burd

is Gardner the new Gaarder?

That's a decent question, but if you want to make change, get votes on whatever board makes these decisions. I have no idea how that happens or whether it is even possible, but pairwise rankings are a rapidly changing dynamic and should have nothing to do with this political issue. It is true that schools like UND and Denver would put pressure on fan-bases like Wisconsin and, to a lesser degree, Minnesota, if UND boycotted those schools but I'm just not ready to boycott UW yet. And you can be very sure that the quality of plat in Big Ten schools will improve pretty quickly, even if there are no changes. When I was an undergrad, St. Cloud and Mankato didn't even have programs, and now they (SCSU at least) can compete at the highest level.

Not me.

UND hockey is great stuff, and the coaches and team represent the school well, but UND distinguishes itself by graduating people who serve their country by giving generously to charities, working to develop solutions to problems that plague the hungry and underrepresented, growing businesses that will support families, and, in general, improving the lives of others. Want UND to be associated with creativity? Teach your students or children to read and understand Yeats; design a software program or a widget that improves lives. Create art that people will respond to. What happens in the rink is something all of us on this site take a great deal of pleasure in, but its importance pales in comparison to the other work that is ongoing at UND. I understand that all of that is pretty obvious, but I think we sometimes place a little too much significance on this game. Because of who we are as hockey fans, we tend to see more of what comes out of Engelstad than we do what comes out of Merrifield or Leonard, but the world does not. And it shouldn't. This came out preachy and artificial, which is not at all what I intended. I don't see very many games at the Ralph anymore, but when I do I notice the cheers too and wince at some of them and wonder what kind of airhead could find them funny. But more inventive cheers will bubble up naturally, and the boorish ones will die if the students lose interest in them. And it's just a hockey game. Besides, bad cheers are just a therapeutic alternative to chanting over and over "F*ck the Gophers, F*ck the gophers," which is all that any hockey fan really needs to say.

I'll join that yzer. I am grateful that whether you call us Sioux or Hawks or Pinheads, UND will always deliver college hockey that is second to none. Along with other things that are more important.

True enough, but Lucia's first duty is to his current employer. If he had his druthers, they probably would travel to more NC rinks. Don't know that, of course.

We all wear colored glasses, even when we try to take them off. I think UND fans are pretty good at recognizing when we are outplayed, all in all. Competitive, though.

The Hawks got thoroughly beaten last night, and it would be easy to argue they outplayed UND on Friday. If I'm a Husky fan, I'm feeling pretty good about it. Right now, I'd say SCSU is the better team. That will change, hopefully.

I meant that comment in a teammate kind of way, not as criticism. Looks like you understood that.

You gotta let go of the refs thing, bc. We got handled tonight by St. Cloud, not the refs.

I'd have to agree. You play dumb, don't expect any favors.

It was waaay late

That "finishing the check" contact is often unnecessarily late IMO.

I don't think the first was necessarily soft. That's a tough deflection off the dman's leg

Hawks eat gophers, don't they?

Bemidji is where it gets tricky.

Is it true you should plant garlic in the fall?

I kind of share this feeling. I'm really an H fan, knowing his story, but he's got to steady himself if he's going to carry us. One thing that characterized UW's goalies when Bill Howard was coaching them was solid positioning. They rarely seemed to be making acrobatic saves because they were so good at maintaining position. UND has had some great goalies too, and I'm sure Karl is an excellent coach, but it's probably hard to change a goalie's style when he's three years into college play. That said, H has done exactly what we needed him to do, and that's a great story.

Absolutely. And that kind of hustle by the "stars" affects the team culture in a big way.

In reviewing our goals, it's hard to believe Caggiula got so much room in front of their net. If he ever gets to the NHL, it's going to be a whole lot different lifestyle in front of the net. Getting a hatty in Cloud is a big deal. The thing that makes the CBS line so dominant is that all three of them can maintain possession and are also great passers. With the D we have, they can do their thing and not worry so much about getting caught in an odd man rush the other way. That line would always be poison for the other side, but I'm not sure they would be this dominant without those dmen we have behind them. Great game to watch. I hope the other matches with the better NCHC teams are this entertaining.

Looks like he has a nice glove and is quick. Not what you'd call a calm goalie though. You'd have to call him a winner, though, and that's all we can ask for.

Especially when we were losing faceoffs all night.

H sure flops around a lot out there, but the man gets it done.

It actually started out as Holey Roaming Empire, but they could never win the big one, so they changed the name. Wow, business ethics for 500 is a gamble. Good luck with that.

There are some very deep dudes here.