redwing77

Heh. In 1998, the union that represented the aircraft mechanics used union dues to buy the union CEO or President a brand new Learjet 60. How would you feel if your union, which is supposed to spend money representing you, is instead buying some big wig a $3 million (at least) private jet? Undoubtedly (though this wasn't furnished) they also paid for a flight crew. I don't remember what happened after that, but seriously.... There is a reason why Unions are the best and worst things to ever happen to blue collar workers.

I predict that more than one SS.com member agrees with Sodbuster.

I predict the first rumblings of "Fire Hakstol" will occur no later than week 4 of the season. I'm not talking about a thread, per se, but the first time Hakstol's future is drawn into question in any thread will be no later than week 4 of the season.

If that's your attitude, fine, but what about us UND alums who can't afford to donate money (regardless of the nickname or political bs that goes on) to UND? Should we leave the board? Are we abandoning the students? Look, if every alumni contributed to their alma mater on a regular basis, then the mission of the alumni association would change. Some people can't afford to give money. The alumni association's job (or one of them anyways) is to find people who can afford it and then get them to actually donate. I don't expect to be able to afford donating to UND. And some of us, even us diehards, have had problems while at UND too. I sympathize with Chewey and his beliefs regarding the Law School. I have a similar attitude of the Aviation Department, but this is while I was a student at UND. I also have one of the more extreme anti-Greek Life attitudes specifically pointed at UND. I'll be just as pissed when they change the nickname (not if... that boat has sailed). I just hope the process to change the name is run the right way (pipedream, but I'm optimistic).

I predict that my prediction (listed below) has a high probability of proving correct: I predict the Sioux will: 1. Have more than 2 wins in BOTH conference and non-conference games 2. Finish anywhere from 1st to 9th in the WCHA final season standings. 3. They will make, at least, the first round of the WCHA playoffs 4. skate a compliment of 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and a goaltender each game of the season Sink THAT prediction, I dare you!

Probably. I think a lot depends on the new Canadiens coaching staff, how well Kristo does his freshman year, and how well he does in international competition (as surely he'll be back on Team USA). Sica - I don't remember the last player who went from forward to defenseman, but I know of players of recent who played both positions. Scott Foyt and Lee Marvin come right to mind. However, they hardly had the same impact Miller did. I think Marto has platooned at Wing a time or two. Didn't Genoway originally start with UND as a forward? I know he was listed at SSM and at Salmon Arm as a Center/D but I definitely don't see Chay going back to forward. Especially as it seems as we could be going 15F 7D 3G next year (assuming Forney didn't count towards the original 14 cited above AND Forney comes back to UND). As for which of the forwards could move back to D.... I don't know. I love Davidson's size, but I am not sure on how defensively sound he is. He might not have the skating ability (something Miller definitely DID have). I'd be interested too in asking Hakstol, if he had to choose one current or incoming forward to move back to defense, which one would it be?

I didn't listen to the game nor any for that matter, but I did look at the rosters. Some random things jumped out at me: 1. SC is younger as a team than Alaska 2. Alaska has a player on it that is as old as I am! Kinda makes me wonder if there is a point where playing overseas is more lucrative than an 11 year career in the minors. I think it's pretty obvious that he'll never make the NHL, but what do I know. 3. This is just a hunch but... Sasha Pokaluk bolted from Cornell after his sophomore year (the same year that Washington began their attempts to woo Finley away as well) for the pros. Well, he's now a National Champion with the ECHL. My hunch tells me that Finley may end up spending a little time in the ECHL, but not as much as Pokaluk. 4. Alaska is full of former college players. SC has a few here and there. Couple players of note: Ryan Turek was released from Michigan State earlier this season (or just prior to it IIRC) for not developing the way Comley wanted him to develop. Former DU player who bolted for MJ TJ Fast is also on this team. Fast was a bit of a ? to me. I wonder if he'd've been in the ECHL if he had stayed with DU.

I think what is going to happen will hover between what Big A says and GeauxSioux (UPDATE: I guess what 82 just said). I don't think the Sioux apparel will disappear for a very long time. Especially by those who went to school during the time UND was known as the Fighting Sioux. But it will eventually fade. And most diehards will eventually crack and get something of the new nickname, especially if they go all out on it like we did with the last redesigning of the Sioux logo. A LOT depends upon what nickname we end up being.

Come Se Come Sa. Whatever. They're all the same to me.

Uh, you're surprised by the media circus? I'm not. Watch the NHL commercials between the time Crosby was drafted and today. How many times is a Red Wing player featured? Especially the past two years. Datsyuk? A few times he shows up. Zetterberg? Probably the most of any of the Wings. Malkin? A-yup. Crosby? I can't remember the last NHL commercial where he doesn't appear. When so much of the NHL PR machine is based in Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh is playing for the prize against a team that has been fairly dominant the past 10-15 years.... DUH media circus. You know what might be a good analogy PR wise (play wise maybe too)? Crosby is to the NHL as Kobe Bryant is to the NBA. Yeah. Kobe Jesus and Crosby Christ.

I think this season was the first for Fink in which he had appreciable playing time, IIRC. He had injury problems which contributed to it. I would hope Forney comes back and Fink uses his final year of USHL eligibility to play. I really know nothing about Fink, though. I know that he was a pretty good player in high school. I also know he's had really bad luck with injury while in the USHL. He has one year of eligibility left. That's the extent I know. I'd love to have Forney for the scoring depth. What little he played with UND he didn't get into much of a groove, but he did have flashes of brilliance. I saw some passes that rivalled Toews, VV, and Oshie in terms of slick. Of course, they were mere glimpses as he didn't get much playing time.

Well, 2005-6 were Prpich and Smaby's final year with UND. I'm 90% sure that Smaby was Captain his final year with UND.

The answer? 2003. Every home team won the best of 7 series with NJ winning Game 7. Here's the breakdown. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

I didn't know UIUC had an aerospace department.

I'm fairly certain that in 2005-2006 it went like this: Smaby - C Not at all sure of who the Assistant Captains are. They could be Prpich, Fabian, Stafford.... Zajac's last year was 2005-6, but I'm not sure he ever wore a letter.

How the Hell did we get to Brett Favre? Seriously! Does that buffoon have to invade every thread? Pretty soon, ESPN will cut to SS.com with its latest on Favre-watch 2009.

Personally, I feel this is a smart move on the part of both sides. Mattson gets a year of seasoning against tougher competition instead of just being thrown into the fire. Now, Mattson could probably do it, but I think he'll be even more hard to handle by Sioux opponents with a year of USHL under his belt than if he came this fall. This means that, once again, we go into 09/10 as a very balanced team, though we don't really have any top tier super recruits ala Oshie/Toews/Parise/etc. I am a strong proponent of balance over top heaviness.

I think there will be jeers. Gophers are Gophers. Remember, he was a Gopher before he was a Sioux. I like Blais, but I like Hakstol too.

Well, Detroit fans have to be happy with the effort put on by Detroit tonight... oh wait. 2 chances in the last 10 minutes of play for Detroit down two. 5-7 for Pittsburgh. Seriously? No desperation at all shown by Detroit. I understand the rules and realized McDreary could have given Pittsburgh a goal for Kronvall's hook, but what would have been the point? By that time, Detroit had already conceded the game. That's the one thing I've noticed that Detroit needs to start getting into gear for: Being down goals. Pittsburgh got desperate in Games 1 and 2 and, though they lost, they really put the heat on. Detroit lost the lead in Games 3 and 4 and still, for the most part, didn't play with any desperation. They took a few chances here and there, but they still skated lackadaisically. Folks, Game 5 is going to say a lot. I'll guarantee this: If Pittsburgh wins Game 5, there is NO WAY IN HADES DETROIT WINS THE CUP. Jim Dahl and all the Caps fans must be rolling in the aisles right now because Detroit is just as overconfident as the Caps were after Game 2 and now... well... we'll see. Detroit needs to start playing with desperation. And seriously, Cleary and Maltby have been nothing but disappointments for the most part. Especially Cleary. A complete non factor. I love the insertion of Draper into the lineup, but I think whoever sat for Draper needs to come in for Maltby or Cleary.

lots of typos there AZ. The NBA PLAYOFFS are a big deal, sure. But the regular season? Seriously? I admit they do have higher ratings than the NHL. It's not hard to. They are on channels that have more viewership like ABC, NBC, CBS, TNT, and ESPN. Hockey is relegated to Vs., NHL Network, and a few games on NBC in the finals. Put the NBA in a similar TV deal to the NHL's and see which has higher viewership.

So, your last question can be shortened to: If you work for and/or have attended UND (aka an alumni) you'll be in the alumni group? Good one! But everyone? No way. I don't want some schmoe NDSU grad working on a farm out in the boonies of ND having a say. I don't think NDSU would feel the same way if their nickname was to be changed having a UND alum getting a vote. This is a school issue that does not (regardless of what RHHiT claims) affect the academic side of the University. Ergo, it does not concern the taxpayers. As a public institution, of course, I would not be averse to having Grand Forks residents who aren't UND alums/staff/faculty/students submit ideas for a new nickname. However, they should not receive a vote nor should said nickname idea be given more weight than an idea furnished by someone affiliated with UND. But, no, state taxpayers (not UND affiliated) should be left out of this. Weighing importance of one group over another just produces more turmoil as well. Keep it in house. Students, staff, faculty, UND administration, and alumni/donors should have a voice. Everyone else can just sit back and watch.

Believe it or not, Versus offerred the NHL more money to have the NHL on their network. Probably offerred to carry more games on more days. Not hard because all Vs. has are basically fishing shows, WEC, and other meaningless shows... maybe some poker here and there. Vs. would be a nothing network without the NHL imo. With ESPN, the NHL ends up being almost a loser despite ESPN being a higher viewer network. ESPN is more dedicated to falling sports such as the NBA, drinking sports like NASCAR, and games/nonsports like poker to care about hockey. Like it or not, despite the fact that the average hockey game is 100x more exciting than 99% of all basketball games (100% of all regular season NBA games), ESPN has dedicated itself to the NBA. What needs to happen is that more cable companies either need to add NHL Network and have that network take over the NHL contract or pick up Vs. more. DaveK- With all due respect, your logic doesn't hold water regarding who started it. Malkin was standing up for Talbot? What was Zetterberg doing there, asking Talbot to dinner? No. Talbot spears Osgood. Osgood embellishes. Zetterberg steps in to stand up for Osgood. Malkin steps in to stand up for Talbot. There are three players that took it too far: 1. Talbot - The puck was in Osgood's possession. It serves Pittsburgh NO BENEFIT to do what Talbot did. I'll give it to Talbot that it wasn't a "true" spear. There was no windup. However, he used the tip of the blade of his stick to dig at the puck. A spear is when the tip or the blade of the stick is used to initiate a check or contact with another player. How severe should it have been looked at? I don't think it is a Major penalty, but it was a spear. I'd probably mislabel the penalty just to keep it out of being a major (unless you can get a spearing minor). Something like a high stick or a cross check minor. 2. Osgood - Everyone in the hockey universe knew that Talbot committed an illegal act. There was no need to embellish. Sad to see Hasek's influence sticking around. I'll give it to Osgood though. It took a stick to make him flop. Hasek will flop at the slightest breeze of a passing player. 3. Malkin - He instigated a fight, Dave. He dropped the gloves first. He used his stick to knock knock the back of Zetterberg's helmet. Of course Zetterberg is going to drop the gloves in return and start fighting. I'm impressed with Zetterberg holding his own...or maybe its how poorly Malkin fought. I don't know. It didn't seem like any of the hits from either of them were all that powerful. I think there have been cat fights more painful. In any case, he did so with less than a minute left in the game. He's lucky he's Malkin and not someone like Cooke. I don't believe the league would have been so nice if Cooke instigated on Zetterberg. Then again, maybe not. Bettman cares more towards protecting the New NHL's PR image (Crosby, like it or not, is a HUGE cog in the NHL PR machine and Malkin comes along with him) than the integrity of the rules HE HELPED CREATE.

Yup. RHHiT gets no vote. Only UND students, alumni, faculty and staff, and administration with the final approval going through the State Politboro I mean State Board of Higher Edimication. Every vote counts as "1" with the clear and simple majority getting the nod.

I bet Harrington will play. After all, CIAU hockey eligibility is 5+ years. Their current roster has a player in his 5th season with the NAIT team (their mascot is... the Ooks! BEWARE THE OOKS!!!!! Seriously...how the alumni can be proud of that I dunno).

nodak- I don't think Malkin or Zetterberg are responsible any longer for what happened. What happened at the end of Game 2 is what happens when the players lose faith in the officials holding up the rule book. They feel that they don't have the officiating crew backing the game up rules-wise so vigilante justice starts to ensue. Now, add into the fact that Talbot used the tip of his stick blade to push Osgood backwards (what could be defined as a spearing motion without the windup) and the fact that, no matter which team it is, skaters are going to stick up for their goaltender who is making a save/made a save and is freezing the puck and you've got what happened. Red Wing players knew that Talbot's actions weren't going to get called. The officials have let everything for the most part go. Plus it was at the end of the game. Osgood then proceeded to dive, Zetterberg and one other player jumped into the scrum, and Malkin then entered to stand up for Talbot. That and the fact that Zetterberg had been a thorn in the side of Malkin (legally but still) all series long. AND the way Pittsburgh has played at times, frustration has to be high. If any fingers are going to be pointed, again, I'd point them at Bettman and the officials. They're ultimately responsible for how the game is called.