ScottM

Dahlen is listed as a sophomore on last year's roster, so with sitting out a year, he'll probably be 24 when/if he makes the roster. Looking at his numbers G/A/Pts/PIM ... I'm not impressed. I think Blais could do better.

Wow ... I'd love to see that series with some serious hoopla. It should be a great one.

I think the new AD is going to have his hands full raising money for the department, dealing with the merger fallout and figuring out how to the get football program a new stadium, and otherwise keeping that place going. If the name issue hasn't been a real problem at Minnesota before, I don't see it being one in the near future, barring some stupid drunken frat-boy incident--which always seems to bring the issue up again at some level. I think the Minnesota boosters would look less kindly on somebody paying more attention to another school's affairs than their own, unlike the nitwits at SCCC. Unlike SCCC, Minnesota alums/boosters tend to be more involved and vocal in their support/dislike for an AD or President. If he starts cutting programs and whining about the Sioux name at the same time, I'd guess he had better update his resume.

I tend to have a great deal of respect for Lucia. He gets alot out of his players on and off the ice, much like Blais. My guess is that if Lucia had any neutral comments about the new REA it was mainly to keep himself focused on his job, unlike some of our guys. I think Lucia will do well at Minnesota, probably winning another Title or two, before he goes to the pros or some other level of hockey.

Eric is Wisco's version of Chris!!!. My feeling is that Eaves might try to land a couple of Wisconsin boys to create more interest in the program amongst semi-casual fans. Never heard of either player, and I've haven't heard of Blais & Co. even looking at the NAHL, then again it might not hurt. But I'd rather they spend their travel/scout time in western Canada or northern Minnesota looking for some tough grinders who can play both ends of the ice. Then again, talent is where you can find it.

The Hurled reports that Commie was traded with some other players to Anaheim. I think it's a pretty good move, as the Ducks seem to have a pretty decent core of younger players and Mike might have a better chance of more PT. Link

I'm not going to try to predict the number of games we'll win.

Not to "dis" Belfour, but I think he's #### lucky a team of Toronto's caliber picked him up, especially if he's penciled in to start. Hopefully, he settles down and can get the Leafs to the playoffs and beyond.

I recall Roche had some academic and discipline problems under Blais. There was a rumor that he would not stay after the end of the 98-99 season due to the "conflict." I'm glad he did. Hope he makes it to the big club this season, I'd like to see him play at the X.

"I am still impressed by the GPA's & the graduation rate of athletes that play for UND. I believe they are way above the national average in both of these areas. I believe Dean takes pride in his players academic achievements & encourages them to do their best."--Speez Good points Speez. Blais made it very clear to his players from Day 1 that they are expected to perform in the classroom if they want to play. I know from my student days, going to class with some players, that they attended class regularly, contributed to group projects and generally put a lot of time into the academic side. (I remember once Blais actually showed up to one larger, lecture-type class to "spot check" players' attendance.) I think Lucia imposes the same type of requirements on the Minnesota players too. That enforced discipline not only benefits the program, but more importantly benefits the players as very few of them will actually be making "big" NHL bucks in the future.

I believe the 2000 regional at Mariucci "sold out" even though there were a number of empty seats here and there, but still a pretty strong turnout at most games. I think the NC$$ is trying to capitalize a bit on Minnesota's Title win and the hype to perhaps capture more casual, local fans who may not have attended in 2000 due to Minnesota's absence. That said, I'd bet the tourney will make a nice chunk of change, but attendance may depend somewhat on who is bracketed here, e.g., western teams with a strong local following, versus eastern teams without that fan base.

Nice analysis OETKB. I would agree that the elusive "chemistry" was lacking for much of the season. I think that may have impacted the leadership quality we saw, or didn't see, as well. I think this year's team will be more mature and more confident, especially after reviewing those 1 point losses and third period collapses that punctuated the season. We saw flashes of the great play and coordination later in the season, especially among the younger guys so I'd bet that will carry forward. I think we'll have a pretty solid team, but a few question marks still remain in goal and on special teams IMHO.

While Karl's stature may be a minor strike against him, I think his weight, or lack of, may be a bigger issue. I believe Irbe is about 190 lbs or so, and I doubt Goehring was even close to that w/o pads, although he may have gained a few pounds since 2001. That was a knock on Andy too. He was too light to play a full series of games at 145(?) lbs. Not to say that Karl couldn't play in the NHL over time, but the comparison to Irbe isn't really a mirror. (I think the Stars drafted Irbe sometime before they bolted to Big D if memory serves, so experience is another factor too.) Who ends up where may come into more focus after this weekend IMO. As dagies noted, Belfour was woefully inconsistent and quite the head case the past season or so. I think he may land somewhere, probably as a backup, but I'm guessing teams are going to look closely before offering a starting job. BTW: Congrats to Karl on his impending wedding.

Congrats to Matt and Zach.

I agree. The last time the regionals were at Mariucci, there was a pretty solid crowd even though Minnesota was out of it, although there were two WCHA teams in it. I don't think getting at least a 3/4-full house would be a problem if there were some western teams with strong local followings, e.g., Minnesota, Michigan, UND, Wisco, etc. Then again, the NC$$ would probably screw it up and bring in teams like Mercyhurst, Mass-Lowell and Bowling Green. That said, I wish they'd do the regional at Xcel instead. You can't have a beer at Mariucci and if you left the arena in 2000 between games to head to Stub's, you couldn't get back in. Getting tuned up pregame at Stub's and then having a hangover half way through game two is not fun ...

I like the change to a 15 second faceoff. I think it will not only speed up the game a bit, but also force teams to act quicker to change lines. In some cases, it could leave a team dry if they have their 4 line stuck out there against another team's 1 line. I'd bet coaches will preach "the 15 second hustle" in practice to get an edge on their opponents. I've always favored a smaller, NHL crease as it tends to allow more physical play around the net and can help set up screens. Hopefully the zebras follow thorough with the diving and other sportsmanship penalties. Too much of that crap gets to be part of a player's resume.

Discussing a player's grades is not really material for a public forum, unless you wish to post your own or some other personal information. Until the AD's office or another official source puts out a release of sorts, who is around in August is merely idle speculation.

Not sure if the WHL draft is a "you're drafted but you're not obligated to join us" like the NHL draft was prior to the opt-in requirements now in place. I'd guess that being drafted by a WHL team would not preclude the Ludwig boys from going to the USHL or college route beforehand. I can imagine the looks on the faces of the Red Deer faithful trying to figure out where "TX" is in Canada.

I had heard "rumors" that REA/UND were considering a bid for the expanded regionals. However, I have heard nothing official from the school. I could see Kohl and Mariucci/Xcel hosting regionals, but the NCC? If SCCC gets a regional, it will be the last one, as the NCC is the poorest excuse for a hockey arena I've seen in years, and I doubt anybody else would bother going to that warehouse unless they had to.

Looking at the vast majority of the choices, it shows that the most "respected" or "admired" programs tend to have a strong tradition for playing well when it counts on a fairly consistent basis. Granted, every team has a down year or two, but the proof shows in those teams that don't stay down and work their way back. That's probably a reason teams like UND, Minnesota, Michigan, BU, Maine, etc. get mentioned more than SCCC, Bowling Green, OSU or Lowell.

Greyeagle, I've thought about getting in on a POI game or two, especially after meeting some of the gang at the FF, but just haven't had time.

Sprig, I lived in GF until I was 12. Hence, the early Canadian exposure, which usually meant we got kicked around at some tourneys, literally and figuratively. Moved to Fargo and the level of play was not the same. Ended up on an American Legion or VFW (?) team they had at the time instead of doing the parkboard thing. Contrary to its own "spin" Fargo is not a hockey town. Never played in HS, as I spent more time playing pickup games with older former HS and college players. Started playing on a "real" team again when I was in the army and stationed in Europe. Played a lot of Swedish, Czech, German and Finnish teams. A few Canadian army teams too. Good times. Would have had a chance to play a Russian team in Vienna, but had to go "play army."

I've been doing this deal for about 6 months. The program is designed to use many users' PCs to process computer modeling for different compounds that may be used to treat cancer at some point. The computer processes an information packet and sends the results back to UD automatically, and then uploads another packet for analysis. You also have the option to shut down the program and it won't start on a notebook operating on batteries to conserve power. I've never had any problems with the software and it only uses CPU capacity that you are not using for other programs. I figured for as much time as I spend on a computer for work, school and home, I may as well do something useful. If you decide to participate and want to use a work computer, you should check with your IT folks as packets being sent/received may hangup on your firewalls or violate computer usage policies.