MafiaMan

C'mon, that's the difference between Sioux fans and Gopher fans. Sioux fans drinking at the Hoggsbreath on a Saturday morning after a loss = nap time. Gopher fans drinking at the Hoggsbreath on a Saturday = riot police being called out.

If there's a huge majority leaning one way, I'll roll with the tide. If it's pretty evenly split, I'll make the final call. Obviously I hope people could make either date but that's always a challenge. The Friday gig was fun because of the anticipation of the semi-final games coming up. In the past, a Sioux loss on Friday (or heaven forbid, Thursday), has led to a somewhat subdued group at the Hoggsbreath on Saturday morning.

I've actually thought of that...but I didn't want us to appear to be the SiouxNERDS.com group as opposed to SiouxSports.com.

Isn't that kinda by Still Waters and Inner Grove Heights?

OK, folks, it's time to prepare for the 2013 Hoggsbreath brunch. Last year's brunch was moved to Friday morning to accomodate those fans wanting to catch Saturday afternoon's Wild game but I don't think we'll have that problem this year. I'll start taking tallies now and see where we wind up. Personally, I thought the move to Friday last year was a good one, although I can do either without too much trouble. As always, fans of ANY team in SiouxSports.com are welcome to attend, not just Sioux fans. YaneA, NorthDakotaHockey, CMSioux...get the word out. AZSIOUX and Runninwiththedogs, I expect that THIS is the year you finally make this gig! See ya there!

New thread comin' up today!

Sunnofabeach...

Good call...not far from the Hoggsbreath!

Score one for the west! C'mon Bismarck!

Any score updates from the tournament?

Close...it was Northern Michigan, not Michigan Tech..i believe the Wildcats hosted the Badgers for two games in Green Bay in 2006. Edit: good article here on Green Bay hockey... http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/574066/Green-Bay-s-Resch-Center-proves-to-be-valuable-venue-for-Northern-Michigan--Michigan-Tech-hockey-programs.html

Minnesota gained an easier road to two points out of it, didn't they? If I'm Denver, North Dakota, CC, or anyone else contending for a MacNaughton Cup that year, I'm livid. Mankato's athletic department can do what it wants, but turning a home game into a road game for the sake of $$$$ is sad. I hope administration still feels that that stunt was worth it. What a bush league move.

Gee, why WOULDN'T Minnesota like Mankato, especially after turning a home game for the local fans into a 90 mile road trip to the X a few years ago? If I'm a Mankato hockey fan living in Mankato, I would have turned in my season tickets immediately after that slap in the face.

My cat-like speed and reflexes while on a keyboard are pretty astounding, aren't they?

LOL...I was a step ahead of you I guess! A friend of mine once asked me 'you've lived here for 20 years...can't you even like the Gophers as a second-favorite team by now?' My reply: "If they reunited the 1980 Soviet Olympic team and had them play a game against the current Gophers, I'd buy a ticket to the game at Mariucci, wear my red CCCP jersey, and cheer as loud as I could for those commie bastards. THAT'S how much I hate Minnesota."

You mis-read bale31's double-negative. Don't mind him NOT hating the Gophers...which means he's OK with them. Sorry, bale31, I vote black ball.

UND vs UNO is the new version of the current WCHA's Mankato vs Alaska-Anchorage.

Your whole post above was excellent but this particular paragraph (and bolded sentences on top of that) I agree with X 1000.

Vermont (Hockey East), Northern Michigan (WCHA, that's weird saying that), and St Lawrence (ECAC)...that's a nice non-conference mix.

The answer is 'no.' If the WCHA tournament plays at the X, you will find maybe 500 fans in the TC area who will go just to watch hockey despite Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc. not being in the building. It's delusional to think 2,500 to 5,000 'casual' fans will show up to see teams they really have no vested interest in. Same thing would go for Grand Forks. Would you stay home to watch the Sioux on TV in Denver at the NCHC tournament...or would you pay money to go to REA and watch Northern Michigan play Lake Superior State in the WCHA championship game?

I've always enjoyed road trips from Bloomington to Mankato for the Sioux/Maverick series...really going to miss those.

LOL! Detroit looks like Minnetonka compared to Chicago!

That's the risk you take...I bet AA and Alaska might actually fill up their own barn, though. The question is, what happens when the home team is upset in the Thursday night game? I can recall the Subway 'Classic' in Grand Forks several years ago...I drove up for the Wayne State vs Findlay semi-final game figuring that since Sioux fans paid for those tickets as a package deal along with the Sioux game tickets, they would attend. Boy was I wrong. I would bet there were MAYBE 500 fans at REA for that game. An hour after that game ended, a crowd of 9,000-10,000 filed in for the Sioux game. Might be the same issue if a host school loses in the Thursday quarterfinals, but I guess you won't know unless you set it up that way, right?

I had thought of that as well...you see it in college basketball all the time in the smaller conferences.

I realize some Sioux fans may be snarky about the WCHA that North Dakota is leaving behind, but I'm not one of them. In fact, I want the WCHA to succeed. The question is, what is the best option for the conference tournament? I guess we'll find out soon enough what Grand Rapids holds in store...followed by the X in 2015. What school are you affiliated with?