tnt

"A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, but not directly related to the formal sport and the practice thereof. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans."

Don't know that any other series that the ticket site at the Ralph would average $235 a ticket for over 550 tickets sold. That would be the very definition of a rival.

Well of course they will suck because they won't make every decision the way you would in which case they should be fired.

Guarantee that all the same people complaining about Faison will be complaining about the new Athletic Director.

So you guaranteed that Oxbow wouldn't be disappointed. Was thinking you were talking about the fan base as a whole.

Agree, I don't understand the hatred of Faison. Sure he isn't perfect, but I don't know an Athletic Director that hasn't made unpopular decisions. Because he wasn't one of us like Roger Thomas, he became the lightning rod.

Ya think? His blog has been nothing but shots at people for cutting a sport he didn't take nearly as much interest in as he does now.

So there is a special pickup area?

You're the one who brought seats for soldiers into the equation. They are just saying that some of those same soldiers don't have a problem with it.

Hopefully we are in contact with Mittelstadt enough so that we have the opportunity to muscle him.

Rieger certainly didn't look out of place last weekend either. There were a couple times he pinched when I didn't think it was prudent, but the fact that he wasn't afraid to play is a good thing, rather than being timid and playing just to not make a mistake.

I hope our new guys other than Mismash and Kiersted are brought up to speed quickly on the level of emotion to expect this weekend. I am sure all Minnesota players have a hatred engrained in them for North Dakota, so hopefully the veterans can express to guys like Jones, Adams and Kawaguchi the intensity level increase that will be needed from last weekend to this weekend. When Rizzo visited a while ago, was that his official visit? Would be nice to have some big time recruits in this weekend to witness the atmosphere. A lot of recruits in the past have committed after the series.

Wouldn't mind returning the favor from last year with at least a win and a tie. That would give us a little extra for the pairwise should they have a slip at Wisconsin or another non-conference series.

Yeah, the expectation that the chemistry and adjustment to the college level is going to be there right away is delusional. There aren't many Brock Boeser type players that are impact players right from the start. More often guys like Caggiula, Brock Nelson, and Gersich, who had to figure it out.

Maybe he and Kiersted each play a night ala Derrick LaPoint and Jake Marto during their first year. If either progresses faster then adjust time accordingly, including options of sitting those upperclassmen that need a look from above as well. Since this team is going to be based on depth, might as well use it to the fullest advantage.

Yeah, would imagine a Johnny Simonson type of player, although Simonson did put up some numbers in the USHL. Guessing since he is Captain of the Force that he has the work ethic and grit to be a good role player.

The record of UND up in Anchorage isn't great to begin with at barely above .500, and Anchorage has never been the class of any league. The talent level on some of those teams was pretty significant, nevermind the fact that it wasn't their first game at the college level. This team is going to have a hard time scoring goals at some times this season, and it doesn't surprise me that they did against a veteran team that likes to pack it in the paint. I think this team will have a lot of Drake Caggiula type players that can score a little bit their freshmen year, but probably won't give you the Boeser and Jost type impact. The hope is that they can put together a good enough record until the chemistry between those guys starts to gel. They won't do that unless they get a lot of help from the upperclassmen. Hopefully when they are playing against teams that are a little more wide open they will be able to find their stride, but if the upperclassmen aren't consistently scoring they will struggle.

Which means we'll lose one this weekend.

On GPL they said Casey Staum decommitted from Omaha. Seems like he would be nice pick up for someone. Last defenseman that we plucked from Omaha after decommitting worked out pretty well.

Agree, I really like his game. Good in the faceoffs, responsible on the defensive end, and a great work ethic. May not get the accolades of others, just like in the BCHL, but the coaches know you need guys like this to win championships.

Your credibility is kind of suspect calling for Hak's head to begin with, but Hak did some nice things with teams where he couldn't even field a full lineup, and he had to deal with being raided by the professional ranks a lot. Not easy to plan ahead and fill all the gaps on a year to year basis with injuries and pro defections, yet he seemed to make the NCAA playoffs every year.

So who do you take out? I think Yon may even have been an extra last night. Adams, Kawaguchi, Mismash and Jones all look like they belong as well. May depend on what type of team they are playing against.

http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=211670237 Is WCHA.TV available on ROKU or AppleTV?

Agree, with the caveat that his effort isn't lacking. The great part of having the depth they have this year is being able to send a message to any player that isn't perceived to have given maximum effort. Sometimes rookies have to learn the difference between what they perceive as working hard, and actual maximum effort.

Didn't know the Nordique made a comeback!