yzerman19

Faces anyone?

Great Thread!!! While I don't think that this year's team is done already and ready to call it a season; I do think that there are some serious fundamental flaws. People have picked out the defense as struggling to build an identity and play well, and I agree with that, however, we are also having a lot of trouble putting the puck in the net. We have not scored more than 3 goals in a game except for against Mankato and Quinnipiac. We've also scored a grand total of 7 goals in our 5 losses. That is pathetic. Obviously the guys aren't clicking. Toews isn't playing like a number three overall, and Oshie is not playing the kid we saw last year. Duncan and Porter IMO seem to be the only two guys pulling their weight.

This is pretty good humor

OK, I am done with my ranting about the penalty shot. A few things from this weekend's series: 1) Sioux goaltending was terrific. I hope Greico drank free last night on his defensemen. 2) Sioux defensive corps need to have a gut check. I am usually the first person to blast Joe Finley, but he played very well this weekend. The Genoway-Bina goal was pretty, but awfully dangerous to pinch two d-men like that. The D need to play better when we have the puck deep in our own end. It appeared to me, that the SCSU forwards beat the Sioux D to the loose pucks in the corner on a very consistent basis. Play the body, play your man, and stick to sound fundamentals. Way too many odd-man ops for SCSU. Brian Lee is supposedly an elite level player, he showed flashes of it last year, he needs to show me more this year. I don't know what happened to Zach Jones, but he reverted back to how he was last year before the playoff run...God awful. The laziness to the loose pucks and the stick checking is worthy of end boards till you puke in my opinion. Win the races and lay the shoulder. Can we get Berry back? Part B: I thought it was the Sioux D, but it might be the Sioux wingers, but we need to be able to break the puck out better. D need to be able to skate by one man, and the wingers need to be low enough to take the pass take two strides and make a pass. Get low, head up, short passes, move the puck quickly up the ice. Part C: Forwards need to play their damn position. I never, ever want to see all three forwards down in one offensive corner again. Too much chasing the puck. SCSU's wingers did a great job at staying home, and it resulted in a couple really good opportunities. 3. PP unit 1. Alright guys, I know you're all super stars, quit playing with it and shoot the puck. We are trying to be way too pretty. 4. Line combinations. I like Porter and Oshie together. I like Toews and Duncan together. Hak has proven to be the absolute master of the late season line cohesiveness, so I will say in Dave We Trust and let that go for now. 5. Strong on the puck, only Toews and Oshie seem to have good leverage when they have the puck. Gophers have really impressed me with how strong they are on the puck this year. 6. Feet moving. Way too many passes hitting coasting players. You need to want and expect a pass at all times and be prepared to do something with it once you get it. Passes do need to be tape to tape, way too many have been off target. We are a decent team right now. I would say that we are under achieving. The skill level on the team should be putting 4 or 5 goals in per game. Hopefully Hakstol can get the boys to peak at the right time again. Gophers are looking awfully good right now, especially considering how many freshmen are getting regular shifts. They will be dangerous in March.

Rules don't say anything about having to be in the clear to warrant a penalty shot. Maybe they should specifically call out that a penalty shot be awarded when a penalty prevents a scoring opportunity and not enough time remains on the game clock to allow for a reasonable power play opportunity. Say less than twenty or thirty seconds. The way it is now, if I am playing D and a player like Oshie or Toews is coming at me one on one with time running out, I'd just tackle him. The SCSU defenseman made a nice play. There are good penalties and then there are great penalties; that was a great penalty.

Should've been a penalty shot. With time running out and a pretty good scoring opportunity, it is the only call that will allow for an equal opportunity to the one that was disrupted by the penalty. Although most people, myself included, generally believe that you have to have a step to have a penalty shot awarded, the rules are actually a bit more generous. Tripping is listed as a penalty shot/optional minor in the NCAA rule book and is followed up by a reference to section 58 b. 58 b states: A player shall not trip or foul from behind a player in control of the puck on the opponent's side of the center red line, thus preventing a reasonable scoring opportunity. I contend that the penalty came from behind, Porter had control of the puck, it was in SCSU's end, and it certainly prevented a reasonable scoring opportunity. So, It doesn't have to be a clear breakaway to warrant the penalty shot.

Toews has been really quiet this series...

getting there

Finley sucks and shouldn't even be in a SIoux uniform

thanks azsioux. bummer though

Stuck in Minneapolis, listening to TH, but looking for a video stream online, any help?

Are there any streaming video feeds online? I know foxsports WI is televising.

Jones did not make the squad, but he was invited to try out, not that I am a huge zach jones fan either. I hope shattuck, hakstol and washington know what they're doing. Clearly they are more qualified than a washed up high school player like me to evaluate talent. Joe's size should afford him the ability to punish players. I want him to be like Commodore and Greene and jones sr were, players that every opposing forward was looking for their whereabouts everytime they went into a corner. in a lot of ways, I believe that joe's season could determine the sioux season as a huge one, or just a good one.

Joe has shown me little more than size. In fact at the end last season, i believed he was the worst defenseman on the team. Joe will have to fight for a spot on this years' squad with little Genoway coming and Bina back. Joe oviously has not shown the coaches for USA hockey much either, as he was not invited to try out for the WJC squad where Chorney, Lee and Jones were all invited. Joe is probably a nice guy; at 6-7 255 on the ice, that is the problem.

Did I miss his season in the USHL?

I presume that the "if they don't play in the USHL they can't be that good" comment was meant tongue in cheek.

Great Recommendations DAR. My understanding is that Oshie is one of the most popular guys on the team too, and could very easily sport the A this year (Grant Potulny did as a soph for the Gophs). Obviously Toews has sick skill, but he is so young.

I think that we are going to see a monster year out of Toews. I would like to see them put Duncan on one side and Kozek on the other and see what they can do. Big point to remember...he is the youngest out of himself, Okposo and Johnson and he is already a proven 20 goal man in the WCHA. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 30 goal season out of the kid. I like that as a second line with Oshie, Porter and Zajac as the sweet and nasty first line. Score on you and beat you up! The word on Zajac is that he is a little less skilled than Travis, but he plays with more of an edge. Hopefully he produces like big bro and not like Chucko!!

I agree with a lot of what Dagies says, but I don't think MN has the firepower that he does. Great incoming class, but the returners aren't top end scorers. Will Wheeler become the first rounder he could be or will he be another Tallackson? Can Howe make the next step going from good to great? The one piece that is ultra important that Dagies missed onthe report card is coaching. While Delta Don is a fabulous coach, Hakstol has been remarkable with Frozen Four appearances in his first two years! Before the Holy Cross let down I would've given both head coaches an A, but after that I give Delta an A-. Slight edge UND. If Okposo has a year like Oshie did last year, it will make the difference between a contender and an also ran.

I like the wink! I was thinking more about the Gophs other goalie...Briggs is ok.

UMD has 3 highly skilled freshmen forwards coming back who all scored double digit goals in their inaugural campaigns. Niskanen is a first rounder who will only get better each year he plays college. Wisconsin returns 3 double digit goal scorers (2 freshmen-skille and street) and Elliot. Carlson and Dowell are decent, but not great. MN returns 4 10+ goal scorers and adds the best incoming class. Weak in the net. I still must stick to the fact that UND is returning two 20 goal scoring first rounders, Duncan added 16, Porter's scored double digits before. The D-men are mostly highly touted top draft picks. decent incoming class, watkins and kozek should elevate their game too. Fabian and Kaip will keep the pressure on. Dingle's the only double digit scorer coming back to Denver.

Only five 20 goal men return to the WCHA. UND has two in Toews and Oshie. SCSU, Denver and MSU all return 1 a piece. Elliot will keep Whiskey in a lot of games, but they lost an awful lot up front. Top 5: 1. UND 2. UMD 3. MN 4. SCSU 5. WI

Hakstol did a great job of getting the right line pairings at the end of the year. We will have to see who clicks with who, etc. We also need to think about playmaker & goalscorer and corner digger forward combos. Of course we are very fortunate and have guys like Oshie and Toews who can do all three. I have posted before my thoughts. Let's just start with the players and facts we know. I will limit this post to forwards for now. The last 4 points in parenthesis will be my 1-10 rankings on: playmaking, scoring, physicality and intangibles. Obviously I haven't seen the new recruits, so they will be excluded: 1. Oshie. Dynamic forward who plays the whole rink, plays the body, can dance around guys, can shoot the puck and make unbelievable passes. Worked well with last year: Zajac Toews, Porter, Spirko. Needs someone who can keep up with his energy level. (10,10,10,10) 2. Toews. Most upside of any player in the WCHA. Great skill, playmaker and goal scorer of tier 1 ability. Physical when needed. Worked well with: Stafford and Duncan. Did ok with Porter and Oshie. Needs someone who can finish and see the openings. (10,10, 7,9) 3. Duncan. Terrific shooter with skill. Seems to be in the right place all the time. Works well with: Stafford and Toews. Needs someone to get him the puck. Lacks size. (9, 10, 4, 7) 4. Spirko. Shifty dangler with good skill. Makes some sick moves. Can play with almost anyone and make the line complete. Not physical, so needs to play on a line with more physical players. (9,8,4,8) 5. Porter. Aggressive, will play the body and make good offensive and defensive decisions. Can play any role. Works well with everyone, demonstrated with Oshie early. (7,6,10,9) 6. Kozek. We will see a lot more out of this 2nd round draft pick if given a scoring role. Can really shoot the puck. ok size, ok playmaking. I'd like to see him on an off wing on one of the top two lines. (6,6,6,6) 7. Watkins. Can play the body and play in the offensive zone. Similar to Kozek, but seems to like to hit a little more. (6,6,8,6) 8. Fabian. Grinder with good hockey sense and leadership. I expect to see him leading some youngsters on the cycle (as much as I despise it). (4,4,8,8) 9. Kaip. Grinder who learned to score in the playoff run. Packs a lunch for work and just does his job. (3,3,8,6) 10. Vandevelde. Good size. Tore up the MN tourney two years ago. Not a huge year in USHL. I'd like to see him show that Moorhead touch again. I'd try and put him on a line with some play makers. 11. Forney. A probable late first, early second round pick. Good size and playmaking. Got hurt too early in the MN tourney for me to see what he is all about. The NHL is hot on him though, which is good enough for me. 12. Zajac. Good numbers in Salmon Arm...what a pipeline we've developed. Travis's little bro, if he plays like travis he will be a great addition, and some second liners will need to be looking over their shoulders. Good size, playmaking and goal scoring. I hate to say it to the boys who saw limited action, but they have their work cut out for them to dress. I wish them all luck and appreciate their efforts. Here is how I would set the lines: scoring 1: Porter, Oshie and Spirko. Tj and Chris worked well together. Tj and Sparky worked well together. Porter's leadership, Porter and Oshies physicality, Sparky and Oshie's explosiveness offensively. This line's parts have had chemistry, will wake up the team by starting the game hitting, and will undoubtedly catch a few team's napping at the drop of the puck. All 3 guys will have 40+ points and TJ will hit 30 goals. Can skate with any first line and can knock around any first line. scoring 2: Forney, Toews, Duncan. Jonny and Ryan showed that they can play great together. Put the rookie with the reputation on this line and see if it gives Jonny another option out there. checking: Fabian, Kaip, Vandevelde. I like this lines ability to hit, move the puck and contribute with some goals. Goals will be bonuses. line 4: Watkins, Zajac, Kozek. I think this line is the one that will kill teams. The BC connection. I think this fourth line has as much talent as most team's first lines. This role will let these guys show off their offensive skills against opponents weaker lines. My two cents for what its worth. I really like the first line, and I believe that you have to keep Toews and Duncan together. I am not sure about the last two, as I haven't seen Zajac or Vandy or Forney recently. I don't like stacking a line, I prefer balancing them out. I like not putting two frosh's on the same line.

We do definitely have a stacked locker room. I also know that we will see a lot of line combos. I would like to see Duncan and Toews stay together, as they were dynamite in the Final 5 and Regional. I like TJ and Porter together too, just because they both bring such intensity, and they played well together last fall. I agree that Kozek and Watkins will show us a lot more this year, and Spirko is obviously a good player. Kaip and Fabian will continue to wreak havoc on the forecheck. It will be interesting to see how little Zajac, Forney and Vandevelde play. Forney appears to be built a lot like Blake Wheeler.

Wasn't it Radke who fed that MSU player? He has my vote for enforcer. I'd prefer if Finley went pro to make room for Genoway. I stated that on another post as well.