jk

Texas-sized cowboy axe to grind.

He committed last fall around the time Taylor Holst first committed, then failed to get through the NCAA clearinghouse. He had something like 22 points as a 19 year old in the MJHL, so he must be a late bloomer. Having never seen him play, I wonder if he may have a Davidson-like college career (Brent, not Lee ... though Lee would be nice). One fact that isn't speculation: he attended Toronto's summer prospect camp this year as an undrafted free agent.

Yeah, sorry, I left out the emoticon. I think Genoway's mistakes and weaknesses (on display seemingly frequently because of his many touches) are far, far outweighed by his strengths: his extremely dynamic play, high compete level, and leadership.

I'm still an Eidsness fan, but I'm not sure there's much room for improvement in net. This last stretch of games has featured the best goaltending we've seen from the Sioux in several years, IMO. Aside from the obvious problem of Genoway sucking so bad, the main flaw on the team right now is the power play. I'm pleased they're often able to set it up and generate good chances, but eventually that needs to translate into goals. The numbers weren't great even with Gregoire and Hextall, so their return won't necessarily fix it, but it may help. Three conference road sweeps in the first half is impressive. The Sioux have not been blowing people away, but solid goaltending has kept them in games when they're not at their best, and strong play from the seniors plus strong third periods have turned close games into wins.

If someone on the board has been on the Genoway=Liability thing for a couple years now, they should know: 1) we get it, you don't like him, 2) it looked stupid then, and 3) it still looks stupid.

At least on TV, the black vs red matchup was practically unwatchable if you're red-green colorblind. I'll take it though for a 6-2 win.

Sorry, I was busy. That's the last six games played, in order. In the Friday WI game, UND outshot WI 12-7 in the third period and outscored them 1-0. In the Saturday Notre Dame game, UND outshot them 14-12 and tied them 1-1 in goals. In each of the last three weekends, UND outshot the opponent by larger margins in Saturday's third period than Friday's third period. There's nothing conclusive here, but I have felt that UND is a better third-period team this year than in recent years.

Last six games: shots: 12-7 16-7 10-10 15-10 13-18 14-12 goals: 1-0 3-2 3-1 0-1 2-1 1-1

That is pretty much the story for every college hockey team. With the exception of a few guys who were brought in because of their talent for playing physically (Malone, Mario, Rodwell) most forwards on UND and throughout college hockey were big scorers throughout their high school and junior careers. Of that big group, only so many are put in scoring roles in college, and even then it's so hard to score at the college level. I would guess in the WCHA it's even harder, given the style of play. Seeing Heavy Metal Hockey played during intermission this weekend was a reminder that goaltending has changed much more than any aspect of the sport since the glory days. All that said, you may get your 30-goal man this year.

At least one of Chuck's points is among the stupidest ever posted here: His idea that it's all about Genoway, and not the team. This guy has bled green. Did his teammates overlook his selfishness when they voted him captain? Twice? Was that what they were thinking when they pushed him out to accept the Broadmoor last year? It absolutely took Genoway a while to get going this year. Physically he was a step behind his normal self, and he wasn't able to get away with things he had in the past. That resulted in some turnovers, some of which ended up in the net. It looked like he was trying to do too much. But he started to look like himself when the home schedule opened, and he has been great for a while now. As for long shifts, the only thing I care about is the coaches' opinion. If he's doing what they ask, your beef is with them. And I can't imagine he's had any 2+ minute shifts, unless a group has gotten caught out there, unable to change.

Nice Sunday for a few recruits. Rocco with a pair of goals, while Penticton forwards MacMillan and O'Donnell each had hat tricks.

Just my opinion here, but when Blais came to UND, his approach to conditioning was beyond the norm and essentially gave UND a competitive advantage for several years. As in all sports, successful methods are imitated, and college hockey "caught up." I doubt any program stresses conditioning more than most others. Not materially anyway.

Is that your cousin-girlfriend, or cousin and girlfriend? jk

If Rowney has a concussion, was it caused by Bennett's flying elbow? If so (and that's a lot of ifs), where's the outrage? Malone's hit had a terrible outcome, but elbow and stick were down, feet were on the ice. From what I recall of Bennett's hit, he was off the ice, and he led with the elbow. Were they considering a suspension for an intentional hit to the head? Now, if Rowney's injury has nothing to do with that hit, in the immortal words of Emily Litella, "Nevermind."

It really depends on what their potential is. Just because someone was a first-rounder doesn't mean he's destined to play in the NHL unless he's coached out of it. Sometimes they're drafting mistakes. Chorney's small by NHL D standards and not a puck wizard; that's not a good combo for being an NHL regular, and there's nothing a program can do about it. Finley got a lot better in his time at UND (consider where he was his first year and how well he played post-concussion as a senior), but his big limitation is footspeed. Washington took a flyer in a year they had two first-round picks, hoping for the next Chara, but that doesn't mean he didn't develop a lot at UND. Lee has good hands, feet and size, and if there's one guy who didn't reach his potential here it would be him. Maybe he should have stayed another year. His brother is sure a nice defensive d-man at Denver. The current group of defensemen has developed nicely. Genoway, LaPoint, Marto and Blood are much better players than when they arrived. It's hard to get a read on Mac and Gleason yet.

The recent goalie play is a very positive development. Going into the season, my number one concern was goaltending depth; if Eidsness were unavailable, we didn't have much evidence that Dell could do the job. Now I feel Dell is capable. As for Eidsness, most of the comments here look like people searching for something to talk about. If the photo was a panorama of the entire Sioux bench, I'll bet they all looked about the same. Maybe they're all bad teammates then, and have lost their passion for the game. Eidsness' last outing was very soid; he gave up two goals to Denver: a PPG that Belfour and Roy couldn't stop and a fantastic breakaway goal by Zucker. He made some tough saves and allowed no softies. To borrow from Hak from the past, this team is getting close to being very good.

It could be nitpicking or I could just disagree.

MacWilliam is plenty tough; he just wasn't in the lineup. Blood also knows how to assert himself.

I'm thinking Nelson between Frattin and Kristo. I think it might be time for Trupp to slide down a notch until he gets it going again.

With Mattson scoring in the USHL this year, I hope he's still coming in. I know you have to be a two-way player to play at UND, and I agree with that, but hopefully he'll have learned that after his two years in the USHL. When I saw him in HS, he really had top-end skills. Most of the recent recruits are for a bit further out than next year as well.

That was the weirdest, most Twilight-zone, Murphy's Law period I think I've seen. I didn't even think the Sioux played that poorly. Bad coverage on the first goal; OK it happens. Next PP goal, they kill nearly the whole PP without giving up much of a chance, then Maine gets one chance (a very good one) and buries it with :07 left. Then Mac's major. Yes there was contact with the head, but should it still be rung up if the head was at thigh-height at the time? They kill most of that with Maine hardly possessing the puck in the offensive zone, then bang, a good chance and a great shot for a goal. And they get to go 3-on-5 immediately afterward. I'll skip to the last goal. Genoway was not happy with Dell: he turned a harmless play into a nearly sure goal. Really odd. I hope they keep playing. I wouldn't mind Eids being back in either, as he had no chance on his three GA, and I think Dell should have had #4 and completely created #5.

It still feels like the offseason, where everyone's vision of a player's ability is of their absolute best, when the truth is they'll see those heights a few times a year, mixed in with some clunkers and a bunch of average games. My feeling is every WCHA game will still be a battle. Even a down team like UAA usually gives UND fits, with their stable of strong, fast and especially big forwards. They may not be the most skilled, but they'll win races and wear a team down physically.

I'm thinking the same as you. From the descriptions I've read (internet scouting at its finest), I'm thinking something like Chris Porter. I think he and Mario could make life heck for opponents.

Hey if you'd only won like 4 of your last 15 against them (haven't checked the real numbers), you'd be trying to forget UND too.