jk

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.

How big was BE's third-period theft now? It was 2-0 then, and if that goes in it's another death struggle with Tech the rest of the way.

Was going to type that but didn't want a jinx. Now that it's a better lead it's probably OK.

Remarkable how often the Sioux have sent the puck to the net through a maze of bodies without getting a bounce. They are owed a couple bounces now, tonight or later.

1. Get the 2 points. 2. Don't get hurt. 3. Don't get kicked out for next Friday.

Sioux playing a physical game tonight.

I've been thinking that too. The players and coaches don't care at all. In fact, I think they lose on purpose just to ruin the fans' night.

Reminds me more of Brian Lee. Not as polished as Lee was, maybe a bit more athletic, loves the poke check like Lee did (poke it, take it away, quickly move the puck up the ice), maybe more physical as well.

Forbort with at least 1-2-3 so far in the game. He's really tall and poised. Still raw and makes mistakes, but mostly it's man against boys for him. It's a long time from now, but he might not be wearing the Sioux sweater very long before he moves on. He has that "look" about him.

On the bright side, Cichy had 1-3-4 in his first game with Indiana, a 6-2 win. His former team, Tri-City, is losing 8-1.

Here's the deal. When they play like crap, he says so. Like at the GLI. When they play well, he says so. You may think the reasons for the loss or tie are "excuses," but usually they are "explanations."

In a way playing MN last week was bad preparation for this week against Tech. Tech is used to being overmatched so they play hard through it. MN was so shocked at being outplayed that they pretty much gave up. Even so, the Sioux played well enough to win tonight, but just didn't. People who praise them for their fine play last week then rip them for the result tonight, even though they played hard and well ... it seems like misplaced criticism.

Tech is like Kryptonite to BE.

Brings back a couple events. In the Hrkac Circus year, MN visited GF in the second half of the year, and in the first shift of the first game, Steve Johnson (pretty much built like Chris Porter, rock of muscle on skates) plastered a Gopher defenseman against the glass. He ran him big-time, and got two minutes. The Sioux killed the penalty, scored shortly thereafter, and the sweep was on. Also, at the start of the national title game, Porter did the same thing to a DU defenseman, dislocating his shoulder. The kid toughed it out and played the whole game, which probably meant a ton to his team. You're not going to run roughshod over a DU team, but Porter did try, and the Sioux did play a terrific game, but just missed the bounces that game.

I've finally learned, after a long time, that there's no way for us to know how someone's ultimately going to develop as a college player. The younger they are, the bigger the mystery. The only people with a decent feel for how a 15 or 16 year old is going to look as a 20 year old is someone who sees that growth in a sample of many players over many years, like, for instance, the coaches who recruit. The "blue-chippers" that get your class ranked as one of the top in the country don't include some excellent college players. Chay Genoway was an afterthought to the cyber-experts, not even worth a mention, and he's one of the country's most dynamic players. More recently, Mr. Hextall wasn't considered a top recruit in the blog-world. It's a little early, but he looks like an impact player already, one I wouldn't trade straight-up for just about any other freshman. So who knows about Knight, White or Parks. We'll see in one or two or three years.

Rory McMahon got ahold of one a couple years ago.

After Friday's game, TH asked Hak what he said to the team after the first period, when they played so well but had nothing to show for it. Hak said "Nothing. We didn't even go into the locker room." I love that. Putting the responsibility on the team leaders. Reminds me that Blais did the same thing in the break before OT in the national title game. (Of course that one didn't end well, but it was a terrific effort.) The point is that it shows tremendous trust in the team's leaders.

I just don't have much of a problem with Stoa here. He said he was completely embarassed by their effort (and looked it). He's the captain, he was embarassed and POd, and here's a chance to give some back to Hextall and fire up his team for tomorrow. If a Sioux leader had done that in that circumstance, I would have been fine with it. Woog adds so much good that you have to overlook the bad comes with it.

Sioux playing terrific, but 0-0 is not a good sign.

Watkins flying tonight.