PCM

I got bored when bouncy ball became the focal point of the series.

No, it's because of Ralph Engelstad. Please try to follow along.

I wonder how so many Canadians get past the guard dogs and jack-booted state troopers to spend their money in Grand Forks?

Canadian columnist Keith Gottschalk apparently didn't enjoy his recent trip through North Dakota. He wrote in this column:

I agree with all the forwards you mentioned. To your list I'd add: Kyle Radke - I think he was much better defensively as a sophomore and I believe we have yet to see all he has to offer offensively. We've seen glimpses of it, but I think there's still a lot of untapped potential there. Joe Finley - Matt Smaby and Matt Greene improved a great deal from their freshman to sophomore seasons. I think Finley could follow that trend. Taylor Chorney - His defensive play impressed me as a freshman. Like Radke, I think he can be more of an offensive force than we've seen. Brian Lee - I suspect that he'll have more freedom offensively as a sophomore. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we saw a dramatic increase in goals and assists from him.

I was at ice level several times at the Ralph during during the World Juniors. What were the hockey players of other nationalities doing? Kicking around soccer balls. If fact, if I remember correctly, a group of Holy Cross players were doing the same thing before their game with Minnesota.

The other factor is that players have been known to develop and have breakout years from one season to the next. I think the Sioux have several players with that type of potential. All is not lost, even if Toews leaves.

From today's Grand Forks Herald: UND MEN'S HOCKEY: Still thinkingToews mulls NHL decision

And I'm inclined to believe that only somone who doesn't know her would say such a thing.

INCH is reporting that Mankato's Ryan Carter has signed as a free agent with Anaheim. Could Travis Morin be next? INCH also says that Joe Pavelski has signed with San Jose.

Ask Kendall Baker.

Was there something about this statement that was supposed to tickle my funny bone? I mean, really, where's the punch line? What's the gag? You could have put the maximum allowable number of "LOL" emoticons on that post and I still wouldn't have seen the humor in it. Maybe you should leave the humor writing to Dave Barry. One-upping you? Now that's funny! I have no interest in one-upping you because there's no challenge in it. The only challenging aspect of your posts is trying to figure out what in the heck they really mean. Perhaps some day there will be a Babel Fish translator for Slap Shot-speak because you are certainly one of the most misinterpreted, misunderstood people on the Internet.

Did you write something funny? Guess I missed it.

Wow. I didn't know that mangled squirrels were such great hunters. That hawk better be careful.

Sounds plausible to me.

My guess is that he either found his way back home, got hit by a car or was gobbled up by a predator. Believe me, if there was a rotting animal carcass anywhere in our garage or yard, the beagle would have discovered it long before now.

As does your fixation with SS.com.

Colby Genoway signs with Anaheim.

You got that right.

A witch!!!

Apparently some of us are too slow to catch that nuance.

Nor do I. Despite losing some talented players, there remains an excellent core group around which to build, not to mention some good incoming freshmen. As you stated, every team goes through rebuilding to one degree or another at the start of each season. If Tallon actually believed what he said about UND, then I don't understand his reasoning. He appears to be saying that it's too soon to throw Toews into the NHL. Therefore, the question becomes whether Toews is better off at UND or at Norfolk. If Norfolk were a perennial AHL playoff team, it would probably be easier for Toews to adapt. But it isn't that type of team. Therefore, the idea that Toews would be more likely to struggle at UND than he would at Norfolk doesn't make much sense to me.

I see. It was merely a coincidence that Potts happened to be the chancellor at that particular moment in time.

I don't understand Tallon's logic. Is his objective to have Toews play for a team on which he's unlikely to struggle? If so, how does he plan to arrange that? Last season, the Norfolk Admirals finished third in their division with a 43-29-4-4 record. They made the playoffs and were then swept without a win in the first round. In other words, there's no guarantee that going to Norfolk wouldn't be just as bad, if not worse, than going back to UND. Where would Toews be more likely to struggle? On a different team with a different coach in different system in a different city playing different competition? Or at UND with a familiar coach, familar system, familar surroundings and familiar teammates? If I were Tallon, I'd want to see if Toews could go back to UND and be the difference between a team expected to struggle team and a team that experiences success.