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Dalute Series


dagies

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Taking my 7 year old to his first Sioux game at the DECC on Friday night.  Family is making it a weekend vacation.  Hope to see a Sioux win.

Duluth is playing like the team no one wants to play in the play-offs right now.  Good job, Sandelin.  But how about your boys taking a weekend off this coming one?  We could use a sweep bad.

Duluth is playing tough.  Seems they have some confidence and are finding some offense.  The Sioux are playing better hockey of late as well, but still not dominant.  Regardless of the 12-2 whipping they put on a Tech team that didn't show on Friday, Tech made it awfully close on Sat to think we are that much better.  

I think it will be quite a challenge for the Sioux to win 2 this weekend.  But they need em.

Anybody else heading to Duluth?  What can I expect from their fans?

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I was in Duluth for the series last year, and for the most part I thought their fans were decent.  I ended up getting tickets a week before the series and going with some friends who already had tickets, so I had to sit amongst some Duluth fans for the first few minutes of Friday night's game until I realized there was an empty seat right behind them.  They were nice and didn't mind it when I screamed and whistled for UND. :)  The only time I was annoyed was when some Duluth students came by us during the second intermission at the Sat. night game when Duluth was up 3-1.  They walked by and were rubbing it in our faces, yelling 3-1, but hey, it was to be expected. ;)  We had the last laugh. :(

I think (hope) these guys know not to take this weekend lightly.  A lot of the older guys still remember when Sandelin was the assistant coach, and have too much respect for him to expect an easy series.  Their goaltending and powerplay are going to be a major factor, I think.  What we need is solid goaltending (like usual) and to play a clean, solid, full 60 minutes of fast, hard hitting hockey.  I would almost like to see Kollar in net at least one of the nights, as I remember Goerhing getting pulled halfway through one of the games last year and Kollar coming in and playing phenomenal.  He obviously knows what he needs to work on, and I think Friday night he got rid of those "I haven't played in 2 1/2 months" jitters.

Go Sioux and (gulp) go Gophers! :)

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I haven't been to Duluth for a series for a few years, but it seems like most of their student fans are worse than SCCC fans.  Drunken, idiotic dolts who will probably bolt for the door by the middle of the second period before their hangover kicks in.  Reminds me of the old REA.  :)

The Sioux really need to bring their "A" game this weekend.  I saw the Duluth series against Minnesota a few weeks ago and they are not as bad as their record.  They are a solid, physical team that can create havoc in the neutral zone and make things happen.  Strong PP, and decent PK too.  Sort of like a "Blais-lite" team of yore.  ;)  

If the Sioux play tough, like they did against Minnesota, and stay out of the sin-bin, they have a chance to take some points, and God knows we need 'em.  Smart offensive minded hockey should work, and it would help to pepper their goalie(s).  "If you see a shot, take it!!!"  One thing I noticed, was that their d-men aren't very quick, if you can get behind them you can throttle the goalie.

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Considering how well UMD has played in the last month, a split seems like a realistic expectation for this weekend.  

However, considering how desperate the Sioux are for points, with sixth and even fifth still within reach, I hope a split is not considered acceptable at this point.  

I hope they're moving the puck at practice.  

The DECC's small rink is a big advantage against most league opponents, since there are so many of those big ugly sheets in our league.  Fortunately, I think the Sioux will happily participate in a game where things happen fast.

Has there ever been a bigger punishment for finishing one spot lower in the standings?  Finish sixth, and you travel to a sub-500 team that's been inconsistent all year long.  Finish seventh, and go to one of the top six teams in the country.  And the difference between finishing anywhere from seven through ten is nothing: Go play a top team.  I don't even know who of those four I would choose to play if I had the choice.

I hope I get to chant:  We're number six!

Or, if I can dream:  We're number five!

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jk, very astute observation about finishing 6th and 7th.  yowch!

I would say that now sweeping should be considered disappointing.  Not because Duluth should be a cakewalk, but in terms of the need for points in the standings.

And we are capable of playing well enough to beat most teams.

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Disappointing loss tonight.  The other contenders for fifth keep losing and this would have been a great opportunity to probably put MSU and UAA behind the Sioux.  When I listened, it sounded like the game was evenly played, with good goaltending on both sides.  The Sioux had plenty of third period chances, but couldn't bury the puck.  I think Jason Notermann is going to score about 25 goals next year, because he is owed about 10 from this year.

I am, of course, ever the optimist, but the dream of home ice is drifting away.  I think the other contenders will maybe start putting a few points on the sheet, which will be the end of fifth.  One big problem is that games in hand are less attractive when they need to be made up against the number one team in the country.

Ah, well, get 'em tomorrow.  The Sioux need the points.  

I'm thinking of the kind of year both UNH and BU had last year, and how they've done this year.  That might be UND.

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Everything was falling into place for the Sioux to move up in the standings & they couldn't pull it off.

Great game. Sandy has got his guys going at the right time.

Still trying to stay optomistic, but getting harder all the time.

Take 2 pts. tomorrow.

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Well, a win would have been nice, especially as Wisco got its rear handed to it at Mariucci.  Like I said elsewhere, Duluth isn't as bad as their record.  Hopefully, the team can recover and bring home two points tonight.

Congrats to Sandie on the win.  I hope he doesn't continue the trend tonight.  :)

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All I can say is...Thank God we are bringing in Parise, Genoway & Fylling to the offensive fold next season.  The freshmen we have playing now ARE talented.  However, even after 30+ games, they still aren't putting pucks in nets.

Blais is a competitor, talking before this series as if he had a shot at winning all four of the games remaining.  Dude, you guys could have started with yesterday's game.  I've seen enough "L"s this season to "L"ast me for the rest of my "L"ife.

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UND gets a come-from-behind win tonight.  However, without the brilliant play of one single freshman (Bochenski), the weekend would have been a total loss.

The point is...UND will get is arse handed to them next weekend by Denver.  Final analysis for the season = suck donkey d1ck!

Can't wait for next season, when Parise, Fylling, & Genoway will raise the bar on what an underclassmen is "Supposed" to do for the team.

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Thanks Speez.  Little guy didn't bring home anything that would have been a problem, though I wonder had he been with me on Sat when the UMD fans were yelling at me that the Sioux suck how he would have responded.  That would have needed a bit of explaining.

Little guy enjoyed himself for about half the game Fri and then got really bored.  We unfortunately had a railing in the way.  I moved us around in open seats for first period (kept getting kicked out.  Dog fans show up "whenever" I guess) so he could see better but ran out of options in the second.  So I took him back to the hotel.  He learned about icing and offsides but said he "wanted to learn more moves".  I think he was looking for some clues to beating me in basement hockey. :)

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dagies, Great input on both boards.  I think you and I get to see them play so rarely that we feel the need to write everything when we finally do see them.

I will admit to wondering myself if the roof was caving in during the second period Saturday.  I couldn't get the feed, so I was following the Score Updates thread.  It just seemed like:  lost Friday, down 3-1, getting in fights... I could see it ending about 5-1 and then in the tank the rest of the way.  It's a credit to the leaders on the team that they got the thing turned around in the third.  

A possible good sign (a huge stretch here) and also a sign of how the year has gone:  The Friday loss to Duluth was the first one since the HOF game that was not part of a losing streak.

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yeah jk, I probably do bore people.  But I love Sioux hockey and I love seeing and talking Sioux hockey too.  I like to hear from others who see the games and so I like to fill in when I can.

This is SOOO much better than the dark years.  Early 90's when I lived here in the cities and there was no coverage of the Sioux, relatively no contact with other people knowledgeable about the program, and no internet to stay in touch.

Maybe it was a good thing   :)

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Dagies,

I enjoyed reading the "stuff" on Friday's game, and the fight period. I get a similar report from a guy on Red Deer games (major Canadian junior), who have a kid playing for him that played against my kids when they were younger (drafted #66 by the Ducks). He always has a blow by blow description of the fights, as that seems to be the highlight of Canadian Junior (lots of them every game).

I'll be in the REA for my first time on Saturday. Hope the Sioux get after it.

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