Big A HG

If you compare the numbers with each other's peers around the country, Frattin would no doubt be the MVP on the team. It just goes beyond the numbers for me. Without Frattin, we'd certainly have a worse record, but there are still some guys who can put the puck in the net. Without Dell, we have a VERY shaky Eidsness in net instead. Brad accomplished some nice things the last couple years, but it's not hard to see he hasn't been a good goaltender through the first half of the season, so to have Dell come in and be the foundation of a good defense since, I think earns my MVP vote.

Frattin has no doubt been the most important asset to our team from an offensive standpoint. But, the goaltending we got from Dell was, in my opinion, the most valuable part of the team's success for much of the first half the season. There were a bunch of games that, without Dell, Frattin's goals wouldn't have meant as much. Yes, the scoring pace he is on is phenominal and rarely seen in college hockey, much less the WCHA, but my vote went beyond the numbers. I don't know why you are so upset about it...?

I also voted for Dell, because without him, many of Frattin's goals are meaningless. Not trying to take away from Matt, but Dell was most valuable with the way Eidsness was playing.

Right now I'm in the process of creating a logo to go with this theme from scratch. It is based on Thor, the god of thunder...although it's a very time-consuming process, so it will be a few days at least to punch it out. I also have ideas for a secondary logo based on Thor's hammer that would be great as a shoulder patch on a hockey jersey.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you in what you said in the quote above...it's just that the majority don't believe Pilots is a good nickname to be that future replacement.

"Whosoever holds the hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

I could get on board with a Warriors name going along with a norse theme.

Don't forget Brock Nelson, who could rejuvenate his rookie campaign after a strong World Jr. campaign. The guy is no slouch.

I think Derrick has had a pretty darn good year. His skating is much better than what it was a couple years ago. He's jumping in on offensive plays nicely (not too often, and picks the right times to do it), and he's creating some nice chances without going overboard. If you compare Marto, Genoway, and LaPoint's +/-, it's somewhat telling (conference play numbers). Genoway, a guy who creates so much offensively, only is a +1. Marto, same type of player, is E LaPoint, on the other hand, is +4. Just food for thought.

He's done great at forward, but I think he's had a disappointing first half at defense in my opinion. He's been a little sloppy at times, and for a senior, I'd like to see a little less of that. I wouldn't call him underrated, he just is what he is.

I admit my mistakes, and I did actually find that you guys are right about the The Prodigal Son. So, my apologies. I think we should drop it before Jim gets mad about the discussion of religion on the boards.

The Prodigal son was the older brother of the two. In those times, the oldest son was automatically given all the belongings of his father (any other brothers were owed nothing). That is why the Prodigal son was treated like he was.

This makes sense and I agree with it completely. Matt definitely went through tough times, and his taken every measure to turn his own self-inflicted situation around...and has been resoundingly successful in doing so. You can't take that away from Matt. However, you can't change the fact that at times in the past, Frats wasn't the same person. I'm not sure how the Hobey committee will look at it, but they definitely need to take into account the type of person Matt turned himself into. I just don't agree with the idea of giving him a leg-up on others because of his perserverence to overcome his battles when they were situations one shouldn't be in to begin with. Let's just hope he stays just as hot for the second half, because that means big success for UND and Matt.

Thank you for an intelligent response. I commend Matt very much for what he did, and he's reaping his own rewards because of it. I'm not saying Matt shouldn't be in the Hobey talks, but to actually say it's possible that a voter could look at Matt's story and give him an advantage in voting because of it is wrong.

You're completly missing the point. The point is, you guys think it should be to Matt's advantage that he overcame problems when other athletes don't put themselves in a position to have to overcome the same situations Matt had to. I think it's awesome Matt turned his life around the way he did. It's very commendable. I just think it's being assinine to the other athletes who never put themselves in those tough situations to say that Matt should have an advantage in Hobey voting because of what he managed to overcome.

I disagree. How can you put Matt Frattin ahead of someone who NEVER made mistakes like he did, just because he overcame problems. I find that a bit disrespectful to the athletes that have kept their noses clean from day one.

Lamoureux's

Not a good nickname. Period.

Yeah, it was Wheeler, and from what I know, Big Joe had every right to do what he did.

To be honest, I actually expect Nelson to get cut. He just hasn't transitioned fully yet to the speed of the college game, and if that's the case, he likely isn't ready for a World Junior appearance. I'm not knocking his skills, because he is very young and VERY skilled...he's just still developing.

I went to a Gamblers/Force game in Green Bay the first week of the season. I didn't really pay attention to many details other than watching Colton St. Clair specifically, and a couple other known NCAA recruits. Gothberg didn't get the start that night, but looked a little shaky in warmups. He seems to be doing decent, but nothing stellar. He's still young, though, so I'm not making any assumptions, just pointing out what I saw. St. Clair looked like Gregoire v2.0...won't win a goal-scoring title, but will still tally plenty of points while doing a lot of the little things right in a smooth, yet tenacious matter.

One would think it'd be a GREAT recruiting opportunity. A few talented youngsters may see the Sioux North Dakota on the ice up there and say, "that's where I want to play one day". It certainly wouldn't hurt. It'd be cool if they could pit a WHL team against UND.

Whatever happens, I just hope we play in Green Bay for the regional this year. That'd make my day.

It is broken, but Frattin isn't the reason why. He has 6 of the 11 PP goals. Only one player in the country has more PP goals. Then, add in the fact that Frattin creates other goals when on the ice for the PP. Not to mention at least one or two goals Frattin has scored with in a couple seconds of a PP ending that don't count as a PP goal. It's the other lines that aren't doing squat, mainly when Kristo is out there. Kristo and Genoway are launching all these shots into traffic over and over from the point hoping for the best. Frattin arguably does the same thing; however, Frattin takes his time, finds a hole, and puts it right where he wants it, resulting in a quality shot in a place where the goalie can't see it nor stop it. He doesn't shoot blindly into nothing like Chay and Danny over and over. No Brett Hextall and no Jason Gregoire spells much of the same story for at least a little while longer as well, as both are good PP guys.

No one does a burger like around here. Flame grilled burgers on a lightly toasted buttered hard roll. None of this crappy bun action with a burger cooked on a griddle with a slab of American cheese thrown on.