yzerman19

waiting for anchorage, is there any video/

Cou"d it be related to the fact that Danny Kristo is playing like a puck hog? Oh, did I say that? Talented kid, needs to pick his spots. This is a message board for speculation, so I am not inclined to give privacy or leeway on the matter of a locker room issue. Ilove the way that everyone is playing so far with the exceptions of Kristo and Eidsness. Eidsness' stats are great, but watching him last weekend, dinking around outside the net; I'm not a big fan of his flopping around outside the crease and not controling rebounds. Kristo has mad stick skill. He just needs to stop gripping his stick so tight...its turning purple! Go Sioux!

Forbert and Mattson play immediately. Marto and Lapoint will play, and Blood and McWilliam. That's 6 regular D for sure. Gleason might be a role player, wherever he will fit. Fienhage needs to get ice to prove himself.

Someone commented on Kristo...the kid is snakebit and is trying to shoot his way through it...I'm not a big fan of that approach. In fact, I would strongly consider swapping him with Trupp right now on the top 2 scoring lines. He will be an impact player, but he needs to use his teammates. I bet he's beating himself up over that breakaway. Gopher passing was better with guys actually leading guys into open ice with their passes. Sioux passes were off. Malone almost got his neck broken in OT against the endboards, I know it was OT and everything, but that easily could've been 5, so surely should've deserved 2. Shepherd's penalty call on a cross check, when he's at center ice with the other official 10 feet away was b.s. Eidsness was not sharp on Saturday night...If I'm coach, we're getting a Dell on Friday in Alaska. Bariball's goal...all he did was wait for BE to go down, and he went upstairs...it doesn't get easier. The team leaders need to work out how to get the boys back up for Saturday games. We come out flying on Fridays, but Saturdays are a little slower. What can you say about Genoway...if he's not defensive player of the week, it is robbery. Marto is a gamer. Directly responsible for a two goal swing.

Leddy's a very talented young player, but WCHA defense is not something you jump into...look at the struggles that Ness had last year. Same could be said for any number of top-end d-men who have come into this league and moved on to the NHL I have no doubt that in the 2 years that you keep Leddy that he will become a big-time player, but for now I like Vande's chances against him 1:1 in the corners.

Experienced team that plays a defensive system looking for opportunities. They reminded me a lot of Wisconsin without some of the top-end talent that Wisconsin usually has. Well coached, good forecheck, cut off the passing lanes. I think our breakout is so designed for timing passes to move throught hte neutral zone in numbers and with speed, that when those passing lanes get disrupted we get a little flustered. We need to just relax and skate the puck up. Beat one guy then skate towards a defender making him play you, then make the pass to the guy he leaves. That's how yu beat that type of forecheck. Beat your guy first, then make the pass, as opposed to pass first then make the guy you've fed have to beat somebody. Find lanes! This weekend, the Gophs will not trap, it will be run and gun and should be a blast!

I think so too. I posted somewhere else that his little toe drag move to find a shooting lane followed by a rocket wrister off the crossbar was reminiscent of a couple guys I remember with inverse initials TJ JT. The freshmen did not play like freshmen. That 4th line makes us so unbelievably deep. We can actually compete for goals with our fourth line forwards and top dpairing going against other teams top scoring line and be successful.

Best part of "Youngblood" is the signs in the crowd at Thunder Bay. And I quote: "Sutton is a Fag" and "Pu$$ies on Ice". Classic

I hope Danny Kristo isn't gripping his stick too tightly. He is a kid who's used to scoring a ton of goals and he had a couple good looks this last weekend that just missed. I thought he might be trying to do a little too much himself at the end of last night's game. I'd like for his coming out party to be against the hated rodents. I'd love to see him get the first one, get the boys all jacked when they fish the puck out of the net for him. Knight and Cichy got their first this last weekend, Kristo and Rowney get 'em this weekend.

Hak must've liked what he saw out there...can't say that I blame him. There appears to be early chemistry, and last night was a team win with all lines chipping in. It is very early, but I thought the freshman came out ready to play at this level. That says something about those freshmen.

I really like these lines. That fourth line is like the young guns line...let's see what they can do! The third line is a strong checking line that has potential to score a few goals. Third d-pairing is awfully young...

I hook my TV up to my pc as well. It is not like watching NHL on Vs in HD, but you get the gist. It is a great way to watch the team without always having to go to a bar. I've been doing it for 3 years.

It is difficult for other schools to compete with the fact that we have produced two NHL all stars and over a dozen NHL players over the past couple years. Hak is not stealing recruits; our program stands elite. Parise>>superstar, Toews>>superstar, Oshie>>budding superstar, the rest are all very good. Name a program with that level alumni, and I'm not even talking: Blake, Commodore, Greene, Stafford, Zajac...guys with regular NHL pay checks. UND develops top talent into millionaire NHL talent, period.

I think you see them (VV and Malone) together to start the season as Hak will be looking to develop line chemistry. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see something like: VV, Malone and Kristo (I think he is too dynamic not to play right away) Toews, Gregoire and Trupp Zajac, Cichy and Hextall Lamoureaux, Rowney and Knight D pairings Genoway and Blood Marto and Fienhage Lapoint and MacWilliam

Marto's developed into a nice player. He is incredibly fast and a skilled skater in all regards. He started to jump into the play offensively some last year and scored some nice goals on the rush. I also rarely noticed him jump up at the wrong time. This tells me he is a very smart player too. Opportuisitic, smart, and great feet. He's not Paul Coffee or even Travis Roche, but he aint bad. He can skate on my team as a 3rd or 4th dman anytime.

OK, I am going to be debbie downer and pessimistic on Danny Mattson. I suspect a major physical issue as the reason behind Mattson not being drafted. A lot of guys don't get drafted, but not many guys who put up his kinda numbers (not just this year, but for a career) are evaluated as a mid-50's by central scouting, and invited to the combine don't go in the draft. Size and competition are what had him pegged where he was. None of that was a surprise. ANd even if he was weaker or slower than they thought, he couldn't have been so weak or so slow that noone wanted him. That's the kicker. Nobody drafted him. That means something came up that every team knew about. That tells me combine, and that tells me it is probably physical. At the end of the day the GM's are evaluating horses... For Danny's sake, I hope I am wrong. I am sure it was a God Awful weekend for him not to get a phone call. My thoughts go out to him, and I hope it is just a hockey issue.

Did Danny Mattson just flat out lay an egg at the combine??? I am surprised that he hasn't been picked up...at this point in the draft he would look like a steal to me, unless there is something we don't know about.

No future SIoux yet and in the middle of the fourth round. You really see how not playing where the scouts spend most of their time(CHL or Int'l) hurts draft status.

You have to set things up for the new guys to have some success and have the team grow and gel together. Without a doubt VV, Malone and Frattin played well together. I think that both VV and Malone are quality natural centers, which dilutes the depth of the team a little putting the two of them on the same line. I don't think you double up WCHA tested centermen early on. I also don't think that you put two freshmen on the same line unless you absolutely have to. At least early on. I'd put creative guys together if at all possible, although I do agree with the foundation of a true playmaker, a true scorer, and a guy who can muck it up in the corners as the prototype forward line. You also have to put speed together if you can. From all I've heard, Kristo can fly, and Frattin is a gifted skater, so I would be very interested in seeing them together. That would be a lot of speed coming through the neutral zone with the ability to generate a lot of odd man scoring opportunities. I maintain that Hextall can do it all. I think he has NHL utility player written all over him, which means any job in the WCHA...I also wouldn't be surprised to see an A on his jersey. Anyway you slice it, we have a nice roster with a lot of potential and a lot of sweat will determine ice time, as will line chemistry.

I agree that Hextall showed he could score last year. I love that line idea as a checking line, because it can score. I see those three as being able to pen up most teams scoring lines in their own end, and then finish when they get a chance as well. With Hexy on that line, it means that in a tough, physical situation, say OT, that line can match up with anyone and have a likelihood of pumping one home as well. A checking line that can score not a checking line built simply to grind. Anyway we slice it, there will be lots of line combos. The d pairing situation...no way does Finehage sit. If he sits early, he will go play in the W. My thoughts on D were to keep an older player with a less experienced player, and a puckmover with a crease clearer. Genoway, Marto, and Lapoint are puckmovers. Blood, Macwilliam and Finehage are crease clearers. Gleason is an unknown to me. He played well at Edina and mediocre in USHL.

This looks like a solid team to me! Scoring 1: VV with Gregoire and Cichy Scoring 2: Malone with Frattin and Kristo Checking 1: Zajac with Rowney and Hextall Scoring 3: Toews with Trupp and Forney Checking 2: Lammy with Davidson and Bruneteau D1: Genoway and Blood D2: Marto and Finehage D3: Lapoint and MacWilliam D4: Gleason G1: Brad E G2: Dell G3: ?? I am in love with my checking line 1. Talk about sweet and nasty. That crew up against a younger first or second scoring line...the other team will learn a thing or two about the finer points of hockey>

exactly, it's April, so all we can do is speculate and pontificate. Agree with the analysis on Center for the most part. In a cycle type offense like we run, the center and wingers are often interchangeable in the offensive zone; this isn't necessarily true in other offenses. It is also a switch in play over the last fifteen or so years, with close puck support etc. In the old days wingers weren't supposed to play deep on the weakside or go past the far side of the net on their off wing. In the defensive zone the center has way more responsibility as stated. A winger can get away with a little cheating and less than perfect positional play, a center has no such luxury.

I think that you have to split up freshman early in the season. You have to give the guys a little time to adjust to the speed of the WCHA without having the whole world's responsibility on their shoulders. That is the main reason for my line combos. So: I like splitting up Cichy and Kristo to help them adjust. I like having one power forward on each of the first two scoring lines in Malone and VV. I liked the way Malone and VV played together last year in the NCAAs too. I like Frattin and Kristo together, because along with Marto and Genoway I think they are the fastest skaters on next year's squad. I like Gregoire and Cichy, because they had very similar numbers in junior, indicating to me that they both can finish as well as set-up goals. I like Hextall and Zajac on the checking line, because they can be both sweet and nasty. Neither is afraid to get their hands dirty, and Hexy proved he could score. I think Zajac can score too if playing with the right boys. I think that we are also truly limited by our centermen. The experienced pivots on the team are VV, Malone, Zajac, Lammy and Toews (a little). Zajac and Lammy are not preferred scoring line players. I think we'll see a lot of flopping among the three scoring lines. I predict we have a pretty consistent checking line in terms of personnel.

We should probably start it now. We might as well all praise Genoway and scapegoat Lapoint too