Princeton and Yale

[PCM]

I know in the past the Sioux have had successful seasons relying on one line.

I was a bit surprised on the Wednesday coaches show when Hennessy and Blais seemed to agree that few teams -- even championship ones -- have more than one good scoring line. They put the 2000 championhsip Sioux team in that category.

In my opinion, what made the 2000 Sioux so potent was the fact that the team had two respectable scoring lines. The first line with Goren, Bayda and Ulmer was the best, but the second with Panzer, Lundbohm and Skarperud (usually) could easily have been the first line on most teams that season.

I think it's great that Fylling, Parise and Bochenski are playing so well together. However, based on what Blais said after the game last night, I do believe that he knows the team would be much better off with another respectable scoring line. It doesn't have to be as great as the top line, but it does need to create scoring chances when on the ice and punch in one or two each game.

I'd like to think that between players like Spiewak, Notermann, Lundbohm, Ryan Hale, Genoway and Massen that it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a decent second scoring line. It seems to be a matter of consistency, however.

[dagies]

I'd like to think that between players like Spiewak, Notermann, Lundbohm, Ryan Hale, Genoway and Massen that it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a decent second scoring line. It seems to be a matter of consistency, however.

My thoughts exactly.

[jk]

You guys are right in my area of concern, and I can say that my concern is growing as we wrap up the "preseason." It's not just that the lower lines aren't scoring, it's that they're not scoring against cupcakes. I can give a hall pass to the second line for last night, because they've pretty consistently applied pressure so far this year. But the lower lines haven't scored at all.

And despite Blais's opinion of Niagara (I fully recognize my opinion is nothing compared to his), our depth lines should completely dominate their depth lines. Wayne State and Alabama were picked to win the CHA, with Niagara in the middle of the pack. Niagara lost at home last night to Air Force. I feel like a home game with Niagara should be double digits, not tied in the third. UND beats Niagara 6-4, 5-3, and MN beats a supposedly better Alabama team 12-1. This is not a good omen.

This is a pretty negative post, but I think we may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when the games against good teams start. I hope I'm wrong.

On the other hand, the object is to score more goals than the team you're playing that night. Maybe whatever the opponents happen to do at other times in the season just isn't relevant.

Hopefully the Sioux take it to Yale tonight.

[PCM]

UND beats Niagara 6-4, 5-3, and MN beats a supposedly better Alabama team 12-1. This is not a good omen.

I'm not sure how much to read into Minnesota's win against UAH Friday. I watched the first two periods of that game and UAH was absolutely horrid. They were the most pathetic excuse for a DI team I'd ever seen. If Niagara had played that way against the Sioux, I have no doubt that North Dakota would have rung up 10 or more. It will be interesting to see if UAH makes a game of it tonight.

[PCM]

Nice effort by the Sioux tonight to put Yale away in the third period. Obviously, Yale losing its entire top line helped UND a great deal.

Big goal by Massen tonight. Lundbohm, Notermann and Massen were a good combination. The Sioux will need them to keep it going next weekend at SCSU.

Minnesota beat Alabama-Hunstville 4-2 Saturday night, but the Chargers gave the Gophers all they could handle for two periods. UAH also had a power play goal waved off that would have made it 4-3. The UAH radio announcer commented a couple times that the Gophers "don't like to get hit." Hmmm....

Jon Waibel is out for a month for the Gophers. He broke his hand Friday night punching the glass while celebrating his hat trick.

[forecheck]

Jon Waibel is out for a month for the Gophers. He broke his hand Friday night punching the glass while celebrating his hat trick.

How hard do you have to hit the glass to celebrate a hat trick?? John, John, John.... Handyman must be devastated!!

The Gophers sure aren't having much luck with injuries so far this season! Luckily, the Sioux have.

[jk]

My post from this afternoon looks silly now, and I'm glad of it. Seven Sioux goals, and none from Parise or Bochenski. (Not that I have a problem with them scoring.) Notes, Spiewak and Lundblom (c. DW) seem to be really stepping it up this year.

It mus be tough to be a parent and have to listen to a player down on the ice, potentially injured. It sure was great that Jones was able to play later.

One of the unexpected bonuses of the schedule this year was going to be catching SC shorthanded early in the year. Now I guess it's a push.

I guess Marvin goes back to D and you have six defensemen. Then you have 11 forwards:

P, F, Bochenski

Notes, Lundblom, Massen

Genoway, Canady, Connelly

Palmo, Prpich

Obviously losing four guys for a game stinks, but if it is the result of the captain sticking up for one of his guys that he felt got mistreated, then I'm glad he did it. It's just like Greene giving the Tiger a slash after he ran Parise. The guys are taking care of each other. I'm sure the first team that really runs the goalie is going to get the treatment, as well. It's good team-building.

It sounded to me like Siembida had a good weekend, and has earned the start next Friday.

[Riverman]

I watched the first two periods of that game and UAH was absolutely horrid. They were the most pathetic excuse for a DI team I'd ever seen.

You don't remember the UM vs Q-U game?

[dagies]

Continuing the pessimism, remember the game was what, 2-2 until the ejections, then the Sioux began to dominate.

Regardless, I am VERY happy to see who scored the goals last night.

I am happy to see how this team is rallying around each other, and sticking up for each other. I can't believe there were a total of 8 ejections though. Ouch.

I still echo jk's earlier sentiments. I can't wait to see how this team performs for the next 2 months so we have a better picture of what we really have here.

[Schmitzzz]

My thoughts from watching last night's game:

Goaltending: I though Josh played very well. It looked like he was screened on the first goal as there was a lot of activity in front of the net. On the second goal with Yale on the PP, Josh made the initial save but the D was unable to clear the crease and Yale jammed home the rebound. It's clear that they want to award more penalty shots this year... in past years that certainly would not have been a penalty shot. I don't have a problem with awarding penalty shots as long as they are consistant. They are fun to watch! Josh made some really big saves... especially the one on the break away. Josh really made that look easy.

Defence: I thought they played OK... not great. They had trouble clearing the zone and I thought they let the Yale players stand in front of the net too much.

Offence: They had trouble getting a flow going and generating good scoring chances for the first two periods. I was very much impressed with the Bucks-Quinn-Zach. Although they had only one of the 7 goals, it is clear how dangerous they are and how they can beat you if you ignor them. Yale did a good job of limiting their opportunities but even with all the attention Yale was giving them, they couldn't stop them completely (the line had four points according to USCHO but I thought Zach assisted on one other goal as well). In the third, Zach was at the UND blue line on the right side and Brandon was flying down the left wing. Zach passed the puck that initially went behind Brandon, then deflected forward off the boards and landed right on Brandon's stick just inside the Yale blue line. The Yale defence did a good job of cutting down Brandon's angle but that play showed just how good a play maker Zach is and how dangerous this line can be. I was also very much impressed with the play of the Notermann line. Jason works hard every shift and it shows through the scoring chances he generates. He could have very easily had 3 or even 4 goals last night. It is encouraging to see goals being scored by someone other than Zach and Brandon. We have all been looking for some production in the lower lines and last night showed what they are capable of.

PP and Penalty Kill: The Sioux still need a lot of work here. I though they let Yale control the puck way too much and allowed them to set up the PP. The Sioux had troubles even getting near the puck to clear it down the ice. The Sioux did limit the Yale scoring chances while on the PP and Josh did a good job of stopping the ones that did make it though. But the Sioux will have to do a better job on the kill against the likes of WCHA competition. The Sioux PP was also poor. I don't recall the Sioux applying any consistant pressure in the Yale zone while on the PP.

I was dissapointed with the fight in the second. Should be no reason for that against a NC foe. I didn't see anything done by Yale that should have caused this, though Yale was just as much to blame for letting it get as out of hand as it did. Consequently, the Sioux have to open the WCHA without two of their leaders in Hale and Spie. The Sioux are already haveing trouble on the penalty kill... not having Spiewak in the game doesn't help matters.

In all, I didn't think the Sioux played well. Though it was good to see them keep their composure, and not get rattled when things weren't going well. I'm eager to see how they do on the lager ice at the NCC next weekend and against the rest of the WCHA. Based on what I saw against Yale, I'm not convinced the Sioux are as good as their national ranking... but even the championship Sioux teams of the past have had trouble with playing down to the level of their competition. In a weeks time I think we will all know better what this team is made of.

[PCM]

Overall, it's too early to spot trends as far as who is stepping it up besides the Parise, Bochenski and Fylling line.

Lundbohm scored the goal the tied the game and Massen scored the goal that put the Sioux ahead to stay before the brawl broke out. It's encouraging that other players scored when the top line was shut down. And it's not as if UND didn't lose any significant players in the ejections, although I agree that Yale's losses were more significant.

On the plus side, North Dakota's opponents for the weekend were 1-13 on the power play. Siembida stopped 5 of 51 shots on goal, which isn't a great save percentage, but much better than it has been.

The Sioux went 2-10 on the power play. They will need to improve that stat, especially against the better teams of the WCHA.

[schmidtdoggydog]

PCM,

Making 46 saves on 51 shots, as Siembida did this past weekend, equates to a save percentage over .900, which is outstanding at any level.

Belfour had a career (one year) save percentage of .915, Casey .910 and Goehring .917. And although I am not putting Siembida in the category of those great goalies, all were champions and if Siembida or Brandt can save 9 out of every 10 shots they face, again as Siembida did this past weekend, UND may have a real shot at a title this year!

However, I do understand that the team needs to improve in several areas, i.e. specialty teams, but a 6-0 start, obvious offensive firepower, a good defensive corp and potentially strong goaltending all lead me to feel very encouraged.

[dagies]

Josh made some really big saves... especially the one on the break away. Josh really made that look easy.

If I am not mistaken, in the USHL didn't Josh have quite good numbers in shoot-out wins, i.e. was a good goalie at stopping breakaways?

[PCM]

Making 46 saves on 51 shots, as Siembida did this past weekend, equates to a save percentage over .900, which is outstanding at any level.

If you look at the save percentages for the top college goalies right now, .900 isn't all that great. It doesn't even get you in the top 10. However, if Josh can keep it at or above that level against WCHA competition, the Sioux will do just fine.

[U2Bad1]

If you look at the save percentages for the top college goalies right now, .900 isn't all that great. It doesn't even get you in the top 10. However, if Josh can keep it at or above that level against WCHA competition, the Sioux will do just fine.

Yeah, but i think throughout the season you will find most good goalies (not exceptional ones) level off at around or slightly above the .900 mark.

[dagies]

I was wondering if anyone got to hear postgame (Yale) comments by Blais or the coaching staff? I didn't get to listen to the game and I was wondering what the coaches take was on the game the Sioux played. I know Blais was not happy with the team after Friday's game. I suspect he may not have been happy Sat either.

Any info out there?

[PCM]

Yeah, but i think throughout the season you will find most good goalies (not exceptional ones) level off at around or slightly above the .900 mark.

How about we make something that approaches an apples-to-apples comparison? After playing 3 complete games, only one of which was against a ranked opponent, Josh Siembida has given up 9 goals on 74 shots for an .878 save percentage. Jake Moreland has played three games for SCSU and has a .934 save percentage, which is good for 8th place nationally.

Here are other goalies ranked in the top 10 nationally who have played in as many or more games than Siembida:

Goalie Games Save %

---------------------------------------------------

Mike Brown, FSU 8 .957

Jimmy Howard, ME 4 .949

Bobby Goepfert, PC 3 .949

Matt Migliaccio, MSU 5 .939

Nolan Schaefer, PC 4 .933

Obviously, as the season progresses, most of these save percentages will probably go down and others will go up. I'm not prepared to give Siembida a gold star for a .901 save percentage against Yale and Princeton.

While it's good that Siembida managed to raise his save percentage a bit this past weekend, the toughest tests lie ahead. Either UND's goaltending is going to have to get much better or the team will have to score a lot of goals to make up for it.

[PCM]

dagies,

Tim Hennessy interviewed Dave Hakstol after the Yale game. I don't remember much of what he said, but I do remember him saying that he thought Matt Jones got an elbow to the head, which is what sparked the brawl. He also said that he thought it was good that some of the other players stood up for Jones.

I'm sure we'll hear Dean's take on the situation during the Wednesday coaches show, if not sooner.

[schmidtdoggydog]

I wasn't trying to start a debate about Siembida or save percentages, I simply feel that if you polled most college coaches they would be very pleased with a .900 save percentage. And let's face it, if you take away the penalty shot versus Yale and the one goal against Michigan when an entire UND line changed up leaving Michigan a two on zero, and you have seven goals allowed on 74 shots, which is very respectable.

Besides, on the postgame show, Hakstol made it quite clear that the coaches were quite pleased with Josh during the past weekend. Apparently, on Yale's first goal, Josh was completely screened by his own D-men and then of course there was the penalty shot, but all in all, they were happy and said that the one goal Josh wished he could have back was the penalty shot.

Hakstol did remark about the bru-ha-ha and said he was pleased that the players stood up for Jones. He said that is what they are expected to do and they responded accordingly. Also, he said that he didn't see Higgins hit on Jones, but several people on the bench did and from their perspective, they felt that Higgins did use his elbow on Jones.

Hakstol also commented on how Lundbohm had a less than stellar game on Friday, but responded very well, as an upperclassman should, on Saturday. He said it was clear that David was displeased with his Friday performance, but that he wants to be a leader and came out blazing on Saturday as a leader should.

Additionally, he remarked about the impact of losing four players for the Friday SCSU game and seemingly brushed it off and said we will have to make do with the players that we have available. TH then said "you don't have much of choice do you?" and Hakstol replied that he wasn't going to lace them up. TH and Hakstol then joked that even if he did lace up he probably wouldn't help the team.

That is all I can recall from the postgame show. They did not interview Blais.

Question, with regard to the four players kicked out of the game, were the penalties in fact changed to misconducts after the game as one website boxscore indicated? If so, then it is my understanding that all four players would be eligible to play this Friday. Do any of the Sioux parents or other posters have any additional information?

[Goon]

Question, with regard to the four players kicked out of the game, were the penalties in fact changed to misconducts after the game as one website boxscore indicated? If so, then it is my understanding that all four players would be eligible to play this Friday.

That was the information that I got from reading the box scores too. I suppose we will be updated this week. I hope someone can keep us posted...

[dagies]

Thanks PCM and Schmidtdoggydog. I was curious if the coaches thought the team played better on Sat than on Fri or not. Will look forward to hearing about the coaches show.

Very happy to hear they felt Siembida played well. That is very encouraging.

[forecheck]

Dagies, this is what I had posted on the Scores Update thread on USCHO after the Yale game. Interview with Dave Hakstol:

"Good players know when they have a bad game and should be able to bounce back, which is what Lundbohm did. Siembida had a good game. A good sign of character when the team came together after the 4 DQ's. Hakstol thought it was a bad call to throw everyone out, but that's the way it goes, and they will deal with it accordingly. The defense played well, you don't see Jones go down too often, and Hakstol thinks he may have gotten an elbow to the head."

That's pretty much what everyone else said here too.