as15

Is Lemieux expected to come in starting in 2014 or 2015?

No kidding, have any of the recent commits to UND or UM listed Penn State as a team they were even considering? I can't remember one player. I don't care if they have that brand new fancy rink, our's is still better. The rink is really nothing without the tradition. Ohio State has the largest and one of the nicest facilities in college hockey. Before Osiecki joined them they were a perrenial bottom-dweller in the CCHA. Once Penn State starts developing a tradition, then they could be a power but don't look for it until 10-15 years down the road.

Other garbage? Someone mentioned that Alex Mason was a prospective Sioux recruit, and we all gave our thoughts on it.

I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know if this kid will even be able to make an NAHL team, let alone an elite Division 1 team. He has 37 points in 24 games playing close to the weakest schedule in Minnesota High School Hockey, really nothing to write home about. He does have some good hands though, I'll give him that.

Frattin's high hit was on Wehrs. The hit where a Gopher player went flying after he tried to hit Frattin was Alt. There is a good video of it somewhere.

Ha, I kind of figured that, just trying to give you a hard time. The attendance figures would be interesting for a Big Ten Tournament in Chicago or Detroit. Michigan didn't have a very good crowd at the Frozen Four last year, but that is understandable due to the distance and lack of tickets. Would Minnesota fans travel that far? Its hard to answer that because for most people finances become an issue so they have to choose between the Big Ten Tourney, NCAA Regional, or the Frozen Four. If I had to pick one I would pick the Big Ten Tourney, that way I could be guaranteed to watch my team and be able to book in advance which would help with plane/hotel prices as well.

Guarantee? What if the Big 10 Tourney isn't in St. Paul? Do you guarantee a sell out if the game is in Chicago or Detroit? Probably not.

The pairwise is so volatile right now, if you look at this weekend, if Denver-UM and Miami-UAH would've split instead of one team sweeping, UND would have been in the 12-9 range in the pairwise, instead we are sitting at 16. Its hard to say definitevely what needs to happen in each series for UND to move up. The Gophers winning would help us, but the results of two other games could total nullify that and take away all of the positive gained from the Gopher win. The best thing for UND is just keep winning.

He is talking about WCHA standings, not rankings. If the Gopher's would have swept Denver, and UND swept UMD, then UND would have surpassed Denver in the WCHA standings. Same for next week, BSU is only 3 points behind UND, so the Gopher's need to win to ensure that they stay behind us in the standings if we don't win.

I totally agree with you, Rau's hit isn't that bad. Just curious I can only remember one dirty hit by Frattin, the one on Wehrs, what was the other one? Not trying to stir anything up I just am drawing a blank on it.

What makes it great is that the commentators either know alot about college hockey, like Starman, or they put the effort into learning the traditions/histories as well as the background on the players for each individual program.

Every time FSN is in town broadcasting the Sioux-Gopher games, so at most for one series a year. Final Five games are in HD as well.

Its hard not to like the only ESPN anchor that cares about hockey.

Buccigross is doing the commentary for this game?

Anyone else having trouble getting the B2 feed to work?

He will be a very effective player in the NHL due to his size and speed even if he doesn't produce offensively, but he has the potential to possibly be a first line center.

The guy has a massive man crush on Danny Kristo as well. He will have his worst game of the year Friday but Starman will still say he is the best player on the ice.

Not that many but enough that are high-end NHL prospects. The problem is that the Mr. Hockey winner is essentially the highest rated NHL draft prospect in the state of Minnesota. A guy like T.J. Oshie was a finalist for the award but did not win it because he was not considered the top prospect.

Its weird how in the last 10 years or so, no forward that has won Mr. Hockey has gone on to play in the NHL, I'm with you on there is a risk factor with Bjugstad on how much impact he will have in the NHL, but of all the player's in NCAA hockey, I would say he is one of the surest bets to make the NHL fulltime in some capacity. I'm just not sure if it will be as a top-6 scorer or not.

He is, has only played in half of the games, listed as the 6th/7th dman.

I totally agree with this

Each conference that has at least 6 teams gets one automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, the rest of the field will be filled out with at-large bids. So the NCHC will have one automatic bid, just like that WCHA has one right now so it will be no different in that regard. Don't quote me on this but the NCAA can't suspend us from postseason play, we just can't wear Sioux jersey's or be able to host an NCAA sanctioned event, such as Women's Frozen Four, Men's regional etc., if we use the Sioux nickname. In terms of hockey, using the nickname is not a big deal because the NCAA has gone away from on campus regional sites to neutral sites (stupid in my opinion) so the chances UND would get a regional would have been slim anyway.

Just a heads up too, park on the street by the large cathedral which is up the hill from the X, parking is free and I have never had a problem getting a spot after looking for a few minutes.

Comfort Inn St. Paul is fairly close, less than a 10 min drive. Not the nicest, but is safe, has a bar/restaurant and a pool. Probably runs around $70 a night. I once stayed at the LivInn in Maplewood, pretty sketchy and gross but it is about 5 mins from the X and cost us around $30 a night, worst hotel I have ever stayed in but if you are feeling adventurous do it up.

Will Rocco be eligible for Rookie of the Year next year? If he applies for a medical redshirt, which I think he will even though he will never use all of his eligibility, he will be listed as a freshman eligibility wise? Does this make him eligible for that award even though he will be a second year player?