Smoggy

I thought Bina looked very good at bringing up the puck last weekend. One of the only ways to beat the trap is to have a D man rush the puck. I want to puke every time I see one of sticks go in the air for a slap shot and we hold it, hold it, then shoot it. Into the shin pads of some forward. Get some traffic and take a wrist shot. Let a guy like Stafford get a deflection. Getting back the scoring depth is a must. CRASH THE NET. I think the other lines try to get to pretty like the Money Line. Just put the puck on net and get a rebound. I've also noticed lately, that we dump and then change lines. One guy skates in while the other two change. It just seems like whenever we hit the offensive zone we are going on a line change.

I like mesh way more. Speaking of which, I bought one of the USA jerseys at the Ralph when I was home. I've worn it a few times out here and lots of people ask where they can get one. I also get lots of good comments on my Sioux jersey.

I had also heard that Nike "screwed up" the first order, and they went back to Gemini for that first season in the Ralph. It's the first that I've heard that Gemini still makes the jerseys. At least we can be thankful that we didn't get the same ugly design as every other "Nike " school in hockey. The low V neck that the Gophers and BC had a couple of years ago. Then the ugly matching gloves that had a different color running down the middle.

John Jacob Jingle Hiemer (sp) Schmidt is always a favorite! YaneA, I believe you said that Hennon goes to fast through the visitors. If these new cheers are to happen and the students meet with the REA, it might be something to bring up. Waiting an extra 10 seconds to the 15 minute intro process won't hurt anyone.

Did I miss something here? Doesn't every team finish the game with a goalie? I'm guessing you meant without a goalie?

In the NHL they'll call the hook only if a player dives. So then they have to call the dive. Players shouldn't have to resort to taking dives for infractions to be noticed by officials.

I love it. The cheerleaders could lead using signs.

I don't get the increase in the blue lines. So what, a whole extra foot or two. Just get rid of the two line pass. You know Illya Kovalchuk would cherry pick, and if it's icing, so what? He'll still get to the puck first and icing will be waved off. I love the allowing a goal to count if the net is bumped rule. It is so rare that bumping the post affects a goal. This is bball where their is only a few inches of room to work with. They'll never call the break away/penalty shot. They don't even call it now unless you are already withing a couple feet of the goaltender.

Why did we quit with Gemini? I thought it was owned/run by a UND alum. I'm guessing Nike gave us money. Does anyone know how much?

After reading your gibberish, now I'm becoming dumber. No one cares about winter sports? I care about hockey. Oops. Your statement was just debunked. Plus, I can name many "summer" sports that I don't care about. Like wrestling. And ballroom dancing. And synchronized swimming. And...it goes on and on.

I think the point of this discussion is that it doesn't make sense playing in the hockey arena. Yes it's built, and that is why we should play there until the ticket demand is above the Betty.

I'm not sure on Minnie, but the Big Ten can't have the rule. U of Illinois has a Native American nickname in The Illini (sp). I do know that Wisconsin has a rule that they can't play schools with Native American nicknames outside of their conference. Which is why I always root for Wisco fb in the hopes that they meet Florida St. in a major bowl and have to turn away the money. PFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTT!!!!! Like they'd turn down over 10 mill.

Only 'Death Sentence' the NCAA has ever handed out and they'll never do it again. It destroyed SMU. They haven't recovered yet and never will.

Is the desert sun getting to ya?

Imagine the seeding implications that could come out of that game. Now if a team were to rest the big guns and a lower seed won...oofdah would there be some griping in the world of college hockey. This would also make a mockery of the Final Five. But hey, I've been wanting the Gophers to play all three games and if I were in Lucia's shoes, I'd sit them as long as it didn't hurt my seed.

That is why I mentioned the RUMOR that was circulating for a while about Ralph BUYING the FF. Basically he would've covered lost revenue on seating was how it went. UMDDogz: I thought about that west to east ratio after I wrote that. Whoever mentioned Omaha: I'm sure the NCAA doesn't do it this way, but shouldn't Omaha have to bid on the Midwest regional? I kind of thought that these bids rotated between teams in a conference. Especially since they worry so much about placing teams close to their fans. Of course, now their are six conferences and four regionals.

The stoppages wreck so many other sports. I normally watch the Vikes for the first quater and then do something else. They are either already losing or I get bored. Hockey isn't the easiest to watch on TV, but at least there is always action. Unless you are stuck watching a 55 minute ice repair job. College sports are by far the funnest to watch. The crowd and you never know who'll win.

Surprised you didn't try to outbid Palmoscino.

Make it funny and the people will follow.

I think we tried that for a weekend back in the old Ralph. I never had to play in the new Ralph. I was just reading Sports Illustrated's piece on the state of Michigan from Feb. 9, 2004 (the Tom Brady cover). The article talks about the Michigan/Michigan St. hockey rivalry. This is the first paragraph: "There are certain things a University of Michigan student might be expected to memorize in his years in Ann Arbor: an e.e. cummings poem, a mathematical formula or two, a few economic principles and the cheer that serenaded Michigan State defenseman Jared Nightingale at Yost Ice Arena in the first period of a game last Valentine's Day. As Nightingale stepped into the penalty box, the student sections on the opposite side of the rink roared - as they regularly do - 'See ya? Chump, d--k, wuss, d-----bag, a--hole, p--ck, cheater, b--ch, whore, c------ker.' While embarrassingly profane, the chant was easier on the ears than the 2 1/2 hours of abuse directed at Spartans goalie Matt Migliaccio, who, Michigan fan sentiment notwithstanding, was neither a sieve nor ugly." The letters dashed out was how it appeared in SI. Personally, I don't want UND being known in this way. I don't know what makes people look worse; this Michigan article or ND's drinking while you curl article. This is also a reason why so many people hate the U of Michigan.

Whoever FECHIK is dropped some serious coinage. Was probably going for every jersey.

Beer Gardens?

I don't see hockey practicing in the Olympic unless they need too for an upcoming series. Remember that their are a lot of other teams that use the ice sheets. I'm sure bball will always practice at the Betty. What doesn't make any sense is adding seats to the Betty. Vball will never draw 4000 and now bball is hardly using it. I think we can look to those luxury box owners on this one.

With this opener for UND (although exhibition), I wonder if the NDSU women will be able to play a top ten DI team.

Looking back at the NCAA's it's so strange how often a WCHA team gets sent East, but you rarely see an East team come West/Midwest. I think New Hampshire should be sent west and Miami East. Inch has to be almost thinking that Minnesota will get the comparison on UND, because Minn would get Bemidji St. while UND would have Ohio St. who could be the toughest 4 seed unless Brown's goalie plays out of his mind. Not to mention that UND would be at Michigan (practically home) and Denver doesn't have the biggest fan following. I realize this is all speculation, but it is fun to see what could happen.