dickgraham Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 I think we have to keep in mind that this is basically a junior college hockey team. With the exception of a couple of juniors and 3 seniors this years team is all freshman and sophomores. They played like it Saturday night. A veteran team would not have been sucked in by Tech's lousy performance Friday night and would have been ready for Saturday, but this years team showed their youth and lack of maturity with the Saturday effort. DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 I think I can remember back to Friday now and post a few other observations from a non-expert fan: On Friday, Parise had the best game I've seen him have (I haven't seen as many games as most of you have), and not because he scored twice. In the third period, he made three really beautiful passes to the "extra" guy for scoring chances. None of them went in, but they were Roche, Panzer, Hrkac vision passes, that really catch the defense and goaltenders off-guard. One of them was to Schneider cruising down from the blueline, and it got me thinking about the freshman adjustment factor and one distortion of it this year. In addition to Zach having to adjust to the NCAA, his teammates are still learning how to play with him. Now, when Schneider sees Zach head to the corner in pursuit of a loose puck, he sees an opening down the middle and heads for it, guessing that Zach will not only win the puck in the corner but get it to him. Earlier this year, I don't think he would have done it. I also noticed this weekend that Zach, while quicker than heck in short races to the puck, does not yet have the breakaway speed up and down the rink. Knowing his reputation for hard work, I'm guessing he'll get faster as his career progresses. Although he had a few gaffes on Saturday, Schneider really is turning into a fine, fine player. He seems more aggressive offensively all the time, is tough to beat defensively, and still lays the smack down all the time. I love it when an opponent's offensive rush ends with the puck carrier getting intimate with the glass on the side boards. Speaking of which, Matt Jones absolutely demolished two Huskies right in front of me, about ten seconds apart, in the second period Saturday. They were clean bodychecks that should be in the video dictionary next to the term. Spee had more blinding speed rushes this weekend, and Notes pulled another spin-o-rama in the offensive zone. People love to look ahead to national contending teams for the next few years, but this team is going to miss those guys next year. If Ryan Hale could only finish... He didn't do much Saturday, but Prpich showed again on Friday that he has a real presence on the ice and could be a special player. While his line was cycling relentlessly on Friday, Prpich seemed to take it upon himself to GO TO THE NET with the puck, several times. He got several good shots off, but didn't score. It reminded me of, of all things, Tyler Hirsch last year in a SSM game. The Parise line was dominating possession in the zone with precision passing, and a few times Hirsch just seemed to say, "screw this pretty stuff, I'm goin' to the net." Not that Prpich needs to aspire to be Tyler Hirsch, it was just deja vu for me. How about Connelly's move from the blue line to the net in Saturday's first period? It was like he was doing a skating drill around cones. If only he could have finished! Does Fylling idolize Bochenski? I feel like he sometimes shoots when he should pass. He's a good passer, but at least once a game I think, "shoulda passed." I don't want to take anyone out of the lineup to get him back in there, but I think the team needs Canady back to shake things up a bit. Who knows what a big hit could have done to the momentum of Saturday's game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 getting out my shield....there...it is in place....now I await the rocks.... So what happened to your boys? Now it will that much easier for the Gophs to secure second place by the end of the season! Second place will be a fight between our teams I believe, the Mavs and JBSU will be fighting for fourth place. Did your boys get outplayed, out lucked, or out reffed? Now I will go hide behind said shield...remember dagies invited us over! WPoS I didn't "invite you over" lest anyone think I went on Parise on Ice and suggested you come post. Never happened. I will agree I welcomed goofer fans to post on our board. I do find it interesting, WPoS that you rag on fans of other teams posting similar stuff on Parise on Ice yet you find it acceptable to act that way on our board. Still, I think we just got outplayed and out-efforted on Sat. Sad game for the home town boys and I hope this is a character building exp. Now, to address comments about goaltending. Goon, forecheck is trying to make clear there is a difference between being critical of someone's play and attacking them personally. I think most of us on this board have at one time or another been critical of someone's play. But it doesn't mean we don't support them. However, that is different than a personal attack. Forecheck just feels "sievebida" isn't the way she would agree to criticize someone's play, and I agree with her. That doesn't mean we don't agree with you on his play, or lack of performance. That doesn't mean we want to settle for sub-par performance. As for those of you who feel the coaching staff has "forgotten" to recruit good goalies, how can you think that? Tell me how many of those 90-93% save percentage goalies that are out there and how many teams are vying for them at any time. Do you think the Sioux are the only team? I'm as frustrated as you that the Sioux don't have better goaltending this year, and I have concerns for the future as well, but the coaches JOBS are riding on putting a winning team on the ice. Hard to believe they wouldn't be trying to address any weakness they could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 PCM, good comment about Spiewak being the only one talking after the game. What a stand-up guy and I'm glad we have guys like that on the team. I expect a different effort from here on out from this team. I have faith in the leadership on this team. They learned a lesson this weekend too, I believe. Maybe the outcome at Denver won't be different, but I'll be the effort is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clschneids Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 in think the UND coach needs to stop playing head games with the goalies..who is playing when?? The season is coming to an end he should have his goalies by now..brandt has shown he can play, Ranfranz has shown he can play, but dosent get many opportunities to prove him self anymore.Josh saw lil amount of shots friday nite, so now he is a hero??..can you rely on him to have a strong game...we know brandt, ranfranz can play strong, just watch them...concerned sioux fan...lets get the right goalies in net... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickgraham Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 We have 2 goalies who are playing scared, they're afraid to make a mistake, have CB put the hook out and they won't see the light of day for a month. So they are playing tight and anyone who coaches any sport will tell you that playing "tight" will lead to mistakes. Our coaching staff has to decide on their main man in the nets and stick with him. In that light you have to like what Mike Sertich did with his goal tender this weekend. The guy got shelled Friday and Sertich put him right back on the horse Saturday, showing confidence in him and thus telling him "your our main man". We all saw how he responded, the young man had a very nice effort Saturday night. If one of our guys gave up 6-8 goals in one night, he would be lucky to play again in less than a month. Some continuity has to be established, the game of musical goalies is not a confidence builder. DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clschneids Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 exactly the UND coach needs to stop playing games with the goalies or the season wil lend very fast in playoffs!!!!!play the strong good goalies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!enough of this switching, whose in net next...UND needs a good strong goalie, I thin Ranfranz &* Brandt area the stong goalies....!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OETKB Posted February 10, 2003 Author Share Posted February 10, 2003 Well, this was the first game of the year that UND lost when they should have won (on paper). Before Christmas, there was none of that. Right now, it is still possible for the Sioux to turn things around and make a run in the playoffs, but it looks like the WCHA is slipping away. In fact, if the last few weeks are any indication, I'd have trouble expecting more than 4 points out of the next two weeks. Anyway, at least David Hale is expected to return. He was missed in a big way. UND can't win consistently without him. Hope he returns next season. If he does, I think the Sioux steamroll their way to the Frozen Four. As for this season, it will be interesting to see how this team reacts to their 4-4-2 record since the break. Frankly, I think they have underperformed lately. But, heck, it always seems easier when you're not on the ice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedorov Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 1. The shot was perfect. (I still swear I saw it off the glass but there it was in the net.) Josh was fundamentally sound on that one. He was out and had the angle. The shooter found the pipe in the far corner. Josh is the worst goalie for having the right angles. He needs to take a geometry class. If CB just stuck with Brandt, this would have been a much better year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 I agree you want to have the goalie situation straight at this time of year. Blais admitted as much in his comments. Before we go off the deep end, Lucia just alternated his goalies this weekend and said in today's paper I think he may be alternating them now too. So he's late in the year and not set either. It happens, unfortunately, and in the case of MN Weber has been THE guy since November. That said, I think there might be merit to the question on how the decisions of who to play in net and when is playing with the confidence of the goalies. But what do I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejm Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 I hate to seem to be jumping on the "dump on the goalie" bandwagon, but from my vantage point over the goalie's shoulder at ice level in The Ralph, I think the ultimate cause for Saturday's debacle lies between the pipes. The first goal was a ROCKET that wasn't going to be stopped by anyone. Certainly the D-men made HUGE mistakes which allowed Tech to stroll in on Josh and fire away after that. But, it would seem to be really hard to play good D when you're scared to death that any mistake you make is going to result in another goal against. These same D-men (granted they were a year younger) looked timid and tight last year because it seemed no one was behind them trying to stop a puck. Saturday they looked like they had no confidence in Josh's ability to cover up for one of their own mistakes. Mistakes are going to be made in an up-tempo transition game like the Sioux like to play, but the goaltender has to come up big and make a save on these odd-man rushes and breakaways for the Sioux (or any other team) to succeed. Those are the times we all talk about when a hot netminder can carry a team. The offense has scored plenty; the D has pinched or flat-out stood up almost everybody crossing the blue line all year. The D-men made four SAVES Saturday, for crying out loud! They're getting their job done. It's time for one of these guys to make a stand between the pipes. Stand up on his skates and makes some saves when the guys in front of them make a mistake. I don't know if it's Josh or Jake, or maybe even Ranfranz. But its time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 The offense has scored plenty; the D has pinched or flat-out stood up almost everybody crossing the blue line all year. The D-men made four SAVES Saturday, for crying out loud! They're getting their job done. I don't think two goals against a team like MTU is "plenty." Spiewak said after Saturday's game that because forwards didn't score more, they bore as much responsibility for the loss as the defensemen did for making mistakes. As for the defensemen getting the job done, after hearing what Blais had to say about that subject on the radio this morning, I think he'd strongly disagree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejm Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Sorry, I didn't make myself very clear... UNTIL SATURDAY....The offense has scored plenty; the D has pinched or flat-out stood up almost everybody crossing the blue line all year. The D-men made four SAVES Saturday, for crying out loud! They're getting their job done. Yes, nearly everyone on the ice stunk Saturday, but I think a confident, competent goaltender, making a couple BIG saves on those breakaways, would've held the Sioux in the game, and perhaps the homeboys could've snuck out of an off night with at least one point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 UNTIL SATURDAY.... Given the title of the thread and the discussion about goaltending, I assumed we were talking about Saturday's game. Let's back up one game. On Friday, every player did his job. The forwards scored a bunch of goals, the defense played flawlessly and Siembida stopped all the shots he should have because the forwards and defensemen made sure that he didn't have to make any extremely difficult saves. When the Sioux have won this season, that's been the formula that's worked. On Saturday, the forwards scored just two goals and the defense hung Siembida out to dry several times. Somehow, the blame all falls on Siembida. I won't disagree with anyone who says that goaltending is the weakest part of the team. There's no denying it. And that's exactly why team defense is so important. The Sioux haven't won a game this season because one of their goalies stole one for them. If you think the team can win that way, forget it. It's not going to happen and it's unreasonable to expect it. I agree completely with P-J who wrote earlier in this thread: The Sioux can be a dominant defensive team when on their game, and thus make the goaltending situation almost a moot point. Hauser definitely stepped up for the Gophers last year, but it was their team defense that allowed them to win it all (along with some very offensively skilled players). While there may not currently be a Sioux goaltender on par with the Hauser of last season, they have the capability to knock off anyone in the country. In other words, if the Sioux are going to make the playoffs and go anywhere, it's probably going to be in spite of their goaltending, not because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Goon, forecheck is trying to make clear there is a difference between being critical of someone's play and attacking them personally. I think most of us on this board have at one time or another been critical of someone's play. But it doesn't mean we don't support them. However, that is different than a personal attack. Forecheck just feels "sievebida" isn't the way she would agree to criticize someone's play, and I agree with her. Fine whatever, I still think that until Josh starts playing at a better level he is going to have to expect the criticism, wether it be from me or anyone. Second I honestly cringe when I see Blais put him out there again and again when we have a better goalie sitting either in the stand or on the bench. I still for the life of me don't understand why Brandt is not starting he is definately the beter of the two goalies. As far as recruiting goal tenders like the with stats like the ones I posted there shouldn't be any reason why we don't have a tender like that. No excuses. With a top program and a top arena there is no reason why we shouldn't be able to sign one top goalie that can stop .915 to .930... Jake is close but .848 is not even good enough to play for the BSU Beavers. Even they have a goalie that can stop .90 + of the shots taken at him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutter Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 This is starting to sound like a POI thread. We lose a game we were suppose to win and everyone starts blaming. I listened to Sats. game over the internet and was as disgusted as most all of you were. 2 goals against Tech, defensive give aways, and 5 goals on 20 some shots isn't going to get it done. We all know we have the offense and defense and considering what they did the outcome shouldn't come as a surprise. Put it in Brandt, Ranfranz or Siembedia, it really doesn't matter. With Hale back next weekend I look and hope for a much stronger effort. This team is far from done as long as they play as a team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrkac Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Cutter- the Sioux didn't win on Sat. becasue you didn't show your face at Sensor's. Let that be a lesson to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutter Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Cutter- the Sioux didn't win on Sat. becasue you didn't show your face at Sensor's. Let that be a lesson to you. After watching the game there Fri, I took Sat. game for granted and felt listening would be enough. Now that I think about it they haven't lost when I watch the game at Senor's. Anyway I didn't see you there on Fri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Let me paraphrase Tim Hennessy from the radio this morning: Four WCHA league titles, two NCAA titles, but you say he doesn't know how to pick a goalie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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