DAR

Too bad Wooger couldn't have hung on as goofer coach. They would still be stuck on 3. How can a guy be so inept that he can't pronounce a name like Lundbohm. I am starting to think he just does it on purpose. I can't stand listening to those guys.

The Kohl center is definitely a hostile environment, probably more so than Mariucci as there won't be as many Sioux supporters in Madison as there were at Mariucci. Now is the time for the team to start to turn it up a level. We are getting close to the home stretch and the Sioux need to really come out flying this weekend and not give the Badgers any hope. I hope Brandt can come out and give a good performance in goal to keep his confidence up. I expect he will start Friday with Parise playing Sat. unless Brandt is outstanding Fri. We need to keep some distance from Duluth as the late February series when the Sioux travel to the DECC will be a huge series and we want to have a little margin for error.

Anything less than 4 pts this weekend would be disappointing. It would be good to get some momentum heading to Madison next weekend. The Sioux need to come with a lunch pail attitude, get some garbage goals and wear down Denver with their superior depth. I have been waiting all season for Massen to find his groove, I don't know if it is going to happen. I wouldn't mind seeing him play up on the second line for a weekend and play with the better players even though his performance does not deserve that. He had a good WCHA season last year and he just seems to not have the fire this year for whatever reason. With Blais you have to earn your ice time. It would be great for the team if Massen could start to come around and become a scoring threat down the stretch.

I don't think there will be any progress in the Victory negotiations until the Twins season approaches. Hopefully there can be a deal in place by regional time. It seems pretty stupid to have a channel that hardly anyone can view. Another case of Polahd's greed and that of his sons as well as they are now calling most of the shots since Carl can barely walk.

I think it is awful risky to start a freshman in this game, you do not want to give the goofs confidence with a bad goal or two. Brandt played pretty well last night and I feel deserves to play again tonight. This is an awfully important game as we can really bury those goofs.

This is speculation but I really doubt Bochenski will leave early. He was a later round pick by Ottawa and that franchise is not known for throwing money at prospects. I hope I am right, Parise is hard to say but my bet is he will stay at least one more year. I think we are set at D next year but we need to find another center to replace Lundbohm.

Who cares, the forum is much better without his stupidity. At least now the focus is on Sioux hockey as it should be and not his little games!

I do not think Ryan Hale should be captain again this year. He had a really disappointing year last year. He needs to step up and provide some offense on that third line which he did not do last year. When the Sioux hit the skids last year I did not see the leadership there to get them out of their funk. My vote goes C: David Lundbohm A: Andy Schneider A: Brandon Bochenski

I think the main question for this team remains goaltending. It is by far the least stable aspect of the team. We cannot have musical goalies again next season and expect to compete for a title. Someone has to step up and win the job. Although I agree Brandt stepped up at the end of the year, I am skeptical as to whether he has what it takes to be a number one goalie at this level. The loss of Hale also hurts the goaltending situation because a strong d-corps can make a mediocre goaltender look Ok by limiting the quality scoring chances by the opposition and keeping the shots to the outside.

I'd say there is little chance any other Sioux player will leave early if they do they need their head examined. Look at Brian Lundbohm as a classic case of a guy who made a big mistake by leaving early. He will never see the NHL and will have a hard time making the roster of the AHL Milwaukee Admirals next year. Even Travis Roche has not yet had more of a small cup of coffee in the NHL. With the success of the Wild this year, I would say it is a long shot for him to make the team next year. It seems that the Sioux seem to lose players early a lot more than the Gophers do. I live in Mpls. and from what I have read in the papers it sounds like everyone will be coming back. As much as I hate to admit it, they will be the clear favorite in the WCHA. The Sioux MUST have consistent goaltending to be a contender next year.

I hope they lose. We will never hear the end of it if they go back to back. Too bad the game can't end in a tie!

I do not expect much of an impact from Bina. He is 20 years old and had not yet been offered a scholarship to my knowledge so he was not on most scouts radar. He is listed at 5'7 and 170 lbs. That is tiny for a defenseman. That being said I have never seen him play and he will be counted on to play next year as he is the 7th defenseman. He is not going to win many battles for the puck with such a small frame. You cannot measure a guy's heart and desire though and Blais must see something in him that makes him believe he will be a contributor.

Obviously, this is a big blow to the D-corps next year. Other guys are going to have to step up to soften the blow. If Hale had been healthy all year I would have said it would be a given that he would go. With the illness I thought the Devils might want to wait and see if he can withstand a full season before giving him the guaranteed money. But this is a reality of college sports and we just need to keep re-loading.

Yeah but you can't punish what you can't catch. I can't imagine this guy is to swift on his skates or I think he would be going somewhere other than Vermont.

Maybe Drew can be the wildcard of next year's class. Come in and provide some scoring punch to the lower lines.

If Hale leaves, Smaby will play a much bigger role on the team as a fresman. We will lose a lot of experience in that situation. However, Smaby was rated an "A" prospect among high school prospects and is projected to be a late 1st or 2nd round pick. He has good size and skating ability and should have an impact in his carrer at UND.

Leopold is still a member of the Flames. He played in the game against the Wild a short time ago at the X.

I find it a real stretch to consider Dahlen a 7th defenseman, from what I understand he is waliking on. I think he transferred from LSSU or somehere. I have not seen him play but doubt he can be contribute much this year besides an extra d-man in practice. If Hale leaves Blais will have to find another defenseman.

I think it is inevitable that Hale will sign. I have sensed in some of Blais comments about next year that he does not expect to have Hale back. The only hope I see that he stays is if the Devils are not sure he has the illness in order and do not want to give him guaranteed money if this continues to be a problem. If he does sign I think he will take some time to develop to an NHL level and will play in Albany (AHL) for some time. As a fan I hope he stays because it would be a big blow to next year's team. Defense would become quite thin. Who would be our extra d-man after Schneider, Fuher, Greene, Jones, Smaby, and Marvin. If someone gets hurt there is no depth. All I can think of is Chad Dahlen who is supposedly going to try and make the team next year or if R. Hale becomes a fill in on D. As a Sioux fan I sure hope Hale stays but I can see both sides of the issue. I do not see us finshing in the top 3 in the league next year w/out D. Hale.

Hammy, Handyman, and WPOS must be closet Sioux fans because they are over here more than on POI. Most of the time there posts are respectable. After all this is only a "game" we are in conflict about here.

Wiseman is just one of those people that invade this board to see how many people they can piss off and sit back and laugh about it. We've seen your tricks before by goofer posters.

I am concerned about our PK next year. We lose Notermann and Spiewak who were our best penalty killers. Both the power play and penalty killing need to get better if the Sioux are going to make some noise next year. Hopefully Ryan Hale can become a bigger factor next year. He needs to score more than 3 goals. We have got to find a way to balance out the scoring more throughout the line-up. I thought Lundbohm had a pretty good year. Hopefully in his senior year he can get up close to 20 goals.

Speaking of Woog, he has got to be the worst commentator I have ever heard. I don't know if he thinks he is funny or what but most of the time he is just stupid! Tom Reid was so much better when he used to do the goofer games. He was very enjoyable to listen to. Get a clue Wooger, It's LUNDBOHM!! Man he bugs me. I saw him at Senser's for the Sun nite game vs Denver and I wanted to go tell him how dumb he sounds on air.

I know Blais has been quoted as saying he promised the families of Parise and Murray that he would be coach as long as they played for the Sioux so I doubt he would go back on his word. He interviewed with Columbus before their inaugural season.

I am a little baffled how you can "love" both programs. To me you either are a fan of one or the other but to each their own I guess.