skateshattrick Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Dean Blais spoke at Fargo Sioux Boosters today. He was very humorous, and gave the following information: 1. The Sioux have won 5 of the last 8 WCHA titles. When he won his first, all 9 of the other coaches called. After this year, only Scott Sandelin and Lee Davidson (former Sioux players and coaches, now at UMD) called to offer congratulations. 2. The Sioux will likely play the Gophers in the WCHA playoffs on Friday, and he joked that the refs will make sure that the Gophers get there. 3. The Sioux are extremely focused right now and playing their best hockey. In fact, during a recent practice, they did not miss a pass for 10 minutes. 4. Prpich hurt his ankle and may or may not play this weekend. 5. The Sioux landed some very recruits for next year, including the leading scorer in the BCHL, the top defenseman in the BCHL, and the top goalie in the USHL (Lamoreaux). 6. The Sioux are likely heading to the West Regional in Colorado Springs, and a possible 1st round opponent is Bemidji State. Denver, CC, Wisconsin and Miami are also possible West Regional teams. 7. Michigan Tech is staying in Grand Forks, and are skating in East Grand Forks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 1. The Sioux have won 5 of the last 8 WCHA titles. When he won his first, all 9 of the other coaches called. After this year, only Scott Sandelin and Lee Davidson (former Sioux players and coaches, now at UMD) called to offer congratulations. I guess some of the coaches are just sick of Blais and UND winning. Thanks for the recap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 With the MacNaughton Cup proudly displayed directly in front of him, DB opened his comments by saying that when he first won the Cup back in '97 he received congratulatory calls from the other nine head coaches in the league - this year he received one call from Sandelin only. He said he can't wait to get those other eight coaches together and give them a piece of his mind (stated with a hearty chuckle). He said the reality is the others are likely p*ssed that UND has won it five of the last eight years, which is probably why they didn't call. He talked about how it looks like UND will be playing in Colorado Springs for the regional and if things stay the way the are and Bemidji wins the CHA that UND will likely be playing them in the first round on Friday night. But, he said they have a lot of hockey to play before that point. He talked about how the series this weekend will be difficult because it is back to back against the same opponent and the Tech players are upset because UND wouldn't let them practice at the REA. He watched the Tech players tote their bags to the bus Monday morning for their practice in EGF and he said they clearly weren't pleased. He feels bad about the situation, but doesn't feel that they should get to practice for a full week on UND's home ice. He said they tried to work out time on the Olympic ice, but couldn't make it work so Tech will use an EGF rink until Thursday. Someone asked if the shoe was on the other foot if DB would have kept his team in Houghton or anywhere on the road for 9 days and DB said "no." He thinks it would be of more benefit to Tech to leave GF even if it is to go to Thief River Falls for five days, stay in a hotel there and use the little REA. He said it helps Tech that they are on spring break so being away isn't that big of a deal, but it is still tough on the players especially since all their non-hockey buddies are whooping it up on a sunny beach somewhere while the team is stuck in GF. He did say though that if Tech beats UND on Friday then his answer would be that he would've done whatever Tech did. He talked about how the team had a good feeling around Christmas time and knew they were capable of doing something special. They kept that feeling even through their lull several weeks back. He said the Mankato series was huge because last year they outplayed and badly outshot the Mavs and yet got swept so to play as well as they did down their this year and get the two key wins was very important. He talked about the last Duluth series and said that the Tuesday before that series he stepped onto the ice for practice and said to himself "what is going on here?" He could feel a strange vibe and a lot of intensity and said that right after practice started, two fights broke out and he had to cancel the practice after 45 minutes because they boys were too intense. He told them they had to play hard and be intense, but that they couldn't kill each other. They then went to Duluth and played their "best game of the year" on Friday. He said that altough UND won all five games against Duluth that UND isn't necessarily the better team. He said that at the Bulldog Booster Luncheon that Friday that he took the mic and reminded Sandelin that UMD had not lost in 14 games, but that there was no way that they would go through the NCAA championship in Boston and not lose in 22 games and so he said to SS that against UND that weekend was a good time for Duluth to lose! SS told him to "go to h*ll!" He said again that this is a special team that's had a great deal of chemistry right from the start. He said they have avoided, for the most part, problems in the classroom and off the ice. He stated that they are a very well-mannered and polite group and that he has done nothing to make them that way, that is just how they are. He said as of now, Murray, Parise and Stafford will be a line this weekend and Porter, Lundbohm and Bochenski will be another line. He said that Prpich's status is still up in the air, but that he was running on the treadmill yesterday and he thinks he will be able to play. He pointed out the goalie stats and commented on the 62 goals given up being the lowest in the history of the league using the current setup. He said they are very deep at forward, the defensemen are very solid and and the goaltenders have played very well, but noted that the key may be the number of shots the team blocks every game. He said that if you only allow 21 or 22 shots on net per game with goalies saving over 90% that you have a good formula for success, which has been the case this year. Someone asked a question about James Masson and DB responded that although he was injured for a couple of weeks earlier this season, he has continued to develop, but is simply being beat out by very good hockey players. He said the competition is fierce to get on the ice and that the freshmen have performed so well that it is tough to get in there. He also mentioned that JM has suffered some distractions that have taken him off his game a bit. DB said the team is now clicking on all cylinders and pointed to a very recent practice when they did a full ice passing drill for ten minutes and noted that not once during that drill was a passed missed, which he said is remarkable. He made some funny comments about the state of referring in the league and said he felt comfortable doing that because he is probably already facing a $1,000.00 fine from the league. He mentioned Kupchella attempts to stem the use of profanity at games and said when he confronted Randy Schmidt at the end of the first period during the Wisco series that he had 14,000 people calling him an "a**hole" in unison and that was intimidating. He mentioned that next year's recruits are having strong seasons for their respective teams! No names were mentioned though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 anyone else with a Fargo Sioux Boosters update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux7 Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 anyone else with a Fargo Sioux Boosters update? I was there. Blais seemed pretty upbeat about the whole season. I got my picture taken with the cup as well. WHOOOOAAAAWHOOOO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejm Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Coach told me a funny story during lunch: Seems they had four cases of champagne on ice waiting for the team to clinch the Cup: two alcolholic (stored in the equipment room for coaches, wives, etc.) and two alcohol-free in the locker room for the guys. Dean said they're just going to spray it all over the place, and a lot of them are under age, so why give them the good stuff? So the boys evidently did as expected, spraying their bottles of (unbeknownst to them) alcohol-free champagne all over, but saving a little in the bottom of each bottle to pour into the Cup to then drink. It wasn't until almost all the team had poured their "leftovers" into the Cup that one of them finally noticed the "Non-Alcoholic" verbage on the label. The coaches evidently had a good laugh over that. Coach said it's just what he needs to be going all over town, that his boys were getting trashed in the locker room, with another game to play the next day, underage, etc. Dean certainly was in a good mood today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux fan in phoenix Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Skateshattrick: Thanks for providing the general outline so Schmidtdoggydog could fill in all the details Great job, both of you!! Am surprised that Stafford is replacing Genoway on the 1st line. I thought there was good chemistry with Stafford on the 4th line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Thanks for the recaps, Sioux fans in Fargo! Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Thanks for the update on the Fargo luncheon. I am curious how many fans are attending the Sioux Booster luncheons in Fargo these days. I was one of the guys who organized that group many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux7 Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Like I said earlier in a post it was lively in their and Blais was relly in a good mood laughing and joking. He seems pretty positive about the near future for what holds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreckincrew Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Great post schmidtdoggydog, I copied it and posted it on USCHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
administrator Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Great post schmidtdoggydog, I copied it and posted it on USCHO. NO, NO, NO! Reposting the contents of this site on another site is strictly forbidden. Almost all the posters here know how to find USCHO and can post duplicates of their own messages there if they choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreckincrew Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 The Sioux landed some very recruits for next year, including the leading scorer in the BCHL, the top defenseman in the BCHL, and the top goalie in the USHL (Lamoreaux). Who's the d-man from the BCHL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Who's the d-man from the BCHL? Its not by chance Kyle Radke is it? Because I believe that Luke Beaverson is the other defenseman coming in next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Radke plays in the AJHL. I'm presuming there was a "typo", but I want to make sure I have my incoming d-men set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Radke plays in the AJHL. I'm presuming there was a "typo", but I want to make sure I have my incoming d-men set. Not a typo - that is what DB said, but we assumed he meant AJHL and was referring to Radke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I am also surprised that they would put Stafford back with Parise and Murray. I like Genoway on that line with Bo with Lundbohm and Porter on a line. I think it makes the 4th line more dangerous and much more physical with Stafford vs Genoway who is not a physical player. That being said who knows if that is actually the way it will be come game time. Blais knows opposing coaches are listening and reading as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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