yzerman19

First of all, as much as I'd love to see Seth Jones in a North Dakota (almost wrote Sioux) sweater, if I were Seth or my son were Seth, I'd send him to the CHL...if you are a potential #1 go play in the CHL, have a big year, sign your name and be set for life. secondly on Mario- look people, Mario knows his role is not as a top 6 forward. His role is to lead, disrupt, energize and play with an edge. He does that. He also plays hurt and backs up his teammates. Don't underestimate the importance of these "team" guys. Rarely does an elite scorer or scoring line a champion make, but rather the championship teams are defined by the performance of their 3rd and 4th lines. Lunch pail, heart and soul checking line guys are what we pride ourselves on and that ethic defines Sioux hockey. Toewser and Parise are perhaps two of the twenty most talented players in the world, and you know what, they both wear Cs in the NHL because of how hard they work every shift. I guarantee you that while Mario may never hold the Conn Smythe trophy nor rack up a 90 point NHL season, he will never quit, and he deserves to wear the C for this team.

Looking at the pwr, the DU series is critical. I have no delusions that we are a national championship team, but I'd like the freshman to get an NCAA regional undr their belt.

I was in 5th grade...what a year to be a 5th grade boy in GF...Sioux dominate and win with the Hrkac Circus, and then the Twins win the world series...what a year. No team or line has ever been as dominant.

By the looks of the posts on this board, I would be wanting a piece of these refs if I was watching live. Good riddance to WCHA officiating!

Fox News reporting that Whitney Houston is dead.

It's going to be a long winter... the positive is that the ice time that MacMillan, O'Donnel, Parks and Mattson are logging now as freshman could really have a nice ROI (Return On Ice) in 3 or 4 years...they could become like Frattin, Malone and Trupp.

My observations are similar to most slow Sioux starts...panicking dmen. A good dman has to be able to transition the puck quickly and decisively tape to tape. A pass should be made to the player best positioned to do something once they receive the pass, not a pass made to anyone, anyone, open, please, I'm under pressure. If the breakout is not available, a dman needs to be able to outskate the forechecker, not panick and dump it up or chip it. On the same note, our wingers need to make good targets and be prepared to receive an imperfect pass. If I'm coach, I work the forwards hard on the boards and corners forechecking our d. Make our d respond at game speed in practice.

Danny has elite skills. NHL skills that he's displayed on the world stage. He is DEVELOPING in college for a reason. I do not consider him to be a selfish player and while as fans we often single out guys, he is not the reason for our lack of offense on the pp or on 5x5. He is, in fact, our only legitimate scorer...I'm hoping that others step up. I get frustrated with the shots into the shinnys as well, but Danny is not our issue.

I don't think it has ever been hush hush. St. Clair can't play due to an eligibility issue with the NCAA clearinghouse. Grimaldi is dealing with a "lower body" injury. Agree that we could sure use them...Grimaldi especially...we need another scoring threat to complete a second line.

Hakstol has done an excellent job with the program. He has produced EVERYTHING but an NCAA championship, which as we saw again last year is really a timing and luck of the draw deal in a one and done. I have no doubt that in a best of 7 playoff, the NCAA title game would've been UND vs BC last year...but it is a one and done and you don't get any do-overs. He deserves a nice, long term deal. I'd also give him free reign to pay Eades like a head coach and give him a budget to see if Brad Berry might want to come back and coach D for six figures. Give Hak $250 per with inflators and championship bonuses NCAA, Conference, Conference Tourney along with a long-term payout ala Blaisers $500k annuity. Give Eades $150 with inflators and bonuses. Give Hak another $100 with inflators and bonuses to go after Berry

I agree that those 3 will not be skating together in a week or two. Based on what I saw last weekend, this is what I'd put together: Knight with Nelson and Rowney (strong on the puck) Grimaldi with Kristo and MacMillan (serious speed) Lammy with Parks and Rodwell (energy line) After these three lines, I don't know...O'Donnell deserves to play.. I was really disappointed with the defensive breakdowns...Forbert is a first rounder for pete's sake...

Friday: MacMillan Saturday: Knight

Kristo

Its the destruction of a vision of an elite conference with schools dedicated to performance on the ice and with $. It is not worse that the WCHA is now, but it is not the elite college hockey league in the country either...it is one of several good college hockey leagues along with the Big 10 and Hockey East. If you have a vision, you need to influence that vision into reality, not compromise it into mediocrity.

St Cloud is not the Twin Cities... I am extremely disappointed by this decision. It almost feels as though someone had regrets and is changing their tune because of feelings. This is business. Eat what you kill and don't look back. The National became a joke today.

So...having not seen a number of the guys play, here are my thoughts for initial line combos- Scoring 1: Knight centering Kristo and Grimaldi (2 guys on the top line that can win big draws is important) Scoring 2: Nelson centering Rodwell and Parks Scoring 3: Rowney centering O'Donnel and MacMillan (keep the BC teammates together) Energy: Lammy centering Dickin and St. Clair D1: Blood and Forbert D2: Mac and Simpson D3: Gleason and Mattson G1: Dell G2: Eids

For top end talent it is really true; they need to weigh a 40ish game season with time for the weight room and individual edge work training and skill sharpening as well as competing against big, strong, men vs a 70ish game season with little time for weights, more team based practice, against younger, less physically developed (generally) players, who are in general more skilled. I have to believe that NCAA is a better training ground, whereas the CHL is a better place to display how sick your skills are.

A guy like Parise or Toews would dominate CHL or NCAA...one big issue is when you have 22-23 year olds dominating NCAA; they would be way too old to play junior. As a result, the CHL misses all late bloomers.

I read a post on Brad's blog where someone wanted to know what the deal was with the OHL and why JT Miller went that route. As a result, I am building this thread of CHL basics. 1. The CHL (Canadian Hockey League) is comprised of the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. 2. The CHL is referred to as major junior hockey or Canadian Tier 1 junior hockey. 3. The CHL is tied tightly to Hockey Canada, the governing body of Canada's international program. 4. CHL players can be paid (usually its not much, like $15k per year, although there are big money exceptions: Lindros, Crosby). 5. The CHL has a special deal with the NHL. CHL eligible players that sign pro deals can play in either the NHL or the CHL. They can not be assigned to the AHL or the ECHL. 6. Junior age rules apply: 16-20. 7. Bantam age players are drafted in a bantams future draft by CHL teams (Toewser went #1 in the WHL "dub" draft when he was 15) 8. The Memorial Cup is the CHL championship series. 9. The nearest CHL team to Grand Forks is the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. 10. A player like JT Miller can accept a $350k signing bonus under the NHL collective bargaining agreement (rookie max) and then go and play for Plymouth in the OHL. 11. The CHL plays as close to an NHL type season as any league in the world. 12. Prior to the 1990's, pro players from North America were almost exclusively veterans of the CHL. 13. Currently, the majority of NHL players are veterans of the CHL. 14. THe CHL is still viewed as the fastest route to the NHL for top end hockey talent. NCAA hockey has been making a statement with the likes of Heatley, Parise, Toews, Vanek, Gionta, etc. 15. THe CHL talent level is generally considered to be better than other leagues (including NCAA) for 16-20 year olds.

...speaking of youtube favorites, maybe that leads us to a new nickname...the honey badgers!

Seriously? I am disappointed too, but that's pretty harsh. Look, imagine this conversation at the evaluation camp: "Kid, you might be NHL ready this year. How about if I write you a check for $350k to sign and you give up your commitment to UND. We'll most likely assign you to Plymouth of the OHL due to the NHL's agreement with the CHL, but you never know. You might make the Rangers out of camp. Either way, We'll max out your signing bonus. You will either play in the O for a few hundred bucks a game or you will play in Madison Square Garden for $11,000 per game. "

Two Alaska teams in the same conference makes zero sense...imagine having to make 2 trips up to Alaska in the same season...

To quote Bruce Springsteen: "Round here there's just winners and losers, and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line."

ummm...ever been to the northern suburbs? Its worse than GF up there.