burd

I'm not sure it's accurate to describe Hawks supporters as fans. Hockey scholars is a more apt description.

Goon, are you asking for us to rank them against each other in terms of team strength today?

Love the metaphors, Sic.

Look, guys. Dave certainly has just as much right to be a Gopher/MSU/Ohio State fan just as much as we have the right to be Sioux/Hawks fans. He seems very young and is obviously in serious need of attention. I gave him some of it, and that was a mistake. I won't make it again. I suggest we all ignore him in an effort to save the thread.

I always like this series, win, lose or draw. UMD plays good hockey. They play the skill game well and they can play physical. It's just good hockey.

I'm glad UW is close to being back and also that Penn State has come as far as it has. Either of them or UMinn could win it all this year, just as many other teams could. Picking the B1G to carry a torch for when you have no alma mater or other connection to, though, just seems like an awfully unimaginative, run-with-the-crowd choice. But it certainly is just as legit as being an LSSU or UNO fan.

I have no credibility here, Dave--I've said too many stupid things. Standards here are high.

Traditional circle of sticks.

I think he's pretty good. All those young guys are prone to cliche's, and he certainly is. But he will call the boys out on things.

Brandt is much better than the color guy with Tim H, who can't stop saying "yup. yup. yup" when Tim is talking. Someone needs to take him aside. Tim is a superior play-by-play announcer, and his show is being hurt by that, IMO.

They weren't great last year or the year before? Just plain bad is what they were. Even Gopher and Badger fans joked about it, and they actually went to a big ten school. This year? They are OK, but that depends on your expectations. The B1G schools with hockey have an average enrollment of over 40,000. NCHC schools have a average of about a third of that, yet the NCHC is, as a conference, it is head and shoulders above the B1G (in the best year it has ever had). Anybody can win the title, of course, and I'm sure everyone encourages you to enjoy your adopted conference. But the B1G is hardly a hockey connoisseur's choice. Now if you had picked Union--that would have been cool.

Absolutely. And all that talent can seem like an albatross.

I think BU is starting to hit its stride.

The rarity of a lunar eclipse in the B1G, which practically never has two in the top 10. .

Starting with tonight's game between BC and BU, this weeks games will be very interesting. UMinn in Madison, and some good matchups in the NCHC

Someone who feels compelled to brag to strangers how much he makes probably isn't making it.

Is that you in the white jersey?

I think it would take more than that to get the sweep, goon. Cam will have to stop some odd man rushes and we would need a few bounces or deflections. The D's "game" just isn't what it was last year. They can definitely do it, but if both teams are playing their game, it will take some breaks to win them both.

Frenchy's. Now there's some memories. 2:00- 4:00 a.m. breakfast at the Hwy Host across the street.

I especially recall one gopher toss (sometime in 90 or 91), when somebody lobbed it out there and it made a nice long, slow, bloody slide toward the goalie before stopping about 8 feet in front of him. It was like it got quiet until it stopped, then the place exploded. Everybody was packed in at the Old Ralph, and it was pretty intense, as most here remember. Even in 1990, which was obviously not a banner year, though they had some serious offensive talent.

I would add that Bowen is really playing well. His speed and hustle are really contributing. Jost is the obvious big talent on the ice, but this freshman class is showing up to play, IMO.

Friend of mine was a badger chucker. He came from a farm and would throw them in the freezer spread eagle when he found one. They were easier to duck tape under his coat that way. He got busted once but didn't get banned for some reason. They knew him, though, and his courier days were over. It was a lot easier to pull off at the old Ralph with the students filling the lower seats by the glass on one side. Like a duck blind for chuckers.

He is. Complete hockey player.

;Young, fast and starting to gel. And well coached.

Because UND still has some flaws that raise their ugly heads from time to time. Mostly on D. .