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Fighting Sioux Hockey 2011-2012


brianvf

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I heard back in December that he was telling people in his prayer group that ...

"My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious." -- Simone

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isn't it ironic or however you want to call it but Hak's best coaching job may very well end up being for nothing at the end of the season. no home ice, no final five appearance, no ncaa's, no frozen four and obviously no national title. this season sucks so far :sad: .

Agree with you. We just don't have any depth. Hopefully next year guys will stay healthy and we'll get a new crop of recruits to inject some life into the team.

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The story of UND hockey this season has been, without a doubt, the players not on the ice, beginning after the draft when a recruit chose the CHL route. Since then it's been one hit after another.

The team seems to be trying to write another story, about the players in the lineup. It's important to remember that, just as there's more than one way to win a hockey game (credit Sagard), there's more than one type of team to win with. Here's what the Sioux have going for them:

1. Dell - Among the best I've seen at UND in the last 3 decades. For me, only Belfour and Goehring are in the discussion. I appreciate his size and positioning. The Sioux have had some brave little battlers, but I don't miss the flopping that seems to come with the athletic saves needed to be made by smaller goalies.

2. Two dominant shutdown defensemen in Blood and MacWiliam, who fit nicely in the line from Commodore to Greene, Jones and Smaby.

3. A top line that isn't surpassed by many, with probably at least two future NHL players and maybe three.

The balance of the lineup has a mixture of talent and heart, but it is inexperienced and thin. On the plus side relative to the inexperience, while there are a lot of freshmen, none are true freshmen, so they are at least physically more mature than their class would indicate.

It may not sound like much, but a few recent teams with similarly incomplete make-ups managed to accomplish quite a bit. The Sioux team that lost the title game to BC in overtime in 2001 was thin on elite talent, with five players leading the way: Goehring, Roche and the line of fire of Panzer, Lundbohm and Bayda. Behind that were quick gritty penalty killers Spiewak and Notermann and not much else. Yet they almost pulled it off.

Likewise, the team that lost the 2005 title game to Denver despite outplaying them became dominant when it had little business doing so. They rode a red-hot Jordan Parise in goal and the most wicked group of physical defensemen the college game has likely seen, with Schneider added to the aforementioned Greene, Jones and Smaby. There was one dominant offensive line, with Spirko, Stafford and Zajac. The lineup shrank with key injuries down the stretch, but they kept winning anyway, aided by the tenacity of the grinder line of Canady, Massen and Fabian.

I think this team can still similarly accomplish things this year. They still have as much talent as most teams, although they would certainly be the less talented team in several postseason matchups. Also, it's very possible they would need to win about 7 or 8 elimination games in a row to go far. Having seen them do it before seemingly with smoke and mirrors, I can still see it happening.

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On the plus side relative to the inexperience, while there are a lot of freshmen, none are true freshmen, ...

Uh, the freshmen are "true freshmen" under the definition of this being their first season on an NCAA roster. It's just that few of them are the classic, straight-out-of-high school 18 year old freshman (like Brock Nelson was last season). To your point, yes, these are more the 19 and 20 year olds who have developed stronger frames.

What's being forgotten is this as well: How many of these guys will leave?

In 2014 and 2015 we could be looking at a couple lines of today's sophomores and freshmen that have become team foundation-type juniors and seniors, guys who are playing career game 100 or more. Develop a core like that than can play plus/minus even hockey and take care of the penalty kill, sprinkle in some high end skill guys (either current or future), and it could be a good formula.

Two years from right now you could have an O'D-MarkMac-MitchMac and a "Parks and Wreckers" (Parks, Pattyn, Gaarder) as the foundation of the team (two of the top three lines) and every guy in that group could have over 75 college games played. And you'll probably have Rodwell (who I still hold hope for in developing into the next Frattin), and Colton St. Clair, and a project guy named Senkbeil who's seen more ice than any of us expected. (What you probably won't have is Forbort and Mattson, but you will have Panzarella, who is also getting way more ice than any of us could have expected.)

Note: Nowhere in there do I say "Nelson" or "Grimaldi".

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Hey, all I want is the following:

From March 8 to the end of the season I just want Eidsness and Dell to put up the following lines:

Eidsness 4-0, 1.87 GAA, 0.917

Dell 5-0, 2.08 GAA, 0.909

(We'll see who figures that one out. ;):D )

Why do we have to go 9-0 we could go 9-1. as long as the 1 is the week of march 9-11. You always have to be the overachiever.

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Uh, the freshmen are "true freshmen" under the definition of this being their first season on an NCAA roster. It's just that few of them are the classic, straight-out-of-high school 18 year old freshman (like Brock Nelson was last season). To your point, yes, these are more the 19 and 20 year olds who have developed stronger frames.

What's being forgotten is this as well: How many of these guys will leave?

In 2014 and 2015 we could be looking at a couple lines of today's sophomores and freshmen that have become team foundation-type juniors and seniors, guys who are playing career game 100 or more. Develop a core like that than can play plus/minus even hockey and take care of the penalty kill, sprinkle in some high end skill guys (either current or future), and it could be a good formula.

Two years from right now you could have an O'D-MarkMac-MitchMac and a "Parks and Wreckers" (Parks, Pattyn, Gaarder) as the foundation of the team (two of the top three lines) and every guy in that group could have over 75 college games played. And you'll probably have Rodwell (who I still hold hope for in developing into the next Frattin), and Colton St. Clair, and a project guy named Senkbeil who's seen more ice than any of us expected. (What you probably won't have is Forbort and Mattson, but you will have Panzarella, who is also getting way more ice than any of us could have expected.)

Note: Nowhere in there do I say "Nelson" or "Grimaldi".

Once this Freshman class are Junior's and Senior's, I would be extremely surprised if they are playing plus/minus even hockey. Look at last year's senior class fowards, there freshman and sophomore years they were slightly positive in plus/minus. Their Junior and Senior years their plus/minus was very high, player's not only improve offensively here, but defensively as well. This year's freshman class is being thrown in the fire due to neccesity more than freshman usually do, a few of them, especially MacMillan, are playing big, tough minutes where as a guy like Brock Nelson as a freshman, who was more highly touted than every freshman this year with the exception of Grimaldi, played on the third line and for the most part, against other team's lower lines. If Grimaldi would have played this year, I totally expected him to put up 40+ points, I also expected him to have a plus/minus of slightly positive. That is the difference between an underclassman and an uppclassman. Sure alot of underclassman can score alot, but for the most part the upperclassman are better in the defensive zone and will have a better plus/minus.

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The way this season is going I think all we'll be able to skate for healthy bodies is three goalies.

Maybe we'll get lucky and have one make a kick save that travels back up the rink and slips under the opposing goalie for a 1-0 win.

Oh, is Frazee in goal?:)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Simply stunning the hand this team has been dealt this season.

To add insult to injury, Grimaldi and O'Donnell barely played much their freshman seasons, so there will still be a bit of a learning curve next year, beyond the rehabilitation taking up the offseason. Rodwell could have used a little more game experience as well as a sophomore.

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Will Rocco be eligible for Rookie of the Year next year? If he applies for a medical redshirt, which I think he will even though he will never use all of his eligibility, he will be listed as a freshman eligibility wise? Does this make him eligible for that award even though he will be a second year player?

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I'm not sure I understand why Dell continues to get the bulk of the starts at this point in the season. If you look at the statistics, if Eidsness had enough minutes to qualify, he'd be among the top 10-15 statistically in the nation. I think Eidsness has at least earned the right to split starts, and I'm not sure Dell has done enough to warrant being the every-game guy.

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