kvinbe

Yet another reason why the Sioux need to make a serious run this year. It may not be that pretty next year.

It's still way too early to say, but the Sioux may have left themselves way too little room for error with their horrendous first half of the season. They essentially put themselves in a position where they've had to be perfect the second half. Those losses against Tech, Wisconsin, and Anchorage are really hurting us now. I'm keeping the faith, but wow have they put themselves in a tight spot. Let's get the win tomorrow night Sioux!! As for now, I'm checking out to look in on th the pairwise situation. See ya tomorrow night.

All the losses stink, but especially a game where a win would have brought us up to third in the WCHA.

It's all forgiven if he gets one here.

Definitely not a snoozer like UMD last week. Usually aren't when it's Sioux and DU.

Ever notice how when TH slows down at the end of a call he sounds a little bit like Elvis. Sorry, sometimes my mind wanders.

No doubt. Too bad the Krach isn't being used. They always figure out a way to get in more Eastern teams in then there should be.

Just heard TH say that we need some kind of name for the DOT line. Apparently, they don't know that their line is already going by DOT around here. Somebody at the game there better clue him in.

The radio feed is so slow that I always see it in writing first. Good when they score. Bad when we score. Who cares! We lead! Yes!! Go Sioux! Third place is dangling right there in front of us.

You're right. We can't get ahead of ourselves -- especially this year. There is so much inconsistency across TUCs that just about anything can still happen. One thing is for sure, if the Sioux keep their unbeaten streak going, it's a lock that they're in. Fans like me can speculate, I just hope the players will be taking it one shift at a time. The players win every shift and there's nothing to worry about.

Schlossman shares that the Denver and SCSU series may go a long way in determining whether or not the Sioux get into the NCAA tournament. I'm gonna say they need to get four of eight possible points, win the first playoff series, and simply make an appearance at the WCHA Final Five. What do y'all think it will take to get in?

You Gopher fans are pretty slick. Hand out a few complimentary lines after a tough loss to keep the talking of smack to a mininum, then hold out the hope that your team wins tonight and, if they do, let the smack-talk floodgates loose. We'll see if you're so classy if you guys are lucky enough to get a win tonight. You have to get up pretty early to pull the rug over this Sioux fan's eyes. Seriously though, just giving you a hard time. It just wouldn't be the same without the rivalries. Can't wait for the puck drop again tonight.

I just took a look at that video clip. I couldn't believe how far the Goofers were offside on that play. Hope the game isn't called that poorly this weekend or it won't matter how well the Sioux play.

Though difficult to admit as a Sioux fan, there is no doubt that the Gophers are incredibly talented. It's actually kind of frightening. But, the x-factor for the Sioux this weekend could end up being how the Gopher freshman class deals with the intensity of the second half of the WCHA schedule. A lot of teams have been giving them their best shot for an extended time now, and it has to be taking a toll -- especially with the younger guys. I'm hoping they start to wilt a little this weekend. Talent alone won't get it done the second half of the year.

Regarding the atmosphere in the respective arenas, I don't have a lot to say about the opposing venues because I haven't attended enough games in them. I've only been to the Kohl Center for one game with the Sioux, and Wisconsin really does have awesome fans. Unfortunately, it tends to be canceled out by the fact that they obviously know so little about hockey. I actually felt embarassed for them. I've been to a couple of games at "the John" and it was (how shall I say this nicely?) casual at best. I found myself thinking, "If this is how the people in the supposed "State of Hockey" treat their beloved Gophers, I'd hate to see how they'd react to a non-homer event." That's just it, Minnesotans so completely believe that they are the center of all hockey existence that they even show a narcissistic-like boredom with their own team. Pretty disgraceful if you ask me. Now, about the Ralph, the problem there is that it is no longer just about hockey as it was in the old Ralph. Now, it's an event. People show up at games just to say they've been there, just to see and be seen. I'm pretty sure there is a large percentage of the crowd that believes it is at a casino rather than a hockey game. As a die-hard Sioux fan, I'd like to believe that this will change sometime soon, but I don't see it happening. In the old building, the crowd used to contribute to the team jumping all over the opponent and harrassing them into submission by the end of the first period. Not anymore, now the crowd only gets involved if there is "something to cheer about" between trips to the beer stand and photo-ops in the gift store. What we need to do is have the Wisconsin fans teach the Sioux fans how to cheer, and the Sioux fans teach the Wisconsin fans about even the most basic rules of hockey. As for the Gopher fans, they remain so insulated in their narcissistic little world of "the State of hockey" that they are unwilling to even dialogue. It's ridiculous. You hear all this stuff about "the State of Hockey" and you have to dig through the TC newspapers just to find a small morsel aboout college hockey. "State of delusion" is more like it. On second thought, I guess I have more to say than I thought. You know us Sioux fans, we have a tendency to get carried away. I hate to admit it, but sometimes we're like the Green Bay Packer fans of the college hockey world. Oops...did I just write that? I'm actually a Vikings fan. It hurts to even ponder such a comparison. Go Sioux!! This weekend: Sioux 3-1 and 5-3.

To all those nay-sayers out there who think the Sioux didn't win by enough tonight and that the Beavers aren't a legitimate opponent, consider the facts: -- BSU is 18th in the Pairewise and 21st in the Krach. -- BSU is well over .500 in recent play with WCHA opponents. -- The Sioux almost certainly would have lost had they played earlier in the season in the same building. In fact, they may not have even held a lead at any point in the game earlier in the season. -- The Sioux held their ground when BSU pulled even, scored what would eventually be the game-winning goal, and held a one-goal lead late in the game under pressure and in a hostile environment. -- PL played another quality game in goal. -- Goals came from expected, and not-so-expected sources. -- No catastrophic mistakes or turnovers in the defensive end. -- Bottom line: THEY WON!! Ultimately, although we need to generate goals, it's going to be goal-tending and mistake-free defense that make or break us from here on out. With these two key areas moving in a positive direction, I'm feeling much better now about our chances. Even teams like MSU can put up big numbers here and there, but they consistently give up even more. Let's just all hope that Lammy's current trend turns into a full-fledged hot-streak. I'm giving credit where credit is due. This year, under these circumstances, this was definitely a quality win. Now we just need to keep it going tomorrow night. A loss at home and the weekend becomes a negative on the whole. The march to the tournament is on. Let's keep it going Sioux!! For one more night (at least on the ice of REA between the hours of 7pm and 10:15pm), a beaver is something to be maligned rather than desired. Yeah, I know...lame. I couldn't help myself.

The 2006-07 Sioux have yet to show that they have any kind of an edge to them. Based on Dave H.'s track record thus far, they may very well end up developing some edge, but there haven't really been any clear signs of life on that front yet. Lots of expectations, lots of nice sounding sound-bites for the microphones, but nothing yet that really makes me believe that they're turning the corner in that regard. Let's hope that this is the weekend that we start to see a definitive statement in that direction. This hovering around .500 stuff starts to wear on me. I hope that I don't ever have to hear or read again that "we played good enough to win" (but didn't -- win that is). A team hasn't played good enough to win until they have won! Hopefully Hak is getting that point home.