farce poobah

I was pleasantly surprised at the refereeing of Zelkin this weekend. After getting hopes dashed on numerous occassions in the past that a new ref might be better than the old, I have to give him A LOT of credit for calling the games fairly this weekend. For those who didn't see the games in person, I would characterize the ref-style as "last years definition of penalties". Which I am just fine with, and which frankly should help the Sioux when facing a speedy non-physical team like CC. HOWEVER, I wonder whether that will hurt us NEXT weekend. Going into Madison, unless Zelkin is the ref (and he hasn't been disciplined by his boss for not calling enough ticky-tack stuff), I would not be surprised if the Sioux fill up the penalty box by doing the same things that they did this weekend. I just have this sinking feeling that we'll take 7-8 penalties in the first period Friday and dig a big hole that we cant quite get out of. I hope to be wrong.

I wanted to pass out Kudos to a handful of players for their performances this weekend: Kyle Radke, whose improvement from 3 weeks ago is startling. As the dude said in Matrix, "He's beginning to believe." Confidence really starting to show in his play, the game seems to be slowing down. Not up to say, Andy Schneider's level of play yet, but settling in to some quality time. Also showing flashes of brilliance on the powerplay. Chris Porter, for consistent hustle. Combining his size and speed is a rare gift, and his physical presence seemed to intimidate CC at times ... guys getting rid of the puck too quickly and ducking the check ... Rory McMahon, for excellent two-way play, and for winning a sh$#load of important faceoffs. Philippe Lamoureaux, as a lot have noted.

With the passage of time, the underachievers fade from consciousness, so its hard to go back more than just a couple years ... I'd add Landon Wilson and Ryan Johnson to the [fairly short] list of guys who really disappointed in their Green and White days. ... while the overachievers live in our hearts forever as young as the day they last skated for the Sioux. A common thread of the national champion teams at UND has been role players that were chronic overachievers. From that 1980 team, which was honored this weekend, Erwin Martens was a Farce favorite, hustling hard every shift, scoring the occasional goal, and playing the game hard but clean. Phil Sykes was more talented, but used every ounce of it to benefit the team. Another characteristic of the overachiever is that their toils often go unrecognized. So I found it very poignant that on the night that Pierre Lamoreaux was honored as part of the 1980 Sioux (Pierre had the 'misfortune' of playing behind not 1 but 2 (!) future NHL goaltenders while at UND,(Darren Jensen and later Jon Casey)), his son stepped forward with a very, very good game, staking a claim to the #1 goaltending job.

Even BC's great PP didn't score 5x4 last night ... it was only the 5x3's. ...

(I know its poor form to quote oneself,) but I'm happy the coaches read this message board. Our play improved after the stern message of benching the C.... Nice last 30 minutes, Sioux. Something to build on.

yeee-haaa

Yeeee-haaaa!!!

Seems like time to bench some guys who are screwing it up for the rest of the team.

... good news ... must ... find ... goood ... news ... Mankato 1, Gophers 1 after 1 hey, its the best I could come up with

A few more thoughts, like dagies I needed the drive time to digest it all. First, the Friday comeback was one helluvan effort. I think its important to remember that we did a lot of things right during the last 30 minutes of Friday's game ... minimal stupid penalties, some of the homerun passes clicked, very few own zone turnovers, some very nice cycling, and in fact it was the Gophers that looked gassed and unable to mount a comeback Friday. When was the last time you saw the 3x5 guys beat the other team to the puck and ice it about 4 times? A lot has been made about all the times Minnesota hit goal posts on Friday. I contend the Sioux had just as many "almost" "coulda shoulda" plays as the Gophers, including centering passes that hopped over a stick of a wide-open guy at the goalmouth, potential 2x1 s that turned into icing, and 1 of Minnesota's goals was set up by a "bad" bounce on a clearing attempt ... I think Friday was a game that could have gone either way, and I think we will be very glad come February to have those 2 points (and that MN doesn't). As to Saturday, looked to my amateur eyes like Minnesota changed their forecheck, taking away the short passes, conceding the long bombs, and the Sioux failed to connect. I don't have enough fingers to count all the icings that were a failed long breakout pass. The rest of Saturday? I expect the coaches to have "movie night" and come up with the adjustments for a March-April rematch, because if I'm Lucia I stick with what worked. I only have one second guess, and that is the decision to start JPar on Saturday. He expended a tremendous effort Friday. From the get-go Saturday, he was fighting the puck.... it was a good call to bring Brandt in. ... while on the other end, every tip the Sioux did hit Briggs. He was good, but he was also lucky. Watch the film, count the deflections, it was just one of those nights. On the bright side ... ... Radke got some quality time and a chance to show his stuff in situations where we needed offense. He shows flashes of brilliance, tremendously quick first two strides, good hands, just lacking experience playing this game at WCHA speeds. ... I loved Spirko's goal Friday. He's knocked down in front, and the only thing he can do is get the stick parallel to the goal mouth, flat on the ice, so when Smaby's low shot hits it, it tips up over Briggs right pad. What I'm wondering is how much was luck and how much is scoring genius at work ... probably both. ... Genoway had an outstanding game Friday, and some unlucky bounces Saturday. We need him to step up. ... Porter looked good both nights. ... Schneider had a good game Friday, and a gutsy Saturday, playing hurt. On the concerns side ... ... refereeing inconsistency clearly messed with our Matts. Talk about your worst case scenario. What was a penalty Friday was not a penalty Saturday, and I think the Gophers read that sooner than we did (ie early in the game Saturday), and took advantage of it ... while our Matts were playing by Friday's rules, the Gophers were using sticks like it was last season to mess up play in our zone. I'll stop now on refereeing. ... Like dagies, I noticed Canady didn't get many shifts until the 3rd period Saturday. It looked like he missed an assignment coming back on a rush in the first period (which didn't cost us), but that's my amateur eyes. Friday, and how we react, will tell a lot about this team. A win in BC would be nice, but its more important to get players on track, to find out which line chemistry works, because its 3 big BIG WCHA weekends in a row - CC, Wisco, St Cloud.

A little historical perspective, for those who are wondering "what's wrong with the Sioux". ... November 1996, at Mariucci, Gophers 10, Sioux 3. We know who got the last laugh that year. I think this year will turn out the same. Stuff happens. What's important at this stage of the season is how the coaches and team react to a little adversity.

Predictions: 1) Friday. 3-2 Sioux. - Gophers go 2 for 9 on the power play. Sioux talk about taking fewer penalties. - Brandt in goal. - Becomes obvious that 5x5 play tilts the ice toward UND. 2) Saturday. 2-0 Sioux - Lammy in net, shuts the door. - everybody stays out of the box, - late goals from Stafford and Zajac - Sioux D has worn down MN and they can't mount a comeback 3) Sunday: churches in GF note that the singing is somewhat hoarse. GO SIOUX!!!

Dude, sweet. Thanks for writing. As always an excellent read.

[Posted this on USCHO too ... for those who aren't visiting both sites ...] Just got back... random thoughts about the game: ** The tie Friday was no fluke. ** Anyone who still thinks Mankato will finish in 8th or 9th is kidding themselves; they will contend for home ice. They have plenty of tempo, their depth is fine, and all those D that got thrown into the baptism of fire last year are now capable of holding their own. ** I can see why Backes is such a big-time prospect... big, agile, soft hands, and he was in position to tie the game in the final minute... just couldn't get the stick on a bouncing puck. ** Mavs will score, the d looks to be fine, and I agree with others that goal is the lone question, but again, there's strong competition inside the team for playing time. ** Congrats to Jutting and staff on putting the puzzle pieces together after a tough 03-04. ** Still, by the 3rd period, the Sioux were exploiting Mav's fatigue... I'll speculate its two causes, first being UND playing 18 guys pretty consistently both nights (although Radke didn't see a lot of ice tonight), and overall team conditioning. ** After 2 periods shots were 20-10 MSU, which seemed a little optimistic by the home team's shot counter. But the first 12 minutes of the 3rd the Sioux rained 14 SOG on Volp (14 to 6 Sioux), then zero the last 8 minutes after getting the lead. ** Spirko is no fluke either, nor is Zajac, nor is Lamoreaux. These guys are going to contribute immediately. (Radke is a great athlete who will have a tough time getting ice time this year, but will eventually be a go-to guy ...) Kaip skates well, gets into the right position, and won't score much but will be valuable immediately as a role player too. ** Like the combination of Murray with Zajac and Stafford. ** Massen from Fabian for the GWG?!! If this is a sign of things to come, it will make the Sioux da#$ near impossible to stop. ** Schneider looks much quicker, as others have noted. He stayed out of the box too (!) ** Sioux used 3 PP units, 2 of the 3 used 2 defensemen on the point... Genoway on the other group, and he did a nice job defending a couple of 2x2 Mav shorthanded rushes. ** Sioux PK perfect tonight, 0x9 for Mankato and 0x15 on the weekend. Sioux just keep sending out wave after wave of superb penalty killers... Greene-Jones, Schneider-Smaby, Prpich-McMahon, Fylling-Porter, etc etc. ** I believe this Sioux team will go down in the books as the best defensive team in school history, statistically speaking. If an opponent gets more than 2 goals against them, its been a great night. I realize its early to say that, but I really think its a once-in-a-career combination of experienced, talented, deep defense, 3 solid goaltenders who will battle for playing time all year, deep and fast talent up front, strong guys on faceoffs which will limit the damage of d-zone faceoffs, and a coaching staff that seems likely to emphasize defense even more than DBlais did. ** The remaining question about this year's Sioux is scoring, especially scoring depth. Related to that is how much will Hakstol let the dogs loose ... will we play it aggressive hard-forecheck cycle in the offensive zone which we've seen Sioux do for the last decade? or will it be a more trapping style which seeks neutral zone turnovers? for the first 40 minutes tonight it was a trapping style, but the first 12 minutes of the 3rd, the Sioux went after it hard and it was fun to watch them play with urgency (of course being behind wasn't fun).

Mercyhurst 2, Wisconsin 0, in the first

SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!! SWEEP!!

College hockey has a maximum of 18 full-ride equivalent scholarships, and with 19-20 guys seeing significant game action every night, teams can't afford to offer a ride to a redshirt. It is permissible, just hasn't happened since the limit was lowered from 25 to 20 and then 18 ... I don't remember the exact years, but its been at least 15 years with 18.

A couple things that haven't been mentioned yet: Considering that we play 6 important road games in the first 8, I was pleased to see the forward lines set up for balance ... saw that late last year when Blais split Bo and Zach for road games but played them toghether when we had last change. Bet money we see Murray with Stafford and Zajac at some point in the year. Even so, I liked the Porter-Spirko-Murray combo. Looks like the coaches found 2 guys who can keep up with Brady's high tempo. Porter seems faster than last year ... offseason powerskating (or a bad memory on my part?). Disappointed in some of the veteran forwards ... who were mostly invisible. Also in numerous multiple mental errors ... things they should know by now ... like don't try a drop pass when in traffic (led to a couple of MB's 2-on-1's). On the other hand, the veteran D looked fine after the first 10 minutes. That will be the strength of the team, barring multiple injuries. I am NOT surprised we didn't see a lot of Radke; D is a harder position to learn than F. He showed signs of raw talent, but made a couple obvious mistakes. Jake looked soft on the second goal, went down way too early. I'd like to see us use 2 defensemen on the powerplay, for the first month at least while we work the bugs out of the powerplay.

I don't see Maine scoring very many on the Sioux (1 or 2 if its a good night). They lost their top scorers too ... so if the Sioux can be airtight and if Brandt/Parise play strong, we may only need 2-3 goals to win. But I don't see the Sioux firing a lot past Howard either. (Its not gonna be 8 goals on 24 shots!) I look for low-scoring, conservative, playoff-style hockey. Predictions - Sioux 2-1, then 1-1 Saturday.

Bemidji, North Dakota, whatever. To a lot of gopher "fans", its all the same.

INCH with no WCHA players on the first team is showing their own biases....

... AND, this is the really crazy part ... NOT selling season tickets to students who want them .... like how stupid is that? (I know this has been beat on other threads, but it bears mentioning again... argh)

I had the "pleasure" of sitting in the aisle row / Row 1 for the Saturday game (we were row 2 Friday). We had a nice exchange with the DECC Security about 45 minutes before game time ...: DECC Security: "You know, the students do a lap after UMD scores a goal. If they give you any trouble, we'll take care of 'em. Of course, we expect you Sioux fans to give 'em room." Poobah: "Great. Well, Brandt is in goal tonight, so its no laps for them." DECC Security: [puzzled look] Poobah: "Thanks for stopping by. You can tell the students their conditioning program gets another night off." DECC Security: [really puzzled look, then smiles]

The personality of a team is driven by its leaders. Sometimes those leaders wear the C, sometimes they don't. Looks like the team vote went toward physical, hard workers who show up every night.

There's no pillars to sit behind, if that's what you are worried about. I'd suggest avoiding the first row above the concourse (row 1) since that's where the UMD students take laps after they score goals. Of course, "laps" aren't a problem if you are going to the DECC to see the Sioux play. Only other recommendation is to get tix early this year, since interest in UMD hockey is a lot higher this year ... Single game tickets go on sale October 4 via the DECC or ticketmaster.