MafiaMan

Sure, just a second, sagard. I'm on hold waiting for Bruce Pearl to give me an answer on that.

It's funny how quickly Gopher fans refute the notion that 16,000 or so fans attending a game has no impact on their play. If the Gophers can't win games with 98% of the crowd in their lap, perhaps it suggests a lack of heart, not talent. Interesting, though, how the same posters and fans point out how "biased" the neutral-ice site REA was last March. The same fans proclaiming the "X" as a neutral ice site were the same ones screaming "not fair!" when having to go to Grand Forks. What goes around comes around, Goldy.

WCHA Final Fives held at the St Paul Civic Center, Target Center, or XCel Energy Center, typically considered the Golden Gopher backyard, since 1997? Nine. WCHA playoff titles by North Dakota in that time frame? 3 (1997, 2000, 2006). Other title game appearance in that time-frame? 2 (2001, 2005). That's five title game appearances in nine years in the WCHA Final Five and six appearances in ten years if you count the 1998 Final Five at the Bradley Center. How have the Gophers done during that same time frame, TC_transplant?

I've had the fortune of running into many Maine fans at the 2005 Western Regional in Minneapolis and the 2005 Frozen Four in Columbus. Every single Maine fan I met told me that they cheer for the Sioux as their second favorite team and will always remember the kind actions of Dean Blais and co. when Shawn Walsh was stricken with cancer. They're a great bunch of fans.

The answer is, 'no'. My Maine hat and personalized Maine jersey will remain at home this weekend. Watch for my Sioux hat and a probable Russian jersey in section 314A. If you spot me, feel free introduce yourself and I'll gladly give you a softball sponsor Liberty Bail Bonds handcuff keychain that I hand out on occasion at Joe Senser's.

As far as I know, they still do the bell ringing. The cool part of it is the players coming out of the locker room and running to the bell. The sidewalk was lined with fans and the players high five as many as possible. The hammer is handed to the team captain who rings the bell first. Good stuff. Funny side note about that trip, now that my memory has been rekindled...it was November of 1997...about 8 months after the Sioux had won the national title. I wore my Sioux jersey to the LSSU/Michigan game and made sure that some Michigan players saw it before the game. After the game, my buddy decides to head over to LSSU's local hot spot for dinner. We walk in, me beaming in my Sioux jersey, only to hear and see the Michigan freshman standing on their chairs singing "Hail to the Victors." That green jersey stuck out like a sore thumb and the entire team noticed me almost immediately. We were still eating when Red tells the Wolverines to saddle up and get on the bus and the whole group makes a point to walk right by me upon exiting the restaurant. Marty Turco was kind enough to shake my hand as I told him "good game" and Red Berenson stopped by, looked down at me and said, "nice jersey...wrong team." I smiled and said "good luck this season, coach," not having any idea I'd see Red again in March 1998 while walking around Yost just before the Wolverines put a dagger in my heart, beating UND 4-3 after trailing 3-2 going into the third period.

I agree 100%. I was in Sault Ste. Marie a number of years ago and the Lakers gave the crowd a stick salute after they had gotten thumped by Michigan 8-0. I asked my buddy why they did that and his response was just what you wrote. After every single game, win, lose, or draw, the team salutes the fans who attended that night. Fortunately, the next night, they beat Miami in OT and I got to witness another great LSSU tradition. After a win, the players head to the locker room, change into their tennies, then proceed to run out about 50 yards from the arena (the arena and campus sit on a hill overlooking most of the town and Lake Superior), and each player takes a turn with a hammer on a ship's bell, letting the town know that the Lakers were victorious that night. A few years ago, the Sioux swept a series in St. Cloud and the team gave a stick salute to a rowdy lot of UND fans. I haven't seen the team do that in any other "away" venue after sweeping an opponent. Anyone else seen one?

Puhlease! Adam was responsible for more slashing in that game than there was in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"!

Apparently, Don likes more proactive goaltenders (i.e. Adam "Slash" Hauser in the 2002 NCAA title game).

According to the WCHA official site, 16,164 fans watched the 2006 Gophers/Badgers third place game and 19,282 attended the Sioux/St Cloud championship game. As I stated earlier, 16,507 were in the stands for the 2005 title game (Denver vs CC) and 14,730 watched the Gopher/Sioux third place game. That's 34,012 fans for games involving the Sioux and 30,894 for games involving the Gophers for those of you keeping score at home.

Some pretty good points, Slap Shot. Are you SURE you're a Gopher fan? Ridiculed might have been a bit of a stretch, but I didn't consider it an attack. It's a message board...feel free to agree or disagree with comments. As far as the one Gopher fan on USCHO...that wouldn't be Hammy, would it? Your third comment about being at a bar and sitting next to a Sioux fan...I agree totally. I wear an item of Sioux clothing at the MN State Fair...it's impossible not to run into a fan wearing Gopher clothing. I had good discussions with all, none of which ended in fisticuffs.

And, no doubt, the NCAA isn't concerned one bit about the thuggery and gangsta-ness formerly known as the Miami/FIU football game from Saturday night. Nor should they be concerned about a former running back from The Ohio State University receiving benefits and a free pass his freshman year at college (I'm talking about you, Maurice Clarett). Issues like those are swept under the rug so REAL issues can be tackled.

You're right about that, sagard. I think the biggest question about this past weekend is why the Gophers would schedule a patsy like Wayne State so early in the season. Isn't that the type of fodder usually reserved for the Mariucci "Classic"?

Funny, buckysieve, but I could have sworn that on another thread recently, I was ridiculed by a Gopher fan for using the word "every" in describing Gopher fans that I know or met recently when discussing the subject of a certain Gopher-turned-Bruin. Hmnnnnn... You're the homer-typical Gopher fan who turns a blind eye to any would-be penalty on the Gophers, then screams his head off four seconds later when you think a penalty should be called on the opponent.

Just for the record, according to the WCHA.com archives, the attendance for the 2005 Colorado College/Denver Final Five championship game was 16,507. A crowd of 14,730 watched the Sioux/Minnesota third place game that year.

Gee, since it WAS a CC/Denver title game two years ago, did you even bother to look at attendance then? Seems to me that the X still had an excellent crowd. For the 70th time, if attendance is the key factor, why don't we just push the Gopher Consolation game (since they're in the 3rd place game so often) to 7:00 pm Saturday to ensure that more fans pack that game? It only makes sense, right? After all, it's all about attendance! Maybe the WCHA could commission a third place trophy to make the game a little more meaningful? The Don Lucia Mug?

My bad. I forgot that you were a little past being a child of the '80's. You're more gangsta rappah than Vanilla Ice.

Senser's in Bloomington normally has most of its TV's devoted to Sioux hockey.

Yep. From the half-dozen or so fans I ran into at the State Fair wearing Gopher hockey clothing that I chatted hockey with to the inter-office courier guy at my job to some of my good friends to some of my softball teammates who like hockey. Not a single one of them has said "wow, him leaving clearly is a big loss." Obviously not a characterization of all Gopher fans and not an exact scientific poll, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

I agree. For someone who thinks Sioux fans are obsessed with (I'm gonna play Bill Parcells here and not even say his name from now on), that certain draft pick of the Bruins, buckysieve is more obsessed with defending him.

Goon can't even spell the word correctly, so clearly, he's not 'obsessed'!

Apparently Barry Melrose and ESPN thought it was note-worthy.

Less than two hours after I bait my hook and drop it in the water, I reel in buckysieve. You know what's even funnier, buckysieve? Now that it's hockey season, every Gopher fan I know (including some personal friends) insists that Kessel was a cancer to the team last year, they never liked him, better off without him, blah blah blah. If I had only tape-recorded conversations last year before the start of the season, you'd have heard every single one of them yapping about how the team couldn't help but win the NCAA title, best recruit ever, possible freshman Hobey Baker award winner, blah blah blah. The 180 by Gopher fans on the kid is absolutely priceless.

Iranian troops march in Tehran at a rally organized to show support for the University of Minnesota. Troops sang "The Minnesota Rouser" which was promptly followed up with chants of "death to North Dakota". In other news, I'll be back at the Final Five in 2007 to watch a sloppy drunk Runninwiththedogs try to slosh, stumble, and electric slide her way into winning Dance Mania.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa. I can honestly say I've never been to "The Lamplighter." A couple of my softball teammates went there about a year ago and didn't exactly give the place rave reviews. Two thumbs down...way down.