Mr. Blanston

Alright, 250-10. If this kid is on a USHL roster at this time next year, you win. If he is not, I win. "if you have seen rehak play many times as you claim, then you are just a horrible judge of hockey talent." Have you ever seen a USHL game before? Skill wise, he doesn't stand a chance. I think we had this exact same argument last year when a kid from the west won Mr. Hockey. Predictably, he's had a less than average year in the NAHL and is not currently on track to receiving any looks from D1 schools. On the other hand, 2007's best player by far, (Danny Wurden, Fargo South), is doing very well in the USHL. Wurden is a defenseman in a far more talented league, and Herbel is a forward in the much less talented league. Both players have 10 points thus far. Interesting...

"There is no reason why he shouldn't be a Mr Hockey finalist." There is a reason why he shouldn't be a Mr. Hockey finalist: there are other players in the state who are much, much more talented. He has a snowball's chance in hell at playing junior A, let alone D1 (yes, I've seen him play several times). Hockey 09 don't look at this as us ripping on a kid who is a Mr. Hockey finalist. We (or at least I) don't have anything against these two players from the WDA. They're average players who work hard for their team, and for that they should be commended. Instead, try to look at this as us ripping on coaches in the West who ignorantly and selfishly vote for kids in their conference instead of the players who are much more qualified for the award.

UNDhockey22, The problem is one which most of us should agree on, that Herbel is not a skilled enough player to be called Mr. Hockey. Most of you should also agree that the majority, if not all, of his votes came from coaches in the WDA. Therefore, it's logical to conclude that if western coaches had less voting power, Herbel would not have won, and North Dakota hockey would not be embarrassed like it will be when their "senior athlete of the year" can't make a junior A team this summer. This can only perpetuate the stereotype that North Dakota hockey is terrible. Wilbur, If I am the coach of any team that lose to Bottineau, I grab a bottle of scotch and a handgun and... just kidding Wilbs, no offense. In all seriousness, I addressed this issue in my previous post, and this particular situation would fall under the category of ignorance of a specific western coach. Even if he does get lit up by Herbel, he has got to be conscious enough of the level of skill that is out there on the ice in front of him, and of the level of skill of the top three EDC teams. However, he is not conscious of this incredible disparity, which I fear is the case with many other western coaches as well. Don't get me wrong, I am aware that several great hockey players have come from the west, all of whom would be legitimate winners of the award had they not left for juniors, but Eric Herbel is not one of them.

It does no good to sit here and argue over something very few of you on this board are educated about. The fact of the matter is that Eric Herbel is not a great hockey player. I have seen him play, his skills would be slightly above average on a team such as Red River, South, or Grafton. He played in the Elite II league last fall, which is comprised primarily of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in nodak and minnesota, and did not stand out. Dan Wurden, on the other hand, played in the Elite league, amongst the best players in Minnesota, and was chosen by scouts and coaches to participate in the league's all-star weekend, signifying that he was a stand out in that league. Think of the last three winners of the award. Jordan McIntyre (narrow win over teammate Matt Moreland), Jake Marto, Paul Weisgarber. Putting Herbel in the same category as those three is completely undermining their accomplishments that distinguished them as great hockey players. The west coaches have embarrassed North Dakota hockey out of their own foolish pride or just plain ignorance, and although it sounds harsh, should really not be given the same power as the eastern coaches in the voting process.

Who all will play d111 next year from North Dakota?

Can't wait to watch that kid next year for the jets- should be quite a treat. Does anyone know if he's committed anywhere yet?

Do any of you know what Troy Bottrell's plans for next year are? With that size he reminds be a lot of Jake Vigen out on the ice. Has he been picked up by anyone yet?

Don't expect anyone to feel bad for you because your team sucks. And just to clarify, he didn't try to get high fives from your team, he pulled on the front of his jersey just as Danny Irmen did, ironically, in the Sioux/Gopher game the night before. One more thing... why should some players (ahem, NORTH) go and try their hardest against wahp (twice) and have some individuals score, oh say, six points against them each game, but when players from South, who are better, do it and it's so bad? All points count the same on Gillen's website even if they shouldn't, and it's unfair for certain players to score all their points against wahp while the good teams are playing better competition. You know exactly what I'm talking about Specifics. Quit complaining. p.s. Almost the entire South team should know how it feels to get whipped as it happened last year against Moorhead. There's nothing you can do about it. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

Does anyone know who are on the top two lines for Grafton this year? It was mentioned earlier that Mohagen would play with the Campbells but he didn't dress against North (according to Bob Gillen's site)

I think he was refering to the game that happened tonight against Crookston.

That was a pathetic attempt at being witty considering Shanley won in overtime.

Soohockey how long has it been since you were in high school? I was under the impression you were a current student at Red River, but you're clearly an adult with a small child. Guess I was way off.

Specifics, your hockey knowlegde is supreme. You are a student of the game and I, for one, am honored to be able to read your colorful insight. Thank you.

I think it's difficult for one defenseman to get nominated for Mr. Hockey, which Galt might already have. It's doubtful there would be more than one defensemen, so he'd basically have to beat out Galt. I'm not saying it's not possible but he'd have to put up some pretty huge numbers especially since he's in the west to get on the Mr. Hockey ballot.

How about this for a thought: Homecoming will still be a football game, but the volleyball girls play instead of the RR football team. It would keep everyone happy and, let's face it, they probably would do the same if not better than the boys. What were they, 0-9 last year?