MafiaMan

Jerseychaser, If you were going with Snowstorms, I might suggest using Snowstorm without the "s" at the end. Continuing my trend of joining up two separate words, I think something like the Dakota IceDucks wouldn't be bad.

Alas, I am not a beer drinker, so I can honestly say I was stone-faced sober at the game. The Russian girls, however, I am not-so-sure about. Truly disappointing was the fact that they did not appear at the quarterfinal game a few days after that picture.

By the way...an interesting site explaining the name and also 1986's ESPN's top nicknames. Personally, I think the Belfield Bantams should be on there, but that's just my opinion. Ishpeming Hematites is a good one, too. A town's sports teams named after a rock. What is a Nimrod and ESPN Top Ten List

That's pretty funny. The Nimrod Nimrods? I like it! Looks like Watersmeet, MI, is a straight shot east of GF on US Highway 2. Watersmeet, MI

bigmrg74, Sorry, but there might be a copyright on the Watersmeet Nimrods. That's not just an imaginary ESPN commercial...the town and name are located in Michigan's upper peninsula. North Dakota Arctic Blast? North Dakota Pioneers (uh oh...politically incorrect...survey says...XXX)? North Dakota Wind Chill? The trend in minor league sports is to combine names like the already-mentioned IceHoggs, IceDogs, IceHounds, etc. IceNorskies? I like it!

Good World Cup? I attended the games, sprig, and can honestly tell you that I'm so disappointed with the lack of knowledge about hockey in general. The World Cup was so well-known around St Paul that as I was walking to a game last week, not one, but two different people asked me who the Wild were playing that night. The Twins are 10 1/2 games up in the division and every single TV at Tom Reid's was on that game instead of the hockey game. I guess it's just time to realize that expansion was a failure and hockey is truly Canada's game. 20,000 fans came out to watch the Lightning Stanley Cup parade. 50,000 turned out in Calgary to welcome the Flames home. Enuff said.

For the five minutes that those girls spent with us, I was a legend in the eyes of everyone in our section, CFM...and in my own eyes. Maine might be just a bit too far this year, plus it coincides with our fall state softball tournament. I've always wanted to see that venue, though. Maybe next season...

33 views in 15 minutes of being up and not ONE comment? C'mon!

As promised in an earlier post, attached is a link to my pic from the Russia/USA hockey game held at Xcel Energy Center a few weeks ago. Mid-way thru the game, several college-age Russian cuties made their way over to our section and asked to have their picture taken with my buddy (USA jersey) and me (CCCP jersey). None of them spoke a lot of English, but I did understand the words "hockey," "Americanski," and "peecture". Oh to be in college again...and oh those accents... Да здравствует российские малыши! (translation: Long live Russian hockey babes!) Just to keep this a topic relevant to Sioux hockey and so I won't potentially be bashed, what's looking like the funnest road series to make a trip for this season? @ Maine? @ UMD? Wisconsin? Michigan Tech? I'm leaning towards Michigan Tech as I have never been to Houghton before, unlike most other WCHA venues. Anyone else a road trekkie? MafiaMan p.s. Sorry about the avatar being removed by the administrator. It was fun while it lasted though, huh? Russian Girls & MafiaMan

No trip to Grand Forks is complete without a drink at Whitey's Wonderbar in East Grand Forks, MN and I'd also suggest breakfast Sunday morning at The Big Sioux (I-29 Cafe).

Given the current state of expansion nicknames of the past few years (Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, etc.), I can only imagine the possibilities: North Dakota Freeze North Dakota Blizzard North Dakota Chill North Dakota Polar Bears North Dakota IceMen My broomball team is the IceHoggs...how about the IceCows?

Wow...did the poster who said she'd still be alive if she'd paid attention know where she was sitting? If memory serves me right, the puck deflected off of someone's stick and shot into the upper deck. I'm not usually one to use the term "insensitive," but that's ridiculous. Had the doctor actually discovered what had truly happened when that poor girl snapped her neck back as the puck hit her, she also might be alive today. What if's don't fix anything, though. The tragedy happened and it would be a shame if it ever happened again. That being said, I don't ever hear anyone whining that they can't see the game because the plexi-glass is just too high. The net is here to stay, folks, get used to it.

Having been at the WCOH games these past two weeks at Xcel Energy Center, I can tell you that protective netting is at MUST-HAVE. The game has become so devoted to the "casual" fan who is there in the building to yap on his cell phone, drink as much beer as possible, and yell "you suck" to the opposing goalie while chuckling w/his buddies about how witty he is, that the true fan is hardly noticed now. Then idiots like this get plunked on the head with a flying puck and BAM! It's Who wants to be a millionaire? Teams have to protect themselves, it's that simple.

It'll be interesting to see if Notre Dame rebounds and plays Michigan tough or if they really are less talented than Toledo. Judging by what I saw against BYU the other night...you just might be right in your talent assessment! Boy did the college staff on ESPN torch ND in their post-game comments.

Disappointing day for the MAC all the way around. I'll even admit...Goldy might have some potential this year. How about that sorry crowd, though?

Bisonfan1234, Real barn-burner at the Metrodome this past weekend, huh?

I still think UND's intentions are to watch and see what happens with NDSU before making any major decisions. If NDSU flounders at D1-AA, UND won't budge and will mock NDSU for making the move itself. However, If Moo-U starts churning out titles in football and women's basketball, I'd expect UND to try to bump up ASAP. With extra scholarships, blue-chippers who might be considering heading to Grand Forks might decide the additional "prestige" of being a D1-AA school would make it more worthwhile to attend NDSU instead.

Again, Bisonfan1234, why waste time with pre-season polls and numbers? If that's the case, why bother playing the games at all? Just give Toledo a win over Minnesota on the basis of being the higher ranked team and Michigan will no doubt pound Notre Dame in front of 90,000 Irish fans. Please. Let's see what these teams do over the course of the full season, then look back. Like I said before, no one expected the Irish to beat Michigan back in 2002 and that upset certainly propelled the Irish to wins over other big-name teams that year. Similarly, a team like Toledo upsetting a Penn State or Minnesota can lead them on a big year, too. Or conversely, like Washington in 2002, a heartbreaking loss in an opener can cause a downward spiral the rest of the way. It's easy to look at the schedule and say "cupdake" at the beginning, but isn't there always a surprise team somewhere? Heck, just look at the (gasp) NBA recently...when the Lakers earned the right to play the Pistons, every prediction I heard was 4-0 or 4-1 Lakers. I promise you that anyone in Vegas who bet on the Pistons in 5 was laughed at...but they earned a good chunk of change in return. Pre-season rankings and polls are b.s. You and I both know that.

Let's take a look at some years' gone by, shall we Bisonfan1234? 2003 losses by Toledo included a 28-18 defeat at the hands of UNLV, a 38-14 loss to Ball State, and a 34-7 thumping at the hands of a sub .500 Syracuse team. 2002 included a 10 point loss (31-21) to Minnesota in addition to a 51-25 pasting at the hands of a mediocre Boston College team. 2001's big win for Toledo was a 38-7 pounding of Minnesota. Of course, they followed that up with 24-20 and 56-21 losses to Ball State and Bowling Green, respectively. Let's face it, Toledo football was put on the map on the basis of a September 2000 win against Penn State and a 2001 win over Minnesota. Those games made Big 10 teams take note. However, we've seen Joe Pa's PSU squad in total disarray over the past 4-5 years and that Toledo game was only the start. I'm no fan of Notre Dame, but I think your assessment of the game featuring better talent on the field in each of those games is preposterous. What's next, saying that the Dickinson State Blue Hawks have more talent on the field than the Bison?

Bisonfan1234, Are you seriously saying that big things weren't predicted for Notre Dame last year after their 10-3 finish the season before, which included an upset against Michigan? EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE was hyped for last year's Michigan/Notre Dame game. If you had told me that Notre Dame would lose by 30+ points, I'd have bet the farm against that happening. No one saw that coming. I had no idea pre-season polls meant so much to you. You enjoy Toledo/Minnesota at the Hot-AirDome. I'll take Notre Dame/Michigan any day no matter what the team records are. You sound more like a Gopher homer than a Bison fan. 8-4 seasons are cause for ticker-tape parades on the U of small m campus. On the big U of M campus, coaches get canned for records like that. By the way, Illinois State pasted St Xavier University of Chicago last weekend 44-14 in front of just over 7,000 fans. Circle that date on your calendar, Goldy! Genius.

Czech girls are hot, too.

I'm talking Russian hockey babes and this guy is debating Vanek vs Parise?

WYOBISONFAN...still living off of the Perry Tuttle 1983 NCAA title, are we? Clemson has great tradition and yes, they have their own "Death Valley," but let's let the Tigers and Bayou Bengals debate that. No sense being the Hatfields and McCoys over this issue. Here we go again, Bisonfan1234...another fan touting the University of Toledo as a "big-time" Division I football opponent. Gimme a frickin' break. Non-conference opponents for the Gophers... 2004: Toledo, Illinois State, Colorado State. I'll spot you that CSU is decent, even a top 25 club. 2003: Tulsa, Troy State, @ Ohio, Louisiana-Lafayette - you're kidding, right? I remember this 4-0 run that vaulted Minnesota into the top 25. Ugh. 2002: Texas State, @ Louisiana-Lafayette, Toledo, Buffalo - Buffalo...if memory serves me right, rated the worst D-1 school of the 117 D-1's three years running. Didn't Scott Bakula play in a bad movie in the 1980's with a green Texas State team? Sheesh. What a sad schedule. 2001: @ Toledo, Louisiana-Lafayette, Murray State - MURRAY FREAKIN' STATE? Michigan non-conference schedule over the same period.. 2004: Miami (OH), @ Notre Dame, San Diego State - Nothing major, but the Notre Dame game is a huge rivalry so anything can happen. And I'm sure ND will have revenge on their mind after last year's humiliating loss in Ann Arbor. 2003: Central Michigan, Houston, Notre Dame, @ Oregon - Smaller Michigan schools contracting to play at the Big House, Houston ended up being a Bowl team by the end of the season, again, big rivalry with Notre Dame that turned out to be disaster for NDU this time around, and @ Oregon...two out of four big-name opponents. 2002: Washington, @ Western Michigan, @ Notre Dame, Utah - I was at this home opener...#8 vs #9 in the country. Washington went on to lose a heart-breaker and had a disappointing season. @ Notre Dame was a loss for Michigan in a surprising big season for the Irish. Again, two good opponents in four non-conference games right out of the chute. 2001: Miami (OH), @ Washington, Western Michigan - Another big loss on the road to a big-time opponent in September for Michigan. One out of three solid clubs, two cupcakes. The defense rests, Bisonfan1234. The bottom line is you tout potential top 25 opponents as major players all you want. Glenn Mason can be happy with his Sun Bowl trophies. At Michigan, coaches are fired for 8-4 seasons. Now...back to the North Dakota move up to D1-AA debate...

Thanks for the compliments, boys. I thought my other avatar was good, too, but you can't clearly see the bikini-clad girls from the King of Diamonds in it. Funny funny story from last night's game...my buddy (in his 1980 white USA jersey) and I (red 1980 CCCP jersey) are sitting three rows up behind the goalie. I'm 34, he's 33...after the first intermission, a half-dozen Russian college girls dressed up with face-paint and bedecked in the Russian flag show up asking to take a picture with us. The whole section was razzing me about supporting the "commies," but their jaws dropped when this flock of hotties came over to us. I have the pic...it's a matter of time before it's posted! Note to self: Russian Red Army hockey jersey tonite for the Slovakia game.

Doesn't Minnesota pack its schedule with enough patsies already? Michigan opens up two years ago with Notre Dame in what was supposed to be a big game...Minnesota, on the other hand, opens up with THE Ohio University. Cupcake U!