mikejm

That was as ugly a game as any Fighting Sioux fan has had to endure for a long, long time. Even after "winning" the first period it was pretty obvious this was going to be an ugly night for the home team. I've never seen worse passing or more standing around by a hockey team. Lammy was left out to dry several times by very sloppy play in front of him; neither the defense nor forwards were finding their men and tying them up. As bad as the score was, it could've been much, much worse. Five of the Maine's goals were in the second, so at the other end of the ice from me, but the Black Bears had chance after chance after chance from 15 feet and in. The Sioux simply weren't tying anyone up. Several times I counted three Maine men all alone from the dots in. I don't think anyone knew who or where their man was. Maine came out hitting hard, and I think it took the Sioux out of their game. They plugged neutral ice, cutting off all passing lanes, so the Sioux couldn't get their "running" game going at all. I looked like a trap, but it was an aggressive strategy, not a Wisconsin-style collapse. There was a lot of clutching and grabbing, however, which further exasperated the Sioux. Two of Toews' penalties were a direct result of being held or hacked; I think Jon simply got frustrated and lost his cool. When he didn't show for the third I at first thought Hak had benched him. But I saw Jon try to come back up the tunnel twice before he was finally sent to the showers. An insider I talked to said he didn't think Jon's injury is "major", but he might not be back Saturday. There were some highpoints for the Sioux however: Duncan's goal was a thing of beauty from all angles. Lee made a long cross-ice pass to TJ deep, perhaps at the left dot, who then rifled a pass to Duncan all the way back across the ice on the right dot. Bishop is a huge goalie who covers a lot of space, but his size worked against him as he was sashaying back and forth reacting to the passes and simply couldn't get that big from of his back to the post to block Duncan's shot. Fabian, Genoway and Kaip turned in a pretty good effort; workman-like, but high tempo. Watkins, Kozek and Porter, when they were skating together, showed good energy and both Kozek and Watkins showed amazing speed. But by the third, when the lines were scrambled due to Toews' injury, and when the game was clearly out of hand, no one looked good. I didn't see anything special from the defense tonight. I don't believe there were any major passing mistakes (ala Saturday in Madison) but there were dozens of missed assignments and open Black Bears as a result. Two things strike me (neither of which I am happy to relate): I'm not so sure that this team is going to score goals to the extent many of us here expect. I was reminded tonight of how frustrated Parise and Bochenski became toward the end of Zach's last year here. They were banged up, held up, slashed and generally beaten to a pulp, and effectively neutralized as goal scorers. Maine's performance tonight could be an omen of what's to come as opponents try to shut down the Sioux speed and finesse. The other thing that stood out in my mind was how quickly the Sioux were taken out of their game by Maine's hitting. There were two or three thunderous checks into the boards behind Lammy early in the first, and it seemed like the Sioux were a bit hesitant to go into the corners after that. That lack of aggression kept the Sioux from breaking out of the zone quickly, and effectively eliminated any chance of odd-man rushes because Maine had all kinds of time getting their skaters back into position. Saturday's performance will be an interesting testament to what this team is made of. I know it is very early in the season, but this is gut-check time. The Sioux were out-skated, out-shot, out-muscled and out-passed for almost the entire game tonight. Hak needs to find some way to help these kids recover to get a split. The good thing is that this game is so early in the season. And this remains an extremely talented albeit young team. I don't recall seeing this group of skaters being on the receiving end of such physical play; they need to come out Saturday with the mindset of reclaiming their speed and finesse game. If they can get into a running game with Maine, the Sioux will win.

Nice picture MM; thanks for reminding us all what a classy program we support.

Tom Zajac's career stats @ Denver U: Zajac, Tom, W(21)**** 1973-76 96 37 38 75 54-108 (four-year letter winner)

When I first read the thread title I thought it was asking if they'd be singing anywhere! I can't say hearing this group belt out showtunes would be high on my list of things to do this weekend.

There you go again PCM, ruining things by citing facts. Sheeeeeeesh, where do you get off?

I've found myself disliking the stinkin' BADgers with much more vigor the last few years. And I have a lot more respect for the Minnesota fans who post here than the dweebs from Madison.

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Hak, speaking on post-game, calls Porter "our best player tonight". Also calls out Zajac for his poise. "Hey, we had three guys on top of the crease. That's what you're supposed to do when you're playing a good defensive team like Wisconsin."

I realize this is very, very early in the year, but this win in Madison is huge for this team. To win it in overtime, with all the scoring coming from the "none of the above" lines. And on the night the BADgers hang their championship banner... huge, huge win. And a heckuva stepping stone on which to build a nice season for this young team.

Regardless of who is on the ice at the Final Five, there is no better place to be on St. Patty's Day than downtown St. Paul, wearing a green Fighting Sioux sweater.

What I was trying to say (too damn late to be typing... ) was that leaving Toews and Osh together would make us too easy to shut down. Obviously that didn't happen. Once these two get used to skating together this line could be something very, very special to behold, especially with Duncan holding up his end of the bargain. I can't imagine how many points they could put up. And, as you so succinctly point out with the stats, redwing, an opponent can't just focus on stopping our first line, cause the other three will quickly put a game out of reach. Who would've ever guessed that after one game, our scoring stats would look like this: Brad Miller 1-2-3 4/+2 Darcy Zajac 2-0-2 5/+1 Ryan Martens 1-1-2 1/+2 Erik Fabian 0-2-2 2/+3 Andrew Kozek 0-2-2 3/+1 Matt Watkins 1-0-1 3/+1 Chris Porter 0-1-1 4/+1 Rylan Kaip 0-1-1 1/+1 Brian Lee 0-1-1 1/+1 Robbie Bina 0-1-1 0/+1 T.J. Oshie 1-0-1 3/E Jonathan Toews 0-1-1 5/E Zach Jones 0-0-0 0/+2 Chay Genoway 0-0-0 2/+2 Taylor Chorney 0-0-0 1/+1 Chris VandeVelde 0-0-0 0/+1 Ryan Duncan 0-0-0 2/E Kyle Radke 0-0-0 1/E If this keeps up, it'll really mess up a lot of fantasy leagues!!!

Random thoughts: This Fighting Sioux team has lots and lots of horsepower! They really showed speed tonight. A month from now, after everyone has a chance to get a feel for where their linemates are going to be, this could be a real fireworks display. I can't believe all the times the Sioux had a guy all alone in the slot tonight and couldn't close the deal. A Q d-man would get there at the last minute, or the puck was bouncing, or whatever, but this game could've easily been 10, 11 to 1. In fact, PL should've had a shutout, but Chorney, Lee and Porter all missed on that pass from behind the net. Phil had no chance. Got away with several defensive breakdowns. But either Lammy pulled the fat out of the fire, or someone showed up late to save the day. At one point in the third, I believe, our penalty kill looked like a bantam team out there. Our guys couldn't find their men to save their souls. All four Sioux skaters were out of position horribly; had Q made a pass the shut-out would've been gone sooner. That has to be corrected soon. Young Genoway is a dynamo! I imagine he got ice time tonight because of Finley's, er, incident this week. It'll be interesting to see how long Hak sits Joe. I'm really surprised this hasn't made the news. Nevertheless, Chay is a pretty confident little skater out there. And tough. The Fabian-Kaip-Miller line is something. Box score had them for six points and Fabian ended the night a plus-3. Erik looks bigger on his skates this year. Speaking of size, I think Lee looks bigger, Chorney is definitely bulked up, and Osh and Toews seem bigger, too. Young Zajac loves to shoot. I, too, questioned Hak's decision to keep Osh and Jon on the same line, for fear the team would be too easy to defense. Once again proving why he's the coach and I'm the cranky, balding old guy, Hak was right. Seems Q thought if they stopped the First line they'd have a chance, only to be snake-bitten by our third and fourth lines! Doh!!!!!!!!!!! When these kids get into form they'll maybe make us forget about all the losses from last year's team. It's pretty clear this team is more of a team than we saw last year; I saw lots of unselfish passes and hustle. And Philippe is the real deal. He made some great saves early when our guys were having trouble in our own zone. Pretty nice start on the road to St. Louis.

I'm just hoping I have a break-out year...

I was framed! Framed, I tell you! The brown paper bag I had wrapped around the bottle obsured the label.

Here is UND's guidance on compliance with NCAA rules regarding "booster" interaction with recruits and/or enrolled student-athletes. Pretty strict. http://www.fightingsioux.com/info/booster/ And that occasional "family" meal must be provided in the booster's home; not in a restaurant, etc. Clearly the MPLS bar thing is a violation. I merely post the abovbe guidelines to illustrate how strictly governed "our" behavior is.

Or maybe, oh...I don't know...a couple of brats at a backyard cookout?

Believe it or not, a minor consuming alcohol, in and of itself, is not an NCAA rules violation. Obviously, trading tickets for booze, cover charge, etc. might be, but a student-athlete merely having a drink is not verboten in Indianapolis' eyes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I read that the "issue" for which Briggs was suspended is not something which occured recently. Which adds even more mystery to his being named captain.

Well, how many freaking times are we going to hear the same b.s. from another casual hockey watcher about how Lee needs to pick up the physical aspect of his game? Brian Lee plays some of the best positional defense of any college hockey player anywhere. He is almost always in the right spot, with the right angle on his man, and because of that he doesn't have to be laying smack on his opponent. I've watched his play for years and as I've said here many times, he doesn't play smash-mouth D; he never has, he never will. Hell, when Moorhead and Warroad hooked up a couple years ago in that overtime game in Moorhead, Aaron Marvin — AARON MARVIN, who's not what you call a big bruiser — absolutely flattened Brian. Knocked him flat on his ass. Clean, open ice hit and in no uncertain terms laid Lee out. I'm surprised Brian got up as quickly as he did. What torques me is people who are used to (or maybe have just heard of) big, bruising Dmen like Matt Greene and Commie, and that becomes the prototype defenseman. Maybe I shouldn't have called the dope a "dope". Sorry. But watch a little hockey before you come on here and start making statements that are not only stupid, but unfounded. (And no, my night's been okay. My not-quite-ex did her best to make today a bad day, though. Thanks for your concern.)

Nice first post. Dope.

I wouldn't go so far as to refer to Pauly Martin as a "dirty gopher". Yeah, he wore the "M", but he's a heckuva hockey player, and a pretty decent young man.

Actually, The Devils moved Vladimir Malakhov to San Jose on Sunday and got an exception for Alexander Mogilny's salary (long-term injured reserve) and freed up over $7 million in cap space.

According to Devils' site, Travis has made the team. http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/t...erset100406.php Three Fighting Sioux on the roster...

The Suite (whatever#) bar located just northeast of The Ralph ran a parking deal most of last year wherein you pay $10 to park in their lot, and then after the game turn in your parking pass for $10 credit toward hors d' oeurves, alcohol, etc. Don't know if they still do it.

You'll all call me an old fart, but I just don't get the whole chopper thing.