NorthDakotaHockey

You ain't Rube Bjorkman, is ya? I loved Rube. Knows the game as well as the best. Too nice of a guy to be an effective coach. Gotta know how to strip paint off the walls between periods. Geez. An autographed stick. Sounds cool. How much is they's things drawing?

Me be there cfm . . . . Gotta stand tonight. Section 3 with the two kids. All in Sioux jerseys. I've got a #29, Cookowski. Stop by and give us a slap. I'm teaching my kids to be avid Sioux supporters early in their lives. TC? What say you?

Not me. Had a life last year. Wasn't whiling it away arguing the relative merits of states, schools, and hockey players with the likes of you and the many great guys on this board. Then one day my old lady threw me out. I haven't missed a game, home or away, ever since!

TC . . . . Love ya man. I can focus on the present because this Sioux team might be just one of the best ever. Check us out. Our tradition. We've titles in five different decades. You guys a couple. You'd better be careful here. Hate to see you go the way of the Lakers of LSSU, or the Ramblin' Wreck of Michigan Tech. Couldn't afford laser disk. Old tapes mean nothing when we are always cooking up things new. Was that you looking for copies of tapes from the Glory Years over on POI? Let's Play Hockey, eh?

That fabled Minnesota Education Association lobby ever teach you all how to convert numbers into common denominators? I am talking seven years of uncontroverted dominance in the world of college hockey. You are talking a mere handful of days. Lest you forget that Jimmy Carter was President last time your boys stepped on the platform before 2002? Lets see. Run this one for me TC . . . . 23 years x 365 days +5-6 additional leap year days = What??? Put these numbers in your crack pipe my friend . . . . Hey, let's play hockey, eh?

Hey TC . . . . What are these guys' names? Never forget, looks can be deceiving. The only thing that is not deceiving, and that remains an immutable rule of logic and debate is . . . . . Seven is a bigger number than five, eh?

Funny. No doubt the sweatshirts were gravy-stained, and their mommas hadn't had a chance to wash them yet. Probably why they were wearing the bibs. Gopher fans think that they are Big City. Well, just look at the demographics. Here in Minnesoota, they grow corn and raise hockey players. In North Dakota, we are smart enough to grow beets, and raise banners. Let's play hockey.

The Bison blew it, BIG TIME, when they had the chance to add hockey as a varsity sport 30 years ago and they were too arrogant to do so. "Hockey?" they said, with a voice that wreaked of both arrogance and ignorance at the same time. Well, now NDSU sees St. Cloud, Mankato, and Bemidji all playing D-I hockey, and they are left on the outside looking in. If they ever add hockey, we should refuse to play them, just for the principle of the matter. I hate the Bison. Maybe they and the Gophers can schedule some basketball games or some wrasslin' matches. Or a pig roping contest. Lord knows, they both got plenty of pot-bellied fans for it.

Reads like some folks may be parading out the age card. After the Sioux won their seventh in 2000, I talked to Sid on his radio show. Of course, he would give the Sioux no credit. Claimed that the Sioux were older than the Gophers. Having studied the rosters thoroughly, I told him that the Sioux were in fact younger, on average, than the Gophers. He then played the "experience in the juniors" card. I asked him what NCAA regulation prohibited kids from playing in the juniors, or any team recruiting out of the junior ranks. Of course, he had none. (Do not, however, forget the Skarperud Rule that took Tim's senior year away from him). I then told Sid that Dean Blais was getting all of the best kids out of Minnesota. Of course, Sid blustered, and claimed that he would become Pope before that ever happened. Well, there must have been alot of folks praying for Sidney, because if he knows what he is talking about, he will be up to replace John Paulo here in the not too distant future.

cfm. . . . Hilarious. Funny thing, I was at the Final Five and these guys were all around me, busting out of their jerseys.

Great summary PCM. Thanks for the report. Now, can you get me two tickets for the Saturday game?

The Heard It and the Pioneer Press are both Knight Ridder papers. They share alot of news content. This is one of the reasons why the Pioneer Press kicks the Star and Sickle's hind end on Drew Sjodin coverage.

Al has not organized one for this weekend. Tickets too hard to find.

Thanks for hawking this story HK and keeping us posted on a couple of fine hockey players. Does sound like a blast. Wonder if the WCHA would ever do something similar at the Final Five, no? Watch. It's going to be in Walter's column soon. "A little birdie says that the WCHA is going to have a 'skills competition' during its Final Five Tournament at the Excel in March."

Go to the Engelstad Arena website. The Ralph There is a link to buying, selling, and trading tickets. You will have some good luck there.

As posted on POI, and to sum it all up in a couple of words, borrowing, of course, from the Gophers' tired JBSU rant against their opponents from Saint Cloud, here it is, perhaps, in an analogy from the TV world of yesteryears . . . . Sioux Fans = Greg Brady Gopher Fans = Peter Brady. Eh?

cmf . . . . You are a great guy. You was promising me a tall frosty one sometime. Maybe we'll all be toasting the big sweep in a chumped out Gopher bar Saturday night. Come to think of it, me thinks that Sioux fans will definitely be controlling the levity Saturday night.

That'd be me Grey One. Glad you noticed. Besides, CM Guy, although a great guy, can't spell very well all of the time, eh?

That's a fact, Jack. Hey UMDogzman, or whoever you are. Sandelin will be smart to sit that front line goalie of yours this weekend against Tech. Reichmuth.

Love ya WPoS. You are always a gentleman, if not a scholar, over in these parts. Two questions. For what does WPoS stand? Will Lucia be dressing that Canadian defenseman for both games?

Geez. That's six points for weekend series that are worth a maximum of four points. The Pride on Ice board is interesting reading. Alot of Peter Bradys over there.

How about Tech cheapshotting and trash talking all weekend long? How about Tech taking the five minute major (should have been a game DQ) for knocking Jordan Parise near unconscious on a goalie interference penalty? How about Scott always getting in the face of Sioux players following whistles rather than skating back to his bench? Beg2, we can agree to disagree on this one. From my vantage point, Scott jumped in when he saw Hale being held by the ref, and that is the only reason why he got the upper hand. How much snow you guys getting up in Houghton today? You've a beautiful spot of the world. Why bother letting trash like Scott foul it up?

Haven't heard Dogzman. PA, of course, just announced a game. What say your tough guy, that guy that got cleaned by Prpich in October, step up this weekend? The Dogs have a solid club this year. No doubt you are hoping to get picked, and then seeded out East, where the road to the Frozen Four will be a heck of a lot easier than it will be in either Grand Rapids or Colorado Springs. You guys be all over Scott and Tech for me this weekend. I'd suggest you guys go with the Spiro Agnew chant, but am not sure the UMD student body could figure that one out themselves. For a Bulldog fan, you are a scholar and a gentleman.

No problem Forecheck. You are a fine hockey fan, and a gentleman. PCM, Campion's head was in the helmet. Scott did not connect directly on the helmet, and therefore Campion's head, but he roundhoused around Campion's head as best he could. From my vantage, the punch landed to the back of Hale's head, but the close proximity of the sandwich, with Campion being the meat, resulted in the helmet getting up against Hale's eye. Hard to say where the cut was, either in the eye area or the temple. There was alot of blood. Hadn't seen blood like that since Scott Marvin got his clock cleaned, cleanly, by a DU player back in about '78. Hale did not get cleaned cleanly. That is why I have a real issue with Scott. If I wasn't 5'6" and overweight, I'd drive to Duluth this weekend and "talk" to the clown myself. Besides, it's the Sioux-Gopher weekend.