North Dakota's Freshman Next Year?

[Siouxhockey03]

I wrote this over on USCHO, but I'd like to get input from people that don't view USCHO often.

I'm really excited about the freshman class coming in, they have 2 of the best forwards coming into the WCHA in Stafford and Murray and they have one of the top defenseman in Smaby.

Stafford was one of the leading scorers for team USA in the U-18 tournament.

Smaby is ranked #12 by McKeen's for the top college/hs kids.

You have 2 good goalies in Ziggelman and Sedieve.

Everyone knows that Stafford, Smaby and Murray are big time recruits, but which others to you think will make an immediate impact and play regularly?

Porter

Fabian

Bina

Which goalie do you think will really challange Brandt for the #1 goalie? Ziggelman or Sedieve?

[leifolson]

I hope Bina can step in and help fill the hole that Hale's leaving opens up. It sounds like he's pretty physical even as small as he is, and lord knows we could use some good physical defensemen to hit people off of the puck and maybe even stop them before they gain the zone.

[jimdahl]

I think Stafford has the potential to be a big upside surprise for Sioux fans. He's had an absolutely amazing year, exceeding expectations at all levels. I think he's been kind of living in the shadows of some other potential superstars at S-SM (e.g. Crosby), so hasn't gotten as much press attention as he maybe would have elsewhere.

Unfortunately, I'm not particularly optimistic about Bina being an impact player, but don't know a LOT about him, either. It sounds like Smaby could be an impact at D pretty quickly (hopefully he won't take too many penalties).

[flatspin7]

Bina won't step into Hales hole. Thats not fair to Bina. He is a smaller D man and a Freshman. That is way to much pressure to put on a freshman and a late recruit at that. We should look toward Schnieder or Jones to provide that leadership on the blue line. Just because Blais recruited Bina as it looked that Hale was a goner does not mean that he is a direct replacement.

Give the guy a chance but dont expect him to come into the Sioux as a true Hale-esque force on the blue line. If you are looking freshman D you might want to look toward Smaby first.

-- If Stafford and Murray have the impact that is forecasted we should no longer have scoring problems next year. I have never seen these guys play but they should be a great scoring force. I would tend to think that Murray might be better faster due to his BCHL experiance but I think they will both work out.

[dagies]

Bina won't step into Hales hole. Thats not fair to Bina. He is a smaller D man and a Freshman.

[leifolson]

I didn't say that he should fill the hole, but rather HELP fill the hole. Obviously one of the older defensemen needs to step up to actually fill the leadership role that Hale left, because, you're right, that isn't fair to ask of a freshman. But if we can get some good help from younger players, even just a few shifts a game of good solid hitting, running guys off of pucks and blocking shots in front of the goaltender, we'll be quite a bit better off.

It doesn't seem too unrealistic to hope that a freshman could do that; after all, it is why we recruit--to help fill holes that players leaving (whether through graduation or going pro) creates. Freshmen should be able to produce a little bit if they play. (I not saying he should come in and do exactly what Hale or Commie or insert-your-favorite-former-Sioux-defensemen-here, could do in their best seasons.)

I never said he was a direct replacement...never even slightly inferred it. I merely stated a hope that he could HELP the guys we already have. That, I think, is fair to ask of him, even as a freshman.

[flatspin7]

To be honest... Robbie Bina is a name that I and probably most people here have not heard of until a few weeks ago. I really don't have any expectations of him. He obviously was not a very heavily recruited player or he would have been signed earlier.

He should barely be expected to help fill Leinweber's hole much the less Dave Hale's. I may be completely wrong here but Robbie Bina was an after thought be Dean Blais, he realized that he would have another roster spot to bring in so he found another player.

With the losses of Dave Hale and Liene on the blue line every body else will move up, Smaby will probably be a regular and then Bina will have to fight for a spot on the roster. I really think the best thing that Blais could do would be to put Ryan Hale back on the blue line, let him play the entire season there and I think he can be a very effective D-man. Remember we have 4 forewards coming in and 2 left. Maybe one more is on the way out and that still leaves some dificulty in determining who to sit. Both Ryan Hale and Lee Marvin are very flexible players that can be used effectivly both as a D-man and a forward. Watch for them to bounce around positionally.

[U2Bad1]

Don't forget that Matt Jones, Matt Greene, Lee Marvin and Andy Schneider will have another year under their belts. That alone could help fill the hole left by David Hale.

[leifolson]

That sounds logical and is probably a fair assesment of next season, flatspin. I didn't mention Smaby exactly because he is considered a stronger recruit and probably expected to step in more quickly than Bina. I mentioned Bina because he is a bit of an unknown and getting good production out of him would be very exciting and would help take a lot of pressure off of the older guys who might feel that they need to do everything, so that they can go out and just play hockey.

I realize going back over the thread that I didn't exactly answer siouxhockey03's original question but rather put a hopeful spin on it, which is, obviously what has brought us to this discussion, and makes me look like I don't have any idea what I'm talking about.

[PCM]

Don't forget that Matt Jones, Matt Greene, Lee Marvin and Andy Schneider will have another year under their belts. That alone could help fill the hole left by David Hale.

And don't forget about Nick Fuher. I thought he was one of the Sioux players who improved down the stretch. Hakstol said before the season started that he expected Fuher to contribute more offensively. Among Sioux defensemen, he was second to Schneider in scoring with 8 goals and 17 assists. Most of those points game against WCHA opponents.

Between the returning veterans and the incoming recruits, I think UND's D-corps will be one of the team's strengths next season.

[amn5hol]

I've seen Porter, Ziegelmann, Bina play all this year. For what it's worth here's my scouting report:

Bina: He's probably a Chad Mazurak type of defensemen except of the smaller side. Towards the end of the season, he took over the point position on the Stars' potent power-play which has helped his stats tremendously (Potulny plays the other point). He has the offensive ability to join the rush and can be effective in that role, as long as he has a defensive-minded partner. His shot from the blueline isn't great (he has a sneaky wrist-shot), but he seems to always get the puck on net, creating scoring chances. He's not very physical and when he tries to be, he gets out of sync with the game.

Porter: He's really improved his game from the beginning of the season. It looked like he was trying to do too much in the offensive zone in the beginning, but he started to find his game around mid-season and became a fore-checking monster. He doesn't have great offensive skills, but has a huge heart. I think he's most effective on a line with a play-maker (Parise?) and someone who will take the punishment in front of the net (Bochenski?) because he is eager to do the dirty work fighting for the puck in the corners.

Ziegelmann: I've been more impressed with Lamoureux's improvement during this season than Ziegelmann's, but their games complement each other pretty well. Ziggy's got a pretty good glove, but he has a tendency to get squirrelly feet. Whereas Lammy's glove is a little weak, but he plays the low shot well. When Ziggy's on his game, it's easy to tell. He doesn't have any wasted movements (especially his feet) and his positioning will be such that most shots will come right into his chest. He also plays the game with a lot of heart, which is never a bad thing!

As a side note: At the beginning of this year's playoffs, Johnson was alternating Lammy and Ziggy (Lammy played the first and third games against Tri-Cities, Ziggy the second game and the first game against Cedar Rapids), but Johnson pulled Lammy in the second game against Cedar Rapids and has stuck with Ziegelmann ever since. I don't think Lammy played bad, but in that game the Stars were up 5-1 with five minutes left in the first period and started going into cruise control. Well, of course Cedar Rapids mounted a comeback and scored the first two goals of the third period and I think Johnson pulled Lammy to send a message to the team. I also think that Johnson has stayed with Ziggy because "why mess with a good thing?". But I wouldn't rule out Lammy starting the second game against River City on Friday.

[The Sicatoka]

Ziggy's got a pretty good glove, but he has a tendency to get squirrelly feet. Whereas Lammy's glove is a little weak, but he plays the low shot well.

What you are saying is far from unexpected by me and is also confirming the "conventional wisdom" on those two goalie prototypes:

- Shoot it at the ankles of the big goalies

- Shoot it at the shoulders of the small goalies

Ziggy is far from a "big goalie" but his style of play (in HS) tended to be like one: Stay up, show as much "body" to the shooter as possible. They tend to get "happy feet" when they are indecisive on when to move laterally.

[jeffj]

While they are very promising, I am glad the forwards won't have the pressure that Parise had coming in. The publicity around Parise was really overwhelming for such a young guy, even though he handled it well. He probably would have been better if he didn't have those distractions.

[U2Bad1]

I had a bad dream that Bochenski bolted for the NHL.

[flatspin7]

Now you dont start talking all crazy.... Your scaring the children.

[ScottM]

I think Murray and Smaby will have the biggest impacts coming in. Murray will have a full year of BCHL hockey under his belt and he has done well in a tough league. Smaby's looked like a man among boys when I've seen him play. He's big enough to handle himself on each end, and may be a nice surprise on the PP. I think he'd do well paired with Jones or Schneider.

Whomever is "the man" in goal should benefit by more experience and poise upfront. I like what I've heard about Ziegelmann, but even the best goalies will look bad if the other guys leave them hanging out. I am not so sure about Sedevie. Neck injuries are strange things and can affect one long after the injury. I hope he can play, and play as well as he's been billed, but I'm not holding my breath on him getting a starting spot.

[dagies]

While they are very promising, I am glad the forwards won't have the pressure that Parise had coming in. The publicity around Parise was really overwhelming for such a young guy, even though he handled it well. He probably would have been better if he didn't have those distractions.

I agree jeffj. I was getting a bit tired about hearing about Parise myself. I wonder what it must have been like hearing about himself all the time, having people phone at all hours, the whole nine yards.

With any luck, maybe some of that attention will calm down and spread out and the kid can just be himself next year.

I also wondered how the rest of the team must have liked that fact Parise was getting ALL the attention there for a while. Seemed like it could have been easy to be resentful but from where I watched and read I didn't notice it.

[sagard]

I agree jeffj. I was getting a bit tired about hearing about Parise myself. I wonder what it must have been like hearing about himself all the time, having people phone at all hours, the whole nine yards.

With any luck, maybe some of that attention will calm down and spread out and the kid can just be himself next year.

I also wondered how the rest of the team must have liked that fact Parise was getting ALL the attention there for a while. Seemed like it could have been easy to be resentful but from where I watched and read I didn't notice it.

Boy I don't know how much more you all could expect from Parise. As a center, he doesn't have as much freedom to make the all out offensive effort Vanek was allowed to.

The guy scored a ton of points.

Just a guess that Stafford will have a freshmen year more similar to Tyler Hirsch than to Parise. That is still quite a compliment.

For the Sioux to be elite next year, their juniors will have to step up.

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

I tend to agree with sagard...Parise did put up insane numbers this year for a freshman. I don't think it is reasonable to expect a lot more production out of the kid next year, but I think his numbers will increase a little. I also believe that Stafford will have a freshman year more like Hirsch (who I thought was pretty impressive this year) than Parise. I don't even think Dany Heatley put up the same numbers as Zach did his freshman year (feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Now, Murray, I think we can expect a lot more from. Maybe a year just under what Parise put up this year. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[jeffj]

Agree that juniors and all returning players not only need to step up their play, but also exceed all the other returning players (who will be improving) in the league. In the WCHA, it is a bitch just to stay even, given all the talent. Returning players also have to help the freshman get acclamated and 'fit in' with the team. Hope everyone is able to hang around GF this summer so they can do that.

[dagies]