jk

forecheck, I got your e-mail at work today but didn't get a chance to respond before I blew out of there. I'll be back in the office on Tuesday, and I will e-mail you then and we'll get it straightened out in plenty of time.

Here are some numbers. Throw out two guys from Niagara and UAH and the top scorers nationally ranked by points per game are: Bochenski Lessard Parise Murray Vanek I'm sorry I didn't check whether that was before or after tonight's games. Either way, the message is the same - Wow, there is some serious talent in the WCHA, and especially in Grand Forks. (One other caveat: this is of players in the top 20 nationally in scoring. So there may be someone not in the top 20 who is averaging more points per game, like perhaps Ben Eaves.)

Funny thing is that Michigan is actually on pretty much the same roll as those guys. They slipped a few weeks ago and dropped one at UAF, but they pretty much have been smoking everyone they play. Big winning margins. There are several teams this year that are better than the champions of the last several years (copywrite LVS).

There are of course bigger fish to fry, but the Sioux locked up fourth place in the league tonight. Depending on the Wisconsin/SCSU outcome, third may be just one point from being locked up. Good stuff.

Nice to hear that some hats made it onto the ice for Fabian.

Rob Rankin ... moves it down the right side ... sounds like something Scooby Doo would say - a TH classic.

They're five and seven...

Oh, sure, I step away for bedtime and this happens. Way to go, Sioux.

I'm not caring too much about the UMD game. The Sioux just need to take care of their own business. MSUM has been down by as many as six goals in a game this year and still won. If you give them a sniff of hope, they can make life miserable for you. That's why this Lundy goal is huge; keep the lead too big to give them hope.

I believe that if they tie for the league title then they are considered co-champions, co-winners of the McNaughton Cup. Then tie-breakers are used to set playoff seeding. As far as WCHA events go, I believe UND clinched home ice last night.

Since the game is just a few hours away, I thought I would take the honor of starting the thread. According to Virg, lines are: Genoway, Parise, Murray Bochenski, Lundbohm, Porter McMahon, Prpich, Fylling Hale, Stafford, Fabian I haven't had the chance to see Fabian play, but if he is in the lineup, I hope he plays. I think nearly as important as winning now is not wearing out the big guns. Rolling four lines the rest of the way would help keep guys fresh.

Some people need to give it a rest. Let's pick apart everything Blais said and criticize him for it. He's basically saying it's tough to pick the starting goalie when you have two good ones, and someone picks at his words. Then he says the Duluth weekend will be tough, and now he's giving up, so expect to be swept. If he had said he was planning to sweep, I guarantee someone would come here and call him overconfident, so expect to get swept with that cocky attitude. Do you really think he's telling the team to go for the split? This is the public presentation, not the game plan. Thanks as usual PCM. I think Sioux fans are too busy whining about the coach (of the top PWR team in the country) to cheer at the games.

Agree. Ouch.

Check out these numbers. This is UND's goals scored on Friday, then on Saturday, for each weekend in the new year: 4,3 6,2 8,4 4,1 6,1 3,2 5,1 Yikes! That's 36 in 7 Fridays, and 14 in 7 Saturdays. It's also just 5 goals in the last 4 Saturdays. Whatever's causing that, please fix it. Thank you.

Please. "If that what DB want he will give any excuse to us on why he is sitting JB and Ziggy." Like Blais really cares what a bunch of internet dweebs think of his coaching decisions. He'll play the players that give the team the best chance to win and that earn it in practice. It's called skate or sit. "I can take all bets if Ziggy was given a chance to make it , his # would be the same as JPar." And I can take all bets that if I had wings I could fly. There's just no way to know this. I do know that both Brandt and Parise have so far put up solid seasons. "You can defend JPar all you want on why he should be starting, but the bottom line is this a PRAISE SHOW!!!!!!!" Did you read my earlier posts, you know, the ones with data and discussions of specific games and saves? Would you mind presenting an argument as to why Brandt should be starting? As I said, I can't come up with a reason to start one over the other, and if they're that close, I'm comfortable deferring to the coach's judgment.

You guys are harsh and have short memories. I am not advocating Parise over Brandt - I can't find anything that separates the two. Just by the numbers, in the last four weeks that I outlined above, JP is .908 and JB is .899 in save percentage. If you go back another week, you get Brandt's 4 GA against MTU and JP's shutout. JP made his first Big Save in his first game of the year, when UMD went in 2-on-0 against him at the end of the second period of a tight game, and came away empty. That was absolutely the "Big Save" to which you refer. Has it been so easy to forget the big saves that kept the Sioux in the game against MN, with the same number of goals allowed as by Brandt the night before? The Saturday point against Denver belongs entirely to JP, just as JB won the game against SCSU. JP has an .897 SP and 2.30 GAA as a freshman (.905 and 2.23 in the tough WCHA). That's great. I'm happy with him and with Brandt and I'm surprised anyone in looking at the whole season is having trouble with either. (For reference, JB is .898 and 2.35 overall, and .896 and 2.59 in the league.)

Nice conspiracy theory, but I disagree. The talk of "attitude" issues with JB surfaced near the start of his freshman year - long before Zach was enrolled at UND. I can't speak to whether there is any truth to the attitude talk, but I do know it was a discussion topic in 2001-02. Whether one thinks it is fair or not, it seems to me that Coach Blais has treated JB the same in each of his three years at UND, as one of a few goaltenders in the mix. Because one of them happens to have the last name Parise doesn't make it sinister. As to recent play, I went back to the weekend that started the non-winning. JB 31-33 W MN JP 26-28 L MN JP 25-26 W Denver JP 30-31 T Denver JB 23-27 L Wisconsin ---- JP 10-13 L Wisconsin JB 8-9 L Wisconsin ---- JP 21-23 W CC JP 16-20 L CC I would grade those games like this (you know, 'cause I'm an expert): JB Great JP Great JP Great JP Great JB OK - Because the mistake on the shorty changed the game ---- JP Poor JB OK - Because the mistake killed hopes of a comeback ---- JP Good JP Poor After some sterling efforts, JP has had a few average (or worse) outings. I would expect JB to get in a game this weekend.

You have got to be f***ing kidding me (profanity added for emphasis). I am in favor of cleaning things up a bit, but this is simply ridiculous. I think signs should be censored for profanity or obvious bad taste, but to remove the "Manners" phrase is way over the line. Who do these guys think they are? Alums should seriously consider contacting the athletic department to express their feelings. IMO, the message should be: I understand and agree with the objective of cleaning up fan activity, but you should take care to preserve a passionate arena atmosphere in the process. In fact, take new steps to encourage fan participation throughout the game.

http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejourn...ports/68228.php A touching story about a chronically ill child who was adopted by the Badger hockey program. College hockey is great.

Heisenberg's site lists a new commitment: Siembida (Quinnipiac/Wichita Falls-NAHL) Good luck to Josh at Quinnipiac and in the future.

Just a little rambling to do. Most of it's negative, but whaddaya expect tonight. First, I almost ended up in GF today for something else, and I would have attended the game if I had. Glad that didn't happen. For a while it has looked like there were six teams capable of winning the national title. Based on recent play, it seems like that group has been split in two. BC, UMD and Michigan seem to have played their way ahead of everyone else, while UND, MN and Maine have played their way back to the trailing pack. I didn't see this weekend, but it sounded like the Sioux played "well," but ended up on the short side of a 4-1 score. They must not have played that well for the score to be that lopsided. What disappoints me most about a game like tonight is the failure to mount any kind of a threatening comeback. To fade away down the stretch of a lopsided loss on the road is one thing, but to go quietly in the third at home is very disappointing. On the radio it sounded like the Money Line had a boatload of chances in the game but couldn't convert. I hardly heard any other forward names - was the Money Line playing every other shift? I heard Blais on the radio say that this was not going to be the same as last year, that they will not swoon, and while it was comforting, it also sounded a little like he was trying to convince himself that it was true. MN took four points from MSU, and UMD took three there. A split there would be very disappointing. Considering UND's history with Mankato, though, it's hard to be extremely optimistic about getting four points there. There have been a lot of tests lately - Saturday against Denver (follow-up a big win with another win), Saturday against Wisconsin (bounce back from a tough loss), Saturday against CC (see Denver) - and we haven't seen much for results: a tie, 2-4 loss, 1-4 loss. I am among the most optimistic of fans; I thought they were going to turn it around last year until the horn sounded to end the Ferris State game. I am starting to worry, though. Regardless of officiating, rink size, opposing and own goaltending, puck possession and shots on goal, there is no denying that the team is 2-4-1 since beating MN on Friday night. The crowd sounded just plain bad on the radio, so I understand the comments on the game thread. Bigger picture, if there is to be a change in fan behavior, as determined by higher powers (the NCAA, etc.), the process is not going to be quick or pretty. Part of that ugliness was seen with the dead crowd tonight, and it's going to take some time to get the atmosphere back. The one thing that is guaranteed to generate real enthusiasm, real passion, is an extended down time for a program. That keen lust for success that can only come from sucess's absence is what is making the DECC a madhouse this year, what make the Kohl center full and crazy last weekend, and what made the old REA so much fun in Blais' early years. We have gotten fat and lazy as fans (not "we" on this board, but more generally), and it has moved the atmosphere over from raucus to corporate (a la Mariucci). Smaller picture on the crowd tonight, we may eventually find out how costly a weak crowd can be. UND absolutely still has all the ingredients to play into April this year. But they need to come together a lot better than they have so far, and it's mid-February. On that note, special recognition has to go out to Sandy and the Bulldogs. They look a lot like UND in the mid-90's. Better every year, quick, scrappy, and built with mostly second-tier recruits (not a slam, just the truth). UND's recipe for success now is to get four points next weekend and have some confidence heading into Duluth. Split there. Get four more points the next weekend, and head into the playoffs having won five of six. That's enough to lock up a top seed in NCAA's and a top-two spot in the WCHA (maybe not the McNaughton). They have to go do it, though. Get outshot, I don't care. Get outplayed, I don't care. Just outscore them. No more lamentations about referees and headstanding goalies, and no more moral victories. Sorry for the rant. Go Sioux. And go crowd, next time you have a chance.

Just getting here now. How did CC score?

I agree. The guys need to be fresh for the stretch run. UND should have the guys to roll four lines.

This will be an interesting challenge for the coaches. Lucia has been a motivational master after games like this in the last few years. Sandelin will need to get his guys ready to play a game with another team on the ice, because there didn't seem to be one there tonight. I'm sure I'll be hating them soon enough, but I am happy for the Dogs' success. If we don't get #8, they would be just about the next team I would like to see win it all.

Sounds like CC has been generating a few chances since TH said that. Sioux need to go play some offense to run this one out.