Chuck Schwartz Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Not many people know how many conference titles you have. EVERYONE knows how many national championships you have. While a conference title is a nice bonus it is not the ultimate goal. The goal is to be playing for the national championship year in and year out, and since he's been here there isn't a coach in the entire nation that has done this as well as Dave Hakstol. Quit whining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow6 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Not many people know how many conference titles you have. EVERYONE knows how many national championships you have. While a conference title is a nice bonus it is not the ultimate goal. The goal is to be playing for the national championship year in and year out, and since he's been here there isn't a coach in the entire nation that has done this as well as Dave Hakstol. Quit whining. Correct, but winning the WCHA regular season does give you an opportunity to win a national title. Again this year with UND will be battling to get into the the national tourney. I think a lot of people are saying it would be nice to still be in the hunt for the conference title before we go the Christmas break once in a while and frankly I don't think that is too high of an expectation instead of wait for the 2nd half surge again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hiram Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 This is what I'm really getting tired of hearing, and I think it has a negative impact on the team. Hak says it all the time and now the players all say it in their interviews. "There is a lot of parity in the league, it's really hard to get a sweep in the WCHA." When the players hear this over and over and start repeating it themselves they WILL NOT sweep. When they win on a Friday and know that there is so much parity in the league that there is no hope for Sat. On the flip side, if they lose on a Friday they know that there is so much parity that they have to win on Saturday. These guys need to stop seeing other teams as equal to them, and start seeing themselves as an unbeatable team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 This is what I'm really getting tired of hearing, and I think it has a negative impact on the team. Hak says it all the time and now the players all say it in their interviews. "There is a lot of parity in the league, it's really hard to get a sweep in the WCHA." When the players hear this over and over and start repeating it themselves they WILL NOT sweep. When they win on a Friday and know that there is so much parity in the league that there is no hope for Sat. On the flip side, if they lose on a Friday they know that there is so much parity that they have to win on Saturday. These guys need to stop seeing other teams as equal to them, and start seeing themselves as an unbeatable team. One of my concerns is that the past few teams seem to be playing down to the level of the competition in some cases. Teams that UND would routinely throttle, year in and year out, now make it a race or beat us in our own barn. Wisco and Minnesota are the usual exceptions given the rivalries, but still ... A team that routinely features higher round NHL picks should not have to struggle as much as UND does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxweet Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I think that once this team gets a sweep under its belt it will snowball into a prolonged winning streak. Let's look at the bright side here in that in Hak's first three years here we have been swept at least once in the first half of the season: once his first year, twice his second year and 4 times last year before x-mas. This season we haven't been swept once, we have a winning record both overall and at home and have played arguably the toughest schedule in the country. I think anybody on this board would take us finishing 3rd and hanging number 8 at the end of the year instead of winning number 14 and coming home early in March. Let's hope the boys can heal most of their injuries in the next few weeks and come out like gangbusters against UNH, which when it comes to the pairwise at the end of the year this could be our biggest series of the year, it could mean the difference between a solid 2 seed or a 3 seed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux-per Villain Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I think that once this team gets a sweep under its belt it will snowball into a prolonged winning streak. Let's look at the bright side here in that in Hak's first three years here we have been swept at least once in the first half of the season: once his first year, twice his second year and 4 times last year before x-mas. This season we haven't been swept once, we have a winning record both overall and at home and have played arguably the toughest schedule in the country. I think anybody on this board would take us finishing 3rd and hanging number 8 at the end of the year instead of winning number 14 and coming home early in March. Let's hope the boys can heal most of their injuries in the next few weeks and come out like gangbusters against UNH, which when it comes to the pairwise at the end of the year this could be our biggest series of the year, it could mean the difference between a solid 2 seed or a 3 seed. Agreed. We sweep UNH and we'll be positioning ourselves favorably for the 2nd half and the NCAAs. Unfortunately, I believe the Mn win on Sat will be the start of their turn-around with several more cream-puffs on their schedule during the holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux7 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 The question I have is that why are the Sioux not playing with desperation like at the end of Saturday night s game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux-per Villain Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 The question I have is that why are the Sioux not playing with desperation like at the end of Saturday night s game? good question..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux-per Villain Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I also wonder if "The Pact" has an option for a 1 year extension? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big A HG Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I also wonder if "The Pact" has an option for a 1 year extension? Some of them need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Some of them need it. I agree, but enjoy Finley while he is here because he is going to be gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big A HG Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I agree, but enjoy Finley while he is here because he is going to be gone. I thought Finley has been great defensively so far this year. He never was meant to handle the puck so you can't blame him for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USA Hockey Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I think another thing that people need to look at is our schedule eases up in the second half of the year. Our home series with Michigan Tech, Anchorage, and Bemidji should probably all be sweeps. We also go to Mankato, which could easily be a sweep. We also play St. Cloud twice, who I don't think is as good of a team as they've had in the past few years. Like I said, as long as we can position ourselves with a top three finish in the conference, it would put is in good position for the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big A HG Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Out of USCHO's top 20 rankings, we only have 6 games all regular season that aren't against one of those top 20 teams. (Bemidji twice, Alaska twice, Mankato twice). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackedUp Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 So, after blowing yet another Saturday game at home, and settling for yet another split (no sweeps going into Christmas), is the opportunity for a WCHA title gone? Has UND stopped caring about that? Under Blais, UND won the title numerouos times, and we proudly display banners and trophy's from those years. For the last several years, UND has been very mediocre in the league. What has changed? We don't hang "NCAA Participation" banners at UND. Yet, that is all they have to show for the last several years. What is their record on Saturday nights in the new Ralph? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoflex Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 It would be nice to go 40-0, but those days in hockey are long behind us. Im really not sure what the deal with the program is or where it is going. Yes, I do agree there has been a general decline in the quality of play with the team over the past 5 years. No real superstars are emerging behind Oshie, and Im concerned about who is coming to take his place, especially since are recruiting hasn't been where we have been in the past in getting top ranked players (i.e Towes, Parise, etc..) The team should be looking better going into the second half, but they have actually been playing worse. The gophers played 5 out of 6 periods to win over the weekend, and deserved to win both games, but the 10 mintues of hockey the sioux played well on both nights was at least good enought to get one game. I was at both games this weekend, and the 3rd period of play on Firday, and the last 7 minutes on Saturday's game were Awsome in which the Sioux just dominated!, but where has that been and who are we going to see the second half. Also, just my opinion, but Duncan needs to be changed to the 2nd line for a while. He has looked pathetic this past year and it has become obvious that needs a bit of an incentive to play on the top line. 70% of his goal production came of the skates and stick of Towes, and without him, Duncan has been lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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