redwing77

I think what is really sad is that it happened against the Wild. I wish no ill will towards Roloson, but the rest of the team stinks. If anyone has any claims about goaltenders who carry their team alone to the playoffs, well, look at the Wild. I'd say their goaltenders are the only good players on the entire team and it's not even going to get them the 8th spot in the playoffs. Good for Blake, though. He knows his team is going places. If I were a Minnesota draft pick, this looks like mixed blessings. One side says, with the Wild surely going to the cellar, a draft pick has a good chance of making the roster earlier in his career. On the other hand, the management could misuse you and you end up a perrenial minor leaguer for as long as the contract lasts with the team (Roche). But hey, i'm not a Wild fan, so take it for what it is worth.

I think the big issue here, PCM, is you are clouding the issue with logic. The committee isn't about logic. Try to be more irrational next time. Seriously though, I'm in agreement.

It's a jinx. As to the title of this thread, where do we go to watch WPoS eat crow, should the Gophers fall out of contention in the regionals? I'd like to see that.

I disagree with farce poobah on the first goal. I really think it has to do with defense. UMD scored the first goal last night and lost the game. The Sioux have come from behind many times this season. The first goal isn't as big as it should be. To me, it has to do with the defense. How are we poised? Are we the calm defensive corpps that we had the 3 out of 4 times we faced the Gophers or are we going to be the rushed version we saw in Madison? Both Gophers and the Sioux have offenses to be feared when they get things rolling. So it will be a game of defense. The worst defense watches the other team with the trophy regardless of how good the other side of their game is.

I agree. I have seen precisely two short handed goals in Minneapolis: The first was UMN vs BU. BU was up 4-1 before that goal and after I saw it I told my Dad that there was no way BU would win the game. A few minutes later it was tied. The second was against UMD. I'll tell you, I'm pretty hard nose and blunt when it comes to SH chances, and I believe you really have to be off your game to allow a SHOT shorthanded let alone a goal. And a goal is scored on you while they are short handed, well... I really don't think that that team, especially in the playoffs, is going to win the game unless it is incredibly lopsided (like if UMN went up 7-1 and allowed Schwabe to score SH). The Bulldogs looked sharp at first and then lost it. 7-4, my goodness. Wooger claims that Minnesota will be in Colorado. What has to happen for that to happen? He also said that Minnesota can claim a #1 seed, which (without bonus points) they do, but that still would send them to Michigan.

Back to the good ole times. With Deano and Sandy back together, this team will seriously rock the house. Sandy and Dean are excellent recruiters and judges of young talent. judging the talent already in the league will be more difficult, but they'll take the best of the best. Too bad Smaby (I think), Parise, and Murray are too old.

Why did Sandy call? Because he's a class act. The reason why the rest didn't call leads to imagination and conspiracy theories. As for why Matt Greene, Jake Brandt, and Jordan Parise not making their prospective all WCHA teams is because they didn't want to fill the teams up with too much of one team. Everyone knows the Sioux are good, but aren't there any decent players on other teams? I think that's the statement they were making, as ludicrous as that sounds. As for DOTY- the only award that didn't make sense, I think Ryan Caldwell deserves the award. After all, true class acts that embody what they are all about only make 2nd team All-WCHA and they treat all fans with respect and dignity by only chopping them once with the blade of their hockey stick and not cross checking them. Sorry, plenty of other Dmen were more deserving than Caldwell. Ballard certainly deserved it, but so does Jones, Geisler, and even Greene has an argument. Hell, I say screw them all and give it to Bina

Doesn't Bo have a share of the lead in points for the nation? That means more production and certainly just as considerate as Voce. My question is: Where the hell is the best hockey player to grace the ice? I mean, cherry pick... I mean Chris Conner? I mean 8 SHG For goodness sake! That's enough to win it outright! I'm sure Lessard will be among the final 3. Just the same as at least one Hockey East player. Whoever it is, I'm sure he'll win it because eastern HB winners give more publicity than someone from some school in the midwest none of the New Englanders have heard of. If it worked like the Heisman, then it would have to be Bochenski or Parise, as the Heisman goes to the QB on the best team in December (latelyanyways). I think Zach will win it. But it is a long shot.

Not much on the homer article. I'll stick up for WPoS, sagard, and Greyeagle as for Gopher fans who frequent this board. You cannot expect them to say the Gopher stink and the Sioux rule, but you can expect them to admit defeat once the final horn has sounded. I've defended them in the past, and although my word doesn't mean much, that's good enough for me. Now if I could only get a picture of those three wearing Sioux jerseys holding the sign "Spoiler ahead, Sioux Sweep" it would be classic.

cherry picking is what gets teams places though. Look at Vanek or, better yet, Conner.

1. UND 2. UMN 3. UMD 4. UAA 5. CC I want UAA to win vs CC so we can avenge the tie we had against them and beat up on Fournier. And CC sorta scares me with their goaltending being on the good side. And any more chances to beat up on the Goofies is always a fun time.

I voted for the Bulldogs but I halfway expect a Gopher upset. This is the time of the year when Minnesota comes out of nowhere.

All this about FSN. Did no one see their slogan? Where Minnesota Fans come first (or something similar to that) is their stinking slogan! Why the hell would they televise UAA vs UND when neither team is from Minnesota? This has nothing to do with the Gophers although they directly benefit from it. It's all about trivial regionalistic stubbornness. If it isn't Minnesota and it isn't worthy of a Fox special, they won't cover it on Fox North. I'm more in favor of lobbying FSN to change its name to FSM (Fox Sports Minnesota) than to lobby for UND coverage. That way no one will wonder why they won't give any neighbors any airtime.

Helping the enemy? Wha? The enemy are people like DISHman, Happy, etc. People who come and ask for a picture of an old time jersey is the enemy? Get over yourselves. Jeez, and we all wonder what the hell they are talking about when they slam us for being arrogant. Let them be arrogant. We can put it back in their faces when they do. Be resepctful otherwise. Heck, if Greyeagle wanted a picture of Zach Parise for his wall, would you blow up at him because he's a gopher fan? Or better yet, we all know WPoS wants a poster of Bo in his hockey pads

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Too bad for BSU, but that only means that we have to play the same cupcake from last season All things aside, for some reason I wish Findlay would have upset everyone and made the autobid. For some of those kids, Findlay was their only shot at DI hockey and now they're done. Kinda feel sorry for them.

In other notes: Prideonice is pretty humorous about Spirko. Start of the thread was "OMG this guy is good" etc etc. Spirko signs with UND and suddenly no one cares. Humourous but not unexpected. A note: I noticed that Spirko isn't listed among CSS listings. Is Spirko past his draft year? If he hasn't and decides to opt in: 1) will it effect his eligibility for college? 2) will he go in as a North American or a European skater? Edit: Also, Beaverson was mentioned as a highly touted Dman. Not according to CSS. He's slated for mid 7th round (#191).

I see your point, but it is worth the effort, no?

I think the last three recruiting classes have been top notch. But I will disagree with you about Smaby. A disappointment for a dman that came in drafted but that's about it for hype is something of a misnomer. Smaby is a freshman and the victim of a recruiting class that has been superior to expectations (well, with the exception of Murray, who has been exceptional along with the expectations of him). Has he had bad moments on the ice? Yes. Has he had them lately? No. He has been solid when it mattered. I believe in Smaby and why Blais recruited him right out of high school. Remember one thing: Blais recruited him. If Blais sees something in him, I'm not going to label him as a disappointment until either A) Blais labels him a disappointment or B) in retrospect after 4 years of UND hockey.

It would be SO AWESOME of the SIoux signs showed up at the X!

Kaip also has been drafted by the Thrashers(?) but in any case, he's drafted so I'd expect him to be a McMahon/Porter type player.

Not all of the fans were as bad. The folks in front of me were awesome. They informed me of things I had questions about (like how much seats like this cost and how much things have changed for public season ticket holders) and the guys down the way in front of me were entertaining and seemingly had an in with Jake Brandt as Jake would always glove the glass in front of him, laugh and nod at him, and when we tied it up, celebrated a little bit in front of him and the rest of our section.

I agree, though three people behind me spent the entire game mocking the fans (including the kids next to them across the aisle) and trying to gross out the kid sitting next to us. And on a seperate note: Got a few words in with Ziggy before the game. He's a nice guy from a first impression standpoint.

Ok, I'm wrong. Thanks for correcting me. I thought he was a senior. All I know is that Spirko played for his country for the past two years in the WJC, made all star appearances, and is generally regarded as one of hte top forwards in the USHL and, certainly until now, the best unsigned forward. The questions I have is with his size (He is 5'9" 175, which is rather small, but so was Panzer) and his defensive ability. As much as I love offense, I don't want a Vanek or even a Conner on the Sioux. I am not questining it as in thinking that it is questionable. I'm questioning it as in I actually don't know how well he plays defense because I've never actually seen him play outside of the USHL All Star game.

Interesting that they would replace a scoring forward with a checking forward. If Prpich was out, my logic is that I'd replace him with Canady. If Genoway went down, I would have replaced his slot with Massen. Since I'm not Blais, what I just said was hooey, but still, hopefully there may be SOME logic to it.