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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.

Thank you, thank you, thank you ... for posting that link. It's still the most special of them all to me, probably because I attended all the home games (save the loss to USIU) and the Final Four in Detroit. As for the quiet crowd at the Joe, one of my enduring memories of that trip is waiting in the concession line during the first intermission, surrounded by thousands of fans whispering in hushed tones about what they had just seen. As for MSU being in the game, my recollection is that they still had not had a shot on goal when the score reached 3-0 Sioux in the first. Good memories.

Here are message board excerpts from letsgokings.com regarding LA's summer camp. Again, it's not me, and I can't vouch for any of the comments. I just enjoy reading them. --------------------------------------------- There were some notable bright spots today at day 1 of prospect camp. In the 1st group, Jeff Tambellini show the scorers touch with quick feet and good puck movement. He had the snipers move of opening up his stance for the shot, then quickly moving in for the deeke. He was a very good skater who, picked five hole a couple of times and showed flashes of brilliance. The other bright spot was of course Brady Murry, who has seemed to fill out a little and has grown a little too. (He seemed bigger than Cammilleri) He was picking his shots and used his speed to carry the puck. Murry showed that he may be small but still possesses that sniper like shot. Murry and Tambellini stood out as the better players in the first group. Kanko and Tim Gleason looked OK but nothing to exciting. Frolov on the other hand looked bad, dropping pucks and skating like a wounded duck, he didn't look good nor did he do anything impressive. Aullin and Noah Clark didn't show anything impressive either, but of course it was the first day. --------------------------------------------------- I attended the first day and for the most part I agree with KB. I at first had a hard time recognizing players till I was given a roster with #'s. I will comment on some players that stood out in my mind. Tambellini- Fast skater with good puck handling skills, a solid prospect. Brown- Good skater, drives hard to the net and has a nice finishing touch. He's similiar in stature to Aulin. Kanko- He's a spark plug, shows lots of promise played like he want the job bad. Murray- He does seem bigger than last year, hasn't lost a step. Cammalleri- Took the goalies to school a couple of times. Boyle- A big guy who has room to grow, wasn't the swiftest skater but was able to keep up with the pace, lots of upside. ------------------------------------------------------ TAMBELLINI: Very impressive in workouts. Wonderful skater! Deceptive and quick... Great touch around the net and goes hard at it as well. Very polished for a college player. He led the Wolverines in scoring his freshman year last season and I see A LOT of things I like. To me, the most impressive of the current Draft Picks... MURRAY: He has gotten bigger than last year and he is nearly the same size as Tambellini (Murray Looks taller than 5'9''/Tambellini looks shorter than 5'11''. I think they're both 5'10''). Still, Murray is perennially one of the standouts at these rookie camps. He is well versed in the fundamentals and has extremely good offensive skills. He's quick and remindes me (dare I say it) of Pavel Bure the way he moves. If he can grow just a little more and fill out, he has a definite shot at becoming a top prospect. He'll also be playing with Zach Parise (whom I wished the Kings would have drafted) at UND. CAMMALLERI: He looks like he actually got smaller if such a thing is possible. Skillwise he's is still slick. But he hasn't been able to bring it to the ice on the pro level. I don't know if he can after having seen him in limited ice last season... ------------------------------------------------------------- The Kings are loaded with undersized snipers. Conner James, Brady Murray (BCJHL), Dan Welch, Ryan Murphy and Noah Clarke are all NCAA scorers who really don't have much of a future in the NHL. They are all fairly speedy and more than willing to put forth NHL calibre effort but don't have the size and overwhelming puck skills needed to be everyday players. This of course is not to say that over the tenure of their careers they may not develop more but as of now they look to be career minor leaguers. -------------------------------------------------------------- i agree that Brady Murray does look bigger/ w/o a loss of speed - He looked good out there today. Gleason looked good, Frolov seemed more inspired than what I read on here from yesterday. ------------------------------------------------------------ In talking to Andy Murray, he said that Brady had put on some size since last year. ------------------------------------------------------------- TAMBELLINI/MURRAY: Tambellini was more of the same--solid. But today he showed how deadly he is one-on-one. He's smart and he knows how to 'play' goalies on the breakaway. Murray was good again, but was a little off with his stickhandling/passing today. Nothing to change my opinion of him, of course.

The thoughts of a message board participant at Hockey's Future (It's not me, and I can't vouch for its authenticity or accuracy): -------------------------------------------------------- Just got back from the the KRC (found it just fine). Here are a few observations. first off these were the teams. White: Platil, Dobben, Giroux, McGrattan. Black: Colbert, Bochenski, Laich, Watson, Red: Schauer, Hooton, Potulny, Vermette. Yellow: Petruic, Johnson, Kelly, Luttinen. For some reason Bjork, Brookbank, and Komadoski didn't play. First off the players that impressed me. Giroux: Good speed, good hands, very agile on his skates. Every time I saw the white team score a goal it seemed to be him. Bochenski: Great puck skills, liked to try and stickhandle through traffic, and very well at it. Found his way to the front of the net many times and picked up quite a few goals. Tie btwn him and Vermette for the best player on the ice. Him and Laich looked very comfortable together.

sfip, I have to disagree with you. The difference between MN and UND is that UND is chasing MN's big class. The upcoming senior class for MN has exceeded expectations all along the way, and each year they've been a year older and better than UND's big class, the current juniors. Not just older, but just plain better. The classes since then have been, IMO, of pretty similar caliber. I know Vanek was nothing less than a clutch superstar last year, but people who fail to consider Parise a nearly equally amazing phenom are getting lost in the respective teams' accomplishments. As nice as their other forwards and Harrington are as players, and I respect them all, I really like Prpich and Greene as well. As for the upcoming freshman classes, while it remains to be seen what everyone will do at this level, I think that UND's duo of Murray and Stafford are as good as any pair of incoming forwards this year, including Potulny and Irmen. I really wish they were going to play for UND, but it's not like Blais and Co. settled for leftovers because they missed them. UND apparently didn't recruit Irmen, and I don't know why. Perhaps their funds were mostly committed by that point. I understand that MN wasn't after Stafford much either, for whatever reason. I expect that they will both be very good. As for Potulny, that battle was lost three years earlier, when UND chose not to recruit Grant. It looks like a bad decision now (understatement of the year), but that judgement comes with hindsight, and it was not nearly so clear back then. When your team just won, a fan has a tendency to overrate the individuals involved. I know many Gopher fans think each of their players are a lot better than every other team's players. Heck, I look down their lineup and am equally impressed. They are loaded. However, the significant events that happened later have clouded memories of the only meeting between the two teams last year, when UND was equal or better than MN for five periods in Mariucci. Letting MN back in in the third period Saturday was unfortunate, but had less to do with UND than with the amazing clutch quality of that MN team. MN was not yet at full strength, and was struggling with aspects of their game, but the fact remains that there didn't seem to exist the vast "gulf" in talent between the teams that is conventional wisdom right now. UND's defense, you know, the guys known for not handling the puck like the M wizards, contained MN's offense as well as anyone did all year. MN has earned the right to be called favorites, but I like UND's chances if they get consistent goaltending.

Since no one seems to have anything to talk about, how about the power play? While I don't mean to offend, I am of the opinion that the power play has been the weakest aspect of the Sioux under Coach Blais. When the opponent would be penalized from 1997-2000, I would wish the Sioux could just decline the penalty, as it usually came when the team was pouring on the pressure anyway, rolling line after line of pressure. So many times, the failed PP seemed to take the momentum away from the team. Even with top-tier players like Roche and the Line of Fire, it didn't seem like the PP conversion rate was otherworldly like I would have expected. Which brings me to this year. Forwards who qualify for a look on the PP include: Parise* Bochenski* Murray Massen* Prpich* McMahon* Stafford * Saw PP time last year. Potential PP point men include: Lundbohm* Schneider* Fuher* Fylling* Dahlen Bina Without seeing the newcomers, it is hard to know how they will fit in. I'll suggest these PP units: Parise, Bochenski, Murray, Schneider, Lundbohm McMahon, Prpich, Massen, Fuher, Bina

Goon, Here's another view on the Bryan Lundbohm decision. Let's say that Nashville is right this time and he's not pro material. Because he was a junior, and was coming off a season with Panzer as his center, and was an undrafted free agent, his stock was as high as it was going to be. He was able to leverage all those factors into a nice signing bonus (I think) that might not have been there at any other time. So, actually, it seems that Bryan might have made the right choice. He can go finish his degree and use a relatively small portion of his signing bonus to pay for it. Plus, from a Sioux fan's perspective, he wasn't going to make much of a difference that year anyway, as it was pretty much a lost cause. Now Bayda's absence last year is another matter altogether, as the presence of a senior star (and possible Hobey Baker winner) might have turned some of those close games in the second half the right direction. But Ryan probably made the right decision also, fulfilling his dream and sticking in the NHL when he was called up.

Since Matt Greene has been discussed, I thought I would post this from an amateur write-up of the Edmonton prospects camp, from the Hockey's Future site. I only included names I recognize. ------------------------------------------------------------------- #42 Jake Brenk: The junior from Minnesota State impressed, not only with his speed but also with his shot. Brenk has a quick release and showed his tendency to aim for an inch below the crossbar. With stats that do not reflect an offensive upside, you have to wonder if he has been playing as a defensive specialist in college. Brenk had a noteworthy camp. #43 Ed Caron: Caron did not play last year because he transferred to Yale and had to ist out. The year off obviously did not help his development. Caron is a solid player. At 6-2 and 214 lbs, he can throw his weight around with the best of them but, unfortunately, those were skills not shown at this type of camp. More will be expected at the main camp in September. #44 Joe Cullen: Cullen is a good shooter. He scored in one of the scrimmages and was one of the top three in the shootout competition of Day 4. Cullen was good but not stellar, perhaps one to watch in September though. #46 Kevin Doell: Doell went largely unnoticed until later in the week when he played well in the final scrimmage. Kevin had 51 points in 41 games with the University of Denver last year so there is ability there, it just didn