ArchyAlum11

Touché Good Sir, Touché.

Its a fair point, their D2 teams aren't anything special. Augustina Football gets regularly slapped around by MNSU and other teams in the conference. However as I understand it so long as they meet title 9 requirements they do not need to elevate the whole school to D1 since there is no D2 hockey... and no that one conference in the North East doesn't count. Still adding hockey could be a smart move for Augustina, with the expansion of Sioux Falls in recent years Hockey could be a good money maker, and if they don't add it, USF may try and beat them to it.

Agreed, so many sports writers for National publications have no idea how college hockey works, they just think "HUR DUR POWER FIVE" man of the best candidate schools that could add hockey are not power five or even D-1 schools.

"This confusion partially stems from the way the announcement was made. Not given a separate release, the statement was titled “RMU Charts Strategic Course Headed Into Centennial Year,” with a subhead, “The Beyond 100 plan includes a focus on diversity and inclusion, more campus events, and a reorganization of its athletics programs.” The first line of the statement then reads, “Robert Morris University announced today it will no longer field NCAA Division I men's and women's ice hockey teams as part of a series of strategic initiatives intended to position the university to be amongst the most agile and professionally focused schools in the nation as it prepares for its upcoming 100th anniversary.” - https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/rmu-cuts-mens-womens-hockey-in-shocking-and-confusing-move/Content?oid=19554243 I guess Hockey is too white for the people in charge at RMU.

The WCHA mens league is set to fold after this year... I assume they would try to get Into the CCHA or the NCHC.

Its pretty unlikely but It has been talked about before, but unless they can get the money to build a decent arena someplace close to campus I don't see it happening.

Well this is amazing news if you are UAH.

Or just move the Tourney to Xcel, I mean you would allow probably 90% of the people going to avoid getting on a plane, especially IF Umass ends up being eliminated due to covid protocols... also if that happens I am just gonna say it, CALL BEMIDJI, I'd rather see UMD play an understudy than get a free ride.

I wonder if St.Thomas will look into renovating the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum, I know they got rid of the old Ice making equipment awhile back but the space has real potential, they could cut in some gates to the existing seating, and put in removable seating that would take the stands all the way to where the ice would be, which would give you an arena with seating for over 6000, add in a video board in the center and you are set. The place already has plenty of concessions, and plenty of parking space. Seems like the best option rather than trying to build a whole new arena from scratch. Plus they could probably get help from the state as something like the video board and any other updates could increase the attractiveness of the building as venue for other events.

You could just swap out Miami for MNSU... I think both teams would go for it.

As someone who went to MNSU for grad school, I never got the impression that there was any real hate for UND, I mean we wanted to beat them because if you can beat UND it kind proves your a good team, the hate I saw really was reserved for Minnesota, and then there was kind of a thing with Ferris for a bit but Ferris didn't stay good enough for it to turn into anything good.

I'm gonna disagree on that one, though I may be biased, I understand the whole idea that "if the team that we lost to wins, then we would have won", but really its anyone's guess, I remember seeing a study once where out of all the major team sports hockey was the hardest to predict the outcome because there are so many factors that go into a single game. I will have to cheer for UMD in the semi final, because much as I despise there fans, I despise the teams from New England even more... and the Northeast in general.

I think that's fair point, he is 67, so he's not getting any younger, also he might not want to deal with all the Politically Correct BS going on campus now, I forget why Denver let him go in the first place but didn't it have something to do with him saying something insensitive?

I agree there is definitely a lot of development that still needs to happen, but I think as you see these companies start to mature, you will see more teams and leagues start be covered by a single service.

The TV thing is falling by the wayside, I mean as streaming quality and internet speeds improve it just isn't going to make sense to have traditional TV channels for this kind of thing anymore, it will just be an app on the smart tv/console/fire/etc. or a streaming site.

Smart money is on a split, though I could see MNSU sweeping given there good record at home, still if a sweep occurred either way it will still be a close series, I'm betting both coaches will be preaching the "stay out of the box" gospel hard to there players, as both teams are dangerous on the PP. As to the ASU coach... I have been saying for a while, if they are serious about joining the NCHC, they need college caliber coaching staff, a real arena, and real training facilities. Listening to the ASU coach whine after the Saturday night game was pretty pathetic, it was the kind of salty homerism that makes Frank Mazzocco sound like an unbiased figure by comparison.

Well if you want food, Pub 500 is probably the best for that, but you are going to want to get reservations, if you re just looking for beer Blue Bricks has a nice atmosphere and good tap selection but the kitchen is small so food may take awhile, Pagliai's pizza Is also a great option... if you can get a seat, good pizza and beer on tap. Keep in mind all of these are in walking distance to the arena. If you have a DD, Uber/Lyft or Kato Cab, Mankato Brewery in North Mankato is a good option, they don't serve food but have a list of places that deliver, otherwise there is always the Loose Moose and Mettlers for those who want to show up to the game smelling like peach body oil.

Well, if ASU had its arena situation sorted out a few years back MNSU and ASU would be getting ready to join the NCHC next season but I digress. The reality in the WCHA is that the Alaska Schools are about to cut there hockey programs, hell possibly all there athletic programs, the simple reality is that even if they move into a Canadian league the travel expenses are still going to be high - not as high as their current arrangement but with the deep cuts happening its going to be hard to justify keeping both athletic programs. That means for the WCHA 7 there are two options, stick with the WCHA , Try to reform it, and hope UAH and Ferris can get the pick of the littler leaving the AK schools and get there programs out of the gutter. Option two, Still leave the WCHA and try to do what the NCHC did all be it for schools with generally smaller sizes and Budgets. Now before the whole St. Thomas D-I announcement I would have I would have said the choice would have been based primarily on if they though they could reform the WCHA men’s conference or not, reality is that they would have eventually extended UAH an offer, UAH is build new facilities and investing more money into hockey, arguably you could say they are doing more to show there commitment to hockey than Ferris State. However, the possibility of St. Thomas going D1 makes this a bit a different story. There are three Scenarios as I see it when it comes to St. Thomas. Option one - St. Thomas goes Full D-I and coughs up the money for all the sports it currently has to become D-1. In the option its very likely that St. Thomas would join the WCHA 7 and form a new conference with UAH going back to being independent, however given that ASU and MNSU are still interested in joining the NCHC, there is a strong possibility that UAH could be welcomed into the fold to keep the conference even, and as I have said before if the AK teams are no longer in the picture then having UAH is a travel school isn’t that bad. St. Thomas would likely be at the bottom of the league to start and its facilities would definitely not be at the same level as other members… except for Ferris State. However, the WCHA would overlook that for the same the Summit League and MVFC are likely to overlook it, getting a foot into the Twin Cities/Minnesota Market. Option Two - St. Thomas goes Full D-I but cuts hockey to save money, demoting the team to a club sport to save money on scholarships and funding. Worst case scenario hockey fades in to memory as it did at Crookston. Best case scenario the club team find enough wealthy alumni to help it grow and get to ACHA D-1 levels, and to become a D1 program in waiting, and maybe 10-1 years down the line when St. Thomas has upgraded facilities and has it other programs set the athletic department will say what about adding hockey. Of course by that point who knows how much the college hockey landscape will have changed. Option Three – St. Thomas either due to their own financial restraints or an NCAA decision to not allow them to move up directly to DI, in which case they would likely go DII, in which case in all likelihood this means they would be picked up by the NSIC, which depending on how the NCAA deals with hockey now, I have heard some say that a move to Full D1 is required to field a D1 hockey team, I have heard others say that you can still choose to play up or down as long as you adhere to the scholarship rules for that level, its possible that the WCHA could pick up St. Thomas, especially given that they would be in the same conference as Bemidji and Minnesota State for all other sports allowing the potential for a new rivalry to build.

Usually visiting teams sit in the 00 an 01 sections, If you get to standing room only the seats across from the 00 section are student overflow, so sometimes it is possible for standing room only people to sit there, but it depends on how many students are there, and the students have become a lot more involved since the last game at Verizon (now its just the Mankato civic center), I think the last time UND played here they still had the blue and red seats, they have really gone all out on renovating the place since then, NHL sized sheet now, center ice video board, way better concessions.

weird could swear when I clicked on it last night it said "sorry these tickets went fast!" maybe it was an error, not that it matters have Maverick season tickets.

And they are already sold out.

So just curious, does anyone think this season is going to be critical for Berry? I don't want to be "that guy", but since winning the National Tourney, he's had one post season in the tourney and then failed to appear in the last two national tournaments . Granted He hasn't had the reins very long but, UND has high expectations. Also with Hakstol in a assistant role in Toronto now I would argue that it wouldn't be hard for UND to attract Hakstol back to UND, granted the money might not be as good.

Yeah I think that is mostly just the arrogance, its way to early in the season to judge, but the last time Butler and Drake met, Butler got crushed by 30 points, So being that UND just crushed Drake by a very wide margin that makes NDSU's defeat of Butler less intimidating. I didn't watch either game as I was up fishing in a place with no signal and no wifi but, all the information suggests that this should be a very close match up, which as much as the Farm may hate the Airstrip, a close highly competitive game would go a long way to restoring the rivalry.

I agree, get the grass roots from the students and the alumni now, and in a few years you could see them move toward changing, people forget that all of the branded stuff has to be replaced anyways ,either due to wear and tear or just updating the existing branding (Logo and typeface redisign), so its not as big a deal as you might think. Plus you have one solid choice presenting itself with popular support rather than a mandate from on high to change an existing nickname by force. But hopefully this time they would A. Let the Graphic Design Department handle the new logo and text rather than some A-Holes in NY, and if we have to create a new furry suit, let the art department handle that as well.

Wait... so your telling me this idea hadn't been done, would have ballanced well vs NDSU, and was politically neutral, and on top of all that would have been a subtle teddy Roosevelt reference? WHAT F**K WAS THE COMMITTEE DOING???