Siouxman

I think everyone needs to keep in mind that this was the weekend of flu week. Think back to the last time that you had the flu with gut-wrenching puking. Even when you start to recover, you have to eat bland foods lightly for a couple of days and then you still don't feel back to normal for a few more days. I expect the guys with the flu lost 5-6 pounds or more. They also lost a ton of energy along the way. Yes, there are many issues with this team, but I am guessing it was impossible to work on much of anything this week. Remember that on Tuesday, more than 50% of the team was unable to attend practice. I was pleasantly surprised that they won on Friday, as I expected they would be mostly out of energy by the third period with the flu after effects. I was not surprised at all that tonight they just weren't able to keep up with UMD for most of the game. Overall I have been moderately pleased with the officiating, seeing it as being better than what was in the WCHA. Saturday night's game took me back to WCHA days. UMD created some of their opportunities and goals by hooking, holding, and tripping without being called for it. Their third goal was especially galling as the two-on-one that scored was very directly related to the other Sioux defenseman being held in the UMD zone. And those pointing out the goaltending issues, stupid penalties, missed opportunities, etc. are correct as well.

This. Why are angry people posting on that thread???

Parks on Friday Mark Macmillan on Saturday

My thought is that since the taunting took place during the run, before the play was over, the touchdown should have been cancelled and the ball taken back to the line of scrimmage and the penalty marked off. That would eliminate this kind of crap.

Conference Performance as of 10-27-2013 ECAC 30-15-4 .653 HE 31-23-4 .569 BTHC 15-12-3 .550 NCHC 18-17-5 .513 WCHA 22-22-6 .500 AHA 11-38-6 .255

Fixed your post.

As crazy as this whole process has been, just imagine what might have been if the NDSU football team had been involved in forging signatures on the petition drive to put it to a vote of the ND population. That would have taken all of this to a whole new level.

Park it on the street overnight in Chicago. You won't need an autostart.

Mr. and Mrs. Siouxman are now going to Omaha. Have tickets and staying at the Hilton. NOTE: The Hilton, which is attached to the Century Link Center, is having a 72 hour sale. Rooms begin at $84 if you book by Oct. 25. We booked a room with two queens, on the executive floor, including parking and free breakfast, for $95 per night, plus tax.

Its okay. UM has many years where they were the #1 team before Christmas and then crashed and burned by February. Let them have it, they can't go anywhere but down. Now if they don't win, they underperformed. For the Sioux, the Saturday night 6-2 score makes Friday night look like an aberration. Realize that at least 95% of the people voting in the polls didn't see either game.

That this year's team is making the Les Steckel year look better.

No, webcast only. For those that purchased the UND webcast package, the game is included. I use an HDMI cord to patch it from the laptop to the TV.

I put the top up on the MGB for the first time since the end of April, and it will probably remain up until next spring.

I can guarantee that will upset those of German heritage.

I am impressed with this Sioux team. On the road, against Miami, and the transition game is flying.

hmmm.......shots at a tailgating party..............who knew?

Thank you for clarifying that. I was beginning to think there was one worse than the one I know.

So, does that mean Rudy has a nationally syndicated talk show too where he can call young volunteers slave labor?

There were people leaving in our section with 2:30 to go in regulation, in a tie game. That just boggles my mind. And it wasn't just a couple.

That is the golden question.

Staying in the WCHA would have been the death of UND hockey as we know it. There were two groups in the WCHA. Group 1 included MN, WI, UND, DU, CC, UNO, and UMD. These are the schools with a large commitment to hockey. Group 2 included MTU, BSU, MSU, UAA, and SCSU. As long as there were sufficient schools with a big commitment to hockey, league votes were fine. With the coming of the B1G, MN and WI were gone. Now the small low budget teams would control the votes. UND had to do something to protect itself. Staying in the WCHA would not have been good for UND.

Just maybe that is what he needed to get going. We will see.

Some observations from the game (in person) 1. Mattson had some issues, but he was paired with LaDue who really had some issues (sorry for those LaDue supporters). There were times, especially in the second period when it looked like LaDue wanted absolutely nothing to do with the puck. When he did touch it, he was in panic mode trying to figure out what to do with it. Mattson tried to cover for him but it did not look good. Out of all of the freshmen defense, LaDue was the only one who looked out of place (at least for part of the game). He also looked foot slow at times. 2. Gage Aasmus looked very good. He showed some strong offensive upside with speed, and he has quite an ability to knock down pucks thrown out of the zone along the wall. Vermont threw a number of clearing passes along the wall and Aasmus was able to keep them from going down the ice. 3. Stecher looked solid defensively. Didn't see much offensive push but he focused on what needed to be done. 4. Some of these freshmen forwards are going to be great if they hang around for 3-4 years. They have the ability to make some plays, although they lost it for about 12-13 minutes of the second period. They quit playing a team game and were doing too much PlayStation one against the world. Consistency is going to be an issue, at least for a while. 5. The whole team needs to work on catching passes, and not fanning on shots and passes. They lost control a number of times on passes that didn't go anywhere. 6. Gothberg looked absolutely solid. Saunders not so much, although there were deflections and he did stop a breakaway. 7. While Mitch maybe didn't do a lot out there, he did bring a physical element to the game. Brother Mark, meanwhile, looked pretty good. 8. Overall this team has some pretty good speed. It appears that Vermont got tired late in the second and third periods. 9. OD didn't look like he did much until later in the game. Then he began to be noticeable, especially after his goal. 10. This team has obviously been watching the football team. Way too many stupid penalties. And most of them (but not all) were good calls. The message was out, they are going to protect the puck carrier and watch for obstruction. And they did. So many of the penalties weren't of the hustle variety either. Roughing, elbowing, kneeing, etc. 11. A lot of the freshman got time on the penalty kill tonight. They really hustled, although some need to learn to temper that a little bit. Their all out hustle put them out of position several times and created opportunities for Vermont. 12. Total disappointment with Pattyn and Gaarder. Gaarder especially looked lost out there and did very little. It was fun watching Pattyn on Pattyn, especially late in the third period. In that late game matchup along the board, it was clear that UND Pattyn outplayed his brother. 13. Panzarella did not have a good game. While he maybe one of our more physical defensemen, he needs to play smarter. Dumb penalties. 14. It was a first game and much remains to be corrected, but there is some obvious chemistry at least among some pairs of players. Complete lines obviously aren't set yet, but there maybe some pairs of players that are. Here's looking forward to the Saturday night game and hopefully see some progression and another win. I don't want to look ahead, but I am concerned about the games next weekend and what might happen to the psyche of this team. It would be great if we didn't have Miami right away.

NEWS FLASH - The Minnesota Vikings sign Josh Freeman in the hope his antics will draw fan attention away from the team's woeful on-field performance. Oh, wait .....that didn't work in Tampa Bay.

63-10. Whenever EWU is faced with not making a first down to halt a drive, UND will take a personal foul penalty giving up an automatic first down.