burd

Tambellini shows a couple of Toewsesque moves tonight, getting through several D to the net. They haven't had a guy with good hands and a big reach for a while.

He's so odd it has to be on purpose. Circle of sticks??

rodwell really hustling

That's classic!!

Koberinski for a mediocre year, Hammer for a stupid year.

Watching a bobber on a hot still day . . .

Could this game get any duller?

Koberinski seems like a nice guy, but he is one bland cliché after another, isn't he? Good thing he has a clueless partner to make it interesting.

York is part of the discussion just as Gwoz, Blasi and others are, because you don't replace Hakstol with a championship or a desire for one--you replace him with a coach with a name and a record and a reason to think he will produce something Hak hasn't. Wanting a championship is the easy part, and we are all good at the easy stuff.

Actually, by "program coach," I meant more than recruiting and assembling. He develops players well and has generally gotten them to buy into the team concept, something I think Eaves has struggled with, despite his one banner. Some have suggest his players haven't been motivated this year, but I disagree. They have played hard, but they have been reacting to play rather than controlling it, and that makes them a step late getting to where they need to be too much of the time. They aren't as good as they looked last night, because NM is not a highly skilled team, and they weren't as bad as they looked in some of the games previous because some of that competition was ahead of UND in skill and experience--and goaltending. They can still get into the dance, and you never know who gets to go home with the babe. If nobody departs early after this year, the acid test will be next year, with what looks to be a potentially talent-laden team.

And that's a good thing, IMO. I remember when UND would consider Yale a gimme.

Some pretty good observations, big. I think most of us agree that Hak is among the best as a program coach, and many probably agree that he is not up there with the best as a game coach. As a program coach, I dare say he is as good as York, though nobody is as good as York is at game coaching, especially at nut cutting time. I see it a little like wanting to fire a football coach because he is very good but not Bill Belichik or a quarterback because he is very good but not Peyton Manning. I have shown impatience with Hak's game coaching in the past, but he is still young, and I think he will grab the ring for the Sioux yet. Besides, I don't see York wanting to come to UND anytime soon.

They had a very tough first half schedule.

Just like with middle school dances.

Visiting his dear Aunt, who sang in the church choir. Not the last person around him who sang.

Stiffing taxis is gateway theft leading to bigger and better things. For all we know Al Capone got started that way. On his way home from a Hawks game.

We know about three infractions, though each, by itself, is relatively minor. Together, they are very troubling, and there is probably a decent chance that other character evidence unrelated to reported events is part of Hak's assessment. As for pleasing NG, they always do early on. Theft is theft, and $4 looks no different that $1,499 or whatever the felony cutoff is, on the record.

how good is western mich compared to SCSU?

The penalty parade continues, having cost them a goal so far. How hard can it be?

After the first several games, I thought I saw some soft hands and good moves in Murphy, but he has not progressed the way I thought he would. Might have been the scotch.

Stecher has us all believing. What's his story? His playing history, stats, decommit are all there online, but I'm guessing this kid has some brains and maturity, the way he has figured out how to excel early-on at a position that is difficult to learn at this level.

Even though Pattyn has been playing well overall, those penalties hurt even when we are not scored on. This team is not knee-deep in offensive talent and struggles to score, so burning guys like Grimaldi on the PK has hurt. It's a little like football--you keep the other team's defense on the field long enough and tire them out, things start to go your way eventually. OK, not the best analogy, but these guys will not go far until they can learn to stay out of the box.

BU beating UMich in '97.

They had the greatest coach in Olympic Hockey history--a man who knew enough about college hockey to tell God himself what program to choose.

As I recall they had a guy called Frattin who turned into a beast that year. This team has a lot of talent, but not that kind of power sniper IMO. Still, it is possible for them to improve to contender status. They have played some very good hockey teams this fall.