MafiaMan

I think you're TECHNICALLY correct...October of 2006 was the last time Maine played Minnesota at the X...the first being March of 2002. The 2005 game was at Maricci.

That's not the only time that the Black Bears have played Minnesota since that national championship game, though. The teams met in the first round of the 2005 NCAA regional at Mariucci Arena, with the Gophers winning 1-0 in OT.

I was at that regional at the X...I am still surprised that St Cloud didn't advance to the Frozen Four that season.

I was at the National Concrete Center last season (for the first time in several years) and noticed that they had taken down all of the sponsorship banners. Nothing says minor-league hockey like banners hanging from the rafters reading "Herbergers" or "Bill's Amoco."

LOL...Houla's mom is working on the felt team banner!

Unless my eyes deceived me last weekend, it certianly appeared that Gopher players have dyed their hair for the upcoming mite jamboree Final Five. That alone should be worthy of a sign mocking their team.

If CC's athletic department had any budget at all, you would have to think Scott Owens would be on the hot seat. I also think Dick Umile might be shown the Gasparini/Woog/Sauer ticket to the door after UNH's disastrous season.

The wife wants to come along on Thursday night and kill my buzz for the evening enjoy some Sioux hockey...looking for 1 ticket for the Sioux/St Cloud game. Thank you.

...and don't forget to put a bug in Al's ear and tell him "hey, I hear the Hoggsbreath has some great food..."

Oh here we go with the excuses...I can hear it already..."I was gonna come, but..."...

I'm a good Catholic boy myself, NDH...cue the eggs and French toast, please. I'll make sure Tom and Jossie get the heads-up on the Catholics who will be in attendance. I will also make sure that the "Welcome Sioux fans" is on the north AND south side of the sign so people know where they're headed when they're coming up north on Rice Street.

'Effin' Badgers.

OK, the WCHA Final Five schedule has been hammered out and I think the best route this year is to go with Friday the 16th at 11:00 am. You would have no problem leaving the bar/restaurant as late as 1:00 pm and make it in plenty of time to be in your seat at the X for the 2:00 pm semi-final game. The Hoggsbreath is located at 2504 Rice Street in Little Canada. There will be a sign on the marquee out front welcoming Sioux fans. Please post here the # in your party so I can give Tom and Jossie a guess-timate of the # of people by Wednesday evening so they can be prepared. Thank you!

I was thinking more along the lines of THIS... cue the scene from "The Three Amigos" movie... Lucky Day: Reading telegram: "Three Amigos, Hollywood, California. You are very great. 100,000 pesos. Come to Santa Poco put on show, stop. The In-famous El Guapo." Dusty Bottoms: What does that mean, in-famous? Ned Nederlander: Oh, Dusty. In-famous is when you're MORE than famous. This man El Guapo, he's not just famous, he's IN-famous. Lucky Day: 100,000 pesos to perform with this El Guapo, who's probably the biggest actor to come out of Mexico! Dusty Bottoms: Wow, in-famous? In-famous? That's Goon...he's so famous, he's IN-FAMOUS!

Of course it's OK to bring those!

I have seen Michigan a couple of times this year on BTN and anyone thinking that the Wolverines will be a cakewalk in the tournament is sadly mistaken.

I think I'll just close the poll now if it means an opportunity to meet Goon on Friday. I'd like to lean that way myself...we'll see how it plays out. The Hogg can accomodate either day. NorthDakotaHockey and I thought a Friday gig this year might boost attendance a bit. We had somewhere around 20-25 people at last year's event.

We had a great crowd at last year's Final Five brunch at the Hoggsbreath and I'm throwing out two options this year to see if we can boost the numbers. I'll finalize the numbers by mid next-week and let the folks on Rice Street know that Sioux fans are back in town...

100% agree. People who think Michigan Tech is a joke of a program that should be relegated to the back-pages of NCAA hockey history need to do two things: #1) Take a trip to Houghton and see a series at MTU. #2) Look up the history of the MacNaughton Cup and Michigan Tech's storied history in the conference. TE-CH-NO-LO-GI-C-A-L...TECHNOLOGICAL!

You mean known uber-lib...whoops...nevermind.

Try Roseville or Shoreview in the north or Eagan in the south. Bloomington is a bit further south and west, but also decent.

Michigan Tech is a program with a lot of pride and history. I realize it hasn't been a national power since the mid-1970's, but the fans in Houghton are a fun and knowledgeable bunch and I think the program has made some strides in improvement this season. This team could give UND fits this weekend.

Politics has a lot to do with this, so I guess we agree to disagree on that point. I probably could have left out the "uber-liberal" comment with respect to Phil, though, so point taken.

Hey, let's leave politics out of this!

He might have to dump Jeanie Buss if she doesn't want to come along with him though.