MafiaMan

My dad talked about when I was a kid, the Epping Eagles either went to the state Class B boys basketball title game or won the whole thing (forgive my fuzzy memory of his story). North Dakota's version of "Hoosiers," apparently. Can anyone find a note of this somewhere? I take the Amtrak back fairly often to visit my parents in Fairfield. A great way to see small towns dotting the North Dakota prairie...

Even though I hated small town USA when I was growing up, I have come to appreciate the memories of Belfield and growing up on a ranch twenty miles north of there. Sneaking out of grade school during the noon hour to spend my lunch money on baseball or football cards, then trying to remember what I was SUPPOSED to have eaten for lunch in case my mom asked me when I got home from school... watching the Bantams beat #1 ranked Glen Ullin in the 1986 Region 8 championship game the night after I'd watched the Rattlers defeat the New England Tigers by 30+ points (New England was 4-0 against Belfield that year)... playing pick-up football in the snow before basketball practice...well, at least until our JV coach happened to drive by the vacant lot where we were playing one night and then yelling at us for endangering basketball season by playing football... getting to know my grandparents better than most people know their own parents... a local rancher breaking his leg not long after his daughter passes away due to a brain tumor...several neighbors and friends, including my dad, bringing their machinery to his ranch at night to work 8-10 hours cutting his hay and baling it...in addition to cutting and baling their own crops during the daytime... the 4th of July and getting up at 5:00 am to hoist the Stars and Stripes on a six-foot-high pile of rocks right next to Highway 85... my mom's full-blooded Italian parents moving to Dickinson in 1982...and to this day still sounding like they're tourists visiting from Barrington, Rhode Island... Our never-swearing freshman basketball coach calling a time-out one minute into the big game...after the pre-game pep talk in the locker room, we're down 10-0 before the bleachers are warm...and all he can say it "gosh darnit guys"...I still remember sitting on the bench and the team started chuckling at how mad he was and how he REFUSED to swear...we wound up winning in OT... Whether it was 6:00 pm or 10:30 pm, stopping in at Grandma's house where the first words out of her mouth were "I was just getting dinner started...are you hungry?"... Cutting hay and stopping every hour or so to turn on the am radio in the pickup to find out the score of the Detroit Tigers game...yea, 1984 was awesome... After about 6:00 pm when the Fairfield Country Store closed...there's about a 40-60 mile gap between gas stations starting with Belfield and ending with Watford City or Killdeer...and my dad never saying 'no' to any stranger who pulled into the driveway because his or her vehicle was running on fumes and they needed some gasoline... The annual "Hunter's Supper" at St. Peter Canisius Church in Grassy Butte where the population of the town couldn't be more than 50 people, Saturday evening mass regularly had about 20 people in attendance, yet the women of the community would feed what seemed like thousands of locals and hunters every fall with the best dinner around... My grandpa buying a lawnmower after he volunteered to take care of the local Lutheran and non-denominational cemetaries, which were in poor shape...and listening to the stories he'd tell while he was out there watching me mow them...I think the guy killed in a shoot-out on Main Street back when he was about seven was probably the best one... Driving to Lemmon, South Dakota for a basketball game and back in a nasty blizzard and temps of probably -20...and a bus that was leaking anti-freeze the whole way back...I swear the temp inside the bus never got above -10 on the way home... Yea, living in a small town wasn't so bad...living 20 miles north of a small town wasn't so bad either. Sometimes when I go back home, it feels like 1977-1988 all over again.

Good point. It's much more fun to watch the Gophers blow the Friday night game anyways, then have to come back at 2:00 pm for the Saturday 3rd place game.

I am looking forward to this trip to Grand Forks more than any trip I've made west and north in recent memory (excluding last year's western regional). I've seen Maine play in person twice now, both against Minnesota, and they're 0-2 in those games. I'm glad I stayed away from the X a few weeks ago.

You know, why does buckysieve always start something, then when the going gets tough, it's "buckysieve...hello...buckysieve?". Um...buckysieve...we have a problem.

What fun would that be? Just trying to compare apples to apples. When almost 74% of that "win differential" can be atttributed to the years before the Sioux even had a hockey program (or just 72.5% if buckysieve still wants to date UND's program using 1929-30 as the benchmark), it's hard not to find the flaws in his thesis.

Cmon, Dan Rather. Reporting the facts is something to be proud of, too. By my count, Minnesota has 321 more wins than the Sioux (and I'm counting the late 1920's up to the mid 1930's too). Of that number, 237 of those wins were accumulated before UND had an official head coach. Since 1945-46, Minnesota has 84 more wins than North Dakota. 84 wins over a 60 year span, an average of 1.4 more wins by the Gophers per year than the Sioux. Clearly, the superior program, in U of M.

Cmon, buckysieve, at least know your facts. During the time-frame 1929-30 to 1935-36, UND played without an official coach and accumulated a record of 4-12 during that time. Let's look at the records: 1929-30: 1-1-0 1930-31: 0-1-0 1932-33: 1-8-0 1935-36: 2-2-0 The Gopher program proudly lists 1921-22 as its official birth year and the team compiled a 6-3-1 record for coach I.D. McDonald that season. After the 1935-36 season, UND went on an extended spring break and didn't resume playing until 1946-47. Let's see...1946 minus 1921...yep, 25 years on the button.

That's the first well-put comment I've read of yours in quite some time. Your other comments? It's pretty easy to have 400 more wins that UND when you've been playing hockey for 25 years longer. What other brain busters do you have? I've got one for you: UND 1-0 against Holy Cross in the post-season and Minnesota is 0-1 against the Crusaders. Clearly, UND is the best program based on that statistic.

Maine has a very good reason to hate Minnesota and their fans have a good memory. Several of their fans that I met in 2005 mentioned the Hauser non-calls. Everyone hates the best. Your arrogance is almost laughable. Unfortunately, your Gophers can't even compare with the titles won by North Dakota, Wisconsin, Denver, or Michigan, let alone the 26 of the Yankees. It's a good thing the Gopher football team will never be compared with the Yankees or we'd never hear the end of it.

I was talking primarily about the Friday night semi-final games of the past few years. I would dispute your thinking that 40% of the arena was cheering for anyone not wearing the mighty "M" jersey in those games, particularly the 2005 game with Colorado College. You're right, though, about one thing: With 14,000+ fans for the 2005 third place game and 16,000+ for last year's third place game, you're talking about a likelihood of 8-10,000 Gopher fans for 2005 and more like 10-12,000 for 2006.

Cmon, GeauxSioux, everyone knows that when you come into the OB, you're gonna get your a** whooped. I was about set to run down the stairs and mix it up myself.

I didn't pick 1997 for that reason...just wanted to stay somewhat current in the common poster's memory and not harken back to the days of Brian Bonin and Dave Snuggerud and cause Gopher fans to wonder when those two are getting called up to the NHL.

There must be some sort of mistake. PCM, AZSIOUX, sioux-cia, and I were supposed to be inducted into the HOF this weekend as well.

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.