MafiaMan

Oh please. If that's a Gopher player, you're calling for Phil to ship him back to Minneapolis for being a team cancer.

I expected much more out of Slovakia in this game based on their performance in this tournament up to this point. Good win for Team USA...maybe there is hope for a medal after all!

Wilbur, in 2011 Boston College was smoked in the opening round of the NCAA's by Colorado College...and it wasnt in Worcester!

On the off-chance that Lake State can ever turn around its program and became a high-seed, a trip to Sault Ste Marie would be possible under this proposed format.

Wow, that's an educated post. Those schools doing well would be beneficial for ALL of college hockey. If you want to start weeding out the Bemidjis, Mankatos, Lake States, etc., college hockey will become an even smaller niche market than it already is.

Sad but true. In a few years, most everyone in the crowd at REA will be sporting new jerseys...and Sioux jerseys will pop up as often as a North Stars jersey at a Wild game.

Yea, Michigan Tech had every chance to go back to the CCHA when Northern Michigan left and they chose to stick with the WCHA. It would be a shame for the new-look WCHA to struggle attendance-wise and revenue-wise - even worse if some schools decided to 86 hockey altogether.

The difference now is that fans can speculate as to where their team will be placed (like UND fans figuring they were coming to the X two weekends in a row)...once you open up remote locations, it will get trickier. A February-March trip to Marquette or Sault Ste Marie is a white-knuckler!

That's a lot of absolute last-second planning...and won't ever happen. Imagine pairings coming out on Sunday afternoon and having to make travel arrangements to go from Boston to Kalamazoo or Grand Forks to Sault Ste Marie on 3-4 days notice...that's pretty tough logistically-speaking. I believe a three-game series is a better option that still rewards a team for having a successful regular season.

Can you blame Michigan Tech for being upset with what has transpired over the past few months? I really can't.

Replicas are fine when you're a 10 year old kid and will outgrow your jersey in a season or two...for me as an adult, it's authentic or no jersey at all. I also think the reason that the new jerseys aren't available in authentic versions yet is that people know in 4-5 years, UND will have new jerseys - likely with some sort of logo on it. Why buy now when it'll all change in a few years anyways?

I've been arguing for this change for a long time...it would be nice to finally see something done about it. It would also be nice to eliminate teams playing each other in consecutive weekends in conference tournaments and then regional tournaments (which has obviously happened to North Dakota and Minnesota several times over the past few years in addition to Denver as well). Can you imagine the outcry if North Carolina played Duke in the ACC basketball tournament final and was promptly stuck in the same regional for the NCAA tournament a week later? Exactly...#1 seed or not, there's a huge disadvantage to being seeded in someone else's backyard (also see: 1998 North Dakota vs Michigan @ Yost Arena).

I own a print from circa 1980's that shows the championship banners (old ones, obviously), Hobey Baker winner Tony Hrkac, previous coaches and All-American and Olympic players...who has information regarding that particular print?

What print was that?

LOL fightingsioux4life...are you referring to the 3-game smackdown that the Sioux put on the Gophers in 2010? The one that saw the Sioux win game 3 by a score of 4-1 after getting a PPG and an ENG in the 3rd period? The one where not a single Gopher fan even thought their team had a chance to win that series and very nearly pulled off a huge upset? Obviously I have never gotten into it with Gopher fans? Come see me at this year's FInal Five and I will share some stories with you - starting with Gopher fans presumably being responsible for keying my truck to the tune of $3000 worth of damage a few years ago. I have had PLENTY of run-ins with their kind - usually the ones with personalities of European soccer hooligans after their team loses a big game.

The truth X 100.

Where have you heard of any Gopher hockey fans screaming about Big 10 hockey 'superiority' as compared with the WCHA? I don't know a single Gopher hockey fan IN FAVOR of moving to the Big 10 Hockey Conference. As part of the Sioux 'thorn in the side' of the Gophers for the past ten years, you cite as an example HOLY CROSS beating Minnesota? If you're still using that as proof of Sioux hockey superiority over Minnesota...well...that argument is quite simply beyond being yesterday's news. In case you forgot, UND also played Holy Cross in the NCAA tournament...and looked rather mediocre in defeating them a few years before the now-famous Minnesota game.

You're preaching to the choir...but the choir is getting smaller by the day. It's not just college hockey where traditional rivalries are dying...it's college football and basketball. C'mon...Boise State now wants to back OUT of its deal to leave the Mountain West and stay? San Diego State in the Big East? Maryland in the Big 10? Kansas not playing MissourI? Texas not playing Texas A & M? Maryland not playing Duke or North Carolina? College sports is a mess rivalry-wise...and hockey is just a small part of the problem.

What planet were you on last season? I saw UND play Minnesota six times. Regular season: 2-0 Minnesota 3-2 Minnesota 2-1 Sioux 6-2 Minnesota Post-season: 6-3 North Dakota 5-2 Minnesota I can honestly say that in my opinion, UND outplayed Minnesota in exactly ONE period of hockey last year: the 3rd period of the WCHA Final Five.

LOL...you're probably the same type of fan who thinks Alabama would be a .500 team if they played in the NFL. How is UMass enjoying the bump-up from FCS to FBS?

LOL...so you're basing the Big 10 on how Illinois and Iowa have done this season? I'll call that bluff and raise you Tennessee and Auburn in the SEC and Washington State, Cal and Colorado in the Pac 12. Last time I checked, UCLA just beat the pre-season #1 team USC...and handily at that. Oregon State has been in the top 12-15 all season long. And you're considering those embarrassing losses for the Big 10?

Yea, I'm just a dumba** Sioux fan with 25 years of going to games under my belt. Stupid is as stupid does...

Were we talking attendance? Attendance won't suffer a bit, however, UND hockey fans continue playing 'little brother' to Minnesota. Why can't we be like Texas A & M? Texas wants to bully the Big 12 around and A & M says 'hell with you guys.' Do you think the Aggies regret leaving UT behind in the Big 12 now? Hmmnnn.....

Sioux fans look silly for crying and moaning about it...that's my angle. "Hey Gophers, we got rid of our nickname...come play us....please? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

LOL...another football 'fan' who wants to base the entire Big 10 Conference season on how Michigan played against Alabama in August. Arrogance in scheduling or not, why are Sioux fans gnashing their teeth and wetting their bed over Minnesota's decision to not play the Sioux? Move on.