farce poobah Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Saturday reactions: Bochenski looked noticeably tired in the 3rd. Parise and Murray looked strong tho. Denver's only goal came with their top line (Gauthier et al) out against UND 4th line, middle of the 3rd period, one-goal lead. Puzzling, and I don't pretend to understand the coaches' rationale. Blais shortened the bench after the DU goal, but DU had the jump on us at that point. Much like the Saturday game at The John, we had chances early, didn't convert, and the opponent rallied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodakvindy Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Thanks for the extended recaps. In thinking about the "troubles" of late (Saturday struggles against UAA, MN and DU, higher shots allowed, lack of scoring depth), I have realized what I think about this team's ability and success. The money line makes this version of the Fighting Sioux a very good team, but only if everyone is going all out all the time is this a "special" team. I don't believe the talent level is overwhelming to the point where the team can get by with less than their best effort. We have seen ample evidence of this lately. My understanding of the Saturday Denver game is that no one who watched it would conclude that either team was clearly better, which is contrary to what I hope is the truth. (This is in contrast to the Saturday UAA game, where UAA hung in there but clearly was less talented.) As I mentioned earlier, I understand how the Sioux players could have lost their edge a bit by the end of the weekend - they had had their way with Denver earlier, maybe the emotional effort of the MN weekend catching up to them - but whatever the reason, the resulting battle showed what can happen when the other team plays with more passion than UND. When the team is "on" it seems like few teams can stay with them. They key will be to be at their best for four straight games in March and April. It's nice that the goalies are playing so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 When the team is "on" it seems like few teams can stay with them. They key will be to be at their best for four straight games in March and April. I think this too. Zach Parise was critical of the team on Saturday, saying they all didn't come to play. What I'm hoping is that later in the year, with one-and-out games the team will not have the second game let-down we seem to be seeing lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdahl Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Denver falling out as a TUC would actually be bad, as we would also lose three wins. Dropping a 3-0-1 record would hurt. That .875 winning percentage is greater than our overal TUC winning percentage of .785. Great point. When playing with PWR, I'm stunned how sensitive it is to what teams are under consideration. While it seems like a logical system -- compare only those teams that are under consideration for the tournament -- the result is that even the top of the tournament seeding can be wildly affected by what group of middle of the pack teams end up with an RPI >.500 and what group end up <.500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Zach Parise was critical of the team on Saturday, saying they all didn't come to play. I think Zach was right-on with his critique. After Friday's game, there really is no excuse for not showing up motivated to sweep Denver, regardless of how well they played. The "C" and the "As" have the responsibility to kick themselves and the team into gear when they show signs of slagging off. And if they don't do it, I'm sure Blais won't hestitate to bench or light into somebody. This is the same issue which contributed to last year's fizzle. Granted this team is playing better and shows more depth than last year's team, but this is no time to get lazy and expect to slide into the NC$$ tourney. Every game should be played with the same intensity as they brought to the Minnie series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux fan in phoenix Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Zach Parise was critical of the team on Saturday, saying they all didn't come to play. Massen came to mind when I read that sentence but I guess he didn't play Saturday. Anybody know what's up with that guy? Is it just a nagging groin injury that's slowing him down or is he having some personal problems? It seems like he's been stuck in 2nd gear for the better part of the last year & I can't imagine a guy with that much talent pi$$ing it away unless he was having some personal issues...Doubtful anyone here knows, but it doesn't hurt to ask. If he were playing to his potential week in-week out we'd have one mighty dangerous team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmail Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 I think this too. Zach Parise was critical of the team on Saturday, saying they all didn't come to play. What I'm hoping is that later in the year, with one-and-out games the team will not have the second game let-down we seem to be seeing lately. The team has one-on-one meetings this week... Just in time, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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