SIOUX @ UMD BULLDOGS

[nodak hockey fanatic]

i would play both frosh over lapoint right now the way he has been playing, but the fact of the matter is we will need all of them, come the end of this season and beyond. i really hope lapoint steps his game up soon.

[siouxweet]

i think they are more comfortable with miller right now with our defense producing close to nothing points wise. 5 of our real d men have a goose egg for points and i think the coaches like what he brings right now over fienhage. guys like marto and lapoint have to start producing in the scoring column with their offensive talent. i think miller brings that as of now with finley out. corey has played fine when in and im sure he will get more chances as the season goes on. i rally like what he and blood bring overall. a very nice freshman pair of d men

I'm not that concerned with our defense not scoring a whole lot, right now In '97 we really din't have an offensive defenseman other than Curtis Murphy and in 2000 we really didn't have any. Our most successfull squad under Hak(the 2005) squad didn't have much offensive power either and they made it to the title game. let's keep in mind that Hak is trying to run a 4 forward power play on the first unit so really the only D-man that will probably get scoring chances right now is Genoway-who is our only offensive threat anyway on the blue line. We were really spoiled the last couple of years with chorney, Bina and Genoway on the Blue line racking up points.

when Joe comes back he will add a physical presence not a a scoring presence. by years end Genoway will have roughly 30 points and if Miller stays on the Blue line he probably will be in the 20-30 point range as well. Our main concern on d right now is getting fundamentally strong to avoid defensive lapses that lead to the other team scoring. If we gan get our d back to the point of the last several years of allowing roughly 2 goals a game this squad could go far as one has to think the pucks will eventually start going into the net on the offensive end.

[AZSIOUX]

I'm not that concerned with our defense not scoring a whole lot, right now In '97 we really din't have an offensive defenseman other than Curtis Murphy and in 2000 we really didn't have any. Our most successfull squad under Hak(the 2005) squad didn't have much offensive power either and they made it to the title game. let's keep in mind that Hak is trying to run a 4 forward power play on the first unit so really the only D-man that will probably get scoring chances right now is Genoway-who is our only offensive threat anyway on the blue line. We were really spoiled the last couple of years with chorney, Bina and Genoway on the Blue line racking up points.

when Joe comes back he will add a physical presence not a a scoring presence. by years end Genoway will have roughly 30 points and if Miller stays on the Blue line he probably will be in the 20-30 point range as well. Our main concern on d right now is getting fundamentally strong to avoid defensive lapses that lead to the other team scoring. If we gan get our d back to the point of the last several years of allowing roughly 2 goals a game this squad could go far as one has to think the pucks will eventually start going into the net on the offensive end.

i dont think its the deciding factor in games by any means but i do believe having 5 of 7 d men without a point isnt a good thing overall. im not saying they need to bury goal after goal but it would be nice to see some chances crated on the blueline here and there. finley is a physical presence no doubt but he also brings some offense to the mix which will be nice. he had 4-11=15 last year which was solid. i sure hope we can grab 4 points this weekend. would be huge for the sioux and for the wcha standings. if miller does stay on the blueline which it looks like he will right now he will get in that 20-30 range which would be great.

[stickboy1956]

i think they are more comfortable with miller right now with our defense producing close to nothing points wise. 5 of our real d men have a goose egg for points and i think the coaches like what he brings right now over fienhage. guys like marto and lapoint have to start producing in the scoring column with their offensive talent. i think miller brings that as of now with finley out. corey has played fine when in and im sure he will get more chances as the season goes on. i rally like what he and blood bring overall. a very nice freshman pair of d men

All things being equal, it doesn't make sense to play a senior, journeyman forward at D versus a 3rd round draftee/Minn Mr. Hockey finalist. From the games I watched, I thought Fienhage's strong suit was his puckhandling and passing - rarely has he had to resort to banking the puck off the glass. He was almost always tape-to-tape with his passes. He had some turnovers but so have all the D (especially our Sophs).

I could see him rotating in/out of the lineup with someone (LaPoint and Marto did last year) but he would have been 0-4 if not for the injuries in CC. It doesn't make sense - off ice issues???

Miller has had good moments on the power play (rebound goal on Sat), but he has also looked unsure at times (hesitating with the puck at the point, leading to blocked shots on 2 consecutive power plays Sat).

Generating offense/points from the blueline comes from forwards converting on the power play, cashing in on rebounds, and finishing off rushes that the D start with a good breakout pass. The bottom line is the forwards need to score to get points for the D.

Currently, this team only has one player that will scare the other team when they have the puck (Genoway). The past few years we had multiple players that could turn the game around with one play. I don't see that yet with this group. Gregoire is dangerous below the dots but I haven't seen him breakdown a WCHA D-man on a rush yet. Toews will get better as he recovers from his injury. I think a Gregoire/Toews/Hextall would be a good combination - maybe next year.

This may be as good as it gets this year - .500.

One positive - Eidsness is probably the most talented goalie we've had here since Belfour. If he can play consistently like he did Sat. he could keep us in a lot of games, even games we don't deserve to win.

It will be interesting to see if Hak can coach

[siouxweet]

One positive - Eidsness is probably the most talented goalie we've had here since Belfour. If he can play consistently like he did Sat. he could keep us in a lot of games, even games we don't deserve to win.

[siouxweet]

i dont think its the deciding factor in games by any means but i do believe having 5 of 7 d men without a point isnt a good thing overall. im not saying they need to bury goal after goal but it would be nice to see some chances crated on the blueline here and there. finley is a physical presence no doubt but he also brings some offense to the mix which will be nice. he had 4-11=15 last year which was solid. i sure hope we can grab 4 points this weekend. would be huge for the sioux and for the wcha standings. if miller does stay on the blueline which it looks like he will right now he will get in that 20-30 range which would be great.

I'm more concerned about our forwards not scoring yet more than I am about our Blueliners.

[AZSIOUX]

I'm more concerned about our forwards not scoring yet more than I am about our Blueliners.

true, i guess team wise its still not clicking like it should with goals per game. lets hope that changes this weekend and we dont run into the hot goalie syndrome the top line is the only line producing overall. hextall, duncs and vv and the rest are struggling as of now. it will change this weekend

[AZSIOUX]

One positive - Eidsness is probably the most talented goalie we've had here since Belfour. If he can play consistently like he did Sat. he could keep us in a lot of games, even games we don't deserve to win.

As long as the D in front of him gives him some help we will be able to do that. That being said BE will also have to bail them out every now and then as JPL did last year. If BE can start to play more like he did Saturday our PK numbers will start to go way up as the goalie is your best penalty killer. If we could somehow get our PK upto about 88-90 percent and our PP to about 22percent we could be very dangerous.

eidsness has been solid and as he says, he is getting more comfortable as time goes on. he came in friday and held serve and made that HUGE save on that breakaway that kept the sioux in the game before they made that late comeback. i like what we have seen from eidsness and he will only keep getting better.

[The Whistler]

It seems that the cycle is affecting scoring by the defense as well as by the forwards.

I'm not saying they need to scrap it (in favor of what?) but our cycle definitely needs to be enhanced to create more scoring chances.

[Blackheart]

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/

Sioux only fell to 20. Gophers #1

Congrats, Goofers win the October/November championship...that and a quarter will get you Jack Squat...

[DAR]

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/

Sioux only fell to 20. Gophers #1

Who cares...

[DAR]

It don't mean a thing without the ring

Unfortunately the Rodents have had two rings in the meantime....that needs to change

[DAR]

What is up with Corey Fienhage? Is he hurt or just a scratch? It seems like they could use him on Defense.

I saw Fienhage between periods while waiting for the restroom of the Fri night game. He had a big chew in his mouth so it was hard to understand him...but when i said what the heck is wrong with the team his response was we always seem to split series'....

[DAR]

On a side note...I have 3 great tickets for the Sat night game at the DECC. I cannot make it and am selling the tix for face value 26.00 per ticket. Please send me an e-mail at dbreivold@hotmail.com or call 612-280-5927 and ask for Darren if interested. Thanks!!

[DAR]

eidsness has been solid and as he says, he is getting more comfortable as time goes on. he came in friday and held serve and made that HUGE save on that breakaway that kept the sioux in the game before they made that late comeback. i like what we have seen from eidsness and he will only keep getting better.

LaPoint is a -10 with no points and Marto is a -8....that goes a long way to explain part of our problems.

[gopherz]

Congrats, Goofers win the October/November championship...that and a quarter will get you Jack Squat...

That guarantees us to win the April championship right?

[mikejm]

...but our cycle definitely needs to be enhanced to create more scoring chances.

Putting the puck in the slot once in awhile would help immensely; pretty darn tough to score from behind the goal line.

[buckysieve]

Putting the puck in the slot once in awhile would help immensely; pretty darn tough to score from behind the goal line.

Not if you're Mike Legg.

[AZSIOUX]

LaPoint is a -10 with no points and Marto is a -8....that goes a long way to explain part of our problems.

sure does. those are rough numbers and have been my point overall for a couple weeks. the team overall is struggling here and there but i think it would be a huge boost if those changed by 5 or 6 by holiday break time. all being said

SIOUX SWEEP

5-2 - kozek, gregoire,frattin,genoway,vv

6-3 - duncan,trupp,kozek,toews,hextall,marto

eidsness with a couple W's

[AZSIOUX]

eidsness wcha co rookie of the week, nice

eidsness

[Oxbow6]

LaPoint is a -10 with no points and Marto is a -8....that goes a long way to explain part of our problems.

From my perspective, Marto is just not playing well but has plenty of skill, while Lapoint just doesn't have as much skill to his games as many thought when he came aboard last year, plus he is playing just awful.

[AZSIOUX]

SIOUX / UMD GAME NOTES

[NorthDakotaHockey]

Still in need of someone driving back to the Twin Cities after the game in Duluth on Friday to bring a BIG Sioux fan to the Cities for a really

special Saturday evening of hockey in the Twin Cities for his family.

I know it's a long shot but we are giving it a shot. PM me if you can do it. Drop off at any Twin Cities roadside ditch will suffice.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Will be stuck in the metro area saturday, anyone know if Senser's will have the game? Cheesemover?

[DAR]

Will be stuck in the metro area saturday, anyone know if Senser's will have the game? Cheesemover?

Senser's will have the games provided they are on FSSN as I believe both games are.