted with that title. I suppose you can expect that with the rubes, and Jeff Dubay might be one of the biggest rubes there is.

Wasn't Duncan Keith the guy that left Michigan State? Don't know if I like Toews asking his advice because I don't think his college experience is the same as Toews'.

If Toews would stay, the Sioux would still have four 1st Round Draft Picks and two 2nd round draft picks in their lineup, so the talent is there. They just need to have the players keep progressing and they should be fine.

I thought Aaron Marvin had more than 9 goals last year.