Ducking Donny or Ducking Jerry?

[sioux7]

Your rants about the arrogance of Minnesota and the Big Ten is completely irrational.

Who's ranting? I am just stating my point of view. To give up your biggest rival is just plain stupidy on so many fronts. from the fan standpoint, financially, and national interest.....just for starters. Most people on this thread are saying that football and basketball are the big sports.....no doubt about it. But wouldn't you want to keep the biggest money maker series the men's hockey team has?

[sioux7>5]

I do not think that UMN is scared to play UND, I think that it is the same thing that the football is doing. They are going to play lesser teams to pad their record, get the easy win if possible instead of playing a tough team. While I do not agree with that idea I can understand it. UND for years has in my opinion played a hard non-conference schedule because they feel to be the best you have to beat the best. I just UMN wants to try and get some extra wins for the team. Just a thought.

[Sodbuster]

I do not think that UMN is scared to play UND, I think that it is the same thing that the football is doing. They are going to play lesser teams to pad their record, get the easy win if possible instead of playing a tough team. While I do not agree with that idea I can understand it. UND for years has in my opinion played a hard non-conference schedule because they feel to be the best you have to beat the best. I just UMN wants to try and get some extra wins for the team. Just a thought.

I agree with this.......there's a greater chance of losing to ND than to a Holy Cross.....oops.

[tnt]

Football and basketball make all the money in the Big 10. Hockey is an afterthought. Don has to follow his superiors...that is what is going on.

Non hockey guys do not understand North Dakota. We are a small state, with small TV markets, who breathe hockey. We are the elite in a sport most big schools don't have, unless they are from the Northeast or great lakes area. This is business, and the Gophers need to hang with "like" institutions- from the non-hockey point of view.

So if it is business, who would you rather have on your schedule money wise or institutional wise, UND or Bemidji State/ Mankato State?

[Mariucci]

for Lucia not to schedule The Fighting Sioux is pure flat-out arrogance. Its in line with anything else that happens in Minneapolis-St.Paul. They (the residents and the university) think they are better than everyone else at ANYTHING in any part of the country and this is just an extension of that.

My point is the Big Ten is as arrogant as it gets. I could care less about the Gerbil hockey team.....but why would you give up your biggest rival to play the likes of Mankato State, Bemidji and St. Cloud. ......and now they are going to give up playing The Fighting Sioux to play these chumps. What else other than arrogance on their part could it be?

Here is what I am referring to. You sound small and petty.

[sioux7]

Here is what I am referring to. You sound small and petty.

So apparently all the The Fighting Sioux supporters in this thread sound "small and petty" to you because they want to continue the rivalry reguardless of their reasoning?

[fightingsioux4life]

Where have you heard of any Gopher hockey fans screaming about Big 10 hockey 'superiority' as compared with the WCHA? I don't know a single Gopher hockey fan IN FAVOR of moving to the Big 10 Hockey Conference.

As part of the Sioux 'thorn in the side' of the Gophers for the past ten years, you cite as an example HOLY CROSS beating Minnesota? If you're still using that as proof of Sioux hockey superiority over Minnesota...well...that argument is quite simply beyond being yesterday's news.

In case you forgot, UND also played Holy Cross in the NCAA tournament...and looked rather mediocre in defeating them a few years before the now-famous Minnesota game.

Nice of you to cherry pick one of my examples and ignore the rest. OK, lets take out the 2006 West Regional and replace it with the 2010 WCHA first round playoff series at The Ralph, in which we ended their season. Or is that also "yesterday's news" to you?

Obviously, you have never gotten into it with Rodent fans. When things aren't going well, they'll bring up being "big time in every sport" as a reason why they are better than us (why they want to attempt to brag up football and men's basketball is very puzzling). They also bring up how much Grand Forks and North Dakota suck, how mediocre our academics are and on and on and on. There are also those fans that will insist to their dying day that Wisconsin is their "real rival" and we are "just another school". Count those as people that are probably glad we aren't on the conference schedule after this season.

I would imagine there are a lot of Gopher FANS that want to keep playing us. But I honestly think some of the higher-ups at the U of M don't like losing to a smaller school on the prairie on a regular basis. Like I have said, if they REALLY wanted to keep it going, they would find some room in their non-conference schedule for us in the future. Being in a six-team league like the Big Ten means they'll have to find more non-conference games; why not make a long-time rival a priority in that?

[zonadub]

Unfortunately for UND fans, the reality is that our biggest football rivalry is dead and our biggest hockey rivalry will be dead after this season. And, oh yea, our nickname is dead too.

This ^^^^^^^^^^ is the bottom line - UND lost its identity and is losing its rivals. NDSU went to D-I before UND and is in a conference that doesn't include UND. Now Minnesota and Wisconsin are moving to a hockey conference that doesn't include UND. While happy that UND is in the Big Sky, its disheartening not having regular games with NDSU in football. Not as happy with the NCHC (yet) but that conference has not even begun, so who knows at this point how it will all work out. However, will definitely mourn the loss of the Sioux-Gopher hockey rivalry as much as the loss of the Sioux-Bison rivalry and the Fighting Sioux name.

Being a Fighting Sioux fan has been difficult for all the losses the past few years.

[UND92,96]

Ducking Donny choosing to end one of the greatest rivalries in College Hockey because UND plays too rough.....

Ducking Jerry choosing to not play North Carolina (NC) at a cost of $800K to the U of M because NC is too good.....

Which one is Ducking More???

How's this for irony? The Big Ten is reportedly targeting North Carolina (and Kansas) as its 15th and 16th members. Kill must be terriified!

[Mariucci]

So apparently all the The Fighting Sioux supporters in this thread sound "small and petty" to you because they want to continue the rivalry reguardless of their reasoning?

No only you sound that way. Most UND fans on here are rational about it.

You said this: "Its in line with anything else that happens in Minneapolis-St.Paul. They (the residents and the university) think they are better than everyone else at ANYTHING in any part of the country and this is just an extension of that."

We're talking about the hockey series discontinuing and somehow you relate it to the "arrogance" of the Twin Cities residents. I just dont see the connection.

[Shawn-O]

How's this for irony? The Big Ten is reportedly targeting North Carolina (and Kansas) as its 15th and 16th members. the Charlotte and Kansas City television markets. Kill must be terriified!

Fixed your post.

[shortbusguy]

Per Russo's blog, Lucia says UND and UMN rivalry will start again after the scheduling contract with Nortre Dame ends, so four years without then back at it.

[Snake]

Per Russo's blog, Lucia says UND and UMN rivalry will start again after the scheduling contract with Nortre Dame ends, so four years without then back at it.

Good to hear. I have a feeling there will be a couple postseason matchups to ensure that no love is lost until then.

[SiouxFanatic]

Per Russo's blog, Lucia says UND and UMN rivalry will start again after the scheduling contract with Nortre Dame ends, so four years without then back at it.

Sucks that there will be a four year gap of not playing but there will be chances of meeting in the NCAA tournament. When the rivalry does resume though...that first and second meetings are gonna be big.

[AZSIOUX]

Sucks that there will be a four year gap of not playing but there will be chances of meeting in the NCAA tournament. When the rivalry does resume though...that first and second meetings are gonna be big.

Unless they play in post season between now and 2017 the rivalry will be on the low burner. If you think about it the team that will be lacing the skates up 5 years from now possibly may not face Minnesota at all. Of course the fans will always feel how they do but the overall rivalry will be much different an not in a good way. How about a NCAA title game this year? That could keep the rivalry on fire! Well literally in dinkytown perhaps.

[yzerman19]

So if it is business, who would you rather have on your schedule money wise or institutional wise, UND or Bemidji State/ Mankato State?

In a vacuum, UND of course. However, the incremental revenue difference between a Gopher home game between UND and U of MN vs BSU or MSUM and U of MN is tiny in the overall athletic budget. Especially if the books are being managed at the conference level. The John sells out either way. UND will give the fans a better show, but there are loss risks. There is also Minnesota pressure to support the state schools- PR strategy.

Bottom line, the money for UND vs U of MN doesn't makea difference in the decision. The business decision is at a higher level.

[Blackheart]

Per Russo's blog, Lucia says UND and UMN rivalry will start again after the scheduling contract with Nortre Dame ends, so four years without then back at it.

Maybe by then we'll be known as the Sioux again... Oops!

[Smoggy]

Per Russo's blog, Lucia says UND and UMN rivalry will start again after the scheduling contract with Nortre Dame ends, so four years without then back at it.

So a 65 year old rivalry is put on hold for four years so that the coach can have his team compete against his son?

[yzerman19]

So a 65 year old rivalry is put on hold for four years so that the coach can have his team compete against his son?

...the same man whose 3rd line at best son received plenty of ice time, a scholarship, and even wore a letter his senior year at one of the best hockey programs in the country...cronyism alive and well in the Twin Cities

[tnt]

So a 65 year old rivalry is put on hold for four years so that the coach can have his team compete against his son?

But I thought the party line was that Lucia was just towing the line of the administration. Don't know the ins and outs, but I would think that Hakstol has a major say in scheduling of teams, and I would imagine Lucia would have quite the pull as well, if not more. Maybe Schlossman can let us know just how much input Hakstol would have in scheduling because that would give us a better idea who is pulling the strings in situations regarding the rivalry.

[siouxforce19]

Good to hear. I have a feeling there will be a couple postseason matchups to ensure that no love is lost until then.

If it was me, I'd tell them where to shove it, but that's just me.

[jodcon]

I would bet real money the selection committee will do anything possible to stick us in the same bracket of the tournament.

Which is fine by me.

[tnt]

Per Russo's blog, Lucia says UND and UMN rivalry will start again after the scheduling contract with Nortre Dame ends, so four years without then back at it.

So will Lucia call it a coaching career in four years and follow the accomplishments of Mario in the pros? I would think that at some point Guentzel is thinking he will be taking over the head coaching duties.

[NDHockey]

So a 65 year old rivalry is put on hold for four years so that the coach can have his team compete against his son?

Don Lucia did play there too. Plus, Notre Dame is a good program with a new rink and a nice TV deal in their own right. It's not like there are no other reasons other than Mario Lucia for Lucia to want to schedule them. I know we all see our team and games with them as being the most worthy but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of reasons for them to play an opponent with the qualities Notre Dame has going for it.

[NDHockey]

I do not think that UMN is scared to play UND, I think that it is the same thing that the football is doing. They are going to play lesser teams to pad their record, get the easy win if possible instead of playing a tough team. While I do not agree with that idea I can understand it. UND for years has in my opinion played a hard non-conference schedule because they feel to be the best you have to beat the best. I just UMN wants to try and get some extra wins for the team. Just a thought.

Kind of a silly argument to make given it would appear their non-conference scheduling are other MN teams (some of whom will be in our future conference and are solid programs) and teams like BC and Notre Dame. I don't consider those weak teams to pad your win totals against. It's not like we won't be playing Bemidji or some softer opponents in our own right in the future.