dagies

I don't think so

There's been a lot of criticism of this year's team, coaching, etc. Some of it very warranted. Here's a look at last year's Frozen Four teams and how they compare with this year. BC - currently ranked #1 Denver - currently ranked #4 Maine - Currently ranked #14 What did they lose? Aquino F Doyle Sr goalie Jackson Sr Captain Jean So goalie Lyall Sr Penner Jr Ryan Sr Shields Sr Total loss of 133 points, 1 captain and 2 backup goalies UMD - Currently unranked What did they lose? Lessard Sr Hobey Baker winner Geisler Sr D Captain Geris So Hardwick Sr D Klein Jr Goalie Kronick So Unklesby Sr Total loss of 124 points, 1 Hobey Baker winner, 2 captains, 1 backup goalie UND - Currently ranked 14 What did they lose? Bochenski Jr Parise So Lundbohm Sr. Captain Hale Sr. Captain Palmiscino Sr Ziggy Fr goalie Dean Blais - Head Coach Total loss of 160 points, 1 Hobey runner up, 1 Hobey candidate, 2 captains, 1 backup goalie, 1 Head Coach. Looks like we're not alone in this.

The men on the ice for the 3 "response" goals in question: Denver's 3rd goal Friday - Greene, Genoway, Jones, Porter, Massen, Lammy (junior captain, senior captain, 2 seniors, 1 soph, freshman goalie) Denver's 2nd goal Saturday - Schneider penalty power play (sr captain) Denver's 4th goal Saturday - Genoway, Bina, Porter, Jones, Greene, Parise (junior captain, senior captain, 1 senior, 2 soph, 1 soph goalie) (Then there's Denver's backbreaking 4th goal on Friday on Canady's penalty power play) It's kind of hard to blame a whole line because it just takes one guy to breakdown and I have no clue who may have missed their assignments. But these were the guys on the ice when the goals were scored.

I agree. The SZS'l line is playing very very well together. Or replace McMahon with Genoway.

I think one reason for optimism is our Zajac and Spirko seem to be holding up well, and coming on. Radke seems to be getting his skates underneath him. Hopefully Lammy can regain the form he showed earlier. That would be a pretty impressive performance by the freshmen and bodes well end of year and for next year. For those that are critical of Hakstol, I think it's far better that Hak's first class (freshmen) are a strength on the team, even if the senior class is not as impressive as we'd thought they could be. Wouldn't it be worse if the graduating seniors were playing great but the freshmen class was a let down? That would look worse for the future IMO.

SCSU is suffering their normal second half swoon. And since they didn't start out real hot, they've got little left before they hit the very bottom. I believe the Sioux will sweep at SCSU. Agree AA is tough at home but we may be able to sweep there with some luck. In watching bits and pieces of the WI-MN series in between watching the Sioux games, I didn't think WI looked awesome this weekend. Certainly they may come in a put a Denver on the Sioux, but I didn't think they looked real dominant either. Not real fast (could be deceiving on the large ice). So I still hold out hope that we can split with WI, and sweep the rest. 4.5 is about right, and 4 is probably probable. We'll see.

I think we've a much better chance of being swept by AA than SCSU. I don't think it will happen, but when you are talking possibilities...

Tech this year might be last year's AA at the Final Five.

Finally getting to my computer. Got to watch the last 2 periods at Senser's last night (JohnDahl, I had NO idea was able to go until the last moment). It's all my fault. I called the win in the opening post to this thread. Last night wasn't too much fun to watch. Denver looked like the better team. Smoother, faster, and they converted on the chances they had. They didn't have an overwhelming number of chances, I didn't think, but they converted. Conversely, the Sioux struggled to convert on the few chances they had. Sioux really struggled to get ANY offensive flow. Not sure what the deal was but after Friday I was a bit surprised how they struggled on Sat. Gwoz said on the radio pregame that they play better on Saturday nights and I guess it is true. Over 2 games I don't know if I've EVER been fooled as many times by pucks that appeared to go in the goal but didn't. Just watching on TV most of Senser's thought Bina's shot went in (replays showed it hadn't) and then the goal that was called off.....that hurt. The guy sitting next to me at the bar thought he could see, on the replay, the puck crossing the line. For me, that dang waterbottle was in the wrong place. Mannin's glove came back far enough that the puck indeed could have been across the line. I guess we won't know. Someone mentioned the problem with giving up goals right after the Sioux score. We were talking about that after the Sioux scored with about 3 left in the 2nd..."if we can just get out of the period without giving up a score...." bit ot was not to be. WHY is this. After we score, I think Hak should declare that the 6 guys on the ice if the opponent scores in the next 2 minutes will sit the rest of the game. Greene played a great game. Nice to see him come on and show leadership. Smaby looked more confident than what I saw against Bemidji. Come one, Matt! Radke wasn't as noticeable as Friday night but I think he's coming on. Spirko continues to impress me. Diggler, thanks for speaking up. I absolutely agree with you. The guys are still playing hard and I can cheer for that. I'm as disappointed with the results as the next guy. Early in the season we were suffering some lackadaisical play. We were all wondering why Hak wasn't getting more from the players effortwise. I don't think that's an issue right now. There's other problems, but effort's not the problem, IMO. I'm with jk. I think good things can still happen. I was thinking last night how we could use one of our top 3 forwards and one of our top 4-5 forwards. That's a heck of a hole to fill against Denver. Too bad the guys have the off week next week. This must be tough to sit on. The frustration was beginning to show end of game last night. Hopefully they can shrug it off and get ready for the next series. I think Wisconsin is beatable. Someone talked about why the offense is non-existant this year. They must have forgot how tough it was in 2001-02. We couldn't break out, and we couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone.

Video of Matt Watkins interview from the BCHL site: Watkins Interview

oooo Sparky wasn't happy after the game last night. This from PCM's recap on USCHO Game Recap

Might as well kick this off. Internet radio feed is working. Sioux win tonite.

Old Barn Guy, nice job. Seemed like the ice was in better shape this weekend than last? The guys were passing and catching more effectively, with fewer flubs. Anyone at the game notice anything?

TV replays show the puck hit the crossbar only. Just bad luck that it didn't bounce off the back of the goalie's pads into the net.

We could go back and forth. Probably the coach who learned under the guy who played him the first 3 years he was here. Remind me again how many guys Hak is sitting so he can play Canady again.

Yes, Bloomington. That would be great but I doubt I will be there tonite, unfortunately. Too bad we didn't meet up last night, you would have saved me from suffering some meathead that talked to the back of my head through the first period about a variety of topics too mundane to list here.

I'm trying to remember again. Who was it that cut O'Leary and kept Canady on the team?

For a moment, John, I thought I was going to be the only positive poster tonite. Just got back from watching the game. THANKS JOE SENSER! 1. I don't think Lammy had one of his best nights. I think he'd like to have 1 or maybe 2 of those back, and it looked like he struggled to control the puck on a few saves too. Oh, did I say PLEASE DON'T HANDLE THE PUCK before? 2. I think the Sioux played well enough to win tonite, obviously so did Denver unfortunately. However, while I don't think it cost us the game, I'm going to say tonite they didn't get the bounces. If you read my recap last week you know I didn't lightly fall back on that excuse. And I don't think it's an excuse either. Tonite Denver made the most of their chances. I think they may have piped one too? But when Fischer goes whirling dervish and by pure luck the puck hits the front of his pad and kicks out (it just as easily could have bounced off the back of his pad and into the net) and a puck bounces up over his shoulder but just happens to travel 2, maybe 3, inches too far and lands on top of the net it's just not your night. Sioux didn't connect on a few of their very best chances, but were close. I'm yet holding out hope that we'll see 5-6 goals yet in an important game. This team is close to doing it. 3. Leadership. We've been wondering where it would come from. Tonite I thought the first line of Stafford-Zajac-Spirko came out with the idea that they would carry the team. They came up short, but IMO put forth a wonderful effort and gave Denver fits all night long. 4. Spirko MIGHT be our best player. Can he control the puck or what? 5. I thought Schneider might have been our hardest worker. Jones was excellent again tonite as well. He's a stud. 6. Smaby had a solid game. Way to go Matt! 7. Radke looked pretty good to me. I'm going to assume he's playing with much more confidence and I base that on how physical he played, as well as some of the decisions he made with the puck. I've only read other's comments on his play to this point, but he appears to have become an effective defensemen and based on tonite I think he'll get regular ice time from here on. 8. We had one excellent line tonite, and 1 decent line tonite, and the other 2 worked hard and did create some chances, but we lack depth (as if you didn't already know that). 9. I thought the Sioux did an excellent job of avoiding unnecessary penalties and playing a physical smart hockey game tonite EXCEPT for Canady giving the shoulder to the goalie. I like you Brian, and you busted your butt out there tonite but you have to know when to lay off and this penalty was obvious. 10. I was so afraid right after we scored that Denver would come right back and score. WHY do we look SO ragged right after we score a goal? What's up with that? 11. IMO we had guys crashing the net tonite looking for rebounds, they just weren't rebounds at the right time. 12. Overall, what I saw on TV still has me feeling optimistic. Maybe I shouldn't be but I am. This is still a team I can cheer for easily. They kept working all night long, kept trying to create some chances and created enough to give themselves a chance to the end. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow night. Wish I could watch again. 13. Transition game looked MUCH better tonite. We really seemed to know better what to do with the puck in our own zone. Much improved over what I saw last Friday night. 13. Met a couple of nice Sioux fans while sitting there at the bar. Don't know if you guys read or post but here's to you if you do. p.s. I watched bits of the WI-MN game and I didn't think WI looked great tonite, but obviously good enough to win. They didn't look that fast to me, but maybe that was the big ice.

I think it's time to pull out the Karma thread. How about March 16, 1963? http://siouxsports.com/hockey/history/ncaa6263.htm

I think it all depends on the nature of the injury and where he's at in the healing process. While this is an important weekend, it's not do or die. If Murray risks losing the rest of the season due to one strong hit, how wise is it to play him? Or, if his ability to play is yet limited, why risk it. I have no issue with waiting until he's healthy.

I'm not an expert and I haven't seen a lot of games this year so maybe you're right. I remember this. Our transition game was NONEXISTANT in 2001-02, when these senior defensemen were freshmen. It did get better over the next 2 years to some extent. I doubt this year it just went in the crapper due to coaching.

Actually, Stafford scored on a penalty shot in the Maine series, in OT of all things. Someone's probably got a copy of that game somewhere.

Another poster on USCHO says the USHR is saying the Swystun chose Michigan.

Tell me how the defensemen were different the past few years and which coach brought them in?

One minor difference you may have overlooked. Did Grant lobby for Steckel to succeed him as head coach?