buckysieve

Not in '02 at Yost. Michigan was kicked out of their locker room so Denver, the #1 seed could use it. I can't cite the actual rule, but maybe they've changed it since '02. I agree, that the host school should be allowed to use their own dressing room. None of this matters because even if Lucia has the option to use the Sioux locker room I gaurantee that he will decline. Especially since the visiting locker room has been very kind to the gophers in the past, there's no way he wants to change anything.

I believe the #1 seed can have the home locker room if they want. I know that Denver used Michigan's home locker room in '02 at Yost and after the game some Michigan players said that they were definitely motivated by that.

The Don would never take the Sioux's locker room. He's not stupid enough to provide them with that extra motivation. I think there are something like 14 locker rooms in the arena so the basic visiting locker room that they usually use will suit Lucia just fine.

I couldn't agree more. They kind of won it by accident. It was NEVER a goal of theirs, but they just kept winning and it happened. All year long this team has been focused on these next four games, period.

Actually, that's not even close to all you need to know. If Briggs is so bad than how did he go 3-0 vs. UND this year, and 2-0 at the Ralph?

Even if that turns out to be true(which it definitely won't be), what does that have to do with who's better now? Not to mention, the Philadelphia Flyers are dying to sign Potulny the second this season ends.

You are delusional if you think Holy Cross has ANY chance at all. Ohio State(a bad team) beat them 4-0 while outshooting them 44-14.

You can take Stafford and Zajac, but you'd be taking the two lesser players of the the four. Stafford and Zajac have a combined 38 goals. Potulny has 38, by himself. That's the most goals scored in the nation by one player in nine years! He also has 24 goals in his last 23 games which is simply an amazing stat.

Yzerman said MN was a one trick pony. They clearly are not. Most Gopher fans for most of this season would have told you that Irmen is the best forward on the team. The last month by Potulny has changed some minds. The Gophers have the deepest corp of forwards in the nation.

Minnesota is not a one trick pony. Irmen would have 25 goals had he not missed games due to injury. Minnesota has seven players with ten goals or more, while UND has six.

Speaking of the show, I couldn't be more thankful of Bob Norton for calling the gophers out on national tv saying they don't play with grit. He also picked UND to win it all even though he said MN is the most talented team in the nation. He certainly gave the impression that the gophers are soft and don't have heart. That could certainly motivate the gophers for this weekend. The last time people questioned the gophers defense was after a home sweep against the badgers and the gophers went to the Ralph the next weekend and played very well. I have no idea who will win this region between UND and MN but I do know the gophers will play hard and will play well. Right now, I'd say UND is the favorite because of home ice and goaltending.

Yeah, that last goal was as bad as it gets for a goalie. Since I'm a gopher fan I will force myself to look at the bright side which is that we played as bad as we are capable of playing on defense and goaltending and we were still able to go to overtime against a great defensive team who has one of the best goalies in the country. Briggs had an off night, it happens. Is there any question at all who should win the Hobey any more? I'm looking forward to going to Grand Forks next weekend for the regional. Good luck Sioux against the Huskies. Your'e both evil, I have no one to cheer for.

Winning the regular season title does not give that team an automatic bid to the NCAA's. Only the playoff champion get's an automatic bid. After CC won the title in '94 and didn't get a bid, they changed the rule for automatic bids to include the regular season champion. But that rule only lasted two or three seasons before they changed it back.

That team definitely needed more players with Oshie's work ethic. I don't think they keep this stat, but I bet that Oshie drew more penalties from the opponent more than any other player on the U.S. team.

Last time I checked, Oshie also got to play Norway and didn't exactly light up the score sheet. Damn it! Why can't I stop responding? It must be a sickness.

I guess the argument does just go in circles when I keep responding but it kills time.

Kessel see's the ice very well. He's got 30 assists for crying out loud. Did you see the pass he made to Harrington to score a goal against the Sioux at Mariucci in January? It was as good as it gets. And he had 11 assists at the WJT to lead the team. Ask Chris Bourque if he thinks Kessel sees the ice well, he set up all his goals in that tourney. I thought Kessel would be more of a goal scorer coming into the season but teams key on him so much that he's forced to make the alternative play, and it usually ends up being a great pass to a teammate.

OK, so it's my fault sioux fans rip Kessel because I keep responding to it? I don't agree with your logic but I'll try to restrain myself from responding anymore. I just think if there's anything we can agree on it's that Oshie and Kessel are both great players and both programs are lucky to have them( as well as Wheeler, Stoa, Frazee, Toews, Duncan, Lee, Chorney, Jones etc.) The amount of good freshman on these two teams is amazing. I think UND has the slightly more talented group because the class is just so huge.

Peter Mueller's situation is completely diifferent than Johnson's. Mueller had already spent two seasons in the U.S. junior program and was not going back. But he was still a year away from college so he didn't have many other options. He also has a dad that wants him in the NHL yesterday. I do happen to know for a fact that Lucia is VERY confident Johnson will be a gopher. Johnson also wants to play with his us junior team buddies like Kessel, Stoa, Frazee, Carmen, Flynn, and O'brien.

E. Johnson will play for the gophers next season, you can write that down. It's his dream to play for the "U" and he recently made it very clear to Lucia that he is coming.

Sioux fans are very knowledgable about hockey. That's why it sounds like petty jealousy when 90% of what they say about Kessel is very negative. I know Sioux fans hate the Gophers but I hate the Sioux just as much and I don't find it hard to compliment one of their players. Every single person on this site who has posted something negative about Kessel would love to have him on their team. Every college coach in the nation would love to have him. I think Kesel will win ROY, but if Oshie wins it he will be very deserving also. And I also wouldn't blow a gasket like Sioux fans did when Vanek won it over Parise.

Why would we care if Toews is selected ahead of Kessel when they're both going to be drafted behind Erik Johnson, another Gopher. Toews, Oshie, and Kessel are all great players and all hockey fans should agree with that. I think that if Sioux fans could see what is written about Kessel on this site through an objective point of view, they'd see how ridiculous they sound.

Apparently not the NHL scouts. Kessel will be drafted at least twenty spots ahead of where Oshie was taken last year. I wonder why that is. Could it be because his offensive skills are unmatched by any other 17 year old in the world? (including Toews)

I'm now convinced that there is seriously something wrong with you. You are the biggest a-hole I've come across in a long time. Someone posts their opinion on a couple of players trying to start up a healthy conversation and you insult his/her intelligence and say they posted stupid $hit. I'm dead serious when I say you need help. You must have a real $hitty life to be this mad at EVERYONE.

Why do Sioux fans hate Kessel? And why do you guys talk like he isn't very good? He's a helluva player and everyone seems to realize it but you guys. He will win ROY and not because of the hype, not because of who he plays for, but because he is the best freshman in the country, let alone the WCHA. Go over to GPL and see if you can find people bashing Oshie non-stop like Kessel is here. You won't find anything. You Sioux fans not only sound petty, pathetic, and jealous, but you also sound like you know nothing about hockey when you say the things you do about a player of Kessel's calibur. He's a gauranteed top three pick in the NHL draft and let's not forget that he's a year younger than Oshie. I just don't see why Sioux fans feel the need to put down Kessel while complimenting Oshie. Every one of you knows that you would LOVE to have Kessel on your team.