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    Prospective Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    Agreed.

    I always thought he'd stay home anyways, but that just kind of cemented it. If I was in his shoes, I'd stay close to home.

    It's not necessarily a given though. Not sure what his other choices were, but I know Joe Finley had a handicapped sibling and obviously decided to play here.

    COMMITTED UND Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    I've said the same thing several times. Opposing coaches and players, plus potential recruits, constantly talk about how great the atmosphere is in the building. They look forward to the building itself and look forward to the atmosphere and the crowd. Yet there are people on this board and in the Grand Forks area that talk about how weak it is. One group or the other has to be wrong. I will believe the incoming recruits that see several of the top places around the country.

    I've been to every rink in this league except the Colorado rinks and Alaska Anchorage. Compared to the other arenas, I think we have a great atmosphere. In my opinion, what makes a great atmosphere are not 10,000 people spelling out their states name in unison like a kindergarten class (Minnesota) or a group of students jumping around in circles and clapping their hands (Wisconsin), but more the level of noise in the arena. We have one of the loudest arenas in the league, and when you mix that in with a good band and the great job REA does with the lighting and the music, it makes for one of the best atmospheres in the country.

    My Experience at Madison

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    This was my first trip to Madison to watch the Sioux take on the Badgers. My friends and I heard that Madison was a great town to have fun. Last year we traveled to Houghton, MI to watch the Sioux and we had a blast, but this year in Madison it was totally different. When we got to the Kohl Center one of the Badger's fans asked us not to yell Sioux at the end of the National Anthem. He told us that we were being disrespectful to the United States and that North Dakota was a bunch of communist. The guy was just trying to get under our skin, but we didn't let him so he looked like a stupid Badger fan. After the Sioux victory we went to States Street to celebrate. State Street looked like a lot of fun with all the bars and people, but it wasn't we heard a lot of Badger fans yelling F*ck the Sioux. We went to a couple of bars and we didnt feel very welcomed compared to the other cities in the WCHA while wearing our Sioux jerseys. I actually got punched in the face because we wouldn't buy a guy a shot. He kept on taking our Sioux hats and throwing it on the floor telling us that we needed to buy him a shot. I dont think I will be going back to Madison for some time. Like my friend said there were 30% nice Badger fans and 70% disrespectful Badger fans. And the best line that they can come up with is " Sioux is a girls name" Let me give the student section and band credit. It was very cool to see them all involved with all the different songs they did. It looked like they were having a lot of fun. I am just wondering if anyone else had the same kind of experience my friends and I did.

    Go Sioux!!!

    I've been on every Madison trip since 2005. One thing you have to understand is that Wisconsin is a football state, and many of them do not understand the game of hockey. Although Minnesota fans can be arrogant, at least the majority of them understand the game. With Wisconsin fans, not only do the majority of them not understand the game of hockey, they are also drunk and belligerent. With respect to the campus and community, it is VERY liberal. Walking around that campus and town is like going back to the 1960's almost. Many of the students that go to school there are big city kids that come from very wealthy backgrounds, making it a very preppy atmosphere. You can see it in the harmonic cheers that the students section does. When I was a college student, you could not have gotten me to dance in circles and clap hands. I will say, we've had some great times in Madison over the years (some of the others on this board can attest to that), but it is definitely a different culture and atmosphere that is different than anywhere else in the WCHA.

    Prospective Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    I have no official stats, this is just anecdotal but one would think there are just as many smaller city recruits who would hate to live in a bigger city like the Twin Cities Metro area. To them, Grand Forks would be a great place to play.

    Also, there is the "dilution factor" of playing hockey at a place like the U of MN-Twin Cities. It is such a big area, the hockey program isn't the biggest thing in town. A place like UND and Grand Forks, hockey is front and center, something that is very attractive to many recruits.

    I think these things even out due to the reasons above.

    There are many great parts to the UND program, and don't get me wrong if I had my choice I would play for UND. I was just trying to point out that players choose a program for different reasons. For some recruits, the big city plays a factor in it. With respect to Michaelson's situation, it's not like the talent pool for gopher recruits has went down, so when he comes in he will be there with a good crop of players, and who knows what the coaching situation will be in a few years. On another note, I do have to give a hats off to the coaching staff on the recruits that we have been getting lately. There was a time when this program was never really in the mix for many NTDP players, and to be able to start getting this players on a consistent basis I think is a real testament to the great job this coaching staff has done.

    Prospective Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    Since we have had some commitments from the NTDP program lately, I would also like to add that we have also shown interest in Nikolas Olsson, Seth Jones, and Jared Rutledge. I would say that Olsson is most likely to go to Denver, Jones is between Denver, Miami-Ohio, and North Dakota, and Rutledge is between North Dakota and Michigan State. Not sure if this has been posted before, but I thought I would add it in.

    Prospective Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    Perhaps I am over thinking this but why would you go to a UND/BSU game to decided whether you were going to UND or U of M. Seems to me I would attend a game of the team I planned to commit to other then going to a game of the team I don't plan to commit. Just a thought.

    If you read the article carefully he says that he is also giving BSU a look, the night of the UND/BSU game is a BSU recruiting visit. He visited UND this last summer.

    Prospective Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    The Upper Midwest High School Elite League season starts tonight at New Hope Arena. There are two games, but the more intriguing game should be the Southeast vs. Southwest game (since we are recruiting players off both teams), here is the schedule and league website where you can look at the rosters,

    Schedule

    http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0012/2171/Elite_Schedule_2010_rev_2_20100812.pdf

    Rosters

    http://www.mnhockeyhub.com/page/show/207681-elite-league-team-rosters?subseason=25550

    Prospective Recruits

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    It's July, any more on the Grimaldi front? Wasn't July supposed to be the decision making month for him? I have no problem with him taking his time, as long as he makes the right decision.

    Your question has been answered.....welcome aboard Grimaldi :)

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