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The charges certainly would make it difficult for him as a radio host to comment with any sort of credibility on athletes like Pacman Jones, etc. Perhaps now we know why he thinks of Grand Forks as a hell hole, it doesn't have the access to the kind of snow he wanted. Say what you want about small town/small state living, but temptations like that aren't as prevalent and accessible here. Hopefully he straightens himself out and can make some contribution to society from his experience and his public visibility.

I'm not so sure he's gone. I think after he does his punishment they will give him a second chance. I think P.A. will push for it, and I think they will capitulate.

That's true. So if the Sioux had a weekend or two that were subpar, we would probably look at it as an aberration rather than a indictment on how we expect them to play in the future. That is how I look at Wisconsin right now. However if the losing streak continues too much longer it could cause problems with team chemistry and attitude, but I would still hate to play them if they lost twice this weekend.

Depending on what happens this weekend with the Gophers and Badgers, I might tend to think just the opposite. I don't like to be playing desperate teams, especially if they have talent. Wisconsin has one of the best defensive groups in the country, so once they get back to playing the type of defense they usually do, they will be dangerous. Hopefully they take out their frustrations on Minnesota and not us.

Without knowing the whole story, it is hard to say what exactly happened. I would only suggest that Puffy himself seems to take joy in others downfall. If indeed it is as bad as it looks, I think this is totally different than the Tyler Hirsch problem because this is a choice he made. How bad of a choice obviously has yet to be determined. If he has never made fun of Robbie Bina, Oshie, Jake Brandt or others, I could cut him a bit more slack.

VandeVelde for Friday Kozek for Saurday.

I think we are back to the same argument that a lot of great defensemen that have come through here didn't look comfortable the first half of the year, much less the first game. We have talked about Commodore, Smaby, and Finley to name a few. In each case by the end of the year they had improved markedly and I expect no less of Blood and Fienage. I would hope by now that people would cut young defensemen a little slack and give them time to grow into the system.

Oops, looks like AZ Sioux already covered it.

Can you at least wait until Walski gives up a goal until you say we have goaltending issues. The issue so far is that they don't have experience, but that is the only issue we know up to this point.

Not saying Davidson will play a lot or not, but Tim Hennessey sure has been impressed with him during the Captain's practices and such and said he is much faster. Dane Jackson also said on the Coaches show he is impressed with how he came back and how hard he has worked. It certainly is a good thing to have people fighting for positions, and if someone stumbles or isn't giving the effort the coaches are looking for, I am sure the coaches will have no hesitation to put someone in who will go through the wall for them.

Do we know why he backed out? Was playing time going to be an issue, or was he just having second thoughts about playing at Wisconsin? Have heard a bit that he hasn't developed as nicely as projected when he first verballed at a young age, but that is all up for debate.

Don't know if someone already talked about this, but I saw on the WCHA blog that no matter where a penalty takes place, it will be brought into the attacking zone to give the powerplay team an advantage. It also said a new rule change is you can direct the puck in with your skate, but cannot kick it. What do you think of these changes?

I think goaltending is the big concern for everybody for the simple reason that goals are so hard to come by in the league now. If your goalie lets in a soft one, your chances of winning are diminished. If the Sioux could put up 4 goals a game consistently, that would take a lot of pressure off our goalies, however that is easier said then done. The Sioux seem to have trouble scoring goals the first half of the year, then turn it around the second half. We might need them to score a few more early this year, until our goalies are a bit more comfortable with what to expect from league play.

Of additional interest is whether Hextall or Lamoureaux will crack the lineup more consistently and which bench they will spend more time on, the Sioux bench or the penalty box bench. My bet is Hextall will crack the lineup, but then again, I've never seen him play, so that is pure speculation from information and stats from websites and such.

Where are Emerson Etem and Guan Wang playing this year? I know Etem garnered a lot of interest in the past.

The way it sounds, the Sioux probably would have been the better team for quite a while now, so if anyone should be embarrassed it should be us for letting them come so close. I am saying that somewhat tongue in cheek, but for a team like Idaho State to sound like they should be so superior is laughable. Either they don't know any football outside their own circle, or they are delusional.

Something fishy going on. 28 percentage point swing in an hour and a half. I wish they had the actual amount of votes listed so we could see how credible that swing could be.

I would disagree that the product is worth $20. It is worth much more than pro hockey, especially the atmosphere of the Sioux/gopher series, which is why everyone wants to go. If anyone should be upset, it is the people that have been going for years and now don't have access to get tickets. I went to the series in Minneapolis every year, until it became a matter of what FSC club you were in. If you sincerely believe that the product is only worth $20, then you shouldn't be that upset that you can't get tickets. I think you could sell 15,000 tickets to people who would dish out $40 and I hardly think most of them would be considered wealthy.

Maybe the coaches figure that having success this year will lead to better recruiting out of the gate and offset the loss of most of a year for one or two players. I am very interested to see how the Sioux do against Idaho. I must admit to some trepidation about where they stand without the game-breakers we've had in the past and with a new coach.

Or better yet, go to the more affordable games. The problem is that people all want to go to only the great games, then complain at the demand-driven prices. My answer for cheaper ticket prices is buy a season ticket or go to the cheaper games.

Perhaps they are thinking that many people aren't buying season tickets because they can get single game tickets reasonably and can buy the less popular series on the cheap out front or online. They might be jacking them up to try get people to buy season tickets rather than pick and choose cheap ticket series. Like someone said, they will sell anyway, so it is a matter of supply and demand. With the move to D1 in other sports, they will be looking for every opportunity to pick up some extra money.

I was thinking the same thing about Ismael Bamba. He hasn't seen much time, and apparently he could be an impact player in the future. Wouldn't it have been nice to trade Dressler's first year for another kick at the can this season. Whatever they end up doing, I hope they are loaded for their first season of playoff eligibility like the Bison.

Why does the name Zamberlin sound so familiar? Did he coach at Central Washington a few years back? If so, he should know the Sioux quite well.

Remember Kevin Rappana and Jace Reed? That was a while ago. Anyone after that?

I think everyone would like more speed, but I think a good mixture is still needed. Remember, after losing to BC at the Wisconsin regional in the late 90's, Blais decided that we needed to get bigger to counter the gorillas BC had at defense back then. True, the game has changed, and you might want to tweak the mixture, but balance is still not a bad thing. Let's remember we beat the heck out of BC in the regional out in Boston with our big defenseman.