tnt

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.

Also seems a bit exclusionary to exempt a team from hosting a regional because of their nickname.

It is Aaron Bendickson that is committed to Wisconsin.

Anyone else see the end of the game when they originally put 4.8 seconds back on the clock. Did you also see who was in charge of the instant replay--Greg Sheppard. Not a big surprise to me that they got it wrong with Shep piloting the ship. When is the WCHA going to get wise and get some new blood to look at things with a fresh perspective instead of the good old boys network that Sheppard has created.

While I agree it is fun at the WCHA Final Five, I still like the old system of the playoffs being on home ice of the higher seed. I really believe it makes the WCHA standings mean something. I think now teams are focused on getting down to Minneapolis and having a top three seed. I think #3 would fight a little harder for #2 if they thought it might be the difference between home ice and a road series in the next round. Let's face it momentum is huge heading into the NCAA tourney, and the gophers right now have an edge every year in gaining that momentum. I believe they should do the same with the NCAA tournament like they used to until the Final Four, especially now since the Sioux will basically never have a chance to host regionals again-- advantage gophers. I think we see now how important that is with gopher fans worried that they will have to play at the Ralph. I personally think it is only a matter of time before the gophers pass the Sioux in national championships with the present format. I realize it won't happen, but I think it is a better reward for regular season excellence. I believe winning the league title has lost some of its sheen. To recap, the gophers will have Final Five home crowd advantage every year, regional advantage every 4 or 5 years and Final Four advantage every 7 or 8 years. It worries me a bit, so let's hope we can take care of getting to our regional this year and take advantage of it.

Bottom line for me is that I don't think you can find a UND fan or fan from another team that can say anything bad about Oshie. Early in the year you heard plenty about Kessel from gopher fans, and all of it not good. Oshie has been the most consistent performer for the Sioux, I don't think you can often say that about a freshman, and I doubt the same would be said of Kessel. That said, Kessel will probably win it because of the year the gophers have had. To the victor belong the spoils, and I really don't have a big problem with that as long as a case can be made, and a case can be made either way.