burd
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Posts posted by burd
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Then why did he bring back Guentzel after firing him and the team rebounded once he returned?
When details of the extent of Lucia's illness came out later, it was obvious his condition played a significant role in the team's struggles.
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And I am saying that he had nothing to do with them even getting to the regionals.
That's actually a fair point, wolf. But that was a well prepared team that went to regionals and played the gophs in philly. And it was Hak in net--you just can't tell with all the equipment they wear.
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Can u guys take the rodent back to the other post or start a new one
I think Mariucci has been trying. If he's the same guy who got banned on USCHO, he's a saint on this board.
But he is, after all, a gopher fan, so you can only expect so much.
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You can say all you want about draft picks, but this team did not excite because they did not have exciting offensive talent outside Grimaldi, who is more a playmaker than a sniper. There was excitement at the end of the year because, IMO, Hakstol did a wonderful job getting them to the FF. Next year looks a little different, but you never know.
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There is no debating that Rocco is a great hockey player...so was Jeff Panzer and countless others who never saw the ice or simply got a cup of coffee in the show.
If he turns pro, I will wish him much success. However, from a readiness perspective, he just isn't there yet. Bjugstad is in the same franchise, has monster physical gifts, and outperformed Rocco (so far) in his college career.
Rocco will not play in the NHL next year. He must determine if the signing bonus and the development opportunity and okay money of the AHL is worth it...all I have to say is that guys that go to the A have to prove they can play, and guys who are 5'6 in the A have to score 40 goals to prove they can play. Guys who go right to the show have to prove they can't play.
If I were in Rocco's shoes, I would stay one more year...minimum
Good assessment
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Dont take this the wrong way, but Toewser is a bad comparison. I love Rocco, but he was 20 most of this year and scored 17 goals and had 39 points...when JT was 19 he had 24 goals and 54 points...IN THE NHL
I don't take it the wrong way, Yzer, you make a very fair point.
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The old time Sioux hockey player that Rocco reminds me most of is Dave Tippett. Fabulous ice sense, sees the whole rink. Terrific skater - first step, flat out speed,agility. Thinks a fast game and surprises teammates with playmaking ability.
Only down side? Neither Tippett or Grimaldi finishes as well as the rest of their game. (By contrast, Troy Murray was just a bit better ...)
Prediction: Rocco eventually wins the Selke as NHL's best defensive forward. Wins reknown as one of the elite penalty killers in the league. Makes a career out of frustrating the All-Stars he lines up against. Wins 2 Stanley Cups with Florida.
(OK that last bit is a bit of a stretch.)
You forgot about the part where he wins the Hobey after leading UND to #8.
OK, that's not a stretch.
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Not arguing, but he still disappeared when he played with Knight and Kristo two years ago. Point is, he has the ability to dominate every shift, instead he might dominate only a handful of shifts per game.
Toews didn't dominate every shift.
Rocco has been performing at a high level in the defensive zone and on the PKI as well. He'll score a bunch, but his primary offensive asset will be playmaking.
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I wouldn't be surprised if you see the C on Pattyn's sweater next year. He reminds me a lot of Prpich and Hextall.
Prpich and Hextall were great guys, but not captain material, IMO. Simpson was captain material.
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I think it's already been posted elsewhere but word on the street is that Wilbur is leaving SiouxSports.com early despite having about 50 years of eligibility remaining.
He get an offer on GPL?
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It's decided then--he stays. Who's gonna let him know?
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I think it is true his uncanny ability to dish the puck was wasted somewhat. Put him on a line with high end scorers and his points go way up. Plus, I think he will start hitting the net more himself. His skills are suited for a very fast moving game.
I can't say I've been disappointed in Rocco. His work ethic is great, and he seems to be a good locker room presence.
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I forgot about him...I too sure hope he figures it out. His numbers in juniors were nice....he may be more of the OD mold.
In the first couple games at UND, I thought he showed offensive zone skills that would make him into a regular. Didn't happen. Hope he finds it next year.
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Oddly enough, I think there would be more cranky UND fans if they had gotten by Minnie. If Union did to UND what they did to Minnesota, some fans would have concluded the season pissed off at coaches and players for taking a licking at the FF.
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Minnesota's Pride on Pavement.
We have a winner. Post that on GPL.
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On the money issue, a lot of private schools do not give merit based aid or athletic scholarships but are basically applying a fiction to "need based" aid. My daughter went to Columbia and got a boat load of "need based" aid, though she didn't qualify for a penny of need based aid at public universities, even those with pretty large endowments, like Wisconsin. Union is not an ivy, but they probably have a large enough endowment to put money where they want to. And now that the trustees are enjoying a NCAA title, it might get even easier to toss endowment money that direction.
It's still quite an accomplishment to do what they did and a nice thing to have another player in the title hunt.
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I'm reading in a lot of places that UND doesn't have the offensive firepower that Minnesota has, Minnesota is the heavy favorite, and one stat that is often cited is UND's goal-per-game over this season. I think a more telling stat is goals-per-game since December, which was about when this team started to get healthy.
Throwing out the highest individual game goal total (9 against Miami) and lowest (0 against Denver) UND has averaged 3.2 goals-per-game over 25 games. In that same time period, again throwing out the highest (7 against RMU) and lowest (1 against Wisco) single game goal totals, the Gophers are averaging 3.09 goals-per-game over 23 games.
Even more important than goals-per-game, is goal differential. Since December, not counting the highest and lowest single games, UND is averaging 1.92 goals against, while Minnesota is allowing 1.83 goals per game.
In that time span UM played a combined 8 games against Michigan State and Penn State, the 6th and 7th lowest scoring college hockey teams in the country.
UND played 5 games against CC, the 4th lowest scoring team in the country.
UND goal differential since December: 3.2 - 1.92 = 1.28
UM goal differential since December: 3.09 - 1.83 = 1.26
I don't see a heavy favorite there at all. To me it looks like two very evenly matched teams.
I'm not sure how one would rate the quality of opponents for each since Dec. That has to count.
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So is there a ritual or voodoo ceremony to appeal to the god of deflections, pipes and bounces?
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All I know is that I heard the rink noise from here in Wisconsin when HC scored the game winner and it was dead quiet when BC beat the Badgers in 2000.
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Pathfinder,
You have found a lot of us around the country from your place in the mountains of southwest Colorado, and I think I can safely say that all of us are extremely grateful that you did. Those memories are rich, and you do us a favor by sharing them.
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Growing up in Grand Forks, I can't remember not being a fan. What probably got me hooked on Sioux hockey were the radio broadcasts by the late Doug Tegtmeier. Tim Hennessey is good, but Doug had this beautiful voice and style that really made you feel you were there. Then going to games in the mid 60's mid 70's, my HS & UND years, in the old barn was an experience that cemented it. Seeing players like Lefty Curran, John Marks, Rick Wilson, Bob Munro, Terry Casey (RIP) Dave Kartio, and Dennis Hextall in a "big time" arena (at the time, since most HS games were still played on outdoor rinks) was a big deal. The fans in the old barn were right up against the action on the ice and become part of the game. Many a time that an opposing player would be checked into the chicken wire, that the fans would give a little check from this side or grab the sweater through the wire and hold 'em up a while. The barn experience, with it's ice fog, condensation from the ceiling making interesting ice conditions, smokey warming rooms on each end serving up super hot, hot chocolate and hot Dr. Peppers did it for me.
Yeah, the ice fog. The inside cover of Fight on Sioux has a great pic of a Bob Peabody looking back from his net (no mask). You can see his breath, and the background is a little fuzzy from ice fog. That place was a pure hockey experience.
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When did the first dead gopher/badger go on the ice. I don't believe it was a tradition in the early 70s but maybe we just never scored a goal against those two teams during those years.
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I grew up in North Dakota and played hockey (poorly), so of course I was a Sioux fan from the start. But the game that got me hooked on the passion of Sioux hockey took place in the old Barn during the '71/72 season against the Gophers. Students filled the west end in that rink, and there was actually chicken wire above the boards, not glass. The cymbals player would crash his symbols in the face of opponents if they got shoved up against the wire in that end. Bill Butters played for the gophers and was hated by Sioux fans. He played a physical game and got in a lot of fights. At some point, he got in a fight with a Sioux player and ended up getting tossed from the game. The crowd was real rowdy and booing Butters even before he got tossed. Players exited the ice in the southwest corner by the student section in the old barn, and there was no barrier to keep the fans away from the players. Butters got into a fight with fans just below our seats, and it almost became a "water bottle" situation.
We were half crocked, of course, as were most. People wore those big air force parkas in those days, and it was so easy for fill the sleeves with beer cans or wine flasks. The place was cold, but it was very intense. I don't know how many attended those games, perhaps 2,000, but they were in the walkway up in the rafters, and with the cold, you could not just sit quietly and watch. It was an active experience. Throw in a fight between a hated gopher and Sioux fans, and it was a blood-pumping experience.
I also have a very vivid memory that is just as "Sioux" but does not involve an actual game. It must have been the spring of 1972 when they were still building the old Ralph. A friend of mine, Larry Drader, who played for the Sioux, said he wanted to show me the construction site. We went over past Mem stadium and sat on the bare concrete in the bowl above the playing surface. I remember Larry just sitting there looking down, lost in thought, as if he were in a trance. He said he could visualize everything, including the finished ice. That new rink was something new for many players who had grown up skating in cold air rinks, many of them made of wood. It was a dream for us students too, though we thought at first that it was too comfortable and quiet, just as most fans felt about the new Ralph.
Things change, but the good stuff keeps going.
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I am not saying fire the guy, but he needs to be held to accountable for the success of the program. The question is how does Sioux hockey measure success?
That's true but not the whole question. The question, if you are dissatisfied with our failure to win a title, is why you think we have not won a title and whether there are coaches out there who you are reasonably sure can fix that "why." Most of what we hear is continued frustration that we haven't won a title since Hak came. I don't mean to criticize your comment Old Time, and I have no problem letting a coach go if it is evident he is not doing his job. Hak is paid very well and he understands that is paid that money to perform, the same standard he holds his players to. Recruited players don't see the ice if they are not producing under coach Hakstol, and I'm sure he would be the first to say he should be held to the same standard. But merely venting our frustration that we have not won a title under him only identifies the frustration, not the solution. The loudest vices asking for his firing go on and on about what Sioux fans are entitled to and say practically nothing about what, precisely, they feel he is doing wrong, if anything. Other than not winning the big one.
But hey, today is a good day. Our team is headed to the frozen four. We all want success for these kids. To us, it is entertainment, but to them it is much much more. As with most of you, I feel very fortunate to be a Sioux fan.
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former players
in Men's Hockey
Posted
I did not get to see Dillon much in person--in what phase of the game did his modest foot speed show the most. I mean, there's that area below the dots where dmen need three-step kind of foot speed or quickness when they have the puck and when they don't. And there's the neutral zone down to the dots on defense where they need more up-ice (down-ice) speed. Does that make any sense?