yzerman19

I was at Billy's in St Paul when the screen went blank there too. That was a very good team that lost. We will not overlook Princeton. I guarantee it. We are familiar with Denver and Wisconsin's styles, so we don't really have to prepare for them as a new opponent. We will prepare for Princeton on the big rink all week. We will probably look for anything that all three teams do the same and practice those elements especially well. FSN, that is great news!

Wow...who to route for? a team I hate or a team I hate...I guess I'll have to be a RedHawks fan this weekend!

by Marto out on D, i mean playing (out on the ice)

OTH, 100% on board with both comments about Radke and Miller. Also, I really like Marto out on D. His skating is necessary this time of year.

I presume Joe Senser's can pull in Altitude 2?

While I don't think that we have an easy path to the FF, I do think that we have a strong chance at coming out of that regional. No surprises with Denver or Wisconsin. I like our chances against either team, although both are definitely capable of knocking us off. The key is to not overlook Princeton. It is a cinderella story with them. I don't like fairy tales. I strongly believe that Ryan Duncan will be back next year. If anything, I think his stock fell this year, so if he didn't leave early last year, why would he leave early this year? We'll be fine next year too. I am excited to have another Toews in green, and Cichy and Gregoire. We'll be just fine.

As I've been saying on this board all year, MN is not a bad team. They play their system very well. Right now, however, they are riding Kangas (who has been a stud, but how long can it last?). You have to be able to score in the NCAAs as well as play tough team defense and get stellar play from your goalie. The MN game vs Denver was very similar to the UND game vs Denver. Only difference in score was the ENG. One thing that we (UND) did not do as well this weekend is keep the opponent off the shot board. Evidently Big Joe is sick, and that was the excuse for his poor play. I am hopeful that he will be abck to 100% for this weekend. I am also hoping that TJ gets close to 100%. Me so Chorney (loved the sign) played like the player we all know he is. Especially when he crashed the net for the goal vs Denver. First time this year I've seen that leadership out of him. He did it a number of times last year. What it will take for us to win: 1. Physical Play. I did not like our lack of initiating contact with DU. We got Radke in finishing checks and the rest of the boys started to finish theirs on Saturday. We need to finish checks to go deep into the NCAAs let alone win #8. 2. Defensemen need to hold the Blue Line. Joe especially seemed to be backing up rather than stepping up. Once an opponent sets foot into our defensive zone, he should have a body into him, not a poke check or an angle play on position. 3. Breakout and transition. We are a force when our forwards come through the neutral zone with speed. Stop with the long passes, no homeruns, just short crisp passes and up through the neutral zone. Arrive at the offensive blue line en masse with speed. 4. Prevent the homerun. Both CC and DU had great chances and scored goals by hitting a lone streaking forward who managed to slip behind the D. This is the responsibility of both the forwards and defensemen. Forwards need to not get caught up too deep to get back to their defensive responsibility. Michigan killed us on this in the Regional last year. 5. Shoot. Patience is a virtue, and I understand the need to try and set up (especially on the power play), but shoot the darn puck, and don't try the behind the back passes and drop passes, etc. 6. Play Hockey. Don't get frustrated with a trap or a slow down style. Just play hockey.

Trupp gets in over Malone, but I put Trupper on that 3rd line.

Here is my only concern coming into the NCAAs. Hak never got the lines set up this year. Switiching Kozek and Miller on and off that first line in the Final 5??? Its a little late for juggling, isn't it? I think that our best product is: Oshie, Duncan, and Kozek Vande, Kaip, and Watkins Martens, Frattin, and Miller Zajac, Radke, and Malone Chorney and Bina Finley and Genoway Jones and Marto Obviously a healthy Trupp earns a spot...over Malone if I'm coach

Looks like Princeton's only COP with us was Mankato, who shelled them 6-1. On paper, we should throttle them, but the games aren't played on paper. Princeton believes, which is how they've made it this far. Time for The Osh to turn them into non-believers. Let's go beat up some smart kids! They've got 4 guys with over 20 points Goaltender has a 2.356 GAA and .918 save percentage They're going to be crazy and come at us blazing. The longer we let them stay in the game, the more likely they win. We need to hang three or four on the tender in the first period and the game will be over.

Hey Siouxmama, You all made it back safe I'd guess. Enjoyed meeting you and your family and Sioux-CIA. Fun tournament! I'll shoot for the same seats for next year. Are you guys going to Madison? I am considering it pretty strongly now that there isn't going to be TV coverage of the Princeton game. Thanks for tolerating our alcohol induced fun and our new fangled love of the Dynamo!

He was at the Final 5 with street shoes. Having him in the lineup would be huge.

Certainly looks like ESPN360 is the only live production. Unfortuantely for me, Charter high speed doesn't have a deal with ESPN360. Is there the possibility of FSSN paying for it and broadcasting in GF as well as making it available on fightingscioux.com? Historically, it seems that they do a bunch of posturing, so they can make as much money as possible. I don't want to have to drive to Madison, but I will if the games aren't available live on TV.

Best Decisions of the year: Lapoint out, Marto back to D Radke in on the fourth line Sorry, Redwing and others, but Lapoint was awful vs DU, and the team is much better with him out right now. How about Big Tommy May, THE DYNAMO!

I like putting more weight on the conference playoffs. The at large bids are there for the couple teams that might lay an egg at the conference tourney who had great regular seasons. I am not a big router for the WCHA over the others, I could care less. I am always for the Sioux. More dumb for having read it? Well, that is your opinion, but I, for one, look at the F5 as a pointless tourney. Every team at the F5 was already in the NCAAs. I am trying to be creative. You don't need to ridicule my attempt at thinking outside the box. What is your suggestion at improving the selection process? WI getting in with a record under .500 and not even making the conference playoffs is more stupid, than any comment i made. Notre Dame being in position where it benefits them to score on themselves instead of tying... Anyway, the NCAA will look at this wholistically, so I can't suggest that the WCHA and Hockey East get all of the spots, even though they are by far the strongest leagues, with the WCHA the strongest of all. Anyway, I'm all ears for a better idea.

What about this change: NCAA tourney bids determined by conference playoffs. WCHA, CCHA, Hockey East and ECAC all get in if you finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the conference tournament. Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America each get the conference winner, then there are two at large bids determined by the selection committee. The tourney is then set up with 1 west vs 8 east and 1 East vs 8 west. so, you then break it down into East and West In this year's tourney it would be: WCHA: Denver, MN, UND HE: BC, Vermont, CCHA: MI, Miami, Northern MI ECAC: Princeton, Harvard, Cornell Atlantic Hockey: Air Force College Hockey America: Niagara At Large: Well, using either PWR or KRACH, it seems pretty obvious that CC belongs in and so does New Hampshire

By the numbers... MI vs Air Force MI State vs SCSU Miami va Niagara Clarkson vs Denver (the Dynamo) UND vs Princeton MN vs BC UNH vs Notre Dame WI vs CC Of course WI and CC will be in different regionals, so what does the NCAA do? I think they do one switch and that is Wisconsin and MI State In Madison: MI vs Air Force WI vs SCSU In Albany: Miami vs Niagara Clarkson vs Denver (Dynamo) In Worcester: UND vs Princeton BC vs MN In Colorado Springs UNH vs Notre Dame Michigan State vs CC

Lapoint not in uniform, Radke and Davidson dressed. Live from warm ups at the X.

A win today makes us a one seed. There is a lot to play for

Sioux did not deserve to win today. THey are not the championship caliber team we've seen. Bottom line is they lack leadership. Chorne did his part to take control, no one else did. WCHA doesn't mean much, but it would've been nice to win. wake up calls for all. I don't envy any team facing UND or CC in the NCAAs after this weekend. Gophers are not great, wheeler sucks and is a punk. Redwing, you are going to flame me, but Lapoint was God Awful today. Finley also sucked a big one today.

I will once again state that MN is not a bad team. They certainly played us tough all year. They are well coached and solid defensively. They have no horses in the stable to win a run and gun, but they are playing their system well and are an excellent skating team. Playing MN at the X is always a challenge...20,000 M-I-N-N (you get the picture) fans show up and give them the home ice advantage. They are a pretty darn good team with some serious fan support. That being said, I think they have very little chance vs CC. Kangas will ahve to stand on his head. As fat boy even put it tonight, UND and CC separated themselves from the rest of the league. MN, SCSU, WI, MTU, UMD, MSU...they were all about equal. Denver with Trotter was with UND and CC, without Trotter, they are similar to the other 5 teams I just mentioned. Wooger comented that SCSU was feeling good about themselves for "outplaying UND for most of two weekends ago". All well and good. I wouldn't feel too proud of myself for being an NCAA tournament team who tied another NCAA tournament team while they were eithout Oshie, Genoway and Trupp. Anyway, I don't really care who we face, except for the fact that I want to beat CC head to head for PWR reasons. Right now, I am a huge Notre Dame and BC fan!

unfortunately for #7, I don't think the committee will look very highly on the elevator incident. TJ deserves to be considered among the top 10 players in the country for on and off the ice credentials. COngratulations to him for this honor. It was a great season, especially considering all the attention he warrated from opponents. JPL does have a shot at the Hobey. While Porter is the favorite, a strong showing in the F5 and in the NCAAs, say two shutouts and a frozen four bid, could earn the award for him. Best of luck to the Sioux nominees for representing the finest traditions of NCAA hockey and the Fighting Sioux program. These two young men are champions, no matter who wins the award.

I don't think that he uses his teammates poorly by any stretch of the imagination. I am just saying that with his abilities, if he could do it even better, he could be at the ELITE NHL level. I also agree that he is a very good playmaker, and these two statements are not mutually exclusive. He is solid in all elements of the game, and is a GREAT hockey player, as I stated in my earlier post. I am talking about trying to add horse power to a Ferrari.

TJ is certainly a special player and agree that his stick work alone is worth the price of admission. He is also a very good checker. His style of play made him a fan favorite at UND, and will make him a fan favorite at St Louis. He reminds me of a young Jeremy Roenick back in his Chicago days. To put on my NHL coach/GM hat, however, he is not as complete a player as JT was last year. TJ is not as good as JT was in the defensive zone, and my only criticism of his offensive game is that he needs to learn to use his teammates better. I recognize it is difficult when he is better than his teammates, but using one's teammates well, makes a special college player into a special NHL player. Before I get flamed. If you read what I am writing, I am trying to say that TJ is A GREAT hockey player. I could gush on what makes him great for hours. If he can learn to tone down his own desire to play physical, get a little better in the defensive zone, and learn to use his teammates to create space, rather than using his stick and individual puck skils to make space, he will be an elite NHLer. If he doesn't, he will still be a very good NHLer based on his natural ability alone. We have been gifted with great players at UND. TJ is in the class of ZPar, JT, and Troy Murray of being at the NHL skill level as a teenager (realize he is 21 now).

Don't forget Yzerman 19 and fiance in seats 9 and 10 for the DU game. Yzerman 19 and other die hard Sioux Fan for Friday night and all of Saturday! Yzerman 19's rodent friend and his guest for the play in (sorry!) I love speaking in the third person!