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Goalie Meltdown


sprig

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I feel bad for Jake. While I do think he made a mistake by coming too far out of the net on the shorthanded goal, putting the loss squarely on him isn't fair. It's a team game and it was a team loss.

I agree, unfortunately, this is the kind of loss that can mess with a goaltender's confidence. He had played a very good game up to that third period mistake.

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I feel bad for Jake. While I do think he made a mistake by coming too far out of the net on the shorthanded goal, putting the loss squarely on him isn't fair. It's a team game and it was a team loss.

Those comments against Jake are quite harsh; very disappointing to read.

taz

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I don't feel badly for Brandt at all. He's a junior and coming into this season, the job was his to lose. Ever since he's played here he's always had an inability to KISS (keep it simple, stupid). His dad gave him the same advice last season, and it worked when he used it. I'm sure Blais and the other coaches/players have told him the same. This time his lapse cost us a game, at a critical part of the season. If we have JParise start the remainder of the season, I could care less. I'm interested in this team stepping up and moving on to Boston. If Brandt and a few others who have been MIA the past few series start wearing ties to achieve that, so be it. ;)

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Let's look at a few facts. On the goal that cost the Sioux the game, Smaby made the mistake of playing the puck and not the man. There was absolutely no backchecking on the play. I saw the forwards coast to the blue line and watch. Nobody hustled to get back except Parise when he saw Smaby get beat. But it was too late.

Don't forget that the turnover on the shorthanded goal was casued by sloppy play that led to a bad turnover. Yes, Jake made a mistake by coming out too far, but he never should have had to make that stop to begin with.

There were also times in the game where Sioux players were closest to the puck, but just stood by and let a Badger player pick it up. After the first period, the entire team played without heart. And what happened to "Man Against the Boys/Leading Hobey Candidate" Bochenski? He was invisible through most of the game.

For that matter, what about coaching? Blais has said that it's the coaches job to know when to make adjustments and changes at the right time in a game. If Brandt's mistake was so horrible and Blais knew he wasn't the same after giving up the shorthanded goal, why not replace him?

At least David Lundbohm had the guts to admit the cause of the problem in the Herald's story:

Senior center David Lundbohm said the Sioux have nobody to blame but themselves.

"We kind of turned the switch off," Lundbohm said. "We got a three-goal lead and thought the game was over. The last three weekends have kind of been like that, where we had chances to separate ourselves. Now we're looking back again. It's definitely not acceptable."

Lundbohm said the Sioux had the game in hand. "On the road, with a 3-1 lead in the third period, that's exactly what you want," he said. "But we didn't have guys stepping up."

From the coaches on down, there's enough blame to spread around for everyone.

Edited by PCM
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PCM

I was thinking the same thing when the game ended, Where was Bochenski? He didn't do much at all.

I also agree that as much as Blais singled out Brandt, this is a team and they did not help Brandt out much in the last period and OT. On the tying goal late in the 3rd, the Sioux had a couple chances to clear the puck out of the zone and just failed to do so, Brandt made the initial stop, point blank from him, but the Badger got the rebound and pounded the tying goal in. When you look at the replay, it shows no Sioux player even close to this guy, even after he took two shots.

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I'm not saying that Brandt doesn't deserve to be criticized because he does. I just don't think it's fair to single him out as the reason the Sioux lost.

amen

I definitely agree with that.

When reading the postgame comments, makes me think that Blais was/is not happy with Brandt, for more than just the past game. Just a hunch.

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The loss was as much about coaching as it was about goaltending. Jeez, when UW scores their second goal and has the momentum and everyone in the stadium is standing and cheering, why not shorten the bench and remove some of the potential liabilities from the ice and play to WIN? (Don't get me wrong, I realize DB is a fantastic coach, but come on!!!)

The play by Brandt was stupid and it cost UND a goal, but not necessarily the game. Smaby's play on the man in overtime in front of Brandt was atrocious. He may be a freshmen, but with only nine league games remaining he should be seasoned enough to make a what looked to be a very simple play.

And James Massen, what in the world happened to him from last year to this year? On UW's third goal he could've easily chipped the puck out of the zone, but he didn't, he just watched the guy pick it up, make a move to the net, which lead to the tying goal.

I apologize for singling out anybody, but those two plays, in addition to Brandt's blunder and DB's shortsightedness were all contributing factors in the loss.

If UND's strength is its depth, as has been advertised all year, it most certainly did not show last night.

And although I marvel at how much Zach Parise has elevated his game since returning from the WJC (I truly feel that he is the best player in college hockey at this point because he is doing everything in every zone and doing it very, very well) the play of many of his teammates has gone in the opposite direction.

That being said, I hope the players are as p*ssed about the loss as the fans are, if they are then last night's loss can be turned into a positive! If not, then last night's loss could start a slide much like last season's.

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As one who harshly criticized Brandt during the game (after the 2nd goal and onto the end of the game) I feel like I should reevaluate and issue a warning.

I do not believe Brandt is innocent and is not without blame. No matter how logically or rationally I look at last night, I cannot dismiss his poor play on the powerplay. What I can do is to say that everyone has a bad game. Sometimes it comes at inopportune times. We are not out of it at all.

Someone here said that going into the tourney as the #1 team may not necessarily be a good thing. I'd love more explanation on that because it does not appear to me that we will be going into the Regionals as #1 anymore (unless the other teams start losing).

JPar has had good games, but remember, he has had some bad games too. We've been able to come back from those deficits, but still, you have to keep it in context. Also, Brandt played spectacularly against Minnesota, despite seemingly getting overshadowed by JPar's performance in the LOSS the following night.

Criticize Bradnt if you want, but let's not turn him into Siembida. I know I'm already guilty of beginning the process in my own mind, but I am going to try hard to eliminate those thoughts and think of last season around playoff time and how Brandt really stepped up.

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Brandt, Smaby, and Massen may have cost us the game, if you want to point fingers, but I believe that we are not out of it.

RW77,

You have developed a horrible tendency to either misquote or misrepresent statements made by other members of this board.

I did not say that Brandt, Smaby and Massen cost UND the game as you represent, what I said is their performances on the three plays that I mentioned, along with DB's coaching, were all contributing factors in the loss!

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RW77,

You have developed a horrible tendency to either misquote or misrepresent statements made by other members of this board.

I did not say that Brandt, Smaby and Massen cost UND the game as you represent, what I said is their performances on the three plays that I mentioned, along with DB's coaching, were all contributing factors in the loss!

And I never said I was quoting anyone.

Edit: Because I misquoted PCM once and paid dearly for it, that means I've have a trend? Learning curve is steep here. Next thing you know, I'll be the Happy of SS.com. I erased the sentence in question just because you have taken issue with how it was written. I apologize for the miscommunication.

I'll just go on with my life now.

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Not sure if its been discussed elsewhere, I'm too lazy to scroll through all 16 pages in the WI thread; did anyone get a good look at the Sioux's goal that was waved off? From the quick replay the WI announcers looked at, it looked like the puck wasn't even close to being touched w/ a high stick. From the reaction from the players though, it must have been. That said, the Sioux looked like the Wild last night, get a lead and protect it. Genoway, Parise, Fuhrer looked good. Smaby looked absolutely horrible, not just the winning goal, he fead the WI points more than any WI player. Frankly I think this could be good for the Sioux, every team needs a couple of games like this, rather now than in the NCAA's. I just don't see them melting like last year, they are too good. Playing a struggling CC team, and a horrible MSU team should help to get some confidence back.

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IHO, it's a big mistake to go with one goalie down the stretch. Both JPar and Brandt have been solid and we need them both. The only think I can think is that Brandt responds to this type of "motivation". If not, can't see why Blais would undress him like that.

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Not sure if its been discussed elsewhere, I'm too lazy to scroll through all 16 pages in the WI thread; did anyone get a good look at the Sioux's goal that was waved off? From the quick replay the WI announcers looked at, it looked like the puck wasn't even close to being touched w/ a high stick. From the reaction from the players though, it must have been.

Dataflix here, so no chance of me seeing the puck. Sounds like it didn't look like it hit a stick on the TV replay, but due to the players reaction, it must have. Schmidt was certainly the best one to see and hear if it did hit a stick (along with the player who deflected the puck, Bochenski?).

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Well lets hope Jordan Parise plays the rest of the season, because now I'm sure Brandt's confidence is shot. Everyone in the league knows JP goes down way to early. Brandt played a good game tonight except for the SH goal. Stopped numerous point blank shots. The OT goal was definately not his fault and anyone would have had a hard time stopping that one, but of course in the Herald Deano blamed Brandt for it.

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I agree, I can't believe Brandt got burned like that in the Herald. There were a couple times during the game where I thought the puck was going in the net with point blank shots, but was pleasantly surprised when I realized that Brandt had made the save. He certainly made a mistake playing the puck, but how many people think that JPar would have done the same thing? JPar loves to play the puck even more than Brandt. But after the loss, the only thing I could think of was why was Smaby playing with Jones during overtime? Why was he playing at all during overtime? He hasn't struck me as a very solid defenseman yet in the WCHA. He is a freshman and makes freshman mistakes. I'm wondering why Greene wasn't on the ice, who we know loves to take the body.

I think Blais was talking with his emotions last night, and picked out Brandt as a scapegoat.

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Where the he\_\_ was Ryan Hale last night or for that matter the past few games. I felt he had several chances to clear the puck on the tying goal. Our defense was no where to be seen. Usually the rule of thumb is...If it gets past the forwards it is the job of the defense to clear the puck before it gets to the goalie. Simple concept. # 2 and 3 seemed to be out of position a lot last night.

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I can't go and blame Brandt for this loss. I was very surprised to read that Dean said he should have had the last two goals. I don't know. On the game tying goal, his leg was there. It was a good shot. Not his fault the man wasn't covered in front. The overtime one was a great shot as well.

Everyone made a mistake at some point in that game. Brandt's is just more visible.

After those comments about Brandt, I wonder if he'll play again. But then again, the players did call Blais 'Dr. Hook' last year.

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I think it was DB's way of making sure that Jake learns to stay in the friggen net and not take uncessary chances. If memory serves, I remember a similar mistake by Karl back in the BC championship game that cost us a goal. Better Jake learns the lesson now than in late March or early April. This isn't the last we will see of Brandt. He'll give us some big W's yet this year.

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Deano was harsh on Brandt. I think the coaching staff needs to take a big chunk of blame too, not just players ...

* Wisconsin scores the tying goal at 18:59, with UND's 4th line out there ... Massen, Hale, Genoway. Why are they on the ice in that crucial situation? If lines 1-2-3 are tired,

* Why not take a timeout? I don't recall us taking a timeout....

Lundbohm statement taking accountability is a good sign.

==============

The good news is we still have the #1 PWR, a favorable remaining schedule, and a very good team.

The bad news is that tonight we have to play WI at the Kohl.

Gut check tonight.

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