SIOUX vs. GOPHERS - Thursday, F4 Philly style Gameday

[gfhockey]

Like I said I Mis copied the tweet

Read my earlier post

[siouxrunner]

I think I'm going to have to watch this a few times today.

[Doc Holliday]

Like I said I Mis copied the tweet

Read my earlier post

Gotcha. My bad.

[SJHovey]

Two comments. Because I'm not going to go back and read this entire thread, I apologize if I repeat what anyone else has posted.

First, don't get caught up in the "agony" of the .6 second thing. That fact is significant only to those broadcasting sports hightlights or writing stories about the game, who have a need for created drama. The exact same play could have happened with two minutes left, or 10 minutes into OT and it wouldn't have made the loss any less painful.

That's hockey. A blocked shot, lucky (or unlucky) bounce, puck ends up in the back of the net. Trust me, this loss doesn't feel worse than losing to BC in OT in '01, losing to Wisconsin the the WCHA's in '83 (again, shorthanded) in 3 OT, when a win would have probably resulted in back to back NCAA titles.

Second, this doesn't only happen to us. Everyone has forgotten Minnesota's 23 years in the wilderness, getting their hearts ripped out year after year? BC losing in the Frozen Four in OT in successive years, followed by losing a 3rd period lead to us in '00?

Fans of this program need to stop claiming they're Job.

The team played great. The coaching staff came up with a plan to put a ton of shots on Wilcox against a team that has been the best defensively all year long. A plan to shut down a very fast and talented offensive team. It worked to a T. But sometimes you don't win those games.

Here is what I'm going to take away from this game.

For me this was a reminder of how great the old WCHA was, and what a privilege it was to watch those games for more years than I dare count. It's like finding a long lost picture of an old hunting dog. One last wonderful glimpse of something you loved, but is now just a bunch of great memories. That's how I'm going to remember this game.

[franchise]

At times this feels a little easier to swallow that games like NH or Mich because we "weren't supposed to be there" and some of those other teams were loaded and expected to win. Then I remember how hard it is to win a title and know that all the talent in the world coming back doesn't mean that we will have the chance to be one goal from a title game. It seemed like momentum would be on our side in OT and rolling four lines would only help. I think it would have been a little easier to handle an OT loss...this way just seems like a fluke stole the game away literally at the last second.

I agree on the Schmaltz thing. If he had tried to pinch and that puck makes it by him, it's probably a 2 on 1...then hes really vilified. He got back, prevented an odd man rush and blocked the shot.

[scpa0305]

Two comments. Because I'm not going to go back and read this entire thread, I apologize if I repeat what anyone else has posted.

First, don't get caught up in the "agony" of the .6 second thing. That fact is significant only to those broadcasting sports hightlights or writing stories about the game, who have a need for created drama. The exact same play could have happened with two minutes left, or 10 minutes into OT and it wouldn't have made the loss any less painful.

That's hockey. A blocked shot, lucky (or unlucky) bounce, puck ends up in the back of the net. Trust me, this loss doesn't feel worse than losing to BC in OT in '01, losing to Wisconsin the the WCHA's in '83 (again, shorthanded) in 3 OT, when a win would have probably resulted in back to back NCAA titles.

Second, this doesn't only happen to us. Everyone has forgotten Minnesota's 23 years in the wilderness, getting their hearts ripped out year after year? BC losing in the Frozen Four in OT in successive years, followed by losing a 3rd period lead to us in '00?

Fans of this program need to stop claiming they're Job.

The team played great. The coaching staff came up with a plan to put a ton of shots on Wilcox against a team that has been the best defensively all year long. A plan to shut down a very fast and talented offensive team. It worked to a T. But sometimes you don't win those games.

Here is what I'm going to take away from this game.

For me this was a reminder of how great the old WCHA was, and what a privilege it was to watch those games for more years than I dare count. It's like finding a long lost picture of an old hunting dog. One last wonderful glimpse of something you loved, but is now just a bunch of great memories. That's how I'm going to remember this game.

One thing....we were on the man advantage. Screw the .6 thing....we were on a PP. They should have been dumping the puck....we got lazy/too conservative at a time when you can never let your guard down....and we paid for it...in the worst way possible.

[scpa0305]

At times this feels a little easier to swallow that games like NH or Mich because we "weren't supposed to be there" and some of those other teams were loaded and expected to win. Then I remember how hard it is to win a title and know that all the talent in the world coming back doesn't mean that we will have the chance to be one goal from a title game. It seemed like momentum would be on our side in OT and rolling four lines would only help. I think it would have been a little easier to handle an OT loss...this way just seems like a fluke stole the game away literally at the last second.

I agree on the Schmaltz thing. If he had tried to pinch and that puck makes it by him, it's probably a 2 on 1...then hes really vilified. He got back, prevented an odd man rush and blocked the shot.

Completely disagree. There were others back...we had a forward trailing. Every was just kind of watching Rau. If Schmaltz steps up.....Rau dumps the puck. He gave him room so he skated it in...because our boys gave him 15 ft or so. Again, as soon as Schmaltz steps up (like our D were doing all night) the PKer dumps the puck in. Also you note he "got back".....he was already back. When I was calling for a pinch I meant on the wall, before MN entered the zone....when Rau first got the puck. The could have played the "Eiffel Tower" and we were set. I get it though, you never think that is actually going to be the outcome when you are on the PP....most likely they simply dump it in and change.

End of rant, looking forward to next year.

[SiouxScore]

Probably the toughest way for the season to end and I'm still in a little bit of shock about how it happened.That lockerroom last night had to be absolutely terrible to be in. Crazy how quick things can change as I thought the Sioux had the game won on the tip shot but Wilcox was able to just hold onto it and then quickly Minnesota comes down gets a shot blocked and a bounce they shoot and the season is over. This was probably the best game this Sioux team has played all season and probably had the better of the play but hockey is a funny game sometimes just ask Ferris State. Also for those who have complained about Hak and him getting outcoached in big games I think he proved last night what most fans already knew and that is he is a great coach and we are lucky to have him. Gonna miss these Seniors that all brought something different to the table and want to thank them for choosing to be part of the Fighting Sioux family. Simpson was a great all around player and willing to sacrifice himself all the time for the team and was a great leader as well, Rodwell was just a hard working blue collar type player that I loved to see on the ice, MacMillan and Saunders didn't come in with the rest of the group but in their time at UND they stepped in and played to best of their abilities when they were out there and they understood the team came first when they weren't out there.

[scpa0305]

Probably the toughest way for the season to end and I'm still in a little bit of shock about how it happened.That lockerroom last night had to be absolutely terrible to be in. Crazy how quick things can change as I thought the Sioux had the game won on the tip shot but Wilcox was able to just hold onto it and then quickly Minnesota comes down gets a shot blocked and a bounce they shoot and the season is over. This was probably the best game this Sioux team has played all season and probably had the better of the play but hockey is a funny game sometimes just ask Ferris State. Also for those who have complained about Hak and him getting outcoached in big games I think he proved last night what most fans already knew and that is he is a great coach and we are lucky to have him. Gonna miss these Seniors that all brought something different to the table and want to thank them for choosing to be part of the Fighting Sioux family. Simpson was a great all around player and willing to sacrifice himself all the time for the team and was a great leader as well, Rodwell was just a hard working blue collar type player that I loved to see on the ice, MacMillan and Saunders didn't come in with the rest of the group but in their time at UND they stepped in and played to best of their abilities when they were out there and they understood the team came first when they weren't out there.

Agreed....Hak had a great game plan last night. It was executed properly and the boys were buzzing.

[franchise]

Completely disagree. There were others back...we had a forward trailing. Every was just kind of watching Rau. If Schmaltz steps up.....Rau dumps the puck. He gave him room so he skated it in...because our boys gave him 15 ft or so. Again, as soon as Schmaltz steps up (like our D were doing all night) the PKer dumps the puck in. Also you note he "got back".....he was already back. When I was calling for a pinch I meant on the wall, before MN entered the zone....when Rau first got the puck. The could have played the "Eiffel Tower" and we were set. I get it though, you never think that is actually going to be the outcome when you are on the PP....most likely they simply dump it in and change.

End of rant, looking forward to next year.

I watched it again. I get what you're saying. I thought Rau carried it all the way. I was thinking if he had pinched way down when Holl had it, and it were to get chipped ahead to Rau, there was a 2 on 1 chance.(although Rocco likely gets back)

Agreed on next year. I don't know what to do with myself now. I was planning to be dining at Ginos and Pats pregame on saturday. Guess I can stop watching flights prices for Philly and start looking for Boston

[sagard]

Respectfully....are you kidding me? I am talking about before MN even entered our zone...on the wall. WIth time expiring you simply pinch to get in the way and run clock. I was at Sensors screaming pinch...no pinch....goal.

Rau wins the draw clean into the corner. Holl ties up the Sioux forward on the left wall just enough to let Skjei win the race to the puck. Funny thing is now both Skjei and Holl are on the wall with Grimaldi and another forward open in front of Wilcox.

Skjei chips it to the half wall to Holl and Rau takes off with speed but without the puck directly at Schmaltz. Holl precedes out of the zone with the puck. I think Schmaltz correctly decides Rau is the threat and retreats. If he lets Rau behind him Holl has a simple chip pass to spring Rau and Ambroz for a clean two on one. At the moment of his decision all the Sioux forwards were in deep, and why not, they were on the PP trying to win.

If it can't be chalked up to a bad bounce, I'd hang it on Grimaldi. He lost the draw, then wasn't able to fight through the smack in the face Holl gave him before corralling the bounce and getting the shot off.

[tnt]

Rau wins the draw clean into the corner. Holl ties up the Sioux forward on the left wall just enough to let Skjei win the race to the puck. Funny thing is now both Skjei and Holl are on the wall with Grimaldi and another forward open in front of Wilcox.

Skjei chips it to the half wall to Holl and Rau takes off with speed but without the puck directly at Schmaltz. Holl precedes out of the zone with the puck. I think Schmaltz correctly decides Rau is the threat and retreats. If he lets Rau behind him Holl has a simple chip pass to spring Rau and Ambroz for a clean two on one. At the moment of his decision all the Sioux forwards were in deep, and why not, they were on the PP trying to win.

If it can't be chalked up to a bad bounce, I'd hang it on Grimaldi. He lost the draw, then wasn't able to fight through the smack in the face Holl gave him before corralling the bounce and getting the shot off.

In a game like that, where both teams were laying it on the line, I for one don't feel the need to look for a scapegoat.

[airmail]

Frozen Four - against your biggest rival - GWG with one second left - shorthanded.

It's the best way to win a game, and the worst way to lose a game.

Heartbreaker.

Thanks for another good run, boys.

[Snake]

Rau wins the draw clean into the corner. Holl ties up the Sioux forward on the left wall just enough to let Skjei win the race to the puck. Funny thing is now both Skjei and Holl are on the wall with Grimaldi and another forward open in front of Wilcox.

Skjei chips it to the half wall to Holl and Rau takes off with speed but without the puck directly at Schmaltz. Holl precedes out of the zone with the puck. I think Schmaltz correctly decides Rau is the threat and retreats. If he lets Rau behind him Holl has a simple chip pass to spring Rau and Ambroz for a clean two on one. At the moment of his decision all the Sioux forwards were in deep, and why not, they were on the PP trying to win.

If it can't be chalked up to a bad bounce, I'd hang it on Grimaldi. He lost the draw, then wasn't able to fight through the smack in the face Holl gave him before corralling the bounce and getting the shot off.

I think the amount of time left in the game had a lot to do with it as well. If there was a minute left, MN probably doesn't gamble with a shorthanded rush. Instead, with only 9 seconds on the clock, a clean faceoff win, and the ND forwards deep, there is no risk of a failed rush turning into a scoring chance the other way.

[Siouxperfan7]

I spend most of the night and this morning thinking about and evaluating last nights heartbreaking loss. All I kept thinking about was, oh great, another semifinal loss in the Frozen Four. But after thinking about the other losses in the Frozen Four, for some reason, this one doesn't sting as much. And it should since it was against the Gophers. Our biggest rival. But as the morning goes by, it doesnt. Getting beat by a Michigan team when we were clearly the better team sucked. Getting our butts handed too by BC 6-1 sucked. Shoot, losing to Denver in the Regional Championship 1-0 with Parise and Bochenski in a season where we won 30 games was almost a worse loss. Yes this loss was to the Gophers. A rival. The biggest one. But it is somehow nat as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe it because this team over exceeded expectations. We were in last place at thanksgiving. We were a period away against CC from losing that game and not even making the Frozen Faceoff and having our season end. We were 5 mins away from not making the playoffs when Sconi was down 2 goals. We weren't supposed to beat Wisconsin since they had one of the beat goalies in the country and a 1 seed. We were outplayed by Ferris state but Gothberg stole that game and we scored in double OT. The Gophers are a rival and they say you can throw out the record books when you play a rival. But in this case versus Minnesota, they were the clear favorites. Had they won 5-1, it wouldn't have surprised me. We played them better than anyone has all year. No one had shut them out in the first two periods except last night. Did we have our chances to win , sure. But the Gophers got a lucky bounce and won. In a game where Minnesota had the advantage in almost every category, we hung with them when yet again, no one was giving us a chance.

We should be standing up and applading these guys for what they have accomplished this year. I am not trying to call this a moral victory. This was a season that we were almost left for dead and this team had the will, determination, and pride to fight back and get better. Many teams would have not had the resolve this team did. They would have called the season a loss and finished 500 and starting looking towards next year. One thing that we can always appreciate about Sioux hockey teams is their determination and their never give up attitude. Sure sometimes it takes a a loss to St Lawrence at home to get that fire going, but they always seem to finally get that.

Sure I hate losing to the Gophers. It sucks we lost in the semifinals. But, every person who has ever cheered for the Univerity of North Dakota hockey team should be pround of not only this team, but every team that we see skate year in and year out. I am glad that I am a fan of this team. Couldn't imagine ever cheering for anyone else. Proud to be a Sioux fan whether we win a NAtional Championship, or lose in the final secon in the Frozen Four to our biggest rival. Sioux fan for life....not just something we hashtag at the end of our posts. We as Sioux fans mean it.

[MafiaMan]

I spend most of the night and this morning thinking about and evaluating last nights heartbreaking loss. All I kept thinking about was, oh great, another semifinal loss in the Frozen Four. But after thinking about the other losses in the Frozen Four, for some reason, this one doesn't sting as much. And it should since it was against the Gophers. Our biggest rival. But as the morning goes by, it doesnt. Getting beat by a Michigan team when we were clearly the better team sucked. Getting our butts handed too by BC 6-1 sucked. Shoot, losing to Denver in the Regional Championship 1-0 with Parise and Bochenski in a season where we won 30 games was almost a worse loss. Yes this loss was to the Gophers. A rival. The biggest one. But it is somehow not as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe it because this team over exceeded expectations. We were in last place at thanksgiving. We were a period away against CC from losing that game and not even making the Frozen Faceoff and having our season end. We were 5 mins away from not making the playoffs when Sconi was down 2 goals. We weren't supposed to beat Wisconsin since they had one of the beat goalies in the country and a 1 seed. We were outplayed by Ferris state but Gothberg stole that game and we scored in double OT. The Gophers are a rival and they say you can throw out the record books when you play a rival. But in this case versus Minnesota, they were the clear favorites. Had they won 5-1, it wouldn't have surprised me. We played them better than anyone has all year. No one had shut them out in the first two periods except last night. Did we have our chances to win , sure. But the Gophers got a lucky bounce and won. In a game where Minnesota had the advantage in almost every category, we hung with them when yet again, no one was giving us a chance.

We should be standing up and applading these guys for what they have accomplished this year. I am not trying to call this a moral victory. This was a season that we were almost left for dead and this team had the will, determination, and pride to fight back and get better. Many teams would have not had the resolve this team did. They would have called the season a loss and finished 500 and starting looking towards next year. One thing that we can always appreciate about Sioux hockey teams is their determination and their never give up attitude. Sure sometimes it takes a a loss to St Lawrence at home to get that fire going, but they always seem to finally get that.

Sure I hate losing to the Gophers. It sucks we lost in the semifinals. But, every person who has ever cheered for the Univerity of North Dakota hockey team should be pround of not only this team, but every team that we see skate year in and year out. I am glad that I am a fan of this team. Couldn't imagine ever cheering for anyone else. Proud to be a Sioux fan whether we win a NAtional Championship, or lose in the final secon in the Frozen Four to our biggest rival. Sioux fan for life....not just something we hashtag at the end of our posts. We as Sioux fans mean it.

I'm proud of this team's accomplishments, too, but I have the opposite feeling. I'm not sure there's ever been a more stinging loss than this one. Make the '98 regional at Yost seem like an exhibition game against Simon Fraser.

[siouxkid12]

I see the gopher fans trashed dinkytown lastnight.....STAY CLASSY!

[MafiaMan]

I see the gopher fans trashed dinkytown lastnight.....STAY CLASSY!

Wanna drive down there on Saturday night, park a couple of chairs on a corner, grab some popcorn, and watch the sparks fly REGARDLESS of who wins or loses the title game? It's gonne be EPIC!

[Ray77]

Unbelievable. I just saw this video. I seriously hope that Union hangs 8 on them tomorrow night and that shithole goes up in flames.

http://blogs.citypag..._win_videos.php

[siouxkid12]

Wanna drive down there on Saturday night, park a couple of chairs on a corner, grab some popcorn, and watch the sparks fly REGARDLESS of who wins or loses the title game? It's gonne be EPIC!

It might take me a little bit to get from Grand Forks but I'll surely do it!

[Shawn-O]

Honestly, the WCHA break-up and conference realignment had me down in the dumps this season. What this UND team accomplished this season and the tournament run, while not what we were ultimately hoping for, has rekindled that spark for me. Can't wait for next season!

[scpa0305]

I'm proud of this team's accomplishments, too, but I have the opposite feeling. I'm not sure there's ever been a more stinging loss than this one. Make the '98 regional at Yost seem like an exhibition game against Simon Fraser.

I'm with you...this one hurts. We looked like we had it under control just needed to get a lucky bounce. Even 20 plus some odd seconds the the man advantage in OT. I'm still in udder disbelief

[Dave Berger]

For gfhockey and Dave Berger claiming there was too many men on the ice for the goal, they're wrong.

https://www.youtube....UsOFYDCb3c#t=15

Great game by North Dakota. I'm pretty sure that every Minnesota fan (minus those that just cheer because it's a thing to do if they're in a game like this) knows that it sometimes comes down to a bounce that determines this stuff. I know I was holding on for dear life every single time UND unloaded another shot in the 3rd.

I never said there were five skaters on the ice for the goal. Minnesota had five lined up for the faceoff after the goal.

Didn't matter, just found it interesting.

Dave

[Sioux_Hab-it]

I am not upset or disappointed. I think that Sioux lineup played to their full potential against the strongest Gopher team since the Leopold era. To make matters worse it looks like they finally recruited a goaltender who isn't a sieve. Based on watching yesterday's games, I also think that Rau is a better hockey player than Johnny hockey. Good luck to Union, because they are going to need it.

[scpa0305]

I am not upset or disappointed. I think that Sioux lineup played to their full potential against the strongest Gopher team since the Leopold era. To make matters worse it looks like they finally recruited a goaltender who isn't a sieve. Based on watching yesterday's games, I also think that Rau is a better hockey player than Johnny hockey. Good luck to Union, because they are going to need it.

I just vomited in my mouth