jk

I don't disagree about Oshie being better in years 2-5. I have only included him based on word here on the SS board (didn't you know that everything you read on the internet is true?) that he was likely to come in this Fall. It's fine with me either way. As CouteaRinkRat says, I'll trust the coaches on this one.

I expect Stafford back, but I'm not as certain as you. We don't know what the professional hockey landscape will look like with a new CBA, so it's hard to be sure what will happen. There may be a rush of signings; there may be few. I just know that with a first-round draft choice, the risk is always present.

There were 13 forwards on last year's roster. In the Final Five, Murray, Kaip and Prpich were out, and Fabian was hurt but played anyway (I think). That's 4 down, leaving 9 forwards and a few converted defensemen. I think 13 is too few by about two. Aside from the regular injury concerns, I think the Sioux forward roster has three specific risks: Stafford leaving early, Kaip suffering another concussion, and Miller's shoulder rehabilitation not being complete by the Fall (although maybe this is already fine, and I'm just not aware an a distant observer). With all 15 forwards present and healthy, playing time would be a tricky issue. My preliminary guess is that these guys are "regulars': Prpich Murray Porter Stafford Spirko Zajac Toews That leaves 5 spots for 8 players: Fabian Kaip Duncan Kozek Mertens Miller Oshie Watkins Again, without seeing anyone play, my first guess is that the guys most at risk for sitting in the stands are Fabian, Kaip, Mertens and Miller. It's hard to see Fabian, who was not far from being Frozen Four MVP, and Kaip, who was a promising regular, on this list, so maybe my first guess is not a good one at all. It should be interesting to watch, and unfortunately injuries will make the coaches' decisions a little easier.

Sorry I can't add any info, but I do recall that the rumor was that he was going to play next year in the USHL and then try to walk on.

Martens played two years in the MJHL, at age 16 and 17, before moving on to the BCHL for two more years. 2001-02 Selkirk Steelers 59 GP 5-13-18 2002-03 Selkirk Steelers 57 GP 19-30-49 However it works out at UND, I've got to feel good for a kid who has stuck with his (assumed) goal of playing NCAA hockey, and finally made it. Edit: Martens was picked by Swift Current in the 9th round (157 overall) of the 2000 WHL Bantam Draft.

A little perspective on Martens. His DOB is 3-10-85, so he's about 4 months older than Duncan, and more than a year older than Watkins and Kozek. His numbers obviously don't compare too favorably with the other three: Kozek 60 GP 48-49-97 Duncan 57 GP 48-43-91 Watkins 60 GP 36-38-74 Martens 60 GP 22-40-62 However, when you consider the teams they played on, and Quesnell was lousy, his numbers look a little brighter. With Martens' 62 points, he contributed to 35% of Quesnell's 177 goals scored. Here's how that compares: Kozek 39% of 246 Martens 35% of 177 Duncan 34% of 268 Watkins 32% of 232 One last note: His hometown is listed as Selkirk, MB, which makes him another Canadian prairie kid headed to UND. He's 20 now, so I'm sure the coaches have seen him play more than a few times in the last five years.

I searched the GF Herald site for "Marto" to see if there was a story about the USHL draft, and I found that the kid must indeed be a heck of an athlete. In the last week, these are the mentions in the paper: May 6: Jake Marto had three hits and Brandon Kreitinger got the complete-game victory in Game 2. May 8: Marto was 6-for-8 with a home run and Dan Cary 4-for-7 on the day for the Knights. May 11: Jake Marto was the winning pitcher and also went 3-for-4 at the plate. May 13: Grand Forks Central's Jake Marto was the second overall pick in Thursday's United States Hockey League draft.

I would highly doubt that Alexander would play in the USHL next year. UND needs him now. My guess is that he is coming because Bina got injured. If we assume the NHL finally gets going and Greene pursues his pro career, and Bina is unavailable for 2005-06, the Sioux defense roster looks like this: Smaby Radke Chorney Jones Lee Marvin Foyt While I really appreciate the roles Marvin and Foyt play for the team, they were the 8th and 9th defensemen last year for a reason. This roster is just plain short, so another guy is needed for next year. I have thought all along they might add a 21-year old from Canada, because he would at least be physically mature. You can't have FOUR 18-year-old defensemen. So they picked up Alexander. (Fargo's almost Canada, right?) It's probably better to add a guy like Alexander, who has at least been through the wars in juniors for a few years, than to mess up the development timetable for guys like Hardwick and Ammerman. Alexander might not be a blue-chipper, but the staff is in a bit of a bind when they need to go defenseman shopping in April. I'm sure they've followed him and think he can help. [Handyman, are you reading? He's from Armstrong. Do you know anything about him?] Welcome aboard, Todd. You probably grew up wanting to be a Gopher. Now you get to relish beating them.

Sorry to be so dense, but does that mean at UND starting in the Fall of 2005 or 2006? Thanks.

Oilers' reps go on to say they really, really, really want Matt playing pro hockey next year. In my opinion, he has physically dominated college hockey and I can see why Edmonton would wish that. Of course, they can have their wishes and I can have mine, which is that he would return for his senior year.

If I'm reading this right, Zach just missed a penalty shot with 1:25 left in the third against the Ukraine. The game ended in a 1-1 tie. SOG were 39-9 US.

This is from a Q&A at USCHO regarding Jeff Jackson being hired as Notre Dame's new head coach: ---------------------------- Q: Of course, the obligatory question is, what is your favorite memory? Obviously, you won the two championships, but is there something outside of that, a moment that really captures the essence of your time at Lake Superior? A: It may stick out just because of recent events. In my first year

Believe it or not, that was the only home game that season that I missed a part of. I had to work and got there about halfway through the game. In the interest of the team (as I know they must have been worrying about me, hence the performance), I was never late again.

sprig, I saw that picture quite a while ago and got a kick out of it. Around the same time someone commented that they were going to paint the golden arches in the crease so he would feel at home there. Good stuff, but I'd love to see Reaney come to UND and succeed.

Surrey's loss means that all of the committed Sioux recruits are done playing hockey in the 2004-05 season. 38 pages in this thread following the future Sioux. Wow. Here is how their teams finished: Toews - SSM won the national midget title. Miller - Green Bay failed to qualify for USHL playoffs. Duncan - Salmon Arm lost in the second round of the BCHL playoffs. Watkins -Vernon lost in the BCHL finals. Kozek - Surrey won the BCHL playoff title, then lost to AJHL champion Camrose. VandeVelde - Moorhead was the MN state HS Class AA runner-up. Oshie - Warroad was the MN state HS Class A champion. Jones - The US Under-18 team won its World Championship. Chorney - SSM won the national midget title; also played on the champion US Under-18 team Lee - Moorhead was the MN state HS Class AA runner-up. Marto - GF Central was the ND state HS runner-up. It was a lot of fun following the recruits, and I'm sure next year will be fun as well, with perhaps a bigger focus on the USHL. For many of us (myself included), most of these guys are just numbers and letters on a page or screen. It'll be great to get to know them as players over the next few years.

I hadn't gone through all those pictures until now. Thanks to the photographer who did a marvelous job with them. Unfortunately, now I'm mad all over again. How many of those pictures are of Mannino making saves or with the puck bouncing around in front of him? Argh. It's also interesting that there are no pictures of Porter without a Pioneer between him and the glass. Devsrule, I may have met you a few hours after the title game in the computer room at the Holiday Inn. I was the frustrated Sioux fan reading USCHO when you came in to print boarding passes. If that was you. Either way, nice job with the pictures.

Athough it was a tough penalty to take at the time, Greene crosschecked BC's Bertram right in front of the net while the Sioux were already killing a penalty. The photo of the aftermath of this hit was on USCHO's front page the next day. Although it was very nasty, it was one of those crease-clearing hits that the NHL guys on ESPN basically condoned as needed in front of the net. You could see Bertram on the ice immediately afterward, wondering exactly where he was: "let's see, I was standing in front of the net trying to corral a loose puck, and now I think I'm lying face first on the ice ... am I still alive?" Anyway, I don't think Bertram got close enough to the crease the rest of the game to even tell you what color it was.

I still think there is not much of a gap between the two players, even as collegians. Size is valued by professional and college scouts for a reason, as big players who can skate can do things that smaller players cannot. Someone described hockey as a bunch of footraces to the puck and wrestling matches for the puck. Bigger guys win more wrestling matches. I was in awe of some of Zach's shifts, but the fact is that the defenders he was wearing did diminish his effectiveness. I saw Zajac able to fight through checks that would have slowed Parise down, which is why I think he is a similar caliber player, despite having a slightly lower skill level.

I appreciate your thoughtful post but respectfully disagree that it was so clear Denver was the best team at the end of the year. (Going on memory on the seeds here, so might be off a bit:) In the tournament, Denver struggled with the #15 seed and had a tough game with #8 before dispatching #3 relatively easily. UND simply dominated the tournament's overall #1, #4 and #10 seeds. Going into the final game, UND in fact was playing the best hockey of any team in the country. As for the final game, if that game was enough for Denver to clearly demonstrate they were playing the best hockey, if they were that dominant, then we just have different standards for that conclusion. I have yet to read a game story that failed to mention how brilliant Mannino was in goal for Denver; a goalie doesn't get the chance to be brilliant if his team dominates a game. I can agree that Denver was a great team, and they played especially well with the lead, but halfway through the third period the game was 2-1, and the two Denver goals bounced in off a skate and Stastny's butt. Don't misunderstand, Denver was a deserving champion. They got the bounces, their goaltender played great, they tightened up defensively with the lead (allowing UND just 45 shots on goal), and most importantly they scored more goals than UND. However, I don't think they were CLEARLY playing the best hockey in the country at the end of the year.

Congrats to the entire US Under-18 team and especially to Sioux recruits Jones and Chorney for winning the world championships yesterday.

Surrey got run out of its own building last night, losing 8-2 and getting outshot 54-32. Here's the stat of the game: Surrey was 1 for 4 on the PP, while Camrose was 7 for 19. That's just hard to believe. This is what the second period penalty summary looked like: PERIOD 2 Surrey Eagles at 0:53 - Dan Idema for Misconduct Surrey Eagles at 2:45 - TJ Mulock for Cross Checking (2 Min.) Camrose Kodiaks at 2:45 - TJ Fast for Holding (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 7:02 - Tyler Eckford for Slashing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 7:34 - David Moncur for Spearing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 7:34 - David Moncur for Spearing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 7:35 - Kyle Nason for Misconduct Surrey Eagles at 10:08 - Stewart Thiessen for Elbowing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 10:55 - Team Penalty for Bench Minor (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 12:39 - David Moncur for Roughing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 12:57 - Andrew Kozek for Slashing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 12:57 - Andrew Kozek for Misconduct Surrey Eagles at 15:48 - Tyson Angus for Roughing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 15:48 - Tyson Angus for Misconduct Surrey Eagles at 16:45 - David Moncur for Slashing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 16:45 - Tim Crowder for Roughing (2 Min.) Surrey Eagles at 16:45 - David Moncur for Misconduct Surrey Eagles at 16:45 - David Moncur for Game Misconduct Surrey Eagles at 17:30 - Korey Diehl for Charging (2 Min.) Camrose Kodiaks at 18:11 - Travis Friedley for Interference (2 Min.) Camrose is firmly in the driver's seat now, with a 2-1 series lead, and the rest of the series set to be played in Camrose.

Actually, the Sioux had the same solid goaltending and airtight defense in 2003-04 as they did this year, IMO. I do agree with you, though, that the team played more like a team down the stretch this year than the previous year. It's hard to have this discussion without diminishing either Zajac or Parise, and I think they're both terrific. I do know that I wouldn't trade two Zajacs for one Parise, and I'm not sure I would trade Zajac for Parise straight up.

I don't feel like starting a new thread for this, and this one is a typical worthless off-season thread anyway, so ... I work with a guy from Norway, and he pointed out to me that Norway beat China today in the World Championships 25-1. I went to the IIHF site and found the boxscore: they outshot 'em 89-7. After Norway got to 15-0 (the worst lead in hockey), they eased up, and China started the comeback with a goal by Fu from Hu. China's main goalie, Yu, stopped 45 of 64 shots. Did Morinville sneak over there to coach Norway? (I didn't make up any names.)

Looks like Surrey will be facing Camrose from the AJHL for the right to advance to the RBC. Camrose has on its team a future Michigan forward, two future UMD Bulldogs, and a future DU defenseman.

Simply put, #27 has the potential to be more physically imposing than #2, without taking quite as many penalties. I don't think he's naturally as nasty as #2 (which accounts for the penalty differential), but good luck with either of them in the corners. My only concern with Smaby is going to be conditioning next year, because he's going to have to play 30-40 minutes a game.