burd

From the very first time Greg Johnson hit the ice in his first game, he was doing sick things with the puck. Younger fans since the 80s don't quite realize what a talent he was. And smart.

I'm not one of those people who pines for Deano, particularly since you could easily argue that his work has been a disappointment in Omaha. But one difference between his teams and Hak's teams, I think, is the level of caution the Dmen show in their first pass up ice. They tend to hold on to the puck quite a while before making the breakout pass--it seems like their number one rule is not to turn the puck over, so they chip it up the boards to a covered winger or pass it to someone away from the boards who is now covered. Spaces close pretty fast in that league. I understand that all teams tend to do this and that it is early, so the players do not have midseason rhythm. But it does seem that Hak's teams are trained to hold the puck a little longer before passing as a matter of defensive caution. As I said, this is a seems kind of thing, and I'd be happy to have someone say I'm full of shat.

Agreed. Most of us saw a very bright upside with that class early their freshman year. Now we will see if they have leadership qualities.

Good sized jump from Vermont at home to Miami in their rink. That's just we need at this point. The game will speed up for the boys a little tonight.

I think it's great Miami is coming into this new league ready to have some fun and pump up some rivalry. The real thing will happen on the ice, and they have the stuff to bring it, but this fooling around is good.

Agree

If we have to tolerate shootouts, at least we get to see Rocco turn goalies in circles

By now, UNO knows it did not get the coach they had hoped for, so we don't have to worry about them poaching Hakstol

UNO losing to Bentley again. UNO fans must be calling for Blais' head, with the frustrations they have had to put up with in recent years, wishing they had Hakstol.

Physical play is great, but these guys sure take a lot of avoidable penalties trying to be "physical."

Lil Kim knows music.

Murphy put on some good moves Sunday. It will be interesting to see how he develops.

I didn't see anything wrong with Rory's comment. Just sounded like an honest opinion to me.

It's hard to know when you see the game online and not the whole ice in person, but I thought Murphy showed some good things when he touched the puck last night.

Sorry. My bad.

Some good points, but I completely disagree about Grimaldi not passing. He dishes the puck too quickly sometimes.

Now there's some memories . . .

How much time do you suppose they have had to practice the PP?

Where's my American Tire commercial?

I knew I would love a guy who would dive on a backcheck in an exhibition game. As it turned out, it wasn't the only diving play he would be remembered for.

I was trying to remember some memorable moments against Manitoba. Was it against Manitoba where Evan Trupp made that great backcheck play where he dove and flipped the guys stick off the puck on a breakaway?

There was a time when this rivalry was fueled in part by Northern Minnesota kids in Warroad, Roseau, Thief, etc identifying with UND's smaller, rural character as opposed to the mpls/stpaul kids and wanting to play and beat them while playing for UND. Northern Minn and the range claimed an ownership of the hockey tradition in the state, much like kids growing up in small towns all over Canada did. Now, kids headed for D1 college hockey end their high school years playing in far from home, teammates with kids from all over, including former rivals. UND and UMinn are neighboring schools with a great traditional rivalry, but it will wane, IMO. I hope I'm wrong, and probably am, and I will still get juiced up for the games they play against each other, but it will slowly change. But don't throw away those frozen gophers in the freezer--there's still hope.

I really like the class that came in '11--this year's juniors, including Rocco.

I wondered the same about the lack of love for UW. Maybe it's because things have been so down in Madison, or at least perceived that way by the fans, that it will take some convincing. I think the momentum they had last year coupled with the conference change will be good for the Badgers.

No team is feared more than BC, and it's because of their speed and skill, not their size.