NorthDakotaHockey

JPar did play very well last night. I think, however, that Brandt will be in the nets tonight. He was in the stands last night. In my opinion, he will end up being the "go to" guy in the BIG games down the stretch. We're gonna pack 'em on up and head 'em on out. Travel to Mankato, and heardin' up dem dere Mankato steers to the slaughterhouse tonight.

We just got home from the game. Good Sioux crowd, although we could not do much to exhort the boys on to moving their legs much. Some good hitting. Mason was the ref. He needs to get some exercise so that he can better position himself to look at, and call, some of the action. A half-hearted effort by the Sioux. Mankato took to a spark and played pretty well. The Mavs appear to be much improved over their injury-plagued season of a year ago. Tomorrow night could well be a dogfight. These things, among many others, are what makes WCHA hockey the greatest league sport on earth, bar none.

Hey Sioux Fans . . . . Here is, hopefully, a link to the UND Athletics site that has a pretty informative media guide for the Mankato series, in .pdf format. Check it out, if I have linked it here. Sioux Media Guide?

Hey WPoS . . . . Whacha doin' wasting your hard-earned money on the supremely boring NFL? No wonder you can't be going to Alaska this weekend. Also, aren't there rules against you using your old lady's welfare money on sporting events? We's going to Mankato to watch the WCHA tonight and tomorrow. Since the Goophs are on the road, you and your boys and girls might have a good time driving to Mankato to cheer on the Sioux. Good barking at ya. See you around the river still.

Way to go Fighting Sioux. Giving Davey, Cary, and Brad a Big W in their first game at the helm. No matter how long, how ugly, or how frustrating at times, a win over Maine, in Orono, is huge. No matter the circumstances. Teams are forged by the mettle from close games on enemy ice. Killing the PP in OT, and notching a gamewinner to boot, is going to reap big dividends for us as we go through big games week in and week out. I am sure that WCHA fans the league over are mighty proud of our boys tonight.

I saw on the main Maine thread that the Sioux women had jumped out 2-0 against the Lady Goophies. Anyone have a reliable read on the final score, and the size of the crowd?

I love Sagard, WPoS, Greyeagle, and the other respectful Gopher "poster boys" here. That said, they are still Gopher fans. Tried and true. Do not think that they ever miss taking an opportunity to be passively aggressive, if not outwardly condescending, toward the Sioux and our fans. Maybe not here, but certainly every other chance that they can take. I did not mean to be harsh with Sagard. Just pointing out the foibles of the feeble Gopher effort from near start to finish last season, especially with all of the returning talent that they had. Moreover, I still maintain that a 4-0 game between national powerhouse programs cannot be called "close" under anyone's reading of the score. As for the still, it is true. These Gopher fans drink corn liquor (after all, they are from Minnesota and therefore have a corn-farmin' heritage) down by the river before every one of their home games, and it is owned by WPoS!!!!

Yes, but last year Maine was playing an ill-prepared Gopher team that had its nose so high in the air that all they could smell were the Omaha stockyards. The boys, with their back-to-backs, figured all they had to do was step on the ice and opponents would cower. Especially in the Gophers' own backyard with their legions of travelling fans. Truth is, the Gophers team last year was a pretty average shell of its earlier squads. This year, it is the Sioux going out to Orono for a great college hockey series. I see a Sioux sweep. No kidding. These seeings, and a quarter, will get me a cup of mud at the Big Sioux. By the way Sagard, don't attempt to revise history. A 4-0 game, in and of itself and under most any circumstances, especially between two hallowed programs, never sounds "close." You a horseshoe thrower out by WPoS's still by any chance?

I believe that the team stays at the Howard Johnson's, on or near campus, on or near the Kohl Center. We are going too. Only problem, my lil' girl got a part in the school play and dress rehearsal is on Saturday the 13th. We'll go Friday night, drive back to the Twin Cities on Saturday. Although I may turn around and go back for the Saturday clash, I may not. Anyone interested in four tickets for Saturday? Section 309. Row B. Seats 1-4. We bought 'em real early. Best we could get. We are two rows off the ice in the Sioux offensive end Friday, nosebleed on Saturday. The Sioux tickets were much more in demand the the Goophies there. I bought tickets for a rodent fan for the rodent series the same time, and they could have their pick. We got 309 for Saturday. Still great seats in that new 'hole.

While some may say that this might be jumping the gun, better to jump now than to crawl and beg later. West Regional tickets are on sale through Gophersports.com and the U of M ticket office. As you know, if the Gophers make the tourney, they will play at home. If the Sioux have a solid season, they will likely be seeded in the West, Gophers be damned. The chances of both the Sioux and the Gophers not being in Mariucci are slim. Get 'em now while they are hot. Or not.

More proof that, in the final analysis, the game of hockey, and all of the hoopla and championship banners that go along with it, are little more than dust in the wind. Hockey is nothing. People, and their loved ones, are everything. To lose hockey, for a game, for a season, for a lifetime, is really no big deal. To lose a loved one, for a moment, for a stretch, or forever, is a really big deal. Our sympathies here at the NDH household go out to The Dean of Hockey, and to his family, and to his friends. God Bless the Blais Family. This, of course, includes most all of us on these pages who share in their grief, and in their loss. Fortunately, life goes on. The puck will drop again. That is, perhaps, the saving grace of death. It reminds us that there is life, and that we should live it to its fullest, because tomorrow it could be gone . . . . Now go grab those loved ones.

Ticketmaster is now selling tickets to the St. Clown series in St. Cloud March 4-5. $25 a pop, plus the usual hold-up on extra fees. It is a fun venue and it is always nice to have Sioux fans out in force to outshout the farce known as Clown fans. Mankato State series, October 15-16, at the Wireless is set to go on sale on Monday, October 4. Again, on the Ticketmaster site.

Sorry for the double post.

Took my kids last year. It's a great trip and a great atmosphere, albeit with seats only half-filled. That will change with time. I recommend calling the Tech ticket office and getting your tickets in advance. They are very friendly and the tickets are dirt cheap. We sat right behind the Sioux bench both nights. A real blast. The team stayed at the Best Western. There are two in town. I think it was the Franklin Square Best Western. Sure it was. Nice place. Scent of smoke in every room, just like it oughta be in every good hotel. Tech runs a nice ski hill in town. Very reasonable, and a good way to kill the Saturday before game time. Don't know about the tobaggan runs. A handful of places to ice skate as well. A drive to the tips of the U.P. is also fun. We went in January and drove through a beautiful driving snow. Got our lousy Ford Explorer stuck on a side road. Almost stopped my heart pushing it clear but had the fortune of a raft of snowmobiling and drinking Badger fans happening upon us. There is hardly anyone on the roads, so it was a good time for my underage kids to get some behind the wheel experience in snow. It is a great WCHA city, school, and venue. I'd recommend the trip to anyone. We drove from the Cities, but the trip from GF is no hard drive either.

Hey WPoS . . . . From what I saw and heard, the Gophy fans did not have a whole lot of things over which to make noise at the DECC, or in The Maroosh for that matter, last year when they were trying to skate with the Dogs. Pretty quiet in Van Andel as well. That was then, this is now. Anyway, we sat behind the net on the Saturday game between the Sioux and the Dogs. The last ten minutes of that game, at ice level, was about the most intense hockey that I had seen in years. The seats behind the nets at ice level ain't bad. Besides, you get to hang around the locker room areas down there. Giving the coaches pointers.

The Sioux-Bison football rivalry is probably one of the best in all of collegiate sport. Always intense. Almost always close. Sioux dominated in the most recent years. Of course, that was not always the case. Back in the mid-to-late 80's as I recall, the teams met in GF in November in the first round of the playoffs. Great game. However, one needs to go back to around 1965 or 1966. Sioux were a powerhouse. Roger Bonk. Corey Colhour, or however you spell his name. Dave Osborn I believe. Jim Hester. Anyway, so were the Bison. The Bison came to town with the teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the country. I recall the Bison held the top spot. It was a beautiful October day, in a beautiful college football stadium on campus. Memorial Stadium was packed to the gills. Some said that there were well over 16,000 people in the stadium, and this was back in the mid-sixties. Endzone bleachers were packed. Sidelines were overflowing. Sports Illustrated was there. As I recall, the Bison kicked a late field goal to win something like 18-15. This is just one slice of the great history of one of the greatest college football rivalries ever. Maybe if the NCAA would make a win by a D2 school over an D1 school worth more points toward postseason worth more than a win over the Sisters of the Poor, the rivalry will begin anew. Funny thing. The Bison are now the new Sisters of the Poor in Division I-AA. Relegated to years of obscurity, to go along with years of envy.

Your best bet would be to call the UMD Ticket Office, now, and get tickets through them. Because the arena will be jammed with Sioux fans, you will not be far from us regardless of where you sit. Another option would be through the Sioux athletic department for a couple of their allotment, but I do not know how that works, or if it works well. Finally, Big Al may be doing one of his junkets. Tickets, hotel, bus. This probably only works best from fans travelling from home base central. Do the UMD Office in my opinion. Sooner rather than later. They will be hot tickets.

'Tis the 22nd and 23rd Goon. Would hate to see you miss one of the games, like we will for a lousy distant family wedding on the 22nd. Some folks have no sense of what is important in the fall of the year in the El Grande Forke area. Sioux are gonna kill the Gophers that weekend, just like they did last year.

Thank God. Away with him. Let the post-mortem take place over at POI.

The only better looking women at the ice arenas and the college campuses than the Russian Hockey Babes are those found in the great state of North Dakota, and, more precisely, on the grounds of the UND and in the confines of The Ralph on a Friday and Saturday night betweens the Octobers and the Marches.

Cavedurtis . . . . I grow weary of the Vanek talk. The guy is history with the Gopher program, and the Gopher program is all the better for it. Thank God the Gophers had a great experience with some solid non-Minnesota stock, the North Dakota boy. Potulny. After putting up with TV's antics, The Don might have otherwise looked to return the Program to years of mediocrity by recruiting nothing other than Minnesota boys. If I were still a betting gal, I'd lay you a wager that TV is gone. Shooter as much said so in the Pioneer Press today. Can we bury any further talk of Tommy now, at least here? I think that most WCHA fans are tired of hearing about, and speculating over, his so-called future.

The Gophers Stink!!! After all, their colors are brown and yellow . . . .

The Gophers can only hope that Vanek will be gone, as the Sioux are lucky that Bochenski hit the dusty, and I do mean dusty, trail. Each would, or will, be like a cancer in their respective locker rooms. Saw that from Vanek last year even. Both teams will be better teams without these so-called superstars skating for them this year. Sure, some of you may holler on this one. Truth be told, both heads have become much too big for their britches. Both gave their fans some great memories. I would have no problem seeing Fat Tom back with the Goophies this year. He'd be even less of a team guy than he was last year. Pass the stats sheet, would ya?

Good idea FrontRowGuy . . . . I did the same thing and tracked down a buyer over at POI. You order in time to get the Mike Eaves autographed puck? We bought over the phone and were able to pick our seats for each game. The Saturday night Sioux game was a near sell out already. At least the good seats. Good luck. You'll find some Sioux fans to bite on this one. It is a great deal, and any game at the Kohl watching the visitors beat up the Badgers is big in my book. Unless of course it is the Gophers. I hate the Gophers, but some of their fans are downright good guys and gals.

The Sioux women are a fine and developing squad. We took in a few games last year, including the pasting the Sioux took at Ridder at the hands of the Gophers last February or something. Around 9 or 10 to 1. My kids and I leaned over the rail as the Sioux were leaving the ice and told them to remember that game, and to remember the feeling, and to remember it well, and to make a point to pay back the Gophers the next time that they saw them. It would be real cool to fill the Ralph with a big crowd, and send the Gopher women away with the thought of knowing that there are going to be some new sheriffs in the WCHA.