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The US U17 team team is playing an international tournament in Ann Arbor. They beat Slovakia 3-2 in the first game, and lost to Russia 4-2 in the second. Michael Cichy scored one goal in each game, and Danny Kristo is scoreless so far.

Try this set-up; it may have been tried at least one day during the week. Toews-Duncan-Watkins Oshie-Miller-Porter Martens-Kozek-Genoway Watkins can win races and battles and get the puck to the offensive stars, and Porter can do the same with his offensive stars. It would be interesting.

Of course I'll be cautious as well, but the significance to high end recruits of Jon Toews' and T.J. Oshie's experience shouldn't be discounted, especially Toews'. He came to UND in his draft year and his career just kept growing brighter. For a kid like Cichy who has a place to play in 2006 (U17) and 2007 (U18), UND probably looks like a nice career stop for 2008. Or maybe he's just using UND for leverage. We'll know soon enough.

If Lammy is questionable this weekend, then it would make all kinds of sense to keep him out, since the Sioux are off the following weekend. Let him heal up and be ready for the run from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

I just saw Friday's game, and to me it was a typical UND/MSUM game, which is to say it was not a game for the faint of heart. I didn't see everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some stickwork preceding each slashing call. My problem was with the repeated consecutive calls on UND for something that was certainly being equally done by MSUM. Sounds like typical whining about the refs, but that's what I thought.

Yeah, I see your point. To clarify, I didn't know what Duncan had beyond benefitting from playing with those guys (because of course he does), but I think he's a pretty good player in his own right.

A few more things before the memories completely escape my brain. Some of my thoughts from Friday were made irrelevant by Saturday's action, but this is what I saw. First, I forgot how different one's perceptions are when seeing the action live. I have a much better idea what some players are about than I did from watching the action on the postage stamp on my computer screen. I felt quite priveleged to see Genoway's first career goal. I can see now what all the attention has been about. Despite everyone from the coaches to message board denizens raving about his skills, I couldn't quite buy into it until I saw him. But I saw how good he is with the puck, and his shiftiness (careful spelling that one), and how he seems able to make the right decision with the puck, quickly. His line with Porter and Watkins was the Sioux's best on the ice all game long, I thought. I still have trouble in conversation pronouncing it with a hard "G" though, after five years of "J." The first line wasn't the best on the ice. As I mentioned before, Oshie didn't do anything magical, which ranks as underperformance because he has set the bar so high. It was great to hear that his two assists on Saturday were both beautiful offensive plays, the kind we as fans have come to rely on. Kozek seemed out of place, just not comfortable and not able to get his shot on net. So again it was terrific to see him get going Saturday. Duncan, though, played a very solid game Friday, and not just because he scored. I will admit that I have wondered how much of Duncan's performance can be attributed to guys like Toews, Stafford and Oshie. I think he's answered most everyone's questions by now. First of all, it's not easy to bury the "easy" chances that guys like Oshie and Toews will generate; someone still has to put it in, and not everyone can do that. In addition to those, he regularly snipes the top corner when there doesn't appear to be an opening. On Friday, Duncan had a mini-break in the second period, where he was going to reach the puck first but the defenseman had an angle on him to cut him off. Rather than drifting wide to attempt a pass to a trailer, or taking an ineffective shot, he lowered his shoulder and took the puck right to the net. A colossal collision ensued, where defenseman, forward, goaltender and puck all tried to occupy the same spot. I was reminded of the recent Hubble photograph of two distant galaxies colliding. To Tormey's credit, he stood his ground and made the save, but Duncan's decision told me a lot about what kind of a hockey player he is. I think he ultimately will hold a place of honor in the line of small dynamic forwards that goes back through Jeff Panzer and David Hoogsteen. I didn't think any of the defensemen had a great game, and Finley, Radke and Chorney seemed to struggle more than the others. They will grow and learn, I'm sure, but we sure do miss Matt Smaby's 30 minutes a game right now. The couple years of Schneider, Fuher, Jones, Greene and Smaby seem a distant memory. I was glad to hear Kaip was dinged up a little only because it helped to explain why he struggled Friday. I had come to expect a certain level of play that wasn't there that night - trouble handling the puck, and a strange decision not to engage the puck in a late-game race he could have won. Now I understand the hesitation. One bad thing about not watching the game on TV is that you can't see the replays. For instance, I would love to see how the Maverick center (Morin?) stepped right through the Sioux center on the faceoff at the Sioux blueline with 6 seconds left in the game. That's a cardinal sin. I'm not an expert on anything hockey, and especially not goaltending, but Greico scared me. It didn't seem like he could handle the puck well at all really, so whenever he tried it was trying for all of us. He also just didn't seem comfortable for much of the game, but I'm more than willing to acknowledge the jitters that must be present in a 17 year old goalie's first game. On the plus side, he got in the way of a lot of pucks, including one near miraculous save on the PP where he had to slide left to right to stop a one-timer after a cross-crease pass. The attempt was a carbon-copy of the one that yielded Mankato's first goal; on that one, Greico was just a touch slow getting over. So maybe he learned something. Despite holding on for the big win, I left the rink thinking that if this team is going to win a national title, it's going to have to get a lot better. Fortunately, I know there is some history supporting that growth curve, so I have some confidence that the team has a chance to get there. It was good to hear that they played better just 24 hours later.

Omaha beat Green Bay tonight 4-3 behind Jake Marto's goal. The big story though is Derrick LaPoint's two goals in the losing effort. The kid is just lighting up the USHL.

Cut it out with the brooms and breathing easier.

I want to add a lot more but only have a minute right now. I was at the game, my first of the year. The Sioux were dominant in the first 15 minutes, but at least some of that was because Mankato was sleep-walking. To UND's credit, they took advantage of the opportunity and put up the three goal lead. I think part of it was the Sioux skaters were shocked to only see two legs in their breezers, their own. There wasn't a Maine or Wisconsin player sharing them. It looked like the Sioux loved the extra bit of space they had early on. Mankato really turned up the pressure the rest of the game, and had the better of the chances by a big margin. Part of that was the discrepancy in penalties, which was to me beyond reason in a game with two teams who seemed to be equally playing on the edge of the rules. At the risk of being excommunicated, I'll say that I and the folks I was with thought Oshie was rather ordinary last night, the least dynamic I've seen him. I thought Porter and Watkins were warriors, true Sioux two-way players in the mold of Spiewak and Notermann. Watkins is going to be the heart and soul of this team in a few years. I loved my first look at Genoway and Martens. Again, I'll try to add more later.

Don't hold your breath this weekend. He's still a true freshman, coming straight from MN high school, and coming off an injury-plagued Spring and Summer. Hak even said something this week about working him in gradually, that he has to walk before he can run. I'm excited for his Sioux career, but he may need to build up to it. And the only way to build up to it is to get out there and start playing, so that's what we'll see this weekend.

Brian, no one on the Omaha team is generating stats right now. These are the scores of their games so far this year: 1-8 2-3 6-2 0-4 0-4 3-4 0-4 12-29 total in 7 games. Who knew getting outscored 13-9 and going 1-2 in the first 3 games would turn out to be the glory days? Of course it's fair to ask whether Marto is part of the problem, and without seeing games I would have no idea. (Heck, I wouldn't have an idea even if I could see the games.)

Last year was unusual in that UND had two legitimate first PP units. This year I think they miss having the strong second group. Any thoughts on which forwards should be out with the second unit? I haven't been able to see much, but I think I've heard Kaip, Watkins, Kozek, Porter and Forney out there from time to time. I could see arguments for almost anyone else: Fabian, Miller, Martens, Zajac. Kozek seems like a natural choice, with his great wrist shot. I like the idea of Fabian parked in front of the net, since almost all of his career goals have been scored within about five feet of the blue paint. And I don't know who else, but I'm open to suggestions.

It doesn't look like a clinic to me; it looks like an even game. Just the one soft goal.

They said he came to the bench at the start of the third, but then he left the bench.

Keep the faith. If there is a time to get your butt kicked, it's in October. For tonight, just skate in the third period and see what happens. For any recruits who happen to be attending, maybe they'll think, "I'll have no problem making this team and getting ice time," and it'll be helpful.

OK, back to the business of prospective recruits. Heisenberg's blog chimes in on Mario and discusses the Alberta Lamoureux's and a few other things. http://hockeyrecruits.blogspot.com/ "So, does that end the matriculation of Lamoureuxs to North Dakota? Not quite. Up in Drumheller Alberta, Cam Lamoureux is working through his first junior season. Cam is a '89 born power forward from Calgary. While not a progeny of Pierre, Cam's father Roger starred for the Sioux back in the mid-70s. No doubt the Sioux are keeping close tabs on the young winger."

Hrkac was 2-5-7 on Friday, then 3-5-8 on Saturday. Gino said, "that's a career for some guys." Joyce scored 6 goals on Saturday.

I think it's in somewhat poor taste speculating on what Mario's decision may have been based on. There may very well have been some issues that may in fact have been put into the past already. We should all know by now that there are many factors that go into a recruit's decision, and rarely are they made fully public. In this case, I wish Mario and Jacques well at NMU, except when they are shooting against their brother in net.

Derrick LaPoint with his first USHL goal tonight for Green Bay - unassisted shorthanded. That's an unusual scoring line for a defenseman. Congrats.

Commie Greene Zajac Parise Belfour

dagies, you saw all that on your fuzzy computer screen?! On my computer screen, I could basically see little white blobs, and little dark blobs. And sometimes the white blobs and the dark blobs would all turn towards a moving invisible object, as though they were drawn to it, although I never saw the mystery object myself. I'm not sure that's my preferred way to watch a game, but I was happy to read that the white blobs won.

From CSTV's season preview: "The Bobcats return 10 forwards, including one of the ECACHL's top lines in Bryan Leitch, Ben Nelson and Jamie Bates. Those three players accounted for 124 points a season ago and were one of the highest scoring lines in the nation. Leitch was named the 2006 ECACHL Rookie of the Year, while Bates and Nelson both finished among the league leaders in scoring." http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/stories/100206aah.html It looks like Quinnipiac likes to score goals and push the play. That should make it fun hockey to watch. However, it also means UND's defense (played by all the players, not just the defensemen) will get a test. I'm sure the UND coaches are stressing the importance of the series and the quality of the opponent, but it's just human nature that the team might not be "up" as much as they could be, especially with Wisconsin looming the following week. Also, with the Bobcats having a top line, I wonder if Hak might match someone against them. Maybe a Fabian/Kaip/Watkins line. Kaip and Watkins can both really skate, and all three have solid bodies to make life difficult for the opponent. Last year, Smaby would have been on the ice with the other team's best line; who will be UND's shutdown defensive pair this year?

Murphy - Genoway - small, skilled D Porter - Vandevelde - big winger McMahon - Zajac - feisty prairie kid Spiewak - Bishop - speed Genoway - Forney - big lanky skilled kid Just my guesses.

Danny Kristo had 2-1-3 (all in the first period) in a 5-4 loss tonight for the US team in the NAHL. Jake Marto had an unassisted goal in Omaha's Buc Bowl game today.