forecheck

Thanks kr, I kind of figured so.

Did anyone happen to catch the coaches show today? I was busy catching up with my roommate and it completely slipped my mind. Or was there even a show? I don't know how early the team leaves for Anchorage.

I don't suppose student season tickets would count in that deal?

UND 28 45 CC 28 42 SCSU 28 35 UMN 28 34 Denver 28 33 UMD 28 27 Mankato 28 27 AA 28 13 UW 28 13 MTech 28 11

The fourth line last night was Connelly, Genoway, and Fylling.

Nope, my brain is clear as a bell! My image of Woog increased 10 fold when I saw him do his little "Olympic" run at the new REA last year with a yellow feather duster before the HOF game. I thought it was hilarious! And then I realized, besides thinking he is funny, I like listening to him comment on the game as well. Sweeney and Bredahl try to be funny, and don't succeed, IMO.

I find it hard to listen to Bredahl and Sweeney at times, but it's better than nothing. I do think, though, that the tv broadcasts would be better off if they could just use Hennesey's play by play, and have pre-taped interviews with the team, coaches, etc. for intermissions. One good thing I have to say about Sweeney, though, is that he knows a lot of trivia about sports. What a memory. I would suggest, though, that Sweeney stop spelling players' names. I don't know if anyone else notices this, but he is always spelling their names during play, and it drives me nuts. And Bredahl, shut up about Minot natives already. It's getting a bit old. As for Woog, I actually enjoy listening to him. I'd rather listen to his commentary of a Sioux/Gopher game than Sweeney and Bredahl.

Too bad it has to be on a weekend where the Sioux play the Gophers. I would have liked to watch SSM again.

I know I would be happy. Scmidt, I will be at the games. I'll see if I can find the cards.

I don't remember seeing any giant head looming above the ice....then again I don't know what you look like. I could have been scared and just didn't know it at the time.

I also think it would do a lot of good to just bring in a goalie coach to work with the current goalies. I watched the Gopher Ticket before Friday's game against Yale, and they showed Stauber working with Weber and Johnson on some techniques. And I sat there wondering who takes extra time aside on UND's team to work with the goalies? And I mean more than just taking shots at them. Scott is right, a goalie needs to teach these guys how to improve on their skills, not a former defenseman or forward. I've seen both good and bad from both goalies, and with a little extra help, I think they'll be just fine. And you can't blame Saturday's game against Bemidji all on Josh. I thought the whole team played below their level, not just the goalie.

Jim, there were quite a few empty seats in the student section (109) where you could have gotten some nice shots.

I don't know, I would think that maybe Bochenski would want to stick around and play on a line with Murray and Parise next year. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but goalscorerers are selfish in nature, and if Brandon can get 40 goals this year with only 1 consistent linemate, I don't think it's a stretch to say he could get 50 goals next year. Assuming of course that Murray has a successfuly freshman year. After that, who knows.

Speez, the first game was all Manitoba in the first period, then #17 for Manitoba gets a game misconduct for checking from behind in the 2nd, when the score is 3-3. Bemidji scores 3 PP goals on that one penalty, and it was most definitely the turning point of the game. The line of #14, #17, and #29 (sorry don't know any names) for Bemidji I believe scored all/most of their goals, and were the only noticeable players. I think the Sioux should be able to easily handle them tomorrow.

Whoops, I didn't even count, I just assumed he forgot Dahlen and added him on for 9. Doh!

I would definitely put Chris Leinweber on the surprise list of players who exceeded expectations. Last year he was often benched in favor of freshmen defensemen. This year, I don't cringe when he steps on the ice, and dare I say, he has developed into a fairly solid defenseman. With 0-3-3, 6 PIM, and a +5 rating in 17 games, you tend not to notice him much (which to me means he is doing his job as a defenseman). But when you compare his numbers so far this year to his total numbers last year, 0-1-1, 4 PIM, and a -3 rating in 17 games, I would say that is a pretty good improvement. The coaches must also see improvement, since Chris has equaled the number of games he played in the total season last year before Christmas.

SiouxFanInBoston, Make sure you stop at Subway first and pick up coupons for $8.50 off an adult ticket and $5.00 off a child ticket. I'm sure tickets will still be available.

I'm trying to remember, but I don't think Hale was mentioned. (PCM?) My understanding is that Blais hopes to have him back in a couple weeks, so he should be ready to go for CC. Hopefully.

My last one until after Christmas break. Tonight at Lola's: Caller loved "Goldilocks" from Canisius. Blais said the fans loved him too, especially the students, but he was close to getting his face punched. He started playing chippy, and when he slashed Parise's wrist toward the end of the game the bench almost came unglued. He even yelled at Blais when he came by, and Blais just said get your hair cut. The caller mentioned every time he looked at the bench, Durno was taking his helmet off and tucking his hair behind ears like a beauty queen. Blais said he didn't want to be making fun of anyone, but when he first saw him on the ice in Buffalo, the first thought that came to his head was "Chewbacca." Talk about how the goaltender didn't lose the game at all. He made some great saves. Cansius is doing fairly good in the MAAC, something like .500. Tim says that UND has come along a lot farther than Canisius since Buffalo, and the Sioux made them look bad. Caller: Wondering if there was a rule if Greene would have laid out Durno, would he have had to miss a game besides the ones he was going to miss for the World Junior Tournament. Blais said he would have had to miss the first Gopher game. Also wondering which ice is more conducive to Sioux PP, NHL or Olympic. Right now Blais thinks they are a better cycling team on a smaller rink, but they might get more shots off on the bigger ice. Tim mentions that with the speed on this team, the bigger ice may become better though, which is good since they're going to be playing on Olympic sheets more in the second half. Tim brought up this message board, and laughed about the suggested name of the Christmas Tournament. I believe it was "The 1st Annual 'We Promise This Is The Last Year We Host a Tourney With Three Horsesh!t Teams' Tourney". Lots of laughter about that one. The difference between last year's team and this year's team was evident again last week when Jones was being interviewed by Tim. Tim said I bet you're excited to go, and Matt said yeah but it would be nice to be here for the tourney and CC. These guys don't want to miss out on any games because they're having so much fun. Talk about the record. UND has found a way to win, they've had come from behind wins, and they can maintain the lead in the 3rd. We've had weak teams on the schedule, but so has everyone else. Gophers have played Tech 4 times. Blais mentions that our team is only giving up 20 SOG per game, and he wouldn't be surprised if MN and CC get that many too. Teams like Michigan are averaging 30 SOG, but they still only got 20 SOG against the Sioux. Fatigue could set in with all road games, but the team is in top shape right now. Last year they weren't in the best shape. The freshmen can be big shots wherever they come from, but they never know what it's going to take until they step on the ice and play a game. Blais said it makes you realize how good Parise is, coming in so highly touted, and he is backing it up by playing. Mike Commodore's brother blew his knee out, had major reconstruction, and he just couldn't come back to play. Talk about how Curtis Murphy got his first sniff at an NHL game. It's tough to play 10 straight games at home, with 8 of them being WCHA games, and then have to go on the road. There's a tendency to become complacent. January is going to be a tough month. The goal has to be split on the road, and if they do better, great. As for the home CC games, the question is will the team be able to win without Greene, Jones, and Parise. Blais wants to have the lines set up in the Christmas tournament that will play against CC. Right now he will probably have McMahon, Spiewak, Notermann out together to offset Senja's line. They neeed to have a checking line in this game. Mankato and Duluth have a chance to be in the top 5 in the WCHA this year. They talked about how Prpich has played with everyone, he's been around. "These Candian kids know everybody."--Blais.

Actually, I think Midco is showing the UND @ CC games already. They did last year too.

I thought the misconducts were pretty weak calls, but it didn't matter much since there were only a few minutes left in the game anyway. The students cheered for Durno when he came back into the tunnel to watch the game. Nice pictures PCM, I love the captioning!

I was confused before, but I have finally decided to follow my heart. Thank you PCM, great job!

Don't listen to him PCM! I NEED a picture of my teenwolf hunk in action with his hair flying in the wind!

If in fact Ryan Hale's shoulder is just bruised, I would rather see him sit out until the CC series and rest his body than come back in the lineup tomorrow. We need everyone there and healthy for CC, and I would assume Hale would be paired up against the top line of Senja and Cullen again.