burd

I think you are flat wrong in accusing him of any amount of disloyalty. Oshie, Toews, Parise, and on and on--all disloyal? I'm grateful Rocco chose UND, and I hope he has great success at the next level. We were lucky to have him.

Gotta agree

Or learn how to use their ability to disappear for 60 minute stretches on Saturday nights.

Beck Ola. Good album.

I agree that they don't have another guy who, by himself, can make things happen. Keeping him here would be a big deal.

Is that you, Mrs. Gilberts?

Rocco should pay heed to the thoughts of another "7-foot white kid with limited athleticism." Good article, though. I'm sure Rocco has plenty of former Sioux who might say the same thing.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good assessment

I don't take it the wrong way, Yzer, you make a very fair point.

You forgot about the part where he wins the Hobey after leading UND to #8. OK, that's not a stretch.

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.

Prpich and Hextall were great guys, but not captain material, IMO. Simpson was captain material.

He get an offer on GPL?

It's decided then--he stays. Who's gonna let him know?

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.

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.

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.

We have a winner. Post that on GPL.

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.

I'm not sure how one would rate the quality of opponents for each since Dec. That has to count.