tnt

Feels like a great win to me. Bottom line is the Sioux won in Denver, a place where it is very difficult to win. At this time of year survival is the name of the game.

Can't remember, what was Vinny Saponari kicked off the team for a few years ago?

Getting hurt is something you can't control, and he was able to sign with his hometown team in Winnipeg. I don't think people would be saying that Rocco maybe should have went Major Juniors because this year didn't work out for him.

If the Sioux can't pull a win out of Denver this weekend, I am afraid the tournament hopes might be over unless they win the Final Five or get a whole lot of help.

Who knows, maybe he would stay at UND for 4 years if he is drafted by Winnipeg and he doesn't like cold weather. Our winter was probably as tame as Ann Arbors this year. Of course it is pretty nice every winter, right! Maybe that is why he doesn't look like he'll visit until March, if he visits at all.

Like I said, I am an optimist. I think if he takes a long hard look at what will help him be NHL ready, he will give UND a good hard look. And unless he is lying, when he says he is losing sleep over the decision leads me to believe it is a hard decision one way or the other. If he doesn't come, UND still has a great outlook for next year. It's funny, when bunches of fans are overconfident, see Michigan game in the Frozen Four last year, I am kind of leary. When everybody is pessimistic, I tend to look at the possibilities. Have seen way to much on this board or elsewhere that there is "No chance" only to have it turn the other way, see Luke Johnson committing to UND. The great thing is that even if he doesn't commit, I am not going to be one of the "sky is falling" type who are wondering if the Sioux will ever get a recruit as good as Minnesota does. The Sioux are who they are because they fit together the pieces of the puzzle who they have and always manage to be a top-end team, see this year's team.

I have one caveat in wanting Jones to come for a year or two, that being he is the consummate teammate that Toews and Parise were, and doesn't have one foot in the NHL and one in college. If he comes and has an expectation when and what situations the coaches should be playing him like Erik Johnson seemed to do, then I would question if the team concept would be harmed. I have confidence that he could fit into the Fighting Sioux philosophy like the forementioned did, and am certain that Hakstol has confidence that he would as well, or I'm sure he wouldn't be recruiting him. The fact that Hakstol has told guys if they are coming back they need to be all in, would lead me to believe that he isn't looking to keep guys an extra year or bring guys in for a year or two, unless they are committed to the program.

Many thought Forbort might be a one and done and now it looks like we might get at least 3 years. We probably won't get 3 years out of Rocco now, so should we send him packing? I think the fact that we didn't get a championship during the Toews and Parise years shows just how hard it is in a one and done format. We didn't get it done with a Senior laden group either, and when we recruit future players, how many do you think will say that they came because UND produced great talent like Evan Trupp, Brad Malone and Derrick LaPoint? Sure, some might recognize the name Frattin down the line, but you aren't always going to get a guy like Frattin to stick around four years either. I think if Jones understands what it will take to make the jump at defense to the big league, he might actually stick around a couple years and play against the mature competition so he is NHL ready when he makes the jump.

Nevermind, I see the article is referenced and picked up in the committed recruits thread.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/229487/group/Sports/ Lemieux's words on education sound promising. I guess I am an optimist, thinking that UND does not need to take a back seat to anybody, and if kids look into that, they will see that. Sure there will be those that don't end up coming, but when you have seen the atmosphere here, I think that should help a bit. Also, from what I understood, he was tweeting Rocco Grimaldi, and if that is the case I am sure Rocco would encourage him with the benefits of campus life, even though he hasn't even seen the ice much in his first year. Who knows, maybe Hakstol is thinking he will at least get one of the two between him and Wilkie.

I think it becomes a more competitive game the second half of the year with everybody jockeying for playoff position. Also, the fact that Bjugstad scored 4 goals against two of the worst teams in the country doesn't give me reason to think that his 1 more goal than Nelson and 2 more total points is something that distinguishes him from Brock Nelson. Maybe if Bjugstad was putting up the same numbers he was earlier, Minnesota would be distancing themselves from the pack.

After Thanksgiving Bjugstad has 8 goals and 5 assists for 13 points in 15 games, while Nelson has 13 goals and 8 assists for 21 points in 17 games, and that was missing Corbin Knight for several games, so he might be at a higher level than you give him credit for.

If the "X" won't lock up the NCHC every year, I certainly would be in favor of the rotation between the "X" and the Target Center. Like someone said, at some point the Target Center will be looking for full scale renovations, and that might make it even more attractive, especially if they include more hockey friendly renovations to the mix.

But people that aren't Sioux fans are of the opinion that Kristo tried to injure Marshall by following through but only managed a glancing blow. That is my point, it is a matter of interpretation of whether the intent to injure is present or not. Perhaps only the player knows their intent. Did Rau try to injure Zucker? Doubt it. I think plays like the Marvin incident where he totally goes out of his way could lead one to believe the intent to injure, but who knows, maybe even he just intended to send a message with a hit. Unlike many fans that have a stake in making players from other teams look like the bad guy, I think for the mostpart the players are good kids that are just a bit overzealous in trying to hit somebody, although there are some players that might have more sinister motives, but I think they are few and far between.

I hate to see any player get hurt, especially when we don't know what his orignial intent was. Do we know what Danny Kristo's intent was when he hit Ben Marshall? I don't think people would be calling it karma if Kristo got hurt shortly thereafter. I do think that Brown's hit was reckless and because of the time of the game and the score at the time can certainly be construed as intentional, depending on your point of view.

It's going to be a wild finish the last three weekends. Omaha has CC, Minnesota and Denver left on their schedule, so a lot of shuffling can still occur. Sioux need to take care of their business.

Obviously, we did misunderstand him, but it wasn't just a few people who were overexpecting from that statement.

Didn't see the hit, but the guy with the maroon and gold colored glasses, Kevin Gorg, said Kyle Rau would learn from it, and you can't leave your feet and hit somebody in the head.

Yeah, I didn't think the hit on Mattson was intentional either. In fact Mattson did turn a bit a second earlier, so I could have even seen them only calling a minor. The fact that Mattson went off the ice may again have played a factor in the decision.

Like I said it could be the Big Sky that jumped the gun. Ultimately Faison's legacy will be how UND comes out of the deal on both conferences. If the NCHC doesn't grow the sport and keep UND a top 4 program in college hockey then the move could deter from that legacy. If UND stays in the Big Sky and prospers, then his legacy could be positive. Time will tell.

Sounds to me exactly like the NDSU/UND rivalry went down. We don't have room for you on your schedule. Why not? Because we scheduled all these other games with teams that fans don't care as much about.

Wonder if Bruce Ciskie will be calling for a suspension for Brown. Obviously decided it was late enough in the game to take the chance at getting away with something. He slashed Blood pretty good to the back of the leg in the first period after Blood checked him hard.

Don't know that the MVFC wasn't an option. If they would have worked with USD and made clear that the two were a package deal to go to one conference or the other there might have been some movement with the Summit working to secure a few more schools with the possible departure of a few. As far as the Spirit Campaign, I said it was a good thing, but even after people were speculating wildly on new football stadiums and such, they continued with the more awesome than the Ralph talk. I know few people who weren't a little disappointed in the way they went about trying to get people to donate more money.

I just question whether they really explored everything with the MVFC. Don't know if being in a league where they don't want you is that desirable. I guess if UND is that undesirable, I wonder why they made the move to begin with. Guess we put one over on the Big Sky though. If anybody has the most egg on their face, it is the powers that be in the Big Sky. They obviously didn't want UND without the package, yet they pulled the trigger without USD's name on the dotted line.

Did the Big Sky ever want UND, or did they just want them as a package with USD? Why did they accept us in the first place when the nickname was still up in the air? You can say that Faison did a good job getting us in the Big Sky, but I believe we became unwanted right after USD fell through. Did Faison have no inkling to wait for South Dakota to sign, or did he have any conversations with USD officials that they could possibly work together to be in the same league be it the Big Sky or Summit/MVFC. Were all options explored with the MVFC? I guess when you jump the gun on new conferences twice and have the UND fan base excited both times only to realize that things weren't going to be as good as first advertised, it kind of makes one wonder if lessons were learned. You could even add the Spirit Campaign to the list of things that got the fan base excited only to leave fans with a sense of disappointment. Sure, all of these things are good in some form, but when you promise the world and need to backtrack, it certainly makes a person wonder if there isn't something learned along the way. "We get to be in a conference with a current rival"!! Guess not. "We get to be in a conference with Notre Dame"!! Guess not. "We as fans are going to be overwhelmed by an announcement that will outshine the Ralph Engelstad Arena"!! Yes, but nothing that is tangible to the fans that they convinced were going to be unbelievably excited for so they take off work early to meet at the Chester Fritz. Like I said, all things are good, but when you oversell, and undeliver, you would think you would learn from that. I only hope that Faison has a plan or something unseen for getting UND hockey on TV across the country after the plug was pulled on fans that once had access to games and now once again are in the dark after all the positives were not as advertised.