SJHovey

By the way, I'm not certain those NCAA videos are actual videos of the entire game. Personally I've never purchased one from them. I think usually you are much better off just going on line and checking to see who has a copy that they recorded and that they're willing to give/sell/trade to you.

The issue here isn't what we are allowed, or not allowed to do. Everyone is allowed to offer their opinions and criticism. My efforts have been to try to get people to think rationally about what they are writing. Let's not kid ourselves. What we post here is not constructive criticism. Constructive criticism necessarily needs to be an interactive process involving feedback from the criticized. It also needs to have certain specifics that pretty much never show up in any posts around here. Typically you would point out the errors or deficiencies in the performance, using specifics, then give examples of how that performance needs or can be changed to cause improvement. People write here that Berry and the staff are not recruiting well enough. Ok. So where is the constructive criticism? What exactly should they be doing differently? How should their approach differ? Should they change where they recruit? Should they change what they say to the kids? Just complaining that we don't get high end recruits like we used to or like other schools do is not constructive criticism. The same with the complaints that the coaching staff's style of play that is taught to the players turns scoring players at the junior level into non-scoring players at the college level. Well, what precisely are the coaches doing incorrectly, and why? What needs to be taught differently, and how will that change the performance of the team?

I guess I would ask this. In the world of sports fans, how big of a difference is it really between fans who are filling message boards with statements to the effect that the coach can't coach, the coach can't recruit, the coach isn't hard enough on his players, the coach teaches a style that turns good recruits into bad players, etc... (all basic allegations made on this board) and a fan who types "coach must be fired." When someone repeatedly makes the first set of accusations, isn't the demand he be fired kind of implied? I don't come to this board often enough to name names with 100% certainty, but I can tell you that there are a handful of posters here who were the most strident about Hak having to go because he couldn't get us over the hump and win the championship, then were the first ones in here saying, "see, I told you so. I told you we needed someone like Brad Berry to get this program it's next championship" and are now among the most critical of the job Berry is doing.

I think you might find them on Amazon. The NCAA also used to let you order them direct from them, but they were pricey. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2?rh=n%3A2625373011%2Cn%3A!2644981011%2Cn%3A!2644982011%2Cn%3A!2998369011%2Cn%3A332040011%2Cn%3A341039011%2Cp_n_format_browse-bin%3A2650304011&page=2&ie=UTF8&qid=1547128156 Edit: In looking through the Amazon list, I see '87 and '97, but not '80.

The funny thing is this. My guess is the coaching staff was maybe caught off guard by Jost's departure after one year. It happens and you have to deal with it, but they probably had a reasonable expectation he'd be here at least two years. If he stays, we probably end up a 2-3 seed in the NCAA's last year. Do we make the Frozen Four? Hard to say, but the season probably wouldn't have caused anyone to jump off a bridge, or even give it a second glance. We're .500 this year. We're not 2-16, coming off a 3-31 season from the year before. The team has shown that on any given night they can beat the best teams in the country and on any given night they can lose to the worst teams in the country? What does that say about this team? Not sure, but things could be a heck of a lot worse. I love sports fans. We're sitting here evaluating the performance of a person who holds an elite level coaching position in the sport of hockey. It's a position where if you do it very well, you get a chance to get hired to fill one of the 31 most important coaching positions on the planet in that particular sport. That's what's being done by our fan base that posts here, a group that is likely qualified to coach a mites team, or maybe a high school JV team. It's like we're discussing the ability of someone to be the head of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins just because we had an ekg done once. No one here should take this criticism personally. It's done by every fan base in every sport. But we really do need to think about the rationality of our behavior.

I think it'll be important to get off to a good start in the second half. Ideally they'd win the first six games, although I assume Omaha will play us tough as usual. Then go 4-4 during that tough stretch in late January and most of February, and finish strong against CC and Omaha to end the regular season. Get to 20-22 wins before the playoffs and they should be hosting the first round again. In a four game national tournament, anything can happen, especially playing in Fargo. Limit shots, which this team has generally been good at, hot goaltending and a timely goal here and there and who knows. But right now their margin for error is pretty thin. Can't be going off on any 3-4 game winless streaks.

If the letting "kids be kids" means looking the other way as underage individuals consume alcoholic beverages, yeah the REA doesn't get to do that. If that means the kids will find somewhere else to "be kids," so be it. There are substantial consequences to a facility like REA that looks the other way regarding underage consumption of alcohol. North Dakota's dram shop liability statute is broad. One of those kids gets in a car and causes an accident, it'll be on the REA. It'll also be on the idiot friend who bought the beer for him. The REA needs to be ejecting underage drinkers. Every time they do that, I bet they keep track of it. That way when they get sued because someone was drunk and is underage and was at the REA, they can trot out their policies, and they can bring in the security people who will talk about the zero tolerance policy and talk about the number of people kicked out, etc... Plus, that completely ignores the entire liquor licensing issue. You sell to minors, you lose the license.

I've always been puzzled by this argument. Minnesota, and the other B1G schools, already received the BTN money (all of it) even before adding a B1G hockey conference. Adding a B1G hockey conference added literally zero dollars to the B1G schools. They didn't get BTN money because they formed a college hockey conference. The B1G takes all of it's money from BTN, the bowls, etc..., pays its expenses, then divides up the money among the schools on an equal basis. I think a couple of the more recent additions get a lesser share, at least for a few years, but all of the old members like Michigan and Minnesota already got full shares. The formation of the B1G hockey conference certainly gave the BTN some "programming" to throw onto their schedule, although to be honest, there is very little in the way of college hockey on the BTN schedule. You're much more likely to see a rerun of a football game condensed to sixty minutes than you are an actual college hockey game.

If you're thinking of the same store I am, I think it closed exactly two years ago, right after Christmas. It was called the "college store" or something like that and as I recall it was over near the Sears store. It was a small store, but had a ton of good college stuff including hats, jerseys, sweatshirts, etc... Very sad when that store closed.

IIRC, from '90-'95 (not exactly the glory years of UND hockey), we had seven players participate. From '97-'00, maybe four of the most dominant years of UND hockey, we had exactly zero participants. We had a bunch of players go in the early '80's, when the team had success in the NCAA's. We had a bunch of players go during the first handful of Hak's years at the helm of the team and our lack of success at the end of the season caused many to argue in favor of the coach's dismissal. I don't view participation, or lack thereof, in the world juniors as a bellweather for the health of the program.

North Dakota is a +210 underdog at the Orleans

As a edit, it opened on December 10, 2009, in what was then called the imperial Palace.

Of course Ralph didn't own the building when it was called the Linq. But Hash House a Go Go was there long before it was rebranded "the Linq".

I have stayed multiple times at the Imperial Palace, the Quad, and the Linq. Yes it's been renovated since Ralph sold it, but it's the same basic footprint and location. Hash House A Go GO is in the Linq, which is the old Imperial Palace. All they did is rename them. Here is the website for the restaurant. Pretty sure it doesn't say "Harrahs." https://www.hashhouseagogo.com/location/las-vegas-nevada-the-linq

If you're talking about the Nine Fine Irishmen, it is, or at least it was a few months ago when we were out there.

As someone who has made quite a few trips to Las Vegas, I'll add these comments. First, Hash House A Go Go (the one on the strip) is actually in The Linq, not Harrahs. I'm just embarrassed that on a North Dakota hockey board, of all places, posters didn't realize that the restaurant is located in the house that Ralph built in Las Vegas. Second, people are right regarding Las Vegas distances. A block in Las Vegas is huge. Plus you will waste a lot of time and walk a lot further if you don't know how to get around. Pay attention to where the overpasses are. Never run across the strip. They kill hundreds of pedestrians a year in Las Vegas. As you are walking towards intersections, pay attention to the flow of foot traffic. Frequently the overpasses are blocked off for construction, so you end up having to back track and take another one. As you walk towards overpasses, look to see if people are crossing them. There is a free shuttle that runs between the Orleans and the Strip. I think it goes about every 30-45 minutes. On the strip it drops you off at the High Roller, which is the big ferris wheel mentioned by others, and is about a block from the strip. There is a free tram that runs between Bellagio and Aria. It has a stop at the Crystal Shops in between. The monorail is on the second level. To access it in the Bellagio you need to walk down the hallway past the Conservatory and take the escalators upstairs. Follow the signs. It drops you off on the south end of Aria, near the hallway to the ParkMGM (old Monte Carlo). The walk on the streets between Bellagio and Aria is a huge pain so if you are trying to get down to the area by T-Mobile Arena from somewhere around Bellagio or Caesar's Palace, that's a real nice shortcut. There is a similar free tram that runs from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay, with a stop at Luxor. There is a new park area around ParkMGM, New York New York and T-Mobile Arena. Some decent beer locations around that park, and a fun place to hang out during a Knights game. There is a monorail that runs from MGM all the way down to the Westgate. It has a number of stops along the casinos on the east side of the strip, including one not far from the aforementioned Hash House A Go Go. The monorail requires a ticket, but they're not terribly expensive. If you have more than one in your group a taxi or Uber may be a cheaper alternative, but for just one or two people it's a good option. If you can, don't miss a chance to hang out for awhile in a big Las Vegas sports book during an NFL Sunday. If you want a chair, get there early. NFL games start at 10 a.m. Vegas time, and in many places you may need to be down there by 7 a.m. or so. If you are sports betting, you can get free drink tickets depending upon your bets. Most places will give you one free drink ticket for each $100 bet, so if you are betting less than $100 per bet, try to wait and place all of your bets at the same time. A tip of $5/10 to the sports window guy will occasionally get you a few more drink tickets for your bets. Never pay for alcohol in Las Vegas if you can avoid it. If you're playing table games you'll drink for free. Order a drink right before you are about to leave. You can carry alcohol with you everywhere in Las Vegas. If you need a beer, pull up a seat at bar in Las Vegas with video poker in the bar itself. Slide a $20 into the machine, then play the minimum (25 cents) slowly as you wait for your beer. Cash out at any time. If you're lucky, you might even end up if your first hand or two are winners. Worst case scenario you maybe paid 50 cents. Be sure to tip the bartender. They know what you are doing, but they don't care. They only care that the follow casino rules, and whether you tip them. Get a players card from the casino(s) where you are staying or spending the most time. It comes in handy in strange ways. For instance, if you go to the food court or the convenience store to get a snack, a bottle of soda or something else, just showing the card will get you a decent discount on items that are grossly overpriced.

I think there will be quite a few tickets that come up for sale. Champions club members have been given the chance to buy additional tickets, and we picked up six more to go with the six we had. If I were the people on StubHub, I'd be looking to score about $200/ticket for mine, and be happy I got it.

I tried to get my wife to wear that mask in the car as we were driving home last night. Alas, no luck.

So, an update on my auction purhase I referenced in a post a few days ago. I stopped by the Bradley Center yesterday to collect my "Auction Lot," which included the UND jersey. With respect to the jersey, it is one definitely signed by the 1996-97 team. Aaron Schweitzer, Dane Litke and Mark Pivetz all signed, and that was the only year they played together at UND. I did not see any coaches signatures. All of the signatures are on the front of the jersey, which will make it nice for framing. There are 22 player signatures, so I assume it was just signed by the players who were listed as eligible to play in that Frozen Four, although that's just a guess on my part. It's a size 52 Gemini home jersey. It has the number 9 on it, but no name. It was also packaged with a souvenir program and souvenir puck from that Frozen Four, which further supports my assumption about the jersey. I was hoping someone there could shed some light on the background of the jersey, but no. After I took a look at the jersey, puck and program, I started digging through the large boxes of stuff that I bought without having any idea what was in there. As my wife and I started pulling things out of the boxes, we couldn't stop from laughing at the crazy assortment. A brief list of the items I received for my $180 (other than the hockey jersey and Frozen Four stuff) includes: An authentic Bucks basketball jersey with Taylor Swift's name on the back and autographed by her on the front. An authentic Bucks basketball jersey with Bon Jovi on the back. I've yet to find any autograph. Five Milwaukee Wave soccer jerseys, one signed by what appears to be the entire team. I'll confess that before yesterday I literally had no idea who the Milwaukee Wave were. One pair of Nike soccer goalkeeper gloves. Two brand new canvas Milwaukee Buck carry bags (which came in handy for hauling all my stuff to the car). Two autographed "Raw is War" t-shirts from the August 16, 1999, Monday Night Raw event. Each t-shirt probably has twenty autographs on it. Not a huge wrestling fan, so I'm going to have to do some digging to figure out who signed those shirts. I can only assume most of those people are dead, being wrestlers. A crapload of signed glossy pictures, and one signed t-shirt from a bunch of professional figure skaters. A handful of brand new NCAA basketball t-shirts and sweatshirts (tags all still attached) from the 1999 March Madness first round games played there. I'll actually be wearing those shirts. A heavy duty rubber Gene Simmons KISS mask, that candidly, is spectacular. Honestly, it was hilarious pulling that stuff out of the boxes.

The names and numbers that I seemed able to confirm from the photos and the rosters that I have include: Jeff Ulmer 19, Mark Pivetz 3, Toby Kvalevog 35, Jason Ulmer 9, Curtis Murphy 2, Joe Blake 28 and Ian Kallay 10. Obviously the numbers are easy to see, and all of them on there were in fact being used in 1996-97, so that gave me a little confidence.

So I did something that I don't typically do, which is to buy something without actually having a chance to inspect it. I got wind of an auction being held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI, in which the Bradley Center is disposing of a lot of memorabilia collected there over the years, before they demolish the building. One of the items listed in the auction was a UND hockey jersey with a bunch of autographs on it. It seemed pretty apparent to me the auction company didn't really investigate to discover what they have, and honestly I'm not 100% certain about what they have (and that I bought). But with the limited photos available, and knowing that in 1997 we won the championship at the Bradley Center, it appears that it might be a jersey autographed by that team. Here is a link to the auction photos. I should know more tomorrow when I pick it up, but I'm curious to see what it looks like. Might be $180 down the drain. https://bid.greatlakesauction.net/view-auctions/catalog/id/18474/lot/2602900?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F18474%3Fpage%3D8

I'm not "angsty" at all, either about the state of the program or how this season played out. I think the program is in great shape. As I watched the first half of the season unfold, it never really looked to me like this team was going to be a contender for a title, either in league play or on a national level. They could be hard to play against, but I certainly didn't consider them to be an elite college hockey team. But even so, I thoroughly enjoyed the season and another great conference tournament weekend. I just find the comments of a few posters on this board to be a bit

I’ll go wherever I please. I find it amusing that the posters complaining most about missing the tourney are the same ones who 3-4 years ago would post in the “Fire Hak” threads that they’d gladly suffer missing the tourney if it only meant that we’d win a title. Seems to me you got your wish.

I bet SCSU’s Olympic rink vs non-Olympic rink splits might be interesting. A good team in space.

So, it’s “fightingsioux4life, or until they don’t make the tourney?”