skateshattrick

I don't disagree with you. However, that doesn't mean that he's a bad player. I'm happy that he will be back. He has a ton of talent. He may not have lived up to some people's expectations of a No. 9 overall pick, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good player. You have to remember that he did not play juniors and is still very young. Up until recently, Blake Wheeler would also have to be considered a disappointment for a No. 5 overall pick. Based upon his recent performances, it appears that his potential is just starting to be realized. Give Brian Lee time. He's a good player. He has things to work on, but he will only get better.

If anyone is from Minot, please let me know who covers Sioux hockey on TV and/or radio and where I might be able to watch the game. I am not from Minot, but will be there this weekend.

The opinion that it does not matter is a minority opinion and is not reflective of every Sioux fan any more than it is for any Gophers fan. Please do not generalize based upon comments of a few. It was very important for the Sioux this year, because if the Sioux had won, they probably end up a No. 7 and get shipped out to Clarkson's bracket. That would have been a win/win for both UM and UND. However, I understand why Minnesota came to play this year--they wanted to build momentum for the tournament so that they did not have a repeat of last year, they wanted to prove that the sweep earlier by the Sioux was not a reflection of what they are capable of, and they were tired of hearing from everyone in the media that the Sioux were the better team. However, be careful what you wish for---neither UND nor Michigan are going to be pushovers. Although I admittedly have a WCHA bias, I truly believe that Minnesota and UND are 2 of the top 3 or 4 teams in the country right now along with BC and possibly Notre Dame. New Hampshire and Michigan are probably next.

I have a hard time blaming Brian Lee for that goal. If you are going to do that, then you have to look at how the play started. Taylor Chorney made a good play getting the puck up ice, but in hindsight, probably should have gotten it in deep rather than dropping it to Watkins. Matt Watkins also had a chance to catch the pass and throw it in deep, but he had difficulty controlling the puck and it was intercepted. The bottom line is that it was a fluke goal created by good hustle on the part of Blake Wheeler. There are lot of lessons to be learned by that goal, but its really not fair to blame any one player or really any of the players. Besides there really is nothing that can be done about it now. The Sioux need to refocus and get ready for a good Michigan team.

You are wrong. Jonathan Toews is a sophomore and does not even turn 18 until the end of April! Both he and Joe Finley would have been high school seniors during their freshman years of college at UND if they did not accelerate their educations. There are many 18 or 19 year old freshman that went directly from HS to UND---Taylor Chorney, Brian Lee, Zach Parise and many more.

The 10 finalists for the Hobey: Drew Bagnell, St. Lawrence David Brown, Notre Dame John Curry, BU Nathan Davis, Miami RYAN DUNCAN, UND Eric Enh, Air Force Bobby Goepfert, SCSU TJ Hensick, Michigan David Jones, Dartmouth Scott Parse, UNO CONGRATULATIONS RYAN DUNCAN!!

I agree with you completely. I was surprised to see either UMD player on the 1st team, although I can accept Niskanen more than Raymond. UMD was brutal for most of the year and I don't think Mason Raymond is in the same class as Toews. Toews missed a lot of games with injuries and the World Juniors, but IMHO, is the best player in the league. His statistics support that argument. I also agree with you about Nodl or Okposo as well. Either one would have been deserving of ROTY, but how does one win the award and end up on the 3rd team??

Connelly is the younger brother of Chris Connelly of the FM Jets. Chris Connelly has drawn interest from Bemidji State and UMD, but he may be back with the Jets again next year. He will play D1 somewhere either this year or next. 3 of his Jets teammates have already been offered D1 scholarships, and Chris Connelly is arguably the best player on the Jets. His younger brother may also be here next year if he is not on an USHL roster. Festler is very talented. SCSU got a good one. Marvin and Jordy Christian of Moorhead have also committed to SCSU.

The Sioux will always try to get the top players, even with the risk of flight in 1 or 2 years. Why? Because they are one of the few schools that can get those players. They seem to always be competing with Minnesota, Denver, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, BC and BU for the same kids. That is one of the primary reasons that UND is a top program. Do you think that MSUM, UMD and MTU would not love to have Jon Toews, Zach Parise, Phil Kessel and those types of players even if only for 1-2 years?? We are not always going to get them because there are so many factors that determine where a kid may play (location, facilities, coaches, coaching style, etc.), but we should never stop trying to recruit those types of players. I would personally rather have Zach Parise or Jonathan Toews for only 2 years than a 4 year muck and grind player that may get you 10 goals their senior year. However, you need both for a team to be successful and I believe our coaching staff knows that. I also like the highly skilled smaller players that were passed up purely because of their size like Panzer, David Hoogsteen, Duncan and even Jason Blake. However, other teams are also starting to see the benefits--look at Jordy Christian going to SCSU. He has great hands and a very quick burst and will be a great college player in a few years. SCSU got him because they did not require that he play in the USHL for a year. The point is that a program cannot only grab players that you think will be around 4 years or you will get burned or end up as a middle-of-the-pack team like MSUM, MTU or AAU. Besides, one of the biggest attractions to UND by top recruits is the fact that so many players go on to the next level and the coaches give them their blessing if they are ready, even if it is only after 2 years of college hockey.

I agree. However, I do believe that strengthening the schedule at the youth level (Squirt, PeeWee and Bantams) will strenghten the programs. The eastern teams not only play each other and "local" teams such as Moorhead, Alexandria, Roseau, Warroad, etc., but will play many Minneapolis teams in tournaments in Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks and in the Twin Cities. There is no better way to measure the success of your program than playing the best competition so that you know how to measure your development. However, the critical development of players is at the mite, squirt and pee wee levels through ice time, practice and good coaching.

I think that is the all tournament team. The all-state team was posted in the Fargo Forum. If I recall correctly, it included: Sean Deichert and Dan Wurden from Fargo South; Tanner Bombenger from Fargo North; Tyler Swanson from West Fargo; Jarret Galbreath, Ryan LaDoucer and Eric Meland from GFRR; Zach Miller from Grafton-PR; Kyle Everson from Devils Lake; Eric Herbel from Bottineau; Andrew Seeburg from Bismarck; Hendrickson and Nathan Stremmick from Minot; Zach Welding from Jamestown; Colby Rehak from Williston. There was also a goaltender from Dickinson. I can't recall if Michael Hillman from Bismarck made it, but I thought so. I apologize if I missed anyone. This is from memory.

Andy Dittus and Tyler Jundt are playing for the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) Marc Mihulka and Marc Harrie are playing for the FM Jets (NAHL) and Alex Olson is playing for the Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL). Lane Smith is playing club hockey in San Diego. I'm not sure if any others from that team are still playing.

I reviewed the article and I was wrong. The coaches do pick the All-State team and the outstanding player. I believe that is a change from past years. I am equally surprised that Pat Arneson did not make it. A lot of credit must have been given to Galbreath and Ladoucer.

Unless something has changed, it is because the coaches do NOT pick the All-State team. That was the case as recent as last year. Rather, the media chooses the All-State team. If that is still the case, that would help explain some of the omissions. That is why I have always felt that being recognized to All-EDC (or All-WDC) is a bigger honor because it is an based upon the coaches' who actually saw that person. It is more a recognition of peers than media people who may not have seen most of the kids and may know nothing about the sport. No offense to Herbel from Bottineau, but I suspect that the reason he won the award is because the vote was split. I suspect that most of the western media picked Herbel, while the East split the vote between Wurden and Miller (and possibly Everson). That is not taking anything away from Herbel--he is obviously a talented kid and deserving of recognition, but Wurden and Miller are outstanding and it is difficult to choose between the two of them.

The "rumor" (that I heard from a pretty reliable source) is that both MSUM and UND showed interest, but recently backed off because of concerns about his GPA.

I'm not sure that I agree that Minot has the most alums playing college or junior hockey. I'm not sure of all of the players, but these are the ND players that I am currently aware of playing either Junior A hockey or D1 college: COLLEGE Robbie Bina, Grand Forks (UND) Phillipe Lamoureux, Grand Forks (UND) Jacque Lamoureux, Grand Forks (NMU) Aaron Walski, Fargo (UND) Tyler Magura, Fargo (Harvard) Nate Ziegelmann, Grand Forks (UMD) Mike Eickmann, Grand Forks (UNO) JUNIOR A Paul Weisgarber, Fargo (Waterloo--USHL) Rody Selke, Minot (Sioux City---USHL) Jordan Willert, Minot (Tri-City---USHL) (UNO next year) Andy Dittus, Minot (Green Bay---USHL) Jundt, Williston (Green Bay---USHL) Mario Lamoureux, Grand Forks (Tri-City----USHL) (NMU next year) Jake Marto, Grand Forks (Omaha---USHL) (UND next year) Erick Galt, Fargo (North Iowa, NAHL) Jon Halstenson, Fargo (FM Jets, NAHL) Marc Harrie, Fargo (FM Jets, NAHL) Elliot Oklund, Fargo (FM Jets, NAHL) Will Aide, Bismarck (Bismarck, NAHL) Alex Olson, Devils Lake (Bismarck, NAHL) I may be missing a few, but it appears that Grand Forks still has the most players in college and overall. Also, if you look over the past few years, these are some of the other ND players: Grant Potulny, Grand Forks (U of M) Ryan Potulny, Grand Forks (U of M) Dan Irmen, Fargo (U of M) Nick Fuher, Grand Forks (UND) Andy Schneider, Grand Forks (UND) Quinn Fylling, Minot (UND) James Massen, Bismarck (UND) I frankly don't see that changing. Minot does well, but not as well as Grand Forks. Arguably, Fargo has as many or more impact players.

Dave Hakstol and Dane Jackson from UND, Scott Sandelin from UMD and Serratore from Bemidji State were at last night's game between the Bismarck Bobcats and the FM Jets in Fargo. Does anyone have any idea who they are looking at?

It did affect the REA and there was some concern about the ice being lost since it takes 24-48 hours for the ice to set.

No. Just like Holy Cross wasn't very tough for the Sioux last year.

You are correct. Scott Sandelin coached the FM Express of the old American Hockey Association, which also folded. That makes at least 3 failures with the top junior hockey leagues. Maybe it will be different this time, but even with a new facility, its going to be a tough sell in Fargo. There is just too much competition for the Friday and Saturday night dollar. Not only is there UND hockey, but there is NDSU and UND basketball, high school hockey (which is extremely popular in Moorhead and getting very popular in Fargo with South's recent success) and all of the youth activities. I wonder if F-M isn't better off with the Jets and the NAHL. It is still Junior A hockey, and its getting better. It is comparable to the AJHL and the SJHL, and a step ahead of the MJHL. The USHL and BCHL are a notch above as Tier 1 junior hockey leagues, but there are more kids getting D1 scholarships from the NAHL than ever as the USHL gets younger.

I agree with this, with a couple of caveats. First, if there are local players on the USHL roster, that may have an effect on some people. Otherwise, the quality of the product and the entertainment value is not close. Recall that Fargo-Moorhead at one time had a USHL team coached by Scott Sandelin (the FM Bears) that failed, and later became the FM Ice Sharks that also failed. You can make a case that facilities had some effect on the failure, particularly the Ice Sharks who played in the Coliseum. However, most true Sioux fans prefer the D1 College game, particularly played at the level that it is played by the Sioux. Second, if the Sioux were to struggle, some may decide not to continue to make the trip from Fargo and decide to go to USHL games or high school games instead.

This is where you are wrong. The difference between the east and west this year is more dramatic than most years. I agree that Devils Lake is beatable, but frankly, RR, South and Grafton are worlds above any of the teams in the west. South is probably more talented than RR, but has some "chemistry" problems. They pounded Bismarck, and it was no fluke. RR pasted Minot, and Grafton beat by 3 goals. There is virtually no chance that the top 3 seeds from the east get beat by west teams, and frankly, I will be surprised if any of those games are closer than 4 goals. I expect that Devils Lake or possibly North will be the 4th team coming out of the east. They are both beatable, but if DL is playing its best, they won't lose to Minot, Bismarck or Jamestown. North is at least as good as them, as they beat Bismarck and tied Jamestown. North's top line is very good, they simply don't have the depth. The bottom line is that DL and North should also beat the top seed from the west, but it may be a very good game. This is not intended to be "west bashing" as I realize that there are years when the west has very good teams, and I also realize that there are good players from the west. In fact, many of the top players in the west would be the top players in the east. However, the depth of the top teams is where they have the advantage. South and RR can roll 4 lines and their 3rd and 4th lines will be better than most 2nd lines in the west. That is reality.

The EDC bracket should be on Bob Gillen's website at www.gfparks.org/ndaha.

Yes. He is small, but very good. I believe he's only a sophomore. When Roseau and Moorhead played recently, both Dave Hakstol and Don Lucia were present. The conventional wisdom is that both were looking at Aaron Ness. That makes sense because John Lee is already committed to Denver, Jordy Christian to SCSU and Roseau is mostly underclassmen. Another possibility is Jeff Foss, a defenseman from Moorhead. Warroad is a little down this year. The only senior who has garnered much interest is Aaron Marvin, a SCSU recruit. They have a couple of juniors (Hahn) who are pretty good, but they will probably play juniors if anything. I doubt that they are on anyone's radar at this point.

Yes. It can be done and it has happened. A verbal commitment is not binding, but most kids and schools honor that commitment. However, I have seen kids and schools change their minds. A case in point is the son of the new Gophers football coach. He verballed to Illinois, but it was reported in today's paper that he has changed his mind and is going to Minnesota. Rumor has it that Keith Ballard gave a verbal to UND, and then changed his mind. There really are no consequences to that decision. If they sign a letter of intent, that can be binding. If the coach/school decide not to let the recruit out of that commitment, they can make them sit out for a year.