tnt

Surpised that Michigan is going to go along with this "neutral site".

I would think the Target Center could be a consideration as well.

Yeah, I saw a couple of green Sioux jerseys at the Phoenix Open on "Green Day". They were on the crazy 16th hole when Mickelson came through.

I think you see a lot of older players that are up in various leagues stats that don't have scholarships. Don't know if that means that they don't feel that the upside is as great as a younger player putting up good stats against older players or what. I guess the question might be is he putting up the stats because he is playing against younger guys, and how much more potential does he have to grow. Sometimes it might be a matter of wondering about team chemistry, although he obviously hasn't had a problem fitting in with the USHL. Don't know what kind of a player he is, but would he fit into Hakstol's style of being hard to play against and the characteristic work ethic. Don't know the answer to any of these questions, but it would seem odd that at least an Alaska Anchorage or some other teams that aren't able to garner the high-end talent wouldn't take a chance on him if he were eligible.

Eaves said that the refs told him it wouldn't have been a penalty a year ago but because of the unsuspecting nature of the hit it warranted a major penalty. My question is this, why don't players just skate with their heads down all the time and just focus on the puck, they can stickhandle better that way and could get a major penalty out of the deal, all under the guise of it being unsuspected. At some point on hits from the front, players need to be responsible for their own safety. Like I said before, pretty soon they will be legislating hitting out of the game, and this is just the first step in that progression. Pretty soon you will only be able to rub somebody out of the play without any force. I remember when a good open ice hit was something to cheer, not a reason to be tossed from the game. Not disputing that the player was hurt, but pretty soon players will stay down to make the officials contemplate more of a penalty as they are lying there. I can see the hit from behind by Brendan Woods being a game DQ late in the game because the puck was already gone and it was very close to the boards but I think that if Eddy doesn't stay down I don't think they call that one.

Tambellini was second star in a 4-0 win with a goal and an assist. Goalie with 41 saves and a shutout was first star.

If you thought it was a clean hit, then he most likely did too. If you are a competitive player and get booted from a game unjustly in your eyes, wouldn't you be a little mad. I know people that are so competitive that they have no idea how agressive and out of control they are and they are pretty mello out of that competitive environment. I have a feeling we are going to see more reactions like that simply because officials are going to error on the side of safety when somebody gets hurt. It bothers me that they officiate that way because you are going to get the occasional flopper who can put one past the refs, or in the WCHA's case, put a bunch past the refs.

Optimism is one thing, but using words like unstoppable is quite another, especially when we will be moving up to one of the best conferences in FCS. Many fans were calling for Mussman's head last year, probably you included, so even if you have the talent, it still needs to be in the right spots and execute the game plan, that is if the game plan is good. Besides that, most of these guys that are making people excited for the future won't be playing next year. I would temper the enthusiasm a bit, otherwise the unrealistic expectations could make next year less enjoyable, even if they perform well in their first year of the Big Sky.

Kris Chucko. You probably had Nick Checco on your mind, even though he wasn't Canadian.

True, but then why do you sign a four year deal with Notre Dame?

They did play Michigan State on the road this year.

... and Grimaldi will be a Junior, right!!

But you will be playing those schools in the XCEL tournament they are working on. I for one would not be happy if UND agreed to playing in Minneapolis without a return game promised. I think the NCAA needs to start factoring things like home games played into the pairwise rankings. Teams that get to play a lot more games at home than on the road have a distinct advantage over those that are filling their coffers by playing in bigger schools rinks, especially the way officials tend to officiate to the benefit of the home team.

How good would the roster look next year under the best circumstances: Kristo - Knight - Nelson Parks - Grimaldi - O'Donnell Chyzyk - Rowney - Rodwell MacMillan - MacMillan - Koules Gaarder - St. Clair - Pattyn Tambellini - Caggiula - Dickin MacWilliam - Mattson Forbort - Simpson Gleason - Schmaltz Panzarella - Senkbeil Dell - Gothberg - Saunders Of course if everybody did stick around, guys like Tambellini and Caggiula might wait another year. At the least, hopefully we wouldn't have to suffer through being as shorthanded as we are this year. Also would be nice to add another defenseman. Who could we get to add a little depth at that position?

Don't know if you are trying to dig the gophers or not, but I was referring to them as a player in recruiting Tambellini.

I would say no to that. Don't want to be playing more games when we will have a hard enough time trying to schedule Minnesota, Wisconsin, and possibly Bemidji State. Not only that, but you don't want to have a full league if an attractive team starts up hockey or wants to change leagues. Keep it the way it is until you find some school that really adds to the league. At that point you might as well add Bemidji State and Mankato which would be closer teams which draw more excitement from our fans.

I think you'll be able to add Gardiner and possibly McDonough to that group in a couple years as well. The Sioux seem to develop defensive defenseman better than offensive defensemen like Minnesota.

Wouldn't doubt that the atmosphere during the Minnesota series helped in the recruitment of Tambellini. See, the sky is not falling, the gophers lose a guy they recruited too, and I'm sure they are not in despair.

Nevermind, found this article. http://www.pittsburghaviators.com/news_article/show/113950?referrer_id=356610

Did I miss a women's hockey recruit somewhere along the line. I see the name Gracen Hirschy listed as a defensive recruit, and don't remember hearing that name before. Anybody have any info?

One only needs to look at the fans reaction to fighting in every arena across the country to know why it is still a part of the game. I probably agree that those who fight all the time might have physical problems, but just like smoking, they choose to do it. There are things that cause greater ills in society, yet I don't call for a ban on the internet, smoking, alcohol, television. What about Facebook, people are bullied on there. But that is what parents are for, to explain right from wrong and give their kids a sense of self esteem. As for fighting in college, it happens so infrequently anyway, and it is not staged like it is in the NHL. There will come a time when fighting is no longer part of the game, because of somebody getting cut by a skate or banging their head on the ice, resulting in serious injury. There will also come a time when people want some sort of ban on checking hard. Remember when you could love a good open ice hit? I fear that we are moving to a place where you will be considered barbaric for liking the hitting part of the game, and I am not talking about cheap hits here.

I guess I would disagree with that. Don't see near as much of the checking from behind in the NHL. Don't think fighting helps in that regard either, because the USHL has a lot of cfb. I actually think that the bad hits are a bigger instigator between fans than fighting is. Just look at the threads from the last Sioux/gopher series and it was still all about the hits and yapping.

If you're going to eliminate fighting even more in college, then you need to find a way to eliminate it in the USHL, which if you are looking to develop players for the next level, it would start with the USHL. If you start removing it all the way around, perhaps Major Juniors will be the answer for a lot more players than are leaving college already. I don't care one way or the other about fighting, but what bothers me is the crowd that tells people what is good and what is not good in entertainment value, especially when it doesn't effect society as a whole. Just as I don't believe people have the right to tell me that I am hostile and abusive because I like a sports logo and nickname. I don't think people are out beating up other people because they see it in a hockey game, no more than it does if you watch boxing. I think the World Juniors cleaned up a bit after the brawl where they had to shut out the lights to try and stop the fighting. College hockey is getting harder and harder to watch because of all of the after the whistle pushing. This weekend against Wisconsin was brutal watching fake tough guys pushing and then somebody pushing back. I guess face-washing and chattering doesn't really do it for me either.

You and PETA seem to know what is best for everyone in society, and soon if there are more bad injuries in hockey I am sure there will be a fringe crowd that will want hitting banned in hockey too.

Exactly, you didn't even see the incident, yet you are spouting off like you are an expert. You said that in society if somebody slapped you, you could respond in self defense, yet you think because you are in a game you shouldn't be allowed to do so. I think everybody can see where you are coming from now since you think boxing should be banned.