DAR

The Sioux need to get some traffic in front of Reichmuth and get some garbage goals. He is the best goaltender in the league and we cannot just shoot the puck into the goalie's chest like we did too often in Wisco against Bruckler. I hope Blais sticks with the same line combos. Fabian deserves to be in the line-up. I expect to see the same line-up and combos at least to start the game. Canady and Massen are just not producing and I think they sit this weekend. Fabian is not a great skater but he does not take dumb penalties like Canady and Massen just does not have it together this year.

Dagies- In reading your post I can see your point. Let me put it this way, in a big series like this I am counting on the experience of Blais to come through. I think Blais is a very good coach although I have questioned some of his moves this year. I am hoping that Blais can guide this young team to the McNaughton cup and then on to Beantown. In Blais we trust!

It is great for all us Sioux fans who live in the cities to be able to catch the home games at Senser's. I have been there quite a bit this year for the games. I would like to extend a bit thank you to Senser's for carrying the Sioux games.

WPOS - The only reason you say you do not care about winning the league is because your guys do not have a shot at winning it. Believe me if the goofies were in the race all you POIers would be talking about wanting to hoist the cup at Mucci. It goes without saying that winning the cup does not have much to do with winning the NC except for seeding. I think the last team to get the hat trick was the 97' Sioux. I believe sharing the title with the Goofies, beating the Goofies for the Broadmoor (great goal by Armbrust) and winning the NC over Bu at the Bradley Center. GO SIOUX

I think the Sioux are going to come out flying on Fri night. Everyone is healthy and we are rolling 4 lines. Let's not forget that Blais is the master and Sandy is the understudy. Blais knows Sandy's tendencies well. There cannot be any stupid needless penalties this weekend (are you listening Prpich?). Set a physical tone but do not take the needless elbow or charge. Hopefully there will be a big Sioux presence, I cannot wait to get up there. This week of work is really going to drag!! GO Sioux!

I will be at the DECC!

I would have to go with Murray. His speed is a great asset to the team. He has at least met and maybe exceeded expectations and that is a good accomplishment considering he was considered a big time recruit. Porter would get my vote for second with J Par third and Stafford fourth. Smaby has been a disappointment IMO.

The new arena may be a great recruiting tool and all but to me there is no comparison in atmosphere and intimidation factor with the old Ralph. The main disappointment to me in the new arena is the corporate influence and the lack of atmosphere, it feels like a pro hockey atmosphere. The biggest donors get the best seats and half the time they don't show up and when they do they sit on their hands. I realize money rules the day but something needs to be done to bring back the Sioux home ice advantage.

congrats on the sweep this weekend UMDDogz. I will be at the DECC in two weeks with my Sioux jersey on, I hope I do not get beer poured on me. Do they serve beer at the DECC?

I will say that adversity can bring out the best in a team. That being said I thought that after the debacle in Madison, that would have provided enough incentive to get 4 pts. out of this weekend. That is why tonight's loss is so disappointing. I am a big Dean Blais fan but I still feel that calling out Brandt in the media last weekend was the wrong thing to do. ESPECIALLY since he did not even give him a chance to redeem himself this weekend. IMO the unsettled goaltending situation is the biggest concern for this team and without a solid goaltender there will be zero shot at a NC.

Good post JK. I have not been to a game at the Ralph this year as I live in Mpls. I usually make it up for a couple of series per year but have not been able to get up there this year. Therefore, I cannot comment firsthand on the crowd situation. I can however comment on the good ole days at the old ralph where there was a real college atmosphere and seats were not sold to the highest bidder as I was a college student at that time in the mid 90-s. I think the new arena is great but there are alot of parts about the old Ralph that money cannot buy (ie Atmosphere). The team is at a crossroads, doubt has to be starting to creep into their minds especially after what happened last year. That being said Duluth has a tough schedule and I believe they go to Colorado Springs next weekend. I am sure hoping for a Sioux sweep of Mankato and a CC dogz split. That would be a dead tie going into the big weekend at the DECC. I will be making my first trip to the DECC for that series and sure hope the Sioux can enter that series on a more positive note. Let's Go Sioux, Let's Go Sioux!!

To me this was the most disappointing loss of the season. To lose at home 4-1 to a bottom half team in the WCHA is not good. At this point I cannot be too optimistic about gaining more than a split next weekend at Mankato. Remember last year we got swept there, granted Mankato is not the same team this year but I am losing confidence in this Sioux team. If we don't pick things up the Sioux will be lucky to get a point at the DECC. I watched both games between UMD and MN and Duluth looked great. They have a main ingredient that the Sioux lack and that is consistent goaltending. Blais must have a personal vendetta against Brandt, I cannot believe he did not start tonight. I do not understand the favoritism toward JPAr. You cannot blame one guy for a loss but from the sound of it he did not have a stellar game tonight. Considering the Sioux are 2-4-1 in their last 7 since the Sat. night loss at MN you can make the argument that a second half flop is upon us. I usually do not like to take the negative view but this is the time of year when teams are getting primed for the playoffs not trying to answer questions regarding who your top goaltender is and trying to account for defensive breakdowns. IMO besides Jones and Greene the rest of the D need a lot of work. That being said I am a Sioux fan until the end and will not give up on the team until elimination, it is very frustrating to lay an egg like this against a team that we should beat especially at home.

It will be nice to get Kyle Radke here next year. I do not feel our current corps of D move the puck that well. They are more into playing the physical game and standing up the opposition at the blue line. Jones and Fuher move the puck the best of the d-men. Schneider has taken a step back this year IMO. Smaby has enough problems defensively without worrying about any offense. He has potential but he is pretty raw.

I think the Sioux will come out with some good jump tonight, the key will be to sustain it throughout the weekend. Something they obviously did not do in Madison. It will be a good boost to be at home this weekend, hopefully the crowd is into it. The key for me to this year's team the rest of the way is balanced scoring and goaltending. The goalies have got to be solid, you cannot let in soft goals at this time of the year. There has got to be more production from lines 2-4. At times it has been there, but it is still fairly inconsistent. The money line will not carry us to Boston, we need more balanced scoring. I would like to see Stafford get a couple this weekend, he seems to be in a big slump since the World Jr's.

Please stop abusing the message board. This is a hockey board not a looks contest. Who gives a sh*t who the better looking player is and since the vast majority on this board are men that poll does not apply here, my apologies to the group of fine female postes we have on here.

I am sure Matt Greene got in some fights while playing with Green Bay in the USHL. I don't know that Smaby has ever been in a real hockey fight unless it was at Shattuck, which I doubt. This one goes to Greene, without a doubt.

That is pretty obvious, Lundbohm. The other two are pretty much non-factors, Palmo more so than Hale. IMO Hale has had a disappointing season. I realize he is not a goal scorer but I just don't see him do much out there besides the occasional good check.

Does anyone hold out any hope that Massen can come around this year. I usually do not like to single people out but he has the talent to do it and it is just not happening. What a boost he could be to the team down the stretch if he could start scoring and play the way he is capable of. After looking at his stats from last year and to fall to 1 goal on the season is hard to believe. Maybe there is something going on in his life that we do not know about so I do not want to be too hard on him. I kind of would like to see him play some on the second line with Lundbohm and either Porter or Stafford to try and get him jump started even though his play does not warrant second line status. It is just frusturating because he has the talent and "could" be a huge boost down the stretch. Let's hope he can get it going!

I would definitely say no, the college game would not adopt those rules. In my opinion the college game has plenty of scoring and is plenty wide-open and I do not think any major changes need to be made to the rules. The NHL on the other hand needs to open up the game and let the best players in the game utilize their skill. The NHL has become too predictable and needs some rule changes to allow more scoring and not so many 2-1 games. It seems like it is a rare occurence when the Wild scores more than 2 goals. I would rather watch college hockey than pro hockey any day, to me it keeps you more on the edge of your seat.

I can accept some Gopher fans on this board but CHEESEHEADS must go!! Go eat some cheese and drink a few old mud's! Wisco will not finish in the top 3. The top 3 will be UND UMD and UOfM in that order.

I wasn't taking it way too seriously I just thought it was a little childish, I have to remember that not all people are on the same maturity level. Sorry!

STUPID! Why don't you send them an e-mail and tell them that instead of subject the rest of us to read that.

Most of those are direct quotes from the Devils GM so in this case I can take something of substance from it. I would put my money on another year, I do not think he is ready although obviously my opinion does not mean sh*t. The NHL is a huge step and another year of college and strength training would be beneficial. That being said I do not like to look toward next year when we are in a dogfight for the league title this year. Let's get this ship on track again. Let's Go Sioux!

The dogz shold get 3 or 4 pts out of that series, Kato stinks this year. I can't wait for the Sioux vs Dogz series in Duluth. I will be there and it will be my first trip to the DECC, looking forward to it!

Thanks for the recaps PCM, it is much appreciated. It would be nice if the team could settle on a number one goaltender. I thought that for sure was going to be Brandt until the Denver series. With playoff hockey coming up it would be good to have someone be the go to guy. It is Ok to have a rotation throughout the year to keep guys fresh but this is the time of the year when both goalies need to know where they stand.