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I don't hear people talk about J. Simonson very much. Has he played in every game so far & how has he been developing? Has he been a pleasant surprise so far?

I live in the Valley also. If attendance at ASU games would be similar to those at Coyotes games, then it wouldn't be a good idea. But then again, if the arena is centrally located, who knows. I'm all for expansion, as long as there will be local support & not expansion just for the sake of expansion. Also, will there be enough D1 level recruits to accompany this overall nationwide expansion or will we start to see the current high talent level in college hockey start to diminish? Basically, do we need to start up other D1 programs because there are all these grade A talents who are going to Canada because there aren't any scholarships left at American colleges? Just think the process through before committing to a (possible) failed experiment. Regardless of the sport, you can't expand beyond any given sport's talent pool without seeing a diminished level of play at some point.

UND won't get better by playing teams like the Badgers every weekend, so thanks to MU for helping the guys get further along that learning curve. ...The NCHC is shaping up to be a power conference this year, like the SEC West in football. Roll Tide and roll Sioux.. Thanks for your insights, folks..

Why wasn't Poolman playing?

I want to laugh at what seems like an incredibly funny inside joke, but I don't get it.

Don't forget your tiara before you head out the door today.

Like burd said, there are no doubt prized recruits who will want to play in the B10, but I don't think they will be THEE dominant conference that they envisioned. Time will tell..

Anybody else glad we didn't get stuck in the B1G Hockey Conference, at least this year? Talk about overrated from top to bottom. I have nothing personal against the participating schools, but what blue chip hockey recruit would want to play for Ohio State, Penn State or even Michigan State? Not saying this conference won't be great in the future, but they sure look like crap now. Granted it's early, but his new conference doesn't seem to be getting all the prized recruits, like I thought they would.

He's an energy guy with a boatload of confidence & great skill. He turned the corner rather quickly & is playing at an elite college level. A real steal of a recruit.

He did a dazzling 360 in stride & got off a good scoring chance .. it's nice to see him develop that quickly & he's still a young soph. MM looked very good, any rust appears gone. The team showed good character for a statement win.

Character test assigned to the UND team tonight .. character test passed with flying colors. Someone who likes to write please post a good summary of tonight's game. I like details. Thanks.

Miami may have potent front lines, but their goalie ain't no Ken Dryden. Just roll 4 lines, play 60 passionate minutes & introduce him to a lot of rubber. Exploit their weakest link: their goalie. We learned a lot last night, we'll learn even more tonight with how they respond; tonight will be a big character test. Will they pass or fail this character test?

I hear ya and maybe my choice of words was not the best. My analysis of the game was handicapped by only reading comments in the live chat. But all the posters were saying how UND looked like they weren't ready to play. The team must have realized from the opening drop of the puck that MU was hungry, fast & bringing their A game; that it took them more than 10 minutes to wake up and start playing was the frustrating part. That's what I don't get, especially at this level. I accept losses a lot better when the team plays a full 60 minutes. Maybe it's time to sift through the line-up and sit a couple guys who weren't contributing 100 percent and setting bad examples to their teammates. Laughter is the best medicine in health and winning is the best medicine in sports..

I wondered why semi-pro hockey players come out playing like extras in The Walking Dead in an important match-up between two top-10 teams.. Hence, the reason I asked. If I weren't concerned about the team & a fan since the early 70s, I wouldn't have bothered. Cool with you?

I don't understand why UND would not start the game with more passion. What's up with laying an egg at the beginning of the game? All the talent in the world isn't going to win you games if you don't have the heart. I'm trying to figure out the mentality of a team this talented who starts like that against a highly-ranked Miami team. Makes me wonder what, if any, kind of tone the coaching staff or captains are setting before the game.

A look at the Miami roster shows that all of their players are from the U.S.

If you're a girl I'd like to give you a big wet kiss of appreciation for passing on that stellar news. I'm interested in seeing how quickly MM shakes off the rust & adapts to playing at game-time speed again.

Burning effigies are also effective for creating a lynch mob mentality in case we lose & need to take out our feelings of negative self-worth on the opposing players.

I think injuries indicate 3 things: 1) The depth of a team. 2) Does the team play as a unit or does it rely on a few players? 3) Will certain part-time players elevate their game when their team needs them? Duh

Maybe said chicken should be garbed in a Miami outfit for maximum effectiveness.

Did he say anything about LaDue or MacMillan?

Are there any rituals or sacrifices that need to be performed in order to ensure a UND victory? What or whom should I lay at my altar of Gino Gasparini?

So to summarize for this weekend: Mark Mac a possibility LaDue unknown & N. Schmaltz definitely out Is this right?

I meant a lesser program within hockey as far as tradition goes. Within football, you are right; Miami would slaughter UND..but Bama would beat you guys silly in football. I don't know of any college hockey teams that would beat UND silly. My point: UND is the creme de la creme in hockey. Miami is not the creme de la creme in football. It's all good though, Miami has a quality hockey program that shouldn't be taken lightly. Anything can happen on any given night.

I agree. But my post was mostly for chuckles instead of being serious and to start some good-natured back & forth talk .. that's why I put that wink in there. But I think there's an element, albeit small, of fans from lesser-established programs to want to impress the fans of programs who've been around since early-mid last century. IE, if we were to play Bama in football, we'd want them to recognize us as being legitimate rivals; & they'd be like, "Yawn, whatever."