redwing77

So Spirko took down Wagner? Since the cameras didn't show the actual take down, I assumed it was Rankin. If it WAS Rankin Spirko took down, then it should have been Rankin with the DQ and not Wagner. Cummings was tied up with Radke so those two DQs make sense to me. SiouxMeNow- I'm positive Cummings battled Radke, in which case Cummings is 6'4" compared to Radke's 5'11" (6'0" depending on the website). Now, if Spirko did tangle with Wagner (which obviously he did since both Spirko and Wagner got fighting DQs), that's a mismatch as well. Spirko's 5'9" compared to Wagner's 6'2".

I have no freaking idea. Maybe I hit the wrong button? This is a rough weekend for me.

Good point.

Do you think Mankato decided just to, out of the blue, go at the Sioux? I distinctly saw jaw jacking both games all game long on both sides. A cheap hit or two, IMO, isn't enough to get the kind of a response that we saw otherwise all hell would have broken loose vs. Denver last year. PCM- Ok, I'm wrong. Sorry to cause you so much grief.

Maybe you meant "one name" instead of "one word." Or maybe two words then? Do they not teach basic counting in St. Cloud?

So I used the term "dare." I should have used the term "won't" It's why you're the journalist and why I'm just another poster at a Sioux message board. dagies- I do agree that last night Kaip indeed had a great game. I have been down on him lately, but not because I don't like him or think he shouldn't be playing. I think he hasn't played as good as I think he could have played up until the Minnesota series. After that he's started turning it around. Goon- I agree with the character of the team, but I do believe we need to stop getting so emotionally involved with what the opposing players spew from their mouths. I think this is where Prpich can be a HUGE leader in resolving. Why not have a trash talker help the team overcome the emotional crap revolving around being trash talked to? You can say it was humorous to not see the likes of Prpich in the fray, but there's a reason why players like Spirko, Murray, Bina, and those types get picked on. Who would pick on a guy as big or bigger than you? Or a player who has a reputation of being a bruiser? Mankato skaters knew that, if they picked on Prpich (and maybe Smaby and Kaip as well), he'd force Mankato into an all out altercation that Mankato could very well come out the loser in. Mankato's "goal" if you will, wasn't to start a fight, but to rather goad or instigate a rash of stupid retaliatory acts by the Sioux. It worked a little bit. Sicatoka- What you say is RIGHT ON.

I agree that these thumpers will be ignored. Imagine what would have happened to alum05 and all if RR lost to South? Or what WOULD happen if Minot or a Fargo team takes out one or both GF teams in the tourney? Really, it is just chest thumping. It amazes me how people can cast aside a good game just to say that that same one game means that one set of high schoolers is better than another set of high schoolers PLUS all those who root for the "other" set of high schoolers are, at best, idiots. On the DI thread we make note of that attitude all the time. It's called "Gopher arrogance." I don't care if Walt Disney thinks what I said is "dead wrong." His reasons, though IMO weak, are his reasons. What I do think is that there are a lot of teams out there that can, on any given night, make a game of it even if, in the end, they end up losing. From the sounds of the RR/South tilt, it was a VERY good game and I wish I could have seen it. I like to think that it was a good game and not just a reason for GF Homers to gloat.

All "Sean Connery" needs to do is look at the recent press from NDSU's own athletic department. If UND is so bad for not playing NDSU, if UND is so bad for playing "subpar competition" in D2, then why isn't NDSU leading by example? I mean, Minnesota offerred to play NDSU again in football and they declined? Why? I thought they were looking for better competition! Oh wait... looks like they just lost their right to complain about this issue. Too bad. tsk tsk.

What was the point? Both what you said and what I said were basically the same. Only mine had a Hollywood twist to it. I DO believe that that is what Greg Shepherd calls his "accountability" for his officials though. It may not happen with Zelkin because, in all honesty, he really didn't do that badly of a job all weekend long. Goon- It's one thing to call a team dirty and classless, but it is another thing entirely for the opposition to fall for it. Northeastern was just, if not, more dirty than Mankato was, but the Sioux didn't fall for it. We did the last two games and Mankato nearly made us pay score-wise and did succeed in making us pay against the Friday game vs. SCSU. IMO, however, Northeastern was dirtier than Mankato even without the retaliatory rubbish.

2 GWG is better than a 4 point weekend? I suppose. Ah well. DU beating UW twice is the bigger game/upset. C'est la vie I suppose. EDIT: Editted this and my first post. I counted a Stafford goal twice.

That is quite amazing anyways.

UND's scoring for the weekend including Saturday: Stafford: 3G 1A 4pts. Porter: 2G 1A 3pts. Oshie: 2G 1A 3pts. Toews: 1G 2A 3pts. Zajac: 1G 1A 2pts. Chorney: 0G 2A 2pts. Fabian: 1G 0A 1pt. Duncan, Watkins, Parise, Smaby, Kozek, Radke and Prpich: 0G 1A 1pt. each. There it is. NOW: I think Stafford has a good bid for WCHA Offensive POTW. I don't think the Sioux will be represented in any other categories unless there isn't a single rookie that scored more than 3 points this weekend in the WCHA. IMO the Sioux POTW are: Offense: Stafford HM: Porter, Oshie Defense: Jones HM: Lamearoux, Parise, Smaby, Chorney Rookie: Oshie HM: Chorney EDIT: Yeah, Chorney played EXTREMELY well, but Jones was amazing defensively all weekend long.

Bah. That's ok. It makes my victories, that much more sweet Anyways, saw MNS on the TV tonight after the empty netter by Zajac. Tried to give high fives all around and NO ONE gave it back. Poor MNS. No love.

Unfortunate but Jordy has to like two things about committing to SCSU: 1. Rebuilding a team can be a good thing to be a part of if it works out. SCSU finally has a decent coach and one more year of eligibility for a real goaltender. IMO, though, Motzko alone makes SCSU a more credible school. 2. Immediate playing time. Most of the other schools recruiting him wanted a year in juniors first. With SCSU, he can go right from high school. Now UND just needs to focus on getting Aaron Marvin.

I thought this is worthy of a seperate post. I will note that the not all of the assists for tonight's game are reflected in this post because the box score isn't up yet at USCHO as of 11:52PM. UND's scoring for the weekend: Stafford: 3G 0A 3pts. Porter: 2G 1A 3pts. Oshie: 2G 1A 3pts. Toews: 1G 1A 2pts. Zajac: 1G 1A 2pts. Chorney: 0G 2A 2pts. Fabian: 1G 0A 1pt. Duncan and Prpich: 0G 1A 1pt. each. The only assist I have down for tonight's game is Porter's (because I paid close attention so I could rub in Porter's good weekend). I'm pretty sure Radke, Toews, Zajac, Kozek, and others will have assists added but I don't want to add any without being absolutely sure of the awarding. I think Chorney, Toews, and Oshie had good weekends as far as WJC players are concerned. I know some of us were questioning Chorney's lack of playing time on Friday during the third period...

Spirko got tangled up with Rankin. Both of them got DQs. The guy Radke took on all over the ice was Cummings (sp?). I thought it was impressive because Cummings has 5 inches on Radke. And Radke didn't take off his glove. The Mav player pulled Radke's stick out of his hand, but Radke didn't let go enough so the stick took the glove with it. Nevertheless, what he did with that uncovered fist was still good enough to earn the DQ. Oshie went after the Mav player because the Mav player tried to spear him. Ok, it wasn't really a spear, but it is the best way to describe it. The Mav hand one hand on Oshie's jersey and then poked Oshie with the tip of the blade of his stick. It wasn't very hard and I don't think it hit anything other than the bottom of Oshie's shoulder pads but it was enough to set him off. Finley left the ice because he got a 10 minute misconduct and there was less than 10 minutes left in the game. It's not uncommon for players who get 10 minute misconducts with less than 10 minutes in the period to leave the playing area for the lockerrooms. I'm not sure who it is Finley tangled with. The DQs won't be reviewed. Greg Shepherd wouldn't dare overturn a DQ. What he WOULD do is implement his "accountability" protocol with Zelkin. Let me outline what happens in a case like this: Greg Shepherd calls Zelkin into his office. They review the game tape preceding, during, and immediately after the penalty occurs. Greg asks Zelkin what was going through his mind at the time. Then Greg asks Zelkin to state what he would do differently now that he's seen the replay. Then Greg says "Zelkin, I appreciate what work you do for us here, but calls like this need to be thought out better in the future. Try to work on that for next time. Good work. Give my best to your family." That's Greg's accountability program. The old "don't do it again" routine. Thank goodness for all the external pressure or that's what would have happened with Don Adam in the Robbie Bina game. However, even though Zelkin lost control during that sequence (I doubt any official could have maintained control anyways), I think he did a pretty good job overall compared to his first time vs. UW. I think he was night and day better than earlier this season. Even though I disagree with giving Spirko a DQ, I respect that he actually had the cohones to call it. There are officials in the WCHA who are deathly afraid of calling misconducts and DQs even when they are warranted.

Interesting that it took OT to get a winner. RR and South are clearly the best teams in ND. Both are having great years and the tourney will have to be where it is decided because I'm sure South isn't going to let up after this set back. ------------------------- In an unrelated note: I listened to a bit of the Moorhead-Warroad hockey game on the radio and was wondering who does the radio commentary? Seriously, the guy sounded drunk. If the action increased, his speech got slurred. Also, "WHOOOOOOOOAAAA" doesn't do very good on the radio. I'm really happy now with our radio crew that does Sioux games. At least they know that "WHOOOOOAAAAA" comes AFTER they describe what is happening. At least listening to the game inspired me. It left me saying "Hey, if that putz can call games, I certainly can and probably do it better!" And no, I've never done it before. Even so, he was that bad.

Or maybe they could use the marquis boards (the light signs around the edge of the balcony) to put lyrics up and start cheers? Oh wait.... that's been suggested, told "we'll think about it." and forgotten

Out of curiosity (with a hint of foreboding): What's the record so far? Who holds the "series lead" in wins?

My recap: Oshie: What a nice game he had even though he didn't score a goal. I love his hustle. Zajac: This guy was just amazing on the PK Spirko: That was NOT a DQ'able offense. Both him and Rankin(?) should have been given 4 minute minors and 10 min. misconducts AT WORST. Otherwise, I don't think he was playing as well as he did even last night. Something was off with his stick handling. Toews: Holy Parise what a PPG! Sioux D: Jones needs to control his emotions. He's SUPERB defensively but he really allowed those Purple Panzies to get to him. Smaby and Finley played really well. Radke was doing a really good job. I don't think his DQ is as hard to swallow as Spirko's. Radke really was only standing up for a teammate. Props for standing up to a guy who is 5 inches taller than you are! (Radke's listed at 5'11" and Cummings is listed at 6'4"). Lee and Chorney played very well. PP: We looked better tonight than last night until until the third period. PK: AMAZINGLY WELL DONE. Lots of blocked shots. Third Line: Kaip actually had a good game! Prpich couldn't stay out of the box (his two penalties weren't necessary). Fourth Line: Pretty invisible except for Kozek's nice shot which set up a goal. Officiating: A ton of missed calls tonight. And a good waveoff (although Mav fans will disagree). The Mav player hit Parise. I think that, even though he was in the crease, the goal would have counted had the Mav player not contacted Jordan. If anything, I really like how Zelkin kept players out of the crease. Goaltending: Jordan played very well, even though he got hung out to dry on the second goal (Phil got hung out to dry short handed on Friday so... good company there). Tormey played better tonight as well. However, Jordan had to make some great saves. Overall: I think we earned this sweep. The Mavs played well, even if Kaminki and Rankin were a bit dirty. But we HAVE to start controlling our emotion. Miller plays next week to replace Spirko and I guess Marvin for Radke. BY THE WAY: AHEM: I think you all should stop doubting me. I threw down the gauntlet on Porter and you all scoffed! 2G 1A this weekend and he played VERY VERY well. I think PCM, CRR, and jk need to own up! By the way, PCM, nice interview. Do us a favor and keep on writing though.

I think it isn't surprising. UW came to play thinking that NDSU was a patsy. A subpar DII basketball team charading as a DI basketball team. They thought all they had to do was to do a good warm up routine and then take the pull overs off and the win would follow suit. It's one of the things that I enjoy most about watching pro sports like the NFL for example. If you think they are patsies, you get beat. Someone tell me the Colts weren't looking past the Steelers. The Colts didn't come to play until the 4th Quarter and whattayaknow? Everyone's invited to Vanderjagt's house for the Super Bowl party. UW got beaten for playing the same way. NDSU came to play. They probably said, "What the hell! They're the big dogs. Let's see if we can cut their paws off!" And UW was too fat and dumb to realise that NDSU came to play. Good win by NDSU. I hope the UW players get to watch the game tape to watch how much they sucked.

I just watched the 3rd period of the game. Does anyone else feel like they wish the Sioux would play CC next weekend? I mean, even we could take 2 points from the Gophers. CC is in free fall right now. No way will they sweep us and our chances for sweeping them has gone from 10% to 25% IMO. Yeah, we still won't probably sweep them but our chances are getting better and better.

No problem!

I'm still waiting for Diggler to apply. Though, I can't imagine Diggler in a suit and tie. Diggler, do you own a tie? (I should note a tie, to me, isn't a clip on)