brianvf

Wow, huge loss for DU. He played outstanding for them this year. Like others have mentioned, I feel that DU is going to be losing more this offseason. Firing Gwoz is going to put them in quite a hole...wouldn't be surprised if they lost more players leaving early + incoming recruits. Nice move, DU.

A lot of good it did to have Mac be physical this season. He would just get called for a penalty after a big clean hit.

Stecher appears to have good offensive ability too.

I think Leblanc wins it. Feel good story and he had a great year leading SCSU to their first-ever F4. Although his goal total is quite low. We'll see.

Wondering if the regional final site had Dippin Dots or not. It is, after all, the ice cream of the future.

I am not sure he does much thinking.

Great post. 2004 and 2011 still hurt. Easily the two best Sioux teams of the last decade and both got shutout in their last game after dominating play the entire game.

I am a forward, so I guess I'll take those boys. Torpedo system, here we come!!

Mind if I come along as an assistant? I also played intramurals with you, so we both have tons of college hockey experience.

What if Jeff Panzer realizes that he still has one year of eligibility left? Then what?

If only Hak could have won the big one in his first year as coach in the title game against Denver. That was another one that UND could have easily won after out shooting them 45-24.

SCSU vs Lowell for the title. Those teams have looked the strongest this tourney. And honestly I wouldn't be opposed to either winning but would prefer SCSU.

Are we talking about a hypothetical Sioux coach in these scenarios? Because if so, he should be fired on both counts.

How long should Hak have left the lines intact to develop chemistry? It seemed to me that he would leave most line combos together for a few games...some lines for longer. And then when Parks and MiMac got back after Xmas it started all over again. Take the top line...even after most on here (myself included) wanted to see that line with Grimaldi on it, they still weren't effective for a few of the games that they were together. Throughout the season, he was probably on that line for 8-10 games at least... I think the "chemistry" angle is overblown a bit IMO. True, if you pair certain players that have complementary skills together on a line, they will have a higher chance at success...but it's not that black and white. What works one game may not work the next...and not for an entire season. We've had success in the past with the Money Line, Line of Fire, DOT line, etc where essentially the coach just stacked our three best forwards on the ice together. And I do think when Grimaldi was on the KK line that they certainly generated chances, but for whatever reason they just couldn't click together consistently (even though they were given a chance to develop that elusive "chemistry"). Lack of secondary scoring certainly played a part being that teams could focus their best defensive line against that stacked line...but even so that line should have been successful regardless with that amount of talent on it.

That's exactly why it will work. We'll take them all by surprise.

I think Sandy just got lucky with that one title (well, he did really because we all know UMD would have gotten blown out by a Frattin-led UND team had they gotten past UM... )...UMD has looked pretty darn average other than a season or two.

Well, I guess it is easier to just think about next season instead of the Yale debacle (version 2.0). Here's how we're looking for next season as of today: Forwards (13): (SR) Mi-MacMillan, Rodwell (JR) Gaarder, Ma-MacMillan, O'Donnell, Parks, Pattyn, Senkbeil (SO) Caggiula, Chyzyk, Grimaldi, Sanderson, St. Clair Defense (5): (SR) Forbort, Simpson (JR) Mattson, Panzarella (SO) Schmaltz Goalies (2): (SR) Saunders (SO) Gothberg Potential Early Departures: Forbort, Simpson Potential Incoming Freshmen: LaDue, Crisfield, Murphy, Poolman, Stecher, Tambellini, Johnson, Thompson We'll need to add another practice goalie. Which freshmen dmen come in will depend on Forbort and Simpson's decisions. I'm excited about our freshmen forward group of Murphy, Tambellini, and Johnson...I think those three can come in and make contributions right away. We actually have a deep core of upperclassmen on this team, hopefully they can play like it. If Gothberg can refrain from letting in the occassional softie, I think he has great potential to be the shutdown goalie we've been waiting for. Then the only question is can this team score enough to make some noise come playoff time?

Yep. UMN, Denver, BC...all gone from the tourney. A win against Yale puts us in a game against Lowell to reach the Title game. That hurts. This team was hard to pinpoint all season. There was always something...missing. Don't get me wrong, there were times when they were fun to watch, but the consistency was never there. In all facets of the game really. Inconsistent goaltending (amazing save, then a softie), inconsistent effort (couldn't sweep an opponent), and definitely inconsistent scoring. I know that due to those inconsistencies that the odds of this being a title team weren't the greatest, but I still think that they had it in them to do it. Especially with how the bracket played out. In the end, a few less post shots this year (I think we won the National Title for post shot count this year, by far) and we might be talking about Pittsburgh instead of focusing on...next season.

18k and change. It was fuller than what I expected for a CC/UW final, that's for sure.

Getting put into a regional with both UMN and UM too frequently.

Bracket of death yet again!

Is it pretty much a foregone conclusion that UND ends up in a regional with UMN and UM? Yes, i am assuming UM wins their tourney because they appear to be playing VERY well right now.

No need, none of your posts are original. Every single one is the same old tired..."average team" "no talent" "going nowhere" post. I sometimes think you have the same post saved in Word and just copy/paste it on here after every loss.

Thought that UND really controlled tonight's game. Aside from a couple issues that Gleason ran into and the 3rd CC goal that Saunders would want back, UND really dominated that game. Some great extended pressure and chances that Howe came up big on or just missed. I'm not sure if I would start Saunders or Gothberg for the first NCAA game, as both have shown the tendency to give up a soft goal or two each game. And I agree with others...watching the top line with Rocco on it during stretches tonight is fun to watch. That line would flourish if left to play all game together. Move OD down and Cagguila up. We'll see how this "new" approach works for the Sioux. Instead of running the table at the F5, let's see if they can run the table in the NCAA's instead. Time for the real season to begin. Get Joe back on track and hope that one goalie solidifies their position in the week of practice. Go Sioux!

Hello Debbie Downer!