01grad

Lucky Have fun, take good notes!!!

We are very lucky to have such great announcers. They are very knowlegeable and always have the inside scoop.

Well, not going anywhere tonight. I did have tickets for high school hockey, but decided against it since the playoffs have arrived and will have to settle for channel flipping and pc listening. Anybody else out there ready to chat? KEYS TO THE GAME: 1)We need to come out flying right from the get go on all cylinders. The first few minutes will be quick and we need to capitalize. 2)Everybody needs to play their best for 60 minutes. Don't let them think they have a chance. If we do these two things, we shouldn't have a problem since we are the better team!!!

We always used to play a Beastie Boys song on the way to games that we called the hockey song and played it for good luck. It was off of their grand royal CD called "Wha' cha want", I think.

I'm from Minnesota and would love to see more boys from our great state play for my favorite hockey team in ND and piss the gophers off even more. Remember this is from a homegrown Minnesota boy who's only ties to North Dakota were my education. Sorry.

It would be really fun with the band there. It adds a lot of atmosphere. I remember some of the games were very quiet and slow last year and a band helps to add enthusiasm. We have such a nice arena but would look cheap if we couldn't send our band like the others are sure to do. Oh well, as long as we play good hockey and win, nothing else matters.

In my opinion, ice is ice and the fans create the ultimate home ice advantage during a game, practice shouldn't have that much greater of an impact. They have already played many games at this rink to know how the boards and glass play. The other thing is that I wouldn't think we would charge them ice time, but EGF probably is. With gas prices high and having to hire a bus driver and taking into consideration the discounts the teams receive on hotels for trips, I guess this probably would be about the same. As far as the gopher example I realize it is a different situation, but it was nice to see their generosity and in my book that counts for a lot. What this all comes down to is that Tech shouldn't have lost to Mankato and this wouldn't have been an issue. Thanks Dagies for seeing both sides in the matter and not snapping back. You helped me understand the situation a better.

I thought that it was just B.S. when I heard it mentioned that Blais wasn't allowing Michigan Tech to practice on our ice. Here is a program that is going down the tubes just like previous others and has had fundraisers to help bring money into the program and yet we force them to travel and buy ice time elsewhere. On top of that we joke about it, how they were carrying all of their bags off and on the bus (Blais in the Fargo booster thing) The main reason they aren't going home just to come back is that they don't have the funds. I know this because a person I work with has a son on the team. I remember how kind the gophers were to allow Alaska to practice on their ice when they didn't want to travel home earlier in the year. This is very bush league in my opinion and I hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the rear when their players are upset. Not saying that we will get beat, but possibly some opposing player taking his aggression out on one of our players and injuring them. I have a great abundance and respect for Blais, but until I see his reasoning behind this, I hold a little chip on my shoulder for now. It's not like they are going to beat us if we let them practice in our home.

I think I was at McGoverns last year between games and it was a blast, can't remember though for sure. Perhaps that is why I just now have restored my funds to enable me to do it again. I can't wait! The X will be my home away from home starting this week with High School hockey, then the Wild and then 5 college games!!! Seriously though I remember hearing that the majority of Sioux fans gathered at Great Waters Brewery. They had a post game celebration one of the nights scheduled, though there wasn't much to celebrate last year.

I don't order this magazine and was just wondering if anybody does? If so, what is the article about? Just curious, thanks.

I think that it also is very possible that once a player is dubbed a big point scorer, the other teams reduce the amount of scoring chances by getting away with what should be penalties. Also, if there is more depth on a team, wouldn't you think that could create more chances for a single player or two because the other team needs to focus on everybody, such is the case now for the Sioux? Brandon and Zach still should get just about as many opportunities, if not more than the others. They are unselfish though, which is good. Just because others are scoring, doesn't mean that they are prohibitied from doing so. The only thing that might hinder their ability is once there is a big lead a coach might give others more playing time. I hope that they aren't slowing down when we get a big lead because they always need to be playing at 110% just as Panzer did. Don't ever be satisfied until the ultimate prize has been achieved. Just some ideas for discussion.

Bochenski needs to turn it up if he wants to rank high with recent past leaders: YEAR PLAYER POINTS/GAMES '04 Bochenski 50/35 '03 Senja 82/42 '02 Pohl 79/44 '01 Panzer 81/46 '00 Reinprecht 66/37 '99 Krog 85/41 I know it is a team game and it is great to see everybody contribute but, LET"S GO BO!!! Still hard to understand how Panzer didn't get the hobey. It's fun to look at the archives at USCHO.com. Notice that 5 of the last 6 leaders were from the WCHA, yet East players get more consideration for the award. http://www.uscho.com/stats/

How much time left?

I agree too. It is a little bit overdone. The only time it was really fun was during the St. Cloud/Sioux championship game when Kollar was interfered with. That game was intense. Hopefully the games this year will be a little bit closer and more exciting than last year. We should have some good matchups as long as there aren't any upsets. I am suprised that they don't use the foghorn. I guess it would get a little overdone though if you sounded it for both teams. They could use the organ though however. I am sure that money isn't an issue, but why else wouldn't they do it? Wouldn't they want to showcase the arena and all of it's amenities?

We are in section 117 row 10, seats 5-8 again. Great seats near center ice behind the benches. Many Sioux fans around us last year, but the only drawback was the gopher fans with the president masks in front of us. They assured me they would be back this year again. They were up on the daktronics and television many a time. Have a great picture, but no scanner and no clue how to put it on here. They were fun and we were really rowdy. Can't wait.

I am pretty sure that we could talk management into putting the Sioux vs. Tech game on as well as the Duluth vs. Wisconsin. How much fun would that be?!?! Somebody should call and check into that right away. If many people are interested, I wouldn't think it would be a problem. Let's rock the place! The friendly confines of the JOE, our home away from the Ralph.

Funny stuff. Too bad security doesn't let them in.

Does anybody have a link to how the NCAA field is setup? Is it just the top 16 teams in the power rankings or 4x4 thing? I always thought that a team like Tech could make it if they won the final five, is this the case, or are they already out since they aren't even close to being on the rankings?

What would it take for CC to make the NCAA's? How high would they need to place at the final five? Which WCHA teams are going to be their regardless of how the final five pans out? Sioux, Duluth, Wisconsin are locks right? There are no gurantees yet for Minnesota and Denver, correct? I haven't checked the pairwise yet but that is what they go by?

Brandt as possible WCHA defensive player of the week. I was really hoping he could get a shutout that second game. I think his confidence has now been re-established.

Oh, I forgot to add PCM to the choices of who do you want to see there?

As much as I dislike the gophers, I want to see them at the final five. I want to see good matchups and exciting games, so these are my choices... Sioux, gophers, badgers, bulldogs and St. Cloud huskies. I was just curious to see which team was everybodys second favorite to watch or match-up against. Do you want cellar dwellers in there so it will possibly be an easy go or the best teams? I can't wait

If you thought it was fun last night, wait until next weekend when we stroll around the ice with the cup, then the place will be rocking! It was nice not having to watch commercials either. It was funny watching Sweeny when he was on camera and didn't know it during the breaks. The guy who was running the show at Sensers did a great job of color commentating during the game. He would give us updates of stats and point out nice plays and penalty calls to help us follow along with Sweeny. Very fun time! Can't wait for next weekend!!! I hope we are matched up with Mankato for the playoffs. Too bad Tech couldn't put them away both nights. If we play like we are now though it doesn't matter who we play.

Kellen Briggs may have his confidence shaken now. 3 goals and only 3 saves, that's too bad. Our goaltending woes have left us.