fightingsioux4life

You are right, it is 4 titles and not 5. My bad, next time I will look it up first. As for the rest of your post, the players do what they are told by the coaches. Hakstol likes his players to play certain systems, which I think sometimes limits their creativity. Once you get to this point in the season, you need all cylinders firing to win. Our lack of goal scoring in some of these games is a problem and at least some of that can be blamed on Hakstol's "Baseline" B.S. You cannot expect your goalie to shut everybody out all the time, so you better be able to "put the biscuit in the basket", as it were. Also, as I have said before, once you get into March and April, the differences between the teams in terms of talent levels gets narrower and narrower. That is where coaching, strategy and preparation come into play. Now, I don't know if this was the main factor on Thursday, but I think it was during some previous failed Frozen Four appearances and that is why some people are so frustrated right now. It isn't just what happened on Thursday, it's the cumulative effect of a 1-6 Frozen Four record over the past 11 years. And finally, when you are the CEO of an organization (as Hakstol is), the buck stops with you. Not the captain of the team. Not your assistants (something Denny Green never figured out). You. That is why in collegiate (and more so in professional) sports, you don't get rid of all the players (that would make you an expansion team), you get rid of the coach and/or the G.M. Hakstol is the only common denominator during the past 11 years, so he will get criticized when the team fails. And I think he understands that it goes with the territory. Too bad some of our fans don't understand it.

I have always thought this as well. I don't see why this couldn't be done. And we are supposed to use the old logo to maintain copyright control over it, so that is another good reason. Also, all these photos of the Old Ralph make me nostalgic all over again!

Yeah and Rocky Hager and Bob Babich paid the price for that.

So you are going to pooh-pooh what the Bison did at the same exact level that UND is at for football? Oh, that's right, if it isn't hockey, it doesn't matter.

Here we go with the "hot goalie" excuse again. Most of our shots were from the outside and we didn't have a lot of traffic in front of the net. At this level, that isn't going to score a lot of goals for you. Unless I was in net. And of course, we didn't crash the net because in Hakstol's beloved "baseline defensive system", that is just too reckless. UMD got the job done two nights later. 'Nuff said.

I am calling Red Herring and Straw Man on this post. At their respective levels of competition, NDSU football has established a dynasty and UND hockey has become a wanna-be.

First of all, don't ever tell me to shut up. Ever. This is a fan message board and I will express my opinion whether you like it or not. Second of all, I don't answer to you and neither does anybody else. You are not "lord and master" of Fighting Sioux Fandom. If anybody deserves that title, it would be Al Pearson. And finally, no, I am not calling for Hakstol's head. Changing head coaches is a very serious decision that can have very long-lasting consequences and shouldn't be done willy-nilly. Replacing Gino with Blaiser was necessary back in 1994 as the program was decaying and not getting any better. But most of the time, it isn't that easy to determine what the right course of action is. And this is one of those ambiguous situations. It is very similar to the situation that Gopher fans were in with Doug Woog in the 1980's and 90's. Lots of regular season wins, lots of NCAA tournament appearances, a half-dozen trips to the Frozen Four.....but zero NCAA titles. Some Gopher fans liked Woog and his consistent winning, while others were getting tired of waiting for that elusive fourth NCAA title. That same debate is now playing out on siouxsports.com. What I find amusing is that some of the same people on here who are saying Hakstol is the greatest thing since sliced bread and color television are probably the same people who used to mock and ridicule the Gophers and Woog for choking in the postseason year after year after year (the term "Golden Chokers" immediately comes to mind). Talk about a 180 degree flip-flop. I also used to criticize the Gophers and Woog for repeatedly choking when the chips were down and I am now holding Hakstol and UND's program to that same standard. I and a few others are being consistent about my criticisms, while others on here have totally changed their perception of what success should consist of based on whose ox is getting gored. I have nothing against Dave Hakstol as a person and I am not at all hungry to throw a family man out on his butt with a pink slip. But my first loyalty is to UND as an institution (not just athletics, but that is certainly part of it), not any individual person. And the lack of NCAA titles under Hakstol is a problem for the program. NCAA titles are not everything, but they are a key component to making a program great, not merely good. Would NDSU football be considered "great" if they had two runner-up finishes and two semifinal appearances instead of four straight FCS titles? I think we all know the answer to that. And I don't think Craig Bohl would have that job in Wyoming right now or the job at NDSU for that matter. I have noticed the very protective Grand Forks media (Schlossman, Miller, Hennessy) loves to compare UND to Boston College when it comes to winning percentage, NCAA appearances, NCAA tournament wins.....and then conveniently leave out the inconvenient truth that over the past 15 years, Boston College and Jerry York have 5 NCAA titles and North Dakota and Dave Hakstol have ZERO. If you are going to compare the programs, put ALL the statistics there, not just the ones that make Hakstol look good. But that is what the Grand Forks media does; anything that might make the program look less-than-great gets left out. Hakstol is probably the most protected head coach of any sport outside of NDSU football in the region. And that isn't necessarily a good thing. In closing, people like myself do not have a blood lust to see someone fired and thrown out of their job (Hakstol). But when the marquee program on UND's campus (and, I would argue, the entire state of North Dakota) continues to fail on the biggest stage (the Frozen Four), we get concerned. We understand that NCAA titles are what at program builds its long-term championship legacy and heritage on. Don't get me wrong, I love those three straight Final Five titles we won from 2010-2012. I loved the WCHA regular season titles we won under Hakstol in 2009 and 2011. And I will be cheering along with everyone else when our first NCHC regular season title banner gets raised in the Fall. But in order to build and keep a reputation as an elite college hockey program, it is necessary to hang NCAA banners on a somewhat regular basis. Otherwise, you get put into the same category of the 1980s and 90s Minnesota Gopher teams: very consistently good, but not great. Not elite. And if I am wrong about all this, then we might as well anoint the Buffalo Bills as the Team of the 1990s. That is my position on the issue. That is other people's position on the issue. And I stand by it. And I sleep very well at night, thank you very much. Any questions?

Good news. After last night, we need it.

That is the best description of this issue I have read on here. Short and to the point, but descriptive at the same time.

According to some people on here, even talking about "natty's" is "douchey". Based on that, I plead guilty.

Someone FINALLY admits it! #Natty'sDon'tMatter

This is what they should have for each position. Goaltender, forward and defenseman.

I think you nailed it. The age-old struggle between young people who want change and old people who want everything to stay the same forever (and maybe even turn the clock back).

What? It is the other side arguing that it's either one or the other, not me.

I am talking about the fan base, not the coaches and/or players. Nice try, please play again.

I don't have to and won't "get used to it". I already complain about the weather (who doesn't).

Again, that is a false choice. Or red herring. Or straw man. Or whatever you wish to call it. If you think #nattysdon'tmatter or #nattysaren'tthatimportant, that is your perrogative. But don't use faulty logic to justify your stance.

Okay, I am sick of this red herring being thrown around and not being answered with logic. That is a false choice: Either win 25 games a year and no national titles or win a national title every 5 years and suck in-between. Look at Boston College during the past 15 years. Yes, they have some runner-up finishes. Yes, they have years where they don't do anything in the post-season (like this year). But they also have 5 NCAA titles during that time period (average of one every three years if you are counting at home). And they are a consistent winner every year. But here come the usual responses: #butparity #butoneanddone #buthotgoalie #butluckybounces #butstarsaren'taligned #butJerryYorkhasn'tretiredyet Great programs bring home the bacon when they have the horses to do it. Merely good programs settle for "just being there". The next step down is being a mid-major program and I will never accept that. Ever. Flame away.

ESPN has always had a hard-on for East Coast schools. I am so used to it I don't even comment on it anymore. Although I really wanted someone to stick a sock in Barry Melrose's mouth tonight.

Didn't you get the memo? #NattysDon'tMatter For the record, I agree with you.

Why is he a "tool"? Because he tells an uncomfortable truth? The opposite of love is not hate, it's apathy. And the level of frustration on this board tonight tells me that our fan base is anything but apathetic. We still love this program and we always will. That doesn't mean everything is sunshine and roses all the time. Does that make sense to you?

Cripes, don't even joke about that! His teams would bore everyone to death!

Well, I used to do that, but now when we lose in April, I don't lose sleep over it because I have almost come to expect it. And that is not good.

Well, I am used to that! But that won't stop me from being objective and calling it as I see it. Too much Kool-Aid is bad for the brain.

One big problem is falling behind right away early in the 1st period. As soon as we fell behind 2-0, I thought to myself "Here we go again, same old crap." And we never caught up. You cannot win games in April when you spot your opponent an early lead. As usual, we staged our 3rd period comeback. And, like previous Frozen Fours, it wasn't enough. This is one thing that has to change in the future or the results will never change. 1-7 in Frozen Four games under Hakstol. And some people simply don't think it's a big deal. Our fan base has gotten really soft in the last 15 years or so. Maybe it's time to start hanging Regional Championship banners in REA since that seems to be our de facto "national championship". Well, it's another offseason wondering what might have been. And it is scary how normal it has become to me and others on this forum. Something has to change. And soon.