schmidtdoggydog

Yeah, it is.

Well said! On a different note, I thought it was cool of Chris King to acknowledge UND's 80's night theme on Saturday by wearing the mask he wore.

I am disappointed, PCM. You had a two year and two month jump on him and he still blew right by you!!! I think he lapped me within his first 30 days.

I don't have a problem with the things refs DONT see - they can't possibly see everything. With the speed of the college game and only one ref on the ice the human element plays a big part in the process. What I do have a problem with is the things the refs DO see and don't call. Historically, at least over recent years, the superstars (Reinprecht, Heatley, Hartigan, Pohl, Panzer, Vanek, Parise, etc) in the WCHA rarely are able to draw penalties despite constant attention, holding, slashing, clutching, tripping, boarding by opponents. If something is a penalty and happens right in front of their eyes it needs to be called no matter who the "victim" is!!! This past Friday, a few minutes into the game Parise gets slammed into the boards right in front of both Mason and the students. The hit was clearly a penalty, but Mason shakes his head no (at that point it would seem clear that Mason wouldn't be calling much, which would have been fine). Not too long after, Mason puts UND down 5 on 3 on a good call on Prpich, but a horrendous crosscheck call on Greene. It is that type of inconsistency/inadequacy, especially within a game, that is unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated in most professions or parttime jobs.

Did anybody really think that Pete Rose was betting on baseball when he was managing - betting on his OWN team??? Some people perhaps, but not many, at least at first. I absolutely think refs call games certain ways to keep it interesting, at least at times, how else can you possibly explain the inconsistency in their performance(s)? Other than the quality being watered down of late, there are few other viable explanations. You don't think refs are prejudiced against certain teams and certain players? Case in point, Don Adam's attitude toward Mr. Commodore - calling penalties on MC when he wasn't even on the ice, admonishing him for stepping off the blue line during introductions while allowing virtually the entire opposing team to skate around in their zone without warning while UND was being introduced, etc, etc, etc. Becoming a ref does NOT make one immune from prejudice and bias - people are fallible, but when there are only 28 league games, refs cannot afford to have a bad weekend or bad game - it may only be a game, but there is too much at stake during any particular game. Would it be acceptable to you if UND or your team of preference was playing in the national championship game and the ref had a "bad" game contributing to your team losing? Would that be acceptable? Would you just kick back and say "oh well?" If so, you are not much of a fan. NO matter the team you cheer for, the reffing in the WCHA is not at an acceptable level. Until it rises to that level, the refs deserve every bit of criticism they get. When a player has a poor game they don't escape criticism, why should refs? That being said, as bad as Mason was this weekend, UND escaped with a tie last night because they couldn't bury the puck, which caused me uncomfortable flashbacks to the second half of last season, however, this year's squad is much better so I am not overly concerned.

That would be my guess also. Which means Lundbohm will likely be skating with Canady (based on recent performance) and Massen or Hale or Palmo or Marvin. Not a bad "fourth" line no matter who DL centers!

Great info, thanks. Blais mentioned that Porter-Genoway-Bochenski will be a line? Did he make any mention why he moved Fylling off that line and who he will be skating with this weekend?

http://www.team1040.ca/listenlive.php The audio from this site is working very well.

Other than the importance of getting four points next weekend, what are some thoughts about the series? As for lines, it would seem logical that Bochenski and Parise would be paired up again, but the way Bochenski has been playing with Genoway, how likely is it that Blais will keep BB with Fylling and CG? Since it will be a short week of practice for the WJ participants, how likely is that DB will put the three returnees on the same line even though they aren't playing together in Finland? Finally, who do you feel will be sitting for UND? I hope it is a good weekend of hockey, I hope UND gets the sweep, which won't be as easy as many people think, and I hope the Sioux remember some of the comments Fournier has made about the program in recent articles.

Scoring leaders. Very nice line for ZP - the zero in the minus column is quite impressive. I realize Austria is not an international powerhouse, but I find it interesting that Vanek is a -8 with 37 penalty minutes. Didn't he have some penalty issues late in the first half? Gopher fans, is TV turning into a hothead?

Given that BU had 65 penalty minutes on the weekend compared to 20 for the Gophers I am very surprised MN didn't score more PP goals. I understand BU had some "misconduct" issues, but that is an outrageous disparity in penalty minutes.

I was at both games and have to say that, in my opinion, Schneider and Smaby were the two worst players on the ice for UND this weekend! AS was -3 on Friday, which is unacceptable for a player of his caliber. Does someone know, is he still feeling the effects of his early season injury? Smaby had three penalties last night, which puts a large burden on the penalty killers (ala Greene last year). I didn't think either of those two were particularly effective tonight either. As for Jones, he has been awesome and clearly elevated his game considerably. He has been fantastic on both ends of the ice. Your comments about All-American status is right on the mark. As for Bochenski, is there a better player in the country right now? In my opinion, NO!!!

From today's Herald. Wow, this a bush league move by SCSU! Sioux notes: The game was scheduled to be televised on UND's webcast with cameramen Justin Keller and Anthony Weisser providing the video and Tim Hennessy the play-by-play. Despite the fact the webcast was featured in a one-eighth page ad in the St. Cloud Times newspaper, it never took place. "We learned today that we wouldn't be able to webcast it," UND media relations director Dan Benson said. "We're very disappointed that we weren't able to bring the game to UND fans. We were told the decision was made by some level of the St. Cloud State administration." UND athletic director Roger Thomas and WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod eventually interceded in the dispute, but St. Cloud didn't relent, even taking away the press credentials from Keller and Weisser, Benson said.

I am not saying it could or could not work, but considering Vermillion's proximity to Sioux Falls, Omaha, Lincoln and Sioux City (30 miles or less), in particular, it would appear that Vermillion is surrounded by a potential fanbase that should be hockey educated.

Listening to the game, I heard Murray's name fairly often. He was originally awarded the assist that Parise ended up with before the official scoring was changed, which indicates he was around the play at least for one of the goals. Nice game for USA. Parise not getting player of the game is a joke. Eaves' name was heard a lot over a short stretch - Parise's name was heard a lot throughout the game, but who cares, they dominated, won the game and that is all that matters.

If that is what you were trying to say, I agree, there is a gap.

Now I get it.

Oh, I see.

Isn't the opposite of superior inferior? And, if something has an opposite, that opposite isn't likely to be similar so I am not sure what you are saying??? What is similar to both programs is the number of national championship game appearances - 11, what is most definitely not similar is 6 losses for the Gophers and 7 wins for the Sioux. If the Gophers had more titles than UND, God forbid, their fans would be saying the same thing we are saying now. They would not be willing to agree that our programs were similar. They think we are similar and they have two less titles; they thought we were similar in 2001 when they had four less titles, but I guarantee if they had one more title, our programs would be considered very dissimilar and ours much inferior.

I think the only person that could understand him was Wooger, who definitely speaks a different language.

Is it really necessary for you to keep posting inane, argumentative and nonsensical messages?

List Ryan Bayda and Jeff Panzer both appear on the list.

Or, boost attendance at the women's game by letting fans in free and showing the football game on the bigscreen. Hockey on the ice and football on the bigscreen!!!

I agree completely. I don't understand why the fans that have already counted the Gophers out are appearing upset that the other fans don't see it the same way. I don't disagree with some of the arguments that have been made about the Gophers, but the bottom line - it is way too early to count someone out or count someone in. There are over three months left until the conference playoffs start for crying out loud. Although I enjoy cheering against the Gophers, recognize they've had a rough start and hope they don't make the tournament, I have watched college hockey for too many years to give anybody the ten-count during the second week in December.

Does anybody have details regarding the tournament at REA this weekend involving Shattuck? I believe SSM plays on Friday at 1:45. I was wondering about other games and the teams participating. Also, I realize this is the hockey forum, but was curious if anybody has information about start time for UND's football game next Saturday. Thanks.