PCM

I agree, Goon, it was a great character win. Good job by the guys especially limiting SCSU to 19 shots on goal, a team that came into the series averaging 36 shots on goal. I'm very pleased to see Massen stepping up his game and scoring some key goals. Good job by Siembida, although Hennessy said he thought the second Husky goal was weak. The key seems to be either to limit the oppostion's shots on goal or to score lots of goals. I'm not convinced that UND's goalie problems are over, but everybody did what they had to do go get a win, and this is a big win.

Maybe I'm alone on this, but I get tired of people saying this or that Sioux goalie didn't play that bad. The excuse is always about some bad break, lucky bounce or the defense leaving the 'tender out to dry. Well, guess what? Every college goalie faces those situations. What sets the good goalies apart from the average or poor goalies is their ability to make saves in tough spots and their ability to limit soft goals. Look what Moreland did for SCSU last night. Look what Jensen did for Mankato. But if the Sioux goalies give up a couple of softies each game and the opposition scores on a high percentage of its good opportunities, UND better prepared to score one hell of a lot of goals because that's what it will take to win.

Isn't it good to know that the WCHA is cracking down on interference this season?

His biggest complaint was with Adam's officiating. After ripping Adam, he said that because of WCHA policy, he couldn't comment on the officiating. But he was clearly upset with the penalty called on Canady while the Sioux were putting the pressure on in SCSU's end. He said that in a 3-3 game in the third period, the ref should let the players play. He took a bench minor after throwing a stick out on to the ice to protest Adam's call, which he admitted wasn't very smart. Blais was obviously upset with the goaltending. He said there were a few defensive breakdowns and a few shots that Siembida couldn't have stopped, but that he also gave up some soft goals. He was especially peeved about the one that put SCSU up 5-3. He pulled Siembida after that one. Overall, he thought that with the exception of goaltending, the team played well enough to win.

This is very true. Coming out of St. Cloud with a split wouldn't be bad at this point of the season. It will be interesting to see how much difference it makes to have the on-ice leadership of Spiewak and Ryan Hale back, not to mention Spiewak's speed on the big ice. Last season's team usually fell apart after taking one on the chin. This will be a good opportunity to see how they respond to adversity.

Does it matter?

I just started a thread on the same subject. Sorry about that.

While I certainly understand Blais' frustration with the officiating, let's face it: The Sioux have lousy goaltending right now. Keeping the opposition's shots on goal low means little when they can score on a high percentage of those that they get. It was the difference against St. Cloud tonight. Moreland came up big when the Sioux had good chances. Siembida rarely came up big and gave up a couple of soft ones. That's not going to cut it it the WCHA. Let's also hope that other WCHA teams aren't as effective at shutting down Parise's line as the Huskies were tonight. If they don't net a few Saturday night, the Sioux will probably get swept. It was encouraging to see Massen, Notermann and Schneider get goals. With Spiewak, Hale and McMahon back Saturday, the Sioux should be a better team. The Sioux aren't as good as their ranking and the Huskies aren't as bad theirs.

Cue the music... 'Cause I'm a model, you know what I mean And I do my little turn on the catwalk Yeah, on the catwalk, yeah, on the catwalk, yeah I shake my little touche on the catwalk

It's lucky that Matt wasn't hurt any worse. I can see why the Sioux players reacted as they did.

Would you believe that I wrote Zach Parise's birth announcement?

What???!!! First it was ESPN and now it's the New York Times. (Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a plug to a certain hack at US College Hockey Online who scooped the Times and ESPN on this story.) According to certain Bison fans, nobody cares about college hockey.

That's what I wanted. Someone who actually knows what he's talking about.

Maybe somone else who listened to the game on the radio can chime in, but as I remember it, Tim Hennessy initially thought Higgins had delivered a dirty hit on Jones. Toward the end of the game, he seemed to soften his position and say that he didn't think Higgins had done anything to intentionally hurt Jones. He mentioned that he thought it looked bad because Jones had started to fall just as Higgins was checking him. In the post-game interview with Dave Hakstol, Hennessy said how he thought it happened, but Hakstol didn't seem to buy it. He said that Jones had been elbowed in the head. That left me in limbo about the situation. The story in the Sunday Grand Forks Herald largely supported Hennessy's version of events. The writer gave the impression that the video replay clearly showed that the incident was primarily caused by Jones falling. One thing I will add is that when I interview players and coaches after Sioux games, I'm always extremely impressed at how well they can recall the smallest detail of something that happened on the ice. Video replays don't always show the best angle or provide a sharp image. Therefore, just because someone says the video proves something, doesn't necessarily mean that it does.

I'm not a lawyer or in law enforcement, but I assume that there are state or local obscenity laws that might apply in this case. The question is: Does anyone bother to enforce them? Without a specific complaint, my guess is no.

That's good to know. I thought maybe you were showing us what you did in your spare time.

Bad Eagle, while I agree with that some of the depictions of Sioux Indians should be considered obscene, not to mention racist, I'm constantly amazed at some of the T-shirts I see people walking around in. Common decency is becoming extinct and few seem to mind or care. I was shocked and apalled to learn that one of the most derogatory Sioux T-shirts ever produced came from a Grand Forks business. I don't understand how anyone who lives in this community could possibly think that selling that article of clothing was a good idea. The worst part is that when something like that happens, it's used to tar the entire community, as well as UND and North Dakota. Yet if you took a poll of Grand Forks residents and UND employees and students, I guarantee you that 95 percent of them or better would say that the T-shirt was obscene, racist and should never see the light of day. The vast majority of people in Grand Forks and at UND respect the Sioux name and logo, use it in a dignified manner and recognize that it's intent is to honor and pay tribute to the Great Sioux Nation and it's warriors who once roamed the plains. It's the small percentage of idiots who ruin it.

Somehow I missed that Bochenski's last goal was shorthanded. That's five shorthanded goals for the Sioux in six games. Last season, the Sioux gave up three shorthanded goals in their first five games.

Did Glas miss a field goal attempt in the first half? If so, what was the distance? I have a hard time understanding why the Sioux were playing for field goals in the second half given their special teams problems in the first half.

dagies, Tim Hennessy interviewed Dave Hakstol after the Yale game. I don't remember much of what he said, but I do remember him saying that he thought Matt Jones got an elbow to the head, which is what sparked the brawl. He also said that he thought it was good that some of the other players stood up for Jones. I'm sure we'll hear Dean's take on the situation during the Wednesday coaches show, if not sooner.

How about we make something that approaches an apples-to-apples comparison? After playing 3 complete games, only one of which was against a ranked opponent, Josh Siembida has given up 9 goals on 74 shots for an .878 save percentage. Jake Moreland has played three games for SCSU and has a .934 save percentage, which is good for 8th place nationally. Here are other goalies ranked in the top 10 nationally who have played in as many or more games than Siembida: Goalie Games Save % --------------------------------------------------- Mike Brown, FSU 8 .957 Jimmy Howard, ME 4 .949 Bobby Goepfert, PC 3 .949 Matt Migliaccio, MSU 5 .939 Nolan Schaefer, PC 4 .933 Obviously, as the season progresses, most of these save percentages will probably go down and others will go up. I'm not prepared to give Siembida a gold star for a .901 save percentage against Yale and Princeton. While it's good that Siembida managed to raise his save percentage a bit this past weekend, the toughest tests lie ahead. Either UND's goaltending is going to have to get much better or the team will have to score a lot of goals to make up for it.

If you look at the save percentages for the top college goalies right now, .900 isn't all that great. It doesn't even get you in the top 10. However, if Josh can keep it at or above that level against WCHA competition, the Sioux will do just fine.

The way Hennessy decscribed it, McMahon was the one who originally went after Higgins. He seemed to think that McMahon and possibly Ryan Hale were the only two Sioux players who really deserved game DQs. Spiewak going after someone doesn't seem characteristic of him.

Overall, it's too early to spot trends as far as who is stepping it up besides the Parise, Bochenski and Fylling line. Lundbohm scored the goal the tied the game and Massen scored the goal that put the Sioux ahead to stay before the brawl broke out. It's encouraging that other players scored when the top line was shut down. And it's not as if UND didn't lose any significant players in the ejections, although I agree that Yale's losses were more significant. On the plus side, North Dakota's opponents for the weekend were 1-13 on the power play. Siembida stopped 5 of 51 shots on goal, which isn't a great save percentage, but much better than it has been. The Sioux went 2-10 on the power play. They will need to improve that stat, especially against the better teams of the WCHA.

Nice effort by the Sioux tonight to put Yale away in the third period. Obviously, Yale losing its entire top line helped UND a great deal. Big goal by Massen tonight. Lundbohm, Notermann and Massen were a good combination. The Sioux will need them to keep it going next weekend at SCSU. Minnesota beat Alabama-Hunstville 4-2 Saturday night, but the Chargers gave the Gophers all they could handle for two periods. UAH also had a power play goal waved off that would have made it 4-3. The UAH radio announcer commented a couple times that the Gophers "don't like to get hit." Hmmm.... Jon Waibel is out for a month for the Gophers. He broke his hand Friday night punching the glass while celebrating his hat trick.