tnt

I have no doubt that you and other people that know Greg Sheppard personally would defend him as a friend. He has a great deal of friends in the Twin Cities and not very many elsewhere, and that could be part of the problem. All I want is some consistency and there isn't any. While I don't know him personally, his behavior doesn't surprise me that much, as he has always come off as a pompous person. Of course most of that is based on the days he was officiating, and as I said I don't know him, so I don't know if that is the actual person.

I don't see Kaip on the point on the powerplay. I would think between Chorney, Genoway, Lappoint and Bina, the Sioux should be o.k. Kaip would be more valuable down low. Now if there are injuries ...

Hopefully there is some truth to the rumor, but until I hear something concrete on this, I'll wait for Chris, Brad's blog or some inside sources before I get too giddy.

I have never agreed on this premise of giving a point to a team that loses. It goes against everything in sports. If you lose, you lose. Not only that, I think the NHL has a problem of teams playing to get to overtime to get that one point, which kind of defeats the purpose. Just my two cents.

I am not one to believe that UND sports figures can do no wrong, but in this circumstance, I think justice was served. What benefit would it be for Bina to allow Oshie and Toews to escape. Do you think that the officer or anybody else around wouldn't know any of the hockey players? If they did make a run for it, they would have been in a whole lot more trouble.

What Bourque went to SCSU? The only other Bourque I can think of is Rene who went to Wisconsin.

No, your post didn't come off like that at all. After Gregoire changed his mind, I was just using the old Dumb and Dumber line to facetiously suggest we still had a shot at Hansen and Sacchetti since they hadn't signed letters. Sorry if it came off differently.

So you're saying there's a chance... I read ya. Seriously, I know the Sioux recruited Hansen hard, and I assume the same of Sacchetti, but as usual both the Sioux and the gophers filled their rosters with decent draft picks, so it doesn't sting the Sioux too hard losing out on some top talent.

Don't you think your expectations are a bit high. We didn't win a championship with Parise or Toews. Winning a Championship is a crapshoot. You have to have a lot of things go right, including team chemistry. I'm not saying we won't win one with him, but don't you think Hakstol would be bringing him in this year if he thought he could add an element the Sioux need and is ready to make an impact?

Agree we didn't have a top-end NHL draft talent from last year, but I'd take Chay Genoway as a talent any day.

But you can have a nice recruiting class without high draft picks. Seems to me the Hobey Baker winner was a great recruit and he wasn't drafted. Ideally you would like a few top draft picks because that means they have a prototypical body, but some prototypical types aren't stars in college. (See Barry Tallackson and Brad Winchester for examples). A good mix is what I would like, that way you can have some continuity in your recruiting and have a few more upperclassmen, as well as having top-end talent.

I think a lot of it has to do with the tone of the posts and poster and if they are indicative of that person or an abberation. Everyone flys off the handle at some point, but if most of the posts are respectful, then that person gets the benefit of the doubt.

It's fun to know little tidbits about UND sports, but I guess I part company when it becomes an insatiable demand by people to know every detail about relationships that should be between two people. I know I was the one asking for proof, but that wasn't from an inherent need to know, just to say don't throw hurtful information out there if you can't in good conscience expand on it. That demand for information is what makes people like Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith become newsworthy when there are a lot more important things going on around us. I don't want to sound like a saint in this regard, but I think not putting out both sides on an issue as important as someone's livlihood can be devastating not only to that person, but their family as well.

The one against Bemidji State must be due to the High School hockey tournament.

Perhaps asking for proof is a bit of a knee-jerk response, but if I have a pet peeve it is people that use the old "I've got a secret" mentality then leave it at that. This site isn't nearly as bad as another that uses the tired "another recruit has chosen to wear the treasured 'M'"! That phrase is used and then there becomes a guessing game. In other words, don't say it unless you want to play a game of 20 questions. I realize this is a message board and speculation will reign, but certain things shouldn't be put out there to fester. I certainly am no moderator, but that is where I come from and why I may have seemed a bit irritated.

If you espouse this, then you must certainly say that these people are betraying trusts to make themselves look better by being in the loop. Oh, and by the way, there are plenty of times when I have information from a source well ahead of time, but in order to keep getting that information and to avoid a betrayal of trust, I let it come out in its own time. So you see, I don't have to be the one that says that Dale Lennon dislikes Tom Buning. Just by saying that, I feel dirty, because while I don't know Dale Lennon personally, I don't think he would want that on a message board for public consumption. I know there are people I have major problems with, but I wouldn't want it to be fodder for the masses.

You don't think that saying that Dale Lennon has a major dislike of Buning is a betrayal of trust? Dale has to work for him unless something is done. And if Dale is o.k. with letting out that sentiment, he should want people to know his side of the story. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Lennon and Hakstol fan, and I would obviously want to see Buning leave before them, but being in a company in which people have problems with the slightest perception that they are being shortchanged, I can see how expressing those sentiments doesn't always measure accurately a persons happiness all the time. Like I said, someone has to make the tough decisions, and they are seldom popular.

Don't forget that Dale interviewed when there was another athletic director here too. If there is that much sentiment against Buning, then bring it to the forefront and start a mutiny, If it is for the betterment of the program, all the coaches that have a problem with him should get together and tell the powers that be that they would feel more comfortable staying at UND if Buning was gone. If nobody is willing to do that, then deal with Buning.

If you're going to go as far as saying there is a problem, give the proof. I want to know if these are specifically examples of whining you hear in every single company in America about management, or if there is some beef to them. So here is your chance to cite the numerous examples of why there is a problem. If they are just that he scheduled a football game without consultation, then I would consider that to be an oversight and correctable communication "problem", that again happens at every company. I have heard this same thing about every athletic director except Gino, and at that time, nobody would be caught dead taking issue with him. Based on Dale Lennon's interview with WDAZ, he thinks the Athletic Department is going in the right direction. Someone has to be the bad guy and make the tough decisions, but if there is more beyond that, get it out in the open.

Well, do we know if Coach Lennon is foolish or not? Was he offered the job at Montana State?

I don't know if I would say that Lennon would be foolish not to take it. I really don't look at Montana State as a program that is better than UND's. I think fan support at UND is comparable if not better than most DIAA programs, and we all know how well Sioux fans travel. The one thing I could see is that it would be a faster stepping stone for Dale if that is what he is aiming to do. Montana State doesn't have to go through the aches and pains of the transition period, but as far as their program being on a higher tier, I am not too sure of that, especially if the Sioux were led by Lennon through the transition period.

Wish they woud have saved about $30,000 on the hiring of the women's hockey coach and used it to sweeten the pot a bit for Dale, although I am sure that money isn't the main thing that's enticing Lennon, although it couldn't hurt.

If they lost Lennon it could hurt the Sioux in more than one way. I have no doubt that Lennon would recruit North Dakota's high-end talent more than Montana State does now, and I have no doubt he would convince more than his fair share of talent that Bozeman would be a nice place to play football.

To say that both Minnesota and North Dakota both recruited Marto is true. However, when it is said that Minnesota wanted him bad, I don't know if that is a fair statement when I don't believe he ever got an offer from them. That said, I hope he shows them what they missed out on.

Hopefully they don't go too high. You know the range I mean, where GM's feel the pressure to sign a player because of the expectation, even though they might not be fully developed. It didn't seem like either of these guys were in that range, but you never know. Oshie seemed to have gone a lot higher than expected.