lawkota

If I remember right, Branigans was kind of elegant for a chain. The River Bend would be similar. Also in East Grand is Whitey's and the Blue Moose, which is my wife's favorite place. Both of these are basic american fare with a more casual atmosphere. Lola's is a trendy italian place in downtown GF area. Run by the same guy who has Sanders I believe. I think the Bronze Boot is hit or miss, I've had some poor meals there as well as some good ones. Sanders is generally considered the best in GF and I think the cost issue is a little overblown. Yeah, you can easily spend $100+ for 2 there, but you can at other places as well. Here's the menu.

Gimme a break. Bench clearing brawls are spontaneous? In hockey, where the combatants are continually checking each other, the occasional escalation is staged? But the basebrawl isn't? Yeah, I get your point - a baseball player gets beaned and the emotions erupt in his teammates.....they just can't control themselves because they were already on edge, sitting there chewing, spitting seeds, watching tv in the clubhouse. BTW, when was the last time you heard of a bench clearing in hockey? I honestly can't recall a recent one.

There is no difference between the self control of hockey players and those of any other team sport. I've seen punches thrown in basketball, football, soccer, etc. They are competitive, physical and emotional activities and because of that tempers flare. If you don't like fighting in hockey, fine. But place the blame where it belongs. Not on the players, but on the governing body that allows fights to escalate beyond a push or punch. In this case, the WCHA and NCAA. Yet DaveK applauds the NCAA, the NCAA that permits its officials to determine whether or not they should break up an altercation. I'm still at a loss trying to figure out how a hockey go is disgusting, but a basebrawl is entertaining.

Huh?

Not including this season: Dale Lennon - 5 years - 3 conference championships - 1 national title - 1 national runnerup Dean Blais - 10 years - 5 conference championships - 2 national titles - 1 national runnerup Maria Bruggeman - 6 years - best conference finish 4th - 2 regional appearances - 1 victory. What standard are you using? Again, I'm not saying that she should go. I don't follow volleyball that closely. But from my perspective, she has not earned a down year pass if you use the Lennon/Blais standard.

C'mon Sicatoka, the situations aren't even remotely comparable. In 2001-02 Blais had a freshmen laden team that had a disappointing season. Yet, they still managed an 11-15-2 conference record. Plus, Blais had been coming off back to back national title game appearances. To say he had earned a little slack is an understatement. Bruggeman also has a very young team that from past statements from her I assume has a fair amount of talent. They are 0 for the conference. Despite the 2 NCAA regional appearances, her past teams have been average at best, judging by conference results. You can give her a pass for this year, and maybe she deserves it. But don't insult Blais by implying that because he got one for 2001-02, she gets one for this year.

After I voted, the results showed St. Cloud with 1 vote. Must have been Lucia's.

As a pre game gathering spot for fans, I don't think the Penalty Box is a bad idea. I would agree that the rest of it is dumb (cheerleaders and frequent drinking cards??). Regardless, I don't see how any of it hurts the game. I come to watch and cheer the Sioux. I don't care what someone else is doing, or not doing, or where they're doing it (obviously, there is a limit to this ). If a guy who paid for a seat wants to waste his time in a bar watching the game on tv, that's his problem. It doesn't ruin my experience (in fact, it probably improves it). If the couple next me just want to sit in their seats, motionless and quiet, I'll scratch my head as to why they come at all - but it doesn't prevent me from going nuts after a goal. I know there are alot of people in the arena who aren't there for the game. I doubt there's anything you can do to change that. Sioux hockey is the "place to be". The arena and the team are the problem. It's too nice and the team's too good. Neither are going to change.

My pocket schedule says Meet the Sioux is October 5 at 5:30 pm for both men's and women's team.

I have heard grumblings as well. The common thread among those I've talked to is that many long time FSC (and predecessor group) members are upset because it is no longer the "club" it once was. It used to be a clique, now its a big organization and can be quite faceless at times. It's frustrating. REA is the lightning rod for all the controversy, which I guess is appropriate since the building of the arena changed the makeup of the FSC. Plus, it's the home to the flagship of UND athletics. But it's a little unfair all the same. They are managing a world class facility in a small town, with the mandate that it turn a healthy profit. The complaints come with the facility, no matter who's running it. Ask yourself honestly, would you rather it had never been built? I would not - although I know several people who would say yes and I understand their reasons. The new REA (and BESC and the Alerus as well) means that UND sports is officially big business, and there is something disappointing about that.

I'd like nothing more than to see the Herald with egg on its face. I'm not a fan of the paper and don't care for Virg's Sid-like style. But I've got a suspicion that the UND's administration is in major damage control here because of its own doing. Mind you, I have no info to support this, just a hunch, so take that for what its worth. But I think that Thomas did offer Hakstol the job. The embarrassment from the Herald story put him in full spin control and now pressure from alumni may actually have him withdrawing the offer to Hakstol and going national with a search.

I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. BTW, good post.

Agreed DG; I would say that RT didn't as much make a decision as he put off making one until the end of next season. I have alot of confidence in Hakstol but as others have suggested, this is not the best way for him to get this job. Shortest leash ever is right Sicatoka. In fact, I think we can pretty much call him interim coach for the entire year. That is a disservice to Dave. That being said, best wishes to Hakstol and let's hope that he starts a very successful tenure as coach by hanging #8 next April.

Thanks to Dean for 10 great years. If you have to leave, going out when you've got the program in very healthy shape is the best way to do it. I wish you the best of luck at the next level and I hope you always consider yourself part of the Sioux family.

My wife and I signed up for it. I priced it out making our own arrangements and came to about $1,240 for airfare (2 connections), hotel (2 nights) and car rental. So the "extras" (direct flight, game tickets, day trips, lobster dinner, cheesy gift) are running $360 for both of us. Not a bargain but certainly not unreasonable. I like the fact that you are flying with the team and about 100 other Sioux hockey fans. To me, there is intrinsic value to that. I'm sure another charter company could do it cheaper - but so far, they aren't. Next September when Creative Charters is offering the same trip for $600/per, feel free to laugh at me.

I also agree that Lessard deserved this award. Congratulations to Junior. Greyeagle, while I wouldn't go so far as to say the Hobey is the NHL kiss of death (because college players in general don't have the best transition to the NHL), Broten and Kariya are the exceptions. Fusco, Fusco, McDonald, Marinucci, Kurvers, Watson, Emma, Mottau, McPhee, Holzinger, Stauber, Bonin, Pellerin, Miller, Krog. Not alot of quality NHL service there. Even Hrkac has been an NHL disappointment considering the level he played at in college. Also, I don't think Leetch won the Hobey.

I'm happy for Denver and sad for Sandelin and the Dogs. I'll certainly be pulling for the Pioneers on Saturday. For me, the bad omen for Duluth was in the 2nd on that 2-0 breakaway, up 3-1, the other Duluth player (who was it?) simply gave the puck to Lessard as if to say "get your hattrick" without even giving Berkhoel a glance (it looked to me that he was playing Lessard all the way). It wasn't so much that they didn't score, the whole play just seemed to develop as if Duluth thought the game was in hand so why not give Lessard a chance for his 3rd.

I have always been under the impression that the UND athletic department controls ticketing for UND athletic events in the arena, with the exception of the suites and club lounges. The Ralph handles the ticketing process for UND but the ultimate decision for FSC membership requirements for season tickets comes from UND, not REA. I could be wrong though.

The article doesn't answer all my questions. Obviously, Beaverson is not coming to UND for next year. But look, there is no room for the guy next year....none (even if Greene leaves). Osiecki speculates that UND will never bring Beaverson in but there is nothing definitive in the article that says UND doesn't want him for the following year. How many years was Fabian deferred - 2? No sense bringing in a guy to sit when he's got another year of USHL eligibility. Now, as to what's been communicated to Beaverson in the past, we don't know and the article doesn't say. Maybe the Sioux have been stringing him along and that would be unfortunate, but maybe they were being honest with him but he was holding on to a dream of playing for UND. Also, Osiecki states that UND may pull his scholarship but this can't happen because there is no scholarship to pull. To my recollection, Beaverson has never signed an LOI. We will see more of this, from the Sioux and others as well, a result of recruiting players not yet ready for college hockey. We will also start to see alot more players backing out of the verbals. This is not a good deal for either side - it makes the program look bad - but better now than the end of next year for Luke. His options are much better now than had he spent a year at UND. what's the time over/under on a troll in this thread?

I'll be flying into Denver on Friday around noon. Anyone interested in sharing a car rental, let me know.

This story appeared on USCHO yesterday on BU's new arena, set to open the middle of next year. BU Shows Off Harry Agganis Area There are some nice remarks in there regarding REA and I thought Jack Parker was very pointed in his remarks about the arenas at DU and CC. But it is this section that led me to start this thread: Can't afford something that cost half as much? It's impossible to compare costs for a number of reasons. One, building in Boston is alot different that building in GF. Two, we don't know how much of that $225 went into land purchase and site prep - two items where REA got off cheap. But I think it points out what a bargain Ralph got for his $110 million - the country's best hockey arena built on a fast track timetable in an area of the country not the most hospitable to year round construction. Edit - My brother pointed out to me that the USCHO article is misleading because the $225 million is for the entire student village which includes a student activity facilities and residence hall(s). So the point of my entire post is lost but I can't delete it. Admin??

This is what I heard: When Nike became the hockey team's "supplier" they shipped out jerseys that were not unlike the Nike ones you buy in the pro shop. Needless to say, Blais and the players were not impressed and refused to wear them. Under UND's prodding, Nike then went to Gemini to source out the Sioux jerseys but forbid Gemini from selling them to the public or even producing a replica. That is why you can't find a dazzle cloth Sioux jersey in the pro shop and also why they no longer sell the authentic jersey like they did 2 years ago. I have no first hand knowledge of this, it is just what I have been told by someone else. It might 3rd, 4th or even 5th hand. I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty far out of the loop. I have no idea what UND gets out of the Nike relationship but I recall reading something not too long ago that suggested that Nike doesn't have to pay as much as you would think and in some cases, nothing at all. It seems alot of schools want to sport the swoosh. Pretty powerful marketing.