dagies

I watched the last half of the 3rd period at Senser's last night and was VERY impressed with Parise/Murray/Stafford. Wow, they created a couple of awesome scoring opportunities. Hard to describe the plays but they were plays only the highly skilled and talented players could create. They will be special if left together I believe.

Thank you! I feel whole again.

I can't believe anyone would consider a single one of my posts to be less than "quality".

If I remember correctly he left after the 2000 championship? If my memory is still correct, I think Deano said we would have won the 2001 game had he played. I'm always wrong though.

Though I had a commanding lead for quite some time, you caught me unawares and are now the sole leader of posts on this board. I have met the Sprig, and I am his.

Was looking for a "contact us" link or something and didn't see it so thought I'd just create a post. My avatar (Dilbert) has been missing for a while. I miss my identity. Is there something I should be doing?

I'm interested to see what happens with the WJC crew in the second half. Could they have been looking forward to the WJ tournament and been focused on that in the first half of the season? Could it mean they'll really crank it up the second half? After winning the WJC could they be less motivated to care about the NCAA run, thereby just playing out the second half? Could it have been a bigger deal for Parise than for Murray and Stafford being he's been there before? Therefore Parise might turn it on in the second half while we seen consistent play from the other 2? I guess we'll see.

Just remember when fans of other teams come on here spewing smack how well that goes over.

I thought Hale played hard as we are used to seeing but doesn't possess the offensive potential of a James Massen or someone like that. Palmo, Hale and Marvin did create a couple of chances, in fact one very pretty opportunity on Saturday where they did some givin' and goin' but the final pass to the side of the net was on Hale's backhand and was difficult for him to handle, or it would have been a score. Hard decisions for sure. I think Canady played well enough to see ice this weekend.

If Fournier completes his college education with AA then maybe we can believe more of what he said about his decision to come to UND. If he doesn't make it there it should be quite telling. I guess Chris is in control of that and we'll see how it plays out over time.

My seats didn't allow as good a view on Saturday as on Friday so didn't come away with quite as many comments but here's a few: Schneider - still looking for his game. Played hard, but had trouble handling the puck, and difficulty getting the puck to the net which is something he's talked about in the past. Smaby - I thought had a better game on Saturday, didn't get beat as often while looking for the big hit at the blue line as he did on Friday. And made some impressive plays with the puck. He's got potential and just needs experience I think. Fuher had another good game but late had some difficulty, once icing the puck very late in the game (Hakstol got on him for that) and once when he and Genoway allowed a shorthand rush on Brandt. Fuher got turned around pretty good. However, it was tough to tell if it was Fuher's fault. As he came to the bench he was communicating with Colby and demonstrating what the Husky did. Could be he was telling Colby that it was Fuher's fault, or he was demonstrating how Colby should have picked the guy up.... Genoway had another very solid game, and looks real confident out there. Jones - a stud once again. What a great player. Bochenski - another good game but didn't have quite the ability to do what he wanted as he did on Friday night. I credit that to St. Cloud playing better. Porter - Chris had a great game. Late in the game replaced Fylling on the top line. Fylling - not quite as noticeable as on Friday night. Prpich - solid, but not real noticeable. Canady - Brian had another strong game and seems to me he'll be playing a lot the second half of the year. Didn't seem to me to make many mistakes, and played hard aggressive hockey. I'll be honest, I think there are times in the past when Brian would have gotten into situations and gotten frustrated and taken a penalty. None of that this weekend...Brian seems to have matured and is playing well. Massen - I think Massen had a better game on Saturday then on Friday. And I was hopeful because he played a bit harder that last part of Friday's game. Saturday he still at times looked tentative or lacking in confidence, but he did put one WICKED backhander on Coole in the 2nd period that I'm sure had to be surgically removed between periods. It gives me hope that James will be able to play his way through this. I can think of one shift in particular where he was dominant on the ice. Power Play - didn't get set-up and rolling as well as on Friday. This seems to be the story of the game as I think SCSU just played better and harder on Saturday. PK, was pretty good except for the SH. Defense - we kept them out of our zone quite a bit, but once they got in the zone it was always scary. And after the quick starts both nights you always seemed to suck in your breath every time SCSU had a rush. Brandt played well it seems but all the big saves were at the other end so was hard to see them. It did appear that St. Cloud missed some open net chances.

We noticed this too. However, the other option for Genoway to pass to on the other side of the "box" from Bochenski was Matt Jones, and while no one can complain about his contributions offensively this year or his play last night, it's pretty obvious SCSU is going to focus their attention on Bochenski rather than Jones. Bo still got off some shots but I think traffic was a bit heavier than it could have been in front of him. Genoway just kept passing it over to Bo. I think if they would have moved it to the other side from time to time they might have caught SCSU moving and created a little more space. But that's splitting hairs. From my perspective it would be difficult to be critical of the team after the first few minutes and that's been well documented. The key is to come out with the same sort of fire tonite and if so I believe the Sioux will bank the points unless Coole plays out of his mind. I'll be there again, but not sure if our seats will be as good.

Was at the game tonite and had a good view of the action on the end SCSU defended twice. Bochenski IS an animal out there. Man among boys. Watching him play tonite reminded me of when athletes say "the game is slowing down for me". He knew what he wanted to do with the man or the puck at almost all times, and usually got it done. Fylling - awesome game. Made plays, handled the puck....again, he's caught up with the speed of the game. Maybe he's even playing a little faster than most of the rest. Genoway, good solid game, made some nice passes, missed a few. Did great on faceoffs it seemed to me. McMahon - didn't show up so much on the stat sheet but made a large number of very important plays. Small things (things that looked small but made big differences) while forechecking to break up SCSU's transition game, that sort of stuff. A real "unsung hero" type of effort. A different game if he's out of the lineup. Massen - still looking for his game I think. Seemed to come on some near the end of the game but didn't seem to play with the same aggressiveness and confidence we saw in the past. Seemed tentative. Hopefully he can work through that. Canady - excellent game. Played aggressive and fast, smart hockey. I didn't think his goal was a soft one (maybe it was). It looked to me like it was good hustle hockey where he used his reach to put the puck around Coole. Didn't make too many mistakes that this neophite could tell. Prpich - good game but not one of his best. Schneider - not one of his better games. Seemed to have difficulty handling the puck. I remember seeing that in one game in Mankato last year too. Of course, the puck was bouncing all over the ice for everyone tonite. Lundbohm - excellent game, really made some great plays, and helped out backchecking. Had difficulty keeping his skates under him. Bad ice??? 4th line - Palmo, Hale and Marvin did their job effectively. Didn't give up much, often kept the puck in the offensive zone, and allowed the other lines to rest. Coach seemed to have confidence to keep rolling the lines. Fuher - excellent game, really looked good out there. Jones - best D man on the ice tonite. Jumped in to the play at the right times, played VERY physical, and good smart hockey in the defensive end. Parise - Jordan, please, please use more caution when leaving the net. Later in the first he needlessly(seemed to me) left the net to play the puck and fortunately made the pass past the SCSU player but had it been picked off..... I haven't mentioned everybody who played but these are the ones where I had specific thoughts or comments. Power Play - looked really good. They got set up, created chances, and could have had a couple more PP goals. Penalty Kill - looked dang good almost all night. Blais seemed to play several pairs of killers. The beginning of the game did look ugly. I was comforted with how well the team seemed to respond to JP. After the second goal they all really seemed to go out of their way to prop him up a bit, show him that they were still behind him. Lots of really positive body language. The team responded, even after the 3rd goal was given up. That was more of a team goal vs. a mistake by JP. Anyway, after that the boys got on a roll and dominated SCSU for the rest of the period. It was really fantastic how well we played, and encouraging to see how well some of the individuals performed. While I am disappointed to end up in a tie, when it is a game we could have won, after starting down 3 goals I'm pretty happy. If this team can play this well without the 3 WJ players, well, you just gotta smile. Hopefully tomorrow we can cut out a few of the mistakes. If so, should be able to bank a couple of points. Let's see if they can do it.

Tickets are sold Thanks!

IMO the keys are: 1. Goaltending continues to remain consistently solid (not great, but solid) 2. The WJC guys come back using the tourney as a springboard to higher levels of play rather than fatigued and struggling. 3. Defense continues to play solidly. 4. Continued contributions by all lines offensively, including Genoway et al. 5. Continue the smart play, and avoid taking dumb penalties. I think we regressed a bit later in the first half so need to watch that. The PP will take care of itself over the last half if we continue to work hard and play well. If we get these things we won't see a fall off in the 2nd half.

In an effort to sell some of our tickets to Sioux fans in order that they get used, we'll sell either of the following: 1. The previously named set of 4 SRO tickets. OR 2. 4 seats in Section 202 Row 15 Friday game only. Email me at the link below if you are interested asap.

I don't disagree, nor do I wish to get into an argument about whether it should or shouldn't be. However, Canuck isn't racial term relating to Canadians and so it isn't that hard to see how one might consider Jap a similar play on Japanese. I'm only trying to point out how a person might use Jap with less intent than if they were to use wop, spic, nigger or any of the other terms we avoid these days. That's all. I guess I missed the memo on this one too.

PCM, a friend said the same thing to me. That, or fighting through all the mugging has made him a better player.

NO

Speaking of SRO tickets see http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1743

Although I tend to agree, I would like to make one comment in NDH's defense. Call me ignorant if you want, but I for one never considered "Jap" to be a racial slur until I was corrected by close friends only about a year ago. It still doesn't seem to me to rate with some of the other racial terms out there but again, maybe I just missed the memo. Anyway, I for one am willing to give NDH the benefit of the doubt that he was actually meaning to use that term in such a derogatory manner.

It looks like I WILL have 1 seat available for both Friday and Saturday night, if you are interested email me. This is a regular seat, but I'm not sure where we are located. Still have the 4 SRO as well. (You'd think I have a hygiene problem or something...)

I know of at least 3 of us that will be at DB Searles before the Sat game... As for Friday I don't yet know my plans.

Hrkac, if you are out there I've been emailing you but haven't heard back from you. Let me know asap if you are still interested otherwise I'll sell to someone else. I still have 4 SRO tickets available. Hrkac has spoken for them but if we don't connect soon I will let them go to someone else for face (without ticketnazi charges). Let me know..... I also MAY have 1 regular seat available both Friday and Saturday night. Email me if you are interested in that as well. I'll be able to verify shortly if we are going to be short one person in our "party".

I'm getting goosebumps just reading the updates here at work. Thanks guys!