Green Guy 1 Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 I was just a Shattuck St. Mary's sight and Sydney has a 135 pts in 47 games and he is in 10th grade. Realistically does any college have a chance? Also, I did not realize Drew Stafford was so big. (6'2" 200 pds) Is blaiser taking on a new philosophy size over speed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Stafford, for his size, is pretty fast and has very good hands. I think he'll do very well in the WCHA. Crosby, may or may not, go the college route. Apparently, the an MJ program will draft him this summer. However, they tend to draft anybody with skates and it would not preclude him from going to college at some point. All in all, Crosby is a very talented *15* year old. Whether he'll still be a "star" in 2-3 years is anybody's guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmail Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Is blaiser taking on a new philosophy size over speed? I think he's sick of his speed players getting the hell beat out of them every weekend. I'm sick of it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I think he's sick of his speed players getting the hell beat out of them every weekend. I'm sick of it too! I think UND has a nice mix of bigger guys as well as speedy smaller guys. All your guys can't be small jitter bugs that are 5'7" that skate like the wind. When UND plays bigger defesive orientate teams like Wisconsin, Mankato, Duluth and other teams that like that these teams play the slow down clutch and grab, hence your smaller guys are going to get mugged like what has happened in the past couple of weeks against Denver and Mankato. They had guys tackling them litterally. You need bigger guys that can step it up and play through that crap. I think Goren was a good example of this the year that UND lost to B.C. in the regional Goren scored a killer goal with a guy drapped all over him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I will take speed over size any day. The Sioux had a big team in 1995 with Kirton, Hyrniuk, etc. and they could not keep up with the smaller, faster teams like Minnesota and CC. The Sioux then brought in Blake, David Hoogsten, Jay Panzer and others to go with Curtis Murphy and they won a national championship. They continued it with Jeff Panzer. Denver, Wisconsin and Duluth had bigger teams in the 90's and did not do anything because all they did was dump-and-chase and clutch-and-hold. The Sioux lost in 1998 to BC in part because of clutch and hold play that was not called, but that was a function more of the ECHA refs than skill. If you look at CC this year, they are faster and a better passing team. As a result, they have been very difficult to beat. Peter Sejna and Noah Clarke are not big, but they are very skilled and very fast. The Sioux appear to be going back to bigger teams, especially on defense. Time will tell if it works, but I would take Paul Martin and Ballard over Matt Greene any day. They are mobile, can carry the puck, generate more offense, and don't take as many stupid penalties. It is nice to have some bigger skill players like Goren and David Hale, but I'll take a smaller more skilled player over a big guy with lesser skills any day. In other words, don't sacrifice skill for size. If you can get both, great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopper Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I've heard several people say that, as the story goes, Crosby is on his way to be the next Wayne Gretzky??? I've heard this in a few different conversations, and in different context's. Has anyone else heard the story go this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I will take speed over size any day. The Sioux had a big team in 1995 with Kirton, Hyrniuk, etc. and they could not keep up with the smaller, faster teams like Minnesota and CC. The Sioux then brought in Blake, David Hoogsten, Jay Panzer and others to go with Curtis Murphy and they won a national championship. They continued it with Jeff Panzer. Denver, Wisconsin and Duluth had bigger teams in the 90's and did not do anything because all they did was dump-and-chase and clutch-and-hold. The Sioux lost in 1998 to BC in part because of clutch and hold play that was not called, but that was a function more of the ECHA refs than skill. If you look at CC this year, they are faster and a better passing team. As a result, they have been very difficult to beat. Peter Sejna and Noah Clarke are not big, but they are very skilled and very fast. The Sioux appear to be going back to bigger teams, especially on defense. Time will tell if it works, but I would take Paul Martin and Ballard over Matt Greene any day. They are mobile, can carry the puck, generate more offense, and don't take as many stupid penalties. It is nice to have some bigger skill players like Goren and David Hale, but I'll take a smaller more skilled player over a big guy with lesser skills any day. In other words, don't sacrifice skill for size. If you can get both, great. I agree with a lot of what you say. I will say I have learned this year to appreciate the big Sioux defensemen, even if they don't have the offensive skills of some of MN's defensemen. In general they have played a better defensive game, offsetting the lack of offense they might generate. If they can make the first pass to talented forwards, that is good enough for me. I agree with you on Greene only to the extent you consider his stupid penalties. If he cleans up that aspect of his game he's as good as any defensemen that came into the WCHA this year, in my uneducated opinion. I like speed as well, as I think that can cause and create an awful lot of opportunities. You can't hit what you can't catch. If the REA was an Olympic size rink maybe those faster smaller teams would be the way to go. But on the smaller rink, maybe a nice mix of speed and size is a good way to blend the team. I thought coming into the year we were concentrating on size to the detriment of speed. If there is sufficient skill with the size, I'm happy with the way things are. I will be happy to see Murray come on board next year as I think he's pretty quick. From what I have read on these boards about Stafford, it sounds like he has pretty good skill to go with his size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpaw Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 An article from the cities said our great Zach Parise has is friends with Crosby....and that Crosby is actually going to be graduating a year earlier than normal. That means that he is technically a junior, which means in 2 years, if everyone sticks around, we can have Bochenski, Parise, Murray and Crosby. I'm thinking that would be a somewhat good team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fighting Sioux Fan Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 What UND needs is a bruiser line. I don't think that Spiewak and R. Hale are a good checking line. They do play good defense but they lack the size to scare people. Bring in a Goren type player and they would be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I prefer UND teams with a good blend of size and speed, which is what I consider the 2000 Sioux team that won it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 What UND needs is a bruiser line. I don't think that Spiewak and R. Hale are a good checking line. They do play good defense but they lack the size to scare people. Bring in a Goren type player and they would be awesome. R. Hale is 6'2", 220 pounds, which is the same size as his brother. The only person on the team bigger is Matt Greene and he is 6'3", 224 pounds. According to the Providence Bruins site, Goren is 6'3", 205 pounds!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatspin7 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I think that UND's defense has been missing something since Mike Commodore graduated. Commie was always a dominant force on the ice and no one would ever mess with him. There is something to be said for the intimidation factor. I was looking at Collegehockeystats.com at UNDs roster in 1999-2000 Trevor Hammer- 6-0 180 Leinweber (never really played much that year) Tim O'connel 6-4 210 Travis Roche 6-1 190 Commodore 6-4 225 Aaron Schneekloth 5-11 185 (should have been a winger on a checking line, but thats a different topic) Chad Mazurak 5-10 175 It seems like we dont have as many threats (score or physical) on the blue line anymore, Matt Greene has potential to be that force, but he takes way to many stupid penaltys. Schnider has calmed down since last year and has become very solid. We really miss Travis Roche who at times seems that the Sioux would not score unless the puck touched Roches' stick. Dave Hale is trully missed is probably the best player on the team. (I said it, Hale is Better than Parise, look at the teams record with out Parise and without Hale) I do think Greene and Jonesy are the future of the Sioux defence, Greene could be that intimidating force if he learns to keep the stick on the ice (and on one hand as to not cross check everybody) But I guess my point it HALE WE MISS YOU!!!! COME BACK SOON!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Pardon me, but I don't think Blais has had a team with anything even close to as physical a defense as this year's. As to offensive ability, I agree that no one now has Roche's magic. But to compare the defense listed there to the current roster for toughness is no comparison. Maybe Commie is the toughest of the bunch, but if so then the next four would be Hale, Schneider, Jones and Greene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Flatspin7--With all due respect to Mike Commodore, he was not the reason for the success of the team. Its nice to have a Commodore, but the Sioux have several who are very similar. Greene is almost a clone with more upside. He's a better skater and has a better shot. He also had Commodore's penchant for stupid penalties. Hopefully, he will learn like Commodore did as he matures. If you look at the successful UND teams over the years, the common denominator [other than great goaltending] is a highly skilled defenseman who can carry the puck, generate offense and ignite the transition game. That was true of Ian Kidd (1986-87), Russ Parent, Curtis Murphy, Brad Williamson and Travis Roche. Those are the players who logged the critical minutes and typically engineered the power play, and often were the penalty killers as well. Blais and Hakstol recognize how vital these guys are, as they have mentioned it several times at Sioux Boosters, but claim that there are very few available. Preissing chose CC, and they recruited Ballard hard, it looked like he was coming, and then he decided to go to the Gophers. The same is true of Skinner from DU. That type of defenseman and a shut-down goalie are the two main things this team needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I agree, and I would be happy with just the goalie. I think the defensemen can make that first pass and we can get by with that. Look at how much better our transition game is this year with experienced forwards than it was last year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatspin7 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 JK-- you're right about the fact that the as a unit as a whole being much more physical that 99-00, but I remeber my freshman year watching Commodore, who was always one of the main focal players on the ice behind Goering and Panzer, and waiting to see who he will lay out next. Maybe (hopefully) my perception of the game has changed but now every time I see Greene on the ice I am waiting for him to take a penalty. I also know that Greene is a freshman and as he gets older he will learn where his boundries are, so he doesnt take so many penalites. Give him time and he'll be fine. (Does any one know if Greene has been drafted by anyone?) I agree that we have a very physical core of D-men but they now lack the offensive possibilities of 1999. I can't remember how many times I have swore at Schneekloth for his defensive play, but he was always an offensive threat, as was Roche, but he was a much better all-around player (Scott Neidemeyer-esque) When now our team's defense is more like some Scott Stevens type players who will shoot from the point but not much else. A team needs both to be successful. Just as an offense needs to have good forecheckers and grinders just as they need goal scorers. Maybe Schnieder can take on somewhat of an offensive role, hes got a decent cannon. Or maybe a new guy can fill that hole too. p.s. The guy in the apartment across the hall is cooking bacon..it smells damn good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Frying bacon, onions sauteeing in butter, fresh leather chamois. Some of life's simple pleasures...... Greene has been drafted by Edmonton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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