Sweeny

thats a good point about the reciprocal effect...I haven't watched enough caps games (did see last nights bummer to the flyers though ) to make any sort of judgment about how large the effect may be but true nonetheless

Backstrom is an amazing player & I really like him but can't discount the fact that playing on a line with Ovechkin is going to get you a lot of points by that fact alone since the other team will be keying on him & he is a good bet to finish a setup

someone get this man an intern

There is a huge HUGE different b/t Porter and Hensick, however. Hensick was a major defensive liability so lots of people had questions about his worthiness. Not only is Porter leading the nation in scoring again, but he also plays GREAT defense and in my opinion is the best two-way player in the game right now. I have been watching him a lot lately and he is often a man amongst boys & can simply take control of a shift & dominate with support from Max & Kolarik. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Kolarik will affect Porter's output, but I expect Red will move up either Palushaj or Hagelin to the top line. Hagelin has great speed and Palushaj might be Michigan's most talented freshman overall - sick moves, great hands, & good hockey sense. Interesting note: if this happens Porter will be playing on a line with two freshmen, since Max Pacioretty (big guy who plays pretty physical & has a sick shot) has also been playing with Kolarik & Porter on the top line as of late.

even disregarding any debate over whether the PA is a "professional," should be treated as such, or what standards he should be held to.. ..it is worth thinking about whether there ought to be distinctions made between "disrespect" & supporting your own team. Although that statement is not saying the same thing as "gophers suck" - credit given for cleverness, diction, etc - its true, it was disrespect to the gophers. Fine - so what then? why is that bad? Is it any secret that UND fan's enjoy it when the gophers lose, & do we bring shame upon ourselves when expressing that (especially in funny ways)? I refer to my original arguments. In fact, Gophers could probably take it as a *sign* of respect that we make extra efforts & go out of our way to harrass them. Thats what a rivalry is all about. Their players publicly recognize that argument. Goodness knows coaches will. consider this too: hockey is a zero-sum game. there is a winner, & a loser. when you cheer for your team to win, & when you cheer for the other team to lose, you are cheering for the same thing. so substantively, there is no difference. Now, this doesn't apply to life in general (not a zero-sum game) & you could make a process argument here against me...but just sayin.. & the process argument is just the orginal: Morals & Niceties - so if you felt you wanted to go there I refer again to the original arguments. But if even if you insist that - no, its disrespect & that is wrong - at what point do we say "enough." I donno, but in this instance I am still saying if what happened hurt your feelings then....'ho boy...

If you people don't recognize things like "degree" and "intent" then God help us all. In a college hockey game you disrespect your team if you don't leave with a semi-sore throat. If you don't want to swear, fine, but you better be cheering. Loud. You don't even need to swear to be an absurdly funny & creative heckler either - we all recognize this. But don't go to a game & act indignant if you hear a swear word. Ostriches people, ostriches. I really don't understand the fascination with "class" here either - everyone throws it around like we all define it the same way but when you say someone else lacks it all you do is transpose your own subjective definition on someone else without any moral authority. Whatever. If you want to hold on to whatever high ground you think you have claim to, then fine - don't swear, nobody is going to make you. But when you are in public forum, be prepared for public expression. Part of life is dealing with things you find offensive in mature ways - not through categorical crimination & inverted suppression. Query: Do you degrade your being by being passionate & emotional at a hockey game? Does it make you feel like less of a good person to care about something? When someone else swears or is vulgur, does it mean your s**t smells better? Or are North Dakotans just especially squeamish about this stuff? Or are we just pretentious or hypocritical? Does being timid equate with civility? Most importantly, should standard norms & mores ought to apply to a college hockey setting - are we not capable of circumstancial distinction in social settings of any kind? What - if any - value is there in being self-righteously indignant? What about just being indignant in general? And why should we care about any of this? No doubt there are differing view on all this but there may be at least one or two rhetorical question in there worth thinking about no matter which side of the debate you fall on...I am just saying: If we want, we can make the REA a gutless coliseum in which to express ourselves with golf-claps and proper inarticulate yelling on cue. But when our players on the bench are down, look up to the crowd for support, and see everyone sitting down - not cheering, not clapping, & not chanting - then don't expect them do go out on the next shift & amaze you. Because whether you realize it or not, its us - the fans - that provide that extra spark of adrenaline that can mean all the difference. It makes our players more confident knowing the fans are behind them & appreciate their play, & makes the other team grip their sticks a little tighter when the true roar of 11,500 bloodthirsty people echoes through the rink. feh, like I said though, I am over it.

cause I mean *gosh* someone's feelings might have gotten hurt or something

I hear ya, I'm just saying a kid can understand that a college hockey game is a special thing w/ especially ludicrous fans & ok behavior there is not ok behavior everywhere else. My parents took my to the old REA games, & it was very clear to me that college hockey games were special - & it didn't mean that we could act like crazies anywhere we wanted. kids are smart - give em some credit. I don't think exposure to swearing as a young kid made me any worse for the wear. Though I do agree too that we need some more creativity in the REA - thats one of my main premises. Student section needs to take it upon themselves to create some new chants, or bring old ones back. Somehow, the UND chants have regressed so much that we only have a few old stand-by's, & nothing really interesting any more - have we come up with something cool even in the last decade?? I challenge someone to come up with something funny, put a beat to it, & get some people to do it with you. Or just bring a cowbell to the game & start banging rythmns on it until ya come up with something. I donno, it just makes me sad to admit that michigan hockey's atmosphere knocks the crap out of the new REA Or maybe REA needs to outreach to students & create a joint-committee where some selected students can have input into cross-implementing chants on our fancy jumbo-tron. Resources like that should make it easy to come up with fun ways to engage the crowd in creative ways. REA could make it real easy to solicit these fans - just put an application in all the student section seats for a game & watch the interest pour in. I would just like to see some effort to engage the crowd more & bring it into the game since all we get is a "shout, shout, let it all out..." once a game & everyone yells loud for 10 seconds & then sits down Thats starting to get old after the better part a decade..

class? pffft I am convinced one of the reasons UND doesn't have the home advantage it ought to is due to people who whine about "class." A home hockey crowd needs to be able to stand all game, yell all it wants, have loud & obnoxious creative obscenity-laced cheers, etc. The new REA crowd has sucked the life out of our rink. After spending 3 years watching UND at the REA, and the last two watching michigan at the Yost (supplemented with UND webcast & a trip home to nodak now & then), the home-crowd difference is palpable. The Yost band/cheers/crowd just rocks. We stand, heckle, swear, yell & dance all game. The REA, by contast, is comparatively cold, lifeless, & dead. Its a bigger rink, but in return the crowd fanaticism, enthusiasm, & intimidation factor have been diluted - and the administrative policies are just killing it, rather than amplifying the REA's advantages into positive home-crowd factor. The PC fools got what they wanted, & now no visiting team is intimitated when they play UND at home. We need to get back to the days when a loud, obnoxious, frothy-mouthed crowd would leer & heckle the visitors. If you want "family night" go watch women's basketball If you can't parent effectively & teach your kids when swearing is & isn't appropriate, then don't take them to college hockey games & then blame UND for it & your own lack of ability to parent and teach your children how to deal with these situations. Get a babysitter, go to high school games, or watch it on the telly. ugh, so over it

Michigan is looking filthy good for a team that has 10 freshmen in the lineup!! I have seen most of their games this year and from what I can see, after last year the defensive system has undergone major changes - players are backchecking hard. Yet they still have excellent puck movement on offence & know how to finish. AND those freshmen can sure score too! I think they are contributing over half of Michigan points...& with Porter, Kolarik, & Mitera providing leadership & Sauer looking like he's settled down a little more in net...I am looking at Mich to not only wipe their projected 5th place finish in the CCHA but even to challenge Miami this year. And speaking of Miami, thats a team thats looking disgustingly solid so far - but they need to face some top tier teams to deserve some of their hyperbole first

Oh boy, is it a long season still to go but... http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/7Archiv...racker_0607.htm

The Fighting Norse --> best I have seen so far. uses viking theme w/o blatantly stealing from our friends in the cities, & also lets us keep at least HALF of our old name. farming motifs - redneck, hicky, & lame/weak weather/phenomena - as mentioned previously, too wnba/lame yeah, I am pissed. My take though: tribe leaders just leveraging to get us to bribe them more (which is smart actually, since bc of the NCAA's take they control a resource valuable to us). but UND will try settle/appease them before resorting to a name switch. having a new name ready though will add to our bargaining power. So might as well discuss, sigh.

black is badass & intimidating - keep em!

Anyone have a chance to make DVD's of the regional games? I missed parts of both the mich & minn games & would love to re-watch the games if anyone has a copy avail. PM me if you can help a fellow sioux fan out! I have paypal. Sweeny PS. I know for sure I will be missing part of the Frozen Four too due to travel so depending on outcome might be interested in those as well.