Big A HG

I still think Frattin with Gregoire and Knight would be deadly. Kristo likes to shoot, so putting him with Frattin takes shots away from Frattin's chances.

You missed the assist on the 2nd goal as well, so he's got 2 pts.

No doubt, that's why many consider him the best in league after Crosby and Ovechkin. I was merely pointing out the fact that if he wanted to put up big numbers, I think he could.

If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

This, in my opinion, was UND's best game yet. Dell was strong and made every save he should have and then stole one or two as well despite facing minimal shots. The first goal got deflected down low and was a pretty tough puck to prevent from going in, and the 2nd was pure awesomeness by UMD's top line. Goaltending will be a huge factor late in the season and I really think Dell can be our go-to guy. The offense, while only putting up three contested goals, controlled most of the game. I think this team will figure out how to score a ton of goals by the end of the year. Look at how many highly skilled guys we have that have no goals or even just one goal. Lastly, the defense was pretty solid. They only got caught flat-footed on that one picture-perfect goal by UMD in the third, but it was also while they were on the PK, and you can't really fault anyone for the nice goal the 'Dogs had on it. UMD is a bit overrated in my opinion, although still a very nice team. They are a bit top-heavy, so if you can shot down the Connelly-Connelly-Fontaine line, they are a team that is very beatable, as the Sioux showed. Also, the Badgers and Denver both have shown pretty good signs in the early going. They've beaten some decent teams and seem to be getting some nice help from their young guys. BC exposed Denver, but that was very early season matchup. Let's bring the brooms and raise our sticks tomorrow.

Blood and Mac are big guys, but don't throw their weight around as much as the others did. They are much stronger on the puck and have a role outside of playing the "tough guy". I agree they could play that role if it arose, but it's a lot fewer and farther between. It's just a thought and I knew everyone would nitpick the situation, but maybe there's some validity in having a tough guy in the lineup every night. Even NHL clubs have them, and the successful ones have top scoring talent with a tough guy or two to keep a few of the better opposing players in line. I just don't see this team having that sort of person in our lineup.

I think the problem with the team is that they don't have any purely physical enforcers like in more recent years. The team always had a Radke, Z. Jones, Prpich, Kaip, etc., but this year you don't really have that. Our "tough guys" are Mario Lamoureux and Brett Hextall. Brett's just a talker and Mario is pretty small for most fights. Anyways, congrats on the win, let's get another tomorrow, and get some long-term momentum going.

That goal was awesome. I wish the Sioux could do that.

What brand? I'd need to see pics first.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet that the name will be gone. It will be a sad morning when it's officially retired. The pic is from the Old Ralph days, as you can probably tell from the photograph.

Yep, I have the one AZSioux posted, it is in the upper left of the pic I posted. I am missing this one in both green and white: this one: And... The three Reeboks and the Sioux jersey worn in the last game at the Old Ralph.

I am having the dardest time pulling the trigger on a jersey that costs $250 per. I'll cave one of these days... I also figured out there are 7 jerseys I'm missing from the entire Sioux jersey era since 1950. The three current Reebok's, 2 from the 1970s (a home and away that are identical in striping, just different colors), the jersey they wore in the last game of the old Ralph (which is based off an old Sioux jersey, but not the same), and a green Nike with Sioux spelled diagonally (which is also based off an old Sioux jersey, but is also not the same). So, I have some work to do. One day, I'd like to get some of the really old Sioux jerseys made up with exact materials the teams used (like flannel wool jersey material and felt lettering/numbering that also are sized correctly based on that era of much less padding).

The only good way to pick up a geometric Sioux jersey is to get lucky by finding one for sale, and then pay a nice price on top of that. I'd also be interested in any Geometric jersey for sale, and will pay a good price for it.

Yeah, I understand the cap situation as I followed their moves all summer. But, Toews is still on a high-powered line and hasn't really been getting it done. It's only his 4th year in the league and should be improving each year for at least a few more years. The guy is what, 22? He's got a lot of room to grow, but this year has been a slow start. If I'm not mistaken though, he's had slow starts pretty much every year, including at UND, and then turns it on midway and becomes a force. I think part of his problem is he's too unselfish at times. He has a great skillset to become a great scorer...if he wanted to be. Look at some of the highlight reel goals he produces. They are mind-boggling. He just doesn't do it enough sometimes.

I don't know how the process could take more than a half a day of really analyzing the situation. I think the entire problem with the Malone/Martin situation is the Marvin/Genoway situation from last year. Marvin only got suspended for a game for doing something that was pretty obviously intentional, and much more violent. So, how can Malone be on that same level of playing field when compared to that. If the Marvin incident didn't happen, I'd think we'd already know that Brad would have been suspended for tomorrow's game.

Ah, read too quickly...pardon the interuption. Carry on. (Good luck dagies )

The Parise-less (and terrible) New Jersey Devils beat Toews and the Blackhawks. Zajac notched a goal and an assist while Toews was held scoreless (again). I'm not sure why but Toews hasn't had the greatest offensive output thus far this season, only scoring 3 goals and 7 assists through 15 games so far. I'm sure he'll turn it around, but I was hoping his offensive output in the playoffs last year would push him in to having a great year points-wise this year. It's still relatively early, but without Toews scoring, the Hawks have struggled.

You didn't read the Weekly Wednesday Update on Brad's Blog I'm guessing.

I believe at least 2 Denver players were out with mono as well. Seems to be going around. A split works for me this weekend, although I have my doubts. Also, if Gregoire could figure out how to score consistently when he gets the puck down low and it's just him and the goaltender basically, we wouldn't lose a game. The guy works so hard and gets himself into such good position, but doesn't seem to have the finishing portion down quite yet. I think it's just a bit of anxiousness about wanting to make sure he gets the shot off.

I agree with that 100%, I just didn't know how to say it as smoothly as how you put it. I can't believe Gwoz had the audicity to spew the crap he did about the hit...especially after he got penalized (and possibly suspended) for it. To be honest, I think the hit was a penalty. The rules are much stricter about the contact to the head, and no doubt Brad contacted him there. I do believe the penalty portion of the hit was unintentional. Brad probably came skated in on Jesse knowing the hit was easy pickins', but Jesse never ended up lifting his head and it was just the wrong place at the wrong time type of situation. I hope Jesse pulls through and finishes his career without a hitch after successfully healing up.

We have a funny guy roaming around here. Yeah, it sort of can be a problem at times, but I enjoy the hunt of finding something unique or rare. I have a lot of money tied into the collection, but I don't feel like I overpaid for a single piece. The value is only going to go up in the future. I used to collect Air Jordan shoes many years ago, and have sold some of them for as much as $450 a pair...and people used to think it was dumb to buy and collect those. I haven't bougten a pair of them in years, but still have some that are really valuable.

On a side note...I got a lot of my jerseys from AZSioux. If you've ever been on the fence on whether to get a jersey from him or not, don't hesitate. They are everything I was hoping for and more, and you won't be disappointed. The quality is awesome on these and even have re-inforced elbows and whatnot just like an authentic jersey would. Easily worth the price. Keep in mind that once the Sioux name is gone, Sioux apparrel will be a rare artifact, and jerseys like this will hold a high value to many people...which is why I picked up as many as I did.

I was bored so I decided to take a "family photo" of my current jersey collection. Two gamers in there, a few are customized with name/number as well. Only missing 5 different jerseys they've worn since around 1950...three of them being the current Reebok ones which will be ordered shortly (authentics only of course). I thought I had 33, but only seem to have 32, trying to see if I misplaced one somewhere.

Well, I unfortunately am limited to watching from my living room, but it sure looked like Brad was pissed about something before heading into the tunnel and almost losing his cool. Apologies if it's way off base.