buckysieve

Like I said, Hakstol has done a good job this year. But when an elite program is in the middle of their own league that coach will never be in the conversation for coach of the year regardless of the circumstances he's facing.

I agree with GFG, Mel Pearson deserves it more than anyone. Last year Tech had one of the worst records in history of the league. Dont get me wrong, Hakstol is doing a fine job this year but UND still has good talent, better talent than 6th place IMO.

Im sorry but the Sioux have one of the elite first lines in college hockey, a strong defensive corp, and an All-American returning goalie. Yet the Sioux are fighting for home ice and the NCAA's? Hakstol shouldn't even be in the conversation for this award. Was Lucia a coach of the year candidate the last few years? Heck, he had to deal with serious health issues of his own, Okposo leaving mid-season, Stoa out for a season with an injury, Budish out for a season with an injury, several early departures, several unexpected departures like Lofquist, O'brien, Dorr, Bickel, Birkholz, etc, and assistant coaching changes. Even with all that the Gophers barely missed out on the NCAA's and last year even got home ice.

They have a beer garden on the lower level of the arena.

Until a kid signs on the dotted line they are fair game IMO.

I'm sure it will rotate between a couple places if not more. The BIG TEN basketball tourney has rotated between Indy and Chicago all these years, I'm sure the hockey will be similar. Xcel, Bradley Center, United Center, and Joe Louis arena would all work.

Do you honestly think UND would have played Bemidji that much during those years if UND was already locked into four non-conference games per year because of the Showcase and the Mariucci Classic like the Gophers? Can you not see how that restricts who the Gophers can schedule? Sioux fans are acting like they're saints for playing Bemidji more than Minnesota when ultimately it comes down to schedule flexibility. UND during those years had it, the Gophers did not.

You think playing them is the only way to support a program? Lucia was more outspoken than any other coach in the league for years in regards to the WCHA accepting Bemidji.

Like I said previously, the Gophers played at Bemidji in October of 2000 genius.

Good to know. Its laughable that Sioux fans claim they suppport the smaller Minnesota programs better than Minnesota when in reality UND had the option to stay in the WCHA with these said schools but they chose to bail on them instead. Minnesota on the other hand had no choice in joining the Big Ten, yet have made it very clear that they will do everything possible to make sure Minnesota continues to play them.

The Gophers played at Bemidji in October of 2000 and Lucia was always very vocal in his support for them joining the WCHA. Also Minnesota every year during this time was locked in to four non-conference games a year with the showcase and the Mariucci Classic so they didnt have the felxibility in their schedule like UND did.

Care to elaborate?

UND is Minnesota's biggest hockey rival and most Gopher fans acknowledge that. But there are four other hockey programs in our state and as Minnesotans I think a lot of us feel we should make a strong effort to help support those programs as our first priority. But in no way does that mean UND isn't our biggest rival.

The best news that has come out of the U in years.

It's true that it doesn't or hasn't affected the Gophers as much as UND but his reasoning is wrong. The main reason is that the vast majority of Gopher recruits have grown up watching Gopher hockey and dream to be a part of it. Thats just not true for the majority of the Sioux recruits so when the CHL comes calling it's easier for them to simply change their mind. Had Miller and Matteau grown up in North Dakota following Sioux hockey I bet they would have stuck to their committment. Even when Peter Mueller de-committed from the U about five years ago and went to Major Juniors he said it was the hardest decision of his life because it meant giving up his dream of playing for the U. I doubt Miller and Matteau felt the same about UND.

The word "produced" is misleading. Lets face it, UND didnt produce Toews and Parise. Those two would still be NHL all stars today regardless of where they went to school.

Seriously? That's amzing if true. Impressive.

And part of the reason we had it in St. Cloud's zone all weekend is because our d-men did a great job of dominating in our own end and got the puck out quickly to our forwards.

You mean the same defensive core that just allowed 25 shots on goal for an ENTIRE weekend? Patterson has a save% of .918. Thats good but it's hardlly elite. He's not even in the top 20 in the nation in save% yet the Gophers team defense is 4th nationally. Sioux fans will laugh at this comment, but the Gophers 6 starting defenseman is the best group in the nation this year. If you told me that in September I would have died laughing, but this season I dont think there's a group that has played better. They have given up 2 goals or less for 6 straight games.

Yeah those St. Cloud fans are idiots.

Bjugstad is gone for sure, he's NHL ready now. Rau will be at least a three year guy.

I stand corrected, I didn't realize horsehead actually had any meaning. Yeah he went over the line, a professional broadcaster shouldn't be calling a student athlete names on the air.

Im surprised Hakstol and Sioux fans are so upset about this. Who the heck cares what Shaver says during a game. Hoseheads is not an offensive term, in fact it's kinda funny. And IF anyone should apologize(which I don't think is warranted) it should be Shaver or KSTP 1500 but not the U.

Not even close. The all time winningest program in the history of the sport holds no jealousy of any other program, even yours.

Those AAU banners are national titles, the programs first two. Why would those not be hung? I don't like the NCAA runner-up banners but everything else hanging should be.