The Sicatoka

sprig: Knocking off RPI at RPI was 1984. (Not the book, the year.) RPI came back and won it all in 1985.

Hold it, upon re-reading that, is 'siouxrock' talking like the beloved Jar-Jar Binks of Star Wars. "Me-na al-mo thinkah so!"

I guess your lack of knowledge extends beyond spelling and grammar and communications and into the realm of hockey.

I can't disagree with that. I guess I've always liked to see head coaches who have been head coaches somewhere else, even if it is at another level. I just like to know they can handle any job that is defined as "the buck stops here."

bisonguy: Oh yeah, the concourses would need to be moved out to put endzone seating in. And you would have to guess that they'd put in some restrooms and concessions in an expansion as well. Is it planned any time soon? No. Does the building allow for it? I believe so.

I haven't made those. However, the track record of accusations as objectively reported in the Fargo Forum over the last six months (vs. MSU-Mankato, vs. UND) is less than positive. tony, you need to ignore 'siouxrock' (we do, and the moderator here has let is be known in a hockey thread last week that 'siouxrock' is being watched closely), and spend more time in that new chair.

tony, If these things are happening, maybe they should be objectively reported. Fargo based reporters were at each event, yes? So where are the reports? Until that objective reporting happens, what you are putting out are accusations with no way to corroborate them. $100,000 dollars in damage to FargoDome? Wouldn't that be an insurance claim? Even if Fargo/NDSU didn't want the story out, please don't tell me the insurance company that had to pay the claim wouldn't want that out there (so they could raise rates in both Fargo and GF). I'd really like to see the news report on this damage. Again, I'd like objective facts. (Both of us are good at spinning things in our favor.)

tony, As I've discussed with other NDSU fans here, objective fact is all we want. Sorry, but a student columnist writing his weekly opinion piece, not a news story, who sat in the NDSU student section, is not going to meet that definition. (For example, the columnist may not have heard it, but does that mean it did not happen?) If there is a problem, in his letter of apology to UND that Mr. Taylor will be writing, maybe he should ask for an apology from those UND coaches if the accusations in a student columnist opinion piece do have a root in fact. Again, I'd have an easier time taking the opinions of a student columnist to heart if this incident had not been preceded by the Minnesota State - Mankato incident. Additionally, shouting words is OK, even questionable ones, or so other NDSU fans have put forth. The line is touching. There has been no refutation by an objective source that a fan touched a UND coach (first). Again, I'd like the objective facts.

Dearest 'siouxrock': You've shown flashes of being able to add something positive to a discussion but you choose revert back to 10-year-old (and I think that may be insulting 10-year-olds) status. I know you can do better. I've seen you do it, and this facade isn't working any more. Quite simply, grow up.

Take away a guy's scholarship? What does signing a Letter of Intent really mean? I detect a theme in there. If you tell a student-athlete an LOI is for more than one year it is less than truthful. All I've ever heard Dean Blais say is that scholarships are reviewed annual. (Another way to say annually is one academic year.)

Is there any 'official' report?

There's your recap.

Are some of the non-students sitting on their hands? Yes. I'm trying to fix that in my section. But the student sections are not "without sin" either. I see students on the cell phone, or hittin' on babes, during play. What is that about? Back in my day (uh-oh, here we go ....) we didn't stand for the whole game but we were louder sitting than that current crop that stands is when they stand. I'm yet to hear students ride a visiting goalie. If you're in the corners next year, maybe you can get on them a little better. We used to have so much fun with Minnesota's John Blue.

forecheck: That's far from a given. It's situational. Naumenko? Nick, defenseman at UND; Gregg, goalie at Anchorage. Or better yet, Durno: One's at Tech and "the love of your life" is at Canisius. ;)

Yes, Bohl was a coordinator. This is Bohl's first head coaching position.

Can Alerus be expanded? I've asked around and not gotten an answer one way or the other. The obvious way would be to put in endzone seating. By my counting (which I do not guarantee as accurate because counting and scrolling never works), on the list provided, FargoDome, NDSU, 19500, would be 27th, and Alerus Center, UND, 13500, would be 56th, and I counted 109 on the list. I'd say that fits right in the middle of that list. The other part of stadiums is fitting the community and fan base. Alerus is right for Grand Forks right now, especially with it's neighbor just north on 6th Avenue. Regarding configurations: Some think Alerus is too flat. (I think any flatter would be too flat.) Some think FargoDome is too steep. (I think any steeper would be too steep.) I hate the lighting in FargoDome. Others tell me it's perfect. The Alerus boards seem fuzzy, but I'm comparing to ones in The Ralph. We'll always find something to complain about (especially in the other guy's stadium). I had a seat on the end of a row all the way to the north end for the UCD game (I got tickets really late). I loved it. I had no problems with the view of the field even when people were standing. Didn't you stand up too?

A 13,500 seat stadium (especially one with potential for expansion) would seem to fit right into that list. PS - Thanks for that list.

bisonguy: Remember what a wise justice once put forth: Your right to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose. That fan touched the coach. That's where the greatest line was crossed.

Siouxrock: Get off the crap about Lamoureux and his father. Go to USHL.com. Look at the goalie statistics. Look at the names his appears ahead of. Sort them by any category you'd like. Any questions?

OK, I'll name names and say it. Lee Marvin has been doing a more than acceptable job skating penalty kill. He's not David Hale, but if this is the role you put him into he's handling it. Five on five he needs to relax. Ice it if that's what it takes. Chris Leinweber has reverted to how he played last year. He needs to play like he did to start this season. He needs to step up and hit and not allow people around him, namely deep to the outside. You're a senior Chris. Last shot. How do you want to go out? I name those two defensemen because their minutes jumped in David Hale's absence. That doesn't mean that the rest don't need to shoulder some of the load of the Hale void. Jake Brandt needs to follow the advice his father gave him before a start a while back: Stay close to your net and simplify your game. Jake still has decent conference numbers. (PS - Jake, let me see Jake Brandt, not some impression of some 'other' goalie. Be yourself, play your game. Simplify.) I name Jake because, based on numbers to date, I'm not sure who else to turn to. If Marc Ranfranz wants to prove me wrong, have at it Marc. If teams are tackling Parise and Bochenski someone else has to make them pay for it on the scoreboard, and that's besides Lundbohm and Massen and Notermann. The "step up" list here is too long to put up and it contains too many juniors and seniors. (Any is too many.) Some guys really need to step up. There's still time. OK guys, rrrreeeeaaadddyyyyyy? Go!

The 2002-2003 (16-19-2, 11-15-2) season just ended. You went into a coma. You woke up today. You look only at team statistics and league standings. The team is 22-9-5 and 12-9-5 in league play. What are the positives that you see? [*]The team controls its destiny regarding home ice in league playoffs. [*]The team has a shot at fourth place (with a sweep and some help). [*]The team is perfect (10-0-0) in non-conference play. [*]The team has a 0.680 winning percentage when the normal lineup has just three seniors, three juniors, and all the rest freshmen and sophomores. [*]Brandon Bochenski is 32-23-55 so his freshman year wasn

Here's to hoping you'll find reason to be quiet .... three times.

Siembida looks like he's lost his confidence. He turned toward the net twice on that first goal Sunday. (Confident guys turn away from the net because they just know the puck won't be in there.) A year in juniors somewhere (similar to what Fylling did) would probably help him get the confidence back. Sofie eats up pucks in practice but hasn't been able to crack this season's starters list. I'm starting to wonder if some of the pucks he takes in practice shouldn't be going to other guys to help them improve. I had hopes for Ranfranz. Then came that Saturday Mankato game. (Five goals on 21 shots.) I don't know what to think now. Which was "the real" Marc Ranfranz: the one that dueled DU's Dubie for 59:58 or Saturday in Mankato? Jake Brandt? He has the best numbers in conference games (0.901, 2.50). He just doesn't seem to put together solid back-to-back performances.

Root cause: Some NDSU fans. I'd much rather be in Mr. Thomas' position (something like "People, next time, tell the refs and call security.") than Mr. Taylor's (something like "Dear UND, I'm sorry that some of my fans, well, you can dress them up but you can't take them out in public. Again, sorry, and I'll keep trying to fix it.") That is especially true when you consider that, apparently, Mr. Taylor's actions from last semester (the Mankato incident) do not appear to have mattered (recent incident). Maybe Mr. Taylor needs to learn from Mr. Thomas and sit in the sections in question for a game or two. (Thomas did this not for anything as untoward as this situation, but to try to get students to sit down so others around them could see as well.) Haven't I said before that I wish all fans would cheer 'for' their team and not 'against' the other?

This is currently only open to season ticket holders (or that's what I think my letter said). It opens up to everyone later this week.