Jump to content
SiouxSports.com Forum

Saturday night with Duluth-Spicer's Revenge???


Wilbur

Recommended Posts

9 minutes ago, Melvin said:

Some of the players you speak of aren't performing. Johnson has been a train wreck every time he's played. Costantini has been invisible, he should keep playing? IIRC wasn't Kunz hurt at the beginning of the season? He's been hit or miss. Mostly miss. The portal players on D have all been better than Johnson, Sidorski and Farmer have been pretty solid. 

Playing with Moore who isn’t the best defensively  will do that for you , but just keep running the same  lines and getting the same results then next year I guess we need to go to the portal again because we can’t recruit players we want to play. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Playing with Moore who isn’t the best defensively  will do that for you , but just keep running the same  lines and getting the same results then next year I guess we need to go to the portal again because we can’t recruit players we want to play. 

You do realize that Berry and staff changed the lines this past weekend, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, SuhakiYeahYeah said:

I had a dream last night that I was arrested and my punishment was having a guy with time control powers take me back to the Ralph and watch that Frisch turnover that lead to the 2nd goal over and over again. 

I just want the season to end already, it's becoming a literal nightmare for me.

The eternal optimist police around here love to shout down any negativity they see on the board…they must be sleeping in this morning.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since everything is duckie and bunnies this season so far for some here are some questions for next season....

Who is the #1 goaltender?

Who's the 2nd D pairing?

Who's in the top 6?

With all the chips pushed into the middle from day one it is alarming there are no concrete answers to any of those questions. 

You know who has answers to all those questions? The team that is headed back to Duluth.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Since everything is duckie and bunnies this season so far for some here are some questions for next season....

Who is the #1 goaltender?

Who's the 2nd D pairing?

Who's in the top 6?

With all the chips pushed into the middle from day one it is alarming there are no concrete answers to any of those questions. 

You know who has answers to all those questions? The team that is headed back to Duluth.

Who's happy about this season?  Not me.  I thought UND returned almost the whole team from last year and added some talent up front.  Given how last year's team played, I thought this year's version would at least be tough to play against again.  I had super high expectations.  There's no doubt that goaltending has had a huge impact, but at this point they're not even playing well beyond that.  There may be something to the idea that bad goaltending breaks teams, I don't know.  

As to your questions, I'd broaden them.  Who are any of the goaltenders, or the defensemen?  I don't know.  I bet the coaches could pencil in about 90% of next season's opening lineup though.  Just because we don't know the plan doesn't mean there isn't one.  As for the forward group, I'm again pretty optimistic.  Lots of returning talent and some strong additions.  But the returners need to take steps that not many took this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Mods please refer @MafiaMan to mama Gaber for sensitivity training....start with shootout WINS. 

I don’t want to say that things have hit rock bottom in Grand Forks, but last night’s green and white puck bunnies were seen gathering outside the Bulldog locker room exit, not North Dakota’s…

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BusinessSiouxt said:

More like Jan Brady University. I get pride, I get expectations, but this is getting old…

So we shouldn't question decisions, tactics and strategies that simply have not worked? And a coaching staff that is clearly lost as to how to turn it around? Whatever makes you sleep better at night, I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, siouxfaninseattle said:

I wonder if someone told Blake that there is a rule against passing the puck. Every time he had the puck last night he tried to get through every UMD player and ended up turning it over.

And other players pass up open shots for passes to guys that are covered. Both are problems.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Wondering what happens to players when they get here, Johnson, James , McLaughlin , and others were awesome players in juniors the they get here and get worse , maybe trying that round hole square peg thing. You can’t even spin this , this coaching staff does not develop players at all. Time for a fresh start IMHO. 

So, what about Howard and Spicer from Duluth, both of them haven’t done much, and Howard is a 1st rounder.  It isn’t uncommon for players to take a while.  Blake has far exceeded Howard in his first year, despite his lower draft status, but it doesn’t mean it won’t change drastically in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

I wonder if someone told Blake that there is a rule against passing the puck. Every time he had the puck last night he tried to get through every UMD player and ended up turning it over.

He has been a turnover machine all year long, but the upside of him having the puck is still very high.  He makes things happen offensively.

Similarly, 22 looks slick as heck, such a nice skater, but the play has been dying on his stick a lot lately.  I suspect next year a lot of the things he's trying will work.  Reminds me of N. Schmaltz in that way.  Not the same upside, but Schmaltz just couldn't get his passes to connect as a freshman, then they did the next year.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, AJS said:

How much ice time are the two 5th years getting? How old are they comparable to others? I sure hope they would be in the top 1/2 in goals / points. Who on the team wouldn’t with their opportunities. 

Then wouldn’t it also mean that on a bad team, their plus/minus should be among the worst?  The fact that they are playing against the other team’s best lines is also something to consider, being that many top lines have NHL talent.  They more than hold their own, meaning it is free for our other lines to play against less talented players.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let’s not forget, the reason we lost last night was due to a turnover by a guy that people are desperate to get back as a fifth year guy.  No doubt if we get him back, and we struggle, people will wonder why they brought back a fifth year guy who was negative in plus/minus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, jk said:

There's no doubt that goaltending has had a huge impact, but at this point they're not even playing well beyond that.  There may be something to the idea that bad goaltending breaks teams, I don't know. 

I think the porous defense is a bigger problem than goaltending.  Horrible coverage and turnovers/bad puck play right in front of the goalie is a staple of this year’s d-men.  

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Hahaha......cherry picking. He was the NCHC defensive Dman of the year last season. Bad play last night. Struggled early on this season but has been the only reliable Dman night in and night out for weeks. To put him coming back in same bucket as a couple this year is honestly laughable.

There are only a couple this year, Senden and Hain, and yes I would consider the three of them to be roughly in the same group.  How many times has any of them made a boneheaded play this year that left you shaking your head?  Hardly ever.  Although last night's play was disappointing, I can give Frisch a pass because he touches the puck so many times a game there are bound to be mistakes.  

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Frisch:

Quote

"I couldn't wait until Sunday or Monday, a day or two from now," Berry said. "I grabbed him right away and said, 'Hey, you've been a warrior for us for four years here. I can count on one hand how many mistakes you've made.' It wasn't that (play) that lost us the game. At the end of the day, maybe should have made a stronger play, but at the end of the day, he's not the culprit. He's got to know that he's been a backbone and a solid citizen for us all four years. We've got 10 games left here to get going and he's going to be a big part of it."

 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, siouxweet said:

Simple question.  Could our D problem be that we have too many offensive defensemen who want to act like a forward?  

Possibly,  but I don’t think we are suddenly going to recruit defensive defensemen either. We would target the guys who can do both. 
 

I had originally wondered earlier in the season if we have too many smaller defenders and could use a little more size but when I looked up our defense it didn’t seem as bad as I thought. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...