dagies Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Gopher fans are reporting that Dan Irman has verballed to MN. If true, this would seem to throw a wrench into chances to land Ryan Potulney (if the Sioux ever had any). I have to say, I get a little concerned seeing good GF players heading to MN, or any other school for that matter. Now, I'm not being critical. Landing guys like Parise and Murray, etc is just fine with me. But in an ideal world I would like to see GF kids like Panzer growing up wanting to be a Sioux like MN kids want to be a Gopher. Too many guys head south and pretty soon the Sioux aren't the only game in town. To keep the local community involved in the Sioux program, I think it is important. Anyway, we'll see what happens. I wanted to bring this up for discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OETKB Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I'm not familiar with Irman, but I was very concerned when I learned that Potulny had gone to MN and was doing very well as a college player. Then, someone in my family reported that UND passed on recruiting him. Apparently, there were some issues with his character. I don't claim to know what those things were or that it is absolutely true. All I know is that it made me feel much better about not having Potulny playing in Grand Forks. Since his older brother plays for UM, you can't blame the younger Potulny if he chooses to go there, too. And, with the facilities and the excellent recruits and coaching at UND, we shouldn't have to worry too much about ND kids not wanting to play here. Fight on Sioux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I believe you're right, ND kids grow up wanting to play for the Sioux, and if they are good enough, generally will. Saw another post some time ago (I know nothing about this) that the Potulny boy's father, demanded that the Sioux take both kids (when the younger one was obviously very young), and Blais turned down the "offer". Again, I have no knowledge of this, but would not be surprised that Jay "Superstar" Potulny would make the demands. I think the Sioux will get by without these two, and will still have success with ND kids, if and when they want them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Certainly the sky isn't falling, but I have to admit to being opposed to the general idea of good GF kids playing elsewhere in the WCHA, if UND had interest. Considering how well Irmen and R. Potulny have done in the USHL as high school juniors, they could turn out to be among the best players GF has produced. If that turns out to be the case, and they both play elsewhere, I would be unhappy. The local recruiting picture has certainly produced some odd results lately - GF kids to MN, Twin Cities kids to UND. What's next? Cats and dogs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 smitty (DE) at POI has declared another verbal today for the Gophers. I have to assume it's the younger Potulny. If it's true, that would be completely expected, and depressing nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 The Sioux's roster is more than full for the next couple years. Don't believe I'd trade the current recruits for these two (Irmen and Potulny), but I don't know much about them. For those that have seen them, what Sioux recruits would you turn down to make room for these two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted August 2, 2002 Author Share Posted August 2, 2002 Sprig asks a valid question. I haven't seen them so I can't really comment. For 2003-04 we are bringing in: Chris Porter - F Brady Murray - F Eric Fabian - F Matt Smaby - D Chad Dahlen - D Layne Sedevie - G After this season we will lose: Notermann - F Spiewak - F Leinweber - D Hale - D* Jones - D* * - worst case scenario I don't know where you would put another recruit, frankly. It's the same argument that MN used when Smaby committed to ND. MN didn't recruit the guy much because they had no room for another D. I don't know where the Sioux have room for additional forwards. Does anyone really think any of our forwards will leave school early? I for one don't see it after this coming year. Regardless, I don't like to see good GF players going somewhere else. Again, I'm not sure they're better than what is coming in, or that I would have preferred them to be recruited over these kids, just that I would like to see the good GF players stay at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I don't think Sioux fans should get in a Gopher-like uproar when not every good North Dakota hockey player ends up at UND. Heck, why not accept it as a compliment to the quality of players being produced by the state? Would I prefer that every good North Dakota player play at UND? Of course. But next season's roster will contain a fair sample of North Dakota players (Fylling, Massen, Schneider and Fuher). We also know that Blais will go after every North Dakotan that he thinks can help the team, although that doesn't mean that he'll get them all. The bottom line is that if the Sioux are going to compete at the national level, they have to pursue the best players available, no matter where they're from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted August 2, 2002 Author Share Posted August 2, 2002 Don't forget Palmiscno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Don't forget Palmiscno. Well, Palmiscno is definitely local talent, but the UND roster lists his home town as East Grand Forks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mksioux Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Palmo is an eastsider. I don't know about the other incoming players, but I'll take Brady Murray over either. The way I look at it is that UND will never get all of the talented ND kids. The lure of the "big-time" college in an urban setting is too appealing to some kids. I think on the whole, UND is doing a pretty good job recruiting ND kids. Although seeing 3 ND kids on the gophers at once will be pretty strange. As far as room, will Dahlen be a scholarship or walk-on player? I pretty much wrote Ryan Potulny off as soon as Grant scored the OT goal against Maine. UND's chances went from slim to none at that point, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted August 2, 2002 Author Share Posted August 2, 2002 I think UND's chances were pretty slim when his brother went to UM. You don't see many brother combo's split up, unless the school itself doesn't want the #2 kid. However, it can happen. With the scuttlebutt I read on the boards with G. Potulney's situation, it seemed there was some family bad blood towards the UND program resulting from it, and when that happens, I think it is difficult to think that the #2 kid would end up anywhere else. That said, one can hope. I believe someone once posted on the gopher site claiming to be a friend of Ryan Potulney's and he said if Grant stayed at UM all 4 years he was going to UM and if Grant left early then to GF he would go. I don't see Grant leaving early, does anyone else? Of course, this is all hearsay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Potulny did commit to the Gophers a couple of days ago. While I'm sure the Sioux would have liked to get him, they didn't have much to offer in terms of scholarship, and he was never in for a visit. We'll have to wait and see who has a bigger impact (Murray and Porter or Potulny and Irman) because that's what it would have come down to. If the Sioux wouldn't have used the scholarships on Murray and Porter, they would have been able to make offers to the other two. I don't think you'd want to give up Murray though, but time will tell. After what Murray did in the Kings Prospects Camp, maybe we will never see him playing for North Dakota. My guess is that he will be there a couple of years though. ND kids have been playing on other teams for many years; it's not a big deal. Based on team needs and what is available to offer, UND can't sign them all. If Parise and Murray had signed with the Gophers, do you think Minnesota would have been getting commitments from the other two? Not very likely. Blaiser got his commitments quite a while ago, it's not like he missed out on a recruit and then had to go to plan B. Just like with Hirsch, UND could only offer a walk-on position and Minnesota offered a scholarship. Even with that, Hirsch almost took the walk-on position with UND. It was a very difficult decision for him. How would you like to be on the Gopher side of this.....Bochenski (WCHA ROY) goes to UND, Parise signs with UND, Murray commits to UND, Porter commits to UND, Smaby commits UND. If that was happening, you'd have to start asking....why? These were all kids that the Gophers recruited. This type of thing never happened 3 years ago. Despite what you read on message boards, the Gophers were after Smaby hard. There was a time when the Sioux could offer kids like Parise, Murray, Smaby a full ride and the Gophers would offer a third or a half scholarship, and the kid would pick the Gophers. Now, it is reversed. Enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speez Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I believe you're right, ND kids grow up wanting to play for the Sioux, and if they are good enough, generally will. Saw another post some time ago (I know nothing about this) that the Potulny boy's father, demanded that the Sioux take both kids (when the younger one was obviously very young), and Blais turned down the "offer". Again, I have no knowledge of this, but would not be surprised that Jay "Superstar" Potulny would make the demands. I think the Sioux will get by without these two, and will still have success with ND kids, if and when they want them. Sprig, You are correct in what you remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted August 3, 2002 Share Posted August 3, 2002 Sprig, You are correct in what you remember. I have heard the same thing, too so it must be true. I am sure Blaiser doesn't work well with threats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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