jk

Sorry to spoil the party, but this thread sounds like a bunch of regional homers. It is possible that the Eastern guys can play. Imagine how we would have shrieked had Hrkac lost to an unknown Eastern boy who was a finalist that year. I can't spell his name, but I've heard of it since: Joe Neuwendyk. I'm not saying he had a better year than Hrkac in college that year, but he must have been pretty good, even though we wouldn't have known it. The guys who earn their place on the finalist list will be there.

I can't imagine that sitting out this year would count against his eligiblity. The only impact I can see would be that his five-year clock is ticking; you have five years to complete your four years of competition, and the clock starts when you enter school. That's the rule that nailed Tim Skarperud. So if he missed this year, he could come back and still have three years left. If he skipped two years, he would return with just two years left.

There are only six defensemen listed, not including Marvin, who is listed as F/D. For that reason, I hope it's not complete, and that Foyt is still in the running for a walk-on D spot. I understood that they were not having open tryouts, but that there were a few invited walk-ons (including Foyt) attempting to make the team. Fabian is supposed to be a character guy, and he's big. I remember his coach last year telling the Topeka paper that he had a professional future in the game. His junior numbers certainly aren't overwhelming, so we'll hope for the best. I'm surprised to see Porter's hometown listed as Thunder Bay, because I recall that he played on a US national team at some point in the past. It's a big team that won't get pushed around. Let's hope they can hit like big guys and skate like little guys.

From a New Jersey paper. Good stuff.: "Hale stands up Rookie defenseman David Hale didn't have a chance to hone his fighting skills at the University of North Dakota because the NCAA prohibits fighting, but he showed he can handle himself during a scrap with agitator Cam Janssen in Tuesday's scrimmage. Although Janssen compiled nearly 500 penalty minutes in his last two seasons in junior, Hale got the better of him, dropping him with a left hand to the head. "He's a high-skilled guy, and fighting a guy that does it for a living - and Janssen, that's what he does for a living in junior hockey - he's a tough guy," Burns said. "For a guy like Hale, that doesn't happen in college |hockey.""

The Red Wings released Kevin yesterday as they cut their roster down, but I'm guessing he wasn't planning on making the team right off the bat anyway. I think it's a process, and step one is getting a chance and making an impression, which it sounds like he did. Hopefully, he can have a good year below the NHL and continue to progress professionally. Also, in the same camp, this apparently happened: "Tim Skarperud gave the lead to Team D once again at 23:05. Mark Mowers passed the puck across the front of the net to Nathan Robinson who took a shot but was stopped by Hasek. Skarperud jammed the rebound in past Hasek's pads." That last sentence is something else.

I ran into this on the Detroit News. It just provides a little basic information about the lockout. Not knowing these details myself, I thought others might find it interesting. I consider this to be a very relevant Sioux hockey topic, since it could have a big say in the makeup of next year's team. ------------------------------------------------------ Revenue sharing is dividing issue between players, owners By John Niyo / The Detroit News Burning questions about the NHL with training camps underway around the league: Question: A new season is about to begin, but all the talk seems to be about next year. What gives? Answer: The official countdown to Armageddon officially began Monday, that's what. The league's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Sept. 15, 2004. And, as all of us doomsday types have been saying for some time now, it appears as if there might not be a next season. Q: And why not? A: Because neither side -- the players' union nor the league and its owners -- are ready to budge on the central issue. Q: Which is what? A: Revenue sharing. Or, more specifically, the allocation of revenues between management and the NHL workforce. According to the league's numbers, more than three-fourths of NHL revenues -- 76 percent, to be exact -- went to players last season. In the NFL, that share is 64 percent; it's 63 percent in Major League Baseball and 58 percent in the NBA. As a result, the league's owners, with Commissioner Gary Bettman doing most of the talking, are demanding some sort of "cost certainty" in any new deal to reign in player salaries. The players, not surprisingly, are against a salary cap, and their argument is that it's the owners themselves -- not the current CBA -- that's to blame. Who is right and who is wrong? Doesn't matter. This is where the battle line is drawn, with nary a white flag to be found. Union leaders have warned the players to prepare for a lockout that could last an entire season, or even longer. Q: When will the two sides sit down at the negotiating table? A: Perhaps sooner rather than later, though technically the NHL needs only to give 120 days notice -- that's May 15, 2004 -- of plans to terminate the current labor agreement. The NHL Players' Association certainly won't make the first move -- the players are happy with the status quo. It's the owners who are demanding a new CBA, after all. But both Bettman and union boss Bob Goodenow have met informally to talk about the issues. And Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal counsel, said recently the league might be ready to submit a formal proposal to the union later this fall. Expect something along those lines in late November or early December. Just don't expect any quick resolution on the issues, not while the players are still getting paid and the grumbling owners are still signing the paychecks.

Pasted from a Hockey's Future write-up: ---------------------------------------------- Today was the fourth day of Detroit Red Wings training camp and the last day of scrimmages before the teams face off for the championship games Tuesday night. The eleven tryout players continue to try to impress the Red Wings management for a contract before the regular season starts. Four have caught Ken Holland's eye this week: Carson Germyn, John Shouneyia, David Brisson, and Kevin Spiewak. "Spiewak has speed and is very competitive" said Holland, "but Brisson has scored four goals this week which has put him a little ahead of the rest." Brisson is tied for second place in scoring with Tomas Holmstrom with six points. Brendan Shanahan is in first place with seven points. The team standings after today's games are as follows: Team W L T Team A 3 - 0 - 1 Team B 3 - 1 - 0 Team C 0 - 2 - 2 Team D 0 - 3 - 1 Teams A and B will play for the gold with teams C and D playing for the bronze. The same pairing of teams faced off on Monday morning with Team A winning 3-1 over Team B and Team D winning 4-2 over Team C. Jason Williams scored the first goal for Team A at 11:35 of the first period against tryout Jeff MacDougald. Danny Groulx and Hugo Boisvert had the assists. Spiewak put Team A by two at 20:54 of the first with Brisson and Jimmy Cuddihy picking up the assists. Groulx scored the final goal for Team A at 23:02 with Grand Rapids Griffin's player Aaron Schneekloth getting the assist. Travis Richards scored the only goal for Team B against Dominik Hasek with a slapshot from the blueline. Pavel Datsyuk had the assist. Team D then took on Team C, beating them by a score of 4-2. Matt Ellis gave Team D the lead scoring the first goal at 6:14 of the first period with a slapshot from along the boards beating Marc Lamothe over the glove shoulder. Scott Horvath and Chris Chelios had the assists. Michel Picard tied the game up three minutes later scoring on Drew MacIntyre with a cross ice pass from Jason Wooley at 9:26 of the first. Shanahan took the lead back at 13:07 poking Jiri Hudler's rebound past Lamothe. Horvath scored at 16:46 to finish the first period scoring. Tomas Fleischmann and Ellis assisted on the goal. Kevin Miller scored Team C's second and final goal against Joey MacDonald on Anders Myrvold's rebound at 14:04 of the second period. With 49 seconds left in the game, Shanahan scored in the empty net with an assist from Tomas Holmstrom making the final score 4-2.

I put the following post on POI to explain why UND might be good this year, and I wanted to put it here also since the audience might be more receptive. ----------------------------------------------- ...there are a few points of view that suggest UND might be a top tier team this year. Here are a few: They finished tenth in the PWR last year, which factors in the swoon and the cupcake schedule. Of the teams that finished above them, the following lost a ton from their teams: Cornell, CC, UNH, Maine and Ferris. That leaves MN (3), BU (5), BC (8) and Michigan (9) as teams that bring back a lot. As UND brings back most of their team, they should have a good chance of moving from the middle pack to the upper tier. UND's top 11 scorers went, in order: So, F, J, So, Sr, So, So, Sr, So, So, Fr. Some people think players do get better with another year, especially from years 1 and 2 to 2 and 3. 11 of the nation's top 20 scorers return this year. UND returns 6, 8 and 14. MN returns 6 and 16. Ferris returns 9 and 12. No one else brings back more than 1. 11 of the WCHA's top 20 scorers return. Of the 11, UND returns 4 of the top 8. MN returns 2, and no one else returns more than 1. The team still swooned last year despite those numbers, so your point is well taken. The numbers do provide some basis for optimism, though. As for the swoon, some mitigating factors are that it occurred mostly on the road and with injuries (OK, just one main one, but it was a doosy). Some other teams last year did not reach top form until they got past their injury problems. The other thing about the swwon is that they were just cursed. They failed to win games where they outshot the opponent 52-21 (MSUM), 38-20 (UMD), 37-24 (UMD), and 46-27 (FSU). Will the extra year of maturity help to overcome the intangible problem that led to the swoon? Who knows. But they should have top-end players that are matched by only a few teams in the country, which gives them a chance to be among the elite. I won't suggest they be considered in the MN, BC, Michigan group until they perform in the Spring.

Of course you'll now be the object of ridicule for your obscene projection.

A few things about Ryan Hale: sagard, Hale often looked good, as his line with McMahon and Prpich forechecked well, keeping the opponent bottled up in their own end. If Hale had been even a decent finisher last year, he would have had about ten more goals. The regularly fine play of that line, with all of them back and a year older, is one reason I am more optimistic than most about UND being three lines deep. The finish last year left me, and other Sioux fans, discouraged, so I understand people questioning Hale's captaincy. However, I think people forget the strides a still-young team made last year. Coming off a very disappointing season, they put together a solid record and finished tenth in the nation in the PWR (which discounts the poor quality of the non-conference opponents). Even though they just couldn't seem to get things right down the stretch, I can say in their defense that I thought they played hard all the way through it. I feel that last year put the program back on track, and a lot of the credit for that should go to the Hales and Spiewak and Notermann for setting the right tone from Day 1. I'm not an insider so I don't know how it really went down, but that's my view from afar.

MN has a fan who goes by the name "Jupiter" who digitally records games and other Gopher media events, and puts together highlight packages. I haven't personally watched any of them (not wanting to get ill and all), but I love the idea. I don't have the resources, time or ability to do such a thing for Sioux hockey, but I sure wish someone would. An individual could do it, or REA could do it, or the Athletic Depatment could do it. Even the Salmon Arm Silverbacks have video highlights of games on their website. It would be nice if fans, and prospective recruits, could log onto the REA site and watch the boys fill the net.

I like INCH; they spare no one when taking shots. I appreciate another college hockey site that is more than just rival fans spitting at each other. Check out their "cocktail napkin" list throughout the year, as it's often very funny.

I am terrifically optimistic about UND this season. I think this team will put on the type of show that we haven't seen in years. I expect the top line to be as good as it has been under Blais (Line of Fire quality), the top two lines to rival the 99-00 team's one-two punch (Goren/Ulmer/Bayda followed by Panzer/Lundbohm) and the third and fourth lines to be better than we've seen since the Blake/Hoogsteen class graduated. The defense should be rock solid. Questionable goaltending may derail the team short of a title, but it won't make the show any less entertaining along the way. I'm always too optimistic at this time of year (in the offseason everyone's a potential all-American), but that's what I think. I also think Minnesota, BC and Michigan will put fantastic teams on the ice this year. ---------------------------------------- As for Weber and MN, I wish Weber the best personally and I hope he continues his education. MN now loses 1 goalie, 2 defensemen and no forwards from a national championhip team. That's probably the lowest level of losses a champion has suffered in recent memory. If I were a Gopher fan, I would still be pretty confident.

My take on the D, having seen none of the new guys play, is this: UND will have a rock-solid Top 5, with Schneider/Smaby, Greene/Jones and Fuher. That leaves three players competing for one spot: Marvin, Bina and Foyt (assuming Dahlen is not in the mix). Considering the impact on the Top 5 of a variety of game-missing events, including injury, illness, national team obligations and fighting suspensions (a few would be OK), having a few extra defensemen to work in sounds fine. I think low expectations for Foyt and Bina are reasonable, leaving open the chance for an upside surprise. Welcome aboard, Mr. Foyt; go to work and earn some playing time. Good luck.

http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySports/cs.cs-08...08-19-0096.html Nice article from Calgary.

I think this is the deal. At the time we in the arena thought the WCHA record for goals in a game was five. Joyce's sixth would have set a new record. I think we later found out that Joyce's sixth just tied the record, but it was pretty electric anyway. I remember the sequence near you described near the end of the game. I think they spent the better part of a shift trying to get Joyce the goal. You can imagine Hrkac toying with the opposition, controlling the puck until Joyce found an open spot. The series was won by the Sioux 11-2, 11-2, and Hrkac went 2-5-7 and 3-5-8 in the two games, for a 15 point weekend. Gino said something about that being a career for some players, not a weekend. And the 15 points didn't get him WCHA Player of the Week, which went to Joyce. Hrkac was a man among boys most of the time. What a player.

NewGuy, whatever gets you going is fine, but how are the following happy thoughts? "Siembida literally standing up and facing backwards when a goal was scored on him last year, team not recalled." "Kollar setting the tone for the year in the first game of the first season at the new Ralph." For me, listening to Hennessy call the big comeback in Duluth in 1986 - from down 7-3 with three minutes left in the third to winning 8-7 one minute into OT - is a great memory.

Two shootout losses for the US yesterday. Zach gets on the board. --------------------------------------------------- Team Blue 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 4 Finland 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 -- 5 First Period - Scoring: 1, FIN, Jalasvaara (Lappalainen), 9:08 (pp). 2, USA, Richmond (Schremp, Backes), 16:11. 3, USA, Schremp (Backes), 16:35. Second Period - Scoring: 4, FIN, Salonen (Kontiola), 9:16 (pp). 5, USA, Shaw (unassisted), 11:03. Third Period - Scoring: 6, FIN, Lappalainen (Jalasvaara), 2:44. 7, USA, Backes (O

Great. There goes my reputation. Thanks for the note, WPOS. I'm not surprised to hear someone was glad to have me there, but I am surprised it came from someone on my team, considering I was about -12 for the session. Anyway, I'll try again next weekend. Looking forward to meeting a few other (in)famous names then. For Sioux fans: they play "maroon" and "gold" teams. I don't own any maroon, so I wore black.

The US camp has begun its exhibition contests against Finland and Sweden. Smaby, Stafford and Parise are all on Team White. Zach with no points, but Stafford got on the scoresheet. ------------------------------------------------- Sweden 2 - 0 - 1 -- 3 Team Blue 2 - 3 - 2 -- 7 First Period -- Scoring: 1, SWE, Enstrom (Blomdahl), 2:56. 2, SWE, Enstrom (Nilsson, Steen), 14:45 (pp). 3, USA, Callahan (Potulny, Irmen), 17:13. 4, USA, Eaves (O

Taking this back to Vanek, my opinion at the end of the year was that he had outgrown his current league. He really was a man among boys by the end of the year, and he will dominate at times next year when he asserts himself. Parise was great last year and will be better this year, but he had not outgrown college hockey like Vanek had, IMO. It's too bad for the rest of us that Buffalo didn't snatch him up, because usually somone that good is gone when they get to be that good, especially if they win a title. It's a gift to Gopher fans, to be sure. Since he's bigger than the college game, the only chance a team has against Vanek is to have defensemen who are bigger than the college game. Does anyone know a team with a group of Top 4 defensemen that are all big, tough, NHL-style guys? All of whom could eventually play at the NHL/AHL level? The thought that maybe that particular team will have a chance to compete makes me smile.

All these reports of Blais being a good guy seem out of sync with some of the things I've read on the internet. It seems that, according to experts in Anchorage, AK and Waseca, MN (who have probably never met him), Blais doesn't care about his players. Funny to hear first-hand accounts to the contrary.

Late in the third in the 8-0 game, Massen had the puck on the left wing in the offensive zone with Connelly heading up the slot. Even though no one was pressuring him and he had the shot, he waited and waited ... and waited... for an opening to get the puck to Connelly for his first goal of the year. When he couldn't get the pass in, he finally just shot, and scored. As we listened to the post-game show on the radio in the parking lot, Massen, in a loud, happy lockerroom, talked about the play. They noted that Leinweber had his first goal of the year in the game, and he said he was trying to get Connelly his. Then he said, "we'll just have to get the rest of the [goal-less] guys there's tomorrow" (paraphrased). I thought right then that I wished he hadn't said that. Sure enough, their heads were not in the game the next night, ane the rest is sad history. To me, the slide started February 7th at about 10 pm, when I heard that overconfident quote on the radio. (This is not to suggest that I blame Massen for the slide. His comment was just an indication.)

Facts are facts, and it's hard to argue with a recitation of games played and records, etc. It's also no secret that goaltending was a problem between Belfour and Goehring. My only real issue is with the suggestion that Goehring was anything less than a brilliant clutch goaltender. If anyone can appreciate how great he was, it is Sioux fans after the last few years. As for the year when Denver beat the Sioux in the Final Five, that Sioux team had just plain lost its edge. The whole team faded that year, not just Goehring. Also, Wally Pipp didn't fall out of favor with the coaches. My recollection is that he got hurt, and a newcomer named Gehrig (amazing really how close the names are) stepped in and refused to give up the spot.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforkshe...rts/6305082.htm "Kyle Radke, a highly recruited defenseman from Bashaw, Alta., has given a verbal commitment to play hockey at UND, beginning with the 2003-04 season. Bashaw is the hometown of UND assistant hockey coach Brad Berry." This makes it appear that we will see Radke this year. If so, that's good for this year, and even better for the future, as the Sioux will have some experienced defensemen returning if they suffer some of the early departures we fear. I might have to go back to the Power Play thread and revise my guess on the power play units for this year.