Big A HG

If you take out Dell's first handful of games, he'd likely be the top goaltender in the conference. He was good, but still a little shaky at first, but gained more and more confidence as each game passed and his numbers have improved every week. So, to say he's only an average goalie because of his statistics is a bit misleading.

Save %: .918 (T20), first is .929 (Shane Madolora, RIT; James Mello, Dartmouth) Shutouts: 4 (T4), first has 6 (John Faulkner, UNO) Frattin is a men among boys, and has been a huge piece of this conference title puzzle. However, I have said before, and I'll say this again, Dell has been the most important piece of all. Eidsness, who was decent in his first two years, just wasn't the same during pretty much all of his stints this year. It would almost surely be a totally different scenario for the Sioux without Dell. I think we'd have a better chance of winning a National Championship without Frattin than without Dell. That's saying something because Frattin, this year, might be the most impressive Sioux player we've had in quite some time, and there's some big time players that headline that list.

OK, so I lied. I liked a photo John Dahl took so much I had to use it right away. So, thank John for the wonderful image he captured of Jason Gregoire for March's edition. He is an awesome photographer, I must say. This is one of my favorite wallpapers. It's pretty simple, but there was a lot of hidden work in making the background from scratch. I could have kept going infinitely with little details here and there, but I'm pleased with the final result. I think I'm going to start skipping the Standard sized screens, unless I get enough people that want them (let me know if you do). No calendar this month due to a limited known schedule. http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3554/marchwp.jpg

Huh?

Don't give anyone any ideas. Once our nickname is gone, do you think the PC activists will just stop?

I'd say Gleason is a tradeable Sioux. He's a puck moving defenseman, who is still pretty rock solid at defense...still young too. If we could trade him for a veteran scorer to add some scoring depth to our 3rd or 4th line, I think that's the only move you could make in a year like this for the Sioux. Maybe a guy like Jacques Lamoureux of Air Force, who has been known to put up some big scoring numbers, along with a bigger physical presence than others on our checking lines.

How did anyone allow a party that could be so disrespectful to cowboys?!

If this was a 3rd or 4th place WCHA team, I'd consider making a move that would maybe spark a jump in the team before the postseason, but this team doesn't need that. Throughout the year, all areas of the Sioux have played exceptional, from Dell in goal, to our team defense, to our quick-strike offense. If all those areas click in the NCAA Tournament for four games, no one can beat us. If the team did make a trade, it wouldn't be with another superpower, it'd be trading a few of our third/fourth liners for a good talent stuck on a lousy team....a guy who will come in wanting to prove something on a good team without the ego.

Gread vid Jim...thanks for posting it.

Not a jersey, but thinking about getting one of these in memory of the ol' Winter Sports Building...whatcha think? It's a "groundscrew jacket" with a vintage look/feel.

Erik Johnson is not a bad player. He just hasn't lived up to 1st overall pick hype yet...he is still very young, having only played one year at Minnesota.

Goon got into a pillow fight with a bunch of cute undergrads before the game, and then during warmups forgot to wipe off all the ketchup and mustard off his face from the hot dogs he ate...and someone thought he was wearing a war bonnet and face paint. Closest thing I can think of anyways...?

Hextall Malone

I understand the arguments of no home playoff games for our teams without NCAA approval. But, the goal in this battle is to gain approval for the use of the nickname AND meet the NCAA's approval. The 2nd will be a challenge, but not undoable. This whole process will still take some time, but can be, and will be accomplished if we keep fighting, like our current nickname says we do. We are FIGHTING Sioux. Fight for what you believe in. If you fail, at least you tried. You have to remember, teams like our football team are a bit far off from achieiving home field for their respective sport. By the time the dust settles, the whole nickname situation should be relatively clear. If we have to play a year or two without possibility of home field for playoffs while we settle the case with the NCAA, so be it. It is worth the fight. I think even the athletes would agree.

I just contacted Thomas Beadle on how to help this process going into the next step. Here's what he wrote: "If the bill is heard by the Education committee in the Senate as it was in the House, than the following Senators should be contacted: Chair: Layton Freborg Vice-chair: Donald Schaible Tim Flakoll Gary Lee Larry Luick Joan Heckaman Richard Marcellais Senate majority leader Bob Stenehjem would also be able to keep you informed on when it comes before a hearing. Thank you again for your support! The committee will need to hear the level of support that is behind keeping the name, and after the hearing that they will have, it will be important to have emails going out to the remaining senate members. Have a great day!" If someone can dig up the emails of those names listed, please post them here! Our voices are being heard. It's not too late. We NEED to let them know how many people are behind the Sioux nickname! Thank you Thomas Beadle for the help and support of the Fighting Sioux nickname, among everyone else who voted in favor of the bill!

Frazee got the nickname Long Island Frazee...time to think of one for Genoe. How 'bout the classic "Genoe & Tonic". Are you ready to Tanqueray?

No, just never got around to it. Life gets in the way sometimes. I promise they'll be there for March. Thinking about going retro again in the next batch. Just gotta learn a little geometry (<---hint) first.

Pucks are one thing I never got into for whatever reason (not knocking it). I had a puck signed by the DOT line, gave it away. I have two different game pucks (one I caught during a Sioux/Gopher game at the Ralph and got a nice close-up on FSNorth ). I couldn't even tell you where they are, though.

This link has one for sale for $10.00. I'm not sure on the trustworthiness of the site, seeing as it appears to be an old site, but it's worth a shot for only $10.

From my experience, you will deal with plenty of scalpers.

Thanks for the great pics! You mind if I use one for a future wallpaper?

That would have been AWESOME...except it's awesome to see a guy lace it up as the team captain in an Original Six city like Chicago. We should be saying, too bad the Blackhawks didn't draft Oshie....instead, they took Jack Skille (ha!) with the 7th overall pick. Obviously that was a bit high for even The Osh in terms of pre-draft rankings that year, but TJ is a man-beast who is going to become a big time player. Hindsight is always 20/20, though.

I tried sending you a PM, but your inbox must be full. Check your email, I'll send a message here in a minute.

To be honest, if the Sioux don't win the MacNaughton this year, it will be a bit disappointing. We have, hands down, the most talented team in the WCHA...even the country. Denver has over-achieved, but are still pretty good, so to lose to them would be a bit shocking. Duluth is a real good team, so losing to them wouldn't be as painful, but we are still the better team. We just have to take care of business.

I sent them a short message. I hope they listen. It's the least I could do even though I know it's a long shot.