farce poobah

And they got an earful. The atmosphere was good, starting with Fylling's goal, UND's first. Theoretically, a nice nite to make a good impression on young impressionable minds.

I'm putting my money on conditioning. BC just couldn't keep up in the third period, and had we not taken the lead early in the third, I think the Sioux could have continued putting on great pressure. Dean shortened the bench in the third too, after playing alot of all 18 players for the first 35-40 minutes.

Yeah, I'm sure every Bison fan would agree its totally luck for a D-2 team to beat a D-1AA team.

We're saving up trash until 11/7. In the meantime, my freezer is furry and full.

PCM. Dude. You da man. Nice recap.

Since there's a limit on total practice time for the season, probably Sandy decided he'd rather have the week of practice later in the year rather than in September.

If Zach WAS reading POI he wouldn't have used the word "almost".

BEEEEEPPP!!!! Thank you for playing. The correct answer is "David Hale".

Does not yet seem, at least to my amateur eyes, to be what it should be. Fair amount of standing water at the start of the 2nd, little at the third ... I just hope nobody gets a skate caught in a rut ... Any other views? or comments from coaching staff?

Why is it not a surprise you had a picture for us? I had two beagles, one named Casey and one named Jennie (Jensen). We were solid in goal.

Was that a polar bear mascot? It looked like Stuart Little ... Whoever decided to make a rodent into a Sioux mascot ... grrrr. The throwback jerseys were fine on the front. If they would just add numbers on the sleeves/shoulders we could tell the name of the truck ... Bring on the Beagles!

Miscellaneous observations: The line of McMahon - Stafford - Prpich, while they got to play together, was easily the most dominant line for either team. Long stretches of cycling below the dots. Great chemistry; could be mistaken for 3 guys that have played together for years not weeks. Stafford is the real deal. I was thinking "Goren" at the game, and today's Herald quotes Blais as saying he's like Goren only perhaps a better skater (!) Fylling looked stronger. Still fast, still good hands. Hoping he can make more plays this year. After Prpich got the heave ho, several guys played with Stafford-McMahon, but Fylling fit well. The 4th line of Massen-Hale-Genoway looked solid. Their play, especially on the road, will be key to getting the high scorers some rest. Lundbohm-Fylling-Porter had their moments, both up and down. Porter with some typical rookie mistakes. Parise - Bochenski - Murray. Horrendous first period, multiple situations where the Dogs created 3x2 the other way because all 3 guys were caught deep. And where they missed a scoring chance. Frustrating second period, when the Dogs were trying to muscle them - Bochenski with a double minor for roughing after pulling a guy off Zach. Excellent third period, multiple chances. All in all, a good start. Murray - fast, good anticipation, reads plays well. I can see why Blais is predicting big numbers for that line. Jones, Greene, Schneider, Fuher - solid as a rock. if anything, better than last year. Schneider with a great 'save' in the first period (drew a penalty but saved a goal). Smaby - a project. Has the raw material, just needs to get used to the speed of the game. He wasn't the only guy to have problems with the puck on wet ice - the first 5 minutes of the second period, especially. PK: Liked seeing Prpich, McMahon, Hale, Fylling on the PK. McMahon is a stud on faceoffs, which can help take pressure off the goaltender. PP: This was definitely a new look - "first day with your new power play?" Too early to assess, but the results last night were horrifying. Duluth did a nice job on the PK, but we were horrible. Duluth had 5 shots on Sioux PP, and we had only 8. Good news is least there's a couple weeks of practice before BC comes to town. Faceoffs - 45 won, 25 lost. Outstanding. Zach, McMahon, Lundbohm all over 70%. This bodes well for the future. All in all, a good start.

I don't know for sure, but since Schneider got suspended for fighting during an exhibition in 2001 and had to miss the HOF game, I would think that the reverse situation would also apply. Or it could just be wishful thinking.

A UND Intramural all star team would pretty much be at least .500 in the former MAAC.....

With all due respect, I disagree with your conclusion. (The only team I wish a losing season upon hardly ever has one.) Are there a bunch of fair weather fans in the new arena? Da$# right. But I'd still rather have butts in the seats than have four empty seats next to me to set my parka on. Are there people who don't pay attention during the game? who are there to be seen, and are there just because its an Event? Da#$ right. Maybe someday they will become True Fans. If not they will get bored. A free market for tickets leads to ticket scalping today. Like democracy, it aint great but its the best system we got. And I am impressed by how tickets flow among frends and families ... meaning that somebody different may be in the seats for each game, but people are making an effort using the tix. Contrast that to thousands of empty seats at Mary Ucchi... then tell me who has class and who doesn't. ============================== I don't mean to say there's nothing that bugs me. There are things I don't like about the new arena. Sending 1500 students to the upper bowl was a stupid move. Playing loud music for 8 seconds during stoppages is annoying. If anyone wants to go to a Sioux hockey game and hear a pin drop, go to a women's game. But do it fast, because next year, and in the following years, the seats will fill.

I definitely hit it better with a snow shovel. Happy Gilmore, I'm not.

I 'member Rick Zaparniuk. Agile, fast, good hands. Played with some outstanding players and teams, so never got as much attention as guys like Kevin Maxwell, Doug Smail, Dave Christian. Smart, too; if memory serves he got an engineering degree in 4 years. And ... he's got A Ring.

34 days until the season opener.

The rodents are confirming .... check the 8/26 news links. Gopher Sports Website

Dumb question - are the Bison (Jacks too) ramping up the ## scholarships? or are they still limited by the D-2 numbers?

Are they division 1-AA?

Points of fact, most of those top-scoring Sioux scorers were 18 when they pulled on the green and white for the first time. Kevin Maxwell was 18 during his rookie season in 78-79. (Turned 19 after the NCAA finals...) Troy Murray was 18 during his entire rookie season. Tony Hrkac was 18 during his entire rookie season. Greg Johnson was 18 during most of his rookie season. Perry Berezan was 18 during part of his rookie season. Hextall was 20, and I couldn't get an age on Johannson. Time to stop spreading the age myth ... the top of the list is mostly younger players. ======================================= As to the impact of Parise, I concur. He made/makes the rest of the team better. As to the discussion of Troy Murray's scoring, its worth remembering that the 80-81 Sioux were really REALLY inexperienced (after losing like 10 players off the '80 title team to the pros). As a result rookie Troy got a lot of PP time. In 81-82, he got a lot more ice time checking the opponent's top line (with Sykes and Eades as linemates). ======================================== Who would I tab as the best Sioux player ever? I've only seen since '75, so really can't comment on those that came before then. Of the Sioux players I've seen, I would pick JEFF PANZER. First, he's the 3rd all-time scorer, if memory serves, and had he played during the 80's or early 90's, maybe the all time leader. He led by example, gave 100% every shift, scored dozens of big-time goals, won an NCAA ring and 3 WCHA crowns. During his years with the Sioux, there was always this feeling that we would win, even if the opponent led by say 3 goals with 4 minutes left. And I think his total contribution over 4 years should outweigh the admittedly better scoring stats that Hrkac put up over 2 years or Belfour over 1 year. Hard to argue with any of the names listed earlier, tho.

8000 silent Rodent fans at the old Williams Arena, and 1000 jubilant Sioux fans, after Dave Christian's slapshot into the open net on the final night of the season gives North Dakota their first title in the 'modern era' of Sioux hockey.

Another notable Bashaw, Alberta alum .... Brad Berry. Coincidence? I think not.