jimdahl

Tonight Eddie Belfour stopped 50 shots against the Devils, setting an NHL record for the season. That gave him a .980 SV% for the night on 1 goal allowed He's really having a stellar season, with 5 shutouts already, a .930 SV%, and a 2.01 GAA.

Though UND has had a friendly schedule to date, we might be letting rivals' chatter mask the teams' success in that schedule a little too much. What's happened so far At 18-1-2, here is the breakdown of UND's success: Opponents .500 or under: 13-0-1 Opponents over .500: 5-1-1 Not only has UND won the games it should have won, but it has done quite well when tested. Compare that with Minnesota who is nipping at UND's heels in the WCHA (and whose fans and media are the loudest detractors of UND's schedule): Opponents .500 or under: 6-1-2 Opponents over .500: 5-4-2 Sure they've had fewer sub-.500 opponents, but they've performed MUCH worse against those opponents. Also, Minnesota has had more opponents >.500, but the comparative success against those opponents speaks for itself. Looking to the 2nd half The '97 championship team had 10 losses, '00 had 8. Starting from the current base of 1 loss, use whatever optimism or pessism you want to count your own projection of the losses in the remaining contests: CC (1 game) @UMN @AA @CC Tech @Denver @Mankato Duluth @Wisconsin Hard to picture this team finishing outside of that championship range, isn't it? Even if we split out, that will be only 10 losses on the season. Be patient -- opponents' grousing now doesn't affect the outcome of our games. This is a team that has won ALL of the games it was supposed to win and done incredibly well against tougher opponents.

Well, this isn't really fair. Sure a team has it's ups and downs, but there's a much higher chance that a school that makes the D-IAA transition to a decent conference will have a worse record over the next 20 years than if they hadn't moved. When all the plans for such a transition assume growing attendance, this could be an issue when combined with my conference concerns... We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I think the average NDSU fan gets more excited right now to watch UNC, UNO, UND, SDSU come to town than they would be to see Idaho St, Eastern Washington, Portland St, etc... At first playing D-IAA teams may be exciting and draw a crowd and eventually many of those teams will be well-known rivals like the teams I named above. However, in between I think there's a lag-time in which fans wonder why they're paying to watch their school lose to a bunch of crappy teams they've never heard of. The problem gets a lot worse if NDSU doesn't hit the dream of Big Sky and plays even lesser known (in the Dakotas) teams. That's the likely situation UND faces. I really don't think those get-paid-to-get-beat-up games generate a lot of fan interest back home. I think the die-hard fans love to see them, but I'm not sure they convince anyone new to buy season tickets. I remember hearing much less about the away game in our home/away 2-year series with Kansas basketball. I do understand the allure of the big name opponents, I'm on record as saying that I think a single win in the NCAA basketball tournament would be more meaningful as a fan than a D-II championship. I just think way too many fans think they're going to start flying in Minnesota for wrestling and Duke for basketball if they move to D-IAA. (Disclaimer -- it's no coincidence that 2-3 of the NCC teams I named as interesting are leaving the NCC).

Perhaps most impressive for the Sioux was giving up only 2 power plays and allowing 0 PP goals. Had you told me that would be the stat before the game, I would've predicted that the Sioux would have won 7-3 or so. Worries me a little because I'm not sure we can play so mistake-free tomorrow night, so we need to improve the goaltending or defense a bit to get the same result.

It seems to only show the top nominees -- no way to see players below that. I find it interesting that they're doing it themselves this year instead of through USCHO (sorry if this has been beat to death on USCHO, I haven't been there in a while).

I've tried to make this point a few times as a potential negative for a move that doesn't involve recreating the NCC. I'll use UND moving alone as an example so fans of other schools don't think I'm criticizing their school. UND's best case dream: Big Sky conference After the novelty of playing Montana wears off, is a football game against Montana (and especially Sac St., Weber St., Northern Arizona, Portland St.) really going to be a better draw than playing NDSU (and UNC, UNO, SDSU)? Even further, fan bases can drop dramatically when a team puts together a few sub-.500 seasons (look at NDSU attendance this year). Other possibilities: MidContinent, new conference? Where's the draw in playing D-IAA schools that are worse than the current NCC teams but that don't have the name recognition as rivals in Grand Forks? I can't imagine in-conference attendance going up in this situation. I think a move to D-IAA without any natural rivals and that leads to sub-.500 seasons could result in an actual decrease in attendance, whereas the plans that make such a move economically feasible tend to figure in an increase. An annual non-conference game against a D-IA team could help fill some of that revenue, but does little to generate local interest. That's why I thought the NCC moving (if they could rally enough support) was a no-brainer, whereas moving alone is a lot riskier. We're now in a bit of a hybrid situation in which some of the traditional rivals would leave us if we stayed, but may not be there if we jumped anyway. Disclaimer: I intentionally ignored stadium size because I was focusing on the possibility of attendance actually decreasing instead of increasing

You've noted yourself that a possible landing spot for NDSU and SDSU is the creation of a new conference. Now, however, there seems to be a wrench in that plan since I'm not sure SDSU is actually allowed to move without having an existing conference accept them. If that interpretation is correct, that would eliminate the most probable conference affiliation for UND because that new conference definitely would have had open arms. Since SDSU is primarily a basketball school anyway, Mid-continent might be next in line if they can't get into Big Sky. That does have the potential to also be a UND home, but since football would definitely be the sport driving any UND move, it's a pretty poor choice. UNC wanted to get away from the Dakota schools, can't imagine they'd have wanted an even wider conference that includes the Dakota schools. They seem quite content to rough it out as an independent for a while. That was always party of the problem with the D-I NCC plan, UNC was going D-I partially to get away from the NCC. I think that's a big part of why UND is waiting -- there aren't any great conference opportunities for it. As you've also correctly pointed out, even NDSU's unlikely successful entry into Big Sky probably wouldn't generate an opportunity for UND.

Well, according to the Herald the final 3-point shot for the win was clearly taken from inside the 3-point line. Video replay apparently confirms. You really hate to lose that way. PS - I was using upset in the traditional meaning of a lower ranked team winning a contest

Argh -- not only are the women upset, but the men miss out on a big upset opportunity. The men lost by one (78-79) on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by USD. You always hate to lose that way. Sounds like the women played a little more dominantly than USD, but had horrible shooting. Not a great way to begin the NCC season.

Let me introduce you to something called context. Yes, I said profits weren't relevant TO THE PRESTIGE OF AN ATHLETIC PROGRAM. I'm not going to repeat my arguments, but it's on record that you failed to address them, but instead take every opportunity to quote me out of context. Regarding the rest of your drivel -- it's been hashed out here. Do you really think that Ralph gave UND a gift that was an ongoing cash-drain or liability? He's clearly set it up to be self-sustaining for a long time to come.

OK, while I did agree with you on the "scandal" argument, I gotta disagree with your others: As Husby is fond of mentioning when its not relevant, the profitability of a program is critical to its survival. Conference affiliation affects travel costs and fan interest (especially in fair-weather Fargo) which in-turn affect the ability of a program to sustain itself. That's why we talk about those issues. I know you're unwilling to admit there's any risk because NDSU has already jumped head first, but I would prefer UND enter any such endeavor with its eyes open (as SDSU has done). Assuming by "Dakotas" you mean the land grant ag schools (UND is also a Dakota school), many of us disagree with this presumption. If I thought UND really weren't considering D-IAA, this forum wouldn't exist. We're not all as obsessed with NDSU as you are UND. We talk about it because it's relevant to UND.

Sigh. I can't believe these people don't realize how silly that argument sounds. The institution, its coaches, its boosters, and its athletes are completely in control of what rules they do or don't follow. Classification has nothing to do with it except that the more people care about your program, the bigger news a scandal is. If the Allen situation had occurred at Duke, we all would have heard about it through national media outlets (see Minnesota). Avoiding the prestige of Duke athletics because we don't want our dirty laundry aired that publicly is ridiculous.

Actually, that particular separate forum exists to discuss the impact on UND of the changes in the NCC and the possibility of UND moving to D-IAA. That forum would be closed tomorrow if the possibility of UND moving to D-IAA was really off the table. One has to be quite naive to actually believe they're not watching everything and continually reevaluating the possibility (particularly given that Lennon decided to stay).

I don't make it to Grand Forks much but hit the holiday tournament on Friday night. I'm no PCM, but I did play with the camera a bit. All shots taken from row K of section 307 (read: nowhere near the action) http://siouxsports.com/hockey/showgallery.php?id=6

Good article. I think you just posted it because you're quoted in the WSJ

I didn't know there was hockey further west from North Dakota

I think it's just a carry over from the now-defunct all-Minnesotan pride on ice days. Though the experiment of playing all-Minnesota kids proved unsuccessful, the attitudes born in that era still survive. When they were playing only Minnesota kids, it was critical to get all the best talent from Minnesota. It's never bothered UND fans to have someone from Thunder Bay (or S-SM ) score the NCAA-winning goal. Therefore, getting the best talent from ND is less critical than just getting the best talent. That said, I certainly understand the appeal of seeing the kids at the high schools you follow going on to the college for which you cheer. For ND fans, I think it's sort of like when Kleinsasser went to the Vikings. No one would've wished him ill had he gone to the Packers, it's just nice to see a local boy move up into another team you like.

I'll type really slowly this time. Profits are irrelevant in this discussion because I'm not talking about the business success of the program. I'm talking about the prestige and national attention it brings UND, which is simply dependent on how many people are exposed to the sport and exposed to the school because of it. Those people couldn't care less how much UND profits off them being a fan. They're not more or less of a fan dependent on UND's profits. Profit matters in UND's ability to sustain the support, but that's a completely separate issue that I don't think anyone is worried about.

Yeah, the D-I hockey referendum in Fargo a couple years ago seems to confirm your assessment. It also hurts that the hockey fans in Fargo only have to drive an hour to get to one of the best D-I teams in the country -- it's practically a single market. Despite NDSU's desire to add hockey, there's just not much community support.

Certainly with a pretty full plate of goalies already and Lamoureux signed for '04, I suspect the Sioux didn't have much to offer Ziegelman. We can't take all the good players, there are only so many roster slots.

Nope, profit is irrelevant to my point. My point was the source of NDSU's insecurity and jealousy of UND hockey. It's because of the number of bodies going through the gate (many from Fargo) and national recognition the school gets, not profit. No one has ever claimed that NDSU is going D-I or has tried repeatedly to add hockey to increase profit.

Frankly, star2city didn't seem that upset by your slogan (I've never seen it), he was just using it as evidence to make a very valid point. * It will be decades, if not centuries, before NDSU has 7 D-I titles (frankly, that's a moving target that I suspect UND will increase long before NDSU approaches it) * UND's hockey gate in a year is more than all of NDSU's D-I sports combined will be * NDSU has repeatedly tried to add hockey, but can never come up with the money Trust me, we know why NDSU fans disparage hockey in every venue and forum that they can. No need to explain yourself.

So THAT'S what's responsible for the following personal attacks: (All quotes JBB) Hardly. This thread had NOTHING to do with NDSU. It's about the future of the NCC, which NDSU is leaving. Attacking UND, Grand Forks, all their fans, and now the NCC does not provide any sort of pro-NDSU sentiment, it just reveals your true motivations.

Their parents are Jennifer McEwen Enoch and Eric and Karen Hale. I can't guarantee there's not a more distant relationship, but there's also no evidence of one. Doing a little further research, apparently Larry Hale was long enough ago that he's probably a bit old too be a parent of WCHA players, so I guess I didn't really add much interesting.

Though that definitely crossed a lot of fans' minds strategically, I think throwing a game would really destroy a team's momentum and spirit. The team that goes on to win the NCAA championship has to play hard to win every game throughout the tournament and often has a certain momentum going into the tournament. I don't think throwing a game would work at all from a psychological standpoint. Plus, it's easy to misestimate the "easy" path!