jk

I've just been to the HOF Game myself, but have a few more games scheduled this year.

I've heard other reports of Bayda's strong play. The complaints about upperclass leadership are broad-brushed, but I can't think of a time when Blais has been critical of Bayda, Skarperud, Spiewak or Notermann. Regarding Bayda, check out these stats (Year, points, ppg): 1999 61 1.49 2000 41 1.08 2001 41 1.05 2002 49 2.33 Those are Darren Haydar's stats at UNH. What happened in 1999 and 2002? Jason Krog and Sean Collins, respectively. These are Bayda's: 2000 40 0.91 2001 59 1.28 2002 21 0.91 A lot of people thought Bayda would probably be gone after this year, and he still might. I'm not close to the situation, so I don't know. But as an outsider it appears that this might not be the best time to leave, after he struggled (statistically) and the team has had a rough time. I think Bayda could enjoy a similar senior bump next year (but not to 2.33 ppg) as his linemates get more experienced and blue-chip (if you know what I mean). In addition to looking forward to next year, I'm still hoping the Sioux make a bit of noise this year. It's great that you had a good time, dagies.

Earlier this year, I posted somewhere: "It's not about winning or losing right now, it's about getting better." This deep into the season, while improvement is still the main goal, I think it's OK that results begin to become more of a focus.

To update where everyone stands: (Team, GP, Pts) 3. MN 14 18 4. CC 16 17 5. Wis 14 15 5. AA 16 15 7. MSU 18 13 8. UND 16 12 When you see how close even third place is, those points lost to Wisconsin, Mankato and now UAA are even more painful. Just splits in those three league series (the last with each of those teams) would have left the Sioux one point out of third. There's a lot of hockey left to play and really not too many points needed to get in the top five, but the Sioux need to start picking up some points. CC's schedule: UND, Denver (hh), Wisconsin, at MN, at AA, Tech. WI: at MSUM, SCSU, AA, at CC, Denver, at MN, UMD. AA: MN, at UMD, at WI, MSUM, at SCSU, CC. MSUM: Wisconsin, Tech, at AA, UMD, at Tech. UND: at CC, at Tech, MN, Tech, at UMD, Denver Go Sioux.

Thanks, Doc. I think you're so right. The team just isn't ready to dominate at this point. I do think that as juniors and seniors, some of the players in this freshman class will be stars, not just good players. If you look through Sioux history and other WCHA teams as well, there have been many dominating upperclassmen who were hardly noticed as freshmen. Thanks for also pointing out that the defensive effort is better as well. Scoring droughts happen, but they end. As long as the defense and goaltending are there, the team will be in a position to win. I like to remember when the Sioux went 119 minutes in St. Cloud without scoring a goal, losing that weekend 3-0 and tying 1-1. That punchless team went on to beat BC in the finals. I'm not predicting that result for this team, but perspective is good. I haven't been there, so I shouldn't say, but I'm disappointed in the booing as well. Support the guys. It's a college team.

K, I don't want to join your b!tchfest, because you do such a good job of it yourself, but I will say that I was wondering tonight whether we should even want the Sioux to get home ice. And I mean that only partly in jest. Something needs to happen for the Sioux to claim this rink as their "home," but it hasn't happened yet. I'm sure it will, but it might not be this year.

I tried to see him when NJ played Philly last night, but I was busy so couldn't watch too closely. I finally heard, "Held in by Commodore," so he must be up. No idea how he's playing, but he's very young so to be up is impressive, IMO.

Catching CC is possible, but for this discussion I could concede 4th and discuss the race for 5th. The other contenders are: WI: Currently 6-5-1. Needs to go 8-8 to reach 29 points. Remaining schedule: MN, at MSUM, SCSU, AA, at CC, Denver, at MN, UMD. MSUM: Currently 5-10-1. Needs 9-3. Plays at CC, Wisconsin, Tech, at AA, UMD, at Tech. AA: Currently 5-7-2. Needs 8-5-1. Plays at UND, MN, at UMD, at WI, MSUM, at SCSU, CC. Wisconsin's not going .500 with that schedule. MSUM has a relatively easy road, but 9-3 for a team that is really struggling might be asking too much. AA also has a pretty difficult schedule, but it's pretty similar to the Sioux's. Assuming both UND and AA continue to play well, I think they might have the best shots at the 5-spot. That makes this series very important. Even though we've had our troubles in the playoffs with Wisconsin, I wouldn't mind hosting Sconny, getting a little payback for Madison this year, and ending Sauer's career. Erasing the memory of the Mankato weekend would be nice as well.

For the Sioux, 33 points would be 11-3 the rest of the way, added to the 5-8-1 current record to total 16-11-1. That would be fabulous, but to reach it would require no more lapses. Not that any of this would be easy, but I could see: 2-0 against UAA, 2-2 on the four-game trip to CC and Tech, 1-1 against MN, 3-1 against Tech and UMD, and 1-1 against Denver. That would be 9-5, for a total of 14-13-1. I still think that could get home ice. I'll follow with more.

Darn. Sauer's retiring. I was hoping he would drag on for a while longer. This will be good for the league, but it will make recruiting more difficult for everyone, including UND. For instance, I read (probably on a message board, so completely unreliable) that Bochenski didn't really consider UW because of the coaching. Also, Vanek didn't really take UW seriously. As sig said somewhere to a Wisconsin fan, what's it like having your team playing up in St. Cloud. SCSU seemed to step into Wisconsin's role of sccoping up the Gophers' MN leftovers. Anyway, I am sure they will get a good coach, and they will follow a recovery trajectory very similar to Minnesota's. That will be good for the league. And I'm not really worried about an impact on UND. You've gotta beat the best to be the best, and the Sioux will be there regardless.

Sorry I can't answer your question, but it's so odd that I was thinking of Big George just this week myself, for no good reason, and for the first time in years. I believe the accident happened over Labor Day weekend, after the first few days of school. I never saw him play, but his size surely would have given a boost to a pro career.

Since you asked... I really like this new class. I think every one of them is going to be a good player, and several will be stars. Canady - As you mentioned, very visible, especially Sunday. Connelly - I'm glad a fast guy got #17. He's not Panzer, but his speed will destabilize defenses for the next few years. He also shot low on the 2-on-1 Saturday, yielding a Goren-to-Ulmer-while-Hobey-watches rebound goal, which no one did on the numerous 2-on-1's Sunday. Fournier - wish I could have seen him. Bochenski - didn't have the big series I was hoping for. It seemed like he didn't see as much ice in the third Sunday, as perhaps Blais was thinking defense. Still, what a quick, hard shot he can get off in traffic. Massen - breaking out, but more visible Saturday than Sunday. Looks like he's used to having a bit more room to operate with the puck, and still adjusting to that. But, for a big guy, nice skills. McMahon - Is going to be the prototypical Sioux forward, I think. Average Plus skating, hands, vision, aggressiveness. More later.

FWIW, Murray's verbal hit the Faribault paper today.

I was just looking at the PWR rankings, where the Sioux are 20th, and noticed their record against other PWR teams: 1. Denver DNP 2. SCSU 0-2 3. Lowell DNP 4. UNH DNP 5. MN 1-2 6. MSU 1-0 7. BU DNP 8. CC 2-0 9. Maine 1-1 10. Michigan 1-0 That's 6-5 total against Top 10 teams. The Sioux have played none of the other teams in the PWR rankings (there are 32 total). As Blais said, if they play their game, UND can now beat anyone. Now they need to handle the teams they are supposed to and get the winning percentage up. At 5-9-1, I thought if they could go 3-1 in each four-game set, that would be 15-5 in their last 20, and 20-14-1 overall. I'm guessing that would be enough to get them in the tournament. At 5-1 since then, they are a touch ahead of that pace. Next up in the development of the team is to discover home ice. I think it just hasn't felt like home to them; it's like a neutral site, to which a lot of Sioux fans have travelled. Does anyone know why Fournier didn't play this weekend? I had considered him to be one of the freshmen who was coming along nicely, as he was showing up on the scoresheet regulary. I was looking forward to seeing him play, as I thought his offensive creativity would be welcome on the big ice. Transitioning from defense deep in their own zone to offensive possession down the rink seems to be this team's biggest problem right now. Aside from the PP, that is, which continues to struggle. But many players seem to be getting better, and team play seems to be improving also. Lundblom (thanks Wooger) looked better Sunday than Saturday, and I'm sure he will continue to work into shape. Enough rambling. Go Sioux.

Kuhninca and Scott, I disagree. When the Sioux were on the PK for the second period, they were hanging on - no doubt about that. But the Sioux played their guts out in this game, especially the upperclassmen, who were on-ice leaders tonight. Just because they didn't end up on the scoresheet doesn't mean they didn't play well. Sprig, I'll be anxious to read your assessment after you see the game.

Not sure where to put this, so here will do. Just to give you an idea how stinkin' lousy UND's four-game losing streak was last month, here is what the opponents have done since. After sweeping UND at REA 6-4 and 6-0, Mantanko is 1-6, underscoring their opponents in the six losses 6-24. This includes tonight's loss to Alabama. Wis (hing for a new coach) consin is 0-2-1, including a loss to Brown. I still think CC will finish fourth, leaving us in a battle for fifth with Mankato, Wisconsin, and AA. I'm pretty sure Wisconsin won't be fifth, as their schedule is real tough. Mankato's remaining WCHA schedule is very light, so they have a shot if they can play better. And who knows about AA; they seem to be getting better. By the way, the Sioux go into the Gopher series in eighth place now, as AA is winning 8-1 over MTU in the waning minutes of their game. The Sioux can get there if the hints at the GLI are for real. But they can't be dropping any more games to bad teams like Mankato and Wisconsin. On that note, will Duluth please win a game? I don't want to have to face them still looking for their first WCHA win. OK, Go Sioux... get some points out of Mariucci.

I don't like to think about the future too much, as it makes me feel like !!!!, but it is pretty exciting to think about the forward depth being assembled on this team. Now about that PP qarterback... If Parise is that good, size won't keep him at UND for four years. But if he does leave early, it will probably mean that he has been excellent, which will have been good for all.

The issue has been raised on USCHO that a school can't say that a player "verballed," in fact it can't say anything about a recruit until he signs, except that it is recruiting him. So I hope the commitment was announced by someone on the show other than Blais. I would expect that he knows the rules, but perhaps he slipped.

According to Justin Duberman on the radio last weekend (I think), Panzer's nickname at Worcester is "7-11" ... because his mouth never closes. I also read that Goehring's nickname at Syracuse is "Harry Potter." The shame of all those chances not being converted in the title game is that Jeff didn't end up with about five assists on the game. He was setting guys up all night long.

Well, I was away from a computer for the weekend, but, being back in the homeland, I was able to hear most of the weekend's games on the radio. Besides the obvious great news about winning big games, I'm excited about the continued emergence of some of the newcomers. If Massen can fit in with Bayda and Skarperud, keep them together. Then you have two choices with Lundbohm - reunite him with Spiewak and Notermann, as that threesome was very dangerous at the end of last year, or perhaps put him with Fournier and Bochenski, producing three scoring lines: Bayda, Skarperud, Massen Spiewak, Notermann, Hale? Fournier, Bochenski, Lundbohm Then you have a high-energy, good speed, physical fourth line that could do just what you want from a fourth line, provide a boost after a PP or PK and mix it up a bit: Canady, Connelly, McMahon I love forward depth. What scares me about the upcoming weekend is the special teams. These numbers should be flipped: Sioux PP - 16.1% Sioux PK - 23.6% Let's face it. The Sioux PP has always seemed to underperform. It struggled last year, with the Line of Fire and Roche. Over the last five years, many times I have thought the Sioux were rolling 5-5, but the PP seemed to slow things down. The main problem with the PK seems to be once the puck is set up in the zone, it's there for the duration of the PP. I can't count the number of times I have heard, Schneekloth clears it to the line, ... not out. Anyway, really good step forward this weekend. To steal one in Mpls. would be another. Oh, and one other thing. The opponent can't score when the puck is 200 feet away (unless Andy is having one of those games). If the Sioux could play part of the third period in the offensive zone, perhaps defending the goal would seem less arduous.

Ahhh, excellent news. I just finished wrapping a LOT of presents for three boys, and thought I would check in one last time to see if by chance this had happened. I've checked the Waterloo, Sioux and USCHO boards regularly for the last week looking for this, and now here it is. USHR had nice things to say in its write-up. Someone pasted it into the Waterloo board. An odd twist, if I understood a post on that board right, is that Andy Kollar's dad is the goalie coach at Waterloo. Since Sedevie hasn't been able to play much at all this year, I'm pleased to have someone else on board for next year. Hopefully the Sioux can get back to having an excellent rotation in goal for the next 3-4 years. Considering what the Sioux goalies have had to face in some games this year, at least Siembida is used to seeing a lot of rubber. Anyway, good news, for this year and the future. Happy holidays to all the Sioux fans, and I guess all college hockey fans, ...even Gopher fans.

Actually, Michigan's Eric Nystrom was a late addition to the U.S. team, so Michigan is without four players. As with SLU, this really is a game UND should win. Whether they will or not, I don't know. But you need to take your breaks when you get them, and getting Michigan without it's best forward and best defenseman, plus two good contributing freshmen forwards, is a break. I'm hoping they come out with some real jump.

Has anyone heard how Colby Genoway has looked in practice? I'm just curious because sometimes these guys who have had to sit for a year have a pretty big impact when they do make it onto the ice. Of course you have to be good for that to happen, but I think two things help: The player doesn't have to adjust to the speed of the college game because he's practiced at that speed for a year, and he doesn't have to adjust to the responsibilities of school either. This is the third thread I've started. The other two were the ones that were lost. If this one goes, then it is officially my fault.

It looks like word of this trade hit the Waterloo message board late on Thursday, December 13. That timing would fit with a 'no,' where Siembida went home after his Wednesday visit and told Waterloo he would be staying. But it's just speculation, so Sic's right. I guess we wait.

I cannot find it either, so I'll start another. Maybe the original will turn up.