jgomeztagle

Keep calm people. Rome wasn't built in two weeks of two a day. We are in for two to three long years. Buckle up and support the Sioux. With time, coach Bubba will straighten the ship. He will bring in good practice/playing habits. These kids will turn it around. Go Sioux!

The problem that UND has had in the past, in my humble opinion, is that they fall behind during the season. This makes them have to play with a "playoff" mind set the second half of the year. This is extremely tiring for a team. By the time they make it in, they are running on empty. It is a delicate balance. You do not want to throw games (ala Indianapolis Colts), but you do not want to get there gassed. This year is different...they remind me of Boston U from a couple of years ago...they rode high the whole season, a few hickups here and there, but overall at a very high level. This team shows that. No roller coaster for them (I hope). I honestly see them taking the whole thing this year. The Fighting Sioux Name will go out with a bang...!

I wonder if TA&M cheers for UT when UT plays Oklahoma? Probably not, A&M probably cheers for OU. Or how about U of FLorida cheering for U of Miami when the canes play other teams from outside the state....probably not C'mon people. These are sports, Not politics or a matter of STATE Pride. I really like the weather comment...."Long live the bad weather!" Down with Sunny weather!.... Guys, cheer for whom ever you want, just don;t make it a State pride thing. It is just a bunch of kids playing sports. That is what makes College sports special. A bunch of kids, playing for the love of the game. Trust me, at no point in my career did I play for the state of North Dakota, I played for the Sioux and the Sioux only. We played Minot and were happy beating them to a pulp. No state pride there...And of course, we LIVED to beat NDSU. Plain and simple.

NDSU...That is a 4 letter abreviation that evokes many , many feelings. I played against the Bison, for 5 years (including redshirt). I personaly can not cheer for them. YES, it is admirable that a school like NDSU can make it to the big dance, yet, I can not feel good about them winning anything. Call me narrow minded, call me childish, I just don't feel I will ever cheer for the Bison. Not in a sport, not in academics, nothing. As for the Gophers vs NDSU...I could care less. I dislike both teams. Anytime we lost to a team in the playoffs, deep inside I wished for their defeat at the hands of others. Back in my day you never cheered for the Bison, Nebraska Omaha, Northern Colorado. Sorry folks, I can not be exited about their success, They were my rivals, will always be my rivals. SO, as for NDSU, ...I hope they get blown away on their first game. That simple.

When I used the word circling, I meant it as a "passing" the puck. As if making a circle with the puck. In every sport where the puck/ball is live (Basket Ball, Soccer, Hockey, Waterpolo etc) the better handling of the object, the better chances of success a team has. I compare it with Soccer. Look at the teams that have won most of the world cups

It is difficult to predict. It is my belief that One thing is for certain and It has been certain 4 years in a row now. Our style of play is not good enough for National Champions. You can not win it all by dumping the puck into the corners and trying to make plays afterwards. BC won by circling the puck. MN won it by circling the puck. DU and WI won it with Goaltending. Michigan ST won it with Goaltending as well. Last year our style of hockey rode Lami to the Frozen 4, where he chocked and we could not keep up with BC. I addition, some of the guys that anchor our best lines can be shot down fairly easily. Duncan in the Frozen Four was shut down, Vande Velde, which by the way reminds me a lot of Bochenski, can easily disappear. Finley, has shown a tendency to over chase smaller forwards, requiring the need of another Sioux defender. Not good when you look at the smaller forwards on some of those teams. In all, UND has a good team, a talented team, I just don't think we circle the puck enough. It doesn't mean we do not know how to do it, we just don't. When you look at the games where UND has dominated, they have circled the puck nicely. One of my theories with Hask Teams, is that early in the season, when everyone has fresh legs, our "puck dump" style does not work well. Other teams match us body against body. AS the season wears, we are actually better conditioned, and as a result, our style of play works for a while. We have our second half runs. The problem though is that by Frozen Four time, we are also tired and the puck-circling style of others trumps our puck-dump style. My belief is that until UND becomes a puck circling team, we will continue to be overmatched in the Frozen four. Who knows though, maybe we can ride Eidsness to the championship.