rochsioux

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.

Thanks again, the weekly recap is much appreciated.

You could try the REA ticket office. Not sure when they send unsold tickets back to Denver.

On a pure statistical basis it looks to me that Jordan is every bit as good as Karl was. I have always thought of Karl as one the best (or maybe even the best) goalie to ever play for the Sioux. The longer a player has been away from the school the more I think some tend to add to that players "legend". Here are the stats for Karl's last two years and Jordan's last two years: Name Yr GP W L T GA MIN GAA SH SV SV% Karl Goehring, Jr 30 19 6 4 55 1741 1.90 8 697 .927 Karl Goehring, Sr 29 16 6 6 66 1661 2.38 3 734 .918 Jordan Parise, So 27 17 7 3 56 1575 2.13 2 621 .917 Jordan Parise, Jr 20 13 6 1 46 1180 2.34 2 597 .928 Jordan's current save percent this year is actually slightly better than either of Karl's last two years. While Karl's GAA as a junior was 1.90 this was also a function of the fact he faced fewer shots each game. While Karl faced an average of 25 shots/game as a junior, Jordan is facing 32 so his GAA is going to be higher. For Jordan to have a GAA of 1.90 he would need to have a save percent of .941. The goalie play is not a problem. What I see is a team that is inconsistent on offense and is giving up too many shots on the defensive side. I suspect both of these are a result of being a very young and inexperienced team. For them to do anything this year, at least one of these areas has to improve significantly. The team was having problem with effort on one night of most series, that seems to be resolved now.

Well, I've seen 23 of the 32 games in person. Of the remaining 9, I have seen 3 on TV. The only games I have not seen at all are AA, Mich. Tech., and CC. I agree that Phil is an excellent goalie, he has played outstanding in some games and was probably the sole reason they won a few times (such as the first Bemidji game). I also believe Jordan is equal or better then Phil. He has also been the sole reason we won some games (such as Miami). He is a proven tournament goalie, as good as there is in the NCAA IMO. In addition, for some reason the Sioux generally score more goals when he is playing, not sure why that is. Could be they have more confidence and willing to take a few extra chances on the offensive side. As far as stats go, every category favors Jordan (W/L, GAA, SavePct). Pretty hard to make a convincing logical argument that it is better to play Phil. Since every game from here out is extremely important it is time to pick a goalie and ride him to #8. The case can be made that the best choice is Jordan...not sure I can make even a weak case for Phil over Jordan. That said I have confidence in both and feel fortunate that we have two outstanding goalies. Wasn't too long ago we had trouble finding one. Most teams are fortunate if they have one good goalie. See what has happened to Wisconsin since Elliot went down, they are not the same. Will be interesting if they can regain their ealier form when he comes back.

Best chance for home ice would probably be if St. Cloud sweeps. A split puts the Sioux in 6th, 3pts behind St. Cloud for 4th and 1 pt behind CC for 5th. Remaining Sched. date StCloud CC Sioux 2/17,18 at MSU AA UMD 2/24,25 MichTech at UMD at Denver 3/03,04 at Wisc Denver/at Denver MichTech Not sure anyone has an advantage. Sioux drop to 16th in Pairwise. A win would have probably put them somewhere 8-10th. Somewhere here the Sioux are going to have to sweep a series against a good team (denver or 1st round WCHA) if they want to move up and stay there. It's a given that they have to sweep UMD and Tech. This game and the 1st St. Cloud game (leading 2-1 after 2, lost 3-2, same as tonight) really hurt their WCHA standing and their NCAA standing.

UNH 5 Maine 3 with 8 min left. Vermont 3 Providence 3 OT final UMD 3 Wisconsin 1 OSU 2 Michigan 1 mid 2nd St Cloud 3 AA 1 Miami 2 AF 1 early 3rd

UNH 5 Maine 1 early 3rd. Vermont 3 Providence 2 late 3rd UMD 2 Wisconsin 1 OSU 1 Michigan 0

Prior to last nights games the Sioux were losing the comparison to St. Cloud 5-2. By winning last night the Sioux increased their TUC record just enough to overtake St. Cloud. Up till last night St.Cloud's two losses earlier in the season to CC didn't count in the COP with UND, so just by playing CC there were two losses added to St. Cloud's COP, coupled with the Sioux win it was enough to flip the COP category to UND which then made the pairwise comparison 4-3 for UND despite losing the regular season series 3 games to 1. Just goes to show how many variables can effect the pairwise and how tough it is to predict how things will turn out. Wasn't it last year where it would have been better for Wisconsin to lose a first round WCHA playoff game cause a win would knock the other team out of TUC when would have dropped a number of wins from Wisconsins TUC totals. Not a great system when that kind of scenario can occur.