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SIOUX vs SEAWOLVES


AZSIOUX

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So good to get 2 in a night at home and nice to get 3 (though I'd hoped for 4).

Sweep next week and let's get some big mo heading down the stretch.

Liked the intensity and I say that even had there not been a fight. Good effort all around.

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I'll disagree. This is different than the "He blew a call" or whatever things. The NCAA enforces a no fight rule. When there is a no fight rule in place (one I actually favor, so don't get the wrong opinion), you have to counter the reasoning for allowing fights in other ways. The most obvious way to do it is to have coaches and players on board with this and play in a style that doesn't resort to cheap shots and poor sportsmanship. Of course, that's rather idealistic and naive. So, the practical solution is to add enforcement and protection aspects to the rule book and, hence, the officials' jobs. Friesema, as a ref in this league, has to step up and protect the players on both sides. He failed to do that. It teetered on the brink last night and was out of control at times tonight. He has to set the tone of what is and isn't allowed and Friesema didn't do that.

As for the HE incident, holy cow.... am I understanding this right? An HE official confronted a player? Or did a player confront the official? WOW! I think HE may be short an official! This has definitely been a notable year in the area of officiating.... Means and perhaps Jutting accosting Campion and now Hanson pretty much ending his HEA career.

Lives-to-Play- Really? Somehow your response doesn't surprise me in the least.

Finley, Zajac, and Kaip played MAGNIFICENTLY tonight despite not registering a point. Props to Kaip (again) and Radke for taking on players who were bigger than they were. Anderson had 3 inches and something like 11 pounds on Kaip (6'1 200 vs 6'4" 211 or so IIRC).

As for if this was the best game we've had all season... I don't know.. defensively the Saturday game vs. CC was pretty darn good. Offensively speaking, yeah, I think this is right up there.

You expected me to complement Finley on his +2 rating?

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Two responses: Goon- I didn't say I didn't like Friesema as an official. Trust me, we all know there are far worse. Is he the best? Don't know. No track record.

Sioux-cia- I agree with your assessment of officiating but something drastic like releasing all of the officials may not be the best. I wonder how many of the "better" officials are merely calling it like Greg dictates it is to be called whether they like it or not?

Officials I'd retain (even if it is only on probation):

Campion

Friesema

Zelkin (if he's still around)

Hunt

Albers

Officials that would be gone:

Adam

Schmidt

Anderson

D. Shepherd (mixed feelings here. When he has a bad game it is REALLY bad. I have seen him call a good game every now and then though...)

Mason

I like the list!

And feel that Shepherd deserves the axe! But we all no daddy's little boy will never get the chop! :sad:

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I met these guys last week and they were just fine. The head coach in particular was quite friendly. I wouldn't read too much into them not shaking hands.

I'm going from memory here but wasn't there a policy in the last couple of years where the coaches couldn't go out in the lineup to shake hands or something like that? Maybe they just decided to head to the hot tub as soon as they shook the Sioux coaches' hands.

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My two cents:

Phil played a great game, as expected he is playing very well as of late.

Bina and Finley +2 ratings, I expected this out of Bina but not Finley, Very interesting D pair.

Duncan keeps putting them away.

Don't understand this comment.

Finley has been the best +/- defenseman this year and overall the past two years:


		  2005-2006	  2006-2007	 Totals


Finley	   +18			+9		   +27

Lee		  +15			-1		   +14

Chorney	  +21			-4		   +17

Radke		+14			-5		   + 9

Jones		+14			+1		   +15

Bina		  NA			 0

Genoway	   NA			+3

Smaby		+18			NA

So this year Finley is +9, last year +18. So far this year Bina is 0. Seems to me the comment should be reversed; expect this out of Finley, not Bina.

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Are you kidding me?

Read my posts I said Finley and Bina played well.

When did I ever say that wasn't good?

Actually, you said that you expected +2 out of Bina, not Finley. Which means you expected Finley not to be good. Yeah, you never said he was bad, but rochsioux and siouxforeverbaby seem to point out how wrong you are.

Their arguments are more valid than mine because I don't use a lot of statistics, which is something you seem to rely heavily on...sometimes....when it supports your feelings.

But yeah, I already know about the "disrespect list" so you don't need to go into that. I'll just accept that you're wrong on Finley and you are too stubborn to admit it.

rochsioux- Nice find! Although, with how Bina has been playing, I find it interesting to see how he's only even in +/-. He's been super solid.

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I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm 2-0 so far this year, after attending the Friday game at Mankato and the Saturday tilt with UAA.

With due credit given to the genuine concerns that are often expressed here, the story of this season is that the team's three most important players were hurt in the first half of the season. Before their injuries, the team was coming along fine. But when they got hurt, the rest of the team wasn't yet ready to step up and carry the team. Even when they played, it was pretty clear that Toews and Oshie were hurt and weren't playing at their usual level. Lammy went down before the Mankato weekend, and although the Sioux won, they allowed 9 goals that weekend and won only because Tormey was terrible for Mankato. From that weekend until the Christmas break, the Sioux struggled to win, and every mistake was magnified.

The team appears to be rounding into form now, but with the tough schedule ahead, they face an incredible uphill climb to play into the Spring. The WCHA standings look OK right now, but consider that over the next three weeks, UND has the opportunity to claim only 4 points, and those would have to be snuck out of Mariucci arena. When the Sioux are playing BSU, then MN, then have an off week, the rest of the league is going to be winning points. The standings won't look so nice in three weeks, but a rested Sioux team will have its chance for a last run.

As for this weekend, my boys and I had a great time. Random impressions:

Jon Toews is in the wrong league. He's so smooth out there and just plain makes the right play all the time. In that regard he reminds me of Parise. Most of the time the right play isn't spectacular, it's just moving the puck to the open guy, or getting it deep. He'll go to the boards and hit someone, not a big crushing hit, but the puck's on his stick a half-second later, so he got what he needed. They are totally different players and not meaning to debate their relative strengths, but the last player I felt was this much ready for the next level was Vanek his second year.

TJ's explosiveness is back. That backhand off the crossbar was right in front of me, and, besides the crossbar part, it was a thing of beauty to watch. He also had a backcheck in the second period that would make his youth coaches proud. If he's not there, a Seawolf walks right out in front with the puck.

I really liked Darcy Zajac's game, as he also seems to have a good head for the game. When the Sioux just needed to play smart in the third to play out the game, he often made the right play: get it deep and bang it around a bit, 200 feet from your goalie.

I can understand people wanting him to score more, but I won't be able to understand anyone questioning Chris Porter's work ethic or his suitability for the captaincy. He busted his butt every shift. Two of the more memorable moments in this game were his running over the guy at the blueline on the PK late in the game, and his creative stick placement in the third (not really hooking, more like cupping). UND is really going to miss his and Erik Fabian's complete effort next year when they are gone.

Kozek looked like he didn't like wearing a suit on Friday night. He was very active physically. Really, when you think about it, if the puck isn't going in the net for you (which is the case for pretty much everyone except Duncan), why not go out and make it your mission to throw the big hit every shift.

From warmups, with the confrontation with Lawson, to the end of the game, when a 4-0 lead meant the primary objective was just to defend yourself and your teammates, this was a game where the toughness and intimidation side of the sport was more prominent than it usually is. Hockey is a game of incredible skill and grace, and the violence and macho stuff is usually an undercurrent. You know it's there, but it's not overt. In this game, you knew from warmups that it would not be a game for the timid. Hak said in the coaches show that Radke was in for his grit, and he was pretty strong in his postgame comments that this team needs to play tough.

Anyway, that's the way a home game with UAA is supposed to go. We'll see if they can continue to put it together with the tough upcoming schedule.

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I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm 2-0 so far this year, after attending the Friday game at Mankato and the Saturday tilt with UAA.

With due credit given to the genuine concerns that are often expressed here, the story of this season is that the team's three most important players were hurt in the first half of the season. Before their injuries, the team was coming along fine. But when they got hurt, the rest of the team wasn't yet ready to step up and carry the team. Even when they played, it was pretty clear that Toews and Oshie were hurt and weren't playing at their usual level. Lammy went down before the Mankato weekend, and although the Sioux won, they allowed 9 goals that weekend and won only because Tormey was terrible for Mankato. From that weekend until the Christmas break, the Sioux struggled to win, and every mistake was magnified.

The team appears to be rounding into form now, but with the tough schedule ahead, they face an incredible uphill climb to play into the Spring. The WCHA standings look OK right now, but consider that over the next three weeks, UND has the opportunity to claim only 4 points, and those would have to be snuck out of Mariucci arena. When the Sioux are playing BSU, then MN, then have an off week, the rest of the league is going to be winning points. The standings won't look so nice in three weeks, but a rested Sioux team will have its chance for a last run.

As for this weekend, my boys and I had a great time. Random impressions:

Jon Toews is in the wrong league. He's so smooth out there and just plain makes the right play all the time. In that regard he reminds me of Parise. Most of the time the right play isn't spectacular, it's just moving the puck to the open guy, or getting it deep. He'll go to the boards and hit someone, not a big crushing hit, but the puck's on his stick a half-second later, so he got what he needed. They are totally different players and not meaning to debate their relative strengths, but the last player I felt was this much ready for the next level was Vanek his second year.

TJ's explosiveness is back. That backhand off the crossbar was right in front of me, and, besides the crossbar part, it was a thing of beauty to watch. He also had a backcheck in the second period that would make his youth coaches proud. If he's not there, a Seawolf walks right out in front with the puck.

I really liked Darcy Zajac's game, as he also seems to have a good head for the game. When the Sioux just needed to play smart in the third to play out the game, he often made the right play: get it deep and bang it around a bit, 200 feet from your goalie.

I can understand people wanting him to score more, but I won't be able to understand anyone questioning Chris Porter's work ethic or his suitability for the captaincy. He busted his butt every shift. Two of the more memorable moments in this game were his running over the guy at the blueline on the PK late in the game, and his creative stick placement in the third (not really hooking, more like cupping). UND is really going to miss his and Erik Fabian's complete effort next year when they are gone.

Kozek looked like he didn't like wearing a suit on Friday night. He was very active physically. Really, when you think about it, if the puck isn't going in the net for you (which is the case for pretty much everyone except Duncan), why not go out and make it your mission to throw the big hit every shift.

From warmups, with the confrontation with Lawson, to the end of the game, when a 4-0 lead meant the primary objective was just to defend yourself and your teammates, this was a game where the toughness and intimidation side of the sport was more prominent than it usually is. Hockey is a game of incredible skill and grace, and the violence and macho stuff is usually an undercurrent. You know it's there, but it's not overt. In this game, you knew from warmups that it would not be a game for the timid. Hak said in the coaches show that Radke was in for his grit, and he was pretty strong in his postgame comments that this team needs to play tough.

Anyway, that's the way a home game with UAA is supposed to go. We'll see if they can continue to put it together with the tough upcoming schedule.

All valid points. My question is: who is going to score next year with Toews gone, Porter gone, Oshie possibly/likely gone? I like Zajac too, but I view him more as a grinder than a top flight scorer. Duncan can score, but without Oshie and Toews, its going to be a lot more difficult for him. The Sioux better hope that they have some impact freshmen next year, because I don't see a lot of natural scorers out of the rest of the current sophomore or freshmen classes. Maybe we will get lucky and Oshie, Chorney and Lee will all return.

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