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Sorry to go off on a tangent in Robbie's thread -- but a huge thank you to Mark Poolman and the others which gave assistance to Robbie at the arena -- the whole sequence of events post-cheap hit was done how it's suppose to be done -- in a situation like this you really appreciate the people associated/working with the team.

Ever get the feeling that the inmates are running the asylum? There is one thing that the NC$$ loves, and that is to make examples to show how "good" they are at policing their own. Last night I so wanted to fire off a memo to some NC$$ brass, as shepherd & mcleod's e-mail were "down". Then I thought, do we really want the NC$$ to "look" at hocky? -- The NC$$ seems content to collect some nice fees from hockey and, basically, allow the hockey conferences to dictate the state of hockey. I want that Denver player to not touch the ice for the rest of the season nor for an extended time next season -- (probably an over-reaction, but reading uscho and poster's comments of other incidents with this player just ticks me off) but it is highly doubtful that the WCHA is going to review the current one game suspension; realistically, only the NC$$ could extend his suspension this season. PCM, have you sent your opinion piece to any NC$$ brass? It is a well thought out piece, thanks for posting it.

Robbie and the Bina Family -- Many, many thoughts and prayers are with you all. Robbie, you've always played "bigger" than you are -- I believe that your tenacity, your strength and your heart, (those things that fuel your ability to play bigger than you are) will pull you thru this injury.

If I recall correctly, a couple years ago a player from another team, while lying on his back, used his foot/skate blade side to push a player from Denver away from him as that player was falling on top of him. I think the league suspended the player 2 games -- I remember many people thinking that was way too weak a punishment (blade sliced/ripped the front of the jersey???) -- the offending player's coach stated that the punishment was set by the league, his player served it, end of story. I don't expect Gwozdecky to extend the suspension of his player beyond what the league has determined to be fitting. It's too bad the league didn't extend the suspension for more than 1 game.

Win or lose -- what heart this team shows!! Go LAMMY!!!!

What kind of crappy response was that!?!?

Not sure what this adds to the figures thrown out but: for the senior class 7 out of 8 players have skated in 30 or more games this year (BC 27, NF 34, QF 36, CG 35, MJ 36, JM 32, RM 33, AS 33) while for the soph class 3 out of 7 players have skated in 30 or more games this year (RB 28, EF 18, SF 7, BM 21, CP 36, DS 33, MS 35) It is nice to have BM back in the lineup.

Ha! Eye rolling was mentioned last night too. I think you hit it on the head!

I attended Prof. Randy's prayer service last evening. The speaker was Gordon Iseminger (history teacher and fellow member of the GF Historical Preservation Society with Randy). GI read various selections on laughter and music, bible passages which were read at Randy and Paula's wedding, and finished the evening with a Rudyard Kipling poem. After each selection GI invited people to share a memory or two. Thoughts were given by: John Hoff (talked about Randy's spirit and how it could be felt); Christine Hogan (talked about Randy's importance in being a bridge between UND law school, SBAND, faculty, students, lawyers -- both ND educated and others); Bill Thoms (talked about various memories -- mentioned Randy was happy to see him/bill leave law school 'cause Randy got his corner office); Howard Swanson (talked about even though not a grad of UND law how much Randy meant to him/helpful -- called Randy the eternal optimist since he was a huge Baltimore Orioles fan); a friend of Paula's talked; his nephew finished the remarks. Other UND Law people I notice were: Profs. Larry K., Al B., Patti A., Barbara V., also, Eileen N., and Marcia?? (I think that's her name) from the dean's office/secretary -- there were probably others but those were the ones seated in my immediate area It was a really peaceful, sad, funny time. I'm grateful I was able to attend -- Randy looked like Randy . . . . . many, many flowers, plants . . . it's very evident from the talk before, during and after that he was well respected and loved. While standing in the line to talk to Paula people were talking about how moving the comments on the GF Herald's page were -- so Thanks to ScottM among others as those comments are being read, and are greatly appreciated. I imagine that today's service at the Chester Fritz will be well attended.

Diggler, Forecheck -- please quit the smear campaign -- I think I can speak for everyone on this board -- just issues please!!! Please address the following questions: 1) will you do all in your power to block the formation of a Big Ten Hockey Conference? 2) when they develop a NCAA Hockey video game(s) will the Sioux uniforms be the current design, or will you push for the generic profile of the 1990's? 3) will you retain PCM as THE official sudo reporter or replace him?

Mr. Diggler, as AD would you issue chopper mitts to the fans? I use choppers while at the games and they increase the effectivness of ones clapping -- it takes a minimum of effort to produce a good level of loudness. They are soooo better than things like thunderstixs, plus they are useful walking to and from the games.

He's not a clown, he's a mouthpiece.

A win! Yahoo. Non-ice issues: Standing: Although some might think it's a basketball thing (to stand until the basket is scored) I have to say I liked the twist the students did tonight and last night -- standing from the drop of the puck (1st period) until the first whistle. It's a good compromise -- now if the rest of the arena could learn to accept and participate (I hate to say it, but at the Football games when they say "everyone up for another fighting Sioux kickoff" at least the majority will stand -- maybe some instruction needs to be aimed at the fans -- "everyone up for the drop of the puck", etc. -- yes I realize they put instructions to stand and yell on the board, but just have someone say it over the loud speaker -- or isn't that allowed in NCAA I hockey?) -- also it'd be sort of interesting to see if some sort of organized chant/singing of the fight song/"something" could be yelled/chanted during that standing time. Beach Balls: WTF! Sorry, but it's STUPID to pass the freakin' ball in the crowd when play is going!!! Do you really want to have a penalty assessed to the home team! Freakin' idiots!! During a TV time-out, fine. But during play, if that ball comes near me I promise I'll pop the d*mn thing and then, well, this is a pg-13 board, so figure it out. I could go on but why. Just put the ball down during play. Kudos to the students that halted the beach ball passing. Bottle: And if you're sitting by the idiot who threw the bottle on the ice b*tch at them for me, or point him/her out and I'll give it to them. Hopefully that person was drunk 'cause no matter how bad the call, let the captains, coaches or the league take care of it and support them by voicing your opinion of the ref, opposing player(s), throwing a bottle isn't going to solve anything. The game: Good game. Players were playing hard (on both teams). Yes, BSU might only be 15% on their PP but 7 strait minutes of penalty kill with at least 3 prime shorthanded chances was great work. Didn't see what led up to the spear but it was pretty obvious -- right in front of the benches and the ref, couldn't miss it. Listened to the radio while at the game -- I know TH and GL stressed how good TZ played but I don't think they could possibly put into words just how good he was this week. He's a hard worker with so much talent. It was nice to see NF on the ice. MSmaby played a better game tonight -- I thought he was going to get a penalty (in the 2nd period) and by the way he reacted I think he thought he was going to get it called to, but the ref let it go. There were a lot of whistles, but compared to games earlier this year, there were many "Oct-Nov-Dec" penalties that the ref ignored.

I really enjoy when the Sioux win a game. Blow-out wins in games that the Sioux are "suppose" to win are good 'cause they are "wins", but often they are not the most entertaining games. I even enjoy Sioux games in which they play hard but lose to the better team. But the Sioux games that I love, that I like to think back on are those "comeback" games . . . . the 2000 national title game . . . . the (Jan?/Feb?) 1987 comeback at Wisconsin . . . . any number of comeback games against the gophers . . . even the ones that end in a loss or a tie: 2001 national title game (loss) . . . . CC at the Ralph-David Hale goal to tie it at 4-4 . . . In my mind when I think of words to describe UND hockey as a whole I think of "hardwork" and "relentless". Last night's game: penalties, for 2 1/2 periods lossing to a lower ranked team, seemingly outworked, etc...., BUT 3rd period: here come the Sioux -- they almost did it; did UND deserve a win, who cares, they almost pulled it out and they salvaged a tie . . . I believe that if just one player can shoulder this team the rest of the season those comeback wins will happen. I realize the players probably don't read this board, but . . . to the seniors -- thanks for the hard work you've given for 4 years (Quinn-5 years counting USHL) -- you came in on a down year and were expected to do an upperclassman type of job as a freshman; you've dealt with the distractions of illnesses, the "hambulger" (aka CF), players going pro early . . . . but over the 4 years you've made the team rise to #1 ranking in the nation and you brought the McNaughton Cup to the lobbey/and a banner to the ceiling of the Ralph. For that "Thanks". As seniors you have only 5 more games to play in GF (unless, of course the 1st round of the playoffs are a home series). . . enjoy each minute, take advantage of each shift -- it's going to go so quickly . . . you have 5 more games to leave your mark . . . do it . . . don't have any regrets . . . worry about what you want to leave on the rink, worry about your coaches expectations . . . don't worry about the fans opinions -- do what you're able to do. Go Sioux.

Sort of interesting to see that Tech received one vote after sweeping MN at MN while UMD doesn't get a vote for taking 3 of 4 points from CC at CC -- granted it is just one vote, but still interesting. How long has it been since Tech received a vote in a poll? Thank goodness UND doesn't have to play Tech during their carnival weekend this year.

I miss the concession stand under our section -- great "grizzled" workers, who remembered what we would order *my sig.other misses the hotdogs he says that the old place had better ones; I miss sitting by the players' parents and Cal Marvin; I miss the old banners -- I liked that they weren't necessarily "uniform"; I miss the "drop the puck guy" -- that's what he'd yell when there wasn't anything else to yell -- at the new arena he was in the section above us and I couldn't hear him anymore, and this past year he passed away. (related story: at the WJC we had seats next to 4 young men -- after some conversation figured out that they were "drop the puck guy's" grandkids -- fun to talk to them and tell them how much we enjoyed/missed their grandfather -- the one was glad to hear we enjoyed the yelling as his mom had told them they needed to be more toned down, less like grandpa, I guess); Other than that, I don't miss the old REA; many, many years of good/great memories, but the new REA is amazing. Sioux Hockey is the tradition; the old REA is nostalgia.

This morning on 1440 Swyg mentioned that Ed Olczyk had signed/looked at/verballed to UND -- can anyone remember that? it would have been over 20 years ago now -- reason it was brought up was because the guest host with Swyg mentioned that Olczyk, coach of Pitts Pens, recently mentioned that with his free time he's been coaching his son's team, and one of the parents told Olczyk that he needed to make some changes in his coaching/game plan.

HA! Honestly, I thought the same thing listening to the caller last night -- the caller mentioned that on "the message board(s)" there was a lot of talk about Toews and the caller specifically asked "could Hak comment on Toews". So obviously this guy/the caller is someone who reads this board (or uscho or poi) and knows that coaches can't comment. But I figured the caller thought that by asking Hak the question Hennessey would jump in (which he did) and give a comment, since Hak couldn't. When Hak said he couldn't comment on Toews or other recruits/potential recruits (and gave the reason why, NCAA rules) this yahoo caller then asked a follow-up question: could you, Coach Hakstol, comment on Kessel and what chance UND had to land him; if the caller really wanted to know about Kessel, and having just been told that Hak can't comment the caller reasonably should have directed his Kessel comments to Tim H. That's when I thought, it has to be a gopher fan trying to see if Hak would say something.

I appreciated that this past weekend MPrpich DREW 2 penalties by skating hard toward the net (the Maverick penalties were not retalitory penalties, but take MP down/stop a scoring chance type penalties) -- he also forced a penalty during the Golden Griffin series. He's been working hard, something he seems to do a lot -- he's a great instigator but he's shown much more value to the team on the ice, not in the penalty box. Also -- RMcMahon -- averaged about 7 goals his 1st 3 years at UND -- this year, just past the mid-point, he has 9 goals. Keep up the excellent work. I think CGenoway has averaged about 18/19 points a year, this year he's already up to 25 points. These guys are seniors and their points are needed and expected, so to see them produce is good. CPorter's 9 goals are a great start. There have been some wonderful passes and chances, but more people need to be put the puck in the net -- the number of shots on goal has been over 30 (right?) the past couple games, that's very, very good -- they've just got to quit making the goalies look too good. Freshmen? TZajac's 12 goals and RSpirko's 19 points indicate that they are living up to the hype preceeding their arrival. I really enjoy the energy RBina, LMarvin, SFoyt and BCannady bring each time they play -- ice time might be lacking, and maybe SF, LM & BC lack the finesse of some of the more regular players but they hustle and if the coaches ask them to play forward, play defense or sit the bench, they do whatever to support the team.

It does seem a little extreme to say someone isn't going to EVER go to another hockey game because of the parking situation. Obviously your co-worker NEVER attended UND -- the parking has ALWAYS been an issue (for students and for fans). For years there have been discussions regarding the parking or lack there of, hopefully with the new arenas there will be another push for alternative parking solutions. A parking ramp would be sweet. For the local casual or non-hockey fan fighting the traffic/parking might be enough for him/her to say "never again"; it would benefit the REA to come up with closer parking access (although I've heard that the shuttle bus system works well -- anyone care to comment on the shuttle system?).

The article avoids one simple fact -- maybe it's something no one feels comfortable pointing out, so I guess I'll say it: USA WJ Team without gophers = GOLD USA WJ Team with gophers = NO GOLD

Very decent crowd tonight. It was interesting to watch the Wild's pick on the Swiss team -- #26 Sprunger -- big forward (think Barry Tallackson size) was o.k. -- definitely could be more dominant -- speed seemed decent for the size but "something" was lacking -- not on the penalty kill unit(s). #7 Furrer played well on D -- definite leader of the Swiss d-corp (we were behind the Swiss bench and it was interesting watching him talk to the other d-men). The Swiss coaches weren't as vocal as say the Slovakian coaches (they were pretty vocal yesterday) -- only time noticed much emotion (probably 'cause the game wasn't too close/in question) was when their player took a stick to the face -- no penalty called -- once the blood was cleared away it wasn't a big cut, but pretty close to his eye -- he had an ice bag to his head the rest of the way. The Belarus team seemed chippy. Both goalies had some very nice saves; the breakaways the Swiss had killed Belarus. Hopefully the USA's d-corp stays assignment sharp (and Montoya doesn't have another period like Saturday's 1st period). Should be a good game. Go USA.

To sort of go on a tangent with the blessings theme -- thanks to: The moderators of ss.com -- This is a great, interesting, useful site -- you're the best. PCM -- your hockey recaps are greatly appreciated (in addition to being well done) I hate to list thanks to too many individual poster's 'cause I'll forget someone and 'cause with few exceptions the posters on ss.com are entertaining and knowledgeable (even the questionable ones -- read: siouxrock -- are entertaining in a sick sort of way) and the site is all the better for everyones contributions. So I guess I'll sum it up like this: Following the Sioux teams is a blessing - not only is there good hockey/football/basketball to watch, but I get to discuss it on a wonderful forum with great fellow fans -- the comic relief can make even the longest of work days fly by -- (to name a few: Yanea and her signs/sayings; and the Jon Durno and Mapletoft discussions crack me up). God Bless Us All -- And A Happy New Year To You