termie Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Suck it Lucia! The Gophers were outcoached top to bottom in their game Friday against Holy Cross. I'll bet "The Don" won't admit it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farce poobah Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Impressions: 1) I am still shocked at the size of the crowd for game 1 Friday, at the opening drop of the puck there were easily 9000 and maybe 10000 butts in seats. After seeing Green Bay's arena empty out for game 2 yesterday, and all the empty seats out east, its arguably true that Grand Forks has the best fans in all of college hockey. 2) Maybe instead of having a student section we should do like this weekend and spread them out; their enthusiasm was contagious. And maybe instead of beer we should encourage consumption of caffeinated, sugared beverages. 3) Seriously, this was an electric atmosphere all weekend long. Remarkable. I'm trying to compare it to anything I've experienced, and really I'd go back to 1980 Sioux hockey games, again the night the Sioux clinched the WCHA vs Michigan State. Otherwise, for sustained noise, the closest is the 1987 World Series. 4) As to the play ON the ice, we DID hit the body last night, especially in the first period and the first 10 minutes of the 3rd. SMABY! ROCKS! He delivered several crunching hits. Kozek a couple times, Prpich, even Duncan. Holy Cross hung in there, but the couple times they tried to check Finley were just funny... guys bouncing off him landing on the ice while he looks down as if to say "don't hurt yourself little buddy". Anyway, playing physical was important to the outcome. 5) Toews-Duncan-Stafford were just terrific. Duncan is such a perfect complement to those two; I've said it before but he reminds me of David Hoogsteen with the great hands, terrific quickness, and vision of the ice. Toews is getting better all the time, and right now he's playing like its next month. 6) Oshie-Zajac-Spirko were also, and I'm with PCM in appreciating Zajac's work on PK this weekend - for all his time on the PK, he wasn't on the ice for ANY opponent goals this weekend. I like how Zajac saves his best faceoff moves for in-zone draws ... would like to see his record on defensive circle, where its gotta be up near 75%; he is just plain amazing. Oshie fights through checks with such incredible tenacity it is just a joy to watch; seems like every game someone tries to hit him open ice and gets flattened, last night it happened at least twice. 7) All the TV timeouts during playoff season really do affect the flow of the game and give coaches the choice of playing a much shorter bench. In St Paul, I think that worked to UND's favor; last night I think it helped HC. At this point, I'll take our top 3 forward lines and top 4 D against anyone in the nation. 8) The weakest part of UND's game at this point is what we all knew it would be - inexperience on D. The guys have come a long LONG way since November, and for the most part play really well most of the time. Michigan's speed and skill were a true test, and except for a couple misplays we were really solid. Early in the year, the first pass was often to an opponent, these last couple weekends, its almost always the right play. 9) JPar was outstanding again and could have been the MOP this weekend too. Pretty rare that he's had to make two or three saves in one sequence; also rare that an opponent can make the cross-ice pass that forces the big lateral move. He's on the verge of getting the first NCAA title ring in the Parise household, and I'm sure little brother will hear about it if it happens. I liked his comment in the Herald today about how "early in the season we were getting along well off-ice but weren't getting it done on-ice"; the chemistry seems right on this team. 10) After everyone else had left the ice last night, Prpich saluted the crowd and got one last loud roar. He's played with an edge and is definitely getting inside opponent's heads (Robbie Earl as much as said it after last Friday's WCHA game) while not taking the bad penalty. Just terrific. It's been a grueling stretch for this young team, and getting 10 days to prepare is, I think, a help for UND more than teams like Wisconsin or other veteran-heavy teams. 7 games in 16 days is a bunch of hockey. I think the playoff sequence needs to be tweaked but that's topic for the offseason. Last, and least, I get to go back to work in the Twin Cities Monday and talk trash to all my brown-and-yellow colleagues. Can't wait. It doesn't get more fun that this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertrex Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I've had FF tickets for months so watching the Sioux will be sweet. Did anyone else notice that Stafford seemed to be skating with difficulty tonight (last night)? He just seemed a bit slow on the puck...maybe it's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 The Gophers were outcoached top to bottom in their game Friday against Holy Cross. I'll bet "The Don" won't admit it though. Could you expand? It seems like the Gophers got beat in a pretty straight up fashion. Sometimes it's hard for the coach to prevent the players from taking stupid penalties and how the coach is responsible for the PP going oh-for-seven I'm not sure about either. Lucia in my opinion deserves some heat for some things, he certainly got credit during the championship runs. However, to blame him for the Gophers loss takes away from the effort the Holy Cross guys put out. Of course if Lucia could have reminded the guys before the third period to skate hard until they hear a whistle. As it turns out, that would have been clutch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Yeah_Yeah Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I didn't know where else to put this.... so I'll just post it here. Go Sioux!! A note from Tony Quesada (the Holy Cross goalie): Leah, you and all of the sioux fans are such a class act. Friday night was the best experience of my life and i will always remember how you treated us all weekend. Thanks for making this trip memorable. Good luck at the frozen four t quesada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux87 Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Could you expand? It seems like the Gophers got beat in a pretty straight up fashion. Sometimes it's hard for the coach to prevent the players from taking stupid penalties and how the coach is responsible for the PP going oh-for-seven I'm not sure about either. Lucia in my opinion deserves some heat for some things, he certainly got credit during the championship runs. However, to blame him for the Gophers loss takes away from the effort the Holy Cross guys put out. Of course if Lucia could have reminded the guys before the third period to skate hard until they hear a whistle. As it turns out, that would have been clutch. I think you are absolutly right the third goal to tie it up, was pretty much the whole game. Although it did seem that Holy Cross wanted it more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosby_87 Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I didn't know where else to put this.... so I'll just post it here. Go Sioux!! A note from Tony Quesada (the Holy Cross goalie): Leah, you and all of the sioux fans are such a class act. Friday night was the best experience of my life and i will always remember how you treated us all weekend. Thanks for making this trip memorable. Good luck at the frozen four t quesada Wow that's amazing. Did he send this to you personally? Because if so, thank him and his teammates for being a class act and for giving 110% all weekend, and for making a memorable night for every single fan who saw that game. Unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Last night I was with some friends at the East Side Applebee's. A couple of Holy Cross players came in, so our table bought their drinks. As the bar was closing they came up and thanked us. We thanked them for their hard work and for beating the Gophers. They only had one request. "Next time you guy's play Minnesota, chant HOLY CROSS!" I will forever be a Holy Cross fan. Unless they are playing the Sioux. I couldn't even bring myself to sieve their goalie and I actually clapped for them during warm-ups. What kind of fan am I becoming!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farce poobah Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Last night I was with some friends at the East Side Applebee's. A couple of Holy Cross players came in, so our table bought their drinks. As the bar was closing they came up and thanked us. We thanked them for their hard work and for beating the Gophers. They only had one request. "Next time you guy's play Minnesota, chant HOLY CROSS!" I will forever be a Holy Cross fan. Unless they are playing the Sioux. I couldn't even bring myself to sieve their goalie and I actually clapped for them during warm-ups. What kind of fan am I becoming!?! I had the same reaction you did. We weren't alone, however. I've been to at least 200 Sioux games in GF and have never before heard more applause, or ever so few boos for an opponent. I definitely have to go back thru the class on being hostile and abusive ... I'm losing my touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I had the same reaction you did. We weren't alone, however. I've been to at least 200 Sioux games in GF and have never before heard more applause, or ever so few boos for an opponent. I definitely have to go back thru the class on being hostile and abusive ... I'm losing my touch. I think all us fans were really hoping for a congratulations announcement or something towards Holy Cross after the game. I really wanted to cheer for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyMom Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Last night I was with some friends at the East Side Applebee's. A couple of Holy Cross players came in, so our table bought their drinks. As the bar was closing they came up and thanked us. We thanked them for their hard work and for beating the Gophers. They only had one request. "Next time you guy's play Minnesota, chant HOLY CROSS!" I will forever be a Holy Cross fan. Unless they are playing the Sioux. I couldn't even bring myself to sieve their goalie and I actually clapped for them during warm-ups. What kind of fan am I becoming!?! I was impressed the way that Sioux fans showed Holy Cross respect after the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
termie Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Could you expand? It seems like the Gophers got beat in a pretty straight up fashion. Sometimes it's hard for the coach to prevent the players from taking stupid penalties and how the coach is responsible for the PP going oh-for-seven I'm not sure about either. Lucia in my opinion deserves some heat for some things, he certainly got credit during the championship runs. However, to blame him for the Gophers loss takes away from the effort the Holy Cross guys put out. Of course if Lucia could have reminded the guys before the third period to skate hard until they hear a whistle. As it turns out, that would have been clutch. Holy Cross had the gameplan in place to beat a team with superior players. What is that but good coaching. Holy Cross's 3rd goal may be blamed on the players giving up. However the rest of that was their superior coaching and game plan. I don't take away a thing from Holy Cross's effort. They played hard and they played smart. (Their one mistake was letting Kessel on a breakaway out off the penalty box.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stafford_rules Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I was impressed the way that Sioux fans showed Holy Cross respect after the win. after hearing that, i will always be a Holy Cross fan. they have won my respect, and i hope they have won everyone else's too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
termie Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 So I'm thinking for next year that there may be a few Holy Cross jersey's in the stands against the goophs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux-cia Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 So I'm thinking for next year that there may be a few Holy Cross jersey's in the stands against the goophs. I couldn't wear another team's jersey to any game the Sioux played in but I will definitely consider wearing one of their hats or helmuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farce poobah Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I couldn't wear another team's jersey to any game the Sioux played in but I will definitely consider wearing one of their hats or helmuts. My daughter is wearing a homemade Holy Cross T-shirt to school tomorrow, here in the Twin Cities. Pray for her survival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 My daughter is wearing a homemade Holy Cross T-shirt to school tomorrow, here in the Twin Cities. Pray for her survival. LOL...I stopped for gas in Sauk Rapids while on my way back to Bloomington late this afternoon and the kid behind the counter saw my jacket and said "hey, GO SIOUX!." Pretty funny. Apparently his dad was so irate over FSN not showing the game yesterday that he drove to GF to purchase a ticket and see it in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigGreyAnt41 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 So I'm thinking for next year that there may be a few Holy Cross jersey's in the stands against the goophs. I've looked all over and wasn't able to find anywhere to buy a Holy Cross jersey. With the relative lack of popularity for their hockey program, it doesn't really surprise me that they don't make them. I'd venture a guess that there are more Holy Cross hockey fans out this way than there are in Worcester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I've looked all over and wasn't able to find anywhere to buy a Holy Cross jersey. With the relative lack of popularity for their hockey program, it doesn't really surprise me that they don't make them. I'd venture a guess that there are more Holy Cross hockey fans out this way than there are in Worcester. I cheered as loudly at the Crusader game-winner as I have at ANY Sioux game. Unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Yeah_Yeah Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Wow that's amazing. Did he send this to you personally? Because if so, thank him and his teammates for being a class act and for giving 110% all weekend, and for making a memorable night for every single fan who saw that game. Unbelievable. Haha yeah.... Facebook and instant messaging are wonderful things LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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