Walsh Hall

The Twins are the one team I always have irrational confidence in. I'll guess 84 wins and miss WC by a few games. I just hope after 40 games they are .500 or better to make the season more interesting.

Definitely a log jam next year. 6 returning guys that saw a lot of ice - Poolman, Peske, Bast, Kierstad, Jonny, and JBD. Always some injuries and healthy scratches, but that's a pretty solid group. Outside some long-term injures, I don't see (2) freshman getting 20-25 games each. Seems one more year of juniors for one of them would be more beneficial for their development. The next year we'll lose Peske, Poolman, and probably a couple early departures.

If the issue that needs to be solved is lack of competition for the very top kids, this seems to be the most logical answer. They play better competition, and the remaining teams have more parity.

Absolutely for the bigger programs. Many just have one or two teams, i.e. Devils Lake had one team and won the B1 division this year.

For clarification, for ND Bantams there is AA (3) teams, A(11), B1 (12) and B (19). I agree that AA is the only high competition band, with A being solid, but not nearly as many out-of-state games. GF dominates both AA and A at probably a higher level than HS.

What is the specific problem that needs fixing? The youth numbers in the West are up as far as number of pee wee and bantam teams. If the problem is development on the top end, the solution is different than it there is declining participation on the bottom end. West Youth Teams (excluding Bismarck) 2013 - Pee Wee - 14, Bantam 14 2018 - Pee Wee 22, Bantam 17

I'm not hearing this push for a divided system from any of these schools. They know that can't compete for a state championship. That isn't their goal.

Please explain how the teams get split, and how they will set schedules. What does this do to D.L., Jamestown, DIckinson... that are stuck in the lower group? That will encourage growth and development? Those teams want to play the top teams. Sure they get killed, but that's just how it goes. If two classes the top kids from the lower division will jump to the top division schools. It would be a mess. Hockey cant be compared to football or basketball in ND due to the number of teams. The easiest solution is have a Tier 1 or similar team for the very top kids. 99% of aspiring HS players aren't going D1.

How would this look for game scheduling? If 8 teams in the top division (RR, Central, Davies, FS/Shanley, Bis, Century, Minot, and some other team) would they play each other twice? That would be 14 games. Scheduling other games, outside of games with the lower level teams, would be problematic for many of the teams. I doubt MN teams would burn their limited game allotment making a Western ND swing to play teams potentially well below their level. The same would be true for the lower level teams. I'd like to hear the specific problem that needs to be addressed, and an actual proposal to see how this would be set up. I'm all for growing the game, but I don't see an actual proposal that would accomplish this goal.

There would presumably be 8 teams in the top division, so no regional tournament, and the regular season would just be for seeding for the state tournament. It seems this would essentially revert to the Bantam system. Just removing (2) teams from the top division would do nothing but potentially hurt those two programs. I don't think the "lesser" teams have any anticipation of winning the state tournament, and I don't think not having a shot to win the state tournament hurts the youth numbers. For those programs their goal is to get to state. Sure an occasional higher end player will bail from a lesser program, but that's gonna happen no matter what. It's no different than a kid going to the USHL for his senior year from a top program. What's the specific issue that needs to be addressed? I don't know if it's necessary to completely blow up a system because of one outlier that is dominant. There just isn't the depth of talent in ND. There aren't enough teams to have a legitimate 2 class systems. We aren't MN. The simple answer may be to just have a AAA or junior team in GF to allow the top handful of kids to play a more competitive schedule. The HS league will be more balanced. Honestly, the top handful of kids in the state shouldn't be playing ND HS to develop into potential college athletes.

With kids that have played/play on many traveling teams, I can tell you 100% that basketball and baseball are the same way for the kids (parents) that think they have the potential to get a scholarship... in that sport. It's the same for hockey. 80% of the squirts do little or nothing in the off-season, but some go crazy. It would drive me nuts how seriously some parents would take travel baseball for 9 yr olds. Off season work indoors, camps..., were the norm for many even at that age.

I agree 100% I've seen kids 14-16 quit basketball to focus on baseball. These kids would have been very good HS basketball players and previously had done the AAU... stuff. That said, I believe hockey is the sport where there is the most potential benefit from off-season work due to the rather unique skating issue.

Yes, they essentially all do. That said, it seems to have the most effect in hockey. The skating component really can't be improved unless you are skating. The average kids that I have seen really specializing in hockey in the off-season can improve dramatically.

The 48 acres of land on which the new St. Mary's is being built was donated by Knutson. I believe it is the same land offered for the potential event center project.

Seriously? Why are men basketball players better than women? Why are men sprinters faster than women? Why can men lift more weight than women? Why can men hit a golf ball further than women? Many women should implement more checking into whose athletic endeavors as well?

Apparently you haven't watched ND Bantam hockey. Most of the boys are not good skaters. It's no different than the girls. Some are great skaters, some are awful.

The fundamentals of sound skating are learned many years prior to allowing checking. Skating deficiencies, no matter the gender, are not caused by checking.

Yep. Many fouls are called in youth basketball for actually boxing out and for actually posting up. It would drive me crazy to see a kid doing what he was suppose to do, and get called for a foul.

Caleb Petrie, 13 points in first 2 games in WDC for Bismarck.

The optics are horrible. That said, I have no idea of her value to the University, and it doesn't sound like anyone here does as well. She may be worth every penny and then some. It sounds like her compensation is not out-of-line with that position. But the optics are absolutely horrible.

Jamestown 2-1 over DIckinson after 2. Bismarck rolled Bottineau 10-2.

It's different in the parity. Minn, Michigan, Wis, BC, BU, and UND were all outside the top 20. The elite kids are recruited at an insanely young age. There's as many misses as hits in recruiting a 14/15 year old. There also are way more kids to pick from that are essentially equal, and a stagnant number of college teams. The talent level difference isn't that great anymore. Add in the misses, and "lower" schools having generally older players, it isn't difficult to see why UMinn isn't dominant every year. Add to the early recruiting, if the kid becomes a blue chipper, he's gone in a couple years. Recruiting and striking a balance has to be extremely difficult, and certainly much more difficult than 15-30 years ago.

Please list the "facts." 1.

I guess I don't see the big deal here. Athletes take supplements. The supplement he took was inappropriate or tainted. An athlete is responsible for what he/she puts in their body. There's an automatic suspension. I see this as an unfortunate situation, not some grand conspiracy. Occam's Razor. Similar to the Nate Schmidt suspension. If he was getting HGH or steroids from a trainer that would be different. Same suspension, but totally different circumstance.

Apparently you missed MANY years if you think this is the most pathetic team since 1984. This is a competitive and slightly above average team in the nation.