tnt

I thought he did say just that. Some might be on national t.v. via a game of the week or something and some on regional. He never said for a fact all the games would be on tv, but did say most of them were last year already.

It's too bad we lost him, but it sounds like he could possibly have been a one and done. If Grimaldi sticks around at least 2 or 3 years, it might be nice to have someone stick around a few years to create the kind of chemistry the Senior class this year had. Probably a better possibility now of more members of that class being together down the road. Hey, when a big-time recruit like that decides to go elsewhere you have to try find some silver lining.

I hope that if they do fill in the gap a bit, that they use a partial scholarship. Save some of the scholarship dollars we have had to use on fill-in players for the high-end type talent they will be replacing. It would be nice to make a good pitch for John Gaudreau for next year, or possibly this year if he could get a waiver from Northeastern. Or is a waiver even a possibility?

Andrew MacWilliam held back on pummeling the kid last year when they played the under 18 team, but I would bet that MacWilliam will give him a Sioux welcome if they meet up at the next level. That said, the kid probably is doing what he thinks is best for his career, it's just that the timing isn't very good for UND. Better to lose someone who isn't committed to being a Sioux now than to have someone who is not 100 percent sure they made the right decision. I hope he doesn't develop very fast for the only reason that the more players that don't develop the way they expect in the OHL, the more likely some future 1st or 2nd rounders will be to give the NCAA route a try.

So the athletic department can afford to haul the football team, men's and women's basketball all over the west and east coasts, but they can't afford shorter trips for the team that pays a lot of the bills?

If you call yourself the "National" Conference, it allows you to brand yourself as such and not have to change your name when growth inevitably happens. If they want to add a big name school out east or in California or such, they are already set. If hockey did grow like that, then most likely the dollars would have made it worthwhile for some big name schools to add themselves to the mix, thus the extra travel dollars might be offset by College hockey becoming bigger financially. People always ask why they didn't make the Ralph bigger, and I tend to wonder why they didn't at least design it for future growth, but the fact that the new league is branding itself as national can only allow it to grow as college hockey does. And if college hockey does grow, do you think the same people blaming UND for the demise of college hockey will give UND the credit for growing college hockey?

Michigan and Wisconsin have been to NCAA finals in the last few years, and Minnesota will get it together, with or without Lucia by the time they are actually in the Big Ten. College hockey in itself is very competitive right now, so I don't know why you think the Big Ten wouldn't be.

Why would you say the J.T. Millers of the world might not play for them. The reasons high draft picks play for the Sioux is because of their reputation of developing players for the next level. To that extent, the Sioux would have been fine in the old WCHA.

Your last line will be a tag line for somebody. I think the point of this conference is to remain competitive against Big Ten and other elite teams. I think college hockey as it has been in the past decade or so isn't dominated by one league anymore, and I think this move will help it be a competitive mix. It might be dominated by the big name leagues, but I don't think any one league will dominate like the WCHA used to.

It doesn't need to help in recruiting! It just needs to ensure that recruiting doesn't drop off because the schools are obviously competitive right now. By the way, what is your point about a possible deal with Versus?

The way many are arguing that the new league will offer nothing more than the WCHA does now, and probably will hurt the Sioux because of recruiting in Minnesota, you would think those that hate the Sioux would love them moving into this conference. The fact is that all of those that hate the Sioux do not care about what it will do to the schools left behind in the WCHA, they care about the Sioux losing -- period. The fact that they argue so vehemently to the contrary of anyone that makes a point for the new conference shows the underlying emotions that a lot of them feel - fear! The fact is that uncertainty causes that kind of reaction. It caused that kind of reaction in me when it became reality that Minnesota and Wisconsin were leaving. Would they have a huge recruiting edge being in the Big Ten? I think this new league could help negate any advantage they may have gained, and if they could get a deal with Versus or maybe TSN in Canada, they might just come out of this with a recruiting advantage against Eastern teams in Canada, and be able to hold their own in the U.S. against Big Ten teams. I guess time will tell! Time will also tell if the crap about caring about Mankato State, Bemidji, St. Cloud and Michigan Tech, is indeed true. If Minnesota doesn't play at their venues every other year, then we'll see proof positive if this was all about the smaller teams, or more about fear of the unknown.

I guess we can look at it another way. If what all the opponents of this say is true, North Dakota truly IS the most powerful force in college hockey! I think that some fans are mad because they are from the small schools, and the others thought that they would now have a recruiting advantage and would be able to exploit that with the Sioux staying status quo. True, staying in the WCHA wouldn't have been a death knell, but once again UND has the experience behind them in losing their biggest rival from their conference and being told that the other opponents are still strong enough to sustain the conference's power. How is the NCC working for Mankato State and St. Cloud State now? Because the Sioux waited to make a move after NDSU left, they have been in the catching up process over the last 5 or so years. Believe me, you don't want to have any catching up process in a sport that is the bread and butter of the Athletic Department. But the people that won't pay the bills at UND if that should happen are the ones that think UND should fall on the sword for the rest of college hockey. Minnesota and Wisconsin both had a chance to do that, and neither one stepped up.

I think when all is said and done, the naysayers will all need to eat crow if indeed the league gets a deal with National exposure on Versus. The quote of the Yahoo guy (literally), "By creating this New Conference the six teams are ensuring their own insulation from the fallout", shows just how illogical some people are being. Isn't it their jobs to insulate their programs from taking a fall? I don't see Ryan Lambert still working at IHOP or whatever job he held before. Did he not think of the gap it left for the rest of the employees after he left. I can't believe that Ryan Lambert acted in his own best interest! As for all of this happening behind the scenes without the knowledge of some league members, which seemed to draw the ire of Bruce McCleod, all I have to say is now he knows how some of the league members felt when him and his cronies got behind closed doors to come up with some punishment or lack thereof in many league disciplinary actions. Teams calling Bruce McCleod behind the scenes and telling him to take action were more than a little irritating, because it indicates lack of leadership on his part. So with that kind of leadership, how can Ryan Lambert suggest teams not insulate themselves from the Big Ten conference. Maybe the byline was incorrect, and Miranda Lambert actually wrote the article. My guess is that both have the same insight into the college hockey scene.

I don't. But do you really think the Big Ten would have kicked Minnesota and Wisconsin out of the Big Ten if they took a stand against this?

I don't think Notre Dame is a make or break for me, as discussed about the possibility of a great Non-conference schedule. I do wonder why Faison and everybody else, with the debacle of South Dakota being a foregone conclusion for the Big Sky only to have the Summit come in at the last minute and nix that deal, wouldn't wait to announce the new league until Notre Dame makes up their mind. That way you wouldn't have all of the behind the scenes bargaining by Hockey East to come in at the last minute and try to one-better the new league.

If that indeed happens, then I would question why they did what they did in the first place then, to get rid of Alaska, Bemidji, or Tech? To me they would be better off staying at six teams, playing each other four times each, then using the Non-conference schedule to play Minnesota and Wisconsin each year, then some old WCHA foes on a rotating basis, along with some Eastern competition.

The difference is that Wisconsin and Minnesota have been in the Big Ten forever. I seriously doubt taking a stand on this would put them in jeopardy of being booted.

Are NDSU fans saying it is selfish on UND's part? If so, they would be indicting themselves for moving out of the NCC.

Exactly. UND had one of it's biggest draws ever last year against Alaska Anchorage. How did Minnesota draw against Alaska last year -- and in the playoffs no less.

I think it is very telling that Bruce McLeod says he has no idea this was in the works. Does this guy actually get paid? He had to be compelled to talk to Nebraska Omaha a few years ago, and he wasn't proactive enough after the Big Ten became a reality to find out what the peer institutions were thinking! It speaks volumes that he didn't have the relationships in place to make a brainstorming session (I know an oxymoron) with the remaining league members a priority. Nice leadership! And you wonder why people are bolting a league with that kind of leadership? Yes, they could have gotten rid of him, but people have felt this way about him for a long time, so why wasn't he already gone?

I guess I am with all the fans around the league, including those at Minnesota and Wisconsin, that wish it would have never come to this. When Penn State wasn't even a blip on the radar, why was there constantly talk about Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the league for a Big Ten conference. I don't think the Big Ten was pushing that talk then. If somebody within the administrations (Barry Alvarez) keeps pushing the idea, then when a club team talks about playing Division 1 hockey, of course the Big Ten is going to make sure that comes to fruition. For that reason, I am not a big Barry Alvarez fan. Those that talked about the Big Ten conference back then were always met with conference realignment as a possibility if/when that actually came to fruition, so nobody should be surprised that is happening now. Let's just hope the hard feelings that have come out of this whole thing don't last as long as that between NDSU and UND. People are acting in their best interests, and that shouldn't come as a huge surprise either.

Then to even it out, why don't you give me a +1 when I have a post that absolutely sucks! Plenty of opportunity there.

If they are trying to court Notre Dame, I don't think St. Cloud fits the equation. Omaha gave up football because they want to put all their resources to going Division 1. St. Cloud gave up football because... I can only guess is that they don't want to spend money to sustain it. That is the exact type of thinking that they do not want in the new league. With their proximity to the Twin Cities, they should have been a powerhouse in football, especially after NDSU, South Dakota, SDSU and UND left. What held them back there is probably what holds them back from being a consideration for the new conference.

So basically we are doing what NDSU did. Hmmm, kind of like the direction that has taken.

Hammy is saying this is all UND's fault. Minnesota was forced into the Big Ten! The guy has no credibility at all. Ryan Cardinal has credibility. Hammy is saying now that Minnesota should only play teams that didn't break up the WCHA like SCSU, Mankato and Bemidji. Do you mean the same Bemidji that you never had time for before they were in the WCHA. Wow! I guess you weren't into growing college hockey in your own state with Bemidji State. Oh and isn't it Minnesota fans who make it seem like the end of the world if they lose to a crummy team like Mankato State? Yet they think UND should stay in that conference and play the leftovers. I think everybody agrees that the Old WCHA was the place to be, and I can guarantee you that UND would still be in it if Minnesota and Wisconsin wouldn't have left. Conspicuously missing at fault here is the NCAA. They can get involved in a Nickname issue, but when the well being of a fringe sport is on the line from a Big Ten conference, they sit on their hands. Of course we know the NCAA is all about money, so why should they expect anything else from their institutions. Maybe Hammy and other gopher fans are not in the loop about history at UND, but the last time they sat on their hands, they lost a rival that actually rivals Minnesota in many respects, and that still has not been resolved in the second most important sport at UND. If UND leadership can equate sitting on their hands and thinking everything was going to be o.k. in Division 2, to sitting on their hands and losing ground on our rivals in the most important sport, then it truly was a no-brainer to get ahead of the game this time around. One could have only wished that the Big Ten told Minnesota and Wisconsin to jump off a bridge -- and likely according to some of their fans, they'd have done it.