jk

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.

other lines: Stafford, Genoway, Porter McMahon, Lundbohm, Fylling

TH said the fourth line is Palmo between Canady and Marvin. Hale and Prpich (nursing injury) are out. Not sure what lines two and three will be. UMD looks very tough. Super quick and they tic-tac-toe the puck around that little rink in a very nifty fashion.

It's game day, so let's talk hockey. I like UND to have one solid win this weekend, by two or three goals. I think the other game will be very close, hopefully with the good guys on the winning end. The league is tough, and CC is desperate, so I don't think they will go quietly.

Is it Schmidt or Schmitt? I always get those guys mixed up.

One thing I have never thought about Hale is that he doesn't care when he's on the ice. I think he just seems unable to finish. He could have had 10 more goals last year, and a few this year, but for seem reason the puck always bounces over his stick.

I hold out hope for his turnaround. I may be too much of an optimist, but I'm hoping. The problem is that if he's not scoring, then his spot is better taken by a grittier player who may also be scoring-challenged. He's now gone about a full calendar year without scoring much, so I'm sure he's more frustrated than any of us. You are correct that Massen scoring would be huge for the team.

One last comment on UND's level of play Saturday, this time from the father of a Sioux player, from INCH. The father is of course biased, but he does know his hockey:

When you're facing a goalie who is stopping everything he can see, throw stuff at him that he can't see. Briggs was in the zone on Friday at Mariucci, and two screened shots later the Sioux had the lead. The Sioux have the ability to make the pretty play, but sometimes ugly is the only was to go.

I'm sorry if it violates a sportsmanship warning, but I believe a hockey crowd has a duty to be negative to the opposition. I know the opponents are just basically good kids who are pursuing their dreams at another institution, but let them consider it a life lesson in attempting to overcome adversity. Just keep the abuse witty and non-profane, and I consider it completely appropriate. In addition, as someone mentioned, they should turn off the music during warm-ups (at least some of them) and from time-to-time during the game to allow the taunting of the foes.

I am really impressed by the thoughtful nature of both RT's letter and the discussion of it on this forum. If RT wrote that himself, he is an awfully good writer for a person in his position. I think our (Sioux fans and advocates) goal should be to influence the outcome of the game by irritating and demoralizing opponents and by encouraging the home team. In addition to obviously winning more games, this would help recruiting (as who wouldn't want to play in front of such a crowd) and make the evening more enjoyable for fans. I don't think you can change the crowd's behavior just by telling them what to "not" do. Instead, perhaps they can be led away from the profanity by offering and promoting alternative cheers, as has been proposed by others here. It would be great if the accomplishment of RT's goal could also further "our" cause of making the Sioux crowd more of a factor in the contest. Perhaps we need a liaison in the Athletic Department and at the REA to help make some of these things happen. I extend my thanks to YaneA as well for her efforts this year. Maybe she could be retained by RT as the Assistant Athletic Director for Hockey Crowd Improvement.

sagard, great post. I say that because I have been meaning to list those six teams somewhere for the last few weeks. I could see a few of them being tripped up by someone else along the way, but like you I would be shocked to see any other team in the field go all the way. Maine may be the weakest of that group. MN and Michigan have proven in the recent past, with the same players, that they have what it takes to be there. BC may be the best team in the field (SOG 46-12 ?? or so against BU). UMD needs to prove in the next few weeks that they belong in that group, but I will not be surprised if they do. UND now needs to prove that this is a little slip in a long season and not the beginning of weaker play. It should be fantastic down the stretch. If UND can get the swagger back, I like their chances.

Ryan Duncan just hit the century mark for the year. In 52 games, he is 49-52-101. Congrats.

Dishman is a POI regular, not a Badger fan. His claim to fame is being the biggest UND hater.

If another of those players decided to come to UND, it would be great news. However, I think it's worth noting that even though message board participants (at POI, here and the HS board) may really like a certain player, it doesn't mean the coaches are necessarily as high on him. It should be fun to see it develop.

Scott, I know you are right, but di**man needs to be welcomed here. He is just about the worst at POI for spewing anti-Sioux nonsense, but it's not my place there to call him on it ... because I respect their website. Go away, di**man, unless you'd like to discuss hockey.

I tend to agree with the concept that this isn't necessarily the end of the world (season), but I have a few comments on the excerpts of your post. As for the fire being re-lit, it could be viewed as a little discouraging that the team played well and got beat 5-2. CC may be just coming out of their own swoon right now, so it could be that they are not struggling so badly. They are 4-1 in their last 5 (better than UND), they split with Wisconsin (better than UND) and they swept UAA (better than UND and most everyone else this year). "nor is it the start of a slide" -- I think it's not the start, but maybe the middle, and hopefully near the end. As for UND's youth, I was recently considering the same. There are a lot of experienced guys on the team, so it's tough to call the team "young." However, with three freshmen forwards on the top two lines, there is at least an argument.

With his 1-5-6 game last night, Zajac moved into the scoring lead in the BCHL. Congrats.

Agree with the general concept here. I'm not happy with the weekend either, but I think people have gone overboard a little. I'm keeping the faith. Without checking, I think most of UND's national title teams have had something like 8-10 losses on the year. This means those teams had their trying times as well. Struggling early in February does not preclude peaking in late March and April.

It's not gonna be that way this year. They probably needed this. This slump may not be over, but they'll come out of it this year. Also in 2000, they went to SCSU and scored their only goal after 119 minutes of hockey. One goal in two games. Two months later they beat SC 7-3 (I think) in the Final Five. I would love another shot at WI.

If the Sioux could just get one here, I'm sure they'll be able to get another. They just need to get a break. 62-24 shots attempted through two? That kind of play will get you the win most of the time. I'm not discouraged.

Well, that stunk. We have seen this too much lately. The team plays well, then allows the opponent a bit of hope and all of a sudden it's a battle. It was like the Denver game in that way. The Sioux really did play well for fifty minutes; they seemed in control and were clearly the better team. Had they scored on a few of their second and third period chances, they could have put it away. They need to fix this consistent effort problem. The team has now won one of its last four games. They have had poor third periods in each of the three games they didn't win.

One other thing about Oshie and Lee - the MN HS tourney should be must-see-TV for Sioux fans this year, as both Warroad and Moorhead have great chances to advance to the tournament(s). I don't think Woog's far off on Spehar. Try to black out everything you know about his Gopher career and go back to his glory days. In the legendary game, he was the only skater with any legs left in the later OTs, and had bunches of scoring chances. Only a superhuman goaltending effort kept him from netting the winner. Anybody know whatever happened to the goalie? Duncan's pace has slowed a bit. Toews is a big-time prospect, as he was the first pick in the WHL bantam draft last year. He may be the best forward his age in all of Canada. I don't know anything about the situation, but to me that says he is likely to end up playing major juniors rather than college. Maybe the director of hockey operations at his current school has some advice for him.

Great news on Oshie. He's a bit of a mystery, as I haven't seen any mention of him at the national festivals that USHR writes up. It's hard to know how he stacks up against some of the other forwards in his age group. Some Northern observers definitely like him, so it should be fun to watch him develop. Interesting that the commitment is for either '05 or '06. That reinforces an important point about both Oshie and Lee. They are both just high school juniors, with a lot of developing to do. We need to remember how rare it is for a player to make the jump straight from high school to the WCHA. Anyway, with that cautionary note out of the way, it's great to hear of these commitments.

This is now updated through 25 games. This is how UND's and its opponents' scoring breaks down this year (UND's scoring listed first): 5x3 3-0 (When UND has the 5x3 advantage, it has outscored its opponent 3-0.) 5x4 16-3 5x5 83-35 4x4 9-0 4x5 2-14 3x5 0-2 6x5 1-0 (extra attacker goal) 5x6 4-0 (empty net goal) Total 118-54 Special teams play has finally swung UND's way. The Sioux are +16 on the PP and -14 on the PK. Although some games have been a struggle lately, the best numbers are the Goals Allowed in the last five games: 0, 2, 2, 1, 1.