dagies

Sounds like the Sioux had a nice flurry, but just couldn't get it done. 40 seconds left in the 2nd. I hope they don't get discouraged. They could put 3 past Lawson in the 3rd if they keep working.

We haven't been that spoiled. We had a nice run in the late 1990's into 2000. 2001 was a good season. Since then we haven't had too many outstanding seasons. But we do have expectations. It's tough to accept being down 3-0 tonite.

I need 4 tickets for this game. Friday night, Feb 17 against Duluth.

If the rumor about Parise is true, that is very, very unfortunate. Hopefully it will be short term thing. Lammy has been playing well of late, and I think he deserves playing time too. If Parise is out, then Lammy will get more of a chance to have a few goals scored in support of his efforts. At least we have 2 capable guys. Am looking forward to hearing more about this.

Hard to argue with what you said.

I get worried about burning these 4 guys out. We need to take all these points against AA. Can't afford not to. Can the WJ guys play at a high enough level this weekend? Maybe Hak's right, maybe adrenaline will do it. But will the result be burnout? These guys still have school to stay on top of among all the travel they've dealt with lately, etc. It's got to take a toll. So do you play them this weekend and next? I agree, in a perfect world you do. But if you are worried about burnout, do you sit them this weekend? AA is a vulnerable team, but one we sometimes struggle with. MN is a very tough team, and on the road what is the best we can realistically hope for? Maybe we play all 4 guys tonite, and give them next weekend off, given they are in shape to play this weekend at all. That will give them a vacation to catch up. With AA, losing any points is nearly unacceptable at this point. Not playing 4 good freshmen, if they are in shape to play, will reduce our chances for all 4 points. To what extent? Hard to say. At MN, what's the best we can realistically hope for? Can we really hope to sweep MN at Mariucci? I would say a split as the best. So we risk 2 points max by sitting those guys next weekend. Would you rather lose points to AA or MN? I don't know the answer to these questions, but right now I might be inclined to wring every bit I can out of the freshmen tonite with the understanding they'll be in GF next weekend.

PCM, in reference to a couple of things you pointed out, I was always interested in how the DII Council of Presidents would look at the UND appeal, based on the NCAA "consitutionality" of this this decree. I've shown myself to be way wrong in many things, so I suppose this doesn't mean much, but I always wondered if they would feel so comfortable with what Brand and the Executive Committee did outside of the NCAA constitution. And one can hope that internally those questions are being raised and that may be contributing to this delay. If the Executive Committee can throw out a policy like this, that doesn't follow the NCAA's constitution, what else might they do, and who might it affect next? Like you said, whose ox, and when?

Thank you! I thought there was a third and couldn't come up with it.

That's just beautiful. Nice find, PCM.

Goon, I'm glad to see the record against unranked opponents, because I don't have a good feeling at all about this weekend. Just a gut feeling, that's all. But I'm not encouraged. Hopefully my concerns are unfounded.

I think just Kessel and Frazee, and Frazee should be well rested.

So, let's answer a hypothetical question. Can a highly trained athlete ever wear down to the point they are not at peak effectiveness? Taken farther, can they wear down to the point they are only at 50 % effectiveness. If we can agree that athletes NEVER wear down to the point of losing their effectiveness, then I agree with your suggestion that it's asinine to think otherwise. If we can agree that at some point players CAN wear down, then we need to open the discussion of at what point does this happen? And then, if they do wear down, does it have anything to do with loyalty? Or a lack of energy reserves to follow their mental commands.

Too funny. (Link doesn't work for me.)

OHHHH CANADAAAAAAAH! Any excuse to hear the greatest anthem ever. Actually, the Russian anthem is pretty dang smart too.

That's good news. Hopefully he doesn't wake up and find he's stiffened up beyond hope. We need TJ's effort on the ice.

Sandelin took some heat for last year but it appears this team underachieved just as much if not more.

Unreal.

I thought there was a limit on how many players can travel with the team?

No

I now change my position to "slightly optimistic". It does sound like the NCAA was about the quash the 2nd appeal. I'm glad to hear PCM's comments about the rebuttal. Sounds like UND has turned the tables to an extent to cause such a long delay in any further decision making on the part of the NCAA. This leads one to read a bit more into Harmeson's comments at the end of the Herald article.

This also in the Herald article. I don't know if they got the date wrong, or if this "rebuttal" is different than the actual appeal. Haven't stayed that close to the process.

THAT was my confusion...thanks.

The gloom side of me says that this is the NCAA's way of not having to allow the Sioux a further "exemption" for their uni's and arena for the regionals this season. Then the hammer will fall after school is out for the year, hopefully further deflating any uproar. The optimistic side of me hopes that this is a sign of a crack in the NCAA's stamina. Personally, I think it is the former, but will hope for the latter. On the question of whether the NCAA ruling went into effect immediately or not, I thought their initial ruling was somewhat contradictory. My memory may be mistaken, but I thought it said the policy was effective immediately but that the restrictions didn't go into effect until Feb 1 or something like that. I know that seems strange, so maybe I just remember it wrong.

That Comment by Oshie is looking a little more prescient now...