fightingsioux4life

If it were McLeod's decision, I would agree with you. But it's not his decision, it's the decision of each of the 10 member schools. McLeod works for them, not the other way around. I say in with Bemidji State and out with McLeod and Greg Sheppard.

The bottom line in this is that Bruce McLeod is against admitting Bemidji State into the league and he has latched onto this "we just cannot have an 11 team league because of scheduling problems" rationale to try to convince enough member schools to vote no. You need 8 of 10 schools to vote yes, which means the anti-expansion crowd only needs 3 no votes to kill it. I am convinced that McLeod is getting some heavy pressure from two schools in the league (I honestly don't know which ones; we can speculate all we want on that) to campaign against this proposal so that one more school votes no and therefore kills expansion (and the BSU hockey program). I don't want the league to get bigger (I think 10 is too big as it is), but letting the Bemidji State hockey program die is simply not an option. Period. It doesn't make "good business sense" or any other kind of sense. We should admit the Beavers right now and keep looking for #12. It will happen, just not right away. College hockey must maintain the health and vitality of programs like this to remain strong in the present and future.

Agreed. There probably is some political BS going on behind the scenes. It takes 8 out of the 10 member schools to add a school to the league. I wonder if a certain Big Ten school in a state just to our east is lobbying McLeod and a couple of other schools in the league to prevent the Beavers from getting in? I certainly hope that isn't the case.

And I suppose going back to a 12-team NCAA field is a smart "business decision" too, right? If we keep losing programs left and right, that is what's going to happen. We have to keep the number of D-I programs as close to 64 as possible or we'll be back to having two 6-team regionals again. Our esteemed commissioner is clearly against the Beavers joining the league, citing the need to focus on "good business sense" when voting on this issue. I guess he thinks losing a solid, healthy program at a traditional hockey school is better than dealing with some scheduling headaches. I think the next thing WCHA member schools should do after admitting Bemidji State is to get another commissioner. And as far as Bemidji having "too small facilities", our facilities weren't all that great for most of our history as a program. The "Old Barn" was unheated, for goodness sakes! What Bemidji State is going to have is 10x better than the old UND Winter Sports Building. Bottom line: If the WCHA votes to sentence Bemidji State's program to death, the league (and the rest of College Hockey) will regret it for a long, long time.

Good April Fool's joke; something that would get people on here all worked up before they realized the date was 04-01-09. I almost fell for it myself. I personally think shootouts are an abomination to the sport and should be banned altogether (no joke). I know Hak thinks we should use it because hockey fans in Montreal like it, but I am a traditionalist on the question of ties and shootouts. I think if we went to 4 x 4 overtimes like the NHL does and doubled the overtime period to 10 minutes, we would cut down on the number of ties without tarishing the integrity of the game itself. Shootouts have no place in a team game like hockey. What's next, free-throw shooting contests in basketball or field-goal kicking contests in football? Or how about home-run hitting contests in baseball instead of extra innings? Shootouts are just as inappropriate.

I remember when Buning jacked the prices for hockey tickets up to the point where some people I know dropped their tickets and I almost dropped them myself. I am thankful for the fact that the prices are not going up again this year.

Now I have a reason to watch the Frozen Four! Go Beavers!

Yeah, and that wouldn't have been possible even five years ago. The fact that BSU can compete with anyone in the country (and I believe that includes the vaunted Terriers this year) is good for the sport and for those of us that are fortunate enough to get to watch it every winter.

That tells you how competitive college hockey has gotten over the past five years or so. The number of kids playing hockey has gone up and the areas of the country producing kids has increased, but the number of teams has either stayed the same or gone down. That means fewer really bad teams and a more exciting post-season. Getting a #1 seed isn't the gravy train it once was.

Congratuations Bemidji State! This should bolster their application into the WCHA.

Empty netter for the Beavers. 4-1.

7:55 left. 3-1 Beavers.

3-1 Bemidji State!!!! YES!!!

Whatever they work out, just letting the Beaver program die is not an option. I don't want to go back to a 12 team NCAA field with two regionals of six teams each. That was a cheesy set-up and I never liked it.

It looks like they borrowed kids off of the Cornell wrestling team!

Beavers tie it. 1-1 5:34 left in the 2nd Period.

1-0 Cornell. Come on Beavers!

There was and it also had Lacrosse on it, so that wouldn't have helped in that situation.

Thank God for technology!

Oh really? You just love to make comments about other posters, don't you? I've followed this program for a long time and the media has never done us any favors. You can dispute it and make smart remarks all you want, but I just call them as I see them. If you don't like it, that's your problem. End Rant.

I AM being real. They love it when we lose and hate it when we win. I think it's mainly because we aren't an East coast school in a big media market. Whatever the reason, it makes winning on a national stage more fun.

ESPN has always been anti-UND, that's what I love the most about winning National Championships. They have to cover our triumphs whether they like it or not (like in the Flutie love-fest game in 2000).

I also hate Minnesota with a passion, along with Denver. I hated the Badgers growing up, but not so much anymore. Notre Dame, despite the NCAA title game appearance last season, still hasn't proven they are a top-notch Division I program. Bemidji is a tough, hard-working team and they are out-working and out-playing the Irish right now. UND had a tough two-game series against the Beavers this season (a home and home series in early January). It's good for the sport for programs like Bemidji and Air Force to have success in the Big Show.

End of 2 periods, still 3-0 BSU. I think a 4-0 deficit would be close to insurmountable for the Irish, #1 seed or not.

One more BSU goal might do it.