farce poobah

Hakstol=Gandalf Lucia = Saruman

Unless, as is the case this year, most of their best 19's are playing in the NHL by then. Seeing last year's Canada team in GF was truly special, something I will remember for a long time. Sad to say for fans of the WJHC, most years Canada plays with one hand behind its back, and this year is no exception.

INCH is not stupid, they want people to visit the site, and they also know where the biggest fan bases are. Talking trash at UND fans is a way to get traffic ...

From TSN.CA: Forwards Cogliano, Guillaume Latendresse of Drummondville, Steve Downie of the Peterborough Petes and North Dakota's Jonathan Toews distinguished themselves Thursday. Cogliano's speed and playmaking smarts were impressive. Latendresse continued to create space for himself and his teammates with his size and skilled hands. Downie was tenacious and dangerous around the net and threw a couple of hard hits. Toews has made a strong case to play in the world junior hockey championship as a 17-year-old as he has excelled among players older than him. http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp...bName=world_jrs

How about Dave Tippett's work with the Dallas Stars? Best winning percentage in the west ... There was one of the strongest skaters per pound, and a guy who made a career out of defensive play ... "one of the best penalty killers in the history of the NHL" per John Davidson on tonights OLN postgame.

Great summary of the last decade of Gopher-Sioux hockey games !!

Some thoughts from the weekend, seeing the games in person and not yet watching the tapes: The negatives: * I'm disappointed because I don't feel like we put forward our best effort. I can handle losing if the effort is good and the game played well, but this was disappointing for that reason. * A couple times each period, we stopped playing as a team, especially in our own zone, and started flinging the puck around, individually, not looking for teammates. That's coachable, and practices should be all over that, because I'm sure our next 5 opponents will watch the tapes and decide they know how to beat us. * JP had an off night. He was due. After saving our collective butt so many times, he's owed one. This team is not yet good enough defensively to win against a top opponent when the goalie has a bad night. * The speed of the game was above a few of our guys, more notably Friday. No point in naming names, but generally I would say it was rookies ... we just didn't react as fast to the play as our opponents did. The positives: * When we started hitting, it was effective. Did Potulny make ANY plays after getting crushed by Smaby on Saturday? And the 3rd UND goal Saturday was preceded by a big hit on Harrington (Kozek I think), who was a bit stunned and didn't get into the coverage ... There were maybe 8-10 other truly bone-crunching hits Saturday. This Sioux team has not been notably physical most nights, but I think we should reconsider that approach. They are actually some dang good body checkers, and the intimidation helped get momentum late Saturday. * Lamoreaux. Looks like he's on his way to regaining the solid form he showed last year. * The powerplay was generally effective, 2x6 Friday, 1x7 Saturday with the disappointment not getting a goal in 1:20 of 5x3 on Saturday. Perhaps just a little more willingness to release the puck, and a little less conservative entering the zone ... The summary: I expected this team to get schooled before Christmas, and the top teams in the WCHA have done just that. (Still, we have wins over next weeks probable #1, Miami, and win-tie at New Hampshire.) The remaining 11 home games are all winnable, and I would not be surprised if the Sioux run the table. The upcoming road schedule, however, is brutal (CC, DU, MN). If we are to make the NCAA's, these next 4 games - Bemidji and Harvard - may be the most important on the schedule. Both teams are around that #14 bubble spot, which is where the Sioux are likely to be, and the PWR will swing on these head to head matchups. Similarly, all our common opponent comparisons with OTHER ECACHL teams will be driven largely by the results vs. Harvard, and a sweep puts a big point in our PWR column. Prediction - sweeps against BSU and Harvard, 4th in the WCHA, #14 in the final PWR, and a spot in the West Regional at the Ralph in March. Where after, anything can happen.

A lot of things went wrong Friday, and we still almost won. I think we showed great patience letting Minnesota bump the puck around the perimeter, while not taking penalties and not letting very many great scoring chances. That all needs to continue. The penalties we did take, however, were a mix of stupid/avoidable and Shep falling for a Gopher dive instead of calling the dive. The avoidable needs to change. We didn't pressure MN's sluggish defensemen much nor did we put enough pucks on Briggs. We need to be more willing to chase, and more coordinated on the chase ... lot of times the puck was dumped where we weren't. Overall, this team is well ahead of where I thought we'd be at this time, but tonight is a big game. If we want a shot at the NCAA later on, instead of watching the West regional from the stands, tonight is a key game. Team and fans better show up. Go SIOUX!!!

Parise checking Greene? VERRRY interesting ...

Tip of the chapeau to Schlossman for a nice balanced article. In this day and age of trash-talking, I find it refreshing to read competitors who respect their opponents ...

Mr Dude, You Rock! thanks PCM

Favorite Moments in Sioux-Gopher history, Regular Season I

I've definitely enjoyed the season series for the last decade: 6 times UND with the edge 3 times tied 1 time MN with the edge All I can say is, it's been fun. Especially living in the Twin Cities.

http://siouxsports.com/hockey/rankings/krach.php Interesting how the polls start to converge to the real math ... KRACH is more robust at this time of year with so few games in the books. Big difference from years past in the WCHA rankings ... as of 12/6, only 4 WCHA teams would make the tournament, one of those by the fur on their [censored]. 1) Wisconsin 5) UND 6) CC 15) MN 20) DU 28) SCSU 29) UMD For the WCHA to get more than 3 or 4 teams this year, the interconference play over the holidays will have to be a lot better than earlier this year.

I recall that series, late January 1995, and it became obvious that Blais was working magic with the troops. My favorite part was when Teeder Wynne got 3 breakaways on one shift, scoring on the 3rd. Or maybe it was when Minnesota changed goalies after a goal, the Sioux won the faceoff, skated in and scored 7 seconds later ...

Gwozdecky class showing again tonight. UP 4-1 with 3 minutes to go, he puts his #1 PP unit out ...

Watched the Gophers - State game on TV. Gotta give State a lot of credit, they gave a textbook example of how to beat the Gophers: 1) Position - numbers behind the puck, hustle back on transitions, force the MN cycling on offense into the corners. 2) Kill penalties situationally - don't get caught high (the D aren't going to beat you but the forwards will kill you), if you pressure the points do it selectively (especially Atherton) 3) Stay out of the penalty box. Duh. 4) Cycle the puck, pressure the D in their own zone, make them make plays and they will make mistakes. Bottom line - Minnesota's forwards are as good as you'll see in college hockey (at least the top 3 lines) but the defense can be beaten. Despite the scoreboard - tie game - Minnesota only got two fluke goals to show for it.

Good stuff. Thanks for posting.

Why not play Parise every game? History suggests its better to make sure your #1 is fresh for the playoff run in March. See: UND 1998 (Goehring, maybe the best Sioux goalie ever, was noticeably tired, compared to his stellar performances in 2000) See: MN 2004 (Briggs, down the stretch) Also, Phil has been too good for too long, not to come back with a string of good outings soon.

Fargo Forum reporting TRF's Michael Forney coming to UND ... [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=107415

Fridley, Minnesota. (If you go into the schools on Friday of Sioux-Gopher week, you may find my daughter wearing her Sioux jersey "in yo face" of all the rodent kids.)

Well that was awful. The only good part was we clawed back to tie late in the second, but the sustained pressure and energy that I was hoping for never really showed up. A few observations: ** Lines were a shambles tonight. Seemed like there were 3 different guys out there all night long and that messed up the chemistry. (Example: Kozek - Oshie - Stafford at one point, later Marvin - Zajac - Watkins) Even the PP units were affected. The Grinder Line was not nearly as effective tonight without Fabian; I hope he gets back soon. (Any word on his status?) ** Was fatigue and conditioning a factor? Several of our guys looked tired in the 3rd tonight - Chorney made some uncharacteristic plays, Lee looked a bit leg weary, Stafford didn't have the same jump, etc. ** While it would be unfair to blame Phil for the goals, several of which were just plain sick, it is fair to wonder how JPar would have done tonight. DU's 3rd goal came because Phil was down in a situation where JP may have stayed on his feet. ** DU, even with a short bench, is the real deal. Their top guys showed up tonight and pounced on mistakes. They will win a lot of games, and so this is not the same as, say, losing to St Cloud. ** A lot of "teachable moments" tonight. (For example Oshie with 2 puck mistakes on the PP early in the 3rd.) The key is learning from mistakes. I still think we will be a contender come March.

Omaha holding their own in the trenches during the first half. Their QB's are getting time to throw, but the Sioux coverage has been good so far. I can see how Omaha has put up big-time offensive numbers. UND got away with a strategy mistake, IMO, we should have run clock with possession in our own territory and 2 minutes to go to half. Given the extra time, Omaha dang near scored. Fortunately, Sioux held. Sioux offense is definitely setting up for some quick strikes in the second half ... (if the game situation needs it). Dressler has been great so far.

Last night gives us a benchmark about where this team is right now, and they are way ahead of where I thought we'd be this early. (I thought we'd get killed before Christmas and hopefully come around by March...) Several freshmen are clearly able to play at this elevated level already, including Lee and Chorney on D ... their skill level is outstanding. Jones and Finley are a little further away from full-speed just yet, but for most 5x5 situations they can hold their own. Coming into the season, "D" was the big BIG question about this team, and barring some unforseen issue, looks to be answered favorably. I do expect some bumps, and we gave DU the puck a few times last night on unforced turnovers but that should decrease as the team plays together more. Up front, Toews is something really REALLY special too, a phenom. On the goal, he was looking pass, acting pass, then whipped a "no-look" wrister at Fisher who wasn't really ready. Even so, Fisher gave him just a small upper corner to shoot at and Toews hit it. Oshie played another strong game, and both Kozek and Watkins had their chances. I agree with TH's postgame analysis, Chris Porter had an outstanding game last night. He's not only strong enough to keep the puck along the walls, but he seems faster this year, fast enought that he turned DU defense on rushes 3-4 times. I really don't care for most organized swear-chants, but I enjoyed the student section chanting F&%# You Denver after the major penalties. (OK, just this one time...) The pattern of conduct by DU players is becoming increasingly evident, and burying those b@#$%rds is the best way to get even. I was glad to see our guys keep it clean; that too is a good sign of maturity. As to the rematch, we need the intensity of last nights first period. And we need to wear DU down with forechecking. I think DU will come out stronger early tonight, and we may need a comeback to win this one.

As is often said on this board, "The only computer rankings that matter are the computer rankings that you hang your banners on." Or something like that.