fightingsioux4life

Before we annoint Kangas the next Rob Stauber, let's keep some things in mind: 1) He is a freshman and freshman are going to have ups and downs. Yes, I know Karl Goehring was great right away, but that is rare. He is heads and shoulders above Frazee in terms of stopping the shots he is supposed to stop and not letting in soft goals, but let's watch him over the next several weeks to see if that continues. Let's see if Kangas can continue playing well down the stretch against teams that will be desperate for league points. I sure hope he plays well next weekend in Denver. 2) He made some solid saves on Saturday night, but there were also a lot of saves from long range and some rebounds that he didn't control that we were in no position to take advantage of. Most of our PP action was on the perimeter. I wonder how solid he would have looked if we had crashed the net more and gotten some screens set up. I was much more impressed with him on Friday, when we DID generate some sustained pressure from time to time. 3) As solid as Kangas looked this weekend, I think Lamoreaux looked just as good or even better. The Goofs had the better of the chances in the first period both nights and in the overtime on Saturday and couldn't beat JPL. I think the Goofs will have to worry about JPL in a potential playoff matchup as much as we will worry about Kangas. But that's playoff hockey. 4) I think the bad ice severely limited the scoring punch for each team. The playoff matchup will be in Grand Forks if it happens and I think the ice will be better. I think we'll have more up and down action and more offensive chances for both teams. Both goalies will get tested more than they were this weekend. Bottom line: No matter who we face in the playoffs, they will have solid goaltending. The good teams overcome that. Let's hope we are one of those good teams.

Wow, emotions are running high tonight! I don't think defending a Gopher fan (who isn't a jerk) means you ARE a Gopher fan. Calling someone out on a message board is not cool. I've said and written a lot of things on message boards in my time, but I have never called anyone out. Don't get me wrong, I can't stand Minnesota. I have been a passionate Gopher hater since the mid 1990's, and to a lesser extent before that. They have annoying media, annoying players and annoying fans (with a few exceptions). But I also work hard to maintain some shred of sportsmanship even during games like this, even if the other side doesn't want to. I did it after the Final Five title game last season (the Wheeler diving OT goal) as I was leaving the X. I suggest everyone on SS.com do the same. Our program has a reputation of class and character, from the coaches and players right down to the fans. Let's not screw that up. <<<getting down from soapbox>>>

Kangas certainly is more solid than Frazee; doesn't give up bad goals, has solid fundamentals, focuses on stopping the puck, keeps it simple. But as some posters have pointed out, Kangas did give up some rebounds tonight and we didn't have someone in position to take advantage of them. That is something we will have to work on for the stretch run to the playoffs. These 30 and 40 foot shots to the goalie's glove side are not going to get it done. We also put shots over the net and wide of the net way too often (I know some of that was the bad ice, but still). Bottom line 1: Three out of four in Marriucci is good. Bottom line 2: We will have to play better to get that many points against Denver in two weeks.

PP has stunk for the most part. A couple of great scoring opportunities, but not much else. JPL is on top of it again tonight. Neither team has looked very good tonight. With Mankato close to beating Denver again, this is a great chance for us to gain more of a solid foothold on second place before "hot shot" Mannino and the Pioneers come to town in two weeks. GO SIOUX!!!

I don't think a stick salute on an opposing team's ice would be smart. It would get real ugly real quick. You would have to call in some of Mankato's finest to break that fight up. If you were talking about the next home series (against UAA), then I am with you. I will be in Mankato next weekend. I went in 2004 and watched us sweep (with Fabian getting a hat trick on Saturday night). We need to sweep and Duluth and Minnesota need to split to keep the Rodents in their place and to keep Duluth out of our hair for third. GO SIOUX, LET'S KEEP IT ROLLING!!!

This must be a sweep for the home team and the first stick salute of the season (in January! ). Our goal from now on should be to secure a third place finish and then win the Final Five, which would give us some momentum going into the NCAA tournament. And that mission must start against MTU. Prediction: Friday: UND 2, MTU 0 (JPL with the shutout) Saturday: UND 4, MTU 2 (Empty Net Goal seals the sweep) Stick Salute here we come!!!

Solid win all around tonight that puts us in third place. And that should be our goal for the regular season. I don't want to hear about finishing in the top five or fighting for "the fifth and final home playoff spot". The goal of this team should be to finish third. It is doable. It is a reasonable expectation. 1st and 2nd are probably unreachable, but 3rd place is up for grabs. All we have to do is play more consistently game in and game out and I think we will secure it. Third place would give us a more favorable first round match-up and keep us out of the play-in game at the Final Five (no team has ever won the Final Five after playing on Thursday). Bring on Michigan Tech!

Agree 100%. When teams like Denver or Colorado College play against good defensive teams and good goaltenders (which is what St. Cloud has most years), they still find ways to put the puck into the net. When we run into those same teams, we "run into a hot goaltender". That little paragraph in my signature is going to stay there until the local media in this town (and that includes TH) stops using the same old excuses and rationalizations for why this team can't finish up strong in games and play solid hockey for 60 minutes (not 41 minutes or whatever it was tonight). We had a 2-0 lead in the third period and couldn't finish the job. Our teams in the 1990's would have finished the job and maybe added an empty netter. That is what championship teams do. Right now, we aren't doing it. And until this current version of the Fighting Sioux start doing it, we won't be hanging any banners anytime soon. Because Jeff Panzer, Lee Goren, David Hoogsteen, Jason Blake and Karl Goehring won't be walking through those doors to save us. The 11 NHL draft picks on this team will have to do it or it won't happen. Disagree if you want "duckies and bunnies", but that is how I see it. And I don't like it either.

What was worse is what happened after the tying goal. We just lost all momentum and poise and we gave up two more goals to ice another home split. Our banner-hanging teams from the 1990's would have won this game, either in regulation or in overtime. But I guess it isn't the 1990's anymore.

I think that Mussman is the right choice for this particular situation. He has been a coordinator for a long time now (first at Mankato). I don't think we would have won a national championship in 2001 if he hadn't taken over the offense that season. He knows the program, players, systems and philosophies as well as Lennon. He has patiently paid his dues, done his job well and deserves a chance at running his own show for a change. The sooner we hire him, the sooner he can get his staff set up how he wants it, reassure the incoming recruits that no drastic changes are going to happen and prepare for our first season as a DI FCS program.

The point that people are trying to make is that the second half of the season is now underway (the playoffs are just around the corner) and we are still "finding ourselves" as a team. We are running out of time to "find ourselves". We have a bunch of league games coming up with 4 points at stake every weekend. We have to start being more consistent game in and game out. If we can do that, we can still make a run at a top three finish in the league.

I wouldn't blame Hakstol for this team's inability to win tonight and earn a home sweep. The coaching staff has been making some changes to the lines to try and get more offensive consistency (which has been lacking this year). The changes worked for us last night because the Sioux worked hard on offense and played solid defense on the other end. It didn't do us any good tonight because we were careless on the defensive end. We also seemed to lose our composure and poise after UNH tied it in the third period. The players have to execute the gameplan; otherwise it doesn't matter how brilliant it is. The guys didn't finish what they started tonight and when you don't play for 60 minutes against teams like UNH and most of the teams in our league, you are going to lose. Period.

I bet that Schlossman is going to run with the "hot goaltender" theme in the Grand Forks fishwrapper tomorrow, but that doesn't explain giving up four unanswered goals after building a 3-1 lead, being sloppy on the penalty kill, the lack of effort and urgency after UNH tied the game at 3-3 in the third and the careless, sloppy play in the defensive zone tonight. We had to earn our chances tonight, UNH didn't give us anything. But UNH took advantage of some bad defensive zone coverage on our part. The silver lining for tonight is that this wasn't a conference series, so we didn't lose points. But if we want to finish in the top three in the league (and avoid the Final Five play-in game), we will have to win games like this and not lose them. Bottom line: A championship team would win a game with a 3-2 lead at home going into the third period. Test failed. Time to get ready for conference play next week at St. Cloud and then back home vs. Michigan Tech.

In case anybody cares, the Giants are leading the Patriots at halftime 21-16.

This is a good test for this team. Our championship teams of the past would win games like this (3-2 lead at home going into the third period). If we keep playing like we have been and tighten up the penalty killing, I think we can pull this one out and have our first stick salute of the season.

This sloppy penalty killing has to stop.

What bothers me about this whole thing is that this makes our program look like a mid-major DI FCS program which will lose coaches every five years or so to the big-time DI FCS programs. I can deal with being a mid-major in DI basketball, but not in football. The move up to DI in all sports was in part predicated on the football program being nationally competitive in DI FCS, not just a lower to mid tier FCS program. If that's all we are capable of, this whole DI move was a big fat waste of time and effort. We had better get some order and leadership established in the athletic department and in Twamley Hall or this is going to be catastrophic for the football program and who knows what else. Losing coaches to DI FBS schools? Understandable and inevitable. Losing coaches to DI FCS schools? Unacceptable and preventable.

This whole thing stinks to high heaven. By all accounts, Lennon seemed happy about the direction the program was going in terms of facility upgrades, recruiting, fundraising, ect. Just a few weeks back on 740am, he was telling Dan Hammer about the schedule for the next two years and how excited he was about the future of the program. Now, all of a sudden, he's gone. I am willing to bet some serious money that there is some political garbage going on behind the scenes that Lennon wasn't willing to put up with. He turned down two other FCS jobs before this one. Our program is moving up to FCS with resources that are already as good or better than some FCS schools. His kids are still school-age. A couple of years ago, we upgraded his contract to keep him. If he had gotten a job at an FBS school (even if it was an assistant coaching position), I would understand this. But this doesn't add up. Who's next, Dave Hakstol?

Frazee is more talented and more consistent than Kellen Briggs was, but he still has some occasional lapses that cost his team games or momentum in games. Kangas is an unproven commodity at this point and we didn't do anything to test him tonight until the very end. Getting shots on net is important, but it's quality scoring opportunites that can either win or lose games for you. I hate it when we put 30 shots on goal and most of them are not good scoring opportunties and then we have to hear about "running into a hot goaltender". Get guys in front of the net, screen the goaltender, get some tip-ins, crash the net, ect. Sometimes we don't do that enough and it is one of the reasons for our up and down offense this year.

I am not convinced that the Rodents are all of a sudden a solid defensive team. They looked solid for long stretches Friday and Saturday night, but some of that was a lack of energy and forechecking on our part. When we did get momentum in the offensive zone (which didn't happen much this weekend), we were able to generate chances and they had trouble getting it out (the third period on Friday and the last five minutes of tonights game). They did collapse around the net this weekend and it was effective, but I think they went into a shell a little too much tonight and it almost cost them. The Rodents have struggled in the third period this season (the Saturday Anchorage game in Minneapolis comes to mind). Minnesota still has some improvements to make on the blueline before the playoffs. Also, I don't think their goaltending is all that great. Sometimes Frazee will look solid, then he'll give up a goal that he shouldn't and the momentum will shift because of it. Kangus is a young player who still has to learn how to win at this level. Our second goal tonight is what turned the tide and almost led to a tie game and overtime. Minnesota is very good up front, but they still have to develop their defensemen and goaltenders if they want to make a run in the playoffs. They needed a good weekend and some league points and they got it in a tough environment. But I will believe in their defense and goaltending when they do it on a week to week basis.

I want to believe in this team, but every step forward is followed by another step back. This Gopher team is not strong on the blueline and not strong in goal. If you put pressure on their defensemen and get some good shots on their goaltender (I don't care which one), you will create scoring opportunities and get some goals. We did that in the third period on Friday and the last 5 minutes or so tonight. But we didn't do it enough over the weekend. And that is why we are still .500 in the league, still haven't swept at home and still have a lot of work to do before the second half. I hope this time off will help them like it did last year.

This is kind of off topic, but does anyone remember the old U.S.A vs. U.S.S.R bubble hockey game? The Circus arcade in Grand Forks used to have one and there is one in Dickinson at the local community center/restaurant/bowling alley. If your opponent hogs the puck behind the net for too long, there is this button you can push up to three times that makes booing noises. It's just a classic, classic piece of Cold War/Sports memorobilia. I'd like to get a hold of one of those as a collectors item/toy.

I voted for eight teams, but I have an idea for a 16 team playoff incorporating much of what already exists. But anything would be better than the Bull Crap Series. The BCS might be better than what we had before because there is a strength of schedule component to the rankings. But the fact that a bunch of inherently biased coaches meeting in smoke-filled backrooms drinking hard liquor from old mayonaise jars (ok I am exaggerating, but you get the point) have any sort of power over who plays where and when for what makes the whole system a total joke. If this is such a great system, why doesn't any other sport at any other level use something similar? Because it sucks, pure and simple. It is absolutely outrageous that coaches can "campaign" for their teams in the press and then get what they want (and I think everyone on this forum knows what coach and team I am talking about; it happened last year). Of course, since the BCS has zero credibility, the BCS-ites have to come up with a bunch of half-truths, speculation and empty rhetoric to defend it. I have posted it before on this forum and I do so again right here to illustrate just how stupid the Bull Crap Series really is: 1) A playoff would ruin the importance of the regular season: Bunk. In Division 2 (as most people on this forum know), if you lose more than 2 games in a season, you can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Sometimes, even one loss teams don't get in. The regular season is still very important in D2 and it would still be important in DI FBS. The only sports in which the playoffs ruins regular season significance are the NBA and NHL. But that is a topic for another time. 2) A playoff would make less money than the current system: Bunk. This is perhaps the stupidest piece of reasoning of all. How in the world could anyone think that a tournament over a period of three to four weeks involving eight to sixteen teams, nationally televised, with most (if not all) of the games in prime time would make less money than a bunch of meaningless Bowl games (except for the BCS title game) scattered over a period of two to three weeks in December and January? The TV contracts would be worth mad money. And that doesn't count the ticket sales and the merchandising. I guess it depends what side your bread is buttered on. 'Nuff said. 3) A playoff would hurt "the little guy" in college football: Bunk. The "little guy" isn't getting much out of the current system, so the BCS-ites have a lot of nerve trying to use this argument. Properly structured and thought out, a playoff system would generate tons of money that could be poured into a revenue-sharing system that would benefit all schools, even those that aren't ranked in the top 5 or 10 ever year. This cash could be used to help pay for Title IX compliance issues and other things that athletic departments have to deal with. And a playoff system could be implemented without getting rid of all the lower and medium tier Bowls. You could leave those games as they are so that teams that don't qualify for the playoff tournament can still play for something. But I do think they should get rid of some of these low-level Bowl games, there are way too many bowls right now. 4) A playoff would hurt the academics of student-athletes because of too much travel, etc: Bunk. D-III has a playoff system, but most of those schools also have strict academic standards that all students (including athletes) must comply with. And it seems to work just fine. College basketball teams travel all over the Western Hemisphere during the regular season and across the country during the postseason and everything seems to work out just fine with those athletes. A playoff could be implemented that starts early in December and is finished by January 1st. That would help mitigate these concerns so that athletes are also doing their jobs as students. As I have said before, what is preventing a playoff system are the numerous political entanglements between the NCAA, the various schools and the various conferences. Not lack of revenue-producing potential. End Rant.

I think Colorado College might be a little bit better (more experienced and very good up front), but I think it's early to start annointing anyone anything. The season is a grind. There is still time for both UND and UMTC to turn it around and make a race of it. We'll find out next week which one is ready to start swimming and which one will keep sinking.

Tim Hennessey said on the radio during the 3rd period that the Rodents had lost in overtime. That is all I know about it, I am not in the mood to verify other team's scores. Our team has problems of it's own.