tnt

Yes, they were deeper, but when I watched them play the Sioux that year, that was the only line that dominated the Sioux. The other lines were either even, or the Sioux had an advantage. But it kind of goes to show that once all the top talent from various teams went to play for the Olympics, the other teams were very competitive. Minnesota lost to some teams they hadn't lost to with those players and Wisconsin came out from the shadows of Duluth and Minnesota, which to me tells me that a few high-end players along with solid depth can put you on a path towards being a challenger. As women's college hockey grows, that won't always be the case, so you better become a University where people want to play hockey now. As Division II women's college basketball has grown, you see some of the bottom end teams like Mankato a bit more competitive than they were in the past, but the thing that keeps UND near the top is that their top talent can take it to the next level when the games are competitive. Let's hope the women's hockey team can achieve the same level of success and always be in the mix for the top players. Right now they don't appear to be.

What irritates me a bit is that the coach is saying they are basically at square one. You don't necessarily expect great things from a fledgling program, but what you expect is for it to grow year after year. To be back at square one is very disturbing especially with the facilities, the school and the men's tradition that can be used to help lure top-end talent. I can tell you what would happen to a professional expansion team coach that had to start back at square one after so many years. Maybe what bothers me more is the defeatist attitude of being back at square one, which basically means one thing -- very little possibility of getting the Lamoureaux sisters and being an instant contender. If they at least had a surrounding cast that could make them competitive in the league, the Lamoureaux sisters could put you over the top, because Minnesota showed the way with having Wendell, Darwitz and Stephens. Beyond them, Minnesota wasn't much better than the rest of the leauge. Better get some top-end talent in here soon, because last place just isn't going to cut it at UND, no matter what the sport, especially since it is an expensive proposition.

Say what you want about Don Cherry's antics, but he is a major supporter of the USA and the need for Canada as a country to support their neighbors, not only in the sporting venue, but also in the policy realm. He took the Canadian fans to task for cheering for Russia against the U.S. in the World Junior tournament, and has always said that Canada should be supporting their neighbor with troops if necessary in foreign policy. He always points out what the U.S. has done and would do for Canada. Yes, he goes too far on HNIC, but he is paid to be a bit controversial. As far as fighting goes, there are many points that I agree with him, it sure cleans up the stickwork, and you don't see near the checking from behind hits that you see in college.

The gophers have depended on Irmen and Potultny the past two years, almost to a fault. I don't recall many games the second half of the season where I didn't see one of their names heavily on the score sheet. It doesn't come as a big surprise that the gophers were eliminated in the playoffs the last two years when they don't score. That said, maybe they depended too heavily on those two and now that they are gone it will force the others to step it up or be a second tier team. I don't agree with those who think the Sioux will be able to handle the gophers easily next year. It is always a battle no matter who the teams have lost. It really all depends on who is lost the rest of the summer and the mindset of the players coming back. Duluth was picked to win the league a year ago and look where they ended up. I think if there is one thing that we learn on a year to year basis is that talent alone won't get you anywhere (see Jordan Parise's quote to confirm that). Minnesota could do very well, but they need many players to step up and fill the gap from the loss of Potulny and Irmen. Heck, Potulnys second half may be the best second half ever for Minnesota according to Woog, and you just can't pick out one or two names to fill that scoring.

I know I would come a little bit early to a men's hockey game to catch at least the 2nd or 3rd period of the women's game, and I know others would as well. Can you imagine how much better the atmosphere would be for the women if they had even a 1/4 full arena to support them. The dollars lost on admission to the women's game would be made up for in part by more concession dollars. If I'm going to be at an arena for 3-1/2 hours I'm much more likely to buy an extra pop or hot dog. Just a thought!

I'm saying there are other women's sports that should be looked at that aren't as money intensive. People all liked the idea of women's hockey, including myself, but let's be honest, if you bought a house and couldn't pay the mortgage, something would have to give in your personal budget. Why should it be different for UND? Where do you think they are going to make up for the shortfall -- the fans. You are right in that steps need to be taken to try get the fan support, but I would contend that it isn't a matter of people not liking women's hockey, it is a matter of oversaturation -- too many sports, too little time and only so many household dollars to go around. I go to women's hockey here and there, but not on a consistent basis because of money and time, what with high school hockey, men's and women's basketball etc. I think it would be smart in the short term to handle women's hockey like women's basketball used to be. They should play right before the men's game, then at least you would get some people watching the 3rd period and generate some interest. Obviously not many are going to sit through 5 hours of hockey, but after interest is generated maybe you could get more people to watch them in a different time setting.

It would be nice to know if UND is moving to Division 1 in all sports? If they are, then something needs to be done with the women's hockey program -- either make it more viable and better able to support itself, or jettison it and fill the title 9 requirements with a less money intensive sport. I would love to see it succeed, but the drain it has become on the budget needs to be addressed.

And Oshie wasn't ready for college. Remember that!

Your knowledge of hockey, or lack thereof is laughable. Eddie Belfour was undrafted as well, and he seems to be #2 on all-time NHL wins. So Parise certainly has a chance at the next level.

I believe Blais was the coach when we lost to Denver in the West Regionals.

I just hope they don't have some of those speakers talking about how they can make another run next year if everyone sticks around and then make it uncomfortable for guys like Stafford, Smaby and Zajac, among others, by singling them out. They all know that, and we all know that, and they need to make the decision that's best for them without feeling pressure from people who should be supporting them and their careers. This get-together should be a celebration of the past year and I hope that the organizers stick to that.

Yes, hopefully the 7's will be good to us and we can get past national championship #7. We won it in 1987, 1997, why not 2007? If the Sioux only lose two of the number of players mentioned that could go pro, I think they are very well situated to make another run at # 8.

Do you have an inside source regarding the coaches displeasure with Marto's progress? I recall many people wanted the Sioux to get Jon Ammerman or Kyle Hardwick rather than Marto. Marto has 1 goal, 21 assists and is +5, while Ammerman is 3 goals, 3 assists with -12, and Hardwick is 4 goals and 5 assists with a +2 rating. What does it mean -- nothing! Progress is judged on many levels. If Marto has bulked up and started to gain confidence, maybe that is what the coaches are looking for. He may go back to Omaha and he might not, but he has progressed, especially considering that the forementioned defensemen had a lot more hockey experience heading into this season than Marto. I have confidence that the coaches will bring him along whether it be in Omaha, or here.

Maybe, this was the wrong time to bring up this topic, especially if it takes the focus off a great tournament we have coming up this weekend. Go Sioux! Beat Michigan!

This is true, but I think consistently competing to be the best team in the country has a lot to do with it too. Let's face it, NDSU will never be the best in the country at anything. I think the popularity of NDSU basketball would compete if they made the big dance but it would fade unless they could do it on a consistent basis. I can imagine the coverage of a March Madness birth would be bigger than anything we have seen in North Dakota, only because it is something that has never happened here, and that tournament is such a big thing across the country. You've seen the coverage of Wichita State, etc. I imagine the national coverage would be a big thing if NDSU made the big dance, but taking it from a novelty to a consistent happening like Sioux hockey is another thing.

Did any of you catch the Fox news last night. According to Scott Heimle, Craig Bohl said that in a year or two NDSU football will surpass the popularity of UND hockey. It would even trump a Frozen Four appearance, according to Bohl. Heime then said, "sorry hockey fans, but he is right". I don't know of a single UND football fan that will become a bison fan. On the other hand, have either of them seen the North migration of fans from Fargo to Grand Forks every Friday and Saturday during hockey season? Come to us again with this statement when Wisconsin and Minnesota consider NDSU their biggest rival. I think the timing of the statement might lead one to believe there is a bit of jealousy on Bohl's part. He used to be on the national map with Nebraska, now he is fighting for media attention.

If you don't see Brady Murray making the NHL, then why would he not take the 300-400 Grand while he can get it. If someone offered me that kind of money to do something I love, I would take it in a heartbeat, especially if I were a smaller stature like Brady.

For those of you that have a WCHA Final Five program, there is a bigger slight in my estimation. If you look at the last page, they have a woman wearing a jersey with all the WCHA logos--- all but the Sioux logo. I think you can be sure that isn't a mistake or an oversight. The WCHA taking politically correctness to an extreme-- not recognizing one of their members. It seems to me that it is popular with members of opposing hockey teams, maybe they should censor their comments about their favorite logo/uniform.

I hope you're not serious. That sounds like Minnesota fans before last weekend, saying they didn't have a weakness and taking things for granted. I just hope the Sioux players don't have that mindset, or we will be hearing the phrase "Mariucci West" a lot over the next year or so.

St. Cloud has as much right to feel slighted as UND. After the Sioux beat Wisconsin, they announced that North Dakota would be playing Minnesota for the Championship on Saturday. Talk about overlooking the obvious. I didn't hear a correction either. Anybody else hear this?

Can't we lighten up a bit. Are we going to be like the Minnesota fans that boycott Senser's? I think the University of North Dakota is big enough to live through this slight, or do the people screaming so loudly really believe that UND is now in the shadow of NDSU. I certainly don't! Also, why isn't NDSU screaming for being potrayed with an offensive nickname? Maybe they'll take any exposure they can, even if it means being hypocritical about the nickname.

At least there is something to spin. Haven't had the opportunity to listen to much spin from Amy's program lately.

Why does everyone continue to speculate and say things like this. I think the Sioux coaches know that Parise leaving is a possibility. Whether that will happen is yet to be decided, but I hardly think it would need to be a miracle contract.

And if he scores that goal early on, is it any less significant. On the contrary most teams that take the early lead, especially UND go on to win a larger percentage of the time if they take early leads. In that sense it doesn't matter when they are scored, because it got the team a much needed goal. So tell me, if the Sioux were ahead 1-0 against the gophers in a regional game, and someone scored to go up 2-0, and it eventually turned out to be the game winner, it wouldn't mean much. To me getting up 2-0 would be huge, especially if your team was a very defensive team.

Nevermind the fact that the record that T.J. broke was that of Troy Murray. I don't think it is coincidence that all those big names pop up. Game winning goals are meaningful for no other reason than it means that the player was producing when the game could go either way. Meaningless goals are goals tacked on when you are already winning by 4 goals late in the 3rd period, or an empty net goal when you are already up by 2.