The Sicatoka

Tech to the CCHA for UN-Omaha (and a bag full of old pucks to be named later). Add Bemidji State. Add Air Force. Viola! 12 team conference: McLeod Division - UAA, DU, CC, USAFA, UNO, MSUM Shepherd Division - UM, UW, BSU, SCSU, UMD, UND Play home and home in your division - 20 games Play other division half home, half road - 12 games Problems? Not a lot of room for non-conference games. DU only sees UM in Denver every other year. EDIT: Play other division as follows (and this is far from perfect) ... If you're UND you play at DU Friday, at CC Saturday (or at MSUM Fri, UNO Sat; or at UAA Fri and USAFA Sat). Then you they come to GF say CC Fri and DU Sat. For example -- Friday: DU at UND, CC at BSU Saturday: CC at UND, DU at BSU later in season ... Friday: UND at CC, BSU at DU Saturday: BSU at CC, UND at DU You'd see everyone at least once home and road. But that USAFA/UAA trip, that'd be a ... (makes you wonder if Fairbanks would be better that USAFA). EDIT OF MY EDIT: Make the pairs when you're playing cross division ... UND/BSU (2 hours by bus) SCSU/UMD (3 hours by bus) UM/UW (4 hours by bus) CC/USAFA (Colorado Springs) UNO/MSUM (5 hours by bus) UAA/DU (you have to fly, but this way you eliminate additional bus travel as you fly to Anchorage or Denver)

What we know: BSU Hockey is in trouble if they don't get into the WCHA. Minnesota and Wisconsin are not in favor of adding another MnSCU school. An 11 team conference is almost unworkable. A 12 team conference is workable, but it makes "prime matchups" even less common than today. And then there's the Big Ten Network ... This is going to get messier before clearer.

He's playing zone because it's part of the Princeton system that they're installing (motion, back-door cuts, team play, and zone defenses). We'll never have the horses to play run-and-gun with the ACC or Big Ten, so why not play a style that fits the talent UND will be able to get.

And then you turn around with ... ... which is correct, only after a signed NLI is in hand can a coach use a name in public. So you refuted your own theory. How dumb are you?

One note: The title of this thread should be .... Doug and The Rug. It flows better. :silly:

Dear Dave Hakstol: Holy crap Dave, I had to look behind the bench to see who was there! For the first time (maybe ever?) I thought I saw a "you won't notice much difference" team (Hak v. Blais style) on the ice. Look what they can do when you set up loose! Please, keep it up!

Yup, that's who got the 30 pieces of silver for the moniker. Seventy years of respectful tradition for a mere passing chance, not even a guarantee, to play the worst team in the Big T(elev)en. Impressive, even by this guy's standards ...

<insert my four favorite words here>

A money-based moniker's been done. Just ask Travis Zajac, the former Quesnel ...

Uh, but part of the UND/NCAA settlement is that the NCAA step away from this for three years (thus giving time and space to allow UND and the tribes to try to reach an agreement)? Under your scenario the NCAA would be in violation of that out of court settlement (by causing secondary influence on the tribes via Summit/Douple). Whups.

I'm pretty sure Mr. "Benjamin" can explain it to you. I've seen too many "charlie foxtrot" to say "whiskey tango" enough for one lifetime. Familiar with "charlie juliet"?

Malcolm wasn't a captain. He was a second-round NHL draft pick who played on the Hrkac-Joyce line for part of the season. His most notable moment: He scored the 4th UND goal (the game winner) in the 5-3 National Championship victory in 1987.

You're unfamiliar with diety who can both be in heaven and walk on earth? You've never heard the concept? And the prayer starts, "Our Hrkac, who art in Engelstad, ... " " ... and many false prophets will follow." - Hrkac 48: 46-70-116

The meltdown started when they blew a three-buff lead over Team RedMaple. It was assured when Rolston didn't go after the official harder for what should have been a major in that game. Rolston tried to make up for it by trying to plead a high-stick-no-goal (it was clean) and the official said no. I was almost expecting him to "fly a Hakstol" at that point. Rolston clearly lost control right there, and when a coach does he loses the team. The lost team now hasn't shown up the next day. Meltdown complete.

C'mon folks, obvious question: I know Malcolm Parks has two sons (but I don't know their names, and I'm almost sure they're in Edmonton). Is this Parks any relation to Mal? (If, IF, he's Mal's kid I hope for his sake he got his shot from his dad, but his skating ability and looks from his mom. ) And if anyone has to ask "Who's Mal Parks?" that's three "Hail Parise" and an "Our Hrkac" for penance.

6000 average in six years is a lovely goal. (And congrats on getting NDSU attendance back to where it was in '98, '99, and '03.) However, it forces one to look at what UND is doing by putting nearly 12000 per game into REA for hockey. UND has tapped into the hockey culture and the fans show up. Yet I'm told this is a BB-culture region. Yet, where are the fans of the college game? Could it be the actual product? Let me explain: No one will confuse UND or NDSU for Duke or North Carolina in college BB. Not a lot of UND or NDSU guys go on to the NBA. The talent you see there isn't the best you can find (live or on TV). But yesterday, in hockey's mid-season showcase, the captain of the NHL Blackhawks is a UND alumnus. He was in a Sioux jersey two seasons ago and an NHL captain today. The scoring leader for New Jersey (and another of their top five scorers) are UND alumni. You can't find much better talent. Ben Woodside is good, but he's not Tyler Hansbrough. Travis Zajac is Travis Zajac; Zach Parise is Zach Parise; Jon Toews is Jon Toews: They're some of the best in the best professional league in the world. And UND fans watched them play in college. You go to REA and you see the best at that level, and soon to be at the next level. You don't do that at The Betty or the BSA. Could it be that, to a majority of regional BB fans, the product isn't worth the price (when a regional BB fan can stay home and watch Duke and UNC on TV)? PS - The Fargo Force is averaging 3500+ in year one. They're outdrawing NDSU and UND. That's a pretty tough indictment toward NDSU (and UND) BB attendance prospects: Where are the college BB fans?

You can't have it both ways: You're bemoaning the attendance numbers (1000-ish) and yet say the Betty (3500) is too small. Allow me to point out again ... (and the numbers are close, not exact) Betty - 3500 Lower Bowl (and suites) of REA - 6500 Alerus in BB config - 9100 REA (total - BB config) - 13000 The Betty is a practice facility (badly needed space) that can hold 3500 for a game. UND got it for next to nothing. The issue isn't facility, it's more marketing, and honestly, product. But let's look at marketing and product: NDSU BB has roughly the same attendance numbers (save for the ORU game, which skews the average) as UND but in a market that's double the size, and with far more marketing and media. That should be alarming to BB fans up and down the RRV.

What scares me is that "you won't notice a difference in style" comment (not an exact quote) when Hak took over. Hey, I do see a difference, and I don't believe for the better. The rules have been changed to favor "racehorse" and at times UND looks like it's migrating to a trap. The other concern is this: All these guys are now here under the Hakstol regime. All of Blais' guys are gone. Is this Hak's ultimate design? Alternatively, some blame needs to go toward the few "big guns" on the team: Misters Duncan and Vande Velde and Kozek are MIA in crunch time. (Boys, Miller and Martens, and a freshman named Hextall, have stepped up bigger than you.) Time to lead from the front. PS - Matt Watkins, didn't you finish 8th in BCHL scoring one season, when Kozek finished 2nd and Duncan finished 3rd?

HEY! Be nice to Team Kaz. They struggled through that qualifying tournament but earned the bid fair and square by getting past Ecuador (and their balanced attack) in the quarters, squeeking by a scrappy Hispanola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) team in the semis, and surviving a slugfest with Barbados in the qualifier game. And don't forget Barbados was coming off that big win over pre-tournament favorite Cambodia, so Team Borat had no easy path. The Kaz just ran into hot Canadian and US goaltending. That explains their offensive (or is it offensive) production. You should know that.

You're a Puce fan! Fuchsia! (clap-clap) Fuchsia! (clap-clap) Fuchsia! (clap-clap) ... Oh, wait, fuchsia is too close to red. Sorry. Laugh now: How far away is it really.

Ah-ha! So Stanford (Cardinal, as in red) and Harvard (Crimson, as in red) and Cornell (Big Red, as in, er..., red) are all in the wrong! More proof that ... Green >> All shades of Red, including cardinal, crimson, and especially maroon.

What happened to "you won't see a change in style of play"? Who to replace Hak with? Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 (Close circuit to Cary Eades: You are perceived as part of the problem, not part of the solution, right now. Sorry, you are.)

DU going to the "bitten into jelly donut" or "coffee stain" (I guess it's supposed to be a red-tailed hawk) logo was the precursor to this. Some DU fans were stating as much at the time. But no one listened to them either. One more note: I had to search hard to find that logo. DU's website has more of the just "DENVER" or an interlocked DU logo than anything. We'll soon all be Stanford, Harvard, North Texas, Dartmouth (oops), and Cornell: Just colors.

Did someone say ... "ugly sweater contest"?