.357 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 jk, I enjoy reading your ongoing analyses of this team, your historical comparisons to the teams of a few years ago was an insightful way to help Sioux fans better understand this year's squad. Clever indeed. After listening to the games this weekend, .500 by year's end in the toughest league in the nation sounds optimistic, .600 would be unexpected & anything .700 or better would probably earn Hakstol WCHA Coach of the Year honors. Maybe we should throw leadership into the equation as well. I believe upperclass leadership & mentoring from Smaby, Porter, Prpich & the others will be a huge factor this year, especially in the close games. That's if they take the role of the C's & A's on their jerseys seriously. If these guys are of the attitude that their team is too young to make a serious push & are just biding their time until they can make the move to the next level, then chances are that the W-L columns will be tilted more to the L. But I don't get that impression when I listen to Smaby being interviewed. Looking forward to seeing in the coming weeks if they bring a lot of passion & energy on a consistent basis that will rub off on the younger guys. Once this team "clicks" & gets acclimated to WCHA play, they will be a joy to watch. Just a question of "when" & if their young bodies can adequately handle 6 months of intense physical pounding. I predict many a computer monitor to go airborne, a lot of kicked puppies & fists making contact with walls in Siouxville from now until March. Some people around here have coined the term "Notermann-ed" for when a player's shots in any given game have a recurring knack of hitting the pipe instead of the back of the net. I think that's cute & Toews would probably be the recipient of this dubious award the last couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 No, I don't think we'll finish below .500. What I'd LOVE to see would be something like what happened last year. Finish 5th in the WCHA and go for an NCAA berth. The unfortunate thing is, with our youth, I am not positive we'll get placed in Grand Forks for the regional, especially if getting placed there means we have to be a #1 seed. We're just too young for that. But as long as we make the NCAAs, it will be a good year for us. The hardest part of this situation is listening/watching the Sioux lose the games they inevitably are going to lose. No one likes to watch their team lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Ranger Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 . The unfortunate thing is, with our youth, I am not positive we'll get placed in Grand Forks for the regional, especially if getting placed there means we have to be a #1 seed. We're just too young for that. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If they make the tournament, they are automatically placed in Grand Forks whether they are a 1 seed or a 4 seed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mksioux Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 If UND makes the NCAA tournament, they will be placed in the Grand Forks regional (as the host) regardless of their seed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Oh. Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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