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In 28 games for each: Skarp 18-19-37 Cullen 10-24-34 Cullen does win a ton of faceoffs, though.

Congrats to Bayda and Bochenski. Timmy Skarperud got shafted big-time. Fourth in WCHA scoring, second in goals, and not among the top nine forwards in the league. Huh? Behind him in scoring, but ahead on the All-WCHA teams: 1st: Cullen, 2nd: Medak, DiCas 3rd: James, Sejna, Taffe Ah, well, great job anyway, Tim. Congrats on a fine season.

Did they have a coach's show last night? If they did, I assume it was the last one of the year. Will anyone who heard it please pass along the highlights? Thanks.

I track +/- for every shift of every game and you guys come on here and question my numbers? Just kidding. I got them here: http://www.fightingsioux.com/admin....EAM.IND I have no idea why they don't add up. There must be an element of truth to them, though.

You see Nick Fuher?

If Taffe and Vanek are at MN next year, they are the instant favorites. Even when he was an inconsistent frosh, Taffe always had his best games against the Sioux. He has dynamite skills. I understand Vanek is likewise blessed with stunning talent. With neither Taffe nor Vanek, I think MN slides a bit. Koalska, Riddle and Tallackson are all maturing nicely into impact players, so they won't stink, but it would be hard to adjust to the absence of Taffe in addition to Pohl and Leo. With either Taffe or Vanek, I think MN contends. (I've never seen Vanek, so I'm going strictly on reputation). Guyer is supposed to be roughly of the same quality as Parise, and I think Gopher fans like Erickson and expect him to be a fixture in the lineup. How the Sioux compare will depend on whether Bayda returns and how this year's frosh grow. I think the youngsters should progress well enough to make the Sioux forwards basically a push with MN's, and give the Sioux the edge if MN is without Taffe and Vanek. (Gopher fans, of course you have to expect me to like our forwards here.)

HKNTSM, I know you really got frosted this year when Blais was talking about winning in two years. I've always hoped he meant sometime in the next two years, like next year included, because if things go right the Sioux could contend nationally next year. The biggest thing the team would have going for it next year, and what would be absent the following year, would be a big group of fourth-year forwards, all of whom are strong character guys who have played big roles in the national playoffs in multiple years. What would have to go right? The frosh make the jump to productive sophomores, the young D grow offensively, one of the goalies steps up, and they get a few bounces. Goodness knows they have a few coming from this year. I predict Notermann and Spiewak have the top point years of their Sioux careers next year.

Goon, Tell us what you really think.

Interesting, dagies. Thanks for the info. I had e-mailed Chris Heisenberg with the same question, but haven't heard back from him yet. It should be interesting to see how he does at Lincoln next year. Regarding Parise's effect on recruiting, I'm hoping some slick defenseman from the Canadian prairie sees what the forward lines look like for the next few years and wants to pad his assist stats a bit. There must be one out there somewhere.

Ahh, Greyeagle, there you go ruining all the ill will. Thanks for your input. The downside for you is you now (or at least next year) have another spot to check on the internet. Good luck, but you might not need too much of it.

A BU fan (might have been King) described cheering for BC during the 1998 NCAA championship game (I paraphrase): I was pulling for BC to defend the conference's (Hockey East)honor, but when Langfeld scored I was surprised that I was the first one out of my seat to celebrate. (Michigan's Josh Langfeld scored the OT game-winner.) You pull for your conference, but it's hard to have too much affection for your big rival.

Final plus/minus for 2001-02: Skarperud +18 Bayda +11 Bochenski +10 Massen + 3 Palmiscno + 2 Notermann + 1 Fournier + 1 Spiewak 0 Lundbohm - 1 Faul - 1 B. Connelly - 2 Canady - 6 R. Connelly - 7 McMahon - 8 R. Hale - 9 D. Hale +14 Schneider +11 Fuher + 5 Jones + 4 Schneekloth + 1 Leinweber - 3 Mazurak - 6 Nice to see the performance by the top four defensemen, one sophomore and three freshmen.

Speez, I appreciate you chiming in here from time to time; it's nice to get an opinion from someone who really has a reason to care, rather than the rest of us, who are just big fans. It must have been a tough year for the guys. Hopefully some of the payback they get to deliver next year will make up for all the bad breaks and tough losses.

Kuhninca, I disagree on Connelly. As for recruiting offense for next year, exactly who do you think is out there? There are a lot of high profile forwards coming into college hockey next year (Vanek, Parise, Guyer, Gauthier, Tambellini, Eaves, Sterling - you know, BC's top two lines), but, ahem, they're all signed up to play already (MN, UND, MN, DU, Mich., BC, CC). I like UND's forwards for next year, and the few years after that as well.

Parise - I've seen him once, but I'm such an amateur I'll have to rely on the opinions of others (like Louie and Glen) to believe that he'll be a fixture in the lineup. R. Connelly - Got better all year long, until the season-ending injury. Has a necessary commodity for all Sioux teams - speed. UND needs more of it up front, and I think he'll play a lot. Massen - Probably the one freshman I can say I was disappointed with. He seems to lose many more battles for the puck than he wins, and doesn't seem very strong on his skates to me. Reminds me of Grant Paranica - big guy, looks like a smooth skater, seems to have good hands, but can't get the job done. Hopefully he'll work on his deficiencies and come along. Fylling - He's had a nice year in the USHL, which was expected. I like that he can skate well. How will he look compared to guys like Canady, Connelly and Palmiscno when practice starts? I don't know. Genoway - I have no idea how he has looked this year. Maybe he'll be a fixture in the lineup, but I have no way of knowing. B. Connelly and Faul had trouble getting into the lineup this year, and it just gets harder next year. Faul looked decent to me when I saw him, but I assume he would have played more. Palmiscno basically didn't play until injuries opened up a spot, and I think he'll also have trouble with the numbers game next year.

In some cases, the player's importance to the team and talents need not be mentioned, so I skipped them. Hale - I thought he started slow and showed quite a bit of rust from the year off, but he was very solid down the stretch and has shown flashes of offensive skill. Getting the medical redshirt will pay big dividends for the team in the next two years. Lundbohm - Not a good year, but by the end we saw once again how good a player he can be. He was in a funk even before his injury, and then seemed to take a long while after coming back to get into the groove again. Even though the points didn't come, he played well at the end, in all zones. He has the best moves with the puck in a little one foot square box, which is where those battles for the puck are often won. Fournier - I think we have an idea now what the big deal was about Chris Fournier. Put him behind the net on the PP! What a difference he could have made if he was healthy. He's not fleet-afoot, but centering the puck well (getting it through defensemen and the goalie) is not easily done, and he has a knack for it. Seems to be the best on the team at it, except for David Hale. Bochenski - Looks like cra* a lot of the time, but he manages to get his shot off all the time when he's covered, especially when it just comes to him as he's skating into the zone; he has it off before he even seems to get the puck. I'm often just puzzled at how he got the shot off. Someone who can flat-out score is invaluable, but I hope he works on his skating. McMahon - Going to be the best all-around player from this class and a fixture on the top lines in his last two years. Canady - For me, probably the best surprise of the freshmen. I expected a hard worker, but he's faster than I thought and always involved. I expected him to be one of the ones to lose ice time because of the team's forward depth, but he got better as the year went on. And let's face it, college hockey is not for the meek; it's rough out there, and you need some guys on a mission.

A lot of players floating around next year. I'm thinking of the forwards like this: In the lineup basically all the time: Bayda, Sr. Notermann, Sr. Spiewak, Sr. Hale, Jr. Lundbohm, Jr. Fournier, So. Bochenski, So. McMahon, So. Canady, So. Parise, Fr. Battling for the last two spots: R. Connelly, So. Massen, So. Fylling, So. Genoway, Fr. Will not play much except against Canisius: B. Connelly, Sr. Palmiscno, Jr. Faul, So. I'll add some thoughts in a bit.

Once again the season ends with an overtime loss, and once again I am so proud of the program. What a gutty, determined effort. Even though 52 shots were allowed in four periods, the Sioux played a fine checking game, covered the slot well, and were always there to carry or sweep away rebounds, except for that one at the end. As many of you said, there is so much to say, but I'm very happy for Andy, most of all.

Handy, I don't mind if you come here, as I am generally welcomed at POI. But you have to know that stuff like this: You can have your opinions of The Gopher players and fans, but if you want to see classless, look at UND. Do you wanna know why Mason called 7 straight penalties on your team? CAUSE THEY EARNED THEM!! Your young players are a bunch of hot heads who look to try and goat players to fight. They cant keep up with the Gophs (or I shoudl say they havent been able to the last few games) so they use their stick. Slash, hook, trip and lots of other stuff that goes uncalled. How about your fans, lets see they threw crap on the ice at the New Ralph after the Gophs came back...CLASS!! There were a couple fans who stayed to the end of the game yapping at Mason. Yeah it was HIS fault you all lost...CLASS!! ...will not go over well. I know you are just responding to statements you disagree with, but on the other Board you basically just have to read and turn the other cheek. Do you think I want to respond every time smitty throws in his anti-Blais cheap shots on POI? Yes. (BTW, did Blais cut him off in traffic once, or what?) But I just read past it. And as to your points on class, you may not know that some observers consider the Gophers to be the worst in the league at after-the-whistle sticks and shoves - worse than Sconny. I know Taffe has drawn kudos on some boards for his nastier persona this year. That nastiness comes in the form of sticks and face rubs. Funniest line last night: After Skarperud got a boarding call for pounding Leopold on a good check with no elbows or stick, the Tims saw the replay and figured the penalty was "two minutes for checking Jordan Leopold."

I must be a masochist because I'm watching the stupid thing anyway. This says something about the brutal honesty of the Sioux announcing crew, but believe it or not it doesn't look quite as bad as they made it sound. Part of the problem is some of these Gopher players are so good. Pohl's PP goal where he pops in the carom from behind the net - he one-timed the thing from a terrible angle into the top of the net - was one that almost no one else in the country could have converted. Most everyone else would either have had to catch it first, giving the D and goalie time to cover, or would have missed the one-timer. And what's with the Gophers getting seven consecutive PPs in the last half of the game? Not that it mattered, but it still got a bit old. dagies, the Tims said the end-of-game thing had to do with Ballard apparently doing some intent-to-injure stuff to Bayda at the Ralph. They said Bayda had been chipping at Ballard all game long and would really have been pleased to have a go with him.

Not even I can think of anything good to say. Actually, yes, at least I don't have to stay up late to watch the tape delay on FSN. Thankfully the Sioux got good goaltending so the game didn't end up in the record books in all sorts of scoring and victory margin categories. It's hard to tell who played well on the radio, but you can get a sense, like when a guy's name is mentioned and it's followed by "and it bounces off his stick" a lot, he probably didn't have a good game. It seemed like one of the only guys I had the sense had a decent game was McMahon (and not just because he scored). Poor dagies had to attend. Ouch. I really felt there was reason for optimism, at least for close games, as the Sioux hadn't been pounded in over three months. Big wrong there. Can they bounce back from this and be competetive Saturday? I guess we'll see.

Game day. All things considered, this is the Gophers' year - great season, star upperclassmen, depth. But they still have to play the games, and win them. For instance, going into the 2000 title game, all signs pointed to BC. They had been there the preceding two years, had three Hobey finalists and were going to fulfill their destiny. But they still had to play the game, and couldn't get it done. The Gophers are supposed to win this weekend. Hopefully the Sioux veterans can lead the way in stopping this automatic event from happening.

From the Herald: "I have a good feeling," coach Dean Blais said. "I think our guys are ready. Just watching our team practice this week, I can feel the intensity they have. They're prepared, physically and mentally, to play." I will be very disappointed if UND loses, because losing always stinks, regardless of the circumstances. I just hope they play well. The team has had its low moments this year, but they have not quit despite being given numerous chances to do so. After every tough loss, they have come to play the next night. Hopefully this character shows itself with a great effort, and maybe some wins, this weekend.

Aside from the obvious (goaltending), I think two things the Sioux need to have happen to succeed this weekend are: Get Bochenski going. I might be wrong, but I think he has no goals and maybe even no points in five games against MN this year. This should be an opponent and place that brings out his best. The Sioux need it to win. Spiewak, Notermann and Lundbohm need to finish some chances. Spiewak especially has a history of finishing in the postseason, and the time is now. I have a feeling the Gophers will be putting a few more in the net than in January so the Sioux will need to have the offense going also. Say, maybe, three goals in two Sioux wins for this line would be about right. Different topic: Why does Brandt get into Blais's doghouse so easily? I don't think he is the savior as he and Siembida seem to be a "pick 'em" right now, but I'm surprised he hasn't seen the ice a little more, since everyone else has been less than spectacular.

As midweek rolls around I usually get real optimistic. Last week at this time I was pretty sure the Sioux were going to take four from Denver and have home ice. Well, it almost happened. Now I read about how well they played Saturday, with Hale and Schneider laying the smack down, and Canady and McMahon flying around, and "Line of Fire, Jr." continuing to produce, and I can't help but feel optimistic again. When I wake up Friday morning, though, it will be back to apprehension. Come on, Sioux, you're due to receive a few bounces (Notes and Spiewak with the hatties?) and, you know, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Plus it's Hauser! Don't bother me with reality for a few more days.