Southernmn

Kessel returning to the UM is totally up to Boston, not Kessel (or in this case, Kessel's dad). Same thing goes for ANY player, on any team that are considered flight risks. They will gladly take the money, and get the clock ticking on free agency (and possibly the BIG $$), as opposed to another year in college. The only difference with Kessel and the other's, is that Kessel is up front about it, where everyone else is going the "PC" rout.

Speaking of Commodore....did you catch his pic in SI ?? OUCH !!!!!!

http://www.ushr.com No subscription to this site............but the headline says that Parise has left, and UND has signed a new goaltenter..........anyone ?

The college hockey season is always a roller coaster ride for all teams. Teams go up at some point of the season, and those same teams go down at some point of the season. The 1st half of the season, Wisconsin was playing probably the best I have ever seen a college team play, then they went into their downhill slide, and hit bottom over in Mankato when they got destroyed by a very average Maverick's team. Then they started to go back up. Remember too, that North Dakota never really got going as a team till about the last 5 weeks of the season. Till then it looked as though they wouldn't even qualify for the NCAA's. To their credit, they started playing a LOT better (especially defensively), and put themselves in a very good posistion. The Gophers were the best team in the country in January & February, and had a great streak going. But they started going down the hill the last few weeks of the season, and there was no time to get going back up the hill. The schedule they played the last month of the season certainly didn't help either. After the Denver series, they pllyed all lower level teams the rest of the way till the Final Five. That's not really an excuse for the way they played, but have seen teams go thru this every year, just a matter of when the downhill slide starts. And I don't really agree with people who say the Final Five is all the important. When Denver missed even making the Final Five in 2004, I think things worked out all right for them. Let's face it, this tournament is merely a money maker for the WCHA, the games for the most part are meaningless, unless a team is on the fence with the Pairwise.

There are 2 more playing high school hockey......both are goalies.

This news why

2005-06 prep hockey: Conference previews By Todd D. Milewski BIG EIGHT Outlook: Madison Memorial is looking for its fifth straight conference title, but it has only one returning senior. The Spartans will have their hands full with challenges from any number of Big Eight teams this season, with Janesville and Sun Prairie the top contenders. Tuesday night's Memorial-Janesville game at Madison Ice Arena figures to be big in the standings. A trio of standout goalies - Middleton sophomore Taylor Whitmore, Sun Prairie junior Andy Scheib and Janesville senior Max Giese - may play a role in the race for the league title. Big Eight teams play only 12 conference games this season, down from 14, because Madison East isn't playing a varsity conference schedule.

"Hackstol"................

So far all of the "predictions" have been right on the money...........but really, of all the players who HAVE left, I would consider Zajac the only one to be even a minor surprise. The Spirko rumuor has been around for a long time. I caught wind of that well before the season ended. From what I can gather, Parise will not be going anywhere unless it would be somewhere in Europe to play.......NHL is pretty much luke-warm on him. You know......having all of these players jumping to the pro's is actually a COMPLIMENT to the hockey programs at UND & UM. It means that they are constantly bringing in top drawer talent, and making the players even better. This also helps in recruiting, which what both programs have seen in the last couple years. Both have had a couple of the best recruiting classes ever seen in the last few years.........but the price you pay for bringing in and nurturing the type of talent, is that you will probably only have them for a year or 2, 3 tops. But the upside is that every week-end during the winter, WE get to watch the best college hockey has to offer......not everyone can say that

You correct on both counts. Stafford is gone......has been since the season ended. Just a matter of crossing the T's and dotting the I's. No NHL team is going to throw any serious cash Parise's way. He is considered a "project" from everyone I have had conversations with. If he leaves over the summer, it will be on his own accord.

Correct. For these type of players, college is merely a way to get to the NHL. That doesn't mean they don't enjoy the experience, or build some ties to the college/team, but the number 1 goal is still to play pro hockey, and make a living doing it. It is a rare athlete indeed, who will turn down the money to play an extra year in the college ranks. P.S. - Parise is not going anywhere...........

Ditto !!

could you change me "Southernmn" ?? I missed the "u"

Article is dated TODAY........

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/14452643.htm

I think we can only agree to disagree on this. I refuse to hand over money to millionaires (Wild ownership), who take our money, and in effect, give NOTHING back in return. Professional sports should be a 2 way street.....not the same deal with college sports. I agree that college (and most amateur) sports should, and for the most part are, supported for the love of the game. That's why I always have, and always will, support the Gopher hockey progam (even afer the HC fiasco !! )), but would never give a dime to the Wild organization as it operates today.

Agree completely. What makes the WCHA what it is today, is the number of quality teams, which in turn, pulls in the best college players. Minnesota & Wisconsin both have a history with UM & MSU, but they are not even close to the rivalries that exist with most of the WCHA teams, and there is no history at all with OSU. I for one, would HATE to be able to play the Sioux, at best once a year, in a meaningless, non-conference series. The intensity, and atmosphere that surround each of these games today, would be completely lost. Same goes for playing UMD. SCSU, Denver, and CC. I also think that taking UM & UW out of the league would hurt all of the other WCHA members. Let's face it........some of the reasons players come to WCHA schools, is that they get to play against some of the best programs in the country on a weekly basis (mostly....apologies to UMT and UAA). I really believe that busting up the conference would effect recruiting for all invloved as well. Just a really bad idea all the way around....for all of the programs, and for us fans as well.

Those would be the "standing room only" tickets, that are not "official" seats. That's why even if the game is sold out, the attendance figures can vary.

Don't forget the $20 to park............

And everyone will gladly send their send their money in for tickets AGAIN, and management will spend very little of it on talent AGAIN, give us the old crap about building "for the future" AGAIN, and the team will score 1.5 goals a game AGAIN next year. That's why I rarely go to Wild games, even when the company tickets are offered to me. Not even worth my time or effort. College hockey is a whole different story........can watch that all day, every day !!

They have SOLD out EVERY home game ever played. How many people actually are in the seats is a different deal......but that is true of all sports. As long as they continue to SELL every seat, there is no real incentive for them to spend the money they are now stuffing into their bank accounts. The real problem is, if you are a season ticket holder, and decide to give up your seats because the team and the games suck, there are 5,000 people on the waiting list to scoop those tickets up. And , IF they ever decide to actually try and make the team competetive, and you want to buy tickets again, you go back to the end of the waiting list. So very few people are willing to give up the tickets. Kind of a Catch-22, which works very well for the owners.

Can't imagine that the WCHA membership would be too thrilled with having programs moved to a new conference. The more likely scenerio would be for Bemidji State to move into the WCHA, and maybe move someone from the CCHA (UNO or UAF) into the WCHA, and split the league into 2, 6 team divisions.

Stars never had an attendance problem either, until Mr. Green announced he was moving the team. Other factors played into that, season tickets, legal issues, etc.

The Wild have been sold out EVERY home game they have ever played. I agree that based on their performance on the ice, it doesn't make a lot of sense. I am not sure why they keep pulling people in while putting a sub par product on the ice year after year. Every other franchise in town gets ripped for not spending money on talent, but for reasons I don't understand, the Wild got a pass on this.