jk

sagard, it's hard not to like the NHL rink after the barn-burner UND and MN put on last week. It was a great example of the greatness of college hockey.

Sioux play Denver Saturday night. According to the USCHO recap, Blais said JPar will be in nets for UND.

If you are going to name potential replacements up front, Canady is at the top of my list. (Actually Stafford is my top choice, but that goes without saying.) I am going to miss seeing David Lundbohm's crafty little puckhandling moves after this year. With all the talent on this team, no one handles the puck in tight spaces like he does.

With about 7 minutes left the Massen line had the only bad shift of the third; otherwise it has been a solid defensive effort. Best defensive game I have Schneider have this year; of course it was against HC, but still, he was an animal. Sioux player of the game: Parise (the other one). If not for a few big saves when the Sioux were asleep, this could have been a different game.

His mom came out with a wet washcloth. I think HC just ran out of gas in the last few minutes. Sioux are buzzing, and HC seems helpless.

Even before he scored, I thought Prpich stepped up his play in this game, and was one of the few besides the top line who was really going. It was reminiscent of last year, when he was very visible at the Final Five and against FSU. He must be a playoff kind of guy. He also scored the game-winner against UMD Saturday.

Not sure I want to wear these guys out against Holy Cross. At this point they have to, I guess, but part of the beauty of this draw was resting your big guys in the first game.

Put the PP unit back together and it's a goal.

Why is Greene on the first PP unit for the first time this year? If Genoway comes off, then I would put Fuher up there.

Sioux better early in the second, but need to put it on the scoreboard.

That was really pathetic. I don't like to bag on the team, but I'll break my rule here to say that was terrible. They will lose tomorrow if they play like that, and they may lose tonight.

Sioux not sharp. Better pick it up here before the Crusaders start to think they're in a game.

Also Nick Fuhrer

We have Linbomb and Bochenko skating for UND tonight.

Maine has a player who transferred from MINOT STATE !! Penner (?) I think. Wow.

Stafford and Smaby should be tucked into their beds tonight. No hockey playing or watching or anything. Marvin can fill in ably at defense and Canady, Fabian, Massen or Palmo can step solidly into a forward spot. UND will definitely need the full lineup Saturday. At least for tonight's game, this is a good time to appreciate the value of having such an excellent season, which yielded the number one overall seed and the lightest opponent in the tournament.

I was thinking as I looked at the predictions that the Sioux scores look too high and the Sioux SOG look too low. I have tried to be cautious about this game, but I think the boys will be ready to play and will take care of business. If you recall how dominant the Parise line looked against MN, and consider how that level of play would look against a lesser team, it doesn't bode well for Holy Cross. Miscellaneous predictions: Sioux forwards will lug 180 extra pounds each around the offensive zone, rarely drawing a HC holding penalty. HC will occaisonally carry the puck into the Sioux zone (although most of the time they will dump it in and go for a change), and a Sioux defenseman will go to the box almost every time they do.

jloos, I agree, although I would hope they shorten the bench and roll three lines in the third period - with the Parise line mostly on the bench.

I have no doubt that Holy Cross would finish last in the WCHA. We happen to be talking about one game in this case, in which anything could happen. I'm looking for th Sioux to play well and win solidly, but they will need to go out and actually make it happen.

I'm sure the vast majority of the regulars on both boards agree with you. Thanks.

Findlay and HC did not play, but they did have common opponents: Holy Cross's schedule (4-1-3, .6875): Sat 10/11/2003 W 3 @ Canisius 1 Sun 10/12/2003 T 3 @ Canisius 3 ot Sat 01/03/2004 W 5 Alabama-Huntsville (nc) 4 Sun 01/04/2004 T 2 Alabama-Huntsville (nc) 2 ot Sat 02/07/2004 T 2 Canisius 2 ot Fri 02/13/2004 W 8 @ Air Force (nc) 4 Sat 02/14/2004 L 2 @ Air Force (nc) 5 Sun 03/14/2004 W 4 vs Canisius (nc) 1 Findlay's schedule (4-5-2, .4545): Fri 11/21/2003 W 5 Canisius (nc) 0 Sat 11/22/2003 T 2 Canisius (nc) 2 ot Fri 12/05/2003 T 1 Air Force 1 ot Sat 12/06/2003 L 2 Air Force 5 Sat 01/10/2004 L 1 @ Alabama-Huntsville 4 Sun 01/11/2004 L 1 @ Alabama-Huntsville 3 Fri 02/06/2004 W 5 @ Air Force 2 Sat 02/07/2004 L 1 @ Air Force 2 Fri 03/05/2004 W 2 Alabama-Huntsville 1 Sat 03/06/2004 L 1 Alabama-Huntsville 3 Fri 03/12/2004 W 9 vs Air Force (nc) 1 It is hard for me to reach a conclusion that Findlay would smoke Holy Cross. I agree that UND should pound HC, but last year's Gopher romp over Mercyhurst is closer to the exception than the rule. UND needs to play extremely hard, both to win the game and to carry momentum forward to its next opponent.

1. USA 4, USSR 3 ... 1980 ----------------------------------------- 2. North Dakota 3, Findlay 1 Saturday, December 27, 2003 at Ralph Engelstad Arena (Att: 9410) Findlay ........ 0 0 1 = 1........ 4 4 7 = 15 North Dakota 0 0 3 = 3 ...... 11 11 19 = 41 Third Period find-1 Mark Bastl (Kyle Ukrainyc) 4:30 UND-1 Andy Schneider (Chris Porter, James Massen) 4x4 12:04 UND-2 Chris Porter (David Lundbohm) GWG 14:15 UND-3 James Massen (Rory McMahon, Mike Prpich) ENG 19:23 ------------------------------------------ 3. Michigan 4, Mercyhurst 3 Saturday, March 24, 2001 at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI (Att: 6792) NCAA West Regional (Grand Rapids, MI) Mercyhurst 2 0 1 = 3........ 7 8 9 = 24 Michigan ... 2 0 2 = 4 ...... 21 15 15 = 51 Records: Mercyhurst (22-12-2 Overall, 19-6-1 MAAC) Michigan (26-12-5 Overall, 16-9-3 CCHA) First Period merc-1 Mike Muldoon (Louis Goulet) 5x4 3:31 um-1 Scott Matzka (Dave Huntzicker) 5x5 7:11 um-2 Mike Cammalleri (Unassisted) 5x5 7:17 merc-2 Brad Olsen (Unassisted) 5x5 18:31 Third Period merc-3 Adam Tackaberry (Jody Robinson, Jeff Gould) 5x4 6:15 um-3 Mark Kosick (John Shouneyia, Mike Komisarek) 5x4 9:22 um-4 Andy Hilbert (Jay Vancik, Mike Cammalleri) GWG 5x5 16:27 --------------------------------------------- 4. Niagara 4, New Hampshire 1 Friday, March 24, 2000 at Mariucci Arena Niagara ........... 2 1 1 = 4 ........ 6 5 8 = 19 New Hampshire 0 0 1 = 1 ...... 12 12 11 = 35 Records: Niagara (30-7-4 Overall, 15-0-2 CHA) New Hampshire (23-9-6 Overall, 13-5-6 Hockey East) First Period niag-1 Randy Harris (Chris Sebastian) 5x5 7:23 niag-2 Kyle Martin (Peter DeSantis, Jay Kasperek) GWG 5x5 9:06 Second Period niag-3 Mikko Sivonen (Mike Isherwood) 5x5 11:19 Third Period unh-1 Darren Haydar (Lanny Gare, Kevin Truelson) 5x5 1:29 niag-4 Mikko Sivonen (Timo Makela) ENG 18:40 5. Holy Cross has a goaltender, which is the biggest thing an underdog needs to make it a game. Tony Quesada, So 25 17-5-2 52 2.19 2 .926

Either something was lost in translation or their was a bit of group insanity going on there, because none of MN's goals were your classic top-shelf goal. 1. Irmen - Back-door PP - put in the open net. Nochance for JB. 2. Waibel rebound - skate around prone Brandt and slide in open net. 3. Vanek - skate giveaway around diving Brandt and basically into open net. 4. Riddle - 5-hole rebound. 5. Potulny - wrap-around (5-hole). Farce, Wasn't it JPar who basically stole the point from Denver in the Saturday game at REA? My recollection is that Denver turned it on in the third when the Sioux finally got complacent after kicking Pioneer butt all year long, and JPar made a bunch of huge saves. If the JB from last year's playoffs and this years UMD road series is available, I choose him for UND's goaltender.

Excerpts. --------------------- "He's the most dynamic player in our league," Littler said. "If he were 6 feet, NHL teams would be all over him." ... "He's a very special player," Littler said. "He moves very well east to west as well as from north to south. And when he has the puck, he's a finisher." Littler said it's unclear whether Spirko will join UND next season or whether he'll spend one more season with Tri-City. Littler said that Spirko is probably smaller than the size he's listed at, which is 5-9 and 175 pounds. ---------------------- Sounds very small. Hopefully small like a Panzer or Hoogsteen. It's not fair to throw names like that around for a recruit, but UND has had some luck with smaller guys. On another related note, Dan Bertram just committed to BC. He is probably the top forward recruit in the nation, although he will be just 17 as he accelerated, so he might not have a huge impact right away. I know I was holding out some small hope that UND might be able to get into the mix for him, but it sounds like he might be more of a city kid, being from Calgary.

I agree with your comments about Vanek's talent. He is in the wrong league talent-wise. He looked flat-out unstoppable against UMD Friday, generating one great chance after another in the second and third periods. He is the reason I think MN will not be beaten by anyone other than UND the rest of the way, because only UND has the big NHL-style defensive defensemen who are not only theoretically capable of containing him, but in fact have throughout the season series. He has picked up his points here and there, but he has not been the shift in-shift out force he can be against most teams. Bash his work ethic all you want, although I think that is way overdone, but bashing his talent is just silly, IMO. Likewise, the bashing of Parise and Bochenski that goes on at POI left ridiculous behind a long time ago.