farce poobah

Welcome to siouxsports.com. The BC-UND games have been fun to watch, even last year's which could have been really boring after the first period. Instead, it featured a team that never gave up (UND) versus a team that never believed it had it won (BC) until the final buzzer.

Triouxper, the historical significance of these games cannot be overstated. Just over 20 decades ago, the Corps of Discovery, part of an empire whose symbol was - and still is - an Eagle, departed from the banks of the Mississippi River, heading upstream into unknown territory. The expedition was led by Captains William Clark and Meriwether Lewis, who coincidentally looks a lot like Jerry York, doncha think? They entered Sioux territory, and were allowed to pass peacibly. Despite holding the power to destroy, the Sioux held back. Ultimately, the Corps of Discovery, arguably one of the best assemblages of people ever, would make many promises, but few were kept. In April of 2007, the Fighting Sioux return to the banks of the Mississippi, with an opportunity for revenge upon the Eagles. -----ziip --- Either that or else its just gonna be a da## good trio of hockey games.

Except the World Juniors that year were REALLY good. Fitz, thanks for the note. I hope we see Michigan more frequently in the future; the games are always great ones.

yi

I am going to make a Trail of Carnage T-shirt and wear it in St Louis. That is CLASSIC.

I work alongside a bunch of BC fans (yes, here in Minneapolis, land of 10,000 excuses). Anybody got any good repertoire?

Geez, we play BC in the playoffs almost as often as Mankato.

... provided that "father figure" includes "kick your a$$" if you aren't getting the job done.

I think the Sioux cycling was lessened a bit by the goal placement, but we got two goals on passes off the back boards that might not have been scorable if the net were farther forward.

I have said this before but its time to say it once again. I am absolutely thrilled at the manner in which Coach Hakstol, his staff, and this team, represent my alma mater. Hakstol: In press conferences, articulate and complementary to the opponents, win or lose. Just about every postgame show (or listen to the press conference yesterday), talks about the pride of wearing the jersey, what it means, and how that should influence how the guys behave on the ice. During the game Sunday, Sioux put the go-ahead goal on the board in the 3rd, and he does not permit himself the luxury of a smile, just a steely glare, watching and observing. After the game, in the handshake line, no smile either, but an easy to lip-read "nice game". All this character, steely resolve, shows in how this team presents itself on the ice. They act like they've been there before. They play together as well as any North Dakota team in the past decade. They have their weak spots, and they cover for each other. And they do it all in a humble, low-key kinda way. Its true that teams take on the character of their coaches. Its also true they take on the character of their best players - insert list here - all unwilling to admit maybe they are the reason for tonight's win. I find it refreshing in an old-fashioned, Bud Grant kinda way. Other teams can have their jersey poppers, their guys with egos too big to fit in the locker room. I'm happy with my team just the way they are. Gentlemen, thank you. Win or lose, you make it a privilege for me to call myself a fan of UND hockey. Go Sioux!

Takes a lot of confidence in your team to pre-print one of those and bring it to the game ...

Posted this on USCHO too, thought it worth adding here. A few random thoughts, after the Regional: * In NCAA play, Hakstol is now 7-2 as a head coach. (3-1, 2-1, & 2-0 so far this year) * This makes 3 years in a row that Minnesota's season has ended by/at UND (Columbus, in Grand Forks, now Denver) * Also UND wins the season series from MN 3-1. Just twice in the last 11 has MN won it (some splits in there too). * Duncan now has 31 goals, with the nation's leader, Ted Cook of Niagara, at 32. * Face offs, the art of which is little appreciated by us fans, were key to the win. Both Lucia and Hakstol commented on puck possession and that MN had to chase us for 15-20 seconds after most faceoffs. This too is huge, and was probably a factor as the OT went on. * I think the DOT line looked a bit leg-weary on the weekend. They've logged a LOT of miles this season. I'm glad they get a 10-day break between games. * OTOH, the Sioux system of playing is so finely synchronized that I always worry how we'll come out after that 10-day break. * Porter VandeVelde and Watkins looked like they were playing at fast forward throughout the OT, getting better as it went on. * In the OT, UND pretty much went 3 lines, and it looked like Lucia went 3 too (?) ... maybe that led to the GWG ... * Also in the OT, no TV timeouts, no rest for either side. * I wish there was some way to get stats like NHL games - TOI, shifts, etc ... I think Chorney logged over 40 minutes... Enough for now. Interested in what others saw...

Part way into the OT, I commented to my daughter (who's in sports) about how Porter was flying out there, and how he had won the dry-land competition umpteen times in a row, and how all that hard work would pay off. (seriously) So now I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Nice call.

We've been mostly going 3 lines. I've seen Watkins and Oshie with Zajac and Miller....

I STILL have a good feeling about this.

Dammit Radke!!

The conversation focused on going pro, the advantages and disadvantages .... Tim said all the right things.

Who do we think he'll pick?

SOG 20-18 Sioux, IIRC. or, 14-9 SIoux in the second period. We actually started to get some flow there. Picking off a LOT of Minnesota passes in/from their own zone. We need to turn those into scoring chances....

1-1 after 1

Positives: Second line looks good, they are a great matchup. Don't be surprised if Lucia changes that matchup. We're picking off Gopher clearing passes. Hope that turns into 3x2 down the line.

One final observation on yesterday's game - we scored 5 PPG in just 6 minutes of PP time. Elapsed PP time: PP#1 : 18 - Goal PP#2 : 08 - Goal PP#3 1:23 - Goal (the 5x3) PP#4 :59 - no PP#5 : 05 - Goal (Bina) PP#6 :23 - Goal (Oshie) PP#7 1:12 - no PP#8 1:45 - no 5 seconds, 8 seconds, 18 and 23 ... Maybe Red wasn't impressed with the Sioux PP because they weren't out there very long.

Ditto. Well said.

No stickwork. We showed a lot of maturity last night in adapting to how the game was going to be called. We showed a lot of maturity in not retaliating to Michigan's headhunting (they could have been called for another half-dozen head-hits). In a game like this, we have to bury the baggage and extra emotion and just play smart.