Wilbur

As much as I've defended Minot that past couple of years on this board, I really can't say anything back to posters with the comments they've made.... I know it doesn't mean much to you all, but I'd say 90 percent of the people that I've talked to that were at the game were absolutely sickened by the incident, and others who saw it on the news felt horrible as well. I think someone summed it up best to me today when they said "Another black eye for Minot hockey..." I know I really don't represent Minot hockey, but I am sorry to everyone who has a love for the great game of hockey that something like this happened. I'm a huge supporter of Minot hockey, and I thought incidents like this were a thing of the past.

Call me old school, but that was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in a high school hockey game...Yeah you scored a goal, but why on earth do you show up the other team by getting the puck out of the net and then signing it like some primadonna football player. For any Williston fans or other hockey fans I apologize for this because Minot already has a bad reputation in cities around the state. Gosh...I just don't know what else to say... Personally I think he should have been given a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, but then I guess some people I talked to had no problem with it. Still, there is no place for that in the game of hockey. I've NEVER been more upset after a Minot goal....

Posts like this spit on all the hard work great individuals like Jeff Gustafson do to try and get these up and coming programs competetive, and try to get more kids interested in playing hockey.... Just worry about Red River, or whoever it is you care about. Let these teams worry about continuing to grow their programs.

I was talking about DL and Grafton, not sure how Grafton sniping Arnason got into the mix.... Looking at Gillen's website it looks like Arnason and Gilbertson (or something like that) share time in net for RR. Its always nice to have two goalies, and it looks like its worked so far for RR. I also saw that they added a JV page for the newly created east region JV standings. I think this is a good idea. I'd definately be in favor of having a JV state tournament. I remember playing JV and when the high school plays their last game before regionals your season kind of ends. I'm sure that something could be done to have the top four east region jv squads play the top four west region jv squads in Jamestown or something while the regional tournaments are going on. That way teams couldn't stack their jv teams for the tournament. Just an idea...

I'm kind of excited to see how well Devils Lake does against Red River. I think Red River will win the game, but I think that DL will give them a good game. Al Henry will have his team ready to play, and after tomorrow we'll see where Devils Lake is compared to the top teams in the state. I'll predict: Red River 4 Devils Lake 2

Hendrickson is a pretty good athlete. I got to see him play a couple of times this season, and he was phenomenal at the linebacker position. In Minot's playoff game against Wahpeton he was a big reason that Minot held a good rushing team at bay, and I thought he had a good game in the Championship against Fargo South as well. He played some fullback as well, so he could possibly play on offense as well, but I'm guessing linebacker is more than likely the direction he'll go.

I'm a little disappointed that RR and South don't play each other until January. Usually they play within the first two weaks of the season, but this year the first meeting is mid January. I guess the debating will continue about the best team in the state until then....

Its upsetting to read of the possibility that Alex Simonson quit Central's hockey team. Could anybody who knows the truth about whether he did or not please shed some light for me. When I went to school at UND I got to know him a little bit playing outdoor hockey by the rink near where he lived (I think its called riverside or something like that). Back then I could tell he was going to be a special hockey player, and for a kid who was always out there playing to quit is pretty upsetting. At least I hope he has some other options...

I absolutely agree about the fact that its the players that dictate how the game goes. I played for Mr. Samson (absolutely a wonderful individual, great guy indeed) and he didn't cost us one hockey game. We lost it as players with the attitudes we had going into the games, or just on lack of talent. Are there better coaches out there than Samson? I think so. But last year the same thing happened to Minot at the state tournament. I think Chad Burckhard said it best last year when he mentioned that the problem is between the ears of the kids from Minot.

Al Henry is the coach of DL. He was on the bench.

I caught the end of the Minot-DL game on the radio (not feeling to well, and slept through most of it... ) It sounded like Minot's goaltender had a pretty good game, and the same could be said for Devils Lake's goalie. The Minot radio guy does an okay job and it seems like DL's goalie made two or three big saves before Everson won it on the penalty shot. I may get laughed at, but I think Everson could be Mr. Hockey. Every time he touched the puck at the end the Minot announcers got scared... This is a pretty good result for Minot. Although they're probably upset they lost, this team needed a strong showing, and I think they got that. I think Chad Burckhard will do a good job taking baby steps with this team, and make them a good team in the long run. PS: I also heard that Al Henry got a puck in the head? What happened there?

I'm glad to see that Devils Lake is off to a good start. A lot of naysayers came out after their first game, but they've played pretty well so far. I know they haven't played Red River or Fargo South yet, but I think they will definately hold their own against those teams, and possibly steal a win in Devils Lake against one of the two. They play in Minot on Tuesday, I can't make the game but I think they'll probably have another strong showing. I guess I'll throw out my top five in the state right now. 1. Fargo South-Beating White Bear Lake is pretty good. 2. Red River-Could be #1 as well. 3. Fargo North-Beat Grafton. 4. Devils Lake 5. Grafton-I'm interested to see how they fare against Devils Lake.

I guess since we're on the topic of Division I........One thing I'm definately looking forward to is the renewing of the UND-NDSU rivalry. Today's loss hurts, and I guess the one thing I always fell back on in the past after a season was, "Well at least we beat the Bison", or "Shoot, we didn't beat those darn bison this year, we better get them next year!" This season I guess we can be happy about the Conference Championship, ending Omaha's season, and the game at Northern Iowa, but it would still have been nice to beat a team like the Bison this season.... Next important Question Who will be the QB next season...

UND needs to offer the goaltender from the USDT (Josh Unice) a scholarship. No strings attached. A full ride, come to UND, we'll take care of you, and you can make great saves against other teams....

While I was driving home from work today I heard on the radio about the passing of Jeff Gustafson (sp) the coach of the Hazen-Beulah North Stars after a two year battle with cancer. I think he'll be forever remembered for the work he did with the young hockey program, and hockey in general in that part of North Dakota. Those who constantly rip on the west region and new programs in the state downplay the work that guys like him do in trying to build and spread the great sport of hockey. I know he's got some young kids too. My prayers are with the family...

The one thing that this game will come down to is the UND defense. Can they rebound from a poor performance against Omaha, and contain an offense that is probably better than Omaha? I like UND's chances this year a whole lot better than last year. If Manke continues to play well the Sioux have a great chance to win this game. If the offense has a mediocre day....end of season.... Here's a prediction though: Winner goes to the National Championship

That Everson is one heck of a hockey player. I got the chance to see him play last year, and he is extraordinary with the puck in space, and uses his speed exceptionally well. I anticipate that he'll play junior hockey, I think he can.

I seriously did not feel safe until the last second ticked off of the game clock. Even though Dan Hammer proclaimed the game over, I still waited for the final horn to blow, because with UND against Omaha anything could have happened. One of the Freshman could have been posessed by the Devil for a second and called a timeout, forcing UND to punt, which would have been blocked and returned for a touchdown. Then Omaha would have went for two, only to be stopped initially, until the officials rule that Pat Berhns had called a timeout, and that the Mavs get another chance. The ensuing two point attempt would have gone off of the helmet of Robbie Meek, off of the back heal of Jared Enger, only to bounce right back to Miller in the end zone for the two point conversion and the win...... It could have happened....yay sioux...

Its nice having a fan from an opposing team actually talk logically about football instead of ranting and raving, we should be thankful Lefty isn't another Warrior. Usually we see UND-UNO games come down to the bounces, and it seems like whoever gets the big bounce ends up winning the game. UNO got it last time, and UND absolutely needs a couple bounces to win the football play. BUT SO HELP ME IF THE MAVS GET ANOTHER BLATANT BOUNCE FROM THE GODS!!!!.......

BSU was way more deserving than Winona. At least there would have been more people at the game. My 49-2 prediction wasn't too far off. Complete domination by the fighting sioux today. The challenges get bigger now as the guys get their chance for revenge against Omaha. Should be a good one. I think WSU Warrior or whatever his name is will start living vicariously through Omaha now. Don't expect the moron to go away after his team got it handed to them twice. The last three times the two teams have played UND has scored a total of 147 points....

Definately puts things into perspective. Sorry to hear the horrible news...

We're not hating on your team. Just confused as hell as to why your team made the playoffs. I guess I'll make a prediction too...hmmm. UND 49 Winona 2

No, just surprised as hell that you're in the playoffs...... You lost to a team that plays NAIA schools every year.....

And the topic of NDSU comes into the South Dakota-UND game thread. A superb football game that actually determines playoff seeding, and someone from AZ comes in and lets us know that he ordered a pizza and that NDSU won a football game that in the long run doesn't mean anything other than the Great Montana Western Intercollegiate AA Football conference of the North regular season championship...... On that topic though....I can't remember anyone ever saying NDSU was bad, most likely because of the way they handled the goph show.

South deserves to be the state champions, they are a great great team. However, I think Minot played one heck of a football game, and kept the score a lot closer than most people thought they would. One or two plays go a different way and the score could have been even closer. Anybody who bet 63-0 isn't much of a football mind at all.