SIOUX / GOPHS

[siouxjoy]

Sioux yeah yeah!

Yeah Sioux Sioux!

[SiouxTupa]

In contrast, I thought the Mariucci crowd was VERY vocal all weekend. I love the fun song they do at the beginning of the period. I also get annoyed with the penalty cheer (woo woo...or something like that).

One thing is for sure, the production values are far and away better than FSSN. Now, I know a lot of the people involved in FSSN/WDAZ production, and I'm not saying it's bad. However, the picture is better and the sound is WAAAAAY better on the bad channel (FSN). They have a crowd mic, which I really enjoy because you can actually hear how loud the arena is. On our channel if Sweeny or his partner aren't talking, you MIGHT be able to make out some sticks/skates.

Throwing things after a pretty decent gopher weekend is pretty lame, though. They played well all weekend, but maybe some fans thought they were invincible, and just THAT MUCH better than everyone they play. I think UM has a lot to look forward to coming up in the 2nd half. However...CC will be VERY ready after tonight.

[farce poobah]

Probably the nature of the loss, and yes, the win will definitely help.

The other thing that hurts our PWR is that UMD fell out of the ranks of TUC's, and without that sweep our record against TUC's is pretty weak.

Too early to worry a lot about the volatility, but not too early to be concerned that we will be a bubble team unless we win enough games the rest of the way.

[farce poobah]

Tonight was much better. And yes, we got some puck luck. But MOST IMPORTANT, we battled. We competed. We showed maturity. This is a good sign. A win to build some momentum on.

The 4 WJC guys looked really leg weary. For the USA guys, this is 13 games in 29 days! For Toews, 12 games. Time for some rest.

Also, its time to Take Care of Business at home. 4 big home games coming up.

[redwing77]

Tonight was much better. And yes, we got some puck luck. But MOST IMPORTANT, we battled. We competed. We showed maturity. This is a good sign. A win to build some momentum on.

The 4 WJC guys looked really leg weary. For the USA guys, this is 13 games in 29 days! For Toews, 12 games. Time for some rest.

Also, its time to Take Care of Business at home. 4 big home games coming up.

I agree that Lee looked beat out there especially in the third period. Oshie had his down game last night though. He was flying all over the place.

Defense:

Jones and Smaby had GREAT nights. Finley recovered well after a stupid first period. Radke, god I wish he would start making something happen. He did register an assist on the night but other than that he was pretty quiet. Chorney looked tired but not so much as Lee. Still, even when tired, Lee looked pretty sound defensively. I hate to be an opposing fan once this defensive corps matures.

Offense:

Zajac and Kozek had great games.

Prpich got his head out of his butt midway through the second period.

Porter tried hard but couldn't get anything going at all. Porter had a disappointing weekend.

Spirko worked the hardest of all wingers. If Fabian hadn't gotten tossed, he would have gotten that nod.

Kaip... oy. Foyt isn't getting it done and Kaip, though pretty sound defensively isn't getting it done offensively nor his he really playing smart hockey either. I think Miller plays next weekend (Somehow PCM shoots to the top of my head every time I see that. ). Kaip, like Radke, is a second year freshman, but unlike Radke, it seems like Kaip is actually relearning the game instead of elevating it.

Stafford worked hard but couldn't produce.

Watkins and Duncan: They played ok, but not spectacular. Watkins over the weekend made some pretty poor defensive decisions.

Toews and Oshie: Toews REALLY did a good job tonight. Oshie got the whole goal started for Toews, though I don't remember if Oshie got an assist. Woog was all over Oshie slathering him with praise.

Phil Lamoreaux: MVP of the weekend. He had flashes of greatness. Woog even calls him Lamorello, so I understand why he's a bit preoccupied... playing in net for the Sioux PLUS coaching and GMing the Devils

[tnt]

What were five on five goals for the weekend? It had to be pretty even. Pretty good effort tonight, considering Minnesota's only two goals came on a 5 on 3 and five minute major. A lot of very weak calls. I thought that Vannelli should have had the extra penalty on their 5 minute powerplay. Instead we lose our best defenseman. You shouldn't be able to profit from instigating a scuffle. Also, on at least two circumstances when the Sioux had a powerplay there were clear penalties that should have given the Sioux a two-man advantage. A little consistency please. As with the series in Grand Forks, the linesmen were absolutely horrid. Minnesota just knows how to use their ice surface to their advantage, so when a referee decides to call a game tight, it gives them a huge advantage. I really expected Campion to let them play a little bit. I guess I was wrong. The worst part about it was that a tired team didn't get much of a chance to roll their lines. So really it was a gutty win for the Sioux.

[SiouxTupa]

He did let them play...in the third period.

Both teams played to their capabilities tonight, and as Woog said...the one who makes the last play will (and did) win.

[redwing77]

What were five on five goals for the weekend? It had to be pretty even. Pretty good effort tonight, considering Minnesota's only two goals came on a 5 on 3 and five minute major. A lot of very weak calls. I thought that Vannelli should have had the extra penalty on their 5 minute powerplay. Instead we lose our best defenseman. You shouldn't be able to profit from instigating a scuffle. Also, on at least two circumstances when the Sioux had a powerplay there were clear penalties that should have given the Sioux a two-man advantage. A little consistency please. As with the series in Grand Forks, the linesmen were absolutely horrid. Minnesota just knows how to use their ice surface to their advantage, so when a referee decides to call a game tight, it gives them a huge advantage. I really expected Campion to let them play a little bit. I guess I was wrong. The worst part about it was that a tired team didn't get much of a chance to roll their lines. So really it was a gutty win for the Sioux.

You were right... if you take out tonight's third period. The fourth line was Watkins, Kozek, and Duncan. That line was heard from in the first period (kozek goal) and had CONSIDERABLE ice time in the 3rd period.

[sagard]

Well you all are in better mood tonight!

The students were embarassing all weekend.

The Gophers got careless forgetting that a tie is FAR better than a loss and let it slip away. Beautiful shot for the game winner though.

[Smoggy]

Listened to the Gopher feed after the game. Sonmer's three stars were:

3: Guyer (for taking shots)

2: Harrington

1: Kessel (for the pass to Harrington)

All I can say is that is that he needs to take off the maroon and gold glasses.

For the Gopher fans:

I appreciated the offers to fight after the game. I'm sure Stafford also appreciated getting hit by an orange after the game. Like I said last night after they sieved the kid that got hit with the puck. CLASSY!

[dagies]

What a difference a day makes?

I'm proud of our team. Not perfectly happy, but proud. Way too many penalties against a team that's WAY to good on the PP. (Though weren't some of the calls pretty ticky tacky tonite? Sheesh).

I liked that the Sioux seemed to have gone to school on the gopher PP during the morning skate today. They seemed to be trying to pull some of those same cross zone passes. They weren't as good as the gophers, but at least they were working guys open and trying to make something happen. It points out just how good the gophers are at moving the puck in the offensive zone, with and without the man advantage.

My impression is the gophers ARE just a better team. But fortunately tonite the Sioux got a few breaks at the right time (gopher stick breaking in the offensive zone at the wrong time, a blown Sioux defender taking a swipe with a stick that just catches the puck enough to disrupt the play, etc. Things that didn't happen last night).

I'm proud of the way the Sioux battled tonite. Most of the penalties they EARNED were because they were being aggressive and working hard. I can deal with that. I'm disappointed in Fabian of all people taking a checking from behind.

I hope our boys learned something in the 3rd period tonite about staying out of the box.

With about 6-7 minutes left I started saying to myself that unless the Sioux make a stupid mistake, they have a great chance to win. It just seemed like the players were starting to click a bit offensively, and they were beginning to frustrate the gopher offense. The Sioux did just about make THE stupid mistake, but just got themselves out of it, and then Zajac took over.

From watching on the tv I have to say I was very impressed with Andrew Kozek and Zajac tonite. From what I saw on tv (I'll watch the tape later) I thought the slashing the goalie call against him was bogus. He played better all night, not as good as I expect from him, but better. And he came through with a great shot when it was absolutely necessary.

Oshie seemed to have a better game tonite. Toews was decent, and was rewarded with a goal. Very nice.

Kaip still needs to find his game, or the Sioux need to find a good 12th forward. One or the other. He seems to struggle out there. I think he's working hard a lot of the time, but a couple of times it seemed like he was floating in crucial situations.

I'm loving Jones. He seems to me to be getting the job done.

Goalie experts, should Lammy have had that first goal? It seems you hear that if a goalie can see the shot he should be able to stop the puck. That puck was from fairly close in, and Goligoski had several places he could have put it. It was a heck of a shot, so I don't know if a goalie is expected to stop those or not...

I can't believe, after all the PP time the gophers had, that the Sioux managed to pull this out. What a testament to "guts". They could easily have given up and didn't.

What was with Harrington going after Radke?

It seemed to me the gophers were really trying to ride Oshie. And I think it got TJ a little off his game. Anyone else think this?

Mazzocco on the Prpich/Wheeler hit - "Was there some knee to knee contact there?" Come on Frank, these to boys lined each other up and hit bodies full on. And you think Prpich went in with a knee?

Hak, how about giving those WJ boys another day off from practice?

Lammy, you were excellent this weekend. See what happens when you get 3 goals? Way to go.

I still think the Sioux have a long way to go before they are a really good team. That 3rd period was a pretty decent period, but can they play this way consistently? They better start. They need the points at home that are coming up. They need them badly.

[dagies]

Was Hak interviewed after the game, and if so did he have anything interesting to say?

[redwing77]

dagies, they said the knee thing before they saw the replay. It was pretty much dead air after they saw that there was no knee.

The homerism of the day was the Vanelli coming in on Smaby thing early in the game. "Whoa! Smaby starts taking swipes at Vanelli" When it was clear that Vanelli came in while the puck was frozen and checked Smaby. I have no doubt that Smaby said something to Vanelli that set him off, but Vanelli threw the first jab, not Smaby.

That's ok, Masucko did his usual BS and Woog called it fairly decently.

Kaip IS trying to find his game and he IS playing awfully hard out there but it's just not coming for him just yet. As a sophomore, I can say that most of the freshmen are further along than he is. It's simply depressing. I think Kaip is a lot better than he is showing us on the ice. I just don't know what can be done to get his game up.

I actually think Kozek had a nice weekend. He didn't make much noise on Friday but no one did. He works damn hard every game. I got to respect that.

The 3rd period was a gift to us. Campion finally let go and decided to let the boys play and it worked wonderfully. It was really even until Minny started giving up odd man rushes. Zajac's goal was simply the type of shot that smart players make. Everyone was looking pass and he head faked Frazee into hesitating and bango, it's in the back of the net.

[Wilbur]

I like how Woog would call Phil Lamorello every so often. I mean come on....The kid played against the gophs last night, could you just say the kids name right....

[popeye]

i think kaip is working hard as well. defencivly i think he is as sound as almost anyone. for haveing only 2 points and still only being minus 1 ,is not bad. many players who suffer from pcs take a lot longer for there ofencive ability to come back , paul kayria was one. his first 4- 5 gmes last year he showed a lot of promise. hopefully the coaches will continue to show confedence in him as this seems to be what he may now lack. he does bring a physical presence to this team. the big ice surface does not enhance kaip or mike p. style of play. i think kaip will be fine , he had a tough injury and it appears he is working hard to battle through it. i too like his ability to play with an edge , he has all the tools he can skate ,hit, shoot , he just needs to put it all back together. he wasnt drafted or recruited here to be a 4th liner. i thought he had a good 3rd period. anyways good win .

[rochsioux]

Much better effort tonight.

Still too many penalties in the first two periods...too often the penalties came away from the play. Got to play much smarter. If you had told me the Gophers would have 9 powerplays in the first two periods including a 5x3 and 5x4 five min major I wouldn't have given the Sioux much of a chance.

I believe coming into this series the Sioux were allowing 1 goal per game even strength. This w/e, 8 goals allow, 6 on powerplays for an average of 1 even strength goal per game. You might think this stat would wake a few players up and STOP TAKING STUPID PENALTIES. Hopefully the play in the third period tonight will be a turning point for the team. No penalties, no goals allowed, scored the game winner against a good team on the road (hard to say those last words but the Gophers are a good team).

The test will be the next few w/e's. They really need to sweep the next two series and show improvement in all phases of the game. They can't afford to lose any of these with road series left at CC and Denver. Haven't had much luck at CC recently and Denver has been tough on them since the regional in 2004.

No excuse for any lack of effort the rest of the way. It should be clear to everyone on the team that if they put out the effort and play with some discipline they will be hard to beat. This should go in the category of "lesson learned".

[MeanEgirl]

The 'Dogs announcers just interviewed Diggler's buddy, MeanEGirl, at intermission.

Who are you and how did you know that was me? I didn't even use "MeanEgirl... I used my real name...

And yes, for the record, my mom CAN beat up Bruce Ciskie.

[MNHockeyFan]

Good to see everyone here has calmed down a bit after beating the Gophers 1 out of 4 tries this year. Come on guys, every Gopher Fan out there expected the Sioux to come out just like they did...if they hadn't upped it after Fridays debacle, then you would have had a right to be frightened. But they managed to turn it around.

As far as complaining about maricucci fans being classless- please. I have made many trips to the old Ralph and the new ralph and have been pelted with all kinds of crap numerous times, just because I was wearing Gopher colors. Your fans are every bit as classless as any other fans. The best part was that the Sioux fans in Mariucci acted like they'd just won the NC, but in reality, it was only the first time in 4 tries you managed to beat the Gophers- pathetic, yet funny.

The Sioux will be in the postseason.

[Goon]

The other thing that hurts our PWR is that UMD fell out of the ranks of TUC's, and without that sweep our record against TUC's is pretty weak.

Too early to worry a lot about the volatility, but not too early to be concerned that we will be a bubble team unless we win enough games the rest of the way.

UND is back to 10th in the PWR. I believe that UND is like 9-3-1 on the road that is pretty good in my opinion. UND only has 4 more games on the road in their last 12. I honestly don't really think we are on the bubble right now. Denver is a team on the bubble.

[WPoS]

not going to plow thru all the posts this AM. Few thoughts from a semi-tolerated (at least till now) Gopher fan.

Lammy deserved the player of the game....wow, he played well, and had some great luck as well.

UND wanted the win more it seems, you did a good job shutting down our PP, congrats on that.

I told my friends it was going to be a one goal game, (I was right except for the ENG)

Met a few more SS.com people, pretty good eggs.

I'll take 3 out of four for the year. I am sure we'll meet again post season.

At least one of your goals helped my fantasy team.

now comes the stuff that will get me dark looks from you guys:

For as much as you want to remember Bina and his injury, your team has a large tendancy to hit from behind near the boards...see 2 majors for that this weekend alone and one hit near the boards on Irmen.

As for Irmen's jersey tug at the Ralph, you guys got even with Lammy's hitting of the glass by one of our student sections after the win, in the same class if you ask me, not that I think either are that big of a deal, but I heard plenty about it last night.

I will now go hide behinde the large rock while you lob stones at me...

WPoS

[siouxguyinstpaul]

Good to see everyone here has calmed down a bit after beating the Gophers 1 out of 4 tries this year. Come on guys, every Gopher Fan out there expected the Sioux to come out just like they did...if they hadn't upped it after Fridays debacle, then you would have had a right to be frightened. But they managed to turn it around.

As far as complaining about maricucci fans being classless- please. I have made many trips to the old Ralph and the new ralph and have been pelted with all kinds of crap numerous times, just because I was wearing Gopher colors. Your fans are every bit as classless as any other fans. The best part was that the Sioux fans in Mariucci acted like they'd just won the NC, but in reality, it was only the first time in 4 tries you managed to beat the Gophers- pathetic, yet funny.

The Sioux will be in the postseason.

And the Gopher fans acted like they just lost their last game of the season. Pathetic, yet not funny. Its always that way when the Goofs lose in your building - its like you feel you have some type of entitlement to win and its fun to watch your fans when that is "taken" away. Also, the most important games in this series are the last one and the next one.

[7>4]

For as much as you want to remember Bina and his injury, your team has a large tendancy to hit from behind near the boards...see 2 majors for that this weekend alone and one hit near the boards on Irmen.

Sorry, don't see how these two things are related. Don't see where anyone on this board has complained about Sioux players getting penalty for hitting from behind. It is a serious infraction and should be called. As for me, I'll remember Bina and his injury for as long as I am a Sioux fan. I guess the Gopher fans are doing their part with the classless and idiotic "Bina Rides the Short Bus" sign that Kaip and Marvin took away from a group of Rodent punks on Friday.

[dagies]

dagies, they said the knee thing before they saw the replay. It was pretty much dead air after they saw that there was no knee.

Yeah, I know. Just the whole idea of big Wheeler hitting Prpich yet Wheeler comes out hurt Frank has to assume it was dirty.

[jloos]

For as much as you want to remember Bina and his injury, your team has a large tendancy to hit from behind near the boards...see 2 majors for that this weekend alone and one hit near the boards on Irmen.

As for Irmen's jersey tug at the Ralph, you guys got even with Lammy's hitting of the glass by one of our student sections after the win, in the same class if you ask me, not that I think either are that big of a deal, but I heard plenty about it last night.

I will now go hide behinde the large rock while you lob stones at me...

WPoS

The jersey tug and Lammy's actions are on the same page. Both classless moves.

The hits from behind are not intentional. Fabian and Foyt both had Gopher players turn on them and both tried to hold up at the last second. Still it is a dangerous play and one that needs to be avoided, but it will happen by accident at times. However, there is a big difference between hitting a forward who quickly turns his body as you are checking him and coming across the ice and drilling a stationary player who has his back to you, which is what Paukovich did to Bina.

[Taz Boy]

Good to see everyone here has calmed down a bit after beating the Gophers 1 out of 4 tries this year. Come on guys, every Gopher Fan out there expected the Sioux to come out just like they did...if they hadn't upped it after Fridays debacle, then you would have had a right to be frightened. But they managed to turn it around.

As far as complaining about maricucci fans being classless- please. I have made many trips to the old Ralph and the new ralph and have been pelted with all kinds of crap numerous times, just because I was wearing Gopher colors. Your fans are every bit as classless as any other fans. The best part was that the Sioux fans in Mariucci acted like they'd just won the NC, but in reality, it was only the first time in 4 tries you managed to beat the Gophers- pathetic, yet funny.

The Sioux will be in the postseason.

Feel better after that bout of verbal diarrhea, sweetpea? I'll expect more since folks usually can't get it all out in one sitting. To be sure, the Gophs just plain forgot to bring their "swagger" last night. Perhaps Lucia left it in the office? God help us all if he finds it again, I just can't take any more "swagger" this year.

Thanks for the post season nod, by the way. Didn't know you were on the selection committe. Frankly, I'm surprised you'd promote that for UND; well, with knowing what happened to the Goofs post season last year and all.

taz