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As the proud father of Joe Mollberg I would like to take a few minutes to share some observations. Thank you to those of you who have posted positive comments about Joe over the years on this site, or have stopped at games to ask about Joe’s health and well-being. First, I want to congratulate Coach Schweigart and the entire UND FIghting Hawks staff on a tremendous season and an undefeated Big Sky Conference Championship. Bubba has the team going in the right direction and the future looks bright for the Fighting Hawks. Joe has great respect for Bubba and his staff and is appreciative of the support offered him at UND from all coaches, including former head coach Chris Mussman. It is easy on sites such as this to be critical of coaches and the decisions they make, but being a former coach myself, I am confident that almost all coaches have their priorities straight and really do care for their players at the deepest levels. To prove this to you, less than an hour after the championship clinching game against NAU was over Joe received a call of congratulations from former Coach Mussman. That is a class act on Coach Mussman’s part. I would also like to commend one current coach in particular that impacted Joe in his time at UND. Joe told me repeatedly how much respect he has for tight end Coach Shawn Kostich and the enthusiasm Kostich brings to each and every practice and game. Coach Kostich took Joe under his wing when he made the voluntary transition to tight end and did a great job making Joe feel as if he were a valued part of that close-knit group that was referred to as the “Big-Cats.” UND is lucky to have Kostich on staff. Shawn is a young and upcoming coach who will go far in his career Joe Mollberg is a good athlete, but he is even a better person. Coming out of high school Joe had other options of schools to attend and as a parent, looking in the rear-view mirror, it it is easy to second guess, but Joe has never once regretted his decision to attend UND. Joe never once questioned his choice, because he is fully committed that he made the right choice, for the right reasons. Joe has made great friends that will be part of his life forever, and though the road was difficult, Joe left UND as a champion of the Big Sky Conference. But perhaps the most important fact (that is rarely talked about with college football players) is that Joe has received a tremendous education at the University of North Dakota. What more could he possibly ask for? Joe paraphrased his favorite role model Tim Tebow when he shared what Tebow said in an interview when asked about success and failure. Tebow said; “The ultimate goal is not to succeed or fail, the ultimate goal is to give everything you have for something in your heart. If you get to live out your dream every day, then the result does not matter. To be able to look back 20-30 years from now and say.’I gave everything I could, that is pretty awesome.’” That was the exact attitude that Joe brought to UND football every day over the last five years. How could a father not be proud of that attitude? I learned a tremendous amount by watching Joe and how he faced the adversities thrown his way the last few years. Joe taught me more the last few years than I taught him. Joe wants to be a special education teacher, working with special needs kids, and a high school coach. As a former coach and current teacher I truly believe Joe will be tremendously successful at whatever he chooses to do. The University of North Dakota School of Education and the University of North Dakota football program have both helped prepare Joe for the challenges ahead of him l and I am grateful for that. Many of you may not be aware of this, but in high school Joe was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that can cause the the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. A.S. is a painful disease that there is no known cure for. I remember well taking Joe to Mayo in Rochester in high school and his doctor telling us, “If Joe makes it through a career as a college football player with A.S. they will probably be writing medical journals about him.” Though there is no medical confirmation of this, I am confident that the ruptured achilles Joe suffered in his sophomore season was the result of A.S.. There is medical evidence to support this claim. Again, we are proud of Joe for battling through this adversity. After Joe’s ruptured achilles injury he had a number of choices he could have made. He could have quit the team and walked away. No one would have questioned this decision. He could have transferred to another school and tried to reclaim the quarterback position he loved playing. He could have returned to the team and been a negative influence on his teammates. Instead he chose a difficult and uphill path. He chose to support his school, support his coaches, and most importantly support his teammates. We have a great many photos of Joe playing football at UND, but probably my favorite of all time is this one. This was one of his final games at UND. Joe had called me days before to proudly tell me to “be sure to get to the next game early” as he was going to be carrying the UND school flag out onto the field. Joe was as proud at that moment as any other in his time at the University of North Dakota. Thank you for your support of Joe Mollberg, his teammates, and all student-athletes in their time at the University of North Dakota. Go SiouxHawks! Kent Mollberg

It is with a heavy, heavy heart that I announce that our very own sprig passed away this past Friday. I spoke with his son a few moments ago and he asked me to post an announcement on the SiouxSports.com board. HIs obituary is below: http://www.amundsonfuneralhome.com/obituary/timothy-kessler Tim Kessler was one of the biggest Sioux fans I have ever met. I spoke with him many a time at WCHA Final Fives and NCHC Frozen Faceoffs. He was also a regular at our annual Hoggsbreath brunches and I enjoyed chatting hockey with him whenever I got the chance. To the family, as I know you'll be reading this, please know that you are all in our prayers. @sprig , you will most certainly be missed by your friends here on the message board. May God bless you as He welcomes you home. Goodbye, my friend.

Duluth fans shouldn't have a problem finding a place to park. Just hit the parking lot attendant from behind ....and park wherever you want.

Sorry in advance, this might be long... I've debated with myself long and hard about posting this, but decided to go ahead. I've always found that being open and transparent is a healthy place for me to be. First - I'm outing myself. Some of you have probably guessed already but I'm Carl Engwall's dad, Eric. I hope you'll understand that I just didn't think it was necessary, or even a good idea, to expose myself as the parent of a current player. Second - The last couple of weeks have been pretty rough at our house. Third - Our entire family, Carl included, has enjoyed being a part of UND football these last four years and we are sick that his time on the field as a Fighting Hawk is over. Fourth - We will continue to support UND football and the university as a whole. Despite Carl's dismissal from the team, none of us has an ax to grind and we wish nothing but the best for this team and this staff. Without going into detail, I want to express our appreciation for the experience Carl has had as a UND football player. The coaches he interacted with most directly, DL coach Gigli prior to his departure, and DC Eric Schmidt since he took on the DL - have always taken an interest in him as a person, as a student, and as a football player. Even since Carl's dismissal from the team, Coach Schmidt and Coach Schweigert have continued to check with Carl to make sure that he's okay and to encourage him to finish school and earn his degree. Both of them have called me, as well, and expressed their sadness that things didn't work out for Carl and their support for him moving forward. As a parent, we couldn't really ask for more. In any situation like this, there are too many "shoulda, coulda, woulda's" to count. More than enough to go around. My wife and I feel like there are a million things we could have done differently. Coaches Schweigert and Schmidt both expressed their own frustrations, too. At some point, though, the kid has to become a man and take the responsibility for himself. This is a rough and costly lesson for a young man to learn, and we all hope he does. Only time will tell, of course, but for now he's focused on getting his degree and graduating from UND in December, which is the point of all of this, right? Lastly, thanks to all of you that have supported UND football from near and far. Watching and occasionally participating in your discussions and debates about the Fighting Hawks has been great fun. You're a part of that community, and I know many of you have supported UND football with your time, your money, and your days in a green uniform. Your passion has made this more enjoyable for all of us. We'll be cheering from the cheap seats... Go Hawks!

This is going to be a special game for me. As this will be my last Potato Bowl game with my dad as his health has gone down hill. We have been going to the Potato Bowl every year since 1985, so hopefully UND can get a victory for me and my dad.

Hello all, this is Jennifer, Elijah's mom. First of all, thank you to those who support my son going back to UND, I truly appreciate your positive thoughts and I will include you in my prayers. "Geaux Sioux" prbly said it best by asking if it was everybody's business? Unless you were trying to fulfill your 100% scholarship, earned your starting position as a true freshman at this level and had a newborn baby to support and you never wavered, then by all means, question my son's "motives" question his integrity, question his character. He's a kid, who is now a father. You don't know the half of it, he came home and completed classes at our local tribal community college and maintained a full time job to help his baby Kinsley. He knows now that in order to fully support her the rest of his life, he needs an education. He comes from educated people, I have a bachelors and masters from Minot State and have taught for 20 years. He knows the value of an education. Instead of assuming, message me and I'll let you know. Just the way some of you assume he has lived his whole life on this reservation, really?? He went to grade school in Minneapolis and attended the Mandan Public Schools where he did very well, thank you.

I don't think I have ever told this story here, but this seems like a good time. It was June, 2016. My brother asked Brad to come to my mom's house with the national championship trophy. My mom didn't know he was coming. He walked in and said "Hi I'm Brad Berry." She said "Well I know you are!" He spent about 45 minutes talking with us. My mom had stage 4 cancer and died about 3 weeks later. Class act by Mr. Berry.

With respect to Brad Berry's letter to the Herald, he went out the same way that he conducted himself throughout his time at UND: with class in every respect. He is a class act and a credit to UND in every respect.

Thank you! We will always be UND Fans. Everyone treated Jack very well during his time as a Fighting Hawk! We will have great memories from our time in North Dakota. I have enjoyed participating in the Fan Forum. G

I am sorry to say that my brother, who you have known as SiouxVolley, has passed away in the summer of 2020. It was noticed that several people questioned where he was on issues, and I should close that loop. He was a strong Sioux sports advocate, especially womens basketball & volleyball and mens basketball & football. He had strong opinions on a lot of issues, but on this site it was regarding UND's path forward, especially concerning athletic conference affiliations. A Chemical Engineer with a masters degree, he also wanted success for the academic programs at UND as well. My family and his friends will miss him, and know that he is in heaven with Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Gods blessings to You All.

I'd like to express my gratitude to this team, including the coaches, for giving such pleasure as fans this year. It is a special bunch, and whether they win No. 8 or not, they have delivered on the ice all year long and have shown the kind of character we fans hope to see from UND athletes. It's a long season. These guys deal with school, the uncertainties that come with being young and, in my case at least, stupid about many things in life. Regardless of their level of skill, they each have their own expectations that are either not met or must take a back seat at times. They have never embarrassed us or made us feel anything but pride about the team and the school. So hats off to you.

I agree with a lot of people on here regarding the teams motivation and mentality going into this regional and their first game against Northeastern. Listening to the seniors in that Through These Doors and remembering the TTD episodes at the end of seasons gone by, it reminds me that the players go out there in the NCAA tournament knowing full well what North Dakota Fighting Sioux Hockey means to that program, this school, this town, even this state. More importantly, however, they know what it means for their fellow teammates. Seniors go out and fight hard for their fellow seniors, and their juniors, sophomores and freshman. The same holds true regardless of what year you are. I remember watching players in tears when their season ended in the tournament, because they wanted to win it all for their school, their coaches, their town and most importantly their teammates. We see the smiles on their faces when they pose for the photo with the Penrose Cup, or win their regional and get to attend the Frozen Four....imagine the agony on their faces when they lose their chance at the National Championship trophy. No one should have any doubt regarding this teams motivation, passion, or mentality going into this tournament. If they run into a team who happens to skate faster, pass better, and shoot more accurately on that given night then so be it. No one can blame our players for "not wanting to be the team that hangs this school's EIGHTH banner," because we all know they desperately want that. Sometimes a puck takes an unexpected bounce. Sometimes the referees make a weird call. At the end of the day, those guys go out on the ice to represent the University of North Dakota, to represent Grand Forks, to represent their families, and most importantly to represent each other. I'm excited to watch them play against (Hopefully win against) a great team like Northeastern. Lets. Go. Sioux.

Shep....none whatsoever. Truly enjoyed watching the squad on TV and online the entire season. I am a UND fan for life now. Regardless of how it worked out for my son. He was afforded a chance to receive a quality education and play some ball on the universities dime. That in itself is worth its weight in gold. I will be eternally grateful to Coach Bubba, Rudolph and Knauf for giving him a chance to play at the next level. For whatever reason? It did not work out. No harm. No foul. My son knew what was expected of him in the classroom and on the gridiron. I know he has done well in regards to his education. Apparently it just did not work out on the field. He was well aware of the implications of not competing at the expected high level of the coaching staff. I will look forward to watching the progress of this team in the coming years. IMO? They got railroaded by the playoff selection committee. I see/expect good things in the future for this team and look forward to watching some of the players and staff that Kevin has spoken so highly of. GO HAWKS!!!!!

Happy to announce my daughter will be the first head coach of the University of Jamestown Women’s hockey team. Starts August 1 and recruit for a year and begin play 2022. Damn proud papa

Sioux/Hawk Nation...... Just wanted to add a positive comment following the tough series loss last night. I'm a Denver parent of a UND football player.....We put on our kelly green and attended Saturday night.... I'm not aware how well it came across on the streamed broadcast, but if you weren't there you'd have been SO very impressed with both the size and volume of the Dakota faithful...... On several occasions we "owned" the arena with the "LET'S GO SIOUX - LET'S GO SIOUX"..... It was our first UND hockey game.... and got goose bumps as we sat in the end section with that Sea of Green. Our hearts went out to the Seniors as we watched the finality of their last season set in (as they consoled each other on the ice at games end)..... The bar is set high with UND hockey...I get that, but there should be acknowledgement for how hard they battled last night. Guts and heart. We left disappointed but PROUD of where our son goes to school.....and SO excited for 2019 Fightin' Hawk football !!! Congrats to UND Hockey this season........... you have 2 new fans for life.

The NCAA has shown again that it will STEAMROLL anyone who opposes its agenda. If you have any doubt how serious they were about scrubbing "Fighting Sioux" from the history books, you only need to look at the boycott of North Carolina that essentially put Duke on the road against the University of SOUTH Carolina in the men's NCAA tournament. If the NCAA was willing to mess with one of the cash cows of March Madness just to "prove" their opinion, rest assured, they would have spent millions to get rid of "Fighting Sioux." I, too, smiled at the "Sioux Forever" chant immediately after the Frozen Four. Then when I heard it in-person at Target Center a month or so ago, I cringed. It's time to move on. It was quite an experience watching the men's basketball team in March Madness - think about that, OUR men's basketball team playing in March Madness. Unthinkable back in 1988-1992 when I was at UND. The jerseys looked great and so did the wordmark on them - as well as the logo on the TV scoreboard. The university is still wearing green, white, and black, and I am looking forward to seeing the new wordmark and logo on the hockey jerseys next season. Hawks on the jerseys, Sioux in my heart, but still MY University of North Dakota.

Sad that every thread becomes a defending Tommy because of a few uneducated. Tommy does so much that goes unnoticed. Examples -there are numerous snaps that are low, wide, high that he just naturally adjusts to and no one notices, swing passes are automatic (wasn't that long ago they weren't), he's hitting at 70%. He could have been playing for Ferris State (which won the last two DII championships). Losing our #1 QB recruit at the last minute, during COVID, we were very fortunate to get him and it was without an onsite visit.

More than 15 years ago, I used to spend time here defending the program, as it had stumbled after Mr. Blais's two titles. Then I defended Mr. Hakstol, who was a terrific GM and coach who just barely failed to win national titles. I feel that Mr. Hakstol's main problem was that he built teams to win seven-game series, rather than a single-game elimination tournament. With a different format, he probably wins titles in 2004, 2005 and 2011, perhaps also 2006 and 2007, and maybe a few others. But it's tiring defending the program on the internet, so I haven't lately. Now I feel the need again, and it's comical that some of the detractors are the same ones who were on Mr. Hakstol's case, and who probably were Mr. Berry's biggest fans almost three years ago. Also, sadly, some current detractors are long-time reasonable fans that have surprised me. I feel that the state of the program is not materially different than it was under Mr. Hakstol. UND had a run of NHL first-round talent at forward from 2002-2008, and again from 2014-2017. In between, the teams usually looked a lot like this one, with more skill up front but less at defense, but with a similar tight-checking style of play. But "two missed NCAAs!" 2018 was basically no different from a number of seasons under Mr. Hakstol. Pairwise #14 usually gets in, and last year it didn't. From a rational evaluation standpoint, that's the same kind of season UND had a few times during the NCAA streak. This season, although they may still qualify, it seems more likely that they actually miss with a Pairwise finish between 15-20. But a top 20 Pairwise is not a sign of a program in disarray. How has the team played at the end of the year for Mr. Berry? In 2016, but for 25 minutes against Denver, they put on a four-game clinic. In 2017, they absolutely dominated BU and suffered a fate that is exhibit A for how dumb this sport can be. They didn't allow a shot on goal for the entire first overtime period, they actually scored in overtime but had the goal dubiously reversed, and ultimately two future NHL stars combined to score a goal against them. In 2018, they played a very good St. Cloud team into overtime before losing, then beat Duluth in a game that Duluth felt it needed to win to get into the NCAA tournament, which it won three weeks later. UND was basically playing as well as the best teams in the country in March. This season, it just finished four weeks against teams ranked something like #1,3,5 and 9 nationally. They split with SCSU, dominating them 5-1 one night; Lost a "hot goalie" game 2-1, with Denver's goalie stopping 45 of 46, before tying the next night; Split with WMU, dominating them 5-1 one night. Split with Duluth, dominating them 4-1 once. That was in Denver without Poolman, and against Duluth without their goalie and essentially what would have been one of their two scoring lines in Jones, Mismash and JJ. With the "hot goalie" and injuries, you can say "excuses." Whatever word you want to use, a level-headed analysis considers the actual facts of the situation, and those are occurrences that likely affected the outcomes. To be fair, St. Cloud had ill players when they got waxed, and all teams deal with injuries. Even setting aside these mitigating circumstances, the truth, both from the results and the play on the ice, is that UND is playing just as well as the top teams in the country. Could a program in disarray do that? The main things I read here are: 1) They are much less talented than nearly everyone. 2) They are poorly coached. 3) They don't show up. Given that they are playing as well as the best teams in the country, those three things cannot all be true. All of those deficiencies would doom a team, they would be like Canisius (!). In fact, even just one of them probably makes a team uncompetitive against top opponents. Which suggests that actually none of them are accurate. Of course Canisius will ultimately be the reason they fail to qualify for the tournament, if that happens. It is unfortunately another one of those things that happen in hockey. The much-derided shots on goal actually do usually reflect play, and if you drop two games when you outshoot the opponent 82-30, you just shake your head and try to make up for it the next week. I'm personally proud of how they have persevered, the coaches and players. My timing for this post may be off, because I suspect next weekend maybe as tough or tougher than the last four. CC has been consistently good, and at times excellent, since Christmas, and they are hungry and playing at altitude. I still expect another strong effort from UND, both this weekend and for the rest of the year. I also think the next three or four years look to continue the run of excellence that started in about 1996, with only a few dips along the way.

My summer project is ready just in time! I'm ready to improve the gameday exsperience in the tailgating lot! Got Can't wait for Saturday! Go Hawks!

Congratulations on a terrific game. The better team showed up and won! Good luck the rest of the way. There's no reason why you can't win it all. Thanks for your hospitality.

I was one of the first ss.com members – joining almost 21 years ago. I won’t be on the site much going forward but will give some thoughts regarding UND football on a few topics first. I will try not to make this too long and I have no interest in debating my thoughts with anyone. Recruiting I have followed our recruiting efforts for many years and was the guy doing the Wiki updates for the last 10 years or so until turning the job over to Hardcore Hawk (who is doing a good job) last year. During that time frame, I followed thousands of potential recruits during the recruiting process. This included kids who attended our camps, prospects we offered or were offered by other conference schools, prospects listed in recruiting websites (247 Sports, etc.), kids whose dads played for us, etc. I have followed these prospects during the recruiting process via their social media as well as other teams’ fan websites. Our recruiting classes of the last 15 years or so have not been great. If you look at the limited number of: signees we get that other top teams wanted, players contributing as true freshmen, players making all-conference teams, UND players in the NFL (or even getting good looks), etc. We are getting lots of kids without any, or very few, FCS offers. These are good, hard-working kids with some talent but turn out to be average-to-very good FCS players. This needs to change - we need more high-end FSC level recruits before we can expect to be truly competitive year in and year out. There has been a lot of talk about UND’s location (geography and weather) with many saying that it doesn’t have any negative effect on recruiting. Those who think that location isn’t an issue are very much mistaken! Most kids want to play somewhere that their parents, grandparents and/or girlfriends can attend most games. Although it is improving, the number of talented prospects from ND and NW Minnesota is limited. When you are recruiting kids from Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, etc., there are so many other FCS schools much closer than we are – including all the Dakota teams. The two SUs are getting most of the kids they really want. It’s not just NDSU we have to worry about now, SDSU has been winning just as many battles as NDSU (geography is helping them with some kids). I would like to see us recruit the Winnipeg market (heck, all of Canada) harder. Facilities are improving but are not there yet. If you had ever seen the offices and locker room under Memorial, they were worse than you can imagine. It was surprising any talented kids chose UND back then. In a couple of years, we should have facilities equal to (maybe better) than the other Dakota schools. That will help a great deal but there is still the distance issue. I will talk about NDSU a little later but, as the Fargo/West Fargo metro area continues to prosper and grow, the number of talented FB players in this market will continue to grow. We need to get a decent share of those kids. If SU lands the lion’s share, it will be easier for their dominance over UND to continue. Bubba Bubba and I are pretty good friends but I truly don’t have a great handle on his ability to lead us to the point where we consistently challenge for conference and national championships. I certainly have disagreed with some of his decisions at critical times in important games over the last 2-3 years. However, based on our inability to land many top-notch prospects, Bubba might be doing a hell of a job! Athletic Department Funding Funding remains a major issue. At this point, we are unable to pay our coaches competitively nor are we able to provide many of the “bells & whistles” for players provided by other programs. The latter is one of the reasons I organized seven “Let’s Help Bubba” campaigns over the last few years. We raised $60,000+ for first class knee braces, Guardian helmet caps, computer equipment for breaking down film, quality cold-weather jackets for outside games, etc. I offered to run a LHB8 last fall. I was not pleased when it did not happen. It was not anyone in the FB program who dropped the ball. I will leave it at that! I won’t get into details but I have some real concerns about our athletic fund-raising efforts especially related to the Champions Club. It makes common sense that averaging attendance of 10,000+ will create more revenue and a better game day experience – this needs to happen soon. We all agree that winning and a positive fan experience at the Alerus will have a positive effect on attendance. Lastly, on the topic of money, many have stated that the Engelstads only care about hockey. I have wanted to post this for a few years but understood it was not to be made public. Just recently, it did become public - Kris Engelstad has written a check paying for all FB players' summer school tuition for many years. That is not a small check as most FB players are taking classes during the summer. NDSU I attended UND when the rivalry was much more intense than it is today. I dislike the Bison as much as (probably more than) any other ss.com member. That said, it is ludicrous to continuously put down their FB program as well as the rest of their athletic department. Now that their womens BB team as back to being good, SU is very competitive in every sport. That certainly can’t be said for UND. Their expectations are to be successful and nothing else is acceptable. They do what is necessary to remain successful! Team Makers fundraising efforts pay for 100% of all athletic scholarships at SU every year. The Champions Club funds less than one-half of UND scholarship needs. Just think about what UND Athletics could do with an extra $2+ million every year. SS.com The constant bantering back and forth is getting real old and is one of the reasons I won’t be visiting the site much going forward. Too often, neither party knows what they were talking about in these “infantile” discussions. My recommendation – if iramurphy posts a comment (FB or otherwise), you can be confident that it is factual. He has the most knowledge and experience of UND athletics (and athletics in general) of any active ss.com member. Lastly, if you aren’t supporting UND athletics financially as best as you can through Champions Club membership or one of the other funding programs, don’t bitch about our coaching salaries, our bidding for home playoff games, etc. Reviewing the above, it probably came across a bit too negative. I think the program continues to make progress. Hopefully, we will soon be able to seriously compete for league championships and first round playoff spots annually. The new facilities should help a great deal! You will see me posting once in a while but, guys – please grow up and stay away from the juvenile discussions. Some prospective recruits (and often their parents) check out a school’s fan websites. Anyone reading ours would not be impressed. I fully realize that a lot of this is common on fan websites but that doesn't mean we need to follow their lead!

I'm afraid not. That only works at Duluth where hockey and diving are one in the same.

All of Izzo, McFeely, Kolpack, and Peterson thinks UND will get a seed. Kolpack critical of UND's schedule. McFeeley thinks UND is one of 5-6 teams that could make it to Frisco. Kolpack critical of UND's schedule. Izzo thinks UND and Wichita are headed to MVFC. Kolpack critical of UND's schedule. McFeeley was gushing about UND's defense. Kolpack critical of UND's schedule.

Classy reaction from Michigan's Alex Kile:

Happy to check in here to assure all of you that I'm still around, still quite ambulatory and looking forward to a great series between two of the best teams in the country this weekend. As a Denver fan with a few miles on the tread, I can tell you that this Denver team is the probably the best offensive Denver team that I can remember, but the goaltending is the worst (.885 team saves pct.) since the days of Stephen Wagner in the late 1990s. That makes every weekend a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Pio fans. Just when you think the boys are cruising, you find your self cringing on every PK, awaiting the odd soft goal to puncture the mood and perhaps lead to catastrophe. Last weekend was somewhat encouraging, as the Pios hung 12 on the Mavs and Davis let in only 5 goals on the weekend (average goaltending), which is far more respectable than many weekends past, yet Omaha scored on 42% of its PPs, so much work to do. Davis (and Halyk before him) were also dealing with a lot of youth on the back end, and that means turnovers. I'd like think that with a full half season under their belts that the turnovers are in decline. Having watched a good chunk of UND this year, I've been really impressed, especially on defense. Berry's gamble to basically replace the entire d-corps was a move I've never seen in all my years of college hockey fandom, and it has paid off with far more panache than I could have possibly imagined. Berry has blended the skills, roles and experience of guys who had never played together into a defense that has already grown into the top third of college defences, in front of a very experienced netminder in Persson, who never had that level of defense at Miami in front of him. Inserting a 5th year leader like Pyke to produce has he has, was really a master stroke, and watching a young guys like Livanage and Weibe step in and play like vets as freshmen bodes well. Offensively, those top 2 lines can score with anyone, and are especially strong on the right side, where Blake and Gaber are two of the best at what they do, both with and without the puck. If there is a vulnerability on this team, it likely is offensive depth, especially on the left side where the production is a shadow of what it is on the right. I think this weekend will come down to three key areas: 1) UND's forecheck causing turnovers in the Denver Zone. If UND can do that efficiently and convert their chances, they've got a good chance to sweep. Denver's goaltending is often leaky. That's been the blueprint all year for those teams who have beaten Denver, including UND earlier this year. The forecheck not only causes turnovers, but disrupts DU's transition speed out of the d zone and forces DU to take penalties, where their PK has been brutal (#42) nationally at just 78%. 2) Denver's ability to get offensively production from 3rd line. Sure DU has a great top six, but where DU is perhaps most dangerous is getting production from the third line, which is why they average over five goals per game leading the nation in scoring. This is where Denver has a big edge on most teams, as few teams have this extra level production. Will be interesting to see how Berry matches up on this. 3) Denver's goaltending. Typically, if DU can keep opposition goals at three or below each night, the five-goal offense usually means DU will have a great chance of winning. I don't see DU dropping 10 goals on UND this weekend on the road, so my guess is that DU will need Davis to play exceptionally well, which is not something that DU has been able to count on. All in all, this looks like a split weekend.

This type of post makes it harder for many of us to do our jobs. One of our nurses who was in her 40’s and otherwise healthy bought into this baloney fueled by political rants that have nothing to do with this medical challenge we are facing. First of all you show ignorance of the subject when you claim “no respiratory virus in the history of humans has ever been eradicated so the body needs to learn to fight it at some point or another”. Even a basic science student with any review of viruses and immunology knows smallpox was eradicated through vaccinations by 1979. Today it exists only in laboratories if ever needed again for research. We are close to eliminating polio through vaccines. Polio cases exist in only a handful of countries. I’m not sure how many patients you take care of, but it shouldn’t be any if you spew this nonsense. In the last few days, 8 of the last 12 patients I tested were positive for COVID. 5 were sick with cough, fever, fatigue, body aches, sore throats and a couple with diarrhea. 2 of them had been sick for more than 10 days so didn’t qualify for monoclonal antibody infusion. The other 3 were infused, with good results. Non were vaccinated. Ages were 20, 38, 54, 67, 69. The 2 who waited too long still feel crappy but they are ok. 3 had been vaccinated and felt like they had a cold. One lost sense of taste and smell. 2 who tested negative were vaccinated one wasn’t. At Sanford today over 70 pts were in ICU or on ventilators. Only 3 were vaccinated. Although a small cohort and anecdotal, it is consistent with what physicians are seeing around the world. That is solid evidence supporting vaccination. The vaccines went through all 3 phases of testing. They were tested in thousands of subjects. Over a billion people have been vaccinated. It has been proven very effective. It markedly decreases your chance of getting infected but it’s possible you could still get infected. It almost eliminates the chance you will die from COVID or end up with a serious infection. It is still possible. The chance of blood clots from the J&J is about 7/1000000. The chance of myocarditis from the Pfizer or Moderna is about 2-5/1000000. We can treat the blood clots. The myocarditis usually resolves spontaneously within a couple of weeks. You don’t become immune by going to Packer games or hanging out in large crowds. You become immune by successfully fighting off an infection or by getting vaccinated. You odds of avoiding clots or myocarditis are better if you are vaccinated. PM me if you want a more detailed explanation of how the illness or vaccine stimulate our bodies to produce antibodies. Make a decision about getting vaccinated based on scientific facts and evidence. Make your decision based upon the recommendation from your physician. This isn’t the time to get into alternative treatments or non-physician doctors who aren’t trained to recognize, treat and prevent infectious disease. No one who knows me would mistake me for a left wing liberal. Refusing to be vaccinated is not the way to further one’s political beliefs or causes. The best way to do that, is to stay alive stay healthy and attend your party caucuses this fall. The recommendation for vaccination comes from both Trump and Biden. The research and testing was by medical and scientific researchers from all over the world. Because we don’t like the government mandates or we don’t like the media, or we don’t like the present administration is not a reason to refuse to take care of our health. To allow our dislike for Fauci, Biden, some of the Governors etc to keep us home and let our hockey team and the nation see us abandon our team in the national spotlight because of unfounded fears or politics is sad. We will no longer be able to claim we are the best college hockey fans in the world if our team can’t count on us to sacrifice the inconveniences of getting in the arena or worse yet refusing to get vaccinated.

The biggest strength of the Dawgs is their ability to overcome life/career threatening injuries in time to be out for their next shift.

You guys played an outstanding game. Best of luck the rest of the season, and I look forward to a rematch in the playoffs!

You guys wanted it? You got it In a game that can be best described as Never Say Die, UND stormed back from deficits again and again to force OT. UND finally gained the upper hand in the OT session to bring the school a Big Sky Tournament Championship to go along with its Regular Season Title. More importantly, it punched their ticket to the Big Dance for the 1st time in school history. Their reward was a 15 seed in the West Regional and a matchup with perennial PAC-12 and National power Arizona. Before diving into the meat of the preview: I tip my hat to the coaches and players of this team for their season so far. They have accomplished a lot this season and while some of it was a bit rough at times, they did put it all together at the end when the chips were down. From the head coach on down, congratulations on a fantastic season. Of course, they aren't happy just being in SLC, they want to be the 9th team in NCAA Tournament history to knock off a 2 seed. Arizona is coached by Sean Miller, who's brother Archie Miller is the coach over at Dayton. Its another banner year for Wildcat Basketball, capturing their 4th Regular Season title under Miller, which they tied Oregon for, and took the Tournament crown as well. Since taking over in the 2009-10 season for the retiring Hall of Fame coach and Mayville-born Lute Olson, every time that they have won a share or the outright regular season title, it has translated to an Elite 8 appearance. Despite the success, two things currently hound this Arizona program. #1 They want to get the bad taste of being upset last year out of their mouths and make a run #2 Despite the Elite 8 appearances, the last time Zona made it all the way to the Final 4 was in 2000-01, where they made it all the way to the championship game before falling to a well coached and talented Duke team. Its been a long time and it is also the one thing that Miller hasn't done with Arizona yet. Could this be the breakthrough year? The Wildcats are deeply talented and are lead by the big Fin Lauri Markkanen. The comparisons to Frank the Tank of Wisconsin is very comparable, as he can hurt teams both inside and out. The 7 footer is shooting 43.2 percent from downtown, around 50% overall and shoots a good clip from the line. Potential Top 10 pick in this years NBA draft. The other big cog is Allonzo Trier, a 6'5 Sophomore guard. Out for the first half of the season due to PEDs (yeah, seriously). Trier has made up for lost time in a big way and has really torn it up in late February and into the Pac-12 tournament. Sneaky rebounder and he can shoot it very well. Geno, he is all yours. Zona also has another 7 foot big from Serbia in Dusan Ristic, who is more of your traditional post player. They can do just as much Around the Big Sky: -Weber, Idaho and EWU all made postseason tournaments. Weber and Idaho in the CIT and EWU in CBI -PSU announced that Gelving will not be returning next year How UND can do the unthinkable: 1) Win every 50/50 ball. When teams pull upsets, they do every little thing right. They dive for loose balls, save balls from going out, force jump balls. 2) Bring what got you to the dance Sometimes you just have to go with what got you here at this point. It might be tempting to try something funky, but sometimes you might have your greatest success with the normal game plan... with a tweak or two. Strong guard play got us here, strong guard play is going to be needed. 3) A senior guard who can shoot Hey Q, your time to shine. Small schools who pull upsets traditionally have that one guard that can fill it up and give their team a chance. 3) UND Bigs: play the best game of your life You have a potential top 10 NBA pick, find a way to slow him down. Carson Shanks... play the best you ever have. 4) Don't be afraid to throw the first punch and take their best punch without panicking Come out swinging, Mike Tyson once said everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Rock Arizona to start the game, get those jitters out of the way. On the reverse side of the coin, if they come out hot. Do not panic, take their best blows and come back. Let them know you are not going away Prediction: The key word today is Pressure: How much of it can UND force upon Arizona on the court and in their heads. Its house money for UND, so they can play as loose as a goose. Can they get to the final media timeout within legit striking distance. If they do, all bets are off. I think they do within the first half before the Finnish Frank the Tank becomes too much in the 2nd half. Hooker and company do provide one shining moment for the UND faithful. I hope I am wrong but I think Arizona wins by 12. Zona 84-72

Richmond fan here. We expect a great game this Saturday. UND is favored for a reason- you are a class team playing in a very good league. Feel free to visit us at Spidernation.com.

Hello all, I'm Elijah mom. No, he won't be back to UND. Last spring he completed 14 credits at local community college & worked full time. As an educator myself (20 years teaching) Elijah knows value of an education & will get one. He attended elementary & middle school in Mandan ND & is a good student. Thank you to those who stated they enjoyed watching him play & to those who wished him well. He's only 19 & he will find his way. Thank you.

Have you have ever played the game or been in any team sport or even a job where you contributed anything beyond taking up space? If so, you would understand this is a cheap shot. Your posts over time indicate a lack of understanding of the basic fundamentals of football beyond what one can pick up from sitting on their ass in the bleachers or from their bike. Taking a cheap shot at a guy who busted his ass for UND FB over the years serves no purpose other than revealing an insight into who you are.

Not content. Just not hopelessly infatuated with the idea that we are an abysmal failure. We all want more. We just don’t want to live in complete misery all the time and not take brief moments along the way to enjoy a bit of positivity. I am going to savor this win for 24 hours and then move on. Survive and advance. God, knows we will be reminded all week how SIU is all-world in every category and how we don’t even belong in any discussion with them….until we beat them, and then they all of a sudden will become horse crap. We seem to have this amazing dynamic on all teams we beat.

Probably the biggest win in UND history in the D1 era and people are really on here complaining? Yeah we didn’t do much in the second half till the TD drive. But, we were playing arguably the most successful team in the FCS in the past decade not named NDSU. They are the 5th ranked team in the FCS and had a 21 game home win streak. We beat a very good football team on the road. Can we just celebrate for 5 mins before the naysayers come on here diminishing a great win?!!

I'm not a Kennedy fan, but I have to side with him on this one. What the basketball and volleyball athletes, coaches and the majority of their fans want, they should get. It should not be dictated by the management at the Ralph. (yes, I believe that is where it is coming from, not the Engelstad family) I also support Kennedy's efforts to bolster the new logo. Nothing sickens me more than great divide among our fanbase over the nickname which has been greatly enabled by the management of the Ralph who continue to do everything they can to keep the Sioux name front and center. They have succeeded in keeping the hockey fanbase Sioux fans while every other sport has moved on and identifies as Fighting Hawks. I was as staunch a supporter of the Sioux nickname as anyone, and always will be. But you know what? I can't change what has happened. I can't change the minds of those who somehow thought the name was offensive, while most of us thought it was honorable. I can choose to live in the past and be somewhat unfulfilled when our teams are introduced as the Fighting Hawks, or I can choose to embrace it and move on with my life and find solace in supporting the university that I love.

Time to show our football fans what the hockey fans have been doing for years! We cannot keep all the fun to ourselves! *wink* Let's fill at least 2 buses to support BUBBA AND THE BOYS in Vermillion! September 16 is guaranteed to be a full day of fun. We'll leave from the N side of the Ralph at 7AM sharp... load at 6:30AM. We will head home after the game...and yes, stopping along the way there and back. $96 per person covers game ticket, bus, driver costs adult beverages and water. PLEASE SIGN UP BY AUG. 11 by commenting in the discussion area or call/text me: 701-388-9825 (Joanna!) Money due at time of sign up - checks won't be cashed until two weeks prior to the event. Let's do this! Email: pearsonshockeybus@gmail.com

Remember when Montana fans were criticizing UND for it's soft schedule? Well Montana now has four conference losses, to Cal Poly, NAU, EWU, and now Northern Colorado. 3 of those teams UND beat.

Haven't been here for quite some time (covers head). Love my Gopher hockey and Bison football...WTF is a guy like me doing here? Taking the high road and telling y'all congrats on a special season and especially the 'ship. Been awhile and there isn't a more deserving program. Will be great to see the 2 going at it next year at Mariucci. Maybe my team can find a way to make a 3rd meeting happen in March/April. Congrats again, enjoy, and have a great off-season!

Ignorance personified.

Lol I don’t remember talking to you?

Why the cheap shot? It was already reported that he has entered the portal. The kid played hard, had more success than failure. Very few of us have a clear understanding of what it takes to play and compete at this level. This is the type of nonsense that shows a lack of class. Most posters are mature enough to thank him for his dedication and efforts toward moving the program forward regardless of our frustrations with team performance.

Wow so Bubba's 3rd year he had us in the playoffs, ahead of most peoples schedule, then we take a step back last year with a rash of injuries (yes it's an excuse but it's also fact I don't need a post from you telling me injuries aren't an excuse) and now we should assume it will be a rarity for UND to ever make the playoffs under Bubba. Whatever. We get snubbed from playoffs in his second season, top 8 seed his 3rd year, then don't make the playoffs last year. If you average the last 3 years not sure how you come up with it will be a rarity UND will make the playoffs under Bubba. Even many NDSU people think we should have made the playoffs that year, so if we didn't get screwed that is 2 of the last 3 years in the playoffs. I'm sure others on here would agree.....we expect to make the playoffs every year going forward. Yeah Bubba should have signed better lineman in that class when 95% of recruits already new where they were going by the time he was hired. Fall camp is here, most of us are excited. Yes we do still have questions and concerns....but can you just stop for a while and let this season playout, or at least start? Three negative posts from you before noon today already.....we get it.

Practice #1 is in the books and Bubba and crew really harped on special teams work and two-minute offense. "Finish strong" was the mantra of the day and that is exactly what they the team did, as QB Andrew Zimmerman connected with Demun Mercer on a 65-plus yard pattern that, if it wasn't a TD, would have set the offense up with 1st and goal to go. That was the last play of the day in the the 2-minute offense drill and it got everyone excited. Other notes and highlights from the day: My hot take for today is that we have the most complete QB group that we've ever had in the DI era, with Studs, Heidelbaugh and Zimmerman, and Ketteringham and Boltmann on deck. All looked good today on Day 1. Three have a bigger learning curve than the two returning QBs. All that being said, it is not to say that we necessarily have the best QB group in the Big Sky, it simply means top to bottom, the raw talent and potential talent is the best I've seen at UND in the D1 era (that includes when we had Mollberg, Bartels, Studsrud, Riddle and Palendeck or Braden Hansen, Marcus Hendrickson, Mollberg and Bartels). Studs, Heidelbaugh and Ketteringham had the best day today under center... Boltmann and Zimmerman threw some nice balls but had quite a few balls sailing over receivers. It should be expected that Studs and Heidlbaugh would be more polished in the pocket due to their familiarity with the offense. Studs didn't do anything flashy but what he did got the job done and almost without error. A contender for play of the day was a nice long pass, catch and run from Ketteringham to WR Izzy Adeoti for a TD. Studsrud's best connection of the day came when TE Cloyd got behind coverage and went up to grab a long pass for a TD. JUCO Transfer Tykeise Johnson got everyone's attention with a Deion Harris-style pick 6 off of Studs. Johnson was in coverage when he changed directions on a dime and stepped in front of the waiting receiver to snatch the ball and run. Mikey Greibel was impressive today with all balls thrown his way including a one-handed snag along the sidelines. He looks the part early. Logan Alm played a ton at TE today and was equally impressive catching the ball as he was on hitting his blocks. Cloyd also had a good day at TE Newcomer Hayden Blubaugh made his presence known with some nice sticky-as-glue coverage on receivers, including a nice strong PBU in which he punched the ball out of the path to the receiver at the last second. As I alluded to before, practice closed with 2-minute offense series. Studs took what appears at this point to be the first string OL (Stockwell, Bell, Rooney, Taylor, Cox) and efficiently marched them down the field in the first run of the 2-minute drill. Studs capped off that series with two nice balls to WR Easton Erbes, the second of which was for a TD. Erbes was covered by Canady both times. Heidelbaugh took the second series with an OL comprising Blair, Aplin, Nguon, Tobin and Mortel. Heidelbaugh had two nice passing gains during his run: one to Mercer over the middle and a TD in the back of the end zone to WR Stetson Carr. Zimmerman took the final two series, first with OL Helgren, Bell, Stiner, Miller and Russo. Zimmerman struggled under center at first, though he did have a nice ball over the middle to newcomer WR Cam McKinney. Ultimately though the series had two balls sail on him and a sack. Zimmerman then got a chance to guide, what I am calling the first team OL, down the field for a TD -- capped off by the beautiful pass to Mercer that ended the day. As expected, Cam Hunt did not practice due to undisclosed injury. Also, freshman TE Graham Devore had what appeared to be a hand cast on today at practice. See you tomorrow.

In my opinion, Tom Miller completely obliterated Brad yesterday in terms of being a reporter.

Just did 60.(tickets) We got this!!

Congrats on the great regular season. Now go makes some noise in the post season and do the Big Sky proud.

For 5 years of college I never once sat during a game that was within 35 points...and that's how the entire student section was...when I watch NDSU games they stand the entire time the other team has the ball... As to your last paragraph...it's the perfect descriptor as to why the people of Grand Forks don't deserve to have nice things...7 freakin wins in a row...but Bubba's style of football is too "boring." I would kill to have a boring, first place in the Big Sky FCS football team in Minot where I live. That way I wouldn't have to drive across the dang state every weekend...which I do anyway because I appreciate the attitude and effort that Bubba's crew displays (and I love all things UND). The hockey team only scored two goals on the weekend...would the good people of Grand Forks find them to be "boring" too?!? If our defensive effort in the second half wasn't satisfying enough...well then I guess there is no hope for Grand Forks...

The Sioux win a national title and some of our fans have nothing better to do than criticize a kid who played hurt??? Are you kidding me? You have no idea what his injury was. If Anas had a recurrent shoulder dislocation, he may have been running back into the locker room to have the dislocation reduced so he could come back and play. (That hurts like hell by the way). That is a more likely than he was whining or crying. Gutsy performance on his part. You guys who post dumb stuff like that embarrass knowledgeable fans who appreciate the effort put forth by other teams and players. That is one of the reasons some opposing fans hate us. When you act like jackasses, especially when we win it shows a real lack of class. I bet none of the Sioux players or coaches criticize him.

Everyone is talking about NE's 23 game run with only two losses. UND has just three in their last 23. #justsayin