NorthDakotaHockey

Wolverines and Spartans scoreless, after one.

The only reason Scott "gave it" to Ryan pretty good at Tech was because the ref was holding Ryan, and Scott had his way with sucker punches. I know. I was there. Ryan woulda killed the clown.

Yeah. Porter. From Fuher.

Time to get one right here. Jump on these clowns early. And often.

Not to tempt fate, or anything, but the Sioux are going to kill Tech tonight. Tomorrow may be a different story. Tonight, I see a four goal cushion, at least. Too bad this game is not on CSTV, instead of the Michigan-Michigan State stinker. Or that stinker over on FSN . . . .

Whoa, is that place ever gonna be packed on Friday night if the Sioux win, eh?

Read my post there 7>4. By the way, because you always claim that these numbers reflect the number of hairs on your head versus the number on mine, will you agree that my hair tonic growing potion that came in through the mail in a plain brown wrapper is working? Now its 7>5. Now that you've bought some of that tonic too, hopefully we'll be seeing more hairs on your head and we will soon be at 8>5.

You tell her Cookowski says hi, and that I was not dumping on her age, which is a closely guarded secret.

What tape, and game, are you guys talking about? I'm trying to work here . . . .

Not a stupid question, especially for those of us who are going Saturday night, but not Friday. A Sioux win, Duluth loss on Friday will clinch outright. Team hoists Friday. A Sioux win, Duluth win on Friday clinches tie. Team hoist? Probably. A Sioux loss, Duluth loss on Friday clinches time. Same result. A Sioux loss, Duluth win on Friday. Don't even think it. In any event, here is hoping for a Sioux / Duluth win on Friday. Seeing how we will be in the building on Saturday, I'd just as soon see the outright title won then and there. Call me selfish. Call me practical. Duluth is gonna kill Wisconsin so we had better take care of our own business.

John Scott has pretty muched packed it in. He will be a non-factor this week. This is, of course, just my read on it. I do have a concern about the playoffs. I think that he may be on the third of his three strikes. I am concerned that Tech's coach has told him that there is no room for him, even on a bottom-feeder like Tech, in the WCHA, and that he should look to play elsewhere. If true, and I believe it to be (the guy has no skills), he could decide to go down in flames by picking a huge fight the last night of the playoffs.

How about "The Crumblin' Wreck from Michigan Tech."

If you are sporting a mullet, the Level Seven in East Grand Forks will be the place for you. If you want the best bartender in town, go to the Hub and ask for Kay. Only she knows the entire history of all of the alcohol drank in that town, and by whom, since shortly after the days of Prohibition. If you are on a low budget, look for a collection of drinkers on the 4th mile gravel road west of I-29, south of Hwy. 2. Level Seven is still your best bet, if you are really looking to crank it up. Muddy Waters, or Muddy Rivers, in the Townhouse dive, is also a good place.

Gee. Can't mere hyperbole and artistic license qualify in support of mere puffery anymore? If you're looking for just the facts, try the White House. I don't have any. Never have, never will. Facts are boring. Puffing ain't.

Say what, TC? You can make tongue-in-cheek comments, but mine are ridiculous? I am tongue-in-cheek as well. Fact is, the Gopher job was Dean's if he had wanted it. Does not take rocket science to figure out the multitude of reasons why the Gopher brass got on the plane to Denver, or Colorado Springs as it were. Dean was their first choice. Dean, being the consummate gentleman that he is, listened to a degree. Dean, being the level headed bright man that he is, took a look around Grand Forks, compared what it, and North Dakota, had to offer versus Minneapolis and Minnesota, and made his decision. While we all will never know, unless one of us is The Dean in disguise, I suspect that The Dean feels that he made the right choice, on a choice that was his to make. After consulting with the wife and kids that is. Sure, The Don is a good coach. He is, however, merely a Don and not a Dean. 'Nuf said. Hey WPoS. Surely you will agree, that at least on this board, the Sioux have a more "storied history" than does the Gophers. You've got Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and G. W. We've got, geez, lemme see. Dwight Eisenhower. Lyndon Johnson. Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan. Slick Willy. Geez, all of the sudden, I do not much like the sound of this list.

YaneA . . . . Thanks a million. You da best. See you Saturday.

TC . . . . . You do your initials disfavor. Do you really think that Blais would have left the most storied program in all of college hockey, with a world class arena on the drawing board, to step into the rat's nest left by Coach Woog? Blais has had a level of success during his tenure at North Dakota that Don will match only in his dreams. Sure, back to back. Can't take that away from you Jimmy Carter. Who, pray tell, will be president when the Gopher ship next passes this way again?

YaneA . . . . Were you with the big crowd of hat heads in Duluth? They were some great hats, and your section of fans were some great cheerleaders. My kids and I sat in Section 9 the first night. Saw all four ND goals. The next night, we were behind the net, next to the band. We had a blast there. Saw both Sioux goals, and the Bulldogs goal to boot. The last ten minutes of that game rung a level of intensity that makes WCHA hockey the greatest show on the road. Anyway, I have separately e-mailed you with some thoughts on the hats. Look forward to hearing from you.

Here is a short little ditty that says it all . . . . It is worth the click. Trust me. Sioux Rule!

There is only one consolation game, and that is the Saturday afternoon third place game. I am worried that the Gophers will drop the first round of the playoffs, and take the week of the Final Five off. Frankly, that is probably the best thing that could happen to them. They could rest Briggs, heal the sick, at least those in body if not in mind (although I will not listen to this excuse from the masses as The Don had reported that they are all good to go before this weekend's debacle), and they could work on some team-spirit building. While I would love to see the Sioux-Gophers play at the Final Five, I also would grow tired of hearing them always saying that only the NCAA matters. I, for one, think that this is an increasingly tired excuse from a fan base that has seen its team, virtually the same team from last year, fall flat on its face ever since they started crowing about a "threepeat" last April. They will make the field of sixteen regardless. They will be dangerous. Like all of us, they can be beat. Here's saying that it looks like they have neither the heart, or the chemistry, to get it done this year. On the other hand, the Sioux have chemistry. The Sioux have heart. And the Sioux have history.

Ten random thoughts on a road trip in the WCHA . . . . 1. Duluth has some fervent fans. A solid group. Students are loud, largely clever, and highly supportive of their team. Thank God they did not get a chance to run many of their fabled "laps" because most of them were looking like that rhino in the movie Jumanji by the end of the lap. Lagging. And panting hard. None the less, the horror stories that some may have tried to paint here about their threats and intimidation were highly inflated, at least from our vantage points. Some middle-aged chumps tried to shut us down on Saturday night from our loud, but clean, cheering. In my face saying that I had a mighty big mouth for such a little guy. I handed him a rally rag that the DECC passed out on Friday and told them to go cry to someone who cares. 2. The Sioux took it to the Dogs from the first minute Friday night with Genoway's slapper. The first period of Friday night's game had the long-time Duluth faithful around us shaking their heads and muttering their amazement at our intensity and skills. That first 20 minutes set the pace for the entire weekend. While the Dogs took the play to the Sioux from time-to-time in a big way (e.g. the last six minutes of last night's game) Jake Brandt came up huge. Again and again. 3. We switched ticket locations from the end the Sioux shot at twice on Friday, upper level, to behind the net, just off the ice, that the Dogs attacked twice on Saturday. As such, we saw all four goals in the Sioux end Friday, and all game goals on Saturday. This is what clean living will earn an old balding fat guy willing to cart his kids around the league will earn us. 4. The action at the end of last night's game, mostly in the Sioux defensive end, was unbelievable. Duluth had a guy on Jake's doorstep who missed the puck coming through the crease to a wide-open net with about five seconds left. I couldn't believe he missed it. Had he scored, I think that the roof would have come off the DECC right then and there. While that would have been fun for a moment, seeing how it was a Saturday night in the WCHA, and while I would have remained supremely confident of the Sioux's play in OT, it was nice to hit the road. 5. Our seat locations were such that we had to go to the latrines and concessions through the concourse where the Sioux entered and left. They were mighty pumped, both before the third period and after the game. Obviously, it was a huge win. They seem to be a united bunch, and seem to have their eye squarely on the ball. It was very interesting to be able to watch their off-ice motivation prep from the cat bird's seat alongside other Sioux, and Bulldog, fans. 6. Duluth paints their visiting team's locker pink. Unless that is the home locker room for the Lady Bulldogs, which I doubt. Maybe it was there that the Gophers got the idea to get their hair permed. 7. Blais gave Jake a big love hug at the end of the game, near center ice. Then, I think he realized that people might be watching so they immediately pulled away from each other. 8. While Duluth did not have a whole lot to cheer for during the weekend, what with only two goals, their fans stayed in it. That said, the Sioux have the BEST travelling contingent of fans in the country. Our fans, especially a big group of them, including a number of gals with great hats and cheers up in about section 5 or 7, were great. The Duluth faithful has likely never seen that before, even from the Gopher faithful. We often got rousing cheers going that the Dogs fans usually quickly mobilized to drown out, or at least blend in. 9. One thing on which most all fans could agree, and we got some good chants going both nights, is that "Gophers Suck." These, of course, came after the WCHA updates. 10. As many of us have been saying ALL season, even through the bumps in the road, this team is special and is poised to go places. Quite frankly, other than maybe dropping one game to Tech over the next two weeks, here's saying that if they play with the focus and ferver that they did over the last two nights, they will be stringing a few more banners next fall, and the big trifecta will be ours.

Beersong . . . . What? You all ain't got enough confidence in the Boyz to buy your whisk brooms early? Too cheap to buy one now, figuring you can always use it to sweep the cobwebs for the corner of your Pfeiffer-soaked mind it the Boyz do not take two? I love you Duluth fans. You are good folk. Why do you paint the rest of your cohorts of at the DECC-adent as such degenerates? Beer-soakings. Muggings. Beatings. Blood. I don't believe a second of it. One Boyz fan look sideways at me and they'll be in for an evening. Hey, does the DECC have one of those HANDGUNS NOT WELCOMED ON THESE PREMISES? Not to worry about me. I'm afraid of guns, especially when they's on my trigger finger. The way some of these posts read, I'm a bit worried that some off-centered Bulldogs fan might be packing. I love Duluth. We'll be there tomorrow. Selling brooms.

I got a shipment of them in from the Phillipines. Got my Ford LTD Squire loaded to the gills with brooms and beer. Gonna be selling the brooms on the streetcorners of Duluth. $10 on Friday, $20 on Saturday. Selling to all comers, fans of either team. Got my street vendor's license and police protection all lined up.

Some 'CCO radio clown reported this morning that that game was last night. I could swear that this post has been up longer than that. Hey "threadstarter," Tommy K., you psychic. Tommy Kramer. Welcome to the board. Please regale us, on a separate thread, of your drinking daze with the ViQueens.

Today's Star and Sickle has a photo of Barry Tallackson and Peter Kennedy in the stylist chairs getting their hair permed for the big playoff run!! Everyone is doing it to inspire team unity! Did it two years ago. Perms. Hilarious. Of course, having little to no hair myself, this may just be my own jeolousies here. That said, I cannot wait for the chance that will hopefully come to do some neighborly heckling about their nice perms, and to watch the Sioux skate off with trophies of various sorts, including the permed pelts of fallen Gophers in their gloves. What are these guys thinking? Permanents? ps. Bruce Brothers weekly college hockey column is pretty good today, as it always is in my opinion.