redwing77

WESTERN BIAS!

If he did verbal to BSU, then maybe we should move on this Bryce Christianson fellow. He's ranked on the last CSS rankings for goaltenders and he also has heavy interest from teams like Minnesota (whose interest in him baffles me unless they expect Frazee to go somewhere. They already have a replacement for Briggs after next year in Kangas or maybe they were intersted before Kangas committed). Beau Christian is listed as a 2007 recruit. He's not on Heisenberg's 2006 listing. There are four goaltenders that interest me, but it turns out that only 1 (Christianson) is eligible for 2006. The others include Christian, Bryan Hogan (Lincoln - USHL), and Chris Rawlings (Salmon Arm - BCHL).

I just found out that gullible really is in the dictionary

I don't. I thought what I said would be seen as what it is: speculation. Sorry I made you think there was something more to it than that.

Denny G resurfacing the ice at the X? Well, maybe he can do that better than coaching the Cardinals Oh wait... Denny Gunderson. Gotcha

He was invited to try out for the team and made the team as a third string goaltender. Most third string goaltenders serve basically two purposes on the team: 1. To act as a backup should one of the two goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart get injured or fail to perform in a manner that was befitting that spot on the depth chart 2. Fulfill duties as assigned by the coach in a practice context. In effect, a goaltender whose "games" are played during team practices. This could be a myriad of things like pressuring the two guys in front of him by playing extra well (and who knows, doing this may move him up the depth chart like it did for Ranfranz for a while a few years back), and providing a different style for the team to practice against. I'm sure others here can explain this aspect better than I.

I didn't like him before, but this revelation just makes me RED with anger!

brianvf- I agree with much of what you say except for two statements: 1. Bare cupboard for 07-08. I don't think the cupboard should have to be full for the season following the one the team is currently on. I don't think this is anything to worry about. If Aaron Marvin can improve on his junior campaign, I could definitely see him committing to UND because of the way things are looking now at UND. 2. Goaltending not being an issue. Sure, I'm confident in Phil, but I'm not confident should Phil need a break. If Jordan leaves, depth becomes a HUGE concern at this position. Many of the talented goaltenders that saw significant action this year in the USHL (for one league) have already committed to schools. Bryan Hogan seems to be decent enough, having a solid save% for a poor Lincoln team... I'd really like to know more about what is out there. There are two uncommitted goaltenders, Pat McGann and Brian Mahoney-Wilson, who have been drafted by an NHL team (late rounds, sure, but drafted nonetheless... like Brian Elliott, who was drafted in the 8th round IIRC) but they haven't seen significant ice time this season in the USHL (McGann only played in 1 game and wasn't that impressive). Seriously, this is concerning to me.

Vhat? (Long live Sparky)

You're absolutely right about Cam Janssen. All he does is fight. I like Commodore because he plays defense and, oh yeah, he can fight. With Cam, it is "Cam can fight and did I mention he can play forward or defense or whatever?" With Cam it is fight first, hockey second. With Commodore it is hockey first, fight second. Janssen is in my list with Scott Parker, Georges Laraque, Tie Domi, and that ilk as being unable to contribute to a game of hockey other than to throw down the gloves. What a waste of roster space.

Sparky's gone, so Trupp may indeed be on the way, with two exceptions of note: Both Forney and Trupp, at this time, are injured. Forney is out with a leg injury and Trupp is out with a shoulder injury (he had surgery apparently). I like Forney and Trupp, but health is going to be a factor. That being said, I would be surprised if Marto wasn't a Sioux in the fall and if LaPoint was a Sioux in the fall. I know LaPoint is the "better" recruit, but it may just be better to have LaPoint come in in 07 when defense is going to be an issue... or maybe that makes no sense. I dunno. I am concerned with depth at Forward now (something we're really not used to) even if we don't lose another forward early. The farther down the list you go, the more questions I have about ability, especially scoring ability. Chay Genoway is an unknown at this level. Colby was highly regarded before coming to UND. Who knows where Chay will fit in to the scheme of things. To me, he seems like a direct replacement for Marvin. Though I like Miller and I liked what little I saw of Martens, I don't see Miller, Martens, Bina, or Foyt being the answer at forward even if it is on the fourth line. Bina, as much as I'd like to doubt Sicatoka, is also an unknown. He may be healthy, but a fused vertebrae has to be something of a concern to all involved. To my knowledge, I know of only one other player who came back from a similar injury, though his name escapes me and he was some minor league hockey player. Will he survive another hit into the boards, even if it isn't as severe as the Paukovich hit? Once was skirting danger enough, but the whatifs in the case of reinjury are downright frightening. Think Travis Roy. So the question is: What is it should Hakstol and Co. do? Are there any talent out there that can be brought in or do we have to resort to a 25 year old Canadian?

Thanks for allowing the posting, JFR (P.S. SMIIIILE! That's a great looking jersey you're wearing! Or was Rutgers not winning at the time?)

I think the "Respect and Dignity for all" idea is tragically flawed. I mean, you can't run an athletic season, playoffs, or championships if you hold to the word of that principle because SOMEONE has to lose and, at times, the "losers" don't look to dignified in doing so. If they followed the rule of the words they cite, then there can be no National Championship team because that would put that team or individual on a higher ground than the rest and there would be no respect given towards those who did not earn the award. What can you say would be the dignity of a team like UAA of a few years back that only won 2 games the entire season? Next thing you know they'll give out participation ribbons/banners and have group hugs instead of national championship plaques and trophies. There's going to be winners and losers. The losers shouldn't be happy with their plight. They shouldn't accept it either. That's why they have a new season every year. If it were just generally accepted that a team was the best and that's that, why hold the season? I mean, the Yankees would be a thing of the past because they won the World Series way back when and everyone else said "Well, that's that. Let's take up farming." Lame. Respect and Dignity for all. There can be no bigger fiction in sports.

I agree with those of us that are talking that suing over anti-trust would be a bad move. To my knowledge, the NCAA has never lost an Anti-Trust case, only settled one. I don't think Anti Trust is the way to go on this. We need to focus on solving our problem, not toppling the NCAA. I'd love the current form of the NCAA to go down, but it's not realistic. We need to go into the courtroom with the objective of resolving our grievance and our grievance alone. We cannot solve everyone else's problems with the NCAA or the NCAA will surely win. Take that as an opinion from someone who ISN'T a lawyer.

Hmmm... There is a possibility that LaPoint is overrated, just like Wheeler. But, like I said, if Hakstol and Crew are high on him, 4 major programs (being Not schools like RMU, QU, AIC, and Bentley) are high on him, and two seperate scouting services are high on him, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I expect him to be decent. I expect not to hear his name much either. I never heard LaPoint as an offensive defenseman, so I'm not going to look at the score sheet too much on him. As for placement in the USHL draft, I believe that it all has to do with likelihood that the player will come to play for that team. Aaron Marvin and Michael Forney were taken in the late rounds because it isn't all that likely that they'll be suiting up in the USHL. LaPoint went 6th overall because the coaches like his chances of suiting up. No one wants to be the team that drafted a guy with their first pick overall only to have him walk away. Just ask the GM of the Tri City Americans about Toews. In an unrelated note: One of the reasons Toews came to UND was because of the location to the school. Last year, the Brandon (Manitoba) Wheat Kings of the WHL drafted his brother in the 5th round. This is both good and bad news. Good because the later in the rounds a WHL or Major Junior team drafts you, the less likely they think you are to signing on with them. The bad news is that Brandon is just as close to Winipeg as Grand Forks is, if not closer.

Oh my Parise..... someone is now actually suggesting that teams utilize the DU/UND recruiting strategy of 30 years ago... 21/22 year old freshmen Canadian hockey players. Oh dear lord. Seriously, I don't know what I'd do if I were UAA or MTU's head coach. I know that I'd really try hard to recruit local/state talent. Yeah, that's promoting the Woog School of Recruiting, but it may be a place like Alaska's only realistic shot as it appears many players from the "mainland" are reluctant to go up to Anchorage. In any case, if I were Shyiak, I'd be working my butt off to keep what great talent that does come from Alaska in Alaska. Some notable* Alaskans that didn't stay in Alaska: Evan Trupp, Brian Canady, Matt Carle, Scott Gomez... Notable: In this case means you've probably heard of him. May not be famous.

Evidentally you didn't notice him. But UW, UND, BU, CSS, ISS, and plenty of NHL scouts have. Trust me, if LaPoint had to choose between you noticing him and the rest noticing him... well, let's just say he could care less if you noticed him or not. And no, the Oilers don't have me on edge siouxnami. I just don't have any hockey coverage at all at my home TV station unless it is FSN. I mean, if you could only watch the Gophers and the Wild without having to leave your home, what would you do?

I see. I understand a lot better now what you are saying. I did think that that was what was indeed going on with the Sioux. Jordan was the man, but Hak gave plenty of opportunities to Phil to play. Especially early in the season. Hakstol went to JPar only when it became apparent that he had to choose one goaltender to make or break the season. He chose Jordan and, like Hak was last year, Hak made the right decision. I agree that what should be done is what the Wild did with Roloson and Fernandez, especially early in the season. Rotate goaltenders and play the hot hand. For example, (assumes both goaltenders have equally good practices) Jordan plays on Friday and Phil on Saturday. Jordan plays well but still loses the game. Phil plays good and wins. Next week, Phil should start on Friday. Jordan can get back in the saddle on Saturday barring a huge Friday game from Phil. The same thing vice versa. With the quality of goaltending we have, it would not benefit this team to have a true #1 goaltender. The price we'd pay would be dear. Look at the Wolverines as a prime example. Noah Ruden was Montoya's backup for 3 seasons. He played MAYBE 10 times during those 3 seasons. And goaltending stung them when they needed it the most. At UND, if Jordan were to leave or be injured, I don't think the concern would fall to how well Phil will perform because he HAS had all that opportunity to get in the game. Instead, depth becomes an issue and the spotlight turns to Walski playing as a backup. For that reason, I am against UND deeming JPar as the sole #1 goaltender and allotting Phil to bench duty. I understand Hakstol can't have the each goalie go half and half, which is why when the game is on the line, Jordan should be in the net. SOrry I took your post out of context. It certainly seemed to read differently than you intended to me. By the way, thanks for quoting that second part. I caught a mistake I made.

Coyotes Rookie Review talks about Matt Jones. Because of graduations, he now moves up in Hockeysfuture.com Prospect rankings to become Phoenix's #1 Defensive Prospect (if you don't call goaltenders defensive prospects. If that's the case, then Jones is #2) and the #3 overall prospect in the Phoenix system.

I have a question: Why does it have to be UND alone? Is there a way to get UIUC and UIP involved in the lawsuit? Maybe a nice old class action? With UIUC's size, they may be of vast assistance in a variety of ways? Who knows... maybe we can call up FSU or the Florida congressmen and get their material they were threatening the NCAA with when the initial charges came out?

First off, we don't want any part of Matt Lundin. He hasn't shown anything to be bragging about since he was supposed to give Bishop the year off to get used to the game and it didn't work out at all. He's at best someone I'd bring in to back up Aaron Walski. No, I'm not kidding. Secondly, a short rope for Jordan Parise? Am I hearing this right? I mean, what more does Jordan have to do to get you guys to finally be on his side? Oh, I know everyone's smarting because we lost to DU two years ago despite being only able to score 1 or 2 goals vs. Mannino. And I know we got beat 6-5 vs BC which was a talented team that got lucky. So, that automatically makes Jordan a bad goaltender? Let me tell you folks something, translated into the NHL, I think someone like Phil would be demanding a trade because there's NO F-ING WAY short of a total meltdown or a significant injury that Jordan wouldn't be named #1 goaltender with the performance he's shown. There are PLENTY of examples to prove this. The only good thing about the Wild the past few years was that they had two quality goaltenders. Roloson could never step in and be a #1 because Fernandez was simply too good. Jordan was the difference at times during the season between winning and losing a game. He's not a show stopper, but NEITHER IS PHIL. For goodness sakes people! The only people who have Jordan on a short leash are you guys! Hakstol has faith in him, the team has faith in him. Those are TWO very important factors. As long as those two are solidly in Jordan's corner, so am I. Is Phil a bad goaltender? Nope. Does he deserve a shot? Sure. But should it come at the expense of one game where a myriad of factors affected the outcome? Nope. Sorry. Point fingers all you want but Jordan wasn't even the MAIN reason why we lost to BC. I guess some people here do need someone to blame for the loss. It might as well be Jordan, I guess. Should that chance come at the cost of a goaltender who has done nothing but represent UND extremely well the past 3 years? Hell no. Jordan's the man unless: 1. He leaves UND for the pros 2. He has a total meltdown in which the players and the coaches feel that benching is appropriate 3. He gets injured. For you scapegoaters out there, you'll just have to cope with that. Or maybe go haunt the UND player whose shot hit the STICK of Schneider and stayed out of the net. Maybe you can blame him instead.

That would be awesome. Maybe instead of goals, but harder to find footage of, perhaps a few of Smaby's HUGE hits. I'd love to change my avatar to that of an animated avatar like PCM's except with Smaby giving an open ice check to someone.

I wondered when the first pro name changer would start hurling names at us after the final appeal was rejected. I should have asked "WHERE." It's nice to see that mako, who is only still on this site at the graces of the administrative staff, has the grace and presence to smear the administrators and visitors to this site. In my opinion, I think mako should be suspended with the email saying "Maybe you should find a site where you can speak your mind and no one will disagree with you. Then you can call that a real good debate and say that these are real Americans." Big brother is waiting for your reply. Don't worry, mako, I found the site for you. Click here to find like minded people. Walk in peace. Jim- Thanks for your hard work.

Good luck to Stafford! Though I am glad that there is finally a few links to this story, which lends it credibility beyond that of heresay, I'm sad to see him go. gordwiser, you were right. Thanks for portraying the news in such a respectable manner and putting up with all the junk you put up with afterwards. Nevertheless, I still hope the rumors around Spirko remain a matter of fiction.