ATLSiouxPhan

No way. Oshie has too much potential.

Exactly. But, is it really "home ice advantage" for UMN if they have to play us on our turf? Depends on who you ask. I bet if you asked MN, they would much rather play anyone out East AT out East than us in GF. WI has already peaked this year. MN is peaking right now. I think it may be someone else's turn to peak come 4-5 weeks from now......

Cause Saturday,Saturday,Saturday,Saturday,Saturday,Saturday,Saturday,Saturday,Saturday ,that's all right with me.

AZSIOUX, Bemidji was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal last week (pretty cool, even a picture of them on the cover) for the whole curling thing....if you want to give me your email address, I can email to you the nice color PDF of the WSJ front page (which would be pretty cool for everyone in the town to have and post around town/frame; much better than trying to hold on to a newsprint that deteriorates)

Guys, Easy on the ATL.....are you implying there's something wrong with driving around 5mph on 10 lane interstate highways in bumper to bumper traffic with 28" spinners on "my feet"?.......that shutting down a city when it snows .01 inches is not the right thing to do?.........but please do remember, I have the benefit of watching one of the top 3 creative players in the world (Kovalchuk) play, while playing 18 holes on the same day......... :

Why can't Bemidji get their heads out of the sand and help us out a little? It's seems as if all they are worried about is getting the game over with so they can focus on ice fishing and shopping at Pamida.

Not quite. You still haven't answered my question. See my response below Captain Obvious.

#3 seed, #4 seed, whatever......that's not the point. The point is that when we get in at GF, what will/can/should/could the NCAA do about having MN in the same regional. My point is (and of course this is all based on big assumptions that we/MN even win), is it more beneficial to have UND-MN face each other in a regional final or in the Frozen Four? And, does the NCAA even have any subjective power to do anything about it. UND-MN games are huge for ratings/revenue etc, but how/when/where would that possible matchup best benefit the NCAA? I am not referring to any first round matchups. If I need to book a flight across the country to tell someone this face to face with the help of a diagram, please let me know.

That's super. However it does not answer my question. Of course there will be no UND-UMN game in the first round.

So what exactly will happen if we are labeled cheap and dirty? Is the WCHA gonna take away our birthdays? There are two teams in the WCHA that are not labeled by others as cheap and/or dirty: Alaska and Michigan Tech. And that's because they are not perennial threats. I was at the game at the X and actually saw Bina get hit while most were too busy stuffing their faces with footlongs and nachos and trying to dance along with the dork on the jumbotron, and I have nothing but respect for anyone on our team that goes after anyone on Denver's team. And the people from WI and MN share the same respect (but just don't go after their players).

Rochsioux: Thank you for the well-thought out assessment. Finally a forum topic response with some insight, and with a conclusion that does not end with "Let's see how it all plays out, keep your game faces on boys". Can't wait to head up to MPLS to the X this year, knowing that every game played that weekend will be critical.

I agree with all of the above. Let's let the players concentrate on their game faces and no more two/three games at a time (I don't have Picture-In-Picture)

Someone explain to me why when we get the #4 seed (which we will, quit wasting your time discussing it on a Friday night), MN will be shipped elsewhere: 1. Is there an objective rule that would deem it necessary; or 2. Do the pros outweigh the cons for the NCAA to make a subjective call to split UND and MN (GF revenue vs. overall tourney revenue, etc.).

What's a love tap? Dude, you can't have it both ways. The Sioux need to keep Pauk's head on a swivel, and let's admit there's risk to that; he could get hurt, but anybody could get hurt. You sound like a stock analyst that says he highly recommends a certain stock, but then caveats it with a buttload of risks and issues, effectively saying "don't blame my recommendation if the stock tanks though". You can't have reward (scaring Pauk), without risk (possible injury). Face it.

What's all this stupid smack about getting the wins and then getting a hit on Paukovich at the end of the Saturday game? First of all, its a dumb strategy that takes the Sioux's focus off of playing a good series......secondly, its putting the cart before the horse.........The right strategy is to send someone, anyone, after Paukovich immediately at the start tonight (preferably taking him out of the game).....then the Sioux will immediately have the frustration monkey off their back and it will cause Denver to lose focus (helping the Sioux for the weekend).......If Bina was my teammate, I couldn't concentrate on only the game until I knew Paukovich had paid the price. This is a perfect time against a perfect team to take a few hitting from behind game misconducts, especially the way Denver turns their backs......who cares if one of our guys gets kicked out for a game......as long as he takes Paukovich out with him, the emotional charge to the rest of the team will be all we need to sweep.

SDSU - But I don't want them to build an arena and make it better than the Ralph, because the Ralph is the best in hockey

I still think if we can win the Final Five we should be ok........