fightingsioux4life

I think the players pick out the warm-up music and that is how it should remain. I honestly hope REA doesn't ever dictate to the players what music they can warm up to.

Didn't take long for that award to become as big of a joke as the Hobey.

The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament started today with four Class A quarterfinal games. Class AA quarterfinals are on Thursday. EGF is representing Section 8A and Moorhead is representing Section 8AA. Any thoughts? Predictions?

Yeah, until they moved from the Happy Harry's strip mall to the Town and Country Mall. That killed it off, I think people weren't willing to travel halfway across town to go there. I used to live right behind the Town and Country Mall, however, so I used to walk over there and get one of their subs. They were fantastic.

Nice comback.

Good luck Brett.

fat alberts > subway

Watch out, you'll be lectured on the importance of being satisfied with what we have now.

I honestly don't know if I want someone else picking my seats. I could get stuck in seats I don't like. I think I will wait.

We always have tons of fans there! I was there in 2004, 2008 and 2010 and it was almost as loud when UND scored as it was when Mankato scored (without that stupid "ole, ole, ole!!!" crap, of course).

Blame it on whomever gave Penn State all that money to start a program. That is why this is happening at all.

Okay, that is a fair point. I just think that the attendance for the Big Ten Tournament will pale in comparison to the current version of the Final Five. As will the NCHC attendance. As will the new WCHA attendance. We have had the perfect storm of schools, travel distance, location and facility over the past 15 years with the current WCHA. It will never be duplicated. The X can try all they want, but most of us won't give the Big Ten tournament the time of day.

Why would the WCHA think that anyone that is not a fan of Minnesota or Wisconsin care ONE IOTA about the Big 10 Hockey Conference? My theory is described in one word: A-R-R-O-G-A-N-C-E We'll have to wait and see what happens to their attendance figures and revenue streams before we'll know if this attitude is justified.

When my Final Five tickets came in the mail, there was a flyer telling all of us how to purchase Big Ten Hockey Conference Tournament tickets! And as Final Five ticket holders, we would get priority over everyone else! How considerate of them! Honestly, unless you are a Gopher or Badger fan, why would you even CARE about the Big Ten Tournament? I was a little irritated by that; it felt like a cheap shot at the NCHC.

My point is that we had both going on at the same time and it worked out okay.

I never said that, you are just choosing to believe it. All I did in my original post was point out that having a core of players that stick around 3-4 years makes it easier to build a cohesive unit of players that know each other and work well together. And I provided a concrete example of that (the mid to late 1990's). And it's a fair conversation to have because it goes back to our recruiting philosophy as a program. Unless, of course, you think that should be off-limits on SS.com. I don't think it should be.

Where do you want me to start? The "hot goalie" excuse? The "bad bounces" excuse? The "it's just too hard to win one anymore" excuse? The "we aren't on the East Coast like Boston College is" excuse? The "Jerry York hasn't retired yet" excuse? Does that about cover it for you? And I have never "ignored" the other titles. I go to the Final Five every year and next year, I will go to the NCHC tournament in the Target Center. I love it when we hang any banner of any kind. And I am NOT in the "Fire Hakstol" crowd. Any other broad generalizations you want me to clear up?

FYI, I am 38 (almost 39) years old and I have two degrees from UND and I know all about patience and following through on a plan and not giving up when things don't work out well the first or second time. And FYI, you would be better served in making your points without the moralistic preaching and lecturing.

Okay, besides that debacle, the team was solid in the first half.

Brock Nelson would make this a much better team than it is now. I think Dean Blais said he thinks we would have won the 2001 title if Mike Commodore had come back for his senior year. One player, even in a team sport like this, can put you over the top in certain situations. And don't forget, we had a couple of kids bail on us for the CHL (Jones, Miller). That is another problem with top draft picks: even if you don't lose them to the NHL, you can lose them to the CHL. There is some truth to the point that we have kept more of our players in recent years. That is probably why the 2011 team was so good thru out the season (I don't think that team had a first-half slump). Last year's team had too many injuries to have a realistic chance to win it all. We'll have to wait and see if this year's crop of younger players sticks around or leaves early. If they do, we'll have another 2011-caliber team in one or two years.

Okay, here is a serious answer. I have absolutely no intention to stop following the team. They have been my team since I was 6 or 7 years old and they always will be my team. But if the Cary Eades quote in my signature has any meaning or relevance at all, then it is fair to talk about why we haven't won one in 13 years and what it will take to get back to that level. It is possible to be a "real" fan and also be objective and logical. It's too bad some people on here don't feel that way.

Back in 2004, the DII North Central Regional Women's BB tournament was held at the BESC and the men's hockey team was at home the same weekend. So I think it could be done. Parking would be a @#$%^ though.

This is what I mean when I point out that national titles don't seem as important to our fan base as they used to. I should bookmark this post so I can point it out every time I get told that "no Sioux fan would ever say national titles aren't important", because that is what this post is saying. I don't think every season without a national title is a failure (I don't think I have ever said that), but when you have the talent we have had over the past 13 years and have ZERO national titles during that time, it is fair to ask what variable is missing from the equation. And you simply cannot explain it all away to bad luck, hot goalies and all that other stuff. I think part of the problem is that we don't have enough 3-4 year players in our program anymore. We had those from 1997-2000 and, not coincidentally, that was one of the most successful periods in the history of the program in terms of both wins and championships. It is good to have a few 1st round draft picks on the team to add that extra level of firepower, but if your team is dominated by them, you run the risk of starting over with a new team every year. That is tough to overcome. If we get back to having a core of players that are talented and skilled, but not loved by the NHL scouts, I think we'll have more success in March and April. And I will close by saying this: I will gladly give up the "UND in the NHL" status we have had since the new REA opened in 2001 if it means hanging more NCAA title banners in that beautiful arena. Agree or disagree, but that is my position on the subject.

Sid "Grandpa Sports" Hartman is the biggest brown-nosing sycophant in the MSP media. Period.

Which does not help us since we have so many skilled players.