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I hacked it up a bit, but this is a Hockey's Future thread with comments from NJ Devils fans about David Hale and Paul Martin. It's nice to read. The two WCHAers seem to be doing well. ------------------------------- Now that almost 1/3 is gone and Martin and Hale have been playing regularly, let's hear your reviews. -------------------------------------- No complaints... ----------------------------------------- I complained in the beginning of the season about Martin, but now he's OK with me since I have another defenceman to complain about all the time. Hale I have no problems with. ------------------------------------ Its pretty incredible that the D has been as solid as it has all season despite having two rookies learning on the job from the vets and coaching staff. I think you have to really give it up for Laperriere, Burns, Stevens, Niedermayer, Carpenter, and the rest of the Devils coaching staff. Couple of thoughts: Paul Martin has progressed faster then David Hale and is looking way more comfortable getting involved in the offense with Burns pushing him to take more initiative in the attacking zone when he's in control of the puck. Someone in the Bruins forum was recently ripping Pat Burns for holding back Tverdovsky's offensive skills last season which I had a good laugh over when I thought back to last season. Burns didn't hold Oleg back at all with regards to carrying the puck, shooting the puck, and trying to get things going on the PP from the point. He has a good hard shot and terrific speed, but it wasn't very accurate to say the least. David Hale is still learning, but he's doing a commendable job for a kid fresh out of college. It wouldn't surprise me if both rookies stay up with the team all season long now barring injuries. Once Hale gets his hitting game and mean streak in order, things will probably come together faster for him with regards to watching him take things to the next level imo. ------------------------------------ I wholeheartedly concur. Martin made a pretty good defenseive play tonight vs the Isles. }:-)> ------------------------------------ Giroux who? They've made me forget for now, but I would still like to see Lou get another stay-at-home vet on the blueline for the post-season. I'm not comfortable with Hale-Martin-Albelin-Brown as the bottom 4 in a seven-game series. I'm not sure if the youngsters will be ready to take it to the next level. There was a reason Smehlik was acquired at last year's deadline. I don't know if Hale, Martin, or Brown could walk on after sitting out a round like Daneyko and Tverdovsky were able to last season. ----------------------------------- Martin really needs to add some weight, maybe in the offseason but he looks to be no more then 175. Come playoff time if he continues to impress they will be gunning for him making him cause turnovers. Hale has been really solid so far but needs to hit a bit more, I know it will come. Matt DeMarchi will be on the team next year and mark my words. This guy is the perfect Daneyko replacment, is showing some good offense in Albany, and is great defensivly. I wish they called him up instead of Brown. ------------------------------------ Martin and Hale have been impressive. The Devils haven't let up the least goals because of Stevens, Nieds, Raf and Brodeur alone. The two young kids have done what they've had to. Rookie mistakes are made no matter who you are. The Great One, Lemieux, Orr, Howe, etc. All of these guys made their fair share of rookie mistakes. Everybody does it and some of us are going to have to learn that. Hale has been great, IMO. Martin could up his physical game a bit but that's also something that we're going to have to live with. Not every player is physical. That's why we've got guys like Hale, Stevens, etc. ------------------------------------- Another assist for Martin (on an OT GWG no less)...he's on pace for around 20 points this year, and is something like 2nd in rookie plus/minus. Logged 20 minutes of ice-time last night. Good for him. ----------------------------------------- I though Martin was atrocius the first dozen games and has since become much, much better. He's stepping up and taking the shot in a situation where he used to step back and cover the neutral zone. On the flipside, I think Hale has stalled. I suppose it's harder for a nonscoring defenseman to get noticed, but I never had that problem with Colin White. Hale is just... invisible, it seems. Which I suppose is better than being visibly mistake-prone. ----------------------------------- I'll take a quietly effective rookie defenseman anyday. White made some standout hits and whatnot his rookie year, but also took a bunch of bonehead penalties from overaggressiveness. Hale's playing with his head first, which bodes well for us. The physical edge will come with time, and he's smarter than White will ever be. ------------------------------------ There is NO SUCH THING as overaggressiveness Did anybody get to watch A rookie in 1982 for the Washington Capitals that wore #3. Soooo many said he is "too agressive", "he wouldn't last". But on the Rookies............ Hale- I can't complain about Hale's play, but I have to admit I am more than a little dissappointed that the mean streak, aggressiveness and hitting ability hasn't been shown yet. I would really like to see Hale drop the gloves. For no other reason than to see a little more snarl in his game. I am really surprised to see how often he jumps into the play when the offensive opportunity arises. Hale is a much smoother skater than I remembered from seeing him while playing at North Dakota. His shot seems to very good although we haven't seen it all that often. Hale shows a tremdous amount of poise in difficult situations and seems to make the safe play everytime. My Grade for Hale is B+ ******************************** Martin - Between the two, Martin's improvement seems to to be much greater than Hale's. That being said, I think Martin needed to have a greater improvement. Defensively he looks confused and lost from time to time. I think "uncertain" is the word I'm I'm looking for. Martin still looks like he has trouble along the boards and behind the net, but there has been improvement. If Martin continues to improve at the pace he has, he will be an extremely valuable asset before this season is over. I am very surprised Martin has been given Powerplay time so early on, but he oozes offenses. His shot from the point in my opinion is as good or better (I know your thinking Rafalski, but Rafalski's shot is completely different. Rafalski will not over power a goaltender like I think Martin can) than any current devil. From my perspective, I think we have gotten more than could be expected from Martin at this stage of his career. My grade for Martin is C+ ---------------------------------- Lets just say...Lou thought there were ready and both are bring it so far.

Also, four WCHA series last weekend, FOUR SWEEPS. Last year, it seemed to be all splits and ties. As for worrying about UW and AA, I think the Sioux need to worry about their opponent in every league game this year. It seems like there are going to be a lot of tough games. It's great for the fans and nice to see some of the lower programs crawling up off the mat. -------------------------------- Did anyone happen to see the discussion on USCHO about this game? Trailing 4-0, LSSU started pulling its goalie midway through the third period. It almost worked, too. Must have been wild. Second Period uaf-1 Cam Keith (Curtis Fraser, Kelly Czuy) 4:48 uaf-2 Cory Rask (Ryan Lang) 17:48 uaf-3 Curtis Fraser (Cam Keith, Kelly Czuy) 18:04 Third Period uaf-4 Ryan Lang (Paul Austin) 7:30 lssu-1 Bo Cheesman (Tim Kreuckl, Dominic Osman) EAG 8:21 uaf-5 Tom Herman (unassisted) GWG ENG 9:01 lssu-2 Derek Smith (Dominic Osman, Colin Nicholson) EAG PPG 12:06 lssu-3 Derek Smith (Jon Booras) EAG 14:21 uaf-6 Curtis Fraser (unassisted) ENG 14:45 lssu-4 Dominic Osman (Trent Campbell) EAG 15:02 uaf-7 Cory Rask (Tom Herman) ENG 19:06

Did anyone see any of these games? If so, your thoughts on some of the names we've noted before (Duncan, Chorney, Genoway, Toews, Okposo)? Thanks.

present also. But just checking in from time-to-time between bedtimes.

The www.usahockey.com site indicates that Dowell and Booth were chosen for the final two spots, over Stafford. The key to Stafford's participation is now this sentence: "Participation in the tournament by previously announced forwards Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./Los Angeles Kings) and Ryan Kesler (Livonia, Mich./Vancouver Canucks) is pending final approval and release by their respective NHL teams." I assume that Stafford would be the next forward added if either of the two NHLers were to not be released. The NHLers participation would be good for Team USA, good for the Sioux, but disappointing for Stafford. Hopefully he'll get his chance to go and play. The Sioux can get by for a few games without him.

Fantastic job. Nearly all of them are really good. If you're looking for input, I personally like: 1. 5-hole 6. chippy 12. beatings 15. bulb Thanks for all the hard work.

I don't know whether it's a defense mechanism or something else, but I won't be calling MN's season over until they are eliminated from title contention. I fully recognize that people's claims of MN's demise appear to be reasonable and rational, but I have seen enough in the last two years to wait until the Spring.

I'll try to give you a straight, non-defensive answer. UND's title years were: 1959 1963 1980 1982 1987 1997 2000 (Not exactly the wooden-puck era.) UND hasn't repeated because it takes a remarkable combination of talent and luck to win the title. To have everything break just right two years in a row is very unusual. UND reached OT in the second year's title game in 2001, but couldn't finish the repeat. Ultimately, a program's greatness is in the eye of the beholder. I'm guessing not too many Sioux fans are looking to trade their program's history for anyone's.

Since he's not on the Canadian selection camp roster, it appears that his two choices at this point are to play for Team USA or listen to the games on the radio. It would be tough to play at SCSU without those three guys. The depth that we all tout now would certainly be tested.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...BNStory/Sports/ The Canadian junior hockey team lost a potential offensive dynamo when Brady Murray, who holds dual citizenship and is the son of Los Angeles Kings coach Andy Murray, decided to play for the U.S. team instead of trying to crack the Canadian team roster.

I'm as much of a Sioux homer as anyone, but I think some of the stuff here reflects some denial that MN is back to being good. I still think they'll only lose about 5 or 6 more games until the playoffs, and will easily finish with a good enough record to play in the NCAA tournament. At that point it's anyone's tourney to win. You can talk about Michigan being down (which I disagree with), but sweeping at MSU and at MI is a pretty nice accomplishment. I personally think we are just going to have to deal with the fact that UND and MN are going to be the two best teams in the league, and in the top five in the country, at the end of the year. JMO.

Kermit, good summay. I agree with and have seen most of what you posted. The Lincoln paper noted that Rankin just took an official visit to Michigan State. Also, the Michigan message board noted that Chucko was in for his visit last week. He attended a MI BB game with Ebbett and Tambellini (former BCHLers). If a BB game sways him, he might need help.

2003-04 NHL Central Scouting "Preliminary Ranking" - US Colleges - Nov. '03 Players Team League Birthdate HT WT POS SHOT 1 STAFFORD, Drew North Dakota WCHA 30-Oct-85 6'1 1/2 202 C/W R 2 PINEAULT, Adam Boston College H-East 23-May-86 6'1 193 RW R 3 O'NEILL, Wes Notre Dame CCHA 3-Mar-86 6'4 200 D L 4 THELEN, A.J. Michigan State CCHA 11-Mar-86 6'3 205 D L 5 BOOTH, David Michigan State CCHA 24-Nov-84 6'0 1/2 212 LW L 6 HENSICK, T.J. Michigan CCHA 10-Dec-85 5'9 180 C R 7 OLVER, Darin Northern Michigan CCHA 5-Mar-85 6'0 165 C L 8 LUNDIN, Mike Maine H-East 24-Sep-84 6'2 180 D L 9 BORER, Casey St. Cloud State WCHA 28-Jul-85 6'2 197 D L 10 SIGALET, Jonathan Bowling Green CCHA 12-Feb-86 6'1 170 D L 11 BIRNSTILL, Steve Northeastern H-East 6-Nov-85 6'2 185 D L 12 DOWELL, Jacob Wisconsin WCHA 4-Mar-85 6'0 195 C L 13 EARL, Robert Wisconsin WCHA 2-Jun-85 5'10 1/2 184 LW L 14 COLLINS, Dustin Northern Michigan CCHA 28-Feb-85 6'3 196 LW L 15 CAREFOOT, Mitch Cornell ECAC 2-Jan-85 6'1 209 C R 16 CIRULLO, Bryan Northeastern H-East 19-Feb-85 6'1 185 D L 17 WINNIK, Daniel New Hampshire H-East 6-Mar-85 6'2 210 C L 18 LIKENS, Jeff Wisconsin WCHA 28-Aug-85 5'10 163 D R 19 IHNACAK, Brian Brown ECAC 10-Apr-85 5'11 1/2 178 C R 20 SCHAEFFER, Kevin Boston University H-East 16-Oct-84 6'1 185 D R 21 CHRISTIE, Matt Miami-Ohio CCHA 22-Feb-85 5'10 185 C R 22 CARON, Jeff Merrimack H-East 7-Dec-85 6'2 175 D L 23 MOLE, Shawn Yale ECAC 28-Mar-85 6'0 185 D L 24 JOHNSON, Keith Maine H-East 21-Oct-84 5'10 177 C R 25 WILSON, Kyle Colgate ECAC 15-Dec-84 6'0 200 C L 26 HUNWICK, Matt Michigan CCHA 21-May-85 5'10 1/2 187 D L 27 SMYTH, Ryan Colgate ECAC 6-Nov-84 6'2 210 RW R 28 AQUINO, Luciano Maine H-East 26-Jan-85 5'10 175 C L 29 HEATLEY, Mark Wisconsin WCHA 4-May-84 6'3 195 RW L 30 WATER, Ben Mass-Lowell H-East 11-May-84 6'1 195 C L 31 COOPER, Joe Miami-Ohio CCHA 6-Jul-85 6'0 200 RW R 32 SULLIVAN, Ryan Merrimack H-East 7-Aug-85 6'2 180 D L 33 BOUCHARD, Olivier Union ECAC 2-Mar-84 6'3 195 LW L 34 WESTGARTH, Kevin Princeton ECAC 7-Feb-84 6'4 235 LW L 35 ZABKOWICZ, Tom Maine H-East 9-Nov-84 6'0 175 D R Goaltenders Team League Birthdate HT WT POS SHOT 1 MONTOYA, Alvaro Michigan CCHA 13-Feb-85 6'1 190 G L 2 BROWN, David Notre Dame CCHA 11-Feb-85 6'0 185 G L 3 LUKER, Bryce Michigan Tech WCHA 25-Mar-85 6'3 190 G L 4 HARTLEY, Steve Miami-Ohio CCHA 15-Oct-85 6'1 190 G L 5 VICARI, Dominic Michigan State CCHA 30-Oct-84 5'9 1/2 184 G L "LIMITED VIEWING" Team League Birthdate HT WT POS SHOT ALEXIOU, Michael Merrimack H-East 10-Sep-85 6'2 210 LW L BRUNKHORST, John Colorado College WCHA 9-Feb-85 6'1 195 C R CORBIN, J.D. Denver WCHA 23-Mar-85 5'10 185 C/W L EIZENMAN, Oren Rensselaer ECAC 27-Mar-85 6'0 175 C L JARVIS, Rob Dartmouth ECAC 26-Jan-85 6'2 190 D L KOLANOS, Mark New Hampshire H-East 15-Oct-84 6'1 185 RW R LEWIS, Grant Dartmouth ECAC 20-Jan-85 6'3 190 D R MAKI, Ryan Harvard ECAC 23-Apr-85 6'2 193 RW R MAHRLE, Ryan W. Michigan CCHA 8-Feb-85 5'11 175 D R MCGREGOR, Bryan Minn-Duluth WCHA 27-Jun-84 5'11 192 C R MURRAY, Chris New Hampshire H-East 26-Dec-84 6'1 180 D R SALCIDO, Brian Colorado College WCHA 14-Apr-85 6'1 185 D L SELDEN, Bobby Northern Michigan CCHA 30-Jan-85 6'1 198 D L SZCZECHURA, Paul W. Michigan CCHA 30-Nov-85 5'11 175 C R THAUWALD, Scott Colorado College WCHA 26-Oct-84 5'11 185 LW L Goaltenders Team League Birthdate HT WT POS SHOT SAMUEL, Sean Dartmouth ECAC 24-Feb-85 6'1 190 G L --------------------------- The late 85s and 86s (including Stafford and five of the top six) would lose their NCAA eligibility if they were to opt in to the 2004 draft. The career path for these elite players if they opt in would probably be: Opt in to the draft, losing NCAA eligibility, and be drafted. Play the next one or two years in Canadian major juniors. On to the NHL. Alternatively, they could wait until the 2005 draft and retain their full college eligibility. Montoya was in the same boat last year and chose to not enter the draft.

Hrkac was 7 in his frosh year. When he left after that year, Johnson took 7. Hrkac then took 21 when he returned the next year. So 7 has Hrkac's frosh year (54 pts) and the bulk of Johnson's career (including a national scoring title as a senior) plus Bucks now. Not bad.

I know it's hard for everyone to resist, but I do love that this Board is mostly politics-free. We are united (not you, you WPOS) in our following of Sioux hockey; let's leave it at that.

This is now updated through 11 games. This is how UND's and its opponents' scoring breaks down this year (UND's scoring listed first): 5x3 2-0 (When UND has the 5x3 advantage, it has outscored its opponent 1-0.) 5x4 3-2 5x5 44-13 4x4 6-0 4x5 1-9 3x5 0-1 6x5 1-0 (extra attacker goal) Total 57-25 Still rolling at even-strength. Special teams comparison is coming along, with the first shortie on the board. BONUS number fun: Of Brady Murray's five goals to date, three have been scored very early in a period. It appears that Brady is a little more ready to go than his opponents: 0:13 of the first, Yale 1:07 of the third, MN 0:25 of the third, Denver

Unbelievably dominant weekend sweep for the Sioux. 8-2, 6-2. On the road. Against a team that is at least good. Good goaltending. Scoring spread throughout the lines. SHG, PPG. Tons of third period goals. Really fantastic. Congrats Sioux.

Bina's goal is on the front page of USCHO in a great picture. Must have been a heck of a pass for him to have that much net to shoot at.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/miracle/index.html Stole this from POI. Thanks to them for the heads-up. A movie I really want to see, based on this trailer.

1. The Sioux have drawn some teams while they were down. 2. They took advantage of the opportunity and smoked them. I fail to see how recognizing reality (1 above) and praising the team (2) is somehow bashing the team.

The Sioux have been fortunate to catch some opponents when they were missing key ingredients, especially on defense. Getting MN without Ballard and Harrington was a real treat, and now Denver without Carle (who is supposed to be a real nice player already) and perhaps someone else on defense (I'm not sure) was also fortunate. On the one hand, I'm concerned that we'll think a little too highly of UND's offensive capabilities based on their taking advantage of young defenses. I guess the bigger concern would be not what we think of it, but that the team might begin to think it's pretty easy, then find it tougher against a better defense. On the other hand, it is extremely positive that UND has taken advantage of the weakened opposition and lit up the scoreboard. If you're going to have to play them when they're down, you may as well kick them. I should note that the Sioux were also short a key player for the MN series (Schneider for Friday, then a less-effective Schneider played Saturday), and Fylling missed the Denver game. MN beat Denver 6-2, and lost the next night. The Sioux have been famous recently for Friday blowouts followed by struggles the next night. This will be a big test, as Denver will come out and play much better defensively, plus the Sioux will be without Smaby.

freudian slip there forecheck. Wookie on the mind.

I don't do posts like this, but: WOO-HOO! Way to go Bina. I've been pulling for the guy since he committed. I noticed last year that, when he got healthy and into Lincoln's lineup, he was chosen to be one of Lincoln's five shooters in all their shootouts. That was along with names like Potulny, Backes and Irmen... big names. It told me that he must have some nice puck skills. Ayway, the Bina goal was minutes and many chances ago.

Sure, I step away at 1-0 to put kids to bed, and a 1980s Edmonton Oilers game breaks out. The Sioux need to play better defense now, as Brandt is making a bunch of huge saves.

That's Adrian Viedeman, Brady Murray's linemate for much of last year at Salmon Arm. He was the captain there, and is a foward moved to D to early this year to compensate for Denver's injuries.