NorthDakotaHockey

I said it months ago, and I still say it. Sioux are going to The John as a 3-seed. Sioux and Gophers, at The John, on Easter Sunday. Done deal. The NCAA will have it no other way.

Ride the Amtrak for about $40 each way. Better yet, drive, if you have a car available. Heck, you can drive to the Cities in just about the same time that you can fly, what with all of the rigamarole that goes with flying these days. One of the high rollers on this site has a plane . . . . Or is that just one of those German tin can BMWs that he treats like a plane . . . .

Here is a link to everything that the people need to know for the best tournament in the country, in any sport . . . . At least in the eyes of the powers that be at the WCHA. Funny thing, although I only glanced, there is not much on the pedigrees of the on-ice officials. Save it to your desktop. Then, it will open up in a big way. It is actually a pretty solid recap of another great year. Also, some great info to settle arguments over history. WCHA Media Guide There's a great picture of the packed arena just prior to the puck drop at last year's championship game. I am the green spec in the upper deck. Upper deck of the Ex. Great seats. Great price. Just like it was in the lower bowels of the Titanic.

Best as I recollect the Sioux will play either Alaska or Wisconsin Thursday night. Spends spon who wins tonight. Winner of the Thursday night game plays Denver on Friday afternoon. Gophers play Tigers Friday evening. All of these games have the potential to be far better than any game here on in. Of course, Saturday has losers, and then winners, playing for crying towels and hardware. Wisconsin is on a major bubble. Alaska needs to win the whole thing to get a bid. Tigers. Pioneers. Gophers. Sioux. All in to the NCAAs, reagardless of outcome at The Final Five.

Many of us appear to be forgetting that, at least in the mind of this hockey pundit (see predicted sweep of pUM by Tech), there is at least an equally good chance that da Goophers an dere faithless following will also not be at The Final Five, what with a solid Mankato squad, even without their leading scorer, likely to take it to the brown and yellow in a big way at The John. Of course, if pUM is not in The Final Five, you will see waves of their so-called fans staying away from The Excel. Partly because of their arrogance. Partly because of their stupidity. Partly because it will be the middle of the month and their welfare checks will be almost gone. Sure, there is a solid core of Minnesota hockey fans who will go to The Final Five to watch hockey, regardless if their team is not there. Of course, should Mankato hand their squad their heads, we will then need to listen to the few who are there drivel on about Denver last year, how the week off will help their starting sieve to heal, how they need the rest, how the Final Five is not really that important, how they are saving their money for the West at The John blah blah blah. With a handful of exceptions, Goopher fans are slow, boorish, and living in the past. I could care less if I see them in droves at The Final Five, although I do enjoy mocking their ugly-arse colors and their really stupid cheers. OK everyone, time for our spelling lesson . . . . Go Mavericks. Guck the Fophers.

Arguably the two best teams in the WCHA, peaking at the end of the season, in a season-ending cage match for one of them. Best of three. Loser likely relegated to riding the spring planters instead of playing any more hockey. Anyone with even a remote chance to go to these games oughta pack up the wagons and head to The Ralph this weekend. The games promise to be barn burning classics. Like watching three title fights, or championship games, on three successive nights. I hope a solid raft of students stay in town for the games. I hope that all of the pretty socialites get off of their high horses, and that everyone is willing to raise the roof on The Ralph for the first time ever. Be there. Or be square. Sioux, in three.

The BIGGEST game of the year in the WCHA this year, and only one post and reply? I have been out, and wondering about what a great college hockey game and atmosphere was at the World Arena tonight. Thanks for the info 7>4, and for the reasoned reply from Sagard on an interesting question. Meanwhile, the idiots - no slam intended - continue to obsess ad naseum over on the Kessel thread over what is now a really tired and beaten story. Get over it. Kessel is just another recruit going to play in the WCHA. A storied recruit, sure. A sure fire success story? I don't think so. Let's drop the puck before we start any petitions for Sainthood. I could care less about the kid. Truth be told, Marty Sertich will prove to be a much better college player than Kessel. After all, the kid grew up in Wisconsin. Ain't many athletes of any renown ever come out of that cesspool.

Coaching.

Frankly, I took, am sick of the Kessel hype. Ain't gonna give it any more lip service. Let's read the newspapers, and ignore the kid, except to ride him ruthlessly when he is in the WCHA. Remember how we used to chide Gopher fans for being obsessed with Parise. Let's not return the bad habit with Kessel. Can anyone say Dave Spehar???

I've been saying it since damned near October. Sioux and Gophers on Easter Sunday at The John. It'll be a classic. First, hopefully, will be the Thursday night play-in game between the Sioux and Gophers. Let's beat St. Clown. Then, the boys take two of three from Duluth at The Ralph,in a series that will be remembered for years and years to come. Then, we pound the yellow out of the Gophers at the Ex. That'll be sweet, especially in front of all of their unemployed fans. Then, the Pioneers on Friday night. Then the Tigers for the Broadmoor. Then Cornell. Then the Gophers again, this time at The John. Doubly sweet. JPar drives The Bus to Columbus. There, we beat the Tigers again. Then we pound Denver in the National Title game, to wreak the revenge for the loss out West last March, and to punish them for their punkish attitudes. Forty days, give or take a few. Circle complete. Bandwagon full. Hak touted for the vacancy in the Vatican. Not too far fetched, eh?

It ain't ever going to Joe Lewis. Nor to Detroilet. Too far east. No league presence, what with Tech part of the U.P., and therefore probably closer to Milwaukee than to Detroilet. Detroilet is CCHA country. As for WPoS post wondering about NCAA rules prohibiting The Ralph from hosting the games, what gives with that logic? The Ralph is no different, in ownership structure, than the Excel. The Ralph is no different that The John, home team wise. If the NCAA allows The John to regularly host regionals, why would the NCAA possibly care if The Ralph, a WCHA arena, hosted the WCHA Final Five? Bottom line, it'll probably stay at the Ex. The rule on Gophers playing night games is ridiculous, especially given how many Gopher fans are already at home in the afternoons watching Judge Judy or waiting for their next visit to the chiropractor. Or to the job service office.

The Bradley Center I believe. Near state of the art facility. Home of the NBA Bucks. Seems to me the Final Five was held there one or two years while the Civic Center was rubble and the Ex was being built. Target hosted as well. I also would hate to see it leave the Ex for convenience purposes. The WCHA, being all about money seeing how they hire bottom barrel referees, probably likes the Ex because of its capacity. Well, it sure would be nice if they realized that the college game is not always about money. Some would argue that only The Ralph of these four is a campus arena, although this is not technically true. C'mon McLeod, grow some balls.

Dagies speak truth here. Skateshattrick sometimes have forked tongue.

Got my Final Five tickets in the mail. Cain't hardly wait. Big sheets. Nicely colored sheets of the ticket series. Game pucks of all the teams in the ticket art. Real nice. Big deal. Also got five WCHA necklace nylons with clips, and five cheesy plastic holders, presumably for the tickets. Like I'm supposed to get a pass into the Press Room or the Penalty Box or something. What gives with that? They cain't possibly ask people to wear them around their neck, can they? WCHA Final Five Hockey. What a great great event. Thing is, as much as I personally hate to say, they oughta rotate it between Denver, St. Paul, Grand Forks, and Milwaukee.

It's going to be a fine February weekend in Grand Forks. With the high school hockey tournament in town, not to mention the hated Badgers from Red China, er, I mean Madison, Wisconsin, The Ralph will be busting at the seams. Hardly a ticket to be had. The Sioux will somehow chance one in early on Saturday even less than a minute in, and the building will explode. Even the men and women who are there to be seen, not to see. Well, I guess that might be asking a bit much. Besides, they won't even be in their seats by then. From there on in, the Sioux will play, by and large, large stretches of hard, crisp hockey. Parise will probably play Friday afternoon, and barely hang in there, giving up four or five. Thankfully, the here sometimes much maligned Seniors will make sure that the Sioux have at least five or six. I'll take three lady friends to The Moon to celebrate. Maybe get something to eat to boot. Spends 'spon how many barley pops I've then in me. Red River beats Central 3-2 in eight overtimes that evening. Sunday, Brandt starts the Bus to Columbus, stops 36 or so shots from the Red Menace, and the Sioux win 2-1. These are my thoughts. Sioux. Genoway. Fylling. Canady. Massen. McMahon. Making the passes and lighting the lamps. Jones. Schneider. Fuher. Riding the attackers. Clearing the lanes. Breaking it out. Scoring on the slappers even. And of course, Jake. Jake Brandt. Driving the Bus to Columbus. Brandt is driving the Bus. All aboard!!

Kaip's absence is one of the main reasons why this team is struggling a bit. I said it before, and I'll say it again. He brings heart and soul, and an ethic to boot. He is also a gentleman, and a fine representative of the team. This I know because he kindly and patiently gave my daughter and her friend a photo op at The Ralph a few weeks back. Sadly, the camera malfunctioned for the girls and the photo is but a blur . . . . . Here is hoping that he will be back for three more solid seasons of Fighting Sioux hockey.

Surely you are not jumping off of the bus this year, what with the Sioux only being a handful of solid efforts away from Columbus . . . . Who ever said anything about mediocrity? This is the WCHA.

The Gophers were stinking up their own John with Briggs in the net. Look at it as a late season ray of hope, not a tank of hope. Do not be a typical Gopher fan always looking at the world through gloomsday scenarios, and always looking for an excuse for the next failure. It'll be Brandt vs. Johnson in the nets come March 26-27 for the right to go to Columbus.

I am concerned that Johnson's back-up, Brent Solei, will take the Gophers on a run, just like Jake Brandt is poised to drive the Sioux Bus to Columbus.

Actually, for what it is worth, I am sure that they plan to actually drop the puck at 3:37 pm each day. Not meaning to be a clown, just stating fact.

Well said RedWing77. Well said. You da man. Or da woman. Not sure, but well said.