jdub27

Finally a post with actual relevance today. Thank you! Can't wait for the game Saturday.

ButtRPI

While you were doing that, did you manage to come up with the list of players with much better college stats than Kristo that have spent eternity toiling in the ECHL? Or just going to move on from being called out on that one?

A sad life you must live...

After your dead wrong comment about how he would toil in the ECHL, not sold on your judge of talent. But I don't think anyone was comparing Kristo to Toews or Parise so not sure what your comment was all about.

Are you sure that's accurate? The last year that UND played a 10 game schedule was 2008 and UND played at Idaho State that year. UND has played 11 games every year since then.

Tom Douple, is that you??

I believe Yale was one of the last two teams in. They must have had 2 good nights because they beat two of the top 8 teams. The other issue is, starting next year how many autobids will there be? 6? Leaving only two at-large bids.

UND missed that kind of player this year with Mitchell graduating. Someone that can stretch the floor a little bit and open up the lane by pulling the defense out.

So you can't find anybody and are hoping someone else can back up your claim for you? Or maybe "show your work".

You never did list the players with much better college stats than Kristo that have been in the E for eternity.

It will be close (though that was accurate this year). They drew 72K this year for 18 games, which was good for the 19th best average in the nation. I would guess they will go over that by a little bit with what should be a better schedule (more "name" teams) this year.

Considering they had 81K+ for their spring game last year (the most in the nation), that is a pretty safe bet. Not sure what your point is though. UND hockey live chats and likely the spring football game will outdraw basketball games at UND, yet I think most people still expect the basketball team to be competitive in their conference. Just because these aren't the number one sports at those schools and don't have the fan support of those top sports, they can still be successful.

To your point, they get a set number of practices whether they start on time or a week late. The number they have will still be the same. The only difference is the spring game won't be the end of spring practice, they will still have a week after. Is that any better or worse? I don't think there is a difference. As for snow levels, I spent the weekend in Fargo, Grand Forks still has considerably more snow on the ground.

I too would be interested to see a list of players who have much better numbers in college compared to Kristo who are stuck in the ECHL for eternity.

After hearing him talk in interviews and in person multiple times, he was a hard guy to dislike. Very honest, very humble (to a purposely humorous level sometimes), very passionate and very knowledgeable. I think Denver made a big mistake.

You make it sound like he didn't try any other options on that line. None of the seven players that were tried on the top line consistently clicked with Kristo/Knight.

Because they've been forced to do it that way through the threat of anti-trust lawsuits because they aren't including everyone who is "equal" with them. If they break off and do their own "invitational" tournament, I can see them getting around some of those issues. You really think the big conferences want to make it more inclusive? Everything I've seen points in the exact opposite direct. One thing for certain is teams aren't looking for ways to increase the number of schools that are splitting these piles of money unless teams they are adding bring the promise of more money to the table.

I'm not saying they will break off from the NCAA. I'm saying they will form their own postseason tournament, not have to include small schools/conferences and take all the money themselves. They already formed the BCS. How excited do you think the major conferences were to see NIU make it into a BCS game? How exciting was that game for the fans (they were blown out)? Why is it so far-fetched to think they would push it a little farther and make even more money off of it? As GFG pointed out, basketaball is different than football. One, it is already set up. The conferences aren't supid and going to ruin something that is already a golden goose. Two, people tune in to see the upsets in basketball, which are much more prone likely to happen when compared to football. There is a lot more parity and having one star player can affect a game much more than in football.

You know how much money the NCAA makes off TV money for the basketball tournament? The big conferences are going to do the math and realize they can do their own 16-team or so tournament for football and make big bucks as well. And they won't have to share it with the smaller conferences.

I think Oliver was supposed to be good, but that class had 3 good recievers with Golladay and Fletcher and now throw Robertson in as well. Granted Golladay is now a year ahead of him playing-wise. Still stinks to lose guys that have that kind of size. Wish him the best.

Fixed. A few of the many that stick out: If the prospectus is right, it shows that Mollberg has put on 37lbs going from 195 to 232 and it looks to be accurate. Wow. What a tank. Dwayne Brown is up 18lbs Labat and Coyle are both up 20lbs. Meehan is down 12lbs and Walker is down 15lbs.

UND Sports Spring Football Preview Spring Football Prospectus Of note just glancing through the preview, Mackey will be moving to safety, Sparks will have a good shot at seeing increased playing time, Dustin Adams will be competing right away for playing time and surprisingly no mention of Mike Edwards. Haven't looked through the prospectus yet, but Tom Miller tweeted that Oliver (WR), Tuilagi (LB), Jablonski (LB), Andrews (LB), Kennedy (DB) and Hartung (DL) are no longer on the roster.

Glad someone caught it...

Not sure what kind of reading between the lines you had to do to get to that conclusion. Nowhere did I state that schools with current top programs that make hockey their number 1 or 2 priority are going to die off. I do think that some of the smaller schools are going to continue to struggle, as they always have, especially with some of the more successful programs and better draws joining different conferences. You are the one who thinks that athletic departments that have budgets that dwarf those of other schools aren't going to find the resources to keep their programs competitive. They already do that and their budgets keep growing, mainly because of the TV money they bring in. Kids/recruits are very well aware of the reputation of programs and what they are able to offer. Hockey isn't much different from football and basketball in that regard. Kids aren't jumping at a chance to play football at Duke because they have a good basketball team. I'm confused on what kind of attitude change and commitment you think the B1G needs to have? Minnesota has been and will continue to be a powerhouse. Michigan missed its first tournament in 20 some years, were down all year, but still the conference championship game and almost got in. Wisconsin is in the tournament. MSU had a down year but regularly make the tournament. That is 2/3's of the conference that are regularly in the postseason. OSU has been down, who know if they will improve. PSU is a wildcard, but they definitely have the financial backing to be successful. I would guess that each one of those teams spends more on hockey than at minimum half of the NCHC and definitely spend more than anyone left in the WCHA.