Sioux/duluth

[ScottM]

There were comments in the papers about how the guys are tired of practice and want to play, etc. Given how they've "played" the past month or so, they should probably practice a helluva lot more than they are now.

[SFSIOUX]

Sad to say I am ready for this season to be over- bad attitude but after the last several weeks this is quite reminiscent of being a Minnesota Viking fan. I hope Parise is back next year and Seimbeda is long gone...

[U2Bad1]

Would have been nice if he would have stayed put on that one instead of coming way the heck to try and....I dont' know what he was trying to do.  I thought goal #1 was pretty crappy on his part also, he wasn't in position at all and was scrambling around far too much on Duluth's first.

How many shots do you expect him to stop in a row. He stopped like 3 shots before the next one went in. Im referring to the first goal of course

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

I agree. Siembida didn't play that bad. He made the right decision on that last goal...he just came out too far banking on Jones forcing Stapleton taking a bad angle shot, Jones fell and Stapleton buried it. We also missed about 4 or 5 open nets today too.

[DamStrait]

Wow!

You guys are being way too hard on this team. As poorly as things have gone in the last 10 games, they could have packed it in at any time. The closest they've come is the first game at Mankato, where, in my opinion anyway, they didn't so much as pack it in, but were afraid to do anything, lest it be called a penalty. I've just come back from Senser's, where I watched today's game. Even after Josh gave up the third goal by commiting way too early, the boys battled and battled, trying to tie it back up. Certainly they haven't been able to finish, but not from lack of effort. They're just holding their sticks too tight. Today's game was lost by Josh (sorry Josh, just calls 'em as I sees 'em, and no, there is no way I could do better). He gave up three bad goals. Two where he was WAY out of position and another where he was in good position, but should have made the stop.

I am extremely proud that this team refuses to quit. Do I want the results to be better? Of course I do, but it's easy to give 100% when things are going well. It takes character to give 100% when things don't go well.

I, for one will be supporting the boys in person in Madison, and in the WCHA first round, unless they play in Denver. Support your team through thick and thin, win or lose.

Keep plugging away boys! If you do, I guarantee it'll turn around. This is a great opportunity to write yourselves into history. Sweep Bucky, then be the first team in WCHA final five history to win the tournament title without being a top three seed. Then go on to get #8. You have the skill and heart to do it.

Just to show that I am not a total Pollyanna, I think it's time that Josh and the Sioux part ways. I think a change would do both good.

Fight on Sioux

[UND95]

My point on the first goal was, if he would have stayed somewhere near the crease and not been running around with his back turned to the play at points, he would have been in better position. I also stated afterwards, that Josh cannot bear the entire brunt of the loss. I don't think it is too far fetched to be saying Josh is not a great positional goalie who is out of place sometimes and as such, gives up goals he maybe shouldn't.

[forecheck]

Some thoughts on today's game.

The students decided to stand the whole game today and try to get the crowd and team really pumped up since A) we needed the win, B) it's the last regular season home game of the year, and C) we're losing our center ice seats next year anyway. But once the game started, it felt like team had absolutely no energy throughout the entire game, except for the last 5 minutes or so when they momentarily tied it up. Frustrating. It didn't look like they gave it their all, when I thought they would have come out firing on all cylinders. The first shift of the game wasn't very good in my opinion, and it set the tone for the rest of the game.

Although the loss certainly wasn't all Josh's fault, Siembida made me VERY nervous the entire game. As someone already said, the first UMD goal he made the first save, but gave up a rebound and lost sight of the puck as he got back up. He was literally turning around in the net looking everywhere for the puck. The first rebound luckily bounced off his pads while it was obvious he had no clue where the puck was, and the 2nd rebound went in. It sucked that Jones fell down on the GWG, but seriously, Siembida was WAY out of the net challenging the shooter (good), but went down WAY too early and the guy just walked right around him and had an open net the size of Titanic to shoot at (bad). I was really hoping to see Ranfranz in net. After tonight, I would be surprised to see Josh play again.

After Bochenski tied up the game (gotta love those goals that come just seconds apart), holy cow was the Ralph rocking! Everyone was on their feet and it was LOUD. Too bad it couldn't be like that the whole game! I just remember thinking after we tied up the game, though, that Duluth better not score again in the last few minutes, because I just had a bad feeling. That's the way it's just gone for this team lately.

How many f'ing goals of Parise's are going to be disallowed?! I think it's about 5 disallowed goals, and they all happened at home. It's starting to get ridiculous, the kid should have almost 30 goals by now. There are two I remember distinctly from earlier in the season. One where Anderson got behind on the play when Parise went in on a breakaway, and Anderson didn't see the puck go in and waved it off. The replay clearly showed him scoring. The other is when Bochenski got a penalty right as Parise scored, and it was waved off. I think there was another one too that I can't remember, then the 2 today where Bochenksi had a weak high stick called on him when he passed to Parise who scored, and the other one which apparently hit the pipe but I couldn't see. All I could think about when the buzzer sounded at the end of the game was that we should have had 3 goals, because Bochenski's stick didn't look like it came above his waist from where I was sitting.

Congrats to the 3 seniors who were honored before the game today. What a crappy way to end the regular season at home, but I know this team is better than what their record shows for the past month or 2. Let's send these hard working seniors out on a high note, and start winning games from here on out!!

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Boche's stick was above his waist...however the rule is ABOVE THE CROSSSBAR, his stick hit the back of the net as he swung, Schmitt obviously hasn't read the rulebook on that. At the same time though, we could have played much better than we did.

[Goon]

I agree. A number of people have been quick to blame the goalies. However, if the rest of the team is slacking we're not going to win. Too many no-shows on this squad. Guys that were contributing the first half of the season seem to fallen off the map.

Scott, don't take offense to this but the last goal that UMD scored was brutal, Siembieda was way out of position. I am not sure what Josh was thinking but he was laying on the ice before the shot was even taken. After watching last nights ND high school hockey tourney, if UND is not recruiting Moreland they are wrong. The kid shutout three teams in the tourney.

I don't care what anyone else says, and you can flame away, but Josh doesn't deserve to play anymore period, I was at today's game and his play was brutal. I have no idea why Ranfranz shouldn't have been given the start today. On the first goal Josh was doing a pirouette in the goal crease. Brutal, second goal, I dont' remember, third goal unexceptable. Laying on the ice before the shot was taken. You can not expect these guys to win with out good goaltending. By the way the defense play great today in my opinion.

[forecheck]

The second goal by Duluth I missed because I was watching Prpich on the delayed penalty push a player's head into the ice in frustration. On the replay, though, it looked like maybe an odd man rush with a nice pass to a player cruising down the slot.

I wanted to comment quick on yesterday's game, too. Duluth seemed to be playing a bit chippy this weekend, and they were asking for a good old fashioned ass whooping in my opinion. Anderson's crosscheck/boarding to Connelly looked dangerous. On the replay, he brought his stick back with both hands about 6 inches and intentionally shoved Connelly head first into the boards hard. I've never seen Jones get so pissed before, and he didn't even go after Anderson. He was going after Caig like a madman. Today Lundbohm was hit funny and fell shoulder first to the ice, then gets up and punches a player on the bench. There's a lot of anger flowing through this team right now, and I'd hate to be the guy who finally pushes one of them over the edge.

[jakester]

Boche's stick was above his waist...however the rule is ABOVE THE CROSSSBAR, his stick hit the back of the net as he swung, Schmitt obviously hasn't read the rulebook on that. At the same time though, we could have played much better than we did.

I hate to say it, but I thought it was an obvious high stick. After he hit the puck, it traveled down as it went over the goal. To me, this means that it must have been above the crossbar when he hit it.

[U2Bad1]

Scott, don't take offense to this but the last goal that UMD scored was brutal, Siembieda was way out of position. I am not sure what Josh was thinking but he was laying on the ice before the shot was even taken. After watching last nights ND high school hockey tourney, if UND is not recruiting Moreland they are wrong. The kid shutout three teams in the tourney.

I don't care what anyone else says, and you can flame away, but Josh doesn't deserve to play anymore period, I was at today's game and his play was brutal. I have no idea why Ranfranz shouldn't have been given the start today. On the first goal Josh was doing a pirouette in the goal crease. Brutal, second goal, I dont' remember, third goal unexceptable. Laying on the ice before the shot was taken. You can not expect these guys to win with out good goaltending. By the way the defense play great today in my opinion.

Not only did moreland shut out the three teams in the tournament, he had 6 shutouts to end the year. That is INCREDIBLE at ANY level... even ND high school hockey.

[dagies]

I watched about the last 2 periods as Senser's. Some thoughts:

1 replay showed Bochenski's stick looking high. A second replay view made it look close either way. Hopefully Schmidt made the right call.

I'll say that with the second view it would be hard to wave that goal off it was so close.

I'm as down on this season now as I have been as a fan. I was crushed with Siembida let that last goal in. I'm no goalie expert but man, that guy made a half-assed shot fake and Siembida went right down, all he had to do was skate around him. Fans, this guy was no Travis Roche. It was brutal.

BUT

The only reason we were in this position was Jones fell and that broke the UMD player open. How many times during this bad streak have we watched/read about/listened about a d-man falling and turning over the puck. I think 3 times (Leinweber, Greene, Jones). If that doesn't happen, we might have a couple of wins instead of losses. My point is, we NEED the goalie that can make the stop, but if it wasn't for Jones falling, Josh isn't in that position with 2 minutes left in the game.

Once again, you can't lay ALL the blame with the goalies. But Josh has to take his share today, for sure.

Here is what I am holding on to tonite: This team STILL has not given up, IMO.

I thought they might get handled today, but they didn't. They haven't been really manhandled yet by any team, even though we haven't won in forever. Today's second period started to look like the second period of one game in Duluth last year, where the team just lost their composure, and seemed to lose their drive.

I said to people at the bar if the Sioux get down a 1-2 more goals the game might get ugly. It already looked close to leading to a brawl.

The 3rd period opens and what happens? Hale, Connelly and Prpich forecheck like crazy and keep the puck in the offensive zone for about a minute or more. Duluth can't get out of their zone, even the the Sioux don't control the puck. Finally Connelly gets the puck and as he breaks to the net he gets hauled down. PP Sioux. I thought they might go through the motions but that wasn't the case at all, IMO. Duluth went into Sprig's hated prevent D and the Sioux just went crazy. They kept working and even AFTER the 3 UMD goal they were still working very hard.

I do get concerned that the boys will just give up. But so far, I haven't seen evidence of that.

As for bad luck, puck luck, bounces etc. That stuff you can use as excuses for a couple 3 games but that stuff evens itself out. This team might be working hard but maybe they are lacking confidence, or as someone said today, holding their sticks a bit too tight. I thought maybe the nooses were a bit loose around the necks after we tied the game, but I think Josh felt his tighten up.

I feel really bad for Josh. He didn't want this to happen. He wants to play well and we all know it. But he isn't getting it done.

The boys have to find some fun in this game right now.

[sprig]

Duluth went into Sprig's hated prevent D and the Sioux just went crazy.  They kept working and even AFTER the 3 UMD goal they were still working very hard.

I like it when other teams do it

What is it, before the two goals in 9 seconds; Notermann shoots at an open net, and it hits Anderson's (goalie) stick, which is laying on the ice, then Schneider' shot goes off his face mask, and Parise hits the post. At least a couple finally went in.

Can the Sioux sweep Wisco, got to do it, then get to face the dreaded tackle defense of Denver in the REA. Maybe the calls will be made this time, they sure stuck them in the box against MN, as they were tackling Gophers all over the place until they were forced to quit or spend the whole game in the box.

The Denver D is brutal if they can't wrap people up.

[PCM]

The first and third goals Josh gave up were, in my opinion, brutal. Every time there's an odd-man rush, a flurry in front of the net or Josh has to go one-on-one with a shooter, he panics. I don't know how else to describe it. He's like a deer in the headlights.

The second goal was mostly Matt Greene's fault. For some reason, he seemed to think it was more important to point out who should cover which Bulldog players rather than to actually cover anyone himself. That left Nick Anderson wide open to one-time Caig's pass. Siembida didn't really have a chance on that one.

Finally, after closely viewing the replays, I'm almost certain that Bochenski didn't play the puck with a high stick on the Parise power play goal that was disallowed. When his stick made contact with the puck, it was below the crossbar. Bochenski was quite adamant about that after the game, saying that he swung his stick parallel to the ice and hit the post on his follow through. He also said the puck hit a Duluth player before Parise shot it in.

When Scott Sandelin was asked whether the call was correct, he said,

[sprig]

Think TH couldn't decide on the replay if it was a high stick or not. Sounded too close to call, and either call would have been right. The way it's been going for the Sioux, you knew it wasn't going to be a goal.

[Taz Boy]

Someone let me know when the scary part is over so I can look.

Bochenski's stick was near crossbar height. Either way you call it, someone is b!tching. The key is to not get yourself into a situation where your game relies on that. The Sioux performance was pretty much phoned in today. Definitely noticed the lack of enthusiasm on the first shift. Blah.

I did enjoy the crowd response with the tie-up goal. The REA sounds pretty good when there's something to cheer about. The Dog's go-ahead was a fitting tribute to the way things have gone for UND the past two months. Still, ya gotta think this team is becoming dangerous. Either they explode for like ten goals in Buckyville, or they get 3-4 game DQ's and spill blood.

taz

[hrkac]

a) i'll say it again......if you're a good team, you have to have a goalie that can bail your team out once in a while. 3 big saves a game is all you need and the sioux rarely get that.

b) Siembida shouldn't be in net anyway. either stick with Brandt or Brandt/Ranfranz. those are your best options. how can you use 3 goalies??? Ranfranz plays two nights in kato and doesn't see any time this weekend? seems like a mind-screw to me.

c) M. Prpich had a good series and has played well the last month despite our current woes. he plays physical which is nice to see. i wanted to leave this post with a positive thread and he rarely gets mentioned.

[jnv]

Frustration (once again!)

Who isn't getting sick of the losing skid? For some reason, this is the worst case of bad luck I've seen! Granted, today the team didn't have a whole lot of flow, but maybe that's due to playing at 2:00 instead of at night? Not going to put a lot of emphasis on that one but it's something to consider.

My grief, was when Parise hit the "post" and the goal judge put the light on.....to me, clearly it was not a goal.....but what ticked me off, is we still had a scramble going, had UMD on the back of their heals, and who in the HECK is in charge of turning the lights off, sounding the fog horn, and shooting off fireworks? The ref was forced to blow the whistle, possibly blowing a chance for a "real goal"!??

The team is totally frustrated, and the way they came back buzzing in the final few minutes was looking good only to have Jones fall..(when do you see that???) Not sure what Josh was thinking on that one, but yet again, a little thing here and there....and wham, right back into the losing column! Still showed heart by playing tough, hopefully we can manage to keep 5th place, and get a home ice playoff, and maybe then get things going!

Go Sioux!

[mksioux]

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet. But one aspect of the game that was TERRIBLE was how many times the Bulldogs blocked shots. At one point in the 3rd period, I counted 5 in one shift. The Sioux players (particularly the defensemen) were not waiting for openings, they were simply shooting it into opposing players. Some of the credit must go to the Bulldogs (and their coaching staff), but much of the blame must lie with the Sioux shooters.

I didn't see the 2nd Bulldog goal (I too was watching Prpich cross-check the Bulldog player's head into the ice), but the 1st and 3rd were terrible plays by Siembeda. I haven't been one of those guys constantly ripping on Josh. I've tried to reserve judgment. But after today's game, I think it would best for everyone if Josh and the Sioux parted ways after the season. The guy is athletic and can make some amazing saves, but he consistently gets himself out of position. And not just a little. I know he was good in juniors and was recruited by some top programs, but in Juniors I think his athletic ability masked his goaltending inadequacies. At this level, his athletic ability can't bail him out of the positions he gets himself into.

Of course the entire loss doesn't rest on his shoulders, but his performance was -- again -- quite bad.

[The Sicatoka]

Dear Sioux hockey team,

In a scrum, in the slot, in front of the net, if the puck arrives on your stick, please don't take the extra time to spin around to get the puck onto your forehand; shoot the @#$%& puck on the backhand. If you can't, work on it!*

Taking the time to go forehand gives the defense a chance to get ready. (How many times did we see a blocked shot this weekend after a guy spun to go forehand?) Fire it before they realize who has it and hope for good things (like opportunistic rebounds or goals).

Plus, any goalie will tell you a backhand shot is the toughest to stop because the shooter's wrist action is later, the puck just doesn't come off the stick the same way as on the forehand, and the puck speed always seems "off-speed" compared to the motion (which makes it more deceptive).

* Best backhand shot in the history of hockey? Wayne Gretzky. He's scored a few goals and more than you realize on the backhand. Wayne can probably pick corners better on the backhand than most guys can on the forehand.

[PCM]

In a scrum, in the slot, in front of the net, if the puck arrives on your stick, please don't take the extra time to spin around to get the puck onto your forehand; shoot the @#$%& puck on the backhand. If you can't, work on it!*

During my illustrious hockey career (cough, cough), I preferred a straight blade stick to one with a curved blade because it enabled me to get off an accurate backhand shot very quickly. As you say, that came in very handy during scrums for loose pucks in front of the net.

Does anyone make straight-blade sticks any more? Do any players still use them?

[The Sicatoka]

Straight-bladed sticks?

Let me guess, goalies with no masks too? ;)

It takes about five minutes to learn how to shoot a backhander with a curved stick. The curve helps with the deception because a puck coming off the heel doesn't move like one coming off the toe.

The stick blade has two sides. The rules allow for use of either.

[mikejm]

Hate to rail on this but the fact remains that this team is a goaltender away from being REALLY good!

I've watched two periods of every home game from right behind the net the Sioux defend; Sunday's game was simply a replay of the SSDD scenario.

Any goaltender is going to make some saves; a good keeper will make all the stops he's supposed to make AND make two or three a game that no one thought he could. If we'd had that kind of performance from ANYONE in the nets this year, the Sioux would still be ranked in the top three or four nationally, and not have their backs against the wall with a week left in the regular season.

Josh flat-out stunk yesterday. He flopped around and gave up rebounds on the first goal, and was made to look like a hack on the third. The D left him out to dry, sure, but see my last paragraph. He makes that last save, the Sioux get one point for sure and MAYBE go into OT and pull out what would've been their biggest win of the year.

There were at least four other times during the first and third periods when Josh was beaten badly, and the Dogs simply missed the net. Josh is weak to his stick side and especially when it's a screamer low to the ice. Two Dog shots whistled just outside the pipe that would've killed the Sioux and Josh didn't have a clue as to where the puck was even coming from.

Sure there is plenty of blame to be spread around the rest of the boys, but I still maintain it is darn hard to play well when you're spending most of your time spinning your head around worrying about whether or not your goaltender is going to make a routine save.

Maybe, no certainly, some of the blame has to rest at Dean Blais's feet. This team desperately needs quality goaltending and he's not found it. Josh was supposed to be the answer; he's now proven he's not. Sedevie may never play another hockey game, so the answer's probably not there either. Lamoureaux is at least a year away.

I'd say it's time for Dean to cut his losses and send Josh and Sofie (maybe Brandt too) packing and go find someone who is capable of STANDING UP between the pipes and coming up with the saves this team needs to succeed. Maybe the kid from Central is legit, but shutting out the Eastern Dakota Conference and the ND state tourney ain't the WCHA; give him a year in JRs and then let's see.

I hear from a pretty good source that Duluth offered Ziegelmann a partial (60%) scholarship and he turned it down; it's time for Dean to get on the phone.

[PCM]

Straight-bladed sticks?

Let me guess, goalies with no masks too? ;)

Goalie masks? Hell, we didn't even wear shin guards. They were for wimps!