redwing77

Crosby is not far behind.

Exactly why I say that Finley will be a monster for the Sioux. I mean, with posters starting to spread the dislike of the guy like posters have done for Commodore, Greene, Smaby.... and maybe a few others, how could Finley not turn into a monster?

My thoughts exactly (though not unpredictably). Finley has been sound during the second half. Yeah, he's not as physical as we'd all like but he's hardly a disappointment. I'm loving that there are people here who would rather Finley leave too to make room for an undersized defensemen like Genoway. No offense to Genoway, but for some reason, I don't see Genoway as being a first round draft pick. I mean, hey, there was a reason Finley was drafted in the first round. I'm confident we'll see it now that Hakstol is going to tell him that he's going to have to step it up. Forgot to add that this year he'll be entering his freshman year at UND (Finley will) after all, his classmates were high school seniors last season, but he accelerated and went to college a year early. OH! And did I mention he had a +/- in the positive? If he was a terrible defenseman, I'm pretty sure that would be in the negative. Hmmm... Yeah.... OH WAIT! I forgot! Many Sioux posters were saying "BENCH SMABY!!!!" and "BENCH GREENE!!!!" During their freshmen year, so I think Finley will be a stud. Get rid of Finley so we can have Genoway... SHEESH. Anyways, MATT SMABY: THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!!!

Left for major juniors. He wasn't getting playing time.

Indeed. So the question is: What will the American Juniors do? What about this: The NAHL, USHL and the EJHL get together and pass a resolution allowing their teams more import players in that age group? Then, they can turn around and say "Are you 16 and you think you might wish to get a college education while playing hockey? Don't want to commit to major juniors just yet? And Canadian Junior 'A' is out of the question? Come to the (USHL, NAHL, EJHL)! We get scouted by the big colleges all the time!"

I think you will be mistaken. Oh, I do believe he will spend some time in the AHL and some more time after that bouncing up and down. But I have no doubt that he'll be an NHL regular. He's got good skating skills for a guy his size. A decent (though not breathtaking) offensive upside, and is extremely reliable in his own end. I don't see how the rule changes will hinder Smaby at all. Just because they favor forwards doesn't mean that a team can't use physical defensemen.

That's just scary

I wouldn't be surprised if Smaby spends some time in the AHL. Every player did that left early. Hale, Commodore, Greene, Jones, Parise (ok, due to lockout), Bochenski... I think Smaby would do well in the AHL for a bit. Get him used to the speed of the game, the system, and that he's going to be facing players who are as big and physical as he is. He'll make the NHL. He's the third best D prospect in the Lightning's system.

siouxperstar- PCM is right. TH is definitely not that bad. I mean, if you listened to the program the real boat anchor on the program is Swygman. That guy needs to either A: Go or B: not have a microphone (or mic privileges revoked either way...)

Bye Big Matt! Take care in the big show! He's a classy guy with one heck of a classy family too.

Nice post PCM. I agree completely. It's amazing what Zajac did in two years, but I'm STILL talking about that Kozek performance vs. MTU. I'm expecting Stafford and Smaby to go. Once those two leave, I think we'll see a slow down. I'm still confident all the freshmen will be back. Yeah, foolish maybe, but I'm confident at this time. EDIT: Read this thread before the Smaby signs thread. So, I'm expecting only Stafford to go now.

Agreed. Coaches go out there trying to get the best players who are eligible, fit the team mold, and have the best opportunity to thrive academically and athletically in the program for which the coach is employed. I would be flabbergasted if Lucia or Hakstol or Gwozdecky or Berenson or York or ANY of the big time DI head coaches recruit players just for a one year "thrill ride." After all, it hurts the school if they do thanks to the bogus crap that's called APR. Seriously, if a player decides to leave college early, even if the coaches and administrators beg him not to, the school gets punished. Meanwhile the NCAA goes on the air saying that they have the most competitive, exciting leagues in any sport. Anyways, yeah, my take is this: Come and do your best. Stay as long as you can. Do well in school. When you jump, please don't throw away the academic part of your stay in college. As an example, Adam Oates (RPI) returned to RPI during the summers to complete his degree. I think every college athlete should complete his or her degree if not in consecutive years, at least by one of the myriad of alternative methods to finish out the degree.

In which case we could argue that the Sioux did awfully well despite the already known outcome of the season. It's truly difficult to play a 7 month season when you know already that there's no way you're going to win it all.

Yes, that's official enough for me.

Oh. Sorry for the misinterpretation.

Yeah, but I'd rather have the official statement. I deleted it because it isn't true. And the point I was trying to make isn't one that is a good one to try. So, post deleted.

First off, I thought Jackson was always a supporter of changing the nickname... but I can't tell you where I got that impression. Secondly, if 5-10% means that the majority should change, then I know there are more than 10% who don't like the President and think he should be impeached. Why isn't he? I know 5-10% or more people who think NCLB is a terrible bill, so why isn't it repealed! I know that 5-10% at least of people in Grand Forks run red lights, so why not pass a law making red lights optional? The point is, if we are going to let a minority dictate policy, what is right and wrong, and what is and is not offensive, then we're going to be prisoners of interpretation. Mired in a sea of neverending bickering over words and interpretted acts until the ONLY way to resolve it is to have someone who is all powerful, like Big Brother in Orwell's 1984.

Although I am going to recieve flak for this, I don't see buckysieve as being all that berating towards the Sioux in his assessment. It may not be entirely too flattering and it could be viewed upon in different means, but I don't think he is outright disrespectful... Too bad he can't be less berating about what he thinks of Sioux fans. In any case, PCM, if you want to see Sioux berate-ment, look up specifics and read his posts.

I'd love to see LaPoint go to a USHL team, but don't be surprised if he actually ends up going to the Wichita Falls NAHL team that has his rights (and which he signed a contract with).

I feel I'm going to repeat myself (maybe a lot this season): Official statement link?

Say.... would it be an NCAA infraction if I, as a UND alumni, offerred Stafford, Smaby, and Zajac $20 each if they'd stay one more year? Yeah, $20 isn't much when you put it beside the signing bonuses, but it's the precentage that counts. $20 is a higher percentage of my paycheck than it would be of theirs if they should sign, hence the $20 is worth that much more. Anyways, it was a thought. Not too serious of one, but a thought...

Bah. Sagard's a closet Sioux fan so it's no wonder why he's talking sense Seriously, he's fun to read. Greyeagle is always fun to read, even though he seems to be more concerned with GPL (as he's a moderator on that board) than to hang out with us...

Yeah, that makes rooting for the team easy. Thanks Mike. You really were fun to watch. P.S. Thanks for agreeing with me on who your successor will most likely be (Kaip).

Irmen then. That is a mistake I'll admit to. It wasn't my intention to misspell his name. Sure, Irmen likes gritty play. He does his best to play physically and does play defensive hockey. I don't see where I said he didn't. I said his role was DIFFERENT than that of Prpich's, which is true. Irmen does stickhandle and score better than Prpich. Prpich is more of a DEFENSIVE forward! I would argue that Irmen does pass better, too. Prpich isn't bad at passing, but he's not the best by any means. But I love the fact that you'll use anyone's handle or favorite player to try to slam the Sioux. Makes you one heck of a classy guy! But, being as though I'm a nice guy and all, let me help you. If I were to compare Irmen's playing style to a Sioux player.... the closest I can come up with is Chris Porter or perhaps Andrew Kozek. Yeah, again, Irmen is better at the offensive side of things than Porter is, but their roles are similar. And do I call the jersey pop instigating? Maybe if you are a Sioux fan, sure. But what I call it is gloating. No different than the Kessel ear incident and the Chorney jersey pop. All three incidents weren't very classy.

You already have my address.