dagies

Hockey Nut, you make some very good points. I like Canady's aggressive play, but I'm not happy about the stick work I've seen from him and Bochenski this last week. The sticks are dangerous weapons. I also think that Canady misplaced his aggressive play with some ill-timed penalties this last week. Canady is a very hard worker out there. He really cranks and he reminds me of Jason Notermann and Spiewak with their effort. However, regardless of what some goofer fans will say about Jason, I haven't seen him wield the stick the same way. I like that the article did mention the bad stuff he was involved with last week vs. just talking him up. But it probably wasn't enough. However, I like Canady overall. I agree with you that his play really hurt the team in a game they could/should have won. What I am hoping is that Blais is dealing with the rest of this behind closed doors and will get that straightened out posthaste. We'll see if he can direct that energy a little better this coming weekend.

ScottM, I wondered the same thing. I like to play the big boys. Might mean a couple extra losses but I would think that it is good for the team to play consistently tough teams.

One of my biggest disappoints this year, other than the obvious ones, was not getting to see Fournier healthy and ready on a consistent basis. I did see him for one game at Mankato, and I thought he looked great on a line with Bo(Jackson)chenski (or BoJackchenski). He didn't play at MN. I think he did play in the AA series but was on the 4th line with Faul and B Connelly and they didn't get much playing time. I'm hoping Chris can get healthy and stay that way next year. I think this year was basically a lost one for him, and it is too bad he couldn't have ended up redshirting or something for all the good it did him. I'd like to see him once he has some consistent, healthy playing time under his belt.

Geez, PHE, I posted almost the exact same thing just now on another board. Goon can't kill us both, can he?

Whereas it is a stupid penalty to take and I don't condone it, I do think Canady's Slap Shot penalty is humorous, and adds some color to the game. diggerdan, I can see where you are coming from with the tired thing. That could easily explain the comments I made earlier about looking scared. Good point and I am sorry I did not think of that. I also seem some positives. This loss hurt #### bad because, like you say, it is the Gophers and we dominated them pretty much for most of the game. But I do think the team is getting better. More slowly than anyone hoped, but getting better. The team must really have been exhausted or really thinking they got one stolen from them for both Bayda and Skarp to take penalities at the end of the game. Is Skarp's penalty a DQ? diggerdan, after getting over my funk on Friday night, I also thought that Sioux still had a chance to finish 6-2. Of course, that means they have to sweep out the rest of the way and that will be tough, with Denver coming in, and Duluth playing much better hockey. But if the team does not lose heart after this weekend's games, and continue to come to play like they did Sat. anything could happen. We'll see.

I thought a couple of bright spots for the weekend were Leinweber playing well in place of Schneekloth (though he fell down again behind the goal. Gotta tie those skates, Chris). And Lundbohm played really strong, I thought. ICE. No one has mentioned anything about the ice. I thought the Sioux showed much better flow and transition than against AA when I was up there. Could this be because of the ice? Also thought MN was able to move the puck and skate well. To me the ice looked like it was pretty good. Any other thoughts or impressions?

I would rather find a good offensive defenseman or 2.

I had emailed the Coach Osieki with the Green Bay Gamblers to see if he would share any info on Matt Greene, i.e. what his D1 prospects are. (Hey, his email address is on their website) Of course he didn't respond but their PR or media guy did. This is what he had to say for what it is worth: "Hey Dan, I had a chance to talk with the coaching staff about Matt for you. They say Matt's potential as a D 1 player looks very bright. They consider him a very good Junior A player right now who was selected to play for the Viking Cup team, was a USHL all-star last week, and played in the top prospects tournament in Detroit recently. They say Matt is a defenseman's defenseman. He's a stay at home guy who brings a real physcial presence to the ice. NHL Central Scouting is projecting Matt to be a 3rd round draft pick in this year's NHL draft, June 22 & 23. That's about all I know. Hope it helps."

There is so much to say and so little time. Sat's loss was in the top 3-4 all-time for me. I don't think the Sioux "don't want to win". I think they don't know quite how to yet. Or they are running a bit scared. I think the score was 3-2, maybe even 3-1 in the 3rd. There was a face of to Siembida's right. There was a bit of a delay in getting the teams positioned. The TV did a close-up of Schneider looking at the replay screen. I thought to myself right there his eyes looked scared. He stared up there for quite some time. I thought that a player who was confident and ready for the challenge wouldn't stand there looking very long. Would probably glide around waiting for the face-off. Now, maybe he was looking at something else, and maybe I misread this whole situation from the safety of my TV screen. But I wonder if that is what happened. The boys got a bit worried, tensed up. And of course they were tired. I just hope they can end the season on a pretty positive run. Even if they lose in the first round of the playoffs, to finish at 7-3 and take the first round play-off against a top team to 3 games, maybe scaring them the whole way. I think that would help this team mentally over the summer.

Oh, this one hurts. This one hurts bad. A team that loses deserves to lose. But in a way the Sioux didn't deserve to lose this one. But in the last few minutes the gophers found their skates and the Sioux lost theirs. The tables have turned from a few years ago. Someone needs to bench Canady until he learns to take just good penalties. I like Canady, but tonite he was a big liability. Siembida, stand up. Notermann, good hard effort, but pleeeaaaase put the puck on net. Penalties were missed both ways tonite. What the #### kind of game were the refs watching? icing??? I am still proud of the Sioux tonite. They did play well enough to win, but couldn't hold off the gophers quite long enough. I hope they don't lose heart. I have. I will be better tomorrow. Much better offensive flow tonite. The boys played very physical again. I think it really took the goofs out of their game. We're still better than an 8th place team I think, but not better than middle of the pack. ####, I hate to admit that. Go Sioux.

No doubt, that sucks. But I was more depressed after the 2nd period than I was after the 3rd. I agree, it is time this team stepped up. I was hoping to see a more consistent effort in all 3 periods and that didn't seem to happen tonite. I think we also have to give credit to the goofs because I am willing to guess that was one of their better games all season. Our team speed is just not that impressive. Spiewak obviously stands out. And Skarp, and R Connelly. But other than that we get beat to the puck ALL the time. That bothers me more than just about anything. That's what I remember about Sioux teams inthe early nineties and it became difficult to watch them. This team has much more character though, than those did. This team will come around, but maybe not next year. There is hope though. The Sioux were really flying in the first, and managed to sustain pressure in the 3rd. Let's see what happens tomorrow. Though I expected to win tonite, I still was not realistically hoping for more than a split. If we get beat again tomorrow, then I will be depressed. I also think that we have to start playing more than 2.5 lines all night long. Throw 'em out there, roll 'em, and keep the boys fresh. How about Bayda's effort in the 3rd on the goal that Skarp scored? WOW. I didn't think Ryan had one of his better games but he sure was there in the 3rd. Good action up and down the ice. I was happy to see how physical the boys were tonite. Lots of good hitting. Had Spiewak's first shot gone in, maybe this game would have turned out differently. Note to the PK, take the man in front of the net, not the puck.

Thanks, kr, that is great stuff to read. I especially like what Blais said about it being time the team stepped up, and that losses won't be for a lack of effort this weekend. I suspect Blais has worked to instill and senses that the guys are ready to play based on observing practice this week. DROP THE PUCK!

I am but can't get the feed at work in Mpls. Any chance someone could give us a recap?

Ouch, the Herald says that Connelly is out for the game tonite. I think that is a loss. Connelly may not have tons of points but he's been playing on the PK and also is a very speedy, and hard working, aggressive player not afraid to be a little physical. Who will play for him. With Fournier out as well I imagine Palmiscno will play. Faul as well?

You know, I gotta real positive feeling about this (Big Trouble in Little China). Yeah Yeah..... I think the Sioux win tonite. Though I woke up this morning worrying about Welch having his coming out party. We'll see. I was ready to strap 'em on last night about 7:30. It's going to be a long day at work.

no kidding? What is up with that? That seems to make little sense to me. But so does minimal coverage by the GF Herald. Is there something smelly about the administration (as you say) and the Herald "ignoring" the hockey team? Or maybe better said, "not marketing" the hockey team? Or am I adding 2 and 3 and getting 4 here?

At Mariucci and some other venues they will sell tickets at the 10 minute mark of the first period in order to fill seats that have not been taken. My guess is they are able to count the number of people who entered, (turnstiles?) and then they sell up to however many left over seats there may be.

Anyone know if there is rush seating at the games?

Turns out I am. If you go to 7 day archives, and click on the "th" for todays news you will get some extra stories that don't show when you open the Herald and press on "sports". geez

Gopher week and I have yet to see a word about Sioux Hockey in the on-line version of the Herald. Am I just stupid and can't find anything? I assume there has been more in the hard copy? If not, what is up with the coverage of Sioux hockey in GF?

A friend of mine (a lost soul) is coming up to GF this weekend with a couple of buddies trying to find a ticket to the game on Friday night. A.

Go4Fan, I agree it will probably be pretty tight hockey like it was in MN. I also am concerned with how the week off will affect the Sioux. Will the extra weekend of R&R throw off their rhythm or will it provide them the opportunity to come into the first period of Friday's game with all guns a'blazin? If Lucia works his players hard during practice this week, will it help instill the aggressive hard working attitude on Friday, or help tire them out? I don't know the answers to any of these. I think the Gophers are not as strong on the PP as they once were. I think the Sioux have improved their special teams play. Are they even? I doubt it. But I am not as scared of the Gopher PP as I was a month ago. I AM scared of playing 4 on 4 as that was the doom of the Sioux in MN I think. We stunk bad there. 5 on 5 I believe the Sioux will play well. It will be close on special teams. Maybe give the goofs the edge there. Goaltending? Maybe a slight edge to the Sioux? Even I'm not sure there. Defense to the gophers. Home ice to no one. Close games. My adrenaline will be tapped by Sunday and tension high in the house.

In the Sat game at mariucci, Demarchi absolutely crushed Canady at center ice. It was a big hit and Canady got it because his head was down. But when you see the reply it pretty much looked like DeMarchi hit Canady and followed through with this gloves to Canady's head. I actually thought it should have been a high-sticking or roughing type penalty for that reason, but I don't know the rules that well and no one seemed to mention it or care about it so I assume that was ok. But it didn't strike me as a clean body check. I believe someone made a comment a few months ago about how it takes a year or so to get ice perfected in a new arena. Don't know who it was. Probably a poster on one of these boards but the comment seemed to be made with some kind of knowledge. Anyway, I hope they got it right. Sicatoka, you seem to be alluding to this but I ask directly, is this the sort of thing that really can be looked at as a reason this team has not performed as well as they would like at home? Or is this grasping for an excuse for an underachieving team??? As for Massen, I had heard that he had a tough shoulder but that was not in any official capacity. So maybe no comment by Blais was made because his status is unchanged and he will play as normal this weekend.

Dragon Lady, that was very eloquent. Are you sure you belong here? Well said. Well taken.

Well the goofs pulled it out tonite at Duluth. As much as I would have enjoyed a bulldog sweep, I think this is the best thing. I think it would have been worse for the Sioux had the goofers been more embarrassed in Duluth. You're right Taz, if the Sioux will come out aggressive and physical, they will have a chance. Hauser will play at least one game next weekend, and you never know which Hauser that will be. Weber is a good goalie but at WI and Duluth he looked very very average. So the goofs could bring a hot goalie but there is no reason for the boys to be intimidated. Anyone have an update on the injury situations?