Canuck

Travis Roche signed with Atlanta earlier this month, one of about 4,000 defensemen they seem to have acquired already this offseason.

I wouldn't read anything into that. Radek Bonk was actually traded to Montreal over a month ago (at the NHL draft, as a matter of fact). And besides, he's a center.

I ran into Pete at the Sioux-Gopher games at Mariucci last year and he said he hung up the skates after the 2002-03 season and was back in Edina and planning on getting into - I think - real estate. You guys are right; Peter was one of the unsung heroes on some powerful Sioux teams. The type of player every championship team needs at least one of.

Ummm...I'd prefer to have someone who will help develop the TEAM, not the HEAD COACH.

How about instead of everyone dealing in hypotheticals, we wait until April and base the decision on results and progress, not what-ifs? This talk of "UND better win a national championship this season or else..." is absolutely assinine. Last season UND was bounced by then-lightly-regarded Denver, but did I hear for anyone calling for Coach Blais' head? OF COURSE NOT. That's because no less of an authority than Blais himself claims there is nothing harder in college athletics than winning a national title in hockey. Just ask Red Berenson, circa 1997. Or Dean Blais, circa 1998. And those two are coaching long after those seasons of "failure." It makes me chuckle that a bunch of carpal-tunnels have already deemed the 2004-05 season a failure should it result in anything less than a national championship. I'd like to hear from everyone exactly how many college hockey coaches they've hired in their day...

Amen.

That's fine, I respect your opinion. But as far as Lamoureux, we really have nothing to go on yet. He could be the second coming of Karl Goehring or he could be the second coming of Travis Pavlat. Or he could be somewhere in between. So to say we SHOULD win a natty with him in net over a proven veteran like Jake, well, I just disagree. Is he a flopper? Sometimes. But really, what does style matter. You don't get points for style. Some dude named Dominik Hasek has done alright as a flopper. To me, judging someone based on their style is no different than judging a Karl Goehring based on his size. Who cares how it gets done, as long as it gets done. Sure, Jake may be more reckless in the crease, but let's not forget how reckless Jordan can be OUTSIDE of the crease. He takes a lot of chances handling the puck and is bound to get burned likely as often as Jake might with his style. I guess my point is, why do Sioux fans have a need to make it a "one or the other" argument? Fans need to realize we have two established goalies with a third one possessing the potential to make it a great trio. We should feel comfortable with any of the three by the end of the season and ride the hot hand.

And the relevance there would be...?

Obviously every goalie's stats are enhanced by the defense corps in front of him. But this perception about Jake Brandt's shortcomings continually leave me scratching my head. It's not Jake Brandt's fault he arrived at UND the year following Karl Goehring's graduation. The past two seasons, Jake Brandt has put up numbers that rival any goalie not named Goehring in the history of Sioux hockey. He has continually won big game after big game, and has often been our best player in big games that we didn't win (Final Five vs. UMD two years ago, for example). Yet all I ever seem to read about on this board is how Jake's spot is in jeopardy, or Jake is the inferior goalie on the team, blah blah blah blah. From where I sit, Dean was not the biggest problem as far as our goalies' psyche. The biggest problem is lack-of-faith from the fans. Mark my words: UND can win a national championship with Jake between the pipes. And let's not forget who Minnesota managed to win back-to-back titles with - Adam Hauser and Travis Weber. 'Nuff said.

Here's a thought. How about everyone just takes a deep breath and relaxes until a head coach is OFFICIALLY named, rather than just speculating and making news out of something that isn't there. Let due process sort itself out and trust that no one is trying to hide anything from any press types. Trust that UND is not trying to pull a fast one over anyone. Trust that these things take time, especially when you consider how many i's need to be dotted and how many t's need to be crossed during a hiring procedure. Let's keep in mind, everyone seems to be making an awful lot of fuss over the hiring of A COLLEGE HOCKEY COACH. But then, who has time for patience, perspective and logic. To quote George Carlin, "Settle down, have some dip."

Ha! Too rich for my blood. Besides, I might as well get some use out of my Super 8 VIP card.

In all honesty, this thread makes me want to puke. It sure is nice to see the self-proclaimed "best college hockey fans in the nation" supporting our newest head coach, a coach our previous coach publicly and vehemently endorsed. A coach our previous coach hired four years ago without this perceived "head coaching track record." A coach our previous coach had so much faith in, he promoted him to Associated Head Coach in his FIRST YEAR AS HIS ASSISTANT. Not to be condescending, but what do you guys REALLY know about the candidates? Hell, what do I REALLY KNOW about the candidates? We look at the year-by-year W-L of each and that's about it. The rest is all second-hand knowledge. We don't know how these guys run a practice. We don't know what their recruiting approach is. We don't know what their demeanor is on the bench. Or in the locker room. To quote former NFL coach Jim Mora: "You think you know, but you don't know." Now, if I may be the voice of reason here, in 1978 fans were screaming that Union coach Ned Harkness replace Rube Bjorkman as UND's head coach. Against public opionon, some dude named John Gasparini got the nod. Hmmm. What did he ever do. Then, in 1994, Gino was canned. The public was outraged. A good portion of Sioux fans preferred either Paul Pooley (??) or Mark Mazzoleni (who is now the coach at freaking Green Bay) among the three finalists. The third finalist, Dean Blais, won out. Sure, he spent nine years as an assistant at UND. But sheesh, the guy had spent the last two years as a high school coach. Here we are 10 years later lamenting that UND screwed up in its search for a replacement for a legend. Again. It's been 26 years since UND fans criticized the hiring of Gasparini. It's been 10 since he was fired and Blais was hired. In that time, we've won five national titles and sent 50-plus players to the NHL. Now, would anyone care to share their qualifications in evaluating head coaching candidates?

Just read that Columbus has picked up the option on Karl Goehring's contract. The Blais hiring certainly bodes well for Karl, but he's still battling a numbers game on a depth chart that includes Marc Denis, Arturs Irbe and Pascal Leclaire.

Jason Herter, 8th overall to Vancouver in 1989. Here's a rundown of UND's 1st rounders: 1968, John Marks, Chicago, 9th 1981, James Patrick, New York Rangers, 9th 1986, George Pelawa, Calgary, 16th 1989, Jason Herter, Vancouver, 8th 1993, Landon Wilson, Toronto, 19th 2000, David Hale, New Jersey, 22nd 2003, Zach Parise, New Jersey, 17th

Came across this interesting prediction in the Edmonton Sun: While Lowe and Prendergast insist they'll get a prospect they want with the 14th pick, landing one of the kids they covet - Andrew Ladd, Drew Stafford, Robbie Schremp and Alexandre Picard - might demand a trade. Stafford, a big right-winger from North Dakota, won't make it past the sixth pick. The New York Rangers will take him. If the Oilers are as hot for Stafford as I believe they are, Lowe will have to strike a deal with Chicago, Columbus or Phoenix. That, or take a stroll to the Rangers table for a chat with Glen Sather. Be sure to take this with a grain of salt, though. Remember, last year the Oilers were said to be "hot for" Zach Parise, then proceeded to trade their pick to New Jersey with Zach still available. Edmonton being my favorite team, that deal will probably haunt me for a long time, especially given the Oilers' lousy draft history the past 15-20 years. But I digress. The complete article can be found at: http://www.slam.ca/Slam040623/nhl_edm1-sun.html

Here's a good feature on Drew Stafford by McKeen's, which I found at www.slam.ca: http://www.slam.ca/Slam040618/nhl_draft-mck.html

How can anyone really bet against Calgary at this point? I picked Vancouver in the first round. I picked Detroit in the second round. Against San Jose I wasn't so sure, but I figured all of the injuries would eventually push Calgary's lack-of-depth past the limit, not to mention their all-out style. But here we are and Calgary is in the Stanley Cup final. I, for one, can no longer bet against these guys, although I might just do that to keep the reverse karma. BTW, while I was home in Canada this weekend I saw that Mike Commodore - and his hair - graces the cover of the latest edition of The Hockey News. However, the version issued in the U.S. has Iginla, Primeau, Nabokov and Brad Richards on the cover.

Here is the latest on Mike's condition: http://www.slam.ca/Slam040513/nhl_calsj2-sun.html

The final rankings for this year's NHL entry draft have been released and Drew Stafford is ranked seventh among North American skaters. Travis Zajac is ranked 15th (first round) and Kyle Radke is ranked 169th (6th round). Full rankings here: http://www.nhl.com/futures/2004draft/final...ings051204.html

I've got plenty of fond memories of Milson from his CFL days. He was a pure tank with incredibly quick feet for a big man. His UND time, however, pre-dates me by a little bit.

Curtis Murphy has been named the AHL's Most Outstanding Defenseman...AGAIN! http://www.canoe.ca/AHL/News/2004/04/08/413749.html

Let's put an end to this notion of "Parise didn't produce when we needed him" garbage RIGHT NOW. How does 12 points in UND's first four playoff games sound? How about being arguably the "true" WCHA Final Five Most Valuable Player? How about being in on six of UND's eight Final Five goals? How about 14 points in six playoff games altogether? When the playoff smoke had cleared, UND scored 21 goals and Parise was in on 14 of them. Let's not forget that in addition to his offensive numbers, the kid was our best defensive forward, our best faceoff man, our best "ambassador" (for lack of a better term) and did all while carrying the burden of arriving at UND as the most hyped athlete in school history. I'm not sure what more he could've done as an individual to carry this team any further, short of driving the damn bus to Boston himself. In the end, it's still a team game, but he is one player who will be able to look in the mirror and see someone who did everything that was humanly possible to take his team as far as it could go.

Curtis Murphy definitely joins Karl Goehring in the "Will He Ever Get a Legitimate Chance?" club. Heck, throw Jeff Panzer in there too.

Curtis Glencross signs with Anaheim: http://www.goseawolves.com/index.cfm?fuseA...y&story_id=1584 What a big loss for Alaska Anchorage. I'm not sure they could have seen this one coming. After a 21-goal sophomore season, Glencross was looking like a potential all-WCHA guy for the next two years. This has to set UAA back a step or two heading into next year.

I wouldn't necessarily include Riddle in any list of "dirty" players, but I have noticed he has a fairly short fuse when someone initiates physical contact on him. It may be eye-for-an-eye, but he usually seems to be the one retaliating instead of initiating. Objectively speaking (honestly), I have to agree with my fellow Sioux fans when it comes to Jake Taylor. I think I found myself telling someone on about 3 or 4 different occasions at the Final Five that Mr. Taylor needs his ass kicked. And soon.