redwing77 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 This has nothing to do with LaPoint. Someone just asked to rank the defensemen so I did. I gave my honest opinion as to how good I feel each player is. When people asked why I ranked Finley so low I told them. I've come to the conclusion that Sioux fans favor a big defensive defenseman in the Smaby, Green mold, (And trust me, Finley can't hold the jocks of those two.) over an offensive minded defenseman, see Lee, Brian, LaPoint, Derrick. You guys are gonna be real upset if thats the case when Joey Gleason comes here. You're right. So far Finley hasn't been as much of a menace on the blue line as Greene and Smaby were and you can tell it easily- by looking at the penalty minutes. Smaby and Greene spent a TON of time in the penalty box. Sure, Finley got beat a few times. Gosh, so did Greene and Smaby and Commodore and so on. All big defensemen can be beat by speedy small forwards. It's rare to see otherwise. However, Finley has played better this season than last season and last season was better than his freshman campaign. He's adding offense to the team, notching 4 goals this year (which is GOOD for a defensive defenseman). Let's face it. If Finley went for the big hit all the time, two things would happen: 1. He'd get burned by the smaller player because in order to get big hits you have to commit to it. 2. He'd spend all of his time in the penalty box. Greene was so oft penalized that, at one point, Blais (IIRC) told him that if he was to get one more penalty, he'd be DONE FOR THE GAME. He got a 2 minute minor for roughing and promptly skated off the ice to the locker room. The official (don't recall who) made Blais bring Greene back out long enough to serve his penalty. He did and Greene didn't play the rest of the game. Finley has NEVER EVER been that way on the ice. He plays defense. He's not an offensive threat really. He's not a big hitter like Greene was. He's just a good defensive defenseman. Chuck got caught up in the facts I stated above as a negative AND his draft position. After all, a first round draft pick should be much better than that. They should be automatic stars, right? Washington drafted him VERY late in the first round and promptly labelled him a project. He came to UND when he was STILL 17 years old (or a very young 18 year old). Yeah, thanks to Toews, people forgot that he accelerated his schooling because he didn't come directly from high school. IIRC, Finley wasn't even supposed to come in the year of his freshman year. He was a late signing and was brought in at practically the last minute. I don't look for a shut down defenseman. Why? Because A shut down defenseman won't cut it. I look for a good defenseman who can do well with his defensive pairing. Right now, I really believe that the Finley-Genoway pairing is the best defensive duo the Sioux have playing right now at both ends of the ice. Chuck gave his opinion. I feel he's flat out wrong. But, that's my opinion. We all know there are plenty of people who don't like Finley. I like to ask these questions to doubters: 1. How much does hype have to do with your disappointment? 2. How much does he score? Does he get a lot of assists or is his offensive presence not all that noticable? 3. How much does previous experience enter into it? 4. How much does personal feelings (first impression, hometown bias, personality of the player off ice, etc.) enter into it? Folks, first impressions mean a lot to some posters here. Finley's first few games were NOT very good as a freshman. With him being a first round draft pick, being a defensive defenseman at his size, and the history of similar types of players on paper (Greene, Smaby, etc.), I think people basically wrote him off after the first mistake he made. And, though feelings have tempered off a bit after the embarrassment that was all things SS.com related to Brian Lee (please don't tell me I drive this into the ground because let's face it, it is one of the darkest black marks this board has gone through since I've joined at least), people just can't get over the first impression. I've decided to root for every player. Do I think every player is a star? No. Are there players on the team that are underperforming? Yes, I think so. But we are a developmental step for these players. People have to understand that a good deal of what happens here affects the professional goals of these players. I'm not sure Prpich, Fabian, Schneekloth, Ullmer, Panzer, etc. would have gotten where they have without their performances at UND. And, yeah, I cited undrafted players, but it's most visible there. Right now, Washington (to the best of my knowledge) is happy with Finley's development and were genuinely disappointed when Finley didn't sign last summer. I'll take that as a step in the right direction. Especially with the Okposo situation and others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 And, though feelings have tempered off a bit after the embarrassment that was all things SS.com related to Brian Lee (please don't tell me I drive this into the ground because let's face it, it is one of the darkest black marks this board has gone through since I've joined at least), I worry about you sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Maybe we're smart enough to be able to appreciate both the defensive minded defensemen as well as the offensive minded defenseman. We're lucky in that we have three defensemen that are at the top or close to it for scoring, Bina, Gennoway and Chorney and a top tier defensive minded defenseman (Finley). We also have three good role players, two of whom are likely to be leaders in the next year or two. I see us as being in a great situation. Whistler is right. I think people need to realize that hockey even college is a physical game, if you want offensive defensemen go watch Minnesota play hockey. UND is known for their bruising defensemen. I don't want a team full of offense defenseman. Next season UND gets Ben Blood (god I love that name) as well as years after UND is getting a good mix of offensive and defensive defenseman. I want a defender patroling the blue line that makes going in front of the net painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 In my opinion the notable big defensemen we've had, Greene, Smaby and Commodore, all had weak Freshman years and spotty sophomore years. It takes the big men a few years for their skill to match up with their size. There's nothing wrong with that and in fact they contributed a spots in their younger years. Let's have some reasonable expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I want a defender patroling the blue line that makes going in front of the net painful. Greene, Schneider, Smaby and Matt Jones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiSioux62 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Greene was so oft penalized that, at one point, Blais (IIRC) told him that if he was to get one more penalty, he'd be DONE FOR THE GAME. He got a 2 minute minor for roughing and promptly skated off the ice to the locker room. The official (don't recall who) made Blais bring Greene back out long enough to serve his penalty. He did and Greene didn't play the rest of the game. I was at a game where Greene got a penalty and he was sitting on the bench (had been there for awhile so it wasn't him). The refs were just so used to calling Greene for penalties that his was the automatic number that came up for a Sioux penalty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I was at a game where Greene got a penalty and he was sitting on the bench (had been there for awhile so it wasn't him). The refs were just so used to calling Greene for penalties that his was the automatic number that came up for a Sioux penalty. He should go to the college hockey hall of fame for his crosscheck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiSioux62 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 He should go to the college hockey hall of fame for his crosscheck. I think before he started college he bought a whole bunch of stock in the company that made his wooden sticks. He sure broke enough during his career at UND that the dividends must have been awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I think before he started college he bought a whole bunch of stock in the company that made his wooden sticks. He sure broke enough during his career at UND that the dividends must have been awesome. Koho! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrkac Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Greene was so oft penalized that, at one point, Blais (IIRC) told him that if he was to get one more penalty, he'd be DONE FOR THE GAME. He got a 2 minute minor for roughing and promptly skated off the ice to the locker room. The official (don't recall who) made Blais bring Greene back out long enough to serve his penalty. He did and Greene didn't play the rest of the game. That game was at Mankato. They had to bring him out of the locker room and into the box which really got the crowd fired up. He did play again that night though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Koho! They ran out of trees making them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 That game was at Mankato. They had to bring him out of the locker room and into the box which really got the crowd fired up. He did play again that night though. Thanks for correcting me on that. I knew it wasn't at the REA because he had to go to one of the corners or the end boards to get to the locker room. I had thought that he didn't play. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiSioux62 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Been looking for the radio station that carries the coaches show and can't find it. Can anybody help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 coaches show recap link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodak hockey fanatic Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 coaches show recap link why does the link go to the tsn issn rankings page? i assume you pasted the site you copied earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejm Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Try this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeboys Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Try this one. Last week i thought he made it sound that Walski was going to get a start for sure, but this week i'm not sure! it is hard to sit JPL. It will be interesting to see what happens. Lets Keep it rolling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 why does the link go to the tsn issn rankings page? i assume you pasted the site you copied earlier. my copy and paste didnt take obviously, woops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Schwartz Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 my copy and paste didnt take obviously, woops Come on AZ, step up your game, the playoffs are right around the corner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Come on AZ, step up your game, the playoffs are right around the corner! i need a bye week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejm Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 i need a bye week Yeah. You're getting outdone by an old man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Yeah. You're getting outdone by an old man. PCM's back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdahl Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Since everyone's going to such an effort, any chance of getting each week's in a new thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Since everyone's going to such an effort, any chance of getting each week's in a new thread? sure can or we could put it in the weekly series thread as well, i would do it for sure but its not on the interne anymore as you pointed out. oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Since everyone's going to such an effort, any chance of getting each week's in a new thread? I think Coaches shows that are on even days should be in one thread while coaches shows on odd days should be all together in their own. The only exception is that shows prior to playing bottom feeders with losing records should all be group together. OF course if they're a hated rival they deserve their own, even if they do suck this year. Finally if the coaches show discusses issues that might get the coach fined by the league the entire thread should be hidden over on the football thread where Bruce McClown would never think of looking. That should keep everything tidy around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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