dagies

Welcome Andrew MacWilliam! Some blurbs from various sources: MacWilliam is a B prospect on the Central Scouting list this fall. MacWilliam was selected to play on Team West in the World Junior A Hockey Challenge. A blurb from an exhibition game. A side note from the same story on Hextall, who also played on that team: MacWilliam was a 9th round selection of the Spokane Chiefs WHL draft in 2005:

I think it's good to keep those lines together. I think the Sioux have the best/deepest 3 lines they have had in quite a few years. We could use a bit more scoring from the top line, and hopefully Frattin will start scoring a goal a weekend or something like that but I think the 2nd and 3rd lines are playing pretty well. Those lines are a threat to score at any time. It's hard to point to a year where we've had 3 lines of the quality we have now, at least since the 1990's.

I, for one, miss the coaches show recaps when they are not available, here or on USCHO. I know Hakstol isn't always the most colorful, but I think he's gotten more open over time.

Exactly what I was going to say. Thank you.

I'm trying to talk my kid into going. He's my weekend pass!

I can only imagine....

Now that's just crazy talk right there. Agreed with this. It's annoying to hear the MN cheer because we hate the idea that they scored, but personally I think it's a great cheer. Being a fan of gopher basketball, I've enjoyed that chant immensely standing in the stands while the gophers beat Bobby Knight, for instance.

Interestingly enough, I think I heard that being played in New Jersey's arena when the Devil's scored once. It was television, but I remember thinking "Oh, THAT'S where Mankato got the idea...".

I've seen the last 5 games live and is it coincidence or not that the Sioux have won all 5? I won't be in GF this weekend. Better hope for coincidence!

I'll let someone else look it up but I think I've read/heard that Ridder was built with donations.

Minnesota will finish in the top 5, I believe. There are a number of teams vying for 4th and 5th (the Sioux, at least temporarily have seperated a bit from that pack) and none of them are heads and shoulders better than the others. I still think Kangas will solidify things for the gophers and they will win their share down the road.

I received this reply from Chris Johnson at Bethany College:

That's because black is "slimming".

I sent Chris Johnson an email through the link on his faculty listing on Bethany's website. Maybe he'll respond with the info.

I like going to see Sioux hockey but I've run into the most idiots at Mankato, which is why I especially enjoyed the rousing exit last night. This weekend I pretty much stayed in my seat and avoided the concourses between periods which helped tremendously. And fortunately, I was either with tons of Sioux fans or else I was with a rather tame Mankato crowd. One or the other.

I don't understand why the NCAA needs to expand. What are they, a money making enterprise? Oh yeah.... MN won't care about this because they struggle to recruit in Canada anyway. If anything they are probably happy because it will make it tougher for the UNDs and Denvers of the hockey world who do heavily recruit in Canada. As for Canadians wanting to come to established programs, let's hope so. And let's hope they like palaces on the prairies. Hockey is Canada's game and I worry that the nationalistic attitude will keep the top Canadian kids playing at Canadian universities. I have to imagine it's easier to go to school in your own country, for instance. This might not be very good for UND at all.

I agree on VandeVelde. It seemed to me he was one of the best Sioux players this weekend.

This team isn't unbeatable right now and has a long way to go to be dominant, but they must sweep AA this weekend. It would be unacceptable to lose or tie one. Sweep at home, split on the road, unless you are playing much weaker opponents. Sweep AA at home. No excuses.

Thanks to NorthDakotaHockey having more tickets than he could use I was able to sit right in or by the Sioux fan section. THAT was a blast, and yes, that was us you heard. I am happy they review them to make sure they get the call right. They might be a little too careful, but I'd rather they be right than wrong. What a blast it was sitting with travelling Sioux fans. These are fans that WANT to be in the game. Lots of fun in that section. Exiting the arena I fell in with a large and boistrous group of fans singing the Ole song, changing "SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP" or "SIOUX YEAH YEAH, YEAH SIOUX SIOUX" or whatever was next. Only time I've had more fun was walking with the band from the Target Center to the team hotel after winning the Final Five championship back when. Standing and cheering as the team left the ice it was nice to have Duncan and at least one other player tap their sticks in the direction of the fan groups. Also, as the coaches filed out Hakstol looked over and seemed to appreciate the large, vocal group and gave a raised fist which was received with more cheers. Always fun to watch hockey, but the team didn't seem to have it clicking on every cylindar again tonite. At least that's the way it seemed in my seat. Bouncing pucks, drop passes for teammates that aren't there, lazy passes in dangerous spots in the defensive zone that were picked off....periods of time (I can think of right at the beginning of the 2nd period?) where it just seemed like they were going through the motions. Just didn't seem sharp. Defintely played better for large parts of the 3rd period, but this team needs to get better to beat more than the league doormats. The 4th line didn't get a lot of playing time but did ok when they were on. I think they struggled in their own end a couple of times. Davidson plays with authority, or at least it looks that way, and that's nice to see in a guy whose barely had any ice time. Frattin quietly had a very nice game. He was solid, but not flashy in collecting those assists. Genoway is so good. Hopefully the boys will be ready for AA next week and take this streak to 7 games.

Well, it WAS your idea.

I believe tonite will be a real war. The Mavericks might not be the most skilled team, and they might have Jutting for a coach, but one thing that impressed me last night is they never backed down. After the Sioux took it to them in the first period they came back and outplayed the Sioux in the 2nd. The Sioux were lucky to still have the lead at the end of 2. After the Sioux put up another goal they might have backed off a little but the opposite happened. It seemed like they ratcheted up the effort a little. After Kaip beat Bruess they seemed to come out even harder, I thought. The Sioux did a good job of closing out the game but there was no quit in the Mavericks. If the Sioux don't clean up some of the mistakes and don't play a little more crisply I predict they will lose tonite. However, I'm confident they will win. They will not win because the Mavericks laid down. That won't happen.

I think anyone who picked Kaip should still be in the contest.

Got back from the game a while ago. Thanks for the ticket, NorthDakotaHockey. It was good watching the game with you. This game had some good and bad. First period was pretty good for the Sioux even though they seemed to be slightly missing. Had they been "on" they might have scored a couple more. Lots of bouncing pucks or passes that weren't caught cleanly, or were just behind instead of ahead, etc. Second period was pretty ugly. On Saturday in St. Cloud the Sioux won but we thought they needed to clean up some of the bad plays with the puck, especially in the defensive zone. Last week against Tech that seemed to be mostly accomplished. It appeared to come back again tonite. Some lazy or ill-advised passes or chances taken in the defensive zone, or in neutral areas that were dangerous led to many opportunities for Mankato. That has to get cleaned up or tomorrow will hurt. Not much to say about Kaip other than PETA will be after him for beating his rented mule. After watching LaPoint in St. Cloud and again tonite, and Marto 2 games last week I hope to see Marto tomorrow night. LaPoint seems to need a little more time to get comfortable on the ice. Either that or he just looks a little tentative in the way he does things. One or the other. I was impressed that he went to bat for Oshie when Oshie took a NASTY crosscheck about 2 seconds after the whistle blew in the first period. LaPoint mixed it up pretty well with the Mav player. Good for him. I think Malone's injury must have set him back because he doesn't appear to be as much of a factor as he seemed to be early in the season. Finley looked great tonite, I thought. Very confident with the puck and did a good job shutting down scoring opportunities. Genoway was fun to watch as usual. He really does well with the open space on the big sheet. JPL had a great night. Always looked in control and in the right place. Oshie took a nasty slash to the elbow in the first period, and then a few minutes later took the nasty crosscheck in the back after the whistle. I hope Motzko is warning his ladies about the big bad Mavericks and their after-the-whistle stuff because they are as bad or worse than the Sioux. I was surprised to see Trupp moved off the top line after only 2 periods. Miller has had games to play with them. I was hoping by pick for tonite's contest, Kozek, would benefit from this move but he just couldn't quite close the deal. I didn't notice that line was anything special with Trupp on it, but they didn't have much time together, either. Speaking of closing the deal, I could have sworn in the 3rd period LaPoint scored a goal. NDH thought it hit the post and he must be right because I was the only one apparently who thought it was in. I didn't actually see the puck in the net but I did see the netting move and thought the puck must have gone in and out really fast. Anyone else see that? I must have been mistaken. Jutting was purple after one of their goals was waived off. He was riding Thul from the time he made the call until after the faceoff, and then once play started he started riding the linesman stationed in front of his bench. I thought his head might pop off his neck. Wow. Night, all.

My man Kozek missed a golden opportunity! Argh!

Thanks to NorthDakotaHockey I had a ticket for tonite's game. Only SRO left for tomorrow night, however. I was surprised about that, because it's never been full in the past that I can recall. Thanks NDH, I really enjoyed watching the game with you. Especially the "Ole" song after the Sioux scored.