crosby_87 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Matt Smaby announced today he won't be coming back. He signed with the Lightning, and will report to them this summer. He wants to finish out the semester at UND. Good luck Matt! You were a great captain! Link: Smaby Signs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Congratulations to Matt. Always hard to see someone go, but it's no surprise. I'm glad just to get it out of the way and end any speculation. The hardest ones are those that linger until late in the summer. Matt had an outstanding year, and appears to have provided great leadership to help bring a young team a long ways. He's been an outstanding player for our team, and he's got my thanks for staying with the Fighting Sioux one more year. Good luck, Matt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboarding_crazed Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Another expected early departure, Smaby is now on his way to the next level of hockey, the National Hockey League. Here's to hoping he has many years of success up in the NHL! Congratulations Smaby, great to see you moving on to the best stage of sports, the highest level of hockey!! Thanks for the memories here at UND the past three seasons, we all had a lot of fun watching you pulverize opponents and the goals you did score were memorable too. Good luck in the Tampa organization, I hope to see you battling against David Hale, Travis Zajac, Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise and the rest of the former Sioux up in the big leagues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Congrats to Matt and good luck to him in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyMom Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Good luck, Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux-cia Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I KNEW IT!!!! You just can't believe those Matts when they tell you they're gonna be here for another year!! Good luck, big guy. We'll be watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7>4 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Congrats to Smaby. A top notch hockey player and a class act all the way. This is turning into a pretty dim Thursday. Based upon the time of year, any chance that we see either Zajac or Smaby "resurrected" back into the program come Monday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Bye Big Matt! Take care in the big show! He's a classy guy with one heck of a classy family too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Rat Fink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 They keep breaking our hearts. That two of the three we expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X2theZ Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Matt Smaby announced today he won't be coming back. He signed with the Lightning, and will report to them this summer. He wants to finish out the semester at UND. Good luck Matt! You were a great captain! Link: Smaby Signs I'm sad to say this but I would be surprised if he is in the NHL at anytime during the next three seasons, You have to remember it's a different game now with the new rules gone are the days of clutch and grab there is much more emphasis on skill... I think a few years in the AHL will help him with his footspeed and ice vision...I hope I am wrong and he gets in right a way but I just can't see it happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stafford_rules Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I'm sad to say this but I would be surprised if he is in the NHL at anytime during the next three seasons, You have to remember it's a different game now with the new rules gone are the days of clutch and grab there is much more emphasis on skill... I think a few years in the AHL will help him with his footspeed and ice vision...I hope I am wrong and he gets in right a way but I just can't see it happening. Well, as sad as I am( ), I wish him the best of luck. So I guess Kaip's our new enforcer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I'm sad to say this but I would be surprised if he is in the NHL at anytime during the next three seasons, You have to remember it's a different game now with the new rules gone are the days of clutch and grab there is much more emphasis on skill... I think a few years in the AHL will help him with his footspeed and ice vision...I hope I am wrong and he gets in right a way but I just can't see it happening. I think you will be mistaken. Oh, I do believe he will spend some time in the AHL and some more time after that bouncing up and down. But I have no doubt that he'll be an NHL regular. He's got good skating skills for a guy his size. A decent (though not breathtaking) offensive upside, and is extremely reliable in his own end. I don't see how the rule changes will hinder Smaby at all. Just because they favor forwards doesn't mean that a team can't use physical defensemen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I'm sad to say this but I would be surprised if he is in the NHL at anytime during the next three seasons, You have to remember it's a different game now with the new rules gone are the days of clutch and grab there is much more emphasis on skill... You have to remember that last season, someone in the Tampa Bay organization said the Smaby was wasting his time playing college hockey because of the emphasis on getting rid of the clutch and grab. I think Smaby's more ready for the NHL than Greene was at this time last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianvf Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 So I guess Kaip's our new enforcer? His name is Finley. Joe Finley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stafford_rules Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 His name is Finley. Joe Finley. oh yeah right. im not a big fan of him myself, but i have faith that he will becaome a bit more PHYSICAL! thats what we are in need of as of TODAY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yzerman19 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Wasn't it Radke who fed that MSU player? He has my vote for enforcer. I'd prefer if Finley went pro to make room for Genoway. I stated that on another post as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyMom Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Wasn't it Radke who fed that MSU player? He has my vote for enforcer. I'd prefer if Finley went pro to make room for Genoway. I stated that on another post as well. Radke made Cummings run for the protection of the penalty box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runninwiththedogs Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Congratulations, Matt! Thanks for sticking around another year, and thanks for all the awesome hits!!!! (P.S. I know you're better than Jay Rosehill.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Unbelievable comments about Finley. My personal opinion is some people will be eating their words next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roper1313 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Unbelievable comments about Finley. My personal opinion is some people will be eating their words next year. These are the exact same comments that we heard after Greene's and Smaby's freshman year. IMO Finley progressed better than those two during his freshman year. I didn't notice him much during the year, which is a good thing for a big, young stay-at-home defenseman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxrube Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I'm sad to say this but I would be surprised if he is in the NHL at anytime during the next three seasons, You have to remember it's a different game now with the new rules gone are the days of clutch and grab there is much more emphasis on skill... I think a few years in the AHL will help him with his footspeed and ice vision...I hope I am wrong and he gets in right a way but I just can't see it happening. I do wish matt well in his future, but he is not ready for the nhl. does anyone remember the bc game? if any scouts were at that game they could see he is definately not ready for the jump. he can hit as good as anybody but thats about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denversioux Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Unbelievable comments about Finley. My personal opinion is some people will be eating their words next year. Agreed 100%. When I look back at our past 'big'' defensmen (Commodore, Greene, and even Smaby), I felt they all looked a little awkward out on the ice their freshman year. Come one summer of weights and drills and they were almost men among boys the rest of the way. I believe Finley will be a similar situation. He's gonna be good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxnami Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 First, On Topic, Congrats Matt you made the right choice, it just hurts us fans. Second, Off Topic, Lay off Finley, he is exceeding all reasonable expectations. I may be mistaken, but I think this should have been his High School Senior Year. Regardless, all freshman make mistakes, and he will me next in the line of great Sioux Defenders... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Unbelievable comments about Finley. My personal opinion is some people will be eating their words next year. My thoughts exactly (though not unpredictably). Finley has been sound during the second half. Yeah, he's not as physical as we'd all like but he's hardly a disappointment. I'm loving that there are people here who would rather Finley leave too to make room for an undersized defensemen like Genoway. No offense to Genoway, but for some reason, I don't see Genoway as being a first round draft pick. I mean, hey, there was a reason Finley was drafted in the first round. I'm confident we'll see it now that Hakstol is going to tell him that he's going to have to step it up. Forgot to add that this year he'll be entering his freshman year at UND (Finley will) after all, his classmates were high school seniors last season, but he accelerated and went to college a year early. OH! And did I mention he had a +/- in the positive? If he was a terrible defenseman, I'm pretty sure that would be in the negative. Hmmm... Yeah.... OH WAIT! I forgot! Many Sioux posters were saying "BENCH SMABY!!!!" and "BENCH GREENE!!!!" During their freshmen year, so I think Finley will be a stud. Get rid of Finley so we can have Genoway... SHEESH. Anyways, MATT SMABY: THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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