mksioux Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 The Ralph won't be empty. Not full, but no where near empty if UND doesn't qualify. Especially if the Gophers and Bemidji did make it. Having the place filled with Gopher and BEMIDJI STATE fans will be more depressing than if it were empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rochsioux Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Splits at CC and Denver and winning at home should get us into the NCAA tourney. I would like to believe this but I am very doubtful. The Sioux have two home series against Michigan Tech and Duluth, neither are TUC so I think we can only hurt ourselves by losing, not sure winning will help much. The two road series are against TUC so it is imperative to get wins. I am thinking they will need to win 3 of 4 to have a good shot at the tourney. If they only get two then they will almost have to sweep the first round WCHA games which should be against a TUC. To start winning more pairwise comparisons they need to improve their TUC record and RPI. Playing Tech and Duluth will not help these. Right now playing .500 against TUC might not be good enough to flip enough comparisons. Since the Sioux can only control what they do, they best win 3/4 road and all 4 home...based on current play this may not be realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 First of all, it pains me to read commentary from those of you who did not actually watch this last series & are just relying on T.H.'s radio broadcast--it's easy to ASSUME, judging from the end scores, that the defense was great & the offense sucked. However, what I saw was NOT a lack of effort on the offense's part, but so many turnovers from our inexperienced defense. Also, If you've got your forwards constantly digging out the puck in our own zone, trying to make plays with 2 SCSU guys wrapped all over you, it's going to be extremely difficult to score! St. Cloud's defense was really unbelievably sound & knew just who to cover this weekend (top scorers). That's when the other players need to step in. Second--many of you need to check the stats section--(check link below) we lead in most of all areas compared to opponents, except Powerplays. This is where we need to make changes most of all, i.m.o. Hakstol changed it up a few times this weekend--had all top forwards with no defensemen at least one time, maybe twice. Though I don't believe it resulted in goals, it did appear to have some life & promise(crowd loved it). Another time he had Stafford out for the whole 2 min.'s. Speaking of him, since when does the top power play unit not have the leading scorer?? What's up with that?? UND hockey stats Both tnt and siouxperstar are right. The defence in my opinion just seems out of sink with the forwards. The D make life difficult for themselves and the forwards by not taking that extra step or working just a little bit harder to skate to open ice and make a direct pass as opposed to a rim that forces either the forward or the D partner to fish the puck off the wall. They have to start making these simple plays or nothing good is going to happen. I also agree with tnt that the D or somebody has to move the puck to the middle in order to take a shot. The D seem very reluctant to drag the puck to the middle and actually take the shot. I know sometimes you can't shoot when guys are in the in the shooting lane but come on, some of these young D don't even go to the middle as their first option. It always seems to go back down low to the corner. Some more savy at the blue line is necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I would like to believe this but I am very doubtful. The Sioux have two home series against Michigan Tech and Duluth, neither are TUC so I think we can only hurt ourselves by losing, not sure winning will help much. The two road series are against TUC so it is imperative to get wins. I am thinking they will need to win 3 of 4 to have a good shot at the tourney. If they only get two then they will almost have to sweep the first round WCHA games which should be against a TUC. To start winning more pairwise comparisons they need to improve their TUC record and RPI. Playing Tech and Duluth will not help these. Right now playing .500 against TUC might not be good enough to flip enough comparisons. Since the Sioux can only control what they do, they best win 3/4 road and all 4 home...based on current play this may not be realistic. I agree, I don not find that realistic at all based on current play. The boys need to come out with some urgency, there is no more waiting. CC has had the week off and are going to be ready to play. It will take a great effort to earn points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 However, what I saw was NOT a lack of effort on the offense's part, but so many turnovers from our inexperienced defense. Also, If you've got your forwards constantly digging out the puck in our own zone, trying to make plays with 2 SCSU guys wrapped all over you, it's going to be extremely difficult to score! St. Cloud's defense was really unbelievably sound & knew just who to cover this weekend (top scorers). That's when the other players need to step in. Second--many of you need to check the stats section--(check link below) we lead in most of all areas compared to opponents, except Powerplays. This is where we need to make changes most of all, i.m.o. Yep, that's what I saw. You nailed it. The Sioux are having a hard time getting out of their own end cleanly and getting through the neutral zone with speed. I had high hopes for the PP earlier in the year. Lee looks like he has zero confidence at the point right now--he needed to be taken off that top unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 On Zajac's GWG against the Gophers Woog pointed out that this was one of the few times the Sioux had had a clean transition out of their own zone, and look what they did with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walsh Hall Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 The Sioux have certainly eliminated their margain of error. On the bright side, if they finish strong, win the WCHA first round series and they will likely get in the tourny with some stream and home ice (for what that worth). With the length of the season it is imperative to be playing the best hockey of the season at the right time. During the Minnesota series Woog was commenting on how Lucia is concerned that the Gophers are peaking way to early. With that in mind the Sioux need to start building for the playoffs and aren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux-per Villain Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 TJ brings it every night and every shift! Too bad that grit and determination hasn't been contagious. WCHA rookie of the year to this point IMO. As far as our chances to get into the NC$$ tournament, I'm not that optomistic. Although I've yet to sell my West Regional ticket package to my Gopher friends. I bought a lottery ticket today and the odds of winning may be better than a full road sweep in the state of Colorado (1:146,107,962) So "I'm telling you there's a chance". We may well have to win the final five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 We may well have to win the final five. The Sioux have a better chance of winning the NCAA title than the Final Five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 The Sioux have a better chance of winning the NCAA title than the Final Five. I agree with that. It is about impossible to be in the Thurs play in game and win the final five. Not good odds of that happening, especially with such a young team that are not yet physically mature. That makes the odds even greater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popeye Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 First of all, it pains me to read commentary from those of you who did not actually watch this last series & are just relying on T.H.'s radio broadcast--it's easy to ASSUME, judging from the end scores, that the defense was great & the offense sucked. However, what I saw was NOT a lack of effort on the offense's part, but so many turnovers from our inexperienced defense. Also, If you've got your forwards constantly digging out the puck in our own zone, trying to make plays with 2 SCSU guys wrapped all over you, it's going to be extremely difficult to score! St. Cloud's defense was really unbelievably sound & knew just who to cover this weekend (top scorers). That's when the other players need to step in. Second--many of you need to check the stats section--(check link below) we lead in most of all areas compared to opponents, except Powerplays. This is where we need to make changes most of all, i.m.o. Hakstol changed it up a few times this weekend--had all top forwards with no defensemen at least one time, maybe twice. Though I don't believe it resulted in goals, it did appear to have some life & promise(crowd loved it). Another time he had Stafford out for the whole 2 min.'s. Speaking of him, since when does the top power play unit not have the leading scorer?? What's up with that?? UND hockey stats I have been at all home games and several road games and i fully agree with you. if you cant contol your own end, getting out of it is even harder. our young defence has taken turns struggleing , with exception of smaby and chorney. our centres seems to always have to come back deep and help out, then when we do breakout its at best a 2 on 2. also we need to keep a forward high in the ofenceive zone to allow our d men to cheat a little to keep pucks the zone. too many 3 on 2s against us as well. there been some talk of kaip in the past but i think he has played 5 solid games in a row. he has not got on the score sheet much, but he is as good defenceivly as we got. when games get tough as they have against mankato i like to have him on our side. also maybe a kaip pirph kozak[ a good shooter] might produce a little more. i think zajak and staford are tired by the 3rd period , how can they play every pp and pk and regular shift, some double shift . kaip played pk the first half of the year and did very well, why not use him more now, in a defencive roll, and and get more milage oue of zajak and staford on the offence. i dont think we re out of this yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxperstar Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Just because someone is kept off the scoresheet doesn't mean they "took the weekend off." Look at the shots and the effort. On one hand you say the goalie is a "game stealer" and on the other you say our top guys "took the weekend off." The other team wants to win too. St. Cloud has an older, physically strong, experienced team who now have coach that has them believing in themselves and in a system. They still only beat us by one goal each night. We do need help on the PP, and I have never seen a team that doesn't have their leading scorer on the first power play. If Stafford and Zajac have offensive chemistry, why would they not play together on the pp all the time even if they need to be on different lines for full strength offensive depth...but that too...if you're losing a game by one goal or just need a goal, why not put your 3 top offensive guys Oshie, Zajac and Stafford together and see what happens...keep swinging...you might land a knockout! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxperstar Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Not sure if you are implying I wasn't at the game or not. If so, I was at the game and as I said the effort was there. When a goalie has a bead on the puck like Goephart did, traffic and rebounds may be the only way you'll beat him. I didn't see him straining to see past an attacker very much. No one said the offense sucked either, but you have to admit that one goal is not going to win a whole lot of games down the stretch. As far as other people needing to step up, that is what I was saying, get a goal here and a goal there from the 3rd and 4th line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mksioux Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I would like to believe this but I am very doubtful. The Sioux have two home series against Michigan Tech and Duluth, neither are TUC so I think we can only hurt ourselves by losing, not sure winning will help much. The two road series are against TUC so it is imperative to get wins. I am thinking they will need to win 3 of 4 to have a good shot at the tourney. If they only get two then they will almost have to sweep the first round WCHA games which should be against a TUC. To start winning more pairwise comparisons they need to improve their TUC record and RPI. Playing Tech and Duluth will not help these. Right now playing .500 against TUC might not be good enough to flip enough comparisons. Since the Sioux can only control what they do, they best win 3/4 road and all 4 home...based on current play this may not be realistic. I agree with this analysis. And here are some sobering stats: UND is 2-6-2 in its last 10 games overall against CC. The Sioux have lost their last six games and seven of their last eight games against the Tigers in Colorado Springs. North Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianvf Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 UND is 2-6-2 in its last 10 games overall against CC. The Sioux have lost their last six games and seven of their last eight games against the Tigers in Colorado Springs. North Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farce poobah Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Having the place filled with Gopher and BEMIDJI STATE fans will be more depressing than if it were empty. As of 11pm central time Jan 31, 2006, its actually gotten worse. [primal scream] USCHO's brackets put Minnesota, Michigan, AND St Cloud in Grand Forks, along with Mercyhurst. Let me die and go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks. [primal scream] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinyTimmay Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Yep, that's what I saw. You nailed it. The Sioux are having a hard time getting out of their own end cleanly and getting through the neutral zone with speed. I had high hopes for the PP earlier in the year. Lee looks like he has zero confidence at the point right now--he needed to be taken off that top unit. [/ I was thinking the same thing the other night. Lee doesn't seem to be the best fit for the PP point right now. It seems that most of his shots from up top seem to get deflected by that first guy, or he has to hesitate for a brief second when receiving the puck, instead of ripping off a one-timer. I'm sure this is all signs of being a young true freshman playing in the toughest conference in college hockey. I know when I watched this kid in highschool, he ran the point to perfection. I think he may be more confident in putting that first move on, skating in and either dishing it off or floating a wrister in, which works in highschool, but not so much in the WCHA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 So what is the right PP mix right now? Earlier this year, when it seemed like the Sioux PP had a chance to be as good as we've seen in many years, it was Zajac, Stafford, Toews with Lee and Spirko at the points. Now that Lee's effectiveness seems to have declined, do you simply replace him with Chorney? But that would keep Oshie off the top unit, which doesn't make much sense. In fact, with five elite offensive talents at forward -- Zajac, Stafford, Spirko, Toews and Oshie -- how do you keep any of them off the first unit? Zajac's probably the team's best forward, Stafford the top scorer, Spirko perfect for the PP with great hands and a good shot, Toews just the passage of time (and not much of it) away from being the team's best offensive player, and Oshie Mr. Everything. But the risk in going with five forwards seems too large to me. On a related note, this seems like the second consecutive year Lee has returned from the WJC not the same player he was when he left. Last year (not my observations, but my recollections from other reports), his game had changed, and he took a lot more penalties after his return. This year, whether it's physical or mental fatigue, or a confidence issue, he doesn't seem as effective as he had been in the first half of the year. His ability to play at the Division 1 level right out of the gate last Fall was a huge boost to the team, and a big surprise to me, but they need a return to form by Lee to go on the run they now need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Now that Lee's effectiveness seems to have declined, do you simply replace him with Chorney? But that would keep Oshie off the top unit, which doesn't make much sense. In fact, with five elite offensive talents at forward -- Zajac, Stafford, Spirko, Toews and Oshie -- how do you keep any of them off the first unit? What a great problem to have. If you can find enough other pieces to complement this you should have 2 capable units, which will REALLY increase your overall PP success %. Obviously that's not happening for the Sioux right now, but it's a better position than we've been in for a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 On a related note, this seems like the second consecutive year Lee has returned from the WJC not the same player he was when he left. Last year (not my observations, but my recollections from other reports), his game had changed, and he took a lot more penalties after his return. This year, whether it's physical or mental fatigue, or a confidence issue, he doesn't seem as effective as he had been in the first half of the year. His ability to play at the Division 1 level right out of the gate last Fall was a huge boost to the team, and a big surprise to me, but they need a return to form by Lee to go on the run they now need. The WJC is hard on the primary defensemen. Hagemo and Goligoski were shadows of themselves after returning from the '05 tourney. Hagemo was obviously playing hurt and Goligoski seemed to struggle defensively. If Chorney is holding up well that is a real testiment to him. He and Lee logged a ton of ice in some extremely physical games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIOUXELEVENS Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Whats really depressing is St. Cloud would take our spot in the regionals according to the brackets on USCHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rochsioux Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Currently the Sioux are winning 14 comparisons and losing 16. Here are the 16 they are losing (each col. is opp/Sioux): TEAM RPI TUC COP H2H TOTAL Wisconsin .6005/.5413 10-5-2/6-9-1 9-5-1/8-9-0 2/0 5/0 Minnesota .5906/.5413 7-4-3/5-8-1 8-4-3/7-8-0 3/1 6/1 Miami .5873/.5413 15-3-4/5-11-1 0-0-0/0-0-0 0/1 2/1 BC .5578/.5413 8-5-1/6-11-1 3-1-1/4-1-1 0/0 2/1 BU .5501/.5413 8-5-2/6-11-1 2-1-1/5-2-1 0/0 2/1 CC .5493/.5413 8-8-1/6-11-1 10-8-1/10-11-1 0/0 3/0 Michigan .5469/.5413 10-9-3/6-11-1 1-5-3/4-6-0 0/0 2/1 Providence .5486/.5413 7-7-1/6-11-1 2-0-0/3-0-1 0/0 3/0 Ferris State .5417/.5413 6-9-6/6-11-1 3-4-1/5-2-1 0/0 2/1 Mich. State .5357/.5413 9-9-6/6-10-1 1-1-1/3-5-0 1/0 3/1 St.Cloud .5336/.5413 4-6-2/5-8-1 6-5-1/7-7-0 3/1 5/2 Harvard .5254/.5413 5-3-1/5-10-1 1-0-0/1-0-1 1/1 3/2 St. Lawrence .5449/.5413 5-8-1/6-11-1 1-3-1/3-3-1 0/0 2/1 Denver .5295/.5413 6-6-1/5-10-1 10-4-2/9-9-0 1/1 3/2 Northern Mich. .5170/.5413 10-11-0/6-11-1 4-5-0/4-6-0 0/0 2/1 Alaska-Fair. .5135/.5413 7-11-4/6-11-1 4-4-2/2-5-0 0/0 2/1 A given is that they can't lose any more comparisons. They will probably need to win at least 18-20 comparisons, so they need to flip 4-6 of these. I don't think they have any chance to flip Wisconsin, Minnesota, Miami, BC, and Harvard. TUC would have to drastically change to flip the Harvard one. Also, the Providence comparsion will be difficult to change. They will need to sweep CC to have a chance to flip this one. They will probably have to sweep Denver to flip that comparison. Obviously sweeping both would dramatically improve their chances. Even though we lost 3 of 4 to St. Cloud we can flip that comparison but have to improve both TUC and COP. Since all games left are in conference all games will count in the comparison with SCSU. Also, 1st round WCHA could see them matchup again. There are seven other teams we are losing to by one comparision point. A sweep of Mich Tech could flip the Northern Michigan comparison. They probably need Miami to sweep Mich.State to flip that one. They need to improve the RPI to flip Michigan, BU, Ferris St. They need to improve RPI or TUC to beat St. Lawrence. They need to improve TUC to beat Fairbanks. So, five of these seven comparisons are highly dependent on the CC and Denver games. While there are way too many permutations to be sure of anything, it looks to me that just splitting with CC and with Denver might not be enough. That would make at least nine comparisons that would probably be set against them. I suspect it will also make it difficult to win many of the remaining ones since the two home series left will not help RPI or TUC. They would then need to make up ground in the WCHA playoffs. Anything less then splitting the CC and Denver series would probably leave them out of the NCAA tourney unless they win the WCHA tourney. The playoff drive must start this weekend. If it were up to me I think I would play Jordan on Friday and hope to get a run started like last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 That's a great chart, thanks for posting it. You have it pretty well nailed. A few things I could add are that Harvard could play Northeastern in the Beanpot. If NE pulled off the monumental upset, that comparison would flip. Also, the Providence comparison needs RPI, which could happen as Providence has some of the lesser HE teams on its schedule, so its RPI will likely decline. UND will also need Providence to lose once to UNH to flip the COP. These are such trivial little things, though, compared to the need for UND to just win games, especially in the state of Colorado. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 The playoff drive must start this weekend. If it were up to me I think I would play Jordan on Friday and hope to get a run started like last year. Thanks for the run down. I'll just worry about wins from here on out. I agree, I think Hak has to run with Parise right now. I am a Lammy fan, so this is no knock against Lammy, but Woog said that he asked Hak if the team plays differently in front of Parise than in front of Lammy and the response was a clear "yes". Lammy has done a very good job of late, IMO, but if the team seems to play better in front of Parise for any reason, then we need to ride that wave as far as it will go. Again, I think Lammy is just as capable, but if there's some affect on how the team is responding, that's the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnt Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Let's not forget, that the Sioux will likely have another shot at St. Cloud, either here or there. If not St. Cloud, it could likely be Colorado College. Either way, there is likely to be some nice pairwise points in either circumstance. Bottom line is the Sioux need to take care of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.