buckysieve

That's what we thought after Woog went to the Frozen Four in each of his first four years. Nothing's guaranteed. I agree though, no way should he be fired yet.

The only question mark this year for the Sioux is goaltending which I guess would be why he has them at #16 but that still seems way too low IMO.

31>28 WCHA titles, WCHA playoff titles, and NCAA titles combined.

If you can't even admit that there are more entertainment options in Minneapolis than in Grand Forks then I don't know what to tell you. The reason I enjoy living in the Twin Cities and why I could never live in a town like Grand Forks is the diversity. And I don't have a superiority complex about living in a big city. There's nothing wrong with living in small towns. I'm just saying that there is more to do in large cities, that's just a fact.

Briggs' true colors showed every March. He was solid in the regular season but horrible in the post season. Kind of like Parise and Lammy in the Frozen Four.

That's also not having anything else to do. Twin Cities sports fans are absolutely no different than any other metropolitan area.

I hope you're kidding. There were thousands of empty seats in the old Ralph during those years. You either have a short memory or simply refuse to be objective about your favorite team.

I laugh every time I hear a Sioux fan say this. You know very well that the Ralph was half empty during those lean years in the early to mid nineties.

There's actually some truth to that. We have four professional sports teams and a Big Ten school all in the same city. The fan base gets spread around as opposed to cities like Green Bay or Grand Forks where there is one team who clearly is the top dog. And there was no "lack of vision" when building the new Mariucci. It's a perfect hockey arena with the best sightlines of any arena I've ever been in. I'm glad it's the size it is.

Wasn't Josh Siembeda upset with how Blais handled his situation as well?

I just said that because we've been hearing a lot of Sioux fans claim that Lucia hasn't properly developed a few players recently like Chucko, Okposo, etc. so I was just pointing out that it happens to all programs who recruit high profile players, not just Minnesota.

Just another high profile player who has failed to develop under hakstol.

So the Gophers lose in OT and they got their "asses kicked" but the Sioux lose 6-1 and simply got "beat." Seems to me the opposite is true.

He left because he was the #1 overall pick in the draft, the first #1 pick to ever choose to play college hockey. He was never going to play a second year and you know that but instead you choose to spin what actually happened to make it look like a black mark on Lucia's record. Had he gone to any other school in the nation he still would've been a one and done player.

Sioux7>5 and siouxguyinstpaul = inferiority complex.

It's not just my opinion. Jaws dropped at the draft when he was taken fifth overall. Nobody agreed with Gretzky on this one.

Why are a small group of you having trouble understanding what exactly took place. Wheeler and his agent got exactly what they wanted from Phoenix, the max that could be offered. Wheeler wasn't humiliated in the least. If anything Phoenix should be embarrassed that a first round pick is willing to take less money to play somewhere else.

I agree. He had no control of where he was drafted and clearly he never should have been taken where he was. Had he been taken where he should have I doubt we'd be hearing the word "bust."

You just don't get it do you? They did everything they could to sign him. He turned them down. It's really not that tough to understand.

Can we wait until he plays at least one game in the NHL before we declare him a bust? I actually think he'll make a better pro player than he was as a college player. He'll play his natural position at right wing as opposed to center which he was basically forced to play the last two years because the Gophers were thin at that position.

So according to you the Gophers are the only team in college hockey that don't expect to play well every game? God you're delusional. And also you can't forget that the Gophers always play the Friday night semifinal so if they lose it makes it much tougher to play a third place game the next afternoon as opposed to losing Friday afternoon. This year was a good example of that. The Sioux were in a much better place mentally to play that third place game than CC was considering they lost in overtime the night before.

It's not surprising that he said that because Guentzel was very close to the players but saying it's a huge loss to the program is being short sighted because it only focuses on what were losing as opposed to what were gaining. Who's to say the new assistant won't be even better?

If Finley also leaves would they bring in Gleason as well? So far isn't Blood the only D-man coming in for sure?

The Gophers aren't the first choice for Minnesota kids simply because they are exposed to them more on TV. Yes being on TV helps but the main reason kids growing up in Minnesota want to be a Gopher is because of the elite status of the program which is something that the program has earned for over 80 years. Same with UND. The arena helps but for both schools the most attractive part of the program for a recruit is the tradition and in that regard Minnesota doesn't have any advantage over the Sioux.

You don't think having the nicest arena in North America is an advantage?