DAR

OK Woog!!

I was kind of surprised that Stafford will not wear a letter. I think he is primed for a big year in what unfortunately is likely his senior season. Obviously the fans are not in tune with the inner workings of the team so I am sure the three guys are well deserving. Should be an exciting season with lots of potential.

Who cares about Kessel.............I hope not to see any Kessel threads beyond this point. Here's to hoping he is the most over rated player ever to wear the so called "treasured M" goofer jersey.

Talent-wise there is no comparison between the Sioux and Miami of Ohio. I think the Mich. St game will provide a good test and could be a one goal game. I think the Sioux will have enough scoring to make up for any defensive lapses in these games.

Not to mention there is a big difference in dollars between the AHL and NHL..........I think the minimum in the NHL is about 400,000.

That looks like Pascal Dupuis to me.....great photo. Not many highlights in that game for Phoenix though as I believe the Wild won that game 7-0.

I will insert Scott Foyt to the end of that sentence.

I want to see how the defenseman look. At forward we will be more than fine as there is a lot of scoring potential there and it is an easier position for a freshman. The potential of this year's team will fall on the shoulder's of the defenseman. If they can progress as a unit throughout the year this team has a chance to have another good post season run. I specifically want to see Radke, has he done the work necessary in the offseason to make an impact? I sure hope so because he will be needed. Based on what I saw last year he needed to get a lot stronger and play a better positional game. He was often caught out of position costing the team goals and I think that is the main reason the coaches pulled the plug on his playing time.

No disrespect, but "Foyt a spark plug on the power play" you gotta be kidding me, your friend must have been highly intoxicated....you must just be saying that to see what kind of reactions you get.

The big question is will Kaip be recovered fully from the post concussion syndrome. That can be a really tricky thing to recover from. Based on what I saw from him before the concussion I did not see much of an offensive side to his game so it remains to be seen whether he can progress as a offensive threat as well as McMahon did. He is however a feisty player who will do the dirty work which this team needs with all the offensive minded players coming in this year.

There will no doubt be some growing pains. This is going to be an extremely young and inexperienced team. However, the saving grace is that there are some VERY talented freshman coming in. The big question will be how well/fast they can adjust to the college game. Does the adjustment take a month, half a season or the whole season? That will determine whether the Sioux are playing in the West regional with a chance to get to Milwaukee. This year's team would be in great position to make a big run at it next year BUT...........oh yeah the early defection part of the game. Smaby and Stafford I would say are highly likely to sign after the season with Zajac not far behind depending on how well he does this year. Then who knows about surprise defections like with Murray this year. All of a sudden what looks like a very promising year is back to square one. Damn NHL!!!

I doubt well be saying Kessel who, as he is is going to have a big impact, however he will be only a one year player, where Toews should stick around for 2 or 3. If Kessel is the top pick I am sure an NHL team is going to want to get him into their system immediately, at least that is my hope.

The question becomes will he be in the line-up consistently enough to warrant an "A". Based on his performance at the frozen four he certainly will be, however it is a new year and his playing time may be challenged. I would not have a problem with giving him an "A" since based on everything I have heard and read he has a tremendous work ethic. However, I think Smaby will definitely get an A as he needs to be the leader of a green defense and I think Porter is more deserving than Fabian and shows the grit and toughness ncessary to win and be a good leader.

That's all right let the Goofies have all the expectations while the Sioux fly under the radar. That will lessen the pressure on the Sioux freshman and get them primed for a post season run.

Not a surprise, although it would have been good if he could have earned a spot on the practice squad. I am sure the speed of the game between division II and the NFL was like night and day, that is a big adjustment to have to make.

...... well said

I certainly hope Radke shows a great deal of improvement this year. The times he was on the ice last year in games I saw either in person or on tv a lot of the time quite frankly he looked lost out there. He seemed to struggle adjusting to the defense first philosophy of the Sioux coaching staff. I am sure with his junior team he could take a lot more chances and free wheel a lot more because the competition was not as good. Hopefully he spent a lot of time in the weight room this offseason as well as I think he needs to get stronger. We shall see what type of impact he can make this season as we will definitely need him to play a much bigger role than he did last year.

I am sure Stafford and Smaby and maybe Zajac will be gone after next year for sure so if you subtract those guys 06-07 does not look so great either. But first things first and that is 05-06. That is the problem in today's environment, just when you think you are set up to have a great team.....the early departures begin and all of a sudden things are not looking as rosy.

It was pretty clear that this was inevitable but since it happened so close to the start of school one did hold out a faint hope that he would be back for his senior year. I am sure the coaches have known that he would be gone for some time now. I am sure he was using the returning to school card to benefit his negotiating position which is a smart thing to do and something that you cannot do after your senior year. It really hurts the team with him leaving much more so than Murray. There are going to be a lot of growing pains on the blue line but hopefully they can play well enough in the first half to stay in the hunt and then come together for a second half run. Having five freshman on defense and yes I am counting Radke as a freshman is not something you hardly ever see in the WCHA.

Did you ask Irmen if he has recovered from the numerous times he got drilled to the ice in the frozen four game??