dagies

As much for me as for anyone else, here's some perspective. CC got handled AT HOME by Bucky 9-1 last night. Yikes, that's worse than our Friday performance. Denver got handled by SCSU 5-1 on Friday night. Another tough home performance. Denver gets the split last night. I think CC is strong enough to keep the Sioux at bay over the rest of the season, but I wonder if Denver isn't vulnerable. If the Sioux can pick it up a notch consistently, maybe 4th place is not out of line, and that should be helpful come tourney time. Thanks to SCSU for taking a couple points from them. The Sioux are fortunate to not have to play Bucky on the road this year. I think that's a stroke of luck. However, too bad we couldn't have played Mankato earlier in the season. They seem to have hit their stride and they are coming into the Ralph smelling a 5th place finish, being 3 points back right now. A few weeks ago Mankato really was Man-sucko. But that has changed. They beat UNO a couple weeks ago 5-2, and handled Alaska (albeit at home) this past weekend. This weekend now looks to be a tougher test than I expected a while back. It all comes down to playing consistently strong hockey. Hopefully it started in the 3rd period on Saturday.

Do I see Harvard playing in 2 different locations?

Woog said during Sat's game that Hakstol said "you bet!" when Woog asked if the team played differently in front of Lammy than in front of Parise. No elaboration was forthcoming, but maybe they have more confidence in Parise as they've had more experience with him as the main guy. Just conjecturing. Anyway, I think Lammy has earned their confidence over the last several games. He may not have been perfect, but he's done very very well.

Yeah, I know. Just the whole idea of big Wheeler hitting Prpich yet Wheeler comes out hurt Frank has to assume it was dirty.

Was Hak interviewed after the game, and if so did he have anything interesting to say?

What a difference a day makes? I'm proud of our team. Not perfectly happy, but proud. Way too many penalties against a team that's WAY to good on the PP. (Though weren't some of the calls pretty ticky tacky tonite? Sheesh). I liked that the Sioux seemed to have gone to school on the gopher PP during the morning skate today. They seemed to be trying to pull some of those same cross zone passes. They weren't as good as the gophers, but at least they were working guys open and trying to make something happen. It points out just how good the gophers are at moving the puck in the offensive zone, with and without the man advantage. My impression is the gophers ARE just a better team. But fortunately tonite the Sioux got a few breaks at the right time (gopher stick breaking in the offensive zone at the wrong time, a blown Sioux defender taking a swipe with a stick that just catches the puck enough to disrupt the play, etc. Things that didn't happen last night). I'm proud of the way the Sioux battled tonite. Most of the penalties they EARNED were because they were being aggressive and working hard. I can deal with that. I'm disappointed in Fabian of all people taking a checking from behind. I hope our boys learned something in the 3rd period tonite about staying out of the box. With about 6-7 minutes left I started saying to myself that unless the Sioux make a stupid mistake, they have a great chance to win. It just seemed like the players were starting to click a bit offensively, and they were beginning to frustrate the gopher offense. The Sioux did just about make THE stupid mistake, but just got themselves out of it, and then Zajac took over. From watching on the tv I have to say I was very impressed with Andrew Kozek and Zajac tonite. From what I saw on tv (I'll watch the tape later) I thought the slashing the goalie call against him was bogus. He played better all night, not as good as I expect from him, but better. And he came through with a great shot when it was absolutely necessary. Oshie seemed to have a better game tonite. Toews was decent, and was rewarded with a goal. Very nice. Kaip still needs to find his game, or the Sioux need to find a good 12th forward. One or the other. He seems to struggle out there. I think he's working hard a lot of the time, but a couple of times it seemed like he was floating in crucial situations. I'm loving Jones. He seems to me to be getting the job done. Goalie experts, should Lammy have had that first goal? It seems you hear that if a goalie can see the shot he should be able to stop the puck. That puck was from fairly close in, and Goligoski had several places he could have put it. It was a heck of a shot, so I don't know if a goalie is expected to stop those or not... I can't believe, after all the PP time the gophers had, that the Sioux managed to pull this out. What a testament to "guts". They could easily have given up and didn't. What was with Harrington going after Radke? It seemed to me the gophers were really trying to ride Oshie. And I think it got TJ a little off his game. Anyone else think this? Mazzocco on the Prpich/Wheeler hit - "Was there some knee to knee contact there?" Come on Frank, these to boys lined each other up and hit bodies full on. And you think Prpich went in with a knee? Hak, how about giving those WJ boys another day off from practice? Lammy, you were excellent this weekend. See what happens when you get 3 goals? Way to go. I still think the Sioux have a long way to go before they are a really good team. That 3rd period was a pretty decent period, but can they play this way consistently? They better start. They need the points at home that are coming up. They need them badly.

I was talking to a former player after the game. The puck went over close to where he was sitting. Simply put, he didn't approve.

The concourses are way too messed up to try and walk around between periods. I had written yours and Sagards seats down but never bothered to move except for a water break.

Afraid to say I was at the game last night. Was that a tough one to watch or what? From our SRO seats behind the gopher goal, here are my thoughts. This is the first game I've seen live this year, and have only watched a few on TV, so keep that in mind. 1. While the shots were heavily in MN's favor to start the game I really didn't think the Sioux were getting dominated THAT badly. Of course, the play was at the other end of the ice, but it didn't seem like the gophers got that many good scoring chances. However, after the MN goal, we commented that we didn't like the body language of the Sioux players out on the ice. It didn't bode well, and it turned out we were right. 2. While I would like to think that Sheppard had the following conversation with this refs "Guys, Lucia really shouldn't have lost a player for this game, keep that in mind", the awful truth is that was completely immaterial to the final outcome. The gophers beat the Sioux, and beat them badly. The gophers looked better, more skilled and more confident. 3. As has been mentioned before, the Sioux had little flow because there seemed to be very little chemistry on the ice last night. I thought the Oshie/Toews/Porter line was the worst line last night. Duncan/Watkins/Kozek line worked hard, and they show promise. 4. Sioux power play. My lack of knowledge is about to get exposed, but here are my thoughts. The gophers really looked great on the power play. Crisp passes, and seem to know how to find an open man to pass to. Though I felt the Sioux PK worked hard. However, the Sioux PP was pathetic last night. It appeared to me they set up a 4 man umbrella around the zone and tried to park a man in front. Then get the puck to Lee to run the power play on top. The gophers would park a killer between each Sioux player and the net. The Sioux would pass the puck around the exterior, but no one seemed to skate anywhere. The gophers could have killed 10 minutes of penalty with the same unit because they only had to stand there. It seemed to me the Sioux needed to skate around with the puck some, and make the gopher players move around, thus opening up some space. Just didn't happen. Player thoughts: I thought Stafford played a very good game until I read Hak's comment. Maybe that was just one mistake for the night, but Stafford played very hard, I thought. Spirko was probably the best Sioux forward, but there was just no gelling on that first line last night. Last year when Zajac touched the puck I would almost stand up in my seat because I expected something great would happen. I wish Hak would have dressed him last night.... Toews did some nice things last night, but not a lot. Oshie's energy reserves crapped out last night. You could see the mind was calling for action, but his body was giving nothing. Porter worked hard, but got nothing going. Duncan played a pretty good game and I thought he was one of the bright spots last night. Kozek continues to impress me with the physical nature of his game. Unfortunately, his line couldn't quite work themselves open for some good shots. Watkins didn't exhibit the speed I'd heard about. Unfortunately lost his edge a couple of times, at bad moments. I think he did hit the post, or just miss on an open opportunity at one point. That was too bad. From where we were, we thought Foyt's hit was more from the side than the back, but I haven't seen a replay. He played hard and maybe the team missed his energy the rest of the way. Prpich played ok, but he has to be smarter than to take that double minor. Goligoski committed the first penalty, taking Prpich to the boards with a high elbow, then falling on him and holding him down behind the play. The linesman was not watching until.....Prpich had enough, grabbed Goligoski, took him down, and pushed his head towards the ice. All with the linesman skating toward them. Mike......you can't DO that. Fabian played fairly well, and what a nice move on the goalie. I laughed last week when the AA announcers called him "one of the good ones" referring to him as a goalscorer after his breakaway goal. Yet last night he really looked good putting that one past Briggs. One thought maybe the Sioux were going to turn the tables but that quickly went by the side. It's hard for me to critique a goalie. Lammy looked ok to me, though I expect he'd like a couple back and only lose 4-1. Oh well. After the second period, when the Sioux players were coming back to give him a pat on the back I noticed Lammy ignored them all and sprinted towards the lockerroom. Don't know if he was upset with himself or them. Finley looked pretty good last night I thought. Those who are criticizing him for being soft hopefully saw him play last night. No crushing open ice hits but I think those will come. He seems pretty mobile, and he played the body pretty well along the boards I thought. He seems more comfortable than what I'd seen on TV earlier in the year. Smaby played a very strong game, I thought. Really worked hard. Chorney looked solid. Lee looked solid, and seemed a little more aggressive than I've sometimes thought. Radke needs to quit swinging the stick, otherwise, I didn't notice him too much. Jones looked very solid last night. He played aggressively and physically. He seems more comfortable than when I watched him on TV early in the season. I don't know what the answer is tonite, I really don't. But with some of the body language we saw in the first period last night I have to wonder if this team has what it takes to come back tonite. They did play much better in the 3rd last night, but who knows if that's because the gophers had the huge lead and lost a bit of the edge that made them so successful earlier in the game. My personal frustration for the game was the 2 fogies in front of me who cringed every time I'd yell "GO SIOUX!". It was so bad I finally started warning them before I was going to yell. Talk about taking the sponteneity out of the game.... Still wish I had a ticket for tonite.

Thank you, bigsioux21. This issue is bigger than just a nickname. We appreciate the student senators fighting the good fight. Keep it up.

I think Kermit beat you to it. http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5428

I think you hit it on the head, with one addition. The times, they are a-changin'. I'm not going to get into the argument about what should or shouldn't be acceptable, but in general, as time goes on society is looking to clean things up a bit. Some things make sense and some don't. I agree with Siouxdonyms that the Ralph is a new and different situation and that is probably behind part of this. I also think that society in general has changed some over time and that's part of the reason as well.

I agree. And if it's true that what Stoa was doing was still a violation of the new rules, then I hope Sheppard has clarified this with all of his officials, and Hak has clarification with tonite's ref. Because if the gophers are going to take advantage of this again, I expect to see a Sioux planted in the same spot on the other end of the ice.

I wonder how much last year's injury may have affected him? Thanks, Cardinal. I'm surprised to see that hubbabubba had access to lines for both teams. Didn't expect that. Cool.

On the radio today Hak said Lammy plays tonite and they'll evaluate tomorrow, but don't want to play Parise until he's ready. That tells me he's made the trip, and potentially could play if necessary.

Great find, Kermit!

I caught Hakstol being interviewed by PA and Dubay on KFAN a few minutes ago. Here's a recap of what I heard. It's my way of paying back all the recaps I enjoy when I can't listen in first hand. Please don't expect much from me: PA asks what will be different this weekend than the last time these 2 teams played? Hak says: I hope the outcome of the games will be different! Biggest difference last time was how MN started the games vs how the Sioux started. Dubay asks who the goalie will be? Hak says: Jordan possibly the best goalie in the country, but minor health issue. Lammy tonite and wait and see about tomorrow. Won't rush JP in. JP is the MVP on this team so far this year. Dubay asks about all the blue chip recruits. Maybe in 2 years it will be THE elite D corp in the country. They seem to already be pretty good. Hak says D is toughest to make the transition as a freshman. It's the 2nd half of the year now. All guys have played in all situations and a lot of minutes. Will be better in a year, but no longer considers them freshmen. Doesn't matter what the makeup is, they have to get job done. PA asks about Harrington being out. Does game plan change? Hak says no. UND has to have puck possession and put on offensive zone pressure. PA asks if it is difficult for a physical team like UND to play against a skilled MN team on Olympic ice? Hak says no. Must read, react and anticipate and NOT chase the puck. More patience needed. Dubay asks about how last year the team came together down the stretch. Considered UND the best team in the country, even better than Denver though Denver won. Is there a way to manipulate a team to play its best at end of year? Hak says you need to stay consistent, and send the same messages all year, but step up intensity level and expectations 1 notch above where they were last month. This team is a learning process. Last year was more of a transition with the coaching change. This year is more of a learning process. Most important thing for this year was gaining experience. Liked UND's first half schedule because it gave a variety of situations and tough teams and it could have made or broken us. Neither happened. Down the stretch we'll know how much it helped us. Hak finished the interview by challenging Lucia to a throw-down after the game saturday Now, see if you can figure out what part of this interview I made up?

Ah, Clayton actually made the "whiney" comment. PCM, good story.

As a graduate of SEM, I sent him an email, thanking him for his vote. The rest will come later.

Toews in the Herald I guess there's your answer.

HEY! I've still got a high school football jersey. Maroon and Gold. That color combo looked better on "Bulldogs".

While I will agree that Lucia can be a whiner from time to time, if Smaby or Lee were DQ'd for tonite's game for a similar reason what do you think this board wouldhave looked like this past week? I think this could easily be implemented AFTER the game. Most infractions that result in a DQ would AT LEAST be worthy of a misconduct, which would kick them out of that particular game. Therefore, after the game the circumstance could be reviewed to see if a DQ is really warranted.

Fine, but it's happening now. Why don't we see what can be made of this that is positive, rather than negative?

I'd probably run out into traffic.

How about this? A month ago or so I was starting to wonder where all the Sioux players were in the pros. Then Bochenski gets back and and produces until injured. And Hale, Commie, Greene and Jones are all playing with the big clubs. Greene and Jones after so little time in the minors, too. Not bad.