brianvf

I'm not really trying to defend it, I just don't think that they are ready to make the jump so I just wondered where you heard that they were going pro. Parise and Bucks, you could tell that those two were ready. At times they would just dominate the game so that it looked like men vs boys. But none of the group of Murray, Zajac, and Stafford seem to do that. The only one of those three that I have heard rumors of possibly leaving is Stafford. I haven't heard anything on the other two. What would keep them from not leaving? Free education, another year of hockey to get better prepared for the pros, no NHL to go to, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if any of the 3 left early, especially with the rash of good players jumping ship early, but most of those are expected, like in the case of Parise, Bucks, Vanek, Ballard. Those are players that dominate the game. While all 3 of those that you mentioned are highly talented players, I don't feel that any of them are ready to go pro, and they could use another year or two of preparing at the college level.

1/2 a season Hakstol has coached, and people are already calling for his head. At least give the guy a season to see what he can do. And I don't think that the blame for the lack of intensity and heart shown by this team can all be placed on Hakstol's shoulders. But feel free to keep using him as your scapegoat.

That's true as well. Either way, someone was standing around watching as Backes stood all alone in front of the net. Can't let that happen too many times against CC or the Sioux will be down 5-0 before the end of the 1st.

Where did you hear that Murray, Stafford, and Zajac would all turn pro after this season??

I too have heard that Brady has done well at the Kings training camps. But there is a big difference in doing well at camps and producing regularly in the NHL/AHL. Brady has a line of 6-7-13 in 16 games so far this year for the Sioux. I would think that his dad wouldn't think about pulling him from the Sioux unless he was truly ready to make the jump. I'm not saying that I don't think there is a possibility of him leaving early, because everyone knows that there's always a chance when dealing with highly talented players, but I'm just not convinced that he's ready to bolt to the pros quite yet.

Murray and Zajac will not leave after this season. I would bet that Brady is a solid 4-year player for the Sioux simply because of his size (think of Panzer). Zajac should stay for 2 or 3 years I would guess. Drew probably has the best chance of the three to bolt, but I think that even he would agree that he isn't exactly lighting up the WCHA right now, so he probably isn't quite ready for the next step yet.

UND won't lose its current trend of recruiting players from SSM if Hakstol plays Lammy more than JPar. Heck, we still have a few SSM recruits that are coming in next year with Chorney, Duncan (playing for Salmon Arm in the BCHL now, but played for SSM last year), and possibly Toews. I think that the Sioux will be getting good recruits out of SSM for years to come. Playing the better goalie right now over JPar won't affect this at all.

He may have had a better view, but it was from the bench. According to the game boxscore here, the players that were on the ice for Backes' gwg were Schneider, Greene, McMahon, Prpich, and Fuher. And, of course, Parise.

I agree that we should be able to finish in the top 5 in the league even if we just get 2 points from the remaining series. Duluth only getting one point against UAA at home really hurt their chances of a top 5 finish. I still hope that we can get 4th place, because UMD would be a tough first round playoff opponent if they finish 6th.

I sure hope Smaby, Radke, and Bina will be ready. Bina seems to be the most consistent of the three, but Radke seems to be getting better already. Smaby needs to cut down on the giveaways and then he should be fine. We will need the incoming frosh dmen Lee, Chorney, and Jones to perform well right away otherwise our forwards are going to have to score lots of goals if we want to win some games. My exceeded expectations group is the freshman class, McMahon, and Porter.

I think that Radke is just starting to put things together, and that is good to see. I saw that Hakstol had him on one of the PP units this weekend, and he seemed to be doing fine. Some players need more time than others to adjust to the speed of the WCHA, and it looks to me like Radke is starting to do alot better. I think he will be a solid dman for us in the next few years, and he will only improve as this season wraps up.

But you have to remember that we have played 2 more games than UMD and 4 more games than UAA. I still haven't given up on this Sioux team yet, but it is disappointing that they didn't win the Sat UAA game and the Sat MSUM game. They seem to have a problem putting two good efforts together in one weekend. They always seem to have trouble on Sat. This weekend should be interesting. I would be happy with a split, but that might even be hard to come by with how well CC played against the Gophers. Hopefully they will have an emotional letdown after their sweep and we can always hope that the curse of the #1 continues...

Nice job PCM! If we're talking about that Gretzky, I've played hockey with him at Agassiz multiple times.

Toews would be a huge pickup for the Sioux for next season. He would add to an already potent incoming class. Let's hope he picks the Sioux!

Thanks PCM.

I guess that's why they play the games. The Canadians do look strong though. And big.

"I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones."

Does anyone know if either Oshie or VandeVelde will be coming in 05? I think I remember that both are slated as 06 arrivals for the Sioux. With all the graduates, and the possibility of Stafford leaving early, I wonder what Hak will do with these two.

That'd be half of our blueline!!

Anybody hear anything more on Massen's injury?? Hope he is ok, we don't need another forward to go down with an injury. We just got Stafford and Murray back.

Winning percentage= wins/number of games Correct? And Lucia still doesn't have a formidable backup for Briggs. Pray that Briggs stays healthy.

Lammy can't help it that the Sioux have 3 good goalies that are all trying to get playing time, so he doesn't start as many games as Briggs. Hakstol has been rotating Lammy and Jpar. Just because Lucia doesn't have the luxury of having a good backup goalie shouldn't be used as a stat against Lammy.

They are cruising to the Virg Foss trophy for early season excellence, much like the Sioux did last season. They are indeed an impressive team. I don't envy the teams that have to play against them at Mariucci in their regional, I hope the Sioux are not there. Either way, the season's long, the WCHA is crazy, the hockey will be fun to watch.

Travis Roche. Best offensive dman I've ever seen play at UND.

If you read the recruiting article on USCHO, it says that he still has BC, BU, Mich, Minnie, Wisco, and UND as his choices. While it is good to see UND in his final 6 for potential schools, I'm not holding my breath that he will end up here. I think he is bound for Minnie, Mich, or Wisco. Wisco because he is from Wisconsin. Mich because he is on the USNDT which resides in Mich. I'm not sure why any non-Minnesotan, a Wisco-born player noless, would choose Minnie, but whatever floats his boat. Either way, he will definitely boost whatever program's class that he decides to commit to. He is the real deal. He is the Zach Parise of the 05 class.