jk

The Sioux are accused of being involved in so many things, I thought this was worthy of discussion here. Here's Ciskie's summary of it: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/01/25/blatant...an-hockey-game/ Basically, the MSU players were POd about a legal hit, and brutally cheap-shotted the guy in retaliation. Compare this to the Zach Jones incident of a few weeks ago. There, the "classless" Jones was upset about a cheapshot on a teammate, so he wanted to fight the offender, in a straight-up fight, in retaliation. I hope Sioux fans don't apologize for what Jones did, because he did it right, regardless of what others might label it. I also hope the Sioux continue to recruit guys who respect the game and their opponents and play hard the right way.

I have had the same concerns about LaPoint, but I feel like he is a much better player now than two months ago. He seems more comfortable all the time. And last night was the most aggressive forecheck the Sioux have seen this year. When is the last time you saw a team carry the play that much against them? Probably BU is the only other time this year.

Vandy was close last night. Really the only one big enough and strong enough on the puck to play the way the game was being played/called. For men only. Zajac was also more present than usual.

He hasn't been the same since reality introduced itself in the WCHA third-place game last year.

It's a less comfortable position than in the past, where they had a couple big non-conference wins plus a very good non-conference record to fall back on, but not as terrible as you might think. All the other teams in that 10-16 PWR area are in the same situation, and they're not all going to go 8-2 down the stretch. If the Sioux keep winning most of their games, they'll pass enough of those teams, because the winning percent will keep pushing the RPI up. My concern is that I still respect and fear most of the teams in the league, and it's going to be hard for UND to keep up this winning pace. For starters, they appear to be catching SCSU at a bad time. But we'll see.

No disrespect to anyone, but I thought having Mario in for Kozek made it a "4th" line instead of one of 4 equal lines. I'm glad they shortened the bench because Denver was bringing it too hard for me to trust that line. Again, I'm really pleased with everyone on the team and think they're doing great, but the circumstances were unusual in that the opponent was really inspired. Just my opinion.

Denver did everything but put the puck in the net in the third and OT. They definitely wanted it more tonight, and when they're on their game they are darn good.

You beat me to it. BE gets this one.

A game like this is a good example of why I'm glad a lot of these new commitments are big kids. DU has pushed the Sioux around pretty good tonight. That's why VV has to get back out there.

The killing off 5 penalties thing wears you out.

He has completely inspired his team, though. They were playing pretty well anyway and now they really have jump. It was calculated I'm sure.

Not sure on that. The four guys sitting for the Sioux are some of the biggest guys on the team. I would think Davidson would be more likely than Mario, especially given his years of experience as a big guy in Manitoba juniors.

I recently saw Zajac listed in the top 100 prospects for the NHL draft in his draft year, so he may be a legitimate prospect.

One thing about this team: they love to share the puck. When things aren't going well, it leads to "one pass too many." When things are clicking, it is a thing of beauty. It's a shame so much attention is paid to the rough stuff based on past reputation, because this team isn't really about that, and it has somewhat overshadowed what has been a phenomenal offensive show lately. No one chases the goalie out of the game in five consecutive WCHA home games. Funny thing is that the goalies have played pretty well to outstanding in some of those games, until they finally get overwhelmed. The Sioux somehow need to maintain the intensity level over the rest of the season because they still need the wins.

Cornell's goalie, Harvard's goalie (first and second string), SCSU's goalie twice.

Noticed as well.

If you ignore what they've become, and just focus on what they were at their best at UND, I'm drawn to Jeff Panzer. Panzer as a senior was a better college player, for me, than anyone at UND since. (If you can stand it ...) go back and watch the 2001 title game, where he must have set up 10 grade A chances. Always ahead of the play mentally, he won every race for the puck because he knew where it would be before most other guys, and he was faster than everyone else. On this list my runners-up would be Roche, who dominated so much in college, and Greene, who was physically in the wrong league, by a mile. If Greene hadn't played with one arm in the playoffs his last year, we might recall him differently and there might be another banner up. Did I mention Panzer was faster than everyone? Sweater flapping in the wind faster.

Seeing it written like that in January just confirms (for me) my suspicions that, while we not-in-the-know kick it around, sometimes agonizingly, from March to August, the coaches have a pretty good idea all along where people will be the next season. There may be some truly 50/50 situations, but usually the parent club, family advisor, player and coaches have maintained a dialog of some kind during the season. Just a guess, but the names I would worry about would be Vandy and Genoway.

We didn't get to finish that one between MN and St. Cloud last week.

The way that recruiting has evolved, the hits or misses on elite guys take place a few years before they hit campus. Based on what I've heard or read, they missed on Wilson and Nash for this year's sophomores, but ended up with Trupp, Frattin and Malone, who seem on their way to being very good college players who will be here longer than the first-rounders would have. For this year's freshmen, I hadn't heard of any big misses. It's hard for me to argue with Gregoire, Hextall and Toews as at least upper-middle class recruits (although to be fair Hextall wasn't thought of that way at the time, at least by the internet gurus). Next year's class includes Kristo and Cichy, who were quite top end guys at the time they committed. Although Cichy fell from grace a bit, going undrafted last year, he seems to be finding his form. If you include Mattson in this group, he's another near-elite guy. The next group has Nick Mattson and Forbort, who are two of the top defensemen their age in the country. Where Parks, O'Donnell and White fit in I don't know. It seems to me that there is a steady stream of elite or near-elite guys on the way. UND seems to balance their classes with about half top-end guys and half older four-year guys. You can also see a mix of small guys with world class skills and bigger kids who can skate but don't have the NHL hands. When you see a big kid with the NHL hands, you don't see them for long (Toews, Oshie, who probably graced the team with an extra year that most would not have).

I believe completely out of the blue. I'm sure the coaches have seen him over the years, and perhaps he's a late bloomer. Whether it's by design or has just worked out that way, the team has certainly gotten older over the last few years.

UND basically does have that schedule: one series each with DU and MN.

Very interesting guess. I had forgotten about him. His younger brother (Greg?) was a higher-end prospect, but he committed to the WHL last year, and I guess I forgot about Cam then. As much as people around here dislike the team members who don't score much but do other things necessary to win, the coaches do try to bring in a mixture of players. He would probably be one of UND's standard older Canadian kids (an immediate favorite of some opposing fans), perhaps like Darcy Zajac. Zajac gained a step this year, which has made him more effective, but even in his first two years, you could count on him to not do something stupid. If the right play was to get it deep, he got it deep. (He may be nothing like D. Zajac; just a comparison based on age and background). Anyway, I would be pleased if this happened to be a good guess. He did play in his team's game on Friday, January 9, but they were off on Saturday, so he could have come then.

There's no point in worrying about the PWR right now. With hundreds of games left, it will change dramatically before it's all over. It's better to win than not, and eventually that all shakes out in the PWR. To answer your question, you would expect it to be positive for the Sioux to split with Denver. But if Canisius lost to Holy Angels or a butterfly flapped its wings in Mongolia, it might affect the PWR the other way. It's just so hard to say.

Wrong thread but the trade to Indiana apparently suits Mike Cichy. He was 1-3-4 last night in a 6-2 win, and is 1-2-3 tonight, trailing 4-3 in the third. Edit: now 1-3-4 tonight too.