jk

Looks like I'm going. Mainly posting here to check out my new signature (courtesy of 30 minutes of searching by dagies).

Geez, the locals are a little testy. Regarding experience: In 1997 UND hadn't seen a Frozen Four in 10 years ... and it didn't matter, as they beat BU, the 1995 champion. In 1999 Maine won after being down for a while. In 2002, MN won after a decent absence from the Frozen Four. It's a nice thought, that tournament experience matters, and maybe it does a little, but I think it's overdone as a deciding factor. I would put it behind "bounces" as an issue next week.

Regarding Duncan's playoff points, Salmon Arm's season ended over the weekend with a series loss to the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Trees beat the Apes 4-2 in games. Congratulations to Ryan Duncan on a terrific BCHL season. I did not know what to expect this year as he made the transition from SSM to the BCHL, but I guess Top 3 scorer wasn't on my list. I expected the junior play to be much rougher than the midget hockey he had been playing, and his size could have been a big factor. But he definitely produced. Congrats and I look forward to seeing another classic Sioux waterbug join the team next year. The BCHL semifinals begin April 1, with Vernon playing Prince George, and Nanaimo taking on Surrey. I think Nanaimo and Vernon are considered the favorites.

My source is the always super-reliable message board post. Someone posted somewhere that a MN assistant said they expect Hirsch and Goli back. Of course it's not certain at all, but I personally expect them to play, and that would be the case whether I read the referenced post or not.

Minny's getting Hirsch and Goli back so its PP will be full strength. UND's injured players, on the other hand, are out for somewhere between 6 months and forever. That's a plus for Minny. Lucia is great at getting his teams playing well at this time of year, obviously. Hakstol doesn't seem to be too bad at it, either. UND is super-hot right now, and the break might tend to slow them down a bit. Maybe not though. We'll just have to see. I know UND is pretty dinged up now, and the break will help there. I'm sure the same is true for Minny. The game's on the regular sheet, which is a big plus for UND. By the end, I thought Cornell was maybe pretty good after all, but they tried to play a regular-sheet game on the frozen ocean, and it doesn't work. Overall, I'm not super-confident, but not dreading it either.

It's so late, and I haven't read everything yet, but a few comments (not bagging on anyone, just having a little fun): 1. I guess it was Blais holding them back. 2. I'm glad UND recruited Jordan's brother so they could get recruiting leverage to land Jordan. 3. Watching the afternoon game, sandwiched between the two parts of UND's Beanpot title, I was thankful (thankful, thankful, thankful) that UND didn't get sent to a regional played on the frozen ocean. It's no coincidence IMO that the regional disappointments of the last two years came on the big sheet. 4. One of these times, Fabian is going to come around to the front of the net and push the puck, the goalie pad and the whole goalie right into the net. 5. Geez, the team is on a roll. Could they play the semifinal on Monday? If the Shottenwhatsitsname isn't available yet, I could probably get Cook Arena in Coon Rapids for them.

I've never had a signature before, but if someone who taped the game can nail down Clement's exact quote about the Sioux defense, I might have to put it there. Something like, "No team in the NHL is as tough from the blue line in as North Dakota." High praise. The game reminded me a lot of the Maine and Michigan State semifinal wins a few years ago. Get a lead and then play "perfect" (farce) "textbook" (PCM) hockey. Very impressive. The Sioux will play some team(s) that are better than they are, and may win or lose, but it's hard to argue against the position that they are playing as well as they can right now.

Nice pass by Genoway and finish by McMahon, but that goal is Porter's for forcing the giveaway.

Now that the PK is over, the Sioux need to start to generate some offense. Get back to the 5-on-5 game they had earlier, because BU can't keep up with them.

If UND doesn't win, CC would be my next choice (with UMD out already).

This is just my opinion, but I think that organizations will continue to take steps to develop their players. If a team thinks one of its players has done all he can at his current level (college or CHL), I think they'll probably move them up to play against bigger, stronger, faster and generally better players. That way, the player will be ready for the big leagues sooner than if he stayed at the lower level. (In fact, if the eventual new system offers free agency sooner as a trade-off for a cap, then it will be in teams' best interests to play their younger players sooner, and develop them earlier.) I would guess most elite college players will be open to moving up for developmental purposes, even if it is not for the big contract that it would have been for last year. This is their career, and their dream. So I won't be surprised to see high draft picks move up in the offseason.

Red Line's March report included a lengthy report on the MN HS hockey tournament. The entire report is here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/colu...ne-report_x.htm The fun excerpt is here: Everyone in hockey circles loves the Minnesota state high school championships each March, and this year's tournament was filled with a number of quality NHL prospects, including potential 2005 first-rounder Brian Lee, who also was named the recipient of the prestigious Minnesota "Mr. Hockey" award during the tourney. Lee has been a man among boys all season and controls every shift with his remarkable poise and patience. As for the action on the ice, senior forward T.J. Oshie was the top guy on everyone's Warroad Warriors radar screen. But RLR could make a very strong argument that defenseman Kyle Hardwick was Warroad's best all-around player during the club's run to the Class A tournament title, which was won in dramatic fashion: 4-3 in double overtime over Totino-Grace. Hardwick is strong on his skates, has a great stride and always knows exactly when to jump up into the play. He scored twice during the tournament and has now joined the USHL's Lincoln Stars, where he'll play for the rest of this season and probably most of the next. In the title game's third period, he scored a power-play goal off a wicked blast he targeted top shelf, stick side from just inside the blue line. Despite the impression Hardwick made, there's no question that Oshie was the Warriors' engine over the course of the season. Though he didn't dominate throughout the championship game, we were impressed that he grew stronger and exerted himself more as the match moved along. And he saved his best for last. Deftly noticing a change in Totino-Grace's defensive alignment, he chose a different way of taking, and winning, an offensive-zone draw 11 minutes into the second overtime session. "Their defense lined up differently for that draw than they had all game," said Oshie, who is Sioux Falls Stampede property and a North Dakota recruit. "They'd been lining up behind their center, but this time, they lined up behind their wings along the boards. So I pushed the puck forward, then was able to pass it to Aaron Marvin." For Oshie, the win was the culmination of an incredible family tale. Oshie, who finished his senior season with 37 goals and a state leading 100 points, came to Warroad three years ago via Mt. Vernon, Wash., where he grew up and played most of his amateur hockey career. But as his grandfather and uncle had both skated for Warroad many years ago, Oshie was inspired to return to his ancestral hockey home for his sophomore season. "This title feels just as great as the first," said Oshie, "but then again it might feel just a little bit better because this time we didn't lose all year." Indeed, the Warriors finished the year a near-perfect 29-0-2. *** As for the state Class AA championship, Academy of Holy Angels won the title game 6-4 over Moorhead. Despite his Moorhead side losing the state final for the second year in a row, centre Chris VandeVelde was really a "wow!" throughout the weekend. He had eight shots, a goal and an assist in the Spuds' 4-1 semifinal win over Duluth East, and versus Holy Angels, he scored a goal and had two assists despite the Stars' attempt to stifle him and his offensive mates. He has an incredibly long reach and is uncanny playing in traffic. When he got his skating legs going, he was nearly impossible to push off the puck, in an almost Keith Primeau

I don't know, but I did hear that UND's first WCHA series next year just may be at home against none other than Curious George's DU team. Maybe the weekend of 10/28. Perhaps #2 could go pro that Sunday.

God, If there is any question at all, I hope he hangs them up. On topic, I thought Radke looked shaky this weekend, but I don't blame him for it, as he hadn't played in so long. I doubt we will see much of him the rest of the way, as mistakes are too costly in this type of game. I expect them to rotate five defensemen the rest of the way. I saw enough this year to still expect nice things from Radke in his Sioux career.

Between traveling to and from the X and managing other things, I haven't kept up with the board and hadn't seen this thread until now. WOW. Thanks for sharing the historical info, PCM. The "funny" thing is that the NCAA actually attempted to take a pretty big step in changing the way the game is officiated, and perhaps it was due in part to the experience of high-profile stars like Parise. We haven't seen it too much, since they apparently decided to phase in the implementation of the new emphasis: All the leagues except the WCHA were targeted for the first year, and the WCHA will follow nex ... er, sometime. I'd just like to state for the record that the Sioux are no angels in this regard either. If a team attempted to compete in the WCHA without obstructing the opponent, they'd get killed because it would be akin to unilateral disarmament.

You obviously haven't taken note of the tone around here. We just want to get out of town with our 9 forwards and 5 defensemen while we still have any left. A physically and emotionally exhausted club, very shorthanded, will be playing against a rested MN team, as they didn't expend much energy tonight. Has the potential to be not very pretty. I'll hope for the best.

A little good news. Trailing 5-4 in the waning moments of its USHL game with Indiana tonight, Sioux Falls pulled their goalie and added an extra attacker to the ice. The only assist on the tying goal, scored with 8 seconds left, was given to T.J. Oshie, his second assist of the game. (I think it's terrific that he was on the ice as they were trying to tie. Not bad for a Spring addition from high school.) He proceeded to pot the OT game-winner, capping his three-point night. Congrats, T.J.

I lied about being at a loss for words. If Fabian is OK to go, then I would do this to the lineup: 1. Keep the McMahon line intact. 2. Keep the Canady line intact. 3. Move Porter up to the Zajac line. 4. Add Foyt and Marvin to the lineup as Fylling's wings. 5. Add Radke as the sixth defenseman. I might play Lammy again and save Parise for next week.

I too am mostly at a loss (a first). To wrap it up, I'm proud of the performance today, especially stepping it up in the third and taking it to them. I'm proud they didn't let the game disintigrate into a hackfest after the Bina incident. It could have, and I was (wrongly) hoping for a little retribution. I can't believe they kept their composure. I also wish they didn't play tomorrow. Not a darn thing can be gained from it. They'll play with a short bench, and will be quite tired. Honestly, losing Prpich, Bina and Murray puts a huge dent in the team's NCAA tournament chances. After today's gutty performance, I have no doubt they will give it their all. But it will be tough.

To paraphrase Greene, about not retaliating: Hockey's a small world, and some of our guys are going to cross paths with their guys down the road. If two years from now Greene destroys Paukovich in a professional game, and the announcers and fans have no idea where it came from, NCAA fans will know.

What heart they have shown today. I don't care what the shots say, UND owned that period.

McMahon, Genoway, Spirko Zajac, Stafford ... Murray hurt Fylling, Porter ... Prpich hurt Canady, Massen ... Fabian hurt (toughing it out because he has to) Greene, Jones Schneider, Fuher Smaby ... Bina hurt Who knew winning the play-in game would be so costly. Hope Bina's OK.

Bitching about the refs is something I am basically opposed to, because all teams have to deal with the breaks of officiating. This is not a matter of UND not getting the five minute PP. I don't care about that. In this case, the SOB needs to be ejected from the game. Period. You could show that hit on an officiating tape as the definition of a dangerous hit.

That is one cool tool. I've been looking for scenarios where UND fails to make the NCAA tournament, and I haven't found any yet. Some are close though. The worst case for UND is losing to Wisconsin, which would swing the Wisconsin comparison permanently in Bucky's favor, and hurt UND's RPI and TUC record. Comparisons UND currently wins, which could flip: UNH - The TUC comparison is very close. A UNH win flips this. Colgate - Colgate winning the ECAC tournament would boost its RPI and flip this. OSU - The TUC and RPI components are in question. OSU can flip this if it wins the CCHA tourney. Oddly enough, I think UND will flip the Michigan comparison and win it if it loses the OSU comparison. Comparisons UND has won (Barring an odd effect of a peripheral event (always possible for PWR) I think UND has put these comparisons to bed. Even if the team in question won its tournament, it still wouldn't flip the comparison): Maine Dartmouth Vermont Michigan St. Lowell Northern Mich. I'm not a PWR expert, so any input from someone who is would be welcomed. I haven't looked at the upside to see which comparisons UND could flip in its favor, but I'm sure there are some possibilities. Not to get anyone's hopes up, but I think UND's in.

I like to see misfortune for MN as much as the next Sioux fan (except DaveK, who is obviously some sort of mutant (no offense, Dave)), but doesn't the whining about MN get a little fatiguing? I know reading the whining does. Vanelli, officials, the Final Five ... Let it go. Cheer for the Sioux.