redwing77

I heard talk of a lawsuit. I have also heard that there were legal people (though not sure who they worked for) looking into the possibility of legal action ala the McSorley case. I also believe that this could have been completely fabricated and no lawsuit was ever in doubt. But if the WCHA WERE to get sued over stuff like this or administrative negligence/incompetence, McLeod would be out on his backside. At the time, Shepherd was only part time, and, thus, it could have been seen as a safety oversight and hurt him professionally. So, he hired Shepherd full time and upheld the rule to the best of his abilities. In other words: Fear of God. So, only rumor. Even if it wasn't, I doubt a lawsuit would have been filed anyways.

You're right on. Things will only change in the following two scenarios: 1. WCHA ADs get together and force a change in WCHA administration forcing the departure of Greg Shepherd and/or Bruce McLeod. They then install administration who actually feels compliance with NCAA mandates (Even if it pisses off some or all of the WCHA ADs) is more important than being a good old boy and getting 12 christmas dinner invites. 2. LEGAL action forces their hand. So far, this hasn't happened. It's gotten somewhat close (Bina, Robbie) but even that wasn't that near of a miss. The bad publicity in only the fact that BOTH participating teams were WCHA members and that, at the meetings, the WCHA was confronted (in a manner of speaking) by both Travis Roy and Robbie Bina in front of National Media...(as much national media as the NCAA Hockey realm garners) probably had more of an effect. In other words, serious prolonged injury (that includes much of the initial time period in the hospital) is what will provoke change. I don't think someone has to die, but career ending or near ending may be the only way to provide protection to the few. So.... which players are going to provide the "spark" if you will? Who wants to be villified like Paukovich? Who wants the injury ala Robbie Bina or, worse, Travis Roy to get things going? Anyone? The WCHA will always be an "almost" as long as the two bozos in charge are left to run with a blank check.

Uh, nope. See Bina, Robbie. What could change it without loss of life? A Steve Downie type player. A player who comes in and seriously goes after everyone. Ok, that's EXTREMELY unlikely because of all the DQs and that no coach would allow such negative publicity on their team and such a detriment being placed on their team. So, yeah. They only learn what they are forced to learn. If it wasn't for the NCAA and some question about legal action in the Bina case, the WCHA would not have the CFB rule in place. Goon pretty much said it all, but why accept it? I understand we live in a society that panders to mediocrity (C's are ok! They're AVERAGE! It's ok to be average! etc.). Japan and China (well.... sorta) strive for excellence. So, if we do strive for excellence and not accept mediocrity, why do we have such an inferiority complex as far as education is concerned with Japan? Why should we simply shrug our shoulders and say "Well, that's how it is." and go our way? The WCHA bills itself and McLeod even spewed it from the sphincter he calls his mouth, as the premier league in NCAA Division I hockey. So we're supposed to believe him? "Oh. We're the best. I guess there's nothing left to strive for. No problems at all. Let's rock with some excellent hockey." How about another analogy? In the 1980s, we had Apple IIs. They DOMINATED so many different markets. Well.... there were weaknesses back then and IBM, Microsoft, etc. got together and designed a better platform. Guess what happened? Apple was on the brink of death. They released the first generation MacIntosh to little fanfare. It was alright but not great. They simply then reinvented themselves, released a new updated and streamlined Mac, and then proceeded to come up with peripherals that changed the face of society such as the iPod and iPhone. They even were among the first to delve into the realm of PDA. Well, the WCHA is good, but we're teetering on the brink. Time to reinvent ourselves.... but unlike Apple, we're not going to be able to do it under current leadership. True and I'm afraid the only way to change things is through legal action.... and nobody wants a McSorley/Bertuzzi/Simon character around to provoke it because no one wants to be part of the fanbase in which that player plays for. I'll say this. I talked to UND's representative to the WCHA Board... I can't remember his name. He taught Business Law and such... not the greatest guy in the world... but in any case, he told me how the WCHA was, at the time, trying to push itself officiating-wise towards being a feeder/development league for officials who are someday going to the NHL. Uh... no. These days, that honor belongs to the CHL and the USHL among amateur leagues. Last year, the USHL had TWO officials make their NHL debut. TWO. I wonder.... does ANY of our officials even have ONE NHL game under their belts?

Sica- THAT is a wish list. That Aerosmith song sums it up best though: Dream On

Uh... WCHA officials have been known historically to call based upon reputation. Just ask Matt Greene. He's even stated in interviews how officials have commented to him how his play needs improvement and how things eventually improved. Why should an official care about that? It's not their job. They call the rules of the game, not the reputation of the player or team or coach. And yeah, UND fan griping, but seriously... MSU Mankato, UW, and I believe both UMD and UMN have had their share of penalty calls that could only best be described as a reputation call in the past. And yeah, I know MSU Mankato has had a reputation of playing rough, but every player?

Hey, I thought Eidsness stayed in his crease pretty well at least at one point. UW's Street thanked him. I don't mind leaving the crease to attack the shooter provided it's not too far. He's all about the angle. Take away the angle and there's nothing to shoot at. Too deep in the crease and you forfeit high. Too far and you could get skated around or easily put out of position if another player gets behind you or you give up a rebound. Eidsness does raise the old heart beat, but not more than JPL did. Heck, I seem to recall Goehring did a bit of meandering as well. The one example I can remember of someone who genuinely did a poor job of it was Siembida... but then again, I have never seen any other goaltender (other than him) basically skate halfway to the near faceoff circle to take a shot, get too planted and simply watch as the winger skated by him and potted an empty net goal... But I understand the gripe. Hey, at least we don't have to worry the same way I did (at least) regarding JPar. It seems like he'd get run twice a game his last year with the Sioux.

After watching Malone this year, I think he could be a scorer.... he was just an angle of the stick away from 2 goals this weekend. I'm not sure how you fix that problem, but... You're right though... we're starving for upperclassmen scoring.

It's kind of like... These guys are too young an inexperienced in DI! Hurry up and get older and more experienced! Until then, FIRE HAKSTOL!

I like the list but we should take one step at a time. Maybe this is a slight tangent but... Step 1: Put together 120 minutes of hockey. We've already put together 60 minutes of solid hockey this season at times, but we have yet to put forward 120 minutes of the same. Step 2: Fix the Powerplay. We started out very very well and we've gradually gotten worse. The only consistent feature (discounting injury) has been Genoway and Kristo. Blood has made strides on the powerplay, but really... BEN BLOOD? This guy was billed as a Matt Smaby type, not a Genoway type. Sure, I'll take it, but what it comes down to is leadership. Vandevelde is the guy I'm turning to step it up in the Powerplay and he's really been largely quiet. Step 3: Find underclassmen leadership. This is tough. Two of our upperclassmen leaders are out with injury. Hextall is too emotional. Malone is too. Funny... I'm coming back to Ben Blood here. He's been the only guy on D who has noticeably stepped up since Genoway got injured. Sure, he takes a few untimely penalties, but so did Smaby and Greene and Commodore... The kind of player on D we need right now is a guy like David Hale or Matt Jones... and Marto has done some of that as has Blood. I look to those two to step up on the back end. Gregoire is leading the team in goals, but he's having trouble finishing. He really needs to step up. As an aside, Knight and Cichy have indeed looked like freshmen. It's interesting because I see the same thing in them that I saw with previous players for the Sioux in their first half season in DI. It's almost like the game is moving too fast for them. I've read the scouting reports I had access to on Cichy and they said that speed would be a flaw in his game and thus far that seems to hold true. I really think he'll step it up but how soon, I don't know. They have been disappointing thus far, but I think they'll turn it around. Unfortunately, it might not be this season... I hope I'm wrong. Step 4: Play smarter. We play a physical game but we also play with emotion at times. This is normally a GOOD thing, but our emotion has been misplaced. We get frustrated,, get in penalty trouble, and then start chasing the puck. We eventually abandon the game plan entirely. We haven't simply shut down like the Gophers have done at times this year, but we haven't really been resilient either. This also might explain why we squander so many leads. I see the Red Wings in this team when the Sioux have the lead. They seem to play like they aren't going to lose the lead and then, when they do, seem unconcerned. I like to advise every team (not that I can) to play the game like you are down a goal or two with this game making or breaking the season whether you are actually down goals, tied, or up by 12. We did not play well, but again, we only lost the game because we got into penalty trouble. It was Saturday vs DU all over again. This team has the talent. This team has the coaching (yeah, stuff it haters, I'm standing by that statement). We just need to execute and finish and do it smart.

Yup. And ya can't score goals if you rely too much on passing. Heh... UW scored 3 or 4 goals this weekend by just throwing the puck at the net. If I were Hakstol, I'd watch these past two games very carefully. Not to point fault necessarily, but to see if we can snatch a few plays out of Eaves' playbook. They seem to know how to score goals.

We do have a lot to learn. We have a young team. And trust me, if we're going to need Genoway to succeed, we're doomed. One player doesn't make a championship team. Otherwise, Parise, Oshie, Stafford, Zajac... they'd all have an NC. Oh yeah... Ovechkin would have had back to back stanley cup rings too. This team isn't crap. This team isn't a bad team. This team just hasn't put it together for 60 minutes yet. And I'll tell ya... 95% of our crappy games this year has come on a Saturday. Is this Hakstol? I don't know. Hakstol could try yelling "SHOOT" from the bench. Hakstol could have yelled at VV for not corralling that puck he could have sank in the first. He could have yelled at Malone for missing an open net on Friday. What would that prove? There's coaching issues and there are execution issues. Right now, this team has execution issues. We get frustrated easy. We try to make things more complicated than they should be. Heck, Kristo's early season liability is not so much a liability anymore isn't it? I mean... he shoots too often, didn't he? Uh.. This third period he should have been on the ice 20 minutes. He knows the value of a shot. Enough with the endless passing. Let's shoot and chase! Let's simplify the game plan on special teams and simply shoot the puck. 32 SOG tonight doesn't tell the tale. Of those 32 SOG, 3 were goals and maybe 7 more were legit chances. Most of the shots came in the first period. It's just amazing that we stopped playing gradually and then entirely in the third.

half right. I think Anderson called an ok weekend. Sure, he missed a call or two on both sides, but he didn't act blind ala Adam either. This is the first weekend in quite a while where Hakstol can actually focus on team issues causing the loss rather than having officiating be part of the problem.

I think this game goes down as one of the worst played games this season. Eidsness isn't to blame. Stupid penalties, Malone's gaff in the first... our inability to play a man up....

Put Kristo on the ice the remainder of the game. He knows that you only score by shooting the puck.

Game over.

Whew. Awful.

Cant score if we can't get to the net. WOW UW is playing good. We look baffled out there.

Cut.print..crap. That power play was pathetic.

First one he got caught down low with facing an odd man rush. PReventable because Malone could have easily cleared the puck. The second one was a breakaway. Or maybe that was the third. Not much he could do on that one. he just got beat. The third he was too deep in his crease. It wasn't like the third goal last night. UND defense playing aggressive and leads to odd man rushes. UND players playing stupid leading to too many penalties. This is not Eidsness but rather taking stupid penalties or not being smart with the puck.

Ok.... is it me or do we look like UW did last night? Came out flying and progressed to simply suck up the remainder of the night?

Eidsness saved our bacon and then Mitchell saved it again.

UND takes ANOTHER penalty! I guess we want it to be 4-2! STOP BEING STUPID. STAY OUT OF THE BOX!

Anyone else think taking penalties is good? Seriously. SERIOUSLY.

Well..... Blood took two penalties apparently. Davies was out of the play. That was just stupid.

Let's have another 2nd period domination.