MafiaMan

Is he on double-secret probation too?

I'm sure he's looking. Maybe golden boy Tony Lucia has earned a shot between the pipes.

I couldn't agree more if I wanted to! Boy, would I love to see the next practice when Stauber starts giving Frazee some instructions!

I find it almost ironic that you mention the Big 12 conference considering that the old Southwest Conference and the Big 8 existed before the formation of the Big 12 in 1994. Do some light reading and you'll find that the Big 12 came to be as the result of a golf game amongst AD's from various schools which eventually led to the formation of the Big 12. Only some lobbying from some VERY powerful officials, including Governor Ann Richards, got Baylor into the Big 12 and not left out in the cold. Almost overnight, the Southwest Conference became extinct. You think the Big 10 Hockey Conference is impossible? I suggest you think again.

Dude, all I'm sayin' is that even top programs can't do it year after year after year. There's always going to be a hiccup in there somewhere.

Some people have short memories. Good teams don't always bounce right back when losing top talent. To think that the Sioux will just plop new guys into the roles vacated by Oshie and others is a bit lofty. Cue the 2001-2002 season, please: 16-19-2 record, 11-15-2 in the WCHA, 7-9-1 at home, and 7-10-1 on the road. That season ended with a WCHA first-round playoff loss at Minnesota. North Dakota isn't exempt from a down year anymore than Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Boston College, or Boston U are.

What did I miss? PCM has left the SiouxSports.com board for what reason? And what did THETRIOUXPER do that was he warranted a suspension?

Two tickets for both nights still available. Section 314, row K, seats 3 & 4. $37 for the pair for each night or $74 for the weekend series.

Dude, you can go back farther than that to when UND wasn't in the Frozen Four, 1998. To me, the BC/UND rivalry started when BC pulled off the upset in the 1998 regional in Madison en route to the Frozen Four and a championship game loss to Michigan. I hate BC...almost as much as Minnesota. But, seriously, is there a team with more heartbreaking losses in the past 10 years than BC? 1998 Frozen Four championship loss to Michigan (I believe this was OT, too) 1999 Frozen Four semi-final OT loss to Maine 2000 Frozen Four championship loss to North Dakota 2004 Frozen Four semi-final 2-1 loss to Maine 2006 Frozen Four championship loss to Wisconsin 2007 Frozen Four championship loss to Michigan State

Yea, just like Michigan State was gonna bow out early last year. Miami and Notre Dame now have another year of tournament experience under their belts. I'd watch out for them. Anything can happen in a one game situation. Just ask BC. They would beat MSU 9 out of 10 times they played, but in that one magical game last spring...

That's what happens when I'm not paying attention.

Just don't forget your wallet when we play again.

Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Michigan State look pretty decent to me.

RMU beat Boston U despite managing a paltry 15 shots on goal compared to BU's 35. This is not one of BU's better teams and they currently reside at 6-10-3. Notre Dame has been a collegiate patsy for years before last season's resurgence under Jeff Jackson. A good team, yes, but also an overwhelming favorite over the Spartans last year in the regionals. They're not a top-notch program just yet. Merrimack followed up their sweep of Maine by losing twice to UMass Lowell. You mentioned that they defeated Boston, but I see an 0-2-1 record against BC this year and an 0-1 mark against BU. Besides, when was Merrimack last relevant in Hockey East, let alone the NCAA tournament? BSU has beaten UMD 5 of the last 6. Lots of other teams can make that claim lately too. Huntsville took Notre Dame to double OT. Air Force took Minnesota down to the wire. Minnesota State swept the Zach Parise-led Sioux a few years ago too. Mercyhurts almost beat Michigan at Yost. We could go on all day if you would like, but I've forgotten what your point was.

I meant to define the conference as a whole with an impressive resume. Value City Arena typically draws 2,500 to 4,000 fans for hockey, except when Michigan comes to town. That's when 13,000 to 14,000 fair-weather fans come out just to yell "Michigan sucks." Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin are indeed the flagship programs of the WCHA. Take away any two of those three, and the third one will be wishing they were with the other two. When are we gonna play some darts again, NDH?

At best? Ever heard of Ohio State? Last time I checked, it's a pretty big school in Columbus. That's six schools with a pretty impressive hockey resume. Should those six schools join together, I guarantee you'd see Denver, Colorado College, Northern Michigan, North Dakota, and about a dozen other schools pining to get into what would quickly be the biggest and best college hockey conference. Mildly threatened? The Big 10 Network would LOVE it! I'm not anti-Bemidji State, as one poster suggested, I'm more worried about the potential pitfalls of letting them into the WCHA over the objection of two flagship programs, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Ask a North Dakota sports fan who their biggest rivals are and you'll no doubt hear "Minnesota and Wisconsin." Would Minnesota and Wisconsin prefer playing North Dakota and small schools several times a year or would they prefer to bolt and play in East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Columbus, etc...? You'd have to ask them...and I think their answer might surprise you.

Gee, ya think? I figured that British Columbia would prefer to play in Hockey East and fly from Vancouver to Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine several times a year. And for the love of Christmas, could someone please spell Niagara correctly? Someone pointed out ONE GAME from the 2000 season (which, by my count, was eight years ago now), as an example of the quality of play of Niagara. I sought to point out the most-recent example of CHA vs WCHA play and it was the thrashing UW delivered to Robert Morris this season. But, what the hell, since one game makes a program, when is the WCHA bid going to be extended to Holy Cross?

I'll agree with you on that point, AZSIOUX. If the potential of winning an NCAA championship is the ONLY criteria by which teams should be competing in college hockey, let's just whittle things down to 10 teams and dismantle all other programs. Maybe they could do the same thing in basketball, too. After all, we already known Kentucky, UConn, and UCLA would destroy George Mason, right? I'm not against Bemidji State being a D-1 hockey program. I'm against them joining the WCHA because it continues the trend of making the WCHA a small-town conference.

Wisconsin defeated Robert Morris 7-2 and 8-2 in a series earlier this season. Niagara owns wins this season over national powerhouses Western Michigan, Merrimack, and Bowling Green.

I never said it made those two schools good programs, I said they've been good enough to make a trip to the Final Five. Folks here on the board seem to want to look at two things to determine kicking out schools and accepting new schools to the WCHA: #1) Bemidji almost beat Denver in the NCAA tournament, so therefore they are good. #2) Mankato and Alaska-Anchorage suck, therefore they must leave. I'm not drinkin' that Kool-Aid.

And yet, stunningly enough, Mankato made a recent trip to the Final Five and Alaska-Anchorage managed to get there a while back too. It's a good thing you guys have short memories or else you'd have kicked Colorado College out of the WCHA during the era before Don Lucia.

Boise State managed to beat Oklahoma in last year's Fiesta Bowl, too, but I don't hear teams from the big XII saying that they should be invited to join the conference. What are you basing this "they are better than teams like Mankato and UAA" on?

It'll be 'AZSIOUX Throwback Jersey Night' at the Cowchip Palace Saturday night!

I have a few connections there and will see if maybe Star, Rainbow, Cosmos, or Destiny can find it and get it returned to you ASAP.