The Sicatoka Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 I knew there was a reason why I listen to AM radio. KKXL this morning (02/04/02) Coach Blais, in conversation with Tim Hennessy and Scott Swygman reported that (my comments in italics): Ryan Connelly will skate in practice this week (shoulder is better). Josh Siembida's ankle is fine and he will skate in practice this week. Chris Fournier will probably not be ready this weekend (concussion, elbow to head at MTU). Andy Kollar has looked better in practice. The phrase "old self" was used by Coach Blais. (Remember, Tyler Palmiscno was well enough (back) to replace Fournier Saturday at MTU. No mention of James Massen. Some have reported a shoulder problem.) Denny "I wanna drive the Zamboni" Gunderson has scraped down the main arena ice, repainted and rebuilt it. There was a problem. Under the concrete in the main rink it was supposed to be 40 degrees. It was 52 degrees. That is believed to be why the ice was soft, wet, and slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuhninca Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 I remember, during the HOF game weekend, one of the Gopher players commented "The ice is BAD" when asked. I've been wondering ever since whether they fixed the conditions or not. Anybody get more updates on the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 Good to hear they finally figured out that ice doesn't favor warm climates. When they showed the HoF game, the ice looked "soft" and later reports seemed to bear that out. I hope this fixes the problem. What new "toy" doesn't need a period of adjustment? Sounds like Blais is pretty upbeat about the team, although I would like to see Massen on the ice this weekend. I hope the team practices hard, as Lucia sounds like he is going to drill the gophers this week. Time to get some revenge boys, and play hard 60 minutes each night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 4, 2002 Author Share Posted February 4, 2002 In the past (before going to Minnesota) Blais had commented on how well the team had practiced on the side (Olympic) rink. Apparently the ice in there is firm. Also this morning Coach Blais had made the point that their game is dependent on the ability to be quick, make sharp moves, and capitalize on the other guy's mistakes. (Soft ice doesn't support that.) The main rink had better be right soon. Mr. E spent some serious money for ice, not slush. Also with six of the next eight games at home and the other two at (190 x 85) The DECC in Duluth the main rink is rink to practice on. Mr. Hennessy (ya gotta love Tim) commented on how he "doesn't like those guys" (meaning Minnesota). His belief is that they tend to hit after the whistle and seem to like to put gloves up into faces. He also put forth his thoughts that this is a result of a number of them coming straight from HS and never having had the tar beat out of them for doing such things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 In the Sat game at mariucci, Demarchi absolutely crushed Canady at center ice. It was a big hit and Canady got it because his head was down. But when you see the reply it pretty much looked like DeMarchi hit Canady and followed through with this gloves to Canady's head. I actually thought it should have been a high-sticking or roughing type penalty for that reason, but I don't know the rules that well and no one seemed to mention it or care about it so I assume that was ok. But it didn't strike me as a clean body check. I believe someone made a comment a few months ago about how it takes a year or so to get ice perfected in a new arena. Don't know who it was. Probably a poster on one of these boards but the comment seemed to be made with some kind of knowledge. Anyway, I hope they got it right. Sicatoka, you seem to be alluding to this but I ask directly, is this the sort of thing that really can be looked at as a reason this team has not performed as well as they would like at home? Or is this grasping for an excuse for an underachieving team??? As for Massen, I had heard that he had a tough shoulder but that was not in any official capacity. So maybe no comment by Blais was made because his status is unchanged and he will play as normal this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 If you look at teams that moved into new building you will see that it takes time to get used to the new building. Check out the NHL, Montreal, Boston, Chicago, LA all moved into new building in the last 1-10 years all had some degree of trouble with their new buildings. The Boston Bruins is the most notable. I think also Minnesota had trouble when they first moved into the new maryucci... It is just part of the transition period. I am sure there will be a few quirkes to the new building that will take some time to fix. When I sad down in the lower bowl last series I didn't realize how on top of the ice the lower seats are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdan Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 I believe someone made a comment a few months ago about how it takes a year or so to get ice perfected in a new arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 4, 2002 Author Share Posted February 4, 2002 No, no one has come out and said, "It's all the ice's fault!" but statements about how the ice doesn't favor the game they want to play, especially by Coach Blais, say a lot. UND's record on road NHL-sized rinks (assumably with good ice) is 4-0. (The GLI and at MTU.) Believe it or not, arena ice is more art than science. Figure all of the numbers and models you want, but it's not right until you adjust it to in-place physical reality. If Denny couldn't get that ice right, there was something wrong. Well, it sounds like they've got a good lead on the problem. Now just let the unsung member of that team, Denny G., work his magic. Just a random opinion: We know that young teams take their lumps. We see that teams with new ice (UMn, UW, DU) take lumps the first year. Personally, I'd rather take all of the lumps at once, and then return them all at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 In the Sat game at mariucci, Demarchi absolutely crushed Canady at center ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Actually you can weigh in on Demarchi on http://www.USCHO.COM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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