tnt

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.

The insubordination began with some PC professors at UND. If Hakstol got fired for speaking out, they should have as well.

I would say that the fact that Bjugstad is one of, if not the scoring leader in the WCHA as an underage sophomore would seem to portend well for him in the future. Only more room for him to grow physically and mentally.

Perhaps that is what led to the apparent need for silence on the homefront. Again, I don't disagree that it should be practiced, just not happy that it wasn't part of the philosophy before it ever came to this.

It was done a long time ago in a tribal ceremony. If permission wasn't granted we wouldn't be having this discussion today -- period. We would have had another nickname that we cultivated and branded over the years and wouldn't have to start over 50 years later.

I'm afraid that is how the politcally correct machine of the world runs. Whine and whine until it wears people out into capitulating. What bothers me the most is that it seems by coaches saying they can't comment at this time, that they are being muzzled on the subject. While at this point it is probably best that they don't fan the flame, it really galls me that muzzling people wasn't practiced wisely by the prior administrations at UND. I fully agree with Ralph Engelstad that Professors that were slamming UND about the nickname years ago should have been fired because they worked for the institution. The fact that it now appears to be the other way around is really upsetting. If someone would have had the common sense back then to tell the Professor's to shut their yap if they want to remain employed at UND, then maybe it would never have come to this. Don't know if that same ultimatum has been laid down for the coaches now, but they sure get eerily quiet and on edge any time the nickname is mentioned.

To add insult to injury, Grimaldi and O'Donnell barely played much their freshman seasons, so there will still be a bit of a learning curve next year, beyond the rehabilitation taking up the offseason. Rodwell could have used a little more game experience as well as a sophomore.

Sounds to me like Minnesota is setting it up with the Notre Dame contract and playing all of these games to use the old "we'd like to play UND, but we just don't have the room on the schedule". Of course Bemidji State knows that refrain all too well. Wonder if any of these games will be return games, or home and home.

What does he want upgraded, the stuff that fans don't see or the audio and video stuff, or a combination?

Yes, I'm sure his motives are as pure as the driven snow. If he is so concerned about it, why doesn't he keep all of those early commits he has on scholarship? Or is this another example of supporting someone in name only, not in deed?

Wonder if the other Lamoureux brother ever regrets playing for Red Deer and losing his college eligibility. I think he ended up playing for the Manitoba Bisons and I believe now is some graduate assistant or something at UND.

I like the idea of an Xcel, Target Center rotation better. Of course I have friends in Minneapolis so I don't have to pay for a hotel room.

If money is an issue for Michigan, they could just do an outdoor game every year and fill the Big House with over 110,000 people. It has always shocked me that they can get that many people for a game at Michigan, yet they stay status quo in a 6000 seat Yost Arena. How much money are they losing by not building a new arena. I would bet that somewhere not too far off in the future Michigan will build a fancy new arena and they will have a much easier time recruiting the top end guys than they already do.

http://ndgoon.blogsp...bal-verbal.html Schlossman's article is no longer available, but there are quotes from the article in Goon's recap.

I believe Lucia is the one that has wanted that for years, while the other coaches have continued to hold fast to the "hands off" rule. I believe if the Big Ten goes to it, the other leagues are sure to follow.

Which is why regionals should go to the highest seed East and West.