jk

First goal wins?

I've never bashed Lee and don't intend to here, but you need to revisit last year's PP experience. Bina replaced Lee on the top PP unit in the second half of the year, and the PP never looked back. It was as dominant a Sioux PP as I've ever seen, and Lee never got back onto the top unit.

Not sure who would be in the four forward spots on the PP not occupied by Oshie and Duncan. Ended up being Vandy, then Watkins, Miller and Martens. I thought we might see Trupp or Frattin somewhere on the PP. I thought Trupp, Frattin and Malone all looked pretty decent. Disappointed to not see Forney, as he was the headline recruit last year.

I said the first time I saw Toews play for the Sioux that he had a chance to be the best pro skater ever to lace them up for UND. This was after I saw him in person, where you can really appreciate how smooth he is. To have the best pro career he has to top Belfour, which is a high hurdle.

Looking forward to 4-on-4 shifts this year. Oshie, Duncan, Chorney and someone else -- LaPoint, Bina, Genoway? There will be more open ice than on the PP, and the opponent won't be playing a collapse around the goaltender D like they would on the PK. I can see shifts where Oshie and Duncan occupy a few opposing defensemen and then feed it to Chorney sneaking in from the point for the tip in.

I have no specific comment on Mario, because I've seen him play as much as I've seen Trupp, Cichy, Toews, Kristo, etc. play, which is to say, not at all. I also totally appreciate that an ideal hockey team has a mix of different types of players, and guys who might be a little short of skill but are hard to play against play a role. However, it is hard to see how the numbers add up in the fall of 2008. UND loses Kaip, Radke, Oshie and Duncan up front, and Bina, Chorney and Finley on the blueline (assuming likely early departures). That's 4 and 3. They have Cichy, Toews, Gregoire, Bruneteau, Hextall and now Lamoureux coming in, plus Blood and Gleason. That's 6 and 2. Of the 6, it's hard to see any of them getting pushed back to 2009. Cichy and Toews are national recruits, not the kind of guys who play an extra year of juniors. Gregoire and Bruneteau are both playing an extra year of juniors after their draft year already, and both were drafted. Hextall and now Mario are also playing their extra year of junior hockey this year. It looks like a heck of a class, but there might be an awful lot of forwards on the team that year. I should add that it seems odd to those of us who aren't privy to the plan, but I'm sure the coaching staff has next fall well considered. It'll just be interesting to see how it shakes out.

Quite a few people have bounced around the question of which Sioux player is more likely to win the Hobey, Duncan or Oshie. If they stay healthy, I think they each have a good chance at the award, but I think that if Chorney played on any other team, people would be talking him up as a potential Hobey finalist. Hakstol said earlier that he thought Chorney had a chance to have a Leopold or Carle type of impact, if he stayed in college long enough. The Edmonton people think he might be the best college defenseman in the country this year. If those folks are right, he could very well seriously contend for major awards this year. He should play about 30 minutes a game, so everyone will get a good look at him. ("Just like a Sioux fan to think the whole team should win the Hobey.")

Three 09 forwards, all from the Metro. Interesting. There's not much room left for forwards until 2010 now.

Kristo and other USNDT members did participate in the camp, but USA Hockey chooses to assemble the team that will play internationally out of non-USNDT players. Not sure of the motivation, but it may be to give other players a chance to play internationally, since the USNDT players get plenty of that during the season.

There will likely need to be several more defensemen recruited for 2008. Jones, Genoway, LaPoint, Marto. That leaves a need for three or four more defensemen. Blood is one. Gleason may be another if he is ready. I'm sure the coaches have a few kids in mind.

STL's development camp runs from July 9-13.

There is no way a healthy Matt Watkins will sit. Except for the part about not being a one-man wrecking crew, he will step into Chris Porter's spot as the heart and soul of the team. Not a big scorer, but on the ice in a ton of crucial situations. I think the coaches will rely heavily on him over the next two years.

I think if that particular poster hints that Walters may commit soon, he might be hoping that he commits to SCSU, his team.

He's from Calgary. Interesting. Have any good college players ever come from Calgary?

Strictly my opinion, but I think JT will in fact move on this year, and if so Sioux fans should thank him for the extra year, which was filled with terrific moments, and rejoice in the players that are returning. That said, if there is a line next year with Duncan and Oshie on it, it should simply be called the Hobey Line, for the one award in the bank and the one that several linemates may contend for.

Don't jump to conclusions on flimsy rumors. The grapevine on his surgery is correct, and he may very well be planning on coming back for next year. I'll bet we hear something soon.

Early indications, even if they come from honest opinions of heartfelt beliefs, can change over time. Sometimes people's impressions change when they stop looking back and begin to look forward again. I'll hope all the guys with choices make the best ones for themselves. Selfishly, I'll hope they think it's in their best interests to continue to improve at UND.

This I agree with. Could you imagine the Sioux beating Michigan, MN and BC, only to lose to MSU? And on a game-winner with just 19 seconds left. Ouch. The fanbase will be traumatized for a long time over this one. The BU fans are diggin' it though.

Actually I thought they played a really great period of playoff hockey on Thursday in the third, until things went wacky in the last six minutes or so. They had taken most of BC's chances away, especially compared to the second, which was ridiculous. Then the whole Kaip line got caught deep chasing the puck behind BC's net, resulting in the rush that broke the 2-2 tie. Then the not-smart stuff you referred to.

To tie this in with some of the stuff on the threads about UND/BC, the tightly called game really forced UND to abandon its game plan of wearing BC down physically. MSU was able to play physically, and they played a safe game. It's not in UND's nature to play a safe game like that, but I wouldn't have minded it if it would have had this result. This MSU championship team can sidle right up next to Denver's first team that came from outer space to win the title. It truly shows that anyone who makes it into the tournament can win it. MSU also won the beanpot this year.

Marty Sertich came back for another year.

At the end of the second, I couldn't believe how much BC was outclassing UND; they had the puck all the time. PCM was right though, and I thought UND played outstanding playoff hockey through most of the third period. All the great chances BC had earlier in the game were eliminated in the third, and the Sioux finally started to wear them down. The go-ahead goal was a nice play by BC, but it was one of their first good chances of the period. The rest of the game was wierdly similar to last year's game. Last year the Sioux went on the PK with about 5 minutes left and Zajac got the SHG to cut it to 6-4, then UND took another penalty with 3 minutes left. Lee scored with 12 seconds left. This year Porter goes with 6 minutes left, and Oshie gets the SHG to tie it at 3-3. Then Finley got called right away, and while I thought the call was weak, UND did get the makeup call a minute later. The ENG ultimately was a killer, and I just haven't seen a wide angle view of that one to see what happened. Did everyone go off on a change? Did they think the PP was over and it would be called for icing? Whatever the reason, it was a huge mental mistake that may have costed the hockey game. Oshie is like Scott Dub with mad skills. A big factor in this game was Boyle's ability to contain Toews; on many Sioux possessions, it seemed that Boyle rubbed JT out, and the possession ended. A big difference between these teams occurred over the offseason. While the WCHA powers lost many of their stars, Boyle and Schneider (BC's two best players) inexplicably returned to BC for their senior and junior years, respectively. Take your pick among Zajac, Stafford and Smaby and see if it would have made a difference. Denver and MN could make the same claim. It's not that UND was victimized by early defections, just that BC benefited from avoiding them. Like Jordan Leopold, Boyle looks to make his return count by winning a title. It's not a rip on Toews that Boyle contained him so well. All you need to see to understand it is: Boyle DOB 12/18/84. Toews DOB 4/28/88. Three and a half years makes a pretty big difference in physical maturity. I think the better team probably won tonight, but this game was winnable in the third period despite that, and it's too bad they weren't able to finish it out.

Some of the penalties called on BC haven't exactly been horrible infractions either. The downside of the way it's been called is that it has taken the hitting out of the Sioux gameplan somewhat. That had to be the plan - wear them down by pounding them - but when every check into the boards is a penalty, after a while you have to stop throwing them.

Sioux are getting worked. It looks like BC has reassembled the speed kills Sioux of the late 90s. Sioux have to be smarter with the puck in the third. Don't love our chances, but I'll be hopeful.

Thanks Sagard. Reading the internet the last few days and then watching postgame interviews has left me at odds with myself on how to take this game. I've concluded that the internet doesn't foster friendliness in rivalries. Basically, reading fan exchanges on various websites had left me with some pretty hard feelings towards the Gophers -- worse than my routine hatred. Then I watched MN play their guts out; both teams really played well, and a victory by either would not have been undeserved. And in the postgame interview, Lucia was complimentary and a stand-up guy. I don't really think I hate the hockey team so much as the fans that spew such stupidity on the internet. And of course I know the green-tinted version of the stupidity can be found here in probably the same quantity. The funny thing is that almost all the Gopher fans I know personally (and I'm surrounded by them) are good fans. So I guess I'll try to take the internet with a grain of salt and cheer on the Sioux. And still cheer against MN, but more nicely.