skateshattrick

On the first point, you need to take off the green and gold glasses because you are dreaming. On the second point, no one said it would be easy, but are you forgetting that UND beat UNI last year on the road (the current FCS No.1 and a perennial power that has beaten Iowa State in its recent past) and destroyed Southern Utah this year on the road? FCS or D1AA is the equivalent of D2 15 years ago and there is very little difference between the top 10 in D1AA and the top 10 in D2. There is also little difference between the weak D1 teams and the top teams in D1AA and D2. However, there is a huge difference between even the weakest teams in the Big 10 (Minnesota and Northwestern) and everyone else. That will become readily apparent when the Gophers play Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State and even Illinois or Indiana.

I agree with your assessment. The Bison are a very good D1AA team [nka FSC], and have proven they can beat some of the lower to middle D1A teams. However, it is not realistic to suggest that they could compete in the Big 10. I am not trying to minimize this win because the Bison deserve credit, but this may be the worst Gophers football team since the Joe Salem days. I do believe that the Bison could transition to D1 and be competitive, but competing with the majority of the Big 10 would be very difficult. Yes, I know that Michigan was beaten by Appalachian State, and there will always be upsets, but this post is a fair assessment.

My apologies Rednek--your question regarding competing against a major junior team is legitimate. However, somewhere along the line, it denigrated into a thread about the Sioux playing the Minnesota Wild and actually competing. That is what I was referring to.

How about if was an entire team of mini-Ditkas and Ditka was driving the bus?

I agree 100%. I'm not picking on Redwing specifically, but this whole thread is pretty embarassing and borders on delusional. It reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live skits where "da Bears" fans talk about "Ditka" beating other teams. The Sioux have a great COLLEGE hockey team and I love the Sioux as much as anyone, but it is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that a college team could compete with a pro team. I thought NDSU fans lacked perspective in thinking that their football team could compete in the Big 10, but this takes lunacy to another level.

I believe so. Lynn graduated from RR in 1978, her brother Kevin graduated in 1975, and Beth in 1979. Her dad was a physician.

Chorney does get it from his dad, but just as much from his mom. His mom is Lynn Powers (Chorney) from Grand Forks.

Chris Connelly, a former FM Jet the past 2 years, who is now playing for the Omaha Lancers and is the 2nd leading scorer in the league, has given a verbal to Boston University. You may recall that there was some discussion about his brother Jack committing to UMD. This appears on Chris Dilks WCHA/CCHA blog. There is a link to it in Brad Schlossman's blog.

You are assuming that because you do not like hockey and would likely not go that there would not be support in Fargo. You could not be more wrong. Even though hockey does not get the support of the park district, it is huge in Fargo and even bigger in Moorhead. Moorhead has 4 sheets of indoor ice, 2 of which are privately owned and funded, and they are adding on. Fargo is building a 5 sheet indoor ice arena with private funds. If you ever go to a Moorhead Spuds game when they are playing a ranked team from Roseau, Warroad or Minneapolis, you would see 3000+ fans in standing room only crowds. If you ever drive on I-29 on Fridays or Saturdays, you would see how many Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo fans make that trek. If you saw how many FM area people were at the game, you would know what I'm talking about. If you saw how many families from Moorhead, Fargo and West Fargo have sons or daughters playing hockey or have played hockey, you would know what I'm talking about. This is a huge hockey community and there is no question in my mind that it would support NDSU hockey. Having said that, I am glad that there are people like you because as a Sioux fan, I hope Bison fans are never smart enough to figure out that they are missing out on a huge revenue producer that would make its other sports even stronger.

That is a valid point, but I question that it would make it a net loss unless it is a school where men's hockey is not drawing at least 5000 per game. Maybe some of the forensic accountants know, but I doubt that UND, Minnesota, and the other WCHA powers are losing money overall. NDSU would really not have a problem drawing that many fans. It is a much larger market than SCSU or MSUM, and NDSU tends to have success in most athletic endeavors. That was also once true of women's BB, but is no longer true. Hopefully, women's hockey will eventually be at least a break even sport.

Good post. Even as a Sioux fan, I don't disagree with most of what you said. However, as to No. 4, I'm not sure that you and other NDSU fans understand that D1 hockey and the strength of other sports such as basketball and football are not mutually exclusive. Hockey at UND operates in the black and funds many other sports. When UNO started D1 hockey about 10-15 years ago, its other sports were weak and poorly funded. Within 2 years, it was operating in the black to the tune of over $1M and helping to fund the other sports and made the FB and BB programs stronger. UND has not been hurt at all by hockey. In fact, it is the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg. If you don't like hockey, that is your prerogative and I respect that. I personally don't like basketball very well and I would not be caught dead at a wrestling match. However, hockey will not hurt your athletic program. That is the myth that some coaches like Bucky Maughan like to spread because they feel threatened by another sport that may make their sport obscure. Hockey likely will have the opposite effect and add to the overall athletic budget. Do the math--if you can average even 6000 per game for 20 home games, that is 120,000. For 5 or 6 home football games, you would need to average 20,000+. UND averages over 11,000 for hockey so the figure would be much higher. Even a small D2 school like UNO averages over 8000 for hockey. I personally don't want NDSU to get hockey because it would weaken UND's fan base. It is estimated that as much as 1/3 of the Sioux attendance is from outside Grand Forks, and that much of that is from Fargo-Moorhead. I personally don't mind making that trip because UND is one of the top programs in the country. However, I do believe that NDSU has and will continue to miss the boat on this issue. If water polo or equestrian brought revenue to UND's athletic budget, I would be in favor of it despite the fact that I don't care about those sports. I would even support wrestling if it ever made money.

Dagies, I have to respectfully disagree. He didn't score a ton the first 1/2 of the year, but he clearly was already one of the better players on the Sioux from the moment he took the ice. If you watch a lot of hockey, and I know you do, you could tell he was special and does everything well, from faceoffs, to battles along the boards, along with great hands and a great shot. I know I had a huge smile on my face the first game he played for the Sioux. I also knew that he would only be in a Sioux uniform for at most 2 years. The second 1/2 of his freshman year, he was also one of the Sioux's leading scorers and drew praise from coaches around the country. He was the best player in the regionals when the Sioux beat Michigan and Holy Cross, and again in the loss to BC. Despite his young age, I would rank him as one of the top 5 forwards to ever wear a Sioux uniform. He is absolutely a special player. How INCH or anyone else could not see that is absolutely beyond comprehension, especially considering how he lit it up at SSM.

I went back and reviewed the rankings from 2 years ago, and you are correct. Toews was ranked as the 9th best forward, Oshie 17th, and Duncan was unranked. This is not intended to rip INCH, but you really have to take its rankings with a grain of salt. When it gets right down to it, they know very little more than the fans. I can understand Oshie and Duncan flying under the radar, but Toews was a huge prospect and some (many?) thought that he had a higher upside than Kessel.

Good list! My line of most hated rivals: 1. Rodents 2. Boston College 3. Denver 4. Wisconsin 5. Michigan, MSUM Landcows 7. The rest of Hockey East except Maine 8. The entire EZCHA or whatever they are called ("weanie conference") 9. Whoever is playing the Sioux that weekend. The first 3 are the easiest, and there is a big gap between 3 and 4, and even bigger between 4 and 5. I don't mind SCSU, but some of SCSU's fans can be a little annoying.

Okay. I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt and a way out, but you have demonstrated over and over that you know nothing about hockey. Happy is rational compared to you. Have a good day.

You bring up the analogy, the analogy is shown to be incorrect, and now it is beside the point?? Tell me Dave, where do you draw the line? When Dave Forbes speared Henry Boucha, is that "part of the game" according to your "philosophy"? How about when a player uses his stick as a weapon and hits another player over the head? If you say yes, you have lost whatever thin amount of credibility that you had. If you acknowledge that it is a "dirty" play, how can you differentiate that from a knee to knee contact?? Anyone with any common sense would say that you cannot, because both are intended to injure and frequently end careers. You are from Fargo, and there are plenty of current and former college and NHL players in the area. I challenge you to find one of them that agrees with your "philosophy" that knee-to-knee hits are part of the game and are not dirty plays. Whether I agree with your position on fighting, I respect your opinion and agree that it is a philosophy. Your position on Ulf and knee to knee contacts, however, is incredible and not rational. You can argue that it was not intentional, but that is like arguing that Forbe's action was unintentional. Anyone who knows the game knows that Ulf deliberately stuck out his knee on many occasions. The only issue is whether that is "dirty" or not, and you are dead wrong on that issue. That is not a "philosophical" difference.

That means a lot coming from you. I have forgotten more about hockey than you will ever know. But forget about me and everyone else on this message board--it is clear Dave that you know more than all of the players that played against him. You really need to let this go before you lose whatever credibility that you once had. Come back when you are lucid.

Wow. Nice mature response. We are "crybabies" for seeing the obvious. You use emotionally charged language like "impecile" and "whiners" to describe Don Cherry or anyone who dares to disagree with you. Apparently, you don't condone violence, but resorting to name-calling and put downs is acceptable conduct. Did you even read the Wikepedia report?? Obviously not because you only see the world through your clouded vision. Anyone who is not an apologist or with any common sense knows when someone tries to hurt another by sticking out a knee, but particularly other players know. The players know that Samuelsson and Marchment are dirty players--they have said it repeatedly. The fact that you dislike and/or disagree with Don Cherry is really irrelevant to the discussion and evades the fact that hockey players (particularly his peers in the NHL) believed Ulf was a dirty player.

I agree. Anyone who has played hockey or even watched a lot of hockey can tell you that was a deliberate attempt to injure Neely. The knee on knee hits, which are a trademark of players like Bryan Marchment and Ulf Samuelsson, are often described as the dirtiest plays in all of hockeys. DaveK is entiled to his opinions, but he strains all credibility in arguing that Ulf is not a dirty player. If you do not believe me, look at Wikipedia.com and type in Ulf Samuelsson. You will find information on the careers that he ended and it notes that "in a 2002 ESPN poll, Samuelson was voted the 4th dirtiest professional sports player of all time."

You are entitled to your opinion and I respect the fact that you have strong views regarding that opinion. However, when you express that opinion on a message board in a manner that is clearly intended to be contrary to others' opinions, you open yourself up to others criticizing that opinion. That is the way the world works--you cannot have it both ways. If you do not want others to jump on your back, then don't express an opinion. Yours is not the only opinion on the subject, and is akin to taking a position on abortion or the death penalty and then asking others not to criticize that opinion.

Random posts in a hockey forum that have nothing to do with hockey.

There may be some truth to what you are saying, but if you look at what Dave Hakstol and his staff have done, it is impressive. 3 straight Frozen 4 appearances is very difficult, and although our measure of success is NCAA titles, it is hard to complain about the job he is doing. He has also done a great job of recruiting great talent and very classy young men. If you have any doubts about Dave Hakstol, you should meet him personally. He is truly a class act, and he expects that from his players as well. It would truly be a shame to lose him. We all get frustrated with the slow starts, but he always seems to have the team ready the 2nd of the season and I think he is a great ambassador for the university.

Not at all. My only point was to show that this is a very good foundation that raises a lot of money for cancer, even more than the Roger Maris tournament which is a great event. Relax--I know you're itching to pick a fight since your world is defined by the Bison and Fargo, but this is only about touting what a good person Matt Cullen is and how good The Cullen Children's Foundation is.

The Cullen Children's Foundation is a really neat deal. It raises money for children's healthcare needs with an emphasis on cancer. It raises quite a bit more money for cancer than the Roger Maris Celebrity golf outing ever has. Matt and his wife Bridget are very down to earth and very good people. Matt and his father Terry dedicate a lot of time and energy to this foundation. There are a number of celebrities that support the foundation, including many professional hockey players. Among those hockey players are a number of ex-Sioux players like Jason Blake, Mike Commodore, Zach Parise, Dave Christian, Brian Lee, Chris Vandevelde and coach Dave Hakstol. If you want to contribute to a good cause, visit www.cullyskids.com or call Terry Cullen. The golf outing is this weekend.

Also add the Johnsons (Greg, Corey and Ryan), the Murphys (Curtis is one of my all-time favorites) and another set of Johnsons (Steve and Chad).