SIOUX VS MAVERICKS

[Smoggy]

The Midwest Wireless Center was hopping last night. Whenever the Mavs score a goal the entire crowd jumps up and sings, "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole." With about 3,500 people in attendance it was about as loud as the Ralph gets.

I have to disagree. It was only loud because the song playing was really loud. It was like being at a Vikes game.

They also have a cowbell guy, but he is horrible. I can't believe the WCHA and NCAA allow the fans to have artificial noisemakers, because I believe it's a rule. Between the cowbells and some kazoo type thing only one word comes to mind" Annoying. I know the NCAA was going to try and enforce it's policy for football, but decided not to.

[dagies]

My bad, I thought that every out of town game you went to the Sioux lost. Was that Daggies? or am I completely missing it because of the barley pops.

It's not every one but too many. Last night was a typical Sioux performance for me in Mankato. Lots of ugly. But Hakstol said it in the paper, this time the Sioux managed to come out on top. While there was ugly, last night, there was some resiliency as well, and that was a good sign.

A few more thoughts on the game...

I agree with jk on Oshie. He played very hard and made some good plays, don't get me wrong, but I think there were at least a couple of other Sioux forwards out there who were better.

I may be guilty of being taken in by too much glitz and missing the finer points, but it seemed when Porter and Watkins were out there, we could take a deep breath.

Genoway, Martens, and Miller might have been the most impressive Sioux forwards on the ice. Martens showed some nice awareness on the ice, and did some things in traffic that we usually don't see from our lower line guys.

I thought VandeVelde had a solid game, and at times his willingness to try and use his size was refreshing.

I was reminded last night of Green Bay's coach talking about Miller being his best goal scorer (he played with Wheeler. Not a knock on Wheeler, but I think we're starting to see some of Miller's gifts). We did comment a couple of times that Miller's play opened up a chance or 2 for Mankato, and it could be those kinds of things that Hak is concerned about. But he's showing some very good offensive gift, and we sure need it.

Forney looked a little ragged out there, and didn't get a lot of time. In the 3rd, as Schlossman noted on his blog, he had a nice chance getting a puck to him in the clear out front, unfortunately he was stuck to his backhand with little time to give him much chance to do anything with it. He seemed close to doing some nice things with the puck but just couldn't get it done. Maybe a little more playing time and experience and he'll start to catch up a bit.

Fabian was ok, but I don't think he had his best game last night.

Kaip, I thought, had a very average game for him. He had the puck alone in front and didn't even get a shot on goal, but the puck dribbled off his stick. In the 3rd in crunch time he was standing flat footed at the red line and allowed a Maverick to skate around him. There were other times were he just didn't seem to play very well at all. Maybe he was sick.

Chorney had a decent game at times, but a couple of mistakes with the puck were costly.

Speaking of the puck, all night the Sioux had pucks slipping off their sticks, passes made with little authority that didn't connect, etc. Not good. Not good at all. On the contrary Mankato looked much more confident and competent.

jk mentioned it, but I wish the WCHA would call games to the same rules the rest of D1 or USA Hockey is calling them. There continue to be guys getting held and tackled, and while some get called, not all do. Miller got tackled going in on a scoring chance and when the puck got reversed to the other side the Sioux get called for about the same thing. Amazing. And the Mankato make-up call in the 3rd was exactly that. A call to please Hak, because it didn't appear to be that big of a deal.

Finley didn't handle the puck with any confidence or authority last night, which was a concern.

Speaking of concerns, Radke might need to sit and watch the game from the pressbox. Genoway is so good as a forward it's hard to move him, but Radke didn't impress me last night. He was a pylon on a play or 2, and took some bad penalties at bad times. He needs to pick up his game.

Would like to see more from Kozek. The guy showed last night that he can shoot the lights out with the puck, but he doesn't seem to do a lot that helps his line, or get himself in position where he can be found in space. It appears to me he needs to get the puck in a place where he can shoot, and that just doesn't seem to happen for whatever reason.

Overall the team came to play in the first, but Mankato woke up with 5 minutes left in the first and that continued, helped by Sioux penalties. The Sioux got tired at times, and I think it was a combo of 2 things. 1. They had to kill too many penalties in too short a time, wearing out some of our better players. 2. We had too much trouble clearing the puck because we didn't handle the puck well in our own zone. This caused protracted efforts in the defensive zone that left Sioux defenders tired, which exacerbated the situation. Have to do a better job with that.

Mankato played very hard. It seemed like they had 6 guys in our defensive zone, and that made it hard to break out. Sioux have to solve that.

Fortunately, like Hak said, after suffering long periods of dire straits, he would get a few shifts, usually started by the Porter-Watkins-Genoway line that would take control and cycle the puck effectively in the offensive zone. They really set the tone.

Hope I can make tonite's game.

[siouxnami]

Exciting game last night.

Miller was the best player on the ice. I have been his number one fan since the SCCC series last year. I think he showed everyone what I have seen for awhile. Doubters be damned.

Martens also looked good, he skates hard and controls both ends of the ice well. Genoway looked very fast, as did Duncan.

Grieco was terrible, he created many opportunities for the opponents be giving big rebounds. This kept the puck in play on the PK, and created many Sioux penalties in front of the net. His reflexes were slow and positioning was off. I have NO doubt he will get better. If Walski doesn't play tonight, I think he NEVER will, in a meaningful game.

Oshie is trying too hard, the other team is focusing on him. Just pass the puck. Kozek looked bad. Duncan only looked good when he wasn't with Oshie / Kozek.

Porter played very well. He is a tough player and I think the best passer on the team.

Chorney looked better than Lee offensively and really attacked the net. What I don't like is that Chorney poorly executes some easy passes on the PP. Insted of delivering a puck that can be one timed, he consistently put the puck to the wrong side of the player.

On the PK your goalie has to be good, ours was not. We have some good faceoff guys, but there will be no faceoffs if you keep giving up huge rebounds (except at center ice).

Forney looked good, he seems to know just what angle to take. He was tentative, but really showed som flashes. Vandevelde had his good moments and also had a couple of Vanek defensive moments.

2 years ago Fabian had his best ever game in Mankato. This was maybe his worst. Terrible defense, couldn't stay up. Out of position, couldn't clear the puck on the PK, couldn't pass the puck. Not pretty...

I would love to see either Forney or Bishop with Martens / Miller tonight. Sioux should roll if they get OK goaltending.

[siouxnami]

BTW, you lame a$$ Sioux fans, you know who... Throw your beat up old hats......

Shame on you...

[Siouxmama]

people are just having a good time typing on what happens. its called interaction and who cares about what you call it "ECHOING" we have been doing game threads here for years and they are very entertaining to say the least some may get to isten to the wholegame or sometimes not so its good to have up to date info even if it is repeat info go siouxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx tonight

Now thats funny!

I was going to reply the same thing, but my fingers are further than 1/4 of an inch away from the keyboard, so I was way behind.

[PCM]

jk mentioned it, but I wish the WCHA would call games to the same rules the rest of D1 or USA Hockey is calling them.

Listening on the radio, it sounded like typical WCHA situational officiating. It's the way Bruce McLeod and Greg Shepherd like it to help maintain league parity.

And before any Gopher fans get their halos bent out of shape and jump on me, the NCAA rules committee recognizes that the game is called this way and is trying to put a end to it. But what the NCAA says and what the WCHA does often seem to be two different things.

[Goon]

Listening on the radio, it sounded like typical WCHA situational officiating. It's the way Bruce McLeod and Greg Shepherd like it to help maintain league parity.

PCM, Are you serious? I can't believe the WCHA League office thinks that it is the on ice Official's job to keep league parity. I don't ever remember a refs job being to keep league parity. How about have the coaches improve in their recruiting? I know they don't do that in the NHL.

Edited October 28, 2006 by Goon

[PCM]

PCM, Are you serious? I can't believe the League would believe that they think that it is the Officials job to keep league parity.

It's a matter of calling penalties based on the score and the time left in the game. The rules should be applied equally, no matter what the situation is. This is an acknowledged problem by the NCAA and the leadership of other leagues.

[Goon]

It's a matter of calling penalties based on the score and the time left in the game. The rules should be applied equally, no matter what the situation is. This is an acknowledged problem by the NCAA and the leadership of other leagues.

I guess I am not seeing why the league is given the option of allowing it to happen, the NCAA rules committee should step in and stop them now. Calling penalties based on situations it stupid. Call the game as its played on the ice. If it is a penalty one minute into the game it

Edited October 28, 2006 by Goon

[Goon]

And before any Gopher fans get their halos bent out of shape and jump on me,

Screw em who cares what they think.

[The Whistler]

PCM, Are you serious? I can't believe the WCHA League office thinks that it is the on ice Official's job to keep league parity. I don't ever remember a refs job being to keep league parity. How about have the coaches improve in their recruiting? I know they don't do that in the NHL.

I think that the officials are in a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. Sheppard probably bitches at them if they call it consistent and if they call it situational. I'm guessing it probably matters who's complaining to the WCHA rather than if their complaint has merit.

[Goon]

I think that the officials are in a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. Sheppard probably bitches at them if they call it consistent and if they call it situational. I'm guessing it probably matters who's complaining to the WCHA rather than if their complaint has merit.

Translation it matter if Minnesota and Wisconsin are b!tching. Like I said the League is scare of the coaches.

[Runninwiththedogs]

BTW, you lame a$$ Sioux fans, you know who... Throw your beat up old hats......

Shame on you...

Were there Sioux fans still wearing hats after that?

LAME.

SIOUXNAMI COME GET YOUR M-F JERSEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[redwing77]

I think that the officials are in a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. Sheppard probably bitches at them if they call it consistent and if they call it situational. I'm guessing it probably matters who's complaining to the WCHA rather than if their complaint has merit.

I find it humorous to suggest that Shepherd bitches at his officials.

If anything it is a "You did this and this wrong. I like you, buddy, so don't do it again or I might have to make you sit a weekend." Or maybe some other slap on the wrist.

I don't think a ref has anything to worry about from the likes of Greg Shepherd unless something like the Bertuzzi or Bina incident occurs. They Greg is forced to publically state it was a shame and suspend the official for a month. That's about as severe as it gets.

[jk]

A few more things before the memories completely escape my brain. Some of my thoughts from Friday were made irrelevant by Saturday's action, but this is what I saw.

First, I forgot how different one's perceptions are when seeing the action live. I have a much better idea what some players are about than I did from watching the action on the postage stamp on my computer screen.

I felt quite priveleged to see Genoway's first career goal. I can see now what all the attention has been about. Despite everyone from the coaches to message board denizens raving about his skills, I couldn't quite buy into it until I saw him. But I saw how good he is with the puck, and his shiftiness (careful spelling that one), and how he seems able to make the right decision with the puck, quickly. His line with Porter and Watkins was the Sioux's best on the ice all game long, I thought. I still have trouble in conversation pronouncing it with a hard "G" though, after five years of "J."

The first line wasn't the best on the ice. As I mentioned before, Oshie didn't do anything magical, which ranks as underperformance because he has set the bar so high. It was great to hear that his two assists on Saturday were both beautiful offensive plays, the kind we as fans have come to rely on. Kozek seemed out of place, just not comfortable and not able to get his shot on net. So again it was terrific to see him get going Saturday.

Duncan, though, played a very solid game Friday, and not just because he scored. I will admit that I have wondered how much of Duncan's performance can be attributed to guys like Toews, Stafford and Oshie. I think he's answered most everyone's questions by now. First of all, it's not easy to bury the "easy" chances that guys like Oshie and Toews will generate; someone still has to put it in, and not everyone can do that. In addition to those, he regularly snipes the top corner when there doesn't appear to be an opening.

On Friday, Duncan had a mini-break in the second period, where he was going to reach the puck first but the defenseman had an angle on him to cut him off. Rather than drifting wide to attempt a pass to a trailer, or taking an ineffective shot, he lowered his shoulder and took the puck right to the net. A colossal collision ensued, where defenseman, forward, goaltender and puck all tried to occupy the same spot. I was reminded of the recent Hubble photograph of two distant galaxies colliding. To Tormey's credit, he stood his ground and made the save, but Duncan's decision told me a lot about what kind of a hockey player he is. I think he ultimately will hold a place of honor in the line of small dynamic forwards that goes back through Jeff Panzer and David Hoogsteen.

I didn't think any of the defensemen had a great game, and Finley, Radke and Chorney seemed to struggle more than the others. They will grow and learn, I'm sure, but we sure do miss Matt Smaby's 30 minutes a game right now. The couple years of Schneider, Fuher, Jones, Greene and Smaby seem a distant memory.

I was glad to hear Kaip was dinged up a little only because it helped to explain why he struggled Friday. I had come to expect a certain level of play that wasn't there that night - trouble handling the puck, and a strange decision not to engage the puck in a late-game race he could have won. Now I understand the hesitation.

One bad thing about not watching the game on TV is that you can't see the replays. For instance, I would love to see how the Maverick center (Morin?) stepped right through the Sioux center on the faceoff at the Sioux blueline with 6 seconds left in the game. That's a cardinal sin.

I'm not an expert on anything hockey, and especially not goaltending, but Greico scared me. It didn't seem like he could handle the puck well at all really, so whenever he tried it was trying for all of us. He also just didn't seem comfortable for much of the game, but I'm more than willing to acknowledge the jitters that must be present in a 17 year old goalie's first game. On the plus side, he got in the way of a lot of pucks, including one near miraculous save on the PP where he had to slide left to right to stop a one-timer after a cross-crease pass. The attempt was a carbon-copy of the one that yielded Mankato's first goal; on that one, Greico was just a touch slow getting over. So maybe he learned something.

Despite holding on for the big win, I left the rink thinking that if this team is going to win a national title, it's going to have to get a lot better. Fortunately, I know there is some history supporting that growth curve, so I have some confidence that the team has a chance to get there. It was good to hear that they played better just 24 hours later.

[MafiaMan]

The Midwest Wireless Center was hopping last night. Whenever the Mavs score a goal the entire crowd jumps up and sings, "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole." With about 3,500 people in attendance it was about as loud as the Ralph gets.

With all due respect, if it wasn't for Sioux fans in the building, Mankato should have been embarrassed by the lack of attendees. There is NO way that the MWC was as loud as the Ralph gets, unless you are counting the pumped-up volume of the soccer goal-scoring music. Speaking of that, it IMMEDIATELY gets my vote as lamest goal celebration music/chant of all-time. Horrible.

[THETRIOUXPER]

jk, it's good to know that while Duncan has his place of honor here, underperforming players like TJ will be earning millions while enjoying long NHL careers. Not taking anything away from Duncan, I think he is quite a dynamic player, but come on, you can't tell me he hasn't benifited from playing with the likes of a Johnny Toews, or a TJ Oshie. Personally, I think he plays better with Toews than Oshie, but that's another matter all together.

[jk]

Yeah, I see your point. To clarify, I didn't know what Duncan had beyond benefitting from playing with those guys (because of course he does), but I think he's a pretty good player in his own right.

[THETRIOUXPER]

Yeah, I see your point. To clarify, I didn't know what Duncan had beyond benefitting from playing with those guys (because of course he does), but I think he's a pretty good player in his own right.

Damn right he's a good player. It's good to see him bury the puck, someone has to. I'm glad to see Miller producing as well. I said before the season began people would be suprised at Miller's contribution to the team this year, hope he keeps it up. I'm glad there are more players stepping up, it is a sign of good things to come. Trying to rely soley on TJ on JT to carry this team is not good for the long run, balanced scoring and some DISCIPLINED PLAY and things will all come together.

[Sioux_Hab-it]

Damn right he's a good player. It's good to see him bury the puck, someone has to. I'm glad to see Miller producing as well. I said before the season began people would be suprised at Miller's contribution to the team this year, hope he keeps it up. I'm glad there are more players stepping up, it is a sign of good things to come. Trying to rely soley on TJ on JT to carry this team is not good for the long run, balanced scoring and some DISCIPLINED PLAY and things will all come together.

The trolls all laughed at me when I predicted during the offseason that Duncan would emerge as a top gun in the NCAA this season.

[redwing77]

Damn right he's a good player. It's good to see him bury the puck, someone has to. I'm glad to see Miller producing as well. I said before the season began people would be suprised at Miller's contribution to the team this year, hope he keeps it up. I'm glad there are more players stepping up, it is a sign of good things to come. Trying to rely soley on TJ on JT to carry this team is not good for the long run, balanced scoring and some DISCIPLINED PLAY and things will all come together.

I did not know he was going to be as successful as he's been so far, but I knew he was a good player.

A few years back I saw S-SM at the REA that featured guys like Dowzak, Toews, Duncan, Chorney (it was the weekend he made his official visit to UND), and all. It was where I talked to Toews' Uncle (or so he claimed) where he said Toews would head to Major Juniors. It was also where I saw Duncan flat out be the best player on the ice. He seemed faster than everyone on the ice on both sides, stick handled exceptionally well, and seemed to create space for himself against Team NW Minnesota. I knew he was talented and I'm happy Duncan is doing as well as he is.