redwing77

Now THIS is optimistic! And Derek Sheperd, even with last night, is not the worst ref in the WCHA. Todd Anderson is the worst ref. These refs do not want a physical matchup. We are a physical team. It's only natural that we have a lot of penalties because of this. We COULD pull off a sweep of UAA. We WILL pull off a sweep of SCSU. The only ? is UW.

With all due respect, WPoS, I truly believe UW should have swept the Gophers. You hit the reason why they didn't on the head though: They didn't shoot the puck when they had a chance. MTU shot all they could get with UMN's defense bearing down on them and they won. UW lost this game because they didn't shoot nearly enough. Goon- I will agree with you: We should finish 5th now. I do not think we will fare badly in the WCHA playoffs, but I'm not going to predict Broadmoor either. We are playing well enough to beat UMD and, yes, I think we could even beat UMN right now. We are not at the same level as UW, CC, or DU so that's why I'm saying that winning against them may not be possible unless we get some bounces. I think this year would be successful if we just make the NCAAs and try our hardest to play spoiler both there and in the WCHA playoffs. No, I don't think this team will win the National Championship or the Broadmoor, but I'd love to make those NC bound teams nervous.

Goon and OETKB- Regarding Andy and the backing down from a fight: Yes, I agree that a fight would have been the real thing to do, but this is the WCHA. Right now, we have only fleetingly had a full compliment of players all season long. Andy backed down because he saw the big picture: He could not afford to sit out the game. If this were the pros or MJ or even, perhaps the USHL, Geoff Paukovich (How come I can spell his name but not Phil's?) and Andy Schneider would have dropped the gloves. Geoff could afford the one game suspension. So could Denver. Andy and the Sioux could not. Therefore, I applaud Andy for having the patience and the foresight to back down despite how he would have looked doing so. Using this same mindset, one has to also applaud Mike Prpich for what happened following the two handed check to the back of his head. HE DID NOT RETALIATE. Did anyone notice that? I think that's quite possibly a first for him. Regarding Sheppard's call: I was not at the game. I didn't see a replay. However, the radio crew reviewed the play and they said over the airwaves that the replay was inconclusive. Derek DID confer with the goal judge. I dislike Derek as much as the rest, but if Todd Anderson had been the official, Todd wouldn't have even done that. I'm not saying it was a good wave off. I didn't see it. However, from listening to the radio to two guys who are unashamedly Sioux homers, one got the impression that it was indeed no goal. And lastly, Federov- You criticism of the senior class and our recruiting for this year is accurate, but only for this year's senior class. I really think this year's freshmen and next year's freshmen will not be like that. The only problem with this year's freshmen class is that it features a player who probably won't make it to his senior year: Zajac. As for our seniors that I'll miss the most: I'll miss Nick Fuher and Matt Jones on D, Rory McMahon and Colby Genoway on O. Matt Jones is as good as the next guy at positioning and can also contribute offensively. He is a smart Dman who really will excell at the next level. Nick Fuher, what can I say. Solid as any dman in the league and does something that we seem to be unable to do right off: shoot. He shoots the puck! A LOT. Sure, a lot may go wide of the net, but he's always trying to score rather than to cycle. This is a defenseman that I can honestly say we will miss on the PP and in the offensive zone. Rory McMahon- His offense has plateaued at the moment, but he has been a true leader on the ice for the bottom two lines (3rd and 4th). His presence on the penalty kill was sorely missed this weekend. He's a big checking forward who can score. These kinds of guys are needed. Colby Genoway- Took him a while, but he's finally coming around. He is an assist machine. This tells me he has eyes for the game. He's not much of a goal scorer per se, but he can set up anyone else on the ice. I will miss him the most on the powerplay. He's QBing an excellent powerplay right now.

What the heck are you smoking? Split against SCSU?! The chumps of the WCHA? They couldn't even beat MTU right now! They barely beat a team from some crappy conference (AHA?). Sorry, the worst case scenario I'd see is we'd win 3 more games (sweep SCSU and split UAA). I'm going to be optimistic and I'm going to say 4.5, but that's not an option. I think we'll tie UW. And we all should follow UW as I'm not sure what Bruckler is going to do regarding this Olympic trials that are supposed to be happening in a few weeks. We sweep UAA and SCSU. We will either split UW or tie UW once (UW takes three). Remember, UW lost to a UMN team that couldn't find the net with a spotlight at noon. UW should have swept the Gophers. Since that option isn't available, I selected 5.

I really don't know what to say about tonight. We really did have problems containing the Pioneers. We'd get some momentum going and then they'd simply come back and burn someone to score. Fylling and Bina can attest to that. JPar did not do too badly tonight. No worse than Phil last night. I think the play of the game that did it in for the Sioux was the no goal in the third. Interesting that Derek talked to the goal judge about that. Folks, if we didn't rush the shot, or whatever it is that went wrong, we would have scored 5 goals at least. I know, woulda shoulda coulda. However, it really has come down to that as the definition of our offense. Also, anyone notice how Denver was able to handle bouncing pucks and we were not? If you wish to question this, look at Denver's second goal tonight. Puck was bouncing all over the place, over Jone's stick to a Denver player who shoots and scores. Why can't we seem to corral bouncing pucks? BIG props to Drew Stafford, Rastislav Spirko, and Travis Zajac. They are playing at another level. Big props to Prpich, Stafford, and Zajac for actually crashing the net. At least three players were listening. Nice try for Bina. Despite being manhandled you still crashed the net. Way to show what you SHOULD do on offense. Wish it would have went in. Folks, from the sound of it, Denver kept it simple, crashed the net, and shot as fast as they could set it up. It seemed like they would come into the zone, passpassshoot. A bangbangbang play. We do we cycle so much? The more we pass the better chance it's going to go astray or get picked off. We need to shoot first pass later. Nick Fuher, props to you for at least trying to shoot instead of the endless pass routine we seem to employ. Matt Greene- GREAT job on defense. I'm sure I'm possibly one of the few who are willing to admit this, but GOOD JOB. It may have stunk to have to sit out against BSU, but it actually seems to have helped you. Matt Smaby also had a good game. Did officiating cost us the game? No. We did some stupid things on the ice and Derek, who's always had it in for the Sioux, was just waiting to acknowledge our mistakes. Andy, you should have known better than to encourage Daddy's dearest. We did this to ourselves, penalty wise. I'm more outraged for the noncalls against Denver (slashing or crosscheck to Prpich and the obstruction interference to Bina). Derek still sucks, but it's more for not calling it both ways rather than just trying to pick a winner. EDIT: As for how it stacks up in the WCHA: Look around the league. Things didn't fare too well for UMD, CC, and UMN this weekend. So there is still hope for us in the playoffs. Folks, we ARE competitive. Hakstol is NOT the problem. Our senior class just isn't cutting it, even though they play really REALLY hard. Diggler is right. We aren't going to win it all every year, but we can still do well. One goal at a time. First, ensure playoff invites to NCAA and WCHA. Next, get home ice for WCHA. Then do as best you can. One step at a time. It is ALWAYS tough to listen or watch your team lose, especially if it is an upset, but it is NEVER the end of the season until they are out.

Is Diggler going to apply?

Don't cloud the issue with the truth.

I think this is really neat that Parise and Bo are mentioned in this article and the others, though big named former collegiate players, only get their names in the news.

Yeah, I noticed Drew rushing the net more too. Zajac has done this as well, but we need Massen, Genoway, Porter, or any of those playing center to park themselves in front of the net more and allow the defense to get spread out. Then pepper the net with shots and hopefully we can actually get our stick on the puck. All these pucks hopping over sticks, whiffing, and the word "chances" are starting to make me want to scream!

Contrary to popular belief, you can have fun and be respectful at the same time. That's why I like sagard and Greyeagle's posts here so much. The poke fun when appropriate, but they retain respect for the board they are on. No one says you HAVE to be a Sioux fan to post here, but we do expect that those who are not Sioux fans post with respect to those who are. I would expect nothing less from Sioux posters on POI... however, I can't speak for them. I can only hope.

The thing that is wrong with the sioux this year, is that Hakstol has a bunch of big stupid defencemen that cant break the puck out. All they do is ring it around the boards and leave the wingers in a tough spot. I think that has a lot to do with poor coaching. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is solely because of BDB's having a _____-on for Dean ever since he left. But what do you expect? BDB is a moron and.... DEAN BLAIS IS GONE!!!!

You know, I never noticed the Sioux EVER doing something like that, Sic, until last year. Bo did it the year before, sure, but this year we don't crash the net. That CC interview was simply a fluke. We don't crash the net at all.

Well, let's home we turn the Great Wall into the Maginot Line

I couldn't agree more! Woog has done some stupid things on the air in his days as broadcaster. sagard's resoning seems sound as well. But the question no one is willing to listen to is, what's Frank's excuse?

There are a lot of players out there and not enough room to get them all. Les Reaney, according to the USCHO article, wants to come to UND, but where would he fit? The article also mentions Joe Finley (D; Sioux Falls) as being interested in UND. Others mentioned but not in relation to any school: Chay Genoway, Drew Fisher, Jon Ammerman, and two players from familiar programs (Trotter from Lincoln and Chad Morin of the US NTDP)

I agree on McMahon's 2 game suspension hurting us. And, as PCM posted, it mentions nowhere that the DQs are segmented out into fighting and other DQs, so I think the suspension is going to stand. Dumb question, totally serios, can't Hakstol appeal the suspension? Review the play and the call and appeal for a lesser suspension or something?

My recap (a long time in coming thanx to burglers and no internet access in GF): This game was probably my last home game to watch at the Ralph thanks to graduation and a job etc. I'm happy to see us win. I sat in section 114 two rows from the glass. Let me say this: If it isn't the 2nd period, it sucks to be sitting there. Also, that section isn't that good. If they aren't dead silent, they are cheering for the Beavers (WTF?) and razzing Smaby every time he is in our zone (WTF again?). UND: Goaltending: Jordan looked GOOD last night despite giving me a few steps closer towards cardiac arrest in the third period. He was not as rusty as I expected him to be. A note on crowds: Maybe it's the hometown thing, but the crowd is definitely more into the game when Phil is between the pipes. I feel for Jordan in that fashion. I like both our goaltenders. Defense (defensively): We looked alright. Smaby had a MUCH MUCH better night last night. He was hitting alright and moving the puck better. He didn't visit the penalty box once. Jones had somewhat of an off night puck handling wise. He also was on the ice for BSU's lone goal, which was purely a defensive lapse. Whoever was tasked in covering Cook forgot to do his job. Nick Fuher looked good and Kyle Radke look alright. The defenseman that stuck out for some reason (meaning I can't exactly pinpoint why) was Robbie Bina. He was all over the place. I think it is about time that Kyle got a goal! He needed it so badly! However, I swear to GOD that puck was deflected. I don't know by whom, but the shot was from my side of the ice. I saw it pass the line of forwards and get deflected upwards. It handcuffed Sedevie. Offense (defensively): Still, we are having a tough time forechecking. Quinn Fylling, Rory McMahon, Mike Prpich, and Brian Canady looked subpar out there. No, I have no idea what happened with McMahon, but from what I've heard it was worthy of a 5 minute major. A Game DQ? I don't know so much. I don't think it would have hurt Campion too much to give him a misconduct or just a regular 5 minute major. Stafford, Porter, and Zajac do wonders on the defensively. I hope they can teach the rest of the team. Offense: Gosh, I can't say this enough: SHOOT THE PUCK! CRASH THE NET! Ok, there were two instances in the 2nd period alone that, if we crashed the net, we could have scored. We didn't crash the net very much at all. I only noticed Stafford and Massen doing it in the second period. Massen would have scored if not for the puck getting deflected over his stick. Radke's goal was a play I've not seen the Sioux ever attempt to my knowledge. I think this is a play that should continue to happen. Radke shoots, we crash the net and look for rebounds off the faceoff. Good idea. BSU: Overall: This team doesn't fit in with the CHA. Their play is too good. BSU could easily beat SCSU right now and hang around with any other WCHA or CCHA team. Heck, Michigan was only good enough to split NMU, so it's a chance they could even beat a good portion of the CCHA! An interesting note to see: I noticed, after the final horn had sounded, a group of BSU fans chanting what sounded like U-N-D! U-N-D! Is this routine for them when they are defeated? I thought it was classy. Never experienced a classy fanbase among the team that lost. Goaltending: Climie and Sedevie are good goaltenders. Sedevie robbed Stafford, Zajac, Porter, and Spirko a few times. I think they'll do well with them. It's a young tandem, as young as ours. Sedevie is a Sophomore and Climie is a freshman. Very impressed with Sedevie. Defense: They aren't a flashy team defensively. They only do one thing better than the rest: forecheck. They are REALLY REALLY good forecheckers. They play positions really well and they cover their net pretty good in the cycling game that UND employs. Offense: Can't say much more than they are oportunistic. Also, they CRASH THE NET. I can't believe how many times I saw a Beaver player in front of Jordan Parise. Did the Sioux forwards take any notes? That is how play should ensue in the offensive zone. With that game plan and our talent, I am sure we'd at LEAST go up .5-1 goal a game. Coaching: Serratore is the Dean Blais of the CHA and AHA. The CHA and AHA have virtually no chance at the Frozen Four, but BSU has an advantage in that they have a coach who knows the game better than a lot of other coaches. If BSU is going to go anywhere, Serratore will have to be holding the reigns. Other notes: I can only pose confusion and sorrow at what Campion has turned out to be. I recall him being a steady and as close to consistant ref as there could be in the WCHA. Now... it's no longer there. For the first 10 minutes of the first period he didn't realize that there were two teams on the ice. From then on out, he alternated in penalty calling. He didn't call a few obvious hooking, tripping, and holding calls (Uh, what can't Stafford het free of Differding? ). I don't know about Jon. Just sad. Attendance: 11,100 and change? Yeah right. THat would put us with not a whole lot of green in the stands. There was a LOT of green seats on my side of the arena. Sucks: It sucks not being able to see the other half of the ice. I missed Spirko's goal entirely. If it happened in BSU's zone during the first and third periods, I didn't see it.

Hey, count your blessings. Last year, Dataflix wouldn't even make it to the pregame show before going down the crapper