Under-utilized Players

[Just Curious]

I realize that the following statement is going to upset a whole lot of people, but after last night's game it needs to be said. Robbie Bina and the 4th line played better hockey than the rest of UND last night and yet most of those guys only get to dress for 50% of the games. I realize these players didn't put up big numbers, but they also didn't make a whole lot of mistakes and had some excellent opportunities.

Bina, who has to split what little ice time he usually gets between wing and D, played outstanding. The one penalty he got was a weak call, he got alot of time on the power play and did a great job moving the puck, was praticallly flawless on defense, showed a tremendous amount of hustle. I hope the coaches saw what everybody else saw last night and finally give Bina a shot. I mean Smaby and Jones skated at half speed all night and ended up hurting the team. In my opinion, Bina is the best defensemen that UND has and with more ice time I think he would fullly develop.

Same goes with last nights 4th line. I know some of them play on a regular basis, but not all of them. They are a good grind line. They back-checked very well, put alot of pressure on the forecheck, and actually had a tremendous amount of opportunities there in the second period.

[BringDeanBack]

I realize that the following statement is going to upset a whole lot of people, but after last night's game it needs to be said. Robbie Bina and the 4th line played better hockey than the rest of UND last night and yet most of those guys only get to dress for 50% of the games. I realize these players didn't put up big numbers, but they also didn't make a whole lot of mistakes and had some excellent opportunities.

Bina, who has to split what little ice time he usually gets between wing and D, played outstanding. The one penalty he got was a weak call, he got alot of time on the power play and did a great job moving the puck, was praticallly flawless on defense, showed a tremendous amount of hustle. I hope the coaches saw what everybody else saw last night and finally give Bina a shot. I mean Smaby and Jones skated at half speed all night and ended up hurting the team. In my opinion, Bina is the best defensemen that UND has and with more ice time I think he would fullly develop.

Same goes with last nights 4th line. I know some of them play on a regular basis, but not all of them. They are a good grind line. They back-checked very well, put alot of pressure on the forecheck, and actually had a tremendous amount of opportunities there in the second period.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unfortunately, Smaby and Radke are higher profile recruits than Bina is so they will continue to take time away from Bina, regardless of how poorly they play.

[NorthDakotaHockey]

We love Bina. In many respects, he could be the heart and soul of this team.

Da Coaches would do well to recognize this, and let him get more ice time.

[redwing77]

Jones had, from what I saw, a bunch of quality shots on net including one whose rebound was put in the net.

I love Bina too, but Jones has been scoring.

And I'm sorry, I'm not going to qualify the Smaby dig with a response more than this sentence.

[BringDeanBack]

Jones had, from what I saw, a bunch of quality shots on net including one whose rebound was put in the net.

I love Bina too, but Jones has been scoring.

And I'm sorry, I'm not going to qualify the Smaby dig with a response more than this sentence.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You don't have to qualify it. His benching did it for you. Also, the penalty at the end of Friday's game could have cost them big time. I think Smaby will be good but right now Bina is the better player.

[Just Curious]

I haven't continued the conversation because I have been trying to decide what to say. I have gotten a few private messages that have occupied my time. I am sorry if people took the Smaby comment to heart, I am, but the bottom line is that there were several times where he was visibly gliding. I was brought up in a system where that got you benched in a hurry. I was never the best player out there, but I did always hustle and gave everything I had. It was a personal opinion. I was disappointed in their play, namely the amount of heart shown last night. Yes, there were people that played great and are very talented. My main point was that is people like Bina are going to play their butts off and pour there heart into the game, they should get more ice time and maybe the higher recruits will realize its time to step up.

[scorengoren]

Couldn't agree more!! Smaby gets burnt sevral times everygame, he doesn't move his feet. I don't care how "highly" recruited he was, Smaby should have splinters in his a$$!

[redwing77]

Couldn't agree more!!  Smaby gets burnt sevral times everygame, he doesn't move his feet.  I don't care how "highly" recruited he was, Smaby should have splinters in his a$$!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow. All I can say is wow to this. That's ok. You're entitled to your opinion. It's wrong, but you're entitled to it.

[Cratter]

Smaby has been a big disappointment.

[Sioux_Hab-it]

If I was watching the same game as everyone else, I noted several occaisions where Smaby's weak shoot outs were intercepted at the blueline or passes that failed to click with the forwards. Clearly he knows he is making mistakes because several times he slammed his stick down in disgust after his errors. There is definitely room for improvement but I still think our defence is fine and the question remains what to do with some of the Senior forwards who are underachieving. Who should we play against CC?

[siouxtatoo42]

I wanna know why quinn fylling is on the ice saturday night in the final 30 seconds just watching the mankato player pot the game winner with 4 seconds left. everyone is has a man (even though some out of position) but fylling standing there just watching a man stand wide open on the goal mouth waiting for the puck. just a thought

[The Sicatoka]

Smaby needs to stop reaching for the puck (move your feet!) and start being decisive, even if the decision is "high off the glass" (which is way better than standing and getting picked clean at the blueline).

Bina and Radke each had their bonehead plays on the weekend too.

[Kermit]

There is definitely room for improvement but I still think our defence is fine and the question remains what to do with some of the Senior forwards who are underachieving.  Who should we play against CC?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why is a guy like Foyt so noticeable when he gets in the lineup as a forward for heaven's sake and busts his tail on a few shifts? On Friday night I kept seeing Prpich going into the corners and getting into scraps despite a bum shoulder, and I had to think who is the other wing on that line? Oh yeah, Massen. Where was he?

BTW, does anyone else wonder what Prpich could do if he'd go to the net and look for the puck with the same vengeance that he uses to instigate mayhem?

[SFSIOUX#1]

Smaby has been a big disappointment.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Along with Radke - he is going to have to improve a hekuva lot just to be an average defensemen.

[mikejm]

I hate to bad-mouth Matt Smaby 'cause I think he's a nice young man, but he had a lousy weekend: indecisive, slow to get to the puck, etc. His poor passing resulted in several turnovers in the Sioux zone.

I remember a couple years ago when Nick Fuhrer had a "coming of age" series; it was plain to everyone in the arena that Nick had arrived.

That's what Matt needs: a solid, preferably stellar performance. And with the defense about to be gutted through graduation and early departure, the Sioux need Matt to play up to his potential.

[redwing77]

Yup.

I'm just glad that the SIoux have a player like Matt Smaby. If it weren't for him, we might have to blame our defense for our winning woes.

Matt makes mistakes. So does Greene, Jones, Bina, Radke, and all. Hey, you know what? I do believe even Zach Parise (perish the thought) made a few mistakes in his time as a Sioux!

Of course, the only difference between Jones, Bina, ZPar, and Smaby is that if Bina, Jones, and Zach make mistakes nobody wants to kick them off the team or bench them for the rest of the season. Nobody labels them a big disappointment or wishes they'd get splinters up their asses. Funny that, no?

Sic is right, he does need to move his feet a little more, but that's something that can come with practice. It isn't a fatal flaw and it isn't something that is worth flaming him over.

Offense is what wins games. If you don't shoot the puck, the puck won't go into the net. We need offense. Our defense struggles at times but it is NOT NOT NOT our problem.

EDIT: Oh, and one more thing. Funny about Radke. Already a disappointment and he's only a freshman. Smaby's at least a Sophmore. Before you slam him for bing worthless perhaps let him age a year?

Edited January 10, 2005 by redwing77

[siouxtatoo42]

Offense is what wins games.  If you don't shoot the puck, the puck won't go into the net.  We need offense.  Our defense struggles at times but it is NOT NOT NOT our problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this couldn't be more true. When i used to play hockey, up through high school, i was never the fastest kid on the ice, i wasn't ever the best player on my team, but the one thing i did more than anyone else on my team was shoot the f'n puck, and as a result, came away with alot of goals...and assists. I learned at a very young age something these college, i'm sorry, NCAA Division 1 drafted by NHL teams, kids apparently have not learned. you do not score if you do not shoot the puck. it does not go into the box score as "pretty". you get into the slot--shoot, if it doesn't go in, rebound. you come down on a two on one --shoot, if you don't hit him square in the chest or put it off the glass in the corner(which UND does alot of), rebound. SHOOT THE PUCK AND CRASH THE NET. I don't think i had a whole lot of spectacular coaching in my days as a youth hockey player, but then again, this isn't all too complicated of a philosophy as hockey goes.

[Just Curious]

Offense is a good thing, but you know what......games are decided by both the offense and the defense. Last year UND could score 4-6 goals a game and if they gave up 3 or 4 they were still ok. This year they can only score 2 to 3, and when you give up that many or more a game then you don't win. I know that UND's offense is underproducing this year. They will take another year together I think before they really start clicking and produces big numbers, so until then the defense needs to step it up to help win games. The bottom line is, UND needs 2 goals to be enough in order to win, otherwise the playoffs won't last long.

Shooting the puck helps, of course, but the defense in general needs to be working on moving their feet, getting into position, and stop getting beat to the puck. To help the offense they need to move the puck at the point better. Use each other as outlets, and stop hanging on to the puck so long. You guys have a point on taking shots, if the D would put more pucks on net, the rebounds would start to come and the goals will follow.

But, to say hockey games are won be one-way hockey, is just not accurate. You have to play good two-way hockey to consistently win games, bottom line.

[DMT]

EDIT:  Oh, and one more thing.  Funny about Radke.  Already a disappointment and he's only a freshman.  Smaby's at least a Sophmore.  Before you slam him for bing worthless perhaps let him age a year?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I do think Radke is already a dissapointment.

He was very highly thought of, coming in. He was INCH's #2 ranked incoming defenseman. Everybody was comparing him to Ballard or Roche. I know he is young and has shown some offensive flash, he has a very long way to go to be mentioned in the same breath as those type of players.

[siouxtatoo42]

Offense is a good thing, but you know what......games are decided by both the offense and the defense. Last year UND could score 4-6 goals a game and if they gave up 3 or 4 they were still ok. This year they can only score 2 to 3, and when you give up that many or more a game then you don't win. I know that UND's offense is underproducing this year. They will take another year together I think before they really start clicking and produces big numbers, so until then the defense needs to step it up to help win games. The bottom line is, UND needs 2 goals to be enough in order to win, otherwise the playoffs won't last long.

Shooting the puck helps, of course, but the defense in general needs to be working on moving their feet, getting into position, and stop getting beat to the puck. To help the offense they need to move the puck at the point better. Use each other as outlets, and stop hanging on to the puck so long. You guys have a point on taking shots, if the D would put more pucks on net, the rebounds would start to come and the goals will follow.

But, to say hockey games are won be one-way hockey, is just not accurate. You have to play good two-way hockey to consistently win games, bottom line.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i dont' think that anyone is saying that. I agree with you whole heartedly. you do need defense and goaltending to win games. with your two starting goalies with GAA's around 2-2.5, that tells me they aren't giving up an obscene amount of goals. the about .500 record tells me they aren't scoring that many goals either. and by watching the games, and watching these boys try and make the pass across the slot for the pretty goal through the sprawled out defensemen to the other forward being molested by the other defensemen tells me they are more worried about the pretty goal than they are about the goal itself. in some instances, selfishness can be a good thing. SHOOT THE PUCK. CRASH THE NET. SCORE THE GOAL.

[brianvf]

Yes, I do think Radke is already a dissapointment.

I think that Radke is just starting to put things together, and that is good to see. I saw that Hakstol had him on one of the PP units this weekend, and he seemed to be doing fine. Some players need more time than others to adjust to the speed of the WCHA, and it looks to me like Radke is starting to do alot better. I think he will be a solid dman for us in the next few years, and he will only improve as this season wraps up.

[The Sicatoka]

Yes, I do think Radke is already a dissapointment.

Tell me about Curtis Murphy.

Tell me about Curtis Murphy when he was a freshman.

[DMT]

Tell me about Curtis Murphy.

Tell me about Curtis Murphy when he was a freshman.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope you are right. But...as of now, he has been a dissapointment to me.

[siouxtatoo42]

I hope you are right. But...as of now, he has been a dissapointment to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

can anyone name someone besides zach and brandon who came in and lived up too and exceded all the hype in the first half of thier freshman year, much less their entire freshman year.

[schmidtdoggydog]

Tell me about Curtis Murphy.

Tell me about Curtis Murphy when he was a freshman.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The big difference is CM skated in most of the team's games his freshmen season. He finished with 16 points, skating in 33 of 39 games (85% of games). Brad Williamson is another example. He only had 4 points his first year, but skated in 34 of 38 games (89%).

Radke has two points thus far, but has only played in 15 of 24 games (62.5%). If he is going to be relied on next season, which he will be I would think considering the departures, Greene included, he needs to see more ice time. He needs to be provided the opportunity those guys were.

At this juncture, his play has been disappointing, but he really hasn't been given much of a chance to improve or even get a feel for the level play in the WCHA.