Bemidji @ UND game

[U2Bad1]

Wow am i disappointed with this effort tonight. Bemidji obviously showed that they are a pretty decent team, but UND hasn't looked the same without parise, jones and greene. I don't understand why siembida continues to start most of the games.

Word of advice to the WDAZ tv crew, don't talk about players that teams don't have. Alex Kim graduated last year. Also, if UND ever plays bemidji st on tv again i suggest not putting the mic on bemidji's coach Finally, have the cameramen practice following the puck with their cameras, it will greatly increase the quality of the broadcast.

[sprig]

Sounded like last year's third period prevent was rediscovered tonight. Not a good period going into the CC series.

[Goon]

If UND ever plays bemidji st on tv again i suggest not putting the mic on bemidji's coach Finally, have the cameramen practice following the puck with their cameras, it will greatly increase the quality of the broadcast.

Hey could you fill us in on what you mean... Did Tom do some swearing?

[ScottM]

Not sure what to make of this one. However, from the USCHO updates it seems like our guys effectively "screwed the pooch" much of the game, and damn near lost it. It seems like the "Number 1" ranking is starting to inflate their heads/egos, but they had better play better next weekend against CC, regardless of who's in the lineup. Hopefully, Blais makes practice a bit more "interesting" to show that rankings mean nothing once the puck is dropped.

BTW: WTF are we going to get some consistent goaltending from anybody?

[elmduf]

Goaltending seems to be the "Achilles Heel" of the Sioux. Hopefully things will settle down next weekend. I spent the night watching Denver dismantle UNH in their tourney. Two shutouts in a row over quality Miami and UNH squads. I was pulling for our WCHA comrades, but, they kind of scare me.

[hrkac]

listening to the radio/internet tonight...... the 3rd period seemed to make my stomach quesey like a feeling i haven't felt since last year. this "feeling" has been in the back of my mind all season but i've been able to block it out. the one good thing we have going into next weekend is that we almost ALWAYS play C.C. tough! ( no matter who's in the lineup.) although, i'd feel better with two defensmen playing and a parise in a pear tree.

[schmidtdoggydog]

Come on Sioux fans, let's not get carried away. I was there for both games and although neither was pretty, UND did what they needed to do, they won!

I didn't see any signs of the players playing with inflated egos and I don't think we, as fans, need to panic.

As it would with any team, it will take UND at least a couple of games to adjust to the absence of three very important players. Additionally, the rust from the Christmas break was evident.

Also, the lines were a hodge podge of combinations that we haven't seen before, and they seemed to continually change throughout the course of the tournament.

Of course if the Sioux play against CC like they did this past weekend, they will likely get swept and perhaps smoked by CC.

But, we all know what Blais is capable of. However, when considering the loss of three players, a d-man (Marvin) who rarely plays assuming a regular role, a forward (R. Hale) converting to d and another forward (Palmo) returning from a six-seven week injury hiatus he appears to have his work cut out for him!

Hopefully, they will be able to get it together, which I think they will.

BTW, how about Bochenski scoring SIX goals without Parise next to him? What an awesome weekend for him!

[sprig]

Not sure that this tourney was enough to ready new line combos for the CC series, but it appears obvious that missing the Greene/Jones D combo will hurt big time, especially considering the top Sioux line is missing their center (Parise), while the Senja, Clarke, Cullen line comes in intact. They are dangerous and having last change will be important in finding the right defensive matchup.

Bochenski, Lundbohm, and whomever else will remain dangerous, and if the Cullen line is shut down, may provide enough offense to win one or both games.

We can only hope that the CC PP struggles, since CC fans have said how important Sterling has been to its success. They did struggle on the PP against WMU, so maybe there's hope, if a Sioux d combo can contain the Cullen line.

Soft goals can't happen, or the Sioux are screwed. CC's goal tending appears to be very solid.

Their missing Stuart on the D eliminates the best physical CC D-man, so that's a plus for the Sioux, since the Sioux still have Hale and Schneider.

[farce poobah]

I'm not worried about a repeat of Saturday's performance, which was not that strong, for various reasons:

First, coaches played a long bench vs BSU. With the exception of the last 10 minutes, all 6 "D" saw a fair amount of ice time, as did all 12 forwards. I expect they can and will shorten the bench.

Second, the coaches were doing a fair amount of experimenting with combinations, and a lot of our mistakes/problems came when these oddball combinations were on the ice. (late in the second period, Leinweber, Marvin, Connelly, Genoway, and Canady, for example) I'd bet money those 5 won't be out at the same time vs CC.

Ryan Hale saw some time with Leinweber, DHale, Schneider, and Fuher. While Schneider and DHale have been a terrific pair, I look for them to be split this weekend. Look for the coaching staff to try to get 25-30 minutes each out of DHale, Schneider and Fuher.

I wonder, as others have speculated, whether Siembida played himself out of the #1 spot, especially with a large mental mistake late Saturday. Yes, the guy was offsides, but Siembida appeared to be daydreaming....

[denbo1]

I was sick after the Sat. game. It is nice to come to this site and at least get some comfort.

I'm not worried about a repeat of Saturday's performance, which was not that strong, for various reasons: Thanks farce poobah.

We need to stand tall, I'm talking to the goalie, you may feel like you're on fire but you need to stop the drop and roll.

[farce poobah]

I was sick after the Sat. game. It is nice to come to this site and at least get some comfort.

Anytime.

Of course, I may just be full of sh#$.

[jk]

I was able to attend my third game of the year Saturday. Even though UND just squeaked by UAA in the first two games I saw, they could hardly have dominated them any more than they did. Completely suffocating defense. The Sioux were just a little puck-luck away from blowing UAA out that weekend.

The BSU game was a different story, sadly. The Sioux played well enough to win, but they didn't dominate. I think the defenders were missed badly, as everyone has said. Also, with Ryan Hale moving to defense, the WJC have effectively cost the team two defensemen and two forwards.

A few things I noticed:

Ryan Hale was a riot as a defenseman. At least twice he led the rush into the offensive zone with such zeal and disregard for defense that I wondered if he forgot. Also, at least twice BSU had clean 2-on-1's, with Hale as the absent defenseman. BSU didn't convert either chance. If the Sioux are relying on him for anything significant on defense against CC, the Sioux are in big trouble.

For me, this raises the question of how thin the Sioux are on defense this year, numbers-wise. If they run into any significant injury problems, things could get tight back there quickly.

Fuher got completely out-muscled once racing for a puck in the defensive zone. I was surprised. I guess he's just a sophomore but he still needs to get sttronger.

I think between Notermann and Bochenski, they have a regular amount of puck-luck. Bochenski's using it all up, and there's none left for Notes. I really like Notermann on the wing with Parise and Bochenski, and I hope Blais leaves him there. He adds toughness and defensive responsibility to the line; I don't see them getting abused by an experienced top line like they did against SCSU in the first game. Also, I still think his luck will turn this year, and he will score some big second-half goals. He and Spiewak both just have the look of the senior who is stepping up. When he hit the pipe in the waning seconds of the first, after a great shift by that line, my Dad suggested that they paint the twine red and the pipes white.

Massen had one flash but seemed to not have much of an impact otherwise. Hopefully he's just saving it up for the league games, because I think he has the potential to be one of the best players in the league.

I don't think Prpich has the skill or experience yet to be on the top line, or the top PP unit, which he was for at least a time in this game. I like him, and think he has been a pleasant surprise, but he looks a bit out of place up there, to me anyway.

The guy who I was really impressed with, who I still think could be an important player, is Ryan Connelly. I can't believe he hasn't scored yet this year, as he must be second only to Spiewak for speed. I thought he hustled all game long, carried the puck well at speed, and forechecked tenaciously.

Canady seems tentative right now, which takes away from his game. At least once, though, it was the right thing to do. He had a BSU player lined up behind the net and could have just splattered him, but he pulled up at the last instant, sparing the Beaver. Considering the angle of impact, which was not from behind but not exactly from the side either, I think he would have drawn a boarding or checking from behind penalty had he nailed the guy. Since this is a family board, can I write Canady's penalty, "two minutes for nailing the Beaver from behind?"

Palmiscno was cruising into the offensive zone at one point and had his head down again, for too long, IMO. I thought he was lucky that no one lined him up. He really needs to watch that.

It will have been almost a month since the Sioux played a good team when they take on CC. I could see a first-period Friday deficit of 2-0 before the team adjusts to the talent and speed on the ice.

[dagies]

jk that was pretty funny!

I'm really pulling for Ryan Connelly. I love his hustle and I think he just needs a couple of breaks.

I'm hoping CC needs to work off a little Christmas rust in the first period on Friday. Maybe that will give the boys the opportunity to adjust. I do think they are going to find CC to be a more intimidating test than the teams they have played recently, in that I agree.

Canady has had a tough year. First his injury set him back, then he got sat a game (Mankato), then the spear against St. Cloud.

I'm hoping Brian is able to shake off the first half and come out flying in the second half as the team will need his energy and physical play on the ice. He needs to play with confidence out there to be effective and my guess is he is playing a little tentative.

Our captains are going to have a test on their hands, I believe. This team has had a great first half, no doubt. But in the next few weeks the schedule gets WAY tougher with more obstacles (road games). If the team has a tough couple of weekends against CC and MN, which is possible, they will need to keep the team's confidence high.

It starts Friday night.