ScottM

I've spent enough time in St. Cloud on client matters to know that place is very insular and provincial, three 4-year colleges in the area notwithstanding. I'm also not surprised that some idiot faculty member got into it with a member of the student body. Same thing would probably happen at UND for the nickname or Israel, or anything else "offensive" to the PC nazis. Even though the private anti-Semitism suits seem to be settled, there are still ongoing investigations into SCCC's atmosphere for blacks and other racial minorities. Pres Saigo had a whiny, CYA letter in the Strib defending SCCC's action in settling the suit. Effectively he passed the buck to previous administrations.

DLW4GOPHERS, I agree with your assessment of PA and Dubay. Neither really paid attention to Minnesota hockey until mid 2001 if that early, much like the rest of the TC media. On the other side, Foss naturally goes over the top with his views of the "weak schedule" drivel. I have yet to hear a coach, player or anybody who's actually played the game claim a "weak schedule" benefits UND, or Minnesota for that matter, especially when it counts in the spring. However, I find it annoying "defending" UND's schedule to some of my Minnesota friends, and a few USCHO posters, and then have them claim trot out stats for Huntsville, Ohio State, etc. to show the "strength" of their schedule. Fortunately, the games are played on the ice and teams win the games they should, regardless of schedule, injuries, calls, bad ice, etc. January should be a telling time for much of the WCHA, IMHO.

I agree, Taz. Even though he was the "enemy" Herb usually got his teams to play at their highest levels, and he got results. He was/is of the "old school" and a great champion of college hockey.

The schedule on the board calls it the "Northern Lights Classic." I call it the "Powerpuff Gala". Were there no "Pee Wee" teams available?

Given how "weak" UND's schedule has been, we can expect that every other WCHA team will also beat the the teams we've beaten by at least 12-13 goals per game: SCCC, UAA, Wisconsin and Mankato. Then again, at least we didn't lose to Michigan at home.

It sounds like the REA admins should get their act together when it comes to crowd control, otherwise they, and REA, may be liable for anybody who is injured, or worse. If these guys can't figure out how to keep the crowd under control and let them in in an orderly fashion, perhaps they should find somebody who can.

I tried the Yahoo update setup ... not an f'ing message to my phone for scoring updates tonight. Anyway, I was able to get Period-based updates by calling into #121 on AT&T, while I was socializing and watching the Wisco-Minnesota game.

WTF?!?!?!? Just because my "squeeze" gets super-premium tickets to Mariucci from her parents when they're not in Florida, I'm a gopher fan? Please. I'm just there to advance the Sioux empire further to the east. Well that, and I really like going to Stub's for James Page super-pints and cheap college food ... just like when I'd go to Frenchy's.

From the IP's website. http://www.imperialpalace.com/ralph_engelstad.html

SCCC. While we have our most intense rivalries with Wisco and Minnesota, SCCC and its fans annoy the crap out of me. Their never-ending whines about "respect" when they haven't won a single NC$$ tourney game remind me more entitlement than anything I hear from gopher fans. Not to mention SCCC is a dump of a school that reminds me of Soviet-era design in Europe. The NCC is a dump of an arena that reminds me of some parkboard barn.

My first guess(es) would be also David, and maybe Ryan, Hale. I think that while David has shown a great defensive style we were all expecting, he would really need to put up some numbers of offense to set him apart from the guys NJ has on its team now, and it the pipeline. Otherwise, he might be stuck in the AHL for awhile. Doesn't NJ also have the rights to DeMarchi and Paul Martin of Minnesota?

I think most of the voters probably just look at a school's W/L record, as well as their overall tradition and reputation, and not the strength of the opponents. I **think** we were ranked in the top-15 well into the start of last season until the wheels finally fell off our wagon around this time last year.

I'd rather the goalies we have get more consistent help upfront, and maybe their own coach to work on technique, than bringing in another minder in mid-season. Bringing in Siembida worked for a couple of series, before last season's real weaknesses, e.g., rotten special teams, poor defense, sputtering offense, poor leadership, etc. became apparent, and often fatal. If these guys get experience, good or bad, and help, it's better than bringing in another fresh face and hope the other guys realize that they have to play defense too, even the D-men.

The Fargo Fool'em also indicated that the shorter bench was due to Friday's game. Anyway, I'm very glad Prpich is starting to make some points. He did pretty well in the BCHL with 57 pts last season, but he also had 239 PIM which I think gave a number of coaches pause. It appears he's been pretty low-key with PIM this season and seems like he contributes on the ice, even if he hasn't scored much. He was slotted by Blais as a position player and I think he'll develop nicely over time. jk, while I think the Dub comparison is a good one, I thought Prpich would be more of an Archibald-type player based on his BCHL PIM, and scoring.

Nice gritty win for the team, even though I too am worried about the team sitting on its heels with a lead going into the third. It's nice to see some more offensive production being spread around the team/lines. The once-solid defense we had seems like it took the weekend off at crucial times and left the goalies hanging. Not good, and I hope the team works hard in practice this week. The Hurled noted that Blais benched certain players for their poor performance Friday, and primarily rolled three lines.

I caught most of the first period on the internet, and was seriously surprised at the number and frequency of penalties. There was no indication as to whether they were good calls or not. But it's part of the game. Nice comeback, and I hate those games, for the team. Blais commented in the Hurled he thought the team was unfocused and that's what it sounded like. Hopefully, the second and third periods got the team focused on the job at hand. (Ralph would want it that way. ) Mankato played a tough game, as I thought they would. Kudos to them for at least showing up to play. It was also nice to see Ranfranz get some playing time. On a related note, when Tim mentioned that Brandt was going out of the net to get a puck in the first, I thought "Oh ****. All of that keep it simple stuff he's been using the past couple series is gone." Anyway, it sounds like he got his act together later. Time to get two more points tonight, and continue the "Revenge Tour 2002-03." Edit: Kudos to Mike Prpich for getting the first points of his college career and to David Hale for demonstrating "Jim Archibald's Public Relations Techniques" to a Mankato player, even if he has to sit tonight.

I agree Pat. Attempting a link between D1 status and a school's research capabilities is tenuous at best, and can be dishonest at worst. A few years ago, I represented a local client whose CEO is/was a big booster of Michigan athletics. We were doing a joint research venture with a couple of well known universities, not Minnesota or Michigan. Not once did the athletic departments of these respective schools come into the conversations as we hashed out the details. Of course, these were DIII schools, namely the University of Chicago and MIT.

Here's the NY Times obituary. Looks like a rehash of some others. LAS VEGAS, Nov. 27

Excellent job on the pics, Pat. As always.

A sad day for UND, and Sioux hockey. My condolences to Ralph's family and friends. He was a great friend of the University.

As I noted, when the Indians in Mpls protest, they generally worry about jobs, crime, healthcare, education and poverty. I haven't heard anybody state that UND's nickname is responsible for any of these issues, or that removing it would alleviate them. Well, except for a bunch of whiny pseudo-intellectual white liberals. That line of logic ranks right up there with SU's logic in moving to D1, in that it will increase their academic "prestige". BTW: "Groundless counter arguments, loaded with rather insincere and convenient contriteness, contrived to draw attention from the issue plaguing your institution do not absolve accountability any more than the intellectually bankrupt slanders."--Jethro What the hell is this nonsense? I don't see any acts of contrition displayed around here. Maybe you should contact Ms. Carson and Mr. Mackenzie and "contrive" to have a good cry.

Mankato sort of worries me. They've always played us tough, and last season at REA was no picnic. Generally, they play a tough, physical game against faster, more talented teams. I'd expect the same this weekend. I think if we get up on them early and keep the puck on their end, we should be okay. We have to play our "A" game both nights, and start to captialize on our shots, as well as keep playing a strong blueline. This is one of those series that we *should* sweep, but who knows? As far as I know, we are in pretty decent shape in spite of some tough series recently. I haven't heard if Tyler is back to 100%. However, given how some of the younger, bigger forwards are playing recently, e.g., Genoway, Massen, Prpich, etc. he may have a tough time finding a starting slot if he is ready for this series.

Jethro, do have any idea what "contrived" and "contrite" mean? How do they relate to each other in your assertion? Come on, let's see that 'SU education in action ... oh, we have. Never mind.

I agree with Notes and Leinweber, Pat. Notermann has always played hard and worked to win, so I'm glad he's acting like a leader even without the letter. Especially taking somebody like Matt Greene away from Don Adam's lecture. It sounds like Leinweber is playing much better than last season. Honestly, he was one of my preseason "bubble boys" due to last season and his relatively small size. However, I'm glad he's proving me wrong. I think if the team keeps going for the net and taking their shots, they'll eventually start getting the points too. I think the goaltending is being helped by a solid blueline, so it helps Brandt and Siembida do their jobs and gain some much-needed confidence. Both are younger goalies, but I think they have some strong upsides.

Nice effort by the boys. It's always sweet to beat/sweep Bucky, even a weaker team in transition. It's nice to be getting so many SOG, but we've got to start burying the biscuit. I hope shooting drills are a big component of this week's practices. I'm glad the team has matured where they can handle a third-period comeback and not wilt, unlike last season. I'm also pleased by the leadership shown by Spiewak and the Hale brothers, it's a nice change from last year as well. Sounds like Brandt is starting to get more comfortable in his role by keeping it simple and focused. I think the team will only improve over the season, since they're going to need everything they can muster on their many road trips in the second half of the season.