Sterling

I believe Grant Larson is attending St Thomas and could potentially play hockey there as well.

Rode the plane with Dayn on his way up here to try out. He's a great kid and told me one of his goals is to play for the Sioux. No question he will be heading to UND if he continues to develop and improve to a D1 caliber goalie.

Agreed. Crossing my fingers that Wheeler remains a bust this year. Nice first rounder Wayne....

Mn has quality prospects coming in so they'll be sufficiently reloaded even if PK signs. Okposo poses the skills to have a similar freshman year to Oshie, Toews, or Kessel. I still think they'll be the front-runner and team to beat at the start of the season.

just as long as it wasn't Sid Hartman

Population differences and passion for the sport aside, the only comparison you need to make is Fargo vs. Moorhead. Moorhead provides more development opportunity in their skating programs and make ice more available year round. Fargo doesn't have the same level of commitment to the sport.

It'll never happen because money talks, but the more I read and hear about the current state of affairs and unorthodox decision makers in the Blackhawks organization, the more I'd (selfishly) like to see JT stay 4 yrs, become a free agent, and solidify his future with a better organization than to subject himself to years of mismanagement struggles. His future in the NHL could certainly be jeopardized with guys like Tallon calling the shots. His parents seem to have provided exceptional guidance so far in his career. Hope that will continue as he prepares for the next level.

Nice to read about his character flaws but bottom line, if Kessel returns to Mn, they'll be extremely difficult to de-throne them as WCHA Champs and a #1 seed in the NCAAs. We may need to put up with all their hype until someone like Mercyhurst ousts them in the first round.

Unfortunately, I think if we lose Toews, we'll be back to fighting for home ice in the WCHA playoffs.

Lee Marvin is a much better actor

if we only could have gotten past Wisconsin at the Frozen Four.....

I suspect the U.S. Treasury will be the next one added to the list. My Webpage

We are spoiled and I like that, however I think our goal is to generate titles. Agreed that 4 FFs in 7 years is great, but all I'm saying is that if our recruiting strategy is to get blue-chippers, we need to make the most of their abilities in a short period of time. Otherwise we're constantly rebuilding. In the early years of Gino's reign, we lost players early too, but he made the most of it while they were here. Same thing with Blaiser. DH and his staff are tremendous recruiters and good coaches. Too soon to tell how DH's reign will play out (so far it's been beyond expectations), but if the BChip strategy of recruiting is our philosophy, we'll need great coaching to hang #8. No need to panic unless we lose Toews, Oshie and Lee this summer.

Then it all falls back on coaching/recruiting. Having the ability through the history of the program and the facilities to recruit blue chip talent makes a coaches job pretty easy but winning titles is a completely different animal.

I think he separated his other shoulder and broke his leg on the stationary bike!

according to my Mn friends, it's Mn 8, UND 7 counting the one they will win next year.....

Porter would be great if the net were twice as big. Unless he improves on his scoring ability, he'll be nothing more than a grind line guy which suits him well. It would be nice to see him be able to finish better on scoring chances. Maybe lining up with better playmakers will help.....Guess we'll see.

I apologize for not providing a confirmation link, but I hear from reliable sources that my 5 yr old is making the jump from termites to mites this fall.

Thanks for the info. As you probably summized, I was wondering if there could be a financial benefit to Drew if he stayed and became a free agent. By the way, Brady Murray told me he was definitely coming back last year at the frozen four. Lets face it, money is powerful. I for one would love to see Drew stay and take a run at the Hobey. It would be rather special and potentially unprecedented to have 3 Hobey finalists on the same team. Good luck Drew

does this cap apply to free agency as well? foregive me if this is a dumb question, I could care less about the NHL..

Time to start the bidding to host another regional!!!

Ralph Engelstad

He's right Smaby $ucks......oh wait he had a good check on a guy...whoops, nope, he didn't......The Simpsons are on at 7pm Sat on Fox .... loser

My bet would be an NHL "shoulder pop" before Irmen gets a chance for a jersey pop.

Unfortunately, talent that doesn't emerge through hard work has a high probability of being diluted. Happens to every team that recruits blue chip players. Potulny and Irmen's goals will easily be replaced by the likes of, Kessel, Wheeler, Gordon, and Stoa etc. It all depends how the players respond to their assigned roles. Kessel will get 60+ pts next season, Wheeler seems to be somewhat lazy so who knows how he'll perform, Gordon is progressing nicely and Stoa should be able to equal what Irmen did this year. Every team has question marks at the beginning of the season and most of them have become cliches. The defensive corps is not bad but Hagemo will be done one hard hit into the season and the only thing Frazee will be stepping up to is a barstool. I think the biggest question mark for the gophers is when will Lucia get them playing together as a group the way he did a few yrs ago. The hope of rejuvinated chemistry is what Mn needs, not goals. You can't win on talent alone as witnessed March 24th, 2006. But for now, the Sioux have the chemistry aspect of their game clicking because of the character of the players and the attitude development by the coaches. I'm really proud of their accomplishments this year. Win or lose, all 4 teams competing this weekend will have a different look to them next season because of early departures. GO SIOUX!