jk

Not a good night in many respects. I missed the game, and got home in time to catch a bit of the postgame on the radio. I had a bad feeling when I saw the game thread was only six pages long. Usually every Sioux goal is worth quite a few posts itself. Anyway, TH's theme with Hakstol was that the team really didn't play all that bad, and Hakstol, who knows how important wins are now, wasn't in the mood for it. He grudgingly accepted that the Sioux didn't stink up the joint, but he said that when you leave it up to the bounce of a puck late in the game in your own building, and the bounce goes against you, it's your own fault. Hak noted that they shook up the PP units in the third because the ten guys who had been out there were accomplishing nothing. TH also noted the rush where Oshie should have shot at the end, and I'm sorry I don't recall Hak being definitive either way on that one. The Sioux were in a position a few weeks ago to chase DU and MN down, with each having to travel to Madison, and the Sioux having a nice home stretch. Since then, UW is 0-3, providing no help whatsoever. Last night, MN was in a tight game in the third, and MN came away victorious. UND was in a tight game in the third, gave up a goal with around ten minutes left and lost. Later, DU was in a tight game in the third, scored with around ten minutes left, and won. Just downright unpleasant. Surprisingly, last night DU scored a goal that Hobey Baker did not record a point on. Thanks to Farce and Dagies for their game reports that are more than just expressions of angst.

Looks like Motzko believes everything Lucia tells him. http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../101270010/1002 "We talk about it

IMO it's a stats thing. It's easy to pick out the top forward prospects because they score a ton. Matt Greene, Matt Jones, Zach Jones -- they all scored next-to-nothing in the year that preceded their matriculation at UND, yet they were top defensive recruits. On something like defensemen, you really have to trust the Sioux coaches; they've put together a pretty nice track record of identifying and developing defensemen.

Geek here. I had him as an 07 or 08, depending on how he progressed and whether he needed an extra USHL year. The lineage was just too compelling to assume anything else. From a program standpoint, I really don't know how he stacks up against other options, so I don't know if it's a big miss. From his standpoint, if that's where he wants to go, then good luck. It's his life, not ours. From a recruiting geek's standpoint, it's a bummer and I need to adjust my spreadsheet.

Maybe if we all sign affidavits and send them in to the league, we can get Oshie and Spirko DQ'd as well. Seriously, there was a melee, four guys got DQs that cost them the next game, other guys got misconducts that finished their night for them, and we move on. It maybe wasn't exactly right, but it sounds on the surface to be a pretty fair level of punishment for the event.

Couple other things. First, I think Jensen and Goepfert, arguably SCSU's two best players, both missed Saturday's victory over UMD with minor injuries. I believe they are expected back this weekend, although that will probably become more clear as the week rolls on. It's a credit to SCSU that they were able to handle UMD so well without two key players. Second, I recall Hak on the radio after the SCSU series saying he thought the Oshie-Toews-Porter line was in over their heads against the Jensen line - that it was the first time they looked like freshmen. It was no surprise, then, that they were split up after that series. Hak gets a chance to address the issue more proactively this weekend, with liberal doses of Prpich, Fabian and Kaip against the Jensen line. Hopefully they'll play great defense just by playing keep away along the boards 200 feet from Jordy or Phil.

Last weekend was an opportunity to say goodbye to MSUM. This weekend presents a similar opportunity to bury SCSU. You'd like to say it's another crucial weekend, but they're actually all crucial the rest of the way. TH mentioned something about the chronological ages of the Sioux and Mavericks, and while I didn't catch the exact numbers, I think there was something like 2.5 years of difference between the average Sioux and average Maverick. It seems like an excuse, and I partly mean it to be considered that way, but there's a reason opponents' hard forechecks sometime bottle the Sioux up. For the most part, these guys have a real edge in grit along the wall, and it's no surprise that they win more of the battles than we would like. This edge in physical maturity is also why players like Prpich, Fabian, Porter and Smaby are so crucial to this year's Sioux team. [slightly off topic, in two years all of those players will be gone, leaving a real hole in the team in terms of grit. Hopefully guys like Finley, Kozek, and Darcy Zajac can supply that edge.] Anyway, here's a little information about the relative experience level of the Sioux compared to MSUM and SCSU. MSUM has no freshmen among its top 8 scorers, which breaks down as follows (sr, jr, so, fr): 2-4-2-0. MSUM's 5 freshmen skaters have the following aggregate line: 70 GP 7-14-21 SCSU has no freshmen in its top 10 scorers, which breaks down: 4-3-3-0. SCSU's 3 freshmen skaters have the following aggregate line: 56 GP 6-9-15 UND has 6 freshmen in its top 11 scorers, which breaks down: 0-2-3-6. UND's 12 freshmen skaters have the following line: 252 GP 40-59-99 Dahl reportedly told Motzko when he took over that the cupboard was not bare, and that he would be surprised to see how much he had to work with. I think everyone's seeing now that Dahl was right, and this experienced and older team will be difficult for most teams to play. All that said, if UND's top players play at the top of their games, UND is tough to beat.

A GPLer from Moorhead with good credibility posted that Jordy has committed to SCSU. What a shocker that would be if true. Any of you FM Sioux fans hear this? Apparently it was reported on the local news.

Just need to hear whether they are DQs or misconducts.

Teams are up-and-down through the season, so the last few weeks don't necessarily set the tone for the next six weeks, but it looks like the WCHA may be taking shape. MN swept CC, and is on a pretty serious run. CC has dropped four straight, and although they were against two of the best teams in the country, it still smarts. DU is leading Wisconsin 2-1 in the first, looking for the sweep, and suddenly looks like they want to contend again. It's not a coincidence that their play has improved as Butler returned to the lineup. SCSU is leading UMD 3-0, and is also looking for the sweep. SCSU also has two games in hand on most of the league. At the top, and suddenly vulnerable? - Wisconsin Rising - MN, DU, SCSU -- does UND belong here? The next three games will tell a lot. Fading - CC, UMD Middling along - MSUM, AA, MTU With Wisconsin having such a significant lead, MN's and DU's resurgence is tough news for UND in trying to get into the top three. Plenty of hockey still to play, though, and UND does get another shot at DU.

I assume the Sioux freshman answer is Kevin Maxwell, but don't know the details. Hrkac's frosh line is unforgettable for its symmetry: 18-36-54 in 36 games. A sparkling season that showed the promise that would explode two years later in his delayed sophomore year. My dad has a theory: Don't embarras them on Friday. Hopefully the Sioux can hang on tonight and handle a riled-up mankato team tomorrow.

Sounds like two goalies playing well tonight. Toews and Oshie have each just missed corners they were trying to pick. Got to get those on net. The second Sioux PP was a bit of a mess compared to the relatively composed first one. Now Oshie and Chorney make good plays to get Porter a rebound goal. Sounds like the Sioux have come to play and are in a good game.

Sioux kill off a few penalties, then get a chance of their own on the PP. Just before that Smaby stepped into the rush and took a shot. Nice to hear his game round out.

When I hear McKelvie's name, I fondly recall the game his freshman year when he decided to look for trouble all game long. Midway through the game he volunteered his face to David Hale for a proper introduction into the league.

If that's true, then I'm finally on the "fire Hak" bandwagon.

(deja vu on this one, because I had trouble finding details on last year's game as well.) The BCHL all-star game was played last night. Near the end of the game the score was 13-10, but I don't know if it was final. It may take a few days for the BCHL to post the boxscore on its site. Here's a message board review of the game, with some familiar names: "just wanted to say it was a fun game to be at last night a lot of nice goals it was great seeing the captains for both the coast and interior are current members of the silverbacks macintyre and zajac>>>both played well too also SImon leblanc was outstanding in net made probably TWO of the nicest saves ive ever seen in this league>>>both brathwaite and olthuis were pretty weak in net for the interior the reason it wasnt a blowout was the spectacular play of brad thiessen in net for the interior two out of the six goalies were amazing>> and the best player on the ice for the coast was colin greening with a great game including a hat trick and the two players of the game were darcy zajac for the interior and greening for the coast good to see the level of talent in this game was a fun time"

I agree that Oshie and Lee, among others, have demonstrated that playing the senior year in HS rather than juniors doesn't necessarily set you back too far as a player. This is especially true with the competitive schedules those teams play. It has to be tantalizing to be part of the group to finally bring the state title to Moorhead. Guys like Kraft, Blake, Cullen and the recent group with Lee couldn't do it. If you thought you had a good shot at it, it would be hard to walk away from your senior year.

Hope it doesn't turn into the US Pond Water Polo Tourney. I can't imagine a solid month in the 30s has done much for the ice.

Shove it in my face later, but realistically 10-2 seems like a fantasy to me. A "bad" finish would be 8-4 down the stretch? I'd take 8-4 in a heartbeat. The Sioux are not an elite team right now. I firmly believe that they have the ingredients to be able to make a run at the end of the year and compete with anyone (size, speed, skill, goaltending), but they are just a regular competitive middle-of-the-pack WCHA team right now. In a neutral situation, I don't think there's a strong argument that they are any better than MSUM or SCSU. They might have a slight edge on UMD and MTU, but it's not gigantic. I'm basing my opinion on results recently and throughout the year. If the Sioux step it up and prove me wrong, I'll be enjoying it every step of the way.

With two more teams being swept at home last weekend, I had to check to see if it's happening more often this year. I just checked a few of the top teams, because I imagine it's not unusual for the lower teams to get swept at home in any year. CC was just swept by Wisconsin. The Tigers were tigers last year, and weren't swept at home at all. UND has been swept at home twice this year, compared to once (DU) last year. MN has been swept at home once this year, compared to, surprisingly, two times last year (CC and MTU). UMD has been swept at home FOUR times this year, including once by BSU. They managed it just once last year. It looks like two factors have skewed the data this year. First, Wisconsin is a beast this year, accounting for three of the sweeps listed above (MN, UND and CC, plus the showcase for good measure). Second, UMD obviously is struggling mightily at home. Here's the conversation between Hakstol and Sandelin: "Let's play at your place." "That's OK, how bout your place?" "No, I insist" ...

Other potential names for the 2007/08 time would be: D. Toews - Colorado AAA- 2007 if he accelerates and fends off MJ Tessier - Colorado AAA - ditto K. Zajac - Winnipeg midget Colin Wilson - USNDP - as noted by Vegas on another thread Heisenberg currently has Lamoureaux, Marvin, Christian and Zajac listed as 2007 recruits, and Toews, Tessier and Wilson as 2008 recruits. Whether it would be the right class, I don't know, but it would be possible to assemble an all-legacy recruiting class of Lamoureaux, Marvin, Christian, Toews and Zajac.

http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/uw/index...d=68568&ntpid=2 "A large group of schools had been interested in Gagner, with Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, Boston College, Boston University and Maine among them. Davies will join Lincoln Stars teammate Ben Grotting in coming to Wisconsin next season. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, Davies accepted a scholarship from the UW over North Dakota, Maine and New Hampshire, but said the Badgers were his favored target all along." UND still needs some bodies for the Fall of 2007. Porter, Fabian and Stafford will be gone for sure, and Zajac, Toews and Oshie could very well be gone as well. Counting Prpich, that's seven current forwards who may be gone by 2007. So far there are four forwards lined up to replace them: Vandevelde, Forney, Zajac and Trupp. Should be fun to watch it develop.

I believe I read that the newest Sioux recruit, Dazel, from the Ukraine, will not be eligible til next Fall. So he will not be playing. edit: Which is a bummer, because his father Lacka, Sr., was the last cut from the powerhouse Soviet team in 1980.

One angle that's been tossed about by Woog, the Strib and on this and other boards, is the idea that MN has gotten fat on their cupcakes and might have truoble adjusting to a good opponent. I think this concept is overdone. To start with, MN's opponents haven't been nearly as bad as people suggest. These "fringe" Division 1 teams are no longer a joke. They are real teams capable of giving anyone a good game. Yes, Union was overmatched. But Union followed up their pasting by MN by playign Harvard to a tie - the same Harvard that played UND to a standstill and looked pretty good doing it. Niagara's fun to laugh at, with the Purple Eagles and Niagara "falls" (haha), but they're a real team too. They've beaten Bemidji, who gave the Sioux a real run on Friday and probably were only prevented from winning by Phil L. They also beat UNH 6-2 just a week ago, and played Vermont and Cornell in four very close games. The fact that MN overwhelmed them says more about MN than it does about Union and Niagara. In fact, in the current era, no one dominates the lesser teams like MN does. Something about the speed and that crisp passing attack is too much for the lower teams. While we're talking about respecting opponents, I also don't think it's a disgrace that UND would lose to a team like UAA. UAA has beaten Duluth, SCSU and Denver so far this year, and they absolutely had MN on the ropes. I'm not happy about the loss, but when people talk about how tough the WCHA is, it's not just lip service. It really is difficult every weekend. This weekend will be difficult but not impossible. UND will need excellent goaltending to come home with any points. But I think UND will show up with the effort they are capable of, and I think they will get some points.

How do you think Brent Sutter would react to "fraternizing with the enemy?" Not well, I'm guessing. Toews was smart to mind his own business. Now that he and Oshie have been reunited as linemates, it's time to start working some Sioux magic.