jk

Watkins 2005-06 5-4-9 in 46 games 2006-07 5-3-8 in 16 games Looks like a sophomore slump. He scored 1 more point last year.

Congrats to Minot's Jordan Willert, who is going to Nebraska-Omaha, according to Heisenberg. He's a real nice kid.

Not a sparkling first 7:15 for the Sioux.

I think Wisconsin is going to play very well this weekend, and if the Sioux are to win they will have to be at the top of their game, from the goaltending on out through the whole roster. As noted above, Wisconsin is finally healthy, and their game started to come together two weeks ago against the Michigans. Now they've had two weeks to rest, practice, and stew about how lousy their record was when they were hurt. They will be desperate. If the Sioux bring the same desperate intensity, they'll be fine. If not, siouxsports.com will not be a very nice play to be next week.

There's a little rumor on the high school board that Jordy Murray committed to Wisconsin. He's on Shattuck's top line with Stepan and Montpetit, both of whom will also be Badgers.

Your point is that #9 picks are supposed to become NHL stars, and as one of your examples you choose a guy who hasn't played in the NHL yet. As for where Lee ranks in the list of current UND defensemen, thanks for the chuckle.

A kind Badger fan posted this on USCHO. I pass it on here as a public service: ---------------------- If anybody is interested, Kerry Eades and John Newberry will be on the Badger Hockey Hour on WIBA radio tonight. Of course, they will be recalling the famous "Water Bottle Incident" (WI v ND) from the early 80's that set off the best fight I have ever seen in my life. I can remember it like it was yesterday..... Sioux fans, WIBA has live streaming. The show is at 7 PM tonight.

The thing that may tend to keep Chorney a bit longer than otherwise is that he's an Edmonton property, and Edmonton: 1) Still doesn't have an AHL affiliate and doesn't have enywhere to send its signees, and 2) Likes UND's player development. If he's not ready for the NHL, this is one case where they may really prefer him to be in college rather than in their "system."

2008 will need a lot of defensemen. Radke, Bina, Lee, Chorney and Finley will all likely be gone. Forget how ready they may be and remember their draft positions. 2009 will need a lot of forwards. This big sophomore class will be graduating.

I'm generally big on respecting opponents, and in this case I know the success the U18 team has had against good college teams, but really, UND should kick these 17-year olds all over the ice. I know the toddlers must be quite good to have had the results they've had, so I don't really expect UND to dominate them, but really ... they should.

Lives-to... 's presence and posts bring up a philosophical question about the board. Is it only about agreeing with the members of the club, or should someone be allowed to be open with their opinions, even if they're negative? Personally, I'm in favor of people presenting dissenting viewpoints, although I sometimes withhold my negative thoughts in light of the fact that the players on the team are generally good kids in an extremely demanding environment, trying their best. So I don't mind Lives-to... posting here. I do, however, think some of his/her opinions are completely wrong. He/she lost me when a discussion of Finley included a comment about the coaches likely helping Smaby pack his bags because he was such a liability. Now that's a laugh. With the possible exception of Parise, Smaby was this team's biggest offseason loss. He f'in killed people every game, and that presence does not exist this year. I learned then to take Lives-to... with a grain of salt.

Just wanted to address the impact of the WJC on the Sioux schedule. December 8-9 UND, with a full squad, hosts Wisconsin. December 10 Canadian Junior Camp opens; Toews trades his Sioux logo for the Maple Leaf. December 15-16 UND, without Toews, hosts MTU. Will UND's presumed US Junior Team members be available? I think so, but am not sure when the players report. December ?? US players report to the US team. Chorney and Lee will likely be on the team. December 26 WJC begins in Sweden. December 29-30 Dartmouth tournament; Sioux without Toews, Lee and Chorney. January 5 WJC gold medal game January 5-6 UND, still without Toews, Lee and Chorney, visits CC. January 12-13 UAA visits a fully-equipped UND team. --------------------------------- Assuming Lee and Chorney make the US team, and Toews the Canadian team, what will the Sioux look like in their absence? Defense: Radke, Bina, Jones, Finley, Foyt, Genoway Forwards: If Genoway moves to defense, then you need to replace Toews and Genoway from their line, leaving only Duncan. I assume you pair Oshie and Duncan, and let the rest fall into place after that.

Kermit, I believe that's ROI's write-up on the commitment. It's a fun read.

Brett Bruneteau had a big 1-3-4 night for Omaha, and Derrick LaPoint had another ho-hum 2 assists for Green Bay tonight. Malone and Marto were scoreless.

I'm going to interrupt the substance abuse for a second and play devil's advocate. I've spent years here talking people off the ledge at times like this, but I want to point out a genuine concern. The early-season records posted by the Sicatoka to lead off this thread are similar to this year, but both of the preceding years had UND staring into the abyss in early or mid-March. Had the Sioux lost to MSUM last year in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the season was probably over. (Obviously) no Final Five, but also likely no NCAA tournament invitation. They have played with fire going into the last week or two of the last two years on the NCAA bubble, and it's entirely possible that they could have an unhappy ending one of these years if it continues to happen - one of those games where they show up and play well but don't get the bounces or get outgoaltended. I personally have seen enough to think that the team could be very good again down the stretch, so I'm not worried terribly. Just a little. edit: mksioux beat me to it.

But Hak in fact happy with the team's effort all the way through the lineup. People here get too caught up in the scoreboard in evaluating the play. With good goaltending, UND will win most of the games when they play a good solid game like this. They didn't get any bounces, hit posts, etc., while UAA did. And UAA played very well all weekend; very impressive team speed. I don't like giving away points either, but I saw elements that can be put together to make this team formidable down the line.

I personally didn't think the Sioux played that poorly tonight. It'll be interesting to hear what Hak says.

Malone and LaPoint each with a goal last night. Bruneteau and Marto scoreless. In the BCHL, Evan Trupp played his first game and assisted on Hextall's third period goal. Hextall added the game-ending OT goal later for his second of the night.

FWIW, The Sioux are not getting manhandled. They had the better of the scoring chances in the second period. In fact, I think UAA's only good scoring chance of the period was the last PP goal. Sometimes your goaltender doesn't have a good game, and that's what happened here (that plus the part about the goalie getting run over). With average goaltending, they'll win most games when they play like this.

Maybe Bishop is from Alaska so he'll be making the trip. Then who stays home? It has to be a tough call.

It was a good night it the USHL, though, as Brad Malone scored 1-1-2 in a win for Sioux Falls, and Derrick La(tsa)Point(s) also went 1-1-2 in a Green Bay win.

Ouch, this one hurts. Danny Kristo scored the first two goals of the game as the US built a 4-0 lead halfway through the game. Russia scored the next two goals in the second period, and the only two of the third period, including a shorty with three minutes left, to tie it 4-4. Russia won it in OT 5-4.

Shattuck has updated their stats. The team is led in scoring by 5 junior forwards, all of whom have played 21 games: 19-11-30 Brock Montpetit (WI recruit) 13-16-29 Derek Stepan (Hastings, MN) 10-19-29 Jordan Murray (Brady's brother) 9-13-22 David Toews (Jon's brother) 8-14-22 Eli Zuck (Anchorage, AK)

I think we'll see a lot of this type of courting of high school sophomore and junior forwards, because it's that group that UND will need to tap for the 2009 class. If you look ahead, the Sioux are close to full for 2007, and they don't look to need a big class for 2008, with Cichy already commited and legacies like Toews and Cam Lamoureaux (sp) still out there. However, UND's big group of sophomores will graduate in the Spring of 2009, and will need to be replaced by a big class that Fall. It would fit that this year's high school juniors would arrive in 2009 after a year of junior hockey. So we'll see.

Kristo had 1-1-2 tonight in a 6-4 win over the Swiss. The US will play Russia tomorrow for the championship.