Make that 3 down for the count (RW77)

UND beat writer Brad Schlossman reports that freshman forward Brendan O'Donnell is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Surgery is soon to come. This means that we've now lost three for the season: 2 freshmen (O'Donnell and Grimaldi) and 1 sophomore (Rodwell).

What it also means is that we have exactly ZERO depth as UND will dress EVERY healthy skater they have. They will only have one healthy scratch overall: Tate Maris. What does this mean?

For me, as a realist (ok cynic), it means that everything we do in the second half that is positive comes with added bonus. It also means that the chance of a "Fire Hakstol" thread appearing on SS.com and other message boards will increase exponentially. The haters will start appearing in force and demanding change. No, I don't think the masses will rise up, but the haters always become more vocal (and therefore more visible) when bad news rears its ugly head.

Which leads me to wonder:

1. Can they convince the Lamoreaux twins to get boy cuts and certain cosmetic alterations so as to boost our depth?

2. Is there a way that UND could go out and hold tryouts for depth players? If we get further injuries, things could get worse!

3. If we make the NCAAs this year with all the adversity behind the nickname distraction and all the injuries, would Hakstol be considered for coach of the year (haters need not answer this one. We already know what you'd say).

4. If we stop being able to dress 4 lines of forwards and 3 lines of D, how will expectations for this team be affected?

5. What about physical play? If we start dropping like flies, will our playing style have to change? I'd think it'd have to...

Sioux out two key underclassmen.

This is the bad news that Sioux fans kind expected was going to be coming this week. UND lost two key underclassmen players; Chay Genoway was hurt in Sunday game during the first period on a checking from behind penalty and super frosh Evan Trupp was hurt on a freak accident that after watching the tape I still can't figure out what happened.

Genoway, Trupp Out Indefinitely for North Dakota
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A two-game sweep of Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend propelled North Dakota to the top spot in the current Pairwise, but the Fighting Sioux may have paid a significant price the victories.

Freshman forward Evan Trupp, the team's top-scoring rookie, and sophomore defenseman Chay Genoway, the WCHA's top-scoring defenseman in points-per game, will both be out of the North Dakota lineup indefinitely after suffering major injuries over the weekend.

No timetable has been set for their returns, and whether or not they will return to the lineup at all this season remains questionable.

Genoway, who has amassed 22 points in 30 games this season, was injured in the first period of Sunday's game after being checked from behind into the boards by Minnesota-Duluth junior forward Michael Gergen, a former teammate of Genoway's. Gergen was ejected from the game for the hit.

The loss of Genoway, who is second on the team with a +19 on-ice rating, leaves the Fighting Sioux with six active defensemen.

Trupp, meanwhile, was injured in the second period on Saturday, fracturing a bone in his leg according to the Grand Forks Herald. Trupp (eight goals, five assists) had played in every game for North Dakota this season until his injury.

The injuries to Genoway and Trupp come a week before the end of the WCHA regular season. North Dakota is in the midst of a nation-best 15-game unbeaten streak and will host St. Cloud in a pair of games this weekend. The Fighting Sioux sit only two points behind first-place Colorado College in the WCHA standings.