skateshattrick

I don't get your prejudice against suburban Minneapolis kids. Parise came from Bloomington Jefferson and went to Shattuck, which costs about $25-30,000 per year. Stafford, Smaby and Murray are also Shattuck kids. Bochenski is from Blaine, Peter Armbrust was from Edina, and Karl Goehring and Brad DeFauw were from Apple Valley, to name only a few. If private schools are your prejudice, SSM is a private school and very expensive. I've said it before--I love the fact that the Sioux recruit from all over, including ND, Minnesota, Western Canada, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, and yes, even suburban Minneapolis.

I hope that you are right. We need something to lift our spirits after the tough loss to Denver. I assume that you will be satisfied as long as the Dogs win the championship? I sincerely hope that UMD wins it all! Go Dogs!

Please take off your maroon and gold colored glasses for a second. Ballard is not, and has never been, better offensively than Roche. Roche scored 49 points his sophomore year with a team that asks its defenseman to not pinch. Ballard had 36 points his sophomore year. Even this year, Ballard had 41, which is less. Ballard also is not nearly as good defensively. I asked Dave Hakstol last year whether the Sioux were going to get an offensive defenseman like Roche, Leopold or Ballard, and he almost bit my head off, stating "Ballard is not in the same class as Leopold and Roche." Finally, people do not see Ballard as physical because he is not. You cannot equate stick work and cheap play with physical play.

Great post!

That is not even close to a fair analogy. Gino's teams fell off dramatically after his last national championship in 1987. His last 3 years, the Sioux had a losing record and were near the bottom of the league. I had season tickets, and the place was so empty that you could throw a rock in any direction without a great chance of hitting anyone. The Sioux program was going downhill. By contrast, Dean Blais just won the WCHA, were No. 1 most of the year, and still will be a favorite to win the league and compete for a national championship next year. Plus, the building is full to capacity nearly every weekend. What am I missing?

I wasn't referring to you, but Federov and the other poster. I didn't even see the Kentucky thing on your signature line. It was just the best analogy that I could come up with! Everyone knows that Tubby Smith is a great coach, and Kentucky was very good, but they still lost. It is called sports.

I can't believe that we are even having this discussion. Dean Blais has won 2 national championships, been in 3, and has won a handful of WCHA titles. Was that all talent? I agree that this year was disappointing. However, those of you that are ripping Dean, would you care to elaborate and provide specifics as to what he could/should have done differently?? Sometimes, great teams lose despite great coaching. I'm sure that some Kentucky basketball fans understand that.

I hope that you are right, but being devil's advocate for a moment, will it help recruiting? I agree that would be the case if the Sioux had won a national championship or at least made it to the Frozen Four. However, doesn't this give ammunition to the Gopher backers who have been saying for several years that he made a mistake going to UND? I would suspect that is what Don Lucia is telling new recruits.

Agreed! Excellent post.

I just returned from the game late last night, a 15 hour drive. I am extremely frustrated. Yes, the Sioux outplayed Denver. However, this team turned out to be what a good friend and Gopher fan told me all year: If you shut down the Parise-Bochenski-Murray line, you have a good chance of winning. Denver matched up the checking line with Zach's line, and put Caldwell on the ice against our top line. Quite frankly, other than Prpich, most of the other forwards did not do much. However, that is only part of the problem. Don Lucia "exposed" the Sioux at Mariucci by keeping everyone down low to cover the forwards and to block shots. Our defensemen are very good, but we still lack the defenseman who jumps into the play to keep the other team "honest." I'm not really sure why the Sioux D do not jump into the play very often because it seems that Fuher and Jones have the ability. Perhaps that is just how they are coached. In any event, we appeared very one-dimensional in both games. In other words, if Parise-Bochenski-Murray did not score, we are in deep trouble. If it turns out that Zach is gone, that is very unfortunate. In my opinion, he is by far the best player in the WCHA and probably the country. You will not realize just how good he is until he is gone. I am frustrated because I would have loved to see Zach win a national championship, and I am concerned that the Sioux's window of opportunity may have closed. Yes, the Sioux have some good players coming in and some good young players, but so do CC, Wisconsin and others. With Parise and Bochenski, the Sioux were the most talented team in the WCHA. Without them, they are not.

I would rather drop bowling balls on my foot than listen to those 2 clowns. They are without a doubt the biggest homers I have ever heard, and their knowlege of most sports is lacking, particularly hockey, they have no objectivity, but base everything on partisanship and emotion, and they are generally rude to any caller who dares to disagree with their opinions on their beloved Minnesota teams, whether college or professional. Paul Allen is a huge downgrade from Dan Roe as a football announcer, and is the worst announcer of any Minnesota pro sports team. Having said that, I find him a lot less offensive than Dubay who is nothing more than a fan thrust into a radio talk show.

You are so right! I had always mistakenly thought it was the SIOUX that had 7 National titles, nearly a .700 winning percentage in the NCAA playoffs, and it was the GOPHERS that were called the "Golden Chokers" throughout the country! Thanks for straightening that out. You must have some very kind mental health therapists that will let you play on the computer! Thank you for enlightening us with your intellect and charm!!

It was posted on USCHO that RJ Anderson of Centennial gave a verbal to UM. This has been posted here as well, but I had hoped he would see the light and go to UND!

Very well put. However, I will say that the Flyers (the south end team) is very good at a number of levels, so they may have turned the corner. Last year, the Flyer Squirt A, PeeWee A and Bantam A all split with Moorhead. How many A teams can even say they beat Moorhead which is always strong? This year's Bantam A (generally considered much weaker than the very strong group now sophomores) just won Bantam A state. Next year's Bantam A's are even stronger and should be one of the favorites. The PeeWee A's this year took 3rd, losing to Grafton in the semifinal game in OT. The PeeWee group next year should as strong or stronger. The Squirt A this year was probably the best team in the State, so the Flyers are loaded. The Raiders have been down for a few years. This may be a cycle, but I don't think so. The Flyers have quietly built a strong program which is helped by the numbers and a strong Squirt coordinator.

I agree with you DaveK. It should also be noted that Red River was dominating until GF went to open enrollment. Central would have still been good, but they have had several kids from south GF that would have been required to go to RR before open enrollment, including the Lamoureauxs.

That North class was not unstoppable. They won Pee Wee A state, but only because they all grew prematurely and were a head taller than everyone else. By the time that they hit Bantams, they were not that great. They took 5th in State, and beat the Flyers in OT to do so. The Flyers beat them and tied them the other 2 times, and that was one of the weakest Flyer groups (probably the last of them). Predictably, they are not that good now, particularly with their only goal scorer now on Moorhead. Since that group, the Raiders have beaten a Flyers A team only once at any level. The Raider Bantam A's fluked out a 2-1 victory the 1st time they played this year, but got beat 7-0 the next time. They got swept at every other level the past 2 years.

Where did you hear that RJ Anderson is going to Minnesota? I know that the Sioux were/are very interested in him.

I agree with your first point. I disagree with your last. Remember that Moorhead Youth Hockey, which runs hockey in Moorhead, is privately-owned, e.g., a parent run organization. Fargo's problem is not that it is privately-owned, it is that it has too many competing organizations and it is difficult to get them under one roof. I also agree that the Fargo Flyers are very strong starting with this year's sophomore class all the way down through Squirts. The team that just won Bantam A state was generally considered one of the weaker groups and had an exceptional year. It only gets better in the next few years.

I realize that Stevens has never won a Norris, but he is generally regarded as one of the best defensemen in the NHL. Leetch is good, but not regarded as in the same class as Stevens, Lidstrom and Blake despite the fact that Leetch always has more points than Stevens, and usually has as many or more points than Lidstrom and Blake. Since you seem to have a soft spot for Leetch, perhaps a better example is Sandis Ozolinsh who could always score but was a defensive liability. The same is true of Paul Coffey. Before Scotty Bowman let him go, he was asked about Coffey's offensive skills and all of the points that he had. Bowman's response was to the effect that he gives up as many as he scores. My point was that Ballard scores a lot of points, but that is not the measure of a great defenseman.

Ballard and Geisler may be the top OFFENSIVE defenseman in the league, but are not the best defensemen. Again, I will quote David Hakstol who told me that Jones is the best 2 way defenseman in the WCHA. The reason he is underrated is because he does not score as much as Ballard, but he also does not needlessly gamble, and is better overall. Hakstol compared him to Paul Martin who never got as much attention until late last year and then jumped straight to the pros. Hakstol believes Jones is that good and will jump straight to the NHL like Paul Martin did. Jones can score, but that is not the role that the Sioux coaches want him to assume. If offensive skills were all that mattered, Brian Leetch and Paul Coffey would win the top defenseman award every year in the NHL rather than Rob Blake, Nick Lidstrom and Scott Stevens. Ask yourselves: would you rather have Scott Stevens or Brian Leetch?

Dean Blais spoke at Fargo Sioux Boosters today. He was very humorous, and gave the following information: 1. The Sioux have won 5 of the last 8 WCHA titles. When he won his first, all 9 of the other coaches called. After this year, only Scott Sandelin and Lee Davidson (former Sioux players and coaches, now at UMD) called to offer congratulations. 2. The Sioux will likely play the Gophers in the WCHA playoffs on Friday, and he joked that the refs will make sure that the Gophers get there. 3. The Sioux are extremely focused right now and playing their best hockey. In fact, during a recent practice, they did not miss a pass for 10 minutes. 4. Prpich hurt his ankle and may or may not play this weekend. 5. The Sioux landed some very recruits for next year, including the leading scorer in the BCHL, the top defenseman in the BCHL, and the top goalie in the USHL (Lamoreaux). 6. The Sioux are likely heading to the West Regional in Colorado Springs, and a possible 1st round opponent is Bemidji State. Denver, CC, Wisconsin and Miami are also possible West Regional teams. 7. Michigan Tech is staying in Grand Forks, and are skating in East Grand Forks.

He's a sophomore. He's huge and has a huge shot, but very slow-footed. He will have to improve his quickness and speed or others will pass him by. Paul Weisgarber of South (sophomore) and Mario Lamoreaux of Central (9th grade) are more skilled. Thomas Campbell of Grafton (sophomore) is also good.

I said several months ago that I believe that there are 6 teams that have a legitimate shot to win: 1. UND 2. BC 3. Michigan 4. Maine 5. Minnesota 6. UMD Minnesota has faded, but is always dangerous. I would give them an outside shot, but they are more talented and experienced than Wisconsin and Denver, neither of which has much of a chance. Michigan always gets hot at tournament time. They picked off a heavily favored Sioux team in 98 and ended up winning the whole thing. They also picked off heavily favored CC and Denver the past 2 years. With Montoya in net, they can beat anyone. UMD is talented and also has good goaltending. The easy choices are UND, BC and Maine. Maine has the goaltending, the Sioux and BC the best overall talent. Michigan can never be counted out.

You are totally misinterpreting my post. I never said that most Minnesota kids are capable either. However, it stands to reason that Minnesota hockey, which has hundreds of schools playing hockey, is going to have more D1 prospects and more blue chip players. You will see a select few Minnesota kids from the top programs that can jump right from high school to college. It is difficult in ND because of the numbers and the competition. Minneapolis teams are at a competitive advantage because they have so much competition available with a 50 mile radius. Reputation also plays a part. There are ND kids virtually every year that are as good as the top kids in Minnesota such as Jeff Panzer, Potulnys, Irmen, but they usually have to prove themselves for 1-2 years in juniors to get their shot.