Wilbur

Right now I'd sell UND finishing higher than NDSU in the forseeable future. NDSU coming off a national championship with a QB that just finished his Soph. year.....Give it three years at the very earliest. I believe Joe from Detroit Lakes will be a very good player, but if he is by chance a bust the UND coaching staff better get three or more QB bodies into camp to find a guy that can lead an offense down the field.

The first one is a buy. Better opponents in the building should make things a tid bit more interesting. If they don't stay....nothing will make them stay. The second one is a sell. Don't have the QB's to throw for a ton of yardage.....ground game will face stiff tests against bigger bodies....Hopefully its not a school record for most yardage given up in a game....

Took the tour the first year the facility was open. The team had just lost the Friday night game against Anchorage, and was going through their Saturday morning skatewhen my dad and I got to see the glitz and glamour. We didn't get to see the men's locker room because according to the tour guide "a beloved head coach was not in a good enough mood to be around the tour takers....." PS: A couple of years later when I was working at UND campus postal, I had a delivery for the equipment guy and begged and pleaded for a look. Fifteen seconds of glory!!!!!!

I for one am glad that Genoway will have a defensive partner that can skate with him. It worried me that he'd get stuck with Jared Spurgeon or something like that. Anxious to see who Zach centers.....You could have a Heatley-Parise-Setoguchi line.....Or even see him play somewhere else. The wild have a roster full of centers....Cullen, Koivu, Bouchard....Anxious for the first time in many years to see how the wild try to mold their scoring units.

Pass the crow, I thought there was no way.... I like that the gopher fans will get to cheer for former Sioux players, and former Badger players, and a former SCSU guy we all know pretty well......

If the Wild land Parise and Suter they will no doubt have a chance to make the postseason. Stanley cup contenders....meh.....As a Viking/Twins/Wild fan it just doesn't make any sense to land one, albeit two big free agents. If for some reason Parise is on the wild, and Genoway gets more of a shot this next season, I'll have an excuse to watch more games.

Quick question for any with knowledge. Is Zach Parise's fiance from Minnesota? Or is she from a state nearby?

My guess or vote is Pittsburgh. No more Staal, a bit of cap space to bring in a good team guy, and its not too far of a move for him. Being so close to the Stanley cup has got to make him want it even more. So, a contender it is..... I'm a Minnesota sports fan (minus goldy of course...), and they just don't get the big name free agents...I mean maybe when he's 38, but not when he's in his prime.

I...uh....You watched him play in college right? We are talking about Chay right? Charles....the younger brother?

Parise would be an idiot to sign with the Wild. I know its home, and they'll throw a lot of money at him, but if he ever dreams of winning a Stanley cup he can't come home just yet. The same can be said for Suter....

Not pleased by this. I wish he had signed with a team that actually had a decent future ahead of them, and one willing to give him a chance. Last year Chay was the best defenseman on the Aeros yet he only got called up for one game (which he was one of the best players on the ice). Its tough to call myself a wild fan when they'd rather bring up a higher drafted player, than a player that is producing for them in the minors.....

I think what Gothberg provides something the Sioux haven't really seen in a goaltender in his ability to play the puck as almost a third defensemen. I love his size and his lateral movement is excellent for a big goaltender. Have not seen Saunders whatsoever....just a big kid that has seen a lot of rubber in Alabama.....

Brad posted that we may see a penalty clock....blasphemy....

It means so much to me because of the special link to my dad that Fighting Sioux hockey has given to me. We went to a ton of games when I was young but I remember one specifically when UND was playing St. Cloud State at the Old Ralph. UND scored late in the third period to take the lead and the pep band (after of course playing the school song) went right into the beer song. I'll never forget seeing my dad wipe the beginning of tears from his eyes, as it meant so much that we were sharing that moment together (and of course the Sioux were going to win). Even going to football games, when the team ran onto the field at Memorial Stadium, or onto the turf at the Alerus, I always see it get to him. Now that I'm a dad I just get emotional as all hell when my wife puts our one year old in his fighting sioux jersey, or other Sioux outfits before a big Sioux game. The torch is definitely getting passed!

Nice job assistant coach A and B.....

Nothing to really do with the topic, but Brad posted a list of UND's first rounders the past ten years. Two names stuck out to me. Joe Finley going to the caps at 27, and Brian Lee going to Ottawa at 9.....Not sure those were the greatest first round picks in the history of those organizations. Still can't believe that lee went 9th.....wow. I know the injury hurt big Joe quite a bit, but hopefully he can get up with the Sabres for a longer stretch next season.

More reasons to cheer for the Blues. Oshie....check....Backes....check....Elliott....check....... Biased college hockey fan here...

I have heard nothing from any rumor mill but seems likely that Dell will not be back another year. When Kristo and others were talking about coming back you think he would have made a decision at that point in time, but was likely waiting for some kind of an offer.

Add this one to the list of "North Dakota doesn't get any respect". I remember when the Final Five printed posters that said North Dakota State University and I was told by hockey fans from outside ND that I should turn the other cheek and that its great that college hockey has sponsors like Red Baron etc.... ~I'm betting that the NCAA wouldn't send Alabama's division I championship banner to Auburn.... ~North Carolina wouldn't get Duke's..... ~Florida State wouldn't get Florida's..... It made me chuckle, but its just another strike against an already poorly run collegiate athletics association.

Pretty good analysis from the diehards of les habitants..... ~Right on with Kristo's size. ~Dell does seem to be a bit lackadaisical at times, but makes the saves he needs to. ~Cichy does need to put on a little bit of weight if he's going to make it in the professional ranks.

Exactly. It used to be the fat kid would end up in the net at the youth level, but now you're seeing the better athletes at younger ages becoming goaltenders, which leads to better goaltenders at the upper levels as well. I'd say the equipment has a lot to do with it as well. The stuff is so light now, that all of these goaltenders are that much quicker to the point where it doesn't matter that they mandated smaller equipment. I played goalie in the generation where the pads would get wet, suck up water, and you'd have weights stuck to your legs. Now these pads repel water, and stay light on a goaltender the duration of a game or practice. I wasn't good enough for an equipment change to help me, but give these great athletes more of an edge and you'll see why leagues are changing rules to improve scoring.

Looks like the nickname is on its way to being retired. Very bittersweet, but the university needs to move on. PS: Nobody can say, "look how this county voted....look at how this county voted". People are voting yes because they don't want the university to be harmed by keeping the nickname. In a straight up vote of yes or no with no ramifications either way, people would vote to keep the nickname across the state.

So, I guess I don't understand hockey because I'm in favor of having the full cage.... I was a goalie though....so having something protecting my face with pucks flying at me was kind of important.... Either way it doesn't matter. Said it before....will say it again....Would love to hear Nick Fuher's opinion on it.

This is a great discussion topic. Its kind of like, "I can drive my vehicle better without this, even though it means I may get injured a bit more if I get into an accident". The NFL is having kind of a similar situation. They are requiring their players to wear more protection in an attempt to prevent injuries, and the players are all up in arms because the extra padding will hinder the way they play the game. I'll agree with the previous post. I have so much respect for players who get in front of 100 mph slapshots with nothing protecting their faces. The guys who lay out with the possibility that they'll get one somewhere in the noggin. There will still be players out there that play the game recklessly if the game goes to half shields. I just don't want to see blood on the ice at the Ralph and a college kid with 8 stitches above his right eye. I wonder what Nick Fuher would say about the topic? I know the incident in his situation was a fluke thing....but his life changed quite a bit.

If they did J.P. Parise might have landed a slash in 1972...