NorthDakotaHockey

CSTV usually broadcasts those games in HD. Damned near like being there, but then again, it really ain't. Nothing like being a live body in a real live college hockey arena for a real live college hockey battle.

I said it weeks ago when all of you fine folks first started wringing hands and knashing teeth over this topic, and I will say it again. Bo knows what will be best for him this fall, and for his future. Despite the reasonable amount of quid that may be on the table now, it will grow, exponentially, following a run at an NCAA title and the Hobey. Bo is coming back. PCM, book it on USCHO so we can be done with this thread.

For the early Hakstol naysayers, this goes far to show that Dave is an astute man, and that he has a clear eye for talent, commitment, and drive. A better hire there could not have been in all the land. None. The Sioux are not missing a step. Not a single one. Scott who? Dean will always be fondly remembered, but he is now firmly in our rear view mirrors.

No chance as best I know Windsor. Last I heard, Bo was flying high in the rocket science department. With a minor in currency art. Hey, if we can't laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at? Bo may want to take the money, if it is there. Bo should know that the money will only get better after he spearheads an NC and takes home the Hobey to boot. Here's saying that he's a lock to stay in school, and that October Sky is one of his favorite movies. ps. Vanek is toast with the Gophers. His choice or theirs. He has strapped on the brown and yellow for the last time.

Aah. The Secret Still . . . . Everything said, The Don is better for the Gopher program than was The Drunk, er, I mean, The Doug.

Yeah!!!! Why would we ever want to have wasted the next eight weeks, putting recruiting on continuity in limbo while we are sitting on a Championship-caliber squad, to do this "national search?" Especially with a capable guy like Hakstol in the fold. I said it here last Friday when the news was fresh. Hakstol was the only candidate for the job, and now it is mine, er I mean, his. There is a certain beauty of not giving Sandy the pleasure of turning us down. There was no one else, if we are truthful with ourselves, for the position. Sioux tradition. Continuity. Familiarity. They all breed success. Why mess with that formula now? Congratulations Dave!! Dave.

Ouch. Got me Sagard. I do, of course, hope for a couple of games at the Maroosh this year for the Fighting Sioux. Even maybe one against the Goophs for the right to go to Columbus. Wouldn't that be great?

Wouldn't a believed it meself if I ain't didn't seen it w' my own eyes and hurd it with me own ears . . . .

Did not know that the Hakster was horned in on the alumni folk. Just goes to show that the guy is also long on brains and foresight, as well as a fine motivator and proven recruiter. We've all seen both Guentzel and the Hak working behind the bench. From where I sit, the Hakster is a working coach, calling shots, making moves. Guentzel is more of a "head nodder." "Good job Coach. Nice move Coach. Good job." Tied into the O'Keefers is he. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

I do not like the thought of hiring Guentzel. He does nothing to distinguish himself over Dave. Scott?

The job is the Hakmeister's and that would be an alright deal by me. Do we really want a Jerry York-type, some clown from the CCHA, or from anywhere else for that matter? Who in the WCHA besides, perhaps, Sandy, merits even remote consideration? No one, that's who. Let it be said here and now. Dave Hakstol will continue building on a dynasty. He will stay at the helm for the next 30-35 years, and will become the most-winning coach in all of college hockey history. He will bring at least ten, maybe fifteen, titles and banners to Grand Forks. Let the knashing of teeth and the wringing of hands terminate.

That's a BIG 10-4. What with all of this guessing around the future of the Sioux coaching staff, most of us can agree that the brown and yellow of the U of M really need to get a life. Rats. No games at the Maroosh this year. Think The Don wouldn't mind a call? As I recall, the Goophs tried to lure The Dean away a few years back. Funny thing, we would not dream of contacting the Lucia. That is, perhaps, all that the people need to know. I heard The Don speak at a Chamber breakfast last year, right after the pasting he took in Grand Forks. I was really surprised to hear him trash the Woogie and the Woogie's lack of discipline and focus in the waning years of the Woogie Years. Nice way to deflect the early season heat from the faithful, crass as it may have been. Geez. It feels good to rail on the brown and yellow . . . .

Perhaps the most lame-brained cheer in all of collegiate sport . . . .

Speaking of this BIG series, if you intend to make the trek, why not put it on your calendar now and order up tickets today. They are taking orders at UMD. Not shipping tickets yet, mind you, but taking orders and placing them in the hopper on a best available-first come first served basis. You can be sure that the revived interest in the Dogs will have them selling many more seasons and singles, and that the availability of enemy ducats will take a hit.

That's great that Sandy is going to coach the World Juniors. We just don't need him behind the Fighting Sioux bench, what with Hakstol being in the mix. I said it straight it out of the chute last Friday. Hakstol is the man, and will be announced soon. No inside information. Just what a little birdie told me. Crow season opens July 15. Those of us who ain't shooting it will be eating it.

Dean Blais is a fine coach and a great guy. We can all claim to know this or that, and most of it is probably true because we are Sioux fans who, as a lot, are loaded with integrity. Bottom line? Dean left for one reason and one reason only. Change. Change is good. I know this for a fact from my own experience. I am sure that many of you will say the same. Change takes guts and courage. When made, change is good. Except, of course, if one is trying to throw out the present administration on a national level and seat John "Let Me Change My Position On That Point" Kerry.

Easy there Ghost. Come down off that ledge, along with a small handful of you other fans. A great team and a great program do not two or three guys make. We loose ZP. Dean-o. Even Bo. The glass is still half full, not half empty. We have a huge nucleus of solid players returning. Don't sell them short. They'll be knocking on the door, with or without the departing crowd. Tell your idiot Gopher fans that all college hockey folks - be they players or coaches - aspire to the NHL. There is no need to give us flack over our recent successes on that level.

Sign Davey up today. No downside. None. History tells us this, and history will again tell us this. Nary miss a bit on the Road to Columbus by signing Davey. Any one else will create turmoil, turf wars, and undue strife. If Bo goes, he goes. I, for one among many, think that he will stay. Big fish in little pond better than little fish in big pond. Money get better later on. Besides, Bo knows that he has a number of skills on which he still needs to work before taking his already solid game to the proverbial "next level." Bo may only be playing this card, if he is playing it at all, to suggest that he may fly if someone from outside is brought inside to coach da kids.

A little birdie told me that Dean was offered a huge equity position in the team. Of course, it being the BlueJackets, that position is really worth little more than the paper on which it is printed. Dean is a heck of a guy, and a hell of a coach. Maybe he gets to drive the Zamboni.

UND Fan. I am probably being unfair to Scott. I like the guy. He has had success in a relatively short period of time. That said, I am not sure that he has proven himself long enough to warrant talk of BIG dollars like some think we should throw at him. He left to make his bed at UMD, and I do not begrudge him at all for that. If he were still assistant here, it'd be a done deal and he'd be our man. It is tough to leave and come back. Sandy is, or should be, in our rear view mirror. Let him swim or sink out on the big pond in their new program. With the talent we presently have on the roster, continuity is huge. Hakstol is well liked and respected by the players. He is young and hungry. Berry has more immediate pro aspirations, so I've heard. Hakstol can be had for a solid price. Sandelin's price is over-inflated given his short term run of success. Gino. Deano. Davey. Give me any good reason why this time tested formula of success by hiring from within cannot, or will not, continue to work here. Let's sign him up next week, if not today, and be done with the speculation.

I agree that Dave Hakstol is the guy. He is a class act, knows the players, knows the program, knows the system. Can recruit. Why go with outside wild cards when the diamond in the rough is right under the nose. Sandelin is overrated. Sure, he has done well at UMD. Let him stay there. Hey, where is the Gophers' best coach since Herbie, Brad Beutow?

Say it ain't so Dean-O!! I am stunned. Fortunately, the tradition and pride and the program are much much bigger than just one man. We felt the same emotions when Rube and Gino left. Loss is tough. The future is bright. Say, how about that great old gargage can thrower, Ned Harkness? He still alive? Think he'd be interested?

They's got it on pretty good authority that they's gonna do a charter trip to Alaska too . . . . Sure'd be fun, but probably not as much as dropping the dough to go to venues like the Wireless, the DECC, the Concrete Center, the Kohl, the World, and the Maroosh. Oh wait, we ain't playing in Minny this year. Now that is a crying dirty shame. Best trip of 'em all is to Houghton, although this is an early trip there this year. Go to Houghton. John Scott gonna be there and he needs to take some Sioux flak.

I guess Denver cleaning the Gophers' clock back at the end of February, same weekend that the Sioux were cleaning Duluth's clock, was no fluke. Guess that Denver's fluke over the Sioux was no fluke either. Just like always, the best team over a grueling season was left standing. Denver did what it had to do, and beat the best of the WCHA in the process. I always said that whoever was able to take the week off of the Final Five was gonna be dangerous.

College hockey. Ain't it great. The only thing that turns my stomach more, perhaps, than crying Gopher fans is crying Hockey East fans. Hats off to DU. Makes that 1-0 loss two weeks back just a shade more palatable. If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas, and would be looking to hang No. 8. Instead, we must settle for hanging No. 12 from the best college hockey conference by a long shot. Also, DU now has more titles than Minnesota. That makes yet another program more storied than the claimed story in Minneapolis. Can't wait until October. Well, ok, maybe I can. There is much more to life than Sioux hockey, and living will be easier knowing these immutable rules . . . . 7>6, and 6>5. Now, which WCHA team will be the next one to bring home the hardware?