mikejm

I was a student near the end of Bjorkman's tenure. In 73-74 he more or less cleaned house on the team, cutting loose almost all the upper classmen and bringing in a freshman class of about a dozen new players. There were several quality players on those teams, but it was brutal to be a fan in the stands for the next three years. I believe the Sioux this year won more games than the 73-74, 74-75 and 75-76 teams won combined. The recruits came from all over the place: Minnesota (Edina, Detroit Lakes, TRF, etc.), Illinois, even a walk-on goalie from Nashville, TN. One of the kids who came was sort of talked up like Zach was this pre-season: Terry Dennis had scored, like 100 goals in a western junior league, and was supposed to light up the WCHA. Sadly, for some reason, the teams never clicked. Most of the highlights from a fan's standpoint had to do with Alan Hangsleben or Scott Marvin beating the bejeepers out of someone. Marvin and a kid from St. Louis U. (I think) actually dropped their gloves in pre-game warm-ups. That was back in the days when a live chicken often found its way onto the ice during a time-out. It was also a time, if memory serves me, that one could drink an entire bottle of Mateus between Walsh Hall and the old Ralph. Not that I speak from any first-hand experience, mind you, but it seems to me that was the case ;>) I don't remember where everyone ended up, but Brad Becker went on to play for a few years in the Washington Caps and NY Rangers system. Hangsleben had a long, workman sort of career in the Hartford, first in the WHA, then in the NHL when the two leagues merged. It seems to me that Roger Lamoureux played in the NHL, too, but where I can't remember. Becker's sons have developed into something of stars skating for Moorhead high. His oldest signed to play for Air Force. Whenever I start to think that the Sioux aren't playing too well (not often of late!) I think back to the "golden years" and realize just how fortunate the fans of today are to see such skilled players and quality young men.

Hate to rail on this but the fact remains that this team is a goaltender away from being REALLY good! I've watched two periods of every home game from right behind the net the Sioux defend; Sunday's game was simply a replay of the SSDD scenario. Any goaltender is going to make some saves; a good keeper will make all the stops he's supposed to make AND make two or three a game that no one thought he could. If we'd had that kind of performance from ANYONE in the nets this year, the Sioux would still be ranked in the top three or four nationally, and not have their backs against the wall with a week left in the regular season. Josh flat-out stunk yesterday. He flopped around and gave up rebounds on the first goal, and was made to look like a hack on the third. The D left him out to dry, sure, but see my last paragraph. He makes that last save, the Sioux get one point for sure and MAYBE go into OT and pull out what would've been their biggest win of the year. There were at least four other times during the first and third periods when Josh was beaten badly, and the Dogs simply missed the net. Josh is weak to his stick side and especially when it's a screamer low to the ice. Two Dog shots whistled just outside the pipe that would've killed the Sioux and Josh didn't have a clue as to where the puck was even coming from. Sure there is plenty of blame to be spread around the rest of the boys, but I still maintain it is darn hard to play well when you're spending most of your time spinning your head around worrying about whether or not your goaltender is going to make a routine save. Maybe, no certainly, some of the blame has to rest at Dean Blais's feet. This team desperately needs quality goaltending and he's not found it. Josh was supposed to be the answer; he's now proven he's not. Sedevie may never play another hockey game, so the answer's probably not there either. Lamoureaux is at least a year away. I'd say it's time for Dean to cut his losses and send Josh and Sofie (maybe Brandt too) packing and go find someone who is capable of STANDING UP between the pipes and coming up with the saves this team needs to succeed. Maybe the kid from Central is legit, but shutting out the Eastern Dakota Conference and the ND state tourney ain't the WCHA; give him a year in JRs and then let's see. I hear from a pretty good source that Duluth offered Ziegelmann a partial (60%) scholarship and he turned it down; it's time for Dean to get on the phone.

Sorry, I didn't make myself very clear... UNTIL SATURDAY....The offense has scored plenty; the D has pinched or flat-out stood up almost everybody crossing the blue line all year. The D-men made four SAVES Saturday, for crying out loud! They're getting their job done. Yes, nearly everyone on the ice stunk Saturday, but I think a confident, competent goaltender, making a couple BIG saves on those breakaways, would've held the Sioux in the game, and perhaps the homeboys could've snuck out of an off night with at least one point.

I hate to seem to be jumping on the "dump on the goalie" bandwagon, but from my vantage point over the goalie's shoulder at ice level in The Ralph, I think the ultimate cause for Saturday's debacle lies between the pipes. The first goal was a ROCKET that wasn't going to be stopped by anyone. Certainly the D-men made HUGE mistakes which allowed Tech to stroll in on Josh and fire away after that. But, it would seem to be really hard to play good D when you're scared to death that any mistake you make is going to result in another goal against. These same D-men (granted they were a year younger) looked timid and tight last year because it seemed no one was behind them trying to stop a puck. Saturday they looked like they had no confidence in Josh's ability to cover up for one of their own mistakes. Mistakes are going to be made in an up-tempo transition game like the Sioux like to play, but the goaltender has to come up big and make a save on these odd-man rushes and breakaways for the Sioux (or any other team) to succeed. Those are the times we all talk about when a hot netminder can carry a team. The offense has scored plenty; the D has pinched or flat-out stood up almost everybody crossing the blue line all year. The D-men made four SAVES Saturday, for crying out loud! They're getting their job done. It's time for one of these guys to make a stand between the pipes. Stand up on his skates and makes some saves when the guys in front of them make a mistake. I don't know if it's Josh or Jake, or maybe even Ranfranz. But its time.

The weekend in Springs was a disappointment, sure, but look at the Sioux on the Pairwise and KRACH ratings today: still in top 4 on both. INCH still has the boys getting a Number 1 seed into the regionals. There is no reason for panic; no reason to jump off the ship here folks. The Sioux flat got out-played by a REALLY good hockey team on THEIR ice; big deal. Look at what's coming up: Tech 4 points @ Denver 3 points @ Mankato 2-3 points Duluth 4 points @ Wisco 4 points Nothing there to see the Sioux drop out of a Number 1 seed. Keep your chins up and have fun, fercryinoutloud!

Agree about the matchup; but what scares me is how the Sioux will react to their horrible showing last weekend against sub-par opponents. Neither Brown nor Bemidji should even be on the same ice as the Sioux, but both made the hometown boys look quite bad. I sit right behind the Sioux goalie two periods each game; normally it is quite fun to watch the D-men muscle opponents off the puck and into the boards. Once in awhile one of the goalkeepers will make a save. Neither of these occured over the weekend. People were really worried about not having Zach around; the real obvious ingredients missing from the ice were Green and Jones. And I honestly can't belive Josh is this team's best hope between the pipes. You can almost see him float away from himself as he daydreams during games. I was under the impression after watching Blais NOT yank Josh Saturday that he wanted the team to lose to Bemidji; maybe the coaches think the team is taking it's ranking a little too seriously and need a wake-up call. The key this weekend will be if the Sioux can contain CC and keep the shots down.

'Course, they'd have to find someone to sponsor it But a heckuva an idea nevertheless