farce poobah

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.

Alice good one. Its 1980 (a strange year for the hockey gods) 3rd period of a close game between archrivals Minnesota and North Dakota. Minnesota is about to go on a 5 on 3 powerplay after a couple dumb Sioux penalties. Which is where home crowd advantage kicks in Someone (I do not know who, but s/he deserves some kind of hall of fame Sioux Award), who may have been sitting with a live chicken for a couple hours, unnoticed (!) in the student section, tosses a live chicken on the ice. The teams are cracking up, there's a decent delay while the ice rink crew chases down and herds the chicken off the ice. I'm not sure whether it was the extra crowd energy, or the distraction wilted the Gophers concentration, but the Sioux killed off the 2 minutes of 5x3. Ah, the good old days.

I can verify the badger sighting, a couple geese and ducks (in season of course). I can also recall a live chicken. Rumors about small beef cattle being tossed are, however, to the best of my recollection, exaggerations.

We, collectively, as fans of Sioux hockey, owe a great measure of tribute to those who got UND Sioux hockey to where it is today. Safe to say there'd be no hockey board on siouxsports.com if not for Cal. (I hope there's a suitable commemoration at the next hockey game at the Ralph - the season opener - on October 22.) Condolences to the entire Marvin family on the passing of a man who truly made a difference.

Eades is an excellent leader, motivator, and has the intensity to make it work. I think if he wants the job, its his.

At Kansas, its Allen Fieldhouse, but the court is named after James Naismith. I think UND hockey should do the same, and name the RINK after Dean Blais. After all, I don't think it would have been built without his contributions. Thanks Coach. Good luck with the 'Jackets. PS. Stop by and see us at the Frozen Four.

Well, you could drive around Grand Forks and dodge potholes, or your could drive around Gopherland and dodge ***holes. Take your pick. OK back to topic ... Not sure its all bad that Sandy has some other work to do in December. [wishful thinking on] Maybe he'll get a little distracted and take his eye off the big Sioux-Dogs series on December 10-11. [/wishful thinking off]

I believe this is the first time that TWO first round picks were UND hockey players. (My memory only goes back to 1977 or so.) Plus all the returning talent, drafted and some not drafted. As a fan, I am still a bit stunned by the rapid rise in the level of talent coming into the program. Facilities have a big role in that (The Ralph) ... including the rehab facilities to deal with injuries quickly and effectively, and the weight room. Only 104 days until the puck drops in Orono.

Oh gosh, where to start. There's so many targets here. First, the author is REALLY frustrated that his beloved Islanders haven't won in a long time. He was a fan when they were winning but now that they are losing, he's not. Second, as a maximum hypocrite, he criticizes the "bandwagon" fans, while describing his personal behavior as exactly the same, while conveniently forgetting to label himself as a hypocrite too. Third, his sole criteria for deciding that hockey is "no longer a major sport" is that the free-TV broadcast rights package went down in value. What a stupid yardstick. And I got news for him - when baseball and NFL and yes college hoops get renegotiated the next time, those numbers are going to decline too. If attendance were going down, then it would be time to conclude NHL popularity was falling. But back to the argument about what's a major sport ... if I were to make an offhand guess, without facts like TV ratings, attendance, and so on, I would say that the NHL is about where it has been (except on Long Island) for some time. They set a long term goal of expanding into the southern USA, and are making some progress... but it will take decades to see if the bet works or not. Last, a prediction - when the Yankees don't win a world title for the next 5 years, we'll see him write in 2008 about how baseball is falling in popularity. Sheesh.

Toronto. They have the world's best goaltender. Belfour gets 3rd shutout of Ottawa

Congrats to Sandelin. Just don't make it a habit, OK? Nice article on Dean and Wendy on INCH, for those who don't get over there often... Link