jk

I think I can remember back to Friday now and post a few other observations from a non-expert fan: On Friday, Parise had the best game I've seen him have (I haven't seen as many games as most of you have), and not because he scored twice. In the third period, he made three really beautiful passes to the "extra" guy for scoring chances. None of them went in, but they were Roche, Panzer, Hrkac vision passes, that really catch the defense and goaltenders off-guard. One of them was to Schneider cruising down from the blueline, and it got me thinking about the freshman adjustment factor and one distortion of it this year. In addition to Zach having to adjust to the NCAA, his teammates are still learning how to play with him. Now, when Schneider sees Zach head to the corner in pursuit of a loose puck, he sees an opening down the middle and heads for it, guessing that Zach will not only win the puck in the corner but get it to him. Earlier this year, I don't think he would have done it. I also noticed this weekend that Zach, while quicker than heck in short races to the puck, does not yet have the breakaway speed up and down the rink. Knowing his reputation for hard work, I'm guessing he'll get faster as his career progresses. Although he had a few gaffes on Saturday, Schneider really is turning into a fine, fine player. He seems more aggressive offensively all the time, is tough to beat defensively, and still lays the smack down all the time. I love it when an opponent's offensive rush ends with the puck carrier getting intimate with the glass on the side boards. Speaking of which, Matt Jones absolutely demolished two Huskies right in front of me, about ten seconds apart, in the second period Saturday. They were clean bodychecks that should be in the video dictionary next to the term. Spee had more blinding speed rushes this weekend, and Notes pulled another spin-o-rama in the offensive zone. People love to look ahead to national contending teams for the next few years, but this team is going to miss those guys next year. If Ryan Hale could only finish... He didn't do much Saturday, but Prpich showed again on Friday that he has a real presence on the ice and could be a special player. While his line was cycling relentlessly on Friday, Prpich seemed to take it upon himself to GO TO THE NET with the puck, several times. He got several good shots off, but didn't score. It reminded me of, of all things, Tyler Hirsch last year in a SSM game. The Parise line was dominating possession in the zone with precision passing, and a few times Hirsch just seemed to say, "screw this pretty stuff, I'm goin' to the net." Not that Prpich needs to aspire to be Tyler Hirsch, it was just deja vu for me. How about Connelly's move from the blue line to the net in Saturday's first period? It was like he was doing a skating drill around cones. If only he could have finished! Does Fylling idolize Bochenski? I feel like he sometimes shoots when he should pass. He's a good passer, but at least once a game I think, "shoulda passed." I don't want to take anyone out of the lineup to get him back in there, but I think the team needs Canady back to shake things up a bit. Who knows what a big hit could have done to the momentum of Saturday's game?

sagard, Thanks for posting. You are welcome here. Of course, you may not want to any longer, now that you have been revealed to be not a real Sioux fan. I think I would think the same thing about CC and UND if I were in your shoes. As a Sioux fan, I think UND's chances are best at any of the small ice sites, as I like their game better there. Of course, I'd get to watch them if they were at Mariucci, but that's just selfish on my part. Hopper, Thanks for posting also. Please lighten up just a touch. A Gopher fan should be able to come here and call his team the Gophs.

I'll try updating this.

Just back from GF. Highlight Friday was the game, with Lola's a close second. Highlight Saturday was Sanders; there was no second. Although there's a lot of hockey to be played, I think MN took second place Saturday night. That four-point swing will be tough to make up with the remaining schedule. I just hope UND can hang on to third, because fourth is a place you don't want to be. Third will probably be determined by the series at MSUM; I think two points gets UND third place. Getting swept there probably drops the Sioux another slot. The Sioux D has been good this year, but all five goals were the direct result of defensive miscues. Not one resulted from MTU possession in the zone. #1 Schneider fans on a puck in the offensive zone, MTU goes the other way with an odd-man rush and scores. #2 Leinweber just plain gets beat on a rush to the outside. As it was happening, I could see that one of UND's other bigger defensemen probably would have introduced the guy to the boards, but Leinweber couldn't reach him and his move set up the goal. The guy who knocked the puck in was unchecked by (I think) Fuher. #3 Greene, backing up in his own zone, five seconds after a successful PK, and basically not under pressure, fans on his pass out of the zone. This is a simple pass that he does ten times a game, and probably flubs once out of 100 times, but this was that one time. Because he was moving backwards, the puck just sat there waiting for the MTU player to scoop it up. Although Josh was completely hung out to dry, this is the kind of save I would like to see him make, since he could have bailed out Greene, who has bailed him out many times. #4 Fuher falls down at his own blue line, allowing the odd-man situation into the zone, and the goal. #5 Greene pinched because the team was down two, he missed, and the rush the other way led to a goal. I'll try to think of some more positive comments later, but losing those two key points could really haunt UND this season, if it results in play-in game implications. I couldn't see the calls in the third too well, but 8 minutes in penalties in the last 11 minutes, when you're down three, isn't much of a formula for a comeback. Being the homer optimist that I am, I still thought they could come back until they spent the rest of the game shorthanded. I'm not blaming the ref, just noting that there was no way they were going to come back and win in that situation. Eight tough games left; now they have to go win one they weren't supposed to, to get this one back.

I agree on Denver. They are tougher than people seem to think. I would be thrilled to get a total of four points out of Denver and Mankato. Then the Sioux would need to win the other six games, which aren't a lay-up either, by the way. Tech has been playing people tough. Before their slip-up last weekend, Duluth had played everyone tough. And, as noted, Wisconsin is never an easy opponent for UND (unless it's the national title game).

One last thought on the CC series before this thread fades away. The big four underclassmen with questions about which jersey they would wear in 2002-03 (IMO) were Taffe, Bayda, Sejna and Dubie. I thought Dubie staying would keep Denver at the top, but I guess he did miss some time with injury. MN has felt Taffe's absence. This weekend we got to see (hear for me) what Sejna means to CC. Does anyone doubt that Ryan Bayda would be leading the nation in scoring and be right alongside Sejna as a Hobey frontrunner had he stayed at UND? I'm not playing the "what if" game, as I know many teams could re-draw their line charts to include players currently playing at a higher level. I'm just pointing out what I think is the reason CC seems to be the better team right now. They brought back their stud. Ours moved on to bigger things. Put Bayda in a Sioux jersey and the two teams are even. Do that and take Sejna away and the Sioux are superior. One last thought, somewhat related. UND's first PP unit goes frosh, soph, soph, soph, junior. That's so young! The second team is senior, senior, soph, soph, someone else on the point (When Fylling was on the point Saturday it made for three sophs). They're having a fine year considering their youth.

I noticed on Heisenberg's site that Jonathon Sigalet has committed to BGSU, where his brother plays. He is a 16-year old offensive defenseman for Salmon Arm in the BCHL. Since he's Brady Murray's teammate, I was wondering if the Sioux might have gotten involved. Even though UND is doing great with the current crop of defensive defensemen, I look forward to the next Murphy/Roche.

sprig, I usually don't use the smilies to indicate sarcasm. I just try to make my comments outlandish enough that they are taken that way. Just so I'm clear, it's usually not a problem to cheer against MN.

Maybe I'm unnecessarily concerned. Hopefully. FWIW, this is the excerpt from Sunday's Herald game report that sparked my concern: "Sioux notes: For the second straight game, Sioux junior defenseman David Hale had to sit out with flu-like symptoms. Hale may stay behind here when the Sioux go back to Grand Forks and have additional tests done at the hospital in Colorado Springs, his hometown."

Obvious bias aside, cheering for MN this weekend doesn't make sense. CC is no longer UND's competition; MN, Mankato, SCSU and Denver are the teams UND should be concerned with. Finishing first or second is really a push - you get a terrible team the first weekend either way. Finishing third is worse as you get Tech (probably) or Duluth. Finishing fourth or lower gets you a tough first-round opponent and all the Final Five play-in problems. UND needs to push for second or third now, which means cheering against MN (hard to do, I know). That said, I think CC-MN is a split this weekend, as CC will have trouble getting sufficiently motivated after the big showdown weekend. Plus MN is good.

I think these seem too optimistic. I haven't run it myself, but I think the league is just tough and 8-2 down the stretch will be tough to accomplish. The key, to me, is the health of David Hale. If it's just the flu and he gets better soon and plays most of the remaining games, I can be more optimistic. However, staying behind in Colorado Springs for "more tests" sounds like it could be more than just the flu. For his sake personally and for his future career, I hope it's not serious.

Jan 14 L 2-3 at Wisc Jan 15 L 5-6 at Wisc Jan 21 W 1-0 MN Jan 22 L 2-5 MN Jan 28 W 5-0 at MTU Jan 29 W 11-1 at MTU Feb 4 L 0-3 at SCSU Feb 5 T 1-1 at SCSU Record in this stretch: 3-4-1 Record after this stretch: 13-1-2 Record in the last six games of the year: 6-0-0 Record for the season: 31-8-5 It was 1999-2000. I'm not saying this team is going to win the national title, but things looked pretty bleak in early February 2000 and it worked out okay. It's a tough league. Teams have their ups and downs. The Sioux just went 3-3 on a tough road trip, and they now enter the stretch run. Other teams have faced serious injuries this year that the Sioux have largely avoided; I think we've learned from the absences of several players a few times this year that the team is thin enough on defense that the margin for error is pretty slim. David Hale has missed three games this year, and the team was out of sync for all of them. Jones and Greene missed four and the team didn't seem the same at all. Four players missed the first SCSU game and the team got waxed. For this weekend, consider that Schneider and Hale are typically on the ice for 50% of the crunch-time minutes. Hale was gone and Schneider wasn't 100%. That's a big change. I heard Marvin and Leinweber out there at times when they would typically have been planted on the bench. As for whether that affected UND only scoring one goal in the last five periods, I think: yes, it did. Transition teams generate offense from defense. When you turn the other team around at the blue line, play goes the other way immediately. If you let them get it in deep, you get into breakouts, and failed breakouts, and then icings or just dumping it in to get a change. To summarize: Unpleasant result this weekend. Not the end of the world. Stay the course. Please don't think this is last year's team because it's not. They're a lot better and will continue to show it. Plus I think they'd love another shot at CC.

OETKB, It's a long season. UND's other successful teams had their miserable moments, but they persevered. MN fans last year went over the edge when they struggled during January and February, and I hope we try to take it in stride.

I haven't watched; only listened. It messes with your head to be up 3-0 after one. It's only natural that you start to think it should come easily. Against a great team that can be a killer, and once the ice tilts that way, it's tough to get it back. TH has made it sound like the Sioux defense is not only undermanned tonight but also sick. That could account for some of the "tired" look. Whatever the reasons, CC was the better team tonight. UND'll have to try again tomorrow.

I agree on the entertainment value of the Yale game- it was great live radio. I couldn't believe other listeners got so bent out of shape by TH's call and actions.

With two good teams that will both want badly to win, these games could come down to bounces. All the team can do is play as hard and smart as they can and hope they get a fair share of the breaks. With evenly matched teams, home ice may be enough to swing a series, and of course this edge would go to CC. Another swing factor could be coaching, and this edge arguably would go to UND. I guess the real winners are college hockey fans. I haven't heard if Fylling is back on the Parise line, but I have a few thoughts about it. First, I love it when he's up there for what it does for the other lines. It allows Notermann to move down (over?) to the Lundbohm Massen line, which allows Spiewak to move down (over?) to the McMahon Hale line. It makes those other two lines that much stronger and gives the Sioux three very good lines. My concern about moving Fylling up there is that was the configuration that got smoked by SCSU's senior line earlier this year. I'm not suggesting that it was Fylling's fault, but a line of two sophomores and a freshman is at risk of being used by an experienced top line (like Senja/Clarke). Having Notermann up there adds an element of stability and defensive responsibility that is otherwise lacking. I guess that's Blais's call, and even he is likely to change his mind during the game. Lastly, a line of Genoway/Connelly/Prpich (if that's what the fourth line is this weekend) may not seem too imposing now, but I have a feeling that in a few years we will look back in amazement that this team was so deep that it had players that good on the fourth line. (Might be wearing green-tinted glasses, there, too; I guess we'll see.)

Lamoreaux beat Sedevie 5-2 last night. Although Porter was pointless, he's done well since he turned it around in December. Lincoln's Division 1 forward recruits have the following numbers for the ten games played to date in 2003: Irmen 7-5-12 Porter 4-6-10 Potulny 3-6-9 Backes 5-3-8

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/colu...-woodlief_x.htm Red Line's latest mentions a few names we know.

There are several stories at the Anchorage (don't spell that wrong) Daily News, but this one from last Sunday tells a lot about the state of the Seawolves. On the positive side for the Wolves, their attitude seems to be good; with the announcement and commencement of the suspensions, and the dismissal of Chytka, I think the program has seem the bottom. It will all be better from here, although the losses may continue to mount. On the negative side for the Wolves, and positive for the Sioux, UAA is down to four (4!) defensemen for the series, including one sophomore and three freshmen. Not that the Sioux shouldn't take care of business anyway, but given the state of UAA's defense, UND needs to take advantage of this opportunity to add four points in the standings. You can bet all the other contenders will. UND needs to play that high energy attacking game, rolling four lines and three defensive pairs, and absolutely wear them out. No matter that UND is on the road, or UAA may get great goaltending, or UND may get questionable goaltending, the Sioux should win, and not by just a little. I have been worried about a letdown, with this series between the MN and CC series, but hopefully the team will show up and take care of business. http://www.adn.com/sports/story/2451724p-2499242c.html

You're right, I didn't see that. With 4 GA on 35+ shots, he must have played well overall.

I listened to the Gopher broadcast of the end of the second period and start of the third, then I watched the last 8 minutes. Going into it I was hoping for a split and hoping they played well. Of course this afternoon I was hoping for more than a split, but I'm happy enough taking two points out of there and going home. I was fearful the Sioux would go up to UAA and get beat if they had swept MN; in fact, I'm still worried about it. No matter how much better a team is, you can't account for emotion and human nature. You know the Sioux were pumped for the MN series, and it will be hard to be that intense next weekend. Anyway, I chose the right night to attend, as I was able to view firsthand the Sioux's excellent adventure on Friday. Tonight I had a family commitment at, of all places, the U of M Natatorium (sp?), which is a block away from Mariucci. Some good North Dakota boys (including my nephew) from Minot were in town for a swim meet. I wasn't able to hear the postgame. What were Blais's comments? Also, was there any word on Canady? That place is a house of horrors for him, as that's where he hurt his knee last year. I hope it's not serious. I caught Zach's goal on the TV news. Nice. They also showed the Koalska to Vanek to Riddle goal, on which Brandt had no chance. Also nice, in a sick way. Then I saw Fleming's SHG to start the third. I know breakaway goals aren't just the goalie's fault, but I've seen this before and have to comment on it. Waibel passed to Fleming pretty early, and Waibel then wasn't a threat to receive a return pass - it was Fleming against Brandt, period. So why, on Fleming's move, was Brandt on his tummy? I have an idea - stand up and stay with the shooter until he runs out of space. He did the same thing against Malone when he had a breakaway. At least make it close. My model for staying with the shooter on the breakaway, believe it or not, is the Josh Siembida that arrived about 54 weeks ago. He was so confident then. I'm not lobbying for Josh to get more playing time, as he doesn't seem to be the same player now. Solid weekend for the Sioux. Get four really important points next week.

http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/section.../scout_0114.htm A nice write-up from an NHL scout on the US team.

This is copied from a post on POI last fall when his name came up: "As shooter said, big D from WBL, 6'4", a bit skinny, I don't think he ever played on an 'A' team at WBL. Played in the HS Elite League this fall. The first 2-3 weeks looked out of place, a little too gangly and slow. Really picked it up the 2nd half. Many people thought he passed up WBL teammate & St. Cloud St. signee Chris Anderson. The pro scouts love his size and toughness. Hartzell really started to push him on the scouts. I was really surprised when he left for the USHL. Personally, I think some pro scouts got to him and convinced him to leave so they can see him fight. very nice kid."

http://www.gamblershockey.com/pdfs/beaverson_to_nd.pdf Luke Beaverson 6-4, 205. Credit Eric the Badger for posting this on USCHO.

Take Hale, Hale, Spiewak, McMahon and Fuher off your list to start. They've each already served a suspension, so the next would be for two games. That leaves only Schneider, Greene, Prpich and Canady in my book. DeMarchi has been bad in the past, to be sure, but it's a little closed-minded to think he's that much worse than any other team's enforcers. We celebrate Archie, Commie and Greene, and while I know there's a big difference between physical play and cross-checks in the back, most neutral observers would have a tough time distinguishing one team's crusher from another's.