Drought continues

[OETKB]

UND is not going anywhere this season if they can't solve their offensive doldrums. I don't want to hear about how many pipes they've hit. It's too painful.

[PCM]

UND is not going anywhere this season if they can't solve their offensive doldrums. I don't want to hear about how many pipes they've hit. It's too painful.

And I don't want to hear about how much we miss David Hale or how our goaltending is lousy.

[sprig]

Also few third period chances, the period the Sioux owned for much of the year. Seems that the goal scoring got used up in the 8-0 win.

[UND95]

I may be way wrong here, but I am tired also of hearing how well they have played, but have just run into some great goaltending. If you plan on winning in the NCAA's, you are going to run into great goaltending, and you need to find a way to score, and the bottom line is, the Sioux cannot score right now.

[OETKB]

Coming into tonight, the Sioux still averaged close to 4 goals a game in WCHA games. They've scored 2 goals in the last 2 games. 1 goal per game is not good enough for a team that has aspirations to be a contender. Not nearly.

[PCM]

Anyone else think that maybe Parise and Bochenski should be on different lines?

[UND95]

At this point I am willing to see anything happen to try and get the scoring going. I think splitting them up may make it a bit tougher for opponent D to just focus on one line, they will have to get solid play out of 2 D lines. I think a serious shake up is needed and I am all for trying anything right now.

[OETKB]

P.S. Canady gets a D.Q.

I don't know whether Canady has a bad rep or what with the refs, but it is beginning to be a pattern that he gets stick infractions. Tonight, he gets ejected for a spearing penalty, leaving the road team shorthanded.

Mr. Canady, if you want to be a factor with the Fighting Sioux, you've got to clean up the act.

[mksioux]

And I don't want to hear about how at least we're doing better than last year. If things continue in this direction...guess what folks...another 6th place finish is in store. I predict that if the Sioux don't win tomorrow night, home-ice (and any reasonable expectation of an NCAA bid) will be lost.

[Taz Boy]

You gotta think the POI "cupcake patrol", MN blowhard media, and all other naysayers are just peeing in their pants with this thread.

Is all lost? No. Here's how you recover: you come out hard tomorrow night, dominate State, and win decisively. Then, with renewed confidence, you win the remaining games. This is not out of the question, but does put a lot of pressure on UND.

We knew all along that the schedule would create these streaks of wins and losses. The only surprises are the loss against Tech and the 1pt missed at Denver. If UND could run the table, they would end up well exceeding expectations for the year. If they get another loss or two in there, they would still be at expectations.

I see this all panning out for a 3rd or 4th place finish for the Sioux. Should not surprise anyone.

taz

[UND95]

I agree all is not lost, but the Sioux are getting chances and just can't find the scoring touch right now and that is a bit frustrating because Ranfranz has played well for them and given them the chance to win. This is not the time of year to fade into the darness, you need to be pushing forward. I just wonder how many more weekends we can say, ok, we didn't get this one, but if we come out hard tomorrow we are in good shape. It is great to have confidence in them and I have not totally given up on them myself because I know they are capable of much more than this.

[jk]

I agree with Taz. All is not lost, and the most important time to keep the faith is when things look their worst. Good things can still happen, but they need to go out and make them happen.

I think any chance at third place is gone if the Sioux lose tomorrow. They would be seven points behind Mankato, which would require the Sioux to run the table and Mankato to go pointless against CC. The way MN is playing, even with their tougher schedule, making up their three point lead seems tough to do now.

Running the table seems laughable, though, since they haven't even had a lead in the last four games.

Not to bag on Zach, because he always plays hard and gets his chances, but I think now Vanek is probably ROY. The guy scored the third and fifth goals in a big game for MN tonight, and seems to be coming on, while Zach is in a bit of a slump. I haven't looked at WCHA stats to see where they stand. Heck, you could make arguments for Reichsmuth, Sterling and Stuart as well.

Who would have thought Ranfranz would come in and allow four goals on about 60 shots over two road games, and people would be on here thinking the season is over?

It's interesting that so many top teams are struggling now. Maine can't seem to pull it together, BU and BC each go on runs, then surprisingly drop a couple. Two of the hottest teams seem to be Providence and Michigan State. No top team seems as cold as UND, though.

Enough rambling. Go Sioux.

[dagies]

You can blame tonite's loss on me. Just like 2 years ago my friend and I are there only for the Friday game and we get pasted. Tonite we don't get pasted but we do lose.

My thoughts:

Sioux were a little ragged but they were on fire in the first period. Anyone criticizing the Palmo on the first line move, IMO, didn't watch the game. The first line was DOMINANT in the first period. They had a myriad of opportunities and just couldn't get the handle on the puck when they needed to. Palmo made some nice passes that helped create opportunities.

Ranfranz makes you suck in your breath once in a while but he's getting the job done. And he left very few rebounds out front. He also got very lucky a few times. He was good AND lucky tonite, to keep Mankato to 2 goals. IMO he earned the start tomorrow night too.

The Sioux made some bonehead plays in the first period that nearly cost them. I think it was Bochenski who passed out in front of his own net right to a Mankato player. He didn't score but the resulting scrambling ended up in Greene getting his first penalty of the night. Bonehead one too.

Second period Mankato scores but I didn't feel too badly. It seems like the Sioux were playing a pretty good game, had a very strong forecheck going, and aggressive offensively. Prpich had a great game, creating several opportunities and scoring once. Blais' comments might have lit a fire under him.

But as the second period went on, we thought we noticed the jump leaving our boys skates. They just didn't have the zip they did in the first period. Maybe it had something to do with all the special teams play in the second period, I don't know. But they lost their edge.

3rd period was more of the same. The Sioux were in the game. They just needed to convert. But as time went on, Mankato began to smell blood, and the Sioux began to look a bit overworked. Last minute + was just embarrassing. One Mankato forechecker is able to beat 3 Sioux players and maintain the puck behind our net for a LONG time, blowing any realistic last rush opportunities. That was THE most disappointing part of the game, IMO.

No, as the game wore on the Sioux looked less and less confident.

Parise and Bochenski played well together, I thought. So did Palmo with them. I was surprised to see Notermann back on that line, to be honest. That's no shot at Jason, just Palmo DID look to me like he was effective with that tandem.

We were on the opposite side of the rink from the Canady situation, but didn't see he did anything blatant. He really argued vociferously with the ref so he was either desperate or really upset that he got a bogus call. I don't know.

Parise and Bochenski had to fight a lot of body contact tonite. They have to fight through it.

My concern is that this team is now losing confidence. They look like they have a goalie to count on. Let's hope they can keep working hard. Sooner or later the goals will come again.

This game could have been 6-4 either way with all the very close missed chances for both teams.

Oh, I know it is just individuals, but Mankato has the most classless fans I have encountered ever. This goes back beyond tonite, but from yelling through the SSB, to yelling at my body and I in the concourse between periods they have the largest percentage of punks in their fan base.

[SockeyeSioux]

P.S.  Canady gets a D.Q.

I don't know whether Canady has a bad rep or what with the refs, but it is beginning to be a pattern that he gets stick infractions.  Tonight, he gets ejected for a spearing penalty, leaving the road team shorthanded. 

Mr. Canady, if you want to be a factor with the Fighting Sioux, you've got to clean up the act.

I dont know who you are, but I do know Brian Canady. You should get some facts before you shoot your mouth off. I take GREAT offense to your comments regarding Brian.

We talked with Brian after the game. He said he pushed a guy in the elbow and Mankato kid grabbed his wrist trying to draw a penalty on Brian. This, by the way, all took place IN FRONT OF THE REF. The ref and boys all skated away. No call. As Brian skated away the LINESMEN said, "#22, come here". When Brian skated over to him he told Brian to follow him to the penalty box. Brian didn't even know what he was being called for. The ref skated over to the penalty box and asked, "what's the penalty for?" The linesmen said, "He speared the guy in the nuts". Ref said, "in that case, your out of here". BRIAN DID NOT SPEAR ANYONE. The infraction will be reviewed because BRIAN DID NOT SPEAR ANYONE!

Do you have stats on how many "stick infractions" Brian has had this year? I would say the only "pattern" here is your lack of information and your big mouth. You have a lot of nerve to address Brian's factor as a Sioux. It's pretty easy to hide behind your computer and talk the big talk. Let me just tell you, "YOU DON'T KNOW s&!t".

[tuggnutt]

[U2Bad1]

Hennessey may be biased but here is his quote "I guarantee you canady did not spear anyone."

[ScottM]

While I agree that the season isn't a lost cause, I really think somebody, preferably one of the captains, would light a fire under the team. This time of the year is crucial, and these guys don't really play like it's important. While the losses/ties are indeed disappointing, I think I'm upset by the fact that much of the team just goes through the motions.

I don't care if Blais has to play two lines, a walk-on goalie and three d-men, it's time for the guys who really want to be on this team to step forward and play like it.

BTW: I think Ranfranz is playing like he really wants a slot on the team. At least somebody is.

[Hammy]

Oh, I know it is just individuals, but Mankato has the most classless fans I have encountered ever. This goes back beyond tonite, but from yelling through the SSB, to yelling at my body and I in the concourse between periods they have the largest percentage of punks in their fan base.

I have said this earlier this season but Mavs fans are the biggest rubes I have seen in this league. I know I give St. Cloud fans a lot of grief but a greater percentage of Mavs fans are worse. They are fast becoming the least liked fans in the league (at least with people I know) due to their classless behavior (especially in opposing rinks).

[PCM]

Well, there was the OTHER spearing at the END OF THE GAME vs. St. Cloud in the Sat. game in GF. Other than that, his 2 points and team-leading -4 plus/minus are in his corner....

Regarding the St. Cloud game, there are questions about what really happened there and who started it. As U2Bad1 pointed out, at last night's game, Tim Hennessy said he had a clear view of events and that Canady didn't do anything that warranted a game DQ.

As for the other stats, Canady hasn't played in many games and has been injured for much of the season. Despite all he's been through, Blais has been putting him out on the ice. Therefore, I have to assume that the coach likes something he sees.

On another matter, I thought J.P. Parise's between-period comments about officiating in the WCHA were interesting. He said that in all the years he's been involved in hockey, he's never seen anything like it at any level.

He made it clear that he wasn't saying this because of his bias toward Zach and the Sioux. He said the officiating was wildly inconsistent and that the officials were trying to involved themselves in the game's outcome.

[hrkac]

You can blame tonite's loss on me.  Just like 2 years ago my friend and I are there only for the Friday game and we get pasted.  Tonite we don't get pasted but we do lose.

Oh, I know it is just individuals, but Mankato has the most classless fans I have encountered ever.  This goes back beyond tonite, but from yelling through the SSB, to yelling at my body and I in the concourse between periods they have the largest percentage of punks in their fan base.

dagies- a very noble jester on your part to stand up and take blame for the loss. as for the punk mavs fans........ the sensor's crew will be there to take care of any b.s. given out tonight. mavs fans are much like st.cloud rubes. they haven't won anything yet so every time they win a big game against established powers ie. ND, MINN, etc...... it's like winning the national championship. they're mouth tends to run a little too much at that point.

as far as Canady goes......he just seems to be in the middle of these types of situations. Hennesy clearly stated "if somebody speared him, it WASN'T Canady!" i don't know if it's bad luck or what but he must have a reputation amongst the league refs. I think i speak for most fans when i say everyone is pulling for him to do well.

tonight is a "must win" situation if there ever was one. confidence needs to be gained! hopefully, the Sioux can take themselves back to that "happy" place when the had 7 weeks of home games and we're fully confident in themselves. you have to win on the road to go anywhere this year, so let's start tonight.

[sprig]

As Brian skated away the LINESMEN said, "#22, come here".

[Taz Boy]

I can't stress enough how important this win is tonight. No question Dean is relaying that to his leadership, and they are taking it to heart. It's time for the Sioux to resurrect their season, similar to what Denver did against them. A pounding would be delightful, but a win no matter what.

Let it be so.

taz

[dagies]

dagies-  a very noble jester on your part to stand up and take blame for the loss.    as for the punk mavs fans........ the sensor's crew will be there to take care of any b.s. given out tonight.  mavs fans are much like st.cloud rubes.  they haven't won anything yet so every time they win a big game against established powers ie. ND, MINN, etc...... it's like winning the national championship.  they're mouth tends to run a little too much at that point.

as far as Canady goes......he just seems to be in the middle of these types of situations.  Hennesy clearly stated "if somebody speared him, it WASN'T Canady!"  i don't know if it's bad luck or what but he must have a reputation amongst the league refs.  I think i speak for most fans when i say everyone is pulling for him to do well.

tonight is a "must win" situation if there ever was one.  confidence needs to be gained!  hopefully, the Sioux can take themselves back to that "happy" place when the had 7 weeks of home games and we're fully confident in themselves.  you have to win on the road to go anywhere this year, so let's start tonight.

Here'e what I like about them too. It's not like they were gloating with a lead or anything. End of the period one, 0-0 game. Here's what I get, right in my face in seperate incidents:

"YOU'RE F-ING UGLY!" (I'm glad that came from him and not my wife )

"YOUR DEFENSE SUCKS" (Good one. You haven't SCORED yet)

I agree, Hrkac, this is a must-win game. Haven't felt that way yet this year but I think we have a team whose confidence is fading and they need some positive reinforcement. We'll see how it goes.

As for Canady, I will reiterate. From my less than perfect vantage point, from what I could see, Canady's story as relayed by Sockeye is plausible. More so than if he actually speared someone. However, at the time it happened, Mankato was hitting and pushing after every whistle. I WAS hoping that Brian would just drop the gloves and pummel someone. It was getting out of hand after the whistle.

[Hammy]

Not surprising that a linesman "saw" this; sounded like they couldn't see icing so how could they get anything right in a crowd in front of the net. Sounds like a "reputation" type of call, a reputation that is unwarranted, but something he apparently acquired when he went after the Minnie bench last year. Seems much easier to get a "rep" among officials if you do something to MN, more so than any other WCHA team.

Remember the linesman calls against MN a few years ago in the old REA, when the MN contingent went ballistic, the linesman got suspended (although the calls were warranted in this case), etc. Guess the linesman can do what they want as long as MN isn't involved.

Hope the tape gets looked at, the DQ is lifted, and Brian is back in the lineup tonight.

Do I detect a little bitterness because of the recent reversal of fortunes between the Gophs and the Sioux?

Amazing.... the Gophers are playing in Duluth last night but somehow they had an effect on a game in Mankato. What an amazing feat. I suppose the Gophers will be accused of waving a wand like you claim they did on the refs and it made the Sioux offense disappear too? LOL, whatever.

Pin your loss on whatever you'd like but don't be sorry enough to pass the blame where is hardly belongs. DeMarchi gets a lot of reputation calls against him too. I guess we should blame that on some other WCHA team too, huh?

[OETKB]

Sockeye:

I know who you are and my comments weren't meant as a personal knock on Brian. My "clean up the act" comment was merely meant as a notion that, if he doesn't play extra carefully in that regard, refs may start pigeonholing him like they are doing to Greene.

As for his reputation with the stick, there HAVE been numerous discussions on this and other boards about it. I don't think I was being overly-critical, so please don't attack me personally in the future.

And, yes, it is easy to play the game from my easychair!