tnt

Can you start a ground swell of SCSU fans to protest joining, and threaten state legislation against it!

I personally wouldn't want Gino as commissioner. First, everyone would complain that he plays favorites to UND, and secondly, the probability that he had some sway getting SCSU into the NCHC shows that the good old boys network is alive and well. I was hoping that kind of thing would be left behind in the WCHA with Bruce Mcleod and Gregg Sheppard.

Maybe if Notre Dame falls through, we can get Black Hills State to climb aboard the NCHC express.

This has Gino Gasparini's pull written all over it.

I thought Minnesota couldn't make it work at TCF Bank Stadium with just one event, so I would think that they would have to get pretty creative to make this work.

It all evens out in the long run. I am sure that NDSU got credit for beating Northern Iowa when we were still Division 2.

So you are saying that we don't have much of a chance against South Dakota in the Alerus? The way South Dakota handled EWU, would lead me to believe that if we couldn't beat EWU in the Alerus, we certainly won't be able to beat South Dakota. I personally think that we can beat any FCS team at the Alerus.

UND was competitive in that environment last year without a quarterback. Add a few more weapons and a game plan that will utilize the talent we have and we could be competitve, especially at the Alerus Center if the fans support them in the Big Sky.

Yeah, I thought with his wheels and work ethic he might be a fit with Grimaldi. If I thought the four centers would be Knight, Nelson, Rowney and Lamoureux, I figured either Parks, Rodwell, Odonnell or St. Clair would be an option for that line. Since Rodwell really cycled well on his line last year and Parks and Odonnell were both questions as to what they will add as freshmen as well, I went with St. Clair and his skating ability and work ethic. Maybe they need a bigger player in the corners or a finisher, but you don't know what you're going to get with any freshman and St. Clair has been in the USHL for years. Perhaps Rodwell needs to step into the role on one of the "scoring" lines now since there are more questions with the freshmen and from what it sounds like in Schlossman's assessment, you can tell the freshmen from the veterans. We definitely will have to fill in some "green" players somewhere and since the line #'s after the 1st line are kind of subjective, who knows where they will fit best, and who will have chemistry together.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=565353 I don't know where he'll end up either, but with his skating ability and work ethic I doubt that line would ever get outworked. He may struggle with a couple others of the freshman to stay in the lineup consistently, but with so few spare players, his work ethic might just keep him there. As this article suggests, he does have some good skill to become Fargo's all-time scoring leader, even with such a short existence. Heck, Dave Semenko didn't have much of a skill set to be on a line with Wayne Gretzky, but he fulfilled a role that made that line work.

I don't really like responding on this thread with my dissatisfaction, but I will say that when the transition is so critical and the learning curve great in moving up to the next level, a failed experiment that the coaches didn't think all the way through is something "that is on us" as Mussman so often likes to reference. How much that sets us back will be determined by the rest of this season and the first year in the Big Sky. Suffice it to say, I hope that what they are doing now isn't throwing something to the wall and hoping it sticks, I hope there is a plan for the offense and defense based on the talent they have and the talent they hope to recruit in the future.

He might be switched around with Parks, but to say that any player doesn't have the skill set to skate with other guys on a college team seems a bit of a stretch, especially when good lines often times contain players that complement each other with different skills.

.. and yet nobody was thinking twice to buy packages for $400-$600 for the Frozen Four last year.

I'll give it a go. MacMillan - Knight - Kristo St. Clair - Nelson - Grimaldi Dickin - Lamoureux - Rodwell Odonnell - Rowney - Parks Forbort - Blood MacWilliam - Simpson Gleason - Mattson There will probably be so many different combos at the start of the year to see who has chemistry together, but that's my guess.

What was your alternative when asking these people? I think attendance at the Alerus compared to Memorial Stadium has you outnumbered. Now if your alternative is a new 100+ million stadium, then I would vote for that. Will you and all your friends each chip in $10,000 to help make that happen?

Really, logos on the field is a big concern for you. As for video boards, there are many teams that would love to have video boards period. I've heard fans that come in here and wish they had a facility like it. Is it perfect? No. I can imagine if they do get a new field, then there would be the complaints that it's too cold again, and we go back to the days of 2000-3000 at a playoff game. By the way, have you ever heard of the DakotaDome?

Haven't heard of #26 Monique Weber. Is she a transfer.

And on the defensive side we will be without Mackey and Bennett for the additional game against Idaho and they should be back after their two-game suspensions.

I am hoping that they are saving some of the playbook for Idaho, and I am hoping that Garman will be a part of that. Being that it was only the first game, I will hold judgement until I see how and when he is used. A win is a win, so there is something to build from.

I agree, a signature win gets the fan base excited more than beating teams that they have been playing and beating for years, provided you have a decent season besides. That extra boost of confidence for both the fans and the players should propel you to better things throughout the year. It seems people aren't excited about women's basketball as much as they were in the past, even though they have had good conference and post season runs the last couple of years, because they have been outmatched in many games out of conference.

I guess I would like to see a signature win sooner or later, much like our win against Northern Iowa a few years backs going up a division. Beating a team such as Nothern Illinois or Idaho like we played last year, or someone up just a level, would put the program in the right frame of mind with the confidence that will help us be competitive in the Big Sky.

How many kids are there from Minnesota playing in Ann Arbor that are 16? Should be able to figure out who it is, so it sounds like either Walters or this kid has an axe to grind. I wouldn't exactly classify any league with Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Michigan State as inferior, just as I certainly wouldn't classify the NCHC as "the Secondary Six" as another person with an axe to grind suggests.

Sounds like a high-end recruit. Hopefully Zane Gothberg will bring him up to Grand Forks a couple times to watch the Sioux. Hopefully John Marks will fill him in what it means to play for North Dakota, and how that makes you part of the Fighting Sioux family for life, even if we wouldn't be the Fighting Sioux at that point. http://fargoforce.com/blog/gabe-guertler-fall-classic-player-spotlight/

I feel like the NCAA, jumping to the "hostile and abusive" conclusions!

I don't think anybody wants to punish Native Americans that support the nickname. I just wish there was a way to show the PC crowd that actions have consequences... and Standing Rock took actions years ago that led us to go down the road of having Sioux as a nickname by giving permission and having a tribal ceremony. Now, having to change a nickname and the symbol which the University has become synonymous with, will create marketing problems as well as numerous others with alumni and friends who are upset by the whole thing because of the pride factor that will be lost. If I take a job and the commensurate salary with the responsibilities of that job, then decide to take on a less stressful job with less responsibilities, I wouldn't expect to keep the same salary. There are so many Native American programs at UND because the name is Fighting Sioux, plain and simple. Frankly, I think the University of North Dakota is hostile and abusive to Norwegians! Where are the Norwegian programs?