NorthDakotaHockey

Absolutely. We are BIG Brandt fans. Nothing wrong with Lammy or Jordan, but Brandt is our man. Sadly, perhaps, we do not have Hak's ear on this one.

From today's Virg Foss article in the Heardit . . . . In addition, Hakstol said that freshman forward Rylan Kaip is sidelined indefinitely with what is thought to be post-concussion syndrome. "We don't know when the injury occurred, and they don't know exactly what it is," Hakstol said Masson and Fabian back. Brandt and Kaip out. A bummer around these parts. Kaip, from where we sit, grinds hard every shift, is well-liked and respected by his mates, and does a good job of making positive things happen on the ice. Same things can be said of Jake. Hopefully, Kaip will be back in the line-up soon as his star on the Sioux horizon is bright. Hopefully, Brandt will be back in time to carry this team on his back to the Final Five, the West Regional, and beyond.

Real cool post OETKB. Real cool. We really are all in this together, except, of course, for that large raft of smug Goophie fans, a few posters here excepted. Grand Forks and surrounding countryside can be immensely beautiful in the wintertime. How about that stately old farmhouse off of I-29 just north of Hillsboro, lit up like all tomorrow during the Holidays? Say, will those photos of your wife be available on the Internet somewhere sometime soon? You be well, and thanks for the fine post.

There must not be any Krispy Kreme outlets in Rochester. Never did like Vanek. Unless he has had a huge change in heart and focus, here's saying that he'll never make it in the NHL unless, of course, the owners bust the union.

Just got done watching two great college hockey games between two traditional powers, BU and Minnesota. Nice to see some fine college hockey as we wait for our Sioux to take the ice. Can't wait for this weekend, and the weekend to follow. CC now has the best record in college hockey, and might just take over the top of the ranks. Anyway, here is a link to a good USCHO article that talks about that fateful night in October of 1995 when a clean hit by Mitch Vig changed one man's life forever. Funny how life deals its cards sometimes . . . . Remembering Walter Brown Arena

Thanks a million Air Force One. Great moniker. I am gonna go get that ice cream and sauce. Geez, and the game is against Sweden. So much for my New Year's vow to be more informed in many walks of life.

I am not very smart, but I am concerned. ESPN2 schedule in the paper says nothing about tonight's game, nor do the Twin Cities' sports pages. Perhaps the game tonight is not considered part of the "medal round." It is impossible, at least for me, to find any ESPN2 schedule on the ESPN website. In short, I am presently at a complete loss to determine whether tonight's game against the Rooskies will be on the tube. If yes, I can go buy my ice cream and chocolate sauce. If not, it wil be a travesty. Any help from those of you in the know will be much appreciated.

Here, hopefully, is a link to the official schedule of remaining games and possibilities from here on in. World Juniors Official Game Schedule

Young teen dreams!?! I'm still having 'em.

More proof of a vast left wing conspiracy.

We have the greatest tandem of school fight songs in all of college sports. Not to mention the balls to stand firm on a proud tradition and heritage of The Fighting Sioux . . . . The name, and the tradition, is all that the people know. We don't need no stinking chants or cheers, not that we need any. This said, Guck the Fophers ain't bad. By the way, my favorite one in Mariucci, on those regular occasions when the Sioux are taking to the Gophers and there are therefore no other chants to be heard from the legions of Mariucci fair weather faithful is . . . . N-O-R-T-H-D-A-K-O-T-A North Dakota! North Dakota! Ehhhhh Sioux!!! M-I-N-N-E-K-O-T-A ain't bad either. "Brown & Yellow" is another. Happy Holidays WPoS. You are a fine, although a somewhat misguided and uninformed, man.

UND 28 43 UMD 28 36 UMN 28 36 Denver 28 35 CC 28 33 UW 28 32 Mankato 28 22 SCSU 28 21 AA 28 16 MTech 28 6 Geez. That is a cool toy. Here are my picks. I am not sure why none of you have come up with the Fighting Sioux retaining the Cup. Seems pretty elementary to me. We shall see. We shall see.

From augenblick.org . . . . some interesting stuff . . . . ----------------------------- History of the WCHA The WCHA was born as the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League in 1951 by Colorado College, Denver, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech., Minnesota and North Dakota. After two seasons, the league changed its name to the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League, which more aptly described its geographical location. The league was the dominant force in college hockey throughout the 1950s, winning all but the 1954 NCAA Championship. Michigan won six titles in that decade alone. But in 1958 the conference broke up, due to a disagreement over recruiting practices. Minnesota and all three Michigan schools accused Denver, North Dakota and Colorado College of recruiting overage Canadians. This practice did not violate the league's (or the NCAA's) rules, but was not in the spirit of the league. In the end, the four 'M' schools would withdraw from the league. As a consequence, there was no league play during the 1958-59 season. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) was officially founded in 1959. All the schools agreed that the lack of a league hurt western college hockey. This time, though, it would be a more informal association, allowing schools to schedule whatever opponents they wanted. Denver and Minnesota, still bitter over the previous year's feud, did not schedule each other and would not meet on the ice for over a decade. Michigan Tech. and Denver, who won four and three league titles respectively, dominated the next seven seasons. The conference expanded adding Minnesota-Duluth in 1966, Wisconsin in 1969 and Notre Dame in 1971. The 1960s and 1970s would see overwhelming WCHA superiority in NCAA play, with the conference winning all the NCAA titles except for 1967, 1971-72 and 1978. The WCHA became more formal in 1973, when the league office assumed all conference scheduling. A plan was passed in 1979 to split the conference into two divisions as a cost-cutting move, but was rescinded three months later. Then, in 1981, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech. and Notre Dame all defected to the CCHA. The loss of Michigan Tech. was a double blow, as they took the MacNaughton Cup, presented to the WCHA Champion every year, along with them. The WCHA survived as a six-team league, then expanded again in 1984 when Michigan Tech. returned (with the MacNaughton Cup), and brought Northern Michigan with them. The same year saw the start of an interlocking schedule with Hockey East, which lasted for five seasons. All inter-conference games counted in each conference's standings. Recent developments saw the adoption of a single-site final four (later five) format for the tournament, starting with 1988 in St. Paul. St. Cloud joined as the conference's ninth member in 1990. Northern Michigan won the 1991 NCAA Tournament and North Dakota won the 1997 tournament, making it 30 times a WCHA team has been crowned the national champion. Alaska-Anchorage became the tenth conference member in 1993-94, the same season that Colorado College won the first of three consecutive league titles, the first team to do so and their first titles since the 1956-57 season. Following the end of the 1996-97 season Northern Michigan departed the WCHA, rejoining the CCHA, and Mankato State participated in the WCHA tournament for the first time the following season. In 1998 Mankato State (now MSU-Mankato) was voted in as the league's newest member and began play in the fall of 1999.

I probably ain't smart or pretty enough to get this one right so will stand to be corrected. Because of the size of the league, apparently there is no more desire to play a 36-game schedule like they did years and years ago, back when the league had ND, Denver, CC, Minnesota, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and yes, Notre Dame. I think that I have this line-up right. Anyways, now the league round robins, or rotates, the teams that only go with two game schedules. A couple of years ago, we only played at the Gophers. This year, they only play here. I think that everyone rotates. In other words, there are no designated "natural rivalries" that always get a four game season series. With only 28 league games, there is now room in the schedule holiday tournaments, for trips out East, or to schedule in other teams itching for a taste of a WCHA lickin'. I could be wrong, but will probably only be mistaken.

The WCHA plays a 28-game schedule. Ten teams. Play five opponents four times each, four opponents twice each. That's 28 games. Each win counts for two points. A tie counts for one point for each team. Losses draw the goose egg. By this math, a team that finishes 28-0 in league play would have 56 points. Unheard of, of course. A team that finishes 18-6-4 would have 40 points. Likely enough for a McNaughton Cup. Hope that helps. Of course, I could be wrong on any number of fronts.

For those of you not in the know, you would do swell to take YaneA up on the hat offer. My daughter scored one in Duluth. Top shelf stuff. A Rylan Kaip top hat.. Coach Eades saw her with it before the Friday game and asked her about it. She filled him in while Coach Skarperud talked to me about the really important things in life. Young children. Anyway, Coach Eades took the time and the effort to track my daughter down after the game and got her hat signed by Kaip. A class move by a class guy with a class organization after a hard fought win on the front end of an impressive split of a great WCHA series. Sometimes I grow tired of folks who are constantly criticizing the team over some close, tough losses to some quality competition. Fact is, this team is the real deal, from the coaches on down. We're with them - all of them - through thick or thin. Why? Because in the final analysis, it really is not about the banners that fly from the rafters, although they are fun and exciting. No, in the final analysis, seasons are more about the people you meet, the fun you have, the miles you travel, the goals scored and the goals allowed, the close calls, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. In the final analysis, it is the memories that the team, and all of us, build for ourselves and for others. These are the things that make Sioux hockey the crowning tradition that it is. Thanks to YaneA, to Coach Eades, and to Rylan Kaip for making a young Sioux fan's Christmas dreams come true.

Patrick Reusse is a fine and often-times entertaining columnist. His radio shows with Joe Soucheray on KSTP are sometimes really good. I believe that they are now on up in the northern Minnesota areas, as well as elsewhere across the Upper Midwest. As for Irmen, I could care less about him.

Not to jump on your thread, but we have four to the Saturday game. Section K, row 2, seats 1-4. Just off the glass, near blue line in end that Sioux twice defend, I believe. Looking across to benches. Right at aisle where team enters and leaves ice. $22 a piece. E-mail me at fortparker911@msn.com. We'll probably end up just jamming into some youngsters' hands on our way out of the arena on Friday. Nothing beats treating young kids, even if they are Bulldogs fans, to a Saturday night in the WCHA.

A reasoned assessment over-all. However, I would love to see the Sioux in the West Regional. It is nearby, we would have a strong legion of fans, and assuming that the match-up would take place, a Sioux-Gophers game in the West would be the equivalent of any Frozen Four game, IMHO. Recall the world class clash between the Sioux and the Gophers at the Final Five last year. Nothing could be sweeter than taking out the Gophers in their own rink for a trip to Columbus. We'll probably need to go through them sooner or later. If so, why not take it to them in the West. Of course, I am a bit biased seeing how we already have West Regional tickets.

We are going Friday night but alas, can no longer stay for the Saturday clash. We have four tickets for Saturday's game that we are looking to move. Section K, Row 2, seats 1-4. Near the blue line in the end that the Sioux defend twice I believe. Looking across to the benches, and right where team enters and leaves the ice. If interested, e-mail me at fortparker911@msn.com. Duluth is always a great trip, and their fans can be alot of fun. A really BIG series for both teams.

I'll take my crow and eat it too. Gophers looked real tough Saturday night. I thought that they would tire in the mountains. I am really hoping for a Sioux-Gopher matchup at the Excel, and then again at Mariucci a short time later. Lot of hockey to be played between now and then. By the way, I agree that WPoS, GreyEagle, and Sagard have reasoned discussions. Nonetheless, they love to see the Sioux go down every bit as much as I love to see the Gophers go fish.

Guess you guys got it covered. I'm back to Pochahontas. Good luck Dogs. I'd hate to see you guys next week with yet another L on your collar. Sioux had better step it up too. CC will prevail over the rodents. God Bless everyone in the Sioux Nation.

Badger pp goal. 1:50 in to the third. 3-2. Red Menace.

Sorry Dogz. Got to watching Pochahontas with the 'lil ones. Still 2-2 after two I believe. Listening to those puke Badger announcers on Fox. Dogs are 0-5 on the pp. I'll be more diligent from here on it on the third. Speaking of which, is there a score in the Sioux game. I have scrolled here a shade, but see little.