skateshattrick

He is at the FM Jets final tryout camp this weekend.

The reasons are many. First and foremost, the NDHSAA limits the number of games that teams from ND can play AND requires that they play all of the teams in the conference. For teams like GFRR and Central, this limited the number of games that they could play against traditional rivals like Roseau, Warroad, TRF, and even Grand Rapids, Moorhead and some Twin Cities teams. Better competition makes better teams. Second, the lack of competition actually starts earlier. Let's start with the Fargo Flyers, the feeder program for Fargo South. The team that just graduated had a lot of success against very good Minnesota competition, including Moorhead, Roseau, Warroad, Thief River Falls and Twin Cities powers. That is also true of current teams, as a Squirt A team went 47-1 just 2 years ago, and last year's team lost only 3 games. However, by the time that they play Bantam A, the number of games that they play are limited to 40-45 games, and about 1/2 of the games are against ND competition. There are league games against 2 Bismarck teams, Mandan, Dickinson, Jamestown, West Fargo and North Fargo (Raiders). That is a total of 14 games. There are also games against Grand Forks and Grafton, which traditionally are stronger. That leaves only about 20 games against Minnesota competition. There are also traditional rivalies in Minnesota, like Fergus Falls, Detroit Lakes and Alexandria, which may or may not be very good depending upon the year. It is difficult to get many games against Twin Cities teams or even Moorhead because Moorhead looks to the Twin Cities for better competition, and the Twin Cities teams have enough competition within a very concentrated radius. Plus, Minnesota (in accordance with USA Hockey guidelines) has limited the number of games. As a result, they don't want to play ND teams unless they know that they are very good. Third, it is a reputation/exposure thing. Minnesota teams get so much more exposure because of the state tournaments and its reputation. ND kids--who may be as good or better--do not get the opportunity until they play juniors for a year or two. By contrast, kids from Moorhead, TRF, Warroad, Roseau, etc. get scholarships right out of high school. It is a fact of life. That is why Danny Irmen and Ryan Potulny skipped their last 2 years of high school hockey and Jordan Willert skipped his senior year---to get exposure in the USHL. I have said it before and will say it again--Aaron Marvin is not as good as some of the ND kids that are his same age (he should be a senior--he was held back). If you don't believe me, look at the Elite 1 stats for last year. Paul Weisgarber, Erick Galt, Grant Larson, Andy Dittus and others had more points. However, he plays for a tradition rich program in Minnesota, and also has the name recognition. There are other reasons, but those are some of the main ones.

Where are you getting that information? The Warroad stats page from the Section 8a website says that Marvin had 9-21-30 points in 23 games. See www.section8ahockey.com/warroadrost.htm.

I could not agree more with Bring Back Dean. Aaron Marvin is being recruited for his size and his size only. If you ever saw him play, he really is not that great. He did not do much in the Elite League and was never dominant for Warroad. Paul Weisgarber has always outplayed him from Squirts through Bantams, and into high school and the Elite League. Yet, Paul Weisgarber gets very few looks because of his size. The only plausible reason is that Marvin is big and has "potential" because of his size, much like James Massen. In my opinion, he is not and never has been in Jordy Christian's class. Jordy has unbelieveable hands and about the quickest 3 steps you will ever see. Please recall that Jason Blake had to play 2 years in the USHL and was recruited only by Ferris State. David Hoosteen was only recruited by one D1 school (UND) after leading the USHL in scoring. The preoccupation with size is even worse for kids still in high school than kids who have already played in the USHL. Jordy will be a special player. Aaron Marvin will be average at best.

Don't be hung on on All-State selections. It is picked by the media, most of whom never saw the kids play and/or know little about hockey. All they do is look at the point totals, which are misleading. Point totals do not tell you how good a kid is, particularly if they are on a very good team like South where a kid will have inflated numbers if they are on the power play, play with stars like Paul Weisgarber or Erick Galt, etc. All conference is picked by the coaches, so it is a lot more legitimate. However, Nick Klenow is a very good player who probably did not have the numbers because his team was not as good and played a more defensive style of hockey. He played on a number of Elite teams and select teams, so he has some talent.

Holy Cross! Before you spout off on a Sioux message board, you really should get your facts straight. Irmen and Potulny have a 3-3 record at the REA. Their freshman year, 2003-04, the Rodents got swept by the Sioux in REA. The teams split at Mariucci. In 2004-05, the teams split at REA. The Sioux, however, got the last laugh beating the Rodents at the NCAA semifinal in Columbus. This last year, the Gophers swept the Sioux at home, but split on the road. Again, the Sioux got the last laugh, at least making it to the Frozen Four again. To say that they "owned" the Sioux is not accurate. A more accurate claim is that Sioux have owned the Rodents at Mariucci: In 1998-99 win and a tie; 99-00 win and a tie; 00-01 split; 01-02 split; 02-03 split; 03-04 split; 04-05 did not play; 05-06 split. That is a record of 7-5-2 at Mariucci since 1998 with no sweeps by the Rodents in their own building.

You are right--it is jealousy. Only it is jealousy or penis envy coming from the ugly stepsister called NDSU. Did you notice that this message board is filled with NDSU fans trying to tell UND how jealous it is? Do you see any irony in there? Calvin Klein makes a cologne that is appropriate---it is called OBSESSION.

What sports have prominence other than men's basketball and football? And please tell me that you are not seriously contending that D1AA football is bigger than hockey. Most people not only do not know who wins or care, but cannot name any of the past champions. Basketball is huge, but not for mid-majors. Yes, NDSU beat Wisconsin, but D2 schools have been beating national powers for years and then slide back into oblivion. Remember Chaminade from Hawaii? They beat a number of top D1 teams over the years, including No. 1 Virginia and Ralph Sampson. I doubt that Chaminade has earned the respect of the powers nor caused any "jealousy." NDSU will never be able to compete as a D1 Basketball power, nor will UND when it makes the jump. Geography, demographics and money will dictate how they will do, which is a mid-major. That is not to say that I do not support the move to D1 as I do. However, the reason is that D1AA is now D2 of 10-15 years ago and D2 is becoming the NAIA. It is a necessary evil to move up, at least for football. Having said that, I really could care less about NDSU football or either D2 or D1AA football. Hockey is big time--UND not only competes with the big boys from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston College, etc., but actually excels. Can NDSU say the same thing in any sport? Hell, they couldn't even beat the Sioux in football--NDSU's only prominent sport--for the decade before moving to D1AA. Jealous of NDSU? Hardly. They are really irrelevant to many Sioux fans. I can honestly say that I have not only never posted on an NDSU sports message board, but I have never even looked. I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT NDSU. They are only important in their fans' own minds.

I would be extremely surprised by this. Taylor's mom is Lynn Powers, who grew up in Grand Forks and attended UND. His dad played 4 years at UND. This smells like a hoax.

Curtis Murphy is only 5'8" and certainly did not weigh 200 lbs in college. Look at the old rosters. Different era? It was much more physical 20 years ago (remember Gino's teams?), and there was no Olympic ice.

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Thank you for not sharing because I personally do not care. This has been beat to death, but I really doubt that you are going to sway me or a majority of Sioux fans or fans of any other program looking at this objectively. Riddle me this Batman---who other than jealous and insecure Gopher fans count the 2 pre-NCAA banners? You don't have to answer--it was a rhetorical question. If you graduated from NDSU, have someone explain what rhetorical means.

You are really reaching now. This would be hilarious if it were not so pathetic. Were they still wearing rubber boots or did they progress to figure skates?

The bottom line is that players are drafted and recruited based much more upon size and potential than they are upon ability. That is not intended as any type of a negative towards Andy Dittus or Tyler Jundt who are both excellent players and deserve the recognition that they are receiving. I expect both of them to do very well at the next level. Personally, I think Paul is better than Jordan Willert, but he is not 6'4" 220lbs and have a cannon for a shot. However, Paul is not very big and is noted by scouts and players to have average speed. Scouts and coaches focus more upon size, meaning that it is an uphill battle for anyone who is smaller. I agree with you that Paul Weisgarber is very talented, and given the opportunity, would excel in the USHL or even beyond. The difficulty is getting that opportunity. Yes, there are the Ryan Duncans and David Hoogsteens of the world, but what David Hoogsteen had to go through to get an opportunity emphasizes the problem with being a smaller player in what is becoming a big man's game. David Hoogsteen was not heavily recruited by the USHL, but was the leading scorer in the USHL, averaging almost 2 points per game. That earned him exactly one scholarship offer to UND at a time that, fortunately for David, the Sioux were down and rebuilding with Dean Blais. The only reason is because he was 5'7" and less than 140 lbs. He proved that he could play at every level growing up, but kept having to prove himself because of his size. Unfortunately for players like Paul Weisgarber and others, it is difficult to get an opportunity. This is true in most sports--look at Greg Eslinger getting drafted in the 6th round because he is perceived to be too small and not strong enough for the pro game.

haha are you comparing this team to the 1980 olympic team? Just for conversation sake I am wondering how people think this team would have done agianst teams like Roseuo, Moorhead or South? I'm sure someone could give the lines for south last year and we could try compare line by line. Moorhead and roseuo maybe alittle tough to come up with.

Nice call Specifics.

If you want Toews back next year, you may not want the Blackhawks to draft him. The Chicago papers from this past week indicated that they want to draft an NHL ready forward who can step in next year, and they mentioned Toews, Kessel and Staal by name. They also were quoted as saying that if Toews was there at No. 3, they would likely take him and felt that he was ready to play immediately.

He has signed a contract with the FM Jets. He is eligible for the USHL draft and may be drafted.

It is hard to argue with how good TJ Oshie is and the impact that he had on the Sioux. He is sensational and one of the hardest working players that I have ever had the pleasure of watching in a Sioux uniform. Purely from a points standpoint, an 18 year old freshman named Zach Parise had more of an impact with 61 points in 39 games. TJ Oshie had 45 points in 44 games. I believe that Troy Murray also had a huge impact his freshman year. However, there is a certain amount of subjectivity with how valuable a player is, and points certainly are not the only measure of value. For my money, Parise is the best freshman I have ever seen in a Sioux uniform. However, I recognize others can put up a strong argument for Troy Murray, Kevin Maxwell and TJ Oshie. Frankly, if you take the all-around game, I have a hard time deciding who I like better--Oshie or Toews, particularly since Toews is only 17. Fortunately, the Sioux have both. Both Oshie and Toews are special, and do not come around very often. The rest of the freshmen are also pretty good. Enjoy them while they are here. Hopefully, it will be at least 1 more year of Toews and Oshie.

Holy Cross! Who tinkled in your cheerios?? By the way, it won't matter because you still have Briggs.

Dave Hakstol talked about him a lot at Sioux Boosters in Fargo on Tuesday and is very, very pleased with his development. He said that over the past 1/3 of the season, he is clearly one of the top players in the USHL. He said that his overall game makes him one of the elite players in the league and they are really looking forward to having him next year. He did say that Marto will also be a good player in this league, but the coaching staff has not decided yet if he will be here this fall or the next fall.

What an absolutely classy post! Yesterday at Fargo Sioux Boosters, Dave Hakstol joked about how his blood pressure would go down now that you graduated. He then QUICKLY followed that up by saying that you are one of his favorite players to ever go through the program and how you gave tons to the team and the program that the casual fan would never see, including on and off the ice and in the locker room. You will be missed but not forgotten! Thank you for 4 great years.