yzerman19

Gleason played well last weekend, but Rodwell in general has been better upfront IMO. The top 2 lines are no brainers. Kristo, well, if he can go, he is certainly a dynamic player...definitely game changing on a third line. It really pressures an opponent's dcorps to have to worry about 3 elite talent wingers on 3 different lines. I would, however, remove Danny from the powerplay. SImpson vs Lapoint...wow, it is nice to be this deep...i used to criticize Derek a lot, but I have been pleasantly surprised by his play this year. SImpson bore the brunt of my criticism at the beginning of the year, mostly because I expected him to be Toewseresque based on his age and hype, but he has really become a solid performer. I dunno who I play. I guess Derek based on experience. It is nice to know that we have two dmen who can play WELL in a pinch in Simpson and Gleason. All that said: Pony with Frattin and Trupp Knight with Hexy and Gregoire Nelson with Rowney and Kristo Mario with Rodwell and Davidson 3rd and 4th lines rotate based on goal for the shift...meaning physical imposition vs scoring chance...BUT we continue to roll 4 lines. It makes a difference after the 10 minute mark of the 3rd. Genoway and Blood MacWilliam and Forbert Marto and Lapoint PP1: Pony, Gregoire, Frattin, Genoway, Forbert pp2: Knight, Trupp, Hexy, Marto, Blood pk1: Malone, trupper, Genoway, Blood pk2: Knight, Frattin, Mac, Marto (quickly switching to Gregoire replacing Knight after a draw) Game on the line, down by 1, goalie pulled, offensive faceoff: Pony, Knight, Frattin, Gregoire, Genoway, Marto. That's two centers in case one gets tossed. Game on the line, up by 1, defensive faceoff: Pony, Knight, Gregoire, MacWilliam, Blood

Lighten up Francis

Lee was a much higher pick and is a larger human being...makes a big difference...no pun intended.

Different league now...much more depth. I should rephrase to say name a non-first rounder in the last 10 years...

Isles do not risk losing him. I think JG is a great two-way forward, but name the last non-first round pick to leave the SIoux early...Chorney....he's been in the minors mostly,,,now name a non first or second round pick to leave early...hmmm....I can't think of one either. If you're not a first rounder, you'll play in the minors. Guaranteed.

Ness will never play a day in the NHL...simply not good enough. Great skater...lacks the physical tools to be an NHL defenseman, pure and simple.

I think I "quit attending class" a time or two as well when I was a freshman... I

Do you really think that faulk will be one and done...I think he is an uber-talent and will be a pro player, its just that dmen usually take 2 years minimum to develop, even the excellent ones... Forwards develop faster, and even Jonny Toews and ZPar stayed at UND for 2 a piece. I think Faulk should call Taylor Chorney and talk about college vs the minors....

3rd round pick...if he goes pro, he goes to the AHL...why bother...play college one more year, then go to the AHL BTW...love JG...ridiculous two-way forward...could play in the NHL one day...having a 30 goal, 50 point 2012 would help...

It is virtual bracket integrity which is good. I do think that East Regional is full of puffs

First of all $250,000 is nothing, absolutely nothing in the context of a business decision like this. It certainly isn't enough to swing a decision. The head coach is responsible for his staff and for the overall success of the on-ice product. You don't send your underlings to slaughter when you're in charge.

I disagree on relevance and time to get back into the upper half of college hockey...they still have a lot of talented players. In fact, they are also a very young team. A good coaching staff could return that program to Frozen Four material in a year. The Gophers have no team identity anymore. That is the problem. They used to be the super skilled, finesse, dominate the special teams, pride on ice...they were what they were and they were successful...every bit as elite as we are or Wisconsin or Michigan or the Boston schools. Their failures have been in trying to be something that they aren't: they aren't tough, they aren't grinders, they aren't underdogs...you have to be what you are and make no apologies.

Was Guentzel the true driving force behind the Gopher success under tDon...makes you wonder

My prediction: tDon and his entire staff will not be back for the 2011-2012 campaign

It is actually kind of sad to see a program as storied as Minnesota's suffer like this. I hate the Gophs as much as any Sioux fan, but I take no pleasure in their misery. They are where we were in the early '90's...they'll right the ship again,

Two more guaranteed games btw...I am thinking 6...

And coach Hak has two more games to play yet this year that tDon doesn't have... I don't think anyone will debate that tDon was an excellent hockey coach at one time. I think that time might be passed.

The unique thing, and this ties back to another thread, is that these two skate on two separate lines... Often times you see a dynamic duo on one line. Fratty and Gregs are the top-end scorers on each of our top two lines. Their linemates all contribute tremendously as well, but seldom do you see a team with this kind of one-two punch.

ANybody got a +/- on Miele...Not only is Frattin a dominant scorer, but he also is a physical menace out there and a solid two-way player. Does Miele hit?

I agree...both Blood and Mac IMHO. Unfortunately this voting tends to lean VERY heavily on stats alone...especially for dmen, making offensive dmen first teamers and defensive dmen mostly left out in the cold.

I think an interesting way to quantify stats for Hobey is to use the SOS calculation from KRACH as a multiplier. I took one plus the KRACH SOS divided by 100 to try and equalize the scoring leaders based upon difficulty of opponents. The results are as follows: SOS Adj Goals SOS Adj Assists SOS Adj Points Miele 26 54 80 Zanett 31 28 59 Frattin 43 28 71 J.Connolly 17 51 68 Thompson 33 29 62 Camper 22 43 65 Nyquist 22 38 60 Atkinson 34 24 58 Anyway, excel didn't copy very well, but you can see that Miele still leads the country in points, but Frattin leapfrogs Zanette into the #2 In my mind this helps Frattin's cause. The decision will ultimately be whether or not Frattin's return from the brink is viewed as a positive or if his past indiscretions are used as a reason not to give it to him. I think that the committee would be making a great statement by giving the award to Matt. It shows that everyone makes mistakes, but what you do afterwards determines your character. The other question is about total points versus goals...the committee has gone both ways in years past. I also understand the flaws in my calculation, but I am trying to create a fairly simple way of adjusting for playing the likes of DU and UMD and Omaha vs the likes of Le Cordon Bleu and National American University

Trupper

I agree that spraying the goalie is bush league and finishing checks good, hard and clean is how you establish a physical presence and a psychological edge. If you have to think about being tough, you aren't; and if you have to think about backing up your teammates, you aren't a team.

Perhaps we should follow Jonny T's lead from the Stanley Cup run and not touch the MacNaughton Anchor...

I certainly hope you aren't suggesting that I am hating on Chay by likening him to Paul Coffee