Old Barn Guy at Home

I think the comment was meant to be "How do you think HAK feels about the team's performance tonight?" I really don't think Hak reads the posts on this board. He has enough REAL things to deal with than the up and down comments on this board. This is for the fans to use. Enjoy it and if you have an opinion that others may not agree with, so what. It's your right to comment. But on that same note, just remember that when things start to get a lot better, you should probably acknowledge the fact that the coaches are not just guys that do this on a whim. They have many years of experience at a lot of higher levels that 99% of the posters on the board. In other words, just hang in there. I would say that the first 55 minutes of the game tonight were some of the most uninspired I've ever seen from a UND hockey team. Also remember that that could change 180 degrees when they play their next game (which, fortunately is less than 24 hours away).

This is the LEAST physical UND hockey team I have ever seen (been watching since the early 1960's). Maybe the Gophers can bring out some physicality from us. I just hope we do it with control and not take a bunch of stupid penalties.

Being a Blackhawks' fan, I can recollect that, while Housley was on that team late in his career, he was the organizer for the group of players (that included Theo Fluery) that got into a physical confrontation with the bouncers at a Columbus, Ohio strip club. After that incident, the Hawks had an awful streak of losses and never really recovered from it that year. Thanks a lot, but not the kind of guy to be running a high school team. He might have a lot of hockey knowledge, but as far as I'm concerned he's really not the best representative of US anything.

Can't beat the Blackhawks' jerseys from the 1980's. They used to have the same emblem on the door to the Sioux dressing room.

Comment to all Berry detractors: Brad has more hockey knowledge in his pinky finger than all of us put together. To make comments that would seem to put yourself in a more knowledgeable position concerning hockey is laughable. I have worked with Brad and have known him since his playing days at UND. Believe me, if the D-men aren't performing up to the required standards in D1 hockey, Brad will get them there. It just might not be on the time-table that some posters feel is acceptable. If it's hard for any fan to watch the team in the early season, maybe those fans should just wait until January to begin their Sioux observations. I know this is a fan forum, and all have a right to express their opinions, but I just couldn't let it go on any longer without adding MY two cents worth. We are ALL (at least I hope we are) wanting the best for the team, and I am confident that Brad's contributions will help the team toward success in the future.

Maybe if Dan didn't say "Kober," the puck could be turned over to the other team and a transition breakaway could be in progress before he got the entire "Koberinski" out?

Tim Hennessy also applied............go figure how they made their choice just from the 3 mentioned so far (Sweeney, TH, and Hammer).

Exactly! Does anyone know if the Hennessy radio broadcast is in synch with the Midco tv video? I'm thinking I will give that a try tonight. Nothing against Kober (and that's what people who know him call him), but he must feel embarrassed when Dan displays his lack of hockey knowledge and vocabulary. I think Kober really doesn't want to correct him on the air, but maybe there should be some enlightenment sessions Dan could have with him or any other knowledgeable hockey person.

Hey, not so fast there, "whipper-snapper." When I played the game, I always tried to snipe the internet, not the outernet. I often have wondered what happened to a lot of those mugs hanging in Frenchy's. Now that was a place that had real hockey atmosphere.

When I played in "real," contact hockey games, I would always warm up with some backhands against the boards near our bench. Then when players were taking their last skate before exiting the ice, i would skate two, big figure 8's in the neutral zone, cutting through the center ice face off dot and turning close to the boards doing crossovers on each side of the ice. It wasn't really a superstitious thing, just part of my pre-game warm up ritual. While watching games on tv, I try not to spill any beer or pizza.

As an NDSU alum, but life-long Sioux/UND hockey fan, I applaud Hak and the UND administration for their actions in this matter. It may seem to just be "boys being boys" to the outsider, but it matters when you want your program to be respected by those outside the team and within the team. I only hope that the NDSU people come to their senses and dole out just punishment to the players that are found to be guilty of the forgeries of signatures on those petitions. Whether you would have voted for or against the topics of those petitions, it doesn't matter. I feel cheated as a North Dakota resident by not being able to cast my vote on those matters. The NCAA usually becomes very interested when athletes receive pay for doing nothing, and this might just become more of a problem for the NDSU football program than they ever could have imagined. Congrats to Hak, and best of luck for a great season (and one to be looked up to as ethical from top to bottom).

I watched the 6-goal comeback and totally enjoyed, almost as much as when I watched it live on the big screen at RT O'Sullivans' in Arizona in March.

GOOD FOR MARIO! Good for the Sioux and their coaches! One of the greatest comebacks in Sioux hockey history, especially under the circumstances (depleted line up, injuries, etc.). I wonder if Sid Hartman personally knows any of the "genius" posters criticizing Mario? For goodness sakes, the guy's role is not as a top scorer, but anybody who has followed hockey for any length of time knows that in the playoffs, he is the kind of guy that will often score the big goal for you. And he did! Twice!! Now let's have another great effort and take the Pioneers out tomorrow.

Mancini's Char House on SW 7th St. is a great place to have a steak or sea food. They make the best char-broiled garlic toast (dark and light bread) that you will ever taste. It's only about a mile down the road from the X Center (going west on SW 7th St). A filet mignon meal will go for about $25.

It would make a lot of sense to play Eidsness in the series vs Tech. If anything would require that he play in the playoffs, he needs to have had some (successful) game experience before that would happen. Regarding the career points totals for a number of fine Sioux players reaching the 100 pt mark, it makes it even more amazing to remember that in the 1986-87 season, Tony Hrkac had 116 points that year, and Bob Joyce had a season total of 52 goals. Wow! This year's team seems to have all the parts needed to be successful in the playoffs. (I just wish Frattin was a future Blackhawk, rather than a Leaf).

Red Wing: After having read your follow post, I can see that we are pretty much in agreement on the Chicago situation. The area I take issue with is that I thought you indicated that Bill Wirtz was waiting for the people to start to fill the arena, and then he would put the games on locally. A quote from your post: " Look at the Blackhawks in the last 5-10 years. Wirtz blacked out the TV coverage locally until such time as more people came to watch the team play live." This is not the case. Old man Wirtz would not have put the Hawks on local tv no matter if they had a winning team filling the arena or not. He was on record as saying he felt it was unfair to the season ticket holders for him to put the game on tv for "free" to those not owning season tickets. He just didn't realize the great marketing opportunity for the team, and was missing out on building a new fan base from those not familiar with the sport of hockey, and the Blackhawks in particular. The situation has totally reversed itself now, but the Hawks didn't need to start winnig before they would be put on tv. It just happened that the team began turning around that season, with Rocky having agreed to put the home games on BEFORE they started to play respectibly. (Of course the personnel used when forming the team was a great upgrade from what the Hawks had had in the near past.)

I have to comment on Red Wing's statements regarding the Blackhawks. The situation in Chicago only changed for the good with the passing of "Dollar Bill" Wirtz. Unfortunate (and cold) as that may seem, it would not be what it is today if the old man was still in charge. He refused to spend the money to keep top end talent that could put a winner on the ice in Chicago (just check the departures of such talented former Hawks....Roenick, Amonte, Belfour, etc.) Then, to top it all off, Wirtz refused to televise home games (this is actually the way to drive a program into the ground). The marketing opportunities lost by his stubborness and the tight wallet he used in running this team (along with allowing Bob Pulford to control the hockey operations of the team) all contributed to the demize of the Blackhawks. When the old man died, his son (Rocky) was named to the top office of the Hawks and he cleaned out the operational network and started over, so to speak. Rocky also quickly moved to put all home games on tv in Chicago. That move, along with paying the top-end talent a competitive contract has made the Blackhawks the hot ticket they have become. I would say that Rocky and his team have turned around the Hawks faster than any could have imagined. So Red Wing, you better hold your comments on the Hawks resurgeance and confine them to the Red Wings' situation.

Don't forget that this team had 7 or 8 freshmen playing regularily in their lineup and still did a pretty good job (most of their losses were by one goal) and also managed to win the WCHA Final Five without the most dynamic defensemen in college hockey. The coaches and players are certainly disappointed, but if they can keep this nucleous together and the goal tending continues to improve, I think we'll all enjoy next season a lot. Thanks for a great season guys, and especially for sending the Gophers home early!

Has anyone on this site ever seen the 3 Stooges' episodes where Moe is playing the part of Hitler? I believe those comedies may have even been filmed before we entered WWII. The comment about mocking Hitler and bringing him down by ridicule is valid. The fact that the Stooges were all Jews even adds to the fact that comedy can be making social statements in addition to making people laugh. The line between tradgedy and comedy is sometimes very thin. This "Bunker" video was hilarious and while I was watching it, I was not for one minute thinking about the "real" AdolfHitler and his terrible actions. I see no connections between the dorm incidents and this video. I think the people who do may need to step back a bit and see the picture that the great majority of the people see.

Breakin' face, or breakin' wind..........it's all the same.

Thanks for the Holy Cross info. I figured that it was something like that, but that rink seemed to be pretty large for a school like Holy Cross.

From what I have seen and heard of Bob Norton, I have come to the conclusion that he would be best described as a giant tub of $hit. What an east-coast cheerleader. It would have been fun to hear him do the color with Mazocco doing the play-by-play in that game yesterday. I didn't hear him make the comment on the Sioux losing to Holy Cross, but that doesn't surprise me one bit. What a know-nothing "know it all." Mentioning Holy Cross: Does anyone have an explanation of why they had the Holy Cross advertising on the boards in opposite end corners at the Worster, Mass. rink? The only other banners on the boards were those of the four teams involved in that region's tournament. My wife and I were wondering how that made the Gophers feel ever time they looked at those ads on the boards.

As a life long Blackhawk fan and Sioux hockey fan, I do have mixed feelings about this, but we all know that JT was ready for the big time. I look forward to him helping the Blackhawks regain some of their lost respect in the NHL and for him to go on to a long and successful career there. Best of luck to a very classy young man!

Hooray for the Sioux. They killed off a full 5 minute penalty and hung in there to beat a very talented team for the right to go to the Frozen Four. As I was saying to my wife at some point in the middle of the 3rd period, "It really is a shame that these two outstanding teams have to be playing in this regional tourney, and one won't get into the finals." I really don't know if I could have pulled for the Gophers if they had won, but I guess I don't have to worry about it now, do I? Congrats to Hak, Cary, and Dane. And "congrats and get some rest" to the boys in black an green. I think that the AC/DC song could become a new anthem for these guys if they keep this up!

I have read all the posts on this thread and would like to make some comments/observations: Watching the game last night on FSN, we were treated to one of the most exciting college hockey games we've ever seen. I would like for it to have had the Sioux winning, but it was great action. At stoppages during the game, I switched to the Notre Dame - Michigan game from Detroit. It was like a morgue with no atmosphere and the tempo of play was shockingly 3 or 4 levels below what we were watching in the Sioux-Gopher contest. The Sioux played hard, but did probably tire out key players from the numerous penalty kills that they endured. Remember, they successfully killed of all of their short-handed situations! Their own power play looked pretty good, too, but didn't get as many opportunities to use it. That all said, the Gophers won the game on a tremendous effort by a young man who has pretty much played in the shadow of most of his teammates. Wheeler had a great tournament and was the Gophers' saving grace in this tournament. That goal immediately reminded me of Neal Broten's game winner in the 1980 National Championship game against the Sioux. If my memory seves me right, the Sioux had won the WCHA title in a series in the "old Mariucci, " clinched by Dave Christian's empty net slap shot from the top of the crease. Maybe the Sioux can turn the tables and repeat history on the Gophers this year? I think it would be a shame if they placed any of the WCHA teams in the same region, just because we all know that they (3 at least) could very well reach the Frozen Four if separated from each other. Hak and the boys should not hang their heads over this loss. Sure, it is important to come out each game and win, but they played hard and just couldn't get into the slot for any rebounds. Give the Gophers credit for following their game plan of not allowing the Sioux to shoot from the slot or get to any rebounds. The number of shots that were blocked or deflected by the Gophers was the main difference in their victory, besides having a bit more jump in their legs. And as far as blaming Lee on the winning goal: He didn't turn the puck over at the offensive blue line, and he wasn't the 3rd forward that entered the zone to cause 4 Sioux to be trapped up ice. It's a team game, and they lost together. I do believe that the Sioux will come out stronger after playing this game and they should know that they can play and beat any team they may face in the coming weeks. Thanks to both programs for providing college hockey fans such an entertaining and exciting event for us to watch. Oh yes, it was hilarious to hear Mozacco continue to call Toews, "Oshie," and then later in the game he even called Okposo, "Oshie." Must be something about that #9 that sends Frank's mind into a tailspin. At least he finally figured out how to say "Vandevelde!"