rochsioux

IMO, there are too many variables to try to pick the top two goalies based on stats. The WCHA was the better conference and had much more scoring talent than Hockey East. The WCHA teams averaged 3.00 goals/game vs 2.70 for HE. If you look at the conference stats for Schneider vs. the top 4 WCHA goalies (based on GAA) and adjust for league avg: GAA SvPct LGAA Diff Elliott 1.84 .930 2.94 -1.10 Goepfert 2.09 .926 3.02 -0.93 Briggs 2.19 .918 2.91 -0.72 Schneider 1.96 .932 2.65 -0.69 Parise 2.41 .924 2.92 -0.51 LGAA = League GAA without players team numbers included So based on stats the case could be made that Briggs is a better goalie than Schneider. Not sure any reasonable person would make that case but that is the problem with looking at stats. There are different leagues involved, and even within the WCHA teams play an unbalanced schedule. Individual teams play different styles and defensive experience and talent vary. I can only base my opinion on games I have seen which are heavily skewed to games involving the Sioux. I thought Parise had one of the best seasons in goal of any Sioux goalie since I have followed them (35+ years) especially given the defense was very inexperienced. Elliott had a great season for Wisconsin and deserved all the awards he received. He did have the advantage of playing with an experienced veteran team. Goepfert was also very good and the case could be made for him to be the 2nd team all-american. He is a goalie I feel could steal a game for the team that they shouldn't win. Briggs started the season on a roll but had a falloff the second half. He has not yet impressed me as a goalie that can steal a game. Schneider is the one I have seen the least and only against UND except for the Wisc championship game. Against UND: 10/24/2004: 3 goals on 19 shots 03/26/2005: 6 goals on 21 shots 04/06/2006: 5 goals on 41 shots total: 14 goals on 81 shots Bottom line is I haven't been impressed with him at all. Granted the sample size is very small and if you only looked at a few games of any goalie you may get a distorted view. But I think his play against the Sioux is why many posters on this board find it difficult to place him on the second team. We've seen goalies for other teams in the WCHA steal games against the Sioux and Schneider has basically been a sieve against the Sioux. That and the fact he plays in what most view, myself included, as an inferior league.

The writer of the letter "might want to think twice" about whether they want to work for a university that "refuses to commit to equality for all races". My suggestion to them is that they send in their resignation in protest. Then I might have some respect for them. They are suggesting to recruits that they should not come to a university where they happen to work ? Sounds pretty hypocritical to me. Do as I say not as I do.

Well, let's see how accurate last years 1st poll was: 10/03/2005: 1 Denver (17) 32-9-2 662 1 - did not make the NCAA tourney 2 Minnesota (13) 28-15-1 653 7 - lost in 1st round to Holy Cross 3 Boston College ( 2) 26-7-7 583 2 - lost in championship to Wisconsin 4 Cornell 27-5-3 580 4 - lost in regional final to Wisconsin 5 Ohio State ( 2) 27-11-4 566 9 - did not make tourney 6 Colorado College 31-9-3 523 3 - lost in 1st round to Cornell 7 North Dakota ( 1) 25-15-5 502 10 - lost in semifinal to BC 8 Michigan 31-8-3 481 5 - lost in 1st round to North Dakota 9 New Hampshire 26-11-5 459 6 - lost in 1st round to Michigan State 10 Wisconsin ( 1) 23-14-4 391 13 - Won National Championship 11 Maine 20-13-7 309 12 - lost in semifinal to Wisconsin 12 Northern Michigan 22-11-7 270 - did not make tourney 13 Boston University 23-14-4 260 11 - lost in regional final to BC 14 Dartmouth 20-13-2 242 15 - did not make tourney 15 Harvard 21-10-3 222 8 - lost in 1st round to Maine 16 Mass.-Lowell 20-12-4 208 - did not make tourney 17 Michigan State 20-17-4 204 - lost in regional final to Maine 18 Colgate 25-11-3 78 14 - did not make tourvey 19 Vermont 21-14-4 51 - did not make tourney

Away game ticket purchases: Note, tickets for the Minnesota series went on-sale today. Standing room only. Oct 13/Oct 14 at Wisconsin On-Sale 09/25 http://www.uwbadgers.com/tickets/ Oct 27/Oct 28 at MSU-Mankato On-Sale 10/02 http://www.ticketmaster.com Nov 17/Nov 18 at Alaska Anchorage On-Sale 10/02 http://www.ticketmaster.com Dec 29/Dec 30 at Dartmouth Tournament (603) 646-2466 Jan 5/Jan 6 at Colorado College On-Sale NOW http://ticketswest.rdln.com/Artist.aspx?evt=50136 Jan 19 at Bemidji State (218) 755-3993 Jan 26/Jan 27 at Minnesota On-Sale NOW http://www.gophersports.com Feb 23/Feb 24 at Denver On-Sale NOW http://www.ticketmaster.com Mar 2/Mar 3 at St Cloud St On-Sale NOW http://www.ticketmaster.com

Agree 100%.

FWIW, the Howard Johnsons hotel next to the Kohl Center is now a Doubletree Hotel. Since it is a football w/e they have the room prices jacked up an extra $100 or so per night to $239.

2003-2004 season BC came to REA for 2. 2004-2005 season UND traveled to Boston and played BC and Northeastern once. 2005-2006 season Northeastern came to REA for 2. So the Sioux played BC twice and Northeastern twice at REA while only playing them once each on the road. I am guessing they owe them another trip to Boston.

NDH, recovery going well, a few more weeks and I should be back running and biking. Thanks for asking. Kinda sucks without a home series with MN but at least we get four with Wisconsin. I always like going to Madison for the series and they will play there the next three years.

Here's what I have found, no guarantee on accuracy. ?? Manitoba - Hakstol's comments 10/06-10/07 Quinnipiac - Hakstol mentioned they open with this, guessing a bit on the date 10/13-10/14 Maine - Found this in a maine thread on USCHO 11/03-11/04 St.Cloud - From St. Cloud's schedule 11/24-11/25 CC - From CC's schedule 12/15-12/16 Mich.Tech - From Tech's schedule 01/05-01/06 @CC - From CC's schedule 01/26-01/27 @MN - From MN's schedule 02/16-02/17 UMD - From UMD's schedule 03/02-03/03 @St.Cloud - From St. Cloud's schedule Other conf games left: Denver(2 away), AA(4), Wisc(4), Mankato(4) I believe they can schedule 36 games, conference games take 28 so this leaves 8 others. The eight none conf: Quinnipiac(2) Maine(2) Dartmouth tourney(2) (Dartmouth, St.Lawrence, and BU). This was posted on USCHO, can't confirm. ?? My guess is the other two would be road games at BC and Northeastern. New Hampshire owes us two at REA but my guess these will be in 2007-2008 season, assuming the Maine info is accurate.

Here are the past three seasons of conference play and the number of games played each year. From this you can tell what the conference sched will look like for next season: team 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 UMD 4 2 Away 4 2 Home MN 4 2 Home 4 2 Away St.Cloud 4 4 4 4 Denver 4 2 Home 4 2 Away AA 2 Home 4 2 Away 4 Tech 4 2 Away 4 2 Home Wisc 2 Away 4 2 Home 4 CC 2 Home 4 2 Away 4 Mankato 2 Away 4 2 Home 4

I believe it is past the deadline for teams to sign players unless they were draft picks or will go directly to the NHL. I don't think Mike was drafted so he can't sign a professional contract with an AHL club. Here's some info I found: At this time of year, AHL teams cannot sign players to professional tryout contracts because it is past the clear day roster deadline (March 13). Because the AHL is a development league, teams are still allowed to sign draft picks and prospects under an ATO and the players are eligible to compete the remainder of the regular season and playoffs. I think once the season is over the player is still a free agent and can sign with anyone. Maybe someone else out there knows more on how this process works.

Rumour I have heard is that Mike will play with the Iowa Stars in the AHL. Not sure if this is true, can't find any confirmation. Just found it, Mike had an assist last night, playing on a Amateur Tryout Contract. Mike Prpich Good Luck Mike!!

Coach's take

Looking for up to 4 championship game tickets, would be willing to purchase entire 3-game package at face value or slightly higher (150-175).

Matt Jones was recalled by Phoenix and played 15 min in Thursday nights game.

This result using a 3-2-1 bonus would result in UND and BU in a tie for 4th, UND would win with a higher RPI, thus becoming a #1 seed. Atlantic Hockey Semifinal #2: Mercyhurst defeats Bentley. Atlantic Hockey Semifinal #1: Holy Cross defeats Connecticut. Atlantic Hockey Championship game: Mercyhurst defeats Holy Cross. CCHA Semifinal #2: Michigan defeats Michigan State. CCHA Semifinal #1: Northern Michigan defeats Miami. CCHA Championship game: Michigan defeats Northern Michigan. CCHA Consolation game: Michigan State defeats Miami. ECAC Semifinal #2: Colgate defeats Cornell. ECAC Semifinal #1: Dartmouth defeats Harvard. ECAC Championship game: Colgate defeats Dartmouth. ECAC Consolation game: Cornell defeats Harvard. Hockey East Semifinal #2: Boston College defeats Maine. Hockey East Semifinal #1: New Hampshire defeats Boston University. Hockey East Championship game: New Hampshire defeats Boston College. WCHA Play-in #1: St. Cloud State defeats Minnesota-Duluth. WCHA Semifinal #2: North Dakota defeats Wisconsin. WCHA Semifinal #1: Minnesota defeats St. Cloud State. WCHA Championship game: North Dakota defeats Minnesota. WCHA Consolation game: Wisconsin defeats St. Cloud State. 1 Minnesota (Mn) 29 .5833* 2 Wisconsin (Wi) 28 .5759* 3 Michigan State (MS) 26 .5640 4t [AQ] North Dakota (ND) 25 .5614 4t Boston University (BU) 25 .5570

Best wishes for a full and complete recovery. Writing the check now.

I might be able to help, won't know for sure until around 4pm Thursday.

Without the RPI bonus the Sioux have one quality home win (Harvard), one neutral site (Miami), and no road wins. I believe the criteria is: 1. Conference games do not count 2. Win must be against top-15 RPI team. NH is currently 16th in RPI so the road win early this year doesn't count in the bonus. NH needs to get in the top-15 RPI, another reason to cheer for them against BC this w/e. Edit: Looks like jk beat me to it.

Actually, the best help by NH beating BC at least once is the COP. Losing the COP will definitely cost UND the comparison. The Sioux have no control anymore on this and they must win it to be able to win the comparison. Currently, the Sioux win RPI vs. BC (.5458 to .5362), BC wins TUC (.3864 to .5000), and COP is tied (both teams are 4-1-1 .7500). The pairwise tiebreaker is RPI which UND leads. A BC sweep this w/e puts the COP in BC's column and will flip the comparison to BC. Will be difficult to take back unless BC were to play and lose to NH in the Hockey East tourney. A split or NH sweep gives the COP to UND and cannot be undone in conference tourney play (COP teams are NH, NE, and Harvard). To then keep the comparison win it will come down to maintaining the RPI advantage.

I want nothing to do with Minnesota at REA. If for some reason the Sioux don't make the tourney the last thing I want to see is the Gophers win the regional on our ice. If the Sioux do make the tourney I would like the easiest path possible to the frozen four. At much as this pains me to say, the Gophers are the best opposing team I have seen this year...puke, barf...gotta go shower now. I'm not afraid of playing the Gophers again, just would prefer that when it happens, it is in the frozen four championship. I think their goaltending is still suspect and in a big game like this against the Sioux I think the Sioux would win. Right now I would settle for any matchup since the Sioux still have to make the NCAA tourney.

All pairwise discussion below is without the bonus added. Since it is not known exactly what the bonus will be I will not comment on it for the most part. Current best estimates show the bonus should help but I'd rather not have to rely on this. Currently the Sioux sit in a tie for 12 place with BC, with each team having won 16 comparisons. The Sioux win the tiebreaker today based on a higher RPI. Assumptions: Top 12 finish in pairwise will be enough for the NCAA tourney. Top 14 might make it but upsets in conference tourneys would start to eliminate some teams. E.g. There is a reasonable chance the ECAC tourney winner will not be a top 14 team. 17 comparisons wins will be enough to be 12th or higher. Teams dropping in/out of TUC not factored. Current comparison wins that are close, score in (). UNO (2-1) Will come down to RPI. Currently Sioux have a .5458 to .5418 lead. Cornell (2-1) Will come down to RPI. Currently Sioux have a .5458 to .5411 lead. Maine (2-1) Most likely RPI. Sioux lead .5458 to .5449 TUC and COP are close enough that they could change depending on matchups and results. Michigan (2-1) Most likely RPI. Sioux lead .5458 to .5411 TUC is close enough that it could change depending on matchups and results. Sioux currently losing TUC. BC (1-1, Sioux win due to RPI) Sioux need to maintain RPI. COP is tied, so this could be the final factor. BC and NH play this Thur. and Sat. A BC sweep and they will win COP and probably keep this comparsion. Sioux need NH to win at least one game. NH win(s) should also help keep them in position for the Sioux to get the RPI bonus points for the road win earlier this year. Colgate (2-1) Sioux need to maintain TUC lead. Current comparison wins that the Sioux will mostly keep: NH (3-1) The fact the Sioux went 1-0-1 in NH early in the season will give them this. Dartmouth (3-0) TUC is extremely close but even losing this should not be a problem. Providence (2-1) Ferris State (3-0) St. Lawrence (2-1) Vermont (2-1) Lake Superior (3-0) Notre Dame (3-0) Notre Dame is barely eligible (.5023 RPI). Holy Cross (2-0) Sacred Heart (1-1) Sioux win tie on RPI. No common opponents. Current comparisons the Sioux will probably lose: Minnesota (1-6) Wisconsin (0-5) Miami (1-2) BU (1-2) Play Northeastern this w/e, RPI likely to drop. Too far behind in RPI to likely flip (.5458 to .5623) ? Not sure how much playing NE will hurt their RPI (NE is 3-22-7) Michigan State (0-4) Loss to MSU early in season makes this a done deal now. CC (1-4) Need to play and defeat in final five and they could flip this (RPI close). Harvard (2-3) 1-0 loss at home during XMAS really hurt. Denver (3-4) Need CC to sweep them this w/e to put this back in play. Current comparison losses that are close: Northern Michigan (1-2) COP will decide this. Need to sweep Michigan Tech this w/e to flip. COP are St.Cloud, Mich.Tech, Mich.State, Wisconsin, Miami Ohio State (1-2) COP very close (Sioux trailing 2-4-0 .3333 to 3-6-1 .3500) COP are CC, Miami, Mich.State, Wisconsin St.Cloud (3-4) TUC very close. Mankato becoming and staying a TUC would flip. Wisconsin sweep this w/e would flip. Meeting in first round WCHA will probably settle this. Alaska-Fairbanks (1-2) Losing both COP and TUC. COP can only be flipped if AF loses 2-0 to COP in playoffs. TUC more likely case for Sioux winning. Mankato becoming and staying a TUC would flip. Summary: Sioux have 10 pairwise wins they probably keep, 6 wins they could lose, 4 losses they could win, and 8 probable losses. So, of the 10 comparisons in play the Sioux need to win and keep 6-7 of those and they will probably make the NCAA tourney. Most of the close pairwise wins are due to slight RPI advantages. Can't afford an RPI drop and need to improve. Playing Tech will not help. Really need to finish 5th and play St. Cloud in the first round. Don't really want to move up to fourth (not likely, but could happen) as this would mean we play Mankato. We want Mankato as a TUC, not sure that is possible if we play and win the first round against them. Most of the close pairwise losses are due to COP or TUC. To maintain or improve pairwise this w/e: A sweep of Tech this w/e is very important. This may be easier said then done. (gain N.Mich comparison) Need NH to win at least one against BC. (maintain BC comparison) Wisconsin sweep of St.Cloud. Not likely based on Wisconsins play lately. (gain St.Cloud) Maine is so close the Sioux could sweep and still lose the comparison. (Maine plays UMass, slightly higher RPI than Tech) Other games this w/e of note: Notre Dame vs. AF (CCHA 1st round) ND sweep would give control of who wins this comparison to the Sioux (not factoring in Mankato). Ohio State beating Ferris State (CCHA 1st round). Seems odd, but an Ohio State playoff loss this w/e would reduce the chances of flipping the comparison. With no more games to play the Sioux would have to meet and beat CC in the play-in game. No guarantee they meet CC since they will probably play Mankato and Mankato is on a run. Otherwise, they would need to win enough to play and beat Wisconsin. If they do that the Ohio State comparison probably won't matter for making the NCAA anyway. A sweep of Tech (at worst 1-0-1), and a first round win against a TUC will probably be enough to get into the NCAA tourney. If they don't get a TUC in the first round they may have to win the play-in game.

Toews name WCHA rookie of the week Congrats to Jonathan. His play since the World Juniors has really picked up. In my view he was the best player on the ice for either team this past w/e.

I think it goes something like this: Right now the Sioux are losing a number of comparisons due to the TUC category. If they were to sweep Denver it would add two wins to the TUC, this definitely helps, at least short-term. Next week they play Mich Tech so these games cannot help us in the TUC. A sweep of Denver and Tech would likely move the Sioux to 4th place, possibly even 3rd. If they end up third there is no chance they play a TUC in the first round so they can't help their TUC record. Not only that but it eliminates one more game in the WCHA tourney that could help the TUC record. If they end up fourth they would probably play Mankato, they are not a TUC today but could be after the Wisconsin series this w/e. Mankato does not play next w/e. If Mankato is a TUC after playing Wisconsin, this would help UND by adding two earlier wins to their TUC total. But if the Sioux sweep them in the first round they might drop back out of being a TUC, thus again providing no help for the TUC comparisons. As strange as it sounds, it may be possible that a split with Denver and a sweep of Tech may prove better then a sweep of both. A split with Denver and sweep of Tech will probably leave the Sioux in 5th place with a chance to play a TUC in the first round. A sweep of the first round would then give them a 3-1 record against TUC recently (Denver 1-1, 1st round WCHA 2-0). Since UND's current TUC record is sub-500, a 3-1 record may help more than a 2-0 record being added to TUC. You also probably get the play-in game in the final-five which is more winnable than the semi-final game, probably against Wisconsin. The rule for tournament games is that is won't hurt your RPI if you win, it can definitely hurt your pairwise. I will take my chances with going 4-0 to end the reg. season. If they do that they should flip the DU comparison and the Northern Mich. comparison. They will also improve their RPI enough to flip some other ones they are narrowly losing today based on RPI (such as Michigan and Maine, depending on how they do). There are so many close pairwise comparisons right now that they just need to win and see how it shakes out. Right now I think an improved RPI will help just as much as improving the TUC. They need to maintain the comparisons that they have won and add enough to get in the top 12 to be safe. I think going 4-0, then sweeping the first round would be good enough to get in.

Looking for 2-4 tickets for Sat night only, preferably in the lower bowl.