fightingsioux4life

I think that happened in the championship game vs. Denver on Saturday night (Frattin scored the winner in double OT). I watched it on YouTube with Hennessy on the call ("Hit the side of the net, oh come on!" ).

I think Saturday's loss might be a blessing in disguise. I would rather play Colorado College (who has thrown in the towel) than Miami (who has lots of talent and could explode at any time). Sioux SWEEP! 5-2 Friday 7-1 Saturday

Assuming the men's hockey team has home ice for the first round of the NCHC tournament (which is looking pretty good right now), parking will be an issue once again on the grounds of REA. And I am fine having a problem like that!

I am with you in that Jones should get at least one more season. But the point darell1976 and others are making is that Jones is running out of time to prove he can take this program to the top of the conference on a regular basis and make the NCAA tournament at least some of the time. That should be our goal as a Division I Men's BB program. The women's team looks to be there; the men's team has a ways to go.

But Brewster is in just his second year and had to clean house last year of players that didn't fit in with this way of doing things. Jones has been here since before the transition and we are still waiting for one of his teams to play with any consistency.

Inconsistency has epitomized this team ever since Jones took it over. And this group of seniors, the first Division I recruiting class, does not play team ball and at times does not put forth the effort needed to win games. How many times do these things have to happen before it becomes a pattern to you? 5 more years? 10? I just can't get excited about any wins by this team because they invariably disappoint you in the end.

I think he was using hyperbole to make a point. I am surprised our fan base doesn't understand such a simple concept. darell1976 is getting the same treatment I get for pointing out harsh truths and then having the nerve to demand something be done about it. And I imagine there are a number of well-off alumni who are probably sick of the mediocrity that has plagued the Men's BB program for about 10 years now and will be more than willing to write a check to buy out Jones. Flame away, I am used to it.

Anything outside the Twin Cities Metro Area doesn't count and doesn't matter to the TV talking heads. That is why I REALLY want EGF to win it all!

What if a key player was to get hurt from shoveling and miss the season? Would you have no problem with that either? A school of UND's size and scope should have the resources to do something as simple as clearing snow off the practice field. This isn't some two-bit community college in the middle of Kansas! The point isn't that it's lowly work, it's that student-athletes are here to go to school and play their chosen sport, not to save UND money on maintenance. If that is what it comes down to, we have much bigger problems that need addressing.

I smell politics drift.....

It will be the same tired old crap from the Twins. They'll be out of the division race by May 1st, people will start talking trades and minor league call-ups by the All-Star break, and we'll all be lamenting the sorry state of the franchise by the end of the regular season. Target Field was supposed to be a game-changer for this franchise. It looks like the Pohlad boys are just chips off the old block. I honestly care more about the Vikings and the NFL Draft than I do the Twins.

How are those cake-eaters going to eat their humble pie? With or without Cool Whip?

The point is he said it and you were acting like he never said anything like that. Checkmate.....mate.

"Clueless Al" Carlson went on KFGO's "News and Views" program with Joel Heitkamp and said live on the air he was not a big fan of building a diversion project and favored upstream retention instead. I heard it myself, so don't tell me it didn't happen. He might have changed his opinion since that time, but that is what he said. And as for the Sioux nickname, Carlson accomplished nothing more than delaying the inevitable and probably caused some short-term damage to our athletic programs by sowing the seeds of uncertainty with potential recruits. He would have been better off not playing "Prime Minister of North Dakota" and left the process up to the State Board of Higher Education and the lawyers that were involved with the issue.

After his asinine comments about not being in favor of the Fargo Diversion Project, I wonder if he'll win this time? He represents a south Fargo District and that is an area that will benefit greatly from the Diversion Project. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

I have heard this line aimed at me and others several times and it is generational chauvinism. I am 39, grew up with the 1980's teams and went to UND during the 1990's teams. I work hard at everything I do and expect excellence and feel disappointed whenever I cannot achieve it. So there goes your "the kids don't get it" logic. No personal offense taken.

I have heard this many times and I know most fans believe this is how it should work. But that is now how human beings are wired. If we are all honest with ourselves, we will all admit that we had times when we were in school that we weren't motivated to get A's and didn't think the extra effort was worth it. Until a teacher stepped in and pushed the right buttons and got us to see that hard work in school generally leads to good things down the road. The same basic rule applies to college athletes (and, for that matter, professional athletes). People are not robots, you cannot expect human beings to be perpetually motivated all the time without at least some prodding from the coaching staff. Part of coaching any sport is being able to push the right buttons on athletes to get them to perform at their very best when it matters most. Some of the Frozen Four debacles were caused by a clear-cut case of the team not being ready when the puck dropped (2008 being the most glaring example). I think this is one of the problems some of us have with Hakstol (the other being a stubborn refusal to change in-game strategy when it is needed). PS: Every program loses talent to Major Junior/NHL teams, so I am not sure that is a valid excuse for anyone.

Like it or not, the buck stops with the head coach of the program (in any sport). The one constant with this program over the past 10 years is Dave Hakstol. Players have only 4 years of eligibility. We have had some changes with the assistant coaches for various reasons. Every major decision comes down to what Hakstol wants. If it doesn't work, it's on him. And I think he would tell you the same thing if you asked him. I really find it hard to swallow the illogic that the Frozen Four debacles that have occurred under Hakstol are somehow the players' fault and nobody else's. Yes, sometimes 18-22 year olds lose focus and subsequently lose games they shouldn't lose. But to make this argument to explain every single stink bomb this team has detonated at the Frozen Four is stretching logic to its breaking point. And, speaking of on-ice personnel, you simply cannot make the argument that "We haven't had the players" to win nattys during Hakstol's tenure. We have had talent up to our ears during Hakstol's tenure. So that brings up two possible explanations that must be considered by any objective fan of this team: 1) Hakstol and his staff haven't pushed the right buttons on these guys and/or haven't employed the right in-game strategies at critical moments in critical games or 2) Hakstol and his staff haven't recruited and signed the right athletes for this program. I would argue that it is a combination of both of these. These problems have been most evident in the NCAA tournament, where even minor flaws in coaching, systems and strategy can be fatal. And that is exactly what we have seen when a Hakstol-coached team reaches the biggest stage in College Hockey, the Frozen Four. Like I have pointed out over and over again, Hakstol has all the tools he needs to bring home multiple NCAA titles. At some point, you have to ask yourself if this regime will produce NCAA title(s) or if it will go down in the same category as Doug Woog's tenure with Minnesota. I really hope this is the year it finally happens so we can focus on more positive topics.

Okay, standard might have been a poor choice of words. How about "less than premium"?

And the last time I checked, Hak (and his staff, whom he hand-picks) is responsible for recruiting, motivating and in-game strategy. That is why he makes six-figures and his staff makes a nice living as well. If coaching isn't all that important, why are we paying a premium price for standard results?

Who is this, Don Cherry? Back in 2006, Cherry said that Canada could put three teams together and win Gold, Silver and Bronze. Canada went on to finish in seventh place. Would you like to have some ketchup or BBQ sauce to make those words easier to eat? This whole notion that nobody on Team USA would make Team Canada's roster is just pure balderdash. The players on both teams were regulars in the NHL, a good chunk of them All-Star caliber players. If Team USA was that far behind in talent, their team would have been dominated by AHL and ECHL players, with a few college kids thrown in and the game would have been way more lopsided than 1-0. But that wasn't the case, was it? Simply put, Olympic teams and IIHF teams often are successful based in large part on the leadership and togetherness the team can muster in a short period of time together. Talent is important, but if that talent doesn't work well together as a team, the results will be disappointing. That is what happened to Team Canada in 2006 and, to a lesser extent, 1998 when they finished 4th (and Team USA shamefully trashed some hotel rooms). This isn't the 1950's anymore and the NHL is no longer 98% Canadian (or whatever it was back then). Hockey will continue to become more global and more competitive. Team USA will have their chances down the road to win Gold; it just didn't happen this year.

I should have qualified it with "some fans" have short memories. I wasn't necessarily targeting you. Blais is ready for retirement and for time with the grandkids, but in his heyday, he was a good as it gets when it comes to recruiting, in game and out of game coaching and so on. And I think Hakstol learned a lot from Blais during his time as a UND assistant. Maybe this year's winning streak will lead to a national title and a merciful end to this banter.

And unfortunately, this is the attitude the U.S. players took into the 2014 Olympics. It's just another business trip, we get our big paychecks win or lose, etc. It's almost like they treated the games like regular season NHL games (a couple of losses aren't a big deal). The Olympics are not just another business trip; it is a chance to represent your country on a global stage and it's something a lot of athletes would kill for. If these players are going to treat it as just another business trip, maybe a roster overhaul is in order for 2018 in South Korea.

I think people have very short memories of just how bad this program was when Blais took it over in 1994. We were close to becoming another Michigan Tech (perennial losers). It took him just three seasons to bring home NCAA title #6 and #7 followed three years later. It was a golden age for Fighting Sioux hockey and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of it as a student in the best student section in the game. His time has come and gone, but we must never forget the contributions of past coaches and players because they helped build what we enjoy today.

No, that's why the was in there!