fightingsioux4life

I am thinking it was a dispute over money and contract terms, not on-ice performance. But I could be wrong about that. Office politics sometimes trumps winning games and championships. Stupid, but a fact of life.

19 years is a long time to be doing a job like this; can't blame him for wanting a change of scenery. Good luck to him.

We were lucky to have the lead as long as we did. Saunders played very well, but he can't score the goals for us and he can't play defense on the blue line. We looked like absolute garbage for most of the game and that is a fact. And the fact that this is "just a game" doesn't mean we are not allowed to celebrate every win and mourn every loss. If you don't have anything vested in the team and the program as a whole, then why even watch? Go preach to someone else, I am not in the mood.

Nice that not every program wets the bed at the prospect of playing Boston College.

The fact that he has filled the trophy case with NCAA titles means he has earned some slack for the occasional playoff failure. Hakstol cannot say the same thing.

We played like garbage. Simple as that.

Union just took a 3-0 lead on Boston College early in the second period. If we were playing them, I am guessing we would just shoot it into the goalie's chest all night and then see the "hot goalie" excuse get used for the next seven months by a good chunk of our fan base and the media.

Assuming they don't bolt for Don Cherry's Playland (a.k.a. CHL).

This is where the players get all this crap. I honestly cannot stand listening to a Hakstol interview, it's the same tired old crap over and over and over. "Work extremely hard.....accountability up and down the lineup....blah, blah, blah". How about some accountability at the top of the food chain? Because too many of our fans don't think it belongs there at all.

But that isn't "defensive" enough, so they won't ever do it.

I respect you as a fan and poster, but this is pure alibi-spouting nonsense. It does the program absolutely no good to keep sugar-coating problems so that they go down the hatch easier. I am so sick and tired of all the alibis and excuses over the past nine years; at some point it needs to stop.

The Hakstol-Hale-O'Keefe Dynasty. And dynasties usually don't fall without collapsing first. Let's hope we don't have to endure that.

That is what I am thinking as well. This program is slowly, but surely, atrophying. Gino was sacked after three losing seasons, but the process began several years before that. The NCHC will have depth and talent throughout and will be, I think, much harder than the WCHA was this year. Hak and company are facing a crucial year in 2013-14.

Blais is about ready for retirement. We need to find someone young and hungry with a fire in the belly.

Fair enough. And no, it isn't easy, that is why Hakstol is getting six-figures a year to run this program.

I think he is talking about the classes we had in the mid to late 2000's with all those future NHL regulars. This year's team has one or two at most.

If this happened to us once in a while, I would agree with you. But this happens year after year after year. And it's the coaching staff's job to get the team ready for situations like this. That is why they make the big bucks. And it's a process that starts in October and continues thru March and April (if you make it that far). Now that we don't have the 1st round NHL draft picks on the team, we are seeing that Hakstol does not get the most out of what he has to work with, which is the litmus test that all coaches need to pass in order to be great, not just good. Hakstol is on the path of being another Doug Woog: lots of winning seasons, lots of trips to the NCAA tournament, lots of trips to the Frozen Four, but little or no hardware to show for it. Sioux fans (including myself) used to torment Goofer fans for this in the 1990's. I am simply being consistent in applying the same standard to our program. I don't think it's unfair and I don't plan on shutting up anytime soon about it.

I don't know if Brock Nelson would have made a difference today. Too many passengers on the bus, with Saunders driving it all by himself. It's a team game and you win and lose as a team.

Then lets start hanging NCAA participation banners if getting there is all that matters. And calling those of us "idiots" for pointing out the underachieving that happens year after year after year is very small and petty of you. With the exception of last year's team (which was a walking MASH unit by the end), this program under Hakstol has underachieved in the postseason. And it is totally fair to point that out. And if that ruffles the feathers of the "ducky and bunny, sunshine and smiles" crowd, well that is just too bad. I will always support this program, but I also refuse to bury my head in the sand when there are problems that need addressing and aren't being addressed.

I am going with 2 or 3 or a combination of both.

If saying all this seriously makes you feel better, than good for you. We all deal with this stuff differently. But I, for one, am sick and tired of all the alibis and excuses being made for this program under the Hakstol-Hale-O'Keefe Dynasty. Something has to eventually give.

The Hakstol-Hale-O'Keefe Dynasty is in charge. And unfortunately, that won't change unless we have back-to-back-to-back losing, non-playoff seasons. And with us moving into the deep and talented NCHC next year, that just might happen.

This is one of the worst losses in the Hakstol era. This team was dull as a butter knife from start to finish. Preparation starts at the top and you all know who is at the top of the food chain in this program (hint: It ain't Faison).

And here we go.

I agree 100%