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What do you consider "most"? I think it has been rehashed on every message board that you can't get all the good players in your state. See Potulny's and Irmen for examples of that. They seem to have done quite well with the their new formula.

I find it interesting that you appear to be a fan of the Oakland Raiders, who have been the cheapest team the NFL has known. Maybe if fighting were allowed in football, you wouldn't have the head to head helmet shots that the Raiders and other teams use to intimidate. Fighting does serve a purpose. Players now swing their sticks to avoid getting kicked out of a game for throwing punches. A stick is much more lethal than a fist.

SFIP, Actually you said that the Gophers no doubt were the team to beat, and that was after they lost Paul Martin. Unless you changed your mind later, that was your feeling at the beginning of the year.

Central has Jake Marto a defenseman that has very good skating and stick handling skills. If he can grow into his frame, watch out! I would think that he would be on the radar for Junior and College teams.

Some of the same people who say that Minnesota doesn't scare them a bit almost conceded the WCHA title to them before the year started. They have the same players as they did at the start of the year minus Ryan Potulny. So what has changed? You either have to admit that you didn't know what you were talking about at the start of the year, or you don't know what you are talking about now. Anyone suggesting that the Sioux should beat Minnesota easily in Minneapolis obviously doesn't know college hockey. When was the last time the Sioux swept Minnesota in Minneapolis? My guess is that it would have to be in the old Mariucci days, and we have had some pretty awesome teams since then. Minnesota knows how to use that big ice surface, especially on the powerplay. The Sioux have had many ups and downs on the large ice surface, although I think this team is suited to change take advantage of it. Oh, and by the way, give credit where credit is due, beating Michigan anywhere is an accomplishment, much less at Yost.

I agree with Jimdahl. The Sioux played the first half and last two minutes better than Winona which is more than half the game. It is only natural to play in a bit of shell when you have that kind of lead. Funny how a couple plays can turn a game around. If Joe Wilson doesn't throw that ill-fated pass for an interception, I suspect we would be talking about a blowout, because to that point the Sioux were driving the ball fairly easy. The second play that could have changed the outcome drastically was the pass interference call after the Sioux had stopped them, shortly before their second touchdown. I have a feeling if the game wasn't lopsided at that point, it might have been considered incidental contact. After that score the Sioux tightened up a bit and were their own worse enemy on several occasions. Give credit to Winona though, they did what they needed to get back in the game. To knock them for the trickery is getting picky. You could see that when the score was getting tighter the Sioux were overpursuing which lends itself to misdirection. I was very impressed with Winona's play calling. I think the Sioux did well to pull this one out because they didn't get the benefit of many calls in the second half, especially as far as the ball marking went. So to fight through all that was going wrong for them in the second half and pull it out, I definitely think they deserved to win.

Does anybody remember when the Grand Forks Herald had mythical games between the teams and it came down between the 1986-87 team and I believe it was either the 79-80 or 81-82 team. The early eighties team was the mythical champion, which I wouldn't disagree with. It probably would come down to officiating. If they let things go, the early eighties would get my vote, if they called it tight, then Hrkac and company would have an edge.

It really would be nice to balance our classes a bit more, so they might need to have a few more in the fold for next year so the following year isn't so lopsided. We can't afford to have such unbalanced classes. If nobody leaves early, which may be a stretch, we lose Jones, Schneider, Bochenski, Fuhrer, Fylling, MchMahon, Massen, Canady, Genoway and Brandt. It would have been even more lopsided had Fournier and Faul stuck around. Looks like they have the makings of good defensemen to fill the large void, and are doing a good job starting on the forwards.

Doug Woog has no credibility whatsoever. There were about six situations last week that Woog was adamant about a call or a non-call and made himself look stupid on each situation when the replay was shown. The 2 goals he questioned UND getting extra assists on were not replayed. Had he gone back and looked at those, he would have seen that the goals were scored correctly. If anything, he should have complained about UND's 4th goal on Friday, which should have gone unassisted. Mistakes are invariably made at every venue in the WCHA, and Woog is just spreading more of the same old crap like the "25-year-old Canadian" line, that the Minneapolis crowd eats up. Forget the truth, just say what the listening audience wants to hear. Doug Woog has knowledge of the teaching end of college hockey, but he doesn't know the rules. Does anyone remember when Woog made a bet with Mazzocco on what constituted offside and lost the bet? He was whining about Matt Jones' 1st goal on Saturday because someones skate was on the crease line on the other side of the net. How about how he rips into Blais for rotating goalies, then last weekend says he doesn't know why goalies should be any different from other team members. If they aren't producing someone else should be in. Perhaps because the gopher goalie situation has changed he suddenly has a new outlook on things. I only wish someone would take him to task on his waffling. Oh well, what would you expect from someone who even last year said if he was coach he would still stick with all Minnesota players. Guess that's why you're in the booth Doug!

I think since we got all these boys out of Minnesota's back yard, We should call it the "Line of 10,000 Fakes"!

As much as I would like to knock Vanek, you don't determine who is a better player based on one big weekend. Remember, Parise didn't exactly light it up in the playoffs while Vanek was rolling and before this weekend, Bochenski was a non-factor in the rivalry. That said, I think Parise had more focus put on him by other teams and Bochenski, well, he is one of the most pure goal scorers I've seen at UND. I think you can definitely say Parise puts forth a more consistent effort than Vanek, the Randy Moss of college hockey.

Blais was saying he thought Mike Schmitt was doing the series. Anyone know for sure?

Showing up and arguing with them isn't going to put them in their place, a building without an audience will show what you think of them.

We very well might have 3 less national championships if the best players weren't played based on being walk-ons. Phil Sykes and Matt Henderson were walk-ons that thrived in the National Championship games.

They don't offer any insight to college hockey as far as I'm concerned. Anyone that says the Sioux have no talent at defense like Dubay did at the start of last year isn't worth listening to when it comes to college hockey. The Sioux only had first, second, third, and fifth round draft picks playing for them at the time. Add Nick Fuhrer as a talent and that is a pretty good crop of defense. I would say that NHL scouts know talent when they see it. Needless to say, I won't be listening to those clowns.

I agree with Chay Genoway having better hands than Colby, but his skating doesn't impress me. He reminded me of a Brandon Bochenski type with better skating skills, but great hands and puck smarts.

I don't remember blowing a three goal lead to Minnesota last year. I recall that happening two years ago with all those freshmen in the lineup.

Just watched the replay of the Prpich fight in slow motion and I can't conceive how the Duluth announcers couldn't give Prpich the unanimous decision. Better stop looking at the game through dog-colored glasses!

Looks like Kyle Radke is off to a good start this year in the Alberta Junior league. Click on Grand Prairie game reports for stats. http://www.ajhl.ca/

From what Chris Mussman said on the radio the other day, they tried to get Duluth on the schedule. They even offered to play in Duluth, but Duluth didn't want to. After all, Duluth made the playoffs without playing much stiff competition, why would they want to jeopardize that this year? They can't avoid the Sioux next year though.

I think the Sioux can make a run at the gophers if things fall in place, especially on the goaltending end. I will be upset if the difference between the two is only a few points and the Sioux lose a game at St. Cloud just after the New Year. When is the WCHA going to get it through their thick skulls not to schedule league play during the World Junior Tournament, especially rivalry games. It is not like the tournament is played different times from year to year. Last year we played Colorado College with three players missing, and this year we could be short three, or possibly more players. I believe Minnesota plays non-conference during the World Juniors this year. I am sure other leagues aren't too thrilled about playing conference games during World Juniors either, so I would think that a non-conference schedule could be worked out that would benefit all leagues. Ideally you would like to show league strength for the NCAA when league faces league. I happen to think league standings should hold a greater deal of weight and that everything that can be done to make league play the same for every team, or close to it , should be done.

Wow, Guess I was more than a little off on Murray's second season. Guess the outcome of that season can make up for the point drop. The freshman season was even better than I suspected. Other than Kevin Maxwell's freshman season, I wonder where that rates in best rookie seasons?

I'll split my vote. Best offensive player Hrkac, and best two-way player Troy Murray. Murray was physical at both ends of the rink as well as a great face-off guy and still put up great offensive numbers. (over 70 points in both his freshman and sophomore seasons I believe). I also believe he played during an era which was less wide open with brutal, physical defensive play. It's difficult to know how many points Murray would have put up had he played a third season, although I don't think it would have been in the Hrkac realm. Hrkac only played two years, but had one year of seasoning in the Canadian Development program in between his freshman and sophomore seasons. I haven't researched this, and I'm sure someone could come up with the actual numbers, but I believe Hrkac had about 170 points in his two seasons, and Murray in the realm of 146. I don't think there is any doubt that Hrkac's 1986-1987 season was the most remarkable season in UND history, perhaps college history. Two incredible, albeit contrasting hockey players. Couldn't go wrong with either one.

Let's face it, finding an incredible goaltender is not easy and is somewhat of a crap-shoot. Some of the biggest names coming into college haven't always panned out. Adam Hauser for example. We as fans are too conditioned to expect the same great goaltending that we saw from the Aaron Schweitzer/Karl Goehring era. That said, if you are going by numbers, Jake Brandt isn't doing that bad. I believe he is second in the league in goals against average. I am not quite certain about his save percentage, but I believe it is hovering about 90, not great, but ahead of a lot of goaltenders that are not being so discredited. The bottom line for me is wins and losses. If our goaltenders are making the big saves when they are needed and allowing the team to win on a regular basis I'm not going to be hyper-critical. The problem lately is that we haven't been winning. From what I've heard, Marc Ranfranz had a few decent games but wasn't rewarded. The bottom line in those games was that the other goaltender outplayed ours. Jake Brandt hasn't played very much lately, but he only has two losses, against Colorado College and Minnesota, not exactly bad teams. The Colorado game was probably one he would like to have back, but the team as a whole let down after the 3-0 lead. I do think that consistency is a problem, but he hasn't had the luxury of being inconsistent lately. Back to the original topic, if Ziegelmann wants to come in and is willing to compete, why wouldn't we want him to when finding a goaltender isn't always a scientific equation. The more goaltenders to choose from gives us better odds. If goaltenders near the top of the USHL in many categories are not the answer, then where do we start our search? Canada hasn't given us an Ed Belfour or Darren Jensen lately. The Sioux will have to make due with what they have for now and hope that numbers can give us an edge in the search.

Just the fact that BisonGuy is constantly preoccupied with the Sioux shows the impetus for the Bison's move to Division 1. Be sure to keep visiting this sight over the next 20 years or so and update us on each and every Bison win. Wait, that won't take that long. First loss to Augie in 40 years, first loss to South Dakota in 15 years, first loss to the UND women's volleyball team in 26 years, yeah, now would be a good time to get out of Division 2, because you certainly can't win at this level. At least if you keep losing at the Division 1 level you can brag about how great the competition is. That is all! I have nothing left to say, because I, unlike Bisonguy am not preoccupied with NDSU. We have way too much going on for us to spend time worrying about their visions of grandeur, because we are living a division 1 bonanza already.