NorthDakotaHockey

I been telling folks for weeks . . . . Git yer tickets to The World now. They gonna be going fast right soon. Sioux in the Springs. Springing to Denver. Time to purge that ol' 1-0 ghost from a few years back in a big way. I'd rather play the Tigers in the Springs that the Badgers at The Kohl. Not that it will matter. This team is on a mission.

Have your heads and hands locked into one of those old fashioned wooden contraptions and put on public display in the town square to be spat at, cussed at, and generally ridiculed. Maybe even violated further.

On guard there Mike and Sioux-cia. There is no reason or need to feel sorry for the Gophers. They are a WCHA team and, by this very definition, are always dangerous until dead for the season. Like many a wounded rodent, they will rise up to fight until their last breath. Ever corner a rat in an empty potato warehouse? The Gophers just entered that warehouse and are scurrying to the corner darkness, being chased there by all remaining opponents. The Gopher faithful would never feel sorry for the Sioux. I, for one among many, will never feel sorry for the arrogant jersey-popping fair-haired golden boys. Never. Consider yourself pilloried.

It's gonna damned near kill the guy. He is so full of passion and love for the game and for his team. Imagine, if you will, that you had to spend a part of your fall hunting days not only without a gun and a license in hand, but also away from your "arena," the great North Dakota prairie, and instead watch hunting shows on TV while all of your buddies, and their dogs, were out chasing down birds in the fresh autumn air. All because of a flip of a finger in the heat of passion, seen by folks who do not approve. Not too funny. It's gonna be a real drag weekend for Coach Hakstol. He has well learned his "lesson." All of us, as lesser hacks, can go about our day cussing and moaning, and flipping the finger with impunity. A lousy finger. Big flipping deal. There was no harm to the finger twenty or thirty years ago. What is the big harm of it now? My God, my God!! The finger!!! Let's all grow some skin and grow some balls. Even if we cannot all grow some hair. TV, cell phones, and technology have dented many a good man. Hak now wears that badge as well. He is no less of a man, no less of a husband, no less of a father, no less of a coach, no less of a fine University representative, and no less of a public figure because of it. Time to give it all a rest.

Over the last few years, I have seen a huge raft of Sioux, WCHA, and NCAA games. Lucky me. Last night, I went to see the Wild and the Wings play. I have often read of people here noting the difference between officiating in the NHL and in college hockey, especially the WCHA. Wow. What a difference. College hockey is the greatest game on earth. I can hardly imagine how much greater it would be if the games were called like they are in the NHL. While we're at it, let's bring back the old college hockey fighting rules as well. I am a convert. The WCHA needs to do something about its refereeing program. It's starting to look too much like Hee Haw.

Minnesota in the WCHA? With their golden curls, they would make a pretty Cinderella. Or is that Goldilocks?

Jolting Joe. Finley.

Hakstol is a solid right act. We know this because it is reflected in the way that his team carries itself when on the road. We also know this from general reputation, and observing his bench demeanor over the last several years. Here, he made a mistake. He issued an apology as immediately as he could have done so. He has vowed that it will never happen again, and I am quite sure that it will not. I suspect that anyone having to listen to the stupid, and well likely foul foul mouth of Don Adam during the game, spoken during the heat of a very intense game with emotions running high, may well have flipped the bird as well. It came after a time when Adam and his boys had well begun losing control of a game that they could, and should, have kept in control much earlier. I suspect that Adam came over to the bench and started yelling at Hakstol in a very angry, unfair, condescending, and profanity-laced way. In that heat of emotion, Hakstol had two choices. Jump the dasher boards and choke Adam back into a world of reason, or simply flip him the bird. Hakstol chose the passive aggressive route. We have ALL done this. It's just that none of us have high profile jobs, and that none of us have the glare of television cameras on us all of the time. Oh, wait. I guess that a fair few of us do live in Glass Houses. These folks, of course, have never done anything wrong, and specialize in pointing out the faults of others. Stone away. Self righteousness is a much bigger problem in this world than is a finger flipped in the fray of fun.

Fortunately, in this regard at least, here is saying that Bloke Wheeler well never see more than a cup of coffee, if that, in The Big Show. The Capitals will play the Coyotes for sure. Finley will be playing for the Capitals. Wheeler will be at home watching the games on TV, or from his job waiting tables in downtown Minneapolis.

A productive weekend of hockey playing in a traditional rivalry series in a hostile barn. Sure, a sweep would be nice. Sure scoring more goals would be nice. That's hockey. Sometimes you win 2-1, sometimes you win 6-5, heck, sometimes you win 10-0. Sometimes you are on. Sometimes you are a step off. What is important is learn what it takes to win, whether it is 1-0 or 7-3. They both add up to two points in the standings. A team develops over time. Expectations for big results, week in and week out, is simply unreasonable. This is the WCHA. A nine game streak, or whatever it is, is damned impressive from a group of boys who have been listening to their coaches, working hard, learning from losses, and even ties, and melding into a championship caliber team. I am not going to worry about lack of scoring, or "playing down" to your opponent, so long as wins continue to accrue and so long as the team continues to meld. The mission is on. The goal is Denver. The drive has begun. There is no shame at all to taking three of four from a perennial power, playing in its own barn with its back on the wall. The team that lost Oshie and still beat Michigan State 6-0 on October 13 has played 25 games since that time, has learned much about themselves along the way, is safely back home in Grand Forks this morning, and will be well ready for Denver and the rest of The Drive. I am glad that we are no longer looking at the team that beat MSU in the opener. We are looking at a much much better team than that, final scores be damned. Final scores mean little to nothing. It is the W's and L's that are of consequence. Great series. Great fun. All five matches in the First Round will be wide open and well up for grabs. The make-up of the Final Five has rarely been more in question this late in the season.

Wow. Even more proof that a blind pig can sometimes find an acorn in the middle of a corn field in the dead of winter. Thanks. AZSIOUX. I have a prize coming? 7>4. Not to worry. It is not gambling when I am well certain of what I say and believe. This team is Driving to Denver.

Finley is the man. Trupp is the main man. Great win. I will go with VANDE VELDE.

Do they let folks in to those practices? Stub and Herbs is always a hoot. They oughta run a mop through that place every now and then to flush out some of the Gopher bull$!@# that accumulates on the floor.

You are welcome Bob. I saw the same post, and tried to jump on them for a solid friend of mine for his family and extended kin. You beat me to them!! Have fun.

It may be posted elsewhere but solid word is that Schmidt, Randy will referee both games this weekend. Rats. I wanted Todd Anderson. Or, better yet, Greg Shephard. My spelling on both, or all three, names is probably off.

Here is saying that Da Don plays Frazee on Friday. A good chance for Frazee to redeem himself. Cast off the haunts of last year, and those of more recent vintage. Kangas is not ready to be a solid go to guy night after night. If the Gophers get beat on Friday, Kangas is an easy choice for Saturday. However, if Frazee and the Gophers win Friday, Lucia will view the win as a turning point of the season, and he will put Frazee back in the nets on Saturday. Frazee gets pounded, the teams split, and Frazee leaves the team before the end of February. Read all about it.

He is boorish and he is an idiot. We sat a few rows back from him at the Final Five a few years back. I finally shut him up, and got his buddies laughing at him good, when I kept asking him where he bought the "L". Not that I condone mocking flag guys, or fag guys. They are both fine bunches. Just not this clown. Some stupid brown and yellow striped flag with the "treasured" M. Look for the gravy stains on the front of his shirt.

SWEET SIOUX SWEEP COMPLETE.

Depending on how high up they are, you may be smack dab in the heart of one of the Goofie student sections. The upper 2/3 of Section 2 is students. It looks like the first 13-15 rows or so are season ticket holders. The arena will be able to tell you if this is a concern to you. Of course, because Gopher students are notorious for arriving late, if at all, you may have near the whole section to yourself. It is the end where the Sioux shoot twice. There will be plenty of Sioux fans watching over you from the SROs there as well. Great fun to be standing behind the students, or in the students, and cheering for the Sioux.

Hey Bob and others . . . . Here is a good source for your ticket needs. While some are pricey, many times others that are posted that are not so pricey. Keep checking back. The Gopher Nation will be stepping down and off in a big way this week. The market is going to bottom out big time, except to the extent that it is driven back up by Sioux fans. While I agree that prices should be what the market bears, I am not a big fan of Sioux fans scalping other Sioux fans to make a couple of bucks. Not saying this happens mind you, but sometimes people run the risk of getting blinded by the green dollar rather than seeing the wisdom and the light of helping folks see the Kelly Green. Gopher Ticket Well

The Gophers are in a corner, with their backs on the wall, much like the Sioux were last year in Mariucci around this time. Makes for a dangerous team, as the Sioux well showed last year. This said, I think that these are teams heading in the opposite direction. A sweep on the road is always a tough thing but it will happen again. Maybe pretty soon we can go with that lame line of Gopher fans, and call The John The Ralph-South East Wing. There will plenty enough of Sioux fans in the building to qualify on that front. Tack a couple of W's and it is a done deal. Except for how stupid and corny it sounds. As for the Saturday game with UAA, a win is a win is a win and two points. The boys no doubt learned some very valuable lessons in that game that will serve them well down the stretch run.

My February 1 pick will be, drum roll . . . . Joe Finley. Back in the old home town. Kangas will not be able to see, much less stop, Joe's booming slapper.

Damned straight. From where I sit, the Sioux do plenty of grabbing, twitch hooking, gentle slashing, and holding while chasing the puck as well. Such things are, perhaps sadly, a part of hockey. If the refs whistled everything, a two-hour game would turn into a three-and-a-half hour game. Alot of people like to ride the refs. All in all, I do not think that they are such a lousy lot, and I really doubt that there is any grand conspiracy running amok out in the league office that is designed to pimp the Sioux.

Sadly not MafiaMan. Girls are in the musical Chicago and I am going to the Martina McBride "Wake Up Laughing" show tomorrow. The only one who is going to be waking up laughing is my lady friend, if I am lucky enough to even attempt a power play of my own . . . . Damned straight 808287. Let's roll.

Sorry to break your hope there Hab-it but the Sioux are going West. First to The Springs, then to The Mile High. In any event, sadly we will not be Worcester. Maybe Madison. You be well and we'll catch y'all around the arenas.