rochsioux

4:19 left still 2-2

Denver ties it 2-2 with 17:59 left in the 3rd.

2-1 Wisconsin after 2.

Badgers take the lead 2-1, 7:28 left in 2nd.

DU just tied it 1-1.

wisconsin with a shorty, lead 1-0 with 12:20 left 2nd.

If Wisconsin wins we will be 10th, if Denver wins we will be tied with them for 11th, depends on how the tie is broken. DU wins the comparision with us but we have a higher RPI. The only other game still going is Air Force and UConn. A UConn win will drop Air Force from TUC status, won't make a difference right now but who know down the line (we are 1-0 against AF).

Looks like we will drop to anywhere from 10th to 12th in the pairwise after the games today if the current scores hold up. If Denver wins then 12th is likely.

My best guess: A split will not help us, it will still leave us on the bubble. Losing two will really hurt our chances, making it critical to sweep Mankato and sweep the first round of the WCHA playoffs, and probably win the first game at the xcel. A sweep should put us in good position for the NC$$ tourny. My fear with this years team is that we dug such a hole early that we have not had much room for error. Combined with injuries and a short bench I have a feeling that the team may just run out of gas. It is difficult in any sport playing catch-up all the time, combine that with a depleted roster and it is very difficult to overcome. Right now I would gladly settle for two point this w/e (as much as I hate Denver) and no more injuries.

The contention that Spirit Lakes approval back in 2005/2006 would have granted UND an exemption to the policy is not backed by the NC$$'s own response to the lawsuit UND filed. It may be that the schools that got exemptions from the NC$$ policy did not have any namesake tribes that were vocal opponents of using their nickname, that is what the NC$$ is contending in their legal response. If that is the case then the policy was not applied unfairly, hard to say for sure as there is no written document on how their exemption policy is applied. In UND's case, to blame Spirit Lake for not getting the exemption is unfair and not based on the evidence that I see.

You keep saying that UND only needed one tribe to approve prior to the lawsuit. Please provide some documentation to support that claim. I provided documentation that specifically stated that Standing Rock denial of support was enough for the NC$$ to deny UND's appeal. This was prior to the lawsuit. BTW, what is the standard that the NC$$ is using ? Can anyone find a document from the NC$$ that specifically spells out what is required for namesake approval exemption ? I'm not sure any document exists, I think they use their own "judgement" on a case by case basis.

This is just not true. Please point to any document that says UND only required one tribes support prior to the lawsuit, especially Spirit Lake. The NC$$ specifically stated that Standing Rocks lack of support was directly responsible for denying UND's appeal: http://origin-minnes...4/28/ncaavsund/ UND has always been treated differently from the schools that got exemptions. There is not one school on the exemption list that was required to get any additional approval beyond the closest namesake tribe. Prior to the lawsuit UND had approval from Spirit Lake. The NC$$ did not want to accept the resolution that was already on the books for this. They kept badgering them for additional statements which Spirit Lake ignored because the chairman at the time was opposed to the name.

Now that is scary ! See you around.

The loss on Sat. really hurt the pairwise ranking. With a tie UND would be 13th, with a win they would have moved up to 8th.

It's interesting to see what the impact of single game is on the pairwise standings. After last nights games the UND Fighting Sioux sit in 14th place and MN is in 7th. However, if UND had split the 4 game series with MN intead of losing 3-1, UND would be in 9th and MN would be in 14th. Or if UND had beaten Harvard in the 1st game of their series instead of a tie UND would be in 12th. UND really needs a sweep next week in Duluth to give themselves a realistic chance at the NC$$ tourny. Winning the WCHA autobid this year will be very difficult as they would almost surely need to win 5 game over a nine game span. With as beat up as this team has been this year that may prove to be too much to handle. If anyone wants to play with past results: http://slack.net/~whelan/tbrw/2012/rankings.diy.shtml

So are you saying you would prefer this type of setup to having Sioux hockey on FCS ? I don't see any way that this would be a step up. Certainly it is better than having no viewing option but it would definitely be a step backwards.

Who is actually responsible for this restriction on UND's national broadcasts ? Do we know for sure ? Was this a requirement made by CBSSN or by the NCHC ? If this was required by CBSSN, who is the complete idiot that was involved in these negotiations from the NCHC side ? Why in he!! would the NCHC agree to a lousy 18 game conference TV schedule and give away the right to nationally telecast the other 94 games (assuming a 28 game conf sched) ? Whoever negotiated this should be fired immediately as they are incompetent. Even the mighty big10 does not preclude the members the right to nationally telecast games that the big10 network does not want. I have no hope now for the leadership of the NCHC and it hasn't even started yet. We left one conference because the leadership was pathetic and we start a new conference and we are no better off, in fact for UND we are much, much worse off. Please, someone enlighten me on what I am missing here ? The "wait and see" approach does not work for me, I can only envision webcasts and their crappy quality when compared to even a std def TV broadcast. Let's see, we have killed the Fighting Sioux nickname and we have restricted the TV access to Sioux games, what's next ? How else can we screw with the alumni and fans of the University of North Dakota ? Mr. Faison please come on this website and tell us why we should have any faith in what you are doing.

Sorry, but this is absurd. UND loses 20-22 home games each year on national TV and will be replaced by 4-5 games on CBSSN. How does this possibly make any sense for UND ? What was the point in changing conferences, to limit exposure ? Can't wait to see St.Cloud play Western Michigan instead of UND. The whole conference will have fewer games on TV than UND had. This is brilliant marketing. Internet streaming is the broadcast of last resort. While it has improved over the years it is still not even close to standard definition TV. My choices for watching Sioux hockey (and it will always be Sioux regardless of the idiots who forced the change): 1. Live. Since I live 400 miles away it is difficult to go to all the games. As much as I try I cannot make it back for all games. 2. High-def TV 3 Std-def TV 4. Streaming Instead of moving from std-def to high-def, it looks like we are moving backwards to streaming. Yuk. What is UND getting out of this ? Money ? Doesn't look like it, in fact it looks like we have to pay to have CBSSN produce the telecasts. Exposure ? Nope. We are reducing exposure and will be helping other schools in the conference gain exposure. How is this helpful to UND ? UND is “doing what’s good for the conference.” Bah. I don't care about that. In the long run this will not help UND win National tiltles. That's what I care about. Maybe it will help attract other "name" schools in the future to join the NCHC if/when they start hockey ? Nope, don't see how that will help...see Notre Dame if you want any proof. No "name" school is going to want to join a hockey conference where they can't control their TV rights, just not gonna happen. He!!, even the big10 network allows MN to broadcast games on FSN if they don't want them. Someone please show me where this is a good thing for UND and how it will be helpful in the long run, I just don't see it. Initially I was fairly positive about this new conference. Then they went and added St. Cloud which was a big mistake, now we are losing most of the national broadcasts of home hockey games. This is absolute crap ! There must be other changes that are coming that will be positive...there has to be...there has to be....I know, just a matter of time until the NCHC announces the new Supervisor of Officials will be Greg Shepherd.

I am sure that the U of M will be issuing an apology any day now (probably already done so, I just haven't seen it). A school as politically correct as Minnesota will in no way tolerate these kind of comments from the guy doing their hockey play-by-play. Heck, they won't allow "Fighting Sioux" to be uttered in their arena so I am sure they would be extremely upset to find out that Shaver use the term "hose heads" when referring to UND on the air. In case I somehow miss this apology could someone please provide a link. Thanks.

They really expect that ? Not now, not next year, not for a long, long. long time, maybe never. They are shoveling dirt on the nickname coffin and he is already talking about expecting people to switch to the new "official team apparel". Show some respect for the Fighting Sioux nickname and don't even comment on what people will wear to games.

I have now seen all I need to see of Frazier as a head coach...he is clueless in managing a game. If you can't manage a game nothing else matters, the Vikings will not win with him as the head coach. To not use his timeouts when Tampa was driving at the end of the game is complete incompetence. Left no time on the clock for his offense if Tampa ties or takes the lead. Absolutely pathetic. Childress would be proud of him.

I agree, there will be a new nickname and logo at somepoint, whether it is next year, 2 years or further down the road. My guess is there will be a new nickname for the start of the fall 2012 season. Kelley said it was a great marketing opportunity so you know he wants a new name/logo. If he wants it then you know it will happen. As far as helping to choose a name, I want no part of that. I really don't care what they pick...besides, if it was up to me I would try to come up with a nickname that would be offensive to the NC$$. For me the nickname for UND is "Fighting Sioux" - today, tomorrow, next year, 5 years...forever. The only other nickname I could possibly support is "Fighting", then our jerseys could just use a large FU for the logo, next to an NC$$ patch.

Should Notre Dame decide to go to Hockey East then I would assume Western Michigan will be out of the new conference. That would leave: Big 10 with 6 teams, 20 game conf sched. New "Super" Conf with 6 teams and a likely 20 game sched. Remaining CCHA/WCHA would be 11 teams, adding UAH would make it 12. Have one conf with 22 game sched or two separate six team conf with 20 game sched. This would leave many non-conf games for all western teams (max of 34 games not counting trips to Alaska, Icebreaker, or Hall of Fame game). Every team could still schedule a lot of non-conf games against former conf rivals. In the long run this may be beneficial to a lot of the teams left in the WCHA/CCHA as they would greatly improve their chances of making the NC$$ tourny, especially if they could form two 6-team conferences. Some of these schools that would likely never get a sniff of the tourny in the past would now go into each season with a chance at making it. They would still be able to get some home games against rivals like UND, Denver,etc...even the Big10 schools will have to have a few road series. If they form one big conf and play a 28 game schedule then that would be a huge mistake imho as It would leave little room for non-conf games and would probably ensure that some schools drop hockey. Over time having 4 conferences with six teams would provide plenty of opportunity for new schools to add hockey. The obvious danger is that with only six schools you can't afford to lose even one school or you jepordize your auto bid.

If UND is not on the NC$$ sanctions list then Wisconsin will play them regardless of the nickname. That's why they played in basketball this past year. Not sure about MN.

I don't believe the agreement and the efforts to get the nickname approved were done in good faith. Therefore I have no problem with any attempt to get that agreement changed or invalidated.