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I do wonder if Lucia will still try to convince him to go to Minnesota, since in all practicality, the gentleman's WCHA agreement will be over after they leave next year.

Didn't somebody say that Brad Berry went to a Holy Family game about a week ago? Perhaps his personality is paying big dividends. Doesn't hurt to have a really nice guy with all that coaching experience come calling on a recruit. Got to hurt those Minnesota fans that have no respect for our coaching staff see Gersich gush over our coaches. Wasn't it Gersich that tweeted how unbelievable the atmosphere at the Ralph was when he visited? Sounds like a lot went into his decision, and if you are the gopher coaching staff, what can you do if a kid likes the small town/campus environment. It's like UND coaches think, you win some and you lose some. You would rather have a kid all in to your program anyway.

I know you are kidding, but a lot of times it is a crapshoot trying to project how a player will develop. I think everybody thought that A.J. Michaelson was a big loss for us, but I don't think he will be an impact player, except if he can progress the way that Matt Frattin did every year. Wes Dorey was supposed to be the stud in his recruiting class and Jeff Panzer almost an afterthought, and we all know how that turned out. Gersich might not develop to be an impact player, but is nice to have the skill base he does and hope the ethic and some great coaching can allow him to progress to an impact player.

Wonder how long before Lou Nanne and Glen Sonmor make a road trip to get him to change his mind!

I would think so. If that was the case, do you pick Knight as the one you are going to push based on Kristo having an incident that some voters would construe as a character flaw. We all know that Frattin probably deserved the Hobey, but his incidents probably played into him not getting the Hobey.

Which makes UND skating the whole second half of last season shorthanded all the more impressive, especially during the grinding part of the year.

Yeah, and then the same condescending fans think that Edina parents look down on educational opportunities that aren't part of the East Coast elite. Funny how they have no problem doing the same to other educational opportunities that they consider inferior. Pure hypocrisy.

That is exactly what "irks" UND fans. They don't travel out East much at all, then all of a sudden when they could be making sure they had room for an old rival every year, they start making longterm scheduling agreements. Doesn't exactly seem like the rivalry was a priority. To me, that should irk fans of both teams who love watching a true rivalry game.

Could you be specific about what's delusional? As I recall you said that Lucia really wants to play the rivalry, but his own words have been contrary to that.

That gives me a little vindication when I wanted St. Clair's speed and work ethic in combination with Grimaldi's last year, and some felt that St. Clair would be struggling to even play. Hopefully Grimaldi sticks around and gives that line a chance to grow together for a while. Certainly we all know that with any team slump, changes will be made and that line combinations will be shuffled anyway. Who would have thought that when Parks gets back that he wouldn't automatically be playing with MacMillan and Rowney!

That's my point. This sure doesn't sound like "hope" just a short time earlier. It's not like the Sioux were playing like crap and all of a sudden caught fire.

So basically you were determining everything on what the outcome of the game was, not how they were playing. So because the outcome changed in two minutes, now the Sioux can sweep Denver?

So in about a half hour of time we go from losing four in a row to a stick salute in your mind? Wow.

There are plenty of young hockey players in Grand Forks that aren't huge Sioux fans. Some may just want to be contrarian, but for whatever reason, you see a gopher hat here or there on youth players.

I could see a few players leave if their stock is high, especially if Minnesota won the big one. Doesn't really matter anyway, because Gersich I believe is only a sophomore, and Hurley a junior. Why do you think Gersich is more likely to go to UND than Minnesota. Everything seems to be pointing the other way around. Hopefully the coaches can show how well the NCHC teams are doing, compared to Big Ten teams, but right now Minnesota is doing the best of those Big Ten teams. Some recruits may be swayed by the Big Ten, but I do think the NCHC has a lot to offer, especially the continuation of more old rivalries that have gone on for a long time.

I disagree that Wisconsin will be bad for years to come. Wisconsin gets great talent, it's just that a lot of them bolt early. Put Justin Schultz along with Zengerle and Kerdiles and you have a middle of the pack team in the WCHA, maybe better. I also think that Wisconsin will be a team that nobody wants to play at the end of the year should Zengerle and Kerdiles be in the lineup. Taking Minnesota down to the wire both nights without your top two guys on the road shows that they can be a factor down the road.

I assume you mean Nolan Zajac?

Do you think that Nic Kerdiles regrets sticking around rather than going to Major Junior? It is true that it all depends on when you play a team, because we will end up playing the Badgers when they have Kerdiles and Zengerle back. Those are two pretty good guns to add to a team that is competitive, just not getting that goal in critical situations like last weekend against Minnesota.

I think for the mostpart every night is a battle for everyone. Minnesota came down to the wire with Vermont tonight and Vermont was without two of their top players. You don't see many easy games across the country period.

So will Lucia call it a coaching career in four years and follow the accomplishments of Mario in the pros? I would think that at some point Guentzel is thinking he will be taking over the head coaching duties.

But I thought the party line was that Lucia was just towing the line of the administration. Don't know the ins and outs, but I would think that Hakstol has a major say in scheduling of teams, and I would imagine Lucia would have quite the pull as well, if not more. Maybe Schlossman can let us know just how much input Hakstol would have in scheduling because that would give us a better idea who is pulling the strings in situations regarding the rivalry.

Exactly, and as far as I'm concerned, they are both true Fighting Sioux. Nice that both finally had a chance to show that they are both very capable starting quarterbacks. Braden's name could be in the Big Sky record books for a while.

So if it is business, who would you rather have on your schedule money wise or institutional wise, UND or Bemidji State/ Mankato State?

Exactly, you don't give up 48 shots on goal if you spend more time in the offensive zone and you backcheck when you aren't in the offensive zone. Everybody needs to improve a bit to bring those stats down. Usually this time of year we are talking where is the offense. Now it is where is the defense. Not sure I like having either one of those conversations, but hopefully the defense will come around and the offense will only get better.

I agree that Minnesota being "scared" is laughable, however I do think that Lucia has a stong influence in no scheduling agreement being made. For years Lucia has shown his contempt for UND by jabbing that "why is it that things like this happen when UND is involved", when in fact we see nasty situations every week in one venue or another. And like I said about a year ago, the proof will be in the pudding as to whether they really wanted to get it done or not. Well, here we are a year later and now they are not only talking no scheduling agreement, but an every other year situation if one does come about because the rivalry is unhealthy. I said then, that Lucia's hate for UND is rooted back when Notre Dame played UND back when Lucia was a Senior and his team was throttled out of the NCAA tournament by UND and their goons who included Dean Dachyshyn and who else, Cary Eades. So you can see that the rivalry being "Over the Top" kind of remarks are not just off the cuff remarks, but a deeply rooted hatred of UND.