UNDHockeyUSA

Any information on the new M11 helmet? I guess they advertise this helmet as being the safest one on the market. When I inquired about it, they told me the best deal is the Bauer helmets. The M11 is also about $130-$140 dollars. Money well spent if this helmet can reduce concussions. The reason I'm asking is my son will start checking soon, so I want to make sure I buys a good helmet. Thanks for your help.

No argument! I said it was a dream. Lets face the facts. You can look at both Minnesota's basketball and football rosters. They do average more than 2-3 players on those two teams each and every year. North Dakota hockey is what it is. We have to recruit Canadians and Minnesota players to compete simple and easy. Minnesota has 5 players from Minnesota for men's basketball Minnesota had close to 30 players on the football team from Minnesota UND has 2 players from NoDak on their hockey team UND has 6 players from Minnesota on their hockey team There are more kids from Minnesota playing football for UND than kids from NoDak. Like I said. I have a dream that some day we can recruit enought talent from NoDak to compete. Enough importing players and recruiting in Minnesota. No argument, just a dream.

Question: I'm in the market to purchase a new helmet for my 10 year old son. What is the safest hockey helmet on the market?

If Minnesota wants to buy out Lucia, how does sit not have enough money? Believe me, Minnesota has plenty of money to make the deal. Let's not forget that Lucia has been struggling for many years. It's not like it just started this year. Not to mention his coaching ability is being questioned. Let me ask? Since some of you rank coaches on championships. What do you think of Hakstol's job at UND? 2010-2011 season: Head coach: Blais Assistant coach: Tom Ward Assistant coach: Oseike (sp) My only question. It's no secret UND relies on both Canada and Minnesota for recruiting. Minnesota relies on Minnesota for recruiting. Will Blais have the freedom to recruit in O'Canada? I have a dream! Someday North Dakota actually has more than 50% of NoDak players on their roster. I don't know about you, but only averaging 2-3 players each year is not acceptable. And it's kind of embarrassing over the years. Before anyone attacks my comments, it's the truth. I hear this from my Minnesota buddies all the time.

Interesting blog. We'll have to see which birdies are correct. From what I hear Lucia is out because of medical reasons, and Blais will take over at Minnesota bringing along some impressive assistant coaches. Should be interesting! From what I hear Minnesota has plenty of money to spend for their hockey program. I'm positive "State of Hockey" will be brining in the best candidate available.

Well said! Now lets get our team winning again. When will all the players be back? It's time to make our end of season run to the frozen four. Time for Sioux Nation to step up and take control of the WCHA.

We'll see what happens? You have to admit that Blais to Minnesota would be a good story even for a UND fan. Time will tell. If it happens just remember who brought it to you first.

I agree! So far just rumors. If you think of it, Minnesota, WCHA and Blais would all benefit. What other school would Blais want to coach at? Why not go home to coach? Can you imagine the talent he would have to work with? I also heard another rumor. There's another top name coach from an elite private hockey school that would be the assistant coach. Add in that Blais might go after some Canadian talent Minnesota would be lethal in years to come. I'm a huge UND fan, but I'm excited for Dean if he could go home and coach his team.

I was talking to some guys close to Minnesota hockey. They all said it's a done deal. Lucia is going to retire at the end of the year using health concerns as his excuse, and Blais is all set to be the next coach for Minnesota. If this happens it will be interesting to see if Minnesota will allow him to recruit players from outside the "State of hockey". No doubt UND (Blais) has done extensive recruiting in both Minnesota and Canada. I think this would be a win/win situation for both the WCHA and Minnesota, not to mention Blais would be going home to coach where he learned the game of hockey. With all this said. How long will UND fans stay patient with coach Hak if he doesn't win the big one soon? Is there a chance for UND to get Blais back before he goes home to Minnesota?

I have a question regarding both UND and Minnesota hockey programs. There's no denying when it comes to developing good hockey players Minnesota ranks up there with the best of them. I have a buddy that lives in Minnesota and we go back and forth all the time on which program is better and why. My argument is we have more championships at UND, and his argument is we have to import players to compete and win championships. He said he'd rather have a good team with all Minnesota kids versus bringing in kids from all over North America. Then I asked him if Minnesota fans are so devoted why can't they sell out Xcel at tourney time to support the Gophers? When it comes to numbers Minnesota has more people. This is his response please let know what you think.............................. He said that there's too many things to do in Minnesota with Wild, Timberwolves, Vikings, five DI hockey schools, skiing, ice fishing, ect......... Too many choices and people can only afford so much. Then he goes as far as saying Grand Forks is just like Green Bay in the fact there's nothing else to do in Grand Forks in the winter. Is this a valid response?