jk

Brian, Did someone hack your account? This is awfully intense for you.

Stepping back for a little perspective, it's hard to blame the refs when the Sioux were on the power play for half the third period. On the other hand, there were times on those power plays where UND players were hacked and tackled to the ice with no second call, and those were acts that interfered with play, causing lost possession.

Maine had a 6-on-3 against Denver late in the national title game, which ended with Denver skating away with Zach's and Bucks' trophy. (If I remember right.)

The other thing they could have done was killed the 5-on-3, which, actually, they did. (Officially, it came one second after the first penalty expired.) In fact, they held Omaha to no really good chances until the very end.

I know your opinion on this, but given the two handers Omaha doled out all game long, and Massa's slash to a player standing in the exact spot MacMillan's penalty was called, I can easily see how MacMillan could consider contact in the crease fair game. And that's not even considering the context, already shorthanded in overtime.

That kind of effort will win games more often than not. I still like the team.

Except on the scoreboard, the Sioux are playing well. Not perfect, and UNO is good, so mistakes get magnified, but the Sioux have a lot of jump. Plenty of chances that end up in the net fairly often, just not tonight. PP needs to be better; Poolman not having a great night on the point there.

1. CC doesn't suck. You can understand now how they split with Omaha, they will take points from other teams in the next month, and they will be a tough playoff matchup for someone. 2. If that's the patsy, the league is nasty. 3. It's often said this team is short on skilled forwards, but to say that is to forget Caggiula, who is right up there with the most skilled guys the team has had in a while. Fast, can dangle, great hands, aggressive. He might just be one of very few little guys who can make it at the next level. 4. Even though CC was really quite impressive, its poor record made this a PWR trap the Sioux managed to avoid. 5. What a nice player Poganski is, and what a beast he'll be.

Even though it resulted in a penalty and risked the game, the goalie really stood up for his teammate by taking the net off. A great team move. Then he got to save the resulting penalty shot.

Really like this post. Your 16 year old may act like he doesn't need his parents anymore, and you may not be spending much quality time together as everyone is so darn busy, but the value imprinting is still going on. If they have the talent and the drive, they will make it. Tons of examples. Stay home and be a high school senior. Grow as a person.

So they survived the PWR trap this weekend. The next risk from this weekend is the first period next weekend, when playing CC (even CC) will be like moving from the donkey path to the autobahn. Going from an excess of time and space against a slow team, and having the puck all the time, to a team that will fight back. It's happened three times already this year: After Manitoba, Bemidji was hard to handle. After Lake State, Denver. After the U18s, Duluth. You can prepare for it all you want intellectually, but until you get on the ice, you don't really believe it.

Gaarder might fit as well.

While I think there's still a chance one of those guys shows up, I was pretty much thinking along the same lines you are when I saw the recent commitments.

I look at it this way. Just about four years ago, the Sioux embarrassed UMD, and three months later the Bulldogs skated away with rings taken off the fingers of Frattin and friends. It's a long season.

It's a tourney for 19-year olds, and it's not surprising to see a young team struggle, even a talented one.

Gersich tipped a point shot by Wolanin, who also assisted on the tying goal.

Regarding Ford, unless I know the details of someone's situation, I don't like to judge them. To me it's not a certainty that he's a bad guy because he left Wisconsin. Also, some of this is speculation and getting ahead of things perhaps too much, but with the budding free agent buzz pre-injury for Stecher, as well as the fast career starts for LaDue and Poolman, it's possible the core of this D-corp might not be around too long. UND may be looking for bodies in a year or two. Fabbro is supposed to be really good. (I saw that on the internet.)

No way, man. There is no other team influencing the outcome.

I'll be able to step into Top Six minutes and the first PP unit right away!

Stecher has been super solid, but I don't worry about the team as much as I worry about him, if it is serious. The team will manage, as that position is deep. But a serious injury just as he was taking off would be difficult to take. Hopefully it won't be that bad.

If it's obvious to us, it's obvious to opposing coaches, who can play to take that away. In that case, getting the puck deep is taking what they give you.

It's been mentioned, but not enough. The Sioux were quick at the start of the game, and slow by the end. What happened in between? 100 lost faceoffs, including every one in front of Zane. Every whistle was basically handing possession to SCSU and chasing them for thirty seconds. They're going to have to fix that. I personally don't buy the "didn't show up." I thought they played hard, missed the net on some good looks, and ran out of gas chasing the Huskies around trying to get the puck back.

Without responding to specific posts, in a seven year window, I believe: UND could compete with NDSU in football. NDSU could compete with UND in hockey. ASU could compete with UND in hockey. The barriers to competitiveness are very low in hockey, as the USHL is filled with guys who could turn into very good 24 year old college players. Specifically, NDSU could tap MN high school hockey, and it would be the second closest program to the Central/Western Canadian prairies. Would they win recruiting battles with UND/MN? No. To win, do they have to? No. See SCSU, UMD, MSUM. ASU can appeal to Western U.S. kids, kids who want the big-name school experience, and smart kids who want to escape these God-forsaken winters, where, to quote a movie I can't recall, every boob is covered by two shirts and a sweater.

I agree on the makeup of the league, and that also makes it very possible that a national champion could come from fourth or fifth place in the league. Get healthy, get hot, go on a run.

Comparing eras is difficult, especially when you try to quantify things. Just looking at 80s highlights tells you how far goaltending has come since then, which accounts for some of the point totals at the time. Which means I'm down to the eye test. Since I just missed Taylor, Smail and Patrick, I can't consider them. The two guys I saw who most dominated the competition were sophomore Hrkac (my choice as the best), who consistently, shift after shift, made people look silly, and senior Jeff Panzer, who not only knew where the puck was going but was fast enough to be there before anyone else. The funny thing about the knock on Panzer, that he had so many assists because he played with such good linemates, is that as good as those guys were, he set up a lot more plays that didn't end up in the net. Had he played with a finisher like Bucks or Duncan, he would have had a hundred points that year, and Duncan could have approached fifty goals. Go back and look at the last game of Panzer's career, against BC, and see how many plays he made that game. (Stop watching about four minutes into the OT). Of course it's hard to compare goalies and skaters, but the anointment of Toews, who is truly great and always has been super smooth, as the greatest former Sioux considering a complete career, has an argument in Belfour.