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Besides, all North Dakota players have to do is be on the ice to get an assist.

I am just happy that St. Cloud decided to take the ball to start the game. The way their defense stopped the Sioux offense in the first half, they might have gained more momentum had they started on defense, and who knows how the complexion of the game changes. I think getting behind on the first play of the game really takes the wind out of the sails. If they play again and St. Cloud scores first -- who knows!

Hakstol thought they played very well and was impressed with Jones. For a first game against a veteran team that has already played, I thought they had a very nice outing. I would hope that people aren't going to pick at every mistake the freshmen make, because there are bound to be many of them, especially the first half of the year. I really didn't see anyone out there that made frequent mistakes. A mistake here and there is really to be expected. As long as they learn from them, the Sioux should be a pretty good team by the second half of the season.

I for one believe he will put up some pretty impressive numbers, especially considering some of the opponents the gophers will be playing on the large ice surface. I would be interested to know how many points you think he will put up? Remember, the people who pick those teams aren't going to use the same arguments about him being a one-way player that a lot of Sioux fans do.

Looks like Travis Zajac was right about his brother. I see he had a goal last night on top of a roughing penalty and the trifecta of fighting, instigating and misconduct penalties. Chay Genoway also scored for Vernon.

Is Spirko even going to play? Tim Hennesey said he was injured.

Not a sign, but I think it would be great if the Sioux would wear jerseys during the tournament with "Your non-offensive name here" printed on them. It would be nice if someone took them to task on it, but the sanctions would be hard to deal with.

Notice you didn't respond to the question. Warrior is not a people is that o.k. to use, as well as chiefs? Don't expect you to respond to this either because any time you can't answer you just gloss over it, which as most people can see is par for the course for you.

One question for you. Can we claim our own people? Would you or other Native Americans have a problem if we called ourselves the fighting cavalry? My bet is that you would be complaining about that. By your assertion that we are claiming other cultures, you are saying there is a sense of pride we have in your culture. Seems to go against your argument that we are degrading you. And by chance if we changed the name to cavalry, what would your stance be if we chose to do a film clip stating why we chose to be the cavalry -- courage, honor, winning battles and ultimately making way for the lifestyle we lead today. I guarantee more Native Americans would take offense to that. I myself would take offense to that but included it to illustrate a point. You would not allow us to be proud of our culture, nor yours, so what is left, some arbitrary symbol with no pride whatsoever?

Maybe we need to start to do the tomahawk chop and the chant that goes with it. While we're at it, why not have a white guy throw a flaming spear into the earth to help get the approval of the tribes. Wow, where is the common sense. Of course the NCAA does stand for "No Common Analytical Ability".

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!