PCM

To me, this is the most telling statement that Roenick made: Sports journalists -- especially sports talk show hosts -- love it when a player of Roenick's stature "speaks his mind" or "says what he thinks" or is "refreshingly candid." It gives them something to write about and people a reason to watch or call into their shows. They know that controversy sells. Therefore, unless a player says something "John Rocker stupid," most sports journalists aren't going to bash players too much for speaking out because it's behavior they encourage. What Roenick said didn't bother me, although his statement about people being jeaous of NHL players was juvenile. To me, Roenick was expressing extreme frustration because he knows that the sport he loves was hurting before the lockout and it will be hurting even more after it. He probably realizes that the final years of his career -- if he comes back -- will be spent trying to revive a sport that's currently on life support. So I can understand where he's coming from, even if he used a poor choice of words to express himself. In my opinion, the NHL needs an enema, and this would be a good time to administer it. Pro hockey had a huge image problem before the lockout and it's going to be worse when it's over. And if that's as far as it went, I wouldn't care. Although I like watching the occasional NHL game, I'm no big fan of the league. The only reason I do care is because pro hockey's image has a strong influence on college hockey. Many sports fans wrongly assume that college hockey isn't much different from the NHL. But the reason I live for college hockey is because it isn't pro hockey. I don't watch hockey for the fighting or the blood and gore. I don't consider those aspects part of the game. I consider them distractions from the game. The best thing that the post-lockout NHL could do for itself is become more like college hockey. Crack down on fighting and obstruction. Allow the two-line pass. Get rid of touch-up icing. Require everyone to wear a full face mask or shield. To generate more offense, I'd also advocate either larger goals or limiting the size of goalie pads. The NHL needs to do something to bring back the old fans and attract new ones. Anything the NHL does to improve its image and attract new fans will benefit college hockey. That's why I hope the league and the players take advantage of this opportunity to give the game a much-needed facelift. But I have no illusions about that actually happening.

As fixated as Patrick Hruby is on the idea of kissing Roenick's butt, perhaps "mirrors my feelings" is a poor choice of words.

I left the "skippy alert" light on for ya!

That is correct. For Murray, it came down to choosing between trying out for the Canadian team, possibly not making it and missing the WJC tournament or taking a spot he was virtually guaranteed on the US roster and playing in the WJC. He chose to play for Team USA and it turned out well for him.

I'll vouch for DaveK. He is a self-professed closet Gopher fan -- not that there's anything... Wait! What am I saying?

And your answer is...?

Yeah, I know. I agree. I was kidding. As others have pointed out, North Dakota is a small state that successfully competes in DI hockey with big-time schools. UND hockey fans relish their school's underdog role and take great pleasure in knocking off such schools as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston University and Boston College. So unless North Dakota suddenly becomes a hotbed of economic development and its population explodes, I don't expect Sioux fans to stop woofing about their underdog status. They enjoy it too much.

First, allow me to wecome you to SiouxSports.com with special graphics reserved for Gopher trolls. SKIPPY ALERT! Second, UND will probably never possess all the advantages of Minnesota. Third, my prediction is that Sioux fans will stop whining about Minnesota's unfair advantages about the same time that Gopher fans lose their arrogance and superior attitude. I hope that this helps answer your questions.

It looks like USCHO is simply taking the articles from U-Wire (which originate in the Minnesota Daily) and posting them because they have college hockey related content. On the other hand, it could be that USCHO has officially joined the Vast Golden Gopher Conspiracy, which means that it's only a matter of time before I'm required to quote Doug Woog to "balance" my Sioux hockey articles and game recaps.

In Saturday's Grand Forks Herald, there was an article regarding recommendations of the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee. The committee had a two-day meeting in Boston at which it came up with recommendations on the American Indian nicknames issue.

"Sioux" is derived from the French word "Nadouessioux." I wonder if the Dakota, Nakota and Lakota had France's permission to call themselves Sioux because the word wasn't theirs in the first place.

I could use some of my vast power and influence with USCHO to get you in, but it will cost you...BIG TIME!

Sure. Go ahead. Shatter my dream.

So there's still a possibility that UND could play Bismarck St. Mary's this season?

It says the people pictured were arrested for "engaging in prostitution." The way I see it, if Cliff Hanson can find work as a male prostitute, I've got a shot at earning a few extra bucks in my spare time.

If posts are now being judged for thread relevancy, I'm going to be on many (more) ignore lists.

NEWS FLASH: The EERC already owns land to the east and has been discussing the possibility of expanding in that direction for years. Also, the land north of the EERC where its last expansion took place was once a residential area occupied by single-family homes. The plans I've seen for the Bronson land appear to show that it's pretty much been spoken for and an indoor athletic facility isn't among the anticipated uses. And I've never heard that Ralph planned to have all the sports facilities located near the hockey arena. The plan I've always heard was that the Bronson property would primarily be used for housing and businesses (not that it was Ralph's decision to make in the first place). Maybe you need to do some research. Did you know that main building in which coal gasifcation experiments are conducted was designed to channel an explosion upward? If experiments on coal gasification technology are potentially explosive, so are experiments on hydrogen technolgies.

I wish I could find a link to the story that ran in the Grand Forks Herald which cited Canadian scientists as saying that the environmental threat from Devils Lake water wasn't nearly as serious as it's being portrayed by officials in the Canadian government. I believe the story was originally published by a Winnipeg newspaper. The increased amount of fertilizer runoff which, it's feared, will create algae blooms in Lake Winnipeg was under 1 percent, I believe. As far as new biota being introduced, wildlife biologists have said all along that the greatest transporters of biota from one ecosystem to another are migrating waterfowl, which can't be controlled. If there's anything in the Devils Lake basin that would harm Lake Winnipeg, it would already be there by now. Having been involved in the controversy over Clean Air Act legislation intended address Canadian complaints about US sulfur dioxide emissions that were allegedly causing acid rain and ruining Canada's environment, I know that this type of hyperbole and overblown rhetoric is standard operating procedure.

I've got the DVD. Lots of places have it for $10 or less. It's a steal at that price. You need to watch it again. Goodman dumps Donnie's ashes. Jeff Bridges (The Dude) gets them in the face.

SKIPPY ALERT!

Well, we'd know that DaveK's son would be starting in goal.

...and The Dude abides.

I'm sure Alexander Ovechkin would be happy to hear that. I'm waiting for "Canuck" to show up and let you know what he thinks about "half checking" Team Canada.

Ants go to church?