NorthDakotaHockey

Thoughts??? Buy your tickets now through the World Arena website, call the boss and take Friday off, and get in the car, load the friends and family, and take a road trip across the Plains. Anyone within a thousand miles of Colorado Springs oughta be in the building. See you there. Big series. The real season starts Friday.

As I think I said before, I could really care less about Hirsch and the apparent end of his hockey career. Things happen to families and folks all of the time and we must deal with situations as best we can. As for what is, or was, going on with Tyler and the team, the cryptic statements from the University speak volumes to me. Medical conditions and records are strictly private by law. The family is clearly saying nothing. If Lucia or others were to make any reference, they would be in violation of these privacy laws. The no comment stance says it all to me. It is some sort of medical issue. So be it. The Gophers will likely ultimately be a better team without him.

Good riddance to Hirsch. It certainly appears that he was given plenty of chances. Kudos, for a change, to Lucia for being smart enough to carve out another cancer in team chemistry before it had a chance to fester. Tyler Hirsch is in the rear view mirror. Good luck to him for whatever his does with his life now that his hockey days are over.

Thanks. Does sound alot like Sioux games of late, hungry for a goal. Only we would have been badly outshot and outplayed in the second period.

Any chance of a report on the actual score? Last I saw was 1-0 Germany early on. Is that it? If so, why 29 shots, with 26 saves for Germany's goalie?

I think Winnipeg is the best place for the Penguins to land as well. Winnipeg is also the childhome of the world's biggest, and longest lasting, rock n' roll and country and western star. They could be re-named the Crooners.

Full Faith and Credit. United States Constitution. Just because the University's judgment handing the NCAA its head will be out of lil' ol' Grand Forks County does not mean that that judgment will not be given all appropriate regard throughout the land. Of course, I could be wrong and often am, and I almost always find debates on legal issues to be somewhat stilted and of little lasting importance.

I just canceled my Gopher football season tickets and sent Maturi a note along with it. They were getting mighty painful to watch anyway. That, coupled with moving into a minor league stadium with capacity better suited for the MAC, all funded on taxpayer dollars, was driving the decision. I would usually pass my tickets off to some young kids anyway, what with road trips to The Ralph. The latest hypocrisy over the nickname was the last straw. Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. In fairness to many Gopher fans, they agree that Maturi is generally all wet, and way out of bounds on this latest weenie move.

We sit near some really thin-skinned Gopher supporters at the Final Five. I'll save my HC gear for that weekend, assuming that the Gophers are there. Speaking of where the Gophers play, it is really too bad that they are not this season returning to the site of their ignomious beating by the Crusaders. What's with that? They haven't been there two of the last three years? Or is it four? I am not sure how long in advance the league schedules are made up, but I can't help but wonder if Lucy lobbied the WCHA gods to avoid a return trip so soon, what with his fragile ego and the fragile egos of his players and fans. They would have been brutalized, in a civil, fair, and non-condescending way. Next year. Lucy should still have his job next year. Unless Blais really wants it.

I had a dream last night. Porter, Kaip, and Fabian are all driving the bus. Gonna take turns. Oshie, Toews, Duncan, and Miller will be gassing 'er up, and Finley, Bina, and Lee will be keeping good rubber on the road. Good thing everyone else is so solid in their jobs. Living in the glass houses. These are kids. And these are the Sioux. If you are not with 'em, you're against 'em. Plain and simple. See you all in St. Louis. At least those of you who ain't jumping.

Da Triouxper. Never say never. Have a great time in the arena this weekend. I will not be there. If you see my Momma, give her a hug for me.

In a postgame text message sent to me straight from the arena, probably the most learned and passionate Sioux fan that I have the pleasure of knowing wryly, and perhaps correctly, observed, Lammy was on his knees more this weekend that a $2 hooker on the closing weekend of WeFest. I like Lammy, and I am quite confident that he will step up his game and remember his technique. He just needs to forget about that rock star bs, cut his damned hair (like alot of the other kids on the team), and focus on what he will do best . . . . Leading this team out of the Northern Plains, on down the Mississippi River, straight to the Gateway of Opportunity in St. Louis. We'll stop at The John on the way to show a few folks, cujo2 included, that this team is far far from done, and that this team can, and will, be a force with which to be reckoned come late February, March, and April. It's gonna be a fun ride. After all, we're talking North Dakota Hockey here. It doesn't just come and go in a span of a few games, or even months. It feeds off of fever, and its fans. It is built on tradition, and loyalty. I'm taking names, and will be checking them twice. Gonna find out who's been badmouthing and nice. See y'all in St. Louis. At least those of you who ain't jumped into the river or checked yourselves into a halfway house.

The slap down appears to be off, with 7>4 forfeiting the match to me. Apparently, his significant other will not let him out of the house for fear that he would not return. See you at the double secret bean feed? I will be there at least for awhile, but with my own leashes of sorts. Both Momma and lady friend. I love my Momma. I love my Sioux. I like my ladyfriend.

Five Keys to Victory: 1. Play with the lead. Avoid catch-up. 2. Skate hard through every shift, and through every whistle. 3. Get in front of Elliot. Don't let him get good long looks at the puck. 4. Forecheck with abandon. Take the game to the Badgers. 5. Give Lamoreaux a pre-game haircut. Right to the nubs.

If you are going to tour on game day, you cannot get into the lower bowels or the locker rooms. At least that was our experience last year on a game day tour. Basement and locker rooms off limits because the teams were gearing up. Still worth it, especially if your guests are easily impressed, and are the types of folks who wear their heads on swivels. You get to see the suites. I think that that's about it. You get a nice Ralph pamplet at the end of the show.

Only when Blarney's ain't tending to and feeding them.

That game looked like one of the better barnburners in the WCHA this year. Would have been a blast to be a fan of either team, or WCHA hockey generally, in the seats of The John last night. 'Kato goes up 3-0. Imagine that fun for the Maverick fans in attendance. Then, Hack Wheeler runs the goaltender, fights break out, 'Kato's tender is bleeding profusely from a cut wrist tendon, and a new goalie comes in. Of course, Lucia and the Gopher fans are crying to high heaven by now to the refs in classic form that only the High Criers at Mariucci can muster. Gophers go on to score five straight power play goals (did a call come in from the league office at the period break?) to take a 5-3 lead. The Rouser must have been rocking. At least alot more so than it was last November when Wisconsin was drilling the Gophers twice at home. Funny how the rabidity in the Mariucci Rouser will wax and wane depending on the scoreboard. The Mavericks showed the gonads to come back and score two in the last ten minutes, getting the tiebreaker with under a minute to go. Slam. Shut. The hind end holes of nine thousand Gopher fans. Love that sound. Anyway, WCHA games are always fun. That 5-5 OT tie last night had to have been a true fan's pleasure.

Cool. Hadn't heard that. Nonetheless, I usually only believe about half of what Hak says. He is, after all, a coach.

It will be a good opportunity to do and try many things in a game that is of no meaningful consequence. I hope and expect that the coaches will dress and skate Scott Foyt. I like Foyt, and I recognize that Foyt cannot crack the line-up absent a run of injuries. He stepped in a few years back and contributed. He is a senior, and no doubt a solid team player in practice. I will be surprised if Foyt does not play.

Damned straight Pat. Thanks for the report. Happy Thanksgiving. We all have much for which to be thankful. Among many other things, Da Gods gave us da Sioux. And Hak. And Eades. And Ralph. And Passion. That's what makes us Sioux fans. That is for what I am most thankful this week. And your reports.

I was a recruit once . . . . Only in my dreams. I know that recruits are an important topic of conversation for many. For me, I could care less about kids, and potential recruits, until they are solidly in the fold and skating at The Ralph. Until then, recruits are just dust in the wind. The Sioux are always going to recruit top shelf. There's hundreds of top shelfers to be had. The important thing is what the coaches, and the teammates, do with the recruits once they arrive. The Hak Staff does just fine in that department. Press clippings and hype ain't much of nothing. I stopped reading, and listening to, mine years ago.

Nothing at all wrong with the team and the staff here, at least from the view in my corner of the world. A full slate of WCHA games will give this team the mettle to succeed in March and April. I fully expect to see a Big Banner being raised at The Ralph next October. What we need in the short run is for Lammy to get healthy, and to get a haircut. That long hair has got to go. If nothing else, he should close crop the top and the sides. A confidence building sweep over a tough, but takeable, Tigers squad will also help. What reasonable purpose is served by the knashing of teeth, and the wringing of hands? Especially in November. C'mon. We're Sioux fans. Not fairweathers like the girls and boys following the brown and the yeller.

There it is. More proof that it is always tough to travel and win on the road in the WCHA, anywhere. Alaska, for obvious reasons, is an especially tough trip and adjustment. The SeaWolves are a WCHA team. The WCHA is the premier league of college hockey. It is early in the season. The SeaWolves, like Tech, are no slouches. Remember, they dismantled Wisconsin up there just recently. Hopefully, the boys, especially the youngsters, will grasp this hockey lesson and get on it early and often to the final whistle tonight for a split. A split on the road is really never a bad thing in the WCHA. Haven't read the thread. Don't need or intend too. I see LaDonny got up early, or stayed up all night, just so he could give us the benefit of his read. It was reasoned and coherent effort at first, until his penile envy started to show through his maroon colored glasses.

There's the whistle. That's what I'm talking about. Double minor on 7>4. Roughing up the fragile ego of a bald guy with excessive ear, back, and neck hair. I am, here and now, calling 7>4 out on his abusive and hostile ways. November 25. Midnight. Behind the Red Pepper. Good old fashioned alley fight. Loser leaves board.

Damned straight, DamStrait. You are dead on. Jutting is not far from the Gwoz in the world of punk coaches. If they weren't specific instructions, they were likely the result of an institutional blindness to cheap thuggery. A sweep on the road in the WCHA is always a good thing. Mankato is a D-1 team likely capable of beating most anyone most any weekend. The games were a blast. Great fun. Exciting hockey. Good seeing some folks, and thanks for the report Dagies. You keep an eye on the game, so I can keep one eye on the opposing fans who might be scheming to run a dagger between my ribs. There were one or two Mankato students on Friday who were real dickies. As a gal that we went with on Friday observed, Bunning ought to go on the road and see how classless students from around the league can be. We handed out some Sioux beads to solid Sioux fans, and a couple of Sioux "seven star" pucks to young Mavericks' fans. I saw some little Mankato fan clutching a Mavericks game puck while sitting with his Daddy. I figured he'd like a Sioux game puck for his collection. I got his attention, and flipped him the puck. He looked at it, gave a dirty look to his Daddy, and flipped it back to me. Couldn't a been more than four years old. First time that that road arena gift, always extended in the spirit of goodwill and solid fan relations, had ever been returned. At least the kid has integrity. Unlike the coach of his favorite team . . . . You are correct DamStrait. Jutting is a punk, and he lets his attitude permeate through his players as well.