Brim006

That makes sense, I get what you mean.

It's girls hockey. Exactly, but you were directly comparing attendance in past years to the year it was in Minot. The fact that girls hockey attendance is low isn't the point. Your point was that it was even lower than normal soley due to being in Minot, which I think is false. I think it was lower than normal primarily due to being detached from boys state for the first time, and to your additional good point - that it was at the same time as WDA basketball tournaments there...not directly because it was Minot instead of Fargo. I'd agree Bismarck is a great atmosphere for WDA and wish they'd alternate every year with Minot. Have to call out your comment - [Minot] "it's on an island in the middle of nowhere" - In relation to what...Minnesota? From that comment, I can tell you are from Fargo haha. Minot is about as centrally located in the state as you can get, second to Bismarck. Fargo is about as far as you can get into the corner of the state, so if you want to argue it that way, I'd say Fargo is on an island in the middle of nowhere in relation to the rest of the state of ND. Even despite 5 of the 20 boys teams all being in the area, Fargo isn't closer for any more teams than Minot is. 10 teams vs 10 teams split actually (see below), with Minot winning the tie breaker due to longer miles in total combined. So in reality Fargo is actually more in the middle of nowhere than Minot is pertaining to the hockey teams in North Dakota. Closer to Minot = Minot, Williston, HB, Bottineau, DL, BHS, CHS, Legacy, Mandan, Dickinson Closer to Fargo = FSS, FN, FD, GFC, RR, WF, WFS, GPR, Jamestown, Mayville

I was wondering the same thing. Although Eagles has been greatly improved, why was that rink chosen instead of Purpur or even Icon as the secondary rink for state.

I remember that game. That one and when GPR was playing a few years before that, I distinctly remember the cheerleaders having to go up to the upper deck and remove the giant posters to free up more seats as people were pouring in. If attendance for state games ever spikes back up, I think the Ralph in GF will be the one and only option for the state hockey tournament at least for boys, but as of right now I don't forsee that happening anytime soon as attendance is hurting across all sports at all levels across the country.

Looks like only about 2,000 for actual seating capacity so only a few hundred more for standing. But what have the state championship boys attendances been in recent years? Can't be much more than that I wouldnt think. Maybe some exclusiveness and a barn packed to the brims would be the best atmosphere yet.

Was girls state attendance way down because of the location, or was it just because it was solo for the first time and didn't have default fans from the boys? I think the answer is the latter. Since Minot, GF and Fargo all have setups that work, I think for the purpose of spreading the wealth, and for the betterment of the game within the state, it would be best to rotate between the 3 each year and always have boys and girls in separate locations. I know Fargoians believe they're the center of the universe, but the fact is they're in a far corner of the state and it's logistically unattractive to many cities/teams. We all know Fargo would love to capture all the state tournaments and all big tournaments in general, but I think a hockey town like Minot would be a great host even for the boys, and we all know the dream of playing in the Ralph will always keep GF as the other top option despite their 2nd rink drawback. With that said, due to the dying breed of olympic ice, has there been talk of switching the ralph practice ice to the normal size yet?

The players used to and likely still do unanimously prefer the Ralph for obvious reasons. Although the smaller atmosphere has probably changed a few of their minds, especially if they have already gotten to experience playing in the Ralph before.

The GFC win was the most impressive of all I think. I remember being shocked seeing Minot get that far let alone winning it all. Because I didnt follow the 2nd half of the season much and I recalled DL beating them to win the Roseau tournament and not much after that. There have been so many Minot teams that were better than that team, but like you said, everything just fell perfectly into place for them that season for whatever reason. And they had a guy like Flom to score just enough of those big goals needed and their goalie to keep them in it. That's when the west won back to back titles for the first time ever.

That is wild. I think you're right, the last time they won the WDA championship is when their current coach Jordan Wilert was playing which was either 2005 or 2006? They didnt even win the WDA in 2013 when they went on to win the state title...

Final Regular season standings prediction. 1. GFC 2. Davies 3. GFRR 4. WF 5. WFS 6. FN 7. DL 8. FSS 9. GRAFTON 10. MAYVILLE 1. MINOT 2. LEGACY 3. CENTURY 4. JAMESTOWN 5. MANDAN 6. BOTT 7. WILLISTON 8. DICKINSON 9. BHS 10. HB

Davies might be the only team left on Minot's regular season schedule that has a chance to hand them an L. CHS and Legacy likely have decent chances too but man alive Minot smoked CHS last night. Minot also has some swagger pouring

Not really any surprises. Continued insane growth in Fargo area, continued steady growth in the Bismarck area, then likely oil dependent growth in Williston, Dickinson and Minot. Essentially stagnant in Grand Forks, and stagnant to slow decline in Devils Lake and Jamestown areas.

This study was completed by the state and was last updated mid 2024. It shows back to 2020 and estimates out to 2050, so I thought that was pretty helpful/interesting. It splits the state out into 8 regions, and also breaks things down by county, so this might be more of what you were looking for. 137073.pdf

Predictions for tonights boys games FN over GPR Minot over Legacy RR over Davies Central over WFS DL over FSS Mandan over Dickinson

Hence why I said for various reasons...so I'm not pretending anything. Also, you're just bucketing everyone together with your national title or nothing theory. There's a big difference between only missing the tournament once or twice during that span and missing it every other year or more. And there's also a big difference of only having 1 tournament win in that span versus consistently making deep playoff runs. Most folks on this side of the discussion aren't demanding a natty every year, we're just pointing out that after 9 seasons there should at least be some close calls, deep runs, or at least some signs that they're capable.

On paper, the track record shows that was the most likely outcome. But we'll never know!

Probably not but now they're better than UND again so what does that say haha.

Yes, exactly and they've all hired new coaches during that span (for varies reasons including performance). Also, they're all currently ranked better than UND other than Wisc, and all had deep tournament runs since then other than Wisc and Mich State during that span. Frozen 4 appearances in that span. Michigan - 4 Minnesota - 2 Michigan State - 0 Wisconsin - 0 Denver - 5 BU - 2 BC - 2 UND - 0 So based on tournament appearances, frozen 4 appearances, and current rankings it appears UND is in the mix for the worst blue blood drop off during this span (Berry's tenure). Debate would be between Wisconsin, Michigan State and UND. Michigan State and Wisconsin have pretty clearly had the worst drop offs in that span, but Michigan State has turned things around and is back on top. I'd say Wisconsin wins the crown for the worst, but we'll see how this coaching change works out for them since he's in his 2nd season now I believe.

Here's my full prediction WF over Davies Mayport over Wahp Central over FSS GPR over Crookston Legacy over High Minot over DL Century over Mandan FN over WFS

Berry got the team to stop drinking/partying? Impressive

I can genuinely say yes, I would have based solely on my stubbornness. booooo okay fine, but understandable. How about $10 for just making the tournament? 🤠

Haha probably true. I still follow the scores, updates and watch the highlights etc. My interest has just fallen so I haven't gone to or watched any games recently.

Since you have so much confidence in Berry, and since we agree to disagree...I'd like to propose a friendly wager with you. 😊 $20 that they don't make it past the 1st round of the NCAA tournament this year.

Well said. Fan confidence is deflated, and with that so is excitement. Attendance home and away has and will continue to fall. I used to watch every single game every season, but now I haven't watched or listened to a single one in the past 2 years. The last one I watched was the OT loss in the NCHC to St. Cloud in March 2023.

My point is the continual habit of losing to poorly ranked bad teams is what has has kept them out of the tournament and likely will be the reason again this season. 62-26-14 looks great on paper, but 1 loss to a team ranked #35-64 in the pairwise washes out a lot of wins. Teams they shouldn't lose to, but have lost to, have kept them out of the tournament on Berry's watch. I used to come on here a lot 2-3 years ago and mention these same concerns, and here we are still sitting in the spot spinning our wheels. And likely will for however many more years Berry is behind the bench IMO. I hate how the NHL has become a revolving door, and I don't want that, but I think UND is well due for a change after this season. A lot of fans have lost interest, the school has lost some reputation, and he has had more than enough chances to turn it around but just can't for whatever reason. Agree to disagree