Big A HG

Joe still has his sense of humor as of today.

I wouldn't be surprised if they calculated this based on me, haha. I have a test in 2 hours I haven't studied for and a test tomorrow at 11am I haven't studied for.

Depending on the weekend, I usually have to work in the morning following Friday night Sioux games, especially during holiday season, so I'll go home and rewatch the game on my DVR. You're welcome to join!

It's not supposed to get you pumped up in a way where you go and bite the head off a bat or something. It IS supposed to get you pumped up in a way where deep down, your heart is racing, knowing that legends have played for this team, that hockey is about passion, and love, and dedication. It's a "get focused" type pump you up. If you listen to the lyrics, it fits the video very well. I guess it's hard to describe, but I love watching that sort of thing instead of the same old songs that every arena in the country plays. How many times is Crazy Train, Guns and Roses, or Metallica going to play before it simply gets old. They are great, but can be used at other times. Personally, I like the video.

Toew's first goal tonight was ridiculous. It had glimpses of his dangler last year in it. You have to see it... Either way, it's blasphemous that it wasn't even a top 10 play tonight on ESPN. A quote from the announcer..."HE MADE THEM LOOK SILLY!" I don't have a direct link, but if you go to chicagoblackhawks.com, they'll have a link you can follow to see it. I don't know how he hasn't scored more than he has up to this point. It looks as if he's starting to turn it around though.

Any game updates for tonights match?

Someone had to do it... Maybe if we get another 10-1 win tomorrow I'll get rid of it. Knowing the Sioux this year we'd be on the losing end of a 10-1 tomorrow, haha.

*****BREAKING NEWS****** The Sioux flight was canceled due to poor flight conditions. The Boston Bruins who had an off night tonight are wearing our uni's, which were overnight shipped for this weekends games.

Sounds good. Seems like a grinder based on his size/stats. Hopefully his skill will continue to increase and be a great overall addition to the team.

I'm glad you agree, but you can't discount Duncan. The problem with Duncan though is that he can't create much on his own during 5 on 5. When that's the case you need players to move the puck around efficiently to give Duncan a chance to get open. Then, add the fact that teams are focusing on Duncan and it's hard for him to produce. It's actually great that he has as many points as he does and shows how good Duncan really is. But, imagine how much better a line could be if you had a couple guys who can get him the puck in an open space.

I agree with your assessment. I just also feel the guys just aren't that good.

We have to have scorers to score. We just don't have a group of guys who can put the puck in the net night in and night out.

For the second time now, that's not my point. I'm not saying they should score as much as they do in the BCHL. I'm saying that these guys knew how to score. It's not like they don't play with goalies or defensemen in the BCHL. These guys should be improving more than they are over 4 years. I just put up BCHL numbers to show that they've scored before.

No, they ran into a hot goalie.

I wasn't implying they should put up the same numbers or anywhere close. I'm just saying that these guys knew how to score at one point. Yes, it is a lot more difficult to score in the best conference in college hockey. But, to score as little as a lot of these guys are is disappointing.

He hasn't performed great, but he is still a sophomore. I don't think he was recruited for his strong defensive presence, despite his height. I think he is supposed to be a good offensive presence with good passing and powerplay skills. Has he done this? Not exceptionally. But, he will come. All the defensemen that come through here take longer than the forwards. If he was a junior this year I'd be a little more worried. He's still building muscle, just like Joe Finley. Finley was pretty scrawny coming to UND as well, and his presence is missed for sure with him out. LaPoint, in my opinion, is in a similar boat. Martens has actually been one of our better forwards since the second half of last season, in my opinion. He creates a lot of plays on offense and is always skating harder than anyone else on the ice. It's hard to get in a good rhythm though when you're not playing all the games.

That's not the point. The point is, you should get better with experience and score more. I'm not saying all these guys should be putting up 50 points each this year, but the numbers should improve more than they have. These guys have been here. They've all logged plenty of ice time. They know the pace of the game. They know what to expect when it comes to college hockey. If all they are going to do is put up the same numbers they put up their sophomore years, why have 'em at all.

Haha, I didn't know that happened. Wow that was a !@#!$ day for you.

The thing is, the guys who you say have improved over the years, look better than they really are. They are just average college hockey players. If you take many other schools, their players develop into key players (sometimes stars) for their junior and senior years. A lot of these guys look decent because we don't have anyone better than them. But they're not scoring or finishing because they just aren't that good. Take Matt Watkins for example. He scored 74 points in 60 BCHL games as a junior. Freshman year he scored 9 points in 46 games. Did better his sophomore year to get 17 points in 38 games, then actually puts up less numbers his junior year with 18 points in 43 games. Let's we quadruple his stats for this year (which would be 44 games, which is more than what we can bargain for), and he'd finish with 12 points this year. You can say we lost a lot of good talent, but these guys are supposed to improve and step up for their junior and senior years....not stay the same. Watkins isn't a guy we rely on to score, he's definitely more of a grinder, but if you can put up that many points in juniors, and by the time you are a senior at UND you are on pace to have 12 points? That's not good. Martens may have been a walk on, but he did score 62 points in 60 games in the BCHL. He's a good player and definitely has improved. Still, he's not much to fear for opposing teams. Kozek scored 97 points in a 60 game season of BCHL. Freshman year: 13 points. Sophomore year: 11 points. Junior year: 21 points (better). Senior year: On pace for 10-12 points. Darcy Zajac: Frosh year: 10 points. Soph year: 8 points. Junior year: On pace for 10-11 points. Brad Miller actually can be a bright spot. Freshman year: 0 points. Soph Year: 24 points (nice!). Junior year: 10 points. Senior year: On pace for 32 points (not bad). Vande Velde scored 9 points his frosh year before a very nice year last year where he scored 32 points. This year, he's on pace for 25-26 points. Another slide. Why aren't ANY of our seniors greatly improving over 4 years. Seniors are guys you should be able to turn to, to win games. Even Hak said the sophomores will be the key this year, because he knows the upperclassmen just aren't good enough...Duncan being an exception. It's no surprise as to why we are not playing well. We just aren't that talented.

Besides our student section, our home crowd is terrible. It's easy to cheer when something good happens, every fan base does that. Good crowds cheer all the time, and loud. I sat outside the student section for the first time during the Sat. night Anchorage game and almost fell asleep. It's really disappointing that people treat the place like a lounge instead of a hockey rink.

Not bad. I do think we lack talent though. Half our upperclassmen have hardly improved since their freshman and sophomore seasons.

Someone tell Chay to stop forcing so many shots from the point. It's getting ridiculous. He's the reason for so many odd-man rushes at the Frozen Four. Things haven't changed much this year either.

I think we all have to face the fact that half our upper classmen are busts. Maybe the team should practice more instead of video taping "TV shows" during the week.

These will be the first home games I miss in 2 and a half years. It might be the right time to take a break.

I'm not sure what stinks more in Grand Forks right now, Simplot, the river, or the Sioux.