Irish

The Moorhead States of the world polluted Division II football, now they want to do it to Division I Hockey? No way they should be allowed to

To put this season in prospective - He had the two best players in the country walk in unsolicited. We still don't have the supporting cast to be a top contender. This team is still a work in progress - evaluate this team if he didn't have the twins. That is what he has managed to recruit in the past 4 years. What we have now is a work in progress. I hope we can finish putting the pieces together. We have a nice team this year, but I'm not sure it is because of Idalski. Still some work to do.

I'm surprised we didn't see Eidsness - I think it would be to our advantage to give him some playing time before the playoffs.

Not saying he should play ahead of Dell (who has been great in my book), just saying that I was hoping we would try to get Eids sharper just in case. I think that going with one goalie exclusively has some risks. Remember, Eidsness was getting some HOBY mention pre-season.

I wonder if we'll see Eidsness this weekend and next? I have a feeling we'll need him before the season is over. I had hoped he would get more work during the season.

Player of the game in my opinion - Dell. He made some great saves when we needed to keep the momentum. Sometimes I think he makes it look so simple that his play is underrated. Great positioning and fantastic poise. If the team continues to play like this, we'll be tough to beat.

Love the Jucy Lucy which is a Minneapolis invention - You are correct about signature food.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are from a band even you may have heard of - Led Zepplin. No, I did not go and enjoy the bullriding Look - I didn't make up this constant comparison to the Fargodome - the supporters of the Alerus did before the vote. My take was always that we won't be able to compete for entertainment, but the supporters position was "just see - we'll get in great entertainment - people will travel to see it". Pre-vote there was no mention of not being able to compete- blaming those of us who bring up these campaign promises is crazy. I for one don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth even though we got in the Harlem Globetrotters (who could have easily performed in the Betty). What's more - I feel that I was promised a much better effort by people who would say anything to get it built.

I disagree - when campaigning for the Alerus, the promise of concerts to compete with Fargo was a big selling point and for the first couple of years they did very well. I consider the total lack of entertainment that I am interested in a broken promise made by people who would say anything to get the vote to go their way. Complaints about concerts losing money don't wash with me when you look at which concerts we get. The Fargo Dome gets Page and Plant, the Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp, and Eric Clapton. The Alerus gets Brittany Spears, Cher, and the the 69 year old Neil Diamond. Of course we are going to lose money. I don't expect the Alerus to make money, but I do expect some entertainment I am interested in besides Sioux Football, which I was attending before the Alerus.

The menu changes and price increases after the sale were ridiculous. We went there to support the new owners shortly after the turnover and ended up walking out after looking at the menu. How you can screw up an established business so fast is amazing. Many people I know tried to support and patronize Whitey's, but had such bad experiences that they left.

Interesting comparisons, but I see two coaches not on your list (surprisingly) Gino Gasparini - Titles in his 2nd, 4th, and 9th years Dean Blais - Titles in his 3rd and 6th year Both took over programs in much worse shape - Hak has also had the benefit of recruiting in the best facility in the country. It is unrealistic to expect that Hak won't be compared to his predecessors. Even though the title of this thread is tongue in cheek, it loads the deck against anyone who dares criticize Hak. Many are frustrated with the lack of titles and had the memories of being tuned up by BC dragged up by our play on Friday. We don't think that Hak should be fired, but hope that he can bring a title home soon. It's been a long enough.

Actually, the fans expect to contend every year, but to win sometimes. Hak took over a program that won 5 titles in the preceding 25 years and had just moved into the best facility in the nation. To expect some national titles is not out of line.

It'd be classic if they wore black jerseys too

Agreed that Eids needs to get some work and be allowed to try to get back in the rotation (if not now, when?). However, I'm a little worried. In my opinion, even the last two games have looked like blowouts, the difference has been Dell. A lack of concentration or allowing a weak goal at certain times in either game could have made for some very different games. I feel for Eids, but Dell has shown unwavering concentration. Tough choice for Hak.

Dell really impresses me - we've had more acrobatic goalies, but his concentration and positioning is great - he makes saves look easy. If he continues to play like this, we'll be hard to beat.

Can we be the hot team - just once - please

However, early round upsets, while they cost some teams, help others. Take the Holy Cross game. The Sioux were looking at playing the number one seed Gophers in order to get to the Frozen Four, which if you remember looked to be a very difficult game in which we might have been the underdog, then found out that they had to beat Holy Cross to get in. Win your first game, beat the #16 seed, and you're good to go. Opening round upsets actually make it easier for teams who take care of business to advance by providing easier second round match-ups. Teams more than ever need focus for this tournament. It is not way more difficult as some would have you believe.

I know what you are saying about improvement, but say it out loud and see how it sounds "Gee, We did better against Mayville State this year".

So it's come down to measuring ourselves against Mayville State to see if we have made progress.

This idea that it is so much harder to win a championship now is a real non starter to me. There are roughly the same amount of teams and one wins it all regardless of format. The odds are about the same as they ever were. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, Boston College and Boston U have all found ways to do it since we have (some 2 or 3 times). We were used to being the best team in college hockey year in year out and winning about once every 5 years. Winning championships is the standard we judge our coaches by. If we want to just count moral victories or pretty good years we might as well be St. Cloud.

Regardless of which offense we are running, the question remains - how long do we stay the course. I have not seen any significant improvement in this program since Jones took over. In order to get the students and fans back we need to start winning. I remember a time when there was significant energy and entheusiasm about men's basketball. Not any more. Now that we have a conference, Faison has some serious decisions to make. Can we make the move to full DI membership with a football team that draws 5-6000 with 30 students, a men's basketball program that only older hardcore Sioux fans care to watch and a women's team that is losing its competativeness? The Bison success only makes this more irritating. Is it time to insist on competativeness from all of our programs? How long should the grace period be. If he waits too long to pull the trigger in Football, it will end up like Basketball - a forgotten program. Time for some serious reassessment.

Nice sweep - these are the exact kind of games we need to win. Hopefully we can rest and heal up over the break and come back ready for #8. I'm so glad that this team is learning how to win early. I'd still like to see Eidsness - I think we'll need two goalies down the stretch

Unacceptable - Coach Jones needs to put a better team out or start work on his resume. How long is this supposed to go on before we make a move in a different direction?

What has Mussman shown that gives you the slightest indication he can lead us to the promised land? I saw a lot of things I didn't like this season, and not much I did.