fightingsioux4life

And hockey is a priority at which of these schools? Minnesota.......and who else? That's what I thought. The NCHC is made up of schools that make hockey a priority and is a (if not the) cornerstone of their respective athletic departments. The same can be said of most of the Hockey East schools. The WCHA (a.k.a. the CCHA 2.0) will do everything on the cheap and will be a shell of its former self. Most of the Pig 10 schools have basketball and/or football at the top of their respective food chains, with hockey somewhere in the middle of the pack, if not closer to the bottom. That will negatively impact how far these programs can go in terms of national success. And depth is also important. If even one of the top Pig 10 programs has a bad year (or two), it will have a large negative impact on the rest of the teams when it comes to NCAA tournament time. Hockey East and the NCHC will have lots of depth year in and year out. That helps draw recruits and $$$$$. You had better hope some other Pig 10 schools add hockey or this is going to be a tough road to travel.

Three programs (Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin) are very good year in and year out. One program (Michigan State) has the occassional good team, but isn't very good on an annual basis. The other two programs (Ohio State and Penn State) are bottom of the barrel. That does not sound like a great conference to me. The NCHC and Hockey East will be the top two conferences next year. The Pig 10 will lag behind. Better get used to it.

There is a big flaw in this logic. Putting BTN money above on-field performance is short-sighted. If the Pig 10 doesn't perform well compared to other conferences and doesn't have good, strong intra-league competition, all that money isn't worth much. And in the long-run, if the on-field product sucks, the TV money will dry up. This 6-team BTHC is going to be a joke and most of your fellow Gopher fans understand this. It's too bad you don't.

Please leave that dead dog in its grave. We have business to focus on now.

He's setting up his usual narrative when we lose. I hope that doesn't jinx us.

I loved the "B1G Mistake" banner and the "Big Ten Sucks" sign at the game last night. And both were initiated by Gopher fans. That tells you how special the WCHA and this tournament have become......and how sad it is that it's over. We will build a new tradition in the NCHC, but you cannot replace what the WCHA built over the past half century or so.

Google is the Yellow Pages of the Information Age. If it ain't on Google, it probably doesn't exist.

Not if he was going to sulk and moan all the time. The coaching staff has better things to do with their time. And I think you might have a different perspective about all this if Jennings rips the Packers for 200+ receiving yards the first time he faces his old team.

Please note I said "a good portion" not the "entire" fan base.

A very succinct description of a good portion of their fan base.

How about a radio/TV simulcast with Hennessey and Blais? That would put an end to all the bickering on this forum about the TV coverage.

And how will having a Sunday afternoon title game impact attendance? I think it will decrease it because people have to work on Monday and will have to skip the title game even if their team is in it. I know if the Final Five title game was on Sunday afternoon I wouldn't be there.

And yet there aren't any scheduling problems with the Wild and the Final Five.

Good grief, there is no excuse for that! Schedules are made out years in advance, they could have (and should have) figured it out a long time ago. I can't remember this ever happening with the WCHA Final Five being at the Xcel Energy Center (home of the Minnesota Wild). Just another big difference between the WCHA and CCHA.

Thank God we aren't in the (not-so) Great West anymore! I have never heard of a conference tournament champion having a putrid record like 11-21! The Big Sky looks better every day.

Another example of society and law playing catch-up with technology. We'll figure it out.

Why the heck are they having their championship game on Sunday afternoon? No wonder that tournament has never reached the heights of the WCHA Final Five.

I will be there!

The season is on the line tonight. We have to treat this like a must-win game because it is.

Because the Saturday thread is so brutal to read? Just like the game was brutal to watch?

Sorry, but tonight's effort for 40 minutes was putrid. And pointing it out does not make you a bad fan.

I wouldn't quite throw in the towel on Hakstol. Every team is different. No one saw the 1996-97 team winning NCAA title #6. Heck, no one saw the Hrkac Circus joyride coming in 1986-87. But this year's team is getting really tough to watch.

If our boys don't show up ready to play tomorrow night, you'll be making an announcement that the brunch just ain't happening this year.