Big A HG

Take away that 8-1 thrashing, and Lee playing like crap in the Final Five, they were a tough team for us as well. They have the scoring. They have good goaltending most of the time, and their defense is better than in years past. Plus, they didn't have Roe against us and their lines were a bit scattered at the F5.

I think SCSU will be tough. This is one of their best teams they've had in awhile, and they've had some decent ones in recent years. I can see them as a Frozen Four dark horse with good potential.

The problem with this comment is that the faster and harder you push technologies that aren't reliable, and have very little in the way of energy output, the greater the chance it will fail. If you let capitalism run its course, someone is going to have a breakthrough beyond what we can imagine right now, and then getting rid of all our combustible engines is then something viable. We just don't have the technology to do that until one of these major breakthroughs happen. Yes, there are methods to creating clean energy right now, but none of them can do what fossil fuels do. Once you obtain a way to provide cheap renewable energy that has as much output as fossil fuels, then we can start getting rid of fossil fuels. You'd destroy America by trying to replace everything before there is a good enough technology in place...but what progressive liberal isn't trying to destroy America these days?

We are now ONE day away from tournament action. East and West regionals start the action.

Awesome write-up. One concern I have is that, now that Chay has been out for so long, and if he is able to come back, would it hinder the team if he came back with only a couple games (assuming he's not playing this weekend, which is a pretty safe assumption)? I know that sounds blasphymous, but I think the team has gelled so well and rallied around him, I wonder if he came back if some of that chemistry would be lossed on the ice (I know it wouldn't hurt it off at all). Just some questions to ponder...not saying it would have any ill-effects for him to come back.

Hey, I was watching that!

Way to go out on a limb there AZ. Nope. Not this time. BC dominates the whole game. No doubt about it. Alaska should just probably stay home and save travel costs.

How's this for a deal? I'll be at Target Field for some Brewers/Twins action, and then you head out east here and enjoy some Brewers/Twins at our beloved Miller Park.

There is absolutely no chance Alaska beats Boston College. ZERO PERCENT. I doubt Alaska can put up a goal while almost certainly giving up 6 or 7 to BC at the same time. Prediction after all that? BC 6, Alaska 0.

So you did ask him then?

Try this one on for size: 3 goals in less than 1 minute to put the game in OT.

I'm no Twins fan, but Mauer did something pretty great by signing this deal with the Twins. There were talks that if he wasn't set on playing for the Twins beyond this next season that the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets would have had a bidding war for him that would have gotten him somewhere in the 10 year/250 million dollar range. Mauer has a good head on his shoulders, and the Twins should be proud to have a great cornerstone for years to come. The only thing that concerns me is that the Twins hopefully didn't tie up too much money in him that would be better served for other players down the line if Mauer's play goes drastically downhill after a few years (catchers have a tougher time producing big numbers year after year after year...hence talks about moving him to first in the future). Either way, go Brioux Crioux!

Tears of joy would roll from my face...I hope he puts up a hat trick of hat tricks, 9 freakin' goals. It still wouldn't numb the pain of the Gerbe era, but it'd help.

Yeah, I guess my goal with writing this was to not forget where WE came from as sioux fans, alumni, athletes, and coaches. Every person involved in the program (and that includes everyone) has a little piece of Cliff Purpur in 'em. Almost all the coaches and players have especially shown this day in and day out. They play like Cliff lived. I hope we never forget that. Imagine the hockey landscape these days without Cliff Purpur and John Mariucci. Neither North Dakota or Minnesota would be what they are today...not even close. And THEN think what North Dakota and Minnesota have done for all the rest of hockey. We've created hall of famers, coaches, players who have played in every league, olympians, etc. They've come and gone from the UND and UM programs, but went on to spread the seeds of their roots throughout the entire world. Here's a novel idea...why don't we do a little renaming of REA. We can leave the building itself as Ralph Engelstad Arena, but it might be a neat idea to call the ice itself The Purpur Ice at Ralph Engelstad Arena (ala Coach K Court which is in Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University). Just a thought...take it for what you will.

If you post something idiotic, even if it was only out of frustration, you still lay claim to what you have said and deserve any responses that it may inhibit (good or bad). If you don't want someone to potentially rag on a comment, don't post it. Otherwise, be willing to hear what people have to say. Just because you were frustrated, and maybe didn't mean what you said, doesn't make you immune to comments. People are willing to bash Hak, Eidsness, Lee, Finley, LaPoint, etc., but when someone bashes them, they get all uptight. Fair? You decide.

You're 28 years too late...

I think some Euro league gave him a shot for a couple seasons, but he couldn't hack it, so he left do to janitorial work at a shoddy rink out in Wyoming or something. Probably makes minimum wage.

I started last week.

OUR EVERLASTING TRADITION Big A HG As each season passes, North Dakota Fighting Sioux fans continually pour their emotions into their beloved program while proudly proclaiming and boasting about our cherished tradition. This tradition is unique, not alike any other in the college hockey world, and among the greatest in all of sport. However, as I learned of these traditions through my growth to becoming a life-long Fighting Sioux fan, it was commonplace to wonder where these traditions came from and what they truly meant. North Dakota hockey has come to be known as a program that elicits hard-working, hard-nosed, grind-it-out athletes and coaches. Once you are a Fighting Sioux, you are a part of that family forever. Players arrive on campus and are immediately transformed from boys to men. Off the ice, the young men tied to the team are known as humble and well-spoken, whom never take credit for their own personal accomplishments. The coaches are tough and rugged, and instill a mentality of hard work and team building from day one. Oftentimes, it takes weeks or months for these traits to grow over the course of a season, but they are commonplace from one coach and player to the next. All of these characteristics have taken a small-town university in a state most wouldn't dare visit in the heart of hockey season to the elite echelon of college hockey. Many Sioux legends have come and gone (but never are forgotten), each of whom has been transformed in a way that will be carried on with them for a lifetime, and it's all thanks to one man who gave birth to it all. His name is Cliff Purpur. Many Sioux fans may recognize the name, most notably from the Purpur Arena in Grand Forks. Cliff "Fido" Purpur Grew up in Grand Forks in the 1920s and '30s, raised by a family who never had it made. There were many hardships for he and his family, but Cliff was set out to set things straight. Their family was in debt, and their house needed some major repairs. As a teenager with tremendous hockey skill, Cliff promised his parents that he'd use his determination and love of hockey to one day make things better. Eventually, he made his way into the National Hockey League, ultimately playing for Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis. Cliff was by no means your typical hockey player. He was 5'5", not weighing more than 157 pounds in his career. His tenacity at the elite level of hockey earned him the nickname "Fido", dubbed by a Minneapolis sports writer due to the way he "hounded" opponents. He was fast and skilled, but his physicality set him apart, sometimes sending players 70 pounds heavier than him flying over the boards with monstrous hits. Cliff, who played with his brother Ken on the Grand Forks Amerks team of the States-Dominion League, scored 4 goals in 25 seconds one game, and when Ken mentioned the fact they he thought Cliff had a record, Cliff said "Let's get another one." And that he did. When playing with the Chicago Blackhawks, Mr. Purpur had a recognizable teammate, John Mariucci. While together, the two set in stone plans to each go back to their respective home states after their time in the NHL, and create and grow programs for each respective school they came from, Cliff's being the University of North Dakota, John's being the University of Minnesota. Both Cliff and John lived up to those promises. Cliff took his natural traits and applied them to a program that wasn't in existence at the time, the start of a tradition that would forever bear his likeness. Purpur never coached a championship team at North Dakota, but he did so much more. This tradition we all know and love started with this one man. He gave everything his all, and reaped the rewards...but never keeping anything for himself. After making the NHL, Cliff followed up on his promises of fixing up his family's home and paying off his parents debts. He came home after that great pro career, and continued to give and give and give some more. He created this now proud program from nothing. Cliff built rinks all around the community, and walked the streets for any donations he could come up with, just for scholarships. His efforts were tireless and not once did he ever give up. As each new Sioux player enters our program, they become molded into the shape of our North Dakota traditions. This mold bears the face of the man who started it all, Cliff Purpur. So, when a new team takes the ice each year, we know exactly what to expect. A tireless team who is humble off the ice, works tireless on it, and never ever gives in to anything that could bring them down. It is essential we never forget these roots, for every win and every championship wer all born from this true North Dakota legend. This is what tradition is, and will continue to be for many more years. "I love my teams, I love you, and I love my country and North Dakota. I would die for North Dakota." --Cliff Purpur

FIRE HAK

The defending champion is back. I never did it before last year, but I was anxiously waiting for this to get posted again this year. Game on! PS...I didn't get no fame, fortune, nor riches last year.

1) 4 shots 2) 4 feet 3) 9 strokes (you missed your 4 footer)

#3 overall is still in the mix for UND. My calculation, when in the #3 spot, doesn't help us much. We still end up out east somewhere, and BC ultimately ended up at #6 in the calculation, which would still end up likely putting us with them...unless we get sent to Albany and they stay in Worcester after the committee does their changes. Any insight Jimmy?

I missed the game because I was watching NDSU in the NCAA tournament....what happened. Oh wait..

How can you be at Hoggsbreath and on Siouxsports at the same time?