chandler23

This is hard to say with a straight-face, but I'd hardly call having the final five in St. Paul an advantage. First of all, the rink is "Sioux-size"...leading to all those chippy, over-achieving Sioux and Denver players to slow down the speed of teams like CC and Minnesota. Secondly, oh hell...I can't do it. Yes...it's an advantage to play these tournaments in St. Paul...sleep in your own bed...crowd support, etc...but I wouldn't call it a "HUGE" advantage. If it were so, wouldn't Minnesota have a better final five record? The regional advantage has been there for years, but is now changing. UND has the regional this year and I believe again will get one in 2010.

I contribute Denver's Back-to-Back on "lucky goaltending." Nothing more. Like most UND fans, I can't stand Denver. What do they have...2 fans? 3? I think being an elite team constitutes having a chance to win the title each year. With such a huge gap in Denver's successful teams and championships, I'd hardly call them elite.

I wasn't demanding anything. I was simply asking a question. I thought it might be a nice topic during the boring summer months. And as far as arrogance, well...I see that from every fan base...including North Dakota. Here's my premise: Elite, advantaged schools in WCHA: UND, Minnesota, Wisconsin Disadvantaged: Everyone else. Agree or disagree?

Hence my question mark next to the number of titles... Thanks for the correction.

Let it be known that I am a Gophers fan before you start to read this post. If you'd like to continue, please do so. So...I have friends and relatives that are Sioux hockey rubes and they all absolutely love to play the "Us against the World" card...especially as it pertains to the University of Minnesota. They criticize the U of M for having every advantage: location, Minnesota recruiting connections, size, academics, and so on, etc., etc.. The New York Yankees of College Hockey perse...(without all the championships.) They boast that the University of North Dakota, even with all of their "limited resources," they somehow still prevail. My question is this...at what point does the University of North Dakota stop playing the "life is unfair" card and admit they have the same type of advantages that they despise the U of M for having. The Shattuck pipeline, the finest college hockey rink in the country, the nine titles (9?), going to the championship game almost every year...and oh, by the way...kicking the crap out of the U of M 3 out of 4 last year, and twice when it mattered. Let me know. --J