Kuhninca

MN has a lot of young talent, but then again, so did UND last season. The problem is, if they're too young, they can't get it done. MN loses Pohl, Leopold, Taffe, Hauser. They wouldn't have been a championship team without those guys. However, MN has great momentum as a program. They continue to land top recruits and Lucia has that early coaching buzz going. UND may be the most underrated team coming into next season, though. Parise will be a solid contributer as a freshman, perhaps in the 20-35 pt range. The offense as a whole will be +2, +2, -4 in the categories of seniors, mid-classmen, and freshmen compared to last season. That's a huge difference! Then consider that the only two offensive freshmen expected to play are Genoway & Parise, and you've got a pretty positive looking team. I am no longer afraid of MN. Next season, they will not finish first, IMO. Not with the magnitude of losses they are taking.

The program has built upon its success in the past to the point where we are getting the best recruits and, as Blais says in "Fight on Sioux,"

Seems to me Blais is suddenly the most underestimated coach in hockey. Nobody is willing to dream that UND might to better than 3rd next season? UM will be tough, but why will Denver and SCSU be so scary? Denver had a lot of senior talent. St. Cloud lost their best offenseman. At the very end, UND was playing good hockey. Next season, there is no reason Deano can't elevate the team to more success. Thoughts?

Fournier - will have a much better season pointwise. Probably will be second line center. Genoway - hard to tell how good he is. 4th line center? Parise - Sioux fans being careful not to expect too much, but sounds talented enough to play first line center. Perhaps Blais will "promote" him mid-season. Marvin = Fuher; Greene = Schneider. Blais is recruiting a very specific type of defensemen lately. Hopefully, they will clog up the d-zone and block shots, etc. Offensive skills will be learned with time. Fylling - most underestimated returning player. Until the recent awards and praise from the USHL fans and coaches, many Sioux fans didn't even think he would play regularly. Probably will be a regular third or fourth line forward and score decent points as a soph.

After last season, I don't think anyone is expecting much from this Sioux team. And that is a real shame. The program in second place for all-time National Championships expects nothing from itself. That would never go over in Michigan, and it ought not go over here. So, when do we get to expect something? Two years...three? What if they fall on their faces that season, like in 1999? Do we preach patience for 4 years afterward?

Okay - so the consensus seems to be that Michigan had better defense, goaltending and better upperclass leadership and that is why they are in the Frozen Four. That's logical. The big unanswered question is...if UND's freshmen are truly as talented as people say, why did only one of them (Bo) break the 15 pt barrier? As I posted earlier, Mich. freshmen scored 30, 26, 22, 19, 18, 15, etc. Is it that the WCHA is really that much harder to assert oneself as a freshman? Are none of UND's returning Soph's "special" players? I'm curious to know why we've had multiple freshmen that contributed strongly in many a recent season, yet it just didn't happen recently. When I get back from vacation in a week, I'll be interested in seeing people,s thoughts.

Obviously Blais doesn't get ousted after a single poor season. Not when a dozen freshmen were in the lineup. That's not the point here. Rather, I'm wondering what people think is the difference between what is happening for them vs. what happened to UND. Their team is loaded with freshmen who contributed greatly. Goaltending didn't do that. I hear that Blais is "Hitting the recruiting trail very hard" these days. Perhaps playing far into the Spring actually hindered bringing in some kids who could contribute right away? I think we need another Bayda-type player and another kid who can really be a play maker with great passing skills. Can we pull in a couple of guys out of Canada?

This is not a slam on UND. Blais has had a fantastic run as coach and this school's tradition speaks for itself. However, Michigan is going to the Frozen Four. A team that has zero seniors among it's top scorers. A team that has freshmen that have scored 30,26,22,19,18,15 and so on. People say we expected too much out of our freshmen this year. I wonder if that is true, or if we expected too little? Thoughts?

Okay, first thing I gotta do is apologize to Speez.

dagies: you are a class act, so this is not a slam. However, I DO expect Blais to make some cuts based SOLELY on performance. Why, because he can and because this team let him down in terms of acheivement this season. Hasbargen and Murphy gave 100% every shift, but they got the axe so that players like R. Connelly could have a shot. Some of these guys simply did not come through this season, even though they played in nearly every game. Expected to be GONE next season are: Both Connelly bro's. Possibly D. Faul It all depends on whether Blais can find some good recruits in the off-season, like he used to do when he was hungry and not yet big-headed (sorry, Dean). Remember, Spiewak notched 15 as a freshman. Connelly only managed 4? Here's to the Sioux being back in form next season, with a number of HUNGRY new recruits, I hope.

I wouldn't doubt that both Connelly bro's are GONE for next season. Also, I wonder whether Canady is really good enough to be in there every game. He drew some praise from Blais this season, but look at his stats - not exactly awe-inspiring. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Dean go hard after some REAL offensive talent after this relatively inept season. You better believe he will work the REA/Parise angle as much as possible and not care too much about whether the returning Soph's get to play or not. That's the way it should be in an elite program. Produce when given the chance or don't expect to be given an easy second-chance.

Andy SO OUTCLASSED Hauser in this game. If the tables had been turned and "Hoser" had faced 45+ shots, that sack of s&!t would have allowed at least 6 or 7 goals. Then, to skate by the Sioux bench and make rude gestures after a season ending game = CLASSLESS as can be. Worthless, Lose-an-NCAA-championship-for-your-team kind of worthless. I can't wait to see him FAIL. What an asswipe. Sioux will be back in form next season. Especially if they can land one or two more recruits and re-establish a bit of real competition for playing time.

I've been a big critic of this team this season, but tonight's effort made up for last night. Kollar looked like a champion out there and Bayda/Skarperud played their hearts out. Hauser is a worthless piece of sh#t! As Tim & Tim agreed, UM will NOT WIN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP simply because that classless sack of crap is their goaltender. Here's to UND returning to form next season. This one was real tough on everyone involved, and I'm glad to see they ended it on a good effort, if not a winning one.

The day after assesment: Goofs played a great game - overwhelmed UND and made them look stupid. Blais' team had confidence heading into the game...perhaps that was their mistake. They should have come into town with a real sense of desperation and played MUCH HARDER. The UND announcers were brutal in their description of how pathetic the mental and physical effort was. They said the checking was weak and that Siembida was left hanging over and over. The only players who got any praise were McMahon and Kollar. I'd have to say Spiewak, Lundbohm, Bochenski, & R. Hale all let us down last night. They were more or less unheard of all night. Non-factors. This season has been a huge disappointment. I know Blais was expecting better things from these guys. They failed to put it together, even after many of the fans kept the faith and preached patience. Mine is worn out. I hope Blais goes hard after some offensive recruits and replaces some of the kids who had less than 10 pt seasons.

Did Spiewak even play tonight? I listened to periods 2 & 3 and I swear his name wasn't mentioned even once. He has to be the clear "winner" of DUD OF THE YEAR. People were expecting big things from him...they were let down. Skarp came through as usual. MacMahon was the only other offensive player who got more than a couple chances. Pathetic lack of effort and enthusiasm. No, really. Tim & Tim were saying those exact words. No excuses! Let the sackings begin. Not Blais, of course. I'm talking about players who show up to a do-or-die playoff series with nothing to offer. Show 'em the door.