PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 I attended the Fighting Sioux hockey media day at the Ralph. I spoke with Dave Hakstol, T.J. Oshie, Michael Forney and Chris Porter. I'd hoped to visit with Phil Lamoureux, but by the time he was available, I had to leave. Hakstol also made some comments about UND's lawsuit against the NCAA for my USCHO story. To save time, I'll paraphrase the comments. Dave Hakstol: The team has been on the ice for practice twice so far and will have three more practices by Sunday's exhibition game against Manitoba. Some are saying that with all the early departures from the WCHA, the league won't be as strong. He thinks it will once again be a very strong league on a national level. It will be more wide open than last season when Wisconsin was a favorite from the start. He's happy with the schedule. It's a good mix of conference games and nonconference games Quinnipiac has done a good job of recruiting and will be a good test for us. The first month will be crucial with series at Wisconsin and at home against Maine. We have a new team and new challenges. We have a lot of work to do and there are a lot of things that have to happen. Our character I would rate as ranging from good to great. This team is actually younger than last year's with 18 freshmen and sophomores. Despite that, we have some players with good experience in winning a WCHA league championship, a conference tournament championship and playing in two Frozen Fours. Some people will need to step into roles. Everyone has that opportunity. As far as whether Toews and Oshie will play on the same line, that's an option that he'll try. Nothing is set in stone right now. They will be looking for production from all four lines. Lamoureux is the goalie with the most experience and he feels good about him being the top goalie. Walski had a good off-season and Grieco is good, too, but we're not sure how much we want to rush him. Every year is different. Every year presents new and different challenges. I feel good about the people we have in the locker room. We have a lot of question marks. Lost significant scoring punch, but we have people who can step up and fill those holes. That creates a ton of opportunity for guys to step into new roles. One the blue line, we lost Smaby but we have Robbie Bina back, plus the addition of one young exciting freshman. (That would be Chay Genoway, a player that Hak says the other players are talking about. He thinks that by Christmas, Genoway will be something special to watch.) By the time we get to the stretch run, the defensive corps could be a very solid force for us. There will be a different look to the blue line. We have some great offensive punch and ability, but I think we still have some physical nastiness. We still have the size with a guy like Joe Finley and competitors like Taylor Chorney and Zach Jones and Kyle Radke playing with an edge. We have to get better and come together as a D-corps. I believe they can do that. In goal, there's the opportunity for Lamoureux to step up and into the leadership role. I believe he can do it. I believe he's been ready for quite some time. There's different challenges. We're starting fresh. As long as we understand that we have to put the work in to get the results at the end of the year and develop as a team, we'll be fine. Regarding Erik Fabian, he's been cleared to play, but probably won't see a lot of ice time against Manitoba. Robbie Bina has been ready to play since last spring and could have. He's been playing full contact. Michael Forney - I do feel a little bit of pressure to contribute right away. You always want to be a big contributor to the team. Regarding his injuries, a couple of weeks ago, he started to feel 100 percent again. Not having any problems with his ankle or shoulder. This team has always played well toward the end of the year and he's impressed with the talent and leadership. T.J. Oshie - I think there's a lot of pressure on the sophomore guys. We're all veterans now. We need to set examples and help lead the team. It's puts more pressure on us because we only have three seniors. The year our freshman class had last year, we're pretty excited to be leaders now and take the younger guys under our wings. With all the power that left, it's going to be important for us to establish a lot of different goal scorers this year, but I think we're ready for the challenge. Ryan Duncan was a good scorer and could be in the top two or three this year. I think Chris Porter will have a good year. Hopefully a couple of the freshmen can step up and put up some big numbers for us. Chris Porter - We're young and very skilled. I'm looking for everyone to chip in right away. Our defense is going to be sound and we have two returning goaltenders. I don't see too many weak links in the team. We're working real hard in practice. I worked this summer real hard on the offensive side of the game. I'm going to play the same way I have been, the typical power forward. I'll try to chip in more on offense, but my main focus is to help get the team to a national championship. I'm ready to step into a leadership role. I learned a lot from Matt Smaby last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 I should mention that the center-ice logo has been redesigned a bit to mark the five-year anniversary of the Ralph. And maybe this is something that's been there that I never noticed, but there appears to be a new ring of speakers around the very top level of the arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 I should mention that the center-ice logo has been redesigned a bit to mark the five-year anniversary of the Ralph. And maybe this is something that's been there that I never noticed, but there appears to be a new ring of speakers around the very top level of the arena. the speakers will make a huge difference throughout the arena, it can only get better so thats great to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiSioux Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 I saw the "new" logo when we had Student Ticket Orientation today (hahaha!) and it definatly catches attention. It's the first thing I noticed when we sat down in the arena... more green. I like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMT Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Story on Michael Forney from the In-Forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trunk Monkey Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Great to have PCM doing a recap - I have goose-bumps at the thought of Fighting Sioux Hockey in just 3 days. Thanks PCM and I look forward to your analysis throughout the year! GO SIOUX! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxnami Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Thanks PCM, nice summary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfah1 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Thanks for the recap PCM. Really looking forward to your summaries and insight during the season. Can't wait for the puck to drop!! GO SIOUX!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianvf Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Thanks PCM! Great recap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 One the blue line, we lost Smaby but we have Robbie Bina back, plus the addition of one young exciting freshman. (That would be Chay Genoway, a player that Hak says the other players are talking about. He thinks that by Christmas, Genoway will be something special to watch.) THAT is exciting to read. Ryan Duncan was a good scorer and could be in the top two or three this year.Did Oshie mean on the team, conference, or? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herf Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 ...One the blue line, we lost Smaby but we have Robbie Bina back, plus the addition of one young exciting freshman. (That would be Chay Genoway, a player that Hak says the other players are talking about. He thinks that by Christmas, Genoway will be something special to watch.)... That's interesting. Does that mean that Bina will be a forward? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 That's interesting. Does that mean that Bina will be a forward? I didn't interpet it that way. Right now, there are seven D-men competing for six spots. It might mean that Bina, because of his experience, sees more playing time the first half of the season and Genoway sees more playing time the second half of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Did Oshie mean on the team, conference, or? I asked Oshie who he expected to be the top scorers on the team, so the answer was made in that context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THETRIOUXPER Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 I asked Oshie who he expected to be the top scorers on the team, so the answer was made in that context. So what TJ is trying to say through PCM is that Duncan must be quite the lady's man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeauxSioux Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Media day from an outsider. Impressions of the Ralph I've only been in one other hockey arena, Pepsi Center, and aside from the additional seats, the Ralph trumps it by a mile. That old dude didn't skimp on anything in constructoin. I can't wait to actually cover or watch a game in that building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn-O Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Chris Porter - We're young and very skilled. I'm looking for everyone to chip in right away. Our defense is going to be sound and we have two returning goaltenders. I don't see too many weak links in the team. We're working real hard in practice. I worked this summer real hard on the offensive side of the game. I'm going to play the same way I have been, the typical power forward. I'll try to chip in more on offense, but my main focus is to help get the team to a national championship. I'm ready to step into a leadership role. I learned a lot from Matt Smaby last year. I think we can go ahead and connect the dots on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 I didn't interpet it that way. Right now, there are seven D-men competing for six spots. It might mean that Bina, because of his experience, sees more playing time the first half of the season and Genoway sees more playing time the second half of the season. I've thought about this one too. Right now, it seems like seven is too big a number (oh, no, someone has to sit!). Unfortunately, it's very possible that we'll spend part of the season lamenting how small a number seven is, considering the inevitable injuries and the WJC. For me, the best part of the news that Genoway may prosper is what it means a few years down the road. The recent high draft picks on the blueline will be leaving early, and UND will need some high quality upperclass defenders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 I think we can go ahead and connect the dots on that one. Either Porter has the job or he's actively campaigning for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianvf Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Either Porter has the job or he's actively campaigning for it. We should know relatively soon I would think... I would assume that they will wear the C and A's on their jerseys for the Manitoba game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THETRIOUXPER Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 We should know relatively soon I would think... I would assume that they will wear the C and A's on their jerseys for the Manitoba game? If I remeber it correctly, last year they introduced the C and A's at meet the Sioux before they scrimmaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMT Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 If I remeber it correctly, last year they introduced the C and A's at meet the Sioux before they scrimmaged. Beat me to it. That is how I remember it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 If I remeber it correctly, last year they introduced the C and A's at meet the Sioux before they scrimmaged. This was my fifth Sioux hockey media day. It seems to me that every year at media day, someone asks if the captains have been named, and every year the coach says, "Not yet." This is the first year that we've figured out that the question isn't worth asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Anyone want to take bets on how much grief Lee's going to get for this photo on the front page of today's Herald? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Thanks, good stuff, PCM. Including the shameless plug for the USCHO sudo article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Anyone want to take bets on how much grief Lee's going to get for this photo on the front page of today's Herald? They let him sing the anthem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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