redwing77

Hmmm.. If we're going to be that delusion...I mean optimistic, I say UND does the following: Everyone fired. Gasparini hired as head coach. Blais hired as associate head coach Steve Johnson hired as assistant head coach. And I also love how already this kid, 2 years from being a Sioux, is already being roughed up by "fans." Classy.

Hoeffel hasn't scored like projected, but neither has several Gopher players like White, Howe, etc. Fairchild isn't a dominant defenseman like Ballard, Leopold, and even Goligoski were. However, he's certainly not bad. It is surprising to me, hearing on how much better MJs are at producing top tier talent, that there was only one US born defensemen among them worth considering for the U20 team this year. I just hope this team isn't another disappointment.

Budaj outsucked Turco tonight!!!! Colorado and their goaltending post-Roy reminds me a LOT of San Francisco 49ers in the post-Steve Young. When Young and Roy left for whatever reason, retirement or something else, their entire team fell apart. The only difference is that I haven't heard who is the savior of the Avs like I heard how Alex Smith is someday going to be a real NFL QB. Smith is headed for a comfortable career alongside such vaunted peers as JP Losman, Kyle Bollar, Rex Grossman, David Carr, etc. Budaj in some ways, remind me of Tim Cheveldae. Ok, but not great.

Going by what our blogger typed on the Sioux goals, it appears as though Harvard suffered horribly in team discipline and team defense. 2 goals off of turnovers (maybe more...) 3 power play goals. As for the other 5, not sure. Here's Brad's take: UND Hockey Blog

Detroit? If the Vikes lose to the Lions, I think the NFL should FORCE the Vikings to change their name to the Queens. I would fire Childress right then and there, before he even walks off the field. There is NO reason why Detroit should win a single game this year. My prediction: Detroit: W AZ: Toss up. I predict the D wins this game. NYG: Loss? Depends upon which Eli Manning shows up. So, yeah... I think it all comes down to the game vs. Arizona.

Maybe it is just some of the Sioux "fans" who are dejected by the lack luster start who are just trying to further justify the "Fire Hakstol" sentiment. Anyone remember some of the most dominant Sioux forwards that weren't that offensively gifted? Players like McMahon, Kaip, Prpich, Fabian.... It doesn't matter. Things won't be better until we're able to go back in time.

Just saw the highlights on the Game Winner. Great forechecking by Parise sets up Elias for what is surely the weakest OT winner this season. Biron must have been pulling a Turco impression. 5 hole goals like the ones Turco and Biron have been giving up only come for one reason: plainly awful goaltending. Beating a goaltender 5 hole while moving laterally (like what you typically see on breakaways/shootouts) is one thing. There was ZERO reason why that puck should have gone in. In other news: I love the dig on Chelios at he AHL level. Is it true or is it just the fact that he's 96 years old? Didn't Gordie Howe play for a year in the AHL at 50 something? In other news: I love the Wings, but they won't get the Cup with their current play in their defensive zone. I've never been an Osgood fan and really, he's not proving me wrong.

Thank the good Lord. We'd've had 5 coaches in the last 4 seasons if fans were in charge. We would NEVER get the quality of coaching UND has currently or in the past because UND would be seen as the Oakland Raiders of DI. Also: Finley would have signed with Washington after his freshman year. Lee would have been lynched. Smaby would have sat half a season. Malone would be in Halifax. Cichy might be too. Nothing like turmoil to drive everyone off. Actually, I could see most of our top recruits going elsewhere. We'd have the Woog-ization of UND and take over for UAA or MTU historically in the realm of WCHA jokes. Kinda one of the reasons why I have such blind and, I'm sure infuriating to some of you, complete trust in Hakstol.

That's an interesting dynamic. I'm interested in seeing how good this McCallum guy is. His back up is one of two players to commit to an NCAA program and bolt for MJ. I think Unice committed to Bowling Green or something ridiculous like that. The other was mentioned by AZ. Also interesting is that there is only one MJ player on Team USA's Defense. I'm happy that Kristo made the team.

NHL NEtwork will air all USA, Canadian, and Medal Round games.

Another overaged Canadian.

Vikings winning is ruining his chances of being a Queenie. By the way, Chicago pulled the same thing that Carolina did earlier this season. With Carolina, Delhomme was sacked, fumbled the ball, Winfield picked it up and ran to the house. Then Carolina packed it in with two full quarters to go. Chicago couldn't score from the half yard line (GEE, I wonder why! I think it is Babich's NDSUckitude rubbing off on the o coord), Ferrotte gets his one hurrah to Berrian and the Bears fold. Seriously, I don't think they even tried in the second half. The Queens tried to entice them to get back into the game by giving up a TD to the Bears, but the Bears gave up the ball and points to match and surpass the Queen's generosity. Simply pathetic. And you just watch. If the Queens make the playoffs (they will barring the Bears pulling their heads out of their backsides and the Queens losing a few they shouldn't), Childress will stay. Minnesota's rep of "just make the playoffs to succeed" mentality will continue unabated.

Don't be silly! You play Walski because he made 70+ saves when he was in high school and that he's a ND product! DOWN WITH OVERAGE CANADIANS!!!! I'M KIDDING!!!!!! Actually, Walski is talented too or he wouldn't be in the conversation at all. We'd be calling for Harrington.

Didn't Walski allow 3 goals to UAA in less than one game and Eidsness allowed what... 1? 2? Last season it was stated that the UAA and Mankato series were enough to have Grieco basically kicked off the team. Surely you're giving Walski a pass. Walski is a nice story. But his story comes in practice now. Eidsness is the man. If we ever get our offense and PP working, it will become even more apparent.

Downie got the game tying goal tonight too. Lee got sent back down. I wonder about Smaby's future with TB. TB sucks. BAD. However, he gets no time at the NHL level. TB trades away Carle and Smaby still doesn't get any time. Yet another Sioux D that left a year too soon. I also watched the Minny vs. Colorado game the other night. An interesting game. Minny's D and goaltending took a night off. An interesting feat given the fact that Colorado basically has no D nor really much better than mediocre goaltending. Budaj is atrocious and, last night, he showed it...he was only minutely better than Backstrom. However, I must say that it really is too bad that Pouliot's shot couldn't get in the net before time expired. I would have loved to see the looks on Colorado fans and players after blowing a 6-3 or perhaps a 6-2 lead.

I see Childress trading up to the second round to draft Tebow as a QB. No... I think Childress will draft some yahoo from DIAA again and call him his second coming. And no, I don't think Childress will be fired after this year unless the Vikings fail to make the playoffs and do so with a losing record. If they finish above 500, he'll be back. The Vikings should have lost the games against Green Bay, New Orleans, and Jacksonville in order to ensure that a new and competant coaching regime would begin next year.

Looks like I was right.

Funny! Actually, I don't know how good Scrivens is. We did face much quality scoring opportunities.

I agree. This isn't the Kobe Bryant approach to winning. Seriously, one guy doesn't make the team win. I don't care what the record is of the Sioux when Mario is playing. By the way, it's a moot point now. Trupp is injured. Mario will play. The reason why we lost last night was our offense. We give up 2 goals per game at least. That's a given and should be planned for. We need to stop trying to play cutsy or even pass first shoot last style hockey (aka cycling until you puke). We need to just go back to the fundamentals seen in most pee-wee games with more skill. Short passes tape to tape, get it in the zone, toss the puck at the net, crash and look for rebounds. If at all possible never shoot the puck from the centerice side of the faceoff circles. AND NEVER EVER EVER leave the front of the net uncovered. Duncan or Trupp made a beautiful centering pass but EVERYONE was behind the redline or out at center ice!!! WTF was that all about?!?!?! Do the triangle approach I described. Either a winger or a center must be in front of the crease or out to the inside side of the faceoff circles at all times when in the offensive zone. If a skater leaves that triangle to assist in the corners, the skater from the opposite side skates in front of the net. This spreads out the D more and makes them pay attention to the guy in front of the net and less to the corner where the puck is. The scrum will ensue as usual but any centering pass now faces a scoring opportunity rather than a clear.

Not to mention hesitation... and shooting the puck in the same spot repeatedly... I swear to god I saw Scrivens doing his homework while waiting for a shot to actually get to him. Genoway from the point in the center of the rink 20 different times.. YOu think Genoway would recognize that Cornell was DEFENDING AGAINST THAT! Folks, we brought the puck in point blank range three times. Guess what happens. Scrivens made a great save on Kozek on #1. #2 was the disallowed goal. #3 was Hextall's goal. Folks, we're not going to score goals from the point! We have to collapse the defense towards the net! Oh, and one timers always work. A lot of pass..holdhold..pass...holdhold...pass..holdshoot(blocked)...etc. Cornell scored their second goal on a blocked cleared attempt, hesitatepassshoot(GOAL!). I saw none of that from the Sioux last night. I'm all for peppering the goaltender with shots provided you make the shots from different parts of the offensive zone and that you do so with some randomness. The longer you hesitate with the puck, the more of a chance the D has to get in position. Yeah, Cornell's Defense sure was solid. And defensively, the Sioux did not play very poorly... well not counting the fact that our powerplay has to be the worst in the NCAA. We lost because our offense didn't show up and we couldn't pass to save our lives.

He wasn't talking about defensively. He was talking offensively. And I think LaPoint's biggest problem is psychological. He's worried that he'll make a mistake. It's the same problem Finley had his freshman and beginning of his sophomore season. The problem is that Finley made mistakes that resulted in penalties. LaPoint makes mistakes that results in odd man rushes or turnovers. He cannot be fast if he's tentative or is doubting himself. He just needs to play his game and know his assignments/positioning. The rest is out of his control and should not be worried about. When he stops worrying about what he cannot control, self-confidence grows and his game will improve. It comes with maturity. I don't think LaPoint is as mature as we all expect him to be. Unfortunately, what they do in the NHL won't work in the NCAA. In the NHL, if they lack maturity, the answer is to either bench them or send them to the minors. In the NCAA, you don't develop players by having them ride the pine. As tough as it may be to watch LaPoint play at times, I think he needs playing time.

Hakstol seems to think they are the best, so I'm all for them. And LaPoint did just fine for offense. I agree with whoever said he is tentative with the puck. That needs to improve. No way is LaPoint our best defenseman on either side of the ice, but he's not bad either. He's a sophomore for goodness sake! Martens is a consistent contributor. And I guess Malone would be one to sub Mario for. But a complaint is that we haven't been gritty enough. Malone is gritty even if he isn't putting up offensive numbers. I don't see us getting grittier by performing a 1 for 1 swap, even if Mario is the better of the two. I kinda think it would be neat to have a checking line of Zajac, Malone, and Mario. As for whatever a 201K is, I think if we don't score goals we lose. Period. Like it or not, we're good for at least 2 goals against per game. It doesn't matter if Mario is or is not in the lineup. If we don't score 3+ goals, we will lose. That is how it is. I can't lay any points on the Pack. They should have beat New Orleans. They should have beat the Queens. They didn't x2. I'd LOVE for the Pack to beat up on the Panthers, but they are very inconsistent this year.

Couple of things: 1. I LOVE how everyone thinks I'm anti-ND Hockey players/local boys. It's funny, really. I'm not, but it is funny. I'm pro-BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE. I could give a rats patoot where he's from. If he's from Grand Forks, GREAT! If he's from Timbuktu, GREAT! I would like to see Mario more. 2. Yeah, LaPoint and Malone suck. Throw them under the bus (just for you GBPackrzz) and move on. 3. The Finley-LaPoint parrallel is very apt. I'd actually put it this way: LaPoint, Finley, Smaby, Commodore, and Greene have had VERY similar starts at UND, at least with fan opinions. All of which got a TON of criticism their first two years. Not all undeserved either. Martens is good, but very inconsistent. He'll be dynamite for a game or two (even if he doesn't score a point) and then disappear for the next. I don't know who I'd switch with Mario, but I agree he needs to play more. 4. Oh, if one guy doesn't make the difference (record with and without Mario) then it isn't worth making any sort of deal over. 5. Malone is on the line with Watkins and Kozek because theoretically, Malone is gritty and can work the corners very well. He may also be a decent passer. Kozek and Watkins on the line with Malone SHOULD produce points thanks to a wicked shot (both wingers) and speed (Watkins). My question is about chemistry. Do they have chemistry? Are they communicating on the ice? Is Malone adapting to his role well enough? Watkins and Kozek are being told to go out there and score I'm sure. That puts the rest of the offensive responsibilities (doled out to forwards anyhow) on Malone's shoulders. Not a role he had last season for sure. 6. Is this team back on track? No. Not because I think we're doomed to fail, but because you can't make such a claim just because you won a game regardless of the opponent. We handled CC pretty well for a game too, you know. 7. As for picking up the wrong Lamoreaux, well, you win a few and you lose a few. But hey, he dominated against CC with a WHOPPING 0 points. So, Mario and his brother tied last night in effectiveness. 8. By the way, isn't it ironic that Brad Shepherd is now a full official and not an AR? I wonder while. N-E-P-O-T-I-S-M!

I don't know. I remember back to elementary school gym when we played Basketball where there was always one kid who sat back and waited behind everyone for a breakaway pass... you know, cherry-picking? Many of us hated it then and my feelings certainly haven't changed. No, Vanek isn't a Federov (in his prime) or even a mediocre 2-way forward. He's an offensively minded player who is taking small steps towards improving his defensive play. He'll never be a great or perhaps even a good 2 way forward, but he's not really lazy like he was with UMN anyways. Lucia tolerated it. Ruff and Rochester (AHL)'s coach didn't tolerate it at all.

Buffalo has been on the NHL Network a lot this season and I can tell you that the Vanek I'm seeing this year is absolutely positively NOT UMN's Vanek. He is a lot better. No, I'm not going to see his name on the Selke Trophy anytime soon, but he's not a defensive liability either.