Siouxman

The non-conference schedule and performance really hurt the Gophers this year. Here is a look at the non-conference games for UND and UM, plus the opponents PWR. UND Air Force 1-0-0 (22nd) Boston College 0-1-0 (1st) Maine 1-0-1 (9th) Harvard 1-0-1 (20th) Clarkson 1-0-0 (NR) Bemidji State 2-0-0 (29th) St. Cloud 1-0-0 (25th) Minnesota 1-1-0 (8th) Western Michigan 1-0-0 (14th) UM Sacred Heart 2-0-0 (NR) Vermont 1-1-0 (NR) Michigan St. 0-1-1 (15th) Niagara 1-0-0 (30th) Northeastern 0-1-0 (27th Notre Dame 0-1-0 (18th) Alaska Anchorage 2-0-0 (NR) North Dakota 1-1-0 (4th) Boston Univ 1-0-0 (9th) In summary, both teams played 14 non-conference games. In those games UND was 10-2-2 and UM was 8-5-1. But even more telling for the pairwise: In games against TUCs 1-10: UND was 2-2-1 and UM was 2-1-0 In games against TUCs 11-20: UND was 3-0-1 and UM was 0-2-1 In games against TUCs 21-30: UND was 4-0-0 and UM was 1-1-0 In other games: UND was 1-0 and UM was 5-1-0 Against TUCs in non-conference games overall, UND was 9-2-2 and UM was 3-4-1. While UM had the better conference record than UND, it was not sufficiently better to overcome the differential impact of non-conference games against TUCs. UM's only non-conference victories against TUC's rated better than 30th place were the two regional games against BU and UND. NOTE: This is not a critique of either UND or UM non-conference schedules, but only an illustration to show how UM could win the regular season conference, but UND got a higher NCAA seed. The NCAA tournament is a national tournament, and not a conference tournament so non-conference play has as much impact as conference play.

Just some food for thought. KFAN accused the Sioux of having an advantage at the Final Five because a former UND announcer was doing the announcing during the MN-UND game. Now if having a former announcer doing the announcing gives the Sioux an advantage, I would certainly think that playing in your home neighborhood would be an advantage. Or do those two cancel each other out??

I would not be surprised to see LaLeggia go as well.

Don't do it ....... Don't do it........ Don't do it........ Aw heck, here it is....... And we all know Gopher fans need it to be easy. There, I said it.

I was at the regional this weekend and after today's game talked to a number of Sioux fans. While all were disappointed in the loss, everyone felt that this team accomplished much more than anyone expected given the hand they were dealt. MN played well and the Sioux did not get any bounces. Patterson was solid, but not spectacular. The Sioux gave it an effort, but I think playing shorthanded finally caught up with them. The play and hustle of the freshmen was a joy to watch. My thanks to the team and coaching staff for an incredible year, clearly demonstrating Fighting Sioux pride and spirit. And, they provided the memory of the 6-3 win over MN in the Final Five.

Drew Shore now 2-1 Ferris St.

Yes

Zucker had a breakaway and had the puck just roll off his stick.

Ferris St. 2 Denver 0 about 3 min into the 3rd

Mass-Lowell 1 Miami 0

DaveK - I would take a copy as well if you have one. Please PM me. Thanks.

They can be from all over. He has purchased an extra ticket or two from me in the past so I know that all of his tickets aren't necessarily together.

102 Row 4

This year has been a shining example to those players out for the year and to the new recruits coming in. The kind of thing that just perpetuates the Fighting Sioux tradition.

Has anyone forwarded that link to BU yet?

Plan to wear green. It just shows up in the crowd best.

I just saw a note that the X has opened up the club level for ticket sales. They originally only had the lower level open. We are in 102 Row 4. Evidently they don't plan to open the upper level, unless ticket demand gets much higher. Maybe the Gopher fans didn't have faith and pre-buy in the volumes they had hoped for. We need to make this REA East for this weekend.

I have a couple of buddies who are diehard Gopher fans. We met at the Final Five many years ago. They are passionate and very knowledgeable about the game. They can appreciate a good play no matter who makes it. We have a good time every time we meet and we will be going out for supper after the Saturday games. But we did not have one other Gopher fan say a good word and over the three days had many many negative comments. I did not respond once and before she could stop herself my wife did respond once to a guy who was a real jerk. No one wanted to take it outside or challenge me to a fight, but in total this was definitely the worst we have ever experienced at the Final Five or at a Gopher-Sioux game.

I expect George Gwozdecky will be pretty silent on the injury status, just like Hakstol is at the end of the season.

MafiaMan - Thanks again for putting this all together. And thanks for the pictures of the 2011 Hoggsbreath brunch crowd. We will need to get it printed, framed, and hung in our Fighting Sioux decorated bathroom. It is great hearing the stories, seeing those who show up every year, and putting a face to the name of the attendees. Goon and the others - nice to finally meet you face to face.

We heard far more trash talking from Gopher fans than I have ever heard before. It seemed like it was every few minutes, even last night after the game was over and we were in the St. Patty's party on 7th. And most of these comments came from people who didn't appear to be drunk. I realize that they have had a tough past few years, but act like you've been to the Final Five before rather than open your mouth and let everyone know you are a newbie.

This team is something special. Their accomplishments this year are far beyond expectations. No matter what happens from here on out, this has been a great ride. Oh - And the jerk comments from Gopher fans continued today and tonight after the game.

One of the highlights was watching the Gopher fans head for the exit when the score hit 6-3. It was incredible how fast they left with the game still in progress. Heck of a party going on in the Sioux tent at McGoverns Tavern right now. Sioux fans are whooping it up. In all honesty, how can you explain a game like this? It defies description. For MN fans, this hit to their psyche has to rank right up there with the Holy Cross loss. This was simply a mammoth collapse on their part.

I figure to wear white on Thursday since Sioux will be home team, and green the other days. I like the idea of green since no one else there has green and it stands out so well. MTU has black. BTW - we are in the front row of 204.

They also play Fat Bottom Girls - Queen occasionally.