MafiaMan

The deal is done, AZSIOUX. I expect the Red Wings to have you in the line-up by game 5 with an incentive-laden deal, which I think you'll be happy with. The contract calls for a base salary that includes $35K per year plus a new BMW for me in addition to a new plasma screen TV in my apartment. Provided you reach some easily-attainable goals next season (leading the lead in points, assists, PIMs, and shoot-out goals), clauses will kick in paying you another $10K as well as financing for a new house for me on Lake Minnetonka. Much like Ricky Williams' first contract with New Orleans, I think this is a contract where we all win, the Red Wings and me. Oh...and you too.

I talked to AZSIOUX's cousin's brother's uncle yesterday and it looks like he will sign shortly too. Good luck AZSIOUX!

I couldn't agree more with those statements! Part of the reason kids go to a school like UND has to do with playing Wisconsin, Denver, CC, and Minnesota. Take away WI and MN and now try to sell recruits on Alaska-Anchorage, Minnesota State, Alaska-Anchorage, Michigan Tech, Bemidji State or Robert Morris and those recruits will be thinking "but if I go to Michigan State, I get to play Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin...". Bad idea all the way around. All that being said, if there is one school that I wish would turn things around, it's Michigan Tech. Colorado College was a doormat in the late 1980's and they have turned things around and played at a consistently high level since the mid 1990's.

I think my favorite one is the referee giving the goal signal against Holy Cross where the announcer says "I think my headset just popped off my ears!".

You're obviously correct. In my head, I was thinking (again, no disrespect) schools like Minnesota State, St Cloud, and Alaska-Anchorage. Denver and CC have plenty of NCAA tournament tradition and history behind them as well as UND, MN, and WI.

The rules were changed for a reason. Buffalo puts up 8 against Philly, Dallas vs Colorado and Montreal vs Carolina end up like 6-5, but Edmonton hopes for the 2-1 or 1-0 shut-out.

That would totally diminish the WCHA conference as a whole. No disrespect to Bemidji State and Alaska-Fairbanks, but Minnesota and Wisconsin are flagship schools in the conference. Take away two of the big three (North Dakota being the other) and all of a sudden, you're left with two schools with a rich NCAA history (UND and Michigan Tech, although the Huskies have been dormant for 30 years now) and a bunch of schools with no tournament wins ever. Welcome to small-time hockey, folks. No Gophers and no Badgers = disaster for the WCHA.

Long live King Diggler! You're totally right...it's a win-win for management. The fans support a loser, so why pay money to build a winner, but when fans stop showing up, management's excuse is "well, if they won't spend money, we can afford to get better players." Lose-lose situation for the fans. Speaking of the NHL, I'm a Red Wings fan and obviously disappointed that I waited up until almost 1:45 am to see Edmonton win in double OT last night, but is it just me or is anyone else tired of watching Edmonton revert immediately back to the neutral zone trap. ZZZZZ.

I work 3 blocks from the X. Parking is on the house for me!

My apologies on doubting your facts. Yep, management has it down pat...sucky season, call up a few locals at the end of the season for the hometown fans who remember the college boys gone pro (insert Travis Roche, Eric Westrum, and others here), and put your head in the sand and spend no money because if fans will come to watch mediocre talent, what's the problem? I had free "on the ice" tickets to the Red Wings game earlier this year. $200 face value for each ticket. I took my four year old son and still somehow managed to spend $40-$50 in drinks and concessions alone.

Southernmn, I stand corrected. I had e-mailed a friend of mine who discussed attendance this season with me. He is a season ticket holder and according to him, the streak is indeed alive and well. I do know the difference between tickets sold and actual attendance, though. You are correct on the catch-22 as well. Did you notice the announcement of another ticket price hike for next season? Yikes.

Re-read my post above. I recall it being mentioned in the local media that a game against the Kings (either 2003-2004 or this past season) that was the first non sell-out. I'm hunting for the proof to back it up, but they don't exactly advertise games not sold out on www.wild.com.

I agree 100%. When the Wild stop selling out games, then they will be forced to put a better product on the ice. Until then, who cares? The team is a loser, but most of the games are sold-out. It's a win-win situation for ownership.

This is an untrue statement. I'm trying to find the facts somewhere to back it up, but I can vividly recall the news media mentioning the Wild streak of sell-outs coming to an end a while back. I can't recall, though, if it was the 2003-2004 season or this past season.

Did you notice the last few weeks of this season? Tickets sold is one thing...actual fans in the seats? Totally another.

If you've paid any attention to the late-season call-ups and pre-season rosters over the past several years, you would notice that the Wild love to call up the local kids and former Gopher greats in an effort to fill the seats at the X for late-season or pre-season games.

And nothing else?

It's all my fault.

Again, you gotta get the right kind. The $2.50 aren't worth a hoot. Google or hit up Ebay and type in "Forever Collectables bobble" or "FC bobble" and tell me that those things don't look like the real Kevin Garnett, Shaq, Mike Schmidt, Babe Ruth, Tom Brady, Steve Yzerman, or Mark Messier.

Um...how about Forever Collectables Fighting Sioux bobbleheads? Cmon, REA, how about "Legends of the North"?

I hope you enjoyed your ride home from Grand Forks a few weeks ago, State of Hockey. I know I did.

Absolutely hilarious, Phil. By your own estimation, you guess that about 1/2 of the Native American population in North Dakota wants a name change and that's good enough for you. Umm...using your math, that means 1/2 would like the name kept the same. What about them? Don't they count? Unbelievable. I think in threads gone by there was a discussion of Phil Jackson and many on here doubted me when it came to his views on the Sioux nickname. I hate to say 'I told ya so,' but I did tell ya so.

A heckofa first post, Mr Prpich. I make fairly frequent road trips around the WCHA rinks and my 4 year old still talks about sitting right behind the Sioux bench in November 2004 in Houghton. The unbelievable Frozen Four run last year and watching the Sioux win the WCHA Final Five this year rank right up there on my list of Sioux hockey memories. It was a pleasure watching you play in the green, white, and black. Best of luck to you.

And pre-season polls mean everything, don't they? Here's a look at this past season's NFL pre-season playoff teams as brought to you by SI magazine: AFC playoff teams: Ravens, Jets, Steelers, Chiefs, Colts, Patriots NFC playoff teams: Cowboys, Vikings, Falcons, Rams, Panthers, Eagles Of those 12 teams, only the Steelers, Colts, Patriots, and Panthers made the playoffs. Now, seriously, would anyone think the Patriots or Colts could have missed the playoffs? That would mean SI picked 1 out of 10 other playoff teams not named New England or Indianapolis. What's that all spell? It's nice to debate, but pre-season polls and rankings don't mean a thing.