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Mike Burgraff: The nicest guy off the nice but on the ice was questionable. Always hustled, usually on the penalty kill, and whenever the whistle blew you had to find him if he was on the ice because he usualy did something. A fan favorite from the 70's.

After Fargo just voted down non-smoking in restaurants it reminded me of my Boston Experience. We hit almost every bar between Fanueil Hall and the Fleet Center at one time or another and also ate at various places. The coolest thing was that even after doing this I could actually wear the same pair of jeans the next day because they don't allow smoking in public faciltiies. Talk about nice! But now I'm back in Fargo and there is only one bar in town that doesn't allow smoking. I guess I'll just have to eat and drink at home more often. In general Boston was a great city. Everything was within walking distance except the day we went to Harvard. We did the normal stuff like going to both Cheers Bars, walking through Boston Common, antiquing on Charles Street, and having dinner at an Italian Restaurant on the North End. On Friday we ate an early dinner at the Barking Crab restaurant and then took a water taxi back to Long Wharf. That was cool. We only made one mistake. The first night we decided to wait for the Irish music to start at the Black Rose and after drinking until they started it was a tough walk to the hotel. We met some Sioux fans from a small town in New York. After extolling the comforts of the Ralph we convinced them to make the Mecca to Grand Forks this year for a hockey game. I met a lot of fans from other teams who kept saying they wished North Dakota was there because they like the way we play the game. Most of these fans complained about the style of Maine and Denver but acknowledeged that they deserved to be there. In all a very fun time. Now what the heck is there to do in Columbus?

At a recent Sioux Booster luncheon Dean Blais spoke on this topic. He mentioned that half of the recent additions to the hockey program did not have an ACT score of 21 or highter. But he also said that for example one player came in with an ACT score of 19 and now had a GPA of 3.8. Plus all of these players had GPas over 3.0. Blais's concern is that he'll miss out on players because of a higher standard than what some other schools may have. With the athletic department's commitment to academics (leading the conference with number of athlethes named to the all whateve academic team) I thinkt he coaches feel that given a chance they can get this athlete to get decent grades and to graduate from college. If there is some leeway when it comes to this standard I think we'll be OK, BUT....

Saviano over Bochenski? I don't think so.

From the CC web site: Schedule of Events The following is a schedule of events, pertinent to the media, for the West Regional: Thursday, March 25 12:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Holy Cross practice 1:45 p.m.: Holy Cross press conference 1:45-2:45 p.m.: North Dakota practice 2:45 p.m.: North Dakota press conference 3:00-4:00 p.m.: Miami (Ohio) practice 4:15 p.m.: Miami (Ohio) press conference 4:15-5:15 p.m.: Denver practice 5:30 p.m.: Denver press conference 5:45 p.m.: Tournament meeting in Wigand Room Friday, March 26 8:30-9:30 a.m.: Officials skate 9:45-10:45 a.m.: Holy Cross practice 11:00 a.m.-Noon: North Dakota practice 12:15-1:15 p.m.: Miami (Ohio) practice 1:30-2:30 p.m.: Denver practice 4:00-5:30 p.m.: Media/VIP buffet at Arcade Room 5:30 p.m. Regional Semifinal Game 1: Holy Cross vs. North Dakota 7:30-9:00 p.m.: Media meal at Arcade Room 9:00 p.m. Regional Semifinal Game 2: Miami (Ohio) vs. Denver Saturday, March 27 10:00-11:00: Officials skate 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Game 3 visiting team practice 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Game 3 home team practice 5:30-7:00 p.m.: Media/VIP buffet at Arcade Room 7:00 p.m.: Regional Championship Game

I'll be there. Taking the charter out of Fargo.

My first thought was : Holy smokes that's a killer October. With games at Maine, Northeastern, Boston College and Mankato in October and a home series against Minnesota we could be lucky to be .500 after October. Ohter thoughts: - For the second time in two years we don't play Minnesota twice. That's just plain stupid for the WCHA especially if they are so concerned about money. - Much more balanced with home and away series just about every other weekend in the WCHA. - Just think, two years ago we'd never heard of Canisius and now we'll be playing them for the 3rd time in 3 years. Weird. Overall a good schedule except for that killer October and no trip to Minnesota.

All I know is that after UND wins on Friday afternoon and we go have some beers, that the 6 Gopher fans that sit in front of us will not be happy we had the extra time to prime ourselves to root for the Bulldogs.

I'm sure that whatever happens the PWR will figure out a way with the bonus points to make sure that the top West teams will be in the same bracket so that they can once again be assured that there is an eastern team in the NCAA Final game. So that means if UND stays at Number 1 and Duluth is a Nmber 1 seed that they'll do the bonus to make sure Duluth is the 4th Number 1 seed so if we both make it to Boston we'd have to play each other in the semis. Damn eastern bias

I was just going to say the same thing. There are plenty of seats and the roads are good. Drive up there Jerseychaser1!

I will definitely make sure to say hi. When we first started going in 1988 we always got together with 2 Gopher fans and 2 Duluth fans between every period. It was a tradition that the UND and Duluth fans gave the Gopher fans crap constantly and vice versa. The only consensus that we all had in those years is we hated Wisconsin. Since then people have drifted and even passed away, and we go with a different group now (all UND fans). We're also headed to Boston for the Frozen Four. So if Duluth makes it to Boston we'll be rooting for you guys. Except of course if you're playing the Sioux.

Friday: Same lines as last week with Brandt in goal. If we win Friday, Parise in goal, Palmo plays and then who knows. He could rest Parise, Bochenski, etc. No sense getting them hurt. If we lose Friday: Parise in goal, Palmo plays instead of Fabian and everyone else is the same. We're going to win Friday so except for Parise in goal and Palmiscino playing Saturday who knows.

We have six seats in section 116 row 10 right on the aisle between sections 116 and 115. I've had tickets since the inception of the WCHA Final Four in St. Paul in 1988.

Saturday's game is also on WDAY channel 6

I just spoke to the programming director at WDAY TV in Fargo and she said that they will be broadcasting the game also. So anyone from the Fargo area does not need to go to Grand Forks or at least to Buxton to watch Saturday's game on TV.

To top it off last week all of a sudden I see McMahon on a line centered by Lundbohm. Hey I know that McMahon needs to be on the ice but as a wing? Here are the lines I'd like to see us put on the ice this weekend and if they perform decently stick with them for the rest of the year: First line: Bochenski - Parise- Murray Second Line: Stafford - Genoway - Porter Third Line: Fylling - Lundbohm - PrPich Fourth Line: Hale - McMahon- Massen (then move guys around based upon how they are playing. So if Massen isn't skating use Fabian, or if you want some more speed on the second line you switch Fylling and Porter, etc.) I know that Blais is mad at Smaby but he has such a bigger upside right now than Marvin does. I'd like to see him stick with these D pairings: Schnedier - Bina Greene - Jones Smaby - Fuher I think it's time that Blais stabilizes the team and the best way to do this is put these guys on the ice and let them perform.

He really started rolling 3 lines on Friday night against CC. He did this because the first time he stuck ou the 4th line CC scored. Palmiscino and Cannady didn't see the ice until the last 2 minutes of the game. He also set Smaby down after a couple of misplays and played Marvin as a defenseman instead about half way through the first period. So what happens Saturday? He puts the fourth line out and one their second shift CC scores again. So he has very valid reasons to only roll 3 lines. If these guys can't be an asset they're not going to play. We just need those 4th line guys to play hard and not cost the team. The past couple of weeks that hasn't happened.

When I was in Florence this year the number one obstacle I as a UND fan had to overcome was the issues that our fans had harrassed their fans in a vulgar and racist manner two weeks prior. We can all sit here and say "Yeah but that wasn't me, it was just some drunks". The reality is that school administration as well as the NCAA administration views this as being a student problem and they will correct it. I believe the choice is simple: either we clean it up or they will do it for us. Things that have been done at other schools to force this cleanup: 1. Giving breathalyzers at the doors to all underage attendees and arresting any that have a trace of alcohol on their breath. The idea here is to keep out the drunk students. 2. Immediately remove any person in attendance that swears during the game. Some arenas have placed people amongst the fans to act as stool pigeons during the game and report all instances. 3. Move the student section completely to the top section so that their chants are not heard on the ice. These are some things that have been tried and have usually failed because they have generated so much animosity from the students. The reality is that we want the students to yell their heads off especially since the old folk are reluctant to. But in a manner that is not offensive to other people. Until this happens be prepared for just about anything. I guess the best way is for each of us to monitor our own behavior and with peer pressure we can reduce the vulgarity and racist comments. Enjoy the game without being a jerk. If not they'll just start kicking people out. I truly believe they are willing to have a student section sit empty rather than have this atmosphere at the arenas. Whether you feel it's right or not, the Unversity views this as a student problem and not an overall fan problem.

I posted this on USCHO and thought it belonged here too: I like most Sioux fans were dismayed and sort of if disbelief that we were swept by Wisconsin. If you're like me you're hoping this isn't a repeat of last year and you're also hoping that it's a kick in the butt for this team. Most of the year they have been able to show up and beat just about everybody without a huge effort. Now I hope they realize that every team from now on will come as hard as they possible can and they need to step it up. I'm not worried about the goaltending and I'm not worried about this team. I don't think the leadership comes from the seniors but comes from Zach Parise and I think he'll get the boys rolling. The guy hates to lose. Even if we were to split this weekend it's not the end of the chance for the conference title. I'm expecting a split up in Duluth between the Gophers and Bulldogs so we can still be right there. This team will step up their play and I'd guess will go 6-2 the rest of the way to win the McNaughton trophy.

When I sent my email to all of the WCHA Adminstrators my focus was on the safety of the players and in particular the marquee players of the WCHA. My take was that the WCHA officials have theorized that the best players should be able to "skate through the holding , slashing, hooking, etc. if they were so damn good". What has happened is that the best players in this league have almost been nullified and even injured because of the lack of correct officiating. Hey if I can pummel a player like Peter Seyna and "hold" him to a point in the game without getting called for a penalty, I've given my team a chance to win. My feeling has always been call the game by the rulebook and if a team can't score on their power play they don't deserve to win. The poor officiating has made the game regress and will drive players like Parise to the pros for their safety if nothing else.

If anyone would like to complain about the officiating and in particular how the refs let the opposing teams maul Parise until he's bleeding and they still don't call a penalty here are the WCHA officials and their email addresses. If you'r going to complain though don't swear and don't be a jerk. If they are like me they will only consider civil responses. Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner bmcleod@du.edu Carol LaBelle Assistant Commissioner of Operations clabelle@du.edu Sara R. Martin Associate Commissioner sara@srmproperties.com Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials gshepherd@mailstation.com Doug Spencer Associate Commissioner for Public Relations dspencer@mailbag.com

I like you Greyeagle am sad for the Potulny brothers. Gees one of the main reasons Ryan went to Minnesota is to play with his brother. They get to play about 6-8 games together and he's out for the year. I hope he takes the medical hardship. That way if he improves to the point that the pros want him he can take off. If not he still gets 4 good years as a hockey player. I feel bad for the Potulny family.

Some comments on this weekend: 1. Brandt played well Friday. Jordan was shaky at times Saturday but was ok. 2. Marvin or Bina on defense on a regualr basis scares me. Too many give aways when someone put on pressure. 3. Greene has not truly made a mistake on the ice yet this year. He takes the body, clears the puck, and does exactly what we had hoped someone that was drafted this high would do. The only close mistake he may have made was the cross checking on Saturday and even that looked like he didn't have his hands clasped on the stick. 4. I expected great things from Parise/Bochenski/Murray but the guy that amazes me this year is Fylling. He is in every opponents shorts and manages to score at the same time. He looks like he is finally strong enough this year to play well at this level. 5. McMahon is just a solid centerman. A great face off center and plays so well positionally. 6. Holy Smokes our defensemen can actually score. Last year they constantly had their shots blocked by sliding forwards or shot the puck directly into someone. This year they are getting the shot off or moving enough to get it off. I'm excited for this trend to continue. 7. Minnesota will continue to scare me until we no longer have to play them this year. Riddle is a great player and they still have a lot of talent. They must get their defensemen back from injuries because their forwards don't play defense. At least not this year. There was at least 4 times on Saturday night when the Sioux were cycling the puck below the faceoff spots in the Gopher zone and I caught Vanek skating at the red line waiting for a pass. It's a lot easier for us to score if we outnumber them since hteir forwards aren't even in their zone. 8. I am amazed that St. Cloud swept Duluth. I can only hope that we do not underestimate the huskies this wekend. 9. Overall a great weekend for a Sioux fan, Sioux football wins the conference, Bison get beat and are out of the playoffs, and we sweep the Gophers in hockey. I guess we won't hear about how they hadn't lost two games in a row forever now that Duluth and us swept them already this year.

My understanding is Massen was a healthy scratch this weekend. Massen can score goals but he only knows how to skate downhill. He can't skate backwards, doesn't forecheck well, and at times reminds me of Vanek floating around the rink. I've seen Massen play hard and to his potential probably twice in the last two years. I was hoping he had worked on his skating, his conditioning and intensity but if the coaches aren't playing him obviously not. My guess is that James Massen will be given his chances in practice and may replace a Cannady or someone who is hurt this year but in general will not be someone we can count on. IMHO

I happened to be browsing the Providence Bruins Web Site and in the meet the players section: http://www.providencebruins.com/meet.htm I thought it was pretty funny that Lee Goren's picture is in the upper left-hand corner since he now is with the Florida Panthers organization. At least that sure looks like him. Isn't it?