Big A HG

Dell got his break...time to put the pedal to the medal for 8 more games. You can't have Dell going into the Final Five with only 2 appearances over the course of the previous two weekends.

He can say what he wants, and I'm not disagreeing with you in saying that Dell is a better goalie, but you acted like he was making up numbers in regards to the .926 save percentage, and you even wondered where he got it from.

He said it multiple times, Goon.....CONFERENCE ONLY statistics. You can find them here: http://wcha.com/men/min/stats11.php

I would like to see his numbers late November or so onward. He was a little shaky in the beginning, giving up some softer goals. But, since then, he has played pretty darn awesome.

I dug up some info that is quite intriguing. I posted this on another forum as well, but here's what I found: ________________________________ It all depends on how the Hobey panelists look at it. If they vote like they did last year, Frattin has a great shot at winning (I honestly believe Miele will win). Last year: Gustav Nyquist (Maine) played in a good conference, scored 19 goals and had 42 assists, exactly where Miele sits now (yes, Miele has games in hand comparatively). Gustav was the NCAA point leader at season's end, having 7 more points than anyone else. Blake Geoffrion (Wisconsin), finished the year tied for 11th in scoring in the NCAA, posting 28 goals and 22 assists. Frattin currently has 29 goals and 20 assists (T5 in NCAA for points, also with games in hand). Blake Geoffrion was the Hobey Baker winner, not Gustav Nyquist. I found these totals to be eerily similar...with both players having games in hand to best each comparative player's totals from last year. ***The biggest wild card in this whole scenario may be a Frozen Four run by either team. Only once in the last 7 years has a player won that didn't play in the Frozen Four (Matt Carle, DU, 2006). The final voting takes place betwen the Regional rounds of the tournament and the Frozen Four, so a hot player on a team still playing will gain a bunch of notoriety that a player sitting at home may not.

One interesting thing I heard about a month ago, which has been taking shape all season. Every time Canada has hosted the Olympcs, that host's city won the Stanley Cup the following year...EVERY TIME. Vancouver hosted last year, and look who's the best in the West right now. If you're a bettin' man, it might not hurt to throw a few bucks on the Canucks.

12. Michigan Tech at No. 1 UND UND in 2: Anything else is a disappointment. 11. MSU-Mankato at No. 2 Denver Denver in 3: MSUM can play a game here or there pretty tough, and Denver has struggled on Friday's especially. 10. Bemidji State at No. 3 Nebraska-Omaha UNO in 2: Blais will have his boys ready, it's playoff time. BSU just doesn't have the personnel. 9. St. Cloud State at No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth UMD in 3: St. Cloud is good enough to win this, but the top line of UMD is too strong for the weakest part of SCSU's game...their defense. 8. Alaska Anchorage at No. 5 Minnesota UM in 3: UAA will come in with the mindset of knocking off the big name Gophers. Minnesota has had it's share of troubles in the first round, but are just too good to not move on. 7. Wisconsin at No. 6 Colorado College CC in 3: It's CC's turn to host, which will make life a bit more difficult for Wisconsin. The teams are pretty evenly matched, but CC comes up big at home to prevail. No upsets on my board, although I really wanted to sneak one in. Watch out for Mankato against Denver, I think they have a legitimate chance to make things interesting against Denver. They will play a stout D and try and shut down Denver where they can, and in turn, try to score enough goals to actually beat Denver.

I don't believe the voters are educated enough to not vote for Miele. The guy put up a ton of points in the CCHA, despite most being assists. I think Miele wins this one pretty easy unless Frattin can get within 5-6 pts of him.

Whos' more in beast mode right now? Toews or Frattin?

The Sioux were just given a 10 minute unsportsmanlike conduct for roughing... ....roughing the net that is.

Person A decides NOT to get in a vehicle while [likely] intoxicated, and ends up with severe frostbite...only putting himself at risk of injury or death. Person B decides to drive home while intoxicated, smashes a house, putting himself and many others at risk of injury or death. Is there something I am missing, or is person B the bigger idiot out of two idiots?

Both players averaged 2+ points per game, and Kariya played 9 less games. So if you give Kariya 9 more games, he would have likely at least matched or even exceeded Hrkac's numbers. Then, throw in the fact that Kariya had Eastern exposure and a much more well known Pro career, and you see why Kariya's name comes up as one of the best seasons ever. One thing Hrkac had over Kariya was the big difference in goals.

Like RedFrog said, Toews scored a goal, but was only the third star of the game. Not to be outdone, former Sioux and current Blackhawks teammate Ryan Johnson, also had a goal, and earned SECOND star honors. Toews who?

Jonny Toews just said "F THIS, I'LL DO IT MYSELF." Captain Serious scored a pair of goals in another Hawks victory (First Star). He has a multipoint game in 5 of his last 7 games (garnering a point each of the other two), and the Blackhawks have gone 6-1 in that stretch.

It's hard to beat any college hockey team 4 times in a row...except maybe American International. I wouldn't be shocked to see a loss mixed in somewhere...especially a game in Tech, considering we have at least a piece of the MacNaughton locked up.

If you take out Dell's first handful of games, he'd likely be the top goaltender in the conference. He was good, but still a little shaky at first, but gained more and more confidence as each game passed and his numbers have improved every week. So, to say he's only an average goalie because of his statistics is a bit misleading.

Save %: .918 (T20), first is .929 (Shane Madolora, RIT; James Mello, Dartmouth) Shutouts: 4 (T4), first has 6 (John Faulkner, UNO) Frattin is a men among boys, and has been a huge piece of this conference title puzzle. However, I have said before, and I'll say this again, Dell has been the most important piece of all. Eidsness, who was decent in his first two years, just wasn't the same during pretty much all of his stints this year. It would almost surely be a totally different scenario for the Sioux without Dell. I think we'd have a better chance of winning a National Championship without Frattin than without Dell. That's saying something because Frattin, this year, might be the most impressive Sioux player we've had in quite some time, and there's some big time players that headline that list.

OK, so I lied. I liked a photo John Dahl took so much I had to use it right away. So, thank John for the wonderful image he captured of Jason Gregoire for March's edition. He is an awesome photographer, I must say. This is one of my favorite wallpapers. It's pretty simple, but there was a lot of hidden work in making the background from scratch. I could have kept going infinitely with little details here and there, but I'm pleased with the final result. I think I'm going to start skipping the Standard sized screens, unless I get enough people that want them (let me know if you do). No calendar this month due to a limited known schedule. http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3554/marchwp.jpg

Huh?

Don't give anyone any ideas. Once our nickname is gone, do you think the PC activists will just stop?

I'd say Gleason is a tradeable Sioux. He's a puck moving defenseman, who is still pretty rock solid at defense...still young too. If we could trade him for a veteran scorer to add some scoring depth to our 3rd or 4th line, I think that's the only move you could make in a year like this for the Sioux. Maybe a guy like Jacques Lamoureux of Air Force, who has been known to put up some big scoring numbers, along with a bigger physical presence than others on our checking lines.

How did anyone allow a party that could be so disrespectful to cowboys?!

If this was a 3rd or 4th place WCHA team, I'd consider making a move that would maybe spark a jump in the team before the postseason, but this team doesn't need that. Throughout the year, all areas of the Sioux have played exceptional, from Dell in goal, to our team defense, to our quick-strike offense. If all those areas click in the NCAA Tournament for four games, no one can beat us. If the team did make a trade, it wouldn't be with another superpower, it'd be trading a few of our third/fourth liners for a good talent stuck on a lousy team....a guy who will come in wanting to prove something on a good team without the ego.

Gread vid Jim...thanks for posting it.