Johnny Five

Bison fan (not sure why I gotta announce that just feel it necessary). As per the "rival" thing. SDSU is definitely the main football rival, and it's really not close. HOWEVER, all it takes is one game...one play...one win/loss. That doesn't mean it's not a rivalry, it is, just not quite to that level. A loss in the dome however...woof...watch out. Not sure I'd play 44 and run the risk of him being knocked out for the season. Obviously this is going to be a physical game. On the flip side, they lose and there's no bye week either. He's obviously been limited for quite a few weeks now...Obviously NDSU is going to attempt to pound the ball, even gramma sitting at home knitting hats knows that. If Cam Miller 1st half SDSU shows up, NDSU will be fine (minus the idiotic penalty that helped changed the game lesson learned). Let's see if Roehl can screw this up or not... Definitely concerned with NDSU D on this end, especially the run game. UND will get theirs that's for sure. I really feel like this is going to be a great game, with a great crowd, and UND should feel like they owe NDSU after last season (basically that game was handed to NDSU IMO although NDSU didn't start rolling until November last year). If UND wins...damn a rematch would be fire and one of the biggest sporting events in a loooong time in this state (not sure committee would do that). Big crowd, great atmosphere...good tailgate, beer in the dome. Sad I couldn't make it to this one. Enjoy.

The season has started. Boys this week. Girls next week. New team for boys last season, new for girls this season. Going to be interesting to see how the split state tourneys turn out, I kinda enjoyed the shared venue in fargo. In the capital city, construction has finally started on VF3, at least the dirt. Nice to have another sheet whenever it gets finished, but still 2 sheets short.

I guess I do find myself login in often.

Cunningham to VC? what’s the story there? didn’t listen to his show since I’m in Bismarck but always enjoyed his play by play of sports. His twitter was a little piss and vinegar however. my paywall works for in inform company. Don’t mind paying for that, it’s better value than the Bismarck tribune and it’s not even close.

I thought it was a CDL with a passenger endorsement but I could Be wrong.

So back to the issue which started this thread. If Robert steps up and wants to drive HS Spuds to their activities, he has to go through this class. So he's 3 weeks and $6K in the hole. I'm guessing the bussing companies or school are not going to front that cost either? Seems like quite the conundrum just to get the kids to a sporting event. Just a quick look around BisMan and they're hiring for school bus drivers nearly everywhere too.

WTF...3 weeks and $6K. Unbelievable.

Yeah sorry I didn't have all the details. Just what he said as he's trying to hire drivers. So imagine a school bussing company attempting to find new drivers.

A buddy owns a propane company and is looking for a driver. I asked him about it....he said one problem, rules were changed and in order to get a CDL you have to take a class which costs $4-$5K. Imagine how many bus trips that takes to pay back. So as the older generation quits driving bus, it is now more difficult (or ridiculously expensive anyway) to get the CDL in order to do so.

I know my nephew was in the gym this summer with some other KCC players - sometimes those small programs don't have the best "gym structure" like bigger schools. Not sure if Isaac was with them everyday as he's got about a half hour drive into Hallock from the farm. Yes...he has farm strength for sure. Some of his highlights are hilarious - my favorites are the QB sneaks where they pop of 6-8 8 yards behind him.) Once he gets into that strength and conditioning program it's going to be awesome to watch him develop.

My cousins son. I guess he didn't like sitting in my NDSU seats vs Drake hahaha. This season he is their center and he could play NG. Really good athlete....he's their kicker as well and also one of the fastest kids on the team if you can imagine that (have a nephew on the team who told me that). I'll enjoy following him at UND even though I root for the "wrong team"....I already do with kids like Kupfer and Schweigert there.

I think Bartz committed to St Thomas recently.

FN Spartan Bartz and the best girls player in ND allegedly headed to warroad for her SR season. If true…bartz and Kirkeby to warroad. One Bismarck player to SSM. The product continues to thin. northstar will continue to pillage boys hockey over the years too. That’s a great development program if post HS hockey is a kids plan.

Nobody will question Minot pulling this off. We all know they’ll hammer it. Nothing they can do about attendance and atmosphere, however. There will be much less crossover boys fans and casual fans. One school to pull from instead of 3 in the host site. it’s great they get their own spotlight, unfortunately it’s just the reality of where girls hockey is at in ND. Throw it up against WDA hoops which is a massive draw in the west….

Haha...I've heard stories about VF2 and how they pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. An absolute dumpster fire of a rink that should be used for nothing more than termites, mites, in house squirt games, practices and figure skating.

Except for perhaps a more viewer friendly setup in the 2nd rink.

I'm venturing to guess it'll be the ol' NFHS Network. This will be the worst attendance and atmosphere in years. And to "noiseinsidemyheads" point about the product...not happening. Some of the top players continue to head east, Bismarck splits, changes to fargo co-ops....it has been a diminishing product for the past few years that now is extremely watered down.

They hay in girls hockey is being made in HP camps and Tier 1 leagues (for those that want to pursue opportunities). Those girls who want other opportunities will pursue them. Do they have to leave? Not necessarily. For every Curl there are 4x more Maddie Brown's and Kennedy Blair's (Pomersberger even went away and come back) etc. It used to bother me when kids left, but in my old age I've come to understand that humans and sports are first and foremost selfish and people will do things and make decisions that are shocking and beyond our control. Gotta worry about our own lane these days. What drives me nuts is people saying this is growing the game. This is literally just splitting a team in half. And yes in 5-10 years it'll be much better and there will be competition for playing time. If we all want to grow the game it drives me nuts that there's not more 12 and 15u programs around the state. Cities with great hockey history like Minot and Grand Forks seem to struggle on the girls side. Hell I think Minot had 12 on their team last year? West Fargo didn't have 18? Grand Forks had like 15? But all the grief was sent towards Bismarck. The growth of the game needs to come from the base and it needs to come everywhere. Like I said, there may not be a team in the entire state that can field a full roster of 18 skaters and 2 goalies next year. That blows my mind. During the HS season, people complained that Legacy cleared out the depth in Bismarck. And it did yes and that the power will remain East for a long time. This is no different and probably even worse on the girls side. The East is in total control. Good conversation and I always appreciate your knowledge, passion and opinion. What's done is done. We can either choose to teach our daughters to bitch about it or tell them to buckle up and get to work. I know which option mine will chose and hopefully everyone hops on board. PS...I will be pulling for the Jimmies and looking forward to following them!

I understand the small town struggles, that's how I grew up with the game. There's a couple frustrations: 1. That it's now a participation sport. Girls at least used to have to earn playing time and the ability to make the roster. That is gone for the time being. Do that in any other sport in Bismarck and you're done. 2. A majority of Bismarck hockey (even the ultra competitive) finally got behind the need to split and 2023 was the perfect time to do so based on skaters, goaltenders and a new ice facility. Rushing it one year has the potential for disaster (some leaving town, quitting or what have you). The administration never formally announced how the Co-Op would be split, and the 2 goaltenders with experience for 2022 are at SMCHS and CHS (and the 3 in the pipeline are all SMCHS), leaving one side to scramble the next 6 months. Both Bismarck teams will be fighting and scraping to make the state tournament next season. It'll be new territory. And yes...you are correct. It is going to be OK. As I said above, every community has it's struggles, some just come in different forms. As I told some of the girls, if your aspirations are to play beyond HS (Jamestown, Minot, Concordia or beyond), maybe a coach will look at you different if you suck it up and become a leader in the face of an adverse situation, instead of tucking tail and heading to MN as an easy solution. First world problems..... What's sad in ND. I'll be curious to see how many teams of the 12 can actually field a full roster next season of 18 and 2. That's not a great look for the sport.

School board and Park board will never see eye to eye on that. School Board has kicked in zero dollars to the current arenas (think they're contributing some to the new band aid that's coming). As of right now, Bismarck is 3 sheets behind what they need. When Legacy was first built, there was space set aside for a ice arena and it never came to fruition. In addition, when COVID hit, there was a half cent sales tax proposed with a massive Minot like bowl and a second practice sheet in a community center, and the grey hairs smashed that down like a rotten watermelon about 70-30%. No matter how hard Bismarck tries, it'll never be a "hockey town." Football, hoops, wrestling, track, lawn darts, garage beers. That's why it was cool what the Blizzard had and that started with parents prioritizing girls hockey growth quite some time ago (and of course it helped to have the Olympic athlete come through or we probably wouldn't be having this discussion)....this'll set back the success but I guess if little debbie gets to throw on a Varsity jersey it can go on Facebook for everyone to see. Edit: regarding ice. In fact, one or 2 of the varsity hockey teams may be asked to practice during the school day next year. They'll get a PE credit! Hey screw algebra, chemistry, or english I have hockey practice! It's like being at Shattuck I recon.

I believe that was the COOP that will mostly even out the Skaters so it's not skewed so bad towards one or the other. Outsiders won't believe it but there is and was no easy way to do this in Fargo or Bismarck. In fact, Fargo had to redo there girls Co-Ops this season. And yes...I know...it's not easy to have to make 8th and 9th graders move up in the smaller communities either, I wish everyone could have the 12 and 15 u programs like the bigger communities do for proper development path. As for ice. No. There's not enough. There's another sheet coming in 2023 but that is another bandaid. Once the HS programs seasons are going, the Bismarck youth teams get about a 1:1 practice to game ratio (on a scale of November to end of February when HS season ends). The upper boys and girls teams maybe 2 on ice practices a week and pile the games on during the weekend. Regarding this split. 2022 is about the worst time possible in the past 10 years. There will be 2 teams with low numbers (12-13 or less depending on those who quit or move). One of the Co-Ops doesn't have a goalie. Yes I understand Jamestown did that this season, but that shouldn't be the norm, especially to start a new program. But if you start with 13 skaters and force one to be a goaltender, you're down to 12 skaters. Pulling a large volume of FR up would be OK but it would absolutely destroy the youth program and the trickle down would last for quite some time. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. Put it this way, trying out for the 12U team in Bismarck is now more stressful and difficult than trying out for a Varsity sport, which is now a participation sport. A girl can put her gear away in February, do literally nothing in the off-season, pick it up in November, and stand at center ice the entire first week of practice and the administration will force the coach to keep her on the team and she's automatically dressing because there's not 18. Good life lessons. The perfect storm in Bismarck was 2023. New arena (possibly depending on construction), large numbers in the SOPH class who were able to spend another year of development in the club, and a hopeful solution to Goaltending (main problem being 5 of the 5 goalies in the immediate pipeline are on the CHS/SMCHS side of the split and administration hasn't figured out how to split them properly). So there's some issues. And there's issues in every community. And too be honest, girls hockey in ND needs a serious look at it's future. The product is OK but not great. The state already loses high end talent (maddie brown, kennedy blair, and a pile from GF and Fargo etc), and this waters down the competition even more. Those that have D1 aspirations will be moving East more frequently. Not sure how to prevent that and that is certainly every families right, has happened in the boys side for years, and will now come up more often with girls. I expect West Fargo to be the new wagon in girls hockey and now both trophies will stay east for quite some time. Not here to flame or bitch about it. What's done is done and it's time to move on.

Good get for UND. Good kid, good family. Family has always been UND fans (parents law school) and a brother that goes to school there already...figured this was going to go Bubba's way. I will pull for that kid any day even though he isn't in Fargo. Best wishes to Lucas.

Been awhile...nice work on the atmosphere. Definitely affected the game. 2 great defenses getting after it, that was some smash mouth physical defense along with speed. How many times did I say "WTF was that call" on both sides during the game? Brutally called game by both OCs and no need to re-hash Bubba's call either. Look at the final stats...a complete toss up is what it was (meaning a play or 2 here and there like the INT or 4th downs) and 100% not sure what to expect from each team the rest of the way against the best of the MVFC. Good luck the rest of the way. Perhaps they will meet again.

Haven't been here for quite some time (covers head). Love my Gopher hockey and Bison football...WTF is a guy like me doing here? Taking the high road and telling y'all congrats on a special season and especially the 'ship. Been awhile and there isn't a more deserving program. Will be great to see the 2 going at it next year at Mariucci. Maybe my team can find a way to make a 3rd meeting happen in March/April. Congrats again, enjoy, and have a great off-season!

That did happen. SDSU came to the FargoDome a few weeks later for a playoff game I believe....and yes, the fan base was upset. I understand the venting by UND fans, I do. I cannot imagine anyone on either team is out to intentionally injure an opposing player. "Intent" is a rather nasty word to use. Back in the day did the SDSU lineman "intend" to injure Perry? Did 87 "intend" to injure him on the play? A few years ago did Frattin "intend" to put Wehrs into la la land in the corner? It is hard to play that card, no one knows what's going through a players head as he lines up for a play. Not that this will fix anything or help the injured player, but that was one of the longest ovations I've heard for an opposing player. Terrible circumstance, but no need to label an entire fan base because of a few message board posts. BOTTOM LINE: Hopefully a full recovery for the injured player.....and as shallow as some of you make take this hopefully 87 learns a lesson from this as well. Once again good luck in the Big Sky.