burd

Evil is as evil does.

Gopher trolls will get a double benefit if UND fans stay away. First, it will be a decidedly Gopher crowd, unusual for UND games in any venue. Second, gopher fans will crow that Nodaks are too poor to hang with the UMTC crowd.

When were we front runners without any competition?

During the years my daughter attended college in NYC she used both LGA and EWR but ended up using LGA the most, I think because of the public transportation. She lived in upper side.

I hope I don't get crucified for getting a little academic here. Milton was heavily criticized for what many people thought was a overly flattering portrayal of Satan in Paradise Lost. They thought his depiction of Satan as a powerful and dangerous being was disloyal, and they questioned his christian faith as a result. Milton, however, felt that recognizing the immense power of Satan only underscored and glorified the power of God, who defeated him. I don't have any problem recognizing the quality of the gopher program because it helps to show just how good UND is and has been over the years. And the good vs. evil thing works for me too.

They smell in a way no one else does. I don't know what else really matters.

I disagree. An off season or two does not define a program like Minnesota. In just about any given 10-year span, past, present, or future, it will rank up there. And I"m glad they are good. My gopher hate goes back to Bill Butters a LONG time ago, and it's sweeter when they are good.

And Gornall. Don't forget Gornall. Pulling for this dark horse.

I think they did a good job with the name they had to work with, which is OK. It's a sports logo. Legacies and traditions are created through conduct and culture, neither of which will change.

I'd feel a whole lot more content if I had seen any evidence that they played a full 60 minutes in a single game last year.

MM's way of keeping gopher fans out of this raffle.

A Sioux condom?

DU is a class program. Kip Vanvoorhis was a Grand Forks guy, UND alum and a true Sioux fan, but I'm sure he is very proud his son chose that program.

Good, balanced insight.

This is true, and I wouldn't blame them for saying that. But the difference is that UND fans do not constantly use the citizenship of its players as an excuse. And that excuse is so inappropriate. This are UNIVERSITIES we are talking about, not neighborhood church leagues. The whole concept of the University would seem to support as broad and diverse a participation as possible. It's admirable that UMinn can compete so well with in-state kids, and the state supplies D1 talent all across the country. But using it as an excuse for not winning more (or as much as other programs) is just provincial excuse mongering.

Especially knowing they haven't won a banner in 37 years without a Nodak on the roster.

Over the length of a season, that Michigan top line would have had big PP success in any conference.

It feels like a luxury, doesn't it, to acknowledge that we will need a little more luck this year and feel OK about it. A banner can give you that kind of patience. To repeat, they will either need some guys to really step up or some bounces in late March/April. But it will be a fun ride, guaranteed.

We do have some very solid dmen returning, but we had arguably the defense UND has had in a long time last year, and we do not know how much our offense will be affected by the changes at defense. Hopefully, not much, but things like their ability to make good choices to pinch in the ozone and to make the good transition pass out of the dzone are very big deals for the offense. We know Johnson will be tested more this year as well. No reason we can't be in the mix at the end, but there will be more bumps this year. And that's OK. It will be exciting. As always.

I suppose it varies with the player, Fetch. Anyone can skate full bore all the time as long as they are conditioned well enough, which I think our boys generally are. But it's a very fast moving game, and some just don't have the instincts to turn it on with confidence at certain times. Stecher did not always go full speed, but he seldom messed up when he did, because he had fantastic instincts and an elite skill set. There is a fine line, sometimes, between an aggressive defense and chasing if they don't time things right and get out of position. Sometimes they don't rush to a corner, for instance, because they don't want to give up coverage of another place on the ice. I think you will even see our defensemen intentionally allow the other player to reach the puck first on the boards and then smother them. It used to frustrate me when I saw that, but then realized that some of our best dmen were doing it and it worked. I'm just saying there are instances when it looks to us like players are not in top gear when they are actually trying to play smart and are maintaining coverage. No doubt there are times (and games) when the energy is not there and they pay the price, though. As fans, we can see when they are a step late getting to pucks, and sometimes that is lack of hustle, but sometimes it is caused by bad position play or the opponent using a scheme we have not yet figured out how to cover. It's just tempting for us to think it's always lack of hustle. Perhaps the former players and coaches on this board with experience at advanced levels will have more useful comments.

These kids all want to hustle. Getting them to both hustle their butts off and play smart is a tougher task.

This boy knows whereof he speaks when it comes to meaningless posting. Mastery of the written word? Not so much.

It's a good thing Frenchy's closed. Those post grad donations were tough on my budget.

I liked what I saw of what Toews did with the cup the last time had it. He's a class act. He's also been very complimentary of the time he spent at UND and how his game grew there.