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Bye, Bye Bochenski


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If this is true, let me be the first to say that Bochenski leaving early seems alot like when Lundbohm left early. Both knew that they had just lost their playmaker. I wish Bochenski well but I do not see him anywhere near ready to make the jump. Come on Bochenski, come back for your senior year and prove that you can be a stud without Parise.

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Let's not wallow in a pit of endless gloom johnsowe. The team will miss Bo, but his leaving isn't going to destroy the depth overall. It may give some of the lesser lights a chance to step out of the shadows and shine more brightly. There are several of them that can hear opportunity knocking.

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Good luck to Bochenski and thanks for the contributions over the last three years.

People need to remember the player's perspective in a decision like this. These guys dream of advancing in their hockey career, and when you think the time has come to move on, you need to go. Especially for a guy who played a year of juniors after high school, three years in college is plenty. In addition, the summer after a junior season has traditionally been the last time a college player has leverage, since he can threaten to go back to school if the organization doesn't come up with a better offer.

I wish Bochenski would come back to be a 100/100 man in the Sioux record books and perhaps win the Hobey, but if he and the Senators feel it's time to go play against bigger and better players, then I wish him well.

As for the Sioux, this makes things more difficult. But it's not the end of the world. Stafford is plenty ready to step into the top line on the right side, and a lot of special teams time just opened up for him and others. If the entire defensive corps returns, this team will still be very hard for nearly everyone to handle. A ".500" record won't be much of a concern. However, a defection from that group (and the risk is still there) would really start to have an effect on next year's chances, IMO.

Just a reminder that, recently, teams have lost their best players (especially forwards) and gone on to have fantastic seasons. Among them: Michigan won after the Morrison group left. UND won after the Blake group left. BC won after the Farkas/Mottau group left. MN won after Pohl/Taffe/Leopold left.

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As for the Sioux, this makes things more difficult. But it's not the end of the world. Stafford is plenty ready to step into the top line on the right side, and a lot of special teams time just opened up for him and others. If the entire defensive corps returns, this team will still be very hard for nearly everyone to handle.

Jk brings up a good point if Denver University can win an NCAA title with the team they won with last season UND can win with the team they have. UND needs to have a few players stand up and take some leadership.

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Just a reminder that, recently, teams have lost their best players (especially forwards) and gone on to have fantastic seasons.  Among them:  Michigan won after the Morrison group left.  UND won after the Blake group left.  BC won after the Farkas/Mottau group left.  MN won after Pohl/Taffe/Leopold left.

It is true that the 98-99 Sioux team lost 56.8% of its total offense (based on total points) and came back to win an NC. However, I would guess that cases like that are an exception to the rule. In 00-01 Sioux lost 48.6% of its offense and followed it up with a sub-.500 season. Assuming there are no further early departures, the 03-04 Sioux team will lose 34.3% of its total offensive production. Comparitively speaking, the 02-03 Sioux team lost only 16.9% of its offense.

Of course all hope is not lost, but it is a major blow to next season.

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My memory has been proven wrong enough times that I shouldn't risk saying this without checking first, but stretch my neck I will. jk already referred to it, but I think BC lost 3, count 'em, 3 hobey finalists after we beat them in 2000 and they came back to beat us in 2001.

Someone already mentioned the Sioux coming back after heavy losses and winning in 2000. And the Gophers have recently had success after losing Leo, Taffe and Pohl in the same year. So yeah, I think teams can come back and it's not that unusual. Thing to remember is every team is losing someone each year. Some more than others. It would have been awfully sweet to have Bo back but such is life.

This team still has plenty of talent. There is more ice time opening up for guys who can make a difference. Think of it this way. Guys like Massen and Canady who struggled in the past have a new coach, maybe a new outlook on "life", and suddenly a much better chance to believe they have a shot to make a difference. Could be just the spark to get them going.

Massen was about as good a scorer as Bochenski that last year in juniors. He's shown flashes. Last year was a washout, but players have and can rebound. Should James rebound and build from his sophomore season, it will go a long way to mitigating the loss of Bochenski.

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So next season we went from a chance at a national title to maybe we will be above .500 :)

I seriously doubt the loss of one player can have that much of an impact. They still return quite a bit of depth on offense, but most importantly they return a very strong defense and goalie rotation.

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DU won because of incredible goaltending...which we haven't had since Karl graduated...if UND will succeed this season, it'll because a goaltender steps up and plays like there's no tomorrow! Just who that might be is anyones guess....

ALL THE FIREPOWER IN THE WORLD DOESN'T EQUAL OF HOT BACKSTOP IN THE NETS!!! (see 1997 team for reference...)

BTW...whatever happened to Aaron Schweitzer?

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Am I missing something here? I read that if Ottawa "gets there" financially he will leave UND. If they don't he will be back this season. How does this at all differ from where Vanek is at with Buffalo right now? Why not save the collective send off until something is official.

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