burd

Thanks, PCM. A lot of us look forward to this.

I know people who were there, and this is how it went: Oshie, Toews, Bina and others go into Judy's under cover of darkness. A shadowy figure slips through the door behind them and moves unobserved to a booth on the far side of the room--about six feet away. This person, a gopher fan whose name rhymes with "Slappy," cannot take his eyes off Toews and Oshie and begins make soft gurgling sounds while drooling into his Dr. Pepper. Thinking nobody else would possibly think to take their eyes off the three Sioux studs, he slips on his "Mr. Briggs Junior Goalie Glove" and commences to do nasty things into it, ala Portnoy's Complaint. Unfortunately, members of the Red River JV hockey team are also there, including the goalie, who, unaware that something disgusting is going on, comments on the glove and asks to try it on. Our gopher fanatic, thinking the Red River goalie is probably an undercover news reporter, panics. Realizing that diversion is his only chance, he jumps up, points at Toews, shouts, "UNDERAGE CANADIAN!!" and bolts out the door. That, at least, is what I heard.

And many more, if you count those they couldn't remember.

To tie this in to hockey, as everything in our lives must eventually do, any of you seen hockey pucks shatter from the cold?

Strange, though. Low forecast last night for Bottineau was -34. High today in Great Falls Mt is supposed to be +53.

Ignore her. If it sounds like Middle School, it probably is.

Sprig, when you were that age Judy's was probably a beet field.

There is a little pressure on the DA and judge on this one. The offense which will probably lead to revocation of probation is, indirectly, alcohol related, and the original offense was a DUI. I don't know about GF County, but courts are taking a pretty stern view of alcohol related offenses, and they can't be seen as pulling any punches due to his status. I hope his punishment is quick and fair so Robbie can move on, lesson learned.

Bina will get something from the DA, but if the little we hear so far is accurate, I it will probably be light--less than 10. BUT, whatever the punishment is, it should be no more or no less severe than a regular schmuck in that situation would get.

Sounds like 10 days is not the limit. That would only be for the DUI after probation is revoked. Could be additional time for the obstruction.

Jeez, Proud, reading your post I thought maybe they cut off one of your fingers!

If the other school's AD was short, I'd say he was compensating. If he was Native American, I'd say he was doing the chop and was a hypocrite. If he was a she, I'd say she was a he. If he was from Wisconsin, I'd say he was a paint-thinner-drinking, cheese-eating slob. If he was from SCSU, I'd tell him to sit down before the fainting spells started. If he was from Denver, I'd tell him that at least our goalie did not commit felonies on the ice. If he was from UMinn, I'd tell him all those things and anything else I could come up with and still feel bad for giving him a pass. Buning, though--he's just a damn good fan. Honestly.

I agree with your admiration for Oshie, but if you are saying Heatley was not hooked, clutched and grabbed, you were not paying attention. He scored with people hanging all over him all the time--that's one of the things he was freakishly good at.

I love having TJ Oshie on the Sioux, but I wonder if part of the reason he seems so snakebitten is that, with his all-out style of play, he is often just this side of being out of control physically. I think his style of play (and the fact that other teams keep close track of him) makes him just a little harder to hit with a clean pass with him square to the net. It seems that his "almost" goals are so often sensational, not Potulny-type goals. That said, he'll start burying them, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather have on my team.

This has probably been mentioned, but there are only three players on the Devils with positive plus/minus ratings--a hat trick for the Sioux.

Sioux sports have a connection to Omemee. Jim Dew was from there and played linebacker for the Sioux in the early 70s. Had a couple of brothers, one of whom went to Harvard. The Lumberdome has both history and character. There is something about a wood rink that is as special as it is rare these days.

With the way the last 4 or 5 weekends have gone, I just can't leave Holy Cross behind--it's all I have left. God is gone, everyone else is under the bus, and we're about to go on the road. God save Holy Cross.

Because the Force is strong in that one, Cujo.

Nope. Our watering holes on that side were usually in Boissevain or a little town called Goodlands at the next port West.

You don't have to have played hockey well, or even at all, to be a good fan, but I think you do need to love the game of hockey. Objective criticism is one thing, but the kind of petulance that is flowering on this site is another thing altogether. Relax. Enjoy the game you are privileged to watch. And before we get all lathered up insisting that we are entitled to expect championship performance every year based upon our illustrious past, try to remember that our illustrious past has included long periods of something quite different. If a stretch of final four appearances helps create a fan base that becomes angry and accusatory when the team loses, then maybe we are losing something other than hockey games.

Grew up within a block of the Lumberdome, playing a mediocre-to-bad game of hockey as a kid in little wheat-towns like Boissevain, Deloraine, Waskada, Killarney and others. Wonderful memories of the places and the people. (Cup-a-soup, Canadian moms serving sloppy joes, taffy, old wood rinks with that distinctive cold-air smell). Graduated UND in '75 and '92, living my adult life in places like Joplin Mo, S.F. bay area (LaHonda), Owatonna, Mn, and Wisconsin. I only wish the 'net had been around a little earlier so that I'd been able to follow college hockey better while living in hockey-starved places. Living in SF in the early eighties, I would have been thrilled to have been able to sit in fron of my computer and watch or listen to Sioux hockey whenever I wished.

After Blais won in 1997 and then had very disappointing tournament disappearances in '98 and '99, I remember Hennessey and O'Kiefe comparing Blais with Gasparini. Tim H. said he thought Gasparini was more likely to win a championship with a favored team, while Blais did better with an underrated one. I don't know where that fits in this discussion, but I think it is interesting to see how coaches are always held up to their predecessors. I do agree that Hakstol's challenges and those Blais faced with older, more experienced players were different enough to make a fair comparison difficult. I think Hak has proven in the last two years that he is a top-notch coach. I will say that Blais seemed to bring a more wide-open style of play to the ice that might have benefitted from recent rules changes more than Hak's style does. But in Blais' last years, it seemed like the tournament spoils were going to tight-checking, defense-oriented teams who could win low-scoring games. Maybe the facts don't support those comments about controlled vs. wide-open styles, but it seemed that way. Somehow, Blais could lose a shootout and the fans would still go away halfway happy about all the offense they saw. Scoring two goals and losing is rarely entertaining. I like Hak. I think he will get there.

Whatever it is, get well, Phil, and then get back out on the ice.

Who woulda thought

"Mommie, I miss Sparky. Where's Sparky?"