Wow. Last night's game was exciting. I was literally on the edge of my seat most of the game. A couple friends and I watched the webcast of the game down here in IA. From start to finish the boys actually played like they wanted to win. They didn't wait until they got behind by a couple goals. Finally. Our forwards were always pressing the puck, the defense was making smart plays by pinching at the right times, other players were covering and dropping at the right times. Finally. We have a goaltender now too. Eidsness played amazing with some huge saves at crucial times. Finally. The Sioux weren't always looking for the perfect shot, they just got the puck to the net. Finally. I was even surprised by Hakstol, he showed some emotion and talked/yelled at the players. Finally.
One downside...I see Corey Fienhage sitting on the bench tonight. Yeah, he's young but he made too many mistakes last night. Multiple times he turned over the puck in bad spots or missed assignments on players. We're luck that only the one behind the net ended up a goal. It could have easily been more.
Anyway....looks like the Sioux are waking up and it's not even January yet. :)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Woohoo....it's finally here
Hockey season is here again and since Goon has been harassing me about posting, I suppose I should get around to it.
I spent Friday night with hockey overload, as it should be, watching 3 to 4 games at a time at the local pub. It was a good time to see some of our UND Fighting Sioux hockey alumni playing in the pros. Porter and Oshie playing for St. Louis. Toews for Chicago. Stafford for Buffalo. Parise and Zajac for New Jersey. A bit disappointing to not be able to see our rookies score their first points as pros, but that'll happen.
UND also had a disappointing weekend, but they're young. Not that it's an excuse but they also have very high expectations. Also, I've been a bit curious how they would fair when Hakstol finally got to his own recruiting class. Even though he's been successful the past four seasons, he really needs to perform or I think he may be out soon. I've always questioned his coaching style. He seems to rarely show any emotion and I think that somewhat rubs off on the players. Last year it they didn't appear to make much effort until they were behind in the game.
Well anyway...
I'm hoping to get more time to blog this year, but since school is in full swing again....we'll see. I'm also working to get started with a bit of an alumni tracker, so people can check in on how our boys in the pros are doing. Obviously, it'd start with UND first and then may morph into more of a WCHA list. We'll see how that goes since I'm not sure how much time I'll have.
That's it for now....stay tuned.
I spent Friday night with hockey overload, as it should be, watching 3 to 4 games at a time at the local pub. It was a good time to see some of our UND Fighting Sioux hockey alumni playing in the pros. Porter and Oshie playing for St. Louis. Toews for Chicago. Stafford for Buffalo. Parise and Zajac for New Jersey. A bit disappointing to not be able to see our rookies score their first points as pros, but that'll happen.
UND also had a disappointing weekend, but they're young. Not that it's an excuse but they also have very high expectations. Also, I've been a bit curious how they would fair when Hakstol finally got to his own recruiting class. Even though he's been successful the past four seasons, he really needs to perform or I think he may be out soon. I've always questioned his coaching style. He seems to rarely show any emotion and I think that somewhat rubs off on the players. Last year it they didn't appear to make much effort until they were behind in the game.
Well anyway...
I'm hoping to get more time to blog this year, but since school is in full swing again....we'll see. I'm also working to get started with a bit of an alumni tracker, so people can check in on how our boys in the pros are doing. Obviously, it'd start with UND first and then may morph into more of a WCHA list. We'll see how that goes since I'm not sure how much time I'll have.
That's it for now....stay tuned.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Interesting night
Well, we had some vouchers left for tickets for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders, which is a USHL team. They just so happened to be playing the Indiana Ice. The Fighting Sioux have a couple recruits playing for the Ice right now, so I knew this would be a good chance to catch them in action before next year.
Ben Blood is one of those recruits. I have to tell you I really enjoyed watching him play. He's a big, solid defenseman and moves the puck very well. He jumps up in the play when needed and scored a goal last night. He had a lot of ice time last night, I swear he was on every other shift. I think he's got a very similar style to Genoway or Chorney. Should be a great addition to our D core.
Corey Fienhage is the other recruit. He didn't play nearly as much as Blood and his stats show that he's played many fewer games. I'm not sure if that was due to injury or something else. From his play last night, I'd say he's probably got another year in the USHL to do some more growing as a player. Corey's parents were also in attendance. His father was wearing a hat with the old geometric logo on it. This means they've either been fans for a while or possibly may be a legacy. I had a brief chat with them but had to get my beer and back to my seats before the period started.
I know I've seen a list before that details when each recruit is planning to begin their career with UND, but I can't remember where.
Another note on last nights game...The Fighting Sioux's assistant coach, Cary Eades, was in attendance. I got to talk to him briefly but he didn't seem very interested in talking to me. While I can understand that he probably gets approached by a lot of crazy fans, I didn't think that was a very classy move. I thought Canadians were supposed to be polite. I did get one important answer out of him, even though it wasn't definitive. "Will Kozek be back on the top line with Osh and Dunc?" The answer "There's a good chance." Come on.....you know they've been spectacular together. There's a reason that they put him back up there towards the end of the UND/WI game.
And finally, one side not for the Goon, a Boston Bruins recruiter was also at the game last night. He didn't seem very talkative either. Seemed once we asked him who he was recruiting for, he disappeared. It's not like I was harassing these people, I asked one question.
Oh, and one other thing, Goon better be posting some pictures of our recruits from last night. I sent them to him, since I haven't figured this thing out completely yet.
Ben Blood is one of those recruits. I have to tell you I really enjoyed watching him play. He's a big, solid defenseman and moves the puck very well. He jumps up in the play when needed and scored a goal last night. He had a lot of ice time last night, I swear he was on every other shift. I think he's got a very similar style to Genoway or Chorney. Should be a great addition to our D core.
Corey Fienhage is the other recruit. He didn't play nearly as much as Blood and his stats show that he's played many fewer games. I'm not sure if that was due to injury or something else. From his play last night, I'd say he's probably got another year in the USHL to do some more growing as a player. Corey's parents were also in attendance. His father was wearing a hat with the old geometric logo on it. This means they've either been fans for a while or possibly may be a legacy. I had a brief chat with them but had to get my beer and back to my seats before the period started.
I know I've seen a list before that details when each recruit is planning to begin their career with UND, but I can't remember where.
Another note on last nights game...The Fighting Sioux's assistant coach, Cary Eades, was in attendance. I got to talk to him briefly but he didn't seem very interested in talking to me. While I can understand that he probably gets approached by a lot of crazy fans, I didn't think that was a very classy move. I thought Canadians were supposed to be polite. I did get one important answer out of him, even though it wasn't definitive. "Will Kozek be back on the top line with Osh and Dunc?" The answer "There's a good chance." Come on.....you know they've been spectacular together. There's a reason that they put him back up there towards the end of the UND/WI game.
And finally, one side not for the Goon, a Boston Bruins recruiter was also at the game last night. He didn't seem very talkative either. Seemed once we asked him who he was recruiting for, he disappeared. It's not like I was harassing these people, I asked one question.
Oh, and one other thing, Goon better be posting some pictures of our recruits from last night. I sent them to him, since I haven't figured this thing out completely yet.
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