jk

To be honest, I think it's hard to make a convincing case for anyone this year, including the Sioux players. In the past, nearly every year, a few players have risen above the crowd and demanded Hobey consideration. This year it seems to have not happened. Of all the contenders, I think Bochenski was in the best position to run away with it. Unfortunately, he seems to have gone cold down the stretch, with just 1-8-9 in the last 11 games. His 9 points in 11 games is certainly solid, but not the kind of run you expect from a Hobey winner down the stretch. The funny part about it is that he has played well, and had a ton of good chances to score goals. He has just been snake-bitten (hard to believe when talking about #7). Hopefully he will get hot as the second season starts. A few years ago, either Panzer or Ryan Miller would be easy winners this year.

This is now updated through 35 games, through the end of the regular season. 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 26-4 5x5 112-49 4x4 11-0 4x5 4-21 3x5 0-2 6x5 1-1 (extra attacker) 5x6 4-0 (empty net) Total 161-77 Maybe the best indicator of the kind of season UND has had is 4x4 scoring. They outscored opponents 11-0, and, as they say, it wasn't as close as the score. In the games I watched, UND was consistently able to create chances in 4x4 situations, and the funny part was they did it with a lot of different pairs of forwards. It seems like the favored pairs by the end of the year were Parise-Bochenski and Murray-Lundbohm. Bonus Number Fun: In WCHA play, UND outscored its opponents 122-62. That's right, MTU's lone goal on Saturday prevented the Sioux from getting the "double" in goal differential. More Fun: UND's WCHA PP: 29-135 21.5% UND's overall PP: 29-168 17.3% So, UND's non-conference PP was 0-33, for 0%. The 21.5% is solid. Regardless of the numbers, I'm now comfortable when UND goes onto the PP that they have a good chance to score; they look dangerous most of the time and generate good chances. This is a feeling I have not been able to claim in the last few years - it has usually been, "Crap, UND's not going to score, and there's a make-up call coming soon."

Sounds like the Sioux are playing a very sleepy game and getting the bounces/breaks tonight. Now I'd like them to just skate this one off, collect the two points and the RPI and PWR solidification and get ready for Tech next week.

Congrats to the players and everyone in the program. The team seems to be playing very well right now, and though there's a lot of important hockey still to be played, this is a fine accomplishment. Having Lundbohm and Porter (and at times Bochenski) on the second line reminds me of the Johnson/Krmpotich (sp) second line that made that team so tough to play against. In fact, in terms of being such a brute on skates, Porter reminds me of Johnson. Anyway, very nice depth by the team in this rush to close out the season. And thanks to both goaltenders for giving the team a consistently solid presence between the pipes. While Jake is the man, I can honestly say that if he became unavailable, I would be confident of the team's chances to go far with JPar in the net. This is a luxury few teams have. (The 1998 disappointment at Yost had more to do with Karl getting injured in practice that week than with Yost, IMO.) Congrats again and Go Sioux!

This is one heck of a run to close the season by one heck of a team.

PCM, It's my middle son's birthday today as well. To make it special for him, I'm not going to rub in MN's loss tonight (as he has become a Gopher fan ... you know, born there, lives there, rebellious).

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.