pathfinder

I was just checking the webcast schedule for NCHC.TV and it appears that the first one is next Saturday, the 17th against Bemidji. That's not a good average. I'm anxious to see what this year's team looks like.

Thanks all, for your suggestions. My internet provider is CenturyLink and espnu doesn't recognize them. I will watch it on the blog.

Can anyone help me? I do not have TV service nor a TV. I have been watching the UND games via NCHC TV webcast. Tonight when I log into nchchockey.com and click the video it sends me to the ESPNU link where it asks me for my affiliated provider. NCHC TV is not on the list and I have tried midco. Is there any way I can sign up for a webcast for these games?

So it is time to find a new nickname. I have to admit that I am one who was unwilling to part with the nickname, Sioux. Its uniqueness represented the pride, courage, strength, resilence, hardiness … not only of people of the Sioux tribes, but of the people of North Dakota. As this has dragged out, the pride no longer exists. I am hoping that in the selection of a new nickname, caution will be taken to choose one that is difficult to corrupt and to morph into other terms that are derogatory or demeaning . We do not want to repeat some of our past experiences with the students of opponent schools. When the U of Minn chose Gophers they perhaps did not consider that opponents would add another ‘o’ , calling them the Goophers, or Goofs for short, or the fact that the name represented a Rodent. Putting Golden in front of Gophers does not help. Witness also the Twins being called the Twinkies for their under performance. I am concerned that some of the candidates proposed to replace the nickname have the potential for being corrupted. Flickertails, for example, would be shortened to The ‘Tails, like The Avalanche is shortened to The Avs. The name, Flickertails, was no doubt dropped in the 30s for good reason and it would be worse in this era of Title IX. I understand the sentiment for Nokotas. I even like the suggested logos, perhaps with added flames coming out the nostrils. However it is necessary to consider how it can be corrupted. I envision that it will be shortened to Nokies, much like the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Therein lies the problem. It will be a simple matter for opposing students to add a second ‘o’ to morph it into a demeaning sense. Even UND fans may call their teams by that term when they are under performing. Looking at the choices mentioned in this forum thread it is clear there are no animals native to ND that would make a good mascot. Names like Avions, Aeros, or even Stealth could be used to recognize our unique aviation program. Or names like Wildcatters or Roughnecks to highlight our oil industry. As one of Scandinavian descent I can appreciate Norse, or Fighting Norwegians, etc., but they seem pretty dull. Along that theme, however, I would suggest something like Thunderbolts or Thunderbolts of the North, terms that were used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles to describe the Viking attacks. Icons could be a lightning bolt or even the Thunderbolt fighter of WW II, also alluding to our aviation program. It is a difficult challenge to find a nickname that is representative of North Dakota, the University and its sports teams. At this time we risk duplication of names used by other schools. I am hoping that the people tasked with these decisions have the good sense to choose something that is not lame or corruptible. Just my two cents.

hoser: I checked my 1960 annual and the patterns on the uniforms of Michigan State in those photos match up with the Sovak photo. While it is possible it could be one of mine, after over fifty years I am unable to recognize it. That photo appears to be ca. 1961 give or take a couple of years. From the low contrast I would say that it looks more like it was made from a news print. I think I would give credit to the Herald photographer. Your photo does not appear in my 1960 annual. If anyone has a copy of the 1961 annual and it appears in there, it would be one of my shots. Otherwise . . . Press cameras and big strobes were on their way out by the mid-60s when news editors began accepting 35mm work where fast film and fast lenses eliminated much of the need for powerful strobes.

I don't recognize the photographer's name. It is obvious, though that he had a press pass because it is shot from the photographer's loft.If you notice the shadows on the ice, a couple of mine also show similar shadows. This is because the Grand Forks Herald photographer had couple of slaved strobes that he would set up in the corners. Back then that was expensive equipment. They would trigger whenever he flashed the strobe on his camera. They would also trigger when I flashed my strobe. He would get upset if I fired my camera first because his strobes took a while to recycle, so I would politely wait for him to take his shot. There would be some hot action that he didn't shoot and I would miss the shot. Finally, if there was good action I wouldn't wait to get my shot, so sometimes I would make use of his strobe lights even though my strobe was strong enough to cover the rink without them. He usually left after the first period anyway to make his deadline. Anyway I got sidetracked. I don't think that the slaved strobes were available much before 57. I knew most of the photographers from that time until I graduated in 61. I am guessing that your photo was made sometime after that. Sovak was likely a Herald photographer unless he was poaching on the strobes like I was. I can't verify the team but Michigan State is likely. It is definitely not Michigan because they had the funny helmets and the uniforms don't look like Denver or CC. A comment about Michigan State. Bob Peters had played freshman goalie for UND and was slated to be the starting goalie for the 57-58 season. However during the preceding summer, Peters made a trip to Detroit to try out for the Red Wings. The Red Wings paid his expenses which made him ineligible for NCAA sports. Everyone thought they saw the hand of Emil Bessone, coach of Michigan State, in this drama. The result was they had to draft Bob Peabody to play, bad knees and all, for a season before they could get another varsity goalie. [Remember that any new recruit had to play a season on the freshman team before being eligible for the varsity.] Michigan State was enemy no.1 after that and on their first visit afterward Bessone was hung in effigy from the rafters of the barn. Hayduke: You are welcome to post my photos on Facebook. Thanks Guys for all the kind comments. I was afraid that I might be taking too much band width. I believe. I believe in fate. The Fighting Soo will win the next two games!

Although there were color films, most publications were produced in B&W. I don't know when the Grand Forks Herald started using color but it was not when I was photographing. Likewise for the Dacotah Annual and the Dakota Student. Here are a few photos that I shot from the photographer's loft for a game against Minny. http://www.photo-art.../hockey01sx.jpg http://www.photo-art.../hockey02sx.jpg http://www.photo-art.../hockey03sx.jpg http://www.photo-art.../hockey04sx.jpg http://www.photo-art.../hockey05sx.jpg http://www.photo-art.../hockey06sx.jpg I don't remember what I did with all of my negatives. These six shots happen to be scanned from the 8x10 prints I had lying around. In any event I was shooting with a press camera that used 4x5" sheet film. I had a darkroom in Babcock Hall where I developed the negatives and made the prints. It may still be a darkroom because I noticed on a recent photo of Babcock that the window immediately to the left of the main entrance is still blocked off. As an interesting side note, I happened to be in ND in 86 for a class reunion and when we passed through GF we stopped to look at the campus. We went into the Chester Fritz and I was looking for a copy of my thesis when the Head Librarian came over to ask if I needed any help. It was a summer evening and the library was mostly deserted. In the course of our conversation I happened to mention that I had photographed for the annual. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Which one?" I told him the 1960 and 1961. He said, "Wait a minute," and left the room. Minutes later he returned with a large box labeled 1961. This box contained all of the copy used for the publication the way it had been tossed in at the end of the school year. I was able to recognize all of the photos that I had made for the annual. These photos may still be available for anyone who is interested in the history of that period. I believe that the photo of Bob Peabody looking back to the scoreboard was made by a photographer by the name of Colburn Hvidsten. Yes it was old time hockey!

Reading some of the posts on this thread brings back many enjoyable memories. I have had a life-long passion for hockey and for following the Sioux. More so than for NHL hockey. My passion began while growing up in Minot. At that time only Grand Forks and Fargo high schools had hockey teams, but we had a couple of rinks in the city parks, one of which (Lincoln Park?) actually had boards in the form of dashers to help keep the puck in. I don’t recall what we used for nets, but this was good enough for a pickup game. In 1956 I went east to begin college and went out for the freshman team at MIT. In those days, NCAA rules would not allow you to play varsity hockey until you had completed a season on the freshman team. I made the team and played on the first line with a center whose family was listed in the Boston 400. As an example of how little money was put into hockey programs back then, we had only one game jersey and we turned them in to the equipment manager after every game. When our season ended they collected the gloves to give them to the Lacrosse team. In 1957 I transferred to UND and tried out as a walk-on for the freshman team. At that time Barry Thorndycraft was the freshman coach and Bob May (the Mad Hatter) had just replaced Fido Purpur as coach of the varsity. The skill level was a quantum jump for me. While I could skate with these players, I was a light weight at 125 pounds. After a brief few seconds in an exhibition game I was asked to turn in my gear. But for a couple of weeks I got to play with and know these freshmen players at practice. This was back in the old Winter Sports Arena, an unheated, Quanset structure with locker rooms under the west end warming room. Legal seating was maybe 3000-3500, but actual attendance was closer to 4000. Nighttime temperatures inside, even with a full crowd, would reach into the 30s (below, that is). There was no Zamboni. Al Purpur had rigged up a 55 gallon drum on a sled with burlap bags hung below sprinkler pipes. After the corps of Rink Rats had shoveled the snow from the ice, Al would pull this invention around the rink to refinish the ice. After being cut from the freshman team I played on an independent intramural team composed mainly of Canadian geology majors to be followed by playing for our fraternity team. I owned a pair of shin pads and elbow pads, but most people played without any equipment. Players would tape Life magazines or Saturday Evening Posts around their shins for protection. Worst of all was the snirt (mixture of snow and dirt) that would blow in through the gaps in the panels and coat the ice. Despite my departure from the freshman team I became a die-hard Sioux fan. On game days I was in line at 4pm for rush seating in the student section. We would stand outside for two hours in the cold until they opened the doors at 6. I would throw down an old Army blanket at the blue line between the penalty box and the visitors’ bench. I have an old buffalo fur coat that I used to wear to the games. A pint of Jim Beam would fit neatly in an inner pocket and after we were able to fight our way to the concession stand my friends would gather around and I would open up the coat and pour. Remembering the players that were on the ice at that time, there were Bill Steenson, who had a unique way of throwing his body to block slap shots with his chest, Ralph Linden, who legend has it that he jackknifed a tanker on the old Des Mers bridge, Bob Peabody (Whose bad knees made it difficult to get back up when he made a save. Our stellar defense deserved credit for his Goalie of the Year award because they were always in position to clear the rebounds), Eddie Tomlinson, Reg Morelli, and others. There was a season (was it 1958-59?) where the old Western Intercollegiate Hockey League had broken up, but the same teams played each other. The CC and Denver teams had refused to travel and were playing 8 games between themselves for 1 point apiece. Meanwhile other teams had to travel to Colorado to play a two game series for 4 points. When UND traveled to Colorado they would play Denver on Thursday, CC on Friday and Saturday, then Denver again on Sunday for a total of 16 points at stake in the standings. In 1959 I became Dacotah Annual photographer for two years and this gave me a pass into the photographer’s loft, along with my competitor from the Grand Forks Herald. I have since taken the tour of the Ralph but I did not see any of my photos displayed where we toured. I am sure that some of them are on display. I would like to return some day to walk through the whole building to see which ones were used. In 1963 after a stint in the Army I returned for a master’s degree and then taught mathematics until I left in 1966. During this time, ca. 1965 I believe, one of the tribes came to the campus and there was a ceremony where they gave us the privilege of using the name Sioux. Since leaving school I played in amateur leagues until hanging up my skates in 1996. This was several cuts above the intramural games where we were now playing with a full set of equipment and sharp looking uniforms. This is not to say that no-check hockey is safe when fully protected. Over the course of play I have compressed a neck vertebra, broken a collar bone, broken ribs twice, suffered a concussion, incurred blood poisoning from blocking a slap shot with the felt of the shin pad, and other minor injuries. Looking at equipment back then, even at the varsity level, there was no face protection (if a goalie took a shot in the face there was a time out while he was taken to the dressing room, given a shot of Novocain and stitched up), helmets were simply a pad in front and in back of the head, skate blades went straight back, and stick blades were straight. NCAA rules did not allow body checks in the offensive zone. (We derisively referred to ‘dump and chase’ as ‘schoolboy hockey’. Real hockey players carried the puck or passed the puck across the blue line.) Also there were differences in the rink equipment. There were no dashers to protect the boards. Fans were protected by chicken netting which would tear up your face if you were pushed into the netting by a check. The goal nets have all been modified to remove the sharp point at the bottom. The iron rods have been replaced by more player friendly fasteners. And of course the players of today have a higher set of skills. I have not been back to see any games in the Ralph, nor have I even been in the first Ralph. I still look at the standings and follow games on this forum. While I do not have a TV, I will occasionally watch a game, if it is on, while I visit my sons. I am living in a little back water county in the southwest mountains of Colorado so I appreciate the postings on the threads for the games to keep me up to date.