Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

[DLW4GOPHERS]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

north dakotas penalty kill impressed me. id say the best the gophers have seen this season. marshall is going to be an incredible college hockey player. nice to see the gophs beat the sioux on the scoreboard AND in the 2nd period scrum.

to the sioux fan in the offseason that told me on this forum that blood was going to take rau out- theres irony in that the biggest hit of the night was rau hitting blood against the boards props to blood though.. he kept his cool even though rau seemed to harass him all night. rau didnt do MUCH offensively tonight- but did look great on the penalty kill. cant complain there. also expected more out of kristo. looking forward to tomorrow! should be a different game.. im expecting more scoring from both teams.

If you don't think Rau did much on offense last night, you might want to watch the game again. Take a look at the assist he had on Bjugstad's goal. There were many other moments he had during the game. He is not just one of the best freshman in the country, he is one of the best college players in the country.

 

[carltonbarrett]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Well, so much for NoDak "reloading" up front. They are really lacking in high end forwards this year and I could easily see them missing the NCAA's.

 

[Driftryder]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Well, so much for NoDak "reloading" up front. They are really lacking in high end forwards this year and I could easily see them missing the NCAA's.

They may not have as many top end forwards as in years past but I'm sure once January comes around they will be clicking like usual. They seem to have good goaltending (last night for sure) and the D core is very solid.

 

[goldy_331]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

I thought it was more high than from behind - I watched it closely a few times (especially the view from the boards) and saw plenty of shoulder contact but I can't necessarily disagree with the call at full speed.

At full speed it looked to be definite from behind and worthy of a five. Didn't see any head contact though, doesn't much matter as I agree with the result. I thought on the PP where Bjugstad scored that Rau got run from behind pretty blatantly and the Gophs should have earned another PP for it. 'Course the Gophers got away with some uncalled too. Don't think the reffing was bad overall.

Agree that Dell looked very sharp as did Patterson, could have been much higher scoring with average goaltending in both ends.

Absolutely love Rau's game - tenacious, skilled, not afraid to take on much bigger players. Hope he stays more than one season.

 

[jerryj]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

If you don't think Rau did much on offense last night, you might want to watch the game again. Take a look at the assist he had on Bjugstad's goal. There were many other moments he had during the game. He is not just one of the best freshman in the country, he is one of the best college players in the country.

was that Rau that kicked the puck out to bjugstad? i am pretty sure that was schmidt? (could be wrong). whoever that was- it was an amazing play. my point was I thought nodak did a good job of keeping rau limited. looked like blood was out there every time rau was.. but rau did still contribute (was playing very physical and obviously key on the PK unit). id agree he is one of the best freshmen in the country.

how do people think hakstol is doing with his management of grimaldi? i dont agree with it at all.. playing him 1 game here and there when hes clearly not 100%. sit him until he is healthy so he can be a major contributor (and develop properly). even as a gopher fan I was hoping grimaldi would play last night- for the kids sake but maybe he had ANOTHER set back last weekend against st cloud?

 

[Driftryder]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Absolutely love Rau's game - tenacious, skilled, not afraid to take on much bigger players. Hope he stays more than one season.

You think he really would be a flight risk after 1 year? I was hoping maybe his size would keep the NHL at bay for a few years anyway.

 

[Driftryder]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

was that Rau that kicked the puck out to bjugstad? i am pretty sure that was schmidt? (could be wrong).

It was Rau, after he was run from behind on the side wall he got the puck back out to Bjugstad for a great assist.

 

[BinaIsAGod]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

The Sioux lack a few forwards that they were planning on to step up big early in the year. Roco(injured), O'donnell(out 6-8 weeks), St. Clair(inelig.), and Miller(MJ). That's a lot of depth the Sioux could really use right now. Having defensemen play up front isn't working this year. But that's no excuse, MN was the better team last night and deserved to win. They back checked really well, and got lots of sticks on pucks. Kristo had his worst game of the year, and needs a better performance tonight. If the Sioux can somehow score first it would really help out, they have been trailing in almost every game this year. They need to play better as a whole team to win though, and that needs to start tonight.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Stafford wasn't Chris Leak's backup his Freshman of the Year. Tebow just didn't get the playing time.

Wow, you went wayyyyy back in this thread for that one. FWIW, we were just joking around back and forth about the Rau-Rocco comparison, likening it to Stafford-Tebow. While Stafford (Rau in this comparison) was a great player, got off to a pretty good start as a freshman, ultimately was on the Freshman of the year team, and is the significantly better pro, Tebow (Rocco) had a great college career and won two national titles. Of course, there is the religious aspect as well. Again though, it was a joke comparison, and not meant to be taken seriously. Also, Tebow was on the 2006 SEC Freshman of the Year team as well...they tied for the QB spot.

 

[jerryj]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

I cant imagine Rau being a flight risk. Florida has a bunch of talented forward prospects (including Bjugstad, Corban Knight, Drew Shore, and Rocco Grimaldi from the WCHA alone.. let alone guys like Huberdeau and Dadonov). I would expect Florida to sign them sooner than later but Rau should be here 3 or 4 years.. certainly HOPE so.

Floridas GM also wanted Bjugstad to sign this offseason but did not pressure him to. unless Rau WANTS to leave early- he likely will not be pressured to leave early. Especially if florida likes his development at the U.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

IMO, Rau-ser is here for 2 years, minimum. I hope for 3, would be shocked at 4.

 

[shiftyjedi]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Wow, you went wayyyyy back in this thread for that one. FWIW, we were just joking around back and forth about the Rau-Rocco comparison, likening it to Stafford-Tebow. While Stafford (Rau in this comparison) was a great player, got off to a pretty good start as a freshman, ultimately was on the Freshman of the year team, and is the significantly better pro, Tebow (Rocco) had a great college career and won two national titles. Of course, there is the religious aspect as well. Again though, it was a joke comparison, and not meant to be taken seriously. Also, Tebow was on the 2006 SEC Freshman of the Year team as well...they tied for the QB spot.

All I was doing is pushing your analogy in a different direction or completing it. It makes much more sense, stated as this "Rocco like Tebow in his freshman year was not needed as huge as his team already had the veteran's and great players as where Stafford much like Rau was needed right away to be huge. And while Stafford was great got his team far, Tebow turned into an all-time college great who won two national titles." I can buy into that analogy, but I wouldn't bet too much on it.

 

[jerryj]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

regarding rau signing- id be more shocked at him playing just 2 years here than I would 4. still VERY early in year 1 so I guess we will see..

 

[Greyeagle]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

If you don't think Rau did much on offense last night, you might want to watch the game again. Take a look at the assist he had on Bjugstad's goal. There were many other moments he had during the game. He is not just one of the best freshman in the country, he is one of the best college players in the country.

This. Rau had as many chances to score during UND's 5 min PP as UND did.

UND seems to have the same problem MN had for a couple years: A solid 2nd line and three 4th lines.

Lammy is an obnoxious little poop but man he's not afraid to block a shot. Schmidt has a cannon.......and not only did he block the first one he hobbled back for more.

 

[shiftyjedi]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

I cant imagine Rau being a flight risk. Florida has a bunch of talented forward prospects (including Bjugstad, Corban Knight, Drew Shore, and Rocco Grimaldi from the WCHA alone.. let alone guys like Huberdeau and Dadonov). I would expect Florida to sign them sooner than later but Rau should be here 3 or 4 years.. certainly HOPE so.

Floridas GM also wanted Bjugstad to sign this offseason but did not pressure him to. unless Rau WANTS to leave early- he likely will not be pressured to leave early. Especially if florida likes his development at the U.

Jesus, the All-WCHA team might as well come out in Panthers Jersey's this year.

 

[shiftyjedi]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

This. Rau had as many chances to score during UND's 5 min PP as UND did.

UND seems to have the same problem MN had for a couple years: A solid 2nd line and three 4th lines.

Lammy is an obnoxious little poop but man he's not afraid to block a shot. Schmidt has a cannon.......and not only did he block the first one he hobbled back for more.

I do see the comparisons, the Gophers started out nicked up or sick (Bjugstad with Mono) last year and both teams started out the gate disappointing. I could see the Sioux get hit by the World Juniors as well and fall to far behind to reach the tournament. ND probably will still be able to make the tournament since they have enough veterans like Blood, Kristo, Lamoureaux, and McKnight as long as Dell plays as strong as he did last night. Still they look like a young team that will be a force next year. Once your in the tournament anythings goes.

 

[vizoroo]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Jesus, the All-WCHA team might as well come out in Panthers Jersey's this year.

Panthers Coach, Kevin Dineen, probably wouldn't mind. He is a former DU/WCHA player. He was named Captain of the DU team as a sophomore.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Jesus, the All-WCHA team might as well come out in Panthers Jersey's this year.

Yeah, I think the NJ Devils got tired of taking players from the WCHA.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Courtesy of Jupiter on GPL:

Courtesy of Slap Shot:

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Sioux vs Gophers - Sioux invade the John...

Let's put it this way, Sloe Gin (retired) and I made a bet, since he was being all down and out on his team. I bet a beer that the Gophers WOULDN'T sweep. UND is better than they have been showing. I chalk it up to the traditional slow start. He thinks it's for real.

Edit: and before my tARROGANCE is questioned, I either win a sweep, or a free beer. Hedge your bets, I always say.

Or you could have had your beer and drank it too