yzerman19

Great news on Toews. I think that he has experienced play against better competition and excelled at it every bit as much as Kessel has. I am not impressed with the NTDP, and the products it sends to NCAAs. Hopefully Kessel and Stoa are the next Tallackson and Waibel.

I believe that both Kessel and Toews will have solid, but short WCHA careers. I haven't been overly impressed with offensive players from the Development team, but I did see Kessel play very well at the WJC. IMO he was the third best forward on USA after Stafford and O'Sullivan. His game was very raw. I haven't seen Toews play, but he has Parise-esque credentials, and any player that goes number one in the W draft has some serious talent. MN and UND will field lineups with multiple first round picks with Zajac, Stafford, Wheeler, Toews, Kessel, Chucko, Lee and Stoa all being first rounders already or projected first rounders. Wheeler caught Wayne's eye, which says a lot, but he didn't put up big numbers and he reminds me of Tallackson. Anyway, both programs will be solid again, and it will be who is playing the best come March and April who brings home the important hardware. The WCHA has really separated into two classes of team with UND, MN and Denver being in every NCAA title game this millenium. CC, Wisconsin and UMD (last year) also are competitive on a fairly regular basis. The rest of the league is the perpetual doormats and will remain so, as the top talent continues to migrate to REA, Mariucci and Colorado. Marto is being heavily recruited and rightly so. I watched him play this year and he reminds me a lot of another guy I know and watched play, Paul Martin. Obviously Paul Martin 2005 is much different than Paul Martin 1999 or 2000 and that is the Martin that Marto reminds me of. If he works and develops the way PM did at UMN, he could be NHL material.

I've followed the AHL pretty closely all year and the all-rookie team guys are all very deserving. The forwards are all winger and goal scorers. Parise is definitely the same caliber player, he just plays a different game. Zach is a playmaker, all the other guys are finishers. The other guys also benefit from having very strong players on their teams. Zach is the best player on his team. Zach is smaller and younger than a lot of guys too. I have no doubt that Zach will be a Cliff Ronning kind of player in the NHL.

Duncan is a center. I don't know if Toews plays center or wing, can someone answer that for me? Duncan's lack of size is fine, a team can do just fine with one small center. Two small centers can hurt a team. How about this fora first unit PP: Stafford (on point) Zajac Toews Murray Lee

Hey Raynman, what about Porter? Duncan is a centerman and is very, very small. Stafford will not go, because as a number one pick, he is going to need them to show him the money,and without a league, that probably won't happen. Greene as a second round pick would demand less money and is the only probable pro signee the Sioux have. Smaby will not go. Toews is obviously the real deal and Hak just might go with: Spirko, Zajac and Stafford Murray, Duncan and Toews I like the idea of Porter, Prpich and Fabian out there causing problems as a third line. The fourth line would be a mix with Kaip, Kozek, Watkins and Miller vying for time and chances to move up to the big gun lines. Up front we will be fine and if Greene stays we will be fine in back too. I see it like this: Greene Lee Smaby Radke Bina Chorney Jones

I don't think so. I think, like all hockey players, Brady just wants to play. Also, hockey players are tough and are used to playing with pain. If it hurts a little when you shoot and a lot when you get hit, big deal. You tough it out. I think that Andy Murray and the LA Kings would not let that happen, and I don't think Dave is that kind of coach.

The end of the Denver game was disappointing to me, as we couldn't put any offense together. Our defense has been outstanding, I will definitely give a ton of credit to the defensemen, JP and PL and all of the forwards who have been hustling back. The MN game was kind of a joke. It looked like both teams were sort of going through the motions. A 3rd place WCHA trophy isn't exactly a big deal to these storied programs. MN was without some of their best players too. I WILL NEVER LEAVE THE BANDWAGON! Raised in GF, educated at U of MN; my two favorite teams are still UND and whoever is playing the Gophs. I was raised on Sioux hockey and care more about SIoux hockey than any other sport/team there is. Both Stafford and Zajack are highly skilled players, but they need that third piece of the puzzle. Neither one of them appears to be that great at creating. Stafford is great along the boards and in the corners, Zajack is great moving with the puck. We need Brady. Losing Prpich is also a huge blow, he really mixes it up and frustrates opponents.

I wish I shared the optimism. The only time all year that I have seen Sioux hockey played by the Fighting Sioux started with the healthy Murray vs UMD in the first round playoffs. There are certain guys that make everyone else around them better and there is definite chemistry among linemates that either you have or you don't. You get used to how other guys play, you know where they'll be and you can just have fun out there. Spirko is definitely a good player, but he doesn't react the same way as Brady does given certain situations. This makes TZ and DS have to think instead of just react and play. I watched a disappointing SIoux team without Murray in the lineup, and I watched a tremendous team with him in. I unfortunately don't think we will play two games in the regional. Murray is that important. In my opinion he is the best player on the team. It is too bad that just when we get the wheels greased, we lose BM.

This kills our line dynamics. I don't think we can go anywhere without him. It is better for him to get that fixed though. This year we had a good shot with our defensive corps. Being healthy at the right time is so important.

I so hope your gut is wrong and they will be back.

thanks

It is also a federal offense under HPPA.

The game evolves. Equipment changes, training changes, innovation occurs. Change is inevitable. The refs interpret the rulebook. As far as being quicker to the puck or in better position? Do you just surrender goals every time that happens? Any player worth his salt who knows anything about puck protection could score at will if the rules were enforced to the letter. Or if another player is a half-step faster or stronger up top or is a better position when the puck takes a funny bounce, am I just supposed to give up? Do you want offensive holding called on every play in football too? It happens every single play. I don't advocate cheap play, but there is so much going on you don't see. If you think the WCHA is bad you should try a shift in the MJHL.

Come on, do you really want a game where they call everything? It would seriously look like a park game.

For what it's worth, I say CC, Denver, Maine and BC. I know, it hurts me to not put the Sioux in there. If they were healthy with Prpich and Murray and Bina, i would give them a fighting chance with BC, but not without them...although Gionta and Eaves are supposedly injured for BC. Has anyone heard anything about that?

Telling refs to call everything won't stop the little stuff. I equate the little stuff on the ice to driving 5 mph over the speed limit. Besides, most of these guys have been playing organized hockey for 15 years. They have habits and do things that they have developed over many years. You aren't going to break that habit by calling a penalty. If the game is going to change it has to start at the ice mite level and be reinforced the entire way up. I hate cheap play and I hate players hanging all over skill players. I just think that if you call a slash every time a player takes a whack at another player's stick or a cross check every time a defender knocks down a forward trying to get position in front of his net you really take away from the game. You end up with a second period like UND vs UMN in the third place game. The game is very physical and there is a lot of little crap that goes on all over the rink. If you want guys to play defense you have to let some little stuff go. Otherwise you will have scores like in a park game. No one will backcheck, no one will want to go in the corners. It would not be hockey if it was enforced so closely. You let incidentals go and call penalties on plays that could result in injury or directly affect the play at hand. The refs talk a lot out there too. I can think of millions of times where I've heard ..two, three, four..let him go...now; or watch the stick 9, or that's almost a hook..your hooking him, knock it off. ANyway, that is the last of my rant. I like a clean game, but I don't like the idea of calling every minor infraction. DO you want to get a speeding ticket every time you go 1 mph over? You'd never get where you want to go. Same with hockey.

I didn't see him go off the ice, but I heard that the camera's caught TZ uttering a profanity as Murray went off. DO you think other teams have been targeting him and that shoulder? Seeing the way the line of BM, TZ and DS played against Duluth , it is heartbreaking to lose Murray. They play so well together and look like an offensive force when BM is healthy. I'm glad that BM still plays the same way despite his injury, even though it is probably a major reason why it keeps reoccurring. Love to have him in beantown, but not at the expense of his future.

DOes anyone know the extent of the injury? Did they pull him to err on the side of caution or is he really dinged up again? Without Murray, the Sioux are a different team and I really don't think we stand much of a chance. However, for his sake, it is better for him to not play than risk a career threatening injury.

The thing is, that calling penalties will not change the way these guys play. It will just make the game less fun to watch. If you enforce every infraction you see it will result in tons of penalties and then eventually a game where you remove all defense. If you want to see nothing but wild moves and scoring or spectacular saves, just change the game to a shootout.

I did see the hit, but admittedly; I had a few pops in me. I just remember seeing it and then knowing immediately what happened and being sick to my stomach and hoping the best for Bina. I have hit and been hit in very similar fashions. I once broke a stick (thank God for wood sticks) in my stomach because I was trying to dig the puck out of a corner and got ran from behind in such a way that my stick jammed against the boards and my own stick's butt was forced into my stomach. I remember seeing blood on my jersey and being scared to look. How do referees impact the game? I honestly don't think that they can do nearly the job that allowing fighting can. I never once changed how I played because of a ref. I never once thought about whether or not a ref would or wouldn't call something. You do little stuff all game, a little holding of the stick, a little slash, a little hook. It is part of the game. Refs should not, in my opinion, call penalties unless a play can result in serious injury or directly influences a scoring opportunity. Intent should be considered and punished more severely.

I didn't know there was a delayed penalty on UND at the time of the hit. That makes it even worse.

The onus is on the players, and if the DU player is any kind of human being he is thinking about that hit. It is a reality check. I would imagine that he has hit guys from behind like that 100's of times in his hockey career, and this is probably the first time a player has been seriously injurred. People often do dangerous possibly lethal things that aren't filled with intent to injur but result that way. How many people do you know who right around .10 drive home? It would take a DWI or an accident to affect them, and even if that is the case it doesn't change the activity of their buddy doing the same thing. The game is brutal and violent and injuries are a part of it. It is just very unfortunate when injuries result from infractions. I will keep stating that my thoughts are with Robbie for a full recovery.

In my opinion, there is no way that the DU player even thought about how far Robbie was from the boards when he hit him. He saw a player with a different colored sweater on with the puck at his feet and hit him. I don't condone it. It does happen though. When you are battling on the ice, you don't stop and think before you do anything out there. Not at game speed. The actual events that put a puck and a player 7-8 feet off the boards with an opposing player in hitting distance directly behind the player all at the same time is not all that common. I feel terrible for Robbie, but I don't think the league can do anything to stop the circumstances that occurred. DO I think it should've been 5? Absolutely. Do I think the DU player should have a misconduct? given the results, yes. Do I think that it looked like a play where he should be suspended indefinitely? No.

The bad luck and timing to me is that you are off the boards just the right distance, forced to put your head down to look for the puck and you have your back turned towards the middle of the ice. I don't want to see defensive players get game misconducts for giving a forward in a corner a shove in the back or for a nice crisp shot to the back in front of the net. It is a physical game, and as one of my coaches once put so eloquently: if you didn't want to get hit, you should've joined the band! What happened is terrible, but I see a difference in the hit on Bina and the beating of ZP vs AA last year.

The college game will never be as clean as the WJC, as there isn't the parity in skill level among players that their is in international play. With that skill comes a certain respect for each other too. I watched the AA game referenced, and if I had been on the ice with Zach, the Sioux would've been without my services for 10 and a night. A third paired defenseman at AA versus a first round draft pick in ZP is a no win for AA unless he breaks the rules. The league has to shut this down. The NHL and Major Junior allow fighting to enforce justice on the ice. Maybe the WCHA should too. I am a hockey purist and don't like gooning and fighting, but I definitely understood the role of Marty McSorley and Wayne Gretzky. I don't want Ogie Oglethorpe and Dr. Hook McCracken out there, but I think the players should be allowed to enforce the cheap stuff. As far as the hit on Robbie. I first wish him the best in terms of a speedy recovery. The hit is the same every time when a player breaks his neck or becomes paralyzed. It is a combination of bad luck and timing. As a former player, when I saw the hit on Friday, I knew what was coming. It is terrible and sickening and is about the only thing that makes a player on the ice feel vulnerable. You are taught from the first days of checking to be aggressive and hit every different colored jersey that gets near you. In the heat of the moment and speed of the game it can be really difficult to not hit someone. I don't see how the league can stop those kind of hits. I think the better choice would be to try and develop a helmet that can somehow absorb the impact. Equipment is our best hope. This is also a double edged sword, but that is a different story. Get well soon Robbie.