yzerman19

We got top tier performances from Porter and Oshie last weekend. Do your job and do it well performances out of The Dutchman and Watkins. Duncan, steaedy as usual. Toews, money on the faceoffs, but didn't have his best weekend as far as offensive output (althogh his set up to Bina was perfect). We get him going again, and we are a juggernaut. Out skill them and beat them up. That's Sioux hockey. At this time of year, we need everyone to have their best games every game, no matter what the job. BC weakness: Brian Boyle is a stud, but transitioning to playing defense as a defenseman when you've been a forward is not easy. He can stack up with the hard working SIoux big men like Fabian, Kaip, Porter, Watkins and the Dutchman, but I think that Oshie or Toews could really burn him on a rush or with any space down low. DOT can burn defensive defensemen who have played the position their entire lives, i think that the Sioux should try and explout that. SOLID D from the last d pairings like last weekend. Zach Jones needs to keep just working his tail off every shift. Big Joe is starting to come around ala Smaby. Chorney is the best D man we've had in years. Bina is playing well. Lee, well, i don't call for his head, but he needs to play the body. I bet at year end we find out he's been playing hurt, and all the Lee hating rubes wil feel stupid. These guys will dictate whether or not we win #8 PL: Please stay in the net...you almost gave me a heart attack last weekend.

Sagard, Next year at the John, show up at Stubs and I'll buy a round

It should be two Hockey East and two WCHA. Maine will be tough, BC will be tough...I don't know much about state, except that its pretty easy to get into.

agree 100%> as much as I hate the Gophers, they deserved to win as much as we did tonight. Great game, best game all year! I just wamt our Sioux fans to be classier and win with more grace than I dealt with last weekend. Two top programs, one helluva game!

I meant we "won" a hard fought contest...email. Surviving the 5 minute call was the turning point in the game. We might have what it takes...NUMBER 8

I have dealt with a lot of bad gopher fans, but I dealt with some great ones tonight. There is no one who should run this one in. It was the best played college hockey game I have seen in years. Gopher fans: great year, losing in OT to go to the FF is nothing to be taken lightly, it could just as easily be me bumming for 6 months. Sioux Fans: let's show class and grace ala Wayne Gretzky, we one a hard fought contest. The last two weekends were college hockey at its best.

Sagard, You are a class act and deserve to wear the M. This was the best hockey game that I saw all year. I don't smoke, yet I had a cigarette between each period. Two legendary programs, one helluva hockey game. I met a couple Gopher fans this weekend that taught me not to be so judgemental. True Gopher hockey fans know the game and saw this for it was, a clash of the titans. Just like last weekend, it was a coin flip of a contest. I am sure we will be on the short end of the stick again, as will you in the next couple years. Great season to the Gophers. They had some talented kids, and they are an elite program. Losing in OT to go to the FF is a great year. Thanks for being a class act.

Sioux are on at Senser's in bloomington... Last minute. I am at the bar and it is on!!!!!!!!!

I want Bobby G out of the tournament. I would hate to see him in the final. Holy Cross, more successful in the NCAA hockey tournament than SCSU

Maybe I'm just dumb, but I can't figure out cn8.com. I was trying to pick up the game on my pc, and I can get there, but I can't figure out how you get the webcast going. Little Help?

7>5, You win a free beer from me if you can pull a live game at Joe senser's

Good for Duncs. My question is how do you make Toews honorable mention? Look at the points per game...Look at the heroics for Team Canada...JT is best when the pressure in on.

There's a lot of speculation, but according to THE reliable source, as of now the television coverage is not finalized other than on tape delay. Have faith, it will be on...I am stuck in mpls and a bit more concerned> Interesting thought on college hockey. If you play a totally defensive system, looking for an occasional turnover goal, but focusing on winning the special teams battle, can you recruit the top players? Wisconsin wins like this, but other than Legacies and local kids, do they ever score the big coup recruit anymore? Maybe an occasional one who likes to party and thinks Madison sounds like fun? Comments?

7>5, I got told only FSN tape delay last night, but to call the same GM today. If you know him, sweet talk him. I might be able to be convinced to buy an EXTRA beer if he plays it.

I wonder if the proliferation of the american born player will increase the trash talk? This is not a pop-culture, today's youth, philisophical question; but rather a question of the difference in the game up there versus down here. An american born, high school player who has always played with a cage and an ejection rule plus a misconduct penalty for fighting would probably conduct himself much differently than a canadian junior product who played sans cage with fighting being a 5 minute penalty and used as an intimidation and protection tactic.

I'd be surprised if there was a lot of trash talking on the ice. Hockey has usually been a game where that is kept to a minimum. Primarily due to the condoning of fighting and the presence of sticks. You hear a lot of occasional swear words, and the typical "stay down" or "hey tough guy". The tremendous skill level at the top of both MN and Sioux is such that they don't need to say much, maybe "see you in the show".

Any stats types have the time or energy or desire to breakdown Toews' production on NHL vs Olympic sized ice this season? Include the World Juniors on Olympic ice. I am guessing that it is a huge difference in points per game.

Going to be wide-open old time hockey this weekend. 3 teams loaded with NHL picks who do not play the trap. Should be a blast. Ned Braden would love it...

The heated rivalry stems from putting together a top team every single year. Our benchmarks for a successful season are frozen four appearances and national titles. Think how lucky we are!! Both us and the Gopher fans. I personally am ever hesitant to gloat too much over a win, because the tables are always turning. This year is no exception. If we meet again on Sunday it will be a coin flip. I am not going to gloat if we win, because I know how bad it sucks to lose, and a little puck luck, a bad line change, a stupid penalty, a bad call...its all part of the game. Anyone who blames any single player for a loss is nuts. It is a game of inches and seconds, and it is a team game. As for booing Lammy, it is the nature of the beast. I don't think any rational or sober person would be booing out of disdain for his performance or his personality. He is probably the most emotional Sioux player on the ice, and so he is the player the fans love to hate. I used to boo Vanek, not because I didn't think he was talented, because he was a guy every school would want on your team, and he was wearing the wrong color jersey. It was easy to label him a loafer or a one way player and boo him, but deep down we all knew he was the real deal (34 lighters and leading the NHL in plus minus_) Think how lucky both squads are, out of the last four or five years we have 2 budding NHL superstars in parise and vanek. Martin, Ballard, Leopold, Taffe, Bochenski, Zajac, Kessel, Greene, Commodore, Stafford all skating regular NHL shifts right now. Toews, Oshie, Chorney, Johnson, and Okposo could be joining those ranks next year. Wow! No boos on this season, we've both had successdul ones so far by every other team in the leagues standard. One (or both)of us will be disppointed after this weekend.

Just got off the phone with Senser's Bloomington. As of now, the game will be shown on tape delay. If they don't pick up the Sioux Regional, noone in the Twin Cities will I will be anxiously awaiting any positive word on televising our game live.

I didn't notice it, but I would think that it was not by design, but by taking what was given. I am not Don Cherry, however, and do not profess to be. You are often taught to look for the lead man on offense, and clearly on defense you don't ever want anyone behind you. You also need to challenge the puck carrier when evenly matched. When out numbered, you play the pass and let the goalie get a good look at the shooter. So, if a forechecker is going after the puck carrier in the middle of the rink and the defensemen are covering the two wings, if that puck carrier gets around the forechecker, then depending on what the defense does, either steps up to challenge him, in which case you pass to the open wing, or he stays and plays the pass between the two forwards in which case you would go straight ahead. Your entrance to the offensive zone is usually dictated by the defense. That being said, however, some teams load one of the wings in order to "pick" and create space for the trailer. The constant forechecking and backchecking in the game on Saturday makes me think that it was just going to wherever there was open ice. I could be wrong though. Another good explanation is simply the position of the player leading the puck into the zone. A wing is going to stay on his side of the ice 95% of the time. A center will take the puck wherever.

As a number 3 overall, Toews would've been offered the rookie max contract under the CBA and that won't change this year. The only thing that would keep JT in green is if CHicago can not guarantee him a spot on the big club. Chicago is terrible, however, and JT with Havlat could be a great combo. JT will be gone. TJ, I don't know yet where he fits ina nNHL lineup. He is a very physical player...sort of a Roenick kind of guy, my question is, is he strong enough to play that style over an 82-100 game season?

I did not notice a change in tactic, only better execution by the players in the SCSU game. Breaking out is a lot about timing. The player who starts the breakout can't get too hurried, and sometimes its hard to do when you see one of your top scorers open on an outlet pretty far up the ice. You want to get the puck up to him as fast as you can, but that might not be the best way out. I see a lot of rushed passes end up off target or telegraphed to the forechecker. Secondly, the forwards need to get into position to receive the puck where they can do something with it. Taking the puck while trying to evade a forechecker and looking at your own net is very dangerous. They need their feet moving and they need to be moving in the right direction. THat is one of the big reasons why I said that they need to get lower to start, that gives them more ice moving forward. Also, the passer needs to recognize this and maybe go a different direction. Lastly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with holding the puck, shaking a defender, and regrouping before breaking out

Sioux run a pretty classic positional breakout (although I tend to think the wingers stay up too high to be truly a classic breakout). From my perspective, in this form of breakout you need short crisp passes, and the high wingers make those passes longer and less likely to be tape to tape. Most defenses will forecheck aggressively on this breakout with their forwards. The Sioux, due to some highly skilled forwards ala JT, have been able to beat a guy and create offense on Olympic sized ice doing this breakout, because there is more room to maneuver. The Gophers, Michigan Tech and Wisconsin all had success against the Sioux on NHL ice by shutting down passing lanes and not giving the forwards any room to maneuver through good forechecking. Since we can not widen the NHL rinks, we can use the length to create space. Send Oshie and Duncan full throttle up the middle and one side of the ice. That will definitely panic the center and 2 defensemen into a hard backcheck. It will also open up room through the defensive zone and neutral ice. I stand by Chorney and Toews being able to dangle their way past anyone one on one. I like this idea to open it up, but it might be late in the season to change the breakout. That being said, then those wingers have to get down low, low , low and make a couple short passes to beat a guy. A good pass can even beat a guy who skates like Paul Coffee.

Maybe we should send some groupies over to MI and MN, like LT used to do in the NFL