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In no way am I complaining about Ralph's generous gift, it is an awesome building. I just think that the purpose of the arena, to keep the Sioux hockey team in the forefront of college hockey, has become a secondary purpose. If I ever see the Sioux men's hockey team forced to practice on a rink that is not the size they will be playing on that week, it will very much upset me, as I'm sure it would have for Ralph as well. Maybe my frustration lies the most with being in seats that are not as good as they could have been had I known this was coming down the pike. I would have been in the front row in the upperdeck one section over instead. If there is no season ticket increase in the next few years on top of this, I won't have a problem with it. In short, like I said, there are ways to budget around this. After all, people only have so much disposable income.

Can anyone explain to me how any of the smaller schools like Tech or Duluth seem to be paying their scholarship dollars, probably with higher tuitions. I'd be surprised if Tech averaged 3000 fans, and I know Duluth's ticket prices are lower than ours. Bottom line is that it is not about paying bills, it is about the bottom line and making more money, which isn't necessarily bad. Don't make it sound like you absolutely need the money to keep your head above water.

Just got a notice in the mail yesterday stating basically my long season ticket holding days are over unless I become a member of the Fighting Sioux Club. Because I love hockey so much, I am forced to do it at the $110 level, but what irritates me is that if I would have known I was going to have to do this when the arena first opened, I would have done it then and had a lot better seats. The way they seem to be money grubbing isn't exactly endearing to the fans. First they institute a policy where they will not give refunds for the unplayed 3rd game of the Michigan Tech playoff series, and now everyone in the arena except students and opponent's fans have to become members of the Fighting Sioux Club. I thought a "club" was supposed to be exclusive. Like I said, I will pay the minimum because I like Sioux Hockey so much, but events that I would normally attend like basketball games against lesser opponents and events like the Men's Division 2 elite eight next year will be cut from my budget. I will not support the money grubbing policies of the arena, as I don't think this is what Ralph's wishes were. If I hear the need for more scholarship money, etc., anymore I will throw up. In the old arena you had maybe 3000 season ticket holders and many weren't in the Fighting Sioux club. Now you will have just about 11,000 seats that are bringing in money, most at the FSC level. Add to that the suite level and the money for concessions, and you still need to bilk your fans out of a refund for a single game? I know many of you are probably thinking what a cheap person, but I think it is more the principle than a refund for one game that bothers me. I will continue to support the Sioux hockey team, just not the arena, because I think they are selling out the hockey team as well in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Our schedules in the past attest to that. In short, I won't support an institution that takes rather than asks. I'll buy my Siouxwear at Scheels. There, that feels much better.!! Now rip away!

I actually would be shocked if Schneider left. He didn't have quite the year he had last year offensively and you generally want to go when your stock is the highest, unless the CBA plays into it somehow.

If memory serves me correct, didn't the Hrkac Circus dream team lose to US International from San Diego? One game shots are scary, that is why it amazes me the number of people that are certain their team is going all the way. Too many variables to be arrogant enough to be that bold. That said, if the Sioux don't buy into the Holy Cross game being a bye, they will do just fine.

Doug Woog does not know the rules of college hockey, that is why he always had his shoulders shrugged when he was coaching. Classic example of this is when he lost a bet to Mazzocco on what constituted offsides. Woog blurts out so many misstatements, that it is hard to keep track. Just the fact that he doesn't give UND defensemen credit because they are not "offensive enough" is a joke. Maybe he should realize that plus/minus is where it is at.

I don't know about North Dakota hockey as a whole, but as for a city, name a city in Minnesota that has sent as many players on to D1 in the last 5 or 6 years than Grand Forks? Might be one, but off hand I don't know what the city would be. I know Minnesota loses players to the USHL too, but Central would have been awfully good this year had they kept Morgan Simonson and the other Lamoureaux boys who went to juniors. Red River and Central have traditionally been able to compete well with top tier Minnesota teams. When Roseau won the Minnesota title one year, the only loss they had was to Red River. Just saying that Grand Forks competes very well with Minnesota's elite, although it goes in cycles.

Teams go to great lengths to get an advantage at home. Some ballparks leave their grass taller to suit their game, and some even go so far as to have the air conditioning blowing in when the opposing team is at bat. That would be bush league. The Sioux worked their butts off to be in this position, why would we let them get comfy in our building? If the Sioux let them practice all week and lost to them in the playoffs, I'm sure there would be plenty of fans to question the wisdom of being "nice" to them.

What POI thread talks about Spirko?

Is this Bison1234 guy for real? Did anyone ever find out his age? Also, did anyone find out his I.Q.? Is it one, two, three, or four?

But I thought the reason NDSU was leaving was because they were going to play all these great teams and now you're saying they don't want to play you because you are too good?

If you are bigger than us, how come you seem to be so preoccupied with us. I don't spend all my leisure time hanging out on the Bison board. In fact, never been there. Just being here constantly shows how big we really are.

If St. Cloud's quarterback situation is unsettled, it may become settled with someone who takes over next year. With Bowenkamp a senior next year, the job would be open after a redshirt season.

I think Wyatt Smith played all four years at Minnesota.

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.