Saturday at Colorado College

[Siouxmama]

UND tied with the BADgers in 5th place. UND needs a sweep next weekend against the Seawolves who are actually coming to UND after the game at SCSU, I guess they aren't going home after the game.

I heard that too.

Do they get to practice the extra days that they are here?

[AZSIOUX]

I heard that too.

Do they get to practice the extra days that they are here?

of course, why wouldnt they? theres many rinks for them.....

[siouxguyinstpaul]

I heard that too.

Do they get to practice the extra days that they are here?

Not at the Ralph - I don't believe. Seems to me this happended a couple of years ago with Mich Tech. The regular season ended with them here and the next weekend was the first round of the playoffs - with them here again - so they stayed. I thought that I heard that they had to practice at another arena - perhaps the Fido.

[Siouxmama]

of course, why wouldnt they? theres many rinks for them.....

Just wondering if they would get extra practices at the Ralph. I would assume they would get to practice, just not sure if there is a rule of how many practices you can have at the opponents rink before a game.

[AZSIOUX]

Just wondering if they would get extra practices at the Ralph. I would assume they would get to practice, just not sure if there is a rule of how many practices you can have at the opponents rink before a game.

probably just at other rinks around....

[Siouxmama]

Not at the Ralph - I don't believe. Seems to me this happended a couple of years ago with Mich Tech. The regular season ended with them here and the next weekend was the first round of the playoffs - with them here again - so they stayed. I thought that I heard that they had to practice at another arena - perhaps the Fido.

Thank you

[Siouxmama]

probably just at other rinks around....

and thank you, too

[WiSioux]

Wow... I didn't think of this until I read it on fightingsioux.com, but it's amazingly true!

"In the dying minutes of the second period, UND sophomore defenseman Joe Finley attempted to backhand the puck out of his own zone and lifted it directly into the center ice scoreboard. That Finley hit the scoreboard proved to be prophetic, because that

[Irish]

They always have had D-1 goaltending!

Yes, but crappy D-1 goaltending

[AZSIOUX]

Yes, but crappy D-1 goaltending

not the last 4 games

what have you done for me lately??

phil has given up 2 goals in last 2 wcha games, given up 5 goals in his last 4 games..1.25 GAA, and i was on phil big time but lets give credit to where its due. he has been MUCH better and has won 3 out of his last 4 games...thats a good thing and lets continue it vs UAA and pay those guys back. and lets face it, only given up 2 goals in 2 games should get you 2 wions for sure but on the other hand, only scoring 2 goals should get you swept, hopefully toews, chorney and lee come back ready to rock and roll and kick some UAA azz!

oh yeah, toews will go on a tear similar to last years 2nd half and oshie will follow close behind

[Sioux-cia]

I made it to the game!! YAH! The weather was atrocious and the roads are worse. I routed north of Alburguergue last night so I didn't get to see Prp play. They closed roads all around there last night and this morning. I stayed in Santa Fe and didn't leave until 1030 this morning because the roads were 'difficult and dangerous' early in the morning. About 20 miles into Colorado, I ran into a horrible stretch of I25. For about 15 miles the traffic just inched along. There were at least two dozen vehicles in the ditches; cars, trucks, semis, suvs. Lots of police but no ambulances so I'm hoping no one was hurt or killed. It took me six hours to get from Santa Fe to Colorado Springs.

Was it worth it!!! Damn straight it was worth it. I got to see my Fighting Sioux win a game on the road!!

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

*g'night, I'm absolutely beat!*

[Irish]

not the last 4 games

what have you done for me lately??

phil has given up 2 goals in last 2 wcha games, given up 5 goals in his last 4 games..1.25 GAA, and i was on phil big time but lets give credit to where its due. he has been MUCH better and has won 3 out of his last 4 games...thats a good thing and lets continue it vs UAA and pay those guys back. and lets face it, only given up 2 goals in 2 games should get you 2 wions for sure but on the other hand, only scoring 2 goals should get you swept, hopefully toews, chorney and lee come back ready to rock and roll and kick some UAA azz!

oh yeah, toews will go on a tear similar to last years 2nd half and oshie will follow close behind

Agreed that the goaltending has been better the last 4 games - the only trouble is - this is not a 4 game season. For the year, I feel that we have had the worst goaltending in the league - as a result 8th place - If Phil feels that he should have been starting instead of Parise last year it's time to cowboy up and show us what he can do - I would trade goaltenders with at least 7 teams in the WCHA - how many games did you go away from thinking that we had the best goalie on the ice? We need a much more consistant effort from Phil for me to consider him a good goalie.

[AZSIOUX]

i agree on phil. step the f up and show us you have game. but now, not later...and he has the last 4 so lets hope it continues through. 2 big games vs UAA, need a sweep. then BSU home and home, HUGE. they are on a tear and are 5-1 vs the WCHA and those games can help out a lot in the pairwise then off to umtc (and they are kind of good ). not looking past UAA at all, just looking ahead at what we have and how damn important thgey are.i have faith in this team and a sweep is a must to get back over .500 next weekend

[PCM]

i agree on phil. step the f up and show us you have game. but now, not later...

And I continue to be amazed that nobody seems to hold the forwards to the same standard when it comes to scoring goals. It's unfair to place the entire burden for the team's struggles on Lamoureux or on individual defensemen. Score some freakin' goals so that Lamoureux and the defensive corps don't have to play perfectly for the team to win. That's really not an unreasonable expectation.

[Shawn-O]

And I continue to be amazed that nobody seems to hold the forwards to the same standard when it comes to scoring goals. It's unfair to place the entire burden for the team's struggles on Lamoureux or on individual defensemen. Score some freakin' goals so that Lamoureux and the defensive corps don't have to play perfectly for the team to win. That's really not an unreasonable expectation.

Chalk me up in the "forwards have been a disappointment" camp.

[Irish]

Chalk me up in the "forwards have been a disappointment" camp.

Among the many disapointments from this team this year has been the lack of scoring.

[Lives-to-play-hockey-06]

Atleast there is no more goalie controversy.

[Goon]

probably just at other rinks around....

Let them practice at the Gambuchi, or the Olympic ice, even better make them practice at 0500 in the morning but I wouldn't want getting used to practicing every day on the Ralph ice surface. I would imagine that Hakstol will use some gamemanship.

[7>4]

Among the many disapointments from this team this year has been the lack of scoring.

Irish, you ever thought of a career in motivational speaking? Come on man, get out of the van you live in down by the river and hit the road.

[LeftyZL]

And I continue to be amazed that nobody seems to hold the forwards to the same standard when it comes to scoring goals. It's unfair to place the entire burden for the team's struggles on Lamoureux or on individual defensemen. Score some freakin' goals so that Lamoureux and the defensive corps don't have to play perfectly for the team to win. That's really not an unreasonable expectation.

That's what I have been trying to tell people this whole time. If we can begin to score 3-4 goals/game, every game, we can be a pretty good team by the end of the year and put us in good shape for another run. Now, I'm not saying we will be national champions or anything like that, but we can be a very very dangerous team in the 2nd half if we can score 1 more goal per game.

[redwing77]

And I continue to be amazed that nobody seems to hold the forwards to the same standard when it comes to scoring goals. It's unfair to place the entire burden for the team's struggles on Lamoureux or on individual defensemen. Score some freakin' goals so that Lamoureux and the defensive corps don't have to play perfectly for the team to win. That's really not an unreasonable expectation.

I would also add, though Phil's last 4 games have been good, it's a really high 1.25 GAA.

Really, what are we averaginge? A few games ago it was mentioned we're averaging about 3 points a game. Probably less than that now that we went two games only scoring 2 goals.

PCM is right. We aren't as deep in scoring forwards as we thought coming into this season. Forney hasn't found his scoring touch. Zajac hasn't found the net since the firest few games, Fabian just got a goal, Kaip isn't known for his scoring, Kozek and Watkins can't seem to light it up, Vandevelde is coming along but looking at his time at Moorhead and in Lincoln he's a late season bloomer, Oshie is having goal trouble (of course, even TH is starting to notice that he needs to shoot more)...

I don't know why Kozek and Oshie are having such trouble scoring goals. Kozek especially. I've watched him a lot the past year and a half and I KNOW he has a scoring touch. I KNOW it. It just confounds me as to why he's not lighting it up. Oshie... this guy works harder that most anyone on the team. He flies around the rink every shift. He's hit the outside of the net, the cross bar, and missed sure goals a TON. Of course, you have the valid reason of injury for part of it, but still...

In any case, historically speaking, the forwards (even with Stafford, Spirko, and Zajac) haven't exactly played well with Phil in net. And Lives-to-play- I'm not sure of there ever being a contraversy at the goaltending position. Hakstol plays the hotter goaltender (using a variety of criteria I surmise) and Phil has been the hotter tender this year. Sure, Grieco has had his moments (and hey, he's got one thing Phil doesn't: A W-L record above .500), but really, Phil has been the #1 goaltender since the moment Jordan Parise went pro.

[Irish]

Irish, you ever thought of a career in motivational speaking? Come on man, get out of the van you live in down by the river and hit the road.

I'm not really sure why you are trying to insult me - are you saying that this year's team is not disappointing or that we have had great goaltending and scoring? If so, make your case. If you can't back up your opinions with facts and think that insults are the way to go, shut your pie hole.

[PCM]

Really, what are we averaginge? A few games ago it was mentioned we're averaging about 3 points a game. Probably less than that now that we went two games only scoring 2 goals.

The Sioux are averaging 2.91 goals per game. They are giving up an average of 2.82 goals per game.

As Brad Schlossman noted in his blog, this is the lowest scoring UND hockey team ever. After this weekend, the average goals per game dropped even more. By comparison, during UND's most recent losing season in 01-02 under Blais, the Sioux averaged 3.62 goals per game.

Lamoureux's save percentage is now .902 and his goals against average is 2.48. Schlossman quoted Hakstol following the win over CC:

"Phil started the year with a couple of good weekends. He suffered an injury where, even though he was back playing, it was affecting him. It affected him right through the Christmas break. The first time we saw him back and really saw the Phil Lamoureux since he got injured was the first day back at practice from Christmas break. He's played four outstanding games for us. He needs to continue doing his job, and I think that gives the guys in front of him a little more confidence to do their job."

[Goon]

That's what I have been trying to tell people this whole time. If we can begin to score 3-4 goals/game, every game, we can be a pretty good team by the end of the year and put us in good shape for another run. Now, I'm not saying we will be national champions or anything like that, but we can be a very very dangerous team in the 2nd half if we can score 1 more goal per game.

Seriously though, you still can't be giving up 3 and 4 goals every night either though and some of those goals that were let earlier in the year were of the really in weak variety. Now right now UND is playing good defensively and I hope it wasn't just a fluke. I also want to see how the Fighting Sioux match up against some good teams like Minnesota, Denver and SCSU, unforunatley we haven't beat the crappy teams this season so UND needs to get going this weekend work hard and slap UAA around losing any game to UAA is unacceptable I want the Sioux to wipe the Silly Smirk off of Nate Lawson's face. I want to see UND lite him up. The DOT lines needs to be flying.

My last question is if Phil was hurt he shouldn't have been playing?

[LeftyZL]

Seriously though, you still can't be giving up 3 and 4 goals every night either though and some of those goals that were let earlier in the year were of the really in weak variety. Now right now UND is playing good defensively and I hope it wasn't just a fluke. I also want to see how the Fighting Sioux match up against some good teams like Minnesota, Denver and SCSU, unforunatley we haven't beat the crappy teams this season so UND needs to get going this weekend work hard and slap UAA around losing any game to UAA is unacceptable I want the Sioux to wipe the Silly Smirk off of Nate Lawson's face. I want to see UND lite him up. The DOT lines needs to be flying.

My last question is if Phil was hurt he shouldn't have been playing?

I never said we could give up 3-4 goals a game and still win games. I said if we can increase our scoring to between 3-4 goals a game consistently, we could be a very dangerous team. Once this team starts scoring more, I feel our defense will be more confident, hit more people, and our goaltender that much more confident. We Can Be A Shutdown Team.

Lastly, it's been reported by many people on here and in the newspapers that Phil isn't actually hurt anymore, but that the injury was limiting him somewhat. He can't re-injure it at all. The only thing that will improve his movement is time. According to Schlossman's blog, since the Christmas break, Phil has been getting back to his old self.