The Sicatoka

Translated: We're making Delaney earn his check this month. He needs to use the "internets" to gather data on a short list of schools we might be interested in. Important stuff, like best pre- and post-game bars, and how much money we can squeeze out of them as an admission fee. And that dern star2city fellow knows the list somehow already.

I'd like to see the WCHA be the same for officials as it is for players: The best and brightest move on to the professional ranks. The others, after four or five years, move on to life after hockey and other careers.

No, it's both a BS answer and the sad reality of today. And ScottM nailed it: They've learned nothing from Bina, LaPoint (twice, concussion and slew foot), and now Genoway. I hope I'm not there the day that Travis Roy seems minor and instead they need a body bag.

The blatent problems with lack of control and willingness to do their jobs by officials is getting more and more notice in this league. Virg Foss spent some ink on the issue recently.

Go big or go home. PS - Santa doesn't give wishes that could be construed as selfish. Those wishes would benefit everyone so I'm golden. Ho! Ho! Ho!

I think I heard somewhere that one of the players on the roster has a dad that's played a few games at goalie in some beer-league. Maybe he could coach-up Eids and Dell. "NHL" stands for National Hefeweisen League, so that's a beer-league, right?

This is why I'm not always happy with 25-man rosters.

Given that the Saluki-grinch took a coach from UND around the holidays recently, I wouldn't expect a lot of sympathy from this crowd.

In the Manitoba v. North Dakota exhibition the "Bisons" dressed 22 (20 skaters) and UND dressed 23 (21 skaters). UND is running a 25-man roster. The non-appearance guys for UND were D Ryan Hill and G Tate Maris. Roll forward to this game: No Genoway, no Zajac, no Kristo. UND can only wish that it had 23 bodies to dress: 19 skaters and 3 goalies.

There are only 14 forwards on the roster. No Zajac, no Kristo, means welcome to every forward dressing. Being an exhibition does that mean that Ryan Hill and Tate Maris dress also?

Just 30 seconds into Saturday I knew that UND was the losing team. How? With God and everyone watching, because it happened at center and just seconds into the game, Kristo gets tripped and then contact to the head roughed to the ice. No. Call. None. So much for "points of emphasis" about stickwork and contact to the head.

I'd like league officials that actually care about the safety of the players on the ice. I'd like league officials who are disinterested in outcomes but interested equal and consistent enforcement of the rule book. Give me that and everything else I'd want would naturally follow.

Ask and ye shall receive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ

My question is this: Why does "badger1" use an avatar that looks like a skunk in a popcorn box?

It's the ND SBoHE's party, but the Legislature is funding it. Too many forget that.

Again, the first to wrest power from the ND SBoHE was the non-governmental NCAA. The Spirit Lake Tribe is merely attempting to follow that precedent.

The transition rules are set up to make you struggle.

To what do you refer when you say "a non-government entity"? Surely you do not mean the state constitution defined courts of the State of North Dakota. You must mean the NCAA which, by it's monikers policy, effectively stripped power from the ND SBoHE.

What's worth more in national TV ratings? - a "round of 96" game between Moose Guts Tech and West Crawdaddy State, or - a quarter-final (opening round) ACC game between Wake Forest and North Carolina State. That will also play into this process.

So, looking at that from a conference point of view: UND must be in a cluster with SCSU, Bemidji St, and UNO as those teams play both home and road series. This gets UND 12 games. The other pairs must be: Home - Road Denver - CC Minn - Wisc Duluth - Mankato(?) UAA - Tech(?) Playing these make another 16 games for a 28 game schedule. Anyone know what the other clusters are?

I think that's been done already. That's the only street concrete in north Fargo without a pothole.

Finley's shoulder was - lower than Skille's (good trick when you're 6'7") - in front of Skille's when contact was made. Finley moved in front of the puck carrier to separate him from the puck. It's probably the best legal move Finley made in his career. Unfortunately for Skille the contact point was his elbow and it didn't deal with the force very well. Now, compare that hit to the hit by Marvin on Genoway. Or the slew foot. Of the CFBs on LaPoint and Bina.

The HS QB numbers looked great on that Mertens kid from EGF.

Vig sidestepped an out-of-control check. Vig was just the other guy in the photo. Smaby? Clean hit with an unfortunate outcome. Finley got tangled up with Skille. It wasn't an illegal type play or action. (In the same game another Badger tweeked a knee and yet another got a bruised thigh in a collision with Chris Porter.) You can't tell me knee-to-knee contact or CFB or slew footing is incidental or accidental. As a matter of fact, all three (kneeing, CFB, slew foot) are explicitly mentioned in the rule book as penalties. Yes, injuries happen in sport. But the league needs to start consistently cracking down on the most dangerous of the illegal stuff. I'm worried that the pace we're on that some day Robbie Bina's injury will seem minor. That should scare everyone.

Given the national health care debate, and the recent questions about the stewardship of premiums at BC/BS of ND, why would Sanford MeritCare want to open themselves up to all of the questions that would come with that sort of fiscal outlay?