farce poobah

Last night, I found myself wondering whether it was just a coincidence that the Sioux had the weekend off...

Cool game. Good outcome for UND/WCHA NCAA hopes. But whoever does the schedule for tOSU should be fired - I did not realize they had Michigan State Thursday, UW today, Miami Tuesday. All that conspires to help the Sioux, a smidgen, since we played all 3 opponents but not OSU... Green Bay is natural hockey country, with not a lot going on in winter, and with the 40k turnout, I wouldn't be surprised if they do another one. Maybe Sioux-UW on Sunday with UW playing the Gophers on Friday-Saturday first...

Two great teams, both carrying some baggage. I didn't realize how banged up tOSU is ... 3 guys out for the season, 3 more who are out for today. Hard to say they are the favorite. OTOH, Wisconsin is 1-5 since pounding CC. Loved the USCHO article where Eaves talks about how the game sounds different outside. But I don't recall any -15 rule in Grand Forks ... Excerpt: Yet there's something about playing outdoors that brings the game back to its roots for Eaves, who started playing hockey outside in Saskatoon, Sask. There, kids were allowed to play until the temperature fell below minus-15. "Playing outside has a uniqueness about it that is hard to relay to people that have never played outside," Eaves said. "The sound the skate makes when it cuts the ice, the sound that the puck makes on your stick when you catch a pass and you slap a pass, it's a very unique game of its own. "It'll be fun. What it does, it takes you back to the last time you played as a child. That's what will be fun for a lot of the kids that have skated outside, to revisit that time in their life." http://www.uscho.com/news/id,11880/MoreThanAGame.html ========================== Interested in your thoughts on the game, and if anyone has memories of playing competitive hockey outdoors. Probly a lot of us have played on the outdoor rinks, with nearly all of that just for the pure fun of it. Did ya ever play a high school game outside, etc?

The UND coaches and players can't say it. But I can. This morning is pretty much a Dream Bracket.

How about nominations for the most unheralded player to become the greatest success? Two come to mind right away: Matt Henderson, from walkon to MOP at the Frozen Four. Phil Sykes, no publicity initially, MOP at the Frozen Four.

BU vs the Green Monsters. Like it.

I think the issue this year is that UND women's hockey is NOT at competitive parity. (I believe) most of their top competitors - UMD, MN, WI - are funding 18 scholarships for W hockey. UND at 12 has been at a serious disadvantage in attracting top talent, and that may be one factor in the on-ice results. In other words, we've underfunded women's hockey. Getting up to funding parity - those last 6 scholarships - may have been paid for with only another 300-400 fans per game ... ===================================================== Also, the tired old implicit assumption that women's sports will never draw and will never be revenue generators is patently ridiculous. Walk over to the Betty and see who draws fans this year. It will take a while, probably 4 more years based on the funding plan and the talent-recruiting cycle, for UND women's hockey to be competitive with the best in the west. Then we'll get a much better read on the revenue potential for women's hockey.

I'm not sure how this thread turned into a referendum on women's hockey. Are we really blaming women's hockey for the Betty? To the original question, I agree entirely with the idea that this is a poorly planned facility. UND Basketball should have a big-enough place to play (5000-6000 capacity which has been filled in the past), that has a great atmosphere (the Ralph for basketball doesn't qualify), serves as a home court advantage (splitting games between 2 home facilities seemed to hurt the teams' performance) and that supplies all the other basic amenities for fans (enough bathrooms, aisle space, etc). Question is whether the Betty can be improved and what it will take.

Great question. How about if we follow the thread a bit and split "defensive production" into 2 broad categories - power play and even strength. On the powerplay, I've seen a fair amount of 4-forward play, more than earlier in the season. Maybe a chance to get some of the D guys with tired legs more rest? Or maybe, more likely, we've got enough depth at forward. Bottom line, for most teams a lot of shots come on powerplays. If our D are playing less on PP, then they will get fewer shots. This is natural and OK, provided the 4-Forward PP is getting chances. Even strength, I think your observation is dead on. Thinking about play in the zone ... if the puck comes back to the point, the D has really 3 choices. 1) throw it at the net. 2) toss it deep, 3) go D-to-D. I haven't seen much of #1 lately, and I think that makes it easier for the opposing forwards to cheat off their man (if he aint a threat to score, why not). In turn, our 3-on-3 down low becomes less effective. But it would be overly simplistic to just say its the D fault for not throwing the puck at the net. Question is also whether the forwards are getting around the net. In this day and age, point shots don't go in unless deflected. Bottom line, there is tremendous raw INDIVIDUAL talent on this team. But its not yet turned into consistently great play as a TEAM. As a team, we're rapidly getting better in our defensive zone. Offense, scoring 5x5, is a lot harder to master, and that's not there yet. Long way of saying I agree with your note.

You can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them.

In heaven there is no beer, That's why we drink it here, and when we're gone from here our friends will be drinking all our beer.

UNH up 5-2 on Maine tonight, per USCHO boards ... must be at least mid-way since they are out east.

If you asked me pick a first round opponent I'd like the Sioux to play, Omaha would be on my short list. Of course, playing Holy Cross in the second round is no piece of cake.

I was referring to the tradition of having a beer after a goal. Your idea is better.

Everybody stock up ...

As of 11pm central time Jan 31, 2006, its actually gotten worse. [primal scream] USCHO's brackets put Minnesota, Michigan, AND St Cloud in Grand Forks, along with Mercyhurst. Let me die and go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks. [primal scream]

Re that face-off incident with 2:12 left in Friday's game. It was a crucial face off in the St Cloud zone, chance to get a full 200 of PP time. Instead, our team stood by the bench for way WAY past the alloted time. I am not sure if they thought they had called time out - I know I thought that was the case. If they didn't call the T/O, or if there's no other explanation, it was one of the worst apparent mistakes in a key situation I've ever seen a Sioux team make. That said, I don't know the whole story. All I know, sitting in my seat, was that we hung by the bench for a full minute plus, and eventually the linesman was (again, apparently) forced to drop the puck. Interested if anyone else has better knowledge of what really happened on the ice. I know I was puzzled, and frustrated.

! the best concise description of SCSU's team I've heard. Goepfert the sole exception, could play on most any college team.

Skippy alert.

Hockey is a S-T-U-P-I-D game. [rant off] But seriously, St Cloud might play a month against us and not score a real goal. [rant off again] Overall, it IS disappointing to lose at home, and to lose a game where the only thing the opponent gets is a goal I thought should have been waved off for goaltender interference (I think Hak said the same on the postgame show), and the other was dumb luck. In NO WAY was that Phil's fault. Nor was it Chorney's fault. It was just a dum-luck goal, and it counts for one just like Toews' work of art. For all intents and purposes, PL could have had a shutout, and a fairly easy shutout at that. But - not to be. OTOH, if we are only going to score one goal, we aren't going to win. The offense MUST finish better, and must have some luck of their own. Tonight neither happened. Starting with a post in the first period, a deflected tip by Zajac that whistled a couple inches by on the 1st PP of the night, we had some chances (not a lot, but enough). We didn't finish. Also, and nobody has mentioned this that I saw, unlike last weekend, SCSU doesn't suck. Mankato just plain sucks. SCSU is not offensively skilled, but they cover their zone, cover the front of the net, and make most chances easy for their goalie. ==================================== To individual performances, 1) I thought our defensive rotation was pretty darn good. Lot of Smaby-Marvin, Smaby-Alexander, Jones-Marvin. Liked those pairings a lot. Didn't like the Marvin-Alexander pairing, but I can understand why the coaches did it (we were down a goal and needed to gamble on getting more offense from the other matchups). 2) A handful of times in the middle period, and a couple in the first part of the 3rd, we sent out Marvin-Alexander with Prpich, Kaip and Fabian. Made me nervous as all heck. Some of the shifts were works of art, with the puck 200 feet from PL. Other shifts sucked, with SCSU getting most of their chances (and no glorious ones at that) during those plays. 3) Lee played a very good game, much better than last weekend. Chorney was good, showing some blazing foot speed on a couple sequences. 4) Toews is a Jedi with the puck. The goal was magnificent. Sitting right above the goal, I got to see him come in at the perfect angle and distance - too far away for Goepfert to poke check but close enough to take the shot when Goepfert started to follow him across the crease. 5) Duncan is a puck wizard. IIRC, he started the goal scoring play by stuffing two clearing attempts, then sending Stafford in ... Stafford drew the traffic away, leaving Toews with plenty of maneuvering room. Duncan made a number of other terrific plays, and even threw two body-checks on one shift in the 2nd period. I would have given Duncan consideration as POTG for consistent good play. He's getting more ice time and making something of it. 6) Oshie is noticeable EVERY shift. I said it before, but he reminds me of Jason Blake (not physically, obviously) - relentless in puck pursuit, determined to beat the other guy to the puck EVERY TIME, willing to take the hit, and loves to dish em out. 7) SCSU's 4th line stinks, and our Kozek-Watkins-Duncan line needs to start showing they are better than the other guys' 4th lines by doing some scoring. They have dominated 5x5 play at times, but have little to show for it. 8) Phil deserved a better fate. 9) I hope JPar goes Saturday. We'll NEED two goalies playing well down the stretch. Tough loss, one that we may look back on at the end of the year and say it made a big difference in the seed we get. Hopefully, it won't be the difference between getting into the NCAA's and watching our rink get trashed by Gopher fans.

One sign of just how tough the WCHA is - the defending returning Hobey Award Winner gets zero votes in the CSTV picks, but 6 other WCHA players do.

I can smell playoffs in the Betty. It will not be hostile or abusive there, however.

M-O-N-E-Y. Someone I really respect says its about the Benjamins. ... Scholarships getting diverted to other sports? ... Jan Ganglehoff reincarnated and discovered?

Agree with the point on Goepfert. He has the ability to steal a game. That said, the other big thing about Friday is being down 2 defensemen (Radke and Finley). With a short bench, it becomes VERY important to get the first goal (or preferably two), enabling the coaches to lengthen the bench, and enabling the 3rd forward to stay back. Look for SCSU to pressure hard in the early going, and to put a body on our top 4 D. I wouldn't be surprised to see Smaby drawing shifts with Marvin AND with Jones. Who will be the 6th D - Alexander? (Spirko!?) Friday will be a true test. We MUST be ready from the first drop of the puck.

Knee. (Harrington, I think.)