burd

Early on last season several of us worried out loud that Gaber seemed to be trying to do too much, holding on to the puck too long (and losing it) and dangling when that was not likely to succeed. He's been different this year--more of a team leader, IMO. If he is off a little in production and is still as much a go-getter as he's always been, it's I'm good with it. The team is better at all phases except the pp, and that has been improving. He will always play an important scoring role on the team, and he is always a possession problem for defenses, even when he doesn't shoot.

Especially them. It. That.

I also wonder how involved he is with teaching defensive play of the forwards, who are an important part of the defense. That, and I wonder about world peace.

There are so many aspects of recruiting that are difficult to predict, so many moving parts that must perform well as a whole. We don’t know that this D corps will continue to play this well, but their fundamentals have been so strong. It’s not showy talent, just reliable and efficient play. I hope coach Simpson is part of the reason why; he’ll still be here when new players replace the old.

How do you assess the chances of discipline for this? The NCAA's rep on review of hits like this?

I recall thinking shots of Sandy Saturday night showed an angry, dour guy, even early in the game. Nobody expects a bench coach to be wearing a happy face, but he looked pissed off all the time. If he gets in a pissy mood on the bench, I can see now it would rub off on his players. I might have been seeing something that wasn't there.

Serious then maybe? But how did the guy make contact with him (elbow, head shot, etc?) that would make it a punishable hit?

So it will be reviewed for contact to the head? It's hard to tell from that video if his elbow made contact with the head or what hit what. I'm sure they will have multiple views to go by, though. The fact that I'm half blind and half witted will not be a problem with them.

It is also true that nearly all teams can play very good hockey on any given weekend. Cliche' but true. It's not as much keeping in mind that even weak teams might beat you if you take them lightly, it's that even a weaker team can play like a strong team capable of beating you even if you don't take them lightly.

I hadn't thought of that, but he does.

Winning it all is such a crapshoot, but this team will give us some viewing pleasure this year.

For a team that is so new to itself to go 7-2-1 right out of the gate in the toughest part of their schedule is impressive. D and Goaltending have been better than we could have hoped for.

I like Livanavage more every time I see him play. Plays with a lot of confidence for a frosh.

Speaking of whom, I hope someone is with him tonight,

That's a tortured interpretation. The current rules protect Blake's style of play much more than they did ZPar, but I'm sure Blake gets a lot of what Zach got. Got to learn to deal with it.

Front-to-back, top-to-bottom this team has a lot of talent and, it seems, ability to work together. Hopefully, they will continue to improve.

That's right. If it's 10-1, we'll all be pissed.

Over time, the top line will score. I’d be more worried if they accounted for nearly all the scoring. Other teams will juggle their lines to keep those guys off the board, and this team has a lot of skill up and down the lineup, unlike some recent years when the top end skills just weren’t there.

Could have used another year.

Duluth players were all raised by wolves.

Ciske 125 Sioux -10 Claims it would have been worse if the refs had been calling what they saw.

Bingo. And one good way to do that is to beat the other guy to the puck

We all have our crosses to bear, I guess.

Why is it that when someone is out there stirring up trouble, it's usually you?

As well as this team has played against teams like BU, it's pretty amazing that no player on D had played a minute of hockey in a UND jersey or with any other player on the team. I think I've got that right. It's even more surprising that they seem so steady under forecheck pressure, something that requires a lot of communication and coordination. They screw up at times, but a lot less frequently than could be expected under their circumstances.