Sioux at Seawolves

[DAR]

This team deserves criticism...they are underachieving big time. Hak is not getting the job done, plain and simple. In the business of sports whether at the college or pro level the coach is the first to go. I think Hak got the job just because his wife is O'keefe's daughter and that is a bunch of BS. There should have been a national search and we should have brought somone in here who has some head coaching experience rather than a green head coach who is trying to learn on the job.

[U2Bad1]

Enough pissing and moaning... let's take 2 from Bucky!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We better.. Check out the new PWR... if the season were to end today UND would be staying home for the playoffs.

[UMDDogz]

I'm surprised that so many Sioux fans are sticking the blame on the coach. The Bulldogs are 22nd in the PWR, after being picked by the coaches as the best team on paper in the WCHA. I don't think many in Duluth think Sandelin is a hack, or doesn't know how to motivate his players.

[Slap Shot]

They lost to a banged up, horrible AA team. What do you think will happen when a Good Wisconsin team comes to GF next weekend. Sioux will get swept and show no heart like they have done all year.

While UAA is not the greatest of teams, they have enough quality wins this season that imho doesn't allow them to be labeled "horrible".

[SFSIOUX#1]

[sprig]

Disappointing to get up and read the third period. Much as I'd like to think this is an underachieving team that is due to break out, maybe it just isn't that good.

Got hurt in the RPI playing UAA, next week the RPI will jump up again. Somehow I don't look forward to seeing the Sioux in the NCAA's. 30 shots to a team full of injured players. Not a good defensive effort in the third.

Dataflix stinks, streaming audio doesn't work, bb being played on the hockey ice. seems that everything is falling apart this year.

[jk]

Much as I'd like to think this is an underachieving team that is due to break out, maybe it just isn't that good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think this too. It actually has been staring us in the face all year, but we are required by our fan status to deny it until the very end. Losing twice to an undermanned, exhausted CC team was a big sign. Not pounding Bemidji was a big sign. Swept at home by anyone is a sign (Denver's good, but they have been beaten by MTU and UMD since Christmas). Now, not taking advantage of a depleted UAA team is another message.

I don't think it's fair to blame Hakstol at this point, though, as we have been disappointed in other recent years without similar coach-bashing. The Spring of 2003 was similar to this one, except it featured a descent from #1 in the country to not being able to beat anyone. Last year, the best team in the country didn't reach the Frozen Four. These are disappointments that we roll with and move forward from.

I'll continue to hope they're a good team waiting to win the rest of their games, but it's "hope" at this point, not an expectation.

[DamStrait]

Post something meaningful then....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You mean like you just did?

[DamStrait]

My problem with Hak is he seems to lack urgency. Why wait until there is no purpose in calling a TO to call a TO? How can you gain the lead in the 3rd period, only to give up 4 goals in the last half of the period against a bad UAA team that is undermanned? Inexcusable. I love the Sioux, but I will not stand mediocrity. This is a storied program with the best facilities in the world and a team full of NHL draft picks. Hak, do the honorable thing and step down. Like it or not, that's how I see it. I am not less of a true fan for it, either, despite what others may think.

[PCM]

I don't need to be jumped on by some guy because I don't agree that Hak is a great coach that needs a chance to get "his" system and "his" team together...that's b.s. he recruited most of these guys and, lest we forget, 10 of them are NHL draft picks...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know if you're referring to me, but I never said Hakstol was a great coach. I have no idea at this point. I do know that he was highly recommended by Dean Blais and Gino Gasparini.

I did say that he'd had a rough year and that I was willing to give him more time to get his system and players in place. Given that his father recently died after a long illness, I'm surprised that more people aren't willing to cut him some slack. Who among us would want to coach the Sioux under those circumstances?

Also, I believe it's been stated here that Hakstol had little, if anything, to do with recruiting the current group of seniors. This is a large class that should be the heart and soul of the team. Those players haven't performed as expected. Maybe that's Hakstol's fault and maybe it isn't.

My hope is that no matter how the season turns out, Dave can spend some time in the off-season thinking about what when right, what went wrong and getting everything sorted out for the next season. Perhaps it will take a new AD who's willing to make some tough decsions and enforce them to straighten out the situation.

I say all this as someone who didn't like how the hiring process was handled and who wasn't sold on Hakstol as the best available choice. But he does deserve some time to prove himself, and part of the process he's going through a a new, young head coach is learning from his mistakes. Next season will tell us a lot more about Hakstol as a coach than this season.

[MafiaMan]

Dam Strait, you are the epitomy of a homer. And to be honest, I'm with someone else who said "post something meaningful" instead of your SPAM e-cheer. What if Wisconsin had pulled the plug last season after losing in the first round of the WCHA playoffs? Maybe Denver should have yanked George Gwod after not making the Final Five and had an interim coach take them to the NCAA's? Good thing UND didn't dump Dean Blais after the 1994-1995 season. Sheesh. Remember when they hired him? A lot of people were stunned wondering "who's this high school coach?". Now you think he's a Greek god. Give Hakstol a break. I don't agree with all of his decisions (like not calling a TO tonite to slow the AA momentum), but he's still learning.

That being said, I'm SICK AND TIRED of hearing about turning it up a notch at the end of the season just like Denver did last year. Well, I'm still waiting. How often has a cinderella like that happened in the last 7 decades of college hockey? I'd say 1997 Sioux (but they didn't exactly stumble into the post-season like Denver), but cmon, to not even make the Final Five and then win the NCAA title? The season is almost over boys, it's time to put up or shut up. You can't just limp home and then hope to turn it on for the NCAA's. First, you have to qualify for the NCAA's. It's not going to do any good to sandbag the season and wait for the tournament if you've got to win to get in the tournament. Too many times this season I've heard "turning the corner" or "now we're gonna make a run," only to see the team lose the very next game.

I've written it before and I'll write it again. This is a .500 team and their record pretty much proves it. Last night's game was absolutely huge and they blew it. On the flip-side, it was also a huge game for AA in terms of the standings and after having seen them at the Final Five last year, I can tell you that they are no slouch. Some of the posters here seem to think that the SiouxSports.com hockey team should be able to handle Alaska-Anchorage or St Cloud. Gimme a freakin' break.

End communication.

[Goon]

While UAA is not the greatest of teams, they have enough quality wins this season that imho doesn't allow them to be labeled "horrible".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, but they took 3/4 points against the Goofer last week so at least UND got a win. If I am not mistaken they took 3 our of 4 games against UMD this season. So they aren't too bad.

[7>4]

Enough pissing and moaning... let's take 2 from Bucky!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said.

Geez, after reading through the posts, I'm surprised the sun came up this morning. A lot of hockey yet to be played. Win, lose or draw, I'm looking forward to next weekend. Go Sioux!

[schmidtdoggydog]

Like everyone else, I am keep hoping for the best, hoping for the corner to be turned and each weekend I end up disappointed. Although I may grumble a bit, I won't jump ship.

But, one thing about this year's team that I can't quite get past is their incredible lack of success on Saturday nights.

Sioux teams from the past have been well-conditioned, physically fit and able to turn it up a notch in the third, when needed and even when not, and during the second game of the weekend. Simple stated they would wear teams down.

The reverse seems to be true this year. For the year they are 7-8-1 on Saturday's (9-5-2 on Friday's), but I don't think that tells the whole story. This team appears to get worn out, lose energy and not be able to win on back-to-back nights.

Since December they are 2-6 on Saturday's and that includes two games with UAA, one with Bemidji, one with Canisius and one with MSUM, with their highest Saturday goal output for the year being four goals against Canisius.

Last night they completely fell apart during the second-half of the third (travel cannot be used as an excuse as UAA played in Minnesota last weekend and had to battle travel just to get home). Come on, guys, home ice is on the line and you lay an egg during the third in Alaska?

They've been shut out twice (UMN and CC); they blew the third period at Northeastern; and they didn't fare well in Wisconsin (2-5 losers).

Even their Saturday wins have been less than impressive:

2-1 @ MSUM

2-1 CC

3-1 SCSU

3-2 @ Tech

4-1 Canisius

3-1 Bemidji

Other than CC, those teams aren't exactly tearing up the college hockey scene and yet UND barely survived those games.

So what gives? I don't know. If conditioning is a factor, then it falls back on the coach to stay on top of that situation (keep in mind I am not a Hakstol basher and although I didn't like the hiring process, I believe he deserves a chance to show he can get it done - although the leash may be getting shorter). If it comes down to complacency and being satisfied with splitting the series then that falls mostly back on the players. If they can't get fired up on back-to-back nights, that is obviously a huge problem.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know this season has been frustrating and disappointing and if the team cannot turn around their lack of success during the second of back-to-back games, the likelihood of a successful run through the WCHA playoffs looks bleak.

[redwing77]

I don't know if you're referring to me, but I never said Hakstol was a great coach. I have no idea at this point. I do know that he was highly recommended by Dean Blais and Gino Gasparini.

I did say that he'd had a rough year and that I was willing to give him more time to get his system and players in place. Given that his father recently died after a long illness, I'm surprised that more people aren't willing to cut him some slack. Who among us would want to coach the Sioux under those circumstances?

Also, I believe it's been stated here that Hakstol had little, if anything, to do with recruiting the current group of seniors. This is a large class that should be the heart and soul of the team. Those players haven't performed as expected. Maybe that's Hakstol's fault and maybe it isn't.

My hope is that no matter how the season turns out, Dave can spend some time in the off-season thinking about what when right, what went wrong and getting everything sorted out for the next season. Perhaps it will take a new AD who's willing to make some tough decsions and enforce them to straighten out the situation.

I say all this as someone who didn't like how the hiring process was handled and who wasn't sold on Hakstol as the best available choice. But he does deserve some time to prove himself, and part of the process he's going through a a new, young head coach is learning from his mistakes. Next season will tell us a lot more about Hakstol as a coach than this season.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

At least there are 2 or 3 of us on here who actually have an inkling of what is happening and what Hakstol should deserve!

As I mentioned before, Hakstol didn't have a whole lot of power recruiting when the current seniors were recruited. It was BLais who recruited these guys. Not all of the seniors are doing poorly, but not enough of them are leading. This is a HUGE HUGE issue.

UMDDogz is correct. Our team, like the BUlldogs, looked a lot better on paper than in reality. I think there are many aspects of our team that IS good! However, we aren't getting it done on Saturdays as schmittdoggydog said.

Also, Phil hasn't been playing too hot as of late. It looks like, yes, he's finally reverted back to being a freshman instead of a superhero. What does this mean for Phil? NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. He's developing fast, but the Sioux may be asking him to develop faster than he is capable and the pressure may have finally caught up with him.

Mafiaman is correct. With the way the WCHA has gone this year, we are indeed a 500 team! We will only improve and we will not get worse. I promise you that. Life's going to be rough for a little while and we may not like the postseason very much, but next season, at the wrost case, could be better!

Put it this way (and it was implied before): If Hakstol deserves to be fired, then so does Lucia and Sandelin. They've done just as poorly since January or longer.

[SFSIOUX#1]

You mean like you just did?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey good one slick.

The first three or four times you posted Let's go Sioux" it was amusing. After the 50th time, it got a wee bit old.

[SFSIOUX#1]

Like everyone else, I am keep hoping for the best, hoping for the corner to be turned and each weekend I end up disappointed.  Although I may grumble a bit, I won't jump ship.

But, one thing about this year's team that I can't quite get past is their incredible lack of success on Saturday nights. 

Sioux teams from the past have been well-conditioned, physically fit and able to turn it up a notch in the third, when needed and even when not, and during the second game of the weekend.  Simple stated they would wear teams down.

The reverse seems to be true this year.  For the year they are 7-8-1 on Saturday's (9-5-2 on Friday's), but I don't think that tells the whole story.  This team appears to get worn out, lose energy and not be able to win on back-to-back nights.

Since December they are 2-6 on Saturday's and that includes two games with UAA, one with Bemidji, one with Canisius and one with MSUM, with their highest Saturday goal output for the year being four goals against Canisius.

Last night they completely fell apart during the second-half of the third (travel cannot be used as an excuse as UAA played in Minnesota last weekend and had to battle travel just to get home).  Come on, guys, home ice is on the line and you lay an egg during the third in Alaska?

They've been shut out twice (UMN and CC); they blew the third period at Northeastern; and they didn't fare well in Wisconsin (2-5 losers).

Even their Saturday wins have been less than impressive:

2-1 @ MSUM

2-1 CC

3-1 SCSU

3-2 @ Tech

4-1 Canisius

3-1 Bemidji

Other than CC, those teams aren't exactly tearing up the college hockey scene and yet UND barely survived those games.

So what gives?  I don't know.  If conditioning is a factor, then it falls back on the coach to stay on top of that situation (keep in mind I am not a Hakstol basher and although I didn't like the hiring process, I believe he deserves a chance to show he can get it done - although the leash may be getting shorter).  If it comes down to complacency and being satisfied with splitting the series then that falls mostly back on the players.  If they can't get fired up on back-to-back nights, that is obviously a huge problem.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know this season has been frustrating and disappointing and if the team cannot turn around their lack of success during the second of back-to-back games, the likelihood of a successful run through the WCHA playoffs looks bleak.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I could not agree more. Disappointing season and your insight on the Saturday night games raises a lot of questions regarding this team's character (or lack therof), conditioning and killer instincts.

Of the topic, but I don't think I can ever remeber a Sioux team that scores a goal only to have the other team score on the Sioux within a couple of minutes and steal the momentum.

[CoteauRinkRat]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

At least there are 2 or 3 of us on here who actually have an inkling of what is happening and what Hakstol should deserve!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you Mr. Enlightened One !!!!

People can come on to this message board and voice their opinions, that is the beauty of this place. I love reading everyone's feelings about certain topics. Even though I might disagree with some of the posts, a lot of them can be quite entertaining.

I'm just glad you and the 2 or 3 others came on here to post, or none of us would know what was happening.

[Sioux_Hab-it]

For those who love to blame our first year coach for all the team's problems and like to throw outlandish opinions onto the board how about debating this, Blais knew what he was left with for this season and bailed. Looking at history it was better to go out on top then languish like Gaspirini did at the end of his tenure. I am not upset because I know you have to take the bad with the good and far too many of you on this chat got spoiled with the past two decades. Based on the talent coming in next season I think this downturn will be brief. We have several pieces of deadwood on this team that will graduate and they will be replaced by nothing but quality recruits. The Sioux are doing the right thing by going after the top talent in the BCJHL. It is still the best source of college talent and has played a big part in the success of programs like Maine and Denver. Just look at Zajac and keep in mind that you will be adding three players of his quality to next seasons lineup, a superstar in Toews, and three bluechip defensemen. Give Hak a couple of years with this new squad and then see how you feel about him.

[Fedorov]

Some of you "SIoux" fans suck.  There.  I said it.  Some of you guys SUCK!

Don't let the doors hit you in the posterior on YOUR way out!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Who made you the fan police? Obviously everything you think is the way it should be. Maybe you could outline what makes a good fan and everyone will have to follow that because you rule ss.com.

[redwing77]

Thank you Mr. Enlightened One !!!!

People can come on to this message board and voice their opinions, that is the beauty of this place. I love reading everyone's feelings about certain topics. Even though I might disagree with some of the posts, a lot of them can be quite entertaining.

I'm just glad you and the 2 or 3 others came on here to post, or none of us would know what was happening.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok, I admit that there are more than just 2 or 3 that come on here that are the voice of reason. I used PCM's post because, even though I'm trying to be reasonable, his post was far more reasonable and much the same point that I was trying to make. I admit PCM's better with words than I am. Of course, I don't have to say it for everyone else to know that already.

Sioux-Hab-it: I agree. Our upperclassmen have been disappointing and we've had some bad luck with injuries. That seems to have overshadowed the year Zajac and Spirko are having. Also, does anyone know the difference between the Sioux with Murray and without him? Despite last night's performance (or lack thereof) I thought Murray brought something to the game that we've been missing... Only problem is that he's a sophomore and not expected to be a leader.

Zajac is an amazing player. And Toews will be a quality recruit. I know that Hakstol has some talent in recruiting. Just look at next year's class.

Hab-It was right. Teams have down years. I seem to recall seeing preseason predictions of a UMD vs Maine NC game. Anyone else see that?

[Goon]

I wonder if UND's fourth line should have taken a shift, as they were good all weekend.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its happened two series in a row, the fourth line is out there sucking it up.

Shorten the bench for christ sake. Lastly why is Bina playing over Kyle Radke, Bina directly lead to the the fourth goal last night. Yesh the kid is horrible. The kid gives up goal after goal. Another make the locals feel good about having a kid from Grand Forks on the team.

[Goon]

Teams have down years.  I seem to recall seeing preseason predictions of a UMD vs Maine NC game.  Anyone else see that?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is not exceptable at our school. There is no reason UND shouldn't be at least third in the league this season, however, no one on the coaching staff prepared for the loses of Lunbohm, Bochenski, or Parise.

This is UND not Lake Stae, MTU, North Eastern, UMD, QU or some other second rate school...

[Fedorov]

That is not exceptable at our school.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This has gone on long enough. It is acceptable and unacceptable. We now return you to the ranting.

[PCM]

This has gone on long enough.  It is acceptable and unacceptable.  We now return you to the ranting. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Spoken like a true pre-madonna.