jk

Well, Kessel will at least be taking a "really un" official visit to Grand Forks this summer, and will see the facilities then: "USA Hockey today [6/15/04] announced the roster and schedule for the 2004 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp, which will include 42 of the best American players under the age of 20. The camp will be held Aug. 9-14 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., and will include exhibition contests between two U.S. squads (Teams Blue and White) and under-20 select teams from Finland and Sweden." I don't have my hopes up at all for him to attend UND, but he'll at least be in town. On defense, with Schneider, Fuher, Jones and Greene all graduating or otherwise moving along pretty soon, there will be room for a talented defenseman. In addition, there will be an opening for a "Jones" and also an opening for a "Zach." Seems like a pretty natural fit.

A fine post, Rick. I think the Sioux hockey community is still a bit in shock over the whole series of events, and a little reassurance will probably go a long way.

Bruce, Who is to say you would have landed the recruit anyway?

Bruce, I have to hope that is exactly what Roger Thomas did. I think the reasons so many people are upset are two-fold: 1. They would have preferred Sandelin, or even Johnson. 2. The idea that they hired Hakstol partly because of the potential effect on two months worth of recruiting seems ridiculous. I hope Thomas makes no mention of this "crucial" factor when they announce the hiring. Instead tell us he is the best unproven coach in the country, and you would have chosen him over everyone even if he were the outside candidate.

Duck, everyone.

We can gnash our teeth for a little while, but then it's time to look forward. As for the second assistant, I would sure like it if they could find a way to pay Steve Johnson to come in. It would be nice to have a scoring forward's perspective present in the coaching staff. Are there NCAA rules limiting assistant coaching salaries? If not, then perhaps they could put some of the REA windfall towards the assistant coaching spot. Hakstol needs to land a big recruit to signal that he can do it without the Blais selling point. People are going to be hyper-sensitive to next year's results, and the early-season schedule is a bear. Teeth-gnashing will reappear if the team struggles early.

I'm with many in that I'm disappointed with the way this was handled. In fact, with the exception of a select few on this board, I'm not aware of anyone who wanted the position to be filled this way. Considering that UND already has a jump start on recruiting for next year anyway, I have a hard time placing the "recruiting delay" issue in the top ten factors influencing the hiring decision. This part cracks me up. From the Herald: "Blais noted that the timing of his replacement was critical in that July 1 is the first date college recruiters can formally contact in person players who'll be entering their senior seasons of high school this fall." Also from the Herald: "Hakstol isn't wasting any time. He's flying from Grand Forks today to Rochester, N.Y., where he'll evaluate players at the USA Hockey Select 16 camp for two days before returning to Grand Forks on Saturday." If it's so important to have a head coach contact players on July 1, why is Hakstol scouting kids that are too young to contact? Anyway, I'm not anti-Hakstol. It's just that this is a huge decision, and they should have taken their time with it.

Nice post, skate. I have just a few comments. First, Johnson's local ties are not much more than trivia to me, in terms of who is the best choice as head coach. Second, I would view Johnson as just as much of a risk as Hakstol. Hakstol wasn't a proven head coach in the USHL, which Johnson is, but Hakstol is a proven Division 1 recruiter, while Johnson's skills there are as yet unproven. Hiring Sandelin would be the least risky move. (However, it's worth noting that UND's recruiting has been better under Hakstol than under Sandelin (IMO); that may have something to do with the building.)

A thousand demerits for you, PCM.

I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing that Blais (the most powerful person at UND if not the state) would lose a political battle with a relative nobody. Connecting the dots: Blais aspired to coach in the NHL, he had completed ten hugely successful years at UND, an NHL team offered him a job, and he took it. To an outsider (me), a slightly more plausible series of dots to connect.

Hakstol may or may not be the right guy for the job - I'm not in a position to know. However, "we might miss 60 crucial days of recruiting" is the wrong reason to hire him. The supposed benefit of such a move, landing recruits that you might otherwise miss, is uncertain. The cost if you make the wrong choice is years of substandard coaching. In his favor, Hakstol was a captain seemingly everywhere he played, so he must have natural leadership ability. Also, if he has played a major role in the stellar recruiting we've seen in the last few years, then that should be a big factor in the decision-making process. If UND scans the list of possible candidates and concludes that Hakstol will be the best head coach, then hire him right away. Otherwise let the process run out for a month or two and decide who is best.

Off-topic for a bit. Welcome back, dagies. Quite the news on your return to the internet. I'll give you a primer to help your reading. USCHO has about 500 posts, mainly blown up by nervous Bulldogs. POI is about as cheerful as it has ever been (no one complaining about Vanek's effort, or goaltending, or Ballard's defensive deficiencies, as there are no games being played). They can see ahead to the time when MN once again belongs exclusively to the Gophers (hopefully just wishful thinking). SS is pretty appreciative of Blais, and desperately anticipating news of his replacement.

I know everyone is depressed and the sky is falling and all that, but I don't understand all the sudden speculation of player departures. Bochenski and Greene have been on the "definite possibility" list all summer; they would both apparently be pleased to be back, but if their respective teams think their development would be better served by moving to a higher level of hockey, and the teams back up that opinion with a quality offer, then they certainly might move on. This might be the case for Bochenski because he's getting old chronologically, and for Greene because he was a relatively high pick. I don't see how Blais' decision affects their decisions. Buffalo won't even sign Vanek. Why would they sign Stafford, who must be two years younger (haven't checked)? And what would Stafford gain by going MJ? He's slated to play a lot here, in important situations, with plenty more time at UND to lift and develop physically than he would have playing more games in MJ. Murray's family is just North of GF, and I don't think Murray was here because of ZP as much as people think (it may have been a little bit the other way around, despite the timing of their commitments). Zajac's family is also close (Winnipeg). I'm sure they're looking forward to the short drive to see him dish the puck off to Bochenski or Stafford for the easy tap-in that Chucko enjoyed so much last season. When ZP left, Blais said something like: Sioux hockey won before Zach, and it will win after him. Well, the same will be said for Coach Blais. Believe it or not, there's more to Sioux hockey than Coach Blais, and I'm sure he would be the first to agree with that. I don't mean to minimize his loss, and it is absolutely crucial that the administration makes the right hiring decision (thank you, captain obvious), but the program is in about as strong a position as it could be in to weather the loss of a coach like Blais. Once the shock wears off, this will be an exciting time.

Hennessy definitely said that he would be surprised to see Bochenski back, and he did not make it sound as though it related to Blais. I can confirm the earlier poster who noted that Hennessy really sounded quite sure the job would go to Hakstol.

The Sicatoka, got you by about 80 minutes on that wild speculaiton.

I agree with The Sicatoka's list. In the interest of throwing names at the wall, would Coach Ward at SSM (former Woog assistant) receive any consideration?

Let's keep the replacement speculation out of this thread. THANKS Coach Blais for bringing UND hockey back. It was a hell of a run and the program is on as firm a footing as it has ever been. Good luck to you and your family, professionally and personally. Signed, a student in your ninth-grade phy-ed class at Minot High School in 1979.

WOW. I mean, really. WOW. I'm stunned. We've kicked the list of replacements around for quite a while, but I didn't expect to need it for a few years yet. Bigger picture, he basically told us ten years would be it, so we shouldn't be too surprised. In the shorter view, though, with the lockout, the great team lined up for the next few years, and the WJC, it's surprising.

Thanks for the links. I have to say that I'm not sure Sioux fans fully appreciate the high-level player Stafford is. I know I didn't last year. I saw flashes of brilliance (e.g., a burst of speed that seemed out of sync with his size), but not sustained dominance. I think a lot of that had to do with his age, as he was among the youngest players in all of college hockey. I also wonder if he was fulfilling a non-starring role given him by the coaches: You're young and learning the league, go up and down the wing, make smart plays and get better. Then I felt he faded for a good while after the World Junior tournament. I think the coaches will expect a lot more from him this year, and he will be asked to play a starring offensive role. Although the WJC will again tire him out, at least travel fatigue won't be an issue. The top 10-15 picks in the NHL draft is rarified air, and it should be fun to see his talent develop.

Draft talk has been scattered about in a few threads, so I thought I would start one to consolidate the discussion. Red Line Report has had a few columns in USA Today this week ranking the top goalies, forwards and defensemen for this weekend's draft. Points of Sioux interest are: "Drew Stafford is another big winger with good hands and scoring ability. The bloodline is good too

That's fine, 04Spud. Good luck in school and thanks for contributing here. Please keep us informed of the Moorhead hockey happenings.

04Spud, Surprised because you thought he would wait, or because you thought schools would wait, or for some other reason?

I wish Moreland the best as well, but I agree with your sentiment. If he wants to get on with life and get college started, more power to him. But if he wants to play hockey at UND, his best bet is to go play 60+ games in the USHL against other future Division 1 players. ... I hope he proves us both wrong and excels at UND despite taking an unusual route.

Moreland has shown up on Heisenberg's list of 2005 recruits: Matt Moreland-C (6/8/04) Sioux Falls (USHL) 6' 165 1-13-86 Chris Vandevelde-RW (6/8/04) Moorhead 6'2 180 -87 Brad Miller-LW (3/12/04) Green Bay (USHL) 5'10 170 1-31-86 T.J. Oshie-LC (2/5/04) Warroad 5'10 165 12-23-86 Brian Lee-RD (2/3/04) Moorhead 6'2 180 3-27-87 2003 USA U-17 team Ryan Duncan-RW (12/18/03) Salmon Arm (BCHL) 5'6 155 7-14-85 Taylor Chorney-LD (10/23/03) Shattuck St.Marys 5'10 160 4-27-87 2003 USA U-17 team Luke Beaverson-LD (1/3/03) Green Bay (USHL) 6'3 201 12-11-84 57-1-6-7-141 || 44-2-3-5-69

Nice to see you here, WPOS. From my early season viewings of Briggs, I thought he was good and was going to be MN's starter. I think he is better than last year's numbers, and that he will put up better ones this year. As for UND's strong defense, I agree that it helped to lower the goalies' GAA. When you see not much more than 20 shots per game, you're not going to post a bad GAA. For me, though, the defense does nothing for the saves percentage, which was simply outstanding for both Sioux goalies. Many Sioux fans have believed that Blais' style (offense, offense and then ... more offense) leads to fewer shots against (because the opponent can't get the puck), but higher quality chances (because the Sioux get caught up ice). That would make the saves percentage even more impressive. I will grant you that I had that bad old feeling again watching Brandt in the WCHA title game, his worst of the year, I think. 5 goals on 38 (?) shots isn't horrible, but his few softies definitely didn't inspire confidence. While Hauser got away with a few in the Maine game (not callable unless there's an even-up on tap, which there was), it's only fair to note that Parise had his stick up quite a few times last year, especially against MN. Your hack is my player with an edge.