BismarckFan

I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes reading the congratulations of loyal Fighting Sioux fans. Our guys left it all on the ice in the finest Fighting Sioux tradition! Congratulations to our coaches, players, student section, and loyal fans for a wonderful rollercoaster ride!

UND vs BC is going to be a great game! I hope to visit BC's campus some day to view the tradition first hand and have a clearer impression of it than eastern announcers can offer up. Go Sioux Go, Fight Sioux Fight, Win Sioux Win

Hello, Sioux fans. I've been following my alma mater since the mid 60's and I have a lot of respect for your program. Some very good points have been made on this thread but I wanted to address this one in particular. Jerry York has 777 wins and 2 NCAA titles. He didn't achieve those numbers by not celebrating incremental successes. He's a master at getting the most out of his players, molding a team and upholding tradition. He respects the game, the school and the fans and his players reflect that. In short, don't believe everything you read.

I was looking at the BC/Miami pictorial from the Northeast Regional where I found the following caption: "Cory Schneider and Brian O'Hanley celebrate the win. Jerry York's Eagles do not pose for team shots or overly celebrate Regional wins - the Frozen Four is all-important." Does this remind anyone of a certain WCHA team that downplayed a championship and subsequently lost to Holy Cross in the regional? Can you imagine what it would be like to play for a coach that places so much emphasis on winning the ultimate prize that incremental sucesses can't be savored? Undue pressure from coaches, parents, and others can be dibilitating to a team, resulting in finger pointing, excusing, whining and many other negatives. I personally believe that it is any coaching staff's duty to record major milestones and encourage the players to relish and enjoy each incremental goal that they achieve and further, to share them with their fans at any event, whether planned or spontaneous. To do otherwise is to snub the "tradition and respect to those who have gone before" that significant awards and trophys often represent. I am extremely proud that our Fighting Sioux tradition is being carried on by a coaching staff that understands the responsibility to play to the best of one's ability to uphold our tradition but still appreciates all the players after games in which they have left it all on the ice. I really believe that the Sioux coaching staff's unconditional love, respect, and TRUST that each player will leave it all on the ice is a major factor in the team's successes in big games. As for me, I Love our Fighting Sioux Hockey team... period!!! I know they will dig down deep and offer up the kind of effort that will maximize their chances! I also know that, because of our coaching staff, they will thoroughly enjoy the quest because "It's the Journey", man, "It's the Journey!!!! Boy is it a long time 'til Thursday... Go Sioux Go, Fight Sioux Fight, Win Sioux Win!!!! PS: I hope Maine wins next Thursday; totally respect their program and fans!

Depth, Depth, Depth... Depth will be the key to the game with BC; when every single player wearing the Sioux jersey plays to the best of their ability, destiny cannot be denied. Lammy's glove and stick side quickness will be to our advantage when the shots are high bullets from beyond the dots. He will continue to be an excellent puck-stopper behind the net but will be getting "back to the office" in short order from here on out. Should the opposition try to physically take him out of his game, they better think twice; he's a tough character and gets better with adversity; and we have the best backup goalie in the frozen four. Just as Porter and company made a difference last weekend, all lines will have to continue to crank it up to beat BC. The closer we get to the NC, the more critical the play of each and every player! The knowledege that all of your teammates are also "giving it up for the cause" is a great motivating and confidence-building factor. BC is not as deep, so the more our lines wear out their top players, the more likely we take advantage. Our defensive players will need to continue to avoid unnecessary penalties. Lastly, because refs will be calling it similar to last weekend, we need to avoid the flagrant stuff that could have buried us last Sunday. With two-way team play, every shift, every play, our Sioux will skate on Saturday! Go Sioux Go! Fight Sioux Fight! Win Sioux Win!

A warning concerning the Final Five Poster Scam was recently offered; the responses revealed considerable ignorance concerning its history,which must set straight, as follows: 1. The scam has appeared more than once since 1996; I have the posters to prove so. 2. The Gophers were not, in every case, in first place after the regular season; again, I have the posters to prove so. 3. The Gophers always play in the night game for perfectly logical financial reasons; maximizing revenues is good buisiness practice. 4. It is most likely that the WCHA has never had anything to do with the scam. 5. It is also most likely that neither Red Baron nor Xcel management/staff has ever had anything to do with the scam. 6. It is a fact that one or more of the printer's employees, as well as many of those folks that distributed the poster within the Xcel (on more than one occasion) were involved with the scam. We can only surmise that they were Gopher fans; though probably not Gopher alumni because the vast majority of college educated folks wouldn't be ignorant or thoughtless enough to think making fun of others is a "good or fun" thing to do. 7. Special recognition to Ski-U-Mah for the comment to the original thread that revealed the most ignorance. Lastly, it is extremely unlikely that the scam would repeat itself this year as it's history reveals about an every-fifth-year frequency. Sioux fans, however, should be aware that the "big city snobs" that instigated the scam in the past may be resourceful and invent varitions reflecting their need to belittle others. So be on the alert for such "put-downs" and respond accordingly (directly and with passion, but peacefully, without violence). FOR THOSE OF YOU UNFAMILIAR WITH THE ORIGINAL THREAD, IT IS REPEATED BELOW: In the past a free poster has been handed out at the entrances to the Xcel Energy Center featuring the WCHA teams participating in the Final Five. The most recent poster scams have exhibited the following flaws: 1. The University of Minnesota team is shown on the top center of the poster as if it held a "most favorable" standing among the five teams. 2. The background colors on the poster are predominately the University of Minnesota school colors. 3. Our team is mis-identified as representing "North Dakota State University". 4. Upon receiving the poster, many UND fans were also told by the people distributing the posters that they could get the poster autographed at a fictitious room location. In short, the poster scam reflects a need by the "big city snobs" to demonstrate their intellectual superiority by ridiculing those of us from North Dakota that have come to the Final Five to support our team, our state, and the high quality of hockey to be found in the WCHA. May I offer the following suggestion concerning the possibility of the scam resurrecting itself once again at one or more locations prior to or following one of the five hockey games at the Xcel: 1. First, look carefully at the poster to check to see if one or more of the above flaws are evident. 2. Then, if so, immediately crumple the poster in your hands and drop it onto the floor of the Xcel! 3. Even if the poster is unbiased, you may wish to consider past transgressions and simply crumple and drop it for good measure! 4. Perhaps carpeting the interior of the Xcel with crumpled posters will send a message that the snobs can understand... I will not be responding to any hits on this thread; I've said all that needs to be said; now its up to all of us to respond appropriately when we are ridiculed. Fighting Sioux Hockey - a tradition of good sportsmanship!

In the past a free poster has been handed out at the entrances to the Xcel Energy Center featuring the WCHA teams participating in the Final Five. The most recent poster scams have exhibited the following flaws: 1. The University of Minnesota team is shown on the top center of the poster as if it held a "most favorable" standing among the five teams. 2. The background colors on the poster are predominately the University of Minnesota school colors. 3. Our team is mis-identified as representing "North Dakota State University". 4. Upon receiving the poster, many UND fans were also told by the people distributing the posters that they could get the poster autographed at a fictitious room location. In short, the poster scam reflects a need by the "big city snobs" to demonstrate their intellectual superiority by ridiculing those of us from North Dakota that have come to the Final Five to support our team, our state, and the high quality of hockey to be found in the WCHA. May I offer the following suggestion concerning the possibility of the scam resurrecting itself once again at one or more locations prior to or following one of the five hockey games at the Xcel: 1. First, look carefully at the poster to check to see if one or more of the above flaws are evident. 2. Then, if so, immediately crumple the poster in your hands and drop it onto the floor of the Xcel! 3. Even if the poster is unbiased, you may wish to consider past transgressions and simply crumple and drop it for good measure! 4. Perhaps carpeting the interior of the Xcel with crumpled posters will send a message that the snobs can understand... I will not be responding to any hits on this thread; I've said all that needs to be said; now its up to all of us to respond appropriately when we are ridiculed. Fighting Sioux Hockey - a tradition of good sportsmanship!

It will be a solid defensive team effort that will make the difference this weekend. If our guys can hold the goofs to an average goal per period or less, I believe both games are within reach for us. Our best offensive players will need to continue to play with a vengance and enjoy the frustration they can exact from the goof defenders! I also believe it will be the play of team members with point totals under double figures that will allow us to win these games. SIOUX CAN WIN THE DAY WITH TWO-WAY TEAM PLAY !!!

I sure wish I could find the words to express the gratitude I have for what Mike Prpich has done for Fighting Sioux hockey during the last four years. His sense of humor will probably be the most remembered quality; I don't think one can under estimate the positive impact Mike had on the game by constantly reminding his teammates and all of us that, when all is said and done, it's a game... and to be the best, one must enjoy the game and relish each little victory. His smile is infectious! Mike Prpich, thanks for the memories! We love you! Is there any way we can find to keep you on campus???Shouldn't our Fighting Sioux have a coach in charge of head-games!! They do it in the olympics?? I welled up good when you came out to salute us, we should be the ones saluting you. Boy we'll miss you on the ice...

First of all, you sound like a real "money sports" lover who probably holds so called "sports heros" over and above our real and true heros in Afganistan and Iraq. Second of all. the Rose Bowl is about as exciting to a Grand Forks native such as myself as any football or baseball game... long periods of boredom interspersed with 5 seconds of play. And there is nothing wrong with basketball that full pads, elimination of most fouls, and a limit of one time out per quarter wouldn't cure. The one guy I knew personally who wanted to play hockey for Michigan dislocated his shoulder in juniors and quit. You truely have no clue how much we North Dakotans love our state and its people. And we usually have littel bad to say about others, except when provoked by such as yourself. Notice I didn't call anyone an idiot; that's the first indication of a person's intelligence.

We always enjoy the laughs we get at Fighting Sioux hockey games. Here are a few. One of the refs as he excorted a complaining player to the box saying "Get in the box, ya F%$*ing Punk! Drinking from the opponents water bottle! Or screwing the cap off the bottle so the goalie spills the whole bottle on himself! Shepard seeking to be the "center of attention" in every way possible! Walking very slowly out of the Xcel, thoroughly enjoying the moment, after beating the Goofs on their turf! We could go on but won't you all please share a few of your favorite moments as well? "Premere Fighting Sioux Hockey Fans of Western North Dakota"

I wrote a letter to the editor of one of the major newspapers in the MSP area after seeing the first UND-Gophers series at Engelstad with Lucia at the helm. In it I congratulated U of M in hiring Lucia and shared my belief that it would bring their program back to what it should be. I also stated then and will ALWAYS believe that not having to go through Minnesota in seeking the national championship takes a lot of the meaning out of the accomplishment. Those of us that love WCHA hockey and prefer every game possible go to overtime so we get five more minutes of heaven have much more in common with each other than those with no appreciation for the efforts of the opposing teams' players. Go WCHA Go!!! May the hungriest team (Sioux) win Saturday! NHL & Shuffleboard... Same thing!

Here's one I hope somebody can display at the game. Win or Lose, we Sioux Fans Hold our Heads High, Shoulders Back, and Smile... "Cause our Guys Always Leave it All out on the Ice! Go Sioux! We Love You Can't wait for Thursday!

How about this one in case we meet Denver in the final? Boston Denver Teams: Pioneers: Curse Curse of the of the Bambino! Bam Bina!

A major should not be an automatic disqualification for a game. The official should be allowed to make the disqualification call on the ice based on a conference with the other two zebras. If none of them see any "deliberate intent to harm", i.e. the number of steps toward the play, the degree of deliberateness, the presence of retaliation motivation, etc. it should be just a major. there are a lot of things the refs see that fans don't. Also, coincidental majors should be a rarity. Every major should, however, be reviewed by the "committee" when possible. When the cameras are not present, the officials should err on the side of adding the disqualification. And another thing that really bugs us fans is the tendency for an official to want to be the center of attention. The best officiated game is one in which we don't even notice the officials much. Some of the "attention" grabbing antics that burn us up are: Not promptly dropping the puck. Fraternizing with the players. Showboating when issuing penalties. Not getting out of the way of the play. Maybe we need an age limit of 35 for officials so they can physically avoid the puck and to eliminate this ego trip stuff that takes the spotlight off the players? Have I struck a chord?

The Commissioner's office doesn't address the fact that major (five minute) penalties just are not called these days; I remember in the 50s and 60s when at least one major was called, on average, per game; several in some games when thuggery got out of control. It's not Adam's fault that the collective wisdom is not to call majors. And what is it with USA hockey that prevents them from requiring the full cage or shield; do they enjoy the maiming of young men? While we're at it, lets insist the NHL loose the red line to encourage speed and quickness or we don't come back! There is so little wrong with hockey, but why is the negative stuff so hard to get rid of? Do we need younger men in leadership positions?

Obviously, the reason for the Goofs playing in the evening is revenues to the WCHA. Last year the Xcel's single game attendance record was broken, more than any Wild game had drawn! The new rule must be that the most closely contested game (2 vs 3) is played Friday evening; let's see if the rule stays the same in years to come when the goofs are likely to be either in the play-in game of the number 1 seed? Yes, it is an advantage to the Goof fans to have it in the Xcel, but, on the other hand, there is no better feeling in the world for a Sioux fan than winning the event and walking out of the building slowly to enjoy all of the second-guesing, crying, excises, etc. When we beat the Badgers a few years ago in the title game, The Badger fans around us berated their team's players to no end as soon as they fell behind. When baited by opposing fans early in the tournament, we always respond that "it's going to be rough", showing at least a minimum of respect for the opposition. That way the rivalrys ar positive and fun. Fighting Sioux post-season losses are so few, we're pretty spoiled! So, as loyal Sioux fans, let's hold our heads high, smile, and make no excuses for our team after a loss. After all, our Sioux players consistently leave it all on the ice in the post-season, so what's not to be proud of?