jk

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.

Also, Chicago pushed Toews hard to sign after the summer camp between his frosh and soph seasons. That Toews came back didn't reflect so much Chicago's view of UND as it did Toews' view. Similarly, St. Louis wanted Oshie badly a year before he left. In those cases anyway, the extra year UND got wasn't because the NHL teams wanted another year of UND development, it was because the players themselves wanted to return, reflecting a pretty sound internal culture in the program.

Despite the coach's opinion, which is almost certainly right, I'm stubbornly sticking to my belief they were out of gas against Yale. They lost races to the puck, then they lost battles for them when they got there. The six games in nine days showed as they hung on for dear life against SCSU at the X, and I don't think they had recovered yet. I agree the WCHA should try to minimize the number of games in those last few weeks, but of course not sure how.

The logjam at D will very quickly resolve itself and be wide open in a few years. After next year Genoway, Marto and LaPoint will be gone, Blood and Mac will be flight risks in the next few years, and who knows what the timetable will be for Forbort and Simpson. If they really stand out or their NHL teams want them badly, they could be short-timers.

They were just plain out of gas. It was evident in the number of 50/50 pucks they lost to Yale, and in fact to SCSU in the last half of that game. No one's fault really. They played their guts out to go from down 0-2 to SC to up 4-2, and I think that was it. The tank was empty and they couldn't get it more than half full over the week.

You and your dam facts.

They'd have to buy the rights to the name "Goons." Goon, you could be in for a major payday!

I hope the team doesn't see those clips because it would be easy to get overconfident. Even so, appearances can be deceiving. My concerns are: Despite those appearances, Yale can play. They were 2-0 against Cornell, and I respect Cornell. They also outshot Wisconsin 42-22, which is hard for me to fathom. I'm having trouble imagining anyone outshooting this Wisconsin team that badly. They're rested. I should check facts before posting them, but didn't three of last year's final four teams have the weekend preceding the regionals off? It could be that they have tons of jump and by the third the Sioux are still feeling the six-game burst they just experienced. Afterward, it may seem obvious that their legs would be shot. My biggest concern: The Sioux spend too much time in the box for hitting hard. A few years ago the Sioux tried to check BC into submission, went to the box and had to dial it back. Two nights later, Michigan State did the same thing, they let them play, and by the end BC showed the effects of being hit all game long. If the Sioux are allowed to check Yale as they checked St. Cloud for the first 30 minutes last Saturday, I think Yale will go quietly. If they get sent to the box and Yale pops in a few PP goals, not only will they be ahead on the scoreboard but the Sioux will be forced to pull back the physical play. I know there are answers to all these concerns, but these are at the front of my mind.

While they haven't won a national title yet, UND's coaching staff has once again demonstrated their excellence. This has been perhaps their best coaching job, given the obstacles facing the team. You could say that with the built-in advantages of coaching at UND, they should contend nationally every year, and I would agree. [The arena is second-to-none, player development (for the pros) is at least on par with Michigan, Wisconsin, BC, MN and Denver, and the geographic placement near both MN and the Canadian prairies is excellent.] However, other schools have similar, though different, advantages. They may not have the arena, but other schools can offer better climates (unless you're a polar bear), bigger cities (if you're into that) and schools with better academic reputations (though I think you get out of college what you put into it). Of those other college hockey "haves," guess who's missed the NCAA tourney twice in the last five years: Denver... Wisconsin ... and MN. Michigan almost missed this year, but got it done. As simple as it is to expect really good teams every year, it's not so easy to actually do it. So, whatever happens the rest of the way, congratulations on another great season, and consistently putting a very good team on the ice in the Spring.

MN played better tonight, but the Sioux consistently had the better of the play throughout the game and will win most games when they do that. MN's two third-period goals were the kind of shot the Sioux took 20 of tonight, but MN's just found their way into the net while UND's did not. I'm not thrilled with the extra game because they start to add up, with fatigue becoming an issue heading into the NCAAs.

Dave, To me the single biggest reason the Sioux defense has been so solid this year is Mac and Gleason being able to step in and be effective after a very short transition period. Neither are perfect, but they are far ahead of most freshmen defensemen. I also think the composure in the defensive zone - making smart D-to-D passes rather than wildly sending it up or around the wall - has been the best I've seen in years. I think this is the best team defense I've seen out of a Sioux team since the killers went to the NCAA title game.