farce poobah

Even if Brandt hadn't stopped anything, it would still be 4-3 Sioux. Shots 15-3 in the first.

Oh SH#$. Powerplay on.

GREAT! to see Brady get one! 1-0 13 seconds in. 11 and 7 with the assists

I'm getting radio ... from rodentland.

Stafford is really not that good. He's too young to bear the rigors of Finland. There must be SOMEBODY from St Cloud to take instead. Anyone know when the rest of the roster gets picked?

But ... but ... I don't think I can hit the ice with a bulldog from any farther back. My arm isn't what it used to be.

Ticketmaster has them ... or you can call the DECC. Good seats still available, but I bet they start going fast.

Time to buy tickets for the Sioux-Dogs in Duluth. Feb 27-28.

Forecheck, you are too modest. Any story that ends with "Gophers Suck!" does indeed have a point, as well as tremendous artistic merit.

And Tech ties St Cloud, in St Cloud. On a goal with 0:25 left.

Talk about psychic connections... ... or maybe a cosmic convergence in the Farce.

I predict the Dogs win Friday. on an overtime goal by TJ Caig. Saturday I predict there will be no TV.

Excellent creativity. A variation on the #2: "Visitors are welcome here." [Picture of Matt(s), with names so the locals can figure it out] "Our Matt loves to Welcome visitors." ============================ OR, "I really like your skates" [Picture of Sioux player crunching an opponent] "I just wouldn't want to be in them." ============================= Or, "Top 10 moments in Yale Hockey History": 10. (blank) 9. (blank) 8. (blank) 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Losing only 9-0 to UND tonight.

I can chip in a case of Perrier. Hate to see her get dehydrated.

Truck driver could make a good living hauling from Faribault to Grand Forks.

Postgame thoughts after Saturday. In a word, FRUSTRATING. Our skating and own-zone coverage continue to be very good. BC got nuthin 5x5, not Friday and especially not Saturday. I believe this will hold true for the entire season; 5x5 nobody's gonna get nuthin against the Sioux defense. Schneider is a rock. Ryan Hale looks more comfortable all the time, and his big hit Friday seemed to wake up the team. Smaby looked markedly better this weekend than vs. UMD. Jones just needs to get healthy, I don't know if he's hurt but he looked a half-step slow. Faceoffs are another bright spot ... if we can continue winning over 60-65%, especially on special teams, that will be huge. PK was good AGAIN. See above points on faceoffs and own-zone play. McMahon was very good AGAIN. I'm sure everybody will have suggestions about how to improve the Sioux powerplay. Of course, there's the obvious ideas - - use Alaska's powerplay, go to Home of Economy and buy a new one, next time take the yardage.... I think its time to consider using 2 defensemen on the PP point - if only to cut down on the @#$% shorthanded goals against. (I am still royally piffed that Anderson didn't call Gionta for tripping Fuher - ARRRGGH - not only should BC not have had a goal, we should have gone 5x3.) Our only problem last night was with the puck. Passes were half-step behind, half-step too far in front, guys zagged when the pass zigged, tip attempts just missed a stick (Bucks right in front). Some of this is because there's a rookie on each line, but some as Blais noted were guys with their head not totally in the game. Jake was good. Made a couple excellent saves, and made all the routine ones. Hope he can continue that. All in all, a very frustrating night. At least we won the game Saturday that comes with a trophy.

Goals are overrated.

I hope Dean splits goaltender time during the Yale series, if only to get more game experience for the two rookies. But if we were playing Minnesota this Friday, I'd want Jake in net.

Amen. Well said. PCM, you should think about a career in writing.

Goals will get tougher to come by once we get past the cupcakes.

The NCAA Rule Book contains a 2-minute minor provision for unsportsmanlike conduct that includes "diving". WCHA refs hardly ever call it (if anything they BUY it...grrrr). Refs in the central or east seem to call it more. Agree about penalties. I think we can beat BC 5x5 (or even 4x4). But a string of power plays (even if its we get one, they get one), is likely a losing proposition for the Sioux. What bugs me was last night's unnecessary penalties ... I imagine the coaches have discussed that with the perps. (Well, OK the BC School of Diving bugged me too.) GOOOOO SIOOOOOOOOUUUUUXXX!

A few postgame thoughts: Comments re BC: BC has tremendous speed, and that includes some big guys. They buzzed the Sioux for the first 30 minutes. Note to the rest of the world - don't take penalties against BC. Their powerplay will kill you faster than you can say "Anderson sucks". Tremendous puck movement and playmaking. Goaltending seems to be the weak link in their roster. Please, please, let some other team have that bugaboo this year. Voce-Eaves-Eaves was as advertised. Comments re UND: Bucks! the guy is a scoring machine. Tremendous hands, great work on the late 3x5 PK. I'd have voted Drew Stafford the #2 star ... he played hard all night long. Rare combination of hands, strength, and speed. Really REALLY gotta shut down on the stickwork. Some plain inexcusable things ... like Greene's last penalty where his blade took off Eaves (?) helmet. (The guy was curling away from the net, it wasn't a scoring play, good grief... Liked our own-zone positioning all night long. Hated the lack of poise with the puck for first 15 minutes, tho. BC pressure had something to do with that, but we were not ready for it. Gutsy, gutsy play by Ryan Hale... After he stopped a BC break right in front of the goal in the mid-second, he went to the bench holding his shoulder, and I thought he was done for the night. He looks better and better on D all the time. I hope he stays there. Nice to see Fylling get some reward. He continues to impress. Blais shortened the bench the last half of the 3rd, and it really kept BC from mounting any serious threat after their last PP. Otherwise, we saw a fair amount of all 18 skaters.... I expect to see some Sioux changes for tomorrow night. Prpich back in the lineup, perhaps we'll see Stafford back with McMahon and Prpich. Lundbohm-Fylling-(Porter?), then as the other new combo. Also, I expect (hope) to see Palmo in the lineup (just a guess), as the speed of these games will suit his style. ======================== Oh - and for all those fans that made it LOUD at the Ralph, let's do it again tomorrow. Excellent atmosphere.

And they got an earful. The atmosphere was good, starting with Fylling's goal, UND's first. Theoretically, a nice nite to make a good impression on young impressionable minds.

I'm putting my money on conditioning. BC just couldn't keep up in the third period, and had we not taken the lead early in the third, I think the Sioux could have continued putting on great pressure. Dean shortened the bench in the third too, after playing alot of all 18 players for the first 35-40 minutes.