SiouxAddict

You are spot-on! Everyone's obsessing about Wheeler's goal ... woulda, coulda, shoulda! If we hadn't taken so many stupid penalties during the early part of the game, making our big guns have to skate off one PP after another, leaving them too tired to run 'n' gun with the Gophers toward the end, we wouldn't have been outshot 11-5 in the 3rd period, and 4-0 in OT. How many games do you win being outshot 15-5 during that stretch? This team needs to play SMART, as well as hard, against Michigan (and then, hopefully Minnesota!) and thereafter! We won't have WCHA refs from here on, which some say will be disadvantageous to us, since they'll call penalties more quickly and for more marginal infractions. Dumb penalties from here on could easily cost the game, and THAT is the lesson our boys need to learn from Saturday's game!

I asked the same, in another thread. Living in Columbus, OH, and not receiving ESPNU, I may be SOL in getting the game, unless there's a webcast - anyone???

Yes, she was wrong - the penalty was "delay of game," NOT "hand pass." And Johnson was a moron for not knowing that - makes you wonder if the guy is really ready for NHL duty, doesn't it?

LOL - yep, for a guy his size, he sure can't throw! My guess is that MBL passed him over in THEIR draft!

I believe that the rules state that you can swing at the puck, in your defensive zone, with your hand. You CAN'T grab the puck with a closed hand and throw it like a baseball, like Erik Johnson did. That was a dumb penalty at ANY level of hockey! For a #1 NHL pick, the St. Louis Blues have to have shuddered when they saw "their guy" pull a bone-headed move like that, in a game of that importance! And from what I've read, he'll leave MN for the Blues after NCAA finals. What a doofus!

Yep, the Sioux got the short-end-of-the-stick in the scheduling - we have to go through BOTH Michigan AND MN just to win the regions? DAMN! And THEN the tough games begin? Well, if .... NO, WHEN! ..... the Sioux win their 4th game of NCAA tournament play, we'll have EARNED the championship, EVERY STEP OF THE WAY! GO SIOUX!!!

No - got a link? I'd love to see that!

Same sentiment here! I'm a Sioux fan, first and foremost, but if not us, then another WCHA team! The road ahead is tough, but we wouldn't want it any other way, would we? Despite all odds, this is "year of the Sioux," and WCHA again dominates the college hockey competition, en route to NCAA champion status! GO SIOUX!!!

I thought it was a fantastic game (except for the winning goal - wish Wheeler played in green!), and a good time to meet the Gophers at the top of their game, since we're likely gonna play them next Saturday, in region finals! I just don't have time to "hate the Gophers," I'd much rather spend time here ENJOYING everything Sioux! Leave the Gopher-bashing to NCAA wannabees, like SCSU and UMD! The ONLY thing I want from MN is to keep developing hockey stars, like Oshie and the Parises, that choose the tradition of Sioux hockey en route to NHL! Does anyone have a link to TV coverage of regions? I doubt that Columbus, OH cable will cover UND/UM/MI/AF regions..... Any live internet feeds?? GO SIOUX!!!

Well, I WAS at the X, for all 5 games! And yes, I saw alot of sloppy drunks, and more wearing maroon/gold than green, but there were plenty of abusive loud-mouths on EACH side of the cheering aisle. And WTF was with the Sioux fans wearing the Holy Cross jerseys? What're they, nine years old? I was actually only embarassed that the same people, holding up letter cards ended up spelling "H-O-L-Y-C-O-R-S-S." If you're gonna dis the opponents, at least make sure you're not too drunk to SPELL! (Inside, I did enjoy the joke, tho!) The "booing" for the 9-year old was a repeated thing during the tourney, where the announcer would have one rep of each team, and EVERYONE booed for their opposing representative, including the Sioux fans! It was part of the fun and festivity! If you REALLY thought this was mean-spirited booing of a child, then you're totally bereft of any sense of humor. Get real! You seriously think "the Sioux players dogged it all game?" "MTU and Wisconsin?" What color is the sky in your world? The Sioux played a damned fine game, and except for some dumb penalties, made VERY few mistakes! This was a hard-hitting, fast paced game, between 2 legendary rivals, with 2 VERY good teams! Admittedly, the Gophs had to play their best (except for the 0-for-8 PP, that is!) to beat the Sioux, but DO NOT compare this weekend's Gopher team to the one playing when we swept them at Mariuchi - during the couple of months after Christmas, EVERY team was able to beat them, but they seem to have found the grit they had during the early season, and I think they can play with anyone right now. And the Sioux have gotten guys back from injury, and gotten someone besides the DOT line to play hard and score. The finals at Denver should be a VERY good game, between, arguably, the 2 best teams in college hockey! GO SIOUX!!!!!

Wow, and you're an alum of UM? Undergrad AND professional? What the hell happened to you there?? I've been around awhile, and I've NEVER met a Sioux-alum who hated UND that badly! With all your out-of-control hate, and "having to deal with them all of the time," you need MUCH more than a message board, you need professional help. And for your own sanity, PLEASE move out of the hated Twin Cities, as you will NEVER be happy there. You wanna experience continuous arrogance about college sports? Try living here in Columbus, OH!

Just a general question to the members of this board. I've been a "lerker" here for the past couple of years, and just decided to register today, after attending my first WCHA Final Five tourney, and being so filled with pride about the Sioux, that I felt compelled to register, and post here, in preparation for a run at the national NCAA title. And during this time, I've never seen a thread ramble on with excuses like this 27 page thread contains (although I've only had time to really read the last half!) I come here to learn more about, and chat about, the team, its roster, and its games, since I no longer live in the area, and can't get local news about them. But all I read here now is Gopher-hating, complaints about their players, their fans, "their refs," and the like. Is this just because we lost to them in particular (since losses to other teams earlier in the year didn't result in this type of thread, nor when we swept them at Mariuchi!)? Maybe today's posts aren't representative, since only a select few have whined on endlessly; I certainly hope so! Where is the discussion about the team's good, hard play, their PP, their defense, and how they can improve to win in St. Louis this year? If there's nothing else to post, the URL needs to changed from "siouxsports.com" to "poorloserwhining.com." Let's please get back to what makes us proud to post here - the love of Sioux hockey, and what makes us great! GO SIOUX!!!

Let me get this straight, Vanelli, 6'2", 189# hit Duncan, 5'6", 158#, and then "ran to the bench" in fear? How, in God's name, did Vanelli EVER overcome the fear to return to the ice? LOL! You know, enough is enough, especially in whining!!! yzerman19, what is your problem? One whining post after another, "the refs screwed us," "the Gopher fans were rude," "my Mom didn't breast feed me" ..... Do you want some cheese with that whine? You EMBARASS the rest of Sioux's legendary loyal fans with this! Grow a set, and add something meaningful to the discussion! We LOST, get over it! We live to fight another day, and we'll hopefully BE the better team when next we meet - last night, we were NOT, plain and simple. We didn't lose to the zebras, we didn't lose because we played in St. Paul, we lost because we got outplayed, by one of best teams in the country, and took the Gophers for granted, in part because of the hype about how unbeatable we had become!

LOL - as a Hobey Baker finalist, do you think opponents give Duncan a "pass" because of his size? Nah, Duncan's a tough kid, who can dish it out, as well as take it! With his talent, if he doesn't EXPECT to be a target, he's dreaming! As a critical part of "the DOT line," if he can't take the hits, he'd better switch to the swim team, don't you think?

I'm all about the Sioux pride, but during this past decade, I'd have to say that the Gophers can sure brag as well as anyone about their winning tradition in hockey. In my lifetime, the past 35 years, the Sioux won NCAA 5 times, 79/80, 80/81, 86/87, 96/97, and 99/00; Gohers won it in 73/74, 75/76, 78/79, 01/02, and 02/03. Even. (I don't have stats for earlier years, but don't really care to look back over the past century!) So don't try to make the Gopher's history appear to be lacking - they're not "better" than us, but the reverse is also ridiculous to claim! (BTW, but what's your point in ridiculing Gopher football and basketball here? So what if "all they have is hockey?" I BLEED GREEN, but what else do we have to brag about here in ND in D1 sports? You just make yourself look small by posting things like that - it's like adding "and your Mom is fat" to your argument! I believe that the Gophers also won D1 NCAA wrestling this weekend, but this is a HOCKEY board, so who cares?)

Truth be told, for ANY high-spirited, emotional game (i.e. ANY Sioux/Gopher game, ESPECIALLY in title, or tournament, game), the officials have to walk a tightrop: "let them play," and the fights get ugly and play gets unnecessarily out-of-control; "call it all," and gameplay is slow and boring. I was at the X last night, and thought the refs were about average - they failed to call some outrageous acts, then (perhaps trying to make up for it) called some bogus penalties. But the play was aggressive by both teams, tempers were flaring, and fists were winding up for a brawl - had the refs "let it go," we might have had some game misconducts called, and had some key players miss round one at region tourney. I absolutely HATE seeing Shepherd reffing when we play! But would you be surprised that he's also one of the most hated refs on the boards for other WCHA teams, including the Gophers? That's probably because he ALWAYS calls the close plays - that's just his way. Not anti-Sioux, just calls the penalties more aggressively than others. I would have LOVED to have won last night (and I SURE thought we were going to, especially during the last 10 seconds of regulation play, where the boys tried DESPERATELY to put it on net, while the Gophs lapsed into thinking it was going to OT, and seemed content to try to freeze it behind their own net!), but the refs didn't beat us, the Gopher players did. Let's hope for another shot at region finals (and meanwhile, beat the hell out of Michigan in the first round! Don't lose sight of that, Sioux players!!!) GO SIOUX!!!

Exactly. He's a MN kid, playing for MN, IN MN. This is just petty, looking for something to criticize after a loss. We're better than that!

Um, let's have some "reality checks" here! 1. "The State of Hockey" is a marketing slogan for the MN Wild. There is, arguably, some validity, since so many D1 players come from MN (look at the Sioux roster, which has EIGHT players from MN, and every Sioux team has someone from MN on the caliber of Oshie, Parise, etc. Look at the rosters of most WCHA teams, and you'll find alot of quality kids from MN. Canada, of course, sends alot more. But we're American, and we like to think we can stand on our own, don't we? 2. Ask the Gopher fans about officiating last night. Both Sioux goals on the PP, a regulation goal called of for the Gophs. Officiating played little factor in the outcome last night. Or most nights - every team has fans who whine about officiating whenever they lose. 3. The fans may have complained about the physical nature of last night's game, but nary a word from the Gopher PLAYERS. 4. I heard nothing of the sort from ANY Gopher fans at the X last night. If anything, they envied us taking the likes of Oshie and Finley away from them, and before them the Parise boys, etc. And I heard ALOT of praise about the Sioux team, and how surprised they were that they won the game. 5. Where'd that come from? I didn't hear anyone say anything about "kicking someone's a$$" Even a casual observer of last night's game HAD to appreciate a closely fought contest, played as closely as the score reflected. 6. I'll give you this one! Twice as loud as Mariucci? Prolly because the 19,600 some odd fans as about twice the size of Maricucci's 10k seating. Certainly gives a "home ice" feeling for the Gophs, but it has to be someplace that size to house the interest in WCHA FF. Could be in Denver or Milwaukee, but in the area there aren't many arenas big enough.

I don't know, if you heard the Wheeler interview after the game, he talked about "playing for the 'M,'" having grown up in Minneapolis, and trying to live up to the tradition. I think he did that more out of excitement about having FINALLY had a big series for his team. Drafted by NHL right out of high school, he certainly hadn't played like a draft pick to that point. Anyway, I'm new to the board, having been a long-time "lerker," and finally wanting to join the discussion, and excitement about Sioux hockey! The boys certainly have nothing to hang their heads about, in fact, a REALLY close loss like this may give them a good wake-up call right before NCAA begins. I think they took the Gophers a little too lightly last night, since EVERYONE said the same thing, repeatedly, that NO WAY could the Gophers win the game. Well, I hope the sleeping giant is now awakened, and ready to kick some butt in the playoffs! One way or another, these 2 teams will meet again (God, PLEASE make it in the NCAA finals, NOT some regional game!!!!!) I hate to see posts rip on the officials. This was a HARD fought game, very physical, between 2 bitter rivals, and I'D hate to be calling the game! In this particular game, with the Gophers going 0-for-8 on PP, and Sioux going 2-for-5, and the officials waving off a potential 3rd goal for MN (which would have them up 3-1 at that point), I felt pretty good about our treatment at Xcel (and I was there watching the game, surrounded by Gopher fans!), which isn't always the case (I myself usually rip pretty easily on the striped dudes!) One other point: It's fine to see a "nasty tongue lashing from sioux fans (as every visiting offender does and should receive) mainly about choosing to play at Minnesota," but my WCHA FF book lists EIGHT Sioux players coming from MN, including Finley, Chorney, Oshie, Forney, Fabian, Lee Foyt and VandeVelde. Only THREE players come from ND. So I guess that if we lose the occasional Irmen or Potulny, as long as we keep getting the likes of Oshie and Parise, I'll take that tradeoff ANY day! Keep growing and training those MN boys, and sending them west to us!!!!!