NorthDakotaHockey

I guess it must take a tool to recognize a tool, eh Tool? Your post is ridiculous. And, or course, childish.

Damned straight engelbunny. Well said.

Truly a sad day indeed. Stunningly sad. For some many reasons, and for so many people. I am sure that a great weight has suddenly been lifted from the land. I really doubt it. The Great Sioux Chiefs, and the spirits of the brave and noble people who once lived these lands in pride, must be dumbstruck. Just like fourwinds boy is now. FWB, what, pray tell, have you done to advance your "cause" beyond your cheerleading against a name and a logo that did you no harm?

If a name, I am still partial to "The Mighty Soo" in honor of the great Soo Line Railway. Now wouldn't that frost some people's hind ends? Let's Go Soo!! Big train horn that throws the chill into anyone who has ever been hit by a locomotive. Big steaming locomotive as the logo. Maybe with a face like an angry Thomas the Tank. It all works. It has probably been suggested before. I have mentioned this in another thread but it is such a damned great idea that it needs to be touted.

Yes. Me too. No new name. Straight up UND. North Dakota. North Dakota Hockey. North Dakota Baseball. That great fight song will resurface big time. If a name, I am still partial to "The Mighty Soo" in honor of the great Soo Line Railway. Now wouldn't that frost some people's hind ends? Let's Go Soo!! Big train horn that throws the chill into anyone who has ever been hit by a locomotive. Big steaming locomotive as the logo. Maybe with a face like an angry Thomas the Tank. It all works. It has probably been suggested before.

Yes, and if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, you would also have had a Merry Christmas once or twice in your life. That probably has not happened much because it appears to be hard for anyone to love you, much less give a rats hind end about you. So sad. Some of the things that you say are so ridiculous that they are beyond reason. Perhaps the biggest one regarding merchandising of Sioux gear. Standing Rock ain't gonna say no today, the Board is not going to retire the nickname on Thursday, the tribes are coming to their senses and are now pushing guys like you out of the way, and both the name and the logo will stay. Long past the time that we are all in our graves. Your life will be no different once this issue is dead. Once a whiner, always a whiner.

The moves at FSN are purely financial. Nothing more, nothing less. They can get LaPanta, or however he spells his name, at a fraction of what Frank was earning. Same for Woog's replacement, although Woog may have some health concerns as well. New young blood at 2/3 the price in today's economy. Combined with the Rug and Doug Show growing a bit lame. It was all FSN's call, and probably the right one from a business standpoint. Maturi ain't gonna pressure the hand that feeds his program.

Oops. Now asking the value of the ink and cardboard that make these things up. Detroit Area Yoot Hockey Foundation, here we come!

Nice Shawn-O. Nice. Matt Henderson. National Championship. Year of the Flood. Nice.

You do a pretty nice job for being a 76'er. Man, was that a year. When you were three, the Sioux had a chance to win first of what would have been back-to-back Crowns. Billy Stankoven let in three early goals to the Gophers, in Detroit of all places, and then the Iwabucci era began after Gino yanked Billy in what was his last year and his last game. The Sioux would have won that game but for the three that Billy the Sieve let in early. Wonder what he is doing today. I am sure he would not mind laughing about that sting now. The teams just before then were not that good, maybe in part because Rube was at the helm. I was cheering for the Gophers that year as I was in enrolled there at the time having followed Broten down. Only about 642,000 years left in Purgatory on that offense. Had Neil went to North Dakota, I would have too, and I'd be the University President by now. The name and the logo would be safe. That '79 team that came back in '80 to win a Crown featured both the legend and the legacy who is North Dakota Hockey right now, Carey Eades. And Frank Burgraff. And Howard Walker. Studs and legends, with legacies and banners to boot, all. These are the guys that will be remembered the most. Those who stay, those who win, and those who hang banners. Parise, Toews, and Oshie are just farts in the wind.

Now we are talking . . . .

If you got where I was going, the gold standard, how can I be wrong? No banners for the golden boys. A few accomplishments, but no NCAA banners anyway. Not that there is anything wrong with WCHA banners.

Well, truth be told, these guys never made it really happen happen. Should have, but did not. They have certainly made it happen for themselves in the NHL, but they left themselves little to no legacy at North Dakota.

Maybe it has already been reported here but, if not, a little birdie told me that the next Gopher coach, likely soon, is the Serratore guy out of the Air Force Academy. Book it. Geez, I love the internet. Slippery Sidney Hartman does not.

It seems that ours came about a month ago or so. Early March. Call Ford Field Ticket Office. That is the return address on our envelope, sent express mail. They may be in the best position to help you. Or, go to your old neighborhood P.O. They might still have them waiting for you to claim them. We had to sign for ours.

Alright, the mourning period is over. My boys just ended another great opportunity prematurely. Just one of the many stories in this, my so-called life. So too did our Fighting Sioux end a great opportunity prematurely. That of course bit the big green weenie - big time - as I was convinced that ShowTime would be coming to legions of Sioux, Badger, and Wolverine fans to Ford Field next week. As they say in golf, never up. Never in. That, too, has been one of the stories of my so-called life. Same for North Dakota Hockey, as we now move past ten years since our last Championship Banner. What the hell is up with that? A curse of sorts? Lady Lakaluk? Tight grips? Burn out? The other boys wanting it more? Some off nights? Heck, we've all had those. Hell, that's why we call it hockey. Anyway, after the annual knashing of teeth and wringing of hands, I remind myself that now is a good time for me to remember that there are many many more important things in life than some stupid hockey games, and a big ream of stitched cloth hanging from a rafter. As Hak reminded us in his ESPN bit, it's the tradition. I am also reminded how extremely tough it actually is to win a title in college hockey. And how fortunate North Dakota Hockey is to have seven of them. The really big ones anyway. I am sure that the coaching staff and the boys who actually play the game are a thousand times more crushed than I am. The tradition. I was convinced, absolutely convinced, all season long, and especially with the 12-1 run right before the end of the season, and especially with the parity in college hockey this year, and especially with RIT smoking Denver, that the Fighting Sioux would reign supreme in this, perhaps their last year as the Fighting Sioux. No such luck. Frickin Ricken Fracking Rats. So, with a handful of great Frozen Four seats that are apparently not worth a dime for a college game to be played in a pro football stadium, I pouted. Mildly. Until now. Then, I remembered that this is the Frozen Four. College hockey. Great fans. Great fun. Great games. Regardless of who is playing. Heck, it's only 680 miles. A puff to the wind in a Ford Exploder with 170,000 clicks. 680 lousy little clicks to the great City of Detroit, to the Ford Field, to the Dearborn, Michigan, to the gates of the greatest of all American corporations still standing, the Ford Motor Company. Why shouldn't we go? It was planned. While it sure helps, I sure don't need the Sioux or its legions of fans to have a great time at the Frozen Four, eh? So, here we go. The CCHA website, as host, is pretty cool. Find it here. CCHA-Frozen Four Among other things are photos of the ice going in. Heck, it ain't looking ain't so bad on the sight lines, not with the tickets we have anyway. Couldn't sell 'em for a nickel and that's a bit of a problem financially. Thank God it is only money. Money comes. Money goes. Sioux hockey is forever. It is truly amazing how other fans of other teams do not travel very strong. RIT has an excuse. They don't have any fans. Until now. Wisconsin fans will wait to see if they win on Thursday before taking any interest. Heck, they could not even sell out their regional a few years ago and their showing last week in The West was pathetic. BC fans are fairly plentiful, but I can't talk to them for too long before correcting them on their grammar or mocking them on their accent. All of the sudden, they simply excuse themselves. Miami fans? I first met 'em at The West in Colorado Springs the year that Denver shaved us 1-0 to go to Boston. Miami lost a close one to Denver the night before. We ate sandwiches with the Redhawks at the Subway back before the school gave Enrico a pre-game meal budget. We met some more Miami fans at The Ralph this year. Good folks. Miami is reputed to have graduated some loose women, although this does not matter to me as I am a kept man. Miami choked it off in D.C. last year in the final seconds and I can relate with the poor fans who witnessed that. Miami has Brendan Burke pulling some strings up in the Big House. If Brendan gets the strings pulled up there, someone needs to do a calling on Ralph to do the same. Yes. I will cheer for Miami. Is this wrong? I have always lauded the WCHA as the greatest conference in the land. I have already seen, at the Final Five, five games, probably all of which will be better than anything waiting in Detroit. So, do I really want or need Wisconsin to win to carry the WCHA mantel? Hell no. BC? Ah, no. RIT? For a game, maybe two. Miami? To beat BC, and then Wisconsin? They would truly be deserving National Champs. Miami as national champs when they should have been rung out by the Wolverines. How's that for puck luck? I forget, was that a WCHA team of refs on that game assignment? Miami. Sure has a better ring than Wisconsin, or B.C. Who knows. Maybe RIT is not going to RIP and it will pull a Bowling Green. That'd be cool. In any event, who from the Sioux fan base here is still planning on going to Detroit? We always crow about how we travel as fans, and we sure as heck do. Legions when the Sioux are playing. For those of you who can still make this trip, cool. Times are tough for many so we are lucky to be going. I am done licking my wounds. I have long had the days marked out. My daughter graduates this year. My brother might be able to go. My brother-in-law would walk across hot coals to watch a hockey game. Especially with me. I have answered way too many of the same questions, "What, why the holy heck you going on vacation to Detroit?" There, we shall l fly the colors proud. There, we will visit Ford. There, we hope and expectd to see alot of Sioux fans in and around Ford Field next week. Sure hope that the Exploder is up to it . . . . Click. Click. Click. Klank. Just like the season just ended.

I am living my Frozen Four nightmare. Holding a bag of really good seats on ice level that I picked up anticipating being a great guy to friends and family looking to go after the Sioux beat Yale and Alaska in the Regional. Then, after the Sioux get beat, the bottom falls out of the market when the Wolverines get hosed once or twice in their final. Then, Wisconsin fans are exposed for what they are, and apparently are unable to travel the short distance to Detroit to follow their team. Of course, they will come out, to some degree, if the Badgers are playing on Saturday night. Then, BC will be there and that is always a bit of an aggravation to me. Then, RIT makes the tournament with its fan base apparently all of 1000 folks or so. Frozen Four tickets are my nightmare. We will go. Very few others appear to be interested. We will p robably donate the extras to the Detroit Area Yoot Hockey Foundation and take a small write down from Uncle Sam. Imagine, for a moment, the buzz if the Frozen were Wisconsin, Michigan, ND, and BC. The Detroit merchants must be agonizing. Their nightmare, and mine.

Still planning to take in this event but our posse has grown rather small all of the sudden. So, any RIT, Wisky, BC/Yale, or Mia/Mich fans searching this site can take advantage this "One and Done" Special. Four in Section 102, Row 21. Asking face of $189 each, plus shipping. RS 5, Row 9/10 seats are ice sides in the temporary seats, right on the action. Asking what we paid for these on the secondary market, $225 each.

Stay calm. That's what he said. We all just need to stay calm, play our games, and send in our chimes here.

And down 2-0 to Wisconsin in its own building in the Midwest just a couple of years ago. Here we go. North Dakota Hockey coming up for a full twenty, plus another twenty more, and about ten more after that. Sioux, 4-3. 2 OT. Perhaps I might miss the drop of the puck in The West?

Benny is gonna have to drop to his knees to make some hits so as to avoid the b.s. elbow calls, or now the hits to the head calls, when all he is doing is checking a guy who is a foot shorter than he is. That's a tough skill to teach. We'll be crying about a few of those calls I am sure. Discipline, and a PK, and scoring early and often, should take care of business hopefully. Get yer good Frozen Four tickets and seats now. All the good ones, or those few that remain, will get snapped up in a heartbeat come Saturday night after two of the four teams are locked in.

Let's hope BC is overlooking Alaska as much as you appear to be. One game at a time for everyone. Next team to win four straight is National Champion. The boys had better bring their A game, and they will. It is preordained. Yale. Alaska. Michigan. Wisconsin. Bing, bing, bam, boom. Trophy.

I always wondered why so many of my buddies are so successful . . . .

What is truly amazing to me is that the University of Minnesota men's hockey program hangs NCAA Runner-Up banners in Mariucci Arena. I kid you not.