jk

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.

In Arch's senior year (37 goals?), he was converting Hrkac's passes into goals. That was a real nice team, sort of in transition with players from the early 80's (Arch) and the 87 team (Hrkac, Joyce, Johnson).

I think you maybe drink already today.

This game got me thinking (a dangerous thing, to be sure). It seems to me that we see more games where the team that dominates possession, shots and play either loses or barely survives than we used to. I don't know whether this is true or not, but it seems that way to me. It may just be the result of being a Sioux fan the last few years, where we saw it a lot. Still, though, I have noticed it a lot this year. I recall that SCSU badly outshot Princeton and barely won. Michigan did the same with a MAAC squad. If I assume that this phenomenon is true, then what is the cause? Is it because college goaltending is better than ever, partly due to goaltending equipement? Is it a lack of finishing talent on offense? I considered the trapping, defensive systems as a cause, but I'm not sure that's it, since that should prevent the dominance in shots as well as keeping the score down. Any ideas?

This is now updated through 9 games. This is how UND's and its opponents' scoring breaks down this year (UND's scoring listed first): 5x3 1-0 (When UND has the 5x3 advantage, it has outscored its opponent 1-0.) 5x4 2-2 5x5 34-10 4x4 5-0 4x5 0-8 3x5 0-1 6x5 1-0 * * Not sure where to include this so I'll put it in its own category for now. This is an extra-attacker goal, where UND pulled their goalie due to a delayed penalty call on the opponent. Denver has apparently scored fewer than half its goals at even strength. They have six(!) shorties this year.

With the winning goal by John Grubb. Is he the former Minot player, who came up with Fylling?

"I know they are ranked higher, but rankings at this point don't mean much," said DU's Lukas Dora, who recorded two goals and an assist in the playoff series against North Dakota. "I know they have been playing well, but I still think we are the better team." From (I think) the Rocky Mountain News

I had the same very optimistic outlook until last weekend against SCSU. That series brought back memories from last year, and brought me back to Earth. Outshooting opponents and winning the puck possession battle counts for nothing; only the scoreboard matters. In the four games preceding last weekend, the Sioux scored 30 goals. I loved it, as it brought back memories of the old days. Then 3 goals total last weekend. Ugh. I'm hopeful this weekend, but my enthusiasm has been tempered.

http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/7Archiv...wizard_0212.htm The comparison of Maine and ND is a riot. A real treat. I love having access to another college hockey website.

Fedorov, I know what you're saying. I guess the deal is with the Sioux: if you earn your ice time in practice, then you get to play. Maybe Blais felt like he practiced better than some other guys and earned the trip. Maybe he's not happy with some guys' play last weekend and wants to sit them. Skate or sit at UND.

Dang it, dagies, I already forwarded the thread to the hockey office so the coaches could use it to fix the PP, then you go and put another idea on here. Is everyone done now so I can send it to Blais again?

The Sioux have gotten bigger each year for the last several years. This must be the biggest team of the Blais era.

My apologies for starting this thread then. Usually when it's on that website, it's good.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?s...hreaded&order=0 Interview with Kevin. Keep up the good work and good luck.

Toews is considered by many to be the top player his age in all of Canada. He was the top pick in the WHL bantam draft. A Crosby kind of player comes along once a decade or so, so Toews isn't Crosby, but he's just a step down. I would consider it to be pretty unlikely that he would go the college route. Another big name is Okposo (I think), who is supposed to be in the top handful of US kids his age. I believe this Eaves is not a brother of Ben and Pat. I think he may be the son of Murray Eaves, not Mike. Murray coaches at SSM, or at least I think he did recently if he's not there now.

I'm a little disappointed that the depth that I believe exists in the lineup hasn't translated onto the scoreboard recently. A look at last night's boxscore reminded me that little of the game was played 5x5, which helps to explain why the lower lines didn't contribute much. Still, they need to get on the board. Hopefully Massen will be in tonight, and maybe he can put one in. He's been a Husky killer of sorts in his career. These were the stretches of time in the second period that were played 5x5: 3:28 0:56 0:50 0:50 0:04 (the time it took Porter to step out of the box and can Ianazzo) 0:05 for a grand total of 6:13 played 5x5 in the second period. If it seemed like there wasn't any flow, that might be why. I enjoy Porter's aggressive play, but I wonder if he might sit in favor of Massen to think about not taking quite so many penalties.

Just going off memory here, but Heisenberg has him listed at 5-6 155, and the SSM site has him at 5-8 160. Either way a pretty small guy for Division I. I like having some small skill guys in the mix, so I have no problem with it. However, I could see that being the kind of issue that sends Duncan to juniors for a year before coming to UND. Another small skill guy did that, and it worked out OK (Jeff Panzer). Maybe it will ultimately depend on whether one or more forwards sign pro contracts after this year, which will depend on whether there is an NHL season next year.

A little good news after the disappointing game tonight. Heisenberg put Ryan Duncan's commitment to UND up on his site tonight. Welcome aboard, Ryan. Edit for you physics fans: the Heisenberg who runs the college hockey recruiting website is the grandson of Werner Heisenberg, of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.