mksioux Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 You can't blame these losses on the absence of D. Hale. I know he's an important player on this team, but every team has played without some important players. Comparatively speaking, the Sioux have been one of the healthier teams in the league this year. Good teams find a way to win when they are less than full strength. 3 terrible series in a row...this team is sinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopper Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 I have to say that mksioux makes a lot of sense. I'm hoping the team isn't sinking, but they haven't been exactly 'stellar' as of late!!! I too know that D. Hale makes a presence on the ice, but look back to MTU. With a score of 8-zilch the first night, and a loss on the second, one has to hope that Blais has a dusty bag of tricks somewhere in his locker! I'm looking for the Sioux to learn from their mistakes, but I'm hoping that this will happen soon! My hat's off to Ranfranz on a good showing. From the way Hennesey sounded, he didn't get a bead on the shot, and it is just one of those unfortunate bounces! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmduf Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 I was sitting at the angle the game winning shot was taken. Ranfranz seemed to be heavily screened, and the puck took a wierd bounce. Not his fault. The Sioux defense kind of broke down in the last 10 seconds of the game. They seemed pretty tired in the Third, but we're gutting it out until that last Denver rush. Great effort, but we need wins and not moral victories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 It hurts bad to lose with 2 seconds left. The Sioux were 2 seconds away from coming home with 2 points, just what they hoped for this weekend. It does suck, but the lack of points maybe makes it look like a worse weekend than it was. D Hale being absent doesn't account for the lack of scoring, however..... Way to go Ranny. Sounds like he gave the team every chance to win the game. Well, this is going to be a tough row to hoe here at the end of the season. Duluth looks to be playing awfully well right now. So we have to reckon with Mankato and Duluth in the next weekends. Forgive me if I don't include Bucky in the terribly threatening category right now. Though this team can't look by anyone. Ouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigGreyAnt41 Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 Just to clear things up for me, 5th place is still home ice for 1st round Final Five, right?? Also, after the 1st round, all games are in St. Paul, correct?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpaw Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 Thats right, top 5 get home-ice, however the 4th and 5th place teams have to play the play-in game in and then play the next afternoon. UND needs to pick up at least 3rd place regular season so they can avoid that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 A sweep at Mankato is necessary to get back into the top 3. Seemed impossible that the Sioux would be in this position a couple weeks ago, but 1-4-1 will do that. Got to get back to winning. Sioux will have to continue losing to finish worse than fourth. Sioux control their own destiny to finish third, but need help to finish higher than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPoS Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 After the Gophs KILLED the BADgers last night, I would hope your boys have no problems with them either...and we even had Adam not making good calls after it became a blow-out! Have faith in your squad, they will be in the top 3. Lord knows the JBSU team will implode at any second (hopefully in our last two games of the season)! The Suzzies should have no problem with the Mav's, just don't let them think they have a chance and they fold faster than Favre on Vikeden! In my book I am thinking the top three: CC, Gophs, UND, and only a point or two in between 'em. WPoS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 First, to the poster who says that the absence of David Hale is not the cause of the current swoon, I respectfully disagree. The Sioux defense is not deep, and taking Hale out of the lineup forces the coaches to play Leinweber and Marvin regularly, which is scary. The Sioux have 2 excellent defensemen [Hale and Jones], two good defensemen who are now forced to log too many minutes and play specialty teams [schneider and Fuher], 1 that is very talented but has the same affliction as Commodore did his freshman year and that DiMarchi still has [bonehead Greene] and 2 that should seldom see the ice at crunch time, if at all. Additionally, Hales\'s physical presence is missed as is his ability to not concede the blue line. Second, there seems to be widespread skepticism about the Sioux. If they split with Mankato [which they should], the Sioux will still take 2nd or 3rd. Recall that they have 2 games in hand with Mankato and Mankato has to go out to CC. If they can hold serve with Mankato this weekend, Mankato will only be 3 points ahead. The Sioux can take 3 of 4 from Duluth and Wisconsin and still finish ahead of Mankato. Minnesota is the wildcard and may finish 2nd. However, they still have Denver at home, Duluth on the road and St. Cloud for a home and away. The Sioux will get home ice, and probably finish in the top 3 of the WCHA. Put it in the bank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 First, to the poster who says that the absence of David Hale is not the cause of the current swoon, I respectfully disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 PCM--I agree that scoring has also been an issue, but the loss of Hale also has a lot to do with the lack of scoring. The Sioux have been conceding the blue line, which affects the transition game, and has led to penalties caused by Leinweber, Greene, etc. allowing the forwards to skate around untouched. You may recall the CC game in which they led 3-0 and the 1st CC goal was created because Leinweber was chasing the CC player around like a ballerina. This type of defense has led to more penalties which means the better players are spending too much time killing penalites which also affects the offense. This may not be the only reason for the swoon, but when you are playing good teams like CC and Denver, the impact is huge. The impact would be less if the Sioux had depth at defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 And yet, despite a lack of depth at defense, the Sioux somehow managed to tie Colorado College twice with Greene and Jones out of the lineup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Hale was there, so your point is what?Greene is no big loss, but Jones is. As a result, Leinweber was forced to play. Recall also that this was a home series where you should win, CC was missing 2 big players [stuart is an impact defenseman] and we were extremely fortunate to get a tie on Saturday night with 2 late goals. Recall also that the tying goal on Friday was a turnover by Leinweber where he fed the CC player at the point [that was the 2nd time that he did that on that shift]. Thus, all you are doing is making my case. Rather than debating me on this topic, how about you ask Blais what impact the loss of Hale has had on the team? Also ask Hennessy who has quite a bit of hockey knowledge. If you are correct, then hats off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 I'm not saying that David Hale being out has no impact. Obviously, it hurts to lose a defenseman of his caliber and a team leader. But how do you explain the fact that without Hale, the Sioux shutout Michigan Tech one night? Against Denver, the goaltending and the defense should have been good enough to win. Lack of scoring is what did the Sioux in. UND outshot Denver in both games. It wasn't as if the forwards didn't have opportunities. On Saturday night, they hit two pipes and Parise missed a wide-open net. Bochenski was stoned on a breakaway. Just getting one of those goals in that game would have been huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Marc Ranfranz battles last year's All-American (who has a 92% save percentage) to a 1-1 tie for all but two seconds of a game. A screened shot finds its way in and they lose 2-1, and team defense is the problem? Where's that team that was averaging 4+ goals a game? The mirrors in the Sioux locker room need some serious use this week for soul-searching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 A screened shot finds its way in and they lose 2-1, and team defense is the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Actually, Ranfranz said he saw the puck all the way, but it deflected off Schneider's glove in front of him, and he was not able to adjust quickly enough to stop it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdahl Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Speaking of PCM's college days, you might like this column on hockey from the Collegian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 That must feel like crap. Where'd you play PCM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Gotta love this from Jim's link: In hockey you can lose, but still retain, some sense of your manhood by beating the hell out of the fast-skating, sharp-shooting, pretty boy talent that just lit up the scoreboards on you. You get a stick. There are many things you can do when locked in the cage with a stick and/or fists. It is also much more entertaining to see a team lose as long as they are beating the crap out of someone. PCM, learned this stickwork at SDSU, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Here's more that I liked, Sprig: It makes sense. Go DI hockey, scholarship every no-talented goon you can mangle from our fellow neighbors in iced over hell and beat the hell out of someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Where'd you play PCM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdahl Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Jim already outed me with that amazingly "insightful" column from the South Dakota State University Collegian, a publication for which I worked in my student days. Hmm... didn't mean to out anyone. I guess all the posts in which you talk about SDSU were your classic fights with Husby in the D-IAA forum At least I didn't say anything about that time the CIA sent us to Cuba to kill Castro. SDSU is now an ACHA D-III team. Their games actually get pretty good coverage in the Collegian. Clearly someone on the staff there is a fan of the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Be careful Jim. If fans of a certain other school read that link it may cause a meltdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Jim already outed me with that amazingly "insightful" column from the South Dakota State University Collegian, a publication for which I worked in my student days. Our hockey team at SDSU could loosely be described as a club team, although I'm guessing that's a bit of a stretch. We didn't call ourselves Jackrabbits. We were the State Blades. We didn't even wear SDSU's colors. Instead, we wore red, black and white, which were much closer to SDSU's hated rival, the University of South Dakota. We had a player-coach who was an SDSU professor. His idea of coaching was to put himself in the game and never come out. Considering that he was a lousy player and quite a bit older than the rest of us, he wasn't extremely popular. When I talk about my hockey playing days in college, nobody should assume that gives me any special insight into today's college game. We just played because we loved the game and it was fun. You know, I knew you went to school there, but blanked it out when I heard "hockey". I grew up about 1.5 hours north of Brookings. We didn't know ice was for anything other than doing 360's with the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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