AZSIOUX Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/4911404 5. North Dakota (25-15-5): After a surprising run to the NCAA title game last season, the Fighting Sioux were hit hard by early defections in the off-season losing Brady Murray and captain Matt Greene to the professional ranks. Greene, a rugged defenseman, signed with the Edmonton Oilers while Murray, the 2003-04 WCHA Rookie of the Year, elected to forgo his final two seasons of eligibility and sign with Rapperswil-Jona of the Swiss Elite League. As is usually the case in Grand Forks, North Dakota brought in some top recruits in forwards Jonathan Toews, T.J. Oshie and Andrew Kozek, and defenseman Brian Lee and Taylor Chorney. Travis Zajac (20-19-39), Drew Stafford (13-25-38) and Ratislav Spirko (16-21-37) will be counted on to produce some offensive firepower for the Fighting Sioux again this season. Senior Matt Smaby will be asked to lead a relatively young defensive unit, which also lost Andy Schneider, Nick Fuher and Matt Jones. Player to watch: Robbie Bina. The would-be junior defenseman just received clearance to skate after suffering a broken neck on an illegal hit during last season's WCHA Final Five. Bina will likely take a medical hardship year, but if can return late in the season, he could provide a big spark on the blueline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Player to watch: Robbie Bina. The would-be junior defenseman just received clearance to skate after suffering a broken neck on an illegal hit during last season's WCHA Final Five. Bina will likely take a medical hardship year, but if can return late in the season, he could provide a big spark on the blueline. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> huh??? He will likely take a hardship, but if can return late in the season?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosby_87 Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Before I say this, I want to let everyone know that this means no disrespect to Bina at all, as he's one of my favorites...but here goes: How can they possibly choose Bina as the player to watch? We have all these new recruits, and a great core coming back. Yet somehow they pick a guy that might play a month at the most. It makes it sound like UND has no good people if the player to watch is somebody who will be out the whole year. I personally would say our returner to watch would be Zajac, and the recruit to watch would be Toews....I guess for whatever reason, seeing that Bina was our player to watch seemed like a diss to our program. Sorry if that offended anyone, but now I'm done with my rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Bina won't be playing this season. Hakstol said so at today's Sioux hockey media day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Cmon what do you expect. Fox Sports knows as much about hockey as your grandmother, and even less about college hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 exactly....can't remember ever seeing anything else about wcha or college hockey from fox sports.. Cmon what do you expect. Fox Sports knows as much about hockey as your grandmother, and even less about college hockey. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Cmon what do you expect. Fox Sports knows as much about hockey as your grandmother, and even less about college hockey. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Fox Sports North: Where Minnesota Fans come first. No, I'm not being sarcastic: Watch their commercials. After all, isn't Matt Smaby a Junior? And the player to watch isn't Bina as PCM stated. The person to watch is Zajac. That guy can do AMAZING things in all facets of the game. Also, Toews, Chorney, and Lee are supposedly pretty good but I'm just guessing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 The person to watch is Zajac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farce poobah Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/4911404 As is usually the case in Grand Forks, North Dakota brought in some top recruits in forwards Jonathan Toews, T.J. Oshie and Andrew Kozek, and defenseman Brian Lee and Taylor Chorney. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Most schools would give their right nut to get a first round draft choice on defense, drafted #27 overall. Yet Joe Finley doesn't rate a mention. Yet another point of evidence that this is the broadest, deepest, best bunch of incoming that I've seen in 30 years of UND fandom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Most schools would give their right nut to get a first round draft choice on defense, drafted #27 overall. Yet Joe Finley doesn't rate a mention. Yet another point of evidence that this is the broadest, deepest, best bunch of incoming that I've seen in 30 years of UND fandom. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They way I see it, it could go two ways with Finley: It can go the way of the media: Finley drafted so high because of his size and potential not because of his present talent. He's a project. Or the other side: This guy is gonna be great! He's good for his size and has all the tools to make it big. I'm interested to see who is right. I hope it is the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightingsioux4life Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Most schools would give their right nut to get a first round draft choice on defense, drafted #27 overall. Yet Joe Finley doesn't rate a mention. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Joe Finley doesn't rate a mention because the Gophers didn't get him. One of the Rules Of Rodentia is that if a Minnesota player chooses UND, then either that player wasn't quite good enough for the Rodents or "the Gophers really didn't want him anyway". We've been hearing that garbage for years and years. It's almost to the point where I'm totally deaf to it. Take it for what it's worth (not much). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMT Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Bina won't be playing this season. Hakstol said so at today's Sioux hockey media day. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Any more on media day??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosby_87 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Are those captain's practices open to the public, and if so, did anybody notice any new recruits that looked particularly good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Joe Finley doesn't rate a mention because the Gophers didn't get him. One of the Rules Of Rodentia is that if a Minnesota player chooses UND, then either that player wasn't quite good enough for the Rodents or "the Gophers really didn't want him anyway".  We've been hearing that garbage for years and years. It's almost to the point where I'm totally deaf to it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That sentiment doesn't go both ways at all does it? Finley like almost all 1st round NHL picks will do very well in college. Hopefully it will take him a year to adjust, but I doubt it. Players coming into schools like UND usually seem ready to go from the outset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Are those captain's practices open to the public, and if so, did anybody notice any new recruits that looked particularly good? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> With those captain's practices underway, did anyone notice who is wearing the letters 'C' and 'A'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fargosioux Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Here's an article from today's Fargo Forum with some more news about Media Day: [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=104255 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 With those captain's practices underway, did anyone notice who is wearing the letters 'C' and 'A'? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hakstol said yesterday that captains wouldn't be selected for another week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC_transplant Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Lord knows people in Houghton buy into the Rules of Rodentia. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's what I've always suspected. Thanks for confirming it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightingsioux4life Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Of course the guy that wrote the piece is a sports editor in Houghton, Mich. Lord knows people in Houghton buy into the Rules of Rodentia. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Looks like I screwed up a little bit here. Usually when I think of Fox Sports and College Hockey, it's Fox Sports North (formerly known as Minnesota Sports Channel) and that means pro-Gopher bias. This ranking was apparently not done by the FSN crowd. My mistake. Sorry. That being said, it has been true for years that whenever UND lands a top Minnesota kid (especially during the Blais era), a sizable portion of Rodentia immediately cried out that the Gophers didn't want him and weren't recruiting him. I guess all that matters is that they perform on the ice in game situations, but it's one of the reasons I have always disliked the Rodents and probably always will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightingsioux4life Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 That sentiment doesn't go both ways at all does it? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you are refering to the Potulny brothers and Danny Irmen, I think the answer is no. I think most UND fans recognized that those players would have been big contributors to our program, but it just wasn't meant to be. I for one think that giving up on Grant Potulny too soon was one of the biggest recruiting mistakes of the Blais era. That led to younger brother Ryan following Grant to the U of M and taking his best friend Danny Irmen with him. I guess I can't complain about that since we've taken advantage of family connections to get players in the past (Hoogsteens, Ulmers, Panzers, etc.). But if more North Dakota kids start picking Minnesota in the future, I suppose that sentiment could start creeping into our fan base, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVCL Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Oh, but wait; both the Sioux and uMN have sent roughly the same amount to the pros. That would make either point mute. The real difference is that uMN and the others have always been pissed Denver and UND recruited in Canada but it's all arrogant blabber to me. Aren't there more people in Minneapolis/St. Paul proper than all of ND? Even so, almost 15% of the Sioux have been from GGF. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackheart Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC_transplant Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Looks like I screwed up a little bit here. Usually when I think of Fox Sports and College Hockey, it's Fox Sports North (formerly known as Minnesota Sports Channel) and that means pro-Gopher bias. This ranking was apparently not done by the FSN crowd. My mistake. Sorry. That being said, it has been true for years that whenever UND lands a top Minnesota kid (especially during the Blais era), a sizable portion of Rodentia immediately cried out that the Gophers didn't want him and weren't recruiting him. I guess all that matters is that they perform on the ice in game situations, but it's one of the reasons I have always disliked the Rodents and probably always will. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What fan base doesn't do that? Every fan base trashes their rival's recruits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superman0099 Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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