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UND wins out Wisconsin loses out Denver and CC split next weekend. UND and Denver would be tied with 34 points and Sioux would win the tiebreaker with a 3-1 head-to-head record. IF CC loses tomorrow night against UMD, then they could sweep Denver and the Sioux would finish in sole possession of 2nd.

Mankato also could become a TUC. I'd think a split with Wisconsin would make it for sure and possible with even just 1 point in the series. Also, if Bemidji wins the CHA tournament they become a TUC. One thing that could definitely occur though is the Sioux facing a situation where it would actually be more adventagous to win a 1st round series in three games rather than sweeping a team and preventing them from reaching TUC status. TUC is really a flawed category in the PWR. TUC RPI would be much fairer. UND played almost all of their TUC games against the top 10, so it's not surprising that their record isn't great. But I would say that 7-12-1 against the top ten teams is better that going say 2-4 against teams 1-10 and then 8-5 against 11-30.

That link actually says that the vote was 4-2 to defer voting on the measure.

The US team seemed way to concerned about Canada this whole tournament. I think they bought into the whole, there is USA-Canada, then Finland-Sweden and the everyone else. I was at the USA-Sweden semifinal in Salt Lake and though Kim Martin was incredible then, and she was only 15. I really hoped that somehow she would end up at UND and make put Sioux women's hockey on the map. Instead she beats the US in 2006 and is now headed for UMD. They will be scary with her in net.

Calling the western lacrosse league a power conference is being extremely generous. They may have an autobid and have some big names in the overall NCAA landscape, but that league is closer in hockey terms to the CHA than the WCHA. The Lacrosse title is dominated by very few schools. A total of five have won since 1978. To think that UND has a chance to become a big player is pretty naive. UND is better off following the Minnesota-Duluth model with women's hockey and getting some international players to help build the program and gain Olympic exposure. The Sweden-Russia hockey game this afternoon almost seemed like a commercial for UMD. Women's hockey can become a revenue generator. Start getting some wins over Minnesota, UMD and Wisconsin and the fans will show up.

I'd say getting 50 out of state walkons is a extremely unlikely. And if that is the case for having the sport, then you have to apply that to swimming, which has a large team as well. I also think that even 1500 is a pretty optimistic attendance figure, especially at $10 a head. The University of Maryland is one of the top programs in the NCAA based in the most lax-hungry areas of the country and they average about 1800 a game with ticket prices of $5 for adults and $3 for kids. I would wager that $10 would be the highest priced NCAA regular season ticket. You simply can't transfer this area's support of hockey to other sports. Even support of women's backetball has taken a long time to develop to what it is now. Starting lacrosse from scratch would be a HUGE risk. You have a sport with no local interest, no local athletes, and at least to start - a high likelihood of several losing seasons. That is not a recipe for success. I like lacrosse, it's an exciting sport to watch. I just don't think it's a realistic or practical fit for UND right now or in the near future.

That's scary that this popped up in the news again. UND should push hard to be involved in the Fenway Park games, as I bet ESPN coverage would be likely. Even though you'd be a mile away, how cool would it be to watch a hockey game from the Green Monster seats. The only cooler potential sites would be Yankee Stadium and Neyland Stadium in Knoxville to try for a new world record.

I like these games, they bring media attention to the game and that's always good. I had heard a rumor that BU and BC were looking to do a double header at Fenway park with UND and Michigan as the opponents. Haven't heard anything on that in a while, but I would definitely try to see that if it happened.

While lacrosse would be an interesting addition, it would be an almost sure money loser. Take a look at Michigan's budget for it's club program, $200,000 and that's with no scholarships. We would have a huge travel budget, and there is virtually no local fan interest or history here. And bringing in opponents would be very difficult with no other schools nearby. That and it overlaps with half of the seasons of basketball and hockey. And most importantly, about the best UND could hope for would to be in a situation like Bemidji State for hockey. In a league with an autobid, but no hope of winning a title. A very small number of schools are really competitive in lacrosse and they are all in the hotbeds of the mid-Atlantic and upstate New York. Bowling would be a good addition, as its an emerging sport where larger schools have no built-in advantage.

I'd love to see a Brazilian steakhouse. Rodezio Grill is a great mini-chain that has locations in Salt Lake City and Denver that is really excellent. It would be great to see them in Grand Forks. Another great addition would be a Trader Joe's grocery store. Being a college town, I think there would be a market for a slightly higher end grocery store. This would fit nicely in the new developments out by REA. And although I finally flew enough to be a silver elite on Northwest, Grand Forks sorely needs a second airline serving the community. The city should court American Airlines for a route to Chicago. This would add a little competition and get another airline into the state, one that is not in bankruptcy.

I was at the Caps game tonight and Ovechkin had another end to end highlight reel goal. He also picked up an assist and scored in the shootout, but the scary thing is the ice time he logs. Seems like he is nearly always on the ice. I remember one power play he was on for all but the last 2 seconds. He also chased down at least 2 would be icings to keep the play alive and set up a goal mouth feed that should have been another goal. And even more impressive are the licks he puts on people. If he keeps this up he might even be able to turn DC into a hockey town, at least for a little while. It will be fun to see what he does with the Russian Olympic team with some actual talent around him.

It's possible UND reports tickets sold (a pretty common practice) for the official attendance, while the Alerus figures are the actual bodies in the building. I remember many a game at the old Engelstad that was reported 6067 when it was obvious the place wasn't full. That smaller figure used by the Alerus would be more to the gist of the article, since concessions are a sizable portion of revenue.

Thanks for verifying. Upon reflection, I think 50 wins is close to UND's total vs. ECAC. Memory is a little foggy, but I knew that the last loss was to RPI. That was the last year before the Hockey East broke off.

Last loss was to RPI in the 84-85 season, the Adam Oates team that went like 34-2-1 and won the NCAA title. The win streak is pushing 50 games and includes almost every league team except I Colgate, Union and now Quinnipiac (I think we also played Army once and Vermont a couple of times while they were still in the ECAC). All-time, the Sioux are something like 80-5 against current ECAC teams.

I'm not sure that dropping Tennis makes a lot of sense. It's not that expensive, the GF Tennis Center is a pretty solid facility and there is a pretty decent local recruiting ground. Another sport that would probably be a cheap add is Bowling. If the nickname thing shakes out, it would be kind of cool to see the Ralph host the NCAA finals on those temporary lanes like the PBA uses now.

Yeah, this could be a tough series. We also have the weight of our 20 year winning streak against ECAC teams. Last loss was in 84-85 to the RPI national champ team with Adam Oates that went something like 34-2-1. I think the total streak is at about 50 games and includes virtually every team in the conference. I'm sure Canuck knows.

I'm guessing that GK is referring to the fact that the Rev. Robertson is from the Wahpeton-Sisseton Sioux, who are Dakota rather than Lakota. However in doing so he makes a good point. We are the University of North DAKOTA, not North LAKOTA, and so perhaps we are simply honoring our namesake - the Dakota Sioux, which would imply that in GK's own stated rules, the opinion of the Lakota would mean about as much as the Turtle Mountain Chippewas or the Red Lake Ojibwe. Nothing. Just some food for thought.

North Dakota is 91 in the Massey BCS ranking, which does not consider margin of victory, per BCS rules. In Massey's true rating, North Dakota is indeed 46 overall.

I grew up near Audobon refuge, so I'm partial to that. As for State Parks, I love Turtle River. Just a short trip from Grand Forks, but a great escape. Have taken some great photos out there, especially during the fall colors.

With the massive rains back east, just wondering how you are holding up. Having been through the 97 floods, I'm sure everyone in the Red River Valley is thinking about our friends in the Northeast. Gotta take care of the Sioux-Scarlet Knight alliance!

Any truth to the rumor that ESPN 8 "The Ocho" is also looking at adding some games. That Cotton McKnight is a hell of a broadcaster.

The Saturday New Hampshire game is on New Hampshire Public TV and they have a free webcast of good quality. www.nhptv.org They also archive the games, so if you miss it you can watch later.

Perhaps Conrad was referring to the total backpedaling of the Higher Ed Board. It was their edict that took the name change decision out the University's hands. In that case, I think Conrad's comments are warranted.

Interesting that Adam Wodon is the managing editor of this. Apparently he has left USCHO. He is well thought of in the hockey community, so I bet this site will become a good source for news. There are some other quality folks affiliated with this as well. And it does look like they are looking for sudo reporters as well. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/pub/jobs.php

The Oct. 28 Denver at UND game is scheduled for ESPNU.