brianvf

His mom doesn't normally require him to be sober to do the house chores.

These Fire Hakstol threads are so cool. /end sarcasm

Yes, because that is definitely a true indication of their respective talent levels.

I thought that the team came out of the gates very strong tonight. The game could have been 3-0 before 7min had gone by, but Elliott made a couple nice saves after the Miller goal. The DOT line was very dominant, but they have to start scoring on some of the numerous chances that they get. This Sioux team has all the right ingredients for a contending team, but they're not going to have a shot at even making the NCAA playoffs if they keep losing these close, winnable games.

What do you mean, their team hasn't picked them up? Phil isn't drafted, and won't be leaving for the pros early like JPar did. And Forney wasn't about to go straight from MN HS hockey to the NHL... Give Forney some time. I have the feeling that he will develop into a very good player for the Sioux.

You do realize that you are contradicting yourself here, don't you?

Fabian back on the 4th line. Genoway replaces Radke on the blueline.

UND's lines Ryan Duncan-Jonathan Toews-Brad Miller Chris Porter-T.J. Oshie-Matt Watkins Andrew Kozek-Chris VandeVelde-Rylan Kaip Erik Fabian-Darcy Zajac-Michael Forney Zach Jones-Taylor Chorney Chay Genoway-Brian Lee Joe Finley-Robbie Bina Philippe Lamoureux Wisconsin's lines Ross Carlson-Ben Street-Jack Skille Jake Dowell-Andrew Joudrey-Ben Grotting Matthew Ford-Blake Geoffrion-Michael Davies John Mitchell-Andy Brandt-Tom Gorowsky Kyle Klubertanz-Jeff Likens Davis Drewiske-Jamie McBain Joe Piskula-Matt Olinger Brian Elliott

Yeah, that has always confused me when good offensive players go to the defensive teams. Either way, best of luck to Jordy with the Badgers, except when they're playing the Sioux.

You want them to keep playing, even after the whistle blows?

That would suck to see them all go to UW, especially Murray with the brother connection. But I guess (if it is true) that we have won many recruiting battles with UW recently, so we were bound to lose one eventually.

You put him behind a player that hasn't even played at defense since coming to UND?

I've seen a good amount of cycling the puck, especially from the top 3 lines this year. The lines with Toews and Oshie have gone through stretches of complete domination in the offensive zone while cycling the puck. But then there are also stretches where they can't even get out of their zone or connect on a pass, so sometimes you have to wait for them. I guess I haven't seen any different positioning of the forwards in the O zone than in recent year's past.

Checked my bag as well...nothing.

He was drafted with the 9th pick in 05, not the 6th.

How is that different from normal? Seriously though, I wouldn't read too much into the team's performance against the U18 team. They should be more excited to play against the BADgers. Hopefully we see the same type of effort and play from the Sioux like we saw against CC on Sat.

Wow, Murray seems to be good at finding the back of the net. Hopefully if he decides to go the collegiate route, that he follows his brother and goes to the Sioux. Same with Toews.

You work at a farm? That's cool.

No. No. More important to just avoid injuries. This was an exhibition game, plain and simple. It was a good game to schedule in an off-week for WCHA play, as the U18 team is a quality opponent and this will help keep the rust out of the legs going into the UW weekend. Now lets hope that Fabian and Chorney are back next weekend, and we can work on getting 4 points against Wisco. And Bina was a Central grad.

Yeah, that's more what I was referring to, was that their ages were that of a HS senior.

With those 5 likely gone, we would have Genoway, Blood, LaPoint, and Marto for sure. With Jones as well. We could finally see what Genoway can do on the blueline.

I would guess so. Both Toews and Murray could play a year in the USHL if need be to get them more acclimated to the higher pace. Those would be 4 great forwards coming in if we landed Toews and Murray to go along with Cichy and Kristo. I think that a few of those players could hold off on coming to UND until 09, when, like jk said, we will need more forwards due to the amount of players graduating.

Some players need to have time developing in junior leagues, others don't. I am glad that the Sioux brought in Toews and Oshie early. Same with Parise. And Stafford. Etc. The Gophers are in the same boat with Kessel, Johnson, etc. Looking at all the Sioux players that have spent a few years in the BCHL, it seems like they rarely have a player (that isn't viewed as an "elite" player) come in without going to juniors first. Even Travis Zajac dominated a year (or two, was it?) in the BCHL before coming to UND. There are exceptions to the rule, like Forney, Grieco, and Finley. But all 3 of them have shown tremendous potential, so I won't complain.

I normally wait until the end of the season to make that call. But that's just me. I'm sure that plenty of people were saying the same thing during the rough stretches from the last few seasons. But it seems that the Hakstol-led teams really turn it on at the end, so I'm willing to wait to see how it pans out rather than call it a "rebuilding year" after just 14 games.

That is a very long short answer.