burd

A thought. I'm personally in favor of choice when it comes to cages v. halfshields. But knowing myself as I do, and using the picture I have in my mind of most of you, based on what I can draw from your posts here over the years, I wonder if those of us who are less concerned about facial injuries aren't just uglier people.

Jerks like you explain why there's so much wrong with the world. You probably pitched too.

And that's a valid reason, but I doubt the player who has to wear the equipment cares how you or I react to his knee or face injury.

I'm one of the slow ones who doesn't quite appreciate your point, Dave. As long as this discussion relates to adults and not kids under 18, it seems to me that this involves two competing considerations: personal safety and personal comfort/convenience. If you say there are no competing considerations--that it is only a matter of personal safety--and you have never played the game, then you can't blame some people for thinking you are just a little bit full of shatt. If you acknowledge that there are competing considerations but insist that the personal safety factor easily outweighs the comfort/convenience factor and you have never played the game, then you can't blame some of us who care a little less about what you have to say. I personally have no problem with college hockey requiring players to wear cages or full shields, but I completely understand those who think players should be able to go half-shield if they want. Pros? Let em go with no shield if they want and deal with the risk by contract.

Crazy? No so sure. If they made the driver's side seat a bench with two little holes in it for my balls to hang through, I would drive slower, which would make me safer. Nervous, but safer.

No, but that is the reason we think breezers should be optional.

Guess I should have added the part about how you melt the ice first.

One of the most horrific hockey injuries is the blade cut, which can and does happen to players with cages, neck guards, gloves and everything else. It just gives me the vapors to see it. Why they don't have the sense to go to rollerblades is beyond me.

Not quite there yet, Dave, (the eye-roll) but we can see you're trying.

Every once in a while, people are pursuaded more by the merit of an idea than by the force of an insult.

Can you conceive of the day when NHL goalies without any kind of face protection whatsoever were bent over looking around screens so they could see incoming slappers?!!

Leave them to their karmic destiny, Grasshopper. They will come back as the Chicago Cubs' farm system or Mankato's hockey program . . .

JP's name was usually pronounced "Pa REE zay," I believe, and I would guess that most NHL announcers are familiar with that.

Yeah, but you'd whiff 20% of the time too, Yzerman, and that would be worth seeing.

Since it's that time of year, I'll throw out a golf analogy, which may be full of sh**. This from a fan who really liked Eidsness. There are some guys who, if you golf with them often enough, you grow to expect some things. I golf with one guy who plays at about a 9. He knows what to do with his clubs and is fully capable of putting together a 73-75 at a fairly challenging course. But if he's hitting the ball real well and scoring at or near par, I can almost guarantee he will cough up a double or triple somewhere along the way to blow his low score. It's not pressure, because we don't play for money, and he might hit the tough hole on the front nine. Maybe it's concentration. Maybe he's just a good but not real good golfer. Eidsness seemed that way to me. He was real good for the Sioux, and I expecially liked his maturity. We were lucky to have him. But I was never surprised to see the softie--usually just one. I suppose statistics would disprove what that analogy suggests about his play, but hey, it's summer. It would be a treat, though, to get a goalie who, when he is on, is just plain shut-down. Might be what is needed for #8.

I agree. He really showed desire to win last year and, at the same time, he played the team game in the offensive end.

Spirko has to be up there near the top

I somehow think you are pretty familiar with the minimum.

Job well done, coach. Thank you for what you gave to our program.

Just another guy the Gophers didn't want anyway.

Nelson was really coming into his own, but I'd tend to agree. Kristo showed last year how badly he wants to win while, at the same time, being more disciplined on offense. UND will have some real hard-to-contain quickness next year, and Danny's energy will be contagious.

Danny and Rocco can both give opponents fits in a similar but very hard to defend way. This is a big deal. Danny proved how focused and determined he was last year. With the most skilled player on the team being that focused, it will only make everyone else more of the same.

Good for Dave. Now let's go get 'em.

Not only that--very few gopher fans know how to use twitter yet, so you could pretty much rule them out.

As a fan, it was an extremely fun year. Dave proved again just how good he is, and the boys have a lot to be proud of.