Snake

For the record, I would prefer a full conference schedule too. I'm OK with having the Omaha trip on the schedule every year - it's a fun one. Of course, Duluth is an excellent trip as well. I could handle either one on a yearly basis. I'm just darn happy we're done with guaranteed road trips to St. Cloud every year!

Ok...but Miami and Western are on the home schedule. The rivalry with Denver is already established. How is having Miami and Western on the home schedule hot helping us develop rivalries with the new teams in the conference? Miami and Western at this point stand to be two of the better teams in the conference based on how they've fared in recent history. I'm kind of excited to see these teams, actually.

I know it's fun to speculate, but what's wrong with the WCHA rolling with things as they have them laid out and then adapting as they collect the data? To me it seems they at least have a reasonable plan to kick off the new era of the conference.

^ I agree on Kristo. Coming in to UND there were a lot of questions about whether or not he was the type of player that fits the UND mold...well, I think he's proven it over the last couple years. He brings it. Consider me a fan of the kid.

Does anyone know if they keep track of any stats regarding "chances converted" or something like that? It's tough for me to say a guy lacks the consistent ability to finish his chances without knowing what his percentage is and how it compares to the rest of the league. Back in '87 I'm sure chances were converted on a higher rate simply because the goalies and team defenses weren't as stout as they are today. It's extremely difficult to compare eras based on the numbers.

Are you saying these guys, underclassmen that they were at the time, would start today over our current seniors? Or, are you imagining Lee Davidson the senior when you make these comparisons?

Naumenko was one of my favorites to watch; however, I don't recall another D man as slick as Travis Roche since he played here. He'd be in the conversation for me, as well as maybe Brad Williamson. For sure Lee Goren is on my list!

But with how critical non-con games are for PWR I'm not sure they're any better for playing in these conditions.

10 min left, goalies switching sides.

I was just waiting for the breakaway at the 10 min mark!

It'll be interesting to see how it is for game 2.

Oh, no worries, I'm not losing any sleep over it!

Nothing says "hockey" like football helmets. Obviously football is king there, but why spread it to the identity of the hockey team? Hopefully it was the players' idea, which I could accept. If not, it's no wonder they perpetually suck.

IMO Omaha would certainly work. If UNO can get an on-campus arena built it would almost be a no-brainer if the Target Center doesn't work out.

^ exactly. Everyone seems to assume the FCS deal was signed in perpetuity. Does anyone know if it was really an option for next season?

I think the closest a 1st-round road team has come to winning the Broadmoor recently was BSU in 2011. That year they were the #10 and upset #3 Omaha; then they beat Duluth in their Thursday play-in game only to lose to DU in the semis. They were more of a "Cinderella" that year than the AA team referenced previously.

I was in the upper level, 1st base side, and saw everyone rushing toward the 3rd base dugout after the Kristo goal to ice the game. I thought for a split-second about busting butt to get down there to join them; but thankfully I decided to stay put and take it all in from a distance. It was quite the spectacle and something I'll never forget. We went down to Omaha the first time we played them in November 2010, and after that weekend I thought it would likely be on my list of "regular" road trips to make. Last weekend just solidified it for me.

We all know the flood of UND fans has been known to bring down opposing teams' webcasts in the past!

I realize this forecast is for just this weekend, but how volatile are they for the rest of the season (Win 0 vs. Win 6)? Thanks for your analysis, Jim!

I have DirecTV so I've never watched a game via UND Insider and thus I know nothing of the current quality. I've heard of some folks having issues with the stream, and I guess my question is: will the servers, etc. be able to handle all of the increased demand from the current DTV and FCS subscribers who will be forced to webcasts?

What are the in-house capabilities for the video boards? They upgraded the main scoreboard a couple years ago, and are they (have they) not upgraded the concourse TVs? Has the in-house viedo feed been the same as the network TV feed?

Of course the article didn't give a concrete reason, and speculated that it was a playing time issue; but if true the kid should've taken a lesson from Eids. Fist thing that popped into my mind when reading this story was how Eidsness handled his situation when Dell came in. We were lucky to have a character guy like that on our team.

It's because the conference has a contract for exclusive national broadcast rights with CBS College Sports. I believe the FCS deal with UND is done after this year.

The beauty is that at least the puck will be moving so slowly all of us here in Omaha will be able to follow it!

Seems to me the rain is forecast for later in the day on Saturday. The smart thing to do would be to move the start times up an hour or two. It would suck to get a period and a half in and then have it start raining.