UND Fan

I would guess the bottom line was the bottom line - he will likely make more $ while living in a southern state with better weather. If he wants to continue moving up the ladder to a DI conference, having led more than one conference looks good on a resume.

When does fall camp begin for the Sioux? With an August game this year, it will likely be early August? Anyone know if all veterans and recruits will be at camp - any deserters?

It does appear that the philosophy has changed and that most games will be played in the Betty. That is better for all concerned - a better atmosphere, it will seem like a nearly full house more often, REA will still be able to sell beer, etc. One of the down sides is that, in bringing in so many new non-conference teams, one of the selling points was playing in the Ralph. UND might have a bit of "egg on their face" but this will still be the nicest facility any of those teams play in all year.

UND Hockey - Thanks for the post! He sounds like a potential contributor. Likely wants to go into aviation. We should know within a couple of weeks who else is attempting to walk-on.

I understand Granstrand's wife is from that area and will work on her Masters at Northern Mickigan. He did a great job for us and I hate to see him move on but we have to understand that he wasn't making squat. Having his wife's Masters paid for would be a huge financial benefit for his family. I don't know if she could have gotten her Masters in her field at UND.

somebison - thanks for the info. I understand George was always pretty hard to get along with. Apparently Taylor had enough of him! Bisonfan1234 really makes some dumg statements on your site, too, doesn't he?? Bisonville.com is an impressive site.

Bison fans - I am sure there is a lot of discussion in Fargo about the firing of your longtime SID, George Ellis, on your website. But, I am curious, what is the inside scoop on this? Ellis was an institution down there and has won numerous awards through the years. In my opinion, the great job he did back in the 80s and 90s is one of the reasons that UND stepped it up and now has an excellent Sports Information Department. It sounds like Ellis has hired an attorney. Is he hoping to get his job back or sue for damages?

Well put, Speez! I fully agree!

Sagard - I must differ from your thoughts. Whether it is sports or business, you must have someone in charge who you assume is going to be in the position for the foreseeable future. Giving Hakstol the job on an interim basis would likely have a negative impact on the team. Without really knowing it, a coach may make decisions based upon what is better for the immediate team today rather than next year (bring a kid now instead of giving him an extra year to mature, playing a kid when he may be hurt, etc.), recruits wouldn't know for sure who they would be playing for when/if they committed, it may affect the play of current players (either trying too hard for the coach, wanting him to get hired or slacking off, hoping a new coach would be named for the next year), etc. These are fairly extreme examples but any potential "lame duck" coach or manager in business does not command the same respect/production as someone you know to be in charge for the long run! I also am a bit confused by another comment - you want to give him one year but you admit you won't really be able to judge his effectiveness for three years. Therefore, how do you make a decision about him after the first year?

Obviously, no one listened to my little lecture of an hour or so ago. Acutally, I don't have a big problem with that - it is cool that so many of us care so much about our hockey program. As a couple of you have noted, this may not be official. We might learn that a national search will still happen - I would endorse that. As I said earlier, I think the best candidate is Sandy. Also, I made the statement I hoped Johnson would be the new assistant. I had no idea he was making that kind of $ in Lincoln. Unless he really wanted to get into college coaching and/or get back to GF, the paycheck probably would be much better in Lincoln. Bottom line - once a decision is made, we should suck it up and support whoever the coach will be. Outspoken fans in GF and around the country badmouthing our decision can only put a negative light on our great program. Enough lecturing.....

Guys - we seem to be getting awfully paranoid about this. I care about UND hockey as much as anyone else but ...... Regarding hockey, UND has made tons a correct decisions in recent years. I have no doubt that this was another correct one. With Blais endorsing Hakstol and indicating he felt a fairly quick decision was important, that is good enough for me! I would guess there may have been more reasons for the quick decision than just the recruiting issue. It could have been an effort to assure current recruits as well as Bochenski, Greene, Stafford felt comfortable NOW as to who the coach would be. We certainly wouldn't want any of them jumping ship in the next six weeks while the coaching job was in limbo! If I "waved the wand", Sandy would be our new coach but I have full faith that the right decision was made. Let's stop second-guessing and start talking about who the new assistant will be. My money is on Johnson.

We haven't talked about Men's BB in a while. An update: The not-so-good (maybe): Aaron Austin won't be back next year. He has continued to experience some serious personal problems. Even if he magically had them behind him, he would not be eligible. Mike Gutter will not be back. He didn't accept the challenge of going to college and is back in Milwaukee. Probably not going to go back to college at all - what a waste of talent! The real talented JC kid from Ohio that we had hoped to get, didn't make the grades and will enroll at a NAIA school in WV. The good: The injuries to Parks, Nobles and Doyle all are healing quite well. Nobles has been able to go full tilt for some time and the other two have recently been cleared to play. There will an announcement shortly regarding the signing of two guards, one a HSer out of southern MN and a talented JUCO player from IL who played in Nebraska last year. The JUCO player appears to be quite good - averaged 20 or so last year. All three of the high school recruits: Harkins, Seckar-Anderson and the kid to be announced will all redshirt next year. With Gutter gone, we have the $ to bring in another kid and there are a couple pretty good ones out there. If we got another bigger kid who would contribute, they may redshirt Stoute and give him another year to develop. They wish that he had more than one year left - he has a great deal of untapped talent. For those of you who have exchanged e-mail with me regarding the program in the past, feel free to send me a note. There may be a couple of other items of interest to Sioux BB fans.

I had understood something was going on like this with one or more of the Rabbits basketball players. Will there be more arrests coming?

updm002 - Has something finally hit the press? What is the basis for your comments?

Sioux Goo - give us an example of two of the conflict between DB and TB. I am not questioning your comments but .... 1) Unless DB was way off base in his positions, why wouldn't someone have backed him up? 2) Dean has always been very outspoken, had he left just to prove a point, I think he would have at least hinted that there had been some conflict with the REA.

A press conference is scheduled for Saturday at 11:00 with Blais, Roger and Hakstol (the interim head coach) in attendance. It will be interesting if they will introduce Hakstol as the new Head Coach at that time.

Schmitzzz - I was going to ask the same question.....

Do we know for sure that the Admin didn't know he was leaving? Whether Dean and Roger were having some problems or not, Dean should have been classy enough to inform Roger. It would have been for the benefit of the program for Admin to know to start making some decisions. I am sure Dean still cares about the program!

Hennesey is quite sure Hakstol will get the job. If I understood him correctly, he also said that he thought Bochenski would not be back!!.

NDHockey - thanks for your explanation. Again, the good news is that there are many different prospects for this job and all would likely be excellent!

Jloos - "Gino leaving on good terms!!" I don't think you are remembering that situation correctly! I agree with your point but not that statement.

NDHockey - I am curious why do you say Sandelin is overrated. He did a fine job as an assistant for us and has certainly had great success in Duluth in short period of time. It could be debateable whether he should be at the top of the list but please explain the basis for your "overrated" comment.

We got some good news in Fosston's Kayla Baagason commiting to UND for the 2005-6 season. She apparently is very good. It would be great of Kimbrough would make the same decision!

WOW - I guess it wasn't just a rumor this time. The good news is that there are many great candidates with ties ot UND. Sandelin has to be the front-runner with Steve Johnson not too far behind, then Eades, Hakstol, Berry..... I really don't think this will have a huge effect on our program. Dean has a great reputation which I am sure influenced some recruits but the reputation of the program, the facilities and a talented new coach will do be enough to keep the program rocking!!

But many of the boards also have Blais as the Associate Head Coach behind Gallant. I would be very surprised if Dean would make the move without being THE head coach along with a great deal of authority.