PHE

Danny Mattson put on quite a show last night for Holy Angels as they defeated sixth ranked Hill-Murray 5-4. Mattson had a hat trick (including a beautiful game-winner) as well as two assists. Having Mattson and Kristo together in a couple of years will be fun to watch. One of the goal scorers for Hill-Murray was Nick Widig. Rumor has it Hak and Co have interest in him; maybe more now that Budish is off the list.

A few observations on recruits in the Twin Cities: Mallard is right on with Gleason....he has great speed and vision. I've seen him play a few times so far this season and he seems even more aggressive with the puck than when I saw him this summer at the Select 17. For those of you who like Chay Genoway you're going to love Joe Gleason. Danny Mattson....he's on the smallish side but the kid can really go. He's similar to Burnsville's Jake Hendrickson who visited UND this summer but decided to play for Sandy in Duluth. Both are roughly 5' 9" and 170 but absolutely phenomenal playmakers and tenacious on the puck. The only negative from the last time I saw Mattson play is that he was sometimes on cruise control on the back check. But that's nitpicking; he's going to be a tremendous talent and someone (Kristo???) will be the grand beneficiary of "Double TT's" setups. By all accounts he's a great kid from a terrific family. I've seen Edina play a few times so I wanted to make a comment on Buddish. There seem to be varying degrees of how good he's going to be. One of the more common negatives I've heard is that he is lazy. Don't believe it; the kid plays hard and there is no lack of effort. IMO Buddish will be a beast for whomever lands him.

Bruneteau is out with a concussion. Here's an article about Conboy...towards the end of the story it talks about his fight with Bruneteau. http://www.lancers.com/leagues/newsletter....&page=22167

Thanks for the info kbjerke. It's great to hear that he has the Sioux on his list. It will be interesting to see who Hak brings in for the remainder of the year; it might be a signal of how much faith he has (or doesn't have) in Eidness and Walksi being the top two next year. That might scary but I'm not sure he has much choice at this point. Regardless of who the goaltenders are for this year and next here's hoping the Sioux land Lee for '09-'10.

Hey, I enjoy discussing 80's rock as much as the next person but the girlfriend crap brings out the worse of message board etiquette. I really think Lee will be a star and I didn't want discussion about him to be lost in the Greico thread. BTW, he's a junior this year.

Since the "Greico Gone?" thread has gone haywire I thought I'd start a new thread on how AG's leaving will affect the chances of us getting Michael Lee in '09. With Greico now out of the equation will this improve the chances of Lee joining the Sioux? Does anyone with Roseau connections have an idea how interested he is in UND? I believe he's made at least one unofficial visit.

I had heard that Budish would be visiting in early November so I'm guessing he's the one USA Hockey is referring to for Saturday night. If someone is visiting tonight I'm thinking/hoping it is Mattson.

u gunna announce aafter the game? im thinkin i know who it is. he wil be at und friday too. to tour the campus

I'm trying to subscribe to the video package but it won't take my entry in the birthday section. Did anyone else encounter this? Verfy frustrating!!

Bump

Rick, I think Gleason is a terrific talent, I just didn't see as much as I had hoped to on Friday. I thought he had an average day. I recall one play in the first period where he was beaten, badly, and it led to a goal and he came off the ice shaking his head. My guess is that he would tell you it wasn't his best day on the ice. Having said that, I think we'd agree that we're happy to have him as a Sioux recruit. USA Hockey, I feel bad for you having been taken to the woodshed on GPL for your response to my Gleason comments. I thought your response was innocuous but somehow it took on a life of its own for a while on GPL.

Finehage was the one kid I wanted to see but didn't get the chance. I did see Landman but it was only for a few shifts.

I went to the Select 17 camp on Friday....I came away very impressed with the Sioux recruits. A few comments: Fink...strong on the puck with very good vision. Paid attention to the defensive end (sounds like a typical Sioux forward, eh?). Started slow but picked it up in the second half when Kristo was moved to his line. He's got that quiet skill of letting the play come to him (very patient). Cichy...this has already been mentioned several other places but this kid is the real deal. In the game I saw he had two assists and scored on a beautiful one-timer. Very smooth. A bit on the slender side (but, hey, so was Phil Sykes). Great hands. Centered the top line of his team and was clearly the team leader. Gleason...I was here three years ago when Taylor Chorney played in this camp and it was obvious that he was top shelf. I didn't get that feeling with Gleason. Ness (Gophers) and Gardiner (Badgers) looked better. I didn't get to see him use his great skating ability so that probably had something to do with an average day for him. His fashion choice was impeccable however as he was sporting a University of North Dakota tee-shirt before his game. Kristo...the biggest surprise of the day for me. He looked great. He is fast, fast, fast. His intensity level is high; not quite Oshie level but almost. I think the best word to describe him is explosive. He's got a good frame to add another 15-20 lbs and he'll be a monster. I also saw all of the eastern North Dakota kids play (Groth, Swanson, Gaustad, Arnason and Simonson). They all played well; Simonson looked particularily strong. It was fun to all these kids. Kristo, Gleason and Fink were all on the same team and before their game they were sitting together in the stands. You could tell they're good friends. Hak, Eades and Jackson continue to produce top end players and great kids. Based on the four kids I saw Friday the '08/'09 classes could be something very special. On a side note, I also got to see one of my all-time favorite Sioux players...Craig Ludwig. He was there watching his son, CJ. All in all it was a great day for this Sioux fan.

Thanks for the quick reply, Jim.

I won't be able to watch the game on April 5 and would like to receive updates via text msg? I'm curious if anyone has used this service recently and, if so, how well it worked. Thanks.

Here's a nice article on Ryan Johnson Ryan Johnson

Does anyone know if UW is webcasting this weekend's games? On their sports website there is a webcast section and tonight's game is listed but I can access it. Has anyone used their webcast in the past?

I hope TNT is right in thinking the Sioux have a great shot at landing Wilson. According to ISS he is ranked fifth overall for the 2008 NHL draft. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=7006&hubname= I've read where he's from Winnipeg but he plays for US NTDP and lists his hometown as Greenwhich, Connecticut. I know someone (Vegas?) has mentioned him before on this board. Does anyone have any insight on this kid.

Classic!

Anyone remember Tony Couture? He played goalie for the Sioux in the late 80's. Currently he is the head coach of the Little Falls high school hockey team. They are in their second consecutive state tournament and made it to the semifinals today. Their top scorers are young (a soph and a freshman) so Tony might be building a central Minnesota Class A powerhouse. Oddly, their weakness appears to be playing solid defense which, considering Couture's background, is a surprise.

Assuming "audio13" is correct and it's both his ACL and MCL does that mean he'll likely be out for the start of the '06-'07 season?

Thanks Dallas. I'm having trouble getting my account set up; it keeps telling me my cart is empty. I guess I'm out of luck.

I was planning to try Dataflix tonight for the first time. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Has it been working lately? Thanks.

I'm anxious to see what kind of year Joe Finley has this year. I don't know much about him other than he's 6'7" and 240 lbs and that he skates well for someone as big as he is. I'm curious about the other parts of his game, e.g. can he play under control, make good outlet passes, lug the puck, play consistently game after game, etc? Has anyone seen him play? Maybe some of our USHL posters know something about him from his Sioux Falls days (StarzUND or spfreak, can you help?) As I was thinking about Finley it made me think of some of the recent "oversized beasts" the Sioux have had (Commodore, Greene and Smaby). There are several parallels amongst those three. They all: 1. Struggled mightily their first year and a half in the WCHA. 2. Took stupid, ill-timed penalties. 3. Became fan favorites. 4. Became the leader of the team (two of them were/are captains). 5. Left/Will leave after their junior season. I think we'd all be pleased if Finley followed the path those three took.

Most of the prognostications I've seen for the Sioux have them starting slowly and getting stronger as the season progresses. I'm projecting a different path...I think they'll start fast, tail off mid-season and finish strong. I understand all the rationale for a slow start (13 freshmen, green defense, etc) but I firmly believe that these guys with come out of the gate stronger than most people think. To begin with, I wouldn't trade the Zajac-Stafford-Spirko line for any other. Throw in high energy guys like Kaip, Porter and Prpch and you have great balance from the returning forwards. Many of the freshman forwards are high ceiling guys and we're all anxious to see how they perform early on. I actually think Oshie will have a better first half than Toews. Watkins and Duncan will be pleasant surprises. The defense will have have growing pains to be sure but, much like the forward situation, the talent level of the freshman will help overcome some of the early mistakes. As far as returning D men, Smaby will be the key and Radke will be the wild card. If those two play to their high levels it will make things a lot easier for J Par and Lammy to settle in. Lee and Chorney will play well but probably hit a wall mid-year, similar to the Gopher's Goligoski last year. Jones and Finley will struggle while learning what the WCHA is all about, not unlike Matt Greene's freshman season. We'll probably see Lee Marvin get more ice time early on in order to help stablize things on the blue line. This will be a very exciting team to watch. It will be fun to watch the young guys grow and develop their game....I just don't think it will take as long as most people think. Let's Go Sioux!!!