shootdogger

Although I haven't followed it too closely, as an outsider looking in, this squabble--hoteliers vs. CANAD and Herald/City vs. REA--makes me shake my head in disbelief. It reminds me of Ted Williams' kids after he passed away. The Alerus without an adjacent hotel is a waste of resources. Lawkota is right...conventions are what makes or breaks centers like this. And in our climate, hotel to center access is significant. I know there are a lot of hotels in GF, but those hotels that are opposing the CANAD were certainly thrilled with the REA and Alerus bringing money into their coffers and the cities. Of course, every business wants to protect their profits, but their motives in this situation are transparent. They oppose CANAD because even though it would bring even more outside money to the city, they might not get all the benefit. Their opposition to CANAD and desire for their own profits hurts the city overall and most certainly the Alerus' bottom line --thereby keeping the Alerus in the red and the allowing for the continuation of the blame-game against the Ralph.

Goon...pallie...the constant slams at Dems are getting tired. Not all liberals are tree-hugging, Birchenstock-wearing extremists, just like not all conservatives are millioinaire members of the Klan.

I know the fan vote doesn't have a huge impact, so I usually only vote once or twice a year. Anyways...I have not been on board with voting a full Sioux Slate--but am still a homer for the most part: Bochenski, Sejna, DHale.

Yeah...I'm trying to stay away from it, but probably would sound more insightful if I used it before posting s/t like this topic. Its just that the "What If" title gives me flashbacks to my old Army days when half the meetings would turn into "What if" festivals. It drove me effing bananas and does to this day!

Yeah...ummmmmmmmmm...no. I didn't have the point standings in front of me at MaryHoochie, just the schedule...so I kinda forgot how far behind SCSU had fallen. I still think the Huskies will make serious strides and get to third--but I'll set my crack pipe aside next time.

While I was enthralled by all the 'Anderson Sucks' chants as the Gophers gave away their win on Friday night, I perused the remaining WCHA schedule. I hadn't been paying too much attention to it lately, and saw some interesting things. It looks to me like CC has the toughest row to hoe. Every team they have remaining, except for Denver, is presently in the top 5. They're going to slip. St. Cloud seems to have the easiest schedule remaining--and they're starting to gel (although I missed their UMD series) and have Moreland's leadership back. I've seen them play a handful of games, and I'm starting to get nervous about them...they remind me of some recent slow starting Sioux teams that peaked at the right time. They have the bottom 3 teams remaining, plus CC and UM. But they need help to catch the Tigers. After that, the Sioux look to be in good shape, playing only CC and Mankato as top 5 teams. Wisco and Tech had better get us 7 points, but Duluth and Denver are Wild Cards. As for the Gophers, with Potulny healthy, they looked much more smooth. But as much as I like the guy, that team has some chemistry problems. Other than a few Juniors/Seniors, the players don't really seem to know their role--especially obvious during the pp this weekend. Unless Koalska's running the show, they seem lost. As a result, barring a goalie meltdown, I see the top 5 shaking out as: UND SCSU CC Mankato UM

I don't think anyone is saying the Mavs are going to make a run at the MacN. --But went to both games this weekend and Mankato is a Home Ice team unless someone really steps up and takes it from them--and that someone has to be Duluth or Denver. I don't see it happening. Their passing is probably the best I've seen this season...stick to stick, right on the tape. The only passes they seemed to miss regularly were ones to the back door on the pp. But with the other parts of their pp working so well, that isn't a big problem. Goon is right...a weakness seems to be their scoring at even strength. That would be all but solved if they decided to forecheck like the Sioux and a Defenseman who hits like Hale/Greene. Another problem is that they went into a shell anytime they had a one-goal lead...and the Gophers took it to them.

I don't know if 'ripping on him' is what I'd call it...but certainly the fans questioning of Brandt begins with Blaiser's playing of him. While more of Brandt's stats are looking alright lately, he is playing with a bit more confidence, and he doesn't get out of position to the degree Josh does......he must be a bit unsure of himself. This season has proven that if he has one bad game he's on the bench for 5ish games. After jumbling goalies to start the season, Blais yanks Brandt in that Niagara game and Siembida plays the next several games--we don't see Brandt again until Siembida had that awful night in St. Cloud, Brandt replaced him during that game, but Blais immediately went back to Siembida the next night and for another series. Then Brandt gets a few starts, including a couple shut outs, but after one bad outing at Mankato Blais yanks him again and we don't see him until the CC series. I think Brandt is the man for the rest of the season--barring a meltdown--and I hope after his next bad game (which better occur sooner rather than March/April!) Blais puts him right back on the horse.

But I've got 'Kato at UofM tickets the 24/25th...'scouting' Joseph/Stevenson for their February Sioux series. I agree UND needs to do well on the big ice at UAA, CC and Mankato...and I think with the 'practice' rink and speed, they'll have an easier time transitioning to big ice than most big ice teams have to small ice. And other than those rinks, the road to the end of the season and on to the NCAA's goes the small ice route. Yost, Worcester, Buffalo, ... I can't recall if Providence has big or small ice, but we all know how the Sioux fare out there.

I'm in St.Paul...but won't be near a radio even if I could get a signal down here. Had to compromise with the girl on a January Friday night out...figured it was better to miss UAA, than CC or the goofs. It'll be nice to get that big-ice series before heading down to CSprings. As for goalies, it seems like Brandt is now the 'starting' goalie. I think Blais needs to stick with him both games unless he stinks it up Friday night. Number 1 goalies need to know they're the man and rest only occassionally---we need him absolutely rolling come March/April if he is indeed going to be the man.

Given AA's depleted defense, Fylling has a great chance to make an impact on Blais. Not that Blais was wrong to do it, but I thought he dropped Fylling to 'lesser' lines too quickly this season and am glad to see him back. Spiewak with Prpich/McMahon should be interesting too. Re USCHO 'scoring updates' tonight: I can't listen online until end of 2nd/beginning of 3rd period at the earliest, and may even miss the whole broadcast. So if anyone here is able to post on that subject/game and considers stopping b/c no one seems to be relying on your posts....I WILL BE!...I just won't be able to let you know. Thanks in advance!

From Today's Strib: Hirsch, for one, hopes they don't waste any more time. "We had lapses where we were dazed and confused," he said. "We need to own [North Dakota]. By no means are they better than us, but we've got to bring it." Well pallie...they were better than you last night. By ALL MEANS. Good UND contingent at Sterbs and MaryHoochie last night and hoping for the same tonight. The Sioux D was outstanding for the most part. Very tight in their end--interupting Gopher play and giving them very narrow passing lanes. Excellent job keeping Vanek, Riddle, Guyer from making an impact. Brandt was good enough and stayed in position--which is all we can ask for right now.

Here's hoping. I went to both the Kings and Bluejacket games this week and the Wild suddenly look HORRIBLE. They're running into each other througout the PPS and the worst is their D passing when bringing it out of their end...and right onto the sticks of the opposition in the Neutral Zone. God awful mess.

Don't try...just do it.

I've sat in the lower bowl for about 5 of the games I've attended at the X this year. Don't sweat the net. After the 1st time it won't bother you--just like the glass. The only time a fan who is actually focused on the game will notice it is when there is a stoppage or when a puck gets flipped high enough to go over the net as happened twice against the Kings on Monday. The crowd puts out a sarcastic "Ooooooooo" and then Cheers. Its a given that the Ralph will have one sooner or later. There is no sense to not installing one because the NHL has now put colleges/arena's on notice that nets are a reasonable safety precaution and they don't ruin the game. Arenas without nets will be more liable for damages if someone gets hurt without a net in place.

No better news here--$60 is pretty high but its probably worth it to lock them in and not end up scrounging around at 7:30pm on Friday night. I usually have little difficulty rounding up more tickets close to game day for friends who are coming down, but the Gopher bandwagon has been pretty full since March.

Thanks for the info. I knew he had been injured, but didn't know it was this bad. Are they thinking he could rehab to get it strong enough to come in next year or is it over for the kid?

Can someone fill me in on this? I must have missed something about Commodore, Jr.

Any yet I haven't seen a gopher take flight in awhile.... Go Demons! "Bismarck appeared to start off on the right foot. With the Demons enjoying their first man-advantage of the night, Jack Aide lit the lamp. A half dozen rabbits - only one of them stuffed - hit the ice - but the celebration turned out to be what Keith Olbermann would call premature jocularity." http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/20.../local/spt1.txt

Don't jump to conclusions. The radio talk show forum isn't designed for him to explain everything about the amount of input coaches have in their schedules. They have more say in their Non-Confernce schedules than in their Conference schedules. That's how we ended up with Canisius...when the other 'deals' Blais was working on fell through and our schedule and Canisius' lined up.

Any arena where you can have a whiskey coke at your seats isn't so "terrible" in my book. The fans and atmosphere have left a lot to be desired when I've been there. Certainly the hundred or so Sioux fans that show up are frequently louder than the Mavs fans. But any arena is quieter when you're getting your ass kicked year in and year out--hopefully this years' team has them a bit more fired up.

We were doing "that's debatable" and/or "and they STILL suck" in High School back in the mid-80s in Bismarck. We sure as hell weren't creative enough to think of it on our own...so I'm guessing we picked it up from older siblings who attended UND games and said: "If you want to be cool, try this cheer." They were also the ones who convinced us it would be a great idea to smuggle dead, frozen rabbits into Schaumberg Arena (inside trombone cases--ever see a frozen rabbit? Their legs stick straight out so they're like 2-3 feet long!) to throw on the ice against the Minot Magicians. Ahhh..the good old days.

No Conboy. That's good news for us--he's got a monster shot from the blueline.