tnt

I say win what you can. Don't think I would ever hope for the Sioux to lose a game. I guess I don't subscribe to the theory that if you win one you can't win the other. Things have to go your way anyway, even if you lose the Final Five.

If Saunders plays tomorrow, it would be going against what Hakstol said earlier this week, that if someone steps up, they have a chance to take over.

Hope it's not! If it is, it means we finished 3rd. Rather have a chance at being a #2 seed if Minnesota loses and ties and we win.

Not nearly as nice as a present as the game tying goal that should have been whistled for icing!

True, STA should be in AA, but if East Grand Forks has some prospective college recruits, they should have competed a little better, even though some of that talent is quite young. Knew it would be an uphill battle, but had no inkling they would get pummeled the way they did.

I personally don't think that Mankato would ever get invited to the NCHC. I think if they are going to expand, they will be looking for new markets.

The website says that Stecher doesn't turn 19 until April. Hopefully he turns out like another BCHL guy who decommitted a few years ago -- Joey LaLeggia!

Anybody know what happened with his commitment to Omaha?

Mitch Slattery of Hill Murray seems like the prototypical Fighting Sioux player, skill with a good bit of grit and edge to him. Would like to see how he develops. I know Luke Voltin played for Hill Murray, but who is the last Sioux player from Hill Murray anyway?

Gotta be Goehring.

I think they said it was on Channel 14, and channel 323 on Midcontinent in Grand Forks.

It pales in comparison to the downright ineptitude of the WCHA year in and year out under the current "administration"!

Was thinking the same thing as well. It might just be that the people that get the seats they want, or indeed the best, might just be people who wait.

Yeah, just to have the playoffs here for 11 straight years is quite nice. Then you look at all the other factors that Schlossman has pointed out, like our 5 game winless streak which only included a few losses, and how the other programs all had multiple stretches like that. I love it when he points out factors like that because it makes a lot of the chronic complainers look so petty.

I would welcome playing Minnesota as well, because it will mean we beat Wisconsin. I assume they don't play 3rd place games, do they?

I think it comes down to UND staying out of the penalty box this time and continue their great powerplay this weekend. The fact that eastern teams don't have an automatic 4 losses added to their schedule like WCHA teams because of a team like Minnesota really skews the records.

I'd take UAA first, but after that, I wouldn't mind playing Bemidji again. I think Kristo is ready to break out against them. Of course I thought that this weekend too!

Just thinking though, what are the tiebreakers in three or four-way ties? Maybe those are the scenarios Brad is working through.

Are officials already predetermined who will officiate the Bemidji / Gopher series next weekend? Be very interesting to see how they call that series in Bemidji's arena, as far as the obstruction goes.

Good to see Tony Hrkac at the arena tonight supporting the Sioux.

If the Sioux win tomorrow, they should clinch home ice in the playoffs since they own tiebreakers with Denver, Omaha and Wisconsin, shouldn't they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdeOogQJn9Q Kind of funny, on the Harvard campus around the 9:25 mark we get a glimpse that status isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Perhaps more professors should actually teach rather than push their agenda.

I think Keaton Thompson's draft position could possibly play into the defensive situation if he accelerated his schooling like some have suggested. If he goes high enough, he could be an option to come in early because there is always a possibility/probability that some clubs won't want a high draft pick to take too long for development, thus get as many years out of him as you can. From what I understand, he is playing very well.

Let's face it, the difference between teams now is not nearly as much as it was in the past, simply because there are so many resources to draw players from, and the coaching at different levels is better across the board. I think that bears out in each of the conferences where if you get swept on any given weekend you could drop 3 or 4 spots in your league. You are going to always have teams with a bit higher skill level, but we have seen that a hard working team can cancel that out in many circumstances. Who'd have thought Mankato would turn it around so fast under a new coach? People better realize how fortunate the Sioux have been to put together such a great string of NCAA appearances.

Is it possible that they were talking about the tentative schedules that were released?