Some VERY late Frozen Four thoughts

[OETKB]

Hello, faithful. I appologize for the lateness of these random thoughts, but my life has been in an upheaval lately, and I've not been on the boards much.

You see, I've got a 5 month old at home, and I've just taken on a new job. Blah...blah...blah. Okay, on with it.

THOUGHTS (in August) of the Frozen Four:

Columbus was a bit dull, but OSU had a very nice arena. Probably second in the nation to UND.

Against UM:

UND looked very hungry, and banged UM around all game. The Goofs didn't want any of that physical play, and it hurt them badly.

The Championship:

Mannino (sp?) was the difference. Wow! That guy played an incredible game as a freshman.

Gauthier (and the whole Denver celebration in front of the UND crowd) after the empty net goal to make it 4-1 really bothered me. He banged on the glass several times, just to rub it in to the UND fans. If anyone from the Sioux defensive corps reads these boards, please take note. Knock his head off next season. Thank you.

Zajac is incredible. If Stafford and Spirko can raise their games a little this season, we could have another "Line of fire" on our hands.

I like how Parise battled, but honestly, he didn't seem to be seeing the puck well. He had good positioning, though. And he handled the puck away from the net very well. A bunch of people criticized him for this early on, but he seems good at it.

The highly regarded UND defense had an off-game. They played greatly against UM, then allowed a lot of scrambling, chaotic moments vs. DU. That was the most disappointing thing about this game to me. And Greene showed a lack of control, taking a poor penalty late in the game. I really like his fire, but I think he still needs to work on his control during critical times of the game. As the announcers said, "You have to play to the clock, and the score (as a defenseman)." I hope he comes back and shows us all exactly how good he can be.

UND fans were awesome. Every time I've been to the finals with UND fans, I've been impressed. Once again, we showed up in good numbers. I saw people from all across the nation. We cheered loud. We showed great pride in our Fighting Sioux.

[PCM]

Vaht?

[petey23]

Hey everybodY!!!, we put a man on the moon!!!!!

[schmidtdoggydog]

OSU had a very nice arena.  Probably second in the nation to UND.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are kidding, right? Second in the nation?? I am sure it is a great basketball arena, but when the scoreboard shows total fouls, not shots on goal, and you have to look at the light ring to find the penalties you know you aren't sitting in a hockey arena.

There are much better hockey arenas in the WCHA alone. . . . perhaps even in the CHA!

[MafiaMan]

Hey everybodY!!!, we put a man on the moon!!!!!  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now that's funny. Did you hear in the new Star Wars movie that Darth Vader might be Luke Skywalker's father?

[cfm567b27]

Tough crowd

[MafiaMan]

Tough crowd

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm being semi-facetious.

Can we drop the puck early?

[Goon]

The Championship:

Gauthier (and the whole Denver celebration in front of the UND crowd) after the empty net goal to make it 4-1 really bothered me.  He banged on the glass several times, just to rub it in to the UND fans.  If anyone from the Sioux defensive corps reads these boards, please take note.  Knock his head off next season.  Thank you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am sure the returning players will have this burned into their memory and I think they will extract some revenge. My old football coach once said you win with class and you lose with class.

[WPoS]

[MafiaMan]

[puck swami]

As several UND posters have already opined, I think that DU was just being very excited, and probably would have been banging on the glass no matter where they were on the ice. They had just won their second national title in a row, after all, against a tremendous, emotionally charged league rival in a draining, physical game. I am certain UND or any other team would have done the same thing had the score been different. I don't think Denver was trying to intentionally "rub it in" - they were just a bunch of very excited young hockey players who were probably all having out-of-body experiences at that moment.

And even if there was an extra-glass bang or two on Gauthier's part, take it in persepctive. I was at the game, and heard many direct threats among the usual nasty insults from the UND fan section directed at Pioneer players, especially during warm-ups when it was pretty easy to hear such things. Players remember that kind of stuff, too.

All in all, both programs have been pretty diginified since the Bina tragedy. Denver went above and beyond by putting Bina's number on its helmets, and UND's coaches and players said all the right things in the papers and played hard, clean hockey. Now that Robbie is skating again, I think we all hope to move on to a better place in the history of this long rivalry...

[CoteauRinkRat]

Denver went above and beyond by putting Bina's number on its helmets,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't agree with this one bit. Of course they didn't have to do that, but in the court of public opinion, they pretty much had to. Even though the news on Robbie is getting better, he is still a long ways away from skating and playing in a game, so until that happens, this event will be on the minds of a lot of Sioux players and fans.

[sioux7]

As several UND posters have already opined, I think that DU was just being very excited, and probably would have been banging on the glass no matter where they were on the ice. They had just won their second national title in a row, after all, against a tremendous, emotionally charged league rival in a draining, physical game. I am certain UND or any other team would have done the same thing had the score been different. I don't think Denver was trying to intentionally "rub it in" - they were just a bunch of very excited young hockey players who were probably all having out-of-body experiences at that moment.

And even if there was an extra-glass bang or two on Gauthier's part, take it in persepctive. I was at the game, and heard many direct threats among the usual nasty insults from the UND fan section directed at Pioneer players, especially during warm-ups when it was pretty easy to hear such things. Players remember that kind of stuff, too.

All in all, both programs have been pretty diginified since the Bina tragedy. Denver went above and beyond by putting Bina's number on its helmets, and UND's coaches and players said all the right things in the papers and played hard, clean hockey.  Now that Robbie is skating again, I think we all hope to move on to a better place in the history of this long rivalry...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent Post swami. I agree with most of this. But c-mon......even without Pauko there was no-way that Bemidji was going to beat Denver. Sure it was close but it was just a matter of time before Denver finished them off. Now if Pauko would have been suspended for two games......now we're talking about something here.

[PCM]

Now if Pauko would have been suspended for two games......now we're talking about something here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He was suspended for two games. One by the WCHA and one by Gwozdecky.

[sioux7]

He was suspended for two games. One by the WCHA and one by Gwozdecky.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey PCM......was it the WCHA title game with CC? If that is the case...then yes DU did its job. With his past history though I still think the kid is a punk.

[PCM]

Hey PCM......was it the WCHA title game with CC?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes.

[MafiaMan]

Yes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe the NCAA suspended Paukovich for the game against Colorado College and DU suspended him for the opening game of the NCAA tournament.

[NorthDakotaHockey]

Nice to see that the early veiled mockery of OETKB for his late arriving post on the Frozen Four has finally drawn some reasonably intelligent comment and attention. Many posters on this board, unlike many of us, including me, have lives well beyond Sioux hockey. Thank God for them as the world would be a mighty pathetic place if it were only filled with the sad sacks checking this board daily. You know who you are. I am one of them.

My daughter, a huge and knowledgeable fan, my brother, a huge fan, and me, a fan, all had the pleasure of going to Columbus. A better time has been rarely had. Great city. Great event. Great campus. Great fans. Great team. Great weather. Great stretch of three, or in our case, four days. Great games. Great people. Priceless. Sure, another result would have been preferable. Just more proof that is is the experiences of the mind, body, and heart, and not the hardware on the shelf, that makes for the really great memories. I know that we will never forget it.

While many here were crying for Greene's, Hak's, and others heads in early '05, some of us were steadfast in our support of this team, and calling the trip to Columbus early on. Any knowledgeable hockey fan, and devoted follower of the Sioux,had a pretty good clue that that was going to happen. It was really a no-brainer. Assuming that we had the heart and the soul to believe . . . .

The new season is near upon us. It will be a memorable season, as they always are. It will be a long long stretch for the upcoming season and team to become as memorable as is the Sioux season and team of '04-'05. After the unexpected departure of The Dean and the hiring of The Hak, and all else that followed, many were fooled, many lost heart, and many a crybaby was here on this board. Shame, shame, shame on you. You know who you are. The Seniors will especially be recalled. I will not bore you with names and accomplishments of them now. We know who they are and what they did while in a Sioux uniform.

Rats. Got shut out by the NCAA on the Frozen Four App. No problem there. In Columbus, we bought our seats in the nosebleed sections from some sorry Gopher fans in the upper reaches, never went upstairs, and sat on the glass the whole tournament long. Maybe that is why those games will always be really special to us . . . .

Thanks a million OETKB for bringing up the Frozen Four on this thread. It was long overdue. I am really happy that you have a life beyond the sickness that is SiouxSports.com.

[Runninwiththedogs]

Nice to see that the early veiled mockery of OETKB for his late arriving post on the Frozen Four has finally  drawn some reasonably intelligent comment and attention.  Many posters on this board, unlike many of us, including me, have lives well beyond Sioux hockey. 

Thanks a million OETKB for bringing up the Frozen Four on this thread.  It was long overdue.  I am really happy that you have a life beyond the sickness that is SiouxSports.com.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dude, I'm feeling that chill all the way over in Minnetonka... yikes, what happened?

I, however, am damn proud of my life outside of Sioux hockey... it's called, um... Bulldog hockey.

[PCM]

Glass houses.

[NorthDakotaHockey]

Dude, I'm feeling that chill all the way over in Minnetonka... yikes, what happened?

. . . .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nothing happened. I never said that sickness is a bad thing. In fact, sometimes a fever is a really good thing.

We have the Sioux Fever. Puck drops in Dayton in little more than a month.

Well, I guess something did happen. NC2A shut us out of our Frozen Four application.

[Runninwiththedogs]

Nothing happened. I never said that sickness is a bad thing. In fact, sometimes a fever is a really good thing.

We have the Sioux Fever. Puck drops in Dayton in little more than a month.

Well, I guess something did happen. NC2A shut us out of our Frozen Four application.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good to go. I just thought you were reaaaalllllllllyyy pissed about something.