By Virg Foss
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Fans who miss the Sioux-Bison(s) rivalry in athletics got an exciting dose of it in a different form tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The University of North Dakota, ranked No. 1 in the preseason national college men's hockey polls, opened its season in an impressive fashion with a 9-3 thumping of the University of Manitoba Bisons in front of 11,007 fans.
The Fighting Sioux got a hat trick from senior captain Rylan Kaip (Radville, Saskatchewan), a three-point game from sophomore defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) and points from 11 different players in coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the first period to win the exhibition game going away.
A much stronger test will come Saturday, when the Sioux host defending national champion Michigan State in the Hall of Fame game.
“We saw a little ugly, but we saw a lot of good,” UND head coach Dave Hakstol said. “Coming away from an exhibition game, you want to find a lot of little things you can build on, and I think we did that.”
The Sioux outshot the Bisons 20-2 in the first period, but exited it trailing 2-1 when Sioux senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) allowed the only two shots he faced to go in.
Kaip's first goal at 12:40 of the opening period cut UND's deficit in half and set the stage for an electrifying second period by the Sioux.
UND scored three goals in a span of 49 seconds to turn the 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead as part of a five-goal period.
Returning Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) scored at 4:50 on a power play, Kaip bagged his second of the game on a one-time slap shot from the left point at 5:05 and sophomore center Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) rounded the hat trick of goals in 49 seconds with his goal at 5:39.
Kaip, who has never had a hat trick in college, completed his three-goal night when he won a faceoff in the Manitoba zone and golfed a shot through the legs of Manitoba goalie Steve Christie while diving forward at 8:16 for a 6-3 Sioux lead after two periods.
Freshman wing Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska), Genoway, junior forward Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) and junior center T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) completed UND's list of goal scores with their goals in the final period.
UND outshot Manitoba 42-13 overall with the Bisons playing their seventh game this season compared to the opening game for the Fighting Sioux.
Of Kaip, Hakstol said. “He's not noted as goal scorer, but he finished last year creating a lot of opportunities. Tonight he got an ugly one to start it off, he got a one-timer, and he got a good play off the faceoff. It was a good way for him to start.”
Kaip, who has just eight career goals in 102 games, centered a line with rookie Brad Malone (Miramichi, N.B.) and junior Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) as his wings.
“We saw that line with some chemistry, as did some other combinations,” Hakstol said. “That's part of the good we'll take away from it.”
The Sioux played 23 players in the exhibition, including three goalies who played one period apiece. Lamoureux didn't have a save, but junior Aaron Walski (Fargo. N.D.) stopped seven of the eight shots he faced in the second period and sophomore Anthony Grieco (Brampton, Ontario) rejected all three shots he saw in the third.
One of the most amazing plays of the game didn't result in a goal, but maybe prevented one.
Trupp chased down a Manitoba player on a clean breakaway, caught him from behind and tapped his stick off the ice just enough to pirate the puck away from him.
“That's one of the abilities he has; he came out of nowhere,” Hakstol said. “That's tenacity, that's timing. He didn't just swipe at it. He got it. That's a great play. It was a key time to make a play like that, and the nice thing is that he gets rewarded a few shifts later with a nice goal.'”
Hakstol wasn't unfazed by the two goals allowed by Lamoureux, UND's only returning goalie with extended playing time to his credit.
“Tough night for him,'” Hakstol said. “A short night for him. He didn't have an opportunity to come back and redeem himself and that's one of the real qualities of Phil, the way he battles. I know what frame of mind he'll show up with for practice tomorrow. Those things happen. It is what it is.”
Kaip had the magic wand working for him. “Just one of those nights,” Kaip said. “It seemed like everything that touched my stick was going in. Those nights don't happen very often.'”
Kaip finished with five shots on goal, one behind the six for Oshie, who led the Sioux in that category.
“We've got a lot of work to do,” Kaip said. “Our conditioning is not quite there, and we had a slow start in the first period, too. We've got to clean up a lot of areas of our game, both defensively and offensively.”
Genoway, who was used as both a forward and defenseman at times his rookie season, had two assists and a goal as a defenseman tonight, a position he hopes to stay at all season.
“I've just got to keep trying to prove to the coaches that I can stick back there (defense) and play some minutes at all times in all situations of the game,” Genoway said.
He started last year playing forward, but was shifted back to defense halfway through the season.
“That's where I'm shooting to play, and I think they (coaches) know that,” Genoway said.
Genoway was one of seven defensemen who played, along with 13 forwards and three goalies.
“We've got depth, that's what we've got on this team,” Genoway said. “Practices are going to be fun. It's going to be a war just to make the lineup every night. That's just going to make you a better team.”
Virg Foss, who covered Sioux hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement, reports on UND home games for the fightingsioux.com web site. He can be reached by email at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
