forecheck

I checked at Bloomington Ice Gardens today, and to rent the ice it's $110/hour after 9:45pm, $95/hour before 3:00pm on a weekday, and otherwise it's $140/hour. That's not too bad if say, 10 people showed up from each team. It sounded like getting ice wouldn't be a problem either. Are there enough people still interested in doing this? I would think either some time on Wednesday the 19th or Sunday the 23rd, unless people wanted to play on the same day as a FF game.

LOL, I just saw this, and I liked the title.

Oh Nathan, you know me so well. Do you plan on letting me use you as my brakes since I can't stop? But PCM is right, the Wookie holds the key to my heart. *sigh*

Thanks for the recap. I didn't get a chance to listen tonight. I don't know why, but imagining big, tough Matt Greene being afraid to walk on the ice makes me laugh. Glad to hear the team feels rested and ready to go.

LOL, well I have been told that the Sioux team WILL lose, because the POI people play together a lot and are fairly good. Sounded like a challenge to me. I don't have to worry about that, though, since I'm not playing.

Thanks Greyeagle. I stopped by for a couple minutes last year, but I forgot the name of the place. Is this idea losing interest?

I had the Gophers 2nd, ahead of UND and CC. Bwahahahahahaha!

During the last home game, our pal Pat Sweeney said the games will only be broadcast on WDAZ in Grand Forks and Devils Lake. I'd play it safe and head to Buxton to watch the games if I were you.

First of all, I can't even believe I'm responding. Second of all, these are the most obvious comments a person could make. Of course a team has a better chance of winning if they don't take penalties....that's why they call it a disadvantage! Both teams took a lot of penalties. The only difference is Minnesota was 1-13 on the powerplay, and Mankato was 4-9 on the powerplay. In fact, the Mavericks have killed 38 of 40 penalties in their last 9 games. Once you get to the NCAA's, goaltending and special teams can be the deciding factors when you put some of the nation's best teams up against each other. Minnesota is the more talented of the two teams, but when it came down to special teams and goaltending, they couldn't pull out a win. Deal with it.

Handy, what was the name of the rink people from USCHO rented during the Frozen Four last year? Are there actually going to be enough people to play? If people actually want to do this, maybe we should set a date, and then we can figure out who will be there. I can't be the only one who wants to watch this fiasco.

He's in! Bring you drinking shoes kids!

So in other words, we better convince Scott to lace em up! I'm thirsty!

Yeah right PCM. I read in the paper today, but couldn't find a link online, that Jason Notermann shares the WCHA offensive player of the week with a player from Mankato, and once again, Parise is the WCHA rookie of the week. Congrats to these two deserving players! Edit: Here's the link. WCHA Players of the Week Note that Chad Roberg was a nominee for Offensive Player of the Week, for those Gopher fans still lurking.

Patrick who? *yawn*

I have skated on my new hockey skates about 3 or 4 times now. I can skate forward ok, inch backwards, and cannot stop. But hey, I'm improving! I have some of my stepbrother's old hockey gear that has been sitting in the trunk of my car since this summer. You won't want me on your team. But.....I am trained in First Aid and CPR, and would be willing to organize such an event, and maybe even take pictures if I can stop laughing at Handyman vs. Diggler. When would this take place? During the Final Five would probably be the next time fans of both teams would meet up this year, I'm guessing.

Yes, lucky for me. I might have been fired. But thanks for picking up the slack. It took me a while to realize I was listening to the wrong station. Maybe you should just take over.

SSM is Shattuck St. Mary's High School...you know, the school Zach Parise went to. And it's the source of about 4 other recruits coming in next year, and counting.

I missed the first 10-15 minutes of the show, so hopefully someone else can fill in. Coach's Show with Assistant Coach Brad Barry: Schneider is playing like a senior. On his goal in Alaska, he made a nice play with forwards pressuring him to score his goal. Caller: Not bringing in any new goalies next year. Talked about bringing in a volunteer goalie coach at sometime, but right now they're just trying to work with what they have. Matt Greene is a top 4 defenseman on the team, but no one expected him to be this good at this time. He's big and strong, but has to learn how to play more disciplined, which he is starting to do. He's realizing he needs to play more carefully because the refs are always talking to him, and he's a marked man. Made some comparisons to Commodore. Some encouraging things they saw was in Alaska he stepped up on some 2-1's and broke up the play, and then made some nice transitions, so he's learning that part of the game. Caller: Schneekloth and Brad Wilson were playing in the West Coast League, along with Hauser who must still think he's playing ND because right away in the 3rd period he got 5-holed. With an off week, the coaches aren't allowed on the ice, but the players are still having captains' practices. Notermann has more points this year already than he had in his best year (sophomore). He was snakebit last year, but he's playing so well right now. Talked about the nice play he made for Lundbohm's goal, when last year he would have dumped the puck in the corner and chased it. He's playing with more confidence, getting more ice time, was given an honorary "C", and had a good start, which all helps his game. Spiewak and Notermann both cut in toward the net, which is nice to see. "Joe Sakic eat your heart out." Bochenski is such a great scorer, and for every mistake he makes, he'll go out and score 2 goals. Lundbohm is having a great year, and filled a leadership role. Massen also is having a great year, finishing plays. Probably the most improved player from last year. The defense is very tough, and hit hard. David Hale especially was making some hard hits in Alaska, which is good in the way that other teams start to hear about the hard hitting, big defense, and they start to dump the puck instead of rush the zone. Against CC, UND was hit harder having 2 defensemen gone compared to CC with 1 gone. Lee Marvin came in and played an admirable game. Having the Olympic rink makes a big difference to be able to practice on before going to rinks with Olympic rinks. The differences with the Olympic rink are most noticeable on the powerplay and penalty kill, and going into the corners. The best player on the penalty kill is the goaltender, and usually with a power play, if you look good you score. UND looked good last week but didn't score much on the PP. Talked a bit about UAA's luck as of late, and that it's difficult to play up in Alaska. The traveling kills you, but leaving on Weds. and having a whole day off really helps. Gopher Fan called in: He has a lot of respect for the Sioux and congratulated Berry for the season, but said he has a bone to pick with Tim. Saturday game against the Gophers, apparently Tim said it was cheesy to put Vanek out on the ice to score an empty net goal with a 2 goal lead. Caller, "Have you ever heard about killing a mosquito with an ax?" (Wasn't sure what that meant.) Berry and Tim basically talked about how it's cheesy because Vanek isn't known for his defensive abilities, and if it was a one goal game, he would not have been on the ice defending the score, so he was basically on the ice just to score an easy empty net goal. Tim said he would like to ask Lucia if he had a chance to ask if he was just on the ice to beef up his stats and help him contend for rookie of the year. Then they talked about how Parise took two shifts in the last half or so of the 3rd period against Alaska, he just happened to score both times. Caller disagrees that the reason Vanek was out was to beef up his stats, because the Gophers have a lot of respect for the Sioux and their ability to pull the goaltender and score goals and it doesn't sound like something Lucia would do, but Tim says he thinks it was more of a personal thing for Vanek.

I don't see a problem. We have 2 losses on the year and it's the middle of January, and I believe we are 2nd in the nation in points/game, behind CC. Of course I would love to see the 3rd and 4th line score more, but someone has to shut down the opposing team's top line. They're working hard and getting their chances, and it seems like with every series the team is improving. The points will come, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. I just want to see Connelly get his first goal of the season out of the way, as I think he has been playing well and he seems to be snakebitten.

I really don't read POI, but I read that thread out of curiosity, and I guess my initial thought was the opposite of yours. I interpreted it as "Too bad it doesn't count," as in it's too bad that Roberg's goal won't count in the NCAA standings. I am surprised that people reacted the way they did, because I think most people would be happy for a player that doesn't get much ice time and finally scores his first goal....U2Bad included.

You had to compromise a hockey night?? Wow. I think I'm learning that I need to screen any future boyfriends to make sure they fully support my hockey viewing.