Slap Shot

I don't know that I'd state that Hirsch was "kicked to the curb". His scholarship wasn't yanked. And since he has no more eligibility left, if he's deemed unfit to play (whatever the reason) what more can be done for him regarding playing hockey? For all we know behind the scenes it wasn't handled as cold-heartedly as those out of the loop might assume. Beyond that...

This is when Gopher fans and Sioux fans can cheer and mourn together.

This not necessarily true either. Jupiter is just as quick to shut down Gopher fans as he is visitors for breaking rules and no regulars there are allowed to post at will. Either case I think Jupe there and Jim here are fairly consistent with their enforcement, albeit perhaps at different levels at their respective sites.

Good grief!

I'd be curious to see links to all the recent posts at GPL about the Sioiux love feast with HC. But I won't hold my breath.

You might have skin that's thinner than Rabib's.

The thread creator was ridiculed for telling his fellow Sioux fans to get over it. Suddenly he's been done a disservice and only Gopher fans are to blame. Here's your halo. (yes PCM, that is a joke)

Yeah, no TD passes from a UND QB to a UM WR in the Senior Bowl, although we'd have to get a player into the thing first.

Or the Sioux fan that thinks the Sioux have never done anything wrong. I didn't crown the Gophers anything, I said we'd make the NCAA tournament and UND would not. Of course deep down I still think UND is going to turn it around and get into the NCAAs, but it's no fun if never give each other grief.

Most Gopher fans don't care. We recognize your support had nothing to do with being generous but rather to do with your obsession over Minnesota. Either way, have fun watching the NCAAs and your favorite team (the Gophers) from your couch.

If Sioux fans cheering for the Gophers' opponent gives their opponent such a boost, why do the Gophers have a winning record at REA? And of course people tied to HC are going to blow smoke your behinds about how great and inspirational you all were - you sure as heck kissed theirs hard enough. Hey Goon - there are probably as many Gopher fans that care about this as those care about where the puckbag ends up when the season is over. I myself think it's pretty funny. Petty, but funny.

More so than a group of WCHA fans buying HC jerseys en masse? Incorrect. Most of us laugh it off because we realize the real reason is that you care more about us than you do yourselves. Hey - I wouldn't do it if the roles were reversed but afaic it's no big deal. Now if you guys had gone on to win a NC last year....

Sprig, I think that is someone else. However I always figured Notes for a closet Gopher fan, but think that he had to play up the opposite as long as Jason was at UND.

Oh yeah, forgot about that one.

Cripes, I've been a Vikings since before their last Super Bowl appearance - you want to know about frustration talk to a long-time Vikings fan, or wait until you come close to enduring a gap between NC's a la the Gophers had for 23 years, Denver had for 40 years, Bucky had for 15 years and MTU has had going on 35 years. Never mind UND has a knack for becoming dangerous at the end of the season and you've got some great recruits coming in the next few years. I realize some of you probably don't want to hear this from me of all people, but get a grip.

He and I both can. Name one serious Gopher fan (not a fly-by-night bandwagon fan that every winning team gets this time of year) that has claimed a single piece of hardware for this season.

It's a bit disengenuous to ignore that going into last season Briggs was 5-4 in playoff games as well as the fact that the entire team melted down last season against SCSU and HC, not just Briggs or even Briggs period. It would also be disengenuous to ignore this team has more depth at forward, is getting better play at the blueline and is far more disciplined than they were last season. What this will all mean in March or April none of us know, but you're far too quick to write this team off. Also I haven't seen a single serious Gopher fan annointing this team a single solitary title of any kind.

Fine, then I guess they could find a spot for Chucko somewhere.

Yikes!! Sorry to hear that guys.

PCM - you've made some very compelling arguments and I think it's clear that it's way too early to judge the current crop of freshmen at UND. However, I think bucky was sincere when trying to aver he thinks last year's freshmen class was excellent and did not underachieve. But whatever.

I don't want to get into any argument about UND's '06 class, but it can't be as bad as the past 2 Vikings drafts.

If he isn't a playoff goalie than the Gophers aren't contenders. Maybe Briggs is maybe he isn't a playoff goalie, but I don't think that we've seen enough to know for sure. Remember that people made similar comments about Hauser and Weber and we know how they did in the end. We know that Briggs has put up career numbers at the U despite supposedly never playing in front of a good defense. We know that Frazee was great for the USNDT, had a great start last season and struggled at the end, but so far looks very good this season. This means he should be able to spell Briggs during the season and giving him fresh legs leading into the end of the year. We know that the Gophers are playing with greater depth this season than they did last season and are giving up fewer quality scoring chances, all of which will help whatever goalie the Gophers start. One last thought - if Briggs isn't a playoff caliber goalie, does that bode well for UND's NCAA chances until they get someone to replace Lammy? Because something tells me you've not given up on UND making a run and imho you shouldn't.

I thought the Gophers were legitimate contenders. Do you believe the Gophers will collapse, do you hope it will happen, or did you simply write the above because of bucky? Do you believe UND will turn around their play or will they remain in a funk? We can assume that previous strong finishes under Hak indicate it's again likely to happen, but then in all fairness we've seen the Gophers finish strong under Lucia as well as fall apart - which is more likely? Don't get me wrong - I'm not predicting anything specific because there's way too much hockey left, but I think it's just as logical to predict at least a run to a FF as it is to predict another HC debacle. As for UND I don't konw enough about this year's team to positively assert anything. Based upon history alone it's more probable that they'll put together a better second half. However if for some reason they don't, the cupboard of the future is certainly not bare and one down season would only be an aberration and not a trend.

It still doesn't make sense.

Wouldn't it make more sense to put faith in the Sioux that they deliver themselves at the end of the year, rather than worrying about what the Gophers will do? Even if the Gophers were 'to tank' that's no guarantee UND will have their own successful conclusion. I know last year's HC loss wasn't made any less disappointing simply because UND lost at the FF.