fightingsioux4life

I like a lot of the kids we have coming in next year. And we'll need them to contribute offensively right away.

That is my feeling on this as well.

The best way to deal with this is to not comment on it day after day after day. The more chatter there is by the public, the longer it will drag on.

I wasn't talking to you specifically. I was commenting on some of the negativity on this forum after a "down" year (by our standards anyway). We have some nice kids coming in next year, plus a group of defensemen who improved over the course of 2016-17 and will be better in 2017-18. The whole NCHC figures to be good, that's why I love being in this league and why the B1G would be a B1G mistake.

I really hope you are being sarcastic. Because this type of negative thinking is what prompted my post in the first place.

Funny how that word has vanished on this forum!

Everyone is talking like Denver is the next Boston College. During our championship drought, people were telling me how hard it was to win a natty and how much "parity" there was in college hockey. Now we have Wilbur talking about a Denver "back to back" and others talking about how unbeatable they are going to be next year and how apparently money does not talk that loud to players wearing a Denver jersey. Champions always have a target painted on their backs. We won't have to worry about that next year, because there's a puzzling consensus amongst our own fans that our team won't be all that good next year. I think otherwise. I guess the truth will come out of the wash like it always does.

Yeah. Well, so will we. Denver isn't going to waltz to the Penrose next season. They'll have to deal with us and we will have a much better team next season.

Probably not.

I think the late Jim Bollman came up with that. And it is true, isn't it?

I suppose Mr. Inside Source (Fighting Sioux 23) could find out what this stuff means.

No problem. Like you stated, no one is perfect.

I said college hockey powers (plural), not just UND. And you can't just focus on the NCAA title teams, look at some of the early departures for teams that made it to the Frozen Four. Last year's Boston College team lost a ton of players and didn't make the tournament this year. This year's Boston University team lost most (if not all) their "diaper dandies" after Duluth beat them in OT in the regional final in Fargo. I wish early signings would not be so prevalent in college hockey, but it is what it is.

Friday, April 18th, 1997. The dikes in the Riverside and Lincoln Park neighborhoods began to fail. Mandatory evacuations began in those areas before the sun came up. The streets began to fill with filthy Red River floodwater, either from the breeched dikes or through the storm sewer system. The mass exodus from town began and would accelerate on Saturday, as the water treatment plant was compromised, which eliminated the city's source of potable water. About 4pm Saturday, a fire broke out downtown. The water system had no pressure, so firefighters could not put out the fire. It would consume 11 buildings downtown. Me, my mother and our cat fled to Minot, ND to stay with relatives. My father, then an employee of the Grand Forks Health Department, stayed behind to help fight the flood. When I returned about two weeks later, there was one or two restaurants open and they were using paper plates and plastic silverware because the water still wasn't safe to drink or cook with. During the next several months, I consumed a lot of Salvation Army and Red Cross meals (pretty good, btw), used a lot of waterless hand sanitizer and port-a-potties, helped assemble cleaning kits for people to clean up their homes, gave away big bags of ice to people who needed it and tried to put my life and routines back together. My family's home only sustained damage to the basement. Of course, that was where the electrical box, washer, dryer and furnace were located, which means they were all ruined and needed to be replaced. So the three of us and our cat were crammed into a hotel room for several weeks until we could get the electrical box and furnace replaced (it was a cold and sometimes rainy spring). I don't know who was happier to go home, me or my cat! :-) Gradually, life returned to normal. But for those who lost everything they owned, it would take 10 to 15 years to get their lives back to what they were on April 18th, 1997. I cannot believe it has been 20 years. Time flies I guess. God bless those who took in flood victims. God bless our Congressional team (Sens. Conrad and Dorgan & Rep. Pomeroy) for fighting hard for this community when the future was on the line. God bless President Clinton for visiting our community and using your influence to get us the help we needed. And God bless those Americans who generously gave their time, money and effort to help us pick up the pieces. All of you made a difference. And we thank you.

Based on what has happened recently to perennial college hockey powers, it is not unreasonable to expect underclassmen to sign early. Especially after winning an NCAA title. These NHL teams are always sniffing around come playoff time in March and April, trying to convince their underclassmen draftees to sign as soon as their team is eliminated from contention. It is becoming harder than ever for these kids to say no to that kind of pressure.

I don't know, the fact that the current CBA makes it more attractive for players to sign early. The fact that dangling that money in their faces makes it hard to say no to signing early. But I suppose individual situations are all different and there are always exceptions to the rule.

The idea (expressed by some on here) that Denver will lose very few, if any, underclassmen is far-fetched. It is only a matter of time before several underclassmen start signing contracts.

The defense is always ahead of the offense in spring ball. Don't read too much into that.

Regular season Major League Baseball.....the world's best insomnia cure!

I think the simmering hatred of Duluth on this forum is the main reason why people are giddy. If it happened to St. Cloud, you wouldn't have the same reaction.

Right there with you. Building from scratch isn't cheap either, but some people talk like it is. Anyone privy to hard numbers on this?

Baseball does not work in our climate. Neither does softball, which I would have eliminated along with the others a couple of weeks ago.

Yes Ozzie82, please explain your cute little comment. Are you one of the posters on here constantly complaining about Bubba's sub-.500 head coaching record? Because that little talking point is on the way out the door.