yzerman19

Based on performance so far, I have to believe it will be Kozek. Oshie, Duncan and Kozek Kaip, Watkins and Frattin Vandevelde, Trupp and Miller Zajac, Radke and Martens Forney rides pine We need to work on the breakout. Hopefully we can get our ducks in a row.

strange line combos out there...3 goals makes me a little less pissy

Webcast looks great down in Minny. Unfortunately the Sioux look like crap. We can't seem to catch a pass, we're not moving our feet. We look like we are resting on our laurels. I would skate the crap out of these guys all week. I might even burn one players scholarship in front of the whole team ( literally, light the paper on fire). See if that gets them going. This is not Sioux hockey

I am sickened by our play tonight. Nice PP

We need to get our act together. How did we turn to such garbage in one week? We looked awesome against MSU, then we look sloppy, can't pass, can't break out, can't win a draw. BC is a good team, so I will credit them with taking us off our game, but there is no excuse for playing this way against Northeastern. We are clearly off our game. These teams are doing something that they've seen on tape. We need to make short, crisp passes. Play simple hockey. Anyone have any ideas on the ice conditions? They keep saying its warm in beantown, and it looked like we were falling down a lot! Shots on goal are misleading. We missed the net about a half dozen times with pretty good looks. What is with Martens on the PP??

I think this should be looked at as an opportunity to "make" BC come out to the Ralph next year.

I wish young Ryan a speedy full recovery. He has a bright future ahead of him. Hate the Gophs, not the young men who wear the uniform.

Had we kept Belfour, Hrkac, Joyce, and Kidd for the 1987-1988 season, we might've had a run at it...

You're correct, sir: Cornell went undefeated back in 1969-1970: 29-0-0. Maine in only lost 1 game (42-1-2) in 1993.

Anyone know for sure the time of the games on Friday and Saturday? USCHO says 8pm eastern. Fightingsioux.com says 6pm central. THis does not jive

I thought LaPointe struggled quite a bit. He is a freshman, and that was his first real game. He'll improve. Kozek is starting to look like a #2 NHL pick. He played well with and without the puck. The Oshie call is a tough one. Here is the problem, when a guy is trying to make a move and puts his back to you, you have to be able to shove him a little; what else are you going to do? The problem is where it happened, 5 feet off the boards aka break neck lane. If the State player is up against the boards, it is not called. The game was not a blowout whatsoever. The first period was a hard-fought, physical contest. The Vandy goal was a lucky bounce, but it seemed to deflate State tremendously. Michigan State is a good team.

Lapoint looked like a freshman. It is very impressive to see the Sioux win like that without Oshie. Nice testament to depth. First impressions of this year's team after two games: It is our year to take the title back to GF. My only beef right now is with lapionte, the rest of the team looked solid. We are both physical and skilled. We will be tough to beat. Unless of course we get jobbed like RPI last night.

As I said on another post, that call made for a sad day for college hockey. The Gophs had turned it on, albeit aided by some PPs, but that last call was truly an abomination. Let the players decide the game. Thul should be censured if not fired.

Wow, I would've gotten chewed out for leaving my side of the rink back in the day. I never thought of it as strategy. I've always complained whenever I've seen it, and I agree; I have seen it happen at the pro level. It just seems to me that the tighter your forwards are grouped in the offensive zone, the less likely that situation is to turn into an opportunity. The puck moves faster than anyone's feet are capable (even Marion Gaborik). I prefer to have someone stay at home. I don't complain about 3 guys low as long as they are spread out. Just the opinion of an old washed up, never was

Major junior versus NCAA hockey is a difficult comparison, because the style of play is so different. Clearly, thry compete from the same talent pool. JT was the number 1 player taken in the WHL bantam draft. Major junior is still the most direct route to the NHL, but NCAA is catching up. Could the Sioux compete against CHL teams? Definitely yes. Would the Sioux dominate CHL teams? Definitely no. Would the Sioux compete with an NHL team? Are you out of your mind?!!!! THe worst player on an NHL team was a super stud in college or major junior. a 10 goal a year NHL player probably scored 40 in the CHL.

Agree. Scratches will be Davidson, Forney and Martens at Forward and Marto on D. What depth! What kind of team has an NHL #2 on the fourth line! I think that what we saw for lines will hold. Oshie, Frattin, Duncan Kaip, Watkins, Malone Vande, Trupp, Zajac Miller, Radke, Kozek

I agree that Marto looked better out there than Lapointe. Jake jumped into the play nicely a couple times, and I didn't notice him negatively in our end. I am not sure who will get the PT this year. The second and third lines looked like they had some good chemistry, which is fantastic this early in the year. One thing that did jump out at me was a foul up by Frattin on one shift. I caught all 3 forwards on that first line by the left circle in the offensive zone. Frattin needs to stay at home there. It was Duncan's side of the ice, and the center can always help out, but that off winger needs to camp out by the other circle under that circumstance and be prepared to drive the net or go into the corner to dig out a puck. Can't have 3 guys in one corner, that looks like squirts.

I agree that an exibition game against Manitoba is not a good barometer for an NCAA season. However, I was very impressed by the depth. Our scoring came from each line. 1 G from Line 1, 3Gs from Line 2, 2 Gs from Line 3, 1 G from Line 4, 1 G from the d, 1 G from PP. Our special teams will get much better, they haven't practiced. This was basically a second day scrimmage against an inferior opponent, but an experienced opponent who has been playing games for a week. We saw individual skills last night. Now the coaches can coach and practice and meld it into a cohesive unit (TEAM). We have more depth than last year and that will help down the stretch. Duncs and Osh will each throw in their 25+ goals. If we can get 15-20 from a player on each of the next two lines, we will be tough to beat. A constantly fresh fourth line made up of the players we had on the fourth line will be a gift also.

I agree that Kozek really needs to step up. He was a huge scorer in junior and had so much upside that Atlanta invested their second round pick in him. The questions around him are has he been unable to produce at a high level due to who he's been playing with and the role assigned to him or is he a player who truly peaked at 18. I guess we'll find out. I support Watkins on the first line, because he has done everything asked of him. I don't think that you necessarily want three scorers on the first line. I've always been a fan of lines that consist of a playmaker, a true goal scorer, and a grinder (either power forward or utility style). As long as they can skate with the scorer and playmaker. I like the idea of one forward goes into the corner and wins the one on one, kicks it over to the other forward on the same side of the net down low, who tries to feed the third forward driving towards the net. I like the idea of Watkins being that forward, kicking it over to Oshie, who either shoots or hits Duncan in the slot or top of the opposite circle. That style also allows for a sleeper defenseman to slip into the slot...could mean a dozen goals for Chorney! Run and gun is fun too, but I don't know if we have the horses to do a Parise, Murray, Bochenski or a Toews, Oshie, Duncan. Minnesota is sure to run three high caliber lines. I don't know if we have a center who can match up with Okposo physically, now that Toews is gone. I guess that will be up to T.J., who is very strong on his skates, but gives up quite a few pounds to KO. I also agree that Miller and Martens are big question marks. Miller put up some points early on in the year, but he disappeared at the end of the season. Are these guys going to get playing time or not? There are some young guns who'd love to bump them off. I think we have great grinders in Vandevelde, Kaip and Zajac. In my opinion, all three earned spots for this year with their game, especially in the playoffs. We have players that impressed the NHL scouts in Frattin, Forney and Malone. Do they earn regular shifts? How about the beast man from Manitoba: Davidson. Is he Brandon Shannahan or is he Carl Racke from Youngblood? Trupp is apparently the can't miss playmaker we need to generate some second or third line scoring. Maybe pair him up with a Kozek to see if they can put up some points. What about Radke? Is he done? Does he move back to D? Does Genoway move up to forward? I have to believe that Frattin, Forney and Malone get playing time due to the talent they must have to get drafted. We're in the enviable position of too many players!

When does official practice start? It is going to be a fun year. Anyone have any insight into any of the new guys other than their junior stats and conjecture? I am really hoping that Hakstol build four well-rounded lines this year instead of one NHL line, one "tour de france" cycling line, one balanced line and one mixed unit. It would be great to roll four lines all year. We'll have to see about Trupp, Frattin, Malone, Davidson and Forney. Those guys are all question marks to me. I would like to see Oshie, Duncan and Watkins as the first scoring line. You combine a playmaker, a sniper, and a utility player. That line would hit, skate, cycle, set up pretty goals and bang in hard-hat goals. It would be nice to see how the freshman look.

You definitely can not take stock in a preseason assessment of talent. These guys are writers, they are trying to give us something entertatining to read, because we don't have any hockeey to watch!

JT is a special hockey player. We all forget just how young he is. Good Luck Jonathan! A little silver bowl on top of a lot of great names will add nicely to your collection of gold medals. UND was lucky to have you, and it was a privelege to watch you compete. Next year I expect we will get to see JT, ZP, TZ, DS, BB, and JB skate regular shifts in the NHL...what a program!!!

He probably just wanted to be able to have a cold one and not worry about getting thrown in the huscow. That guy could probably get away with murder in hockeytown USA. Met him briefly once. Seems like a nice kid. He was friendly and engaging.

How pathetic! It just shows again what a business hockey is in Canada and how political it has all become. Poor kid, he's big and good, so he can't play with his friends? Play him up a level and see how he does...that and buy him an ice cream for a bunch of a hole adults being jerks.

Going to be some big pay days coming for Vanek and Parise. Thomas' 40+ and leading the league in plus minus should get him somewhere in the $4million per year range. I would guess that Zach's 31 would be worth somewhere in the $2.5-$3 per year range. IF ZP continues his goal scoring rampage in the playoffs, he could add another $1 mil per. If he were to lead the playoffs in goals scored and win the Conn Smythe ( I realize there is a lot of hockey left, and the Devils aren't even a lock to get out of round 1) but if ZP were to win the Conn Smythe at 22 years old, he might be able to bump that even further.