Brett0909

Agree, mine spun for a good 45 minutes but was just now able to get good tix, still lots available!

Any word on the street if this is expected to impact any specific recruits commitments? With the seeming end to the gentleman's agreement, I'm sure coaches across the country are busy. It's obviously late in the game (unfortunate for both schools and recruits) but I have to imagine some high-end kids had specifically chosen BU and DU because they had NHL-caliber head coaches. I'm going to optimistically read way more than is warranted into UND not announcing final 2018 roster yet and just assume we have a late first rounder addition coming to UND to ease all of our concerns about reloading some finishers onto this team..

In fairness, I don’t recall offhand what the other bids were but it sounds like other venues aren’t interested in hosting in the “west”? So SCSU may have had to go out east anyway if UND didn’t win this regional. Don’t like the outcome, then bid to host. If you don’t, you’re stuck with the results no matter who you are, at least it’s 100% objectively laid out.

I’m definitely having issues with the nchc.tv feed tonight, it’s borderline unwatchable on my end. Worst it’s been all year by a long shot but I’m using the embedded casting option. Probably been frozen 20-30% of the game. Glad it’s working for some of y’all.

Definitely wish I had the video editing capability to put together a "highlights" of UMD from this game. Dirty hits, diving, and soap-opera worthy drama, oh my! Duluth fans can try to argue one or two of the videos away but if you captured all of it through the game, the trend is laughable and why Sandy is getting so much flack. There's no way a senior heavy team acts like that top to bottom without coaches not only allowing it for years but at least subtly condoning if not flat out endorsing. I finished the game equally frustrated for UND and deeply embarrassed for UMD fans and thankful we'll never have to be on the wrong side of a tainted win like that. Makes you wonder if that crap is why UMD has very few "good fans". They figure it out and don't stay fans for long. That said, can't wait to see us get the chance for payback in Fargo!!

Hey all - I have two tickets to both nights games (Fri: Sec 204 Row 7 Seat 15/16 & Sat: Sec 204 Row 7 Seat 1/2). My wife had an uncle pass away up north so we won't be able to make it (second year running, last year was ACL surgery...starting to think the SCSU trip is bad luck). Looking for $25 ($35 face value). Please PM or text me at 701.610.6735 if interested. I can dropoff the physical tickets if you're in the Forks area or get you the reprint/scan tickets from SCSU if you live elsewhere. Unfortunately SCSU is in the stone age so I can't just relist them on ticketmaster.

Try here? http://www.btn2go.com/michigan-state/home I had the same thing when navigating...

Tough time for me and the Mrs. to to travel (work) and I agree it should be played at the Ralph, but since we hope to make the trip out there, I won't complain too much. NYC is on her bucket list anyway, so this could be win-win. And I agree - hope Tyson Jost, Fabbro and others are taking note -- in case getting a chance to play for UND at the Ralph regularly and getting ready for the pro's isn't enough, playing in a spotlight game in Madison Square Garden certainly can't hurt when they think about the overall experience UND can offer these young kids.

Once can dream, right?! Everything I've seen/heard indicates Jost and Fabbro are playing out their next/senior/draft season's in Penticton, though. Not sure if there's any chance of that changing for NCAA route, although they shared one of them (Jost?) did accelerate and would be eligible. Thanks to those for linking the TPS audio -- definitely hopeful on Jost and indications seem good that Fabbro is at least considering us strongly. Also thought it was interesting to hear Jost talk about a big benefit of DU was the offensive creativity encouraged of the forwards and less energy needing to be expended on defense -- guess it's more than just UND fans that may see UND's offense as sometimes lacking creativity and being heavy on defensive structure? Personally, I'm over Matthews at this point. I know the int'l visa eligibility may put NCAA back in the picture, but just don't care to follow the drama of it. Of course, if he landed here, I'd be ecstatic and completely get over the 'we don't really need/want him anyway' attitude.

Assume you're referring to Luke Bast who got drafted by Victoria in the 6th round... vs. Gabe Bast who's a UND commit?

I guess I like Chelsea Dagger. (Light em Up) would be fine if we had to change but I definitely don't prefer it. Maybe in a few more years I'll start getting bored with it and want something else. Originality aspect doesn't bother me - especially since we're just talking about jacking some other song with no traditional or other ties to UND hockey as a replacement. It's not like Fallout Boys oozes deeper meaning to me as a Sioux fan. Besides, plenty of people drive the same car, listen to the same music, etc. as me and I don't go around hating them and knitting my own underoo's on principle. (yes, just joking, I get why some people are bothered by it).

Expected 2014 freshman forwards (not counting any pegged as 14' or 15'): Olson Poganski Wilkie Gropp Schmaltz Voltin/Rowe (both were originally expected this year, although their development looks to have been a bit slower) Total 7. Expected departures: 2 (Seniors Rodwell and Mitch Mac). Even if you exclude Voltin and Rowe because I haven't heard much about their plans, and plan for 1 decommit (let's hope not) -- you still have 4 inbound and 2 spots. Unless the scholarships pulled this year will carry-over and allow some addt'l roster spots, you still need either further decommits, transfers, pro signings, or to postpone some high-end players a year. Not ideal in any scenario, but it seems to happen every year so I suppose it makes sense to over-recruit, especially for a player like Gropp. Also, doesn't appear to be any room at D to absorb overflow, either. But these things seem to work themselves out. I just hope it doesn't end up burning any recruits or existing players, even if tough decisions need to be made. Just being greedy, but I want to see all of them in green and white!

Excellent get and an exciting class of talented recruits for the next 2 years. But where do all of these guys fit? Even tentatively moving back a couple to the 2015 incoming class, not accounting for Voltin, Rowe, etc., there seems to be a huge logjam at forward with us only losing two seniors after this year. I know you 'make space' for a kid like Gropp, but the numbers just don't add up, especially when they're all high-end guys who aren't going to delay their development by sitting in juniors for extra years. And you definitely can't replace a walk-on with a scholarship player in terms of some folks who aren't seeing the ice much. I'm sure Hak & Co. know what they're doing here, but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Hopefully it's not an indicator of a mass-exodus expected (Grimaldi, MacMillan, Parks, etc.) as they just don't seem ready, or of several of these high-end recruits not making it to campus. Would also hate to see some of these kids pushed back and need to come in late or de-commit, or great role-players working their tails off have their scholarship's reduced and/or transfer. Maybe it's like Lebron, Wayde, etc. and they all decided to take reduced offers to put together an elite team. Anyway, incredibly exciting to be landing these kids and can't wait to see them, however this all turns out.

Good 2012-13 BCHL Highlight video for Adam Tambellini. Looking forward to seeing this kid play this fall...(and hoping I'm dropping this link in correctly) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muRjdVF-Aak

Regardless of the discussion about choosing to drink and/or get caught due to the legalities, it's disappointing to me to see where these kids priorities are. Yeah, sure - kids are going to have fun and party in college. But these players are in a program that's working to develop elite hockey players and most have aspirations of the NHL. The fact that they're not only damaging their development by consistently drinking and facing administrative penalties is not a great choice, but I'm more worried about the impact of this 'party culture' on their performance. Seeing players like Kristo in town regularly drinking on game weeks, etc. really makes you wonder what they'd be capable of if they buckled down. Alcohol has been proven time and time again to hamper physical development and performance. The fact that they can't pick their time and place, and have to drink and make other bad choices year-round, is an awfully good way to limit whatever natural-born talent and potential they have. Their choice, but still disappointing. Some players can be really good *despite* drinking, but it's certainly not doing anyone any favors. Through my years in the gym and hundreds of cases to observe, there's no arguing that there's a big difference in physical performance between those who were regimented, ate right, and limited their vices and those who worked hard in the gym but were consistently out partying. Rocco's a great example of a guy who makes the right decisions and outperforms everyone else around him despite possibly not having been born with as many tools. Imagine how even Kristo could have stepped up his game if he'd been committed and leaned-out, gotten stronger, and still had his natural talents. And what Frattin was physically capable of only after he started making the right decisions for his body and attitude. We need players like Chyzyk, Gothberg, etc. to step it up this year, not regress.

No expert here, but throwing out a theory...Chances this variance here is due to factor of the REA (ads, concessions, etc.) being privately owned by the Engelstads and not factored into UND's profits -- ie. just ticket sales, or possibly even just a portion of ticket sales (excluding the 'donation' we all make) go to the school and possibly other factors like any online revenue, and tv deal -- vs. Stars being franchised where all marketing, concessions, seats, donations, etc. are paid to the same entity? Unless I'm off here, comparing net profit seems like it's potentially comparing apples to oranges, beyond just the reporting differences for how and what the allocations are when divvied up by UND if you assume that the Engelstad's are taking a good chunk of the profits. All things being equal, the brand, facilities and overall sales would *seem* to be grossly in favor of UND hockey over the Stars who draw significantly less than UNO as a basis for comparison. Again, no expert, but my assumption's always been that Ralph not only made an incredible gift to UND, but also a pretty sound business decision that his family's likely already recouped the investment cost on through having a steady 11-12k visitors every other weekend during hockey season. Those beers ain't cheap, after all, and it's the most visited tourist attraction by a wide margin in the entire state.

A little surprised to see Luke Voltin make this list. He obviously has some skills/upside to have been chosen for the NTDP but his stats certainly don't jump out at you - looks like he's 9th on his own team in scoring (14 pts in 31 games), and with only 2 goals. Obviously they saw something that the stat sheet doesn't show you, which is really an encouraging sign that he could have a larger impact here than I originally gave him credit for. Makes me wonder what kind of a role he's filling in Des Moines...

My opinion: The goal likely shouldn't have counted, but hey - they called it a goal on the ice, and so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't see anything that by-the-books would overturn that. I personally don't buy into the conspiracy's that the goal counted because the refs personally wanted it to count - if anything, they just made the wrong call (not THAT surprising, really). I do disagree on one thing though - the impact of that goal. I watched the game and if you look at the bench when that goal was counted and the way the Gophers played after, I think it's 50/50 on whether it A) made no difference at all or B) completely changed the complexion of the game. BC didn't get drastically outplayed, especially up to that point - it was anyone's game. Had that not counted, the Gophers feel crushed instead of elated, who knows - BC might pop in the next goal and rewrite history. Had it been the 8th goal -- sure, no big deal, the rout was already on. But the mental importance to both teams of the Gophers getting that lead, at home, getting the crowd into it, etc. can't be understated in my book. One of the reasons that BC wins so many close and come-from-behind games, in my mind, is because every other team and fanbase out there KNOWS they can and have a healthy dose of respect/fear. That kind of reputation helps them, and I don't think it was until the goals started coming that everyone started buying into the fact that BC could actually lose. Maybe the Gophers win either way -- but then again, maybe they don't.

Didn't get a chance to see the game, but according to WIKI, Wade Murphy made the All Star/Tournament team following his team's 6-3 loss to USA, for gold. After his break for the World Junior A (and a 2 game suspension) he's still tied for 2nd in BCHL scoring race, 2 points behind 1st with 6 less games played. Starting to realize just how big of a pickup this guy was for UND -- hard to believe he went undrafted in his first year of eligibility with his dominance in both the BCHL and international competition (compare to Luke Johnson whose got a great skillset and had a solid, but quieter, tourney but is predicted to go as high as 1st round). Excited to see both of them play next year.

Thanks Jayson - really appreciate the responsiveness on chasing this feedback and your post here. I wasn't personally impacted by the changes, but there definitely appears to be lots to look forward to (HD, aggressively chasing improvement opp's, quality improvements, etc.). Good to know that you and the Midco team have a strong relationship and are both interested in continuing to improve the experience.Excited to see what comes next, but mostly just excited to get into hockey season!!

Almost positive I heard earlier this year that the Ralph made a change to counting tickets sold instead of actual attendance, stating it was more in-line with what most other venues were doing. Believe they said at that time that prior to this year they counted only actual attendance.

Wowza. Hate to start calling the kid's character out when it may partially be bad blood from the de-commitment, but I've never seen a trend of this kind of malicious/intent to injures racked up by a player over a relatively short time. Spearing between the legs more than once? Yikes! Definitely eases the loss of having him not play here. Have to wonder what kind of a teammate he'd be when the ref's saw a hit on a potential future teammate of his as an obvious intent to injure (St. Clair). He seemed like a huge loss when he de-committed (not unexpectedly) but I guess maybe these things work out. Will be interesting to see if NHL teams de-value him a bit based on overall character question marks and obvious lack of discipline - starting to sound like a bit of a loose cannon out there.

I hope so - and unlike MN, I'll be just fine with us playing away games in Bemidji where I'll see hundreds or even thousands of other UND fans who are also willing to 'sacrifice' by not only watching home games - the last two years have been a great experience down there.

Laughable is right, but what I find laughable is the 'We had no choice!' response from uMN with more accusations being thrown at UND. This whole victim mentality gets under my skin when at the same time most uMN fans, and certainly the administration, are excited at the longterm gains and exposure it will bring them. You can claim that their hand was forced, and to an extent that's true, but you'll still reap the benefits and UND's hand was just as forced given the option of staying and not moving the program forward. It's no secret that UND's supported these younger and less-notarized schools and I'm confident they still will, but not to the extent of not being able to move forward with their own program because we're responsible for them. Faison would have been irresponsible to have just stood by and watched (McLeod didn't exactly get much love for his wait and hope/see approach, after all). I'll lend any form of credence to that position once you can convince me or any other reasonable person (outside of uMN fans and maybe the subset of WCHA schools' fans who feel jilted) that if roles were reversed and several of the upper-tier schools were leaving uMN in a depleted WCHA, with all of the other financial, officiating, and voting concerns that brings, that uMN would have even considered staying for a second when it's clear to anyone who can look at the big-picture that it would have risked relegating them to becoming a less 'elite' program unable to keep up with the other top-programs, while lowering revenues by filling a schedule with mankato, anchorage, bemidji, etc. (this from the team that strongly prefers a strong at-home non-conference schedule to boost coffers). Those schools are great and I enjoy seeing them, but the same pride we took in the WCHA's lineup being the strongest in the country doesn't transmit to what would have been left. Elitism goes both ways. UND fans didn't wish for breaking rivaly and traditions, and most of us would love to continue supporting schools like Bemidji (great place, great people, have enjoyed the games there and supported the town over the weekend every chance I've had). But personally, not at the expsense of burying my head in the sand about what it likely would have meant to the longterm success of the program which we take just as much pride in as the Gopher fans do. I hope to see them in non-conference and wish them the best. But I wouldn't feel personally responsible for them any more than the Gophers should. Of course, whether the NCHC will deliver on their grandiose expectations is still an issue, but I won't go there...

Have to say, I think it's interesting between MN and UND's approach to the aftermath of the weekend and how it's perceived by the public. Hakstol and staff send a strong message in a very public way for a skirmish (no player-danger at all) by revoking Blood's 'A' and subjecting him to further disciplinary action -- a skirmish we all know didn't occur without provocation, albeit it was still in poor taste. They also likely strongly suggest that Kristo apologize (I don't think he took this action on his own). And in most peoples eyes, owning up to and addressing these issues after a frustrating weekend are just proof that UND's a 'Goon' team - especially to most Gopher fans. The Gophers on the other hand take several dangerous runs in an attempt to be a 'physical team', some which were called and others that werent, leading to at least two injuries in what could easily have been more - and their approach is complete avoidance to the issue while redirecting to UNDs behavior. No admittance of wrong, apologies, or owning up to the illegal hits and chirping all weekend. Both teams made mistakes, the Gophers definitely aren't above reproof, yet to most reading the articles now and certainly to most Gopher fans, what's seen and what will be remembered is the 'proof' of UNDs fault being admitted by Kristo's apology and Blood's loss of the 'A'. Whereas the team and fans that refuse to admit their team was just as 'in the wrong' won't even be remembered except to UND fans, who we've already established are just being homers because UND was at fault. Guess that's rivalries for you. Glad to see Hak working to instill the right culture of ownership and class in his team, and sending a strong message here - even if other teams don't follow the same principles. Also hope they give Blood the chance to earn back the 'A' in his senior year - I'd like to think his being the backbone of this team in tough times early on and leadership through the rest of the year have earned him the chance to make up for one stupid, momentary choice.