tnt

I can't say I'm a "fan" of Woog, but considering he works for the U of M, what do you expect. If you take a good portion of what he says with a grain of salt, then he becomes much more bearable. Just let the goofy things like "phantom assists" reflect poorly on his envy from his years as coach and lack of ability to win the big one.

I noticed that both Brett Hextall and Kelly Zajac were first star in their respective games last weekend.

I thought the same thing before the series with Michigan Tech before Christmas. Hopefully the results this year are polar opposites from that series last year.

This is exactly what I mean, it doesn't really affect our series with St. Cloud, but Wisconsin could be without McBain, Geoffrion, Turris and Smith, while CC will be without Billy Sweatt. It effectively takes away the Badger's home ice advantage, and one could argue could make them lose home ice for the playoffs. It obviously affects some teams more than others, and it just so happens that Wisconsin takes the brunt of it this year. McLeod's policy on a number of things seems to be out of sight, out of mind. He says one thing, apparently to appease people, then does another. Remember when the Final Five was going to be switched where Minnesota woudn't have to play the night game unless it was warranted by where they were seeded. I guess I'm just hoping he will follow through.

I see that Bruce McLeod still hasn't backed up his talk that there would be no league games during the World Juniors. Last year Minnesota was able to reschedule to play on Sunday so their players only missed one league game, and this year they play Wayne State. Are other WCHA schools just bad at scheduling, or why is it that they are playing league games, some against tough competition when the WJC is a possibility? Message to Bruce McLeod -- either there should be league games across the board, or there should be none. Be consistent, to make the WCHA championship as fair as it can be with the alternating schedule.

Hakstol said on Mac Talk, that he will be playing, and he will be back at defense.

They should call him Powder Puff because he is always complaining about the weather. My niece has lived in Florida all her life and came up here a few years back at Christmas, and she never complained about the weather. I like the fact that we get our worst weather when Puffy is in town, it's why we live here, it keeps Riff-raff like Dubay away except for weekends he has to be here. As for Woog, I can deal with his homerism because he is an upbeat guy, the person I can't deal with is Dan Terhaar for the Minnesota Wild. I finally had to turn off the sound when watching the Wild so I didn't have to hear "No Call" in a whining voice. He could take many pointers from the Hockey Night in Canada announcers. How Terhaar got that job is beyond me. He wasn't a good announcer when he was in Grand Forks and he sure hasn't improved much since. He is like the fans that call for a penalty everytime someone from their team is knocked down. His partner Golberg isn't much better, but at least he has a little objectivity. Being a homer is one thing, but no objectivity at all is beyond listening to.

"I see 4 for sure"

I think Genoway still did work the point on the powerplay before he got hurt.

So you weren't a big fan of the regional win last year?

It's one thing to come on an opponent's board and give your opinion, it's another to say you know for a fact that a player won't be good enough to leave early. I don't go on the Minnesota board and say I know for a fact Patrick White is overrated and he will never make it as a pro. That is only an example, it is not what I actually think of White. By the way, my point was that guys like Commodore had horrible feet when they came here, and magically he became a great defender. Maybe Lucia only recruits players with everything polished, or players don't improve as much under him, but there is something to be said for a coach that can see potential and develop that into a solid player. I'm not saying he won't be here 4 years, only saying that with the track record of Hakstol in developing players like that, it sure isn't out of the realm of possibility that he could leave early.

I would have said the same thing about Michigan this year, and the year after they were supposed to win it in 1997. Both teams lost a lot and still seem to have come out as contenders, so you never know.

Four for sure? Maybe you never saw Mike Commodore, Matt Smaby, Joe Finley, Matt Greene when they first came here. Different people develop at different paces, but to say 4 for sure is odd in light of the names I just put forth. Also, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he an "A" prospect. If not, I thought he was highly regarded in some circles.

I don't know, from the games I've watched, physicality wasn't an issue, but I guess I would defer that question to Sagard or other gopher fans as to how they think this team plays physically compared to prior teams. Regardless, I think they will try come out and hit to establish that they won't be pushed around on a smaller rink.

Obviously, we know that you can throw stats out the window in this series. I think that Minnesota is going to come out trying to avenge the Regional loss and come at us hard, as well as be a little physical with Wheeler, Bickel, etc. The Sioux will need to match or exceed their passion and let them know that the Ralph is our barn, not Mariucci West. I think it's going to be some intense hockey, because both teams need the points to not fall too far off the pace.

Dang right, now they are even getting 5 minute powerplays without getting checked from behind. Who do we get this weekend Sheppard?

Does St. Cloud plan on him playing a year of Jr. hockey or coming straight from high school?

Cary Eades said today on McNamara that Chay wants to play against Minnesota, but they will have to wait and see. If that's the case, then Blackheart's source needs to be discarded.

I wouldn't mind Nordics or something to that effect, but you know the opponent's fans will take out the "R" in their chants towards our teams. I'm not sure any name would be free from that kind of scrutiny, much like they call us "Sue" now, but if they want to keep the gutter stuff away, I'm not sure this would be the best. Nordiques would be better for that reason.

If you think we have troubles being confused with NDSU now, don't give people a nickname to differentiate between the two. I think people will be confusing the two from here to eternity then. I for one don't want NDSU getting credit for our accomplishments. "Oh, North Dakota won the national championship. Aren't they the Bison?", is a scenario I don't want to see.

Not sure if Dave and Mel Donnelly were brothers. Were Adrian Hasbargan and Amber Hasbargan brother and sister?

Actually, hasn't it gone down?

Much like the NCAA has a ten minute cooling off period before players talk to the media, I give myself a one day cooling off period coming off a disappointing loss. After that, it is easier to put a hard loss into perspective, and it never seems to be as bad as first thought. That may be the case on Saturday's loss. On the positive side, the Sioux only have 2 subpar games to this point, compared to many at this time last year. That said, the next 4 games will tell a lot about this team.

Maybe coaches just keep it a bit more under wraps about the WCHA title than they did in the past. I guess I just expect to hear things like "we can't afford to fall anymore points behind CC if we want to win a WCHA title". Maybe it is said to the players, not the media. If it was said last weekend, the urgency certainly didn't seem to be there. With Denver pulling out the win on Saturday, it kept the possibilities alive. I believe both Minnesota and UND are done with CC for the year, so head to head isn't a possibility. After the second half records of Minnesota and Wisconsin the past 2 years, it may be a bit early to be conceding anything at this point. Every team will have a lull, it's just a matter of when, and how bad.

Actually, it was Lucia that kind of diminished the WCHA title with his statements about just finishing in the top 3 to make a run in the NCAA tourney. From what I recall, he didn't even want to celebrate on the ice a couple years ago, then heard it from some people. I understand his philosophy that the whole job wasn't done, but it still was an accomplishment that deserves to be put on a pedestal. Last year he kind of changed his tune, probably because he saw what happened the year before and realized that this is an accomplishment that can't be taken away from you, regardless of how you fare in the NCAA tourney.