Rats! Foiled Again! (Redwing77)

Today UND finally fell to Minnesota... well, fell again to Minnesota as the season record for UND falls to 2-4. The story of the game was fundamentals.

UND simply played without discipline and refused to just shoot the puck at the net. Minnesota's 4th goal was EXACTLY the kinds of goals UND needed. Same with UND's 2nd goal. All that the goal scorer did was throw the puck at the net. The net was crashed and the puck deflected in.

UND time and time again forgot about the backcheckers, hesitated, and failed to be able to make simple passes.

In the end, the inevitable will happen:

1. Minnesota fans will flock to UND message boards and blogs and gloat.
2. UND fans will look forward to next season.
3. Haters will again call for Hakstol's head.

Inevitably Hakstol and Forbort will be thrown under the bus, but again I argue that Minnesota won because they swarmed the puck better, passed better, played more disciplined, and overall played better.

My hat's off to them. I just wish it didn't have to end.

Players of the game?

3rd Star - Danny Kristo
2nd Star - Erik Haula
1st Star - Travis Boyd

Honorable Mentions: Zach Budish, Nate Condon, Tayler Matson, Joe Gleason.

Here's why: Danny Kristo.... other than perhaps Joe Gleason and Mario Lamoreaux, Danny played the hardest of any of the Sioux players out there. No one really stood out more than Kristo for UND.

Haula was all over the ice and scored a big powerplay goal to get the ball rolling out of UND's grasp.

Boyd scores his first goal of the season and of his career and it is the game winner that sends Minny to Tampa.

I could have given a nod to Condon as he was VERY noticable all over the ice. He only factored in on one goal, but he was a lot like Kristo was, but for Minnesota.

The First WTF Game of the year for UND (RW77)

Image via WikipediaWhat the [BLEEP]

Ok, I admit that family engagements took me away for half the game. I came into the picture just after Kristo scored the game tying goal and both goaltenders were replaced. And when Hennessey said "6-6" on the radio, I assumed he was talking about some player's height. Later, on I-29 at the I-29/I-94 Interchange when he restated that it was the score, I almost crashed (ok, I didn't but I was shocked).

What the BLEEP happened in this game? Where did our D go? Where did our goaltending go? Where did our offense come from? Where did CC's D and goaltending come from? Why did Thrombert (sp?) start this game and not Howe?

I thought I was in bizarro world because our D took a break and our offense showed up... unlike previous contests where our D was the only positive aspect of our gameplay.

So I get home as the second period ends and it appeared (as much as the radio can tell me) that it was pretty much blah hockey after the sixth UND goal until the third period began.

Anyways, I was able to get online to watch the third period and here are a few things I noticed:

1. CC was atrocious with the puck. I've never seen more whiffs in my life! Was this because the ice was bad or were they seriously NOT paying enough attention toward handling the puck?

2. CC was disorganized at times and seemed to be lost. CC better thank Howe big time tonight because he bailed out their backsides many many times.

3. Eidsness was solid but not great. He did not give up a goal and he did make a few great saves, but there were plenty of instances where CC took themselves out of the equation when they had a clear shot. I am a Eidsness supporter and I do believe he played well enough tonight to earn a start tomorrow, but who knows what Hakstol has in mind. I could see Hakstol going back to Dell to see if he gets a good game on the rebound.

4. Forbert was amazing in the third period. I thought he played incredibly well and saved Eidsness' hide a few times.

5. Kristo ends the night with 2 goals and 1 assist. Although he may end up with it anyways, if he scores one more point this weekend, there's no way Kristo isn't the WCHA Offensive POTW. No way.

6. This is not the format we need to win. Once again, it was almost exclusively first and second liners scoring the goals. The only exception was Nick Mattson's goal and Michael Parks' goal. That's something like the 2nd or 3rd goal this year from the 3rd or 4th line. Not very balanced still.

7. Howe is clearly better than Thrombert. I don't need to elaborate other than the game winner was a goal that Howe had ZERO chance of saving... without super powers anyways.

8. Gleason looks a lot better.

9. I definitely like this look better than dressing a D as a forward. Sorry "Big Jim" but I do not like Senkbeil as a forward. He doesn't add anything and he even said he's never played forward until recently.

10. My three stars: 3rd Star: Brock Nelson (2g, 1a; solid night overall). 2nd Star: Rylan Schwartz (3 goals). 1st Star: Danny Kristo (2g, 1a). Honorable mentions to Corbin Knight, Nick Mattson, Nick Dineen

I think Eidsness gets the nod tomorrow (my hunch). I also think all the offense we saw tonight will be gone tomorrow. I say no more than 5 goals combined tomorrow.

Sioux Roster may be complete (RW77)

With the departure of JT Miller to Major Juniors (thanks to a 3 year entry level NHL contract by the NY Rangers), UND has recruited Connor Gaarder out of Edina, MN by way of Coulee Region of the NAHL. Brad Schlossman sums it up right here:

In the wake of J.T. Miller bolting to the OHL, UND has added another forward — former Edina High forward Connor Gaarder (pronounced “Gorder”). He will join the team this fall.

Gaarder, who helped the Hornets to the state tournament along with Sioux junior-to-be Joe Gleason, has spent the last two years in the North American Hockey League.

Gaarder had 26 points in 58 games for North Iowa two years ago. Last year, he tallied 61 points in 58 games for Coulee Region Chill.

All in all, this looks like a good depth signing. I don't know what to expect from Gaarder at all. He may just be practice forward. He may be another Lee Marvin. Or he could be another walk on turned everyday starter. We'll see.

Drop the puck!

Slightly Chilled on Sioux recruit Rocco Grimaldi

USHL Photo

Ryan Clark from the Fargo Forum has a really nice article on Fighting Sioux recruit Rocco Grimaldi who is coming to UND this fall. Some have compared Roco Grimaldi to players like Brian Gionta or a Nate Gerbie because of the type of game that he plays. Roco coach on the U-18 team has already compared him to Brian Gionta. Personally, I hope Roco is half a good as the two aforementioned players.

Slightly Chill ---- Just about anyone following sports or even pop culture knows that Tebow is a God-first athlete that’s just about as devout as it gets. He did mission trips to the Philippines where he was born and during spring break at Florida, he did ministry with inmates in the Florida prison system.


Has Grimaldi done that? No. Should he? No. But can he leave a mark on college hockey like Tebow did with college football? Absolutely. It has come out that Grimaldi is an extremely devout young man. Sit down and hear the kid talk and you know this isn’t an act. He has his favorite Bible verses, he understands the stories in the Bible and furthermore, you know he’s the kind of kid that’s grateful for everything.

Every sport has its knuckleheads and its good guys. Hockey, whether it be pro or college, has its good guys but there’s a chance Grimaldi could become that shining example. He’s going to a school where hockey is religion and at that place, if you’re good enough, people will treat you as if you are larger than life.

That’s a lot for a 18-year-old to handle. Really, it is a lot for many people to handle. The pressure of a fan base can cripple anyone but this is what makes kids like Grimaldi so different. His faith, he feels, can lift that burden and make him stronger for it.

Grimaldi might not give “The Speech” like Tebow but he can certainly have an impact on a locker room and his infectious attitude and views can spread further. Colten St. Clair, who’ll also be at UND next year, said he was impressed with the way Grimaldi handles himself and how he is strong in his faith.

His faith could also be the other thing that really impresses people. We all have heard the jokes regarding Tebow and his faith and we saw the way he dealt with it. Of course, Grimaldi won’t get nearly the national attention Tebow got, but we all know whether it be in the stands or through a message board, people can be pretty vocal. Just ask Todd Reynolds about it.

EDIT: This blog post was lost in hyperspace and reappeared today.