jimdahl

I guess I don't see the point. Yes, CHA is a weaker conference than the WCHA. If the argument is that USD shouldn't consider joining D-I hockey because they wouldn't immediately be competitive with UND or UMN, that's ridiculous. To bring the topic around by using an analogy, Big Sky is a weak mid-major conference, yet it's considered the dream destination for regional teams thinking of moving to D-I. If they could get into Big Sky, should NDSU (or UND) not consider moving to D-I because they'd be playing in a conference that can't compete with the ACC in basketball or the SEC in football? You can't demand everyone belong to a top conference, at least 50% have to be in the bottom half.

That just might be true. I think as all D-II schools in the area have done, USD is just looking at all the D-II schools with profitable D-I hockey programs in ND and MN and wondering why they're not getting a piece of that pie. It happens to become profitable for popular schools like UND and UMN because the large schedule allows tremendous revenue opportunities (24 home games for UND last year). As I've pointed out before, UND would need an average attendance of about 40,000 per football game to get the same annual gate as they get from hockey. However, just starting up a hockey program doesn't guarantee fans will show up, and there's no inherent NCAA promise that hockey will be profitable. In fact, it's quite a gamble because hockey can be a very expensive program to operate. FWIW -- I don't see that the Forum article really reported on anything new, other than pointing out that a new D-I hockey school would join the CHA. This is just part of the old statement that USD was "evaluating its athletic programs compared to its peers" which everyone knew meant studying D-IAA, but apparently only we knew meant studying adding D-I hockey. I'll be surprised if they do either, though I honestly think they'd try hockey before D-IAA (unless UND moves first).

I agree 100% with this underlying point (and had coincidentally edited my post above to make a similar point while you were composing the quoted post!)

(Edited 9:25 to be a little more concise) ON TOPIC: I agree that some sort of display in the Alerus Center is a good idea. Bringing the recruits around to what's obviously a general purpose events center with no UND markings makes it seem like we don't have a home field. It really was shortsighted that this wasn't part of the original plan. How did UND fail to anticipate that this would be an issue? Fortunately, it sounds like the wheels are in motion to study the issue and figure out how to get it done. I hope the line about the web site was meant to be funny KENT: I think you're being a little unreasonable and bolstering your argument with intentional misrepresentations. Lennon went to the Alerus commission on Wednesday and requested Sioux displays in the Alerus Center. The commission anticipated such a request and agreed to form a joint committee with UND to discuss where to create space and who will pay; that commission will be bringing the message to the people who can raise the money. A Herald staff writer wrote an article about those developments on Thursday. Let's face it, in North Dakota a committee to create an athletics display is newsworthy. I don't see it as public begging, but reporting on publicity/financial issues of the local public university. However, contrary to your claims the Forum has similar coverage of NDSU's athletics budgetary requests (NDSU hockey arena, D-I funds). Your opinions on UND budgetary issues/football would be more credible and viewed less as anti-UND antagonism if you had made it through a single post in this thread without hyping NDSU (completely off topic) and slamming UND football, its facilities, its coaches, and other UND athletics. People who want to read reflexive naysaying of everything UND can visit some Bison board.

Traveling from DC to NY isn't really a huge change of culture -- both cities think they're the center of the universe . Having spent a lot of time in NYC as a tourist (visiting Leif!) and on business since Sept. 11, I find it every bit as nice as anyplace else. Rather than niceness being regional, I think some people perceive a difference in niceness between urban and suburban areas. I attribute that perception to a different pace of life. The urban areas in which I've lived have had people every bit as nice, but who seem in more of a hurry, are a little less patient in some ways, and so are perceived as "less nice" to people from more suburban or rural areas. I have also lived in Minnesota for a couple years (Twin Cities) and didn't notice people to be appreciably "nicer" than anywhere else. I guess it all depends on your frame of reference.

You see it all the time in all sports -- it's fun to be winning because you can declare yourself the best and you can accuse anyone who dares point to contrary history of living in the past (remind you of some fans of any college hockey team ) It's indisputable that the West has dominated the Stanley Cup playoffs since the new conference format. These things happen, remember when the NFC had that streak of dominating the Superbowl? As of now, the West is winning more championships in the NHL, indisputably. However, to think that's a permanent imbalance in power is ignoring history and setting oneself up for future disappointment. My favorite team being on the list to deride really had nothing to do with my response; I agree that the SE is the weakest division in the NHL. In fact, a lot of people credit part of the West's recent dominance of the Stanley Cup to the fact the SE represented the East in 2 of the last 5. (Though I shudder to imagine the riots in Minneapolis if the Wild do as well as the derided Canes did last year). About Washington, even though the Caps have made 17 of the last 20 ( ) playoffs, I also have to admit that they always manage to lose.

He takes potshots at a lot of people (far more than the original column that so upset everyone). He insults by name: players -- Belfour, Forsberg, Foote, Housley, Kovalchuk, Mogilny, Osgood teams -- Avs, Leafs, Wings, Rangers, Canadiens, Kings, Caps, Canes, Panthers, Islanders conferences -- the entire Eastern Conference I think this letter writer is just as much a homer as the original columnist. Rather than just putting down the Wild's opponent, he wildly and ramblingly derided everyone who happens not to have made it this far in the playoffs this year, including a lot of players and teams with a lot more success and history than the Wild.

I think Stafford has the potential to be a big upside surprise for Sioux fans. He's had an absolutely amazing year, exceeding expectations at all levels. I think he's been kind of living in the shadows of some other potential superstars at S-SM (e.g. Crosby), so hasn't gotten as much press attention as he maybe would have elsewhere. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly optimistic about Bina being an impact player, but don't know a LOT about him, either. It sounds like Smaby could be an impact at D pretty quickly (hopefully he won't take too many penalties).

The NCC press release.

I don't think he was trying to win friends, rather he's trying to get under the skin of Wild fans, and it seems to have worked. I've seen threads about this on every message board visited by Twin Cities-area hockey fans. Point, Kiszla. It's not like he's just making it up the anti-Wild animosity, either. There is a lot of dislike for the Wild among NHL fans outside the 200-mile radius around Minneapolis. The Wild engage in a perfectly legal style of play that annoys everyone who's not a fan (and bores quite a few people who are fans). Wild fans can now correctly respond, "but we win games with it," and that is the best revenge; but they can't complain that they're unpopular. Lest I now get eviscerated-- yes, Kiszla was classless and a major homer. I'm just saying there's a reason you see articles like this about the Wild but not about other playoff teams that had just as few or fewer regular season points (Lightning, Caps, Bruins, Islanders, Ducks, Oilers). Well, maybe the Islanders...

Here's my stat on how crazy UND goaltending got (and I don't think non-UND fans really realized it): No single UND goaltender exceeded 45% of the conference playing time last season. I struggle to think of a successful team (I'll even call the Wild successful for the purposes of this argument) with a similar statistic. It's not a slam on the players. I think Brandt could have been "the man". I think Ranfranz or Siembeda might have been able to, also. Unfortunately, none of them were able to with 45%, 35%, and 20% of the playing time, respectively.

Hmm... I immediately question any argument that can be summarized, "ZZZ is good. Look at the Minnesota Wild, they do ZZZ." Having a second viable goalie is undoubtedly a good thing -- stuff happens. To have that second goalie be viable, he has to get play time. Giving just one goalie ALL the play time is a bad thing. However, there's a line somewhere and I've never seen a successful team at college level or above that plays musical goalies to the extent UND did this Spring.

On the subject of how players react to their particular opponents on the ice, the Sioux problems the second half of this year seemed largely mental. We all saw their talent, even in brief periods of some of the games they lost. They just seemed to play to the level of every opponent, managing to lose by one point to good and bad teams alike. The last 8 regular season game had 2 wins, 2 ties, and 4 losses (each by one point). I fully believe the Sioux next year will have as many talented players as anyone. However, I also think it could still be "glory" or "bust". The big question is what changes are occurring in the mental game? What will make those players win next year instead of drop the close, late-season games? One big change is everyone is a year older. Can some of these young guys step up and be leaders? Another change is a slightly better schedule -- still too many home before Christmas and road after, but the competition is spread much more evenly. I think a better balance in the schedule will help the team develop better. A big Q is goaltending. I was convinced all Spring that our musical goaltending game did nothing to help the team mentally (and I was rabidly derided by other Sioux fans for sharing that opinion). If they can show any stability in goaltending, that could be a big mental change for the Sioux. Again, we don't need Goehring (who would actually win games for you), just someone "good enough" (who keeps you in games and gives you a chance to win). I think last two years we've tried too hard to force one of our goaltenders to become the next Goehring.

Most of the photos we post are from the professional photographer for USCHO, PCM, who has press credentials for home UND games. Any tournaments he attended, I believe he did solely as a spectator. Regardless, our photo collections are a unique service in college hockey, and it's a great privilege that USCHO and PCM share the collections of photos of UND home games with SiouxSports. I know both Kirk and I have also previously submitted amateur photos (from our seats) of some games that we attended. I didn't make it to any tournament games this year, and I believe Kirk was out of the country for most of them. That said, this is completely a fan-driven effort. If anyone ever has anything they think is worth sharing with the SiouxSports community, please contact administrator and we'll do what we can to make it as easy as possible for you to share it. Literally any contributions of interest to other Sioux fans are welcome and appreciated!

I've actually wanted to make this point for a while, but wanted to let things cool down a bit first, lest it seem like sour grapes. I think a significant contribution to the Gophers' ability to repeat was that they came into the season an underdog. When you're the favorite all season, it's very difficult to make it through the NCAA tournament. Using a Sioux example, after 1997 the Sioux were considered a likely champion going into both '98 and '99. Tee times in April were our reward. Then when the Sioux entered the 2000 "rebuilding year", we marched on to another championship (don't even get me started on the 2001 repeat near-miss). This year the Gophers were expected to be a decent team, and expectations diminished after a slow start. Next year they're EXPECTED to win the national championship because of minimal player losses. The expectation to be the best (that wasn't on the Gophers this year) is what makes it really hard to repeat. On the other hand, the Sioux are reasonably confident of their prospects, but opponents don't share our optimism. That may make the road a bit easier for the Sioux, IF we field the quality of team of which these players are capable.

Leif, you never should have mentioned that. I checked tonight and it was ABOUT to be the new name for this site, but apparently ganggreen.com is already taken for some crazy war-related site.

Unlike some of our friendlier rivalries, there seems to be real hatred between some Sioux and Bison fans. In an attempt to raise these arguments to the level of civil, I requested last Fall that Bison fans refrain from intentional misspellings of UND and its nickname (which just serves to inflame, so reduces the likelihood of logic-based responses). Those Bison fans who remain have been generally quite courteous, so I would be remiss in not requesting reciprocity from UND fans. That said, "screaming yellow" should go down in history as one of the biggest marketing blunders ever. Even spelled properly, it brings an unpleasant image to mind

A new student resistance to the seat move, reports the Dakota Student (link will probably only work until Apr 18, I don't know why the DS doesn't archive stories like it used to).

There's no doubt we all have our biases and many of us Sioux fans would like to see a weakened Gopher team (though it would be even more fun to beat them next year with no excuses). However, I think the speculation here might be a little more objective on this one. College players going directly to the NHL is really a pretty recent phenomenon that has ramped up dramatically the last few years. Year after year we've seen the claims that players are going to stay, until the money is on the table. That's particularly true after a championship. Though recent Gopher recruiting successes have resulted in a record number of drafted players on the team, the Gophers haven't yet experienced the revolving door because they're relatively new to success in the direct-to-NHL era. Maybe the Gopher players have more loyalty to UMN, have more interest in getting a college degree, or Lucia is better at making them stay. My guess, until it's proven wrong, is that money talks for almost everyone with pro athletics aspirations.

If you're 20 or under on December 31 of the draft year (unlike the lower boundry which depends on your age as of Sept 15), you're eligible for the entry draft. Anyone not eligible for the entry draft (and whose rights aren't owned) is essentially a free agent. The big exception is that players from outside North America always have to go through the entry draft, regardless of age. Hockey's Future has a really good explanation of the draft. Note that is page 1 of 3, but is the one that deals with eligibility. The others are about where players come form, and how NHL teams scout and rank players.

Phoenix has Jones' rights. Pittsburgh has Schneider. FYI yellowdog-- your opinion of next year's Sioux team, though you're entitled to it, has absolutely nothing to do with whether a Sioux player leaves early. My point was that the teams' opinion of their possible contention next year could have some influence over a player's decision whether to stay or leave. Trust me, the team thinks they could contend.

I've already given my speculation about likely Gopher losses next year (Vanek gone, Ballard on the edge)... however, I'm not sure UND is done bleeding yet, either. There will certainly be mutiple Sioux players with offers on the table this summer. One of the only advantages of not coming of a national championship is a slightly reduced likelihood of players bolting (particularly since there's a general feeling that UND could contend next year).

UND isn't really built for rioting -- there isn't an on-campus/near-campus bar area like most large schools have. You really need all the students in one place and drunk to have a good riot. Plus it's way too cold to riot in Grand Forks in April (though my little Yahoo! weather map says G.F. is 82 today).

I would guess that Vanek is as good as gone. Ballard wouldn't surprise me either (Buffalo could use the help).

A UNH choke, how familiar... Minnesota seems to have been saving all of their steam for a late third period burst. I'm a little surprised they became more aggressive at that point in the game rather than more defensive, but you can't argue with the result.