yzerman19

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.

From what I saw from Dany following the accident, he was not drunk and he was devastated. I'm not a Wild fan, and Heatley was a problem everywhere he was, but I feel for him on his personal disaster.

You have to be pragmatic given what has happened. This is not charity. We are out to: 1. Win National Championships 2. Recruit and Develop NHL talent so we can accomplish 1 3. Do 2 and 1 in order to continue a culture of winning and a tradition of excellence 4. Do 3 in order to appease alumni and make $ We made the best move we could for SIoux hockey. SIoux hockey was a power before MSU, BSU, and SCSU were D1.

The WJC is under 20. Brock turns 20 in October. Simpson being invited to Canada's evaluation is a big, big deal. They seldom invite non CHL guys, although they are doing more of that these days. Only recent Sioux players to get the invite: Travis Zajac and Jonathan Toews. Travis did not make the team, JT lead his team. Pretty special company for Dillon.

so picky! in addition to lack of skill and skating: way too old, size is good (just not distributed optimally), good hockey IQ (feet just too slow to make it happen), not very tough any more...do I really need to add any more...this is degrading

Someone on this board needs to start the pool...Which game will Mac get his first goal in??

What's holding Yzerman19 back from being a consensus top 5 pick? Skill and skating prowess I mean if we're going to state the obvious...

It is all conjecture right now, but I would hesitate to put all my scorers who are proven at the WCHA level on one forward line. I would put the fairly big bodied, likely first round pick, Miller up on that top scoring line with Knight and Gregs...set Miller up to succeed, give him a chance to really contribute, and round out a high scoring, defensively responsible top unit. I would put Kristo and Grimaldi together on the second line. Kristo is a proven scorer (although inconsistent) at the WCHA level. Put the dynamic young freshmen Rocco on his line and see what they can do. I like Rowney as the other wing to add a stronger boards and corner player. To me this line is high potential. I also think that Rowney has untapped scoring potential. Third line is anchored by Nelson at center. While some have argued that Rocco will not usurp Nelson on the depth chart, I disagree. Brock showed some things at the end of the year, but he still has some work to do...noticeably in the weight room. I also think that as a first round pick, he needs to develop as a strong depth player or even big bodied checker for the NHL. He has skill, but so does everybody in the NHL. He is noticeably less dynamic than our other recent first round centers: Zajac, Parise, Toews, Oshie...all of which had 20 goal freshmen campaigns. This is not a knock on Brock (those 4 guys are sick-some of the best on earth), it is simply calling out the type of player he likely will be and what that means for the Sioux next year. Now, he could be a late bloomer and put up 20 goals and 40 points next year, but he could do that from the third line too. Put MacMillen or Parks on that line along with Rodwell . Checking line will be Lammy and likely St Clair plus whoever doesn't gel well on that 3rd line. My opinion only...