Recruiting goalies from club teams

[jimdahl]

I don't think UND can blame goaltending alone for just being a mediocre team.  I suspect that the Sioux will find themselves sorely disappointed that bringing a club goalie up to D-1 doesn't turn the team around.

http://216.221.101.55:591/daily....1&-Find

[Doc Nodak]

This is...very...surreal...

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Blais won't accept the status quo. I hope he is able to balance the sense of urgency against the need of some of the young players for stability.

[dagies]

This may be one of those "messages" sent to the rest of the team.

I also have some concerns about how effective this is going to be.  I mean, really, how good can this guy be and if he is that good, why didn't another college woo him before the season began.

But maybe, this is Dean's way of telling everyone on the team that he is not afraid to drop them in the pecking order if they don't get their act straight.  Or drop them from the roster.

[Goon]

Does that Mean Sofie is gone? I would think so. Most of us from the stands can play as well as he did last weekend...

[ScottM]

Oh boy ... if Blais wants to send a message, this is one way to do it.  I speculated in emails to a few people that he would probably review/trim the roster over break, but it seems like he's started earlier.  Blais has never been one to put up with non-performers and prima donnas.  I remember when he benched Landon Wilson after taking over for Gino.  

Blais has had an eye for picking diamonds out of the rough, but this is pretty extreme.  But I'll give the kid some slack and see what he can do.

If this doesn't get the team's attention, and hopefully inspire them to play up to their potential, maybe some of them should inquire about transferring to DIII schools.

[dagies]

I too, will give the guy a chance.  It is not his problem, what he is walking into to.  It's gotta be a tough position for him to fill.  I wonder how the other goalies on the team will treat him.  It could be rough for him.

[ScottM]

Well, I can't speak for the goalies' treatment of the new kid, but I have no qualms about Blais trying something to get this team on track before March.  I would suspect one of the goalies will be cut/asked to leave and perhaps a forward or two before too long.  

Blais often gets criticized by other fans for not keeping deadwood around for 3-4 years, but I'd rather he cull the slackers than having them drag everybody else down to their level.  If this is the start, let's get it over with.

[jimdahl]

Oh, I'm all for giving the kid a chance.  He could easily be better than any of UND's goaltenders (I'm sure many of you remember how bad I thought UND's goalies looked at the very beginning of the season).

I'm just saying that I think UND's problems go well beyond goaltending.  Bad goaltending doesn't lead to a shutout.  Bad goaltending can lead to you losing 4-6, not 0-6.

Of course, a change between the pipes can have a very inspirational effect on the rest of the time (like changing QBs).  It could be a catalyst to get other players to play up to their potentials, as many here have speculated.

[forecheck]

Well, on the coaches show tonight Blais said that he was 'looking' at the goalie from Minot State, and watching former player Hasbargen and Ranfrantz play.  He mentioned that the Minot goalie would be eligible starting next semester, but he almost sounded like he wasn't bringing a new goalie in for sure.  Also, he said that Kollar is going to have an eye checkup, and that they turned all the lights on in the arena this week and had some guys flip pucks into the air.  He said there is a bit of a glare from the lights so that you lose sight of the puck.  Interesting bit of information.  He wasn't blaming the lights on the fluke goal Saturday night, but it could have been a factor.

[Goon]

Sounds like Brandt might get a chance to play this weekend. That would be a good start.

Blais sounded like he is down on his team. I almost take it as he has put his team on notice and that they have a long ways to go until the team is at the level of play that he expects.

[dagies]

Forecheck, that is very interesting information about the lights.  I wonder what we can do about that.  Maybe have the team practice lofting 60 foot mortars at the opposing goalie to see if we can also make them look silly too! :biggrin:

Speaking of turning on all the lights...I think I saw a comment in the paper a couple weeks ago.  I think maybe Andy said it.  Anyway, the comment was that it was still taking some getting used to playing in the new arena.  With so much stuff going on in the arena it was still distracting.

I wonder if Blais would consider running practices under game conditions, i.e. stuff running on the video boards, replay screens, all the lights on during games, etc. I wonder if that might help the team acclimate.

I'm pulling for Andy.  Andy has done a great job for this program in the past few years.  He's had a tough year, and I was one person who was concerned if he could be "the guy".  But I was pulling for him and I still am.   I don't like to see anyone struggling like he has at times, and hope he can come on for the Sioux.

I also would like to see Brandt get some playing time.

I am curious about Blais' comments vs. the article in the Minot paper.  There seems to be a little discrepancy there.

Also wondering if Hasbargen would be looked at on D?  Or just a good hardworking F to light the team up a little.  ####, bring back O'leary, Hasbargen and Fylling for that 4th line if there aren't enough hard workers on this team.

[ScottM]

I noted after the HoF loss that Andy seemed to lose sight of the puck at critical times, even with that slo-mo shot from the other end of the rink.  Not sure if the lighting is a factor, but if the sightlines from the suites/student standing is any indication, I'd bet the design firm had little clue about how to set up lighting for a hockey rink.

That said, I think the team's overall lack of motivation and p!ss-poor attitude has more to do with its current funk than lights, eye problems or too much/too little noise.

[Wantagh]

I'm with dagies, practice under game conditions.  I also agree with standing behind Andy.  he deserves the support regardless of what has happened this year.  If we stay on him for the rest of the year it may lead to some bad games.  I also agree with getting Brandt more playing time.  He's a confident goalie.  I just think that it should be the rotation Brandt one night and Kollar the next or something.  

I'm all for giving this new guy a shot but I don't think it will help much with out the defensive work that needs to be done.

[leifolson]

I'm not sure I'm ready to believe that the lighting has much to do with anything.  Lights may make a goalie lose sight of a puck that has been lofted 60 feet into the air, but they sure as #### are not going to make a bunch of pretty fast forwards and d-men slog around like a bunch of frat boys in a vodka-jello filled swimming pool.  There's something quite a bit more wrong from a fundementals standpoint with the team right now.  I have no doubt that there is much more to it than bright lights and flashing video screens.

[dagies]

While I still think there might be some benefit to practicing under game facility conditions, ScottM and leifolson are correct.  We can't get caught up in those types of details and think they are the main problem.

For some reason the team did not play intense last weekend.

[Heidisioux]

While goaltending has been a major problem this year and we have been insanely spoiled for at least 5 or more years as far as goaltenders go - even when the starter was having problems or out there was somebody to pick up the slack (case in point - Andy during the

[dagies]

In today's Herald Blais said there appeared to be real good effort and attitude on the team right now, and that he is getting good leadership.  

He really pointed to goaltending being the problem.  This is different than what he said after the the games last weekend.

I hope he is right, but I wonder also if he isn't being awfully hard on Andy.   Who knows what conversations they have had behind the scenes, so that could play into it.

[Snake]

We can't forget that Andy is supposed to be a leader of this team also.  Being down 2-0 after 2 somewhat harmless shots puts a lot of pressure on the players to try and get back into the game.  They start to grip the stick a little harder, etc.  It didn' t show much leadership when Andy pulled himself from the game, but I guess I don't know the whole story behind that incident.  The team was obviously working harder that night and it probably let them down a bit.

I don't believe the BS about the new arena being a distraction.  He and KG didn't seem to have a problem at the Xcel Energy Center last year which is very similar to the Ralph.  It just boils down to concentration and focus.  Andy seems to lose his at times.

All in all I hope Andy finds a way to put it together for the rest of the year.  He's definitely going to need improved play from the team in front of him since hockey is, after all, a team sport.