Upcoming series vs. Bemidji and a few notes

The Sioux christen the new Bemidji State arena this weekend, and it promises to be a good series. Bemidji is excited to be in the WCHA and I know coach Serratore is happy to be playing more than 3 other teams for the majority of the season, as he emphasized in the WCHA Coaches Media Call.

I remember when the Sioux opened the Engelstad to the University of Minnesota and were handed a 6-3 defeat. Let's hope the Sioux are able to deliver the same to Bemidji on Friday night.

Some notes from Schloss's blog that I'm borrowing and reemphasizing. One of them is the fact that the Sioux are going back to a system of not announcing who will be the starting goaltender until Friday night. I'm excited for this. It means that either the coaching staff has great confidence in Aaron Dell, not as much confidence in Eidsness, both, or that they have confidence in both guys and assume both players can carry the team on any given night. Either way, it bodes well for the Sioux, who in recent years have watched their goalies melt down in big games at the end of the season.

One thing to note is this will be Bemidji's first game of the season. They haven't even played an exhibition game yet. The Sioux have already played 2 regular season games and one exhibition game. In all three games, we have seen the talent and what this team is capable of. We've also seen some rust and some things that don't look so good. Bemidji will certainly be hyped up for this game; there is no doubting that. But will they show some rustiness and nerves? Most definitely. Building the Bemidji Regional Event Center was a huge step for this program in staying competitive in Division 1 hockey and as far as this blogger is concerned, shows that Bemidji is ready to compete with the "big boys" of hockey (North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, etc.) With building a new arena though, comes an expectation of success. Fans and alumni of that great university will expect to see results. Players and coaches know this. We'll see how it shakes out the rest of the year, of course.

In lighter news, the USCHO ECAC writer has decided to make his weekly voting poll public, and he ranked our beloved Sioux at #13. I am understanding that people have an east coast bias, but this is absurd and ridiculous. To rank the Sioux that low is spitting in the face of every single Sioux player, coach, fan, and alum. To fire this writer would not be good enough for him. Brian Sullivan is a disgrace to society.

Also, the Sioux bus was hit today while waiting at a railroad crossing. None of the players were hurt, but the drivers car was totaled. No word whether the car was driven by St. Cloud goon Aaron Marvin or if he will be penalized for hitting from behind. :-)

See you tomorrow.