redwing77

I never quite understood how that worked. UND alum goes and starts or takes control of a company that makes sporting apparel. UND decides to side with the sweatshops because $$$ talks. And the alumni association wonders why I throw away all their stuff. It's selective alumni wooing. Those in the middle who cares.

Dora is doing alright. It's on ESPN2 if you want to watch the game. The commentators are giving UMD quite a bit of airtime. Reichmuth is doing very well.... until I wrote this. 2-1 UMD. Fuljum (sp?) with the goal.

Yes, I did.

Precisely. I am a big UMich football fan. Never knew they had a hockey team until I came to UND

I'll go on record as saying that Vanek's offensive style would be attractive in a Sioux uniform, but I'll guarantee you I'd be just as hard on him about his defensive play if he were a Sioux. I've seen a LOT of defensive breakdowns since I started going to Sioux hockey games in 1995. Defense is as large a part of Blais's game as offense is. I can't be a solid fan of Vanek because he is nonexistant defensively. All he does is skate around and hope he gets lucky, like he did in the Final Five chapionship game. Lucky positioning plus a mistake by Greene gave him a goal. I for one will never tell anyone that hitting Vanek wide open in front of the net will not produce in either A) an easy goal or B) the Save of the night. But saying ZPar didn't do what Vanek did is one thing, but know this: If ZPar doesn't get sent down to the AHL and NJD wins the Stanley Cup, ZPar COULD get a ring. And that is something Vanek hasn't done yet. And seeing Buffalo, it could take a while for him to get even close. On that note, I'm curious: Is Zach actually named to the Devils roster or is he just in a sort of limbo? ZPar did as much or more than Vanek in his two years in college, folks. Vanek just happened to be the last ingredient to a championship team. I do not think that Vanek was the key to the Gopher's repeat NC. I believe the entire team was responsible. They clicked well, jumped on the puck extraordinarily well, and faced a Hockey East team that (some could argue) was a fluke to get to the game. UMN was just a BETTER TEAM than anyone else that year. It didnt come down to just one.

Uh, I never thought P Martin would have trouble in the NHL. I think (and boy am I going to be flamed maybe for this) he is far and a way better than Ballard.

It's a sad thing to see and I really don't understand why we just didn't put him on hold until 2005. One thing was said in the article that wasn't true. Beaverson will not be a first round pick. I really don't know what else to say... I agree he wouldn't have fit in this next season, but 2005?

1. Didn't see Hensick play. He didn't make the WJ team but he is slated to be on next year's WJ team with Stafford. 2. He is a forward. From his stats, I'd say he has a keen eye for smart offensive hockey. Not especially an offensive power, but very good at setting someone up to bury the puck. Not a goalscorer like Murray. 3. I disagree. Michigan does have talent, but I felt they spent the majority of the year feeling overconfident based on how poor the CCHA is. Miami, MSU, UNO, ND, et. al. are decent quality teams that just didnt play up to par this season. They don't have a flashy player like UMD, UND, BC, and Minnesota have, which is a big difference. 4. Nothing new here. Offensive Dmen run the world, which is why I was not surprised to see Ballard and Pock on the list. They are (and in the case of Pock, were) the best offensive dmen in NCAA hockey. 5. Maybe it was an "equalizer." So far this year, USCHO has mainly covered Hockey East and WCHA stories and spoke very little about the CCHA. Perhaps Hensick's performance out of a poor conference this year was more noteworthy than an excellent performance from a player who happens to be surrounded by incredible talent. This notwithstanding, put Murray in any other jersey and I bet he would be ROTY with these numbers because he probably would have been most any other team's primary offensive forward. 6. I agree. Look at the UW series. Wasn't he the only shining star on the ice next to ZPar both games? 7. As far as the All Rookie Team, this year was rough for the likes of Porter and Stafford. This is because of the immense quantity of quality rookie talent in college hockey. Porter is the best roleplaying forward in the NCAA, IMO, at least among freshmen. Stafford is solid as a power forward can get and should get better, but the others simply had too great of a year to pass over.

Thanks for clearing that up.

What is the rule on redshirting? Although I don't think this would happen, I'd think it would work out of Ziggy could redshirt this season. Then Brandt graduates and we're down to three young (academically) goaltenders who are all solid (judging by USHL numbers for Lammy anyways).

1. He is not a traitor if UND didn't recruit him. I heard somewhere that we did not, or if we did, we didn't do it very seriously. 2. Gopher or not, Grant is from this area and we wish all our native folks well regardless of team. 3. Grant Potulny is no longer a Gopher. He is/was a senior. Grant will never face the Sioux again as a player.

I agree with your sentiments about Domi. He is a lot like Scott Parker in the fact that he is basically useless outside of a boxing ring. Darcy Tucker is a diver, but there are a ton of those out there (Hockey East?). Marchment, I believe, isn't much of a cheap player other than a hard hitter. A lot like David Hale when he came back from injury. He hits everything and everyone in sight. He is also a strong defensive defenseman who can contribute, so I don't think Marchment is cheap. I don't understand Bertuzzi or McSorley as to what caused them to "snap" on the ice. At least Bertuzzi had the reputation before the incident of not being particualarly cheap.

I am amzed by Legace, myself. I always thought of him as an excellent clutch goaltender who was good for a game here and there as a backup. Actually, I thought of him as the best backup goaltender in the NHL. I never thought of him as a legitamite starting goaltender as many backups for the Wings had gone on and failed terribly. He is truly excellent and I am pleasantly surprised.

A West vs East college game and skills competition would be a great thing, but there's realistically no market. And what I meant by amateurs, was that the entire olympics went amateur. Not just the US or even Canadian Olympic teams. The whole thing. I voted for this option because if I wanted to watch a "Dream Team" setup, I'd watch the all star games of that prospective sport. And Miracle hit on something that (whether Herb said it or not) I really think is personified in the amateur market that isn't so much for the pro or paid markets. And that is true pride. They are playing for their country and not in some all star capacity, but because they earned the slot by practicing hard, playing hard, and being solid (as much as possible) cohesively without the distraction of pro contracts, obligations, or whatever. And I also hold the opinion that college athletes play harder than pro athletes because they want to get noticed. And as selfish as that seems, their play is improved. Pro players play for pride, sure, but win or lose they head home to their posh contracts and decent to spectacular lifestyles. Heck, I could live admirably on the league minimum.

Ok, it's been a whole season since I've created a Poll. I waited until the season was over to do so just so that I woudn't distract the board away from the Sioux season. Now that it's over, here it goes. I started this poll because I was thinking how wonderful it would be if we went back to the same Olympic sports setup that was featured in 1980, where the coach and committee was in charge of putting together an excellent team together that were not superstars or even NHL players (though some were drafted). I would say this should be across the board, including basketball and baseball. I don't imagine this would hold players in college or send those who have the option to jump right to the pros from high school to college, but it would benefit those who did go to college during that time. The second option would be a lot like the current NHL All-Star or MLB All Star setup. We'd vote who we'd like to see on the US Hockey team. This poll may be fluff, but at least it's not who is "hotter"

Boston isn't deep enough to make it to the Finals. I'm not even sure the Devils will make it, but they are deep. In any case, I'll say about Colorado as you say about Boston. ANYONE but Colorado. And, if that anyone is Detroit, I won't complain.

Good for Minny.

Martin St. Louis is a sort of eye opener for more than one reason. 1. Martin proves that the college player can be a superior force on the ice in a capacity greater than that of a roleplayer. 2. That size doesn't matter: Ability does. That means players like Panzer may indeed get their chance. Martin's performance may have helped keep Panzer in the league. It probably didn't hurt Murphy too. I guess I am inspired by Martin. Let's hope that he keeps going down the path and not end up like Fleury.

Murphy was named to his third AHL All Star team. First team too. http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?s...hreaded&order=0

That's a good thing. Red Wings or Devils. Maybe Lightening. Definitely no Avs

Thanks.

On a tangent and such, I was wondering... on Hockey DB, there was a member of the Sioux named Byfuglien. He was a defenseman out of Roseau. He spent one year with UND and then left. Any ideas why?

Oh well. Wrong again. Well, there you go. Now, about my question about current Sioux players and the Major Juniors....

Which may mean Brandt fans COULD be surprised on opening day... but like I said, again, the decision will be made by Blais. Not by myself or anyone else.