fightingsioux4life

It was the 1999 Final Five vs Denver and the 2000 Final Five vs Wisconsin. The 1998 Final Five was in the Bradley Center in Milwaukee where we lost to the Badgers in the title game. I believe the Vikings Stadium funding bill has money in it for renovation of the Target Center. I certainly hope so, it is currently old and not ideal for hockey.

It's a good thing the NFL has a national TV deal with the broadcast and cable networks or else all the coverage would focus on maybe a half dozen teams and the rest would be screwed. NBC can put the Whimpy Irish on all they want, but I won't be contributing to those ratings. And that won't help them win games on the field, either. Last night proved that.

I honestly don't care how valuable the "brand" is, if you can't get it done on the field, you are a fraud. And once the 4-team playoff starts in a couple of years, the Irish will have to get it done on the field or be exposed for the frauds that they are. This is the biggest problem with the Bull Crap Series, letting the media and coaches decide anything important makes the whole process a farce.

I agree with you, but the Irish would have been exposed in the semifinals of the 4-team playoff if it had been in effect this year. The title game might have been more competitive than it was. Last night's game was a joke. And I think it is only a matter of time before the field is expanded. Once they realize the revenue potential of a tournament, they will not hesitate to increase the playoff field to 8 teams. It will happen in the next five years, probably sooner.

This is one of the main reasons why people like me hate the Fighting Irish. They are the most overrated, overpromoted, overhyped and coddled college sports program in the history of college sports programs. They should have renamed Verses the Notre Dame Network instead of the NBC Sports Network because that is what it is going to be. They have things handed to them on a silver platter, while programs like Boise State and Northern Illinois work their butts off for whatever they get. The FBS Playoff can't get here soon enough.

Either of those are good ideas. Thankfully Fraizer doesn't have the control over personnel that Childress did.

We had better score goals against this team; they are giving up goals in bunches right now. As for Gothberg getting time in net, I guess that depends on if Hakstol wants to give up two soft goals per game. But if we can fill the net this weekend, it might not matter. UND sweeps 6-3, 5-1.

Whoa, there is way too much negativity on here. This team went from 3-13 to 10-6 and back into the playoffs. The defense has good, young talent on it. The offensive line has stabilized. AP is in the prime of his career. What we need now is another great draft in April. That means getting some WR talent that wasn't taken off the practice squad of another team. That means adding depth to the defense. That means getting another QB prospect to back up Ponder and give him some competition in practice (I don't think Webb is the answer). If we can do those things in the offseason, we'll be a solid team again next year with the chance to take another step forward. Patience people. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is an NFL team.

Yeah, but Jones would have been a one (maybe two) year player at best. We'll just have to settle for him helping Team USA win medals in international tournaments.

I was in the 6th grade. That team was the talk of class every day.

I was clapping and my cat, who was curled up in my lap, didn't like the noise and got up and left! Congrats to Team USA and Rocco, who represented himself, his country and our program very well.

On a Saturday, that is early. I still enjoy sleeping in on weekends, though not as much as I used to.

Yeah, I think we should all just enjoy the success of Team USA and talk about the gold medal game on Saturday morning. Is anyone dragging their butt up to watch it live?

I wasn't "lecturing" you or targeting you. I quoted you because you brought up Blais in 1994 and it inspired my comment to everyone that we shouldn't judge a coaching choice on such narrow and myopic criteria.

It is totally fair to ask what criteria USA Hockey uses to pick coaches for our national teams. But I also believe that giving an untested and unproven coach a chance to show us what he has is appropriate. I am sure USA Hockey did their homework on Housley and decided that his coaching style and philosophy were appropriate for coaching the IIHF U-20 team. If this was the Olympic team, that might require a different type of leadership. It all depends on the age, experience and maturity level of the players on the team. I think choosing a high school coach to coach high school-age kids has a certain logic to it and it certainly has worked out this year. But in a tournament like this, when you have to build a team out of a bunch of individuals in a very short period of time, it is a very inexact science. Blais won gold in 2010 and finished 7th in 2012. You just pick the best people available and/or interested and see what happens. I, for one, am enjoying this tournament and the success that so many people have made possible with all their hard work over the years. Go USA!!!

Agreed.

To be fair, the US talent pool in 1994 was a fraction of what it is today. Housley has a lot more talent to work with and it's taken a long time to get to this point. Let us please focus on that and not bicker about how Housley got this job. It's all about the results and he is getting them.

There is something to be said for sticking with your team through good times and bad. I have been watching the Vikes since I was 6 or 7 years old and was old enough to understand the game. And I will continue supporting them, win or lose. That is the one thing I respect about Packer fans; they sell out that stadium whether they are 12-4 or 4-12. We need more of that from fans of the Purple. Go Vikings!!!

I think an All-Canadian concept would work much better than that whole "Minnesota Pride on Ice" thing did. They definitely have more than enough players to fill all three leagues.

Please don't go back to that. I for one want nothing to do with the CHL, the mortal enemy of NCAA Division I Hockey. Time for College Hockey, Inc. to step it up and even the playing field.

If Canadians don't like U.S. kids in the CHL, just make it an all-Canadian league. Of course, that means a lot of talented kids would stay in the U.S. and Europe. But if patriotism is that important to them, then please go right on ahead. NCAA hockey will step in and fill the void for you!

ButtTeamRulesAreAllThatMatter

If all these recruiting "chest bumps" don't translate into W's in the record books, then we know what the problem is. And it wouldn't be "players not making plays".

I certainly don't feel sorry for them.