tnt

This is what I call the high road, not a Denny Green self-righteous self-subscribed "high road".

O.k. lets say she didn't know and now does. Will she pull her offer? What would your response be if she didn't?

There is so much I could say but won't. It's obvious nobody is going to change your mind about what the Alerus means to Grand Forks, or vice versa. The one thing I can say is that it is a reality -- deal with it.

The old civic auditorium lost almost exactly the same as the Alerus from what the media have written in the past. Let's see Alerus Center vs. Civic Auditorium. No brainer if you ask me. You can be upset about the way things are presented to the people of Grand Forks, but to me if you are saying Grand Forks would be better off without the Alerus, I'd have to ask you what you've been smoking. I am convinced that there are many businesses, mainly restaurants that I don't think would be here without the Alerus. I am sure no one is complaining about the offspin businesses, except maybe competing businesses. One other point, you can't fault the Alerus for losing the same as the Civic especially considering the Ralph wasn't a blimp on the screen when the Alerus was scheduled to be built. Should city leaders have disallowed a spectacular arena to be built so that their pet project could succeed a little better? Grand Forks is a much better place to live because of both facilities, especially when you consider where we were right after the flood.

I have an example to show you why it is nice living in North Dakota. You saw all the looting and crime in New Orleans during Katrina, well during our 500-year flood in 1997 you didn't have any of that garbage going on, just people helping people -- and grumbling I guess. In fact, I remember one guy calling the radio station and telling everyone his address and that his house was open and if anyone could get to it by boat they could take the stuff in the freezer before it rots. A little too trusting in my eyes, but at least it is good to know that people still have faith in each other. It never fails to amaze me how many people in Grand Forks still leave their houses open in today's day and age. Wish that feeling of safety wasn't tarnished for the rest of us.

Classy post. I am glad the Sioux team are gracious winners, because it makes up for riff-raff like you.

Interesting to see some players that were drafted fairly high in the past that became role players or less for the Sioux. Goes to show you that you still have to prove it on the ice. I have confidence that this year's class will do exactly that! Obviously they all can't be impact players, but if they just fit into the roles the coaches put them in, we could be pretty decent by the end of the year and years to come.

I don't know if I would say that people in the cities don't know how good he is. They talk about him frequently. I think they are in the same boat as we are here--we've heard that he's good, but just waiting to see how he does against another level of competition. Based on how he's doing on the international stage, we'll probably be hoping that he becomes a Sioux, rather than a gopher and they will probably be hoping the opposite. And if he commits to one or the other, the group that lost out will probably say he wasn't that good anyway.

Exactly! Let's not expect him to be the go-to guy on the Sioux. Let's just let him learn as he goes and take whatever contribution he makes as a bonus.

If a name isn't acceptable, it isn't acceptable. Native Americans shouldn't have a right to use any of the names for their teams either. But there seems to be a double standard here. If the threshhold for getting rid of a nickname is that a small number of people find it offensive, then there wouldn't be many nicknames to choose from.

Gophersrule6969, I seem to remember the majority of gopher fans complaining about Canadians playing for the Sioux. In fact, it was an obsession with them. Substitute the word black or Indian and what do you have. So, now who is more inclusive. UND accepting anybody from anywhere or many gopher fans only accepting Minnesotans.

I can see how you wouldn't be proud of your nickname "the gophers", the Sioux however have a rich tradition and heritage. North Dakota took great care in picking a nickname people could be proud of and that demonstrated... well, you hear it before every game, honor, courage, winning battles etc. Maybe you should change your moniker to rodent's rule -- great nickname!

I don't think you can say UND made a mistake on Mertens, because they did offer him didn't they? He just happened to choose NDSU. Hey, you win some-- you lose some!

I guess one thing I will be looking for from both players are the intangibles -- the refuse to lose quality that a Crosby has for example. When their team is behind a goal late in the game, who is going to dig harder to get the puck out of a scrum and walk out of the corner with it, or who is going to inspire their teammates by example and giving themselves up for the benefit of a teammate. Let's hope Kessel has a chance to prove himself more than Toews on being behind late in the game. I would have loved to see more of that from Kessel in the World Juniors, but it's not as if the older USA players were leading by example in that scenario, so one can't fault a 17-year-old in those same circumstances. One thing I think will become clear as the year goes by-- Sioux fan's will be touting the intangibles, and gopher fans will be touting the points being put up, and I don't think either will be wrong for doing so -- it's what we as fans do. But can we at least agree to give credit where credit is due!

I have seen Kessel play approximately 10 games with the evaluation camp and World Juniors, and my assessment is that he is more weighted towards the offensive end. I would not say that I wouldn't want him for that reason or that I would rather have Toews for that reason. I have only seen Toews play twice and I guess I can't say one way or another if he is a great two-way player based on that. I think that is always a knee-jerk reaction by fans when one player is better offensively, they ultimately get the one-way player tag. I don't know anyone who wouldn't have wanted Kessel on the World Junior team because he wasn't as dedicated to the defensive end. If Kessel was going to be a Sioux, Sioux fans would be touting him as the next coming and gopher fans would be saying he didn't play defense. Unfortunately, or maybe not, it is how fans operate on both sides of the debate.

I agree that the pressure will rest on the defense, but if they don't make the adjustment very well, some of the pressure will shift to the forwards to try outscore the other team. If you are looking at a comparison to last year, the offensive shoes that need to be filled are Brady Murray, Rory McMahon and Colby Genoway. The other forwards didn't put up great offensive numbers, so if each can chip in here and there, I think our offense won't suffer and probably improve overall. Let's just hope the pressure they feel is self-imposed and not an urgency they feel from the fans, because plain and simple, there are going to be some growing pains.

I would guess that Kessel will outscore Toews by a bit. I think with the softer schedule and the big ice surface, he will put up 60+ points. What will be interesting to me is to see how many of those points are on the powerplay, because we know Kessel operates well in open ice, and nobody is going to pressure too much on that big ice surface, lest he makes someone look foolish. It will also be interesting to see how he does in big games, because you know he will have the bullseye on him. I guess what I am hoping for Toews is the same thing I wish for the Sioux -- take the first half of the year or so adjusting to college hockey and new teammates, then make a nice run the second half of the year for the regionals, and hopefully beyond. I don't want to put a point total on Toews, because if he does what I mentioned above, that would be a successful season. I know some gopher fans might think that is managing expectations, and I suppose it is, but I don't see the need to attach lofty numbers to freshmen, because in the end, as with Radke, you will probably find yourself disappointed more times than not. Don't want to make it seem like Radke was a failure, just that he didn't put up the numbers that people assumed he would, including myself.

Yeah, who knows what Miller might bring to the Sioux. He put up similar numbers to Wheeler before he got hurt, so maybe he can crack the line-up and show his skills. Let's hope the Sioux don't have injury problems like last year, when players cracked the line-up by default. Not saying they didn't deserve to play, just wish it would have been a competitive issue, rather than an injury-related reason.

Gotta agree TTRIOUXPER, some of the same people that are putting Oshie on the second line thought it was foolish that he wasn't going to the USHL for a year.

Really, who cares where classes are rated or how many draft picks are in the class. As impressive as the class appears draftwise, they still need to produce on the ice. Sioux fans know just as well as anyone, that it is the players that aren't that highly regarded coming in like Phil Sykes, Matt Henderson and Jeff Panzer that have turned out to be great college players. I think what this draft does is verify what we know, that the coaches have done a great job of picking out the talent. We also know that they are good at grooming talent, so it is up to the recruits to take the next step by following through on the instruction and doing the work in the weight room to keep their progression as a player going forward, because the coaches can only do so much. We all know players that have had great freshman years then backtracked. I think that part of the reason that many of the players coming in were drafted higher than expected is because of the character seen in them. If that is the case, then we can expect to see them progress quite nicely.

Add Toews as a top pick next year and Ryan Duncan, who may not have been drafted but will be a player that I think will be a fan favorite, and you've got quite the class coming in. Let's hope the development and adjustment for all of them goes along with their lofty status and that they can gel to make another run at the end of the year. In this day and age, you've got a short window to make use of that talent, especially when you're bringing in 1st round draft picks. Bring in Dowzak next year, and you'll have another possible first rounder, along with Toews.

I just think UND is rushing the kid. Besides we have more than enough talent to finish year with, without rushing a kid up to the WCHA. Its not like he played for Shattacks were they play 80 games against tougher competition... <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe Oshie had plans when he moved out here to play for Minnesota, until he learned of UND, and I believe I heard Lee and another Moorhead player or two were more Minnesota fans as well. JLoos could probably address which other Moorhead players leaned that direction. So to have that many really nice players that are here or will be here, rather than at Minnesota is a nice coup for the coaching staff and UND in general.