MafiaMan

The USA rout is on!

Shots 22-6 Russia...but score only 2-1.

Slovenia's debut in Olympic ice hockey - they qualified for this tournament by defeating Denmark a year ago 2-1.

Russia: 16 NHL'ers Slovenia: 1

When did USA announce Quick as the starting goalie? Mad scramble in front of Slovak net...4-1!

USA really dominating play now. Wow...1:11 straight in the zone. Slovakia's line gassed.

Nike's template-tastic formula! Unfortunately, they are the exclusive manufacturer of Olympic jerseys. Groan...

Oshie with a great hustle play to create a turnover which leads to a goal by Stasny. 3-1 USA!

Russia leading the Seattle Seahawks, er, Slovenia, 2-0. I guess kudos to Slovenia for not being another navy blue and white team at the Olympics...

It's like Nike wanted to throw together 'traditional' and 'technology' on the same jersey. The crest i like...the silly flywire neck and blue stars on blue look ridiculous. And whats with the mini-numbers on the shoulders?

What a rocket off the stick of John Carlson! Wow! 1-0 USA!

Is it just me or does USA vs Slovakia look like a white vs blue intra-squad scrimmage? Stupid Nike jerseys...

I've had several interactions with Hakstol over the years at the Final Five. Every single time, either before or after a game, he would stop to say a few words to kids who are in the hotel lobby. MafiaMan Jr was busy scrounging up autographs at the Crowne Plaza a few years ago and Hak asked him if "the boys" were all taking care of his signature requests. He also asked if my son played hockey (the answer was "yes) and said he'd be keeping an eye on him and maybe see him in a Sioux uniform in a few years (my son was 9 at the time). Whether being on the way to the rink for the pre-game morning skate or coming back from a title-game thriller, the head coach of the Sioux was always pleasant to deal with. But, that's just my two cents. I'm sure it's much more fun for radio hacks to grumble about Hakstol's demeanor on the air and that they've heard rumors that Dave spends his free time volunteering to euthanize puppies and kittens at The Humane Society.

So, on gfhockey's left hand, we have "$100 million recruiting gem" and "does Gwoz have the budget UND does?" and on gfhockey's right hand, we have "our team is babied" and "they are upgrading our locker rooms already." Which side of your two arguments are you on?

How did you miss this thread? No plans in the works to order any more hats unless this thread blows up with requests. Please check out the Hoggsbreath Sioux-color shirt thread though...

The Denver Post seems to disagree... http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22916338/george-gwozdecky-out-du-hockey-coach-after-19

Great point. Apparently Magness is a $75 million crap-hole. And the expression is "Game. Set. Match."

I'm off to broomball - skipped #2 of beebsb010's points for a reason - it's my favorite and I'm saving that reply for last.

I'm hate to even get into a comparison between NCAA DIvision I men's ice hockey and FCS football. On one hand, some Sioux fans chuckle at Criaig Bohl leaving Fargo and how that shows that NDSU and FCS football are small-time. Then the same Sioux fans turn around and want to claim that Grand Forks is a heavenly city that pretty much any coach other than Scotty Bowman or Joel Quenneville would love to spend the rest of his career in. And you're really going to try to promote the Gwoz as a guy who could win at North Dakota...when he was basically run out of Denver for his lack of playoff success there since 2006? The Eades issue has been beaten to death on this board and shouldn't even be discussed any longer. Eades isn't coming back - except for the '82 team reunions every 5-10 years. As far as gfhockey making "some good points"...well...take a look at his latest ramblings in this thread..."fire faison"..."extend hakstol"..."all hail Brewster"...great stuff. Almost 4,000 posts worth of it too.

Miraculous runs just to get into the tournament? 2008 #1 seed Midwest Region 2009 #2 seed Northeast Region 2010 #2 seed Northeast Region 2011 #1 seed Midwest Region 2012 #1 seed West Region 2013 #2 seed West Region That hardly looks like a team just barely sliding into the tournament, does it? Perhaps you'd prefer to be Minnesota and bust out of the gates...only to start sliding once January starts. How has St Cloud been their last 3-4 weeks? The PRI fluctuates greatly week to week and goes nuts when the conference tournaments start. Yale was a Michigan or BU win away from watching last year's tournament. That's the way it is. You want to be Boston College or Minnesota this year and be guaranteed an at-large bid in mid-February regardless of what happens the rest of the way? Sure, that'd be nice. But I hope those two schools enjoy the bit round target on their chest - because they are already wearing one. Now, there's no question this year has seen some disappointing games (Boston U, Vermont, St Lawrence) and I don't think it's a stretch to say that this isn't Hakstol's most talented team. However, as I've stated here several times recently, this team has the potential of being the new giant of Target Center every spring. If it can't win two home playoff games followed by two more games amidst the sea of green in Minneapolis, it probably shouldn't be in the NCAA's anyways. And thus would year 1 of "Hakstol-watch" begin along with some changes made during the off-season to improve the team heading into next season.

So much written that I don't even know where to begin. I'll start with your first point, even though it wasn't numbered or listed as a point. I more than disagreed with Hakstol's approach in the 2011 game against Michigan - and pointed that out on here. It was frustrating to sit and watch UND play the dump and chase on the power play unsuccessfully over and over and over. And then watch Scott Sandelin and UMD carry the puck into the zone two nights later - obviously UMD saw how Michigan stifled UND two days earlier and wasn't going to suffer the same fate. I also pointed out UND being seemingly unprepared for TV time-outs and the slow-ness of the game. That wasn't Hakstol's first time in the Frozen Four but it sure seemed like the team was caught off-guard by the slow play. Thirdly, I have pointed out here many times that UND policy now seems to be to showcase what Sioux players do AFTER leaving Grand Forks, not what they do WHILE in Grand Forks. Don't believe me? Go check out the UND online media guide and take a look at the first few pages. UND needs to get back to recruiting kids dedicated to winning a national championship while in school...not dedicated to increasing their NHL status when they leave after year 2 or 3. If those aren't criticisms of Hakstol and the coaching staff directly, well, I don't know what to tell you...

Nerds!

Geez, I'd love to respond to this right now, but I'm busy walking Dave's dog and after that, I have to pick up his suit for Friday's game at the dry cleaners. I'll try to pick this apart bit by bit later, though, I promise.

Wilbur (3): 2L 1 XXL neonpelican (3): 1 L 2 XXL southpaw (3) 1M 1L 1XXL

They do run small - at least last year's did. I might price out the Gildan shirts and see how much more those are. They're better quality.