farce poobah

Damn right. Given the choice between a loved one with breast cancer or getting blasted in the corners by Mike Commodore, I'll take Commodore. College, plus college hockey, requires 100% focus to succeed at the level these guys play at. Its amazing they were able to stay in the game at all. And its good to have them both full strength. Nice article PCM. If Virg ever retires ...I'll vote for you.

A lot of goaltending success is confidence, and I think that's the case here, because the raw talent is there ... quickness, eye-hand, etc. But I think his confidence got shaken early by a bad outing at St Cloud, followed a month later by a bad outing vs. MSU-Mankato ... I think Jake will be fine, and I agree with jimdahl's insightful observation that we talk about goaltending so much because that's the one spot on the team that's not fully resolved. Let's have a good argument about ... who should be centering the fourth line. .... or which forwards should be on the 3rd PK unit.

Samurai Goaltender! We can bring him in on a Samurai scholarship, and he can play goalie for the hockey team. Plus if you score on him, he slices your head off. Hat trick prevention.

Another way to look at this ... is against common opponents, the other 2 first-division WCHA teams, CC and SCSU. Vs CC (playing at home): Mankato took 2 points, MN-TC took 1. Edge Mavs. Vs. SCSU (playing home and home): Mankato took 3/8 points, MN took 1/4 points. Edge Mavs. That said, I wouldn't have a problem if the mavs swept either. The Sioux better bring their A game to mankato in February ...

Which means, I guess that UND would be an awesome team, if they put Dubielewicz behind the Sioux defense ....

Excuse me, but we were talking about how good Mankato is. Mankato will have matchup problems, I think, vs MN. But they've been getting much better goaltending, and they have some bona fide snipers. ... They are climbing the ladder. After the series in GF, Blais said they look to be just 1-2 players away from really contending; I agree. I predict split.

I think CC has a good chance of sweeping Wisconsin. But I wouldn't mind if the Badgers softened them up a little bit. And Im glad Zach will get a few extra days to heal his wrist injury ...

Also ... Andy Schneider is (I think) the #2 scoring defenseman with 26 points on the year, behind just Preissing of CC (28).

Good thing for us that Sal and Prideonice don't have weapons of mass destruction.

Speaking of rankings, I think we should loan Canisius some players, to help their RPI ... And I'd ask everyone to root against the 2 western regional hosts ... so that if UND gets that far, there's a better shot at neutral ice games ... Maine deserves to be #1. Look out for Denver and St Cloud ....

I thought the fourth line looked pretty decent. They only got in trouble once, that was early, when they couldn't clear the zone, and Minnesota pressure forced a penalty that led to the first MN goal. Other than that, Fylling had a couple decent chances, and Connelly let go a couple slappers .... not bad. I was expecting we'd have to go 3 lines ...

He could have played goalie

If the Sioux finish the NCC season behind NDSU, SDSU, Augie, and USD we deserve to be no better than #8 .... ... but I think this team will do better...

Agree. Label doesn't matter. Its just kinda unthinkable that's all. Like getting old, recruiting a tall goalie, or having the Gophers introduced as "your national champions...." at The John.

I could have sworn you said Parise was centering the second line.

The other reason to really REALLY want to finish 3rd or better - or even 2nd ... is the first round opponent. Big difference between #8-9-10 (WI, UAA, MTU) or #7 (UMD, Mankato or the Gophers).

My dad said I'm not s'posed ta say who, but his first name begins with a Z.

OK, OK, I'll ixnay on the Ach Zay playing oalie gay. I mean... he'll probably play forward .... well that is if there's room on the roster ... still ... what with everyone else playing so well ... wouldn't be surprised if Zach spent Friday doing the shot chart with Siembida. I hope you're satisfied, PCM.

I can see why LA traded him, wouldn't want all that energy on your team. NOT. No big surprise he's doing well, I just hope he can stay healthy. Thanks for posting.

Its just a ploy. Parise will be in goal.

I am concerned about Saturday, to be honest. This year has a different feel than prior years ... we have a very cohesive dish-it-back team, and the Gophers have a lot of wannabe guys trying to make a name for themself. The ingredients are there, I can see a lot of offsetting minors and stuff ... but nothing with a slug of DQs. I hope our most skilled big guys stay clean (Massen, Schneider, 2xHale to name a few). Oh, and BTW its Canady that whups DeMarchi.

Great story, and regardless of whether this senior class gets any MORE titles or more rings, they will be remembered a long time for their leadership, and for getting the winning tradition back in the locker room. ================================ Just a quick thought ... in all of UND hockey history, just 14 players have earned 2 championship rings ... a very, VERY select group. Much rarer than being named all-America. It's even a smaller group than UND's Hobey Baker nominees. Just 14 players: 10 from 1980 and 1982 - Craig Ludwig, Darren Jensen, Carey Eades, Dusty Carroll, Glen White, Phil Sykes, Dean Dachyshyn, Troy Magnuson, Frank Burggraf, Pierre Lamoureax. 4 from 97 and 00 - Jason Ulmer, Brad Defauw, Tim OConnell, and Peter Armbrust. Pretty rare company. ==================== In fact, as I recall those teams that won titles, they all had terrific, selfless, role-model seniors, and they had energy and enthusiasm from the younger guys. Maybe. Just maybe ...

OK, everyone who predicted the 14-game homestand would end with zero losses raise their hand. The final damages? 11-0-3. ================================= Jim, I would be happy if the Sioux can split on the road at CC, DU, MN. But I can indeed picture worse than split. (Side note: Especially if the goaltending continues the way it has.... and it would appear Siembida played his way onto the bench until at least February, barring something bizarre, I think Brandt and Ranfranz will get the shots not just next weekend but also I think Blais will use the UAA series to try to raise their confidence - fingers crossed - going into CC). So, let's do the back of the envelope math: Assume now, for the sake of argument, Sioux win the last 4 home games. And let's say they sweep at UAA. For road games against top teams, let's assume zero points: at DU - gets back into the lineup the preseason league MVP and the anchor of their defense ... getting swept is not out of the question. at CC - tough on the big ice ... at MN - while they have been decimated, they will be fired up ... Which leaves two other road series ... let's call them splits for now: WI - tough ... but we should do no worse than split Mankato - ... also getting better and fighting for home ice ... Final WCHA record would then be 16-9-3, 35 points, mostly likely 3rd or 4th. To win the WCHA title? That will probably require 43-45 points ... and at least a split at CC, at DU, and at MN, the other title contenders.

If a tie is like kissing your sister, what are two ties like? Hmmm.... won't think aboutthat TOO much. But I am already hot and bothered thinking about the series in Colorado Springs. Which I'm glad comes after an extra week rest.

Speed Kills. And works both ways. So who was aweful and who was awesome?