jk

I missed the last 10 minutes of the second, and SCSU came on in stretches of the third, but for the most part UND has played well and will win most games it plays like this.

This is not correct.

Sioux not getting much help the last few weekends. All they can do is take care of themselves, but a little help would have been appreciated.

This is the year we didn't get to see when Zach left after two. In regards to JT, I think I'm not alone in thinking what I thought early in his Sioux career: that he would eventually be the best player to have worn the sweater. Silky smooth with the brain and heart to match. However, he simply did not dominate in college the way Oshie has this year, and it's not a knock on JT to think that. He was 18. Not able to physically dominate as a result. People worry about the Sioux adjusting their game for tighter officiating in the NCAAs. I say good luck stopping TJ without standard WCHA methods. I can't get over the Hrkac hurdle. No doubt TJ's physical play gives him an edge in versatility, but I've still never seen anyone dominate the college game like Hrkac. However, in 20 years, people will still be talking about Oshie the way we talk about Hrkac. I agree that the STL fans will absolutely love him. Thanks for starting the thread.

With the UMD loss, the Sioux officially clinched a top 3 finish in the WCHA.

Schwartz is a CC recruit.

This is from Brad's blog on Jan. 24.: "Red Line Report released college hockey recruiting rankings for the 2008-09 classes. I don't have a subscription to RLR, but the Wisconsin State Journal's Andy Baggot posted them here. They are: 1. Minnesota, 2. Ohio State, 3. Denver, 4. Michigan, 5. Wisconsin, 6. Boston College, 7. Boston University and 8. Notre Dame." The original source is here: http://www.madison.com/wsj/blogs/badger/baggot/268288 As for MN, brian, they also bring in Jordan Schroeder. In Ness and Schroeder MN adds two extremely dynamic players to a team desperately in need of them. On the frozen ocean they will be pretty exciting. This was all discussed before, but it's hard to explain UND's non-ranking (and Brad addresses it as well in his post). I think most of us ("internet experts") expect that UND has a top 3 class, and certainly one in the top 8. Considering that the list was developed by a presumably neutral source, are we all delusional (bells ringing all over the TC) or did Red Line whiff? Time will tell, but I'm guessing the coaching staff wouldn't trade their class for many others.

Listened to the Inch podcast, and they mentioned something that has been brought up in message board posts: UND has managed to kill off the penalties they've taken, so they feel like they can continue to take them. However, this may come back to hurt them in the postseason. I was curious, so I went back to the MSUM series that started the 2008 brawl season, a stretch that included the last four weekends. In those eight games against MSUM, UAA, MN and DU, the Sioux are 8-42 on the PP. Their opponents are an aggregate 4-32. That's right, the big bad Sioux have been in the penalty box 10 fewer times than their opponents over this stretch, when their wickedness was made evident to all. The Sioux may lead the nation in penalty minutes, but the most penalized team in the country this year may be UND's opponents. This supports my feeling that this year's Sioux team does not play the intimidation game that everyone seems to think, especially in comparison to the Greene, Jones, Schneider, Smaby group that was so brutal. The Sioux this year are not nearly that physical (in fact they're undersized on D) and they're not that chippy either, as evidenced by the lack of "regular" penalties. Their penalty numbers are outsized because of the four big dust-ups. Blame for those events is in the eye of the beholder, but I think this year's Sioux team just doesn't like to take crap.

I think it was notice that a commitment may be coming soon, not that one has occurred and may be leaked soon.

My guess is also Tyler L.

As for the game, this has to be their best effort of the season. It was men against boys pretty much all night long. I was a little worried with five minutes left when DU started getting a little energy. It would have been a shame to have this game slip away after the tremendous effort they put into it. Lost in all the glory passed around this weekend was Kaip with a pipe each night. His move tonight might have been second only to Oshie's Friday wrap as the top play of the weekend.

It was in the second OT in the Class A state title game, against Totino Grace.

I had a chat with Mr. Eades in the Antique in the summer of1986. He said they had a goalie coming in the next year who should be really good. Seriously.

Sioux clinch home ice, and are 1 point away from clinching the coveted top 3 finish.

Oshie wins the faceoff forward, shovels it left and Aaron Marvin puts it in.

3 weeks ago the Sioux jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Saturday against UAA and proceeded to play the single worst period of hockey I've ever seen out of a UND team in the second. They need to not let it go to their heads and keep their feet moving.

Pretty rotten turn of events here. When you're winning, things just go your way. In this game, pucks have found DU sticks. Sioux shots have found pipes. Not that the Sioux have been perfect, but they haven't been 1-4 bad.

Despite the score, the Sioux are playing well. Kaip playing like a man possessed.

This isn't news to anyone, but MN's PP ineptitude is really stunning. They did manage to score against UND, going 2-5 on December 7 (a date which will live in infamy). Since then, excluding the series against Wayne State (which had already sold some of its equipment in its going out of business sale), in which they went 3 for 9, they are a combined 1 for 43 over 13 games. The "1" was on a 5 x 3 advantage against Wisconsin. I guess it's all the more shocking to me since it's MN we're talking about, and if there's one thing they've always been good at, it's scoring on the PP. It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact Ness and Schroeder have on the PP next year.

The highlight of the night for me was UND's response to the Gopher goal. Tensions were extremely high by the time MN scored; it seemed (from my couch) like the crowd really exploded, and the rouser was extra vigorous. That kind of atmosphere can sometimes empower the home team to pour on the pressure. Instead the Sioux got the forecheck going on the very next shift and kept the pressure on until the game was tied.

Marney, as a little girl, used to help my Mom get her classroom ready at an elementary school on Minot AFB. Be nice to her.

sagard calls 'em as he sees 'em, through clear lenses. I couldn't tell what Zajac was responding to, so I can't judge how necessary it was. I hope it was necessary, because I could have done without the post-game cross-check, as well as the handshake line dispute. It's one of the cool things about hockey, that teams can go through the line after an emotional battle and shake hands and be done with it. I don't understand concluding MN is horrible, when they took UND to OT both nights. Or soft, when they were physically with UND all four games this year. The good thing to take from this weekend is 3 points. The Sioux played hard for the last 5 periods and pretty well (not great). If there's one bad thing to take from it, it's that MN might have the goalie they've been dreaming of for years. Put a typical MN team in front of Kangas and you have a chance for good success. Offensively, MN so misses talented defensemen. I noticed a few times where the rushing forward pulled up, and I could feel the pass to the trailer coming, but it never did. That's a trademark MN play, but they don't have the defenseman to make it right now.

I thought I saw Watkins with Oshie and Kozek late in the period. I was wondering about keeping the Kaip line intact and maybe moving Oshie between Trupp and Frattin. Then cobble something together out of Kozek, Malone, and the fourth line. I thought the Sioux played pretty well until after they killed the last MN PP. Then the Wheeler line had a good 5-5 shift and the Sioux seemed to struggle a bit in the last 5 minutes.

Woog is quite fair. The only thing you accomplish by ripping him here is making yourself look bad. Both goalies were brilliant. Kangas may end up being the goalie MN has been waiting all these years for. Early, it looked again like MN would rule the boards. They are just big and the Sioux defense is undersized. We saw that against UAA and against MN earlier. Lucia really built a team for the small rink. I know departures happen, but it wouldn't be crazy to imagine Stoa, O'Brien, and Okposo out there. That team would have owned the boards.

Sorry to quote myself, but let's just say I wasn't surprised to see Trupp's OT goal tonight.