jk

To be fair, the following players were recruited before Hakstol arrived at UND: Schneider - 11/99 Fuher - 11/99 Connelly - 1/00 Canady - 2/00 Brandt - 3/00 The following committed after the assistants turned over (Sandelin and Bowen out, Berry and Hakstol in) Jones - 9/00 McMahon - 11/00 Faul - 11/00 Fournier - 12/00 Massen - 12/00 Genoway - 1/01 Bochenski - 3/01 There are four good to great college players in the class Hakstol recruited (and two busts and one enigma (Massen)). That's not really too bad. We also have no idea how involved Hakstol was in recruiting this class, since he had just started. As for the junior class, it was only four players deep: Parise Greene Prpich - solid role-player; great late pickup Marvin - legacy utility man, doubt there's much money involved I have no issues with the junior class. There is no disputing the lack of production from the senior forwards, though, and that has been the big problem, with only three of them becoming good college players (McMahon, Genoway, Bochenski).

All I can say after reading this thread is that it is going to be a long eleven days until the next game. I personally think the over-under for the next six games is 4.5. But there's nothing to do now but wait and see what happens.

I thought there was a pretty decent chance the weekend might go this way, and of course the board as a result would look as it does. I don't blame the "down" people for being down; it seems to be a pretty reasonable way to feel right now. It may seem irrational, but I still think good things are going to happen this year. A lot of the pieces have gotten better as the year has gone on. Some have been pointed out here recently. Greene has responded well to his suspension, cutting down on the penalties and playing very solidly. Spirko and Zajac have completed the freshman adjustment and are valuable contributors. Radke seems to have finally adjusted as well and is a legitimate WCHA defenseman. The PP is as good as it has been for a long time - usually dangerous and even productive lately. Five-on-five, UND played fine defense against a very good Denver team, limiting their chances and shots. The upcoming off weekend will help heal the nicks and dings, refreshing the team for the stretch drive. One very recent development that concerns me is that penalty-killing, a season-long strength, really struggled. A bigger, and related, concern is that goaltending, also a season-long positive, has been very average lately. This team does not have enough other outstanding attributes to get by with less than great goaltending. (On that note, the shot taken at Parise here earlier (if Hak wanted to win, why start Parise?) was way off-base. I had wondered last week what kind of comments the cult of Phil might have posted if Lammy had backstopped the 3-1 win while Parise suffered the 3-3 tie with BSU. I'm certain it would have been mentioned, with the knowing addition that starting Phil both nights would have sewn up the sweep. Hate to break it to the Parise-bashers, but both goalies have slipped lately, and would like a few goals back from this weekend. I'll continue to pull for both goalies to do well.) Before the weekend, I was trying to figure out what exactly happened to UND and DU that would shift the balance of power between the two teams from one where UND absolutely owned DU last year, to one where DU looks to be the better team. Take a few important players off each team, and the power shouldn't shift that much. First of all, it seemed to me that the play was not lopsided this weekend. DU played great with the lead, and was resilient all weekend long, but it's not like they ever dominated the way UND dominated them last Spring. Second, this is how UND's forward lines changed from last Spring to this weekend: Out: Parise, Bochenski, Murray, Lundbohm, McMahon, Hale In: Zajac, Spirko, Canady, Fabian, Bina, Foyt Looking at it that way, it's a wonder UND played so evenly with DU this weekend. Take Murray and McMahon off the "out" list, and Bina and Foyt off the "in" list, and the changes aren't nearly so lopsided. I am the King of irrational exuberance, but I don't think my optimistic stance this year is as irrational as it has been in recent years. I think the team will win 4 or 5 of the next 6 games. I also think they will beat CC the next time they play them, and that they will beat Denver the next time they play them. I am a firm believer that if you continue to play hard and the right way and generate chances, eventually you will be rewarded with positive results. I'm sticking with it.

Disagree. This was going to be a tough weekend, without some key forwards and against a real good opponent. Still, they skated right with them, and must have clanked about 4 posts each game (not exactly sure). Posts don't go on the scoreboard, but I think it shows they are right there. I think there is still some goodness left to this season.

"Austria is hosting one of three Olympic qualification tournaments in Klagenfurt from February 10 to 13. Vanek will be joined at Team Austria by several more key overseas-based players: New York Ranger Thomas Poeck, currently with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack; Syracuse Crunch's Matthias Trattnig; Christoph Brandner of the Houston Aeros, and University of Wisconsin goalie Bernd Brueckler." If this is right Bruckler would be missing the Denver series. I would find it quite bizarre for him to miss a part of the stretch drive of what has been a very good season for them. Plus the travel fatigue may have an impact beyond that weekend.

For fun I thought I would see who scored for the Sioux against Denver last year. UND-1 David Lundbohm (unassisted) UND-2 Mike Prpich (Colby Genoway, Robbie Bina) UND-3 Brady Murray (Zach Parise) UND-4 Mike Prpich (Matt Smaby, Colby Genoway) UND-5 Chris Porter (unassisted) UND-6 Robbie Bina (Drew Stafford) UND-7 Nick Fuher (Brandon Bochenski, Brady Murray) UND-8 Mike Prpich (Nick Fuher, Drew Stafford) UND-1 Brandon Bochenski (Zach Parise) UND-2 Drew Stafford (Colby Genoway, Mike Prpich) UND-3 Brady Murray (Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise) UND-4 Colby Genoway (Chris Porter) UND-5 Chris Porter (David Lundbohm) UND-6 Colby Genoway (Mike Prpich, Drew Stafford) UND-1 Brady Murray (David Lundbohm) UND-2 Brady Murray (Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise) UND-3 Brandon Bochenski (Colby Genoway, Zach Parise) UND-4 David Lundbohm (Andy Schneider, Nick Fuher) UND-5 David Lundbohm (Chris Porter, James Massen) UND-6 Zach Parise (Brandon Bochenski, Andy Schneider) UND-1 Zach Parise (unassisted) There are an awful lot of names on the list that are still on the team this year. Here are the scoring leaders summarized from the above list: 2-5-7 Parise 2-4-6 Bochenski 2-4-6 Genoway 3-2-5 Lundbohm 3-2-5 Prpich 4-1-5 Murray 2-2-4 Porter (look! an assist!) 1-3-4 Stafford 1-2-3 Fuher 1-1-2 Bina 0-2-2 Schneider 0-1-1 Smaby 0-1-1 Massen These guys are plenty capable of scoring. They've just ... forgotten?

Realistically the ice seems to be tilted towards Denver heading into this one. DU is healthy, playing well, generating a lot of chances and shots, and scoring a lot of goals. They have a goalie who lately is more likely to post a shutout than allow a goal. The Sioux are the opposite of most of the characteristics listed above. Capping it off, they will be undermanned against a deeper team this weekend. In fact, the main thing in favor of the Sioux is that everything seems stacked against them right now, and it's never that simple in the WCHA. In addition, DU, while formidable, isn't a perfect team. If MTU can scratch out a win over Denver and UAA can take them to overtime, a Sioux win this weekend doesn't seem too outlandish. But it will take a terrific effort by UND, and a few good bounces. Even with those things, it is hard to picture this very solid and dynamic Denver team getting swept. So I'm expecting and (sadly) even hoping for a split this weekend. A Sioux sweep would be an unexpected bonus, and a Denver sweep would be a crushing disappointment. I think that sitting Murray, unless he's 100%, is the right answer (and it doesn't sound like there is a question about it any more anyway). With next week off, it makes complete sense to bring him back in two weeks against UAA, and try to get the team geared up for the playoffs. This weekend may be tough, but if you add Murray and McMahon back in, you have a faster, grittier, more potent team on the ice. With or without those guys, I expect close games the rest of the way. Heck, the Sioux have hardly been in a "not close" game all year (just a few each way). My advice for the Sioux this weekend: win Friday, then you have a chance for the surprise weekend result on Saturday.

Has UND even had a decent scoring chance? This sounds terrible.

I am hopeful that UND will come out and get results, but we'll have to see them do it. The one out-there prediction I have for this weekend is that Canady and Fabian will combine for two goals this weekend. Sounds like they have been the team's best line at times and I think it's time for some pay-off.

sagard, I appreciate your posts on all the boards, as you are the utmost in even and unbiased analysis of college hockey, but please stop predicting Sioux sweeps. Everytime I see that, UND ends up dropping a game or even getting swept (Wisconsin a few years in a row). Maybe tempering the prediction by calling one of the games to be close will help the Sioux. Just kidding around. Thanks for the reminder about last year's MN/BSU series.

This doesn't exactly set him too far apart from a college culture that celebrates drinking and a hockey culture that celebrates drinking. Matt, just don't be so stupid about it next time. As for being a distraction, what's it gonna do, Scott, slow down that torrid goal-scoring pace? I say let Mr. Greene pay his debt to society, let him be punished according to team and athletic department rules, and get on with winning games. Edit: To clarify, getting legally drunk is arguably not stupid, but driving that way is.

This is sort of off-topic, but instead of looking back for a better thread I'll put it here. Many people have commented on the lack of net-crashing by the Sioux as a key factor in the scoring drought. I found it interesting, then, to come across this comment by CC goalie CuMac after his win Friday against UND (from the CS paper): "The one thing about North Dakota is they throw a lot pucks on the net, and they try to go to the net hard and look for rebounds," McElhinney said. "They tried that again tonight, but fortunately my defensemen did a good job in front of me."

jloos, The best of those guys (Goren, G. Potulny) are like gold. If you can find the right ones, you should definitely bring them along. The question for me is which of the guys are the right one or ones. For instance, it could be tough to take Loos if you could get a guy like Boll, who is scoring well in the USHL. Then again, maybe with a year in the USHL Loos could prove to be as good or better. I've never seen Boll and barely seen Loos, so I have no idea.

You can't toss out the ties. If you did, a 30-0-1 record would show a 100% winning percentage, when it isn't. Calculate it as though you were computing league points, 2 for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss. So 49-19-7 is 98 points for the wins and 7 for the ties, totaling 105. In 75 games, that's 1.4 points per game, or a .7000 winning percentage. Likewise, my example 30-0-1 record would be a .9839 winning percentage.

I think that's obvious at this point. Actually I sit in front of a computer at work all day and there are occasionally lulls. Sagard, not wishing bad karma on UAA; strictly a defensive measure. The Sicatoka, thanks for a terrific discussion and for providing a potential solution.

(I typically don

Only four players in all of the USHL have more than 101 PIMs. Boll leads with 191. Notably, one of the other three is also a Lincoln Star.

That is the best table ever. Really fabulous. It looks like you put a ton of work into it. (You must not be married.)

Thanks, PCM, for this extra bonus coverage from GF. I'm sure Hakstol's comments will very shortly be dissected, and he will be ripped for taking the wrong tone about one thing or another, but it's hard to imagine a "right" thing to say now. They asked the guys to play hard, smart, aggressive hockey, and they basically did. I've been thinking of UND's postseason prospects, and it looks like recent results have basically changed the focus from the windshield to the rearview mirror. (Thankfully Hakstol is still looking at moving up, even though I'm not.) Ahead in the standings, CC, MN and Wisconsin show no signs of slowing down. Denver had the little hiccup against Tech, but they just have so many more games to play (and they are very good) that they will probably end up far ahead of UND. Instead of hoping to catch the top four teams, I'm now looking for UND to hold onto fifth. I will be changing my normal weekend cheering interest from hoping for the lower teams to steal points from the upper guys, to sadly pulling for UAA, SCSU, MSUM and UMD to lose. UND is following in the steps of a few recent teams. - Two years ago, Denver was on the NCAA bubble with a good but flawed team, and they were eliminated from NCAA tournament contention when they lost in the first round of the WCHA playoffs to UND in the REA. - Last year, CC was on the bubble. They won the first-round series, but were upset by UAA in the play-in game at the Final Five and just missed the NCAA tournament. - Last year, Denver was on the bubble. Despite losing in the first round of the WCHA tournament, they snuck into the NCAA tournament and did well. UND is probably looking at a very difficult first-round series, hopefully at REA. If they were to win, they would then be facing another difficult opponent in the play-in game. UND could move off of the bubble and be a certain tournament qualifier with a strong finish, but that just seems unlikely given the remaining schedule and recent results. The remaining schedule is: Off BSU Denver - very tough team; better than a split seems unlikely Off at UAA - split with them at REA; they have taken points from most teams Wisconsin - see Denver; they just win at SCSU - road sweep seems unlikely. My perspective is a little depressing, but at this point I think it's realistic until the team starts scoring and winning.

I can't find a game summary anywhere, but the BCHL all-star game ended with an 11-8 final score. Duncan, Watkins and Kozek were all scheduled to play. From a message board post (and we know how accurate those are), Watkins apparently won the "fastest skater" contest in the skills competition. Speed!

It's not over till it's over, but today's GFH has a pretty definitive account of Toews' commitment: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/10631832.htm Tom Ward, head coach of the Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School in Faribault, Minn., where Toews plays, confirmed that Toews had chosen UND. "It all went down last night (Tuesday)," Ward said. "The family called the Tri-City Americans (of the Western Hockey League), and then Jonathan called Coach Hakstol."

About Fylling, he hasn't played much in that role this year, but last year he spent some time on a checking line with McMahon and Prpich. They were together in the REA series against MN when they were so effective in shutting Vanek's line down. It's really not that surprising that the coaches would consider him effective in that role. Sorry to rain on the parade-raining. Commence the ripping.

airmail, I agree. Every week, I think it's going to happen (the pulling their heads out). I think it a little less this week, considering how great CC looked. But then again, I was at the CC-UND game earlier this year where it was the "men against the boys" and the Sioux were the men, really controlling the game. PCM, Your examples actually highlight the point that you never know how a team will come together, and considering players departed and returning isn't a very good predictor of future success. A few years ago, CC was the preseason pick, and they fell on their face. Then Denver had the big year, and returned most everyone, and the following team just never came together (I believe their season ended in REA in the WCHA playoffs). UMD (and UND) this year brought back a ton of guys, and they just haven't played to the level expected. Then you have examples in the other direction, as you cited: teams that lost many important players, and skipped rebuilding. I would never have predicted that either the 2000 or 2001 Sioux would be anywhere near the national title game.

Had Parise and Bochenski returned, I would agree that Hakstol would have inherited a stacked team. But when you subtract the two of them, plus Lundblom, you take three of the five best forwards, two of them Hobey finalists, off last year's team. It's hard to predict how players will step up and fill a void like that in the scoring lines. There are some special offensive players on this team, but they are mostly freshmen and sophomores. That said, I agree that Hakstol has inherited a better team than Blais did, and I expected, and still expect, more from this team. Blais might have been in a better position with the fans, though, arriving on the heels of three losing seasons. Hakstol inherited the defending league champion, and all the expectations that come with that.

I'm not being a Parise apologist by recognizing his solid play. He is having a very solid season in the nets and deserves better than the potshots he's taking. He hasn't been perfect but he has made some big saves this year and stolen some points practically by himself. The Hakstol stuff is way too early also. Mike Tice? Pulease.