SportsDoc

It has to do with the fact Murray was "born" in Switzerland when his dad was playing/coaching there. This was the last year of a loop hole in the Swiss League rules that Murray could claim Swiss citizenship for the purpose of playing in that league because he was born there. So, by using his citizenship status and playing there this year, he can play in the Swiss league as a non-import. The imports in the league are those players who came from outside of Switzerland and each team can only have so many imports on the roster (don't know the number, could be as few as 2). Don't forget Murray used his dual citizenship (US and Canada) to play WJ with the US team, though his Sioux bio listed him as being from Brandon, Manitoba! So he played for US, won a gold medal, and yet, most likely, would not have even been invited to the Canadian Junior tryout camp since he was not from the CHL (just ask Travis Zajac), though they did invite and keep Toews this year.

Some of your stats are certainly skewed. My info on D-I AA attendance avg. is 7,699. Compared to I-A attendance of 45,628. Also, D-I basketball attendance is 5,095 per contest. All those from last year. There is no way D-I buckets is less popular than D-I football, but purely by stats football is 9 times more popular ... NOT. What with TV revenue for March Madness it could easily be argued that basketball is more popular than football on a national basis. CBS pays Billions for NCAA buckets! Somebody's watching! You can manipulate numbers however you want. There's lies, damn lies and statistics. Bottom line is until NDSU can compete on a regular basis with D-I programs in the country in ANY major sport, you will still be second class to UND's hockey program. In that case I-AA just doesn't cut it! It might be your favorite, and that's fine. Enjoy your 3rd place finish in a six team conference of wanna-be's. Just don't bring your crap here that Bison football is bigger than Sioux hockey. No one's buying. Have a nice fantasy, though!

Who's Craig Bowl?

Maybe even better would be: DUICU Cup

DUI/ICU Cup

Just heard that the Aerosmith concert for Saturday night has been cancelled. That might open up a bunch of rooms for anybody looking. Might want to check into that if you want and get your name on a waiting list as those concert people start to cancel their rooms for the weekend.

Section 116 is right behind the Sioux bench. Section 110 is kitty corner to that on the goal line extended. To the right as you look at the ice from 116. I have seats in 116 Row J, and in 115 Row F, and 115 Row M. Ten total for my wife, myself and our extended Sioux family!

Just play hockey! The officiating will take care of itself. The Sioux will be fine.

One reason for Parise leaving ... he's already 23. The clock is ticking. You are, for the most part, washed up athletically by 30-35. To me, that would be the biggest reqson to leave while you're hot!

Not exactly true. Two of the regionals run Friday/Saturday. The other two run Saturday/Sunday. Also, the games times were set some time ago, way before anyone knew who would be playing in that 5:30 game. As for FSN, they are contractually obligated to show the T-Wolves game live, unless they can work it out where T-Wolves management allows otherwise. So, as it stands, FSN will be showing the Gopher game on a delayed basis.

The paying network (ESPN in this case) gets to dictate start times so that they have the best chance to show all four games that day live if they want to. No one at the Ralph had any say in start times. It was mandated by NCAA through ESPN.

#1 - You don't "deserve" an "A"nswer, either, so I'll pass (see signature below for reason). #2 - Don't watch much college hockey, do you!

Let's send him to a home and home series between Goophers and Bucky! Just so he can see real student section sportsmanship in action.

There's an old saying that there are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn lies and statistics. It is hard to tell by a stat like GWG whether that players GWG are meaningful or not. I have been to most home games and the one thing I always come away with is how high an intensity level Oshie plays at every shift. He never takes a shift off. Because of that, and because of the games I've seen, I think Oshie's GWG stat is legit. But that is hard to quantify in any absolute sense. It is just my take on kid I am thrilled to watch wear the Green and White! Just keep it rolling T.J.!

Sorry, mine are all divided up.

No, they would play the Gophers on Friday night! Sioux are a 4 seed, so they need to get to a 3 seed to play Gophers on Saturday night. So they only need one of the top 3 seeds to falter, not two. Then they avoid the Thursday play-in game, too. It will all take care of itself. We just need to keep the momentum going by winning games!

Is Forney coming next year? Or is he going to USHL for a year first?

If you want to go for JUCO coach with great credentials and almost 400 wins, plus a quality person to spearhead your program, don't look at Irwin. Look at Terry Olson at Williston State. Unbelievable recruiter to top it off. Oh, and no one has had two mediocre seasons at MSU-B in the past twenty years, let alone very successful ones!

Don't know anything about the coach, or the players currently. I do know of a Shattuck recruit who for two years wanted to come here (because of our Men's tradition and the Ralph) but did a 180 after her trip here and went somewhere else. Was it what players told her or something else? I don't know that part. We seem to be spinning our wheels in the program, though, and sometimes that means a change would be good. I certainly would not give her more than two more years to get into the top half of WCHA, that would be six recruiting classes.

I like Goering then Belfour. Jensen would be #3 for me, but I'd move Jordie there with a title in his resume. The knocks on him as a Freshman are no longer valid. He is a different (better) goaltender now. He has grown into the job of a #1 goaltender and his current numbers plus his post-season run last year back that up.

They don't need a coach. The coach is fine. They need perimeter players who know their roles. They have a 6' 11" center who doesn't get enough touches from the guards. They also shoot FT's at less than 50%. Don't know where the coaching is in that, unless they don't practice shooting them!

You are right about Parise's record. It is why I was disappointed he left after Sophomore year. I felt he had unfinished business here before he left. Same with Bochenski and Murray. It becomes hard in recruiting when these guys are looking for the next level over what they accomplish "as a team" here (or any school). Yet they have probably been told they can leave when they want. If you don't tell them that recruiting, they go elsewhere. I don't begrudge them going if they've helped the school win a championship. It is what they all say they come here for (or any top notch school), but some don't finish the task. Should they have to stay four years? No. But I appreciate the ones who have much more than those who leave early without a title.

Bottom line: It just doesn't matter where they come from. It matters if they want to be there and if they represent your school, state and hockey program in a positive manner. There will always be those who "get away". To me if they want to be somewhere else, let 'em go. Wish them well and hope we are still stronger on the ice when we meet head to head. If not, tip your cap and get 'em next time.

Obviously, Kessel came in with more hype than Oshie. They have both played well. I happen to like Oshie better because he has 6 more goals than Kessel and he never takes a shift off. Remember when Parise and Vanek came in together, Parise had more hype, but his numbers dropped off after WJ's over Christmas and Vanek kept it rolling and won the ROY. Could see similar thing here, though many voters will look at points over goals and still feed votes to Kessel. I like Oshie in Sioux Green, and as good as Kessel is, he can keep the "M" on his chest. I don't miss him here!

The Sioux just need to keep winning! It's a contageous disease you don't want to get rid of this time of year! Go Sioux!!!