jk

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.

At the risk of offending the faithful ... I'm not sure the best team won last night. I say that not to rip UND but to note that I think Michigan was really, really talented, and easily had enough to go all the way this year. It is a real credit to UND that they stood up to everything Michigan threw at them and won this game unconventionally. A huge part of it was Lammy standing in for the last 39 minutes of the game and stopping something like 25 of 25 shots down the stretch. As horrible as the goaltending and defense seemed early in the game, some credit needs to go to the offenses. Think about the goals: Porter (MI) - a top shelf snipe that Lammy didn't appear to see because of a screen. Not a goalie's fault. Summers - Lammy stopped a clean breakaway, and the rebound got knocked in. Again, the goalie did his job. Porter (UND) - Cleaned up on the second whack at a rebound. Not much Sauer could do at that point. Hensick - A clean look by the nation's leading scorer from 15 feet out. Good luck. Porter (UND) - Nice deflection, not Sauer's fault. Oshie - Nice play by Oshie, but Sauer wants this one back. Toews - On the doorstep on a 5-on-3. Nice offensive play; goalie pretty much helpless. Hensick - Nice move (but with a luck bounce when he fanned) to get around Bina, but Lammy probably wants this one back. Cogliano - Bad goalie play. Bina - A nice shot that the goalie just couldn't see. Kaip - A beautiful rocket with a ton of leverage on it; might be the nicest goal Kaip ever scores. Oshie - A lucky bounce for UND; nice play to get it on net, but these usually don't go in. Oshie - Definitely not the goalie's fault. Michigan was offensively very dynamic; they were big and they hit very hard. I think the main reason UND won was because Michigan got stupid and took a lot of dumb penalties, not hooking and obstruction, but hitting the head and things that are just dumb, and UND made them pay in an epic way. As fantastic as UND's PP has looked lately, part of UND's success on the PP this game was the result of fortunate bounces. As Red said, the puck was just going in the net. It doesn't sound good, but I guess my summary is that UND might have beaten a better team because the other team took a lot of penalties and the Sioux got some bounces. Unsaid there is that UND played an extremely disciplined game (limiting their PK time), they got outstanding goaltending in the last 39 minutes of the game, and they played a very solid third period of playoff hockey. I think Sunday's game will be a lot more like last Saturday's game than last night's. I don't think MN has the offensive sizzle that Michigan has, but they play a more composed game, and they won't take the dumb penalties Michigan did. UND used their bounces up last night, but so did MN, as their third and fourth goals were bounces of the puck as well. Should be interesting and terrifying to watch.

Couple things watching the game again. Lee looked quite a lot like a big-time defenseman tonight. Looking comfortable. Kaip's goal was from Watkins as they changed lines in the middle of a cycle. Last spring two of Kaip's playoff goals were off passes from Watkins on the end boards; both of those came when they were not regular linemates either. Was surprised to see it was Toews that coughed up the puck to Hensick on his first period goal, then I think Toews again on the play that led to Hensick's big breakaway in the second. If I saw that right, that would be two errors from a guy who hasn't made many all year.

Phil might have been the player of the game, believe it or not. Lotsa saves in the last 30 minutes of the game.

Pardon the language, but WTF is going on out there? OMG. I have an idea; let's make it through the first minute of the third at 7-5. As bad as he was earlier, Lammy has kept this lead with several breakaway saves. Michigan sure does gain the zone with speed.

Honestly I think this one comes down to a bounce of the puck. Not sure which way. Each team had the misfortune of drawing an opponent who is one of the 4 or 5 best teams in the country (MN and BC being the others). The Sioux could play great and still lose, and the same can be said for Michigan.

I've only seen the last few minutes of the 2nd OT, but the skating has seemed surprisingly lively for both squads.