fightingsioux4life

With all due respect (and I do mean that), the whole team lost those games. Our goaltenders are good enough to get us there.....but not good enough for us to finish the job? Our whole roster was totally unprepared for the team speed and skill that Boston College puts on the ice every single year. Some of our pylon D-men (Joe Finley anyone?) looked like they were standing in dried cement. That is how we used to make teams look; that has changed since Hakstol took over this program. Hakstol's precious systems and "baselines" might work in the regular season, but they have not worked in the NCAA tournament. And if that changes this season or next or whenever, I will come on this forum and give him all the props he deserves.

And some football programs are in for a rude awakening when the Division 1 titles stop coming and "that other school in North Dakota" starts contending for Division 1 trophies of their own. Just keep running your mouth, son. Your day is coming.

My point is that Hakstol doesn't always get the most out of the talent he has had to work with. His teams have laid more than one egg on the national stage (I am talking Frozen Four, not anything else). We also seem to play down to the level of our competition on a regular basis. Those things stick out like a sore thumb in a program that has had a lot of talent come through it over the past 10 years.

I have seen comments to the effect of "I would like to have a "natty", but.....". Which tells me it just isn't all that important to them. They are satisfied with winning seasons and a few league titles here and there. That is their opinion. I do not share that opinion. With all the tools we have at UND, NCAA titles should not be this impossible to win.

Okay, that sounds fair enough and I am fine with doing that. But if it still hasn't happened after five years, you will have people on here recycling the same tired old excuses (hot goalies, lucky bounces, one and done format, Jerry York is still coaching and so on). I for one want Hakstol to win one just so we can retire this discussion and talk about things that are more positive.

But a majority of the posts are defending Hakstol and some of them are even implying that NCAA titles don't matter all that much. Me, Irish and Smokey are most responsible for speaking the Inconvenient Truth.

If this is your way of telling me to shut up, it ain't gonna work. If you don't like the discussion.....go away. Problem solved.

Didn't Dean Smith start at North Carolina before Civil Rights forced the integration of colleges and universities in the South, which lead to schools like UNC recruiting and accepting black athletes? That might explain some of it.

Hakstol = Woog (without the cash-in-a-hat-under-the-desk scandal) Woog was pushed out after just a couple of poor seasons and I think the lack of an NCAA title was a factor. Gino brought home 3 NCAA titles and was forced out after three losing seasons, but those UND teams were much worse than anything Woog ever put on the ice for the Goofs. If Woog had won even one NCAA title, he might have had more rope to work with and might have survived the very brief down period. A couple of poor seasons for Hakstol without a NCAA title in previous years could result in the same thing (most likely a behind-closed-doors resignation agreement). I could see Hakstol getting an assistant coaching job in the NHL and I could see him hanging around the league for years to come. He isn't a "crappy coach", it's just possible that he isn't the right person to take us to the top once again. But I would love to be proven wrong on that; it would be a shame for Hakstol not to have at least one NCAA title before he leaves Grand Forks.

Well, you sounded like a Hak apologist, but you are right in that you are not the worst of them. And I am sorry if my "constant spew on this topic is growing tired" because I am one of just a few brave souls on this forum that are willing to criticize Hakstol when it is warranted. And I think it is worth explaining (again) that criticizing the head coach is NOT the same as calling for his immediate ouster. So I will not be giving you "3 realistic names and why". My position on this is summed up in another thread like this: Jerry York and Red Berenson took over programs that were in the toilet and rebuilt them into national powers. So when you hear people talk about how long it took for them to win their first NCAA title and why Hakstol should get pretty much all the time he wants to get it done, just remember that little factoid. Dave Hakstol inherited a Porsche and drives it like a Yugo. He has every single tool you need to win at the highest level of Division I hockey, so it's time to ditch the excuses and the B.S. that is spewed on this forum concerning NCAA titles and the importance (or lack thereof) they hold for this program. My first loyalty is to the program, not to any one individual coach or player. So yes, I will point out problems when I see them. Especially when very few others are willing to point them out.

Yeah, it's really geared towards adults. But if it's animated, kids will assume it is just another cartoon and will watch. At least you watched it with him. "Brian the puppy", that is cute.

Unless you are running the option (or the single-wing or the wing T), receivers matter. So yes, we have to talk about the receivers. Championship teams generally don't have glaring weaknesses of any kind.

Gosh, that show is so funny! I laugh out loud through most of them.

......or the NFL.

I suppose you will next tell us that #1 is in no way, shape or form the fault of Hakstol and his staff? And then you will tell us that Hakstol and his staff are not at fault for refusing to make in-game adjustments to deal with #2? Number one has become a major problem in recent years. Number two has been pointed out by others on this forum. But I suppose the standard answer will be the same as it always is..... "In Hak we trust....No Matter What!!!"

Copyright Goon 2014. ALL Rights Reserved.

I think we have a winner!!!

It was a head coaching job. He needed to beef up that part of his resume.

I also would like to point out that Jerry York and Red Berenson took over programs that were in the toilet and rebuilt them into national powers. So when you hear people talk about how long it took for them to win their first NCAA title and why Hakstol should get pretty much all the time he wants to get it done, just remember that little factoid. Dave Hakstol inherited a Porsche and drives it like a Yugo. He has every single tool you need to win at the highest level of Division I hockey, so it's time to ditch the excuses and the B.S. that is spewed on this forum concerning NCAA titles and the importance (or lack thereof) they hold for this program.

Good point, when parents are writing big checks to have their kids on those ubiquitous traveling teams, they will insist that their kids get playing time in return. I think a return to school and community-based teams would be better all around, but I don't know if we can get the genie back in the bottle.

It's not the media's job to brown nose anybody; I seriously hate that stuff. But Mr. Reality Check's (Tom Miller's) article today was a bit of a cheap shot on a coach and a staff who have been on the job for just a little over a month, are announcing their very first recruiting class today and haven't even coached a single game yet. I am all for constructive criticism, but wait until there is something to actually criticize. And Miller shouldn't insinuate that the new regime will necessarily fail like the old one did; we won't know that for several years.

It's better to have a kid tell the coaches he isn't interested in playing football in college before he signs. Having a disinterested and unambitious player on the roster benefits nobody.

And I am not saying he is wrong. It was arguably the biggest problem with the Mussman regime. But he is telling us something that most of us already know. And the closing comments at the end of the article sounded a little like "Meet the new boss.....same as the old boss". I think Bubba deserves a little more of a honeymoon period than 1+ month. Like I said before, National Signing Day is a Cheerleaders Day for FB programs all across America and it should be used to pump up the excitement and hope for the future in the fan base. And this fan base needs some serious pumping up right now.

No, I don't want duckies and bunnies. If I see things that I don't like in the coming years, I'll be the first one on here talking about it. And I honestly don't think many people on this forum (or in the fan base as a whole) are looking for a quick turn around. If you followed this program in 2013, you know there is a big mess to clean up. But if you don't generate some excitement and hope for the future, people will remain apathetic about the program. National Signing Day is one of the most important days on the calendar for doing that. Bubba and his staff deserve at least a couple of seasons to clean up the mess Muss left behind and rebuild the team how they want it. I just think negative articles like Miller's should wait until there is actually something legitimate to complain about.

On Bubba's first national signing day, Mr. Reality Check (Tom Miller) has thrown his usual dose of cold water on the proceedings. http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/und-football-und-prepares-announce-its-signing-class Gee Tom, tell us something that we don't know! Of course Bubba and his staff have yet to prove themselves, but this bad cop routine from Miller gets a little old sometimes. On national signing day, can't we just allow people to be excited and enthusiastic about the future without the obligatory "reality check" from Miller? I say yes.