More Merrimack Links.

Here is what Mike McMahon had to say about the Sioux in his blog post this morning. Sounds like the Sioux are going to be in for a very physical series this weekend.

Scouting The Sioux
To put it bluntly, North Dakota is an excellent hockey team. They have a lot of team speed that will challenge the Warriors, who will almost certainly utilize a trap in an attempt to bottle it up and shut down a very impressive Sioux offense, which scored an eye-popping 3.40 goals per game last season. Merrimack has been able to do this in the past to speedy teams — they beat UNH on their home sheet (Olympic size) last season — but doing so against an unfamiliar North Dakota team will prove to be a challenge.

Brad Eidsness was impressive in net as a freshman last season (2.56, .906) guiding the Sioux to a WCHA Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. In some UND games I caught on television last season (and watching them in Manchester at the NCAA’s) I was impressed with forward Evan Trupp, who scored 20 points as a sophomore (7-13–20) last season. He’s small (5-8, 164) but shifty and always seemed to be around the net.

As for the Warriors, don’t expect them to try and skate with the Sioux – they can’t – so defense will be a priority. I’d expect to see Merrimack sit back in the neutral zone and wait for their opportunities to attack on offense, sending one forechecker to force the pucks to the walls and create turnovers. The key is that the Warriors will need to capitalize when they get chances, because there might not be very many.

Also, hitting guys tends to slow them down. If MC can force pucks to the walls, they’ll also be able to bang some bodies. I’d expect a very physical, defensive Merrimack team for two games this weekend.

And remember, this is a non-conference games in a WCHA rink. Not as bad as the CCHA, for sure, but expect the Warriors to have to kill somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 penalties in the two games is my guess.
[Warrior Rink Rat]