MafiaMan

Petey, I'm not nearly that good, lol. I play co-rec C for King of Diamonds/Liberty Bail Bonds. My men's team used to be pretty decent until the guys started getting into their mid-30's and wives and kids took precedence. Oh, that and the fact that our shortstop took a bad hop to the face and needed 3 surgeries to put his nose back together.

Runninwiththedogs...I went thru this with you on Saturday night. The name on the back of my Russian Junior Team Penguins jersey was spelled in Russian, which contains a symbol that looks remarkably like a "3." You might also recognize that as the number of goals UMD scored last weekend.

DLW4GOPHERS, When did Minnesota join the Big Ten in football? Oh the classic football stadiums of the Big Ten...The Horseshoe...Happy Valley...Michigan Stadium...Spartan Stadium...AND THE METRODOME?

Plus, coming soon to a Final Five near you (hopefully 2006), Lake Superior State and old-school Providence College. Which reminds me...did anyone see the new Michigan Tech jerseys unveiled last weekend? Sa-weet!

10% off your bond if you mention the softball team! 2004 State ASA champs, I might add!

AZSIOUX, I work about 3 blocks from the Xcel Energy Center. I used to change between games last year and several fans noticed. My goal this year was between every period. I may have some help on the "inside" of the X as 15 minutes to my truck and back is a bit much to ask.

Bigchief and Dagies, I'm close-by to both of you in section 102, row 11, seat 8. I'll be wearing my green #19 "DiNUNZIO" jersey for Thursdays game, but for the rest of the weekend, I'll be sporting a different jersey not only for each game, but for each period. Watch for red CCCP, Soviet Wings, blue Sweden, maroon Latvia, 1980 USA, and maybe even yellow Michigan. I always get lots of blank stares. As promised, I'll be carrying with me a dozen or so handcuff keychains compliments of my softball team sponsor. Oh, and for those interested, some free passes to a certain gentlemen's club in Inver Grove Heights ten minutes south of the Xcel Energy Center on Highway 52 that shall remain nameless.

I'm almost jealous.

Funny how the last couple of years' have really taken off attendance-wise. The years at Target Center were absolutely horrible. Seriously, the 1998 DU/UND title game was one of the most boring games I have ever attended (in terms of fan presence and noise). Of course, that upswing in attendance coincides with the move to St Paul, the Wild bringing out more hockey fans in general, and Don Lucia-pet's arrival. As my good friend Elmer Fudd would say, "intewesting...vewy intewesting."

Shhh....don't say the word "Illini" when you know the NCAA is watching!

DLW4GOPHERS, I can hear you whining already... "How come we always have to travel to Joe Louis Arena for the Super-Six? Why doesn't it come to Minneapolis/St Paul?" "It's not fair that we had to play at 2:00 pm and (insert local team here) Michigan/Michigan State got to play at 7:00 pm."

Well-said Sicatoka. Hometown fans should have no problem playing hooky to see their team play.

That's what I was saying too. In fact, I think you could say that about anyplace. Hockey fans are great when it's their own team, but you'll hear crickets chirping at the X if Saturday's final winds up being DU vs CC. I remember last year's Subway "Classic" semi-final in Grand Forks between Wayne State and Brown. The actual attendance was less than 1,000.

Greyeagle, Thanks for the stats. Nice work! Now just out of curiosity, can you tell me what the finishes were of the Gophers/Badgers the years the tournaments were in the local cities. Obviously that has an impact. I will say this about Bucky fans...they do support their team, but a Final Five in Milwaukee without them would be a disaster attendance-wise. I agree, although I won't be attending. Given the quality of hockey CC has put on for a number of years now and Denver's recent success, those two schools deserve a WCHA Final Five in their backyard.

TC Transplant, I've been to Target Center for a WHCA title game involving Denver and North Dakota and seen Goldy in a few 3rd place games. You wish you had 83% capacity watching those.

I realize we continue to beat a dead horse on this issue, but Wreckincrew hit the nail on the head yet again. I've mentioned it before several times as well. While the #1 seed UND was playing Alaska-Anchorage at 2:05 pm last year at the Final Five, local high school kids (and potential Sioux recruits) were busy at school. When they got home, they turned on FSN to see the hometown Gophers play. Now tell me that doesn't sway a few kids to come to the almight U of M? Of course it does. It isn't all about attendance. Interestingly enough, Minnesota's pride on ice barely fills the lower bowl if the Gophers are in the 3rd place game on Saturday, which has happened at least once in the past few years. Fair weather? Now before WPoS and Greyeagle go ballistic, Tim Hennesey calling it the "Minnesota Rule" really isn't fair. It only seems that way because the tournament has been held in Minnesota every year since dirt (or so it seems) with the exception of 1998 when it was held at the Bradley Center. Wisconsin was the #2 seed that year and allowed to play their semi-final in the evening while North Dakota played the 2:05 pm game. It hasn't just been applicable to Minnesota, it just seems that way.

The last time the Badgers were in the Final Five was 2002 and they lost to CC in what was Jeff Sauer's and Dany Heatley's last game. There was a monster snowstorm and attendance was pretty minimal. I do recall lots of Badger fans in attendance saying that most fans in Wisconsin were waiting to see what happened Thursday before making the decision to come to Mpls/St Paul for the weekend. Hopefully they do the same thing this year...and wind up saving themselves a few bucks by not having to drive all that way just to watch the Sioux play Friday and Saturday.

Thursday at Great Waters, eh? Who wants a keychain?

My bad. I knew that DU was the one seed on the basis of head-to-head goals results. I need some caffeine I guess...

Wow. Far and away the most impressive weekend the Sioux have had all season. Good power play last night, excellent scoring opportunities, and big-time goals (has there been a prettier individual move all season than Rory McMahon's do-it-myself'er after the face-off?). Plus, the Sioux managed to stay out of the penalty box, which is always a good thing. Nice work last night boys and nice work by Dave Hakstol and the coaching staff in getting the team prepared. I think the Sioux could potentially do some damage at the Final Five. They will play either Wisconsin or Alaska-Anchorage coming off of a three-game weekend and playing on four days' rest. That could bode well for the men in green (or white if the Seawolves pull off the upset again). Plus I like their chances against CC in the afternoon bracket as opposed to playing DU. The Sioux definitely outplayed CC this season but have little to show for it. Maybe this weekend will change that. First things first though...get that play-in game out of the way. I sure had fun at Joe Senser's last night. UMDDogz and Runninwiththedogs...thanks for inviting me to sit at your table. I had a lot more fun there than I would have by the door without the crowd. It's too bad the Bulldogs had such a disappointing season, but I'm sure Sandelin with have them back next year. 01grad and Reformed Gphr Fan, nice to meet you both as well. My apologies to the guys waiting for the girl in my avatar to show up. See you at the Final Five!

Bloomington Senser's again tonite? Apparently, Runninwiththedogs isn't happy that I wasn't there last night passing out my softball team's handcuff key chains. Redemption will be mine tonite, dogs!

What media is that, sioux7?

SDSioux, I have to disagree w/you on some points. Go back a few years to when UND played Denver in the Final Five title game at Target Center. I believe it was 1998 or 1999. There were MAYBE 10,000 fans at that game and that's being generous. I'd say attendance was closer to 8,000. The fact is that Xcel has done so well because the Gophers have been in the building. Take them out of the equation and you'd see maybe 10,000 fans there for any game. That's a fact, not fiction. Now TinyTimmay, I disagree with you about putting Minnesota in the Friday night game to let the locals work during the day and hit the game at night. Wouldn't you think the majority of Gopher fans would drive 10-12 miles to see their team play at 2:00 AM if they had to? How about the thousands of fans coming from Madison, Milwaukee, Duluth, Colorado, or Grand Forks? Don't they work? Playing the Friday afternoon game means an entire day off of work for them. I kid you not, back in 1997, the WCHA did the last-minute "switch-a-roo" and my then-roommmate's Sioux fan friends didn't catch wind of it. They showed up on Friday night for the 7:00 pm game and were stunned when Minnesota skates out against St Cloud State. The Sioux had played CC that afternoon. They drove from Bemidji and didn't hear any announcement in that area regarding the game-switch. Just my two cents.

Good grief, Virg. What's next, comparing Jordan Parise to the Great Wall of China?

Unless the #1 seed is Minnesota, TinyTimmay, in which case the play-in winner would play them on Friday night.