Sioux Gophers the 2014 Championship Edition

[tnt]

The same Lucia that was saying this rivalry is unhealthy and the rivalry needs a break is now telling the media that this game is good for college hockey when we aren't even a year removed from the rivalry. If he were a politician he would be considered the biggest flip-flopper ever.

[siouxnatty#8]

The same Lucia that was saying this rivalry is unhealthy and the rivalry needs a break is now telling the media that this game is good for college hockey when we aren't even a year removed from the rivalry. If he were a politician he would be considered the biggest flip-flopper ever.

when lucia was coaching the world junior team this year he was being interviewed between periods and the u s was losing and getting outplayed badly and about to be eliminated by i forget who they were playing but lucia says i like the way were playing and were just going to stick to our gameplan no changes. Needless to say u s got eliminated. Minn will do ok as long as all voes well from the start and continues. In game adjustments are a weakness of lucia. A few years ago i would have said the same about hak. But what a coach hak has become this year. Dont know why or how but hak has shined as a coach this year. Keep it up hak and we might get #8 this year

[siouxnatty#8]

I dont dislike don lucia or anything, in fact he seems like a pretty good guy but hak in my opinion has jumped up into the upper eschilon of coaches this year. Hak still has to win a natty to cement his place but i believe its coming soon

[hrkac]

when lucia was coaching the world junior team this year he was being interviewed between periods and the u s was losing and getting outplayed badly and about to be eliminated by i forget who they were playing but lucia says i like the way were playing and were just going to stick to our gameplan no changes. Needless to say u s got eliminated. Minn will do ok as long as all voes well from the start and continues. In game adjustments are a weakness of lucia. A few years ago i would have said the same about hak. But what a coach hak has become this year. Dont know why or how but hak has shined as a coach this year. Keep it up hak and we might get #8 this year

:whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling:

[siouxhockeyfan11]

This is exactly how I see it. Both teams skidded into the tourney, both came through and neither has to face BC in the semis. Everyone should be happy. Now they just have to make a game plan and see who has the better legs and better goalie. Sconnie and Ferris had great teams, UND beat them both. Nobody will be looking past the Sioux.

STOP BEING SO FRIENDLY AND RATIONAL

[ringneck28]

I really like watching NBCSN NHL games when there is a former Sioux. They go out of their way to mention UND or ask the former UND player about UND. Case in point, Pierre MacGuire and Travis Zajac interview. Unlike ESPN's East Coast bias, I believe NBCSN has a College hockey bias, which is a good thing.

[Hayduke]

My all time FAVORITE UND game.

One of those games where I'll never forget where I was, what I was doing, how I felt,etc, etc.

I was at that game. I sat in a crowd of Gopher fans. Honestly, they couldn't have been nicer during and after the game.

(But, I still hate the Gophers... LOL)

[siouxfan512]

Well Lou Nanne doesn't give the Sioux much of a chance. Understandable that he is so confident in the Gophers; they have had a great season, and they certainly played well this past weekend. But Lou's bias towards the Gophers seems to overwhelm his hockey smarts, and we all know Lou is a smart hockey guy.

I remember a few years ago, where he didn't even give the Sioux a chance at the Final 5. He basically said it would be a tough tourney with the other teams there, but UND wasn't going to be competitive. This was one of the several years that we went on to win the tourney. You would think by now Nanne would know better than to overlook anyone that makes the frozen four; particularly after his beloved Goofer got bounced by Yale last year; then running the table to win it all.

At this point in the year anyone and everyone can be dangerous. As for me, I'm glad we are considered the underdogs. We have not been favored yet in this tourney, and the boys are playing well; particularly Gothberg. If we could find the scoring touch that we had a month or so ago, we would be unstoppable. Hope the boys looks at the tape against Miami in the blowout game to not what to do, and the loss to Miami to fix some mistakes.

We do need some people to step up next week though:

Grimaldi needs to keep it up (he tends to show up for big games)

Gotherberg (keep doing your thing)

Mark MacMillan (I feel like I havn't heard his name much lately, has he been injured or just off his game a bit)

Parks (Not much senior leadership on this team, Parks needs to get the troops going)

Schmaltz (Big D presence, with a capability to control the puck and score; Defense need to get shots to the net quicker for rebound opportunities. They have been hesitating too long on their shots lately and allowing too many to be blocked)

Can't wait for the game, GO SIOUX!!

[Ray77]

another one to enjoy

also if anyone has the highlights from the Time Out

Love hearing Massucko say after the 3rd goal "It's the only rebound he's given up tonight, and North Dakota has opened up a 2 - nothing lead again". Umm, yeah Frank - it's the only rebound he's given up tonight because everything else has went in the net!

[siouxfan512]

Love hearing Massucko say after the 3rd goal "It's the only rebound he's given up tonight, and North Dakota has opened up a 2 - nothing lead again". Umm, yeah Frank - it's the only rebound he's given up tonight because everything else has went in the net!

Mazzocco was always obnoxious. I actually didn't mind Woog as much, except that he could never get a sentence out. I even remember Wooger picking the Sioux to sweep the Goofs one year. But Mazzocco was one of the worst, most bias game callers ever. Ever penalty for the Goofs shouldn't have been, and every other team was getting away with everything. Ugh he was terrible. So glad he is gone.

[Snake]

Well Lou Nanne doesn't give the Sioux much of a chance. Understandable that he is so confident in the Gophers; they have had a great season, and they certainly played well this past weekend. But Lou's bias towards the Gophers seems to overwhelm his hockey smarts, and we all know Lou is a smart hockey guy.

I remember a few years ago, where he didn't even give the Sioux a chance at the Final 5. He basically said it would be a tough tourney with the other teams there, but UND wasn't going to be competitive. This was one of the several years that we went on to win the tourney. You would think by now Nanne would know better than to overlook anyone that makes the frozen four; particularly after his beloved Goofer got bounced by Yale last year; then running the table to win it all.

At this point in the year anyone and everyone can be dangerous. As for me, I'm glad we are considered the underdogs. We have not been favored yet in this tourney, and the boys are playing well; particularly Gothberg. If we could find the scoring touch that we had a month or so ago, we would be unstoppable. Hope the boys looks at the tape against Miami in the blowout game to not what to do, and the loss to Miami to fix some mistakes.

We do need some people to step up next week though:

Grimaldi needs to keep it up (he tends to show up for big games)

Gotherberg (keep doing your thing)

Mark MacMillan (I feel like I havn't heard his name much lately, has he been injured or just off his game a bit)

Parks (Not much senior leadership on this team, Parks needs to get the troops going)

Schmaltz (Big D presence, with a capability to control the puck and score; Defense need to get shots to the net quicker for rebound opportunities. They have been hesitating too long on their shots lately and allowing too many to be blocked)

Can't wait for the game, GO SIOUX!!

I would definitely add Luke Johnson to your list. He has been pretty quiet. If he can find the score sheet with some regularity in the F4, especially on the PP, we will be extremely tough to beat.

[keikla]

Hopefully these two weeks prove invaluable for injury recovery.

Parks had his wrist thoroughly wrapped up this past weekend. I really think MacMillan is injured just based on the fact that he was absolutely dynamic when he first came back from injury and is now relatively unnoticeable.

I'm sure there are a ton more that I just haven't noticed yet.

[Wilbur]

Nanne doesn't know squat...he didn't even think Eruzione was good enough to make 1980 USA Olympic team.

Should have cut Rizzo from the start. But Herbie knew....

[Dave Berger]

Defense need to get shots to the net quicker for rebound opportunities. They have been hesitating too long on their shots lately and allowing too many to be blocked)

^ this.

Once in a while, I'd like to see a pass from the half boards to the far point with a quick shot. Doesn't give defenders as much time to block lanes. The shot doesn't even have to be all that fast (in terms of mph), just quick.

Dave

[Goon]

Former Minnesota North Stars and Golden Gophers great Lou Nanne was on KFAN with Dan Barreiro Monday and he had some interesting things to say the Frozen Four. Apparently, Lou seems to think that the Gophers are going to roll through the Frozen Four. (26.30 mark)

"I think that we lucked out," Nanne said. "We definitely got the easiest road, playing North Dakota. Not that North Dakota is a bad team. But they're definitely the weakest team of the four. I think we lucked out because Union is playing Boston College."

[90siouxfan]

Might have the wife talked into driving to philly, what is the best way to go about getting 4 tickets?

[siouxfan512]

Should have cut Rizzo from the start. But Herbie knew....

Haha I love when the guys make fun of Nanne on the radio for that part of the movie. Always funny

[dagies]

^ this.

Once in a while, I'd like to see a pass from the half boards to the far point with a quick shot. Doesn't give defenders as much time to block lanes. The shot doesn't even have to be all that fast (in terms of mph), just quick.

Dave

Noticed this Saturday night. Too many blocked shots but at one point Simpson just wristed one in. Many guys would wind up for the big slapper or go for the hot wrist shot, but you could tell Simpson was only interested in getting it into the crease. It was nice to see. He does that more than anyone on the team, I think.

[siouxfan512]

I would definitely add Luke Johnson to your list. He has been pretty quiet. If he can find the score sheet with some regularity in the F4, especially on the PP, we will be extremely tough to beat.

Good point, if we could have a young guy step up it would really help. Johnson made some noise a few weeks back but has been really quiet. The guys just need to start getting pucks to the net, not looking for the perfect tic-tac-toe play. Shots, Crash the net, Rebounds. Get the gritty goals.

[siouxfan512]

^ this.

Once in a while, I'd like to see a pass from the half boards to the far point with a quick shot. Doesn't give defenders as much time to block lanes. The shot doesn't even have to be all that fast (in terms of mph), just quick.

Dave

Exactly, look back to when they blew out Miami, they were taking quick one times and getting good traffic in front of the net. Havn't seen many one time shots from the D recently, they get the puck and hold it until someone it right in their face. Hope they can make some of the small changes before next week. AND get healthy, heal up the guys so every can give their all.

[Wilbur]

Hopefully these two weeks prove invaluable for injury recovery.

Parks had his wrist thoroughly wrapped up this past weekend. I really think MacMillan is injured just based on the fact that he was absolutely dynamic when he first came back from injury and is now relatively unnoticeable.

I'm sure there are a ton more that I just haven't noticed yet.

One of the most intriguing things to me about the end of the season is hearing about all of the injuries that we as fans didn't hear about. Like Prpich playing with a dislocated shoulder, Oshie playing with a broken thumb, Matt Greene not practicing, only playing games.

If that doesn't make you respect what these kids are doing, and the long grind nothing will. I'm anxious to hear about Parks, Mac, I think OD is dinged up a bit.....and Zane's injury as well.

[siouxfan512]

Former Minnesota North Stars and Golden Gophers great Lou Nanne was on KFAN with Dan Barreiro Monday and he had some interesting things to say the Frozen Four. Apparently, Lou seems to think that the Gophers are going to roll through the Frozen Four. (26.30 mark)

"I think that we lucked out," Nanne said. "We definitely got the easiest road, playing North Dakota. Not that North Dakota is a bad team. But they're definitely the weakest team of the four. I think we lucked out because Union is playing Boston College."

Exactly what I was referring to, he just discounts North Dakota's capabilities. He should know better than that with his experience. The truth is, there is not easy road; at this point in the season, everyone has proved they have talent, and if you want to win, you will need to beat at least two of those teams. I hope we can throw it right back in his face; beat the Goofs and hang up #8

On the other hand, I guess part of his job is to get their fans excited; though it does not take much with this rivalry.

[petey23]

Former Minnesota North Stars and Golden Gophers great Lou Nanne was on KFAN with Dan Barreiro Monday and he had some interesting things to say the Frozen Four. Apparently, Lou seems to think that the Gophers are going to roll through the Frozen Four. (26.30 mark)

"I think that we lucked out," Nanne said. "We definitely got the easiest road, playing North Dakota. Not that North Dakota is a bad team. But they're definitely the weakest team of the four. I think we lucked out because Union is playing Boston College."

Someone already brought this up....and it is still accurate.

[siouxfan512]

One of the most intriguing things to me about the end of the season is hearing about all of the injuries that we as fans didn't hear about. Like Prpich playing with a dislocated shoulder, Oshie playing with a broken thumb, Matt Greene not practicing, only playing games.

If that doesn't make you respect what these kids are doing, and the long grind nothing will. I'm anxious to hear about Parks, Mac, I think OD is dinged up a bit.....and Zane's injury as well.

Didn't Hextall have a broken foot or something a few years ago? Amazing what these guys can play through. Just hope these guys can get enough rest by next week. I not a big fan of have such a long break between the regional and the F4, but is definitely a benefit for us this year. The goofs were hot this past weekend, let them cool off and then have to travel. and let our guys heal up.

[Shawn-O]

Former Minnesota North Stars and Golden Gophers great Lou Nanne was on KFAN with Dan Barreiro Monday and he had some interesting things to say the Frozen Four. Apparently, Lou seems to think that the Gophers are going to roll through the Frozen Four. (26.30 mark)

"I think that we lucked out," Nanne said. "We definitely got the easiest road, playing North Dakota. Not that North Dakota is a bad team. But they're definitely the weakest team of the four. I think we lucked out because Union is playing Boston College."

Look at the body of work over the season and the way the teams played their regional finals, I'd say he's dead on. But as recent history has shown us, it's anybody's for the taking.